September 25, 2017

Want to spend pretty much all 4 seasons in Nancy? Sign me up!

Sœur Hunt and I get to stay another 6 weeks together! That will make more than 7 months for me here. I love it!!

We had a good rdv with our ami Joseph. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ. He doesn't have a lot of background or understanding of his role so it was cool to see him understand that yes Christ did die for us and yes He suffered for us but because of that we can be resurrected one day and we can be free of all sin and pain. Those two things make eternal life possible. Jesus Christ is essential.

Well we were talking and Joseph was saying how he doesn't quite understand all that we say but everything he reads he believes! We had the opportunity to ask him to be baptized and he said yes!! Although he doesn't quite understand all of it and he is moving in a few days, he does have the desire to continue and act! The best part was that we got to teach with a couple in the ward and they helped so much! They explained everything so clearly. I never want to teach without members again!

We also had a really good street contact. It was a young girl, maybe 23 and we talked for about 20 minutes! She was very open and interested to why we are here. We told her all about the restoration, even recited the first vision, gave her a book of Mormon, got her number, set up a rendezvous for just a few days later. We were so excited!! She seemed really touched. Well fast forward an hour and we receive a text from her saying she doesn't want to meet anymore. That was a little heart breaking but oh well. She's missing out!

We also received a referral from temple square in Salt Lake! I guess they were on vacation and come back this weekend. We will see how that goes!

I loved this simple statement of truth from the last general conference. "God the Father is the Father of our spirits. We are His children. He loves us, and all that He does is for our eternal benefit. He is the author of the plan of salvation, and it is by His power that His plan achieves its purposes for the ultimate glory of His children." I know He cares about us and is working hard for us to be able to have joy forever!

Soeur Giles


August/September Zone Conference





































Letter to Mom:
Wow that all sounds awesome!! You got lots of things done. I'm excited to see the house in a year, it'll be so different! I am SO excited for an avocado tree!!! And truf, that will make playing games in the backyard easier.
Tell hi to Brenda and the other lady as well. They are so nice!
How is Summer?
My week was good! We spent some time looking through my ancestors with the genealogy specialist in our ward. Her name is Noelle and she is awesome. She actually as some ancestors named Lucas as well! They are from luxembourg. The Lucas line on my tree only goes back to people still in the United States. I wonder how we could try to past that. Maybe we are related! haha
Another night we went to a young couple's apartment for dinner and it was so fun!! They both served missions and it was so fun hearing their stories. Also the wife was cutting the bread (apparently in the wrong way) so they had a 5 minute argument about how the bread should be cut when we eat it with cheese.
Another night we went to the Clavey family for dinner. His name is Gilles and her's is Ketty. They are both great grandparents only 70 and 60 years old. But Gilles reminds me so much of dad, just goofy all the time, and it makes me laugh! So we had some good moments this week, and good food!
And i am staying in Nancy for another transfer! It is my 5 th here. I'll for sure be gone after the next one :( that'll be 7 months here! I'm glad to stay with Soeur Hunt as well. We are doing well!
It was actually a lot warmer this last week. I haven't worn tights in a few days. But scarfs will be coming out soon don't worry.
Yes I feel very safe! I recognize all the crazies here and they are not mean just crazy haha. It is a very pleasant place to be!
This week I read the book. Our heritage. It is in the missionary library and it was super good. I love reading about the restoration of the church. But also it focuses not so much on joseph smith but on the fact that we do have continued revelation. We have a prophet today who is actually being directed by the Lord in what to say. How awesome it is that we get to hear from them this weekend! I'll watch the relief society one on sunday and then the 1st session also on sunday but other than that I think we have to find time in our schedule to watch them because of how big the time difference is. One thing I tried to do these past few weeks was to focus on the ones that where just given in April and use that alot during lessons because it is revelation that was meant for this time right now. And I found a new talk that I didn't remember super well each time I went into the gospel library. It was so rich with inspiration, i love it!
It makes me so happy to hear from you!!
Have a wonderful week mom! You are amazing and I am very very grateful for you!
Love,
Sœur Giles

September 18, 2017

This week we were walking around one morning deciding where to go to find and a man walked past us quickly and said "what's up sisters" and continued walking. First of all we need more information than that random man who knows missionaries because we do not see american tourists very often. So we followed him down the street and we saw that his car had broken down and his wife was there too! They are members and have been living in Germany for less than a year and were visiting the big cities around. But something happened and they didn't know how to get there car fixed. So we were able to talk with them a little while and find for them a place to go and get a tow truck. It was cool to be guided by the spirit to that place where we could help them!

