Week 72 New Missionaries and 40 boxes of Dominos Pizza

Selfie with the 40 pizzas in the car haha

Hello!! Week 1 of the new transfer is over! We are really busy during
week 1 so it always flies by! I think this week I'll have to give a
day to day summary of what happened because everyday there were things
happening! So I'll just get started with it!

Monday was the start of the new transfer! Haha I honestly had a weird
moment when I was at the office and someone asked me what transfer I
was in, and without even thinking I said "9." And then I thought about
it for a second and I realized that it was my 12th transfer haha. It's
going so fast it's unreal..! But Monday morning we hung out at the
office with all of the 14 departing Elders as they had to get all
ready to leave the next morning! Around 15h00 we took them all over to
President and Sister Brown's home where we hung out for the rest of
the day! Sister Brown made an incredible BBQ for us all as well. After
we ate, we had the departing testimony meeting! Honestly just
listening to all of the departing missionaries' testimonies is so
incredible...easily one of my favorite parts of the transfer. The
spirit is so strong and it's really cool to see how strong each
testimony is. Durning the testimonies I take notes of spiritual
impressions that come to me and it's a good "What lack I yet" moment.
And then after the testimony meeting there was 2 Elders whose family
came and picked them up which is always a fun moment! Then we say
goodbye to the missionaries and it's pretty hard because you develop
such good relationships with them and then they go!

Tuesday was eventful as the 24 new blues flew into the Lyon Airport
and we went and picked them up! They are a great group and will be
solid missionaries. Once we picked them all up we headed back to the
office for a few presentations while President interviewed the
missionaries! Then we went over to President's house and hung out with
them and got to know each blue! Once we had eaten dinner and they had
all returned to their apartments for the night, President Brown along
with Elder Landry, Elder Battezzato, and I went into Presidents office
and talked about which blues would go with which trainers! The process
is really cool because we haven't spent a whole lot of time with the
blues and we don't have a lot of time to put them together with
trainers, so it's a small moment where President receives pretty
direct revelation. I just love being around President and trying to
soak up all I can. He is so amazing and I'm learning a lot from him.

Wednesday was one of the funnest days of the transfer because it was
Blues Conference!! It is always so fun to watch as the blues open up
their first call to see where they are going and who their trainer
will be!! Blues conference goes from 10:00-3:00 and basically we catch
them up to where we are at in the mission and we try to pump them up a
little bit and make it fun! So, this transfer President and us felt
like we should change the Blues Conference presentations and talk
about different things. So President promised us that if we prayed
about it, we would know what to say. And seriously we only had like 30
minutes to plan for the 3 hours of presenting that President gave us,
but it was so cool to see how we were led to exactly what we needed to
talk about! So even though we hadn't had a lot of time to plan because
we had been so busy, we went into our 3 hours of presenting and the
Spirit helped us out so much and the presentations went great. Elder
Battezzato is seriously incredible! English is his 3rd language and he
had only been in our companionship for like 2 days, but he did such an
amazing job. And Elder Landry is such a good presenter as well. I love
being with them and feel very grateful! Haha it was fun we were just
up there laughing and having a good time and everything went really
smoothly. So once conference ended all the blues and trainers had some
free time to get to know each other! Then we went and picked up 40
pizzas from Dominos and we all had pizza! Then after all of that we
had to head to the office and finish some transfer stuff! super crazy
but fun day.

So after the crazy first 3 days we had an exchange with the
Aix-en-Province Zone Leaders on Thursday! I was with my man Elder
Teriihaunui! He is seriously such a stud and I love doing work with
him. We were both in Geneva for 3 transfers and got really close. We
didn't have a lot of time because their train leave at 6 but we worked
hard and it was a great exchange! So we have been teaching a woman
named Naomi Françoise recently and she is this cute lady from
Cameroon! So we went by on Thursday and taught her and she loved it
and she wants to be baptized! So we are working with her to get there!
Hahaha so after the RDV she told us that she made something for us
that was "A Cameroon specialty" and I was pretty nervous when she said
that because whatever she had been cooking in the kitchen had
a...well...special smell. And so she brings out a plate of this like
hard boiled banana and cow skin and this weird sauce. HAHAH so then I
looked at Elder Battezzato and his mouth was literally wide open and
I'm not even kidding I started laughing so hard. It wasn't bad, but it
definitely isn't my new favorite food ;) she's a sweet lady though!!

