Week 76 (Nivelles)

This week was super hectic, but super fun!

We got to go to Paris for a Multi-Zone conference, so we all had a nice reunion with other missionaries we hadn't seen in a while. There was also a special guest, Elder De Feo (of the Seventy) who talked to us about lots of cool things. He spoke about the importance of becoming a true disciple of Christ, and how that gives us the spiritual power we need to fulfill our missionary purpose.

The day after the conference, the new missionary handbook was released! It's amazing, not only because it updated lots of old rules they've adjusted over the years, but because it focuses less on the rules, and more on becoming faithful disciples of Christ. It sounds more loving and encouraging when you read it, and there are pictures! If you want a look at it yourself, it's on Gospel Library and the church website. Definitely recommended.

So the overall theme of this week seems to be becoming. We all need to become better than we are now. We all need to become more like Christ. And that's why we missionaries are out here, to help people do just that.

Bon courage!
Elder Wood

At the Multi-Zone Conference: Elder Wood with Elder Coryell (his previous companion) and Elder Morrison (Elder Coryell's current companion)

The Belgian missionaries on the Thalys train back from Paris after the conference

More of the Belgian missionaries, after getting off the Thalys

Food photo: "A member fed us tartiflette!" (A potato and cheese dish)

"It's getting cold"

"These stoplights look like they're from Dr. Seuss"

Week 75 (Nivelles)

We talked to lots of cool people this week!

It all started out with an exchange in Brussels with the Zone Leaders. We went there on Tuesday and had a great day. One of our rendez-vous was with  somebody who's been meeting with the missionaries for a while now. But when we got to his house, his friend was there with him. And as it turns out, he actually lives to the south of Nivelles, so I was able to give him the address of the chapel and we exchanged numbers so we can stay in touch. What an amazing miracle!

And on our exchange with Charleroi 2 this week, Elder Melanson and I met with Fernand. He's the man we met a few weeks ago who looks and sounds like Indiana Jones. We visited him and talked a bit about the Book of Mormon. He wasn't too interested at the beginning, but by the time we left he was curious about it. He said that he would start looking through it and that he'd learned a thing or two from us.

We also met Tony, he's from America but has been living here for a while now. So we were all glad to get to speak English for a change! Elder Dunn had actually met him on the street a few months ago, but they were never able to see him again. But that day, when we were driving through his neighborhood (after taking a wrong turn), Elder Dunn had the idea to go stop by and see if he was home. So we went over, and lo and behold he was there! And during our amazing discussion, he told us how the only reason he was home was because his car was in the shop. Otherwise, he would have normally been out and about! So if you believe in happenstance, that was a crazy coincidence. Sinon, c'était la main du Seigneur.

Bonne semaine!
Elder Wood

District Council with the Zone Leaders: Elders Luth, Poulson, Melanson, Belka, Wood, Dunn, (front row) Darrington, and Karratti

Elder Dunn and Elder Wood with the children of a family in the Nivelles ward that invited them over for dinner

Soccer on exchanges: Elders Poulson, Swensen, Wood, Luth, Carrillo, and Dunn

Food photo: Chili on exchanges, with Elder Darrington

Elder Dunn at the gare during their trip to Paris this week

"Franglais!"

Week 74 (Nivelles)

This week was just amazing.

We had Stake Conference this weekend, and Elder Kopischke (of the Seventy) visited! What was so great about it was that he invited all the missionaries to the Saturday sessions, so we had three 2-hour sessions of inspired council. And he talked a lot about how members need to work with the missionaries to keep new (and returning) membres active, to not lose them. He also touched on the importance of family and how we need to bring families together in the gospel.

To do so he gave the example of "Jean," A new convert. Jean has family members, living and dead, that need to hear the message of the gospel. So when Jean is baptized, the ward needs to support him in doing missionary work for his living family and family history work for his dead relatives. Because as President Nelson says, "exaltation is a family matter."

We also met with our friend Virginie twice this week, she's really interested in the gospel! She wants to turn her life around, and the member that we brought to teach with had actually gone through similar struggles as her. So he was able to testify of the atonement and Christ's love for her, and it was just what she needed.

An experience that we shared with her happened just the day before our rendez-vous actually. We were talking about prayer and faith, so we shared how the night before, we went out to go talk to some people. The problem was that it was nighttime, about 8 o'clock, so nobody was out and about. We got talking about faith and how neither of us had ever really gone out expecting certain results from our efforts. So we decided then and there to work our hardest, and asked God to bless us to meet someone who would be interested to talk another day. We kept walking down that empty road and when we finally ran in to someone we talked to them. Eventually, we did find someone who wanted to see us again, and we knew it was because of our prayers and our faith to continue working, even when it seemed tough.

À tantôt!
Elder Wood

"This house is giving that car a weird look" (because its windows are half-shaded and appear to be looking sideways)

"Saw this on someone's back car window"

"People come up with funny road names"

Week 73 (Nivelles)

Quelle semaine! Lots of fun.

As many of you know, my birthday was this week. So thanks a lot for all the emails and/or messages, there were so many! I was surprised on Tuesday when they started coming in, I guess it hadn't hit me yet that I was getting older this week!

But it was a good week to have a birthday since we had two Halloween parties this weekend, first in Mons then in Nivelles! It was nice that they weren't both the same day. We got to talk to lots of the members and their friends and even had one of our amis show up! Activities like that are great for missionary work.

What are even better for missionary work are amazing members! We had two amis come to church in Mons this week, and they had such a great welcome. The members told us after that we had brought such cool people, but it was thanks to their efforts to reach out to them that they felt comfortable enough to be themselves. And that's one of the many reasons members are the best!

