Week 30: A Little Late!

I don't know how many people actually noticed or not, but my email this week is a day late, and I have a fantastic reason for it haha. Yesterday there was a city wide strike here (nonviolent, don't you worry!) so no stores were open and no buses were running, so we were stuck at our apartment. It wasn't all bad, but that's the reason for the delay haha.

It was a good week though, that's for sure! The excitement started right after I sent my email last week! Short story shorter, my bag was stolen...good thing the only things in it were un Livre de Mormon and La Bible, both in french and easily replacable haha so not a big deal. Maybe it'll lead to a conversion haha I can always hope!

So, then on Tuesday I headed to Mons, Belgium (aka America) for an exchange with my district leader! It wasn't really like America, but we went to eat at an American family's house that is living in Mons, and it was pretty crazy! We walked up to the house with a Ford Ranger and a Ford Econoline Van and I thought "This must be their house", and it sure was! The whole dinner was like spending time with people that I knew while living in Thailand! And they loved that I had lived in Thailand before so it was a really great dinner! I even got to drink 2 percent milk, which doesnt ever happen over here, they drink weird milk here haha so that was a treat! Then it turned out that their daughter is about to go to BYU to play the harp, so she played her harp some and it was crazy good! I was a little embarassed that I have no talents like that haha but I have talents, don't worry!

Here are some pictures from Mons:

Just a pretty spot out in the country while waiting for the bus

Out the window of the apartment in Mons

Yeah, the shower was a little tight, so it's a sit down shower haha

Just another view from the wondow haha

On Friday we set a baptismal date with our investigator Jean-Pierre! We're really excited about it! I'll tell you more about it in next week's email haha

On Saturday and Sunday we had Président and Soeur Poznanski in Charleroi giving a fireside and speaking in church, so that was awesome! And who showed up at the fireside? Vincent, our mini missionary from a few weeks ago! It was awesome to see us again and we were all super excited! And his parents said that he said some nice things about us and that he loved being a mini missionary, so that was a relief! haha and he said he wants to serve a mission, so that's awesome! Hopefully I'll have a picture of our reunion for next week haha

This week I've already had a Zone Conference, but I'll save that for next week's email haha because it just happened and I'm scared I won't have anything exciting to talk about next week except for that! We shall see haha

Oh and a couple shout outs!

Congratulations to Crystal and Matt on their graduations! Way to go guys! I thought I should give you a shout out!

Merci beaucoup Mom for sending me that package! It was awesome!

I hope everyone is doing great and loving life! Stay focused on being the best you can be everyday! Chaque jour!

Elder Daniel Anderson

Week 29: Another Week in Charleroi

So this week was just another week of being a missionary in Charleroi! Not that it wasnt full of exciting stuff or anything like that, but I don't feel like I have too many awesome stories to tell...maybe I'm wrong and my life is just so crazy exciting that I can't tell when awesome things happen haha I'll give you a run down of my week anyways though haha.

Last Tuesday night we were invited to a member family's house to talk with their evangelical family members about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, because they had a few questions about us. The conversation went well and the family was pretty happy with how it went, so we earned our keep as missionaries haha just kidding!

Friday was my companion's birthday! So some members had invited us over and fed us some delicious food! Not too shabby of a life haha. Then the Ward Mission Leader here had a cake and a present for Elder Burgess, so that was a lot of fun too!

Elder Burgess and his cake for his 21st!

And it just so happened that that night was also a ward activity, so we went to that for a little bit because we had invited some non-members. It went well! It was Karaoke night haha and no, I didnt sing. I don't have that kind of confidence! Yet. Haha The activity went well and the people we invited enjoyed it! But they were a little perplexed when we left so we could be home by 9, but they understood after we explained. The party just kept going after we left though, so I guess I wasn't really the life of the party or anything.

Sunday was good too! I was asked to give a surprise talk, so that was cool haha it went fine, that's just part of being a missionary! They were really thankful that I could help them out. It was only 5 minutes, and because my french is far from perfect, they cut me some slack and I'm not as nervous giving talks haha if that makes sense. I shared some thoughts about 1 Nephi 3:7, a classic! I talked about how sometimes when we read that scripture, we think that it applies to something big that the Lord might ask us to do. Like, if he calls us to be a Bishop that He will help us to fulfill the calling. It applies to that, but it also applies to everyday life! He gives us commandments and He really does provide a way for us to follow the commandments everyday if we have the faith and the courage to do His will! We can all do it!

