Week 64, Agen France

Elder and Sister Murer

 

Bonjour,

I hope everyone is doing well. I am having a great time here in Agen getting to know the members and how to get around a lot better. We did a good amount of door to door proselyting or porting as we call it this week. We met some really nice people and of coarse some not as nice people. We went to this neighborhood that looked like an American neighborhood with big sidewalks and yards in front of all the houses. It felt a little like we stepped out of France for a while and were back in America. We talked to one really nice lady for about an hour about her family and such. She showed us her garden and gave us some juice. Then we talked to another guy who was walking his dog and he was interested in talking to us again.
We visited a few of the members this week. One of them was Sr. Pramparo who is a nice old lady. Her husband was off hunting mushrooms so we could not talk to him but I asked her to see if we could go mushroom hunting with him some time. We will see. On Wednesday we went to Jean Louis for the second time and he came to church again yesterday which was the 3rd time now that he has come to church. He made us some Belgium waffles that were really good and gave us some to take home. Then at church on Sunday he gave us more but we still have not finished the first batch. Jean Louis is very cool and has definitely been the big miracle of the transfer and even my mission so far. I feel really blessed that I have the opportunity to work with him and be a part of this miracle.

Saturday was a very fun day. We did a branch service project near Mezan. The service was for the owner of our apartment who is one of the coolest and funniest guys I know. He is really old though and has a hard time doing things around the house. We spent most of the time cutting out a bunch of plants that had grown around a little lake. It was some hard work. It reminded me a lot of the stuff I did for my Grandma and Grandpa Ririe before my mission. It was a lot of fun to do stuff like that again. We also had a lot of the members come to help even though they all live really far away. We also had 2 non members come who also came to church on Sunday. Half way through we had a really great French meal with all the important parts of a French meal. I am starting to like the cheese with all the green mold spots in it. It looks so wrong but I just close my eyes and tell myself it will be ok.

Miracle of the week: At church yesterday I counted 29 people at church. This is really great if you remember that my first week we only had 16. It is really great to see people coming and having a good time at church.

Yesterday's church service was very special because it was the last day for the Murers in Agen. The Murers are a older couple from Switzerland who have been serving a mission in Agen for the last year and a half. They both gave talks and sang a hymn that they memorized during there mission. I don't think I have heard it before in English but it is definitely one of my favorite hymns now. Everyone said buy to the Murers after including us. It was hard to say goodbye but I am really glad that I had the chance to work with them.

Have a wonderful week.

Frère Bake

FFF of the Week: Today is the Pentecost so all the stores are closed and the buses are not running. I just found this out today. I guess we will do our shopping tomorrow.

 

Last Supper with the Murers

Mamadou and the Murers

 

Mary

Beverages

 

Week 63 Agen France

 

 

 

Bonjour tous le monde,

I finished another great week in Agen. I am starting to get use to things here. We are half way done with the transfer now. I have already had a really good first half and I'm looking forward to an even better 2nd half. This week we had the chance to teach our investigator about the Word of Wisdom and the law of chastity. It was good to teach these things because they are really important but we do not teach them very often. We normally focus first on the basics like Jesus Christ and the restoration of his Gospel. Then we tell people about God's plan for us and the things Christ has asked us to do to be more happy. I have realized recently that it seems like almost of all the world's big problems come from people not living the law of chastity. Even if people do not believe in God, the commandments God gives us are for everyone and makes everyone more happy!

On Thursday we had English class and our ami Ludavic and his wife came! It was a lot of fun. I really like teaching English class. We taught them the longest word in English. I am not going to write it because it will take to long and I know that I will spell it wrong. We went to a lot of small towns that are a bit of a drive away this week. We did this to take advantage of the Murers who can drive us to these places that are hard to get to on a bus. We have to do this now because the Murers are leaving next week! They are so nice and I am really grateful for the chance I have had to get to know them in the last few weeks. I have learned so much from them and they have done so much for me and everyone in Agen the last year and a half.