Friday was a great day! so we went over to President and Sister
Brown's house and planned for MLC! MLC is where all of the Zone
Leaders and Sister Training Leaders come to Lyon and President and
Sister Brown and us present on what we will be focusing on this
transfer! Haha Sister Brown is sooo cute and went out and brought
these 2 hugeeee play balls and we were thinking of a game we could do
with them. And then President got this smile on his face and was like
"I don't think we can think of a game until we have played with them
ourselves." Haha so we went in their backyard and played with them.
Honestly it was pretty funny. We finished the night with a few lessons
which was good! We first taught Naomi Francoise and it went super
well! We taught her about temples and she told us that she wanted to
go there one day! It was cool to tell her that in a few months there
would be a temple in Paris (I'm soooo excited)! We also taught Susanne
again! We talked to her about the Book of Mormon and about coming to
church. Both rdvs went really well!

Hahaha Saturday was pretty interesting. Long story short we were
leaving the apartment on our way to go play soccer with some Amis, and
one of my companions shut the door with the keys inside the lock on
the other side of the door...and the door locks automatically! So
voila! Later that night we had a few things to do at the office for
President.

For some reason this week I thought over and over of the story of
Christ and the young rich ruler  (Matt 19: 16-22). It was a good
opportunity to think about my "great possessions." I love this story
and the things that I have personally learned from it. Sunday at
church during the Sacrament I had a great experience thinking about
this story and what I can do to improve myself.

Lately I have really been studying the life of the Savior and I have
spent a lot of time reflecting on how grateful I am to have a Savior.
I'm not going to act like I know everything about His life, because
there is a lot that I don't know, but I do know what matters. I know
with all of my heart that He is the light of the world, the Savior and
Redeemer of all mankind. "I am the light of the world: he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of
life." I know that there is only one way to have the light of life,
and it is by following Him. I know that He gave His life and offered
himself as a perfect sacrifice. But I also know that the greatest of
all messages is that He was resurrected the third day and that He
lives today.

Have a great week!

Elder Wade

Matt 19:16-22

"6 ¶And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
 19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions."

 Selfie with all of the blues and trainers!

Exchange pic with Elder Teriihaunui!

 Gas selfie with my comps haha

Week 71 Transfers...Elder Battezzato is back

This photo sums up last week

Hello!

So I have no time this week to write a big email! A new transfer began
yesterday! Some quick news...Elder Landry and I are staying together!
It is Elder Landry's last transfer and so it will be super fun! And
guess what?!?!!?!! :) Elder Battezzato is my companion again!!!!!!! He
will be our driver (Presidents Secretary) and so he will be with us!!
I am soooooo excited to be with him again! We were already companions
for one transfer in Geneva when I was with Jarom! I can already tell
that this transfer is going to go too quick.

Last week was a busy week as it was the last week of the transfer! We
spent a few days at Presidents home working on the transfer process!
So it's currently Week 1 of the new transfer which means that it's a
really busy week! Yesterday we were with the departing missionaries
who left this morning! Currently we are at the Lyon airport waiting
for 24 new missionaries to arrive! So Elder Landry, Elder Battezzato,
and I saw that there was some wifi and we had about 10 minutes before
the blues got here, so I'm sending out this email! I know this email
is short, but all is well!!

 12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

The Trio!!!

 This photo is so great haha. Elder Battezzato made this photo this

morning. The photo on the left was taken about 3 months ago when he

gave me the keys to the car in Geneva when he got transferred! The

photo on the right was taken yesterday when I gave him the keys to the

car here in Lyon!!

Week 70 Conference Tour Week 2

Roman Theatre in Lyon!

Hello! Sorry this is a day late, we didn't have time to send it off yesterday!

