Herman Juliet Hansen - Sickly but still able to see miracles

Hello all,

I hope Christmas was wonderful for everyone. I loved getting to talk with the family on Skype. Liz I missed you though!!! I hope you had fun in Provo. 

We had the opportunity on Christmas to share with a part member family the movie "Joy to the World". As we shared with that family we felt the spirit testify to our hearts of the true spirit of Christmas. It was so great to be able to share the true message of the season with this family. As we got to focus on the life of the saviour it brought so much joy and love to my heart and to that of my companion. I hope those feelings came to all of your hearts this holiday season.

Sadly, after that lesson...Hermana Tavoian and I got sick. We then spent the rest of Christmas with fevers in our beds. But I'm really grateful that we were able to share with at least one family the spirit of Christmas. But not to worry...we are doing much better :)

We had an amazing experience meeting a man named S......... Before I came to Sylmar, he and his wife had attended church and he expressed interest in meeting with the missionaries. We had tried to visit with them for the last couple of weeks but for some reason or another it didn't work out. And then this week it did! We met with them and it was so amazing. He has such a sincere desire to learn and she is desirous to come fully back to the church. He loves everything that the church has to share and he wants to become part of the church. The only hurdle we have to get over is that they need to get married but we know that as we pray and work with them that the Lord will help us in that step. 

To close I want to share a quote from Elder Quentin L. Cook that our mission president shared with us this week.

In one of the most profound verses in all of scripture, Alma proclaims, “If ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?”

Local leaders across the world report that when viewed as a whole, Church members, especially our youth, have never been stronger. But they almost always raise two concerns: first, the challenge of increased unrighteousness in the world and, second, the apathy and lack of commitment of some members. They seek counsel about how to help members to follow the Savior and achieve a deep and lasting conversion.

This question, “Can ye feel so now?” rings across the centuries. With all that we have received in this dispensation—including the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the outpouring of spiritual gifts, and the indisputable blessings of heaven—Alma’s challenge has never been more important.

So as we go into the new year 2013 I want to encourage you all to think about the question "Can you feel so now?" I know that all of us have had experiences that have helped us to become converted to the Gospel and feel the fire of testimony deep within our hearts. Every day do we still feel those things? If we don't, what can we change to fell that again? If we do, how can we keep hold of those feelings? 

Maybe this year our goals can be more than just "Oh I want to lose 20 pounds." or "I want to cut out sweets". Maybe our goals can be more "I want to become more fully converted to the Gospel"" or "I want to be a better visiting/home teacher."

I hope that as we set our goals for this coming year we take a little time to think about what the Lord would have us to become.

Happy 2013!!

Love you all,

Hermana Hansen

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

Hi all,

So maybe that dream of a white Christmas here in the valley is a little ambitious...hahaha. 

This week was a slow week here in Sylmar but we accomplished some good things. Here are some pictures from the week.

Picture 1: This is Hermana Zepeda and I. We had exchanges this week on tuesday. I've always wanted to work with Hna Zepeda, so it was kind of a dream realized for me. We got to meet some cool people in her area and teach a girl named A....... I hope all goes well with her, maybe one day I'll hear that she's getting baptised :) And I learned a lot from Hermana Zepeda and now there are things that I can do to help Sylmar become even better

Picture 2: This was a house that Hermana Zepeda and I saw while we were on exchanges. These are the coolest Christmas lights that I've seen so far this year.

  

Picture 3: And this is the winner for random occurrence of the week. We happened to see these 3 peacocks cross the road in the middle of suburbia. Maybe the joke should now be, "Why did the peacock cross the road?", haha.

I wish all of you a very happy week.

I'm grateful for all of you and love you so much.

Con amor siempre,

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen .... Sometimes we aren't perfect

Hello all,

We had an experience this week that taught me about how we are never done learning as missionaries. It doesn't even matter if you have 3 months left or you just started you're always at a point where you're striving to become a better teacher. Well this week we met and started teaching a lady named L...... One of her biggest concerns when we sat down with her the first time was about sabbath day observance. She believes strongly that it is Saturday and so she wanted to understand why we worship on Sunday. We didn't have a good answer then so we told her that we would study it and get back to her. We went back to visit on Friday with some scriptures about how Christ set the example of worshiping on Sunday after his resurrection and the apostles continued to do so as well. What we weren't prepared for was that she also came prepared with scriptures to back up her point. Needless to say the lesson didn't go as we were expecting. As we walked out of the lesson it hit me as to what we should have done. The whole time we should have focused on the need to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, i.e. watching the restoration with her and having her pray to know etc. Because if we know that Joseph Smith was a prophet then we know that by inspiration the Lord had him restore the church in the perfect way with worship on Sunday. I really was kicking myself afterwards but I've learned my lesson and now I know what I can do in the future to help someone with that same question. We live and we learn :)

We had a really amazing lesson with our investigator J...... on Saturday. For the longest time he has never wanted to set a baptismal date but with some great help from a member he told us that he wants to be baptised in January!! It was a huge step from him and we're so excited to see his desire grow even more to come unto Christ.

