Logan July 29,2013

Hey y'all youve been great. 

oh transfers. I am sure that all of you know what that means. basically this week has been a little longer than the others. but hey thats ok you learn you love and you move on. so Elder Rasmussen my Father is now home. which is weird. I love that guy. He is such a great missionary and taught me so much. So monday we had one last DA with the famille Ochs. they are incredible. So loving and Christ like. And then wednesday i got my new comp elder Wilbur who hails from aneheim california. and then we knocked the crap out of our area haha. 

we knocked into this lady who was really nice. she started to tell us that she was very Christian and then we found out she had cancer, then we found out that she lost her job that day, then we found out she barely walked into her house 5 minutes before, and said that we are a blessing from God. she wasn't too interested but we talked with her for a while and told her we would pray for her and invited her to church. she said that she would come next week, so we will see if she does. she has a mormon friend so maybe she will talk to her, because we all knock that member referrals are way better than knocking doors. 

then later this week we had a great DA at la famille lecuix. he is from france so i told him all about my sister who is there right now! he is the coolest guy. he just bought this tiny aircraft that holds 2 people and he takes pictures from the sky. so he showed us his stuff and lets just say that he is incredible at photography. he has the nicest photoshop option he has the craziest cameras and stuff. he is really good. but we were talking and he asked me what i wanted to do after the mission. i said man i don't really know. i would love to do something in music but it is a risky business. then he told me, "want to know what is more risky then music? doing something you don't love" then we talked for a while about his life and how he is living proof. he works for american express pretty high up in the company but he hates it and would rather fly and take pictures, he did say you have to be reasonable but he pretty much told me to go for it and then come back to montreal and tell him how it is going haha. he also said, "if you do music then you cannot be good you have to be great, don't play the competitive game play the creative game." pretty much he is awesome. 

Not a lot happened this week. we are working more with members and stuff. but it is a lot of knocking and knocking haha. it is always hard to adjust to new things, but i will be fine. i have been reading in Doctrine and Covenants 121-123 like that one talk you gave me mom. My afflictions are but a small moment in time. I know that Jesus is right here with me and that I am not anywhere near Job haha. that poor man. 

hey thats pretty neat i passed the AP test eh? haha totally thought i bombed it. Madame will be proud. And i got a little trunky seeing my home away from home Logan. It looked fun, haha 

how are all of you? school is like what 3 or 4 weeks away em? getting that packet done? haha you will be fine if you don't finish it. just don't tell mom hahaha. I love you all very much and pray for you each day. there is not a day that goes by that i don't think of the people who are making it possible to be out here. 

I love you all 

tout est bien

Elder Cameron Diaz

Natalie July 29, 2013

Dear Fam,

Wow it was so good to hear from all of you! I loved the pic from you guys on the 24th. I thought about you that day and wondered how you were going to celebrate. We did our own celebrating here in honor of the pioneers. No air conditioning and lots and lots and lots of walking. haha It was great and I loved every second of it. This week it's actually rained a few days which has been so nice! It hasn't been as hot.

This week has been one of the best weeks of my mission!!! It's been incredible and I'm so happy. This week I went on an exchange in Nante! It was beautiful and we had a lot of neat experiences. We taught a cute family. This picture is a picture of their 4 year old son. He was hilarious and I was dying! He kept taking pictures of us so we took one of him. Kid president anyone?

