15 Months and Full Circle 🤭

Alright toute le monde! I hope you all are well! Brace yourselves for the craziest, probably funnest week ever!

Okay, first of all I want to get you all started with a little laugh. Are you familiar with Tintin? He is a character from a series of books, and a cartoon movie came out about 8 years ago. It's about a boy who is an adventurer named Tintin. He is actually Belgian, and this cartoon is super popular among French speaking countries and even in the U.S. as well. One of the Elders I serve with, Elder Lantz, looks exactly like him! We have joked about it with him before, but we didn't tell anyone else about about private joke. Well, Monday night at soirée familiae with the JA, Caroline, one of the young adults, turns to us

and asks each of us who our celebrity sosie (doppelganger) is. We all talk a bit, then she turns to Elder Lantz and goes, "I know yours," and then proceeded to show him a picture of Tintin! It was hilarious! It was perfect, none of us having said anything! We all had a good laugh! 🤣

 

Okay now to the juicy parts! Soooo much happened this week, so this might be a longer post. I thank you for your patience in advance! 😉

This week we made another venture across the boarder into Belgium where we visited some members. However, we had a bit of an adventure getting to the metro where the members were going to pick us up. To get to Tourcoing, which is a border city to Belgium, we have to take two metros, about a 45 minute trip in total. When you serve in a big city where you have to ride a lot of public transportation, you always have the slight fear that you and your companion might get separated, say if one doesn't make it into the metro in time and the doors close in between you. Well...yeah, that fear came true! 😅 We were making our metro switch and while I was able to get on at the last possible second, Soeur Smith wasn't so lucky! I turn around and we both stare at each other as the metro doors close between us. I mouthed, "next stop," and we kept eye contact as I was whisked away on the metro. 🤣 We then called each other and immediately started laughing, cause we knew it was bound to happen at some point! Long story short, I got off at the next stop and waited for the next metro to come and got on her same car. All was well!  😂

While in Belgium we went to a town called Mouscron.  It's super cool for me because that is a town where my dad also served! Back then there was different church building for those living in Belgium and the bordering cities, but now everyone meets in a different building. Oddly enough, the old building is still there and owned by the Church, the sign is there and everything, it just stand empty and untouched. Anyway, the members we were visiting in Mouscron picked us up from the metro in Tourcoing and drove us across the border. They actually showed us the old church building as we drove past because the frère use to be the Bishop there. Pretty cool! We had a good lunch with them and they told us all about their family! It was so cute! Pretty much across the board, Belgians are so incredibly nice! Yes, there is a bit of a difference between Belgium and France! 😉

This week we also had MLC, which was so edifying! We went to the mission home in Paris.  There was a man there from Salt Lake doing a mission tour, he didn't speak to us, but we had an awesome conference! We talked about what it means to have applied faith and how to increase our faith in all our efforts. It was awesome! 

I also hit my 15 months mark! Insane! We had about 2 hours until we had to catch our train after the conference, so to celebrate we casually headed to the Arch de Triomphe - in the rain with the Elders! 😂 It was so fun! 

We then headed to the gare and sat and froze for an hour until we could start boarding. It has gotten sooooo incredibly cold here! We boarded the train and all was tranquille until an hour and a half ride became a 4 hour ride as our train got stuck! While we were in Paris, Lille got some pretty decent snow, causing the train tracks to freeze over! We weren't the only ones with issues, as there were two other trains also stopped in front of us due to the ice! Crazy! So there we were with the Elders, stuck on a train! Unfortunately, they had to cancel a mangez-vous they had that night for dinner, but fortunately I had finally got my Christmas package... which had a couple bags of Goldfish in it!!! So, the four of us passed those 4 hours talking and eating Goldfish until our train started moving and pulled into the station at 22h! Crazy, I know but it was so fun! Thank you mom and dad for saving the day and sending me Goldfish! 😂

This week we had our district council in Valenciennes and it was so fun to see everybody! We started a bit late because the trains were still running late due to the snow, so we weren't able to go do a blitz as planned, but it was great to see everyone! Walking back to the gare we were able to stop and talk with a lady who was taking her baby out on a stroll and she was so cute! We then took another train back with half the district to Lille where we got stuck again for maybe 30 minutes due to the ice, but luckily that was it. We headed to what I guess is the "best" friterie (french fry place) in France and had some fun! It was awesome! 

