A fun beginning. (Week #1 Transfer #9)

Hey everyone! This week was interesting and also very different than my normal one.  So first off, I am now training my blue!!!  His name is Elder Nelson, and he's from Canada!  Southern Alberta, so my 3rd Canadian companion!  I was trained by a Canadian, I finished a Canadian, and am now training a Canadian so now I guess I just need to be finished by a Canadian to complete the circle of my mission life.  Haha fun stuff.  He's so cool and so fired up, he's really excited for the mission and I'm excited to train him and work with him! 

Elder Laney and Elder Nelson - on the Mont!!

So consequently I spent the week in Lyon, headed up Monday (10 hours of trains) and the next day we did some contacting in the streets for Lyon and had a really cool discussion on training where we all shared ideas and were given some advice that President Brown had prepared for us. Finished the day with some really good pizza, all the trainers together.

Pizza and training.  Training and pizza.

 It was really fun, Elder Carlson is training too!  And a lot of other elders I know, it was so fun to see them all there. Spent the next morning in anticipation for our blues, then we finally entered the office room and sat down as president brown called them up one by one as they each opened their call letter to their first area and who their trainer was. Haha I kept flipping out since the elders were trying to pronounce the French town names, and they kept saying "mont..." then hesitate with the pronunciation.  And then they'd finish saying "Montpellier" or "Montaubon", haha, so I kept thinking they would say Mont de Marsan.  Anyway, I got my blue and it was so fun, we've had a good week since, already introduced him to a French butter and ham sandwich, French Burger King (amazing), kebabs and Roquefort. Haha he doesn't like Roquefort.  

I think it's great, but at first I hated it too I guess. He's so cool though, so fired up with bleu fire and doing awesome, he had no shame in contacting and just goes for it even if it's his first week in France speaking to French people it's so awesome. I wish I could have been as courageous at the beginning! He'll do so great :) 

We also got to got to Stake Conference, and I got to hear some awesome messages, my favorite were from President Brown, Elder Nelson said so too since he said he could understand him (he's had quite the introduction to the French language, at least 8 hours now of meetings in only French poor guy, haha, man I had it a lot easier when I started without a Stake Conference and a branch council my first week in France!) I really liked a message from President Brown on Saturday, he was explaining this story of the experiences he had with helping someone who was lost and wanted to find more but was just living a kind of crazy life, anyways he was making the whole crowd laugh and it made me happy to see e joy we can find in life having fun experiences with others and helping them.  It's always touched me the cool and funny experiences I have with people here.

Love you all and miss you and wish you the best of weeks! Go have some fun and crazy experiences with others :)

All the trainers!!

Love,
Elder Laney

Going to... (Week #6 Transfer #8)

Stay! We got transfer calls on Friday and Elder Robards is leaving me and going all the way to Agen! (Our sectors share a border haha, right next door).  And I will be receiving a blue! (A "blue" is what we call the brand new missionaries) I'm super excited to train and will send you all pictures of the new blue and me next week! 

Last moments for Elder Robards

Today we went  to Toulouse where Elder Robards went back to Agen and then I'm in Lyon until Thursday since all the new missionaries usually come in tomorrow on Wednesday.  I'm super excited and pumped for this next transfer and hopefully I won't teach my blue too much bad French, unless he is French and in that case he can just teach me French :) on vera! (We'll see what happens!)

Hanging with the Pau Elders

Anyway, this week was pretty fun.  Felix is doing well; we had to move his date for when he's ready, we're trying to help him quit smoking, he's really awesome and if he hasn't yet I know he eventually will be able to.  He's super funny haha, Elder Robards goes to give him a hug goodbye and he has this confused look on his face since he has no idea what Elder Robards is doing, then afterwards is like "oh! C'est un épaullade !" Which is what I heard, not a word I can find but that would mean something like a shouldering...  Haha, he then proceeded to give me an awkward hug/tap on the back twice saying we needed to do this epallade thing too.  Lol different cultures, Felix is so funny.

Celebrating my One Year Mark with pizza, chocolate and cheese - perfection!!

We also got to teach our ami Lena who's a young mother and has seen God reach out to her in her life, and is interested to learn more about our message.  She's awesome and we taught with Jean-Louis who's our member, he talks so much haha but it was awesome to see the friendship formed between a 65 year old man and a 27 year old young mother.  So cool, and we all had a good lesson.  I'm happy to meet so many people and get to be friends with all of them!  It's so cool. 

Got to spend a day in Geneva Switzerland!

I'm excited to see the next transfer and how things go! The whole mission structure got shaken up, the Lormont Zone is no more and we are now in the Toulouse Zone so that's fun!  I'll update you all on everything next week!

Love,
Elder Laney

Homemade croissants... AMAZING!!

SOOOOOOO many chocolate choices!!

