Eiffel Tower - 6/9/14

Bonjour!

The Spirit works in amazing ways. This past week was very difficult, I must say, because the language barrier is very discouraging. I'll tell you, there's nothing quite like trying to hold a conversation with someone who babbles in gibberish. It was definitely a struggle for me. Paris is especially difficult, because it's trendy to slur words here in order to speak faster. The first couple days were a nightmare.

However, the night is darkest just before the dawn. I expressed my discouragement to E. Utahia, and he told me not to worry about it. Yet, his idea of fixing this was having me talk more and more by myself! At first I was like "No no no! Bad idea!" But how wrong I was.

One day, he told me that he wanted to work on his travel contacting, and that we needed to split-up on the train to reach more people. I was hesitant, but he is my trainer after all. I hopped into another car and went for one stop, then the words hit me "you get out of this what you put into it." I needed to change my fear and negativity; I needed to talk. I said a prayer, felt better, and felt like I needed to switch cars.

I changed cars at the next stop, and sat next to a black guy. After a bit, I asked "Pardon, Monsieur. Combien d’Arrêts avant Châtelet Les Halles?" (excuse me. How many stops before chatelet?), and we started talking. It was difficult to understand him at first, but as we talked and talked, IT GOT EASIER! He wasn't too interested in my message, but what was awesome, was that another guy in the same car overheard our conversation and hopped in. He was a Protestant that was looking for answers to some of his questions; answers that we have! Unfortunately, my stop came all too soon, so I only had time to teach him a brief message and give him my card. It is my prayer that he'll call.

I learned this week that fear and faith cannot co-exist. The Lord has a purpose for us, but if we're sketched out and afraid of following his guidance because of our own interests, then we're missing out on a big part of life; after all, it is called "The Plan of Happiness." This week will be different. No more fear, no more hesitation. I felt so good after that conversation. Yes, my French was poor, but the Spirit wasn't, and that's all that matters in touching hearts. I want to feel like that everyday, and I know I can if I put my trust in the Lord.

Love you all!

-- Elder Wheatley

It is so incredible in real life. In all honesty, "breathtaking" is the only word that can describe it.

Inception, anyone?

Eiffel Tower "selfie!" The ball in the middle was for the massive tennis open here last week that Nadal won. It was super neat. In the picture, to my left (you can't see it), there was a huge crowd watching the open on a massive screen. It was probably the coolest atmosphere I've ever been in.

​The Seine is so gorgeous. Oy.