Hey, everyone!
So our new investigating couple hadn't been responding to our messages or anything. If you remember from last week's email, they didn't show up to church either. To get to the bottom of this, we drove to their house on Thursday to give them a Spanish Book of Mormon and to see how they were doing. They were home and still didn't answer, so we dropped the Book of Mormon off in their mailbox with a note. This also happens to be the day that my parents and sister went to the Paris Temple and didn't see Sister Ethington for me. It was simply a day of missed opportunities. To wrap up the day, I made cinnamon rolls from scratch without a recipe for district meeting the next morning. Let's just say that they looked good, but definitely tasted like cardboard :')
On Wednesday, we got a text from the investigating couple after district meeting. They wanted to have a rendez-vous asap. They said that his uncle and her aunt are super against Mormonism, because it's a "sect", and won't let them join. These are 40 year old investigators, but the opinions of their family members are still important to them. Anyway, we left straightaway and drove to their house. They were both super stressed and apologetic for missing church on Sunday, because his uncle was staying with them and wouldn't let them go. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and it made them happy, but they were still worried about what to do with their family. They don't want to be disowned, but they also want to make their own choices. They both actually said that they want to be baptized as soon as possible (what?!?), but that they need to work out their family situation first. They kept asking us for advice, but we literally didn't have anything good to give them. Any of you have any advice on how to help them? Anyway, it was a good rendez-vous with a sad undertone. He also said that he's going to write a song about Joseph Smith, because he loves him so much lol. Afterwards, we walked to our member's house who lives right by the investigators. We asked him if him and his wife could maybe bring cookies over to this couple and welcome them to the Ward. He then told us, "no," because he and his wife are getting a divorce! This shocked us. They seemed so happy when we had dinner with them a few weeks ago, and they always seemed happy at church. Anyway, he still offered himself to help with the investigators, he just said that he won't be doing anything with his wife.
Thursday was a lot of finding with no immediate success... But I still have hope!
On Friday we had a dinner appointment with Chantal, our Ward's most recent convert (10 years ago) who just went through the temple. She made us crepes and we read from the Book of Mormon with her. She's awesome! Such a funny woman. She also mentioned how she's been asking the local church leaders to move the missionaries into her apartment, because she's willing to lodge us for free, and how no one has responded lol. Little does she know that they won't put missionaries with single members, but bless her soul for wanting to take us in for free. Her apartment/penthouse is really nice and she'd probs make us breakfast every day, so I wouldn't be opposed, but sadly it's not my decision to make haha. It's also in a really nice location-- right in the center of downtown Valenciennes. She just wants the extra company once her grandson moves out for university. It was a really good appointment, nevertheless, and we were able to bring the Spirit into her house.
Saturday started off with our finding day with the other missionaries in our district. It was really great for us, because they were all coming into our sector to find new investigators and work with our members. Elder Larson and I went to Mons, Belgium with the Zone Leaders and a few different members. Elder Larson, wanting to be funny, decided to pair me up with Brother LeRoy, a member of the Bishopric. Brother LeRoy has been the one who has repeatedly critized the missionaries serving in Valenciennes, so as far as I could tell, he hated both me and Elder Larson. It was off to an awkward start, with neither of us talking to each other. All the other missionaries went with a member and another missionary. I was the only one alone with a member. This is also the one member that was present, who speaks absolutely no English. Anyway, he immediately got to talking right after I stopped my first person. He really didn't want to contact which was surprising, because he, like I said, always critiques the missionaries on our work. So every time a person would come down the street, he would start talking my ear off to prevent me from contacting someone. He also took me on a tour of the ville. We went into the cathedral, which was packed! Legend has it that Mons used to have a Dragon. Every year around this time, there is a festival to release the dragon. The dragon apparently also represents the Dragon from Revelations (AKA: Satan). The official Dragon release and all that stuff was to happen the next day, but the whole town was in there preparing for it. They made a shrine of some Saints and put a real Saint's shrunken head in a glass box and carried it around. There was also a huge chariot, which apparently is part of the ritual as well. A man heard my accent and came over to speak English with me. He said that every year, a virgin girl is sat on the Chariot and all the young men lift it up into the air and carry her, waiting for the dragon to arrive. After this, he took me up to the historic Belfrey. We waited for the bells to do a special toll. Then we went back down and he took me into downtown Mons. There were tons of people there and the set up for the next day with all of the street venders, music, etc. were all getting set up. So many people to contact. I stopped a few, but he kept having me follow him. He took me to a historic war area which was cool. Then we went to where the old LDS church used to be there. After that we went to find a member who didn't answer her door. And finally he bought me a Fanta and we headed back. He literally did everything he could to not have to contact with me. It was fun, don't get me wrong, but it felt like a big waste of time. Oh well. The other companionships all got good results and I'm hoping that some of their contacts turn into investigators. Then everyone left and we stayed in Mons for a second so that I could get a milkshake from this one hipster place lol. It looked really good. It wasn't until after I ordered it that I found out it was 9 Euros and had to be payed for in cash :') Look for a pic of it in my album. Then we left and went to the Broadway's house for lunch and a rendez-vous with Hiba. We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I think she really liked it. Then we drove to Hourya's house and taught her. Both rendez-vous went well and they are both getting close to baptism!! I can feel it!
Sunday was Mother's Day here in France, so Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there. Hope it was a great day! Our investigator, Evelyne, even came to church which was nice! She thought it was weird, but she came nonetheless haha. We had been trying to get her to come for months now, so it made Elder Larson and I happy.
Today Elder Larson and I are headed to Paris for a P-Day down there! Look out for some Eiffel Tower pictures either this week or next week.
Thanks for reading! Have a good week everyone!
Love,
Elder Connor Anderson
