Milagros, Tormentas, Iglesia, y mas :)

September 24, 2018

Hola familia!!! 

This week was definitely one for the books! We saw miracle after miracle. If only I had time to write about ALL of them! 

Wednesday: A Series of Miracles

A little background information: Sister Thacker is AMAZING at the Violin, and our mission president asked if she would play for Zone Conference this upcoming Thursday in Council Bluffs, when the area 70 comes down to speak to us! She was able to borrow a violin from a member in our Zone Leader's area. 

On Wednesday we left early in the morning for district meeting in Marshall, Minnesota. Before we left, Sister Thacker said, "I don't know why but I really feel like I'm supposed to bring the violin with me today." I was like "huh, okay" and so she brought it with her all the way to Marhsall! After the meeting we drove to Pipestone to do our studies and teach Jocelia, the 12 year old that will hopefully be baptized soon (when her Mom gives permission). Pipestone is about an hour away from our area, and on the way back I had the thought that we should try a few of the less active members that live on the way back home. I knew there was a lady on the way home named Dominique, but I had never met her or talked to her before. We've texted her a few spiritual thoughts before and invited her to church a couple times, but she's never actually answered the phone or her text messages before. We had the prompting to call her, and she actually answered!!!! Through tears, she said, "This is so weird, I was literally just about to call you girls, I have absolutely hit rock bottom and I really need your help right now." I told her not to worry, and we were already on our way. 

She lived about 20 minutes away from where we were, and suddenly a massive rainstorm hit. When it rains here, it RAINS. We yet again couldn't see the road, but we knew we had to get to Dominique's house as soon as possible. I said a prayer out loud that the rain might be able to lighten so we could make it safely and quickly to Dominique's.Seriously seconds after I said Amen, the pouring rain on our windshield turned into a light drizzle. But I looked outside and it still seemed like it was coming down SO HARD, It felt like there was a giant invisible umbrella around our car. I don't know how else to explain it than angels were with us on that drive. 

We got to Dominique's and Sister Thacker suddenly remembered something. That Dominique LOVES music, and guess what we had??? A VIOLIN! When we got inside Dominique explained that she had been building up the courage to text us and moments later the phone started ringing and it was us. She explained how big a miracle this was because she never has her phone with her, and the sound is always off. She went on to explain the difficulties she has been going through lately and how she's almost gotten to her breaking point. She's felt like Heavenly Father doesn't hear her prayers and she has felt alone -- but the fact that we had called right at the moment she needed us, she knew Heavenly Father was truly looking out for her. I KNOW THAT IS TRUE. I know that calling her was truly inspiration, because I had never even met her before, and her name just popped into my head. Heavenly Father loves his children. Sister Thacker played the violin for her, and it helped Dominique calm down and feel so much peace. What an amazing miracle that we were able to help her.

Thursday: The downpour, and JJ

On Thursday we had dinner with a member in Windom, so we decided to go try to find a few less active members in that area as well before our appointment. It was drizzling a tiny bit, nothing to be alarmed about though. We went to go find a woman who lived in an outdoor apartment complex and we parked pretty far away at the High School because we didn't see visitor parking. She wasn't home, but within milliseconds the rain started to come down HARD. Like Noah's flood hard. We tried to sprint back to the car, but it was too late. SOAKED. Literally drenched from head to foot. That wasn't necessarily a miracle, it was just crazy haha. Minnesota weather man.

Later that night we went to find another less active named Ferdinand. We found him in his apartment, when his next door neighbor walked past as we were talking to him on his door step and goes, "Yo are you guys Mormons?" We told him the full name of our church, and he kind of laughed and went inside his apartment. A couple seconds later he came back out and gave us some water bottles, and went back inside again. After we were done talking to Ferdinand, we decided to go knock on his door because he was so nice to bring us water bottles! He opens the door and goes, "Oh, I should have known it was you guys!" His name is JJ. We went on to ask him about his belief in Jesus Christ and if he believed in God, and suddenly he started crying. He said he had been looking for truth in his life and hadn't found a church or a pastor that he liked, and that he didn't like pastors that drove super fancy cars because he doesn't like to give money to a church that will just make the pastor rich, or something like that. You could imagine the reaction he had when we talked about callings, and a branch president who is unpaid. He told us that he wants so badly to change his life around! He promised us right there that he would come to church and if someone said something that touched his heart, he would stay. He needed a ride, so we set up a member who could take him! The sad part of the story is that on Sunday morning the family called him to pick him up, and he was actually all ready to go and still planning on coming. But when he found out it was 30 minutes away, a 3 hour service, and that there would be an hour long potluck afterward he realized he had some time constraints and couldn't do it this week. :( But he told us that when he makes promises, he keeps them! So we'll get him there in the future, I know it.

