Count Your Many Blessings

Streets of Nancy

Bonjour tout le monde!  I can see from the email and pictures you have sent this week that many of you have got snow!  I'm so jealous since I haven't seen snow since the winter before I left and I love the snow! I have my fingers crossed that we will see some this year since I'm in the East of France!  This week has been great and very busy.  We have had some spiritual moments and some interesting ones too!

We got to go and teach Rene, a recent convert, who attended the temple in Switzerland with the YSA to do baptisms.  Man, was he excited!  He kept telling us how amazing it was and that the Spirit of The Lord was there and it was for sure the House of the Lord!  He went and taught with us that night and kept telling our ami that there was nothing else like it and no other church could bring them to feel that Spirit which he had felt in the temple...Only the true church of God could!  He can't wait to go next summer and receive his  own endowments!

We taught a new family this week that we were able to find a few weeks ago on exchanges.  We called and asked for directions and the directions we received were to go behind the prison and then we would see a camp with trailers.  A little hesitant we took the bus to the prison (which was very nice, I must say) and then went behind the prison.  We walked to what we thought was a camp of trailers and were surprised to see that it was very nice, organized with gates and a fence.  We found out we weren't in the right camp and so we continued to search.  We eventually got there and it was like watching a movie with shelters after a hurricane.  Tarps were on the trailers and mud was everywhere.  Everyone came out of their trailers and looked at us like, "What are they doing here?"  Then we saw Christian and his family.  He invited us into his trailer and we met his wife, 3 children and a friend.  We sat on two beds around a little heater in the the dark.  They explained that they turned on the lights for three hours a night because that was all the gas they could afford to fill the generator.  This family had almost nothing but as we talked to them they offered us a drink.  We kept saying "no" but they insisted and pulled out a half liter of coke and poured us two cups worth.  We were able to teach and pray with them and they are the nicest people, who believe in Christ and have a firm belief in his teachings.  Even though they don't have much, in the sense of worldly things, they are rich in spirit and happy.  They are thankful for three hours of light each day, the little heater, and more than anything else, each other.  When we told them we could come back and bring books for them they were so excited.  We can't wait to go back and see them on Tuesday. They walked us back out of the camp and gave us directions to get back to the bus.  We were kind of in shock. This was, for both of us, the poorest conditions we had ever been in.  We have taught in the streets, sat in an apartment sitting on newspapers but this was something else.  These people were happier than even the richest people we've taught and grateful for even the smallest blessings, which many of us take for granted, like lights, heat and water.  It was a moment for us to "count our many blessings" and be so thankful for all that the Lord has given to us.

With Thanksgiving almost here, I invite each of us to take a moment and look at all of our blessings, even during the hard times.  President Uctdorf said, "How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain?"  

I want each of you to know that when I count my blessings I count all of you twice.  Thanks you for all you do for me.  I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Love...

Elder Player

Highlights:

*Went to Paris on Friday for mission council

*Mission Conference with Elder Cook this week...it will be the first time the mission has all been together in over 3 years.  The mission, with couples, is over 280 people.  It is going to be so awesome and everyone is so excited.  It took some major planning to make it happen!

*FHE tonight with a member

*Some great exchanges planned for this week

Elder Gram and I start our third transfer together!

Singing in the Rain

District Picture with number of transfers!

Bonjour tout le monde!  I hope you have had a great week.  It's been an awesome week here in Nancy!  It's the start of another transfer so let me share that news first.  We all thought Elder Gram would be leaving for sure.  He has done four transfers here but, to our shock, he is staying another transfer.  I can't wait to see what is waiting for the two of us this transfer.

