Snails, frog legs, and duck liver paste. Yummm.

Bonjour!

I am really sorry that I have not been as dilligent in my emails lately! I hope that you will be able to forgive me. 

The last few weeks have been really great for us. We have been working hard, and have seen a lot of really cool things happen. Our amis M and C are both still doing as good as ever. M's baptism is scheduled for this saturday, and we are super happy and excited for her. 

This last week we spent a lot of time at members' houses and eating. I honestly feel like I gained 54 pounds, but miraculously I think I only gained 3-4. On Christmas eve we had a really traditional French dinner complete with snails, frog legs, and duck liver paste. Yummm. I actually liked it. Then On Christmas we slept over at the other Elders' apartment. We opened all of our packages (a big thanks to everyone who sent me something, it really means a lot to me). And then we went over to another members where we ate yet another huge meal. Not much weird stuff this time, but still really good. Then they took us out caroling to all of their neighbors, which was super cool. We try super hard to be let into houses, but then we go caroling with members and we got let in all over the place!!! I guess we found the secret to missionary work haha. It was really cool, and helped us focus on Christ and feel the true Christmas spirit. Then in the evening we went over to another member's house where we had a traditional 'merican meal with a big turkey and stuffing and all that good stuff. I was able to talk to my family which was great. It was such a great day. Yes, it might seem that the day was centered around food, but I tried to really keep my thoughts on the Savior and all that he did for me. It makes me happy to know that we have a heavenly Father who loves us, and sent us His Son, Jesus Christ, who died for us. He was ressurected on the 3rd day, and because of Him and His Atonement, we all have access to eternal life and happiness. 

Well, I love you all so much, Have a great week!

Elder Duckworth

Bonjour à tout le monde!

Originally sent December 8, 2014



Bonjour à tout le monde!


We have had an awesome week here in Grenoble. We were able to meet one of our big goals of teaching 20 Lessons this week, and we were really happy about that. We were also able to teach 9 of those in the presence, which was also another great feat. It is getting pretty cold up here, so the coats and gloves are now broken out. Transfer calls came, and I will be staying yet another transfer here in Grenoble, and I couldn't be happier. There is a lot of great work going on here. Our two amis C and M are progressing super well, and are basically teaching us. I feel really blessed that the Lord has trusted me to work with his elect children. As far as news goes, not much has really changed. We have had a hard time seeing our potential amis, so that side of things is at a standstill but we will be taking steps to get that ball rolling. We are also working a lot with members, especially the recent converts and less actives, trying our best to fortify and unify the ward.


Lately I have been thinking a lot about how I am going to give a Christmas gift to the Savior. He has done so much for me, and I realized that it is harder than I thought to give him things. I cant go mow His lawn, can't bake him cookies, etc. But then I was reading the scriptures I came across the scripture that says when you are in the service of others, you are simply in the service of your God. This really hit me, and I realized that this is what I am going to do for Him this year. I am going to really try and consecrate my efforts this season for helping others. I invite all of you to think of somebody around you, and help them have a good Christmas as a gift to the Savior.


I love you all so much, and hope that you have a great week!


Elder Duckworth

Originally sent on December 1, 2014



Bonjour!


This has been a really awesome week for us here in Grenoble. Thanksgiving was awesome. Its not really a thing here, but luckily there is an awesome american family in the ward that was kind enough to have us over for dinner. It was super good. We had also eaten a Thanksgiving meal for district meeting that same day so by the end of the day I thought that I was going to explode.


Other than that, things are still going well. Not much in the ways of news. Our amis M and C

are both champs and are progessing really well. We are also working hard trying to find new people to teach as well. It is the last week of the transfer so Elder Fisk and I are going to try really hard to finish it out with a bang. It has been so cool to see all of the Progress that we have been able to make here in Grenoble. I couldn't be any happier. I really hope that I will be able to stay so that I can see a lot of these things through to the end, but if not, I will still be really happy for the work that we have been able to do here in one of the coolest places in the world.


So the church has been doing a cool thing with a video campaign called "He is the Gift" http://www.mormon.org/christmas (version français :) http://www.mormon.org/fra/noel) I really love it and encourage all of you to watch the video. It has been awesome to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. It is a time of happiness with lots of fun family traditions, but it is also important to remember the gift that our Heavenly Father has given us. That gift is His son, Jesus Christ. I have received so many great gifts in my life, but none have been as great as this.


I love you all so much, and hope that you all have a fantastic week.

Elder Duckworth


Pictures District meeting and the Grenoble Elders in the mountains :D

Appy zanksgeeveeng!

Originally sent on November 24, 2014



Bonjour!


Things have been going great here in the beautiful city of Grenoble!


We have been able to see the sun which has been really nice. It really makes our work a lot easier. We were able to do a good amount of teaching this week. It has been awesome to see our teaching pool grow, and we are seening a lot of fruits from all of our labors. This last week we have been working a lot with a few of our amis who are progressing really well. One of our amis named M has been progressing super well. She is a student from Italy, and she is super cool. She has been coming to church for a while, and we have been teaching her a lot. She has progressed a lot and this last sunday she chose a date for her baptism! So we will be working super hard, and praying super hard, for the 20th of December.


With Thanksgiving coming up I have naturally been thinking a lot about the things in my life that I am greatful for. For a zone training we wrote down a list of the things that we are most greatful for. While I was thinking I came up with a list something like this. The first thing that I am greatful for is the fact that I have a loving Heavenly Father. He loves me so much, and has prepared a way for me to become like him one day. To do this, he sent his Son, Jesus Christ here to earth. Because of Him, I can take the steps necessary to accept His atonement. It is truly the biggest gift I have ever received. I am also really greatful that his gospel is still here on the earth. The organization of His church, with his Priesthood, is on the earth today and is accessable to everybody.


I am also so greatful for my family. I truly have been born of goodly parents, who have raised me in a loving home and shared the gospel with me from an early age. I have 2 awesome brothers, an awesome sister, and even an awesome sister in law. I have Amazing grandparents who are so loving and have given me such a great example. I am also richly blessed with an awesome extended family. I honestly couldn't ask for more.


I also have been blessed with the greatest friends a guy could ask for. They really have been a huge support in my life.


I am running a bit short on time, so I will have to cut this list a bit short. But I really am the luckiest guy in the world, and I am so greatful.


I love you all so much, and wish you a Appy zanksgeeveeng!


Elder Duckworth

The Grenoble Missionaries

Originally sent on November 11, 2014




Elevators here arent that big :) These are the Grenoble Elders

Staying in Grenoble

Originally sent on November 11, 2014




Bonjour!


