This week has been a blur, so much has happened!
Alright, where do I even start... probably with wednesday when I moved out of Caen and into Cergy. I'm living in a four man now, so most of the day was spent meeting up with everyone I will be living with so that we could all travel to Cergy together.
My new companion is Elder Shenkal, He is sweet! He is a convert in his 13th transfer and has had a pretty wild life and mission. Super out going, funny, and hard working. We have been working hard already, and I'll just summarize what we did this week, since I am mildly distracted right now and do not have much time to write because we are going into Paris to check out the Monet museum!
Thursday we went to Ikea because the Cergy apartment became a four man, so two new elders are living here. They are Elder Dunoskovic and Elder Seymour, both super funny and awesome missionaries. So we had to go buy dressers, desks, and get other materials for them because the apartment literally had nothing in it. That took the first part of the day. Then Elder Dunoskovic and Shenkal had to go into Paris to get some X rays done, so elder Seymour and I went to teach two lessons that Elder Shenkal had set up. The first one was a woman named HAppy who has a baptismal date and the second is a woman named Colette who also has a baptismal date. The first woman was actually going to the hospital, so she cancelled the appointment once we got there. So we left and went to travel to Colettes house to go teach her the word of wisdom. She is super prepared and is totally ready for baptism. She made the comment on how on how she drinks some wine every now and then, but she said that she can totally get rid of drinking a little wine at parties. I bobre my testimony at one point and she just stared at me and then went, "how old are you?" Totally random, but funny. Everyone thinks I am a young man. She fed us Chicken afterwards and it was incredible! We returned to the apartment after that.
Saturday we went out contacting and believe it or not, people actually listen to us here! It was way nice and we actually got a few phone numbers. Then we went to an African Baby shower, which was way fun. We talked to a bunch of people and had more african food. All four of us missionaries were invited to the party and we tried doing a little proselyting during the party. There were a lot of members there and I started talking with one lady who is from Peru and has lived in France for twenty years or so now. It was sweet because we were having the conversation in French and I understood everything she said for the most part.
There was also this African Ginger juice, which was basically straight ginger and I had a huge glass of it. Oh my gosh, that stuff BURNED SO BAD! My nose started dripping because it was so hot. I didn't think I would be able to finish it, so I just chugged it and dealt with the burn for a while. Drank some juice, but the ginger drink totally tired me out. We eventually left the party and actually got quite a few phone numbers of people who were interested in going to our church.
Sunday we were able to watch conference. I haven't seen any Sunday sessions, but I was able to watch the Saturday sessions. The talks were all really good and the questions I had going into conference were all answered. I really like Bonnie L. Oscarson's talk about helping those who are closest to you. I have found that on my mission, a large majority of my work has been helping individuals that are closest to me. I've figured out one of my greatest strengths is listening and I have really been trying to develop that on the mission by helping those who are around me. In large part that has been other missionaries, and members. So I really appreciated her talk that we should be trying to help the people who are closest to us. Many times we fail to realize that those closest to us are struggling and we might be the ones with the tools to help them. Ask yourself "who needs me today?" Instead of "what am I going to get out of it?"
I also really like Elder Holland's talk, which definitely helped me out. The quote that "beating ourselves up will not make us the person God wants us to be." I really think that is the truth. If we beat ourselves up, then we are doing exactly what Satan wants and not what God wants. We need to be continually uplifting ourselves. Focus on what we have done, what we have achieved, and not what we haven't achieved. We all start somewhere, so start where you are and start to achieve the results you desire. I quote I like is "What we think we become." Think positively and have the attitude of "I can try" and you will be able to become what you hope to be.
I am having so much fun in our four man. We are constantly joking around and having a fun time. My companion is awesome and super down to work, which I am excited about and I know that we will see miracles in Cergy. I can honestly say that I am enjoying myself. The mission isn't easy and there are a lot of challenges to overcome, but overall I am happy.
Love,
Elder Molinari
P.S. Cergy is pretty ugly, I'm not in the countryside any more!
Oh I almost forgot a way funny story. All four of us were waiting for the bus and this person comes sprinting to try and catch the bus that was about to leave and they trip and then faceplant! They had a ponytail and long hair, so a french woman looks at him and goes "Ca va madame?" (which is are you ok mam) but then the person turns over and actually has a beard and it was totally a dude! The woman quickly goes "oh pardon monsieur." We all died laughing. It was way funny because the guy actually looked like a girl and this was basically adding insult to injury, way funny. Alright peace.
