10-26-15!

Yo yo everyone! My week was fantastic.

Events I experienced:
On Monday, I fixed my watch! Got a new battery. Exciting stuff. We also had dinner with Frère G. Let's just say he's weird. Very nice man, but weird. We passed by his house on Sunday and we got invited back for dinner on the next day haha. We were thinking dinner would be as bad as he was weird (in which case we would surely die) but it was actually really good! Apparently Elder Stutz had enough faith in him haha! So even if someone is a little creepy, don't judge them! You never know what they're capable of. We SPARCed Frère G a lot, he was very happy to see us! It felt good making a member's day.

On Tuesday, we went porting (tracting) in Montlegun! It was fun, although nobody talked to us. The longest conversation we had was with a young woman who was in the middle of eating. She talked to us for maybe 30 seconds. 30 seconds too much. She was too interested in us. Waaaayyyy too interested. Anywho, after that, we met our ami F! Elder Stutz and F played Magic for a little bit (which I am not a fan of) and then F told us that he wasn't interested in converting. So we wasted our time a little bit. And I had to sit through an hour of Magic the Gathering. My soul died that day. Then we passed a less-active named B. He still thinks he's Catholic. We straight-up told him that he is not Catholic. That was a little frustrating haha.

Wednesday we did a lot of pass backs. We taught our ami Ph, his parents are against him getting baptized. He's 50, but he still feels like he needs to obey his parent's opinions. He doesn't want to make his parents angry, which is understandable.

Thursday was awesome! Zone training, where I got to see Elder Hansen and Elder Connell. Our zone's super cool. I started an exchange with Elder Spencer in Carcassonne, we saw Soeur M and J. Really good day, I love how Elder Spencer teaches. He's no Elder Perry, but he'll be a great zone leader. En plus, he played a Rhapsody in Blue rendition by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. I died and went to heaven. I have not heard Jazz in soooooo long. Uhhhh. It was so great.

Friday was great! We had RCM with Frère V. He gave us lots of food. It was fabulous. Then we weekly planned. Then we taught J with S! Then we had English Class! We learned body parts and clothing vocabulary last week, and his week we did role plays to implement the things we learned. We had people explain injuries to the doctor, and we had them buy clothes at the store! It was a lot of fun. Then we taught C! We talked a lot about French movies and books, it excited him a lot to talk about his favorites! We're making real progress with C, he called us to ask how he should get an interview with the bishop. He really wants to come back, and we're helping him with his mental block.

Sunday was awesome! We had 4 amis at church! 2 Bulgarians randomly showed up who haven't been in years! One of them might be a member but we're not sure, because he speaks Bulgarian. Really cool day!

Lessons I learned:
Before we can help someone, we need to be their friend. Why would someone want to listen to you if they didn't feel that you were their friend? I have noticed this week that being friends to those we serve is critically important, because love IS the key. It is the ONLY key.

"The standard of truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing, persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done” - Joseph Smith, quoted by Elder Oaks in "Joseph, the Man and the Prophet" from the April 1996 general conference. When we have God on our side, we cannot fail; His truth will go forth no matter what!

(free) Advice I have:
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. - James 1:27. This scripture has become one of my favorites. When we do what Jesus would do, we are doing what is always worth doing, and there can be nothing as important as lifting up the feeble knees, visiting the sick, the afflicted, the sorrowful, the lonely, and sharing the love of Christ with them. Making them feel loved, making them smile, acting out of Christlike love. There can be nothing as worthwhile, nothing more needed in this world than that!

Yes yes yes that was my week. I love you all! Thank you so much for your support!
Love, Elder MacArthur

10-19-15!

Bonjour everyone! Another superb week for me!

Events I experienced:
Tuesday was awesome. We did a weekly planning kind of thing, I taught Elder Stutz about the 'ville. We waited in our apartment for a long time, because the guy who was supposed to come fix out heater never showed up and we didn't want to leave right before he got here. So we were a bit stuck. We did get to pass a few people, and see S. Cool day! We're getting along super well, I'm really excited for this transfer!

