A Visit in Versailles from Elder Cook and Elder Texiera

November 24, 2014

Hello Family!

I'm glad that everything is going well. This week went by pretty quickly.

Tuesday, we had exchanges, I went over to Alençon with District Leader Elder Miller, who by the way is from Boise area and went to Valley View High School. He is also related to a Holmstead Family. His name is Alexander Holmstead Miller, I wonder if he's related to Uncle Stephen?

Our exchange was pretty cool. It was really neat to go and work with him, when he testifies of the Plan of Salvation, you know that he knows that it is true and you can feel his deep devotion and love for Heavenly Father. We taught one of their amis, named Charles, who is from Nigeria. Charles is a bouncer at a local night club, even though he looks frightful at first sight, he is a huge teddy bear and wants friendship and love from others. The lesson was super cool, you could feel the love, and I even felt love for Charles, even though that was the only time I had met him.

Thursday, Elder Quentin L. Cook came with Elder Texiera. Seriously, that was the coolest conference I have ever been to. First off, there was a musical number done by some younger missionaries (one of which is an Elder Wilson!! A different one though). The three of them did super well, it was an instrumental version done with a Violin, a Pipe of some sort (sounded like a SUPER expensive recorder flute) accompanied by a piano.

Elder Texiera exhorted us to use Preach my Gospel EVERYDAY as missionaries and promised that if we use it, we will become better missionaries.

Elder Cook talked about many things, but the things that stuck out to me was when he talked about 4 of the deciding factors in assigning missionaries to missions. These factors are impressions that they recieve from the spirit. Some of these impressions are if they feel like a missionary needs to be under a certain mission president, or go to a certain culture to learn from it, or learn a certain language to use it later in their life. So I am here in France because of one or more of these impressions. The effect of a mission is eternal, not just one those that get taught by the missionary, but also on the missionary himself.

He also talked about the 4 relationships on the mission, Elder Cook referred to them as 'The 4 Loves'. The first one he talked about was love of the mission president and his wife. We, as missionaries, need to learn how to love our mission presidents. The next one was love of the people. When we learn how to love the people as a whole, that is when we start having success. The next one is love of your companion. We need to love our companions, if there is contention, that empêche (blocks? Sorry, I forgot how to say the word in english) the spirit and we won't be able to do the Lord's work in His way. The last love is love of the Lord. We must love the Lord and be willing to do things in His way and in His time.

The conference was probably the best conference I've been to. The spirit was super strong and I felt very edified by the time we left.

Also, before it began, Elder Cook wanted to shake hands with each missionary. So we all shook hands with Elder Texiera and Elder Cook. Elder Cook is definitely an Apostle of the Lord. You can feel it in the way he talks and in just being in his presence. It was fantastic.

Friday, we had a meeting with out DMP and his wife. They brought these puff ball things that were super delicious and a champagne-like peach flavored drink. The sister missionaries in Le Mans gave Elder Jenness and I brownies that were super delicious as well. Elder Jenness made Break-up Brownies on top of that, as well, which is a layer of cookies, that you put oreos on top of, then you put brownie batter on top of that and cook it all together. It was super delicious.

And that was the week.

As for Google Hangout, yes, that will be fine.

I love you all!! :) Have a great week!

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Oh, here is a picture of "Steve Carell" eating a break-up brownie, and then a picture of us at a bus stop catching the last bus after Porting on Friday night.

Transfer to Le Mans

November 17, 2014

Hey Famille!!

So to start off, Transfers went well. I had about 5ish hours of trains on Wednesday, but 7 hours of trains total for transfers...ha. We took a train from La Rochelle to Nantes Tuesday night (2 hours 15 minutes ish), then Nantes to Paris Wednesday morning (2 hours and 15 minutes) then I took a TER (the slowest of all trains) to Le Mans, which took 2.5 hours.

Cool miracle that happened, when I got off the train at Le Mans, I accidently left my shoulder bag on the train. I realized about an hour later when I couldn't find it as we were heading out after eating. We went to the gare and asked the SNCF workers if they had found it, they helped us get to where we needed to go to ask the right people. They said they hadn't found it, but they called up the train depot and they had it! I then recieved my bag about 2 hours later. With everything in it, including my camera. I am so thankful for kind SNCF workers. :) I'm super blessed!

