98th P-Day (91st in France)

I first want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes that you sent me this past week. They really meant a lot to me and helped me feel loved. You guys are great!

Tuesday last week was a day of "goodbyes" for Elder Paxman. We ate lunch at a creperie in town and I can now attest to the fact that potato based galettes are much better tasting than the famous black wheat ones. So, if you're ever in Brittany, France and are looking to try some good dinner or lunch galettes, you now know which ones you should get. After our good lunch we met up with Monique. Later we went to Fali and Sarah's home with Yvan for dinner, as it was Elder Paxman's final request. 

The next day we went to Paris to drop Elder Paxman off and for me to get my new companion, Elder Schombs. This was a long day! Once back, I gave him a chapel tour as well as a run-down on all of our investigators.

On Thursday we went with Jean-Cristophe to Sister Champion's house and ended up giving her a Priesthood blessing. It was a great time and was actually very edifying. Jean Cristophe told us afterwards that it was a very spiritual time for him and thanked us for it. Then we met up with Emmanuel and Stella, and guess who was present? Emmanuel's sister, Blessing. She was the one who originally halted their progression and always brought up anti information in our lessons. She had moved away for a short time, but now is officially moved back. And just when we had gotten rid of her and everything was going well lol. Oh well, at least she likes us and tries to be nice. Afterwards we had a really good rendez-vous with Yvan. He's progressing well and we're very happy for him. 

The next day was both my birthday, the first day of Summer, and the National Day of Music in France. It was warm and people were happy! A perfect way to celebrate. I made myself a cake and then took it over to Emmanuel and Stella's house to celebrate with them. He even made us some turkey and spicy rice and it was very good. Afterwards we taught Nicolas at the church. To finish the day, we ate at a popular seafood place in town with outdoor seating. It was quite nice, actually, because we had our own personal DJ for the day of music. We ate good food to good tunes. 

On Saturday we had lunch with Brother Bergera at a chain restaurant here called the Pataterie. I was taken there once when I was in Epinal, but hadn't gone since. It was so good! Basically it's a restaurant for potatoes and every dish includes them. Afterwards he took us on a balade through some pretty trails and it was amazing! To finish our day, we handed out 200 invitations to our Come and See sunday, which took many hours. 

The next day was good. Church went well, even though no one came from our invitations. The branch here is so good and I'm so excited to be staying with them. For my birthday I got a cake, some socks from Sweden, and a temple recommend holder. This branch is amazing!! Later we visited Sister Champion again with Jean-Cristophe and taught her a little message. It was a good day. 

Today we can finally take it nice and easy. A little relaxation is good and I'm excited for it. 

To leave you with a spiritual thought, I would like to share the overall message of what we taught Sister Champion, which I'm sure you've all heard: We should be IN the World, but not OF the World. There is a very big contrast there. The natural man inside all of us gravitates towards the World. It takes work and effort to resist temptation and to draw nearer to Christ, but I testify that if we do so, that we will truly find happiness. Worldly things only bring temporary happiness, but how much would we like to be happy not only right now, for eternity? It's an important question we should all ask ourselves. Life is not an easy voyage, but it's a beautiful one. 

Thanks for all of your emails and love. 5 more weeks and I'll be back! 

Elder Connor Anderson

97th P-Day (90th in France)

Last P-Day the American family in our branch took us on a fun little adventure. They drove us to an "enchanted" forest, which holds the legends of King Arthur and Merlin. I don't know if my mom put the pictures in my last week's album, but if not, I'll have her put them in this week's. We visited sites such as merlin's tomb, the fountain of youth, the lake of the woman of the sea, the forest's village "Paimpont", where we did a fun interactive exhibit, Excalibur (the sword in the stone), Menhir rocks from 3,000 B.C., the Holy Grail and the Holy Grail chapel, and lastly the Valley of the Lost Souls. It was one of the best P-Days ever. If you're coming to France, I highly recommend the Forest of Broceliande. It's quite the experience. 

The next day we had district council in Saint Brieuc, followed by lunch at Monique's house. After that, we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I was with Elder Patrick. The rest of the day we handed out over 200 flyers to the Branch's "game night" that we were holding the coming Friday, all over town. We ended by going to the Branch President's house to pick up another 200 flyers to hand out the following day. 

On Wednesday we met with the Sautron family (the in-actives) in Loudeac, and of course ate at the friterie there, as per usual. Later that day we visited a new 70 year old referral we received, Anne-Marie, who was an investigator in Marseilles over 15 years ago. She moved here and lost contact with the church over the years, but one of her friends from Marseilles noticed that she wasn't doing well and told her that she needed to start meeting with the missionaries again. She was very nice and the meeting went well. 

Thursday was another flyer hand out day. Another 200 were distributed. It was a long day, but we were hopeful that it would have some amazing results in the end. To wrap it all up, I got a cookie at this new trendy place in downtown that was so good. The chef talked to me about it and said that it's an imitation of a cookie he ate while in New York and that it took him 15 years to perfect the recipe-- And let me tell you... It's the best cookie in France. Definitely tastes like a real American, home-made cookie. This was the highlight of the week. 

The next day was the game night. Sadly, not very many people showed up. We only had 4 people that we had given flyers to come (out of over 400) and the vast majority of the branch didn't show up. It was kind of a bust. But I still found ways to enjoy myself. Scrabble was first, and let me say that in French it's not as fun as it is in your native language. Then, a gay couple that we invited showed up. It was quite the atmosphere, as the only other people that came were kind of old and quiet. We didn't know how they would like it, but they ended up loving it. A bunch of the guys from the branch went up to them and we all got talking. Then we played a game of UNO dare with them. This was hilarious. One of the dares that one of the gay guys got was to do 10 push-ups. While he did this, one of our investigators, Stanislav, a 60 year old Bulgarian man, stood up and said, "I can do 50!" So he went up and did 50! Then a small, fragile, 90 year old woman that we had invited on the street stood up and said that she could do even more! So everyone said, "no, no, stay seated, don't hurt yourself," making me the only person in the room cheering her on. She eventually got up and did it and everyone was nervous that she was going to have a heart-attack lol. She only did 3 before she gave up and bragged to everyone how active she is in her old age haha. Gotta love them great-great grandmas. So even though we had a smaller turnout than expected, I still had a lot of fun. 

On Saturday we planned Yvan's baptismal program. It's going to be a great baptism and I'm so excited. 

The next day we had a great church service. The European General Authority (whom I knew from the Versailles ward) came to visit our branch with his family and added a wonderful spirit to the meetings. Afterwards we had our branch meal and all bonded. Many visitors were there and everyone was happy. Later, I got to call my parents for Father's Day. I love this new policy change!

Today we received transfer news... I'm staying in Saint-Brieuc, but getting a new companion. It's going to be interesting how this next transfer goes... It is my last transfer after all. 6 more weeks in the mission and I'm excited for what's to come. 

I read a talk this week from the October 2017 general conference from Joy D. Jones about our individual worth. It was so good! If you're ever feeling down about yourself, I recommend you go give it a read. I know that we are all special and God loves us all. We all have huge worth, even if we sometimes can't notice it. No matter what you're going through, just know that God loves you and that you are one of His children. You are a child of God and that is incredible. 

Thanks for making it this far with me. Only 6 more weekly e-mails left and then you will finally be able to rest your eyes on Mondays haha.

Elder Connor Anderson