46th P-Day (39th in France)

This week was long, but produced some good results!

On Monday night, we taught Zayneb again with Walter and Trisha. It went really well and the Spirit was definitely there. She's progressing so nicely and I can only hope to still be here for her baptism when the time comes!

The next day was awesome! My amazing district surprised me and celebrated my birthday after district meeting. At one point,  we got serious and they wanted to know how I was doing, after seeing my post on Facebook. I opened up and they were all so comforting. One sister, Sister Bennett, had actually experienced something very similar, which was really comforting to hear. Then we came back and taught Sylvain and Aline on temples. They remembered me having said that I used to play piano, so they had me go into the piano room and play for them LOL! I literally stopped playing when I was like 11, so that's fun. I can still read sheet music, but I definitely can't play. Anyway, I found a simplified hymnbook and played only the right hand on a couple of songs for them. They now want me to be the pianist for their baptism haha. Wish me luck, because I'm going to need it. Mom, you should be proud of me right now. I'm going to be spending hours practicing, just as you would've liked me to have been doing all those years ago. This day also included a lot of love being sent to me and my family on social media. People are awesome!! That night, however, was the best part of the day... I got a call from none other than Sister Maya Ethington, who is serving at the Paris Temple Visitors Center (AKA: one of my high school and mission BFFs). It was so nice to be able to talk to her for a little bit and definitely put me in a good mood! 

Wednesday was a good day flooded with Ward rendez-vous. I'm starting to really like working with the ward, so it felt nice. I can definitely see that the Ward is liking us a lot more and they're starting to trust missionaries again, which was one of my goals this transfer! 

June 21st (my birthday) was good, but super tiring! We woke up at 5 to catch our train to Paris. We were meeting an investigator at the train station, and then taking all the metros/public transport with them to get to and show them the temple. Since I'm now the senior companion, I'm the one in the companionship that knows more about the metros and trains. That's not saying much. It was a little stressful guiding them through all of that and making sure that we got the right tickets, etc. At one point, a man even came up to us, hearing our English. He thought that we were tourists and couldn't understand French LOL. So he tried to trick us into buying 75 Euro metro tickets to get to the temple, saying that he was a Metro employee. Ummm, no thanks. So when I told him that I didn't have that type of money, he pulled out his credit card and bought the expensive tickets himself! Then he told me that I needed to give him cash right then and there, to pay him back for the tickets. I told him I didn't have any cash on me, so he tried to force me to an ATM with him, to give him cash. We literally RAN away and bought the correct tickets elsewhere for 7 euros. Watch out for scammers when you come to Paris, folks. Just one more reason that I hate the metro haha. Overall, it took 3 hours from arrival at the Paris train station to make it to the temple in Le Chesnay. We didn't get to the temple until like 11:30. After making it to Versailles, two 18-year-old girls from Dubai stopped me. They were on their senior trip and didn't speak French. They wanted some directions to the Palace of Versailles. Instead, I gave them directions to the temple! Haha. Missionary work at its finest. They came with us on the 45 minute walk to the temple, while I explained everything to them. They were so nice and stayed a while in the gardens. Maybe one day they'll come back, who knows? Anyway, our investigator, Hiba, was the one that we brought to the temple. She really enjoyed it and felt the Spirit. It was such a good experience for us to provide her with. Now we just got to get her to recognize that baptism is what she needs. Before leaving, the sweet senior couple at the Visitor's Center said that they had a birthday surprise for me. Sister Maya Ethington had left cupcakes for me with a note! It made me so happy and I was so grateful. It was a bummer that I couldn't see her, but the gift made it all better. We got back really late. A temple trip legit takes all day! Anyway, even though it was late, everyone was still out. June 21st is the national music holiday here, so bands and stereos were lined up everywhere. France had also just won their football (soccer) game in the World Cup, so everyone was cheering. I'll put pics/vids of all of this in my album this week. We even bumped into the guys who work at Le Rendez-Vous foodtruck! They were with their wives and kids, smoking joints, and listening to some music. They told me how touched they were by the patisseries we gave them last week and how the note made them cry. It was a cool moment and we were able to chat for a while. My birthday was overall really good, minus the metro ;)

