March 25, 2013

Hey everyone,

So this past week has been another good one. For the past few weeks we have all been trying to find some young adults to come to the JA activies. They have intsitute and family home evening on thursdays and fridays and up to this point all the young people we had found were either "busy" or actually busy. A couple of weeks ago we met this awesome young guy named Charles who lives in the same building as us. We were all in the elevator together and he had some pizzas. We asked him if they were for us and he laughed, then we asked him if he wanted to learn more about Jesus and he said yes. We got his number but then every time that we called it was off. Well we had sent him a text this week inviting him to institute and he called back and said that his phone had been broken and he just barely got it fixed and that is why we couldn't reach him before. Any way he told us he would be glad to come to institute with us. That night the other elders had finally got some other JAs to come as well. When it started out it was honestly kind of dry and they were talking about the life of one of the prophets and we were kind of worried that they would be bored or confused, but then they started asking questions and the other members who were there were all giving really good answers. The best responses came from a less active young guy who was there and our recent convert. I was so glad i couldnt help but smile when they were bearing testimony. Any way they liked it and our amis wanted to know more. I'm really excited to start teaching Charles this week because he is golden.

This past sunday there was a marathon in Marseille so the bus that we take to church wasn't running all morning to clear the streets for all the people. This meant that we had to walk to church. This also happened to be the day that it rained nonstop for hours. As a result of the roads around the church being closed and the miserable weather, when we got to the church, the missionaries were the only ones there. We thought that it was going to stay that way but finally like 2 minutes before church started people slowly started trickeling in. It ended up being a really good meeting even though it started a little late and there weren't as many people.

This is the last week of the transfer so i find out friday if i'm staying in Marseille for another transfer or if i leave. I'll be happy whatever the result is. My guess is that i will be staying but i really have no clue either way. It's always impossible to guess what President Roney will do next. I am also looking forward to general conference. It's possibly more exciting than Christmas when you're a missionary. Especially when you spend Christmas in the MTC. I can't wait to here all of the talks.

Any way, I hope that you all are doing well and that you have a good Easter. Think alot about the Atonement this week and you will be filled with gratitude for the great gift that our Savior gave to us. Love ya,

Elder Swenson

March 18, 2013

Hey everyone,

Another bonne semaine here in Marseille. This week we did alot of service for people. We spent Wednesday in La Ciotat digging a trench and burrying pipe to help out a members son in law who is building a house there. For lunch we had sausages cooked on the "barbeque". It was an old wheel barrel with coals and a little metal grate on top. It was awesome. The next day we pulled up carpet and scraped off padding at the house of a members friend. Maybe it will be good for us to take the Ammon approach to missionary work. We did service and got to know the people a little better and talked a little about our church. It was good. We also went on this hike to a big cross on top of a mountain in Aubagne with another member and his friend. This week we got to meet members friends in a bunch of different ways and it was a good change of pace for us.

It has been super windy here for the past week. It's colder and I feel like we are out finding people in a hurricane. I am looking forward to spring time. We have been trying to visit members and get to know them better this past week. Sunday night we were trying to find this address to a less active members house. We looked all over and finally decided that it must've been written down wrong because as far as we could tell it didn't exist. We were getting cold and frustrated so we asked this young guy at the bus stop. He wasn't sure but told us to try looking over there. We tried and failed. When we got back to the bus stop to head back home, the same kid was there. We ended up talking to him and found out that he was a really awesome guy. After talking to him while we traveled on the bus and metro we found out that he was super busy but was christian and was interested in knowing a little more. We gave him a book of mormon and he told us he was going to read it each night before bed. It just goes to show that the Lord always knows better than us. We had planned to go visit this family but the real plan was for us to find this young man. I know that it is like this in all aspects of our lives. God knows us and has specific plans for all of us. It might not always line up with what we plan or expect but He will guide us in the right direction. He knows us each specifically and knows exactly what we need. If we trust in Him and listen for the guidence of the spirit we will be led to something better than what we ourselves can find. I love you all and hope all is going well.

Elder Swenson

March 11, 2013

Hey everyone,

I hope all of you are doing well. This past week i spent more time then usual on trains. We had zone conference up in Aix and then we had stake conference in Nice. Both were really good and i loved being able to see a whole bunch of the missionaries from the other villes. There was a big emphases on prayer at the 2. The mission has been having us try to pray alot more and also with members. Every morning at 8 the mission prays for all the the baptisimal engagees by specific names and needs and now on sunday evenings even the members are praying with us for specific things. I've gained a big testimony on the power of prayer and the effect it has on us. At zone conference, sister Roney talked about how the missionaries are probably the most prayed for people in the world. This was really eye opening and gave me the strength and confidence to keep working and doing all that i can to help out in this great work. When ever times get rough it's such a comforting thought to know that you have people praying for you. I want you to know that i pray for all of you and think about you every day.

