Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas everyone! Wow so much has happened this week I will try to make it a short email! So to start I went to Paris on Mercredi for a conference and it was awesome! Of course my best friend Elder Beck was there and we both bought each other gifts! He got me an awesome Defend Paris shirt that I have been wanting for a while! He is the best<3 Then we had a good conference and I got to see so many of my friends and just have a lot of fun and get a chance to relax! So it was much needed! Then after the conference I did an exchange with Elder Mattson he is one of our zone leaders and it was a lot of fun! We contacted so many people and noone wanted to talk to us so we decided to go and sail some paper boats in the river
Mattson and I sailing paper boats! 
haha and then right after that we went and found 2 people to pray with! See God likes it when we take a minute to relax and have a smile! ;)! Then on saturday we had a BAPTISM! 

Thats right we had a baptism! Jones got baptized and it was awesome! He was so excited and the spirit was so strong! That was a gift I think God gave us for Christmas was to have a christmas baptism! Then on Sunday he was confirmed and is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! So happy for him! Then on Sunday there was a huge christmas Parade and it went right past our house!
Parade!
So many people! 
Pascal! 
So we just sat in the windows and watched it on the second floor with our feet hanging over hundreds of people! And later that night there was a huge Firework show! This will be a christmas I will never forget thats for sure! I could not be an happier with my life and I am so thankful! Also huge shout out to my Dad and step mom for the christmas package and to my mom for the package! Excited to open them on Christmas  Thank you to everyone who has sent me a christmas card and for your love and support! Love you all! Joyeux Noel! Elder Karl <3 
The tree in our house!

Monday, December 15, 2014

Life is good!

Hey everyone hows it going! Things here are super good. This is one of my favorite wards of my whole mission so I am just having so much fun! Life is GOOD!!! We have a baptism for this saturday so I am super excited about that! His name is Jones and he is so solid! Also on sunday we got 2 new amis thanks to a family in our ward. It's their friends and we had a super good lesson with them and it went really good and the spirit was so strong! Also would like to give a huge shout out to Kim Gibson for being awesome! Thank you so much for all the mail and for all the cards you are amazing! I am super pumped for Christmas I hope you all are doing well and loving life! Take it one day at a time <3 Elder Karl 

Monday, December 8, 2014

Papa Karl the pizza maker!

Hello everybody! Welcome to the christmas season! I love this time of the year everyone is a lot nicer haha! Also its a great time to remember all of our blessings we have and to spread the true message of christmas .. Jesus Christ! There is a video called "He is the gift" and if you have not seen it look on youtube! Share the true gift of Christmas! So this week I made some pizza dough
making pizza dough 
and went to a christmas village! Also I am staying in ST. Quentin for another 8 weeks and I'm staying with Elder Smith so i'm pumped about that! But thats kinda all haha sorry not a lot of time! Love you all! Elder Karl<3 

my district 

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone I hope you all had a good thanksgiving! Mine was a little different haha no one invited us over for Thanksgiving because they don't celebrate it here so Elder Smith and I had noodles for lunch and then had peanut butter sandwiches. I really miss stuffing.... haha but its all good!  Then I had 2 exchanges this week! One with Elder Hall he is a cool dude from utah! Then one with Elder Earnshaw my buddy from the MTC. So it was a good week! It has been really cold here but still no snow! I have not seen snow my whole mission! Also i found a cool street called Dipas haha I thought it was funny!
Dipas 
Also we are now teaching 2 guys who play for the professional basketball team here in St. Quentin!
My basketball wall! 
Dream come true haha really love my mission! Love all of you!<3 Elder Karl 

Monday, November 24, 2014

Filthy vs drunk ..

