Natalie November 11, 2013

Hello everyone!

This week was another good, hard, crazy week! Learned so much and am not the same person I was 7 days ago. We had exchanges, interviews, zone conference and much much more. Last week, most of our amis dropped us, and this week all of our rendez-vous fell through! haha I don't really know what's going on in France right now, but I do know that the work must go on, and it does! Oh how grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father who knows us individually and fits us to the tasks that lay before us. No matter the challenge, we can do it. Through each challenge we face, He carefully molds us into someone stronger--someone fit to fight. And never give up.

I have always had a special place in my heart for the unsung heroes in life. I love Hyrum, Sam, and even Samwise! I love their loyalty, and their dedication to doing what's right for their brothers, friends, or whoever they support.This week I studied about the life of John the Baptist. And I've come to find out that he is another unsung hero that lived an incredible life. I love him! And he's now on my list of people to meet someday. Through the scriptures, we learn that John was called to prepare the way for his second cousin, the Savior Jesus Christ. Probably the most well known story of John is the moment when he baptized Christ. John was exactly where the Savior needed him at that moment--in the water. The moment we first learn of him, he's doing exactly what he was called to do.

I also learned that as Christ's ministry began to develop, John's followers started to leave him to follow the Savior; Some of the people asked him about it, and this was his humble reply: "He is as the Bridegroom; and I am only as the friend of the Bridegroom, His servant and I rejoice greatly in being thus near Him. His voice gives me happiness; and thus my joy is fulfilled" He humbly honors the Savior in every situation! Soon after, John was thrown in prison because of peer pressure from Herod's wife. The Savior sent men to tell John that "the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and to the poor the gospel is preached." I can't imagine how he must have felt learning of the things that he had prophesied of and the things he'd dedicated his whole life to seeing.  I imagine him sitting alone in that dark and dreary cell, pondering and just imagining the things the Savior was doing. It breaks my heart to think of his last few days. Soon after, he was beheaded unlawfully and his life ended. When I first studied this, I was really sad to see what had happened of him. He had dedicated his life to preaching the word of God, and he wasn't even there to see it. It reminded me of our missions. Sometimes we work so hard it hurts, and almost nothing seems to come of it. Sometimes we work so hard in a city and see "nothing" come of it in our own eyes. I was sad for him. As I continued to study in Jesus the Christ, I was reminded that "In May 1829, a resurrected personage appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey, announced himself as John known of old as John the Baptist, laid his hands upon the two young men and conferred upon them the priesthood of Aaron which comprises authority to preach and minister the gospel of Repentance of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins." God didn't forget John. He was called again, to help usher in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ--the same gospel that he had so diligently worked for. God remembered him and all the good he humbly left in his life. And because of Him, there are missionaries all over the world baptizing just as he did in his life.

This week, I was feeling a little like John. Every single one of our rendez-vous fell through and the work all of a sudden came to a slow, hard pace. It was hard! We were working hard and trying to find success--but it was hard to find. Sunday night, we decided to pass by a family that we've been trying to get in contact with. We knocked on the door, not knowing if they were busy or would let us in. She opened the door and we looked in to find aunts and uncles and extended family. They invited us in and we asked if we could pray with them! My companion Soeur Elliott said an incredible prayer, and the brother in law said "bravo. That was incredible." He then began to ask us questions. And lots of them. At first I was nervous, because I thought he was just going to try and prove us wrong like a lot of them do! But we soon found out that he genuinely wanted to know more. We then had an experience that changed our lives. With each question, words flew out of our mouth. Answers that we didn't even know! It was crazy. Our french was spot on and the Spirit was THICK. It was incredible. He told us that he was seriously impressed with us. He told us that he was an Evangelical preacher and had never been so impressed by girls our age. He asked us what made us different and how we weren't of the world. I boldly testified of my parents and the lessons they taught me, and how I came to know for myself that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the World. And He is the reason I'm here. We each bore testimony of the Restoration and the need to prepare for the Second coming of the Savior. He prayed for us at the end calling us "warriors of God". It was so powerful and as we were walking out the door he leaned over to his sister in law and told her how proud he was of her that she let us in. 