So this week has been a little slower for us as far as the work goes, but i know that if we keep working hard good things will come. In studies this morning i was reading in Alma 58. This is during all of the wars and battles between the people. I really love Helamans attitude in this chapter. He is writing a letter to Moroni and talking about their struggles and how the cheif judge isn't sending them any help but how he isn't worried because of his faith in the Lord. He talks about how through prayer the people have recieved comfort and peace of mind and talks about how even though the people are going through all of these struggles they keep moving forward with faith and dilligence looking toward God throughout their trials. Through out the scriptures and church history we see many examples of this. Even though people are righteous and doing the Lords will they still suffer all kinds of pains and trials. We always have struggles in our lives even when we are doing things right, but if we keep on pushing forward and keep our faith in Christ we will eventually have our burdens lightened and we will have hope and comfort throughout hard times. That is what I love about the gospel. It gives us strength in hard times. It gives us the hope and the joy that is much needed in this world of pains and worries. There is a talk (and even a mormon message) by Elder Holland that i love called better things to come. He talks about how we all go through hard times but through the gospel we can have hope. I love the quote from it that says some blessings come soon, some come late, and some dont come till heaven, but for those who embrase the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. I know that because we have a loving Father in Heaven we will always be blessed and comforted, and even though things may look rough for the moment, they will get better if we do what we know is right. God is always there to comfort us if we just remember Him.

I love this gospel, I love this work, and I love all of you. Keep moving forward, have faith, and remember that you always have someone who loves and cares about you.

Elder Swenson

I lack the creativity to come up with interesting titles

Hey everyone,

Another great week. A week filled with awesome rendez-vous, hitch hiking, failed attempts at making cookies, and baptism. We had great rendez-vous with new and old amis. We met this awesome new ami named Caroline. She works aton so she is always super tired but she still makes time to see us. She has strong faith and i can always feel such a strong spirit during our lessons. I know that she can feel that to. I'm excited to keep teaching her.

So last monday when we went on a hike with Alain we had to take a long bus ride to get there. The hike was great but afterwards we came to the bus stop and found out that the buses had decided to go on strike and weren't running for the rest of the day. We were about to call a member to come pick us up but the next thing i know Alain flags down this car and they said that they would give us a ride. They were super nice and we thanked them aton and gave them a pass along card.

We decided that we would make cookies for some people this past week. We had a recipe but it made like 5 dozen so we decided to cut it in half. Our measurements were anything but accurate so we had a couple of failed batches. But we were persistent and finally figured things out and came up with a good batch. If at first you don't succeed, try and try again.

Last but not least, Alain got baptized and confirmed this week! It feels so great to see the steps he is making and to see how it is changing his life for the better. So the water in the font was really cold for the baptism. We tried boiling some water and adding that in but it didn't really have much effect. So when he was baptized it pretty much took the breath out of him because of the sudden cold, but he was still super happy. It was probably a huge contrast to the warmth that he felt sunday morning when he was confirmed and baptized by fire. He looked so happy and filled with the spirit the rest of the day. I really felt such a strong spirit too. I love the feeling every time I help out in blessings or other priesthood ordinances. You can actually feel Christ working through you. It really hit me that when we are serving others and helping out in His work, He is with us. He is always there to guide us and comfort us. We have a loving Father in Heaven who is always there to listen to our prayers and send us His spirit, and a perfect older brother who was willing to give all He could in order to provide us with the means of finding happiness in our lives. And they are always there rooting for us, and helping us every step of the way. I feel that guidance every day. Whether it's a feeling that i need to speed up and soon after catching a bus i would have otherwise missed, or a prompting to turn around and talk to someone on the street that i had just overlooked who turns out to be an awesome person who is interested in learning more about the gospel, or feeling like i should share something in a rendez vous that touches someones heart to the point of tears. God isn't someone who just sits up in heaven and watches what happens, He is constantly working to bring happiness to His children. He loves each of us and will help us if we just accept it and listen to the spirit.

I love France, I love being a missionary, I love this gospel, and I love all you.

Elder Swenson

More Pictures!

