February 26, 2018

So this week was good ! Really really cold. The sun is out but the air and the wind are so freezy. And it is supposed to keep getting colder! Crazy! Basically everyday my companion gets "hey you are Canadian you must still be warm, and you are Californian so you must be freezing!". In reality we are both cold haha!
Thank goodness for trains and metros.

I did get my debit card but I havent used it yet. I looked at the sticker on it And it said to just use it at an atm to activate it so I'll try that and then let you know.

I got Clay's letter. Thanks Clay!!! Thanks for your encouragement. Advice for high school...I would say take french but it seems like you are set on German haha oh well! For the other classes, hmm. What are your options? I dont remember. well in general, don't procrastinate!! That is number 1. Just try your best , you will do great!

Bleu is blue but moire is like a silky wavy surface.
The seine is lowering so that's good!

We were able to find new people this week. We haven't done much kicking out other than if they don't respond after 3 tries to contact them in different ways. The area book has been neglected until recently so we do a lot of work like that. It's really going really well!

Last week we had zone conference and we talked about doing language study and it went really well. Lots of people participated even though it was in French and there were a lot of new people.
We got our smartphones!! It is extremely bizarre. Trying to juggle the tablet and phone is hard but over time it will get better I think. It is such a good tool because now we can have much better contact with our investigators.

We visited an older couple in the ward and we talked about Ether 12:27 and shared the new Mormon message video "Become". It is very inspiring!

Have a wonderful week!!!!
Sœur Giles

February 19, 2018

Fondu Fridays

We started a new tradition! We now eat chocolate fondu every Friday to go with french Friday. Last Friday I accidentally burnt the chocolate but this time sœur van Duyse made it perfectly!So we had a few good lessons this week! Last Sunday a member came to church with his wife. He is a member and she isn't. So we talk and set up a lesson and it went really well. Then they came to church yesterday and we had a lesson afterwards. We were talking about the plan of salvation and the things that bring us joy. I loved her answer. She said that is so happy right now because she is surrounded by people she loves and who love her. Her life a few years ago was not that easy so she is so grateful to have this opportunity to have the gospel! She agreed to be baptized at the end of next month!!

We also went to see a member that hasn't come to church in a while . She shared her favorite scripture with us which is 2 Nephi 2:11. For there must be an opposition in all things! She said sometimes she likes being that opposition haha but then she said it actually helps her to understand life, why there is so much bad. It helps her to find the joy in life! We took a picture with her and her sister :)
Other than that we went to Rouen twice, once for an exchange and the other time for a district meeting. It's very surprising how many close calls there to missing trains but the train rides are always very enjoyable.

This week I was reminded by Alma that as missionaries we help people enter into the rest of God "But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering; Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest."
Sœur Giles


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Double Miracle for the Giles family on Tuesday

Little did you know mom that your prayers were reaching the other side of the world!
Dad thanks so much for sharing!!! It's so cool how the Lord creates just the most perfect cricumstances to get to really important things on time.

So rewind to Tuesday in Paris. 2 sister missionaries hop on a train to go to Rouen to go to a district meeting to do a little bit of training. It's only an hour train ride so not too bad. We go have a great time, learned lots , ate a really quick lunch and left 20 minutes before our train back is scheduled to leave. We should get there with atleast 5 minutes! So we start walking quickly (fun fact it was our second time going to Rouen and this was our first time walking back to the trains station from the church) so we are going and we see a building that looks like the train station so we take a turn and keep going, we get closer realize it is not the train station and ask someone for directions. They say oh wow it's in the total opposite direction. Ok quick u turn and then we have no idea where we are ask another person for help, start running in the general direction, ask a third person for help with 3 minutes till the train leaves. Soeur van Duyse was sick, she could hardly breathe but we couldn't miss the train!! So we are sprinting and sprinting, and finally we hop on the train with less than a minute! We were breathing so hard and had to take a few minutes break before finding seats. Soeur van Duyse slept on the train But in the end your prayers worked, our prayers worked, miracles have not ceased!

