Sunday, October 16, 2016

Week 75- Power of The Book Of Mormon

Hello!! We drove to Bordeaux today which is why this email is a little
late! This was another good week and we were really busy so it went
especially fast. Here are some of the main things that I can remember!

So we had 2 big multi zone conferences this last week! Planning for
them was really cool. Here's a good story! So our first zone
conference on Thursday morning was our biggest one here in Lyon with
the Zones of Lyon, Écully, Lausanne, and Geneva! We had spent quite a
bit of time planning with President and Sister Brown in the days
before, but we didn't really know exactly what we should talk about.
We were up seriously all Wednesday night trying to plan and we had
decided with President to talk about chapter 4 in PMG, but nothing was
coming to us! It was so weird we were seriously stumped. So we decided
to sleep on it and we woke up the next morning and tried to plan our
whole presentation right before conference but still nothing was
coming! So we eventually called President and basically told him that
we had been at it for hours and nothing was coming and we didn't know
what to do, and basically he said, "Brethren it's been the same for
me. I've been up all night and I don't know what I'm speaking on
either. I guess we will really need to rely on the spirit today." And
so we did exactly that! Presidents opening remarks were amazing and he
kind of did a question and answer because there has been a lot of
stuff happening in the mission lately for multiple reasons and he
wanted everyone on the same page. So once President was finished we
went up and the spirit helped us out so much and we were guided to
talk about a few things mentioned by Elder Christofferson specifically
for our mission when he came back in March. I feel like it went well.

For me the cool thing is that originally we were going to present on
chapter 4 in PMG which is all about relying on the spirit! And I like
to think that Heavenly Father just wanted us to have more faith in Him
and rely on the Spirit during our presentations, so he was kind of
testing us! Because seriously we spent a lot of time planning for the
presentation but nothing was coming, so we needed to rely on the
Spirit! I like to think of it that way because the other answer is
that we are bad at planning and i hope it's not that haha!

So after our conference here in Lyon, we drove down to Nimes for the
Montpellier, Nice, and Aix-en-Province zones! The Nimes conference was
super cool because during it we went to the big Coliseum in Nimes
that's been there since basically the birth of Christ! President
talked a lot about the early persecution of Christ's church and how
even in the coliseum where we were, there had been mass murders of
Christians shortly after Christ's death. Honestly it was really
powerful. On our way back from the coliseum I was able to have a cool
experience as all 60 of us were on the bus and a couple asked me what
we were doing and I was able to explain to them what we believe and
give them a Book of Mormon and they were really touched and wanted to
learn more and asked for the number of the elders in Nimes! It was
really cool. It's always good to see all the missionaries and be
around them!

All of these conferences means one thing...road tripping with the
Browns!! Which is one of my favorite things ever! Haha they are soooo
funny! Sister Brown is seriously so cute I love just talking to her.
On Friday night we were getting back into Lyon from Nimes and they
took us out to eat at a restaurant here in Lyon and honestly we were
laughing so loud the whole time! President Brown was just pulling joke
after joke and we were all dying. I love them so much and I really am
grateful for the moments when we are around them.

I was also able to go on an exchange this week with Elder Thorley! He
is from Davis High School and is currently serving in Toulouse right
now! We figured out that for 3 of my 4 years of French in high school
he was in my class!! Haha so that was pretty funny. But he is a big
time stud and I loved our exchange and I was able to learn a lot from
him. One of the things that I learned from him was to always pray to
confirm decisions or if we felt like we needed to change them. I was
able to see how important that was when we were lead to people with
whom we were able to fix rdvs!

So some sad news with Renée! She told us last week that she was having
phone problems and needed to get her phone fixed.  And so long story
short we haven't been able to see her because we have no way of
getting in contact with her! But all is well :)

One of my favorite quotes from conference was by Elder LeGrand R.
Curtis Jr., and in talking about the Book of Mormon he said,

"I encourage everyone receiving this message, including the Aaronic
Priesthood bearers convened in this meeting tonight, to discover the
power of the Book of Mormon...That testimony will help you resist
temptation. It will prepare you for “the great call of diligence … to
labor in the vineyards of the Lord.” It will stand as a sure anchor
when accusations or slanderous statements are used to challenge your
faith, and it will be a rock-solid foundation when you are challenged
with questions you cannot answer, at least immediately. You will be
able to discern truth from error, and you will feel the assurance of
the Holy Ghost reconfirming your testimony over and over again as you
continue to read the Book of Mormon throughout your life."

