Tender Mercy Time

Half of Teopisca

Hello wonderful people.

Something great about Teopisca is at this time of year everyone makes calavasa dulce.... which tastes like sweet potatoes. So I ate sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving, even though I didn't realize it was Thanksgiving until black Friday. WOO!

Well this was a week of TENDER MERCIES (finally something different than miracles hahaha). It all started out with two of the completely golden families we had...being not so golden... and rejecting us completely. Both incidents happened in front of the joven we supposedly are getting excited for the mission.... yeah that should get him excited.

We caught the first family running to a Christian festival instead of coming to church. Cool. The other family told us even if our message is true it doesn't matter because they are Catholics. Whatevs.

To top it all off the only two baptisms we have for this transfer fell through because their dad talked them out of it and now won't give them permission. Unfortunately, now the kids don't want much to do with us. Needless to say we were feeling a little down. But, we ended up going to a lesson Saturday night that changed everything.

Las Hermanas de zonas San Cristobal, Comitan, y Chojolo.

Picture this.

A cold, freezing guera and her companion walk into the last appointment of the night at 8pm. She's extra freezing because she fell in San Cristobal and her favorite gray tights ripped. So the only thing she has to keep her warm is her sweater and her leg hair.

She walks in to the cold cement room, stepping around the giant ant infested Eeyore stuffed animal that has been left outside for the past week. Avoiding the dish of hot coals in the middle of the room, she steps on an old tortilla. The crunch almost wakes up the three little ones huddled together, sleeping on the floor, trying to keep warm without a mattress.

Pumpkins growing on the roof

She sits down on the tiny wooden chair. Her companion asks if they read the pamphlet. They had read it and they even prayed. It's a miracle! They are spiritually prepared to receive the message we have brought.

We sing "Away in a Manger" ever so quietly, so as not to wake up the children. They like it. They feel the Spirit. As the lesson goes forward, they understand for the first time, everything. In spite of their little education (because their mom left them as kids and their dad died when they were ten), they are answering questions. They are single moms, 19 and 21. They were never taught moral values because they didn't have parents. But they understand how a prophet can bless their lives.

Then, it's time for the First Vision. Their eyes follow the picture. The Spirit fills the room as I use the same words Joseph Smith used. God converts us into instruments of the Spirit, and at the end of the message, their eyes have changed. There is light in them. They try to express how they are feeling, but they can't. They have never felt it before.

She says, "It feels a little like when my son was born."

The cold can't penetrate the Spirit that is felt. They promise to come to church the next day, and prepare for baptism in January. They came, and they are preparing.

Warming my feet by the heater...cause it's cold!

It's a wonderful life!!!! 

Hermana Hansen

I ❤ Apostles

Something I love about Chiapas is you could literally live in your house and never have to leave... (only to pay the light and water bill in central). People walk house to house, selling everything you could think of. If it's a woman, on their head, and if it's a man, over their shoulder. Mops, brooms, water, fruit, toilet paper, sponges, chicken, tamales, bread, clothes, hammocks, tortilla, toys,  EVERYTHING. They just walk down the street, yelling the names of what they are selling. Even the garbage cart comes right to our house, (a cart with wheels pushed by a guy who takes your garbage to who knows where...yeah garbage trucks no muy existe). 

This week was a good one, because we got to go to the re-dedication of the Mexico City Temple! (Well, by television in the stake center...but it was still awesome!) We completed with the normas secas de excelencia, so we got to go to two sessions! It was my first time participating in a temple dedication in Spanish, and probably my last time... so I cherished every moment! 

The best is that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland randomly spoke Spanish! It was super tender. He started out in Spanish, switched to English for his message, and finished testifying in Spanish. I LOVE HIM. We were able to watch and hear two of his addresses, and both were very powerful. 

His second talk was super amazing, and I will never forget it. He went off script. Completely followed the Spirit..even addressing a little boy in the audience! Since it's live and needs to be in Spanish, Elder Holland will say a sentence and his translator will then translate it for everyone who doesn't speak English. The translator usually follows the written script that Elder Holland should be following, so it's a pretty decent translation. But it was funny to see the poor translator try to keep up with the pure revelation that Elder Holland was speaking as he completely went off script... and it's safe to say that anyone who doesn't speak English got a pretty watered down version of what Elder Holland talked about. 

 Yes, his talk was powerful in Spanish... but so much more powerful in English! That's why it was awesome when he switched to Spanish at the end and testified in Spanish. It was the most powerful testimony I have ever heard. This experience really strengthened my testimony of the restoration that God loves us so much that He really does have living prophets and apostles to guide us, and who really do receive revelation directly from him. MAN, THIS CHURCH IS SO TRUE.

Another bittersweet experience we had was fasting this last week, We have a goal as a zone that every companionship can baptize 10 people this transfer...we have two so far....but we believe in miracles! So we have an eternal investigator, Hermana E., who has been going to church on and off for years. She is Catholic and thinks she doesn't need another baptism because God loves her... and yada yada yada you know... all of Satan's lies! 

So we were planning, and Hermana Ortega said, "If only we could do a 40 day fast for Hermana E. so she can get baptized! Well maybe we can't fast for 40 days...but maybe two!" 

I said, "Or maybe we could do two consecutive  fasts...fast one Friday until Saturday, eat a meal Saturday, and then fast Saturday until Sunday." 

We felt the Spirit testify SO STRONG that it would work! So we fasted specifically for her, that we could find her in her house right in that moment, sing her a hymn, talk about the Book of Mormon. Then the next day she would attend sacrament meeting (she hadn't been to sacrament meeting in a long time.) Then the next week we would do the pre-baptism interview. She would have felt the Spirit strongly in one of these events and have a mighty change of heart and the desire to be baptized! 

We promised we would do everything possible and be obedient. We put our faith in the Lord and we were sure it would work! So we did it all. We fasted for two days, and Hermana E. CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!! We were so excited, sure that God was responding to our prayers! 

So we were nervous, but we went to her house on Wednesday, and did the baptism interview. We were there for almost 2 hours, and it was a spiritually exhausting experience....which led us to the sinking conclusion that she is not ready for baptism by any means. We walked out, feeling beaten. Seriously, how could the Lord let us down if we had faith and did everything? We did our part! In the Book of Mormon theres stories of thousands of wicked Lamanites having a mighty change of heart and are baptised in the same day! WE ARE ONLY ASKING FOR ONE PERSON HERE. Needless to say.... I was a little discouraged. 

But my oh so wise companion, Hermana Ortega, comforted me. She said, "Well I think our fast was answered. We fast to know the will of the Lord, not to change it. He wanted to see our faith, and because of it, he prompted Hermana E. to go to church on Sunday. A little miracle, because He loves us.  But He knew, and He wanted us to know, that Hermana E. is not ready for baptism at this time. But she will be one day, just not with us. He just wanted to see how far we would go to serve Him, and we did our part. But it just wasn't in His plan... yet."

I know, my comp rocks.

Love, Hermana Hansen

  Our Home

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!)