Bonjour tout le monde!
First off, sorry I didn't get to call a second time to talk again, the airport was crazy! This whole least week has been pretty insane, so I'll try to say as much as I can. The day before I left sucked. Everyone else in the French district left except the Haitian Creoles, the new Quebecois, and the Barbados. I didn't realize how much I talked to all of them. I played the piano in a devotional, for the new senior couples. It was pretty good, but I was really happy when I got to leave the next day. We went out early, took front runner to trax, and trax to the airport. I was the only one who had travelled a lot in our little group of six heading out, so people were asking me what to do, and that was really stressful. Salt Lake City airport was fine, but man, going though customs in Canada was rough! It's a pretty confusing layout, and it took loads of time. It didn't help that our flight was a little delayed leaving Salt Lake, so we got through customs with barely enough time to get to our flight. The AP's were telling us that most people miss their connecting flight, so they normally have to stay at the airport until two, so they loved that we made our flights. We meet President Pratt, who is super awesome! He is so great, really cares about the missionaries and helps a lot! He told all of us our areas, and I am in Edmundston! It's full French here, but a lot of people speak English too. It's right on the border with Maine, the city on the other side of the river is Madawaska. It's a super small town, but it's doing really well right now, the work is exploding!
But before I get there, on our second day, in downtown Halifax, I found two people with Elder Iacopucci (ya-ca-poo-chi), one of the APs. We found a woman, she was actually the first person I talked to, and she was interested in learning more, we set up a time for the APs to go see her, and we taught a lesson to an Arab guy. Even though he had a hard time understanding us, he said that he really wanted the Book of Mormon, so that was cool.
Anyways, Edmundston. It's very French, which is good, but the accent is wack! It's nothing like what I learned in the MTC. My companions say it's because of it's Arcadian influence, but it just sounds like a different language to me! Also, Edmundston has a big cardboard factory, and my flat is right down wind. It always smells like old, wet, re-microwaved ham. It is so nasty, but the other elders say I'll get used to it. At least everyone's not drunk. (Although we do have one super alcoholic investigator.) Our "Chapel" also smells nasty. Its the Travel Lodge hotel, and it is the scankiest hotel I've been in. Our baptismal font is the pool, so as soon as I get to baptise someone, I can get in the water! I've really missed the pool in the MTC! Pretty much everyone in Edmundston is Catholic or born Catholic. It's had a really strong influence on the area, so teaching about authority is really big here.
Exciting news though, it's about to be made into a branch! It's been a group for years now, but it's about to all change. The Edmundston elders are all pumped about it, and they get to announce it on Sunday to the members, which should be super exciting!
My companions are Elder Carlson and Elder Lagualt. Elder Carlson is actually the same one whose grandparents came and talked to me in Stake Conference to tell me to say hi to him, so that was really cool, and Elder Lagualt is a native French speaker from Canada. They are both really good at French, and we've been doing a lot of good work. We have 4 investigators right now, and are looking to pick up a few more this week. We have appointments with some really cool families and we think they will start meeting regularly with us. The other elders in our residence are Elder Boardman, he's actually from Cottonwood, and Elder Smith, the same one everyone told me about in the MTC! They are both awesome too, and they're on fire! They have 4 baptisms coming up this month! We're not there yet with any of our investigators, but we are seeing a lot of progress. Elder Carlson and Elder Lagualt are ZL's too, so they've been really good already, training and being so busy with leadership anyway.
One cool thing, I saw Miles! We haven't had a chance to catch up yet, we just talked a bit on skype for call ins, but we should get to talk this coming zone conference!
Anyway, love you all! I attached a ton of pictures, all the ones from the MTC, and a few from the field. Sorry Ellie that I didn't get to write to you on your birthday, I only remembered to write Joey because P-day was on his birthday. I love you all, keep up the good work back home.
