Friday, September 30, 2011

Hermana Juliet Hansen - This week in the life of

Hello all,
 
So I always seem to be short on time. 30 minutes just never is enough.
 
I have not been able to see the Relief Society broadcast yet, but they are having the sisters watch it while the elders are watching the Priesthood session. I have heard really good things about President Uchtdorf's talk and I'm really excited to get to see it. I'm really excited for conference in general because we get to hear the words of the prophets. I think before I came on my mission I took General Conference a little bit for granted but now I really now how important it is. Because no other church in the world has the opportunity to have 8 hours of talks from people who can receive revelation directly from the Lord. Let me know what your favorite talk is from this weekend.
 
Okay in the few minutes left that I have I want to tell you something that we learned from Elder Clarke of the Seventy during our Tuesday night devotional. He said that if we love our investigators then we will push them. Meaning that we will work hard to get them to read the Book of Mormon and to go to church and to do all the things that are important in the gospel and the church. I then felt very strongly that this is so applicable to everyone that we know. If we love someone we will push them to be better. So I have two challenges. 
One: I challenge you to make Family Home Evening a priority in your life. I have been learning so much about how important family is to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. FHE doesn't have to be very long but take the time to spend time with your family. And I'd like to hear what you learn about every week.
Second: I want to challenge you to study a chapter of the Book of Mormon every day while I am serving a mission. Not just read but study. I know it will change your life.
 
I'll close with my favorite scripture. Romans 8: 38-39. Always remember that NOTHING can separate you from the love of God.
 
Love,
 
Hermana Hansen
***********************
We received a letter from Juliet earlier this week and I want to share part of it with you.
"I think it was the second day here, I was walking with my companions and this girl stops me and it happens to be a girl that I was working with as a research assistant. It was so surprising to see her because when we worked together we never really discussed missions. We were chatting about things, specifically how I was enjoying the MTC and how long she'd been there. Then I asked her where she was going and she said California, San Fernando and I was like NO WAY !! I'm going there too. So we are going to the exact same mission, Spanish speaking and everything. She'll just get there a few weeks before me. We could possibly be companions in the field, which would be awesome."
Then she shares information about her companion who comes from Massachusetts and lives in the stake next to her uncle Karl and aunt Lisa :)
" ...... she is going to the Peru, Rujillo mission. She's supposed to leave for the Peru MTC in a couple of weeks along with the other sisters and 1 elder in my district. So we'll go from 9 to 5 and I'll most likely be a solo sister. I'm not sure how I feel about that but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
One of the most amazing things about the MTC is how prevalent the gift of tongues is. I think before I got here subconsciously I knew that in order for missionaries to learn say Finnish or Japanese in 12 weeks that the gift of tongues would have to be given to the missionaries. But I truly did not comprehend that until I experienced myself and during SYL (speak your language) day and especially until I saw it happen for my companion during a lesson...........
One last story. On Sunday I got called as the music coordinator in our branch. There are 4 callings in the branch, 2 zone leaders, a coordinating sister, and a music coordinator. At first I felt a little overwhelmed because I was still trying to get used to the missionary schedule and then to have a calling on top of it. It felt like a lot but I love it. I love that I am able to put my music abilities to use. The hardest part is finding a musical number for each Sunday because who is in the branch changes so much but it will all be a good experience............. I've been so blessed in being able to use my musical ability to good use. It feels like God knew that it would be what I need while in the MTC......."
Estimated MTC departure date is November 16th.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Our week in review

I don't usually blog at the week-ends and writing personal stuff on an open forum does not come easily to me but we have family out there that want to keep up with what we are doing. We stay "occupied" with various things and some weeks are more productive than others. Now that two of our girls are away from home we are not as "busy" as many families.
For our family week in review I plan on running from Saturday through Friday and picking out pieces from each day. Juliet's update will be kept separate.

Saturday 17th September
Kristina, Nikolas and I went to the Haywood Lane Building to participate in "Make a Pillow Day". I am one of the organizers of this on-going activity, along with Hiroe Reynolds. We had a nice turnout given all the other activities that were also happening. 114 post-op breast cancer pillows were completed and 33 others are ready to stuff. Kristina worked diligently at the stuffing station and Nikolas did whatever was asked of him (bless his wonderful heart.) He was "borrowed" to help clean the building, set up/tore down tables and chairs, cut up strips for ties, and cut out fabric squares.
While we were gone for the day John got busy at home. I had moved furniture around earlier in the week (we now have a dedicated guest room and a new sewing room) and he re-arranged the guest room to allow us to use the WII Fit and other games without running more cables through the garage. He also fixed the dryer.

Sunday 18th September
Sunday, 99.9% of the time is a church day for us. Our ward currently meets during the 1.00 p.m. 3 hour block and we have choir practice afterwards. The talks in Sacrament today were about choices made to become stay at home moms and how that impacts learning etc. At the end of Relief Society we were given "Daughters in My Kingdom - The History and Work of Relief Society". I'm looking forward to reading this.
A nice surprise at church today. 63 more pillows and 45 ready to be stuffed. Some of the ladies had taken fabric and stuffing home with them yesterday.

