Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas and I love my mission!

Bonjour tout le monde !

Well, this is it. My last weekly email. I can't believe it's been two years! So many good times and good people and aaaah, God is so good! This week was great - tons of rendezvous and miracles and work.

Tuesday we had our exchange with Valence. We visited a whole bunch of returning members and had a blast. 

Wednesday was our Christmas conference in Lyon. Tons of presents and songs and a great devotional from the Giraud-Carriers. 

Friday we got to visit the Langer family and ate oysters and smoked salmon, plus a bûche de Noël. I love our ward so much! 

Saturday we visited two returning member families and had awesome meals with both (including raclette!). 

Today we're in Valence for my last real pday. We watched Coco with the district and it was awesome and I'm so grateful for all the people I've met here! I'll be in Lyon next Monday and on the plane the next morning, so this'll be my last email. I'm so grateful for my mission! I'm also excited for Christmas tomorrow! What better time to be serving the Lord? I'm so grateful for my Savior and for all He's taught me these last two years. I know He's there for each of us and that God loves us despite all of our bêtises. How grateful I am to have been able to serve Him and learn about Him. I've always said that we as missionaries learn so much more than we teach. I promise that our Heavenly Father knows and loves each of us and that Jesus lived and died and lived again so that we can too. Stay as close to Him as you can and search for Him this Christmas season as diligently as those wise men did.

Je vous aime ! À bientôt :)

Elder Suisse

Pics:

Last pday with the bros! 

Dinner with the Langers! 

We were all wearing beanies so naturally we took a picture

Vive le vent!

Bonjour tout le monde !

Awesome awesome week! And, dare I say it, my second to last weekly! Here are my highlights!

-We had an exchange with Valence, which was awesome. Lots of contacting - I'm starting to really enjoy finding and am pretty sad to not the be able to do it much longer... Gotta enjoy it while it lasts!

-English class! Four amis came and we had a party again learning food-related vocab. 

-Christmas party with the ward on Saturday! So so fun! We had 14 amis show up and sang Christmas songs til our throats were sore. Fun fact, jingle bells is "vive le vent" in French.

-Church was great on Sunday, but then Elder Sprague was sick for the rest of the day, which was less great. So I got a nice long scripture study. I love the scriptures! How awesome is it that we have advice, straight from Heavenly Father, whenever we need it! 

-Today we're in Valence for pday. We visited an awesome chocolate factory and I ate way too much sugar. France is the best! 

One scripture from my study today comes from the Bible 

Matthew 6:22 - The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

What affects how we feel and who we are? How we act and what we think about! The best way to feel the spirit and be led by it is by focusing on things that bring light. So grateful for the scriptures and for all the light in my life! And for my mission!

Je vous aime ! 

Elder Suisse 

Pics:

Another castle pic from last week

We made African food with one of our members, Ella. So good!

Moving trip. I love our ward! 

Trip to the chocolate factory

Me frying plantains 😂

La fete des lumieres

Bonjour tout le monde !

This week was crazy but, as has become the pattern, felt even shorter than the week before! Here are my highlights! 

We had a rendez-vous with a super energetic lady named Nadia. We gave her a tour of the chapel and were planning on teaching the restoration of the church, but when we got to the computer lab, we started talking about family history and I ended up testifying about baptism for our ancestors who didn't have the chance themselves. She was surprised for a second, then she thought about it and was like "yeah, that makes a lot of sense!" then said she loves the idea and that she'll come to church on Sunday. Then the next evening we got a call from a random woman saying that her friend Nadia had referred her to us! So cool! 

We ate lunch one day at a member family's home and it was so good I decided to throw it in the weekly. They have this ancient French house from the early 1800s and it was awesome. Then we had district meeting this week and I gave my departing testimony. I love our district! 

Saturday we were invited to a returning member family's home to celebrate la fête des lumières (Google it, it's so cool) with their family. It's a mom and her two kids and it was so fun! The explained to us the origins for the holiday and it's so cool! On December 8 a long time ago the plague was hitting Europe and was heading for Lyon. Everyone got together and lit candles and prayed together, and the plague just passed on both sides of the city and Lyon was saved! Anywho, now on Dec 8, families in the Lyon area all put candles in the windows and talk about what they're grateful for! I'm totally celebrating it from now on. We ate tartiflette with them and put the candles on the windowsill. I thought about my mission and just how grateful I am for all of the members and friends and scriptures and prayers. Missions are miracles and I'm so grateful for mine!! And for my family and above all for my Savior! 

