Adiós Amigos!

Bueno pues..... aqui estoy en la casa de la misionnnn....I registered for my classes for spring semester at BYU last night but I dont have idea what to do for summer..... so we will see........ when I get home!! Haha.

I've honestly been feeling good about coming home until I woke up this morning. Luckily my companion is here with me because she will be following my footsteps and training at 3 months!! Esoooo!!!!

President gave us permission to wake up late since we were up until 1:30 am. So we woke up at about 8:30am.... and I just felt... chafa. Like on my old terms it's not even late. But I felt like I had slept the day away.

Then we said our companion prayer... and I said it..... and I thought about who we should pray for specifically.... and no one came to mind. Like... I don't have investigators... or members... or .... anyone. And then it hit me.... my mission was over. And I just felt without a purpose. So I finished the prayer and just started bawling. Haha! My poor companion. 

But I had just realized that every day in the mission you wake up with a purpose. It's all about others. And my purpose was to invite them to come to Christ. And now what? THE REAL WORLD DOESN'T HAVE PURPOSE...... Kidding! I know it does. But that's what I was feeling.

I do not regret anything I've done on my mission. Even the mistakes I've made... I've learned from them. NO regrets.. I've enjoyed every freaking second of it. I've learned to know God's plan for me. I've learned to really just love people. Discipline. To be humble. To rely completely on God. I've become a different and better person. I've become converted. And I've seen the gospel in action. I've been a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I know it's time to move on... even if it's hard and I don't want to. The only thing I'm counting on...and it's what is keeping me from going crazy...is that my mission doesn't end here. I can keep helping people, and preaching the gospel, for Him. 

Signing out for the last time,

Hermana HANSEN

The Book of Mormon is the Word of God

Hola HIJOS DEL MAÍZ.

So this week something cool happened in our family group of Teopisca.... we had a our full 3 hours of church for the first time EVER!!!! Hermano A. constructed another little log house to the side of our casita de oracion, so we now have room for classes! The 2nd counselor from the rama came down and set apart teachers for Sunday School and Relief Society! They have never taught a class before... and don't know the doctrine very well...so it was a little interesting! Haha! But poco un poco..... It was great! 

This week I finished el Libro de Mormón for the first time completely in Spanish and the second time on my mission. It was great. I was able to pray and ask if it was true (as always). It was interesting because I remember almost a year ago when I finished it the first time... I didn't get my answer right away. I actually got my answer about 3 days later when my companion Hermana Juarez was bearing her testimony, and I also recieved a confirmation from the Holy Spirit that it was indeed true. 

But this time, as I knelt praying, I received an immediate answer that I honestly wasn't expecting!! That "burning in your chest" that everyone talks about but I honestly never really feel... (I feel the spirit in different ways generally) testified to me that it was true right then and there!! It was a cool experience, because I really learned that God responds according to OUR needs and HIS will. I learned later why it was wise that I received my answer so immediately in this form.

A few days later, we were with Hermana I... an investigator that has passed through way too many trials in her life. Honestly, she's probably had one of the hardest lives I've ever heard of. Because of this, she is very psychological and has a tendency to over analyze everything. She has a lot of knowledge, but very little faith. 

Hermana I. told us that because of our young age our hearts and intentions were pure. But she was sure that as we grew up and experienced and suffered more we would change our mind about our religion, find ourselves in another place, and change religions according to how we changed. Then we would find that another religion was "true to us". She said because we grew up in the religion, we had been brainwashed and didn't know anything else. I WAS SO FRUSTRATED. 

So I did the only thing I could. I testified. 

I held up the Book of Mormon and said, "With all due respect, Sister, you are completely wrong. Maybe we are young. I'm sure we haven't suffered or experienced all that you have, and maybe we never will. But something I know for sure is that there is only one true church, and it's this church. And I know that because of this Book. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It contains the secret to your happiness in this world and the life to come. Maybe we don't know everything, but at least we know this. And I challenge you to come find me in 50 years. Find me. And you will find that I still will be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, in this very same religion. Because the Holy Ghost has told me that this Book is true. Yes, I was born in this church. But I had to find and receive my very own testimony. I didn't always believe. But I was humble enough to read and ask. And if you will just humble yourself, and open your heart a bit, and ask...you will also find that it's true. It will change your whole life! But it's up to you. I know it's true. In the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN."

