Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Sometimes we hit a wall ...


Hi everyone,
 
Here's the link for the most recent mormon message. I love it so I thought I would share...
 
 
This week was hard, specifically Friday, because it was the day that we got all of our appointments cancelled. We were told we couldn't visit the 2 investigators with baptismal dates anymore, and a less active asked to have her records removed from the church. It wasn't super fun but even though it was hard we still had a good experience. That night we were knocking doors and we prayed saying, "we're going to knock doors and put forth all of our effort, please bless us with a lesson." And he did, it was a tender mercy of the Lord. I had been so crushed by everything that had happened that day but going out and working and having the Lord answer our prayers lifted my spirits so much.

I've found that every day I really look forward to companionship study. I learn so much from those hours. One day this week Hermana Whetten shared with me a quote from President Hinckley that I loved. I wish I had it on me to write it out in full but the gist was that God's chosen sons are going to be sent to the world at this time and that through missions God is preparing those that will be their mothers. One of the big reasons why I'm on my mission is because I know that it will help me become the mother that my future children need. I've already changed so much on my mission and I know that there is so much more for me to learn. Yet everything is helping me to prepare to be that mother in Isreal. As I overcome my weaknesses and put my trust and faith in Jesus Christ, my testimony grows and I learn just how much the Lord knows me and what I need. I couldn't be more grateful to know that I am on my mission at this time and in this place for a reason. God truly knows me better than I know myself and I am richly blessed for that.

When it's hard on the mission I remind myself of the quote from Elder Holland in his talk "Missionary Work and the Atonement". He said, "missionary work is not easy because salvation was not meant to be a cheap experience." We all have to struggle as missionaries. We want our investigators to be truly converted to the Gospel and so that means we have to get down in the dirt with them and go through hard times. That's even true for ourselves. As we are on our missions we are working out our own personal salvation as we come to know Christ better and become more converted ourselves. If the mission was easy that change wouldn't happen. Life in general wasn't meant to be easy. We have to have trials and go through hard times. 
 
Life is hard but salvation makes it worth it.
 
I love you all and pray for you.
 
Hermana Hansen

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Hermana Juliet Hansen - a week of miracles


Hi everyone,
We had a great week filled with many miracles.
Sometimes we have days without any confirmed plans. They can be really hard but sometimes they can lead to some really great experiences. Friday was one of those days. We only had a lunch with a member as a confirmed appointment and the rest was blank. We had a list of people we planned to see and the faith that the Lord would provide us with opportunities to teach if we did all we could. So we put forth our efforts and saw the blessings for it. 

One blessing was this, after our lunch with the member we asked her if her friend that we had met the week before would be interested in hearing the gospel. The member then called her friend and told her she was bringing food over and then told us, let's go visit her right now. Quite the sneaky ploy to get us into her friend's house...haha :) Then we go over and visit with her friend D.....  and ended up meeting her daughter P....... as well. We talked with them for a while and they are both really interested in the message of the gospel. And what was even better was that P.........  mentioned how with our visit maybe it was time for the family to change and become more unified. They both have gone through many things in their lives that have really prepared them for Gospel. I can't wait to visit with them again this week.

We also had an experience on Sunday with a potential investigator, M......... We told the Lord that we would make every effort to visit the family but this was really the last chance because the last 4 weeks every time we would pass by the house they wouldn't answer the door or they were too busy or they weren't home. So we prayed, "if this is meant to be, help us get into the home." And we got into the home!!! It was so great. M........ was outside vacuuming her car and when we asked if she had a few minutes that we could visit with her, she said yes. We had such a great lesson on the plan of salvation with her. The spirit was so strong and she loved what we had to share with her. It was interesting to see how happy she was to hear that we are all children of God because previously other visitors from other churches had told her and husband that they weren't children of God because they weren't members of that particular church. I love that part of the message that we bring to people is that no matter what religion, what race, what age, we are all children of God. He knows us and loves us. That brought much joy to M......... Her family is also so important to her and you could tell that she is so happy to know that she can have her children with her for forever and not just this life.  We're going back on Tuesday and I'm so excited!!

We've had so many other amazing lessons this week. It is amazing what happens when you and your companion teach together in unity. When you teach in unity the spirit will testify through you both of the message and then the miracles happen. When people feel the spirit they want to change.
One of those awesome lessons was with an inactive member, M...... He recently found out that he had cancer and when we invited him to church he said "oh maybe after this big work project is over and i have the surgery to remove the tumor." We then looked him in the eye and told him "hermano today is the day to go back to church. When you are sick you go to a hospital and when you are in need spiritually you go to church. You need the spiritual strength that the church can give you in this time of your life." And he came to church for the first time in over 3 years!!
I've felt really blessed by all the opportunities that the Lord had provided for us to teach and help others come unto Christ.
Have an absolutely terrific week.
Love you all!
Hermana Hansen

Monday, August 13, 2012

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Promptings of the Spirit


Hello every one,
 
Katherine got baptised on Sunday!!! It was super cool. The ward was so happy for her and even though her mom was in a lot of pain (she broke her wrist 3 days ago) you could tell that she was so excited for her daughter. The best part of the whole experience (besides the actual baptism) was that as Hermana Whetten and I were singing the special musical number, Katherine was singing along with us. As I saw her sing with us and look so happy a huge smile came to my face. At that moment it didn't matter what we sounded like, all that mattered was that we were helping her be happy. And as I keep thinking back on the experience I literally feel an overwhelming sense of love and joy for that family. There really is no way to adequately describe the joy that you feel knowing that you helped someone come unto Christ.