Je vous aime ! 

Elder Suisse

Pics:

Cool picture while we were waiting for a train

Our pday trip today! We were on a mountain in a castle, taking pictures of another castle on an island. So cool. 

It's December!

Bonjour tout le monde !

This week was pretty eventful! Lots of fun stuff and plenty of cool people. 

Monday and Tuesday was our exchange with the Elders in Grenoble. For pday we hiked this big mountain and explored the ruins at the top, which was awesome. The exchange itself went really well! I was with Elder Lewis and Elder Sprague - we passed a Spanish-speaking sister in he ward and planned on sharing the light the world video. But we get there and are let in by a few woman we'd never met, who only spoke Spanish. So I got to practice my high-school Spanish and we shared a different video and it went really well! Turns out they weren't members and were pretty interested in the message. Cool miracle!

Wednesday we had a big conference in Lyon, which was great! We talked a lot about how to plan for our amis and how to be lovingly bold. I learned so so much. I got to have an interview with Elder de Feo, which was really special. He asked how long I'd been out and I told him and he was like "oh, you're going home soon!" Then he asked me what my first name was and called me David for the rest of the interview and said I needed to get used to it haha! He told me to keep doing what I know I need to do when I get home and to set my sights on the temple. Super cool guy! 

Thursday was English class, which went great. We learned names for animals and played charades and I'm not sure I've ever laughed harder. 

Today we visited the Christmas marche with the Bellessas. We bought churros and chestnuts and it was fantastic. 

My spiritual thought today comes from Elder de Feo. At the end of the interview he asked if he could pray for me, and during the prayer I just kept thinking about how many questions I had and how I had no clue what to do now or after my mission or how it was all going to work out. Then right then he asked in his prayer "and please bless him that he may discern by the Spirit what he needs to do," and all the stress left. Heavenly Father answers prayers, and when we're stressed, n'oublions pas que tout ira bien un jour! God's in charge :)

Je vous aime ! 

Elder Suisse 

Pics:

Churros at the marché with the Bellessas 

A bunch of pictures from our hike last week

Joyeux thanksgiving!

Bonjour tout le monde !

Another crazy week! Lots happened but for some reason it feels like last Monday was yesterday. Here are my highlights! 

-We were invited to lunch at a member's house with the Bellessas on Wednesday. The house is this super old barn that was converted to the fanciest French house I've ever seen. Plus it was the most classic French meal I've ever had - full five courses and everything. I'm going to miss that! Plus our member invited a friend and we had an awesome lesson about gratitude, then shared a bit about the restoration of the church and had an awesome time.

-On Thursday we had English class and our amie Saadia brought her son. So we're in English class, and out of nowhere comes one of the sisters in the ward who just so happens to live very near our amie. Now they're best friends and Saadia has a connection in the ward! We had a great time and by the end of it Saadia's son wanted to meet the missionaries in Lyon, so we sent the referral. Super cool miracles !

We're currently on the train to Grenoble for a pday, then an exchange, than a conference in Lyon - more on all that next week.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you ate tons of turkey and pecan pies. This week of course, I've been thinking a lot about gratitude. We are so blessed! I'm so thankful for my friends and my family. I'm grateful for my mission and all that I've learned, for this beautiful world and for a Savior who's changed my life. It's hard not to smile when we realize just how much we've been given! Je vous aime et je suis reconnaissant de votre soutien !

Elder Suisse

Pics:

This is all I've got this week, sorry! Part of our French meal on Wednesday 

I fondu, can you?

Bonjour tout le monde !

Forgive the subject line, I think I'm funny. This week was so good! Tons of sweet rendez-vous with members, and lots of new amis! Here are some highlights! 

-Wednesday we are lunch with a single sister in the ward (perks of being in a trio is that we can visit anyone!) and had just about the best gospel discussion ever. I love this word! 