Elder Stutz is from Idaho Falls, he's going to BYU after the mission, he's in his 10th transfer, has a girl back home! Total nerd, and he's legit. He loves LOTR so yeah I couldn't be happier. We be quotin' on a daily. Oh man it's the best.

Wednesday! We saw our ami R! We engaged her for baptism! She's so prepared. Soooo prepared. We taught her the plan of salvation, and it went really well. After that, we saw the F-m family. They are awesome. Then we did porting. It was a good day.

Thursday was pretty awesome again. We saw our ami Abd with his daughter R and we shared Matt. 6:19-21 (my ponderize scripture!!) which they loved. We're not sure how to progress with them, we'll invite them to church and go from there. Then we saw J, to see if she was still mad with us. But she apologized! She said she missed us a lot, haha. Of course. The McRib is back!

Friday! Ce n'est pas le karaté, mais un cas raté! Haha we had ward council; us and Frère V were joking around the whole time. We had beaucoup de fun, V made some pretty fun puns.

Saturday was good! We finally found the bus transportation office! Yay! And, 3 lessons en plus! I got to wear my big trench coat. It was sweet. I felt like a detective or something.

Sunday was awesome too! We did some cool pass backs and saw an old ami A. She's super cool.

Lessons I learned:
"Pray about and ponder the scriptures. The scriptures open the window to revelation." - Preach My Gospel, p. 95. So true! So simple but so true. The scriptures are the best places to search for personal revelation through the Holy Ghost.

Full-time missionaries are to help the ward implement their missionary plan. We are the slaves. We are not in charge! The members, together as a ward, are responsible for the missionary vision. The full-time missionaries are to help the ward execute the plan, as best we can. Often, missionaries feel that they are in charge of the work. It is the Lord's work, and He has given the responsibility to create plans to the wards. The full-time missionaries must be the "slaves," not the masterminds! I think that many members of the church have a hard time understanding this.

(free) Advice I have:
"When something is over and done with, when it has been repented of as fully as it can be repented of, when life has moved on as it should and a lot of other wonderfully good things have happened since then, it is not right to go back and open up some ancient wound that the Son of God Himself died trying to heal. Let people repent. Let people grow. Believe that people can change and improve. Is that faith? Yes! Is that hope? Yes! Is that charity? Yes! Above all, it is charity, the pure love of Christ." - Jeffrey R. Holland, "Remember Lot's Wife".  AHHHHH HE IS PERFECTLY TRUE

"Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has treat things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the 'high priest of good things to come.'" - Jeffrey R. Holland, "Remember Lot's Wife". Read this talk, if you have not yet. Do it.

I love you all! God bless!
Love, Elder MacArthur

Me and Elder Stutz in our ward mission leader's clothes

10-12-15!

Bonjour everybody! I had a KILLER week! So here it is.

Events I experienced:

Monday! Pday! Haircut!

Tuesday! An exchange with my district leader, Elder Bryce. Super awesome guy! Love him to death.

Wednesday! Two hour layover in Narbonne. Pizza. Mmm. Porting. Lots of it. Street lessons! Pretty good stuff.

Thursday! Elder Hansen's legality in Beziers! Then we home taught the T family with Bishop Jacas. And bible prophecies! 2 Kings 19:30; Luke 10:2; 2 Néphi 33:10; D&C 75:24; Moses 5:31. We decided that I would be staying, and receiving an old missionary.

Friday! TRANSFER CALLS. I am staying to do a 4th transfer in Carcassonne. I will have served at least a fourth of my mission in Carc by the time I leave haha. I am receiving Elder Stutz, who is coming from Vitrolles. He is awesome, I have met him before!

Saturday! We had a good-bye lunch with Frere V and S! Asian buffet! Mm. Then we cleaned the chapel. We have cleaning assignments. Oh well. Service! Yay! Then we contacted and packed. Well, I didn't pack. Ohhhh yeah, and our only steady ami J yelled at us a bunch today and dropped us, the 3rd or 4 time for me. So yeah. Even if she does want to see us again, I'm not sure she's willing to change, so I'm not sure if we'll even be able to see her. It's rough. I was pretty down today, with Elder Hansen leaving and Josette dropping us and everything. I always get über nostalgic when comps leave. Which has been every transfer call so far for me!