We saw a lot of incredible miracles this week and the Lord's hand is apparent here in Tours. I want to tell you about one we had on Saturday. We had been out contacting and were trying to decide if we should go back home to finish writing our talks for sacrament meeting. We were waiting for our bus and our bus came and we decided to stay. So we just started talking to everyone. We gave out a few cards and got a few numbers as we waited for our next bus. The bus pulled up and we got in. I had the Liahonna on my lap and this man behind us asked us who we were.He asked us if we were Jehovah's witnesses....we get that a lot unfortunately....haha We were a little nervous because we don't contact men. So it was one of the first times that a man had contacted us! Men here in France are....different.... We were nervous...haha but he basically sat down across from us and told us that he'd been looking for a church for his family and he hadn't found one. He said that he'd never been on that bus before and God led him on it. He said that he felt prompted to talk to us and knew that we were different. He had to get off the bus but he gave us his number and said his wife and his family needed others to walk with God. He got off and Miller and I looked at each other like "Did that just happen?" Our mission is specifically looking for families right now. So it was a miracle. That night we went home and changed our prepared talks completely. We wrote them with him in mind! Praying for a miracle that he'd show up. It's really rare for people to come when they say they will. The next day we called him on our way to church and he said he was already on his way with his family. They came! And they stayed all 3hours. It was incredible.

Miller and I taught sunday school and service and we ended up having 4 of our amis show up! The room was full. It was so great. Then we went to Sacrament meeting and did the music. Then we both spoke. haha it was the Miller Cam show. Kinda embarrassing. I spoke on enduring to the end with the Savior and she spoke about the peace we can receive from living the gospel. It was really cool.

After church we had a final appointment with Anne Marie for her preperation for her baptism. It went great! Her and William will finally be baptized this Saturday. MIRACLE. She could really use your prayers. She came to church with all the money she had left. She basically told God that she would use her faith and go to church if He could provide a way home for her. One of our dear members took her home. It was incredible to watch. That woman has more faith than anyone i know. I'm so excited to see the miracles that God has in store for her.

After church we went and had a lesson with a girl the Elders found. She lives with her sister. They are college students here who are mine and Miller's age. It was cool to hang out with them and talk about the gospel. We taught them then committed them to be baptized. And they both said yes. MIRACLE.

After that we went home to have dinner and to finish up the night. We were looking at our goals for the day and realized that God had helped us to exceed or accomplish every single one! Except for 1 more less active. Miller and I looked at each other and literally grabbed our bags and shoes and ran out the door with a less active in mind. We didn't know if there would be a bus because Sundays are crazy for the busses but we just ran out. All of a sudden it started to POUR rain. like sheets of rain. I felt like I was in a movie. We were running down the street to the next stop and we got on a random bus which happened to take us to the only bus that went to our less active's home that we hadn't been able to get ahold of. We headed over on the bus and looked at the bus time for it to come back. We only had about 15 minutes. So we jumped off in a dead sprint. It was hilarious in our dresses. But we got there to the door out of breath. We rang the door bell and...nothing. We rang it again and still...nothing. We had no idea if she was home. I said a prayer outloud and said, "Heavenly Father please give her the strength to open this door." Immediately, the door handle moved and she opened the door. I kid you not! We were super out of breath and she invited us in. We walked in to a dark, lonely, sad home. She was all alone. Her husband recently died and her children moved to Paris. It was heartbreaking. We told her we ran there to see her becasue we loved her and We asked her if we could pray with her and she said yes. We said a prayer and she had tears in her eyes. We hugged her goodbye and ran...literally ran to our bus. haha It felt So good to be there for the Lord. And to get our goals for the day! I have a huge testimony that God will use us if we are willing. He loves us that much! To let us be a part of His great work. He will help us accomplish it. It was a beautiful day and I know that God is mindful of us. As we sprinted to the bus home we were both just crying and crying. haha I feel like we do that more on our missions than we ever have before. It was just incredible to see how God could use 2 little 20 something year old white girls to calm the heart of a depressed woman. He heals us one by one individually usually through the hands of others.  It is an absolute honor and pirivlidge to be here. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I know that this is God's work! And it's the happiest I've ever been. God's love is so real. And it's so avaliable and acessible for all of us. I love sharing it with others.

Today for Pday we took a train to Amboise and visited the castle there then went to Leonardo Da Vinci's house. That man is a GENIUS. seriously i'm still in awe at all that he discovered and invented. It was so cool to see how God used him. 

Well I hope you all have an incredible week. I sure do love you all! This is my last week of training so I will officially not be a blue this time next week. can you believe i've been out here 12 weeks? Time is flying! I feel God's hand in my life preparing me and helping me be ready to be more. It'll be crazy to see what happens next week. I will for sure let you know as soon as we hear.

