Week 29 (Dunkerque)

This was a long week, but not only because of the extra 2 days! So much happened, especially with Christmas. (Merry late Christmas by the way, hope you enjoyed it)

We started off last week with our interviews with Président Sorensen. Since our zone council this transfer was replaced by the mission council, there wasn't time to do all the interviews. So we all went to Lille for the day to have those. We also got vaccinated! So hopefully nobody gets the flu, except Elder Calabuig wasn't feeling well the next day, and he blames the shot.

We also had our District Council the same day, since we were already all there. We talked about setting goals, and how they really help us make progress. The most important thing about our goals though is to be trying to achieve them for the right reasons. Especially with missionary work, if you're working towards your goals just to get stats, it won't mean as much, and you'll often be less motivated. But if the reason for the goal is truly to help others, it'll be much easier to achieve and it'll be more worthwhile.

The first miracle of the week is brought to you by, referrals! Elder Koshiol and I were going door to door one night, and we ran into this man who wasn't interested in talking to us at all. But when we asked him if he knew anyone else who would be, he actually said he did! He told us about this person he knows, and said he'd tell her about us. We were also able to leave him a BoM for her and talk a bit more. I feel we softened his heart a bit for churches, he mentioned he'd had some bad experiences in the past. But this was probably the most successful door approach I've ever had, we got a referral, and possibly an ami for the future. And it was all because we asked for a referral.

The second miracle of the week is brought to you by, genealogy! We were on the street and stopped this lady, Odile, and it turns out that she'd taken a trip to the US and had seen a bunch of Church buildings and such. She told us all about it, and also how we have the biggest genealogy database or something like that. She also told us about how she's totally in to genealogy, but it gets difficult sometimes. So we told her how we have someone in the branch that would love to help her with it, and she was beside herself. She told us she was so glad to have run into us.

The best part was the next day though. It was the Venez & Voyez (or for non-francophones, invite a friend to church for Christmas day), but like in Charleroi, nobody showed up. We actually had less members than normal. But the one other person that did show up was Odile! The lady we gave the least notice was the one that actually showed up. But it was so cool that she was able to come. Our Branch President talked to her a bit after sacrament meeting and showed her the Family History Center. Even though she doesn't really believe in God, he was telling us afterwards how cool she is. She also said she might come back again, so that'll be even cooler!

For Christmas Eve, we had a District Council/meal here in Dunkerque. We went all out for our Christmas lunch together. The Calais Elders even bought a Bûche de Noël! For District Council we talked about a couple things, but most importantly the Spirit. Every member of the Church of Jesus Christ has been told to receive the Holy Ghost. If we receive Him and listen to His promptings, He will help us know what to do. And especially as a missionary, if we're trying to do Heavenly Father's will, we will only be able to if we have His Spirit with us. And the best way to do so is by loving Him, then doing our best to follow Him. Because it's not if we're doing things perfectly that matters, it's where our heart is.

Christmas was great, and I hope you all had a good one wherever you are. I got the best present this year of getting to videochat my family! It was great to talk to them, and I can't wait to do it again on Mother's Day, because family really is the most important thing, in this life and the next.

Bonne année !
Elder Wood

P.S. My P-day will be on Wednesday next week as well because of the new year. So all of you at home better have a great time staying up till midnight this week, cause I won't! 

"We took a Polaroid of our Christmas". I love his festive hat.

Christmas Eve district council. Elders Bell, Wood, Graham, Koshiol, and Calabuig.

A Christmas Eve toast.

The Bûche de Noël (Christmas cake shaped like a Yule log)

Our video chat on Christmas!

Week 28 (Dunkerque)

It's getting closer to Christmas! Are you all ready for the most wonderful time of the year?

We actually had a decently busy week. We visited Mado with our Branch President, and it was probably the best rendez-vous I've ever had with her. She's a less-active member we've been visiting about once a week since I've been here. She comes to church most weeks, but she doesn't have that strong of a testimony. We read the BoM with her and gave her a couple conference talks to read later. The rdv was super spiritual, and she called us the next day to tell us she'd read the talks that morning, and they warmed her heart. She's so sweet!

