Week 31 - Miracles on Miracles

Hey everybody!

Such a good week. Miracles on miracles. Not going to tell you about all of them because they're kind of lame if you're not a missionary. So yeah... 

BUT honestly one of the best weeks of my mission -- so great. I mean every week is the best week of my mission but this was a good one. 

ALORS...

This week we got to teach! Rendez-vous! Not just contacts on the street! It was the best! It was a very bilingual week too, or like trilingual. Like none of our amies are French haha. 

Monday we taught this lady who speaks Portuguese, with a Portuguese member! It's great to be able to teach someone that can hopefully actually understand you- sometimes I question when we're teaching if our French is good enough, if they're getting it etc. but getting to have someone there that could really communicate natively with her was awesome! 

Tuesday we taught Ella again! Our Romanian amie and we got the gospel library on her phone in Romanian! So she has the BoM in her native language. Thanks church you rule! It was really cool to teach her because we could tell she was actually listening and getting it. You don't realize how much of a difference that makes until it actually happens. It's great to teach people who want to hear what you're teaching. It's what we live for. Now she just needs to know for herself, please please please keep her in your prayers. She just needs the strength to pray and know for herself! 

Wednesday we had PPP, and we had two amies come! One was an old amie that the previous soeurs taught, she had a baptismal date but ended up dropping them about two weeks before. But she texted us on Monday to ask if she could still come to church, "bin, oui! si vous voulez!" [well, yes! If you want!] MIRACLE. So we called and invited her to PPP and she came! The other one was a lady we'd contacted a couple days before, and were struggling to fix a RDV with, but they both came and had a great time. Sr Back and I taught the retab outside so she could smoke. It was great. Love being a missionary in France. 

Saturday we were all sick. Well, all but Sr Ellis, so she was going slowly insane being inside all day. Sr Back and I rallied to go to a RDV in the afternoon so we were outside for like 3 hours. Until there was a manifestation in centreville so we went home for dinner instead of doing a pass by,  and couldn't leave again :( but that's okay a good night's sleep heals all. Even when it's daylight savings. Probably hardest trial of my mission getting up an hour earlier on Sunday morning haha. 

Sunday was great as always. Love Sundays. 

And that brings us to today, which is a great day. 

Love you guys so so much. Like more than you can possibly know. 

Have a GREAT WEEK!

Sr Hansen

Week 30 - God can draw a straight line even with a crooked stick

Family! Hey everybody! 

So this week. this week. this week... 

This morning Sr Back and I were trying to remember what we did on Saturday night and couldn't. So we'll see how this email goes. 

This week, week one of the new transfer. Super good. Super long. But super good. 

Monday, had a soiree familial with our DMP's family, they're great. Lots of fun. Had my first croque monsieur! Tuesday we did lots of pass-bys and tons of contacting. We're becoming parc people. (yes I spelled parc in French - sue me.)

Wednesday more pass-bys, saw an amie we hadn't seen for a while so that was sweet, saw a less active we've been trying to see since I got here! She let us in even! And started telling us all about her genealogy- saw lots of pictures of her second cousins and their children, doesn't get much better than that. 

Thursday we decided to pass by that lady we met a couple weeks ago that we'd met right after she'd been praying to know if God was there. We'd set a RDV for that week but when we were on our way she told us not to come. That was a really rough day. BUT we called her when we were outside her building (tried to guess what her last name was but no one was answering) and she answered and sounded super happy to hear from us (which was a change from the other calls) and said we could come back later. It was SUCH a good RDV. The Spirit was so strong, she is awesome. Currently trying to track down a Romanian Book of Mormon for her- not an easy task we're learning. Her name is Ella- if you'd keep her in your prayers that would be lovely. (that was for you dad) 

Friday we did some planning and some other stuff. Went to my first ward council (been avoiding it for the entire time I've been in Rennes).

Saturday we finished planning and contacting and we did something that night but can't remember (which is just sad. l'm sorry).

This week my motto (and what I've decided is the motto of my mission) is something one of the MTC teachers said during a zone training (you can all roll your eyes now)

"God can draw a straight line even with a crooked stick"

Yep. I'm a pretty crooked stick but I know when I'm doing my best to have the Spirit and be obedient and do what I'm supposed to do that miracles happen because we're being instruments. 

That's my upilfting thought for this week- love you all SO much. You're the best.

Soeur Hansen

Week 29 - Mont St. Michel and a Baptism

FAMILY

Hey hey hey guess who's writing their favorite email ever right now!? Oh, me! Score! 

