My first time in Switzerland!

Transfer 3, week 4

Our week started with exchanges. Monday night we took a train to Lyon and this time we went to stay with the Villeurbanne soeurs, soeur Crowley and Soeur Benitez. I spent the Tuesday with soeur Crowley and we had some cool experiences. For example, we visited this muslim family who's mom is super nice, so happy and smiley and she ADORES the sisters. Anyways, we were about to leave and we thanked her for her smile and she started opening up to us about how her baby, one of the twins, suddenly died a few months ago, and how that really hurts her but she needs to stay strong for her 4 other children. The most touching thing she said was 'God is equal. He gave me two babies and let me keep one and took one for himself.' The way she said it was so beautiful, I wish I could think like that in my trials!

We also taught an African man named Jungle and he was so awesome! He could be the leader of an african tribe haha. We taught him the restoration and at the end of the lesson he said all casually 'God knew that soeur Hiltunen, soeur Crowley and frére Jungle would be  here today at five o'clock talking about Jesus. God knew this would happen.' He called himself FRÉRE, brother. Hahaha, so awesome. I wish I could teach him again!!

On Wednesday we had zone conference in Geneva!!! My first time in Switzerland! We didn't see much though, the Gare, the tram and the chapel. But the conference was amazing, we had five zones together so I got to see a lot of friends, for example soeur Rönndahl, my beloved MTC companion!!!! I love her so so so so much. I also found another finnish person, Elder Ihalmo! Our conversation was really short though, we both felt awkward speaking finnish. (Por contre, my french is getting A LOT better.) We had a member of the quorum of the seventy visiting our mission and him and his wife gave really good talks. I just love zone conferences... We also got Swiss chocolate. Best part of the day. 

Sunday was daylight saving. Did we remember to change the time on our clocks? No. So we were half hour late to church. But it totally happened for a reason!! We had two miracles on the tram. A few days earlier we had contacted a woman from Chechenia who doesn't speak good english but she speaks russian. We got on the tram Sunday morning and she was there!! And soeur Green had russian pamplets with her. The second miracle was that a man we had met in the tram stop two Sundays earlier and invited him to church but couldn't come that day. He also couldn't come now but he told us that this morning when he woke up he was thinking of us and that there's a reason we met again. He said he would try to come to General Conference next week but we'll see.

D&C 112:10

 10 Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.

- Soeur H

This week has been a great contacting week.

Transfer 3, week 3

Our week started with an exchange with the sister training leaders soeur Bentley and soeur Hutchins, I spent the day with soeur Hutchins, hunting less actives in Venissieux, super muslim area of Lyon. And kind of red zone. So no contacting there. We only found one of the people we were looking for but it was a fun day anyways. The weather was amazing and soeur Hutchins made us pancakes for diner.

We visited so many less-actives this week. Our weekly visit the Payés was nice, it was Rhian's 10th birthday and we made him cookies and a card. Frére Saez got two visits from us, one was a quick pass by and the other time we went there with Sr Villiene so we could actually go in. He's such an adorable old man, still remembers the sacrament prayers by heart. He proudly recited those to us. Sr Villiene also took us with her to see a young less active mother who's from Russia. She has the cutest little son named Micah who only spoke Russian. The Villiene family also fed us twice since we didn't finish their lasagne the first time... It was really good though, they always serve the best meals. 

Soeur Bartin got her weekly visit too. It was so funny, we were at the door and she tells us to come to the living room really fast because there was a nature document that was filmed in Finland on TV! We watched the last to minutes of the program and this is the funniest part... The first thing after the program was a commercial of a documentary on Babylon!! (To those of you who don't know, we call wordly things 'Babylon'). So ironic.

This week has been a great contacting week. I feel like my French has progressed a lot because I've been talking so much. I was really scared of talking to strangers when I first got here but now I actually enjoy it! Even if they're not interested in our message it's fun to talk with them about their lives and other things. And at the end they normally start asking questions about the Church. We've also had a few people contact us on the tram, we've given out three Books of Mormon like that and fixed a few RDVs.