Sunday! Cried. A good amount. Had a sister moment haha. Ok, had LOTS of sister moments. I really grew to love Elder Hansen. It's hard to say goodbye, but he's still in the zone, so I'll see him at least! Yeah. Crazy. 3 transfers over. By the end of the next one, I'll be 1/4th done!! WHAT. I still feel like a bleu haha.

Monday, new comp! Elder Stutz! Super cool! So excited! He loves LOTR so I'm in love.

Lessons I learned:
I got pretty down this week, with everything that's been going on. I had such high hopes for Carcassonne when I arrived, and 4.5 months later, sometimes I feel like we have nothing going for us. Sometimes I forget all the wonderful miracles I have seen, all the blessings that the Lord has given me. No, maybe we don't have many progressing investigators, maybe I have not baptized anyone yet, but the Lord has blessed me a TON. When we forget Him, we forget the whole purpose! I started to feel sorry for myself, I started to feel sad. But happiness is a choice, and it's a lot easier choice when we remember Him and count our blessings. So please. Count your blessings! Be grateful, and most of all, be happy! That's what the Lord wants for us, we are that we "might have joy."

From my boy Jeffrey R: "Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles.
Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?

"You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him?

“When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions.” (“Missionary Work and the Atonement,” Ensign, Mar. 2001, 14–15). I cried as I read this out loud in a rendezvous this week. Sobbing like a baby. Incredible stuff. When we are rejected, we are standing with the Savior! What more can I say?

Püppenhaus: doll house in German. Hahahahaha!

(free) Advice I have:
"You are here on earth for a divine purpose. It is not to be endlessly entertained or to be constantly in full pursuit of pleasure. You are here to be tried, to prove yourself so that you can receive the additional blessings God has for you. The tempering effect of patience is required. Some blessings will be delivered here in this life; others will come beyond the veil. The Lord is intent on your personal growth and development. That progress is accelerated when you willingly allow Him to lead you through every growth experience you encounter, whether initially it be to your individual liking or not.

"When you trust in the Lord, when you are willing to let your heart and your mind be centered in His will, when you ask to be led by the Spirit to do His will, you are assured of the greatest happiness along the way and the most fulfilling attainment from this mortal experience. If you question everything you are asked to do, or dig in your heels at every unpleasant challenge, you make it harder for the Lord to bless you." -Richard G. Scott  This is so true! I can't explain this any better than it has already been explained.

"On the example of the Savior himself and his call to his Apostles, and with the need for peace and comfort ringing in our ears, I ask you to be a healer, be a helper, be someone who joins in the work of Christ in lifting burdens, in making the load lighter, in making things better. As children, when we had a bump or a bruise, didn’t we say to Mom or Dad, “Make it better”? Well, lots of people on your right hand and on your left are carrying bumps and bruises that they hope will be healed and made whole. Someone you know is carrying a spiritual or physical or emotional burden of some sort, or some other affliction drawn from life’s catalog of a thousand kinds of sorrow. In the spirit of Christ’s first invitation to his twelve Apostles, jump into this work. Help people. Heal old wounds and try to make things better." -Jeffrey R. Holland

Elder Uchtdorf talked about how we over-complicate our discipleship in this last general conference. If we go around "doing good," the Lord will be with us, because we will be walking in the footsteps of Jesus.

I love you all! Really! So much. Onward and upward!

Love, Elder MacArthur

Elder Hansen & Ben

 

Goodbye!

Ben & Elder Stutz!

10-5-15!

Bonjour everybody! I had a great week this week! It was legendary.