Just as God didn't forget John, He didn't forget us either. He used us for His work and He didn't leave us alone. I know that this is God's work and it is real! There is no way that two twenty something year old girls could sit in a small apartment in France and boldly answer questions and questions and questions from an Evangelist preacher and have it not be His work! That's exactly it. It's His work. His time. His gospel, and His Son. And that is why we're here. We're not here for it to be easy, because I learn over and over that it's not easy and it's not supposed to be. But it's worth it! And with every hard situation, comes amazing and incredible blessings.

Today we visited one of Napolean's castles and it was absolutely beautiful. We walked where he walked and took a tour inside their rooms. It was crazy! i'm reminded over and over and over again that this is where i'm supposed to be! I'm happy and healthy and living my dream. I know that this is the most important work that I could be doing in my life right now and its completely changing who I am. Couldn't be happier.

Love you all so much and hope you have a beautiful week!

Love,

Soeur Cameron

100% No regrets I've Promised to Give More

This...duh duh duh... is Napolean's castle. probably my all time favorite place I've visited so far.

this is the TOP of the list when ya'll come and visit someday. seriously

absolutely amazing.

Logan November 4, 2013

well family it has been another week. wow how time flies.

this week has been good. we had a zone meeting, we talked about working with less actives and not knocking as much as we are all used too but to work more with the members. YEAH! not that i don't like knocking or anything, i love knocking i get great stories but, it is not the funnest thing in the world.

so anyways how are all y'all? how was halloween, emily is going to parties? what this is strange, my last memory of home is that she is too young. mother forbid her from growing up. anyways we had some good lessons with our investigators. pauline the jamaican is always a great lesson. her accent is the greatest. she loves us. she calls us sweet heart everytime we go over. "come on over anytime you want sweet heart. i love my church people. believe you me child" that was a direct quote. 

so JUSTIN I TALKED WITH HENRI is is a super nice guy. we talked on the phone for a little while, he asked me if i like poutine as much as justin does and he is planning on taking us to la belle province and buying us lunch. haha he is super nice. it was fun talking with him. he is going in for surgery, well i guess he already did, so i haven't heard from him since but hopefully i will get to talk to him some more. "oh boy le frere de justin? j'aime justin, il est super"

this is a picture of what happens when you put two elders in the bathroom together and we feel like taking some stupid pictures. i don't know what y'all think but we look good.

we had a lesson this week where a less active told us that he was the cause for the tsunami in japan. he said that there were some bad men killing dolphins and he needed to save them so he prayed and a week later the waters came and well.... the bad men died. haha it was a little difficult to not giggle. he is so funny. his name is richard and justin he is the classic quebecois man. you know what i mean. haha 

so for halloween i was elder duran and he was me. we switched tags for the day. haha we tried to find a pumpkin but they were all gone. we were a little late because we tried to look for one on the 31st. we had to be inside by 6.

we had a dinner with a guy in the ward who has run 3 marathons every year since 1979 to 1990 and rides his bike everywhere still. he gave himself the nickname of the piemaster because he makes good pies. it was true he makes a mean apple pie. haha he is funny. 

we had a lesson with pauline and her grandson was there. he fell asleep in her arms like 5 minutes into the lesson. he is this little cute black boy with wild hair. and he starting snoring and i almost lost it. it was so funny. he was so loud. quite the opposite from when he was awake. haha

well i hope you are all doing well. it is good to hear that you are having fun. em how is school going? how is french?

i have been reading the book of mormon in french a lot. i want to have it finished by the time  the year is over. i love this book. everytime i read it i am filled with the spirit and i know that it is the tool that we can use to convert the multitude. i just read about abinidi. you know he was a real man. he had incredible faith. and because of that faith that he showed he was blessed with power. the men were not able to touch him until he was done giving his talk about the law of moses. and he was not afraid because he had faith. faith is the opposite of fear. it reminds me of the scripture where Jesus tells us to fear not little sheep, i think it is sheep. anyways. i love you all and i pray for you everyday because i know prayer works, i have felt the power of it in my life and everyday i wake up i feel the strength from my family. i love you all and pray  for you everyday. keep praying for chances to share your testimony with those you know. 

well i love you all peace out for the week.

elder cameron

Mais les yeux sont aveugles, il faut chercher avec le coeur.

