Sonic Mole Remover

March 2, 2015

Hello Family!!

This week was really great! Also, we had quite the experience.

So, Tuesday night, while porting about, we received a call from a guy named Charles, telling us that he was an old ami of the missionaries and that he found our number "par hazard" (randomly) and was wondering if maybe we'd be able to see him sometime. We didn't immediately fix a rendez-vous with him, but we told him we'd check our planning and see if we could see him this week. We finished the night then made our way home and looked in the Area Book to try and find the teaching record of a Charles, since neither Elder Davis nor I could recall having read a teaching record of a Charles.

Well, we didn't find one. So we thought, ah, we'll call him tomorrow and see if we can see him. So we did. And we talked with him. Charles said that he has met with the missionaries since 95, but hasn't gotten baptised yet. He said it's one of "ses projets de la vie" (one of his life time plans) to be baptised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So we let him know that we are here to help him, it'll be hard and it'll take time, but as he keeps the engagements we give him, he will be prepared. We felt inspired to invited him to be baptised the 11th of Avril. He didn't accept the invitation because he said he wasn't sure if he'd be ready, we explained that the date can change, but we promised him that if he keeps these engagements he will be ready for the 11th.

So rendez-vous finished, all was well, we were both feeling pretty skeptical though, and it was just to be so because it's not often that eternal amis come out of the blue as such and then tell you they want to get baptised. As we were leaving we asked Charles what his last name was so we'd be able to sonnor (ring his little ringing thing in his appartement) for the next time. He just replied with a little laugh like "a-ha". Well, we thought that was super weird that he didn't give us his last name. So on the way out, we checked the mail boxes to try and find a "Charles" somewhere. Didn't find one on any of the boxes, although we did make an interesting find. "Raffi". That is the last name of an Eternal Ami we have in the area book who has been noted to waste missionaries time...we immediately realized Charles has lied about his name to us. We deducted it was because he thought if he told the missionaries his real name, it would be a pretty low possibility of them coming over to help him out with "ses projets".

Saturday, we saw him again and told him in a loving manner that we know who he is and asked why he didn't tell us his real name. He answered just how we had expected, so we're giving him a chance because he seems sincere and we believe in repentance. Anyways, we asked him if he had read the Book of Mormon, he said he has not. But he shared with us this book that has been written about the Mormons (it's not anti-mormon, it was written by two french guys that love the US) that helps him understand the doctrine better and understand who mormons are better. We told him, if he truly wants to progress, to give his reading priorities to The Book of Mormon. We engaged him to read the first three chapters in the Book of Mormon and told him we'll call him to set up another RDV. We let him know that if he does not keep his engagements he will not progress and that we won't be able to help him, that this démarche is up to him, we're here to help him with it, but if he doesn't keep his part, there's not much we can do.

This all probably comes off a little harsh, but the spirit was present. It was really cool. The spirit filled us with the words we needed to say to help him understand that he needs to commit himself.

So, obviously that was a big part of the week. ha :)

But other things that happened were Zone Conference on Friday!! Zone Conference was super great! We also had interviews, which was splendid! And then, we had a surprise. We got to watch Meet the Mormons...or atleast, we were going to get to watch it...but the Assistants left it in Angers at their last Zone Conference...so instead we watched Ephraim's Rescue...I've already seen Ephraim's Rescue quite a bit during the mission, it's one of the few approved films we can watch...so all the missionaries that have seen it quoted along with it. It was pretty funny.

Sunday we had Stake Conference in Paris. Guess who else was there? Elder Kearon. This was my third Conference (whether that is a stake or a missionary conference) with him. He gave a super great talk. Something that really touched me was his story about Moles. He talked about how he had a beautiful lawn, then one day, he had a hole from a mole. The next day, he had more holes, so he decided to take care of it. So we went to the store and asked what he can use to get rid of moles. The manager came back with a nice little machine called the "Sonic Mole Remover" which is a little thing you stick in the ground and it sends out sonic waves that repelles moles. So he tried it out. Well, the mole didn't stop digging and didn't go away. So he decided to take a shovel and wait by one of the holes. As he saw the dirt move, he started shoveling super hard and fast and got the mole out of the earth. He then released it on his neighbors lawn (just kidding...that was the joke he said though...ha). He actually released it on the road and it went away and never came back.

He said sometimes, in the Gospel, we have things like the Sonic Mole Remover that seem really cool complicated, but don't necessarily work. Most times, we need to take a shovel and dig. It may sound simple, but that's what will get the job done. But what do the shovel and digging represent? Daily Prayer, Scripture Study, Family Home Evening. He invited us all to listen and do what the Stake President has advised for us. Do these simple things.