Events I experienced:
Monday was awesome. We had p-day as usual. And then our water heater broke! And our carbon monoxide detector went off! So we called the water heater fixer uppers, and they came, said it was busted, and it was leaking CO when turned on. So they turned it off, and they will replace it asap. So for the next week or so, cold showers! No hot water! I empathize with missionaries who had to serve whilst living in less-than-elegant circumstances. Then we went to the church for FHE! Only 2 people showed, S and a less-active named St!! WHO I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO CONTACT FOR NEARLY 4 MONTHS! We sent out the FHE text as usual, and I guess he finally decided to come this time! He is really cool, very African. Very believing, very philosophical. Direct quote from him: "God eats love, he cooks it, it is His happy meal." Hahaha such a cool guy. We invited him to come to general conference and he accepted! He told us the Spirit had been telling him to FHE today! He also said it told him not to go to church since May, so we have our work cut out for us there, but still! COOL!

Tuesday was sweet! We did some service for the B family, and had lunch with their neighbor Mar. It was lots of fun! We shared the parable of the Good Samaritan. Elder Hansen mentioned that his brother is getting married this weekend, and Frère B just said, "he's losing his soul, then..." And I mentioned my sister is getting married soon, so I asked, "is my sister losing her soul too?" And Frère B responded, "no, she gains one!" Haha we laughed a lot at that. Sister B was less amused hahaha. After that, we taught an ami named Fra at the church. He's very very nice, but I'm not sure he gets the point of our discussions. We've talked about baptism, the temple, and the purpose of our life on Earth with Fra, but we need to emphasize our purpose as missionaries again I suppose. After that, we had some sweet contacting, gave out BEAUCOUP de pass-along cards, and had dinner with the bishop's family. They are really cool and cook VERY well so it's always a good time chez la famille Jacas.

Wednesday was district meeting! I was pretty sad because I have a real possibility of leaving after this transfer, so it might be the last time I see lots of those missionaries in a while! After district meeting, we had a finding activity here in Carcassonne! We got lots of numbers and rendezvous fixed, it was an awesome miracle! After that, me and Elder Shaw started an exchange. We taught a new ami, Phi, and we did a lot of contacting! It was an awesome day. (I cried as we sung Angels We Have Heard On High at the end of DM. Our mission song is the best, it's even better in French. Elder Perry, my favorite missionary I've ever met, was standing next to me and he wasn't singing! I looked over to find out why, and it was because he was crying too. Ahh the spirit was so strong, we were all having a sister moment haha.)

Thursday was awesome too! We had 3 lessons, and gave more service so that's always fun! We also went to S's birthday party which was really fun. Pizza always helps. I love Elder Shaw, so it was really fun to get to do a long exchange!

Friday was tranquille. We did lots of boring stuff kinda, like area book stuff, our weekly missionary/ Ward mission leader meeting, cleaning out old phone contacts because our phone memory is filling up, weekly planning, iPad audits, comp inventory. We did get to have English class and a rendezvous with Phi, so that was awesome! It feels like we did nothing, but we really did haha. Any day without contacting or porting feels like we did nothing haha.

Saturday! We had a lesson! But not really! Our ami was way drunk! So we left! And then General Conference! It was awesome! So awesome! All good talks! So cool! We are so fortunate to have living prophets who speak to us!

Sunday was awesome as well. We studied, had meals, had a lesson with our potential ami Abd's family, and watched general conference. Abd is super nice! We keep on forgetting to ask him his last name haha, so he only name I have for him is his prénom. He's Muslim, so our views differ a little, but he's really open and super nice. We're still trying to work with him and get him interested in taking the lessons, but he likes the Bible so we share Bible stories with him. We just met his family today, his wife and daughter are very nice too! His daughter is a little too nice. And she is coming to English class now. Soooooo we'll see how that goes. On a happier note, general conference was awesome! SO AWESOME! I highly recommend it.

Lessons I learned:

Notes from President Uchdorf's first talk!
-sometimes as spiritual patients of the Savior, we are not very patient
-often we ignore reliable truth and seek to do it our way
-how do we know if we are on the right spiritual path? ask questions!
-is my experience in the Church blessing me? If so, why deviate from what we know to be true?!
Why does the Church work for some, but not for others? Do we:
-over-complicate our complicate our discipleship?
-we need to focus on the weightier matters "Living the Gospel does not need to be complicated!"
-focus on the fundamentals, and "the gospel will work better for you"
-start where you are, God will work with you regardless of what state you are in!
-look at your life through Heaven's eyes! "Exaltation is our goal, discipleship is our journey."
-by simple means, we can be taken from where we are now to the Celestial kingdom
-we can make the gospel of Jesus Christ work for us!

