Bonne Fette!
Joyeux Noel, tout le monde! I hope you all had a great Christmas this year and were able to feel the love of the Savior even more abundantly during this season. So.. my first Christmas in France!
It was strange not being home or around my family for Christmas, but everything that wasn't there for Christmas this year was filled by enormous amounts of FOOD! We ate at members houses multiple times, and they cook to feed armies when they have the missionaries over. It's ridiculous! I probably gained a few pounds this weekend, but it's ok because I think I've lost a good twelve pounds since I've been out here (yes, despite all the French pastries). In France, they eat seafood mostly for Christmas. I thought it was kind of strange, but I wasn't complaining! On Christmas Eve we ate with the Pleitain family with our investigator Marcelline. It was really sweet, especially since Marcelline probably would have done nothing for Christmas Eve if we hadn't invited her. Christmas day, we ate at the Aslan's with a whole bunch of members and also stayed to play games. We played white elephant (but in French they call it a Chinese Auction) and I ended up with a showerhead that has built-in LED lights that light up the water as it comes out, and it changes colors with the temperature of the water. I was pretty stoked, and we've already installed it in our shower haha.
We ate at with the Giacomin family Sunday and the dad is a chef for the Bishop's restaurant, so needless to say, it was amazing! This year it was a lot easier for me to not get caught up in the worldly part of Christmas. Christmas is to celebrate and remember the greatest gift that was ever given to the world, which is our Savior Jesus Christ. And as we remember Jesus Christ, we think of his infinite love and charity for every single person he came in contact with. I had the opportunity to go around with Elder Call and give cookies that we made to homeless people on the street. I remarked something that was interesting, in that there were many who acted very grateful for our gift, and others that didn't want anything from us and even got mad at us for offering. We often talk about how giving is the best part of Christmas, and not receiving, but how can others give to us if we don't accept their gift? Receiving is just as important! I think that often times we are too prideful to accept the service or gifts that others offer us. Being a missionary, I see that a lot! We share the message of Christ and Eternal Life, which is the greatest gift of all, and we get rejected day after day. I guess the little message I'm trying to get across is that not only do we need to be charitable, but we need to be grateful and accepting of the charity people offer us! Christ has paid the ultimate price for our sins and has offered us the greatest gift in the world, but there are always two parts of a gift exchange: giving and receiving. Let's show our gratitude for Christ by accepting Him, and living the principles He has taught us every day of our lives, so that we can RECEIVE the gift that he gives us, and let's also be more grateful for others and their charity towards us by letting down our pride and letting others give their service and charity to us, especially during this Christmas season. I promise that as we do this, we'll feel the Spirit more abundantly in our lives adn we'll have a greater desire to exercise our own charity. I love you! Bonne semaine! Que Dieu soit avec vous!
Love,
Elder Tudor
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