July 24, 2017

Rose ice cream!

This was a week with some good rendez vous!
We met with our new ami Cyril. We met him on the srteet a few weeks ago, well he came up to us and interrupted a different contact. But anyways we got his number and he came to church last week! We weren't quite sure if he was homeless...doesn't smell very good and just very interesting. But we met with him and talked about the restoration, he liked it! But he also talks a lot a lot a lot. So our next rendez vous we will have to ask more direct questions. So he came to church this Sunday with nice black shoes and a button up shirt! And he said he was going to shave his beard this week. Kinda cool to see the little changes in life style that he is already making.
We also met with a super cute girl named Chloé. She is so smart and just wants to learn about religion! She wasn't brought up religious but she knows she cant say no until she tries it. We ate at McDonald's and she was very disappointed that we all got chicken nuggets...next time we have to get something more french haha she asks so many questions, about lots of random things! We talked about the french and American revolutions, medicine, but we managed to tie most things back to Heavenly Father's love for us!
Another cool rendezvous was with Alexandra! She is the daughter of a member and has come to church a few times. But we had a good time getting to know her with my new companions and she came to church! But it was really timed perfectly because we only have one young women and she gets really lonely all by herself in there. Her mom, Anouck, probably one of my most favorite people in the whole world!!, told me that she was feeling lonely that morning but then Alexandra was there! Everyone is being taken care of.
I love the image in the prodigal son when the father, when he sees his son on the road back home, runs out to meet him, rejoicing! That's what it is like for Heavenly Father as well. He rejoices when we turn to him!
Sœur Giles


















Letter to Family:


Thanks for all the updates, it seems like everyone is doing well. Summer is such a fun time! Well almost everyone here is on vacation, church attendance was about half as normal. But it also rains a lot which makes it not as hot. One day it rains the next day is super hot then it rains and so on. Its a nice cycle. It has been a good week of growth! I studied ch 7 in pmg and then i made a new language study plan, i realized i really have to grow my vocabulary so now i am studying more talks in french and defining the words i don't know. Its been going good. Paon means peacock! Also I've been working on applying my personal study into the day and one day this week i shared what i studied twice with people that we talked to. I liked that a lot!
Also I'm going to study those 2 topics this week: gratitude and the walls of Jericho.
The trio has been going good. We taught the lesson for gospel doctrine yesterday and it was awesome. It was ch 11 in the book, the life of Christ but is insanely long and tells so many details. So we decided to pick 3 things. 1 miracle: woman with faith touching the robes of Jesus, 1 teaching: the prodigal son, 1 event: peter declaring that he is the Christ. We split them into groups and then had them answer questions. We had a great discussion about who Christ is and what he means to us. Alexandra our amie said she learned a lot!
Have a fun time on the cruise! Is clay staying at theLunds? Tell him i say hello and happy birthday and that i will send a card soon!
Love you so much!!
Sœur Giles

July 17, 2017

This week was definitely a week!
Another zone conference and an exchange in Paris. We're always busy!
We had a cool church tour with that guy Daniel and his friend Wally. I'm excited to see where that goes. They seem pretty solid!
Also a guy we talked to on the street came to church. He said he was very touched by the Spirit that is here. We have another rendez vous with him this week as well.
This week I read a talk called "of regrets and resolutions " by president Uchtdorf. I loved this paragraph "Instead I see the compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each day. When He interacted with those around Him, they felt important and loved. He knew the infinite value of the people He met. He blessed them, ministered to them. He lifted them up, healed them. He gave them the precious gift of His time."
Instead of bustling all over to all our obligations, its good to take a step back and look for opportunities to help those around us.
Bonne semaine!
Sœur Giles















Letter to Family:


This week was a real good one! I feel a little time warped. It was just Monday but the week went by kinda long. We spent many hours at the church because of zone conference, interviews, district meeting, and church! I learned a lot. I'm excited for this new mission president! He has a really good vision and is very enthusiastic. His french is funny to listen to haha you can really tell when people are not from here. I know i sound the same which is embarrassing, oh well!
Us 3 have lots of fun together. I'm loving it! Fun fact, people here don't really celebrate Bastille Day. Also they call it the 14th of July. They were supposedly fire works but I sleep through it all.
Hmmm other than that not much else happened! We had to cancel most of our rendez vous because meetings kept getting changed.
Thanks so much for your support! I'm so grateful for all that you do, and I really appreciate what a wonderful family we have. You're awesome! Keep having tons of fun!
Love, Sœur Giles

July 10, 2017

You can have his number!