Natalie November 4, 2013

Hello Family,

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.

Natalie October 29, 2013

Hello everyone!

Well this week was great! Transfers are this week and I'm staying in Melun! Woot woot! Thanks for all your prayers. I definitely feel like there's a lot more work for me to do in this ville and I cannot wait! We saw a lot of miracles and had some neat experiences this week. This week we had an appointment at 7 in the morning at the embassy in Paris for Soeur Casagrande's visa. We stayed the night in Paris with the other Soeurs then went over early. It was BEAUTIFUL. Here are some pictures from my studies in the morning. While we waited for her appointment, we had a moment to just breathe and relax. We sat down at this fountain in the garden of tuileries and just looked around at us. To our right was the Arc de Triumphe, to our left the Eiffel tower. Straight was the louvre and on our other side the obilisque. WOW. For a moment I realized how grateful I am to be here in the beautiful country of France, to be a missionary. I am so happy and have fallen in love with this place. It will always hold a special place in my heart.

This week we had a rendez-vous with our ami Sandrine. It was amazing again. We had a full planned rendez-vous and as we began talking, the spirit had other plans! We ended up teaching a whole different lesson. The spirit was so strong and it was such a testimony to me that Heavenly Father knows His children! We had a member with us and she took the journey with us changing 

completely what we had planned. It was really neat. Sandrine is doing great and is progressing. She came to church this week and loved it. She told me she felt like the lessons were made for her. 

Fun little tender mercy. There are some sisters in my mission that were telling me a story. They got a contact from the church of a woman who wanted the missionaries over. They went over and the woman told them that she follows Stephanie Nelson's blog and wanted to know more about why Stephanie has so much faith. She noticed that she quoted the Book of Mormon and wanted to know what it was. How cool is that! All the way out here in France, Stephanie is changing lives. What an example of how we can use technology to be missionaries.

This week my companions and I got really excited for Christmas. Christmas music all the time, traditions! We're doing it all. They are getting Melun all ready for the Holidays and it makes me happy. I decided to get my studies ready for Christmas too. I started studying Characters of Christ in the nativity and throughout the new testament. My goal is to study the new testament before Christmas and find Characters of Christ throughout it all! I'm excited.

Here is my favorite quote of the week from Elder Ballard:

"Brothers and sisters, fear will be replaced with faith and confidence when members and the full-time missionaries kneel in prayer and ask the Lord to bless them with missionary opportunities. Then, we must demonstrate our faith and watch for opportunities to introduce the gospel of Jesus Christ to our Heavenly Father’s children, and surely those opportunities will come. These opportunities will never require a forced or a contrived response. They will flow as a natural result of our love for our brothers and sisters. Just be positive, and those whom you speak with will feel your love. They will never forget that feeling, though the timing may not be right for them to embrace the gospel. That too may change in the future when their circumstances change.

It is impossible for us to fail when we do our best when we are on the Lord’s errand. While the outcome is a result of the exercise of one’s agency, sharing the gospel is our responsibility.

We are not asking everyone to do everything. We are simply asking all members to pray, knowing that if every member, young and old, will reach out to just “one” between now and Christmas, millions will feel the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful gift to the Savior."

The week before conference our mission President gave us this goal to find a family and baptize them before Christmas for our gift to the Savior, and when we heard it in conference we knew it was inspired! What a beautiful gift it would be if we all found someone and brought them to the gospel before Christmas. I know that it is possible! I have gained such a testimony of member missionary work here in Melun as well as just being a friend and a face for the gospel.

I know that through our examples and desire to live the gospel, we can bring someone to the gospel before Christmas!! Who's with me??

Love you all so much and I hope that you have a great week. You are always in my thoughts and prayers and always in my heart! How cool is it that Loge's serving in the branch of Soeur Cunche's son! Small world and tender mercy. As I visited with her this week I told her about Loge and showed her your pic. She loved it. She'll be there in a few months. maybe you'll get to see her! Well love you guys!

Love,

Soeur Cameron

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