Monday, August 31, 2015

8-31-15

Bonjour everyone! I had a wonderful week, as usual.

Events I experienced:
On Monday we taught a few lessons, didn't really get much pday but that's okay. We had FHE as usual, Elder Bleak taught me a little guitar, and we had a lot of fun! We walked into Monoprix to get some stuff and I heard something familiar over the radio: the theme song from an old British TV show called The Avengers! It was a rather serendipitous moment haha.

Tuesday was great! I went on exchange with Elder Bryce, our district leader. It was a great exchange! We taught two great street lessons and got two new potential amis! We saw B, a less-active, set up a rendezvous with the Cs in the ward, and we saw J. It was a great exchange! I love Elder Bryce, he's a great missionary and a very very fun companion. I'd love to be his companion someday.

Wednesday was one of the best days I've ever had!! We had district meeting, a really really good meeting, I may add. We talked about how to use all 4 legs of the chair (members, less-actives, recent converts, and amis) to fulfill our purpose. Then we got kebabs and ate them in the castle! Soeur Staples had never seen it but always wanted to go, so we all went and it was a super good bonding-time. We met the new Soeur in our district, Soeur Pellucci, and she's really awesome. After district meeting, we did some studies, saw J and J-C. J-C asked about visiting the temple, he says he wants to go soon to do work for his family members! SO ELECT haha. I love it. He is really great. I really realized that little miracles are all around us, and as we do what Jesus would do, we see the miracles! Great, great, great day.

Thursday was a great day! We spent the day in Limoux, an outer ville. We taught the C family and we got back to Carcassonne to teach J-C. He is excited about getting a calling! At the end of the day, we did bible prophecies! Your companion picks a random scripture from the Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Then they interpret it to prophecy what will happen to you in the upcoming transfer! My scriptures were 1 Kings 11:19, Galatians 5:12, Mosiah 19:5, D&C 98:40, and Moses 7:31. You can read them and see what you think haha! Elder Bleak thinks I'm staying in Carcassonne, having a lot of success with our ami Hela, with a really hard companion. Haha I don't know about any of it but it was really fun quand même. We'll see!

Friday was pretty tranquille. We had our Ward missionary council, weekly planned, English class, and taught J. We had a really good lesson, it definitely helped her to get closer to baptism! We also got transfer calls! I am staying in Carc for another transfer, and Elder Bleak is leaving me after 1 transfer! One and done haha. He gets to go to the Confluence Ward in Lyon, where he'll be in a trio equipe! And there are Chinese people in Lyon, so he'll get to do Chinese work again! He was called as a Chinese-speaking missionary and he really misses Chinese work. He's super happy and I'm really excited for him, even if I'm sad to see him go.

Saturday was a great day! We got to do service at the Bs. We got to see amis and say goodbye for Elder Bleak, and we had eggrolls with Frère V as a parting gift haha! I had 6. It was delicious. So delicious.

Sunday was a sad day. A great day, but a sad day. We taught J-C the restoration at church, and J showed up for the last hour! Then we taught J and J-C again chez eux. We said goodbye, which was really sad. Well I didn't say goodbye, but I'm still sad to say goodbye to Elder Bleak. I hope I see him again soon! It might have to wait until after the mission but ça va. Ahhhh it was a wonderful transfer. I hope to continue to make progress and become better in the upcoming transfer. And I hope it goes by slower, at this pace my mission will be over before Christmas. At least that's what it seems like!
Today, Monday, we got all packed up, cleaned, then went to the gare to drop off Elder Bleak and pick up my new companion, Elder Hansen! He's from Utah and he's really cool. I'm very excited to work with him!

