Monday, December 29, 2014

Week 13 - December 29 - Evry

Week 7 in France!

Week 7!

Monday: P-day! Today Elder Empey and I stayed in Evry while our comps went to Paris. Empey and I just went to the mall in Evry and got a super fancy haircut, it was pretty hard to tell the guy doing my hair exactly how I wanted it but it turned out pretty good! We also went to the store and bought the board game Risk, It gets super heated when we play it so we decided to cut it down to only playing once a week.

Tuesday: Today was district meeting and we all just bore our testimonies, it was pretty good.  After that we printed off the baptism pictures for Allain (our recent convert) and went to his house, taught him and his wife, and gave them the pictures from the baptism and they loved it. After that we had 3 appointments set up and every one of them didn't show up so we did the good ol' contacting the rest of the night.

Wednesday: Today we went contacting on the train and got 3 new potentials and then headed to a members house for christmas eve and we went to some inactive member houses and sang for them. After that we went back to their house and had a good dinner. Oysters, bread, smelly cheese, and something that tasted like and looked like strait up cat food called foie gras. Apparently it's made out of bird livers.

Thursday: Today for christmas we slept in til about 9:30, then we headed over to the nicest, richest family ever. The wife was so funny, she reminded me so much of shannon. She gave us such a good lunch. Snails, crab, oysters, and some shrimp looking things. The french just eat the giant shrimp with the shells and all.. After that she let us watch Ice age 2 and made us a ton of treats while we were watching. After that we played some basketball for a while and then headed over to skype the fam! The lady that let us skype was super nice, but her husband didn't want us over there. It was pretty awkward for a while after the skype because I had to talk to the husband while she was making dinner, and he wasn't a very nice guy ha.
Super solid Christmas.

Friday: Today we had weekly planning and set up a ton of appointments and all of them except one guy Gislain made an excuse last minute or just didn't show up. We headed over to Gislains about a half hour away and got to the door and my comp turns to me and says he sharted his pants! The only guy we find that was super pumped to hear the gospel and my comp had to go and shart his pants! One of the funniest things of my entire life. After that we went Christmas caroling and everyone was so annoyed because it was the day after Christmas but one family we sang for let us in for the first time in 3 weeks! They gave us some drinks and we just talked for 30 minutes and we taught them about the Book of Mormon, invited them to go to church and they said yes. All the caroling we did finally payed off.

Saturday: Today we couldn't get anyone to teach so we went contacting forever and found some more potentials, but nothing too exciting.

Sunday: Sunday we went to church and not one of our investigators came to church. It was probably because it was so cold. But it was super solid, I am starting to understand a lot more french in the meetings. After that we set up some more appointments with potentials and they all made excuses. It's pretty frustrating because it happens way too much.

Thank you everyone for all the emails and all the support! Love all you guys!

Love, Elder Carson


Watching Ice Age 2 for Christmas in English

 

Playing basketball... Jaxon's favorite thing to do.


They ate dinner at this cute ladies house and it was all raw shrimp and shellfish. They are supposed to eat even the shell.




Jaxon eating snails!! He actually loves sea food so it was easy for him. He said they aren't that good raw.



Sunday, December 28, 2014

Week 12 - CHRISTMAS DAY - Evry

CHRISTMAS DAY

We got to Skype our Missionary today!
Here is a little snip-it of his call. We asked him to say something in french.

 


We had to take a Selfie with our Missionary! (Some of his cousins and siblings)



I made a life size Missionary Jaxon for our house. This was my Christmas Present along with his call. We love seeing his cute face standing near by.  Sometimes he freaks us out in the dark. haha. I gotta say it's awesome to have him around the house, even if it is just cardboard!


 
 I also made a Flat Elder like the "Flat Stanley" Elementary Craft. We call him "Flat Jax".  He goes everywhere with us. We saw the Christmas lights with him, he goes to our family parties and even goes to the movies with us. haha. It has been a BLAST! If you want a Flat Elder or a Flat anyone, my friend can make it for you. Just email me at jillcarson111@gmail.com for details.