The rest of the week was life as a missionary! Here are some funny pictures that I took randomly:

On our way back after Karaoke

Look at that! Even in another language (not English or French) you can understand what it is! Fruit Drank!

I don't know what this street sign is for, but it's a little weird...

I hope you liked my average week haha I'll be sure to have some exciting stuff next week! Keep doing your best, and remember that the Lord always prepares a way!

Elder Daniel Anderson

Week 28: Mini-Mission

I'm gonna start off this week's update with some pictures that I meant to put up last week haha so here ya go!

Day trip to New York! Not really. Otherwise that would be some humongous toilet paper.

These wood frame houses are pretty cool, classic France!

First cathedral I saw in Poitiers.

Just a gorgeous day in Poitiers!

Hotêl de Ville on my last day

So, now I've been in Charleroi for a little bit of time! But sadly, I don't have too many stories to tell. Except that we had a mini-missionary come stay with us for a few days this week!

Me, Vincent Thomas, and Elder Burgess

Vincent Thomas was his name and he is from Nivelle, Belgium. He is 17 and he wants to serve a mission in a little bit, so he came to check out what it's like! It was a little bit of a challenge for me, because I had to speak even more french than usual, but it was great and an awesome few days! We did some finding, some teaching, went to meetings, and just had a blast doing missionary work! I think he really enjoyed it and we all got along great! He put up with my iffy french, so that was good haha and he understood my jokes, so that was even better!

After he left us though, I got sick. My companion had been sick, then a day or two after he got better, I caught the same thing, so we weren't able to get a lot done this week. It was a bummer! But I'm better now, don't you sweat it! But while being quarantined in the apartment, I took a couple pictures of the view from our living room window.

This is Charleroi!

And it looks pretty at night too! haha

I was better by Sunday, and I couldn't miss church either way! They have their own church building here, a full blown chapel! It's really nice too! They have quite a few members here, so it's a lot different than Poitiers. But, the people here are super nice, so that's the same as Poitiers! I met a lot of people! And then got asked if I could lead the music in sacrament meeting because I had done it in an earlier class and they figured I was a pro haha has anyone else noticed that I seem to be doing a lot of musical stuff on my mission? That wasn't really my thing before haha except for playing the guitar a little bit, but I don't really do that anymore haha. But yeah, church was great, and then we went and visited a lot of less active members and it was awesome! Everyone is super nice here and I love it!

That's all I have for this week, I know it's pretty lame! I promise I'll have better stories to tell next week! I have a few from this week, but they're pretty weird haha. Next week I'll have some really good ones!

Keep smiling and keep being awesome! I'm praying for all of you! Yes, even YOU.

à la prochaine!

Elder Daniel Anderson

Week 27: Hello Charleroi

Well this week sure was a big one! I feel like I say that a lot, but I guess that's what being a missionary does to someone's life! I love it though, so no problemos there!

I started the week by getting my Easter package! Thank you Mom! It gave me a little more to carry during the transfer, but it was worth it!

Last Monday was my last P-day, so I made sure to walk around Poitiers and take in the sites a little bit haha. Here are some pictures!

PICTURE OF STATUE OF LIBERTY Caption: Yes, that's the Statue of Liberty. And yes, that is toilet paper.

PIC OF WOOD HOUSES Caption: Cool houses in centreville

PIC OF CATHEDRAL Caption: Cool cathedral that we didnt see very often.

PIC of TREE AND RIVER: It was a gorgeous day!

PIC of Big Building Caption: Hôtel de Ville

TURNS OUT I FORGOT TO BRING THE SCENERY PICTURES. I'LL SEND them next week.

I went walking around Poitiers on P-day as kind of my final goodbye, even though I had another day. That's because Tuesday we had a bajillion RDV's!

On Tuesday we saw a lot of our amis and taught a lot of lessons, and it was sad to say goodbye to everyone. I know that they'll all do great though! Here are some pics:

The Girard's!

This is the Prince-Davy you've been hearing about!

This is the building that the church is in.

This is dawn in Poitiers.

It was sad to leave Poitiers, but I was super excited for what was coming up! I got to meet up with a bunch of other missionaries in Paris before going to Belgium, and I got to see my MTC companion! Elder Stobbs!