On Friday I made the Funfetti cupcake mix that my mom sent me. I saw on Facebook that the daughter of the Chilean woman we teach up in Mons was turning 18, so we decided to show up to their house and surprise her with some cupcakes and a note. What we weren't expecting was to be completely bombarded by all of their Chilean family members, who came up for the party! It was a full on fiesta. They fed us Empanadas, cake, etc. It was so good and so much fun. They have Mormon family members, so they told us about them. We left when they brought out the Alcoholic Sangrias and started to get wasted LOL, but we did leave them with a prayer, in which they all LOVED. They have nieces and nephews on missions too, so they got pictures with us to send to them. I'll put those pics in the album. 

Saturday was interesting. We met with a new referral who believes strongly in the American cult leader ("Prophet"), William Marrion Branham, like Bobby from Epinal. And if he turns out to be anything like Bobby, he's just going to be really bashy, so I don't know how much time I want to invest in this one, but we're still going to give him a few more tries. Then we picked up the DL and his companion and headed to Hourya's apartment to give her her final baptismal interview. The only problem, as I've mentioned before, is that she drinks coffee. She drinks it for medical purposes and really doesn't want to, so it's a complicated situation. Our DL told us to move her date back and that he told her to speak with the Bishopric first. So, I spoke with the Bishopric. They all prayed and felt like it was okay to move on with her baptism, but my DL still wanted another opinion, so he got the Mission President involved. He ended up interviewing her over the phone and she said that she would stop coffee completely! Yay! Then he called us and told us that she would need to push back her baptismal date at least a week, because she'd have to be off of coffee for an extended period of time. Even though her date was pushed back, things are still looking up from here! We even planned the whole program and she wants me to baptize her! I better start practicing to say the baptismal prayer in French. Wish me luck! It's going to be a cool experience. After that we met with Sylvain, Aline, and a member for a rendez-vous. Sylvain and Aline bought me three birthday gifts, all of which are very cool! I love them! I'll put the gifts in the album too. 

Sunday was slow, but slow is what I needed! This week had been long and tiring, so it was a perfect way to wind down.

The highlight of today was that I created and purchased a custom suit from Italy at a store called, "Devred."  I won't be getting it back for around 5 weeks, but I'm excited to see and wear the final product. I'll attach pictures of the style and outer material that I chose. All other choices I made will be revealed when I get the suit. :)

I want to say a big thank you to all of you who wished me a happy birthday. And to those of you who emailed me to see how I was doing after hearing of my family's situation. All the love really means a lot and I'm appreciative of you all. I know that God lives and loves every single one of us. That's why it's so important that we love each other. It's what He wants for us. Love and happiness. Thanks again, everyone! I'm doing great thanks to all of you!

Love,

Elder Connor Anderson

Mangez-Vous with Walter, Tricia, Zayneb, and her kids

Birthday cake that my District Leader made for me

 Le Rendez-Vous Food Truck guys

Suit Fabric

Cupcakes left by Soeur Ethington

Me & Elder Fund at the Paris Temple

45th P-Day (38th in France)

Bonjour from France! 

Last P-Day was my 300th day in the mission. That's almost a year, folks! Wow. That night we taught Sylvain and his wife, Aline. They came up to the church and were frustrated because his anti-Mormon uncle burned their Book of Mormons and prevented them from coming to church the day before. We decided to teach them on forgiveness and Christ. We also skyped the Mexico City Temple Sisters into the lesson, because he's native language is Spanish and he understands it better than French. It went really well, even though I was lost half the time as to what they were talking about haha. But I did realize that French and Spanish are a little similar and also share lots of words in common, so I picked up on a few things here and there. It was a great lesson and they're progressing nicely. Once we get this uncle out of the picture we can get them to church... So let's hope this happens soon!