Sorry I dont have much time this week. We got our transfer calls, and I get to stay in Grenoble! I lost my companion though. My new companion is named Elder Fisk, and he is really cool. He is from Reno. We are really excited to keep up the awesome momentum we were able to build recently.


There is not a whole lot in the way of news here. We are still teaching the same people, and we are so excited. Everyone is progressing well. We are so blessed to be able to work with so many of God's choice children.


I am so so so greatful that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored here on earth. We have a loving Heavenly Father that hears our prayers. He sent us His Son who died for us so that we can live again. This stuff is true and I know it because I prayed about it.

I love you all so much and I wish you a great week!
Elder Duckworth

This is such a happy message and I am so blessed to be able to share it!

Originally sent on October 27, 2014



Bonjour à tous!


This has been a magical week here in Grenoble. We have really been able to see the Lord's hand in our work. We started the week with the goal of teaching 20 lessons, which was almost 2x as much as I had ever done before on my mission. We prayed a lot and then worked harder than ever before to make it happen. And at about 7:00 last night we taught our 20th lesson!!!! It was truly miraculous, and we feel so blessed. Out of this week we found 8 new amis as well as 2 people who have agreed to work twords baptism. The first is named F, and he is a miracle because we had lost contact with him for about a week, but then Sunday morning he texted us saying that he was going to come to church! So we taught him a lesson right before and had a really good talk with him. He knows that baptism is something important, and is going to work really hard to make the necessary changes in his life to make it happen! In these next couple weeks we are going to work really hard with him, especially to get him to stop smoking, which is something he really wants. We feel so blessed that the Lord has trusted us with his children. We were also able to do some really good work with The recent converts and less actives in the ward. It really was just an all around solid week. Out of all of the new people we found, we now have a solid group of people we can start trying to meet with on a regular basis which is going to be a huge blessing.


With all of these occasions that we had to teach, I have really felt my testimony of the importance of the gospel grow. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is what we need so badly in this life, and I am growing such a great desire to share it with my lost brothers and sisters here in Grenoble. We have a loving Heavenly Father, who loves us so much and wants so badly for us to return and live with him. He was even willing to send his Son, Jesus Christ, here to earth so that he could pay the price that justice demands. Through this sacrifice we are all saved. This is such a happy message and I am so blessed to be able to share it!




Anyways, I love you all, and hope that you have a great week!


Elder Duckworth

Soyez toujours joyeux

Originally sent on October 20, 2014




Bonjour!


I dont have much time, but I just wanted to tell you all that things are really going great here in Grenoble. We were able to have teaching opportunities every day, which was awesome. We are really progressing twords our goals, and it is very rewarding to see our work come to frution. This next week we have a lot of lessons planned, and we are really hoping and praying that a lot of these people will be able to start progressing.


I want to share with you my favorite scripture in french. Its 1 thess. Chapter 5 vs 16. It says "Soyez toujours joyeux" which translates to "Always be happy". I would invite us all to try and apply this sctripture to our lives :D. There is so much good in this world, and we really do have the choice to be happy.

Anyways, I love you all, have a great week!

Prayer is an awesome thing, I reccomend it

Originally sent on October 13, 2014


Bonjour à tous!


This was a great week for us here in the beautiful city of Grenoble!


We had a rough week the week before, so we really committed ourselves to find new people to teach. It was great to see how the application of faith really did produce miracles for us. We worked alot, but also we prayed more, and we left things up to the Lord in stead of trying to do everything ourselves. We were able to make significant progress in the amount of lessons we taught, which was great. Things just seemed to work out for us.


We had a ward activity last week which was awesome. It was an Island themed night, and it was a lot of fun. About half of the people who were there weren't members of the church, so it turned into a great missionary opportunity. We were able to meet some cool people, and it was just a good activity for the ward too. Everyone left really happy .


This last week I have been thinking a lot about prayer, and its role in my life. I don't remember where, but somewhere I read something that said "prayer is not trying to change God's will. It is aligning our will with God's" and it really made me thing about my prayers. I realised that prayer is much more than something we do habitually before bed and to bless food. It is a real communication with God. There is no doubt in my mind that when we pray, somebody on the other side hears. And that somebody is our Heavenly Father who loves us. I read that there are blessings that Our heavenly Father is just waiting to give us, and all that we need to do is ask for them. It made me wonder what kinds of things I have been missing out on just because I haven't been praying for them. Prayer is an awesome thing, I reccomend it. If you haven't ever tried it, I stongly urge you to give it a try. If you already have the habit of prayer, I would invite you to continue to do so, and maybe see if there are anyways that you could improve. I can promise that great things will happen.

I love you all. God lives! This Gospel is true! Families are forever!


Elder Duckwroth

Conference Weekend

Originally sent on October 6, 2014




Hello everyone! I hope that you were all able to enjoy conference this last weekend as much as i did! we are so lucky to live in a time where God has given us his chosen servants to teach us and guide us through these troubled times. I was definately strengthened, and am really excited to apply the things that I have learned. This Gospel is true!!!


This was a really cool week for us. It started out slow, and we got lost a few times, but by the end some really cool miracles happened. A less active lady just wandered into the church on saturday. She is from Paris and hasnt had contact with the church since moving here. She has a family that are all non members, and we are going over to their house to help them this tuesday! :D we also found an old ami that had kinda just lost contact but was really excited to meet with us again and agreed to see us a few times this week. We also have a tahitian (polynesian) kid from english class that we played basketball with and this week we are going to teach him and meet his family. We also have a member who's wife isn't a member and she came to church the past few weeks and we are going to see them this friday, and they are also inviting their neighbor over to ask us questions. We also had a member introduce us to his friend this week. We also have 2-3 members we are working with who have specific names that they are trying to introduce us to. It has been discouraging to work so hard and see no immediate results, but after We stepped back and looked at it we are so pumped for this next week.



This week I have been really focused on trying to become more like Christ. I have been studying the life, teachings, and attributes of Christ, and making a real effort to try and apply these things in my life. I have been told on a few occasions that as a missionary I need to "become" the message. If I can try my best to give a good representation of a disciple of Christ, I am confident that these actions will speak much louder than words. Christ did so much for us. He lived and died 100 percent for us. The way he lived his life with love and compassion for his fellow man, the way he taught, the way he consecrated everything unto the father, is the perfect example that I would invite all of us to strive to emulate. In doing so, I know that we will become better, happier people that the Lord will be able to use to accomplish miracles.


I love you all lots, and I mean it. Have a great week!

