Salutations, Things are going well in Bergerac. I've been here a long time it seems like! I remember the first 3 transfers felt like they went by so fast, but this 4th one seems like the first three all together haha. Our investigators are having a hard time progressing right now, but they're getting there, and we're still finding new ones. But M is progressing still! He got the preisthood yesterday and was ordained a priest and even prepared the sacrament. He was so excited and he was SO happy! We were so happy for him and it's so amazing to see his progression still. All 5 of the people that have been baptized since I've been here are all still active and progressing in the church. It's such a blessing to see it! The work is going well, a little slower with the colder weather, but it's goin. Finishing out this transfer is going to be great and take a lot of faith. Today we met up with a reporter who is doing an article on all the churches in Bergerac. We explained our beliefs and answered her questions and it was great. It's funny to explain to reporters our religion because they can never get it into their heads that we're not a branch off of catholicism or protestantism. I'm really excited to read the article. It will be in the newspaper Thursday. There will be a picture of us two in front of the church as well haha. This week we had the huge blessing to hear from Elder Caussé (born in Bordeaux) of the seventy for a special zone conference in Bordeaux. What a spiritual experience! General authorities are so inspired and the spirit is so strong during these special zone conferences. He got up and asked us what the purpose of the church is, and we responded "To invite others to come unto Christ." Fortunately, we were right haha. He took that phrase and split into two sections. We first discussed coming unto Christ. He asked us what it means to come unto Christ. Of course we talked about the principles and ordinances of the Gospel and so on, and that coming unto Christ is to be saved. Then he asked what it means to be saved, and why be saved? And we were throwing out answers like "to have everything the father has" or "to be perfect" or "to be in his presence" etc. But every time we threw out an answer he just kept asking "but why do you want those things and why does Heavenly Father want you to have them? Just so you can create worlds and be Gods?" It took us awhile, but finally one Elder just said, "Because He loves us." Elder Causse had the answer he was looking for, and we discussed this topic for quite awhile. I felt the spirit so strongly and this discussion really opened my eyes. I'm just going to briefly resume some things he said and thoughts I had. Love is the motivation for everything. The reason God created His plan was because He loves us. The reason we want to return and live with Him is because we love Him, and we want to feel His love as we once did before coming to earth. All of us are searching that love that we once knew. Elder Causse asked us this question, and I just loved it. He said, "Imagine Heavenly Father and the Savior were in the room with us right now. Can you imagine the love you would feel in their presence?" As I thought about that, I just felt an incredible peace and love for Father in Heaven. LOVE is why we're here. LOVE is why we live the Gospel, and the reason why the Gospel exists. We then discussed Lehi's dream. We read in 2nd Nephi 11 when the angel explains to Nephi the meaning of the dream. The Angel tells Nephi that the tree and its fruit represent the Love of God, and then right after, the Angel says "look!" and Nephi sees the Christ and His ministry. I had never noticed that before. The tree, or the love of God, is the Christ, but more specifically, the blessings of His Atonement. All of God's love is manifest in one single event - the Atonement. And to feel that love, is to feel the power of the Atonement. So how do we feel that love? We follow that straight and narrow path that is described in the dream which is the Gospel. We hold fast to the word of God and apply it to our lives, we don't just "cling" to it. When we have Faith, repent, are baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and continue to partake of the Sacrament worthily so that we feel the Holy Ghost's influence and the Love of God in our lives, we are at the tree because we have the blessings of the atonement in our lives. I wanted to share this because it's something I had never realized before. I always thought that we got to the tree at the end of our lives and that the straight and narrow path was our life's journey. But we can well see that even some people who got to the tree and tasted the fruit fell away after a time, so this couldn't be after this life and after judgment that we can taste of the fruit. It is right now. The purpose of the Gospel is so that we may feel the Love of God throughout our lives and partake of the fruit daily. We can and should be at the tree, not just spectators hoping to get there some day. It all just kinda clicked in my head. God will not transform us after this life into somethign we have not become in this life. Especially as a missionary, I need to be at the tree. Elder Causse said we need to be Lehi in