Hermana Juliet Hansen has arrived home safely from her mission. We came home to a surprise front door decoration welcoming her home. Loved it.
She was released by our stake president last night. Today she has been unpacking and catching up with some friends and family.
We appreciate all the support and encouragement she was given during the time she was away.
On Sunday two of her investigators were baptized and on the flight home she talked with one of the other passengers and gave him a Book of Mormon to read.
Tonight we are going to the temple to join the Young Men and Young Women from our ward to do temple baptisms.
Our darling son has been in Italy on a school trip and will get home late tonight.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Hermana Juliet Hansen - The final countdown has commenced
This might be Juliet's last e-mail from her mission. She returns home next week. We are so proud of her and all that she has accomplished and learned.
There are a lot of things that I could write about right now but I
feel like this week I just want to share with you my testimony knowing
that things are rapidly coming to a close.
My mission has literally changed my life. I knew going in that I would
grow a lot and have some challenges and really amazing experiences but
I don't think I really knew how much it would leave a mark on me.
There are still things I'm sure that the Lord would have me learn this
last week and so I'm preparing myself for whatever He may have in
store for me. But I can honestly say that these have been the best 18
months of my life. Of all the things that I have learned on the
mission the most precious to me has been that God literally knows who
I am, He knows my name, He knows my needs, and He'll do everything He
can so that I can be happy. I went through a trial in my last area
that I never thought I would have on my mission and the outcome of it
all has been better than I ever could have imagined.
So a huge part of my testimony is that the Lord never gives us trials
that we can't handle and He gives us them to see if we will make the
right decisions through it all. I know that God is NEVER far from us.
When we need him the most, He is there. He just wants us to seek Him
and He'll provide the comfort that we need.
I've also gained such a huge testimony of the Book of Mormon these
past months. I finished reading it for the third time last week. I
know that anyone who wants to know for themselves if Joseph Smith was
a prophet, or if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is
true, or any other multitude of things, they can! And it's through
reading the Book of Mormon. This next Sunday R..... and V..... will be
getting baptised! And through their conversion process I've seen how
big of a role the Book of Mormon has played. R..... was skeptical at
first and he said that he would be baptised if he felt it in his
heart. Well he started to read the Book of Mormon and as he did it his
desire to be baptised grew and grew. Everytime he opens the book he
has this thirst to read more. And he understands it so well. I
honestly believe that because of the Book of Mormon he is now sooooooo
excited to be baptised and sooooooo converted.
I know 100% that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is
the restored church of Christ on the earth today. I'm so grateful that
I have had 18 months to declare this to everyone.
I love this Gospel so much. I'm going to live up this last week and
make it the best week of my mission and when I get home I'm not going
to stop sharing the Gospel with people I know.
I love you all and am so grateful for your support.
Con amor,
Hermana Hansen
There are a lot of things that I could write about right now but I
feel like this week I just want to share with you my testimony knowing
that things are rapidly coming to a close.
My mission has literally changed my life. I knew going in that I would
grow a lot and have some challenges and really amazing experiences but
I don't think I really knew how much it would leave a mark on me.
There are still things I'm sure that the Lord would have me learn this
last week and so I'm preparing myself for whatever He may have in
store for me. But I can honestly say that these have been the best 18
months of my life. Of all the things that I have learned on the
mission the most precious to me has been that God literally knows who
I am, He knows my name, He knows my needs, and He'll do everything He
can so that I can be happy. I went through a trial in my last area
that I never thought I would have on my mission and the outcome of it
all has been better than I ever could have imagined.
So a huge part of my testimony is that the Lord never gives us trials
that we can't handle and He gives us them to see if we will make the
right decisions through it all. I know that God is NEVER far from us.
When we need him the most, He is there. He just wants us to seek Him
and He'll provide the comfort that we need.
