WEEK #4 IN VITROLLES, FRANCE

Bonjour from the beautiful south of France!

Elder Acheson and Elder Arts

This week was great! It was quick! 

Tuesday: We went to Marseille and I got my Xray for my arm. They even gave me a ultrasound! It was weird to see the inside of my arm!

Elder Arts and I then took a train to Avignon. We stayed there the night, and then I came back to Vitrolles with Elder Bleak. 

Wednesday: Elder Bleak and I then went to Salon to teach our member friend Marc. He's from Iran and we talk to him in English. We usually teach him simple things about the gospel. It's a nice break to teach in English. 

After Marc, Elder Bleak and I went contacting in Salon. We try to talk to people by using the Family Book and questionnaire. Once we get people talking, we then try to transition into gospel subjects. No one was interested that day in our message. While we were contacting, we passes through a the cool castle in the center of the ville! We then came home and unwind.

Thursday: Elder Bleak and I then back to Avignon to meet the other Elders. Elder Arts and I then took a train back to Vitrolles. We ate lunch and then met up with the Zone Leaders to do another exchange. I was with Elder Anderson here in Vitrolles. We went to Salon and did some contacting. No one talked to us. We then practiced some contacting. Even though I'm 5 months in my Mission, I still feel new and bad at French... 

Later that day, we went to a members home. Elder Anderson served in Vitrolles a year ago, so It was cool for him to see some old friends! Marc came and it was a great night! 

Friday: Elder Arts came back to Vitrolles, and we headed over to our Ami's apartment. Wallace and his Girlfriend Mara. We sang some hymns and even learned a Tahitian song! That took some time, and so we came home and studied after that.

Saturday: We had our Baptism for a girl named Julie. She has been going to church since she was 12, but she had to wait until she was 18 to get Baptised. It was a great thing to see! She was super happy, and It's a thing that I would love to see more and more! Lot's of people from the Nice Stake came to the Baptism. I talked to a lot of the youth that came. After that, we came home and planned for the week. 

Sunday: Julie got the Gift of the Holy Ghost during Sacrament Meeting. It was awesome to see her become a real member! I also sat in on a lesson in Italian for our Ami Francesco. Even though I couldn't understand the language, I was able to feel the spirit and the truth behind it! 

his week was great! 

Sunday: Julie got the Gift of the Holy Ghost during Sacrament Meeting. It was awesome to see her become a real member! I also sat in on a lesson in Italian for our Ami Francesco. Even though I couldn't understand the language, I was able to feel the spirit and the truth behind it! 

After Church, we got a ride to Martigues. There was a little party for Julie's Baptism and Birthday. She lives near a school, so we had a party in the small courtyard. There were a lot of young people there, so after we ate, we all sat around and talked and played some songs. 

After that party, we got a ride home, and did studies until planning.

That was pretty much the week! The language is still really hard for me. This past week I have tried to be more diligent in my studies. I have been working every day in the French Grammar book. I have been reading in the Book of Mormon everyday in French as well! It is still super hard.. I will have to keep pushing! Teaching here is hard, because we have to do a lot of finding. We have to take buses all the time to get around and that takes a good amount of time. When we do teach, I try to say as much as i can in French, but I feel like I don't say all I want to. That's why I am trying hard to get French down! Pray from me that I can get the Gift of Tongues!  

Tomorrow we have Zone Training, and we get our iPads! Super exciting! 

I love you all! Have a great week! 

-Love Elder Acheson II

WEEK #3 IN VITROLLES, FRANCE

Dear Family and Friends,

Ok! This week was really fast! Lots of places and things done!

Monday: After P-day, we went to a members home to teach a less active daughter. They had a SodaStream, so we had some really good soda!

Tuesday: Since I had a broken elbow, I had to go to Marseille to get a check up with a doctor. I went with Elder Spencer who lives in that sector. We rode the Metro, and the bus. The Hospital that we went to was super big. It felt like going to the Palace that the Count of Monte Cristo might live in. That Seemed appropriate because part of that book is set in  Marseille.

We couldn't get the x-ray that day because it was ANOTHER holiday... There is one each week in the month of May. 

We then left to go back and meet with the other elders. 

Elder Arts and I then took the bus and went back to Vitrolles. Then we left to go to Avignon.

I did that exchange with Elder Kimbert who is a native French speaker. That night we took a bus to a city called Orange. We walked past this cool river that runs under the buildings, and then past a real cool arch.

