Monday, November 18, 2013

Transfer 3, Week 3 (Jacob-Toulon)

Dear Family,

Satan is a real person and has a very real ability to make our lives miserable. Thank goodness for a Savior, Jesus Christ, who is so much better and so much stronger. I am so grateful this week for Him and have felt uplifted more times than I can count. We have been having a hard time seeing our investigators so we have dropped a couple of them. I have felt so much comfort that all is well and the only important thing is that I choose to find joy in the journey (a great talk by the way). It is so important to choose to be happy when it could be easy to look at all the little things that are not important. So that is what I decided to do. I do not have many miracles that I can share this week, where we found a family or where we baptized a man who came into town for the weekend, but I can say with all my heart that I am EXTREMELY happy! 

Although I don't have huge miracles to share, we did have some really great experiences! We got to go out with a couple ward members to a chataigne farm (chestnuts) and we gathered chestnuts and then sat in nature and ate REAL chestnuts that we roasted on an "almost" open fire!! Super good!! And we even got to bring a couple bags back with us! That was a super great experience also because we got to hang out with our DMP's (Ward Mission Leader) NON-Member buddies! There were about 7 or 8 non-members that we got to talk to, and SPARK! (basically fill them up with love!) We didn't get any numbers but hopefully in the future they will be open because of that experience! 

Also we had an awesome exchange with the district leader Wednesday! Me and Elder Davis (the DL) stayed here in Toulon! I planned a nice full day of finding and we headed out at 10:30 am  (with our sack lunches of sandwiches and boiled eggs) and didn't get back until 9:00 pm! Talk about satisfying! I felt so good just working hard all day long! I guess I will tell you about Elder Blythe's and my normal schedule. We usually get out around 10 and then come back around 12:30, make some lunch and then try and get out by 1:30. Then we usually skip dinner and work until 9. It is hard sometimes but so worth it!

Also to answer a couple of Mom's questions. Christian is good. We haven't seen him for 3 weeks now but we have seen him on the street a couple times and talked for a couple minutes. He just needs some time and then he will be back and ready to go! Eric our other engage (investigator with a baptismal date) is great! Except he kept not coming to RDVs (appointments). It is hard because often his phone doesn't work and so it is hard to confirm rdvs the day of. We have a rdv tonight so that should great!! 

Tomorrow is Zone Conference so that is exciting! I have been trying to prepare myself to hear from President and to improve myself as a missionary. I definitely have a lot to work on so I am excited to see what the Lord wants me to tackle first! Thanks Dad for the experience and scriptures. It is very true that the Lord works with us and I am glad you pointed that out because I definitely didn't catch it in my pass through of Jacob (I have a goal to finish the Book of Mormon in French by the end of Transfer 3 so I have been spending all my free time reading.) I now understand almost everything while reading and am finishing Helaman right now!! But it is true that when I was in Jacob I didn't get too much out of it in French! I think my next goal will be to study it French and mark up the verses with the new colored pencils that I bought! (18 colors! I am in the rough stage of developing a system so my LdM isn't just a rainbow without meaning...)

Thanks so much for the letters!!

Love, Elder Pettingill

P.S. Dad, Happy Birthday Thursday!! Isn't the 21 Thanksgiving this Thursday too? Or is it the 4th Thursday? Either way we will probably eat turkey this week and next because it is good.  

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