Hermana Juliet Hansen - "the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind"

Hello all,

 

This week I learned a lot about myself. There were three days in a row where I really felt like I wasn't a good missionary. I had dropped the ball on a few things and I was really beating myself up about it. And after talking with a couple of other missionaries on Sunday about how I was doing I came to realize that a lot of what I was struggling with was perfectionism. I think I've always been the type where I think about what I could have done better in every situation. Even if others say I did a good job, I always think differently. Crazy, I know. And that perfectionism really affects me as a missionary. I thought I had learned the lesson about how I don't need to expect perfection at the beginning of my mission. But I guess I only applied it in one area of my life, with my Spanish learning abilities. I let go of requiring perfection of myself then and my spanish progressed a lot and I was much happier. Now that I'm learning how to be senior companion I'm having the same experience again. So I'm starting to work on letting the perfection go. Because though the Lord asks us to become perfect, I am only human and I am going to make mistakes. And when I make mistakes I just need to accept them as opportunities to learn. And one of the sister missionaries shared this quote with me after talking with her,

 

"When you let go of who you were, then Heavenly Father will show you who you really are."

So this is me resolved to let go of my old perfectionist self so that the Lord can mold me into who He needs me to be. And I'm excited to be shown who I really am. I guess you could say I'm off on a road of self discovery :)

 

In other news.... this weekend we had a baptism!!! (Sorry no pictures, I don't have the right cord to connect my camera to the computer anymore)

It was a baptism for a 10 year old named Nicte. She is such an amazing girl. She's been waiting for a while to be baptised because she really wanted her dad to do it. So for 2 years missionaries have been going over to her family's house every tuesday. Hermana Fish has told me that the change in the family over the last 3 months has been amazing. The parents used to just go to church for one hour (sacrament meeting) and the mom wasn't sure that she really had a testimony. But over these past 3 months the parents are now going to every activity, all 3 hours of church, and the mom KNOWS without a doubt that the church is true. AND what is even better is that Nicte's dad was able to baptise her! He'd never baptised anyone before, so he had to do it 3 times :) But I have never seen someone so happy to be baptised as this little girl. She is truly converted and she is SOOOO excited to get the Holy Ghost next week. This family is such a great example to me and I'm so grateful that I have a chance to be a part of their lives as they now prepare to go to the temple to sealed as a family.

 

I love you all,

 

Hermana Hansen

 

 

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Feliz dia de las madres !!

Hello all,

 

It was so great to have the opportunity to talk with the family for a little bit yesterday (Sunday). I hope everyone had a terrific Mother's Day. We had the opportunity to celebrate Mother's Day twice in our ward because Mother's Day in Mexico is the 11th of May. Our ward had a really great activity in honor of mothers on Friday night. There was really great food and then they had a live Mariachi band come and play. It was a super fun way to celebrate the weekend. And then of course American Mother's Day on Sunday.

 

This week was really great. We had a lot of success and we were kept really busy. There is so much work to be done here and we really could use another set of missionaries here to help us out. We have about 70 member families in our area (so far half of which are inactive) and about 25 families in our teaching pool of investigators. That is a lot of people that we want to work with. But with just the two of us there is not enough time in the week to visit everyone. Hopefully one day we will get more missionaries but for now we'll keep working hard and seeing as many people as we can with just our companionship.

 

The Lord is definitely blessing us for the hard work that we are putting in. One of the big miracles that happened for us this week was a lesson we had with N..... and J....... We go over to visit with N.......'s mom, A...., every Tuesday and Thursday. When the sister missionaries started visiting about 3 months ago, N..... and J....... would always go and hide in the back room or sit outside until the sisters left. Then this past Thursday we go to visit Alma and we start talking with N...... and J...... about the baptism we are going to have this weekend. (N......'s sister is dating the older brother of the girl that is getting baptised) They expressed interest in going and then N...... out of the blue asks us if we could explain Joseph Smith. We were shocked but we said sure we can explain that for you. So we sat down and talked. They actually listened to a lesson on the Restoration! It was awesome!!! And now N..... really wants to go to church. J..... has had some bad experiences with religion in the past so she's a little more skeptical but with time we're sure that she will come around. And hopefully now that the whole family is meeting with us it will be easier for them to come to church. But it was such a great lesson and we're excited to see how everything turns out with them.

