December 1, 2010

Bonjour à tous!
J'espere que vous avez passé une bonne semaine! I had an interesting week! First of all, I had my first Thanksgiving outside of the United States. It was weird waking up on Thanksgiving and being one of the few who even knew it was Thanksgiving haha. But a few of the members decided to acknowledge Thanksgiving with us and we had a Thanksgiving dinner at the church. Each companionship invited an investigator (Edvin came) and it was super cool. It wasn't exactly an American Thanksgiving turkey dinner, mais ce n'est pas grave. Well actually it was pretty close. We started with a salad, then we had some turkey and some other meat (not quite sure) and mashed potatoes. Then we had some sweet potatoe casserole (not with sweet potatoes, but regular potatoes baked in sugar and marshmallows) made by the sister missionaries. I loved it! But the French people were appauled at the thought of it. I watched Edvin as he tasted it, and he instantly gagged! It was hilarious. Most of them didn't even try it. Then they started to go on about how crazy Americans are and that they don't know how to cook haha. Then we ate some of Elder Call's grandma's, apparently famous, apple pie and some pumpkin pie. So there you go, I celebrated Thanksgiving in France! Being the companion of the District Leader, I'm kind of all over the place because he has to do an exchange with each Elder in teh district each transfer. It kind of sucks because I love workign with Elder Blosil, but it's alright! I learn so much from exchanges and I get to know more missionaries and how they work and learn from them. So I was in Cannes two times this week (because there is a threesome there and Elder Blosil went on exchange with two of them). Cannes is beautiful! There are a lot of old people there. I think everyone goes there to retire. The work is going well here! Elder Blosil and I have four people currently committed to baptism. Edvin the 11th, Nelito (sweet portuguese guy) the 18th, and Marcelline and Semere the 15th of January. We're working our hardest to keep them committed and on the path! I realize more and more every day just how much this really is the Lord's work. I'm reminded of the scripture I chose for my missionary plaque Alma 26:12 - "Yea, I know that I am anothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will bnot boast of myself, but I will cboast of my God, for in his dstrength I can do all ethings;" I've started realizing just how little I can do without the Lord, but also, how much I CAN do with His help if I let him. It's easy to want to do everythign yourself as a missionary. But there's only so much you can do, and you have to let the Lord do the rest. It's like the story of the Brother of Jared. He asked the Lord to show him how to make light in the boats, and the Lord said "What would you have me do?" rather than handing him the answer or doing it for him. Most of the time, the Lord leaves us to do all that we can to accomplish our goals, get through our difficulties, or overcome problems. And after we have done all we can, he makes up for what we cannot do. In the case of the Brother of Jared, teh Bro of Jared went and found a way to fix the problem by making the stones, but it was the Lord that finished the job for him and touched them to make them light up. I know that if we work our hardest to follow the Lord and overcome our difficulties, the Lord will help us through. But if we just sit around and do nothing, we have no promise. We can pray all we want for something, but if we do nothing to obtain it, we will never reach it. For "Faith wihtout works is dead." We show our Faith in the Lord and his ability to help us by first taking the initiative, in faith, knowing and trusting that he will compensate for our weaknesses after we have tried our hardest. I know that Ammon didn't convert thousand of Lamanites just because he trusted in the Lord, but he worked for it and the Lord gave him success!

Je vous aime tous! Passez une bonne semaine!
Elder Tudor