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

Door knocking, gift of tongues, church, and bug bites

Amigos y Familia <3

I want to start this week off by reminding you of the promise that is in Preach my Gospel. It says, "More happiness awaits you than you have ever experienced as you labor among His children." I testify that that is SO TRUE. But it also comes with the most fear, sadness, and stress than you have ever experienced. But the happiness and joy out ways it all, Heavenly Father has blessed me SO MUCH and I've gone to bed with a smile on my face pretty much every single night this week. Missionary work is amazing.

One experiences knocking doors this week I wanted to share: We always knock 3 times, because it gives them 3 chances to open the door to the most important message they will ever hear. We knocked, and we heard a little kid go, "Quien es?" (Who is it?) It's funny because we could literally see the shadow of someone look through the peep hole, and a mom say "Son los Angeles." (It's the angels. Awesome to be referred to that, right?). We heard the little kid go, "Abrir la puerta!!!" And the mom said, "No!" On the second knock, the kid screamed it again: "Abrir la puerta!!!" And we could tell that he was trying to open the door, and his mom was holding him back. On our third knock we heard him crying and saying, "Abrir la puerta abrir la puerta!!!" Over and over. They didn't open the door, but both of our hearts were a little bit broken. I'm a firm believer that little kids are closer to Heaven and the Spirit than anyone else. He knew that this message we carry is so important, if only his mom knew it too!!!

Another really amazing door knocking miracle happened this week. We've reached out to Kham quite a bit but haven't heard from him in a while, he pretty much dropped off the face of the earth (that happens quite a bit as a missionary). We stopped at his house and met his brother, Khom. We talked to him for a bit, he asked us how long we have been missionaries. As we explained our purpose a little bit, we saw his eyes change. He suddenly said, "You know, it's people like you that helped my family get here. We were in a refugee camp for a really long time and it was just awful. Something a little kid should never have to go through because it is traumatizing. A Christian couple sponsored us and that's how we were able to get out and live here. God bless you guys." We felt like crying tears of joy, it feels so nice to hear those things every once in a while. He wasn't interested in that moment to hear more, but hopefully once we find Kham again we can teach him too!

This transfer my companion and I have a goal to use as MUCH Spanish as possible when we are together. We've been doing so well! As my companion would say, "Somos Latinas." I have been praying for the gift of tongues so much this week as well. Prayers + Effort = Success. I have seen the gift of tongues work in me SO WELL this week. We had a street contact the other night and it ended up being like 30 minutes long because the guy had so many awesome questions. And at the end of it I realized I understood EVERYTHING he said!!!! And I was able to answer everything. He even told me that I had very good Spanish. Wow. Gift of tongues is so real.

Yesterday, we had a lesson with one of the people we are teaching named Sergio. There is a member that always comes with us named Hermano Ayala and he moved here from El Salvador. We walk with him because we aren't allowed to drive members of the opposite sex unless there is a woman with them too. We had the best conversations both to and from the lesson, and we all found ourselves laughing and having the best time. At one point he looked at me and said, "You know I have seen your spanish improve so much from the first day you were here." (In spanish, he doesn't speak english). I was so touched, THE GIFT OF TONGUES IS SO REAL!!!! And I LOVE SPANISH SO MUCH!!!!!

I have also seen the promise come true to me that if I love the people that the gift of tongues will come. Sometimes I feel like I'm actually in a foreign country because I learn so much about the different South American cultures that are here. I'm pretty sure like 70% of this town in Hispanic haha. I've learned to love their cultures, and I understand their backgrounds and the way they understand the gospel a lot better now. This love is IMMENSE. This is what makes me so happy. These people are AMAZING, I wish I could introduce you to all of them.

A few more things:

This week we have been pondering about whether or not we should stop teaching Dora. We have been teaching her for quite a while now, the whole time I've been here at least. She has shown very little progression. She has lived here for about 6 months now and came from Guatemala, she doesn't know a word of English or how to read. But this week we taught her the importance of coming to church, and guess who came to church?? DORA!!!!!!!!! She doesn't have a car so we lined up a ride for her. We were literally so excited we almost cried. I think she was slightly overwhelmed because we have an English branch and a lot of people tried to talk to her in English. But I know she felt the Spirit! And she brought her 2 little sons with her and they LOVED it.

Also, I don't remember if we have mentioned this but we teach Sunday School in Spanish every week. And translate in Sacrament meeting. I don't translate much yet, but I do the prayers and testimonies!
 