I especially loved the part about being able to discern truth from
error. I know that every time I have been in the Book of Mormon I have
been able to clearly see situations in life and know what I had to do

I have also been studying the talk, "God is the Gardner" by Hugh B.
Brown and have decided that it's one of my top 3 favorite talks of all
time. I know that God truly is the Gardner and that His ways are
higher than our ways, and that everything happens for a reason. He
sees the bigger picture. In fact, he sees the whole picture.

Anyways I'll save you from my missionary ramble ;) but this next week
will be good! We are in Bordeaux and have conference tomorrow and then
have a few cool things throughout the week!

Elder Wade

Week 74- Joseph Smith told the truth


Conference chez la famille Zinn! They are so great I love them.
They have us over every Sunday and Sister Zinn is such a good cook!

Hello! What an amazing week. I don't even know where to start! My
thoughts are going to be all over the place during this email but I'll
try my best!

On Monday night we got to go and visit Sister Barachant in the ward!
She is an absolute angel. Her husband passed away a few months ago and
she's been having a hard time and so last week Sister Zinn gave us
some flowers to go take to her and brighten her day! It was so much
fun and we laughed a lot :) she is such a sweetheart and it's funny
how stuff like that works...We went to her house to help her out and
try to make her happy...but in all reality when we left her house
she's the one that helped us out and made us happy! I love the gospel
for that reason.

I was also able to go on 2 exchanges this week! Our first exchange was
with the Nice zone leaders and I was with Elder Sauro! He is from
Montreal, Canada and is a great missionary and I learned a lot from
him. On the exchange we were able to teach Renée and pass some cool
members and find some cool people. It was a great exchange! My second
exchange was with the Bordeaux ZLs and I was with Elder Hall!!! :)
haha I literally love him so much! During the exchange we talked a lot
about our 2 transfers together on Corsica. Our exchange was a little
different because we got a last second text message from a member in
the ward telling us that a family that he knew needed help with
moving! So we thought that it would only take a few hours but it ended
up taking the whole day! Halfway through the day we went and taught
Renée the second half of the plan of salvation and it went well. Elder
Hall is a great teacher. Then we went back and helped with the service
project!

HAHAHA!! Okay so before I tell this story, you have to know that I got
permission from Elder Battezzato to include this in my email haha. SO,
right now in Lyon all of the McDonalds have a deal that if you buy a
meal, you can add 5 euros to it and get a little soccer cleat (it's
more like a key chain) of the soccer club here in Lyon "Olympique
Lyonnais". Hahaha but on the advertisement of the menu, McDonalds
makes it seem like for 5 euros they will give you a pair of nice
soccer cleats to play in and stuff...but like clearly from McDonalds
you're not going to pay 5 euros and get a pair of soccer cleats. Haha
so anyways on Friday night we were at McDonalds and all of the sudden
Elder Battezzato says, "I can't wait to try these shoes out tomorrow
while we are playing." And I laughed because I thought he was kidding,
but then I noticed he was dead serious hahah so Elder Landry and I
looked at each other and both knew exactly what we were going to do!
So we started saying things to him like, "Dang, Elder Battezzato that
is such a good deal I can't believe you noticed that and we didn't!"
Etc. And he was just eating it up as well haha. Like he literally
thought he was going to get soccer cleats! Hahahaha honestly as I'm
writing this up I am laughing my head off. Okay so, eventually they
call his number to go get his meal (we were recording it and it's the
funniest video I have ever seen) and so he walks to the register like
he owned the place with literally the biggest smile on his face and
they give him his meal. Meanwhile I was bent over a chair laughing so
hard. Hahaha so he gets his sack and he has the most confused look on
his face and with his Italian accent he says, "How is possible? How is
possible that shoes be in the sack?" Hahaha!! So he then opens up the
sack and looks in and sees his "soccer shoes" aka the keychain and
says "Are you flipping kidding me!! Come onnnnn!!!" Hahaha oh my gosh
I was dying. Anyways, I know that took a lot of time but it was
seriously the funniest thing on the planet hahah! I know it wasn't the
most spiritually uplifting story, but if you try hard you could pull
something out of it ;)

Renée is doing great! We saw her 4 times last week and each time we
saw her we had a different member in the ward help us out! She is
loving it. We have a little problem right now as her phone is broken
and we haven't been able to get in contact with her for 2 days...so we
are hoping that gets fixed soon haha. She is progressing very well and
she understands everything we teach.

