Hermana Juliet Hansen - Update

Hello all,

 

This week was a great week. The Lord really provided for us and for the first time in a few weeks we were able to achieve almost all of the goals that we had set at the beginning of the week.

 

So this week a few great things happened.

 

First, I finished the Book of Mormon in English!!!! You know how I told you that one of my goals this year was to read the Book of Mormon in both English and Spanish. Well I accomplished half of that goal already. I started in September when I entered the MTC and I finished January 18th. And I really wanted to take Moroni's promise again so that I could say to my investigators that I have done what they need to do and that I know that I've received my witness. Well the morning I finished I just got on my knees by the couch and I prayed to have that confirming witness that the Book of Mormon is true. It was such a great experience to have because it was like I just felt this overwhelming feeling of love for the Book of Mormon. I felt so much gratitude to have it in my life. And for me that was my reaffirmation that the Book of Mormon is true. And I shared that experience with some of our investigators that same night and I really feel like it helped them know that they will get an answer to their prayer. I've always known that the Book of Mormon is true, I've never doubted that. And know I have this experience that really solidifies my testimony that the Book of Mormon is true.

 

Second, We got two more investigators to commit to baptism. One is a 14 year old boy whose mom and grandparents are members. He was never baptised but his older brother was. Well in December his little sister was blessed and he started to wonder why he was never taught those things. So he went up to his mom and asked what he needed to do to be baptised. We met with him on Friday and we talked about the Book of Mormon and coming to know for himself that all of these things are true. He just seems so excited to learn everything. And if everything goes well with talking to his grandpa, going to church, and praying about the date, he is going to get baptised the 5th of February. 

The other is a man named (.......). He was an investigator a couple of times in the past but he never really progressed because it was next to impossible to find him. Well it's still pretty hard to find him but when we have it's been a miracle. He has such an amazing spirit about him. He has a deep desire to really know for himself if these things are true. He's been reading the Book of Mormon and he already likes what he is reading. I'm so excited for him to continue to progress. Hopefully this week he will pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true and be able to attend church. And if everything goes well for him, he will be baptised February 26th.

 

There were so many other good things that happened but I'm lacking in time to share all those stories. Just know that we are working hard and enjoying ourselves at the same time. Imagine a fashion show at a Relief Society activity of a whole bunch of different hats representing things about Visiting Teaching. Then imagine one of the sisters wearing a huge hat that looked like a rooster and another sister wearing a hat that looked like a beehive. (I wore a leprechaun hat). It was super fun(ny)!

 

Love you all!!

 

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Exchanges!!

My companion and I are in the process of rebuilding our investigator pool. This means that we do a lot of knocking doors and contacting people. Some days it is really hard but I know that soon the Lord will reward us for our labors. We just have to keep working hard and praying every day to be led by the spirit.

 

So the best experience of this week happened during exchanges on Thursday. So last week I told you that we have a baptismal date with our investigator (......). Well that is really tentative and that experience was not nearly as cool as the one on Thursday. 

So thursday I was up in Palmdale with Hermana Stander. One of the lessons that we had was with a girl named (......). She is (..) years old and she lives with her grandparents, her aunt, and like 14 cousins. Her grandparents and aunt are actually members but have not gone to church in about 8 years. Ever since (.......) met the missionaries about 4 weeks ago she had been taking the lessons and going to church all by herself. On Thursday we watched the movie "The Restoration" with her and talked a little bit about the Young Womens program because she went for the first time on Wednesday. After our little discussion we talked about how to be a member we have to be baptised. So we asked her if she would be baptised on the 12th of February. And she said YES!! And she was so excited! It was like she could hardly contain her smile. And I was so excited for her. 

She's not my investigator but it was so exciting to see for the first time someone who is so excited to get baptised and be a member of the church. AND miracle of miracles because of her example her aunt and several of her cousins went to church on Sunday. And now 4 of her cousins are taking the discussons. It's so awesome!

 

And we also had one of our families come to church on Sunday. They missed Sacrament meeting but eventhough they were late they still came for Sunday School and Relief Society. That was so exciting when we saw them there.

 

Anyway, that's about all the time I have for today. But I want to share this scripture with you... Alma 36:26. I love this scripture. Next to it I have written "how to be an effective missionary...have you tasted, seen, and known?" So something to think about is how have you tasted, seen, and known that the gospel is true? And how have you shared that knowledge with others? It's really cool that the scriptures compare gaining a testimony/spiritual experiences to the senses.