-Thursday was district meeting. Awesome lesson, then Sœur Thibault made Cafe Rio pork and we had burritos and it was fantastic. We also made mochi (Japanese rice balls with beans) and it was so good. Mexican-Japanese fusion.

-When we got home we headed straight to a rendez-vous with a young couple in the ward and had fondu with them and our ward missionary, François. He's just about the coolest guy you'll ever meet. 

-Friday we found out we're all staying for another transfer! All three of us together til after Christmas! I'll be finishing with Elder Sprague and Elder Purkis and I'm pretty psyched!

-Today we set up for Christmas! You should see our apartment! Did we jump the gun? Yes. Do I regret it? Not at all.

-This week we received a few referrals and found a lot of people to teach. Here's hoping all goes well and they'll all be free to see us this week! Keep us in your prayers!

I don't like thinking about it, but I only have six weeks left on my mission! I've seen a lot of miracles and have met a lot of awesome people and I've been thinking about some of the examples I've seen. There are some incredible people here! We met with a sister today who has nine kids, eight of which are against the idea of her being a member. She's divorced and lives alone, but has such a solid testimony of the Savior, and she's a great missionary. I'm so grateful for a ward like this and for all the awesome examples in my life (looking at you mom and dad :) 

Je vous aime !

Elder Suisse

Pics:

The Méjeans! 

Elder Sprague dropped an egg today and I couldn't resist

Mochi with the district!

Literally so many miracles!

Bonjour !

What a week! I feel like time just keeps speeding up - it's Monday again! 

Lots of things this week but here are my highlights! 

-Monday we ate dinner chez some amis we contacted last week. She made quiche and like, five kilos of peanut butter cookies. Turns out Elder Purkis is allergic to nuts, so Elder Sprague and I have been consuming insane amounts of cookies for every breakfast this week. So good.

-Friday was our exchange in Valence. I went with Elder Lancaster, who just started his mission a couple weeks ago. We taught one of their amis - super cool guy named Chino. It went so well! He's from China and we're actually best friends.

-We ate with a few member families as well this week. Large highlight from this week - raclette with a counselor in the Bishopric and his family. It's not really fall until you've eaten raclette.

-Remember when we found that member from Nigeria, Ella? Well she told her friend about the church and she's totally our new ami! And so excited to learn about the church. Miracles.

Anyways, I'm doing well! Loving life and all the blessings we've been receiving. This world is too beautiful and we are too blessed for all this to be by chance! I love my mission, my family and my Heavenly Father! 

Bonne semaine! 

Elder Suisse

Pics:

Chino, Elder Lancaster et moi-même 

1st raclette of the season!! I love this family so so much!!! 

Miracles and cookies!

Bonjour tout le monde !

I'm convinced that miracles and cookies make up a solid 80% of missionary work. We had plenty of both this week! 

-Wednesday we had district meeting in Valence, which was great. The Thibaults, a senior couple in Gap, made taco soup and those awesome sugar cookies from Swig - so so good. And the meeting itself was fantastic - I love our district!

-Friday we got kebabs with an ami we found! He's French, about our age, and he's literally the coolest. He loved our message and then paid for our food while we weren't looking. Such a bro.

-Then we received a referral from Utah for a woman who might be interested.. We called and she was like "love the church!" and invited us to lunch at her house! She picked us up and we had this big fancy meal in her big fancy house and talked all about the gospel. It was great! 

-Then on Sunday our ami Ozak came to church! We had an awesome rendez-vous (literally so good, our member did a great job, everything was great) and he just kept thanking us for inviting him. We're excited to keep teaching him!

-The other day we were on the tram and I had a conversation with an older guy and his daughter. Turns out she was a pâtissière (a baker) who loves American cookies more than anything, and the father loves cowboys (and got so excited when I said I was from Utah) and both of them are religious but feel that most religions have fallen away from Christ's church. So we kept talking and they invited us for dinner and a family home evening (and cookies) for tonight! We're super excited, hoping that goes well.