We were finally able to hunt down our beloved Chinese recent convert/less active Yan Min! She's been travelling and is also busy with school and hasn't been to Church in ages. We've tried calling and visiting her but no. She doesn't pick up or she's not at her apartment. On Saturday night we were yet again on our way to her apartment to see if she would be there. We were just about to step out of the tram when we saw Yan Min standing on the platform in front of us!! She was on her way to school so we took the tram with her. She promised she would come to church but she didn't. So Sunday night after eating an awesome dinner at the Weeks' house we went to see if Yan Min was home. She was and we spent a little moment with her. We helped her a little with her English assignment and prayed with her and she seemed so happy at the end of our little visit, she also asked us to come back next week!! Makes me so happy that she's not avoiding us.

Soeur Gribissi came to church for the fourth time in a row which means she is officially reactivated. She's well integrated and really wants to go to the temple in July when they have the ward's temple trip. At least we're having some kind of success even if it's not baptisms!

ALMA 5:14

14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

The spring is here

17 March 2014

Transfer 3, week 2

The spring is here. The sun's shining every day and there's flowers everywhere on the trees and we don't need to wear coats! It's amazing, amazing amazing! Missionary work is so much nicer when the weather's like this. Nicer but NOT any easier.

Our mission president came up with this idea of a questionnaire that will make our contacting more effective. There's four questions like "do you think there are serious problems in the world" and "do you think it would be good to have God's help" and then people respond and often it sparks a really good conversation. People are still often really rude but at least we can buy two minutes with them and give them the chance to feel the Spirit.

We had two great rendez-vous with the Sri lankan family. First time we taught them The plan of Salvation and the next time the restoration. We also gave them a soft baptismal invite and they're thinking about it. They are still so awesome. They have amazing questions, like babtising babies and reciting prayers etc, natural questions for Catholics to have and they're always really happy with our responses. The mom really likes the Book of Mormon, she's already in Mosiah and loooves king Benjamin. This is such a special and loving family and I'm 100 % sure Heavenly Father loves them SO MUCH. I just wish i stay in Clermont long enough to see them get baptized.

We had a mangez-vous with soeur Gribissi, the less-active who's now pretty much activated. We gave a lesson on forgiveness and used Christ as an example. He went through so much but still was willing to forgive everyone and even asked the Father to forgive (Luke 23:34).

Saturday was a sad day. We got dropped by two people who we thought we could help progress. But apparently not. Luckily soeur Burton made us rolls. That were the most delicious rolls I've ever eaten.

Yesterday evening we went to pass by a potential. She is sooo nice to us and very spiritual. We talked to her and prayed with her and she asked us to call her later in the coming week to set up a rendez-vous. She's got two little dogs and the other is named Uppsala! Haha, so random! She thought it's a town in Norway though but anyways, such a cool name for a french dog! And the best thing she told us was that there's mafia in Clermont!!! My day was made.

And just for everyone's information, my new favourite flower is MAGNOLIA. Everyone here has magnolia trees here and they are so so so beautiful this time of the year.

- Soeur H

First McDonald's lunch outside

Picture post transfer 2, week 6

We stopped to see an old, beautiful casle

Staying inside makes you go crazy

Transfer 2, week 5



This past week was looooong. Soeur Green got sick at the end of last week and whatever she had didn't go away until the end of this week. So we spent a lot of time inside. Too much time. Staying inside makes you go crazy.

We had a few good experiences with members though. We had mangez-vous with two families in the ward and had so much fun with them. The members here are so great, their testimonies are so strong and the way they live the gospel is a great example to me.

We got a few new amis this week! Who knows if anything will come out of them, the other is an old portuguese woman who's a practicing catholic, we're quite sure she  hasn't realized that we're not catholic... And the other is an african man, who's met with missionaries before and Temoin Jehovas visit him every now and then. Hopefully spirit will touch their hearts when we teach them.

And we had two amis at church both week ago and yesterday. AWESOOOOME. They're African and we've been teaching their friend who told them about church and they decited to come and see what it's like. We taught the other man this week and haha, that was interesting! He's a protestant preacher, he showed us this sketchy looking certificate he had, and started preaching to us about faith in the middle of our lesson. The funny thing is that he's not trying to fight us or our believes but apparently just wants to show off his knowledge about religion. He's really cool though, he loves being at church, after every talk in the sacrament meeting he comments on how great the talk was and he absolutely LOVES singing hyms! Totally off key but whatever.

