This week we got a new companion, Elder Bonnamy! He's from France and was serving in Salt Lake, but got sent here because of the coronavirus. He's great, it's been fun to have a francophone companion and to be in a trio too!
The best part of the week though was last night when Brad Wilcox visited our mission. Virtually of course. We had a mission-wide videoconference and he joined in all the way from Utah! He's an amazing man, he talked to us about how to improve our scripture study, then taught all about grace. If you've never seen his talk "His Grace is Sufficient" go read it right now. It will change the way you see Christ's atonement.
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/brad-wilcox/his-grace-is-sufficient/
He also compared the coronavirus pandemic to the Titanic. At the time, everyone believed it was unsinkable, people would say, "God himself can't sink this ship!" So when the crew started evacuating onto lifeboats, people wouldn't get on. They thought they were overreacting, everyone "knew" the Titanic couldn't sink. But suddenly it started tipping, and they realized the ground they were standing on wasn't as solid as they had thought, but it was too late.
It's the same with this little virus. People are realizing that the world we live in isn't as sturdy as it seems and how fast things can start tipping over. So they won't be as critical of the people in the lifeboats we call the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because we know that the only sure foundation is the "rock of our Redeemer, ... a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." So in the wake of this global crisis, more people will see that they need what we have. And it'll be our job to share it with them.
Passez une bonne semaine!
Elder Wood
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| In the elevator after picking up Elder Bonnamy at the gare |
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| A sunny day passing by the Amiens Cathedral |
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| The church building in Amiens, where they've been spending a lot of time recently |
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| Food photo: They made banana bread |
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| Lots of pigeons congregating on a building |
Love his comparison to the titanic! Spot on!
ReplyDeleteMichael's mask looks serious! Did he make it himself?
ReplyDeleteHe did make one himself (see the photos in Week 96 - although most of them are missing due to some weird blogspot error I re-uploaded that one). The one he's wearing in this week's photos is an N95 one - the church/mission gave one to each of the missionaries. He says one of the elastic bands on it has already broken, though, so he may be back to the paper towel version soon.
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