We took some pictures in it. Then we went to a members home to have dinner. We went there to teach the less active son. He is super cool! He plans to come to our baptism in Vitrolles this weekend. 

After the dinner, we got a ride to the train, and then we rode back to Avignon. When we got off the train we had to sprint to make the bus. We barley got it! 

We rode home and then settled for the night. There are 4 Elders in the apartment, so we cooked a lot of food, and had a good time.

Wednesday: Elder Kimbert and I went around the city trying to talk to people. We saw some of the cool buildings in the city. Avignon was at one time the Capitol of the Catholic Church. So there's this HUGE Castle with gardens around it. We went around the gardens and saw some of the cool things.

Then we saw the famous bridge that goes no where. It's weird to see it just stop over the river. 

It was very hot that day, and I was wearing a backpack, so my back got super sweaty. I eventually got a stain from it. We then went and met up with my companion and the other Elder who were in Vitrolles.

Elder Arts and I then returned to Vitrolles. 

Thursday: We worked on our Family Booklets, so we went to the church to print some pictures. Then we went to the apartment to do some studies. We planned later that day to go back to Martigues. There were no buses running to take us to the Termianl, because it was another holiday! So we sprinted to the Terminal. We got super sweaty and out of breath. 

Once we got to Martigues, we had to walk on the freeway, and ran more to get to a members home. Their daughter is getting baptized this Saturday. The rule in their family is that they have to be 18 to get Baptised. So we went there to give her some of the questions for Baptism. 

We then got a ride back to the bus from the father. 

Friday: We went in the morning to see Wallace our Ami. While on the bus, all these kids came on to go on a Field Trip. They screamed at every turn and bump. It actually was very cute! 

Later that day, I went back on the train to go to Avignon. I was with Elder Mattinson this time. We made it to Avignon and then taught English Class with the other Elders of Avignon. A member came in to get a blessing, so I helped with that. After class, we got a ride home to the apartment. 

Once we ate, we got ready to go to bed. I had to sleep on the ground on a mattress and it didn't turn out too bad!

Saturday: It was very windy, and Elder Mattinson and I went to a hospital to see an Ami who's getting Baptised this Saturday. He is American and spoke English. He was pretty cool! It was hard to talk because it was so windy! 

We had to leave and started to walk on the road to catch a bus. We waited in the wind and came back home. 

We came back to the apartment and ate lunch. Then we left again and went into Avignon. We started to find some less active members. No one answered the doors, so we walked past the big Castle to search for another family. Still no answer, so we went contacting. 

The whole city of Avignon is inside a big castle wall. We walked along the wall, and at one part, there is this hole that has a little bridge that covers the river. It felt like going back in time! I just love to experience history up close!

There were no people to contact because the wind was so strong. So we tried to talk to who we could. After some time of doing that, we went to the Gare and waited for the Elders to come.

Elder Arts and Bleak came back from Vitrolles. Elder Arts and I then took a train to the TGV Station of Avignon. While we waited, we watched TGV trains racing past us going probably 200 MPH. Our TGV Train arrived, and we went on it to Marseille. Once we got to Marseille, we then took a bus to Virolles.

Sunday: We had Church, and planned to go to Salon after church. So we brought our working clothes in a bag along with food. We ate that fast, and then walked to the bus terminal after church ended. 

We made it to Salon, and saw that no one was in the streets. We called our member friend Marc and we taught him in the park. It weather was really pretty that afternoon! 

We then walked around and contacted people. We got some good conversations and got a number from a guy! 

After some more contacting, we then took the bus and went home to Vitrolles. Before we walked home, we went and saw a less active member at her apartment. We stood in the door way and talked. She speaks some English because she was married to a British person. She also lived in Provo, and Lehi. I found out that she lived in my home stake 20 years ago! We then told her that we would give her American cookies. She gave us a box of recipes. We left and walked home.

That night, I wrote down the recipes that I want to use later. 

That pretty sums up this week! Lot's of travel and visiting places! This week I have another doctors appointment in Marseille and then a train from there to Avignon! 

I hope you all have a great week! Keep praying for the missionaries! We need as many prayers as possible! 

I love you all!

-Love Elder Acheson II

WEEK #2 IN VITROLLES, FRANCE

Monday May 11, 2015

To start the week off, it was Mothers Day! I was able to talk to my family on skype on Sunday! We had Chase my brother and I together on Skype talking to my family! I haven't seen him for an entire year.  It was a great experience to be able to talk to them together. 

So! This week lets see..