the dream. He tasted the fruit, looked around, and invited his family to come and partake. We have to be at the tree, eat of the fruit, be filled with the Love of God, and then we can and will invite others to come and partake because we are filled with His love. We discussed many other thigns and I'd love to share all of it, but don't have time! The week was amazing as I thought about this. I just felt the love of GOd so much this week. This is His work and he created it because He loves us, so as His servant, I must do the work out of love as well! One experience from yesterday sums up my week. We went to a member's brother's house yesterday because he has a serious sickness (not sure what) and can't walk and can't really talk either and is in a bed and can just make noises and move his limbs a little bit. We went with another brother in the branch and gave him a blessing. When we walked in the room and talked with him (and he's about 70), his face just lit up and he was smiling, and moving all around, and his wife said she had never seen him move like that in months. We all felt the spirit. We all felt God's love for him. We loved him. He loved us. That's why I'm here. To help others feel His love! And the only way is through the blessings of the atonement which happens when one follows the restored Gospel. I know God loves us, and that our purpose in life is to make our way back to our Heavenly Father's presence and feel and enjoy His love in His presence again one day. After all, we are His children. I love you all!
Love, Elder Tudor
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
October 17, 2011
Cher tout le monde,
Well another week gone in Bergerac. It's flying! I've been here so long, but at the same time, it feels like I just got here. That's basically how it always is during the mission. We're here with M who just showed up at the cybercafe. He's trying to read this outloud and he doesn't speak a lick of english and it's pretty funny. Speaking of M, it was quite a week for him. He went to the hospital with stomach problems for a few days, but they found nothing wrong with him. We went and visited him though and he looked pretty miserable. He was in a room with an old grandpa who moaned all night and he could never get to sleep. Poor guy! Yesterday, M showed up halfway through priesthood (we start with priesthood here) and he walked in in a pink dress shirt and a pure denim suit, except the pants had patches of khaki sewed on, and on one pant leg in big red letters was "G-UNIT". I had to contain myself to not laugh and interrupt the lesson haha. He was looking pretty gangster, and he came and sat next to me and said, "Ca vient des Etats-unis ca!" (that's from the United States!) pointing at his pants. Funniest thing ever. Next week he'll be getting the priesthood (Not in his G-Unit costume I hope) and it was announced in Sacrament meeting yesterday.
We saw so many miracles this week! I don't have time to write them all, but we found some new investigators who are great and we made contact with a few old investigators. One new one is named D and he's from Russia, but he speaks English and spent most of his life in Lithuania. He met the missionaries over there, but it's been a long time, and right now he's living with his girlfriend in Bergerac. He believes in God but has a hard time accepting the fact that Jesus took our sins upon Him, but we used the BoM and testified of the role of Jesus Christ in the plan of salvation and that he is the only way we can receive mercy, and he understood and accepted everything, when at first he said it was impossible for one person to atone for another. It was pretty amazing, and I know that the BoM and the Spirit are our most powerful tools and can help anyone come to realize the truth. We also met an old man on a bench in the park that we were going to walk past because we were on our way somewhere, but I stopped and talked to him. He said right off the bat that he wasn't interested in our message, so I asked him, "Do peace and happiness interest you?" and we started a great conversation and we taught him part of the plan of salvation. He had lost his wife, and after we left he had hope to see her again. Those are the greatest miracles, when we can just help someone come a little closer to Heavenly Father by their hope and faith in true principles. The best part about it was that his name was Rambo! I told him he needed to repent because of all the people he's killed haha. He understood the joke, thankfully.
On Thursday I went to Brive on exchange with Elder Caldwell which was great. He's an amazing missionary and we learned a lot together. Friday night we had another miracle. We've passed the T's a few times in the last couple weeks but with no success. We decided to pass by Friday night and they were there and let us in! We were shocked haha. I was just thinking of how much of a miracle it was while we were there, and they even invited us to eat with them and we did. Mme. T told us how she was offended by some people at church and we were able to talk about it for awhile which was great. We're gonna pass by again next week and keep in contact with them, and I know they'll come around. They're such great people.
