November 3, 2014

Hello hello,

So this last week was fairly eventful and not at all what we expected. As i mentioned last week we drove to bordeaux on tuesday to drop off Elder Bleak who just arrived. So we picked him up and drove to bordeaux getting there around 8:00. So we decided to stop at a restaurant near the elders appartment to get something to eat. After eating we started walking back towards the bordeaux elders apt when Elder Walker realized that he forgot his bag in the restaurant. We hurried back and when we got there we saw some kids sitting at the table where we ate. We asked them about the bag and the told us that when they sat down they saw it and asked if it belonged to anybody and some dude claimed it and walked out with it. I went with the kid to see if we could find the guy but he was nowhere in sight. The bag was gone. Luckily Elder Walker had his wallet on him but unluckily the keys to the car as well as to our appartment disappeared with the bag.

So there we were trapped on the opposite side of the mission without keys to the car. Inside the car were the things that we had brought to spend the night as well as all of Elder Bleaks luggage. Because Elder Kearon was comming to visit the mission there were two conferences scheduled. One in Bordeaux on wednesday and one in Lyon on Thursday. Thus half of the mission was staying the night in Bordeaux with us. We ended up sleeping on the floor with around 20 other missionaries.

Our original plan was to leave on wednesday morning so that we could catch the conference in lyon on thursday. So we hadn't broughten suits or study materials with us. Since we were trapped in Bdx we decieded to go to the conference which required us to borrow other Elders suits, neither of which fit very well. The conference was really great though and the rest of the day was spent trying to figure out a solution to our problem. 

Because the office had a spare key to the car they decided that they would mail it to us using overnight shipping. This meant that we spent another night in bdx and around 10:30 the next morning we got the key. By the way Elder Bleaks final destination was Toulouse. He was supposed to be meeting his new companions at the conference and then going back with them on the train. However, since all his bags were in our car and because they hadn't yet bought him a ticket he ended up staying with us a little longer and then on thursday we dropped him off in Toulouse which btw added about 2.5 hours to the already 6.5 hour road trip. 

We ended up getting back to lyon around 7:30. Unfourtunately unlike the car key, the office hadn't yet aqquired spare keys to our apt. So we stayed the night in lyon. The next morning the office gave us some numbers for locksmiths in the area and we headed up to Villefranche. Unfourtunately by this point our phone had died and we were unable to call to set up an appointment. We ended up passing by a members house and they let us use their phone to get ahold of a locksmith. We then met him at the apt and he broke in and then changed the lock for us. We finally made it back into our apt late friday afternoon. 

Unfourtunately, in part due to us being gone the whole week and in part to some concerns on her part, Danièles baptism ended up falling through. We're not sure if she will be baptized this week or not. We have faith that she will be baptized, it just might take more time then we had originally thought. 

Anyway this past week was crazy. We're hoping things go a little better this week. Please keep Danièle in your prayers for us. I love you and will see you soon!

Elder Swenson

October 27, 2014

Bonjour

This past week was kinda rough due to dropping a few amis that we were excited about. The good news though is that all is looking well for our ami Danielle and so she will be getting baptized this week.

This past week i did an exchange and we held district meeting in St Etienne. It was great going back and seeing it again after over a year. I have always enjoyed going back to past areas and it is fun to see what has changed and what has stayed the same.

I feel like this week will go by pretty fast. Tomorrow we will actually be driving clear over to Bordeaux because there is a new missionary arriving and due to the office and everyone being busy with the zone conference he will need someone with a car to drive him over there. I knew i had another trip accross the country in me before the end of my mission. We will be driving over there, spending the night, and then heading right back wednesday morning. I believe it should be around 5 hours each way.

This thursday Elder Kearon of the seventy will be visiting us for a conference so it should be great. I feel like we've been having quite a few visitors to the mission lately with Elder Andersen, Elder Ballard, and now Elder Kearon. I really like Elder Kearon so i'm excited to hear from him again. The good news is that since we live here close to lyon we wont have lots of travel and wont have to deal with sleeping on the floor of another elders appartment.

Friday should be the only normal day that we have and then on saturday there is a big geneology activity going on and after that of course will be the baptism. 

Things are going well and I feel like the next time i blink the mission will be over. The best news of all is that i only have to write one more of these emails before i come home. I always struggle knowing what to say. Love ya

Elder Swenson

October 20, 2014

Hey everyone,

Things have been going well here. Our amis are doing well. Danielle is progressing very well and will be baptized here in 2 weeks. We've also met some other really cool people lately. One is a 19 year old kid who invited us to come teach him at his house. His mom and sister were there as well and we were able to teach them the restoration and leave them with a few copies of the book of mormon. They were very touched by the message and invited us back this week to come eat with them and teach the plan of salvation. I really like it in the villefranche area because alot of the people there haven't had much contact with the missionaries and so they seem to be more curious and willing to talk with us. 

This past week we were also able to do some service for members in the ward. We planted trees at the stake presidents house and were able to give 3 blessings to various members. All three of the people we blessed had long names that were neither english or french and so we had a fun time attempting to pronounce those. 

