1. Hamelin family! Nathalie and Alan are members and we're teaching her daughter, Marie right now. I look like a giant. And I don't do my hair anymore. But it's fiiine. These people hold a special place in my heart! I love them so much!

2. Angers-Catholic Cathédral

3. Us and the girls! Soeur Foster, Nicole, Emmanuelle, Esther, Kahaia and me!

 

Bonjour!

This week was so good! We had quite a few lessons with Lenaig and she is so ready for baptism it's ridiculous! I can't wait for January 12th!

We had our soirée de noël this week with the ward and it was wonderful. We sang Silent Night in Tahitian and French with the young adult girls and there was lots of other talents and we listened to some messages from the prophets. It was so great and then there was tons of cake! The Spirit was really strong and I finally felt at home with this ward! I feel like I've finally been able to 'change my address' and make Angers my home! Plus my French is progressing so I can finally have conversations with the members! It's wonderful. I never want to leave!

So last week I tried to plug in my heating pad and I accidentally blew the fuse...so we didn't have any power! And we could not figure out the French fuse system for the life of us! So we ate our cereal in the dark for dinner and we called the Elders and after twenty minutes they figured it out and got the power back on! But then yesterday I turned on the bathroom light and it popped and blew out too! But we tried to fix it and there's electricity in the bathroom still just no light ha sooo hopefully someone can come by and fix it this week. I am just cursed when it comes to electricity I guess!

This week is the Christmas conference! And it's in Paris!! I am so thrilled! I can't wait to go back to Paris and there's going to be tons of missionaries and it's gonna be great! Plus we might have time to do some contacting there too!

Once again we were unable to find new amis. We contacted and ported so much this week but no obvious results. But it's okay! Because I know we are planting seeds. I know that what we say has an impact and someday they'll remember us and accept the gospel!

So we had lots of opportunities to bear our testimonies to so many people on the street and in their homes. It was really wonderful and even though they rejected us I know they felt the Spirit. At one home of a family I wanted to tell them I knew their family could be together forever. But I forgot the phrase in French! Thankfully Soeur Foster gave me the words and I bore my testimony in my broken French with my thick American accent. And even though my French was really terrible I know that the Spirit carried my message to the man's heart and I know he felt the truth! he just wasn't ready yet to accept it. But someday he will! 

Gratitude is something that I've been focusing on a lot lately. When we look for God's hand in our life and when we open our eyes to all the blessings that we have we can be assured of His love for us. Realizing all the blessings that we do receive reaffirms that He is there, that He is aware of everything, that He knows us personally. I am so grateful for that. I am so grateful to know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and guides me. He knows what is going on in my life and I can turn to Him in prayer and seek His guidance. Being out here makes me so grateful for the gospel. I have so much peace and so much happiness because I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ I can change. That through the plan of God I can be with my family forever. Even after death! Because I have the gospel in my life I know that I am more than my weaknesses. We lived with God before we lived here and we learned and progressed there. We were spiritual beings with so much potential. And that is who we are here too. We are here to progress and learn through our trials so that we can become like God so we can live with Him again! This knowledge gives me so much hope and I am so grateful that I am blessed to have this knowledge here. And I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for letting me be here in Angers as a missionary to share what I know with each person I meet! It's the biggest blessing! Even though sometimes I'm homesick and my head is fried from all the French I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but right here bearing my testimony and helping others come closer to Christ. 

Quote for the week: "May we all make the journey to Bethlehem in spirit, carrying with us a tender caring heart as our gift for the Savior." -President Monson

It's almost Christmas! The Christmas season is such a wonderful reminder for what Jesus Christ did for us. He came into this world to save and redeem us and I am so grateful for what He did! Remember to have the spirit of CHRISTmas during Christmas! :)

I love you all! Thank you so much for your prayers and support!

Avec amour,

Sœur Hawkes