Picture Tour....

Welcome to the Picture Tour!!

So I figure I'll have to do a full length version of this when I get home, but just for viewing pleasure and my laziness this week..

We had a "finding day" the first day of the transfer when Elder Tidwell called up the other equipes here in Evry to let us know, "He lost his bleu.." The bus doors closed too fast and they got separated. Soeur Dionne and I found him just outside their apartment. First week in Paris and he finds a map and walks home. That-a-Elder-Dunkins!

With the Familly Louis in their backyard overlooking the valley in Etampes. Sister Louis served a mission in Greece!

Exchanges with Soeur Waite in Nogent 

and another picture from Versailles

Catherine took us on a walk through a beautiful park! She reminds me a lot of mom behavioral and conversational wise...(its a good thing)

Fabiola and her son who tends to have the same blank stare whenever you ask him a question ;)

Over at the Rio's home. They are such a fun family! They love reading books and have an entire corner of their living room dedicated to the latest and greatest novels.

And that is "Mama Monique." She actually recently got baptized in England, but was staying here for several weeks. She was taught in English, but because she's a native french speaker, we thought it'd be really good to revisit the lessons in french. I finally used my Plan of Salvation puzzle and she loved it!

So, guess what happened when we were in Paris the other week? One of the Soeurs suggested we go get crepes from this creperie of line 4, but we were having some difficulties finding it. After wondering just a little, we turned a corner and found it. And as we started heading towards it, a man and his wife wave to us from a restaurant next door saying, "Hi Sisters! We're from Camarillo, California!" And my response was, "I'M from Camarillo!!" I actually forgot their family name but the husband remembered being a counselor in the YSA ward while I was home.

And then my friend Jessica from school, BYU and my dance ensemble group turns the corner. And at that point, I just through my hands up and go running towards her to give her a hug. I was like, "HI! I'm a missionary! In Paris!" What a Heavenly, timely and pleasant surprise.

Us and Reba. She was one of our most favorite people! She's a member from Chicago that met her husband here in Paris when she was studying art. 

And then...a "grimace" or funny photo with the Mfulani family. Sometimes,  you just have to let go of that self-image and flaunt your excellent sense of humor. haha

And this is a ville that went out and visited because an american family just moved into our ward for the summer. And this is what your classic, gorgeous small villes look like-- gorgeous.This is just a little outside, inside perspective of all the wonderful people and places here in France.Next week they'll be spiritual experiences, no worries...

And that concludes our weekly tour. You can find the souvenirs at the gift shop on your way out. Thank you and Please come again soon!

With Love,

Soeur Hopkins

Lots of love,

Melissa

Mother's Day Rebellion

So sorry that I missed out on writing everyone the last week. I had the chance to Skype mom and dad, so I kind of declared open rebellion and decided not to write the day after. You know, you can't have too much of a good thing, right?

This week, we experienced some wonderful miracles and break-throughs. We were going over to a part-member family's home to teach them. We'd been trying to get the husband to sit in on a lesson with us since I came to Evry. But he just didn't seem interested and would always leave the room when we came over. The night before, the idea came to us to see if their home teacher was available to come with us. He sent us a text letting us know that he could come.

We had everything ready to go and were getting ready to leave, when the idea came to change the lesson and bring the film of the restoration. When we showed up the kids were so excited to "watch a movie" and they all came into the family room. The best part of all was that the husband sat in and stayed! After the film, we started sharing our testimonies about how God answers prayers and how we can receive answers to our questions. I know that what followed had nothing to do with our teaching, language or any other abilities. The husband started commenting and even asking questions. Something about the timing and the combination of everyone there just opened up the conversation to him. We showed him answers to his questions in the Book of Mormon and everyone had the chance to speak. Oh, how sweet it was! We're coming back again to answer some more of his questions and just let his curiosity grow.

I know that the mother had been praying for that for several years and that Heavenly Father answers our prayers little by little- just giving us as much as we need until we are ready to here it. In Ward Council, Bishop shared with us a scripture from Alma 13:24 and talked about how there are angels all about us preparing us to receive his message until the time leading up to when we are introduced to it.

ANyways, that's all I can share with you this week. We've got to run. But as always, I love you and never doubt that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers- and sometimes through other people.

Love, 

Soeur Hope-kins 

(all of the non-native english speakers make the connection that "op" is closely related to hope and therefore my name must mean hope. I never correct them or tell them any different. Pourquoi? ;)

Much love,

Melissa

"Family Council! Family Council..."-from 'What About Bob' 1990

Dear Family,

So just to be informed of the new and newsy...