We also met an old ami we hadn't met before. His name's Xavier, and he used to have a baptismal date at some point. We went over to his house and talked for a bit. Turns out he didn't want to get baptized because he didn't have a testimony of the BoM. Which is probably the best reason there is. We're going to try and help him out, but the member who drove us there, Frère Kebail, came in clutch (as Président Sorensen would say). He told his conversion story and how he felt the Spirit testify to him. Moral of the week: members are the key to a good rendez-vous.

On the way to another rdv, we were having trouble with the buses, so we were stuck at this one stop for a good while. But the Lord blessed us for trying, someone came up and started talking to us! His name is Ioan, and he was interested in the Book of Mormon, so we're going to try and get him one in Romanian sometime this week so he can have the chance to read it. So even though our other rdv fell through, we still had a productive outing. And that's what's important, being where He needs us to be so He can put people in our path.

Joyeux Noël !
Elder Wood

P.S.
P-day next week is going to be on Wednesday because of Christmas, so you won't hear from me until then. Happy holidays!

Ice skating in Santa costumes. Front to back Elder Hulet, Elder Graham, Elder Wood, Elder Koshiol, Elder Bell, and Elder Calabuig.

Elder Hulet and Elder Graham, and Elder Koshiol in the Ferris wheel.

View of Dunkerque from the Ferris wheel.

Not too many pictures this week, so you get to see more views from the Ferris wheel.

One more view from the Ferris wheel - this one of the ice skating rink below.

Week 27 (Dunkerque)

Sometimes the weeks seem to last forever, and other times they fly by. And sometimes, like with this week, you just aren't sure which one it was!

For District Council this week, we had a bit of an adventure getting over to it. We ended up having to take 2 really long bus rides, and then get picked up by the other Elders to make it to the other équipe's chapel. It took a while, but it was a great District Council, we talked about ways we can work with less-active members now that we have these new Key Indicators.

Later in the week, we had an exchange with St. Omer. I was with Elder Bell for the day, and we did a lot of street contacting. And it rained a lot, so by the end of the day we were petty soaked. It was lots of fun though, I'm just glad I had a decent jacket!

At church this Sunday, we had our Primary Program. Since we only have three kids in the branch (two of whom are about 4), a family from Calais came to help. They have 5 kids on their own, so that more than doubled our Primary for the day. It's always nice to watch the Primary Program, so obviously it was a good day. But it got even better when we were invited to lunch. There were three families, the Branch President's family, the family from Calais, and another family from Villeneuve-d'Ascq. I'm not exactly sure what the special occasion was, but I'm also not opposed to a great (free) meal!

Today was great as well. The city of Dunkerque has a bunch of stuff for the Christmas season. A lot of it is free too! There's actually free ice skating in the "main square" right next to the Christmas market and a ferris wheel. We went around a bit and visited a few things, making plans for our District P-Day if we decide to do it in Dunkerque. I'm glad the birth of Christ is such a widely-celebrated holiday. But it's amazing how festive people get at Christmas-time. As Elder Koshiol put it, "I'm so hype for Christmas!"

Bonnes fêtes de fin d'année !
Elder Wood

"Christmas in Dunkerque!"

Exchange with Elder Bell

Food photo of the week: Beignet from the Dunkerque Christmas market

Bonus food photo: Tiramisu they apparently made for their district council meeting

"We found the only public toilet in Dunkerque!"

"Our coats trying to dry after we were in the rain all day"

I told him to use our credit card if they needed to buy Christmas decorations. He said "We didn't find any lights, but we got some cool new toys!"

Eloane - I'm assuming one of the children from the branch

Week 26 (Dunkerque)

Lots of stuff happened this week. I just can't remember any of it. But that's because the most important thing was our mission-wide conference!

Wednesday afternoon we took a train to Paris and spent the night with a bunch of missionaries. We had 10 of us in an apartment meant for a maximum of 4 people. Lots of fun, but sleeping on the ground hurts.

That night we also took some time to go check out Notre Dame. Because of course, we're in Paris. And a lot of us hadn't seen it yet.

The next day was the conference. It was great to see everybody again, but the Paris Zones weren't there. They had to split us up over two days, otherwise we wouldn't all fit in the chapel. That meant Elder Bunker & Elder Poulson weren't there. (Except I did get to see Elder Bunker! He's serving in Versailles, so he stopped by the chapel at one point) But I got to see everyone else from the MTC, as well as back in Charleroi. So good to see everyone again.

