Eighty-two and Eighty-three

Hey Mom,

The flight plans arrived!!!!!!!! Crazy! 

I have a favor to ask you, I did some geneology this Sunday before church and I found 80 family members that can go to the temple. If you could print their cards and go to the temple that would be awesome :)

July 4 will be epic! We will have to go somewhere for fireworks ;)

Thank you for all those photos and videos! It was fun to be a part of your adventure and I have never seen Jenessa so happy before! I am glad she married someone that can make her smile :)

Thank you as well for sending that birthday package :) It is much appreciated and I look forward to seeing your letter :) 

Know I am doing well and that the mission is so awesome! I think one day you and Dad will be a mission President and Mom. I think you two would really enjoy it and be really good at it :)

Have a great week Mom and I love y'a so much. What else can I say, I am a lucky guy to be in such a great family :)

Elder Duffy

Eighty-one

This is such a spectacular season to be a full-time missionary in

France. The temple dedication takes place May 21 and the open house

commences in just under one month. It is a tremendous time to be on

French soil!

This week has been a good amount of service. Saturday we helped move a

lady, and Tuesday we did some carpentry and helped Frere Vierat cut

out of wood forms of sheeps for the youth temple spectacle. They were

both good service opportunites and let me tell you, moving that ladies

affaires was quite eventful. She lived on the top floor (it was the

4th floor) and we had to descend all her belongings down this really

sketchy wooden ancient stair case :) But it built character and she

was extremely appreciative.

As well this week we have been continuing to hand out temple

invitations to all the less active members of the Ward. We have meet a

lot of cool people along the way and it has been a pleasure to discuss

and to listen to these people's stories and the things that challenges

them or what gives them happiness. I have come to realize even though

we are all quite different, we all are quite similar. The basic wants

and needs are quite universal. As well we have been meeting with a lot

of active members and we are continuing to receive referrals. We have

gotten several investigators out of these efforts, which is super

awesome!

Other then that this week has been superb. I feel overwhelmingly

blessed to be in this region of the world and it is honestly the

dream! It is funny how the good times and lessons learned during the

mission are all I remember. There have definitely been difficult times

but Christ's Atonement and its purifying power delights my soul. Love

is truly the key and it unlocks the door to Godliness, power,

confidence, and caring.

Something else that I have done this week has been reading through my

previous Mission journals and permission journal. It is funny how

everything has played out but I can testify that God has a plan for me

and He has one for you. Let us render our will to His and we will see

He will form us and give us joy.

Love y'all and last thing of advice. Use a cooking book to make a

cake, use an asserted divine origine book (Book of Mormon) to reach

the divine and see if it guides you to a "cake" Hopefully that made

sense ;)

À la prochain

Elder Duffy

Eighty

Je t'aime aussi Maman :) j'ai ate a te voir encore et aussi j'ai ate à
manger ta nourriture encore.  Ca me mangue beaucoup :) Mais la chose
que je mangue le plus est à te voir et de passer les bons moments
ensemble. Mais on va se voir bientôt et tout sera bien :)

Je t'aime Maman et passe une bonne semaine et dit le bonjour à Sadie
de mon part

Sincèrement,

Cameron

Seventy-nine (Second week in Pays, Basque)

(Sorry Dad, I bought a french suit.)

Bonjour,

This week has literally skidded right by! We have been working as much

as we can with the members and what ever time we have left we pass by

addresses of previous investigators.

All I can honestly say is the south west corner of France just might

be my favorite :) The beach, mountains, views and landscape are honestly breath taking! Especially when you have the Atlantic Ocean to your west, the sunsets are literally soul stirring!

Our Apartment is set on a plateau just east of downtown Bayonne. It

is right next to the Clinique Belharra and is a 25 minute walk to

downtown. It is a great location with a bus stop a 2 minute walk away

and a Carrefour (name of a French grocery store) 3 minutes

Every morning we run to a couple soccer fields west of our apartment.

I run around the field and Elder McDaniel does speed training/body weight exercises.

The mentality of the people here is quite unique and separate from the

rest of France. We are in the Pays Basque. They are called the Basque.

This people and culture has survived over the centuries amid quite a lot of difficulties and influences from neighboring countries. The Basque language is completely different to anything I have every heard and sounds nothing to French or English. If you can imagine the elvish language on Lord of the Rings, it sounds a little like that. Mostly the old timers speak Basque but to my

understanding, Basque is gaining popularity and is in the rare

category of growing languages.

