Curb call? And a Baptism!

Getting caught in the rain... and hail.

Alors! This week was really good! It was super stressful and I was kind of freaking out for a little bit of it but then it all turned out. Jean Luc's baptism was part of the cause because the branch wasn't sure if there was going to be a very big turn out and there were some other things that weren't really missionary related that we had to do this week that just complicated things. But, in any case!  It was a great week.

EXCHANGE WITH ZONE LEADERS

Well! We had a super fun exchange with the Zone Leaders. Elder Miner (who was in Périgueux when I was in Bergerac came on exchange with me). It was awesome because we were able to pass a bunch of less-actives and old amis that Elder Miner knew from when he served here. We saw some cool miracles. 

One in particular is when we decided that we should pass Danny. Danny is a less active. I've tried passing him a few times but he is never there and the missionaries from before had warned us saying that his wife is super mean and wants nothing to do with the church. 

When we passed, he was there! He let us in and was happy to receive us. He is going through a super tough time right now. He looked really sad. His wife has been in a coma for three months now and he has been having some serious health problems as well. For the entire rendezvous, we probably said three or four sentences and he just told us all of his problems and trials. At the end of the rendezvous he wanted to pray and he thanked Heavenly Father for sending us over when He did, because he needed it. 

I was touched when I listened to his prayer because the only thing I did was sit there and listen. I didn't preach or tell him anything. I just listened. In that moment, I realized how powerful our calls as missionaries actually are. We represent Jesus Christ. We bring just a sample, maybe a .0001 percent of the peace that Christ brings. And being a conduit of that is a source of immense joy. 

ZONE CONFERENCE

We also had Zone Conference! Which was super awesome. I love seeing all of the other missionaries! It is always a highlight of the transfer. Also seeing president and sister Roney is always a nice thing. They love us so much. They love us like their children and we love them. 

Elder Miner and me

One of the highlights from Zone Conference was watching "Meet the Mormons!" President was like, you've been working hard so we are going to watch meet the Mormons! I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It was a very feel good movie. I was surprised at how touching a lot of it was. Oh, especially the candy bomber! That got me. 

Elder DuPre, Elder Palmer, and me

Watching the movie made me think a lot about my family because the last family/person that the movie features is a family sending off a missionary and the events leading up to it. It was kind of like reliving the last few weeks before becoming a missionary and then the day you get dropped off. It seems like it was yesterday I was getting dropped off at the MTC. I remember looking forward towards all of the time that I had left for my mission and just thinking, I'm never going to finish! 2 years is so long! But looking back at the time that I have served has passed in a heartbeat! 

Elder Taylor and me

Anywayyyy...You should watch "Meet the Mormons" if you haven't. I give it a good rating. 

LE BAPTÊME DE JEAN-LUC

The highlight of the week was the baptism of Jean Luc! It was a really good service and a lot of people were actually able to come. I was stressing out because everyone was like, “Nooo, we can't come, sorry” and we had to organized little refreshments afterwards and no one was going to come. So I was freaking out. And then last second everyone could come! It was a miracle. I thought we were going to need to move the baptism to next week because of how few people could come but turns out that quite a few were actually able to. I'm kind of wandering, going on and on babbling but I'm just super happy people were able to come because it really was a huge stress. 

Jean Luc's baptism

 Jean Luc was so happy. He was taking all of these pictures and saying "I can't wait to show all of my friends and my mom!" then he was like "I can't wait to be a missionary!" WOO! He has to become a little less “gansta” to be a missionary but I see it happening! 

I was able to confirm him a member on Sunday. It was pretty awesome. :) The branch really likes Jean Luc and suddenly the branch leaders have been a little bit more disposed to listen to what we have to say or needs that we have probably because we had a baptism. But hey! Whatever you have to do!

LES AUTRES CHOSES

So, I probably had the worst thing I've ever had said to me this week, in French and English. HA! It was kind of funny but really disgusting too. Anyway... we are walking down the street and this car pulls by, never coming to an actual stop, just rolling slowly. ANDDDD, basically what happened is that we got a curb-call. Two guys asked us for certain services that any decent human being would not agree to and certainly no missionary would agree to. It was an experience to say the least. After I said no and starting walking off, in pure shock, Elder Acheson is like, “What did they say! What did they say?!” I'm just like "You don't want to know, you don't want to know!" Haha...  It was quite shocking. 

On a lighter note, I taught Elder Acheson how to play Chubby Bunny with the marshmallows you sent to me. :) That was hilarious. 

ANYWAY! That was our week! It was good! Working hard. Enjoying life. Nothing could be better. 

I love you all! Que Dieu vous bénisse!

Avec amour,

Elder Johnson 

At a members home who is from Texas for dinner.
American food = Hamburgers.