Hello everybody had a super busy week! First off I got to meet Elder Cook at a conference and that was amazing! Such a wonderful experience and also the whole mission was there so I got to see all of my friends and old comps! Was a very fun and relaxing day! Then I had to go to Paris to receive a special training for christmas and then had some extra time after and walked around Paris and just enjoyed being alive haha! Also got to have lunch with my best buddy Elder Beck! Then on sunday I had to give a talk on the last judgment! It went really well... until I mispronounced a word and instead of saying "filthy" i said drunk haha so i said "no drunk thing could be with God or else God would be drunk"! So everyone had a good laugh at me! Turns out after a year of being out here I am still not perfect with the language go figure lol. But other then that things are good here! I love life and just take it a day at a time! Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! Eat some stuffing for me! Thats my favorite<3 Love you all! -Elder Karl 

Monday, November 17, 2014

Baptisms and basketball

Hey everybody, another good week here at St.Quentin! Things are really starting to pick up as far as missionary work. We have two really cool families we are teaching and jones is still good for the 6th of december! I am super excited for jones and just for all the blessings the lord has given me. Also this week I got to play basketball with one of the French national players and I killed him haha he was like what team do you play for and I said i'm a missionary lol and now he is one of our investigators! I love using basketball to do missionary work haha! Also this thursday we have a conference and Elder Cook from the 12 apostles is coming and giving a talk so i'm super excited for that! Everything is good and I can't complain, love life, love all of you! <3Elder Karl p.s send magazines or anything to do with college basketball or NBA I miss that stuff so much!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Staying in St. Quentin!

Me!
Hello everyone hope you are all doing well! The transfer just ended and I will be staying in St.Quentin for another transfer so that is cool! And I will be staying with Elder Smith and I like him a lot so I am super excited for this next transfer! Update on the work... we are going to be having a baptism on  the 6th of december! I am so excited his name is jones and he is really cool! So I will keep you all updated on that. Also this week I was walking down the main street of town and inside a little Kabab shop I saw the Cavs V.S. Jazz basketball game! It was a buzzer beater win I was shocked they had basketball on but I got to see a little bit and it made my life haha! Gonna love lunch time in a little Kabab shop! Also got some cool shoes for 30 euros so that was tight. Other then that same old same! Almost christmas time which is crazy I thought summer just ended? But all is well in France and I can't complain! I love my life and love my mission! Love you all <3 Elder Karl 
Park 


some snails! 

Monday, November 3, 2014

1 year mark!


Hello everyone crazy week as always! First off happy late halloween and happy 1 year to me :)! I have less then a year left on my mission pretty crazy right?! So this week I got to do an exchange with Elder Earnshaw who is from my MTC group so that was a lot of fun! I have not seen him since we got here so it was nice to catch up after a whole year! We also found some pretty cool people to teach! Then for my 1 year mark on October 30th Elder Smith made me a cake and it was so yummy!
I love Elder Smith:) We are best friends already so it makes missionary work even more fun! Anyways.. Then I also burned a shirt for my one year.
it's a tradition but was a little sketchy but it all worked out :). Also there is this member in my ward named Pascal and he is awesome he is so funny and legit! He loves the missionarys and is my best friend haha! Life is good! Then for halloween Elder Smith and I made orange koolade and had some spooky pastry's! Pretty wild I know;)! But other then that pretty normal week! I love my mission and love all of you! Elder Karl<3

Monday, October 27, 2014

Getting settled in ST. Quentin!

Hello everybody!!! Sorry i didn't write one last week a lot of crazy stuff has been happening! First of all I got midnighted so now I am in a new ville called St.Quentin. It is just a little north of Paris so that is cool. There was a problem between some missionaries and I got sent here to try and make it better so wish me good luck! I am now with a new companion named Elder Smith.
New comp Elder Smith
He is from Boise Idaho and is super cool. We get along really well and have a lot of fun together! So I can't complain! My new ville we have a ward!!! Ya first time in like 9 months since I have been in a Ward. It is super legit and all of the members are super excited to work with the missionaries and to get some new members so it should be super good! So this week we have been lost like everyday because elder smith has only been here 3 weeks before me so we are both new to this ville and we are just always lost but it's a lot of fun. Also I am still District leader and Elder Earnshaw who is from my mtc group is new my district so I will get to do exchanges with him so that will be cool! I hit my YEAR mark this week on the 30th of October so happy one year! Man time has gone by so fast no joke. I know the next year is gonna go by even faster too so I am excited to see what is next! I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween and I love you all and miss you all! Elder Karl
Last week with Beck! 
Riding with the top down!! 

Monday, October 20, 2014

A new assignment!