The next day I went on exchanges with Soeur Tanuvasa and we went back to Valenciennes to work! Our train from Lille got canceled so we decided to go get California rolls for lunch and eat at the gare until another train showed up. It was cold, but fun! Soeur Tanuvasa is seriously so cool! We had the best time in Valenciennes! We met a lady from Senegal and I mentioned that I had a friend from our English class from Senegal who taught me the "turtle dance" so naturally we talked about it with her, and I even danced for her. She loved it! 🤣 There was so much ice that we were practically ice skating in the streets! We then got to the gare absolutely frozen, so as we waited for our train to go home we got some hot chocolate and it was so great - and very warm! We had such a good exchange!

The next day I had exchanges with Soeur Hodson in Lille and we had some incredible lessons! We called a woman and she pretty much asked us to come to her house! It was amazing! We then had two other incredible lessons! Soeur Hodson is such a stellar missionary and we had so much fun together! 

Do you remember Rita? Well, she came to church! With her husband! And she loved it! Ahhhhh! I just love her! It was cool because she only speaks English and Portuguese, and her husband only speaks Portuguese, so I translated for her from French to English, then she translated for her husband from English to Portuguese! We kind of had a translation train! It was an incredible last Sunday!😉  Yep, sadly, it was my last Sunday in Villeneuve-d'ascq and we closed out the last week of the transfer in interviews with President...

#The Big News

You will never believe where I am going next. I'll give you a hint... it has been 15 months since I was there!  Yep! I am going back to Rennes! Crazy, right! I started my first two transfers in Rennes, and now I will be finishing my last two transfers back in Rennes! I will be companions with Soeur Stevenson, where she will be finishing her last transfer and then I will train a new STL during my last transfer. Now, I gotta be honest, I have mixed feelings about going back to my first area, but it'll be good! I'm excited though because there are a lot of Sisters in the zone and my baby, Soeur Letourneau will be there too! It'll be great! 

Good byes on the mission are always so hard, and I am definitely having a really hard time saying goodbye to this area. I had a few members come up to me crying on Sunday, thanking me and telling me that they'll miss me. I've never had that happen before and it was so precious!Of course I started crying too. I really have found a family here in Villeneuve-d'ascq and I am forever thankful for all the examples I have found here! 

Spiritual Thought

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." ( Mosiah 2:41) 

There are so many blessings in following God and what He has told us to do. He loves us. Everything He does is because He loves us. Remember that joy is derived from obedience and being truly happy. The Lord keeps His promises. That is for certain!

I love you all! À bientôt ! 🥰

    - Soeur Hansen 

Hives

Coucou à tous ! Comment ça va ? 

This week was definitely way better than last! 🤣 I am still a bit sick, but definitely back in commission, and have hit the ground running as I had 3 exchanges pretty much back to back this week, which was a bit insane!

On Monday we had a district p-day, and it was so fun to see everyone! Elder Schmidt and I were in the MTC together and now he is my District Leader! We also have some new soeurs in Valenciennes so that has been a blast too!  We decided to keep the Christmas Spirit alive and have a Secret Santa! It was so cute to see what everyone got for each other. Elder Jones had me, and he said because I'm ending my mission soon and heading back to be a college student, he decided to give me a college survival kit! It was so cute! I got some Oreos, a pink piggy headband (because I like pink and pigs) to use when washing my face, and some singing soap (oh yea 😎). The best part was that he even wrote me an "Adjusting to Normal Life" brochure and it is the greatest thing ever! It's a play off of the "Adjusting to Missionary Life" booklet all missionaries get to help us adjust to missionary life! It's full of mental, physical, and emotional tips and tricks for really any big life adjustment! It honestly was my lifeline during training! This cute brochure he wrote for me is honestly spot on and something I will definitely keep forever! We have been trying to urge him to send it to Church headquarters to get published! 😂 It seriously is the cutest, and one of the greatest things I've ever gotten! I love this district! 