On Tuesday, the STLs and I set up a surprise birthday party at the Lille Chapel for our District Leader, Elder Crane. After district meeting, we surprised him with a cake and everything. It was a good time. Then we came back and taught Chantal (the most recent convert in our ward-- baptized 10 years ago). We have started to go over weekly now and read from the Book of Mormon with her. She's never once read it, so we started from the beginning. She's started to take notes/ask lots of questions each time. We're almost half way done with 1 Nephi at this point and I think she's really getting a lot out of it. That night we taught Zineb (one of our investigators with a baptismal date) with a couple in the Ward. It went really well and I think she got a lot out of it! This did, however, wind us up in the middle of the ward drama. Brother Broadway found out that we taught her with them and was mad, because she's "his job". And if that made him mad, the next day would make him even more mad...

The next day we had exchanges with the DL and his companion. I was put with the DL, Elder Crane. We drove up to Lille to pick them up and stopped at my bishop's restaurant for lunch. It was really good and expensive :) That night we had dinner and a lesson with Hiba and a family in the ward. We taught her about temples and it went really well. The food was also a huge bonus. Let's just say that Brother Broadway wasn't too happy that we took "his" other investigator away from him. The ward had been urging us to get both of these investigators more fellowshippers, and I agree with the ward. Having only one fellowshipper is never the best option and I honestly think that the lessons are more spiritual with other members present. When we got back, everyone besides my companion decided to have some fun. We attempted to curl our hair in this odd way. It took forever, hurt, and wasn't even worth it. Check out my album for pics. Let's just say that I woke up looking like Shirley Temple and immediately washed them out LOL. Definitely not worth losing all that sleep time for. 

Thursday we taught a Chilean family up in Mons, Belgium. It's the lady that came up to us a week ago and asked us to come over sometime. Her sister from Chile (who is an in-active member) was staying over and we thought it would be a great day to drop by. We ended up staying for so long! They made us authentic guacamole and all these other types of South American foods. It definitely brought me back to my HEFY days. It felt so good and they were so nice. Her teenage daughters even came down and chatted with us for a while. It was a great time! And they loved the lesson that we taught. They also said that they'd come to church again soon, so let's hope it happens!

The next day involved a lot of driving, a lot of cancellations, and not a lot of success. 

Saturday was busy. We taught Hiba again, with Brother Broadway this time, to try to make him happy. It went well, but we are quickly running out of things to teach her!! Let's hope our temple trip with her ends up being her answer to baptism! Afterwards, we got a text from Sylvain! He gave us two new referrals: his yoga instructor and his wife. They both want Book of Mormons and now we are meeting with them this next week. What a great text to receive. Then we taught Hourya and fixed a baptismal date with her for June 30th! The only problem? She's been gradually watering her coffee down ever since we taught her the Word of Wisdom. She's now at the point where she's able to water her coffee down to only around 5% actual coffee, with the rest being creamer. She just doesn't know how to stop completely. She says it's for medicinal purposes and that the doctor has prescribed it to her. She's actively trying to stop, but mentally can't. She's also already purchased a baptismal dress and all the food for the luncheon afterwards. Let's just hope that her actual interview goes well. Please pray for her! After that we had another lesson with another investigator and then we went to the church for a lesson with Sylvain and Aline. We again skyped in the Mexico Sisters. It went really well again and we taught them about the importance of church and how they have to come at least 3x before they can be baptized. They said that they'd come this Sunday! Saturday was a good day, which I needed, because the past week hadn't been that great and neither would the next day. 

Sunday was hard. Not going to lie. I woke up with really dry/cracking eyelids/eye bags. When I washed my face, it had a reaction that was really negative. The skin around my eyes swelled up and got really red. Great, especially right before church. Anyway, during church my eyes only continued to get worse. They started stinging. Sylvain and Aline also didn't show up, so that only made the day worse. After 2nd hour, I decided that we needed to come to the apartment to figure out what I could use. Nothing worked, but we still decided to go back to the church to say "bye" to everyone. Adam, the American, told me that he had Benadryl at their house up in Belgium, so we drove behind them to grab some. While there, his wife made us lunch. The medicine had started to kick in by this point and I was extremely tired. We then went with him to deliver the sacrament to the Kabongo mother who is bed-ridden. It went well, but I just about passed out there. Upon getting home to our apartment, I fell instantly to sleep. My junior companion had to cancel appointments and everything with his limited French ability and I felt so bad. I was asleep from 2 - 8:30. As I was sleeping, my companion came in to wake me up. He said that I had a call from my family. I thought it was a joke at first, but it definitely wasn't. When I saw my mom's number on the caller ID, I knew immediately what it was about and my heart sunk. My niece, Ava, had passed away. Let's just say that it was definitely not a call that anyone would want to receive, let alone wake up to. It was a hard moment for me, but it really only made me more grateful for this church and the gospel. 

