As I said last week, I was supposed to go to a conference in
Paris last week and one of the 70 was going to be there to help train the
missionaries. Well, it ended up getting cancelled because of snow, so that was
a little sad. It got moved to this week though, so I'm happy about that. It
also worked out fairly well for us here in Poitiers, and I'll explain that in a
bit!
This week we did a lot of contacting and knocking on doors.
I know, that sounds like any other week that I've been here! The difference: we
got let in. Twice. Say whaaaaat?! It was pretty awesome! You don't see that
every day! But for real...haha
I'll start at the beginning of the week though haha remember
in the last blog post when I mentioned how I talked to the brother of a member
here, and he was a hip hop/rap music producer and really liked basketball? Well
I talked to him about that for a little bit, and then we talked about what we
(the missionaries) are doing here, why we're here, how we decided to come, etc.
Then we had to leave. The member told us a few days later that after we left,
he didnt talk to anyone else, that he just sat on the couch and was thinking
and that it was obvious that something was on his mind. She was super thankful
that we were able to connect and that he could see that we weren't weirdos and that
the church is made up of ordinary people who want to be extraordinary! haha
that's what it is! So that was nice to hear from here haha
So a little over a week ago, we contacted a guy on the
street, and he was from Belgium, but the dutch speaking half. He spoke english
though, so no problems haha. We talked to him for quite a while, and he seemed
pretty interested. He had a lot of theories about how people should live, so I
shared with him Mosiah 3:19, and he loved it. He looked at me and said "That
touched me. You knew just what to show me." It was a great experience! We
gave him a Book of Mormon and asked if we could get his address or phone number
so we could meet another time and he said no, that if it was meant to be, then
we would see each other again, and then he walked away. It was kind of sad to
see him go, but we did what we could!
Fast forward about 3 days, we're
conacting in town and a lady comes walking right up to me, so I say hello and
she sayd "I know this might be impolite, but can I have one of your books?
You gave one to my friend the other day and he said it brought him good luck
and he felt really good about it, so I read some of it and I would really like
one for myself. I'm very interested." Caught us a little off guard! We asked
her who her friend was, and of course, it was the same guy from a few days
earlier! We asked if we could meet with them some time and she said yes, so we
told her to have him call us. Then she walked away, and about 15 minutes later,
he called us up. CRAZY. We met with them once, and she had read like 10 or more
pages in the Book of Mormon and had read the entire pamphlet we gave her! Then
after the meeting they said they would come to church.
Sadly, they texted us in
the middle of church and told us that they wouldn't be coming and they weren't
interested anymore. It was sad! They even missed my companion and I performing
in sacrament meeting! (We sang a "Be Still My Soul" haha) So, the
whole experience with them was quite the rollercoaster, but maybe some day down
the line they'll be interested again!
On Thursday the big Conference in Paris was cancelled, so we
stayed here in Poitiers. I was kinda bummed! But, things worked out! We got
invited in to a college guy's apartment to teach a lesson and he was very receptive!
Then while we were walking to the bus, we contacted another guy and he invited
us over and we taught another lesson! So, having the conference delayed a week
worked out okay haha
Prince-Davy came to church with us this week and is doing
really well! He asks a lot of questions, and that shows that he is truly
interested and truly wants to find the answers to his questions! Good thing
we've got 'em! Or at least we know that we can encourage him to ask Heavenly
Father, who is really the one who knows the answers! Seriously, He does.
I was reading in the Book of Mormon this morning, and I
thought I should share something. It is Mosiah 24:10-16, I think. The
background is: There was a group of righteous people who were being controlled
by a group of wicked people. They were being used as slaves and had to pay
taxes to the wicked people. It says "So great were their afflictions that
they began to cry mightily to God" and they "did pour out their
hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts." That's just
like we should do when we are having hard times! Then the Lord answered them
and said "Lift up your heads and be of good comfort...I will also ease the
burdens which are put upon your shoulders...I, the Lord God, do visit my people
in their afflictions."
Then after the Lord said that, "it came to
pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren (The righteous
people) were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear
up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to
all the will of the Lord." The Lord wants to help us through our
difficulties, we just need to ask! We need to have faith that He will help us,
and do everything we can to make our situation better! He might not remove the
difficulty, but He can also strengthen us so that we can make it through the
difficulty, so that we are then stronger for when something else comes our way!
He knows us better than we know ourselves!
Sorry for writing so much this week haha and for having just
one picture!
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| Prince-Davy drew this on the whiteboard for a little kid at church haha |
I hope you're all doing awesome and loving life! Hopefully
next week I'll have some incredible stories to tell!
Elder Daniel Anderson
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