Week 51 (Les Lilas)

We had three baptisms this week! That's right, three! So a good portion of the week was dedicated to preparing for that. The service went well, and I even baptized one of them!

And the next day two of them asked me to confirm them, which was interesting since one spoke French and the other English. So I did one in each language!

We also got to go to the temple this week! It was great, we took our ami for his first time and he loved it. He has a baptismal date for June, so hopefully you'll hear about him some more soon!

À tout à l'heure!
Elder Wood

The three that were baptized: Rubin, Alhasanne, and Mohamed

Week 50 (Les Lilas)

Mesdames, messieurs, bonjour. Nous sommes arrivés à la semaine cinquante. Not quite halfway, but it's still scaring me.

Anyway, we had exchanges this week, and it was kinda crazy. The Elders from Reims came here and we had quite the busy day. Since one of them, Elder David, is our District Leader, he did a couple baptismal interviews. But one of our amis hadn't been taught about all the commandments, so Elder Connors and Elder McLeod met with him right before to finish teaching.

Before they finished however, we had another rdv. It was interesting, since I didn't understand most of it. We have an ami who speaks Persian, so we met with him (and his friend he brought!) and a member who speaks Persian as well. He translated for me, but the discussion kind of went all over the place so I was still lost. It went well though, they want to keep learning more and maybe come to church next week!

And since we've had the interviews now, it's official! We're having baptisms on Saturday! How exciting! Keep an eye out next week for them.

À plus tard!
Elder Wood

Food photo: Une tarte aux pommes

Another food photo: He made crêpes.

Farewell visit with the Golding family (from last week in Dunkerque)

Invitation to the "Come and See" meeting they are holding next month

"The moon in Gare Lille Flandres"

"Someone drew a face on the pedestrian button"

Week 49 (Les Lilas)

First week in Paris! It's kinda weird to be in such a big city / ward.

Speaking of which, transfers were on Wednesday. The only thing is that it was a holiday, so there weren't many trains running. But they seem to have figured out a way to get everyone where they needed to be! It just meant people stood around for a while at the train stations, which meant I got to see a bunch of old friends!

I also met my new companion, Elder Connors! He's great, but he's only been in France for three months, so I'm the more experienced companion again. But this time, I know nothing about the city, so I guess I'm the "more experienced" companion, entre guillemets :-)

And Paris Lilas is great! There's a lot more people, and I don't know any of them! But every Sunday the bishop directs a food distribution for the poor people in the streets. And the missionaries (and a couple other ward members) help out. We gave out sandwiches, hot chocolate, small treats, etc. It was great to be able to serve all these people!

À bientôt!
Elder Wood

Serving hot chocolate at their food distribution

Volunteers at the food distribution service project.

Meeting old friends at the train station during transfers: Elders Wood, Calabuig, Koshiol, and Graham

Farewell to the Golding family in Dunkerque

Saying farewell to his previous companion, Elder Rosales

Meeting his new companion, Elder Connors

Week 48 (Dunkerque)

I'm finally headed to Paris! Oh sorry, spoiler alert.

I guess I might as well get to that first. I'm finally leaving Dunkerque, and I'm headed out to Paris Lilas! After almost a year in the France Paris Mission, I'll actually be serving in Paris. I am actually a little sad to be leaving, I've gotten to know the Branch members here so well. I'll miss them.

And we actually were able to set a baptismal date this last week! Dunkerque is finally starting to make progress! Just as I leave, but it's OK. I've been working to prepare it these past 7 or so months for the first baptism it'll see in three years. The change I've seen here from when I first arrived to now is astonishing.

And May 1st was interesting. Apparently it's a big thing here in France, so everybody got off work. Even the bus drivers. And we were in Calais that morning for our District Council, so when we finally got back to Dunkerque with the few trains that were running, we had to walk all the way back to our apartment. That was a fun walk. But we saw a less-active member on the way there, so it was totally worth it!

And Dunkerque had their Branch Conference on Sunday, so the Stake leaders and their families all showed up. We also had a bunch of returning members there as well, one of whom hadn't come since December! And we ended with a branch lunch, so everyone got to eat and talk as French people love to do. It was great to have the returning members fellowshipped like that, because everybody needs a friend.

A bientôt!
Elder Wood

With Jean-Bernard, their Branch Mission Leader

"A sign that looks like it fell in the river. Oops!"