Miracle of the week: We went to Villeneuf to see Jean Lou this week and had a really great time with him and the Murers. He has had a hard life but is really doing a lot to try to make it better. One thing I admire about him is his humility and that he recognizes that he needs Christ in his life even though is has been so long. He also came to church for the 2nd time yesterday!

Yesterday after church we had a branch meal which was a lot of fun and then we went to Mezin to see a member and the Santos family. We also visited a small town called Montreal. My companion is from the other Montreal in Canada. Everyone was really nice there for the most part and the drive there was amazing. I really don't think I have ever seen a more beautiful view in my life. After seeing the beauty of the earth it is hard to understand how people don't believe that there is a God.

Have a great week

Elder Bake

FFF of the Week

There are 6 cities in France called Montreal

 

 

 

 

 



The Murers



 

 



Elder Pien - dnner



"Lined paper; I haven't seen this in months"



Pettit Carcarson

 

Week 62 Agen, France

 




Elder Pien and Elder Bake

Hello Everyone,
 

It was so great to speak with you yesterday for Mothers Day. I had a really fun time. It is so fun to see how everyone looks and to hear your voices; mostly Ian's because it is so deep. It was a lot of fun to see my companion's family who was on vacation in Asia. We Skyped in the church with the Murers who are the senior missionary couple here. They are so awesome!

This week we were actually pretty busy with lessons but we still had a good amount of time in between to speak to people on the streets. I find that I talk to a lot more people here in Agen then before even though we are still really busy. I guess I make better use of my time or I am just getting better at talking to everyone. It is really fun to talk to people even if they are not at all interested in talking to us at first. I think I used to get discouraged when people were not interested but I don't really care about that any more. Earlier this week we were talking with people in the down town area of Agen and no one wanted to talk with us, but as we started to head over to our next appointment I had a really great conversation with a man about his family, basketball, and how he has a lot of faith in Jesus Christ (which we don't find very often here). When I was going to leave one of the last things he said was how he noticed that my companion and I looked different; that we had a light in us. It was really cool to hear this because I know that this light is not my light but Christ's.

It is great to have an experience like this to show me that this is really Gods work and that he really does work through me to help others. We plan to meet with this same man tomorrow.
 

We taught Aurore two more times this week about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and commandments. Both of the lessons went really well and she is still good to be baptized! The first lesson I had with her was on Wednesday when I was on an exchange with another Elder from Bordeaux. It was a little interesting because the Elder had only been on the mission for a short time. I think I would be very happy if I never trained and new missionary.

Miracle of the week:

Last week we miraculously crossed paths with a man who is a member of the church but has not been to church for about 20 years. We had a great conversation with him and exchanged numbers. Then on Saturday he called us and told us he wanted to come to church.  To see him at church yesterday was something I never thought would happen. He had a good time and the members were very friendly to him. We plan to go to his house later this week. This was one of the coolest miracles I have seen on my mission and I am really exited to see what will happen with him. Aurore also came to church for the first time yesterday and had a great time.

I gave a talk yesterday at church.

Have a great week

Elder Bake

FFF of the Week:

In France McDonalds is a considered more of a fancy restaurant. They call it Mac Do

View from Apartment in Agen

Apartment in Agen - All the interior and exterior walls are made of a mixture of rocks

Couscous dinner in our apartment

 

Countryside in Agen

 

Inside the Church building

 

Café in Agen

Train Station in Bordeaux

Week 61 Agen, France

Bonjour!!

I just finished my first week in my new home: Agen. It was great! We are teaching a lot of people but there is not really anyone that is very engaged so we are going to get them more committed to meeting with us and then find other people. That's the plan and so far its going well!

Agen is a really small city with wide roads. There are not a lot of young people and it is dead after 6pm. There are a lot of clothing stores here and a canal that runs through the city. I think I already talked about the interesting architecture with the bricks and rocks in the walls.

Yesterday was my first day at church. We had 16 people come. We meet in a house that has been remodeled a bit to make it into a church. The branch president is named Fr. Zambo. He has a really cool family with 3 kids and another on the way. The oldest is 16, I think, and he is really cool. We are going to try to spend time with him. Yesterday we blessed the sacrament together at church. It was actually my first time blessing the sacrament in French. I still have my perfect record of never messing up! The other members are great too. One of them is a 26 year old student who just got baptized 6 months ago in northern France and is studying here. There is another really nice Brazilian lady who lives really far away but comes to church every week with her daughter even though her husband does not come.