My new comp is "Steve Carell." He's from Indianna and his name is actually Elder Jenness, but he looks like Steve Carell. I'll send pictures next week. :) He's 22 and he is in his 5th transfer. And he CAN SING!!! You know what that means right? Singing in the morning, no more of me carrying the tune and my comp trying to follow along but can't because he can't sing. Our first comp study, I got super excited when we sang. Also, Steve Carell (Elder Jenness) is pretty legit. He's a hard worker and ready to go out to go and find! He has a great desire to do his best and is very fun to work with. Elder Jenness likes to cook and also likes to get up at 6 to workout. So we've been getting up at 6 to workout, it's been tiring but great. And we eat very well.

Le Mans is pretty cool. There is a tram here, so basically public transportation here is going to be really great! :) Le Mans is a very beautiful ville and our appartement is very well placed.

Speaking of Primary Programs, the ward here in Le Mans had one this week!! It was super great and I was smiling during the whole thing. The little kids were adorable! And a couple of them even did some funny things ;)

So this week, we have a conference in Versailles, Elder Cook will be coming!! He's coming the day before my birthday, I'm pretty excited!

So here is my new address, bien que je vous aie dit de ne pas m'envoyer des colis. ;)

Elder B. Stanton Wilson

49 Rue Marengo 

72000 Le Mans

France

Speaking of sending me things, could you send me the recipe for Rolled Cookie Dough (the pillsbury recipe) and Yum Yum Cake? :) Thanks :)

I love you all! Have a great week! :)

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Pizza Delivery

November 10, 2014

Hey Famille!

This past week was pretty good. A little long, but also super great. Counting our two mangez vous that we have today, that will make seven mangez vous in seven days.

On the subject of food, I've learned quite a bit about the human body during my mission. When I eat terribly, I feel terrible. When I eat well, I feel very well. When I eat way too much, no matter if it's healthy of not, I feel terrible. That's something that members in general don't understand about missionaries. They are just like normal humans. But members normally think that missionaries need to gorge themselves with food, so they give us giant portions expecting us to eat everything. But I have found that this can be rather handicapping at times....ha But despite that, I really am grateful for the members that really do take time to give us food to eat. It's great to get to know the members.

So, with this week being transfers, we kind of knew that I would leave, so we had a Rendez-vous with Mehdi one last time to find out why he stopped the lessons and also to say good bye and exchange info so we can stay in contact. Mehdi is seriously super cool!! It's sad to me that he stopped with the missionary lessons, but I am glad that he still wants to be our friends. He has super amazing standards and will go on to do great things.

The Fitt's did a little Tours trip to check the apartments there (that's where Elder Smith is at), and Tours is known for their giant Tours Religeuse. The Fitt's brought Elder Godfrey and I each our own Tours Religeuse, which still hasn't been eaten. We're hoping to finish them by tomorrow.

This week we taught a young, 20 year old guy, Richard, and his girlfriend. The way Richard was found was a complete miracle. A couple weeks ago, we were walking down a street at night and a pizza delivary guy asked us to use our phone because he forgot his. So we let him use it. After he gave the pizza to the person, he then gave us his number and told us that he had talked with the Elders in Togo, and that he'd like to talk with us sometime. When we had the rendez-vous, he brought his girlfriend with him. We taught them about the Restoration and they seemed like they really were touched. We set up a return rendez-vous with him.

So, here is the news, after six months, I'm leaving La Rochelle. I'll be going to Le Mans, which is just east of Angers. It's in the Tours Zone!! So Elder Smith will be my Zone Leader, how cool is that?

Today, the Fitt's fed us, they did a "birthday dinner" for me before I leave, even though I won't be here for my birthday. They also gave me an Apron for when I cook!! :) Sister Fitt has a super great memory. I've really appreciated getting to know them. They've basically become like another mother and father to me, out here in the mission field.

So, I have a question, I know there are many Wilson's, but are we, by chance, related to an Edward Donald Wilson who is married to a Lynn Ann? They are a new couple in the mission, I haven't met them yet, but I was just curious.

I love you all!! :)

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Baptism

November 3, 2014

Hello Family!!

This week was a tough week, not gonna lie. But it was also such a rewarding week.