Anywho, tons of miracles this week! I've been thinking a lot about obedience this week and I love the quote from President Monson who said that obedience brings blessings but that exact obedience brings miracles. Whether or not we're missionaries, God has so many blessings he's just waiting to pour out on us. I'm so grateful for a God who loves us enough to give us guidelines in this crazy world we live in. Follow the Spirit and the commandments, even in the little things, and you'll never regret it.

Je vous aime ! 

Elder Suisse

Pics (Not a lot this week, sorry):

District meeting! 

Zone conference and now we're a trio!

Bonjour tout le monde !

So the subject line pretty much describes my entire week. Wednesday night we got a call from President Giraud-Carrier saying we'd be receiving Elder Purkis to our équipe the following day at zone conference. I've known since he started my mission, he's great! And now we're a trio! So far I'm a fan of the trio life - I'll let you know how it goes.

Here's a few more of my highlights from this week! 

Tuesday was our exchange with the Valence elders. I was with Elder Lewis - super cool guy. We contacted a whole bunch and found like five new amis.

Thursday was zone conference! So good! President and Sœur Giraud-Carrier talked about Elder Cook's visit last week and how we need to be converted to the doctrine of Christ - simply knowing it is not enough. So that's what I've been studying and praying for and I've been learning tons!

Sunday was stake conference. Président Léporé (one of my favorite people ever) and his family are moving to Utah, so conference was full of testimonies and goodbyes. Elder Sabine from the area presidency spoke about how even the little things in our lives are guided by our Heavenly Father. Rien n'est par hasard ! 

Idk if y'all remember Ella, the Nigerian member we ran into on the tram? Well, follow-up miracle! Today we were coming back from the store with our groceries and this horrible rain and snow mix was falling from the sky, and these three new people stop us and say they're from Italy/Nigeria and that they're members of the church and have been looking for the church since they moved here! We might not find tons of interested people, but that makes four members this transfer that we've found and reintroduced to the church haha.

This week we've talked a lot about the little things. God can be seen in every small aspect of our lives! Every tiny step towards our Father is rewarded! Conversion isn't a one time event - growing trees requires time and patience! If you'll make those small, daily changes that seem so monotonous, I promise that God will multiply your efforts and change your heart. I feel so blessed to be able to see the gospel change lives! He's there and He loves us :)

Je vous aime ! 

Elder Suisse 

Pics:

-Elevator on exchange 

-When it's snowing on pday so you have no choice but to build a fort, eat crêpes and play board games

-We bought artichokes! 

-Matching ties at stake conference with my pal Elder Loh

-Selfies in the office

Conference in Geneva

Bonjour tout le monde !

What a week!! Missions are crazy! Lots of ups and downs this week! Basically we've been working super super hard but we still had a bunch of our amis cancel on us. We're still feeling great though and so ready to keep working and praying!

I got to meet more of the ward this week and wow, I love this ward! The bishopric is all super young but so funny and so capable. There are quite a few young families and I'm enjoying getting to know everybody.

Highlight of the week! Elder Cook visited our mission! He was in Geneva and had previewed some freetime and had invited the missionaries! So we all headed to Geneva for a mission conference and it was so fun! We drove up with the Bellessas (our senior couple missionaries here in St-Etienne) and I got to see all my mission pals. I was asked to sing in the choir so I got sit up on the stand with Elder Thomas, my MTC comp and a couple other friends (Elder Cook sat right in front of us :D) . We heard from President and Sœur Giraud-Carrier, Elder and Sœur Benazar, Elder Johnson, the region president, and his wife and finally Elder and Sister Cook! Here are a couple of my favorite bits! 

-Elder Johnson said that we need to focus less on changing who we are and more on following Christ and acting as he would, and He will change us.

-Sister Cook had us all sing this round of "Peuple du Monde" and talked about Christlike attributes and the power of music. She said she recently told a friend that when she's stuck in heavy traffic she sings "Be still my soul" to herself and her friend suggested "God speed the right" might be more appropriate haha

-Elder Cook talked about Preach My Gospel and the effects of our missions. He said that when he was on the executive missionary council and writing PMG, President Hinkley said that it needed to be written so it couldn't be memorized, so missionaries would have to know and apply the doctrine in order to teach it. Elder Cook bore testimony that our what we learn on our missions will affect so much more than those we teach - it will touch our family and future spouse and family as well. So good - I'm so grateful to be where I am doing what I do :) 

Anyways, conference was awesome and I loved seeing everyone. Super edifying! It was a tough week but I'm grateful for all we got to learn and experience. God is there and He loves us enough to give us as many second chances as we need! How sweet is that?? 

