Week 16 (Charleroi)

Busy week, as usual I guess. You don't really realize how busy you are until you look back on the week. Weird, huh?

This week we met with Florence for the first time. She has a lot of faith, and she speaks English! Crazy, right? We didn't find out until we were already teaching. She mentioned she couldn't figure out how to describe something in French, so we asked what language she spoke. Then we had a nice laugh about it. I'm excited to keep teaching her, not only because it's in English, but because she's super awesome! She already has tons of faith and everything, she just needs to be introduced to the gospel!

There was also the Venez et Voyez this Sunday, but it was raining and not many people showed up. I'm out of time though, busy day. Désolé!

À bientôt!
Elder Wood

At the arch in Parc du Cinquantenaire, which celebrates Belgium's 50th anniversary

With a family that they are teaching

Food photo of the week: Some sort of mussels dish

Closeup of the food of the week. Belgians apparently put fries on everything.

A scenic view in Brussels.

At the OFII office: Elder Poulson, Elder Bunker, and Elder Wood reunited

Another from the OFII visit: Elder Wood, Elder Poulson, Soeur Petersen, and Soeur Dorton (her current companion)

A funny cartoon

Week 15 (Charleroi)

I was almost eaten alive!

Elder Mendoza and I were taking a shortcut yesterday on a narrow trail with bushes on either side. As we were walking, I felt something on my forehead, almost like a spiderweb. As one does, I worried there might be a spider on me. The only thing is, I was right this time! As I leaned my head towards Elder Mendoza to have him check for me, I saw, inches from my face, a spider repelling down from my head. All things considered, I was surprisingly calm. I was however frozen in place, not knowing how to proceed. Luckily, Elder Mendoza took a pen and lowered the monster to the ground. Then I squished it. Good riddance. It was decently big too! I was this close to being eaten by that thing!

In other (spider-related) news, we found an actual monster in our apartment earlier this week. It was as big as my palm! Elder Mendoza called it Shelob, The Monstrous. It's scary knowing something like that can live in our apartment.

I also got to go to Paris this week! I had to go to the OFII office for legality, so I spent most of the day there or on trains. But I got to see Elder Bunker, Elder Poulson, and Soeur Peterson again, which was great! We had a sort of mini reunion.

Zone conference was the day after, and it was great as well! Our district sang the musical number, which was a new hymn online at LDS.org, so we had to learn a new melody with lyrics in a foreign language. It actually went really well! The song's name in French is «Nous, Jeunesse de l'armée de Sion» for all those interested.

The main theme of Zone conference this transfer was faith and diligence. We discussed the miracle of Jesus walking on water, how His disciples had been on the boat all night long before Jesus came. Président talked about how we have a "fourth watch God," which comes from the fact that Christ came to His disciples in the fourth watch of the night. He didn't come as soon as the storm started, He tested the stamina of their faith. Just as He does for us. He lets us prove our faith and our diligence by working through our trials, but He is always there to help us when we need it. We can walk on the stormy water as long as we keep our eyes on Him.

Au revoir!
Elder Wood

Elder Mendoza and Elder Wood right before his appearance at OFII (legality/long-stay visa/residence permit)

Elder Wood, Elder Mendoza, Elder Ritchie, and Elder Ovard. I believe atop the Dinant Citadel

The stairs up to the Dinant Citadel

View of the river from the Dinant Citadel

Another view from the Dinant Citadel

Food photo of the week: "This time it's an actual French pastry from Paris! Une tarte aux pommes."

"After zone conference this week we were discussing and decided to only speak French for the rest of the transfer." This is their signed oath.

Bug photo of the week: "A horrifying monster" (apparently aka Shelob, The Monstrous). There's an entire video, but he kindly took this screen shot for me to post.

Week 14 (Charleroi)

"What happened this week?"
"That's a question you'll ask yourself way more throughout the rest of your mission!"
-Elder Ritchie, District Leader

This was a great week! We met a lot of cool people who are interested in the gospel. On Tuesday actually, we got a call from a random number. The man asked if we were the Mormons, and if the elders could meet with him because he had some questions about the Book of Mormon. We were in shock. A self-referral?! They're real? We hurried over there as fast as possible. His name was Ezio, he really wants to learn more and get baptized. He's our miracle boy!

We also met up with Samuel, a Romanian man with 10 kids. He told us how he traveled across the US for free, asking people for change to pay for gas. He's tired with religion though, he says people are always looking to climb the hierarchy. It's not about religion to them, it's about status. He doesn't like it. We gave him a Book of Mormon in Romanian and told him about it. "It doesn't contradict the Bible? It supports it? Ah, that's great!" It went something like that. He seemed really interested at the very least.

We also gave a blessing to one of our amis. He didn't want to meet with us because he was sick, but we told him we could give him a blessing and he was all for it. Elder Mendoza told me I should give it, so that was my first blessing in French. It was pretty simple, but I think he's feeling better now!

We taught this family we found the other week. The wife is from Mexico and the husband has Spanish origins, so Elder Mendoza was super excited when we found them. We taught them the Restoration, and it went amazingly. The wife told us how she's Catholic, but she's looking for more than what she gets at church. So have we got something for her or what! Elder Mendoza is always happy to be able to teach in Spanish, since he was actually called Spanish-speaking. So he's grateful for every opportunity he gets to do so. The Lord truly provides for us when we follow Him.

Salut!
Elder Wood

Finally got his phone from the mission office. Too bad it doesn't work.

Food of the week, deluxe gaufre with Nutella and whipped cream!

We found a 5-leaf cover so Elder Mendoza wanted to preserve them in the BoM and mark certain pages.

Week 13 (Charleroi)

Transfer weeks are weird. But they're probably worse when you or your companion leaves.

On Wednesday, Elder Blake and Elder Johnson left early in the morning to go do the companion transfer, so Elder Mendoza and I woke up alone. That night Elder Johnson came back with his new companion, Elder Labbé. He's from Québec, so we now have a native French speaker in the apartment which is cool!

We also had a ward BBQ on Saturday, so that was delicious! A bunch of people from both Charleroi wards were there, as well as some of our amis! The only issue was that the next day was Fast Sunday, so it was a little more difficult than usual. But we went home with leftovers, so it was totally worth it! It was also good for our amis to be able to mingle with the ward and make some friends.

Today we were finally able to meet with Freddie, who we met early last transfer. We haven't seen him since because he's been busy with work or something, but today he told us that because he couldn't come to church, he watched this broadcast of a sacrament meeting instead. He's also read a bunch from the Book of Mormon and he's super interested in the gospel. He's the first person I've met on my mission who's this ... comment dit-on ... excited about the gospel. It's inspiring. And I'm excited to keep helping him come into Christ!

À tantôt!
Elder Wood

Weekly food photo. "It was sorta apple flavored, but only slightly. Still tasty though."

They desperately needed more shelf space so assembled new shelves.

Their table (brown one in the back) was broken, so they finally assembled the new one.