Hermana Juliet Hansen - Blessings Abound

Our daughter Juliet entered the MTC (Mission Training Center) in Provo on Wednesday afternoon. We were able to drop her off amidst all the happy "curbside chaos." She has been called to serve in the California San Fernando Mission (Spanish speaking). She is allowed to e-mail us once a week with an update on her progress and we can talk with her on the phone or by Skype at Christmas and on Mothers Day.
I plan on sharing some of her mission experiences, hopefully on a weekly basis, during the next 18 months.

Blessings Abound
The MTC is such an interesting experience. When I first got here it looked like there wasn't a bed for me because my host and I went to my room and all the beds were full. It took quite a while for them to get everything straightened out but in that time my host and I were able to get to know each other better and surprise, surprise we happen to have friends in common. She is best friends with a girl that was on my freshman floor, Brittany A...... My host and I even stayed in the same hall in Helaman just one year apart. Such a small world that we live in. I thought my experience the first day was a little crazy but one of the Elders in my district, when he arrived at the MTC they had no record that he was supposed to be there. Apparently, the MTC thought he was coming 3 weeks later for the new program that they are starting but his stake president never told him that that was happening. Elder P..... jokes that his family didn't want him and the MTC didn't want him either.

 

I've also had an interesting experience companion wise. When I got here I found out that I was going to be in a trio. Hermana Campbell and Hermana Sheridan were my very first companions. They are great sisters but in the course of 2 days I have already had a companion be transferred to another area. Hermana Campbell was bumped up to advanced Spanish on Friday. It is going to be a blessing for all of us in the long run. Hermana Campbell is so much more fluent in Spanish than all the rest of us in our district and she wasn't really being challenged. Now instead of going from the Provo MTC to the Peru MTC after 3 weeks, she is going straight to the field. She is, of course, nervous about it but she knows that she will be forced to push herself more and that is what she needs. Hermana Sheridan and I now have the opportunity to push ourselves more in learning Spanish because now we don't have Hermana Campbell to fall back on when we don't know how to say something. This short experience with my companions has taught me more about how God knows us and knows what is best to help us succeed. Had Hermana Campbell stayed as our companion, Hermana Sheridan and I probably would not be as capable as we could be.

 

We've been teaching our first investigator for the last two days. Her name is Shirley. (In reality she is one of our teachers. In the MTC our teachers take on the character of an investigator for a couple of weeks) In the two lessons that we have had so far it has been amazing to see how the Lord speaks through the spirit. Shirley didn't ever believe in God but we have been able to teach her about God's love, how she is a child of God, and Christ's atonement and the resurrection. She seems so receptive to what we are teaching her and every time we finish a lesson, Hermana Sheridan and I are so happy and excited for the work that we are doing.

 

Time is short. The Lord loves you and knows your needs. I know that He can help with whatever you are struggling with because He has helped me so much already.

 

Love you,

 

Hermana Juliet Hansen