Week #3 Transfer #6 - Continuer Fort (Stay strong!)

Hello friends and family!
 How was your week? I hope it was great! Time's flying as usual and should fly even faster with the next few weeks, including a trip to Pau for Elder Strong's legality this week (I get to stop in Tarbes for 10 min and visit Toulouse!) and then our conference in a week to see Elder Christofferson! What an amazing opportunity we have to meet one of Christ's apostles living today, I'm super excited and we're gonna go find our 2nd engage this week! Please pray for Selene and her progress and for the 2nd person we are meant to help, thanks so much for all you do and all your prayers everyone! I miss you all tons and love you even more. 

Zone hike in hills of Marseille

This week was fun, we got to meet a lot of cool people through soccer and I've seen how serving members and spending time with them will spark them into just doing tons of missionary work and trying to help you out tons! it's so cool. We also got to do a hike in Marseille on P-day with the zone which was beautiful and fun! So cool, looked just like my favorite movie "The Count of Monte Christo" which takes place in Marseille!!  Can't wait to read that book in its original French version someday :) and visit le Château d'If. 

Cliffs above Marseille France

So my message this week is on service and loving one another, and using prayer to help you do that. This will help you overcome challenges by helping others :) I will reflect the words of the scripture I shared two weeks ago: Matt 22: 37-40:

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God [, and second]...Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets"

I've been focusing on this recently and have seen a huge change.  Sometimes you just need to think of others more and how you can help them. And so something I've been doing is trying to say one nice comment or something kind to uplift someone else for every person I meet each day. I have found I'm just starting to love others way more and it's so cool, and it started with making some decisions to further consecrate myself to love God.  But I found out how to do this from our Heavenly Father, which is by prayer.  So just remember prayer and its primary goal, to help us just talk to our Heavenly Father and know Him and His will for us. So pray and ask Him how you can better love Him and love others. My invitation this week is for you all to do  something nice or say something nice to someone every day!  It's brought such a difference for me, and in a paraphrase of a quote I once heard, in one act of kindness you may find joy, but the person you helped may hold your name in esteem forever.  So go help others!  It'll make them happier than we can imagine and mean so much, and it'll make us all happier as we help :)

French Coast near Marseille

Love,
Elder Josh Laney