Elder MacArthur's Mission to France : 9-7-15!

Bonjour everybody! I had a very rewarding week this week.

Events I experienced:
On Tuesday, we did some cool pass backs, had lessons with B and S, had a 15 min RDV with M, and had a lesson with H, a new ami! She is from Tunisia, and she made couscous which was super super good! She is really nice and has lots of potential.

Wednesday was super cool. We got to spend a lot of time with Frère Van, we started the day with service at his house. We had lunch at his house which was super good. Then we taught J, we read 1 Néphi 20 with her. It was super complicated to explain in French, already it's an Isaiah chapter, so we skipped ahead to 1 Néphi 22, where the story picks back up. She had lots of questions but we helped her figure it out, it was a great rendezvous! Then we had a lesson chez J-C, with Frère Van. It definitely helped him, but we are figuring out that he hasn't been understanding as much as we thought. We might need to move his baptism date again because he doesn't understand enough, but he has the best desire! After that, we taught an old ami named Cr with Frère Van. She is in the Rose Cross cult. Kinda bizarre haha! But she is incredible!! She might start coming to English class, which would be sick! Great day!

Thursday was a good day. We did lots of contacting, talked to lots of people, looked through the Area Book and found lots of people to pass, then we met with two less-actives, Soeur M and C. We read in the Book of Mormon with each of them and they both really loved it! It was really wonderful to see them remember their testimonies and feel the power of the scriptures again.

Friday was a lot of walking! We had RCM with Frère V, then we did a bunch more passing less-actives, old amis, and such. Then we had English Class, which was cool! Cr showed up which was awesome. Then we read the BoM with S, and had an awesome talk with C! He prayed with us, which I've only ever seen once. And we sparc'd him super hard, he loved it. He likes us more and more, hopefully he'll start coming to church!

Saturday was another weird day. Elder Hansen was feeling stressed and really tired, so we took it easy at first. Then we had the Perpignan Elders come visit us! Elder Bryce was going to interview J-C for his baptism, but we had to move the baptism back again, unfortunately. I'm pretty bummed out about it, he just doesn't understand enough yet. He'll get there I'm sure, I just need to be patient haha. Then we had Sport Saturday, and weekly planning after we contacted with the Perpignan Elders. It ended up being a good day!

Sunday was really good! We had a great time at church, we were able to fix a lot of pass-bys with members. We taught J-C the restoration again, and that was pretty tough. He's still having trouble understanding, and we're going to have to move his baptism date to October 10th, so that he'll understand enough. It's tough, having to teach so simply, but it's helping me become more patient so it's okay haha. We had a really good weekly planning session and companionship inventory. We've been pretty distant so far but we made great progress in unity these past two days. I'm really excited for this transfer!

Lessons I learned:
"The Kingdom of God or nothing." These words by President John Taylor are very powerful. If we seek for anything less than the Kingdom of God, we are seeking, by comparison, nothing!

I have seen missionaries go out for the wrong reasons. While this is a little sad, it's not super important. Here's what's most important: why you stay in the field. If you go out to please your parents, and that's your motivation the whole time, good luck! But if you come out, figure things out, and stay because you love being a missionary, then "tant mieux," good for you! Often we start a race poorly, but what counts is how (and why) we finish it.

(free) Advice I have:
"Look To God And Live" by Jeffrey R. Holland

Read in the Book of Mormon every day! To quote President Monson, "If you haven't read the Book of Mormon, READ IT!"

Love,

Elder MacArthur