It was a great conference and a great way to end the week.

I feel so blessed to be a missionary in the France Paris Mission. I love it here.

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

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Rillettes du Mans. . . It's one of the things Le Mans is known for. Basically what it is is liquified meat. They take Pork, throw it in a blender, then add some goose fat to it and put it in these containers. It sounds super gross, and looks gross, too, but it tastes SUPER great! :)

Elder Davis and I...the day I got Pink Eye. ha :) (don't worry, I'm better now.)

Ward Council & Everyday Miracles

February 23, 2015

Hello Family!

This week went well, we had some pretty cool miracles happen! :)

First off, Tuesday, we felt impressed to pass by a less active that we had tried many, many times and had basically given up because he never answered. But we went for one last time. And he was there! He let us in and we shared a scripture with him. We told him that we loved him and that we missed him at church and that we'd love him to come back. He said he'd come back if someone picks him up because taking public transportation is "too far" for him. We left knowing what that meant. But finally, we were able to meet him and invite him to do something. If he isn't going to do anything, there isn't anything more we can do than invite.

Wednesday, we had to go to the Gare to search for train tickets for the upcoming zone conference (this upcoming Friday) and Stake Conference (this Sunday). We decided to do so after District Meeting. While we were there, one of my old amis from Cergy walked into the Gare. We found out that he'll be living in Le Mans for an internship for the next six months. We're hoping to being to meet with him to teach him more about the Gospel.

Thursday we headed down to La Flèche to see our less active buddy livin' out there. We tried confirming beforehand but Marvine didn't answer. So we went anyways with faith that we would see him. When we arrived we made our way to his apartment and called him. Again, he didn't answer. We noticed the door was open, so we let ourselves in and climbed the stairs to his apartment and knocked. He was home! And he remembered we were coming, too. We watched the Restoration DVD with him and then talked about it. Let's just say, he's got a lot to learn, but we're going to help him with that. Also, good news, he's working on getting his drivers permit so he can drive to church! We have no idea how he's going to get a car without a job, but judging by his huge TV and his bumpin' sound system and giant tiger plushie, he'll get a car somehow...ha

After getting back in Le Mans, we set out contacting people in the street. We ended up sharing the Book of Mormon with a younger woman in the street and praying with her...in fact, she even said the prayer. It was pretty cool. And at night we went out porting and prayed with a muslim lady at her window. It was a pretty cool experience.

Friday, we went and visited a member that has recently been struggling with activity in the Church. He is one of the ward missionaries as well. We read through Doctrine and Covenants 4 with him and talked about it. After the spiritual thought, we asked if there is anything we can do to help him and he said yes. Come every week and give me spiritual thoughts like this. So we'll be seeing him again this week.

Then Saturday we had Ward Counsel. Normally, in Ward Counsel, the missionaries are expected to be there, but when we talk about what we need done, the Ward Counsel makes excuses as to why it's not important and they don't really take the missionaries seriously. Well, for the first time in my mission, this was not the case. We had things to get done that day so we asked if we could go first and leave promptly after. So the Sisters asked the questions and got the things done that they needed, as well did we. And then we discussed a baptismal goal for the year. As we started discussing this, one member of the ward counsel stated "let's not just set an empty number like we do every year. Let's work with the faces that we have. The amis that the missionaries find and are bringing are not staying, but we have other amis that have been in contact with the church that the ward knows already." They then proceeded to list 8 names of people that were in contact with the church that aren't members and we set a goal based around the people that we have already. Finally, the members are starting to realize that the amis found by members are more likely to join than those found by the missionaries. It was the most productive Ward Counsel I have attended.

Later, we had an Après-Midi Familial (Family Home Afternoon) with the Young Adults. Elder Davis and I planned it out and organized everything so that we could get the Young Adults unified together and give them an activity to invite their non-member friends to. We'll be doing it once a month at the least. It was a success, even though only 4 of the 7 Young Adults came. We watched a Mormon Message (https://www.lds.org/pages/flecks-of-gold?lang=eng) and talked about the "Flecks of Gold" in the Gospel. After wards, we ate cookies that the Sisters made and Elder Davis taught them how to play Bang! (since Bang! is a western style game and Flecks of Gold is a western style Mormon Message).

Overall, it was a super great week! :)

Miracles happen every day. It's up to us to look for and recognize them. As we do so, we start to see more and more and realize just how much the Lord plays a role in our lives.

I love you all!

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Thanks for taking care of all my college stuff, mom and dad! I love you! :) I'll get you that video later today.

Sick and Pink Eye

February 16, 2015

Hello Family!