Tuesday: We went to Martigues for literally 30 mins. The bus was late and we tried to walk to a less-active member, but we would have missed the bus if we walked all the way to her house. So we took the bus home, and were left with little things to do in Vitrolles.

Wednesday: We went to Salon to go work. We contacted and got some conversations. We then taught a member Marc about the Godhead and things related to that. We then left Salon, and returned to Vitrolles. We walked a bit in the hot sun, and  went to the house of another member. We shared the Family Booklet with him. After that, we returned home.

Thursday: This day was a bit weird. We had a lesson with our Ami Wallace, so we went to the Bus Terminal to get a bus. While we were waiting, there was this super drunk guy yelling at everyone and getting in peoples faces. I was sitting down at the bus stop, and he saw me looking at him, so he ran up and whacked the glass to try and hit me. He did it another time! Everyone was getting mad at him, and this guy almost got hit by a bus! People, please don't drink... It does nothing good for you. 

We got on the bus and rode it near Wallace's apartment. We waited for a member to come teach with us. Then we taught Wallace. After the lesson, we went back to the bus to go home. We made it back to the terminal and walked to a store to get some sparkling water. While we were talking, the same drunk guy saw us and yelled at us. We ignored him and kept walking. When we came back after going to the store, the same guy yelled at us again, and walked up to me, grabbed my wrist and was yelling weird stuff to me! 

It's sad to see what happens to people when they get into negative substances. 

Friday: We had Zone Training in Aix-en-Provence. Elder Arts and I tried to take the bus near our apartment. It never came. So we ran to try and catch the next stop. We had some minutes, but we had to run on the side of the Highway and through a park to make it.

We got to Aix, and walked through the back streets of Aix, and took some pictures next to these huge books! We walked past some nice Hotels and streets.

We went again to the Aix Chapel, and had our training. The next Mission President of the Congo Mission was at the training. He goes to the Aix Ward. 

We then had a bunch of Pizza for lunch. 

After lunch, the Marseille Elder, Elder Schettler and I got a ride from a Senior Couple back to the city. We were going to do an Exchange. Elder Schettler and I got a Metro Ticket, and then we contacted in the streets for a bit. We then did a Booklet lesson with a guy who they set a meeting with a few days back. 

We walked on the huge streets of Marseille. We then visited a less active member. His home was filled with trinkets of Historic France. He had a replica Pistol and clocks, plates, and things like that all around. He was very nice!

We then had to leave to make it to the Church. We had to help the Senior Couple move things into the storage. They were leaving the Mission at the end of the week. For those that don't know, the Chapel of Marseille is right next to a very famous park. The land the chapel is on is worth a lot of money! It's a blessing that the church was able to buy that land in the 1950's. It's very convenient to have the church where it is, because you can just tell people the chapel is next to this park. Everyone then says, "Oh! Yeah! I have seen it many times! It's very pretty!" 

The Senior Couple then taught us how to teach English Class. That will be helpful in the future! 

Elder Schettler and I then dropped off back near our apartment to go get food. We were walking in the streets when these two homeless guys yelled at us in English. They were playing chess, and were very nice. We talked for a bit. They know many languages, and one of them said he walked across the whole US on foot! He looked like Forrest Gump to be honest! They were really nice, but asked us why we don't drink or smoke Weed... They didn't really understand why.

We said goodbye after taking pictures with them.

We couldn't find a store to eat at, so we walked back home, and ate pasta. We then sat on the balcony and talked for a bit.

Saturday: We went to the Gare to wait for Elder Arts and Spencer to come back. Once they came, Elder Arts and I went back to Vitrolles. 

We went to Salon later that day, and met with Marc again to talk more about the Godhead.

We went contacting after that. Elder Arts and I tried contacting Solo for a bit. It was hard, but I made some good stories! I SPARKED this one family. I gave them a card, and spoke horrible French to them. But they waved Hi to me a couple times when we saw them on the streets! They even honked goodbye when they saw me walking on the road!

We then returned home, and called it a day of hard work. 

Sunday: Elder Arts and I gave talks on the blessings of Mission Work. It went ok! But people I think liked it. (Those who understood it). 

It was Mothers Day, so we got picked up, and then talked with our families. While Elder Arts was talking, I sat with the family and talked about things. I told them how my parents met in Taiwan and then about how they should visit Provo when I return. They were super nice to let us Skype at their home. They are one of my favorite families. The son of the family served in the Paris Mission. So he speaks English and understands everything about missionary work!

