17 Miracles

Coucou mes amis ! 

Long time no see 🤣 je blague. This week was good and crazy! Second week into the transfer and things are starting to pick up fast! We had some interesting conversations, great rendez-vous, and even some exchanges! 

Some wise words I received from a woman on our list of numbers to call were that:

 “dogs bring Karma, and cats are mystical creatures who can see in the night and are smarter than humans.” 

Well, I’m a dog person so I guess I’ve got some good karma coming my way! 😂 It was an interesting call, but we did share a scripture, so it ended well! 

We then headed up to Vannes to do some exchanges. I got to hang out with Soeur Peterson, who is actually cousins with one of my old roommates from BYU! (Shout out to Brooklyn!)  We had so much fun together! She is seriously the cutest and so talented with all things artistique! We did have an interesting call with a reference we got who kept asking if my companion left the room... yea, that's a no for me! But, the next day we met up with my companion and Sœur McMullen, and we all went to a boulangerie for lunch together and sat there laughing our heads off telling absolute dad jokes! 😂 I seriously love those Soeurs! We had such a great time!

Off to our next exchange in St. Brieuc where I got to hang out with Soeur Stevens for a day! It was a bit of a throwback for us from our days in Lille together as companions two transfers ago! It was so fun and the sun was actually out so that felt real nice! We had two lessons there that were incredible! One with our friend Gabriel, who told us he wants to get baptized yay! - but then told us he is moving at the end of the month to Gabon because he is in the gendarmerie and then will move again after that! AHHH! Foiled! 

We then had a rendez-vous with Noëlle! The lady I met on the bus a few weeks ago and gave a Book of Mormon to! She told us that she wants us to come over! How fun is that! #Miracle! 

While on our exchange, Soeur Stevens and I somehow found ourselves lost in the middle of the woods needing to do a 15 point turn as we were driving to find a cute spot to do some studies. 😂 Very scenic drive! It was so much fun! 

We also had some pretty amazing lessons with a lot of our amis! It would take too long to share them all, so I’m going to share about one in particular that was pretty amazing! His name is Theo and earlier in the week we got a text from him saying that he wanted to talk to the missionaries! So, we scheduled a video call for later in the week and, WOW, was it amazing! Turns out he had spoken to the missionaries before, and wanted to reconnect. Our conversation slowly started shifting towards life after death and he was so engaged! We invited him to read a chapter from the Book of Mormon, and within the hour of finishing our call he texted us saying he had read it and was asking for another chapter! Awesome! Of course we recommended another chapter, then the next day we got a text from him asking to know how to be baptized! #Miracle! The only "gotcha" is that he lives super far away, but still, pretty incredible! We have another rendez-vous with him this week! God is Good! 

This week I turned 17 months old! WOOP!! To celebrate Soeur Williams and I decided to go to the airport! Don't worry, we weren't planning on boarding any planes - that comes in a few weeks! 😉 - We actually ate some Mexican later to celebrate - Totally random, but, we definitely felt inspired to go to the airport because we had yet another miracle! Originally we were going over to someone's house who might be interested in hearing about the gospel. However, we felt prompted to get off the bus at a random stop. Who are we to question the spirit?!? So, we did as the spirit guided and we immediately started trying to catch up to someone on the way. Sadly, we weren't fast enough so we looked at buses and decided to wait for the next one to go to the airport. While we were waiting we decided to do some street contacting around the little town we were in and we talked to about 3 different people before running into our next miracle! Ganesh! The amazing thing about him is that he is the brother of someone Soeur Beckwith and I contacted a year ago in Rennes, that same person Soeur Stevenson and I reconnected with last transfer! AND… the day we ran into his brother, Ganesh was there too! So, when we stopped him this week he was like, "I know you!” and we immediately started talking it up and had such a good conversation! We got his number and are working to get in contact! Crazy!! Either Ganesh or his brother are going to get baptized… Or maybe even the whole family! I can just feel it! 

This week we also got caught up in the excitement of city life! Of course being that it was the weekend, manifestations were happening in full swing! Our favorite...but wait, there is more! Carnival was also happening! On one side of Centre-ville there were angry French people, and on the other side were happy party animals! 😂 We somehow actually got stuck in between the two, but happily gravitated towards the party animals. Yup! We got swept up in the crowd and found ourselves listening to a bagpipe band with giant dancing puppets! It was so cool, but at the same time was one of those moments when we asked ourselves,’how did we get here??” 😂 Loved it! 

