Week 47 (Dunkerque)

This week, was a week.

We had so many rendez-vous scheduled at the beginning of the week, but one way or another most of them ended up getting canceled. It was kind of weird and disheartening. But those rdvs we did have were just that much better! It's the kind of "Fourth floor, last door" mentality that you have to have as a missionary. (Editor's note - he is referencing this talk: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/fourth-floor-last-door)

It's just because we're impatient human beings. As I've heard said many a time, "'No, not now,' does not mean, 'no, not ever.'" People change, but often not as fast as we'd like. God's time is not our time, He doesn't even count! So when we do His work, we must remember that it works on his timetable. Like with the growth of a tree, we usually won't notice the progress until it's already finished. So we shouldn't be surprised if we don't see the end result right away. We often just plant the mustard seed that will one day, in the distant future perhaps, lodge the fowls of the air under its shadow.

À plus tard!
Elder Wood

Double rainbow!

Photo received from Elders Ritchie and Poll in his district; they said "Our most quickly progressing ami..."

Food photo: "I made a gâteau au yaourt from a member's recipe. It turned out pretty well"

Week 46 (Dunkerque)

I feel like the longer I'm on my mission, the less I know what to write. At this point it's all normal to me!

But one funny story, our water heater started acting up a few weeks ago. It would occasionally throw an error code and stop working, so we'd have to reset it to start making hot water again. This week we were finally able to get someone to check it out. Turns out he needed to order some replacement parts, so we're stuck with no hot water until those get here. That means every morning we get to boil water to use for our shower! It's been fun I'll tell you. Really makes you appreciate the little things in life, that's for sure.

I hope you all had a great Easter! What a wonderful time to celebrate Christ's resurrection. We celebrated here with a lunch at our Branch President's house. They invited a bunch of people over and made a great meal for us all. We also talked about the Book of Mormon, how it's a testament of Christ and His resurrection, and also what our life would be without it. Without the Book of Mormon, we wouldn't know most of what we know about Christ's atonement and resurrection. It's such a blessing to be able to read it and feel God's love for us. I invite you to read it, and find a scripture that speaks to you. Something that is a testimony to you of how important the Book of Mormon is in your life.

Bonne lecture!
Elder Wood

One more photo from last week's beach outing, with a monument.

District photo from the beach outing. Elders Hulet, Rosales, Ritchie, Wood, Wallace, and Poll.

New pass-along cards printed that they can hand out to interested amis.

A cool landscape that he liked near Calais

"A spider interrupted our District Council. We trapped it." 

Week 45 (Dunkerque)

I never know what to write for these. There's so much that happens in a week and it all starts to run together.

I had a neat experience on Sunday, the Derones' baby Owen got his baby blessing in sacrament meeting, and Président Derone asked us to help with the blessing. It was super cool, and then we all took a picture together, Owen included!

We also had a nice Bible bash one day. These Evangelical guys were handing out cards on the street and gave us one. So we struck up a conversation. They immediately started bashing. Ah bon. As would be expected, it went nowhere but in circles. But it was interesting to see how other people interpret the Bible, and how important the Book of Mormon is to our understanding. So I hope you all appreciate it as much as it deserves!

Je vous aime!
Elder Wood

The photo from Owen's baby blessing

Elder Wood and Elder Rosales at the beach in Calais

With a statue near Calais

P-Day outing as a district. They rented bikes and rode to the beach.

Week 44 (Dunkerque)

Wow. What a conference. Who else liked the big announcement? The one where they didn't have any I should say. I guess I sorta called it last week though, didn't I? ??

But as for the rest of the week, it all pales in comparison to General Conference. It was still good though. We finally figured out where people go when they aren't at home and they aren't at work! The beach! Yes, even in the early springtime. We walked along the beach talking to lots of people, and it was great.

Funny story, we ran into this one lady who said she was Catholic. We said, "Oh that's great! We're Christian too!" To which she responded, "I'm not Christian. That's different." Ah. Well then. Goes to show how ignorant people are about religion, or maybe just what nonsense they'll say to get you to leave.

Follow-up funny story, Saturday evening we were getting ready to watch Conference. We have wifi in our apartment, so we were all excited to relax at home and have a great conference. But when the time came around for conference to start, we realized, it didn't work on our phones. So after about 30 minutes of making sure there was no other way to watch it, we finally scrambled over to the church building to use a computer there. So, we ended up missing the first bit of it, but it was still amazing, the parts we did see. And luckily we can always go back and rewatch it.

And speaking of rewatching Conference, that's going to be great for the next six months! There was so much good stuff said, I need to go back and look closer at it, see how it all applies to me. And that's the lifelong challenge isn't it? How can I continually improve?

Bon courage!
Elder Wood

"It started pouring just as we were getting home. You can see the wetness on our coats. It reminded me of home."

Easter invitation

"A tower not too far from our place. It looked aesthetic with the sky and everything."

"We're growing avocados! They finally started sprouting."

Week 43 (Dunkerque)

Poisson d'avril! How did you all like that April Fools prank? What prank? You know, the one where you were expecting an email yesterday...

Anyway, besides getting to go to Bruxelles again today, it's been a good week. Long, but good. We did a lot of talking to people on the streets, but also a good amount of teaching. So a good balance.

The other day, we met a couple different people who weren't really interested, but talked to us a lot anyway. They were just trying to prove us wrong. So we listened, mostly, with some comments thrown in, as they presented their arguments. Then what did we do? We testified. They didn't want to listen, but we stood our ground anyway. And the thing about trying to argue against the truth, is that there isn't a sound argument to make. Claims against truth are either based on ignorance or plain falsehood, so they can't stand inspection for long before they start contradicting themselves. And more importantly, they can't shake someone's knowledge that's been confirmed to them by God.

This week we pretty much taught at least two people a day, which is amazing. Teaching is the best part of missionary work, it's what we're called to do. We are called to invite people to come unto Christ, and there's no better way to do so than to teach the gospel. "The study of … the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior" (Elder Packer, 1986). It's also difficult to talk to strangers on the street sometimes, so a teaching missionary is a happy missionary!

And with Conference coming up this weekend (most likely with more changes, specifically regarding missionaries) it's an exciting time. But don't let the logistical announcements distract you from the spiritual message meant just for you. Of course, pay attention to and get excited about whatever changes are announced, but be sure to keep an ear out for what your Heavenly Father is trying to tell you through His prophets.

À la prochaine!
Elder Wood

Elder Rosales, Elder Wood, and one of their amis

New baby Owen! He is finally healthy and old enough to attend church (he was born preemie).

"Saw some friends in Belgium"

Food photo: Gaufre from Belgium.

More food: "We needed to reheat some pizza, it fit perfectly!" 

One more food photo: "We tried making pizza"

"My pant leg came unhemmed, so I fixed it"