So, Wednesday, we had district meeting. One of the Sister Training Leaders gave a formation on using analogies and object lessons in our teachings. It was a pretty good teaching...even if we are encouraged not to use analogies nor object lessons because that can complicate teachings and sometimes, teach false doctrine. But it was a pretty fun formation nevertheless.

Thursday and Friday were all finding days. It was pretty tough. These past weeks have been rather finding weeks, which can be uplifting...but it rather tends to get a little discouraging. Sometimes. Friday night, both of us were feeling pretty down. We still had some time and had NO idea what to do. Then we prayed and felt like we should go pass by a non active member. I had to pee, so on the way, we found a place where I could do so. Then we went onward. As we were going to this member's house, we contacted a lady that was super believing and super into hearing more. She told us many times "It's so good what you're doing. Continue well. Don't get discouraged." That was exactly what I needed at that time to help me keep going. We talked with her for about 35 minutes and shared the Restoration with her and gave her a Book of Mormon and prayed with her in the Street. She actually lives over in a place called Cognac, which is more than an hour away from La Rochelle, and it is in Bordeaux Stake, which isn't in our mission. I hope that the missionaries in the Angoulême branch can make their way out there.

Thursday night, we went out to the Bishop's house with the Fitt Couple. We were going to go with Mehdi, but he decided that he doesn't want to get baptized, and so he declined the offer. But the Bishop still wanted us to come despite that. It was really neat to be their and talk with him and his family. For our spiritual thought, we focused on the children. We talked about Joseph Smith's story and had the kids explain what happened. It was pretty cool to hear the story in the words of children. Right before leaving, we discussed with the Bishop about his personal missionary work. We invited him to invite some of his friends to join them for a family home evening.

Saturday, was a finding day as well. But it seemed a little better than Friday. And then Saturday night, we ended up walking about an hour to go to someone's house to visit him. His name is Gendry and he is very, very much so evangelical. Which is great, but it makes teaching really tough. You need to know the bible super well to teach avid evangelists. He ended up asking us questions on some things, like authority, laying on of hands and stuff. He doesn't believe that you need the laying on of hands to recieve the Holy Ghost. Which is sort of true. You don't need the laying of hands to FEEL the Holy Ghost. But to receive the GIFT of the Holy Ghost, which is the right to have the Holy Ghost with us at all times as long as we are worthy of it, it must be given by the laying on of hands. Sadly, we didn't know scriptures to help him understand that, but now, we know some scriptures for future reference. Hebrews 6:1-2, Actes 8:14-17. It was a pretty cool rdv even with that. It was just awesome to be around people that really love the word of God.

Sunday, the day that made the whole week SO much better!! :) Kicked it off with a super missionary minute. Every Sunday we have a Minute Missionnaire (missionary minute) in Priesthood Meeting that we use to try to get members excited about missionary work. Normally, missionaries just share miracles that happened during the week, which is good, but I've learned during my mission that there is a block between missionaries and french members. First, we're missionaries, we're supposed to see miracles every week. It's expected. Second, normally we're American. So what we say automatically doesn't apply to them because they are French (just a little bit of the French mentality in general.) But I have learned that when we ask the members to share their experiences and encourage them to pray to have missionary experiences, they listen, they get excited, they apply it to themselves. This Sunday, three leaders shared their missionary experiences. The spirit was strong and the members seemed like they were actually listening to them. It was cool.

Then, after church was the Swanepoel's baptism. The spirit was so strong. Honestly, I got the same feelings that I used to get performing. But it felt better. It was super strong. Everything went well with their baptisms and confirmations. We then had a ward dinner after and ate and conversed. It was so awesome. That experience is probably the best experience I've had on my mission. Being able to be one of their missionaries. They were definitely prepared for this time. Bokke and Georget were both smiling from ear to ear after their baptisms and confirmations. We'll be starting with the New Member lessons for them this week. I'm so excited. :)

And that was the week. Hey, you finally got the package back!!! Haha. Elder Paitrault tried sending it to Cergy, but they never gave me a notice that I had a package...ha. The Post has some problems in France... I guess I'll benefit from that after my mission alors.

I hope Kaysen stops growing. ;) I gotta stay the biggest. :) He can have the biggest feet, but I need to be the tallest. How much does he weigh?

I love you all. Have a great week. :)

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Catholic Mass

October 28, 2014

Hey Family!!

