August 22, 2011

Bonjour a tous,
It was a week of ups and downs! We saw miracles and disappointments. Basically, it was like every other week as a missionary haha. I'll start with the miracles. So, Wednesday, Victoria had a big job interview for a job at a big 4 star hotel in Bordeaux. First of all it is a miracle that she got the interview. She happened to run into one of the owners or something and he was sympathetic towards her situation, so he said to come back for an interview. We fasted and prayed that everythign would go well during her interview and that she would be hired. So she went and had the interview, and she got the job! She couldn't believe it. During the interview, someone from a job search agency called the lady who was interviewing her. The agency was searching work for a person who had worked in hotels before, and the interviewer asked the person on the phone "has this person ever worked in a 3 or 4 star hotel?" the person said no, and then she replied, "well, we can't hire that person, goodbye." That didn't exactly comfort Mme Tudor who had NEVER worked in a hotel haha. But, at the end of the interview, the lady told her she would start in September! What a tender mercy. We came to her house and saw her and Flora the next day and she told us all of this. We were so stoked. Then we talked about their baptism, because the last time they were a little hesitant, adn said they didn't think they were ready. Well apparently, the night before, they were at the table just talking and drinking a glass of water, when Flora spilled a full glass of water all over teh table and it got Victoria's book of mormon all wet. Of course she was super frustrated adn sent Flora away. Then she took up the Book of Mormon to dry it off, and just seeing it there all wet, she said to herself, "that's it, that's my answer. I need to be baptized!" When she told us this story, Elder Coenen and I just looked at eachother in amazement haha. Apparently the Book of Mormon being all wet was a symbol of her being baptized in this Church, and she took that as her answer. I've never seen an answer to a prayer like that! The Book of Mormon works miracles, even when it's soaked.
We were so stoaked after that, but then some opposition came. We were going to teach tithing in the next lesson, but she found out about it before we came through a member of her family. She didn't really mind it, but I think she was a little disappointed that she didn't know about it yet and her baptism was next week. But the main problem was the word of wisdom. She smokes, adn her life is so crazy right now. She has to find an apartment in Bordeaux because she starts working there next month and she is so stressed. She's been putting off quitting smoking. She said she can't quit smoking right now, and she doesn't even want to try until all of this is figured out and settled in Bordeaux. So in the end, she told us that the baptism wasn't possible next week. We testified, but she jsut doesn't have the willpower right now. But It's weird, I didn't feel totally disappointed. I was super sad of course, but I felt something and I know that they will be baptized, even if it's not next week, or if it's not in Bergerac - and that's what counts. Preach My Gospel, and Elder Holland, teach us that we need to be patient with our investigators and go at their pace, not ours. It's true. A lot of times as missionaries, we're so excited about baptizing that sometimes we don't realize that the investigators can't keep up with all the committments. That doesn't mean they don't have faith or that we haven't done a good job, that's just how it is, and if the person is ready for the Gospel, he or she will be baptized eventually. The work of the Lord cannot be frustrated. We're going to continue to teach them all the lessons and commandments and see their faith grow. I'm so excited.
In other news, Maurel, Muamba's buddy, has a baptismal date for the 17th of September! He wan'ts Muamba to baptize him. We're pretty stoked. I just sent in my renewal for my carte de sejour. Super weird. That means I've almost been in France a year! Things are great here adn we're working hard and having fun. Exchanged are this next weekend, we'll see what happens! Love you all.
Love,
Elder Tudor