Last week was a week of miracles for our zone.  Every day we had a challenge for something specific and then we all shared what miracles had happened throughout the week.  It was amazing to see the contacts and experiences the Lord gave to us.  Fall/Winter has arrived and so that has meant rain every day, not a sprinkle but a downpour!  That didn't stop us.  We decided we'd contact people through "singing in the rain"!  One night with an hour to go before a rendez-vous we started contacting by telling people how music really brings the spirit and peace into our lives.  We asked if we could sing for them, which is strange anywhere, but very strange in France.  Even caroling at Christmas is not a thing here.  But it worked.  Within the hour we were able to sing for three people and teach them a lesson right there on the street under our umbrellas.  One of the ladies we sang for said, "I am a member of your church but not active for quite some time."  Of all the streets, and all the people we sang for this lady, who is a member of our church, she accepted for us to come and talk to her and her family at another time.  It was so cool and even the ones that didn't want us to sing for them were interested to talk with us again at another time.

Later in the week we had an hour and a half before we had a FHE with a member so we decided to go and do some knocking on doors.  We found an apartment building where someone was going in so we followed and started at the top of the building.  The first few people weren't interested but we were able to teach 3 lessons in about the last 25 minutes.  It was awesome and one of the people we taught was named Ami. Crazy since we call our investigators our amis or friends.  So, we made Ami a new ami and can't wait to teach him again.!

We had three FHE's this week with members and two of them have children that are not members so we were able to teach them and invite them to come to church.  At the third FHE there was a less active family with a 17 year old son that we invited to Samedi Sports (Saturday Sports) and he came and then came to church on Sunday!  Awesome!

Highlights:
*Continued to teach our recent converts and one of them is going to the temple with the YSA to do baptisms in Switzerland tomorrow.
*The souers had a baptism this week with an awesome family we have all come to love.  They are from Albania!
*Refound an old ami, Jimmy, who hasn't been taught in over three years.  He was super excited to have the missionaries come again and wants to meet every week!
*There were a few demonstrations this week.  One was an agricultural demonstration that shut the city down because it was overrun by tractors.  It was one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen.
*Had 2 no shows with an inactive member who recently told us he didn't want to continue having us teach him.  We were so disappointed but then he, Phillipe, text us and asked us to come over and is interested in learning again. #tendermercy

It was an amazing week with blessings from the Lord.  This week we go to Paris on Friday for a mission council so that'll be awesome.  Have a great week and know that I love you lots.

Love...
Elder Player

Checking a map with a new pastry!

Here is the blackberry macaroon up close!  Yum!

Elder Utahia's cousin at Saturday Sports!

Agricultural Demonstration...Bizarre!

Tender Mercies of the Lord

Fall in France

 Bonjour!  This week has been a great week and one full of blessings from the Lord in small things, like a bus running late so we made it home on time, to big things.  They were all "Tender Mercies" of the Lord and that's what I want to share with you this week!

First of all...What is a tender mercy?  Elder Bednar helps us out with that.  He said, "Through personal study, observation, pondering and prayer I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord's tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving kindnesses, consolation, support and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ.  Truly, the Lord suits "his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men."

I was able to recognize some tender mercies this week.  The members here in Nancy are awesome and when I read the words, "support and loving kindnesses" it made we think of our members here.  This week we were able to go and be with quite a few members.  We joined with the L'Homel family for FHE and had a great evening with raclette! (That was the cherry on top) We, also, spent an evening with our bishop and a less active member where we were able to feel the spirit and they made us feel like we were at our homes and really took an interest in our lives and our work as missionaries!

On Wednesday we had Zone Conference and again saw the hand of the Lord.  Tuesday we spent quite a bit of time getting ready for it and thankfully the bus came a few minutes late that evening so that we made it home on time.  The conference was great and President and Soeur Babin were awesome.  It is always nice to be with them and have an interview to see how we can improve and what we can do better as missionaries.

