84th P-Day (77th in France)

Hey everyone. This week was interesting. Let's jump right on in.

Last Monday we had a district P-Day, here in Saint Brieuc. We hiked a mountain by the shore to find some old castle ruins. It was a pretty cool thing and probably not super legal, but there were no signs telling us otherwise. Ended up walking 15 miles and feeling great!

Tuesday was great! We were able to teach Tresor and give him a practice baptismal interview, and then we went to Emmanuel and Stella's house and taught them with Tresor. It was great teaching with an (almost) new convert, as it helped build his testimony as well. They were all able to connect on things as well, as they all come from Africa, so it was a great idea and the night was awesome!

The next day was "Tresor" day. He was interviewed by the Zone Leaders for baptism and we worked on his baptismal program. He almost didn't pass-- which would've made us postpone the baptism, but luckily he called one of our Mission President's counselors that night and clarified some things. He PASSED. 

The next day we met with a new referral at the church for a chapel tour. He was quiet and didn't say much, but we're hopeful that it will go somewhere. 

Friday we had a great lesson with an old investigator, a Catholic woman. She was so nice and it went really well. That night, we had dinner at the Raveneau's house with the three children of Cathy. We did a Family Home Evening sort of event and it was really nice. 

On Saturday we met with some old investigators from Syria. A husband and wife. They are refugees here because of their Christian beliefs. They were so nice and fed us some Syrian treats. They could barely speak French and we can't speak Arabic, so there was a bit of a language barrier there. Either way, the Spirit was felt and they agreed to come to church again. Here's hoping we can find and skype in an Arab speaking missionary to help us teach them. For lunch we ate Turkish food at the Saturday market. The rest of the day was spent at the Plante's house (members in our branch), doing an "MTC experience" day with the young men. We exercised, cooked food for dinner, learned how to sew buttons, did practice teaching, and language study. It was actually a lot of fun. 

Sunday was miraculous. We had 9 investigators at church! The most there's been for a long while. Emmanuel came with his sister, Blessing, Tresor came, the three kids came, a man named Andre came, and the Syrian couple came. It was a great time. Afterwards, we feasted together. I love this branch and I love these investigators. We ended the night with a lesson at Cathy's house with her children. She has never accepted us or even had been nice to us. It was truly a miracle she was willing to hear from us. We talked about baptism and it seems like she's warming up to the idea. Here's hoping!

I have a firm testimony that with prayer and hard work, miracles really can happen. This week had some rough spots, but we persevered and God blessed us with a lot at the end of it all. Don't give up! Keep going and keep God in your hearts, no matter what you are going through. Life is hard and nothing comes easy. But I know that God will bless us if we just keep trying. God is good to me even when I don't feel like I deserve it. I'm so grateful for our Heavenly Father! 

Love you all. Til next week!

Elder Connor Anderson

 FHE with Cathy's children

YM Missionary activity

Dolls made by Monique

83rd P-Day (76th in France)

This week was spent almost entirely on a train. 

On Tuesday we went to Rennes for District Council. Afterwards I got a limited edition "grilled cheese" at the nearby KFC. My album this week will include both the promotional photo for the grilled cheese and what I was actually served. It was 10 Euros and definitely not worth it. I should file a complaint and get free food because of it. Cash me ousside, KFC. We ate lasagna at the American family's house for dinner and it was much better. To say I'm disappointed in KFC would be an understatement. The fact that French KFC is terrible was my take-a-way from Tuesday. 

The next day I gave candy out to people in town, free of charge. Didn't find any new people through it, but it definitely made a lot of people smile, so I guess there was still success there. We ended the day with a dinner appointment at the church with some members and our investigator with a baptismal date, Tresor. It was a wonderful evening and some serious fellowshipping is happening!

Thursday was Zone Conference, so we again took an early morning train to Rennes. It went well and it was good to catch up with some old friends. We ended the night with a dinner appointment with our Branch President and his family. Oh how I love them, such cool people. 

We found ourselves once again back in Rennes the next day for interviews with President Sorensen. I was able to get some incredible Poutine afterwards for lunch and that was probably the highlight of my day. 

Saturday we planned Tresor's baptismal program with him and then went to Monique's house to give her a blessing. Both of these people are so awesome. We then, once again, took a train to Rennes for me to give a baptismal interview to a baptismal candidate up there. He passed and it was a good evening. We again, got some good food as well, which is always my favorite thing. We also saw some university students in an apartment window in downtown Rennes, hanging a stick with a string onto the busy street below. The other side of the string had a candy on it and they wanted to see how people reacted. When someone tried to grab the candy, they'd pull it up and make it a game. It was so funny to watch and reminded me, that when appropriate, French people still like to have fun. Look for pics of this in my album too. 

Sunday was a good day. It's always good to be with this branch. I love them. 

To leave you with a spiritual thought, I've been reading a lot about the parables that Jesus taught when he was on the Earth. I encourage you to read them, no matter your religious background. So much of what he taught really applies to us personally and us as a society. I know that abiding by the teachings of Jesus will really make us and our communities stronger. I've seen a change in the lives of the people here when they follow Jesus and when they don't, and I know that happiness comes from doing so. 