Also I learned how french toast came about! Here it is called pain perdu or lost bread. So they would take the bread that is going bad and fry it to make it still edible. 

We got to visit a less active again, which was nice. She needs a lot of support and really enjoys our visits.

Have a wondeful week! 

Sœur Giles











Letter to Mom:

That sounds like a fun Friday party! Clay is lucky!! We have been making quesadillas here and I make a little salsa to go on it. And it's good that you eventually got to that to do list, if I was there we would have it done right away :) that's a lot of changes you have planned! Is dad's work going well?
This week was okay, a little tiring because we walked around a lot and couldn't find anyone but we are still going strong! This week is looking a lot better already.

It is kind of a stereotypical thing to say but I have really come to love the cheese here. Seriously it is like ice cream. People eat it with every meal and it just tastes so good. The longer I am here the more I love to eat it. It grows on you! At first you think it is nothing special but then you just want more!

I'll just say the few big things in the other email, love you tons. Thanks for all your support, 

I also pray for you every day!

Love,
Sœur Giles

Letter to Clay:

Clay you spelled banana correctly haha thank you for your email. You are indeed my favorite little brother :) and you will probably grow up to have my same excellent grammar skills because I also had mr Locken for language arts and he taught me grammar. We will see!! I sent you a letter today so you should get it next week!
It is COLD here. I need that nice blue blanket that you sleep with up here with me. I wear lots of sweaters at night. And lots of fuzzy socks.
My companion is super fun and very helpful. Even though she is new she is doing great!
Right now we have a few investigators named Joseph, Chloé, Irène, Alexandra, Nono and Sylvia. They are making progress slowly but surely.
How is your football season going? I heard you ran the ball, go you!!
Have a wonderful week Clay.
Love love love you!!
You're favorite Sœur, Hannah

September 11, 2017

Good times in Nancy!

Here are a few highlights of the week:

We actually got let in while knocking doors!! First time ever!! Well we hardly ever actually knock on the door, its more like press the little bell and wait for them to stick their head out the window. But we were at this little apartment building and we pressed the bottom name, she couldn't quite understand through the speaker so she opened up the window and peered down at us. We tried again to explain who we were and then she said "oh you speak English I suppose? Why don't you come up and we can talk." So we walked up and met Margaret! She grew up in Germany and while there her mom owned an apartment building and that is where the missionaries lived! So she has known Mormons her whole life. She has lived all over the world and speaks German, English, and French. She moved to Nancy because of her husband's work and has lived here ever since. Now she lives alone, but living a good life. She used to go to the English class taught by the missionaries and really enjoyed it. It was perfect because we will be starting one soon! She also invited us back on Mondays because she gets together with other old people and they speak English together. It was a neat experience.

This weekend was stake conference and it was nice to see so many members come together, the whole chapel and gym was filled with people! The best part was the baptism after. An ami from Luxembourg wanted to get baptized on his wife's birthday (Also Nancy has a font which worked out nicely) which was yesterday! Our ami Irène was able to watch as well! She has been coming to church for months but has trouble understanding basics. It was a great opportunity for her to see what the covenant is and how happy the new member was after he was baptized (even though the water was freezing because the hot water didn't work). She told me she really liked!

President Sorenson assigned each of the zones a way of finding to become masters at! Our zone is genealogy work which is perfect because our family history specialist is amazing and loves it so much. Her name is Noelle and we met with her on Friday to just go through family search and talk about how to use with our amis. It was so fun! Also she brought us a lot of patisserie which were delicious. We have been trying to talk about it as much as possible to people that we meet but I'd love to hear about how you have used genealogy and what blessings you have seen or experiences that you have lived. 

Also at the end of this month our ami Joseph will be moving to the south of France to find work. Which is super sad because he is loving all that we are talking about and he is just such a cool guy! But he asked if there are missionaries down there a few times already so we have high hopes! 

Have a wonderful week!

Sœur Giles




Letter to Mom and Dad:


Bravo dad bravo!! Very impressive, I actually really enjoyed it haha good job!
Can't believe baby Cassidy is all grown up! I remember watching the car drive away when summer left for college. 