 

I got your email. We had to change our P-day this week because of baptismal interviews with the Swanepoels.

 

So, this past week has been pretty long. But, it was still great nonetheless. It kicked off really well on Tuesday with Exchanges down in La Rochelle. I was with Elder Nielsen this time, Elder Godfrey was with Elder Tarbet. Elder Nielsen and I headed over to the church to meet someone for a rendez-vous, but we were frudg'd. He didn't show up, so we started walking back to the appartement to have dinner. As we were making our way back, an older gentleman pulled over and motioned for us to come over. So we came over and he unrolled his window...then was just silent. So I asked "Est-ce que vous cherchez quelques choses?" He replied "Vous êtes des Mormons, n'est-ce pas?" We replied in the affirmative, (which I normally don't reply that way. Usually I say that we are from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and that people nicknamed us the Mormons.) He then said "I was in contact with the Mormons 30-40 years ago. Here's my card. I live over in that building over there. Can you come over at 15h00 tomorrow?" So we looked at our schedule and we "squeezed" him in. (haha, kinda like in the Best Two Years.)

 

We went out porting that night and prayed with two different people. It was pretty cool and miraculous. We even gave a Book of Mormon to one of them. Sadly, they weren't interested to learn more though.

 

So then Wednesday, Elder Godfrey and I headed over to that guy's appartement. His name is Christian and he was baptized in Marseilles. He was ordained to a priest. He then went away from the church because of little things that bothered him (calling each other brother and sister and small stuff like that) and because of his work. He was in the French Navy basically since the age of the Dinosaures. He's moved around quite a bit. He saw us walking and decided that he'd try to come a sunday or two. He was a very nice guy and I hope that he comes...he lives a five minutes walk from the church. (Or, because I have read it recently, And it was a five minute walk for a Nephite.)

 

Wednesday night, we received permission from Président Babin to go to a Catholic Masse for a student ward in La Rochelle that we were invited to. The service itself was really confusing and didn't make too much sense to me. The "Father" (the priest) read some parable and "expounded" on it...but didn't really actually expound on it...and then there was one part when a bunch of the students just fell on their knees at the same time...Elder Godfrey and I had NO idea what to do. Ha. It was very interesting. I don't think I'll convert over to Cathotholism. I'll stay in The Church of Jesus Christ. Afterwards, there was a dinner for everyone, and many students insisted we go, so we did. It was really cool to speak with people our age. Real, believing young adults. It was a really neat experience.

 

And then the rest of the week we went our searching for people who'll listen to us. We saw this guy on a bench playing guitar, so we went and listened to him. After he finished his song, he asked us who we are and what we're doing and stuff. We ended up teaching him the Restoration right there. He then let me play a couple songs with his guitar, it was pretty cool. We set up a return rendez-vous with him for this Thursday.

 

Yesterday was quite the stressful day. The Swanepoel's let us know that Bokke would be playing Rugby the sunday after their baptism, which means they wouldn't be able to come to get confirmed (we do all our baptisms in La Rochelle on sundays, so that all the ward members can be there). So we called up the bishop to explain the situation, he then told us that if we got permission from the mission president, we could do it all the same day. So after a 15 minute call with the mission president, we called the bishop letting him know that we received permission to do so. Then we called the Swanepoel's back and let them know that, they then asked if we could do the interview Wednesday instead...so we asked if it was at all possible for them to do it today, and they pushed back the interviews about an hour. It was pretty stressful, but everything with that went really well. :)

 

On another great note, I am now officially legal for my second year in France. I'm legal until the 13 of September in 2015.

 

About Halloween. The French don't really celebrate it. Last Halloween I think I saw 5 kids dressed up. If that. Halloween isn't big at all. Especially those that are part of the Jehovah's Witness. But that religion doesn't celebrate like any holidays. Some French find it rather atrocious, others think it's super weird, others would love to celebrate it, but don't want to alone, and then others don't care and celebrate it themselves.

 

Sorry this week is so short. We don't have too much time. :P

 

I love you all and hope everything is going well! I'm glad that you're having fun showing everyone my "frost-bitten" feet. Here's a quote for you, if you get it "His feet have the black!!" :)

 

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Zone Conference in Angers

October 20, 2014

Hey Everyone!!