Je vous aime ! 

Elder Suisse

Pics:

Road trip with the Bellessas, our temporary grandparents :) 

Us by our tram stop. The name makes us laugh. 

Ella, the random member we found and brought to church! She's the best! 

Hopefully should have some conference picks next week! 

Miracles in Saint-Etienne!

Bonjour tout le monde !

This is Elder Suisse, coming at you live from Saint-Étienne, France! Transfers were last week and I'm now serving in a new ville right next to Lyon with Elder Sprague, who was in my zone back in Toulouse. I love it here! It's not Toulouse, but we've been seeing tons of miracles and have been working so hard!

This whole week was kind of a blur, but here's some highlights! 

-We got in contact with a less-active member who the ward had almost given up on. It required lots of sweet-talking, letters from a previous missionary and some cookies, but we'll now be seeing her every week - she's the sweetest and it was a huge miracle that she let us in! 

-The other day we were going to the church and had the feeling that it could wait and that we needed to return to the apartment for lunch instead. We got on the tram and a young woman stopped us and asked if we were Latter-Day Saints. She told us she was a member and that she'd been looking for the church in Saint-Étienne for a couple of weeks but that she hadn't been able to found it. So we took her to church on Sunday and the ward totally took her in! Miracles!

-On Thursday we were in a rendez-vous with an ami we'd found. We taught him the rétablissement and he liked it but was skeptical about the Book of Mormon. We fixed a return rendezvous and said a prayer, then he told us he had a brother who would be interested in our message. He called him right there and put him on speaker phone! The brother was like "Yes I'm interested! Let me shower, I'll be there in 45 minutes ! J'arrive !" We had another rendez-vous in a half hour, so we had to go, but we got his number and were laughing for the rest of the day.

-We have an awesome senior couple called the Bellessas, from Washington, and I love them so much! They travel a lot as part of their assignment, but I'm excited to work with them

-The ward is awesome! I gave a talk on Sunday about Nehemiah 6:3 and how important this work is and how we can't listen to the doubters, and they were so cute and excited. The bishopric are all in their early thirties and everyone is hilarious. I love them. 

-We found an old guitar in the apartment which, when combined with the hot chocolate we bought today and the snow that I'm told will fall soon, will make for some really nice stress relief when times get tough. I'm excited :)

-Today we went to IKEA and also toured a mine here in the city, which was pretty sweet and also creepy. Turns out I don't ever want to work in a mine, no thanks.

Anywho, this place is great and I love being a missionary. Stay positive and diligent and everything works out. 

Je vous aime !! 

Elder Suisse

Pics :

It's just us here in Saint-Étienne and I was a little worried about feeling isolated, so I bought myself an IKEA bamboo.

Elder Sprague's homemade tartiflette. Potatoes, lardons, crème fraîche and reblochon cheese. Possibly the best thing I've ever eaten.

The creepy mine. 

Elder Sprague. We think we're funny. 

Bayonne, Montauban and October!

Bonjour tout le monde !

This week was pretty exciting! It's October! I love fall! It's so nice outside and General Conference is coming up! We were out of Toulouse a lot this week and had a decent amount of rendezvous. I love my sector!

Tuesday and Wednesday we had our exchange in Bayonne, which was awesome! I was with Elder Comin from Canada and we had a blast. We had a rendez-vous with a dude in Biarritz, a city right by the ocean. We also got "Bayonne ham in a cone," which I would highly recommend. Awesome exchange. 

Friday we had an great district given by Elder Wagner. Then we went with the STLs to Montauban for a blitz, as the city doesn't currently have any missionaries serving there. We met with five different members and one of the amis there and wow it's a nice little ville. We got a lot done and took plenty of pictures.

Other news, we helped a new Tahitian family move into their apartment (they had a piano, ugh) - I love islanders aaaaah, they were so funny. We also had a dude call us asking about the church. I invited him to come this Sunday and he did! We're teaching him now, he's pretty cool.