This morning during my personal studies I read the BoM first like I always do, and then I didn't really know what to study. I just felt like something was missing and that there was something that I needed to study. I felt like I needed to take out Preach My Gospel, so I did, and I flipped to the first section that came into my head, which was about the power and authority of our calling. I read a quotation by President Kimball about the setting apart of a missionary, and how it is a literal setting apart from sin and the things of the world which puts us above carnal things, and that the blessings of our calling depend on our faithfulness to this setting apart. I thought back to my own setting apart from President Hughes. It was a reminder of how I need to be above the thigns of the world. In the world but not of it. I set a goal to completely separate myslef from the world, even any thoughts of old music or movies or anything. I know the Lord will bless me as a try my best to do this. Then I felt to read "The transforming power of Faith and Character" by Elder Scott, which is one of my favorite talks ever. I love this line - "We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day." I want to become separated from the world. I want to be the best instrument in the hands of the Lord as possible. Sometimes it seems like a huge task, but after reading that I realized that in order to become what I want to become, I just have to take it one day at a time, I need to be what I want to become every day, and then I'll become it. There's no trick or magic about it. You've just got to want it and then do it and be it day after day. And through faith in true principles and acting on them, we become something as we do it consistently. I also liked this quote..."The measure of your character is what you are becoming." If we're not becoming something better, we're not being the best we can be. I know there's so many things I can do better out here and I'm trying to be humble enough and work hard enough to overcome my weaknesses. At the same time, I know that the Lord is happy with my work as I try to do this. I know he'll help me and all of us as we try to become more like Him. That's why he put us here! Anyways, I just have had that on my mind all day and that's what came out in my email, sorry haha. I'm doing great! I'm starting to feel the love of Heavenly Father for His children more and more. I'm starting to understand the true nature of my call more and more as well. I'm not there jsut to do things that missionaries do, but I'm there to be a Christlike missionary and invite all to come unto Him as He would do it. I love this work. There's nothing more simple and beautiful than the Gospel, and nothing that brings more happiness. Never let anything get in the way of living by its principles - anything! Nothing is worth more than what we become and what our Heavenly Father grants us when we live the Gospel. I love you all and hope you have a great week! Thanks for all you do for me!
Love,
Elder Tudor
Well another week gone in Bergerac. It's flying! I've been here so long, but at the same time, it feels like I just got here. That's basically how it always is during the mission. We're here with M who just showed up at the cybercafe. He's trying to read this outloud and he doesn't speak a lick of english and it's pretty funny. Speaking of M, it was quite a week for him. He went to the hospital with stomach problems for a few days, but they found nothing wrong with him. We went and visited him though and he looked pretty miserable. He was in a room with an old grandpa who moaned all night and he could never get to sleep. Poor guy! Yesterday, M showed up halfway through priesthood (we start with priesthood here) and he walked in in a pink dress shirt and a pure denim suit, except the pants had patches of khaki sewed on, and on one pant leg in big red letters was "G-UNIT". I had to contain myself to not laugh and interrupt the lesson haha. He was looking pretty gangster, and he came and sat next to me and said, "Ca vient des Etats-unis ca!" (that's from the United States!) pointing at his pants. Funniest thing ever. Next week he'll be getting the priesthood (Not in his G-Unit costume I hope) and it was announced in Sacrament meeting yesterday.