I love you all so much! If you could, please pray for Anne Marie and William and for their baptisms on Saturday. Thank you so much. thank you for all of your love and support. It means the world and I can feel it each day.

Have a beautiful beautiful week.

Love,

Soeur Cameron

100% No regrets. I've promised to give MORE

Leonardo De Vinci's house

Logan July 22, 2013

Hello my dear family,

It sounds as if you all are doing well. I hope this is true. You saw JOEL? oh man i miss that kid. if you see him again tell him i love him.  well lads and lasses first i want to thank Justin and Shannon for the package! killer ties. i wore my greeny one already! and i got some letters from bishop, brother tolton, and jacob miller. those lads are so amazing. It was great to hear from them. i hope the ward is doing well. 

Dad yes i can view the newsletter. There are already move ins? i have only been a missionary for 2 months! and you got a car! imagine what will happen in 2 years!

mom i have not got my package yet but thank you ever so much for sending it. 

Emily I am glad you got hit on by the wolverine, thats my school! yeah yeah. 

Ok Ok i know you are all anxious to hear about transfers. calm down its not the end of the world. I am no longer in the Rive Sud zone. I am in the quebec zone. but............. I am still in Mont Saint Hilaire. Huzzuh! my new companions name is elder wilbur. he will join me on wednesday. my companion elder rasmussen is going home. I am killing my trainer. Not many elders can say that!. we have like 20ish new missionaries coming in on wednesday. thats wild. i can remember when i was a young little missionary. now i am a seasoned veteran. haha just kidding i still haven't a clue what these quebecers are telling me. but slowly it is coming. i hope. 

Not too much happened this past week. We had a pass off lesson with the sisters in our area. His name is Baudilaire. He is haitian. he is a pretty cool guy. he boxes!! maybe he will teach me haha. then we had another lesson with him the day after. it was a good one. that was my first real lesson. i had to teach the first part. in french. it was super scary but i did it! hopefully he will let us come for another. we challenged him to come to church but he didn't show up. he wanted to come with someone he knew. 

other than that we did a lot of knocking. the days kind of blend together when all you do is knock. but it is good. we meet a lot of people. most of them say the same thing. but we still try and get to know them. it is fun. every once and a while we knock into a T.J. or jehova's witness. the last one we knocked into said, "What is God's name?" that is always the question. and then we just say, " it was nice to meet you" and walk away. that is the best thing to do we have found instead of arguing. but LIFEGOESON. haha 

hmmmmmm not a ton happened this week. 

we ate dinner with Soeur Bouvier. haha so she lives in an old folks home right? haha so the food there is absolutely terrible. its the worst haha but we ate there regardless. it was kind of neat eating with a bunch of old people. they are funny. this lady stared at me for the whole dinner. and winked a couple of times. what can i say i am an attractive man! hahaha just kidding. she was like 96. haha

We had a zone blitz earlier this week too. that was fun. one of my zone leaders is a huge gamer and while we were knocking he told me about the game he was going to make when he was home. haha it was hilarious. he is a great missionary. 

Well i have been thinking about 2 things as of late. first thing gratitude. I just want to thank all of you for helping me get here. I don't think i could have on my own. I have had great examples pave the way before me. and to all of you thank you. it is hard out here sometimes. especially when all you do is knock. but it is a great time to think. and i was thinking a lot about my purpose. why i was knocking. we are here to find souls to come unto Christ. we are looking for very specific people. Ones who are searching for the truth. and in this area there are few. but we are here to find them .

second thing i have been thinking about is faith. How our faith grows. Everyday while we knock a thought comes into my head, "Do you have the faith to find someone today?" at first i just shrugged it off but it proceeded to linger. As a missionary i can see how crucial faith is. i am here because i have faith in a God who answers prayers. I love this Gospel and I love sharing it even though it is hard.  Some days are long. some are short but everyday i find faith. i love it so much. 

anyways those are the thoughts of elder logan for the week. 

