It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

This week was great! Trish Hopkins (recent convert) spoke in church for the first time. She did a GREAT job! Probably better than any talk I've ever given haha. Another cool thing was that we prayed about where we should tract, chose a neighborhood, and went tracting. We knocked on a door and a lady let us in. We taught the MOR and she wanted to read the BOM!! That really was a miracle! I know that prayer works when we have faith! I know slowly but surely the work will progress!

We haven't seen Viktoria and Ian since they left on their vacation. I miss them! Grandma Dorothy (recent convert) is doing great! I can't remember if I mentioned this or not, but she went to the temple and did confirmations!! She loved it :) I love everyone here! Oh, I had a cough for almost 2 transfers that wasn't going away, so Dr. Aldous prescribed me with some medicine. I took it and it made me feel sick to my stomach the whole day. So don't worry Mom, I won't take it again haha. It was weird having my first sick day on the mission... my cough is slowly going away though!

We also had an AMAZING Zone Training Meeting. Our zone leaders gave a training on Christ because Christmas is coming up! They talked about Christlike attributes. Each one of us studied a Christlike attribute a few days before, and at the meeting we got together with our missionaries who studied that same topic. Mine was obedience, so I studied times in the Savior's life when he showed obedience. My main scripture was Alma 7:12 and I talked about how even though performing the Atonement was hard for Him, Christ was obedient and submitted to the Father's will.

Seriously the whole day at ZTM was SO powerful. There's nothing more uplifting or motivating than talking about the Savior. The Spirit in the room was SO strong and the testimony meeting after was amazing. I was in awe the whole day haha. I love being able to study, teach, and talk CONSTANTLY about the gospel. I LOVE IT!!! I feel like I can't get enough haha! I want to TRULY know Christ, not just know of Him. That's the main lesson I learned from ZTM. I encourage you all to do the same!

Even though missionary work is hard at times, I don't ever want to stop feeling this way. I want to make missionary work MY LIFE, not just an "even" for 18 months. I love this gospel and I love my Savior. I KNOW HE LIVES.

I'm excited for Christmas! It's snowing a lot here. Stay safe and stay happy :) Love you!!!

Love, Sister Hansen :D

Come What May

We were with the Jones family on Christmas Eve! We dressed up, had a nativity, and sang carols as we read Luke 2! We participated in a couple other traditions that really brought the true Christmas spirit! I also loved being with a big family again :) I felt right at home :)

On Christmas Day we went to the Willden's house with the elders! We opened gifts, had lunch (ate duck for the first time), and then skyped the fam of course!! It was SOOOOOO great to see everyone!!! :D :D As soon as you all came on the screen, I loved how you started making funny faces and making weird noises hahaha. Yep, nothing has changed :) It was sooooo awesome to see everyone!!! :D I hope you all had a great Christmas!!
 Here are some quotes from the past week:

"We're going to become the AP's and bring helicopters to save on miles!" -Elder Bird

"The most happy and peaceful times of my mission have been when I'm asleep haha." -Elder Longwill

*3 year-old Jared runs into the room* "MOM!!!.................................... the poop is coming."

Oh yeah! Thank you SO much for whoever sent me the anonymous letter from "Santa." You have no idea how much that meant to me. I know it was a boy's handwriting, but I didn't recognize it. So whoever it is PLEASE tell me so I can thank you personally! It was exactly what I needed to hear, so thanks for listening to the Spirit and uplifting me. THANK YOU!

A couple days later a random man who we see around town all the time, told us very sincerely, "I'm not interested, but I just want to thank you for being missionaries. It takes a lot to be a Christian, let alone a missionary... So you're considered champs in my book." That made me almost start crying. I KNOW that Heavenly Father has been giving me simple reminders that He is aware of me and the work that I'm trying to do. I'm really grateful for that. I'm also grateful for the prayers and help from everyone.

We gave a training at District Meeting about using time wisely and not looking back. We read in Genesis about Lot's wife and how we can look forward with faith in missionary work. It went pretty well! At church we stood up in sacrament meeting and sang, "I Believe In Christ." That was really powerful! It reminded me of how the single's ward at USU sang that for me at Ward Prayer when I left. I DO believe in Christ, SO COME WHAT MAY!

