Finale

I left Amiens early Wednesday morning and took the train to Paris, where I was met by President Sorensen at the Gare du Nord. He drove me and the other departing missionaries to the Paris Temple, via the "scenic route" to give us some final views of Paris. Unfortunately, the temple was closed (Covid) so we weren't able to go inside, but we had lunch together on the beautiful temple grounds! We also took the opportunity to share our testimonies with each other and reflect on what we'd learned on our missions. It was amazing!

That night, we stayed in a hotel near the airport. On Thursday, after just over 24 hours of travel, I finally made it home! I flew from Paris/Charles de Gaulle, with a 6-hour layover in Los Angeles/LAX, through strangely uncrowded airports. The flight from Paris was mostly empty, and the one from LAX to Portland was about half full. When I arrived in Portland, my parents (and brother) were waiting with arms (and a banner) open wide.

It's been strange being home, but I'm glad to be with my family again. It was a great two years; thanks for coming along for the ride with me! I learned a lot, and I hope you did, too. I know God lives, and He is with us in these troubling times. If there's one thing I learned on my mission, it's that if we put our faith in God, then "all things shall work together for [our] good."

Que Dieu vous bénisse,
Elder Michael Wood

Photo with Mom!

Last visit to the chapel in Amiens

Elders Bonnamy, Wood, and Hill saying good-bye at the Amiens train station

The Eiffel Tower, seen on their scenic drive

The Paris Temple

Grounds of the Paris Temple

Empty Charles de Gaulle airport

On the plane

Farewell to France!

Food photo: Pastry on the plane

Empty LAX airport

Transferring between terminals in LA

Welcome to Portland!

He remembered the airport carpet photo

Family with banner

Waiting at baggage claim

Week 102 (Amiens)

A hundred and two weeks later...

This is crazy. For any of you that haven't served a mission, you might not understand what I'm feeling at this moment. I don't quite understand what I'm feeling at this moment! It's this weird mix of knowing I'm headed home, being in denial that my mission is ending, and not actually realizing that I'm headed home. It still doesn't feel real.

But as for the last week of my mission, it was great! I finally met some of the Branch members in person now that the Coronavirus restrictions have lifted a bit. We talked to them about the Restoration and how we can all participate.

We also had a Family History event this week. We had the Family History consultant of the Branch come, and also invited other members and some of the people we're teaching. It went really well, we showed everyone how to set up a FamilySearch account and start working on their family tree. Even I was getting excited about doing it! The spirit of Elijah is real; if you don't believe it, do 10 minutes of Family History. You'll be hooked!

Like I said earlier about the Restoration, we can all participate. It's pretty obvious if you're a full-time missionary, you talk to people and teach them the restored gospel. But that's not all we can do. Family History is another important part of this great work, and so is just being a friend to those around us. As President Nelson put it, "Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel. It is as simple as that."

Though I won't be a full-time missionary for much longer, I'm looking forward to being a normal everyday disciple of Jesus Christ. If we live His gospel, participating in the Restoration and the implicit Gathering of Israel suddenly becomes second nature. It's as simple as that!

Àdieu,
Elder Wood

Elders Bonnamy, Hill, and Wood on their bikes with the Amiens Cathedral in the background

Elder Hill showing off his city bike service bike.

Sunshine and long shadows (Elder Wood on the left)

They visited Parc Saint-Pierre to meet with a church member who doesn't have internet at home so couldn't meet with them during lockdown.

Entering Parc Saint-Pierre

More views of the park

Amiens Cathedral very near the park

Week 101 (Amiens)

What a crazy week.

It was the last week of the official confinement here in France, so we're free now! Sort of. Not much is going to change for us, but we might get to meet people in person soon. And we got permission to use the city's bike rental, so we don't have to walk all the way to the church anymore!

We also had a few disappointments this week. Two people that had baptismal dates decided they didn't want to be baptized anymore. So we're sad about that, but we hope that they'll change their mind one day. One of them I'm sure will be baptized at some point, he has such a strong testimony of Joseph Smith! He's just in a difficult spot for the moment.

We're still working on finding more people who are interested. It's harder online, but we reach out to lots of people every day. We work diligently and with faith, and we're waiting for God to do His miracles. That's the most important thing aside from keeping a hopeful, positive attitude.

À la prochaine!
Elder Wood

Elders Hill, Wood, and Bonnamy with the Amiens cathedral

In front of the Amiens cathedral - they walk by it a lot

Interesting filter view of the cathedral

Food photo: O'Tacos is back open for business

Enjoying their O'Tacos takeout at the church

Week 100 (Amiens)

I can't believe it's been a hundred weeks. That's a long time! It feels like forever that I've been a missionary, but also it's gone so fast!

This week we got a new companion, Elder Bonnamy! He's from France and was serving in Salt Lake, but got sent here because of the coronavirus. He's great, it's been fun to have a francophone companion and to be in a trio too!