À plus tard!
Elder Wood

Elder Dunn and Elder Wood at the American branch's Halloween activity and chili cook-off

Food photo - Elder Wood with the remnants of the chili cook-off

"Elder Dunn went spear fishing for apples" - Doing a service project gathering apples and mowing the lawn for an older couple

Elder Dunn playing fetch with Cookie the dog

"A picture an ami sent us." Translation: "In this photo you see a hawk protecting its young, right? Turn the image upside down and you will see who protects you..."

Week 72 (Nivelles)

What a week! So many miracles happened, you wouldn't believe it.

But first off, if you were wondering, no. Nothing's changing, Elder Dunn and I are both staying. :-)

On Saturday we went to Charleroi for a baptism. It was really cool because just a couple days before, the cousin of the kid being baptized decided he wanted to be baptized the same day. So the elders there scrambled to get everything ready in the short time they had, but it all worked out. The baptism went great! And the best part was that I got to see a bunch of the members I'd met last year!

We also met a really cool guy this week. We were out talking to people on the street a little later than usual, and we ran into Emmanuel. As soon as we stopped him, he said he recognized me! Apparently we met in Charleroi a year ago. But he's the most spiritual man I've ever met, he was so happy to meet us. When we went to his house later, he couldn't get over the fact that servants of the Lord had graced his home with a visit. Then we had one of the most spiritual rendez-vous; at the end of the closing prayer he was crying. But the whole time he was telling us how his faith was built on Christ, not a church, not even the Bible. As he put it, Christ is infinite, but the Bible is limited and can only contain a part of His word. And when we talked about Christ visiting the Nephites, he had questions, but was sincerely trying to understand, not cause contention.

Needless to say, though he probably felt unworthy inviting us into his humble home, it was in all reality us who felt unworthy to be there. All we want as missionaries is to find people like him who are sincerely seeking the truth. And he was an inspiration to me of humility and devotion. He made me want to be a better person. I'm just grateful for the opportunity to have met him.

À tantôt!
Elder Wood

"A nice landscape selfie"

"Looking good with 3D glasses"

"A friend Elder Karratti found during our exchange"

Food photo: Apparently cereal was on sale at the military base, so some members bought a lot and gave it to them.

"Some members took us bowling"

Week 71 (Nivelles)

What a week! So much is going on here in Nivelles!

We did another round of exchanges this week. That's what happens when your companion is the District Leader. I had a great time with Elder Karratti, and he loved this one less active member we visited. He's such a sweet old man. We went over to his house and talked about Christ's atonement, and it was really touching.

Today we visited the Waterloo museum as a district and it was incredible. There's so much history there. We had fun exploring the museum and the monument together. Definitely recommended.

We've also been meeting with lots of cool people, it's exciting to teach them all about the gospel! When we're able to help them come closer to their Heavenly Father, it's a true blessing. The work of salvation is a marvelous thing, and any chance to be a part of it shouldn't be taken lightly.

À tantôt!
Elder Wood

Elder Wood and Elder Dunn in front of a nice view of the countryside

Elder Wood, Elder Melanson, Elder Dunn, Sister & Elder Denton (senior missionary couple), and Elder Risher

The entrance to the Waterloo museum and monument

Selfie atop the Waterloo monument

Panorama of the Battle of Waterloo

"A classic Belgian cobblestone road"

Week 70 (Nivelles)

Conference week is just amazing, isn't it?

I always love getting the chance to hear from the Lord's prophets and apostles. And this time it was so good! I really liked Elder Bednar's talk about the cheetahs, it was good imagery with an important message. Which was your favorite?

It was also a great week because we're now officially plumbers! Since before Elder Dunn got here our toilet has been leaking. So finally we were told during an apartment inspection that we didn't need to call a plumber, we could just replace the old part ourselves. So we stopped by a local hardware store to find a replacement piece, then went home happily to quickly swap it out. The problem was that the connection was a different size than the old one, so we couldn't hook it up to the old pipe. This led to a couple days of manually filling the toilet in order to flush it, before finally finding a new pipe that would work. But it was so satisfying when we finally got it working! I can't even describe how accomplished we felt.

Other than that, we also had a couple exchanges this week with the Charleroi elders. Charleroi 2 came here and I had a great day with Elder Risher. We were going around passing by people's adresses, and we met this one guy that we talked to for a while. Maybe too long though. Because when we finished, he offered to see us off at the front door of the apartment building, so we all took the elevator together. That was when we got trapped. It was working fine until we got to the ground floor, but for some reason it didn't open up, it just stopped working. So we tried the "call for help" button, which was less than helpful. Then, since we were slightly panicked about being trapped in an elevator and being late for the train we had to catch soon, we decided to force the door open. That was probably the best decision we made all day. We pushed, and the door opened right up, letting us out at the main entrance. We quickly said goodbye and ran as fast as we could to the train station, getting there just as our train pulled away. Luckily there was another one not too long after, but it's always hard missing a train by *this* much.

Then when we went to Charleroi for exchanges I was with Elder Belka. We had a good day, and we finished it off with a rendez-vous. It was with a cool guy that already believed in the Bible, but he couldn't accept the Book of Mormon. It was disappointing, but the wise man that he is, Elder Belka said the Spirit was there, so even if he didn't want to read the Book of Mormon, it was an important step in the right direction. Like Elder Uchtdorf said this weekend, it's not a failure just because they don't accept, the success is in the invitation.

Je vous aime!
Elder Wood

Elder Wood and Elder Dunn watching General Conference

Elders Wood, Dunn, Melanson, and Risher

Plumbing fix accomplished!

Elder Risher & Elder Wood during exchanges

Food photo: Happiness is Belgian mitraillette (including frites!)