I know that families are eternal. God loves us all so much and wants for each and every one of us to return to Him one day. Ava had a divine purpose and she fulfilled it. I know that God is watching over my family right now and that there are great things ahead. This is not the end and we will be with Ava again someday. Thank you so much for all of your prayers/fasts on my family's behalf. They mean the World to us. You guys are awesome! Please know that I'm doing fine! Yesterday was hard, but I woke up only feeling love today. I'm so grateful for all of you. 

Thanks for all the love and support these past (almost) 19 years. I couldn't have gotten here without all of you. 

Love, 

Elder Connor Anderson

44th P-Day (37th in France)

Hey, everyone! This week had some ups and downs, but it was overall good!

On Tuesday, Elder Larson and I went up to Mons to have a last meeting with the Ward Mission Leader. He took us to the American Commissary on the military base and gave us each a $25 limit. It was so nice to see all of that American food again! Afterwards we went to the Broadway's house to have dinner with Hiba. Then we took a drive all the way to Lille to stay with the Elders there for the night, in preparation for tomorrow's 7 AM train for transfers. We got there way past curfew, but everyone was still up and chatting. It was a really good day!

The next morning we woke up at 5 to get ready for transfers. Since we had the car, we packed a lot of luggage with us and drove to the train station, while the other Elders took the metro. Well, it turns out that it is faster to take the metro. The Elders all got on the train with some of their luggage. We got there as soon as they closed the train doors, so Elder Larson would have to take a later train with a bunch of people's luggage. I felt really bad for him, but luckily it all worked out fine! Then I waited with the other Elders for our new companions to arrive. During this time, we went to take my car for a carwash/fill up the tank/clean the inside. They were such great help and we got it done super fast. Only one Elder in our district knew about my companion beforehand and all he said was, "let's just say that he's not someone that I would want to be with." Ah. Way to make me excited! Then our new comps arrived. My new district seems awesome! My companion didn't seem too happy, but I still had hope!

On Thursday, I think was really hard for my companion. He was called here Spanish speaking, so he only learned Spanish in the MTC. Because of this, he's only served in two big places so far: Luxembourg (yes, his area was the whole country) and Brussels, Belgium. Both places are very international, with many languages spoken. Now he's in Valenciennes, France. Small and really only French as a spoken language. I think this is a hard transition for him, so I'm cutting him some slack on all of his complaining. He also complained about having a car, because apparently he's already lost over 50 pounds on his mission due to walking everywhere. Anyway, the day itself was fine and by the end, I think lots of his stress was gone. And he got to teach Sylvain and his wife in Spanish, so I think it made him really happy getting to use his language and knowing that we have people here who speak English. Whether they're members or investigators, we have several Spanish speakers here and that made him really happy to know. 

The next day I set up the best plans ever: I'm going to the Paris temple for my 19th birthday with an investigator!! I'm so excited! The only negative is that since I'm going with an investigator, I can't go in the temple, because they can't go in. Other than that, however, it's going to be so fun! Later that day, we had two rendez-vous. Both went really well and made me really happy. At night, I bought some cakes from a boulangerie to take to the guys who own the American food truck in Valenciennes, because I saw a post that said they were going through a hard time. I had the lady in the shop put it in a gift box and tie it with a bow too. Then I wrote them a note. Turns out that they were stationed a whole hour away, but still in our sector. This did not stop us! We got in the car and drove. They were so surprised to see us and very grateful. Apparently we were their only customers so far that night and it made them really happy. They even gave us free loaded fries, which isn't even a thing on their menu... Yet. After we got back, they friended me on Facebook. It was a good day!

