Defeating the natural man, Snow, and a miracle!

October 15, 2018

Hola familia y amigos!!! 

I'm getting where there is so much that happens in a week that I don't even know where to start! Honestly preparation days are sometimes the hardest days because I feel so focused on myself. If there is anything I've learned, the saddest and hardest times you'll experience on your mission is when you are focused inward, and not outward. I've been trying so hard to learn to be selfless, and I've really realized that is so hard! I'm trying to do my best to rely fully on my Savior and Heavenly Father and what their will is for me, not what my own will is! 

Mosiah 3:19

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." 

I am doing my best to do exactly what that scripture says, and let me tell you, it is not easy! For example: This morning I was hoping to get out the door as soon as possible and go buy our groceries so we could get to the library sooner so I could upload my pictures onto the computer and delete them off my phone to free up some storage. Turns out we were out the door a lot later than expected because cleaning the apartment seemed to take a lot longer than usual... I was trying my BEST to be patient but was still feeling a bit irritated. The store seemed to take a lot longer than usual too. When we FINALLY got home, I realized something. I had no idea where my phone was! We frantically called Walmart and they said they didn't have it. We drove back to the car wash to see if it fell out of the car -- it hadn't. So finally we drove back to Walmart to see if we had accidentally left it in the cart. Unfortunately, the cart we had left outside had already been taken back inside by a worker. We found a worker and explained the issue, and we looked at the long rows of carts and he explained that it could honestly be anywhere inside of them, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. He had us follow him to the very back of the rows of carts and a miracle happened! After just a few minutes of looking he found it in the middle of one of the rows. Wow. He told us, "I could almost hear the little prayers you girls were saying!" I was so thankful that he found my phone, but also so humbled. Losing my phone had lost us almost another hour of the day, and this time my companion had to be patient with me. Now that all of the stress is over I realized how selfish I had been earlier in the day! It really is never about me and never should be. Giving up the natural man is not easy, but I know that through the help of our Savior, Jesus Christ and His Atonement we can improve every single day, little by little! Jesus Christ gave up His will completely, and because of Him, He will help us do the same.

A few things that happened this week:
We had exchanges in Omaha with our Sister Training leaders! It was amazing as always. I learned so much -- especially that being an English missionary is a whole lot different than being a Spanish missionary! That was the first time I had ever tracted a neighborhood full of mansion sized houses. It was definitely a lot different than the humble little neighborhoods we tract on in Worthington. It was a really good experience to have and to help me see how thankful I am to be called to teach in Spanish -- the people truly are so kind and humble and ready for the gospel.

We got hit by like 6 inches or more of snow on Sunday!!!! We were so shocked when we had to scrape the ice off of our car in the morning. It's already mostly melted, but it was definetely a foreshadow of what the winter will be like, I am so nervous! But no matter the weather -- rain, sunshine, or snow, there are people that are looking for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I am ready to share it with them! 

We also had a lesson with Dora last night and found out that her son Daniel just turned 8 years old yesterday!!! He said he wants to be baptized with his mom!!! He loves primary and we asked what his favorite song was that he has been learning, and he started singing, "I want to be a missionary now!" So cute. Dora is still progressing very fast. We taught her the law of tithing yesterday and asked if she would live it after baptism. She full-heartedly said yes. She told us that a lot of people at work ask her why she doesn't join the Catholic church. She explains that she likes the church she is going to now, and is determined to stay. We are so proud of her and are so excited for her to enter the waters of baptism on November 10th! 

We saw so many more miracles this week. I wish I had time to share them all! I love you all, thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement. I pray for all of you too. Have an amazing week!

Con amor,

Hermana Hansen

Pictures:

1. Sister Thacker and I at the Trail Center in Omaha! Our Sister Training Leaders are serving in the trail center so we got to join them for a training meeting on Saturday. It's always so amazing to be there and remember how much the pioneers sacrificed and did for us.

2-3: The snow on Sunday!!! 

My birthday, Miracles, and General Conference

October 8, 2018

Hola familia y amigos!!!!!

I hope your semana was as good as mine was!!!!! We had transfers this week, and guess what? Hermana Thacker and I are both staying in Worthington!!!! To be honest I was kind of looking forward to the change because I wanted to see if I could make it on my own without my trainer. But it wasn't too long after I realized how amazing it will be with her staying with me. We work so well together, and there is SO much to be done here. We make a pretty great team, so I'm glad she's sticking with me. :) And what's nice is she doesn't feel like my "trainer" anymore, we are equal! Anyways, my week was full of birthday wishes, miracles, and general conference. 

