Charleroi Belgium

After a stressful day of travel Jonah made it to Charleroi Belgium.  He is in apartment with 4 missionaries; Elder Smith, Elder Gambee and his companion Elder Zollinger.  He said it's a really nice apartment.  They have an upstairs with weights where they can work out and a living room.  He said one of the missionaries that left messed up the plumbing somehow so he wasn't able to shower for the first couple of days.  He said he took a bucket out on the balcony and cleaned himself off the best he could out there.  

It's always fun to see the pictures he posts of what he is seeing.

It looks so pretty.

He said it's been cooler than while he was at the MTC so that is nice.

They get around on public transportation.

He used a big chunk of his first missionary allowance for a metro pass.

The guy behind Jonah is Patrick.  He is a member who is always working with and driving the missionaries around.  Jonah said he took them out to have "the best fries in the world."  Patrick drives them to member lessons and picks them up for church so they won't have to take so long to get there. Jonah said he is awesome.  He also fed them at his house one night too.

Jonah had his first P-Day today.  He called us right when he woke up at 6:30 AM Monday morning his time and 10:30 PM Sunday our time.  Sawyer came over and played games and stayed to talk to him with us.  We talked to him until 1 AM!  It's so fun to talk to him and hear about his day.  He is good about asking everyone how they are doing and talking to each person.  Hallee got to show him her new room and Wyatt got to show him his birthday gifts.  I asked Jonah what his typical day looks like so far and he said they get up and have personal time and study time in the morning and then they go out into town to find and talk to people until lunch time.  He said he looks for Africans to talk to because they are always nice, he said the white people are not nice, ha! After that they go home for lunch.  They do more studying after lunch and then hopefully they have appointments or member visits.  He said they had four member meals scheduled this week.  He said he loves hanging out with the Elders in his apartment at the end of the day.  He said church was great yesterday. The branch only had about 40 people there.  They had him introduce himself and share his testimony.  He said he is giving a talk in a couple of weeks. He said he has moments of missing home and feeling overwhelmed with how long two years feels, but that it's not constant and he's doing well.  He's always so positive. He said they were going to go shopping that day and take matters into their own hands and snake their drains themselves.  He was happy to report later that they fixed the drains and he was excited for a real shower. Jonah told me to let him know when I was getting ready for work so I did and he called again and I got to talk to him alone for thirty minutes.  It was great.  He told me more about his day and asked me how I was doing. I talked about my mom a lot and how hard that is and he was so sweet.  He has been worried about grandma and grandpa and always asks how they are doing. 

He posted a picture and some videos of them making huge bubbles today.  

They went to a members house who had a ton of animals. Jonah said the bird kept biting him during dinner and they just let the bird fly around. Jonah bought that sweater vest today and he was pretty excited to show me.  He said they have huge sales in July and January and things are really cheap.  Luckily I sent him with some cash so he could use the money to buy some things while he waits for the new credit card.  

Jonah had a video of him and his companion trying to add one bounce each time they through the ping pong ball back and forth.  I got this picture in Elder Zolinger's album. 

Jonah sent out an email today and this is what he said:

The subject line said, "Made it to France?"

SIKEEEEEE your boy made it to Charleroi Belgium! It was unexpected but oh man this is a cool area. It was the only possible area that the new missionaries could have gone outside of France, so I guess I'm special or something. The Munns are incredible mission presidents! 

 I was assigned to a freaking awesome trainer, shoutout Elder Zollinger! He's taught me so much already. It is a blessing to be amongst such a king. 

Traveling to the mish went well, we landed and immediately got to meeting people on the metro. It was super cool to meet people, it made me so excited to get started. I cannot wait to learn French. It's frustrating that it's taking so long to come to me but I have seen the gift of tongues. Tis true.

We are in a 4 person apartment with another 2 kings. We have a GREAT time here (and we work hard so don't worry). At night we always sneak in a good game sesh. We've played Skull King, Monopoly Deal, and Katan. It's refreshing and feels like a reward after a long day of working. 

The apartment is SUPER nice and one of the best you can get on this mission. We have 2 bathrooms which is nice too. We just had a slight problem-- for some reason an Elder who was here before tried putting a plunger to a shower drain, and clogged it, so we've had to shower with a bucket out on the balcony every night. That has been an absolute blast. The plumber was a big liar and never came to fix it, so we took matters into our own hands today and fixed it! I am looking forward to my first real shower today. 

Anyways, church was a great experience. Our ward is full of kings and queens. They were all so nice and welcoming. On top of that we had 5 friends show up, 1 of them hadn't shown up in forever so it was super cool! I'll definitely be on the lookout to serve and do whatever I can for them. 

Sister Munns challenged us to study the BOM and highlight every single reference to Christ. It's made me realize how much it mentions Christ, and how much I would miss those details. Always remember that Christ is in the details of the BOM, and our lives! I promise there will be ways to think of him and bring him up every single day, I invite you all to do that. D&C 6: 36

EVERYONE email me please

jonah.loosli@missionary.org

Je vous aime.

Elder Loosli

England to Paris to Belgium

Here is the group of missionaries in front of the England MTC the morning they left.

Jonah had to be ready to leave the MTC at 5:45 AM.  Here is the group on the plane ready to fly to Paris.

Jonah was happy that a good group of them were going to Paris.  He said it was hard to say goodbye to his friends from the MTC that weren't in his mission because he knew he wouldn't see them again.