Alright, where do I even start... probably with wednesday when I moved out of Caen and into Cergy. I'm living in a four man now, so most of the day was spent meeting up with everyone I will be living with so that we could all travel to Cergy together.
My new companion is Elder Shenkal, He is sweet! He is a convert in his 13th transfer and has had a pretty wild life and mission. Super out going, funny, and hard working. We have been working hard already, and I'll just summarize what we did this week, since I am mildly distracted right now and do not have much time to write because we are going into Paris to check out the Monet museum!
Thursday we went to Ikea because the Cergy apartment became a four man, so two new elders are living here. They are Elder Dunoskovic and Elder Seymour, both super funny and awesome missionaries. So we had to go buy dressers, desks, and get other materials for them because the apartment literally had nothing in it. That took the first part of the day. Then Elder Dunoskovic and Shenkal had to go into Paris to get some X rays done, so elder Seymour and I went to teach two lessons that Elder Shenkal had set up. The first one was a woman named HAppy who has a baptismal date and the second is a woman named Colette who also has a baptismal date. The first woman was actually going to the hospital, so she cancelled the appointment once we got there. So we left and went to travel to Colettes house to go teach her the word of wisdom. She is super prepared and is totally ready for baptism. She made the comment on how on how she drinks some wine every now and then, but she said that she can totally get rid of drinking a little wine at parties. I bobre my testimony at one point and she just stared at me and then went, "how old are you?" Totally random, but funny. Everyone thinks I am a young man. She fed us Chicken afterwards and it was incredible! We returned to the apartment after that.
Saturday we went out contacting and believe it or not, people actually listen to us here! It was way nice and we actually got a few phone numbers. Then we went to an African Baby shower, which was way fun. We talked to a bunch of people and had more african food. All four of us missionaries were invited to the party and we tried doing a little proselyting during the party. There were a lot of members there and I started talking with one lady who is from Peru and has lived in France for twenty years or so now. It was sweet because we were having the conversation in French and I understood everything she said for the most part.
There was also this African Ginger juice, which was basically straight ginger and I had a huge glass of it. Oh my gosh, that stuff BURNED SO BAD! My nose started dripping because it was so hot. I didn't think I would be able to finish it, so I just chugged it and dealt with the burn for a while. Drank some juice, but the ginger drink totally tired me out. We eventually left the party and actually got quite a few phone numbers of people who were interested in going to our church.
Sunday we were able to watch conference. I haven't seen any Sunday sessions, but I was able to watch the Saturday sessions. The talks were all really good and the questions I had going into conference were all answered. I really like Bonnie L. Oscarson's talk about helping those who are closest to you. I have found that on my mission, a large majority of my work has been helping individuals that are closest to me. I've figured out one of my greatest strengths is listening and I have really been trying to develop that on the mission by helping those who are around me. In large part that has been other missionaries, and members. So I really appreciated her talk that we should be trying to help the people who are closest to us. Many times we fail to realize that those closest to us are struggling and we might be the ones with the tools to help them. Ask yourself "who needs me today?" Instead of "what am I going to get out of it?"
I also really like Elder Holland's talk, which definitely helped me out. The quote that "beating ourselves up will not make us the person God wants us to be." I really think that is the truth. If we beat ourselves up, then we are doing exactly what Satan wants and not what God wants. We need to be continually uplifting ourselves. Focus on what we have done, what we have achieved, and not what we haven't achieved. We all start somewhere, so start where you are and start to achieve the results you desire. I quote I like is "What we think we become." Think positively and have the attitude of "I can try" and you will be able to become what you hope to be.
I am having so much fun in our four man. We are constantly joking around and having a fun time. My companion is awesome and super down to work, which I am excited about and I know that we will see miracles in Cergy. I can honestly say that I am enjoying myself. The mission isn't easy and there are a lot of challenges to overcome, but overall I am happy.
Love,
Elder Molinari
P.S. Cergy is pretty ugly, I'm not in the countryside any more!
Oh I almost forgot a way funny story. All four of us were waiting for the bus and this person comes sprinting to try and catch the bus that was about to leave and they trip and then faceplant! They had a ponytail and long hair, so a french woman looks at him and goes "Ca va madame?" (which is are you ok mam) but then the person turns over and actually has a beard and it was totally a dude! The woman quickly goes "oh pardon monsieur." We all died laughing. It was way funny because the guy actually looked like a girl and this was basically adding insult to injury, way funny. Alright peace.
Also have bad internet, so pictures next week!
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