"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

"There is nothing like strengthening companionship unity than through performing lice treatments on the other person at 2 AM." 5/12/14

Bonjour Ma Famille,

Sis Hulme with Sis Pagano

It was so wonderful to get to talk to you on Sunday!  Let me tell you a bit about the week...

With our apartment becoming a hotel for all of the sisters coming in for exchanges, it was only a matter of time before it became contaminated with lice.  Yep my friends, some of the sisters that came in this week brought us lice.  Specifically, brought me lice.  It was a slightly (I maybe freaked out a little bit...) traumatic and dramatic situation that is currently under control.  Lesson learned-- there is nothing like strengthening companionship unity than through performing lice treatments on the other person at 2 AM.

We had a cool lesson this week with one of our new amis.  His name is Baba and is from Senegal (sidenote: listen to the names of some of our amis/potentials... Baba, Babakar, Fodabalba, Mamadou, Magda, Zenaida.  You'd think I was serving in Africa or something).  Anyways, he came in and was so open, he said he was searching for the truth.  We explained to him about our purpose as missionaries and what he would need to do to know for himself.  He said that he was will to try "to the end" (until he gets an answer).

Lots of our amis are great, but dropping off the face of the planet, going out of town for long periods of time, or facing hardcore oppostion.  It's really sad.  We're kind of in the "finding stage" at the moment.

Sis Hulme with Sister Hutchins

We ported into a woman this week who is 103 years old!  She lived by herself, wasn't on any medication, and could walk, talk, and hear.  Oh my gosh, my mind was blown.

Apparently we have this other cool amie that I've never met.  At the beginning of last transfer we contacted this lady who was muslim and not interested.  So, we asked her if she knew anyone else who could be.  She gave us the name of her friend but we were never able to make contact with her. (this is where the story gets a bit fuzzy for me) A couple weeks ago, Soeur Hutchins called this friend and set up a rendez-vous.  Her name is Sonia, she's 40 and has four kids.  She understands everything taught and cries every time we pray.  Today there was another lesson with her where she brought one of her friends.  I'm super excited about her...if she is real.  Soeur Hutchins and I joke that she's a made up amie because she has been taught four times but I have never been there because they've all been on exchanges.  For all I know, Soeur Hutchins could be just pretending that we have amis.  Haha, probably not true.  Maybe I'll meet my amie on her baptism day...maybe.

I'm really grateful for my mission and all of the opportunities I have to grow.  There's nothing like a mission to point out and make you blatantly aware of all your weaknesses, while also giving you the motivation, the desire, and the tools needed to change.  In 1 Corinthians 12 it says, "For my strength is made perfect in weakness.  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me...for when I am weak, then am I strong."  The Lord is working hard with me and allowing me to make the very most out of this short experience.  I'm so happy and grateful.  I love being a missionary!

I love you all.  Congrats Ben on receiving your Eagle, so cool!  Have a great week!

Je vous aime,

Soeur Alisa Hulme

"we tried out new ways to "trick" people into listening to us" 5/5/14

Bonjour Ma Famille,

We had a great week!

Miracles...we tried out new ways to "trick" people into listening to us.  

(role play with strangers)  We had a lesson coming up in the day but hadn't had time to do a role play and practice it.  So, we sat by a guy on the tram, told him we were missionaries, and asked him if we could role play one of our upcoming lessons with him (and threw in that he could correct our French...no French person can refuse that).  Haha, it totally worked.  After a 45 minute lesson, we decided that we needed to do this more often.

(port in the pouring rain) It rained a lot this week.  Not complaining, it wasn't hot.  Plus, we saw miracles because of it.  I was on exchange and we were out contacting for only one hour and got let into two houses (mostly out of pity, but still...).  We had some great conversations and have new potential amis.

(show up early for rendez-vous) We had a rendez-vous fixed with an older lady in the ward to share a short spiritual message.  There was a miscommunication somewhere and we ended up being there an hour before she expected.  Not a problem, her non-member grandson was at her house and was willing to sit in on our lesson (conveniently switched to the restoration).

