Hello! It was a pretty long week! It poured rain for four days straight and when most of our rendez-vous cancelled on us, we were stuck out in it with no one to contact because no one wanted to be out in the rain, and all the people that were outside didn't want to stop to talk to us. It was quite a challenge! Elder Park and I are working super hard, but not seeing a whole lot. This Friday we had zone conference and the President interviewed all the missionaries. I was so thankful for that interview. We basically just talked about our work here in Cannes and he really helped me out. He's an amazing man! He knows we're working hard, especially in finding new investigators, and is happy with our work. He told me that starting a new area like we did is kind of like starting a car - you've always gotta start in first gear! It's the slowest, but it takes the most power. He promised us lots of blessings during my interview that would come if we continued working as hard as we can. So of course, we're going to! (He also told Elder Park and I that we're the best looking companioship in the mission haha - so random. So I guess if all else fails, we've got that! Haha just kidding) Yesterday and this morning we stopped and looked back at the last few weeks and looked at what we had done well and what we can improve on. We know we're working our butts off and doing our best, but it's true that our best can always improve! So we've set some new goals and actions to achieve them that we hope will help the work start moving along a little faster.
In other news, a sweet guy that I taught my last week in Nice named Jean Marie got baptized this week! I was there when he committed to be baptized. And guess what? Marcelline's son Livio wil be baptized before the end of the transfer if all goes according to plan. This week is Stake Conference in Nice so I'll be able to see the ward there again which is pretty awesome. I love the ward here in Cannes though. The bishop is the man and I love the members. This week there was an older couple from Holland who attended at our ward. They spoke no French, but they spoke pretty good English, and they asked me to translate for them during Sacrament meeting. That was my first time translating for someone, it was pretty intense!
We're working with a less active member right now and trying to get him to church. We saw him this week but we didn't go in his house because he preferred to go to the park and talk. Later, we found out that in his (not very big) apartment lives at least 8 people (adults), 6 dogs, 9 cats, 8 hamsters, and pigeons that come and go. Ah! I think we'll stick with the park. We're also working with another less active named Ricardo (he's about 28) who is super sweet. He's from Cape Verde and hasn't been to church for over a year and a half now. He used to be the young men's teacher and was really active. He was baptized about 5 years ago. When I was on exchange here in Cannes a couple months ago I contacted him, but the missionaries here never got a hold of him after I had taken his number. But last week I found him again in the road! I think I'm a Ricardo magnet. Apparently he got a new phone and he gave us his new number. We have seen him a couple times, and he came to church this Sunday!! He's a super sweet guy and I'm so glad we found him again because all the members love him and he got so much support when he came to church this Sunday. I'm excited for him to keep progressing and become fully active again! Inactivity is a pretty big problem here, and all around the world for that matter. between 80 and 100 people come to the ward in Cannes every Sunday and there are at least 300 members here. Attendance was about the same in Nice, but there are close to 500 members there. It's really sad! There's obviously a lot of work to do with less actives.
Well I'll leave you for this week and I hope to have more good news next week! I know that Jesus is the Christ and the Redeemer of the whole world. My testimony of that grows every day that I am here. And I know that this is His church on the earth! I also know that God still speaks to us today through his prophets, and being out here on a mission, I realize just how important prophets are! I can't express how thankful I am that I have the opportunity to testify of the Christ, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, - all the things that I know to be true - every day! I pray that people are touched by the Spirit of the Lord while I testify of these things to them so that they may come unto Christ and receive the Restored Gospel. I love you all, and thank you for all of your support! Have a great week.
Love,
Elder Tudor
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