I know my title says 17 miracles, but if I started naming 17, I wouldn't be able to stop! 😂 So, hopefully you enjoyed hearing a few! Definitely a good week - the weather is getting nice, I love seeing all the missionaries, and the work is going great! En gros... I LOVE IT! 🥰

Spiritual Thought

"And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."  (Mosiah 24:14) 

I love this scripture because it shows the partnership we can have with the Lord. All the experiences we go through really are for our benefit, so we can learn to see Him, build our trust and faith in Him, and become a witnesses to Him. This week let the Lord take your burden and lighten it that you might not feel it, and allow yourself to become a witnesses of Him in the trial. He gives us nothing we can’t handle. What do you need to learn? Meditate on what this means for you! 

I love you all! À bientôt ! - Soeur Hansen 🥰

Hermana Hansen 🇪🇸🇫🇷

Coucou à tous ! Quoi de beau ? 

This week was crazy! I feel like I say this in every update, but hey, at least there is a common theme! 😂 Keeps things interesting! This week was full of MLC, transfers, tons of member visits, and a birthday party!

Monday night we went over to the Stake President's house and had so much fun with his cute family! Fun fact: a lot of members in France actually work for The Church in a bunch of various positions: telecom, building managers, translators, etc. I have so much respect for all the translators! I've done real time translations for visitors who come and, la vache is it hard! Two weeks ago we had a whole bunch of women visiting, filling an entire row, and Sœur Stevenson and I could hardly hear the speaker as we tried to translate for them...it was way hard! So, shout out to all you translators! 

Anyway... Frère Bertola works for the church, so he speaks English all day for his job, so when we came over he unconsciously kept switching into English and his whole family kept telling him to switch back to French! 🤣 Soeur Stevenson and I were dying, it was so funny! We of course kept talking in French, but it was hard to keep up with the constant switching back and forth. We passed an excellent night with them! 

That next day we had our monthly MLC in Paris! I look forward to MLC a lot. I love it so so much! This time we talked about studies and why they are important. We study to prepare ourselves to teach. Studies are so so important for a missionary! We have about 2.5 hours a day to study the scriptures, the language, and even as an équipe to prepare for lessons and what we are going do that day. I have LOVED studies as a missionary and so it was awesome to get new perspectives from other missionaries during our training!

One thing that I've been loving lately at MLC, is that they give us time as ZLs and STLs in each specific zone to say a kneeling prayer together for our zone and for the missionaries we work with. Imagine 20 missionaries all kneeling in prayer at once! The spirit is so overwhelmingly powerful. It has lead to some incredible experiences and the feeling of unity is so strong. That is one of the reasons why I love MLC! Le fait de se réunir en tant que dirigeants amène l'esprit très très fort parce-que nous avons tous la même objectif. J'aime l'unité avec les autres missionaries en faisant l'œuvre du seigneur. (Coming together as leaders brings a very strong spirit because we all have the same goal.  I love unity with other missionaries in doing the Lord's work.)

This week was also transfer week, and Wow was it crazy! Soeur Stevenson and I headed to Paris Wednesday, one day before the transfer since the parting missionaries spend a day with President and his wife; going to the temple and doing some fun departing activities. So, Mercredi I said goodbye to Soeur Stevenson since she is heading home, which was so sad, but I prefer to think of it as a “see you later!” 

I then spent the rest of that day as an Hermana... and Nope! I don't know a lick of Spanish, apart from hola and gracias. 😂 It was so fun though because the Hermana I was with taught me how to read Spanish and she translated my testimony into Spanish so I was able to at least read my testimony during the lessons we had that day! I felt like a new missionary again, and it was definitely a new experience, but I had a great time! #Trilingual 🤣 

Even though I didn't really understand the words she spoke as she taught the lessons, it was an incredible testimony building experience of the power of the gift of tongues and how the Spirit really does speak to our hearts. Even though I only teach in French and English, I have had incredible opportunities to be a part of lessons in many other languages, and no matter what I always understood what was being taught and felt the Spirit. God knows and speaks our language! No matter what language it may be!

That night we had a bit of a challenge, as the WiFi in the apartment we were staying at in Paris is a disaster, so half the time we were hanging halfway out the window just trying to get a signal. 🤣 But on the bright side, later that night I was able to see one of my MTC comps! Soeur Madsen! Actuellement she is serving in Colmar and also came into Paris for transfers, so it was so fun to see her! 

