Week 38, Aix en Provence, Gap and Sisteron, France

Aix (pronounced X) Marks the Spot

Gap - At the Base of the Alps

Sisteron, France

Sisteron, France

Bonjour mes amis,

I had another great week here in Aix en Provence. I am starting to get settled into my new city and I really love it here. My Dutch companion and I have a lot of fun together and work really hard. I always wanted to serve with a European since I have been here and he is defiantly my favorite companion yet. You asked if we receive meals from the members.  The answer is no but we have plans to go to a member's home for Thanksgiving. We had 21 lessons again this past week which is a miracle.  We taught this really cool guy from the Congo named Serge and a girl named Annalise. At the beginning of the week I went to another ville that is pretty far away called Gap. It is in the mountains and very cold. I was there for about a day and a half with Elder Rodriguez who is from Spain. We only spoke French but his French is not really that great so it was a little difficult to communicate. It was probably my favorite exchange I have been on. Gap is really beautiful and we went to another ville near by called Sisteron which is one of the prettiest villas I have ever seen. We did service for a member up in the mountains and it was really fun. When we got back to Aix we had Zone meeting and learned about a really exiting Christmas video the Church is making.
 

Today, for our Preparation day, all the Elders in our zone came to Aix and we played football and soccer. It was really fun to play football again and have our own Turkey Bowl. Our Zone has only Elders so it is really fun.

 

Miracle of the Week: We went to the church to teach one of our amis but she did not come.  We decided to stay a little longer and then go to her house. The doorbell did not work so we started back. Then when we where at the bus stop we happened to see her and we were able to teach her.

 

I hope you all have a great week

Elder Bake  

Fun French Fact of the Week:

The milk here is different and does not taste very good. I does not need to be refrigerated which is weird. But I'm getting use to it.

Week 36, Montpellier, Toulouse and Aix en Provence

Bonjour mes amis,

I hope you're all doing well. This last week was one of the best weeks of my mission. Recently our mission has been putting an extra focus on teaching 20 lessons a week! We have been trying to do this but normally we get about 5. This week we decided to work really hard and do everything we could to get 20 lessons. We ended up with 11 lessons which is a really big improvement. We also found a lot of really cool new people including a lady from Albania who is really interested in our message. We had a very powerful lesson with her about the Restoration of the gospel. We also had a great RDV with a Chinese lady who we met about a month ago in Sete. She did not seem that interested when we first talked with her and she said she lived far away but I called her and found out that she moved to Montpellier and wanted to meet us and see our chapel. We had a really great lesson with her at a members house and then another member invited us over for dinner and we invited her too. It was really great for her to be in the homes of two members and feel the spirit and happiness that is there.

One Saturday we took a train to Toulouse where we spent the night and then went to stake conference the next day. We stayed in a tiny apartment with 7 Elders and there was barely enough floor space for everyone. Stake conference was really great. It was a really big church meeting with all of the members covering a really big area. Most of the members who came from Montpellier stayed the night too. We met in a big conference center and listened to talks from some members and President and Sister Roney. After Conference we went back to Montpellier and had our 11th lesson with our Ami Roman. Roman is the really cool painter who I have talked about before. Then I packed really fast because I am now serving in Aix en Provence! It is pronounced like X. My companion Elder Adamson is training which is exiting. I was pretty sad about leaving Montpellier but I am really looking forward to being in Aix. I do not know much about it but I have heard only great things. Today I was on the train all day with my old companion Elder Dover who is also moving to the Aix Zone! We went through Marseille which was fun and now I am here in Aix. They have a really cool chapel here. My new Companion's name is Elder Arts and he is from The Netherlands.

Miracle of the Week:

As I was packing I was not sure if I should put a Book of Mormon in my bag or not but I decided that I would. On the train a nice lady came up to us and started talking to me. I talked to her for while and was able to explain what we do and then explain the Book of Mormon to her. I was really glad I had my Book of Mormon with me so that I could show it to this lady. 

Elder Dover was sitting next to me when I was talking and said that my French is a lot better. If anyone really knows how much my French has improved it is him because he was with me for 3 months and then not for another 3 months. I am really glad that I am at the point where I feel comfortable and confident talking to people and can understand almost everything people say. 

I love you all and I hope you have a great week

Elder Bake

Fun French Fact of the Week:

Scooters are much more popular in France. It is not uncommon to see a normal middle aged man strolling down the side walk on a scooter.

Week 35, Montpelier and Bordeaux France

November 3, 2014


Bonjour,

This week we went to Bordeaux again for a conference with Elder Kearon. Elder Kearon came and spoke to us in the summer with Elder Andersen so it was really fun to have him come again. We left Tuesday and got back on Thursday so we were out of Montpelier for a long time. About half of the missionaries in the mission were there so I saw a lot of people that I have not seen in a long time. We had to sleep on the hard floor in a really crowded apartment for two nights so it was nice to get back home and have a bed again. 

The conference went really well. I learned a lot of things that really helped me and answered my questions. One thing I learned is that I can chose to be a better missionary and person but is has to be my choice. I have to be committed to doing things that might be hard if I want to change and be better. Elder Kearon is super cool and very funny. He also taught us how to be better teachers by following to Holy Ghost in everything that we do. He shared how he met the missionaries and his conversion story which was very inspiring. 

When we got back to Montpellier we continued our finding and teaching. We had one really great lesson with a young couple. We taught them about the Book of Mormon and I felt the spirit as my companion and I testified of Jesus Christ. It was one of the best lesson we have had in a while. There was one point in the lesson when the guy expressed that he does not think he needs organized religion. This is very common. The lady who was with us gave one of the best, and most powerful, explanations for organized religion I have ever heard. She explained that the church is a place where everyone can come together and support each other as they worship together. I really appreciated what she said and it made me realize how much of a blessing church is. I realized that God has given us an organized church along with scriptures, prophets and many other things because he loves us. Even though this life is really hard, it can be a lot better if we turn to God and use all of the things he has given us. 

Miracle of the Week: One of our amis who we have not seen in a while came to Church. She is really busy with school and work and the church is far away for her but she still came and we had a really great testimony meeting. 

Love you all 

Elder Bake

Fun French Fact of the Week: People celebrate Halloween in France but it is not as big.