A Special Visitor to France!

Our neighbor and friend, Scott Eaton, traveled to Paris for business this week.  He was able to meet up with Elder Martin today and deliver his Christmas gifts and some other fun things. 

#tooearlyforchristmasreferences - Letter 10/25/14

Good morning! (Or afternoon, not really sure what time it is right now)

So to start off, this week was not the craziest, most exciting week, so my letter might be a little more boring and short. We spent most of the week in the office just trying to keep our heads above water, we're getting some pretty unrealistic demands right now. So, we're surviving :)

Monday we celebrated Président Babin's Birthday. It was actually last Monday, but he was gone on a trip to Caen for Zone Conferences, so we just waited until he got back. We did cake and candles and everything, it was a blast! I think Soeur Babin recorded it to put on Facebook, but I'm not totally sure. Anyways, afterwards, Président pulled me aside with some less-than-awesome news. So we have two new senior couples coming in within the next 2 weeks. One of them was supposed to replace us in the office, but it was decided a while back that there are bigger needs. What I wasn't informed of until Monday was that I would be asked to find, rent, and stock two new apartments, one of them being in Belgium, before these couples arrive. So that's been my project this week. We've found both apartments and are signing on them (which is a miracle in and of itself, it's usually a month-long process). So, it's been a little stressful. Now with transfers, the AP's said there are some other nasty surprises that will probably come up, but none of us will know for sure what they are until it's kind of too late to prepare for them.

I also got a nasty cold this week. It's so ridiculous. The first year of my mission I didn't get sick a single time, and now I feel like I've spent the past 4 months either sick or injured nonstop ha..ha. So that made office life pretty miserable. The couples all took care of me like I was their grandkid, which was kinda nice ha..ha. One benefit of the office is having 2 sets of grandparents and the "Mission Mom and Dad" surrounding you all the time. I'm starting to get over it a little bit, hopefully I'll keep moving forward on it. It's definitely slowed me down all week. 

We got the info two days ago that we also had to exchange two different cars (on different sides of the mission) for one of the new couples. So yesterday we hopped a train to St. Nazaire (on the west coast) then took their car and drove it all the way home. It was definitely an unplanned trip that threw us off super hard on office work, so we're kind of behind. But, we're catching up ha..ha. 

Today we decided to go to the Catacombs! Most missionaries never see them, because it's closed on Mondays. Even most office elders don't see it, because it's a super long wait. So, after studies we hopped a train into Paris and spent 3 HOURS in line before we could get in. But, it was so worth it! Definitely one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life. Miles of underground mazes, with the walls all lined with human bones. Kinda creepy, but awesome! We got lots of good pictures and stuff. 

 

For your questions: I can't think of anything right now to have you send with Brother Eaton. I'll keep thinking about Christmas and Birthday stuff, sorry I'm such a pain about it. I'm not good at thinking of wish lists. It'll probably end up being money, but I'll keep thinking. It'll probably be easier to buy a camera here.

For Brother Eaton: We get out of church around 1h00, he can call me right after that. We'll try to figure out the best time and place to meet up, Monday is probably the best day for us, but we'll see. Tell him I'm so excited to see him and treat him to Paris! 

I didn't get the package, I'm really hoping I get it on Monday. Cross your fingers! 

We haven't seen "Meet the Mormons" but I've heard a couple members talk about it. Elder Sughroue's mom LOVED it, so we heard a little bit from her. Hopefully we'll get to watch it soon!

Anyways, there's our week in a nutshell! Thanks so much for everything, love you!

Love,

Elder Tyler Martin

 

 Eiffel Tower!!!

Every hour on the hour it glitters, so we were there for that

Catacombs!! 

This is just the entrance!

I See Dead People!!!

The cocktail of infusions and vitamins the couples gave me!

These are the kinds of things that keep me awake at night...

 My Office

 

 

Letter - 10/11/14

Hey!

So here's the summary of my past week!

So last Sunday was a little rough, not gonna lie. It was our last Sunday with Elder Sughroue, and he gave an awesome testimony in Sacrament Meeting. Versailles was his bleu ville as well, so he talked about how grateful he was to finish and end his mission here and how much he grew in the 18 months in between. After church I was gonna go out porting and everything, but I got super sick. So Sughroue and I just sat in the apartment and I worked on the Area Book while he packed.

