Dear family and friends,
It was another beautiful week of work in Mulhouse!!! As I look through my planner I am still thinking, "How in the world did we do this week?" haha. It was a great way to wrap up the transfer.
I don't even remember who and what I have told you, but I'll do my best to update you on some of our investigators.
Isa and Luc Vallet are progressing towards their baptism, yet they are each still waiting for a final witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. We went through the baptisimal interview questions with them a couple of weeks ago, and as we talked, Luc said that he couln't answer for sure that he knows Joseph Smilth was a prophet because he doesn't fully believe the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Isa, too, is a little unsure, yet they both want to be able to answer positively and with vigor as they are interviewed for baptism that they know the Book of Mormon is true. I am confident that because they are sincere, they will recieve their witness. The key is keeping in tune with the Spirit. Please keep them in your prayers.
Adalaide Moret is progressing REALLY REALLY well. We saw her twice this week (before it was absolutely impossible to fix a rendez-vous with her), and both times she noted the Spirit that was with us. She takes in information like a vacuum! and asks very good questions. This week she noticed that we dont pass around a basket asking for money during church, and asked if we pay tithing. We took a minute right then to explain tithing, and she said, "Ok good! The reason I ask is because I always feel so good whenever I pay my tithing, and I notice that the Lord blesses me every time I do so. I will be so grateful to be able to pay my tithing again." She is so prepared!!! We have talked a lot about baptism, and she has accepted the invitation, yet she says she needs to get a confirmation from the Lord about a specific date. This week we want to try and fix for her to be baptised on the 28th of June. Please keep her in your prayers as well so that she will recognize this date as the day she needs to be baptised.
Marina and Nolo Babayan and their family are also progressing well. In our lesson yesterday afternoon, we invited the entire family to come to church together next week, but we found out that Nolo cannot leave the apartment due to legality problems. They have been in France for five years already, yet they still haven't recieved their papers, so Nolo is in dager of being arrested if he is caught by the police. I know that the Lord would protect him and his family if he came to church, so we are looking for any way that we can get him to church. Please pray for that. And hey hey! A really incredible thing happened with Marina yesterday at church. Before coming, she prayed asking the Lord if it is His will for her to come to church with us. She had questioned the Book of Mormon a lot, yet she knew that if the Lord confirmed to her that coming to church is His will, she will follow it. As she sat in Sunday school, the Holy Ghost touched her heart and said, "It's true. Go. This is my will." What a testimony this was for me of the holy role of the Holy Ghost. He is the Lord's messenger, and he speaks to all who will listen. Marina then confidently proclaimed, "I will be coming to church with my children every week!"
One last miracle of the week happened last night while Soeur Gordon and I were knocking doors. It was just about time to go home for the night, yet we decided to ring one more doorbell, an intercom, of an apartment building. Throught the speaker, Soeur Gordon asked the man that answered if we could enter and leave a blessing in his house. Immediately, he said in return, "Second floor" and opened the door. To our greatest blessing, Soeur Gordon and I prayed with this beautiful family: Robert, Fabienne, and their brand new baby boy, Etienne. They, like us, were each touched by the Spirit. We'll be visiting them again later this week. As we left and started walking down the stairs, Robert came and stopped us saying, "My wife saw that book you're holding...and was wondering if she could have one... ? Would it be possible for you to bring her one the next time we meet?" Then we said, "You can take it now!!! We'll explain more about it later this week." haha. It was true miracle.
I remember that last week I shared some of what I have been studying about gratitude, and as I studied that even further this week, I ran across another quote that I want to share with you:
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it" (William Arthur Ward).
As I thought about this quote, I began to recognize the many of the blessings I have recieved from our Heavenly Father throughout my life. I made a list of things I am grateful for, but then I realized that expressing gratitude is even better. But how do we express gratitude to the Lord?
This morning I came across two very poignant ways in which we can express gratitude to our Heavenly Father:
1. In your prayers, pour out your heart to your Father in Heaven in thanks for the blessings you have recieved. Be specific in thanking Him for His goodness, for your family, for friends, for leaders and teachers, for the gospel, and for His Son, Jesus Christ.
2. You also express gratitude to the Lord by the way you live. When you keep His commandments and serve others, you show that you love Him and are grateful to Him. Express your gratitude to others for the many ways they bless your life.
I invite each of us to put both of these ideas into practice so that we may more fully thank the Giver of all blessings. Let us follow Alma's counsel: "That ye contnd no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye recieve it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you" (Alma 34: 38). As we do so, we will experience a change of heart, and we can be confident that we are following the counsel of the prophets today, those of old, and (most importantly) the counsel given by our Savior, Jesus Christ.
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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