Bonjour à tous!

I'm coming up on the last week of the transfer. What. I can't believe it! Next Monday, I'll have the news if I'm staying or not! So if you send the package before that you could just send it to the mission home :)

This week we saw SO many miracles!! We have 5 amies!! We started this transfer with ZERO. And now we have five!! Heavenly Father really is answering our prayers and there are absolutely people who are being prepared to accept this gospel! 

On Wednesday we were contacting and everyone had rejected us. We were on our way home and we saw a woman with her three kids, I turned to Soeur Denning and I was like maybe she'll be nice to us! So we went up and talked her. She was totally interested in meeting with us. Her kids are so adorable and we gave her some brochures and our number. She has so much faith and she prays with her kids everyday. On Thursday night we went by and taught them. It was so wonderful! She has been so prepared, her questions are soo good! Her little girl told us how she knows God loves her and He listens to her pray every night. I love them so much! We are going to do an FHE with them this week! We FOUND A FAMILY!!!!!!!!! I am so beyond thrilled!!!! I can't wait to go back again! She is so incredible and I adore her kids. Her husband is in Africa right now for work but hopefully he'll be back soon to take the lessons with the rest of his family. I am so excited Heavenly Father led us to this family so that can have the same happiness and peace that I have!

Then Friday night we were waiting with the Bishop for a less-active family we were going to meet with. They never showed up so we headed to pass by some old amies, on our way we saw an old lady walking her dog, usually I'm a bit apprehensive about contacting old ladies (they can never understand my American accent and they are usually really mean to us) but I was like we need to talk to her!! So we stopped her and talked about eternal families and true happiness and she was so soo sweet and we invited her to come see the church and she was all for it! So we went back, she met the Bishop and then we introduced the Book of Mormon and taught her to pray! The Spirit was so strong and she has so much light, I love her so much! We walked her home and invited her to church! She accidentally slept in though and didn't come but we stopped by afterwards and taught her the retab. It went really well and we fixed another rdv! It was so great and the Spirit is always so strong with her! I know she has been prepared to accept our message! 

When I saw Lenaig at Church she was like Soeur Hawkes I love your mom so much! She is super super nice and so wonderful! It is so cool that you were able to talk together! How fun!! I'm glad my French is getting better! It's definitely not where I want it to be but it's definitely WAY better than it was before so I'm grateful :)

So this week was wonderful.  Full of great adventures and miracles and answered prayers! Thanks for your letters and the fun Valentine! It was so great!  Thanks you so much for all your support and prayers! I love you all so much!

avec amour soeur hawkes 

 We went to a ward activity! No one told us it was a hike. So we did it in our skirts...hah it was a grand adventure!

                                                           Angers!

 You'd think it's Spring the grass is so green here! But it rains EVERYDAY sooo that explains it I guess :) Angers is the best-the weather here is soo warm.

                              This is what we hiked up. It wasn't too bad and the view was amazing!

Salut!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! I hope it's a good one!! And I can't believe Jeff is starting Driver's Ed what?!? That is so crazy!! Good luck with all that :) I can't believe another week has flown by! Time is going by way too fast. I don't like it! haha things have been going really well here in Angers. Soeur Denning is an angel and I absolutely adore her.  If things go as normal I'll be leaving Angers in two weeks. Which means leaving Soeur Denning which is not okay at all. We get along perfectly!! She is amazing and she is teaching me SO much! I'm not done learning from her and I love her sooo much so I really really hope that by some miracle I get to stay! It wouldn't be fair if we only got one transfer together! We seriously are best friends and that gives me soo much happiness! We make a good team I think. This week we were able to see a lot of miracles together and it was wonderful! Heavenly Father absolutely hears and answers our prayers! Wednesdaynight, we got out of a dinner appointment and saw a text from our district leader asking us to pray for all the equipes in Angers so we could all see miracles that night. It was already 8 but we prayed for miracles! And then we went contacting in Centreville and at first no one was listening but then I stopped a young woman and testified that I knew that God was there, that He is our Heavenly Father who loves us and she was immediately intrigued. She isn't believing at all but she talked with us for a good half hour. The Spirit was so strong as we testified of a loving Heavenly Father who has a plan for us. We gave her a plan of salvation pamphlet and taught her how to pray and she said she would read and pray that night and we could text her the next day. It was incredible!!! Her name is Coralie and I love her! She said she never listens to people like us but something was different this time. It was absolutely a miracle and an answer to our prayers! And then right after her we talked to two other girls who at first were pretty skeptical and laughed when we testified that we were all children of God but it was really cool to see the Spirit work and touch their hearts because by the end they were listening intently, wanting to know more. It was amazing. I love being a missionary! 