This last week was another incredible week. I know I say that pretty
much every week, but it really was haha. We finished the last 4 "Title
of Loyalty Tour" conferences and I got to head back to some of my
favorite places and meet some of my favorite people in the whole
world! It was just an incredible week! So here is the recap!

Here was the schedule for the conference tour this week!
Monday: We woke up and drove to the Écully chapel in Lyon and had
Écully zone conference! After conference we drove out to Switzerland
and finished the day at the Lausanne chapel where President had some
interviews! Then Sister Brown sent us to a pizzeria where we ordered
soome really good pizzas and brought them back to the chapel and ate
with half of the Lausanne zone! Then we crashed at the Lausanne zone
leaders apartment to sleep.
Tuesday: We woke up and had zone conference in Lausanne! After
conference we drove to Geneva!! I love Geneva so much. Honestly every
time I go back I feel like I've returned home ;) After President was
done with some interviews he took us to a really nice Mexican
restaurant that tasted great. Then we went and slept at the Geneva ZL
apartment where I passed 6 months of my mission! It was good to be
back that's for sure.
Wednesday: We went to the Geneva chapel and had zone conference! After
zone conference we drove back to Lyon. Again it was good to sleep in
our own beds haha.
Thursday:  We woke up in Lyon and then drove all the way down to
Cannes (right by Nice.)
Friday: We woke up and had the Nice zone conference! Then after we
drove back to Lyon and started an exchange with the Montpellier Elders
:)

So guess what..while we were in Geneva on Tuesday night, they had some
type of Ward activity!! So I was able to see so many people that I
love and spent 6 months serving! I saw the Fidalgo family and cute
little Rose :) I love them so much. They are like another family for
me. And also I saw Atoussa!! And guess what...Atoussa is preparing to
serve a mission!! Her plans are to leave within the next year! I am
seriously so happy for her. It's crazy to think how far she has come.
I remember very clearly the first time we met her and to look at her
now, she is literally not even the same person! It's such a testimony
to me of how perfect the Gospel truly is. She told me that she's never
been happier and that she knows she found what she was looking for.

We also started an exchange that lasted from Friday night to Saturday
night with the Montpellier ZL's! I was with Elder Menzel and he is
such a stud honestly. He is from Germany. We had an incredible
exchange as well. It was our first day to work in our own sector in
the last 2 weeks and it felt soooo good to be back! Honestly I was so
happy to get back out and work. And we saw some crazy miracles! We
contacted a family of 4 from Cameroon and taught them about families
and the restoration and they loved it so much and they fixed a return
RDV for this upcoming week! Haha we also had a funny experience where
we were trying to find this less active to pass and we were absolutely
lost and had no idea where we were. But we walked past a girl named
Suzanne and stopped her and started to talk about her but she was
running to catch her bus and she told us that she was taught like 4
years ago and felt really good but then she just lost contact with the
missionaries! So I pulled out my planner to hurry and get her
information and she literally grabbed my planner from my hands, wrote
down all of her information, and gave it back to me and said "Next
Tuesday at 7:30 at my house!" And ran to catch her bus. Haha it all
happened so fast and we sat there for like 10 seconds like what in the
world just happened. I looked over at Elder Menzel and his mouth was
wide open haha!! But it was such a good exchange and I loved being
with him!

