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

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

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

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  

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Fulfillment of Alma 26:27

Hello all,

 

In big news...I'm getting transferred!!!! I don't know where yet. We'll find out tomorrow morning but it doesn't matter where I go. I'm really excited to see where the Lord will send me.

 

In bigger news......Alba got baptised!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

It was such an amazing service. We had to wait a week from her original date but it was definitely worth it. She had such a great experience praying to know if the 25th was the right date for her. Her husband waited 10 years for her to get baptised and now she did it. And oh man was the spirit so strong in her baptism. Afterwards, we gave her huge hugs and she said, "I'm crying and I don't even know why!"

I couldn't be more happier to have been a part of her life and to see her progress towards baptism. She literally is the fulfillment of my scripture for this area, Alma 26:27. She really feels like a second mother to me and I love her so much. There couldn't have been a better way to end my time here in Reseda.

 

Con mucho amor,

 

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Happy Thanksgiving

Hello All!!!

 

What a terrific time of year. I love Thanksgiving and having the time to think about the things that we're truly grateful for. God really has blessed my life and I know that I would be nothing without him.

I just want to share with you the top 10 things that I'm grateful for this year (in no particular order)....

 

1. My family....mom, dad, Liz, Kris, Nik, grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins.

2. Being a missionary

3. Having the Gospel in my life

4. Trials that God gives us to help us grow

5. The Book of Mormon

6. Being able to speak Spanish

7. All the companions that I've had....Hna White, Hna Williams, Hna Fish, Hna Whetten. These women are so amazing and I love them so much!!

8. Wonderful friends

9. Sharing talents, specifically through song

10. Jesus Christ and His atonement

 

I also want to share with you a story that Hna Whetten told me this past week during companion study.

One day in class her mission prep teacher shared with them a story about having to rely on the direction received from the Lord when faced with obstacles in life. He shared how his companion had been dealing with some problems from home and one day they were in the middle of a lesson and his companion just gets up and leaves. So he rapidly brings the lesson to a close and leaves the house. He looks around and he doesn't see his companion anywhere. So he prays asking for direction. He felt like he needed to go right. So he walks and he walks and he runs into a forest. He looks at the forest and thinks that his companion wouldn't have gone in there so he prays again. And he feels prompted to go left. So he walks and he walks so more and he ends up at a beach. And he doesn't see his companion anywhere. So he prays again and felt prompted to walk left. He walks and walks and a little way down the beach he finds his companion sitting and crying.

After sharing that story with me we had a wonderful discussion about how the Lord directs us whenever we face obstacles. Sometimes we can't just go from point A to point B and call it good. Sometimes we have to take a few little detours, Point A to point B to point C to point D until we get to the goal. And at every point we may face what seems like a really insurmountable wall but as we seek the Lords guidance we can know how to keep moving towards that goal even if that means going in a new direction.

I know this to be true. Missionary work is never according to how we would like it to be but it is according to how the Lord would want it to be. We make plans but we have to be willing to be patient when the Lord has something else in store.

Much of my time here in Reseda has been teaching me the importance of being patient. This week I found my theme scripture for my time here. It's....

 

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." -Alma 26:27

 

I know that as my companion and I continue to work and have patience through the struggles that we will eventially see success for the Lord has promised it in the scriptures.

 

I love being a missionary. It's not always easy but it is always worth it.

 

Con mucho amor,

 

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - A slow week ....

Hi all,

It was a slow missionary week basically because I was sick with the stomach flu. Not a lot of work was able to be accomplished because of it but I'm back to 100% and we're ready to hit it out of the park this week. 

Even with the sickness we were able to have some really great experiences.

We have the opportunity to teach a lady named A..... She's terrific and is really progressing in her testimony of the Gospel. She is our investigator that we leave notes with scriptures about gospel topics every day at her door. She told us that she really appreciates the notes we leave for her. They've helped her so much. Anyway, this past Saturday we had a really great lesson with her. We talked with her about some of the commandments that God has given us specifically tithing, fasting, and the Word of Wisdom. I just want to share one thing that we talked about during that lesson. 

In the Word of Wisdom it asks us to avoid alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, coffee, and tea. Her question for us was "Why do I need to give up coffee? It such a little thing and I don't feel like it would really separate me from God. There are other things that are more important to focus on." And we shared with her this analogy...

        It's like when we're young. Our parents ask us over and over to make our beds. It's such a small thing that they require. And yet we often ask, "Why? Why can't I just leave it unmade? It doesn't hurt me or anyone else." But our parents know better than we do. They want us to develop habits so that we can be happier as we get older. They know that if we don't learn to make our beds we'll have a bad habit that could irritate future spouses or roommates. So they ask us to make the bed for our future happiness. And we do it without fully understanding why and as we grow we come to understand what they knew. The same is true for the commandments no matter who small or big. Some it's easy to understand i.e. "Thou shalt not kill." but then we have coffee. "Why should we give that up? I don't think it hurts me or anyone else." But we know that God would never give us a commandment that we can't fulfill. God knows better than we do. He knows what is to come and He wants us to be happy. And because we love him we keep his commandments even when we don't understand them. And as we do so we come to learn what He already knew and we start to see the promised blessings.

