Friday, November 28, 2014

Week 8 - November 24 - Evry



Second Week in France!!

This week was a pretty good one!
Monday: p-day!! Super chill day, just got up did our studies, cleaned up the apartment, and went shopping for most of the day. I got a sweet french coat and some pants. After that we emailed and then we had family home evening with the investigators and taught the ten commandments.
Tuesday: We went contacting this day for so long. We talked to probably a million people and didn't have one interested person. Then at night we went door to door and we didn't even come close to getting into anyone's house. Rough day!
Wednesday and Thursday: These two day's I figured out how inconvenient exchanges are. For this exchange I had to pack my bags and go to a city called Melun about an hour away from Evry with this New Zealand kid that did not like me for some reason. We got to the apartment, ate some food and then left to go contacting. After contacting we talked to a black lady that hasn't been coming to church and was just recently baptised. We taught her the word of wisdom and she doesn't want to give up her coffee that she has every morning. After that I had to sit through a 2 hour DMP meeting and talk about the needs of the investigators that are for the missionaries in Melun. After that we went back to the apartment and had to wait for missionaries staying the night with us to go and hear Elder Cook from the quorum of the 12 that following morning because they didn't know where the apartment was. At midnight they called us to pick them up from the train station, so we picked them up, got to the apartment, had dinner, and ended up going to bed at 1:00 in the morning! The next day we woke up at 4:30 a.m. so we could make it on time for the conference in Versaille about 2 hours away. It was probably the worst time to do exchanges because I had to carry around my suitcase through 3 huge train stations to Versaille and back to Evry. But the conference with elder Cook was nuts. We all got to shake his hand and hear a super good talk from both him and his wife!

Friday: We went contacting for hours, then went on the busses and talked to some sweet black guys that were die hard catholic's. All we have to do when we are talking to the brotha's here is ask them if they want to talk about Jesus with us and they always are so pumped to talk to us and super nice. We had huge success buy doing this so we just ended up doing it the rest of the day! love the brotha's here.
Saturday: We did the same thing as Friday, just contacting on the busses and the streets! Pretty sweet day.
Sunday: This Sunday I didn't have any idea what was going on again but I sat next to one of our investigators Jean Louis and got to know him a little bit more, so that was good. After church we gave a blessing of comfort to this little asian lady and she was super nice. After that we went to a member's house to eat and were there for legit 5 hours! not a joke either.. the food was the best food I have ever had, but there was like ten courses and we just talked with them forever! After that we went contacting and as we were walking through this park, a guy yelled at us and said to come over to him and talk to him, we got over there and it smelt like he has been drinking a ton, but he basically told us why he is a muslim and that he has proof that his church is the only true church because he had numbers on his hands or something like that.. I didn't understand it at all. But after we told him why we believed in our church and bore our testimonies, he ended up taking a Book of Mormon! Crazy what a simple testimony can do!
love all you guys and miss you tons!!!!
love, Elder Carson

I don't know about any other missionary mom's but I have to email Jaxon 1 question per email so he will answer that question. haha. So this is one of the questions I asked this week and his reply! I love that he loves his companion. What a blessing.

Jax, hopefully this week is better for ya! You already knew it would be a tough mission. How long does elder Ireland have before he goes home?

His reply:   Its so sweet here but hard! and he leaves in like 5 months!! he knows everything there is to know about being a good missionary, I got so lucky!

(No pictures this week) boo! 

Jaxon's sister Witney won the MIRRORBALL for Dancing with the Star's and I wanted Jaxon to find out as soon as possible. So I sent an email to Sister Ponanski (they are HUGE Dancing with the Stars fans) and asked her to send a letter so he could get it quick and not have to wait until Monday to hear if she won.  She was so sweet and texted him for me.  She said he was so HAPPY for her and wanted us to send a video of her winning so he could see it.  Loved that we were able to get him the news so fast. 

Monday, November 17, 2014

Week 7 - November 17 - First week in Evry

Craziest week of my life!!


Hey Fam,

This has been the craziest week of my life!