So after these 2 weeks of touring the mission and having all of these
zone conferences...here are a few of my thoughts!!
- These conferences were really special and President did such a great
job with deciding what we all talked about. I really gained a strong
testimony that He is definitely called of God and is very inspired. I
want to be a lot like him when I'm older.
- During the interviews I had a lot of time to talk with Sister Brown
:) She is seriously so amazing and I love her so much. She is so funny
and sweet but has the greatest advice.
- Haha so I finished the zone conference tour with a pretty solid 7-2
record in Sister Brown's capture the flag dart gun game. Haha so she
would talk about standing strong in opposition and resisting the
"fiery darts of the adversary" and then we would all go outside and
play capture the flag with her dart guns. I started off the tour
pretty lousy with a 1-2 record, but after the 3rd zone conference and
my 2nd loss in 3 games I had a moment similar to Captain Moroni in
Alma 46 when he rents his coat and is sick of losing ;) ...Then I
finished the conference tour strong with 6 straight wins ;) I can't
take the credit for the wins though. President Brown was on my team
for 4 of those 6 games and I am not lying at all he is soooo good
hahaha I have no idea how he does it!! Haha and it is super hot and
humid here right now and literally every day I woke up and said "Okay
I'm not going to try hard during the dart gun game today because I
don't want to sweat." And then I would end up sweating a lot ;) ahaha
and on top of all that, we presented right after the dart game, so
usually I was presenting and sweating like crazy hahaha.
- It was also very cool and interesting to watch as all of the Zone
Leaders and STL's had the same outline and information to present on,
but how they all applied it specifically to their own zones based on
the revelation they received in preparing. The presentations were all
the same, but all so uniquely different! It seriously was really cool.
- I gained a very strong testimony of D&C 1:23 over the last 2 weeks
as well. As many missionaries told me about miracles that they had
seen over the last few months, I was just blown away. And especially
as I look at myself I feel like D&C 1:23 is so true because as I am,
being 19 years old and being "weak and simple", there is no way I
could have done anything that ive done out here without His help. I
just know it's Christ's church. As I am writing this I kind of feel
like Ammon did in Alma 26: 11-12. Because I am not trying to boast of
myself I promise, I am really just thinking of how loving Heavenly
Father is and that he would entrust someone like me to do the most
important work on the earth. It's a really humbling thought.

With how I finished that last paragraph, it made me think of a
scripture that my Grandpa sent me last week that touched me a lot. 1
Corinthians 2:9! I love this scripture so much because when I read it,
I just felt His love so strongly. I do know that we have a Heavenly
Father who loves us perfectly. And the most perfect example of his
perfect love...was his perfect Son that he sent for us all. I love Him
with all my heart.

This next week will be a crazy/fun week as it is already the last week
of the transfer and we will be working with President Brown on the
upcoming transfer! It is so amazing to watch as President receives
revelation and you can just feel such a strong confirmation as he
speaks. And we spend a lot of time at Presidents house this week which
means a lot of Sister Brown's food...and that means a lot of really
good American food haha ;) Have a great week!

Elder Wade

Corinthians 2:9

 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 

neither have entered into the heart of man, 

the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Écully zone conference

Lausanne zone conference

Geneva zone conference

Nice zone conference

Week 69- Conference Tour Week 1

Bordeaux Conference!

Toulouse Conference!

Montpellier Conference!

Lyon Conference!

Meal we ate with the Browns!

Week 68 Third times the charm

Hello! Haha this week was pretty crazy. And the next few weeks will be
even crazier! Over the next 2 weeks we will be touring the mission
with President and Sister Brown for some conferences and this next
week will be pretty crazy! Here's the schedule...on Monday we are
driving to Brodeaux and on Tuesday we will be in Bordeaux, Wednesday
in Toulouse, Thursday in Montpellier, Friday in Aix-en-Province and
then Saturday in Lyon! It's going to be awesome and I'm really looking
forward to spending time with the Browns and all of our mission! So
here is a recap of the last week!

Haha okay so do you remember last week how I said that we drove all
the way out to Gex only to see that the place (the Préfecture) where I
had to pick up my legality was closed? The story continues!! So, on
Wednesday we had planned out with the Office that we would drive out
to Gex for the second time to get it. So we drove 2 hours out to Gex
and guess what? There was assign on the door that said they were
closed on Wednesday August 17 due to vacation haha!! So we drove all
the way out in vain! But as we know, the third time is the
charm....but it our case it nearly wasn't! So on Thursday we headed
back to Gex to get my legality for the third time! After a few hours
of driving we eventually got there...and this time they were actually
opened!! So as I walked up to give the lady all my paperwork, she told
me that I had everything that I needed except a few stamps that I was
supposed to buy, but I had no idea about! She looked at the clock and
said, "Well the place where you buy the stamps closes at 4:00. It's
down the road. Run!" Haha it was 3:56. Without even saying a word to
each other, we all ran out the door and down the road as fast as
humanly possible to get these stamps haha. So we literally showed up
at the place right as they were closing hahaha but long story short
they let us buy the stamps I needed!! It was so funny. So then we got
the stamps and ran back to the Préfecture and, at last, got my
legality card!! The lady working the desk thought we were so funny
haha so I took a photo with her while I was holding my legality card
just to remember the day! Voila!