I absolutely loved General Conference so much. It is the most amazing
time of the year and I came away from it feeling better than ever. I
had a few thoughts after conference that I would  like to try and put
into words! Everything we have in the church leads to one
question...did Joseph tell the truth? If Joseph told the truth it
means that eternal truths were restored to the earth. Some of these
eternal truths include the following...
- God is real, and that he loves us perfectly.
- Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. He atoned
for the sins of all mankind and because of Him, and through the
Atonement, we can be made pure and whole. Christ not only resurrected
the third day, but that He lives today. Christ is the creator of this
earth and everything that is on it.
- The power to act in Gods name has been restored on the earth and
that through the Priesthood we are able to perform the necessary
saving ordinances for all of His children.
- The Plan of Salvation is a real. It means that there is no lasting
pain in death because families can be together forever through Christ.
(I personally know that is true and it is one of the most comforting
things in this life. How lucky are we to know that the sting of death
is swallowed up in Christ?)
- The Temple is real and is the House of the Lord. Every person that
has ever taken a breath on this earth will have the opportunity to
accept the Gospel because of sacred ordinances such as Baptisms for
the Dead.
- We have living Prophets and Apostles who lead and guide the Church
of Jesus Christ on the earth, and that if we listen to them, we will
never be led astray.

There are many more but I won't go on and try to list all of them! But
when you think about it, all of these things come down to the honesty
of one man. If Joseph was honest, then all of it is true. I was
especially touched in reading D&C 76 this week when I came across
these verses...
22 And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him,
this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he
lives!
23 For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the
voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father--
24 That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were
created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters
unto God.

I know that Joseph told the truth.

This next week will be a good one as we have got a few Zone
Conferences to go to! I love conferences and always love road tripping
with President and Sister Brown haha they are a blast!  I'm sure I
left out a bunch of things from last week, but that's everything I can
remember for right now!

Elder Wade

Candid' photo with Sister Barachant hahah I love her.

Exchange with Elder Hall! Also pictured is Renée and Elizee!

Exchange with Elder Hall! Also pictured is Renée and Elizee!

Monday night when we are chez Sister Barachant!

Week 73 -Miracle Story...Christ can calm the storms of life

Hello! Another week gone it's crazy how fast they go. This week was
such an amazing week and we were able to have some really cool
experiences. I'll start off with a story from this week!

So on Thursday we had Zone Training at the church. Zone training is
where the Zone Leaders and STLs present on what was talked about at
MLC! So we show up at the chapel and the zone training was great!
After the zone training, the Écully Zone Leaders asked us if we could
go to the store and get some ice cream for lunch! So we get into our
car and start leaving the parking lot at the church and as we are
pulling out of the parking lot we happened to see a lady sitting down
waiting for her bus on the other end of the street! We all felt like
we needed to talk to her but we continued to drive. And then all of
the sudden we all had the impression that we needed to go back and
talk to her but this time it was a lot stronger and more clear! So
Elder Battezzato turned around and we drove back to the church and
parked the car to talk to her! So we crossed the street and she had a
big smile on her face and we laughed and said "We know you saw us
leave the church and then turn around and come back. And to be honest
we don't really know why we felt like we needed to talk to you. So
maybe you can tell us why?" And literally she said "I feel like God is
calling me right now. I want to come back to him." And honestly I
couldn't even believe it. It was such a cool moment. SO then, we
briefly explained the restoration to her and gave her a Book of Mormon
just as her bus was arriving, so we didn't have time to get her phone
number or anything! But we told her that church started this Sunday at
2:30 and she promised us that she would read the Book of Mormon and
come to church. And then she got on her bus and that was that!
Seriously the whole experience lasted about 7-8 minutes. Like I didn't
even have enough time to ask her what her name was haha. So once she
left we got back into our car and said a huge prayer that she would
really come.

So yesterday we showed up at the church at about 2:15 and we walked
into the chapel and guess who was there? RENÉE (that's her name)!!
When we saw her she had a big smile on her face and she said "I told
you that I would come." And then we tried to take her around to all of
the members and introduce her to them...but they had already said
hello to her and she had a big smile on her face and the ward just
loved her!! Apparently she got to the church at 1:45 and had already
met so many members. Sooo...after we sang the opening hymn, Renée
leans over and asked, "How does baptism work in this church? I feel
like I'm finally home. I would like to be baptized." I almost died. So
after sacrament we went and found a room in the church and taught her
the restoration. She absolutely loved it and she said it made so much
sense. Then we talked about the priesthood and how she could be
baptized with this authority and we asked her to be baptized on
October 15th and she said she wanted to.

