Transferred to Rouen and a broken window

Bonjour à tous,

Well so this week was rather interesting. Because I got moved to Rouen. And now my companion is a super guy named Elder David. We get along pretty well.

It was incredibly hard for me to leave Liege. I really loved the people in Liege so much. They were all so great that the night that I left, I couldn't help but feel sad. I was so excited to be in Liege and then I was moved.

This week, on Wednesday, we are going to Versailles for mission conference! I am way excited for that. And at mission conference, we are gonna get an additional companion! Elder Banton will come home with us and we will be in a trio for the rest of the transfer!

Also, I broke the church window! Let me explain. Elder David and I went to them church for some business. And there are 2 doors on the chapel, one we use the key to get in, and the other locks behind you automatically. So we got in, left the keys in the door lock, and walked out the automatic door. We got all they way to our apartment before we realized that we didn't have the keys. So we called some people, got some keys and then found out that because we left the keys in the door, we couldn't use keys to unlock the door. We were stuck. So, we called the bishop and he sent a member here who had apparently picked them door lock before because they're have had this situation before. The brother comes with some X-ray photos and tries to use those as the lockpicks. He would slide that sheet between the door and attempt to open lock like that. To no avail. By this time it was dark and he called the bishop and said that that the only way is to go in through the back and hope that one of the windows are open. He asked the bishop for permission to break a window if the windows weren't open. And the bishop said yes. So we found one of the neighbours and she was kind enough to let us into her home, climb through her bedroom window, and get into a courtyard that belongs to the church. We found that none of the windows were unlocked (big surprise) and he gave me permission to break the window to the bishops office to get in. Which I did enthusiastically.

I only cut myself a few times on the broken glass, but it was surprisingly easy to break the window (the church definitely needs an upgrade).

So yeah, I broke into the church and later learned how to pick the lock to get in. Good to know!

Also, I need to apologize to a few people who have written me letters and have not received a letter back. Namely, the Horshel family (I hope you got my letter but I don't think so), as well, the primary sent me some drawings early on in my mission that I LOVED but never responded to, and a few other people that sent me letters that I never replied to. I either sent you a letter and you never got it, or I kept meaning to send you one and never got to do it.

Otherwise, this week has been a long one. Sadly we had several cancelled appointments and stuff like that. Rouen has a lot of potential and I can tell, it's hiding, but it's there.

Well I better go! I love you all! I hope you had a great thanksgiving! (We just made a casserole for thanksgiving).

Sincerely,
Elder Jay Payne
France, Paris Mission

Transferring out of Liege Belgium

Bonjour à tous,

Well today was an interesting day. We woke up this morning to see that we we're both staying in Liège. But that the Soeurs (Sister Missionaries) are leaving and that there were going to be no more Soeurs in Liège because of the all time low of missionaries in the France Paris Mission. So we were preparing to take charge of all of the Sister's investigators. We were setting things up and planning for what to do next. Then, as we were leaving the apartment, we get a call from the Mission President and he told us that we are actually both leaving and Soeur Egan is going to stay! I am going to a city in the Paris zone called Rouen, and Elder Pettus is staying in this zone but going to another city called Charleroi. 

Two weeks into my time in Rouen, I will have another companion making a trio and my 14th companion! I wonder what the record is! Haha!

So I am packing my bags again! We head to Brussels tomorrow to stay the night there before we go into Paris. I am going to get rid of a bunch of stuff in my suitcases because those things have become ridiculously heavy. We also are trying to do everything we can to prepare our investigators for the change so that none of them fall through the cracks. However, the Soeurs are going to have so many lessons every week that I don't know how that will turn out. So all of our investigators are going to be taught by the Soeurs.  Liège now has 7 people that could potentially be baptized.

It's sad for Elder Pettus and I because we had three dinners planned with members this week for Thanksgiving! Ugh! I was really excited for those. I was also really excited to be spending Christmas in Liège. They are putting up a giant Christmas tree right in front of our apartment! I WANTED TO SEE THAT!

But, it's out of my control and I have faith knowing that the Mission President is following the Spirit and sending me where the Lord need me now.

Well I love you guys so much! I am excited to talk to the family at home in a month!

