Elder Chase Player: The Paris Temple has been started!

Trying to see the Mona Lisa on P-Day

Bonjour! Tout le monde! I hope you have all had a great week. Especially for all the fathers yesterday. Happy Fathers' Day! This week has been a great week and we've continued to be blessed by the Lord with the ability to teach His children. This morning in our letter from President Poznanski we received some awesome news. After much opposition and many appeals by everyone in France for the the Paris Temple, that was announced 3 years ago, Elder Andersen and Bishop Causse on Friday were able to break ground on the temple and the cornerstone was laided. They received a call from a lawyer tsaying all the opposition and appeals had been rejected by the city and they could now move forward with the building of the temple! This was such good news to receive and we are so happy that the temple can progress and in 2 to 2 1/2 years the people of France will have a temple!

This past week we were able to have some great experiences and one of them was to share the gospel with an 11 year old boy, David, and his mom, Rachel. Rachel and David have been coming to church now for a year. Rachel was baptized 4 years ago in Italy. We had seen them at church and had heard that David had not been baptized. So, last week we went and asked if we could see them and they agreed. On Wednesday we were able to teach them. We decided we'd teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ by doing the brownie activity. This time we made a batch before so it'd be like a cooking show where they pull out of the oven the perfectly cooked brownies. We even had all the ingredients in little bowls on the table. It was pretty legit, I won't lie. Haha! At the end we asked David if he would be baptized and he said "yes" and so did his mom! She told us how in Italy they were with the Elders every week and they really missed that. David has been asking when they could have a FHE with them again and he had been asking questions about why he needed another baptism when he was baptized as a baby. She said this was exactly what he needed...to see for himself why it was important to be baptized with all of the right "ingredients"! The spirit was strong and it was an awesome moment with them. So fun to teach a child, especially one that had been going to primary for four years and knows so much!

Children are the best and yesterday we were able to spend time with a family from our ward and have a "gouter" or light dinner with them.. We ate two delicious cakes and it was fun to be with them and their three kids who are 8, 6 and 3. We played a fun game with them too. It was awesome and made me miss our Sunday dinners back home.

This week I had a great exchange with Elder Brockbank, from Lilas,Paris, here in Nogent. This week I'll be going to Lilas, Paris with Elder Powelson. Elder Brockbank is awesome and it was fun to get to know him better. We had some awesome street and metro contacts and taught two lessons to Frere Malasse and the Vasile Family. We were bold with the Vasile family and they said if they were guided to know it was true they would be baptized. The parents even stood up for us when one of the kids said, "It doesn't talk about Joseph Smith in the Bible anywhere!" It was cool and I'm excited to go and see them again this week!

Highlights:
~Joe got the Priesthood and became a ward missionary. He's so excited to come and teach with us and be able to bless and pass the sacrament. He's doing great!
~We taught an awesome lady, Madame Deligny, who is about 65 and very French. At the end of the Restoration lesson we gave her the Book of Mormon and asked if she'd read it. She said, "You're Mormon?" She continued to tell us how she knew some mormons and was so excited to read it and to please come back. She gave us cakes and juice to take on the road!
~Regained contact with an ami who was taught 10 months ago. We had a great lesson and he said if he came to know that these things are true he would be baptized!
~There was a strike by SNCF so all the trains and metro's were crazy. They didn't just do the strike for 2 days, as planned, but for 4. Bizarre!
~Opened "Player Pressing and Alterations". (at night after planning) We borrowed a sewing machine from a member so we can make our long sleeve shirts, that are tattered at the cuffs, short sleeve shirts. Perfect for summer and make our pants slimmer so they are more European. It's become a hobby for us all! I'm thankful for all the years I watched my mom sew! See the picture below of our sweatshop! Haha
~Last Monday we saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Wow! That was an experience! The Louvre is legit!

That about wraps up our week. We have our last Zone Conference on Friday with President and Soeur Poznanski! :( Another exchange, my second year of legality and some great lessons planned this week. I hope you all have a great week too!

Love...Elder Player