All is going well here. I've really been thinking about how to work with the members. We have a really cool family here, Eynora and Alexandra. They are both in their twenties and served missions and really supportive. But I talked to Eynora yesterday and she noticed that of all the converts that have been baptized in the last 2 years, only one comes consistenly every week and is very reliable. He is actually the young mens president and he was baptized less than a year ago! His daughter is one of our amis as well. But we were talking about that and how frustrated she is because she has put a lot of work and effort into this people and not very many of them stay. We're trying to figure out why.
But I have really been feeling that the key to growing the ward here is members talking to their friends. I realized our members are mostly all related. There are ties in almost every family. That's really the only way the ward has stayed together! So now we have to build the connection between the members and missionaries not so that they just hand us all their friends but so that they feel comfortable sharing their testimonies with others and do the work themselves. So as members what advice do you have? What would you like the missionaries to do so to help you share the gospel? How's our family mission plan going? :)

My testimony and understanding of the gospel has really grown while being out here mostly because I study and apply the teachings to others lives then I am also able to apply it in my own as well.
We had a fun experience this week. We were walking on a street in the old part of town and there were big numbers on the ground so Soeur hunt was looking at them. An older guy in front of us makes the sign of cutting his throat and tell us thats where it happened while pointing at the ground. We were super confused but we stayed and talked with him and his family and they told us about during the war in Nancy a famous guy was killed so thats why there were numbers on the ground. Then we started talking about how we are from the US ad they are actually going to new York next summer! They are super excited. So here are the pictures from that. In the middle is the mark of Lorraine (the region that we are in) and now I see the mark everywhere and I never noticed it before!
Thanks for your emails, tell clay hello! You are a wonderful family, I am very blessed!

Love, Sœur Giles

Sept 4, 2017

Has it been 6 months or 6 days?

Another good one! We have found a nice neighborhood to knock doors and went there a few times this week. It was very fun to just walk around and enjoy the summer evenings even if we got told that everyone in the Lorraine region is Catholic and staying that why. They were super surprised to know we have a ward here.

 
Yesterday all the university students came back!! The city was so lively, good things are coming in the next few months. 

We also had zone conference this last week. 2 bishopric members and 1 stake high councilman from the Nancy stake came and observed us while practice teaching and gave us insights into working with the members. One thing that I really liked was that we need to become the message if we want these members to feel of our love and help them share the gospel with their friends. It is more than what we say, what makes a difference is who we are. 

Our ami Joseph came to church yesterday for the first time! He really liked it. The ward was very welcoming and even Joseph was going up to the people he had met before and saying hello. He volunteered to read in amis class and was not timid at all, it was awesome to watch!
We had a rendezvous with a less active and her less active friend was there! We met THE Marie Claude. Marie Claude is just another less active who is friends with the less active in our ward. Not anyone actual special but till now she has been a mystery because Marie Therese talks about her all the time but we finally met her!I had only heard stories about her for the whole time I've been here but we finally met and she was surprisingly normal and very nice. 

I really like this verse in 3rd Nephi "Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world." Though this was when Christ appeared in the Americas, it could also apply today. We don't have to blindly believe anything. Christ invites us to have spiritual experiences for ourselves, to be personally healed through Him.

Bonne semaine!
Sœur Giles














Letter to Mom and Dad:


I think the fallen tree is pay back for all the times we threw things over the wall. But weird and interesting that it just fell without an external force! Good thing no one was outside! Also I heard there is a hurricane or something in Texas and that there is lots of flooding! Are the Jacobson's okay? And Todd and Shelly live there too right? And Maria and what's his name! Oh i just remembered its John. Oh and we can't forget about Chip and Joanna?!? I wear my magnolia farms shirt a lot.

I'm glad Mackenzie had a good time in florida and that the baby is doing well.
That is so hot!! The summer here was not bad. It is already starting to be really chilly in the mornings. Fall is coming quick. It will be a long and cold winter. Sometimes its hard to tell myself to get up because it is dark outside now and it hasn't been the whole time I've been here and I don't realize it is 6:30! But the alarm is loud enough. In all my dreams I am a missionary but normally the setting is at home or somewhere else so everything is super weird! Then random people start speaking French or signs are in French, hahaha!

As a companionship we started the challenge that Elder Nelson gave us to go through all the sections of the topical guide on Jesus Christ and read and mark them. Well we are doing it just for the Book of Mormon right now. And it was interesting knowing that Nephi knew what Jesus's name would be 600 years before his birth! Also it is cool seeing about how many witnesses there are on each subject. There are a lot of verses that mention he created the earth.

So President Sorenson wants us to make the mission song more reverent so I learned the song in a few days to play it for zone conference and it turned out very nicely, well as nice as it could be. Normally it is sung pretty fast but with the piano it has to be slower. 

The flowers and the garden pictures are very pretty! Crazy Cassidy is going to college. Seems like just yesterday it was me and Jake. You dropped us off at Helaman halls in the good ol green machine. She will have a great time! 

