"My mission has been the most incredible experience that I don't feel words can accurately express. Among other things, it has truly been an experience for me to "build my foundation" on Christ (Helaman 5:12). I feel that I have truly come to know my Savior better in serving Him, "for how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served?" (Mosiah 5:13). I know that He lives. I have loved my mission."

Bonjour Ma Famille,

Wow, where to begin?  This week has been wonderful, but you should expect nothing less from your happy missionary in France.  We are seeing so many miracles in Nice and I am so stoked to be a part of them.

First and foremost, Sabrine.  We hit a couple roadblocks this week, but take a deep breath.  All is well, and we are happily preparing for her baptism this coming Saturday.  It is going to be incredible.  We just got back from a lesson with her where we ran through all of the interview questions to practice.  I have to say, this is one of my favorite lessons to do with amis, I love hearing them testify.  She's so cute, when we asked her the question about whether or not Jesus in our Savior her response was, "What kind of question is that?  Who would say 'no' to that?"  Love her, she is so so ready.  I cannot wait for her baptism, I feel beyond blessed to be spending my last Saturday in France witnessing the baptism of such an amazing amie.  God is too good to me, I'm literally in awe that He would give me this opportunity to finish out my mission.  In addition, she has asked me to speak at the baptism, I'm so honored and happy.  I cannot wait for the day to arrive.

We found several more really cool amis this week...

We got a call out of the blue the other day from this woman (Rachelle).  She told us that we had contacted her several weeks ago and that she wanted the DVD advertised one card.  We went and met with her.  Come to find out, after we had talked to her on the street, she couldn't stop thinking about us.  The day she actually called us back, she woke up from a nap and a "voice in her head" (know what that was) told her that she had to call us.  So she did.  She's an incredible, extremely believing, African woman who is currently battling cancer and is turning her whole life over to God.  I can't wait to work with her more.

Several weeks ago we contacted this guy (Francois) and were finally able to see him this week.  Oh my gosh, I love him.  He's a totally normal, French man, around the age of 35 (a rare find).  Sometimes you have these amis and you just click.  He's one of those amis.  I love him.  While we were meeting with him, he explained that he had searched all over for the truth but felt that he was too logical and wouldn't find it.  Then, things started coming out of my mouth that were not planned.  I felt inspired to tell him that the reason he had come to Nice was to find us (because he's from Lyon but recently moved here and doesn't like it).  I told him the reason that he had never settled down with a religion was because he had never found the truth, and that it was worth giving our message a try-- that if it wasn't true, his life would continue as usual, but that if it was true, his entire life would change.  It was a bit bold for my style the first lesson, but it worked.  He sat there for a second and then responded, "You're right, everything happens for a reason."  He promised to read the Book of Mormon.

We also received three member referrals that we have started working with this last week. The members are so incredible here, the more I'm with them, the more I love them.  I wish that I would have gotten more time with them.  Oh my gosh, our companionship is exploding. God is blessing us so much.  It's incredible to see how He makes miracles happen.

Well, that was the week.  I'm excited to kill it this last week, we are literally buying nothing but stuff to make sandwiches so that we can be on the road at all times.

I am so grateful for my mission, I have loved it so much.  Thank you for all of your love and support.  I am so grateful and could not have done it without each one of you.  My mission has been the most incredible experience that I don't feel words can accurately express.  Among other things, it has truly been an experience for me to "build my foundation" on Christ (Helaman 5:12).  I feel that I have truly come to know my Savior better in serving Him, "for how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served?" (Mosiah 5:13).  I know that He lives.  I have loved my mission.

I love...

the beautiful architecture
hearing my amis testify
speaking French
running along city streets, rivers, and the sea
sparking people on buses
making friends with members
learning from companions
eating baguettes
seeing miracles daily
feeling angels in the room during lessons
taking trains
my four mission daughters
wearing a plaque
never having to do my hair
marking my scriptues in lots of colors
seeing lives change through the gospel
French gardens
being busy 24/7
when God's words come out of your mouth
playing the piano
funny foot tanlines
always having a Book of Mormon in my hands
President Roney
hearing member's conversion stories
adventures when you're lost in little villes
running the wards on Sundays
collapsing into bed after a long day
when people ask the questions that the gospel answers
castles
writing weekly emails
dark chocolate

"Angels We Have Heard on High"
contacting in the rain
crafty planner covers
exchanges with tons of sisters

being called "Soeur Hulme"

all of the people...too many to list

mission conferences

when amis have "click" moments

letters and packages from home
tartelette au citron

beautiful vineyards
feeling the spirit all the time

teaching the restoration
the feeling you get when you realize that you just did something inspired
keeping a daily journal
cobblestone streets and windy roads lined with trees
Preach My Gospel
nightly prayers

...being a missionary.