We were blessed with "tender mercies" as we contacted and in our daily life.  We were able to go on exchanges with the elders of Saint Die.  I was with Elder Sanchez and we spent a fair amount of time contacting.  Early in the morning we felt like we needed to contact these two men who didn't look very friendly, to say the least.  We were able to talk to them for over 30 minutes and even though nothing really came out of it we knew we had followed a prompting.  For me, I think it was to see if we would follow a prompting so that when we met Alex later we would be ready.  Alex, didn't believe in God 4 weeks ago but was invited to go with his friend to church and now, in just 4 weeks, he has gained a testimony that God is real, that he loves us and he is starting to feel real happiness in his life.  It was so cool and we were able to talk about our church and what we believe and he is interested to learn more.  He was our last contact of the day and a great way to end our exchange.

Later in the week after a very long day and 5 rendez-vous that had fallen through it was 8:40 p.m. and we felt like we'd just been walking around all day and were exhausted.  We sat on a bench and then looked at each and realized we needed help.  We said a little prayer to give us help to keep going for the last twenty minutes and to find someone to talk to that was interested.  We hopped up with a little more adrenaline and 5 minutes later we met Nordine.  Wow!  To say the least, it was a great contact and he taught us about apostasy and how God has always called prophets.  When we talked about eternal families he loved that and said that his church had that one hole because it didn't have that.  Elder Gram and I kept looking over at each other like, "Is this really happening?"  It was awesome and we were able to pray with him there on the street and teach a quick restoration lesson.  I know that God hears and answers our prayers.  If we ask with faith, knowing that he will answer, he will give us what we need, in his time, often through a tender mercy.

That's all I have time to share but try to recognize the hand of the Lord in your lives.  You will see how much he loves you and knows you personally from the tender mercies which he extends to each one of you.

"We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord's tender mercies.  The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live.  When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when moral experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance." ...Elder Bednar

I hope you all have a great week, remember that I love you all.

Love...Elder Player

The river Meurthe in Nancy

FHE with the L'Homel family

Exchange with Elder Sanchez

Exchange Miracles

Bonjour tout le monde!  I hope you are having a great day as you read this.  Our week has been very busy and there is lots to share...

We had 3 exchanges where I got to work with 4 awesome missionaries!  The first one was with Elder Johnson who is serving in Versailles right now as an assistant.  We had an awesome exchange.  We saw a couple of our recent converts and one miracle we had was while trying to get into a building to visit a recent convert we couldn't get in because he wasn't responding to our call at the door to open the main door.  A person came up and let us go in with them and so we were able to go to his door and knock but nobody answered.  We waited about two minutes and his neighbor, who was leaving, said, "You're the Mormons aren't you?"  We said, "Yes, people often call us that!"  We asked how he knew us and he started talking about Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.  To say the least, we were pretty surprised. and then came the real doozy.  He brought up the miracle of the seagulls eating the grasshoppers and how that was so amazing.  He said he didn't have much time but when we asked if we could come back and talk with him he said he'd love that.  The Lord always seems to put us somewhere that he has already prepared someone even if it wasn't what we thought it would be!

The next exchange was with Elder Hansen who is serving in Epinal right now but we worked here in Nancy. That night we planned to go and contact a referral that we had received but the phone number wasn't valid. We decided to take the bus, an hour away, to a tiny village named Vic sur Seille.  When we thought it was about time to be at our stop we asked a man if this was the stop Rue de Metz.  He replied yes and so we got off but quickly saw signs that indicated it wasn't our stop.  We were about 10 minutes, by freeway, from Vic Sur Seille and the next bus was an hour and a half out.  We started to ask how we could walk to Vic Sur Seille and the first two people looked at us like we were crazy.  The third person we asked said he didn't know but he was going there and we could hitch a ride with him.  So we accepted a ride and made it there at about the same time as the bus.  We started looking for the referral with the address we had but sadly he didn't live in either place that matched our address.  We decided to do some porting while we waited for a member to give us a ride home.  (Buses don't run after 6 p.m. going to Nancy)  We ported for about 30 minutes and decided we had time for one more home.  We knocked on the door and an 11 year old boy came down and started talking to us.  We asked if his parents were home and he said, "My mom is in the restaurant/kebap shop in front.  Do you want to talk to her?"   Of course we said yes.  He then led us into the kebap shop and his mom was wearing a Muslim burka and was preparing food for a customer.  We waited and talked to her son.  We were able to talk to her and she was in shock that Americans had knocked on their door in this small ville.  We talked about prayer and it was an awesome short lesson.  We were able to pray with them all huddled around in the kebap shop.  It was a sight to see.  It was an awesome way to end the night and a great exchange.

