WEEK #7 IN NIMES, FRANCE

Dear Family and Friends,

Hey everyone! So I don't have too much time to write a long letter, but I'll include all the things that are interesting:) so we have been continuing to try and find more people to teach. There is a nationwide protest that's going on from May 31st to June 11th... So some mission conferences have been canceled and we won't have district meeting, and no exchanges. Weeee!:/ But President Brown has made the goal to have the mission find 1000 new Amis during the Strike.

So besides contacting a lot and passing people, we have an ancient ami that wants to be baptized! Her name is Anges and she is really cool! Her sister is a member in Montpellier and we have already taught her the first 3 lessons. She wants a review. We have set her baptism date for the 18th of June. So hopefully that gets the ward excited! 

Ricard came to church again yesterday, and we taught him more about the Book of Mormon. He read the first chapter and now we are going to try and study more out of it. Hopefully he can have a spiritual experience and get a testimony.  He also helped us out with moving a member. Two other members came and we went to an outer ville to move boxes into the truck. We didn't have the chance to share a missionary message, but it was great to have Ricard integrate with some of the members. We have talked with some of the members and we are going to try and have some evenings and hang out together and get Ricard in better relationships with the members. Hopefully that helps. 

We taught our ami Carlos again. We went over the plan of salvation. We gave him the Book of Mormon and he said that we will start reading it. The problem with him is that he is super busy. He said that he was going to Dubai for a business trip for a week or two. So we will see if he's back this week. Margo, the 18-year-old girl that we taught last Sunday, was in London all week, so we will see if she's open this week. 

One cool miracle was we were leaving a store and a guy stopped us and asked if he could talk. He took us to his apartment and we taught him the restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon. His name is Javier and he's from Mexico. He speaks English and French. So we switched between French and English to teach him. He isn't super practicing at the moment, but hopefully we can teach him again. We will call him this week. 

We had a great district meeting about 3 things we can improve in to be more successful. Faith, change, and hard work/accountability. It was great because we learned more about what we can do to become more dedicated. 

It's been a hard week due to the hot weather and increase amount of tourists. There are days where no one stops and talks. We did manage to get a few good conversations with people. We are trying to hand out more lesson pamphlets and Books of Mormon.

We have tried to visit more members, and we had a good meeting with a member named Frere Zogo. He's a musician and he showed us his music that he made. He sang church hymns in French with an African twist. 

For the past few weeks we have tried to play basketball on Saturdays and then try and teach people. We had the chance to play this last Saturday. Speaking of basketball, we were at the church waiting to teach Anges, and there were two guys on the church court and they were playing. We had some time, so we played them. We were still in our white shirts and pants, but we did pretty well against them! I figure that you're not a true missionary until you play basketball at least once in your tracking clothes. 

Those are some of the major highlights of the week. On the more spiritual side, the work here is starting to move. We didn't have the chance to teach all our Amis this week because they were out and about and not in Nimes, but hopefully this week it changes. We do have more people on our list of potentials. So we are excited for that! 

Well, that is kind of the load down of things going on worth mentioning. Have a great week guys! 

Love, Elder Race Acheson 

WEEK #6 IN NIMES, FRANCE

Hello everyone! 

So this week has been a great one! Lots of things happened and it went by fast! So just to make it simple I will start on Monday. 

The zone leaders had to go up to Lyon for a leadership meeting, so they gave us the keys to the apartment and when we finished up the day in Montpelier, we stayed the night alone in their apartment. It was cool to be in Montpelier for the weekend, we saw lots of cool places while we contacted. I want to server there someday!

We had to wake up early the next day so we could make our train to Nimes. When we got into town we had enough time to do some studies. After our studies we went and did our groceries. 

We contacted most of the day, and then we got a call from the Zone Leaders. They asked us if we could go to the Gare to meet up with Elder Stalh who was coming in from Avignon alone. They wanted us to stay with him until the other Montpelier Elders passed through Nimes. So we sat around for a while due to Strikes with the trains. 

The next day was a miracle day! While contacting, I saw a guy on a bench, so I went up to him and asked him the Questionaire we always do. Then I sat down next to him and asked him about his family and what he did. His name was Eustache, and he's from Africa.  We taught him a little about the restoration, and then gave him a Book of Mormon to read. I got his number and he said that we could talk the next day. 

