Les Vacances

July 18th, 2016

It was a good week for missionary work.

As many may know, it was Bastille Day this past 14th of July. It's the holiday of the independence of France from..... themselves I guess? I thought it was going to be lots of fun with parties all over, but on the contrary. Everyone was inside and sleeping.

We went to Belfort to work with the elders over there for a couple of days. It was great fun. Elder Farnworth, the bleu, is amazing. In the mornings we were there, we ran two 5k's. It was very tiring and my feet were killing after the second time. But if you can run a 5k every morning, what can't you do?

It was another week of vacances, which means another week of everyone being out of town, and not being able to keep in touch with our Amis, so it was a lot of finding this last week again. Plus we had our Mulhouse Finding Day, too. It was a long day, but we saw success as many people were willing to talk with us. 

Papi, it's interesting that you just talked about success, because that's exactly what I talked about in district meeting. That many times us as missionaries fall into comparing ourselves with others and feel that we aren't making much of a difference compared to others. But just because our numbers are different doesn't mean we aren't making just as big of an impact. Usually we forget that this is about serving other people than about our desires. 

And today we met with a Muslim-Spaniard dude. His name is Abdul and lived in Valencia for a long time. He's here in Mulhouse to find work and is very open. He doesn't speak French, so it was awesome to finally use my Spanish in Mulhouse. Though, I am a little rusty with church vocab since I use French all the time. It was a great time. It was just me and Abdul talking in Spanish the whole time and my comp could just only sit there. It was kind of funny.

Mom, I agreed with what you said about prayers. We have to understand that God wants to hear us talk and not just a robot who says the same things over and over. My relationship with Him has improved as I've been more genuine with Him.

The weather is warm, the prices are low, what else can I ask for?

Sincerely,

Elder Aburto

Think Positive

Hola amigos,

How is it going? It's going pretty good here in Mulhouse. Outside of the fact that Les Bleus choked last night... It's been pretty hot lately. But that is beside the point.

This week was very fulfilling because we finally had interviews with the boss and her husband, or Sœur and President Babin. Sœur Babin gave me some reassuring words in our interview. She told me being a District Leader is not a big deal. If I behave and act like a missionary should act in the first place, I have no worry to have a leadership position because being a good missionary is already being a natural leader. It was good to hear. 

Right after interviews, we had our district meeting with the Babin's. I gave a little formation about the power of the spirit. It was actually a big help to have President there because he always participates and he always has something insightful to say. I learn something new and useful every time I see him. He's awesome.

The next day we had an exchange with the Belfort elders. I was with Elder Farnworth, who's a bleu missionary. But you know what? We saw great success together. We found a Malagasy family while porting in an apartment building. It was the first time that I saw success while porting! We also found a really cool Italian lady in the same building! I was astonished at what the bleu had done. It was amazing. The Sœur missionaries also found us a Kosovan dude who speaks English and Albanian, which is perfect because we have a lot of Albanians in this ward. We have a rendezvous scheduled for later this week.

Yesterday, our bishop sent us out to a neighborhood 20 minutes away from the centreville of Mulhouse to find a man he met at school. He said he felt he should send us out there to find him in that day. He told us he was Peruvian and his name was David. He didn't know his address but he knew the area where he lived. We searched for like 4 hours and walked a very long ways... But we couldn't find him. We'll go back soon to keep looking for him. The only way we're going to find him is by the spirit.

And France lost yesterday. But it's ok, Papi, because the SF Giants are leading their division! Let's Go Giants!!!!

I am very tired today because we walked a LOT yesterday. So that's it for this week.

¡Adiós!

Elder Aburto

P.S. We call the greenies “Bleus” because back in the day, the new members of the French military would wear blue coats.

Watch out for the J.Ws

July 4th, 2016

Hey, so this week went by fine, outside of Belgium's humiliation against Wales...

We spent a lot of time contacting and porting as well, but we did manage to see our Amis Michael and Marveen. It's been hard to reach them, but we finally got a hold of them. Michael's life is still very hard with his Word of Wisdom struggles and with family problems. But he's still opening the door to God in his life. We gave him a blessing of comfort for all that he's been going through. He's a very believing man. He just has a few commandment issues. I know he will get it together one day. The question is only when that will be.