Saturday was the best day of the week. We accidentally contacted this man who's door we had knocked on a few weeks earlier and who had been really rude to us. this time he was totally different! He apologized for not being nice to us and we talked to him about all kinds of things and at the end of our little 15 min conversation we were the best of friends with him! He's still not interested in the gospel but at least he has a good impression of mormon missionaries now! Later that evening we had a less-active miracle, we visited a lady we had never met before. She was so happy to see us and pretty much told us her whole life story and then gave us Coca-Cola and chocolate! She still has testimony of the church but feels unworthy to come back. She just needs friends who'll help her come back and the ward of Clermont is perfect for that.

À la fin, here's my fave scripture of the week:

MOSIAH 5:15

 15 Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen.

- Soeur H

Heavenly father is being too good for us

10 February 2014

Transfer 2, week 3

Heavenly father is being too good for us. We had some crazy crazy crazy miracles this week.

On wednesday we went to pa by a potential ami who lives quite close to us. We got to his building but didn't find his name on any of the doors so we knocked on a few door and asked the neighbours if they know which apartment was his. The last door we knocked before finding the right one was opened by a young girl, probably about our age. I got this thought that I should ask her if she wants to learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ but I didn't... She told us she didn't know where the man we were looking for lived and we left. But after that the whole time we were talking to our potential I had this feeling we should go back to that girl. We were leaving the building when I finally stopped soeur Green and said that we need to go back. We went back and knocked on her door and Soeur Green made me do all the talking because it was my idea... The girl opened the door and I explained to her quickly who we are and that we share a special message about Jesus Christ and His church and asked if she wants to learn more. She said she was a little busy at the moment but we ended up fixing a rendez-vous with her for next week! That was such a cool experience!!! I just felt like a full missionary who's being guided by the Spirit. I must be doing something right.

Thursday was a day full of tombez-vous. It felt like every time we take a member to teach with us the people we're supposed to meet don't come. It's embarrasing.

We were also supposed to meet this african lady who was a referral from the office. She lives an hour away from Clermont so we were going to see her at her cousin's house. We get to the building and realized we don't know the cousin's name! S we just looked at the mailboxes and picked the most African name we could find and knocked on their door. We didn't find our african lady but we did find ans african family of 7 who want us to come back and teach them next week!

Saturday night was the craziest. Once again, all our fixed rendez-vous were cancelled. We decited to go visit some less actives but they weren't home. We ran out of back-up plans. It was cold and rainy and windy. We still had to more hours before we could go inside and the thought of just going door to door or contacting on the street didn't really make me happy at all. Only thing that kept me going was thinking that this is Lord's work not mine, I'm not here to be comfortable, I'm here to work. things could be worse... But still feeling pretty miserable. We contacted this oldish lady and started talking to her about all kinds of things, she told us she hasn't found faith in her life but she really likes gospel churches because of the music. We told we have pretty songs at our church and told her we could sing her some and she was like yeah, why don't you come over to my house right now, drink some hot chocolate and you can sing to me! We couldn't say no. So we went and ended up staying for an hour (or two...) and she even made us dinner! As we were leaving she told us that we had brought this light to her soul and she would want us to come back and teach her more about our message. That was such an awesome night, walking home we didn't care about the bad weather anymore, we were just so happy!! I felt like I was fullfilling my purpose as a missionary. We gave a long prayer of thanks to Heavenly Father that night.

Book of Mormon Jacob 6:12

12 O be wise; what can I say more?

Á la prochaine, Soeur H

X

SO JUST BE HAPPY!

3 February 2014

Tranfer 2, week 2

This week we worked really hard and ahd some really good contacts and even a few miracle lessons on the street. But we're having hard time finding people who actually want to have lessons with us... Until Sunday night!