Me and Elder Workman

Cleaning the green mold stuff from the baptismal font.

Us at the baptism

pictures from bleus conference and the hike with our ami Alain

February 25, 2013

Bonjour ma famille,

This week has been another great one. I love working with elder workman. He is such a stud. Weve been working hard and meeting a bunch of new people. I know this transfer is going to be great. So our ami Alain is getting baptised this week. He is an awesome guy. We even went on a hike with him for pday this week. He has a strong testimony and its awesome to see him make this descision. Its been awesome to see him grow these past few weeks. I love being able to be here teaching all these amazing people. Earlier this week we were eating dinner with a family and i just remember thinking how lucky i am to be able to meet all these people and feel of the spirit with them and their familes. All of the hyper and happy little kids remind me of our family.

Last friday was bleus conference so we got to go up to lyon and see all the missionaries i came in with. It was great to see all of them again and hear how theyre doing. I also got to see a few of the sisters from the group behind me when i was helping them with bags at the train station. Sisters have so much stuff in their bags! i dont understand how they didnt have to pay fees at the airport for the weight. But it was nice getting to see familliar faces. Its better knowing more elders now because it makes conferences alot more fun.

This past week has been so cold. There was even a little snow in marseille and that never happens. It didnt stick but the constant wind here makes it so much colder. But im glad that im here and not someplace like utah where its even colder. I hope all is going well for everyone back home. know that i pray for you all and think about you alot. Im greatful for all the things that youve done for me and for the examples you have set for me. Until next week,

Elder Swenson

February 18, 2013

Hey all,

So this past week was good. We got our transfer calls and I'm staying in Marseille for another transfer. Elder Tulley got transfered to Nice so my new companion is Elder Workman. He has already served here for 4 transfers and then left for about 3 and now he is back. It should be a good change going from white washing to now having alot more experience with the ville. I've only known him for about an hour up to now but I already know that he is going to be an awesome companion. So the zones got changed around and some new ones were added this transfer. Our zone got split into 2 and Elder Tulley is one of the new zls of the other half. I'm looking forward to this new transfer and hope that all continues to go well.

This past week was great. We picked up some new amis and had some great rdvs. This past wednesday the mission had a finding day. We spent the whole day contacting and port à porting. Also everyone prayed every hour for everybody in the mission. It really strengthened my testimony of how important prayer is. It may seem like a little thing but it really brings about miracles. We saw many that day and it was always right after we would get done praying. We are so lucky to be able to talk with our Heavenly Father at any time and have His spirit with us to guide us. Sometimes the best and simplest way to help others is just to pray for them. I know that prayer is such a great blessing in our lives and that it really does make a difference.

I hope that all is going well back at home. I hope mom had a great birthday and everyone had a great valentines day. I'm glad valentines day is over because all of the ads all over the city have become abit more family friendly. I love you all and hope you stay happy and healthy. I'm sorry that this email is short but i spent all day at the train station for all the arrivals and departures so time got cut a little short. Love ya.

Elder Swenson

Last Week of My First Transfer (plus pictures)

Salut!

So this is the last week of transfer number one. We get our calls on Friday so i'll find out then if i'm staying in marseille or not. I hope that I get to stay but i'll be happy with where ever i get sent. Me and Elder Tulley are finally getting out of our white washing slump. Now that we finally know the members and area a little more we have been having a little easier time. This week we taught alot more and received some new amis. All of them are awesome and i love being able to share the gospel with them and just be able to serve them how ever they need it. We gave 3 blessings this week and so that was my first experience doing that in french. When ever there are a few companionship's at a members house or at a lesson they always choose me to give the prayer without fail. I think i'm 100% in giving either opening prayer or dinner prayer this week. Also they always choose me to anoint the oil for the blessings. It's good for me to practice though and i love being able to help out. But now i just expect that it's going to be me when we ask who they would like to say the prayer.

My appetite has been growing on my mission because of all the giant meals that we eat. Here in France they have appetizers, then a dish, then another dish, then bread and cheese, then dessert. The food is great but i always feel like i'm going to die when i come out of mangez-vous. But slowly my stomache is becoming accustomed to being so full. I love it out here in france and the people and culture are great. Ashley asked me if i've had any people come on to metros and give speaches or play music for money yet, and i've seen alot more of that this week. The other day a guy jumped on the metro and started playing his guitar and singing crazy. It made me laugh. I love all the experiences and people that you meet while you are out on the streets.

