Bruxelles, Eiffel Tower and Lessons in a Day!

Last Monday we went to see Auto World.  It was awesome and had cars from the beginning of time, including the chariot that took Napoleon to his wedding, to current day Lamborghinis.  As we were leaving the car show we heard someone yell, "Elders!"  We turned around and it was a couple from Canada doing a European Tour.  They were in Brussels for the day and were members and wanted to talk to us.  We had a nice visit and said goodbye.  After we started to walk away he called again and said. "Go buy something on us today!"  He gave us a 50 euro note.  That made our day and is honestly a miracle over here from what we've heard!  We had a nice lunch at a cafe, it paid for the car show and bought us lunch in Paris on Friday.  Sweet!!!!

Our 50 Euro note from the Canadian Couple

Arc de Trimophe

Eiffel Tower in Paris

The Seine River

Lamborghinis

Tuesday we decided to try some new finding ways so we went hospital hopping.  We went around to different hospitals to see if we could put our name on a list for someone who wanted a blessing or religious help.  I guess nobody does that here but it was still a good experience and now we know where the nice hospitals are!  We came upon the Royal Palace while traveling and the "5th Avenue of Brussels" so that's what we'll check out next Monday.  That night we had 3 lessons and a dinner appointment with the Vulz family from Germany.  It was delicious!  Our last appointment was with Tereza, who cleans Bogaerts house, and we got to meet her husband!  They live in a very nice place and her husband, Vincent, is a policeman here.  We left them with the Book of Mormon and said we'd come back and talk more about how we received this book.  They said yes that they would start reading and to come back Saturday night for dinner.  Oh ya, we jumped at that!

Wednesday was raining all day.  We've learned that when that happens people don't go outside except us. All of our African investigators go into hibernation and cancel appointments too.  Not sure why but it happens every time it rains.  We had an awesome lesson that night with a man who we talked to on the Metro.  Emmanuel is married with 3 kids.  The discussion was going great and then while talking about the role of Jesus Christ  I thought I was saying, "he was born for us"  but I guess I said "Jesus was naked for us!" Quite embarrassing but we all laughed and moved on quickly.

Thursday was DMP meeting and we met with Kingsley and Marsella.  They're great but just aren't doing anything to get married or find an apartment.  It's disappointing because we can't keep teaching them if they stop progressing.  We're praying for them every day!

Friday was very exciting!  We had to go back to Paris to get the correct stamp to validate my Visa.  We weren't sure how long it would take so we got tickets to get there about 9:30 and come back to Brussels at 4:30.  We woke up and had our run around the park and then were off.  We made excellent time and were done by 11:00 with the Visa so we had time to see the Eiffel Tower and some of Paris.  First we went to the Eiffel Tower, which did not disappoint, and I was super excited to see!  It is so big!  We left right before the bomb threat, when they had to evacuate everyone, so we were lucky!  We made our way to the Royal Palais that is by the big opera and has views of the Eiffel Tower.  We walked down the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe.  They have an eight lane roundabout that was crazy - it's an accident waiting to happen.  The Champs Elysees has some of the biggest brand names in the world so we did some window shopping.  It was awesome and Elder Davis even got some cologne for his birthday.  We made our way back to the train station.  We got a sandwich and chocolate croissant and headed for home.  That night we had a lesson with Nicholas and Patience and their daughter.  They had lots of questions but laughed at the Joseph Smith story.  It broke our hearts but we bore our testimony's and I think it's the strongest testimony I've ever born.  I said simply, "If you read this book you can know it's true!"  They accepted to read and I really think they will receive an answer.  It was great!  So in 16 hours we were in two countries, I became legal, we saw some of Paris and taught a lesson.  Great Day!

Saturday included teaching Bogaert and watching the restoration  on his Big Screen TV, that was huge and had surround sound.  It really got the point across!  That night we had our dinner appointment with Tereza and Vincent.  They had a relative over, Marsel, who is 93 years old, hard of hearing and reminded me of, my friend, Sue Smith.  I loved talking to her and it was good practice for my French.  Tereza made us a delicious meal with chicken and mushrooms, rice, stuffed tomatoes, potato and bacon mini quiches and chocolate mouse for dessert.  We talked with them and found out they had started reading the Book of Mormon.  We set up another appointment and I can hardly wait to talk to them again.  We had a party for Elder Davis that included light, glow sticks and delicious cake.  Elder Davis turned 20 - he's getting up there!

He's an awesome companion and we get along great.  We are going to make the most of this transfer because who knows what will happen next transfer.

I love and miss you all and hope you have a great week!  The church is true and remember - You can always count on the Lord!

The Champs Elysees

Till next week...
Love, Elder Player