MY BIRTHDAY!

I have heard that having a birthday on your mission isn't that great because it's just another day of work. The work part is true, but I think it was honestly the BEST birthday I've ever had!!! I was SO HAPPY. And the members treated me so good. I literally got 3 birthday cakes haha. And to be quite honest, there's nothing better than thinking about other people on a day that you normally only think about yourself. Thank you for all the birthday wishes, notes, and packages!!!! You guys make me feel so loved. :) 

My birthday made me think of D&C 84:80 

"And any man that shall go and preach this gospel of the kingdom, and fail not to continue faithful in all things, shall not be weary in mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb, nor joint;and a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed. And they shall not go hungry, neither athirst."

The part that says "a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed" and "they shall not go hungry" are VERY true things I've felt this week. I got a lot of cake, and felt very appreciated. :)

MIRACLE! 

This week on Friday night we had an appointment with a lady named Evelin. We knocked on her apartment door but she wasn't home. We started to walk back down the stairs, and we've literally knocked on EVERY single door in that apartment before so we weren't planning on trying any again. But suddenly Sister Thacker's face lit up when we were almost to the bottom of the stairs, and she goes, "Wait, we need to go knock on that door." We had knocked it before, but no one answered when we did. So we went and knocked it. A man named Delfino answered, and we he saw it was us he even hung up the phone to talk to us. We shared a brief message about the Restoration, and he got all excited and started asking some questions about infant baptism. As we pulled out our Book of Mormon to share a scripture with him, 4 other men came to the door from inside his apartment. We moved out of the way because we thought they were trying to leave, but they said, "Oh no, we want to listen!" We were able to share a really powerful message with them about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. They even asked if they could have a Book of Mormon! We said a prayer with them and got a return appointment, and we left with big smiles on our faces. It was such a cool experience, and we are teaching 5 new EXCITED people all because Hermana Thacker decided to follow her prompting! We'll need to bring a woman with us next time we come though for sure haha. And don't worry mom, we're trying to get some pepper spray to bring around with us. Safety first! 

GENERAL CONFERENCE!

WOW!!!! I hope you guys were as spiritually edified as I was after this weekend. The moment President Nelson stepped up to the pulpit the spirit nearly overcame me telling me that he IS the prophet of God. I AM SO EXCITED FOR 2 HOUR CHURCH! I truly feel that this will be such a blessing to the church and make it even more family centered. I saw so many reoccurring themes this conference. The work seems to moving FASTER and STRONGER than ever, and I'm realizing that President Nelson really expects a lot out of the members of the church! I was really feeling the importance of REPENTANCE, and staying strong on the covenant path. The Lord needs us now more than ever before to gather Israel, and all of His lost sheep. It's our duty. It's our mission. Also, while he was announcing the 12 new temples, the spirit was so strong. CHILLS!!!! How amazing is it that this work is moving faster than ever before. The second coming is nearer every day. 

While watching general conference, the spirit confirmed to me over and over again that THIS is the place that I need to be right now. Serving the Lord in the Omaha, Nebraska Mission. I feel a special special connection with this place. I meet people on the street that literally look familiar to me. And I know that is because I am out here to find my brothers in sisters that I was in Heaven with in the Pre-Mortal existence. For my entire LIFE I have had the question, "Why did Heavenly Father allow me to be a member of the ONLY true church in the last days?" It just didn't seem fair to me. Why did he choose me, when there are so many left without truth? 

I can say without a SHADOW of a doubt that I know the answer to that question now. I know that I knew and lived with Heavenly Father before I came to this earth. I know He trusted me enough to be here at this time as a member of His Son's Restored church. I know that He gave me great responsibility before I came here and trusts me enough to live up to that responsibility and bring His children back with me, to return to Him in Heaven! I know that Heavenly Father reserved my spirit, along with EVERY other member of the church today, to live on earth at THIS specific time. We are here to gather Israel. And we are going to give it EVERYTHING we got. 

I LOVE THIS RESTORED GOSPEL WITH MY WHOLE HEART!!!!! I love the Book of Mormon, I know it's true. I'm so excited to read the whole thing over again before the end of the year. I love the Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, I know he is a man of God. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ and I know He lives and makes it possible for us to repent and return!!!