 

A...... came to the ward activity on Friday which was a huge step for her. She had foot surgery about the time the sisters first started going over and so hasn't been able to go anywhere for a long time. But her recovery is going really well so she was able to spend some time at the church on Friday. We're also hoping that now that she can walk around without assistance and that she's met more people from church that she'll feel more comfortable to come to the services on Sunday.

 

Today happens to be exactly 8 months from when I entered the MTC in September. How quickly the time flies. I feel like I've come such a long way. And I know that I still have so many things to learn, I'm excited to see what else is in store.

 

Thanks for all your support.

 

Con amor,

 

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - And the learning continues...

Hello everyone!

 

This week has been a big learning curve for me. Going to a new area, a new companion, and becoming senior companion. A lot of changes in a short amount of time. But every day I'm getting a little bit better and a little bit more comfortable in the area.  

 

We're working a lot with our area book and trying to find old investigators to see if they would be interested in listening to the missionaries again. We've actually had some success with that.

One day we were looking for a man named Antonio. We knocked his door and started talking to him and he really gave off the impression that he didn't want to talk to us. So we left after a couple of minutes. I came away feeling like we wouldn't ever see him again but Hna Fish felt like we weren't done with him, that he still had some potential. We then realized that we hadn't knocked some of the other people that live in his complex so we turned around and went back in. We walk by and Antonio starts coming down his stairs to talk to us again. He was like "Wait! I have a question. Why are there so many churches?" I was floored. I don't know what changed from when we were talking to him at his door to two minutes later when we were walking by his staircase. But whatever happened we ended up talking to him for 20 minutes or so about how so many churches came to be. We then left him with a pamphlet on the restoration to read. Hopefully we can visit with him again this week and talk more....hopefully in his home and not on the staircase :)

Another day we decided that we would try to visit a family that had met with the missionaries a little over a year ago. Often times if it's been that long the people will have moved but miracle of miracle we were able to find the wife at home. This family seems so great. They loved coming to church last year but they stopped progressing because his mother showed them some anti-mormon literature. Well, the wife was incredibly welcoming. She remembered fondly the missionaries that had taught her before and she was very open to us coming back to visit. What was interesting was that in the short time that we talked with her, we learned that her husband is good friends with one of the members in our ward. So we talked with that member and he was absolutely thrilled to hear that we had found that family again. So tonight we are going with the member to visit with them.

 

We also have started teaching a 10 year old girl named Katherine. She is terrific. She is the daughter of a less active member who really wants to come back to church. We taught Katherine for the first time this week and she literally soaked everything up like a sponge. We asked to read the first chapter of the Book of Mormon before we came and visited again. And she said that she would have the first 8 chapters read!! Hardly ever does someone say that they will do more than what we assign them. Generally, they'll say well I'll try to read the chapter but I won't make any promises. She actually said that she would read way more!! Then on Sunday I asked her if she had been reading. And she said yes and that she found it to be really interesting. Hallelujah!!! We set a date with her to be baptised the 27th of this month. The only thing that would potentially keep that from happening is if her dad doesn't give permission. But we have an appointment for Wednesday and hopefully we can talk to him then.

 

So many awesome people live here. The members are terrific [they feed us a ton, so I may gain a bajillion pounds but hopefully not :)]. There are so many areas of untapped potential to find more investigators. Many of the investigators that we do have, have such a desire to learn and progress.

 

Looking back on the week it has been a really refreshing change of pace.

 

I continue to learn every day from my study of the New Testament. This week I finished Romans and read a lot in 1 Corinthians. If you ever want to know how you can become more like Christ, I would suggest reading Romans 12. I LOVE that chapter.

 

Well, that's all for now. I love you all and pray for you.

 

Con amor,

 

Hermana Hansen 

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Busy as a Bee

Hi all,

First I would like to apologize for the really lame email that I sent last week. That was not good.

