Soeur Sarah Hunt France Paris Mission: Happy late Halloween

How's everyone doing? Can someone please tell me how on earth it is already November?? I seriously cannot believe how fast the time is flying by! Crazy stuff. Well anyway, I know you are all dying to know how I spent the week of Halloween here in Nantes.

First for p-day last week we visited a little coastal town called Pornic with a member family. They we excited to show us around and spend more time with us. It was fun!

We made sure to make the best of Halloween! We ended up making little nature leafy things that a member gave us and told us to do something with them for fun. So, well, we did! We drew little faces on them and surprise attacked a few members. It was super fun! This was a little difficult because lots of members live in apartment buildings where you must ring an intercom in order to enter so it was a fun little adventure. We figured it out and they loved them! They sent us pictures of what they did with them. Some set them up as decorations in their home. So, it was fun to see what they ended up doing with them. I'm glad they liked it.

We went finding later the same day in the evening. I was not expecting to see so many people dressed up in costumes (Halloween isn't that big of a deal here) and even some stores giving out candy to little kids! The biggest surprise of all was meeting one super sweet lady named Melanie. We were totally not expecting her to listen to us, but she actually listened and said she'd love to have us over. She feels like having faith helps her be positive and happy despite all the troubles in the world. We also met a more hesitant woman who was unsure of us at first but as we testified, she became more willing to learn more. It was cool to see how the Spirit softened her heart just in a quick conversation that was less than 5 minutes. That night we came home and carved a pumpkin!

The adorable member from the Dominican Republic who only speaks Spanish asked for us to come over this week as well. We had a hilarious conversation with Google translate and decided we were going to help her practice her French. She is so funny and such a sweetheart.

We also were able to teach Ruth with Favor as a member present. It was such a good lesson! Ruth is going through some rough stuff, but Favor was able to testify that relying on Jesus Christ and accepting the gospel would bless her and help her overcome her challenges. She has such a strong testimony and is a great friend and example to Ruth (and me too!). Favor is such a boss with missionary work, I'm glad she's on our team now.

This Friday we taught a Nigerian Catholic Bonne Sœur (nun)! It was incredible. She was so nice and listened to what we had to say even if she disagreed with some of it. Initially she refused to take the Book of Mormon but in the end took it because it was a nice gesture and she even said she'd read it in her free time. I love meeting and talking to people of all different faiths and seeing how we can find common ground. It's so cool!

We also were finally able to teach Eliane who came to church a few weeks ago. She loves Jesus and had a lot of stories to tell so we didn't get through the entire lesson. She has been to many churches but doesn't know if we can find the true one. However, we definitely got her thinking about whether a restoration is possible, and she is interested in coming back to keep discussing it.

This brings us to church yesterday! So, we didn't think we would have any amis at church because Ruth said she wouldn't be able to come. But then she walked in with Favor! I told you she’s a boss and I’m pretty sure she helped Ruth come. It was a nice surprise. Then randomly during the last 10 minutes of Sunday school this lady I'd never seen before walked in and sat down. We are having class in English, so I moved next to her and was like do you understand English and she was like yeah, yeah (even though she is a francophone primarily). So, I waited for class to end and then started talking to her. Long story short, she just moved here from Angers and was looking for a church to go to and ended up at ours! She had to be home by 12 so left before relief society or anything but it was cool to meet her, and she said she'd come next week!

Anyways, I love seeing how the spirit changes lives and softens hearts. I love seeing how when we first start talking to people, they're very closed off and defensive, but in the end, they come out and feel like they'd be willing to try something new. Our gospel really does change lives. It changes mine every day. I love you all and I hope you have a fun week!

Love
Soeur Sarah Hunt