Dear family and friends,
Wasn't General Conference incredible? I am so grateful for this opportunity we have to listen to a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I know, with all of my heart, that he is the prophet, called of God, in this latter day. I know that as we follow his counsel and advice, we are following the will of the Lord. Bouncing off of that, I think we should all consider reading the notes we took during the talk President Monson gave at the end of the Sunday Morning Session of Conference that is all about charity. When I first heard that that was his topic of discussion, I thought to myself, "I already know what charity is, and i know it is important! Can't the prophet talk about deeper doctrine or something more specific for me?" How wrong I was to think that! Because the prophet chose to talk about charity, it is because it is charity is something that I need to work on. We can all grow in our understanding and capacity to love as the Savior does. In addition to the comments that were given by our loving prophet about charity, I love the instruction and counsel we recieve from Moroni in the Book of Mormon regarding this subject:
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provokes, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail-But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found posessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him" (Moroni 7:45-47).
We all search to have that kind of love. I guess we could all ask ourselves the same big question: How do we get it??? The answer, too, is given to us by Moroni. He said, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, PRAY unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, that ye may be filled with this love, which he has bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ" (Moroni 7: 48). As we desire to be filled with this love, pray for it to enter into our hearts, and display our devotion to the Savior, the Lord has promised to fill us with this love. Since I have left on my mission, I have put this sccripture to the test. It has changed me. The Lord has granted unto me an increase of love, and I only wish you could see for yourself what that love has pushed me to do on my mission. I pray that this love will be ever-growing so that the Lord, through me as His servant, will show unto others the love He deeply has for them. I testify that as you do the same, as you desire to love, as you pray, and as you follow Christ, you will see a similar change in you. So let's begin by saying a prayer now-in our heart-that we will be filled with this love, "that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure (Moroni 7:48).
In addition to General Conference, we had an exciting week! We met with the famille Gomila yesterday for the last of the missionary discussions. They are all set for their baptism on Saturday!!!:) Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers during this week.
I cannot remember if I have ever told you about Luce, one of our investigators. She has been meeting with the missionaries for about a year now, but just until recently, she hasn't been progressing too quickly. When we met her this week, she proclaimed with a resounding, OUI!!!" that she had read the designed chapter in the Book of Mormon and prayed about Priesthood keys being restored. Falling perfectly into place, we then had the opportunity to teach Luce about a living prophet and apostles. She loved hearing that! I have never seen an investigator get so excited to hear that in this latter day, the Lord has given us a prophet who recieves direct revelation Him. Even better, we got to tell her that the prophet was going to be speaking to us THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND! The timing couldn't have worked out any better.:) She was overjoyed. What an example she is to me of the gratitude we should have to the Lord for again calling a prophet upon the earth.
EASTER FINDING continues to be a success in the mission! In just the short time period since the announcement was made, there have already been 16 of the 125 baptisms we are working towards. PLEASE keep the Paris France Mission as a whole in your prayers during these next few months so that we may attain our goal before the end of June.
Remember that you can make a difference, wherever you are. Find someone to help and always, always remember to smile.:)
I love you with all of my heart,
Soeur Laura Lee Judd
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