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.