Elder Loosli and Sister Cazer. 

Sister Munns posted some pictures and videos from the airport.

President and Sister Munns picked the missionaries up at the airport. Jonah said he met with them that day and said, "They are incredible! It's going to be amazing to work with them."

The Munn's greeted them at the airport and then they left and the missionaries rode the metro with the AP's to the mission home.  Jonah said they had him go on his own to talk to people and try and meet people.  He said it was terrifying.  He said his French is rough and it was hard to communicate, but he left the conversations feeling like he understood what was said, so that was good.  He gave out two Books of Mormon.  He got to message us when he got to the hotel to tell us he made it.  He told me about this experience and asked us to pray for him because this was going to be really hard to immerse himself and a very big adjustment.  All of the trainers were at the mission home and they got to meet everyone at dinner.  They told them they would find out who their trainer/companion was and what area they were going to the next day.

The mission home is right next to the Paris Temple.

Here is Jonah with President and Sister Munns. 

Sister Munns said it was their biggest group yet, 31 missionaries arrived that day.

13 of them were Elders.

They had dinner at the mission home when they got there. 

I got a Facebook message that night from Sister Hintze.  She told me that her and her husband are missionaries there and she had just had dinner with my awesome son.  It was so fun to hear from her.  They are Sister Munn's parents and he is the mission doctor.  Pretty cool.  She said she loved talking to Jonah and that her and her husband grew up in Provo.  She told me that she would send me a picture of Jonah with his companion the next day.  I got his picture of Elder Loosli with his new companion, Elder Zollinger.  Jonah messaged me in the middle of the night (thankfully I always seem to be awake when he messages in the middle of the night) and said, "Headed to Belgium! With the best companion I could have! I met him yesterday and was hoping I'd be with him." I asked him how he felt about all of it and he said, "It's so perfect, this was a miracle for sure."  I was so happy to hear that.  I had been worried about him, that's probably why I'm up in the middle of the night!

Here are the pictures Sister Munns posted of Jonah finding out who his companion was.  I love his big smile, he was very happy!

Then they told him he would be going to Belgium. 

I'm so glad Sister Munns posted all of these pictures. 

Elder Loosli excited about his new companion.

This is Sister Hutchison.  Her grandson played football for Provo High and told her that Jonah was coming to her mission so she was anxious to meet him and get a picture with him.

Here is the whole zone with President and Sister Munns.

After lunch they left the mission home to take a train to Belgium.

Jonah said they had a little extra time so they walked around the newer part of Paris.

He said he saw the Eiffel Tower from a distance, but not close enough to get a picture of it.

I know Jonah was feeling a little overwhelmed, but he's very good at being positive and taking it all in, the good and the bad.

I was surprised when Jonah called me Friday morning.  He was calling to tell me that he had already been pick pocketed.  He's not sure when or how it happened, but his wallet was in his shoulder bag and then it wasn't.  Luckily he didn't have his license in there, just credit cards.  I was able to call both of them and get them canceled right away.  Poor guy, that is a rough way to start your mission.  It was also very lucky that his mission debit card wasn't in there, so he will have his funds from that.  We will just have to send him a new credit card that he can use for extra stuff.  I was happy to see this picture on his google photos, hopefully the day ended better than it started!

Saying Goodbye to England

The Elders with Sister Preston, one of their teachers. 

Jonah said the sisters gave all the missionaries awards.  This is Jonah's. 

Elder Catania with Elder Loosli

Elder Whatcott and Elder Loosli. Elder Whatcott is from Provo as well, he went to Timpview High.

They went on a little church history trip on their last day.  Gordon B. Hinkley served his mission in England.  They saw his apartment that he lived in when he was a missionary.  Jonah said they told him that later when President Hinkley was the prophet he was in England and he went to his old apartment and knocked on the door and asked if he could come in.  His wife had died recently and he was really struggling with losing her.  He went and prayed in the apartment where he used to pray as a missionary.  He was given strength and was able to carry on.

This is River Ribble. The first baptisms in the British Isles took place here in 1837.

President Hinkley baptized people here as well.  It is near the Preston Temple.

They went to St. Leonard's church in Downham England.    

The stained glass windows look beautiful.

Jonah said they had a devotional in there. 

Outside there is a cemetery. 

I took this picture off a video I saw of Jonah.  I think he was happy it was a cool rainy day and he could wear his sweater.

Jonah said Downham was a cool town.

Elder Zeedik and Elder Whatcott with Elder Loosli.

Jonah enjoyed the day trip and seeing some of the sights in England.

Elder Loosli with Elder Bettridge.

Elder Cowden and Elder Loosli.

Elder Koyamagishi and Elder Loosli.

Elder Church, Elder Catania and Elder Loosli.

 Elder Prigoone. Jonah loves all of these missionaries.  When I would ask him about a picture he would tell me who it was and then tell me how amazing they are and how much he loves them.  He said that about every single one.

Here is the whole England MTC.

Here is a closer one.

All the Elders in the MTC on their last night together.

Jonah added this picture to his mission album. He left for Paris on July 23rd. He was nervous and excited about getting out into the mission field.  He loved the England MTC.  He loves all the people he met there.  He loved that the group there was small so he knew everyone.  He loved going into town on Pdays.  The England MTC was a great fit for him.