Week 56 "LOVING CERGY"

Here is a photo of Jamison's Grandpa Richard on his mission in Nancy, France in 1958.
"Tell Grandpa Richard that I heard that the Kratoshvilles are still alive and active. (The Kratoshvilles are a family that Jamison's Grandpa baptized on his mission) Jamison is trying to get in touch with them. 

Week 2 of the transfer:

Hey everyone! Such a classic intro... better yet, howdy, or hola or something like that.

So let's go over the principal happenings of this week.   Overall, this week was packed with lessons and lessons with pretty solid investigators.  

One piece of good news is we have another new investigator, S.  

So how we met him; I might have discussed this a little bit last time but I was on the bus and there was a man sitting next to me.  I started a conversation by asking him about whether he knew if it would be a nice day or not . He said he hadn't checked the weather but that little piece was good enough to get our conversation going.  As our conversation continued we got onto a more philosophical tangent.  He posed the question to me, "What motivates you when everything difficult in life seems like it's going to kill you, instead of make you stronger?" I said it was my faith in Jesus Christ that helped me keep going, and he said, "What does that mean?"  It means, I said, that there's this force kind of like hope, except for things I can't see but I feel are there, and I hope for better things in the future, and that is possible thanks to Christ.  "I don't really know what that means, the concept of 'faith' and I don't really understand Christ either but I can see that you have something that motivates you in life; that's something I'm lacking right now....I don't know if you would, but I would really like to speak with you again about this...faith, and how it helps you.  Could I meet some time soon?"  Uhm, yes (trying to contain my excitement) we could meet with you next week and help you have more faith, more motivation, we would love to do that!  

One of the best miracles was made manifest moments after our conversation.  In conversation with a friend he was offered some drugs and unfortunately accepted the offer, but only minutes after the purchase he remembered our conversation in the bus about faith, and he immediately returned the drugs without using them.

   S. Has really progressed.  Over the course of one week his countenance has really brightened and he continues to learn more about the concept of faith in Jesus Christ, and the origins of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints , our church.   He enjoys our teaching visits a lot, he asks very good questions, and he's honest as well. What more in an investigator could I ask for?  Personally, my favorite moment was seeing him running to the entry door of the church Sunday morning  a shirt, slacks, and tie being only five minutes late.  He cares!

Elder Jones and his home made cookies

The majority of our week was beautifully occupied.  We had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Rouen for our district meeting.  The training I gave was focused on Diligence, and I focused on the idea that through: ONE: a small and consistent effort, TWO: working to our full potential, and THREE:, showing gratitude through prayers, We'll see miracles and move mountains.  The training went very smoothly and I am really looking forward to helping and working with each member of the District.  Elder Gunn, Shaver, Van Tonder, Livingston, Wilford, Durant, Chen, and Soeur Brazeal and Hogan.  This is a great district! I'm gonna see some great things this transfer.  

Patisserie shop

Though the mission may seem at times from my emails butterflys and rainbows there's a lot of stress I deal with as well.  Stress comes from difficult companions, scheduling difficulties, and the constant feeling to perform above the level I'm at.  But I know all the stress I'm dealing with is for my good, and I'll come out of this experience on top.  There are a few scriptures I love, such as, D&C 122:7 which says, "...all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." Or the Hymn, Be still my soul,"  that's good too.  Although my situation is never perfect and I'm far from perfection, well, all we can do is carry on, carry on, carry on.  Having faith and hope that the work we're putting forth to carry the gospel forth to the world is the work that needs to be done, and we'll do it one person at a time.

Now for the extras column, I went to a city called Giverny during an exchange this week with Elder Chen. I found out upon returning to the train station that the Gardens of Claude Monet were only a mile and a half down the street.  Me and my comp didn't go through the pain of running all the way down there, but I could see why monet painted here, it looked amazing.  We did, however run into a couple African buddies and a Chinese family that we talked to in the train station for an hour.  They were really cool! Today Elder Chen and I walked around La Defense because Elder Durant and my companion wanted to work out in the park, and we got the best patisseries in Maison Lafittes!  Zone conference is coming up, so you should be able to see a little video of us all singing the mission song on the Facebook page in a few.  That's a wrap, thanks for all you do! 

LOVE, ELDER JONES

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