The third exchange was with two Elders here in Nancy.  Elder Pumford and Elder Ursua.  Elder Gram was off to Paris for the day and night to take the ACT for his application to BYU.  It was weird being a trio but a good experience.  We had some awesome lessons, one which was with their ami who is very French and a practicing catholic named Pierre.  We were able to talk about coming to church and the D&C.  And guess what?  A miracle happened and he came to church yesterday.  They are excited to be teaching him again this week.

That finished up the exchanges but there was still one more miracle.  Willy, who we thought was single, is a father of 10 and his sister was also there.  We started with prayer and then his friend and a few of his children came over.  We were able to teach 9 adults the restoration and it went so well.  They all loved the message and said they'd pray to know about Joseph Smith and tomorrow we are going back to continue teaching them. We can't wait!

This coming week we have Zone Conference in Nancy and interviews with President and Soeur Babin and another exchange in St. Die.  Tonight we get to go to the L'Homels home for FHE and have a raclette. (They are so delicious)  Looking forward to another great week.  Have a Happy Halloween wherever you are and know that I love and miss you all.  Till next week...

Love,
Elder Player

This is our chapel.
We are carrying in potatoes for the meeting!

Vic Sur Seille with Elder Hansen

Cathedral St. Epvre in Nancy

The Temple Brings Blessings

This is a picture of what the temple in Paris, France will look like!

Bonjour tout le monde!  This week has flown by and it has been another great week!  Let me start with some of the highlights!

Highlights:

*Had a great exchange with Elder Garcia from Epinal and we went to Toul to do a baptismal interview for the Sisters ami.

*Went to Emmanual's baptism and his dad who has been inactive is working at coming back and was able to baptize him...The mom and two other children are now interested too!

*Visited our recent converts and they are continuing to grow, especially Marie-Line.  We had a great lesson with her and Frere Clavey by watching President Monson's, "I Will Not Fail Thee nor Forsake Thee!  What a great talk (If you haven't read it and need some encouragement be sure to look it up...October General Conference 2013)

*Spent a lot of time with members this week with teaching, service, ward council, Saturday Sports and a ward picnic yesterday.  They are all so great and I love them more every time I get to be with them!

Now let me share two cool experiences we had this week.  The first one was at night when we had a few rendez-vous set up but no one was home and no one answered their phone.  So we went porting and after a long night of "no" we were on our way home and met Nicholas!  Nicholas is about 30, French, and we asked him if he had any experience with prayer.  He told us yes and how it had changed his life and how the scriptures had helped him.  Now he was praying that he'd be able to quit smoking and we testified that we knew he could overcome smoking and he asked if we could see him again.  We are excited to see him this week when he gets back from Paris!

The second awesome experience was with Kantinzo and Fat.  They are the family we found last week when we helped carry up bunk beds to their apartment.  We were able to teach them and the lesson went great.  They had so many questions and we even talked about temples with them, which is rare on a first lesson.  It all seemed to click and they want to come to church and know more.  At the end they asked, "So if we become a mormon the goal would be for all of us to go to the temple and be sealed for all eternity, right?" "YES!" we responded and it was so awesome!  we can't wait to teach them this week!  Then this morning while studying I found this to go along with the blessings of temples. I found the scripture in D&C 109 that is the Dedicatory prayer at the Kirkland Temple that Joseph Smith gave.  It says, (22) And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them: (23) And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfill that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days"

I love this promise and it is something that I know is true.  The Spirit bore testimony of it during our lesson with this great family.  The temple can bring a power, glory, and angels into our lives that no other place can.  The members here are so excited to have their first temple here in Paris in 2016.  They know it will bring blessings to them all.  I hope that we all take the opportunity to fully partake of the blessings that the Lord has in store for us by going to the temple regularly.  It will strengthen us and give us the power we all need in these last days.  How blessed we are in Utah to have 14 temples. many of which are just a short drive, or walk, from us.  Take the time and partake of the blessings and protection the Lord has promised.