Hermana Hansen

A Magical experience of Christlike Love

 
This whole week was fun and interesting. We have been making plans to try to convince investigators to make the hour journey to San Cris from Teopisca. Every fast Sunday we meet with our rama up there instead of in our casa de oracion. If it's hard to get the members to go, imagine investigators!

It's not so much the distance..but because a round trip ticket for one person costs a minimum of about 65 pesos (that's like 4 bucks). When you work 12 hours a day in a cake store for 50 pesos.... well it's a lot of money that people here just don't have.

So we have one family that has come to church since the very first Sunday we got here. We found them while street contacting our second day here. La familia B. They really want to get baptized. We just have to get them married...which is a problem because they don't have their identifications or the birth certificate of their baby.

Anyway, they hardly even have enough money to buy diapers, let alone go to San Cris. Also, their baby has a hernia and is getting an operation this week. But they really wanted to go.. so we prayed really hard and decided that we would invite them to go with us... o sea... pay for them.
 
I know it was the right decision because what happened yesterday was absolutely magical. Seriously. We get there and testimony meeting was beautiful. The classes were beautiful. Everything was beautiful! I have never been so grateful for 3 hours of church, and classes that don't consist of reading every scripture from the index about the topic given. (Since the church is very new in Teopisca, it's kind of at an elementary school level.....going to San Cris was like entering college. It was wonderful!!)

 
And the members! A LA MECHA THESE TRISTE LOVING MEMBERS. Were amazing. A bunch of members immediately swarmed the B. family, asking them who they are, how they are, etc etc. When one sister found out they would be coming up on Tuesday for their baby's surgery, she gave them her direction and cell number. Then she offered her house up that they could stay in, and to cook them meals. IT WAS AMAZING. 

After an amazing class of Prinicipos del evangelio given by Elder Crowely, (where one less active member I had just met gave me her earrings just because I told her I liked them), we met the branch president and asked if he could give their baby a blessing. After the blessing, they commented about her surgery, and asked if the church could voluntarily donate some money for their operation. I was super nervous, thinking for sure the President was gonna think they had just come to ask for money. But his response was the most Christlike response I could have hoped for, and really surprised me.

He said, "Of course." He even had his counselor pass around an envelope in Relief Society and Priesthood meeting for anyone who wanted to donate a peso or two for the surgery. In this short time, about 100 dollars were raised!!!

Afterwards, everyone was showering them with love and support as well. All of the sisters were so happy to have Hermanas in the ward, even if we are far away in Teopisca. It was a magical experience. I have never felt so much love so quickly from a ward! They were all so Christlike. And our B. family was very impressed.

When we visited them later that night El hermano told us that he had felt a warm feeling in his chest during the last class. It was so strong he almost cried. Later he told his wife, "This is where we are staying, honey. It's here with the Hermanitas."

And even better, they went to the DIF to ask for their new identifications, and they are going to ask for the birth certificate today! So we pretty much just need to raise the money to marry them!! They felt so much love and support. I will be forever grateful for this loving branch that made them (and us) feel so welcome.

LOVE YOU ALL.! 

Hermana Hansen

PS Oh and I forgot to mention... FYI...I don't have lice anymore but I had FLEAS. 

That's all. Parasites love me, and I don't discriminate.

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

A chosen baptism...and Exact Obedience brings JOY!

So the other day as we were getting ready and listening to music I started singing along to "If you could Hie to Kolob". There is not a translation in Spanish, so Hermana Ortega started singing along but with the words of "La oracion del Profeta". In this amazing moment of revelation, we discovered that the words of "La oracion del Profeta" totally work with the music of "If you could Hie to Kolob".

We thought our discovery was amazing, so we started singing it to EVERYONE. Members, investigators, people in the street, less actives...everyone. Until last week, when we were in Tuxtla and we visited Hermana I. and her family. We sang it for them, and when we finished, Hermono E. said, "That was pretty cool. It's like a pop version, right?" Oops. apparently we accidentally changed "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" into a punky pop version of the real thing. Yeah..we haven't sung it since.

