I could get used to being treated like a celebrity in Sioux Falls!!!

July 29, 2019

DEAR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!

My heart is so full and I am so full of energy and excitement I don't even know what to write or do or say. So I was wrong when I said I thought I was going to South Omaha this transfer. I am in SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA!!!! With my BEST FRIEND Hermana Iverson!!! She was my companion in the Mexico MTC and I am so blessed to be with her!!!

It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone in Omaha. Saying bye to Guadalupe, Boris, and Yonatan felt like I was being stabbed in the heart! Let's just say a LOT OF TEARS WERE SHED! I love them all so much though and know we will be friends for life! It was also hard saying bye to my most amazing companions Hermana Jorgensen and Johnson, gosh I love them so much. The Lord sure loves me because he keeps blessing me with amazing companions.

NOW FOR THE GOOD STUFF!!!! So Hermana Iverson and I are "white washing" this area, meaning they haven't had Sister missionaries here for like 10 years! They have english elders here though, thank goodness because they have helped us so much. We packed up our brand new 2019 Toyota Rav 4 to the very brim (IT'S SO NICE) and off we went!!! We got to our apartment not knowing anyone or anything. The elders helped us unpack and invited us to an dinner they had with a member family from Columbia!! We walked in and told them we were moving into the ward, and they started WORSHIPPING THE GROUND WE WALKED ON!!!! Literally!!!! They were like "you are angels sent from God to answer our prayers!!!" It was the sweetest thing! I felt like a celebrity for a second Haha. Later they gave us a giant list of referrals for us to go visit and they basically begged us to take them out to lessons with us. So.... basically we are in heaven!!!! 

After that first night we got to work!!! Luckily the elders sent us some referrals for people they have found that speak Spanish, so it was nice to have a starting place. We found a ton of awesome people to teach already! The elders sent us this couple they met once from Guatemala, so we got an appointment with them. It was one of the most spirit led lessons I have ever had. They told us that they just wanted to change their lives. They recently stopped drinking and smoking because they don't want to live that way, they've started praying and growing their relationship with God, and they have been looking for a church to join. They are HEAVEN SENT! They even started asking questions about tithing, I've never taught about tithing on a first lesson before but it went super well and they understood it perfectly! Turns out, they already know one of the members of the church here from work. It felt to me that God has been preparing these amazing people for so long and now we are finally here to help them progress!!!

One day we were knocking around in a trailer park when we saw 2 guys out by their car. One guy was selling the car to the other guy, but both of them stopped what they were doing to talk to us and even pulled up some chairs to talk. One of the guys was clearly not interested when we told him about the Book of Mormon, he said that nothing could be the word of God but the bible. We asked the other guy, Edgar, how he felt about it, and he quietly said he wanted to learn more. So we taught them!!! We left them with a prayer and asked if there was anything specific they wanted us to pray for. Edgar got all teary eyed and said "Can you please pray for me to strengthen my relationship with Christ?" Wow. Imagine if we didn't ask Edgar how he felt about our message, we would have missed this awesome opportunity to teach him!!! He is so prepared.

On Saturday night we knocked on the door of another referal from the elders named Elmer. He is from El Salvador and he is 20 years old. We taught him this awesome lesson about church and the sacrament, and he said he'd come!!! The next day at church he sent us a message super late notice that he wanted a ride to church. Some background:

-We are in an English branch that recently started holding Spanish sacrament meetings (they call it "Spanish group"). They do English sacrament meeting first, 2nd hour classes combined with everyone, and then Spanish sacrament meeting afterward). 

Elmer texted us at the end of the English sacrament meeting. He lives like 20 minutes away from the church, and we only knew like 3 members at this point... that is kind of a lot to ask a random stranger if they can miss the second hour of church to go pick up this random dude! Anyways, we stepped outside to try and figure out what we were going to do. This 18-year-old kid named James came up to us and introduced himself and started asking us about our missions and stuff. He must have noticed the distressed looks on our faces, because he asked what was up. He goes "Oh I can go pick him up! I was going to to to the Spanish sacrament meeting anyway!" MIRACLE!!!!! So Elmer made it to church and loved it!!! Even though Hermana Iverson and I were the speakers haha.