How are all of you?  is everything as summer should be? it is crazy that Parker is home! i cannot believe that. 

Soaking wet after a rain storm. 

And a unicorn. 

Natalie July 22, 2013

My dear fam fam!

Wow I can't thank you enough for the package you sent me. Thank you so so so much! i loved everything in it and freaked out when I opened it. It was so perfect and made my life. Hooray for American toothpaste! Thank you Thank you.

Things here are going incredible. We had another amazing week and I'm SO happy. It flew right by and I can't believe it's over. It is SO HOT and HUMID here. And for some reason, french people think it's a smart idea NOT to have AIR CONDITIONING> yep. haven't quite figured that one out yet. haha but it's good. it is just teaching us humility...because we look lovely all the time with the sweat dripping down our faces. haha I'm excited for AC's in American one day! We pray for wind everyday. haha

I had some fun things happen this week:

• Here is number one: I walked into a classy big store to look for a watch for my comp. We were walking around...then out of no where...I heard it...a familiar tone....a familiar clap sequence....then all of a sudden...."It's time to begin, isn't it? I get a little bit bigger but then I'll admit I'm just the same as I was. Now don't you understand? I'm never changing who I am" And you can guess what I did. Actually go ahead and guess....what do you think I did? Well I cried. and I laughed and I screamed a little...not really...because there were classy french people all around. I ripped out my camera with shaky hands and recorded IMAGINE DRAGONS playing in FRANCE!!!! Coolest moment EVER. That was the highlight of my day! I was SO proud. I even clapped. my comp was looking at me like I was insane.The french were as well...but well what's new? haha  The Dragons were represented well. Tender mercy.
  
• Number two-On Monday the Kehli family organized a FHE with some members in teh branch so we could invite our amis! It was the funnset night ever! We had 6 of our amis end up coming which was an absolute miracle. It was so cool. They were laughing and playing and we all felt so much joy. At the end we even played some basketball and I'll have you know that I was draining some heat out there in my dress and flats! (Yikes mom, I'm trying to get over my competitive side but I just let it silde that night) The members thought it was hilarious and everyone came and played. I LOVED IT
• Number three. So this week we finally met with Tessy again. She has had a baptismal date since we committed her the first week i was here but has put it off. She kind of dropped us hard. Finally we got ahold of her after not being able to see her for weeks and had a rendez-vous with her. We weren't going to give up on her! The spirit completely gave us what to say! We told her straight up what she needed to do to make the changes she needed in her life. She was super receptive. We committed her to be baptized again and she accepted. Ever since then she's been on fire! and has progressed like crazy. It's incredible to see the power of the Atonement work in someone's life to help them want to change! I believe that is on God's time table that people will progress and change. 

This week I studied a lot about the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25: 34-36. I love how it says, "Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For i was hungered and you gave me meat. iwas thirsty and ye gave me drink. I as a stranger and yet took me in. Naked and ye clothed me. I was sick and ye visited me. I was in prison and ye came to me. Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me." The savior invities us to give of ourselves in the service of others. Our opportunities to do so are limitless! Each day we can look for ways to gladden hearts, to say kind words to perform labors for others that cannot do it for themselves, and to share the gospel. "You will find the true kep to happiness is to labor for the happiness of others." True to the faith. Wow amen to this! I am the happiest i've ever been. I know that as we dilligently serve Him, we show Him we love Him. When the Savior Atoned for us individually, I believe that He left a part of Himself in all of us. When we search for Him in others, we'll find Him. When it's hard to serve, we'll find Him in their eyes and serve them becasue we love Him. This is what a mission is really about! This is why I'm here. To show God that I love Him. As I dilligently consecrate my mission to Him everyday, I can show Him my gratitude and love by dilligently finding, serving, and Loving His children. 