Yesterday there was this big meeting in lyon for all of the young adults. It was crazy seeing members from all of the areas that i served throughout my mission as well as some of the returned french missionaries who served in this mission. My mind was litterally flooded with memories of my whole mission. At times it seems like i haven't been here all that long but at other times i realize just how much i've done and how many people i've met these past 2 years. I had this same feeling as well when we were at the stake presidents house earlier this week and they were talking about various members throughout france and i knew them all. I guess that's just how it is when you've served in 9 different areas. 

I really love the mission and am glad that i've had the chance to meet all of these people and make all of these friendships. Looking back and remembering all of these people makes me wish that i didn't have to leave so soon. I'm so glad that i was called to serve here!

I love you all!

Elder Swenson

September 29, 2014

Hey everyone,

This past week was good. So I am staying in villefranche with Elder Walker for my last transfer. I'm still getting a hang on things here as it is a newly opened equipe as of 3 transfers so we don't really have any old amis to work with. We've just been doing alot of finding but we do have one super awesome ami who we committed to baptism this week. She is super prepared and excited for her baptism which will be nov 1 if all goes well. She is one of the most prepared amis ever. She has good connections with the members and she even plays motab quietly in the back ground of our rdvs. The only difficulty with her is that she has to look after her very old and sick mother who lives with her and because Villefranche is like 30 minutes away from Lyon, she has a hard time coming for all of church because she cant leave her mother for a long time without having someone look after her. But she came to church this week and was so excited about her baptism that she was telling everybody when it would be. Keep her in your prayers!

Any way even though we're staying together it is still transfer day and in order to help people out with trains, emails gets cut short again. sorry. love ya

Elder Swenson

September 22, 2014

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the lack of emails the last few weeks. I actually dont have much time today either but i will do my best to fill this up somewhat with the half hour i have for emails today. First things first I am no longer in brive but am now in Lyon due to another unexpected emergency transfer. Well I'm actually in a little town just outside of lyon called Ville Franche but serving in one of the lyon wards. We have a car so we drive about a half hour to get to lyon for church on sundays. I promise it wasn't my fault but something on the other end:) President called my on friday afternoon and i was on a train all day Saturday. My new comp is elder Walker. He is in his first transfer. Real transfer calls are this week and i imagine that there wont be any changes but you never know. 

So the last Pday of every transfer President invites all of the lyon missionaries over to his house to play in the back yard and eat lunch. There are quite a few missionaries here due to there being 4 wards. It was fun getting to see everyone. We played petanque (a popular french game where you try to throw metal balls close to a small one on the ground and who ever is closest to the little ball wins). It was fun because my team beat presidents team and he never loses at anything.

This past week in Brive was good. Although actually most of it was held out side of brive. We went to lyon earlier this week to do elder ottesens legality which took up all of monday and tuesday. Wednesday we actually had time to work and met some really cool people. Thursday we had district meeting in brive and immediately after I headed to bordeaux for an exchange. We headed back to brive on friday and i recieved the call from president while i was on the train. The rest of the day we had a few rdvs and then passed a few members to say goodbye. All saturday was spent at trainstations or on trains and we got in to lyon at 10:30. We just went to the closest elder apt to the gare and slept there. We headed to church the next morning and finally sunday afternoon i made it to our apt in ville franche. The good news about brive though is even though we didnt get much time to work we met a good number of new people and were able to set up plenty of new rdvs for this week. I was sad to leave Brive but I am also excited to be in a new area for the last few weeks. Especially one in lyon which means i wont have to be on trains all the time now like i did in brive due to all the the exchanges and conferences being in different villes.

Any way my time is up so I'm gunna have to cut this short. Sorry. Have a good week! Love you

Elder Swenson

September 1, 2014

Bonjour

This past week was great. The members in the ward here continue to be awesome. We recieved 2 different calls from members telling us that they had someone that they wanted to introduce to us. The first was actually a less active member who had a friend who had some questions about the church so we went over for a dinner at the members house and were able to answer his questions and give him a book of mormon. The next member had bumped into an old classmate from highschool while she was registering at the university. They got to talking about the church and he agreed to come to church and to meet with us. Both were super big miracles that happened because the members were ready and willing to be missionaries when the opportunnity came.

Today for Pday another member took us to Rocamadour which is like the 4th most visited spot in France. It is this cool little town with a cool church and castle built into the side of a cliff. While we were there he took us to the other side of the town where there was this old retired artist guy that he knew of. He showed us around his garden which had some neat statues and art and stuff. Afterwards we got to talking with him and ended up sharing a quick message and giving him a book of mormon. the member that we were with was really touched to have been there to help us. 

Work with our amis continues to progress. There is one ami who we have taught since i first got to brive. He is really nice and always comes to church and has connections with the members and everything. He has recieved all of the lessons but we just couldn't get him to commit to a baptismal date. He has had a bit of a hard time recognizing an answer an really wants to feel ready before his baptism. At our rdv this week we ended up talking about how to recieve answers to prayers and then how the spirit speaks to us and how we can recognize it. It went super well and touched him alot. It is probably the best lesson that i have had with him. At the end we set some goals and decided that we will reteach the lessons again and have him focus on the spirit this time and not just try to take in the info. I know this is what he needs and i am sure that he will be baptized soon.

