Unsurprisingly, the subject line once again has reference to transfer results. I say "eternal marriage" because Elder Alvarenga and I are staying together again! I know other missions might be different, but doing four transfers in a row with the same companion is nigh unheard of here in the beautiful France Lyon Mission. I honestly only have one unconfirmed report of that possibly happening a couple years ago. Of all the many options we saw for transfers, this was not one of them. In fact, we expressly stated several times that we couldn't possibly stay together for a fourth transfer. And yet...
The Lord has plans, and ain't nobody can frustrate those plans! Satan has tried in a myriad of ways, but it's always been in vain.
So, the week: Tuesday was a good day! At 11h, we met our 78 year old ami and he took us out to lunch :) that was super fun. He took pictures of us so he could remember us once we left (we told him one of us would almost definitely leave), he's pretty adorable. That afternoon we were supposed to have a couple other rendez-vous but they both fell through soooooo I don't remember what we did actually. That night though, we went with a member to visit a younger woman whose husband is somewhere in France on military assignment. That was a fun visit, she made us coconut cake :D
Wednesday I was on exchange with Elder Mason! In the morning all four of us went to Voiron to see a very nearly 90 year old member. She comes to church every week and even brings a bar of chocolate for all the missionaries. She's a sainte. (yes that e is there on purpose ;) part of what makes her a sainte is the fact that she'll give anything away to someone she thinks needs it more, including her oven. She likes to make "cake" for the missionaries, but with no oven that's a little tricky. Her "cake" consists of butter, sugar, and cocoa all mushed together and flattened in a pan. If you imagine it as fudge, it's actually pretty good but still ridiculously sweet and fattening. We tried to finish it because she insisted, but once your mouth is numb and your stomach doesn't feel so hot anymore, it's hard to keep eating. Hashtag missionary probs. In the afternoon Elder Mason and I saw Gregory! He hasn't been able to come to church lately because of work, but he got to come yesterday just for sacrament meeting which was already an improvement :)
Thursday we got to see Umberto and teach him about the priesthood. Yesterday after church he had his interview with the bishop and will be receiving the Aaronic Priesthood next week! Yay! :D
Friday morning we tried to study but it was hard to focus. Around 10h President Brown called and gave us the big news about transfers. Elder Mason left today headed to Vitrolles (right next to Marseille) and Elder Abney got Elder Graff from Kelso, Washington. Fun to have a fellow Northwesterner in the apartment! 🌲🌲🐿🌲 On Friday from 13h-15h (1-3 pm) we were helping a family from Angoulême move a couple trucks full of stuff into a storage box. We went straight from that move to another one for a single sister in the ward that lasted until 20h (8 pm) that night and then for another 3 and a half hours the next day. We were pretty sore, but that's okay.
Today we said goodbye to Elder Mason and Sœur Rutter (she's going to Clermont-Ferrand) and then wandered around town for a while visiting cool basilicas and stuff. For Grenoble's relative fame, it's actually crazy small. Usually we take trams, but when it takes 20 minutes on foot to get from one side of the city to the other, we just walk sometimes.
On Sunday, Elder Alvarenga and I taught the Gospel Principles lesson on Sacrifice. I learned a lot :) there were two things I really liked: 1) If you sacrifice something you have a lot of, you're not really making a sacrifice. 2) The purpose behind making a sacrifice should be because we love God and thereby our fellow men, not for the intent of receiving a reward. Yes sacrifice brings blessings, but that shouldn't be the motivation behind the action. When we truly love God, we're willing to do whatever He asks, whether or not we're going to receive anything. That's how love works! I still have a long way to go in this regard, but it'll come little by little.
Love you all!
Elder Jensen
江长老
The Lord has plans, and ain't nobody can frustrate those plans! Satan has tried in a myriad of ways, but it's always been in vain.
So, the week: Tuesday was a good day! At 11h, we met our 78 year old ami and he took us out to lunch :) that was super fun. He took pictures of us so he could remember us once we left (we told him one of us would almost definitely leave), he's pretty adorable. That afternoon we were supposed to have a couple other rendez-vous but they both fell through soooooo I don't remember what we did actually. That night though, we went with a member to visit a younger woman whose husband is somewhere in France on military assignment. That was a fun visit, she made us coconut cake :D
Wednesday I was on exchange with Elder Mason! In the morning all four of us went to Voiron to see a very nearly 90 year old member. She comes to church every week and even brings a bar of chocolate for all the missionaries. She's a sainte. (yes that e is there on purpose ;) part of what makes her a sainte is the fact that she'll give anything away to someone she thinks needs it more, including her oven. She likes to make "cake" for the missionaries, but with no oven that's a little tricky. Her "cake" consists of butter, sugar, and cocoa all mushed together and flattened in a pan. If you imagine it as fudge, it's actually pretty good but still ridiculously sweet and fattening. We tried to finish it because she insisted, but once your mouth is numb and your stomach doesn't feel so hot anymore, it's hard to keep eating. Hashtag missionary probs. In the afternoon Elder Mason and I saw Gregory! He hasn't been able to come to church lately because of work, but he got to come yesterday just for sacrament meeting which was already an improvement :)
Thursday we got to see Umberto and teach him about the priesthood. Yesterday after church he had his interview with the bishop and will be receiving the Aaronic Priesthood next week! Yay! :D
Friday morning we tried to study but it was hard to focus. Around 10h President Brown called and gave us the big news about transfers. Elder Mason left today headed to Vitrolles (right next to Marseille) and Elder Abney got Elder Graff from Kelso, Washington. Fun to have a fellow Northwesterner in the apartment! 🌲🌲🐿🌲 On Friday from 13h-15h (1-3 pm) we were helping a family from Angoulême move a couple trucks full of stuff into a storage box. We went straight from that move to another one for a single sister in the ward that lasted until 20h (8 pm) that night and then for another 3 and a half hours the next day. We were pretty sore, but that's okay.
Today we said goodbye to Elder Mason and Sœur Rutter (she's going to Clermont-Ferrand) and then wandered around town for a while visiting cool basilicas and stuff. For Grenoble's relative fame, it's actually crazy small. Usually we take trams, but when it takes 20 minutes on foot to get from one side of the city to the other, we just walk sometimes.
On Sunday, Elder Alvarenga and I taught the Gospel Principles lesson on Sacrifice. I learned a lot :) there were two things I really liked: 1) If you sacrifice something you have a lot of, you're not really making a sacrifice. 2) The purpose behind making a sacrifice should be because we love God and thereby our fellow men, not for the intent of receiving a reward. Yes sacrifice brings blessings, but that shouldn't be the motivation behind the action. When we truly love God, we're willing to do whatever He asks, whether or not we're going to receive anything. That's how love works! I still have a long way to go in this regard, but it'll come little by little.
Love you all!
Elder Jensen
江长老