Thanks for all you do for me and for all your prayers.  I hope your week is a good one...till next week!

Love you all...

Elder Player   

 Porting in Dimanche

                                                                      Downtown Toul

                                                    Cathedral right next to our apartment!

Late Night Miracles

Crazy Bridge!

Elder Puairau and me in Mulhouse!

Salut tout le monde!  I hope you have had great week!  It's been a super busy one here and we've had some amazing experiences I can't wait to tell you about!

This week was full of travel.  Tuesday we went to Metz to get new furniture for our apartment with the Gionet couple, Wednesday to Mulhouse for exchanges and St. Die too!  3 different villes and 3 different beds!  We did it all and made it back safe and sound to Nancy and got to sleep in our own beds! (Although, getting back was difficult with a cancelled train)  After we got back from the Metz we had a lesson with Francis and then as we got off the bus by our apartment it was 8:57.  So we had three minutes to talk to people.  The first man didn't have time but then we met Michel.  He asked us if we were the Mormons and when we said yes and asked him how he knew he shared with us that he knew a member and had come to church quite a few times twenty years ago.  He was even taught by the missionaries here in Nancy and had read a large portion of the Book of Mormon!  He had moved to Paris and lost contact but said he would like to meet with the missionaries again and come to church.  We were able to take his information to give to the missionaries in Paris.

Luckily our apartment is right next to the gare so we can leave 10 minutes before it leaves. It is a nice walk, get on the train and take off.  (I don't think flying will ever make sense to me with the "two hours in advance" policy again!)  Wednesday morning we were leaving the apartment for the 10 minute nice walk that changed to a fast paced sprint when our elevator didn't open up in our building till 8:11 and the train leaves at 8:15 and we still needed to print tickets.  As the elevator doors opened we ran, with our bags, as fast as we could to the ticket machines.  Of course, one of the two machines was being used so Elder Gram started to print his ticket and finally at 8:14 it was ready.  Luckily we were right next to the platform for the train so he ran ahead and said he would hold the doors.  I rushed to print my ticket and it seemed to take forever to print and the train whistle was blowing for the train to leave and the doors to close.  Could the machine go any slower?  Finally, with ticket in hand I grabbed my bag and bolted for the last door that Elder Gram was holding open.  The agent seemed less than happy but we made it and the other guy, who was running late, was glad the door was still open too! Thankfully, Elder Gram wasn't fined for holding the door open!

In Mulhouse we had awesome exchanges.  Elder Gram was with Elder Smith, who just got here last week, and I was with Elder Puairau who is from Tahiti.  We were able to teach their ami, Antonio, and had a great lesson and also see the Hoxja family who were baptized a few weeks ago.  What an awesome, strong family in the church!  We finished the night by contacting and we were able to meet Magali.  She is super cool and super interested.  We testified how the family can be together long after this life and she was excited to learn more and have us pray with her.  I can't wait to have the sisters teach her more.  After our exchanges we boarded our train to head home.  It was a TGV train to Frankfurt and Elder Gram lives in Frankfurt so if we had stayed on he would have been home for dinner two hours later.  But of course, we got off the train in Nancy and made our way home!

Saturday night, right after two rendez-vous with two recent converts, we had 30 minutes left and decided to contact.  We saw a little street and as we went around a corner we saw two men trying to life a heavy box of bunk beds.  It was a perfect service opportunity!  We ran up and asked if we could help them.  They accepted and we helped carry the boxes up the stairs and into an apartment where they invited us in and gave us a drink.  We found out that they had also been taught by missionaries years ago and one of them had a wife and three children.  We were able to talk to them and sing for them.  By the end they were taking pictures with us and we have a rendez-vous with both Willy and the family of 5 this week.  We can't wait!