However, up until that point, in the midst of all our lessons, Soeur Vazquez and I where absolutely running around like chickens with our heads cut off, constantly on the phone with other missionaries trying to figure out housing for the night, and other logistical aspects for the transfers the next day. Oh la la ! 

As usual transfers the next morning were absolutely crazy! One of the Colmar Soeurs had her OFII appointment so we had to go all the way to one side of Paris with all her suitcases! We met up with some Elders and somehow convinced them to take the suitcases with them to the transfer point so we didn't have to lug them all the way back to the other side of Paris. Let's hear it for our girlish charm! 🤣 It was so nice of them, and very much appreciated!

We showed up to transfers and I actually got so sad, as it was my last transfer day for my mission, next time I will be the one going home. 😢 Heursement, (Luckily) I saw so many of my friends that day. Almost every single missionary I was in the MTC with was there, along with almost all the missionaries I've been able to work with this past year and a half. I can not describe the love I have for all these missionaries! They have become some of my very best friends and I am so thankful for every single one of them and our experiences together. It was sad saying goodbye to a lot of them. I came in with a lot of Elders, so they still got some time, but again definitely more of a “see you later” since most of them will be going to BYU in the Fall, so we can party again in a few months. 🙌🏻 

I have always loved transfer days to be honest! It's  a crazy day, but it's a fun experience taking everything you own in a few suitcases and navigating the Paris transport system with it all in tow! 

I met my new companion, Soeur Williams, who is absolutely adorable and we hopped on a train back to Rennes! Funny thing is, she was with Soeur Beckwith (my trainer) during her last transfer and now she is with me for my last transfer... CRAZY ! I cannot believe I am that old! 🫠 

  

This week we had soooo many members rendez-vous ! It was so awesome! We went to the Aubin's and the Leroy's, and they were such a party! These are two of my favorite families in the ward. We laughed so much and they shared some amazing perspectives and testimonies regarding our spirituelle thought. In la famille Leroy, they are a family of just girls and you can totally tell that Frère Leroy is such a "girl" dad. It's so cute! The members here are awesome! The Aubin's are kind-of THE missionary family. They are always there and seem to be everyone's point of contact. It's awesome! I love them!

Well, malheureusement, (unfortuneately) we are in another period of having to drop a lot of our friends. Many of them have been taught by the missionaries for a while, but haven't progressed, so we figure we should give them a break for a bit. But, whenever missionaries go through periods of "refreshing" a secteur, miracles are always générateur (happen)! For example, we met a guy this week named Georges. We were trying to get to one of our friend's house, but because it is Rennes, we were unable to due to some manifestations. Buses were down again and we couldn't find one going to the area we needed. We tried calling her, but she was on a long distance call and was unavailable. But, this little hiccup in our plan made it possible for us to meet Georges! We stopped him, introduced ourselves and he immediately started asking questions! We testified to him and told him about the Book of Mormon and how it can offer answers to his questions. He asked where he could get one and we gave him ours! He told us he was going to read it right away and then asked if we would call him Monday night! Wow! So pray that all goes well tonight! He seemed super cool! 

Spiritual Thought

Recently I have been working on "myplan". Myplan is a program for missionaries who are nearing the end of their mission which  focuses on helping us fix and plan goals upon returning home, reflecting on our time as missionaries, and preparing us for going home. Not going to lie, it has been a bit emotional. This week I worked on the module that talked about remembering what I've learned the 18 months I've spent serving the Lord and applying it to my life in the future while continuing to grow and learn. I loved these scriptures from the lesson: 

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." 

(James 1:22, 25) 

I love these verses because growing up my mom always told me that actions speak louder than words. You bet they do! Much of Christ's ministry was expressed through His actions, not just through His words. Are you a doer or are you a hearer? Or are you both? Do you act on the words of Christ or do you just hear them? 

Sure do love you all! 🥰 

À bientôt ! - Soeur Hansen

I Present to you the Elderettes and Law enforcement! 👯🏽‍♀️👮‍♂️

Coucou mes amis ! J'espère que vous allez bien ! This week was super eventful so let's get to it! 