I also had the opportunity to go on 2 exchanges this week! The first
one was on Tuesday and we were with the ZLs in Aix-en-Province! I went
with Elder Thorne from Logan, Utah! It was a great exchange and we had
a lot of cool things that we saw! While we were out, we contacted into
a 30 year old man and we started talking about families with him and
we told him that we know that families can be eternal forever! He
loved the idea and asked us how? So we explained that we believe the
church had been restored on the earth and this was one of the truths
that was restored. He asked us to find a bench and sit down and
explain it all to him! So we did. It went incredibly well and he wants
to see us again!
My other exchange was with the Bordeaux ZLs!! I went with Elder Barben
from Northridge! Back when I was in Nice and he was in St. Raphael we
were able to do some exchanges! So it was cool to be back together
after about a year! He's such a stud.

The work is getting a lot better and we found some people to teach
this week. It has been a little difficult lately because of the fact
that we whitewashed into a new ward, and all the members are on
vacation right now. So we have done a lot of contacting and porting!
But that's good stuff so ca va :)

Honestly a lot of random stuff happened this week but I don't have a
lot of time so write it all! It was an incredible week that's for
sure.

Moroni 10:32-33. I know with all of my heart that Jesus is the Christ.
He truly is the light and life of the world. Words can't really
describe how I feel, but I know with all sincerity that He lives.

Moroni 10:32-33

 32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

 33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

Week 66 &67 - Welcome "Blues"

Hello! So I wrote up a big email yesterday and for some reason it
didn't send! So here is a recap of the last 2 weeks in one email!

Week 1 was pretty crazy here, so here are a few of the main events!

Last Monday was transfer day! We hung out with all the departing
missionaries for the whole day which was really cool! We helped out
all the missionaries weigh their bags and get everything good and
ready to go! Then in the afternoon we all went over to Presidents
house and hung out and ate dinner! It was really hard and sad to say
goodbye to a few of the missionaries.

Tuesday was a completely different set of emotions than Monday! So at
about 10 we went and picked up 1 Elder from the airport! It was so
cool because this was an Elder who went home towards the beginning of
my mission...so it was so cool to see him come back out and want to
finish. I was really happy for him. So then the next few hours were
pretty crazy! We had a brand new group of 17 "blues" (new
missionaries) who were set to get into the Lyon airport at 11:15, but
their plane got cancelled! So the office staff and missionaries did an
incredible job and got all the of the blues train tickets from Paris
to Lyon! So the group got split into a group of 7 and another group of
10! The group of 7 got into the Lyon Gare at 2:00 and then the group
of 10 got in at like 4:00! It was so fun to meet the blues at the Gare
and welcome them into the mission and to feel their "blue fire" and
their desire to share the gospel! These blues were incredible though!
They asked so many questions haha it was great. There are going to be
some great missionaries come from this group. So we took them from the
Gare to the office where there were a few trainings, and then we took
them all over to President and Sister Brown's house and hung out and
played games and had a big dinner! After dinner, while all the blues
were being taken to their apartments, we met with President Brown and
talked about which blues would go with which trainers!

Wednesday was really cool because we had "Blues Conference" at the
Écully chapel! President and Sister Brown addressed them and then
Elder Landry and I had the opportunity to present to the blues on what
is happening in the mission right now! After that, all of the trainers
walked into the room and then the blues opened up an envelope that
told them where they would be assigned and who their trainer would be!
It was such a cool experience and it made me think a lot about when I
did the same thing at the beginning of my mission and found out that I
was going to Nice with Elder Boynton :) I was really grateful for the
experience to think back on the last 16 months and everything that has
happened! It's been such an amazing experience to this point and I
have learned so much about myself and my Savior. We spent a large part
of the rest of the week at the mission office doing things for
President! Voila that is a little bit of what happened during Week 1
of this transfer!