Some more pics

Staying in Grenoble

Bonjour!

Sorry this one will be really short.

Transfer calls came and I am staying in Grenoble! My companion is Elder Burton from Cedar City. He is a young missionary in his 3rd transfer and he is awesome. We are going to have so much fun this transfer. We had a really good week last week. We started working with two less active people which was awesome. We also had a bunch of people at our english class, and one of them came to church! We look forward to this week and all of the fun things that we are going to be able to do.


General Conference is coming up!!!! I am so excited. On my mission I have really grown to appreciate general conference. We get to hear a living prophet adress us! Pretty cool stuff if you ask me. I encourage you all to listen in if possible. It will definately be worth it I promise!


God lives. Jesus Christ is His Son. His gospel is once again on the earth.

Have a great week! Love you all :D


Elder Duckworth

I am so lucky to be a misisonary

Originally sent on September 22, 2014

Bonjour à tous!


This has been a really awesome week for us! We have found a couple awesome people to teach who are progressing and that we will be seeing later this week! We also had a member introduce us to their neighbors who want to be baptized into a Christian church!!! So we hopefully will see them again this week. This has been a hard transfer for me. We have really struggled to find people to teach, so it has been a huge blessing to have been able to find people to teach. I am so lucky to be a misisonary, and I know that this is the Lord's work.


I have really learned a lot about the restoration lately, and how it is absolutely essential. We are so blessed to live in a time when God has once again given us his priesthood so that we are able to receive saving ordanances. We are so lucky to have such a deep understanding of who God is, and who we are. We are so blessed to have the knowledge of Eternal families. All of these things have been made known to us in the latter days. Awesome stuff;

Love you all have a great week, here are some pictures.


Elder Duckworth

But by the grace of God I am what I am

Originally sent on September 15, 2014

Bojour à tous!!


Sorry it has been a while! But things are all going really well here In Grenoble. We have been working hard, and finding people to teach. These last few weeks have been a real struggle but we have been able to find some awesome people to teach. We found this cool guy named J. from paraguay. He is a student here and really interested in our message. He is going through some hard times, and the Gospel of Christ will be a huge source of peace and comfort in his life. These past weeks we have been really trying to focus on working through our members. We were able to teach the neighbors of one of our members, and we also have plans to teach two other people that are friends with the members here too. We are really excited for this week, and for the opportunity that we have to teach these awesome people.


Lately I have been thinking about how stinkin lucky I am to be a missionary. Especially here in France. Every day that I have as a missionary is a gift. I couldn't be any happier. Sometimes I feel underqualified, and that I didn't do anything to merit these blessings. But sometimes I fell as if I am not good enough. But I was reading in the New Testament and found this cool scripture. This comes from Paul, who for a lot of his life wasn't exactly the best guy. He spent a lot of his time and efforts persecuting the early Christian church. But he had a rather big divine intervention, and he changed his ways and became one of the greatest missionaries in all time. This is a scripture found in Corinthians. He says:


9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be calledan apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

I really like this scripture, and I feel like it really well sums up the way I feel. I know that it is by nothing short of the grace of God that I am where I am today. But like Paul said, I don't want this gift to be in vain, so I'm going to do all that I can to live up to my calling.

Anyways, I love you all, and hope life is treating you well. I know that God lives, and that he loves each one of you!


Elder Duckworth


Here are some pictures of Grenoble and some awesome Italian food! Have a great week :D

Humility Is Not A Weakness

Hello all.


I am mega short on time, but thought I would just give you all a little status update.


This has been an awesome week here in Grenoble. It is beautiful, the weather has been great, and we are making great progress. This last week we found 3 new amis to teach. We will see how things go, and I will hopefully have some cool things to report next week. The ward here is great, and I have already eaten a few times at members' houses. I am really going to like it here.

Lately Ive been learning a lot about Humility. Not like I really need it or anything... ;)
But seriously, the Savior showed us such a great example of humility. Preach my Gospel says that humility is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of spiritual power. All I have to say is amen to that!
May we all strive to be a bit more humble this week :)


I love you all, have a fantastic week!
Elder Duckworth

Goodbye Toulouse, Hello Grenoble !

Bonjour from the beautiful city of Grenobles!


After 3 awesome transfers in Toulouse, I have now moved on to Grenobles. I was sad to say goodye, I was in Toulouse for 4 1/2 months, and I grew to really love the people there. It is a special city that will always have a place in my heart.


My last week in Toulouse was awesome. Our two Chinese members, D and E came back from vacation, so we talked to them a lot which was fun. We also had a lot of Chinese amis that we were working with too. My head was spinning from all of the Chinese, but it was lots of fun. I tried Jellyfish for the first time in my life...haha and Im still living so thats a good sign :D There is this chinese game called SanGuoSha that I guess is really popular, so I learned how to play that which really impressed the Chinese amis haha. I will really miss working so much with Chinese people. They are so great. I am Super Greatful for the time I was able to work with Elder Yeung and serve a mini Chinese mission :). I feel good with the work we were able to do In Toulouse, and I am excited to see what comes from it. Just last trasfer we found 19 new amis, and have 4 people that have accepted baptismal dates. Its kinda hard not being able to see all the work we did come to frution immediately, but I still feel 100 percent satisfied in the work we were able to do.


Other than that, not really a whole lot to report . I spent all day yesterday on trains which was fun. Im super excited to work here in Grenoble. My companion is named Elder Durant and he's from the exotic land of Lehi Ut. Also, Elder Lehmitz, my old companion, is in the same appartment as me!!!! (be jealous Elder Roberts;)) We have a mission wide goal/baptismal date for the 27 Septembre, which is the last week of the trasfer. I am really excited, and am ready to give it my all these next few weeks and see some miracles happen!


Love you all, Be happy :D


Elder Duckworth


here are some photos. Notice how when they set the table, they all used chopsticks but gave me a fork ... I was so touched haha :)

All American Night

Originally sent on August 11, 2014

Bonjour à tous!


This has been a week full of miracles here in Toulouse. The work is finally starting to really pick up here, and we have been blessed to see a lot of people progress. In church we had 12 amis at church. This ward is awesome, and it's been great to really spark them by bringing all of these new people to church.


My highlight of the week was actually an activity that was put on by the missionaries of the other ward. It was an "all american night" complete with hamburgers and root beer. There were over 20 investigators who came...it was incredible. The reason why it was my highlight was I was able to meet D. D is the father of a member of the other ward, but lives in our sector. He came because his son invited him, and I talked to him when I found out he lived in our sector. I got to know him and learned a lot about his life. He got kinda quiet, and then told me that he just recently lost his Wife. It has been a really hard time for him, and he feels alone. He said that this is the reason why he felt like he should approach our church. I was able to assure him that this life isn't the end, and that is wife is still there. It was very simple, but very powerful. The gospel of Jesus Christ and the reality of His Atonement really can change lives.


