Logan July 29, 2014

dont worry family i am alive, i know mother is probably ready to call president patrick and say where is my son! we had to switch our pday to today because we were all over the place yesterday. this has been one  of the strangest weeks of my mission, also one of the longest and one of the most stories, so get ready to laugh, to cry, to worry, to be proud, and to be glad that you are americans and have hospitals that work well. 

but first i will respond to some questions that were asked by my mom, i am doing well, i am healthy, my comp is doing well, and i dont need anything,

well that was easy, so i know you are all wondering what happened! well let me tell you, 

first i am sure you saw the pictures of my bonsai tree, how cool is that, i found it at walmart, so i bought it, my dreams have come true. i have always wanted a bonsai tree. i trimmed him the other day, he is looking great. we also played soccer with some other missionaries and some less actives from the french ward. that was fun. we had a good time, this sister missionary that works near us does rodeo, and so so brought her rope and was roping chairs and us. i was running around the gym like a wild bull and she roped my ankle and the wild bull fell down haha. it was fun

so we had a pretty regular week until friday. My companion woke up and his big toe hurt really bad. so we were just taking it easy in the apartment for a little while. he couldn't even put on a shoe. then it got worse so we called up sister patrick and decided to go the emergency room. so off we went at 2:30 pmto the saint eustache hospital. we got there and started to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait some more, and then....... wait. it was crazy, 5:00 came around and we still were in the same gray chairs, 8:00 came and still i was in that same chair, 9:00 came and president patrick showed up with sister patrick and one of their children, they brought us subway and a bunch of food. it was amazing, a tear came down my face when i saw Peanut M&Ms. so they stayed with us for about an hour, then they left and we kept on waiting, finally about 3:00am he got called back, got an x-ray and by 4:30 in the morning we left the hospital. 14 hours of sitting in a gray plastic chair. it was so so so long! but it was kind of fun, we met some funny people. there was an article on the news about jehovas witnesses and so everyone was staring at us until one of them had the courage to ask me if i was a jehovas witness, i said no i am mormon! then this lady said oh i know the mormons the family is really important to you right? and then we got to tell them where the church was and a little bit more about the church. one of the ladies was the comedian for everyone there. there were about 5 or 6 old quebecois ladies just having a great time in the emergency room. haha once someone got called and i started clapping for them and then all the old ladies followed me haha. we started applauding everyone who got to go see the doctor. one lady shouted YOUPEE! haha i was almost wetting my pants then. good times. one of this old ladies, after president left said, oh my that man he is your father, i said no, 

well what is he?

he is our president for the missionaries,

oh he is a beautiful man

haha then i told sister patrick what she said when i sent a thank you text and she said to tell her that he is taken haha

so after we went home president told us to sleep. so i slept in! only until 10:30 and then i couldn't sleep any longer. so i am really tired. i have yet to recover from the excursion. 

then monday we had more doctors to see. we were all over the place. and today i get to rest. finally. i am tired. 

we had some pretty good lessons this week. we gave sylvia a date to be baptized!!!!! imagine that! she is going to be baptized in september. i am super excited for her. 

kelly said some funny things this week. last week elder sloot made him a holder for his cigarettes made out of pictures of Jesus, he said he took it to the casino and a lady asked him for a smoke, he held up his case and said, madam Jesus doesn't want you to smoke haha. hahah he is so funny, then he was telling us, "my daughter was telling me that she thinks i love the cat more than her i said dont be ridiculous i love you both the same. haha oh man always a laugh with this guy. 

I was doing some reading in alma this week 6 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, you that belong to this church, have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them? And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell?

 7 Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word; yea, they were encircled about by the bands of death, and the chains of hell, and an everlasting destruction did await them.