First of all Monday I WENT TO A CASTLE! Like a castle castle! It was so cool! I went with my district for p-day and we had such a great time! We took a train that morning to Vannes and the Soeurs there came and picked us up and drove us to the castle! While there we played dress up (for real!), had sword fights, wondered around, almost got blown away by the wind... but definitely got blown away by the scenery! We then went back to the chapel and played some games. SO MUCH FUN! 

Tuesday we had exchanges with the Soeurs in Cholet and it was amazing! Soeur Smith and I worked in Rennes, and boy did we see some crazy things! A guy dancing with water on his head and another juggling fire! Yea, Rennes has it all! 😂 Unfortunately, all our rendez-vous fell through but we still had fun and we even taught an English class with the APs, which was pretty fun! She is so awesome! 

We also had interviews with President this week. Now, whenever there are interviews with President that means that the whole zone is coming together. My interview went really well! We talked about how both within the zone and in everything we do we need to do it with a purpose. I really loved that because I know I could definitely be more purposeful in a lot of what I do, so I appreciated our interview. 

Since a lot of the Soeurs in our zone live a bit further away, half of the Soeurs stayed in our apartment overnight, so we could be together for Zone Conference the next morning, and la vache was it a whole lot of people! We managed to fit 10 Soeurs (including Soeur Stevenson and I) into our apartment for the night! We made it a party! 😂 We had a huge raclette night with everyone and they all brought something to contribute! It was so much fun! We even had some nice jazz music going in the background to set the mood! 😂 

The next day we had a great Zone Conference! It was a bit different this time because it was only our zone instead of combining with other zones. I enjoyed how small it was, as it felt like President was talking to us individually. I loved it! Soeur Stevenson and I even presented on extending invitations with faith and we thought that it went so well! 

The next day we were on a train to Paris for.... yep, you guessed it, more exchanges! However, we got off to a bit of a rocky start. The train ended up being delayed because apparently there was a crazy person on board, and I quote, "The train would be delayed until they calmed down" ....interesting. Well, the staff came back on the intercom a few minutes later and informed us that law enforcement had been called and they would keep us updated on the situation. ...Flash forward 45 minutes and law enforcement arrived, the situation was taken care of and we were on our way! Wowza!! I'm telling you, a train being delayed for someone to calm down was a first for me, but I hope they are ok!

My exchange un Paris went great! I was with Soeur Wilson and we had so much fun together! We were suppose to have a lesson with an ami but they canceled, so we enjoyed some time teaching the member who was with us and did à jeu de rôle and had a great lesson! It was actually soooo fun! The spirit was so incredibly strong and it was really awesome to get some practice teaching in! We took advantage of the opportunity to find out what we could do better, and of course to hear some of their mission stories. 😉 

And a hint to the Paris night life...later that night we walked back to the apartment, and I guess the church in Paris is located on the sam block as a lot of drag queen bars, so we met a lot of party animals. 😉 As always, it was so fun being in Paris! I love everything about it, and Sœur Wilson is just incredible! There were a few experiences I had while in the city this time that absolutely strengthened my testimony that God really does protect His missionaries. He is with us and in the details of our lives! If you want to know more, you'll just have to ask me in a few weeks. 😉

The next day we made a pit stop to Saint Malo and boy did we luck out! It was so sunny! I've definitely missed the sunshine! We had planned to visit some of our amis who live there, but they weren't available so we went contacting on the beach! We got rejected every single time, even after "preaching" to a whole group of Catholics. 😂 It was a bit sad, but it was okay since we were doing our best to do God's work...on the beach! 😉 #plantingseeds 

It was cool though, because one of our amis we tried to visit wasn't available then, but we fixed a rendez-vous for later in the week via video, and la vache was it incredible! He had started reading the Book of Mormon since our first rendez-vous and was so excited about what he was reading! The spirit was so strong too! Ahhhh! I am so excited to see how he progresses! Maybe another Saint Malo trip soon?? 

Alright, so I guess we are now the Elderettes? A member started calling us that. 😂 Never heard that one before! 

Anyway...Sunday, on our way to visit some really cool members, we ran into a woman named Noëlle. Practically the entire bus ride we taught her about the Book of Mormon. SHE ATE IT UP! SHE LOVED IT! We gave her the Book and she said she would start reading it - WITH HER HUSBAND - and that we needed to come to her house to teach her! WHAT!?! Everyone pray for Noëlle! #MIRACLE

We had amazing time with the family we were heading to visit, but life can't always be miracles and fun... on the way home we had a very different experience.  We got thrown up on...on the bus. Yea it was nasty! Curtesy of the kid sitting behind us. Yeah, thanks kid! Yep, real life and real moments, even for missionaries!