I love you all, and hope that things are going well for you. I am loving what I'm doing, and wouldn't trade it for anything!


Bonne semaine!
Elder Duckworth

Working hard and loving what we're doing

Originally sent August 4, 2014

Bonjour!


Sorry, this is going to be a short one, but Everything here in Toulouse has really been picking up. Yesterday we had 4 amis at church, and our ward in total had 7!!! that has not happen here in a while, and I think people are starting to be excited about missionary work again.

Quick summary of this last week. We have found two people who fixed baptismal dates!!! One is a chinese Lady named Y, who is super funny and only speaks chinese. I havent actually talked much with her but she is progressing, and has started to see God's influence in her life! The other is a guy named N whos from Nigeria. Our first lesson he basically straight up told us he wants to be baptized....so we had no problem with that :D He is really cool, and has a strong faith.


Other than that, not a whole lot in the way of news. Just working hard and loving what we're doing. This is God's work, and I'm so blessed that he let me be a part of it.

I love you all! have a great week!


Elder Duckworth

Do you want to go eat Kebabs with us?

Originally sent on July 28, 2014

Bonjour!


Greetings from the beautiful city of Toulouse!


So this week was pretty awesome as far as numbers go, we taught 11 lessons, 6 of which were in the presence of a member (by far the most I've ever done) with 7 new investigators. There is a couple I might have mentioned that the lady was taught by missionaries like 14 years ago, but her husband at the time said no. She is childhood friends with the Stake President's wife. She is from somewhere in the Paris mission, and just barely moved here. I think the missionaries kinda just lost track of her, but she has kept a strong testimony all these years. She said at one point she knew everything was true, and just wants to double check. They were supposed to leave on vacation but the daughter had a pretty bad accident and is now in the hospital, so they ended up not going on vacation. We were able to see them a couple times. The lesson we had this week was pretty spiritual. M, (the lady) basically taught us the lesson. And O (the guy) started out a bit unsure. The main reason he came was to support M. But by the end he really opened up. He talked about how he has made some mistakes in his life, and how he didn't really feel "worthy" to come to church. We were able to teach him a bit about the Atonement, and how it covers everything. The words just seemed to naturally come out because I know the spirit was helping us. These two are awesome, and I know they will be baptized one day.


Other than that, we were also able to start teaching our downstairs neighbor. A couple weeks ago he borrowed our vacum. When he returned it my companion was like "do you want to go eat Kebabs with us?" haha and he said yes. So a couple weeks ago we went out to eat with him and got to know him. His name is R, and he really has gone through some rough stuff in our life. He kept mentioning how he feels something "sainte" when he's around us. Saturday we went with a member to his apartment to eat. We were ready to teach, but our member just connected with him so well because they had gone through a lot of similar trials, and they just couldn't stop talking :) but thats ok we're going to give him a tour of the chapel tonight.


Things are really going great here, The sun is shining (a lot) and we are finding some really awesome people. The Lord has really blessed us by trusting us with some of his choice children.


I love you all, hope that you have a great week!


Elder Duckworth

"Bang"

Originally sent on July 21, 2014

Bonjour à tous!


Sorry, this is going to be a short one, But I just wanted to let everyone know that things are still going well here in Toulouse.


We started out this week with a "bang" by going to see fireworks (sorry, really bad joke). It was weird staying out so late. We didnt get home until midnight. It was really cool though, even though we chose a spot right behind a tree, next to a bunch of drunk students. This spot choosing ability seems to run in the family, right Dad?


Anyways, other then that, it has been super hot here. But we tried to not let that stop us. We worked hard, and were able to see a lot of results. We taught a lot last week, and are planning on teaching even more next week. Things are looking up.


We have a member here who invited a friend to come to church. She just moved here, and used to live in the North of France. When she was a lot younger she had taken all of the missionary lessons, but for certain reasons, never got baptized. Well, fast forward a few years and here we are. She has kept her testimony of the restored gospel, and we are going to go and teach her this week! Only problem is that shes leaving on vacation soon.....but we wont talk about that :D We are still very excited for that


Love you all, have a great week.


Elder Duckworth

He will heal all that come unto him

Originally sent on July 14, 2014

Bonjour!


This has been a great week! We didnt have a whole lot of excitement, but we worked hard, and hopefully will start to see our labors come to frution this next week!


I have been studying a lot lately about Healing, and just wanted to share some of my thoughts about that with you this week.

This last week, I had the honor to participate in a priesthood blessing. I thought about how when the priesthood is used, it is as if Christ himself is giving the blessing. It struck me that almost everything that Christ did in his life was centered around healing. In the New Testimant, it is full of stories of Christ healling the sick and afflicted. He even brought the dead back to life. I have reflected a lot on why our healing is so Important to Christ. Then I realized that that is why he came here to the earth. He came to heal us. Not only from physical things, but from spiritual things. In the Garden of Gesthemene, and later again on the cross, Christ suffered all. He went through unimaginable pain so that he can understand what we are going through. Through the Atonement, Christ healed us through our sins, pains, sorrows, and suffering.


I thought a lot about how we can be healed then. If Christ already has healed us, why do we still suffer. In reading my scriptures (sorry i forgot to bring them, so I cant give a citation) I learned that He will heal all that come unto him. His part is already done, all we have to do is come unto him. In the scriptures, when the sick woman touched the robe of Christ and was healed, Christ said that it was her faith that made her whole. And faith is a principle of aciton. If any of you are suffering, I invite you to have faith, and act by turning to the Savior. I know that he can heal us from what ever we are going through.


I love you all, have a great week!


Elder Duckworth

I know He will answer

Originally sent on July 7, 2014

Bonjour!


I am super short on time...sorry, but I'll give you all a quick rundown on how things are going...

First off, we have been teaching a super nice Chinese lady named Y for the past few weeks, and she accepted a baptismal date for July 19th! We will have to move the date because she missed church, but she is progressing, and the Gospel has made such a huge difference in her life! She only speaks Chinese, so my contributions to the lessons are a bit small, but they are a lot of fun, and the spirit isz there.


We got transfer calls and me and Elder Yeung are both staying. We are very excited for all of the fun adventures that await us in these next 6 weeks.


