5 - 26 / Day 261 What Shin' anigans!

ahhh Clovis ...

Another fun week has come & gone. 

Found out I have shin splints this week and it totally stinks! hahah. I can't even run in the mornings till it's better and even walking during the day is starting to hurt. Whatever... It will get better eventually. At least I hope! 

Miracles have happened this week... that's for sure! 
Shay finally came to mutual and had a blast!!! She even said during it, "I really want to come to church on Sunday!" YES! Music to our ears. She loved church and said, "The people are so nice here, it's great."  Then, later that day she came to a baptism with us!!! She said she wants to get baptized in August, but we promised she could know before than. And I told her I leave June 25th and she was like, "Woah. Okay no pressure or anything." haha. I just love her! Hoping she will be baptized before I leave.  She is the sweetest thing EVER.

We ate lunch with Bills anti wife this week. I don't get her... she is so sweet and loves us a lot, but like won't accept the church. We found out that the pastor at her  church is an excommunicated member who teaches against the church now and helps people get their records removed! LAME. Pretty much the anti Christ. hahahah jk. That's horrible.

Speaking of Pastors of other churches... we're teaching the 7th Day Adventist pastor and his family. Ya... I have no idea how that happened! But it's AWESOME! They're great. They don't even try to argue or preach to us, they just listen and share their testimonies on Jesus Christ! & the spirit is always there! 

We've been really trying hard to invite the spirit into all our lessons. So we've started singing hymns to everyone. I'm just having faith that God will eventually bless me with a beautiful singing voice cause we're trying to help people feel the spirit. haha.

I read Deither F Utchdorfs talk the other day on Gratitude! It's so great. Really really helped me.
"How blessed we are if we recognize God’s handiwork in the marvelous tapestry of life. Gratitude to our Father in Heaven broadens our perception and clears our vision. It inspires humility and fosters empathy toward our fellowmen and all of God’s creation. Gratitude is a catalyst to all Christlike attributes! A thankful heart is the parent of all virtues.^"

^{Love you all! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!} 

^{Sister Hansen}

This is our cute Gma we live with.  She waters her dead flowers with her pot from the kitchen.  hahah

5 - 19 / PASSED 1/2 WAY COUNTDOWN STARTS Day 268 Okay, WHAT?

Seriously, I don't know where to start. Maybe I'll start with the fact that Nates brother Bobby showed up in my sacrament meeting yesterday! ahahha. I totally thought he was an investigator from a far until Sister Egbert went up to introduce herself and then it hit me I was like " OH SHOOT.  I KNOW EXACTLY WHO THAT IS," hahaha. It was super fun:)  Seeing Nate's old car made me a li'l trunky though, not gonna lie. 

The work is still moving right along here in Clovis. I can't believe I'm half done with my time here. 6 weeks from now I'll be back in Temple Square! Weiiiirdd. 

Our investigators are doing great, we just LOVE THEM!

We got to meet Bill's wife this week... she's totally anti, but wanted to meet us and say thank you for Bill quitting his addiction to Tobacco. Bummer thing is that she asked us to only read with him from the Bible. We totally know he will get baptized, it's just a matter of when. 

We taught Shay this week with a sweet member here... Sister Cleveland is literally an angel. Shay's mom died when she was 12 and she's graduating in a few weeks and is just so sad that her Mom won't be there. But the lesson was super sweet and it was so good to have Sister Cleveland cause she's like a mother figure to her. The spirit was sooo strong. We all just cried. At the end I was just feeling the spirit so strong that I needed to tell her how much we love her and how much God loves her and that that is the reason I came on a mission... was to help people feel his love! When I told her she just smiled real big and said, " I can really tell. When you don't come after school, I just like look out my window and see if your car will pull up." It was sooo stinkin sweet!!! 

We got a referral from a member this week. So of course we went to contact her asap... when we got there we hardly even had to say who we were before she was introducing herself and telling us about how her sister just got baptized a few years ago and then married in the Temple. She had just gotten back that day from visiting with her and her sister gave her a  Book of Mormon and a bunch of pamplets that she read on the airplane home! Sister Egbert invited her to be baptized if she came to know that it was all true and she said, "Yes, of course, absolutely." We were like startled with amazement. We then asked, "why?!!" ahahha.  She said, "I can't wait to tell you all about it. Come back soon. I would love to talk now, but I'm in the middle of work!" We're going to teach her tomoorrow morning! YAY FOR GOLDEN INVESTIGATORS AND MEMBER REFERRALS!!!

