Tornado Warning!!

Bonjour à tous ! 

This week felt like a whirlwind...literally. Breaking news...there was a tornado warning for Paris this week! WHAT! I know! I have never heard of a tornado in Paris either!  Unfortunately, I don't know if there ever really was a tornado, but there was definitely a storm strong enough to cancel every single train on transfer day... and the day after. Yeaaaaa c'était un truc de fou ! (It was crazy!) But I'm going to leave you hanging a bit before I explain more.😉 Last Tuesday was Halloween! Even though I  didn't go trick or treating this year it was still probably one of my most favorite Halloweens ever! We practically spent the whole afternoon with members and their kids and it was sooooo fun! The first family we visited was the Harels. We had to take a train to get to their town then walk through a huge field to get to their home, it was magical! Their youngest kept running in and out of the room with a different costume on each time and we were just dying of laughter! We shared a 

pensée spirituelle with them and then we shared a little Halloween goûter together! They made a chocolate galette (a flat pizza-like pastry) 

of Jack Skellington and it was soooo good! It was my first time getting to know this family and they were just adorable. They had a few other treats, including donuts, (I didn't realize how long it had been since I had a donut!) and we just had an amazing time getting to know each other. 

After our visit with the Harel family, we then went to our ward mission leader's home for our weekly meeting where we talk about how the missionary work is going in the ward. After the meeting we had dinner together and dang was it good! It was a rice base with butternut squash, peanut sauce, and an egg. It was soooo good! He and his wife (Johann et Louise) are seriously the coolest people ever!  Johann had another meeting to go to so we stayed and chatted with Louise for a little and enjoyed her mission stories, along with some bits of wisdom she shared. They are both fluent in English, as they served in England and on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. I seriously love all the families in this ward. As a missionary I feel like I get a very outside perspective as I interact with so many families, which has been amazing! I have really learned, and am still learning, how absolutely essential the family is to Heavenly Father's plan, and all the tremendous blessings that come from being part of a family. The members I have met on my mission have become huge examples to me. In getting to know them, and simply seeing how they raise their families in the gospel has been so incredible to witness. I am so thankful for these members and the people in general I get to meet here every day, and that I get to be with them all the time! They are AMAZING! 

Okay, as mentioned in my title and intro, this week has been like a tornado... both figuratively and literally. There was a tornado warning in Paris, which turned into a massive storm warning for at least the whole north of France! Thursday was suppose to be our transfers, but that ended up being postponed until Saturday! 😅 Due to the storm a lot of trains going to and from Paris were getting canceled...which makes things a bit difficult! We were hearing rumors from the Elders the night before that their trains were canceled and that they were going to get transferred Friday instead, so we were a little prepared. 

Oh yea!!! I almost forgot! This week was transfers! 😂 

I am staying in Vd'ascq, but I sadly had to say goodbye to Soeur Reynolds after only one transfer again!!! We also had to say goodbye to Soeur Acloque in our apartment as she is being transferred as well! And to continue with the transfer and trains story... 

Thursday morning we decided to still take a chance to see if the train at 9h12 would be there. So, there we were: all four of us, hands full of suitcases for our parting Soeurs, being pushed back and forth by  the wind, entering into a deserted gare.
As we looked up at the screen, we expected to see that the train was canceled, and although just about every train was indeed cancelled we find that the only other train coming in and out of Paris was leaving an hour later. NO WAY! It was the only train on the screen for the day, which was an absolute miracle! We were able to get the soeurs onto that train, but received a call later that the trains coming in later that night carrying our companions were in fact canceled, along with all other trains into Paris. Great. I was quickly on the phone with the assistants to our mission president, and with an elder in our mission who is in charge of the trains for quite a while trying to get tickets for our soeurs. Long story short, we got tickets scheduled for Friday night so Sœur Stevens (the collègue of Sœur Acloque) and I got to hang out together until our new companions arrived. We decided to join the Young Women's activity that night for a Thanksgiving feast where we made yams and apples (a Hansen family holiday favorite) and deviled eggs! It was so good! 

Then Friday came and it was another day for the books! Soeur Stevens and I spent the whole day together while we waited to meet our new companions. #miniexchange! That morning we went out to do our morning sport then came back to quickly take out the trash. Upon trying to enter back into the building, we realized we grabbed the wrong key fob...the fob that led us into the building from the trash. 🤦‍♀️ After 20 minutes of trying to find a way back into the building, we decided to embark on some rock climbing into the courtyard of the apartment complex right next to ours so we could access the door that led out to the main street so we could then use the fob we did have to get back into the apartment building. 🤣 I swear, I have a problem with keys! However, we totally laugh at it now and we look at that wall we scaled with fondness and a sense of accomplishment! 😉

The rest of the day was fun! We worked in both the Lille and the Vd'ascq secteurs until the train with our new comps got in that night....but little did we know we were still far from being in the clear! We got a call from the soeurs saying their train from Arras to Lille was canceled, so they had to jump on another train really quick to get to Lille, which caused them to be late but luckily they still had enough time to catch their other train to Paris. Even with all the confusions and cancelled trains, everyone eventually made it to where they needed to be!  

So.... my new companion is Soeur Smith! She last served in Arras which is in my zone so we have already done exchanges together! She and her previous companion, Soeur Morgan, took a train to Lille so we didn't need to go to Paris. She is so incredible and we have already laughed so hard our sides hurt!! Yep, it was definitely a crazy transfer, but we are now finally together!  So this transfer we are gonna be STLing together and I get to teach her the ropes, and I am so excited!

Saturday we took a side excursion to go to Paris because, guess what! I'm back on the team for RRT! If you remember, when I was back in Caen, where I first met Soeur Reynolds, I was part of this team where we call every reference we receive through Facebook and refer them to their respective area missionaries. So, Saturday we went to Paris for a training, only to find out that an équipe of elders from our district was there too! District bonding time! 🥳 We arrived just in time for the formation to be delayed 45 minutes as we waited for another équipe to show up, so our meeting ran into lunch time, preventing us from being able to enjoy lunch together, but instead found us speed walking to catch our train home! It's okay though, because we did go with the elders in our district to get burgers for our lunch/dinner at 16h00 once we made it back home. It was actually so fun, and we went to Paris for a day so, I'm not complaining! 

As you can see, this week was crazy but it was good! Sadly, I don't have much of an update on Hitou and we haven't heard much from him since his vacation to London, but we did meet the cutest Christian girl in the metro the other day! So far communication is going great with her and we are praying for the best! I am so excited going into this transfer! I have such a desire to talk to everyone and anyone, more so than before, especially with Christmas rapidly approaching and the opportunity of spreading more of the joy of Christ. I LOVE my mission and I am sooooo excited to see what miracles this transfer brings! I know the email this week was more so geared towards the crazy events of the week than the miracles we saw, but ya know, sometimes you just need a good laugh. 😉

However I do have a Spiritual Thought for you:

This week I have been reading in Mosiah, in particular the discourse of King Benjamin, and it has been so amazing! Here is a scripture that stood out to me this week!

"Humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel." ( Mosiah 4:11) 

This is only a snippet of the verse but I love it so much. Recently I have been asking myself how I can apply the teachings of Jesus Christ more in my daily life, and this is the answer; humility, praying to the Lord daily, and being diligent and steadfast in my faith and efforts. All we need to do is our best. Each and everyday. Be humble. Be diligent. Be prayerful. He is there.

I love you all! À bientôt !

- Soeur Hansen 🥰