Our first baptism, Lenaig.  Also, the zone leader's investigator Wilfried got baptized.

                                                    Eating snails with our new investigators

 Yesterday they fed us snails!! Oh my gosh they were so good! I don't know why we don't eat them in the US they are delicious! 

Picture! Notre Dame, it's a terrible picture and my hair is blowing everywhere but it's Notre Dame!!

Bonjour à tous!

This week was wonderful as usual! Although we didn't have a ton of time to do actual missionary work which made me really sad but it's okay because we still got to see lots of miracles! 

New Year's was great, the 31st evening we made crepes with the Elders at the church and I slept through the New Year but that's okay because  I am really excited to spend the entire year as a servant of the Lord! The idea of that makes me so happy! 

New Year's Day we spent at the Bishop's house with all the Elders as well so it was a full house but it was so fun! Plus the Bishop is from Scotland so it was a whole day of English, it was a nice break!

Friday we spent in Paris! I got to see Notre Dame really quick and then almost everyone from my MTC district! It was a really fun day just seeing old friends and now I am officially legal in France! That will last until my year mark in France which is the end of October, then I get to do it again :)

I love New Year's!! It's a wonderful time for making goals and getting a fresh start!! This week I was studying a lot about the Sacrament, the most important reason we go to church. Through the Sacrament we get to renew our covenants with Heavenly Father and part of that is receiving a remission of our sins. I love that each week we get a brand new clean slate! Yesterday I was thinking about New Year's and my goals. I was thinking about all the things I wanted to leave behind, the bad feelings and mistakes and as I took the Sacrament and pondered what Christ did for us, all the sudden I felt all the feelings leave. They were just gone! It was a huge testimony builder for me as I felt the burdens lifted and I knew that Christ really did suffer and die for me and I can receive a clean slate each week, and rededicate myself to keep His commandments and to always remember Him. I am so grateful for Church each week and the wonderful blessing of the Sacrament Heavenly Father has given us. 

My favorite part of being a missionary is being an instrument for the Lord. We do whatever He needs us to and we get to be the answer to someone's prayer!! I love it so much and it has strengthened my testimony of how much Heavenly Father really loves us!! 

The French is coming...my trainer gets upset if I say it's bad so I don't dare anymore haha but she means well. If I say it's bad than I don't have faith in God to help me out, so I've let go of trying to be perfect and I just go for it and make mistakes! Yesterday we went porting and we were talking to this guy and he asked us about how long we've been out, and my comp said 14 months and I said 2 and he said to me oh that makes sense, her French is wayy better than yours. ha! I laughed and said yeah you're right. But really I've seen myself progress and lots of people ask how I learned French and in all honesty it's a miracle, I've only been able to learn because God is helping me! So many times in lessons I just go off and when I'm done, I'm like uhh what the heck! I didn't even know I knew all those words! It's incredible. I LOVE it. :)

Lenaig is getting ready for her baptism this Sunday!! We were pretty worried about her for a while, because her phone was broken and we couldn't contact her and we hardly got to see her because of the holidays but she's still going strong! We were able to meet with her a few times and she is really excited to get baptized! I'm so excited for her! Being able to see the light of Christ and His teachings come into her life and change her has been an incredible blessing to me. This Church is true! I have seen it change and bless her so much that there's no way it couldn't be!

I am so grateful to be out here. It has been the biggest blessing. It has strengthened my testimony so much and deepened my gratitude for my Savior, my Heavenly Father and my family. I'm so grateful Heavenly Father loves me so much to let me be a missionary!!

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

Avec amour,

Soeur Hawkes

                          P-Day Eve party with Soeur Hafen on exchanges! And yes those are real French crepes that we made!

                                   Soeur Hafen and I on exchanges! I love her so much! She taught me so many wonderful things!

                                    FRANCE! I live here! Seriously I still can't believe I live in such a beautiful place! 

Bonjour à tous!

It was so wonderful to talk to you on Wednesday! I was nervous that I would be more homesick when I had to say goodbye but I prayed all week that saying goodbye would be a really positive experience and Heavenly Father really answered my prayer! Seeing your faces and hearing your voices and feeling your love and support was the best! It was so encouraging to me to talk with you, and I hope I was able to express to you how happy I am here! At times it is very very difficult but at the end of everyday I go to bed with a smile on my face knowing that I am doing the Lord's work, happy as can be! And I really hope you were able to see that and that you don't worry about me too much :)

Christmas was lovely. At first I wanted the Christmas season to jet by because it made me a little homesick but then I was able to really learn and understand the significance of Christmas. It was a really special Christmas season as we spent our days testifying to everyone the reason for Christmas which is our Savior!  My first Christmas away from home was one of the best ever! I was able to testify Christmas Eve and Christmas day of our Savior and share my testimony that He really is the Prince of Peace!! It made Christmas that much more special :) I couldn't have asked for anything more! Plus the members here and my companion are just like my family so it was the best Christmas I could have hoped for here in France!!

Thank you so much for all the gifts! Make sure to tell Grandma that we are thoroughly enjoying the four boxes of cereal!! All the food is great :) Thanks so much!!! I love the Idaho key chain, it made me laugh so hard! But the best gift was of course talking to you!

This coming week will be super strange. Tomorrow we are having a small party here at the church with everyone for New Year's and then Wednesday is a P-day so we'll go to Bishop's house with the Elders and hang out. Then Friday we're going to Paris again!! I get to go do legality! Woot. So we won't have a lot of time to find new amies :( we'll just have to be really efficient with the time we do have! 

