September 10 ~ Salut!

Dear Everyone: Many of you have asked about my travel plans, so here you go! I actually don't have them yet, but when I got my visa in San Francisco, my visa information included my flight plans so I got to glance at them. It went something like this: On September 27th, at 9:45 a.m., I fly from SLC to Atlanta, then I fly from Atlanta to Paris, and then Paris to Toulouse. I arrive in Toulouse on the 28th at around 11 or noon, I think. I'm not sure about the layovers. I didn't look at all the times. If I'm doing my math right, they shouldn't be that long though. My district is singing the day before we leave, the 26th, at Mission Conference, so we have plenty of time to better prepare! I've been doing MTC choir, too (which sings at the Tuesday night devotionals) and that is fun. I found out that the MTC choir is singing at General Conference. I'm going to barely miss it!!! I was a little sad about that, but I'd much rather be in France doing the work!I still love learning French. It's such a cool language! It's hilarious to speak it sometimes too, my district and I love speaking in heavy accents. Something as simple as a "Bon!" just makes everyone crack up. I told you everything is funny at the MTC. I'm learning that there are a lot of similar words and phrases that if you say the wrong one, mean something totally different. For example, "la foi" means faith, and "le foi" means liver - yes, one time I said I have liver in God. There are also a lot of things we say in English that mean a totally different thing in French. You can't say "I'm finished" (that would be je suis fini, which means "I'm dead"), in French, you say "I have finished" (j'ai fini). It makes me wonder how many of these exist! They also never say "I'm hot," but they say "I have heat" instead, and I won't explain why here, but you can probably guess. I'm sure I'll make a fool out of myself in the field by saying one of these!I've been pondering a lot lately, especially about Jesus Christ and the Atonement. People often talk of the miracles Christ performed on earth, such as healing the sick and walking on water, but the greatest miracle that He performed, and the greatest miracle that will ever be performed, is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I usually don't think about the Atonement as a miracle, but it truly is the greatest miracle! To think that one man would take upon him all of our sins, sicknesses, afflictions, pains, guilt - EVERYTHING - is truly a miracle and I know I can't even begin to comprehend what He really did for us. But I do know one thing, and that is that He DID do it, and He did it for each one of us! I feel like all of us who have this knowledge have an obligation to use it in our own lives. How could we let this truly amazing act of love go to waste when it is right there before us? I can't wait to help people find the power of the Atonement for themselves and the joy it can bring to their souls!

Love you all,
Elder Tudor