Last night we were walking around and we heard some people speaking Spanish out on the steps of an apartment complex, so we went to go talk to them! Before even opening our mouths one of them says, "Come sit with us!!" We went and sat down and they just start going off about how beautiful we are and how we are angles for sharing the word of God! Let me just tell you... before my mission I expected a lot more rejection than this! People are so nice! We taught them all about the Book of Mormon. We got return appointments with them and afterward they thanked us for making their day for talking with them!!! We said, it wasn't us it was the spirit! Haha. 

Sorry this email is so long and scattered. I am just so happy and blown away at all the miracles we have seen this week and the blessings God is pouring down on us. We set out to go to work and he started putting everyone in our path. We just have to open our mouths and talk to everyone so we don't miss anyone that has been being prepared!!! Everyone gets put in our path for a reason!  

By the way, the members are amazing in this area! We went to the store and bought a ton of food cuz we kind of expected that people wouldn't feed us right off the bat because we're brand new... but so far we have been fed every single night but one! And everyone is just taking care of us and they are so excited we are here!!! I have never felt more famous in my life! Haha. I am so thankful to be a missionary and I absolutely love Sioux Falls. It's a decent sized city, a lot less populated than Omaha (the roads are so easy to drive on), there are people from ALL over the world here. A ton that are fresh from Africa. I am so happy and blessed! Thanks for your love and prayers, I'm praying for all of you too!

Hermana Hansen

New address:

3405 E 11th St. Apt 31 Sioux Falls, SD 57103

Not sure what order this will be in but:

1-2: All of the Hermanas!!! There's so many now! We mourned the death od Hermana Esplin... she's HOME!

3: my new COMPANION!!

4-5: Me and Hermana Iverson and our full car

I HATE GOODBYES

July 22, 2019

Dear Friends and Family,

This was an AMAZING and quite emotional last week in this area! I can't believe I have been in this area for 6 months already. Time flies!!! Our President has really been pushing every companionship to find at least 2 new people a week, because finding has been a real struggle for our mission lately. We went out and worked so hard this week and found 4 new people to teach! I feel like one of the hardest things for every missionary is just getting outside and talking to everyone. It's hard because sometimes talking to random strangers about God is awkward and uncomfortable! But it's really become such a hobby to me and you meet some real interesting people when you just go for it and be as bold as you can! It's become so fun!!! 

We got to go to the temple for the first time with Boris and Yonatan to do baptisms this weekend. Guadalupe came too! That was such a tender mercy for me to be with all of the recent converts I got to teach and baptize in this area in the temple. I got misty eyed watching Boris get to baptize Guadalupe and Yonatan. He started out so nervous, but by the end he was doing it so confidently and the spirit was so strong!!! After we got out of the temple, Yonatan kept trying to describe how he felt, and he just said "I feel like I'm getting a big hug from my mom." His mom passed away a couple years ago. After he said that he ran up to Sister Hickman, one of our Senior missionaries and just gave her a huge hug and just started sobbing. He said "I know that this hug is really from my mom. She's so proud of me." SO TENDER. Before we all left, Yonatan dropped the bomb and asked me when my last day in this area was. I told him I was leaving on Wednesday, and I hadn't told Guadalupe I was leaving yet... She just kept saying "no me digas no me digas" and she started crying!!!! And then BORIS started crying!!!! And then I STARTED CRYING!!!! I literally felt like someone reached into my chest and ripped my heart out. I did not know it would be so hard to leave these people! I remember it being so hard to leave my friends and family at home, but it was nothing like the feeling I got standing there with these 3 amazing people. Because you just know that once you leave, it won't be the same! The gospel BONDS you. I've gone through such huge changes in their lives, and it's hard to let go of someone that's experienced those changes with you.