Sunday: Dora and Hermana Thacker

Dora came to church again yesterday! Last week in Sunday School we went around and talked about things we did that week, and she mentioned that it was her birthday, and it was actually pretty sad because all of her family lives in Guatemala so she didn't have anyone to celebrate it with. Well one of the Hispanic members heard that, and they brought a cake for the whole branch to share after church and we all sang happy birthday to her. Little shy Dora turned so red, it was adorable!!! She whispered in my ear (in Spanish), "How did everyone know it was my birthday!?!?" I am so thankful that members in the branch just take everyone under their wing. :)

Last night we were visiting a member who hasn't come to church in about a month because she has been so sick. At one point the member started talking about some medical stuff in a bit too much detail... and apparently Hermana Thacker doesn't do too well when she hears about stuff like that. And she goes, "Okay, I kind of think I'm gonna pass out." About 20 seconds after she said that she blacked out and it kind of looked like she had a seizure? It was probably the scariest moment of my life, we called 911 and my mission president right away. She woke back up a couple minutes later and she is okay now! It was quite the scare though. Now we know we can't talk about blood around Hermana Thacker. Haha! We have been taking it easy today :)

I am so happy to be a missionary!!! The miracles make the hard work worth it every day. And I can strongly testify that the miracles only come after our obedience, and acting on the spiritual promptings we've received. The Lord loves us so much! Also, Winter is just around the corner here. We had a day or 2 this week in the 40's! Wish me luck!!!!

Have a great week!!!! <3

Con Amor, Hermana Hansen 

Pictures:

1. Dora and her birthday cake

2. Us and Catalina (Dora's fellowshipper)

3. Right after the downpour hit us in Windom!

4. The beautiful rainbow that happened after the storm :)

Miracles, King Turkey Day, and some reflecting :)

September 17, 2018

Hola Familia y Amigos!!!!!

This week was AMAZING! Although it was kind of slow, we still saw many mighty miracles. We did a lot of finding this week, and found a lot of people, but it's so hard to get return appointments these days. We'll get a return appointment and 95% of the time they cancel or they won't be home. The work keeps moving though! And we aren't getting discouraged. :)

Some highlights this week though were that Dora came to church again!!!! It's her 3rd time in 4 weeks and we can tell she's really starting to feel comfortable there. She is getting very fellowshipped by Catalina (the one who gave her chili peppers last time), apparently Catalina took her to her house for cake after church so that was great news! WE LOVE MEMBER MISSIONARIES! Another highlight was that Moumouni (the father of our most recent convert family) gave the sacrament prayer for the first time this week and we helped them find their first names to take to the temple. They are growing so fast in the gospel! And they are missionaries too. They bring friends to church almost every single week. We love them so much.

I did a lot of reflecting this week and realized how much the mission has truly changed me. For example: for those that know me well, you know that I suffer from the common disease of FOMO (fear of missing out). I thought I had overcome that while being out on my mission, but oh boy was I wrong. We live right in the middle of downtown Worthington in a little hidden apartment. We woke up on Friday morning and saw a bunch of vender carts and food tents being set up. We didn't think much of it, we just thought the city was having their regular weekly farmers market! We even got to stop there during lunch and get some Chinese food. It was awesome! But little did we know, this was not just any farmers market. We woke up on Saturday morning and walked outside to exercise and saw bleachers and chairs lining the streets and like 100 more tents being set up. We found out that it was an annual Worthington holiday called "King Turkey Day." Strange right? I still have no idea what it is or why they celebrate it, but apparently it's a huge festival they do every year. Kind of like Summer Fest. We walked past all of the festivities and I felt sick to my stomach. I was SO JEALOUS that the whole city was going to be able to participate in King Turkey Day and I couldn't. The FOMO was real. I know, it sounds ridiculous, especially because I still don't even know why they celebrate it, but I was SAD!