We had the coolest experience this weekend! We've been doing Christmas contacting, where we just offer to sing Christmas songs for people and share the Spirit. Well Friday night we were in a neighborhood porting and we had been going for about an hour, getting rejected left and right! We knock on the next door, explained what we were doing and the lady was very skeptical, after some hesitation she said well if all you do is sing then you can come in, I don't want to talk about religion or anything. So she, Isabelle, let us in. We talked for a little bit, about our missions, and what we were doing there, all that and then sat down and sang. The Spirit was so strong as we sang Silent Night, and Away in a Manger, even though the high notes were a bit of a challenge. It was wonderful, she smiled the whole time after we asked if we could leave with a prayer. I asked the names of everyone in her family, and she mentioned they had lost a son five years ago. The grief on her face was heartbreaking as she explained that things are very difficult in her family now and her husband refuses to believe in God anymore. So I was able to say a prayer for her and her family and after she said a prayer for us too. In the middle of her prayer she began to cry and struggled to finish. At the end Soeur Foster testified to her of eternal families and the peace one can find in God's plan. It was incredible. The Spirit was so strong!! We left her with our card and invitation to come to church. As we were leaving she gave us a book of quotes and scriptures. She was so sweet and she kissed goodbye still crying. I know that we were sent to that house that night. Everyone else had said  no but Heavenly Father knew that Isabelle needed us and I am so glad that were able to show her God's love and share the Spirit it was a wonderful miracle!

I love being a missionary!!! It is the best thing in the world to testify all the time, to feel the Spirit so strongly, to be an answer to people's prayers and an instrument in God's hands! I am so grateful I chose to serve a mission! It is most definitely the best decision I ever made and I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for letting me be here! 

Quote for the week: "You only live with regrets if you don't learn from your mistakes"

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

Happy New Year's!!!!!

Avec Amour,

Sœur Hawkes 

Letter from December 23, 2013

Joyeux Noel à tous!!!

    This week was amazing!! We had zone conference on Tuesday which was incredible. President and Soeur Poznanski are the best. I love zone conferences, they give me the extra boost that I need to keep going strong and I am so grateful for that! They share such wonderful insights there and the spirit with them is just wonderful. It was so fun to be with all the missionaries! For the lunch that we had everyone put on their Santa hats and I felt like I was at Hogwarts haha everyone was wearing hats in the Great Hall just like Harry Potter! It was such a fun experience and so great to see Paris again!! 

Tuesday night, on our way back from the train we met a woman and using the new Christmas contacting way we had learned just that day. we asked her if we could share the true spirit of Christmas with her and her family by singing and praying with them and she said yes!!! It was incredible!! Miracles. :) We've met quite a few families that way which is such a blessing!!

On Thursday we went to Saumur to see one of our amies. We took the train, it was about 20 minutes away. When we got there we spent our lunch climbing around the castle. It was so cool!!! Saumur is absolutely beautiful!!! After we were able to have a wonderful discussion with our amie. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon and shared our testimonies. However the next day she texted us and said she didn't want to meet with us anymore. Stab to the heart. Ay. It hurt. But. She has the knowledge now so when she's ready and willing to accept it she'll know where to find it. 

Later that night we went to a member's house and I think ate enough for an army. But her food is soo good! Natalie Hamelin was there with us and she teased us about gaining 40 kilos on our missions just like some other sisters she's known. But we kept eating anyway. The food was worth it I'm telling you! I've always heard the French eat smaller portions but I have yet to find that to be true.

Yesterday at our FHE with Lenaig we watched the Bible video of the Savior's birth and the three kings coming to bring Him gifts. I love the Christmas season. Before this year Christmas has been mostly about family traditions, Christmas shopping, all the lights and decorations, the good food and of course the cheesy Christmas movies. It's been a bit difficult being away from home during the season but it has made me reflect upon the true meaning of Christmas. The reason I'm out here in France instead of with my family.

 It's because of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Because He lived and died for us I know that I can be with my family together forever. Christmas is a wonderful time to reflect on what the Savior did for each us. We can receive forgiveness, we can overcome our weaknesses, we can live again and we can be together with our families after this life. I am so grateful for that truth! 

This week we visited a lady who lost her mother at a young age and she told us she'll never see her mom again. My heart broke for her but I was so excited to share with her the truth that because our Savior Jesus Christ died for us she can see her Mom again! They will be together again after this life through the Plan of Salvation that our Heavenly Father so lovingly created for us. 

Being out here on my mission has strengthened my testimony so much but more than that it has given me a deeper gratitude for the knowledge I have and for a loving Heavenly Father whose only desire is our happiness. I know He loves us. I know He watches over us and protects us. He loves us and that is why He sent His Son to the earth. 

Christmas is for remembering Christ. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ. I know that He is our Savior and our Redeemer and that through Him we can have peace in this life and the next. 

Merry Christmas!!

 

Avec amour,

Soeur Hawkes 

                                                Soeur Foster and I at the Saumur Château!

                                          France is BEAUTIFUL.

              At Anna's house with Natalie and Marie just about to stuff our faces with the best food ever! 

December 23, 2013

 

                                              Christmas zone conference

                                           Lucile and Me! She is the best missionary ever!

                                             White elephants gifts!  I got chocolate and a poem. 

Chocolate covered snails?  Soeur Foster told me that's what they were so I was really, really scared but she lied!  It's just chocolate shaped like snails!

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

1. Nicole! She's a recent convert from the U.S. she was here studying and I love her with all my heart! She's leaving on Saturday :(

2. Lengiag!!! She's getting baptized on January 12th!!

3. Saturday afternoon we helped out with the Young Adult activity and I was in charge of the game Time's up. I had to explain it in French! It was super hard but I learned a lot and it was wonderful practice for my French!