Monday 19th September
Monday thru Friday morning at 5.30 a.m. Kristina and Nikolas attend early morning Seminary and have just enough time at the end to catch the bus to school. Most high schools in our school district start at 7.05 and are done by 2.05. There's about 14 in our Seminary class now, which is wonderful given that 8 years ago there was a class of 1 (Juliet).
Monday morning means - Volleyball. It's been a while since I went and it was a lot of fun. I'm usually the oldest one in attendance. I'm fairly decent at the net but wimp out somewhat anywhere else on court. Some of the other ladies are amazing players.
After that I dropped off most of the pillows at the Vanderbilt Breast Cancer Clinic at 100 Oaks Mall, and spent some money at Michaels and the Scout Center.
During Family Home Evening (FHE) we read a story from the New Era "Racing For Two" (amazing), and helped Nikolas finish up another badge for Scouts. He just has two required ones left and then he can get going on his Eagle Scout project.

Tuesday 20th September
My calling at church is Family History Consultant. I work at the Franklin FHC and today I substituted for one of the other workers. Had a mini training/"gripe" session with our Director.
Kristina has voice lessons on Tuesdays after school. Her teacher has a concert coming up soon for her students so a lot of practice has been done for that. Kristina is now singing "God Bless America" instead of one of her "Princess" songs.
Hillwood HS hosted a 12th grade college fair this evening. We visited 5 colleges during the summer and Kristina was pleased to see some of the reps in attendance.
"Biggest Loser" started back up this evening and Kristina is a huge fan of the show. We taped it for her to watch once we got home.

Wednesday 21st September
Our dog, Lucy, is loving the cooler weather. We are back out walking most mornings and she has rediscovered her "inner puppy." We are blessed with lots of dogs in our neighborhood and town which also means there's an on leash and poop pick up ordinance in place. The local park is not too far from our house. It has a walking track that we like to visit every so often. Most of the time we stick to the streets in our sub-division.
I have wonderful Visiting Teachers from church. They came this morning and we got into a good discussion about scripture reading.
The principal at our high school is trying out a different way to bring parents into the building for PTSO meetings. We had a luncheon today to celebrate some of the "Write on Wednesday" student writers in the building. Culinary arts students cooked and served the food.

Thursday 22nd September
John and I went a Nashville Symphony concert this evening. First time we have heard the banjo used as a classical instrument.
The concert started with a beautiful version of Aaron Copeland's Suite from Appalachian Spring. Gorgeous. Then the main piece of the evening was Concerto for Banjo and Orchestra composed by Bela Fleck. World premier performance and broadcast over the internet. The middle movement was my favorite part. The concert wrapped up with Tchaikovsky's Symphony no.4 in F minor Op. 36. A lovely evening.
Funky goings on outside the Schermerhorn Concert Hall - hundreds and hundreds of very noisy birds in the surrounding trees.

Friday 23rd September
Some of the art and photography students at Hillwood went to the Appalachian Center for Art to do some classes. I went along as a chaperone and took the Itajime class with Kristina. We had a wonderful time and we each made three scarves of varying designs. The other classes were glass bead making and copper bracelets. Our wonderful teacher/bus driver got us through some lousy weather conditions and funky road conditions in the hilly "outback."
Our truck has come to a grinding halt and had to be towed home this evening.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Hermana Juliet Hansen - A Week Has Gone By

Hello,
So it's really crazy that a week has gone by already. I don't have a ton of time so I'll try to be fast.
Tell Sister Ashby thank you for the cinnamon rolls. They were delicious and they brought many a missionary joy. Apparently, missionaries in my hallway would just walk into the class, stare at the cinnamon rolls, and leave. Too funny.
People can write to missionaries on Dearelder.com . I kind of would like to get some letters during the week. And it's free to send the letter while I am at the MTC.
We had the amazing experience of having Elder Nelson come and speak to us at our Tuesday night devotional. His wife gave a little talk before he did and I want to share with you something that she said that struck me. She said, "be the kind of missionary where your mission president could send you anywhere and he would know that the area would be fruitful." I want to be that kind of missionary. I think it applies to every member as well. Be the kind of member that your Bishop knows that he can put you in any calling and that area of the church will flourish.
Elder Nelson spoke about the Book of Mormon and what we know to be true about it. We had to read this month's Ensign before he came. I would encourage you to read it from cover to cover and then act on the principles that are found inside. It helped strengthen my testimony about the Book of Mormon and I know it can help strengthen yours.
I have to go but know that I love you and I pray for you all often.
Love,
Hermana Juliet Hansen

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Women In The Scriptures

If you are interested in learning more about the women in the scriptures and their influence here's an interesting blog - http://womeninthescriptures.blogspot.com/ Heather is researching as many women as she can, sharing what she finds and giving her own thoughts about each one. Currently Jehosheba/Jehoshabeath in 2 Kings 11:2 and 2 Chronicles 22:11. I've read each posting (arranged in Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine & Covenants sections) and enjoyed them all.

Monday, September 19, 2011

MTC address

If you want to write to Juliet at the MTC here you go.

Sister Juliet Ann Hansen
MTC Mailbox #356
CA-SFER 1116
2005 N 900 E
Provo
UT 84604

She should be there till middle/end of November.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

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