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