The other awesome thing that happened this week was Boris's birthday!!!! We asked if he had plans, and he told us that he just had to work. He said he didn't tell any of his friends that it was his birthday because all they would want to do is drink... and his entire family is in Guatemala! So he said, "it will really just be like any other day." Of course that broke our hearts! So we sneakily asked him if he wanted to have a lesson that day, and he agreed. We got Yonatan and Guadalupe in on it, and we all went over the Guadalupe's house for a lesson! We got these tiny piñatas from walmart, and these mini party hat sombreros. We got to her house, had a lesson, (and ate pizza that Guadalupe force fed us - even though we had literally just eaten tacos at a member's house for dinner) and then casually asked Boris what he usually does for his birthday. He said, "Well, I don't know if you guys do this in the United States, but have you ever heard of a piñata? We do them every year!!!!" When he said that we suddenly whipped out the 2 piñatas from our bag and you should have seen the look on his face, he was so excited!!! We all put on the mini sombreros and then ran around Guadalupe's TINY house taking turns being blindfolded and hitting the tiny piñatas with a tiny back scratcher that Guadalupe had! It was a sight to behold. Well turns out, no one could break the piñatas so Boris ended up just tearing them open with his hands. After the party, we went outside to leave, and Boris started to cry (again) as he told us "gracias de corazon" for the party. He said that birthdays and holidays are so hard for him because he is so far from his family, and we really made him feel at home and loved on his birthday. We're so glad we did that for him!!! 

I am so thankful to be a missionary and I am so thankful I got to serve in this area for so long. I am so sad to leave it!!! But fortunately I think I'm staying in Omaha, just going to be stationed a little more south to open the new Spanish branch down there (it's just a hunch, I'll know for sure on Wednesday). Time is moving too fast and I don't like it! 

I will now share my new favorite scriptures that I've been sharing with like everyone I meet on the street:

Alma 38:8-9

"8 And it came to pass that I was three days and three nights in the most bitter pain and anguish of soul; and never, until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul.
9 And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness."

Repentance through the Atonement of Jesus Christ gives us peace to our soul! I have felt that peace, I feel it every day as I am purified by the sacrifice of my Savior. I love this amazing gospel so much. We can be joyful every day with it, no matter where we are or what trials are happening in our lives. Hope you all have a great week, love you all!!!

-Hermana Hansen

Pictures:

-We went to go knock on this lady we've been teachings' door, and her porch was GONE! People are making it harder and harder to get to them these days haha. We were laughing so hard.

-This is some Guatemalan pan that Boris made us 

-The fiesta at Guadalupe's house! A selfie with all of our sombreros, me hitting the pinata with a back scratcher, and a selfie of Boris haha

-All of us at the temple! Please notice the picture of Yonatan and Boris. THEY ARE MISSIONARIES!!!! Haha we gave them our tags. 

-A picture with a cute member from Peru that we ate with :) 

Go big or go gnome

July 15, 2019

Hola mi familia y amigos!!

I hope you all are staying out of the heat because I am melting. every. day. But it's okay because the work goes on and I'm staying hydrated! The biggest news of the week is that WE ARE GETTING 2 SPANISH BRANCHES IN OMAHA!!! One in North Omaha, and one in South Omaha!!! There was a big meeting about it last night and the spirit was so strong. The gathering of Israel is commencing, and it's happening here in Omaha, Nebraska! This opens more and more opportunities for people to hear the gospel in their native tongue, and I am truly so grateful to be part of this amazing work. Sometimes I pinch myself and can't believe it's really happening. Also, sometimes I forget that I am in Nebraska. This place feels like Guatemala I'm not kidding!!  