After hearing about the parade that was happening, the food they were selling, and all of the exciting festivities that were happening, I said a silent prayer that my FOMO would go away. My companion and I were getting ready for the day when suddenly loud music started blasting outside, and a very loud announcer welcoming the city to King Turkey Day. We suddenly realized that there was no way we would be able to study with the craziness that was going on outside. We decided we would need to go to the church to study! As soon as we stepped outside again to go to the car, my FOMO suddenly vanished. The music was loud, the streets were crowded, and there was already garbage being piled up on the streets. I had a sudden realization that I did not want ANYTHING to do with the festival that was going on. This work is FAR more important than any festival, and I would much rather be helping others come closer to Christ than getting lost in the crowds at the party downtown. As soon as I stepped into the quiet, peaceful church I felt at home. I felt so safe and secure, and all of the distractions vanished. I realized that my calling is SO sacred, and I am right where I need to be in this point of time. :)

Another thing that made me realize how much I have changed on my mission is the energy and motivation I feel that I constantly have now (but of course, there are days that are harder than others). It has become easy for me to wake up without delay right at 6:30 every morning, and I actually LOVE exercising. But most importantly, having personal study with the scriptures for an hour every morning has absolutely changed my life. I NEED the scriptures. I literally have no idea how I functioned at home without reading them so fervently every day. I've realized that because of the 8 hours of sleep I get, the 30 minutes of exercise, and the hour of personal study I get each day have literally changed my life. I am happy, I am in tune with the spirit, I can actually recognize and receive personal revelation (although I am still learning how), I am motivated, I have energy, and just like President Monson promised, I feel heaven's help in my life stronger than ever before. But most importantly, I have become SO close to my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love Him. He helps me get through every single day of my mission, and I know He will help me get through every single day for the rest of my life. For the past 2 weeks I've been working on a poem about Him. I'll attach it!

My invitation to you all is to do your absolute best to read the Book of Mormon every single day. It may seem like a sacrifice, but I promise you, it is so worth it.

I love you all so much!!!! Have an amazing week!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Hansen

Pictures:

1-2: The chinese food we got from one of the street venders on Friday!

3-4: Some of the chairs and bleachers we saw outside of our apartment on Saturday morning, before all of the chaos started!

5: Catalina and her grandkids! 

6: This is the poem I wrote. Let me know what you think :)

Interviews, Exchanges, and More!

September 10, 2018

I can't believe I'm already almost done being trained, oh how time flies! Although it still feels like I'm going to be on my mission forever sometimes.

This week was one to remember! We were away from Worthington for 3 entire days due to Interviews with the President in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Tuesday, and then exchanges on Wednesday, and on Thursday we stayed in Omaha most of the day because we had to trade in our car (it had too many miles on it) and then Sister Thacker had a doctor's appointment.

One of the highlights of my week was Tuesday night, on the way to Omaha (it's about a 3.5 hour drive) we got caught in a massive rainstorm! We pulled into a gas station to wait it out because we couldn't even see the road. We were there for so long that we decided it wasn't the smartest idea to finish the drive that night, so instead we crashed with the Hermanas in Sioux City, Iowa for the night! And guess who one of the Sioux City Hermanas is?! HERMANA IVERSON!!!! (My MTC companion and my best friend). I was so excited and it was so nice to catch up. Even though I had to sleep on the floor, it was worth it. I'd sleep on the floor for her any day.