I'm glad you all had a great Valentine's Day! :)

This week was a pretty great week but sadly, a very very sick week.

I'll start out with the bad news. 

Thursday I woke up with a head ache...it still hasn't gone away. Friday, I woke up and felt super sore all over. And I woke up with stuffed sinuses and a swollen tonsils and a nice sore throat. Saturday, I didn't feel sore anymore but I felt super super tired with a sore throat that had worsened and the tonsils and the sinuses. Sunday woke up feeling a little better, except my left eye was pretty red. Then by the end of the day, my right eye was itching like no other and was oozing puss-like liquid. In short, I think I have pink eye right now. :D but I'll call the nurse today to get that confirmed. So, needless to say, because I've been pretty sick, we haven't got much work done this week.

BUT things still did happen before AND during my sickness!!

Before the sickness, on Wednesday, Elder Davis and I set off to go finding. We ended up praying with two people in the street, one of whom we gave a Plan of Salvation brochure. When we first contacted her, she said she didn't believe in God, but by the end of the contact, she admitted she did, but that she had had a hard life and that it was getting harder for her to believe. We prayed with her and left her with the brochure.

We then made our way to the Ajako's. They invited us in to tell us they couldn't meet with us because their little daughter has chicken pox...so we said a prayer with them, blessing their home so that they can heal of the sickness. I'm not sure it was chicken pox though...I think it was probably another sickness though...

Thursday night we went over to a family's house. They're Adventist. They made it clear they didn't want to be taught and that they weren't willing to change...so it ended up being a rather social meeting with them. They were super nice though.

Saturday we met an ami. We ound out that he is under house arrest until October. Which is good and bad for us. It's good because now, there is no way he can miss a rendez-vous with us. The bad news though is that on the weekends, he can only leave his appartement from 14h00-17h00 which means he won't be coming to church until after October. But he seems to have a clear desire to change his life and to stop messing up. So we will help him as much as we can.

Sunday, after church a member in the ward took us to his house to eat with him and his family. The Rossi's are such a great family! Frère Rossi made this super delicious tofu stuff. It was a rice dish. The sauce had in it his homemade tofu, dried banana's, 8 different spices (cinnamon, cumin, curry, black pepper, ground cloves, ginger, and two others that I can't remember), and almonds. It was super delicious. 

And that was about how the week went. :) I'm hoping this week to heal to be able to get back to working super hard.

I love you all! :)

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Diligence and Patience are the Keys

February 9, 2015

Hello Family!

This week was...really long and rather difficult. But it was so worth it in the end.

So it was transfer week, and it tends to seem a little long when there isn't a change in companions. Thus was the case with this week, except it was really tough. But it was all worth it.

Now what was so hard about this week? Finding. Almost every day. It wears on you. Especially when you meet really rude people, which it appears this week, we met some of the rudest people that we have yet on our missions. I don't think I've ever taken so many insults and met so many people that wanted to offend us. But we pushed through.

Wednesday, we ended up teaching 3 people in the street, all of whom didn't want to meet again with us. We also passed by the Ajako's for the first time in a while and tried teaching as simply as possible, but they didn't understand at all. It was a discouraging day. We taught people, but nobody was progressing. We haven't had a progressing ami for 6 weeks. But we pushed on.

Finally, Saturday came along. We had 3 rendez-vous scheduled. One with a Congolais named Mr. Pino, another with a french guy named Fabrice and another one with a Guadaloupian named Kevin.

We've been trying to see Mr Pino for a while, but because of family problems, it's taken some time. It was well worth the wait. He is a golden ami. We taught him the Rétablissement. He accepted everything super well. We invited him to baptism, he thought about it, then accepted. The spirit was so strong. We'll be seeing him next saturday as well.

Then we hopped on a bus and made our way to Fabrice's house. He referred himself through the church website. He's actually a non practicing muslim. He converted to Islam a couple years ago. He wanted to know about Mormon's after seeing a "reportage" about the "Mormons". It was a documentary about the polygamists, so we were able to teach him about REAL mormons. We'll be coming back next saturday to teach more. He also is willing to come to the Chapelle and see how it is chez-nous.

Then we got back on the bus and went over to Kevin's house. We were teaching him the Rétab, when he started expressing concerns of his illiteracy. He is 25 and he is legally illiterate, but he is dying to learn how to read. He's been paying the JW's 25 bucks a week for reading lessons, which is basically just them teaching him how to read by indoctrinating him with false doctrine. (It's no wonder we can't teach English classes here with people doing that...) Elder Davis and I decided, that if we can, to try and help him. We'll be seeing him again next Saturday as well.