Last week we contacted this older man who had just lost his mother and was really sad about that. He wanted to learn more about God's plan for us and how we can be together with our families after death. We set up a rendez-vous at his house but when we went there he wasn't there. We left him a Book of Mormon and a little note. We tried passing by him a few times but he wasn't there. He lives quite close to us so on Sunday night we decited to go see if he's home, one last thing before going home. We went there and he answered the sonnerie and let us in! We couldn't go in to his apartment though because we didn't have another female with us but we talked to him in the hallway and gave him a lesson! He was accepting the things we talked about, like the Book of Mormon and restoration and was excited to read. We fixed another rendez-vous for Friday and now we'll just pray that everything works out!

We also taught our miracle less-active lady who did a 180 turn in one night. She was like a different person when we saw her. She seemed happy and all the cynicism was gone. We talked about repentance and she had been studying the subject on her own. She really loved the scripture we shared especially when she noticed she had marked them when she was young.

Saturday was really nice day. We watched "Finding Faith in Christ" with the adorable chinese girl and she had made us dumplings.

Then the highlight of the week! We went to eat chez the finnish couple in our ward. Finnish meat balls! And warm cranberry juice! From finnish Arabia cups! I was coutente. They're such a nice couple and their home is so Finnish. I just want to die!! I really don't need to feel homesick while serving in Clermont.

And one thing that I've learned this week. BE POSITIVE, HAVE GOOD THOUGHTS AND BE OBEDIENT!! That's the key to missionary work and the key to life. We're on this earth to have joy (2. Ne 2:25), and sometimes you need to seek for the little happy things in the dark times to have that joy but it's worth it. Christ suffered for us so that we could be happy. 

SO JUST BE HAPPY! SOYEZ HEUREUSES!

À la prochaine, soeur H

At the finnish couple's house

We went to primary

Nothing else to eat on fast sunday

And miracles started happening!

27 January 2014

Transfer 2, week 1

Soooo, my old companion died (finished her mission) and I got a new one, soeur Green. She is adorable, we have so much fun!! I have a feeling this will be an amazing transfer.

And we've already seen some crazy miracles!!

On tuesday we had anti miracles... Only one of our rendez-vous worked out. But that was an awesome rdv with a less active old lady who only has two teeth! So cute!! She loves us so much. he had all her scriptures ready when we came to her house and she showed us letters from missionaries and her old temple recommend and baptism certificate. Ohh she's precious.

Wednesday was full of tombez-vous*... Though on our last train ride of the day we had a few awesome contacts, handed out a Book of Mormon and found a long lost less-active member! Miracles.

Thursday also started with antimiracles. We had a lot of them. At around 5pm we were at the chapel after another tombez-vous, both of us feeling tired and a little discouraged. We knelt down to pray and decited to go and try to visit some people on the other side of the road.

And miracles started happening!

First we went to this family's door who's dad we have contacted a few days earlier and who had given us their address. The dad was home and would've invited us to come in but his wife wasn't home... But we fixed a rdv for another day!

Second, we went to see if this peruvian family from our ward was home, some members of the family are less-active. The dad, who's less-active, opened the door and invited us to come back another day. (we went and it was awesome! Soeur Green speaks a little spanish so she totally sparked them by praying in spanish! And we got invited back again wohoo!)

Aaaand the biggest miracle of the day: there's a less-active lady who me and soeur Kofoed tried to pass-by many times but she was never home. Well, we decited to go there again anf this time she was home. She looked a little confused and first we thought ahe didn't want anything to do with us but she invited us in. And we ended up talking to her for an hour! Or a little more... Hehe. She told us everything, how she's been inactive for 12 years, all the doubts she's ever had and also all the commandments she's broken... Soeur Green shared the story of how she gained her testimony and then we shared Moroni's promise (Moroni 10:3-5 in the Book of Mormon). She told us she had tried to do that but never got an answer and that she denies the existance of the Holy Ghost. She also has a 12-year old son who was first just watching TV but then got really in to it and at one point he brought out an old Book of Mormon! We also ended up staying for dinner and had the best chicken ever. So yummy.

We left feeling good but thinking that it might take a loooong time before she'll be reactivated because she's in denial and found a lot of the things we said ridiculous. Although she did say she wishes she could be like us and be able to say that she KNOWS the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is true.