Lessons I learned:
  • I remarked the biggest lesson I've learned on my mission so far. I have learned to be more grateful for all of my blessings! We are all so blessed. Even those who feel that their life is awful are blessed beyond reason. Humans are short-sighted, we often do not see the big picture. Maybe your life is hard, even miserable sometimes! But in comparison to the eternity after this life, our earthly sufferings are nothing. Nothing! If we remember that this life is just a dot on the eternal timeline, we will be much more grateful for the plan Heavenly Father has given us. 
  • D&C 81:6 : "And if thou art faithful unto the end thou shalt have a crown of immortality, and eternal life in the mansions which I have prepared in the house of my Father."
  • D&C 121:7-9 : "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands."
(free) Advice I have:
"Behold the Man" by Richard C. Edgley.  This talk is incredible! Elder Edgley is one of my favorites. It this talk, he addresses all young men trying to become men of God. He says:  "...I address my remarks to a faraway friend and to all the “Bens” in the Church attempting to measure up as a man. So, Ben, let’s talk. We all seek acceptance and recognition as we enter the adult world. Adulthood comes to us one way or another if we live long enough. True manhood, however, comes only if and when we earn it...  All young men must face the wiles of Satan. It is impossible to escape this fight. But it is always possible to come out victorious...  Ben, you can describe a man in inches, pounds, complexion, or physique. But you measure a man by character, compassion, integrity, tenderness, and principle."  This is very true! It relates to one of my favorite scriptures, D&C 53:2, where the Lord tells us to "forsake the world," to not give heed to Satan's idea of manhood. As I say often to my brother, "don't be intrigued!" Don't be intrigued when it comes to Satan's plan for you!

Also, "Lessons From Laman And Lemuel" by Neal A. Maxwell.  Another fabulous talk!

I love you all so much! Thanks for your support and love! The gospel is so true. Pretty cool stuff.
Love, Elder MacArthur

District Meeting!

J-C ready for baptism!!

Saying bye to Elder Bleak :(

Elder Hansen!!

Friday, August 28, 2015

8-24-15!

Bonjour everybody! My week was great. Here's a summary...

Events I experienced:
Monday was great, as always! We taught a less-active member named S, then did regular pday stuff. Then we decided to keep it tranquille and just hang out by the river. A good number of "down by the river" jokes were made haha, oh well. We got to watch the ducks in the river and read History of the Church. Then we got back for FHE at the church. We gave a lesson on temples, then for our activity we painted a few temples! It was a very fun time.

Tuesday, we went on an exchange with the Zone Leaders, I was with elder Perry in Montpellier. It was a lot of fun! We had lots of good lessons, saw some recent converts, less-actives, and "went around doing good." It was super super fun. Elder Perry is an amazing guy and I learn a ton from him every time I talk with him.

Wednesday was so good! I got back to Carcassonne with Elder Bleak, and we stayed in for...about 6 hours. Elder Bleak felt super terrible, so I got to update the area book, make our ENTIRE calls list, set up rendezvous for our exchange tomorrow, clean dishes, do our laundry, read 2 hours of scriptures, and then I just prayed for the rest of the time because I figured why not?! Super cool!! We then went to see C, a less-active, and let's just say that he knows what to do but just...doesn't do it. Elder Bleak was a little fed up, and at the end, he said, "C, as messengers of the Prophet and his Apostles, and as representatives of Jesus Christ, we invite you to repent." Hahaha we went Biblical on him. It was totally the right move though, C just looked down and said "I know..." man I hope he figures it out!

Thursday was super fun! We went on another exchange, this time with the Perpignan equipe, I was in Carcassonne with Elder Duncan. Elder Duncan has been out 5 weeks. Haha I was the senior companion for the day! Super super fun stuff. Two greenies on an exchange haha it was the best! We saw lots of cool miracles. We started off with a few uneventful hours of contacting. Then we had lunch, and that's where the miracles started. I figured out how to use a rice cooker all on my own! I AM SO PROUD. The good kind of pride haha. I consider that miracle #1.

Then we saw J. We read in the Book of Mormon together, 1st Néphi chap. 18. J has been struggling to get over the "how-did-they-get-to-America-on-such-a-primitive-boat" question. But apparently she saw a documentary talking about how Vikings landed in South America 900 years before Christ. Whether this is factual or not, I don't care, because now she believes it is possible for Néphi to have built a boat to sail to The Americas! We read the whole chapter and she understood eveything! She said "the compass stopped working because they were wicked and lost faith, right?" I thought to myself, "I couldn't have planted a better answer in your brain myself!!" So cool! She is understanding a lot more and listening a lot more as well!! She said her life had calmed a lot and she has started to quit smoking again and has started praying again! She said she was worried about her baptism date because she didn't feel ready, she said she wants to be 100% ready. What a boss. That was the best lesson I have ever had with J. And you know what? I had fasted for her the day before. IT WORKS. Miracle #2. After 2 other rendezvous, we had a visit with M, a ward member. We shared Mosiah 2:17 and I love his thought on service towards others: "When I serve others, I feel a peace, I gain a treasure that the Satan cannot steal from me." That was amazing. It blew my mind, it was an epiphany. Miracle #3.