Hey so i'm getting midnighted! So that means the mission president called me last night and told me he has a special calling for me! He is sending me there to be district leader in Saint Quentin! So i had about 7 hours to pack and now I have a train in about an hour! So I am super stressed.. I love you!

Note the new address!

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Bonjour!

Bonjour who ever reads this! I hope you are all doing well and loving life. I had such a great week! I got to go on 2 exchanges this week. The first one was with Elder Brown one of our Zone leaders and we got to have some pretty cool experiences! We went to Louise and Nathanael's house to do there baptismal interviews and they passed! i will talk more about that later! Then in the morning we woke up  early and went to the park to play basketball, because Elder Brown likes to play also so it was a nice break and workout. Then the next day I went to Paris to do an exchange with Elder Perry! He is from Tahiti so he is a froncophone! Speaks french as his first language so it was alot of fun to just speak french all day and night. A good test you could say but it went well. We got to go to a members house for dinner and got to eat tacos and play games and it was a blast! The hard part was that we played a game that is like "taboo" Where you have to get your teammate to guess a word but you can't use all the words listed underneath so it makes it hard to guess. But to make it even harder we played in french so it was hard haha but it was a lot of fun.Then the exchange ended and came back to Chartres and we had dinner with a part member family! And there son who is 9 really wants to be baptized so we have another baptismal date! We are also gonna try and teach the dad who is not a member so should see a ot of good things come out of that. Then on saturday we packed our things and went to Évry for the baptism of Louise and Nathnanael!
Baptism of Louise and Nathanael! 
It was so awesome and the spirit was so strong! I got to baptize the boy Nathanael who is 12. Was such an awesome experience and he is like a brother to me. Really loving my mission and so blessed to get to see all of these miracles! Then after the baptism we all went back to a members house and had a little party! We had a huge dinner and it was like half of the church and it was super good food! Then we had church and it went well had some amis come to church then after church Mark and Happy the people who got baptized 2 weeks ago brought a bunch of food from Nigeria and fed over 50 people! So everyone is just so happy here and the members and amis all just love each other and we are all just becoming a family! The church is true! Thank you all for your support and love!<3 -Elder Karl  

Monday, October 6, 2014

Conference week!

Hello everybody I hope you all had a chance to watch Conference this weekend! It was so amazing and I know it helped me a lot! Well lets see what happened this week! Well it's week one of the transfers and I will be doing another with Elder Wach in Chartres so should be good! This week we had dinner with a member named Karim and his family and they also had us bring the family we just baptized Mark and Happy! So we went and had pizza and played games and just had a lot of fun! Was really good for them to meet members and to just feel welcomed so that was awesome! Then this week I got a chance to play basketball twice!!! prayers work haha But the first time was with these members who have 2 sons who are 19 and 21 and they love basketball so we went to their house and got to play for like 2 hours it was so much fun! Then the next day the amis we met in the park one morning like 3 weeks ago called and asked if we want to go play basketball with him and all his friends.. so of course I said yes! and we got to meet a lot of people and also got to ball out so i could not have asked for a better day! Great news for this saturday we will be having 2 more baptisms! With Louise and her son Nathaniel! And I will get to do the baptism so I am super excited for that! Sad news though is that our 2 amis with other baptismal dates Gabin and Sabrina are getting a divorce so.. that makes it really hard to continue meeting with them! So hopefully in the future we will get back in contact but it broke my heart I love them both so much and just makes me really sad. Then we closed our week by watching conference with Mark and Happy the family who just got baptized!
Conference with Mark and Happy and the kids! 

It was so much fun they loved it and all of their questions were answered pretty amazing! Church is true! haha Love my mission and I love all of you! Thanks for all the love and support! Elder Karl<3 

Monday, September 29, 2014

The chapel is full!