Je vous aime,

Soeur Alisa Hulme

He (Elder Andersen) explained that all missions in the world are hard in different ways and stretch us in different ways, but faith building was the blessing of France." 6/14/14

Bonjour Ma Famille,

What a wonderful week, but what else could be expected?  Especially after having been visited by Elder Andersen.  I guess I can start with that.  Oh my gosh, it was absolutely incredible--better than I could have imagined.  The spirit was unreal.  It was a truly unearthly experience that all started with spiritual preparation.  Our mission has been preparing for nearly a transfer--with every conference, meeting, and effort pointed toward preparing for Elder Andersen.  We studied every talk he has ever given, drafted questions, stepped-up diligence, prayed unceasingly, etc.  Everything was set in a way that would invite the spirit to the max.  Just as an example to show you how far we went... the conference was in Nice, therefore, I was extremely blessed.  As for the rest of the 260+ missionaries, they took buses from all over the country, Bordeaux being the farthest at 12 hours (dodged that bullet).  These bus rides were done in complete silence and reverence, with nothing permitted but sleeping and studying.  Once at the conference, no one was allowed to talk, hug, or even shake hands.  Otherwise, it would have turned into a mission reunion.  Complete and total respect was shown at all times.  Although it was incredible to see all of my friends and mission heros, it didn't even seem to matter.  I've never experienced such an example of the importance of spiritually preparing.  And, we definitely reaped the rewards.  Elder Andersen later commented to President Roney that out of the thousands of missionary events that he has been to, we were the most prepared and impressive group he had ever seen.  Okay, probably the most amazing part of the whole meeting for me was when we sang our mission song, "Angels We Have Heard on High".  It was the most beautiful rendition ever--with violins, solos, beautiful choir parts, and sections where pieces of "Bring Him Home" were played.  Oh my gosh.  So, usually it's a rather emotional thing to sing the mission song in your last zone conference... add to that the fact that it was the first time it had been sung by the whole mission together and that it was done for an apostle of the Lord.  Basically, I cried through the entire thing.  Definitely didn't sing.  That's okay, there were angels there making up for me.
All of the talks that were given were also incredible.  Elder Andersen focused mostly on the importance of faith.  Having served as a missionary and a mission president in our mission, Elder Andersen had truly amazing insight and felt connected personally to the work here.  He said that one of the most wonderful things about being a missionary in France is that it requires such a substantial amount of faith.  He explained that all missions in the world are hard in different ways and stretch us in different ways, but faith building was the blessing of France.  I agree.  I obviously took pages upon pages of notes and would love to fill you in on more of it later.
If not having to take long, hot buses wasn't good enough, another blessing of being in Nice is that we also got to go to the member session of the conference in the evening.  Very good also, but not comparable.  Anyways, it was so cool because Elder Andersen gave his whole talk in French.  Loved it.  Also, getting to be there in the evening, Soeur Patrick and I were hostesses to greet all of the members.  I got to see all of my friends from Aix.  It was so great, I love them all.
Cool side note, Elder Andersen was accompanied by Elder Kearon of the Seventy and his wife...who is apparently a Hulme.  Crazy right?  Got to talk to them for a bit...special privileges.
As for the rest of the week...
Sabrine is doing incredible.  For example, yesterday she came to church and brought her completely less-active sister.  Also, we had been planning on calling the bishop this week to plan stuff for the baptism (it will be at his home in his pool because our chapel is under construction).  No problem, Sabrine went up to him in church and talked to him about it herself.  She also asked him if it was okay if she invited all of her non-member friends...who are now invited and coming.  Love her.
Later in the week, we were meant to be headed to Montpelier for an exchange with the STL's.  But, there is currently a huge train strike going on in the south.  So, it was canceled.  We were left with two days with completely nothing planned.  That's the worst...but not really because we were determined to find miracles.  Which we did.  We were able to have a lesson with a less-active sister that went so great that she gave us referrals.  Come to find out afterwards, this same woman's husband, who had been working with the elders to come back to church, had recently informed them that they were not invited in his home and that he was done with the church.  We were able to really touch his wife in the perfect moment. 
On the way home, we planned on doing some porting.  We didn't know where to go.  So we prayed, of course.  The first building we went into, we found a cute girl named Claire.  We taught her, left her with a Book of Mormon, and will be heading back in a few weeks after she gets home from vacation.
In other miracles, God has sent me some lovely summer showers to break up the dreaded heatwave.  Haha, it really confuses people on the buses when I comment on how beautiful the weather is during a rainstorm.  They are usually in Nice for the sun... Speaking of sun, have a wonderful week in Lake Powell.  I love you all!
Je vous aime,

Highlights...