Have an amazing week everyone!!! Love you all!

--Hermana Hansen 

Pictures 1-3: My birthday party at the Kinser family's home :)

4-5: We watched Sunday General Conference at a member's home with one of our recent converts and it was amazing! Here's a picture with them.

6: We went to a pumpkin patch for our Preparation Day activity today:) Notice that I'm wearing a coat and hat. YES IT'S THAT COLD HERE!!!! 

Women's Conference

October 7, 2018

Happy Birthday! October 5, 2018

Zone Conference and Translating!!!!

October 1. 2018

Hola Familia y Amigos!!!

I turn 20 this week!!!! Thank you for those who sent me birthday wishes! Also, I hit my 4th month mark this week. Time has flown, but at the same time I feel like I've been on my mission forever. Bien loco.

This week we had Zone Conference and we had the privilege of hearing from Elder Anderson (of the 70, not of the 12). It was probably one of the most spiritually edifying meetings of my life. Sister Thacker played the violin and did a BEAUTIFUL job, it really brought the spirit!

Some of the key points I learned at conference was that we need to be BOLD! We see patterns in the scriptures of the prophets and Jesus Christ Himself being extremely bold in the doctrine. He taught that we should never be afraid of hard doctrine. We need to teach simply, and very straight forward, and the spirit will do the rest! For example, when teaching someone who is a strong member of another faith, we need to bear testimony by saying: "We know that this is the ONLY true church on Earth, and living the gospel is the ONLY way we can return back to our Heavenly Father again." We cannot be afraid of telling the truth, whether they are from a different religion or not! 

Looking back at the 2 transfers I've been here, I realized I have not been as bold as I need to. Sister Thacker and I tend to find a LOT of people to teach here in Worthington, but we've seen a pattern that most of them end up not really being interested, or they just never answer the phone or the door. At the end of the conference, we ran into Sister Anderson and we were able to talk to her one-on-one! She asked Sister Thacker and I specifically if we had any questions. We asked how we could avoid this problem. She gave us the most amazing advice. She told us the most effective door approach she has ever seen has been stated something like this:

"We are Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and we have a message that will change your life. We are looking for people who are ready to repent of their sins and be baptized into Jesus Christ's church, which has been restored and is back on the earth today. Are you interested?"

Usually when we do door approaches we have some small talk and give a short restoration lesson and ask if we can come back and teach more, and the Hispanics here are amazingly nice, whether or not they're really interested, so they usually say yes. We've realized that because of this, we haven't been finding people who are really READY! So this week we have been trying out this approach. We've noticed a huge change. We haven't have found as many people to teach, but the few we found seem to be truly eager, and ready to make changes in their lives!

It's been an amazing week. Another highlight is that Dora came to Stake Conference (which was broadcasted to our church because it was in Sioux Falls, SD), even though she couldn't understand anything. A couple other spanish families came, and the headsets for translating were not working. It was very stressful! We gathered all of the Spanish speakers out in the hall so they could still see the screen, and translated conference for 2 HOURS!!! It was literally so stressful and Sister Thacker and I wanted to cry afterward. We're pretty sure most of the spanish members couldn't really hear or understand our broken spanish either. We were so thankful when some of the English speakers in the ward saw our stress. They noticed that it really isn't ideal for us to be translating for that long, especially when the Spanish Speakers can't really understand us. One of our English members had an AMAZING idea that we should split up the Spanish and English members during sacrament meeting and have the Spanish members do the 1st hour together in the Primary room! Then they can actually be involved in giving talks, and edify each other in their own language. The idea is going up to be discussed in the Stake Council, so we will be PRAYING that this change can happen in our branch! That would be so huge for our members.

I tried so hard to make my email short this week but it still ended up being super long. Sorry bout that. I guess I just can't help but share how amazing this work is!!!! I am so happy! I am officially done being trained, tomorrow we find out if Sister Thacker is being transferred!

Have an amazing General Conference weekend everyone! Love you!!!

--Hermana Hansen--

Pictures:

1-2: We got to carpool to Zone Conference with HERMANA IVERSON! It's always such a thrill to see her. She even remembered that my birthday is this Friday, October 5th!!! They made me brownies. (Notice the fake candles, we can't use fire as missionaries hahaha)

3. Zone Conference! (It was combined with half of the mission)

4. We got Tres-Leches at the Panaderia today! A cute hispanic bakery outside our apartment :)

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 :)