First off, so I don't forget, I hope Dad's birthday went well a couple weeks ago. And also KAYSEN!!! (pretend like I'm singing at the top of my lungs and being a super, awkward creeper.) "15 Years ago you were born, yeah that's right it's your special day (on sunday). So have a happy birthday!!! Happy birthday!!"

Bon, buh this week went pretty well. We taught Mehdi (the ami) about the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ this week. He is such a smart guy. He understands everything perfectly. He's been such an example to me. Any time he has some kind of issue that comes up, he prays about it. And then he feels at peace. And then later he talks to us about it. And it's pretty cool. He resolves his own concerns. Most of his concerns tend to be more moral things, as in "a group of people that I was with started drinking and they started to get rather agressive, so I left. But they aggressed someone in the group that was drinking. Should I have stayed and helped out the person out? Or did I act well in leaving?" And he's noticing that he's changing as he's getting closer to Christ and Heavenly Father. He says that they've been really good changes. After our very first rendez-vous, he stopped drinking and smoking completely. He said he didn't smoke or drink very often as is, but he decided that doing those things didn't help him at all, so he decided to stop them completely.

Thursday we had Zone Conference in Angers. I love going to Angers it is probably the Utah of France, on a cleanliness level. Seriously, you could eat off the streets in Angers. All the formations (France-Paris Missionary lingo for presentations) were really good. The Zone Leaders' formation was about having a "Friendly Exchange" meaning making the most out of exchanges. And in the end the goal is to make every day a "Friendly Exchange".

The Babin's did a scripture chase with us to emphasize the importance of knowing scriptures. Reminded me of a game we used to play in Seminary. It was very fun and very instructive. :) Then the interviews went really well. The interviews were basically just nice, loving conversations. It didn't feel like an interview at all. :)

The Fitt couple rented a car to drive down in (because their car is, as they say, sick and needs to go to the doctor.) and they took us down, but we got to take a train back, because they needed to do appartement checks and so they were staying overnight in Angers. Our train left from Angers at 17h00. We had a correspondance in Tours, then took a train from Tours to Poitiers (which isn't in the Paris Mission...but it's okay. Missionnaires don't directly order tickets, we command them through an office couple, then they order the tickets for us. So I've been outside the mission boundaries twice now...once when I came to La Rochelle, and then this last trip.) Poitiers looks like a super cool ville. Elder Godfrey and I took pictures so we'll always remember our trip. Ha.

Sunday, I played the piano for sacrement meeting. We sang Because I Have Been Given Much, C'est Sur La Croix (don't remember what that one is in English), A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, and Love One Another. It's been a great experience to play the piano for the ward. And my piano skills are improving. It's been pretty cool.

That was the week this past week. I'm glad you had a great laugh about my foot "disease." ;) I'll see if I can get some water proofing stuff. We're gonna go look for new shoes for Elder Godfrey today (he really, REALLY needs new shoes...) and the place we're going to will have some stuff I could possibly get.

Well I love you all!!

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Missing Letters

Here are a few weeks that hadn't been posted yet:

September 29, 2014

Hello Family,

So, this past week passed really well.

Monday, during our P day, we headed over to a store called Lidl to go and buy some juice...now, Lidl is like one of the cheapest stores ever...it's kind of like Ross, but for produce/food. BUT Lidl has THEE best juices ever. So on our way, our ami José saw us and stopped in his car to talk to us. Turns out he needed some help getting a website for his work online, so he asked us if we could help him. We said we could try, he ended up being able to get it up himself later though. But it was really cool to be in the right place at the right time.

Then later Monday night, we went to the Razamadraibe's house so that I'd be able to say goodbye to them, since it was a high possibility of me leaving. It was really fun. By the way, the game Cranium is very, very difficult in French. :)

Tuesday we had our last District meeting of the transfer. It was pretty good. It was mostly just a discussion on the Spirit and promptings from the spirit. We ate our lunch together afterwards, and then took some district photos. I forgot to bring my camera to emails today...so no photos for you. :/ Désolé.

Wednesday we met with the Swanepoel's at the Church in La Rochelle and taught them with Frère Forbes, who is a Rugby player for La Rochelle's team. Even though the Swanepoel's boys were screaming the whole time, Frère Forbes bore a powerful testimony on the truthfulness of the church and of Joseph Smith. It was really great. The Swanepoel's both talked about how they know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. They are definitely getting more and more ready for their baptisms.

