What is my life.

Soeur Hosking says that phrase "what is our lives?!" all the time so I thought it was only appropriate to use as a headline. Sometimes we are just so flabbergasted by how ridiculously blessed we are we just have to shout WHAT IS OUR LIVES?! 

This week was lovely as usual. Serving with Soeur Hosking is always such an adventure. I absolutely adore her! 

On Wednesday we went back to Bruxelles for my legality and on the train ride back we might a girl from Serbia! Her name is Ana and we are basically best friends because we spent like THREE hours on a train together because it broke down halfway through our journey. we chatted with her a little bit in French right as she sat down but the conversation died and she pulled out a newspaper so Soeur Hosking and I started talking about gauffres and chocolate in English (it was lunchtime) and then Ana gets up and says in English, "will you watch my bags" and goes to the bathroom! Sr Hosking and I just stare at each other in shock then quickly go back through our conversation to make sure we didnt say anything embarrassing. When she came back we got to know each other and she is headed to Holland to study politics, so we had a few conversations about the US government and Serbia and then she asked us what we are doing in Belgium. Then we had a delightful conversation about God and His restored Church. We gave her a brochure and helped her with her bags onto her next train. It was so fun to meet her and I hope we get to see her again someday! I am sure she will meet the missionaries in Holland and get baptized! 

Later that day we went to see another amie but when we showed up she wasnt there. Her friend Mattieu opened the door and saw our tags and said that Rachel had told him all about us. So he started asking a lot of questions and we left him with a Book of Mormon and a Retab brochure. He then gave us his number to give to the Elders. Best frudge ever. 

On Thursday we saw Enza again. I absolutely adore her. She went on and on about how beautiful we are and that we are her angels. So cute. She also mentioned that when we are there her pain isnt quite as bad. The power of the Holy Ghost!! Then we talked about prayer and the love of God again. She is getting there. I never realized what an incredible blessing it is to know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and wants me to pray to Him and talk with Him. Enza is having a hard time trusting the idea that God actually loves her. I feel so blessed to have grown up with the knowledge! and so blessed to be able to help Enza realize that God is waiting for her and that He loves her more than she could comprehend. Being a missionary is the best experience. I spend all my days sharing God's love. In Belgium. With Soeur Hosking. And we eat waffles, Belgian chocolate and Frites. And we see miracles every single day!! So spoiled. 

So later we went by to see Valerie but she wasnt there. We called her and she said she was at a friend's hous. So we call Laticia to see if we can come early and she says, "Sure! I am here with Valerie(our other ami) and Joycely (a member)" I  got off the phone and we were SO confused. But, sure enough, they were all there. It was an interesting lesson. We were for sure very thrown off by it all. But hey, we got to see them all and they are all friends! So that night we went to see a less active who lives pretty far away. We are the last ones on the bus and in the middle of no where the bus driver tells us to get off. We say we are going to Vise and he just points in a direction and says "It's that way" So confused we get off and start walking. We soon find ourselves in this ghetto carnival and decided to call in back up. We call the Elders and ask them to locate us on the map and point us in the right direction. Never fear, we found a bus that took us all the way there; It was quite the adventure. But lets be real, when is it not an adventure. 

Friday we played therapist. AKA we went to visit some less actives. They have such hard lives and we try our very best every time we go to bring them a little happiness and hope. The first one we saw was Soeur Walmag, she is really old and so sweet but she has a hard time seeing the happy things in her life despite the bad. So we talked about gratitude and shared Uchtdorf's talk. She ended up listing blessing after blessing in her life and by the time we left she was all smiles. 

Later we went to see Laurence and she refused to see the good in her life and would only look at the bad. She is telling us how if she didn't have all these people who cared about her and she died alone in her house no one would know. We had tried so long to reason with her but she would not listen. Eventually she looked at Soeur Hosking and goes "What if I died here? What happens then? Huh?" Soeur Hosking responded with, "Well, then you would be with God." I laughed out loud in the lesson. Yet, somehow the woman still really likes us... Friday we were laughing so hard at everything and anything. I know that the Lord knew we would need help dealing with all those sad people so He gave us irrational joy. Heavenly Father is so great and knows just what we need!

Saturday was Samedi sports so Soeur Hosking and I pretty much battled it out on the soccer field seeing as we couldnt really touch anyone else. We left with a few bruises and my pride was a little dented. She had gotten the best of me and scored the winning goal...next week will be a different story though for sure. 