One of the reasons the Basque have been able to sustain and survive

over these years is its unique location on the Atlantic Ocean. Have you

ever asked yourself why their are not more French cities on the

Atlantic coast? If you zoom back hundreds of years (even today), the Mediterranean Sea was the hotspot for trade and civilization. The Mediterranean location kept the Basque more or less safe or untouched from prowling countries and people.

Bayonne and Biarrtiz have gained attention ever since Napoleon made a vacation mansion in Biarrtiz where he would spend his summers.

Sorry for the little history lesson, I just find it fascinating. The

Lord is sustaining us in this work and Elder McDaniel and I are happy.

We are defiantly not perfect but we are trying, repenting, and keep on

going and enjoying the journey for what it really is. Something I have

learned on my mission is it's never about the destination but the

journey. Destinations are just the starts of more journeys. 

I love the Gospel and the answers of the souls in which it gives me. It gives

me peace for I can know and see things as they really are and not be

tossed to and through from the advertising of the world and

unsteadiness of myself. Jesus is the way and the light. As we search

read, discover, and apply His teachings, we will discover our true

selves and be on the journey of reaching full capacity and

comprehension which leads to joy and seeing things as they really

are, has they have really been, as will they be. 

Let us be humble and see things as they really are is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Sent from my iPad

Seventy-seven and Seventy-eight

Sorry for my lack of attention on emails, these last couple p-days we were doing lots of activities, thus the lack of attention. Sorry for not sending more. But know I am doing well and happy and I am so excited for this summer! It's going to be super fun and I am looking forward to it!

Love you both a ton and happy Valentines Day! 

Sincerely and lovingly,

Elder Duffy

P.S We played tennis with Brother De Guzman this p-day and it was really fun! 

I am currently on a train between Toulouse and Bordeaux, I will be serving in Bayonne! If you don't know Bayonne it is right next to the Spanish Border, below Bordeaux. Everyone has been telling me how beautiful it is and even some people have told me it is the most beautiful place in France! I am so excited and as well Elder McDaniel and I are blue washing in. There were sisters there but now it is us! I am honestly super excited and I was silently wishing to go to the south. I have already been feeling a change in temperature and this is a dream come true. There is a Ward there and actually Elder Gottscheck, a missionary in my last district, has family there. So he told me I need to go and contact them. 

Love ya,

Elder Duffy

Seventy-six

Seventy-four and Seventy-five

Hey Everyone!

I have to keep this email short but Elder Roemer is going to Perpignan
and Elder Caramelli is coming from Montpellier. He is Tahitian so it
will be fun to speak French with him. I have talked with him a couple
times and he is a really a nice guy!

Love ya all and as well this Saturday there will be two baptisms!
Josie and Teboho! It is going to be to awesome!

Love ya,

Elder Duffy


Hey Mom,

How was the Mandarin? That place is the best! And with Titanic music in the background! That is a dream :)

Do not worry about me Mom :) I have my health and my face is on the mend. I am lucky to serve in one of the luxurious places in the world when it comes to health services and quality of life.
My face is on the mend as well as my spirit. This mission has changed me in many ways in which I am grateful. The people that go through the hardest trials usually bring forth the deepest characters and understanding. But I have been blessed to be one that has not had many trials, and none grand, in my life and I have been for the most part ignorant of the many hardships of life. This brief tiny trial of mine will be over before we now it and it will all be okay. But know I am happy and content with where I am and I would rather be here then any other place in the world.
I am trying to take more care of myself by the way and I am feeling good.

I will send you and Dad the blood results but I am almost positive that there is nothing serious or nothing at all.

Thank you for your love and concern but don't worry,

Love ya Mom ❤️

P.S. Thank you for sending that Valentine's package! Your sending another credit card?

Have a great morning :)

I would like to share my testimony this week on Inspired ecclesiastical leaders

This last week I had a personal experience with our Bishop, Bishop
Rigby. We went to visit him this week and during a conversation we had
with him he answered the 3 biggest questions I had been asking myself
for the last couple weeks, and he didn't even know my questions! I
felt the Spirit very strongly during our conversation and in that
moment I knew what he was saying was specifically for me in my life
and what he was saying was true.
During those moments when the Witness of truth is present you can not
deny it. It is something that is felt in the heart.

I would like to bear my testimony that God answers our prayers most of
the time by those around us. I would like to bear my testimony that I
know Jesus the Christ, Heavenly Fathers, and our loved ones are ever
watching over us and love us. They plead with us to follow the path of
divine discipleship and to love one another. Let us feast upon the
scriptures so we can apply these vérités in our lives. Let us love
others and think less of ourselves because that is how we receive true
joy.

Sorry for being all around. Writing this email has helped me pull all
my thoughts together, thus the power of writing and meditation :)

Have a great week,

Elder Duffy