"Light Always Overcomes Darkness"

Jean with the Book of Mormon

Crazy how fast the first year went.  I don't
even want to think how fast the 2nd will go!

Talent night in our ward!

Bonjour!  Tout le Monde!  It has been a fantastic week here and feels like summer has arrived.  Today it it suppose to get up to 25 degrees C with 100% humidity.  Everything is so green!  The Lord has blessed us this week and miracles have come our way.  Here are a few moments I want to share...

Last Monday after P-Day we had a rendez-vous with Sebastian and Cedre.  They are a part member family that we started teaching a few weeks ago.  Sebastian has been trying to work out his work situation so that he can come to church and we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.  We talked to him about setting a date for baptism in July, a week after he can start coming to church, and he said YES!.  A few minutes later his wife, who is a member already, came in and he said, "Cedre, I have a surprise!  I am going to be baptized and now it will be possible for our children to grow up in the church!"  She became so excited and started telling us that Lila and Elysee had never been blessed and asked if we could do that on the same day Sebastian is confirmed.  The Spirit filled the room and you could sense Sebastian's desire to become a member.  As the night continued Cedre started to talk about how they had been married civilly but had never had a church ceremony because she always knew the day would come that they would be married in the temple.  Now that day will come true.  It was so amazing and I'm so thankful for this family and how prepared they are and that they soon will be able to go to the temple and become an eternal family!

After the lesson they fed us and then we left for the bus stop.  We were running a little late and saw that the bus would not arrive for 15 more minutes...man we were definitely going to be late now!  As we waited a bus, that wasn't scheduled for a stop, pulled up and it said it was going to the RER stop.  We got on but as we scanned our passes it said "service closed".  The driver said, "Oh well" and let us on anyway. We made our way to some seats at the back and started to talk about our rendez-vous with Cedre and Sebastian in English.  We were the only people on the bus and the driver yelled back, "You're English?"  we replied that we were Americans.  He continued to talk so we moved up closer and started to talk.  We learned that he had toured all the western US and loved Salt Lake and had met some members there.  (Small chance of that, right!)  We told him why we were here and he told us he was Catholic but not active and was open to hear more about our church.  It was the first time he had heard that the Mormons had churches, even in France, with thousands of members!  We exchanged phone numbers and made it to the RER stop and knew that it wasn't chance that we were running late and that bus just stopped there even though it wasn't a scheduled stop.  God made sure that we met Fred that night!

Saturday we were able to teach Fred and give him a tour of our church in Nogent.  He was so impressed and had so many questions.  We taught him about the Book of Mormon and he said he would read and pray about it.  We are meeting with him again this week to talk more.  As we closed the lesson we had a prayer and he said it was so different than the memorized prayers that he was used to.  We explained that we can have a relationship with a loving Father in Heaven and feel his love by his Spirit.  After the prayer he opened his eyes and was clearly touched by the Spirit.  With tears in his eyes he said, "Wow!  That felt really good!"

The last thing I want to share is about Jean, the man who put the nail in his head.  He called us yesterday during church and asked if we could come see him because he had a little gift for us.  It's been two weeks since we saw him but had some time in the evening to go.  He gave us a book, "The Gospel according to John" with a letter thanking us for our kindness.  We felt prompted to give him a Book of Mormon and explained that we had a gift for him too.  When he saw it he instantly said, "Mormons!  I've heard so much about this book!  Thank you so much.  I want to read it."  He than took our hands and kissed them and it felt as though he'd been waiting to receive this book his whole life and after 88 years it finally had arrived.  It was so cool and we are going to see him this week.  It just goes to show that we should never have biases and always share what we have because even if we think they are not interested it might be just what they have been looking and waiting for!

Highlights:
We got on the RER and a man and woman heard us talking and asked us where our church was.  We asked if she was member and she said "no" but wanted to check it out and if she liked it she wanted to become a member!  The Lord truly does put people in our paths...so cool!

The Vasile family was awesome this week and 4 of them came to church for Ward Conference yesterday and it went great.  We are seeing them again tonight!

Joe is awesome and so ready for his baptism on the 24th.  Yesterday he came to church in another classy suit!

