Hola familia y amigos!
El tiempo se mueve muy rapido y no me gusta! I've really been enjoying fall in Sioux Falls and I am trying to soak in every single precious moment of my mission before it spirals to an end in about a month from now... I love being a missionary so much. I love waking up and knowing exactly what my purpose is and feeling productive. I love setting out for the day with our eyes wide open on every street we turn onto... looking for every possible sign of a house that contains Spanish speakers... I love laughing the night away with my companions. I love studying the scriptures and learning more and more about my Savior's love for me. I love helping people progress in the beauty of this gospel... the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Part of me never wants to leave this wonderful adventure that I'm on. But I'm realizing that a lot of the wonderful parts of being a missionary can stay with me and can become part of me for the rest of my life. I'm grateful for that.
A few highlights:
-This week we were on the "hunt" as we call it. It's not as bad as it sounds. We often drive or walk around and write down every house that we find that has any kind of hispanic vibe. (Often times they have Christmas lights up, kid toys on the lawn, a grill--for carne asada of course, and they often have a snow shovel or broom on their porch by their door, no importa the weather). I hope none of you think that we are creepy or racist for noticing these kinds of things. But the longer you've been a Spanish speaking missionary in an English speaking world, you start to notice them. We drove past a house that had a few of the "signs" and my companion yells out "I saw a guy in the window we have to go knock that door!" The cutest little cowboy from Mexico lets us in and tells us that he used to attend the "Mormon church" in Mexico for 3 YEARS!!!! He never got baptized but took like all the lessons! He was so open to learning the gospel again and even said he wants to come to church! Milagros.
-Annette is also progressing so much. She is very sick with cancer but all she wants to do is learn more about the church and understand God's love for her. She came to the relief society activity and our ward game night this week and to church, despite how she was feeling inside. She is progressing so well, please pray for her health!!
-This week we also found a lady named Maria. She invites us in, introduces us to her guinea pigs, invites us to sit down, and then the first thing she asks is, "Do you guys do baptisms in your church?" "Yes!" we say. "Que bueno. I've been trying to find a church for my daughters to get baptized in and I haven't found any I've liked. Can they get baptized in your church?" Ummm YES!!! Haha. We are going to start teaching them this week and hopefully they will come to church. And hopefully her heart will be softened and she'll want to become a member too :)
-ROBERTO IS ON FIRE EVERYONE!!!! His baptism interview is tomorrow, and we hadn't finished all the lessons yet and we were getting nervous because he still had a couple "big ones" we had to cover. We planned a lesson that included the 10 commandments, the Godhead, keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and the law of chastity. We thought we were gonna be there for like 3 hours cuz he talks a lot but surprisingly it only took an hour and he took it all very well! My eyes were very opened because I realized that the "big lessons" that we teach people, like the word of wisdom, chastity, and tithing, aren't really that "big" when the person is truly converted. Roberto knows the gospel is true, and because of that, he is willing to do give up anything and change. It made me reflect on myself. Am I truly converted? If Christ asked me to give up something that was important to me, would I do it? Think about it.
I'll end with one of my favorite quotes from General Conference from Elder Christofferson: "I believe that the ultimate “joy of the saints” comes in knowing that the Savior pleads their cause, and no one can conceive of the joy which will fill our souls as we hear Jesus pray for us unto the Father." Think about that too.
Los quiero!
Con amor, Hermana Hansen
P.S. My subject comes from a member from Columbia that always calls us the "superpoderosas." That's what they call the powerpuff girls in Spanish hahaha.
Pictures:
-A beautiful Sioux Falls fall view with some hot air balloons
-Us and Roberto
-Us and Annette and Jose and our ward mission leader Matt at game night
-A sick picture of Roberto I stole off his Facebook
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