Anyway, you might be asking yourselves why I titled this email "Busy as a bee..." Well, I'm getting transferred!!! After almost 6 months here in Canyon Country, I am now going to be serving in the Reseda 4th ward which is in North Hills, California. I'm super excited to be going down there. From what I know, my companion and I will not only be in charge of part of Reseda 4th but also the Young Single Adult ward. We are also part of a completely Spanish stake (in Canyon Country we were the only Spanish ward in an English stake). So I'm expecting my Spanish to really grow down there. No more teaching lessons in English for me...haha. My new companion's name is Hermana Fish. We actually had the opportunity to work together a couple of weeks ago for a day when we had sister exchanges. She is 28 years old and from Spanish Fork, Utah. She has been on her mission for almost 3 months so that means I will be her senior companion. In mission language when you are someone's second companion we call them their stepmom or stepdad. So I will be Hermana Fish's stepmom, helping her learn a different way to do the missionary work and helping her progress in her language and teaching skills. All of this will be a VERY different experience for me but I'm really excited for this opportunity to learn and grow and become a better missionary.

Also, this Sunday we had another baptism!!! It was most definitely the best way to end my time here in Canyon Country. So last week I told you that Janette and Rachel got baptised. Well this week Janette's husband, Jesus, got baptised. It was such a miracle for us. And it was so amazing to feel like we were completing a family in the Gospel. What has been so amazing with Jesus is that he has basically turned his life around in 2 weeks. We had been meeting with him for longer than that but he never seemed super excited about anything. Then he started to see the changes that were happening in Janette and he got a little more excited about the Gospel and he wanted to keep learning. So he stopped smoking and drinking coffee. As we talked to him about how it was going with all of that you could see the change in him in his face. He was visibly happier, more alert, etc. Then they got married and it was like overnight their relationship just started to blossom and be so much more unified. Then Janette got baptised and Jesus was solidly on board. He loved the spirit that he felt at her baptism. And when we taught him about tithing he was so excited to be able to pay that for the first time on Sunday. He said that he already had the money set aside ready to go. Then he got baptised yesterday. He was so nervous all day long but afterwards you could feel how at peace he was. The spirit was so strong during  that service. And I felt so overwhelmingly grateful that I had the opportunity to be a part of his growth in the Gospel.

I want to share with you part of a letter that I received this week. It was probably one of the best, if not THE best letter I've received my whole mission.

          "My name is Meg and I attended my first LDS service last Sunday at the Bellevue, TN ward....I'm fairly new to Nashville, but I felt more welcomed and uplifted in one hour last Sunday than I have my entire time living here...The kindness extended to my husband and I and the words and testimonies I heard felt so true that I am excited to go back next week. I hope others are willing to experience the church and your message and testimony. When not, I hope you're filled with the strength to continue whole-heartedly in your work...I know you are doing wonderful things by serving as a missionary."

I read that letter and I was so grateful for the things that she said. I fell like I'm getting to see the blessings that come to the home ward of a missionary. Thank you Bellevue Ward for being such amazing people and helping others feel welcomed. Keep up the good work!! This lady's name is Meg Fites. If you have the opportunity to talk to her please do. She seems like such an amazing lady and someone who has been completely prepared by the Lord to receive the Gospel.

I've been working my way through the New Testament and I am currently in Romans. I LOVE the book of Romans!!! Specifically chapters 6 and 8. In chapter 6, verses 3-6, I love how baptism is compared to the death and resurrection of Christ. For it truly is. As we are completely submerged in the water our sins are washed away and as we come out of the water we are then a new person, without sin.

I wish I had more time to really share everything that I've come to learn from these chapters of scripture. But I'll leave you with the verses that were my favorites.... chapter 8 verses 14, 16-18, 24-25, 26-28, 31, 35, 38-39. This way you can read them and then learn for yourself through the Spirit. I would love to hear about your experiences with the Scriptures and the things that you have learned.

Well that's it for this week. I'm off to a new adventure :)

Con amor,

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - A Wedding and a Quadruple Baptism

Happy Monday to everyone!!

This week was awesome...crazy...but awesome. And now because of everything that has happened I feel like I can say that I am an experienced missionary.

Our investigators Janette and Jesus got married on Saturday! That was a huge step that took quite a long time for them to accomplish. We spent forever setting up their wedding and making food. I could now make you all a really nice drink called Horchata and a delicious crab salad that you would put on tostadas.

Our district had 4 people get baptised on Sunday. That was a huge miracle. Each companionship of elders had someone get baptised and we had 2 of our investigators get baptised as well.