As we went back home, we saw one of our amis, T! He has busy playing on the Carcassonne rugby team and he hasn't responded to our texts and calls, but we saw him on the street!! He came up and said hello, chatted for a bit, then told us to call him on Wednesday. I asked him if he would come to church on Sunday and he hesitantly said he would try, then I invited him again and he said he would! He was lost, but then he was found haha. Miracle #4. An incredible exchange and a wonderful day! Exchanges ALWAYS bring miracles. FACT.

Friday was pretty slow, we got back from Perpignan at 1, had our ward missionary meeting, then weekly planned, English class, and that was it. Frère V made us fondue Bourgogne! You take a raw piece of meat and dip it in this super hot oil stuff and it cooks really quick! It was the best thing ever, super delicious. Anything else? Hmmmm we saw a shirtless French man on the street. Oh wait never mind, we see that a million times every day.

Saturday, we didn't do a whole lot. We had a few rendezvous fall through, we had another unsuccessful Samedi Sportif. We met a potential ami that Elder Bleak contacted on the street on our last exchange! She is super super cool! Her name is H, she is from Tunisia and she's super super nice. She was REALLY friendly and gave us...interesting smiles...so hopefully she's interested in the gospel, not us haha. For the rest of the rainy day, we filled out less-active sheets to use in our work with the Ward Council. That took forever with the 3 area books we have from old missionaries here, but we got all the papers done!

Sunday was good! We got to go to church with 2 of our amis! It was really good. Then we had a rendezvous with a less-active and her friends, then another rendezvous with J-C! Our Ward mission leader (DMP), Frère V, was with us for all of church, and both rendezvous...we got to spend the entire day with him haha. It was incredible haha.

Lessons I learned:
  • I have read a lot of general conference talks lately about "becoming," some great ones are "Sanctify Yourselves," "The Challenge To Become," and "The Tugs And Pulls Of The World" from the October 2000 General Conference. The message is clear: what we do is not as important as who we are; who we are will define what we do. Of course we cannot just do whatever, because what we do is important! But if we seek to improve who we are rather than our actions alone, we will get a lot more done. Our mortal life is about attaining a state of being, not achieving a list of actions. 
  • "Aimer" and "Aider" are French verbs meaning "to love" and "to help." I find it interesting that these two verbs are identical except for one letter. When we really love someone, we want to do all that we can to help and serve them. 
  • If we value things of the world, we give Satan a way to take it from us! But if we lay up treasures in heaven, if we seek after the things of God, Satan can never take them from us.

(free) Advice I have
  • "The reason charity never fails...is that charity, “the pure love of Christ,” is not an act but a condition or state of being...Charity is something one becomes." -Dallin H. Oaks
  • "The validation of our worth really comes from knowing who we are, not solely from what we do...by paying more attention to what we are rather than exclusively to what we do, our public and our private persons will be the same--the man or the woman of Christ." -Neal A. Maxwell
  • Consider what is most important in life! Ask yourself what is most important: is it the world, or is it heaven? Is it stuff, or is it love, service, knowledge, happiness? Does your life reflect the answer?
A lot of good things. Thanks for all your support! I love you all!
Love, Elder MacArthur

No new pictures this week so here is one from the mission blog

Ben's travel group arrives in Lyon and is greeted by Pres & Sister Roney

Thursday, August 27, 2015

8-17-15


Bonjour everybody! I had a magical week this week! Take a listen.

Monday we had a very very tranquille pday! We did a little shopping, I got three cool ties for cheap. Then we just kicked it at the apartment. We watched the Testaments, so that was fun! We had FHE and that was really fun! Really good time. We talked about the Striplings Warriors and how their faith protected them throughout the war. I also heard a remix of "Lonely Boy" by the Black Keys as we were shopping in a Jules. It was a really good day! 

Tuesday, we taught J, it went well! We talked to her about the temple a little but more and she really liked it. We took a train to Marseille for the zone conference in Aix the next day. It's always lots of fun to stay the night in a tiny apartment with 12 missionaries haha. 

Wednesday, we took a train to Aix en Provence for the conference, which was amazing! President Brown encouraged us to fully implement the temple in everything we do. He bore strong testimony and we all felt the spirit extremely strongly.
 
Shoutout to Elder Heiner for the letter he sent me! Great stuff. 