This Sunday, we will be doing Mother's Day Skyping chez la famille Cadin. We'll be at their home 5pm Paris time. Mom, I believe there's the 9 hour time change where you're at and an 8 hour change where Rudd and Bree are at. I would love to be able to see and talk with everyone in the family (See all of your gorgeous faces) And so if it's possible to work it in with your church schedule, that would make for a wonderful mother's day. Also, if you have any questions in specific to ask me, I'd be happy to answer them, sing for you, n'importe!

I am staying in Evry for my fourth transfer! And Soeur Walker is now training in Le Mans. We did not get our I-Pads last week because they were still being shipped from Germany, but we did have a wonderful training by Elders Nielson and Kearon who came to speak with us about the incredible blessing of using technology in the work. We are so excited to see the work just take off. With the tablets we'll be able to communicate with members and investigators through social media, post videos on Facebook, Skype other missions whose missionaries can teach foreign language speakers...and so much more. Yaaay!

Joy and Brandon, I got your package the other week! Thanks for the magnet from Chitenitza? and for your lovely letter. It was heart-warming. So it turns out that the grand kids of the Fourniers DID in fact come to church one of the Sundays and they sat behind us in church. I only wish I could've gotten a picture to send you. After I told Soeur Fournier about us missing the chance to say hi to them, she just turned to me and in her cute, proper french accent said, "Well, that's dumb!" (I love her...their moving to Melun in 2 weeks to be closer to the kids.) But I'm sure if you ask them about a redheaded sister missionary, they might just remember. ;)

Versailles was incredible! The Chateau is closed on Mondays, so you either have to ask special permission to change your preparation day or you have to happen to have it changed for you! Et voilà, our conference was on Monday! There were so many people lined up outside to see it and we ran into three members while on our way there and in line. It was so gorgeous and the gardens are HUGE! I know that I will have to go back and see the gardens eventually because there just wasn't enough time to explore. It was amazing being able to see it after having made several french presentations on it in high school and seeing Joy's pictures from study abroad. How could I have ever imagined myself 5 years ago sitting in french class struggling to conjugate all of those irregular verbs and then, somehow, (still struggling to conjugate all of those irregular verbs) finding myself all the way here today? It's just goes to show that the possibilities are limitless and I am so humbled...You'll laugh, but I think my favorite part of our time out there might've actually been the antique shop of books and relics that we found in the City of Versailles (postcards sent to Versailles in the 1950's from all over the world. You might call it junk, but I love it!) as well as meeting someone who showed us where the location of the Versailles Temple is being built. 

On Sunday, the Relief Society president, Soeur Gaston, was teaching a lesson on agency and she made this comment, "Does that mean that every time we make a good decision--BOOM! There's a bag of candy?" It was super lively as usual, but I think one of my favorite parts of the meeting was after she finished the lesson and thanked the sisters for their service, Soeur Cadin, in her Brazilian accent and with a little bit of Brazilian attitude asked, "Do we get candy?!" 

I love these people sometimes more than I can capture...haha

This week there were so many miracles--there ALWAYS is. It's just that until you start looking for them, they are hard to see. Like looking at huge painting full of details. Until you understand that you are looking for the yellow brush strokes, they'd probably all go unnoticed. I'll just tell you about one.

Once upon a night, we went out knocking on doors in an apartment complex not too far from here. And this older lady opens her door to us and immediately launches into,"I'm too old to convert to your religion! I'm 70 years old and I've had plenty of time to make up my mind!" And then she just goes on for about 3 minutes. But by then, I've just got this huge grin on my face because she is just absolutely adorable and I made the comment," It sounds like you've talked to A LOT of missionaries..." And with that ice breaker, she opened up to us let us in to talk with her. This wonderful lady's name is Fanny and it turns out that she is protestant, knows about Soeur Dionne's ancestors as well as my Vaudois ancestral history. She talked us about her hobbies, her cat, a little bit of the history of the world, how she loves the Mormon Tabernacle Choir...she was just a bundle of joy. And it was incredible how she remembered the last encounter she had with the Elders who prayed with her in the park (sacred grove park) and how she was deeply touched by their example. I felt so much love for this lady and we absolutely adored her. By the end, she thanked us for coming by,"Despite how our conversation first started off." We prayed with her and left her in much better spirits than before. 

I wish you all a great week! Talk to you soon.