Had an awesome Talent Show Saturday night by ward members.  Our ward is filled with so much talent from singing, acting, composing instrumentals - you name it.  Our ward is also full of young families that at times I feel like I'm in Utah until they start speaking French!  HaHa

Had a mission conference with all the Paris missionaries and with Elder Snow, Elder Dyches, their wives and the Director of the Family History Department.

I have officially been out over a year this past week.  I got two awesome packages from mom and dad with many of my favorites, including pancakes and Golden Griddle syrup (my favorite) and so we had a delicious pancake breakfast Saturday.  We watched the Saratov Approach, which our mission had a fireside on a few weeks ago, and my favorite line was "Remember, Light Always Overcomes Darkness!"  I know that this is true and that thanks to the Atonement of Christ all things are possible.

I'm so grateful to be here and I love it every day.  Thank you so much for your support, prayers and for all you do for me.  Have a great week and I'll write next Monday.

Love...Elder Player

27 Bones - 25 Muscles = 1 Human Hand

Bonjour tout le monde!  This last week has flown by and once again we've been continually blessed.  The week finished off with a great skype yesterday.  It was great to see and hear all that is going on.  The time passed fast but was awesome and I just want to say again how much I love all of you!

Over the last 7 days lots has happened and there's a few things I really want to write about.  I mentioned that there are 533 members in our ward but about 333 of those are not attending so we have set goals with re-activation.  We met with the Ward Secretary and he gave us about 40 names to start with.  We've been calling and going to see a few of them this last week.

One man, Louis-Pierre, hasn't been to church in over 2 years but has been through the temple, was the Ward Secretary for 10 years and is an Elder.  As we visited with him we asked how he was converted.  He shared his story and we added our personal conversion stories to his.  We used a scripture in Romans 8:35-39.  I love this scripture because it shows us how the Lord loves us, even in difficult times.  No matter how long we turn away from his teachings, no mater what we've done, He is always reaching out to us with his arms wide open.  We continued to talk with him and he talked about how he could feel the love of Christ for him in the temple more than anywhere else in the world.  He expressed that he'd love to feel that again.  We asked him what he thought he needed to do to be ready to go back to the temple.  He's going to come to church next week and start back on the road to returning to the temple.  It was cool to see his desire and realize that all he needs is a helping hand to reach down and invite him to come back.  We (not just missionaries) are the hands of the Lord on the earth and he has asked us to reach out to others.  (Mosiah 18:8-9)

I know if we just reach out to one person and give them our hand, as the Lord through others has done for us so many times, we will be able to see many people return and be able to feel the fullness of his love just like Louis-Pierre.

The next experience was with our "amis", Sebastian, who I've written about before.  He is married to a member and they have 2 children.  The only thing stopping him from being baptized is that he works on Sundays.  We asked  him to pray and we said we would fast and pray for his boss's heart to be softened. We talked about how fasting, prayer, obedience and doing all that we can will always work because the Lord will prepare a way for his children to fulfill his commandments.  He told us he would talk to his boss and mentioned that his boss had just bought a new meat store in Nogent by the church. He also told us that he doesn't have to work or attend school after the first of July so he can start coming in July.  Everything is falling into place and our prayers are being answered in God's own timing.  I know it'll all work out and his desire to be baptized and come to church will be possible. Yesterday we were able to find transportation for his wife and two kids so that they can start coming to church right away and tonight we are going to have FHE with all of them.  So awesome.

Last, but not least, is Joe and the Vasile family who are both doing great.  In Priesthood meeting our lesson was on the converting power of the Book of Mormon.  At the end of the lesson they left 20 minutes for those who wanted to bear their testimony.  Joe raised his hand and testified of how the Book of Mormon was the "thing" that he had searched for but as in D&C 123:12..."They are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it."  It was so powerful and we all left priesthood lifted by the spirit and everyone was amazed by the testimony of someone who is preparing for baptism.  He will be baptized on May 24th.  We also had the opportunity to see the Vasile's and they are coming to church next week.  We were able to get them Romanian Book of Mormons and they were excited to start reading it and pray to know if it's true.  It's so amazing to see how willing and open they are and how desirous they are to increase their faith in Christ!