I loved reading this. This is what happens when we are truly converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He changes our hearts, and wakes us up. He illuminates our souls with His light and casts out all despair. He truly does set us free. I know He is the Christ. He is the Savior of the world. He has changed my heart and has freed me from sin, and i am doing all i can to help others become free. 

i love you all and pray for you each and everyday 

GOD SPEED BROTHERS AND SISTERS

elder cameron

Natalie July 28, 2014

What a week. Holy hannah.

I can honestly say that this week has probably been one of the craziest and most incredible weeks of my life. I have never run so fast. Never seen so much. Never felt so much. Wow. Where to start.

So Tuesday, we had zone conference with the Babins in Paris. It was so incredible and we talked about consecrating ourselves to the Lord. Everything I've been studying for the past few months. It was pretty incredible. We also had interviews. We ended up going last so we had a lot of time. We happen to be the only soeurs in our whole zone as well--weird for our mission. So naturally, we all sat around the piano and layed down a sick jam session. Primary songs included. Ben Folds style. We even have Tahitians who had real life ukes. Some Elders are planning a musical fireside for our amis so we've been busy arranging and getting ready for that. 2 Tahitians, a couple of Americans, a grand piano, 1 guitar, 2 ukes, and beautiful tenor voices. hmm I'm real excited.

So, Wednesday. I went to the mission home to be with Soeur Williams. She was there going to doctors and with president, trying to figure out if she should go home or not. It was a really hard decision and we weren't sure what to do. President let us do an exchange for a day to see if we could study and brainstorm together to find an answer! That day, through a lot of sacred, incredible experiences we got our answer. We felt it would be better for her now to return home and get some help in order to return. President Babin has been absolutely incredible about it. He interviewed me again and told me to make Soeur William's last days in France the most beautiful. "les plus belle" So we did. He told me to take her to the Versailles castle. ok? what? It is closed on Mondays so missionaries never get to go. It's only the most famous castle in the world. So we went. And it was absolutely breath takingly magical. We visited inside the castle, ate paninis alongside the river in the gardens, walked through Marie Antoinette's estate and village that is completely left the way it was left. It was like walking into another world. Soeur Williams was brimming from ear to ear and told me she was the happiest she'd ever been.

The castle was breath taking, the gardens magical, and the experience unforgettable, but none of it compared to where we went next. We walked about 200 meters up the street. And made a little stop at the temple site of our temple. It was really emotional and lifechanging. The story behind that land, the experiences that have led up to getting a temple there, and the hearts of every single passionate french member living in this country were felt. One of my biggest dreams is to come back here for the dedication with all of my french family waiting for me here. It will be an emotional day in France. Then, we made our way over to Consecration Hill. It is the place I went the first day of my mission to set all of my mission goals. Pretty incredible going back and seeing what God has made of my mission. And of me. It was really special. We ate at a beautiful crêperie and ate galettes. Best ones i've ever had. It was magical. Then we walked home along the Seine.

Saturday, we got up and the office elders drove us to the airport to drop Soeur Williams off. It was powerful to see how bold Soeur Williams was. It was literally the hardest thing she's done. Walking onto that plane away from us. But she did it. And the coolset part, is she is coming back. And president promised her she could come back to Valenciennes. Unbelievable.

So then the elders dropped us off at the gare, we got on a train to go close down Valenciennes. Summers are fun in France. Lots of sweaty people. We happened to be right next to one on our train into V'town. A big guy. Lots of hair. Lots of stank. But the coolest part is, because of it we made friends with a random classy french lady sitting across from us when we'd all just look at each other and bust up laughing when he would get up drenched in sweat to creepily walk by us like 10 times. Then the train controler walked by, asked us about the church and we taught him! Then got some referals for missionaries in the marshall Islands. It was a miracle!

We got to Valenciennes and had 3 hours to pack up her stuff, get the apartment ready and jump back on the train. The Rousseaux's came and the the Bishop and his fam to say hi and take us to the gare. It was SO good seeing them. A happy reunion. We had another train, switched gares with luggage then headed back into Paris and got Soeur Holmes safely with her other companions. It was quite the adventure.