It was a tender mercy to be able to come back on time because we were able to see a less active named Eileen! She grew up in salt lake city but moved to Paris about 60 years ago. Hasn't really been active at all since then but she visited the temple with a nonmember friend during the open house and is thinking about sending the missionaries to him. She told us all kinds of stories from her life: world war II, only girl in her physics class in college, worked in the Pentagon, in charge of the stake drama program, ysa ward in Paris 60 years ago, adventures with her kids ! Some of her friends from 60 years ago got married and moved to Mexico and one of their daughters actually lives in Camarillo! They had left the church since their 20s so the kids are members but she said she would give my email address to the daughter that lives in Camarillo so that when I get back we could meet up and talk about our mutual friend Eileen :) it was a really cool experience! She also taught us how to learn languages! Got some really good language study tips.

During zone conference tomorrow we are getting smartphones! It'll be really useful!

It was a good week, full of work! I'm excited to see the new kitchen!



Love,
Sœur Giles

February 12, 2018

More Snow!

Okay so the story of the week is named Alexander!
Rewind to last Monday. We get a call from a supposed member from the south of France. He said he had a friend to refer that he had met while at school in the United States. He already had a book of Mormon. We thought cool, we will call him! So we call him and he is a Jehovah's witness, says he is practicing and so are his parents, and not really interested in changing but willing to discuss. We had a super long conversation over the phone and we learned a lot about what they believe. We set an appointment for the next Friday morning. Nothing is weird yet. We get to Friday morning and he isn't online! Too bad. Fast forward to that night and we are at the church. We see the elders in the other room teaching a Skype lesson, that's normal. Well we call Alexander to find out why he missed the lesson that morning and he asked to call him back later because he is talking to 2 young men. Okay no problem. The elder's lesson finishes and we ask them how it went and it turns out it was the same Alexander!! We had called during their lesson and the elders were wondering why we were on the phone at the same time as their investigator. But that's not the weird part. Since they were on exchanges there was also 2 other elders there and about a week earlier they had received the same call! All for the same person. So one elder calls the guy who is giving the referral and tries to see where exactly he is from and the guy can't give a specific answer and hangs up. We search his number in Facebook and it turns out Alexander has been referring himself! All over our mission and probably others as well. We are not sure why but it was pretty weird! Especially because he seems not interested at all.

Other than that we had another really good lesson with a real investigator named Lindsay. She agreed to pray about a baptismal date! :)

The weather has been kind of crazy, snow and rain but there was a little sunlight today! California send some more over please!

This week I really liked Mosiah 29:20 "But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him". Prayers work!
Have a great week!

Sœur Giles


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Letter to Dad,
Sorry I don't have much time left but sounds like your week went pretty good, Aladdin looked really good!!
This week we have spent a lot of time teaching about the book of Mormon.

We had a cool experience with a member on Friday night. There was some miscommunication about the temple trip and missed a ride . The temple is still about an hour away so he wouldn't be able to make it. Well we were at the visitors center calling people when he came. So we decided to do a spiritual thought with him about the book of Mormon. He told us he hasn't been able to read it lately but really wants to. We were able to testify of its importance and he asked for a book of Mormon to give to his co-worker. That's was cool!

We then had a lesson with a less active that is coming back and we talked about the same thing! It seemed like that was what everyone needed to hear this week. I really love the book of mormon and am so grateful for the truths that it teaches. Right now I am in Alma. As a mission we are reading it in 3 months while highlighting specific things. It has been really cool!

Thanks so much for all that you do! And also The kitchen will look great!

Love,
Sœur Giles

February 5, 2018

Today we went to Le Louvre ! It was pretty awesome. Here are a few pictures!
The rest of the week was also really good. It started off with a family home evening on Monday with a few members and an investigator. The investigator was actually found by the members a little while ago. They became friends just because of how often they walked past each other in that area. They ended up talking one time and became friends. So they invited him to come over and have dinner and now he comes to church!

We also went to see a member this week that had hurt her back at work a few weeks ago. She was still smiling so much though. She and her husband are form Ukraine and their conversion story was so cool. After they were married, every sunday her husband would put on a suit and tie and go church hunting! He wanted to know which one was God's church so he searched for many many years. It wasn't until his mother in law saw a flyer about the book of Mormon and gave it to them that they found the church and were baptized within a few months.

