Late night rescue😵

 Coucou mes amis ! 

Wow this week was seriously insane!!

 

We started strong with exchanges with the Angers Soeurs! I had the amazing opportunity to be with Soeur Letourneau again and it was a blast! #Throwback! It is always so fun being with old companions again! I just love her! 

The next day we headed up to Vannes for an in person District Council and blitz! Booyah! It was so much fun being together and the training was incredible.  We hit up a delicious boulangerie for lunch before we enjoyed blitzing the streets of Vannes! My district leader, Elder Hopkins, switched things up by mixing up some équipes, so I spent the afternoon with Soeur Tepu and loved hanging out with her! As an added twist, we made the blitz into a scavenger hunt and had to find certain types of people to speak with, which made our day super interesting! 

When we all came back to the rendez-vous point we decided to take a group picture and found a woman with her friend who were so cute and kind enough to take the picture for us...and then they photo bombed us! 😂 It was pretty funny! They were so cute and we had some amazing conversations with them!  One of them shared her religious beliefs that consisted of a more holistic view, so it was super interesting to listen to her share them with us. They were just darling! They can photo bomb us anytime!

And the fun didn't stop there! That night we were supposed to take a few trains on our way to Cholet for our exchanges the next day, but the Nantes gare had other plans. I don't know why, but I have spent soooo much time in that gare! Our first train from Vannes to Nantes was fine, but things went downhill fast. We got onto our last train and after about 10 minutes of just sitting there, not moving and definitely behind schedule, people began to worry. Then someone boards the train and yells that it got canceled. Oh no! Soeur Williams and I scrambled off the train and started trying to find another train. And...ZERO! We then went to one of the SNCF employees to ask about a train, who then sent us to one of their colleagues, who we followed, along with another group of people, to a different part of the gare where we waited to purchase tickets for another train. 

On top of our significant train issues, due to recent current events and unrest in Europe all missionaries in our mission are supposed to be home before 21h. At this point it was already about 20h30 and we were stuck - in an Elders only secteur, which generally means it's not the best place for us Sisters to be, and the closest place we could get to was at least an hour and 45 minutes away. We immediately started calling everyone we could, but no one answered. One of the employees then came back with free tickets for a train that would first take us to Paris, then back to another secteur called Angers...trippy! 

As I was on the phone with one of the APs (Assistants to the President) trying to figure out our best option, my companion was also making calls and finally got a hold of the Soeurs in Cholet, our original destination, and they said they could come pick us up from the gare! It would be about an hour before they could get there, but it was definitely the fastest solution! 

At this point we were on the train to Paris, but it hadn't left yet. We got the go ahead from the APs to wait for the Soeurs so we ran off the train and back into the gare where we waited for our rescuers  However, it was a bit sketchy of a wait, as the safest place for us to be in the gare was where a group of drunken men were hanging out. I decided to settle in, cracked open my Book of Mormon, and prayed that we would be safe until the soeurs could get us. And, ya know, God protects His missionaries! 

The Soeurs arrived, and unfortunately someone had to use the bathroom (not me) and of course all the bathrooms were closed. To spare you the details....we got creative. #campingbathroomoutdoors 😂 

And the fun continued... We drove from Nantes to Cholet in a huge rainstorm! It was pouring! Shout out to Soeur Hyde and her amazing driving skills! There were many moments when we couldn't see a thing on the autoroute, but we all made it back safe and sound - After 21h... but safe! 

That next day we had exchanges and I was with Soeur Hyde! She is so cool! It was so much fun getting to know her! We did a lot of street contacting and met a man named Clément, who was one of the most animated French people I have ever met! He told us that he loves books, so he was all excited about the Book of Mormon.. and even smelled the pages.  😂 He said he probably wouldn't read it, but was still open to talking with us and we got his number! Cool! A little while later we then started talking to a man with what we thought was a very good and positive conversation... until he started to try and bash us.... oh well. 

We then had to take a train back to Rennes, which... yep, you guess it, ended up being canceled too, (typical) but it's okay because we just took the next train.

We then had exchanges with the La Rochelle Soeurs. I was able to work with Soeur Reisbeck, who is in her first transfer, and she is killing it! We talked to some cool people and shared a lesson on the Plan of Salvation! It was so fun -I know, I always say that, but transfers truly are, and I love them and all these Soeurs so much! 

And of course, Happy Easter to all of you lovely people! I hope you spent a great day celebrating the resurrection of our Savior! It was a great Sunday here, and was actually my last Sunday reunion in French, which was a bit sad, but I wouldn't have wanted to celebrate this special and holy day any other way! We had so many miracles happen! Stephane came, Gabriela and her father came, and two other amis came to church! Whoop! 

Afterward we enjoyed lunch at a ward family's home and played games together. It was so fun! 

