Another Year Older - And A Bit Wiser too!

Coucou à tous !   En forme ? 

Well, another week has gone by at an astonishing rate and as expected, I have another weekly update for you!

Today is kind-of cool because a year ago today I became a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter days. October 16, 2022 I was set apart as a full-time missionary, called to serve the people in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg and I have NEVER EVER regretted my decision to serve. This past year has honestly been the greatest year of my life. Of course not everything is as we say, "la vie en rose."  Yes, I am serving in France for heaven sakes, but I have seen and experienced some things that the idealistic movies seem to leave out, tears have been shed, the mountains are out of sight, my family is greatly missed, and my friends only hear from me once a week, (maybe...I'm getting better at responding 😉) but at the end of the day it is all absolutely, undoubtedly worth it! I have learned sooooo many things and grown in ways that I never expected. Some of those lessons learned and relationships forged have drawn me closer to my Savior, which is the most important relationship we can ever have. Those hard times, as well as the many great ones, have helped me to really seek out Jesus, to rely on Him and His atoning power, His love, His grace, and truly place Him in the center of my life. This past year in helping others discover who Jesus Christ is in their own lives, I have also come to discover who He is in my life. A lot of what I have learned I know I couldn't have learned anywhere else, except through the mission. I have grown in ways I never would have if I didn't choose to serve. I can not describe the love I have for the people here in France, for the culture, the landscape, the language, the architecture, the history, and how deeply rooted this country is. Over this past year France has stolen my heart, and I am so content to be able to give this country, this people, and my Savoir every inch and piece left of my heart during these last 6 months. I have nothing but gratitude for what I have experienced over this past year, and I am anxiously awaiting what the next 6 months has in store! 

This week was full of incredible experiences ranging from visiting my first American family here in France, to being on a train to Belgium, to a guy putting His number in my phone and asking us to call him later! Let's get to it!

 I didn't realize how long it had been since I've interacted with Americans until I was invited to an American home and spent two hours with them...yea it felt super awkward for me. 😅 We have an American family who recently moved into our ward and invited us over Monday night for pie! They have a challenge in their family where you get pie once a night during the week and the number of pieces you get are determined by how much and how often you read your scriptures that week. It was so so fun! However, although English is my first language, as we talked I found myself speaking English while using French grammar (FYI: my mom edits these posts for that exact reason 😂) and only phrases in French would come to my brain. It was a pretty fun brain teaser that Soeur Reynolds and I definitely struggled through. 😂 They all began to rapid fire French questions at us... I don't think I've ever felt more stressed in my life than at pie night with Americans! 🤣 It was so much fun to be with them all and watch their interactions with each other, and how they brought the spirit into their home! We talked about General Conference and I was so impressed by the youngest ones as they talked about what they learned! And for the record... Soeur Reynolds and I won pie night. 😉

Wednesday we finally had our Zone Conference...I mean MEGA conference with four zones! As you may remember, last week it got canceled due to a lot of missionaries being sick so it was moved to Tuesday in Paris! We talked a lot about what it means as a mission to have "la vie en rose" and Sœur Reynolds and I along with the STLS of Metz where able to give our presentation of creative and effective ways of finding! It was so fun! It was my first time leading a training, and was in front of about 90 missionaries... CRAZY and a bit intimidating! We may or may not have put the presentation/training together last minute, but everyone (even Soeur Munns) said that it was really good, so I guess we didn't do too bad! 😉 It was also super fun because most of the missionaries I was in the MTC with were there too so we treated it like a mini MTC reunion!  

Sometimes you gotta just have fun as a missionary, you know?! Especially when in Paris - you have to take some chances! Where we had zone conference happened to be right next to Notre Dame and where the Olympic rings are set up, so of course we had to pay a little visit to all the sites. 😄 Soeur Reynolds and I had about 40 minutes to hit all these places before our train left, so we joined our district in a mad dash site seeing tour!  In the end we were able to do it all and still made it to our train seats with five minutes to spare... absolutely out of breath but with no regrets! 😄

I had a blast this week in exchanges with Soeur Acloque! She is Francophone, so we spent the whole day speaking in French and, Wow is she a hoot! She taught me some French words the kids use these days too, so I feel pretty in the know! 😉 We ended up going to Mouscron and on the train ride there we had a pretty cool miracle! Soeur Acloque was seated across from me leaving an empty seat right next to the both of us. A man eventually sat next to her and we made eye contact a few times during the ride, and of course I just smiled. 15 minutes later he said, "Excuse me, but I notice that you are a Soeur. Can you tell me more?" My head exploded! The rest of the train we talked about the Book of Mormon and it was incredible. At the end of the ride we gave him the Book of Mormon and exchanged phone numbers. I wasn't fast enough with the number and so he missed his stop but was so nice about it and said he would just get off with us and take the train going the other way! We parted ways with my bag one book lighter and him asking us to call him soon! Soeur Acloque and I were stunned to say the least! We then went and had an incredible rendez-vous with an older couple in our ward. So fun! Also fun fact, in Belgium they do one bis, in France they do two! And now you know!!  

Spiritual Thought

~Walk with me~

"Like Enoch, we must remember that the one who was bruised and broken for us will allow mortality to do its work in us, but He doesn’t ask us to face those challenges alone. No matter the heaviness of our story or the current course of our path, He will invite us to walk with Him." 

- Emile Belle Freeman 

I love this quote from this past general conference. I feel like it has been a theme for this week and I hope it will uplift you in your week too! 

I love you all! Bonne semaine! À bientôt 🥰 

- Soeur Hansen