I've also gained such a huge testimony of the Book of Mormon these
past months. I finished reading it for the third time last week. I
know that anyone who wants to know for themselves if Joseph Smith was
a prophet, or if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is
true, or any other multitude of things, they can! And it's through
reading the Book of Mormon. This next Sunday R..... and V..... will be
getting baptised! And through their conversion process I've seen how
big of a role the Book of Mormon has played. R..... was skeptical at
first and he said that he would be baptised if he felt it in his
heart. Well he started to read the Book of Mormon and as he did it his
desire to be baptised grew and grew. Everytime he opens the book he
has this thirst to read more. And he understands it so well. I
honestly believe that because of the Book of Mormon he is now sooooooo
excited to be baptised and sooooooo converted.
I know 100% that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is
the restored church of Christ on the earth today. I'm so grateful that
I have had 18 months to declare this to everyone.
I love this Gospel so much. I'm going to live up this last week and
make it the best week of my mission and when I get home I'm not going
to stop sharing the Gospel with people I know.
I love you all and am so grateful for your support.
Con amor,
Hermana Hansen
Hermana Juliet Hansen - revisiting the past
(This is Juliet's e-mail from 3/11)
Hi all,
Another week has flown by and it's incredibly hard to believe how fast
it has gone.
This week we had the opportunity to do a couple more exchanges and I
got to go back to Reseda for a day. That area is so dear to my heart
and it was amazing to see the progress that has been made over these
last few transfers. My experience there taught me a little bit more
about how the Lord knows exactly when and where a missionary needs to
be during their mission. I had the opportunity to visit with people
that day that we had been looking for when I was there and never had
success finding. One was a less active lady that every time we would
go over and knock her door no one would ever answer and know the
Hermanas are visiting with her every week. The other family was
someone that we found my last day in the area. The mom at the time
said that she didn't ever want to change religions but now she is
going every week to church and knows that it's true. I wasn't meant to
teach them but these current hermanas were and the Lord knew that.
Our investigators R...... and V...... that have their baptism set for the
24th are still so amazing. I have never had someone pay their tithing
before they got baptised and they did it. They are struggling
financially right now but they have so much faith that if they keep
the commandments the Lord will bless them for it. So they chose to go
ahead and start paying their tithing. That was such a mark of how
converted they are to the gospel and I can't wait for their baptism.
I was able to get some other big news for my last area this past week.
You might remember when I talked about finding a girl named M....... my
last weekend in the area. Well, she is officially getting baptised
this next Sunday. And what's even more great is that she had invited a
friend to listen to the missionaries as well and she too is getting
baptised this coming sunday. And the hermanas told me that when they
taught the word of wisdom to her, she said "why didn't you tell me
this sooner! I would have stopped a long time ago!" I feel so blessed
that I had the opportunity to be a small part of that huge miracle for
them.
In other big news (Hermana Williams and Hermana White should prepare
themselves). I found out that M.F. has FINALLY set a
baptismal date. I mentioned that family once or twice before but the
hermanas told me that he finally got his answer and he's getting
baptised on May 15. I know that so many prayers have been answered and
I'm so excited that he is going to be taking that step in his life.
The last thing I want to share for this week is a revelation that I
made as I was reading D&C 100: 3-6 which says,
"3 Behold, and lo, I have much people in this place, in the regions
round about; and an effectual door shall be opened in the regions
round about in this eastern land.
4 Therefore, I, the Lord, have suffered you to come unto this place;
for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls.
5 Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this
people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you
shall not be confounded before men;
6 For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment,
what ye shall say."
When I read that scripture this is what I wrote in my journal, " We
are priveleged to be in the areas where we are assigned. The souls
here are precious to the Lord and he permits us (imperfect, 18-29 year
olds) to enter these areas and bring salvation to them. We should feel
special every time we get called to a new area no matter where it is.
You could even say that finishing our missions is like the Lord's
ultimate reassignment. It's likfe her's saying, "I've taught you how
to share the gospel for 1 and 1/2 to 2 years. Now go and show me what
you've learned." The work is not done when we go home but we are asked
to still be missionaries and bring soulds to Christ. We are priveleged
to do so.
I love you all and pray for you.
Hermana Hansen
Hi all,
Another week has flown by and it's incredibly hard to believe how fast
it has gone.