Soeur Alisa Hulme

"I'm sorry this one is really sporatic, emails are really freaking me out right now. I think I'm in some sort of state of denial." 6/23/14

Bonjour Ma Famille,

I hope that everything is going wonderfully.  This week was great, here are some of the updates...

We have a new ami named Dieu Donné, this is literally translated as "God Given".  Funny.  He is really fantastic, is from Cameroon, and has four kids.  He loves the Book of Mormon.

I gave a talk in church this week.  It went well.  I spoke on conversion with a little help from my friend Elder Bednar.

There was an exchange in Montpelier that was fun, it was crazy with the train strike still going on-- we got stuck in Marseille for a while...sketchy.

There are so many tourists in Nice right now.  I'm pretty sure half of the people at church on Sunday were from Utah...definitely could have given my talk in English.  We had little miracles throughout the week where we would run into them-- meaning someone would start yelling "sisters!" at us and we were able to tell them the change of address so they could come to church.

Sabrine is doing wonderful, of course.  Such a miracle.

We saw lots of members, they are great here in Nice.

I'm sorry this one is really sporatic, emails are really freaking me out right now. I think I'm in some sort of state of denial.  I'll send a good one next week, I promise.  Love you all.

Je vous aime,

Soeur Hulme

"Sabrine commented on how wonderful it was that God would give everyone a chance to hear and accept the message. It was a testimony to her of His love. The Spirit was palpable. It was as though the room was filled with spirits testifying of the truthfulness of this work. And, I'm sure there were." 6/9/2014

Bonjour Ma Famille,

What a great week!  Everything is going wonderful in Nice, I love being a missionary.  Let me give you some of the highlights of the week.  Hey, and I'm finally sending a picture of Soeur Patrick...
Sabrine!  Oh my gosh, she is incredible and absolutely ready for her baptism on the last Saturday of the transfer.  Haha, she's going around planning the day without us even asking her to.  We've been seeing her several times a week and have had some amazing lessons.  The one that we had about the plan of salvation this week was one of the strongest ones I've had when teaching this subject.  As she had already been taught the lesson, we reviewed it while placing specific emphasis on the Spirit World.  We talked all about ordinances for the dead and genealogy.  Sabrine commented on how wonderful it was that God would give everyone a chance to hear and accept the message.  It was a testimony to her of His love.  The Spirit was palpable.  It was as though the room was filled with spirits testifying of the truthfulness of this work.  And, I'm sure there were.  Sabrine can't wait to start doing baptisms for her ancestors.  And after talking to her mom about the lesson, her mom expressed her feelings about temple work, rekindling her desire to become reactivated in the church.  Incredible!

We taught her another lesson today, in which she bore powerful testimony of the changes that she has seen in her life thanks to Christ.  She shared how amazing it has been to see her entire character change-- being kinder and more patient, turning to the Lord in struggles, having purpose in life...not to mention things like quitting smoking!  It's unreal to see the changes that the gospel makes in lives.  I was telling her today in the lesson, that it's one of my favorite parts of being a missionary.  Many people look for signs, they want a heavenly messanger to come down and tell them that God exists and the Jesus is the Christ.  While these types of signs aren't at all common occurrences, seeing the fruits of living the gospel are.  They are just as real and undeniable, if not more.

We did some work in Monaco this week.  That was cool, except a little bit terrible.  We were visiting some members out there, but could not do any missionary work other than that.  We had to take off our plaques because it's against the country's laws to wear them.  Ahh, I  freaked out a little bit.  My heart physically hurt the whole time we were there.  Plus side, the members were incredible and it was beautiful.  We're going the for P-Day today.

