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

Logan October 28, 2013

yeah chalk one up for team spiritual!!!!!!! David got baptized and he is doing great.

this week was great. david was baptized on saturday and sunday he was confirmed. i spoke in sacrament meeting with elder duran. it was fun i gave some shout outs to my family in good old american fork! and one in france who is serving in the ward of the mother of the first counsiler in the branch presidency. WHAT crazy!

david is small.

we had a groovy week. we learned that the nazis made it to the moon first and brought back an alien queen and she is still preserved to this day! but not many people know that haha. we had some great conversations with a less active who makes me laugh so much. every time i go to his house i have go make sure i went to the bathroom before hand so i dont wet myself during the lesson. it is that bad. 

so how are you doing. em how is school? are you friends with brennen yet? i highly suggest it. dad how is work going? did you get all the crops in before the winter? mommy any funny children stories? 

laval is the coolest place. i have met more people from outside the country than in. for example we met a family from egypt yesterday. we were eating dinner in the kitchen at the church and no one was there when all of the sudden the bell rang and this family from egypt wanted to know if they could join our services to pray. they were trying to practice their french it was funny haha. must have sounded like mine haha. 

so we will see if they come next week. we have this investigator named kelly he is from trinidad and tobago. he is hilarious. he told us about how women and chineses are terrible drivers haha i was laughing so hard. 

well family thats all for this week

oh yeah sorry i almost forgot

elder duran is from chicago he was living in utah before the mission. he is 21 and loves to work hard. i love him he is great. 

elder cameron

Logan October 21, 2013

hello all

 I have been great! it has been a super fun week. currently we are emailing in the apple store and mumford and sons is on and i feel a little apostate because i am tapping my foot to the beat. i will wait i will wait for you!

so anyways this week has been so funny. we have had some great lessons in which i almost wet myself because of laughter. so the first guy his name is richard  gagne. haha he is the classic quebecois man. total anti government and he loves hockey. but he informed us that the planet x (which he has seen) is going to collide with the earth in 2050 or something like that. haha and he told us how he is still amazing at hockey. haha i love him he is so funny yes sir!

then there is this guy named steven. haha he is so funny. imagine a guy still livin in the 70s but he looks like an american indian. haha he has super long hair and a beard. he is so funny. he told us "yeah there are a lot of freaks out there guys like last week yeah i got in a fight last week but i was drunk. so i didnt do my best because i was drunk. so next time i promised myself that i would be sober when i fight. plus i had a wicked hang over the next day." hahah and then he said "yeah i used to smoke a joint. i liked it. quit all by myself though. i wasn't one with nature. i was in a buble. but i liked pot it was nice." and then one last quote. "yeah i saw jesus in my dream. he is a real nice guy, he was tall you know a heroic tall and he was a  ginger, blue eyes, real nice guy like a bruce lee or an elvis presley real nice guy." i have never heard anyone compare jesus to bruce lee. it was hilarious. 

then we had a lesson with a lady from Jamaica her name is pauline. she has the coolest accent. she was talking about how the sacrament has to be correct because they use bread and water not wine!! she knew it was supposed to be water! we had a fun time talking with her

we had a lot of lessons this week. we met with a lady named osa. she is from nigeria. she is a member but less active so we are trying to get her back to church. she has a little girl named victoria and she is loud and funny. we had a good time with her. we had some good chats about the gospel.

church yesterday was really good. it was weird having church in english. i blessed the sacrament and i nearly had to do it again because i have said it in french so many times that i got mixed up haha. when members saw me they said where are you from? i answered with pride UTAH and they all say the same thing everytime : oh. then they ask hopefully do you speak spanish? haha it happened around 7 or 8 times. but it is all good. there is a family here from idaho. that was a shocker haha. the brother is super nice and loves americans haha

so we work on the island of laval. it covers the whole island and some of the rive nord. it is a huge area. our area is basically the whole rive nord zone but in english. justin probably knows exactly what i am talking about but for you all who dont look it up on a map. it is large

we have a baptism on saturday. his name is david. he used to be a jehovah   witness but he is getting baptized!! he is super cool i have got to teach him 2 times already. i am excited for him. we will have some good pictures next week of the service.

