Michael Wood's Missionary Blog: 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!