Allison's birthday!

Bonjour!

Not too much to report for this week.  Saturday was Allison's birthday!  I think it was pretty fun.  For breakfast we had pancakes with Nutella and Speculoos, of course, and then later that night we ate at Lucie's house for dinner with many others.  They were so nice and put 21 candles on an apple tart and brought it out with everyone singing Happy birthday!  I think it was in English too haha.  It was great.  She even got a few little gifts from them.  They were all recent converts--Allison and I realized we were the only ones there that were born in the church.  Isn't that cool?  They are the best!! 

Today for P-Day we are staying in Perpignan and going shopping because I wear basically the same three outfits everyday and it's getting rough.  Also I told Allison we would do some birthday shopping for her together.  So I'm looking forward to it! 

This week I've been learning about how hard it is to be a convert to the church, or in the process of it.  So many of us born in the church just don't realize that as missionaries, we ask these people to change their lives COMPLETELY.  Some more than others, of course.  But it's a really hard thing to do, to completely change your life because of something you believe.  Luckily this belief is something we can actually know--that Christ is our Savior and that he restored his true church on the earth today--by the power of prayer and the Holy Ghost.  That doesn't eliminate our trials in the process of changing, but it does bring us peace and hope to make it easier.  We know that the sacrifices we make to come unto Christ are not really sacrifices when they will be made up a hundred fold in the end.  During our spiritual thought with the recent converts Saturday Night, a few of them told us our stories of the trials and also joy they experienced as they acted on the principles of the Gospel. 

We have an ami Christiene who I met the first day we were in Perpignan and loved right away.   I LOVE going to visit her and just feel how much the Lord loves her too.  Haha she is the cutest little thing.  It has been difficult to help her progress and act on her faith, but last night we had a really good lesson with her for the first time in a while.  She always says that she prays everyday for something specific but He never answers and then after we left her house last night, she sent us a text saying that what she prayed for had happened and she was happy.  YES!!  I hope that she can recognize that response (and the fact that we have been sent to her by Jesus Christ) as indications of God's love and that he is truly listening to all of her prayers. 

One of my goals for this week is to show my love for others more, especially our amis and ward members.  I feel like such a loser all the time because I don't really understand people and I rarely contribute to conversation.  So I've been wondering how I can be an addition to the ward and to the companionship outside of conversation.  I've been studying discipleship and what it really means to be a disciple of Christ.  In John 13:35 Christ says that when we love one another, THAT is how people will recognize us as disciples of Christ.  So I'm trying to love everyone by smiling and saying the little French that I know!  It's hard but it's definitely getting better.  It also reminds me of the story in the Book of Mormon in Alma 20 when Ammon and King Lamoni are traveling and they run into King Lamoni's father.  The father is angry that his son is hanging out with a Nephite and is about to kill Ammon, but when he sees the great love that Ammon has for his son and he is moved by it.  As he ponders it later, he realizes he wants to know more about that love and that spirit he felt and is later converted.  I hope that we can put this into practice with the people we talk to everyday--even if they aren't interested in religion or what we're saying, if they can see the love that we have, we will plant seeds. 

This week we have a zone conference in Nice and I'm SO EXCITED.  I've been wanting to go there forever, even though we won't really see any of it except for the chapel haha.  Oh well.  It's always fun to travel and meet up with other missionaries in the mission and be edified. 

We also have another exchange this Tuesday--this time I'm going to Toulouse and Allison is staying in Perpignan.  So we'll see how that goes!

Special request to all my friends that may read this that served missions with a foreign language:  HELP ME how do I have a personality with a range of 10 words please???  Ok it's really not that bad, I know more than 10 words.  20 maybe. 

Shout out to my friend Mckay whose birthday is today!

I love you all and hope your week goes well!  Je vous aime beaucoup beaucoup!

Soeur Melissa Hurd

These are from our trip to Collioure last week

Bonjour!

Bonjour Famille! 

So sorry we weren't able to write Monday--we spent a few hours in Collioure and then had to leave early for a train for our exchange in Toulouse.  So Collioure is a beautiful coastal town with a fort and a beautiful cathedral and, yeah just so nice.  It couldn't have been a more perfect day to go--it was super windy at first but the sun was shining and it was sooo nice!  I love being in this part of France because spring comes early :)  We walked around a lot and dipped our hands in the Mediterranean (I pretty much fell in the water, of course), took some pics (you will have to excuse us for our appearance) eat delicious food, toured the castle, and walked through the cathedral.  I LOVE visiting old cathedrals like that--it was one of my favorite things on my study abroad to pass by a small, plain looking church and walk inside to see the exquisite art and architecture inside.  Of course, we had to get gelato because we used to get it three times a day with dad when we were in Europe so naturally...yes.  We were excited. 