(free) Advice I have:
"No matter how serious the trial, how deep the distress, how great the affliction, [God] will never desert us. He never has, and He never will. He cannot do it. It is not His character [to do so]. He is an unchangeable being; the same yesterday, the same today, and He will be the same throughout the eternal ages to come. We have found that God. We have made Him our friend, by obeying His Gospel; and He will stand by us. We may pass through the fiery furnace; we may pass through deep waters; but we shall not be consumed nor overwhelmed. We shall emerge from all these trials and difficulties the better and purer for them, if we only trust in our God and keep His commandments.” -George Q. Cannon

Luke 4: 61-62
And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Once we have covenanted to follow Jesus and build His kingdom, we cannot look back! We cannot leave this work unfinished! The Kingdom of God, or nothing.

Thanks everybody! I love you all! The Church is true and Jesus Christ is at the head of it.
Love, Elder MacArthur

Elder Hansen, St & Ben at church

Elder Hansen & Ben watch General Conference

Ben & Zone Leaders Elders Perry & Shaw

District Meeting in Carcassonne

Ben post-haircut

9-28-15!

Hey hey hey my week was killer as usual! Really, though.

Events I experienced:
Monday: not much. Let's skip it.

Tuesday: we had a lesson with a new ami, F! He is cool. He plays the drums, mostly for metal music. He's very hippy. He belongs in Eugene. He is cool.

Wednesday was awesome! I got to go on an exchange with Elder Perry, one of my Montpellier zone leaders. Elder Perry is the best. I've only ever had exchanges with him in Montpellier because he's always had some injury that prevents him from walking haha! We saw Ai at his house. I have seen him 3 times, and each time, I have left with a banana. It's awesome haha. After that, we went to the French-American Center in Montpellier. I met someone there named David A. He is from California. He is 42 years old. And he is the real-life Fire Marshall Bill. His personality so strongly resembles the Jim Carrey TV character that I thought for a second he really was Jim Carrey. Haha he is a true character, possibly the weirdest person I have ever met!

After that, we went to "Sport Extrême" at the church. It was like Zumba and P90X all rolled into one. It sufficeth me to say that I am very very sore now.

Thursday was awesome! I got to hang out with the zone as we went to our conference in Aix-en-Provence. I hung out with a bleu, Elder Duffy. He's the man. In the Montpellier gare, this guy who had recently seen "The Book of Mormon," theatrical version, talked with us for a bit. We said "have a good day" as we left, and he said back, "have a Latter-day!" It was hilarious.

Friday! Zone conference, with elder Detlef Adler of the 70. Pretty cool German guy. Hilarious! Such a funny guy. We learned lots and lots of things!

Saturday was good. Maybe someday you'll hear about it. But not now. Not important.

Sunday was crazy!! We had church as usual. Elder Hansen gave a talk in church on the 8th article of faith which was awesome. Then we taught M, a 7-year old with what seems to be severe ADHD, He's almost 8 years old and his parents want help teaching him and preparing him for baptism. He hardly listened to us so it was a little annoying but they fed us afterwards so there's always a silver lining haha! After that, we did our études, and then we went out porting! We had a few people who immediately closed the door at us, but then we found this lady named R. We gave her the family questionnaire, and before we asked the first question, she started crying! We asked, "what member of your family influenced you the most?" Before we finished asking the question, her eyes watered up, tears fell, and she said "ma grandmère!" It was incredible. She is croyante, and she cried as we testified of the plan of salvation and how temples help us live with our family forever! We showed her pictures of the temple and she asked lots of questions. It was awesome. We set up a return rendezvous for next week!