I wish I had time to write about everything. My mind has been all over the place this morning.

So here is what I'm going to do. You can go visit my companions blog at sisterkimberlywilliams.blogspot.com and you can see in vivid detail all of what we've been up to for the last two transfers and specifically this weekend. Her mom should have it updated some time tomorrow.

I'll try top send you all a hand written letter later describing everything myself.

Sorry that I had major writers block today. Next weeks letter should be better. Transfer calls are Saturday!

Love you all,

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Ad campaign

Hello all,

So I told dad that I would tell you all this week about this new ad campaign that my companion and I are doing in one of our apartment windows. We decided that we would start writing up the Articles of Faith in Spanish and posting them on the window along with some pictures of Christ and the mormon. org website. We decided that this would be a different way of doing missionary work that would reach out to other people. We weren't sure for a little while if anyone actually reads it but this week we actually saw 3 people stopping to read it. That was awesome!! And you never know maybe they actually went and visited mormon.org because they were struck by what the 3rd article of faith says.... "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."

Here are some descriptions of the pictures.

One is of the mormon.org campaign in our window. I won't get to see it through all the way to the end because I'll probably be transferred but every week it has been really fun putting up new ones. The picture is from week one.

Another is from our sister missionary get together the Monday before Easter. It's of Sister Robb and I. She is one of the English sisters in the zone. We were the only ones to do polka dot eggs. It was really fun getting to spend some time with the other sisters.

Another is of my district. From left to right we have...Elder Reed, Elder Alvarado, Me, Hermana Williams, Elder Ruano, and Elder White. I love my district, they are all really awesome missionaries. I'll be sad to leave them when I get transferred (there is a high probability that this will happen in a couple of weeks).

The last one is of me and my companion with "C G". She is one of the Young Women in the ward and we've been working a lot with her family and some investigators that live at her house. She is an amazing girl.

We had the interesting experience of getting our apartment door knocked by an older gentleman out sharing a message of Christ for his church. I don't think he was expecting to find 2 Mormon missionaries :) It was really interesting to talk to him but we came away just feeling sad because we did our missionary thing and tried to invite him to pray about our message of a living prophet and modern revelation and he wouldn't do it. He negated the idea that there could be a true prophet and then also negated that many of the prophets in the bible were even prophets (like he said that Adam wasn't a prophet). I don't think he realized what he was saying to us. I'm grateful that I know without a doubt that God has always worked through prophets. Like the scriptures say He is "the same yesterday, today, and forever" If He called prophets before, He would do so again. And I love that as missionaries we don't ask people to take our word for it but we invite everyone to read the words of the prophets and then to pray to find out for themselves. It seems like such a simple process but I know that it is hard because when people pray to know that Joseph Smith was prophet and Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet and they receive an answer it means that they have to do something about it/change their way of thinking. And change is always hard....But isn't it worth it???

I'm grateful for all of your support and prayers. I love you and pray for you!!!

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Happy Easter!

Hi all,

 

I hope everyone had a terrific Easter sabbath! I had the opportunity to sing in church with one of the elders and my companion accompanying us. It was such an awesome experience. I felt the Spirit testiying so strongly through us. We sang "I know that my Redeemer lives" in Spanish, a version that you can find on the Especially for Youth CDs. Some of the members came up to us later and said that we had made them cry :) It was so good to be able to share our testimonies through song.

 

Funny/tragic story for the week....We were driving along to an appointment and the entire way we had this group of kids on bikes along side us. Well at one corner we stopped at the red light and one of the kids decided not to stop. You can imagine what happened next. A car pulled out in front of him and he ploughed right into the car. He rolled over the hood and flew to the pavement in front of her. He promptly hopped back up, took his bike to the side walk, and rode away. The woman driving the car was stunned and visibly angry. The kid left quite a large dent in her car. He did nothing about it and the other kids just left with him. My companion and I were also stunned by what happened.

Moral of the story: When riding your bikes watch out for moving vehicles and don't run red lights :)

 

This week I have had the opportunity to learn and feel a little more of the love that Heavenly Father has for all of his children. Early on in the week we met the teen-age daughter of one of our investigators. We had heard a lot about her and everything that is going on in her life. When you hear a lot about someone generally you build an image in your head of what you would expect them to be like, etc. She has gotten herself into a lot of bad situations that have resulted in her getting pregnant. We met her and it was not at all like I was expecting. But what was so amazing about that experience was that I felt so strongly the love that God has for her. Yes, she has made some huge mistakes but He still loves her and wants her to come back to the arms of his love. She is a great example to me of how you can never get too far from the love of God.

