Switzerland!!!

Salut tout le monde!

So! Super crazy week! It was week six, and I feel like haven't sat down for at least four days! 

Monday we received Elder Jensen, my replacement here in the office. He ended up being three hours late, due to some crazy train stuff, so Elder Ruben and I spent all day running around til we found him. Then we had pday at President's house and played volleyball (super cold but great) and charades (everyone was yelling French and English and waving like crazy and it was great). 

Wednesday I got my transfer call! I'm going to Martigny, Switzerland! I'm so so so excited! Mountains, swiss chocolate, clean streets, the works! That'll be this week, then my p-days will be back to Mondays!

Thursday was our transfer planning meeting. This transfer sounds like it's going to be super chaotic and I'm not gonna lie, I'm real excited to get back to full time proselyting :)

Friday was straight-up insane! Someone decided our mission needed to switch out nine of our cars all at the same time, so me and every other driver in Lyon spent all morning driving cars between the chapel in Ecully and the dealership in Venissieux. Crazy day but we got it all done!

Today was my last p-day in Lyon, so we decided to finally visit some roman ruins by the Fourviere cathedral, and it was the coolest thing! We ended up taking like a bazillion pictures and just got back a bit ago. 

It was a packed week, and I'm not sure how I feel. I'm sad to be leaving the office, but I'm so so happy to be going back to full-time proselyting, and I'm so psyched to go to Switzerland, you have no idea! I'm so grateful for a Heavenly Father who supports us through the hard times and is the reason we have the good ones. There are so many blessings that fly past us every day, I've been trying hard not to miss them these last couple weeks. Life is hard, but good, and that's exactly how it was planned!

Merci et bonne semaine!

Elder Suisse

Pics:

Us at the ruins!

The weekly

Bonjour!

Okay so this week was so crazy! After the Mustard couple left, Elder Skousen and Elder Walton (my old companion) were both brought in to take their places. That means that our apartment has been a four-man for a week now. We were pretty worried about how everything would work out, but honestly this has been such a fun time! We're still really missing the Mustards, but I'm starting to think everything will work out! 

Besides the transfer madness, we have some other super cool news! The France Lyon mission is officially getting smartphones! We've been working for a few months now on putting that all together, but it should be happening soon, and I'm excited to see how it works out!

Friday was our Lyon zone conference - so good! President shared his thoughts on John chapter 9, when Christ heals the man blind from birth and wow, I learned so much! I love the symbolism, and it's so applicable to missionary work! In Jean 9, Christ heals the man, but it required faith and a little work, which is what is often required of us to see miracles. Anyways, then we went contacting in Lyon, and I loved it! I realized that I haven't really been contacting since I got to the office back in September, and I missed it! Elder Ruben and I had a great conversation with a man from California, and by the end he was asking for our number and where the church was so he could bring his family on Sunday! It was just the right miracle to get me back focused on missionary work after so much time filing papers in the office.

Today the four of us went to the mall and took advantage of winter soldes. We got our French suits and I'm not gonna lie, we look pretty classy. 

Spiritual thought for today: Jean 9:25 - The Pharisees are interrogating the man healed by Christ. They don't believe Jesus is the Son of God, and they detest the no-longer-blind man for believing in Him. So they're asking him questions and after a bit, "He answered and said, whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." 

I love how straight-forward this is. After his experience with the Savior, this man was able to fend off trials with his simple testimony. I've really taken comfort from this scripture this week. I don't know everything, and life is hard, but one thing I know - that God loves me, and everything will work out. Go read the chapter, it's gold!

Anywho, all in all a great week, and I'm excited for the next! 

Thanks for all the love, et je vous aime!

Elder Suisse

Pics:

Belgian waffle party Friday night, chez Rigby

Classy new suits! I love the office!

Moving trip and the Mustards!

Bonjour tout le monde!

Really crazy week! We had a moving trip to Avignon on Tuesday and Wednesday, which was so much fun! Long drives, IKEA meatballs, it was great! 

Then we got back to the office and had some bad news - the Mustard couple, who've worked with me in the office since I got here, were going home due to some health problems. So Friday morning we took them to the airport and said goodbye, which was way sad. So these last few days have been pretty crazy, trying to juggle everyone's responsibilities, and the office has been way too quiet. We have a plan to work everything out though, so I'm confident it will all be okay. 

Last night we watched President Monson's funeral, and it was so good! I miss him a lot, but I know he's happy where he is, and I'm so grateful for the influence he's had on so many people - especially me. How cool is it that we have modern revelation and prophets!!

So spiritual thought for today comes from a member in our ward. She gave us a poem while we were at her house, and I loved it so much!

En Francais:

Si regarder en arriere te cause du chagrin, 

et regarder en avant t'inspire de la crainte, 

alors regarde à côté de toi, J'y suis! 

Le bonheur te garde gentil, 

les épreuves te gardent fort, 

les chagrins te gardent humble, 

mais seul l'espoir te fait avancer.

In English:

If looking back causes grief,

and looking forward inspires fear,

look beside you, I'm here!

Happiness keeps you nice,

trials keep you strong,

sorrows keep you humble,

but only hope makes you move forward.

I'm so grateful for a gospel that inspires so much hope. I'm so grateful for my Savior - because of Him I know that everything will work out. Trials are only temporary and families are forever!

Thanks for everything, et je vous souhaite une bonne semaine!

Elder Suisse

Pics:

IKEA trip!

Us and the Mustards at the airport

2018!!!

Salut et bonne année!

First off, happy 2018! I can't believe time's gone so fast! Lyon is great and I'm loving it here! It's mostly been rainy and cold all week, but we had a great time.

This week was way hectic and fun! Sunday was New Year's Eve, and we had a great time! We went to President's for dinner, followed by a member's house for second dinner! No crazy foods, but we definitely ate too much. 

The office was closed Monday, so we played basketball with the other Lyon missionaries, then had another mangezvous at a member's house. One of my new favorite traditions - "la galette des rois," where you have a tart/pie/cake thing, and you randomly divide the slices, then whoever gets the little "feve" (plastic toy) in their piece is the "king," and gets the paper crown that comes with the cake. We had like five over the course of the week, and I definitely did not win once haha... 

Tuesday through Friday kind of just blurred together. It was pretty wet and cold all week, and we were mostly in the office trying to catch up after the holidays, so we didn't go out a ton. Oh! We did take like nine visiting bleus to get their legal work done, which was fun. That's probably one of my favorite jobs - whenever we're with the new missionaries, the miracles just start coming - in just a couple hours we had like four new friends who were interested in seeing the missionaries. Super cool!

Today was p-day, so we went to the Confluence Museum with all the couples, which was a blast! I'd already been, but it was perfect weather, and it was way fun to go with everybody.

Overall a super cool week. It was hard to hear about President Monson's passing - we all love him, but I'm so glad for the opportunity he has to be with his wife again, and we're praying for President Nelson.

Also, we had a cool experience on our way home new year's eve. It had been super rainy and gross outside, but for just a little while, the clouds cleared and you could see the full moon, and all of a sudden these cathedral bells started ringing (I love that about France), and it was so calm and such a beautiful moment. I'm so excited for 2018 and all the miracles that I'm sure are coming our way! I thought a lot about this upcoming year and what it means. I realized that 2018 is my blackout year (full year on the mission), and I'm so excited to give it my all and see what the Lord can do with that!

Merci pour l'amour, je vous aime!

Elder Suisse

Pics (sorry there aren't a lot):

Us at le Musée des Confluences!