Week 11, Valence, France

A letter I received from Anders' ward mission leader:

Dear Sister Bake, 

My name is Laurent Lechifflart, and I am the mission leader of the Valence ward where your son is serving right now. We work a lot together and get along well. The progress he makes with the language is just amazing.

Here are a few pictures.
The full time missionaries serving in Valence now:
Sister Röse from Germany and sister Russel from Ohio
Elder Bake (you know where he is from!) and his companion elder Davis from Idaho
Not a single one from Utah... who would believe that?
The week after he arrived, we went for a short hike in the Vercors (the part of the Alps which is east of Valence.) As you can see, it was rather cold, but we still had fun.
The goal of the hike was the top of that cliff.
The week after, we toured the "cité du Chocolat".
It's like a museum explaining everything about chocolate.
Personally, I call it a foretaste of celestial kingdom!
The next week, the elders and I went to the ruins of Crussol, a medieval village with its castle.
The elders with the city of Valence in the background.
I highlighted the building where their apartment is.

Have a great day.
Laurent Lechifflart

  

 

 

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May, 26, 2014

Bonjour,

I don't have much time this week because I've got to catch a train to Marseilles where I will drop off Elder Davis and pick up my new companion, Elder Dover.  Elder Davis is going to be the Zone leader in Nice.  I am really glad I get to stay in Valence. Below is a picture of our amis, Gilbet and Martino, a picture of Grenoble and my new zone leader, Elder Palmer

On Saturday we had a "First Rock" ceremony for the new chapel that is being built here in Valence.  The Mission President and Stake President came.  There is a Mormon message about the Stake president.

May 27, 2014
Bonjour,

Since yesterday was transfer day I get more time to send an email today.  So yesterday we woke up early and went on a train to Marseille.  There I said goodbye to my companion who took another train to Nice.  Then I stayed at the Marseille train station for 11 hours waiting for my new companion.  During the day we picked up other missionaries from their trains and helped them get on their new trains.  It was actually really fun because I got to see a lot of missionaries coming from all over the mission.  It was fun talking to everyone about where they have been and about other missionaries they know.

The best part was meeting Elder Dalton from Beaverton, Oregon.  I have been hoping that I would see him at some point on the mission.  We got to catch up on everything and I found out that he served in Grenoble which is where I go for district meetings.  I also got to spend the day with Elder Joly who was with me in the MTC.  He has been serving in Marseille and was in charge of making sure everyone got on the right train. Below is a picture of Elder Kunsler and Elder Dalton from Oregon.

Every time I go to a member's or amis house they have a bunch of cherries that they give us so that is pretty much all I eat, but I really like them.  I have had 4 cherry pies in 3 days. Below is Sister Russel's Birthday cake made by Anthony.

Elder Davis taught me a lot about setting goals and making plans which has helped me a lot on my mission.  There is a lot to keep track of and remember so it can make things stressful but having plans helps a lot.  It is also really important that we do not waste any time as missionaries so it is extra important to make good plans.  I have learned a lot about prioritizing activities and making sure that the things I am doing are important and helping me achieve my goals.  I already know that I will do much better in school and have a more effective and happy life when I get back from my mission  by doing these things.  I have also learned that it is important to make the Gospel an important priority in life.  We really need the spiritual nourishment we get from the scriptures and going to church in our lives.

My new companion, Elder Dover, is awesome. He also went to BYU for a year before going on his mission.  I just met him but I am excited to work with him.

I love you all

Elder Bake

Fun French fact of the week: The stop lights are on the side of the road instead of being above you. There are also round-a-bouts everywhere.

Week 10, Valence, France

Bonjour,

This week was great.  We taught a lot of lessons and met some awesome people.  One of our amis, Gilbert, is progressing.  He is really cool and we have become really good friends with him.  He has now come to church 3 times and really likes it.  He also came with us all the way to Grenoble for a music show put on by our district leader.  The Music show was really fun.  My companion played the piano really well and I sang Ring of Fire.  Everyone seemed to like it.  I tried to act super American which made everyone laugh.  We had a district meeting where we learned about the importance of using the Book of Mormon in everything so that people can find out for themselves if our message is true.

Love you all,

Elder Bake

Fun French Fact of the week: The laundry machine is located in the kitchen.

Week 9, Valence, France

Bonjour everyone,

This week was really busy but after today and yesterday I am well rested and ready for more. We have been getting a lot of new amis (Anders explained to us that “amis” is the French word for friends.  In the US we call people who are studying the doctrines of our church “investigators.”  In France they call them “friends” or “friends of the church”) lately which means we have been spending a lot of time teaching. Teaching lessons is one of the best parts of missionary work. Especially when you are about to explain something they have never heard before but they know it’s true because of the peace they feel. 

I realized that I have not been talking a lot about the amis we work with so one of them that we spend a lot of time with is Michael. He is an older French man who loves to invite us to his home often. He is quiet and has a nice little dog. We have to explain things a little slower for him but he is doing very well. I really like teaching Michael and have built a good relationship with him since I have been here. 

The main way we find people to teach is though a questionnaire. Most people in France think they do not have the time or the desire to talk about religion but when you tell them you have a questionnaire they have all the time in the world. We ask people in the street or at their houses these four questions:

1 Do you think there are big problems in the World today?

2 Do you think it would be good if we had the help of God today?

3 Do you think it would be good if God talked to men today through prophets like he did in other times?

4 If God did talk to us today, would you want to know what he said? 

Depending on how people answer these questions we can then talk about a lot of things but our main goal is to talk about how our unique message is that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the Earth and that God has called a prophet today to help us. 

The highlight of this week was definitely getting to call home! It was really fun talking to the family and hearing everyone’s voices. Especially Ian's because it was so manly.

Je vous aime et passe une bon Semaine

Elder Bake

Fun French Fact of the Week:

In France there are pharmacies everywhere - like on almost every corner. They all have green crosses to identify them. I heard that the government requires each city to have so many pharmacies per person so they can help people for natural disasters but I don’t know if that’s true.

Week 8, Valence, France

Bonjour Family and Friends,

It is so good to hear from all of you and I hope you all had a great week.  My week was amazing as always.  Sorry I did not email. yesterday.  We had zone conference so our p day is today.  Zone conference was really good.  The President of the Mission came and he and his wife spoke to us.  He gave us a lot of good ideas of how we can be better missionaries.  But basically he just told us to follow the example of Jesus Christ.

On Monday night we met an awesome guy named Fred.  We took him to the church and gave him a lesson. It was a really cool and spiritual experience.  Yesterday we had 4 amis (looked this up: the translation is "friends") come to church which was exciting. They stayed all three hours and even seemed to like it!

I went on an exchange this week with Elder Kunsler who is from Salem.  He is super funny and I learned a lot from him.  He is done with his mission this next transfer and might give a talk in his Dad's ward.  I think his dad is in the Aloha 2nd ward so look out for him.

On Sunday we ate with a family who lives in a small town near Valence; Crest.  It is the most French town I have been to.  The streets are very narrow and have lots of turns so there are no cars.  The houses are all very old.  After dinner we hiked to the top of a hill to a tower that was built in the 11th century and was once part of a castle that was destroyed by order of Louis XIII in the 17th Century.

I love being a missionary, I love being in France. Below is a picture of Anthony who was baptized last week, Sister Gibert, the Sister missionaries in Valance - Sister Rose and Sister Russell and Crest.

Love,
Elder Bake

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