As for the conference itself, President Johnson was there. He's from the Area Seventy Presidency over the Europe area. If you don't know what that means, you're in good company. But he brought big news: Europe is going to be testing out two new Key Indicators. They're aimed at getting missionaries to work more with less active members. So we'll start reporting how many returning members we contact, and how many of them come to church.

The main topic though seemed to be endurance. There was a lot said about patience and trusting in God. One thing I liked was when President Johnson said that smooth sailing never made a great sailor. It takes overcoming stormy waters for a sailor to really achieve his potential. And that's like us. Often, we face trials not because we're being punished, but because we're being rewarded. By sailing through these stormy seas, you will come out the other side stronger than you ever thought possible. So hang in there, and He's always there to help.

Bonne navigation!
Elder Wood

Notre Dame!

Food photo of the week: "Showing off my French side"

"Our street"

The Eiffel Tower caught from a train window

A photo of the lunch from their mission conference. I didn't see him at first, but turns out he is in the bottom left corner, white shirt (no suit coat) with his back to the camera.

"The two little kids in our Branch posing in front of the tree in our chapel."

Week 25 (Dunkerque)

Winter cometh. It's cold now in Dunkerque, but that means it's Christmas season!

Thanksgiving was this week too apparently. It's not much different here in France, but I guess Black Friday is still a thing for some reason. And we were actually able to celebrate a little, we have an American ami, Ray, who invited us to McDonald's. We had an American meal for our American holiday, fitting if you ask me.

We had District Council via video chat this week. It was interesting. We went to our local church building to use the wifi there, and had a nice little meeting. Our new District Leader, Elder Calabuig, talked about keeping our hooks in the water.

Imagine two fishermen, both leave on a 12-hour fishing trip. One of them has his hook in the water for 10 of those hours, while the other only has his in the water for 2. He spends most of his time traveling, messing with his equipment, etc. And at the end of the day, he may wonder why he had less success than his friend. -Elder Oaks

And the crowning event of the week was probably that I gave a talk on Sunday. It was interesting, seeing as how it was my first French talk. I didn't have a ton of time to prepare either, so I decided to base it off of President Nelson's talk from Conference this April. Because it's always important to be able to receive your own personal revelation. It's how we're able to grow our testimony and know our Father's will for us. So if you haven't read that talk in a while (or even if you have) go ahead and take another look and see what you find!

Bon lecture,
Elder Wood

"I tried on a hat"

"My Thanksgiving dinner"

"A homemade meal/mission specialty, rice truc. Cheap and simple to throw together."

"Our decorations at the moment." Apparently his companion got a tree in the mail, and they found some decorations in their apartment from previous years.

The French version of the "Light the World" campaign to give service during the Christmas season.

Week 24 (Dunkerque)

Transfers again! Time to find out where I'll be for the next 6 weeks! (Or not, like last transfer.)

We got the news this morning that our entire zone is staying the same. Except for the 2 missionaries who are going back home. Next transfer everything will probably get changed up then.

As for this past week, we had a good last District Council with our dear District Leader, Elder Thélémaque. He goes home this week, so we're getting a new missionary, and we found out that Elder Calabuig will be our new District Leader! We all bore our testimonies, and it was really powerful. Lots of great thoughts and feelings.

Unfortunately, this week a frère in our branch passed away. He was in his 70s, but he'd come to church Sunday morning, and passed away that night. It was hard for the branch, but we're doing ok. We got to go to his funeral on Thursday, and it was really nice. I've heard that our church's funerals are a lot happier and more hopeful than normal ones, and I have to say, even though there were plenty of tears shed at the beginning, after the service and the burial, everybody came to his wife's house for snacks, and they were all in good spirits again. It helps to know that death isn't the end, that we'll see our friends and family again.

We had a final exchange this Friday, so I got to go with Elder Thélémaque. We tried using the 21 Day Challenge banner we had, but it was cold and foggy, so nobody was out and about. We still had a couple good rdvs as well as some good finding later in the day though.

We also got to spend some time with a part member family, the Goldings. They're from England, so they speak English, and it's a nice break from speaking French with everyone else. We played a bit of foot (soccer for you Americans) and then Elder Koshiol set up his slackline. It was great to spend the time with them and get to know them better. And now since we're staying 6 more weeks we can hopefully keep helping them grow their faith in Christ.