After she accepted her baptismal date, she told us her side of the
story! She said that on Thursday she felt very alone and started to
wonder if God was really there. She said that as she walked out of her
house, she prayed and asked God if he was really there to show her a
sign. So then she said that she took a few wrong busses and somehow
ended up right across from our church! She said she felt something
inside her that was pushing her into the church but she didn't go in.
Then she said that she saw us and had a weird but good feeling
inside....But then we got in our car and drove off and she just told
herself that maybe it was just a coincidence. So then she said that
she saw the car make a u-turn (FYI it was not a legal one but its okay
because we have an Italian driver ;) ) and go back into the church.
And then we came up to her and started talking to her!!

So that is the story! We have a RDV fixed with her for this Tuesday at
a members home and she loves it. She is so excited and it was
seriously such a miracle how everything happened. Like it really was
divine intervention that we meet her. Just the chances of her missing
a few busses and us leaving early to get ice cream. Then us turning
around to talk to her and everything!! It was really cool and I am so
grateful to have been apart of it!

Haha so here's another good story for you!! On Saturday I had a missed
call from a number that had a different area code that I didn't
recognize. So I call it back, no answer. Then about 15 minutes later I
get a call from the same number and I answer it and the person on the
other end of the telephone says, "Hello this is Elder Rogers from the
Albania mission.." Hahaha and I thought to myself "Okay I know an
Elder Rogers that's serving in the Albania mission!" So i responded
with "Wait...MITCH?!" Haha it was Mitch Rogers calling from the
Albania Mission!!! He called because they had a potential that they
contacted in Kosovo that lived in France and so he was passing me the
referral!! Unfortunately the lady lived in the Paris mission, but I
passed it over to the Paris mission and they got it taken care of!
Haha so Mitch and I spoke for like 10 minutes and it was so good to
talk to him! It was no joke like Alma 17:2 because I was seriously so
proud of him and so happy to hear how he was doing and all the good
work he was up to. Anyways so voilà it was so cool! I definitely
wasn't expecting.

We also had MLC on Tuesday which went super well! We presented on how
to begin teaching and other teaching skills from Preach My Gospel! We
had an hour to present and i felt like it went well. The main topic
that President Brown spoke on was Mark 4: 36-41. I absolutely love
when Christ asks the question "Why are ye so fearful? how is it that
ye have no faith?" When I read that I thought about how I would
respond to him if He asked me that same question. For me, this story
is a lot more figurative than it is literal. It's funny because Christ
could have calmed the sea long before it got to the point where the
apostles were afraid for their lives and asked him to calm it...but he
didn't. I thought a lot to myself this week about why he didn't calm
the storm until the very last second. I'm not sure I've got the most
perfect response, but I guess sometimes we just need to get to a point
where the only other thing we can do is rely on Him and have faith. I
know that Christ can calm the storms of life just as He calmed the
sea. In the end, his love is unfailing. I am so grateful for that.

Elder Wade

Mark 4:36-41

 36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
 38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
 40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?


Week 73 -Miracle Story...calm the storms of like

Hello! Another week gone it's crazy how fast they go. This week was
such an amazing week and we were able to have some really cool
experiences. I'll start off with a story from this week!

So on Thursday we had Zone Training at the church. Zone training is
where the Zone Leaders and STLs present on what was talked about at
MLC! So we show up at the chapel and the zone training was great!
After the zone training, the Écully Zone Leaders asked us if we could
go to the store and get some ice cream for lunch! So we get into our
car and start leaving the parking lot at the church and as we are
pulling out of the parking lot we happened to see a lady sitting down
waiting for her bus on the other end of the street! We all felt like
we needed to talk to her but we continued to drive. And then all of
the sudden we all had the impression that we needed to go back and
talk to her but this time it was a lot stronger and more clear! So
Elder Battezzato turned around and we drove back to the church and
parked the car to talk to her! So we crossed the street and she had a
big smile on her face and we laughed and said "We know you saw us
leave the church and then turn around and come back. And to be honest
we don't really know why we felt like we needed to talk to you. So
maybe you can tell us why?" And literally she said "I feel like God is
calling me right now. I want to come back to him." And honestly I
couldn't even believe it. It was such a cool moment. SO then, we
briefly explained the restoration to her and gave her a Book of Mormon
just as her bus was arriving, so we didn't have time to get her phone
number or anything! But we told her that church started this Sunday at
2:30 and she promised us that she would read the Book of Mormon and
come to church. And then she got on her bus and that was that!
Seriously the whole experience lasted about 7-8 minutes. Like I didn't
even have enough time to ask her what her name was haha. So once she
left we got back into our car and said a huge prayer that she would
really come.

