Hope (Week #4 Transfer #15)

Hey friends and family, 

I hope you are all doing well. A quick update on the week:  Had an exchange with Bienne, I was with Elder Walton, super funny and awesome Elder.  We got to do some service in which I fixed a rendezvous with our member to help me out with my geneology!  (we have an hour long study each week given to us by President Brown to work on our geneology or other spiritual or temporal self-reliance to follow the region plan of Europe.)  So I met with her Sunday and she taught me how to get going in geneology!  It is so cool, and the more I try it the more I get excited to do more after the mission.  I plan on doing some each Sunday afterwards and this is a really cool opportunity, we were able to look a bit into my French ancestry where some of it I believe comes out of Djion.  Anyways, we got to see Hadi, Soeur Cuisiat's friend, and we engaged her to baptism!  She is really cool and wants to know if this is true and is down to follow this path when she gets her answer.  After we got to eat escargot with Soeur Cuisiat and Jean her husband, such a fun opportunity, and to be honest i really like escargot. 

Escargot cconnoisseur

Friday we got to go to Geneva for a conference which was amazing, I got to see a lot of people I know, including Elder Brady-Haug who is finishing this transfer, and it was crazy to say goodbye to some poeple, some perhaps until much later in life. I know God gives us the opportunity to get back in touch with people and i'm going to do my best to keep in contact with these awesome elders and sisters.

Crossing into Geneva

 President's message this week was on Hope. We all have need of it today, more than ever. We need God's help in the most important and difficult moments. Hope is gained as we experience His love. His love is most manifest when we understand what happened when he sent his son, Jesus Christ. Christ gave his life for us. In this sacrifice and more, in what we call the Atonement, he took upon himself all our sins, or mistakes, and all our trails and difficulties (Alma 7:11-13). So he knows exactly what we go through because of that. And when we understand what that means it is then where we find a new source for hope. He gave his life so we can overcome all of this: anything that brings us down, that makes us sad, makes life hard, or makes us guilty or depressed. And so Because of Him, if we choose to, we can be free of all these negative and sad things by accepting Him and this gift. How do we do so? By repenting and becoming better people, by repenting, or changing for the better, and no longer choosing the things that ultimatley lead to sadness, but instead that which is light, and good, selfless, whole, chaste, worthy, great, happy. When we choose God in this way, and ask Him to forgive us, he is already waiting, and accepts us with open arms. In doing so we partake of that mercy, and love, we know we will live with Him again someday. I know this is true and that in this hope we can put perfect confidence and trust in Him that all will work out. That's my message and testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

love,
Elder Laney

Delicious French meal with  Soeur Cuisiat and Jean

Going about doing good (Week#3 Transfer#15)

Hey people! 

So this week felt great, we got to spend the entire time in our sector in Dijon, not a single trip outside of it, got to see a ton of our members and it was lit almost the entire time with blue skies, a warm spring sun, and a nice breeze/perfect temperature as flowers started blooming everywhere in the city. It was a great week in almost every category so I everything to be happy about! So great.

Beginning of the week we got to start off with a Family Home evening with Souer Cuisiat and her friend.  Turns out her friend is very interested in the gospel and Soeur Cuisiat is even taking her to go see the temple open house in Paris!  After a lesson on the temple, Soeur Cuisiat told her she was welcome to take the missionary lessons whenever she wished.  After the prayer I felt I should ask her if she was interested in learning more, and so I did, and she said yes!  In fact she is very interested and wants to learn more, so we will be teaching her this Wednesday with Souer Cuisiat!  So awesome.  Jean Cuisiat is doing so much better too in his health which is awesome.  I'll take a picture with them next time, they are awesome. 