We went to go pass a pass back, and we couldn't find it, so we passed a member that was in the area. When we came in, we found out that the members son was there as well. He used to be in the ward, and he helped us with the Less Active List. He circled a lot of people he knew that would be good to work with. He then asked us what we were doing the rest of the day. He said that he could take us to an outer ville to pass a few less actives. We said that would be great! So he started getting ready. While waiting, the father showed us his church book collection. He had a 2nd Edition French Book of Mormon from 1910. It was really cool to hold a old copy of the book we always try to give out to everyone.

We went to the outer ville, and we went to a small French village and tried to pass one less active. She wasn't interested at all, so we went back to the car. There was another less active just a bit father away, so we passed them. It was an old ward buddy of Emmanuel ( the guy driving us). The member husband wasn't home, so we talked to the non member wife. She had 3 kids and we talked for a bit, and she said that the husband was coming home in a few mins, so we stayed and gave a spiritual thought on the Temple. We testified of it and told her how much it would bless her family. 

She has some issues with religion at the moment, so she said that she needs some time. The husband finally arrived and we all talked for a few mins. The two friends caught up on life, and then we had to leave. By this time it was pretty late. 

On the next day we contacted most of the time. We had a few rendezvous that we had, but 2 of them fell through. We did manage to teach Ricard about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We only did the first half, and then we read the introduction of the Book of Mormon. It's really important that he starts reading. He told us that he's not searching for a different church, but he is happy to learn more. We need him to have a personal spiritual experience with the Book of Mormon to really progress now. 

The next day we went to Montpellier for Zone Training. We had really good training on how to be more consecrated and what we could do to increase our productivity. We all told why came on a mission, and then why we have stayed in the mission.

We made goals on how to find more people to teach, and made plans to be more obedient. I'm really glad that we had this training, because those are the areas that I am working the most in. 

After Zone Training on the train back to Nimes, I talked to a guy who was sitting across from me. We ended up talking about the Restoration and then we gave him a Book Of Mormon. He said maybe in two weeks he would be free, so we will text him in a few days. 

We went straight to the park when we got off the train. We scheduled a Rendez-vous the day before and it was almost time for it! So we met with our potential ami Carlos. We went to the Gardens and we sat down and talked with him. Carlos is from Portugal, and has met with the missionaries a few years back.  We went over the restoration and just about what he knows already. He wants another Book of Mormon, and said that we wants to meet again. He speaks a little English and likes to talk REALLY FAST. 

On Saturday we went with Fr. Bell to go help move a lady into a new apartment. Her name is Fatima and we walked about 25 mins to go to her house. We rang the door bell and no answer, we heard voices on the other side of a wall. I boosted my head over it, and saw a lady working in her garden. I asked her if she was Fatima and she said yes, and then she asked why I was putting my head over the wall. I said we were here to help you move. She said she wasn't moving, and asked me if this is how I always get my rendez-vous. I asked her to see if we could talk at the door. Turns out she was the wrong Fatima. We went to a wrong address. We have a few different Fatimas in our records.

So we walked all across town again, and made it to the right house. We helped move stuff and put it into a van. The man who was helping us put stuff in a wrong way, so there was no space. Fr. Bell, Elder Williams and I took everything out again and we redid the van. At the end we managed to put everything in and did the move in one trip. 

We walked across town again to meet Fatima and her friends at the new apartment. We took everything out and then we placed it in the apartment. It was already pretty late in the afternoon so we said that we had to go, but we will try and pass by to say hello and talk with them. 

After showers and studies we went out and contacted. We got into a long conversation with a drunk guy and he turned out to be pretty interesting. He talked about finding things out for yourself and mediation. He took Elder Williams arm and started to do weird movements and touching his fingers. He took a Book of Mormon and said that he wants to talk again. 

We went after that to the Bell family's house for dinner. While walking we heard a loud noise behind and I got really scared. Turned out to be a lady with a blow horn for a birthday celebration. It was actually pretty funny, but I still was shaking from the shock. They were nice and I gave a high five to the lady with the birthday.

