La vida real

No me recuerdo que pasó esta semana... Una semana de... milagros.... escogidos.... ooops I'm typing in Spanish huh? It's a rough life when you don't know English.

Well I'm in Tuxtla (home sweet home) again for super consejo!!! Partyyyy! I'm learning to hate 7-hour bus rides with a passion! But it's all good cuz for the first time since I left Tuxtla...I'm in a cyber zone with fast internet and CLIMA. (a/c)

 Really this week all we did was work, work, and MORE WORK.Our new zone leader is great! He is Elder Lemus. He's the old mission president's secretary and super awesome. It is his last transfer!! 

Zone Leaders, Elder Lemus & De Jesus and Hermanas Hansen and Ortega

Not anything TOO exciting to comment on. We found some adventista youth on their way to church hiding under a combi stop during a super chido rain storm. So we took the opportunity to teach them the restoration!

As we were singing La Oracion del Profeta, the storm took a new hit and suddenly flooded the side walk up to our knees and casi took us away with it (TRISTE SATANAS). But we just kept on singing!!! Haha. All in the day of the life of a missionary in Tapachula :) 

I don't have much to write this week... so I'll copy what I sent to my dear bro and sis and syd :) 

The mission is the best. 

It's the biggest GET OVER YOURSELF MAN moment you will ever have in your life. 

It's harder than anything I've ever done. Not only does it knock you out physically, but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. But I love it.

La vida real: 

The only time I've seen carpet is in the church. There is no AC anywhere... and if there is it's a little cool box thing (we have one in our room #blessed). There are usually no flush toilets. You have to flush it yourself with a bucket of water. We live on the edge of a jungle..... It's normal to live in a house of cement or dirt or wood walls with an alumnimum roof, bathroom outside, without a door.

There is no such thing as an ice machine. If people have ice it's because they froze it in a plastic bag or an old milk carton. They sell milk warm. We hardly ever eat with utensils, it's all in your hands and tortillas. I have eaten every single body part on a cow, pig, and chicken, including stomach, brain, and tongue. 

In Tuxtla, when it rains the sewers overflow. So we get to walk in knee deep sewer water. Some people believe in evil spirits, and they are real. Many people are Catholic and they worship Saints and the Virgin Mary and have altars with images and flowers and loved ones that have passed. 

 Bugs! Bugs! Bugs. Iguanas walk in the street. I see dogs starving in the street all day every day. There are not any rules about loud music or anything here. There are kids at stop lights who for two pesos will wash car windows, perform, throw fire, and sell fruit, walking from car to car. 

Teaching people is a whole different world. You can walk up to someone in the street and ask them for their name, direction, and phone number...and they will give it to you without asking why. You can also sing them a hymn (even if you can't sing). You can say a prayer in the middle of the street and it's no big deal.

 I SWEAT.  All the time. You learn not to care about how you look to other people. I love it. It's really hard for me to pick out the little things that are different from the US, because I'm so used to it. It's normal to me. It's gonna be hard to get used to the States!

I love you! I hope you are doing everything you can to prepare to serve a mish. Thanks for your example! 

SOY CHIAPENECA. CHIAPAS NOS UNE! 

Love you all,

Hermana Hansen

(Hermana Hansen has been unable to upload many of her photos for the past couple of weeks due to a virus on her memory card...this week we received a BONANZA of pictures! Here are a few!)

Escogidos to the Max!

Cambiosssss and Hermana Ortega and I are still together in Bonanza! Best news ever cuz she's the best comp in the world. We did a list of things that we have in common, and found over 50 weird things.... like we both threw up after we got our wisdom teeth out. COMPAÑERISMA DIVINA PIÑA

  

Sad news is there are a lot of changes in our zone. They closed an area so we lost some of our Hermanas. Elder Brass finished so we are getting a new zone leader. :( We will miss him so much!! He's like our brother. This cambio with my familia de Tap Mex has been a great one, full of miracles and new ideas. We are a zone of action, and hopefully we can take all we learned and keep it up. I will miss this transfer. It might have been the best one of my mission so far...but there are more great things to come!!!!

Farewell to Elder Brass our zone leader

One of the best things to see this week has been the progression of our golden investigators Hermnao H. and his son. I've seen escogidos before... but never THIS escogido. Hermano H. came to church 2 times before he met us. The first time a friend brought him, but told him he needed to go to his own ward. So, the next Sunday she sent him to the right building, but at the wrong time! He got there at 8 AM but our ward doesnt start until 11 AM! So he waited for an hour, attended the ward at 9, and then stuck around to finish out our ward until 2! 

