78th P-Day (71st in France)

Hey, everyone! What a week this was. I'm just going to jump right in. 

Tuesday was an interesting day in terms of lessons that we taught. We taught both Tresor (our new African investigator who wants to be baptized), and Serge (our neighbor who is a new investigator) the Plan of Salvation. Both lessons went really well and it's nice to see these people progress. What was funny about it was that we taught both people the same lesson and discovered that both of them have 5 children with precisely 3 different women. What are the odds? A coincidence? I think not. 

On Wednesday we met up with some new teenagers that we found for lunch in our downtown area. They're actually pretty chill and it was a fun moment. Hopefully they'll progress soon, if not at least we have some new friends haha. After that we were off to Paris for my companion's legality. The journey was so long from where we live. Upon arrival in the area we were staying in for the night, the Elders there met up with us at a good Burger joint and we feasted. Then we went back to their apartment for the night. It was an interesting experience because I didn't really know either of the two Elders that we stayed with, but it was a lot of fun! So much fun, however, that we lost track of time talking and ended up staying awake all night. By the time we looked at the clock, it was already 6 AM. This was a horrifying sight for us, as we had a long day ahead of us of traveling all over Paris via metro, to run our errands. 

Thursday, as you could probably imagine, was tiring! We had to leave at 6:30 AM for my companion's legality, so we didn't have time to even shower or anything. We literally just left. We were still in our suits from the night before, so that made the preparation faster. After we left, we started on our long journey across Paris to the Mission Office. After we got all of the necessities from the Senior Couples (who I love dearly), we left to the Sous-Prefecture. Because the Sous-Prefecture is like the DMV in America (in terms of atmosphere and long waiting periods), I had planned to sleep while my companion was waiting to be/being helped. This, unfortunately, did not occur, as we bumped into other missionaries there at the same time. They definitely kept me up with conversation. Oh the joy! After Elder Thomas was helped, we left to go get some Five Guys in Paris. So good and well-worth the detour for lunch. Then we proceeded to the train station to get us back home. We showed up 2 hours early, hoping to possibly make an earlier train than we had originally planned. This didn't happen either. The train station apparently experienced a malfunction of sorts earlier that day and didn't have the abilities to bring in/send off trains. Almost every train was canceled and the ones that weren't were delayed hours. This was terrible. We had both planned to sleep on the long train ride back and now our train had been canceled. We also didn't want to stay another night in Paris. We decided to wait it out at the train station and pray that a train going to our city would be ready for take off soon. We were there forever, along with thousands of other people and even news reporters with their camera crews. We did, however, feel as though we had an important purpose in waiting around, as we helped a guy from California figure out what was happening as his French translators. He was a really nice guy and I felt terrible because his train ended up being delayed 5 hours. As soon as we were losing hope that we wouldn't have a train back home, a train appeared! It was like the Hunger Games, with thousands of people fighting for a spot on the train. We weren't about to stay another night, so we used every single drop of energy we still had left in us to get a seat on this train-- and we did! Victory! We were dead asleep the whole ride-- approximately 3 and a half hours. Upon arrival, we went straight home and proceeded to fall asleep again. 

Friday was difficult, but we survived. The drowsiness was at an all-time high, but we still pushed through and did our work. We finished the night at the Sala's house (the Swedish couple in the Branch) for a dinner appointment. It was so good and I love them. It's fun learning about my heritage with them and eating foods that my ancestors probably ate. They're an awesome couple. 

On Saturday I was able to give an interview to another baptismal candidate in Rennes. I love giving these interviews; they are so fun. The guy, Guillaume, passed with flying colors and it was a great experience. The night, however, was not so fun. We met up with some old investigators here. The main Guy (that we supposedly taught) wasn't there, but his girlfriend, mother, and kids were there. Apparently he's sold everything he owns (phone, etc.) for drugs and most nights doesn't even come home anymore. It was sad to hear this from the people closest to him and to see the struggles that they're all going through. I'm hopeful that all will work out for them though. 

Sunday was a nice day. Great day at church, got many things set up with members, and even got some good contacting/finding in. 

Today we are going to a place called Saint Malo for our district P-Day. It should be a blast and I'll make sure to put pictures into my weekly album, so keep an eye out for those. 

One thing that this week taught me was to have faith always. I know that my experience with the train doesn't sound like much, but it really was a terrible expérience (I'm not being overly dramatic, I promise haha). So many people were losing hope that they would be able to leave that night and went back to wherever they had been staying in Paris for another night. I really do think that God blessed us for keeping the faith and praying for a miracle. With faith (and with God) anything is possible. Faith moves mountains, as many people say. I can firmly attest to this. Keep your faith and hold onto it, it really does work miracles. 

I love you all. Thanks for all of the support. 

Elder Connor Anderson

Legality trip to Paris for Elder Thomas

P-Day to Saint Malo

77th P-Day (70th in France)

Hey, everyone! I'm just going to jump right into this week, as it was a very eventful one.

