March 31st, 2017

The tulips are blooming!!

What a week it has been! It has flown by again. A lot of the same things, teaching and learning and more teaching. On Sunday the BYU men's chorus came and sang to us for about an hour! They are awesome!! My favorite song was called "my witness " I think... anyways it was a more soul power song, lots of snapping and swaying, super cool!! I love those kinds of songs. After that we watched a documentary on President Thomas S Monson, what a man!! God really does communícate with prophets today.

On Monday morning we had Skype TRC where we Skype a member who lives in France or Canada and teach them a lesson. Sœur Daines and I got on the computer and tried calling the women who said she would Skype us. She never answered...so we just left 3 minute videos testifying how the Book of Mormon answers our questions. It really does! Take your questions to that Book and study and learn about God's answer. Hopefully this Monday we'll actually teach a real person.

On Tuesday our Canadians left :( we became such good friends and I'm really excited to hear about their experiences and see them again in a few years. On Wednesday we received 7 new missionaries also going to Montreal Canada, so far they seem to be doing very well. An elder is from Pasadena and knows where Camarillo is! Très cool!

On Thursday we had pretend exchanges. The missionaries in my district were all assigned new companions just for teaching that day. My new companion was Sœur Mecham. She is awesome! I learned so much about preparing a lesson and being personable with an investigator.

Last night my teacher Sœur Kitchen showed us a slide show of a lot of people she taught in France! I'm am super excited to go!! France is a huge melting pot of all kinds of people and refugees. We received our travel plans today! We leave April 10!! Just 10 days away. Our teachers talk so much about how so many people have the wrong impression of the missionary work in France. God has prepared people there, I know he has, otherwise he wouldn't have called me or anyone else there. I'm so excited!!

Have a wonderful week!

Sœur Giles

Letter to Mom:

Hey Mom!

Those pictures are so cute! I was going to ask you to send me an invitation so I could see one but those are great! I'm so excited for Kailee to join our family, she's so sweet. 

Thanks for both of the packages this week! The sisters in my district had a super awesome snack night on Monday night, we enjoyed all the chips and salsa and other foods as well. The cinnamon rolls are delicious! I can't wait for general conference this weekend. I'm going to look for ways that the brethren teach the doctrine of Christ simply and try to apply it to my lessons. 

I don't not feel at all ready to leave. I love the MTC, my teachers are so awesome and inspiring. Except the food, really excited to get off the cafeteria! But they do have a tortilla wrap bar where you can put a whole bunch of things inside and also a dressing so I had the worker put olive oil and red wine vinegar on mine and right as I asked him to, an older missionary from either London or Australia or new Zealand, somewhere with a cool accent, complimented me on my refined taste! He said not many Americans would choose that but it's so good. So I said it was thanks to you because you love it on sandwiches and salads! 

Also I would like 2 more deodorants, the secret kind with the lavender scent, thank you! It does not feel like it's already April, time is zooming by. I'll send pictures in the group email!

I love you so much!! Thanks for all your support!

Love, Sœur Hannah Giles

March 24th, 2017

"A smooth sea never made a great sailor"

Another week down! I feel like so much happened this week but I cannot remember any of it! On Tuesday there was an excellent devotional. Lexi Walker was a guest singer, she's amazing. She's only 14, look her up! Elder Zwick of the seventy came and spoke about how important it is for us to be kingdom builders. His wife talked about how we are the resource not the source. The Lord's promises are always certain but not always fast. The answers will come at just the right time for us. There is a line in the song "Joseph Smith's first prayer" and it goes "but undaunted still he trusted". Things sometime don't make sense to us but by having patience and trust in God, they will all work out!
On Wednesday my zone got 12 new missionaries. Sœur Daines and I and the zone leaders welcomed them that night. I'm so excited that they are here! 8 are going to Tahiti, 2 to Barbados, and 2 to Washington DC.
Other than that we taught lessons and had class and then taught more lessons!
I love the Book of Mormon and how it applies to every single persons life. It answers our questions and gives us direction. Pray about it!

Sœur Giles


Letter to Mom:


Ma mère!