With Elder Andersen coming tomorrow we have been doing lots of advertising with the other missionaries in Nice.  We made this huge board with a picture of him that says "Do you want to meet an Apostle of the Lord?"  We set it up in the heart of the ville and all went to contact everyone and invite them to the conference.  It's so cool to see all eight of us out on the streets together preaching the word.  Haha, it makes me feel like one of the Book of Mormon heroes preparing people for the coming of the Lord...except the only enemy we have is the sun and not arrows!

This week was a little bizarre, in that I gave my "dying testimony".  We were in Antibes for zone training and it was my turn to get up and do it.  It was really surreal.  But it went well.  And, the best part was there was no need to get all sentimental because, the second I finished, I headed back out to work knowing that I still had several weeks left.

Funny note... Remember the woman that took us to the seafood restaurant last summer?  We went to her house last night for dinner and she recreated the same meal.

I hope that everything is going well for you all have a great week.  Thanks for everything!

Je vous aime,

Soeur Alisa Hulme

"Basically, she is Giselle from "Enchanted" 6/2/2014

Bonjour Ma Famille,

I hope that you have all had an incredible week.  I sure have.

Maybe I'll start by telling you a little about my new companion (all of the pictures you've seen are actually not with her...more legitimate companionship photos to come...).  Soeur Patrick is great.  She is from Florida, but kind of Canada because her dad is serving as the mission president there for the Montreal Quebec Mission.  She's really happy, loves singing, and musical theater.  Basically, she is Giselle from "Enchanted".  Exactly like her.  She really loves people and is a hard worker.  We are having a good time together.

It's a really incredible time to be serving in Nice.  Next week, Elder Andersen of the Twelve will be coming here for our zone conference.  And, every missionary from our entire mission will be congregated here in Nice to see it (big deal, this never happens).  There are lots of preparations to be made, but it's clear that our ville is about to explode with miracles after it is visited by an apostle of the Lord.  We've been working a lot with members, less-actives, amis, and even people on the street to prepare them for this amazing experience.

As far as teaching goes, we are teaching this really amazing girl named Sabrine.  She is 18 years old and the sisters found her about a transfer ago.  Get this... Her mom is a less-active returned missionary who married a muslim.  She was contacted by the missionaries and now is the coolest, most solid amie.  She comes to institute all the time (even giving the spiritual thoughts), has had lots of spiritual experiences, and has a baptismal date set for later this transfer.  There are obviously some hurdles that we are going to have to get over (but what else is new).  In any case, she is super prepared for the gospel and bore powerful testimony of how her relationship with Christ has grown this last lesson.  I'm excited to be working with her.

Our sector is needing a lot of building at the moment.  It has been great, we hit the streets all week, talking to everyone in our path.  It's so crazy, if I'm not talking to every person that I pass, I don't feel like a missionary.  The Lord really has a way of inspiring us to find his children.  We found some cool potentials and also saw many miracles-- lots of people who were taught in the past randomly called us asking to start meeting with us again.  There tons of things already set up for this week.

I hope you all have a fantastic week!  Good luck (Maddy with graduation, Mary with student government elections, and Liv with her performance)!  You will all be great.  Love you, talk to you soon!

Je vous aime,

Soeur Alisa Hulme

"I have been transfered to Nice. AHHHHH! I'm thoroughly convinced that this is the most beautiful place in the entire world (despite the sea food...I will not be going there again)." 5/26/14

 Bonjour Ma Famille,

Oh my gosh, I am so happy.  I've literally been walking around freaking out all day (except for this morning when the freaking out was done while running along the boardwalk by the sea!!!).  For those who haven't heard the spoiler, I have been transfered to Nice.  AHHHHH!  I'm thoroughly convinced that this is the most beautiful place in the entire world (despite the sea food...I will not be going there again).  Although I was sad to be leaving my beautiful city of Bordeaux, I am excited to be hitting another ville (6 villes in 12 transfers, not bad).  I'm convinced that God is trying to help me with my shortcomings by having me move so much...maps, memorizing names, and in this case, overcoming my whiteness with the crazy sun (and heat...yikes).  It will be fantastic too because I will not be an STL nor a trainer.  No extra responsibilities--only us, in our perfect ville, working really hard.  I'll be serving with Soeur Patrick (haven't met her yet, but she will be great).  We are going to kill it this transfer.  Oh my gosh, we're going to work so hard, I'm absolutely thrilled.

"Oh my, look at the view from where I had lunch today!"

I guess I should tell you a little about my week (as I still love Talence and it holds a special place in my heart)...