This last week was My birthday, as well as the 4th of July. They were both celebrated by eating obscene amonts of food...so I felt right at home. We were able to do a lot of good work with members this week which was really good.


Really quick story for the week. There is a family of Recent converts in the ward that we get to see a lot, and they are awesome. This last week, J (hes 15) was at a construction site, and somehow slipped and fell and was hurt really badly by some rebar sticking out of the ground. He was with his friends family (also in the ward). His friends mom heard the commotion and came over and saw the scene. She was trying to get everything in order, and she remarked that both of them were surprisingly calm. She suggested that they pray together, and they both responded that they already had. When I heard this, I was very impressed by the fact that two young men, one of them who has only been in the church for about 6 months, thought to pray in the midst of a really serious accident. Even though they had to wait an hour and a half before the ambulance could get him to the hospital, J said he felt comforted, and that it Only felt like 20 minutes. The Lord was with him, and responded to his prayer. May we all follow their example, and turn to the Lord Even in our most hard of times. I know he will answer.


Things are going well here, and I'm loving what I am doing. Thank you all for your love and support. I love you all!


Elder Duckworth

Simple, Yet Powerful

Originally sent June 30, 2014

Bonjour à tous!


This has been a fun, crazy busy week for us here in Toulouse. The sun has been out, and so were we. We had a lot of lessons with new faces this last week. We are making a lot of progress with building our teaching pool, and we are starting to find new people who are ready to progress.


Our equip here has been cursed with vacations. Everytime we find somebody really cool, and they are genuinely interested in our message, they leave. It has been hard to stay patient, but we are doing our best.


We have been able to find some really cool Chinese people as of late, and it has been a pleasure for me to get to know them and help them learn the gospel. My Chinese is still next to nothing, but the cool thing about the gift of toungues is that when we testify of the Savior, the spirit will help is out. I was able to say a very short testimony at the end of a lesson in Chinese, and even though I felt it wasn't much, our ami really appreciated the fact that I spoke her language, and she said she was really touched by what I said.


Over the past few weeks, a lot of my studies have been in the Book of Mormon, especially in scriptures that testify of Christ. I have grown in my knowledge, but more importantly spiritually as well. The things in the scriptures aren't just stories to me. Thanks to a lot of study and prayer, these things become more and more reality to me.


The Gospel is Simple, yet powerful and I have seen first hand how it can change peoples lives. Here in Toulouse we have a recent convert named R. I have been over to his house at least once a week since I got here. He has gone through some awful things in his life with drugs divorce, and illness. when the missionaries found him he was in a dark place, absouloute rock bottom. But he testifies that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what saved him. He is now a stong member of the church, and does missionary work every day. He has invited everyone he knows to come and learn about the Church. The progress I have seen in him, and the potential that I see in him is a living testimony of the Gospel in action.



I love you all lots, hope you have a great week full of Miracles!
Elder Duckworth

Nice was nice

Bonjour!!!


Sorry that its been a while! I will give you all a quick rundown of whats been going on.


This last week as a mission we had the incredible opportunity to go to Nice to hear Elder Anderson speak. It was an amazing experience, and the spirit was there so strong. I really have a newfound appreciation for the restored gospel that we have as members of the church, and all of the blessings that come from that. As an Apostle, Elder Anderson is a special witness of Jesus Christ, and I really believe that to be true. I had the spirit confirm the truthfulness of what he said, especially about Christ. It was a day I'll never be able to forget.


Since the conference, we have had a couple of hiccups in our work. Our amis B and Y, who were both progressing extremely well, decided to go on vacation for a while, which has been really rough on us. We are going to have to refix dates, and hope that they continue to read the scriptures and pray while they're gone. But we are really optimistic about the future.


The weather here is starting to get a bit on the warm side. I am starting to lose a good amount of weight. My clothes are starting to get abit on the baggy side.


Recently we have been working with a young adult named P. He was baptized pretty recently, and has made incredible progress in the gospel. He now holds a stake calling, and we have been going over to his apartment to help him study the gospel from time to time. The last time we were over there, he asked me if I could help him with something. He reaches into his bag and pulls out mission papers!!!!! I knew he wanted to go on a mission, but I had no Idea he was that close to going. It was really exciting, and allowed me to reflect on my descision to serve a mission. I really feel like I lucked out big time. It has been the most rewarding experience


I love you all! Have a great week


Elder Duckworth

With great spiritual experiences comes great opposition

Bonjour à tous!

This week has been absolutely awesome. Me and Elder Yeung worked really hard, and we were able to see some awesome stuff happen. (Im emailing early because we have a conference in Nice with Elder Anderson on Tuesday!).

We started out the week by teaching our friend Yu. He is from China, and he has come to church 3 times. We were able to have a lesson at a member's home with him this week (always the best) We taught the restoration, and he received it really well. It was a lot of information all at once, but he said that he can really feel something when he prays, attends church, reads The Book of Mormon, ETC. He says that he believes that the gospel is true. At the end of the lesson we invited him to be baptized and he said yes!... but the only problem is that he left on vacation for a whole month so we are going to have to wait... :) (good thing I studied patience haha)

On Wednesday we had a lesson with our ami Benjamin. We found Benjamin street contacting. He was in a hurry, and so we had to talk fast. We asked him some questions, and he said a lot of yes's (no idea how to spell that). We invited him to come to institute and he said yes then walked away. Normally, this means thanks for your time but I'm not interested. We did get his phone number and invited him to come and he said yes again. The night of Institute comes around and he shows up...with a friend! They had an awesome time, and really participated in the lesson. The teacher gave them copies of the Book of Mormon it was sooo cool. We fixed a RDV for this last Wednesday with Benjamin. Fast forward to this week, and we have our lesson with Benjamin. We asked how he liked The Book of Mormon, and he said that he had read the whole book of Moroni, as well as Mormon! He said that he felt it was true. We then taught the restoration, and everything was super well received. He shared some pretty cool personal spiritual experiences with us, and he expressed how he felt that he had found the right path. At the end of the Lesson, we invited him to be baptized and he said yet!!! He has a date for the 5th of July!!! He was so excited to learn that we fixed a RDV for the next day :). We went over the Restoration again, and had an awesome member there testifying. He said that he had prayed about The Book of Mormon, and feels that it is true. He is going to come to church this Sunday and meet the ward. We are so excited :D. There still is a long way to go, but I feel that Benjamin was really prepared to meet us.