We were also invited to a Priesthood activity...BOWLING! We tried really hard finding an ami that would be available, but couldn't find anyone. But we went anyways, and one of the members had brought a non member to the activity! So we talked with him during the bowling activity. It was really cool!

And so the week ended on a super great note. Diligence and Patience are key in the Lord's work. As we are patient and we work diligently, the Lord will bless us.

I love you all! :)

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

To address your questions, I have not yet bought new shoes, still looking. I did receive the letters! :) It was a nice surprise! 

Teaching with Members

February 2, 2015

Bonjour la Famille!

This week was kind of a really tiring week. It was the last week of the long, 8 week transfer!! It was also a finding week.

So, transfer news: Elder Wilson, you have been called.......*drum roll, please* to stay in Le Mans with Elder Davis for another 6 weeks!! Yay!! Yoopie! (pronounced you-pee. It's the French way of saying yipee! Or however that is spelled.)

We started the week off super great, Monday night with our ami René (earlier called Kouassi, until we found out his prénom). We taught René and his Uncle and his girlfriend this past Monday with Frère Demmin. Before the rdv, Frère Demmin told us that he had told the missionaries for years that he'd love to come teaching with them, but the missionaries never asked him, and they are CRAZY not to have done so. Frère Demmin is a SUPER member to teach with. We went over the Rétablissement and Joseph Smith's story again (since it'd been about a month since we'd seen René). The Spirit was super strong. Sadly, René works in Paris, so we wasn't able to come to church this week, but he's working on moving his store out here in Le Mans.

Tuesday, we had our last district meeting together...of the transfer that is. Our district is staying exactly the same! The subject was on teaching simply. It was a pretty great formation. I'll send you pictures of our end of the transfer picture together.

The rest of the week we spent searching for new people. We couldn't seem to get a hold of our amis we already had, or if we did, they couldn't meet with us. Three of our amis were in Paris this whole week...ha.

We did get invited over Sunday night to the household of the 1st counselor in the Stake presidency, Frère Hitoto. They had their Soirée Familiale (Family home evening) and gave us the lesson. Elder Davis had a great object lesson idea with a clémentine. He had all the kids close their eyes and close their ears. One at a time, he'd tap on their shoulder and they could take their hands off their ears. Then we'd tell them to either listen, smell, or touch the clémentine. After that, we hid the clémentine and asked them what it was. They had a hard time deciding what it was, so we showed them what the object was. We then compared that to the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost makes things more clear to us and help us see clearly what is true and right. We shared Moroni 10:5 with them and had the kids talk about what it means to them. After that, the kids asked us questions about being missionaries. I didn't realize how much the kids in France really look up to missionaries. It was super cool to talk with them. We then ate les crêpes with the family. It was super good!! :) As we ate, we talked about missionaries experiences we have had and gave them some ideas of ways they can invite their neighbors. It was super spiritual and super great!

Although the week was tough, the beginning and the end made the whole week worth it. :)

I'm really sorry that this week is super short...I really don't have more to add about the week.

As far as shoes, I haven't yet bought the shoes, I'm looking for them though, and I'll explain why I haven't bought them yet.

So, the season of "Les Soldes"...is comparable to a gentleman's Black Friday. Many, many stores discount their products to get rid of the old "collection" and make room for the new "collection" of clothing/stuff. The first week, they discount their old collection up to 30 percent off, this is called le Premier Démarque. The 2nd or 3rd week, they discount their stuff up to 50 percent off. This is le Deuxième Démarque. Then the 4th through the 6th week, whatever is left is normally discounted up to 70 percent off. This is le Dernier Démarque. There is quite a bit of good stuff still left by le Dernier Démarque, so I've been waiting until then to hopefully find some shoes around 50 euros.

Now, you might be thinking, why on earth would a missionary go to something that is compared to Black Friday? Reason: It's very gentlemen like. Since it happens over 6 weeks, nobody goes crazy like in the States on Black Friday. People here get excited, but the stores aren't jam packed with people to the point they need the SWAT team to come. Nobody gets pushed or shoved. Everybody just minds their own business, buys what they want, and leaves. It's pretty cool. :)

Well I hope you all have a great week! And Kaysen, about soccer, make sure you go to EVERY open gym possible! Just a tip. :)

I love you all!

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

P.s. The questions will be answered by next week. I've been thinking about them, and I came up with quite a witty response to the candy bar question. I think you'll like them, and I hope that SNOW likes them.

P.P.S. Here is a picture of the district. And a picture of the kids that we got to eat with last night. :)

Object Lesson

January 26, 2015

Hello Family!

It's good to hear that you're doing well.