So last P-Day was a little stressful. I received a package, but it didn't go to the regular post office... It went to a place called the Chronopost, which is way far away. We, of course, underestimated the distance and decided to take a bus part way and then walk the rest. Yeah, the "walk the rest" ended up being nearly 2 hours. Once we had it, we had to get back to our apartment and pack our bags for Paris, where we were going that night. Well, our train to Paris was in an hour and we had no hope of making it back and packing in time for the train. Then I had the brilliant idea to use Facebook as a search engine and find the local taxi company to give them a call. It was a blessing, because he got us back just in time and charged us the exact amount of cash that we had on hand. We then caught our train to Paris and made our way to a city called Nogent for the night. We were staying with Elder Swensen, whom I used to be companions with, and the Lille Zone Leaders who I know and love. It made me really miss my time in Valenciennes, which I believe was truly my happiest time on the mission, so it was good to see everyone again. 

The next morning was an early one. We had to be up and out of the apartment super early to make it to Versailles on time. It was at Versailles that we were having our mission-wide conference with Elder Andersen. It was a strange feeling being back in Versailles; I miss it! It was also interesting seeing our whole mission in one place, something that hasn't happened the whole time I've been serving as a missionary here. It was an odd atmosphere for me, because most of the missionaries I've served around at this point are now already back home. So many new faces that I had never seen before, re-affirming the fact that I'm officially one of the "older" missionaries in our mission now. We were at the Versailles chapel for a while, studying in reverence, before we were directed to the cultural hall to get in place for a picture we'd be taking with Elder Andersen when he'd arrive. We were standing there forever before he came lol. After the picture, we shook hands with him and then went back into the chapel for the conference. Elder Andersen said some really cool things that I really needed to hear. He gave an optimistic perspective on missionary work, which meant a lot coming from him, because he served here himself. He knows what it's like and that, to me, made his comments even more valid. His message was basically that if we have a positive perspective and faith that we can find success in France, we can and we will. After the conference, Elder Thomas and I went off to the mission office where I had left 2 packages to send back home when I was transferred earlier this month. After we retrieved the packages, we had to go send them off. We had to be fast, because the post office was about to close and our train back home was coming up. I hurried and filled out all the paperwork and had the woman weigh the boxes. 160 Euros for only two packages. That's $182 USD. What a joke. My card was also declined, so I had to run to the nearby atm and pull out as much cash as I could before she closed and still make it to our train. The stress. We luckily were able to make it all the way across Paris to our train station before it left. 

The next day we had an early morning district council in Saint Brieuc. It was nice that it was going to be held in my city for once, and not Rennes, but I was still so worn out from the day before. After district council we all grabbed some lunch. I got my first Kebab in a whole year. The only reason I write this, is because it's next to impossible to not have one in this mission for that long. It's the cheapest type of fast food you can buy in France, so all the missionaries get it a lot. Definitely quite the accomplishment on my part. Then we all went out finding, which was a huge blessing for my companion and I. Some really cool people were found and we had extra missionaries to help us. 

Thursday was a good day. We had a lesson with a cool, young African couple, Emmanuel and Stella. They are English speakers and currently looking for a Christian church to attend. What golden investigators they are! I have high hopes for them. Then we went to an American family in the ward, the Semerau's, house for a dinner appointment. They have a lot of kids, so it was quite the experience haha. They're very nice people and were willing to drive us over an hour there and an hour back to our apartment. The drive was half of the fun, however, chatting about conspiracy theories and such haha. I love this branch!

On Friday we had planned to visit in-active members, but we didn't know what we wanted to do. We had a member that was coming with us, and we'd be able to use his car to get places, but all of the people we were going to see had different problems and needs. An idea I had was to go over and sing/play instruments for all of these people. Elder Thomas has a guitar that he plays and the member has a violin. We decided to go with songs out of the Children's songbook, not only because they are light and entertaining to listen to, but also because they invite the Spirit. We went to a different number of houses and did this. All of the people we visited were great experiences, but the last one, a 91 year old woman named Lillian, was the best. She started crying and it was so touching. The Spirit was strong. Sometimes a spiritual message doesn't need to be spoken, it can be heard and felt through music. It was a great time! 

The most exciting thing that happened on Saturday was that we met with a new investigator and his girlfriend at the train station for a lesson. They are both from Africa as well and it was a very interesting dynamic. The girlfriend is atheist and the boyfriend is a strong Christian. Because of this, we were teaching the Restoration lesson for 2 different points of view and it went really well. Afterwards, they were kind enough to be willing to walk with us to the cinema to get me some theater popcorn, which I haven't had in 1 1/2 years now. Let's just say that it's expensive, small, and not as good here in France. I guess we can't all hope for our Megaplex tub, filled to the brim with warm and extra buttery popcorn. It was a good lesson though, and I have high hopes for both of them as well. 

