May 16, 2011

Bonjour a tous,
Well, it's that time of year. The Cannes film festival just started and this place is packed with tourists and movie stars! The other day we had to meet an investigator downtown, and while we were waiting for her, we saw Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, and Edward from twilight haha. From super far away of course, but we could tell it was them, and everyone crowding around them was screaming their names. Crazy! Maybe we'll do a little missionary work at the festival today for Pday and convert some famous people.
This week went alright. We're still teaching quite a bit, but we know there is a lot more potential here than we're getting out right now. This week we've really gotta dig in. I've got some bad news too. Last week right after I sent you my email, Sebastian called... and he said he's done with seeing us. He told me that he heard that Joseph Smith killed two people in the mob just before he got murdered and that he couldn't believe in the Book of Mormon anymore. I started reasoning with him, telling him that Moses killed a man, and that the Catholic church, which he is in the process of joining, has killed all kinds of people. He agreed... then just said that he found something in the Book of Mormon that didn't agree with the Bible, and he wouldn't tell me what it was either. Then I decided to just remind him of the testimony he had received from the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true, but he just told me that he couldn't believe it anymore and that we couldn't see each other any more. I was trying so hard to keep him on the phone but he wouldn't listen to anything I was saying and he just said goodbye. I'm almost certain his friends convinced him to not see us anymore. It took me awhile to get over that one. We were really close and he really became a good friend of mine. He was so close! Why? I've been kind of down about it and still kidn of getting over it. I know I shouldn't dwell on it, but after seeing someone who is so ready be so close, it breaks your heart to see them reject the truth. Also, I think last week I talked about our new investigator named Alexandra who accepted a baptismal date. She called us Sunday morning and said her husband won't let her see us anymore.
Yves is still super legit. He stopped smoking, drinking alcohol and coffee, all at the same time. He threw it all away and he doesn't have enough money to buy anymore, or he can't eat, so he can't start again. Problem solved! His testimony amazes me every time we see him. Everytime we ask him to follow a commandment, his response is always "il le faut!" (it is necessary). He's seriously the man. After church we gave him a blessing to help with the pain of stopping smoking. He understands the Gospel better than any investigator I've ever seen. We gave him the pamphlets for all the lessons and he's read and marked all of them, so when we do the lessons we sit down and ask him questions, and he explains everything to us perfectly, and then we bear testimony of it. I love it! Mario is doing well, but is still really busy. His baptismal date isn't really fixed right now. He will be baptized, but we're not sure when because we don't know if he's going to continue being so busy. He still has to come to church a couple more times before he can be baptized. We're praying for him.
One thing I've learned this week is that we can do everything we can to help people get to baptism, but ultimately it's their choice and they have their free agency. But, that's all part of God's plan. Without our free agency, we wouldn't learn anything! Seeing people let go of the Gospel is the saddest thing I've ever seen. I pray for them that one day they will use their agency well and decide to accept it, whether that be now, or in the world to come. Well, sorry it's kinda short this week, but I gotta go! I love you all and I'm so happy to be here serving God's children. Thanks for all your support. These really are the best two years!

Love,
Elder Tudor