6 / 23 Day 233 God is Good!

Me and little Peyton McCauley.
LOVE THIS PRECIOUS CHILD!

I have learned a million things this week! :) 

Lets just start with this... 

As you all know my shin splints have stopped me from being able to run the past month. I finally had it this week and was just DONE with having to walk every morning. So I started to tell God all about my desire to want to run again. Telling Him how it helps me through out the day, how it makes me not feel so fat, and how it helps me be a more obedient missionary. I asked Him to please give me the strength to be able to run again! Well earlier in the week I read my fav talk from October Conference by Russell M Nelson about our bodies. It really hit me for the first time how our bodies literally are a temple to our spirits. Of course I always knew this but I didn't totally understand it. The spirit taught me so much from reading it and I had a super increased desire to take better care of myself. Then, later in the week, I opened up the new Ensign for this month and opened right to the talk 'Our Physical Bodies' or something like that. I read it this morning and learned sooo much. I told God in my morning prayers... I'm done with this. I'm going to run cause I know it helps me! So I did... and OMGoodness was it heaven! I've learned why I love to run... it's because I can feel the power of my body when I do, and that deepens my testimony in God for giving it to me! Some of my favorite parts of the talk from the Ensign go as follows:

My heart echoes the sentiment expressed by a runner in the film Chariots of Fire: “When I run, I feel [God’s] pleasure.” ... I feel like Louise Lake, polio victim, who once said, “I love my body … because I have disciplined this flesh, and in times when normally it would have said, ‘Oh I can’t, this is too much, too difficult,’ I have said to my flesh, ‘Arise, you will get out of bed, you will prepare this, you will do that, you will attend this,’  Though it may seem ordinary or unremarkable to the eyes of the world, my corporeal collection of cells is a miraculous testament of His grace and love. May the God of heaven and earth be praised for the flesh—for the bodies that give us opportunities for both physical and spiritual growth. Although the flesh may be weak and can sometimes be the source of trials in this life (see Matthew 26:41), it is also a sweet gift that our wise Father in Heaven has bestowed upon us, His children—a gift through which we can be made strong and become more like Him.

It's crazy how every day of my mission I see how much of my patriarchal blessing is being fulfilled. It talks about taking special care of my mortal body so that my spirit can grow more and so that I can feel it. I always thought it was cool before, but now I can really see why this is all so extremely important. So glad I can go back to Temple Square and feed myself again. YAY for healthy food and not having to accept whatever anyone puts on my plate everyday! haha That's been nice, but I can def. say, I'm over it. 

I've also been praying that I will be able to see one last miracle before I leave on Wednesday! Well God answered that prayer too. We found the coolest Mommy last night painting a bed for her daughters American Girl in her drive way. Walked up introduced ourselves... she said, "Oh yes... I know all about you girls... sit down... let me get some chairs... tell me all about this John Smith guy," hahaha. She had a million questions and was just super super sweet. She's going to feed us breakfast tomorrow and we're gonna teach her more! It's times like that where I literally feel like an instrument in the hands of God! Sitting in someone's driveway on the ground in a pencil skirt (we were so excited we told her to forget the chairs, haha) telling them about how they can come closer to their Savior! :)

Alright one more funny story! Then I'll be done with my ramblings...

I can't remember if I told you about Edith or not. I probably did! But quick summary. Shes a sweet like 79yr old lady. She's 7th Day Adventist and she has bone cancer. We tried to teach her, but she wasn't really interested in the Book of Mormon too much. So for service every week we just go give her company since she can't really do much and we read the Bible to her since she's like almost blind. But when we read to her we like have to scream cause she's so deaf. hahahha. No matter what we're reading it's just hilarious cause we're so stinkin loud. This week we decided we would read her the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago... hahahah.

Me and cute little Edith!

Little did we know it had a pretty ridiculous word in it. We were all super tired from the heat and just all in crazy moods, so, of course, the story became sooo funny. It talks about the instruments they used and one is called a sackbut... hahahah omgosh. We felt super immature, but we couldn't help but laugh, as we screamed that word at Edith. She laughed too and laughed even harder when she saw all of us trying sooo hard to keep it in. ahhaha. Poor little Edith had to get up and run to the bathroom we had her laughing so hard. Good timmes :) This is probably one of those stories where you totally had to be there. ahah

I can't believe I go back to Temple Square this week! CRAZY. I've learned sooooo much from being out here. It's just my luck to have the companion I've struggled with the most, be my companion for the longest amount of time. hahah. I wonder what will happen when I'm back in Temple Square! Pray for me! hahahah. I'm really going to miss all the wonderful people I've met here though.