On sunday while we were porting we walked up to a house and a lady got out of her car to come talk with us. It turns out that she was going to visit the old lady who lived in the house we were about to port. While we were talking to her she said "You guys should come to my neighborhood. We never see missionaries there and i'm sure you would have success." She was super nice and said that she was catholic but open to all religions and really respected what we do. After the short conversation she gave us her address so that we could come and visit her and her family in a week. That was litterally the first time that someone had came up to us and told us to port their neighborhood. Miracles are real! love ya,

Elder Swenson

August 25, 2014

Hello again

This past week was great. It involved many hours of trains and sleeping on the floor. After church on sunday we headed to bordeaux where i stayed for 2 nights and helped out all of the transferring missionaries. Then I headed to Lyon and slept there for a night and we met our new comps on wednesday. After a few meetings we hopped back on a train and stayed in my old apt in montpellier for another night before finally making it back to brive thursday afternoon. Being back in montpellier for a night brought back alot of memories especially since i was there with a bleu. It seems like so long ago that I served there and yet while i was there it felt like I had never left. I was glad to be able to see it again.

So my new comp is Elder Ottesen. He is from Washington. He is a stud and so far it has been great working with him. His french is great and he's got plenty of confidence for a bleu. Also in our apt is Elder Manwaring and his bleu Elder Nadauld. It has been fun having 4 of us in the ward again after loosing the other equipe last transfer. They are both great as well and we had a great end to the week filled with lots of service. We ended up helping with 3 moves this weekend. One moving into the ward, one moving out, and one moving to a different house within the ward boundaries. We have been kept pretty busy here and have even more service lined up for this week. I enjoy it though and even with all of the service and trainrides this past week we have been able to talk with some awesome people and share the gospel.

While on the train back to brive we ended up sitting by a nice girl who spoke english because she has moved around and lived all over the place due to her dad being a swiss diplomat or something like that. We talked for a good hour or more and were able to share our testimonies and help her understand more about the gospel. While doing service at one of the moves the member started talking to one of his new neighbors about the move and how he was glad that he had the missionaries to help him. He was able to introduce us to the man and we were able to discuss a bit about our beliefs and the members all came and talked and shared their testimonies as well. It turns out that he had actually met with the missionaries in the past as well. Even though neither of these two ended up wanting to change their ways for the moment, both of them left feeling uplifted and having a much better image of the church.

I love being able to share the gospel with others and especially in these situations. It is so much more natural to share the gospel with someone when you aren't walking around in the streets or knocking on doors. When you can just have a conversation with someone sitting next to you on a train or while doing service they see you as more of a normal person instead of some weirdo walking around trying to convert everyone. As we are simply being kind to others and taking interest in their lives they are alot more open. Instead of having to start up conversations about the gospel the people will just naturally see that something is different about us and ask us about it. 

Sharing the gospel is easy and doesn't have to be awkward. We just have to be ready to share it at all times and then look for opportunities to arise in our daily lives. I invite each of you to look for these opportunities this comming week to share the gospel with those around you and then don't let them pass by when you see them. Nothing makes you feel happier than being able to help Heavenly Father out in His work. I am glad that I have the opportunity to be a full time missionary but i know that i will continue to share the gospel when i return back home. We all have the privlege and responsibility to share the gospel at all times no matter who or where we are and I know that God will help us as we strive to do our best. I love you all!

Elder Swenson

August 18, 2014

Hey everyone 

So this transfer I am staying in Brive. Elder Ahlemeyer is heading back to Switzerland after just one transfer in France. Switwerland is a blackhole for all of the european missionaries because americans cant get legality there. This transfer I will be training a bleu so i dont know who he is yet. They are also adding another equipe back in brive so we will also have elder Manwaring who will be training as well. 

Because of training i will be spending the night in bordeaux with the elders here and will head up to lyon tomorrow. By the time we actually get back to brive it will be thursday or friday. I am excited to be training and to have more elders with us in brive again. It was fun having elder Quinn with us this past week. We had a blast. He is headed back to bergerac and will be serving with elder Kiser so that should be fun to see him again.

Due to transfer day craziness I don't have time to write more because we have to get back to help missionaries at the train station. Luckily we had about an hour break to do emails but the last missionaries comming in get here after 7:00 so we are litterally at the train station all day. We actually have already talked with 2 different groups of members from the states who are here on vacation today. It is also french vacation time so the station is packed and the villes are filled with tourists. 

Any way I have to go. I'll write more next week. Love you,

Elder Swenson

August 11, 2014

Hey everyone

So this week we actually will be in a trio. Elder Kirkpatric in bergerac got called to be an office elder and left today to be trained for that so his comp Elder Quinn is now with us until next week. It should be fun. Elder Quinn is awesome and i'm excited to have him with us. We will probably be going to bergerac for a day this week to have a few rdvs since there wont be missionaries there the rest of the week. Calls are on friday so you will find out next week whats going on. I honestly have no idea what will happen and can see anything happening so no predictions from me this time.