The Lord has been so good to us and I've learned so much.  If you keep going and going there is always a blessing, miracle, or person waiting at 8:57!

Highlights...
*In St. Die I got to go to a mangez-vous (meal) with Elder Miller!  When we got back to the apartment it was pouring rain and we realized the other Elders had the keys.  We called to see how close they were and they informed us they had a flat tire and would be a while!
*Did some porting in a cool area with a cool bridge (See Picture)
*Had fun doing service with one of the members and seeing Elder Ursua and Elder Pumford dressed up in, what looked like, Hazmat suits.  Sadly, I didn't get a picture of that!

The work is going great here and we are continually blessed by the Lord.  I hope you all have a great week and know how much I love, miss you and am grateful for all you do.  Till next week...

Love...
Elder Player

New furniture in our apartment!

Car ride home with new furniture!

The Gospel Can Change People

Bonjour Tout le monde!  I hope you have all had a great weekend especially with the awesome conference that we were able to watch this weekend.  Conference weekends are like Christmas for the missionaries.
So, we are all super happy right now!  We have had an awesome week with some miracles that I would like to share...

Tuesday we had the best lesson ever with Marie-line.  It was filled with the spirit and at the end you could see that a lot of the stress she has had was gone and she was being comforted.  It was so awesome!  We also had a rendez-vous with Francis, a recent convert, and when we arrived his friend, Oliver, was there and he decided to stay for the first time.  We changed our plans and explained why we were there, sang for him and watched a Mormon Message that gives a brief summary of the Book of Mormon.  If you haven't seen it I'd recommend it. (Here's the link - http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages
v=1256696369001)  After we watched the video he was super open and said he would like to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it.  We were so happy and we know the Lord softened his heart.  Later in the week we went and saw him again and he had read in Alma 40, which he said had answered a lot of his questions.  He wants to keep learning more and so we taught about the restoration and Joseph Smith.  He loved it and said if he continues to know these things are true he'd be baptized.  What a miracle!  Peoples hearts can change so never give up or stop having hope if they don't accept it the first time!

Thursday we had a fun lesson with a recent convert, his brother and family (who are members) and made "faith" plants.  After that we went porting for an hour and a half.  The first man said no, through a window, and we moved on.  The next door we knocked on was a woman, Caroline.  She came out and started to talk to us in English, French and German, for Elder Gram.  We talked for some time and then her husband came out.  We were sure he would tell us that they weren't interested but instead he joined the conversation. They invited us in for a drink and dessert and expressed interest to know what we believed.  They are such a cool family.  By the end the spirit was there and they could feel something.  They took the family proclamation and Caroline said she would try to come to church.  We are praying that they will come to church or call us soon!

Highlights from the week:
*Had an awesome lesson with the Pierrel family and for the first time the mom, Michele, listened in.  She said that the gospel has changed her children and husband's lives since the missionaries have been coming and that the change was for the better.
*Contacted a cool man and his daughter, Riad, who were very open and we were able to teach them on the spot and get his number and address to go see them this week!
*Marie's baptism was validated by the bishop and counselors and so she and Jean Claude, her husband, will receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost next week!
*Went to Paris to hear President and Soeur Babin speak - they are awesome leaders and I'm grateful for them.
*Got to watch 4 out of 5 conference sessions and had 12 elders in our apartment Saturday night so they could watch conference on the weekend.
*Had an awesome FHE with the L'homel family and ate with the Carmona's later in the week.

It's been a good week.  I hope you have a good week and know how much I love and miss you all.  Thanks for all your support.  Till next week...

Love,
Elder Player

Soeur Mangum and her companion
Her brother lives by my sister, Lisa

12 Elder at our apartment on Saturday night
so we could watch conference on Sunday