This is the result of spinning a million times in 2 minutes with a broom stick.
Yes, Elder Bentz's shorts can fit both Soeur Fricard and me. At our D.M.B. (Loic)'s apartment.
sadly Elder Bentz got midnighted, that means he left half way through the transfer. He received a lot of desperate calls from Soeur Fabiano and me when we opened. We will miss him. Good times.
I'm sorry that I haven't written in ages, but here... I'm gonna give you so many pictures you won't know what to do with yourself.
For Mom. The lighthouse at Le Conquet.
Crozon. This is on the opposite side of the Harbor of Brest. The sweet Ma'A family (Tahitians the husband is the one who served at Maupiti) lives there.
The district as it was 3 weeks ago before the move. Soeur Fabiano, Elder Bentz, me (very burnt), Elder Runyon, Elder Schroeder, and Elder Hales. I got a strike, I'll have you know.
Arlette and Maryvonne in the countryside. The ocean is just in front of us. Seriously, Bretagne is gorgeous. I think this is Plougastel?
This is Soeur Fricard. She's absolutely amazing. We hope we'll stay at least another transfer together. She's a shepherdess. And just so sweet and encouraging and French. Ah! I love it. But here we were doing yard work at a member's home and she found a bunch of branches we cut down- like a regular hillbilly.
Our last meeting with the Mission President, President Pond, and Sister Pond. They are so wonderful. I feel priveleged to have them for the short 3 1/2 months in the field. (June 18, 2008 at St. Brieuc).
We've been learning how to drive stick this past weekend because we have a car every 3 weeks. Some people end up driving a good hour to get to church. So there is need to have a car, and also knowing how to drive it. Voilà, there is a lot of jolting in the car, lots of scary moments in the middle of round points when there are about 10 cars behind me and I stall out the car. It's magical when I can't get the car to go when the light finally turns green and we're on a hill. But, I have had more experience driving than Soeur Fabiano, so I'll probably be driving. Here's a photo of Elder Schroeder teaching us how to drive in a parking garage. Notice the driving hat.
On Sunday, there were two fantastic rainbows. They stretched across the entire sky. It's been raining a lot in Brest- which means my hair is a poofball and my nylons are covered in mud.
But we're working hard- or trying to. The work here is a little hard- people are not dedicating themselves to finding out, but I guess we better improve our method.
We did exchanges this past week. Soeur Fricard (from the Southern France) and Soeur Soutmont (from Belgium) came from Versaille. This is Soeur Fricard's favorite place she served and when she found out they were opening it to sisters again she nearly died, but President Pond asked her to train in Versaille (she's been there 5 transfers! = 7 months). So when she found out she was doing exchanges in Brest she nearly died. We had a ton of fun. Both of them want to learn English (Soeur Fricard speaks really well and Soeur Soutmont is going to learn really well because most of the companions that remain are Americans) - so we were switching off and on the whole time.
(In front of the Train Station to send the sisters home on their 5 hour trainride.)
And lastly- the cake that the sweetest investigator made- Lilia is her name. She's from Armenia and she is a doll; but she's facing opposition from her husband and she's a refugee here. Things are complicated for her in getting baptized and it's been several months since she's met with the missionaries, but she is amazing! Her family needs the gospel. Her kids will ask me to teach them about Joseph Smith and we sung hymns last Sunday. On Monday when we met with them, so Soeur Fricard could see them again, she made us this lovely thing. You know how I love chocolate. Next time I'll have a photo with this cute family.
à la prochaine!
(That's Annie in the background)
Oh and the birthday was really, really nice. We were planning on doing a passback when the Elders called us and said we should show up at MamiCia's, a convert of 3 years who is so, so wonderful. She had prepared a whole lovely meal and shared it with us, she said it was to celebrate my birthday. I was very, very content with this birthday. :)
The District Relief Society meeting close to Vanne, France. Check out this area on Googleearth. Brest to Vanne area, absolutely beautiful country side.
Chateau in Vanne with Soeur Fabiano with the relief society.
Morlaix Bridge- Morlaix is our new favorite city. It's a half an hour train ride from Brest, and it is perfectly preserved with adorable little cobblestone streets and ancient homes everywhere.
Elders Schroeder and Bentz and Soeur Fabiano and me in Morlaix.
My delicious birthday surprise. This was tasty, tasty. I didn't connect the dots from questions Elder Bentz was asking yesterday about my favorite fruit and my birthday being the next day. But look at this little baby. They were also making very smoky smells in the kitchen while I wrote emails, and I thought it must be food they were burning. No, they were trying to light the candles. They did not succeed but I blew them out anyway.
I haven't yet eaten the famous Brest Special yet- crepes that make you vomit, but here are a few photos detailing just what's happened.
First Day in chapel, April 30- KILLED my baguette in the microwave. Apparently it was set to 900 degrees. I left it in for 1.5 minutes and it was gonnnne. It smelled for several hours. Whoops!
Rainbow
Soeur Fabiano and Me
View of Brest from our church above the supermarket Lidl.
Soeur Pang and me at the Mission President's home the first day.
Nuns are called réligieuses in French. People think we are réligieuses. This patisserie also resembles a réligieuse and is thus called a réligeuse. We are essentially eating ourselves.
The traditional pizza kebab. Every bleu (newbie) must eat it. Sorry it's sideways. I don't have time to flip it. Apparently the owners of this restaurant are being taught by the missionaries. On Paris P-day, when everyone is allowed to go to Paris there were a good 20 or more of us in the restaurant. Good times. March 24- je crois.
This is at the Exposition about a 30 second walk from the Pompidou. It is good times, let me tell you. It's in the gay quartier/neighborhood. Fun times. No- I really love the Expo, we get a chance to show what our church is about and find references that way. It's also good to see other missionaries so regularly, I'm not gonna lie. You need some support from other people, who know you really aren't a crazy religious fanatic. It helps that there are 160 of us.
Heartshaped burn. You know how I roll.
I see this everyday on the Tram home. 
This is actually a French Fry vending machine. Yeah this exists in Asnière.
This is me today - the Seine is too the right. The Hotel de Ville of Paris is right behind me.I arrived, I'm alive, and I'm writing to you from an internet café. My, it's a strange world.
Here's the goods. I got here a week and a day ago. My companion is Soeur Pang from Tahiti- thus she is fluent in French. I'm pretty lucky. Comprehension is a little tough for me, and especially contacting, but I'm working on it. I am amazed at the people in this place. You see everything from completely non-believing to so much faith in God. It's beautiful. But tough. Religion is a touchy subject. And people have all sorts of reactions to you being a believer. Lots of people think we're Catholic nuns - religeuses. Interesting. But things are good. I'll blog more.
I love you all. Take care and leave comments!
Aimant,
Soeur Hathaway
You'd want to send it to
1) MTC (until around March 12)
Sister Heather Anne Hathaway
France Paris Mission
Provo Missionary Training Center
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604
(I assume you can send stuff to this address or there's a place that will mail your letters for free!)
2) Or (after around March 12) send them to:
Sister Heather Anne Hathaway
France Paris Mission
23, Rue du Onze Novembre
F - 78110 Le Vesinet
FRANCE
In two weeks I will be in the MTC - probably asleep. There are a ton of things I need to do between then and now, but this time will fly. Then 18 months dedicated to serving the Lord and teaching the people of France about His gospel. I'll be back in July of 2009. It will be quite a lifestyle change to be preaching the gospel day in and day out. I know that this experience will not be easy, but it will definitely be rewarding.
France Paris Mission - I'm on my way.