This week was another up and down and all around and it was great. Missionary work -- it's rarely boring. Unless you're doing weekly planning. Then you've got to plan snacks, breaks or have a weekly planning survival kit. (fun fact - I found a drawer in our apartment labeled "weekly planning survival kit" this week, it has two recorders in it and some stickers so this Friday is going to be FUN) 

Basically can't believe that it's week one of transfer 5 for me! The goal setting was intense this morning. 

This week started off awesome, we went up to Mont St Michel for Pday! Which meant we didn't have time to grocery shop so yeah LU cookies and my last kit kat from Christmas may or may not have been breakfast this week haha. Sorry mom don't read this. Mont St Michel was so cool! We took a JA [young adult] with us, Shannon who is getting ready for her mission next year and is awesome. 

Mont St Michel is super cool, the first part when you get in is just tourist shops and those french sandwich/panini/crepe places that all sell the SAME stuff and then you hit the Abbey, which is super cool. We weren't sure if we were going to go in because that's the part you have to pay for but Sr Back and Sr Ellis wanted to because they didn't go in the last time, so we all were just going to go. THEN when we were waiting in line we realized that you can get in free if you're between 18-25 and are either a European citizen or a legal resident so we were all bummed that we didn't have our passports. BUT the guy at the ticket window saw Sr Ellis's badge and asked if we lived here and then accepted her proselyting card as paper evidence! For all of us! It was SWEET. Totally worth every penny haha. Thanks missionary badge! Yeah, so Mont St Michel. It's the best. But pictures are just better than anything I can say about it. 

[Click Here for a link to info on Mont Saint-Michel]

Tuesday had our last district meeting of the transfer. Got to hold up a 4 for transfer pictures. WHAT? 

Wednesday we had PPP again [see last week's blog], and since our amie didn't show up Sr Back and I designated ourselves in charge of the pancakes. CHAOS. Utter chaos. In case anyone is wondering my domestic skills have not improved on my mission. But it turned out okay- Elder Gee only had to rescue us a little and they turned out like actual pancakes instead of a weird mix between pancakes and crepes. Slightly salty pancakes but we just put speculoos and nutella on them so no one could even tell. 

Thursday our STLs came, Sr Barton was getting transferred (she'd been in her ville for 4 transfers so we already knew) and she's been my STL my whole mission so they came up for an afternoon to do a mini-exchange. It was really awesome to get to see her and get some advice and just talk to an old missionary that just gets it. That night we went and did a pass back of this lady we'd ported the other day, she wasn't really interested in listening to us but said we could pray with her and then we just talked about her life. People are cool everyone. Everybody has a story to tell. Wow I'm so lame. But seriously you can't judge a book by its cover, even if it's a super French cover. 

Friday we got to see a less active we've been trying to see for a couple weeks, she's Peruvian and super super cool. 

Saturday was repertoire day! [the day the transfers are announced] It was crazy. They totally rearranged a bunch of zones, tons of people got changed even though they're in the middle of training or other weird stuff. Never know whats going to happen. Then that night was Celine's baptism! I dont know if I've talked about Celine but she's this super legit amie that the other soeur equipe has been working with for a couple months. She's incredible. I met her at PPP my first night and had no idea she was an amie and not a member. It was a really special night, she bore the most beautiful testimony and was just so happy. 

Sunday we were all just exhausted. So many emotions from the new repertoire, the baptism, church, everything -- we were all just out. In a four man sometimes its like we're just one big equipe, which is great when we're all doing well and working hard but really really rough when someone's having a bad day. But I absolutely love these soeurs and I'm so excited to be with them again for another six weeks.

Things are good in Rennes. Sr Back and I are in that slow morph into becoming a single person and I am so happy I get to work with her for another transfer. I've been looking back a little (because I'm getting so old and nostalgic) but it's really funny to see the little things that I've picked up from companions- like I contact like Sr Back and am picking up all her mannerisms, I port using the same line as Sr Hopkins and I say "man" and "dude" all the time like Sr Anderson.

Love you all so stinkin' much you're the best. 

Soeur Hansen

Week 28 - Fougères, PPP and Couscous

Fougères

Hey fam! 

Great week this week, can't really remember what happened so this will be interesting. Basically I just can't believe the transfer is almost over! I feel like I just got here. Wow never thought I'd be saying that. Feeling like a typical missionary. UGH. 