As for Elder Davis and I here in Le Mans, we are seeing success. I'm starting to feel like the same things happen in all of my villes. I come into a ville and immediately we lose contact with all our "golden" amis. Then we work super super hard for the next 6-9 weeks searching for new amis, then little by little we are blessed and we get create a teaching pool with amis that we are able to see at least once a week.

This past week, we started out with exchanges in Alençon! But with a suprise! At district meeting, there weren't two elders that showed up from Alençon, but three! Elder Madsen and Elder Connelly will be serving with Elder Raveneau, a visa waiter called to serve in Canada, until Elder Raveneau gets his visa.

District meeting was pretty cool, I was volunteered by my dear companion for an object lesson during. For the object lesson, there were two plates of chocolate pudding with whipped cream. We had to suck up the chocolate pudding to find the "prize." I found mine super fast, then continued to suck up the chocolate pudding (I mean, who doesn't like chocolate pudding?) while Elder Oviatt (Zone Leader in Tour with Elder Smith!!!) sucked up all of his without finding his prize. After he was done, District Leader Elder Madsen handed him his prize. It was then compared to finding amis. When we go out finding, we all have the same goal, to find an ami. Sometimes certain équipes find new amis faster than others, but if we are diligent, we will win the prize.

Then after the meeting and district meeting meal (Burrito Fête!) Elder Davis and I went over to Alençon for our exchanges. I was with Elder Connelly and Elder Raveneau. It was like a pretty normal day. We went out finding and contacted people with the usual responses. Then Wednesday afternoon, we went and passed by one of their amis. They have been trying for the past two or three weeks to get in contact with him, but haven't been able to. We were blessed and he was finally home. We shared a quick spritual thought with him and then set up another RDV with him.

Elder Davis and I then took our trains to get back to Le Mans. We had a rendez-vous set up with a potential ami named Jackie. We called him when it came time for our rdv, but he thought it was supposed to be at 19h30, not 18h30, so we just contacted around for an hour until he would be able to be there. He came and brought a friend with him, Pauline. We talked about our purpose as missionaries and then shared Joseph Smith's story with them and gave them a Rétab pamphlet. The spirit was so strong as we testified of the Rétab and the 1st vision. I know that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His son Jesus Christ. I know he was called as a prophet to restore the true church with the proper authority, the Priesthood, on the earth. We invited them both to baptism, Pauline accepted, sort of...and Jackie declined, mostly because, at least what we deduced, he's not really sure what he believes in. But he is willing to learn and he seems willing to act and keep reading engagements.

Sunday, after Church, I had a really cool experience. As Elder Davis was making short cakes, I decided to make some called to set up some rendez-vous with amis. I saw a fiche (pronounced as "feesh". That's just France Paris Mission lingo for an amis' teaching record.) of an ami who had been taught a couple times, but there wasn't a reason as to why he was dropped. So I called him. After a 30 minute conversation I decided to just end the dialogue, politely, and we won't be seeing him. He said blantly that the message we share doesn't make sense and that he'll never believe it, so I proceded to try to understand what he didn't understand. And basically, he didn't understand anything. There's a reason to this experience that I'm sharing with you though. While I was talking with him, I had no troubles with French whatsoever. I didn't stutter, I was confident, and I stayed calm the entire time, too. I know that the Gift of Tongues is real. It was super cool to literally be the mouth piece. The spirit was speaking, not I. I really hope sometime in the future this ami decides to change his mind.

And that was my week. It was a really great week. :)

Also, here is a photo of Elder Davis and I on our way to Strasbourg a couple weeks ago for his legality.

As for the application, yes, I'm working on it, and I plan on having it done if not this week, the next week. But I do think of the questions in the "spare" time that I have. I really want the scholarship.

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

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

A Trip to Strasbourg

January 19, 2015

Hello Family!

Wow, sounds like the TJ's (JW's) are trying too hard! Ha I'm super impressed by the way you handled that, Mom. Also, just for fun, there are scriptures in the New Testament that talk about how Christ, after his death of the cross, went and preached to the dead. 1 Peter 3:18-22. There is actually tons of doctrine in these few verses.

This week went by pretty well. Remember those 10 rendez-vous we had set up? We ended up only seeing three of the people. But they were super great lessons. I feel like this week was a great success. We did our best and made the best out of every situation.