I also started the week in exchanges with the Paris STLS! I was with Soeur Wilson and we worked out of Paris. It was an awesome exchange! We talked to a lot of people and had some pretty cool conversations! We talked to a physicist on the metro about science and religion. It was super interesting! It made me think of my grandpa the entire time, so it was a really neat experience for me. We also gave a Book of Mormon away to the last person we talked to and have been in contact with him ever since! Crossing our fingers he reads it! 

#Miracle

We have a miracle ami! Her name is Rita and she is a reference we received from the missionaries in Portugal, and guess what?? She already has a baptism date!! C'est vrai! She literally came to us with a baptism date already on the books! It was originally suppose to be the weekend we got the reference, but that was a bit to soon to get everything put into place, so it'll probably happen in February. We met her for the first time this week and she is the cutest person ever! We met her at her house and she told us pretty much her whole life story and how much she loves to cook, and that she cooks with love which is what makes all the difference! She also shared with us that she has wanted to develop a personal relationship with God, and how much that means to her. She has attended other églises, but truly loves learning and being active in our church because of how close she feels to God on a personal level. She shared with us that her whole life she has been going to church because she had too, not really because she wanted to. Now she is ready to make the choice for herself, and to attend church because she wants to, not because she is expected to and wants to be baptized as part of realizing her goal to deepen her conviction and relationship with God. Incredible!  

We are planning on going over one day and she is going to teach us how to cook! 😂 She also speaks English, which was a bit of a surprise. Sometimes I forget what it's like to connect to someone in English. It was kind of nice, but at the same time a bit weird to speak English. 😂 Rita is seriously incredible! She is also pregnant with her first child, and their excitement is so cute! I'm so excited for them! It was cute, because she and her husband live with her mom for the time being, and as we were leaving we asked if we would see them at church. They asked what time, we said 9h (yea, it's a bit painful, LOL but it"s worth it!) and both her and her mom gave an oh geez kind of look then said, "Well, we have to sacrifice for the Lord!" Good answer!  😂 When Sunday came, we didn't see her because she got the flu! I definitely know how that feels and am very much hoping she feels better soon!

This week I also had exchanges with Soeur Taylor from Arras and Sœur Stevens from Lille and they went super well! To be honest, not a whole lot happened. We did a lot of calling old numbers, which actually turned out pretty incredible since we were able to teach a lesson on the spot and get a new friend in our secteur! #Miracle 

Soeur Stevens and I also went to go visit Julian. Unfortunately, we couldn't find another woman to join us, so we couldn't go into his appartment for a lesson, but we stilled stopped by to say hello. He seemed a bit sick himself, so maybe it was for the best, but he still appreciated that we came by! 

While we were there, we decided to door knock in his apartment building for a bit. Not a whole lot of responses. One person even seemed very confused and didn't want to talk, but we did have somewhat of a conversation with another lady! However, in the middle of our conversation with her, her neighbor came home and they just started having a conversation themselves...while we were standing there... at the door... in between them. It was sooooo awkward! We pretty much just stood there smiling, waiting for the lady to talk to us again. 😅 She finally did, and then gave us five reasons to say no, so we gave her five reasons to say yes! LOL! In the end, she wasn't too interested anyway. Ça va ! It was still a good exchange! 

We also had a mangez-vous this week with two of my favorite families ! The Gouttin's and the Duez ! It is always so much fun at their house and they also cook really well! Definitely a plus! It was full of laughter as President Duez shared stories from his mission and us from ours, while we enjoyed watching the Gouttin kids do what siblings do! 🤣 Honestly, always a highlight to be with them! Moments I never wanted to end! 

