WEEK #3 IN PERIGUEUX, FRANCE

February 23, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

This week Jean Luc was baptized!!!!

At Jean-Luc's Baptism

More about the baptism later.  This week has been a fast one! The weather has been bipolar! Rain, sunshine, and cloudy! If you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes and you might get the one you like.

Ahhhh....the weather!

To update everyone, at the end of P-day, we went into St. Font's Cathedral. We can see it from our apartment, and it is lit up at nighttime.

The view of the cathedral out our window at night

It's really big inside! We then went to the FHE with all the single adults. On Tuesday, I went on an exchange to the beautiful city of Bordeaux! I went with one of the zone leaders, and we taught a man about family history and then gave him a family booklet he could start filling out. We then went to go meet my old investigator Yin, who moved to Bordeaux. We waited for him and, while waiting, we approached people using the new Project Elijah questionnaire. We got a few contacts and even gave our phone number out twice! We then met up with Yin, and took the tram to the chapel. I got him comfortable with my zone leader so he could teach him after I returned to Périgueux. After our lesson, we returned to the apartment. The next day we made our way to the gare (train station) to meet up with the other zone leader and Elder Johnson. Elder Johnson and I then got McDonald's at the gare, and sat by some birds. They ate our fries and came very close to us.

We then got on the train to head home. It was a single car train, and it was stuffed with people. I had to stand the whole train ride and got some motion sickness. We returned, and then dropped off my luggage, and then taught Jean-Luc who was getting baptized on Saturday. Then next day, Thursday, Elder Johnson and I helped the office elders take apart the other apartment here in the city. We took all the furniture down, and into the big van the elders drove. We met a man on the street and asked if he wanted anything for free. He said yes, and came inside to look around. We then talked to him, and he knew who we were, and was very nice to us! We even drove his things he wanted back to his house! We returned to the apartment, and then cleaned out the cave (Storage room in the basement).

When we finished cleaning, we went to a small shop, and got my first Kebab! They are so good! Cut lamb in bread, with a spicy sauce!

My first kabob

They even put fries in it! You really have to be careful when you buy kebabs. There is a rule of thumb, that you have to spend 5 Euros or more, otherwise you will probably get sick... I feel fine though! So you can say it was a great kebab!

We then we got a ride with a member, and taught an ami who lived outside the city. We returned after that, and got ready for bed and ate.

The next morning was zone conference. We got on another train to Bordeaux and went to the chapel. President Roney spoke to us, and we learned more about why we are doing Project Elijah. When President Roney speaks, you feel amazing, and can tell that everything is going to end up great! He has humor, spirituality, and intelligence! He even mentioned that the Mission will be getting iPads very soon! That will be super exciting!

President Blake Roney and me

Sister Roney then spoke to us. She made us see even more how important the family is. She told us stories of some of the missionaires in the zone, and about their family members. She is an amazing women! She feels like the mom of the Mission. You know that she cares about us very much, and I love her even more because of that.

We ate, and had very good sandwiches! The best ones I have had yet! When we finished, Sister Roney introduced all the Blu Missionaires. She read facts about us that our families sent earlier. Now everybody in the zone knows I love to cook pot stickers!

A selfie at zone conference in Bordeaux

When we finished all the other things in conference, we then watched Meet the Mormons! It was funny, because at the end of the movie, David Archuleta sings Glorious, one of his most famous songs. President Roney then got up, and said, "Who was that singnig?", All the sisters then shouted David! President then said "And he was standing at the very mircrophone when he sang that song to us!"

David Archuleta came to the Lyon Mission and sang for all the missionaires back in December. He had two concerts. One in Lyon, and the other in Bordeaux. It was cool to hear some of the stories of the Missionaires there!

We then all got in a big circle and sang our Mission Song. Angels We Have Heard on High. President and Sister Roney then went around the circle and gave hugs and handshakes. 

Yum!  American food with dear branch members

We then all returned to the gare to head home. We got back late, and had the Bergerac elders stay with us. The next day was Jean-Luc's Baptism! We got the program ready, shopped for food, and then had a panic when the person baptizing didn't have clothes! We got that sorted out, and then everything else went smoothly!

Later that evening, we went to Soeur Mas, and ate dinner with her, and Louis, another member. He's from Texas, and cooked us burgers! We had really good Cola, and Grenadine Soda! It felt nice to have American food! We were stuffed!

French language study

On Sunday, Elder Johnson confirmed Jean-Luc, and we had a slow day after that. We walked to a part of town to find a old ami. She wasn't home. We returned home, and then did language studies.

Elder Johnson got a bag of marshmallows, and we played Chubby Bunny. Where you stuff your mouth with marshmallows and have to say chubby bunny. We got to 26 marshmallows, but then gagged. We also had a bottle of Champomy, which is like cider. It has a cork, and is very bubbly. Elder Johnson shook it, and the cork popped, and it got all over the floor!

That's what the week in Périgueux was like! Next week we are going to Aix-en- Provence for Elder Johnson's legality. That will take two days. Besides that, I don't know how the week will be!

I love you all, and hope you all have a great week!

-Love Elder Acheson!