Holy
cow. I think that this week has been one of the weirdest weeks in my whole
mission... and that is saying something considering the people that we have
come across. This past week, we had actually decided to focus on working on
patience AND of course, our patience was tested to the maximum... because that
is just how life works when you decided to try and improve something. Suddenly
it gets super hard. So here it goes:
LES
FOUS ET LES MALADES
So!
Because both Elder Karras and I had our birthdays this last week, we had a lot
of dinner appointments with members because they wanted to give us some
birthday love. On Wednesday, we went over to the Grattepanche Family's house
and ate some really good food with all of their super funny children. When I
was there, the family really reminded me of us and how we acted when we were
younger. Lol. They are too much. Anyway, they made us a cake with a
"2" candle on it because they didn't have any other candles and it
was just a really good experience.
So,
at the Grattepanches, I realize that we should probably go because it takes us
close to 45 min.- 1h to get our apartment and it is around 8:30 already. So we
head out, and are on our way to the bus stop when a man in a car pulls over,
gets out, and waves us over. At this point I am thinking, okay usually if this
happens they are either crazy or really elect people looking for the truth.
Well, I will have you guess which one he was.
He
tells us that he just drove past our church and asked when the hours were or
whatever and we tell him and then he starts asking some really pointed,
doctrinal questions that are blatantly insincere. We stay and are very patient
and nice with him but we really have to go, but he won't let us go and he keeps
talking and whatever. Then we are starting to get a little angry because he is
seriously being super rude until finally we just start walking away without
even saying goodbye.
This
man is probably 5'4'', 50ish and has huge glasses. Not scary. haha. So, as we
start to walk away he LITERALLY starts running after us and is saying
"Stop, Elders, two minutes PLEASE, TWO MORE MINUTES!" At this point
he is in front of us and he tries to stop in front of me so I just walk around
him. He writes me off as a lost cause and goes in front of Elder Karras to try
to stop him. He keeps grabbing his arm and trying to block him with his tiny
French man body. Elder Karras keeps saying "STOP TOUCHING ME!"
"STOP TOUCHING ME" and the man says "IM NOT TOUCHING YOU. DONT
GO!" lol. Anyway, after about three blocks, he finally gives up and starts
yelling at us from afar, "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY GOODBYE!?" Then we yell
goodbye back to him and he says "LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF!" We
then yell "WE LOVE YOU!"... Which provokes him to say "NO YOU
DON"T, YOU’RE A LIAR!" hahaha "DON'T STOP AT JOSEPH SMITH!"
"YOU AREN'T CHRISTIANS.... YOU'RE JUST MORMONS!"
...
At one point when this was all happening... when he was running back and forth
between us trying to stop us I just started laughing hysterically and said
"IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?!" A little tiny French man was trying to
block me from walking away so he could tell me that I needed to repent and
accept Jesus... I really was just beside myself at how hilarious the situation
would be to an outside viewer... lol Goodness.
After
a different RDV with some members we had to wait at a bus stop and there were
three guys waiting there for the bus as well. Two were really drunk and one
wasn't. There is one with swimming goggles on and a jar of olives and another
that has a big bottle of whisky, the third one is sober and watching out for
his buds. So, the one with the whisky goes up to the side of Elder Karras and
says "On fait COMME CA!" (We do like this!) and he bumps shoulders
with Elder Karras really hard. The sober guy was like, "Bud, leave him
alone... I'm so sorry for my friend, he is drunk." So, still waiting for
the bus and the man stands back up and comes up to Elder Karras, face to face
and for a second he is just standing there until he says, "uhhhhhBAHHHHHH!"
and tried to push him over but almost fell over doing it. His friend grabbed
him and told him to stop being dumb and then he said "But they are talking
about... about... JESUS!" hahaha. Again, I was just beside myself.
They
ended up leaving the bus stop before the bus came and the one wearing the
swimming goggles (which are crooked.. one on his eye one off) says "Don't
worry... we will NEVERRR forget!" bahaha... Moral of the story: drugs and
alcohol are bad.
Well,
that is enough about crazy people.
REUNION
DE DISTRICT
We
had district meeting this last week (day of Elder Karras' Birthday), which was
awesome. We talked a lot about how important it is on following up and that as
members of the church, inviting isn't enough. We need to follow up on our invitations
with our friends.
District
meeting lunch was a big birthday lunch. We ate really good tacos. Elder Karras'
mom sent a bunch of birthday stuff, so we used it at district meeting. I'll
send some photos, which are pretty self-explanatory.
LES
MIRACLES DE LA SEMAINE
For
some reason we had been having a really hard time meeting with our amis this
week or not even amis but just anyone in general aside from the members that
set something up with us on Sunday. A lot of people are on vacation right now and
our amis were just kinda being flakey. Honestly, I am amazed at how many
miracles we have had this week despite all of the weird crazy people and the
fact that we couldn't see our amis as much as we would have liked to
have.
Let
me tell you something about going door to door. It is the LEAST effective way
to find people, aside from sitting in your apartment and not doing anything. To
be honest, I could have a better attitude about porting. It is fun to see who
opens the door and what lies BEHIND the door but I don't really feel like much
good ever comes from it. But this week, something great came from it! It truly
was a miracle. We had been porting for about an hour and were finishing up and
there were just a couple more doors to do. We had been joking throughout the
porting session that "A hundred door slams is worth a golden ami!"
So, we knock on this door and a normal person answers. We are talking to him
and suddenly he is like "Hey, do you want to come in and talk about this
over some water?" I was so surprised! hahaha We were able to go in and
teach a lesson to this man that we had just ported into and he was normal and
nice! It was such a cool experience to have.
Another
miracle, we received a phone call from one of potential amis who told us that
he was ready to meet with us. I found out that he was actually an inactive
member who wanted to come back to the church. We end up going to his house and
the whole time I'm thinking, please don't be weird, please don't be weird. The
area of the town we were in wasn't the most "normal" or
"nice"... so I had my doubts but he was actually super cool and has been
waiting to come back to church for a long time! He said that because of his
work, he hasn't been able to but now he has some time off and wants to focus on
church and building his relationship with God. Pretty awesome.
LES
AUTRES CHOSES
Honestly,
I feel just so blessed to be a missionary. It literally is a dream. Despite all
of the weird people, the disappointments, and the things I wish could be
changed, it all so worth it. I haven't been happier in my life. Logically it
doesn't make sense. The life of a missionary is hard and sometimes not fun but
I am SO happy.
I
wish everyone could feel as happy as I do. I know that the happiness I feel
only comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ and following His example. I know
that through Him we can become clean and improve ourselves. I know that He
lives.
I
love you all! I really do. I am so blessed!
Que
Dieu vous benisse!
Avec
Amour,
Elder
Johnson
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