Sister Hulme and Sister Brimhall with their Lindt chocolat

Soeur Hutchins and I went to Bayonne and Pau on exchanges this week--both of which are gorgeous and were full of incredible experiences (sorry, don't think I only like my mission because I'm traveling Southern France...definitely not the important part).  I got to do an exchange with Soeur Brimhall, it was so great.  She is doing fabulous.  We went to a cute little outerville and stumbled upon a Lindt chocolate factory.  Yum.  So, Soeur Hutchins and I celebrated the last of our exchanges for the transfer by eating delicious chocolate on the long train home.

I'm so cultured!  Okay, not really.  But, we did have a ward activity this week in which three members of the Bordeaux Opera came and put on a concert (only in France, right?!).  It also helped that one of the performers is a member in Talence.  It was such a success.  There were more non-members there than members.  Score.  There will be so many new amis out of that.

I'm so thrilled, both Alain and Sonia set baptism dates this last week.  They will both be baptized later next month.  I loved getting to find and teach them, they are incredible!  Cool sidenote: Soeur Luthi will be replacing me, so she will be there for them.

Speaking of baptism, I have another story.  Five transfers ago, when I was up in Besancon with Soeur Pagano, we had a miracle day...that we're only coming to realize was actually a miracle.  There was a really long day when we had no lessons, we were outside talking to people all day, and it was raining.  I kid you not, after four hours on the streets, we had talked to 20 people (Besancon is small, but it was definitely affected by the rain too).  We ended the day talking to this man who was cool and left us with his number.  Unfortunately, he never responded to calls.  Guess what?  Soeur Ronndahl and her companion finally got a hold of him and Nicolas was baptized this last week.  So incredible!  None of our efforts are ever in vain.

Crazy story of the week... We were porting one day and were let in by these nice people...who ended up being slightly crazy.  I will demonstrate this by including an excerpt from the brochure they left us with at our departure, "All life on earth had been scientifically created in laboratories by people from space...(those who created us) are being kept alive on their planet thanks to cloning and will officially return very soon to their embassy on earth...this is the largest UFO-related, non-profit organization in the world."  Haha, that was interesting.  There was an awkward prayer at the end where they insisted on holding our hands (gross) and then we booked it out of there.

I really love being a missionary, it is the absolute best experience.  I love you all, have a great week!

Je vous aime,

Soeur Alisa Hulme

"I can't think of another time in my life when I felt so much love for and so strongly the power of the Book of Mormon." 5/19/14

Bonjour Ma Famille,

Typical week in the life of a missionary, it was great.  Haha, have you ever gone home at night and your jaw hurt because you had been smiling so much during the day?  I'm convinced that all returned missionaries are bound to have wrinkles at least ten years earlier in life.

Cool experience this week... 

At district meeting we were focusing on the Book of Mormon.  Nothing new, I have one in my hands about 90% of the time (unless I'm sleeping).  But, the spirit was so strong when during the meeting.  There was a point when we all went around and shared our testimonies/how we gained our testimonies of the book.  I can't think of another time in my life when I felt so much love for and so strongly the power of the Book of Mormon.  It was so incredible.

Later that same day, I was on exchange and we had a lesson with Alain.  He is so cool.  After being super inspired in the meeting, we focused the lesson on the Book of Mormon.  At the end of the rendez-vous, he recounted to us the changes he is seeing in his life.  He said that he was talking to his wife (athiest and against him being baptized), and asked her if she had remarked a difference in him since he had started meeting with us.  She confirmed that she had.  Even his kids commented that he was a happier, kinder, and more patient person now than he was a few months ago.  It was kind of a "click" moment for him.  He and his family are seeing the gospel take root in his life.  At the end of the lesson, we testified of the Book of Mormon and that it has the power to change lives.  He stopped us there and affirmed, acknowledging that we had been claiming this for months but that he finally agreed with us.  Then, he testified back to us and proclaimed his love for the book and the principles taught in it.  He said that he even loved it more than the bible (a major statement for a devoted Catholic).  It was such a cool experience, this book is powerful.

Nothing else too crazy this week...three exchanges, really great meals from the members I adore, and several of our sisters' amis getting baptized.  Everything is going well.  Soeur Hutchins is great and I really love working with her.  I love Talence too.  Transfer calls are this week, donc, on verra.  Have a wonderful week!

Je vous aime,

Soeur Alisa Hulme