We finally saw Yannick again, after a couple months. He is doing super well. He wanted to know our viewpoints on the whole Charlie Hebdo stuff that happened, so we quickly referred to the plan of Salvation. Yannick loved the Plan of Salvation. The spirit was so strong, we invited him to baptism. He declined because he doesn't think he's good enough, and because apparently he's been baptized "republican" (I didn't know we could be baptized into a politcal party...ha) but we reassured him that he is good enough and talked about authority. He said that he would pray about it. After the rendez-vous he kind of asked about temples and wanted to learn more about them, so we said we'd teach him more about temples next time.

Another ami we saw is called Flori. He is from the Congo. (Nzambe a pombo la yo! Lingala for "God bless you.") We taught him for the first time. We gave him a very brief outline of the missionary lessons and then taught him about prayer. The spirit was so strong that we invited him to baptism. He accepted and then asked a couple questions. He told us that he could come to church this week because he'd be in Paris, but that he really wants to come. We set up another time to see him and we'll be seeing him this week.

Friday, I finally had the opportunity to go to the East side of France. Elder Davis started his 2nd year legality there...but never received his Titre de Séjour, so we got to go to Strasbourg to go pick up his Titre de Séjour. While there, we were invited to go to a Soirée Familial with the Jeunes Adulte (JA's, pronounce "gee-ah"s). Elder Nicholson (one of the Elders with whom I was at the MTC) gave a super splendid spiritual thought on Jeffery R. Holland's testimony of the Book of Mormon. After which we ate some food and played a couple games. The game we played was called "Big-Booty". I'll have to teach you how to play it. It's pretty fun. :) We also played BANG!

This past week was also very serendipitous. It seemed as if every where we went, while we were in Le Mans, we saw either one of our amis, or a member of the church. It was really cool. Sadly, each time either us or they had some where specific to be.

Sunday night we had the occasion to eat with a member and her less active son. Soeur Lecourt invited us over to come and eat with her and try to help her 16 year old son. We talked with Tristan, her son, while she cooked and got to know him a bit. We had prepared a spiritual thought on Prayer, but while talking with him, we felt prompted to talk about the Atonement. We shared with them Alma 7:11-13. I encourage you, as a family, to read it together and to discuss what it means to you individually. (Family Home Evening idea?) The spirit was really strong as we testified about the Atonement of Christ and shared the reasons for which we are on our missions.

I love this Gospel. I know it is true and is the Gospel which Christ preached while He was on the Earth. I know that through Him, we can be cleansed of our sins. I love Him and I love our Heavenly Father.

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

P.s. Could you send me Shelby's email? :) ha I'm glad to hear that Ky's doing better, and also I hope that Skyler gets better soon.

Tender Mercy

January 5, 2015

Hello Family!

This week passed pretty well.

Monday we had a pretty cool Tender Mercy from the Lord. We went out porting at night. We got on the tram and got off where we felt impressed to go porting. We started knocking doors and got the usual responses "ça ne m’intéresse pas." But after about an hour, we knocked on the door of an older lady, who was speaking on the phone when she answered. We told her that we came to pray with her to invite the Spirit of God in her home. She then told that with whom she was speaking that "deux anges sont venues." (two angels have come). She then let us come in and we explained prayer to her then prayed with her. It was pretty cool. She gave us her phone number and we told her we would give her number to the Sister missionaries. :) It was a nice little tender mercy.

Tuesday we had district meeting at then did exchanges. I was with the District Leader, Elder Madsen. It was pretty legit and super fun. We had a great exchange and did some great work. It was really fun to work with him. A cool miracle that happened during exchanges, while we were porting, we ported into an old guy that said he wasn't interested, but he didn't shut the door on us, so we kept testifying. We were able to pray with him and leave him with a Plan du Salut brochure.

New Year's Eve we went to a Patricia's house with the elders from Alençon. Patricia is a single adult, and since there were four of us missionaries, we were able to all go, which was super great. Patricia had her grandchildren over, too which was super fun. We ate raclette and then we played music and sang together. It was super great! :)

New Year's day we received a call from the family with whom we were going to spend the afternoon saying that they had all gotten sick, but that they were trying to set something else up for us for that day. The bishop then called us and invited us to go to his mother's house with him, his wife, and another single adult in the ward to go and eat. It was super nice of them to have done so. We ate escargot! It is super delicious! :)

Saturday, we had the chance to go teach an old ami named Andersen. Elder Davis and I felt impressed to share the plan of Salvation with him, since his teaching record indicates that he's only been taught the rétablissement. The lesson went by super well. The spirit took over and taught. The spirit was super strong and we all felt super edified. We'll be seeing Andersen every weekend now. :)

And that was the week. I feel a little better, health-wise, although I still have a cough. But I am feeling better! :)

I love you all so much! I hope your week goes by super well!

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Lift Up Your Voices

December 22, 2014

Hello Family!