Another thing we have been doing is calling everyone in our area book. Since we have an application on the tablet and more people are added every week and some people were found but never contacted. It takes time but really worthwhile when we find people like Rose! She had been busy and was never able to meet the missionaries until now! I called her and she said she would love to meet. We met at a metro station and taught her the restoration and it was one of the best lessons ever!! She basically taught us about the great apostasy and when we introduced the book of Mormon and told her we were going to give it to her, she threw her hands up in the air and hugged us saying how much she hopped that we would give it to her! She said she would talk to her family and then invite us to teach them as well :)

Things are going really well here! Recently I've liked the scripture Mosiah 3:13 "And the Lord God hath sent his holy prophets among all the children of men, to declare these things to every kindred, nation, and tongue, that thereby whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he had already come among them." We can rejoice because of Christ!

Sœur Giles




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Letter to Family


Wow it really has been a busy week!! It is really cold here.
Mom cleaned out the garage and dad almost choked... and clay is going to take German.
I would love that chip card! just send it on over and then I'll tell you when I get it so you can deactivate the other one. French people get so confused with a swipe card because apparently they never existed here. They always think they don't work but they do!

All is going really well here. Sister van Duyse is still awesome and just such a good missionary. She is constantly thinking about our investigators, such a great example.

I'll tell you a few stories.
One really cool miracle happened yesterday! We went to take our normal metro to church but for some reason another train wasn't coming for 15 minutes and usually they come every 4 or 5. So we decided to walk to a different line. We get on and sit down. The lady across from me looks so sad and so sick and it would just seem so normal to leave her alone but we say hi anyways and the minute we start talking she has such a big smile on her face! It was cute :) she lives in Versailles so we gave her a temple card. Well we get off and then we hear "hello sisters" . It's an American from Ohio who was going to church but had no idea where to go. The stop he had planned on getting off at was closed. So he followed us to church and he was so grateful! His son is on a mission in South Korea right now and had his first baptism! So that's exciting!

2nd tourist story. Since we live next to the catacombs we always talk to tourists. And we talked to a couple from Colorado and they went to the open house for the new temple there! I got to say my dad and cousin served there :) Then they said they were going to Versailles so we gave them a temple card as well.

Another cool story, we met this man on the street and he did not agree that Jesus was actually the son of God. But sister van Duyse just got all bold and said he needed to listen anyways. So we had a lesson with him on Saturday with the senior couple msisioanry in our ward. And he brought a book a Mormon that he recieved over 15 years ago!!!!! It was smaller and drawn in but still so cool that he still knew where it was. He even read a little bit!

One last story: rewind a few years and a German girl named Sarah hops on a plan to Nevada to be a foreign exchange student. Host family is Mormon, so she attends seminary and goes to church. Fast forward a few years and is in Paris nannying. Last week she went to a birthday party and noticed that one of the girls isn't drinking so she asks why and the girl says she is mormon!!! And this girl is in our ward. So we get a text Sunday morning saying that she is bringing Sarah to church. Sarah comes and we talk and it's so awesome. We offered the lessons but she said she will just keep coming to church and see how it all works out. It was a miracle nonetheless! !!

Thanks for your emails :) you are the greatest family in the whole world!!

Love, Sœur Giles

January 29, 2018

Hi mom!
I'm doing good, just have a little cold. The seine river is super full, almost up to the bridges and there is some water in the metros but other than that, nothing else is affected. Today we visited the Versailles gardens and that was really pretty! Another sister took pictures on her camera so I don't have any yet. The castle isn't open on Mondays so that's pretty sad. Then we walked around the mall near our church and went into a cathedral.

On Friday we had mission council. It was cool to see how things are run and we got to talk about how to improve the mission. We are getting smart phones this month, not sure what kind but that'll be really nice!

We had a really really lesson with an investigator named Lindsay. She is the girlfriend of a member in the United States but has started reading the Book of Mormon and said she has seen a change in herself since she has been investigating the church. She said she feels more motivation to wake up in the morning, to make her bed, and be kind to people. She's so awesome!!