We made it to the Bells and Diego the son had a friend over, so we taught the family about faith in Christ. We read 2 Nephi 31 with the family and told the friend why we were missionaries. The friend seemed to like the lesson. He's 14, so we can't really do much. Diego said he will try to talk to him.

We had church the next day, and Ricard came! During sacrament meeting we sang Called to Server and Ricard joined all the men while singing it. We then taught him after sacrament the Gospel of Jesus Christ in detail. We talked about authority and the Priesthood. Ricard still has questions on that, but we told him that he needs to read the Book of Mormon to really progress. 

After church we had to go straight to the park to meet up with a girl I contacted a week ago. Her name was Margo and she brought her friend. We talked to them and briefly went over what we believe and why we are here in France. They both are 18 and don't have really any religious background, so it was good to explain simply what we believe. We gave Margo a Book of Mormon and we invited them to come to church next week. They are going to London for a trip with their school this week, so we can't see them this week but on the weekend. 

After the lesson, we did our weekly planning and we went over to the Bells for dinner for Family home Evening. We had to go quick because it was raining really hard and we had to run home. 

So it turned out one a great week! We found a few good potentials that we will try and work with. We have made a mission plan for the ward to help improve the spirit of mission work. So we will try to see all the members and help get referrals from them so we can teach their friends. It was a great to have Zone Training too because I am trying to be more diligent and hard working. So I'm glad we had a great week, because we found a few people to have potential with. So, that's the things going on this week! It should be getting hotter here soon...

Well I love you all, and hope that you have a good week! The work is starting to move here in Nimes!

-Love, Elder Race Acheson

WEEK #5 IN NIMES, FRANCE

Hello friends and family! 

So most of this past week has been in Montpellier. There is a big party going on in Nimes, so we were taken out. We did spend a few days in Nimes and they were good! We of course had P-Day and I already said a little last email about that. We dropped off Elder Quinn at the Gare.

It was so cool that my mom and sister were able to go to Elder Quinn's homecoming back in Utah. They gave him a dating book.

Besides that we walked around and saw some stuff. It was a really slow day. We did pass a less active family who comes from Russia. We shared with them a scripture about faith. The husband had a bad leg, and the wife asked us to give him a blessing. We blessed him and we talked about the chances of them coming back to church. It's hard for them to come due to the husband's leg. 

After seeing the less active family we tried to contact on our way back home. It ended up raining, so there was no one. 

The next day we tried to go hard in the work. Over the day we got 20 conversations! We pretty much contacted all day. We did stop by a store to pick up some fans though! It's starting to get hot, so we need fans to sleep at night. 

After contacting we went by a member named Gautier. He use to be our DMP, but was recently released. We showed him the temple video that we have. He hasn't seen it, and the song was in French so he could understand it. We were just there for a few minutes to try and invite the spirit. 

The next day was contacting as well. We contacted until we took a bus to an outer ville to try and pass a potential ami. They weren't home, and we tried to contact people in the street. Unfortunately the village as so small, that there was no one to see. 

We took the bus home. A member called and asked us to open the church for him so he could use the computer. While waiting for him to use the computer we did some calls. We found out that we needed to leave town for the week end because of the big party coming up in Nimes.  We needed to go to Montpelier to work there.

On Thursday we took the train to Montpelier and met up with Elder Lindsey and Stahl. I knew Lindsey from before, but I don't know Elder Stahl that much. I went with Elder Stahl and we went contacting for most the day. Montpelier is a super pretty city with lots of young people. We went and contacted all around. Eventually Elder Williams joined us and we went around and eventually took a break next to a lake in the city. We  went home and met up with the other guys and had dinner. There are 4 elders and 2 sisters here in this city. So now there are 6 elders!

On Friday I exchanged with Elder Thorne one of the Zone Leaders. We went contacting as well, but we passed a recent convert named Aurelin. He is a really cool guy who does spray paint art. He showed us some of his work, and it is really good! After talking for a but, we then taught him the plan of salvation. Since he already had the lessons recently we just reviewed it. 

After we saw Aurelin we went to the church to have a family home evening with some Amis and all the missionaries. One elder showed a video about a father and his relationship with God. We connected it to how we are all God's children. After the spiritual thought we played games. 