Later that night we had a Retablissment Smackdown with Christelle. She has been meeting with the missionaries forever but is still super into her church. So being as she is leaving for the states we laid it all out on the table. She was a little taken aback, but by the end she even stayed for our Branch Missionary meeting so she could ride home on the bus with us. She is a gem. Also she is moving to Colorado for a year! So she will be attending our church over there. 

Sunday was exhausting. We do splits each week so we can each attend our branches and it just wipes us out. But the Spirit is always there to give us strength! So that was our week. Full of miracles and adventures and happiness. I have learned here in Liege that happiness is a conscious choice not an automatic response. I can wake up everyday and smell the cigarette smoke and see the empty mailbox and the scary drunk men or I can wake up and go running in my favorite park and eat waffles and see miracles! haha happiness is the design of my existence. and I plan on living life to the fullest. especially my mission. Because the time is so short and so precious and I want to cherish every moment that Heavenly Father gives me. As President Uchtdorf says, 

"There will always be things to complain about—things that don’t seem to go quite right. You can spend your days feeling sad, alone, misunderstood, or unwanted. But that isn’t the journey you had hoped for, and it’s not the journey Heavenly Father sent you to take. Remember, you are truly a child of God! Yes, the road has bumps and detours and even some hazards. But don’t focus on them. Look for the happiness your Father in Heaven has prepared for you in every step of your journey. Happiness is the destination, but it’s also the path. “Peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” is what He promises. That is why He commands us to “be of good cheer”

alors. look for the happiness that Heavenly Father sent you here to have :)

love always soeur hawkes 

This week is the beginning of a new transfer and...Soeur Hosking and I will continue to be companions, covering two sectors. Which is definitely NOT what we were expecting. We have spent the last two weeks having great adventures but preparing to go back to our own sectors at the end of it and receiving two more sisters here in Liege however because so many sisters left the mission they had to shut down a lot of sister equipes including one here in Liege. So Soeur Hosking and I will continue working together over two sectors, it is a little bit crazy but we will definitely always be busy!!

Working with Soeur Hosking is soo much fun! we see so many miracles together and we are always busting up laughing and singing songs. I adore her. This week we went with the Elders to Enza's house to give her a blessing and it was such  a wonderful experience!! Elder Van Tonder gave her a beautiful blessing promising healing and hope and lots of joy to come! He talked a lot about how loved she was by our Heavenly Father and that He was aware of her situation. After receiving the blessing she said she felt a lot of peace and so much better. by the end of our rdv she said that her symptoms felt a lot better as well. Priesthood power. After the Elders left we had a beautiful discussion about God's love for each of us and what a lifeline prayer is for us personally. Enza has never really prayed and she said she would like to hope God loves her and knows her but she wasnt sure. We promised that if she prayed and asked Heavenly Father would answer her prayer. So she did. Right there with us she said a heartfelt sincere prayer and the Spirit filled the room to the brim with love. It was amazing! I love Enza so much and I love being a missionary and having these wonderful miraculous experiences all the time! 

So on Sunday Soeur Hosking did splits so that we could each be in all the meetings of our own branches, it was a little stressful but I think it worked out all right. I was sitting in our amies sunday school class when there was a knock on the door and in walked Gwen and Williams with their baby!!!!!! I was so excited but no one else in the room recognized them so I was the only one grinning ear to ear and Frere Scheurch was looking at me wondering who it was haha it was the greatest present ever to see Gwen there. All the members were so kind and friendly and now they are in love with her adorable baby. Earlier this week we had gone to see Gwen and she told us she didnt have time to read the Book of Mormon so we shared a few of our favorite scriptures and our testimonies and at the end she said you know the baby sleeps more now and if you give me a copy in English maybe I'll understand better! So I promised to bring her a copy to church and when she came the first thing she said to me is where's the book? haha so I gave her an English copy and she said that she and Williams had already read the first chapter together!!!! oh my lanta I was sooo happy!!!!! I cant wait to see them this week, we are going to invite them to baptism! 