Tuesday we had our exchanges in Toulouse and it was so fun!  The STLs there are really sweet and it was good to learn from them.  I worked with Sister DeFeo who is from Italy and on her last transfer.  She is the sweetest missionary and taught me so much about how to be a good missionary, and she probably didn't even know it.  They are coming to Perpignan for a blitz soon so I'm excited to work with them again.  We did porte-a-porting which is door to door tracting and it was my first time!  It was so much different than I imagine it in America haha.  Everyone has a gate in front of their house, so we buzz in at the gate and they open their door or their window shutter and yell out to us to see what we want.  We yell back that we're missionaries and we're sharing a message that will strengthen their family and they can never hear us so they just shake their heads and point to their ears and then wave us away as they close their doors/shutters.  I laugh and think "you're waving away your salvation!"  But we will forgive them.  They'll "hear" one day.  We had one woman come out and we talked to her about her family and her daughters and even said we could pass by again soon!  So that's a plus.

Last Friday we had zone training in Montpellier and it was so great!  President has come up with a new program called "Project Elijah."  It contains a questionnaire and booklet and also cards we can give out.  The point of it is to contact people by talking about their families and bring in the Spirit of Elijah to help them understand the importance of our message for their families.  Right after we got off the train back at Perpignan we tried out the questionnaire and fixed two RDVs!  We hadn't fixed any the whole week I had been in the city so that was cool.  We've started to share the same lessons with members of our ward to get them on board with family history.  Everyone talk to the family history person in your ward and get a "My Family" booklet and fill it out!  Think about it--how much do you remember about your great-grandparents or even your grandparents?  They lived lives just like you are doing right now, and you have a lot of stories of your own to tell!  If you don't know anything or only a little about your (great)grandparents, that means that in two or three generations, no one will know anything about you.  Voila!  See how important it is to discover, remember, preserve, and strengthen your families?

Ok something weird:  Remember how Allison was always the picky one growing up and wouldn't eat anything but ketchup sandwiches and sweets?  Ok the roles have changed.  I am so picky here and Allison has to comfort me and tell me it's ok.  Mostly it's just the cheese.  I can't.  I know it's basically blasphemy to live in France and not enjoy the variety of cheese but it is so hard for me.  We went to a home for dinner and they had five beautiful courses, but one was the cheese and I tried a few, the kinds Allison all assured me were mild and good, and I couldn't.  Even goat cheese!  It was a painful ten minutes for me as I forced it down hahaha.  But hey maybe I'll learn to love all of them by the time I come home!  We'll see :)

My French is ehh.  It's coming, I can tell a teeny tiny bit of difference from when I first got to the field, but it's still hard.  I have zero personality and I just sit there and smile and laugh even when it's probably not appropriate for such haha but oh well.  C'est la vie! 

Allison's birthday is this Saturday and she's going to be 21!  I don't know exactly what we'll do to celebrate cause we don't really have down time, but we are going to a recent convert's home for dinner and she knows it's her birthday so she said we will have a nice dessert for her.  I'm still working on a few other ideas of things I can do to help her have a nice birthday.  Send her letters!  She'll love it, even if they're late. 

Christopher, Stephen, Lacey, thank you for the emails finally!!  I was so happy to read them!  I will send you all letters back soon.  You are the best little siblings and Allison and I miss you a lot!  Oftentimes we reminisce on memories we have with everyone and laugh until it hurts. 

Je vous aime!

Soeur Hurd  

These photos are all pretty much from the MTC the last couple days.

Laundry party!

Last temple walk!

Our Valentines necklaces

Sisters, Sisters

Well the first thing I was going to announce was that ALLISON IS MY TRAINER, WHAT???  But from the emails it seems as everyone already knows :)  But yeah, what the heck?  Isn't that the weirdest/coolest/rarest thing ever?  Thanks for sending me that video, Dad, I'm glad someone got the whole thing!  Yeah I was floored.  Quite literally I guess.

