WEEK #5 IN VITROLLES, FRANCE

Hello everyone! 

All the missionaries in our mission now have iPads! It's a cool new thing we can use to spread the gospel to everyone!

I want to do something a little different this week with my letter. I want to go a little bit more in detail of the week of a missionary in France. 

To start out, France is a very beautiful country. The food is great, and the places are historic. One thing that I love is the people here. Here in the south of France, you have people who are from around the world. Many come here for different reasons. One reason I think people come here, is to hear the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of the people don't even know that's why they came in the first place!

Let me add more perspective on my opinion. Every day, I walk in the streets in the city's in my sector. These include Martigues, (a nice mix of Venice Italy, and L.A. California), Salon de Provence, a small French city, and Vitrolles. (There are mostly houses here). But anyway, I walk in the street in these city's and try to talk to people about the family. We have. Questionnaire that we use that tries to get people to open up about their favorite memories with their family.  

We usually ask "Quel membre de votre famille a fait le plus grand sacrifice pour vous?"

Or in other words, which member of your family has made the biggest sacrifice for you? 

We ask these questions to try and get what we call in the mission "The Spirit of Elijah". For those who are curious of the name, think back to the Bible. Elijah is the Prophet responsible for the Keys to keep the family connected for eternity. In essence, he is the master of the family. When we talk about people's family, it invites his presence into the conversation. That way, the people we talk to can feel the spirit. 

We then show a booklet called My Family. In there you can keep the precious stories that you have with the members of your family.

We want to give this booklet to everyone for free! The main purpose for this booklet is to have people realize how important the family is. To give some background info on the churches stance on the family, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Saints is that we know that the family is a gift from God. We have our families to have joy. I know that there are many people who have felt that joy here in France! I just want the people to know that it's because of the love of God we have our families. 

Our goal for the mission is to have everyone come closer to Christ. this includes all our families! When you look at the plan of God, the doctrine of the church, and the message of the family, you will see the family at the center! 

When we are talking to people, I can see a lot of things that a strong family could have helped with. We talk to people who get sad when they talk about their families. They say that they didn't have a great experience. That is a sad thing to see. But the amazing thing of the Doctrine of Christ is that you can make that change and create an atmosphere that you want. 

I know that to have a perfect family, you must have the family centered on Christ. Then message of Christ has all the love a family would want. When you feel like your family is doing fine, take a look at all the things Christ taught, and I know you will find new things to use to achieve that goal of a perfect family! 

There are people who say to us as we walk by trying to contact them "I'm happy, my family's fine, I don't need Christ in my life." 

Thanks to our Heavenly Father, we have the choice to decide things for ourselves. The thing these people we talk to don't understand, is that God has given already all the things we need to have that joy, and love in our lives! They just need to know where to find it.

After those people who say they are fine pass me, I think to my self, "yes you may be fine, but the question you should be asking is, 'do I have joy, peace, hope and real love in my life? Am I really doing everything possible to improve my family?'" 

Take a second to ponder on those words. Joy, peace, hope, and real love. People sometimes think that money, prestige, pleasure, and other things create those things. The fact is that Christ and his teachings is what give those feelings! If anyone has questions on how to get those feelings, feel free to send me a email, or just talk to the missionaries in your area! 

So that sums up some of the things that we experience every week as a missionary! It's fun, but also very hard!

To now give some more details about the events this week. 

Monday: It is P-Day so we cleaned the apartment and went shopping. We have no money because there are 5 weeks we really have to pay for. (Bienvenu á la vie come une missionaire!) 

Elder Arts and I took a picture for President Roney. He leaves soon so we gave him a picture to remember us. We then went to the church and wrote to our friends and family. The rest of the evening was working in the area book to get it reorganized. 

Tuesday: The day we got iPads! 

We had zone training where we pretty much just did setup for the iPads. We then ate lunch and personalized the iPads. 

Elder Spencer from Marseille came with me back to Vitrolles for am exchange. The day passed quickly. We took a bus to Salon. We had a meeting with our member Marc, but he had to cancel last second. So we went contacting instead! I already gave a summary of what we do for contacting usually. To sum it,  no one was interested. We were able to talk to people though! 

After Salon, we came home and went to Ward Mission Council. I am trying hard to speak more French, so I tried to be brave and talk about the people we were working with. It was an ok attempt to talk, we will keep it at that. After the council we returned home and got ready for the night. 

Wednesday: 

Elder Spencer and I did the usual routine. But there was a twist in it! At the end of the morning, we took a bus to most dangerous city in Europe! (Marseille, also my favorite city)

I had another doctors appointment for my elbow. Don't fall off a ladder before your mission, it's hard to see a doctor a lot.

We did my favorite thing to get to the doctor, we rode the Metro! For people who want to know things that make me super happy, it is Castles, Metro/Subway rides, blue water with a sun shining above you, and alternative music. I have all those things except one. 

We got to the doctor and he took a look at my X-ray. He says that the fracture isn't fully healed and it might have healed in a wrong way just a bit. It still hurts and is hard to fully extend my left elbow. So the doctor ordered another test. They want to inject my elbow with a circulation fluid that can tell if there is a block in the bones or something? It sounds painful, and it might be, but I love all the Medical TV shows. So I'm prepared I hope! 

After the appointment I met back up with Elder Arts and we took a bus back to Vitrolles. The night before, I had a great plan for the day, but all our plans fell threw. So the only thing we were able to do was contact in Salon. 

We had some good conversations and talked about the Family Booklet withstood people. After an hour and half of that, we had to take the bus back home. 