Other news this week, the relief society bailed on making food for our huge zone conference the day before.  Hence, we spent several hours that night baking a million banana bars.  Waste of time, yes.  Necessary, unfortunately.  Good thing they were delicious.

We planned another ward activity this last week.  I know it seems that we do this every couple weeks...that's because we do.  But, we're supposed to and they work really well.  Luckily, this one was way low key.  We had everyone bring food, board games, and their non-member friends.  Listen how weird French people are... I tried to explain to them the simple art of placing all of the food on a huge table, sharing it between everyone, and eating while playing the games.  This, of course, was an unimaginable proposal.  The French way... everyone brings their own food, plates, utinsels, drinks, and even table cloths, they set up camp on their separate family table, eat for an hour, and then move on to games.  Haha, oh well.  Let them be.

We had several really incredible lessons with amis this week, specifically with Alain and Jeremy.  This are becoming more and more clear for them and they are feeling the Spirit.  I love teaching and watching people change.  We are working really hard and seeing lots of miracles.  I love being a missionary!  Have a wonderful week, talk to you soon!

Je vous aime,

Soeur Alisa Hulme

"At this specific point in her life, she can't become a member of the church. But, after the short moment that we spent together this week, she expressed the hope that she received and the faith that it would all work out one day. I know it will." 4/28/14

Bonjour Ma Famille,

Must start with a clarification for last week's letter... They do not sell duct tape in France.  Yes, this was our first plan of action and I'm thoroughly convinced that it would have worked to fix the light, but it was not an option.

What a crazy, great week... traveled to 2 villes across the country, 2 conferences, 2 exchanges, 2 new amis engaged to baptism, and getting to see all 4 of my mission daughters.  Guess what we are doing all P-Day?  Sleeping in our appartment.

The week started with Jedi Council in Lyon.  It was fantastic, as always.  It was probably one of the most spiritual meetings I've had on my mission.  It's so incredible being there with President and all of the leaders.  Love them.  Mostly, we learned how to inspire all of the other missionaries.  We also talked about a new mission goal they'll be presenting this transfer.  They want a huge mission-wide baptism on the 5th of July (talk about me going out with a bang), so we'll be setting goals and making plans for that.  Cool moment, I heard President Roney pray for the first time (clarification: the first time I have heard it...that would be weird otherwise).  Anyways, at the end of the meeting he said a beautiful prayer and blessed us all.  So powerful.

Right after the council, we took a train up to Besancon to pick up my legality...finally (now they can't kick me out of the country).  I was so excited.  I can't even explain how happy I was to be there, I love that place with all my heart.  I feel like it is "my ville".  We went to a ward FHE and I got to see some of my friends then we spent the night with the sisters.  I got to see Soeur Ronndahl, who is great and just as Swedish as ever.  

Best part of going to Besancon, we got to teach Sandrine (yes, even though we were traveling most of the week and bouncing between conferences, we made sure to fill every other waking second with lessons in the sectors).  It was so amazing to see Sandrine, I have never had an amie like her, I love her so much.  Unfortunately, it has been really difficult with her husband since I left, she hasn't been to church for months and is starting to question her testimony (but not really, that's just what her husband wants her to think).  She explained how us coming was a miracle.  She said that last weekend, out of the blue, she kept getting the feeling that she needed to write me and felt really bad that she didn't.  Then, on Monday, she got the call from the sisters setting up a rendez-vous for us.  She was so happy and picked up the Book of Mormon for the first time in over a month.  So basically, the Spirit was really strong in the lesson, we talked about spiritual experiences we had had together, read scriptures, and bore powerful testimony.  I cried.  At this specific point in her life, she can't become a member of the church.  But, after the short moment that we spent together this week, she expressed the hope that she received and the faith that it would all work out one day.  I know it will.

Back in Bordeaux, we presented at zone training.  That went well... I really love speaking and it is so much easier to do big presentations in English, so that was nice.  There I got to see Soeur Pagano and Soeur Brimhall (finishing out the rest of my daughters for the week).  

