Get Fired Up! (Week #3 Transfer #8)

Hey everybody, this week went by really well, we got to do some service Tuesday, I did an exchange with Elder Sauro who is from Canada, really awesome guy, and then I got to to go on an exchange in Pau. That's actually like 20 min from Tarbes, and while we were there I got to learn how to make nems (like super meaty spring rolls) with their Cambodian members, Frere and Soeur Leung. Turns out he's good friends with Frere Pho from Tarbes too, and is taking him to the airport this week so he can head down to Cambodia to visit his family. Cool to find out! 

Water Lilies... everywhere.  Guess we know where Monet got his inspiration!

At English class in Pau a less active showed up who had gone missing for like 8 months with no word and is coming to church soon again, so that was a cool random miracle during the exchange, we had a cool talk with him.

Zone P-Day in Bordeaux

This weekend we had an activity with a few nearby branches over near Mont de Marsan (Frere Leung was there, he's hilarious) which was really fun. Anyway it was a pretty fun week, had a zone P-day and played some ultimate Frisbee and I got to hold a tortoise we found so that was fun too! 

Say hello to my little friend!!  

Anyways, our mission president is pushing is to light the fire in our villes in inviting new people to come unto Christ and with a really cool goal to have 1000 new Amis in the next 12 days. I know we can do it and we are going to work hard! Please pray for us and our Amis, especially Felix who's having a hard time, and thank you so much for all you all do for me and for us in the France Lyon mission. Love you all and have a good week!

Sheeps.  Outside the bull ring.  Vicious fighting sheep...

My advice to you all in what I learned this week is to take your goals and aim high, and do all you possibly can to get them! That's what we're aiming for and can and have and will do here as a mission all together. I love the unity we have and I wish that we all may gain that with us and our families and friends. Have a great week :)

Love,
Elder Josh Laney

Take Advantage of Life's Opportunities to Help Others - Week #2 Transfer #8

Hey everyone! 

Another great week, actually really a cool week.  Haha I think this was one of he longest weeks of my mission, I do not know why, it just was, but it's funny because it was actually just a super awesome week too!  Last p-day we relaxed, went porting Tuesday night and at one point Elder Robards reminds me that I wanted to work  harder, so we went until we finished the street and got let in by the last house and got to teach them a lesson that went really cool and the spirit was so strong, we could tell they were touched, but sadly they said no, and weren't interested in having a Book of Mormon or learning more, but we were able to share the wonderful message we're here to share with them and we all had a good experience. 


Anyway, after I was trying to get us home for some dinner, when I see someone who looks like Felix entering the house ahead.  I mention it to Robards thinking it was someone who looked like him, but then 10 min later as we're checking our maps Felix walks out of that house and sees us and freaks out and then comes over.  Haha, turns out that was his mom's house right next to us, so we go inside and meet his mom and have a good visit.  Anyway, super cool running into Felix like that; I know the Lord puts us where we need to be at times.  Felix is doing awesome and we moved his date for baptism to June, but I know he's going to make it.  He came to church and since we had a good lesson on reading, praying daily and church attendance he's been reading and praying about every day and had no problem with church!  I'm super impressed by his example in just changing like that, he's come a long way from some hard times and he's making some crazy and awesome changes in his life.  

Josh with Felix and his mom and Elder Robards

The rest of the week was good, did some service Saturday moving a ton of dirt and I got to give a last minute talk on Sunday since our member was sick, so prepared that hastily Saturday, went pretty well! Haha, it's funny how you just bam!  Gotta go do something sometimes, but I love to help out and take people's place if they need help.  I also had the opportunity to give a blessing to a member's friend this week, it was cool, and she really appreciated it since she's going through some hard health problems, and it was a cool experience. We also got some homemade candy after from them soooo worth it!  Haha just kidding, the candy was and is delicious though, but really I like to give blessings
and help out whenever I can. That's why we contact all day, so we can find opportunities to help people!  I'm not a perfect person at all or anywhere near and have so much I need to work on, but I have see. That the longer I'm on this mission the more my heart has been opened to serving and helping others without compliant. I complain at times for sure like a normal human, but it's changed dramatically and lessened incredibly compared to my youth. 

Quick glimpse of Bordeaux as we zoomed through

And that's my message to you all this week, when the opportunity arises and you are asked to help somebody, or go out of your way to someone's aid, or you see someone obviously in need of some help, don't hesitate and forget any complaints, which can be easy sometimes because life isn't easy, but instead look at it as an opportunity to help someone feel better.  It does us so much good and does wonders for others.  I always remember how others have helped me and it helps me feel the desire to help others more! I testify on the goodness of service, and love to do it every day :) love you guys and have a great week as always :)

Love,
Elder Laney

1st week at the Mont! :) (Week #1 Transfer #8)

Hello,

This week was my first week in Mont de Marsan, and it's a really cool town. The members are awesome and work with us a lot even if they are few, it's been really neat to just feel the unity between the members here and us. It's fun to serve with Elder Robards again, he's doing well and it's really amazing how much we've both changed in the few short 4.5 months since we last served together.  He's taught me a lot of awesome things this first week and I'm really helped by his good example to me.  

The Dynamic Duo in Mont de Marsan

We had a fun week with some cool miracles, start of the week we helped a member with getting a car since he doesn't speak French very well, translated between him and our other member who's a pro with buying cars.  Contacting, we met this guy who invited us into the recording studio there for the radio, fun to see how that works!

