Chicken Pox and Baking

12/19/13

Hey all!!

Sorry that I'm writing you today rather than on Monday. Also, this letter isn't going to be too long...sorry y'all.

So my new companion is Elder Allen Kendall from a town that nobody's ever heard of in Texas. He's pretty cool. This is his 12th transfer so he is ANCIENT! Just kidding...he's only 20. I'm the youngest comp he's ever had on his mission. Fun fact, Elder Kendall was in Marching Band!! Cool stuff right? He and I talk about music/music theory a lot. It's super fun! He's a super smart dude. Also, Elder Kendall LOVES baking!! So guess what we've been doing since he's been sick? Baking! We made blueberry muffins, chocolate chip zuccini bread, peanut butter blossom cookies (his parents sent him some cookie mixes), and homemade bread. And cookie dough for sugar cookies...that just stayed as cookie dough...ha :D

When Elder Kendall and I arrived in Cergy (this is his 4th transfer in Cergy) we had to hurry to a member's house to go and eat. :) You'll never guess what kind of food I ate there...REAL Peruvian food!! I believe it was Rice and Chicken ;) The wife is from Peru and she wanted to give us some food that she grew up with.

So the reason for P-day being today is...MERRY CHRISTMAS, your new comp has the Chicken Pox!! Ha. We've been stuck in the apartement for the past week, waiting for his chicken pox, which he got Wednesday night, to heal. :) haha. It's been good though. We have talked a lot about so many things. He and I are pretty good friends because of the past week.

I don't have much information about Christmas. We'll be eating lunch at a member's house and using their computer to Skype you guys. So I'm guessing sometime around 5-7:30ish Utah time.

So that's been my week. I'm sorry it's so short. Maybe Monday I'll have more to tell you! I love you all!

Have a great week!

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Here's the Peruvian meal we ate.

Transfer to Cergy

12/9/13

Hey!!

So this week was a pretty good one. Elder Paitrault and I have really become good friends. Seriously, I'm gonna miss him.

This week we ate at four different houses...I ate SO MUCH!! Tuesday, we went to a member's house and ate some sausage stuff with rice. It was pretty good. I have no idea what it is called though.

Wednesday...oh man. Wednesday was great! We did lots of walking. And then at night we had a mangez-vous (dinner appointment) with a family of members to help their little boy understand baptism and to help prepare him to get baptized because he didn't really understand baptism. I am confident now that he better understands what baptism is. After that, we had another mangez-vous (yes, two mangez-vous in one night...) with some amis. I was SO full that I seriously wanted to vomit!! Haha. It was good though. :)

Saturday, I'm pretty sure we walked like 10km or more!! We walked SO much to contact our coordineés (I forgot the word in English...sorry! Tant pis - never mind) and do some passbacks. Seriously we walked SO much!! It was amazing!! I felt SO good when we finally got home. We finished the night with a Kebab. It was delicious.

I also learned a nice lesson on Saturday: persistance and diligence. There was one passback that we had done like four times already. But Elder Paitrault and I decided we would try one more time. So we went to her house and knocked on the door. She opened up but she was too busy at that moment. But we did (finally!!) get a rendez-vous scheduled with her!! I know that if we work that one, try to get a hold of that person one more time, or knock on just one more door, that the Lord will bless us.

Remember a while ago how I told you that the branch here doesn't have a primary program? Well, I was sorely mistaken! Four kids can do a primary program. That was yesterday for the sacrament meeting. It was pretty awesome!!

Transfers are happening this week!! And guess who's leaving Cherbourg? Elder B. Stanton Wilson!! I'm definitely going to miss the members here and my comp. But I'm so stoked for a new adventure! I'm going to Cergy. Which is in the southern area of Paris. My new companion will be Elder Allen Kendall. I'll let you know about him next week. :) I get my new companion on Wednesday. My new address is

Elder Wilson

56, blvd de l'Evasion, N° C301 

95800 Cergy-Le-Haut

France

Love you guys!!

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Thanksgiving in France

12/3/13

Hello ma famille (my family)!

Comment allez-vous? (How are you?)

This past week was pretty different.

Monday was pretty normal with the whole email stuff and then the FHE with the ward in the soir (evening).

