Week #5 Transfer #4: Toulouse, Lyon, Albi

I would like to start this email with my thoughts, love and prayers to Mimi Descamps, a member here in Albi who passed away Tuesday. We got the call and we weren't expecting this so soon, I've been seeing Mimi twice a week since I got here, it was always the highlight to have dinner at her home. Despite this sad news, I know she is now happy and at peace, able to walk again and smiling. We had the funeral service on Christmas eve morning, and it was one of the most beautiful experiences I have ever had in my entire life.  In the words of Elder Omohundro, "heaven and earth really did come together today", something our mission president had talked to us at the conference this week.  We all felt the spirit, and heaven and Mimi with us that day. This experience was really special and we will all remember Mimi and know she's with us.  After the funeral we had gotten out all our emotions and then made a decision to celebrate lots for Mimi and for Christmas in honor of her!  So that's what we did this week :)

Lyon Mission Conference

We started the week in Toulouse for P-Day, I parked the car and got out, then scrambled on my jacket to find my nametag which wasn't there!  So I wore Elder Duckworth's (my old zone leader) tag for a day and then wore Elder Zhu's full Chinese plaque for the rest of the week at the Mission Conference.  Haha!  Many people were confused.  We boarded next morning at 4 on the bus and all 4 buses in the mission rounded up all the missionaries and got us to Lyon! 

We had a blast there with an awesome devotional with games with President and Sister Brown in an aquarium, and then toured the aquarium, and then all got to watch Lion King in the ampitheatre there eating Master Taco's, a super good burrito place in Lyon.  

Lyon Musee de Confluences, where the Rhône meets the Saône

Best night, it was so fun!  On the mission we don't watch movies for these 2 years to stay focused, except on Christmas, and President surprised us with an extra movie then!  Next day we had a cool conference and I got to see all my friends then and the day before including Elder Kelsey.

Josh and Elder Kelsey (from early MTC days in the mission)

We got home from all this on Christmas eve, then had the funeral, and then went hard and had a lot of fun for Christmas, starting with exotic sea food and escargot at the Bernardi's home Christmas eve night. 

Eating escargot and oysters on Christmas

Christmas was so cool!  We spent the night with Rodez elders and opened presents in the morning, and then we visited Frere Mausse in his super cool french countryside home, then spent the rest of the day at the Allal's!  We watched How to Train Your Dragon 2 and it was amazing. We watched a few others too. And I got to Skype the fam which was so cool!  You all are growing up so fast!  And you adults are all looking great!  We do have a very youthful looking family don't we? 

Skyping with the fam!  Got to talk to Nick as well (on the phone from Salt Lake City)

The rest of the week we did service for Frere Mausse and moved a ton of wood, then spent dinner with Mimi's daughter and son-in-law and their adorable baby, as well as Mimi's caretaker for 13 years.  So cool, she was so touched by everything that had happened, and accepted a Book of Mormon when I explained what we believe.  Since Mimi's passing she's felt a difference, and she knows there's something more. So as Mimi tried to give her a Book of Mormon multiple times, she was finally able to accept it on Saturday night!  I know Mimi's spirit just touched her and helped her know she's still with us, she was with us that night at dinner it was so cool.

Christmas dinner with the Bernardi family

It was one week I will never forget. I love you all.

Elder Laney

Week #4 Transfer #4: Toulouse, Rodez and Albi

Week 4 done, the weeks are going by very fast now!

Lunch with the Toulouse Elders!  

This week was a really cool one, we had a ton of awesome experiences finding people. One day we met 4 guys who were all on the rugby team and super cool and even bought us hot chocolate and cookies! We shared a brief message after hanging out with them for a bit after a guy Elder Robards had seen earlier got back. He, Dan, is from New Zealand and has family who's Mormon, and is looking for a church to go to! He's planning on coming next week and we got all their info and should see them soon! They were all so cool.