Just an overall really awesome week. It really feels good to be teaching, and seeing the gospel change peoples lives. It has been said that with great spiritual experiences comes great opposition, and I have also seen a bit of that too. Me and my Companion met a man who really just didn't like us, and really just attacked us and our beliefs. He said some hurtful things, and said that we don't really follow Christ, and that we don't know him. This kindof put me in a funk for a bit, not going to lie.

However, in my personal studies the last few days, I have been able to find comfort in the scriptures. I have felt spiritual confirmation that Jesus is the Christ. He lived a perfect life, serving others all along the way. He suffered for our sins. In The Garden of Gesthenme, as well as on the Cross. He died for us. For me and for you. I know that on the third day, He rose again. He conquered death so that all of us can live again.
I also know that His church has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that with that all of the authority and orginization that existed in the time of Christ once again is found on earth. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It is the word of God.

This knowledge has brought so much Joy to me and my family, and that is why I want to share it with others. I am so greatful for the opportunity to wear Christ's name on my chest every day, and to help others come unto him. I would not trade this for anything.

I love you all so much, you are great.

Have a great week!


Elder Duckworth

Ni Hao!

Ni Hao!

This has been an awesome, busy week, and we are finding lots of people to share the gospel with.
I don't have much time, but I just wanted to share a cool miracle that happened a few days ago

I was on exchange with Elder Moeler, and we went to go do service at a families house. This family has been through a lot, and we went to just try to help them in any way we knew how. As we approached their house, a heavy rain started. We got to their house, and were trying to decide what to do. We were deciding whether or not we should stay, and a member suggested we pray for the rain to stop. I looked around and saw clouds in every direction. But we decided to give it a shot. After a heartfetlt, short prayer, we went inside the families house. Within 10 minuets the rain had completely stopped, and we were able to work in their yard and finish their garden.



I know that our Heavenly Father Loves us, and he hears our prayers. He is our Father, and wants to hear from us.

Samedi Sportif

Originally sent May 26, 2014

Bonjour!


This has been a crazy week because it was the end of the transfer, but we finished with a bang.


Every saturday we do a samedi sportif as an opportunity for members, non members, and missionaries to have a good time and create friendships. This last saturday, we had a less active friend that we had talked to invite 5 of her friends!! It was super cool. We played some ball with them for a while, and got to know them really good. At the end, they invited us over for dinner, so after some appointments in the afternoon we went over for dinner. I ate so much I thought I was going to explode. It was awesome.
What was even cooler is that two of them came to church the next day!!!! I promise that only good things can happen if we simply invite people!


So transfer calls were this last week, and I am staying. I received a new companion named Elder Yeung from Hong Kong! He is super cool, and speaks really good Chinese :) so we are going to work really hard to find chinese people that we can teach. Maybe I can Learn a little Chinese on the way.


I love you all hope you have a great week!


Elder Duckworth

Because of Him

Origianally sent May 19, 2014

bonjour!

I just spent the last little bit fighting with the computer, so Im out of time. I wanted to share this video, its awesome, and really reflects my thoughts as of late. It really is because of Christ that all is possible. I testify that He loves you, and has died for you.
I love you all, Have a good week!

Elder Duckworth
https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng

Merry Mother's Day

Originally sent May 12, 2014

Hello!

This week has been a fantastic week! Mother's day was great, and it was really good to hear from the family. I have such an appreciation for my Mother, and I have nothing for respect for Mothers, I definately couldn't do it.

This week was a lot of fun for me and Elder Dalton. We did a lot of hard work, and were able to see a lot of miracles. One that was really cool was that at the beginning of the week, we hadn't had much luck with fixing Rendez Vous. We felt a little discouraged, and we decided to try something new. We got out an old Chinese area book from when we had Chinese speaking Missionaries in Toulouse, as well as some of their language material, and decided to see if we could fix a Rendez vous in Chinese. We had some funny conversations for sure in all sorts of languages, but the miracle is that we acutally fixed a Rendez Vous out of it! It took 3 different languages, and a lot of help from the Lord, but we did it. His name is Caiyong, and we actually taught him twice, and have stayed in contact with him. It was a really cool little miracle.



In my studies this week, I read a lot about pride. Pride is one of the sins a lot of us are the most guilty of. I will be the first to admit that I let my pride get the best of me every now and again. It's hard. But in looking at the life of the Savior, he showed us a better way of living. He demonstrated that through meekness, humility, and service, we all can live on a higher level. Something I am doing, and I invite you to do as well, is to find ways to get rid of pride in our lives. I can promise that we will all be happier if we do this.

I love you all, have a great week!

Some Pics

Ok, so the first one is me and ELder Frandson from american Fork,The second one is me and My companion riding bikes for the first time! and the third one is kind of a funny story, I had left my camera on a park bench one night, so the next morning we woke up early to go running to see if we could find it. This is the picture of two tired missionaries who are celebrating the found camera

A Story for the Ages

As a gift, I have also included the pictures of the infamous bird poop day. Enjoy! :D

Miracles happen all the time

Originally sent May 5, 2014 

Bonjour à tous!


This has been a pretty solid week. We had zone conference, which was absolutely amazing. We have some very inspired leaders in this mission, and the direction that we received will definately be able to help us be better missionaries so that we can better serve the people of France!


This week we had a lot of people sleeping over in the Hotel Toulouse (our apartment) because of the zone conference, so it was a lot of fun to meet a lot of people, as well as see some old friends also. I got to go on an exchange with an old friend from High School which was pretty cool.


This week my companion and have seen some pretty awesome miracles. Elder Neil Anderson visited the mission about 2 years ago, and as part of his message he told us that as we strive to do our best, prepared people will come and find us. We were able to see two fulfillments of this promise this last week. Both times we were just walking, and were stopped. The first time was this lady from Iran. We hadnt left the apartment for but 2 minuets when she stopped us and asked us if we were people who could "teach her about religeon" because she has been searching. We were pleased to tell this sweet lady that that is exactly what we do :D The other time me and my companion were "lost" (I have found that normally when we get lost that means something cool is about to happen). We were looking at a map on a bench when we hear, "Hey Elders!" Two young tahitian students aproached us. The girl told us that she is a member, and is studying here. Her frend was this big Tahitian guy, and she said "I've been trying to get this guy to meet with the missionaries for a while now" and he laughed at that. We got to know them a bit, and also found out that this girl has a bunch of Tahitian student friends that she wants to introduce us to!(score!) So basically we are in the process of organizing this big basketball game, and we will be able to meet all of her friends through that! This kind of stuff happens all the time here as a missionary, I promise you all that miracles do happen!


I love you all, I hope you have a fantastic week!

Forgive one another

Bonjour!