After that, as we walked home, we were accosted by this weird guy. He offered us cigs, we said no, but he kept insisting, and he followed us for about a mile...so we started running, turning corners, and we thought we lost him, but then he showed up again! This time he was angry, he called us "serviteurs du diable" and thougt we were Témoins Jehova. He started taking off his bag and tried to pick a fight. It was pretty scary. He was reaching around in his pocket and we think he might have had a knife. So luckily, we went to the police station (30 seconds away) and he followed us there! So we went in, asked for help, and an officer came and talked to him, and held him there for a while so we could walk home without being followed. All in all it wasn't a huge deal, but it was kinda freaky! I know Heavenly Father was with us the whole time, protecting us. Often, Satan attacks hardest right after our greatest successes; it's no coincidence we met that mec right after the tracting miracle.

Lessons I learned: Hebrews 11:16: "wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God". It is incredible that God is not ashamed to be our God, given all the imperfections we possess. Why then, being wholly imperfect, are we sometimes ashamed that He, being wholly perfect, is our God? It makes little sense. I would hope that we have no reason to be "ashamed of the gospel of Christ," or to be ashamed of Him whose gospel it is!

(free) Advice I have: "According to the Desire of [Our] Hearts" by Neal A. Maxwell. This talk is all about what we seek, our desires and priorities. Elder Maxwell mentions how if we can change our desires to align with God's plan for us, "We set our thermostats as to temptations." I have been thinking about priorities in my life as a missionary and this talk is excellent for anyone who wants help with things of that nature!

I love you all! Thanks for your love!
Elder MacArthur

In preparation for the zone conference with Elder Alder, we were asked to answer the following questions (among others): How did Abinadi touch Alma the Elder's heart? My answer, in brief:
Abinadi touched Alma because the Spirit testified of the truthfulness of Abinadi's words. Abinadi awoke something dormant inside Alma, the Spirit awoke the Light of Christ within Alma. Abinadi didn't preach something new, he merely caused Alma to remember what he had long since forgotten, that's why the Spirit was able to confirm it so strongly to Alma, because it was already in his heart, the Light of Christ was already burning. More than anything, the Lord had a work for Alma to accomplish. He prepared Alma to receive the word, to plant the seed, and experiment upon it. He brought about His purposes for Alma and the Nephite nation through Abinadi.

We start at the end of Abinadi's discourse. Pay attention to the words we read: Mosiah 17:2 -----> he "believed...for he knew"
-he was taught good and evil, he knew the difference between right and wrong
-all it took to start the ball rolling was someone standing up for truth regardless the circumstance.*
Take footnote b to... Mosiah 26:15 -----> faith of Alma to believe in Abinadi
-he had been righteous previously, he just needed to have the pot stirred a little
-he did "plead with the king" to let Abinadi leave in peace
-suggests a stronger conviction than a "maybe" or "I'm not sure."
Take footnote b to... D&C 46:14 -----> spiritual gift of Alma to believe
-"to others it is given to believe on their words, that they might also have eternal life if they continue faithful."
-he might have been searching for truth, seeking an answer, he knew that the traditions of Noah and his priests were wicked
-Alma was prepared to receive this awakening, to repent of his sins and remember the ways of the Lord that he used to follow *in Mosiah 13:1-9 What do we learn from these 9 verses?

Alma takes note of Abinadi. He notes that "his face shone with an exceeding luster," he spake with "power and authority of God," he guessed Alma's heart when he said "I perceive that it cuts you to your hearts because I tell you the truth concerning your iniquities." He ends this passage by saying "But I finish my message; and then it matters not whither I go, if it so be that I am saved." The incredible faith shown by Abinadi surely touched Alma and allowed the Holy Ghost to testify to him that Abinadi was a prophet, sent from God, holding His authority.