He has such a strong testimony already, and his 14 year old son does as well. When we were scheduling our next appointment with them, we said, "Is it okay if we stop by in 3 days?"

His son said, "THAT LONG?!" 

Haha! He's always outside playing futbol with his friends, and always comes running in and stops playing just for the lessons! They always set up a little table out back, and give us bolis, and always send us home with tamales de chipilin! It's so awesome, cuz we are used to teaching on dirty broken chairs or piles of laundry or buckets usually. They are the best ever.

They are both reading the Book of Mormon and know that it's true. Our experience with them so far has really shown me that GOD PREPARES HIS CHILDREN. We do not need to force people to listen to our message, or to go to church, because there really are escogidos waiting for us. 

Love you all! 

Hermana Hansen

Baptisms and Hamburgers...the only way to Celebrate

 

Shout out to Bethie because she got home from her mish in Hermosillo this week!! Sad that she's done cuz shes like MY INSPIRATION. But what's sadder is that I just figured out that I have less than 6 months left. NOOOOOO. I feel like I'm looking death in the eye and it's not even that close yet. What's good is that from swimming distance and fly all those years I learned that the final laps should be your fastest, even if it hurts, because everyone else starts dying out so than you can kick all their butts and win. So I guess it's time to start giving it even more and KICKING EVEN HARDER.

This week was a great week because we went to the beach for the 6 month multi-zone activity!! I saw my hija!! It was a blast. We were only allowed to get into our knees. But of course I somehow ended up losing my balance and falling, so I was shoulder deep for a half a second RIGHT IN FRONT OF PRESIDENT and the other zone...uggggg. That would happen to me. President just patted me on the shoulder and said, "Oh, Hermana Hansen, siempre el ejemplo...." (always the example) Ughhhh awkward. Whatever I'm over it.

Hermana and President George
 

Also.... we had 3 BAPTISMS!!!! Todos super escogidos.

So Hermano E and Hermana D's dad got baptized when he was 17. He moved, got married to a Catholic girl, and pretty much forgot about the church until now. Recently he got separated from his wife, moved back to Tapachula, and decided he needed to shape up. So he started coming back to church all on his own. Then his kids moved in with him and he started bringing them as well. So we started teaching them all.

The change we have seen in all 3 of them is truly amazing. Hermana D has always been super rebellious and disobedient, but we were able to see her change for the better poco un poco. At first, Hermano E did not want to get baptised. But after we taught him the plan of salvacion, he wanted to reach the celestial kingdom, and made the decision. It was a combined effort from all of the youth and the leaders in the ward as well. Before they were baptised they even went to youth conference and other devotionals!! The ward seriously helped them so much.

 

We were able to teach their dad and get him ready to receive the Aaronic priesthood. He received the priesthood on Sunday and baptised his kids on Thursday (Just happened to be my year mark on the mish.... also Elder Brass brought us Hambuergesas May. Baptisms and hamburgers... BEST way to celebrate)! It was such a special experience to see him be able to baptize his kids.

Our other baptism was Hermana D. So we got back from Tuxtla last week and saw that we had like a million missed calls from Hermano P. (He's the 1st counselor in charge of the ward... we don't have a bishop here either....) We met him at the church and he said, "Hermanas, I have another baptism for you." 

WHATTTT?? 

Hermana D. is a young women whom everyone thought was a member, but Hermano P. looked into it and her papers don't show up in any of the church files. So we went straight to her house. 

She said, "Yeah, I thought I got baptised in Honduras. But now that I think about it, I was only 7. I think I just received a blessing from the missionaries. Do you guys think I could get baptised this week? I need to be baptized to graduate seminary and receive my young women's medallion." 

Hahahaha! So the next day we did the baptism interview and of course she passed perfectly. The only thing we had to teach her was the word of wisdom (which she was already completing). 

Honestly, a year ago who would have thought that I would be living on the edge of the jungle in Tapachula, speaking Spanish like a gringa-chiapanecan, eating with my hands, sweating all day every day and not even caring, contacting people in rainstorms like it's no big deal, being a sister training leader, witnessing 3 baptisms.... and never wanting to go home to the states? (Well, maybe only for Zupas and carpet....;) ) I love this marvelous work.

Peace out cuates! See you in like 6 months. Unless I decide to stay here forever......

Hermana Hansen