We saw so many miracles this week! I don't have time to write them all, but we found some new investigators who are great and we made contact with a few old investigators. One new one is named D and he's from Russia, but he speaks English and spent most of his life in Lithuania. He met the missionaries over there, but it's been a long time, and right now he's living with his girlfriend in Bergerac. He believes in God but has a hard time accepting the fact that Jesus took our sins upon Him, but we used the BoM and testified of the role of Jesus Christ in the plan of salvation and that he is the only way we can receive mercy, and he understood and accepted everything, when at first he said it was impossible for one person to atone for another. It was pretty amazing, and I know that the BoM and the Spirit are our most powerful tools and can help anyone come to realize the truth. We also met an old man on a bench in the park that we were going to walk past because we were on our way somewhere, but I stopped and talked to him. He said right off the bat that he wasn't interested in our message, so I asked him, "Do peace and happiness interest you?" and we started a great conversation and we taught him part of the plan of salvation. He had lost his wife, and after we left he had hope to see her again. Those are the greatest miracles, when we can just help someone come a little closer to Heavenly Father by their hope and faith in true principles. The best part about it was that his name was Rambo! I told him he needed to repent because of all the people he's killed haha. He understood the joke, thankfully.
On Thursday I went to Brive on exchange with Elder Caldwell which was great. He's an amazing missionary and we learned a lot together. Friday night we had another miracle. We've passed the T's a few times in the last couple weeks but with no success. We decided to pass by Friday night and they were there and let us in! We were shocked haha. I was just thinking of how much of a miracle it was while we were there, and they even invited us to eat with them and we did. Mme. T told us how she was offended by some people at church and we were able to talk about it for awhile which was great. We're gonna pass by again next week and keep in contact with them, and I know they'll come around. They're such great people.
This morning during my personal studies I read the BoM first like I always do, and then I didn't really know what to study. I just felt like something was missing and that there was something that I needed to study. I felt like I needed to take out Preach My Gospel, so I did, and I flipped to the first section that came into my head, which was about the power and authority of our calling. I read a quotation by President Kimball about the setting apart of a missionary, and how it is a literal setting apart from sin and the things of the world which puts us above carnal things, and that the blessings of our calling depend on our faithfulness to this setting apart. I thought back to my own setting apart from President Hughes. It was a reminder of how I need to be above the thigns of the world. In the world but not of it. I set a goal to completely separate myslef from the world, even any thoughts of old music or movies or anything. I know the Lord will bless me as a try my best to do this. Then I felt to read "The transforming power of Faith and Character" by Elder Scott, which is one of my favorite talks ever. I love this line - "We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day." I want to become separated from the world. I want to be the best instrument in the hands of the Lord as possible. Sometimes it seems like a huge task, but after reading that I realized that in order to become what I want to become, I just have to take it one day at a time, I need to be what I want to become every day, and then I'll become it. There's no trick or magic about it. You've just got to want it and then do it and be it day after day. And through faith in true principles and acting on them, we become something as we do it consistently. I also liked this quote..."The measure of your character is what you are becoming." If we're not becoming something better, we're not being the best we can be. I know there's so many things I can do better out here and I'm trying to be humble enough and work hard enough to overcome my weaknesses. At the same time, I know that the Lord is happy with my work as I try to do this. I know he'll help me and all of us as we try to become more like Him. That's why he put us here! Anyways, I just have had that on my mind all day and that's what came out in my email, sorry haha. I'm doing great! I'm starting to feel the love of Heavenly Father for His children more and more. I'm starting to understand the true nature of my call more and more as well. I'm not there jsut to do things that missionaries do, but I'm there to be a Christlike missionary and invite all to come unto Him as He would do it. I love this work. There's nothing more simple and beautiful than the Gospel, and nothing that brings more happiness. Never let anything get in the way of living by its principles - anything! Nothing is worth more than what we become and what our Heavenly Father grants us when we live the Gospel. I love you all and hope you have a great week! Thanks for all you do for me!