The miracles just keep poring out, more than I ever really thought possible. And it's been amazing to see how the spirit directs us so we can have those miracles.
First, we had been given a referral by the elders in our district this week and at the beginning of the week we planned to swing by but when we looked at the address it didn't exist. Huge bummer! You can't visit someone if there is no where to go. Then two days later when we had a little bit of time before a dinner appointment we were looking at our map and the idea came to me that we should try the referral but using the cross street instead of the original address. So we drove over there and it existed! And she was home. And she wants us to go back and visit with her!
Another experience was very similar to that. We were driving to an appointment and we had about 30 minutes before we needed to be there. A two minute drive from that appointment lives a member and her sister that she had recently referred to us. As we passed the apartment complex where the member lived I had the thought "let's go visit that referral". We quickly pulled over and parked. And after asking the member to come with us we ended up sitting on the referral's couch. And she turned out to be interested and wants us to come back. We have an appointment to visit with her on thursday but she's due to have her baby this week...could be interesting :)   
I've learned from these two experiences and a few others that often times promptings from the spirit really do sound like our own thoughts. And that is when we really have to trust that it is the Lord directing us. We could have easily not tried a different street for the first referral or kept driving for the second referral but we didn't and we saw the blessings for it. I know that if we are willing to do the Lord's will in everything that whatever good thought we have is a prompting from the spirit. So now I know that if after the mission I have a thought to call/visit a friend, I should do it. Who knows what the outcome could be.
 
I love you all!
 
Que Dios les bendiga! (may God bless you)
 
Hermana Hansen

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Podemos cambiar su pecho

(translation: we can change your chest ..)


Hello, hello,
 
First a funny story of a Spanish slip up...
Friday night we had our correlation meeting with our ward mission leader at his house. He told us how he had changed the carpets and that was why we had to change the meeting from Wednesday to Friday. Well one of the elders asked why he didn't call us to help him out. And then we offered our assistance for whenever he might need it again. Well I decided to pipe up and I said, "Yeah, podemos cambiar su pecho...(awkward silence)....I mean techo (roof)!" When I realized what I had said I started to laugh so hard. So hard, in fact, that tears started streaming down my face. What an act of service that would be to change their chest! Needless to say our ward mission leader has a great sense of humor and he just took it stride. Oh the joys of learning a language on the mission :)
 
This week was incredibly amazing. We saw some amazing miracles and the Lord really has blessed us.
 
We've decided that every week we are going to pick some families (either investigators or members) and take them a plate of cookies or other treats (whatever we're in the mood to make). Well one day we decided to take a plate to our investigator Alba. Normally we meet with her on Saturdays but we decided to pass by on Tuesday with the cookies. As often happens when the spirit is directing you to do something, Satan tries to keep you from doing it. So the doubts crept in a little bit. But we took the cookies anyway and we had such a great lesson about the need for modern day prophets. And in the lesson we found out that she and her husband had a wedding to attend that Saturday so wouldn't have been able to meet with them anyway. It really is amazing how it all worked out. Even the fact that we got to her house 10 minutes before she got home (so we were already inside and she didn't have to opportunity to say we couldn't come in). It all couldn't have happened any better and it really was the spirit and the Lord directing our actions.
 
A similar experience happened on Saturday. We had planned to take a certain member with us to visit a young family. First the member cancelled and asked if her mom could come instead. We said sure (we'll never refuse member involvement in the work). Then we get to the family's house and they have friends over so we rescheduled for Sunday. So we decided to visit a referral (they weren't home and we got a little lost on the way). Then we decided to go somewhere else on the off chance that a potential investigator would be home. And then we had a miracle. This particular potential investigator was coming to check her mail as we approached the gate to get into the complex. We asked if we could visit with her and she said YES. After 3 months of trying to get into her home and not being successful, she finally let us in. It couldn't have worked out more perfectly. The Lord really directed us so that we would have the opportunity to meet with her and share part of the Gospel. If I had used the GPS and not gotten lost we probably never would have run into her. Oh the mysterious workings of God.
 
Well, I'm out of time. There is so much more I could talk about.
I know without a doubt that if we are willing we can be instruments in the hands of our Heavenly Father. We just need to be ready to recognize when those opportunities are there.
 
Love you all,
Hermana Hansen