Well I'm short on time. I love you all. I know that Christ lives! He loves you.

 

Til next week :)

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Good Morning All

Good morning all,

This week was an unusual week because my companion and I were sick for a few days with the stomach flu. Not to worry though we are both now recovered and doing just fine. My poor companion got the worst of it though and it was not pretty.

 

..........

Conference was amazing! We got to watch all four sessions and it was such a nice time to be rejuvenated spiritually. I went having three topics/questions in mind that I was hoping would get talked about and all of them were talked about. One of the things that I wanted to learn more about was how I could be better directed by the spirit in my life and here are some of the things that I learned...

Humble prayer with real intent allows the spirit to touch our hearts (Elder Koelliker) 

When we yield to the will of the Lord the spirit is felt (Elder Koelliker) 

When we love the Lord we can have that power [of the Holy Ghost] (Elder Koelliker)

To enhance the spirit we must let all bitterness be stripped from us (Elder Soares)

Yielding to anger or hurt drives away the spirit (Elder Scott)

Having healthy bodies can help us understand the spirit (Elder Scott)

When we are thinking of others we can be more easily inspired (Elder Scott). 

Anyway, those are just a few and I could keep going. I just love that Lord hears our indivdual prayers and knows what we need to learn from conference.

Here are a few of my favorite things from conference....

"The feeling of love from our Heavenly Father is like a gravitational pull from Heaven." (Elder Koelliker)

"Don't delay....it's getting late" (Elder Holland)

"The difference between those who hear the music of faith and those who are tone deaf is the study of the scriptures" (Elder Cook)

"A perfect body is not required to attain a divine destiny" (Elder Rasband)

"Wherever you find yourself on the road of discipleship, you are on the right road!" (Elder Andersen)

 

Anyway, I'd love to hear some of your insights from conference.

 

Mom asked me some questions in her email so I'll try to answer some of those now...

 

First...what do I do on P-days....well we still have to get up at 6:30 am. My companion and I will generally role out of bed and then write letters because that seems to be the most productive time to do so. Then we'll write e-mail at 9 and grocery shop right after. The rest of the day depends on if there is a zone activity or not. My zone likes to do activities almost every Monday and if we feel like going we'll go. Today they are doing frisbee but we aren't going to that. Instead we and the other sisters are getting together to dye easter eggs. Then we have till 6pm to do whatever we feel like to doing. Clean the apartment, write more letters, sleep, etc. Then at 6 we have to start proselyting again.

 

Second...what's my area like....well I'm still in Canyon Country, the Santa Clarita 1st ward. The area is really nice. We have a mix of really expensive, really nice areas, and then really poor areas. But for the most part it is middle class single family homes/apartments. (Now granted more than one family, if Hispanic, lives in the apartment/home because it is SO expensive to live out here...a house like ours runs about half a million to 600,000). We work a lot in trailer parks and apartments because that's where most of the hispanics live. We are blessed in our area to have access to a variety of stores (Target, Walmart, Goodwill, and like 4 different grocery stores). There are TONS of people all over the place. Our companionship does all of the Spanish work in Canyon country and then we have 3 sets of English elders that cover our area. We're lucky in that they do a lot of knocking doors so they send us referrals of any Hispanics that would be interested.

 

Finally....food....I LOVE the food. Paposas, empanadas, enchiladas, pasole, alare some of my favorites. They also make delicious drinks like horchata, chicha morada, atole, etc. They also make drinks called aguas that you make with whatever fruit you want, a little water, and some sugar. They are so good. I've also come to really enjoy spicy food. I've come to really have a high tolerance for anything spicy. I've only had a few experiences with food that I did not like. One was with this boiled chicharron (pig skin)...that was not pleasant :( and the other was with shrimp cakes. (Basically pureed shrimp and egg, fried) Not good. I've had the fortune of not having to eat menudo yet (soup with cow stomach), it'll probably happen at some point but luckily not yet.