We've been sharing with many people recently a Christmas message based on 3 Nephi 1: 13-21 where the Nephites saw the new star on the day that Christ was born. I just want to share my testimony with all of you that I know that Christ was born to save the world. I know also that not only did the people in Jerusalem get to see him but the people in the America's as well. I know that this is the best time of the year that we get to celebrate the birth and life of our Savior and Redeemer. I'm forever grateful for him and I'm excited to see the miracles that will happen this Christmas season.

Con amor siempre,

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - First week in Sylmar

Happy Tuesday morning!!

 

We had the opportunity to have a visit from Elder Don R. Clarke from the quorum of the seventy yesterday. So they switched our preparation day to today. I've officially been transferred to the city of Sylmar, CA. This is part of the San Fernando 2nd Spanish ward. I love it here. And my companion is super awesome. Her name is Hna Tavoian from Idaho. She's been on her mission for 6 months. She actually came out with my last companion, Hna Whetten.

 

We've had such amazing experiences this week. I literally cannot believe how many miracles we've had and I've been stunned at how strongly the spirit has been directing us.

 

The very first night in the area we met a girl named M...... She is amazing!! She had actually met with missionaries 2 years ago. She had even accepted baptism but then shortly moved to Mexico and lost contact with the missionaries. Then somehow the elders met her mom and she gave the elders her contact information. We went over and it was so great. She is so prepared for the gospel. We talked with her about the Restoration and she felt the truth of that message and when we talked with her about baptism she accepted. I'm so excited to continue meeting with her and her mom said that we can visit with her as well.

 

The following day, Wednesday, we had returned home after a lesson that had fallen through to finish our studies when not 15 minutes later we got a call from a former referrral, J........ He said to us, "I'm at the church building and I have a couple of hours. Can you visit with me?" We were slightly apprehensive but we told him we would be there. We show up and who else should be there but the bishop. It was a huge miracle for us. Initially J...... told us that he wasn't really interested in changing religions because he grew up Catholic but as we taught about the restoration he really started to light up and be open to it. And when we invited him to be baptised he said YES!! 

 

When we were receiving instruction from Elder Clarke I had the name of a member family pop into my head. I really felt that we should go ask them for a referral. And later on in the conference their name popped into my head again. But I looked at our schedule after the conference and we literally had no time. Every hour was filled with an appointment. Then after the conference we called two of the appointments and they told us that they needed to cancel because they had to take care of some problems. Initially that was disheartening because we had the thought "oh great now we have to replan our whole night." Then we realized that this opened up the possibility of being able to go visit the member family. So we grabbed something quick to eat and then made our way over to their house. It seriously was one of the most spiritual experiences of my whole mission. We shared with them our experience of feeling prompted to come visit with them and they were a little shocked but willing to visit with us. We had the husband offer a kneeling prayer to know who was prepared and as we talked it turned out the he and his wife had the same two names pop into their heads. And then their daughter thought of two more people who could benefit from the gospel. I know that one of those four people is why the spirit so strongly prompted us to visit the member family. One or all of them is prepared to receive the gospel and we just have to do our part to help them. From this and many other expereinces I know that the spirit will direct us to those that need the gospel. This time of year is the perfect time to share the gospel because we are giving the greatest gift of the true gospel. I know that often it can be scary to invite a friend to listen to the missionaries or to give the name of our friend to the missionaries. But no matter what happens it is always worth it. I know that as you pray to know who is prepared the Lord will make it known to you. And maybe if the missionaries are paying attention they will knock your door because they have been instructed to do so by the Lord, just like we were. Will you accept the challenge to pray to know who of your friends is ready for the gospel??

 

I know that God is aware of the needs of our friends and us. He loves us. And I know that He sent His son Jesus Christ so that we can be saved. I hope that this year we can truly come to understand Christmas more than just enjoy it.

 

Con mucho amor,

 

Hermana Hansen