Soeur Hopskeens

"We went out to eat french tacos after teaching with two of our young women in the ward!

And that's me positioning all of the awesome trucks that I got in your package. Slightly obsessed."

These pictures are from when Bronte went to Versailles!

Hey there, well it looks like it's been 11 months and I can't believe it!

Wow! 11 months!!

Dear Family,

And once again, the sun is shining, the trees are blooming, allergies are kicking in and it's summer time in France! Again! Wait, a second? That must mean that all the other seasons rolled around and I totally didn't even notice. Not to mention Christmas and Easter. Wow. That's not ok. I've still got so much more I need to do and I need to find the time to do it!

I'm sure you've felt like that at one point or time in your life with regards to so many others things. But that is the gospel truth out here --that the weeks speed by faster than we can keep up with.

The other day at church, we were teaching a lesson to a young couple that is investigating the church. We were teaching with one of the member about the Restoration of the Gospel and I asked him to share his testimony. Pretty soon, he was talking about prophets seeing Christ in temples and all other kinds of things that would and did cause our investigators to make some of the most interesting faces. But after he shared his heartfelt testimony, I did my best to just chime in and say," Thank you Frere. I really liked that you...and I really think that the most essential thing to remember is that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He loves His children.."  I love those colorful  and incredible moments while teaching people! I'm also grateful that the spirit is the teacher and that we usually only retain about 40% of what people say to us.

Saturday night Soeur Stevine was driving us home and she told us about a song that she wanted to publish for the church in Congo. Turns out that she was quite a famous singer when she was living there and was able to do a lot of good for the church and the humanitarian efforts there. I asked her to share her song with us and so she started singing. It was the most piercingly beautiful African melody. She sang in Lingila, her native tongue, and then translated it for us. She talked about how she met the missionaries,how they showed her the Book of Mormon and how she read it to find out if it was true. She got her answer that it was and she invites others to do so too. It doesn't take very much to recognize a song that's almost a hymn. It comes across with a power and surety. I just turned to her and told her, "Soeur--you have to share this!" Heavenly Father blesses us when we use our talents to glorify Him. That's all I ever want to do now because I finally am understanding just how great the blessings of the gospel are. This is eternal life we're talking about.

We ended up being able to go to the Louvre this past week and a family from Draper, Utah came up and talked to us.They were so fun to visit with and they told us about how He had served his mission in the Ivory Coast and their girls were taking a french immersion class and they were so excited to be there for a week or two. And that was probably the highlight of the Louvre! We did try and take a quick look at some mummies and I could resist but take a video dancing in the french statue exhibit (I mean, who else gets to say that they did that anyways?)

And mom, I finally got the Christmas package you sent me four months ago. Haha. It was all dusty and half opened when it showed up in the mail. I have NO clue where it had been for that long! haha. Probably looked suspiciously large and so they tossed it somewhere for a "little bit." Thanks for the letters and gum!

I hope to be staying here for at least another transfer, but I'll be finding out at the end of this week. And Mother's Day skyping is coming up. So mark your calendars family!

Much love and sincerity wrapped into an email and sent your way,

Soeur Bronte Hopkins

"Did I ever mention that we live right next to the sacred grove? That's the park right next to us. And I somehow could not figure out how to keep my tag on straight."

"Catherine and me"

Lots of love,

Melissa

I Love Evry

I'm so sorry it's been way toooo long!

Dear Family,

So this past Sunday, our bishop got up to announce several young men who had received advancements to become teachers and priests. He also announced that Charlie, one of the recent converts in the ward, would be receiving the priesthood soon. But as he started, somehow all of the phrases got jumbled up and he ended up calling him as "le fils d'Aaron" (the son of Aaron), stopped and then restarted again calling him to "le pretrise d'Aaron et l'office de Pretre (the priesthood of Aaron to the office of a priest)....it's ok, Bishop, you got this! I love it when the Bishop can find a moment to crack a smile and keep going!

This week, Soeur Dionne and I decided to act on the principle of faith, trying to increase our finding efforts and really take opportunities to talk about genealogy work with people. Seriously, we talked to everyone that we crossed paths with and when we got "frudged" (a term we use for an appointment falling through. it's an African drink that when you taste it starts sweet and then goes sour), we talked to all of the neighbors. It was incredible. And I must have driven Soeur Dionne crazy with how many times I asked the question, "Do you like genealogy?!" And the responses varied from a flat out "no" to one lady pulling out a huge 3 foot by 2 foot nine generation chart of her family tree. Uhhh, that's awesome! I TOTALLY was not expecting that.

