Wow, how is it already P-Day?! This week flew by! It was full of amazing and bitter-sweet experiences! Since it was our last week in French and this next Wednesday we start Tahitian! I am super excited but so sad to say goodbye to the wonderful teachers that I have been blessed with! I am so grateful for Frere Lancaster, Soeur Wilkey, and Frere Ho! They were so fun to be with and we all as a district got so close to them! It’s sad to say goodbye to the teachers we started the mission with but luckily we will still see them around and they will still stay in contact with us! But enough about sad goodbyes! The Highlights of this week were:
On Sunday, we had the Go and Do experience and I decided to study President M. Russell Ballard’s talk that he just gave in the October General Conference and it was such a beautiful talk! During that study I had such a confirmation about the First Vision and that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ truly did appear to Joseph Smith that this isn’t just some fairy tale story but that this was an event that happened. Through this beautiful experience we were blessed with the fullness of the gospel and the Restoration of Jesus Christ’s true church on the Earth. Also the gift of the Book of Mormon and how it truly is the keystone of our religion and my life would not be the same without it! It was just a beautiful experience and such a spiritual sabbath day! Fast forward to the next day we got news that President Ballard died on Sunday and it was so sad to hear but I was so amazed that I read his talk the day he died and was prompted to read it. My prayers go to his family!
Tuesday we had a devotional from Sister Spannaus and it was so good! It was about how to be a conduit of light for others and how to lead others to the light of Christ! We had the wonderful opportunity to discuss the devotional after with Sister and Brother Craig which was an incredible experience and they shared such beautiful insights!
Wednesday my companions and some of our sisters in our district were able to go to the temple even though it wasn’t P-day! It was such a great experience and I was able to have that added boost for the week! I love the temple so much and being able to be in it every week has been the biggest blessing!
For classes we just pushed forward with our last week of French and getting ready for starting Tahitian next Wednesday! It’s crazy that these 6 weeks have already gone by for French and that we are heading into Tahitian! Time works so differently here and it goes by so fast! I am super excited to start Tahitian though and have our new teachers that all served their missions in Tahiti! Our other teachers that taught us French went to France on their missions and now it will be cool to see and hear all about our mission now with our new teachers!
An amazing and super spiritual experience happened on Thursday! I was getting ready for bed Thursday night and had a prompting to read this letter that my grandma gave me before heading into the MTC and I hadn’t opened it yet. Once I opened it I found these pictures of my Grandma and Grandpa (who passed away) in Tahiti for their honeymoon! It was amazing to see Tahiti back then and seeing that my grandparents have been where I am serving! Especially seeing my Grandpa being there and knowing that he will be with me my whole mission! I felt him so strong that night and was just sobbing feeling the spirit so strong! It was so beautiful and so grateful I followed the prompting to read it!
That’s about it! A great bitter-sweet week and filled with beautiful experiences! I am learning so much and understanding conversion and the true enabling and strengthening Atonement of Jesus Christ and that only through Him will I be able to be the disciple and missionary that He needs me to be! God is good and I am so grateful for this opportunity to come to know Him and Jesus Christ though the Holy Ghost more! This gospel is so true and I am so grateful for the knowledge that it has brought me and the peace and comfort that it brings! Even though being away from family has been hard my heart has grown so much stronger and it has increased my love and gratitude for them! Love my family more than they will ever know and am so grateful that I’ll be able to live with them for all time and eternity! Beaucoup d’amour!💙
-Elder LeBaron