Our Saturday was busy! We first taught Hiba with Brother Broadway. At the end she brought up our temple trip and he tried to stop us from going! He said that he wanted to go with us and that he couldn't on the 21st, because he'll be on vacation. He also said that the Visitor's Center presentation is dumb, so he wanted to be the one to tell Hiba everything. This made me really mad. First off, no one is going to stop me from having the best birthday ever.haha  Secondly, Hiba should only have good perceptions of the temple beforehand. So, we told him that the mission office had already bought the train tickets for us. Please pray that this all works out. Especially because if it does, I might get to see my friend Maya Ethington (who's serving at the Paris Temple Visitor's Center) on my birthday at the temple!!! 

Then we taught Hourya up in Lille and gave her a church tour. We gave her a practice baptismal interview, and it was perfect, besides the coffee. She says that she can't stop and it's not because she doesn't agree with it. She believes the Word of Wisdom to be true... She just said that it's because it's what her doctor has told her to take to combat the sleepiness that her antidepressants give her. And she says that energy drinks/regular caffeine doesn't work. We eventually convinced her to at least try to find a replacement to coffee. Hopefully it all works out! It would be a shame if this is the one thing that prevents her from being baptized! Then we met up with the Chilean woman who stopped us in Mons last week. She was so happy to see us! After that, we headed to the Kabongo family's house just to say hi. We ended up staying over for a late night dinner. The whole family misses the missionaries and wonders why we haven't been coming over on a weekly basis anymore, ever since I came to Valenciennes. I told them it was because Brother Broadway told us not to. They were mad. Apparently this is why the ward hasn't liked missionaries recently. Brother Broadway apparently has been telling missionaries to stop visiting members and so the member missionary work has basically stopped. Now we're going to bring it back. Good thing Brother Broadway isn't the Mission Leader in the Ward anymore. They said that they changed his calling, in hopes of bettering the missionary work. I just love that the Ward wants to work with us! It was a very beneficial day!

Sunday was overall good. 3rd hour was kind of a mess with an argument between Brother Broadway and literally everyone else. Afterwards, everyone came up to us to rant about Brother Broadway, and Brother Broadway would do the same. This Ward drama has got to stop. I'm definitely seeing things more from the Ward's perspective now, but I still don't like all this nonsense. 

Today was good and we got a lot done. Here's to a good week!

Last week my niece, Ava, came into the world really early at 24 weeks. She is still fighting and going through some big challenges. Thank you all so much for all the prayers that you have said for Ava. They really mean a lot, and I know that God is watching over her at this time. I love you all!

Love, 

Elder Connor Anderson

43rd P-Day (36th in France)

Hey, everyone! There was a lot that happened this week, so get ready! 

Last Monday we hit up Paris for our P-Day. It was really fun, but also super tiring! We walked upwards of 20km to get around the city from the train station and not have to use the metro haha. We saw the Louvre, Arc de Triumphe, ate at Five Guys (super expensive here), saw the Eiffel Tower, and so much more. If you didn't see them in the folder last week, go look for them this week! While by the Eiffel Tower, we saw other missionaries, a HUGE group of BYU students all wearing their T-Shirts, and some nice Mormon moms from Draper/Arizona. I swear this only ever happens in Paris haha. I love it! Missionaries in Paris are literally like celebrities to all the Mormons who visit haha. The BYU students got a picture of us too, to post somewhere, so y'all better keep an eye out for that. The moms also got pictures/videos of us to send back to our parents and it was super nice. I love tourists! After our fun day, we headed back to the Antony Elders' apartment to stay with them for the night. We contacted a lady on the metro back and she was awesome. Sadly, we reached our stop right as she offered to give us her address/number. I hope missionaries find her again in the future! 

The next day we quickly got ready and headed into Paris again to complete Elder Larson's 2nd year legality. It was a long day filled with lots of public transportation and waiting. Then we returned back into Valenciennes for the night. When we got back, two cool middle-aged guys approached us and said that they knew about Joseph Smith and wanted to know more. We then gave them a Book of Mormon and exchanged numbers. What a perfect way to end the night. The past two days had a lot of people coming to us (which never happens here), so we were pretty excited. Even if most of the people were just tourists. 

