Hope is Not Imaginary, it is Real

 May 23rd, 2017

Salut, tout le monde!

I'm writing this on Tuesday because we had Andersen Conference yesterday. It was a weekend never to forget as a part of the France Paris Mission as we had the chalkboard jam-packed of events. To start, we had the privilege to watch the cultural celebration on Saturday Night where one thousand youth joined together in unity to perform a series of musical numbers in gratitude of their temple.

Then Sunday rolled around, and it finally happened. After years and years of wait the a Frenchies finally got what they've been wanting for so long; AS Monaco took the throne from Paris Saint-Germain  as new champions of the French Ligue 1 2016-17. Haha. I know, that wasn't what I was supposed to say.

The Paris France Temple officially became a temple, the house of God. In three sessions, President Eyring offered a very inspiring dedicatory prayer, which makes it official; Le Temple est là!

Which brings us to Monday, the day of Andersen Conference. It was great to have him there, partially because he served in France as a young missionary and as a mission president, so he understands us very well. He said a lot of good things which resonated in me. He said simply but boldly, "There are people here who are ready to hear the gospel."

He also talked about immigrants and young people, reporting that most of our baptisms are people that fall into those categories. As of such, we should focus our efforts on them. He also assured us that with the temple, the church is showing everyone that it's here to stay. It's not going to leave France. It's here until the Savior comes.

I love everything that was said and hope that the new temple will make a difference. The City of Light finally has what it needed, Heavenly Light. This place will never be the same. It's time for France.

This upcoming week should be a juicy one with lots of rendezvous scheduled.

And there you have it, another transfer gone, a dedicated temple, and some. The Babins finish in 5 weeks and I'm sitting on just a little over 4 months. Me and my comp will do another 5 weeks together. We feel great about this next little while we have together and hope to see progress.

Remember how much you're loved.

À la prochaine,

Elder Aburto

Clouds and Rainfall and a Little Sun

May 16^th, 2017

Salut,

How goes it tout le monde? It's going great over here. We've seen lots of clouds and rain lately. The weather is here, I wish you were beautiful...

Before I'd known it, I'm now done with all my Skype calls for the rest of my mission after the one on Sunday, which is crazy to think about. As always I had an amazing Mother's Day. We spent a large part of the day at the Griffins eating dinner and doing Skype calls. It was a well spent day.

I don't have a whole lot to say this week, besides:

We were walking down the street one day, and we see this African lady carrying heavy grocery bags and we decided to go help her out and we had a nice discussion on the way to her apartment and she let us in. She's African, from Burundi, and is really sweet.  We had a nice little talk and we felt good about her, so hopefully we can see some good with her.

We had an awesome Finding day in Concarneau, just south of Quimper with the whole district. It's a nice little touristy town on the coast. We ran into a few English-speakers, and tons of old, retired people. It seems like most people there were pretty wealthy.

We ported into this one house and this really nice pregnant lady answered the door. We had a nice discussion and she accepted a return appointment for later this week.

We also got some other rendezvous fixed with some people we met on the street for this upcoming week, so we'll see what happens...

Keep France in your thoughts as the temple will finally be dedicated this Sunday. Now all of those African members without papers can go to that temple to do ordinances. Count your blessings.

Much love,

Elder Aburto

From the Mission Facebook Page

Facebook Page Link

May 10th, 2017

May 7th, 2017 Rennes Zone Conference- Mission's song

Video Link

April 24, 2017 - France Paris Temple Open House

Rennes

May 8^th, 2017

Bonjour à tous,

It's great to write again after last Monday. It was once again another great week in the mission field.

This week we had wonderful exchanges in Rennes wth Elders Dame and Conley. It's always so nice to go around and get to know new villes in France. Rennes is really nice and we were able to get good things done while there. 

We had Zone Conference and Interviews in Rennes this week as well. President hit it out of the park again. He spoke about consecration and how we can do more even when we think we can't give more. Looking inside ourselves, we can all see where we can give more. This transfer is special because the last day of the transfer is the dedication of the temple, and for such we in turn will consecrate ourselves as a thanks to Heavenly Father for the temple. 

Interviews were great as usual with President especially. I told him it's going to be hard to see them leave, but he reassured that having an American Mission president will be very beneficial in many ways. Sœur Babin just told me how much she expects of me and that I need to do better. Man, she's just impossible to please...

But honestly, it's been so great to have them. 

We had a great lesson with our amis, Leslie and Alan. We weren't able to see them for a while because they were sick, but now they're feeling better and we went over the Restoration through Joseph Smith. They came to stake conference yesterday and enjoyed it. They're doing really well.

Election Day was yesterday as well, and as it turns out, Macron won. It looks good for the future of France and I hope he'll do a good job.

I'm so glad Mami did so well in her talk in BYU Women's Conference. I know you're going to do great things and touch the hearts of a lot of people. Out here I'm just in contact with the people in my area. But you'll be able to help more than just the people in the ward, but the whole earth.

Today we just found out that Elder Neil L. Andersen and Paul V. Johnson are coming to speak to us on the 22 of May. I'll tell y'all how it goes.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

Have a blessed week.

Avec amour,

Elder Aburto 

C'est déjà Mai?

May 1^st, 2017

What a week. I probably forgot most everything, but I'll try my best to present the highlights:

One morning we were just walking through centre-ville, when we stopped a nice young French couple. They were super nice but insisted they'd already met missionaries before and didn't want to be intruding in our lives. We were more insisting on meeting with them and sharing our beliefs. They're both atheist, but they gladly accepted. Fun note, their names are Michael and Mihaela. Like weird, huh? We went over chez-eux and had a great lesson about the Savior and his importance in our lives. They were both intrigued and ended wanting more. They also fed us some nice crêpes.

We had a nice rendezvous with our ami, Mineurika from Guadalupe. She's awesome. We had a lesson about prophets and authority and she understood it really well. She has a lot of faith already and wants what's best for her. She's just the best.

Last night we were able to meet with a nice Malagasy couple and they fed us a lot of food. We had chicken and some beef which tasted like barbacoa. It was really good. We also taught them about prophets. It went pretty well. They're situation is a little weird because the husband is Muslim and the wife is Christian, but they are both pretty sincere and they like meeting with us.

My comp and I are getting along great. He's obedient and diligent and does the right thing. He's been out for like 10 months and his French is pretty decent.

And also, there's a dude in the branch here who's cousins with Alex Song. Like the guy who played for Barcelona. Nuts.

Well, that's that. 

Soyez prudents.

Love,

Elder Aburto