 

I hope you enjoy that scripture.

 

I love you all and know that I pray for you always.

 

Till next week,

 

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Awesome conversion story and a baptismal date !

Hi everyone!!

  

This week was a little slow but I can't expect every week to be jam packed. We did a lot of knocking doors and trying to track down less actives and old investigators. I guess you can call it success when you learn that they've moved, then you can redirect your focus a little bit. Though it would be awesome if we could know where they moved to so we could send other missionaries to their homes. Sometimes we get lucky with that.

This week I met a really inspiring lady. Her name is (.......) and she is in her late 60's/early 70's. We met her because she had referred her daughter to us, asking for a blessing. We arrive at her house and her daughter isn't there yet (and neither are the elders) so she starts to tell us about how she came to know the church. 

About 3 years ago, she and her family had just moved into their house in Canyon Country when one Sunday morning she woke up and decided that she needed to go to church. She said that it didn't matter what church, any church would do. So she decided that she would either walk two blocks to the left or two blocks to the right and the first person she met she would ask about where she could find the nearest church. She started walking and she saw this man holding what looked like scriptures, putting stuff in his car. So she went up to him and asked where they were going. They happened to be LDS and his wife said they were going to church and she asked if (........) wanted to join them. She said yes, she would. So the family said they would pick her up in 15 minutes. She went home to change (she saw the wife wearing a skirt). She had no idea where to find a skirt (since they had just moved) but miraculously there happened to be one sitting on the back of a chair. The family picked her up. She went to church, not knowing much English, but happy to go anyway. She enjoyed what she saw and felt. She got baptised and since then hasn't missed a single Sunday. And because of her example her granddaughter was baptised just a short while ago.

She is such a great example to me of the converting power of the Holy Ghost. She didn't understand much English and to this day she only understands about 75% of what is said but she felt that what was being said was true and thus wanted to be a part of it. Her story, to me, is one of those amazing conversion stories that you don't hear very often. I'm grateful to have met her and hopefully I'll get to see her again in the future.

In other news... Hermana White and I have a tentative baptismal date set for one of our investigators, (.......), for the 12th of February. She's a great lady and we're excited that she wants to be baptised. I'll have to tell you more about her when I have more time because I don't have time (now) to tell you sufficiently about her.

Oh and we are doing exchanges this week. On Thursday I get to go up to Palmdale. I'm super excited. I'll let you know how it goes.

Have a terrific week.

Love you all,

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Happy 2012

(I have been a tardy mom regarding posting J's e-mail for this week. My apologies for that.)

Happy New Year all,

 

This week was by far so much better for missionary work than the week before Christmas. Investigators were more willing to receive us. When we knocked doors people weren't busy with family visits. Granted New Year's eve was hard to contact people but for the most part we had success.

 

So this week I started something new with my reading of the scriptures in English. I decided that I'm going to underline every time the scriptures mention a part of the gospel of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end). I've assigned each topic a specific color. I've really enjoyed doing this. It's kind of been like a treasure hunt. I've found that after I started doing that every morning I'd wake up and I couldn't wait to read some more of the Book of Mormon and every night before I go to bed I want to read some more, basically because I want to continue to find times when these things are mentioned. It's been amazing how quickly the pages go by as I'm really focused on the words so I don't miss an instance. Before I started underlining these words I'd read the scriptures in English and I'd only feel like I could read one or two chapters at a time but now I have this immense desire to keep reading and reading. Sometimes it's hard to stop.

But here's what I've found so far...from Alma 1- 36 (granted I skimmed the first 10 chapters of Alma because I had already read them before I started underlining)

Faith...54 times

Repentance...82 times

Baptism...16 times

Gift of the Holy Ghost... 4 times

Endure to the End... 3 times

 

I've learned something from how many times repentance is mentioned in these chapters. This is mainly when Alma and the sons of Mosiah are out doing missionary work. And there is a scripture that talks about how a missionary is to "cry nothing but repentance unto this generation". Well by underlining these words I've come to see just how much Alma, Ammon, etc. are truly fulfilling their purpose as missionaries. That's pretty much all they did, was bring people to repentance. Awesome! This also shows me just how important repentance is to the Lord. Really seeing how much it is mentioned in the scriptures is helping remind me that I need to repent every day and so I've become a lot better about doing that.

