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 🥰