NOTES FROM CONFERENCE
Sister Brown
-we need to be team players, follow the rules, because people are always watching -our playbook is the scriptures, PMG -we can score using the playbook -our coach is President Brown, he gives us encouragement and assignments to help us score -in our team, we play to win!
-our head coach is Jesus Christ, He helps us play our best no matter what, 24/7 -comfort we receive can come from prayers from hundreds, thousands, MILLIONS of people around the world and outside of it -heaven sent help can come at any moment, comfort and heavenly help can come from anyone, anywhere

Sister Adler
-United effort in a spirit of teamwork produces a higher yield -absence of conflict is a cheap substitute for a spiritual relationship -be fast to forgive, be fast to repent, be slow to be prideful -serve your companions and be your best self for them -evaluate your companionship, follow the golden rule -"because I want you to have an awesome wife, work on..."
-pray always, pray too much, pray until you have the desire to pray, pray in all things -pray to express gratitude, pray for blessings, pray for others, pray for yourself, pray for everything

President Brown
-challenges help us become more like our Heavenly Father, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes it possible to endure those challenges -watch out for wolves in sheep's clothing, "Beware of the evil behind the smiling eyes"
-the spirit of the Lord is always edifying, never confuse false promptings with the Spirit -the Spirit communicates though prayer, scriptures, mission leaders, etc.
-Satan tries to counterfeit the feelings of the Spirit -we must learn to recognize the difference between the real deal and Satan's counterfeit -find out why we were put in our sector with our companion, find out our purpose -Satan is our common enemy, he seeks to destroy all of us -we will always prevail when we follow the example of our Master, Jesus Christ -if we follow Him, it will never be a close contest

Elder Adler
-sometimes we blame others, turning outward rather than turning inward -we need to work with our companions if we are to do His work His way -transitory residents of the earth never find joy, they find fun
-disobedience will cause our world to "blow up" -it will derail the work in our sector, our zone, our mission, it will hurt His work -rules and guidelines are inspired, heaven-sent help to keep us on safe ground -forgiveness is another way we can keep ourselves spiritually safe -if the Lord can forgive all, we can forgive too -we don't always know why Heavenly Father calls us how He does, but if we trust His judgment, then He will prepare the way for us to magnify our calling -He has not brought us here to fail, He has brought us here to succeed Success comes two ways:

1. Your personal spiritual development -our conversion is deepened through our faith in Jesus Christ
2. Seeing the spiritual development of our amis -feeling the Lord's love for our amis -we have to carry our own burdens, we can receive strength from others, but we must bear our own burdens, but He will help us "bear up our burdens with ease"

"Action is one of the chief foundations of personal testimony" -President Hunter -"not doing" will become "not growing," and necessarily, "not going," not going anywhere -review my attitude towards the mission I am serving -I am serving it, it is not mine, it is His; I am only here to serve the Lord -this mission is only a moment, we can endure it, we can endure it WELL!

Trying to remember our blessings, the blessings of this mission will help us see His hand in our lives. As we learn the pre-mortal existence, we learn that we knew each other, we have been sent here to people we already know, these people told us to find them and to teach them

Pretty view of Carcassonne

Mini transfer 109 reunion with Elders Connell, Wade & Ben

9-21-15!

Bonjour à tous! I had yet another fabulous week. I did a poor job of recording my thoughts on the iPad this week, so it will be a short email.

Events I experienced:
District meeting on Tuesday, in Beziers! Very fun. We went there and back on a TGV, first class! I think the office screwed up and got us 1st class tickets. The senior couple in Beziers told us a story, where an Elder tried to say "Je suis un saint des Derniers Jours" (I am a Latter-day Saint) but said "Je suis enceinte" (I am pregnant) haha so that was funny. The Perpignan Soeurs were on the train going up to the district meeting, and they weren't in 1st class. They asked us to come sit with them, so we only got about 15 mins of fame in 1st class haha.

Wednesday, we all had Skype interviews with President Brown! Super fun. Not as good as in person, but he still SPARCs people better than anyone I know, even via Skype. When we got back, we met with our ami, T! He plays on the Carcassonne rugby team! He's a little over 6'6", he benches over 400 pounds and he can squat 225 kilos. So he's HUGE! His mom in New Zealand is a member, along with all his sisters. He's super cool. He's played in international sports camps, he has played in youth Olympic Games for New Zealand, he was somewhat of an athletic child prodigy in New Zealand. He has played against Zach Levine, Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Dante Exum, all at the age of 14! He's just...so cool. And... he's only 20!!! He's been playing rugby professionally since he was 18.

