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.)