Week #4 Transfer #6 - Adventure!!

Hey everyone!! This week was a bit of an adventure and the next will be more so. We got to start the week off hiking the mountain of gold! Haha that's the name of the little hill overlooking Manosque, Le Mont d'Or. It was so beautiful to see the view from there though. We then got to travel this week to Pau for Elder Strong's legality in France and I got to pass through Toulouse and Tarbes! Fun to see the villes a little if only for a bit, and we got to eat the amazing kebab at Toulouse and even visit Lourdes for a little bit. We ended the week with a great time at church and a lesson with our ami Pascal who is doing so well and making so much progress.

View from Mt. d'Or

This week I was so touched by the beauty of the earth and the blessing we have to live here. I love to just watch the beautiful creation of nature and see what We are so lucky to experience and live on, on this beautiful planet. There is a scripture in 1 Corinthians 10:26:

" 26 For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof."

I know this is true, we are given so much and as I reflect on the beauty I am so lucky to see in this beautiful country of France I become more grateful for all we have been given of our Heavenly Father. He helps us out so much and nature is just great!  As I think of the beauty of this world and all the wonderful views we can experience I also recognize the spiritual adventures we can experience as well. So I invite you all to make the most of what we have.

Manosque from Mt. d'Or

Tomorrow I get to meet one of the apostles of the Lord in Lyon and I'm so excited. Not only am I so blessed to serve in a beautiful place on earth but now I can meet one of Gods chosen servants and learn what he'll have to teach us. I hope you all have a wonderful week. To speak on making the most with what we have and have been given, In words
Elder Christofferson shared in the October 2010 general conference:

 "As a youth I visited the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City. One of my favorite stops was the LDS Church pavilion with its impressive replica of the Salt Lake Temple spires. There for the first time I saw the film Man’s Search for Happiness. The movie’s depiction of the plan of salvation, narrated by Elder Richard L. Evans, had a significant impact on many visitors, including me. Among other things, Elder Evans said:

      “Life offers you two precious gifts--one is time, the other freedom of choice, the freedom to buy with your time what you will. You are free to exchange your allotment of time for thrills. You may trade it for base desires. You may invest it in greed. …

      “Yours is the freedom to choose. But these are no bargains, for in them you find no lasting satisfaction.

      “Every day, every hour, every minute of your span of mortal years must sometime be accounted for. And it is in this life that you walk by faith and prove yourself able to choose good over evil, right over wrong, enduring happiness over mere amusement. And your eternal reward will be according to your choosing.

      “A prophet of God has said: ‘Men are that they might have joy’--a joy that includes a fullness of life, a life dedicated to service, to love and harmony in the home, and the fruits of honest toil--an acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ--of its requirements and commandments.

      “Only in these will you find true happiness, the happiness which doesn’t fade with the lights and the music and the crowds.”

I know how true these words are and I can't wait to see what life has for us all.

Love,
Elder Josh Laney