Soeur Sarah Hunt France Paris Mission: Hello from France!

I just want to start off and say, WOW. I could live here. I mean after my mission. I could live here forever. Every time I walk through the streets I get a little teary eyed because of how happy I am to be here, IN FRANCE. It's exquisite! It's indescribable! I love it so much and I couldn't be more happy.

So much has happened. I don't know where to start... oh ok maybe I can start off at the part where I got off the plane... I saw Scotland and England a little on the way over and I got to see a lot of the French countryside coming in. I didn't see the Eiffel Tower because I was on a different side of the plane from it. But it was all cool to see. I only got 45 minutes of sleep on the plane because I was so excited and I was writing in my journal the whole time.

I sat next to this lady who was heading to Bosnia and she was super nice. We had a long chat and she started to act like my mother. Super sweet. She was in her early 30s. I was thinking to myself, as we were chatting about life, “This is exactly what the MTC has prepared me for. You are going to sit next to a stranger and you're going to share a message.” Yup I was in that situation. She was from Tri Cities Washington, her dad is Muslim and her mom is Catholic. Yup. Great! Here I go. I was going to wait till we were in the air to talk to her about the church but then she asked me about my religion first. She was super impressed that I was a 19 year old girl about to live in France without my family for 18 months preaching the gospel. So of course she was interested in what I believed. I told her from the beginning of the Restoration and the plan of Salvation. I felt the spirit and showed her my book of Mormon and she read the introduction page, she said, "It's hard to understand." I told her, "I know it's hard for me too sometimes, but if you pray God will help you understand.” I then proceeded to explain in depth the Book of Mormon and the plan of Salvation and at the end I asked her, "What do you think about what I just said?" She then responded, "It's like every other religion I've heard of." THAT'S IT I'M DONE. I'M STAYING ON THE FLIGHT AND COMING BACK HOME. Kidding, but I didn't know how to respond to that. She said she thought it was neat and that religion wasn't for her and that she was going to stay away from it. Fine. You do that. But I hope someday my words take effect for her somehow. We exited the plane and she said goodbye. She said she loved talking to me and getting to know me and to be safe. I said thank you as well and we parted ways. It was a great experience.

We all got off the plane and then all of a sudden, everything was French. Words I didn't know what they were. Everywhere and everything was in French and people were speaking French and I was completely clueless in France. But it was all so cool. Everyone else thought it was awesome too. After we got our baggage without a problem we headed outside to meet our president. I saw this kid with a NASA sweatshirt on and I wanted to compliment him. There were many people here that spoke different languages and I thought maybe he spoke English besides I don't know how to say sweatshirt in French. I don't know what I was thinking; I'm in France why wouldn't he speak English. So I said to him, "I like your shirt." He gave me the strangest, questioning look and sneered a little so I just smiled and put my hand up in a way that said never mind. I walked away really fast. Elder Meinzer that was next to me started laughing so hard. Yeah, he saw and heard everything that just happened. He said that was the best thing he's ever seen so far. I guess it was pretty funny.

Our Mission President is awesome. Their family is so nice and their kids are so sweet and very cute. We were in a small town in Le Pecq next to the Seine River on the outskirts of Paris. Very beautiful everywhere. We went to the mission office and got our paper work filled out and had a meeting with the mission president. It was more of a temple recommend interview kind of meeting. It was a good meeting and we got to know each other very well. In between people meeting, other missionaries took us out to do our first street contacting. Yeah, I tried... and failed. I had no idea what they were saying, but it was a great experience.

That took pretty much the whole day. Then we went to the super cute mission home and ate dinner. Sister Sorensen is a good cook. I never thought jet lag was such a big deal, I thought people were just being dramatic... no... they're not. After dinner we went around saying what we learned most from the MTC and man, pretty much every single one of us were falling asleep every 5 seconds. I kid you not. My head kept bobbing and Elder Richie kept falling asleep too and everyone’s eyes were very heavy. Elder Richie was sitting across from President Sorensen who was talking at the moment and he eventually called Elder Richie out saying, "Elder Ritchie I know you're so tired, but we're almost done and then we can get you to the hotel." He was profusely sorry lol. It was funny and I'm surprised they didn't see me falling asleep when I was sitting right next to Sister Sorensen...

We went to the hotel and spent the night there. It was a strange little place. That was where I had the official French breakfast! So, so cute and so, so very yummy. They had pain au chocolat and fresh fruit and yogurt and crepes and cheese and it was so awesome. I loved it. We were all dying over it.

We then went to the temple and we saw the visitor center. It was so nice, it's incredibly beautiful. It’s pretty close to the Palais De Versailles which I got a very short glimpse of as we passed but as far as I could see it was beautiful. We got to walk around in the gardens of the Temple and we discussed goals that we wanted to fulfill by the end of our mission. It was so spiritual.

Afterwards we went to the mission home again to have a lesson from our President Soorensen about being the right missionary and what to expect. I wanted to know where I was going to be serving for this next little while... ah, yes, where I'll be serving... are you ready? Ok so they brought up the missionary that was currently serving in the area to the front. They showed a picture of the area and then announced who would be their new companion out of each of us. It was so cool seeing where everyone will be serving for the next 6-12 weeks. Sœur Bennet will be serving in Toul! My companion is Soeur Giles. She's from Southern California. She’s been serving in the same area for 4 transfers since she's been here in France. I’m serving in... are you ready...?! NANCY! 4 hours east of Paris and very close to Luxembourg. Speaking of Luxembourg I'm heading there with the STLs (Sister Training Leaders) for exchanges this Thursday and Friday. So I’ll be in Luxembourg this week! So that'll be cool. Toul is 20 minutes by car from Nancy so it won't be hard for me to see Soeur Bennett again! In fact they came over today and we went shopping together here in Nancy. Nancy is so big and there are so many things to see. I love it, it's so beautiful. Mom, you would die for these houses and Dad, neener, neener.