Love,
Elder Tudor
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
October 10, 2011
Bonjour enfants des hommes, Oh Bergerac, Oh Bergerac, I bid thee... not farewell! Yep, I'm staying a 4th in Bergerac! I was so surprised!!! At first I wasn't sure how I felt about it haha, but I'm happy about it now. If there's anyone left in the city that I don't konw yet, I'll know them all by the end of this transfer haha. I'm pretty stoked. And I'm still with Elder Willett which is great. Apparently only two missionaries in our whole zone got transfered (there's about 12 or 13 companionships in the zone) because president thought our zone was too far away and didn't want to move us haha. that's what someone told me anyways. SO, lots of news this week. First of all, A was baptized!!!!! It was so amazing. Miraculously, all of her problems were sorted out and she got all ready to go in this last week. Bro B baptized her, which was so great. Her baptism was quite an experience. First, I need to explain to you that ever since she set a baptismal date she has told us how afraid she is of going underwater during EVERY lesson haha. The day before the baptism we went to her house to see how she was doing, and she was so scared. We read a few scriptures about faith and fear with her, and by the end we got her to say at least that she wasn't scared. She looked terrified though haha. I felt so bad for her, but I knew it would work out. I was a little afraid though because she has really bad respiratory problems and has to sleep with a machine hooked up to her at night so she can breath, and she can hardly get up and go to the bathroom without breathing like she ran a marathon. So Saturday morning the B's picked us all up and off we went. Almost the whole branch was there which was awesome. We took pictures before the meeting started, and she looks absolutely terrified in all of them. I felt so bad! This should be a happy day! She was happy to be baptized, I know, but she was just so terrified of the water. It started half an hour late, as usual (you think it's bad in the U.S.). When it was time for the ordinance, A, bro B, and I got in the font (I was there because she wanted an extra person in case something went wrong, but Bro B actually baptized her). We got her into the font, and waited a few minutes for her to catch her breath and got her all situated, and of course everyone watching was shouting out orders of how to do the baptism like how she needed to put her dress between her legs. The poor lady, she could barely even breathe at the moment! Then Bro B performed the ordinance. Let's just say he didn't exactly ease her down into the water. It happened pretty quick and I just saw her terrified face go into the water and we all heard her scream as she went in. I think he pushed her to the bottom of the font, then finally brought her back out. When she came back out she started coughing really bad, I'm sure she inhaled some water when she went in screaming. I was terrified! Luckily the coughing subsided after a few seconds and she was ok! It was quite a baptism! She's pretty brave to do that with her respiratory problem, I was so happy for her! The service was amazing and the Spirit was there. A cried through all the talks and was so touched, especially knowing that she now is part of a huge family. Sunday, she only planned on coming to Sacrament meeting (which is the last meeting here) for her confirmation because she was so tired after the baptism. But apparently there was some kind of race Sunday morning and when she went to get in her car she noticed that all the streets were blocked off, so she called us and was panicking, but a member went and picked her up in his car and it worked out, and she was confirmed! She was so stressed that she was late haha I felt so bad, but she loved it, and felt so much better after her confirmation. We officially named her "French Granny" of Bergerac. There's a french granny in every city in the mission. The responsibilities basically consist of cooking for the missionaries every once in awhile and reparing their clothes haha, and in return she gets to be called "Mami" which means granny in French. She loves it. In other news, Mb is getting the priesthood next week! I'm so excited for him!!!! He is progressing so well. This week he came with us to visit A once before her baptism. We had only brought him teaching with us once before and it was... interesting haha. But we asked him to bear testimony of his baptism to A. It was one of the most powerful and pure testimonies I had ever heard. I had never really heard his full testimony about his baptism, and wow. I wrote it all down in my journal because he had some experiences and some miracles happen that he had never told us about prior to his baptism. It was so amazing, and it helped A so much. A testimony is one of the most powerful things one can have. Now Mb wants to help us with teaching all the time, especially with A, he loves her and calls her Mami too haha. I love the guy, and I'm so excited for him to receive the Priesthood! So, here we go again, Bergerac. I remember when I got here and saw how small it was. I thought to myself, "well, I have two choices. Be discouraged because of how small it is and how little work there probably is, or work I can work as hard as I can with what I have." I'm glad I chose to work. The Lord has blessed me with more success here than anywhere else on my mission. It's because it's the Lord's work, not mine, and if I'm here, that means He