Yesterday we went porting in an apartment building and we ran into a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses. Yikes. We began by telling them who we were and the message we share, and then they told us they're J.W.s and then started bashing us on how everything we do is wrong. We tried correcting them out of love, but they would never listen to what we had to say. But they felt so inclined to tell us everything they knew to be "true". We tried getting out sooner but we were there for almost two hours. It was not fun. The spirit just wasn't there for the whole time. I hope that never happens again.

The other day we had a drive by spitting. Two guys on a motorcycle drove by and spat on both of us. Elder Taylor felt so gross because of it, that he took a shower right after. It was quite an experience!

On the contrary, I gave my first district meeting this last Friday. President Babin was not there that time, but he will be there for the next one this Wednesday. The Zone Leaders were there on Friday. The formation was just about presenting the vision of the mission to the district. It wasn't too bad. I just have to survive the next one with President and then I'll be good for the rest of the transfer.

I guess that's all, folks. See you next time.

Elder Aburto

Responsibilities...

June 27th, 2016

So it was a good, long week.

Transfer Day was hectic as usual. Elder Bennett and I took a 3-hour train to Paris to meet up with our new companions. It was cool to see everyone in the train station dressed in Euro cup gear. But it was also kind of sad because I knew I wouldn't be able to watch any of the games. The action is here in France and it's a little hard to stand not watching it at all. Good thing there's only two more weeks.

Well, I got my new comp, Elder Taylor. He's from Idaho Falls and only has 3 months left in his mission. We're getting along so far.

This week again was hard for us to get in touch with our Amis, so we did a lot of finding these last few days. And it was HOT outside! It got to like 94 ºF, and it's really humid here in Mulhouse. So I'm not wearing my suit jacket again anytime soon.

This last Saturday we had District Leader Training Meeting in Strasbourg. In that meeting the Zone Leaders explained to us President Babin's vision for the transfer. It took about an hour, and it was pretty straightforward, and I felt comforted that I have the support of the Zone Leaders to be able to fulfil my responsibility.

For some reason, after the meeting and for the past couple days, I've felt pretty tired. I woke up this morning and I felt dead tired. I guess this is the life of a District Leader. My first District Meeting as a DL will be this Friday. And I have no idea what I'm going to say.

And next week, President and Sœur Babin will be present in our District Meeting. I'm pretty nervous.

Yesterday, after the France game, everyone was blowing horns and partying in the starts in centreville. So it was pretty obvious to figure out who won...

Well, that's all I've got for this week. See you later.

Sincerely,

Elder Aburto

In answer to your question: Probably right now I do like 40% of the talking in lessons and the language is definitely getting easier. I understand most things, now. You can see your progression every time you're with a "bleu" missionary. It's hard to have a feel for it, but we're progressing a little bit each day.

The Répetoire...

June 20th, 2016

What a week.

Well, I had a great birthday on Friday. We had our Finding Day here in Mulhouse that day. Surprisingly, it didn't rain as much as we thought it would. It was nice. We were able to get a couple of members to work with us, Frère Mortz (the bishop), and Frère Cascione. And as a matter of fact, it was a successful day. We found a family while doing porting and several others who let us come again another time. It was the first time that I'd seen any success out of porting. What a miracle!

On Saturday, Belfort had another baptism here in Mulhouse. Their ami, Danny got baptized. So that makes the first 2 baptisms in Belfort in over 12 years! And they were this last transfer. And their Recent Convert went to the baptism and is staying active. The work is definitely looking up over here.

This week was again pretty difficult with getting in contact with our Amis, because for some reason, all of them had to work extra hours last week so we weren't able to really see anyone. But the family we found definitely made up for it.

Saturday was repertoire day. The Zone Leaders called that morning and extended the call for me to be the District Leader here in Mulhouse. Obviously I had to accept, but what? Are you for real? And the scariest part is that most likely, President and Sœur Babin will be present when I do my first District Meeting... So can you please pray for me so that I don't ruin this district?