And this week, we ended up finding 3 new families to teach. One of them we met after contacting a young African woman named Olga on the street. She told us that it was super bright out and to come inside. We found out that was her mother's home and when we came back the next day, we also met her aunt who wants us to come pray with her. Ok, that's pretty amazing!

The other was when we passed by to visit a member and her nine year-old son let us in. He was the only one home so we decided to porte the other floors while we waited. We found a family that let us in! The husband and wife are both named Chardin and their girls names are Delphine, Lynn and Linda. And they invited us back! And they also happen to be pretty good friends with the member that lived in the first floor. She told me the next day that she'd invited them to come to church anyother time. They were so kind and respectful to us. When the husband opened the door, he asked,"What can I do for you mes dames (ladies)?" That was a first.

This week has been wonderful. I love these members so much. Our ward mission leader and his family spent are moving out of our ward and I am so sad to see Soeur and Frere Lukoji leave for Lyon! I have grown so much from their council, influence and love. They are family to me and have blessed my life more than they can imagine. I'm grateful for the chance to have served around them. There was a ward party they held for them before they left. I swear that church events never ever ever start on time. We showed up at, everyone else got there by and by the time we were leaving to go back home, they rolled out the food and started dj-ing music! We left the cookies we made for them there and on Sunday the pan was completely empty and we had members begging for the recipes. :) Soeur Louis was telling us, "Yeah, so last night we eating the cookies and soeur tehoirou looked at me and was like, 'who made this?!' and I was like, 'had to have been the sisters." I wish I could correctly and completely capture just how funny the members are.

I'm so happy and I seriously don't understand why that is. Missionary work is so fun, so exhausting and so fulfilling. We sometimes are on transportation for 3 or more hours a day trying to get to rdvs and other places. But I find that all the best of experiences and miracles come when you just decide to get up, have some faith, go outside and just talk to everyone. You just stop overthinking or over-complicating things. It's beautiful.

"We, in our imperfect view, sometimes focus on our imperfections and then despair because we think we'll never measure up. But our Savior, Jesus Christ, sees us as we can become. As we allow His Atonement to work in our lives, He will shape us into masterpieces who will one day live with the King of Kings."

Have a great week and don't forget to smile!

Soeur Hopkins

For Easter, the Ozaris gave us these ginormous chocolate easter bunnies. thanks! And me with the Coloma family. One of their sons is serving in the Lyon mission. And somehow they too found me in the Ensign.

So, Candida is doing well. Soeur Dionne serenade us all with a performance of Claire de Lune on the piano. It was magical. Soeur and Frere Lukoji at their party (I think she looks a lot like you, Bree (rudd's bree) :)

Soeur Dionne had to get x-rays on her back this week. No matter how many times she explains that the problem is not in her alignment, they just haven't gotten it yet. She can figure out whether to laugh or cry out of frustration...we're working on it!

And this is a sign we found on the inside of a door in a building we were porting. Put that one into google translate!

Lots of love,

Melissa

Happy Easter and General Conference!

Another week means another email!!!

Dear Family,

So contrary to singer John Mayer and popular belief, we, as mortals, are NOT free falling. Elder Holland made that quite clear the other night and I'd have to agree with him full heartedly. Christ is there, holding onto our wrists, preventing us from slipping and falling from a great height. He is pulling us up over that ledge to safety.

If you haven't heard his talk go to lds.org under the Sunday morning session of General Conference. It was fantastic.I'm so grateful for living prophets that are called by God and help give us counsel that will benefit us in our day.

Did I see a big theme centered on the family and the home? That is just incredible that leaders came together at the Vatican to hold a conference on this subject. And Elder Eyring had some powerful insight to share that was so touching. The family is FOREVER and that is a possibility that is there for each one of us and our own families. That is one uniquely beautiful possibility the restored church of Jesus Christ has to offer. No tears. All will be made right and we will all be united once again.

This Sunday, we had a less active member show up to church for the first time this year. And, oh, she was so well received and she loved the Women's Conference. Also, someone that we'd ported into the other night, showed up as well. It was kind of an Easter miracle I would say. And then someone today ended up calling us up because we'd given him and his girlfriend our card in passing the other day. The last thing I can remember doing before they left is just testify that there is a Father in Heaven who loves them and that because of Jesus Christ, everything is made possible. I guess he was taken back? We'll find out. We have a rdv with him in like...3 hours. Gotta run!