I saw her the previous night cause all the trainers and bleus were staying in the same apartment, and it was actually really weird haha.  But I didn't even sleep the whole night cause I was just so impatient to figure out where we were all going to go and I just had this feeling that we weren't going to be paired up.  It just drove me nuts!  Anyways I opened my letter and my eyes went straight to "S. Hurd," and "Perpignan" and it was just like my mission call--feeling "NO WAY" and "oh yeah, of course" at the same time haha.  Anyways, so that's that!  Little sis is now my trainer!  I don't know if this is in the video, but the coolest part about it was that President Roney said that he didn't just do this just to be fun, but that the Lord was pretty loud about it.  One of the assistants even said he was planning on not putting us together, but after the interview I had with him it became clear that's how it should be.  So there's a reason we're together and I only hope that it we can fulfill that purpose!!

I don't know if Allison has felt the same way, but so far I feel like having a sister as a companion is a huge blessing.  I hate change, and so being away from the familiarities of the MTC and being away from all the friends I made there and in this completely foreign place would normally be a huge adjustment and trial, which I was prepared to deal with.  But having Sister Hurd (yes, we must call each other Soeur and not our first names) with me has smoothed out almost all the kinks in the transition because at least there's a VERY familiar person with me.

Also, she is fluent.  And she has the best accent of all the Americans pretty much.  The first night I talked to her I was like.....who are you?  Anyways, so that is a huge help because I don't understand ANYTHING.  I can catch about 1/20 words.  So generally I can get the gist of conversations but oh man, I struggle.  Ahh!  It's really just the comprehension too, because I can for the most part express a lot of things in French and adequately answer questions, but the second they ask me a question I'm like nahh, sorry, I got nothing.  So I always look over at Allison who translates for me.  I'm working on it though!  I need to learn patience with myself cause I know I'm just going to be so frustrated with it forever. 

So we're in Perpignan and it's so sunny here and palm trees everywhere but it is so deceiving.  The wind here is the worsttt hahah there is absolutely no point in doing one's hair in the morning because it will just end up destroyed.  So we bundle up from head to toe each time we go outside.  The weather also makes it really hard to contact because no one is outside, and if they are, they say it's too cold and walk away.  But yesterday we actually got to teach someone a lesson in the street!  He was a nice guy that seemed pretty interested in what we had to say and perhaps had real potential.  Although Allison later said he said something about converting for us (of course I didn't understand anything) and so maybe he was being nice cause we're girls and we're good at smiling and also Allison....trop classe. 

It was so sad saying goodbye to everyone from the MTC!  We've all gotten so close and it's hard to break apart.  Our teachers were amazing and it was so tender having to say goodbye.  But we won't forget them!  Our last Sunday we sang a French hymn called "Souviens-toi" for everyone in the branch and it was sad but beautiful.  We had to say goodbye to our branch presidency and their wives too, who have been like mothers to us while we've been there.  Never thought it'd be so hard to leave!  We ended up saying goodbye to the Paris elders one too many times because of our flight cancellations and mixups, so we were able to see them again at the airport and ride all the way to Paris with them.  Then it was goodbye all over again when we arrived.  Then goodbye to everyone else staying in Lyon as we were scattered across southern France.  Some went to Montpellier, Carcassone, Avignon, Bordeaux, and lots of other places but I've forgotten already.  But on the positive side, we met so many new missionaries who are all just fantastic.  I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone better. 

So not a lot of missionary work to report on cause we were gone all week, but basically we're going to work hard and contact (ahhhh!!!) and get more amis and ones that will really progress and help all the others that aren't progressing begin to understand the eternal significance of our mission.  I met two of our amis already and I really loved them.  It's awesome to have a sister as a companion because I've been able to read all her letters and so I already know about and love her amis and fellow members!  It's really cool.  So that's a huge plus.  One of my favorite members is a recent convert named Lucie and she is seriously the cutest elderly woman ever.  I had already seen a lot of pictures of her and heard about her from Allison so I knew who she was right away.  Also we had dinner at the bishop's last night and his family is the cutest French family I've ever seen.  Toddlers that speak French....ahh so adorable!!

Shout out to Stephen for turning 14!!  Yay Cutie Steve!!  I love and miss you so much and just giggle everytime I see cute little pics of you!  Speaking of which, mom and dad, remember when Allison asked if you guys would send cute family pics to her?  Ok my turn.  Need to decorate my desk.  Photos of family and friends would be appreciated :)

Allison's birthday is on the 21st and it's her golden birthday too!  We will have to figure out how to party or celebrate somehow.  Also for Valentine's Day...haha maybe we'll spoil ourselves and make Valentine's Day cookies or something. 

I'm sure I forgot a bunch of stuff but oh well.  Here is our mailing address!

12 Lieutenant Pruneta

Perpignan, France
66000

Je vous aime!!
Soeur Hurd

Just arrived in Lyon!

Getting our trainers!