 

Anyway, that was probably the most interesting/significant thing that happened to me this week. I got creative with my scripture study. So my question for the week is... What can you do to be more creative with your scripture study? I know that studying the scriptures in a slightly different way has really helped me have a greater desire to read every day and I find my study a lot more enjoyable.

Have fun with your scripture study this week!!

 

Also, tonight we are going to find out if our investigator (......)  got a response to his prayer about being baptised on the 15th. Pray for us that he'll commit to that date. I'll let you know how it goes in next weeks email.

 

Love you all,

 

Hermana Hansen

 

p.s. Don't forget those hand written letters :) Oh and I'm also asking people to share with me their favorite scriptures. So what's yours?

Hermana Juliet Hansen - I love being a missionary

This is part of the e-mail we received last week. With everything else that was going on I did not get round to posting it. We had a wonderful phone conversation with Juliet on Christmas Day for about 40 minutes. She loves where she is at and we are grateful that she is enjoying her mission and that she is learning so much from the people around her.

.........So this week I want to share with you some interesting/fun stories. For the most part all of my other emails have been more spiritual so I'm going to shake it up a bit. I'm going to share with you two stories...

First, a tale of epic miscommunication...

         Hermana White has kind of put me in charge of the phone. So I make a lot of the phone calls and answer the phone, especially when she's driving. Last weekend we called one of the less active members to see if we could visit her. She said that she was busy working so I asked if she was going to be able to come to church on Sunday. She again said that she would be working. So I asked if we could send someone by to pick up her kids. She then starts to tell me that her kids have gone back to Mexico to live with their dad. This is what I heard anyway and I didn't really think anything of it. But then I tell Hermana White and she starts freaking out because apparently the dad is really awful and it was going to undo all of the progress that (.......) had made over the past little while. So Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we go over to her house frequently to try and visit her because we are extremely concerned. Well, Tuesday afternoon we go over to her apartment and the other people that live there tell us that she's not there. And they say that she's gone to pick up the kids from the bus. Huh? As we walk back to the car who should we run into but (......)  and her daughter! We walk back with her to her apartment and Hermana White tells her that we thought her kids had gone to Mexico. Her face was like "Are you crazy!? How would you ever come up with an idea like that?" So I'm left super confused about how I could so completely misunderstand what she said to me on the phone. I mean I'm still learning Spanish but I can, for the most part, understand it pretty well. So yeah...I just about gave my companion a heart attack, one of the less actives thinks I'm a little crazy, but at least we managed to avert an international CPS crisis.

Second, a tale of how I'll never be able to eat lamb again...

        A couple of Saturdays ago we had the opportunity to help out with one of the YW's quincinera (15th birthday). Basically, huge/expensive party with a ton of food and lots of dancing that takes months to plan. Anyway, one of the other brothers in the ward offers to make the food for the party. So he gets a 220 pound lamb! (We walked into his apartment with all of the fresh meat sitting on his kitchen table. That was weird.) And he makes barbacoa with the lamb. Basically you cook the lamb in a big metal trashcan with water and banana leaves (?). Well we go over to this family's house to see if we can help out and we get left to baby sit this meat for over an hour. Initially it smelled so good and the hermano let us try some and it was delicious. But after smelling the same thing for an hour and then going and carving the meat for an hour or so and then serving it and then having your hands, your hair, your jacket, everything, smell like lamb...you kind of never want to eat it again. Oh man, that party was something else. But you want to know what is even crazier. The mom of the birthday girl went to the hospital a couple days before and they still had the party. Then last week she goes to the hospital again and it turns out that she had had a stroke!! I don't know how she was able to function at this party but that is some devotion and love for your daughter.

I hope you enjoyed those stories. Not only is the mission very spiritual but you also get some pretty crazy stories to go with it.

We had our Christmas concert for the stake this weekend and it was amazing. And guess who our narrator was...Kirby Heybourne (the actor from the singles ward and the Best Two Years). The music reminded me so much of our stake and I'm glad to hear that all of your concerts have gone well.

Love you all,

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Miracles Do Happen

Hello all,

 

I hope you are doing well. I got the birthday card. Thank you so much. Also, thank you for sending ......