This has been an awesome, rainy week here in Toulouse! Unfortunately, my dear dear companion, Elder Dalton, fell ill this week. He was sick up through Thursday, so unfortunately we were not able to leave the apartment for a lot of the time. I spent a lot of time cleaning out the apartment... and uncovered some really interesting stuff haha. But now I have a testimony about cleanliness and order.


This Saturday, we had the chance to do an exchange with the zone leaders. Due to poor planning, me and Elder Adams (Zone Leader) found ourselves out in short sleeve shirts in the cold rain, and we had a full day of work still ahead of us. We decided to just roll with it, and do our work with a smile. We taught 2 lessons to their amis, and that was really cool. We also had some really good conversations just on the road in the pouring rain. We stopped a young couple, and once they warmed up to us, we had a solid 20 minute conversation in the rain. We testified to these people that there is a God, and that he loves us. We gave them our information, and hopefully we will hear from them in the future. :) Also, My companion while on exchange found 2 families and a young adult to teach all in one day! so this next week I will have some good things to report.


My little thought for this week comes from Matt 6:14
I forgot to bring my bible, but it says basically "if you forgive everybody of their trespasses against you, God will forgive you of yours". It hit me that this is a simple thing that will basically get me into heaven. I thought a lot about the miracle of forgiveness, and how miraculous it is that Christ has made it possible for us to be forgiven, not matter what we have done. In return for this, he just asks that we forgive one another. It's not always easy, but let's all try to be more forgiving this week :)


Love you all,


Elder Duckworth

There Will Be Opposition In All Things

Bonjour à tous et toutes!

This has been a fantastic week here in Toulouse that has been full of Miracles. I am still getting used to such a big city. It's a big difference from the cities I have served in before, so Its going to take some adjustment. The ward here is Awesome, there were 156 people at church yesterday! There are some amazing members here, and they are commited to missionary work, so I am very excited for that.

As for our work here, we are basically starting from ground zero, so that means that we get to do a lot of contacting. In a big city it's a lot different, because there is always somebody to talk to. This Saturday, we decided to do a Super Samedi to commemerate easter and thank him in our own small way. We decided that we would do this by being out and working all day, not stopping until it was time to come back inside at 9. We set some high goals as far as numbers go to really push us. We had a glorious, long day full of contacting and passing people, and were able to exceed our goals, which was awesome! Towards the end of the day, we decided to go to Capitol, which is a big square downtown. As we almost got there, a bird took a giant poop on me. It was all down my back, and it was really gross. We had to go to a nearby members house to get it all cleaned off. I didn't let this discourage me though, and decided to keep a smile on my face. We finished the night strong, and we were exhausted. We got back to our neighborhood at about 8:45, and decided that we would finish strong and stay out all the way until 900. We did some more contacting, and we made the triumphant return to our apartment after a fullfiling days work. As we were about to enter the apartment, it was brought to my attention that once again, the birds had gotten me. 2 times in one day!!! And that is how I finished up the day :)

Its a funny story, but there really is something to be learned from it. There will be opposition in all things. The more we try to do what is right, the more the adversary will attack us.

As this last weekend was Easter, I really studied and reflected on the Savior. As a missionary, I have grown a lot in my understanding of him. I just want to take the opportunity to let you all know that I know that He is our Savior. He suffered and died for us. For me, and for you. He did this because he loves us. He loves you so much. And the message that as a Missionary I try to share with the whole world is that HE LIVES. He has overcome death, and by that has made it possible for us to do the same. He suffered for us, so that we can be rid of all of the awful things we experience in life that weigh us down. He wants more than anything for us to come unto him. He has asked us to take his yoke upon us. For his yoke is easy, and his burden is light.


Love you all, have a great week!



Elder Duckworth

Toulouse, Here I Come!

Bonjour à tous!


So the big news for me is that I have been transfered! I am now serving in the Capitole sector, which contains about half of the city of Toulouse. The news caught me really off guard, but I'm very excited for the work here in Toulouse. I am really going to miss Limoges. That city, and the members there will always hold a very special place in my heart.


This week was an awesome week. The Limoges Sisters' ami, C-- had his Baptism on Saturday, and it was awesome. He is such a cool guy, and a close friend to me. I was able to participate in his confirmation which was a way cool experience.


As far as a "spiritual thought" goes for this week, I didn't really come prepared.
But This last week I have been full of gratitude for the occasion that I have to be here on a mission. I have so much to be thankful for. I have had so many friendships, lessons learned, and personal experiences, that I can't even count them. This week I just want to let you all know that I know that this work can come from nowhere else, except for God. The Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to this earth, and I have the best job in the world, which is to share this with others.


I love you all so much, have a fantastic week!


Avec Amour,
Elder Duckworth

Old Relic and other pics

OK, so one of these is an old relic in the cathedral next door, and it is the skull of a man named Saint Boniface, kinda funny I thought. There is also a District photo, and me and my lovely companion

Feeding the 5000

Bonjour!

Sorry I missed last week, but we have been having a great time here in wonderful Limoges!!

Not a whole lot in the way of news has been going on, we are still teaching multiple times a week, which has been really awesome. I love being able to see people progress in the gospel. It is such a privilege for me to be able to be a part of this great work. I feel like I am the luckiest guy in the world to be here.

The highlight of my week was definitely General Conference. There was not a single talk that stood out to me, but that is in large part because of how good every single talk was! I have never been so inspired by Conference, and it really hit me what it means to be a part of Christ's true church. It is a HUGE blessing to have inspired men and women called by God to show us the way. Our job is pretty easy. All we have to do is follow them.

Lately I have been studying a lot about the life of the Savior. I was reading the story about Feeding the 5000, when a specific sentence struck me. When the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes were presented to feed the multitude, one of the Apostles said, "What are these among so many?". I think sometimes I feel that way about myself. What am I among so many? How am I supposed to "feed" such a great multitude? Using logic, there is no way that I am enough. But that is where the Savior comes in. With his help, the 5 loaves and 2 fishes were more than enough to feed the multitude. Christ does this with us too. He stretches us, and takes us farther than we ever imagined that we could go. At the end of this miracle, we learn that 7 baskets of food remained, and this shows that when Christ is done with us, there will be much more than what he started with. I know that through Christ, we all can be stretched to do amazing things, and that we will grow so much from what he uses us for.


I love you all so much. Its something that I say often, but I really do mean it.


Have a great week


Elder Duckworth

Oh how I love sleep

Bounour a tous!

