3rd Transfer

Bonjour Famille!

So first off....I've been dying all week wanting to know where Juna is being sent.  I'm sad to hear her call hasn't been assigned yet.  Maybe they're deciding whether or not it's wise to have three Hurd sisters in Lyon..?? ;)  I had a dream last night that she got called to our mission so who knows....the possibility is still there. 

So we finally got transfer calls and we have our new companions!  I'm staying in Perpignan :)  I'm so happy.  I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to all the members!  And guess what?  I'm in a trio!!  I have a new companion Sister Balanos AND Sister Christensen who was my MTC COMPANION WOOOOO.  I feel so lucky.  Sr. Christensen and I are already best friends and Sr. Balanos is the nicest person in the world, so I know it's going to be a blast this transfer.  Being in a trio means that we can teach anyone, even single guys, without having to have a third girl with us.  Yay!!  AND Sr. Balanos even speaks Spanish so we really can teach anyone!  No more passing our Spanish-speaking amis to the elders.  And there are a lot of those in Perpignan.  The elders were whitewashed, meaning both left and two new ones came in.  The pressure is on because now I'm the only one that knows anything about Perpignan, and I still feel new in some ways, so hopefully we can all help each other get the hang of things.  I've assured them all that they are the luckiest missionaries cause we have the best ward.  I was sad to say goodbye to Sr. Castagno.  She has taught me SO MUCH this transfer and it was a sad goodbye for each of us.  She is going to Talence (Bordeaux) to be an STL now.  I know that she accomplished everything this past transfer that the Lord intended, and I'm pretty sure the main goal was to humble me.  I need to be humbled more.  But I'm excited for what this transfer holds in store for each of us.

I know what is happening with Allison but I will let you hear it from her later today. :)

We had our huge conference in Lyon this weekend and all I can say was WOW.  So we went there expecting to hear a training all about iPads and how we're supposed to use them.  We did get that, but infinitely more.  We left feeling infintely more uplifted and edified than many of us were expecting, and also without iPads.  They still aren't here but we'll get them in a couple weeks.  Anyways, Elder Kearon and Elder Nielson each talked to us about how this is just a new tool that Heavenly Father has given us to further his work.  It is nothing to obsess over (we wouldn't obsess over the pens or key indicators we use for our work, would we?) and that it isn't meant to be a distraction.  We are still the instruments, and the Spirit is still the teacher.  They went so far to say that these things were invented and prepared by God for THIS time to for THIS purpose.  Isn't that cool?  God is smarter than Steve Jobs.  So He helped him.  They also said that we were saved for this time to do missionary work with these tools specifically.  God just knows everything about us and the world better than any of us could imagine!

They also talked a lot about agency and repentance.  Elder Nielson said that this is a new day.  This is a new opportunity for repentance and turning over a new leaf.  Now how does getting iPads bring an opportunity for repentance?  He talked about pornography and how it is our generation that must be inocculated from it.  Like always, Satan took something inspired (the Internet) and twisted and deformed it to become an instrument for evil.  Technology is amazing, but has also made pornography available at anyone's fingertips.  Never before have young people had such easy access to such a destructive substance.  But, this pornography lecture was different.  He acknowledged that there were many missionaries who probably had a problem with this in the past.  He acknowledged that the temptation will always be there.  But he said this was an opportunity to master self control.  To carry out a plan when you're feeling vulnerable.  Time to turn over a new leaf and forget the life before.  There is ALWAYS hope for change.  You can always come back.  This applies to every single one of us in life, no matter the things we struggle with.  He and Elder Kearon both talked about this subject and expressed so, so much love that we couldn't help but know that the Lord was directing the conference and is very, very much involved in our mission. 

At the end we sang the mission song as we always do (Angels We Have Heard on High) and everyone was linking arms like always and I don't think I've ever seen a crowd of people so unified.  The Spirit hit each of us like a slap in the face, it was so strong.  I think all of us were thinking about President and how this was the last time he would be with all of us together.  We are so sad to let them go!  As well as all the missionaries that just finished this transfer and will go home.  There were some good ones.  I don't think there was a dry eye in the chapel.  I love Allison's letter from last week about how truly amazing it is to be a missionary.  We are reminded everyday, in instances not always as grand as this, that we have a Father in heaven who is so very aware of everything in our lives.  There's no other reason each of us that day would have felt the way we did if this work wasn't true.

I don't have much else to report this week other than I'm officially no longer a bleu.  So that's kinda cool I guess.  And I'm also a little sick.  But ça va.  Dad, my French is ok.  I definitely don't worry about it as much as I did, but it's still not amazing.  I feel a lot more comfortable with it simply because last transfer.... well, my companion and I were learning and improving together :)

Juna, dad asked me last week to write down what I did to prepare my heart to receive a mission call.  I guess it's fortunate that you haven't yet gotten it because I didn't write down anything about it in my last letter.  I was really worried that I only wanted to serve a mission for the opportunity to travel or "get out."  So while filling out my papers and waiting for the call (a space of only 3 weeks), I tried my best to prepare my heart as fast as I could to be ready to go ANYWHERE, wherever the Lord wanted me to serve.  You don't have much long to wait either so hopefully you can do what you can now.  I started by writing down the missions that I winced at when I heard their names--Nebraska, Kansas City, you know... :)  then I wrote down all the pros for going to that mission.  I did this every night for about a week and realized that there weren't that many missions I was opposed to going to.  Also, looking at all the pros of these missions made me realize that going to a cool European or tropical mission didn't have a lot more pros than these--the missionary work is the same!  It's not like being here in France makes missionary work glamorous.  Each missionary has its own unique characteristics and Heavenly Father is fully aware of where you are needed.  More importantly than that, I went to the temple three times a week and fasted once a week specifically that my heart would be open.  I know you aren't as near to a temple as I was in Provo, but you can still fast and earnestly pray often to receive the same blessing.  The Lord will hear you and prepare you to receive your call with a willing heart.  I'm so excited for you!

Je vous aime beaucoup et que Dieu vous benisse! 

Soeur Melissa Hurd