Tuesday we had a lesson with Yvan and Brother Raveneau which went really well. He's getting closer to baptism and it makes us so happy!
The next day we took a tour of the Bishop's new house here in Saint-Brieuc. It's a 200 year old mansion and only cost $250,000. Talk about a steal of a deal. 4 stories, huge yard, and ocean-view. He said complete renovations will only cost about $175,000... Texas has some French competition in pricing. Anyway, that night we had a lesson with our new Bulgarian investigators, Stanislav and his wife, Dinka. They are so nice, but very angry with France for not recognizing Dinka's doctorate degree and accepting her to work as a doctor for France. She says that because Bulgaria is in the E.U., that all diplomas should be accepted in France. Because of this, which they claim as discrimination, they are both without work. They were interested in our message, but even more so in us finding paid work for them within the church. Stanislav (AKA, Stanley) and Dinka can both speak French, Bulgarian, Russian, and Polish fluently and are willing to work as material translators for the church. If any of you know of any spots hiring, let me know haha.
On Thursday all of the Priesthood brethren gathered together at a member's house in Lannion for a service activity. We were to prepare the terrain for stake girl's camp in the backyard of one of our branch's members. It was a lot of chopping and stacking wood, but it was a lot of fun. Afterwards we had a BBQ and then Elder Paxman and I were able to teach this member's son, Jared, to prepare him for his baptism this Saturday. He's a cool kid and I'm so excited for him.
The next day we bumped into Hilda again for the first time in a while. She was happy and told us that she'd come back to church soon! It made our day to hear this, as we had been rejected from just about everyone that we contacted that day. Glad to know that she misses us, because we miss her!
Saturday was a good day! We got to go to the temple in Versailles with Yvan, thanks to one of our members, Fali. Because we needed to go all the way there (nearly 5 hours by car) and back (another 5 hours) in one day, we had to go pretty early. I woke up at 3:45 and we were on the road just a couple hours later. Once there, so many memories from when I served in Versailles came flooding back. Man, do I miss this place! We got Yvan set up with the Meunier couple at the temple and they did a great tour with him for a few hours. During this, we also met with the Raveneaus from our branch, who were there for a family wedding. They had bought us cheesecake from a nearby boulangerie. I love them! I was also able to meet with members from the Versailles ward that I miss, as well as missionaries. It was a great experience. Yvan loved it so much and ended up committing to a baptismal date of July 27th. We're so excited.
Sunday was pretty basic. The Bulgarian couple came to church and asked the members for help looking for work haha. I admire their commitment and dedication to earn money! Here's hoping that they'll find something! Other than that, it was a very ordinary day.
Today we went to Binic with our district for district P-Day. Look out for pictures of us all on the beach in my album this week.
This week was still rough with a lot of rejection from people, but through it all, I realized that the Lord will bless us if we just don't give up. We're not always going to be accepted by everyone and that's just life. The World is changing and more and more people are not caring about religion (at least in France). BUT that does not mean that there isn't anyone who is interested. There are people that are searching for the truth and I know that with hard work and perseverance, God will put them in our path. I love this gospel and I'm very grateful to have been raised knowing these truths. I've seen the blessings it has made in my life and I want that to be available for everyone. That's what keeps me going. The best I can do is to continue on and keep going strong. I promise that if you do the same, you will see the blessings in your life. Don't give up!
I love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Connor Anderson
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