A Nigerian contacted us on the tram and we talked for a while, he has friends that are missionaries. In the end, he didn't really want to meet with us but as we got off the tram together, he pointed to his friend and offered his number to us! His friend got a scared look on his face "do I have to?" No of course not! But then he said "I think I want to..." so we are giving him a chapel tour this week! Bizarre!
We met our new president this week. He is super nice and very excited to serve with us. We talked a lot about working with members and with the ward council. The church is still very new here and its growing! Good things are happening!
We also met a woman named Chloé. She is in her twenties and is studying psychology in college. Super smart and open to learning about what our beliefs are. We have a rendezvous on Tuesday with her. I love talking to the younger people here because no matter what they believe, they are interested in knowing other people's point of view!
Also we had a finding day here with all the missionaries in the zone! It was a little tricky finding areas for everyone to go. It was hot and not too many people were out but as a group we found some good solid people! For the last two hours, a few members came and helped as well. It was fun to hear about their contacts and to see how excited they were to find out what happens!
We had a rendezvous with a less active this week where we talked about a talk called "But if not.." from April 2004. We read the first little part in it about how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego stood up for their beliefs and had faith that God could save them. The important part is that even if God didn't save them at that moment, they would still be faithful to Him. Even though some things might not work out the way we think, doesn't mean God isn't there. He has perfect timing!
Sœur Giles
















Letter to Family:


Sounds like your trip to San Fran was super awesome! Glad you had fun, thanks for the pictures.
This week has been really good! We have found a lot of potentials and have had many good times together. In the span of 48 hours we had 6 people contact us! One guy started singing amazing grace in the tram because i said he spoke English very well (he knows the numbers) and he said he learned it by singing! Little did he know i was humming the same song earlier that day haha.
Another time we were contacting this lady who absolutely loves america and wants to travel there so bad when all the sudden a guy walks up (we thought they knew each other) and starts talking as well. This lady turns and jumps a little because he is so close haha so she leaves but he stays and talks to us for about 20 minutes. We get his number and he says he will come to church and when we prayed with him, he started tearing up! But he didn't come..and we actually saw him on the bus today, we weren't able to talk to him though. Maybe he will want to learn more!
We were able to see our ami Elizabeth this week. She is searching for the truth and wants to improve her life but she goes to an evangelical church...man those pastors are the worst! They buy things for the people that go. And when they don't go, the pastor calls and ask where they are so Elizabeth feels an obligation to go so she can get money for food. But she found out this week that her papers for France are moving a long, she was so grateful for our prayers.
Our other ami is a teenage girl, her dad is a member, her name is Alexandra. I'm not sure if i have talked about her before. But we haven't been able to meet with her because she is on stage and super busy. She has a desire to learn more though!
So I am the missionary in Nancy that knows the most about this city! Its creepy to think about but also cool. I love it here, it is my home! :) i really like not feeling so little. I can understand and talk so much better, starting to get the hang of this! we have done some more exploring, finding cool cobble stone roads and old buildings. Like the castle i sent a picture of last week. It reminded me of the castle at Disneyland. As an companionship we are doing really well. Sœur Meredith is super hilarious and very open. She does not sugar coat anything and it is super awesome. Sœur Robertson has a very kind heart and has such a strong desire to be out here and to work hard.
Meeting the new mission president was really cool. His family is super cute but also definitely american. Weird!
Unfortunately I wasn't able to see the Tour de France but the elders in Epinal did and they both got the mountain jersey in a shirt form, jealous!
There is an older man in our ward who is a translator for the church and LOVES history. Yesterday he offered to take us to the world war 1 trenches that are near by. So in a few weeks we will be going to see those! He also has published a few books. One was made into a movie just recently. He found these records at BYU about a soldier in the war who was in Pont a Mousson. Which is a little north of here. But he translated it into french and he saw a poster that the movie would be showing there for a few days! I don't remember what it was called, but he was so happy!
Definitely have learned that God is looking out for each of one of us!
Bonne semaine, Je vous aime!
Sœur Giles