Everyone wanted a picture with Flat Jax.


 Flat Jax made it to Grandma Hansen's 90th Birthday Party


He even got to sit on Santa's lap!


At the Movies with the Family on Christmas Day!





Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Week 12 - December 22 - Evry


 Christmas Week

Since I am talking to you in a couple of day's, I'm not going to send out a big email to everyone, haha.

But the coolest thing happened this week. On Friday, we got up and did our studies and I was just reading through Alma 34 and I came across the scripture Alma 34:35 through 38 and instantly thought of Jean Louis (our investigator). After studies we met with Jean Louis at the church and he told us that he isn't going to be baptized anymore because his wife forbids it.. We tried to tell him why he needs to be baptized and he still said he couldn't because his wife would leave him if he did. Ten minutes into the lesson, another one of our investigators showed up super early for the appointment so my comp said to finish the lesson with Jean Louis and he will start the lesson with the other investigator (Xavier), I was super nervous because I had no clue what to say to him so I just told him that when I was reading that morning I prayed to know what to say to him and I opened up the scripture Alma 34:35-38 and read it to him. He looked at me and told me that he has never had such a strong conviction from any elder he has ever met with. (he has been an investigator for a year now but hasn't been baptized because of his Evangelist wife..) I talked to him a little bit about how important baptism is for his salvation and what blessings come from baptism and then asked him to be baptized and he told me that he is getting baptized NO MATTER WHAT!! I asked him to say the prayer at the end of the lesson and it was the best prayer i have ever heard, the spirit was so strong. After that I prayed for like a solid 30 minutes thanking god for telling me what to say in that lesson to give him such a strong conviction.

it was definitely the craziest experience of my life.
I love you guys and I can't wait to see all of you Christmas morning!!!
Love, Jax

Monday, December 15, 2014

week 11 - December 15 - Evry

Week 5 in France

WEEK 5!  

Monday: Today was p-day and because Elder Davis was leaving home on Tuesday we went to Paris so he could see the Eiffel tower one last time. It is like one of the craziest things I have ever seen. All the buildings and all the shops and statues were super cool. After the Eiffel tower we went to the nicest Mcdonalds I have ever seen and it tasted the same as American Mccdonalds. Pretty big let down.. After that we just shopped around Paris and didn't buy anything because everything was so expensive. After that we went back to Evry to have family home evening with our investigator's and no one showed up. One of our new investigators Frank told us that he couldn't make it because he moved back to Africa! haha unbelievable..

Tuesday: Today we did just a lot of contacting and porting... We got three new potential's. In the afternoon we had an appointment with Allain, (our investigator that got baptised last Saturday) and we taught him more in depth about the priesthood because he was going to get the priesthood the next Sunday and he loved it. After that we went back to the apartment to meet the new Elder replacing Elder Davis. His name is Elder Jacobson and he is pretty cool.

Wednesday: Today we did service for an old less active couple, and it was awesome. They are re-doing their whole house with new paint so we scraped off all the old wall paper, plastered the walls and painted almost all of it. We have to go back next week to finish it. It was awesome because we got to know them super well and teach them about the birth of Christ. The wife was crying almost the whole time we were teaching them. I love doing service like that and see the love they feel from us. One of the best experience's I have had on my mish.

Thursday: Today we met with Allain to talk about the priesthood again. He was so worried about getting the priesthood. He felt like he "wasn't ready to receive such power" haha it was awesome, he feels so honored to be a part of this church and have the priesthood. After Allain, we headed down to the park to meet a guy named Michelle. We met him on the bus and he loves the bible. He carries it around with him everywhere and knows it really well. He doesn't believe in talking about spiritual things in church building's because he took a scripture out of the bible way out of context. We taught him about the restoration and he is pretty interested. He told us he is super worried about being saved and joining the right church, so he is pretty skeptical. He just needs to pray about the book!