Sincerely
Elder Payne 
France, Paris Mission

Good work happening in Liege

Bonjour à tous,

Well this week was super super busy. As well pretty exhausting. Elder Pettus and I decided that we were really slacking off on contacting people on the bus. So we made a goal to contact someone on every bus ride. And we did it! But it was mentally exhausting because we were constantly thinking and planning about how to do so without being incredibly awkward. But we did it! We got over our fears! Now the next goal is to not stop just because we didn't make a specific goal for it. It must become a habit. 

Anyway, last p-day we went as a district to do some hiking. Which was a ton of fun! We found some old church ruins along a trail and had fun taking pictures there. 

Miracle story! 

We had a lesson with a woman on Wednesday named Fatou that we had met while contacting in the street. She said that she was a member of a different religion but that she would accept a lesson anyway. We didn't think much of it. We thought that she simply didn't want to be mean and that's why she set up a time for us. Anyway, so we had the rendez-vous and she was super nice and had bought us some treats. She invited us in warmly and we started a super dry, robotic restoration lesson. Not long into it we felt that something wasn't right and that we had to change our lesson plan. Elder Pettus started to testify, and then I did, and she opened up to us and said that before we contacted her, she had been thinking about God and praying. And then of course, we stopped and visited with her and that's why she let us set something up. We quickly got her setup to continue to meet with the sisters to teach! So that was awesome! Shes very sincere and very nice. 

And then later that night we managed to get back in contact with an old ami who shows real promise! So that was an awesome day!

We also received 2 referrals! One guy already has a baptismal date from the elders in the mission next to us. And the other person has already told the missionaries in Namur that she wants to be baptized! So hopefully, we got 2 baptisms coming up! 

So that was kinda our week. We also had stake conference on Sunday! 

I hope you all are having a great week! Good luck out there and of course, I love you all.

Sincerely, 
Elder Jay Payne 
Paris, France Mission

Very Busy Elders in Liege

Bonjour à tous,

Dang, this month has FLOWN by! Time is going so fast right now that it's not funny anymore. Its plain just not fair. 

So this last week and the week before were jam packed. Our schedule is incredibly busy. We have so much on our to-do list that I lost count of how much we have to do. 

Well, we have a few amis that are doing alright. One guy who will probably be baptized, (once we can find a time that works for him to come over and teach) but it's hard to get a hold of him. 

We are also planning a cultural activity on the 23rd of this month. We are doing this ward activity to create a good social opportunity to meet with the members more and to also have a good environment for amis to meet the members. We are doing everything so this is going to take some serious planning on our part. 

Last p-day we went hiking just me and elder Pettus and we found an old abandoned military fort here in Liege. Its called Chartreuse Fort. And today we went with the district to do some more hiking and we found some old church ruins that were pretty cool. Good times.

This week is a pretty normal week, but we are trying to meet with everyone that we can. We don't do much finding here because we have so many people to call and meet and help them with service, also we have a lengthy list of people that the missionaries found but who were never contacted after that. So we are going through all of those.

Well I have some pictures for you guys! I love you all! Have a great week!

Sincerely,
Elder Jay Payne
France, Paris Mission

Elder Pettus and Elder Payne

Carry-out snacks

Probably?

Train Station - Liege Belgium

Getting to know Liege Belgium

Bonjour à tous,

This week was a good week! Last Monday we explored Liége a little bit. And on Tuesday we had district meeting and we decided to do the Book of Mormon stand. It's literally a giant poster that we put up and just talk to people who pass by. It worked pretty well! We are now meeting with some new people who show some promise! One guy named Charles has actually met the missionaries a few times like 30 years ago! He's super nice and sincere, and he was an English professor. So he speaks fluent English as well. He's pretty cool. It's also really nice working with Elder Pettus in teaching situations because we both know what to do and we are both pretty good at teaching.

Belinda from my last area got baptized!!! Last Saturday she got baptized and I'm still waiting on the pictures from Elder Nilsson. 

There is a Dominoes right below our apartment, and that makes it REALLY hard to not eat pizza 3-4 times a week. Because it's cheap, close by, and this last week they had a crazy deal of 3.50 for a regular pizza before 4 o clock. We joke all the time that this apartment was a bad investment because of how it is placed. We are in the middle of town, so there are good shops everywhere, and there are several fast food joints really close to us. We are committed to keeping on our budget.