Sorry that you are sick! I had a cold the first week and now I have a petit cough but I feel so good today! This morning we went to the temple and I had a great conversation with Sœur McDonald in the celestial room just about questions we've had and I learn a ton about the plan of salvation while there. It's awesome. On Tuesday Elder Zwick from the 70 came and spoke which was awesome. Also Lexi Walker, a 14 year old professional singer came to sing with the choir. Yes I was in it, we sang savior redeemer of my soul and it was beautiful!!! I'm glad things are coming together well for the reception, it'll be wonderful.
I love the tour de famille!! French has beautiful expressions that we use all the time. The language is definitely progressing!
Tell clay to write me a letter!! I want to hear from him! Also I would greatly appreciate a real letter or something!
Right now I can't remember what happened this week but I know it was super good..
I just looked in my journal. Study Alma 34 this week. Such a great chapter about the plan of salvation. Try to find verses that talk about how important the atonement is.
Also last week was really rough because of the district changes and some people have been having a hard time adjusting but last Saturday one of our teachers, Frère Nadauld came up to sœur Daines and I and thanked us for being the glue of the district, we've been very positive and supportive and he said it's made a huge difference!
I love being a missionary!
Je t'aime beaucoup!


Hannah


Letter to Dad:

Sounds like an awesome weekend dad! Yesterday my teacher had each of us go into a classroom by ourselves and pray for about 10 minutes and just talk to God about how we were doing. Then to search the scriptures for some answers. I was looking for a chapter about the characteristics of God and read in Roman's 12. It was mostly about things we need to do but I loved reading that. Personal revelation is real!
Pretty cool you were on a panel, super smart dad! I can't wait for pictures of John, he's probably so cute!! Also Gramma seems like she's doing well.
I have so many experiences while here and every day I am so much more grateful for the atonement and the chance we get to change every day! Love ya!

Hannah

Friday, March 17th, 2017

Petit a petit


This week has gone by so fast. The weather here has been super nice. I haven't worn a jacket at all for the past few days! Feels a little bit like home.

So there are two districts here going to France, for some reason two of the Lyon missionaries were put into our district. So on Sunday the branch president of our zone talked to our two districts and said he had decided to switch the districts so that all of the Lyon missionaries were in one district and move some Paris missionaries into ours. My district lost 3 elders and gained 1 elder and 1 sister. We were all actually pretty sad because we finally were becoming really unified and working together really well. The branch president called it our first transfer..better get used to it! So it has been a week of adjusting, I'm just so glad I still have the same teachers. Brother Adams, Brother Nadauld, and Soeur Kitchen are the best!!

For the Tuesday devotional, Linda K Burton and her husband came to speak to us. Both of their talks were so good. Sister Burton talked about how important it is for the Lord to work through us. She quoted someone but I don't know who "if you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go together". A great example of this principle this week was when my district was studying the Book of Mormon together. When we studied it together we were able to share experiences and insights that I would have never thought of on my own. Going to church is so important because we are able to learn from each other and help others come closer to Christ.

On Wednesday my district got to be hosts!! Over 150 bebe missionaires came in! The sister that I helped check in and find her room and class is going to Anaheim! I've only been here two weeks but it made me feel so old. Pretty fun!

Other than that everything is going well, french is coming little by little, teaching is also coming little by little. The longer I am here the greater appreciation I gain for the plan of HAPPINESS that God has provided for us. I love this gospel!

-
Soeur Giles


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Letter to Mom:

Mom, I am SO SO happy you were able to study charity. I love how charity is all about who you are inside and not about what you do, even though it is often the motivation for kindness. As I've studied that principle more I've found myself being more willing to jump up and help some one or take some extra time to find out how some one is feeling. I can definitely attest to President Hinckley's quote. I can hardly speak coherent French but what I can do is pray and bear testimony in french. The spirit comes so strongly during those times. Before gym time every day we say a prayer and the guy who was in charge asked to hear someone pray in French so I volunteered! I love it! Also I really really like speaking up in class. There is so much insight gained when we discuss things together. As a district we have started reading the book of Mormon together. We are only on chapter 5, but we stop and discuss every few verses and share experiences. You and dad should do this! You don't even have to read a whole chapter but it is so so so helpful to understand the meaning of verses and ask questions you've always had but never answered!


Tell Brenda I said hello! She's awesome.


Also I want to hear how the wedding plans are going! I'm praying for you!