This week was a good one that kept us busy. I had district meeting in Perigueux and then an exchange in Bordeaux. We helped with 2 moves and did service in a members garden as well. Weeks like this make the mission go by alot faster. This transfer has absolutely flown by.

So a few days ago we were walking down the street and saw an old lady with grocerie bags. We decided to ask if we could help. Usually they just turn us down but she instantly agreed and so we started walking with her. She lived probably 5 or 10 minutes away but she walked so incredibly slow and we had to stop and take a rest as well. She litterally talked nonstop for a good 40 minutes but we were finally able to make it to her appartement. We thought we were in the clear but just then she sees another lady leaving her appartement and decided to share her history with this lady as well while we stood by. In the end she was very grateful for our help and we were glad to help. By the time we got back to where we started it had been an hour later. It is a good thing that we weren't walking to a rdv. We laughed about it for the rest of the day. 

I am glad to be able to help others all day long even if sometimes it is just listening to an 80 year old lady and helping carry groceries. We can serve people every day if we just look for the opportunity to help as we go through out the day. I invite you to look for these opportunites every day. Love ya,

Elder Swenson

August 4, 2014

Bonjour

Things are continuing to go well here in Brive. This week we have planned to see and serve a lot of members. I love the members here and we are doing our best to help them with their missionary work. We have set plans to meet with multiple member families and their non member friends. Being here in the mission has really changed my view of missionary work. Before I had always just seen it as the missionaries job and that it just consisted of knocking on doors unil they found and taught everyone. But I have really seen the importance of member missionary work and of being a missionary all through out our lives and not just leaving it up to the full time missionaries. 

Missionary work is more than just knocking on doors. It is reaching out to those around us and looking for ways to help and serve them. As they see how much we care about them they will be more open and receptive to what we have to share with them because they have already seen the gospel in action by the way that we live our lives. There are always opportunities to reach out and help someone around us. Whether they be nonmembers, new converts, or less actives, is our duty and responsiblity to help and strengthen them. And there are always people to help. Even if you live in utah! I recently read a talk given by Elder Bednar in 2008. Here is a quote i liked: 

"We properly pray for the safety and success of the fulltime missionaries throughout the world. And a common element in many of our prayers is a request that the missionaries will beled to individuals and families who are prepared to receive the message of the Restoration. But ultimately it is my responsibility and your responsibility to find people for the missionaries to teach. Missionaries are fulltime teachers; you and I are fulltime finders. And you and I as lifelong missionaries should not be praying for the fulltime missionaries to do our work!"

There is also a really cool video on the church website about member missionary work called "I'll go where you want me to go" from the hastening the work of salvation broadcast a while back. I invite you all to watch it and to pray for and be aware of opportunities to share the gospel. Every member is a missionary! I love you all!

Elder Swenson

P.S. heres a link to that video ;)

lds.org/media-library/video/2013-06-1031-ill-go-where-you-want-me-to-go

July 28, 2014

Hey everybody,

Things are continuing to go well here in Brive. Tuesday we were in Bergerac all day for zone conference. Bergerac is actually inbetween Brive and Bordeaux ( where the conference usually is held) but due to the layout of railways we can get to Bordeaux faster. For this reason we actually slept in Bordeaux the night before and took a train from there to Bergerac in the morning. Conference was great as usual. President mentioned that Bergerac was the last ville he served in when he was on his mission and that it was there where he went to midnight mass on christmas. He remebers the church being packed and hearing everyone sing angles we have heard on high. This became his favorite song after listening to it there and for that reason it is our mission song that we always sing at conferences. There was also a brother and his family who were here visiting france who spoke to us. He served with President Roney way back when. It is always cool hearing about the mission years before and seeing how things have changed since then.

I have to say that the ward in Brive is probably one of the best in the mission member wise. They all work very hard and love helping the missionaries. This is like the only ville where alot of the members invite you over without you having to go up to them and ask. Also we have multiple members come up and ask if they can help teach with us during the week. Yesterday we spent the evening porting and visiting less actives with a really cool brother who always volunteers to help us each week. Member missionaries are the best.

The weather here has been continuing to cycle between pouring rain or scortching hot. There was actually one day where it had been hot and sunny all morning and then randomly for about 10 minutes it poured rain on us. It was one of the heaviest rains I have ever been in. It was like we walked under a waterfall. Afterwards it instantly changed back the the sunny 100 degree weather as if nothing had happened and yet it looked like we had just jumped in a pool with our clothes on.

Any way I love and miss you all! Until next week,

Elder Swenson

Pictures!!

These are some pictures from the baptism a couple of weeks back. Sorry I didn't post them sooner!
 

July 21, 2014

Hey everyone,

This past was super hot. It was over 100 multiple days and we had plenty of rdvs fall through so we were out contacting for many hours. With the time of the year there are now more british tourists than ever before and less and less people who actually live in Brive. It still baffles me why there seem  to be so many tourists in Brive as there is litterally nothing to do or see in this city. The time that wasn't spent contacting was spent serving members by helping to garden and helping to build a house. Both of which were very exhausting in the heat. The contrast in color between my upper and lower arms is at an all time high. Lukily it should be cooler this week.  