So there is this awesome member in our ward named David who is an amazing member missionary. This sunday he showed up with 5 people who he had invited to attend church with him. They were all awesome to and we have some rdv's set up for this upcoming week. Members are really where the majority of our amis come from and the members in our ward are all great missionaries. It's awesome being able to help members to do missionary work and help them find ways to invite their friends and family to learn more about the gospel. Growing up in Pleasant Grove where the majority of the people you know are members and we never really had ward missionaries, I never realised how much of an impact the members have on missionary work.

I love you all and hope that you are enjoying all of the snow back in Utah. I hope that all are happy, healthy and well.  Here are some pictures from our hike last P-day.

Elder Swenson

More Pictures

These are from last p day when we went to notre dame du mont. It's this giant cathedral up above marseille. It has this giant gold mary that is like 20 meters tall. Also if you look at the little island in the back of the landscape picture that is chateau d'iff (sp?) (from all the books and movies) We will probably go there next week. This week i think we're going on a hike so i'll try to get some good pictures of that for you.

Let the Holy Spirit Guide

Hey all, 

Another week has come and gone so fast. It seems like this transfer is speeding by. It's only a 5 week transfer because the schedule got messed up from the change with all the new missionaries. I was up in Aix en Provence for 2 days this week because we had an exchange with the zone leaders and then a zone conference the next day. When we slept over at the zone leaders appartment we thought it would just be the 4 of us but then another group called and needed a place to stay and then the assistants called needing a place to sleep. So there were 8 of us in the tiny appartment. It was a grand time of sleeping on the floor and ice cold showers. The conference the next day was good though and president Roney talked about having faith and being consecrated missionaries. 

Aix is still a pretty big city but not as big as Marseille. I'm finally begining to know where i'm going now. I sure do miss the nice easy to find addresses in utah though. We still get lost but not a often and not as far off. We had more lessons with Alain. He is such an awesome guy and i'm 90% positive he will be getting baptized on march 2. Keep him in your prayers. We also had this lesson with a part member family this week. It was crazy. About 5 minutes in it got completely derailed because of some concerns of the wife. So pretty much for the next 30 minutes we just listened to her vent. After that though she started calming down and me and Elder Tulley just started testifying of simple truths and sharing personal experiences. With us only talking for about 10% of the lesson she completely had a 180 and was testifying herself at the end. The spirit was super strong and definately did all the work. At the end she invited us to come back and told us that we are the first set of missionaries that she hasn't yelled out of the house. She is actually a really spiritual person and said that she feels that our church is right and that she thinks she might want to be baptized soon. They are really an awesome family and we're lucky to be able to go and teach them.

My testimony of letting the spirit teach was really strengthened from that lesson. We taught in english so i was excited to be able to say and understand a little more in the lesson because our french lessons pretty much consist of me just sharing little things here and there and mostly testifying of the things Elder Tulley says. But then in the end it turned out that the only things that we could share to help in this certain lesson were simple testimonies. The spirit truly is the teacher that is going to help members come unto Christ. It doesn't matter how well we speak the language or how much we know as long as we can invite the spirit. Being able to look someone in the eye and testify to them of the things that you hold sacred and know to be true is so much more of an impact then going in and trying to wow them with your gospel knowlege. The power that a simple testimony can have is increadible.

I love you all and just want to let you know how much I love this gospel and feel so lucky to be able to share it with everyone. I love seeing how much it can impact peoples lives for the better. I love being a missionary.

L'amour Elder Swenson

Week 2 and some Pictures

Bonjour tout le monde,

This week has been good and i'm slowly learning more of the area and members. I don't think I'll quite pick it all up just yet though because this is a super big ville. I love the members here, even if i struggle to remember all of their french names. We had dinner with a few families this week and they are all super nice and go easy on me and my lack of french. Yesterday after church we walked past the kitchen and suddenly were pulled in and commanded to eat. We were caught off gaurd but were super grateful. Then we went on a walk with this less active family. They are really nice and there kids have a ton of energy. We got licked and patted by them throughout sacrement meeting. But they were good and we enjoyed talking with them as we walked by the beach.

Right now we have an ami named Alain who is a stud. He has such good questions about the things that we read and teach and i know that he is going to be an awesome member whenn the time comes. The other day at our rendez vous we had a really good discussion about ether 12 and we all came away from it learning more. He will get baptised on the 9th if all goes well so keep him in your prayers if you can so that all goes well. Even though I still dont understand a lot of whats being said in lessons and church i still learn and feel the spirit. I've gotten really good at reading body language and smiling and nodding. Hopefully the french will follow soon after.

