If the Spirit World is on earth, why would they not want to live in France?! 6/10/13

Bonjour Ma Famille!

Can I just start by talking about how absolutely beautiful my mission is?  Seriously, I'm pretty positive that Southern France is the most beautiful place on the planet (and I'm sure that a lot of people would agree with me...google it and see).  It is unreal, I think I'm in heaven every time I look outside.  We contact and go porting in the most picturesque places.  I'll send you pictures... Every house is adorable--has the stereotypical shutters that are painted the same color as the adorable picket fence, intricate wooden door (I have not seen one yet that is the same), and there are beautiful vines climbing up the sides.  But even more, their gardens are spectacular!  Every flower that you could even imagine is perfectly placed in a yard filled with cute stone pathways, arches to walk under that are covered in ivy, and fountains.  The roses, oh my gosh, the roses.  Every house has at least 50 bushes that are completely covered in roses the size of your face in every color imaginable.  If you can't tell, I'm definitely in heaven.  Mom, you would die.  I compliment the little old ladies on their flowers at every house we port.  At one house, the lady wasn't interested in the Gospel, but she gave me one of her roses--totally made my day.  It was so cute.  I love it here so much, it is gorgeous!  We were talking the other day about how angels work with missionaries and I'm pretty sure that we have the most angels out of any mission because, in the words of Soeur Luthi, "If the Spirit World is on earth, why would they not want to live in France?!"

This is our Italian friend in his beautiful garden...we found him porting.

The weather here is crazy, it finally got hot for a couple days.  It was funny, we were contacting and this guy was really concerned for me. Quote (kind of...a translated quote): "You need to get out of the sun, you're really white.... But that's okay, it's what's in the heart that counts."  After a couple days of sun, I swear we had the Carcassonne version of a tsunami.  It rained so hard that the streets turned into a river with at least 6 inches of water rushing down them.  It was awesome!

I live here!

This week has been a lot of...contacting (if you couldn't tell).  We are still in dire need of amis.  We have set up tons of rendez-vous with potentials this transfer, have gotten lots peoples' contact information, and have placed many copies of the Book of Mormon (sorry I always write "copies of the Book of Mormon"...it's because I know that "Books of Mormon" is technically right, but I think it sounds weird).  Unfortunately, no one will respond to calls and every rendez-vous that we have scheduled with a potential amis has fallen through.  I'm not complaining, we have had a great week and I know that we will continue to see miracles. 

I love his girl!

I'm slightly competitive... big shocker there.  It's one of those "Non-Christlike Attributes" that I am obviously still working on.  We had time on our hands this week and decided that we would just double the mission's standard of excellence for contacting.  Cool, the only équipe of 19 year old sisters, in one of the smallest villes in the mission.  So, we did.  We talked to over 660 people this week.  We calculated that we have walked at least two marathons.  We literally talked to everyone.  It was a good week.  We wanted to show God that we were willing to work hard and give it our all.  It was fantastic.  I swear I say this every week, but this week it has been particularly pertinent...I am coming to know my Savior in a way that I never have before.  I know that this is the mission that I am meant to be serving in, I cannot imagine gaining a relationship this strong in any other circumstance.  My heart literally breaks with every person that chooses to reject the message that we have to share.  I'm not personally offended, I shrug it off easily.  But, I'm so sad for the people and I know that Christ mourns over their decision.

We had a cool miracle this week.  While we were contacting, a lady actually contacted us on the road.  She's an inactive member that I had never met.  She married a non-member and has wanted absolutely nothing to do with the church, refusing all calls from the missionaries.  We had a nice chat with her and then she ended it by inviting us over.  We were stoked and set up the appointment for the next week (tonight).  The best part was, we received a text from her later in the day that explained how great it was for her to see us and to have a second to talk.  She said that that experience on the road made her realize that she wants to get reactivated in the church.  She acknowledged that it would not be easy, but that she was excited.  She's inviting tons of her family to this rendez-vous tonight.  God truly places us in the places that he needs us to be to find the elect and prepared.  We are praying that this is one of the miracles that God has in store for us.

A couple more random, funny things to leave you with...

I can't believe I live here.

Mission life, we all love spicy food and have been craving it since we have been in France.  So, we bought the spiciest African peppers that we could find at the store and put them in everything.  It's basically a contest to see who can make the food that makes your lips numb for the longest after eating it.  I made fajitas the other day that left our mouths on fire for two hours.  It's so funny.

It was a little sunny outside.

Soeur Luthi and I have been asked to teach primary the last two weeks.  The lessons... "The Law of Concencration" and "Joseph Smith's Translation of the Bible".  Are you kidding me?  These kids are six.

Well, that's about it.  I'm glad that you are all doing well.  Haha, your letters this week were absolutely fantastic.  I am still laughing.  You may want to print this out for Maddy so she can read it several times (with her short term memory loss and all)...kidding.  I love you all, thanks for everything!

Je vous aime,

Soeur Alisa Hulme