Highlights:
Had lunch with a less active member who is working for Yves Saint Laurent, Dior and Chanel as a designer. He was super cool and has a son serving in Singapore!

Last Monday we got to see the Trocadero with an awesome view of the Eiffel Tower, the Opera House and the craziest Galleries Lafayette that I've ever seen.

Had a funny port at an apartment.  I spoke into the speaker box at the door and as I started to say who I was and that I was from America the lady said, "Sederik, you are so funny!  I know your voice...come in."  I tried to explain that I wasn't Sederik, but Elder Player from America.  She just laughed and said, "Sederik come on in!"  So we did.  When we arrived at her door she was surprised to see that is really was Elder Player and not Sederik and she closed the door on us!

Mother's Day...got to skype with my awesome family!

This week we get to hear from Elder Snow of the Seventies on Friday!

It's great to be in Paris.  I love all of you and appreciate your love and support.  Have a great week.  Till next Monday...
Love...Elder Player

PS...Let me explain my title...We have 27 bones and 25 muscles in one hand.  It is the most concentrated area of muscles and bones in our bodies.  Imagine why the Lord gave us hands and how we can use them to help others.  We are the Lord's hands on earth!

One crazy museum!
Galleries Lafayette

The Trocadero with an awesome
view of the Eiffel Tower

Lots of Rainy Days in Paris!

The Opera House

"He shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which He commandeth them"

The view of the Eiffel  Tower
Bonjour tout le monde!  I hope you've all had a fantastic week and are enjoying the beautiful spring weather.  This week in Nogent we have had spring weather with rain and sunshine!  The  Lord has continued to bless us and we have seen many miracles once again. We are preparing for our new mission President coming this July by setting a goal of 125 baptisms in 2 transfers.  That's 12 weeks!  You might remember that we set a goal of 100 baptisms in 2 transfers when we heard that Elder Oaks was coming last fall.  We reached our goal and then some with 115 baptisms   Earlier in the year a goal was set for 85 baptisms in 12 week and was also met.  Each goal that is set we have been able to reach and this goal will be no different.

This past week we had zone conference with all 4 of the Paris Zones.  125 baptisms was our theme.  We have 2 months left and 95 baptisms to go.  We learned the principles of faith and prayer and that with obedience and desire we will be able to achieve our goal.  President and Soeur Poznanski are amazing and gave us such great information.  We've seen that the Lord is going to help us achieve this goal and is preparing people to enter into the waters of baptism...and that leads us to Joe.

Joe is an awesome man about 30 years old who moved to Paris 3 months ago.  He was living in Caen, my old zone, when he came into contact with the missionaries.  He took all the lessons and then moved to Paris.  He was taught once here about 3 months ago and then was in the hospital for 2 months and has not been contacted since.  We called him on Sunday and set up a rendez-vous for Wednesday.  On Wednesday we arrived at his apartment to teach him and he told us he needed to find his brochures.  He pulled out, "True to the Faith, Teachings of Latter Day Prophets, The Bible, The Brochure and the Book of Mormon.  We were confused and thought he must be a member.  He told us no.  We decided to start over with the teachings and answer his questions so we started with the Restoration and watched the video.  It was an awesome lesson.  The spirit was so strong and so we gave him a date to be baptized.  He was so happy and has been waiting for this day to come.  We asked him to pray for confirmation and told him we would pray too.

On Friday we had another rendez-vous with him and answered his questions and taught the Plan of Salvation.  He loved it and said, "It just makes sense."  At the end of the lesson we asked if he had received a confirmation and he said "Yes!  I was preparing something to eat and I totally forgot that I was hungry because after I prayed I had a happiness that I can't even describe in words!"  He wants to surprise his family because he's the only one that is not a member.  He even has a sister in Ghana, Africa on a mission.  To say the least it was one of the coolest, most spiritual experiences I've had and to feel the joy of this man's heart as he accepts the gospel was awesome!  On Sunday we met him at the Gare to go to church with him and he was in a classy suit, with his iPad ready to go.  When we arrived he opened up the Gospel Library app, he'd already downloaded, and asked what number was the opening song!  Right before the sacrament one of the Deacons asked him to help pass because they thought he was a member already.  I think that sums it up!  He's amazing and we are so excited for him!