well family. it has been a good week. lots of funny stories. thank you for the prayers. i hope you enjoy reading these funny stories. i am sure i will have lots more in this area. i was reading in 1 nephi this week. and i learned that if we trust in the Lord and we totally rely on him then everything will work out. and believe you me. i have put that to the test this last week. i love you all and pray for you every day. 

elder cameron

Natalie October 21, 2013

Well Bonjour Tout le Monde! This week has been one of the greatest weeks of my mission! We've seen so many miracles and I am so aware of God and His hand in our lives. I am also very aware of the adversary and how real he is. I know now more than ever that there are angels around us. Protecting us. Watching us. Laughing with us. Crying with us. Missionary work isn't just about missionaries and investigators. It's also about all the countless lives around us on this side of the veil and the other watching us patiently and going to great lengths to help us and protect us. Here is a picture of a street we found. It is the french word for Forget Me Nots. After porting for hours in the rain we found that little sign and ended up finding a family right after. I love little tender mercies made for us.

This week the Elders gave us a cordonée of a french woman named Sandrine. They found her here in Melun and they said they felt so strongly about her. We had our first rendez-vous with her and it was probably the coolest rendez-vous I've ever had. We introduced ourselves and told her a little bit about what we do as missionaries and what we believe. She agreed with everything we said and she was so excited! We gave her the first lesson about the Restoration and Joseph Smith and she listened so intently. The spirit was SO strong and we testified that it wasn't by chance that the Elders found her. She knew that what we were saying was true and she told us that she knew God prepared her to meet us all. We invited her to be baptized on November 9th and she said YES with joy and excitement. She is so engaged and excited to become a member. She loves doing service and helping people. She is a miracle! We have another rendez-vous with her tonight. If you could offer an extra prayer for her that her heart will be protected that'd be amazing. She's absolutely golden.

We met a woman named Anna this week. We were on the train and Soeur Casagrande started talking to her. The woman began to cry and was so touched by her words. We got her information and invited her to come to church. She is the sweetest lady ever.

We also had our weekly rendez-vous with Soeur Cunche and she had a french spread out for us. She is the sweetest woman in the world. Last week we asked her for her conversion story and she had a hard time talking. So this week when we showed up she had it written out for us to read. Many tears shed. Mom I shared the story about my All is Well necklace you gave me and the birds and how we do things for God to see them not for men to see them. I testified that that's what she's done with her life. She was really touched. She's changed my life and I love her like family. Her name is Annie. And its perfect because I've always wanted to name my daughter Anne after Ane Nelson, my momma, my sista, and now Annie Cunche. What amazing women and a legacy to live up to. Oh how I love the women in my life.

Sunday was one of the craziest days that I've had. So in the morning we called our amie Atalia to walk to church with us. She said she was coming so we turned down her road and looked up and saw her and 4 of her sisters walking together!!! All 5 of them were walking together. I wish you could have seen how cool it looked. It was like a movie. They are all between the ages of 11 and 16. They doubled the young women's. I wish you could've seen the members' faces when we walked in. So then...we get a call from Anna! The woman we met on the train. She called us and told us that she was at the gare ready to come to church!! We literally ran from the church to find her and walked her to the church. She cried when she saw us and found out that we left our families to serve the Lord. When she was sitting with my in Sacrament meeting she said, "I will never leave this place" She felt so much love from the members and the spirit. It was incredible.

 So during church our homeless ami Claudette was there as well. Like I've told you she's slowly slowly opening up. She wouldn't even get near the Book of Mormon because she's very very much a Bible reader. But what a miracle its been to watch her open up a little more each week. Well this week you'll never guess what happened. Frère Malandin one of our ward mission leaders found a smaller copy of the Book of Mormon and presented it to her and guess what SHE ACCEPTED IT!!!! An absolute miracle! not only that! but she accepted it with joy and thanksgiving. DOUBLE YOU OH DOUBLE YOU!! What a miracle. She is reading it this week. Gosh dang it. ...pardon my french pa...God never ceases to amaze me.