We had a zone training in aix last week and i got to see and meet a bunch of the other elders. Also because Elder Tulley is the district leader i've been on a few exchanges so i've gotten to know the other Elders pretty well. It's good to see all of the different ways that they do things because all of them have their different strengths. Hopefully i can learn from all the good examples around me. I still have those moments where all of the sudden i realise that I'm a missionary and i'm in France. It's crazy to believe that i'm here but i love the country and i love the work. I'm so lucky to be blessed to be able to help out in such a great work with such great people. I love you all and pray that all continues to go well at home. I hope that grandpa feels better and the healing process goes well. Until next week,

Elder Swenson

First Week in Marseille

Hey everyone I hope all is going well. This week has been really good. Marseille is good and the members here are awesome. All of them are super nice and willing to help out in any way possible. The members have a huge part in the missionary work here and they are super strong here. Luckily i didn't have to teach any lessons in Sunday school this week. Elder Tulley wasn't quite as lucky. There are 3 companionship's here and 4 of us are new so we all bore our testimonies in sacrament meeting. It's a really friendly ward and they go easy on me because i'm a bleu.

Marseille is pretty big so we take the metro/trams/busses everywhere. We bought these pass things that you just scan when you get on so it's nice and quick each time. There are plenty of the naked european statues here. There is a giant one right infront of our appartment. There is also this big cathedral with a huge gold mary on top. kinda like our angel moroni but 5 times as big. I dont really have many pictures now but i will take some and send them next week. It has been pretty chilly here but nothing to bad as long as you wear a coat and scarf.

So i think i mentioned that me and Elder Tulley are white washing but i don't know if i mentioned that we replaced the sister companionship. Because of this our appartment is definatley the nicest and cleanest. Also they left a million notes and candies all over the appartment. Sisters are great. Because we replaced a sister companionship it lead to a little confusion for one of our amis. We called and left a message, then they called and left a message with us and when we returned the call they were suprised that we were elders. We then realised that we never changed our answering machine from the one of the sisters saying,"hi this is the sisters leave a message". Funny stuff. Also some of the members gave us a hard time for replacing the sisters because now there aren't any in the ward. We told them we would do our best to replace them well.

This week we have plenty of dinner appointments and rendez vous with our amis. Should be great. I'm still pretty basic with my french but i can contribute by bearing my testimony and sharing little things here and there. I love being a missionary and am excited to continue on for these next 2 years. I love you all and hope all is going well back at home. By the way sorry if some things are spelled weird because i'm still getting used to a french keyboard. Also I'm just horrible at spelling. Talk to ya in a week.

L'amour Elder Swenson.

Je suis ici!

Bonjour!

I'm finally here. Crazy. First things first i'm serving in Marseille and my companion is elder Tulley. He's an awesome elder and i'm sure i'll learn alot from him. Marseille is awesome but super cold right now. It's hard to type because my fingers are so cold. So we're white washing ( neither of us have served in the area before) so we don't really know the area or the members but it's all good. It's a little crazy because I can't really communicate all that well yet but i'm picking things up little by little. I've only talked a little with a member at the church and that was kind of difficult but i managed and even though i'll be relying on elder Tulley alot with my communication I should be fine.

Travel went well until we got to Paris. We got on the plane for Lyon but then the pilot got on and said that there was a delay because of snow. Then like a half hour later he got on and said that the flight was canceled. Lame. Eventually after 5 hours of waiting in lines and making new plans we got on a train and made our way to Lyon  All of us were exhausted because we had been up for over 24 hours so we all looked like zombies the rest of the day. We got picked up at the train station and took all our luggage to a hotel. the rest of the night we spent at the mission office and the mission home for meetings and interviews and just to relax. The next day we went to  take care of legality stuff. This was just a check up and stuff like that at an office. We then went to the mission office and got our new assignments and met our trainers. After some meetings we ran to the train station to catch our ride to marseille.

So far my time here has been a little intimidating but still awesome  We met up with the other elders in our district and i got to know them a little more. I'm super excited to get started and get more in the rhythm of things. Anyway I don't have time to keep writing but I love you and just wanted to let you know that i'm alive and well. I hope all goes well for everyone back home. My pday is Monday so that is when you can expect my next email.

L'amour Elder Swenson

New Companion

Here is a picture from the mission secretary of Trent and his "trainer" Elder Tulley. I also posted his updated address on the side of the blog. Looking at the address it sounds like his first area is Marsielle.