Miracle of the week: The Brazilian lady invited her friend and her family to church a few weeks ago and this week we went to her town and taught her friend and family. They are also from Brazil and have 2 kids. One of them Marlon is 16 and he is a really cool kid. We taught them about the restoration of the gospel and showed them a short video about Joseph Smith. They all really liked it and felt the spirit. We talked a lot about how the gospel of Jesus Christ can help her family and she was really touched by that. After that we ate crepes!

I am really exited to keep working with this family and I am grateful for this experience to share my testimony about the things I know are true. It helps me realize how important the restoration and Jesus Christ are in my life. I am really glad that I have the chance to share these things often as a missionary. I really want to share the message of the restoration of Christ church with as many people as I can this month weather it be the first time or 500th time they have heard this story it can have a big influence on our personal lives.

I can't forget to talk about the Merurs. They are a super great senior couple from Suisse. They are serving a mission as a couple. Normally the senior couples stay in the same place their whole missions and they are serving here in Agen. They have been here for about 1 year and a half and are going home in about 4 weeks. They have done a lot for the branch here and a lot for us, the missionaries. They live right next to us and take us around anywhere we want. With them we pretty much have a car. We also have bikes! So the Merurs are really great and I want to get the most out of them before they leave. They also help us a lot with French which is nice. I will have to send a picture of them next week. They are both way too funny.

My companion, Elder Pien, is great. We have had some good times and get along really well. He is from Montreal Canada. He is from the English speaking part of the city but he went to a French high school. He has been on the mission for about 8 months and was in a Chinese speaking companionship before he came to Agen.

This week one of the people we are teaching committed to be baptized next month. She still has a long ways to go but that was very exiting. Her name is Aurore.

Sorry I don't have pictures I forgot my camera again.

Have a great week

Elder Bake

FFF of the week:
Most stores are not open on Monday, or Sunday or holidays which seem to happen once every two weeks or so.

Week 60, Agen, France

 

 

Agen - "Best known for its prunes"

 

Bonjour,

 

I am sending this email from the other side of France in a small town called Agen! This week was very eventful and I will try to remember everything. On Monday we did not have much time for p day stuff because we had a lot of teaching appointments but I would defiantly take them over anything else. We did some service for the Kools, moving some furniture and I scraped my arm pretty bad but it is ok because I am still alive and afterword we had Panakoken; Dutch crepes. Fr. Kool is a member and I have been teaching his wife Charmaine for the last 6 months.

 

Miracle of the week. I think I said in the last letter that Charmaine was close to being baptized. She had been taught everything and really believes it to. She just needed to get over some fear. On Monday she let us know that she was ready and wanted to be baptized as soon as possible. Normally we have baptisms on Saturday but we had a conference in Lyon on Saturday so we decided to have it on Sunday right after Church.

 

We also had a lot of other lessons this week including two with Joelle that went really well. We had English class with Halima and Kevin and then we saw Halima again because she wanted to give me some cake and see me one last time. So on Wednesday we got our calls for the next 6 weeks and I got called to go to Agen. Then I got really busy saying bye to everyone. On Wednesday we had Charmaine's baptismal interview and then I taught her one last time. Even though I was not able to be at the baptism it was good to see her all good to go and exited about her baptism. After we had ward council so I was able to say bye to a lot of the members then. We visited a lot of other members and on Friday morning we took a bus out to Rhone to see John then back to Aix and got on a big bus with a bunch of missionaries to Lyon. The next day we had a mission conference with all the missionaries in the mission. This does not happen very often but it happened before when Elder Andersen came. For this conference we got to hear from Elder Kiron and Elder Nielson. Elder Nielson is the one that gave a really cool talk about his sister in General Conference.https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/waiting-for-the-prodigal?lang=eng After the conference I took a bus to Bordeaux which was really long but very pretty. I have taken some pretty cool trips on my mission. I was thinking about how different this one was with a bunch of cow pastures to the train ride to Gap in the mountains to the ride from Aix to Nice along the Mediterranean. They are all very pretty. So on Sunday morning we went to church in Bordeaux and then took a train to Agen which is my new home. I was somehow able to get all my stuff with me too. I am with a new companion named Elder Pien who is from Canada and he is Asian. He it awesome and is a great cook. I hope you all had a great week too.