Exchanges in Omaha was such a blast. I was with my new Sister Training Leader, Sister Coleman. She has been out for over a year and is such a great missionary. She taught me that even though I am a missionary, I can still laugh, have fun, and be myself. You'd think this would be obvious, but sometimes you forget! We had a dinner with a lady named Sister Gublrite and her friend Loraine. I have never met funnier ladies in my life. We went to a Chinese Buffet and we were all sitting down eating and Loraine comes and sits down with a MOUNTAIN of food, it looked like it was going to overflow. She suddenly bends down and grabs her purse and looks at us and goes, "'Scuse me for a minute," and she pulls out a gallon sized plastic bag and starts DUMPING THE FOOD INTO THE BAG!!!!! We were so alarmed but we literally couldn't stop laughing. Moments later she leaves and comes back with more food, and she goes, "Don't worry, that plate was for my dogs." Sister Gulbrite got all mad at her for taking the food, because you obviously aren't supposed to take food to go at buffets. But Loraine said, "Oh relax. Don't act like you've never done that before." I literally don't think I stopped laughing the entire dinner. I wish I could have recorded it. But I was so thankful for this experience because it reminded me that it is okay to LAUGH! Heavenly Father's plan for us is to have joy. :)

That was definitely the highlight of my week. The rest of this week felt a bit slow, a lot of people that we are teaching dropped us so we did quite a bit of finding on the days we were home! We did get Dora on date for baptism though for October 20th. It's subject to change, but we are so excited for her! :)

Although it seems like I will be on my mission forever sometimes, I am so happy to be here. This is the only time in my life that I will be able to put ALL of my time and effort into the Lord's work. I am on his errand, doing His will. And I have seen SO many miracles and blessings already. I know He is so mindful of us and loves us so much. I can honestly say that I've witnessed pretty much every promised blessing I've been given on my mission come true as I do my best to serve the Lord obediently.

Moses 1:39 - "For behold, this is my work and my glory- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

I love you all!! Have an amazing week!!!

Con Amor, 

Hermana Hansen

Pictures: 

1. The mission president's wife and us at Interviews! We love Sister Ence!

2. HERMANA IVERSON AND I! <3

3. Sister Coleman and I on exchanges with some sweet people we met on the street.

4. Sister Gulbrite and Loraine at the dinner I will never forget. Hahaha. 

5. This is the car we had to sell! Her name was Millie (2016 Nissan Rogue. Now we have a 2017 Malibu.)

6. We got to go fishing for P-day today with some Hispanic Members in our ward!!! It made me realize that I know absolutely zero words about fishing in Spanish. I learned a lot and caught 2 fish. :)

Feliz Labor Day!!

Feliz Labor Day familia y amigos!!!

This day has been a little strange for us because our alarm didn't go off this morning and we woke up at 7:30 instead of 6:30. To be honest I was SO thankful. My companion is very proud of her alarm clock because apparently it has successfully woken her up at 6:30 every day since the beginning of her mission, so I feel that this was truly a gift from Heavenly Father that we got to sleep in - He knows how tired we have been. This day is also a little different because the library is closed for the holiday so I am typing on my phone today! Which means my email will be a bit shorter.

I like to call this past week a "member week" because we spent quite a bit of time strengthening members and recent converts this week! We ended up having quite a few more miles left at the end of the month (they give us 1800 each month) so we decided to use them and visit the people we usually can't visit, because they're too far away.

I'm going to explain everything through pictures this week! Sorry they might be out of order but I will try.

1. This is Jocelia, Jolene, Joseph and Seth. I mentioned earlier that we are teaching all of them, but currently Jocelia is getting ready to be baptized (she is the tallest one), and she is 12 years old. Their mom moved here from Libia and isn't a member - but she allows her children to make the decision to be baptized once they turn 12! They've been going to church for like as long as they can remember, because their oldest brother found the church and is baptized. They live in Pipestone (it's technically a different area but we cover it too because there aren't missionaries there right now). We usually do phone call lessons with them because they are so far away but it's truly such a blessing when we can go see them! They are so so so sweet.

2. Sorry this picture is blurry but we had a relief society activity this week and we got to spend some time with the Spanish members of the Branch and we walked to the park for the activity and went down the slide and stuff. Missionaries can have fun too sometimes :)

3. This is the Sas family. They are the ones who I mentioned have a recent convert young son who has autism. He wasn't there when we stopped by because he was in school, but I accidentally left my pencil bag last time we were there so we stopped by on the way home from Pipestone (they live far too) and we got a picture! Cutest family.

