WORKING IN THE VINEYARD!

Hello everyone!

I don't remember too much of this week.. I was sick for most of it. 

Last Monday  we had a short Pday and then went out to Lyon for mission leadership conference. We had master tacos that night so that's always wonderful. We had MLC on Tuesday and that was pretty good. Last time was kind of a chastisement, this one wasn't that much of one hahah it was very spiritual and really good. 

Plane to MLC

Wednesday we had a bunch of preparation and errands to do for zone training on Thursday. In the evening we were able to go to institute with Jordan. Institute went really well and it was super interesting! Our Ami Jordan enjoyed it as well. 

The next day was zone training and we had a lot of fun and learned good stuff. I kind of prefer presenting to a larger group of people rather than a few people because there's more participation and ideas. We did IKEA meatballs for lunch and that went really well.. because who doesn't love ikea meatballs? After zone training finished we cleaned and stuff. I wasn't feeling super good, so I laid down on the floor in the library of the church and took a small nap... haha I woke up feeling somewhat better. But that evening we met with Jordan and Frere Cadeau and we continued talking about temples. We asked Jordan if he would like to go to the temple some day and he said of course! So we're trying to work to get him to accept a baptismal date so that he can do that and go to the temple afterwards. 

our zone

Friday we had a crepe night and that was fun with amis and members (and the crêpes of course)! Jordan came and enjoyed it. 

Saturday we had samedi sportif and weekly planning. I didn't bash heads with anyone this time ;)

Sunday was church and these two American guys came. They're teaching at the university for the week. The one is a member and the other isn't. We translated for them and stuff for all three hours of church. The nonmember isn't super interested but he still enjoyed church and all. Afterwards they were like "hey can we take you out to l'entrecote sometime this week?" (L'entrecote is a French steak restaurant chain.. I've never been but apparently it's  really good.) so they're takin us to dinner tonight.. I'm pretty stoked! 

We also had two pretty cool miracles on Sunday... we had nothing planned in the afternoon so we planned two lessons. One at 3:00 pm and one at 5:30pm. Exactly at 3:00 pm we taught two guys from Africa and fixed another rdv, and exactly at 5:30pm we met a girl on the street, taught her and we're going to try to see her this week! Miracles happen if you just try God. :)

Random Vineyard while out contacting (how many other missionaries get to say they're working in the Vineyard?!)

Love you all, have a great week!

Hospital Trips, Bordeaux Chillin, and Long Week

Hello everyone! This week was pretty long.. We had missionaries sleep
in our apartment from Sunday night to Friday and it was a pretty crazy
week. I won't go into to many details, but I'm fine :) also Elder Hall
is great and we get along well!

Last Monday was just filled up with running around ville doing stuff
and making sure people getting transferred got on trains and stuff.
There were multiple moments where we were pressed on time and we had
to run after a few buses for about a kilometer trying to catch it but
not catching it.. Also done in missionary shoes, which lead to some
shin splints for the week haha. I got my new comp Elder Hall. Like I
said, he was the office elder and I saw him start his mission so I
already know him pretty well.

Cathedral in Bordeaux

Tuesday was an interesting day. We had a normal day planned and then
we had to go help out some other elders in Bordeaux. I ended up going
on exchange with Elder Utia who is from Tahiti.

Wednesday we had a few rdvs. Frere Defranchi invited us over to eat
and teach his friends. We knew the one guy and met and taught the
girl. Frere Defranchi actually has an "I'm a Mormon" video. He's a
opera singer for the Bordeaux opera. He's also a really good member
missionary! He has a few of his daughters in the states. But it was a
really good meeting. Later that day we also saw one of our new Amis
named Safiella. She's from French New Guinea and she's really cool!
She's studying chemistry here. She enjoyed seeing the chapel and
talking with us. She really wants to come to church!

Miroir d'Eau

Thursday We saw Jordan and that went really well. Jordan is really
progressing and understanding everything. We also saw one of our
friends Jimmy in the evening. It was our first time meeting him but
he's super cool! He's from Haiti, but he's a medical student here that
loves God. He was so interested and picking things up so fast! He said
he'll read the Book of Mormon.

Friday was a bunch of contacting but we didn't really get much out of
it.. I don't remember what else happened.