Our Rugby Pals

The rest of the week was fun, went contacting people on the street with a member, met some awesome new people, we also met a less active and are teaching her sister now who's super interested! We had a whole day of meeting new potential Amis and they all fell through, but We finally got to meet Ritta that night, a member who hasn't been to church In a long time, and she was so cool. Her sister who isn't a member was staying with her, and we got to share the new Christmas Video with them. Her sister even started to cry during it and was super touched by he message, and afterwards Ritta explained a bit about the church. Elder Omohundro then gave her a little lesson on the Book of Mormon and we gave her one. I then asked her if she was interested and she nodded with a smile and said yes! She actually really wants to learn more and we will be teaching her! We had planned on 3 new Amis, and the new friend we made we didn't even know! So cool and I feel really blessed to have been able to share this with her.

Octogonal Tower of Saint-Amans-Soult

We Got to have a fun talent show at the church later in the week and us and Rodez all did a skit that is normally really funny to Americans... no one laughed and it was super embarrassing but I didn't design the skit so that's ok haha. We still had a ton of fun with all the members and got to do a lot with them throughout the week and after!

Chapel door of church of Saint-Amans

That about sums it up! We are going to our Christmas conference tomorrow in Lyon and I forgot my plaque and planner so it should be an adventure! We'll see how I solve this challenge...

Rodez and Albi Elders.  From left: Elders Robards, Wall, Laney, Omohundro and Woodward

Anyways Merry Christmas to everyone and I hope this week is the best!!!!!!  I'm so excited to see you family and hope everyone of you has the best week of the year!

Joyeux Noël et Avec plein d'amour, (Merry Christmas and with lots of love)

Elder Laney

Week #3 Transfer #4

Hey everyone!!!!

This week was a fun one and a tough one lol, we had a lot of rejection on the streets but also the most successful day of contacting people on the street that I've ever had! 

Christmas lights in Albi

Our beginning of the week we had a really good visit with our ami Brigitte and our less active Eda, some super fun member visits, including with Soeur Delouche in her harry potter house (the inside is covered in well tended plants and ancient books, literally looks like something out of Hogwarts, so cool, and she gives me a Coke while i'm there so highlight every week). 

Soeur Delouche's amazing Hogwarts-style plant-filled apartment!

The rest of the week Thursday through Saturday we spent the whole day talking to people on the street about Christmas. Our first day of that, Thursday, was the coolest contacting day I've had my whole mission! We met multiple people that we could seriously start teaching, our first contact we got to share the video with them and well meet with them in a week. We then met a man from Africa who had more energy than I've ever seen someone use to talk!  Haha, anyways, he had had a near death experience that was super cool he shared with us, and he believes we are their to help him find the path he's been searching. Later Elder Omohundro met a lady who wants to learn more too. Then while walking I stopped a french couple with a baby to ask if they'd like to do the questionnaire and it went really well, they want to hear our message seriously and even are making us a traditional french snack tomorrow!

We are in the midst of developing the perfect pizza!

The rest of the days we didn't find anyone but we tried anyways!  Haha, it was good though, still got to pass our cards and share the video and brighten others days, as well as do card tricks for people that our district leader is doing for fun to spice up our conversations with people.
 So cool. 

Beautiful French countryside near Albi

The Christmas season is full under way and lights are everywhere so its super beautiful here! Rodez has the coolest lights, something resembling a river flowing down the cathedral made out of blue and white Christmas lights that move. The lights in Albi are also super pretty. I'm so psyched Christmas is in only a week!!!! I'm going to watch some Disney movies as we're allowed to on Christmas and i'm so excited to Skype the fam and to celebrate Christ's birth. It'll be super fun, different away from home but we'll make the most of it! 

I wish you all a wonderful week and that you have a ton of fun with your friends and family! 

Avec amour,
Elder Laney

Week #2 Transfer #4 - Albi, Toulouse

It's starting to feel like Christmas! Christmas is my favorite holiday by far because it's the best, so I'm psyched!

Bridge over River Tarn in Albi

This week we started off with P-day in Toulouse!  Haha, it turned out a kind of a nightmare, we tried to find the mall we were looking for so we went to a KFC near it. Turned out to be the wrong KFC, so we ate there and went to another.  Still wrong, so we selected a bowling alley in the mall, turned out to be the wrong bowling alley!  So we went bowling and had a lot of fun and even got the 3rd game free because the lady there was super nice! Super fun p-day quand meme (still). 