Throughout this week, I have learned over and over and over again how real Heavenly Father's power is. He is our Father. He loves us. He wants us to be happy. And when we really look, we can see His loving tender mercies in every minute of every day. He is fighting for us. He loves us.

Well i love you all! hope you have a great week. know i'm praying for you and thinking of you lots

Love,
Soeur Cameron 100 % no regrets i've promised to give more!

Logan July 21, 2014

Hey fam, friends, loved ones, people i dont know, 

how are you?

wow trek sounded great. i am so glad you all got to go. i wish i could have been there, man dad there must have been a ton of dust, for some reason i dont really remember all that dust there, how time changes the climate, haha 

i know what i want for christmas! JAMMYPACK what? yah coolest thing i have ever seen, please tell mckay that i love him and he has inspired me. Trek is like general conference, going to the temple, sacrament meeting, and all those firesides all packed into 3 crazy days, something i like to call a sucker punch of the spirit, right to the face! not even chuck norris is capable of a strike this powerful. imagine that!

I love that scripture that your family chose, It has also helped me on the mission, I have been thinking about the Holy Ghost and how he works through us to comfort others, and often times that is how we receive the comfort we need, for example: i was really sad at the beginning of this week because i learned that a recent convert of mine back in mont saint hilaire doesn't come to church anymore, the missionaries said that he doesnt want anything to do with the church right now. so i was really sad about all of this and i needed some comfort, so then this happened, The Forbes family invited us over for dinner, He is the brother that is from England. it was a pretty standard DA until i mentioned i play the guitar, then he said, want to see something, so then he took me downstairs and showed me his beauty, this awesome electric guitar with a sick amp. i was so happy haha, he let me play it for a little while and we talked about music. It was just what i needed.  I know that there isn't much that i can do for the man who left the church but i can pray that he can feel some of the same comfort that i felt. 

So we had an interesting encounter with someone this week, we went to go try a potential investigator and as we got there she pulled up. we were thinking hey this is awesome, maybe this was supposed to happen, then satan came in! a man yelled at us from across the street and said, "hey boys, you dont need to worry about her, dont waste your time she already comes to this church," it was pastor joey. we didn't move because we wanted to talk to this lady, then he walked over to "protect the flock" as he said. So doing all that he possibly could to take the agency away from this woman, and making a complete fool of himself, we decided to leave because the spirit was long gone. I was real angry with him and i wanted to give him one of those sucker punches that i was talking about earlier. then after a long drive we went to our next appointment, sister bellman. It was funny because she said, you know i learned something, holding a grudge only hurts me, hating others never did any good. darn, i was humbled by a less active. it was a lesson i shall never forget. I was thinking about forgiveness and how hard it can be some times. this man made me so mad and i was wondering how could i forgive someone that is trying to thwart the plans of God? but then i was reminded of the greatest example of all: Forgive them for they know not what they do" the Savior is able to forgive the most vile sinners that ever existed, and he commands all men everywhere to forgive and forget, so after much prayer and "wrestling in the spirit" as enos puts it i was able to put it behind me.  

i still dont get it 100% i dont think i ever will here on earth but we know enough like elder andersen says, to keep the commandments. 

I had a funny experience, so that man who let me play his guitar has a little boy who is around 5. he was bouncing off the walls and so i played with him for a while. he was funny, he reminds me of myself when i was younger. then at church yesterday he ran up to me and started jumping on me haha. i made a friend. we were playing a little bit when his mother asked me if i had adhd. haha is worried about her son going to school and stuff, and i said, not that i am aware of haha. i have never been asked that before though i am sure that many have thought it.

well family, it was great to hear about trek, i am glad you had a great time. thank you for everything! i love you all and pray for you everyday 

elder cameron

Natalie July 21, 2014

Hello my family!

It was so great hearing from you and everyone's experiences this week. Trek sounded amazing! I thought about you all week as you were there and prayed for you a lot. I hope you felt me pushing along with you. 