On Saturday there was a baptism of a members wife. It seemed like the whole Ward came. We went early to fill up the baptismal font, and while turning on the water, the water shot out from the drain and hit the ceiling! It was actually pretty funny, but we had to clean up a bit.

The baptism was great. There was a lot of Amis there. Elder Stalh's family was visiting from Swiss because they actually lived there when he was younger! So we got to meet  the family. There was a ward meal after the baptism, and we were invited to dinner with with Elder Stalh's family. 

Later that night we went to an American restaurant at a mall and had some really good soul food. The Stahl's were super kind and payed for the whole meal.   We can say that we ate well that night.

On Sunday we had church like normal, and the women that was baptized received the Holy Ghost. She cried a little at the end of the prayer. It was really sweet because now that she's a member she can be sealed to her husband in a year. 

After church we talked with the Stalh family one last time before they left. It was really weird to see elder Stalh with his family. His little brother looked just like him.

So when we got home from church we did some studies and finished weekly planning. We then went over to a members house for a little snack. When we came over we were blasted in the eyes with oil vapors! It felt nice though. 

When we came upstairs we sang hymns for a good while. We all did different parts of the hymns and it didn't sound too bad! We then had some hot chocolate and cakes while we talked about life. We had two elders that are going home at the end of the transfer. 

We left and went home at the end because it was near time to go in.

Well, that's the summary of the week in detail. Other things about this week is how I am trying now to be more diligent in my work. We did pretty good getting 32 conversations in two days! We really need to keep finding people to teach!

I love you all and how you have a great week!

-Love, Elder Race Acheson 

WEEK #4 IN NIMES, FRANCE

Hello everyone!

So this transfer has come to an end. Elder Quinn was sent off to the office at 6 this morning.  He returns home tomorrow.  Now it's just Elder Williams and me here in Nimes. So this was an interesting transfer due to the fact that half of it was in two different villes. I have come  to love Nimes and I am excited to stay here. I found that my MTC Companion Elder Tomlinson will be replacing me in Montauban. I love Montauban and the people there.

As for the week we had a nice easy P-day. We went around and looked at stores and did what Elder Quinn wanted to do. Since all the stores are closed for a few hours at noon, we had a lot of walking around time. We went to a music store, and I played some really nice guitars. Too expensive, so didn't even think about buying one. I just wanted to see how nice a $1,530 guitar sounds. We went to the church and we did our emails. After that we did some contacting, and we contacted a lady from Canada. We talked about her dog for a few minutes and then we started talking about what we did as missionaries. She said that she had some problems in her past, and she believes that there is a greater force outside this world, and we tried to tell her that it was God. We gave her a card and invited her to learn more. 

The day after, we had some rendezvous’ set up, but they all fell through. We ended up just contacting all day... It was hot, and we were really tired at 3:00... It was going to be a long day. We went to the bishop’s house that evening and that was great. We talked about the wife's mission and she gave Elder Quinn some advice on how to enter the real world again. 

We shared the message about Peter healing the man at the temple, and then we invited the family to search for friends to share the gospel with. 

The next day we had another day full of contacting! :) We did have the chance to do some service. We helped a man who we contacted a while ago move into a new apartment. We helped put stuff into the van that he brought, and then we walked across town to meet him at his new apartment, and we carried up everything. The stairs were steep and we almost slipped a few times... I guess the time in the moving team didn't really help me.

We gave him a Book of Mormon, and he said that we would read it! So hopefully we can connect sometime. He was really grateful that we would help him for free with moving! We were glad to help. 

The next day we went to Montpellier for district meeting. We talked about how we need to finish with the end in mind. Also we discussed how we can have our conversations be more meaningful in the sense that when we talk to people, we try to get them to want to see us again. 

Elder Spence, the DL, made some really good duck with sauce. It was a pretty classy lunch after! 

We took the train back to Nimes, and we went contacting. While contacting we heard some say "Hey Elders!" And we looked over and we saw the Perez family from Montauban! We all met up and we talked for a while. It was great to see the family because I never got to say goodbye to them.  We took a picture together and it was great to have the chance to say goodbye. 

