This week was our busiest (spelling? my English is slowly dying) yet. We taught 29 lessons and we had 7 Amis' at the church on Sunday and Sabrina 1 got confirmed by Elder Magnan, it was great, 10% of the ward was non-members! We have been really really blessed in Carcassonne, because Elder Magnan is the district leader I get to see all of the reports of the cities in our district, and their numbers are not nearly the same. It is crazy that we are in such a small town but we have been able to find so many people that are interested in the gospel. We hardly have anytime to contact, we only met 6 new people on the road this week but we had 5 new amis'!! Usually if we find 10 or 12 we have 3 new amis' because people don't show up to the rendez-vous' or they gave us a fake number or they aren't actually interested, but this week pretty much all of our contacts were interested. The lord knew that we were busy and he put the elect in our path.
Sabrina 2 - is super super awesome and she loves the gospel, she trouble with smoking, but we have talked to her about it alot and she said that she wants to get baptised but she feels unworthy because she smokes, we have started a plan with her this week to stop smoking in 7 days, we are going to work hard with her and when she stops next week she said that she would like to be baptised. We fixed a date of baptism with David, the 16 year old basketball player, and the next day his mom told him that we couldn't come to the church anymore. Talk about the opposition of Satan. We are going to go to his house this week and see whats up and try to get him back. We taught Carlos Vento (bento), he is from Portugal and his is a non member and his wife is from Brazil and a member, we watched the DVD of the restoration in Portuguese with them and then spoke in french with him, she doesn't speak french super well so he translated it to Portuguese for her. She has a super powerful testimony and it was really good. He has already been praying with her and he is excited to read the Book of Mormon now. We also taught Simon and Caroline, Simon is an inactive member that served a portion of a mission and Caroline is his girlfriend. They are super! She has read the Book of Mormon everyday and we talked about the plan of salvation and it was really good, I love teaching them.
It is starting to get rather chilly, frankly in the morning it is freezing, and I don't have any sweat shirts or coat. I am going to buy some sweat shirts today and maybe a coat, if I can find one that is not super expensive. The clothes are about the same price here or a little bit more expensive. There is a sale in January but there is now way I can wait that long. I thought that I could wait and that is why I didn't buy clothes last, but I learned my lesson and I'm just going bite the bullet and spend money. I'm still just as cheap as I was at home.
Random side note 1: This week I was in the bathroom and I wasn't paying attention and I walked right into the top of the door frame (the ceilings are low probably 5'6" door frame) and fell on the floor. I had a very nice goose egg. We laughed about that for awhile
Random side note 2: We eat dinner with a family from England every Wednesday, and Elder Magnan was saying good bye and he tried to say "I love your house" or the sister and he said "I love your eyes" and walked out. We laughed about that for awhile as well.
Who gave the talks at the baptism if you and Elder Magnan were running around trying to get water in the font?
--- 2 Members. Soeur Talbic and Frere Serge. They are the members that we have been teaching with and Sabrina choose to have them speak.
How many of your amis have you found since you came to Carcasonne and how many of them were already there when you got there?
----- We have found 20 people while we have been here and of those 20 we are still teaching 7 and 7 others that were already here
How many baptisms has Elder Magnum been involved in was he as excited about Sabrina as you were?
----Yeah he was super excited too, He has had 5 baptisms.
What kind of a program do they have for retaining and fellowshipping the new members?
----We continue to teach them after baptism, but we try to teach as much as possible with members, for example this week we taught 22 lessons to amis' and we had a member with us for 15 of those 22. We also assign a member to sit with our amis' during Sunday school and sacrament.
When your package comes pay attention to the date that it arrives and let me know so that I can gauge how long it takes for surface mail to get there?
----I got the package on Wednesday the 22nd and It was simply wonderful. I already ate all the oreos and I made Elder Magnan try the gushers and an oreo with the peanut butter, he thought that it was weird and I told him "that is what America tastes like". I loved it and I love the taste of America. Thank you so so so much
How are your shoes holding up?