 

Anyway, if you have any other questions feel free to send them and I'll do my best to answer.

 

I love you all a lot,

 

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Women in the Scriptures

Hello all,

 

This week I have felt really blessed by the Lord. We had the most lessons in one week that I've ever had since being on my mission. Our mission standard is 20 lessons a week and we managed to get 23!! I know that it had a lot to do with the Lord blessing us to find people at home and able to receive us. And at times we had experiences where the people were really really grateful that we had stopped by.

One such experience was with a girl named M(.........). Friday night we were deciding what we were going to do for Saturday and Hermana Williams was like "I feel like we need to go visit the V(.........) family." I was like okay, let's do it. So Saturday we swung by their house and it didn't look like they were home but we decided we would knock the door anyway. We said our prayer and pretty much as soon as we finished they drove up to the house. Miracle!!! Then we go over to talk to them and M(.....) was like "I'm so glad you're here. I was praying that someone would come and visit me!" We were able to visit with her and her mom for a little while and I feel like we were able to really help them that day. We talked about sharing the Gospel with people and we found out that M(.....) loves to share the Gospel with whoever she meets and so we gave her some Restoration pamphlets to help her out. We also talked about faith and building faith...I've been studying women in the scriptures and so we shared the story of the woman with the issue of blood. M(.....) loved it and she asked if we could help her understand the scriptures better. We told her that we would love to. When we left she just kept telling us how greatful she was that we had come over and that we were an answer to her prayer. It was so great that we could do that for her. The Lord really helped us know that she was in need and so we followed those promptings. I loved that experience this week!

 

So like I said I've been studying women in the scriptures. I started reading the New Testament and one day I decided that I would start writing down the women that are mentioned and why they are important. There is a line in my patriarchal blessing that says something along the lines of growing to love the women in the scriptures and I really feel like that is being fulfilled right now. As I read the New Testament my love for the Savior and these women grows every day. We all know the big names like Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Elisabeth, etc. But even the ones that have smaller roles to play are such great examples to me. Like the story of Anna in Luke chapter 2. It says that she "departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day." She is a great example of devotion to God. And because of her devotion she was able to see the Son of God. I love that story. I wish I had more time to share other stories because there are so many great women in the scriptures and we can learn so much from them.

 

Well I'm almost out of time.

 

I hope you all know that I love you A LOT!!

 

Have a terrific week.

 

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - 6 months on the mission ........

Good grief Juliet has been gone 6 months already. The time has passed quickly. Here is part of her e-mail sent earlier this week.

....and I'm tired. Haha. Such is life as a missionary :) Tired for good reasons though.

 

This week taught me a lot about the importance of serving your companion. We had one of those experiences where the little things about each other started to bug us. We talked about it all and we've resolved those things and we're back to being good friends. But Saturday night I was sitting on the couch and I was praying "Lord I really want to love my companion. Help me know what to do so I can love her again." And immediately the idea came that I needed to serve her. I didn't have a ton of time that night to do something big but I put away the dishes and I straightened up the living room and then wrote her a note and put it on her desk. After that I felt better knowing that I had done something that would help her feel better in the morning. I know that this is something that will help me throughout the rest of my mission and the rest of my life. I know that as I try harder to serve my companion in little ways every day, our relationship will be so much stronger and we will have the Spirit with us more. So that is my new goal for the rest of my mission...What can I do every day to serve my companion?

 

Yesterday, my district ended the transfer on a high note with a baptism. One of the sets of Elders had a baptism for a 9 year old named Sebastian whose mom and sisters are all members. There was such love during that baptism and the whole ward was so supportive. It was really a testament of how our district really has been blessed this transfer. 4 baptisms!!!

I know that these blessings have come from our renewed determination to be more obedient. I've really come to have a strong testimony of the scripture Mosiah 2:41...

 

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

 

I know that to be true. As a missionary...in life in general...as I strictly keep the mission rules and the commandments of God I will be blessed in all things.

 

I love you all and I'm grateful for your support.

 

Con amor,

 

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Finding People at McDonalds :)

Part of the e-mail Juliet sent us this week.