Spiritual Thought

This week for my spiritual thought I wanted to leave you with a scripture from the sermon of King Benjamin to his people. King Benjamin spoke a lot about repentance, following Christ, and having a change of heart, but he also prophesied of Christ and missionary work! I loved this particular scripture from these verses and wanted to share it:

"And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people." (Mosiah 3:20) 

This is exactly what is happening! This is exactly what I am doing! Every... single... day! For the past 16.5 months! And I love it with all my heart! Any effort you make to improve your relationship with God and come closer to our Savior Jesus Christ is proof of this! Keep going! Keep changing, keep growing, and keep coming to know your Savior! If you don't know where or how to start, don't worry! You have a direct line to someone who can help you! 🥰

I love you all so much! À bientôt- Soeur Hansen😘

Bienvenue to our Humble Hotel

Bonjour mes chers amis ! Comment ça va ? 

I myself am a bit winded and tired from this week, but here we go! 

This week we were running like crazy people! We had three back to back exchanges, which even included a bit of a surprise! Our exchanges started Tuesday afternoon and lasted until Friday afternoon, so our apartment in Rennes was a revolving door welcoming new guests every other day! 🤯 

Tuesday to Wednesday I spent time with Soeur Thaxton, who is currently serving in Angers! She is absolutely adorable and one of the funniest Soeurs I know, Holy cow! I had an absolute workout that day! 😂

From Wednesday to Thursday we were with the Soeurs from Vannes, and I was lucky enough to work with two Soeurs instead of just one! I had a good old throw back to my trio days in the MTC! I hung out with Soeur Chineme and Sœur McMullen who are soooo cute and amazing! We had a blast! They became a trio for the rest of the transfer as unfortunately one of the sister missionaries was having some difficulties and President had to make a few changes mid-transfer with some équipes... so surprise for Soeur Stevenson and I when they showed up as a trio! But, it was so much fun and they are the cutest trio out there! It was funny being in a trio as we were a mini group running from place to place! We even huddled together on a small park bench to do a video call in the rain. 🤣 We had such a good time together!

Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon we had the Soeurs from La Rochelle come and I had the opportunity to work with Soeur Vick! She is darling! We taught some fun lessons and even did an English class for one of their friends, which we pretty much ended up just laughing the entire time!  

Even though this week was craziness with all our exchanges, we loved the opportunity to spend time with so many of the sisters serving in our district! And if I do say so myself, we ran the best 5 étoiles hôtel in Rennes! 😉

This week we enjoyed attended a baptism for a little girl in our ward. Her family is seriously so cool! They are kind of like the "cool" family of the ward. 🤣 It was so fun being there and I was even enlisted to conduct the music at the last minute, as I got the "come here" finger from the presiding member of the Bishopric. 🤣 It was a great weekend with this wonderful baptism on Saturday, then on Sunday Christian got confirmed. He looked so happy! 

We also have a friend we've been teaching who is beginning to progress! His name is Sanoussy! We had a call with him in which we taught about the Restoration and it went so well! Afterward he sent us a message with tons of really good questions! I'm so excited to see what happens with him! Please keep him in your prayers that we will be able to continue teaching him! 

We also visited with a new friend this week named Progress! She speaks English, which is fun, but sometimes feels strange. 😂  We had a good rendez-vous where we talked about faith and the importance of being centered on Christ. She asked why sometimes we aren't healed when we have the faith and when we are doing all the right things. We talked about how it's not necessarily a question of faith, but more-so of God's timing. We then ended by sharing a Book of Mormon video about Christ that seemed to really touch her. It was super sweet! Please pray for her as well! 

Aside from our exchanges, baptisms, and lessons, this week was also filled with preparations for our upcoming zone conference.  I have to admit though, with having to travel to other areas so often, it was great to enjoy being in our own secteur for a bit. Always feels good to be home! 😉

Spiritual Thought

"Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things." ( Jacob 4: 7)

I love this verse because it teaches how God gives us weaknesses so we may turn to Him in those weak times. He wants us to learn that anything is possible through Him and thanks to Him. We have weaknesses so we can come to know Christ. Look for Him and turn to Him this week!