Saturday we went to play sports in the morning with some people and we
were playing soccer. It's this small, turf field right next to
Bordeaux river in a big sports park. It's a really fun spot and
there's a lot of other sports you can do. But at some point in the
match there was a high flying ball, and so I went up to do a header,
but I went up at the same time as a sister missionary (soeur
filbrandt) and my forehead hit her and somehow her teeth caught me...
I felt super bad cause I had wrecked her jaw! So i was seeing if she
was okay then she was like "Elder Steadman you're bleeding!" Haha at
that moment I knew exactly what was happening.. I had a gash in my
head, I couldn't feel the pain because of the adrenaline, it was
bleeding a lot, which mean that I need stitches. It wasn't a first for
me. So we stepped off the field and one of the members had a little
first aid kit by hazard and he used steristrips and taped it to close
it and put a bandaid on. So then we went to the hospital. This
hospital in Bordeaux is a student hospital and kinda sketchy. First
off a lot of the lights were burnt out which is never good for a
hospital situation. And it was funny because as they were bringing me
into the room they were like "oh we need to clean up." So they're just
cleaning up the blood of the other person while I'm just laying on the
bed haha. Literally everyone in there was fascinated at the fact that
I'm American and speak French haha. It seemed like four different
people took a look at me, but they concluded that I didn't need
stitches because it wasn't deep enough.. Yay! So there's my experience
at the French hospital.. 

My head (it looked a lot worse when it first happened)
(and note from mom, he did get a haircut right afterwards)

Sunday we went to church. Jordan came to church but none of our other
Amis did.. But it went well! We taught a lesson in the second hour
(which is the second week in a row where someone asks us the morning
of to teach if) and it went well. No one in the class was over the age
of 29, so it made it a little more comfortable on my part.

Bordeaux

This week was a little more difficult because of a lot of different
factors.. Hospital trips, shin splints, being sick, dealing with
difficulties from other missionaries, and loss of a loved one at home,
but I know that it's all worth it and this is the work of the Lord. He loves
us and here there for us in this life and especially in the life to
come.  

I love you all, have great week!

Final 12 Weeks - Transfer 15

Hey everyone!

We got transfer calls and I'm getting Elder Hall. I know him pretty
well already and I'm excited to be with him.

Last Monday We Spent Pday in Bordeaux. We went to eat at a brasserie
and it was pretty good. After we just went shopping for a little bit
in Bordeaux and ate some ice cream. We just chilled and walked around
Bordeaux. That evening we went to family home evening with our ami
Jordan. It was a super fun night! There was a spiritual thought, a
game and some food. There were two American dudes from California. One
of them is a member and the other was his friend. They're college
students from Santa Barbra. Haha they're super chill dudes and it was
fun talking to them.

pday

On Tuesday We played ping pong and taught Jordan in the morning with
Frere Cadeau. The lesson was going pretty long, so we stopped and ate
lunch while Jordan and Frere Cadeau kept talking. They talked about a
lot of stuff and it seems to have been pretty cool. After that we went
out and contacted for a while and taught a few lessons. We also
visited Emmanuel and that went well. We passed the Picard family and
talked to them briefly!

On Wednesday We met again with Jordan in the morning. We invited him
to be baptized but he said not for the moment. Afterwards we went to
Arcachon to do some work. It was all tourists and we didn't really
have much happen. We ported and nothing happened, but it was still a
really cool ville to go to. Probably one of the prettiest Villes I've
seen so far. After that we came home and went to institute with Jordan
and that went really well.

On Thursday We contacted for a little bit until we realized that
Barben didn't have his badge. We went and bought some Champomy
(martinelli's in France) and took it to Frere and soeur Cadeau for
their wedding anniversary. They were pretty stoked about it about it.
After we went home, got his badge, and then went to the Dorat. We
passed some people including this guy named Stephane. It was an
interesting lesson but it went well.

Frere and Soeur Cadeau

On Friday We saw Jordan in the morning and then had an exchange with
the Lormont elders. I was with elder Duncan. He's a pretty tranquille
dude and we had a good exchange. We went to go pass a member and got
lost in some woods, but we still made it to the members home. We went
to visit the family Coppens, but we had no idea who they were. Only
Frere Coppens was home but he's super cool. He let us come in for a
little bit and their house is way nice. There is a castle across the
street from them. He gave us some juice and we just talked for about
an hour. It was a really good moment with him! He then showed us some
new houses that aren't too far from him and said that we could go port
them. We didn't have anything special happen, but it was still nice to
see him help us.

Saturday We had samedi sport in the morning. Our ami Jordan came and
we shot some hoops and played a little game. Afterwards we went and
got tacos with Emmanuel, Benjamin, the sisters, and Arnaud. We went
home and Elder Barben packed. We went and contacted for a little bit
after, and then that evening we went and had dinner with Michel,
Helena and the Eysines Elders. It was a pretty good dinner even though
there were some seafood stuff.

Sunday we had church and then we sent off elder Barben to go to
Montpellier for the night! I spent the rest of my night with two other
elders that had their companions going home. They had to leave on
Sunday because it takes like 9 hours by train to get to Lyon..

Random castle In a neighborhood

Well that's all for this week. It's crazy that I'm in my final
12'weeks of the mission! I hope to make them the best!

Love you all!

FINDING FOREVER FAMILIES!

Monday we went and chilled in Bordeaux the day time. We just went to
different shops and stuff. In the evening, we went out and contacted a
little bit in the evening.