Well, two days later we receive a phone call from this lady. She tells us how she's been thinking about our words a lot and that she tried to find the scripture in the Book of Mormon that we shared with her but she couldn't. So she took out her hymn book and found he childhood fave hymn "Aimez vos frénes" (Love one Another), started singing it and suddenly started crying! She wondered if this is a sing of God, if God sent the sister missionaries to her because it's her time to come back to Church and she prayed and decited to come to church on Sunday!! AND SHE DID!! After 12 years of inactivity!!!! Just unbelievable. God id good. So good. And this is only the first week of the transfer. Too great!!!

Other than that, my french is still awful but getting better. OHH and we had blues conference and I saw all my MTC friends!!!!! <3 Though me almost missed the thing because we missed our train in the morning, but the Burtons saved the day and drove us to Lyon! They're superheros.

GROS BISOUS TO EVERYONE! <3 Soeur H

* people we fixed a rendez-vous with don't show up.

Blues conference

Romans 12:21

13 January 2014

Transfer 1, week 5

Bonjour, 

Romans 12:21

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

- Soeur H

Bonne Année tout le monde!

6 January 2014

 

Transfer 1, week 4

Bonne Année tout le monde! My full year as a missionary starts now! New Year's resolution: learn french and be the missionary the Lord wants me to e. (Easier said than done)

Me and Soeur Kofoed ended the year 2013 by watching the District 2 and the Legacy, eating popcorn and drinking Shcweppes. And obediently went to bed at 10:30.

The first day of 2014 was spent in Lyon, we had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. It was cool, I really liked seeing how other missionaries do things. I spent the day with Soeur Vidal, she's awesome even though she made me give a spiritual thought at a member's house...

Thursday after we got back from Lyon we had a mangez-vous with a Tahitian family in our ward. They are so awesome!! Their faith is so strong and they just love missionaries and missionary work. The family's little 5-year-old boy is also the most adorable thing, we even got bisous from him when we left!!! Too cute.

On Friday we had another mangez-vous and we got to taste frog legs!!!!!!! That was so awesome and they didn't even taste bad, little bit like chicken.

Frog legs!

Sunday we had a really cool experience after church. We had a rendez-vous in the afternoon at church and had some time before that so we decited to go porting (= tracting, knocking on doors) the houses nearby. As we were walking we were contacting the people we saw, well, Soeur Kofoed was and I was just smiling hehe. Then we saw this man in his late 50's walking on the other side of the road and Soeur Kofoed told me to contact him. I was like oh well, I might as well he'll probably just walk away mid sentence so I don't have to say much. I crossed the road and started talking to him anf it turned out he was actually really interested! He asked all these questions like is this something new compared to other Christian churches? (HECK YES IT IS!) and when we told him about the Book of Mormon he got super interested! We told him a little about Joseph Smith and the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what the Book of Mormon is. We gave him a copy of the book and he said he really wants to read it and to understand it moore he would want to meet with us and come to church on sunday. He was so awesome!!! And since we weren't too far away from the chapel we walked there and he got a church tour from a member who was still at the chapel. We'll just pray and hope everything goes well and he'll feel the goodness of our message when he reads.

2. Nephi 32:5

For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.

- Soeur H 

Mission is awesome. It's hard but awesome.

Transfer 1, week 3

This week started with a little miracle. 

On Monday evening we were on the tram coming home from FHE (family home evening) that was held at the senior couple's home. Soeur Kofoed was busy talking to someone and I was standing a few meters away and minding my own business even though I should've been contacting... Speaking French just really scares me sometimes!! There was this beautiful young girl standing opposite to me and I noticed her looking at my name tag but didn't think much of it because everyone looks at it. But she kept looking and at one point our eyes met so I said bonsoir and started talking this and that, all these things I could in French like complimenting her scarf and asking if she's a student. Then she started asking me about the name tag and church and what we do as missionaries but my French was awful so we started talking in English and the first things she says is: "I would like to learn more abour your church." I couldn't believe my ears!!!! We got off the tram at the same stop and talked to her for 10-15 mins and she was so awesome! She has a really strong faith in God and she's really passionate about it (in a good way) and she's studying medicine because she believes God sent us on this Earth to help each other and that's also why she appreciates so much what we do as missionaries because we devote our time to helping people. She was just so awesome, everything she said was so awesome and she was just so full of happiness and light! We gave her a Book of Mormon and we'll see her soon, she's super busy with her exams at the moment. It was such an amazing experience meeting her, a good reminder for me to not to be scared of talking to people, you never know who's prepared and ready hear the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