On Thursday, we got back to Carcassonne in the morning, then studied and did weekly planning which took a good long while. We had a lesson planned with J but she said she's struggling right now and can't see us. Just the time where she needs to see us the most haha! Height of irony right there. After that we just had a role-play with S chez lui. Then we met with another member at the chapel, M. We talked to him about the importance of the temple, we extended an allez-vous commitment: will you prepare to go to the Paris temple when it opens? He said yes! He loves the temple so déjà it was pretty easy.

Friday was a great day!! Most successful day so far, numbers wise. We had 6 street lessons! Great stuff, the temple is such a blessing for getting good street contacting. We set up 2 rendezvous on the street, hopefully that leads to more lessons and new amis!

Saturday we finally saw our ami J-C, he is doing very well! His half brother is living with him so he has company which he loves. He is very glad when we come over and he is understanding better! I am very very happy for him, I get really sad when I think about how sad he has been. I really really want him to be happy! He is such a sweet guy. Then we had a Samedi Sportif, but nobody came besides S! So we played a game of horse, which I won surprisingly! I am terrible at basketball but I shot alright. Then we had a few hours of rather unproductive contacting. All in all, a great day. J-C is coming to church tomorrow so I'm really happy about that!

On Sunday, we went to church, bien sur. Elder Bleak gave a talk on developing Christ-like attributes, our friend S gave a talk on Iron Rod. Both were great talks! Our ami J-C was there at church for all 3 hours, et en plus, we got to see him after church at 6 pm to teach the Ten Commandments! He is really excited about his baptism date. We taught him the Word of Wisdom at church, and he accepted it very well. He wants to stop smoking anyways so it was a no-brainer for him. We got in a few great street lessons today, mostly with tourists. A few great Scottish accents haha. We hit the 20 lessons a week Standard of Excellence his week, we had 23 lessons! That felt really good to see how much the temple has blessed our ability to work here.

Lessons I learned:  As my friend Elder Heiner told me, "The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary." Hahaha I love him and his advice! Simply put: work hard if you want to win.

 (free) Advice I have: 
* "Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus!" -Neal A. Maxwell.  Sooooo true! We get to decide where our priorities are. We are in complete charge of that.
* You can't "ride to paradise on a golf cart."  If we want to get there, we will need to adequately prepare! Also very very true. If we want the victory in the celestial city, we need a celestial spaceship, not a ratty old Peugeot.

I love you all so much! Thanks for supporting me and thanks for being here on Earth! Really though, thanks for all you do. 

Love, Elder MacArthur
 
President and Sister Brown being hilarious at our zone conference in Aix en Provence
 

Monday, August 10, 2015

8-10-15!

Bonjour everybody! I had a good week his week, with the Lord's help.

Events I experienced:
Tuesday I was on an exchange with Elder Shaw. We taught our ami O. and a less-active named S. It was a very good day! En plus, we popped a bike tire so now we don't have to ride those things anymore!!

Wednesday we had district meeting in Beziers. It was very fun, we talked about how to include temples in our lessons and street contacts. I realize that maybe I haven't explained the SPARC! I'll attach a picture of it for those of you who do not know. Anywho, we got back with just enough time to pass J. and set up a lesson for tomorrow. She was drinking beer again, so that made me sad of course. But I hope we will be able to get her going in the right direction again! After that, we had dinner at Bishop Jacas' house, and it was delicious as always.

Thursday, we had a barbecue with our new ami M. J., the friend of a crazy less-active, Soeur M. It was a lot of fun, and she is definitely interested in hearing more! I also finished my talk for next Sunday on recognizing the influence of the spirit. Good day.

Friday we had our ward missionary council at the church. After that, we helped a couple we contacted on the street with their genealogy! They were interested in learning more, we gave them a Book of Mormon and they said they would call us if they had more questions or needed more help with family history. We had English class at the church, then a 15 minute rendezvous with S. A very decent day!

Saturday we had a lesson with a less-active, B. We made a plan for him to stop smoking! I think it will work. En plus, he agreed to come to church this week! After that, it started raining BUCKETS. So we went home, did calls, did p-day cleaning, and area book work. We went to the church for Samedi Sportif, a Saturday Sports thing, but nobody came because it was still raining. We did some tracting, and we taught a lesson on temples to a woman named C.!   We had a few lessons
fall through so we finished the day contacting people.

Sunday we went to church, and I gave a talk! It was okay. The ward seemed to like it. But who even knows if it was good or not haha. Then we contacted, taught street lessons about temples, and had a lesson with J. She has been smoking more recently, so we made a contract with her saying that she will always remember her baptism date and read the Book of Mormon every day! That will help her to stop smoking. She gave the closing prayer at our RDV, and she said "thank you for Elder MacArthur for his genius idea" and that SPARCed me so hard! Haha it was a good idea I guess. But J.'s biased because she loves me.