Monday we had a pretty big project. The Elders from Mantes-la-Jolie were moving to the other side of town, so we drove in and helped them out. We're the only people ever that have a big enough van, so it was kind of essential. They were supposed to have a bunch of members show up, so naturally no one came but us :) It wasn't a big deal though, we got everything in 3 loads pretty easily. We were in McDo's eating lunch afterwards and ran into some American members that were passing through. They were there on vacation for 2 weeks, so it was cool eating lunch with them. He's a pretty young RM that served in Paraguay and works for Nintendo, so that was sick. As we were driving home, Elder Sughroue called us with some sad news. He had gotten his flight plans and he was going to fly out Wednesday :( So that was kind of a bummer. 

Tuesday we had District Meeting. While we were driving there, we passed by a truck with LIONS in the back. Apparently there's a zoo in town this week, so we stopped and took pictures and everything, it was tight. After District Meeting we hit the office. I had to deal with disaster, we had this company that replaced a broken window in one of the apartments I manage, but they were pretty sketchy. They never sent a bill, just demanded payment, finally two of their workers just showed up at our office. I think they were surprised when they realized that they've been pushed around all week by a 19 year old American ha..ha. They were both young sketchy looking guys, and they just asked for cash up front. I told them straight up that I wouldn't give them a dime till I saw a real bill or they could leave. So they called their manager, he emailed me the bill, but the work hadn't been done yet and they expected us to pay in cash. So we sent them off and I told them that once the work was all done, we'd send a check to their manager. They were super put out, but they left without any further problems. Sketchy people. 

Wednesday we dropped Elder Sughroue off at the airport. That was tough, we became really good friends these past 8 weeks that we've been (technically) comps. But, he'll get way better medical attention at home! Elder Bates had his training with Alexander Merkel, the Vehicle Coordinator for all of Europe. That meant that I sat on my behind and worked on the computer all day. It was kind of boring, but I got a ton done. Right now we're running all of our apartments off of a program similar to what most missions use, but we run about twice as many apartments as most missions. So I've been creating a new system and overhauling everything we have to hold more info and be more simple. So that's taking some serious time. There's a lot of things that have been ignored for years, and they're starting to bite back hard. So I'm trouble shooting that while re-doing the program. It was a stressful day, haha. Elder Christiansen is doing the same thing with all of the stats for the mission, cuz he's the AP that manages stats. I don't think Président Babin knew quite what he was getting when he called the two of us to live together and work in the office at the same time... everything is getting brought up to speed haha. 

Thursday I had an exchange with Elder Wickern! He's in Elder Rafanomezana's group and was trained by Elder Nelson, from my group. So he's a pretty young missionary, with tons of energy. It was kind of funny to be with him, because I haven't been with young missionaries really since I was a young missionary. I trained Elder Rafanomezana not that long ago, but he's also 23 and francophone... so he's a young missionary, but not really haha. It was nice to get out and do some really solid missionary work, and it got me feeling better about after the office haha. Everyone says you just die after the office, but as soon as we jumped into missionary work I had tons of energy, it was like being on fire haha. 

Friday was pretty chill. We finished the exchange and went back to the office. We took Elder Christiansen and Elder Johnson out to sushi buffet, then did office work all afternoon. We had to take our van into Paris to get it checked out. It was cool, we took this tunnel that went from Le Vésinet all the way to Antony, on the other side of Paris. No traffic, super fast, it was awesome! The only sketchy part was, the clearance was only 2m. Our van is about 1m9ish... But that van has been through there before, so we went for it! It was ridiculous, the roof was RIGHT above our heads haha. Turns out our transmission is just a little off, so we'll get that taken care of easily, as well as some dents and stuff that past missionaries never reported. So on paper, Elder Bates and I will be listed as the worst missionary drivers in Europe! haha.

Anyways, that's my week! Today we're going to the baptism of an excommunicated member and his wife, they're basically the coolest people I've ever met! I worked a lot with his son when we closed the apartment in St Nazaire, and they're such a sweet couple! Then afterwards we're going to the Eiffel Tower (FINALLY!!!) It's been 16 months, and I'm finally going :) Have a great week, I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Tyler Martin

 

Elders Christiansen, Davis, and Johnson with the Belin family at the baptism!