The next day was transfer calls! Elder Quinn was going home, and Williams and I are staying. As for the work, we went to the edge of town and tried to pass a less active. We walked to the other side of town, and they weren't home. After that we went to another less actives house. She let us in and we talked about why she hasn't been able to come to church. She hasn't been able due to work. We shared a scripture in Alma and we talked about faith. She was really happy to have us over. She told us to come over the next day. 

The next day we went to a member’s apartment to help him carry groceries up to his room. He was kind enough to take us back home. We ate our lunch and then went to the church to teach a guy we called this week. We taught this man, his name is Ricard, and he has Spanish heritage. We taught him the Restoration and he took it well. He has Catholic background and was very kind.

After teaching Ricard, we went back home and did weekly planning while Elder Quinn packed. After Planning we went to the less active that told us to come back. When we went there we shared a video about the temple. It was a video that showed all the temples with a girl singing in the back ground in French. 

The less active has been to the temple and we were able to re-spark her desire to go. So we will try to work with her to make her able to go the next time the ward goes. We left her, and then we went and got some tacos. It would be Elder Quinn's last taco.... :/ 

We then went home and he packed some more.

On Sunday, Ricard came and it was great! Elder Quinn gave his testimony in front of the ward. After sacrament meeting, we taught Ricard with one of the members. We taught the Plan of Salvation. It was all new for Ricard, but he took it in. He said that we could teach him again on Friday, so I guess he likes it? I hope so! 

After church we went back home to eat, then to the church again to put pictures onto Elder Quinn's USB. We went to the really nice park in Nimes and we got some final pictures for Elder Quinn. We went to a pond and did some funny poses. 

We then went over to a member’s home to Skype our families! It was great to see my family, but weird at the same time knowing that this is my last skype... So yea, I feel weird about that. I love my mission and it is going by quickly. 

After skype we went and tried to get one last conversation for Elder Quinn. It was raining, and no one was in the streets, so we didn't manage to get a conversation for Elder Quinn. 

This morning we woke up at 5 am to drop him off at the Gare! It's sad, but it's happy to see him go. He has done his time, and its time for him to go home. 

Well, that's our week, and the end of the transfer! I love you all, and I hope that you all have a great week! 

Love, Elder Race Acheson! 

WEEK #3 IN NIMES, FRANCE

Happy 20th Birthday Elder Acheson!!!!

Hey everyone!

I hope that you had a good week! It turned out to be a pretty good week here in Nimes. I turned 20, and now am not a teenager anymore... That's kind of a weird feeling. 

Some of the highlights of the week is that we had Zone Conference in Aix-en-Provence, we had 25 conversations in a day, saw some less actives in an outer ville, and then we also had some really good homemade pizza for my birthday dinner. 

As for the specifics for the week I guess I can start on Monday. 

So since Elder Quinn is going home soon, we spent most of the day trying to get things on his USB like his photos and videos. That took a while. So that was pretty much P-day. After doing all of that we went and did some contacting. While walking we saw this guy so we contacted him. He was originally from Ghana, but lives in the UK. We talked a lot about the Bible and the Book of Mormon. It was an interesting conversation. The main focus of the conversation was mostly about the principle that the Bible isn't the only source of scripture. Our guy had to leave to go catch a plane to go back to the UK, but he gave us hugs at the end of the conversation. We were glad to end on good terms. 

The next day we had an exchange with the District Leader. So we had his comp with us in Nimes. Elder Quinn, Wiburg and I. We mostly did a lot of contacting. Elder Wiburg is a machine. So we got around 25 conversations. It was a good exchange because I got a better idea on how to talk to everyone. So my contacting has been improving this week. 

We went and taught a less active member the Plan of Salvation. This is the same one that we saw the week ago. It was a good lesson, but the son was asking some weird questions about things that weren't really important. Oh well... 

After the less active, we pretty much did some more contacting. We contacted this lady that was kind of angry that we stopped her. Then we started talking about God and then she got easier to talk to. She had a 12-year-old boy, and he was pretty cool. He found out that we were American and he was super shocked and said that we were super lucky. His dream is to go visit New York. I told him that I have been there and he was super excited. I gave him one of our pass along cards and he said that he would keep it forever. 

