Week 7: First Week in France

So, I have now finished my time at the MTC. I left August 1st bright and early in the morning. On the way to the airport, we were told that our flight was cancelled from Paris to Lyon. Soooo, they weren't sure what the plan was going to be for us. Then, we learned that we will be still be flying to Paris, but we'll probably end up taking a train to Lyon. After many, many hours of flying, we reached Paris. While there, we found the Paris Office Elders, and they helped get us on the train. The main problem was that our train ride was a little bit later in the day, so we had to stay in the airport for about 4 hours. On the bright side, I was really able to improve my French because some of us would just go up to random people and ask them to help us with our French. Then, we would share stuffs about the Gospel and tell them why we are here in France. After waiting for what felt like forever, we got on the train. We actually got to take the TGV and got first class seats because they were the only ones available.

It was cool seeing the difference between Northern and  Southern France. When we were first on the train, we just saw a lot of farms, and it looked kinda gloomy out. But, once we reached Southern France area, it was just so sunny, and we saw beautiful, green rolling hills. Once we arrived in Lyon, we were able to meet our mission president and his wife (President and Soeur Brown). They are so nice and love each and everyone of us so much. 

The next day, we figured out where we were going to be transferred to. I was assigned to serve in Manosque which is located in the Provence area. It is so beautiful here and is so cool to be here in Southern France. I was also assigned my trainer (or my dad in mission talk). His name is Elder Peterson. He is super cool and is so fun to be around. He is from Boston area, and the coolest thing is that we were both born on 7/11.

One of the first meals I ate her in France was as French as I think you can get. We ate a tomato salad made with freshly grown tomatos, some duck liver mousse thing, pate, a baguette, and a bunch of different kinds of cheeses. Then, I threw up. Haha. But, I'm like 99% that had to do with all of the abrupt physical changes that I went through.

Here in Manosque, we aren't really focusing that much on baptizing amis in to the Church because the Branch which I believe has about 60 members is going through some problems. So, we are really focusing on the members. We are trying to show them love so that they can show it too.

This past Sunday, I was asked to go up to the pulpit, introduce myself, and bear my testimony. I actually ended up doing pretty well even though it was all in French. After, I got a lot of compliments on my French ability because they knew that this is my first week in France. 

One thing that I have noticed recently is that God has blessed me in a weird way. He has blessed me with the ability to say a majority of things that I want to say, but I have been having trouble understanding other French people. I see myself as a listener and intervene when it feels right, but because of this, I am forced to talk more and pay attention that much more to each individual conversation. God blesses us all whether we notice it or not because he loves each and every one of us individually. 

Love,

Elder Mason

PS- The main thing that reminds me that this is France are the cars. I have seen an unreal amount of French cars like Renaults, Peugeots, and Citroens. I have also seen some Opels, some VW Polos, VW Sciroccos, an old 911, a couple Audi RS5's, and a Ford Focus RS