Sorry I am a bit late, but I had Zone Conference in Bordeaux yesterday! It was an awesome day, and I learned so much. We had a member of the Seventy come, and he had some really awesome insights that are going to make me such a better missionary.

We had a busy week, it all kindof seems like a blur to me. We taught our ami JP again, and he really liked everything that we had to say. He is such an honest, loving man. He came to our first ever english class that was just him and our eternal ami named J who is Jewish, but is married to a member. It was a lot of fun.
One of the highlights of my week was an exchange that I got to do with Elder Roberts, my MTC companion. A lot of it was unfortunately spent riding trains, but it was so good to catch up with him.
Other than that, it was just a lot of regular stuff. It was a good, productive week, and I am happy.

My little thought comes from Matthew chapter 6 verse 21 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also"


This came up in my studies, and it really hit me hard. It made me think about all of the things that I "treasure" in my life. A lot of them were really great things such as my Family, my mission, the gospel, friends, etc. But then I also kinda thought of some of the things that I treasure that maybe I shouldnt. One of these things for me is sleep. Oh how I love sleep. It is sometimes the best part of the day. But I came to the realization that when I treasure these kinds of things, that is where my heart is. And that is not where it needs to be. I want to invite you all to think of the "treasures" in your lives, and try to treasure the good things in life.

I love you all, and hope that all goes well.

Elder Duckworth

Rabbits in a beret.....

Ok, first one is the old chapel literally next door to our apartment.

Second one is me holding baby rabbits in a beret......

Temples are important

Bonjour mes amis!


It has been an amazing week here in Limoges!!!!

we had zone training on Thursday, and I got to see lot of my friends from the MTC there. I talked a lot with my good friends Elder Smith And Elder Roberts(my old companion) It was so good to see them and see how far everyone has come. Im in the same district as Elder Roberts, and we get to do an exchange this week i am sooo excited!

We had 5 whole lessons this week! Which has just about doubled my mission total. It has been great. We taught JP who I mêntioned earlier, and he took everything really well. We were teaching the Restoration, and when we got to the end, I challenged him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and when I did he got mad. I was really worried, but then he said it was because he already knew the truth of our message and didnt like the fact that I had doubted him :) It was a cool lesson.

Other than that, I really dont have all to much to report. But I have been really busy, and that makes me happy.


This week I learned about the importance of Temples. I was studying about the lives of the Pioneers. I came across a statistic that said that at a time there were something like 30000 members of the church in the United Kingdom, and about 10000 in the United States. That made me wonder why everyone had to leave. But then I came across the fact that it was because Utah was where the Temple was. And it kinda clicked after that. The temple is so important to God, that he would have his people go through such great lengths to receive its blessings.
Anyways, I love you all, and hope all is well.

Have a fantastic week

Elder Duckworth

Miracles

Bonjour!

I had an awesome first week here in the beautiful city of Limoges! We spent a lot of time this week here working with people in the ward here (we have an awesome ward here by the way). On Saturday the ward did an "international night" where everybody brought foods from where they are from. Needless to say I struggled with that being the picky eater that I am. Some people also did really cool presentations on the countries that they are from. A lady did a presentation on the Philippiens, and taught us how to sing a song in Tagolog. Our Relief Society president here is Tahitian, and had a group of Musicians come which was really cool. It was an awesome night, and what was even better, is that one of the less active members and one of our amis came!

Their names are M__ and J__ and they are both from the Congo. Apparently they had both kinda fallen off of the face of the planet for a while, and it was the first time in like over a month we had seen them. But they came, and even brought an African Dish called Saka Saka (It was sooo nice of them, but it straight up made me gag). The ward here was so good too, and immediately greeted them and made them feel welcome. They had a great time, and I got talking with M__ the Less active, and he kinda told me his story. It was so cool. He has been through some serious stuff in his life, especially with the wars that are going on in Africa. His story is awesome, and I dont have enough time to do it justice, but long story short he had a Joseph Smith-like story where he tried all of the christian churches, but none of them "convinced him :)". Then he knew of someone who was "Mormon", and was a colonel in the Army there. He was in a position of power that is normally very corrupted in his country, but this man did not abuse his power and take advantage of the people. Then he moved here to France, kinda stalked down our church, and was baptized in 2002! After I talked to him for a bit, HE invited US to his house this Wednesday (miracle) and his friend wanted to talk Sunday.

Fast forward to Sunday. It was a great Sunday. M__ came, participated and was immediately welcomed back by the members as if he had never left. J__ had to work, so he didnt come, but we worked something out kinda sorta where we would come pray at his house after church some time. After church, we tried passing some people, and it didn't really work out, and then we missed our bus, which are like every half hour here on Sundays. So we had to wait, and then finally we were able to make it over towards J__ house. As we were approaching the address, I look out the window and see J__, M__, and another friend walking down the street. I got really excited, and all I could get out was "....STOP". So we hurried and got off of the bus and went and talked to them. Its hard to explain, but I cant stress enough that if we were either a minute earlier or later we would have missed them (another miracle). They were kinda off guard but invited us into J__'s house. We talked for a bit, and met their other friend, a woman named N__. She was very curious about who the heck we were, and how they were friends with us. She was very impressed, and got really sparked when we told her that we are going to start an English class here soon. Then we had M__ share his story about how he met the church which was even better a second time around :). Then we did a quick presentation of the Book of Mormon/Restoration to their friend N__. She was kindof unsure about it, but then J__ (who we weren't sure if he had read) Pulls out his, and basically tells this woman that she needs to read it! (miracle miracle miracle). It was an awesome experience, and it showed me how much God is in control. Everything works out for a reason :)


This week, I've studied a lot about Jesus Christ. I have learned a lot, and I just want you guys to know that He loves you :). He did so much for us, and all he wants from us is to follow him. It has been amazing as I have really started to learn about him, and how much really went into the Atonement. I testify that he died for us, and through him, we are going to be able to live again! This good news makes me happy, and I get to share it with everybody! This Gospel is a Gospel of happiness, and I challenge you to find somebody this week, and make them happy :)


Love you all, have a great week


Elder Duckworth

First Transfer

Bonjour!

Sorry, I dont have much time today. I spent all day yesterday riding trains!!!! yahoo!

I had a great last week in Annecy. We taught a lot, and served a lot. I felt very fulfilled in my work. I left Annecy feeling like i accomplished a lot. I was blessed with a great trainer, and an awesome branch that will always be considered family to me.

I got transferred to the beautiful town of Limoges! My new companion is named Elder Lehmitz, and I think we will do some serious wurk here!

I got to go, but love you all you are great!!!

Avec Amour

Elder Duckworth