I love you all! À bientôt 🥰

- Soeur Hansen 

Sweet Sixteen!

Bonjour tout le monde ! En forme ?

This week was crazy...and to sum it up in the simplest way possible: about 14 hours spent traveling by train, two blitzes, two exchanges, some incredible lessons, approached by Bible bashing Catholic Monks, enjoyed a baptism, attacked by rats, and I turned 16 months old! Craziness! 🤣

The blitzes this week were so fun! It all started with us and the Elders waking up at 4h30 to make the train at 6h to go back to La Rochelle ! Yea...we were a bit dead at the end, but it was so incredible! Soeur Stevenson and I started our exchanges with the Soeurs from Cholet during the blitz and I had the chance to hang out with Soeur Nelson! She is so awesome! 

While blitzing we had a cool conversation with a lady who was also Christian. We talked a bit about the Book of Mormon and read a scripture with her. Something I've been working on lately is asking inspired questions... so, I tried asking an inspired question! The scripture I shared with her was in Helaman 5:12 from the Book of Mormon, which talks about building our foundation on Christ. She absolutely loved it and shared a few thoughts that led into a great conversation about the importance of having a foundation in Christ. I then asked her if she believed that verse to be true, and she said yes! She then shared how it compares to the teachings in the Bible. EXACTEMENT ! The Book of Mormon is ANOTHER Testament of Jesus Christ! The two Books work together to testify of Him! I then said, the Bible testifies that Christ is the same eternally; yesterday, today, and forever! N'est-ce pas ? She answers yes! I then said If we know He doesn't change and the Book of Mormon is another Testament of Christ, and having read a scripture comparable to all other scriptures commonly known from the Bible, do you believe that the Book of Mormon could be true? She stood for a second and then responded with, "Yes, I believe it to be true!" I felt the spirit so strongly testifying, really speaking heart to heart, of the truthfulness of this book. This woman had never read it cover to cover, never kneeled in prayer asking if it was true, but based off of what she already believed and what we shared with her, she believed it could be true. This was the first time she had ever read anything in the Book of Mormon. How incredible is that?! We tried offering her a copy of the Book of Mormon and she almost took it, but didn't in the end. Even though we didn't get much further than that, it was totally OK, because I know that the she felt the Spirit! As missionaries, yes we do hope to see conversions and baptisms, but sharing the gospel isn't only about baptisms. It is also about helping others have experiences feeling the Spirit that they can reflect and rely on in future days to come. 😁 

The rest of the exchange with Soeur Nelson was formidable! We spent Valentine's together, and because our only Valentine this year was each other, we decided to go buy ourselves some chocolate! 🤣 Happy Valentine's day to all you Lovely people! 🥰 

After ending one amazing exchange we then took a train to Vannes, where we started another. No rest for the weary! 😂 We were in Vannes with our district holding another blitz which was again so much fun! This time I was on an exchange with Soeur Tepu, who is from Tahiti ! She is soooo funny! (It was also pretty awesome because we spoke in French all day!) We had a lot of friendly conversations with some of the older generation from the city and learned a lot about the history of Vannes. And of course, we had a great time with our district! It is always so fun and inspiring to see everyone as we all work side by side! 

#miracle 

But... our real miracle came that night during our rendez-vous with our friend, Gabriela! Gabriela is a 16 year old girl we are currently teaching. (She is the girl who approached me with my picture pulled up on her phone asking if it was me, then saying she wanted to take lessons. Crazy, I know!) We had our first lesson about the history of our church and The Restoration. And let me tell you-- Satan always tries to work so incredibly hard during that lesson! But, oh my goodness! If only you all were there!!! Soeur Tepu and I could not believe the spirit we were feeling! It was soooo incredibly strong! And by the way, Soeur Tepu is an incredible teacher! I LOVED teaching with her!! Gabriela just absorbed everything we were saying, and says, "Mes sœurs, I have to share an experience I had with the spirit of God!" Soeur Tepu and I were over the moon! She then explains how she had an exam she was really anxious about (absolutely relatable!) and how she did everything she could to prepare and decided to leave the rest up to God. She said she prayed really hard, then took her exam having faith in the Lord to help her. When she got her note back, she had done really well! She explained to us that she immediately felt the Spirit upon receiving the results! She then immediately offered a prayer of gratitude, since that was all she could do. She continued to described to us the joy she felt and how strongly she felt the Spirit. And yes, it probably does sound a bit too easy as I am relating this story, but, like I prefaced, Satan works hard! Her video cut out 2 times during our lesson because her phone didn't have enough battery. Nooooo! Luckily we were able to keep calling her back, and each time she was able to explain the story. We then asked if she would like to feel what she felt that day all the time. She said "OUI" with so much excitement! I told her we have a book for her to read to help her feel that Spirit, and of course at that exact moment the video cut out again! NOOO! We were just about to talk about the Book of Mormon! That always happens! We were able to give her a quick explanation of the Book of Mormon, but nothing else, sadly, before the video cut out for good. It was so sweet though, when we took out our Book of Mormon she couldn't wait! It was so cute! She was so excited to learn more! The Spirit was so incredibly strong! During the moments when the video cut out, Soeur Tepu and I kept praying that it would work again so we could do what we needed to! We prayed so hard!! 😂 Honestly, it was probably one of the greatest lessons of my mission! Soeur Tepu and I taught so well together, and I felt as if I was on fire! 😁 Please pray for Gabriela that all will continue to go well! 