The rest of Week 1 was pretty tranquil and we had some time to do some
missionary work which felt like heaven. Okay so here's a little recap
of last week! (Week 2)

We started off the week on Tuesday at MLC! All of the ZLs and STLs
came her to Lyon and we were all taught by President and Sister Brown!
They talked a lot about obedience...it was great. Elder Landry and I
were able to present on teaching skills as well! So then after we
presented we took everyone up to this place that overlooks all of Lyon
called "Mont Thou" and had a really special experience up there!
President is so incredible. President talked about Captain Moroni and
the Title of Liberty and then on top of Mont Thou, President hoisted
up our mission "Title of Loyalty" and talked about devoting everything
we have to our missions. The spirit was so strong and I am so grateful
for what I was able to learn. After it all, President gave us all
about 30 minutes on Mont Thou to be alone and think about ourselves. I
used it as a "What lack I yet?" period and was able to really learn a
lot from the Spirit. It was a pretty amazing experience.

On Thursday we had zone training! We are apart of the Écully zone and
so we went and the Écully ZLs Elder Spoors and Elder Burri did an
incredible job! After zone training we had to drive all the way out to
Gex and pick up my legality...and guess what? They happened to be
closed on Thursday due to remodeling and stuff. Haha incredible how
that happens. But afterwards we drove into Genève and picked up the
Lausanne ZLs and drove them back to Lyon to start an exchange!
Honestly being back in Genève made me sooo sad though. I miss that
place so much. I met some of the most amazing people and had some of
the most amazing experiences in Genève! This sounds cheesy but I
seriously felt home sick when I was driving through! Those 6 months in
Genève went way too fast. I said this a few weeks ago and I'll say it
again...Geneva has such a special place in my heart!

So on Friday and Saturday we had back to back exchanges here in Lyon!
On Friday we were with the Lausanne ZLs and I was with Elder Stahl! He
is a huge stud and I learned a lot from him. We had a good time and
worked really hard and saw some really cool things. I really feel like
the Lord is blessing us to find people right now because of the
circumstance we are in with switching sectors and having to start over
from scratch! On Saturday we were with the Genève ZLs, which meant I
got to see Elder Keller again! I missed him a lot he's such a good
missionary. However on the exchange I was with Elder Underwood! He is
also a big stud and he taught me a lot of things. We had a very cool
miracle out while we prayerfully tracted! We were just about to stop
and then we felt like we should knock on one more door...so we did!
Long story short it is a family of 6 from the Reunion islands and we
were able to teach the restoration to them. The mom loved it so much
and she especially loved the idea of an eternal family. They leave on
vacation for 2 weeks, but she said she wants us to come back they day
they get back! It was really cool :) but yes Elder Underwood is a
stud. Good old Genève!

That's about it for the last 2 weeks haha. Sorry this has been so
long. This next week will be awesome because we have 4 exchanges with
different ZL equipes in the mission. I'm excited because that means
I'm going to learn a lot from the other missionaries.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about how the gospel works and there
is a scripture in 2 Ne 2: 26-27 that I have loved lately. It made me
think a lot about if I am someone who acts, or gets acted upon? I know
that the only true way to happiness in this life is though living the
gospel of Jesus Christ.

Elder Wade

2 Nephi 2:26-27

 26 And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.

 27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

Week 65- Goodbye Geneva...Hello Lyon

                                        

        Me, Elder Huntsman, Elder Landry, Elder Sumter right outside the

Opera House in Lyon!