Our amis are doing well and we are doing our best to keep them progressing. Due to vacation though it has been harder to see them as of late. Keep us in your prayers!

This week is zone conference so we will be heading to bordeaux tonightand sleeping there for conference tomorrow. I always enjoy Zone conference and it is one of the hight lights of each transfer. The good news is that we don't have to take a 9 hour bus ride this transfer. 

Any way I appologize for the lack of exciting content in this weeks email but it was just one of those weeks where nothing to exciting or out of the ordinary happens. I will do my best to have more exciting stuff happen for next week.

I hope that you are all having a great summer and that those of you who recently had birthdays had a fun time. I also hope you forgive me for never remembering all of the dates. I love you!

Elder Swenson

July 14, 2014

Hello hello,

Happy July 14! (It's basically Frances 4th of july) (It's also not so happy because it's our P-day and everything is closed and there are no busses).

So work in Brive with only one equipe has been going well. This week we were able to see and meet a ton of amis, members, and less actives. We ended up passing by one less active family and they were really cool. They actually have a son who is going to be turning 8 soon and said that he wants to be baptized so we set up to come and teach the family the lessons really simply to help him be more prepared. Hopefully we can get them coming back to church here soon. 

Working with Elder Ahlemeyer has been great. We have been getting plenty of comments due to the fact that he is German and with the world cup and what not. At the beginning of the week Elder Ahlemeyer asked about the weather in Brive. I told him that it was generally hot and didn't rain much during the daytime. Since I said that it has litterally rained on us every single day.

One cool thing that happened this past week was that we had set up a rdv in the afternoon and our ami texted us and said that she was going to be a little late. So while we were waiting on a bench in centreville another girl comes up and starts talking to us and pretty soon we start talking a little about our beliefs and such. Then our ami shows up and she said it would be ok if the other girl joined in on the rdv. Just like that we ended up teaching two new people in one single rdv. It was a cool unexpected miracle. Some days you are searching for people all day long and not a single person will talk with you. Other days a new ami will just pop up out of nowhere. Mission life.

I love you!

Elder Swenson

July 8, 2014

Hey every one,

So for this transfer I am staying in Brive and will be serving with Elder Ahlemeyer. He is from germany. The other equipe of brive missionaries actually got taken out this transfer so now we are the only here. This means that the work load just doubled which is good. I am writing this tuesday because i was waiting in the trainstation in Toulouse for 7 hours yesterday since elder Ahlemeyer was coming all the way from switzerland. We left Brive at 7 in the morning and got back at 7 in the evening.

This past week was great. Our ami bello was baptized and it was a great service. Because it was up in Limoges we carpooled with members to get there. On the way up the member we were driving with decided to pick up a hitch-hiker. He was about 18 years old and had hitch-hiked his way down to france for vacation and was now headed back home to Belgium. After talking to him for a while we ended up teaching him about the restoration and giving him a book of mormon. He was really cool and it was a fun experience. 

Because the other 3 elder were leaving we got to visit quite a few members this week. It was fun being able to visit all the the families here. There are some awesome members here in Brive. One cool thing that happened while we were visiting a family was that we recieved a text from an ami who we hadn't been able to contact since my first week here. We had seen taught him a few times and had even engaged him to baptism but then he just disappeared and stopped responding to our calls or texts. We had been praying that we would be able to get back in contact with him and then he just randomly texted us saying that he was sorry that he hadn't responded because he had been having family problems but said that he knew that God was there for him during his trials and asked if he could see us again. It was a cool little miracle that was an answer to prayers. We are seeing him this week and hope that we can get him progressing nicely. 

I am looking forward to this transfer and hope that we will be able to accomplish a lot here in Brive. There is a lot of potential here at the moment so we are very hopeful. Anyway I hope that you had a great 4th of July and that you are enjoying the summer time. Love ya,

Elder Swenson 

June 39, 2014

Bonjour,

This past week was great. Our ami Bello passed his baptismal interview so that means he will be getting baptized this saturday. We are pumped for that. The service will actually be up in Limoges because there isn't a baptismal font at our church. It will be the first time I've ever been up there so that is cool.

This past week we had a talent night at our church. Of course we had to do something as the missionaries so i played guitar and we sang As I Have Loved You in english spanish and french. It was basically just a music night since everyone sang or played guitar. The Bishop sang some intense karioke songs and it was pretty funny. Then because there was still some time at the end they announced that the missionaries would be coming up again which was a surprise to us and we didn't have anything prepared so elder Hunt and I just sang another song on the spot. It was a fun evening and we had a good number of amis who came.

For some reason transfer calls will be on tueday this week so I will find out tomorrow what is happening next transfer. I imagine that I will be staying but I have no clue. I'll let you know next week.