is preparing people here and he wants me to be an instrument in His hands in finding them and helpling them come unto Christ. The greater the opposition is, the greater the miracles are. It's been a year of miracles for the branch in Bergerac, and I'm so happy for them. The branch has strengthened so much, and it will continue to do so. I'm so glad I get to keep serving here. Sometimes I have doubts that there's much left to do here, but i know I wouldn't be here if that was true. The Lord has left me here for a reason, and I want to do all I can to fulfill His work here. I'm going to grow a lot this transfer, as if I haven't already grown enough here in Bergerac. It's quite a testing ground, especially mentally, but I'm stoked! Elder Willett and I have fixed some good goals for this transfer and I know we'll see miracles if we work with the Spirit. Thanks for all your support back home. I love you! Bonne semaine! Love, Elder Tudor
Thursday, October 6, 2011
October 3, 2011
Bonjour a tous,
Frenchmen translating for the the prophet, apostles, and other GA's = bizarre!!! Yep, I watched in French this time. It was good though! I understood everything and that's all that counts. It was just weird seeing these people I know speaking French in different voices! Haha. We got to watch GC at the B family's house which was awesome (on the internet). They didn't have it at the church because they don't have a satellite yet. Mb came as well, and of course he loved it, because he wants to be prophet someday. I liked listening to it in French actually because I payed a lot closer attention and I took pages and pages of notes. I'm so stoked for the Ensign! I didn't get to see the last session or Pres Monson's talk in the Sunday morning session which is too bad, but that's ok. I love conference! It was fun listening to the translator translate Elder Holland's talk in priesthood session. Super intense! I really felt the Spirit during conference and received lots of personal revelation. I hope you all did as well! I loved Elder Scott's talk on the scriptures. I set a goal to memorize a scripture a day til the end of my mission after hearing his talk.
I forgot to tell you last week that we had a really fun experience. We contacted an investigator who lives in La Force which is a tiny town about 8 km from Bergerac, so we took the bikes out there one morning to teach this lady. The road to get there is this tiny road barely big enough for two cars out in the French countryside - it was super epic! And the lady was there thankfully, because it took a good 25 minutes to bike there, and there was a huge hill at the end haha. We were sweating pretty bad when we got to her house. Also, she has this dog, and the first time I looked at it I thought it was a lab, but it's about half the size of a lab. It was so strange. So I asked her waht it was, and she said it was a Labrador/Jack Russell mix. It was so funny looking! It was a mini fat yellow lab basically haha.
I did an exchange in Perigeux this week with Elder Williams. Their area has been struggling a bit for awhile now, but we had a great exchange and turned a day with basically nothing much planned into a really effective and successful day. I hope they see how much is possible there now! Sometimes being in an area a long time gets you discouraged when things start going downhill a bit and it's hard to get your hopes back up, but exchanges always help change things up and helps to find new ideas. So, we have this new method called street meetings where we take this big white wooden board and put it on a tripod in the middle of a public place and contact the people who pass by. We usually put pictures on the board and a question or statement. Elder Williams' board is probably my favorite one haha. He cut out giant letters from this plastic/foam material and painted them and glued them on, so it said "DIEU VOUS AIME" (God loves you) and just put a picture of Jesus next to it. You can see DIEU VOUS AIME from like a thousand feet away haha it's great. So we walked to the place where we wanted to do the street meetings, but we had to carry it there obviously, and as we walked on the sidewalk, Elder Williams would hold it so everyone on the road driving by could see it, and every single person looked at it and either just stared or yelled something lilke "yeah, I love him too!" haha. We got to the place and set it up and were able to talk to a few people for awhile about our message. This one girl was passing by and did a double take of the board, then she pulled out her camera and told us to stand next to it and took a picture of us. Maybe someday I'll find that pic on the internet or something haha. I don't know why, but for some reason that board attracts girls, and girls kept driving by blowing kisses at us. Hmm... maybe we'll have to change it after all. Anyways, It was great to see how well it worked though. President put this method into place a couple months ago and we've all been pretty hesitant about it because it's kind of a Jehovah's Witness kind of thing to do, but we've obeyed president and we're seeing results from it. I know he's inspired and knows what's best for the mission! Speaking of president, he and Sister Murdock came to our apartment this week to consecrate it. It was great to have the President in Bergerac! Haha. They've been doing a tour of the mission consecrating all the apartments. They've got to be exhausted. Their visit did us a lot of good and it was great to feel the spirit that they brought.