I love my mission with all of my heart! i love it more each day. It is an honor and a privilidge to watch the Savior change people's lives. This week we were on the bus and a lady stopped us and told us how great it was that we wore Christ's name on our hearts! And boy was she right! We were able to bear strong testimony to her of why we were doing it and we'll be meeting with her later on this week we hope. He is the reason people want to talk to us! This is His work and His time.  It is an honor to wear His name on my heart and be His servant here in France. I love France with all of my heart and Tours has become my home here. 

I love you all so much! And i hope you have an incredible week. You are in every thought and prayer and I am striving to live so you can receieve the blessings of a missionary!

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH

Soeur Cameron

100 % No regrets! I"VE PROMISED TO GIVE MORE

This is a creepy stalker photo of a couple we saw in Poitiers this week. I was dying and had to take a picture. 

Logan July 15, 2013

hello dear family and friends,

i am doing well. emily i can't believe you are driving. this isn't right. stop it. no its fine you can keep driving. your jokes are the highlight of the day. elder rasmussen was seriously on the floor laughing. things are a lot more funny when you are on a mission i think. ha. dad please don't embarrass mother at the parade. but go for the gold. get that candy! mother i am praying for you. you live in a zoo. ha.

my companion elder rasmussen is going home next week. i am going to miss him. he has been an answer to prayers for a great trainer. so i will get a new comp next Wednesday. i hope he will be a good one.

we did a lot of knocking this past week so not a ton of stories but i will do my best to embellish them so they seem a lot cooler then they really are.... hah no i won't.

so we were shopping for groceries and this guy comes up to us, he was a little crazy, and he says man what size shoe do you got? pointing to my shoe. i said i think 10s and he said, those shoes look like real A kickers, but he didn't say A. haha i was laughing really hard. also i found out that the riddle you gave us is false! they did the math incorrectly to fool us! but we are smart!

we had a lot of DAs this week, DA stands for Dinner Appointment for all those of you who were confused. I love our ward. there are some interesting people. i laugh a lot. haha. First DA was at Soeur petite's house. she is old. and her friend came, she is old, and frere barry came. he is old. and peter came. he is really old. and then there was my companion and myself. haha no other place on earth would 2 young guys be chillin with 4 people triple our age. hahaha it is my favorite

next DA was at the famille Blain. they are awesome. they have a small family and the mom is young womans pres and the dad is the young mens pres. so great family for ward council. we did service at there house the next day and the dad pretty much loves us.

next DA was at a Haitian home. I LOVE HAITIANS haha they are so cool. kind of hard to understand though. they always speak french to us then speak crioel to each other so i had no idea what was going on.

WE went to soeur bouviers again. and i got a picutre this time. she is my favorite person ever even if we have to say our names like 12 times through out the course of our stay with her. haha she is always happy. i never leave that place sad.

and we saw some more naked babies. what is with this place?
 

i love you all. keep me posted. Good luck at the parade.

and prepare to be amazed with some pics.

Natalie July 15, 2013

Dear family,

WOW what an incredible week! Probably one of the best weeks of my life. I am SO happy and so grateful to be a missionary. I have seen so many miracles and I can't believe how real the gospel is! I have such a testimony of the power of prayer and of tender mercies.

On Tuesday this week we were on our normal train ride to Poitiers for district meeting. Miller and I decided to consecrate our time to studying the scriptures and prepping for our lessons that night. We moved to a table and opened our quads. We began studying personally and this older man walked up and without looking out our plaques or hearing us speak, he spoke in english and said, "wow that's a big book you've got there." We told him it was the bible and he laughed and said he knew and he took a seat by us. We began talking and he had an english accent. Pretty soon we find out that he's a famous architect named Ivor Richards who teaches at Cambridge University. He has a lot of friends in high places. One of his best friends is the Queen's astronomer! As we talked he bore testimony over and over again that "God is indisputable" We each talked about God and he told us why he believed in Him. It was one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had in my life. Here he is, this famous, smart, brilliant man and he was taking a moment on his busy train ride to sit with us and testify of God. I was taking notes like crazy trying to remember all that he was teaching us. As he was getting ready to leave, he teared up and he said, "What you do is marvelous and what's in your heart shines out in your eyes. You have a light, that shines brighter than any I've ever seen. Do you know that?" He kept saying how we were changing the world and giving the world what it needed. He kept pointing to our quads and he didn't even know how right he was! He was pointing at the Book of Mormon! Wow it was an incredible experience that changed my life. He gave us his contact information and asked us for ours. We exchanged it and he left with tears in his eyes.