Lessons I learned:
  • Many hard things in life happen. The only way to endure and press on in spite of these "shafts in the whirlwind" is with a sure foundation, a foundation on Jesus Christ.
  • It is easy to focus on "teaching to understand." We want to teach people so that they will understand. In reality, "understanding to teach" is much more effective. If we do not take the time to understand someone before we try to teach them, we won't be as successful in our teaching efforts.
  • People often put up their own fences. We have no idea how much we limit ourselves. We will continue to see a dirty and bleak outside if our windows are not washed! To see and attain our full potential, we need to stop putting up our own fences and start cleaning our windows.
(free) Advice I have:  Read Helaman 5:12 and ask yourself, "What is my rock?" If it is not Christ, fix it!

I love you all so much! Thanks for your support! Email me!

Love, Elder MacArthur


MANGOS and SPARC defined.

Ben in Lyon (picture Ben sent to be used on his mission plaque)

District meeting in Beziers

Ben answers some of his Dad's questions:
  • Do you teach an English class?  English class is at the church, from 6 to 7 every Friday night. usually it's just us, S., Frère V., B, and two kids L. and A. It's fun. we teach practical vocabulary, simple grammar, tell stories, and share a spiritual thought in French to start it off. We are trying to get more people to come!
  • Where do you do laundry?  We have washers and dyers in the apartment. Our apt is very nice, we are lucky.
  • Do you ride bikes much?  The bikes are awful. Now they are not a problem. I'm ok with that. We basically walk everywhere.

Ben's talk (sorry - in French only):
Bonjour frères et sœurs. Je suis reconnaissant d'avoir cet opportunité de parler avec vous aujourd'hui. Je prie pour que l’Esprit du Seigneur soit avec nous tous.

Dans la Conférence Générale d'Octobre 2010, David A. Bedar a enseigné: "Tout ce que l’Évangile du Sauveur nous enseigne de faire et de devenir a pour but de nous apporter la bénédiction de la compagnie du Saint-Esprit." Le sentiment du Saint-Esprit est le sentiment le plus important dans nos vies. Mais, qu'est ce que c'est le Saint-Espirt?

Acrés dans la Foi dit:  "Le Saint-Esprit est le troisième membre de la Divinité. C’est un personnage d’esprit, sans corps de chair et d’os. Il est souvent appelé l’Esprit, l’Esprit-Saint, l’Esprit de Dieu, l’Esprit du Seigneur ou le Consolateur. Il « témoigne du Père et du Fils » et révèle et enseigne « la vérité de toutes choses ». Vous ne pouvez obtenir un témoignage sûr de notre Père céleste et de Jésus-Christ que par le pouvoir du Saint-Esprit. Sa communication avec votre esprit vous donne une certitude beaucoup plus grande que n’importe quelle communication reçue par l’intermédiaire de vos sens naturels. Si vous vous efforcez de rester sur le chemin qui mène à la vie éternelle, le Saint-Esprit « vous montrera tout ce que vous devez faire ». Il peut vous guider dans vos décisions et vous protéger de dangers physiques et spirituels."

Il n'est pas toujours evident de reconnaître l'influence de l'Esprit dans nos vies. On se pose souvent la question: Est-ce que ces sentiments sont les miennes, out est-ce qu'ils sont les sentiments du Saint-Esprit? Comment est-ce qu'on peut reconnaître le Saint Esprit?