Love,
Elder Marsh
P.S. You actually can send real mail to our apartments. They only ask you to send it to the mission office because it wont be forwarded on after a transfer. They also won't give us big packages, we would need to go pick them up at the gas station. Our address is:
44 Rue de l'Église
Edmundston, NB E3V 5C5
Canada
First off, sorry I didn't get to call a second time to talk again, the airport was crazy! This whole least week has been pretty insane, so I'll try to say as much as I can. The day before I left sucked. Everyone else in the French district left except the Haitian Creoles, the new Quebecois, and the Barbados. I didn't realize how much I talked to all of them. I played the piano in a devotional, for the new senior couples. It was pretty good, but I was really happy when I got to leave the next day. We went out early, took front runner to trax, and trax to the airport. I was the only one who had travelled a lot in our little group of six heading out, so people were asking me what to do, and that was really stressful. Salt Lake City airport was fine, but man, going though customs in Canada was rough! It's a pretty confusing layout, and it took loads of time. It didn't help that our flight was a little delayed leaving Salt Lake, so we got through customs with barely enough time to get to our flight. The AP's were telling us that most people miss their connecting flight, so they normally have to stay at the airport until two, so they loved that we made our flights. We meet President Pratt, who is super awesome! He is so great, really cares about the missionaries and helps a lot! He told all of us our areas, and I am in Edmundston! It's full French here, but a lot of people speak English too. It's right on the border with Maine, the city on the other side of the river is Madawaska. It's a super small town, but it's doing really well right now, the work is exploding!
But before I get there, on our second day, in downtown Halifax, I found two people with Elder Iacopucci (ya-ca-poo-chi), one of the APs. We found a woman, she was actually the first person I talked to, and she was interested in learning more, we set up a time for the APs to go see her, and we taught a lesson to an Arab guy. Even though he had a hard time understanding us, he said that he really wanted the Book of Mormon, so that was cool.
Anyways, Edmundston. It's very French, which is good, but the accent is wack! It's nothing like what I learned in the MTC. My companions say it's because of it's Arcadian influence, but it just sounds like a different language to me! Also, Edmundston has a big cardboard factory, and my flat is right down wind. It always smells like old, wet, re-microwaved ham. It is so nasty, but the other elders say I'll get used to it. At least everyone's not drunk. (Although we do have one super alcoholic investigator.) Our "Chapel" also smells nasty. Its the Travel Lodge hotel, and it is the scankiest hotel I've been in. Our baptismal font is the pool, so as soon as I get to baptise someone, I can get in the water! I've really missed the pool in the MTC! Pretty much everyone in Edmundston is Catholic or born Catholic. It's had a really strong influence on the area, so teaching about authority is really big here.
Exciting news though, it's about to be made into a branch! It's been a group for years now, but it's about to all change. The Edmundston elders are all pumped about it, and they get to announce it on Sunday to the members, which should be super exciting!
My companions are Elder Carlson and Elder Lagualt. Elder Carlson is actually the same one whose grandparents came and talked to me in Stake Conference to tell me to say hi to him, so that was really cool, and Elder Lagualt is a native French speaker from Canada. They are both really good at French, and we've been doing a lot of good work. We have 4 investigators right now, and are looking to pick up a few more this week. We have appointments with some really cool families and we think they will start meeting regularly with us. The other elders in our residence are Elder Boardman, he's actually from Cottonwood, and Elder Smith, the same one everyone told me about in the MTC! They are both awesome too, and they're on fire! They have 4 baptisms coming up this month! We're not there yet with any of our investigators, but we are seeing a lot of progress. Elder Carlson and Elder Lagualt are ZL's too, so they've been really good already, training and being so busy with leadership anyway.
One cool thing, I saw Miles! We haven't had a chance to catch up yet, we just talked a bit on skype for call ins, but we should get to talk this coming zone conference!
Anyway, love you all! I attached a ton of pictures, all the ones from the MTC, and a few from the field. Sorry Ellie that I didn't get to write to you on your birthday, I only remembered to write Joey because P-day was on his birthday. I love you all, keep up the good work back home.
Love,
Elder Marsh
P.S. You actually can send real mail to our apartments. They only ask you to send it to the mission office because it wont be forwarded on after a transfer. They also won't give us big packages, we would need to go pick them up at the gas station. Our address is:
44 Rue de l'Église
Edmundston, NB E3V 5C5
Canada
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