So after church and another rendez-vous with one of our progressing families event after even led up to meeting people on trains who gave us their numbers which is a miracle in itself! We were talking with everyone and it was so fun! We ran into people we've contacted before and we were all in awe at the miracles we were seeing. We were going to a member's area to pray with them then to do some finding. I didn't feel super great about going and had no idea why. I kind of shrugged it off and kept getting on trains to go there. We finally got to her city and my comp Soeur Casagrande started having really bad vision problems. She looked super sick and she started to not be able to see. We kept walking towards her house but her vision got worse and worse. At this point we decided to cancel and walk back because it was so bad. Her vision continued to get worse as we walked. We called the member and told her and almost in an instant, Soeur Casagrande's vision came back. It was crazy. We prayed to know what to do and felt like we needed to get out of there. We we went! We took another train and prayed to know where to go.

I had a strong impression to go to a certain member's home. So we went! The mom opened the door and let us in. We told her what happened and asked if we could just pray with her. She welcomed us in and was so kind. It was an overwhelming Sunday. She's a young mother and her husband is in the Bishopric. He also works Sunday nights, and their home reminded me an awful lot of what our house was like when we were little. We would run around like crazy and run into high chairs and get black eyes and stuff...sorry bout that mom. We testified of the power she had as a mother and wife and the legacy she's leaving. We testified of her value and the amazing impact she'd made on us. It was a really special experience and reminded me of you mom. Thank you for sacrificing and putting up with us on all those days when we were crazy. Thanks for having patience and for teaching us the gospel. You'll never know the impact you've made on the world. I saw a part of that this week. So thanks Mom.

It's incredible to have the guidance of the Spirit, to go where He wants us to go, and not go where He doesn't want us to go. We follow Him and we're blessed, every single time.

This week my studies were incredible and my heart was touched once again. I studied meekness. I found little packets of direction and guidance and words meant for me. Here's a little gem I found that described my week: found in 1 Peter 3:10-18
 "For he that will love life, and see good days, let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do devil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye:and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;"

 I know that God is with us, and as we seek Him and seek to become His disciples He'll always be there to help us see good days, even when the storm clouds gather and the rain begins. We can truly be happy as we follow Him with all of our hearts. He knows what it takes to make our hearts happy because He not only suffered through our sins, trials, and challenges, He felt our happiness joy and great moments. We can come to Him during them as well.

This is a picture of Soeur Cunche's french spread she had for us, and a picture of a home we ported into. Such a dream. I love France with all of my heart. Love you guys so much and I hope you have an incredible week!

Transfers will be this next week so pray with all of your hearts that I'll stay in my Melun!! Thanks for everything. Love, Soeur Cameron 100% No regrets I've promised to give MORE
 

Natalie

Post by France Paris Mission Poznanski.

Logan October 14, 2013

well i got transferred. i am going to chomedey. it is in Laval. i am going english..... lame. i dont want to lose the french. but i will still practice everyday. even though i will most likely still be using it. laval is french but there are a lot of anglaphones there so we will find the english i guess. english branch too. well it will be fun. 

it was hard to say goodbye to the ward on sunday. it is sad to say that i will most likely never see some of those people ever in my life again. but the work goes on and as nephi says i will go and do the things the Lord commands. i know everything will work out.

this week for language study i translated my patriarchal blessing into french. it was a great for me. it made me think about each phrase and what they mean. i learned a lot that i didn't catch before. 

this last thursday we had a great lesson with leo. i am sad to leave him behind. he is so awesome. and one day he will be baptized. we talked about general conference. he watched every session. he said while he watched elder uchtdorfs talk everyone of his questions were answered and  he was shocked and was almost in doubt that they were all answered. it was so cool. i love leo. he is awesome. 

president patrick came to our ward counsil this last thursday. it was great. he just brings the spirit with him where ever he goes. i love him. he got the ward excited about missionary work so hopefully they get going. 

Planning session= hot chocolate and my new planner Nat made for me. 

tellement beau non? 
mom i got a coat. don't worry it is real warm and stuff. and this is what weekly planning looks like. hot chocolate from timmys and my new planner that natalie made for me!!!

well we will have more to say next week with my new area and new branch. got some great pictures for you coming up.... stay tuned to this pbs station.

love you all. stay strong fear not, don't look back. learn move on and love life. 
elder Logan Cameron

I got a new coat. 

A cool guy we met. 

Max, our ward missionary leader.