Road trips, genealogy and fun (Transfer #16 Week #2)

Hey! So this week went very well. Well, we drove for about 19 hours total, first we had a conference in Lyon where we had to drop off Elder Suisse in Fribourg so me and another elder could drive to Lyon, that was super fun though and the conference was awesome. We were shown a super simple technique to find ancestors who had not yet had temple work done for them yet.  Basically you go far down a line of ancestry and then view all the descendants of someone down that line up to 4 generations and you look for the green temple icons! Super cool, I found some already! Anyways, we are going to be helping a lot of people get their genealogy going to prepare for Paris! And my invitation to you this week is to also try that little tactic in your genealogy, it is super cool and you may find some people you can help out!!! It's super easy too. So take a look at your genealogy anyways, its super cool.

Exchanges in Lausanne

We saw Frere Owusu this week and got him pumped on the temple too, and then had district meeting which was great, and then we got to help out in an Easter activity for the Primary which was a blast. Lastly, Sunday went well and we ate with and taught Steve and Loveth, and we had a great experience with them and helped him understand a few things, we are hoping he will be more available to start really looking into the church soon, he wants to know if its true and is just trying to pass his exams at the moment. Great guy. 

Conference in Lyon

Anyways it was a great week in all, including a super fun exchange in Lausanne and i can't believe how much I love these people here! Perhaps the greatest news was a change of date of our zone conference by 1 day, making it possible for me and Elder Suisse to now attend Poe and Tatiana's marriage!!!!!!!! We're so excited!! Oh my gosh its so cool, Heavenly Father is working miracles and that one was just for us. Anyways I'm so pumped and this next week should be a good one here in Dijon with some exchanges, I'll keep you up to date. Bonne Semaine! 

Love,
Elder Laney 

Dijon District

Tiny Terracotta Warriors

Good times as usual (Transfer #16 Week #1)

So our week 1 went well, we got to see Poe and Tatiana at the end who fed us like kings, we forgot to eat dinner later since we were so full, anyways they are getting married on the 12th May and then Poe is getting baptized the day after!!!!! It's going to be tight but should work out, if you could say a quick prayer for him I know it will help. He is so awesome, and I can't wait to see him take that choice and continue.

Porting in Dijon

I'm also super excited for our recent converts Nomena and Arnaud who are both doing super good and have both been to the temple now for baptisms! They both loved it and thought it was the coolest thing, so that is so so awesome. This week we saw some less active members and got in contact with an ancient ami named Regine who I hope things go well with, we hope to see her this week as well! We also got to visit the Poepaert's who are awesome and the Cuisiat's as usual, but this time for an Easter feast, and she brought out all the nice silverware and plates so we ate literally like Kings. 

Frog's legs - DELICIOUS!!

We get spoiled here! Anyways we made the dessert for that... a cheesecake that kind of was just a really good crust with what resembled melted ice cream inside. We'll keep working on that... 

Cheesecake attempt #1

Great week though, a huge miracle and lesson I learned once again this week is how God gives us the words we need to share to help those in need, especially when giving Priesthood blessings to those who are sick or in need emotionally. It is a great thing to take part and to give such a blessing, which is like a prayer given to promise and help someone know what the Lord wishes for them, to promise them blessings and give them a blessing of health or recovery. It is a great thing we get to do and it helps a lot of people. 

Love,
Elder Laney

Colza fields

Final Lap (Transfer #15 Week #6->T#16)

Hello everyone! Well, here it is, the last transfer. I'm excited and so is Elder Suisse since we are staying together. It is going to be a good transfer full of miracles and joy in the work, and we are both pumped. Crazy how time flies, it is odd to think I have been in France for so long, and also odd to think I have been anywhere but France before! Feels kind of like a dream I remember of home. It is good here and I am lucky to serve with such wonderful people as well as spend so much time in such a beatiful country sharing with it the coolest message ever. It's quite the experience! I highly recommend it :) And I've never seen myself grow more or change more for the better. Well enough sentiment you'll have the full rundown in about 5 weeks. til then...

Springtime in France!

This week went great! We had a good experience seeing many active members, passing them out in their towns while doing some work or looking for less active members who were in the area as well. It was so great to get closer to these awesome pioneers in Dijon, and to hear their experiences and what makes them tick in the gospel. It was moving to hear their testimonies and comfort them in their fears. It is amazing, I realized this week, how often we feel the Spirit of God in each visit and rdv and even conversation on the street, it is here frequently testifying through us, and we feel it's joy and love and happiness and peace each time. We shared that video I shared last week like 20 times this week too, haha, showed it to everybody, it was awesome! I love that video. Besides this we viewed the beauty of the sunlit hills, fields and vineyards of Bourgogne, what a sight! And, as far as our gourmandise, we tried, for the first time ever on my mission and in my life... Frog legs! They were pretty darn good, like little tiny chicken legs, tasted great and Ii was a fan. Soeur Cuisiat is literally our hero and came to our rescue making us those. Anyways, a great week, and more to come. We are seeing a lot of people this week and it should be fun, we are also focusing on finding new amis since we have a few (Agne, Hadye) who are taking some time at the moment and don't wish to currently be taught, but we have faith and keep them in our prayers, and until their time is ready we will go find who we are meant to teach now. 

Local church - (looks kinda like Provo City Center Temple!)

This transfer is going to be the best, with Poe and Tatiana's wedding in May with his baptism and then the temple dedication in Paris on the 21st.. I can't wait. Have a great week everyone!!!

Love,
Elder Laney

By the words of my Prophets (Transfer #15 Week #5)

Hey everyone! 

So this week went by SO fast, I don't even know, we did a lot of porting and contacting and met some cool people. By some interesting miracles we were able to get back in contact with Agnes as well as get some more experience in finding! Great week, and it was a breather to get to do some good old finding after a long time of too much driving.

Road trip to Lausanne

Beautiful springtime in France!

It was good. District Meeting also went well, we all shared good ideas on how repentance and hope bring us to have confidence due to what we know we are worthy and capable of, once we have prepared ourselves to be so.

Dijon District

This weekend we got to watch General Conference again! It was so great, and I learned a lot, some things I'm doing well, some things I need to work on, and tons of tools and ideas on how to live a better life. I just wanted to emphasize the importance and blessing of a modern day prophet and apostles who guide us. One of my favorite messages was from Elder Holland on respect and acceptance in the Church, how God loves ALL his children, no matter who we are, what our past is, what our opinions or ideas or tendencies, he loves all of us. And so He will accept all who prepare themselves to meet him, conditions of purity are focused around abiding by his commandments and believing in Him, and any who do these things are fit for the kingdom of God. I loved that and it shows how much we love everyone, no matter who, and how God looks at us all differently. In a talk by President Eyring he also referenced an experience of his meeting someone who had drunkenly run a car into a bank, yelling "Don't shoot! I'm a Mormon!" After, when President Eyring shared this, he said he prepared to use a little bit of fire in his speech to make this man feel remorse at his large and embarrassing error, to correct him, but when he sat there he heard the words "I'm going to show you how I see him" and after his image of this man changed to a glorious and noble son of God. He afterwards treated the situation so much differently. So no matter where we are in life or what we've done, we can always come back through Christ. I know this and love Him for what He did so we could do this, and know that peace can come. I hope you can all feel this peace, and I know He is the Prince of Peace as pronounces this awesome video the church recently shared. I invite you all to watch it and ponder upon the love and grace of God and Christ and how we much all love each other for our eternal worth and potential no matter whom we are. Have a great week and love you all! 

Love,
Elder Laney