We were able to have our first rendez-vous with Dominique since she has been back in town.  It went really well and, by the end of the lesson, she was insisting on resetting her baptismal date.

Random... We contacted a guy this week who lived in Provo, UT for a year and a half, with his member friend's family, and worked in the French classes at BYU.  What?!  Not baptized yet and not super interested at the moment.  But, needless to say, I did stand there with my mouth open in shock for a measurable amount of time.

So, it was a really great week.  Isn't being a missionary the best?  I love you all, have a great week!

Je vous aime,

Soeur Alisa Hulme

"In the safest, least dumb blonde way possible, we stood on a chair and hit it with a hammer" 4/21/14

Bonjour Ma Famille,

Such a great week.  I'm writing this email from the comfort of my mission home, Lyon (in an internet cafe that is playing the techno version of Pirates of the Caribbean songs and in the company of my lovely Soeur Luthi).  We flew in this morning so that we'd be here for Jedi Council tomorrow.  Love it.

Meet my new companion, Soeur Hutchins.  She is the best.  She's from Connecticut, has 9 siblings, is 6 ft tall, and is studying athletic training at BYU.  She plays every sport known to man (and would kill me at all of them)...except she fell twice during our runs in one week.  She's a really great missionary, even though nearly every appointment we set all week fell through, we had the best time contacting for over 20 hours together.  She brought the two most important things with her when coming to Bordeaux...a blender and a blue card (a mission card with unlimited funds).  Funny... (her observations of me at the end of the week) "You wear lots of colors, are good at washing dishes, run every morning, and are too weird to go home."  We get along so well.

The whole week started with a big mess with the appartment.  So, the light hanging in our living room was terrible.  It had this huge, red lampshade over it that made the whole room look orange.  Attempting to be pratical, we decided to take off the outer lamp shade.  In the safest, least dumb blonde way possible, we stood on a chair and hit it with a hammer.  Unfortunately, this execution revealed the fact that the light was not connected well to the ceiling (note that the light was already broken and would have tragically fallen on one of us at one point or another if we had not discovered this fault).  So, we spent a good amount of time in the only Home Depot-like store in France, learned a lot of crazy vocab, and attempted to become a electricians, and then had the elders come fix it.  Moment of shame.  Memories.

Like I mentioned earlier, basically everything fell through this week.  Even members canceled on us.  Example... We took an hour-long bus to the middle of nowhere to meet a member and teach a lesson.  She bailed, which left us in the desert with no returning buses for hours.  Eventually, we found food and then got pick up by another member.

We found 20 euros on the ground and got to eat really great pastries as a result.  This was not the only miracle this week, don't worry.  We found some cool people, Dominique finally came back from Paris, and Talence has the most incredible members.  Love them.

Easter was great, I hope you enjoyed it... although I'm not sure how you were able to celebrate it without the Ten Commandments or coconut cake.  I leave and this is what happens, everything gets ruined.  Glad I wasn't there for that.  I love you all, have a great week.

Je vous aime,

Soeur Alisa Hulme

"There were five baptisms between our district and our sisters…that's basically double our mission's weekly average!" 4/14/14

Bonjour Ma Famille, 

The news... I'm devistated.  Soeur Stevens is getting moved all the way across the country to Annemasse.  I am so sad, she was the greatest.  I am happy though, I'll be staying here in Talence for another transfer.  I love it so much, I can't even imagine leaving.  My new companion is Soeur Hutchins, her train will come in later today.  She's a great missionary, really funny, but she is crazy.  My life is about to get turned up-side-down, stay-tuned for hilarious updates.  I'm also really happy because we got to keep all of our companionships of sisters.  Let the transfer begin...

Scary fact... Apparently Bordeaux summers are always hotter than Aix-en-Provence summers.  This is potentially fatal.  I already have a good tan line.

Member moment... How to be a good member, take some advice from the Geney's.  You invite the missionaries over for a delicious lunch and then take them to your incredible, Scottish neighbor and let them teach her.