I also want you all to know that I am SO HAPPY!!!! I finally feel like I'm starting to get the hang of being a missionary. Knocking on doors isn't really scary anymore. Especially because the people here are literally so nice. :)

Have an amazing week!!!

Con Amor,

Hermana Hansen

P.S. For those who were asking, I didn't get attacked by anymore wild animals this week (phew). But unfortunately I got eaten alive by mosquitoes, my legs are so covered you would think I have chicken pox HAHA. Also, I got my facebook up this week! I will be using it for proselyting use only, mostly to contact people I am teaching through messenger. My companion and I spent a long time cleaning my timeline out, I think she is slightly scarred. I was a weird 13 year old. Also, I started driving this week too!!! No one has died yet, so that's good.

PICTURES: 

1. My facebook profile picture

2-4: We got to go up to our ward campout for a little while on Friday! This is where the mosquitos got me. But it was beautiful!

5. This was some weird shrimp/fake crab meet salsa/soup thing a member gave us this week. I wanted to eat it but I got to the point where I physically couldn't swallow it. Thankfully my companion noticed I was struggling and dumped like half of it into her bowl while the member's back was turned. I have no idea what I would do without her :')

6. Dora and her family at church!!!!!

Attacked by a dog, stress, and the temple

Hola Familia y Amigos!!!

I made it to my first transfer in the field!!! However Hermana Thacker and I will stay put since I am being trained still. :) Chances are I will actually probably stay in Worthington for about 6 months! Since there are only 6 Spanish Sisters and 3 areas in my entire mission, we can pretty much predict who we will be serving with next and where. Everyone gets about 6 months in each area (Worthington Minnesota, Sioux City Iowa, and Omaha Nebraska). Of course it is all determined by revelation, and there are surprises sometimes!
 

First crazy story of the week: On Wednesday night we were tracting and we saw some people bringing their groceries in. We walked up to offer them some help, when their HUGE black dog (about the size of me) started barking and charged at me at full speed. You should have seen the look on my face, my life literally flashed before my eyes and I let out this high loud pitched scream. I had every right to though, because that thing launched itself at me and CHOMPED MY ARM!!! Yup, I got attacked and chomped. Don't worry though, I walked out with nothing but a few teeth marks and a good bruise. And we still went to talk to the owners afterward (I was holding back tears, no biggie). They weren't interested, but we offered a pass-a-long card!

This week was honestly pretty hard for me. Let me give you a little explanation. Missionary work is AWESOME, and being able to teach people in Spanish is wonderful too. The Hispanic people here are SO nice (most of them are from Guatemala, but we meet people from all over the place). A lot of them will let us teach them a lesson right then and there and we get return appointments pretty easily with them! It's so awesome, but also has caused my companion and I a ton of stress. This week we filled up our schedules really fast and still had a TON of people we needed to go visit and teach, with literally no time. We also kept double-booking ourselves by accident and had to reschedule appointments quite a few times, which is also very stressful as a missionary because people never really answer the phone, most of the appointments end up being up in the air. Now THAT is very stressful to me, because I like to have everything set in stone. Does that make sense? My companion and I would pretty much get home every night and try not to cry because of how stressed we were haha. But I learned a few very valuable things from this experience:

1. EVERYTHING works out if you leave it up to Heavenly Father. Pretty much every morning I would look at our schedule and cringe -- because so many things were up in the air/double-booked. But I would tell myself, "I am going to put this day in Heavenly Father's hands, and let him take control." And guess what? EVERYTHING worked out!!! Pretty much without fail, every time we accidentally double-book things, one of the appointments cancel at the last minute and we are able to go to the other appointment stress free. And I know that is because Heavenly Father is watching out for us and He is taking control!!

2. During my personal study one morning I was reading in Alma 58 -- this is during a war and the army of Helaman has not been receiving the provisions, food, or military support they needed from the government. I'm sure you can imagine how stressed they were! But this is what Helaman said in verse 37: "But, behold, it mattereth not—we trust God will deliver us." That's all we need to do, trust God and He will deliver us. :)

3. Our Sister Training leaders sent us this quote this week:

"If you feel a little overwhelmed, take that as a good sign. It indicates that you can sense the magnitude of trust God has placed in you." -Henry B Eyring

So comforting. :)