So yesterday we showed up at the church at about 2:15 and we walked
into the chapel and guess who was there? RENÉE (that's her name)!!
When we saw her she had a big smile on her face and she said "I told
you that I would come." And then we tried to take her around to all of
the members and introduce her to them...but they had already said
hello to her and she had a big smile on her face and the ward just
loved her!! Apparently she got to the church at 1:45 and had already
met so many members. Sooo...after we sang the opening hymn, Renée
leans over and asked, "How does baptism work in this church? I feel
like I'm finally home. I would like to be baptized." I almost died. So
after sacrament we went and found a room in the church and taught her
the restoration. She absolutely loved it and she said it made so much
sense. Then we talked about the priesthood and how she could be
baptized with this authority and we asked her to be baptized on
October 15th and she said she wanted to.

After she accepted her baptismal date, she told us her side of the
story! She said that on Thursday she felt very alone and started to
wonder if God was really there. She said that as she walked out of her
house, she prayed and asked God if he was really there to show her a
sign. So then she said that she took a few wrong busses and somehow
ended up right across from our church! She said she felt something
inside her that was pushing her into the church but she didn't go in.
Then she said that she saw us and had a weird but good feeling
inside....But then we got in our car and drove off and she just told
herself that maybe it was just a coincidence. So then she said that
she saw the car make a u-turn (FYI it was not a legal one but its okay
because we have an Italian driver ;) ) and go back into the church.
And then we came up to her and started talking to her!!

So that is the story! We have a RDV fixed with her for this Tuesday at
a members home and she loves it. She is so excited and it was
seriously such a miracle how everything happened. Like it really was
divine intervention that we meet her. Just the chances of her missing
a few busses and us leaving early to get ice cream. Then us turning
around to talk to her and everything!! It was really cool and I am so
grateful to have been apart of it!

Haha so here's another good story for you!! On Saturday I had a missed
call from a number that had a different area code that I didn't
recognize. So I call it back, no answer. Then about 15 minutes later I
get a call from the same number and I answer it and the person on the
other end of the telephone says, "Hello this is Elder Rogers from the
Albania mission.." Hahaha and I thought to myself "Okay I know an
Elder Rogers that's serving in the Albania mission!" So i responded
with "Wait...MITCH?!" Haha it was Mitch Rogers calling from the
Albania Mission!!! He called because they had a potential that they
contacted in Kosovo that lived in France and so he was passing me the
referral!! Unfortunately the lady lived in the Paris mission, but I
passed it over to the Paris mission and they got it taken care of!
Haha so Mitch and I spoke for like 10 minutes and it was so good to
talk to him! It was no joke like Alma 17:2 because I was seriously so
proud of him and so happy to hear how he was doing and all the good
work he was up to. Anyways so voilà it was so cool! I definitely
wasn't expecting.

We also had MLC on Tuesday which went super well! We presented on how
to begin teaching and other teaching skills from Preach My Gospel! We
had an hour to present and i felt like it went well. The main topic
that President Brown spoke on was Mark 4: 36-41. I absolutely love
when Christ asks the question "Why are ye so fearful? how is it that
ye have no faith?" When I read that I thought about how I would
respond to him if He asked me that same question. For me, this story
is a lot more figurative than it is literal. It's funny because Christ
could have calmed the sea long before it got to the point where the
apostles were afraid for their lives and asked him to calm it...but he
didn't. I thought a lot to myself this week about why he didn't calm
the storm until the very last second. I'm not sure I've got the most
perfect response, but I guess sometimes we just need to get to a point
where the only other thing we can do is rely on Him and have faith. I
know that Christ can calm the storms of life just as He calmed the
sea. In the end, his love is unfailing. I am so grateful for that.

Elder Wade

Mark 4:36-41
 36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
 38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
 40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?