So last Monday was really fun and really cold. Me and Elder Payne took all of our stuff with us to St. Die to have a P-day with the St. Die Elders and then exchanges the following day. After a very windy bus ride through the mountains, we finally arrived in St. Die. Upon arrival, the St. Die Elders picked us up with their car and we were off. First we stopped and got some French Tacos for lunch, and then we visited two Alsacian villages, Riquewhir and Ribeauville. Riquewhir was super beautiful and we shopped around there. The town was the inspiration for Disney's Beauty and the Beast, so that was cool. They had a really good cheese/wine factory that gave tons of good cheese samples, but was unfortunately super expensive haha. Then we went to Ribeauville to hike up to some of the castle ruins that they have, which apparently inspired the Beast's castle in Beauty and the Beast as well. The hike was a hard one, but it was worth it! To get there and back, we had to drive through the longest tunnel in all of France, so that was an experience too. The drive was actually really enjoyable, however, and Elder Longman (my District Leader) brought his ukelele and played lots of songs for us to sing along to. It was a freezing day, but honestly a really cool experience. Look for the pics in my album this week!
Tuesday was a fun day of exchanges. I was put with Elder Longman, which I was really excited for. Our first rendez-vous was with one of their investigators who is progressing but really addicted to cocaine and other drugs. After some small talk, Elder Longman surprised me and had me give the WHOLE lesson to the investigator. I actually did pretty good and he understood everything, thankfully. The investigator actually has a lot of brothers in the hospital for drugs as well, and I told him that we could give his brothers blessings in the future, because they are so sick. He was really touched by this and really wants them to receive blessings. His brothers, now, might become new investigators in St. Die because of this, so that's cool. Later this day we went finding. We went to some big apartments and started ringing the front doors in hopes that someone would be kind enough to let us in. The first person that we talked to (a Whitney Houston look-a-like) was really nice and we set up a time with her for a rendez-vous, so we were off to a good start. After that, however, not much success was found. One lady almost immediately closed her door on us when she saw our name tags, but she had a pillow on her door, so I said, "I like your cushion." To which she re-opened the door, looked at both of us, and said, "there are so many better things that you could be doing with your life." LOL. After our finding, we went to another rendez-vous and then returned home. Me and Elder Longman made a dang good Tartiflette for everyone from scratch (look it up, it's good), so I guess you could call me Gordon Ramsay now. It was a good exchange tbh.
On Wednesday we woke up early and brought all of our stuff with us for district meeting in Nancy. It was one of the coldest days I've experienced yet. Typically, the weather here is around 0 right now, but it's really the wind that makes it unbearable. Apparently, the winds we get here are from Russia, so everyone is told to brace for the "Russian winds"... Guess you could say that it was awful haha. At least most of our day was spent traveling, so the cold didn't really bother me too much.
The next day I got a haircut (you're welcome, mother). Later, we had another rendez-vous with Jose. It went pretty well and he said that once he is 100% sure that our church is true, he will get baptized, so that was cool. I was also approached by an African guy at the bus stop who said "hello" in English. I turned around and he asked me where I was from. I said, "Utah," to which he replied, "ah, the Utah Jazz." Like what? He also proceeded to list all of our Presidents in order and said that Jimmy Carter is his favorite. It was overall a really odd experience, but we set up a time to meet him in the future, so maybe he'll become a new investigator? We're hopeful.
Friday we had a rendez-vous with Sylvie and her family, where we watched "Meet the Mormons" with them and gave them a lesson. It was really cool. Sylvie pulled all the strings for us and went around town looking at all the stores for Dr. Pepper, because she remembered that I like it. She also bought chips and fed us dinner with tons of desserts. Like, who is this woman? Lol. But it went really well and we're hoping that they'll continue to progress. It would honestly be devastating if they don't, because we'd have to stop going over. Please pray that they do. We could use all the help we can get with them!
My 200th day, Saturday, was decent. We had our rendez-vous with the Nikocevics (one of the in-active Serbian families in our branch) which was probably the highlight of the day. For weeks, they have been "too busy" to have us over. Me and Elder Payne think that it's because the last 2 times we went over we mentioned teaching their 8 year old daughter and preparing her for baptism, and we don't think that they were too fond of that idea. Anyway, when we were setting up this rendez-vous, they were doing the same thing.... Saying that they were "too busy"... But then Elder Payne mentioned how I'm probably leaving this next week. The crazy wife (who loves me), Afrodita, said, "oh, we are so free! Come when you can." LOL! Their schedule magically opened #TrueLove. But the rendez-vous was honestly not that great. Because of France's new immigration laws, all of our immigrant investigators/members are having to become legal and they are FURIOUS. Well, turns out that the Nikocevics have 2 weeks until they are getting deported back to Montenegro, so they are pretty upset. So yeah, the whole rendez-vous was just them ranting to us which wasn't the best. But Afrodita did send us back with a HUGE bag of their food storage. It took both me and Elder Payne to carry it, and ended up not even being worth it, because half of the food went bad 2 years ago. Afrodita also assured me that we'd stay in contact over Facebook and that I will hopefully get her to Canada one day LOL. Oh, boy.
Sunday was fast Sunday, just not for our branch. We had Branch conference, so lots of the stake from Strasbourg came. Afterward, we had a small feast. One woman from the stake went out of her way to tell me that my suit was "elegant" and that she really liked it. Another asked where I am from, and when I replied with, "Utah," she said, "there are blonde people in Utah?" And she was being dead serious LOL. Yes, California isn't the only state with blonde people, trust me haha. After all that, me and Elder Payne went finding on the streets. For the first time since I've gotten here, people were actually outside! It was warm and sunny! We didn't have any success there, but I did take pics, so look out for those.
Today we're doing a district P-day. It's sure to be a blast. I have secretly been planning a surprise party for one of the Elders in my district, Elder Ludwig. It's his first birthday away from home and he was in my MTC group too, so I know him pretty well. Sylvie is helping us out and I'm sure it's going to be great. Stay tuned for next week, where I'll update you on how all of this goes.
Thanks for all the love and support, again! I've been reading a lot out of the "Teachings of Presidents" section in Gospel Library. One Prophet wrote about having an "Enthusiastic Desire to Share the Gospel." The chapter was really good and I encourage you all to read it. It made me realize the importance of not only sharing the gospel, but to do it with the right attitude. After reading, I encourage you all to get out and share a spiritual message or something to that extent with someone else. I promise that your testimony will grow from doing so, as mine sure has.
Love you all! Till next week!
Elder Connor Anderson
Several pics of the two Alsacian villages, Riquewhir and Ribeauville
Driving through the longest tunnel in France
Wine & Cheese Factory
Sylvie's cat hiding in my bag
