Pardon my lateness

Yesterday we were helping some members move (actually the sister and brother-in-law of a dude I knew in St. Genis way back when) and it took longer than we thought, so that's why we're writing emails today. But a bunch of stuff has happened since then!

First of all, Happy Birthday Dad!! Sorry it's a little late coming, but here it is anyway :)

Second of all, I got to see the inside of the Capitole Elders' apartment and it's super cool. There were Chinese things and it made me happy. On Tuesday night, Elder Peron and I slept over at their place and got up at 4:15 amto get ready and catch our 6:11 am train to Zone Conference...

...in Bordeaux :) I finally made it out west! However, we ended up being late to the conference because only two of the six people in our little band of travelers had been to Bordeaux before, and it was only once. Therefore, we got lost and couldn't find the chapel until almost half an hour after the conference started. Whoops.

I got to see Elder Bleak at the conference! He's been in Lormont for the past four transfers and will be going home in less than two weeks :'( However, it comes full circle because, if the records we've received are correct, the next Chinese Elder to arrive in our mission reported to the MTC on the same day as the conference! :D

We were sad to hear about the attack that happened in Nice. To our knowledge no missionaries or members were hurt, which is nice to know especially for those who know the members and missionaries down there (for example my last collègue Elder Zhu). More on this later...

On Saturday we had Samedi Sportif, which is when we try to get young adults (or anyone who wants) and our amis to come play basketball, soccer, volleyball, anything to help newcomers make friends. Not many people showed up, but we talked to some people at church on Sunday who said they would come next week. After that we got lunch at a burger place that didn't cook the meat all the way through (i.e. practically didn't cook it) because apparently you don't need to. Who knew.

This Friday is my birthday! Super crazy to remember that my 19th birthday was in the MTC and we celebrated with chips and salsa and Q-tips spelling out "Happy Birthday" on the ground. Here I am about to celebrate my 20th birthday (finally a legal adult in Japan) and I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm sure it'll be the best birthday ever though :)

* * * * * * * * * * *
...my little thought today is a little more about the attack in Nice. With the relatively recent events in Paris, Brussels, and now Nice, it's easy to see how opposed Satan is to this work. A lot of people here and around the world question, "If God is so loving, why does he allow this kind of thing to happen?" I can't help but think that the devil himself is trying to take the French people as far away from God as possible so that next year, when the Paris temple is dedicated, practically no one will enter in. I want to promise you all that IT WON'T WORK! Allow me to share this scripture from the Doctrine and Covenants, section 76, verse 3:

"His purposes fail not, neither are there any who can stay his hand."

Have a great week :)

我爱你们！

江长老

Pics & Videos: various

Garrett didn't send any commentary on these pictures, but they look nice!  There are two videos at the bottom...

Truc Eagle

About that title: on the way to the church to do emails, we saw a bunch of kids doing some sort of science fair or exposition or something. They were riding these crazy contraptions, basically bikes and wheelchairs with a bunch of junk attached, like really ghetto parade floats. One of the kids had named his float "Truc Eagle," which basically just means "Eagle Thing." It was funny :)

I have very little time, but a lot to say! First off, what the heck is happening with the Olympics? I have heard absolutely ZERO things about it, and in my head they should be happening like this week. The one indication I have that they still exist is that several days ago, I saw a dude on the bus wearing a "Rio 2016" lanyard. That's it :( Someone fill me in please!

Second: France lost the European Cup...? We heard a bunch of honking last night which usually means France won the match, but this morning we got a text from one of the young adults saying we'd lost. Still, made it to the finals, a lot better than usual! 

We had a great district meeting and then finding day in Montauban last week. Elder Smith (our zone leader from Texas) and I cooked up a bunch of crêpes for lunch, t'was super delish.