This week we had the opportunity to do a couple more exchanges and I
got to go back to Reseda for a day. That area is so dear to my heart
and it was amazing to see the progress that has been made over these
last few transfers. My experience there taught me a little bit more
about how the Lord knows exactly when and where a missionary needs to
be during their mission. I had the opportunity to visit with people
that day that we had been looking for when I was there and never had
success finding. One was a less active lady that every time we would
go over and knock her door no one would ever answer and know the
Hermanas are visiting with her every week. The other family was
someone that we found my last day in the area. The mom at the time
said that she didn't ever want to change religions but now she is
going every week to church and knows that it's true. I wasn't meant to
teach them but these current hermanas were and the Lord knew that.
Our investigators R...... and V...... that have their baptism set for the
24th are still so amazing. I have never had someone pay their tithing
before they got baptised and they did it. They are struggling
financially right now but they have so much faith that if they keep
the commandments the Lord will bless them for it. So they chose to go
ahead and start paying their tithing. That was such a mark of how
converted they are to the gospel and I can't wait for their baptism.
I was able to get some other big news for my last area this past week.
You might remember when I talked about finding a girl named M....... my
last weekend in the area. Well, she is officially getting baptised
this next Sunday. And what's even more great is that she had invited a
friend to listen to the missionaries as well and she too is getting
baptised this coming sunday. And the hermanas told me that when they
taught the word of wisdom to her, she said "why didn't you tell me
this sooner! I would have stopped a long time ago!" I feel so blessed
that I had the opportunity to be a small part of that huge miracle for
them.
In other big news (Hermana Williams and Hermana White should prepare
themselves). I found out that M.F. has FINALLY set a
baptismal date. I mentioned that family once or twice before but the
hermanas told me that he finally got his answer and he's getting
baptised on May 15. I know that so many prayers have been answered and
I'm so excited that he is going to be taking that step in his life.
The last thing I want to share for this week is a revelation that I
made as I was reading D&C 100: 3-6 which says,
"3 Behold, and lo, I have much people in this place, in the regions
round about; and an effectual door shall be opened in the regions
round about in this eastern land.
4 Therefore, I, the Lord, have suffered you to come unto this place;
for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls.
5 Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this
people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you
shall not be confounded before men;
6 For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment,
what ye shall say."
When I read that scripture this is what I wrote in my journal, " We
are priveleged to be in the areas where we are assigned. The souls
here are precious to the Lord and he permits us (imperfect, 18-29 year
olds) to enter these areas and bring salvation to them. We should feel
special every time we get called to a new area no matter where it is.
You could even say that finishing our missions is like the Lord's
ultimate reassignment. It's likfe her's saying, "I've taught you how
to share the gospel for 1 and 1/2 to 2 years. Now go and show me what
you've learned." The work is not done when we go home but we are asked
to still be missionaries and bring soulds to Christ. We are priveleged
to do so.
I love you all and pray for you.
Hermana Hansen
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Hermana Juliet Hansen - Changes are coming ....
Hi all,
So in super big news....they are splitting our mission. It'll take
place in July and all of the missionaries that will be serving in the
desert at that point will be moved into the new California Bakersfield
Mission. So all that will be left of my mission will be the San
Fernando Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley. It's super crazy but it
just means that even more missionaries are being sent to California.
The Lord is hastening his work!!
This week we had an investigator drop us, sad....by pretending to be
asleep on the bed when we went over for the lesson....but we were able
to find an even better investigator that same day. Her name is
M....... and she really is an earnest seeker of truth. She's studied
with various churches over the years just looking for something to
fill her. When we shared with her the message of the restoration she
shared with us how she felt that it was true and she was sooooo
excited to be able read the Book of Mormon. We told her about church
and she asked if it was the one right up Glenoaks and we asked her how
she knew. Apparently, her sons went to cub scouts for 2 years with a
really good member friend. So she already has good experiences with
the church. I love it when that happens :)
We have a couple that we're teaching that are just AWESOME!! They have
a date set for my last Sunday in the mission and this weekend we were
able to teach them about the Word of Wisdom. We asked them to exercise
their faith and give us their coffee and they did it!! Such a cool
experience. The wife loved church on Sunday and it seems like things
are starting to turn around for them. The husband was able to find a
job for the weekend and we're optimistic that as they continue to keep
the commandments he will be able to find another job soon.