Last Friday we went to Brussels for my legality and it was a beautiful adventure!! The legality office was actually closed. So we have to go back another day but we decided to profit since we were already there and we had time before our train back. So we hopped on the metro to go to Grand Place where the Carpet of Flowers was but...we didnt know how to get there. So we leaned over to the woman sitting next to us and asked for directions and she offered to show us the way since she was headed to that part of town anyway! Then we had a wonderful discussion about what we're doing here in Belgium and she was floored that we left our families and studies for 18 months to move to a foreign country and to teach people about God. Then we walked all the way to Grand Place chatting along the way and then she bisoued us goodbye and I forgot to ask her name. But it was so fun to meet her and as she left she said she was absolutely delighted to have met us! I love being a missionary and living in Europe to meet all these amazing people and to have incredible experiences! I am so spoiled. On Friday I saw the biggest tourist attraction of the season in Belgium and then sat at a lovely little cafe to eat a delicous belgian waffle. Also I forgot to mention that we went into a Belgian chocolate shop and bought a box or two. seriously. So spoiled. It's Soeur Hosking's favorite phrase to say in French :) 

I feel so blessed to be here and to have the opportunity to share my testimony everyday! 

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

avec amour soeur hawkes 

Last Friday we went to Brussels for my legality and it was a beautiful adventure!! The legality office was actually closed. So we have to go back another day but we decided to profit since we were already there and we had time before our train back. So we hopped on the metro to go to Grand Place where the Carpet of Flowers was but...we didnt know how to get there. So we leaned over to the woman sitting next to us and asked for directions and she offered to show us the way since she was headed to that part of town anyway! Then we had a wonderful discussion about what we're doing here in Belgium and she was floored that we left our families and studies for 18 months to move to a foreign country and to teach people about God. Then we walked all the way to Grand Place chatting along the way and then she bisoued us goodbye and I forgot to ask her name. But it was so fun to meet her and as she left she said she was absolutely delighted to have met us! I love being a missionary and living in Europe to meet all these amazing people and to have incredible experiences! I am so spoiled. On Friday I saw the biggest tourist attraction of the season in Belgium and then sat at a lovely little cafe to eat a delicous belgian waffle. Also I forgot to mention that we went into a Belgian chocolate shop and bought a box or two. seriously. So spoiled. It's Soeur Hosking's favorite phrase to say in French :) 

I feel so blessed to be here and to have the opportunity to share my testimony everyday! 

Waiting for the bus. We usually try to run for it but sometimes we aren't quick enough #weatetoomanywaffles

Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

Bonjour à tous!!

this week was so wonderful! Working with Soeur Hosking has been so much fun! It has been a little stressful trying to work in two different sectors but so far we have managed quite well I think Sunday was definitely the hardest day because we had to go to TWO sacrament meetings which is a little exhausting in French. In my branch I had to play the piano because our pianist left on her mission and they picked the hardest songs but everyone was so charitable with my piano playing skills. and then in the other branch they made me present myself and i translated for a family visiting from Holland. Translating totally fries my brain. I have to use every ounce of concentration I have so it was difficult but it was so fun to chat with them in English! 

So for Pday today Michele and Irene took us out to us an American Cemetery where thousands of soldiers are buried. When we got there the memorial itself was closed for construction but Michele talked to the workers and explained that we were real Americans and he just had to let us in so we could see it. So the worker called the head honcho and got permission for us to go inside!! It was SO cool!! It was so touching to see everything and all the thousands of people who fought for freedom, it was definitely truly inspiring. Afterwards they took us to a Belgian cemetery and then to a museum their friend owned. After touring the museum we all sat outside and chatted with their friends. The museum owners were really interested to know what two young American girls were doing living in Liege so it was really fun to chat with them what we do as missionaries and talk about what we believe in. I absolutely adore being a missionary because the plaque I wear is the perfect conversation instigator and all the sudden everyone is asking questions that I have the answers to! I love the opportunities we get all day every day to bear testimony of a living, loving God-it is so much fun! 

On Tuesday we passed by a woman named Enza. Soeur Melville and I had met her a few weeks ago and gave her a plan of salvation pamphlet and she invited us back but we never had time so this week we were able to knock on her door and she let us right in. We chatted a bit and she mentioned that growing up she had a friend who was Mormon. She told us how her friend was always so kind and so loving and that is why she let us right in because she knew we would be kind and loving just like her LDS friend all those years before. It was really neat to see that our influence as a member of the church is so powerful and never forgotten! because of her LDS friend she let the missionaries in! Never forget the influence you can have! Enza is really sick so we taught her about the priesthood and Soeur Hosking bore a beautiful strong testimony of Heavenly Father's healing power and we will be going back with the Elders this week to give her a blessing! Miracles! 