Okay, so my medical mysteries continue this week! I woke up twice with hives all over my legs! I know! So weird! We have no idea where they came from. I texted the mission nurse and she told me to take Benadryl. Heureusement, (fortunately) I did as I was told, and the hives went away super quickly, but as we all know Benadryl makes you want to take a nap! Malheureusement, (unfortunately) we had a few meetings via FaceTime....and yes, everyone saw me fighting to stay awake! Yep, that was a fun experience! 😬 Luckily though, after about 2 weeks, I was finally able to talk to the regional doctor for our mission, and he was able to put me on some antibiotics and give me some other medication that has really helped so I am FINALLY starting to feel better! 

Spiritual Thought

There is one scripture that kept coming to my mind this week. As normal, everyday and easy paths seemed like an absolute trek while I was sick, I was very much relying on the power of the priesthood and prayer. I want to express how thankful I am for the priesthood. While I have been sick I have asked the Elders on two different occasions for blessings. They said yes without thinking twice. Even though they were strictly blessings of health, they were beautifully given. I am so thankful for the priesthood in my life because it really does make that much of a difference! I am also thankful for the Elders and for my friends who I serve with! They really are incredible! They remind me of a scripture in Ether. I know I've probably already shared it before, but it seems fitting! 

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." ( Ether 12:27) 

When I was super sick, I was incredibly weak. It was hard for me to do almost anything. But in taking time to rely on those around me, as I rely on the power of God, I was able to be supported and find strength in their strength. They made me strong. It was a moment where I had to quite literally stop everything I was doing on focus my efforts on what was truly important. Those of Christ. I am so thankful that Christ has invited us to come unto Him and partake of His power because even when I am weak, I know I can be strong! 

I love you all! À bientôt ! 🥰

- Soeur Hansen

Veggie Tales

Coucou toute le monde ! Comment s'est passer ta première semaine de 2024 ? 

Mine was a bit unplanned. Let's just say I started the year off in bed for almost the entire week. Yup, I caught the flu - Happy 2024 to me! 😅 Let me tell you, being sick as a missionary is the worst thing ever! As missionaries we have so much to do on a daily basis. We plan pretty much every second of our day, so when we get sick and can't do anything it's really hard. I love being up and active, out doing everything I love about being a missionary, and this week has been extremely hard because I've felt pretty useless. But, I also know it's important to take care of yourself. But don't worry, I did do at least one other thing than just stay in bed. 😅 

Tuesdays are kind of a hot commodity in the France Paris Mission. What better way to spend weekly planning than while eating a Mardi (Tuesday) bucket from KFC! 😂 I actually don't do that, but it is a real thing! On Tuesday we had to have a quick meeting with the Zone Leaders for a debriefing of the MLC zoom call we had. (Oh yea, I'm going to have two MLCs this month! We had a zoom meeting on Tuesday, but next week we are going to Paris for our normal in person meeting, but with an area leader. I'm excited!) Anyway, the Elders wanted to meet at KFC for Mardi buckets, so that is where we went! It was actually pretty fun and we got a lot of stuff taken care of! 

Later that night we had to take a train to Paris since Soeur Smith had her titre de séjour (the cool residency thing... reference the hospital post 🤣) the next morning, and that is when tragedy struck and the real adventure began... including running a fever as we pulled into the gare in Paris. 😳 To be honest, I started feeling pretty bad Monday night, but holy cow, that train ride on Tuesday was when things really started going from bad to worse! However, on the bright side, we stayed the night with some Soeurs in Paris, which was super fun and I was able to catch up with some Soeurs I know. 

Wednesday came, and I cannot tell you how many prayers I said asking God to give me strength just to make it through the day. 🥴 We set out early that morning for the mission office, and the whole RER ride there, I slept. Yup, I was that one person in the corner of the public transport who slept the entire ride! 🤣 My much needed nap came to an end as we pulled into the station and made our way to the mission office where the Maxwells (the office couple) drove us to the préfecture. Soeur Smith's titre de séjour took maybe an hour tops, which was great! We then made the trip back to the mission office - a bus and an RER ride where I again fell asleep. 🤣 It probably didn't help my condition that it is now HYPER cold in France! While at the office we picked up all the packages and letters we could for the missionaries in our district then started the trek back to Lille. 🤣 An RER ride back to the gare du nord and an almost two hour train ride back to Lille gave me... yep, you guessed it, another one of the most needed and best naps ever! Once back in Lille, we headed straight to the church where I was able to get a blessing from the Elders. (Thank goodness!) I am so grateful to work so closely with the Elders and for the ability to receive a Priesthood blessing when I so needed one.  From there, we went straight home and it was strait to bed for me. I was exhausted and had survived a full day in Paris and traveling with a fever! 😁👍 ( I definitely do not recommend trying it.) 

