Hermana Juliet Hansen - I love being a missionary

This is part of the e-mail we received last week. With everything else that was going on I did not get round to posting it. We had a wonderful phone conversation with Juliet on Christmas Day for about 40 minutes. She loves where she is at and we are grateful that she is enjoying her mission and that she is learning so much from the people around her.

.........So this week I want to share with you some interesting/fun stories. For the most part all of my other emails have been more spiritual so I'm going to shake it up a bit. I'm going to share with you two stories...

First, a tale of epic miscommunication...

         Hermana White has kind of put me in charge of the phone. So I make a lot of the phone calls and answer the phone, especially when she's driving. Last weekend we called one of the less active members to see if we could visit her. She said that she was busy working so I asked if she was going to be able to come to church on Sunday. She again said that she would be working. So I asked if we could send someone by to pick up her kids. She then starts to tell me that her kids have gone back to Mexico to live with their dad. This is what I heard anyway and I didn't really think anything of it. But then I tell Hermana White and she starts freaking out because apparently the dad is really awful and it was going to undo all of the progress that (.......) had made over the past little while. So Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we go over to her house frequently to try and visit her because we are extremely concerned. Well, Tuesday afternoon we go over to her apartment and the other people that live there tell us that she's not there. And they say that she's gone to pick up the kids from the bus. Huh? As we walk back to the car who should we run into but (......)  and her daughter! We walk back with her to her apartment and Hermana White tells her that we thought her kids had gone to Mexico. Her face was like "Are you crazy!? How would you ever come up with an idea like that?" So I'm left super confused about how I could so completely misunderstand what she said to me on the phone. I mean I'm still learning Spanish but I can, for the most part, understand it pretty well. So yeah...I just about gave my companion a heart attack, one of the less actives thinks I'm a little crazy, but at least we managed to avert an international CPS crisis.

Second, a tale of how I'll never be able to eat lamb again...

        A couple of Saturdays ago we had the opportunity to help out with one of the YW's quincinera (15th birthday). Basically, huge/expensive party with a ton of food and lots of dancing that takes months to plan. Anyway, one of the other brothers in the ward offers to make the food for the party. So he gets a 220 pound lamb! (We walked into his apartment with all of the fresh meat sitting on his kitchen table. That was weird.) And he makes barbacoa with the lamb. Basically you cook the lamb in a big metal trashcan with water and banana leaves (?). Well we go over to this family's house to see if we can help out and we get left to baby sit this meat for over an hour. Initially it smelled so good and the hermano let us try some and it was delicious. But after smelling the same thing for an hour and then going and carving the meat for an hour or so and then serving it and then having your hands, your hair, your jacket, everything, smell like lamb...you kind of never want to eat it again. Oh man, that party was something else. But you want to know what is even crazier. The mom of the birthday girl went to the hospital a couple days before and they still had the party. Then last week she goes to the hospital again and it turns out that she had had a stroke!! I don't know how she was able to function at this party but that is some devotion and love for your daughter.

I hope you enjoyed those stories. Not only is the mission very spiritual but you also get some pretty crazy stories to go with it.

We had our Christmas concert for the stake this weekend and it was amazing. And guess who our narrator was...Kirby Heybourne (the actor from the singles ward and the Best Two Years). The music reminded me so much of our stake and I'm glad to hear that all of your concerts have gone well.

Love you all,

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Miracles Do Happen

Hello all,

 

I hope you are doing well. I got the birthday card. Thank you so much. Also, thank you for sending ......

So the Christmas season is upon us. I just have a couple of requests for Christmas presents ........  That's really all I want but you're welcome to throw in some surprises if you like. I'm so grateful for all the support you give me and I'm so grateful to be able to serve the Lord especially at this time of year.

 

So the subject line this week is Miracles do happen. I really have seen this happen in little ways since I've been out in the field. But I really saw this happen yesterday. I don't know if I've mentioned in my past emails a couple, I..... and I...... Well they are a really special couple with a really cute daughter. (She) is a less active member and (he) is investigating the church. We've been struggling to get them to come to church, for one reason or another, work or they slept in etc. Saturday we had a really great lesson with them with the help of some members about the Word of Wisdom and I..... told us that she would try to come to church with her daughter but I.... said he needed to work. Much to our shock and great pleasure, who should wander into the chapel but (he) in the flesh. It was so amazing and exciting to see him there. And not only was he there but he participated in Sunday School and Priesthood. 

I.... (she) offered to help the sisters with preparations for our Christmas party. Their daughter J..... loved Primary. I really feel like a miracle has happened for this family. And I hope that coming to church has helped him have more of a desire to set a baptismal date. Every day that I'm out here and things like that happen my testimony of miracles is strengthened. I know that they happen and that all we have to do is be willing to recognize them. 

So my question for you this week is what miracles have you seen in your life this week? If you have had some, write them down, so you won't forget them.

 

Sorry that the email this week is short but know that I love you all and I pray for you often.

God loves you and knows your needs.

 

With much love,

 

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - I'm dreaming of a white christmas...

Hello all,

 

Can you believe that it's December already? It's a little hard to believe that it's almost Christmas when it's been 70 degrees out here.

 

So a couple of things first... (could you ......)

And, I got the package that the Relief Society sisters sent. It was awesome. I'll be writing a letter to them all.

 

Okay, so I did have the opportunity to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional last night and it was amazing. I really loved the videos that they shared about the birth of Christ. They were spectacular. I really loved all of the talks but at one point someone said something about giving the gift of Christ. I feel like that is what I am doing as a missionary. And it is probably the best gift that anyone could receive or give. The knowledge that they have a personal savior, who knows every need that they have, every sorrow that they've ever experienced. So often people don't recognize that they need this in their lives but we as missionaries (even member missionaries) have the opportunity to show them that they do need Christ in their life and their life will be so much better for it. I feel like this is what Christmas is truly about, giving people hope and bringing light into their lives. 

 

Along with that idea, Sunday morning we had a meeting with the Stake presidency, Mission president, Ward mission leaders, and all the full time missionaries in our stake to talk about the state of missionary work in our area. We talked a lot about what we could do to improve. What I took away from that meeting was the importance of getting to know your neighbors. That we need to become their friends first and invite them over for dinner, play games, talk, etc before we invite them to listen to the missionaries. I think as members we have this fear to share the gospel with our friends because we don't want to be rejected or any other multitude of reasons. But in this meeting I learned that sharing the gospel becomes so much easier when we have a LOVE of God and a LOVE of others. And we can develop those things through fasting and prayer. Also we can develop this desire to get to know our neighbors and share our love for the savior when we ask ourselves this question "Have I seen the image/countenance of the Savior in my friends?" When we see the Savior in our friends we want them to feel of His love like we do, we want them to know Him like we do.

 

So my challenge for all of you this Christmas season is to get to know your neighbors better. And then to pray and fast at least one day this month for an opportunity to share the Gospel with a neighbor or a friend. Give the gift of Christ. Will you accept this challenge?

 

I love you all with all my heart. And I'm grateful for all of your prayers and support. I know that Christ lives and loves us.

 

Hermana Hansen