May 21, 2012

Hey!

Well, it was an eventful week here!  We have tons of work and we're kind of all over the place.  We're still working with the Slovakian community.  F will be baptized this saturday.  He's slovakian as well.  He's super legit, and his wife, A, should be baptized in a few weeks.  F is super ready and lives all the commandments.  C, a Romanian man, is also preparing for baptism for the 2nd of june, next week.  He's the brother of R T, who is the mom in the recent convert family from Romania.  He's a stud too!  Apparently the first time he met the missionaries he said he'd never read the BoM or change religions because he had the Bible and that's all he needed.  Then one day, out of curiosity, he grabbed the BoM and started reading.  He said he read the first page and couldn't put it down.  He's now at Helaman 10 the last time I checked and he testified that he knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that the BoM is true, and that this church is true.  All we need to do is to get people to read the BoM, and the it and the Spirit do the rest!  He's so cool.  He doesn't speak french, but the T's translate for us. 

I'm still getting used to this place.  There's tons of members and it's great.  Everyone is so nice and there's just a great spirit of missionary work in this soon-to-be-ward branch.  It's incredible!  The family whose house I skyped from is the Van Tonder family.  The dad is from South Africa and the mother is french but they all speak french and english.  Their son Jeanpierre helps us with everything.  He basically makes us a threesome. 

I hope everything is well with you all back home.  I'm so thankful for all of you!  I'm motivated every day to get out and do my best because of your love and your prayers.  I love the Gospel.  I'm so happy for the changes it can bring.  Jeanpierre gave a talk in church this sunday on repentance that really touched me.  He said something that really stuck with me, "if you're not changing, you're not repenting."  Satan doesn't want us to change.  He doesn't want us to repent.  He knows that the natural man is an enemy to God.  He uses two main tactics to convince us not to.  The first is discouragement - the feeling that we're not worthy or we're not capable of changing and becoming what God expects us to be.  The second is pride - the feeling that we don't need to change or repent.  The truth is, we all need to, all the time!  But it should never be discouraging, for the call to repentance is one of love, and the act of repentance is an act of love and gratitude towards our Heavenly Father, His perfect plan, and the atonement.  One of my favorite quotes from Elder Scott is that the measure of your faith and character is what you are becoming.  It's not what you've become or what you hope to become.  It's what you're doing right now to change.  It's what you're becoming right now.  If we put off the right now, Satan wins, and we don't taste of the joy and blessings that God has in store for us.  Bot if we repent right now, the great plan of God will be brought to pass immediately in our lives.  I've been thinking about this a lot because I'm afraid of getting too comfortable and just cruising til the end of my mission.  But I know it's a principle I'm going to have to learn, and we're all going to have to learn, that will bless us for our entire lives.  I'm so thankful for the call to repentance because it keeps us in check.  It protects us from pride and the tools of the adversary.  It brings us closer to our Heavenly Father and helps us feel His love and enjoy His blessings.  We should never be afraid or ashamed to repent.  I love section 19 or DandC.   The Lord says that we must repent OR suffer, not that we must repent AND suffer.  I know it's possible because of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.  I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Tudor