I was able to be on bike for the first time of my mission this week.
And I LOVED it! Such a fun way to do missionary work. You literally
can talk to everyone that you pass.
Well, I have to go....sadly. There is so much more that I could share.
I guess more stories for when I get home :)
Love you all,
Hermana Hansen
So in super big news....they are splitting our mission. It'll take
place in July and all of the missionaries that will be serving in the
desert at that point will be moved into the new California Bakersfield
Mission. So all that will be left of my mission will be the San
Fernando Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley. It's super crazy but it
just means that even more missionaries are being sent to California.
The Lord is hastening his work!!
This week we had an investigator drop us, sad....by pretending to be
asleep on the bed when we went over for the lesson....but we were able
to find an even better investigator that same day. Her name is
M....... and she really is an earnest seeker of truth. She's studied
with various churches over the years just looking for something to
fill her. When we shared with her the message of the restoration she
shared with us how she felt that it was true and she was sooooo
excited to be able read the Book of Mormon. We told her about church
and she asked if it was the one right up Glenoaks and we asked her how
she knew. Apparently, her sons went to cub scouts for 2 years with a
really good member friend. So she already has good experiences with
the church. I love it when that happens :)
We have a couple that we're teaching that are just AWESOME!! They have
a date set for my last Sunday in the mission and this weekend we were
able to teach them about the Word of Wisdom. We asked them to exercise
their faith and give us their coffee and they did it!! Such a cool
experience. The wife loved church on Sunday and it seems like things
are starting to turn around for them. The husband was able to find a
job for the weekend and we're optimistic that as they continue to keep
the commandments he will be able to find another job soon.
I was able to be on bike for the first time of my mission this week.
And I LOVED it! Such a fun way to do missionary work. You literally
can talk to everyone that you pass.
Well, I have to go....sadly. There is so much more that I could share.
I guess more stories for when I get home :)
Love you all,
Hermana Hansen
Hermana Juliet Hansen - Happily going about the Lord's work...
(This is the letter from a couple of weeks ago - 25 February.)
Good morning,
It's a pleasant sunny day here in Burbank, California. That's right I
have been officially transferred to cover the Burbank area of the
North Hollywood 4th ward. It's a great place to be and I'll be doing
it with my companion Hermana Zepeda!! I'm super excited and happy to
be here. And we have another set of hermanas to be with us in our
ward. Hermana Arguello and Hermana Sanders are opening up a new bike
hermanas area.
As part of being with Hermana Zepeda we are in charge of doing
exchanges with all of the hermanas in the mission. I'm really looking
forward to getting to know all of the other hermanas a little bit
better and see how we can help them in their respective areas. I get
to go to a bike area on Wednesday. We'll see how that goes...it could
be my one and only day on bike for my whole mission, what fun :)
The area here is interesting...Burbank you could say is really white
so finding Hispanics to teach really requires following the direction
of the spirit. So it will challenging, basically building from the
ground up, luckily we were left with 4 investigators when they split
the area but still a lot of work to be done. I'm optimistic though. I
know that as we work hard and are obedient the Lord will bless us and
help us find the people that are ready.
We had some interesting experiences this week.
As sister missionaries we sometimes have the blessed experience of
getting "hit on" as we go about our day. Well, that happened to me this
week. We were helping out the bike hermanas get some things that they
needed for the new area and as Hna Zepeda and I walked out of the
store I hear someone say, "Hey you want to share a sandwich? I can
start on one end and you can start on the other..." I didn't think he
was talking to me but he was... And we talked to him and he said he
was interested in learning more (gave him to the english sisters) and
then as I was backing the car he says "I hope you find your eternal
companion. Maybe he's standing right in front of you!" We'll see what
the english sister do with him....apparently lives at the last house
on some street in a big orange van....sounds a little sketch...
We had the opportunity to set baptismal dates with this great couple.