Another awesome miracle happened while we were doing our weekly planning.  We were looking through the Area Book and a name jumped out at us so we called it.  The man said we could come and see them and so on Sunday we arrived on the bus to the Rue Bel Air.  It was such a cool area with gorgeous homes.  At the gate there were 4 kids playing outside and when we asked if their dad was there they invited us to come in.  We went in and met the family and started talking as the 4 kids peeked in from the other room to see what was going on.  We said they could come join us and they quickly did.  We asked how many of the kids were theirs and they said all of them plus 3 others that weren't home.  A total of 7 children!  Wahoo!  We talked to them and they are from Romania and very "believing".  It was an awesome moment and we are going back on Tuesday to teach them about the Restoration.  From these two examples you can see how the Lord prepares people and never gives us a commandment without helping us.  As for our 125 baptisms I know he's prepared a way to accomplish that goal too!

HIGHLIGHTS:  

...We helped a member family from Albania last Monday and Tuesday around Paris.  Got them checked into their hotel and then back to the Gare the next day.  They were so grateful and said that their whole branch prayed for them to have a safe trip and it was coming true!

...Met lots of awesome people porting including a Portuguese family who kept saying, as they were reading the brochure in Portuguese, "That's true!"

...Saw Jean again (The man who put the nail in his head) and he's doing great and says to say "Hi" to all of you!

...Had an exchange with Elder Lloyd...he's awesome!

...Met the kindest family who is here from Tahiti!  They are members and some of the best people I've ever met.  They are here for the wife to undergo treatment for cancer.  They are an amazing example of faith in trails and Christ like love!

That's a wrap for this week.  I love all of you and am so grateful for your love and prayers.  Have a great week and I'll talk to you on Mother's day!!! :)

Love...
Elder Player

This is a picture of a cool lake we found!

Zone Conference with Soeur Castillo and Elder Esparza

Elder Alexander at the cool lake!

Downtown Paris on our last P-Day

The Kurti Family from Albania that we helped!

A Nail from the Nose of an 89 Year Old! Slick Trick!

Wow!  What a week it's been here.  I hope you've had a great week too.  We have continued to be blessed by the Lord and have had some cool experiences.  We have also had some interesting moments, as the Title suggests, that I will never forget!

Last Monday we went to the Champs Elysees to do some shopping.  (More like looking but it was still fun) We made our way out of the metro tunnel and found ourselves next to the Arc de Triomphe with the Eiffel Tower in the background.  I love Paris!  There is something about this place that is like no other place I've been.  We made our way to the street and found some super cool things in lots of different stores.  Next we made our way to La Defense to a mall there.  Pretty sure there is more shopping centers here than anywhere else around the world!  While shopping we met two people who contacted us instead of the other way around.  The first was a Parisian girl who wanted to know the difference between the Mormons and the Catholics.  (She's catholic)  The second was a man named Henri (an employee of the store) who asked if we believed in Jesus.  We said yes and then he walked off but a few minutes later he came up and asked where our church was and asked to meet with us another time.  So cool!  We ate Chipotle burritos that were delicious but expensive.  Oh well!

As the week continued we were able to continue to see some amazing moments that I will try to sum up:
...Sebastian and Cedre:  We found their teaching record and it had been over a year since the missionaries had seen them and there really wasn't a reason why so we called them up and set up an appointment.  After rain, hail and getting lost we finally made it to their apartment and had an awesome lesson.  His wife, Cedre, is a member who isn't active.  They have two kids, 6 and 2, who are super cool.  As we were teaching about faith we asked them, "How can you develop faith?"  Cedre responded and said, "Sebastian, what do we do every night?"  We found out that they read the Book of Mormon together and pray together every night. Sebastian continued and said, "I know it's important because every time we stop reading or praying things don't go as smooth.  Last week I realized that I hadn't read for a long time and been taught by the missionaries and I wanted to call, but didn't.  You called the next day!"  Amazing to see how the Lord works and how people are prepared.  We taught them later in the week about repentance and we will be fasting with him next week that his boss will let him change his work schedule so they can come to church.  We know that the Lord can soften hearts if you pray,  fast and have a desire.