This week was so incredible and I had a lot of miracles. So first, I had the chance to go back to...TOURS. My blue ville! Can you believe that? It was an incredible experience with a lot of surprises. I came in on the train and there waiting for me was none other than my daughter SOEUR RICHARDS!! Incredible right? She came to surprise me because she had district meeting in Tours. She jumped out and there was a huge group of missionaries to meet us at the gare. Incredible. I love her.

Then, that night I went with Soeur Bradley. one of my dearest friends. We have always dreamed of doing an exchange and we got to! We had a blast and LOVED being together. She has taught me so much about LOVE and the Savior and the difference we can make in other's lives. So we went and visited...wait for it....ANNE-MARIE and WILLIAM! We surprised her. I'll never forget. We knocked on the door and William opened the door. He looked SO shocked and yelled for his mom. It was fun. There were a lot of hugs and "Ah soeur cameron"s and lots of fun. It has been one year since I've seen her. And I LOVE HER. She is a different preson. She was just glowing. You can see it in the picture; She testified of the blessings that the gospel has brought to her in her life. She was baptized in January, William was baptized the week I left. And they have been going to church! miracle! the first baptism in decades that is remained active in Tours. It was such an incredible blessing and miracle to have been able to see her one last time. She is a beautiful woman with a beautiful soul. My first contact on my mission. My first amie. My first baptisimal date. She will remain in my heart forever.

We also took a bus, and I saw a familiar street. I had a lot of memories come back to me on that little street. A little over a year ago, I set out on that road with my trainer after a hard day at church. My first ward council in France. It came on me like a wave. I vividly remember walking with my head bent down and saying outloud, "Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep going. There is hope and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon. Some come late. And some don't  come till heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It'll be alright in the end, trust God and believe in good things to come." I got a little misty eyed remembering that moment over a year ago. And God gave me a beautiful moment. Oh how Jeffrey couldn't have been more right. In the past 15 almost 16 months, I have had nothing but incredible beautiful good things that came. Heavenly Father remembered me. I am a completely different person than the little girl that walked down that road. I am strong. I love more deeply. I understand and KNOW who God is on a level deeper than I ever have before. I understand the Savior's Atonement and I know He lives. I understand why I'm here, who I was before, and who I must continue to be to stand as His witness. The biggest miracle of my mission is me.

This week we were on our way home and had a little time left; We were contacting and I prayed that we would find someone for Soeur Henson. She plays the guitar and LOVES music. And I knew God would take care of her. Miracle-every woman we talked to listened to us. None interested but nice. Then we came to our dear friend sitting on a bench. We contacted her talked and had a nice lesson. We were getting ready to leave and music came up. She told us she played the guitar, soeur henson and i  both looked at each other and died. Then she invited us in her apartment to jam!!! seriously??? so we did! and it was glorious. And I def sang "oh happy day" with an African. life is good.

out of time. but i love you all so much! thank you for your unending support and love. it is felt. i hope you have a great day and a great week.

we had some fun rain this week. could not be happier. literally. i love everything about life. I love God and am so blessed to be here. 

Love

Soeur Cameron

100% No regrets I've promised to give more!!!

Logan July 14, 2014

hey y'all, how ya doing?

I am doing swell. My cousin is really married? wow is the lad nice? that is pretty cool. good for her. 

I can't believe little jakey is going to the mtc on wednesday. that is so great. hey can someone acquire his address, for i greatly wish to send him a letter. or an email address. I can't believe that trek is here again. i loved trek. i made some great friends, danced in a giant circle, cried some tears, and ate some pretty good food. I dont remember much from the excursion but i do remember sitting around the camp fire and listening to testimonies, i remember Tanner lee crying as he told about losing their baby. it was a moment i will never forget. mom dont be nervous. you are going to be great. It was hard but it was some of the greatest fun i have had with the 32nd ward. I am serious when i say that trek was one of the biggest events to shape my testimony. 

