This is the adorable ville of Amboise. I am IN  LOVE.

We went to a chateau today! It's Amboise and Leonardo De Vinci is
buried there! It was so cool!  it was absolutely stunning. I loved it
so much, totally reminded me that I live in France! haha sometimes
it's easy to forget that!

Love should be our walk and our talk

Bonjour à tous!
This week was a lovely week here in France. We saw so many miracles
and had so many wonderful experiences! I am so grateful for so many
opportunities every single day to express my beliefs and share my
testimonies with others. It is the happiest thing for me to see the
light come into people's faces and to see the Spirit touch their
hearts. Missions are so beautiful!

So this last week we were sitting at the bus stop after a rdv and this
man comes up and starts talking to us. They always start with,"are you
from America" with a thick accent ha but we chatted with him and he
asked us our beliefs about God of course and he mentioned that he was
atheist. So we asked him some questions about that but then he was
firing question after question at us of how we could possibly know God
was there. And I suppose that he was trying to shake us from our
beliefs and convince us that we were crazy but instead I just felt
this warmth well up inside me that I knew that God is real and He is
there and He loves and wants to talk with us. And I felt a sadness,
that this young man didn't know that, even though before this life he
did, he had already chosen to follow Christ, that's why he's here! But
he lost sight of it I guess, as it is easy to do in this world but
this man, Adora (he's from Syria) had some genuine questions and we
were able to talk with him and share our testimonies and I know he
felt the Spirit. We gave him the elders number and maybe someday he'll
be able to find the truth that he's looking for. As for now, we've
planted a seed :)

Soeur Bradley said something really beautiful a few weeks ago that I
loved, she said that "we as missionaries are here to help people along
their spiritual journeys back to God." In some ways we do that by
teaching them the lessons and they get baptized but often it is in
small ways that we help them. By smiling and saying bonjour, by
helping them carry their groceries, by teaching them to pray or even a
small lesson but we never see them again. I think that in many ways it
is the small things that we do that matter most because it was the
small things that helped our golden investigators become so ready to
accept the gospel! No effort is ever wasted and it is by "small and
simple things that great things are brought to pass."

For example, tuesday night we went porting and we met a young man,
Remi who seemed to be struggling a little. We asked him about God and
he said he wasn't necessarily a practicing believer and it had been a
long while since he had prayed but when we offered to pray with him,
he accepted. As we prayed with him I felt the Spirit so strong and I
really hope he was able to as well. It was a wonderful tender mercy
for me to be able to pray with Remi and to feel a portion of God's
love for him. that's the best part about missionary work. is feeling
God's love for His children. I love being an instrument in His hands
and being able to help others feel His love. So many people here don't
believe in a loving God. Yesterday we were able to see Lea, finally
and she had some great questions about Heavenly Father. She wondered
how He could always listen and answer her prayers if there were so
many people on the earth. I was so happy to be able to testify to her
that no matter what as soon as we call upon Heavenly Father, He is
right there listening to every word we say and He will ALWAYS answer
us. No matter what. Because He loves us and He wants to communicate
with us. Lea was so relieved to hear that, I am glad we were able to
meet with her and soothe her worries and help her feel God's love.
We've moved her baptismal date later so she can prepare and I really
hope I will still be here in Tours so I can be there.

My favorite part about being a missionary is feeling His love. For me,
for my family, for my amies, for strangers on the streets, for the
members, for other missionaries and for the people we meet everyday. I
can't  believe how much love He has for everyone! I love being a part
of this and I am so grateful that I get to be here to experience so
much love. I've learned that truly love is everything. Love is why I'm
here, and so it should be my motivation for everything I do. President
Uchtdorf said, "Love is the guiding light that illuminates the
disciples path and fills our daily walk with life meaning and wonder.
Love is the measure of our faith, the inspiration for our obedience
and the true altitude of dsicipleship. love is the way of the
disciple." As he says, love should be our walk and our talk. When we
love others more than ourselves we can feel joy and peace. I have
found on my mission that the way to be truly happy is by loving
others. There's a quote that says "We become most ourselves when we
are most true to God and to one another" and the way to do that is by
loving other people. "Since all love emanates from God we are born
with the capacity and desire to love and be loved only as we feel
God's love and fill our hearts with His love can we be truly happy." I
am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for letting me be here and to
experience so much love. It is such a wonderful blessing to be here. I
The Beatles had it right, all you really need is love.

avec tout mon amour, soeur alicia hawkes

Me with the Poznanskis!! I absolutely adore them. They are amazing

wonderful people who have been such an incredible influence on my
life! I am so sad to see them go but soo grateful they were a part of my life!