This week was also a special week because of CHRISTMAS. We spent a very traditional Frech Christmas which means that we just ate ate and ate. I got to taste escargots (= snails) and they were surprisingly good! On Christmas day we ate at a member's house and I almost died. The foos just kept coming!!!! By the time we got to the dessert I was feeling super sick and my companion actually had to help me out with the dessert hehe, she was my fave person in the whole world that day, not even kidding. I decited then that eating is worse than contacting people in French. As long as I don't need to go and eat at a member's house I'll be happy. I'm still recovering from that meal. And the worse thing is the food is actually good but there's just too much of it!!!

We also got to Skype home on Christmas Day. It was awesome. My family is awesome. I feel so blessed to have a family that supports me in the things I do and is a great example of living the gospel. 

Oh and another funny food story! We ate again at a member's house on Boxing Day and got rabbit. Soeur Kofoed had to eat the rabbit's heart. That was fun.

Mission is awesome. It's hard but awesome. The hardest thing at the moment is the language, it's so hard not to be able to understand what people are saying to you. And also not being able t have any kind of real conversation. But I know it will come if I do my part and I also know that if I'm just brave and open my mouth I'm able to touch people's hearts even with the little French I have. It's the spirit that will do the most important talking anyway.

ALMA 37:37

Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

- Soeur H

CHRISTMAS = LIGHT = LOVE = CHRIST

Transfer 1, week 2 (16 Dec-22 Dec)

My second week in france was just as crazy as the first one. Monday was our preparation day, jour de préparation, and obviosly: my first one in France! We were still staying with the Sister Training Leaders in Lyon and Soeur Carter made us cpêpes for breakfast! After emailing and grocery shopping me and Soeur Kofoed went touring around town and got permission to ride the ferris wheel in Bellecour! It was such a nice and sunny and warm day and we got to see all the rooftops of Lyon from the top of the wheel. Gorgeous! 

Tuesday was a service day. 4 hours of gift wrapping at Toys'R'Us. I'm starting to get soo good at wrapping gifts I'm considering becoming Santa's elf after my mission... I'm already the right size so that shouldn't be a problem!

Wednesday we had Christmas conference!!! So awesome. 5 zones together at the fully Chapel in Lyon, singing Christmas songs and learning more about Jesus Christ and the Spirit of Christmas which is the Spirit of Christ. CHRISTMAS = LIGHT = LOVE = CHRIST. I also got to see some old friends from the MTC, like Soeur Rönndahl, my beloved Swedish MTC companion!! Ohh I've missed her and it's only been a week! MTC was so much fun, I miss it sometimes...

We also got Christmas presents from the Roneys: new mission Christmas music cd's, hand sanitizer and THE COOLEST MISSION WATCHES EVER. Mine's too big for me so I can't really wear it... :(

And Wednesday was also a happy day because we got to finally move to our own home in Clermont!! Our apartment is so nice, it's very big and there's a bus stop right in front of our house and we're just loving it. Even though we still don't have a fridge and the toilet doesn't work very well... But we get by and we're just so excited to be here!!! Our senior couple the Burtons have helped us so so so much and they're just the best, I don't know how we could ever live without them.

For the last few days we've been trying to get things organized. We've been sitting in meetings with the mission leader and the Elders and the senior couple going through ward mission plans, ward lists etc. We've been making lists of people we need to visit and we've spent hours trying to make a map out of our area and where people live. Our area covers more than 40 little french towns; it's crazy! We've been trying to do a lot of contacting too and... I'VE DONE CONTACTING BY MYSELF!! I don't understand a lot of what people are saying to me but I just smile at them and give them pass-along cards.