EMILY CAN DRIVE? ha i knew that even though legally you could drive something would be hindering you actually driving. and i had a feeling that it would be mother. hey em i have been there. just tell her you will go to the store and buy her a Doctor Pepper and some chocolate and then she will let you go. I did it like 100 times. it works even faster if you tell her you will buy it with your own money. Em you have to get a job you are 16 now. get over to that hobby lobby! tell Lori hi for me and then ask for a job. since you are the sister of 2 of the greatest employees to ever walk into that establishment then i am pretty sure you could get it. good luck Go fight win!. then tell me how it goes i enjoy our chats.

this week was a pretty good one. we did some service for a lady in our branch. she is pretty clueless about gardening and so we went to her house with none other than brother worrall! he is the garden master, and the pie master and the running master, he is a master at many things. haha so he taught her how to do some things and then we pulled some weeds. it was a great service project. she needed help, we found someone who knew about gardens,(too bad dad wasn't there) and then we helped. it didn't take too much time either. Then she got us a pizza. it was tasty. another cool thing was we got to talk to her brother, a nonmember, and get to know him a little bit more. maybe one day we will get to teach him.

yesterday at church we had a cool experience. there is a new family in our branch. the brother is from england and the sister is quebecoise. so they spoke in our branch. it was awesome. brother forbes gave  great talk about his life. he served a mission when he was 25 and so his experience was a little different than mine is. he had a really funny story when he was at the super market and he met a nesquick buddy, he gave her a pass along card and she came to church. not as the bunny, but he later baptized her. it was really funny the way he told the story, with his accent.

after church i told him that his talk was great then we started exchanging stories and stuff, then after church he asked us to give him a blessing. he told us somethings going wrong and why he was a little sick, so elder sloot gave him a blessing. it was awesome the spirit was really strong. I love the power of the Priesthood. we barely knew this man, we dont really know what he is going through, but we blessed him with specific things that he needed to hear. I dont know what they were but the spirit was there. 

then right after that we went to give sister Donna a blessing. she has been pretty sick, i have talked about her before. she is awesome, always willing to help out the missionaries. we walked in and just talked for a little bit. then we gave her the blessing. same deal the spirit was really strong and we said things that we didn't know we could say. it was amazing. I know that the priesthood truly has been restored to the Earth, Jesus Christ gave it to his apostles, Peter James and John, who appeared  to Jospeh smith and oliver Cowdrey and gave them that authority, which we today hold. It has blessed so many lives and will continue to do so. 

sister jeary took us out for dinner this week! she took us to an Italian restaurant, she is so kind. she is another member that is always willing to help the missionaries out. with anything! plus she wanted to do something nice after we moved her piano which must have been made from lead. 

I got my interview with president patrick this last week. it was great. he truly does love us and it makes a difference. I have learned so much from this man. I am pretty sure he is going to be the next apostle. Mark my words!

i had a lot of great studies this week. I studied about addiction and repentance, everyone at some point has some trouble with addiction, i was trying to find some stuff to share with some people we are working with. there is a funny line in preach my gospel that says, no wonder we have to word of wisdom, the more that i think about addiction and the chains that bind us down the more apparent it is the commandments never were bondage. they never will be either, they keep us clean and pure to receive things much more precious then temporary pleasure. I read something in the ensign this morning that i think comes from Elder Uchtdorf. he says something along the lines of losing the pearls of living the gospels for a fake plastic imitation that will never satisfy. It was so great to read. 

so quick story before i leave. there are pictures of this that i sent home, but we were on our way home and we drove past a free outdoor concert for the city that we live in. so we stopped for 5 minutes, it was super cool, french music, kind of indie alternative stuff. the stuff i love. so i took some photos. i was pretty trunky to play music again with the band. it was a great sight to see

well i love you all very much. have fun at trek, and the other activities you have planned. i hope all goes well. i pray for you all the time

GOD SPEED

elder cameron

Natalie July 14, 2014

Hello everyone!