We hadnt seen each other for 4 months, so it was super cool to get to talk for a while! I'm actually replacing him here in Charleroi! And a lot of my district from the MTC is here in Belgium with me, so that's awesome too! After talking for a little bit, I had to hope on the train and get over here to Belgium!

An awesome diner on the train!

I got to Charleroi just fine, and the Ward Mission Leader here picked my companion and I up and drove us to visit someone. Getting right to work! It was great! Except that when we came out of the person's house that we visited, it was starting to snow haha. The Ward Mission Leader and my new companion, Elder Burgess, are awesome too, so I'm excited! Oh, and the apartment is super nice haha that's a plus! And the city is actually pretty cool, it's got a lot of character!

So, I hope everyone watched General Conference! I havent seen all of it yet, but I've seen most of it, and it was great! Some of my favorite parts that I got to see were:

Elder Craig A. Cardon's talk

Elder Richard G. Scott "Your great potential can be limited or destroyed by following Satan."

Elder L. Tom Perry "Obedience to law is liberty."

President Thomas S. Monson's story about the grass fire haha

There were so many great things to hear and learn! I hope everyone loved it as much as I did!

Elder Daniel Anderson

Week 26: Goodbye Poitiers

Well, it sure was a busy week! I was bouncing all over the place! And I've got some news to share too, so I hope you're excited! haha

So, last Tuesday we had a lot of appointments with investigators, and that was awesome! It made it a little stressful to get to the train station in time though! Turns out, they wanted to make sure everything for the Belgium trip this time went smoothly, so they had the people who lived far away just go to Paris for the night, so no biggie, I spent the night in Paris haha. It was in a missionary apartment though, so it wasn't anything fancy haha. I was with another missionary from La Rochelle, Elder Schultz, and we had to navigate Paris on our own to find the apartment, but we did it just fine! I know a little french!

Wednesday morning we headed off to Belgium! We met the other missionaries at the train station and then were on our way! (Hopefully with no mishaps!)

Elder Mataele and I enjoyed the refreshments haha

 Just can't relax for a picture haha this is what the train looked like.

Other missionaries that were sitting with us, they're all cool!

I got to spend some quality time with my buddies from the MTC, so that was awesome! When we got to Belgium, things went pretty smoothly! Except for we got on a tram and a few stops later the senior couple that was leading us said "Everyone get off! We are LOST" haha but it was an easy fix. Then we went and got lunch in Brussels!

This is a mitraillette, and it's amazing. Meat, frites, sawce (it isnt spelled like that, but I pronounce it like that haha), and bread.

Delicious. And nutritious! haha

Belgian Waffles! Or, "gaufres" haha

After eating we went to do our legality and stuff, and that was a pretty fast process haha so then we sat around and got to talk to some missionary friends who serve in Belgium, so that was nice! Then we headed back to the train station on the tram (I've never been so squished in public transportation before haha) and then headed back to France. It was an awesome day!

Friday we watched The Testaments with one of our amis, and I forgot how great of a movie it is! You should all watch it again this week!

Saturday. Dun dun dun DUN! Transfer email! Well...here it goes! BELGIUM. Yeah, you read it right! I'm going to Charleroi, Belgium! They just can't keep me away from that country! haha I'm super excited about it! It's going to be such an awesome experience, and I've heard lots of great things about it! And don't worry, I'll try not to make it a habit of eating the sandwich pictured above too often haha.

On Sunday, they announced at church that I'm leaving and it was a pretty sad meeting. I bore my testimony and then some other people did too.  It made me feel pretty special though, like all the work I've done has actually been appreciated. Not that I felt like I needed someone to say it, but I was surprised at how much it affected people. I'm going to miss it here in Poitiers a lot, and I hope to come back some day!

This is me and 2 of the branch president's kids, Christian and Ismael

President Traoré and his wife, awesome people!

I'm ready for an exciting new adventure!

My Dad gave me some scriptures to read last week, and I want to share one that I liked a lot. It is Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 4

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

"A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance."

Don't you love that?! I feel like crying and dancing at the same time, so how do you explain that?! haha I'm teasing, I really like this scripture a lot, and I think it gives a lot of comfort.

I hope you're all doing awesome! Until next week! From Belgium!

Elder Daniel Anderson

NEW ADDRESS:

Les Missionnaires

Elder Daniel Anderson

rue de la Marine, 1A n°22

6040 JUMET

Belgium