As the week continued we seemed to be running to catch trains.  Tuesday night we had 3 minutes to go from the metro 6 levels below ground to one level above ground to catch the train.  We booked it and made it.  Thursday morning we need to catch the train from Troyes back to Paris.  We were the last people on board before the doors closed.  Whew!  We'll try to work on that for the next rain.  We had an exchange in Toryes and I was with Elder Watts who is from Orange County, California.  We had a few rendez-vous and an awesome day.  One experience was with a kid named Bryan Curtis.  We were going to a rendez-vous with a less active family but when we arrived the family wasn't there.  Elder Watts suggested that we pass by our other amis who live close by.  We walked over and the mother ran out and told us to go in but that she had to go get her son because something had happened to him.  We went into the house and waited.  Shortly she came in carrying him in her arms.  He's 10 and was curled up in a ball because of intense pain and couldn't walk.  She told us she couldn't meet right then and needed to call the doctor.  We asked if we could give him a blessing first.  We were kneeling  on the floor as we gave him a priesthood blessing.  After he started to stretch his legs and within 5 minutes he was up walking and ready to play with his friends.  I really can't express my feelings except that I know the priesthood power is real and can help and heal in moments of need.  We must always be ready and worthy to use it. It was so amazing!  His friend and 12 year old brother were watching and after asked, "What did you just do?"  We explained over the next hour and had such a cool lesson with the kids and the morther.  For me it is another testimony builder that the Lord knows where we need to be and makes it possible to be there.

Bryan Curtis in back
This is the boy we gave a blessing to.

The last thing I want to share is about a man names Jean Paranton.  We had a rendez-vous set up for the night but they weren't there.  We decided that we'd go porting in a building next door.  We started on the 15th floor and at the second door opened.  It was a young family who let us in and we had a prayer with them.  As we continued we came to the 13th floor and ported door number 334.  An old French man answered and we gave our introduction and he said he'd like us to pray with him.  We entered and started to talk to him.  He said he loved Americans and has so much respect for us and that he had met a lot of our soldiers during the war.  He had medals, guns and all sorts of art and bronze lining the walls.  As we continued to talk to him he asked if we wanted to see something he learned to do in training.  "Of course!" we responded.  He went over to a drawer and found a huge nail 6 or 7 inches long and then came over and started to inhale it.  He inserted the nail all the way into his nose!  We kept looking at each other like what is happening right now.  Next he came over and said pull it out.  I looked at Elder Alexander and he pulled the nail out of the Jean's head.  Oh wait, did I mention he's 89 years old.  There was no blood or brain matter on the nail for which we were grateful.  As we continued to talk we learned that his children no longer talk to him and he lives with his animals.  He even read to us the letter he wrote for his kids to read when he dies.  It was full of wisdom.  This man was involved in the first artificial heart transplant in France and has done many other things in his life.  He's lonely and was so grateful to have someone to talk to and wanted us to tell everyone we met the "crazy French man" but than said he loves all of his family a lot.  He talked about how we have to live each day to its fullest and learn from each mistake.  It was awesome and we'll be giving him a visit again this week to see if we can do his shopping or help with anything else.

Highlights...
Awesome Easter activity with the ward here in Nogent
Got to see the coolest French house ever which was surrounded by rolling hills of yellow flowers
Continued to teach Oxcene and Jumite and their kids...they are so cool!
Met an awesome family who knows members that I know in Brussels

It was an awesome week and it so different to serve in Paris.  This week we have zone conference and then our last interviews with President Poznanski.  Thanks so much for your love, prayers and support.  Till next week!

Love...Elder Player

Cool house in France

Colza Fields

Double Rainbow over our apartment!

Waiting for the Elders to pick us up in Troyes

This is after running for the train...
we're pooped!

Bonjour from Paris

I hope you all had a Happy Easter yesterday.  This was definitely a different Easter than previous ones but it was great and I'm so happy to be here in Nogent!  We've had a great 5 days together and cannot wait to see the amazing things that will happen here.  Here's a little bit about our week:

Last Monday and Tuesday were full of talking to members and having FHE's which were great!  It was a busy few days and a great way to finish in Rouen.  I've come to love these people so much and it was hard to say goodbye but I know change is good!  Tuesday night was full of packing and Elder Johnson acquired a lot of things that wouldn't fit in my bags.  Ready for the weight of my two BIG bags and a duffel I bought...166 lbs. Yes, absolutely crazy and my goal is to never have that much to carry around again! Luckily, Elder Johnson didn't have luggage going to Paris and the three others Elders were there to help me bring it back to the apartment.  No wheels broke so it was a success!