Also on Sunday I gave a talk in Church about missionary work. I was SO scared. But Soeur Denning helped me out a lot with the French and I think it went pretty well. Frere Regnier spoke after me and he said I want to congratulate this sister, I am so impressed with her progression in French, she speaks so much better than she did when she got here" It was so kind of him! It was such a good opportunity for me to practice my french and it was kind of assurance that I can speak this language and I don't have to be afraid or hesitant to speak even if it isn't completely perfect! 

Later we able to go eat with a member family who lives way out in the country and it was so fun! Their family is beautiful and the French countryside is gorgeous!! Later that evening we went with Soeur Cheve to visit an old amie. She had been in the hospital this week and was praying a lot. She told us she knew God hears and answers prayers, and loved her because He sent us to her. That is the best part of being a missionary. I love being an instrument in His hands! Being a missionary is the best thing ever. Honestly, the best decision I have ever made. It is absolutely true that it can be very very difficult at times. But the moments when I testify of God's love to someone who has never thought of the idea of a loving Heavenly Father or see someone's faith grow and the light come into their life, those experiences of seeing such amazing miracles make everything worth it. I have seen Heavenly Father's hand in every day. I know He is aware of me as He is of all of us. I am so blessed every day!! Thank you so much for your love and support! I love you all so much!!

avec amour soeur hawkes

                         Famille Dolbeau! They are so wonderful, we ate with them on Sunday afternoon.

                                      We may or may not have bought 16 euros worth of chocolate...

                                       Soeur Denning and I! We look just a little tired but its fiiiine.

                          We went out to lunch today and we had HUGE bowls of salad. It was so fun! 

Salut!

We had another amazing week here in Angers! Exchanges were lovely and Zone Conference was just what I needed! We talked a lot about getting through the difficult times. It's important to choose to have faith and hope despite the hardships. Faith is not a feeling but a decision! We must consciously choose to have faith each and every day. Which is exactly what I needed! I'll be honest, it's been a little rough here because we have NO amies and hardly any appointments. Surely I must be doing something wrong? But at Zone conference President Poznanski emphasized so much that this is not our work. It isn't my burden to carry. Heavenly Father is completely aware of what's going on here in Angers. He has a plan for this ville. This is His work and I'm just here to labor and do my best. All I have to do is remain worthy of the Spirit and be willing to follow it. And as soon as I realized that, the weight that I put on myself was lifted up and I knew that everything was going to be alright! Because I know that Heavenly Father will help us! So even though we may not have amies for every day of the week or baptisms around every corner I know that Heavenly Father is still proud of us His missionaries because I'm trying my best. And we saw miracles this week! we found out that one of our old amies that we had to drop wanted to start meeting with us again and we taught her on Saturday :) It was wonderful! Also we had a really cool experience Monday night. We were out contacting that night and we met a woman named Elize and We testified that God has a plan for her and then she told us she had a bad day because she got a huge bill that she can't pay. I was able to bear my testimony that God is aware of our daily struggles and I shared the experience you shared with me about the miracle about my car getting fixed last week. I testified to her that our Heavenly Father was taking care of my family and that He would take care of her. The Spirit was so strong and it was a huge testimony builder for me. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father is letting me be a missionary so I can share my testimony and be strengthened through experiences like that! 

Another kind of funny story, we went to the story to pick up some groceries and I was carrying a bag of flour, but apparently it ripped and I didn't realize it until Soeur Denning look at me and one side of me was completely covered in flour! the whole side of my coat and my bag were totally white! haha I wish we would have taken a picture but it was pretty funny.

Also Friday night we went porting in a neighborhood about 30 minutes from Angers by bus. We were having a great time talking to lots of nice people and we realize we had five minutes to catch the very last bus back to Centreville. and we were completely lost. in the dark. So we just started running down the street literally praying we were headed the right direction to the bus stop, my heart was pounding and we round the corner, and see a bus stop! Right as we get to it, the bus comes! It was an absolute miracle! I was so grateful and it made for a good story too ha!