Getting accused of theft:

So about a month ago, these elders found this lady on the street named Bree. She said she used to meet with sister missionaries and would like to meet with them again, so they gave her our number. She calls us asking if we could come over and do a "study" and she asked if we could invite the elders too. So, long story short, we went to her house and she expressed to us that she really didn't want to do a study, she just wanted us to clean her house. This lady is a hoarder... haha. So anyways we we were wearing dresses so we set up another appointment and came back to clean her house. I did dishes for 4 HOURS. Anyways, fast forward a month and here we are. She called us again, and asked if we could come help her clean out her apartment again because this time she was getting evicted! So we went over with the elders again and got to work. We took out like a MOUNTAIN of trash. After we left, we get a bunch of texts and calls from Bree and she was screaming at us telling us the elders threw out her lighters (she had good reason to believe that after they did try to throw away her cigarettes - she caught them though). We told her to keep looking and promised they didn't throw them out. She stopped calling so we assumed she found them. Mistake number one... we didn't save her phone number. So a few days later we get a call from an unknown number and guess who it was? Bree. This time she accused us of stealing her X-box controllers and $400 and threatened to call the cops if we didn't give her the "church's number" so she could report us. I was just taking it all in as she screamed and swore at me over the phone hahaha. After all of that we just told her we love her and God loves her and good luck with everything and then we blocked her. So much for cleaning her house for her haha.

 Chasing guinea pigs:

The other day we were car fasting when we saw a guinea pig roaming free in someones yard. Of course our first thought was, "Oh no! Their guinea pig got out!" So of course we decided to catch it, thinking it would be a good first contact for the person on the other side of the door. "Hi there! We just wanted to return your escaped guinea pig to you. By the way we are the missionaries for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!" Haha. Anyways, didn't quite go as planned. We chased it around like crazy ladies for like 10 minutes, when the owner saw us through the window and came outside asking us what we were doing hahaha. We explained ourselves, and then she told us that the guinea pig actually just lives outside and roams around free! We were so embarrassed haha. But at least we gave her a card and told her that normally we don't chase guinea pigs, we actually share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people :)

Priesthood Power:

This week has been so awesome for our recent converts. There really is nothing more sweet than seeing people learn and progress in this amazing gospel. It really has been manifested to me that baptism is not the end, it's only the beginning! Guadalupe got her patriarchal blessing and she was beaming from oreja a oreja when she showed us the envelope of it (pictures included). Yonatan passed the sacrament for the first time, and Boris received the Aaronic Priesthood. I got so emotional during the blessing because the spirit was just so strong. He was crying afterward and told everyone about how often he finds himself crying these days, but not sad tears, happy tears because the gospel has just brought him so much peace and joy. Later that night we took him to an appointment to help us fellowship. We were teaching a guy named Pablo - who can't go to church because he has work on Sundays. Boris looked him in the face, and testified so strongly that "God will open the doors for you if you have faith in Him." He testified that he has seen it in his life, when God literally removed mountains so that he could get baptized. I literally almost fell on the ground because the Spirit was so strong. Afterward, he said "Wow. I went into that lesson not knowing what to say or to do, and after that I think I want to go on a mission." SO COOL HUH?!?! Sharing the gospel brings so much power and blessings into your life that I can't even explain to you. If you let Him, Heavenly Father will use you. He will qualify you. He will make you an instrument in His hands, no matter how inadequate you may feel. I know that is true, because I have seen Him work through me and help me do things and say things I never knew I could before. I love this gospel so much.

I'm probably getting transferred next week (tears) but I know the Lord has plans for me and the new area I'll be in! He is preparing His children everywhere. And He needs ALL of us, on all 4 corners of the earth to help Him! Love you all!!

-Hermana Hansen 

Pictures:

-Found a popcorn shop last P-day and it was like the highlight of my life (popcorn is my favorite food)

-Cute pond we found and studied at this week

-Guadalupe and her patriarchal blessing :)

-Boris and Yonatan all dressed up in their new white shirts and ties! All of the hispanics in the branch kept calling them guapo it was so cute haha

-Yonatan and his kids!