Wednesday, after getting to the Gare, I got my Navigo (metro pass for Paris which equals freedom to go anywhere in Paris on P-days) and then I had to say goodbye to my "son", Elder Johnson.  That was really hard but I know that he's going to kill it in Rouen with his new companion and I'm so grateful I got to be his "dad" and companion.  Then, I met Elder Alexander, my new companion.  Elder Alexander is from Las Vegas, NV and is awesome!  He's a recent convert to the church and I'm so excited to be with him this transfer.  This will be his 4th transfer here in Nogent.  We live with Elder Utahia, from Tahiti, in his 6 transfer and Elder Whatcott, from Boston, who is in his 16 and final transfer.  The two Elders who live with us are actually the missionaries for Aulnay.  They travel 45 minutes to their area every day to do contacting.  Our apartment is awesome and right off the RER (metro).  It is next to Aushan and a mall and only 4 stops from downtown Paris (15 mins.)  It's huge with rooms for each companionship to study, a big bathroom, huge kitchen and a huge living room that is the area for sleeping with super nice beds!  So to say the least, I am happy!  After we ate something we went out and did some contacting and to see the church.  Our chapel is the 3rd oldest in France and is very nice.  Our ward has about 160 active members and a total of 533 members.  (We definitely have some re-activation to work on.)  That night we had a FHE with the Kusseling family.  I found out that Frere Kusseling is the CFO of BMW here and also stated the KFC Franchises in France! He's so awesome and his family is so nice and humble.  He's our and mission leader and I'm so excited to work with him and his family!

The next few days involved contacting, visiting amis, FHE's and lots of other things.  Here are just a few things I want to share...

Friday morning we went out contacting to a neighborhood called Vincennes.  As we came out of the metro, there in the background, was the Eiffel Tower.  Pretty Crazy!  At the end of a few hours we took the metro back and took the wrong exit.  As we walked towards the RER we were stopped by Mararelia.  She asked, "Are you the Elders?"  We said yes and she asked where the church was because she wants to come but couldn't find it.  We asked if she was a baptized member and she said, "No, but I want to be baptized as fast as possible!"  We were in shock and so excited.  We took down her information and told her we would have the sisters call her and come see her.  As we left she asked if we needed anything because in Brazil (She's from Rio) they always help out the missionaries and if we ever needed ANYTHING to call her!  On Sunday we got a call from the Soeurs, one who was Soeur Castillo, telling us that she had come to church and later in the day they had a FHE with her and she wanted to be baptized.  So amazing!  We take a wrong exit, meet Mararelia and she wants to be baptized.  God knows us and our personalities and people are prepared and put in our path.  So cool and a testimony builder.

The rest of the week was like that...people were put in our path everyday and we are so grateful for the Lord and his outpouring of blessings on us.  Yesterday we were stopped by a man that asked if we believed in God and why wasn't God helping him.  He wants to talk more to us.  Saturday morning we were contacting a lady who had been fasting for 3 days to prepare for Easter.  As we started talking about the Restoration she asked if we believed in prophets.  When we said yes she said, "I know this is true!"  Her husband is American and lives in New Jersey.  As we had a prayer with her on the street the clouds opened up and the sun came out as we said "Amen".  She said, "That's God saying that he agrees with what we have talked about!"  I'm stoked to teach her Tuesday.  We've made contact with amis that haven't been seen in 2+ years who are interested to learn and talk about the gospel.  I really can't explain how blessed we have been in the last few days!

I'm so excited to be here and work and learn from all the people in Nogent.  I know there are people who are ready to receive the gospel and it's our goal to find and help them.  It's going to be great to live with these three Elders plus have amazing P-days in Paris!  Today we are going to the  Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees!  Thanks for all the emails, love and support.  Have a great week and know that I pray for you all!

