The Light to Christ

Good ol' Bordeaux 

The first week of the transfer just hasn't been as hectic since I left the office, and in some aspects that's a great thing! But I did miss the part where I got to meet all the new missionaries that come in. Fortunately, of the 7 new ones, 4 are in our zone! How lucky are we! I think blues are just the best 😄 Before I go into depth on the week, I just want to tell everyone how much I love the people here! This is, without doubt, my favorite ward I've served in. The members are so wonderful, and they love us almost as much as we love them! For that reason, we spent a lot of time with members this week.

out on the town 

This next week we have a big conference with Elder Sabin, who is in our presiding area presidency. It will be in Bordeaux so we spent some time this week preparing for that (which means ordering food and prepping the chapel). We needed to buy a ton of food, but we didn't know where would be good, so we went on a little food tasting trip to the surrounding boulangeries. We had some ok stuff but when we went to this other place, we ordered one sandwich for the both of us. It was so so good! So we said to ourselves "this is the place". Then we went in and he was like "oh can I help you again..?" probably thinking that we were just some punk teenagers who were dressed nicely for some reason. And we were like "ya... we need 90 of these." It was so funny because his jaw hit the floor and he was so flustered! But we got everything we needed and lunch will be great!

We were invited to a lot of members homes this week, and I love spending time with the people that hold up the church here. We went to visit some older members who gave us delicious food, and we were even able to go to a part member family's house and so service by raking leaves and doing yard work with their two teenage sons. I think it really touched the father, who isn't a member, but I love hanging out with the young men too. It's so important for them to understand their role as priesthood holders! We made some more progress with our other part member family because we made no bake cookies for the dad who loves America, and we were able to talk to him about America and show him our villes in America on google maps haha. We invitied them to read in the Book of Mormon as a family, and we hope that they will.

happy birthday elder Fiala! Also, his blue Elder Higham

There is a very old, small, fragile sister in our ward whose name is, ironically, Soeur Petit. She is very sick and frail, but she loves visitors. So the sisters and us were able to go to her house and visit her. She wanted a blessing, and I was asked to give it. Giving blessings in French is always a little nerve wracking, even as my French has improved, but as I put my hands on her head and pronounced the blessing, I felt so warm and the words flowed so smoothly. It was an amazing experience. I love getting to use the priesthood!

If you remember Elder Fiala, one of the other missionaries here, it was his birthday on Sunday, so Elder Sebra and I bought him a beret and made him a cake. It was a fun party. Then we watched the Christmas Devotional, albeit in French. I LOVE CHRISTMAS SO MUCH! And I LOVE JESUS!

these are cool pictures of an old member of
our ward when he was a wee French boy

I thought about a good spiritual thought to leave, and I thought about the star that appeared when Christ was born. What better way to signify the coming of the Light of the World than by illuminating a new light that would guide shepherds and wise men to the baby Jesus. They followed the star, they followed the light, and they ended up with Christ. So too, is it up to us to do the same. We have so much light and knowledge that has been given to us by our Heavenly Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ. We have a perfect example to follow! As we look to the star, as we follow the light that illuminates the way through life, we have endless promises that we will be led to Christ. Then we, as the shepherds and wise men, can bask in His glow and glory in His love. This Christmas, and on throughout our lives, may we follow the light that leads to Christ, and on our way we can light the world.

Have a most wonderful, wintry week!

Avec amour,

Elder Hall

Your Favorite Missionary