*Tuesday: Right as we got off the plane, they gave us book's of Mormon to hand out for the train ride there. We got into the train and after sitting 10 minutes in the train I started to try and talk to people and they would just stare at me and laugh, so that kind of sucked. Then I started talking to this black dude and told him about the church and gave him the book of Mormon.  I gave him the contact information for the church in Versaille but he didn't seem interested at all.  After that we went to the mission home and president Babin said a few words and then we all walked to Notre Dame and that was pretty sick. Then we walked to the top of consecration hill and got a sweet view of Paris. After that, we went to a hotel to stay the night and it was pretty shabby.

*Wednesday: Today we found out who our trainers are and where our first area is. My trainer is Elder Ireland, a huge 6 foot 6 Canadian and way cool. I don't think I could have got a better trainer. My first area in the mission is a place called Evry, 45 minutes away from Versaille. We went to the apartment and I met the two other missionaries staying there, Elder Empey and Elder Davis. They are both way cool guys. They have all been out here forever. After I met them, we went contacting and it was so bad. I have never felt so unqualified in my life. The people here legit are the saddest people in the world. They all hated us and would laugh literally the whole time I was trying to speak. Pretty sucky night.

*Thursday: Our goal was to get at least 1 person that wanted to hear what we had to say and we wouldn't stop contacting until we found one. After contacting for 4 hours strait, we finally found a nice black guy on a bike named Bruzza and he was really interested, so we set up another time to teach him more. We contacted so long that I didn't even mind it anymore. After that we went door to door and it was crazy. Every single door that we went to told us to "de gaush", I didn't spell it right but it means "get out!". It's so nuts how angry the people are here.

*Friday: we went to an investigators house that is going to be baptised in December and we taught him the importance of prayer and the scriptures. My teaching is definitely not as good as I thought it was. we went contacting the rest of the day and no luck.

*Saturday: Saturday was pretty chill, just a baptism where I met most of the members and we went contacting again but this time we went to like to most ghetto part of Paris called Gingnre, and not one person wanted to stop and talk.

*Sunday: Sunday we went to church and I had to go up in front of the ward, bear my testimony and tell a little about myself and went through three hours of church not knowing even kind of what anyone was saying. After we went to church we went to this ladies house to give her a blessing because she was sick. We got there and she wanted me to say the blessing so I gave her one and the french was bad but it was a sweet experience.
I haven't really had any good food here yet because the missionaries in my room have already tried everything and there really isn't any really good places to eat here in Evry, so we have been making a ton of crepes and eating really strong cheese with baguettes almost every meal but its pretty good. So far I love it here and I just cant wait until I can understand the french and speak it! long ways to go but I'll survive!!!
Love all you guys so much!! 
Elder Carson

So I looked at Elder Empey's email this week and it was hilarious.  I know Jaxon is having a blast with these Elder's. I really hope they can all stay together for another transfer. They only have 4 week's until the next transfer which is short because of Christmas. Elder Davis get's to go home in December so he will for sure be leaving. Here is what I found on Elder Empey's email.   (He must of got confused with American fork and Spanish Fork)

So we got a new elder in our appt, Elder Carson. He's brand new from Spanish Fork Utah, and super cool! We played a couple of pranks on him when he first got here. Elder Ireland told him he only spoke french and then when they got to Evry he took him to our appt saying it was a referral. Elder Davis pretended to be french an I told him that I just moved here from America and don't speak any french. He gave me the whole first lesson and his personal book of Mormon and said he would just come get it later haha. they left and then came back and we were back in missionary clothes and he was pretty suprised. Elder Ireland and Davis kept pretending like they only spoke french for 2 more days after that.

I saw Austin Pitcher at the temple the day before I left the MTC.




He got to see one of his friends from American Fork who is serving in Paris France also. Elder Josh Beck.


Sight seeing and contacting with some Elder's from the MTC.



 

 A few sweet shots of Paris. You can see the Eiffel Tower far away to the right.



Louvre Palace


Jaxon inside Notre Dame.


 The inside of Notre Dame.


Elder Edmund's, Elder Taylor and Elder Carson. Companion's at the MTC. This is the outside of Notre Dame.


Evry France
 Jaxon's companion Elder Ireland (far right) and his other roomie's Elder Davis (far left) and Elder Empey (middle).



All 4 Elder's sleep in a 1 Bedroom apartment.



Our kitchen and laundry room.



