Week 56: Transfer Surprises

So, I need to start out with a little shout out because it is a special day today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATRINA! It's my sister's birthday and she deserves a happy birthday! She's the one who makes this blog happen, so if I ever tell any good stories, it's probably just her changing my words around to make me sound cool haha but really, she's awesome!

Also, another shout out, I want to say thank you so much to the Katy 2nd Ward Beehives! I got your card! Thank you so much, you girls are awesome!

This week was an interesting one, that's for sure! It was the last week of the transfer and it was also my companions birthday this week! So, we got invited over a lot haha. But first...

On Tuesday we went and visited a man that we had met at the Chinese restaurant last week, and on our way, our train got cancelled. So...we called him to tell him, and he said he would just come pick us up. YES. So he took us to his house, and when we walked in he started playing an old cassette tape of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! So we listened to "Onward Christian Soldiers!" with him haha and it was old school! The lesson went pretty well, and he's a cool guy from Madagascar. It's pretty exciting how the Lord puts people in our path for us to find and help!

On Wednesday, we had a super interesting experience. My companion, Elder Lamb, had an aunt who was actually in town and our mission president gave her permission to take us out to dinner for Elder Lamb's birthday! So, she came and took us out to get some fancy pizza over by the Eiffel Tower. No big deal I guess....haha I was in awe. It was so cool! And she was super nice! She even took a picture of me and Elder Lamb and emailed it to my mom from her phone haha.

On Thursday we went over to a member's house (Soeur Ferrazza) to do a little service, and then to eat! Well, her and a thai friend made some DELICIOUS thai food! Wow it was incredible. I was so happy haha she had done it for my companions birthday, but I sure felt like it was mine haha I was so happy to be eating Thai food! I'll be sending pictures soon!

So, another miracle. Do you remember when I told the story of when we went to visit a less active member, they weren't there, so we contacted some people and found 2 people that said they would come to church? And then we found a man on the bus too? Well, this last week, that less active member (who actually is not less active, but left the church completely when he was younger) called us up and said that he wanted to meet with us. He had been reading some in the Book of Mormon and he had been watching Mormon Messages on youtube, and he felt like he needed to see us. So we went to see him, of course! It was an incredible meeting! He told us about his life, and about spiritual experiences that he had had in his life and how special they were to him. He talked about his parents and brothers and how much he loves them and respects the good examples they are to him. He told us about how he sings Primary songs with his 3 year old son before he goes to bed every night. He told us also that the night we had passed by and he wasn't there, it was a miracle. He said that the day before he had prayed for a really long time asking how he could improve his life and what he needed to do to have the life that he wanted. The next night, we passed by his house (and missionaries hadn't passed by in a year) and he wasn't there. When he got home, his wife (who is not a member of the church) told him that we had passed by, and he said he knew immediately that it was a sign. Sometimes we don't understand the reason for everything, but when we look back, we can understand perfectly. Before we left that appointment, he asked us if we could sing with him, so he grabbed his guitar and we sang "I am a Child of God" and then "The Army of Helaman" song. It was a really special night.

Also, another surprise! And a little background: this transfer I've been having some problems with my back. It's getting better now, don't worry! But until it's completely better, the mission president wants me to take it easy a little, so I'm not going to be a zone leader this next transfer. But he said that he's going to put me right back as soon as he can haha so we'll see what happens. So, I'm being transferred this week! And I'm going to be living in....Versailles! Haha not bad right? haha I guess I'm being spoiled a little, but I don't mind! I know I'm going to love it! I'm sad that I'm already leaving Antony, because I really like the people here, but I know it will be great in Versailles too!

Now for a little wisdom from the mission president's wife, Soeur Poznanski. This week she told us to never give up on our goals! She said that when we make good goals, Satan will try to stop us because he doesn't want us to succeed, and that makes it look, at times, like our goals are impossible to attain. Don't give in to that temptation! We might have challenges along the way, but don't ever give up! Get back up, and show Satan that you are better than him! He can't bring you down to be miserable like him! Soeur Poznanski is a smart lady, trust me! I mean, even Elder Ballard copied her "bring a soul to Christ for Christmas" idea! haha everyone in the mission loved that during General Conference! That has been our goal here for Christmas for the past 2 years!

Our mission motto this year is Ether 3:5, and it's a powerful, but simple scripture. Read it! And think about how much power the Lord has already shown in your life, even if they are little things. And remember always that you can rely on Him to help you!

Have an awesome week! Keep smiling!

Elder Daniel Anderson

Week 55: More Exchanges?

This last week started with a trip last Monday to Sacré Coeur. Yes, I went to Catholic Church! Okay, not really, I just went to the cathedral haha I don't have any pictures that I can send right now, but I'll send an email soon with all the pictures that I've been taking recently. It was an awesome cathedral though! And the view from it was incredible! You can see all of Paris! I promise I'll send pictures soon haha

That same night we had some missionaries coming in from far because they had something to do in Paris the next day, so we led them through the Paris metro system haha and it went well! I never thought I would understand the Paris metro system, but now it's no big deal! The missionaries we were helping are good friends of mine, one was trained by an Elder who was with me in the MTC (Elder Mataele) and that missionary is now training! That sure made me feel old haha.

On the way to help them, while on the metro, a girl tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was mormon, so I said yes and she was so relieved haha she had moved to Paris a month earlier from Madagascar and had been looking for the church! We were in the right place at the right time!

We met with Cédric this week (the man we met on the bridge last week) and he really wants to turn his life around! We're really excited for him and he is so sincere! He came to church again and he's doing so much better!