Sœur Hunt's French is progressing. It takes a lot of work to speak but the comprehension is coming. We are going to split up the lessons more evenly now so she will practice more and more. 

Tell Clay good job for running the ball! He is a stud.
That's about it for this week. Have a wonderful one!

Love, Sœur Giles

August 28, 2017

It's been a week of eating rice and couscous

Ok first off let's just talk about Sœur Hunt's stir fry!!! We had it at least 4 times this week. Bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, and zucchini never tasted so good.

Our rendezvous went pretty well. We were able to see Joseph and Iman. They are both doing well!
The biggest thing that happened this week was we were able to go to Luxembourg for a day!! We did exchanges there and it was super cool. It looks different than France and everyone speaks at least 4 languages. They take trains instead of buses to get to the different villages and the main center town is pretty small. 

We went to see a less active and we showed the video about the man who is on a cruise and takes canned beans to eat because he doesn't realize that the food and activities are included in the price of the ticket. Sometimes its easy to forget about all the blessings Heavenly Father has for us. We've been baptized, we've paid the ticket and are aboard the ship. But do we participate in all that He has in store for us? That could mean during Sundays paying more attention to the sacrament and how to involve the atonement in our lives or during each day, making sure our prayers are more meaningful and thoughtful so that He can answer them! I loved seeing that perspective.

Then we went on the elevator in the middle of the city! People actually use it to travel. We talked to a lady who was on her way home and she took a picture for us!

Saturday we had a fun brunch with the Tahitian couple in our ward. Her sister from Tahiti was visiting. Her sister served her mission in Australia so it was fun speaking a little bit of English with her.

That's about it for this week, have a great one!

Sœur Giles








































Letter to Mom and Dad:

I had a really good week! Sœur Hunt and I are getting along very well and are much more comfortable. We started to really laugh a lot this week and had some very good times. Being with her has really helped me to see how powerful preach my gospel is. It really is inspired! It is very simple but it has so much power. The lessons work so well and tie into each other and then all the other chapters are added bonus on how to obtain lots of blessings of the gospel. I've also learned how precious time is, it's important not to waste a second! That includes taking the time to slow down and talk through the experiences we have had.

One of my strengths really is not contacting, you're right Dad, sometime people have a gift for it and others don't (I don't remember that sister 10 years ago but I'm sure it helped the ward so much and showed that they are people who are prepared even in little Camarillo) but I really have found a lot of joy in seeing members reach out. There is a lot of potential for that in this ward so I'm praying for ways on how we can put it into reality! One member Maité is super awesome in inviting her friends and family in a very soft way, she doesn't want to push them but she has a strong testimony of the love of the savior. Her daughter in law seems to need the gospel!

Mom, my piano site reading skills are just getting better and better (well I pray every single second of every song because of the lack of time for real practice). But I played a few new songs in sacrament meeting yesterday that I never have before. It was fun but I sweated way too much, too nervous!

It's so crazy how people are getting married, seems so surreal. The flowers were beautiful! And Paige is going to have a baby!! I remember when we were in primary together.

Iman's calling is assistant relief society secretary so she takes roll during 3rd hour but she hasn't been there in about a month. She has friends in the ward and they all care about her! Almost everyone we see asks about how she is doing. But now she is in Toul taking care of a sick friend for the next 2 weeks. It just feels like so many things are pushing against all our efforts to help her!

I read Joshua 5 and 6 and I liked it! Cool story about how the Lord keeps his promises when we are exactly obedient. I read that 7 represents holiness and perfection in the bible. And the Savior is the Lord of Hosts, he directs his work, he is the head of this church, the reason why we can progress in life. What he does, and where he is is holy! So things of the world cant be there, like joshua's shoes. Veggie tales has taught me a lot actually!

Thanks for your emails, stay busy and smile lots and lots! Even with your braces mom :)
Love,
Sœur Giles
Some extra pictures of Luxembourg!

August 21, 2017

Transfer 4 in Nancy begins!

Another crazy week! We had a fun time at a ward picnic. We played lots of fun games. Like trying to push a toy car with a potato tied to your waist...interesting! We also played one where you had to put on lots of random clothes fast then run a little ways and back and then take them all off again. It was good to spend time with the ward and see them laugh a lot. We then had dinner with the Tahitian couple in our ward and she tried to teach us how to Tahitian dance. Unfortunately we were not blessed with that ability and we looked ridiculous haha but it was very fun!

Wednesday I went with two other soeurs into Paris to pick up our bleues. We successfully navigated the metros with huge suitcases, didnt get lost at all!
My bleue's name is Sœur Hunt! She is from Sandy,  Utah and just graduated from high school. She is very cute and very courageous. We will have lots of good times these next months. 