So the Christmas season is upon us. I just have a couple of requests for Christmas presents ........  That's really all I want but you're welcome to throw in some surprises if you like. I'm so grateful for all the support you give me and I'm so grateful to be able to serve the Lord especially at this time of year.

 

So the subject line this week is Miracles do happen. I really have seen this happen in little ways since I've been out in the field. But I really saw this happen yesterday. I don't know if I've mentioned in my past emails a couple, I..... and I...... Well they are a really special couple with a really cute daughter. (She) is a less active member and (he) is investigating the church. We've been struggling to get them to come to church, for one reason or another, work or they slept in etc. Saturday we had a really great lesson with them with the help of some members about the Word of Wisdom and I..... told us that she would try to come to church with her daughter but I.... said he needed to work. Much to our shock and great pleasure, who should wander into the chapel but (he) in the flesh. It was so amazing and exciting to see him there. And not only was he there but he participated in Sunday School and Priesthood. 

I.... (she) offered to help the sisters with preparations for our Christmas party. Their daughter J..... loved Primary. I really feel like a miracle has happened for this family. And I hope that coming to church has helped him have more of a desire to set a baptismal date. Every day that I'm out here and things like that happen my testimony of miracles is strengthened. I know that they happen and that all we have to do is be willing to recognize them. 

So my question for you this week is what miracles have you seen in your life this week? If you have had some, write them down, so you won't forget them.

 

Sorry that the email this week is short but know that I love you all and I pray for you often.

God loves you and knows your needs.

 

With much love,

 

Hermana Hansen

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

Hello all,

 

Can you believe that it's December already? It's a little hard to believe that it's almost Christmas when it's been 70 degrees out here.

 

So a couple of things first... (could you ......)

And, I got the package that the Relief Society sisters sent. It was awesome. I'll be writing a letter to them all.

 

Okay, so I did have the opportunity to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional last night and it was amazing. I really loved the videos that they shared about the birth of Christ. They were spectacular. I really loved all of the talks but at one point someone said something about giving the gift of Christ. I feel like that is what I am doing as a missionary. And it is probably the best gift that anyone could receive or give. The knowledge that they have a personal savior, who knows every need that they have, every sorrow that they've ever experienced. So often people don't recognize that they need this in their lives but we as missionaries (even member missionaries) have the opportunity to show them that they do need Christ in their life and their life will be so much better for it. I feel like this is what Christmas is truly about, giving people hope and bringing light into their lives. 

 

Along with that idea, Sunday morning we had a meeting with the Stake presidency, Mission president, Ward mission leaders, and all the full time missionaries in our stake to talk about the state of missionary work in our area. We talked a lot about what we could do to improve. What I took away from that meeting was the importance of getting to know your neighbors. That we need to become their friends first and invite them over for dinner, play games, talk, etc before we invite them to listen to the missionaries. I think as members we have this fear to share the gospel with our friends because we don't want to be rejected or any other multitude of reasons. But in this meeting I learned that sharing the gospel becomes so much easier when we have a LOVE of God and a LOVE of others. And we can develop those things through fasting and prayer. Also we can develop this desire to get to know our neighbors and share our love for the savior when we ask ourselves this question "Have I seen the image/countenance of the Savior in my friends?" When we see the Savior in our friends we want them to feel of His love like we do, we want them to know Him like we do.

 

So my challenge for all of you this Christmas season is to get to know your neighbors better. And then to pray and fast at least one day this month for an opportunity to share the Gospel with a neighbor or a friend. Give the gift of Christ. Will you accept this challenge?

 

I love you all with all my heart. And I'm grateful for all of your prayers and support. I know that Christ lives and loves us.

 

Hermana Hansen

 

Hermana Juliet Hansen - The work is marching forward

Hello all,

 

First off, I wish you (Mom and Dad) the best of luck with all of the concerts that you have coming up this week. I'm sure they will be fantastic.

I'm glad to hear that you all enjoyed your visit with Grandma Hansen. I'm sure she really enjoyed the visit too. 