July 3, 2017

Trio for the 3rd transfer

Monday night we went to Steak n Shake with Iman, Maité, and Mami Irène! Maité ate her burger with a spoon and Mami Irène kept sighing about how much food there was but still ate it all. Classic old french ladies! I love them so much!

Then Tuesday night we went to the Couterier's for a good send off for Sœur Warr and an elder in our Ville. I ate a sardine and some shrimp, but you have to de-shell and de-bone it all and it was horribly messy. But tasted pretty good! 

Wednesday we went and picked up my new companions. Sœur Robertson and Sœur Meredith are both super nice and love to share the gospel. Soeur Robertson is from Utah and Soeur Meredith is from Boston.Its going to be a great transfer. We will meet our new president this Tuesday!
We had some good rendezvous with amis and members and lots of finding! 

We met with a less active that I had never seen before so it was new for all of us. I heard that she was very intimidating which is very true! Her life has not been easy and she told us she really didn't want us to come over but felt like we should anyways. Turns out Sœur Meredith had known her son for a few weeks in her last ville, and this less active hadn't heard news from her son in a long time. It was cool for her to recognize the hand of the Lord in her life. We ended up not sharing what we had planned but took the opportunity to understand her situation and listen! 

Sunday was a good day as well. There was a baby blessing! Cute little Celestine Freard. The chapel was so full! Also I went to primary for a little bit to play their monthly song but they weren't quite finished with the lesson when I got there so I was able to sit and listen! They were talking about how important it is to fast with prayer. There was a little object lesson. 2 kids stood together at the front of the class shoulder to shoulder. One was fasting and another prayer. Then the teacher had another kid try to walk through them, easy! But then the teacher had fast and prayer link arms really tight while the other tried to walk through again, impossible! If we fast without meaningful prayer, it means nothing but with a meaningful prayer God can give us the strength to overcome trials.
I am so grateful for this gospel and the knowledge we have of our Savior. He is the greatest example for us. He taught us how to pray with our whole heart and taught us that Heavenly Father is always listening. Make those prayers count! :)

Sœur Giles
























Letter to Mom:
Absolutely love it Mom! You're busy and sound very happy :) glad clay is working! Hopefully he is happy about that.
We are meeting with a lot of members this week so they can get to know my new companions. We have quite a few part member families and are trying to build those relationships. Can't wait to see what happens!
We are still in the same apartment, just had to rearrange some things. Little bit crowded, little bit more dirty! But we'll get it all figured out.
Can't wait for the pictures of San Fran. Hope summer is doing okay!
Weeks fly by so fast and it all melts together. Things are just so much better in person to tell anyways. I've been writing in my journal that you got for me and taping some little things in it to remember. I dried the flower I got for mother's day from the primary and put it in there! It'll be cool to look through later.
Travel safe and have tons of fun!
Love, Hannah


Letter to Dad:
Very nice!! Good old San Fran. Let me know how Summer is doing!
I wish the tour went through here, we wouldn't be able to watch but it'd still be cool. I know the soeurs in toul! Its a cute small village.
Trio is going well, we're eating more than just salads so we'll see if I put on any kilos.
We had a good rendezvous with our ami Elizabeth. She told us she is searching for her life, we can help her find it! She's just got to keep the commitments and learn how it applies to her. We're trying to help her connect that line to the Lord.
We also did a pass by and they were there! Missionaries lost contact with her a few months ago so we're excited to keep working with that family.
Have a fun trip!
Love, Hannah