On Thursday we ate at a Chinese Buffet (paid for by Soeur Ferrazza haha) and it was super good! And while we were in there, we started talking with 2 different families about the church! They asked us who we were, and then we had great conversations with them! We're going to visit one of the families this week!

On Thursday night and Friday morning I had an exchange with Elder Coffey, one of the assistants to the mission president. It was awesome! We found a few people and taught some lessons! One of the people we met was from the Philippines and was interested to learn more and asked if she could invite friends too!

On Saturday we helped a family move from one apartment to another for most of the day, and then we went to une Soirée Africaine! An African themed party at the church! Alejandro and Rolando came, and also a few other amis! It was awesome! I'll send pictures of that as soon as I can too. It was an incredible activity, and even though the missionaries had to leave before it was over, some amis stayed because they were having so much fun!

It was a week full of awesome experiences! And I learned a lot! One of the biggest things I learned this week is that it is never too late to change our lives! It's never too late to do whatever it takes to commit ourselves to follow Christ! That should always be our goal in life!

Make it an awesome week!

Elder Daniel Anderson

Week 54: Exchanges

This week I went on a couple exchanges that were awesome! The first one was with an elder that used to be an assistant to the mission president, and him and I already knew each other. It was an awesome exchange and we got a lot done! We taught 3 people, and one of them was a man with a baptismal date! During the lesson we asked him if he had been reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it, and he told us that he had been doing it, and that he received an answer to his prayers. We waited with our breath held, and then he said that he knew that the Book of Mormon was true. Whenever he is tired, something always urges him to read it, even if it's just a little. He said the way he feels in the church makes him know that it's true and it's where he belongs. It was an incredible meeting! He's getting baptized this Saturday!

We also had a first lesson with a man named Max, and he loved the lesson! He said that he wanted to know for himself what our church teaches, and he loved the teachings. He had already read a little in the Book of Mormon and he was excited to come to church too!

My next exchange was with Elder Nelson, the new missionary in our apartment. It was really good! While we were on our way to a lesson, our tram randomly got stopped, and no one understood what was going on. So we all got off the tram and waited for the next one. We called the man that we were going to visit to tell him we would be late, and then got on the next tram. While walking to the appointment (across a bridge over the Seine River), we saw a man that seemed to be looking at us as he walked past, so we stopped and talked with him. Turns out he is a member and was baptized 2 years earlier, but went inactive soon after because things got hard in his life. He said that he had been praying for help recently and he knew that God had put us in his path that day while he was walking home from work. That tram hadn't kicked everyone off for nothing! Maybe it kicked everyone else off for nothing, but not us!

Also this week we taught a bus driver while he was driving the bus haha and he decided he wanted to meet with us more, and the lesson went really well! We're really excited to keep teaching him!

On Saturday there was a baptism of a girl who found the church online, met with the missionaries for a year, and is now 18 and got baptized! She invited 10 friends to her baptism that weren't members! It was awesome!

One Sunday at church, guess who came. The man we met on the bridge on the way to our appointment! It was his first time coming to church in a super long time and he was so happy to be there! He had been in a different ward before, and so it was his first time at our ward too. He's just awesome!

Well, those are the highlights of the week! I hope you guys have an awesome week! Keep making good decisions and being the best you can be! I'm off to see a little bit of Paris haha

Elder Daniel Anderson

Week 53: Week of Conference

So, this week had a lot of conference in it for me! I'll explain that a little later haha first, at the beginning of this week we had a miracle happen! We went to go visit a less active member, and he wasn't home. Sounds like a good miracle, right? Well, we decided to do a little contacting in the area, and so we started with a prayer. The first man we talked to was interested and talked to us for a bit, and said he would like to come to church sometime! 

After the contact, we prayed to thank Heavenly Father for that blessing and then continued to contact people. A few people later, we met another man who said he would really be interested in coming to church, and he actually lives pretty close to us. This was all in a matter of 20 minutes! Then we had to go catch the bus to make it home in time. 

When we were on the bus, a man sat next to me and asked "Are you paid to do what you do, or is it just faith?" and that sparked an incredible conversation and friendship! He turned out to be a 26 year old lawyer who had studied at UCLA, was French, spoke 5 languages, had worked on a case for Chevron (just another connection haha), and had already read the Book of Mormon! We talked with him for a while as he walked home, and he said he was super interested and he was also super open! So, even though we didnt get to teach the less active, the Lord knew where we needed to be and made a way for us to be there!

On Friday we had Zone Conference, and that was awesome as always! We had to give another training, which went well, and then Président Poznanski gave us our new goal for the end of the year! It's that every companionship in the mission brings a family to Christ by Christmas! Everyone is super excited about it! Also at the conference, I got to talk to an Elder from Thailand! He's from Chiang Mai and it was super cool to talk to him!

Then there was General Conference. What an amazing weekend! I hope everyone got to watch or listen to General Conference, because it really was incredible! Also, there are now 15 million members of the church! That's awesome! 

A few things that I loved from conference were these paraphrased quotes:

Elder Ulisses Saores: We will avoid detours and sadness in life if we walk hand in hand with the Lord.

Elder Edward Dube: Faith always points to the future.

President Monson: Home Teaching - Teach, Inspire, and Motivate!

Also from President Monson, the poem that he cited that said "Good timber does not grow with ease."

It was an inspiring weekend and if you haven't already, I challenge all of you to watch every session of conference! I know the Spirit will testify to you fo the things that you can do in your life to bring yourself closer to the Savior! I know it worked for me!

Have an incredible week!

Elder Daniel Anderson