Thursday I woke up feeling like I had been hit by something huge! Sad thing was, we were suppose to go to Calais to spend the day with the Lille district! CALAIS ! Another city where my dad served during his mission! We called the mission nurse that morning and she told us to cancel everything and go back to bed. I didn't ask any questions. 🤣 I slept the entire day, and switched between Tylenol and ibuprofen to get my fever down, which was about all the excitement we experienced that day.  I did however, take a big step and move to the couch for a change of scenery and position. It felt nice for a while, until I began to feel like I would never leave that spot. With closed eyes, I layed there, unaware of my surroundings, until the Lille Soeurs came home and I heard them stop in their tracks as they saw me, which was then followed by an, "oh no!" I guess I looked pretty bad. 😅 They gave me a run down of their day, which was fun to hear, but to be honest I couldn't really understand what they were saying. I was a bit out of commission. 😂  

I then made my way back to bed where I took my temp for the night... 104.7! Yup, you read that right, 104.7 fever! I quickly got a hold of Sœur Mcbride, our mission nurse, and she told me I needed to sleep with either frozen vegetables or ice packs under my armpits!  Well, I slept with and defrosted those vegetables pretty quickly! 🤣 I woke up smelling like seasoned vegetables, and a  bit like BO as I may have gotten a little too during the night. 🤣 Sweat and seasoned veggies...NOT a good combo. 🤣 And now my bed smells like those seasoned vegetables! Oh boy! I'm not sure how long it'll take to get that smell out, but good luck to the next occupant! The next day I didn't hit 104 again, but I did still have a fever, and unfortunately slept the day away again, but the whole time I did make sure to "hydrate like a crazy woman"- nurses orders! 😂

Saturday was the first day I felt well enough to be able to get out of the house, towards the afternoon after taking the morning to rest of course. Enjoying some fresh air for the first time in days felt so good! I was also able to get some cough medicine for a cough I had developed as well, caramel flavored...yea not so good. 🤣 But it seems to help a bit, so I'll take it. Sunday was my first full day back on the job, and dang was I pooped by the end of the day! We have church at 9h now, enjoyed a meal with some members afterwards, then had a spiritual activity that evening with the JA, which was low key but nice! 

With all that said, I'm vertical now and doing much better! Just a bit tired and I have a crazy cough, but I just have to ride it out at this point! Sorry, not too many exciting things to report this time around! I guess you'll have to tune in for next week's update! 😉 

I am so thankful for my companion! She has literally nursed me back to life this week! She probably blows my CNA skills out of the water! She has been an amazing support and blessing this past week.  🥰

Spiritual Thought

Remember we all need grace for ourselves. We need to walk life step by step in order for progression and growth to take place. Here is a scripture that gives us a great reminder of this principle:

"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." ( Luke 2:52 ) 

Even Jesus had to learn how to grow up. How? Step by step! 😊 

Love you all! Have an incredible week and Bonne Santé ! À Bientôt!

- Soeur Hansen 🥰

Black Out

 

BONNE ANNÉE ! Je ne peux pas croire que 2023 soit fini ! C'est fou ça ! 2024 est arrivé et je ne sais pas quoi faire ! On y go ! 

(Happy New Year! I can't believe 2023 is over and it is already 2024! Here we go!)

This week was pretty busy, but so good! 

