Time to ball

Hello family,

It was a beautiful week this week in Lyon!

Here's one awesome thing that happened: we were walking down the street and we stopped a lady. She looked up and I said, "wait, I know you!" She said, "yeah we met a while ago and you gave me an invitation to the temple." We asked if she took any time to look it up and she had! She said that it looked like a quiet and peaceful place. Then, we explained to her the connection between families and temples. She reiterated to us that she didn't want to change religious beliefs. Despite that, we gave her a 'families and temples' brochure and told her to call if she had any questions.  

A couple hours later, we got a text that said, basically, "We just met near the bus stop. Thank you for this new meeting that came at a point where my path is difficult." We weren't planning on passing by where she was, and so we told her that and explained that God obviously knew her personally. She replied and told us that if we ever had any time, she would love to have us over. 

So, we're going over tonight. 

Love,

Elder Marshall Underwood 

 Picture from Sister Zinn in Lyon. I was messaging her and and she said, "Look who is here!"

 Primary Pianist

 So grateful for the Zinn family feeding the missionaries all the time, taking pictures in church and calling Elder Underwood and telling him he needs to email his mom :)

 Elder Wade Homecoming

Sit up

To start off this week, we took Elder Wade to the airport. It seemed like an easy goodbye, but then, when he turned his back, i realized that he was actually leaving. The time to change between one companionship and the other was the blink of an eye. I'm glad that he is home safe now and we are doing great here!

Our new companion is Elder Bouaka. He was born in Togo but has lived in northern France since he was ten. He is incredibly smart and an amazing missionary. I'm sure that we will do great work together.

The new group came in and I love them! It was so great for them to meet their trainers. Always a special moment.

I would just like to share one experience from this week. One night, I was praying and I asked God to help me with the exchange that I was going to do the next day. After my prayer, I was laying down, and I heard, "I need to tell you something." So I just thought, "ok, what is it." No answer came until I put aside my pride and got back down on my knees. Then I heard very clearly, "ask elder ______ about his family." The next day, there was a moment when he and I were alone. So, I asked him how his family was doing. He told me that they weren't doing good at all. We went on to have a good talk about it that he said he needed and appreciated.

If we seek to serve others, the spirit will give us more opportunities than we can handle.

Love,
Elder Marshall Underwood

Pâques

Week six is always a special week in this companionship. Being a part of the transfer process is really special. What I have learned from it will be a lesson to me for the rest of my life. Making a choice with the help of God is a simple process. Pray for guidance, do everything possible to make the best decision, present the decision, explain the reasoning, ask Him to confirm or deny the decision. It is always amazing to have the confirmation that each transfer is the exact will of God for His children.

We did a lot of things this week in preparation for the transfer, but the greatest part of the week was the end. For this transfer, we had mission goals of 36 baptisms and 2017 investigators, less actives, and recent converts at church. As of this last week, we were sitting at 16 baptisms and 1561 at church. With the faith and work of the missionaries, there were 14 baptisms more! This week. So, in the end, there were 30 baptisms and 2108 investigators, less actives, and recent converts at the ordinance of the sacrament. I'm so proud of everyone.

Elder Wade leaves tomorrow. I've loved being with him and I'll miss his presence, but he has  important things to do now!

Love,
Elder Marshall Underwood

 New Companion Elder Bouaka

 

Frapped

This week I had the opportunity to go on an exchange in Perpignan. When we got there, we immediately went to the church to teach one of their investigators names Christophe. We were talking about the gift of the Holy Ghost and he took us by surprise. Out of the blue, he told us that when he was 14, he saw his dad die by gunshot.

Following a small silence, I asked, "do you have the hope that you will see your father again?" He started crying and answered through his tears, "that's a good question..."

The spirit flooded the room and we testified that he would see his father again. We then testified that the whole reason why we were teaching him so that he could LIVE with his father forever. I know that the gospel blesses families. I know that everyone can hope to see their loved ones again, but only those who live according to the commandments of God can hope to live with them again.

Love,
Elder Marshall Underwood