Welcome to Rouen!

Salut everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas celebration yesterday! It's crazy to think that Christmas is already over and next week is a new year! Also, I celebrate my birthday on Monday! There's still time to party folks!

It's been about a week since I moved here to Rouen, definitely a huge difference in this ville. It's a lot bigger than Tours and I live right in centre ville as well, so our apartment has a good view over the city and I can see the cathedral from the window as well! When I first saw that I was getting transferred, I was in a huge state of denial. I was finally leaving my bleu ville. I felt excited about it, but at the same time I was devastated because I was leaving Tours the week right before Christmas. When transfer day arrived, I was bawling. I didn't want to leave the only place I knew on my mission. I didn't want to leave the amis and members I've grown so close with. It felt like I was leaving home and my family all over again, so saying my goodbyes was heartbreaking. These people have seen me and my progression since the beginning of my mission. I love this ville and I love the people there. Herve came to the gare to help put my suitcases on to the train...and accidentally ended up coming to Paris with us because right as he put my second suitcase on the rack the train doors closed and departed from the gare. It was super fun getting to hang out with him for an extra hour and a half though! He told me that when he woke up that morning, he didn't expect to be on a train to Paris at all hahahaha! So we partied on the train up until we arrived at the gare in Paris and from there we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Over the last couple of days here in Rouen I've met some of the amis here and the ward members. It was super weird going from a small branch to a good sized ward. Sure enough, I was asked to introduce myself in sacrament on Christmas Eve. I still miss Tours but I've already come to love the people here in Rouen and I'm excited to be here for the next couple of transfers!

My new companion's name is Sœur Hatch and she is absolutely adorable! She comes from the state of Utah and is just a transfer behind me so we depend on each other when it comes to French. Rouen is her first ville on the mission so we think that she'll be leaving after this transfer or the next one. My French has definitely been put to the test ever since I arrived here in Rouen. I'm to the point where I can completely understand what's being said so my goal for this transfer is to have more confidence when I speak to people because I tend to hesitate with my phrases. I love speaking this language and I'm blessed to be here in France learning more and more in the French language.

Christmas Eve and Day were very well spent. Members in the ward were calling us like crazy to have us over! Sunday evening, we go to a members apartment for dinner and it was super good. Funny story though, so the wife comes to the dining room with a crockpot, opens it up, and I see small versions of rotisserie chicken. The whole time I was thinking, "I'm eating a baby chicken!" Later on that night when we arrived at our apartment, my comp turns to me and mentions how good the quail was that we ate. Well, at least I felt better knowing that I didn't eat a baby chicken. Christmas Day we had lunch at another member's house and I ate duck liver. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Turkey was also served, kinda felt like Thanksgiving. The highlight of yesterday was speaking with my family! Oh how my brothers have grown! It was good to hear from everyone! I love my family so much! I can't wait to talk with them again in 6 months for Mother's Day!

I'm excited to see what the new year brings! 2017 has been an adventure! I left for my mission, my brother graduated and received his mission call, friends left for their missions, so many excited things in 2017! I hope you all have a great rest of the week and be sure to end this year in a fantastic way! Happy almost New Year everybody!

Love,

Sœur Hopkinson

samantha.hopkinson@myldsmail.net