Wednesday we had exchanges in Caen with the Zone Leaders. I was with Elder Adams. He's a cool dude. Doesn't talk much. I learned quite a bit of things about missionary work that day. I learned that I don't want to become a robot. :)

Thursday, THANKSGIVING!! We had district meeting (in Caen) and did a Thanksgiving dinner. Oh goodness. There was such a DECENT amount of food!! I ate SO much!! And then we played ping pong (sadly, I'm not the best...I'm the second best...the 1st loser...ha Jaret will understand this joke). I got tons of time to play the piano and sing. It was GREAT!! Then we went back to Cherbourg and had another Thanksgiving dinner with the Branch President and his wife. They are both French, but they decided to celebrate Thanksgiving with the missionaries each year. This year was their fourth year, I believe. Oh man...I gained 3 kilos that day!!

Friday was super cool. We did some jardinage (yard work) for une ancienne ami (an old investigator; old as in currently not an investigator) with the Elder Quorum President. We worked like 2.5 hours and it's not finished yet. We're going back this next Friday if it's a nice day to finish up. Then after the jardinage, we hurried home (with the help of President Perianin, the Elder's Quorum president) to change and then go to Coudeville with the Elder's Quorum President (Coudeville is about 95 km away from Cherbourg and is a part of the branch here in Cherbourg.) to visit an old man in the ward, Frere Mercié. We quickly found out that he doesn't live in Coudeville. He lives in Coudeville Sur La Mer Plaige. When we arrived, he invited us in and we ate some cake and had some jus d'orange (orange juice). And we talked for a bit. He's a super cool dude! And he's so funny!

On Saturday we did more service with the Elder's Quorum President. We helped someone move apartments.. Moving a fridge up 3 flights of stairs is easy if there is an elevator.

Last night we received a call from one of our amis, Sylvie. Her mother was not well at all and was in the hospital. She asked us to pray for her. This morning when we were shopping, she called us again and let us know that her mother had passed away. We went over and talked with her and the Bellessa couple is taking her to her mother right now.

We haven't been able to go back to that family's house yet. They live 40 minutes away by bus. (40 minutes there, and 20 minutes back...I don't know how that works, but it does). It's tough for us to go out there, but we are planning on going out their this next week.

Well, I love you all!! I'm glad Jaret likes fishing now!! Uintah's backpacking trip the week after I get back? Yeah? ;)

Je vous aime! (I love you!)

-Elder Bryant Bodacious Wilson

A Real French Scarf and Lasagna For My Birthday

11/25/13

Hey family!!

This week was a tough one, I don't have very many deets. But we'll see what I can do.

So last P-day we did some service for someone. We were supposed to move quelque meuble (some furniture). We thought it would be a lot and really heavy...but it was only one super light cabinet...ha. Funny right?

Tuesday we had district meeting in Caen (dang, I go to Caen A LOT). Elder Paitrault talked about how we should be the example. He started by doing a "speed date" with all of us. It was pretty hilarious!! Haha. We then did a double exchange with the two Caen Elders in Cherbourg (the second équipe (team) of Elders in Caen). I was with Elder Christensen (a different one than before) and...I'll just say some Elders are very interesting. I learned that there are humans that can turn their heads all the way around and look backwards...definitely something that...um...could be useful?

Wednesday we finished the exchange and sent those Elders back to Caen. The Elder's Quorum President drove us to his grandma's house where we were supposed to share the restoration with her...but it ended up that the Grandma and the Elder's Quorum President's uncle just bashed on our church...ha. I find it really funny when people who haven't ever been to Utah tell me that all the Mormons in Utah are polygamists...ha. So...wednesday was pretty interesting.

My BIRFDAY!! We went to a family's house and ate lunch there...and ended up staying and talking for like three hours (editor's note: meals in France are an ordeal and frequently take much longer than the standard one hour missionary dinner in the U.S.). They gave me a REAL french scarf!! And the wife made lasagna! It was SUPER bon (good)! We then had an FHE with one of our amis (friends) and the Bellessa couple...and had more cake with them. And then we had another FHE with a different ami and the Branch President and his wife where we had some carro (basically, it's Mormon coffee...no caffeine, nothing bad). And you guessed it, just kidding, you didn't. We had some chocolates with that. Not cake. :) haha

Friday we did exchanges with the Caen Zone Leaders. I was with Elder Christensen (not the one that I mentioned above...a different one.) We had fun. We taught a couple lessons, which was pretty great. He's one cool dude.

And that was my past week. This week is Thanksgiving! I'm stoked! We're having district meeting on Thanksgiving in Caen, and we're doing a district-wide Thanksgiving meal. And then we're also having dinner with the Branch President (they celebrate Thanksgiving just because of the Elders!) I'm stoked...I'm expecting to gain 20 lbs this week!

Well, I'm glad you're all doing well! I hope this next week goes well!

Love y'all!!

-Elder Wilson