Crazy Trip to Rennes for Zone Conference

Bonjour à tous,

Well this week has been interesting. We had some rendez-vous set up with some amis. But then we got a random call from the zone leaders saying that we were going to have an unplanned zone conference the day before stake conference. So we ended up cancelling about 3 meetings and going to Rennes for days. 

That was very stressful and hectic. Not to mention that we got to the train station in Nantes and realized that we had forgotten our train tickets back at the apartment and didn't have time to go back and get them. So I ended up using my personal money for a train ticket and 3 bus tickets in Rennes. 

So we had a sleepover at the Rennes apartment on Saturday night. Almost all of the elders in our zone had to do the same thing so we ended up having 17 elders sleeping in one apartment for a night. We were packed like sardines. It was fun, and crazy, and stressful. But in the end we had an awesome zone conference and got 2 new rendez-vous this week from it.

So that was crazy but memorable.

I know that God has been blessing me and definitely taking care of me while on my mission.

Love,
Elder Payne

New Companions - Still in Nantes

Bonjour à tous,

How is everyone this week? I heard of a bunch of protesting stuff going on in America, bummer. Over here though I think everything is great!

This week I got my new companions! I am in a trio for the next transfer. I am with elder McCrea and elder Stanford. They are both pretty cool guys. We have fun. They are both pretty old in the mission so that means I have 2 people as my polishers. They both came from some very small towns, so Nantes is a big change for them.

We went to a small town called Pornic. It is right next to the ocean. We went there because we had a referral. So we took a 1 hour bus there. It was a long day especially since we did not find the lady we were looking for. In fact we deduced that she might be dead (we don't know though). 

We got 1 new investigator this week! His name is Jean-Baptiste. He is pretty cool and hope that we will see him again!

We did not get a chance to see Tatiana this week, but we have a meeting scheduled this week with her. And we hope to extend a baptismal invitation to her! At the last meeting we had with her, we helped her to understand what the spirit feels like and how to invite him for personal revelation. She admitted that she has felt it before in her life, and that was super cool. 

Other than that, not kuch this week, just figuring things out and getting settled in. We also went to the cathedrals again today, but this time we got to go in the crypt. I will attach some pictures.

Sincerely
Elder Payne

Short letter from France

Dear Family,

Yeah sorry I missed writing a better letter last week, being in a trio means that we are busy pretty much all the time. But I have some time today to write.

The trio is fun, although we get the repertoire today which will tell us all about the new companionship and who my next companion will be. I will include that in the next weekly letter because we haven't gotten it yet. The stakes are high though because I could possibly be training, or become district leader, or just get a new companion. But whatever happens, I will be okay with the Lord's help.

The French is coming along, I find it interesting how many people ask me how the French is going. It's not annoying, but how do I respond to that? Anyway, right now I think my French slowed down, because we haven't found much time for language study. But it will come.

I can't believe the amount of personal growth I have already seen on my mission. And actually, last Saturday made 4 months in the mission! I am really learning how to listen to others and not be judgemental or argumentative like I sometimes was before my mission. 

Well I guess I will end it there.

Sincerely,
Elder Payne 

Letter with a package and pictures

Hello Everyone!

How are you all doing? I have been geting all your emails! Thank you!!

The work here is going great and I am continually finding things that I really appreciate about France.  I love French doors. Seriously, the doors here are pieces of art.  And here is something French that you can try at home.  Get some apple juice in a cup, and put an orange slice in with it. I had that at a members house and loved it!!

You can try that or you can try 'bizou' (spelling). Which is kissing someone on both cheeks to greet them.

Well I love you all and as Dad would say, "Remember who you are".

Love,
Elder Payne

Parent's note: We didn't get a e-mail this week so I just transcribed a short letter Jay sent in a package.  Jay is companions with two other missionaries for a couple of weeks.  Transfers are the week of August 14th at which time he should get a new companion.  He did send an e-mail to someone else and stated that the two missionaries he is with now are lots of fun but hard working too.

The pictures were on an SD card that Jay sent along with some other items he sent.

Info from Internet search:  Dreaming the Erdre of Marie-Hélène Richard is a walk on the Erdre between urban and nature that plays with the landscape and the reflections, from one bank to the other.

No notes on this picture - If someone knows about it let me know and I will update the blog.

No notes about this picture, but I guess Jay ate well that day.

Missionary cooking in France

Bonjour à tous,

I going to work with two other Elders this week, right now I am still in Nantes. I will get a new companion in two weeks.

This week has been pretty fun, although interesting because my ATM card didn't work this past week. Elder Mansfield and I have been eating pretty much the cheapest food we can find. Did you know that one large can of beans, some rice, some hamburger, and some tomatoes will make a burrito mix that feeds 2 people lunch and dinner for a week?

I have been learning how to make crepes. They are super easy to make and serve as kind of the tortillas of France. You can literally put anything on their and it will usually be delicious.

We had a service project this week that was pretty much the worst. I spent 6 hours on a roof... scrubbing... each... individual... tile. We didn't even finish. But it was still fun in a sense.

We also went to a cool land bridge last P-day. It was pretty cool. I will make sure to send pictures. I got really sunburned too.

Tatiana and Camille have been coming to church every week and we are really excited to see them progress. You can read more about that later. But anyway, things have been going good, elder Mansfield goes home this Thursday and I will be in Saint Nazaire for the next two weeks. I will make sure to email you guys all about it next week.

Sincerely,
Elder Payne