Monday we spent the afternoon in Fougères for P-day, and then we did some porting - for only like the third time since I've been in Rennes. It's so weird, porting and batting were my life in Tours but we rarely do it here. But in Tours I like never did contacting and here its my truc. [thing]

Wednesday was rough, we had a bunch of good stuff lined up and it all fell through but we were teaching the spiritual thought at PPP (ping pong, pancakes and pensé spirituelle, it's the activity the young adults have every Wednesday) [pensé spirituelle = spiritual thought] so we were going (we don't usually go unless we have an amie) and a girl that Sr Stevens and I met last week on a mini exchange CAME! She's from Australia but was living here for a bit and she's super cool. Sr Stevens and I ran into her again on another mini exchange the other day when it was beautiful and she told us she was going to go buy some hummus and sit by the river for the rest of the afternoon. She's legit. And could probably be from Portland. 

Thursday Sr Ellis was sick so I stayed in with her and Sr Back went with Sr Stevens to their RDVs in the afternoon. We watched Legacy, Emma Smith movie and Together Forever while we made a planner for Sr Back. It was a party. And Sr Back has a super sweet planner now. 

Friday we did some stuff that I don't really remember except that we ran around a lot. It was great. 

Cool miracle- like two weeks ago we were contacting close to our house and talked to this Muslim couple. They prayed with us which was cool. Then the other day we ran into the woman and she said they were really touched and had wanted to invite us over that night but their house was dirty haha but she invited us to come and have some sweet Tunisian food. She was awesome, they were all concerned apparently because they thought we were bonne sours [nuns] and couldn't get married haha. We taught the Plan du Salut and learned a lot about Islam. Missions rule. 

Saturday we went to a little city outside of Rennes to have couscous with this other super nice Muslim lady we met a while ago. It was super fun, and we had some legit couscous! Got a picture don't even worry.

Couscous

Sunday had a mangez-vous with a super cool couple who are ward missionaries, and then planned. And then had like an hour at the end of the night and we needed two lessons to reach our goal and we got it! There was like no one out so it was a legit miracle. It's really cool too when you get to pray with people that are a little hesitant about it and then can feel the spirit touch them. If anything they'll remember those two weird Americans who prayed with them on the street. That's my calling as a missionary. 

Love you guys lots! Thanks for everything gonna blast you with pictures now. 

soeur hansen

Sr Stevens

Week 27 - A sacred moment

Hey team! 

So I've not got a ton of time because we're going to head out to Fougères today (there's not a lot of cool stuff, just like a castle or something, but we need to get out of Rennes) I'm so spoiled. This week was really good- started off with Zone Conference and we all got pumped up. Got to sing the mission song, heard some dying testimonies (favorite line "missions hard and then you go home".... thanks elder) and had interviews. President is really great. I love the Babins. 

We didn't do a lot of interesting stuff this week, just same ol' awesome missionary work, but I really have been trying, after my interview, and talking to my dear Hermana Knowlton, to try and focus more on relying on the Lord. Because on my own, to quote my favorite Argentine, I would be dead on the side of the road. It really made a difference. We don't have to be perfect or perfectly obedient to ask for help, we don't have to do everything we can and then hope that the Spirit will do the rest of the work, we can go into things knowing that we're going to fall short and let that acceptance drive us to rely on the Spirit and not on ourselves. I'm still learning and I'm going to learn that for the rest of my mission/life (because there is actually life after this apparently...?) and that's great. 

Amazing miracle from last night, we had a rendez-vous that wasn't there which we were bummed about, and I felt really bad about because we'd had to reschedule because my interview with President went long but we left to go do another pass-by who wasn't there and we were in a slightly sketchy part of town at like 8:15, and it would take like maybe 20 minutes to get home so we were walking (to get out of the sketchy area) and were contacting but I felt like we really needed to get out of there so we went a different route, and contacted this lady that was walking the same way as us (which I hate because its usually so awkward but I did it anyway). We could tell she was pretty upset about something though, so I did my normal contact about how we have a message of joy to share that we've found through Jesus Christ (on est là de partager un message de joie que nous avons trouvé grace à Jesus Christ) don't know if that's good French but it's what half of Rennes has heard by now so hopefully it's OK. And she just broke down a little, she told us that she'd been walking for hours and was just so confused and had been praying and asking God if He was there. It was so incredible for Sr Back and me to get to testify to her that God was there, that He loved her, that He'd sent us to her, that she would get through this. We prayed with her and talked to her a little and cried with her and hugged her and it was beautiful. Seriously we walked away so so grateful that we got to be instruments in God's hands and be there for His daughter in her moment of need. That was a sacred moment for us.

That's my week, I love you guys you're the best!!

Soeur Hansen

PS - sorry no pictures this week - "I'll try to be better"