Love, Hannah



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Letter to Dad:

This week was good. Super busy, a lot of our study time was cut short because of service and exercise time and we are now teaching 2 investigators. But it makes every day go by so fast. I love the Nephi spiritual chain. I think that the first scriptures talks about how humble he was and how that is what is essential to begin your spiritual journey. We need to ask for help and to know the truth. The rest of the chain seemed to me like examples where Nephi demonstrated his faith and trust in the Lord. His circumstances were hard but he knew to rely on the Lord. These experiences build us up. Nephi was able to have the spirit with him. The last verse shows me that Nephi had grown to the point where the Lord was giving him direction because Nephi had shown he was willing to do all the Lord commanded. He had been prepared to build a boat even though he never had.

About personal revelation, this week in class we watched a short clip of Elder Bednar talking about Spiritual promptings. He told the missionaries to "quit worrying about whether it is their own thoughts or a prompting." God is orchestrating a wonderful plan for each of us. All we need to do is be a good girl or good boy and try to follow Christ. He told a story of when he was a missionary when President Packer came to his mission in Germany. He and his companion took president Packer and his wife to the train station. Elder Bednar had a thought to give them some money for food on the train so he did. He was worried that they would be hungry. But this was when Berlin was separated into east and west . East Berlin was not accepting a certain kind of passport that sister packer had. They used the money Elder Bednar gave them to get through safely. To me this really shows that if we try our best to be kind and helpful the Lord can work wonders that we will never find out about. Elder Bednar didn't find this out till 30 years later or something like that.

Heavenly Father works through us to help others. It is so important to recieve personal inspiration and help from the Holy Ghost.


Love, Hannah

Friday, March 10th, 2017 Gospel=Good News

Bonjour!

I don't even know where to start..this week was SO GOOD. Sœur Daines and I taught our first "investigator" starting Saturday. We had to teach completely in French so it was interesting. The lessons mostly consisted of us asking him questions and him responding and us not knowing what he was saying. We tried our best though! He gave us feedback last night, thankfully in English, and said that we did a great job at making everything we said personal and meaningful. He didn't feel like we were checking topics off but that we were prayerfully preparing what he needed to hear. Every time Sœur Daines and I would go up to knock on the classroom door, we would start giggling, we'd try to stop but as soon as he opened the door he would start laughing! Anyways, he told us that that made it fun and more like a conversation with real people instead of robots. He said that we would be able to touch so many lives in France because of our individual personalities. 

Sunday was a great day as well. The highlight of the day was watching a talk by Elder Bednar given a few years ago at the MTC about the character of Christ. He talked about who Christ is as a person and how he responds to every situation. Christ was always turning outwards. There are so many examples in the scriptures of him being compassionate and selfless. Elder Bednar challenged us to find those examples, I started reading the new testament this week and found one already! It was in Matthew 14. Christ had just found out that John the Baptist was beheaded, in verse 13 it says that Christ departed to go to a desert place, I'm sure he wanted to mourn the loss of his friend. But people had learned that Christ was near so they followed him. Instead of telling them to go away so he could have time by himself, he "was moved with compassion" and healed all those who were sick. 

The highlight of my whole week was in class. My teacher, Brother Adams, taught about the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ is the simple fundamental things of the gospel, i.e. faith, repentance... he taught us about the continual cycle we are in, faith moves us to repent, we become clean by being baptized and receiving the holy ghost, and then we do our best to endure. This is the process of conversion. I can't say it near as well as he taught it but I gained so much perspective on how investigators think about those fundamental things. I am so grateful for the knowledge that we can change, we can become better, we can have peace now and joy forever. 

Each day gets better and better. I love my zone, during exercise time we always play a version of knock out, basketball, we just have so much fun! 

I've really started to understand how powerfully the Lord can answer prayers. He can guide and direct us if we believe that he can! I invite each of you to look up charity in the bible dictionary and think about what it means to you. It gave me a new meaning to what being charitable is.

 Je sais que Dieu vous aime!

Sœur Giles

MTC District

Seour Giles and Seour Daines

Sunday, February 26th, 2017

Hannah's Farewell Family dinner on Sunday, February 26th, 2017

Hannah get's set apart as a missionary on Tuesday evening, February 28th, 2017. Our last evening together!

Wednesday, March 1st - 6:00 a.m. at the Burbank Airport - Hannah gets ready to go through the security line and board the airplane.

