Last Tuesday we had our musical evening at the church. Not too many people came, but it wasn't a terrible turn-out either. We're just hopeful that some of them will continue to be interested in our church and willing to meet with us. Most of them seemed more interested in smoking while listening to other people perform, but you never know! Look out in my weekly album for both photos and performance videos from the event (yes, I sang my heart out ;).
The next day we had multiple lessons at the church back-to-back. We were worried that the chapel would be a complete disaster from the previous night, but to our pleasant surprise it was cleaned up! The members stayed very late to work hard on putting everything back together. I'm so grateful for them. We taught Anna and Steve while there. Anna also told us that she had her brother-in-law who is a stake president in Portugal look up online to see if she had been baptized into our church or not. Turns out that she has. She then asked us if it's possible for her to be re-baptized into our church, because she doesn't even remember her baptism and she feels as if it was something that her mom chose for her. So she wants to actually make the decision herself this time. We didn't really know the answer, so we didn't know how to respond. Anyone have an answer on this? Then we taught Yvan about baptism and that was fun. He's still not committed to a date, but I guess only time will tell.
On Thursday we had our last district council of the transfer in Rennes. After that we went to Hilda's house and finally met her family. They are very nice and made us a huge feast. This came right after eating in Rennes with our district, so that was fun. Then from there, the American dad in our ward came to pick us up for dinner at his house. Wow. 3 huge meals in a row. What a day this was haha.
The only interesting part of Friday was that we had a dinner appointment with members and we brought Yvan with us. I love good member intergration!
The next day we taught Emmanuel and it went well. He was sad when we mentioned that I am probably moving this next week. If I leave, I'm going to miss this man. Later we taught Yvan and that was a good moment.
On Sunday we ate at a member's house for lunch. They live out by Brest in a placed called Morlaix. It's very beautiful and was such a great excursion. The lunch was fantastic. Duck, potatoes, etc., the whole works. They talked about being missionaries at the Family History Center in Salt Lake and many other things. Afterwards they drove us out to the coast and we went sight-seeing. I love the members here and their willingness to take us to new places. After that we had a lesson with Evan that went pretty well. It was a good Sunday.
Today we found out about transfers. I am staying in Saint-Brieuc and very happy about that! It's going to be a great transfer here, I can feel it. Today we are going to Mont Saint-Michel with members and other missionaries from Rennes. Keep an eye out for these pictures as well, as this is one of the most visited tourist attractions in all of France. It's beautiful there and I'm so excited to go!
My thought this week is more about what we can do for others. We are all brothers and sisters, children of God. We all have different personalities, opinions, and interests, but those things aren't here to separate us. They are what make us who we are and we should use our differences like skills and abilities to help others. I often think about the scripture quote "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." It's so true. We need to serve and love others. When we do this, I testify that we will find true happiness in our lives and we'll be able to give happiness to others. Happiness is something we all want and need and it's not always easy to find it, but service and love really is the way to it. Don't let differences tear us apart. Let them help unite us and lift us!
I love you all!
Elder Connor Anderson