Tuesday night we had a lesson with Charlotte which ended with a baptism date! YES!! She is so cute! Her grandma is a member, but her mom isn't. She comes to church and to all the activities by herself. She is in the Young Women's program and has such a strong testimony. During every leçon we have with her she is absolutely d'accord (in agreement) and even ends up teaching many of the principles! 😂 So amazing! During this last leçon we talked about baptism; what it means, and why it's important. At the end we asked her if she wanted to be baptized and through tear filled eyes she said yes! We then showed her the font and explained what would happen at her baptism and she seemed pretty excited. 😁

We had two exchanges this week and even crashed a district council! We joined the Elders in Saint-Quentin where we held a little blitz! Soeur Smith and I knocked an appartment building and although we didn't get a whole lot of responses, we did get to speak with a man from the Ukraine and held a small conversation through Google Translate for about 5 minutes! Before we left, we gave him our card so he could access the Church's website in Ukrainian. It was pretty fun! 😂 

We then went home to Arras to do exchanges with the Soeurs there. Honestly, it was a pretty short exchange, but Soeur Morgan and I were still able to get some good work done! We contacted a lot of people from out list and were even able to get some responses! After all the work was done, that was when the party started! LOL. Soeur Smith, Soeur Morgan, Soeur Taylor, and I decided to play some games together that night while also sporting some lovely face masks. It was too funny! I was rocking life as a unicorn, Soeur Smith was a penguin, and the other Sœurs sported the magic mask! It was a party! 🤣 I truly love those Soeurs!  

Remember Julian? Our less active member? Well, we are starting to see him pretty regularly now and this past week he made us dinner! I even tried sardines, straight from the can for the first time! They were raw...they were not for the cat. At first when he placed the plate of them in front of us we thought he was joking by giving us what would've been the cat's food, so Soeur Smith and I smiled and laughed hesitantly, but then he asked if it was OK and that there was something else if it wasn't. We then realized he was serious so of course we took it...and ate it. And I'm going to just leave you all to think about that for a moment. 😳 

The rest of the dinner was great! Typical Bolivian food, which is so good! Julian kept cracking jokes all night. He told us that when we are there we can have whatever we want, just ask! But... no money (pronounced "moawnay"). It was hilarious! Yahaira was there with us too. She is a JA in our ward from Peru and has been able to join us the past couple times which has been fun! It gets a little confusing when they start speaking Spanish though, 😂 but it was a really great night! I loved hearing about all their stories and experiences! 

We had some exchanges again this week in Valenciennes, which was fun, but also a little bizarre for us at the same time, because just before this équipe of Soeurs arrived,  it was an Elders area. So, knowing the Elders that were there before made it a little weird for me to be in their old apartment now blessed with a feminine touch! 😂 This transfer Valencinnes got "pink washed trained," which means the équipe there before was Elders, but they took them both out and put Sisters there instead, and one of them is in training which is crazy! But, the exchange was so fun! I was with Soeur Chandler, who is training in her very first area and she is so cool! We had such a fun time exploring Valenciennes together! We gave someone a Book of Mormon with our testimonies inside and were able to have some super interesting conversations! We talked to a man named Ali who had us read the Christmas story of Christ's birth from the Koran. It was really interesting! Right before that we had told him our objective as missionaries was to invite others to come unto Christ, then after reading the Koran he said he did just that by having us read. I mean, he isn't wrong! 😂 We actually had a pretty good conversation and he was pretty cool! Soeur Chandler even shared her testimony with him in French! I was soooo excited for her! She is seriously so cool and is already doing incredible, and only after just 3 weeks in the field! We then parted ways by placing our card in Ali's hand and gaining a  promise that he would go to church. I hope he did! What a great time we had in Valenciennes!

