October 24, 2011

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