March 14, 2011

Bonjour à tous! Calls were this friday! And...(drum roll)... I'm staying in Cannes with Elder Park! We're super excited to stay together another transfer and continue what we've started here. Actually, our whole apartment stayed the same, so Elder Brown and Elder Garland are still with us, but Elder Brown just became District Leader. We're pretty excited about it, and last night to celebrate we brought a tv to our apartment from the Chapel (with the permission of the Bishop, of course) and wathched the Joseph Smith movie while we made Raclettes. There's a bunch of missionaries in France for ya.

It was a good week! It's still slow, but we're starting to "weed" out the city haha. I think we've almost talked with the whole city. Not really, but a good 30 percent of the people we see every day we have already talked to. On Tuesday we contacted an older man who was interested in knowing the difference between the Catholics and the Mormons, so we took a rendez-vous for the next day. His name is André and he's 100% french and 70 years old. He was born to a Catholic mom and a communist father. He has never really practiced religion. He did the catechism or whatever when he was young but I don't think he paid attention because he doesn't really know anything about God or religion haha. But anways, the lesson started by him telling us his life story. He talks a lot and it was hard to teach anything really, but we listened with love, and eventually he gave us some hints about what he needs to hear. He told us that after his mom died that he heard her voice while he was lying in bed one night and that he could feel her presence, and that he questioned whether there is anything after this life. That was when we testified that there is a prophet on earth today and that because of that, we know what happens after this life and that we can be with our families forever. His attitude totally changed after that and he became more interested in what we had to say. His interest changed from just wanting to know what the difference is between us and the catholics to finding answers to questions that deep down he had been asking himself his whole life. We left him with the restoration pamphlet and came back two days later with a member and taught him the restoration. The lesson was a little all over because he loves to talk and so does the member that we brought with us haha. It wasn't the best lesson just because it was so scattered (partly because he still wanted to konw what the difference was between us and the Catholics and Muslims), but at the end we invited him to pray. I don't think I've ever heard a prayer more sincere or powerful in my life. When he spoke, the Spirit instantly filled the room. He started by thanking Heavenly Father that He had sent him the missionaries, and from that point on he was crying throughout the whole prayer. He literally poured out his soul to the Lord and we could all feel it. What a miracle to see a hardened old french man, softened by the Spirit and love of the Lord. Even though the lesson didn't go that great, he felt the spirit, and that is all that is necessary.

We also saw our two GOLDEN investigators that we found last week who are from Sri Lanka. Their names are Diyana and Manoj. I don't know if I mentioned them last week. They're super sweet though and they want 10 copies of the book of mormon in their native language to give to their friends, family, and preacher at the church that they go to haha. Yes! They're already very believing and have tons of faith in Christ. In our first rendez-vous, Diyana told us that every time we talked she could fee the Holy Ghost. She said she even prayed before the rendez-vous and asked if it was the right thing to do to see us. She said that her answer was that what we would say is true. Everything we taught in that lesson, even if they had a couple concerns momentarily about doctrine, they accepted. It was such a powerful lesson. The next lesson we followed up with the Book of Mormon reading. Diyana had read basically all of 3rd Nephi and that's when she asked us for 10 copies that she could give out haha. We're so excited to continue to teach them! The best day of this transfer was the last. Yesterday, Andre, Diyana, and Manoj all came to church! We've been working so hard to get our investigators at church, and finally they came! It was the perfect sunday too becaues it was ward conference and the bishop taught the class for the investigators (he's a former missionary and stud) and the stake president sat in. They all loved it. Andre especially. He said that almost all the questions that he had been asking himself his whole life were answered in those 3 hours. That's a pretty powerful testimony to me of the importance of getting investigators to church. When they come, they find their own answers to their questions and receive personal revelation. And when they receive personal revelation, they can know that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that the Church of Christ has been restored on the earth. As missionaries, we desire the salvation of every person we teach (Mosiah 28:3), and as Joseph Smith said, "Salvation cannot come without Revelation." I'm so excited for these investigators. They all have received personal revelation which is essential to their testimony, and eventually, their salvation! I'm so thankful that the Lord has blessed them with that revelation. Really, as missionaries, we hardly do anything. All we have to do is create an environment for our investigators to feel the Spirit and receive personal revelation, and the Spirit does the rest. Without the Spirit, we would be nothing! It's been a long transfer, but I'm as happy as ever. Happiness doesn't lie in our numbers, but our dedication to the work. I'm so happy that we're starting to see some more fruits of our labors. I'm glad we kept working hard and being patient through those hard weeks. I'm glad we kept our confidence in the promises of the Lord. We doubted at times, but we kept working, and that's how we show our faith. "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform." (Romans 4:20-21) I know that this is the Lord's work and that we are only instruments in his hands. I am so thankful to play some small role in His work! I love you all and thank you for all your support. Talk to you next week!

Love,
Elder Tudor