désolé in advance for the lack of
commas in this letter. The Keyboard is stuck in Canadian French, and I
dont know where their comma button is.
This week was a lot. Tuesday we spent saying goodbye, and
Wednesday we left. We met up with my new companion in montréal, made the
exchange, and took off. We drove to my new area, and everything started
going crazy. The Lord has been hard at work in this place. If I took
the time to tell you about all the people we met, and all the
experiences we had with them, wed be here all day, so ill just give you
the best one. Jean-Marc.
Elder Miéville (new companion) met Jean-Marc last
week, and he was drunk. We went back to see him this week on the hope
that hed be sober and wed be able to have a real lesson, and not get
thrown out when he could actually think about us. :P
He wasnt home.
But, elder
Miéville has a gps with a little stand thing that was broken, and i got
tired of not having it on the stand (Im driving. his license is expired.
Long story) and just HAD to fix it RIGHT NOW, so I did. Upon finishing,
we looked up, and who should we see but Jean-Marc! On his way home!
Coincidence? I think you all know my opinion on that. ; )
So we went to see him, and.... well. He was sober.
He didnt kick us out. He told us the long and heartwrenching story of
his life, and how he fell into drugs and alcohol, and then how he
climbed back out with the help of the Lord, and a lot of other things.
We invited him to be baptized. He said yes without batting an eye. When
he came to church on Sunday he bore testimony to our priesthood group
about the necessity of a second birth, and invited all of them to attend
his baptism on the 23rd of February. We were.... impressed.
Jean-Marc is one of the many miracles Ive seen in
the four days that Ive been here in Laval. I think I have seen more
people in the last four days recognize and be touched by the power of
the book of mormon than I did in the first four months of my mission.
Its incredible. One of the men we met told us, after reading only the
first two chapters, that hes seen a change in his life, a change in
HIMSELF. When he reads, hes at peace. When he gets angry, or upset, he
picks up his book of mormon, lets its spirit fill his heart, and ease
his troubled mind. That book has changed so many lives... Id encourage
all of you the next time you pick up the book of mormon, to pause. take a
second to think, remember the first time you REALLY read it, remember
what it felt like when the spirit whispered to you of its truth. I think
we as members of the church take for granted sometimes the wonderful
blessing that we have in the form of a little blue book. I know the book
of mormon is true, Ive seen too much good come of it for it to be
anything else, and so Im excited to keep working with all these
wonderful people. :)
Speaking of Church, that was another adventure. We
have two teams of missionaries in this area that live in the same
apartment and cover the same proselyting area. both teams cover both an
english branch, and a French ward here, which means we have six hours of
church every sunday, and the last hour of our first set of meetings is a
stressful mix of running in and out of the meeting, taking and making
phone calls, trying to make sure that all of the investigators that have
been invited to church between the two teams, manage to arrive safely
at church. Its a little piece of madness, but it only lasts a little
while. The second set of meetings is much more relaxing. ; )
Needless to say, my experience here is going to be
quite different from my past areas on the mission, but Im still excited
to see how it all works out. :)
This Friday weve got my first zone council, the meeting with president,
the assistants, and the zone leaders. Im super excited to go to that,
The spirit in that room is going to be in-credible. :) Coincidentally,
Friday will also be the day that Ive been on a missionary for one full
year. Weird eh? Its passed quickly, and Im told its only going to get
quicker from here on out.... :(
Well, ill leave you with that for the day. Thanks
again for all the love and prayers you send my way! Keep working hard at
doing right, and remember that the Lord is with you. :)
Love,
Elder Christensen
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