We gave the mom a card as well and she said that she would look up the website as well, so we felt that was a great contact!

The next day we had a less active day! We had a member pick us up and take us to an outer ville named Ales. We visited an American lady who doesn't have a car, so she can't come to church. She had every wall covered with some type of Michael Jackson memorabilia. We spoke in English with her  for most of the lesson.  We talked about how she was doing, and how she was going with her prayers and scripture reading. She seems like she is doing the best she can in her situation. We shared Alma 32 with her and talked about how faith is like a seed. It seemed to help her:) 

After seeing her, we went over to another less actives house. She was sick so she can't really come to church. We spent some time talking about things that were going on. During the time that the member was talking I was busy playing with the super cute little dog. The member had this dog and it was trying so hard to jump on my lap.

We ended the visit with her by giving her a blessing. She was very happy after the prayer, and thanked us for giving it to her. 

When we left we went back home. We did some contacting and then we went home. 

The next day was April 28th, which was my birthday! So I opened my package my family sent me. I got some BYU shorts and shirts, candy, some cool socks, an iPad Usb converter (perfect for missionaries! Thanks mom and dad!) 

After studies we went and did some contacting. After that we went to the store and I bought some stuff to make pizzas. We were going to have pizza for my birthday dinner.  I LOVE PIZZA!

So for the day of work we went to an outer ville and we visited an ancient ami. The ami was busy so she couldn't see us. So we went and tried to go talk to people. There was so one in the streets and so we couldn't contact anyone. So we walked around. We Took the bus back to Nimes. Then we went to visit a member. We talked to her about her family and then about her friends. We are trying to find investigators through the members in the ward. This member has already tried to talk to her neighbors. We were glad to come visit the member because she said that it was the very first time she has had the missionaries over to her house. It was because we are a trio that we could come over, so she was thankful for that. 

We then passed our ami that we taught once before. We shared the spiritual thought on Peter healing the crippled man in front of the temple. The lady we visited is named Madame Exprayate? At least that's how we pronounce it. 

After visiting our ami we went home and I started making pizzas. They turned out pretty good! It turned out like Deep Dish. 

The next day we woke up early to catch a train to Aix for zone Conference. 

We got there a little late. We had the conference on Baptizing converts. So we went over the important steps for getting someone ready for baptism, such as the protocols for interviews and requirements. 

We had lunch and I met another Elder named Elder Aitchison. He seems super cool! So hopefully president puts us together sometime! 

Since Elder Quinn is going home, he gave his Testimony in front of the zones. He did a great job! After that we had to run to the Gare to catch our train. It was pretty warm while we ran, but it was a scenic run you could say. Aix is one of the most beautiful cities in France.

We took the train back to Marseille and while we were there we met a return missionary visiting France. He served here a few years ago. We both had our birthday the day before so it was cool to meet someone that shared the same day. 

We took the same train as he did, and Elder Quinn asked him lots of questions on how to go back home and not have too much of a shock. The return missionary said that it was impossible to avoid the shock.... Good luck Elder Quinn. 

 Next day we did an hour of contacting before lunch. Then we ate and did Weekly planning. We had to then go right way to Frere Bells house. He is the American guy who had us help move stuff. We cleaned out the garage and helped put things into his small car. We then helped clean out his pool. Elder Quinn skimmed out all the gross stuff inside, and then I came in and lifted up the plastic bottom to move all the water.

We then moved a rowing machine. While Frere bell was coming back with the car, elder Quinn and I tried it out. 

After the service we came home to have dinner. 

On Sunday we passed our Amis apartment to bring her to church, but she said that she wasn't feeling good, so we couldn't bring her.

 We went to church anyway and we had a good meeting. We studied the talk of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon. 

After church we went and did our studies. We contacted after and I got a number of a 17 year old from the Ivory Coast. He said that he was free on Sunday's! Hopefully we can see him sometimes! 

After contacting we went over to the Bell family's house. We talked for a bit and we had Fajitas with them. At the end of the night, since Elder Quinn's favorite drink is Dr. Pepper, Fr. Bell gave him a 6 pack. 

We walked home and we settled in for the night. 

Well I guess that’s the week for us! I love you all, and hope that you have great week, and I will talk to you next week!

