Bonjour à tous!!
Today we had a miracle! i think it's Heavenly Father letting us know that He is aware and He loves us because this last week was a little rough. But it just means there are lots of miracles and happiness ahead! like today! So we were on the metro on our way over to the church to do our emails and Soeur Walton and I were just chatting away in English and the woman next to us leans over and says " you speak English?!" and thus began our friendship with adorable Judith from Fiji. She is here studying and was so excited to find fellow English speakers. She was so kind to us and congratulated us on our efforts to bring the world God's love. we were able to exchange info and we'll be seeing her later this week! it was a wonderful start to a new week!
yesterday we were able to go with the Elders to visit a member who wasn't able to make it to church. She wanted a blessing and the Sacrament. It was such a sacred experience to watch them up close as they prepared and blessed the Sacrament and then offered it to her. They treated the ordinance with such reverence and respect that the Spirit was so strong. I was reminded of the wonderful significance and blessings given to us through the Sacrament. I am so grateful that we can receive a new beautiful blank page of a week to begin again and try to be better than before. And the best part is the Atonement has two parts! one, to cleanse us from our mistakes and then another to enable us to overcome our weaknesses little by little and do better each week. I am so grateful for the assurance that progression and change is possible!
this week we also had exchanges. it was so fun to be with Soeur Nielsen! We were able to go with our amie Anais to a family in our ward and have a great FHE. We had pizza and they loved our American cookies. Then we had a beautiful lesson about the Sacrament and the blessings that are available. The Spirit was so strong and Anais was so excited to go to Church after that! I love her so much and I am so grateful for her in my life. I really hope that she continues to progress and one day accepts the invitation to be baptized so she can enjoy all the blessings of the Gospel!
So I was studying about gratitude...and there's a great talk by a Brother Huntington and he talks about when King Benjamin was expressing how indebted we are to Heavenly Father. Brother Huntington says, "King Benjamin also said (and I’m paraphrasing) that if we were to muster up all of the thanks and praise we could possibly give, that would still be insufficient, given the multitude of blessings we receive from God. King Benjamin was not saying, “Well, you can’t possibly thank God for what He has given you, so why even try?” On the contrary, I believe he was saying that we ought to do our very best in thanking God and rendering our heartfelt thanksgiving to Him every day of our lives."
I owe Heavenly Father so much that the only thing I can do is do my very best to live my life in thanksgiving to Him and even then it would still not be enough. But I should do everything I can so that my life is a reflection of His love. I love the quote that says, "Don't shine so that others can see you, shine so that through you others can see Him." And as President Monson says, 'gratitude unlocks the doors of heaven and we can feel God's love." When we search for Heavenly Father's tender mercies we can see so much clearer His presence in our life and as we live gratefully for all the blessings He gives to us we can become living testaments of His love.
I can never thank Him enough for my mission, for the experiences and the people He has given me here. I just pray that I will be able to work diligently the last few weeks He has given me. I am so grateful for the changes He has helped me make and most of all I am so grateful He sacrificed His Son for me personally because I know that through Him, each day can be a new beginning and I can continue to improve and become more like Him despite my weaknesses. I am so grateful for the love He has shown me for not only myself but all those around me. God is so, so good and He loves each of us more than we could ever realize and all He wants is our happiness. I am so grateful for all the things He has taught me here in France and Belgium and I am so grateful for each of you! for your love, support and prayers, i really do feel them! thank you :)
avec beaucoup beaucoup d'amour,
soeur alicia hawkes
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