Highlight Reel

Hey everyone! Here we are again, 7 days later from the last time I sent out an email! Time goes by fast! It's going to be a short email today because we are headed out to Paris for some shopping and also it could possibly be Sœur Biggs's last time going into Paris before she possibly gets transferred out of Évry to her last ville, so she wanted to take advantage of it. I'll just be going through the highlights of the week so with that being said, it's show time!

The temple is a subject that seems to be really popular with our investigators and less actives. On Tuesday, we were able to take a less active to the temple for her first time. She has been struggling with smoking but ever since we told her about the temple she has stopped and has been working on being worthy to receive her temple recommend. Elder Woods, the visitors center director, was there and was able to teach her more about what happens in the temple and how she can be a huge blessing for her family since she is the only member. At the Paris temple, everyone has a chance to enter inside and sit in the waiting room and that was probably my favorite part of the trip. Before we even sat down on the couches, our member looks at us and says that she feels like she has a second chance to start over. She started crying and it was so incredible feeling the warmth of the Spirit in such a holy place. Our goal now is to help her with some family history so that way she can take some names in the temple and do baptisms for them.

There was a spectacle on Wednesday and we had the opportunity to go with an ami. Dancers from BYU came performed an around the world dance performance and it was fantastic! It reminded me of when I was in Oregon and performed in the dance festival. There were so many kinds of different culture dances: China, India, French Canada, USA, Hungary, Serbia, Norway, Ukraine, and a few others that I can't remember. It was so well done! Church members were coming up to us explaining how much they loved it one of them said they started the standing ovation at the end hahaha! I even got to see some church members from Rouen there too! After the show, we got a chance to talk with some of the dancers and it turns out that they're taking a tour around Europe to dance. We got some pics and went on our way home after a fun long day.

School is finally out in France so now all the students are everywhere we go! Some members in the ward hosted a party for their twins who had just graduated and we were invited to go. There was so much food but sadly we couldn't stay for the whole things because we had to be home by 9. We were able to eat and chat with people before we left and even watch some little kids dance which was so adorable!

I love this ward so much. Right now, we are teaching a little girl who just turned 8 and she will be getting baptized soon! She is a very intelligent girl and it's surprising to see the knowledge that little kids have! Her mother has taught her so well and it makes me so grateful for my parents and all that they've taught me in my years growing up. Their love, guidance, and counsel have helped me be the person I am today.

That's pretty much all the highlights I can think of from last week. I will mention that my time being in a trio is coming to an end next week. In a week from now, we find out if Sœur Biggs will be staying or leaving and we also take Sœur Kabongo to the airport and fly her off to St. George, Utah. I've honestly loved my first transfer here in Évry. My comps have been a huge blessing and we've had so many fun times over the last 6 weeks.

That's about it for now folks! Keep finding ways to stay cool in this hot weather! Have a fun week!

Love,

Sœur Hopkinson

samantha.hopkinson@myldsmail.net

Desert log #42: It was about 3-4 days ago when we found out how French people will stall a conversation to make you wait for about 5 minutes after you ask them for a bottle of water. The result: I received a bottle of lukewarm water which only ended up getting warmer and warmer as the day went on. We were blessed with a miracle that day when the sky decided to turn gray and rain came out of nowhere. It was all wonderful up until the hail came crashing down but other than that, still wonderful. Sœur Fears and I are survivors of the heat and we are getting prepped up again to face more days in the sun this next week.

Besides the heat blazing down on us for two days straight and an old man being a little stubborn to give me a bottle of water, the week was pretty fantastic! THREE times, not one or two, but THREE times this week we got to go to the temple which was a huge blessing. There was a musical fireside yesterday at the temple and missionaries in nearby areas were allowed to sing and participate in it as long as we brought an investigator to come and watch. Tuesday was the practice day and the music we practiced was so beautiful! I was excited for the rest of the week to be singing with other missionaries that I love! If you want to watch a love recording of it, a member in the Evry ward live streamed it on Facebook and I shared it on my mission Facebook account. Feel free to watch and pinpoint me out! So Tuesday and Sunday were spent at the temple so that leaves my temple story for Saturday. We went on a temple trip with two recent converts to do baptisms for the dead for their first time and it was so touching! One of our converts misunderstood though and had thought that she was going only to watch the baptisms be done and not perform them so she just ended up doing confirmations. We are planning another trip to go with her again so that she can do the actual baptisms. The temple is a huge blessing and I'm so thankful that we have so many all around the world with more under construction and more to be finished and dedicated.

We went to visit a member and share a spiritual thought with her because her husband went through surgery. We came into her apartment and the first thing that happens is her granddaughter that we are teaching runs up into my arms which was completely unexpected so that was a wonderful surprise. We were able to share our spiritual thought with the grandmother and have a lesson with the granddaughter which was a bonus! She is such an intelligent little girl and we are so excited for her baptism on the 18th of August!

I'm getting so antsy and sad about nearing the end of my mission. One thing that Président Sorensen told me is to have an image in my mind of  the end of my mission as fireworks. End your mission with a bang is what he told me. The last couple of months is where you let it all go and do the best that you can until the end. I love my mission and everything about it! The people, the country, the ward, all of it! It'll be sad to leave but for now I'm doing the best I can to share my testimony with the people of France!

I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Sœur Hopkinson

samantha.hopkinson@myldsmail.net