Love...Elder Player

Funny/Awkward moment for the week...Yesterday before I was going to give my introduction to the ward I was asked to give a long testimony about Easter because a talk fell through.  Everything went great (pretty good French) but at the end I said, "In the name of thy son, Jesus Christ, Amen."  I guess that goes to show that we pray a lot...Haha!

Leaving Rouen with 166 lbs. of luggage!

Frere Auger saying goodbye at the Gare

Contacting with the Eiffel Tower
in the background!

View from our apartment

Meet Elder Alexander

Transfer 8 and I'm off to...

Bonjour, tout le monde encore!  I hope you've had a great week.  It's been a week full of goodbyes and miracles as we prepare for Easter.  We've been setting up our FHE's and have 5 out of 7 set up.  But now it's official...I'm leaving Rouen after almost 6 months here.  Before I say where I'm off to I'll share some highlights of our week!

After P-Day last week we were asked by the Soeurs to go and give a blessing to one of their members. They visit this member every week, Brother Arnold.  We went off to the hospital to see him.  When we arrived he was expecting us and excited to see us.  We asked if we could give him a priesthood blessing and explained that this is the same priesthood that Christ and His disciples used.  He asked for a blessing and right after he said, "Wow!  That gave me hope and was good for me."  We stayed and talked with him and learned that he "believed" but was not active.  We asked questions and learned that because of stress from work he now had a blood clot in his brain and it was very serious.  He told us that he used to pray and read the scriptures and that it helped him a lot.  We talked about the Book of Mormon and how it helps us, strengthens our families, and gives us peace.  He was so excited to start reading the Book of Mormon that night.  The Soeurs are still teaching him and he's really excited about the gospel and how it can help him and his family.

Wednesday night we went to an area, Bonsecours, where the Warenghien family had prayed and felt like we should go there.  We took the bus and we stopped at a neighborhood with newer homes and where we felt there might be young families.  After checking to see when the last bus stop was we realized we only had 25 minutes to port.  The first house was a young family with 4 or 5 kids.  They had met the "mormons" before and were interested to hear more about it when the husband was there.  We were able to port 8 house and 3 families were interested and want us to come back this week.  It was so awesome that in 25 minutes we could find three young families and shows us again that amazing miracles happen when members and missionaries come together.

Thursday night we had a "frudge" (no show) and decided to go do some porting in the hour we had left.  We decided to go close to our apartment but no one seemed interested and expressed that we were interrupting their dinners.  At 8:55, always the last few minutes and when your faith has been tested, we saw a family walking down the street.  They didn't speak French very well but spoke Romanian.  We didn't speak Romanian so we asked if we could come back and share some stuff in Romanian.  The husband said "no" but the wife said "yes, he doesn't know what your saying."  They have 3 children so we will pass by and teach them this week with Romanian supplies on board.  Wish us luck!

A few more highlights:
...Gabriel came to church again and asked awesome questions about the priesthood.  We watched, "Finding Faith in Christ" and now the goal is to re-activate him and help him receive the priesthood.
...Thierry made the decision to quit drinking coffee and said he knew he could do it with the help of the Lord!  Awesome rendez-vous!
...WE ate with the Warenghien family on Saturday and had crab/avocado salad, steaks with pepper sauce and dijon mustard, potatoes, cheese, bread, fresh fruit and madelines for dessert.  Yummy!

Yesterday (Sunday) was filled with pictures of people I've come to love and saying goodbye to them.  Wilfried bore his testimony, that was awesome, and Ezechias and Romain were all there too.  I'm so thankful to have met these amazing people.  The pictures will do most of the taking this week and now I'm off to Nogent, France.  It is just outside of Paris and we will have metro passes to go anywhere in Paris on P-days.  It's only 15-20 minutes away by metro.  Soeur Berge started her mission there and said it's an awesome, huge ward with lots of young families and said that I'll love it!  Wednesday morning I'll be off for Nogent and start a new journey there.  We will have a 4 man apartment and my new companion is Elder Alexander. More info next week!