Along with the miracles and fantastic moments, of course we experience the crazy as well! So, we tried calling one of our friends who is about ready to be baptized to have one of our final rendez-vous with him to help with final preparations for the baptism. And of course, things didn't go exactly according to plan. 😉 As soon as he picked up the phone, we knew something was wrong, as he was acting very odd, in fact he was a bit drunk. Yea...not one of my favorite lessons during my mission, it was a bit awkward. 😂 The call kept getting progressively worse, ending in one of the most interesting ways possible...let's just say we ended the video call a bit early to give him some privacy. 😵‍💫 

BUT...par contre (on the other hand) we did have a baptism for our other friend, Christian, and it went great! It was right after church and the members were incredibly supportive! He had to be baptized three times to get it all right, haha, but all was well and it was beautiful! We even had a member come and congratulate us, telling us how well we are doing and how incredible Christian is. Pretty sure the Spirit is doing all the heavy lifting! 😉 He gets confirmed next week, so we are pretty excited about that! 

And to continue the crazy... now enters our friends, the Bible bashing Catholic monks! It was a definite first for me! They were in their robes and everything! It all started as Soeur Stevenson and I were just sitting on a bench when from across the way they called out to us, asking if we were Mormon. What??? 🤣 We said yes, but then shared with them that the correct term was members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. That actually was a good conversation starter! They then asked if I was Scandinavian - yes a question I often get, because of my last name. 😉 I said I was American, but my roots are Scandinavian. Once the introductions were over, they switched quickly to the topic of sharing what they believe and ended in saying that they want me to be their sister in Christ. 🤣 So much happened in that conversation! We thanked them for sharing their beliefs with us, and explained that we had a previous rendez-vous we had to go to and we all said our good-byes. It is always interesting to hear how others practice their faith in Christ and I love to see the desire they have to share their faith, since that is exactly what I am doing and why I am here! 

Following our conversation we quickly jumped on a call to make our rendez-vous with our friend, Badri, who only speaks Georgian and Russian! Yuuup! I am so thankful for missionaries who serve in Georgia and are able to translate! 😂 I will add that to my ongoing  list of lessons taught in foreign languages! It was actually and incredible lesson, and Badri is soooo prepared! Pray for him! 

Oh!! And no, to circle back to my intro, we actually did not get attacked by rats... BUT Rennes is full of them! We see so many! We were meeting with the ZLs to go over some things for zone conference, and the entire time we could see them running around and could hear their constant squeaking. It was definitely a bit more creepy than some of the scenes full of scavenging rats in Disney's Ratatouille! 🤣

Spiritual Thought

Well, that was a lot! Thank you to for sticking it out to the end! 😂 In my last two transfers President and Sœur Munns invited me to restart the Book of Mormon again.  It has been so refreshing, as this time I am reading it simply for me! I'd like to share one scripture that particularly stood out to me recently: 

"He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation" (2 Nephi 26:24) 

I love this scripture because it demonstrates how much Christ really does love us! He loves us so much that everything He does is for our profit and for our progression. He loves us so much that he even gave His own life for each and every one of us! What an incredible sacrifice! This week I want you all to ponder this. What does His sacrifice and His love mean to you personally? I would love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to message or email me! 

Love you all! À bientôt 🥰 

- Soeur Hansen