A Redhead Mormon Missionary in Paris: Embrace the Fall

Email are just so fantastic!!

Dear Family,

So this week has been wonderfully crazy and I don't even know where to begin. Monday and Tuesday, Soeur Bradley and I were running around visiting amis and running last minute errands. And then Wednesday morning we headed into Paris to exchange companions.

There was a brief training meeting for the new trainers and then all of the new missionaries walked in. I prayed to God for love for whom ever it would be that I was to train. As soon as president announced Tours, I stood up and let out a cheer (I couldn't help myself!). And then he announced that I would be training Soeur Hansen! I let out an even louder cheer of excitement. She is a super sweet girl from Portland, Oregon and went to BYU the past year. Funny how you have to go all the way to France to meet people who lived right around the corner from you??

On our first night out visiting a neighborhood, we went 'coeur a coeur'ing (president has renamed door to door as heart to heart), and we got invited into a family's home. They were so kind to us and I could just feel and soak in their love. We talked to them for a bit about what we do and then Soeur Hansen offered her first prayer. Before we left, the mom went and grabbed a package of chocolate wafers and handed them to us. I thanked her so much for her generosity. Her reply was, "If my son or daughter were out far away from home, I would wish that someone would do the same for him."

Yes. Absolutely. It's so beautiful to see the love of God working through others to touch our lives. BEAUTIFUL.

This week has been quite adventurous. And I have to admit there are moments when I wonder what on Earth am I doing and how is this all going to work out. I already almost got us lost in the metro in Paris, got off at the wrong bus stop on the way home, had to walk all the way back, and since then having been making so many more mistakes!

This week, I stumbled across a BYU Devo by Tyler J. Jarvis "That's How the Light Gets In." He talks about FEAR. Fear of failure, fear of criticism, fear of not measuring up to the standards we are held to. And I'd have to say, that I have definately experiencing some of these feelings of apprehension, doubt, worry. The 'monsters in the closet' kind of feeling.

He talked about accepting these Fears, but not not being paralyzed by them. He talks about teaching swim lessons (yes, I totally relate to this) and learning how to float. We cannot become afraid and pull our head up out of the water or we will begin to sink.

And then he talked about when his kids were learning how to skate. They would fall over and over and over again until they began to improve and eventually become more natural.
"By overcoming their fear of falling, by embracing the fall, they were able to learn to avoid it and were able to try new things without fear."

And as much as I would like to say that I never feel like I am unsure, worried, or feeling overwhelmed, that would not be the truth. But I think that God would have me face these fears and maybe even embrace them. I am trusting He'll be there for me in these next couple of weeks. And I have an awesome companion! Meanwhile, here's a brave first step into the new, unknown and unfamiliar. One brave step of faith.

I love you all so much! Know that God is there and he loves you more than you can even comprehend!

All my love!

Soeur Hopkins

In Bronte's words "So the night before we went into Paris, Soeur Bradley and I were walking home. Her and I had seen a hedge hog at the beginning of the last transfer, but not since then. She was saying, jokingly, that the only other thing she wanted before she left was to see a hedge hog. And then, right before us on the lawn, we saw TWO hedge hogs! Heavenly Father has a great sense of humor."

A three generation picture: Bronte's "Mission Mom" Sister Bradley, Bronte, and her "Mission Daughter" Sister Hansen. Super cute!

Bronte's companion Sister Bradley is finishing her mission training and so this is Bronte with her "Mission Sister" Sister Brezil.

On the way back from Paris on a train, it seemed like the heavens were opening for them!

Sorry the picture is a little dark but they went porting for Soeur Hansen's first time and a really sweet family let them in and gave them a whole box of wafers!