Castle Time

Bonjour!

This week was wonderful. On pday the Wilsons (the senior
couple in Charleville) took us to the bouillon castle. It was so cool.
They built it on a hill in the middle of this quaint town surrounded
by a river. We also got to watch a falcon show while there. They must
have known we were coming because they brought out a bald eagle. Haha.
It was so much fun.

On Friday we went into to Paris to have a zone finding activity.
Before we started that I was able to see Salar at the train station.
He was in already in Paris with his family for vacation so we met up.
It was really great to catch up on everything that's been going on
since I left. For the zone activity we all went to place république.
We brought a huge wooden Book of Mormon and placed it in the middle of
the square. Then all 30 missionaries just went hard contacting as many
people as possible for two hours. We handed out more than 80 Book of
Mormons. That was super fun. Contacting in Paris is a lot easier than
Charleville because there is always some one to talk to. Haha.

On Sunday an elder who served here last July came back with his family
to visit. It was a lot of fun. The branch loves this kid because he
was the first missionary they had for years in Charleville. He is what
kickstarted them from only having 6 people at church to now 27. We had
a branch meal after church. It was good fun. We were also able to fix
a baptismal date with Rene again! September 17 is the date. We hope
his leg will be ready in time for that date.

I've realized so much this transfer how hard work can get you to so
many places. Since I've arrived in Charleville we have almost
quadrupled the amount of lessons taught per week and set 3 baptismal
dates. When the Lord sees you are willing to work He will bless you.
It's so simple. Love y'all. Have a great week. God bless.

Elder Hein

From the top of the castle

With my companions for the day

With my best friend Salar!!

Birthday Kebabs!

Bonjour!

Burritos with Emanuel and Stephen

We had another awesome week in Charleville! It started off on Tuesday
when I turned the big 19. It was a good day. We were able to eat
pancakes and open up presents in the morning. Later on in he evening
we ate a birthday kebab and then had some pastries with candles stuck
in them. It was a lot of fun. 

Also in the morning we had an emergency evacuation drill. 
We had to pack our 72 hour kits and head for the
church. It was a good time. 

On Wednesday we had a game night for our
investigators. It was a lot of fun. The Nigerian investigators we had
brought rice and chicken. It was really good. They also taught me how
to eat the bones and marrow of the chicken. It was quite interesting.
I probably won't be doing that again. Haha. 

Thursday we were in Paris for interviews and district meeting with president. They went very
well. It also just happened to fall on the national day for France. So
Elder Asato and I were able to see a little bit of the big parade they do.


As far as our investigators go they are all doing good. Rene got
released from the hospital and should be able to get baptized in
September. Emmanuel is in Paris for the week but we were able to make
him burritos before he left. He really enjoyed them. Alain is in the
middle of moving so it's been hard to see him.


Have a wonderful week!

Elder Hein

Birthday Kebabs

Emergency Evacuation Drill

Bruce Lee

Bonjour!

Another wonderful week has passed in Charleville. We started the week

off by fixing another baptismal date with a Nigerian man named

Emanuel. He is super awesome and one of the big highlights of the

week. He has been an investigator for almost 3 months now but never

was really interested. Well, recently he became super involved and

wants to get baptized. The date is set for August 7 but we might be

able to move it up a week if things go well. During the weekend he

cooked for us some fufu and spicy African sauce. It was quite

interesting. Haha. He said that now I am a "true Nigerian". Hahaha.

We spent a couple days in Paris this week on exchanges with the zone

leaders. It went really well. I was able to learn a lot. It was also

the night of the euro cup semi finals and when France won the city

went crazy. It was just a huge roar that rose from the city.

Unexplainable.

We had a really interesting and quite funny experience this week when

we were walking home after a hard day at work. This drunk man yells at

us from across the street and tells us to come over. The last thing I

wanted was to get harassed by a drunk French man after a long day.

Well I we went over there nonetheless and it turned out to be the best

part of the day. He was drunker than drunk but he said that he saw us

not smiling and he wanted to make us smile. So he took us to his

courtyard and comes out of his house with nunchucks. Not gonna lie. I

was a little scared. He starts whipping these things around and

started talking about how is better than Bruce lee. I was just dying

of laughter. He wasn't super interested in our message but I still see

it as a blessing from God. Sometimes we don't recognize blessing when

they stare us right in the face because they may be disguised. I would

encourage us all to always try to recognize the positive in every

situation. God is always blessing us. We just need to look for it.

Have a good week. Next week I'll no longer be 18. Wow I'm getting old.

Haha. God bless

Elder Hein

4th of July

Bonjour! 

I had another wonderful week here in the mission. Elder Asato

and I have been working really hard and God has blessed us with some

success. We were in Reims for one of the days this week to do a

finding day. That went really well. We will able to find a lot of

people for the missionaries in Reims to teach. 

In Charleville we had a lot of extra time so you know what that means, CONTACTING! I was

nervous at first but as we got going things started to work out

wonderfully. We found a lot of people, handed out a lot of Book of

Mormons, and preached about Jesus. It was great. There came a point in

time when we were actually excited to go out contacting. Haha. We were

able to have many cool experiences. One of which happened at our last

appointment of the week with Alain. He had told us the week prior that

he doesn't think he wants to join a church. This week though he said

he had read the pamphlets, prayed, and he wants to get baptized! So we

set a baptismal date and we are very excited for him.

France won in the quarter finals last night and for about 30 minutes

the streets were filled with nothing but horns honking and screaming.

It was really exciting. Haha. One of the few things French people

unite about is soccer so when there team wins it gets pretty crazy.

I heard a funny joke this week. "In France there are a couple churches

and thousands of cheeses. In America there only a couple cheeses but

thousands of churches". It is so true. Haha.

Elder Asato and I celebrated a splendid Fourth with all the American

things we could find, hot dogs, Jif peanut butter, and Coke. It was

wonderful.

Elder Asato and I celbrating the 4th

The view outside our apartment!

Have a happy Fourth of July and God Bless.

Elder Hein

P.s. Xuantao got baptized in Tours on Saturday!