We also got invited to have a drink by an old WWII vet in Perigeux that we contacted right outside his house. He was such a nice old man and had lost a kidney and all the toes on his right foot in the war. He had just lost his wife though and was very sad. We taught and testified that he would see his wife again, but he didn't listen. He wouldn't even think that it was possible. He had no hope. It was one of the saddest experiences I've ever had on my mission. My heart goes out to him, because there is just no hope when you don't believe that there is something better waiting for you. There's only despair! And that was his state. We tried our best to help him come to realize that his wife is waiting for him, but he wouldn't accept it. Why wouldn't you accept that? Or at least HOPE it? Hope is so essential to have faith. The man couldn't believe that God existed or that he would see his wife again, simply because he had no hope that it could be true.
Well, next monday we get transfer calls. Crazy! That FLEW by! I might be leaving Bergerac... I feel like I just got here. I don't care if I stay or leave, I'd be happy either way. Changes are always nice, but I love the branch and the investigators here! A should be baptized this Saturday as well, and she wants Bro Bouchet to baptize her, and she wants me to be in the water too in case something happens (she's paranoid that she's going go drown). There's a couple things that might keep her from being baptized this Saturday, so pray for her! I know she can be ready, but it's up to her. This work is amazing. It will never stop. Seeing General conference strengthened my testimony so much that this is God's church. We are in the world, but not of the world. While everyone around us conforms to the world, we don't need to, because we know a better way. How blessed we are to know this way, which is the restored Gospel. Like President Monson repeated, the difference between the world's morals and the Lord's is getting bigger and bigger, which is making it a bigger and bigger battle to bring people unto Christ who are so in the world - but, it's possible, and it is happening anyways. Satan's influence will always be all around us, but we can always separate ourselves, and we can always prevail against his temptations. I know that as we try as hard as we can to separate ourselves from the world, we will have the Spirit more abundantly with us and we will become instruments in God's hands. I know that the Gospel leads to happiness, so I'm going to live it! I love you all and I hope you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Tudor
Frenchmen translating for the the prophet, apostles, and other GA's = bizarre!!! Yep, I watched in French this time. It was good though! I understood everything and that's all that counts. It was just weird seeing these people I know speaking French in different voices! Haha. We got to watch GC at the B family's house which was awesome (on the internet). They didn't have it at the church because they don't have a satellite yet. Mb came as well, and of course he loved it, because he wants to be prophet someday. I liked listening to it in French actually because I payed a lot closer attention and I took pages and pages of notes. I'm so stoked for the Ensign! I didn't get to see the last session or Pres Monson's talk in the Sunday morning session which is too bad, but that's ok. I love conference! It was fun listening to the translator translate Elder Holland's talk in priesthood session. Super intense! I really felt the Spirit during conference and received lots of personal revelation. I hope you all did as well! I loved Elder Scott's talk on the scriptures. I set a goal to memorize a scripture a day til the end of my mission after hearing his talk.
I forgot to tell you last week that we had a really fun experience. We contacted an investigator who lives in La Force which is a tiny town about 8 km from Bergerac, so we took the bikes out there one morning to teach this lady. The road to get there is this tiny road barely big enough for two cars out in the French countryside - it was super epic! And the lady was there thankfully, because it took a good 25 minutes to bike there, and there was a huge hill at the end haha. We were sweating pretty bad when we got to her house. Also, she has this dog, and the first time I looked at it I thought it was a lab, but it's about half the size of a lab. It was so strange. So I asked her waht it was, and she said it was a Labrador/Jack Russell mix. It was so funny looking! It was a mini fat yellow lab basically haha.