The best part of the week though was last night when Brad Wilcox visited our mission. Virtually of course. We had a mission-wide videoconference and he joined in all the way from Utah! He's an amazing man, he talked to us about how to improve our scripture study, then taught all about grace. If you've never seen his talk "His Grace is Sufficient" go read it right now. It will change the way you see Christ's atonement.
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/brad-wilcox/his-grace-is-sufficient/

He also compared the coronavirus pandemic to the Titanic. At the time, everyone believed it was unsinkable, people would say, "God himself can't sink this ship!" So when the crew started evacuating onto lifeboats, people wouldn't get on. They thought they were overreacting, everyone "knew" the Titanic couldn't sink. But suddenly it started tipping, and they realized the ground they were standing on wasn't as solid as they had thought, but it was too late.

It's the same with this little virus. People are realizing that the world we live in isn't as sturdy as it seems and how fast things can start tipping over. So they won't be as critical of the people in the lifeboats we call the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because we know that the only sure foundation is the "rock of our Redeemer, ... a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." So in the wake of this global crisis, more people will see that they need what we have. And it'll be our job to share it with them.

Passez une bonne semaine!
Elder Wood

In the elevator after picking up Elder Bonnamy at the gare

A sunny day passing by the Amiens Cathedral

The church building in Amiens, where they've been spending a lot of time recently

Food photo: They made banana bread

Lots of pigeons congregating on a building

Week 99 (Amiens)

I would have thought that as the quarantine goes on it would get pretty monotonous. But new things keep happening to keep it interesting!

This week we started watching MTC Devotionals, the Missionary Training Center started broadcasting them for all the missionaries doing online training, as well as us already out in the field. They're amazing, and they address topics that are super relevant. For example, they've talked about how this pandemic is a hard thing, but the hardest thing was done by Christ when He atoned for the resulting difficulties we are all facing. But also how if we endure with faith, God will make all things work together for our good. So not only will Christ use His atonement to help us through these troubling times, but He will use them to help us become who He knows we can be.

This is a great period of change that we're living through. The coronavirus has the potential to end lives, but its effect on the world has the potential to change yours for the better. So don't just go through this time in your life, let this time in your life go through and change you into the person you're meant to become. There's no better time than now :-)

À bientôt!
Elder Wood

Elder Hill and Elder Wood got official masks to replace their home-made ones

Enjoying the daily walk past Amiens Cathedral to the church building

A backlit Elder Wood with the cathedral

Repurposing the coat rack as a mask rack

Missionaries from their zone meeting virtually

Food photo: They made granola!

Elder Hill drew this self-portrait with his eyes closed. I was impressed!

Week 98 (Amiens)

Another great week in quarantine! But we don't have to stay in our apartment all day long anymore!

Président Sorensen talked to us (and most of the other missionaries) about letting us go to the church to be able to use the wifi there. It's only about a two-mile walk, so he seemed excited for us to see the sights and get some exercise. Now every day since, we've made the trek to the church, and it's great having real wifi! I've also gotten some nice photos of the Amiens cathedral :-)

We also had our Zone Conference this week. It was a little weird having it via videoconference, but it was still a revelatory experience. We discussed the importance of the Book of Mormon in missionary work, and how all we ask people to do is to read it and sincerely pray about it. That's it. That's our invitation. If people just do that, the rest follows.

The highlight of the week was when Sister Eubank of the General Relief Society Presidency joined us for a mission-wide videoconference. She spoke to us about how life never really goes as planned, and it's all about dealing with what comes our way. Christ is there to help us overcome the unexpected and mend what has broken. It was really powerful, especially during this time of uncertainty. And it's this hope and comfort that we share with everyone, especially during these unprecedented times.

Prenez courage!
Elder Wood

Elder Wood and Elder Hill at the Amiens Cathedral

Delicious Toblerone chocolate...

... Thanks to the half-off post-Easter candy sales

Signs of spring on their walk through town!

More signs of spring at the roundabout

Sunlight on the cathedral

Another view of the cathedral

Food photo: Bean soup from a recipe provided by Soeur Sorensen (his Mission President's wife)

Elder Hill & Elder Wood enjoying their soup

I don't know how to caption the video, but this is at 8 PM when everyone claps and rings bells in honor of the healthcare workers.

Week 97 (Amiens)

Happy Easter Monday! Apparently it's a thing here in France.

But I hope you all had an amazing Easter Sunday as well! It's such a great time of the year, especially when we get to celebrate Christ's resurrection. We had quite a few video calls yesterday to talk about it with various people. We had Sunday School with the Branch, then we called a few of our friends to have pseudo sacrament meetings with them.

We also had the worldwide fast this week! It was really cool to unite as children of God to fast and pray to overcome this trial together. There were lots of people who joined a Facebook group for it, many of which are not members of the Church! It's amazing how we can all come together in face of difficulties despite our differences.

And despite the quarantine, we were still able to have a virtual temple tour with one of our friends, Célia. It was so neat to have the spirit of the temple even in our current situation. If all goes well, she's planning on being baptized at the end of the month!

I'll leave you with a scripture that the Europe Area Presidency sent us this week. Even though we can't leave our apartments for now, they pointed out how the Lord tells us to send our testimonies there were we can't go!
D&C 84:62

Bonne continuation!
Elder Wood

Breakfast time - Nutella crepes

The view from their apartment window

Food photo: Crepes

Newly announced church logo in French

Fun stacking juggling balls

Seeing how the sun faded most of the chair

Sign in the elevator for a neighborhood balcony gathering