Me-Yoli-Bonnie 1...  Oh, how I will miss these people!

Saying my Goodbyes!

I love you all,
Sister Hansen

6-16 / Day 240 Ugly to Uglier

This week has been seriously one of the craziest, hardest, saddest weeks of my mission so far.
This companionship just doesn't ever get much easier I've realized. Things just felt weird and sooo off. I finally just spoke up this week and said, "Sisters, we need to have a companionship inventory."
Ya I had no idea what I was starting! hahaha. 4 hours later and things were "fixed." Yes, you read that right... a 4-hour-long companionship inventory. I wanted to diiie. hahaha.


Then that night the flu hit me, hard core. From 2am-6am I was vomiting everything under the sun every 20 minutes, and then from 6am-2pm every hour! I layed in my bed for all of Wednesday long and part of Thursday, too. It is the worst thing EVER to be that sick as a missionary. No mommy, no movies, no nothing! I layed there all by myself sick as a dog. Ya, depressing & lonely & miserable.

I've learned heeps and heeps of things since I've been out here though. So that is at least something positive. I will spare you the details, but moral of the story is I've realized lately more than ever that I just don't need to fit the mold of the perfect missionary that everyone makes. It doesn't matter if I'm not baptizing weekly, if none of our investigators are progressing (in a way that is known to us), if I think of home sometimes.... None of these things mean that I'm not a successful missionary. And they don't mean that I don't LOVE being a missionary and doing this work for our Savior. That's been something I've struggled with a ton since I've been here because my companion just doesn't see anything as good enough. From her point of view, we're always, always, always doing something wrong. I've learned that I don't need her approval to know that I'm doing things good and right. The bar she sets for her approval would never work.

One thing I'm absolutely confident in is that I'm doing my best, learning all that I can & helping all those that The Lord puts in my path.

Bill is the sweetest, craziest, old man I've ever met. He cried and cried and cried this week out of gratitude for everything he's accomplished. 30 days of No Tobacco, and 27 years sober from alcohol. GO BILL! He still wants to come to church but is scared to death of his wife. We found out this week why she is so against the church. She had some pretty bad experiences and now she is just scared.  I don't blame her.  This is one the Lord has to fix, and in His timing.  Some day, Some day.

Other than that, we have pretty much knocked every door in our area trying to find new people to teach! Pray we will find someone!! haha. We're trying so hard.


LOVE YOU ALL!
xoxo
Sister Hansen

6 - 9 / Day 246 (left) Heat Stroke Coming Right Up

Okay... it's been over 100 these past few days and just to put it nicely.... I basically haven't stopped sweating all week. haha! What a joy :) But we work and work and work the heat doesn't stop us!

Sis Monson & I.  (Sorry it's dark.)

Our new companion's name is Sister Monson from Orem, Utah. She is the sweetest,cutestest, funniest li'l thing! Every time she introduces herself it's "Hi, I'm Sister Monson... No relation," it never gets old. Everyone thinks Tommy is like her Gpa or something. hahaha. It's been kind of a challenge to figure out how to balance our teaching since some of us(cough cough Sis Egbert) like to talk a lot. It's crazy having 3 sisters in one little tiny room. I'm sleeping on the floor with a crappy mattress, but that's okay! hahah. Over all it's been a pretty good week though. Some days are worse than others. But I always seem to find solutions. Even if it means taking a 30 min shower before bed singing 'Where Can I Turn For Peace' just to relax and be alone for a little while. hahah.

Well, where to start with the things that have happened this week.

Not sure if I ever emailed about Craig & Theressa... but here's the whole story.
We met Craig walking his dog after we had eaten dinner with a member. We asked if he knew anything about the BOM and he said "Yeah. I actually have one in my house, I should probably read it." To which we replied, "YOU SHOULD! When can we come by and meet your family and answer the questions you said you had?" 

So we set up a return appt.. but they were busy. So we set another. This past week we finally got to teach them! They are super solid and so sweet. Theressa's aunt is a member. And Theressa like loves Joseph Smith and has so much respect for him. 