Radio Station in Mont de Marsan

Went porting and met a nice man (his last name was l'eglise, which means "the church" haha that was funny) who let us in and gave us a ton of nice French meat and mint soda, found an old ami who had lost his Book of Mormon so we're going to see him and get him another! Cool how much help we get that 1st week of the transfer in finding :) I met our Amis here and they are awesome! Felix has a baptismal date soon and is doing super well, such a cool guy.   Came to church and he had a really good time and seems to understand very well.  He's a funny guy. We have some other Amis who I got to meet, all really nice and interesting people, Goa is a student from China and Suedde is a woman from Morocco who speaks like 5 languages. Anyways fun stuff here!

Sketchy tunnel that we go through every day...

"Hello" from the other side...

I really like The Mont, turns out I was mistaken haha, Basque Country is in Spain and we are just next to it, but it's beautiful here and there are a lot of plains and we are kind of way out in the countryside.  Lots of  bullfighting arenas here actually, a huge one in town and tons of tiny ones in all the tiny villes, each one has one - I was asking myself how they get enough bulls for all the tiny bull fighting arenas all around here haha.

Bull Fighting Arena 

So new things and new adventures and excited to be here! Gonna be a lot of fun :) something I learned this week real quick was on following your instincts, and the spirit. I liked a road so we chose to port it and met our friend and another lady who we can see later. So when you see something that's good, and you feel right about it, go for it.  Whether it's the spirits voice, or maybe just a hunch, if it's good there's no harm in going for it, and all good things come from God, so have a good week and Allez-vous go help someone or do some good this week for someone?  I know its always worth it :) it's fun sometimes to go way out of our way to help someone too, sometimes well give up meal hours to get another chance to see someone or go help somebody, it's fun!

Love,
Elder Laney

To the Mont (Week #6 Transfer #7)

Hey!

So this week was amazing, haha not a whole lot happened at the start - got some paperwork done we needed to, had an exchange in Gap, crepes for district meeting, taught Patrick some, he's doing great, then on Friday we got transfer calls!  I am off to Mont de Marsan, over in Pays Basque, to serve with Elder Robards again!!!  Haha woo! I got the call from President and was so confused, I thought he meant Elder Strong and then I realized he was talking to me!  So we're back together staying in Toulouse for the night since "The Mont" as Elder Strong calls it (he served there right before he came to Manosque, told me a lot of good stuff! I'm excited :) ) is really far out there and a bit hard to get to. Anyways excited for new things!  My new area is out in the Pays Basque in the south west of France, should be fun!

Back with Elder Robards!  The Dynamic Duo!!

The rest of the week went well!  Got to see almost everyone and say bye, get info to keep in contact etc, it was fun, and we had some really cool lessons.  Patrick came to church too!!!!!  For the first time, and he really liked sacrament meeting and even came to the lunch afterwards at the church, got to meet members, and we also got to meet and teach a friend of President Faria who he invited to church.  So it was a really good last Sunday in Manosque :)  and got to finish it off with Skype with the family :)  love you guys and it was so fun and good to see you!!!!  Man I can't wait to see you all in just a year! But there's more to do out here and it will be fun :)

Skype with the whole Fam!! (Including Nick. who was on a phone handset placed on top of the computer!)

Anyways have a good week everyone and love you all! I'll send updates of the mont next Monday...

- avec beaucoup d'amour
Elder Laney


Sunday night after Skype with you all we get a call and given a ton of bread from a member who had a friend at a boulangerie who gave him the leftovers of the day. He gave us a ton. I told him our conversation and he searched through and found me a croissant! A little old and a bit stale, but delicious and buttery and flaky. My face in the photo does not accurately reflect the goodness of the croissant.. Not sure why I had that face

Elder Laney's FIRST official French croissant!

Allo (Week #5 Transfer #7)

Fun fact, in French one always answers the Phone with "Allo?".  It's funny how much is shared between English and French.  French was actually the national language of England for about 100 years too, that's why two languages with completely different roots have so much in common :) there's a little history anyway!

Le Mont d'Or in spring

This week flew by, we're heading into the last week of the transfer already!  So next week I'll let you all know what happens/will have happened already since transfer day is next Monday :) in any case this week was fun and we got to see all of our Amis except a few but are in contact with them pretty often so it's all going really well!  We've been teaching some new people which is cool. We also found a family porting and even though at the door they weren't that interested, we taught them the restoration and about the Book of Mormon and they thought it was the coolest thing ever and loved it!  So we got to teach them again after helping them with some service, and we'll be teaching their daughter and sons while we pass their number to the elders where the parents live. Such a cool miracle, I'm grateful for a companion who in so cool and ready to follow spiritual promptings on where we need to go! Thanks Elder Strong, you're the best! Anyway, we got to help with 2 moves this week which was fun, more like 3 since we helped with one twice!  We're making friends in this town and it's so fun and cool to say hi to a lot of different people as you go about during the day :)  Patrick couldn't make it to church again but it was cool later since we ran into him and he was so happy to see us since he really did want to go. Today was fun, got to climb Le Mont d'Or again and are getting crepes tonight with a friend in town :)

Olive orchard on Mont d'Or

Something I learned this week:  1st, as Nick said, just relax, No need to stress about things :)  That's something I do too much, and I worry sometimes I don't try hard enough, but if we are giving a full effort and doing good then that's what matters, as we do our "absolute best" as President Hinckley puts it.  2nd, be sincere in all you do!  It's hard in French, but I've noticed how important it is to be us and to be sincere. I realize more and more when we are just us and be us and are completely sincere about it we share what can touch others and help them, so I invite you all to do your best to say things you need to as you really mean it.  As President Brown shared with me one time, a quote from Elder Christofferson, be "natural and relaxed" in your daily life.  This kind of incorporates both of these concepts and I love it. Sincerity is awesome and sharing our kind words in utter sincerity will really help others. Love you all and have a great week!

Love,
Elder Josh Laney