I love you all! Thanks for all the encouragement!

Elder Connor Anderson

 District P-Day visit to some ruins

82nd P-Day (75th in France)

What an interesting week this was.

Tuesday was terrible. I threw up several times in the night and didn't get any sleep because of it. To put it into perspective, I had weighed myself Monday morning and Tuesday morning after the disastrous night, and the scale showed a 9-pound difference of weight. Sufficeth to say that the day was spent mostly sleeping and taking medicine. We did, however, go to a dinner appointment that we had contrary to my requests not to go-- I was forced into it and it was an awful experience. Never again want to repeat and 10/10 would not recommend. 

I still felt awful the next day, but decided to give it my all, as we had many things planned. Being sick on a mission is not an easy task, especially on packed days. Anyway, the day ended with a dinner appointment at Monique's house with our new investigator, Jean-Marc, who was taught by the missionaries over 20 years ago. It went really well and we're excited to see where he progresses. 

Thursday we did service for the British couple in our branch, the Banks. It was lovely as always and we were rewarded, yet again, by a vegan lunch. What a couple. While there, however, the wife told me that many people in the branch got sick on Tuesday morning, so it confirmed to me that somehow a virus was passed around at church. 

The next day was probably the best day last week. We found a lot of new people, visited some in-actives who expressed interest in returning and had a wonderful dinner appointment with the Salas (the Swedish couple). I'll just attach pictures of the Swedish meal she made for us this time. It was so good! Great day to what had been a terrible week. 

On Saturday we taught our investigator with a baptismal date, Tresor, the commandments and he accepted to live them to be baptized! Amazing, as this is always the part we are scared people will refuse to live. Another great miracle we had was that we visited an in-active member named Elise and had a great meeting with her and her two children. Elise is from Tahiti and decided to stop going to church when she left her husband for a woman. When we showed up, her partner wasn't there, but she was with her kids. We gave them a spiritual thought and sang a primary song with them. Elise started crying and said that she really is missing that warmth and over-all spirit that the church provided in hers and her children's lives. She then promised us that she'd go to church the next day and even the third Sunday of this month (when we have the branch meal) and make something for it. What a moment! She then invited us back over for a Crepe party next week. This woman is incredible. 

Sunday was nice. Elise came to church with her son and Tresor came as well. 2nd hour was a bit of a mess, as the adults were all discussing the Sermon on the Mount for Sunday school. Eventually, a lot of the crowd just started bashing on other churches (i.e., the Catholic church and the pedophilia that they have going on at the moment), in which I don't think they realized that we had both Tresor (who used to be Catholic) and Elise (who baptized her children Catholic) in attendance. I could feel the bad tension in the room, so I waited to be called on to brighten the mood. When the teacher called on me, I decided to ask them to all sing a song together. I swear they think I'm crazy lol. The song was "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man," which is based on a parable that comes from the Sermon on the Mount. I gave a member my tablet to be able to play it on the piano, and then I stood in the front of the room and led with the accompanying hand gestures. It was funny, because so many of the members are converts and were never in primary themselves, so they didn't know the song. The hand gestures in French are also different than how we did them in America, so it was interesting to see how everyone did them. But the coolest thing was that I was able to see how happy it made people. There wasn't a smile-less face in this crowd that ranged from 30 year olds to 80 year olds. Primary songs aren't just for kids, folks. After we sang, I bore testimony about how important it is to build our testimonies on a firm foundation and to never lose sight of that, as this is one of the things that the Savior taught during his sermon. The class ended on such a positive note and not one criticism about anything else was mentioned. I think it's safe to say that both Elise and Tresor will be returning. 

I'd like to really let you all know the importance of unity. As differing as all of our opinions may be, at the end of the day we're all still brothers and sisters. We may not always agree with each other, but we need to love each other! Sometimes we need to take a step back and go back into the basics of what we know/who we are. There is no need to over-complicate things in life, whether it be our familial, spiritual, communal, etc. situations. Simplicity is good and it's really what we should try to achieve. Go forward with love in all situations of life. Love for yourself, for others, and for God. These three things can take you anywhere! We need to unify ourselves in this World and go forward with faith and love. That's how we build personal testimonies, that's how we help others come unto Christ, and that's how we strengthen our relationship with God. One of the biggest commandments that God has given us is to love one another. Because I have a huge testimony of the power of primary songs, I'd like to leave you with some lyrics from one of my favorite primary songs. I invite you to read the lyrics and really understand what they mean. These songs aren't just pretty, they're super meaningful. If you ever get a moment, sing it with your family/friends/loved ones. I promise the Spirit will be felt so strongly when you do. If you decide to do this, feel free to email me how your experience was. I love hearing these types of stories! 

As I have loved you, 

Love one another. 

This new commandment:

Love one another.

By this shall men know

Ye are my disciples; 

If ye have love

One to another. 

Have a great week! Love you all!

Elder Connor Anderson