Thursday morning, I had a rendez-vous for my second year legality in France. The RDV went really well...except, remember a year ago...the whole Afgahn thing? That came up again. Apparently I've been an Afgahn the whole past year. Bahaha!! The lady that was going through my papers and stuff was very kind and was able to change my nationality from Afgahn to American. So, I think I'll stay American for the rest of my life. :)

That evening we had a rdv with our ami Mehdi. We shared with him the First Vision and bore testimony on it. He said that what we told him really spoke to him. He also said that we are both smart and know our stuff, then he added, "It's not an intelligence from the brain, it's like...an intelligence from the heart. Like you've really reflected on this and pondered it, and that you know without a doubt it is true." That really was a cool compliment to receive. If our testimonies come off strong like that, it's not only because of us and our experiences we've lived, it's because of the spirit. The spirit was so strong during the lesson. Mehdi accepted the soft invite to baptism. He invited an invitation to come to church as well. He also had brought his guitar, because he wanted to hear me sing, and then he asked  for some help on a song that he's working on. It's in english, so he asked us if he is pronouncing everything correctly. He's pretty good. He held his engagement to come on sunday. :)

Friday, we met the less active Mehdi. We were originally going to meet at his house, but 10 minutes before the RDV he asked if we could just meet at the Chapelle, which was a GENIOUS idea! It was the first time he had walked into a church in the last 5 years. That was a really big step for him. We talked with him in the Sacrement room where he expressed his feelings that he had being there. He even came to church this sunday for the first time in 5 years!! The ward was SO great at welcoming him in. :)

Saturday we went to Niort to teach Christian, then to do a Samedi Sport with Josué, one of the Razamadraibe sons. During our lesson with Christian, he called us telling us that he had a music event and we'd need to push back basketball a bit, he then invited us to come and told me to come and play a couple songs. We came and I was able to play a couple songs. (I guess this was a rather musical week...haha) Then basketball ended up falling through. Josué's friends weren't able to come and play.

Transfers, we received a rather surprising call Saturday Morning from Président Babin, guess who is going to Tours as a Zone Leader? Elder Smith and I weren't expecting that, but he'll do a great job. So, it appears that I'll be staying at least 6 months in La Rochelle. We totally thought I would be leaving, but the Lord has higher ways and still has more for me to do and learn here in La Rochelle. I'll be welcoming in Elder Godfrey, who was at the MTC with me. He's pretty chill, so I'm excited. He is a beast of an Athlete. Or at least, he was in the MTC, let's hope a year on the mission hasn't changed that. ;)

With Elder Smith parting to Tours, I've accepted a new calling as the Ward Pianist. It's not really a calling, because we're not set apart for it, but I'll be taking over for Elder Smith. We trained each other. For two transfers, he was training me to become the Pianist of the La Rochelle ward and I was training him to become Zone Leader. (that's just the joke he and I have been cracking ever since we received that call.)

I'm pretty excited for this new transfer, the news was rather surprising, but it's gonna be great. It'll be sad to say goodbye to Elder Smith, he and I have become pretty good friends over these past 12 weeks.

Don't worry for you, I'll look for you at GC. Look for Elder Tripp during the Priesthood Session!!! He's going to be in the MTC Choir!!

Also, we just recently were given a Crock Pot, so could you send me some awesome crock pot recipes that you've already tried? I'd love to use it more. Elder Smith and I make Café Rio Pork last week and it turned out SUPER! We used a recipe that I got from an Elder in the mission. (I didn't want to try the one you sent me because the Salsa in France is gross. Tastes more like a very sweet, chili-powder jelly...ha) Also, could you send me the recipe for Rolled Sugar Cookie Dough? The pillsbury recipe. :) Thanks!

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Stay Fly!

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

September 15, 2014

Hello Family!

It's good to hear that most all is going well. It's too bad to hear that momma was/is sick. Reposes-toi bien maman!

Last P day we went Bowling with the Fitt's. Guess who got over 100? :) I know that's not too high, but hey, for not bowling for QUITE some time, I'd say that bowling a 104 isn't too bad. I'll send you some pictures.