                            So we went to angers last week for our zone conference! Soeur Bradley and I went to get pastries at the boulangerie underneath my old apartment, it was so wonderful to be in Angers again!!

                                   My package from you came!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I looooved everything so much! I can't wait to make cake!!! 

 We got soaked in the rain! ...story of my life. 

                                               Red lipstick! haha we have so much fun together! 

If you argue for your limitations...you get to keep them.

Well this week I have learned many, many things. 

First off, comparison is the thief of joy. 

there's a quote I love that Soeur Bradley shared with me that says, 

            "Don't compare yourself to others, you'll either end up vain or bitter." 

Whoa. and it is so true. This past week I spent much of my time comparing myself and it left me feeling unhappy and I was missing the peace I had found here on my mission. I read this talk (that Soeur Bradley gave me..I adore her, she is always giving me quotes and talks!) anyway this talk is really great and it opened my eyes quite a bit. The woman talks about how many times in our lives we are waiting until we are perfect to be happy. She says, "I believe in a God who loves us and roots for us and cheers for every good thing we can manage to do. Our victories are His victories and He wants us to feel joy. Not later, when we no longer make mistakes, but right now." The beauty of the Atonement is that we never have to be perfect but that each new day is clean without any mistakes in it! We have the opportunity to try anew every day to become more like the people we want to be. So why waste our time on our weaknesses and the things that we do wrong? Our Heavenly Father sent us here to be happy! And I've found, the only way to be truly happy is to accept myself the way I am and to be continually striving to become the person Heavenly Father sees. I don't need to lead with my weaknesses but lead with my strengths as Elder Holland says, acknowledge that I have weaknesses and that I struggle but then fully acknowledge that I have strengths as well. I had an epiphany this week. Everyone has weaknesses, but some people just do a better job of hiding them. Because they spend their time polishing their strengths and using their talents than overanalyzing their weaknesses and mourning their shortcomings. If I argue for my limitations I get to keep them. So I'm throwing them out the window! I don't need them and I don't want them! Heavenly Father has given me specific qualities and talents that the people here in Tours need. They need me. But I can't use my strenghts if I'm obsessing over my flaws or because I don't have the same talents as my companion or the STLs or any other missionary. Soeur Bradley said to me this week, "Superheroes don't get jealous of other superheroes. Superman isn't going to stop being Superman just because he can't shoot spiderwebs out of his wrists like Spiderman. Superman uses the strengths and talents he's been given to help people. And that is what we need to do too." I absolutely love that. I don't need to be anyone else but me. And that gives me a peace I haven't found anywhere else. 

This Wednesday is my halfway mark. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. Nine months. My life has been completely and forever changed by the past nine months. I am definitely not the same person. It is so strange to think how much I have changed. C. S. Lewis said, Day by day nothing changes but looking back, everything is different. And that is absolutely how I feel. I can't believe where I am today. Who I am today. I have a really really long way to go...but I am definitely on the path to becoming who I want to be. And it is all thanks to my mission. Everything that I am and all that I have is thanks to these past nine months and I can't wait to see what the next nine months will bring! My mission means absolutely everything to me. It has changed me and shaped me in ways I have never thought possible. I have learned some of life's hardest things and gone through my deepest trials. But I have experienced joy I would have never had and I have never felt so close to my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. I have gained friendships for life and I have learned to appreciate so many things. I can't believe Heavenly Father is letting me have this experience. He is so kind and so loving to each one of us. I am so grateful to Him every single day. I have learned more than anything that He is kind and He loves us so much more than we could ever comprehend. All He wants is our happiness. I am so grateful to Him and the tender mercies He sends to me each day. 

Thank you so much for your love and support and prayers. It means so much to me! 

all my love soeur alicia hawkes