What Am I Training For?

Coucou !

What a week it has been! 

For p-day on Monday I was thrown into the history books in Normandy! I had the amazingopportunity to go to Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, the American cemetery, Saint-mere-eglise, and also another church that was used as a hospital during WW2! A retired US Navy Captain, Dennis Benson, who is an old friend of the missionaries and happens to work for the Canadian and American governments in war gaming, volunteered to give us a personal tour of these historical sights. He comes to Normandy twice a year for three weeks to conduct research, and while here he loves taking missionaries out on our "diversion days." He thought us some very interesting history! 

Did you know that at the cemetery, the crosses with gold letters means that particular soldier received the medal of honor? Also, the battle fields and churches in Normandy are pretty much the same as they where back then, so all the bunkers, trenches, fields, beaches, and churches that we walked through where well préservés pieces of history! It was such a cool, and even reverent experience! An amazing day that I am so grateful I had the opportunity to have!

I am especially grateful for that opportunity, as this week was transfer week, and I am now no longer in beautiful Normandy!  I am now serving in the city of Torcy, which is just barely east of Paris! Disneyland Paris is just one RER stop away from us, but I have yet to visit. 😉 It seems like we go into Paris on the weekly for different meetings, so I am sure I will eventually have that opportunity. Plus, I have a special transport pass now called Navigo that allows me to go to Paris every p-day! So technically, I am now serving in Paris!  

I am living in an apartment with 3 other Sœurs; my companion, and then the STL companionship for this zone, and it is an absolute blast! Seriously a party every night! 

One of the main reasons I was transferred from Normandy so quickly, as I was only there for one transfer which is pretty unusual, is because I have now become a trainer.  My companion is so cute! Her name is Soeur Thurgood.  She is from Utah, and we are pretty much almost the same person! I even found out her favorite movie is American Outlaws too! (We were both so shocked that we actually found someone else who knows that movie since it isn't particularly well-known. We now quote it religiously...amongst other things! 😂) She is in her second transfer of training, so she has already been here for 6 weeks and President asked me to finish up her training. To be honest, I was so nervous about taking on such a big task, especially still being so young in the mission myself, but so far it hasn't been too bad. Definitely testing my French skills and abilities, as well as my knowledge of being a missionary, but so far we are still alive and people seem to understand us. 😉 It has been so fun though, and I absolutely love my new companion! 

The past few days have been full of rendez-vous, getting to know our amis and the area, and even teaching some English classes! We go over to a family's house every Saturday to teach the children English. The dad is actually a photographer for Vogue 😳.... woah, I know! He is actually pretty cool! All our amis I have meet his far seem so fun and I am excited to get to know them better.

I hope you all had an amazing Easter weekend! We went to church Easter Sunday and had an amazing program, then went home with the Crucy family for an Easter lunch! We got to help make some of the food and their family is so fun to be around! The parents kept messing with each other and it was so funny to watch. Brother Crucy kept cracking the funniest jokes and saying the best one liners! They also speak, German and English as well as French so we kept switching between languages in our conversation - except for German of course! Not gonna lie, it's hard to switch between languages constantly! My brain can't keep up, I barely know French as it is! 😂 It was so fun to be with them and they gave us each a giant chocolate rabbit and chicken. 🤣 Definitely one of the best Easters ever! I am loving Torcy so far! It is so pretty here and the work is so good! So many opportunities and incredible things ahead! I am so excited to see what happens during my time here in Torcy! 

"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." 

(Matthew 28:6)

I know Jesus Christ lives! I hope you all were able to take time to truly reflect on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; His love and His sacrifice for each one of us. I know that it is through Him that all things are possible. He is there. 

And He lives! 

I love you all so much! Have an amazing week! Remember the Savior in all you do and know He is always there.  

À Bientôt ! 

Souer Hansen