I love the story in Alma about Zeezrom. He started out so completely against the church but Alma and Amulek stood strong in their testimonies of the Gospel and bore such powerful witness that the Spirit touched Zeezrom's heart and he realized how wrong he had been. After he spent days in bed due to a fever that was caused by his guilt Alma and Amulek came to his side to heal him: 
 And Alma said: If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed. And he said: Yea, I believe according to thy words.And then Alma cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord our God, have mercy on this man, and heal him according to his faith which is in Christ.And when Alma had said these words, Zeezrom leaped upon his feet, and began to walk; and this was done to the great astonishment of all the people; and the knowledge of this went forth throughout all the land of Sidom. 

I know that whatever our circumstances, through faith in our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ we can be healed. Whether that be physically, emotionally or spiritually, Christ is always there just waiting to help us! I know our Heavenly Father and His Son love each one of us more than we could ever comprehend and they are waiting with open arms for us to go to them and to be healed. 

all my love, soeur hawkes 

Fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord

Oh family!! this week was SO good!!!! i have so many miracles to share I have no idea where to start!!! 

well okay I guess I can start with a HUGE one, yesterday Patricia got baptized!!! she met the missionaries EIGHT years ago and she has had multiple baptismal dates (3 with Soeur Melville alone) and it has been a long road for her to get to this point but yesterday was a BEAUTIFUL day. She was absolutely glowing with happiness and it was so amazing for me to be a part of it! I am so grateful I was able to be there to share this important day with her! she also skyped the missionary who found her and he watched the whole thing. It was so neat for him to see the fruits of his labors! The seeds we plant are always harvested!

 

So last week we were going through the area book and calling people and we were able to set up a few rdvs including one with Gwendoline. We arrive at her apartment and she invites one of her friends to come in and sit down (paul) and then she says she needs to make a phone call really quick. So she calls her neighbor and says "it is urgent. come down right now." so five minutes later Prince joins us. Gwen looks at him when he walks in the door and says," where is your bible? I told you it was urgent!" and that is how our rdv began. We taught the three of them the restoration and they LOVED it. It was so fun because Paul only speaks French but the other speak English so we were doing it in the two languages and they had soo many wonderful questions! it was so cool. They are definitely going to get baptized soon because they are so ready and their hearts are so open! I cant wait to see them again this week! 

I don't know if you remember when we met a woman named Dee from Egypt a few weeks ago, we had given her our number but she got off the bus before we could get hers and of course she never called but this week we were headed to the gare and she was on the bus!!!!!! and she was SO excited to see us! so we were able to talk with her more and will see her later again this week!!

Everything just worked out so perfectly and so beautifully for Soeur Melville's last week here in Belgium. We saw so many blessings, Heavenly Father was just showering them down on us as much as He could this week! Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day with Patricia's baptism and our other amies came to church as well for the baptism and we were able to finally get in contact with people we've been trying to see since I got here. It was so humbling to look at my planner at the end of each day and look at all the miracles we experienced and realize that it was all because the Lord was guiding us and was aware of all that was happening.  I read a great talk this week (of course) called Be Still and Know God

Sister Maughn said, "to worry is to lack faith. if we worry and try to put it all on our own shoulders; we are not trusting that the Lord is in control or that He understands the situation." I waste so much precious time worrying about things rather than opening my eyes to the eternal perspective and acknowledging God's hand in my life. So that is something I am currently working on is broadening my vision to realize that God is in the very details of my life and He will continue to take care of me just as he always has. I know that He is there every step of the way for each one of us and He loves us more than we know! 

"God has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. He does not have to deal with us in a mass. you are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being He ever created. When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only man or woman in the world;"  -C.S. Lewis

thank you so much for all your support and prayers! i love you all so much!! 

avec amour soeur hawkes 

My companion drew this.  It represents all the sister missionaries who serve their missions planting seeds and they continue to grow behind us. "you can count how many seeds are in an apple; but you cant count how many apples are in a seed"

Patricia's baptism

We may or may not have slept on the balcony for Soeur Melville's last night in Belgium.

This was at our branch activity a week or two ago!

Sariah. she left on her mission to Canada this morning! 

With Gwendoline and Prince! Paul is behind the camera...