5th week France

Bonjour ma Famille!

So, Mom sent me a letter with a bunch of questions, so I will start by answering them. 

 1. The man who sent me the alluring photos is Elder W. He is one of the other missionaries in my apartment and he is really funny. He reminds my of a young Uncle Lane. But that is a girl he knows and he was just pranking me by sending her picture. He says hello to Mom. 

2. I live with my comp, Elder W and Elder T. Elder W is really funny and cool, he is from Orem, so is my comp, and he plays rugby for BYU. Elder T is from Arizona, he loves Napoleon Dynamite and basketball. And my comp is Elder M, he is also from Orem, is really good at soccer and he gets me a new cheese to try every week. Its great.

3. My appartment in about 15 minutes outside of Paris in Bourg la Reine, it's on the top floor of our building and there isn't an elevator, but ça va because it's only 4 floors. My guess is that it is about 90 years old and there are some really crazy dungeon storage things in the basement. Also its really, really tiny. The whole apartment could fit in our living room, but its nice.

4. For breakfast I usually have an egg and a bowl of musli, which is like oats and raisens and apples and bananas with some milk from a box that has like a 9 month shelf-life. Lunch is usually some sort of pasta so we have energy, lots of the time with a baguet and some cheese, camembert is my favorite. Dinner is always different, sometimes it's with a member, in which case it's some sort of African dish or just huge assortments of bread, meats and cheeses. Also we make just crazy amounts of rice and noodles with lardons, which are just big bacon squares basically. Each week I try a new pastry, and I get one of my favorite things in the world, a Kebab. I've been waiting to tell dad about them in a detailed letter, but basically its just some delicious meat from who knows what animals, in a pita-ish bread with lettuce, tomatoes and samurai sauce, and french fries. They only cost 5 euros, which is just outrageous because they are so good they should cost like 20, but I have to limit myself to one a week or less because they are super not healthy and I'd get huge.

5. Typical day, you ask? I will tell you. 

-6:30, wake up and work out. My belly is getting a little larger, but my muscles are just huge. 

Shower, eat, then studies from 8 to 11. 

11 we go contacting, or we have a lesson, usually contacting though because everybody is either out shopping or at work at that time. 

12 lunch

1-4, spiritual finding and teaching people. We try to have a rendez-vous at this time, but we do lots of porting and contacting. 

4:30- 6, dinner and language study. Awesome

6-9, golden hours. We work really hard at this time because this is when most people are either home or out doing something after work. This is when we have most of our lessons and when we find the most people. Then we just come home at 9 and plan and go do bed!

Fun right? It really really is so fun though. I feel the spirit all day and just get to talk and learn and serve the Lord. Who wouldn't want to do that?!

6. I have not seen any celebrities. But I do know some missionaries here who saw Jermain from Flight of the Condords last week and talked to him.

7.  Ya I did hear about the bombings from some American kids we met, so crazy. I'm glad they caught the guys though. And Brooke said she is just totally fine with it. She's such a champ.

8. I got the package! Thank you so so much. I haven't had a piece of candy in ages. And the tie is way cool, I made it into my power tie. And Erin, Big Catz? So good. Thank you so much. Made my day. And I will send my ipod home soon! I'd like some Alex Boye, Mindy Gledhill, and this album that I think I already mentioned called Nearer, it's super cool.

This week was super cool! Mostly Saturday and Sunday. Saturday night we were just waiting for the tram and this man walked up to us and said, quote: "How can I become like you?" unquote. How nuts is that? And in English! We just talked about the godpel on the tram, and we're gonna teach him more! It was such a huge blessing, I just freaked out kind of and was just laughing for like 10 mintues after. Then we had a baptism! He is the one I've told you about before, C. It was so cool! We have all the baptisms in Versaille, which is really cool, and you pass by the château on the way there. But the service was nice, he was baptised along with another ami of the other elder's named Kareena, and it was very nice and spiritual. But I realized, I really didn't do anything. I went to Chris's house and bore my testimony, but he made every decision. He got baptised on his own, He chose, he was prepared by the Lord for that next step. It was a really cool experience and I'm really so gratefull for him! I love him a ton. Also this week was fast sunday, so I got to bear my testimony in church. One of the things I fasted for was for my French to get better and have more desire to learn, not that I don't have desire, just that it would be nice to have more of. So I pumped myself up, said my testimony a few times in my head, and went for it. I got up and said what I knew and sat down, it probably only lasted like 1 minute. But last night Elder M told me that while I was talking everyone was silent, and my French was perfect. I always thought of how cool it could be to have those moments when you can speak the language without knowing what to say, but I realised it happens to me every day. It was a huge blessing to be able share my testimony with everyone, and I really love french so much! 

Also, I would like to share something about the French people. Many, many people told me that this mission was going to be hard, that French people were mean, and lots of other things. I wish all those people could come contact with me for an hour, so they could see that the French people are kind, very loving, and very in need and prepared to hear and accept the gospel. Yes, every mission is hard, there is no such thing as an easy mission. And the France Paris mission is no different. These people are amazing! Baptisms are possible. The Lords work here is progressing at an indredible rate, and I will not let anything get in my way of finding those people here that the Lord has prepared.

Thats all I have for this week! Thank you so much for the letters, keep them coming! I am doing really good! Go share the gospel with someone this week, invite someone to church, something. Bear your testimony! I love you all so much, Bon semaine! (have a good week!)

Elder Wood

ps: I will be calling next Sunday! I can't Skype, only because there isn't a place to do it and we didn't plan well enough. But! It is much much cheaper if you call me, and the only time we can do it is at 7 o'clock here, which is 11 o'clock a.m. your time. I know you'll have to skip church, but is that okay? Let me know and I will check my email later this week, if you can't pull it off we can work something else out, but for now lets plan for Sunday the 12th at 11 a.m.

I love you!