1-25-16 :)

Hello everyone! My week was awesome! Here's how it went down:

Events I experienced:
Monday! Nothing special.

Tuesday! We helped Frère Hub cut down some trees to heat his house. I felt like I was in 70s Oregon. Nowadays there isn't much logging but there was in the 1970s. Apart from that, nothing special. Everything else fell through.

Wednesday! Awesome day. We saw Élo, talked about the POS and encouraged her to share the gospel with her family. Then we saw Rox with Frère Vil; we had planned in going back with Nes but he fell through. Frère Vil is so clutch. I have been blessed with some pretty clutch DMPs. That rendezvous went way too long, Rox talks a lot and we didn't do a very good job at shaping the lesson. But we did commit her to read the Book of Mormon every day! After that, we had dinner and participated in a world-wide missionary training given by the Missionary Executive Council. We heard from Elders Anderson, Oaks, and Bednar, among others. I especially enjoyed the discussion given by Elder Bednar about letting the Spirit teach and becoming tools the Lord can use to teach our investigators by His spirit.

Thursday was awesome! We had district meeting in Poitiers. Poitiers is a really cool town, it's pretty big by French standards. At DM, we talked about how to find, teach, and baptize families! The whole thing was in French, because Elder Rellaford accidentally invited (not really but they thought it was an invitation) two young adults to the meeting. After that, me and Elder Rellaford went to Bordeaux to start our exchange, started at 4 pm Thursday and ends at 4 pm Saturday! It's a long exchange, but I have no complaints because Elder Rellaford is amazing.

Friday was super great! We got our apartment inspected by Frère Bois. Member apartment checks are the best, they take about 20 minutes. Senior couples take 20 hours. After that, we helped Frère Kar carry a dryer up to his apartment, then he fed us! Then we went to teach Chr with Frère Bois. Chr is a really cool Kenyan student who is going to be baptized soon. After that, Elder Rellaford and I went to the pharmacy to fix a RDV with a doctor. Then we taught Ami with Frère Kar! Ami is a super cool woman who has her baptismal interview tomorrow! She was found by Elders Sanders and Garside a few months ago. It was very fun to teach her; we went to the baptismal interview and answered some questions. She takes impeccable notes and pays very close attention to everything you say. After that, we went to the Lormont sector on the other side of Bordeaux for Elder Rellaford's appointment. Turns out, he has bronchitis! I hope I don't get super sick too. I'm starting to cough a lot. Whatever. It's super pretty on the other side of the river, the pont Pierre is all lit up and you can see the super beautiful parts of BDX really well!

Saturday, we got back and had a good weekly planning session. We also had a very helpful companionship inventory. We understand each other a lot better now!

Sunday was fun, we had church, then Ward council, then we took the sacrament to Frère Cal, then we passed some less-active members.

Lessons I learned:
"For he saith: By the strength of my hand and by my wisdom I have done these things; for I am prudent; and I have moved the borders of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man...Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood!" -2 Néphi 20: 13,15  Truly, we are nothing by ourselves. We can do nothing, save what we "see the Father do." We should not "boast of [oursleves]," but "boast of [our] God."

(free) Advice I have:
"More Diligent and Concerned at Home" by Elder Bednar, October 2009 Gen Conf. This is an excellent talk about how to strengthen our family life- as a family, recently married couple, single people, missionary, you name it. I know that as we consistently live what we know and show our love for the ones we live with, we will be much happier and more productive Saints.

"A Crown of Thorns, a Crown of Glory" by President Faust. Here's one of my favorite parts from the talk: "The denial of our own sins, of our own selfishness, of our own weakness is like a crown of thorns which keeps us from moving up one more step in personal growth. Perhaps worse than sin is the denial of sin. If we deny that we are sinners, how can we ever be forgiven? How can the atonement of Jesus work in our lives if there is no repentance? If we do not promptly remove the slivers of sin and the thorns of carnal temptation, how can the Lord ever heal our souls?" Very similar to the talk "Hidden Wedges" given by President Monson. The Savior wants to heal us, indeed, it is His work and His glory! But we need to stretch out to present our injuries to his out-stretched hand if we are to be healed!

Thanks! I love you all! Have a good week!
Elder MacArthur

District meeting in Poitiers

Getting goofy (which seems to be a requirement for all group shots)