Love ya,

Elder Swenson

June 23, 2014

Hello again,

Another week has flown by. I feel like time speeds up the closer you get to the end of your mission. Any way things are still going well here in brive. It gets hotter everyday. I forgot how fun it was walking around in missionary clothes all day in the summer time. Other fun summertime things include waking up each morning with new mosquito bites, seeing tons of tourists, and having a higher frequency of loud drunk people on the street outside our appartment as they visit bars and clubs at 2:00 in the morning. This past week with the world cup going on as well a fair and a music festival has brought about a bit of a drought of interested people when we go contacting. The good news is that inspite of all of the beginning of summer craziness things have been going well.

The other day we had an empty schedule and I really felt like we needed to go to another ville in our sector called Tulle. When we have gone there in the past there have always been a ton of cool people to talk with. So we buy train tickets and head over and when we get there it is litterally like a ghost town. We've never seen the place so empty. so we started walking around trying to find people to talk to. After a while I began to wonder why I had felt so strongly like we needed to come here. Just then we stopped this lady and tried to start conversation. She quickly said that she didn't speak french very well and said something in portuguese. Well Elder Martinez could speak with her so he talked with her for a minute and was able to set up a rdv with her. It has been one of Elder Martinezs goals to find a spanish or portuguese ami and here we finally found one in the empty streets of tulle. I know that the Lord inspires and leads us in this work.

We have been seeing alot of cool miracles all throughout the mission and President Roney mentioned in the newsletter this week that we have been seeing a high boost in success these past few weeks. I am sure that this has to do with Elder Andersens visit to the mission as well as some lofty goals we have set as a mission. When Elder Andersen spoke he talked alot about faith. He mentioned how faith is believing in the impossible. When our faith is strong we see miracles. We see the Lord accomplish impossible things. As we set goals and strive to do things that are possible with faith and impossible without God and as we move forward with diligence and patience we will have our faith rewarded.

I can testify that I have seen miracles on my mission. I have seen faith trump logic. I have seen success when everything seemed to be going against us. I know that we can truly do all things in the Lords strength, even the impossible. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to learn principles like this on a daily basis as a missionary. 

Love ya,

Elder Swenson

June 16, 2014

Bonjour,

So sorry for not writing last week but I was traveling pretty much half the week. So because the conference was in Nice and everyone had to travel there, to save money instead of using trains we all met up and took busses. So on sunday after church we hopped on a train for about 2.5 hours and headed to bordeaux where we stayed the night. Monday morningwe woke up and headed to the church there to board the bus. We drove for about 8 or 9 hours before finnaly getting to nice. We stayed in a hotel because there are like 270 missionaries and there was no way we were going to all fit in the appartments there. Tuesday morningwe woke up and headed to a conference center and practiced a few songs before Elder Andersen got there.

The conference was amazing! President and sister Roney, Elder and sister Kearon and Elder and sister Andersen all spoke to us. They all had awesome talks and the spirit was super strong. I love Elder Andersen. It was extra cool because he served his mission here and later was mission president here as well so he has a huge love for the french missionaries. They shared stories and miracles of their experiences here and boosted everyones faith. We had a couple of musical numbers and at the end we sang a really cool version of the spirit of God. I don't think i've ever felt the spirit so strong in my life when we sang that. 

Afterwards we hopped on a bus and drove until we got to Montpellier where we stayed in another hotel. We continued on the next day and finally got back to Brive about 8:00 wednesday night. Even though it took many many long hours of travel and we weren't allowed to talk with any of the other missionaries in Nice in order to stay reverent, it was well worth it.

Things have been going great in Brive. We are working with some great amis who are doing awesome. I am loving being here. We should be having a baptism here in a few weeks and I'm sure I'll see more if I stay another transfer. Any way I love you all and wish I could have shared more but the internet place is closing early for some reason today and the guy is kicking us out now. Until next week!

Elder Swenson

June 2, 2014

Hello!

Things have been going well here in Brive. I really enjoy working here. Elder Martinez is an incredible missionary. I got to meet multiple members this week by doing multiple service projects and helping with multiple hometeaching visits. The members here are all super awesome.

We also have a good amount of awesome amis as well. As we worked with them throughout the week I saw alot of potential in them. If all goes well we should see baptism this transfer. Keep us in your prayers!

Next week the whole mission will be in Nice because Elder Andersen is visiting our mission. I am really excited for this even though it involves many hours of travel. As a result of this and the timing our Pday will get messed up so I have no idea when you will get my next email.

So just to give you an interesting story this week I will share with you one of the more unique experiences that I lived on my mission. So there we were walking down the street when we look up and see a cat on the sidewalk in front of us. It turns to face us and as we get closer to it, it got scared and darted out into the road. Well apparently it's mom never warned it to look both ways because just at that moment a car came speeding by. We watched in horror as the poor thing got mangled by the car. But it doesn't end there. Apparently the tire went right over its stomach and because we were just beside the whole incident we were splatterd with the insides of this poor cat. Yes you read that right. It litterally popped like the car had ran over a tube of toothpaste and we were right in the line of fire. As we walked down the street towards the appartment we had to hold our breath. No professional author could do justice in describing the stench that could be smelt within a 10 yard radius of us. I had to throw away the shirt that I was wearing. The rest of the evening i couldn't turn my mind off and the horrific scene played over and over in my head. I feel as though I might have suffered from the effects of PTSD the rest of the day. To this day i still shutter at the sight of a cat and refuse to approach one. The experience I have lived though still haunts me. I wouldn't wish it on my enemies. I hate cats.