Well we went back a few days later to meet with the members who live right by them.. when we were leaving their house we saw a fire truck like flying down the street and park right in front of Craig & Theressa's house. Then an ambulance and then like 7 cop cars!!!! It was straight craziness. They took Craig out on a stretcher!!! He had been working in the attic and must have passed out 'cause it's so stinkin hot and then fell through the ceiling and fell on the concrete garage floor. Layed there for hours until his wife got home from work and found him unconscious. CRAZY! Can't even image what that would have been like for her. That night we had plans to go to President Gelwix's farewell talk and on the way was the hospital Craig was at. Of course we stopped in to see how he was doing. The lady at the front was super hesitant to let us in because we weren't family, but after much convincing she let us in. As soon as we started to walk down the hall Theressa came walking down bawling. She was in complete hysterics. Couldn't even talk to us. Her Sis in Law told us the Craig was rushed into brain surgery due to massive bleeding. It's been a crazy week. The lastest update on Craig is that he is ALIVE, and improving. They just took his breathing tube out and he can only communicate through his hands! PLEASE PRAY FOR THEM.

Bill is still doing great! He is as crazy as ever. We fasted for his wife this week & we're seeing improvements. She is okay with him going to church now, so he doesn't have to sneak around. She told him to "be careful" ahahha. He said "You think I need to be careful at the Mormon church? ahha. I go to much scarier places each week than there." Gosh I'm gonna miss him so much.

Helping Bill clean the gutter.

Shay didn't want to come to church this week. Idk what's happening with her. But Satan is working hard. Hopefully she'll come this week though!

That's just about it. There's so much more I want to share, but I don't have enough time.

Training is hard when there's 2 trainers with 2 different opinions. Something I've learned is that I'm a total yielder I just do what Sister Egbert wants cause it's not worth the argument & hard feelings. It's annoying at times & it's probably not the best thing to do. But I figure I can try my hardest to just be the peacemaker.

Take Bill, for instance, there's a peace-maker for ya.

Our Relationship.

LOVE YOU ALL
Sister Hansen

6 - 2 / Day 255 Spiritual Promptings!

It's been an insane week. 

We've had some incredible experiences! 

Felt pretty weird being at Shay's Graduation,
but we were happy to support our investigator.

I don't know what's going on, but everyone in Clovis wants to feed us... We've had dinners with non members all week! ahahha. Including BILLS WIFE. I don't know what her deal is. She loves us and feeds us yummy dinners, but is so against the church. O well... her heart will open someday. We're hoping sometime within the next 3 weeks, so Bill can be baptized before I leave. We set another baptismal date for June 13th. That's like his 30 years of sobriety date or something like that. So that would be cool!

Bill ... always playing guitar for us!

We had a crazy day on Friday. We have weekly planning on Fridays. So during the opening prayer Sis. Egbert & I both got separate promptings for Shay. Hers was that Shay needed to be baptized this week & mine was that she needed to be baptized when all her family was in town for her graduation. So right after that prayer we went to her house and told her about it. This is the morning of her graduation day. She said she'd think about it. Then we left and went home to do weekly planning. The second we sat down at home we thought, WHAT THE HECK ARE WE DOING HERE. So we went back to her house taught her the rest of the little simple stuff she needed to know and committed her to be baptized on Saturday (the next day) she said if she receives her confirmation before then, that she would. She then told us that for the past 4 days she hasn't been able to get the word baptism out of her head! YA, I THINK THAT'S AN ANSWER! haha. After that, we planned the whole baptism, went to her graduation that night. Then Saturday morning (the day of her baptism) we went to her house to make sure that she recieved her confirmation. She said she didn't feel ready. I just feel like it's because all her family has been pulling her in different directions and then her family was slaughtering and skining a sheep in their front yard during all of this. Ya, a little distracting. So we're hoping she will be baptized this coming weekend. Her waiting for a confirmation is like waiting for a train that already left. But it's better for her to be 100% sure instead of going inactive in a few months! 

Shay's cute little nieces!  I look soo white!

I have no more time. But it's been an awesome week. I'm hoping this makes sense cause I typed this in like 2 seconds.

Sister Egbert & I are getting a missionary from the MTC this week for training! WOOOHOOOO!! I'm excited to train a second time :)

Can't believe I go back to Temple Square in 3 weeks though. The time just flies by!

Love you all,

xoxooxox
Sis Hansen

Cute little Yoli & I.  She's 80 from Hungary!