Une des façons dont on peut reconnaître le Saint-Esprit est en etudiant nos Écritures. Prêchez Mon Évangile dit:  "Dieu vous aidera dans vos efforts pour reconnaître et comprendre l’Esprit par l’étude diligente des Écritures." En lisant nos écritures, on peut apprendre le langage de l'Esprit. Il sera trop difficile de comprendre l'Esprit sans savoir son langage. Doctrine et Alliances 11:21 dit: "Ne cherche pas à annoncer ma parole, mais cherche tout d’abord à obtenir ma parole, et alors ta langue sera déliée; puis, si tu le désires, tu auras mon Esprit et ma parole, oui, la puissance de Dieu pour convaincre les hommes." On comprendra le Saint-Esprit grâce à nos études des écritures saintes, et si on fait ça, on aura la promesse du Seigneur que "je te le dirai dans ton esprit et dans ton cœur par le Saint-Esprit qui viendra sur toi et qui demeurera dans ton cœur." Il nous dirai quoi? La verité, oui, la verité de toutes choses, parce-que "par le pouvoir du Saint-Esprit, [on peut] connaître la vérité de toutes choses." Quand on connaît la verité de toutes choses, on peut agir, on peut choisir le bien du mal, on peut devenir comme notre frère ainé, Jésus-Christ. Oui, "tout ce que l’Évangile du Sauveur nous enseigne de faire et de devenir a pour but de nous apporter la bénédiction de la compagnie du Saint-Esprit." C'est vrai. Mais pourquoi? Parce que le Saint-Esprit est offert à nous pour qu'on puisse s'améliorer, pour qu'on puisse devenir, un jour, excitement comme notre Seigneur.

Un autre moyen de reconnaître l'Esprit, c'est de practiquer. Quand on est digne de recevoir Son Esprit, et quand on parle le langage de l'Esprit, on peut le reconnaître, mais il faut practiquer beaucoup. Il  faut qu'on soit ouvert, attentif, et disposé à agir sur les sentiments et pensées qui viennent du Saint-Esprit.

Boyd K. Packer a enseigné:  «Quand elles décrivent la voix de l’Esprit, les Écritures montrent qu’elle n’est ni ‘forte’ ni ‘dure’. Ce n’est ‘pas une voix de tonnerre, ni la voix de grands bruits tumultueux’. C’est plutôt ‘une voix douce, d’une douceur parfaite, comme si cela avait été un chuchotement’ et elle peut percer ‘jusqu’à l’âme même’ et fait brûler le cœur. Souvenez-vous qu’Élie s’est aperçu que la voix du Seigneur n’était pas dans le vent, ni dans le tremblement de terre, ni dans le feu, mais dans un ‘murmure doux et léger.' « L’Esprit n’attire pas notre attention en criant ou en nous secouant brutalement. Au contraire, il chuchote. Il caresse avec tant de douceur que si nous sommes préoccupés, nous risquons de ne pas le sentir du tout. « À l’occasion, l’Esprit insiste avec juste assez de fermeté pour que nous fassions attention. Mais la plupart du temps, si nous ne faisons pas attention au sentiment subtil, le Saint-Esprit se retire et attend que nous venions en cherchant et en écoutant."

Quand on se met dans les situations où il y a le Saint-Esprit, c'est la ou on peut pratiquer à reconnaître l'Esprit. Ces situations sont ceux qu'on sait déjà: l'église, la soirée familiale, le temple, pendant nos études des écritures, la conférence générale, etcétéra.

La question de "est-ce que c'est le Saint-Esprit?" n'est pas aussi important que "est-ce qu'il me persuade de faire le bien?" Néphi nous enseigne que "si vous voulez entrer par le chemin et recevoir le Saint-Esprit, il vous montrera tout ce que vous devez faire." Moroni 7:13 dit que "ce qui est de Dieu invite et incite continuellement à faire ce qui est bien; c’est pourquoi, tout ce qui invite et incite à faire le bien, et à aimer Dieu, et à le servir, est inspiré de Dieu."

Au sujet du Saint Esprit, Ancrés dans la Foi nous enseigne: "Il parle à l’esprit et au cœur par un murmure doux et léger. Le Seigneur a enseigné : « Je te le dirai dans ton esprit et dans ton cœur par le Saint-Esprit qui viendra sur toi et qui demeurera dans ton cœur. Or, voici, c’est là l’Esprit de révélation »... Parfois le Saint-Esprit vous aidera à comprendre une vérité de l’Évangile ou vous donnera une idée qui semblera occuper votre esprit et s’imposer à vos sentiments... Bien que cette révélation puisse avoir un effet puissant sur vous, elle se manifeste presque toujours discrètement, sous la forme d’une « petite voix douce... Le Saint-Esprit nous inspire à travers nos sentiments. Nous décrivons souvent la communication de l’Esprit comme une voix mais cette voix, nous la ressentons plus que nous l’entendons...En continuant de rechercher et de suivre la volonté du Seigneur, vous apprendrez à reconnaître la façon dont le Saint-Esprit vous influence personnellement. Il apporte la paix. Le Saint-Esprit est souvent appelé le Consolateur... En vous révélant la volonté du Seigneur, il apaisera votre esprit...C’est la paix que le Sauveur a promise lorsqu’il a assuré à ses disciples qu’il enverrait le Consolateur : « Je vous laisse la paix, je vous donne ma paix. Je ne vous la donne pas comme le monde la donne. Que votre cœur ne se trouble point, et ne s’alarme point." Toute le mode ressent l'Esprit dans des façons differentes, mais une chose que presque toute le monde rémarque de l'Esprit, c'est la paix. Le Saint-Esprit nous apporte la paix. Peut-être nos vies ne sont pas d'accord au moment, mais avec le sentiment du Saint-Esprit, il y a la paix, et l'espoir. Il nous donne la force pour continuer en foi, sans doutes. On peut dire vraiment, "je serai d'accord." Il nous remplie de la joie, et pour moi, c'est presque impossible de ne pas sourire un peu quand je ressent Son Esprit, Son amour.

