Elder Chase Player: Deja 2014

Bonjour...
2014 is officially here...crazy! I hope all your New Year's resolutions are still going strong after 6 days and I hope you all have a great first day back at school and work! Last week was another great week full of miracles, teaching, singing and eating everything from a delicious Nutella Croissant to African Plantaines!

Last week we had a different schedule due to the New Year. It went like this...
Tuesday we had a normal day until 5. We started the day going out and singing for a member's mother and leaving her with a spiritual thought. Then we went to go contacting. We were determined to talk to everyone we met so the day started with a man named Enrique. He pulled out a piece of paper from a doctor that declared him mentally ill. Then we passed a man painting himself in nail polish. That was a sight to behold. We are guessing he was preparing for parties!? We kept walking and were able to meet some awesome people who we will teach later this week. At one o'clock we talked about heading back for lunch but decided to keep going for another half hour. A few minutes later we ran into a mother, Catherine, and her son, Jose, from Peru. She told us how her brother was adopted by a Mormon family when they were young and she's always wondered where he was and what exactly were the Mormons. They had never talked with the Mormons but said they had a few minutes to talk. As we walked to the church we learned that they have been looking for a place to pray and worship but just haven't found the right place. We gave them a tour of the church and finished by giving them a Book of Mormon in Spanish. Amazingly, this book had been sitting on the entry table for weeks since no one speaks Spanish. Talk about a miracle. We can't wait to teach them later this week and meet her husband and other two sons. After lunch we decided to do some porting. As we started knocking on doors Elder Cramer said, "Wow...look at that cross on that house...they must be religious!" Oh, they were! As the door opened, a nun came out of the house with three other nuns behind her. We asked if we could sing and they said yes. After a few songs we wished each other Happy New Year and approached the next door. Out came a priest. The following doors were also interesting, to say the least, but in the end we were able to meet a young mother and her daughter...Lily and Lillian...so that was great! Tuesday night we had a Family Home Evening with the Bitanga Family and Ezechias. It was followed by a delicious meal of chicken, plantaines, cavier salad, potatoes and a birthday cake for me! It was a great day and definitely a birthday I will never forget.

On Wednesday, New Year's Day, we had a mangez-vous scheduled but found out that she had hurt her back. She said we could come pick up the food but not eat there. Our phone had fallen out of Elder Cramer's pocket at the Bitanga's house the night before so when we went to get it they said, "Go get the food and bring it here and we can all eat together!" We set the table, ate and then Frere Bitanga taught us all to play some family favorite games that brought out the competitive side in all of us. We are so lucky to have such awesome members that take good care of us!

The week continued with miracles. Lessons with our amis, Ezechias and members. We ate with the Bitanga's again after our DMB meeting and then had a lesson/mangez vous with two other members and Ezechias. We ate Gallettes de Roi, a holiday food for January!

Here are some other highlights of the week...

Spent Friday with a young man from our branch, Jason, and had an awesome day. The Lord made it a perfect 5 hours and I've never met so many people interested consecutively. Jason loved it and said he can't wait to go on a mission.

Made the trip to Mantes la Jolie for District Meeting. First district meeting this transfer due to Zone Conference in Paris and the holidays. Found out we all are going to Paris at the end of month because a member of the Quorum of the Seventy will be coming to Paris.

Got news that Gentil, Elder Davis and I found him in Strombeek, was baptized!

Got caught in the craziest rain and wind storm ever. In three minutes we were sopping wet!

Gave service for a young family who moved into a new apartment and gave their son a Book of Mormon all wrapped up. He was super happy and excited to read it!

Rearranged the entire apartment and it's looking good. Change is always good!

So in a nutshell that's a glimpse of our week in Rouen. To finish, yesterday at church, we had Roman come. At the end we asked if we could teach him a short lesson and he said, "Of course!" He told us what he thought about church and said he loved it. At the end of the lesson, Tarolin, a member, said, "I have a feeling that you need to be baptized." Roman said he would love to be baptized and we were able to set a date. Roman is a man who contacted us about two weeks ago on the metro. It's another testimony of how the Lord prepares his children to receive his Gospel and places them in our path when they are ready!

Thanks you for all you love, support, birthday gifts and New Year's wishes. I'm so grateful for all of you and am so lucky to have such amazing friends and family. Love to you all and have a great week!

Love...
Elder Player