This week I also experienced something very new to me, doubts! I can honestly say I've never really had doubts about the gospel in my entire life. It's always been very easy for me to believe, and I have always known it is true! But for some reason, this week I have been struggling. I testify of the truthfulness of this gospel like 100 times a day and promise people the blessings of living it. But for some reason, as I say the words, "I know this is true," this little voice in the back of my head goes, "do you really know this is true though?" And as soon as that thought comes, the Holy Ghost is gone, and I forget how to speak Spanish. EVERY TIME, WITHOUT FAIL! There was an experience that really helped me overcome that this week:

We call Wednesdays our "adventure days" because we have district meeting in Marshall (about an hour away) and on the way back we go to a bunch of different people's homes that we usually don't have time for during the week because they are far away. This week we stopped at the Sas family's house! They have 2 sons that have autism, and both of them were baptized last transfer. One of them is 8 (Emmett), and one of them is 10 (Jaarom). We taught Jaarom a lesson about Family History. Because of his autism we teach him extremely simply, and only ask yes or no questions. During this lesson I felt the spirit SO strong, reminding me that this gospel really is so simple. And it is SO true. And I DO know it is true. Everything suddenly made sense.

Funny story from this experience: Emmett (the 8-year-old who also has autism) apparently loves Harry Potter. Apparently when he got confirmed, when they put their hands on his head to do the blessing he was whispering, "Not Slytherin, Not Slytherin." Over and over. When they told me that I died laughing. Good stuff.

Sorry this email is so long again, but the best part of my week was that Roy and Peda (two of the boys who got baptized a few weeks ago) went to the temple on Friday to do baptisms for the dead, and we got to go with them!!! The temple is in Omaha (3.5 hours away) so we pretty much got to spend the whole day with them and the members who drove us. Such an amazing experience!!!! And I needed it after all the stress we had this week. I love the temple, it truly is the most peaceful place on earth -- separate from all of the distractions in the world!

I love you all so much! Never forget how much Heavenly Father loves you, and never forget that He is in charge!!!

Have a great week,

--Hermana Hansen

Pictures:

3 blurry pictures from the temple and 1 of my district!

Muchas cosas locas este semana!

Estimado Amigas y Familia!!!

There were a million MUY LOCO things that happened this week so buckle up!!!

The first email worthy thing that happened this week was on Tuesday, our "car fast" day (we walk everywhere). We had an appointment with Kahm (the guys we chased down the street last week) but he wasn't home. We decided to check our area book app and find some less active members that lived in the area. We headed down to a less-active member's home and met a young girl outside her house. She had literally dragged a couch outside her house and was curling up just about to take a nap when we came and talked to her. She was 9 years old, she's from South Sudan, and her name is Ding. We showed her a picture of Christ and asked if she knew who it was, "Of course I know who dat is! Dat's JESUS!" We asked how He had blessed her life, and she just started laughing. A few minutes later 3 other little girls came running over and sat on the couch with Ding. They were her neighbor friends. Ding goes, "Ask dem what you jus asked me 'bout Jesus." After talking to them for a bit, we asked if we could sing them a song. We sang "I am a Child of God" and they loved it. When we finished, Ding goes, "Okay now les go knock on my friend's door and you guys can sing that to dem too." We were like "Okay!" And we went and knocked on her other friends door. 2 more kids came out, and we ended up having like a whole primary song concert for them on their front porch by the request of Ding. Without us even asking her to, Ding shows her friends the picture of Jesus and says, "Do you guys know who this is?" And she goes on to teach her friends and says, "Whenever I get scared at night, I read my bible and pray and all my fears go away." She looks at us and points to our Book of Mormon and goes, "Here, give dem a bible!" She literally was SUCH A GOOD MISSIONARY we were so impressed. We explained about the Book of Mormon and handed it over to them. Then, Ding goes, "Okay, now let's go sing to my friend Sayda." Us and 6 other children went over to her other neighbors house, knocked on the door, and the parents answered. We asked for their 4 year old son, and we sang "I'm a Child of God" to the whole family. It was the awesomest, weirdest, and most hilarious door approach I've ever had. We were able to talk to their parents for a minute too before we left. When we left we turned our area book on to remind ourselves where the less active member's house was, and we realized that the house we just sang at WAS THEIR HOUSE!!!! So you know what we did? You bet your bottom dollar we turned back around and went and knocked on their door AGAIN haha. We found out that the member we were looking for was their younger brother who moved, but we could come back on the weekend because he comes back to visit a lot. Miracle or what? We haven't had the chance to go back there yet, but I'll let you know what happens when we do! 