Love ya,

Elder Swenson

May 27, 2014

Bonjour à tout,

As you might have assumed based on this late email i got transfered out of Vitrolles. I am now serving in Brive with Elder Martinez. He is a great Elder and it is the first time since the mtc that I have served with a spanish comp. After leaving the appartment at 6:00 I was lucky enough to spend all monday on or waiting for trains before finally getting in at 7:00 that evening. Gotta love transfer day.

Brive is a nice little ville in the compagne. It was actually a branch at the beginning of my mission but was recently made a ward. There are 2 sets of elders here and Elder Kiser is actually in Brive as well as Elder Hunt who was in my apt in Toulouse so it is cool to see them again.

As much as I was happy to leave behind all of the trials that we dealt with in vitrolles it was still hard to leave behind all the people there. It is crazy how fast you become attatched to the ward and amis in an area even if you're only there for 1 transfer. Seeing as how I am now in my 8th ville, I have these connections and memories with people all over the south of France. 

Living the life of a missionary constantly helping the Lord in His work really opens your eyes and helps you realize why it is He does this work. I have met all kinds of people in all sorts of circumstances and even though they are all imperfect and have faults and do stupid things you can't help but love them and have the desire to help and sevre them. Changing villes and having to leave behind friends and loved ones  also helps us to understand how great a blessing it would be to be able to see them again after this life. 

That is what the gospel is all about. It alows us to return and live together as a heavenly family in the presence of God and not only that but to learn and grow so that we can iron out all of those kinks that keep us from being a happy unified family. It allows each member of this family to recieve more blessings and happiness than we can even comprehend at the moment. It's no wonder that this is Gods work and His Glory. Serving this mission has opened my eyes and allowed me to see others for who they really are (my brothers and sisters) and who they can become (perfect as is our Savior). It is important for all of us to understand the whys of the gospel and of this life. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why God does what He does?

Recently in a sunday school lesson we learned that we shouldn't just try to get through our trials but that we should try to learn from them. Obviously if God saw fit to give us these trials there was a reason behind it. The same goes for every aspect of life. We should ask ourselves, Am I just trying to get through each day? Am I going through the motions? Or am I trying to learn from and get something out of each moment in life?

As we stop and think about why we are here and why we are doing what we are doing, we will have more of a purpose and direction in life. Our lives will be more rewarding and we will be happier. Before you just continue going through the day to day, stop and ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing and what you can learn and gain from it.

I love this gospel and all of the answers that it brings to me in my life. I love and am grateful for my Heavenly Father who has allowed me to live this life and has provided me with the way to make the most of it. I love that I will be able to return to live with our big loving family after this life. I love you all!

Elder Swenson

May 19, 2014

Bonjour,

So we definately need our car back. It is very difficult working here without it. I am hoping that we should have it by next week but i doubt it because it is likely the last thing on their mind at the moment with transfers coming up and having to prepare for Elder Andersens visit to the mission in a few weeks. We'll just have to continue struggling down here until we get that back. 

So yesterday we had to go to Aix for church due to the construction going on at the vitrolles chappel. We just held our meetings after the Aix ward in the afternoon. It was a change going to church at 2:00 instead of the usual 9:00 time. If all goes well though we should be able to attend church in our own building this week. 

We saw the Akobé family this week and things are going well. The wife and daughters are alot more receptive than the dad though. He just seems stuck in his ways and doesn't really want to change. He is actually going out of town for a few weeks and so we are just going to be teaching the wife and kids. Hopefully they will really be able to feel the spirit and progress well these next few weeks without any interference from the father.

Transfer calls are this week. I honestly have no clue as to what will happen. Any thing is a possibility at this point. I'll let you know next week. I love you all,

Elder Swenson

May 13, 2014

Salut tout le monde,

 

It was great talking with you on skype! As you can tell from this late email our attempt to brake into our under-construction church yesterday to do our emails failed. We got library cards though so now we can do them here. However the library like a lot of things here is closed on monday because I am serving in a country filled with lazy people. So next week we might be doing emails on tuesday as well. Anyway so this past week we got in a bit of an accident(not our fault) so we are now without a car for about 2 weeks. The car honestly isn't super beat up and is still perfectly drivable but the office doesn't want us driving it till we can fix it just to be safe. This is bad news because litterally the work here just got a million times harder. We do have bikes... but those are broken. The bus system here is horrible and as i have explained in the past Vitrolles itself is a tiny ghetto ville with little to no people to contact. We are trying to do our best though and hopefully we will be able to figure out how to work the most effectively with what we have. Gotta love them trials!

 

Work with our amis has been moving along. Work with the family akobé is moving pretty slow. They love us and we still see them weekly but unfourtunately they also love the catholic church and aren't super motivated to change. It'll come though. Please keep them in your prayers for us. Other than that we have a few new amis in the ville Martigues. Unfourtunately getting out there now takes and hour and costs 8 euros... Hopefully we will be able to work things out to be able to see all of them and get them progressing. We have schelduled to go and do service at the Lavie familys this week and hopefully we'll be able to talk with the son about fixing a baptismal date.

