Well I'm sorry my e-mail never sent last week! It must
not have gone through, hopefully it sent this time. But all is well and
I'm alive and great. Yes the weather is finally coming over here! It
hasn't been too bad yet, but it's coming. Today was super windy and
rainy. Our plans of hiking the Eiffel Tower went out the
drain...literally...hahah did you catch that? Little punny joke for you
to keep you on your toes.
Well things are going great here in Melun! It was a
sad week. We dropped off our little Casagrande to go to the airport!
She's headed your way as we speak to the MTC where she'll spend a week
then she'll go to the Temple Square mission. You will have to go visit
her . Get ready Utah! She will change the world over there. She's
amazing and I miss her already. She taught me so much. One thing that
I'm not a huge fan out here is all the goodbyes. It is really hard. You
grow to love someone then they're just ripped away from you over and
over! It's not fun. But alas the work moves on.
So this week was great! But definitely a trial of my
faith. This week, every single one of our amis dropped us. It was
absolutely crazy. Our baptisimal date dropped us out of nowhere. it
broke my heart. We were really close with her, and she loved coming to
church. The advesary is so real. I know that someday along her way, the
missionaries will find her again and she will accept the gospel. I know
it.
This week we did a lot of great less active work! We
went to a family that Soeur Casagrande has gotten really close with.
The parents are active and their 2 daughters have families in the ward.
They have another son who is completely inactive and hasn't been to
church in years, and a younger daughter who is in young women's who is
also inactive. We had a rendez-vous with the daughter and the parents.
We shared a message of hope and of God's love and the spirit was really
strong. At the end of our lesson, the son came home and came up to talk
to us. It was the first time I've ever seen him. He's lived a hard life,
and is involved with a lot of sketchy things. We were all surprised
when he decided to sit down and join us in the lesson. I think his
parents were more surprised then we were. We shared the message again.
He told us he didn't feel worthy to come back and he really opened up.
At that moment, I remembered Elder Uchtdorf's talk " come join with us"
from conference. Soeur Poznanski asked us to share it with less active
members that we visit. I happened to have an extra copy in my bag, I was
scared to death, but I pulled it out and testified that they is always a
way back. I gave him the talk, invited him to church, and challenged
him to read it. He started reading it as we walked away. I'll never
forget the look on his face.
This Sunday
we were welcoming the ward members into the building. I looked up at
the door, and there he stood. For the first time in many many years, He
came. He came! He hesitantly stepped through the door and shook our
hands. And I will never never forget what happened next. Members
practially ran to him and surrounded him and with JOY hugged him and
welcomed him with kisses and tears. I will never forget it. He came to
our gospel principles class, and because none of our amis showed up, it
was him, 5 missionaries and our ward mission leader. haha he didn't
mind. He sat back and it was almost like he felt special. We gave him a
book of mormon and each of us went around in a circle and shared
scriptures. Most of us opened up randomly, and each scripture we read
applied to his life. It was unbelievable. And I know that God know him!
He marked each verse and read along with us.
Then, in sacrament meeting I continued to
watch his transformation. One of his sisters is a very active amazing
woman. They hadn't had contact in awhile and weren't talking. Her
husband is in the bishopric and she takes care of her babies each week
alone. One of them was crying and another one was screaming, and all of a
sudden, her brother jumped up from the back of the room and went to sit
with her. I can't imagine how much courgae it took, and I know it took
everything inside of him to do it. He put his arm around one of the boys
and began reading with him. His sister looked at him and I'll never
forget her face! At the end of the meeting, he was holding his baby
nephew and told us that it was the first time seeing him. He was a
changed man. And I know with everything inside of me that the gospel of
Jesus Christ is a place of refuge and peace and it is the place where we
can change! We can always come back. Always Always. After church, his
mother came up to us and told us, "mes sœurs, c'est grâce à vous que mon
fils et là. c'est grâce a vous." (my sisters, my son is here because of
you) It was one of the coolest experiences I've ever witnessed.
Here is a quote from Elder Utchdorf's talk:
I
am reminded of a time in the Savior’s life when many abandoned Him.
Jesus asked His twelve disciples:“Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter
answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal
life.”There are times when we have to answer the same question. Will we
also go away? Or will we, like Peter, hold fast to the words of eternal
life? If you seek truth, meaning, and a way to transform faith into
action; if you are looking for a place of belonging: Come, join with us!
If you have left the faith you once embraced: Come back again. Join
with us!
If you are tempted to give up: Stay yet a little longer. There is room
for you here. I plead with all who hear or read these words: Come, join
with us. Come heed the call of the gentle Christ. Take up your cross and
follow Him. Come, join with us! For here you will find what is precious
beyond price.I testify that here you will find the words of eternal
life, the promise of blessed redemption, and the pathway to peace and
happiness."
I know that God didn't forget us, His
missionaries. He gave us an incredible experience to show us that our
work here isn't wasted. He also showed his son, that he'd never left
him, even though he had wandered and left the path. He had stayed with
him the whole time, and He's here with open arms wanted to take him
back. I know that God knows us individually and He sends people in our
lives to help us along the way.
I love you all so much and I miss you tons! I
appreciate all of your prayers and I can feel them so much right now in
my life. I know that as we continue to work hard, miracles will happen
and we'll continue to see His hand in our lives everyday.
I love you and hope you have a great week! Say hello to my mountains for me
Love,
Soeur Cameron
100% no regrets, I've promised to give MORE
 |
| My Halloween Costume |
 |
| Saying good-bye. |
No comments:
Post a Comment