Friday: Today we met with our other potential and he just wanted to bible bash with us and wouldn't listen to a word we said. We gave him a book of Mormon and told him to read it but he said he wouldn't and gave it back. He said he wanted to meet with us again so maybe the next one will be better! After that we had weekly and transfer planning and then went Christmas caroling.

Saturday: Today we deep cleaned the church with all the member's and not very many members showed up so it took about four hours. After that we went contacting the rest of the day and found some potential's! We still haven't found 1 white guy that want's to hear the gospel!

Sunday: We went to church, and then we met with a guy from Jehovah's Witnesses named Papi that we have met with before, but didn't get anywhere because he didn't listen to us at all but we gave him a book of Mormon and told him to read and he lied to us and told us he read the whole book and didn't receive any revelation but he couldn't even find the book when we asked him where it was, and he couldn't tell us what is was about. Then Elder Ireland and him just bible bashed the whole rest of the meeting and we got no where with it. All of his argument's against our church were all the same as everybody else's. They take thing's out of the bible way out of context and never except anything else. It is pretty sad.

It's gettin' colder and colder here in Evry and I'm starting to understand what people say a little more each week! I am loving every second of my mission and I am so glad I chose to serve!

Love you guys and miss you so much! 

Love, Elder Carson


Pictures of Jaxon at the Eiffel Tower!  



A Paris street at Christmas time.







Monday, December 8, 2014

Week 10 - December 8 - Evry

Fourth Week in France


Fourth Week,

Monday: We got up, did our studies, and got some groceries. After that we just walked around the mall looking for some cool french stuff, but I didn't find anything cool enough to get. Then we went to the church to have family home evening with our investigators and some member's and then ended the day with going Christmas caroling in a super rich neighborhood and no one would even listen to us, but still pretty fun. I still can't believe the people here man.

Tuesday: We had district meeting, then we went to our investigator's house to prepare him for his baptism this coming Saturday, then we went Christmas caroling again. We met one nice old lady that whole night and she let us share a spiritual thought about Christmas, but she wasn't interested for us to come back. No one like's Christmas caroling here. If we were in the state's we would have got into every door! The people here don't even let us finish a verse before cussing at us.. ha 

Wednesday: Today we worked on the baptismal program for our investigator Allain, and it turned out pretty good! After that we went to ward council and ended the day with contacting some brotha's in Corbeille and we got two potentials. One little family and a guy that loves Jesus. So classic.

Thursday: Today was exchange's so I had to go to Melan again with Elder Congerton. We taught one of his investigator's that was getting baptised the following week, and he spoke English so it was super nice. After that I went back to Evry and we did some more Christmas caroling, no luck again, but we are still hopefull it will work with someone here.

Friday: In the morning we did a lot of contacting on the bus and got a few potential's. In the afternoon, we went to our appointment with our most solid investigator, Jean Louis. We talked about temple's and Eternal marriage, but it was hard for him because his wife is Evangilist and doesn't like Mormon's. We have never been to his house for an appointment because his wife doesn't want us over, but we are just going to surprise them by just showing up at their door next week and see if we could teach her. Should be interesting.

Saturday: Today we had to wake up and be at the church by 7:00 so we could have the baptismal font filled by the baptismal service at 11:00. We had a bunch of free time, so we cleaned the whole church. The baptism was so cool and Allain was so happy, it was awesome. Pretty funny though, he is scared of going under water so the member that was baptising him had to push him as hard as he could in the water and the look on Allain's face was pure terror. We ended up having to try it 6 times, but he finally went all the way in. After that we went Christmas caroling for hours in Evry, but no luck again.