Buh, this week was a different week. The Fitt's went on a Tour de France all week, so it was rather odd being in La Rochelle with out a couple missionary. By the way, when I say Tour de France, I mean appartement checks in Bretagne. They seriously went through all of Bretagne in like 5 days. Bless their souls, that's TONS of driving. They were a little wiped out from their trip.

Meanwhile, In La Rochelle, Elder Smith and I had double exchanges (meaning that both équipes work in the same secteur) Tuesday/Wednesday with the District leader and his Comp in La Rochelle. I was with the DL, Elder Nielsen, from Tremonton. The exchange went well. It's very interesting how much the plans that are made, that may seem inspired at the moment they are planned, can change so fast.

After Dinner, we were going to go somewhere to do some porting, but as we started approaching the area on the bus, I felt like we should pass by Geni (the ami that got super offended when I was with Elder Rigby). So we did. He happened to be there, invited us in to talk and to eat dinner with him and his wife. He did mention that he was still offended at "Collin" (he likes to know our first names, then he likes to call us by them. Lucky for me, he can't remember mine to save his life!!) about not being able to come in our appartement, which being interpreted means, he is still offended at the missionary rules and doesn't understand them. He was very nice though!! We shared a scripture with him, something along the lines of "come unto Christ" (the one in Moroni 10 near the end of the chapter) and invited him to church. He said he might come, it depends on his sick mother. He did not attend church this week.

Even though Geni is still offended, he did seem happy to see us. I do feel like that impression to visit him was from the Spirit. It is SO important that we follow the spirit every time he prompts us.

Wednesday, we finished the exchange and sent the Elders back off to Nantes.

Thursday we went and printed off a picture of the Paris Temple (what it is supposed to look like) to go give it to a Less Active member, who, a few weeks ago, we had promised to bring her a picture of it after she talked about her experience when she was 15 in doing baptisms for the dead at the Geneva temple. When we gave it to her, her face lit up. It was pretty cool. I hope she will soon get the desire to come back to church.

Friday we finally were able to see the Swanepoel's!!! Yay!!!!!! We got to take a train to Niort, then a bus to Fontenay, then waited a bit for Bokke to come pick us up. They fed us lunch, which was a SUPER delicious spaghetti, and a millefeuille for desert. We then shared with them Moroni 7:13 and invited them to continue to pray about the Book of Mormon. Bokke says he hasn't really received an answer yet, and that he feels like it's more of a story than some kind of biblical record, but he agreed to continue to pray about it. Georget though, she said she has recieved her answer. Before they received the BoM in their native language (Afrikaans) they had it in English. They sat down together to read it after we talked about it, they struggled for 15 minutes trying to read one page. And didn't understand any of it (now, they speak english very well, but when it comes to reading Old English, it's a little harder). Georget prayed for something for God to give her a reason to keep reading the Book of Mormon. The next RDV, we gave them Books of Mormon (or is it Book of Mormons? *insert winky face here*) in Afrikaans. Georget said that that was her answer.

Interesting information on that, we could have given them the Books of Mormon in Afrikaans before they had their experience, but when the Fitt's asked us if we should give them to the Swanepoel's, we both said, hmmm, maybe, we'll see. Then at the last minute we decided not to, for some odd reason.

We also re-fixed baptismal dates. November 2nd! We've almost finished all of the lessons with them. It's been super great to teach them!!

Friday night, Sister Rigby invited us over to eat with her and her husband Allen, who isn't a member. Allen is SUCH a hoot!! He switches accents a lot and it is hilarious. At one point, Sister Rigby was talking about all the apostles that Allen has heard in person, and she mentioned Spencer W. Kimball. Allen then said in his American accent, "I had heard he was quite the Kimball Wizard." Elder Smith and I laughed pretty hard. :) Our spiritual thought we shared was Moses 1:39.

Saturday we took a train to Niort to visit Christian. We finished the Restoration with him. His youngest son was there, so we were able to teach him with Christian. It was pretty cool.

We were supposed to have another rdv with a potential ami, but he apparently was working. So since we had time, we passed by a member that lives not far from the Gare and talked with them for a couple minutes before catching our train.

Well, that was the week! I hope you enjoy the pictures. I also included a picture that we took while we were in Niort.

Have a great week!

Cheers!

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson