Elder Ian James Smith

Mission Email October 29, 2004 So it's a Tuesday email today because we got our P-Day switched to go to the Temple and the Chateau de Versailles so I'm super pumped! The funniest thing happened yesterday when we helped our friends move. So we got everything moved out and the last thing was a bed frame and it couldn't get through the door. So after 30 minutes of contemplation, another person who was with us said why don't we lower it out of the window? I can't believe we actually did it. There is a photo of us below lowering a bed frame out the window !! Lol This week was also zone conference so we went into Paris. We were able to see the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel tower light up super cool ! Also my family sent me takis so I'm holding a box of Takis in one of the photos. Chartres does one of the coolest things I've seen so far which is "Chartes en lumineers". Essentially they light up the Cathedral with amazing scenes every night. I dare say it...

 October 21, 2024 This week was awesome so full of stories and miracles! This week was very fun. We had an exchange with the Elders of Bourges. We had an incredible exchange, had three lessons and did a lot of finding. Bourges is kind of a middle of nowhere area but for some reason has the 5th biggest cathedral in France. Chartres Cathedral is the 4th biggest in France so now I can say I've been to the 4th and 5th biggest cathedral in France. The cathedrals here are so big that amongst missionaries they have the name "Great and spacious buildings" lol. I also had an opportunity to do my first service project and it was to create and decorate a Labyrinth ! France does kind of celebrate Halloween but not really so I was really surprised when some members asked for help creating something for halloween. Sweet, but when we got there there was a man named Patrick who is roughly 5'0" tall and older. So I essentially became this man's "muscle monkey", pick...

 October 14, 2024 Hello everyone ! This week was incredible and we saw so many miracles happen.  First off General conference was amazing! One of the first things we did was send 50 texts to our friends to come to church and watch General Conference. Four people responded with yes but no one showed up. However that's not the end. Of all the people we contacted, one responded with no he couldn't come to general conference, but he was free to meet up again and talk with the missionaries. So we met with him Saturday morning and he came to church last Sunday!! He is amazing. We have another lesson with him later this week and we can't wait. This week we did a lot of reaching out via texting and calls. It is such a blessing that the church has given us these tools to reach out to the people that the Lord has prepared for us. We also had my first baptism!! His name is Peter he is 12 years old and he has a part member family. He is amazing. We went over to his house every Saturd...

 October 7, 2024 France is sweet and a lot has happened this week! So I'll try and run you guys through all of it. We had transfer calls last week and my original trainer Elder Rowley is now a Zone Leader in Paris. So I got a new second half trainer Elder Wilstead who is so cool. Bishop Hiatt used this analogy that's always stuck with me (It's like somebody gave me a cookie then they just took it away)! That was a good description of when I saw the transfer board. But it's ok because I was given another cookie with Elder Wilstead! After transfers the whole group being transferred went to this burger restaurant which was delicious. After we ate we decided to go to the Eiffel tower and walk by the Louve Museum. While at the Louvre we got stopped by this LDS influencer who was soo cool. He and his wife were doing a world tour and visiting all the Temples so we filmed a quick video with them then went on our way to the Eiffel tower. Parts of Paris are beautiful. When we got...