Thanksgiving as a missionary is different. We basically do everything that we would on a normal day, tract, teach, etc. BUT we get fed a lot. We had two dinner appointments that day (the elders had 3) and they were back to back. One at 5 and one at 6. Had they been spaced out a little bit more it would have been okay but because they were one right after the other it was so hard. (..........) So many things, it's hard for me to remember them all. Anyway, by the time we were finished at the second meal I was so full that when I laughed it hurt so bad. Delicious food but oh man it was a lot.

 

Okay story of the week. We have a car but each month we are only allotted a certain amount of miles that we can drive. Well, for various reasons by last Friday we were down to about 100 miles left that we could use for the month. So we've been doing a lot of walking recently. From the experiences we had on Saturday I know that the Lord has really been blessing us for our willingness to try to be obedient with the number of miles and still wanting to work hard. 

Saturday we decide to look for some of the less actives that live really close by our house. We had a list of about 10. If you were to look at the list alone you would think that we had an awful day because only one of the people on the list was actually at home. But things happened as we were walking that only could have happened because we weren't using the car. 

We randomly ran into an old investigator that we had previously tried to look for as we were walking on the main road. We now have an appointment to teach him. 

We got lost in an upscale trailer park for like an hour before we found the house that we were looking for. The family that we were looking for wasn't at home but as we were headed out of the area we met a wonderful man, ........, who is so open to the Gospel and is willing to listen to the missionaries. We had to refer him to the English missionaries but I really hope that good things come out of that even though we can't teach him. 

Then as we were searching for the last name on our list right before we needed to leave for our dinner appointment we met two men, a father and his son, as they were walking home who actually lived in Orem Utah for a while, of all places. The son let us come into his home and meet his family and they are interested in learning more about what we believe. And surprisingly his wife had met with the missionaries before when she was really young. We have an appointment with them as well this week. 

I know that all of these people we met were not really because of us but because we were willing to be tools in the Lords hands and really the Lord put these people in our path. I know that He can do this for any one not just missionaries. Maybe all we need to do is shake up our routine a little bit (like walking instead of driving everywhere).

 

I love you all and know that you are in my prayers always,

 

Hermana Hansen

 

"We are all enlisted" -Jeffrey R. Holland (love this talk A LOT!!)

Hermana Juliet Hansen - First Week in the Field

Hello All from lovely California,

 

I'm really enjoying the field. At first it was a rough transition from the MTC but now I feel like I have this under my belt and understand better how being in the field works. There is a saying in the MTC that if you can make it to Sunday you'll be okay. Well, I believe that this statement applies to the field as well. If we can make it to Sunday then we can make it the rest of the week.

 

So my first companion is Hermana White. She is awesome. She is from Texas and has been out in the field for 10 months. She has been so helpful as I've been transitioning into the field. I've already learned a lot from her and I'm excited to work with her for the next 12 weeks.

 

Okay so I have a pretty amazing story. Thursday after we had our training with the President, Sister White and I returned to the apartment to study for a little bit and it wasn't even 10 minutes in when I felt really strongly that we should go out and tract. I tried to ignore it but it was like I could not focus on anything else. My mind was like, "TRACT!, TRACT!, TRACT!". So I turned to Sister White and said to her "So this is weird but I really feel like we should go tract right now." She asked if I knew where and I had no idea all I knew was that we needed to go out and tract. So we got in the car and drove. We didn't know where we needed to go but eventually we got to this street and we both felt like we needed to turn there. So we did. We knocked doors and initially didn't have much success but then we got to the fourth door. Before this all of the people pretty much slammed the door in our faces but when we got to this door the lady actually listened to what we had to say. Sister White shared a wonderful message about eternal families and then we asked if we could come in and share a short message. And she let us in the house. We taught her about prayer and learned some more about her and her family. She seemed really receptive. At the end of the lesson we asked if we could come back and teach some more and she said we could. Saturday we went back and taught a little more about prayer (for the benefit of her daughter) and about the apostasy. And we are going back tonight to teach again. I love this family. The mom's name is (.....)  and we are also teaching her son, daughter, and her daughter's best friend. They are a special family. There is such a light in the daughter and her friend when we are with them. You can tell that life has not been easy but they are so excited to learn. Tonight we are going to teach them again but this time the Dad is going to be there and hopefully his heart is as open as everyone else. I can't wait to see how everything goes with this family. I know that God really did lead us to them and I really feel like they have been prepared to hear the Gospel. If we are willing to heed the promptings of the spirit we can be lead to great things.