Hello everyone! This week was really amazing and I saw a ton of miracles! First off the transfer is over and I will be staying another 6 weeks in Chartres so that's good! And I will be staying with the same comp Elder Wach so should be pretty cool haha! Lets get right into it shall we! On monday a member gave us a person to teach so that was cool. However turned out to be a 21 year old girl and caught me off guard! But the lesson went super well and she was really interested but is leaving for school in Germany in a week so we will have to hand her off to missionaires there. But still a really awesome to be a part of it. then we had our 2 baptism's with Mark and Happy!
Mark and Happy<3 

It was so beautiful and was just amazing! i love that family so much and I know that they are gonna be soild members! Since we are a branch here in Chartres we had to go all the way to Évry for the baptism which is 1 hour car ride! Rode trip!!! I feel like i have been so blessed on my mission to get to drive all over france and get to see so many wonderful and beautiful things! Also to have so much success and get to be apart of these baptism's! Also great news we have another 2 baptism's in 2 weeks so I am really excited for that and am so grateful to the Lord for my mission. And to wrap it all up we had 6 investigators at church this sunday and there was almost no seat left in the church! i think we are really starting to show the branch we mean business and to get them going with missionary work! i love you all and thank you for all the support! -Elder Karl<3 
awesome district!!! 

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Baptisms!

Hey everyone this week has been pretty busy! Had a stake conference all the way in èvry so it took a good 2 hours by car and had to wake up super early for that. But it was good and had a fun time! Got to see one of my old companions Elder Miller he is super cool!
Miller and I 
So it was awesome to get to see him! Also this week I had to do an exchange with the zone leaders and it went really well! I was with an Elder named Elder christiansen! He is from Utah but he was way cool and we taught gabin and Sabrina together and they finally accepted a baptismal date! Yeah that makes 7 right now! Things are really starting to move along here! We have 2 baptism's this saturday so i hope it all works out and there are no problems! That's about all for this week sorry it's so short love you all! -Elder Karl<3 

Monday, September 15, 2014

Living the dream!

Hello everyone, not gonna lie this has been one of the best weeks of my
mission! You might be asking yourself why is that Elder Karl... Great
question random person reading this! I'll tell you why, First this week I
went to st. ouen which is right in Paris central to do an exchange with Elder Beck!
Elder Beck and Elder Karl

For those of you who do not know Elder Beck is my best friend in this mission also was my MTC companion  and i can say my best-friend in the whole country of France! So just to begin with I was a little excited for this exchange! We got to do a lot of contacting on the streets of Paris which is always a fun time.

Arc de Triumph
Eiffle tower 
You meet the most interesting people on your mission.

But we found a lot of people to teach and it was also strange that we can both
speak french now because in the MTC we could not even ask to go to the
bathroom! So it was super cool to see how far we have come since then. We
then later on in the night took our hour of dinner and hit the town and ate
at a nice french restaurant so you could say it was a date ;)! haha but it
was so much fun! Then the day after we had zone conference in Paris and
were there all day! I got to see so many people and almost all of my old
companions! I saw my trainer Elder Eldredge and he brought me a gift haha!
He pulls me into a side room and pulls out a huge garbage bag and i open it
and its a huge movie poster of Raiponce! Or in english Tangled!
Gift from Elder Eldredge
I almost had a heart attack! People just know me too well! So that was pretty legit and the conference went really well. Then on saturday we got to do a lot of service for this member in our branch and all of the young adults were there too! And after we were done we played soccer and basketball like all night and then had a huge feast and it was so much fun! All and all this week has just been so crazy but so much fun and I am loving every moment of it! Love you all and thank you for your support and prayers! <3 -Elder Karl


Chartres stuff 
Chartres stuff 



Monday, September 8, 2014

Hot food and Disney Princesses!

Hello everybody! This has been one of the most busy weeks of my mission! Right now we have 5 amis with a baptismal date so we are all over the place trying to make sure that they are all ready and that we are teaching them everything haha! But it is such a blessing to have so many people to teach and to just be sharing the gospel and this happiness with people. This week we saw Marc and Happy like almost everyday and they keep feeding us each time too! So i have been eating just african food for days and it is so freaking hot haha! I for real sweat and my face gets so red but they think its so funny! Because my companion is mexican and he loves hot food so everyone is just fine but then there is me who is almost at the point of death but i take it like a champ ;)! Also we met with our other amis Gabin and Sabrina and they went to disney land paris this week and they bought me gifts!!! They somehow found out that i love Disney and princesses and they bought me a postcard and a snow globe!
Princess gift
i think i spelled that wrong but ça va! But they are so awesome, our amis are like taking care of us and they are legit our bestfriends! It's so awesome to just have this opportunity to be here and to serve the lord I love it! Also I got in with the young single adults and now on saturday nights we will be playing basketball with them and they will be bring their friends who are not members so we can teach them! Pretty smart I know ;)! But things here could not be going any better! Seriously just such a wonderful blessing to get to serve a mission and to just give everything to the Lord! Also got a package from my mom! Thank you so much I loved it! That's all for this week though! Love you all! -Elder Karl<3 

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

A Medieval Fair!