So although it's been a little difficult, in all honestly I'm grateful for the difficulty. Because it's through the difficulties that I come to know my Savior better. Our trials pave the paths that take us to Him. It's always in the difficult times that I learn the most, that my testimony grows more and so so many blessings come. And despite the difficult times I am still able to put everything in perspective, and be happy despite the hard things that come up. I never have to be discouraged or upset because I know my Savior makes up for my inadequacies and weaknesses. It is through Him that we can have strength and hope. How could I be sad when I have such a great knowledge and the opportunity to share that with the people here in Angers! I am so blessed in so many ways that the obstacles that come up seem so small! I am so grateful the gospel and the hope it brings! 

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

avec amour soeur hawkes 

Salut!! This week was really great! Soeur Denning is an incredible companion, I absolutely adore her! We have so much fun together and we see so many miracles together! 

This week we had some appointments set up and each one fell through...people forget us too easily I guess. So it was a tad bit difficult, we didn't get to teach very much this week. We were struggling during weekly planning because we had no idea what to do the coming week with so few appointments set but the Elders reminded us that the night is darkest before the dawn, and we continued to work hard and we were fasting and contacting and porting and doing everything we possibly could and waiting for our dawn to come.
And Saturday night it finally did! I don't know if you remember Miracle Isabelle from Christmas time. Soeur Foster and I ported into her and sang and prayed with her and it was one of the most incredible experiences. Well Soeur Denning and I passed by her house this weekend. Isabelle's daughter let us in and I said, I don't know if you remember us but...and Isabelle said oh I could never forget you! She was so nice to us and invited us to come eat with them the next day. It was absolutely an answer to prayers! Heavenly Father really was watching over us. So yesterday we were able to go to their home and eat dinner and share photos of our family. We chatted and Soeur Denning played the piano and sang for them and their son Hugo played the guitar for us. It was so much fun and I felt so much at home. Her family is not believing at all, but she is. One of her daughters died five years ago and her family has been struggling ever since. But we were able to share a few paragraphs from A Family Proclamation to the World. It was really cool and Isabelle was really appreciative because usually her husband is totally against anything religious but he was really comfortable with us so it was really great! We'll hopefully being seeing them again later this week :) Being with them made me miss my own family just a little bit but mostly really grateful that I get to be here. Because I've seen in my own family the hope and joy this gospel brings and I am so glad I get to share that with the people here! As we were sharing the Family Proclamation I was impressed with how grateful I was for the fact that my own family was built upon these principles. That no matter what I will be with my family forever even after death. And I am so grateful for this truth that I have and the oppportunity to share it! 

Also this week we went to Versailles! We had a zone conference with Elder Kearon!! It was incredible. Before the meeting started we all lined up to shake his hand and he was so kind. The Spirit during the meeting was so strong. I felt so much love from Elder Kearon and from Soeur and President Poznanski. He testified of Heavenly Father's love for each of us as His children and His missionaries and I knew with all my heart that Heavenly Father loves me and is aware of me. I was able to learn so much and I received so many answers to my prayers. He really was so inspired with everything he said. Basically what we did was he asked questions and we just discussed as a large group all the components of missionary work and being a good missionary. It was so enlightening! I absolutely loved it and it really helped me change my perspective. It is so important as missionaries to have hope and faith. President said, "When you face adversity without complaining it will open your eyes to the miracles Heavenly Father has planned for you." and Elder Kearon said your attitude determines your altitude. It was so emphasized to me how important it is to have a positive attitude through everything. As of now, we have absolutely no amis...but it's important for me to keep faith and hope so that I can find those who are looking for this gospel, who are ready to accept our message. 

Plus this week we have exchanges, and interviews with President and Soeur Poznanski and zone conference!! I am so excited!! I love zone conference. I can receive so many answers and I adore President and Soeur Poznanski so I'm really excited to talk with them. I feel like they are my parents here in France. They love us missionaries so much. We talked at conference with Elder Kearon about the love of God. And as missionaries Heavenly Father lets us borrow His love so we can help His children. As I've been out here, I know more than ever before that God is there. That He is our Heavenly Father and He is watching over us every day. It makes me so so sad when we meet people who are atheist. I can't imagine how sad that must make Him. But I know He loves each and every one no matter what. There is nothing that could ever cause Him to stop loving us. He wants more than anything for us to come back to Him! And I am so incredibly grateful to be  a missionary, to be an instrument in His hands to help His children, my brothers and sisters, to come unto Him. I am so blessed!

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

avec amour soeur hawkes