March 3, 2017

Bonjour!
Made it to my first p day! It's gone by fast and slow at the same time. We got rushed into classes as soon as we got here. My companion is Soeur Daines and she is also from California, from Palo Alto. We've had a fun time getting to know each other. Our language teacher has spoken entirely in French, I understand probably every 5 words but he is really nice! The first day we rotated around in big groups in classrooms to practice talking to investigators, I think they were actually members but their acting was so convincing! We talked to an older man who was born in Italy. He has a tremendous love for his family, especially his wife who passed away a few years ago. At one point a sister stood up and asked him if it was alright if we all sang the primary song "Families can be together forever". After we sang there were a few moments of silence. He then said "you know when you want a piece of toast with butter on it but all the butter in the container on the counter is gone. So you get a stick from the fridge and have to put it in the microwave. You then put your piece of bread in the toaster. The microwave beeps and you realize you forgot about the butter and now it's all melted into a pool. When I first walked in here I felt like a cold piece of butter but after that song I feel like melted butter!" I thought that was such an awesome analogy for the Spirit. Those melted butter moments are the best!
There are 9 missionaries in my zone going together to Paris. I'm glad we will travel there together.
Yesterday my companion and I were at dinner and we sat next to these two sisters, guess who I sat next to?!? Another Sister Giles! Sadly not closely related but still cool!
Have a great week!

--

Sister Giles


Hannah's letter to mom:


Bonjour ma mere!!
Actually all those missionaries were on my flight! I got to talk to them before we boarded, they were super nice and encouraging! My companion is Soeur Daines and she actually turns 19 on March 10th! I'll have to figure out something to do for her. I'm glad your dress shipped, I'm sure it'll get to you in time. I miss you! There is an elder in my district from Brea! I haven't been able to talk to him yet but I thought that was cool. We are learning so much about loving the people we serve and teach. I am so grateful for your example of love! I love you!
Sœur Giles


Hannah's letter to Dad:


Hey Dad!
I'm on the main campus, everything is so close together so we don't have to be in the cold very much. The food seems fine so far. They have delicious pineapple! I'll let you know in a week if it's still good haha
Since my teacher only has spoken French to us I feel like it's coming pretty quickly, also la don du langues (gift of tongues) is real!! I'm trying to pray in French. My zone and district seem really fun. We do lots of things together!
It's hard and tiring but I know it'll be worth it.
Love, Soeur Giles

Saying her final good-bye at the MTC curb!

A Parisian lunch with Aunt Gail and Cousin Tami!

One last picture!

February 26th, 2017

Hannah spoke in Santa Rosa ward sacrament meeting. She spoke on "commitments" and how we make and keep our commitments in life as well as in the gospel and to the Lord. The ward choir sang "Called to Serve" a special arrangement. Played by Heather Giles and directed by Marianne Woolf. Many ward members participated as well as others that were invited to sing. So we had approximately 30 people or so including Cassidy Giles and Lindsey Barttels. After church we had dinner with our family. Grandma Giles, Aunt Becky and Alisa, Nancy and Sofia attended. Also, Aunt Wendy, Uncle Keith Anderson. Uncle Blair Lucas, Aunt Leslie and Uncle Enrique Rodriguez. Uncle Matt and his step-son Paul came for dinner later. Dad had prepared a pork shoulder and we had rolls, salad, fruit and bbq beans to add to our delicious dinner. We cleaned up after dinner and prepared for an open house starting at 7:00. Ward members came to wish Hannah well, they wrote notes and left them clipped to the clothespins we had displayed with the French flag on the table in the entryway. Also, Doreen Dillard, mother of Hannah's childhood friend, Kayla came to wish her well.

We had a fun time visiting with everyone.

On Wednesday morning, we arose at 4:30 a.m. and left the house around 5:00 to drive to the Burbank Airport. Hannah checked her luggage and got in the security line. She waved good-bye to us when she was through and waited to board her plane that took off at 7:00. She landed 2 hours later in Salt Lake City where she was met by Aunt Gail and her cousin Tami Fife. They drove her to Provo and had lunch at a cute French restaurant and then they dropped her off at the MTC. Later in the evening we received an email from her stating that she had arrived safely and was doing great!


March 1st , 2017


MTC


Bonjour!! Just wanted to let you know that I got here safe. The MTC is awesome and I love it already! My companion is awesome. My preparation day is on Friday so I'll say more then. I love you!!


Soeur Giles