----In fact I gave one pair of my shoes away already. At the MTC I didn't have room for 2 pairs, but the pair of Ecco's that I have are holding up well. but they are in need of a good shining
Better yet how are your feet?
---- Good. I'm seen some bad blisters from other elders but I'm yet to get them, my shoes really are great. On Saturday we had rendez-vous' all over the city, we usually try to schedule our rendez-vous' close together but on Saturday we were going back and forth all day. We guessed that we probably walked 20 kilometers, I think that's like 12 or 15 miles, I'm not sure. I was tired needless to say and I slept really good.
This transfer has been great, and it is crazy that I've already finished my first transfer, I was happy to learn that I'm staying in Carcassonne with Elder Magnan. This city is great, we figured our numbers out for the transfer and we taught 148 lessons in total. Crazy Crazy Crazy. I'd be happy to stay in this city for 2 years.
Love you all and I loved the emails and letters this week.
Love Matt
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
From France with Love
This week has been really good, just like all they other weeks. We are SUPER SUPER busy. I can't believe that it is already the end of my first Transfer and that I have had my first baptism.
The Baptism. It is soooo good. We invited all of our investigators to come and had 5 there, and Sabrina getting baptised all together 6. It was after church on Sunday because the bishop and his counselors were in Toulouse for a Stake meeting on Saturday. We got started and had 2 talks about Baptism and the Holy Ghost, we were a little bit worried while they were talking because the font wasn't filled up enough. It was time for the baptism, and there wasn't enough water. Me and Elder Magnan went into Hypermode. Everyone stayed in the chapel and listened to music and sang hymns while we tried to fill buckets up with water for the font. There was no water pressure in the church though because the font was already taking all of it. So we ran outside and into the back shed of the church and found a tap, and a hose. We ran the hose across the parking lot and through the window of the bathroom and into the font. Everyone kept singing and listening to 2 sisters play the flute and violin while the font filled up. Luckily Sabrina is quite short and the water didn't have to be really deep. When the font was filled up we had the baptism, The Bishop baptised her and all of amis' loved it. We have 2 that were there, that felt the spirit very strong and they want to get baptised. It was powerful for them to see them dressed in white and to see someone with the authority baptise Sabrina in same manner that Christ himself was baptised. I loved it. I couldn't stop smiling, I felt the same excitement of opening my mission call (ha ha you all remember that, I didn't gasp this time), and the excitement of leaving the MTC. It was really cool to see the fruits of our labors. After she bore her testimony and it was really good, and she thanked me for finding her, I told her that it wasn't me, it was the Holy Ghost. I will be eternally grateful for the trust the lord had in my to be an instrument in his hands. And how great was my joy for just bring one soul unto the gospel!!
We rarely have time to contact people as much as we would like because we are going back and forth from rendez-vous' (Appointments) and teaching so often. We really have been blessed with so much work. We have about 15 Amis' (Investigators) but not all of them are progressing. Some of them have the impression that we come to teach just to discuss religion, but that is not why we are here. We are here to invite others to come unto Christ and be baptised, in order to that they need to follow our commitments (read, pray, church etc etc). I think that we are about to apply Jacob Chapter 5 and start burning parts of the vineyard that are not ready, (Drop investigators because they don't follow our commitments). It is sad because we would like to teach everyone, and everyone is entitled to the gospel and everyone is entitled to eternal life, but at the same time we need to be effective and find the elect that are ready for the gospel.
Our contacts.
How tall are they?
Ha.. about 5'0'' to 5'11'' Sabrina, the one that got baptised is tres petite and David, he is 16 and I play basketball with him is about 5'11''. Everybody else is somewhere in between.
Do they like ice cream?----
Yes...
Have they read the Book of Mormon and Prayed? ----
Not all of them, but the ones that we can see a change in and are really progressing, yes.