I'm also getting a new companion, Elder Taylor. I sure hope we get along.

Outside of all that, it's all good here in France. Les Bleus have won their group and apparently are looking strong. The rain is coming down hard almost everyday. Good thing I'm not in Paris:) Oh, yeah, and also, We're reopening BRUSSELS!!!!!!

It may have been a bad week in sports for America, but I am positive the Cleveland Cavaliers would not have won the Finals if they were in the Western Conference. Just something for everyone to think about...

Yours truly

Elder Carlos E. Aburto

P. S. What happened to Mexico?????

I thought they were supposed to do good.

Well, thanks for the package. It came on Thursday and I ate all of the chips. Probably the hardest part about living in France is the lack of good chips.

Finding Days, and UEFA

June 13th, 2016

So, this week we were able to see a couple of our Amis, namely Phillipe and Marveen. It's a little frustrating with Phillipe's situation because he lives like 30 minutes away. And he prefers seeing us only once a month, but when we met with him this last week, he had a ton of questions about the Book of Mormon and about the church in general. He's been reading quite a bit lately, and is showing a big desire to learn more.  If only we could see him more often...

We taught Marveen, our Muslim ami, the restoration and he was so intrigued by the First Vision that we opened to the Testimony of Joseph Smith and he started reading it right then and there. Before that lesson, he was a little apprehensive about reading the Book of Mormon, but after the story of the Restoration his attitude changed dramatically toward the Book. It was a cool experience.

This last Saturday we had our district finding day in Belfort. It was raining pretty much the whole day, but it was a lot of fun. Our district is very unified and loving toward each other. During the day, when we were walking down the streets, we walked past a couple of sports bars that were showing the Euro. Man, it was hard not to just stay and watch for a while. Good thing it's just the Euro I'm missing and not the World Cup.

And now that we have finding days only twice a transfer instead of 6 times a transfer is more enjoyable for all of us. President Babin truly is an inspired man!!

Well, this next week we have our finding day here in Mulhouse, so we're praying that goes well. And we got the Euro here in France for the next 4 weeks. It's fun times here in France!!

Sincerely,

Elder Aburto

PS. Allez les Diables Rouges!

Here's more rain in France:

Men in Black

June 6th, 2016

What happened this week?

Well, we were able to find and teach quite a bit.

We were able to see Maxence again and teach him with a member. It's funny because he's atheist, but when we showed him pictures of temples, he was so amazed and the concept of being married forever just dumbfounded him. He though the concept of temples were so cool. And he's been able to pray and read the Book of Mormon since last week, so it's looking up with him.

This week also we were finally able to get a hold of an African guy who the Belfort Elders found on our finding day last transfer. We were finally able to meet him, his name's Chic, and he's from DR Congo. He was very curious and seemed very willing to Read and pray about the Book of Mormon.

This week also, we found an Arabic man on the tram one day. He came up to us and started talking to us and he told he was born Muslim but doesn't really practice. He reads the Bible and believes in it. He was very curious about what us missionaries do and what Mormons believe in, which is everything we have to talk about! We met with him twice already last week. He has a lot of questions concerning doctrine, so it appears to me that it will take a long time to get this man where we intend him to go, so we'll have to be patient. He is a very nice, and very cool guy. His name's Marveen and he speaks very good English.

A few days ago, some Arab kids drove by us while we were walking down the street and one of them shouted "Men in Black!!" In English. It was hilarious.

There was also another time last week when we were talking to a Turkish man and he thought I was African.

It's crazy to think the Euro starts in 4 days!!! And it's here!! All of the grocery stores and train stations are decorated with Eurocup decorations. I didn't even remember the Olympics were this year until I saw an ad in a newspaper today.

It was a good week, and it's only going to get better really soon.

Sincerely,

Elder Aburto

PS. Let's Go Warriors!!, Vamos México!!!, Aller les Diables Rouges!!

This was a strong rain storm that came down yesterday: