Training Tales

Bonjour famille!

I have given birth! Yes, the baby bleu has arrived and she is so
adorable. Her name is Sister Holmgren from South Jordan, Utah. Tuesday
they all arrived and we tried the whole day to keep separate from them
because we're not really allowed to meet and greet until the day we
officially get assigned. All the trainers were in the institute
building and at one point we looked out the window and there were
little baby missionaries everywhere! We spied on them and wondered
which would be ours. That night all the trainers and Lyon leaders went
out to eat together and it was super fun. All the trainers are AWESOME
and it was really fun to get to know them. That night we all hid
ourselves in one room of the apartment because we weren't allowed to
talk with the new sisters who were staying in the other room. We got
creative about how to get to and from the bathroom without showing our
faces...

Wednesday we went to the chapel and had a little bit of trainers
training from the ZLs. The Blues were upstairs getting training from
president. President came down right before we started and gave us a
little bit of advice. He said, "Until you're parents, you will ever
have as much influence over another person in your whole life as much
as you will in about an hour." Ahhh! No pressure there. He emphasized
the importance of trainers in the mission and how though he has only
been in the mission about three weeks, he can almost tell who
everyone's trainer is because of how they act and who they are. Our
influence is huge and we probably have no idea to what extent.

Keeping this in mind, I've been trying my best to incorporate all the
best parts of my past transfers into this training transfer. I've made
a list of things that I loved about other transfers and things that we
did each day that made us more effective and better missionaries, and
I'm committed to reapplying all these things. I just hope to help
start off Sister Holmgren's mission the best way it can be!

She, on the other hand, is amazing. Seriously, she is a golden blue--I
really lucked out. She is so fearless and has so much faith. The first
day we were together we went out contacting and as we approached
someone, she would start talking to them before I could even open my
mouth. She figured out how to say a few sentences about our
questionnaire and she just goes and does it. One particular instance
that made me super proud was Friday when we were back in Cannes. We
were visiting Mami Gentil but we happened to come at the same time as
her visiting teachers, so we joined them. They shared their message
about Christ and even though Sister Holmgren couldn't understand
everything that was being said, she was listening and felt the spirit.
Just as they were about to ask if we could say a closing prayer, she
asked if she could quickly bear her testimony. I was like danggg, you
go girl! I was so impressed! She just wanted to make sure she was
involved and fulfilling her missionary purpose and she didn't even
care if she didn't speak perfect French. She began to bear the
sweetest testimony about coming on a mission, and I think there was
not a dry eye in the room. Such a proud mom moment! I know her real
mother would be so proud too. I'm super excited for this chance to
work with her and I KNOW I'll be learning more from her than she will
from me. Also she speaks really great French already, and she's a fast
learner.  She'll have it in no time.

This week one of my goals is sticking to my planning. Every evening we
make plans for each hour of the next day in order to be very efficient
and wise with our time. When plans fall through, we always have backup
plans. Unfortunately with our lack of exciting work here in Cannes we
often have contacting as our replacement plans. Sometimes when you
have tomber-vous one after the other you have to contact all day in
the heat and suddenly it's really easy to come up with other plans to
do. This transfer that's not going to happen! Sure there are times
when surprise teaching opportunities arise and we have to adjust our
schedule, but other than that, we will be sticking to our original
plans no matter the amount of difficulty or dread. God sees the plans
we make everyday and knows how to place people in our path according
to our plans.

Challenge this week is to follow through with a past goal you've made
or set one this week and carry it out! Follow through with plans. The
last thing you want to be is a human that doesn't follow through with
their plans.

Je vous aime!

Sœur Melissa Hurd

Lyon loves

Three generations!

Game we played at a soirée familiale

Family. Isn't it about...time?

I'M GOING TO BE A MOM!

Yes, that selfie with Allison was deceiving as we are not companions
again. But we are hanging out together in Lyon because I'm going to
have a baby! I will be training this next transfer!! So we are
gathering in Lyon and luckily Alison's equipe is the one that hosts
all the incoming sisters and trainers in their apartment while we're
all here. Ahhh!! President called Friday and I immediately called
Allison and she just starts squealing and says "I'm a grandmother, I'm
a grandmother!" Both of us were super excited. We get to hang out for
the next few days! Three generations!

I'm so excited to be getting a bleu this transfer! Also terrified! I
feel highly inadequate seeing as how it seems just yesterday I stopped
being a bleu myself. President said on the phone "You have the
responsibility to make this new sister the best she can be." So that
didn't terrify me more or anything, no pressure... But I do know that
if its what the Lord wants me to do then he will help me. I pray that
I will be able to be all that this sister needs in her trainer and
make her feel loved and welcome in the mission. I already know she is
fantastic!! We have some sort of conference tomorrow for the trainers
and then we'll meet our new companions Wednesday. We will take a
grandmother/mother/daughter picture then. 👶🏻👩🏽👵🏼

Sister Holmes is leaving me and going to be an STL in Toulouse! She
will be so great there. She wanted to serve in Toulouse before the end
of her mission so now she will be able to! She has four transfers left
so she may just finish there. I'm definitely sad to see her go but I
know here are people there in need of her cute little spirit. She's
adorable! I've had such a blast with her the past transfer and both of
us just knew it was too much fun to keep us together for another. She
will be able to do exchanges with the sisters in Perpignan too! They
will love her.

PRAYERS WORK. We just got a baptismal date for one of our old amis!
His name is Claude and Sister Holmes started teaching him her first
transfer. He got really sick and was in Paris for a while and so we
didn't teach him for a long time. I had my first lesson with him last
Friday and he is amazing! He believes everything we've taught him is
true and wants to be baptized. His date is the first weekend in
October. It would be nice if it were sooner but with vacances he will
be gone for a while, so we won't be able to see him. But anyways,
YESSSS. The best part about it is it was the day we found out Sister
Holmes would be leaving, so it was the perfect way for her to end her
transfer here. She's been working so hard here in Cannes since March
and hasn't seen really any fruits of her labors. I'm so happy she was
able to see Claude's faith and commitment to change his life.

Another miracle happened this week: we contacted a lady on a bus one
day that wasn't really interested in what we had to say, but as we
were talking I notice a young man nearby listening in to the
conversation. After a bit he interrupts and asks if we are "bonnes
soeurs," which are nuns, and we said no and explained who we are and
our church. He said he was born Catholic but doesn't at all agree with
some of the things in the Catholic Church and has been really
interested in finding out more about different religions. He was
enthusiastic about setting up a rdv with us and said he was free all
the month July! That's HUGE because in France during the vacances it's
basically impossible to see anyone at all. At all. Sister Holmes told
me later that she has seen that guy all the time and always thought to
talk to him but never did. It was also a miracle because the bus we
had originally wanted to take we barely missed by a minute and we were
so upset because we were going to be twenty minutes late for our
English class. Now we know why we had to miss it and catch the next
one. It's amazing how God really does plant prepared people in our
path!

We had a really great district meeting this week in Nice. We talked
about going and doing and listening to the Spirit. I learned a lot and
will be trying to make my daily actions and work better with what I
learned. Our district is awesome! They are putting sisters back in
Nice and one of them is also going to be a blue! That will be fun--two
blue sisters and two half-blue elders in our district all together.

I can't wait to tell you all about my baby bleu next Monday! I'm
excited to meet her. Je vous aime beaucoup, et passez une bonne
semaine!

Sœur Melissa Hurd

Bonjour!

Bonjour famille!

Tuesday we had our zone conference with President and Sister Brown and
they are truly amazing! Like Allison said in her letter last week,
they are some of the most loving people live ever met. President Brown
clasped my hand in both of his and said "You're Sister Melissa Hurd.
You look beautiful today, thank you so much for lighting up this
room." So sweet! We started conference late because he was going
around greeting every missionary and talking with them. And Sister
Brown is seriously the cutest mission mom!! She's absolutely adorable.
She's such a normal person. You can tell she's been feeling inadequate
for the work ahead of her, but Elder Uchtdorf gave her some advice
that I'm taking the liberty of sharing: "You have to do it your own
way." I'm so excited for "her way" because president said we're in for
the biggest treat of our lives.

When Elder Kearon came to speak to us in April he said oftentimes
missionaries are not necessarily called to a specific mission but to a
specific mission president. I felt strongly when I was talking with
Browns that one of the biggest reasons I was sent to this mission was
for them.

We had interviews with president during this conference and it was
seriously so great and much needed. He is an inspired man. He already
knows exactly who I am. He gave me the same advice that President
Uchtdorf gave his wife: I have to do it my own way. It's kinda weird
to hear that because during the mission I've been trying SO HARD not
to think about myself and learn everything I can from everyone around
me. I've been trying so hard to acquire Christlike attributes and the
best attributes of my companions. I think in the process though I've
forgotten to amplify my own spiritual gifts. As president talked to me
about what some of those are, I realized I felt like I had lost a bit
of myself. Sad! As I made goals this week to forte the gifts I've
already been given, I realized that missionary work is already so much
easier and so much more fun. It was exactly the advice I needed! He
even counseled me to call someone who I thought was a good example of
what I lacked. I picked Allison, it was good to chat. ☺️ I hope I get
to see her soon!

President Brown told Sister Holmes in her interview that miracles
await in Cannes. He knows we don't have any Amis. He knows we're
struggling. But he promised! That night on the way home from
conference we contacted from the gare to home and we ran into this
lady who was taking her dog out. She was very closed off and even said
she doesn't actually really like Mormons. We asked her what she knew
about us and ended up talking about tithing, restoration, lots of
other things. We talked with her for a while and it was incredible to
see how she just opened up and her heart was softened. We ended up
getting her number and will meet with her soon. She said that usually
she doesn't like to go out and mostly keeps to herself, and especially
that day was feeling put off. But she just decided to take her dog out
at that time, and she said how delighted she was to run into us. Each
of us agreed it was not a coincidence. A miracle! A few days later we
made contact with a long lost recent convert that just disappeared off
the face of the earth after his baptism. Sister Holmes said she hadn't
seen him since March. We don't know exactly the situation but we made
contact nonetheless. Another miracle!

Last ward council my companion and I suggested we do a ward fast for
each person to have their own missionary experience as part of
accomplishing a goal we saw on the (maybe forgotten) ward mission
plan. After expressing our desire and hearing some other suggestions,
we felt like we got a "yeah sure whatever lets do it for fast Sunday
tomorrow and get it out of the way" response. We figured it was a
flop. Or maybe they liked the idea...we don't know. We'll blame it on
the language barrier. Well Sunday happened and one of the bishopric
members bore his testimony about missionary work and the fast and I
was really touched. He took it to heart! This week at ward council he
approached us and told us he had invited a coworker over to his home
for a family home evening. He even asked her if she would be
interested in talking with the sister missionaries. She said yes!
Another miracle!!

Today for Pday we went on a hike way up by Saint Vallier, a far outer
ville of our sector. It's called the route de Napoleon because after
he escaped from the island of Italy he landed at the beach at Juan des
Pins and then made the trek up through the mountains all the way to
Paris. We were following the same route, but not all the way to Paris.
The people of France loved him so they recognized him and gathered a
group of soldiers all the way. They started with five followers and
ended up with 45,000 by the time he reached Paris! Napoleon. What a
bro. Anyways, the hike was lovely!! We picnicked and had a great time
with our ward mission leader and his son and the four other elders in
the ward. I'll send pics.

Ok I'm sorry, why did no one tell me how amazing Elder Maxwell was?? I
mean of course, I always knew he was.  Recently I was wanting to study
more of his talks and then Sister Holmes told me about this great talk
he gave and I started reading and it was beautiful. Not only are his
talks direct and exactly what I and everyone should here, but they are
beautifully written with the best imagery and alliteration. Also they
are kind of intense and I feel like I'm back in AP literature
analyzing everything. It's the best. I've read several talks of his
since then and I'm excited to continue. Two of my favorites so far are
"Why Not Now?" and "The Man of Christ." Read them.

This week we also did a transfer in Aix-en-Provence and it was super
fun! We love our STLs and always learn so much from them. They invited
us to specifically study and learn about leadership because we are
being leaders all the time, whether or not we have a formal leadership
position. I've been reading some great talks, but I would love some
other suggestions! If you have a favorite leadership talk, let me know
what it is.

Friday we find out about transfers and I'm terrified 😬 part of my is
scared I will do a one-and-done and have to leave Cannes. I hope not!
I love the ward! On verra vendredi!

Je vous aime! Bisous!

Sœur Melissa Hurd

Coucou from Cannes!

Bonjour Famille!

First of all, thank you for all the lovely birthday wishes, letters, packages!  I love you all.  They made my day.  Allison called me early the morning of my birthday and sung to me with her companion.  The DLs and STLs also sang to me, and even the Roney's called me!  That was their very last day in France so I was privileged to talk with them.  It's the little things that mean the most.  That night we went to the bishop's house and Sr. Vivier made me do silly things (you saw the pictures I imagine...write her back, mom!) and it was fun.  They tried to give me a trick candle but I was successful at blowing it out on the first time...twice.  We also went out for sushi earlier that day so I was happy :)

Today for our P-day the bishop's wife took us to this outdoor thing where there are nets really high up in the air and you walk through them..?  It was fun!  Haha and scary too!  If you look too much and think too much about it you're confident you'll fall to your death.  We were safe though :)

Ahhh I just got Allison's email with pictures and details about 4th of July....haha let me just tell you how lucky she is to be in Lyon.  #notallmissionsarecreatedequal. For our 4th we contacted for hours.  I think it was 40 degrees Celsius.  It was bad hahah BUT we actually had lots of conversations and street lessons.  Although not one of those people we talked to set up a RDV or wanted to hear more, it was an enriching experience.  At the end of the day we contacted a really cute Jewish couple from Montreal that were so sweet to us!  They love Mormons because they said we are sincere in what we believe and they admired us so much for being missionaries and doing what we do.  They've been to Salt Lake and saw MoTab perform and even listen to them every Sunday on tv!  Also they know about Chesapeake and said they used to go to VA beach all the time!  We were so happy to run into them.  There are many good people out there.  

There are also many good people here whose spirits thirst for the Gospel--we can see it when we talk to them!  Unfortunately their minds tell them they have to close themselves off to us and so they don't want to meet up again or learn more.  But somewhere I heard from someone that people have to run into missionaries 7 times before they accept the lessons.  Probably a completely made up statistic BUT it's true that I am confident we are planting seeds here in Cannes.  I cannot deny that there have been times I've walked away from a conversation and had the distinct feeling that that person will be baptized one day, whether it's in a year or 20 years later.  You just never know!  

Which just goes to show the importance of being an example and sharing the gospel to the people around you at all times.  You just never know who will remember you years down the road, little siblings, and the example that you were in school and how you were happy despite challenges and all the evil in the world.  You're planting seeds everywhere you go and with every good deed you do.  

I just need to rave about Mami Gentil again and all her sons and their families.  I sent pictures of them so now you know what they look like.  They are all stellar families, and we have been to visit each of them.  Each time I've just been so reminded of the importance of raising children in a Christ-centered home, and it is so apparent that is what these families are doing.  I feel like I'm at home.  After church yesterday we went to visit our favorite Sister Rouby who is blind and Mami Gentil came with us with a plate of cherries.  She stopped in the room with all the old woman in wheelchairs having their tea and offered them each some cherries.  She is soooo cute!!!  Ahh I teared up just watching her going around and serving everyone!  I want to be like her when I'm 85!  I'm naming my firstborn after her and I'm not joking.

We meet our new President and his wife tomorrow at zone conference in nice!!  I'm so excited.  I had a dream about zone conference last night and in my dream it was super weird and awkward and we were all sad but I know that the dream is n'importe quoi and that President Brown is going to be amazing :)  I really can't wait to meet him and his wife.  

Je vous aime!  Bisous!

Soeur Melissa Hurd

Sweaty 4th of July!

Selfie!

Lovely families in our ward, the Gentils!

Another Gentil family!

Misc.