When we got home I did some language study. I am trying to pray extra hard to try to get the gift of tongues. 

Later we planned and ate. 

Thursday: we went to the church to do companionship study.  We had to watch some videos about the iPads and how to use them in the right way. After that we went back home and did language study and ate.  We then wanted to go to Martigues. We wanted to go see our Ami (investigator) Wallace. We talked to him about the Baptism this last Saturday. Then we talked about the sacrament. We want him to understand the importance of it.  We take it so that we can be cleansed from the mistakes me make each week.  That's the beauty of the sacrament, and of Christs sacrifice! Each week, we can go to church, be forgiven of our mistakes, try better the next week, and then do it again! It's amazing that we have that opportunity for redemption! 

I think Wallace liked the message. 

After Wallace we wanted to take a bus to Martigues, but the bus we took back was late, so we missed the bus we wanted.  We tried to pass a less active member, but he wasn't home. We were walking past a store that fixes watches, and we went inside because my watch' battery died. He said to come back next week and he would be able to switch it out.  We then started talking about why I was here. I told him I was a missionary and am a volunteer for 2 years.  He was surprised that I wanted to give up 2 two years of my life for service. He was surprised that I gave up other things too. 

It was a good conversation. After that we were able to get the next bus to Martigues. 

When we got there we decided to do some contacting. Elder Arts is trying to have me do more of the talking. I think it's a good idea! It's just super hard! We walked around the small streets that seem like Italy. We tried to talk to people, but no one stopped, or walked away after the 3 questions. It's depressing sometimes. Then you look around and realize you are walking above a canal with boats and a bridge. Then you feel a little better about getting rejected. I contacted another man and he said, "you're American I can tell!" In decent English. We talked to him in English and he told us he is happy with out God in his life. We told him why we're are here and he respected us. It was a good conversation, but I wanted to be able to share more gospel information.

We walked through the a park and then along the shore. I contacted this man and he asked where I was from. I said America. He stated talking about all the political problems going on at the moment. First, I'm not my brother Chase. So I don't know know all the details about politics. But we started to talk about religion. He said he was Islamic. I told him we were Mormon missionaries. We started to laugh because he didn't recognize us as them. It was really funny! I even clasped the mans shoulder because we were cracking jokes! I love it when you start talking to a stranger, and then a while after you can slap each other's backs and have it be perfectly acceptable! We gave him a card with info about the church. Then we continued our walk. 

We then stopped this younger guy and we did the questionnaire with him. We started talking about soccer, and then back to gospel. I don't know how we pulled that off? I told him about the Book of Mormon, and I asked if he would take it for free. He said pourquoi pas? (Why not?). We then had to catch our bus. He said he would walk with us to the stop. While we walked he talked more about soccer. He didn't speak English at all, but he knew the national anthem and even the Netherlands Anthem. Elder Arts was impressed. He's from the Netherlands. The bus came and we said good bye. Hopefully he reads and calls us! 

We then took the bus home. We were going to catch the bus that takes is to our apartment perfectly. But there was a detour, so we had to wait for 10 minutes while the driver figured out how to get back. We ended up missing the second bus. So we had to walk home. We got home late, planned until 10:12 and we didn't have time to eat anything for dinner. So yeah! We also have little food left. Yay!:) 

Friday: this day was mostly weekly planning. We ended up going to the church, and they had seminary going on with the youth. So we talked with them after and stole some of their pizza. Then we missed the bus so we walked home.  Half way through the walk, a random car stopped us. Turns out that it was an ancient investigator! We were able to talk to them and they said that they would like to see us! There's another good thing!

Saturday: we went to church at 11 in the morning, because there was a course for the ward about self-reliance. So we sat in on the course. After that we all ate and talked. Then we caught a bus to go to salon. 

We taught our recent convert Marc in the park. We want to reteach the lessons again, and we want to do them in French. It will be good for both Marc and me because we both need to practice French. After that, we caught the bus back to Vitrolles and then came home. 

Sunday: we had a cool thing happen! We have a less active member who has a really hard time coming to church. So calls us all the time to tell us she has decided to come, and then calls later that day to say she can't. She does this many times a week. But it's ok. It gives me a great chance to stay happy and keep encouraging her! She speaks English too, so it's easy to talk to her. But anyway, we got her to come to the 1st hour of church! I think she liked being back. It was her 1st time at church since over a year ago! When we walked to pick her up, she even had a bag of food for us! We needed it....

it was great, so even said she wants to come next week. Let's see how that goes! 

After church we ate the food in the kitchen, and then we went home to study. Then we went out to try and find a young members non-member mom to try and get a Rendez-vous. She wasn't home, so we came back home, and that was that! Work dies on Sunday because no one is outside and there are no buses anywhere...  

Oh well. Let's pray I get called to Marseille or another big city! But it's ok, I'm happy right here for the moment. It's good to learn things from smaller villes. This is smaller than Périgueux in lots of ways. Everything is more spread out. I think it is prettier here though in different ways too. Périgueux is VERY French. Here is more Mediterranean. There is a lake that when the sun shines just right, it looks like the water in the "Rio" music video by Duran Duran. Or in other words, very blue! 

I already mentioned it in a previous email, but there are some days where there is strong wind all day! I love it! I don't know how it's possible! I feel like walking into a wall. It feels super great, because you still get a tan while not having to sweat! One downside is all the dust that gets in your lungs and eyes. 

There's a little more background info on the life in Vitrolles and as a missionary!   

Love,

Elder Acheson  II

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