On Wednesday we went looking for an in-active member in Cambrai. The address we have wasn't correct, but we found a similar address and decided to knock. It definitely wasn't the right house, but the couple let us in and were super excited to speak with us. I think that they were just really high, but they want us to come back soon, so that was fun. Then we taught Sylvain and his wife again. It went well and they still want to be baptized, even with all their family not approving of the matter. Then we drove up to Mons for our meeting with our ward mission leader. And guess what? His wife bought us ranch from the store on the military base #Blessed. 

The next day we went up to Mons again for some rendez-vous. Neither of them showed up, so we decided to do some finding. While finding, a Chilean woman and her daughter approached us and said that they used to meet with missionaries and go to church years ago and they want to have us back over asap! So we got their address and phone number and we were on our way. The woman was super excited and started to cry too haha. We set something up with them for this week, so I'll let you know how that goes next P-Day. I think that that woman was the real reason that we went up to Mons that morning. If you're keeping track, this would make 4 people who have come up to us this week, wanting to know more, after we had already been back from Paris. What a good first half of the week! Then we taught Zineb (one of Brother Broadway's friends) to prepare her for her baptism. It went really well, so that was nice. 

On Friday we taught with the crazy sister in the ward that we did the weed-pulling service for. She gave us two referrals which was really nice, but neither of them seemed interested at all. Her response? To be harsh to them. Let's just say that neither went too well and she still wants us to try to visit them (even though I'm pretty sure they'll call the cops on us if we do lol). Then we came back to Valenciennes and a man approached us in the store, saying that he knows about Joseph Smith and wants to know more. We then gave him a card and a Book of Mormon on the spot. This is the 5th person of the week who has approached us. It definitely felt like a South American mission this week haha. Then we taught the two guys who approached us on Tuesday and gave them a chapel tour. It was really good. 

The next day we headed over to Brother Broadway's house to teach Hiba. It went well and she's actively praying for a confirmation on whether or not to get baptized. I'm guessing that what she needs is a trip to the temple with us! I am going to set one up ASAP! Then we drove to the opposite side of our sector to teach a new investigator, Margaret, with a member. It went well. Then we went straight to Hourya's house on another end of our sector to give her a practice baptismal interview. That was entertaining haha. Then we were off to Mons (another end of our sector) to have dinner with a female member who reminds me of Whoopi Goldberg haha. It was a really good dinner and she said that she has been wanting the missionaries over for a long time. Apparently, she used to spend their P-Days with them and go teaching with them, but they eventually just stopped going over. It was a great appointment to end our night on. What a productive day!

Church on Sunday was Stake Conference which was fun. I had late-night texted every single investigator/potential in our phone an invite (totaling over 100) to come. Especially because there was to be food afterward. Only about 6 investigators came, but it was still good for us! After the session, we all enjoyed some food and conversation. I was also approached by a young adult in the ward who says that we need to teach Hiba with different members from now on, because apparently Brother Broadway is too "flirtatious" with her and the whole ward is talking about it. This is definitely not the case, especially because he has a wife and a daughter, but now we're going to really try to teach her with other people so that the ward doesn't continue this nonsense gossip. Then we drove to the University to teach an old investigator, Ryan. He's really nice and pays attention, but in the end he said that he doesn't need a religion because his own standards are high haha. 

Today we woke up with some transfer news. I'm staying in Valenciennes and getting a new companion. His name is Elder Swensen and he's new(er) in the mission, so I'm going to be a senior companion! How fun! Just remember to pray for me haha. I'm going to be doing most of the talking now, so this should be fun!  

I'd just like to leave you with a testimony of mine on families. I know that families can be together forever, through Heavenly Father's plan. It's a beautiful concept, and I know that it's why we were put in so many people's paths this week. The one thing everyone who approached us had in common was family. They all love their families and want the best for them. I know that our gospel and this message can truly give that to them. I encourage you all to share the message of eternal families with someone new this week. Member or nonmember. It's beneficial for everyone. 

Thanks for all the love and support! Till next week! 

Elder Connor Anderson