Dearest family and friends,
The tides are turning. There is a change in the wind. There is wind in the air. The seasons are changing. Literally though. The summer was really short in Dijon.
So I'm walking! That's pretty miraculous! At first I started walking like a zombie because the muscle in my foot was still torn apart and hadn't formed back together, but now I walk a little bit like Golem. No, just kidding. But I could really feel your prayers and spiritual strength and now I'm walking... BETTER than I was before (because I have a robot foot.)
So this last week was excellent! I got to go to Switzerland for the first time. We had interviews with President and since we are in a Swiss zone in Dijon, they were held in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland. It was very, very beautiful. They truly have the best chocolate and yogurt in the world. The landscape reminded me a lot of the Willamette Valley, but it is much more hilly and there are many more cows. And everyone dresses a lot more European. And there are ton more banks everywhere in the cities. It was good to be in tune with my Swiss roots. I told everyone that I was pretty much Swiss and they honored that.
Our investigators are doing great. Bruno has come to church twice now and will be coming to a big FHE at a recent convert's place this evening. He has significantly reduced the amount of cigarettes that he smokes. At the beginning, when we first met him, he was smoking about 20 a day. Now he has reduced to about 6 or less a day. He has moved onto the electo cigarette things to help him quit. It is not easy, but he is really motivated because he really wants to get baptized in September.
Regis (the old ami who I called up while I was in the apartment) is doing really well as well. Unfortunately he wasn't able to go to church yesterday (which is unfortunate because we watched that old 80s church film about missionary work Labor of Love, in French. Even the cheesy 80s songs were translated to French) because he was at a marriage in Paris. Our rendezvous with him was really good this last week. He asks lots of sincere and deep questions like about authority, the Book of Mormon, why Joseph Smith, etc. He is really searching for the truth. He is willing to act and we know that he will get his answer soon. His kids are SO adorable. His little son came up and cuddled on his lap when God was testifying of His Son to Joseph Smith in the Restoration video.
Last week we got a coordonnée from the chruch. When I first contacted him, he said that his sister had sent in his coordonnée and that he actually wasn't super interested. I told him that we would love to teach him even if he was just curious to find out what our message is. He said no thanks. The next day he called me back and told me that he had thought about it and that he actually did want to find out what our message is. We saw him at his home out in the country and taught him on his porch overlooking the vineyards. He was probably the Frenchest man I've taught my whole mission. His name is Remy, he was wearing a casquette the whole time, he is a non practicing Catholic and he worked in the vineyards for the 30 years. He is now retired and divorced and he told us that he came to discover God just in the last year or so. He told us that he is on the horizon of a new time in his life. We told him, Of course you are. You're listening to mormon missionaries right now. He wasn't able to make it to church, but he is going to be seeing us more often, reading and praying.
Elder Powell is making lots of progress with his French! He really likes contacting, which is also one of my favorite things about missionary work. So we have tons of fun doing it and daring each other to do certain things in contacts. Him and I have laughed a ton together and I really hope that we to stay together next transfer.
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