Cool maze I found on exchanges

Me and Elder Christiansen

Me and Elder Davis

Elder Wickern and I on exchanges

Versailles Castle!

Versailles Castle: The hall of mirrors

Elder Sughroue and Elder Bates at Versailles Castle

Eiffel Tower in the fog

Me with both of my Mission Presidents! Soeur Poznanski re-invited 

us to stop at their house any time we drive through Angers :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Letter 10/11/14

Hey Family!

So I'll start with questions this week... First off, no, we didn't get to go to any of the Zone Conferences this week. Our Zone's is actually the 28th, so we have a while to wait. Elder Platt is planning on going to the U when he gets home. He's from South Jordan, so it's pretty close to home for him. It's true, we don't have much time for porting these days. We got hit with some pretty big challenges this transfer as far as the office, and plus Elder Sughroue can't go out proselyting, so we have to just sit around with him.

I got my package that you sent through Soeur Poznanski, so much candy haha! I never got the other one that you sent, probably on Monday or Tuesday. We would love to see Brother Eaton! That would be way fun, and we're in the perfect position to do so. I don't think I necessarily need anything else right now. I just got a new coat, and that's the only thing I needed. I'll let you know if I think of something though! You can tell Brother Eaton that my cell phone number is _____  (Can I tell you how hard it is to have his cell phone number and not pick up the phone and call him!!) . And this time I definitely have the international calling, I have to for my job haha, so we'll be able to keep in touch :)

We were able to watch Sunday's General Conference sessions with the Walls (the senior couple that works in the office). They were so good! They really were the talks and inspiration that we needed. I LOVED President Uchtdorf's talk in Priesthood session! I also really liked Lynn G. Robins' talk. I can't remember which session it was, but he didn't hesitate to get in peoples' faces and step on some toes on that one, it was cool. Honestly, the biggest thing I learned was the importance of loving people you serve. Right now for me, that means other missionaries more than anything else. And so I've been really working on that this week, especially when people call with dumb problems or ridiculous questions :)

So our week...

Monday we took Soeur Poznanski to the airport! It was pretty sad to see her go, but she'll do so great at Temple Square! I loved the picture you sent from when she met grandma and grandpa at the MTC, what are the chances?! Other than that it was just shopping and emails and office work.

Tuesday we had District Meeting, which was pretty fun. Afterwards we had an exchange, so Elder Rigsby came with me back to the office and we started chipping away at my to-do list. The only hard part is that in order to help me I have to teach him how to do it, which takes more time than if I just did it myself. But, I wanted him to feel included on the work, so we made it happen :)

Wednesday we finished our exchange in the morning so we could get ready for our trip! We loaded up the van, changed into our road trip clothes, and headed out for Valenciennes. It's one of the northern-most cities in France, right on the Belgium border. We spent the night there and put together desks, beds, closets, dressers, everything we could that night and early the next morning.

Thursday we finished everything in  Valenciennes and had Elder Palfreyman and Elder Buxton walk us around to make copies of their keys for the other companionship that just moved in. After, we got on the road to Caen, on the west coast, pretty close to the Normandy beaches. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go see the beaches, but if we're ever closer to there we'll try to :) In Caen we just had to replace the wooden bedsprings on the beds, they were all broken and sagging in pretty hard. It was a pretty quick stop, then we headed back home :) That evening was pretty laid back, we finished up office work and headed home.

Friday was pretty much a straight office day. We took Elder Sughroue to a physical therapy appointment, then had to go to Carrefour to pick up some supplies for the Sisters in Nogent. After, it was just working on some of the new apartments that we're looking for. 

Today we're planning on going out to the Versailles Castle, then we have a talent show at the church. I'll let you know how it goes! 

So some sad news... Elder Sughroue found out from the PT the other day that his recovery is supposed to take 4ish months. So, he and Président decided that he needs to go home. We haven't gotten the approval yet from Salt Lake, but he'll probably fly home this next week. Please keep him in your prayers! 

Anyways, that's about it for the week! Thanks so much for everything, love you so much!

Love,

Elder Tyler Martin

"Killing off" Elder Anderson and sending him home to Rigby

Breaking up is hard to do...

but we'll survive 8 months until we see each other again!

Soeur Jackson

Cathedral in Orleans

The Normandy Bridge (it crosses a little part of the ocean between Le Havre and Caen)

Road Trip!