Where do they hail from?
[France; Camaroon; China; Versaille, Spain; Timbuctoo] ----France, Reunion (french island of the coast of madagascar), Portugal, Algeria, Congo
How many in each family? -----
Most of our Amis' are just one person or they are a couple. We have started teaching a less active man with 5 kids and a wife that are not members that are from the Congo. They are awesome and love the gospel. The rest of the family is evangelist and he has a super strong testimony of Joesph Smith, but he wants to be at church with his family and that is why he is less active. It will be really cool, to see the whole family come to the gospel.
How old? ----- David and Leo 16, Ali and Eliane 45ish, Vanessa and Benoit 30ish, Sabrina Tabelion 25, Sabrina Kahmenisse 32, Phillipe 45, Nadia and Phillipe 45, Joelle 40, Jeanne 50, Frere Carlos 55, Christian 55
Do they smile?
Yes :)
Are their questions serious and penetrating? -----
Alot of questions are just about the reason they are on the earth and how they can be saved. There are some that have lived really hard lives, with lots of problems, they ask questions and they bring up things that are really sad. I love when we leave a rendez-vous like that and we have answered a deep question with the scriptures and we know that our investigators have found peace.
Do they stretch your language skills?----
OHHH yeah.
Do you love them? -----
OHHH yeah
Are you still getting along well with your companion? -------
We get along super well. Really though. I feel like I could stay in Carcassonne for 2 years with Elder Magnan. He helps me so much and I love to teach with him.
Is your baptism still on schedule?-------
Yes. She is baptised and She will be confirmed next Sunday.
When you have to cook for yourself what are you eating?------
Elder Magnan cooks, because he is really particular with his french cuisine. I do the dishes. It is a good deal. Usual just some kinda of pasta or dish with some new and fancy sauce. But this week we had 6 mangez-vous' (meal with a member) and it is Fantastic. It is the most Elder Magnan has had in one week on his whole mission....and me too.
I see the Elders around town and wonder if you are walking all of the time or do you ride buses etc.? -----
We walk all the time. sometimes we take a bus if we are going far. or we get a ride from members, but Centre Ville of Carcassonne is probably only the size of BYU's campus and the Chapel is 2 blocks away from that. We walk and walk and walk and walk.
Another Really good week and the work is moving along. I love all of you and I hope that this week goes well. I pray for you all each night and know that the lord has answered your prayers and bless me here because of you.
LOVE Elder/Brother/Uncle/Friend Matt Smith
Picture. Sabrina and Us. Sabrina and Frere Martin - The bishop
The Baptism. It is soooo good. We invited all of our investigators to come and had 5 there, and Sabrina getting baptised all together 6. It was after church on Sunday because the bishop and his counselors were in Toulouse for a Stake meeting on Saturday. We got started and had 2 talks about Baptism and the Holy Ghost, we were a little bit worried while they were talking because the font wasn't filled up enough. It was time for the baptism, and there wasn't enough water. Me and Elder Magnan went into Hypermode. Everyone stayed in the chapel and listened to music and sang hymns while we tried to fill buckets up with water for the font. There was no water pressure in the church though because the font was already taking all of it. So we ran outside and into the back shed of the church and found a tap, and a hose. We ran the hose across the parking lot and through the window of the bathroom and into the font. Everyone kept singing and listening to 2 sisters play the flute and violin while the font filled up. Luckily Sabrina is quite short and the water didn't have to be really deep. When the font was filled up we had the baptism, The Bishop baptised her and all of amis' loved it. We have 2 that were there, that felt the spirit very strong and they want to get baptised. It was powerful for them to see them dressed in white and to see someone with the authority baptise Sabrina in same manner that Christ himself was baptised. I loved it. I couldn't stop smiling, I felt the same excitement of opening my mission call (ha ha you all remember that, I didn't gasp this time), and the excitement of leaving the MTC. It was really cool to see the fruits of our labors. After she bore her testimony and it was really good, and she thanked me for finding her, I told her that it wasn't me, it was the Holy Ghost. I will be eternally grateful for the trust the lord had in my to be an instrument in his hands. And how great was my joy for just bring one soul unto the gospel!!