There is this wonderful Patisserie called, “Paul” oh would you look at that! What a coincidence. We went there on Friday and I got a Gourmandise which is similar to a pain au chocolat, it just has creme in it, and it was very yummy.

There is this Elder and he's 7 feet and 2 inches tall. Stuart, I'm not impressed with you yet... get on it. He has to duck in every entry and people are always staring at him. It's funny. He's nice. He didn't want to go out of the states and didn’t want to learn a language. Well the odds are not in your favor... HAHA sorry bud. But he likes it. He's been here 6 transfers so he's getting there. People have a hard time with my name because they don't pronounce the H's here. So I have to help them with the pronunciation. It’s great.

We take the bus a lot. One time we were at a bus stop with Elders and my comp and there is a big apartment building behind us. We were just sitting there when a huge water balloon comes out of nowhere right in front of us. It scared the daylights out of us. But I've seen videos like that and it was pretty funny. There are a ton of crazy people here. Yesh... that's all I've got to say on that subject...

The Cathedrals here are seriously so beautiful. I went in one and it smells old but I love the smell. It's incredible. But ours are better. The one we went to was called, Église Saint-Léon.

I don't have a problem whatsoever to just stop someone in the street and say “We’re missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We would like to share a message with you.” My companion is pretty timid but she knows a lot of things and gets by very well. She's one to follow and stay in her comfort zone so she said this is a bit of a challenge for her. With that said, she hasn't had much practice having conversations with people which means she can't think up a lot of questions to move the conversation along. Before the mission I promised myself that I wouldn't be an awkward missionary.... Yeah, well, that promise went down the drain. I love talking to people and getting to know them but I can’t do any of that if I don’t know what they’re saying. So it doesn't do much good for us. She sits there quietly looking from me to her and the amis or members are looking from us to the floor. I just smile wide eyed and say, "Oui!" I wish I could ease the awkwardness, but I don’t know what they’re even talking about. She helps me a lot though, she understands a lot and I learn a lot from her.

Anyways, we do a lot of street contacting because it’s a big city and there are a lot of people. There was this one time on Saturday where we had 2 hours to go contacting. Our goal is contact at least 20 people. We didn't have a specific destination we were just walking around. Every time we hit a corner to go onto the next street, I'd say, “ok Father, where do you want me to go now?” Then I'd feel like going a certain way. I'd stop people along the way. My goal is to try and go further than “We’re missionaries for the Church of Jesus Chr... oh, ok, bye.” So... further than Jesus Christ and actually share a message and maybe give out of Book of Mormon. I saw this lady walking towards us and I thought, “ok I'm going to stop her.” I did and she was very nice. She said she knew of some boys like us (Elders). She said this was perfect timing. She was about to go to the Saint Sebastian Cathedral and contemplate life and to also get some peace. She said she was given a card last time by the Elders so she's interested more now. She knows that we specialize in Family History and wanted know more about that. She's having a hard time with her family because they're all spread out and her husband has cancer and a lot of her family is sick so she's very tired and wants more for her life. She's an older lady probably in her 60s. She said she hasn't been baptized so she's not a part of any religion. She noticed that we were American and she's visited America a lot and says she wants to learn English and improve her English. So while we were talking to her in French she was talking to us in English. It was very, very cool. We gave her a Book of Mormon and a Restoration Pamphlet and exchanged numbers. Again she was super happy to see us and talk to us because that was exactly what she was looking for right in this moment. It was such a cool experience because I know the Lord was guiding us to her. We didn't have a destination we were just picking random streets! Hopefully we can set something up with her soon.

Sunday was awesome. I have so much respect for all the members here. Especially considering all the temptations and peer pressures here. I'm sure it's not easy, but their faith is so strong. It's not a very big ward at all. They were all so welcoming and happy to see us and me especially me because I was new. They had me come up in sacrament to introduce myself and share a brief testimony. I told them that my dad served in Paris as well and that my older brother served in Lyon. They understood me because they came up to me and told me how cool and crazy that is. Church here is much different than over there in America, but I really enjoyed attending church with people who believe the same things as me. It's also very quiet and peaceful on the streets on Sundays. I love it! A ton of the shops are closed because people don't work on Sundays. I think everyone should do that. Someone was playing the trumpet on the street. It was the typical French stereotype. I almost started crying because I loved it so much. I love France. I love the fashion!! And I love the people because they're cool and can speak French unlike me... and it's so incredibly beautiful.

I'm safe, I'm working hard and I'm seriously so surprised that I haven't stressed out since I've been here. I'm seriously super happy and couldn't be better. I'm just going with the flow and doing what I'm supposed to do. I know the Lord will bless me if I just open my mouth. Every time I do I'm prepared to embarrass myself. I know that each day I learn more and more. I'm not sad, I'm not scared, and I'm not stressed. I'm completely ready for everything that comes my way and that's the complete truth.

I'm glad you liked the tour. Yeah the French zone doesn't host the tour all that often, but I'm glad you liked it! I'm blessed that I could've been in the MTC with the new buildings. Bryce, neener neener. My favorite mural was the one of Joseph Smith. That one was in the 6th floor. It's beautiful. I loved them all.

I'll send lots of pictures! Love you all and stay safe in everything! Remember to talk to your Heavenly Father because he's always there listening to you. He hears you and will always help you.

Love, Sœur Hunt