Anyway, I love you all!

Sincerely
Elder Payne 
France, Paris Mission

First Letter from Liege Belgium

Bonjour à tous,

Well I am no longer in Blois! In fact I am no longer in France! I am in Belgium!!!

Liége is awesome! It's a pretty big city. And the apartment is almost brand new to the missionaries. The old apartment was in a rougher part of the city. But now we are placed pretty much in town square. Our apartment is right next to Place Saint Lambert. There is a large open area and a huge old building right next to us.  Belgium is very different from France, the food is closer to American style food. The architecture is literally just bricks EVERYWHERE. In town, there aren't really  any houses, just lots of 2 story apartments everywhere, and they all look very similar because they are all made of brick.

I came in last Wednesday, and my new companion is named Elder Pettus. I was actually in a trio with him in the beginning of my mission! He's a great guy and I'm excited to work more with him. 

Anyway I'm also district leader again, so that's fun. I'm trying really hard right now to do what I can because the ward here in Liége has a lot of potential. I can tell that all this ward needs is a catalyst. Someone to come in and really make a difference, I hope to be able to help all the people I can in this ward so that we can really do the Lord's work. I pray to know what to do on that front.

For general conference last week, I got that chance to listen to some of women's conference as well! And I really liked the talk by Joy D. Jones. She talked a lot about service and that was actually one of my big study topics at the moment. I have really learned how to serve others in a meaningful way. And now I have been trying really hard to find ways to really serve people. Sometimes that just means to put a smile on their face when they feel down. But that is where real joy comes from. Serving others.

Speaking of service, I got to help a member here build a roof for his shed! And for those of you who know me well, I love Carpentry, so I got to work with wood a little bit. That was fun, and we will probably go back this week to finish the job.

Well I hope you all are having a great time! If not, serve someone!

I love you all!

Sincerely
Elder Payne 
France, Paris Mission

Busy week and getting transferred to Belgium

Bonjour à tous,

So I actually tried to send a weekly last week, but for some odd reason, it wouldn't send. Sorry.

In other news, I'M GOING TO LIÉGE! Which is in Belgium. We found out this morning. And I am STOKED!

I hear so many good things about Belgium! (Minus how cold it's going to be). Plus, my companion is going to be Elder Pettus! I served with him for 2 weeks at the beginning of my mission and he's a cool guy, super chill. I'm very excited, the food there is rumored to be amazing, the people apparently are very friendly, and I'm also district leader again! 

So on to what happened this week!

Well, we started off by repairing the branch presidents wheelchair! Which I deeply enjoyed doing. Anyone who knows me knows how much I like to create things and fix things. So I really enjoyed doing that for him. It was a simple job, not to complicated. 

On Monday, we got a surprise call from the sisters of Tours and Orleans saying that they were in Blois for the next 4-5 hours because the bus they wanted to take to go to the Chambord castle wasn't running that day! So we took the opportunity to go to the Blois Castle! It was actually really cool and I really liked it! We had a good time.

On Wednesday, we went to Bourges for exchanges and that was awesome, nothing crazy to say there. And then on Thursday, we went straight from Bourges to Orleans for District meeting. We had a great district meeting. And then we literally ran to catch the train (which I absolutely HATE doing). Then on Friday, we went out to Paris to get Elder Nilssons visa work done. That went well. That was probably the first time I've been to Paris for visa work and nothing went wrong. Something always goes wrong, miss a train, train gets cancelled, forgot something. 

Then on Saturday we went and helped a member pick up hazelnuts in his back yard. We gave a good spiritual message and then watched general conference which was awesome! We haven't been able to watch all of the sessions yet, but of what I watched I really liked it! Not to mention, 2 hour church is going to make inviting investigators a lot easier now. Cuz we don't have to tell them that it's 3 hours!

Again, I'm sorry for the lack of weeklies lately. I really did try!

Also, Belinda is still doing super well! She came to watch general conference! And she also bore testimony to us about just how serious she is about getting baptized! She is going to the temple this next weekend!

Sincerely
Elder Payne 
France, Paris Mission

Elder Payne and Elder Nilsson