Today is Bastille day in France. Happy 14th of July. Lots of fireworks last night and lots of other fun stuff...haha oh France. It really is beautiful to see how they love to celebrate things here. 

We have had an incredible week with a lot of answers and miracles. We sent our Linton on a train to Lille and helped others soeurs get to their gares to go to their new villes. It was really fun to see everyone. Weird being an old sister. But a lot of fun too. We had mission council this week and we were blown away by the Babins. They are so incredible. And I love them a lot. They are so loving and SO close to the spirit. They are 2 of the most powerful people i've ever met. We have already seen a lot of miracles alongside them. I don't know how I got so lucky to serve here.

So this week we had a rendez-vous with our ami Marie-Line. She is the one that decided to forgive her abusive father that she hadn't seen in over 18 years. Wow. It was pretty powerful. She was glowing. The Elders gave her a blessing last sunday right before she went. And when we saw her this week she said that she folded it up and kept it next to her heart through it all. And she sleeps with it under her pillow. It was pretty sweet. Brought some tears to our eyes. She told us that she will get baptized before I leave my mission. So here's hoping that the spirit will tell her when. She is so ready to do it. I love her a lot. A beautiful woman.

This week our studies were so beautiful. Listen to this beautiful verse in Luke 4.

18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

I love the way the Savior speaks. And I love His divine role and mission that He lived. I have thought a lot about healing this week. The power from the priesthood and also the spiritual gift that it is to heal. To heal physically but also spiritually. There are a lot of wounded spirits in the world. Who are aching and wanting to be whole but don't know how. 

We found a beautiful parallel in my favorite story in 3 Nephi 17. 

5 And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them.
 6 And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled withcompassion towards you.
 7 Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.

What beautiful compassion He shows. The thing that touched us the most, is that He asks this people to bring those who weren't there. They were not there with the Savior. They didn't know He was there. As I sat there thinking about that. I wondered Who would I bring? Who do I know that needs to be healed. Who can I bring to the Savior?

We cannot do the healing. That is the Savior's job. But, we can "bring them hither" The only thing we can do to help those who are wounded, is to bring them to the feet of the Savior. Where He will heal them individually, personally, beautifully. Alone. One on One; How beautiful that is. And what an honor it is to be His carrier. To do His work. And to be a small part in His healing process.

This week, I have had the opportunity multiple times to be a part of this healing process with people I love dearly. And I testify that It. Is. Real. The Savior is real and He is still healing people as we bring them hither. I testify that He is perfect, loving, and ever gentle and kind as we stumble about our paths finding those who need His touch.

I love you all and hope that you have an incredible time at trek. I hope you feel me pushing along with you. I'll be there in spirit and prayer with the rest of our family on both sides of the veil.

Love you more than words can say.

Love

Soeur Cameron

100% No regrets I've promised to give MORE

POURING rain this week and a cool bridge in paris, and maybs a little fun at a photo machine??

Logan July 7, 2014

so mother i will answer your questions so i dont get hurt, i am healthy as ever, losing a little weight which is good. i am working hard and taking care of myself. guess what i fasted the whole 24 hours yesterday and i didn't feel sick at all! hows that for blessings. my comp is great. i love him and we are working well together.

this week was a good one! i went on an exchange with one of my best friends in the mission. elder williams. he is great. he is from park city utah and he plays soccer and so we had a lot to talk about. i have been on 6 exchanges with him. he has been in the area a long time and so have i. so that was fun. we went on tuesday which was canada day. he serves in the west island. so at the very west of montreal. it is all english over there. a ton of people from india, sri lanka, pakistan, and all over the place. there is a place there that is called petit afrique. that is the one french neighbourhood. it was great to speak french there.  we went and did service at the old folks home. i think i have talked about that place before. This time we played monopoly. so i was banker and i played with 6 old ladies. when i mean played with i actually mean played for. they didn't really understand the concept of the game. one lady, the only french lady there, was the only one that was really "all there" so that was fun. i got to speak some good quebecois with her and joke around a little bit. the lady in charge told me that i was very enthusiastic with the older people. haha what can i say i try my best. my favorite part of the service was when i said, "all right ladies lets roll up those dice" they laughed every time, as if it was the first time i had ever said it. haha i had a good time. while we were playing monopoly the lady in charge turned on the usa game. so that was a tender mercy haha. I just love soccer so much. unfortunalty we had to leave before it was over, but we went to wendy's to eat. so we caught the end. i cried. 