Prêchez Mon Évangile a une citation que j'aime beaucoup. Le Président Hinckley a donné une réponse au question « Comment reconnaît-on l’inspiration de l’Esprit ? » Il a dit: "En fin de compte, le critère, c’est cela. Est-ce que cela nous persuade de faire le bien, de nous élever, d’avoir de l’assurance, de faire ce qui est bien, d’être bons, d’être généreux ? Si oui, c’est l’Esprit de Dieu...Si cela invite à faire le bien, c’est de Dieu. Si cela invite à faire le mal, c’est du diable. Et si vous faites ce qui est bien, et si vous vivez de la bonne manière, vous saurez dans votre cœur ce que l’Esprit est en train de vous dire... « On reconnaît l’inspiration de l’Esprit aux fruits de l’Esprit : ce qui éclaire, ce qui édifie, ce qui est positif et affirmatif et édifiant et nous conduit vers de meilleures pensées, de meilleures paroles et de meilleurs actions émane de l’Esprit de Dieu."

Frères et Soeurs, c'est toute simplement ça. Si cela invite à faire le bien, c'est de Dieu. En etudiant les écritures, en practiquant, en priant le Père pour la capacité de reconnaître Son Esprit, on apprendra. Mais s'il y a jamais une question, si c'est du bien, c'est de Dieu.

Je suis reconnaissant pour la role de l'Esprit dans ma vie. Je remercie mon Seigneur pour les experiences qu'il m'a donné. Mon cœur est pleine d'amour pour vous, la paroisse de Carcassonne. En gardant nos alliance, en suivant l'exemple du Christ, et en écoutant l'Esprit avec nos oreilles et nos coeurs, on aura la capacité de reconnaître les chuchotements du Saint-Esprit. Notre père céleste et son Fils, ils vivent. Ils sont là. Notre père nous donne Son Esprit pour qu'on puisse suivre l'exemple de son fils. Je témoigne que Dieu nous aime, et que l’Évangile de Jésus-Christ est la seule mode de vie qui nous apportera l'Esprit-Saint à jamais. Qu’il en soit toujours ainsi. C’est là ma prière, au nom sacré de Jésus-Christ. Amen.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

8-3-15!

Bonjour everybody! Another amazing week!

Events I experienced:
Monday: we saw the castle for Elder Bleak's first time. I think he liked it alright, not a huge fan but he enjoyed it. I love the castle haha, I was so excited to see it and he didn't quite understand why I was so happy. We also had a family home evening at the chapel, and it was a HUGE SUCCESS! We had 20 people there and a few nonmembers, it was Elder Bleak's idea and I am so grateful for his genius. We started making piñata so, next week we will fill the dried piñatas with candy! People were so SPARCed, so happy!

On Tuesday, we had a few cool miracles! We met a man, T., who comes from New Zealand and plays on the Carcassonne rugby team. His mom is Mormon and he has met with the missionaries a lot in the past. We set up a RDV with him for Saturday, we're bringing him a copy of the Book of Mormon in English (of which he has already read a lot) and we're going to read together! So cool. He's so eager to meet with us! Other cool miracle: we were in the park hoping to drop by on a less-active named C. who is often in the park at 8:30. We waited until 8:50, and he still wasn't there. So we said a prayer, asking Heavenly Father to help us see C., and right as we opened our eyes he was there! So amazing. Miracles are real.