 

Elder Bake

 

FFF of the week: the salt comes it these long cardboard tube containers.

Elder Bake in Aix

Fr. Colonna and Fr. Durand

Sr. Conessa

Halima and Kevin

John

Kools

Kools

Kools

Charmaine Kool

Sr. Laberyie and Sr. Ralph

Fr. Lelogais

Fr. Mass

Patricia

Fr. Rodriguez

Shiohan

Sr. Sirix

Sr. Blackmor and Sr. Pichon

Elder Walters

Zasors

Week 59 Aix en Provence

Salut!

Another great week in Aix. I already talked about the hike we went on last Monday to the Saint-Victoire. It was my companion's birthday and we both like hiking so we had a great time. We went with Kevin who is one of my favorite people. He helps us out a lot and we have become good friends. He also comes to our English class every week which is always a lot of fun. In the beginning of the week I went on an exchange to Gap with Elder Zanger. We had a lot of fun and taught a lot. One of the people we taught is a lady named Claudi who I have known for a while and who I have taught a few times on other exchanges. She is going to be baptized in a month which is really exiting! We also had our district meeting in Manosque where we learned about teaching simply and about the things that are the most important. After our district meetings we always have a meal and this time we had roulette which is my favorite food!! It was so good! 

 

Later this week we made a big cookie for Elder Walter's birthday. We put nutella and ice cream on top of it and it was really good. We had 2 really good lessons with our ami Joelle. She is doing very well. We talked about fasting which has been a major concern for her. She committed to fast and we decided to fast and pray with her on Sunday that she would get an answer to her prayers. When we talked to her yesterday everything was going well. We will see her tomorrow to see how things went. I think this was a great thing to do and will help her a lot. We also taught Charmain kool this week. He should be getting baptized soon. We will be going there later today too. We had a really great lesson with the Kools about family and they were really exited about it. Yesterday after church we ate with Fr. Fernandez. He is a 91 year old Spanish man that we visit about once a week. He is really funny and loves talking about his family and the good old days. He also loves to talk about Spain which is great because my companion has spent most of his mission on the Spain border and knows a lot about it. Normally we come by and just share a message and he usually teaches us more than we can teach him. A few weeks ago we got him to come to the church and watch the movie about Joseph Smith. Yesterday he had us over to eat. He made us some great Spanish food and we had a great time. 

 

On Wednesday we will get a call from the mission president and he will tell us if we stay or move somewhere. I am guessing that I will leave because I have been in Aix for 6 months and that is normally the longest someone stays in one place but we will see. I have been studying my notes from General conference and it has been really great. I have leaned a lot and this has really helped me with my everyday work. Have a great week. 

Elder Bake

FFF of the Week:

There is not really a word for Bake in French so I tell people that my name means to cook something in an oven. "cuire au four"

Week 58 Aix en Provence

Bonjour,

This week was great. I'm sorry I do not have time this week to write. Today was really fun because we went on a hike to La Saint Victoire. It is a mountain that is not too far from Aix that is really well known and you can see it really well from almost anywhere in Aix. It is a pretty long hike but it was a lot of fun. We did it with our ward mission leader Kevin who is from the Congo. At the top there is a really great view of Aix and there is a old chapel. It is so crazy that they where able to build it on top of the mountain.

 

Miracle of the week: We talked with our ami Julie and she was so exited about seeing us again! We are gong to see her again on Friday and talk about her family and how the gospel of Christ can help her.

 

I hope you all have a great week and I will write more next time. 

 

Elder Bake

Cool thing about the Congo of the week: In the Congo they call someone old if they are older than you. So you call me Old Elder Bake if I am older than you even if both the people are kids.