Happy Halloween week and we got a treat...AN EMAIL
Hey Family,
I hope you are all doing very very well. Thanks for the emails and love. And thanks Melissa for the sweeet package. I love, love, loved it. (I'd like to make a special shoutout! ;)
"Transpiration"-- the very words that came out of my mouth last night as Soeur Hansen and I were summing up the week to our District Leader. I was trying to say that we'd felt very inspired this week while we've been on public tranportation. Voila. Transportation + Inspiration = Transpiration.
This week Soeur Hansen and I adventured out to Azay-le-Rideau and saw the castle there! How cool was it to visit the very castle I'd done a research project for in the 10th grade?! I don't think I could've seen that one coming! It was absolutely beautiful and just the cutest chateau tucked away in a ville about an hour from Tours. We had some fun taking pictures and getting a pastry there.
We had some wonderful experiences this week visiting our amis, teaching and lifting them. Antonia came to church again this week and had such a great time with the members. She speaks seven languages, or should I say, it's more like a mix of seven languages. She has a heavy italien accent that mixes into her french and english. But luckily Soeur Hansen has got the "gift of tongues" and we can always manage to figure out what she's telling us. Haha.
While we were out, we ran into a woman that we'd talked to last week and exchanged numbers with. Her name is Promise and she's from the Congo. She is absolutely the nicest woman and she has five daughters and one son! We got onto the bus the other day and started walking to the back of the bus when we saw each other. She just grinned and yelled out a "HEllo!!" Yes, she's also an english speaker. We're going to go visit her later this week!
On Wednesday, we went to go visit a recent convert member named Anne-Marie. Soeur Hansen and I had heard that her mother had just passed away the week before and we wanted to check up on her. After we'd helped her carry her groceries upstairs and sat down in the living room, we asked if maybe we could sing a hymn with her. We started into "How Great Thou Art" and the second verse into it, Anne-Marie just let her tears flow. But she insisted that we keep going. So we all just sat together singing. And after that we sang some more.
I think I'd forgotten just what it meant to minister to others. I'd been so focused on just working hard, keeping to a tight schedule and teaching inspired lessons, that I'd forgotten the importance of just simply being there for a friend. "Mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that stand in need of comfort..." Mosiah 18. We are all called to minister to those around us, to love them and lift them up. As we sat there sharing scriptures of comfort with each other, singing and crying together, I realized that I never want to let the routine of the work keep me from remembering the spirit of it. Each person is a beloved Child of God that needs to be loved and appreciated and recognized for who they are. In Heavenly Father's eyes, it's not the checklist of things we've done, but the individuals we have touched that matters more.
I really love this mormon message that talks about the meaning of what we do. Check it out!
I love you all. I hope you are having a wonderful week. They are always angels round about you!
Love,
Soeur Hopkins
This is the castle at Azay-le-Rideau that Bronte did a project on when she was in 10th grade!
A Plandid Candid, a Hansen tradition!
Bronte with my package!!!
Lots of love,
Melissa
No comments:
Post a Comment