The next awesome thing that happened this week was I had a dinner with a member and her deaf brother and his wife so I could finally use my ASL!!!! It was honestly the weirdest experience of my life. Her deaf brother is named Darrell, and he has a cochlear implant and he can basically hear and talk better than I can, while his wife is completely deaf and doesn't speak at all. She can read lips very well though. The whole family signs and talks at the same time, and poor Stacy (Darrell's wife) sits there and tries to keep up. I've never really signed and talked at the same time before so that was hard for me. They asked me to say the opening prayer and so I said it in straight ASL, thinking that's what they wanted me to do. When I said Amen, they were like, "why didn't you talk? The only person that benefited was Stacy!" And Stacy was laughing so hard. Wow I was so embarrassed you have no idea! I honestly thought they wanted me to sign it. Hahaha whoops. We were able to share a short message with them, my companion spoke while I signed. That's all that really came from it, but hopefully I will be able to meet with them again in the future!!!

OKAY!!! Get ready for this part because it's nuts. So on Thursday we still hadn't seen Kahm, the guy we chased down the street last week, and we'd gone to his house twice and called him a couple times and couldn't get a hold of him. On Thursday morning I was kind of having a rough morning, not gonna lie. I was exhausted and the last thing I wanted to do was go outside and run. I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me get through the morning. As soon as we got to the lake, guess who was sitting on the park bench? KAHM!!!! We went and talked to him and were able to schedule an appointment. Who would have thought he'd be right by the place where we go running, at 6:45 in the morning? Heavenly Father really answered my prayer that day by showing us that miracle and putting us in the right place at the right time. So on Thursday we taught Kahm all about how the Book of Mormon can answer the questions of the soul. Kahm seems like he's had a bit of trouble in the past. He's 38, lives with his mom, no car, no job. He's just overall a little rough around the edges. The lesson was amazing, the spirit was so strong. Kahm asked us where we go after we die and we were able to share Alma 40 with him and answer a lot of questions. We got a return appointment for Saturday. This part deserves it's own section because it was crazy. 

THE RETURN APPOINTMENT:

On Saturday we went back to Kahm's and he was waiting outside on his porch for us! Kahm's family is Laotian. We asked him if his mom makes Laotian food, and he says, "Actually yeah, do you guys want some egg rolls or something?" We were like, "yeah sure!" We were thinking his mom had already made them and he was just offering us one. He invited us in and his mom was inside, but we were mistaken because he started making us egg rolls right then and there! His mom loves us, we've met her a few times before when we've tried to go to his house and he wasn't there. She was very very excited that we were over and gave us both big hugs, she said something in Lao and we just kind of smiled and nodded. We went and sat down while he was making egg rolls, and a few minutes later we realized his mom disappeared. We suddenly realized she was gone and told Kahm we had to go outside and wait for him. The vibe was suddenly super weird. We think his mom might have the wrong idea about why 2 young girls are coming over to see her single, 38 year old son. AWKWARD!!!!! Anyway, we waited while Kahm brought us egg rolls and when he went back inside to get more we took a picture, which I think is hilarious this whole situation was just super awkward and funny. When he was finally ready we shared a quick lesson with him and took the rest of the very spicy egg rolls to go, and he promised us he would be at church on Sunday! He needed a ride, so a member took us to pick him up the next morning. He was there when we got there, but he had changed his mind (sad). 

BUT GUYS GUESS WHAT JUST HAPPENED? Literally as I'm writing this story on the computer at the library, KAHM WALKS IN. He came over and talked to us and asked when we can come back!!! We have an appointment with him tomorrow. We're pretty sure he saw our car and came in just to talk to us because he came in and walked out. Wow. I'll let you know what happens next week!! 

Sorry this email is so long! I don't even have time to talk about this -- but we had zone conference this week too! It was amazing and I got to see Hermana Iverson again which is always such a blessing. It's sad that there are only 2 girl companionships and like 1000 elders though, I miss seeing girls my age! Also, I forgot to mention that I have been translating a lot more at church lately into Spanish and it's been going surprisingly well. The gift of tongues has been working very strongly lately, we teach MOSTLY in Spanish and it's been so awesome. 

That's all I have for now, this week has really shown me that as we strive to be exactly obedient, Heavenly Father WILL bless us, answer our prayers, and show us so many miracles. 

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

-Hermana Hansen

PICTURES:

1-2: Ding and her friends

3: We stopped at a Mexican Ice cream cart and got Arroz con Leche ice cream, it was DELISH

4. The pic we took while we were awkwardly waiting for Kahm outside his house HAHA

5. Hermana Iverson at Zone Conf <3