Priorities when entering Switzerland:  Chocolate FIRST, legality later...

June 10th, 2016! (Week #5 Transfer #8)

This week was quite something!  We started it off with a small 2 day trip to the border of France and Switzerland at Gex, France, which is a tiny town right by Geneva. Took a plane from Bordeaux Tuesday and on Wednesday Elder Robards picked up his legality!  Haha the prefecture there had it since March.  Anyway, the trip was worth it, and I may be seeing a trip out to Aix soonish for my own legality :)  (we have to renew our visas after 1 year and as we move so often in the mission, often it's started on one side of the country and then we have to return from another side we were transferred to the week after; haha, that's my case anyway).

Yummy Swiss chocolate and soda found only in Switzerland!!

Which reminds me, I hit my year mark on Friday!!!!  It has now been a year since I've been on the mission, I entered the MTC last June 10, 2015.  Woo!  It goes by fast :)  I miss you guys a ton but it's been an amazing year with so many amazing experiences, and I'm sure the next will be even greater!  Thanks for all your support once again!  

Anyway, the rest of our week went well. We found 3 new Amis, two of which are families and one of which is actually a pastor of his own church.  He's cool to talk to! Anyway I've seen how hard work pays off and how God really works through us to find others.  We worked really hard and along with our new Amis this week we found many others who we may teach in the future and helped out our other Amis along the way.  Felix has been doing well, and with the fact that all our members are out of town and not many people can make the baptism, we aren't too sure, but we are planning on going with him and President Moulis and our member Hoppi for his baptism which will be a combined service with the elders from Pho and their Ami.  It should be an amazing experience, and I'll let you know how it goes, or if we decide to change so more people can come :) anyway, I'm excited and this week should be really good.

I studied a scripture the other week, Matthew 6:34 (same as 3 Nephi 13:34) which says:

"34:  Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof."

I never understood this well, but then someone explained it to me, how we don't always need to worry about the next day or the next year or always be worrying about the future, and how there's enough to worry about each day, and as long as we are doing it right and doing our best and everything we need to then there's nothing to worry about at all. I read this in French this week to share it, and the translation made more sense than the English!  Haha I love this scripture though and invite you all to apply it, and to do your best and enjoy each day :)

Love,
Elder Laney

Catching Fire :) Week #4 Transfer #8

Haha that's the motto of our mission at the moment with our current goal, and it's so cool to see how that's really happening everywhere in the mission!  We've been seeing a ton of cool miracles daily in helping people and meeting new friends, none of which have turned into new Amis in The Mont but all of which are really cool and who may
start learning more!  We actually have fixed a lot of rendezvous for the next week and plan to make a lot more, so I'm really excited. Elder Robards and I are going to work really hard this week to see these miracles really come to pass!

New kind of superhero...

Anyway, I wanted to share that Jean-Luc was baptized on Saturday!!!!!!!!!    I don't have pictures yet, but a week or two ago Elder Strong called to tell me that he met with our member and threw away all his cigarettes and put up a ton of signs to remember to stop smoking, and he had been and was done smoking from then on!  I opened up our mission newsletter and saw his name under those baptized and I had forgotten he was being baptized Saturday!  I was so happy and am so happy and grateful to God for all he's done for Jean-Luc and all the changes in his life and that of his daughter Cassandra. 

Farmhouse and field in Mont de Marsan

Thanks again everyone for your prayers of support for me and our Amis here, I know God's work is happening and others are being helped :)  Felix is doing awesome and we are getting everything put together for his baptism in 2 weeks.  I'm praying that all goes well and he's so cool, he's made so much progress since the day Elder Strong and his comp at the time ran into him here in Mont de Marsan. He and his grandma come to church every week it's so cool.  I love teaching him!

View from the apartment... at 9:02 pm.  #reallybrighthere

Anyway, we're starting the week off with a fun pday, some porting tonight, and then a trip to Geneva Switzerland tomorrow to get Elder Robards legality here in France progressing!  I've never been to Switzerland so I'm excited, it's going to fun also to take a plane!  So I'll send picture next week of that :) 

The spoils of the weedeating war.  (gotta add sunscreen to my shopping list!)

I'm exited to go hard this week and wish us luck, we'll need as many prayers as we can muster to meet this challenge.  President Brown sent a cool story to us on accomplishing the impossible, called "The Countess and the Impossible", (Richard Thurman, Reader's Digest, June 1958) and it really is true how we can change our mindset and accomplish something impossible with God's help. That's what he told us last transfer with a goal, and I promise you all that if we aim to be the best and break our selfish desires that hold us back, we will accomplish more than we ever thought possible as we give ourselves entirely to the task to do whatever is necessary to do it.  So that's my thought this week, that when life requires you to go above and beyond, take the challenge and give yourself to the task. I know you can do it! Love you all and have
a great week :)

Love,
Elder Laney

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