The rest of the week we spent passing back members who haven't been to church in a long time as well as active members to share some quick spiritual thoughts and lighten their day. It worked great and one member, Soeur Pichon, helped me realize we have a common ancestor (Agnes de Bourgogne) who was in a line of dukes who lived in the Palais Des Dukes here in Dijon!  So basically... that's my palace. Picture below of me in my palace. Anyway, the 1% of French ancestry I do have comes right from Bourgogne and even Dijon itself, so I guess the Lord really does put us in places meant just for us!  I will be looking more into some of that while I have the chance to be here. 

me standing on the staircase of the entryway in the Palace of the Dukes of Bourgogne. The door was open, never is and not sure why, so we jumped in and took a picture! After we left some guys working there closed it since they are doing construction. Haha!  Got the picture, good thinking Elder Suisse! 

Anyway, we also got to see Frere Taukafa who is awesome and give him a blessing, and Frere Bornand who is super awesome and help him out.  We taught Nomena, and even got to see her and her friend Felina at lunch at her uncle's on Saturday; we all shared testimony and Felina's was so cool.  We finished the week with great food and an awesome lesson with Poe, even threw all his tea away!  (thank you Elder Mitsukawa who served in our ward a few years ago with his example trying to do the same thing).  I ate a ton of food and we got to end the week with a great Sunday and seeing Loveth and Steve, they are so awesome.  He read out of the Book of Mormon and believes and likes it already, and he can't wait to learn more. Such an awesome time when we see them. 

Village of Bligny-le-sec

That was our week, and the thing I learned from it was the chance we have to "go about doing good" as Preach My Gospel teaches us in a section with that title in CH.9.  As we share the light we have and find opportunities to serve, as we did our best to do this week (with some service this week as a result! woot!), we will be able to help everyone around us and many will be touched by our influence, and many will open to the gospel as well. Have a great week and I invite you all to do one random act of service :)

lots of Love,
Elder Laney

A rather sunny week! (Week#2 Transfer#15)

Hey everyone!

So we had another great week, one full of traveling and meetings and lots of fun.  Monday after some good rest we ate at a member's house and they were awesome.  Elder Suisse did half of the spiritual thought in French no problem, he is seriously such a pro already.  The next day we got up early to drive to Lyon where I and the rest of the District Leaders as well as Zone Leaders and stls met with President and others for a big leadership meeting.  It went really well and the Spirit was strong as we made goals and plans together as a mission and all got on board to follow President's inspired direction. 

Leadership Conference in Lyon

This transfer the focus is baptisms, and we're ready to see a lot in the mission with a lot of miracles to prepare for the Paris temple about to be finished.  Wednesday we got to eat at this awesome Madagascan family's home, and Thursday we had district meeting in Lausanne and an exchange the next day.  Haha, everyone was so excited to meet Elder Suisse in la Suisse (that's what they call Switzerland in the French speaking sections, Geneva, Lausanne, Fribourg all that).  We then had a great family home evening with one of the Tahitian families in the ward with their friends, such a fun time!

Headed to Switzerland...

Saturday we helped with a move and visited Poe as well as another Tahitian family, and ate with Poe and Tatiana afterwards, they are doing awesome and heading towards their marriage still.  Sunday we had church and later saw Loveth and Stevenson, a member who hasn't been to church in a while with her nonmember husband, both from Nigeria.  He's big into religion and shares spiritual thoughts with tons of people on the internet.  We had such a cool rdv, the spirit was so strong as we taught him, and he at the end told us "The Spirit is telling me to read that book. I'm going to read your book!" So he's going to read the Book of Mormon now. He is so cool and willing to learn now.  Funny guy too.  Well that was our week.

Beautiful church in Lausanne

 As a little message this is something Steve from Nigeria told us: "You cannot grieve the spirit. Because if you grieve the Spirit, it leaves you, and you might be doing something wrong, but the Spirit is not with you, it is just at a watching distance..." Let us all keep the spirit close to us so it doesn't have to remain at watching distance when we say or do things that are not good. I hope you all Have a great week et a bientot! 

love,
Elder Laney

Delays and Successes (Week #1 Transfer #15)

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great week. I did too. Finally I am with my dear new collegue, Elder Suisse, from North Ogden Utah! My 3rd Utah companion in a row, which is funny since I had never had one before Elder Thorne since Elder Kelsey in the MTC.