French is really hard, trés dificil. I thought I'd come here and after a week start undestanding but NOOOO. I understand more and more each day but still!! It's frustrating sometimes because you feel like you're totally useless when you can't speak or understand what people are saying to you. But luckily my trainer is awesome. Sister Kofoed is so patient with me and helps me out a lot. And it's good to remember to be patient. Heavenly Father has his own timing and right now He need me to smile and speak broken and S-L-O-W french. Maybe that will touch someone's heart.

On Friday we had a rendez-vous with the Rapinats, the couple where the wife is Finnish. They are so lovely!! Their home is  so finnish, all these finnish decorations and books and paintings. And soeur Rapinat had baked us finnish cinnamon rolls and Karelian pie! I was in heaven.

I'm so glad I get to serve in Clermont, there's so much work to do but we're already witnessing miracles. Faith and obedience are the keys, God will do the rest.

MOSIAH 8:18 "Thus God has provided means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracled; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings."

- Soeur H

The coolest mission watch!!

On the ferris wheel

 

 

Escargots

Clermont-Ferrand

Transfer 1, week 1

 Bonjour!

First week in France is almost gone!! I don’t understand almost anything what people say to me but we’re getting there. My trainer Soeur Kofoed is really nice, super American which is a little overwhelming sometimes but she keeps good care of me and is experienced. This is her last transfer. Already I have learned so much from her and she is a good example of obedience. I’ve figured that obedience is really important for missionaries. If we want to succeed in the field and get miracles we have to be obedient.

Our city is called Clermont-Ferrand, about two hour train journey away from Lyon. But because there’s never been Sisters our apartment isn’t ready yet so we’ve been staying in Lyon. Although we went there for a weekend and I instantly fell in love with it and the ward!!! The ward isn’t that big but the people are so nice there. There’s also one Finnish lady who married a Frenchman in the 60’s and since has joined the church. She is very lovely! The other missionaries in Clermont; Elders and senior couple are incredible also and very musical. On Saturday evening was the ward Christmas party where we missionaries performed ‘Have I Done Any Good’. It went really well and the ward fell in love with us immediately. I have a really good feeling about Clermont and I’m sure I’m going to watch miracles happen here!

I didn’t get to send an email last week for my last week in the MTC so now a bit from that! It snowed a lot in Utah which made everything prettier and I felt like I was in Finland, it was lovely!! I have to admit that I rather be a missionary here where it’s warmer because we have to be outside all day. We got a chance to be new missionary hosts on Wednesday which meant we got to help new missionaries coming to MTC. It was fun!! They looked so helpless and cute. I realized how far I’ve come. Except now I’m in France and I’m a baby… Here they call greens blues. We tried to enjoy the last week and the moments together with the district and the zone. It was bittersweet but I felt like I was ready to leave and start the ‘real’ work.

Soeur H

It’s probably the highlight of my week!

Hi!

Last Monday was our first P-Day. And it was horrible! We didn’t plan our preparation day part of the day the that well, so we had to hurry everywhere and our use of time was totally lost. Then after dinner we had to go back to our classroom and all of us were wild and we couldn’t concentrate at all. It took about three days for us to recover from the restlessness of the P-Day. Sometimes it’s hard to concentrate on the things we have to do ‘cause most of the time we don’t have a teacher and we really like to talk in our district. It’s quite exciting to notice how we actually have learned to understand the language while reading. Even though we haven’t have that many French lessons. We learn it while studying the gospel. It’s so fun to read the scriptures and sing in French! I just bought a primary songbook en francais.

Yesterday was our first normal Sunday in MTC. It was nice, more relaxed. We had a lovely relief society meeting and in the evening a devotional. And district walk around the temple was simply the best!! It’s probably the highlight of my week! We get to just talk and we don’t have to hurry and to feel bad for not studying.

We’ve studied outside when possible and tried to get some sunlight!

The cookies here are the best in the world!!!! Almost better than the double chocolate chip cookies in Subway. SOOO DELICIOUS! I and Soeur Bagley take a lot of them during lunch and smuggle them out from the cafeteria and nibble them along the day. I’ll be so fat when I’ll come back!

Bisous,

Soeur H

Instead of playing hangman we play guillotine...

At the temple