Love, Elder Race Acheson

WEEK #2 IN NIMES, FRANCE

Hello friends and family!

So just so you guys now, Nimes is great! Like I said last week, Nimes is a pretty big city! There happened to be a gladiator match yesterday. We didn't go... but the city was crowded with tourists who were coming to watch at the big Colosseum. There were a bunch of people running around with gladiator costumes as well!

So, as for the week…Monday we went to a really cool castle called Aigues-Morts. It is where the Crusades was started. There is a small city that is inside the castle walls. We took a tour around the whole castle, and walked all over the walls! It was a really cool place. We took a bus to get there, and after we got back to Nimes, we went to McDonald’s to do our emails.

The next day we went and visited a less active. She came to church and told us that she would like us to come over and see her. So we did and we gave the Restoration lesson to her again, and told her that her life would improve if she prayed, read the scriptures, follow the commandments, and come to church. She said that she would! We told her we would come over the next week.  

We then went to visit another member. She wasn't able to come to church last time, so we went over to her house to see her. She is an active member, and is a convert of about 7 years. We talked about her story, and then we shared a quick scripture about faith. 

The next day we took a bus and went to an outer ville to visit a potential ami and a less active member. The ami wasn't home, and the member told us that she wanted to stay less active and to not have us over. While we were walking an Algerian man came up to us and asked us what we believed. We talked about our religions and ended up giving the guy a Book of Mormon. He said that he studied a lot, and so we gave him our book so he could study more. 

The day after we helped Fr. Bell paint his house. He is moving out of the house that he has right now and is moving into another one for a few months. The man before painted the walls really weird colors. So he had us come help him paint the walls white. So we painted for a few hours. Then we ate Subway sandwiches. 

After paining, we got ready for the day, and we then saw a potential Ami. We came into her apartment and she had her mother and brother there. They were all Protestant, but they listened to our message and we gave them a Book of Mormon. They were asking the right questions, and we explained why there were lots of other churches. We plan to go over again this week. 

We had a meeting with our Ward Mission Leader, and we went over the things that we did during the week. 

Another day we did some contacting, and Elder Williams and I talked to an Atheist lady. We talked about eternal families and then invited her to read the Book of Mormon. She didn't accept the book, but we did give her a proclamation of the family. (Hehe)

We had a lesson at the church! We taught a lady that Elder Quinn contacted. We taught her the restoration and she said that she would read the Book of Mormon. We then invited her to come to church. 

We then went to the Gare and went to Montpellier to do an exchange. Elder Quinn stayed there, and Elder Whiting our Zone Leader came to Nimes with us. 

The day after, we went over to Fr. Bells to help move things into a truck. We moved a really heavy piano, and then put lots of other stuff in the truck. Then we drove over to the new home, and unloaded it all. Sr. Bell brought pizza and we ate pizza. It was really good:)

We then ran home and grabbed Elder Whiting’s stuff. We then went to the Gare and took a train to Montpellier. We switched out our companions and we then waited for our train. 

We came home and then went straight to a member’s apartment. He needed help bringing down some mattresses from his apartment to throw away. His elevator will be broken for 8 weeks, so he needed us to do that really soon. So we stuffed mattresses into the elevator and rode it down the 9 flights. It reminded me of the moving equipe. 

We then went home and got ready to go to Stake Conference. We went to the church to watch the broadcast. The conference was in Toulouse, President Brown was there and spoke. He of course spoke of Missionary work. 

After the broadcast we went and ate some kebabs. 

On Sunday we went again to the church to listen to Stake Conference. After that we came home and ate lunch, then studied for a bit. We went and passed a member to give her some scripture books she wanted. We shared with her a small scripture about how faith is like a seed. 

After seeing the member we came home and did our weekly planning. I made some really good cookies, and we then got ready for the night.

Well, there is good idea of the interesting things we did I this week! Between all these things is lots of contacting, and trying to find people to teach. We go out each morning at 11:00 to contact for an hour. I don't mind it, because the city is super beautiful. I'll try to attach some pictures! I love you all! Have a great week! 

It's also really strange to think that I'm turning 20 this week.... Bleh.

I love you all! 

Love, Elder Acheson