Friday, I was on an exchange in Perpignan with Elder Duncan. It was one of the best échanges I've ever been on. We got a whole lot of stuff done, I walked around Perpignan a lot (it's super beautiful so that's cool), used my limited Spanish (or at least tried to) and we had crêpes with members to end the day! We gave a temple lesson to the Fs. They are super super awesome. I wish they lived in Carcassonne haha! And on the street, a lady told us when the world was gonna end! Apparently, it's 2024, on a Saturday night. Do with that information what you will.

On Saturday, we helped the members with an open house for family history at the church. Nobody showed up. For 8 hours. I think they should have advertised past putting a flyer on the church door. But at least we got to look on family search a lot and I found some cool ancestors! One of them is described as a Mythical King. So I don't know why that's on FamilySearch...

We saw T again on Saturday! We gave him a lesson zero/restoration, and it went super well. He said he wants to turn his life back to Christ, and he accepted to be baptized once he gains a testimony. I'm sure his mom prays for him every night to meet the missionaries, and now he has! Such a cool miracle.

Lessons I learned: Don't get sick! It stinks. And even if something bad does happen to you, stay positive, keep smiling, and choose to be happy no matter what. It sounds dumb but it works. Trust me!

(free) Advice I have: "Feed My Lambs" by Henry B. Eyring. This talk is gold. Pure gold. Read it and weep. Weep in a good way.

I love you all! Thanks for all the support you give! Je vous aime beaucoup.
À plus,
Elder MacArthur

Ben, T and Elder Hansen

Ben & Elder Hansen on the TGV

Ben finds Tintin in Carcassonne

Ben's "royal' ancestry

9-14-15

Bonjour! Bonjour bonjour. This week was awesome. It was a weird week. It was weird.

Events I experienced:
On Monday we went to the castle! It was cool! Then we read the BoM with S and gave him and Frère Van blessings at the chapel. Frère Van had been feeling sore and his back was really flaring up, S was feeling a little down, so we gave them both blessings! It was awesome. I'm really grateful for the priesthood, it's a wonderful blessing.

Tuesday was great as well!! We went to the B's, and we destroyed a wall. Haha I'll include a picture. Pretty cool. Then we taught J-C, and found a new ami on the street! It was a cool day for sure.

Wednesday was good! I forgot it all. But I have a feeling it was good.

Thursday was awesome! We had a zone training in Montpellier. It was really really fun!! Then we did some porting once we got back, and called it a day.

Friday, our engagé J-C dropped us. It was really sad. He said it was too hard to understand. Also, his landlord advised him to stop seeing us. Brother V mentioned to J-C once about how his landlord was cheating him. J-C must have talk to his landlord about this, because his landlord advised him to stop seeing us. All we can really do now is wait and pray for J-C so that he will come back and see us again. Meanwhile, all of our other Amis have not contacted us in a while, and they are never there when we pass them or call them! We have run into some really hard times here. A fun part of the day was English Class with S, Frère V, La and Al. S is our biggest supporter and we love seeing him! After EC, we went to read the BoM with him, 1 Néphi 17. It's a long chapter, a really good chapter! I love hearing S's testimony when we talk about the about the BoM.

Saturday and Sunday, I was sick! I still am sick, so yeah. That's not the best thing to be as a missionary. Didn't really do much on these two days.

Lessons I learned:
Well, I got sick. And we lost both of our engagés this week! It was a trying week. It made me think of the scripture on our bathroom wall, D&C 121: 7-9, saying:
7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

Being sick, I had a bunch of time to lay in bed in pain! And watch movies! I got to watch just about every Joseph Smith video ever made. It was really fun! Well, as fun as it could be. Watching his sufferings and reading this scripture made me realize that even if it feels terrible to be sick, it's not that bad. So that made me feel better for sure.

(free) Advice I have:
"Repent Of [Our] Selfishness" by Neal A. Maxwell.  This talk talks about how selfishness is the root of all evil. So don't be selfish! Very good talk!

I LOVE YOU ALL! Thanks for all your support and kind words of encouragement!
Love, Elder MacArthur

Fun service for the B. family