This week was a week of revelation and escogidos. HERMANO H. FINALLY GOT BAPTISED! He's been ready for about 2 weeks. With the 5 church attendance rule, he had to wait. But, he finally did it! His story is beautiful. He's the most escogido escogido I've ever met. A recent convert in another stake invited him to go church with her, and he found it was exactly what he needed. He has been passing through some really hard times these last few years, and he was just filled when he went for the first time.

 So she sent him to his real ward, but they got the times confused. He arrived at 8am, and our service didn't start until 11! So he jumped in with Jardines at 9. Elder de Jesus found him waiting patiently outside and helped him out. Then at 12 he jumped in with our ward until 2!

Since then he has completed with all of his commitments, gained a strong testimony, and brought his dad and son to church with him. When he was finally baptised, he shared his testimony. He said, "I love my savior, Jesus Christ. I'm here to serve Him. I´m ready to serve you all, and I want to be a faithful member until the last day."

Alma 16: 16 And there was no inequality among them; the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming--
17 That they might not be hardened against the word, that they might not be unbelieving, and go on to destruction, but that they might receive the word with joy, and as a branch be grafted into the true vine, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord their God.

I can totally see him as a bishop, or even a stake president.

This week was also amazing because I learned something that I hope I will be able to shape my mission and my life around...about exact obedience. My whole mission, it's something I have strived for, worked for, but never have been able to achieve. It's not big things, just little things; like staying a little too long in lunch or going to bed 5 minutes late. But, as we have learned, and as we have taught to all the missionaries in our zone, developing the Christ-like quality of exact obedience in the mission, is essencial to success and miracles in the mission, and for our whole lives. The mostly obedient missionaries will probably be the mostly obedient members, picking and choosing what commandments to follow, and in the end, not having joy, not reaching their full potential, and not reaching all that the celestial kingdom has in store for us. It's a dangerous route.

 10 baptisms for every companionship for this transfer 

because when we put our trust in god HE WORKS MIRACLES

 So I was a little discouraged about this, and I had a little extra time before our 8 o clock study started. I started reading a book President gave me, called "The Journey to the Veil." I read a chapter about how exact obedience is reached by following EVERY prompting, and I mean EVERY prompting from the Spirit. Then, once 8 o clock hit, I started reading in the Book of Mormon in Alma 27. I started thinking about how I could reach the same joy that Ammon felt when he found his friend and fellow missionary. 

Alma 17 Now the joy of Ammon was so great even that he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the exhausting of his strength; and he fell again to the earth.

18 Now was not this exceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness.

Suddenly, it hit me. Exceeding joy only comes from living righteously, which only comes from exact obedience.... which we can achieve only if we listen and follow and are exactly obedient to EVERY prompting of the spirit...and I mean every prompting. Exact obedience is less about what we should STOP doing, and more about what we should BE doing. When we do something disobedient, the Spirit will let us know. We should start listening to Him, and start doing what He wants us to do. Only when we try to follow the spirit exactly, can we reach obedience exactly.

 
So, I tried it, I put it in practice. And for the fist time in a long time, the Spirit guided my every word in all my lessons that day. We visited Hermano P., our old investigator who dropped us, told us he didn't believe in God and never wanted to see us again. I had NO IDEA what to teach him. How do you teach someone who claims to not believe in God?

I felt the prompting to pray. So I prayed in my head and heart. Then I felt the prompting, open your scriptures, and look to the left. SO I did, and my scriptures fell open to Alma 22. We randomly started reading 13-18. I honestly didn't know exactly what it said. I knew that it was the conversion of the dad of the King Lamoni but I didn't have any idea about the details. As it turns out, the king in the story is in the exact same situation as Hermono P. He really could relate to him. I was amazed at how similar their stories were.
 

We are not perfect. We are never going to be able to be exactly obedient alone. But if we concentrate on following every prompting of the spirit, we will be able to reach it, and experience EXCEEDING JOY. I invite you all to pay very close attention, and follow every prompting from the Spirit you receive...no matter how weird it may be.

Hermana Hansen