I love you all! Always know that you make a world of difference in the lives of those around you. Never forget how much good you do and how many are left better because of your influence! Happy Easter and Good luck with the Easter egg hunting.

Love,

Soeur Hopkins

"Conference the other day! Ok, so there were two different cameras we were looking at at the same time!"

Lots of Love,

Melissa 

Like My New Wig?

Finally! We are all caught up on the life of Bronte!!

The Fele family. Awesome family. Angelina wants to serve a mission!

And yes, I'm actually turning African and now own a booboo and head wrap.Me and Soeur Ntmag!

My new companion, Soeur Dionne. She's from Virginia, goes to BYU as well and is majoring in studio art and minoring in ballroom dance. Yes, another dancer!

Hey look! There's Elder Jordan Brown from my freshmen ward at BYU!

 Stephanie and her daughter Vivi who got ahold of a wig. It's really a thing here in France for Africans to wear wigs and do all kinds of other cool things with their hair.

And the Renaud family that we met way back in January and visited another time! Such a loving and incredibly kind family. Lord of the rings fans. No joke. They have a map of middle earth hanging up on one of their walls. They grew up in Nantes, met and married there. They have two kids.

 And just because I love pictures...Soeur Tehoiri who introduced us to Candida (she's from Tahiti and the real question is who DOESN'T know her?haha)

Last selfie with Soeur Walker. I love her so much! She's going to do an awesome job in Le Mans!

Dear Family,

And now for the actual email...this week has been pretty fantastic. There have been so many miracles (unexplicabley wonderful events that have transpired that I have no other reason to explain them save that they were put into action by diety).

Soeur Walker left for Le Mans and she has two new compaions! One is a francophone who is waiting for her visa and will then be serving at temple square in salt lake city. And my new companion, Soeur Renee Dionne, is from Virginia and she just finished serving the first 6 months of her mission in Toule (by Nancy, it's pretty tiny). They actually had a car up there, so this past week, I've been acquainting her to Paris, the super fast RER and the crazy bus systems. But she has been such a good sport about it all and is loving Evry. (Because let's face it, Evry is pretty awesome.) And she's teaching me how to knit! And so much more about missionary work.

And for the super exciting news of the week. Drum roll please......Stephanie accepted a baptismal date!!!!!! She is preparing herself to be baptized the 18th of April. So keep her in your prayers because this is a big decision and she'll need lots of loving support along the way.

We went over on Saturday to help her clean up around her apartment and Vivi found a wig and started sporting it around. I turned into such a mom and ran to grab my camera, take pictures and videos. I've never seen her smile like that before. She's just the cutest. 

This week, we've literally been running around and going to almost every corner of our area boundary. Longemeau to Moissy and everywhere in between! While on the train, Soeur Dionne and I sat down not far from this young, Algerian man. He saw our tags and he started asking us in english who we were and what we were doing in France. We started talking to him and I asked him if he was someone religious. His answer totally caught me off guard. He said, "I'm a christian convert refugee. My wife and I are living here with our 2 kids. And I just got my titre de sejour to stay here." Wow. Do you know how hard it is to get a green card to stay here in France?

We talked for about 20 more minutes, he showed us pictures of his family, we talked to her on the phone, he told us about his conversion to christianity and we exchanged phone numbers to talk more. One thing he said that struck me was,"Jesus Christ isn't just a prophet and example to us. He is the Savior of the World." There was so much power and conviction behind his testimony.

We also taught the Renaud family again this week! They are one of the most loving exemplary families I have met before. They are Catholic and very happy with their religion, but pretty open to hearing our message and reading the Book of Mormon. They said that they wanted to read it because they knew how important it was to us. I hope we get to see them again sometime soon!

I've been learning so much about sincere compliment giving. Sometimes we think that if we were to sincerely compliment someone that it might be something "too obvious" or maybe that someone's already told them or we don't want to "give someone a big head." But I think you'd be suprised how much people need to hear it. They need to hear from someone that they are a "good mother" or that they have a specific gift or that they "did that very well." Sincere compliments can help people realize just how valuable they are in the eyes of their Father in Heaven. Never hesitate to say a kind word!

Donc, je vous aime et je vous souhaite une bonne semaine! If you have any questions, comments or concerns, I'd love to hear them at bronte.hopkins@myldsmail.net.

Love,

Soeur Hopkins

Lots of love,

Melissa