Wednesday: the miracles continue! We had a rendezvous with J-C and he accepted baptism! He is really lonely and he wants to be happier. It made me realize how blessed with happiness I am, how good I have it! We explained that the Book of Mormon is the key to that happiness and he agreed to be baptized on August 29th, in a month! He might not have said it with lots of conviction, he will need to understand more of course, but he loves having us over and he says the missionaires make him feel "good, at ease, peaceful." So we are taking it! Awesome, awesome miracle. As we went through the lesson zero points, I realized we should invite him to be baptized. I'm sure it was the spirit because I am terrible at inviting people to be baptized. But he accepted! Such an awesome miracle of the Spirit.

Thursday was really cool as well! We had zone training with our zone, led by the ZLs, Elders Perry and Shaw. They are angels, so kind. They remind me of Jesus so much it begins to scare me. We also saw J., read in the Book of Mormon with her,and helped her A LOT to understand 1 Ne. 14. She really liked seeing how all the prophecies are coming to pass in our day. We re-fixed her baptism date to August 29th, the same as J-C's! That will be the best day of my life!!

Friday was another awesome day. We home-taught with Bishop Jacas (you need to be careful on the pronunciation) and we taught J. directly after that! We read 1 Néphi 15 with her, and she really liked the simplicity of it. Then after English class, we shared a spiritual message on Mosiah 2:41 with S., Frère V. and J-C. Then we had dinner at S.'s, Frère V. made Cantonese rice with chorizo. After, we helped S. with his talk on the importance of the Iron Rod. After that, we went back to the chapel to pick up our area book papers we had copied when we ran into a member, M., making a cassoulet. He is a farmer and LOVES watermelon, so we sat down and ate half a watermelon. It was a lot. But really fun to SPARC M. and make him happy! That's what missionary work is all about, making people happier!

Saturday was great, we got to plan for next week, and finish our piñatas for FHE next Monday. All of our rendezvous fell through, unfortunately. But we were lucky to have the Assistants Nadauld and Barnes come visit us! They were driving (well, elder Szuch was driving, he is their chauffeur) back to Lyon and decided to swing by, to have dinner with us and to visit J. Elder Barnes served in Carcassonne and he loves the ward, and he is J.'s favorite. She was so happy to see him! It SPARCed her a lot. She grabbed Elder Barnes and bised him haha, there was no escaping it. We all laughed, and Elder Barnes laughed too, although embarrassed a little I'm sure!

Sunday was good! We were able to teach a few street lessons and set up a rendezvous at the chapel to help an old couple with their genealogy. Elder Bleak and I got into a rather heated conversation about Seahawks v. Patriots. It was rough, talking to someone who is so blind. Haha he ignores the fact that he roots for scumbags!! But then I realized the Spirit had left us and we settled our differences. Sometimes, it's not worth it to enforce truth on people haha.

Monday was really fun! We didn't end up having enough time to email, because we all met up as a zone at the beach in Montpellier! It was very fun! I got pretty burnt, but that was to be expected haha, I completely forgot sunscreen. After that, I started an exchange with Elder Shaw, one of our Zone Leaders. We got back to Carcassonne and had family home evening at the church, and we broke piñatas! Very very fun activity.

Lessons I learned:
  • Sometimes the best way to achieve something is not by logic, nor reason, nor extra work, but by love. Sometimes love is the only way, even if we think other means are clearly more effective. Missionary work requires lots of planning, work, etc., but sometimes it doesn't help as much as we need it to. Sometimes those means just aren't what's required. Love is always necessary and always helps, of course, but sometimes it is the only thing that will work.
  • Realize how blessed you are! We need to take a step back and realize, in the grand scheme of things, how blessed we are. It's that simple. Many many many people do not have loving families, friends, the necessities of life, etc. Be grateful for the wonderful life that we have all been given.
  • Cherish the little things. The small stuff is more significant than we often realize. Take pleasure in small acts of kindness. At the end of a long and seemingly unprofitable day, little acts of kindness, small smiles or making someone laugh, those things make the whole day golden, they make it all worth it.
(free) Advice I have:
  • Count your blessings. Literally, take 15 minutes, pen and paper, and write them down. You will be amazed.
  • "We can't do everything for everyone everywhere, but we can do something for someone somewhere." - Richard L. Evans
  • The Savior left the 99 to save the 1. We don't have to solve all of humanity's problems all at once. We can't do it all by ourselves. But we can always do our part, we can always do our best, even when it is small! A life lived for oneself is a life lost, a life wasted; a life lived for others is a life saved, a life worth living.

Thanks for all your support everyone. I love you all!
Elder MacArthur

Montpellier Zone P-day at the beach

Montpellier Zone