Week 21, Valence, France

Bonjour,

This week went by way too fast. I hope everyone is enjoying their last month of summer break. I can't believe July is over! So on Tuesday we went to St. Etienne for our Zone conference. Normally it is in Lyon but they decided to mix it up this time. Every 12 weeks we have the president come to our Zone conferences and do interviews with everyone. My interview was very short but I was glad I had it and learned a lot. President Roney is a great President and I have learned a lot from what he has taught us. In a year from now he will be done with his calling as mission president and we will get a new one. That will be interesting but ca va.

St Etienne

We went to a family home for lunch this week who live in the country. They have an amazing view of the mountains. The Reynauds are an older couple and we've got to know them really well. Fr. Reynaud showed us his gun collection. He has about 30 guns that he has hanging on the walls! Most of them are French guns and he also modified a lot of them. The Reynauds became members of the church when they were a young couple and it is cool to see how happy the gospel has made them and blessed their family. They have a collection of the Book of Mormon and some of them where really old which was cool to see.

We have been working a lot with members this week to help them strengthen their faith and motivate them. It is cool to see how much they appreciate what we do and how it really helps them.

Miracle of the Week: On Saturday we had a sports activity with some of the members and a guy that we met on the street about a month ago attended and he brought his friend. We had a really fun game and got to know them really well. I am looking forward to doing more with them another time.

We are still working with our ami Michel a lot. This week we taught him about Baptism and the Holy Ghost. It is really cool for me to see how much Michel's faith has grown since we have been meeting with him. Almost every Rendez-vous with him he talks about how he feels something different when he meets with us and prays. He says that he feels peace and I know that this feeling is the Holy Ghost testifying to Michel the truth. We have been working a lot with him to help him realize that when he feels the Holy Ghost that is the answer to his prayers. On Tuesday I was talking to him on the phone and he was saying that he was just reading the Book of Mormon because he felt stressed about something so he decided to read the Book of Mormon to feel at peace. I was so happy to hear that and I know that reading the scriptures and following that commandments of Jesus Christ can bring us a lot of peace in our lives.

Yesterday at church we meet a new family that moved into the ward. The mom is from the States and the dad is from Fiji. They have a little girl and a new baby. The dad plays pro Rugby for the team in Valence. We have another member in the ward who plays for the team in Romans which is another ville in our sector. Today the Romans team is playing the Valence team for the first game of the season and we are going to watch it!!! It is our preparation day today so we get to do fun stuff like this once a week. I am really exited to see this game today. The new member is injured so he can't play but we will be able to see Fr. Lutongo. I have gotten to know the Lutongo family really well since I have been here and I really like them. They have been members all their lives but just started coming to church about a year ago. It is so cool to see how happy they are now. I will have to talk about how the game goes next week.

Also yesterday I got Juiced for Jesus. It was really sticky.

Love

Elder Bake

Fun French Fack of the Week: Since I was talking about rugby: the most popular sport in France is Soccer. Everybody loves to play and watch soccer all the time. I would say Rugby is second.

Pictures sent from Anders' ward mission leader. Taken on a hike during Monday's p-day.

Tourniop Cliff