Righteous Bowling

We had an exchange with our district leader Elder Woodward who is super cool, and we met a ton of the people who work in Albi including an artist who has some amazing paintings!  It's so fun to just meet tons of people. 

We had our zone training and it was for Christmas!  We all got santa hats with "Toulouse" on it, which made for a stunning zone Christmas photo.

Toulouse Zone Christmas

We then got a bunch of cool stuff to share with people on Christmas including these new cards sharing the church's new video which is super awesome. Here's a link, its only 2 minutes long if you have time: https://www.mormon.org/christmas

Elders Robards, Laney and Omohundro

We then had the best lesson with our ami Brigitte and our recent convert Eda than we have ever had with them!  So cool, we helped them understand a lot that they had always had questions on.  Brigitte we are refixing her date for baptism and she's super happy with the progress she's made.

Berbie Palace Albi

We met a cool less active family who are all super nice too! They haven't seen missionaries in a while and were super cool and friendly and we all had a really good time together.  Then we finished the week with an awesome Sunday where both Brigitte and Eda came to church and lol Brigitte knows everything!  She answered all the questions in amis class and had all the answers, haha she was super happy to realize she knew so much. 

Berbie Palace Gardens in Albi

Anway, so psyched for the Christmas season!  Joyeux Noel tout le monde! (Merry Christmas everyone!)

avec amour,
Elder Laney

3 of 11 Week #1 Transfer #4 - Albi, Ambialet, Rodez

Hey Everyone!

Staying with Elder Omohundro and Elder Robards is funny because it still feels like the same transfer! Haha I keep referencing to last transfer meaning back in Tarbes and forgetting I was in Albi, still feels like transfer 3 but extra long. 

Elder Omohundro and Elder Robards in Ambialet

On P-day we got to visit this super cool city called Ambialet which is really beautiful. We took a ton of cool pictures. Bonus to having a car! Today we are off to Toulouse for shopping. 

Church belltower in Ambialet

This week we got to see a lot of less active members and both of our amis, which meant lots of driving for me! I almost ran over some people, they're crazy here,at any moment they'll just run out from in between all the parked cars in the streets instead of using the crosswalks like 30 ft away. Lol i just drive very slowly and carefully, but i'm feeling a lot more relaxed now and it feels more normal. My favorite was Friday driving b/c on an exchange with Elder Wall from Rodez we got to go see a member who fed us a ton, and even though i spent 4 hours driving that day, 2 of them were in the beautiful countryside south of Albi with a speed limit of 90 km/h which is roughly 60 mph which is way too fast for those roads so i get to choose my speed. I drive safe though, but its fun! 

River Tarn Ambialet

I got the chance to give 2 blessings this week to the sick. I just know God helps us and gives me the words these people as long as make sure I'm prepared and its so cool. This is my testimony that blessings and the priesthood are real gifts of God. 

Ambialet

I wish you all a happy beginning to December this week and the Christmas season! We finally broke out the Christmas music in the car and all the Christmas hymns at church so I'm pumped b/c Christmas is my favorite time of the year! Maybe we'll get a little snow at some point to make it even better. I also had a great thanksgiving to kick off the Christmas season, we ate and played cards with Soeur Delouche on Thursday and then spent the night with Rodez where Elder Wall cooked us a delicious thanksgiving dinner that was amazing. And the next day on exchange with elder wall the less active we saw prepared an even bigger thanksgiving dinner!! Elder Omohundro and Elder Robards were unhappy to find out the exchange landed on that day, but we ate great muahaha. Haha they had a good meal with a member in Rodez too, just not as good. Even tried some very fancy French ice cream that looks crazy, and is slightly less good than the stuff at home. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that this next week is great!

 

Elder Laney in Ambialet

 
Je vous souhaite une bonne semaine pleine de joie et l'esprit de Noel. Je vous aime tant!

(I wish you a great week full of joy and the Christmas spirit. I love you all so much!)

avec amour,
Elder Laney

Bridge into Ambialet