This past week went by pretty well. Not too much happened, but some great stuff did happen, nevertheless.

Wednesday, we had a rendez-vous with an old French guy named André. I don't know if I told you about him. He came to the ward Christmas party a while ago, because he received an invitation mysteriously. He liked the party so much that he decided to come to church the next day. Well, we fixed a rendez-vous with him and had it this past Wednesday, with the DMP, Frère Tréhet. It went very well, we talked about the Book of Mormon and engaged him to read it. After the rdv, Frère Tréhet took us to his house to eat with him and his wife. It was super delicious.

Thursday was the Christmas conference. It was super great! Elder Texiera is a super fun speaker. He also apparently loves to tell stories, as, he kept saying "You want to hear a story?" or "Do you like stories? Hears another story." He talked about many different things, notamment of how to let our amis clearly understand why we are there teaching them. His version of "How to Begin Teaching" really clarified things and showed me how to properly do establish expectations. It was really cool.

Saturday we met with Kouassi again, this time it was chez-lui with his Uncle. We applied the new "How to Begin Teaching" and then taught the Restoration and Book of Mormon. We invited them to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it, they accepted the invitation. We'll be seeing them hopefully after this week. :) It was a pretty cool rdv. The spirit was super strong during the 1st vision and while we bore our testimonies of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

Sunday was pretty cool as well. Sunday night we set out to go porting. As we started getting to where we had planned to port, we saw a guy on the other side of the street, who was looking at us, so we said "Bonsoir". He stopped and asked if we were English. We then told him that we're from the U.S. and gave him a card that had the website for the "He is the Gift" video. He then told us that he believes in Christ but that the way he lives doesn't reflect his beliefs. So we testified of the power of the Atonement. We then asked if we could pray with him, so we did. The spirit was so strong. After the prayer we asked if we could share with him the unique message, he accepted and we set up a rendez-vous. It was a pretty cool experience.

The Spirit will guide us and fill our mouths with words. There is no need to have fear of what to say. "Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say."

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

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

For skype, I'll probably be skyping sometime between 3 or 4 P.M. relative to the time here in France.

As for the package and the letter, I got them both. But I didn't know that was the Christmas package, so I already opened it...but I haven't eaten the Reese's yet! :p sorry.

I love you!

Christmas Party Investigators

December 15, 2014

Hey Family!!

So Tuesday was my last day with Steve Carrel (Elder Jenness), it was a pretty good day. An older couple in the ward took us out to a Chinese buffet. This was my third Chinese buffet in France!! I think I like them better in France. I ate four plates of food plus two bowls of ice cream and one plate of dessert. Oddly, I didn't feel terrible after eating all that food.

Wednesday, we went in to Paris to drop off Elder Jenness and to receive my new companion. My new comp is an Elder Davis from Seattle Washington (or Warshington, if you're a true Washington-ite). He was fast tracked in the MTC, so he's only been on his mission for 2 weeks longer than I have. He is in his 13th transfer, I'm in my 12th. Elder Davis is pretty cool, a little loud at times, but basically, he and I have a lot in common. It's been rather odd. Also, he sings decently, which is great! Actually, he and I and the youth in the ward here will be singing une Cantique de Noël this Sunday!

Thursday, we had three rendez-vous set up. We'll, we got frudged by all of them. Crazy right? Well the last RDV that was scheduled was at 6 at night. After waiting a bit, and not being able to get ahold of the potential ami (Kouassi), we assumed he wasn't coming. We were supposed to meet right next to one of the tram stops. Well, I heard someone singing and playing guitar, so I made my way towards that. Elder Davis asked me "So, we've been frudged, what do you want to do?" and I replied "We're going to wait until after this song, then I'm going to ask if I can play a song." The person finished her song and I asked, and she let me play a couple of songs. After which we talked to her, found out her name is Sarah and she is 18, and that she speaks english pretty well, then invited her to come to our ward's Christmas party on Saturday. She asked if she could have the lyrics to the last song I played (the one that Jantzen wrote), I said I would write them out and give them to her.

About an hour and a half later, we received a call from our potential ami named Kouassi telling us he would be at that tram stop in about 20 minutes, so we went back there and met him and taught him and his friend, Colbert. We talked to them a little about why we're here (How to Begin Teaching, PMG Ch. 10) and ended up talking about prayer. At the end we set up a return rendez-vous with them. That was pretty cool. :)

Saturday, we spent the day at the church first with Ward Council, then with helping the ward set up for the Christmas party. The Christmas party was a blast and very successful and very effective au niveau de l'oeuvre missionnaire (in terms of missionary work? Sorry, I don't remember how to say that in english). The primary children did two different "sketch"'s (skits), the primary girls did the parable of the 10 virgins, the boys did a sketch about the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's when they gave up their weapons of war. After that, we all ate.

