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