There was this Jaguar photo shoot going on surrounded by all these models and body guards. But, we were in suits so we just walked up and blended in. haha!

 

Good morning!          4-9-12

 Easter was pretty good. Different than normal though. We went to church. We were supposed to have an amis there but he didn’t show up. Oh well. After church we went home and were starving because it was fast Sunday haha. Here we start our fast on Saturday after lunch and then eat after church. We had a burrito fete! haha. That just means we ate burritos. Kind of wierd on Easter. Then we had a rendezvous with a Chinese student here. He was a referral from another area so we had never met him. We ended up standing at the metro station for an hour because he went to the wrong stop. We had a great lesson with him though. His name is Peng Fei. He is 24 years old and already has a Masters and is almost done with his second!  Crazy smart. Then we came back home and set up a big couch with our mattresses in our room haha. And we watched the movie 17 miracles. It is so good. You need to go out and get it and watch it soon!

Hopefully we can find something to do today haha. All week we have been planning to go bowling. But today is a holiday. So there is nobody in the streets and everything is basically closed. We can’t even do our shopping today. France is crazy about holidays and vacations. But I’m sure we will find something to do. 

This morning we had a lesson with a man from Africa. It went really well. He already has faith. But now he said he will find out if the Book of Mormon is right. I finished the BofM again this last week! It is so amazing. I was also reading in the New Testament. I found a really cool set of scriptures that I wrote down and hung on my wall. I think it is John 14:12-21. I hope that’s right. Anyway, I am doing well as always. France is so awesome. I can’t let myself forget where I am! Whenever the work gets tough, which is a lot, we take a break and get some yummy food or just go into a cool store or take some pictures. It is so cool. I have no doubt in my mind about this gospel. It is really the truth. If I didn’t know for 100 percent that it was true I wouldn’t sacrifice so much for it. Everyone needs it in their lives.

I love you guys so much! I love the package and letters. Thank you again! I think about you guys all of the time. And I started writing down a list of things I want to do together when I get home. Love you and miss you! Talk to you soon and maybe later today since France looks dead today. Haha! Love you!

Elder Thomas

More new photos on slide show!

New photos added to slideshow!

Taylor has permission to view his blog! He can comment on the posts made. So if you are on check out the comments. You might find one from him!!!

Bonjour ma famille!!!    3-26-12

This past week has been a lot of hard work like always. A little rougher than others but all is good :) I hit 100 days out on a mission last week... That’s a lot. And this week is the end of the first transfer. Each transfer is six weeks long and at the end of each one its game on. Anyone can randomly get transferred anywhere in the mission. But I am staying here in Lille for at least this transfer with Elder Mayne. We are getting one new Elder in our appartement so that should be interesting. The whole transfer thing is fairly stressful. Especially if you really like the city that you are in! I would love to stay in Lille for a long time. The longest people usually stay is four transfers which is 6 months. There are also 16 transfers in a mission. 15 more to go! haha. I have heard that after your first transfer they just get faster and faster after that. I miss you guys so much! I got a little homesick this week but its okay.

This week in Lille was hard. People cancelled our rendezvous or didn’t answer the phone. The one rendezvous that we did have when I emailed you last was with Yves, the guy who speaks 15 languages. We taught him in the worst place possible but he wanted us to do it there, haha. We taught him in this cafe bar that was blaring rap music. But he did commit to read and pray and he told us something that I thought that I would never hear on my mission. He knows that the book of Mormon is true because the facts add up and because it makes sense that people came from Jerusalem to the Americas, haha. Hey I’ll take what I can get! We also had a rendezvous Zith Christian... I don’t know if you remember him at all from earlier but he decided that the only way that he can know if it is true is by reading the BoM. Thank you Christian! But he said he probably can’t start it until like June because he is a PhD student and super busy. I don’t know what will happen. Thursday night we went out contacting and it has been pretty warm here all week. So we went out in our white shirts only for the first time. It was so awesome! We talked with so many people and a ton knew who we were! We gave out five BoM in like two hours which is nuts haha. We also gave out over twenty pamphlets and got a bunch of numbers. The power of the white shirt... My French is getting a little better. But I am so shy to just talk to people. I get afraid of not being able to understand or of messing up. But I always do fine when I just try and speak. SO that’s what I am focusing on this week. Just putting myself out there and being bold. That is so different for me. But I know that it will work.

I got Jessica’s wedding invitation in the mail this week. It looks awesome, haha It is going to be a ton of fun for you guys to go! It sounds like you guys are doing really well. France is doing well. The streets are still dirty as ever, haha. and we are in a constant battle for what we believe in. It has really made me appreciate everything that we have. I know the church is true without a doubt. And I know that Heavenly Father looks out for us and always hears our prayers. I love you guys so much and hope that you are doing well! I miss you a ton and love you so much! Talk to you soon.

Elder Thomas

 

I broke down and bought a scarf... there goes my manliness :( But they all wear them and they are so stylish! And I’m wearing a pair of normal French glasses that have plain lenses in them. I went contacting looking like a goober and had one of our best nights in terms of getting numbers and stuff. And girls contacted me haha... Weird French people.  I wear my scarf all the time. And apparently it is a summer one so you can wear it all year! haha.

Me after I gave myself my first haircut! What do you think? Pretty awesome right?