 

I'm so excited for Thanksgiving this week. Mainly because it is the opportunity we have to give thanks for everything that we have in this life. I have a gratitude notebook and in it I have a list of over 100 things that I'm grateful for. I would encourage you all to make a list of your own. Some of the things that I'm grateful for this year are:

- my family

- the opportunity to be a missionary

- fall colors

- Hispanic food (it is so amazing here!!)

 

What are you thankful for??

 

Love you all so much.

 

Til next week,

 

Hermana Juliet Hansen

 

p.s. I tried this Peruvian drink made out of purple corn. It is delicious. Whoever knew that corn juice could taste like bubble gum.

Hermana Juliet Hansen - Last Preparation Day in the MTC

Hello all,

 

So before I forget here are my travel plans for next Wednesday when I head to the field.

 

I am going to be flying on Delta Air Lines. It leaves Salt Lake airport at 8:39 am and gets to the Burbank, CA airport at 9:42 am. I have to leave the MTC at 5 am and I'll probably arrive at the airport at or a little after 6 am. We are allowed to call home and talk to our families for about 30 minutes once we are through security at the airport. (.......................)

This week was for the most part a really great week.

 

Last week I forgot to tell you about the experience I had hosting some of the new missionaries on Wednesday. But that was probably a good thing because I got to host again this week too. Hosting is super fun. You have to be in your second to last week or last week of your time at the MTC and then you get sent a letter in the mail saying that your district has been selected to host the new missionaries. Some of my friends here had really hilarious experiences when they hosted (my friend Elder B, his first missionary got lost, and because of that they changed how hosting is done). I assume they eventually found that missionary. Unfortunately, well I guess fortunately, I had really normal experiences as a host. All of the sisters that I hosted were really excited to be here, they weren't too overwhelmed with all the information, weren't showing any obvious signs of being homesick or anything. Last week I hosted a sister going to Arizona and a sister going to Portugal. This week I hosted another sister going to Arizona and a sister going to Oklahoma. All of them seemed liked really sweet sisters with really strong testimonies. My host was really amazing when I got to the MTC so I hope I was as helpful for these sisters as she was for me.

 

So Mom and Dad, a couple of nights ago I had an experience where I became even more grateful for the kind of people you are and how supportive you are of all of your children. Basically, one of my roommates was going through a hard time and she was expressing how unsupportive her family is and it made me realize that maybe I never express how grateful I am for you enough. So thank you a billion times over for all that you do. You are amazing parents and great examples and I wouldn't be who I am without you.

 

Okay, so spiritual experience. We have workshops every Wednesday evening and generally they are just okay but the past two weeks have been pretty awesome. This week we had a workshop on the restoration and how it relates to our purpose as missionaries (invite others to come unto Christ and receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end). Well at one point in the lesson the teacher asked us to write down how the restoration had impacted your life. So I thought about it and I came to the realization that basically my entire life is heavily impacted by the restoration of the Gospel. Had there not been a restoration my parents probably never would have met. I would not be on a mission right now. Probably wouldn't have gone to BYU. And if none of those things hadn't have happened I wouldn't have met a lot of the people that are really dear to me. It is a testament that God really does know what every person needs in their life and so orchestrates things in a way that everything works out as it should. And everything I know and have experienced can basically be traced back to the restoration of the gospel. So my question for you to ponder is, how has the restoration fo the gospel impacted your life.

 

I love you all so much and I can't wait to talk to you all next week.

 

Love,

 

Hermana Hansen 

Hermana Juliet Hansen - And the countdown begins .... 13 days!

Hello all,

 

I don't have a lot of time because of some computer problems that ate away at my time but here are a few tidbits.

 

This week was pretty awesome.

 

Sunday we had the opportunity to hear from Elaine S. Dalton during Relief Society. She is an amazing woman and I learned that she is actually really competitive and likes to run a lot with her family. Well, she shared with us an experience she had while running with her husband. She said that she normally doesn't run with him because he is a lot faster than she is and she doesn't like to lose to him. Well one day they were running and they get to this hill and she says to herself, "I am good on hills. He is not...I can beat him up this hill" She said that she was doing well for a little while and then all of a sudden at about halfway he shoots right past her. She wasn't too happy about that so she yelled to her husband, "Honey, I'm going to turn around now and wait for you in the car." Her husband then turns around, runs back, grabs her hand, and says, "Don't you know you never make the decision to turn around in the middle of a hill?" And they finished running the hill together. She then said that at the top of the hill she was able to witness one of the most beautiful sunrises she has ever seen. She told us that this is like life. When we are in the middle of a trial we should never decide to turn around at that point. If we push forward and continue to the end we will be so richly rewarded. I was so amazed by her words and am really grateful that she shared that experience. I know that if we push through our trials we will ultimately come out better people in the end and the Lord will bless us for our efforts.