Wednesday, Miller and I decided to consecrate the whole day to finding a family. We took a random bus to a random city about an hour away. We started walking and told God we were here for Him and they we were ready to find whoever He needed us to find! We started walking and pretty soon we ran into William! It has been a few weeks since we've seen him and his mom Anne-Marie. They had baptism dates set but things came up in their lives and we've been trying like crazy to meet with them. He ran over to us and we started talking with him. We taught him a lesson on the side of the road! We asked him why he wanted to be baptized and he said he wanted to follow Jesus Christ. We gave him some scriptures to read on faith and sent him on his way. That night his mom called us and said she wanted to meet with us! that was a miracle! So we met with her. Anne Marie was struggling with her decision to be baptized becasue she was already baptized in an African church. We have taught her over and over about authority but it never clicked. We were worried! But we had this rendez-vous with her and she said William came home and they read the scriptures together and loved reading about faith. We taught her again and at the end I asked her again if she would be baptized with her son, and SHE SAID YES. She has no issues now and it's full steam ahead! isn't that incredible? We will have 5 baptisms in the next month. Elder Oaks is coming in September and our mission made a goal to get 100 baptisms before he comes. God hears our prayers! MIRACLES. So after we left William that Wednesday, we ran into a little family. We contacted her and testified of families. The mom started to cry! Which is really odd for a french woman. She gave us her info and we have a rendezvous with her this week. THEN we ran into another little African family! We testified of the Savior and she gave us her info! We have another rendezvous with her. Crazy! i know and testify that God lives! and this is His work. Miracles are real! 3 famlies in one day! we were giddy!

Thursday the Tour de France came through Tours!! it was so much fun! We had our little American flags and cheered our hearts out. It was a blast. There were people from all around the world.One of my life dreams fulfilled!!

Friday we took a train to Paris for my legality! I went with my blues and we had health exams and stuff. Then we had an awesome training from the APs then went and explored Paris! And i finally got to see the Eiffel Tower! Wow it was INCREDIBLE. I died. We ate an icecream cone under it to celebrate. 

Saturday we got home and had a rendez-vous with our ami Jacqueline. Her sister was there. Her sister was very negative and kind of mean. We were teaching about the Book of Mormon. My comp was talking about it and the sister interupted her and told her that they needed someone with better french to come over and teach them so they could actually discuss. She said some other rude things and we decided it'd be best for us to leave. All of a sudden this crazy feeling came inside of me and before we got up my mouth opened. I boldly testified of the Savior and His gospel. I told them that I'd been in France exactly 2 months and I couldn't speak french fluently, but we dont' know God through french. We know Him through the Spirit and through His teachings and through Him. I testified that God lives and that He's real. The room was so quiet and the Spirit was so thick. I can't even explain how crazy it was! They looked at me with their mouths open. Then I kindly stood up and said that we needed to go and my comp and I walked out. I know that it was completely the Spirit. And I know that this is God's work! And if someone degrades it, He feels it. It was ah so incredible feeling Him work through me. It was a cool experience!

Ah life is absolutely amazing. I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life and I'm SO grateful to be a missionary. I love putting my plaque on everyday and walking and talking and teaching. I couldn't be happier and I know that God is here! We're finding families, our amis are progressing, the branch is finally working with us! The Savior is here.

I love you all so much and you're in every prayer! We're praying for you over here in France and we can feel your prayers! Miller and I are becoming great friends and our unity has never been stronger. Work is happening and we're so happy to be a part of it! God lives!!!

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL WEEK! LOVE YOU ALL

Soeur Cameron

100% no regrets I've promised to give MORE