7 Months...and My Pizza was Stolen!

Bonjour toute le monde !

This week was a pretty good week! Monday for P-day we went to l'opéra Garnier and oh my goodness, it was seriously a dream come true! As most of you know I was a ballet dancer all growing up, and I would constantly watch ballet videos. L'opéra, as it happens, is one of the places that I loved watching Ballets from.  It was absolutely stunning! Decades of history and architecture just came to life for me! I even bought a Book about the Nutcracker...In French! That is huge - um yes, I am totally obsessed with the Nutcracker, in case you didn't know! 😂 That was definitely one of my favorite places in Paris so far, and a check for one of the places on my bucket list!  

And  guess you could say I was a little too excited by the whole experience... coming out of the metro, walking UP the stairs, I totally biffed it! I tripped on a step, and I couldn't get my hands out of my coat pocket in time, so I just thought to myself, "Welp, I'm going down!" So, I broke my fall by putting my knee into the stair and falling on my elbow. You can't say you've lived in France unless you've tripped on the metro stairs at least once. So I guess I can now say I live in France 🙃 Not gonna lie, it really hurt and I still have a bruise à week later... but it is a pretty awesome bruise! 😂

This week was transfers and I am staying in Torcy with Soeur Thurgood! How exciting is that! We did, however get a new Soeur in our apartment! If you remember, I am currently in a quad, so there are four Soeurs to an apartment. The other Sœurs I am with are the STLS (Sister Training Leaders- they are kind-of like the zone leaders for the Soeurs) and we share our ward! It's pretty much a party all the time! 😂 The new STL is Soeur Halliday and she is awesome! She and Soeur Coleman are in charge of videography for the mission, which is super cool! 

 

In the midst of all this I also turned 7 months old! How crazy is that?! I can now say I have less than a year left on the mission. I can't believe how time is really is flying by, but I am having the best time on the mission! 😊  We still don't have a new fridge or washer, but don't worry... they should be here Tuesday! (Crossing my fingers) But, of course I'll give you an update on that next week! 😉 Too bad my toilet fixing abilities won't come in handy with a fridge or washer! 

Friday we had district council, which was incredibly fun! We all went and bought pizza for lunch from Five Pizza. France has pretty good pizza, but nothing beats Beau Jo's! Yep, shout out to my favorite Colorado Pizzeria!! So, we were eating lunch in the Family History Center and a lady from the ward in Paris comes in asking for a key to the chapel. Then she asked if she could have some pizza. We didn't know if she was joking or not, and so one of the Elders said, "Sure, for 5€" and she started looking for 5€! We where like, wait actually?? And she goes, "Yea! I'm hungry!" We all kinda laughed and I offered her some of my pizza. She ended up taking two slices, which in the end helped me out 'cause I couldn't eat the whole pizza! She then left and we all where a little confused at what just happened, but it was so funny! (If you read the title... no, she didn't actually steal my pizza.) 😉

The work here is going well. It is starting to slow down as people are going on vacation, which can be a bit hard because now our area is filling with tourists. Tourists are great, but they don't stay for very long and we kinda need people who live here. 😉 Soeur Thurgood and I are just praying to find more people and keeping the faith that we will. We are also still teaching English to those two cute kids, along with some other kids in a refugee building and it has been so much fun! The kids here are so funny and they just love to learn! They keep asking us to say different things with our American accents. 😂  In the end I learn more French from them than they probably learn English from me! 

Overall things are going great! I love France and the people here are stealing my heart. The culture is elegantly simple and rooted, and I love it so much! The sun is also coming out and it's getting warmer! I am feeling more and more comfortable and starting to get more creative in my efforts and finding more ways to connect with the people and the culture. 

Spiritual Thought:

"For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."                  

(2 Nephi 25:23)

Do all you can. Do absolutely everything you can and always give it your 110%! But know you can't do it all yourself, and that is why we have Christ. He makes up for what we lack and for what we cannot do on our own. This week, give Him what you cannot do and let Him help you. 

I love you all so much! Keep doing what you're doing! Have an amazing week! 

À bientôt ! Bisous ! - Soeur Hansen 🥰