We also received the best text in the world last night from an investigator. Her 12 year old son is a member but she has felt she is not prepared. But last lesson we invited her to pray and pick her own baptismal date! So she said she talked to her son and he really encouraged her and said that it would help her. She picked a date for June! It's a little far away but it was good step forward.

Saturday, the elders had a baptism! His name is Kumar. But our investigator Pablo came and said he really liked it and that he felt something. Then he stayed for a little while just playing the piano with us missionaries. He's so cool!!

It was a pretty good week :)
Love,
Sœur Giles

January 22, 2018

The Ocean!

Things that happened this week:

Taught Pablo the 10 commandments and in his prayer at the end, he said he was convinced that God will bless him for his efforts to keep the commandments. Also he wanted to pay tithing before his baptism.

Went to a city called Le Havre, it's right next to the ocean! It was completely destroyed during world war 2 so it is a fairly new city. Very beautiful and it was so fun being on an exchange!
We went finding in the rain for 2 hours, we were wet but we found some really cool people!
Had 3 investigators at church and they all had a great time!

There is a BYU study abroad here for 3 weeks and some of them asked to teach with us!
Had a delicious desert at the ward meal after church called la galette des rois. There is a little clay piece in a slice of the tart and whoever gets it, is the king and wears the crown!
It was a great week, hope you have one too!

Sœur Giles

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Letter to Mom:
Happy late birthday Mom!!!! You are so awesome! I am buying stamps today and then sending you a letter, somehow time always fly by but it will be there soon. Sorry!
Paige's baby is so cute! Glad to hear things are going better.
Everything is good :) Health is good, money is good, would you mind checking to see how I'm doing?
That's a really good idea for relief society! That's one thing that I've promised to do forever, visiting teaching. It's so important!
I did get the mission story from Tami, it was very inspirational!
And the sisters are good. Some are having some difficulties with their companion but we are trying our best to support them. We have another exchange this week, the last week of the transfer. It'll be fun!
It was fun talking to the group from BYU!
I'll try my best to be more descriptive next week, I just can't think of what else happened!
It's all just going good! We have taught the restoration sooooo many times this month, it's starting to feel repetitive. What do you like about the restoration lesson? What touches you the most about it?
Thanks so much for all your support, I love you so so much!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Sœur Giles

January 15, 2018

Everything is going great over here! 

We went to Rouen in the West for an exchange with other sisters this week and that was fun! We went to their ward council and we picked what the general conference talks will be for the next 6 months. I really liked Elder Christoffersons talk about the sacrament. He emphasizes that the sacrament represents an internal covenant to change and follow the Savior. It really is a blessing to be able to have that reminder every Sabbath day!

We taught Pablo the word of wisdom and he said he already was living it so that was really nice. He loves reading the Book of Mormon! 

I love it here!

Sœur Giles

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Letter to Mom and Dad


Okay wow looks like your week was awesome!! Disneyland and mexico?! What else could you want! Maybe a few months in Paris :) actually I think you would enjoy the country a lot better than the city! We accidentally went to the rich sector and saw all the big stores and everyone had fur on their coats. Not really anyone was interested but we talked to a really nice old lady who had met the missionaries years ago, she said she still had her book of Mormon.

We were actually able to meet a lot of cool people this week! We saw Alma, a woman that we met a few weeks ago and finally gave her a book of Mormon and she was so happy. She sees the absence of time she has for God but really wants to change that. 

We called about 20 elderly less actives in the ward this week to help the relief society president organize visiting teaching. Well I called this one number and an old man answered. I assumed it was the husband of the lady I had called so I set up a time to meet with them yesterday. He gave me the address and everything. Well yesterday we went to this address and call the number to get the code and this time a younger woman answers the phone and doesn't know who we are! Turns out this random old man, who was out of the house at that time, had invited us over, not a less active, without even knowing who we are! 

Then we went to a members house and she gave us fleminkusch, its like pizza but french! And she said she would love to do family home evenings at her house with investigators. 

My companion and I are doing well! We really are trying are best to speak only french outside of the apartment, its harder than you'd think! But we are getting along great!
Have another great week!

Love,
Sœur Giles