we also mowed a lawn of an investigator they have. we didn't want to change our clothes because we had something right after so i just said that i could put on the nikes and mow that sucker up. i looked a little odd with my white shirt and tie mowing the lawn. I guess that is  one way to get people curious about the church haha. i got some funny looks. i just waved to them and they laughed. 

we met this guy while on our way to a less active's house. his name is siva. he is from sri lanka. he wasn't really interested in the church but he did accept our offer for service. he was just moving in to his new house so we went back the next morning to help him a little bit. he didn't really know what he wanted us to do so we just moved a bunch of stuff from one room to another, and then stuff in the room we just moved stuff into, we moved into another room. haha i had to bite my finger so i wouldn't laugh. he kept saying, "you want i give!" i didn't want anything he had to offer so he didn't give. it was fun though. 

on tuesday night after we planned the fireworks for canada day started. fun fact west island is the only place in quebec where they celebrate canada day like they should. haha no one else really cares about canada day. but sait jean baptiste day now that is bigger than christmas. But we got to watch the fireworks for a little and i got some photos. which i already mentioned in the above paragraph. 

we had a crazy sunday. so we talked about "the family: a proclamation to the world." in priesthood. lets just say i am glad we have no male investigators. yup. we got off topic a lot. and it was extremely hard to get her back. we had some really strong active members try to be heroes and get her back but nothing was working. a lot of great things were said though, a lot of false doctrine was thrown out, but overall the feeling at the end was a lot better then it could have ended up. haha i had to, again, bite my finger to prevent some laughs. my favorite quote from the lesson was when our elders quorum president was talking about hollywood and then he said, "as far as i am concerned, they can all burn." haha oh man that was good. but we did get some great discussion on what our roles are as children of God and how gender gives us different responsibilities. we are all equal in the eyes God. i like that a lot. 

I have been doing some studies on the spirit and how to recognize it. i studied prayer and how we should use prayer. I will admit i have found that my nightly prayers are lacking in the crakin. I was reading in Preach my Gospel about prayer and i read that we should give an account of the day to Heavenly Father. we can say what we did well and what we wish we could have done better. we can ask for forgiveness and make goals to become better. The Spirit should be guiding our prayers. i have always found that interesting. It just hit me, i told jess this already, but if the Holy Ghost is guiding our prayers then He can tell us things that we need, or that other people need, and as we ask for those blessings we can receive ideas of how we can help. I also did a study on fasting. i have never understood fasting. maybe it was because i didn't like so much that i refused to try to understand. but i really tried it this last week. I tried the entire day to not think about food, but to focus my thoughts on those special people in my life that need a little more help. As i put my energy in thinking about them, the pain of not eating food went away. I think i grew to love them more and appreciate them more in my life. One of those people i fasted for was Donna Vander Haghe. she is a less active in our branch with some health issues. she is not doing to well right now so we fasted as a branch for her. I felt so different about fasting and so much more of the spirit that sunday. it was a great experience for me. 

we went to the biodome last monday for pday. it was super fun. we got to see all these creatures that i will show you. and while we came out we had to go through the Jazz festival to go to the metro stop. and dad lets just say you have to come here before you die. it is mandatory. 

Thank you so much for all you do for me. i love you all a lot. 

elder cameron

 

The Penguin Whisperer

A Sloth

Montreal Jazz Music Festival