I hope you all have a great Easter and know how much I love you all.  If you have a few minutes send me a letter at my new address:
Les Missionnaries
Elder Chase Player
33, Rue Maximilien Robespierre
94120 Fontenay Sous Bois
France

Much Love...
Elder Player

The Barnjak Family

The Bitanga Family
I love this family so much.  They've been
like my parents here in Rouen!

Cool Forest we found while porting!

The Famous Warenghien's!

District 6 picture with Transfer Numbers!
Sisters were at a conference!

Frere Dupre

Convert Sunday School Class

My 3 Converts in Rouen

In front of our Apartment in Rouen

Gabriel and moi!

Transfer prophecies in my BuBu

Little island in Rouen!

Porting in France with the trees in blossom!

Testimonies of Amis and Prophets

Bonjour! Tout Le Monde!  I hope you've had a great week and got to enjoy general Conference this past weekend.  When conference rolls around each six months it's like little kids on Christmas morning for the missionaries.  It was worth the wait and not a let down.!  All the messages were so great and I'm so grateful for our leaders and the inspiration they have.  As for this week, it was great and still shocks me that it's already Monday again.

Last Monday after P-day we had FHE with the Bitanga family, Romain and Wilfried.  The spiritual thought was President Uchtdorf's talk, "Come and Join With Us" from last conference.  He tells the story of a couple that asks about the church and all the things that are required by members and finally the couple asks, "So, why are you members of the Church?"  That was the question we asked for each of us.  "Why are you a member of the Church?"  We went around the table and each person expressed their feelings and thoughts and it turned into a testimony meeting.  It was so awesome to hear Romain and Wilfried's testimonies.  It's amazing to see how the Gospel can change someone's life and bring them so much joy.  I'm so grateful for the chance we have to see that change happen in peoples lives.

As the week continued we visited members, new converts and less active members and had some great success with them.  We were able to teach the most lessons ever to the less active and new converts.  Two of them were able to come to Conference yesterday.  We asked members this week to think of a friend they can invite to FHE before Easter.  It goes along perfectly with Elder Ballard's talk from yesterday.  If everyone will reach out 4 times a year and invite someone to church or to be taught by the missionaries we will see great blessings and an outpouring of his Spirit in our lives!  This week we are praying and working with the members to set FHE dates for the next week.  One of the things we were asked by President Poznanski was to ask members to pray for a street name that we could port on in their neighborhood and we have seen success there.

It is true, just as President Monson said last conference and emphasized this conference, that "Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord's vineyard to bring souls unto Him.  He has prepared the means for us to share the gospel in a multitude of ways and He will assist us in our labors if we will act in faith to fulfill His work."  Over the last few weeks we have worked with members and we have seen miracles.  It is when we come together and combine our efforts that we will see lives changed and people brought to Christ.  The last week we were able to port a street that Tarolin had prayed about that wasn't far from his house.  We met one family that let us in and Saturday afternoon was no different.  Each family was so kind to us and encouraged us even when they were not interested.  As we ported, we met a man by the name of Christian spoke to us for about 20 minutes at his door.  We learned that he had lost his daughter when she was younger and had hatred in his heart against God for taking his daughter.  As we talked we asked if he would like to have this feeling taken from him.  He said, "yes" and we explained that it's possible by the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  He said it is difficult to believe in these things since he is a man of science but he was willing to listen and this week we are super excited to be going back to talk and follow up on the brochure, "The Plan of Salvation" we left with him.

Finally, this weekend was General Conference.  It was such an inspiring weekend and full of things to re-charge and give motivation to us to continue to become more like Christ.  I hope you all got to see or listen to it and if not take time to because I know that there is a message for you.  We were with Wilfried for Conference at Frere Auger's on Saturday might and at the end he said, "That wasn't too bad!  I didn't know what to expect and I had so many questions at the beginning but every single one was answered."  Wilfried has only been a member for a week and so if he can find answers so can we find answers to the questions we have.

The work here in Rouen is going great and we are continuing to be blessed by the Lord.  I'm so grateful to be here with Elder Johnson and still have the goal to have him try some crazy food before I leave, like escargots.  We'll see if I can make it happen.  Thanks for your love and support and have a great week.

Love you...Elder Player

District picture with the number of transfers!

General Conference with the Soeurs

Operation communication with Frere Auger

Cool French house!

Rainbow over Rouen!