Deux Missions Françaises : Semaine 7 (Jacob Toulon)

Hello family!

That is super awesome that Katie is up by Germany because it means that we can only get closer from here! Also that is funny because when I read Lauren Hafen (Katie's companion) I thought to myself "Didn't we go to EFY with her or something like that?" :)

So that is cool that there is a connection there. I honestly have no idea how Soeur Pettingill is feeling right now but if it was anything like me then she will probably say something like,"Wow I'm in France, but it doesn't seem very different..." I think that my appreciation for the fact that I get to serve in one of the most beautiful countries in the world was lacking when I got into the country and that I thought the plane ride here was more cool. ;) Well I have definitely come a long way in the last while.

As far as Toulon goes, it is so nice. The weather is starting to cool down a little but it stays nice and warm here and I imagine that it is similar to California. It is super nice because here it will be hot but then there will be this nice breeze that cools things off. I feel grateful to be here and apparently it is already getting pretty cold in places like Dijon and up north. President said that this is the part of the year where you see a split in the weather and that when there are Zone conferences that half the missionaries come in scarves and coats and the other come in flip flops and Hawaiian shirts. (Not quite word for word.. :)) The weather is probably the same as that "being at the game" weather that you got down in Folsom.

I am glad that things seem to be going well. It also sounds like everyone had fun at scout camp and Court of Honor and that Adam is following my path! Just tell him to start a new trail when it comes to Eagle so he keeps the momentum going and gets it done a little earlier than weeks before 18! I am also glad you are starting to make up for your lack of Eagle with other prestigious ranks! ;)

Well this week has really been a powerful one to start off the transfer. I feel like we have really grown as a companionship over the last week and are starting to see more success because of it. Our week started off a little rough and so we had to do a little evaluation because we were really just not feeling the excitement that this amazing work should bring. We decided to make some goals and work on those and just work as hard as we could. So we went from there and the week just seemed to turn around! On Friday the real morale boost came with the "Bleus conference" (where all the missionaries who came in with me go back and we talk about what we learned in our first transfer). That was super awesome and it was great to see all my fellow missionaries after what seems like ages (that went by sooo quickly) and hear from President. That was awesome and we spent Thursday night with the Marseille Elders and then Friday morning got into Lyon for the conference. President Roney talked about goals and faith. It was super great because he really just emphasized how we can do great things when we set righteous goals.

One of the funny things that happened this week include falling into a sewer. What happened was that we were walking back from a teaching appointment on Saturday and I stepped onto one of the really heavy metal circle plates that cover the sewage holes and then it slipped to the side and all of a sudden my entire right leg was in the hole (thank goodness it wasn't filled or anything). It happened so fast I didn't even know what happened and so Elder Frandsen pulled the metal plate out of the way, I hopped out and we continued on our way. France is SOO dangerous! You have to watch out or else you could end up in a hole.

It was an awesome week and ended with a less-active couple that we visited last Saturday coming to church! They came for all three hours and every hour seemed like it was meant for them! It is awesome! We also had Andre and Marie (their two investigators) there so that was great too!

One thing I regret before my mission is that I didn't take scripture study as seriously as I could. It really is soo awesome if you study the scriptures. I have felt so much the feeling of feasting on the words of Christ every morning and I feel like I could study the scriptures a jamais (forever). Well I am really grateful for the scriptures and love personal study every morning!!

Love you all!

Elder Pettingill

Here are some random pictures he sent last week.