Sunday was fun. We were able to get 2 investigators to come to church. One is our neighbor that we contacted named Serge, and the other is a referral we got from the Elders in Vannes, named Tresor (Treasure in French). Both guys are so cool. Serge is very interested in family history and Tresor wants to be baptized. We taught them the Restoration for the 2nd hour of church and they both enjoyed it. After church, we had another lesson with Emmanuel and Stella, where we taught them the Restoration as well. Man am I Restorationed-out or what?! Haha. Just kidding! We have literally given this lesson in full so many times this week, which I guess is a really good thing. The thing I love, however, is that I can see all of these people progressing so much in the gospel. Here's hoping!

My Spiritual thought today could be on so many things. From the power and spirit of music to Elder Andersen's message about perspective and optimism. So why don't I combine the two for ya? This week really taught me that if you work hard and don't quit, blessings will come. We have been working hard ever since I got here, and finally we have some really cool people that we're teaching. That's definitely God blessing us and I know it's because we have kept a positive perspective throughout this transfer and were never tempted to give up. I also testify that it's really not us that convert others, it's the Spirit. So if there's any way to invite the Spirit into the hearts of others, do it. Gospel music is one of those ways and I know that music can work miracles in this regard. Never think that a fully prepared spiritual message is the only way to do things, God has given us many tools and talents that we can and should use to help others come closer to Christ. 

Thanks for reading all of this. Y'all are the real MVPs. Love you all. Till next week!

Love,

Elder Connor Anderson

Mission-wide conference with Elder Neil L. Andersen

 Me & Elder Fund

France Paris Mission

Inactive woman let us come & sing Primary songs to her

Meeting at the train station with potential investigators

First Kebab in over a year!

ZL in Lille-- copying an old gay investigator in Valenciennes

76th P-Day (69th in France)

This week was sick. Literally...

So last Tuesday I got sick and it basically stuck with me throughout the rest of the week. It was terrible to say the least, which is one of the reasons that I hate January... I always get sick! Anyway, then we did service for the 79-year-old man, Peter Banks, at his house. We were chopping down trees into logs for his fireplace. Took a while, but he fed us afterward, so it was okay. 

On Wednesday I took some medicine that caused me to be super drowsy throughout the rest of the day... I fell asleep in 2 lessons and during a Priesthood blessing that we gave to an inactive member. The day ended on an alright note, however, because we went to an authentic Brittany creperie in town and feasted! How I love this place and the food here. 

Thursday was stressful. We had an early morning to get to Rennes for district council, interviews with President Sorensen, and exchanges. I was still sick and not in the mood for any of this lol. It all turned out alright though. After interviews, I started exchanges with Elder McDougal (and President Sorensen for part of the day). Exchanges included teaching an inactive member in a laundromat and eating a Mexican meal with some members over there. 

Friday wasn't super fun either. I had only got about 2 hours of sleep throughout the night and woke up super tired and guess what? Still sick. We then had a long bus ride back to Saint Brieuc ahead of us. Upon our arrival back in town, we immediately went to a pharmacy and got the things that I needed. Then we went to a member's house who wanted us to do some service for him... He basically had me re-organize his closet lol, but he too fed us afterward, so I was fine with it. 

Saturday was fun! We went and visited a recently re-converted couple in a town and had lunch with them. He also gave me a nice "ollygan" belt and Elder Thomas a Hugo Boss watch! They're an awesome couple. After our time with them, the husband went finding with us. We had a really good contact with this one guy on the road and now we're hoping he'll become an investigator! Then we went to a musical/activity evening at a member's house. Some other families from the branch were invited and it was so much fun! We played games, had a spiritual message, and feasted with each other. I love this branch! They're incredible. 

Sunday was also a good day. We had some in-active members attend and we also had our monthly branch meal afterwards. They feed us well here and I feel so blessed. Literally an amazing branch that we have. 

Today we're going to Paris for our Mission-wide Conference with the Apostle, Elder Andersen tomorrow. Next week's email should be much more entertaining than this one, so get ready!

In preparation for Elder Andersen's conference tomorrow, we were asked to read his talks from past general conferences. This was such a good challenge! If you need a testimony booster (or even just something good to do), I encourage you to pick an apostle or someone you like a lot from conference and listen/read their past talks. Really study them! I promise you will learn a lot and your testimony will grow, as mine has from doing this. Even if you're not a member of our church, I encourage you to go to our website (lds.org) or even download our app and read a conference talk that has a title/summary that interests you. It's more fun than you may think :) 

Sorry this email didn't really live up to the hype of my usual emails... I promise you'll be more entertained next week :) LOVE you all! 

Love,

Elder Connor Anderson

Salmon with sour cream & chives. Authentic Bretagne dinner crepe-- Galette is what they're called if they're for dinner.

Healthy salad we made for President Sorensen when he came to visit our district council

Valentine package from mom

Family picture. I'm the 'mother' of the Elder in plaid, guy in black is his 'dad' in the mission, and Elder McDougal is his grandpa.

Peter Banks, 79 year member of our branch