Sometimes people just need a sack of cookies from strangers! 🤣 

Soeur Smith and I have been trying to get to an older member's house for a while and this week we were finally able to get there...buuuut turns out we actually don't have her address. Yea, Saturday was kind of like a fever dream! We got home from the train to Valenciennes with just enough time to get in an hour of studies, then go back to the gare to jump back onto the same train heading to a town called Templeueve, right next to Valenciennes! Templeueve was actually the closest town with a train station. To actually get to where we thought this member lived, we had to trek through a ginormous open field to get to her town. We ended up walking about 10 miles in total that day! When we finally got to the listed address we quickly found out that instead of the 60+ woman we thought we were visiting, a young mother with her kids lived there when they all answered the door together! 😂 We started talking like we knew each other, but it quickly became obvious that we were in the wrong place and didn't know each other at all. But hey, we were too far into the conversation to turn back, and we just gave her the cookies we had baked for the woman we had been looking for. 😂  She was so surprised and asked if we gave cookies just "comme ça" (like that) to strangers and we answered with a "yup!" She then shared that she was going baptize her baby soon, and after that it became super clear we indeed had the wrong house! Oh it was so awkward! We bid farewell and wished her a Bonne année! Just to be sure, I peeked at the name on the mailbox as we walked away...definitely not the member. 🤣 Soeur Smith and I laughed a bit as we walked away. We left our cards in the mailbox, because you just never know. 😉 

We then tried to go see another ward member, but turns out our passés didn't work for the long distance bus... so again we took the long trek back through the field, but this time at night. We arrived in Lille pretty hungry after our crazy day, so we set out to find some dinner and in the process saw a man sitting at the fountain in the town square, wearing a rainbow Mexican poncho and sombrero  while playing the harp. Yea, it was interesting! 🤣 Definitely an amazing adventure!

Not going to lie, Sunday was kind-of the Soeur Smith and Soeur Hansen show at church. 😂 Soeur Smith played piano for Sacrament meeting while I lead the music. We also sang a musical number during the meeting which everyone said was really good, which was a huge relief since we only practiced the day before! LOL. 

After church we went to see a family, the Salinas, who have been pretty sick recently. Frère Salinas is from Mexico, Soeur Salinas is from France, but they met at BYU- Idaho. Frère Salinas is still working on his French, but together they speak Spanish and English, so we speak English with them so he can understand us. They are probably the funniest people ever! I forgot what it was like to be with "Americans," other than my companion. It was nice, but weird. 😉 It was funny, because a lot of the English they have learned has been through teenagers, memes, tik-tok, etc., so it can be really funny when they speak! We shared a pensée spirituelle with them and showed them a Christmas video about "Lighting the World". At the end Frère Salinas goes, "That was gangster!" 🤣🤣 Never have I ever heard a spiritual message referred to as "gangster"! 😂 It was great! We also had a great conversation about it! We then went home to celebrate New Years Eve with good old French bread and cheese, and unicorn and Frozen inspired SPARKLING water! It was awesome! 

Well, I cannot believe 2023 is over! I spent the entire year of 2023 as a servant of the Lord in France and I would never take it back! I will say, I did shed a tear - or maybe two - as the clock struck midnight. My "black out" missionary year was in 2023 and it was easily, hands down, the greatest year of my life! A whole year solely dedicated to the Lord. It has been hard, but yet so amazing! Exactly what I needed! And so worth it! I have been able to see extraordinary things all while telling people about what I love the most: Jesus Christ. I am so content as a missionary and with what I have been able to accomplish in 2023 as I have served my Lord and Savior. 2024 will bring a lot of adjustments and changes, but I am so thankful for the experiences I've had and all I have learned that I can apply to what is yet to come in the year before me. But for now, I'm not done yet! There is still plenty of gas left in the tank! So it is pedal to the metal until April when my next mission at home begins, the school of life, and it will definitely contain lessons about continuing discipleship! 🥰 I am still working on my resolutions so I can't say I have hit the ground running in that aspect yet, but I do hope you all are walking into this new year confident because the Lord is definitely on your side! 

Spiritual Thought

"But remember that you serve a Master who loves you, who knows you, and who is all-powerful. He has created not demands for your service but opportunities for your growth. You can pray to Him with confidence and ask, “What would you have me do next?” If you listen humbly and with faith, you will feel an answer. And you will, if you are wise and good, set about to do that which your Master has commanded. And you will leave the residue in His hands." - Henry B. Eyring, "Go forth to Serve"

I love you all! Happy New year! Cheers to 2024! 

À bientôt !- Soeur Hansen 🥰