Hello! I'm sorry for not writing last week. So much has happened in
the last 2 weeks I don't even know where to start...so I'll just go
for it! So last Saturday I got a call from President Brown explaining
how Elder Huntsman (his AP) was finishing his mission, and so he asked
me if I would replace him. I was pretty surprised when He called me,
but I am really grateful for this opportunity and I'm looking forward
to it. Right now I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing, but I am
excited so start this new experience in my mission! Even though it was
only the end of week 5, President asked that I be all packed by Monday
morning and be ready to take a train from Genève to Lyon! So that's
why I wasn't able to write last week. So, a lot of things have
happened, but before I talk about anything else, I would like to talk
about my experience in Genève a little bit.

It was so hard to say goodbye to Genève. During these past 6 months I
have had some of the most amazing memories and experiences that anyone
could ever ask for. It's impossible for me to put into words what the
last 6 months were like in Geneva, so I will do my best to give you a
little portion of how amazing it has been. The members in Geneva,
Switzerland have some of the strongest testimonies on this earth and I
am so grateful to have been strengthened and uplifted by their
examples. Last Sunday was a really long and hard day for me as I was
saying goodbye to people that I have absolutely given my heart to over
the last 6 months. It's funny because before my mission I didn't know
I could feel as strong, love as deep, and care as much for people as I
do for my Swiss family. Of course I feel that way about Nice and
Corsica as well, and I'm sure I will feel that way about Lyon, but the
love I have for the people in Geneva  is unexplainable. I love them.
It was really late last Sunday night while I was packing my bags and I
just had the biggest hole in my heart to have to leave these people.
I'll just stop there, because even though I've already typed a long
paragraph I still feel like nothing that I wrote compares to truly how
much I love Geneva. But all in all, Geneva was incredible and I feel
like the luckiest person alive to have been there.

I am also grateful for my companions Elder Keller and Elder Lutu and
for how much fun we had together! They are such great missionaries and
pushed me everyday to become a better missionary and person and I
loved serving with them. I was so lucky and blessed to have them as
companions.

The transfer process was such an amazing thing to be apart of! It's
pretty incredible how things end up working out how Heavenly Father
wants them to, and it is very obvious to see that President Brown is
inspired and holds the keys over this mission. On Monday right after
Elder Huntsman, Elder Landry, and Elder Sumter picked me up, we went
straight to President's house and started working on transfers! The
transfer process took the rest of Monday and all of Tuesday. On
Wednesday we finished at around lunch time and then we went to the
Mission Office and worked on a bunch of things we had to do for
President. On Friday morning we went over to Presidents in the morning
and sat there as he made calls and told the missionaries what was
happening. It was a different experience to be on the other side of
the call and for some reason I still felt super nervous every time
President made a call to an equipe of missionaries even though it
wasn't me haha. All in all, transfers went super well and we are so
excited for this upcoming transfer and to see all of the success and
miracles that will happen in the mission!

I will have 2 new companions as well! The other assistant is Elder
Landry! He actually served on Corsica in Bastia while I was in Ajaccio
so I know him pretty well and it's going to be a blast! Also we have a
car and both of us can't drive so our other companion is Elder Sumter
and he will drive for us this transfer! He is from the Netherlands and
is a baller! Honestly this will be a really fun transfer with the two
of them! There are also some big changes in our companionship as well!
Here in Lyon there are 4 wards and the assistants have always been in
the Val de Saõne ward. But from now on we will be in the Écully Ward!
So we are "whitewashing" into the Écully sector. That basically means
that we are starting over from scratch with amis and people we are
working with. It will definitely be a challenge at the beginning but
it will be super fun :)

This next week will be a really sad and super fun week as we are going
to be sending home a lot of missionaries that I love a lot, and also
be picking up brand new blues from the airport! I am really excited
for this week and it looks like it's going to be a memorable one. I
don't have a lot of time right now and I've left out a lot of details
but everything is going great. I am a little overwhelmed right now and
Elder Huntsman (he is finishing his mission) is going to be nearly
impossible to replace...but I will do my best!

Alma 41:10 - There is only one way to eternal happiness and that is
through living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Have a great week!

Elder Wade

Alma 41:10

 10 Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.

Breakfast at Presidents home! Sister Brown is an incredible cook wow

Saying goodbye to my Geneva missionaries!

Haha funniest photo ever from my last day in Geneva