This week was super great and I'm excited for the next! Transfer calls are this Friday - more on that next week! 

Spiritual thought this week comes from today's weather! I love autumn and crunchy leaves, and I've been so aware this week of God's miracles! Trees and skies and dogs and families! I invite you to be more aware of God's hand in your life - He loves us and smiling comes so much more naturally when we realize that :)

Je vous aime beaucoup ! 

Elder Suisse 

Pics :

Montauban! 

Fancy year-old cured Bayonne ham, in a cone

Us and Zhuo, a member in Montauban, and my new best friend

The crew

Exchanges in beautiful Toulouse!

Bonjour tout le monde !

It'll be brief this week, lots to do! 

We had such a great week! Our amis are still being pretty flaky, but we're working hard and finding plenty of new people to teach. 

Tuesday was our exchange with the assistants. I was with with Elder Agnie, from French Polynesia. We're actually best friends, and the exchange was so much fun. We had some killer rendezvous, found tons of new people and ate with a Tahitian family in the ward - la famille Gournac. We sang some hymns in Tahitian, and it was decided that I'm actually an islander myself.

Thursday we had an exchange with the Carcassonne Elders, and I was with Elder Wagner, from Logan, Utah! We were invited to a "Soirée partage" at an ami's house, and Elder Wagner got into a major Bible bash with an evangelical preacher while I had a nice conversation about eternal families. Then we taught some folks and had a good time reminiscing about Utah.

Saturday was the baptism of a young boy in the ward, which was so fun! Lots of food, and a lot of amis showed up. I love our ward so much! 

Yesterday we had a barbecue with a Nigerian/French family and it was great. You meet literally so many great people on mission. I love my mission! The ward is fantastic and I'm reminded every day of the love that God has for all of His children. Don't ever forget how much you're loved!

Elder Suisse 

Pics:

Selfie with a Scot, a Canadian and a whole bunch of my favorite islanders

Artsy photo of some buildings, as I didn't take many pictures this week

Zone conference and tortillas!

Bonjour tout le monde !

I can't believe it's been a whole week since the last time I sent one of these! We're already halfway through September! It's been cooling off here, which is much appreciated. Still not cool enough for a sweater, but we don't melt anymore when we step outside! Life's good here in Toulouse :) 

Not a ton happened this week, but we got a lot done and did a lot of service, so success! 

Tuesday was zone conference. We had like 70 people at the chapel and all over Toulouse and it was crazy but really nice go see everyone. Elder Thomas and his companion came in the day before and we got to visit a member together - first rendezvous together since the MTC! Conference was fantastic. We talked a lot about goals and seeing the needs of those around us. The Giraud-Carriers were so good! They were joking with everyone and testifying and wow I love them. Good conference but it's nice to have our apartment back! 

Thursday we did a ton of service. Gardening and cleaning and organizing for a few people in the ward. I used to feel like a day doing service was a day not doing missionary work but honestly, service is a great way to go missionary work, and a key aspect of charity. I love our ward :) 

Friday we had a family home evening with this older lady in our ward named Mercedes, plus the sisters and another sister in the ward. Mercedes made us tortillas - not your run-of-the-mill taco covers - it was like a Spanish omelette potato quiche onion thing. 10/10 would recommend. She kept called Elder Keir and I Tom Cruise and John Trevolta and we all laughed til our sides hurt. 

We didn't get to see many of our amis this week, which was tough, but we're pressing on with smiles. We met two new young people who are interested to learn, and we have rendez-vous with them this week, so more on that later!

I've been studying lots about discerning needs and I've been learning a lot. We're all different! One ami might need to be taught the Word of Wisdom while the next is longing to hear that families can be together forever. We all have different needs and have had different experiences in our lives - the one common ground we all share is that we having a Father in Heaven who loves us and who just wants us to find joy! Child of God is the only label that can truthfully be applied to any and all of us, and I'm so grateful for the chance to let others know they're not alone :)

Je vous aime ! 

Elder Suisse 

Pics:

Elder Keir and I helping to organize stuff for a family who's moving.

Me and Elder Thomas!