Bourdeaux

So school goes back in this week in France, and so people are finally
coming back from vacation. It's been super awesome because so many more
people are in ville, and because we're right by a university we meet a
ton of college kids. They're usually pretty chill people and open to
talk. They're not quite stuck in their little prideful realm that most
French people tend to yet, so it's a good

Tuesday we tried passing some less actives but didn't have much
success in coming in contact. We saw Emmanuel, a recent convert, and
he explained to us how he wants to go on a mission. He said it
wouldn't be possible because his grandma is against is and the rest of
his family likewise (they're not members). But we told him that if
he's received an answer from God to go on a mission, then it's
necessary that he "goes and does what the lord commands."

Later that day we had a few rdvs fall through but that gave us some
time to go contact. We had some decent success contacting that day,
including a Brazilian woman. She was super cool, but unfortunately she
lives in the other sector in Bordeaux.. We've literally had to pass 8
people over 11  - Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil.

Wednesday we had district meeting in Bordeaux. We went with a member
and the sisters to go give a blessing to a sister in the ward named
Sister Petit. Afterwards we just went to go contact in the park and we
were able to teach three lessons and find a new person to teach. It's
a girl from French New Guinea and she super interested to come to
church.

Thursday we had a district meeting in Perigueux. Perigueux is a small
village that takes an hour and a half by train to get to. But it was a
fun district meeting and we went to some bagel shop in ville
afterwards. 

District meeting and number of transfers

It's been well over a year and a half since I've eaten a
bagel! But the funny thing is that I decided to get a cheeseburger
when I got there because they looked good... Haha so I still haven't
had one. But I miss my Einsteins! That evening we got home and
contacted around the park.

Friday we had a few rdvs set up, but two of them feel through. We had
one in the morning with a guy named Jordan from Guadalupe. He's 19 and
He's so cool!! We had a lesson with him and our ward mission leader.
Jordan knew the missionaries from before. But he just loves God and
Jesus Christ and he loves being around all of us! Our ward mission
leader who's about 65 has just taken him under his wing and helped him
so much already. There were some members cleaning the chapel when we
had finished, and Jordan offered to help out and did some stuff! Hahah
in my mind I was joking "yo you're not baptized, you don't have to do
that!" Hahah I didn't say it, but it just shows how cool of a guy he
is.

We also had a rdv with Bruno, a recent convert. He had disappeared for
a few weeks and we were getting worried, but it turns out he just went
on a little two week vacation to un-stress a little bit. But he's
alive and doing well, so we just visited with him for a bit.

We had another rdv fall through on Friday evening, so we contacted
more... Literally we've been contacting harder and more this week than
ever in my mission. Elder Barben and I have been getting really good
at turning most conversations into a lesson. Our mission has a goal of
getting twenty lessons (to Amis) a week.

Saturday we had ward council, and then we did service for the
Catherine family. We had to move a bunch of heavy stuff from a
delivery into their apartment. They're building a home, and so they
received a lot of supplies and stuff. They got a lot of boxes of tile
and a bunch of grout.. I recognized all of the stuff they got, but too
bad I didn't work with my dad enough on tile to know how to do it
all..  Haha

After we contacted for a bit (are you seeing a nice pattern of France
missionary work? I usually don't mention contacting in my emails). It
included multiple rejections but also two nice lessons with some young
college students. College students this week have been my favorite
because they're so open to talk to you, easy to relate with, and super
chill! And plus, who wouldn't want to talk to some Americans? Haha
being a foreigner is great.

There was a family home evening activity at the chapel that evening
where we played games, had a spiritual thought and had some food. It
was fun and we had one ami come hang out for a bit.

Sunday we had church. Our friend Jordan came and he got integrated so
fast! He's met a lot of members and he seemed so in tune when he was
there. He was participating and everything and he seemed to like it.
We're going to a FHE thing with him Monday evening to go with the
young adults and have some fun.

After church we went out to try to get two more lessons to reach our
goal of twenty lessons, and the first to people we talked to were
super open and they listened to us. We weren't able to get any follow
up info on them, but the guy took a Book of Mormon and the girl (who
said she's atheist) said she would try praying to God.

We also had dinner with some members that evening. It's a family where
the mother is from Madagascar and the dad is from Guadalupe. It was a
really good dinner appointment!

For contacting, we've been trying to talk to more families and it's
been going well.. we are still waiting to find a family that wants to
meet with us again, but the other families have been at least touched!

With this goal of twenty lessons a week, it might seem like all we
care about is numbers, but I can feel the power that all the
missionaries have and I can see the work improving. In our zone, we
had 5 of the 10 equipes achieve this goal. The past few weeks, only 1
of the 10 has been getting it. Just this week we were able to find 5
new investigators. For those of you that served in South America, it
might not seem like a lot... But the lord is working miracles in this
land in preparation for the temple in Paris!!

Love you All!!