Thursday was unusual: we spent the morning doing service at the house of some Protestant people who are friends with a super awesome family in the ward. We ate a ton of pizza and discussed our beliefs, it was cool. After that we went and saw another family in the area who was super excited to watch the match that night. We went straight from there to the store where we got ultra-freshly squeezed orange juice, and from there to another family's house way out in the countryside for dinner. It was suuuuuper peaceful and awesome out there. Always have a house with a big yard :)

Friday was unusual as well: We went to Pau! I had to do my legality since I've passed my year mark, and we had a great adventure. I would love to tell you more about it, but I have no time left, so sorry :( Until next week, suffice it to say that there was a castle, a giant rat, and a City of Miracles (not Pau).

For my spiritual thought, I'd like to share a little bit of what I shared in my talk that I gave in sacrament meeting yesterday! It went pretty well I think. The lesson I shared is this: if you have the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, don't wait! Use it! Share it! Enjoy it! I shared my experience of leaving the MTC to come to France and how I lost my bottle of Perrier because I had forgotten to drink it and then I accidentally tried to send it through airport security. In the same way, we can forget how wonderful this gospel is and take it for granted, but when Christ comes in His glory, we don't want to be judged as slothful and unwise servants and be cast out! That would be sad. Live the Gospel TODAY!

Love y'all :)

Jensen Chōrō
江长老

July the 4th be with y'all 🇺🇸🎆💥🏈🎇💵🇺🇸

Hey y'all! We had a good week, with pas mal de miracles :)

Miracle number one: we were at the church doing something on the computer, and the phone rang in the bishop's office next door. No one else was there, so we decided to answer it just in case it was important. The woman on the other end wanted to talk to the bishop, but since he was out of town we took her number and volunteered to help. We figured right off the bat that she was a less-active that no one had heard from in a while. A couple days later, we went by her place to see if we could help her with anything. We went with a member who noticed faster than we did that she was using some religious terminology a little different than we normally use in the church, about bishops and baptism and marriage and stuff. As it turns out, this lady had never even heard of our church! She was 100% Catholic and just called the first "bishop" she saw in the phone book. Fortunately, the member with us had served his mission in Italy and knew the Catholic church really well thanks to that, so he was able to explain how our Church is different more effectively than we could. This woman is going through a tough patch in her life right now, so we were able to give her some comfort and she even came to church the next day! One of our awesome members really took her under her wing, we hardly saw her for the whole three hours :) missionary work works waaaayyy better with members!

Miracle number two: Elder Peron was calling random people out of the phone on Saturday to invite them to church. He had taken a little break and then had barely picked up the phone again when he saw a potential ami listed there. He had the impression to call him directly (not send a message or anything), so without a second thought he did. Voilà the conversation (although it was in French):

Dude: Allo?
Elder: Bonjour, it's the missionaries! How are you?
Dude: Very good! How are you?
Elder: Doing great! We were just wondering if you'd like to come to church with us tomorrow?
Dude: Sure! Where is it?
Elder: (gives church address)
Dude: And what time?
Elder: 2:00.
Dude: Great, I'll be there!
Elder: Cool, see you tomorrow!
Dude: See you tomorrow, bye!

Miracle number three: we had just left our apartment to go to church when a car pulls up next to us and the woman inside calls out: "Hey les Mormons! Les Mormons!" Normally that's a red flag for someone rather unpleasant, but we turned around anyway to see what she wanted. She asked if we were, in fact, the Mormons, and then asked: "Where's your church? I haven't been in a long time and I'd really like my 15-year-old daughter to start attending." Needless to say, we promptly gave her the address and our phone number.

"For I am God, and mine arm is not shortened; and I will show miracles, signs, and wonders, unto all those who believe on my name." (Doctrine & Covenants 35:8)

Elder Jensen
江长老

Pics: Food, Maps, and Flags

This is for Courtney :)

What our mission used to be...

What our mission is now...

Just had to throw this in.... since it's July 4th today.

Pics: French countryside & Mac-Do drive thru

French countryside - it's beautiful!

Mac-Do drive-thru in a member's décapotable (convertible) :D

Leave Hawai'i for over a year and this is what happens...