A park in Evry where we usually go contacting



A street in Evry


A cool building in Evry

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Still week 6 - November 16 - Evry

 The Elder's in Jaxon's new Apartment

The things you find on other Blogs!! I love it.

I found out who the Elder's are in Jaxon's new apartment in Evry. Elder Empey has a blogspot and I found out a few things about them.  The 4 Elder's in his Apartment are Elder Ireland, Elder Carson (Jaxon), Elder Davis and Elder Empey.  I am thinking Jaxon will love his roomies. They totally seem to have the same interests as Jaxon. Joke-sters haha.  This is what Elder Empey said in his last email home on Monday.........

Wednesday will be the day when people get transferred around but ill be staying here in Evry with Elder Davis for at least another 4 weeks for sure and then I might be moved to a different city but ill probably stay another 8 weeks after that. There was only one change made in the apartment, Elder Roth is leaving to a different city and Elder Ireland will be training a "blue" here in Evry! I'm so stoked to have a missionary in the apartment that's newer than me! Makes me feel old and experienced in the mish ;) we don't know who he is yet but we have a whole bunch of pranks planned for when he shows up in 2 days haha. 

Elder Empey made a video of his apartment. I am so happy I found his Blog. I never imagined it being so tiny. Jaxon loves ping pong and I saw a little ping pong set on their dinner table. Here is the youtube link to tour their apartment. (Thank you Elder Empey)





 This is Elder Davis and Elder Empey

 


Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Evry France Packages

Thanksgiving Day Package 2014

I ordered a package from the website  

http://www.tofromus.com/ 

The previous mission President's wife started a website to send packages to the missionaries in France. She wanted to be able to help the missionary mom's find a cheaper, easier and quicker way to get packages to France. I have ordered a few from her. It was so easy and he got them within a few days. Amazing!! Here is what the Thanksgiving Day Package looks like. I also got to send a little note that she prints out to send too. I put a family recipe in the note for Pumpkin pie and Pie crust. Hopefully he will actually make one. 

 

 I also ordered a toiletries package from the same website and he received it when he arrived at the mission office. I figured he would be out of some of this stuff and this would save him some time having to go buy them.

 

Christmas Package 2014

I wanted to do the 12 days of Christmas for him and center it around the Nativity. I found the cutest Nativity on Pinterest. I don't know who made it up to give them credit, they didn't say.  I just got Candy, toys, and his favorite treats.  Christmas Eve is the 12th day of Christmas so I gave him his Jammie's on that day. TRADITION!  The idea is to take the little paper figurine off of the package and tape it on the wall to make up the Nativity. By the 12th day of Christmas, Baby Jesus is born.

This all fit in a priority box I got from the Post Office, it looks like a lot of gifts but you can see they are simple things in the picture below.


 This is the Nativity I put on all his packages


 I just went and bought some of his favorite things and a few toys for him and his companion



Oh Christmas Tree!

I don't know if they get Christmas Tree's or not but I decided to make him one. It's a Paper Tree with little Picture Ornaments of EVERY person (sisters, brothers, mom, dad, first cousins, aunts and uncles) and glued them to cupcake papers. The cupcake paper helps it to look more festive and roundy. I bought Christmas Cupcake papers at walmart. I am sending the Picture Ornaments seperate so he can decorate his tree himself.  I also am including double sided tape for him to do that and be able to hang his paper tree on the wall. I sent a picture of the tree with a note so he would know what to do. The note said "We know you can't be home this Christmas, so we're sending everyone to France to spend the holiday with you".

This is the Tree with candy cane tape for Garland. I just used Butcher paper from a craft store. I also used green polka dot tape for the stump.


This is how the finished tree will look after he puts all the ornaments on.


These are the colors of the cupcake papers and I just cut a circle of each picture and taped them in the middle of the cupcake paper. I used double sided tape.


I just folded the paper tree till it was small and put all the ornaments in a baggie with some tape. This made it easy to send.


I made a stocking for him and his companion. I don't want him to have to carry a nice stocking around the mission for 2 years so I bought him a cheap one from Target that he and his companion can just throw away.


It's tradition in our home to Wrap EVERY single item in the stocking. Only a few small candy canes are always just thrown in there. 


Final stockings ready to ship!





Week 6 - November 11 - Paris

 He has ARRIVED!!