Before we started to serve ourselves, Sarah showed up with her little, 10 year old sister! Cool right? We made sure to introduce her to many of the young women and other members. She asked me why I chose to join this church and I started to talk about the importance of the Book of Mormon, then handed off the conversation to a member sitting right next to her. He then explained what the Book of Mormon was and we gave her one. Then about half an hour after she came, an old man showed up. His name is André. He received an invitation from a member and decided to come. He loved it so much that he decided to come to church the next day!

I am very thankful for members who really are welcoming and loving to new people that come.

Elder Davis and I used the Christmas party to talk to as many members as possible to get to know them better. I feel a lot closer to the ward now and feel like they trust us more now that they know us better. Also, I had no troubles being myself! As a missionary, we tend to feel like "I'm a missionary, I have to be a missionary and can't be who I really am." But that is not true. It's something that district leaders have told me before that I've been working on, and finally I felt at ease being me. I held to missionary standards, of course, but I was me, instead of being shy, I was able to go out of my way and talk like I was talking to my best friends. It's really great to see how the spirit can really comfort you when you make good decisions and you work on your weaknesses.

Sunday, I was asked to confirm Albertina (the person that was baptized last week) a member of the church. It was my first confirmation that I've ever done. It went well, and I didn't mess up. :)

After church, I had the lyrics of Jantzen's song with me and a couple of the young women in the ward asked me to play it and sing it, so I did, since it is a rather uplifting song. When I looked up after playing it, all of the young adults, young men and young women, and even the sister missionaries, and a couple primary age kids were all standing around the piano. Then I asked if they wanted to all sing a song together, so we started to sing christmas hymns together. The lady in the ward that leads the music heard us singing and decided that we were going to all do a music number the following sunday, as stated earlier. :)

I find it truly amazing how much music can really bring in the spirit. I love music, I love spreading the gospel, even more so by music. It's been my dream to use music to help others during my mission. I'm very thankful for all the opportunities that the Lord has accorded me during my mission thusfar to use music.

I love you all, have a great week! :)

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

P.s. About the drum set, I was kinda bummed, but just as long as you don't sell the bell kit. :) The cymbals are worth more than the drum kit is, by the way. Ha, but I think selling the kit is a good idea. Maybe when I'm rich I'll buy an electric kit myself. ;) Remember when I used to always talk about when I'll be rich? haha

It Will Be Given Us

December 8, 2014

Hello Family!!

What the what? Kaysen is HUGE!! Dang... :)

So this past week was kinda a downer. We got frudged a lot, but we had a super great ground breaking moment with one of our amis!!

We met with them, finally after a while. We started teaching about the nécessité of Authority, because they haven't really understood authority. After a bit, Benito started to ask us some questions that went along with the Plan of Salvation, so we started to teach them about the Plan of Salvation instead. And then Benito opened up and told us a couple things to why he wasn't coming to church! He had a really bad experience back in his own country going to a catholic church, and since then, he has never gone to church. We told him that he is always welcome chez-nous. The spirit was strong and Elder Jenness and I both felt so much love for them.

It's amazing, if we listen to our amis, and they feel that we care and love them, they will open up to us. And we won't have to worry about what we need to teach nor what we need to say. It will be given us.

Yesterday, the Sister missionaries here in Le Mans had a baptism!! It was an "eternal" ami, that finally decided to get baptized! It was a great experience and her husband was very happy. He got up in fast Sunday and bore his testimony about persevering until the end. It was very powerful.

I felt very blessed because the Sisters asked me to do a musical number for the baptism! I got really excited and thought to myself "Yes!! I'll finally be able to sing a solo!!" but the only person that can play piano wasn't able to be there. So instead I was blessed with the opportunity to play the piano for sacrament meeting and for the baptism. The musical number I did was my own version, based off of Paul Cardall's version, of I Know That My Redeemer Lives. The ward thanked me a lot for it afterwards and many said that it was perfect and very powerful. I really am thankful for these opportunities the Lord gives me to play music, même si ce n'est pas des occasions de chanter.

So we are at the time of transfers once again! Elder Jenness is getting transferred to Luxembourg!!!!!! I'll be staying in Le Mans and receiving an Elder Davis as my new companion.

Well, I love you all and hope this week passes well!! :)

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

As for skyping time, I have no idea. We haven't been invited for Christmas yet, and I'm not really sure what's going to happen. ha.

Also, I haven't yet received your package you sent...when did you send it? ha :)