This week was good. We are still trying to find new investigators and we had a really interesting experience at McDonald's that led to two new investigators, ............... We had met up with a member for breakfast on Saturday to teach her granddaughter. We were sitting talking and this lady, .......... , keeps looking over at us. Basically staring at my companion. So Hermana Williams finally says hi to her and ............  says "how do you know Spanish so well?" So Hna G........ says "come on over and join us." So she sits with us and we chat about how we're missionaries and Hna G....... shares a story about how her granddaughter was healed by a blessing, etc. It was a really good conversation, which led to us getting an appointment to visit with them on Sunday. Well we had a lesson with them and it was awesome!! (.............) shared with us her story of how she got to be in the states and it was extremely powerful. As she was sharing the story the Holy Ghost pretty much filled the room. It was such a testament to me of how the Lord has prepared this lady to hear the Gospel. The things that have happened in her life have really helped her draw closer to God and want to do his will. When she said that she only wanted to do the will of God we smiled because all we really ask people to do is find out the will of God and do it (through reading the Book of Mormon, praying, etc.) I'm so excited to get to work with her!

 

That was the coolest thing to happen this week. We're still working on a lot of reactivation. We've looked at all the members in our area and we have a list of 50 families and 25 of them are inactive. We have a lot of work to do in our area.

Hermana Juliet Hansen - We Had a Baptism

(Most of last weeks contact from Juliet was family oriented hence no up-date.)

This week was awesome!!! We had a couple of miracles that I would like to share with you.

The first obviously by the subject is that we had a baptism. Our investigator (...........) was baptised on Saturday. I haven't mentioned him much so here is a little bit about him. He is 14 years old and he comes from a family with a bunch of members. His mom and brother are members but currently inactive and his extended family are active members. In December of last year his younger sister was blessed in a Sacrament meeting and afterwards he asked his mom why he had never been baptised or had the opportunity to learn about the church. So we were given their names. We started teaching him in mid January and every lesson that we had he just embraced whole heartedly. And every time we would talk about his baptism he would be super excited. Well his baptism was amazing. All of his family was there, even some from Utah, and they were so happy that he was finally getting baptised. One of the uncle's told us that this was a moment they had all been waiting for. It was so beautiful to see how much love and support (........) has from his family. And because of his example we really feel like his mom is going to come back to full activity and that possibly her fiance will want to take the lessons too. We actually went over to their house Saturday evening and we were talking to his mom who told us that she had given up drinking coffee that week. We were blown away. That is a testament to me that one person can have such a big influence on others. I feel really blessed that I've been able to get to know this family and be a part of such a wonderful experience for them.

Last night we actually got a call from President M saying he was so happy that we had a baptism. He actually sounded giddy that we are having success. (............) baptism was the first in our ward in 3-4 months so I guess he has every right to be pleased. And in the course of 2 weeks each companionship will have had a baptism. We had one Saturday, the bike elders had one on Sunday, and the car elders are going to have one next Sunday. The Lord is really blessing us for all our efforts.

The other miracle this week was a girl named (.......). I've mentioned before that we are working on organizing our area. Part of that has been following up on some referrals to make sure they are as updated as possible. Well we contacted her on Tuesday and she invited us back for Wednesday and this is what she told us...

Last summer she had gone to visit her aunt in Salt Lake City. They had gone to the temple and she loved it. She felt such a peace there that she hadn't felt in a long time. Because of that experience she requested missionary visits. And she has been waiting since last July for missionaries to come knock on her door. She didn't know when they would come so every night she and her mom (who is inactive) would read the Book of Mormon and pray together. Waiting and waiting and waiting....

We were stunned that no missionaries had visited her until us. She is so incredibly prepared to learn about the Gospel. We taught her the first lesson and it was like she was glowing because of how happy she was. And we extended her a baptismal date and she was so excited to know that she could get baptised. I don't know why missionaries didn't visit her before but I know that the Lord works in mysterious ways. There is a reason why we found her and no one else did. I'm excited to get to know her and her family better and help her progress in the Gospel. And one day we will know why it had to be us to find her.

Well that's the news for this week. Oh, I finished the Doctrine and Covenants in English. That was such a cool experience. I'm now working on the Pearl of Great Price. I've learned a ton as I've worked my way through the scriptures.

I love you all and hope you are doing well.

Til next week,

Hermana Hansen

Photos below are from Juliet's email last week.