 

Monday we had the opportunity to eat lunch with the MTC president, President Brown. Whenever he eats lunch with a district he always quizzes them on their knowledge of the scriptures, specifically the Book of Mormon. Well what often happens is that the districts feel like they've been out through the ringer BUT I can honestly tell you that we managed to come out of that lunch having impressed President Brown with our scriptural knowledge. He asked us to tell him our favorite part of the Book of Mormon, 10 scriptures that are about the Atonement, and the 3 prophets that talk about the second spiritual death. The elders in my district were amazing in their knowledge of the scriptures. And I am determined that one day I will be as knowledgeable about the scriptures as President Brown.

 

I love you all,

 

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Juliet Hansen - 3 weeks to go!!

Hello all,

 

It is so crazy to think that I'm going to be in the field in a mere three weeks. Scary, huh? How time flies when you are serving the Lord.

 

So a little funny story. The Elders in my district are pretty hilarious. Sometimes it can get a lot distracting but for the most part it's not to bad. Well last night at dinner was one of the funnier occasions but also it got a little out of hand. On occasion, we like to joke about how Elder Lasitani has eaten horse before. And so somehow that came up last night along with other crazy things that we might eat. Well we got talking about dogs. The conversation went as follows...

 

E. Lasitani: I miss my dog

Me: Oh what kind of dog did you have

E. Palmer: Medium rare

Everyone: loud laughter

E. Kane: This is getting out of hand...

E. Palmer: At what point does it become "loud laughter"?

Me: Well that's something you'll just have to ask God now isn't it?

E. Palmer: Elder Palmer 0, Hmna. Hansen 1

 

That's just a little tidbit of our district humor. I should send home some of the quotes that made it onto our quote sheet. They are all super hilarious even out of context. Most of them are Elder P or Elder O. I guess it's their role to be the class clowns.

 

In other news, this week was one of those weeks where it was like a roller coaster of bad, good, amazing, and decent days. Sunday and Monday I believe were the best days that I've had at the MTC thus far. I really do believe that how your day turns out depends a lot on what your attitude is when you wake up. On Sunday and Monday I woke up and I said to myself today is going to be an amazing day. And you know what, they were. I think a lot of it had to do with really effectively using my personal study time. I had a focus, I prayed for the Lord to guide me, and as I studied I kept praying. I learned things from the scriptures that I wouldn't have learned had I not gone about my studying in that way. I happened to be studying the scriptures that go with the song "Be thou Humble". I would highly recommend it. You can learn a lot of powerful spiritual lessons when you study the hymns. Stephen B. Allen came and talked to us on Sunday (head hauncho of all things missionary work in the Church) and one of the things he said to us was "don't be afraid to sing a hymn during a lesson when the spirit directs, even if you feel like you cannot sing". He said that the hymns are a powerful missionary tool. I really do believe that and I want to try to find ways to use the hymns more frequently.

 

I had a really powerful experience in one of our progressing investigator lessons. Elder Morales, Elder Kane, and I were teaching Louis about prayer. And it wasn't really clicking for him. I wasn't really sure why either. Then we asked if he ever prayed with his family (who are members but he is not). He then said something that changed everything. He said no because he would feel awkward praying to someone that he doesn't have a relationship with. We had been teaching the wrong thing, we needed to teach him about how he can have a relationship with God. But what was so amazing was that when he was saying that he felt like he didn't have a relationship with God I got this overwhelming feeling of love for our investigator. It witnessed to me of God's love for Louis. Even though Louis felt like he didn't have a relationship with God, God still knew him and loves him deeply. And I bore testimony to Louis of that fact and hopefully it helps.

 

I know that God loves us and that we can have a relationship with Him. He's just waiting to hear from us.

 

Love you all,

 

Hermana Hansen