Hello everyone! This week has been super busy and I have had no time to breathe haha! To start out we have a baptism!!! The family we found last week wants to be baptized and it's so amazing! There names are Marc and Happy haha they are from africa and they have 3 little girls!
Marc and Happy  
And the only kiss I have gotten in a year hahah
And they love meeting with us and learning more! Also this week I gave my first formation and people seemed to like so I think it went well. Then I did an exchange with Elder Rodiguez he is a younger missionary and it was a lot of fun. Then we had a BBQ with some members and they brought a friend who was not a member! You gotta love members working with the missionaries! It's the best :) Also this week we were walking around town just contacting people and we found ourselves in the middle of a medieval fair!
old school chartres

It was pretty cool and everyone was dressed up and we were pretty out of place but everyone was nice. Also I gave a talk this sunday and it seemed to go well so i think the french is getting pretty good ;)! but this week we have had a ton of success and God is blessing us so much! I am so grateful to be here and I love my mission so much! Thank you all for your support and love! Love ya all -Elder Karl <3
Chartres! 

Monday, August 25, 2014

Off to Paris!

Hello everyone! Had a crazy week and like no time to rest at all! Monday I had to pack and try to get everything ready to go! Packing your life up into 2 suit cases is not easy! But Later we went to the Bousseau's house for a BBQ and it was so much fun!
Boussou family! 
We had a family home evening with them and it was awesome! 














Then tuesday we went to the Velna's house! 
Velna family! 
The guy who just got baptized and had a fun time there and said our goodbyes! 












Wed: Had to get up bright and early to catch my train to Paris a nice 6 hour train ride and then boom I was in Paris baby! I love Paris!
View from my new apartment! 
I am going to live here when I get older it is so much fun and just so exciting! Then I met my new comp he is from California his name is Elder Wach! He is a pretty cool guy. Also this week we found 2 new families! One came to church too and they are so awesome they have 3 little girls and the branch was super pumped! Good way to have my first sunday here ;)! They made me give a talk though my first sunday so that was fun! Then I had to go to St.ouen which is is Paris central to give a baptismal interview for the sisters! I was a little nervous but everything went well then i had a pizza party with Elder Beck and stayed in there apartment for the night! So much fun! Also he gave me a suit!

gifts from Beck! 
He's legit is my bestfriend out here! And Elder Sanchez got me a tie! People have been hooking me up! But things are going great and I love my mission! Thank you for all the support and love<3 -Elder Karl

Friday, August 22, 2014

Transfer to Paris!

Bonjour everyone! So much has happened this week it has been crazy!  First this week we had out last district meeting before transfers and we had a taco party it was so much fun and the food was bomb! Then the next day we went over to the Assbo's house and did the (Brest Special)
assbo family
Which means I got to watch Elder Stucki throw -up everywhere haha so much more fun when you're not the one who has to do it! Also I got a hair-cut which turned out really bad but then i fixed it but I have some pretty funny pics I look pretty french I would say!


funny hair cut
On saturday we had the baptism of Stephane.
family complete
baptism
It was so perfect the weather was beautiful and lots of people came and it was just such an amazing day! One of the best days on my mission forsure! Then I got a call and found out that i am being transferred to Chartres which is in Paris! That's right i'm going to Paris baby! Super excited about that and I will also be a district leader there so i will get to do lots of exchanges and get to see like all of Paris! Such a huge blessing! And to put the cherry on top Elder Beck is in my district so i will see him once a week and get to go on exchanges with him! So crazy how much the lord blesses me! So excited to see how the rest of my mission goes! It has been such an amazing ride and I hope it never ends! I love you all<3 -Elder Karl 

Stucki and I