Castle in Caen

Us with the Caen Elders

Sick picture Sister Poznanski drew

Sister Poznanski on her way to serve on Temple Square

Tyler's Grandma and Grandpa Smith ran in to Sister Poznanski a few days later at the MTC bookstore in Provo and gave her a big hug!!

Elder Christiansen and I after the longest, most stressful two weeks of our lives!!

 

Change.... Letter 10/06/14

Hey!

So first off, I'm so sorry I didn't write on P-Day. I'll explain more later, but this week has been more than a little crazy. Thanks for your email and the package that's on its way! I'm so excited. 

So Monday was pretty chill. We had staff meeting in the morning and then did all of our final preparations for transfer week. Thank goodness we did, because the organization is what saved us more than a couple times. We made some good headway on the apartment in Braine l'Alleud.

Tuesday! The craziness begins... So we picked up the bleus that morning, and it was great! We had to get up early to go pick up the giant van that we rented, then sat in traffic forever before finally getting to the airport. It was a pretty big group, and they are all fireballs! I got to go with them and Elder Christiansen on the metro back to St Merri, and it was so great to watch them contacting for their first time. Also, it was just great to tag team with Elder C to contact a little bit. The first time we ever shared the gospel with someone was together in the Salt Lake airport over a year ago, and now we're living together and hanging out all the time :) The rest of Tuesday was pretty chill, just getting to know bleus and taking them out contacting in Paris.

Wednesday was so bitter sweet! Saying goodbye to Elder Platt was a lot harder than I thought. We really became best friends the past two months, and we both had a really hard time. But, he's gonna be a great trainer, and his bleu is awesome :) I got to see a lot of mission friends while waiting at St Merri, so that was pretty nice :) After everyone left, Elder Bates and I loaded up the van and drove back home. We got to chill in the Mission Home with all the dying missionaries, so Ben and I just chilled in my office for most of the afternoon. Président invited us to their testimony meeting, then we took them all out to Chinese Buffet! I don't think Ben and I ate very much, because we just talked the entire time haha :) But it was a blast.

Thursday was another hard day. First off, because we had to wake up at 3 in the morning. That was awful. But, we got everybody to the airport safe and sound! We sent off some really good friends. It stunk saying goodbye to Soeur Jackson, we got to be pretty good friends the past couple months. And then Ben... That was a heart wrencher haha. I sent him off through the veil, and us and the AP's went to get breakfast at McDo's. As soon as we got home, Elder Bates and I changed clothes and headed to IKEA. I had 5 companionships that didn't have beds, desks, or anything because they opened up into apartments that were meant for two missionaries and are now holding four, aka....problem that gets dropped on me. So we spent ALL day in IKEA, then drove out for Orléans (south of Paris). We got there at about 9h and dropped everything off in the Sisters' apartment. We crashed for the night with the Elders, then the next morning we went back to put everything together. That took FOREVER. After that, we booked it out to Angers, where we spent the night with the Elders, (Elder Utahia, his comp, Elder Platt, and his bleu). So, it was a party. Elder Platt and I stayed up super late just talking, we missed each other a lot haha. 

Saturday we drove all the way to Lorient, near the west coast, and dropped stuff off there. We left just in time to shower, shave, and drive to the church for Conference. And Conference was so good this time! I got some answers and some corrections I've been needing and looking for ;) I felt like a couple of talks were written just to ease my stress and help me feel more calm about the future. I still haven't watched the last session, but I'm pumped for it! 

Today was fun/stressful again haha. So for the past few weeks we've had Camille Poznanski (Pres Poz's niece) here in Versailles, just waiting on her visa so she can go the MTC and the Temple Square Mission. So this morning we dropped her off at the airport. It was pretty sad, because we all got pretty tight, but she's gonna have so much fun in her mission! After, we grabbed breakfast all together and came home to do groceries (we were all starving and had no food in the apartments).

That's about it for this week! Tell Cami congrats, that is so cool! It's really sketchy to think that she's a mom, but I'm happy for her :) And I loved that story, it's good to know that I can help out from the other side of the world :)

My knee is holding up, still sore a lot of the time but I'm hanging in there :) I'm excited to see those videos you're sending and everything else. Have a great week, I love you!

Love,

Elder Tyler Martin