We rarely have time to contact people as much as we would like because we are going back and forth from rendez-vous' (Appointments) and teaching so often. We really have been blessed with so much work. We have about 15 Amis' (Investigators) but not all of them are progressing. Some of them have the impression that we come to teach just to discuss religion, but that is not why we are here. We are here to invite others to come unto Christ and be baptised, in order to that they need to follow our commitments (read, pray, church etc etc). I think that we are about to apply Jacob Chapter 5 and start burning parts of the vineyard that are not ready, (Drop investigators because they don't follow our commitments). It is sad because we would like to teach everyone, and everyone is entitled to the gospel and everyone is entitled to eternal life, but at the same time we need to be effective and find the elect that are ready for the gospel.
Our contacts.
How tall are they?
Ha.. about 5'0'' to 5'11'' Sabrina, the one that got baptised is tres petite and David, he is 16 and I play basketball with him is about 5'11''. Everybody else is somewhere in between.
Do they like ice cream?----
Yes...
Have they read the Book of Mormon and Prayed? ----
Not all of them, but the ones that we can see a change in and are really progressing, yes.
Where do they hail from?
[France; Camaroon; China; Versaille, Spain; Timbuctoo] ----France, Reunion (french island of the coast of madagascar), Portugal, Algeria, Congo
How many in each family? -----
Most of our Amis' are just one person or they are a couple. We have started teaching a less active man with 5 kids and a wife that are not members that are from the Congo. They are awesome and love the gospel. The rest of the family is evangelist and he has a super strong testimony of Joesph Smith, but he wants to be at church with his family and that is why he is less active. It will be really cool, to see the whole family come to the gospel.
How old? ----- David and Leo 16, Ali and Eliane 45ish, Vanessa and Benoit 30ish, Sabrina Tabelion 25, Sabrina Kahmenisse 32, Phillipe 45, Nadia and Phillipe 45, Joelle 40, Jeanne 50, Frere Carlos 55, Christian 55
Do they smile?
Yes :)
Are their questions serious and penetrating? -----
Alot of questions are just about the reason they are on the earth and how they can be saved. There are some that have lived really hard lives, with lots of problems, they ask questions and they bring up things that are really sad. I love when we leave a rendez-vous like that and we have answered a deep question with the scriptures and we know that our investigators have found peace.
Do they stretch your language skills?----
OHHH yeah.
Do you love them? -----
OHHH yeah
Are you still getting along well with your companion? -------
We get along super well. Really though. I feel like I could stay in Carcassonne for 2 years with Elder Magnan. He helps me so much and I love to teach with him.
Is your baptism still on schedule?-------
Yes. She is baptised and She will be confirmed next Sunday.
When you have to cook for yourself what are you eating?------
Elder Magnan cooks, because he is really particular with his french cuisine. I do the dishes. It is a good deal. Usual just some kinda of pasta or dish with some new and fancy sauce. But this week we had 6 mangez-vous' (meal with a member) and it is Fantastic. It is the most Elder Magnan has had in one week on his whole mission....and me too.
I see the Elders around town and wonder if you are walking all of the time or do you ride buses etc.? -----
We walk all the time. sometimes we take a bus if we are going far. or we get a ride from members, but Centre Ville of Carcassonne is probably only the size of BYU's campus and the Chapel is 2 blocks away from that. We walk and walk and walk and walk.
Another Really good week and the work is moving along. I love all of you and I hope that this week goes well. I pray for you all each night and know that the lord has answered your prayers and bless me here because of you.
LOVE Elder/Brother/Uncle/Friend Matt Smith
Picture. Sabrina and Us. Sabrina and Frere Martin - The bishop
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