I did an exchange in Perigeux this week with Elder Williams. Their area has been struggling a bit for awhile now, but we had a great exchange and turned a day with basically nothing much planned into a really effective and successful day. I hope they see how much is possible there now! Sometimes being in an area a long time gets you discouraged when things start going downhill a bit and it's hard to get your hopes back up, but exchanges always help change things up and helps to find new ideas. So, we have this new method called street meetings where we take this big white wooden board and put it on a tripod in the middle of a public place and contact the people who pass by. We usually put pictures on the board and a question or statement. Elder Williams' board is probably my favorite one haha. He cut out giant letters from this plastic/foam material and painted them and glued them on, so it said "DIEU VOUS AIME" (God loves you) and just put a picture of Jesus next to it. You can see DIEU VOUS AIME from like a thousand feet away haha it's great. So we walked to the place where we wanted to do the street meetings, but we had to carry it there obviously, and as we walked on the sidewalk, Elder Williams would hold it so everyone on the road driving by could see it, and every single person looked at it and either just stared or yelled something lilke "yeah, I love him too!" haha. We got to the place and set it up and were able to talk to a few people for awhile about our message. This one girl was passing by and did a double take of the board, then she pulled out her camera and told us to stand next to it and took a picture of us. Maybe someday I'll find that pic on the internet or something haha. I don't know why, but for some reason that board attracts girls, and girls kept driving by blowing kisses at us. Hmm... maybe we'll have to change it after all. Anyways, It was great to see how well it worked though. President put this method into place a couple months ago and we've all been pretty hesitant about it because it's kind of a Jehovah's Witness kind of thing to do, but we've obeyed president and we're seeing results from it. I know he's inspired and knows what's best for the mission! Speaking of president, he and Sister Murdock came to our apartment this week to consecrate it. It was great to have the President in Bergerac! Haha. They've been doing a tour of the mission consecrating all the apartments. They've got to be exhausted. Their visit did us a lot of good and it was great to feel the spirit that they brought.
We also got invited to have a drink by an old WWII vet in Perigeux that we contacted right outside his house. He was such a nice old man and had lost a kidney and all the toes on his right foot in the war. He had just lost his wife though and was very sad. We taught and testified that he would see his wife again, but he didn't listen. He wouldn't even think that it was possible. He had no hope. It was one of the saddest experiences I've ever had on my mission. My heart goes out to him, because there is just no hope when you don't believe that there is something better waiting for you. There's only despair! And that was his state. We tried our best to help him come to realize that his wife is waiting for him, but he wouldn't accept it. Why wouldn't you accept that? Or at least HOPE it? Hope is so essential to have faith. The man couldn't believe that God existed or that he would see his wife again, simply because he had no hope that it could be true.
Well, next monday we get transfer calls. Crazy! That FLEW by! I might be leaving Bergerac... I feel like I just got here. I don't care if I stay or leave, I'd be happy either way. Changes are always nice, but I love the branch and the investigators here! A should be baptized this Saturday as well, and she wants Bro Bouchet to baptize her, and she wants me to be in the water too in case something happens (she's paranoid that she's going go drown). There's a couple things that might keep her from being baptized this Saturday, so pray for her! I know she can be ready, but it's up to her. This work is amazing. It will never stop. Seeing General conference strengthened my testimony so much that this is God's church. We are in the world, but not of the world. While everyone around us conforms to the world, we don't need to, because we know a better way. How blessed we are to know this way, which is the restored Gospel. Like President Monson repeated, the difference between the world's morals and the Lord's is getting bigger and bigger, which is making it a bigger and bigger battle to bring people unto Christ who are so in the world - but, it's possible, and it is happening anyways. Satan's influence will always be all around us, but we can always separate ourselves, and we can always prevail against his temptations. I know that as we try as hard as we can to separate ourselves from the world, we will have the Spirit more abundantly with us and we will become instruments in God's hands. I know that the Gospel leads to happiness, so I'm going to live it! I love you all and I hope you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Tudor
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