Bonjour à tous mes amis et la famille —
Cette semaine était fou!
Saturday we had our district soccer activity in the park. Afterward, the Sisters headed back to their apartment and found it surrounded by a little army of fire trucks! They asked the commander what happened and he said there was a fire… duh. 🙂 Well it turned out there was a washing machine on the first floor that caused an electric fire. It really destroyed the first floor and then the fire had spread up the back wall of the buillding and destroyed the appartment on the 3rd floor and damaged the roof. Well guess what — the sisters live on the second floor and the 2nd floor was unharmed besides a little part of the back wall! Another representation of a huge miracle for the sisters. However, all their stuff was covered in soot and smelled really terrible! They gathered the things they would need for the next couple days and went to stay at members houses while the town and insurance company inspected the cause and damage the fire had caused.
After the inspection it ended up looking like it would be a couple weeks before the sisters will be able to move back and maybe even longer. Sooooo guess what that meant? Yep — the Elders will give their appartment to the sister missionaries! Yes, after 5 months of living in our Apartment in Montpellier, I packed up all my possessions and moved into the appartment of the other Elders here in Montpellier. The Lord provides because they have a small spare room. Anyway, although it is a bit crowded, it works for now! For the meantime, I have moved! I will get you the address when I know it. However, if mail goes to the old house it is not a problem because the Sisters can just give it to me. How’s that for an exciting week! It was a process that took most of our spare time during the entire week to move everyone!
On Tuesday my companion went to Lyon and I did an exchange with my MTC companion Elder Beck and another Elder, Elder walker! It was a really great time! The only downfall was that all my RDV’s I had planned fell through. However, that freed us up to do a lot of contacting which the Lord blessed with much success! We talked to alot of people and had a really great time! We got a couple of return RDV’s planned, so we will see how they go! We had a great exchange with a lot of fun also!
The next day because we were a trio we were able to visit many of the single women in the Ward, in their homes! That was really nice because we have quite a few single older ladies in the ward here that we got a chance to visit! It was a wonderful day and I really was able to see what lasting faith looks like! Many of these women had gone through alot of pain and trials in their lives but they stayed faithful to their God thru trial and tribulation and it was amazing for me to see!
On Thursday we also went way out of town to a small ville to visit a member family. They are really awesome people! They are an elderly couple that live in this beauiful huge old house! She gave us a little tour and told us how this home has been in her family since it was built. There were paintings of her great great grandfather, great grandfather, grandfather and father. It was super cool experience to see the old house and learn about its history! Then we ate lunch and it was like being in an old French chateau! The ceilings are 20ft high and there was a huge fireplace! It was magnificent! We had a great time with them and then found out that they had been visited 40 years before from door to door contacting by Missionaries! They are a great example of people that Heavenly Father prepared to recieve the Gospel!
Friday we went to Séte again this week which was amazing! It is always a pleasure to go to Séte and smell the beautiful sea breeze!
The thought for this week is perhaps my favorite talk ever given and can be found at: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/the-first-great-commandment?lang=eng
I am a bit rushed today and dont have alot of time to write! I have a few more emails to write but I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week!
Elder Peterson
Elder Aaron Peterson 