Sunday: We started off the day with a DMP meeting, then went to church and I am starting to understand a lot more in sacrament and classes. After church we stayed for the ward Christmas party, the Missionaries of the ward had to sing "Holy Night" in front of everyone with Santa hats on in the middle of the party. The french deserts that people brought were amazing. After that we went Christmas caroling and got a few potentials, it was great. I have never walked and sang so long in my life! It all payed of with those few potential's though.

This week was pretty good besides the fact that one of our investigator's Samuel, randomly called us and said he is moving to Italy. haha

Love you guys and miss you so much, today we are going into Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, so I won't be able to email anyone! 

Love, Elder Carson



 Baptism for Allain

 Christmas caroling/contacting in Corbeille
 A little blurry, sorry!


This is what they do when one of the Missionaries are going home! A Funeral. haha


Jaxon's first transfer picture! His District.




 ​Fountains of Evry

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Week 9 - December 1 - Evry

Third Week in France

 THIRD WEEK!!

Monday: P-DAY whoop! Monday was super chill we went to the mall got some sweet french stuff and headed back to the apartment and just relaxed! 

Tuesday: We went contacting all day and found one new investigator named Bruzza, he was pretty chill, and we were super pumped because we haven't found a new investigator in a while! After that we had district meeting and ate some good food there. After that we went door to door and no one let us in. CLASSIC!

Wednesday: Exchange day today! But this time it was better because I went with Elder Amaya, the district leader and he is super chill. We did some contacting and found a new investigator. He is a huge fifteen year old named Tiny. We gave him a tour of the church and he is coming to church this Sunday.

Thursday: Exchange is over and I'm back with Elder Ireland! Today for our Thanksgiving dinner, since none of the members invited us over, we had all you can eat sushi with the other two Elders in our room and it was pretty good! After that we just did some more contacting and door to door and we found a potential while contacting, but no one let us in while going door to door.

Friday: Today a guy from Jehovas witnesses called us over and we basically just bible bashed the whole time. Elder Ireland knows the bible so well, he proved everything he said was wrong and where to find what in the Book of Mormon, it was pretty sweet. after that we taught him the restoration and still just wanted to bible bash with us so we just left. We were there for about two hours. After that we did weekly planning then went to find some brotha's on the bus again and found a potential. We are meeting with him next week. 

Saturday: Today we went to the ward talent show, then we had DMP meeting. after that we started a new door to door method that the whole mission is doing which is Christmas caroling at everyone's door, then asking to share a message of Christ. Everyone loved the singing but didn't let us in. Still a good time though.

Sunday: We woke up and went to church and I got me sweet leather cases for my french scriptures from the library. After church we went to a members house and ate FOREVER and had family night with them, it was a good time and we got the trust of some more members and had some super good french food, but we were still there for way too long.. We were there from 1:00 to 8:00.
It is getting super cold here! I just got some good beenie's and gloves today. I am almost done with reading the Book of Mormon for the third time here and my testimony and faith is growing stronger and stronger everyday. 

Love you all! Miss all of you!!


love, Elder Carson




This is what he said in my personal email about Witney winning the Mirrorball!

That is so nut's witney won! I have been telling all of my investigators and all of the people that invite us over to eat and they don't know the show.... haha but my roommate's can't believe that she is my sister! We ate sushi for Thanksgiving dinner, it wasn't bad. We get very few people in our ward to invite us over for dinner... It's like every two weeks we get a mangervous they call it.. But I was pretty stoked to have some sushi! I got all the packages, I will send you some pics of them as well!! I found out we can have any music as long as its uplifting and wholesome, so can you send me some sweet Christmas albums in a flash drive or a disc? And also all the soundtrack of Prince of Egypt and Joseph King of Dreams soundtrack? Also can you send me this book called "Scriptural teachings of Joseph Smith"? I want that book so bad. Its so weird, I am always reading now, I actually enjoy it!! ha! Love you so much and miss you!
love Jax



 The train we take everywhere


 Our most solid investigator Jean Louis!


                 Elder Amaya our district leader


 Put up our Christmas Tree! Thanks Mom!