This week was a great week and I am excited for the week to come! 

Spiritual Thought

I want to tell you all that I know that Jesus Lives. He lives for me and He lives for you! 

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 

(John 15:13) 

We are His friends. His life is the proof of His love. He lives! 

I love you all! Have a great week! À bientôt ! 

- Soeur Hansen 🥰

I'm Missing Something 🤔

Coucou à tous ! Quoi de beau ? 

This week was the start of the goodbyes and, Wow! I can hardly stand it! I know I've said it before, but mission goodbyes are the absolute worst! C'est pas supportable. (It feels unbearable!) 😭 But, malgré le fait que mon cœur est entrant de se casser, (despite the fact that my heart is breaking) it was a good week !

We had Zone Conference this past week, which meant a field trip to Paris! It was with two other zones, so I got to see a lot of my friends and it was totally awesome! I actually had to conduct the meeting too, which was definitely scary, as it was the first time, but also really fun! We talked about studies and how important they are. Studies are one of my favorite things, so it was really good! 

Towards the end of the meeting, the time I had been dreading finally came, my turn to share my departing testimony with all those at the conference. That was definitely one of the hardest testimonies I've given my whole mission! In a sense it was my last words to the mission. I had no idea what I was going to say and prayed that I would be able to speak through and by the spirit. Of course right as I started talking I began to cry. It was such a surreal experience as I looked out from the pulpit at all the missionaries I have worked with this past year and half as I spoke to them with such a full and thankful heart, sharing that my mission means everything to me. It is the definition of Ether 12:27: weak things becoming strong, and becoming humble in ways I never knew. As I looked out at all their faces, I felt a flood of the most amazing memories from the greatest 18 months of my life, which I shared with each of them.  

No, it is not quite over just yet! 😉

Right after Zone Conference we had our exchanges with the Soeurs in Paris and I was with Soeur Matthews, which was amazing! We haven't totally had a chance to serve together, but we have served around each other so it was awesome to finally get an exchange together! We spent the day outside and it was so beautiful! The weather was so nice and we were able to talk to a bunch of people who sadly were not interested, but that's OK! I was content sitting under the warmth of the sunshine! 😂 Soeur Matthews is seriously incredible and I loved sitting and being able to talk with her and get to know her better!

Next stop was exchanges in La Rochelle! And WOW was it an awesome exchange! Our train may have passed through the Lyon mission... so I guess I did leave the mission for 45 minutes, but hey, I didn't get a call so I think we are ok! I was with Soeur Vick and we had an absolute ball! Since La Rochelle is technically in the South, the weather is amazing in the Spring and Summer! While we were eating lunch outside I almost felt like we were in the movie Mama Mia! 😂 We talked to a lot of people, but sadly none of them were interested. We gave a Book of Mormon to a lady, but not in the way we planned! We explained it to her and said it was a compliment to the Bible and all she heard was Bible. She took it from us and hopped on the bus and rolled away. It was interesting. 🤣 

We did, however, have an amazing miracle during this exchange! Somehow exchanges just bring miracles! Soeur Vick and I were on the phone with someone she and her companion had previously talked with briefly. He started out by saying that he was missing someone in his life and felt as though the Book of Mormon would help him. After talking to his pastor and learning more about our church, he believes we can help him find the missing piece. The whole time Soeur Vick and I were looking at each other with the biggest eyes in shocked! He also talked about the resurrection and how that is his primary focus. We had such an incredible conversation! La Rochelle had been struggling with amis recently, so this experience was a huge answer to prayers for them. It was incredible! 

Things in Rennes are going well! We haven't heard back from some of the people I've mentioned in previous emails, unfortunately, but we have seen so many miracles! This past week we got a lot of references who we were then able to have lessons with and they are such cool people! Theo is doing great too! He keeps telling us about what he loves about The Book of Mormon! Ah! I love it! We also had a baptism for one of the Elders' amis that went really well! Two of our amis were even able to attend as well! #Miracles!

And on a totally random but hilarious side note, we were enjoying a mangez-vous with the cutest older couple in our ward, when out of nowhere the Frère went outside then came back in eating dandelions! 🤣 Well, I guess they are edible! The Fontaines are the cutest couple though! 

Super Cool Moment...

This week, I was able to have a video call with a woman my dad knew when he was a missionary!!  It was so special! It was so fun to hear about how my dad was as a young missionary.  I love sharing a connection like that! 🥰

Spiritual Thought

In honor and celebration of Holy Week, here is a scripture that I have been thinking of recently: 

"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!" ( D&C 76:22) 

Jesus lives! That is the testimony I bear most often as a missionary and I know without a doubt He lives! I see Him every day and I feel Him every day. He lives! 

À bientôt ! Soeur Hansen 🥰