He made it to the Mission Home. YAY! Here is the letter from the Mission President and some Pictures of him. His new Companion is Elder Ireland who I have pictures of below. He is serving in Evry for his first area.

To the Family of Elder Carson
Sister Babin and I were delighted to welcome your son , Elder Jaxon Bryan Carson , into the France Paris Mission on 11 Nov 2014. He and his MTC companions were enthusiastic and all arrived in good health.  He spent his first day eating some good food, visiting with me, contacting non-members in the heart of Paris, and sharing testimonies.  We enjoyed his spirit.
The next morning, after a mission orientation, Elder Carson left for his first assignment to work in the Evry2 4 Area with Elder Ireland, who will be his trainer.  

We feel very privileged to work with your  son .  We also realize the responsibility we share with you to help him continue to grow spiritually as he faithfully performs his duties.  May the Lord inspire us all to sustain him in this challenging and exciting assignment.  We hope you will join Sister Babin and me in praying each day for your son , his companion, investigators, and all of us serving in the France Paris Mission.

A positive, supportive letter from home every week does wonders to sustain a missionary’s morale.  Proverbs 25:25 states:  As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. If you have any questions, or if we can assist you in any way, please contact us at our office

Sincerely,
Frédéric Jean Babin
President, France Paris Mission


I also sent a package from a new website that the old mission president's wife, Sister Véronique Poznanski has started for those who live far away. It is amazing and not as expensive as sending something from the states. It will get to him within a few days of ordering. The website is www.tofromus.com. I have a link posted to this blog.  I had a question about shipping a Thanksgiving package and asked her about Jaxon's new area and if she knew his companion very well. This is what she responded to me with:


Oh great !! he will serve in a big ward where missionary work works really well!!! There are 4 elders in Evry and 2 sisters missionaries! One of the Elders, Elder Davis, was our assistant when we left, he is such a good person and elder!!! My husband has an uncle in the Evry ward and this is also the ward  President and Sister Babin come from (they still have 2 married daughters being members of this ward). There are a lot of different nationalities in this ward (many African people). And Elder Ireland is a good good missionary. He is Canadian. We can say that he is a peacemaker. He is tall not only in size but also in spirit. I am sure he will appreciate his experience !

About his Thanksgiving package the best would be to order it at the end of the week and have you seen that you can include a letter of gratitude that I can print and add to the package (it is included in the price of this package). You can send it through tofromus@gmail.com. And I know his address in Evry. No problem !
I love this lady! So excited she offers this for us.
 
This is the area in France he will be serving in. Super close to the city of Paris

Map of Évry, France 


 President and Sister Babin with Jaxon when he arrived to the Mission Home
  


 The whole group of new missionaries from the MTC



Jaxon being introduced to his Trainer at the mission home




Jaxon's new companion and Trainer, Elder Ireland


 Waiting to be introduced to his trainer. Everyone on the left side are all the new missionaries from the MTC.


This is the right side of the room and they are all trainers for the new missionaries. Elder Ireland is the one far right in the second row.




Monday, November 10, 2014

Week 6 - November 10 - Flight to France

And.... He's OFF!!
Call From the Airport!  November 10 2014 



We got our "Phone Call" from the Airport today!! I feel like Rapunzel from Tangled when she said "This is the best day of my life" haha. No seriously, it's right up there in my book of best days. I loved hearing his voice and being reassured he is doing great. He has such a great attitude and an even greater testimony. I was more worried he would be homesick but he is not. He misses us but is not homesick.  Off to Paris he goes.........


And  you better believe I am watching this flight all night till he Lands.  Haha


 He Arrived in Paris at 10:50 AM

Arrival
Airport:
Paris, France (CDG)
Scheduled Time: 11:25 AM, Nov 11
At Gate Time: 10:50 AM, Nov 11
Terminal - Gate: Terminal 2E - OP6



This is the Post that Sister Babin (Mission President's wife) posted this afternoon on the Mission Facebook page.

Dear parents,
Our new missionaries (your daughters and sons) are all well arrived.
We interviewed each of them one by one this afternoon and we are very grateful for their faith, strength and desire to share the gospel.
I did not have time to take pictures but I will do it tomorrow morning as they will meet their new colleagues.