-The rest are of us exploring Laritzen Gardens this morning!

You know it's humid when you step outside and your glasses fog up

July 4, 2019

Feliz cuatro de Julio!!!

Our p-day is today because of the holiday and it's an ALL DAY p-day so we're gonna be hitting everything on our bucket list today! It has been a HOT sweaty past couple of weeks. And so humid that the subject of my email is almost an everyday occurrence. And if it's not over 90 degrees and sunny, it's pouring rain! Also, Omaha literally feels like a war zone during 4th of July weekend. So smoky and fireworks blowin up everywhere you look at all times of the day! Gotta love 'Murica.

On Monday of last week we had an appointment at 6:00, but we were running late from our dinner appointment. We were hurrying to our car when we saw a homeless man in a wheelchair. I said hi to him, and he didn't ask us for money, he just went on to tell us that he had no place to stay that night and that all he wanted was a little food and a sleeping bag so he wouldn't have to sleep on the hard ground. We got in the car feeling sooo bad for this man. So instead of rushing to our appointment we were already late to, we went home and gathered together a little food and brought a few extra blankets and a pillow that were just laying around in our apartment. When we returned to give it to him, he was so happy he almost cried. He just kept calling us angels! This little experience taught me that making it to an appointment on time isn't always the most important thing. If we are always in a rush, we might look over the people that really need our help!

Last transfer during zone conference, Elder Brian K Taylor from the 70 promised us in the name of the Lord that we could get to 40 baptisms in the month of June as a mission if everyone used the "YES list" every week (a list with a bunch of ways to ask for referrals from the ward/branch). Last month as a mission we had 18 baptisms so that goal was a STRETCH. But everyone worked so hard and we prayed and fasted as a mission, and WE DID IT!!! We had 40 baptisms on the dot this month. That was huge for us and it taught me that faith and hardwork really does bring miracles. And that promised blessings from general authorities are REAL and they work. Heavenly Father really will give us what we ask for if it is His will and if we are willing to do our part. 

This week Guadalupe, Boris, and a guy the elders are teaching told us that they are being visited by evil spirits so that's terrifying. Guadalupe said it's because when we make good decisions, Satan gets angry so he tries everything he's got to scare us. Be she said, "I am not scared!!! Satan is nothing and I have God on my side." 

A few other tender mercies:

-One of my favorite nights of my mission was when the city had their firework show and they lit them off in a park that was right down the street from us so we went out on our porch and got to watch them. Blessed.

-We had a lesson with the family we're teaching in council bluffs and at the end,  Griselda (the mom) gave us like 1000 products like face wash and deodorant and toothpaste and hairspray, you name it. And they were all like GOOD quality name brand stuff. Is she an angel sent from heaven?? Sí. 

-Our English class attendance has gone down by like 90% in the past few weeks, so the elders reposted about it on Facebook and about 30 more people came!!! Éxito!

-All of us were thinking about how fun camping in the summer was, so we made a tent in our room over our beds and hung up Christmas lights and all that jazz. So now we sleep in a tent :) 

That's about it for the week!!! Los quiero mucho!

-Hermana Hansen 

Pictures (not sure if these are in order):

-We helped a family move this week and all 9 missionaries from our branch came to help. Also an elder just got emergency transferred into our branch so we now have 10 missionaries in a little branch. I think we deserve a metal or something.

-A selfie after our "trainer trainee" meeting

-Us and Boris!!!! (Our best friend)

-Us outside watching the fireworks 

-Some CUTE kids we are teaching. The parents are members, but there are 2 kids that are over 8 and haven't been baptized that we are teaching! We made this "plan of salvation board game" and as we played it we taught them the plan of salvation! Pray for them to come to church please!

-A selfie of us in our tent that I made

-The day we were hot and dying so we got snowcones

-our big English class!!!