I know that as we follow the Lord in all things, even those things that we may not understand completely, we will be happier and more blessed.

Remember, obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles.

I love this time of year that we are going into. Thanksgiving and Christmas are wonderful times to be alive. How amazing it is to be able to give thanks for the blessings that we have but most especially the opportunity to celebrate more the life of our Savior Jesus Christ. I feel so blessed to be able to be in His service.

In a few days the church will be launching it's new site for the Christmas season mormon.org/christmas. I would invite everyone to check it out and contribute your thoughts and testimonies of Christ. And then share it with all your friends.

God knows you and your needs. He is listening! 

Con amor,

Hermana Hansen 

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Power of the Priesthood

Hello all,

 

We had a really interesting experience this week with one of our investigators. For the sake of confidentiality I won't share much of the story but I will share what I learned from the experience. I know that each of us has within us a strong spirit that comes from a divine Heavenly Father. Unfortunately, we don't always recognize it, may it be because of the circumstances that we are born into or the decisions that we make in our lives. We're all special but every once and a while you meet someone that you know must have been an elite spirit in the pre-earth life. I have found this to be true with this particular investigator. Her life has not been easy and this past week was no expection. Every time we had an appointment scheduled it would get cancelled. And we didn't get to see her until Sunday. When we finally got to meet with her it was an experience I'll never forget. As she opened up to us about her struggles it was overwhelming the sense that God loves her so much. He knows her and her trials so perfectly. And we testified to her that in our darkest moments it is when we need to turn to Christ the most. And then we talked with her about the power of priesthood blessings. No matter who we are, member or nonmember, the power of God has been restored on earth and we have the capacity to receive blessings directly from the Lord through his servants. And I was able to share with her a powerful experience I had during my mission of receiving a priesthood blessing. It was exactly what she needed to hear. And two hours later the elders were in her home giving her a priesthood blessing of comfort and healing. You could feel the Holy Ghost in the room. And the elders didn't know the details of what was going on but the things that they said in that blessing were evidence to me that the spirit inspires worthy men to know what to say. It was amazing!!

 

God knows his children. He knows our needs. He knows our weaknesses. He knows how to succor us. I know that the power of the priesthood is real. I know that priesthood blessings work. They can uplift us when we most need us. They can even save someone from the edge of death. They have power if we have the faith. So we should never hesitate to ask for one.

 

So many other amazing things happened this week but for lack of time I can only share the best.

 

I know that God lives and I LOVE being a missionary.

 

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - The Missionary Work is Swiftly Increasing ....

Life has been really amazing. There really is no greater time to be a missionary. And God has been granting us so many miracles.

 

First, I thought you might enjoy some pictures of the fun things that we've been up to recently. One is of Hna Whetten and I making smores over our gas stove :) And the other two are from a hike that we took just this morning. All of us Hermanas decided to strike a yoga pose on an awesome rock formation, it was super fun. You might be able to tell that I'm not skilled at yoga [but if Hna Whetten has anything to say about it, I will be :)]. We do a lot of amazing things with teaching others about the gospel of Jesus Christ but we do enjoy ourselves with other things too. (We will add the photos into this posting later)

 

So some cool experiences for the week...

 

Friday we were getting ready to leave the car to go contact a potential investigator when who should walk across the street but a boy named M...... He goes to church every week but for some reason he's not baptised. When I saw him I about jumped for joy but was slightly limited by being in the car. And I'll tell you why I was so excited... When Hna Fish and I were together we tried many times to visit with him and his mom but every time the lesson would get cancelled. In the three months that we were together, I never had the opportunity to talk with him apart from seeing him at church on Sundays and Wednesdays. Not even once were we successful. So when I saw him in my mind I was like, "This is it!" We didn't even pray, we just booked it after him. We knocked his door and asked if we could visit him. He said yes and we had a great conversation outside on the stairs. It was such an awesome lesson. He has a great testimony of everything. So we asked him if he would be baptised and he said "Yes"!! It was truly one of those experiences where we were able to teach some one who is literally ready to be baptised the next day. I didn't ever imagine that that would happen on my mission.

 

And in BIG news. I've talked before about the Y.... family and their son E..... Well on Sunday we were finally able to meet with the mom and it was such an amazing lesson. We went in with the plan to teach the restoration really focusing on authority and how we have the priesthood. And during that lesson we saw just how much the experiences she's been having with E..... have prepared her to accept the Gospel in her life. When we talked to her about how Jesus Christ gave his authority to the apostles by the laying on of hands it was like a light bulb went off in her head. And she said, "That's how you do it. That makes so much sense now." And it was like that the whole lesson. She really understood everything so well. And she wants to read the Book of Mormon without us even having to ask her. She wants to know the truth so badly in her life and now she knows how to do it. And she wants to be baptised in December!!!! Wooohhhh!!!

 

Well, I'm again out of time. I LOVE being a missionary!

 

I hope you have a terrific week.

 

Con amor,

 

Hermana Hansen