We visited a less active family on Thursday and it was such a good rendezvous. We talked about Mosiah 18 and our baptismal covenants. The wife was able to study and learn about what our covenants are. And they actually were able to come to church last week. The husband said the opening prayer in sacrament meeting. He was very nervous so he only said two things: bless the missionaries and bless the cats and dogs. It was the cutest!

On Friday we saw Joseph. He has a strong desire to learn more. He doesn't speak much french but is trying his best to learn.
We then went to see a less active in Pont a Mousson. She lives about 20 minutes from the train station and the whole time we were walking, it was pouring rain. Oh well!

On Saturday we met the coolest lady!! Her name is Josette and she had seen missionnaires a little while ago. She is really interested in genealogy and is having difficult family struggles. She was so ready! Well we got her number and then called it yesterday...not her number. It was sad because it was such a great experience. Hopefully she will be found again!

Have a wonderful week!

Sœur Giles 

Letter to Mom:

I am doing well Mom :) I love my new companion. She is very sweet! And she has such a good desire to be out here. Its been fun reliving MTC days. That feels like so long ago! Sœur Hunt actually received her mission call AFTER I reported to the MTC. Weird.

Speaking of weird, I had the same thought last week when Lucas emailed me and said Kailee was sick. Interesting, very interesting. We will see soon I'm sure!

Also I'd love to email Clay! Maybe you could help him set up a gmail so we can talk? I miss my chess playing buddy!
Cute blankets! The babies are going to be very comfy. 

I am really happy to still be here. When you come we will walk through place stansislas and get some gelato in the shape of a rose! You'll love it!

One thing I enjoyed studying about this week was the Abrahamic covenant! It's cool to think that when we enter into the covenant we are promised access to the atonement and to eternal blessings. We always have a chance to start over and try again. Always!
Hopefully your mouth heals quickly, I'm praying for you! 

Love, Sœur Giles

August 14, 2017

Drum Roll!

This week was a crazy one! Our transfer ended and we had no idea what was going to happen to the three of us. So I will be staying in Nancy and a new missionary straight from the MTC will join me! I'm super excited but incredibly nervous. Sœur Meredith is going to Lille and Sœur Robertson is going to the city right next to it, Villeneuve d'Ascq. They will be in the same apartment but not companions! I am super happy to still be in Nancy, I love the city and I love the members here. They are incredible!

This week we had a fun rendezvous with a new amie Dominque! She is open to talking and likes that we dont focus on the death of Christ. We showed her the Prince of Peace video and she liked it enough. She had one problem with it...she said that Jesus didn't actually turn wine into water. He just added more water to make it into water and the disciples didn't even know it! Well actually the miracle was water into wine so her logic makes no sense...oops!

We were also able to have a good family night with Iman! She bought us a little cake and we sang together. We also read Mosiah 5 and talked about how important covenants are.

This week, we discovered a cool way how to work with less actives. In chapter 12 of President Howard W Hunter's teaching manual he talks about how important our relation is with the Savior, how important our covenants are with him. So we decided to talk about that with 2 of the families we went to see this week. And it was awesome! We talked about what they really wanted in life. One really really wants to be sealed in the temple and the other wants to be a good example to her grand kids. Both stem from keeping their covenants!

Other than that one of the elder's amis made us dinner, tartiflette. Potatoes and cheese and bacon and onions. Its special because of the cheese I guess. It was super super good!!

Bonne semaine!
Sœur Giles

***************************************************************************
Letter to Mom:

Oh wow lots of change! How is your mouth feeling now? Cassidy is a great nurse!
French is coming along. It is nice having a francophone in my district because he corrects us a lot and that helps! But he is leaving to another ville, sad! But I'm sure I will get lots of practice these next two transfers if my new companion isn't francophone.

Glad to hear the return missionaries are doing well! Its such a good time to be our here serving, i love it! Every day is absolutely insane and lots of crazy things happen but its soo good.

I will really miss my companions, they have been such great examples and have helped me a lot. Sœur Meredith was really sad to have only spent one transfer here. Nancy is the best! But i am also nervous to be taking over Nancy, I know the most about everyone!

Also yes I am very comfortable with public transport, it seems like its the only way i will ever travel. Super easy! Here there are about 15 bus lines and I have ridden most of them.

Glad you got back safely, summer is almost over! It is starting to be pretty chilly in the morning. But I am doing really well. 

Have a wonderful week mom!
Love you!

Sœur Giles