They are a little down on their luck right now, both have been out of
work for some time, but this experience has really humbled them and
prepared them to be open to the Gospel. The wife is V..... and she is
so amazing. We shared the first vision with them and when we asked how
they felt as we shared it she said that it was like a warmth in her
heart that didn't hurt but felt really good. We excitedly told her
that it was the spirit that she was feeling. And when we asked them to
be baptised on the 24th of March they said yes! They've been reading
and they came to church on Sunday for the first time. It's been so
great and the ward already loves them so much. I really look forward
to the day they'll be baptised.
I'm super happy to be a missionary right now. I love it and I know
without a doubt that I'm going to finish strong.
Love you all soooooooo much,
Hermana Hansen
Good morning,
It's a pleasant sunny day here in Burbank, California. That's right I
have been officially transferred to cover the Burbank area of the
North Hollywood 4th ward. It's a great place to be and I'll be doing
it with my companion Hermana Zepeda!! I'm super excited and happy to
be here. And we have another set of hermanas to be with us in our
ward. Hermana Arguello and Hermana Sanders are opening up a new bike
hermanas area.
As part of being with Hermana Zepeda we are in charge of doing
exchanges with all of the hermanas in the mission. I'm really looking
forward to getting to know all of the other hermanas a little bit
better and see how we can help them in their respective areas. I get
to go to a bike area on Wednesday. We'll see how that goes...it could
be my one and only day on bike for my whole mission, what fun :)
The area here is interesting...Burbank you could say is really white
so finding Hispanics to teach really requires following the direction
of the spirit. So it will challenging, basically building from the
ground up, luckily we were left with 4 investigators when they split
the area but still a lot of work to be done. I'm optimistic though. I
know that as we work hard and are obedient the Lord will bless us and
help us find the people that are ready.
We had some interesting experiences this week.
As sister missionaries we sometimes have the blessed experience of
getting "hit on" as we go about our day. Well, that happened to me this
week. We were helping out the bike hermanas get some things that they
needed for the new area and as Hna Zepeda and I walked out of the
store I hear someone say, "Hey you want to share a sandwich? I can
start on one end and you can start on the other..." I didn't think he
was talking to me but he was... And we talked to him and he said he
was interested in learning more (gave him to the english sisters) and
then as I was backing the car he says "I hope you find your eternal
companion. Maybe he's standing right in front of you!" We'll see what
the english sister do with him....apparently lives at the last house
on some street in a big orange van....sounds a little sketch...
We had the opportunity to set baptismal dates with this great couple.
They are a little down on their luck right now, both have been out of
work for some time, but this experience has really humbled them and
prepared them to be open to the Gospel. The wife is V..... and she is
so amazing. We shared the first vision with them and when we asked how
they felt as we shared it she said that it was like a warmth in her
heart that didn't hurt but felt really good. We excitedly told her
that it was the spirit that she was feeling. And when we asked them to
be baptised on the 24th of March they said yes! They've been reading
and they came to church on Sunday for the first time. It's been so
great and the ward already loves them so much. I really look forward
to the day they'll be baptised.
I'm super happy to be a missionary right now. I love it and I know
without a doubt that I'm going to finish strong.
Love you all soooooooo much,
Hermana Hansen
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Herman Juliet Hansen - New Year, New Start, New Life.
Good morning!!!
I hope everyone had a terrific week. Happy 2013!!
Here is a picture from when my district rang in the new year, at 6 pm :), at the Bishop's house. Gotta love Martinelli's sparkling cider :)
We're so excited to be able to serve as the Lord's missionaries during this time. And we are lucky in that we just found out that all 6 of us will be staying together for another transfer.
The best way that we were able to ring in the new year was with the baptism of Juan!!
It was such a great service and at the end he got up and shared his testimony with those that were there. It was so great to hear how much he has grown over the last year as he's drawn closer to his savior Jesus Christ.
Last night we met a really amazing woman. She had a baby 4 months ago and then at about the same time she had a stroke. As we met with her tears were shed as she shared her story and told us how she has felt God with her through this process. We know that this experience has really humbled her and helped her be prepared to receive the Gospel. We felt the spirit so strongly with her and we are so excited to help her come closer to Christ.
Que tengan una semana muy feliz!!
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Hansen
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