A summer in Nicosia

Hey everybody!

I am doing great! We had a really good week with Zone Conference and District Conference. Our Mission President, President Charles (from England) is such an inspired man! He really has a vision of the work of our Heavenly Father on earth and he is giving us missionaries such a faith and energy!

I have been in Nicosia for one week already. It's a student town with a lot Asian students. Most of them are opened to hearing about the Gospel and we are able to have a lot of discussions. With Elder Okazaki we are also in charge of English classes and outreach (center for young adults) and it's very successful! We have high expectations for this transfer!

What I like in Cyprus is that we are on bikes! I love riding and here in Nicosia there is not a lot of traffic so biking is a really good enjoyable experience. And I will be able to lost a couple extra pounds from the MTC haha!

This week we met a lot of people who think that we only need to believe in God and love others by being a good person. They end up believing in that because of all the bad things that we can see in the world. It is true that there are a lot of bad things but we should also be grateful for all the good things in our lives. Let's look around us and see all our blessings!

I love being a missionary. It's great!

Thanks for your prayers and love.

Elder Clement Gaillard

Transfer Surprise! I'm in Cyprus!!!

Hey friends!
Transfers calls were made last last Thursday and President Charles announced me that I was leaving for Cyprus! I was really surprised because I really thought that I was going to stay in Paleo Faliro in Athens. Anyway, I am in Nicosia since yesterday, with Elder Okazaki. We are looking forward to have a great transfer! We are living in the center of the city and I love it. It is more quiet and less dirty than Athens but it is also very hot and humid! I am going to have a great winter. I actually cannot tell you a lot about my area and Cyprus because we have only been there for one day but it is a great place.
We ride bike (with helmets) and we have to ride on the left side of the road (Cyprus used to be an English island). It really changes from bus and I really enjoy it.
I will send more news next week. My new address is

Elder Gaillard
6 Princess Anna Street
Flat 23
2373 Agios Dometios
Nicosia
Cyprus

Thanks for your prayers and your support
Elder Gaillard

Oh no not you again!

This week we were in a building doing some door knocking and it was just crazy. Every floor had something crazy and there was a lot of weird noise. "Oh no not you again" was written on one of the front door carpet. We also ended up being locked inside. Greece is a crazy country!
This is the end of my first transfer and I am probably going to stay in Paleo Faliro but I will have a different companion! I had a really good first transfer and I am excited to have 10 more!
I have thought a lot this week about my purpose and goals as a missionary. I have come to enjoy being a missionary, even if it is hard to talk to people and to keep faith. But I have been blessed so much for this past four months. I can really feel Heavenly Father's love for me. I know that if we follow His son Jesus Christ and we choose to live according to His Gospel, then we can feel this love from God!
Another funny story this week. We were door knocking one morning and we were really excited for the day. We were able to enter in a garden and a woman start to talk with us until a small dog showed up and try to play with us. It was messing around until it got bored and found another game, biting my shoes! So yeah a dog tried to eat me and he actually almost bite my leg haha. We finally decided to leave but the dog kept trying to eat me. That was really funny. Our Mission President told us that Satan could control the dogs and that's probably why all the dogs in the entire world are always trying to eat missionaries!
Thanks for your love and support!
Elder Clement Gaillard

4 fantastic months done, 20 giga-fantastic more to go!

I cannot believe that I have been a missionary for 4 months now. The mission is going really fast! We are really busy everyday and when we're not we feel lazy so we work harder! This week was interesting. I had a lot of conversations with Greek people and it was good. It helps me to know my mistakes and improve my Greek.
This morning we were jogging with Elder Gifford and we saw a very interesting cemetery. We decided to visit it and it turned out to be an English military graveyard from World War II. It was really cool to see that. Sadly we didn't have our cameras but we're planning to come back to take pictures. A lot of English soldiers gave their lives for the freedom of Greece and it is really nice to see that these people are rewarded with a beautiful memorial.
Anyway Greece was more alive this weekend. It was the elections and the orientation of the government changed. Something funny about elections weekend in Greece is that most of the people spend this weekend out of Athens, in their villages. It's a nice tradition. Too bad we can't go and visit these villages. The people there have probably never met missionaries!
I hope you all enjoyed General Conference. It will be translated for us in a couple weeks so don't tell me anything! Haha we are really excited for it. I hope it was good like always! This year it made me think about how we should be grateful for the Church organization that allows us, wherever we are to receive modern revelations from prophets. It is a real blessing that only a few people on earth have!
Thanks for your letters and prayers. You are in mine!
Elder Clement Gaillard