4. This is the Wagner couple (also members). Sister Wagner had a stroke a few months ago and has been in the hospital for a LONG time in Omaha, and just recently got transfered to a care center in Worthington so we came to visit! We gave her a basket full of quotes and shared a video with her about hope. She still doesn't talk much and doesn't have the best memory. But as her husband read the quotes to her outloud she started crying. It really touched her heart, and it honestly made my whole week to see her. For relief society on Sunday we all carpooled and went and visited her again as a relief society! We all went one-by-one to give her hugs and when it was me and my companion's turn, she pointed her finger up at us and goes, "Hey, I remember you!!!" It was probably the sweetest thing ever. I think she was surprised that she remembered us honestly! 

5. This is the Cruz family. They are moving to California and we are so sad because they are such a bright light in our branch!! We spent like most of the day helping them move out on Friday and it was so fun. Also I don't know if you can really tell but I am wearing a jumper that a member gave me because it was too small for her. So nice huh?! I love members. 

6. And now for the BIGGEST miracle!!! This week we were stressing about getting Dora to church again. We had a lesson with her this week and we brought a member named Catalina and they CLICKED so fast. Catalina is a little bit older and she moved here from Guatemala but she has more energy than a little puppy. Dora lives in a small little upstairs part of a house, and Catalina basically sprinted up the stairs with excitement. Dora opened the door and Catalina starts pulling out all of these little tiny chili peppers and started handing them to Dora. She was like "these are from my garden I brought them for you!!" Dora was so confused but it was so cute haha. Anyways we asked if Catalina could give Dora a ride to church on Sunday and she said she could if she could get her car fixed by then. (It's hard because literally every single Hispanic in our branch is having car trouble right now and no one can give rides). You better believe we prayed SO hard that her car would get fixed!!! On Saturday night we had already tried calling and texting Catalina and she hadn't responded all day. We were getting worried that Dora wouldn't have a ride to church and it was a little late notice to ask someone else. We were pulled up to a member's house at 8:00 and looked out the window and you'll never guess who we saw. CATALINA!!!! She was randomly walking outside of this member's home and she literally lives across town. Apparently she was helping clean her son's house that lived next door?! MIRACLE!!! She said her car was working and she could pick up Dora!!! Next crazy thing. We called Dora and told her that Catalina could give her a ride, and she kept saying, "Ohhh no puedo mañana. No puedo." (I can't tomorrow.) She was giving some excuses that she had to clean her house and do laundry and stuff. So I pulled out this evil little trick out of my hat and pretended like I couldn't understand her and continued to tell her what time Catalina was going to pick her and her kids up for church. Suddenly she said "Okay, sí está bien." WE WERE SO HAPPY hahaha, when we hung up the phone we just started laughing because we couldn't believe she changed her mind. Guess who came to church and had an amazing time?! Dora!!!! When we went to visit Sister Wagner in the hospital for relief society she gave her a hug and told me to tell her "Get well soon and God bless you." She had a great experience, I'm glad she was able to come after all!!! This is a picute of Dora and I in the car going to see Sister Wagner! 

7. Last but not least, this is the Ayala family (they are members but the girls don't come to church too often). I will tell you more about them later, but we love them SO much. They are the ones that fed us shrimp soup last week and I had to dump it into my companion's bowl when they weren't looking. 

It's been a great week to be a missionary. Every day gets a little easier and every day we see more miracles!!! Door approaches and street contacting aren't scary to me anymore. I have come to know that the message of the gospel is the most important thing that these people will ever hear, and if they don't believe it or accept it now, they will find out in Heaven that it is true, and that we are truly messengers of the happiness the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings! Love you all. Don't forget to read your scriptures because they bring POWER and can help us overcome challenges and burdens in our lives. I've really come to know that is true on my mission so far!

Have an amazing week!!!

Con amor,
Hermana Hansen 

I think all the pictures were out of order, I'm sorry! If it sent the way it's showing on my phone than this is the order.

1. Cruz family

2. Wagner family

3. Dora

4. Jocelia and her siblings

5. The Sas family

6. Relief society picture 

7. The Ayala family