Elder Laney and Elder Suisse

It has been fast and things are doing good. This week was an especially challenging one in terms of some opposition to the work, namely in the form of delays, but we know who always wins in the end :) God has always got our backs and a little time doesn't put a stop to what needs to happen. The blues, after 1 delayed flight and another missed one and then a close one, got into Lyon Tuesday night, pushing everything planned a day later. And so I got to meet Elder Suisse on Thursday after some finding in Lyon with Elder Carlson, Hanson, and Little who were also training. We immediately took a train after conference with the blues and President to head home, but our train had a problem and was stopped for 3 hours 15 minutes outside of Lyon, and then we finally headed home, delaying Besancon's baptismal interview to the next evening.  But we made it!  Elder Suisse is getting a handle on the roads here and doing a great job, and I was able to interview Emilie the ami of the elders there.  We got to see her baptism in the Dijon chapel Saturday which was a choice experience.  I love being able to help out with that.  

Emilie's baptism

Sunday was well, and Elder Suisse is killing it with his French, holding conversations with people already and teaching like a master.  So I'm excited to work some more with him. Today was a tranquil p-day and we had a good time getting some rest. 

Car elevator at the Lyon chapel

I wanted to share a story of our ami Mptit! So we met him about a month ago, fixed a rdv and then saw him and showed him the church.  He was very interested in our message and has beliefs in Christ already.  We explained all the paintings, and then taught him the retab.  He listened attentively, and Elder Arne, with whom I was doing an exchange, ended inviting him to take this very seriously because it was so important, then we invited him to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it was true.  A week later with a call I found out he had read 1/4 of it already, and was doing additional research on the church and liking what he found.  He wanted to meet us after he finished the book sadly, so we weren't able to fix another rdv.  To my surprise after multiple attempts to get back in touch over the next month he calls, apologizes for not responding as he had been traveling, and then explains how he had done exactly as he said, read the entire Book of Mormon, as well as the Pearl of Great Price, and even had been reading into the separate Presidents of the church.  He likes what he sees and said he has written down all his questions, he hopes we can bring him some clarity.  We will see him Wednesday, and I know he will find more.  It was such a cool miracle so I had to share it.  Like those ones you hear about where people just take that seed and run with it and call you back with a well sized sapling. 

The Last Supper Dijon Cathedral

This work is true and so cool to be a part of!  Have a great week everyone and know that sometimes the fruits of your efforts may come later, sometimes sooner, and sometimes in like one month :)  God does his work! And Mpiti is awesome, so cool.

Love,
Elder Laney

New Things (Week #6 Transfer #14)

Hey everyone!

So transfers happened today and I'm training!! I'm super excited and it's going to be fun,  it I'm going to miss Elder Perez a whole lot, he's so awesome.  But life moves on, and he's off to Nice with all the sunshine in the perfect springtime azure coast weather so he should be good.

Grabbing a little Spanish cuisine in France...

So I said goodbye to Elder Perez today, and I will be in Lyon for the next 3 days with the other trainers including Elder Liddle, Elder Carlson and Soeur Vermeeran!!  So pumped, it's going to be a lot of fun. I got to see Elder Thorne to see him off today, I hope to see Elder Strong too. The mission goes too fast!  

Fountains in almost-springtime

Anyway, we had a good last week together, Agnes is progressing a lot and we're just trying to get her to church.  Poe is doing awesome, still doing great.  Besides that we got to see some less actives which was great, including Soeur Ziveri who has millions of animals climbing everywhere while we are there, always an adventure. 

Rooftops of Dijon...

Highlight of the week was when we got to go visit Jean with Soeur Cuisiat, her husband who has been having a hard time, and beforehand at the church we felt like we should invite a brother to help, and one brother who was left told us he could come. When we got there both Jean and Soeur Cuisiat were so happy to see this member and it was a really cool blessing too, we just had an awesome little moment with them and I love those. I feel like those little moments with people are my favorite.