It's been sooooo hot here. Like literally 105 outside. And we've knocked just about a million doors this week. ahah
That's all the high lights I can think of! 

Just trying to do my best and learn all that I can while I'm here! 
Have a fantastic week! 

Happy Summer everyone!!!! 

xoxo
Sister Hansen

5 - 12 / Day 273 Oh the Struggles!

Hi Everyone,

Well I guess it's not even going to get easier out here. But whatever. I'm learning a lot and becoming more patient every day.

I literally don't have any time because I always wait till the end to email. I'm sorry. Everyone forgive me. Here's my week in a nutshell.

My companion told me I'm selfish and all I do is think of myself and talk about myself to everyone and even investigators. hmmm. okay. Tried to take that the best way I could and just think, "It's okay.  That's her opinion , doesn't mean it's actually true."  But I'll be honest it totally got to me. I cried myself to sleep cause I felt like such a big idiot!  I'm learning and learning!

All our investigators are doing good. Taught like everyone about the Word Of Wisdom. That was fun!

Okay.... out of time. Wow.

hahah.

Byyyyyyyeee.

Sister Hansen

Showing up to former investigators houses
with guns out in the front lawn is SO FUN! haahah.

California Strawberries are THE BEST. Probably why God sent me to Clovis :)

Super Sweet Moon!!

crazyyy halo around the sun the other day! SO COOL!

Bill is the coolest Gpa ever! hahahaAdd caption

FACETIME with mama & pops is the best!!!

5 - 5 Day 265 The Lord Chastens Who He Loves!

Well I've learned a lot since I've been here in California. I will never like struggles and trials and complicated companions, but at least it's teaching me lots of things : ) This week has been SO busy. The work here is on FIRE. The ward is great! So many amazing members who are amped up to help with missionary work.
Bill is doing great : ) He makes me laugh every time we teach him.

He's on date to be baptized May 31st!!! 

We're praying that his wife's heart will open up. We finally got to meet her, she wasn't as bad as Bill makes her seem! haha.
We're also teaching an amazing family, The Ladeairous Family, their 12-year-old daughter is going to girls camp and she came to church on Sunday!!! : ) Yay. We've been teaching them with Sister Hamel, she went on a mission to the New York VC! Her daughter and Elizabeth are good friends, so it's worked out really great.
We're also teaching Wendy & Juan! They're awesome and super funny. Took them on such a powerful church tour this week, they are on date to be baptized May 24!


There are so many people we are teaching and so much going on here, I've been really bad about emailing cause I just don't know where to start and what to say. So you can all just forgive me! haha. Just know that the work is going going going!


And I'm trying my very hardest to stay patient with my companion. We just don't really see eye to eye very often. The way I look at things is very different from her perspective. I could care less at the end of the week if no one is on date to be baptized or if we hardly got any referrals. I mean of course I WANT to see success and the fruits of my labors like anyone else, but I've learned to just give it my all and not care what the results show! If I'm working my hardest, teaching the best I can, loving the LORD, and those I teach, who cares what the numbers are at the end who cares if only 10 people got baptized your whole mission. I'm working and loving God, that's all I can do. My companion on the other hand, is not seeing it that way. And it's hard. Because I feel like that is where the whole robot missionary things comes in! I'm here to be myself and to try my best. If I expect more than that I'm going to go home with so many regrets and disappointments!


I suppose that is just a little of what I've learned this week. I'm starting to think all these trials are coming so I can learn to depend on the Lord for support, encouragement, happiness and joy cause it's sure as heck not going to be coming from anything else. People let you down all the time, so I'm not going to depend on my companion to make me happy or my investigators or the numbers! I've got the Lord on my side and that's all I really need!


Until I'm home then I have MY MOMMY AND MY FRIENDS AND NATE! haha. But for now it's just me and God, and I'm going to work work work and do all I can to help all those around me.

I love you all!!! 

xoxo 

Sister Hansen