Tomorrow, I have an exchange in Avignon, and a X-Ray for my elbow in Marseille. I broke my elbow one month before starting my mission in November.  This is a follow up appointment. Lots of travel tomorrow! 

I love you all! Wish you have a great week! 

-Love Elder Acheson

WEEK #1 IN VITROLLES, FRANCE

May 4, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Elder Acheson in the beautiful south of France

This week has been awesome! I will  explain our activities day by day to make it more easy to show all the things we have done. Just to tell you about Vitrolles, it is a small city off to the side of Marseille. Vitrolles is very small, and we do little to no work here. We have a few other cities that we ride buses to everyday.

Monday: At the end of P-day, we went on a bus to a small ville off the highway and had FHE with our two Tahitian Amis. Wallace and Mara.

We sang songs, and Elder Arts played the Guitar. The family who we were with, had a son who returned recently from the Paris Mission. His name is Justin and he is really cool! He knows my teachers in the MTC, and some people I knew that served in Paris. He was even an AP. Alors, we then ate some really good food, and got a ride back home.

Tuesday: We went to our Ami Wallace's house, and celebrated my Birthday there. His Girlfriend Mara has the same Birthday too! We ate some cake and had a good time. We stayed there for a bit and had a lesson.

We returned to Vitrolles, and went to the church to have Ward Council. 

Wednesday:

We went to a town that has more people than Vitrolles called Salon. Elder Arts and I did some questionnaires and did a good amount of the My Family Booklet lessons on the street. It's strange for me here. I feel like I am speaking better French than I did in Périgueux! It's fun!

We walked around a bit, and even went through a cool castle in the middle of Centre Ville. Salon is very pretty! It was weird, there is a super strong wind that comes every so often. When it's there, it lasts all day. It's called the Mistrail? It is crazy how strong it is!

Thursday: We went to one of the prettiest places so far! It is a coast city called Martigues. It feels like Italy! We rode yet again, another bus to get there. We visited a less active member who has health issues. She was super kind, and liked talking. We then left, and sat down to take the bus home.

When we returned home, we got picked up by a member to help move things from his moms house into a van to take up north. We did that for a few hours, came home, ate and finished the day.

Friday: May 1st, A.K.A. No Transportation Day! And... we locked the Keys inside the apartment. 

It was one of the only days where there are no buses! So we took out our bikes, and rode all the way to Wallace's apartment. We forgot the keys inside the apartment when we shut the door. So we were locked out! We had to make it to Wallace's, so we left anyway.

 We didn't want to go on the Highway because it was scary... So we rode up a huge hill and saw an amazing view of the water and cities around us! 

We needed to find the Gare to get our directions right. So we went north and rode for a bit. We eventually found out we went to the wrong Gare. We went to the city to the north of us. So we had to ride on the side of the Highway to get to the other Gare in Vitrolles. We then brought our bikes into Wallace's apartment because we couldn't lock the bikes up.

We ate some raw tuna, and played some guitar and sang Hymns. Then we left. We decided it would just be best if we rode on the shoulder of the Highway. We had cars passing super fast by us. Since it was holiday, there were less people and less scary.

When we got home, after a few hours of biking, we tried to wiggle the door open. We even tried to slide plastic in between the lock. Our neighbors came out and they had the same problem some time ago. They got some plastic from their car, and then they got some men of the family to help. The father of the neighbor took out one of his cards, and eventually got the door open! He gave me the card and now I hold it as a precious souvenir of this fun memory!

Saturday: 

We went back to Salon. It was the day where there were 1,000 Sheep in the road. I took some great pictures of them! 

We then had a great lunch with one of the members there. We taught a less active person, and then after that we contacted people untill we met up with another member with one of his friends. The member was named Marc, and the friend was Francesco. He is Italian and speaks very little French. 

 We came home after the Rendez-Vous and planned for this next week.

Sunday: We rode our bikes to church, and I sat in on a lesson with Francesco, and a member who recently returned from Italy for a Mission. I sat and watched the Restoration Video, and listened on how to pray in Italian! I want to learn how to speak it when I go to BYU! 

During Sacrament, I was asked to give my Testimony. I did ok, but French is still difficult. After chuch we all broke our Fast together, and ate as a ward. It was great! I talked with the youth and some of them speak English a little bit. 

Besides all those things, thats whats new! 

Elder Acheson in his new p-day birthday shirt and enjoying a lolly pop from Disneyland (thanks Grace)

Thanks for all the Birthday wishes, and prayers!

I love you and miss you all! Hope you have a great week! 

-Love Elder Acheson II