Soeur Cuisiat, Elder Perez, Elder Laney

I hope you have a great week and just focus on the little fun good things on life, I love all the little experiences we get to have with others each day.

Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Laney

Positivity and A Brighter Outlook (Week #5 Transfer #14)

Hey Everyone! 

I had a good week, a bit of a trying one but don't we need those too to grow? It was good anyway and Agnes is making lots of progress though we've had difficutly seeing her, she has a ton of faith and is so excited for her baptism.  We will probably be moving her date but she is progressing really well. 

Men in suits.  Dijon cathedral

Poe is too, just a boss.  He does so well and I love him and Tatiana, such awesome people.  Well I hope you all have a great week, I love you all tons and I know this week will be a good one.  We got some sunny skies to look forward to and some rdvs to go to as well, so it's starting off good :) Have a great week and I'll let you know next week if there are any changes, transfers are next Monday already! Man time flies fast.

Dijon cathedral

Little thought for the week, we had a lesson in priesthood a week ago like this:




                                                    .




what do you see above? (and because of the nature of Blogger the text is white on a black background, so you have to reverse this analogy to a white dot in the middle of a black expanse.)

a black dot? a prick in the middle of an expanse of white? a little black pixel? 

Most people respond in a like manner.  They all focus on the one little dot in the middle and refer to the rest 2nd if at all.  We can relate this to a negative or a positive outlook on life.  I can look at the one black dot in my life and focus on this difficult or perturbing thing, OR I can see millions of white dots and not even notice the one little negative one.  I hope you all have a great week and can see all of the lights in our life and that they overcome the dark spots that seem to get our attention at times.  There is so much good always :)  I know God helps us and even through trials, sometimes especially through trials, we grow, and we can focus and be happy while we're at it, for we have a lot to be grateful for.

Lots of love,
Elder Laney

If the suit fits...
(and apparently it does!)

A Packed Week (Week #4 Transfer #14)

Hello everyone!

Sorry my message is late, we were a bit busy yesterday with some rendezvous. This week was a quick one and jam packed with tons of new people and opportunities to help others, we were running from rdv to rdv this time. 

Elders Perez and Laney with Poe

We were able to see Agnes a few times, who is doing really really well as far as her progression and learning is going. She has a testimony that's always growing and really wants to be baptized, so we're helping her approach her date. Poe is too, and he and Tatiana are doing well, preparing for their marriage, and just awesome. We ate some Tahitian dishes with them which were soooo good, my favorite was this banana and tapioca pudding they made, it was amazing. I also really like poisson cru, basically it's raw fish that is sort of cooked in lemon juice by the acid. Really good. We met some new people including the referral from the American family we met the other week!  Her name is Marjo and is really awesome, I hope we can see her again this week. She was very interested and our little encounter on a bench in a park was so strong with the spirit it was crazy. 

Driving to Neuchâtel, Switzerland 

One really special opportunity also was the fact we got to have zone conference, which was in Lausanne in Switzerland where it was snowing, and was such a spiritual meeting, we all talked in a special reverence and learned so much. President Brown is always a great presence and I love hearing from him each time. Besides we were able to really help one member here who has been having a hard time, but I'm always impressed how the Lord gives us what we need in the moment. Or beforehand! 

Zone Conference in Lausanne Switzerland

Today we saw 2 new people this morning, and we were able to help the first find out she already had a testimony, and the 2nd we felt should just invite her to church, and then during the rdv she brings up church and wants to go! Heavenly Father always "comes in clutch" as Elder Richmond always put it, and I'm always humbled by what and All He does for us each and every day. May the Lord bless all of your weeks, and I hope your weeks will be even more guided as you prepare yourselves to be ready to have His help always. As we are prepared and do our very best, He always does His part. Have a good week and see you soon :)

Lots of love,
Elder Laney

Just another castle on another hilltop on the way to Switzerland...

Swiss Swag