 

This past week we had a few activities with the ward including a big picnick where we got to teach french people how to play baseball. It was fun and we had quite a few less actives and amis who came. It was a great opportunity to grow closer with all of the awesome ward members. I also got to do an exchange in Marseille this past week and it was a blast being able to work out there again. The mission has flown by and it feels like i was just serving in marseille. It's crazy to think that I am now in my 7th ville. I love the mission and even though it is filled with all sorts of trials and difficulties it is definately worth it. I love you all,

 

Elder Swenson

May 5, 2014

Bonjour tout le monde,

Another fine week here in Vitrolles. Today we headed down to Marseille to go on a hike for a district p day. It was great being able to relax and relive the memories from my bleu days. We were also in marseille on saturday to attend a baptism there and i got to see and catch up with a lot of the members there. It is crazy to think how fast time has gone by. 

I also got to spend a day in Aix for an exchange. I haven't worked in aix since my first transfer. I really like it there. It isn't to big but there are a lot of cool people because it is a college town. It was nice being able to have people to contact for a change from Vitrolles.

As far as the work in Vitrolles goes we have been working with a partial member family and our hopes are pretty high that we will see the son baptized here pretty soon. He already knows basically everything and comes to church nearly every week. We talked with him this sunday about fixing a day and he said that he would pray for one.

This week we have a ward activity and we should have quite a few amis coming. We contacted this 16 year old kid a while back and taught him on the street. It turns out that he goes to the same school as one of the members in the ward and so she has been a big help in working with him. we lost contact with him for about a week or so and so we figured that he wasn't interested any more but then it turns out that he just lost his phone and when he got a new one he got back in contact with the member who invited him to come to the activity. Hopefully we will be able to start teaching him again. We are lucky to have such great member missionaries here.

Any way i hope all is going well back home. I'm looking forward to skype home next week. Talk to you then! Love ya,

Elder Swenson

April 28, 2014

Hello again,

This past week was good. We got our window fixed so now we don't have to listen to the plasic bag that was covering the gaping hole rattle around while we drive. To answer dad's questions about the car it is automatic and generally Elder Sorenson drives because he is a little more legal. The foreign drivers license doesn't really count for much here but since he actually has one that is up to date it will look better if we get pulled over, basically if that ever happens we just pull the stupid american card to get out of trouble for driving without a permit. Mission life. 

So we had zone conference today and it was really good. President Roney is giving a big push on member work and working effectively. I like that because member work really is the best way. Especially for a sector like Vitrolles. The work is different here because there aren't any real big villes with many people out. Vitrolles itself doesn't even really have a centreville (the middle of the city with squares and shops and such) so when we go contacting we have to drive to other villes in the sector. 

Ami-wise this week we had an excellent rdv with the Akobé family. They are that family of 4 that I mentioned last week. Things are beginning to pick up with them. We have been working hard to develop a good relation with them and keep in daily contact to remind them to read and pray. As they begin to do the essentiel things like that they are bound to feel the spirit and see a change in their lives. We have really high hopes for them so please keep them in your prayers for us! Other than that we have been working to get to know members better and they are all super awesome here. On multiple occasions we have shared spiritual thoughts with members who have had non member friends and family with them. There are some really great member missionaries here. 

When we were at a members house this past week we asked if there was anything we could do to help them in their callings. After a minute of thought they asked us if we could fill in for them in teaching the young adults class on sunday. Of course we said yes and were happy to help. He gave us the lesson plan and what do you know we got to teach about Balaam. For those of you who aren't familiar with that story it is the weird one in the old testiment with the talking donkey. It was one of the more interesting lessons that i have had to teach in french so far on my mission. But hey it went fairly well and we were glad to be able to help.

Anyway work is continuing to go well here in good old france and I'm glad to be serving here. I love you all!

Elder Swenson

Pictures from Vitrolles

April 21, 2014

Bonjour,

So this was an interesting week. Like I mentioned last week we have a car here. Well on tuesday we had stopped by the appartement to grab a bite to eat. When we came back out we found that someone had broken our back window and stolen a bag that Elder Sorenson had forgotten in the back seat. This resulted in many hours spent dealing with the police and finding a place to get the window fixed and dealing with the fact that our car doesn't have the right registration in it. We should have our window replaced by thursday if we are lucky.

Vitrolles is an interesting sector. It covers a pretty big area and Vitrolles itself isn't super big. There isnt really anybody on the streets so we have to drive to another ville in order to do any contacting. But there are some other nice little villes in our area with a few people so that is good. We definately need the car here.

The ward here is nice. Right now we are trying to work with a couple part member families to try and get them fully converted. We are also working with a family of four that has seen the missionaries off and on for the past couple of years. Hopefully we can help them resove any of the concerns they have and get them baptized.

Just a heads up, next week we have a zone conference on monday so you won't be getting my email until tuesday. Any way i love you all,

Elder Swenson