Monday, February 17, 2014

In the right place, at the right time, at the right moment

Bonjour tout le monde!  I hope you all had a great week and a great Valentines day. I found out today is President's Day...hope it's a good one.  We've had a great week here and some cool moments that I want to share!

This week we had a zone conference on using strategy in our work as missionaries.  President Poznanski talked about being more efficient, using members more, and always realizing that people will be put in your path when you have a plan (strategy).  We need to always be on the lookout for opportunities to share the gospel.  This week we were able to see three perfect examples of that in our work.  Tuesday night we were calling people after lunch to fix rendez-vous.  We called a person named Jo who hasn't answered for a few weeks but he answered and we set up a rendez-vous for 5 o-clock.  5 o'clock came around and we were at the spot to meet him.  We waited and called but no response.  We waited some more.  As we were waiting someone came up from behind who had gotten off the bus and it was Wilfred.  Wilfred is someone we've been teaching but lost contact with and haven't been able to see him in a couple of weeks.  He needed to stop at the market and grab a few things and there we were!  We were able to get his new phone number and set a rendez-vous for later this week and he came to church on Sunday and really enjoyed it.

We had interviews during Zone Conference and at the end I asked President Poznanski if there was anything we could do for him and his wife.  He asked, "Do you want a challenge?" I said, "Yes" and he said, "Go find a family tonight."  He showed me that he had given the challenge to another companionship the week before and they text him later that night that it happened.  He said he would be waiting for out text but to remember it was just for fun.  So, we had DMB and then had an hour left of the night to go porting and find our family. It was Valentines and lots of people were in town at restaurants but we were determined.  At 8:50 we went to cross the street and saw a man that we decided to contact.  We ended up teaching Patrick for 30 minutes and he has a sister and a mother here and said they would love to hear more.  So we fixed a rendez-vous with him for later in the week.  We sent a text to President when we got home that we had found a family, a little different than expected, but it still happened.  Always be aware of situations around you and watch for opportunities.  The Lord is giving them to you and needs you to share the Gospel.  If we aren't watching for them they will go by unnoticed.

Later, we had a rendez vous set up with a young man but when we arrived he wasn't home.  We decided we were there for a reason so we started to port the neighborhood.  We had knocked on most of the doors and only had 20 minutes left so we continued and 2 of the last 3 doors were interested.  We taught one family and fixed a rendoz-vous with the other.  We have been so blessed here and I know that even when things don't go as planned if we will persevere we will see that we are there for a reason.

We celebrated with Ezechias his 50th birthday by cooking dinner for him at the church.  We had some alfredo and a birthday cake and it was great.  He's so awesome and loves the church and the gospel so much.  After we ate he stayed for institute.  He goes to it every week and he's even started a choir in the branch to perform for Easter.  Romain is doing great and this week was able to go with the single adults to Versaille for the Valentine's Ball.  Yesterday he said it was great!

Here are some highlights of the week"
...Tried to make lemon chicken and added too much lemon juice.  Wow...way acidic.
...Tried a delicious new pastry called strawberry cream swirl.
...Had great lessons with Leonilde, Wilfred and Eunice!
...Prayed to get into Romain's and 3 minutes later someone came and opened the door.  We were able to get in and talk with him.  Power of prayer at work!
Ezechais 50th birthday party...
We cooked dinner for him!

Caen Zone Conference

Teaching in the ghetto...
I promise it's safe!

Every week out here is different and there is definitely something new to learn and improve on out here every day.  I'm so grateful for all of you and all you do for me.  I love you all so much and am grateful to have the family and friends that I do.  Have a great week and I'll check in again next Monday.

Love...Elder Player

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