Funny miracle... One night we were out porting for a couple hours.  Everyone answered the door (weird...that never happens), but no one would talk to us.  Sometimes it surprises me how people can be so mean to people that are so happy.  Haha, don't worry, it didn't phase me, I was just utterly confused.  So, we got to the last door and this lady answered and the first thing that she said was, "Ah, you're so cute."  That was a shocker.  In short, we talked to her and her young daughter for a little bit.  They were so nice.  She wasn't really interested, but we left her with a Book of Mormon and she left us with two huge bottles of expensive make-up remover (she sells make-up for a living).  Random, but it was great.  I love little tender mercies.

Baptisms... This week was so incredible.  There were five baptisms between our district and our sisters.  That's crazy, that's basically double our mission's weekly average!  I was so excited, we were able to attend two of them.  Even though the baptisms of our amis didn't work out this transfer, I'm pretty sure that I couldn't have been happier to see all of the others.  And, we were able to have four of our amis in attendance!  So many cool people just came closer to Christ!

Weird sidenote... Since I have been in Bordeaux, none of the computers that we've used have had the option to change the keyboard to the English setting...explains the shorter letters (did you know that on the French keyboard you have to shift to use a period but not an explanation point...French people are so dramatic). Anyways, we're using a different place today and I switched it to English and I can't type anymore.  Quickly changed it back to French.  Such a struggle.

Ward activities... After the sucess of our American Night, we have spent this last transfer planning another ward activity.  We did an International/Olympics Night, full of games and food from around the world.  It was incredible.  At first, we were kind of disappointed because there wasn't a huge turnout.  But, as the night went on, we realized that it was exactly what was needed.  The majority of the people there were amis and less-actives.  That meant that all of the people that would normally be the quite ones in the back were on center stage and really came out of their shells (two cliches in one sentence...dang it).  It was a fantastic night, with mostly good but occasionally bizarre food and tons of laughter.  Ward activities are a winner.

So basically, it was a great week and I love being a missionary.  But what else is new?  I love you all, have a great Easter!

Je vous aime,

Soeur Alisa Hulme

"Loud messages (from Conference)--Be covenant-keeping-loving, use times of trial to show and fortify faith, be a true disciple of Christ--not separating your worldly and spiritual lives, and to love, listen to, and be patient with others." 4/7/14

Bonjour Ma Famille,

This week was so wonderful, I love being a missionary so so much.  It's the greatest thing in the entire world.  Nothing super crazy to report, but I will give you some updates...

We have been teaching this guy named Jeremy, he's really cool.  He is dating a member from Perpignan and is set on becoming a member himself.  Though he doesn't have much of a religious background, Matilde (his girlfriend) has told him basically everything about the church.  While his whole objective behind meeting with us originally was for her, it's incredible to see his intentions slowly turn more towards himself and his personal relationship with God.  We're excited because Matilde will be coming into town this week and will be helping us with some lessons.

Cool miracle-- We started teaching a Bulgarian family this week and got to use it as an excuse to have a less-active Bulgarian member help us teach.  Even though they ended up being slightly crazy Bulgarian gypsies who had met with TJ's (Jehovah's Witnesses) and weren't interested in our message, it was a good experience for the member.

It's really great right now because we have lots of people to teach, we found another guy this week who we saw nearly every day and who came to conference. Everything is going well, we're working hard and we are happy.  I was super excited about conference, of course, and was so inspired by all of my favorites.  Loud messages (keeping in mind that I haven't seen the whole thing)-- Be covenant-keeping/covenant-loving, use times of trial to show and fortify faith, be a true disciple of Christ--not separating your worldly and spiritual lives, and to love, listen to, and be patient with others.  I love general conference and have some newly-vamped goals for the upcoming transfer (pray that Soeur Stevens and I get to stay in Talence).

Happy Birthday Mom!  Isn't it so perfect that your birthday is smack dab in the middle of the month when all the flowers bloom?  I'm taking pictures of the ones in France for you.  You are the greatest and such an inspiration to me.  You're always so thoughtful, your letters make me laugh and they strengthen my testimony.  Cheesy, but it will be better in the letter I'm sending.  Love you!

Je vous aime,

Soeur Alisa Hulme