We had a bit of a miracle yesterday. Earlier in the week, we had called this ami de l'église from our area book who hadn't seen the missionaries in two years. And he actually came to church! His name is Bruno, and he liked church well enough. But afterwards our Branch President invited him to come eat lunch with us, and we were all able to talk more about the church and what we believe. It was great to see how willing the members were to share their beliefs, and I feel it really helped Bruno to see how normal people live the gospel of Jesus Christ. And sometimes that's all we need to do, just be an example to light the world.

À bientôt mes amis !
Elder Wood

On the beach in Calais after a district meeting. Elders Bell, Calabuig, Thelemaque, Graham, Koshiol, and Wood.

Apparently "tag photos" of their tags places are a thing. It's a pretty beach, too.

Exchange photo with Elder Thelemaque

Food photo of the week: "Our dessert after our mangez-vous. Ice cream, pudding (I think), and pearsauce (I think)."

Their 21-day challenge banner

"I found this at a member's house, it reminded me of home"

A funny missionary cartoon he liked.

Week 23 (Dunkerque)

Another week, another email!

This was actually a really good week as far as finding new people goes. There was one night where we went door to door and talked to so many cool people! A lot of them were pretty interested in our message, so we'll be able to come back sometime and tell them more! It was crazy though how many people were open to talk with us, we'd never seen anything like it, much less in Dunkerque.

We also had our exchange this week. I went with Elder Graham; he's from Utah, and this is his first transfer in France. He had to wait for his visa for a transfer in New York though, so he's not as young as he seems. We had a great time. Neither of us speak that great of French yet, so it was interesting. We were knocking on this one door, and then the people answered from the 3rd story window! We could barely communicate because of the distance (and our level of French) so we had no idea what was going on. A man ended up coming to the window, saying something, and then disappearing back inside. We didn't know what he said, but when he looked out the window again, he dumped a bowl of water down at us! Luckily, it mostly missed us, so we weren't wet. But we did understand him that time!

But even out here in Dunkerque, we're still finding people who are looking for the gospel. We might not be teaching very often, but when we diligently search, we can find people who want to listen. And the same goes for anybody, God wants to help us with our righteous endeavors, so if we ask for help, He definitely will! He just wants us to have the faith to ask.

À plus!
Elder Wood

With Elder Graham on their exchange

"We got BBQ in France!"

Weekly food photo - this is the BBQ

One more food photo. "We found peanut butter! This stuff's rare, I hadn't seen it in a store until now."

Slacklining on their P-Day.

Pretty sure this is him on the slackline.

Week 22 (Dunkerque)

Time is weird. That's what everybody's been telling me in emails today. And I don't disagree! Retrospective time is always 10 times shorter.

Halloween was this week! For those wondering, people do actually celebrate Halloween here. We saw a good amount of people dressed up, and ran into a few groups of trick-or-treaters. We also did our fair share of trick-or-treating, we were looking for some less active members, and one lady was about to give us candy! Then she realized we were missionaries, so we didn't get any. Poor us.

We did have our first rdv with one of our amis this week. His name is Xu, he's from China, studying art here in Dunkerque. He's super cool. He told us he wants to learn more about Christianity, but he's not looking to convert himself or anything. But I'm sure if he feels the Spirit, he'll be more interested. When we were done with the lesson and said the closing prayer, he said he was touched. So that's progress!

On Saturday, Président Sorensen did a mission-wide video call to kick off our monthly fast. He wanted to personalize the invitation to fast for our goal of helping 30 people get baptized this month. He also made a couple of announcements, like wanting us to focus more of our efforts near our meetinghouses. They're dedicated buildings, with a certain power associated with that. He said he felt doing more finding near the chapel and/or giving more chapel tours would help us in this work. And I'm sure he's right. The only way to do this work, God's work, is with His help. Using His chapels effectively sounds like a great way to do that if you ask me!

Bonne semaine à tous !
Elder Wood

The first of many food photos this week. They made crepes!

Official food photo of the week - a pastry this time!

Closeup of the pastry; "I think it was called a Paris Brest Fraise"

More food - Yop! "Basically a giant Danimals"

One more food photo - "A Smurf themed Kinder Egg, my first Kinder Egg!"

"It wasn't a Smurf..."

The beach for P-Day. "It gets dark fast in the winter"

Dipping his toes in the water