Thanks for helping make my Christmas a good one :) Take care everyone, love you! Happy New Year!

Love, Sister Hansen <3

Merry CHRISTmas!!

I was tempted not to tell this information because I don't wan tot alarm anyone, but I probably should share this news haha. We were inside having our companionship study and there was a shooting on Main Street, near our house. No one was hurt. Apparently the guy was mad at his boss or something, and he came into one of the stores with a gun. He fired a few shots and then fled the scene. There's been police cars, fire trucks, and cop dogs all up and down Main Street. We "heard" that he took off up north to Richfield Springs, so we're safe where we are.

I think they're still looking for him, but who knows. Maybe we've heard a story that's not true, but we have no idea since we can't watch the news! It's weird having something big like this happening in small Cooperstown haha. I'm glad no one was hurt and I'm glad we were inside when it happened. No worries! :) Hopefully they'll catch him soon though.

Anyway, other than that things have been pretty good. Whenever we go over to the Willden's for dinner, Brother Willden always gives us "food challenges." I actually took him up on one this time... I ATE A CAN OF ANCHOVIES! It seriously was SO nasty!!! I was gagging the entire time, but I did it :) We recorded it too hahaha. A while ago AP Gabbitas was here and he couldn't eat anchovies, so I took the food crown and now have bragging rights ha ha :) NEVER AGAIN though.

We visited Mary and Paul Kuhn (investigators) at their Santa cottage, because they're Cooperstown's Mr. and Mrs. Claus. They're great! After that we had dinner with Lois and Andy. We taught them the POS and had a good time :)

We're spending Christmas Eve with the Jones family and are helping pass out hot chocolate and cookies to people earlier in the day. I'm SOOO excited to call home!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D I'll be calling anytime after 3:00 my time on Christmas day, so hopefully that works for everyone. I don't have a specific time yet :/ On Christmas day we're planning for a district training we're giving on Thursday, having weekly planning, and going to the Willdens. So it'll be a fun day!

I hope all of you have a great Christmas and remember the reason for the season!!! Everyone should watch the "Christlike Attributes" video on lds.org! Gives me the chills every single time. I love Christ and I love all of you! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Love, Sister Hansen :)

Tis the Season

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere I preach!" Hey everyone, I hope you're enjoying the Christmas season so far! We have only like 3 inches of snow here, so not very much. I'm happy about that though! We've been wrapping BOM's and DVD's in Christmas wrapping paper and have been handing them out to people. We're hoping that people will be more receptive and take more time to look at the BOM. That's been fun!

We also had our first MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) last week as Sister Training Leaders. It was fun because the Glenville sisters slept over at our house and the next day we drove there. It was like a sleepover!!!! Haven't had one of those in forever haha. The only difference this time is that we couldn't stay up till 1:00 talking about men or something. As missionaries we stayed up till 10:30 and watched spiritual DVD's haha. Still great though haha! The MLC was good, I love being around other missionaries.

Our branch had a Christmas Social, which was fun! Then us and the elders gave a missionary fireside to the youth on Sunday. That was really spiritual and it felt great to bear my testimony to youth about serving a mission. Also the Christmas Devotional was really great yesterday! I hope all of you either watched it or can check it out :) It made me excited for General Conference again haha.

Oh yeah, I wanted to give a shout out to Brother Grover from Bennington and my sister Lindsay!! Both of their birthdays are this week. I love both of you and hope you have great bithdays :) Well I'm out of time, so I hope all of you can have CHRISTmas Spirit this year. Love you all!


Love, Sister Hansen!

Happy Turkey Day!

Well Sister Rasmussen and I had a good week! I'm helping her get used to the area and we're getting along great. Travis (recent convert) received the priesthood on Sunday, we're so happy for him! :) Also, Grandma Dorothy (recent convert) is hopefully going to the temple this week!! Other than those few things we've just still been trying to find investigators and work with members!

Thanksgiving was great! We went to one of our investigator's house and were able to meet a lot of new people. Then we went to the Isrealsen's! They made pumpkin cheesecake.... DIVINE! It was a great day filled with fun, food, and friends :) I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

Oh yeah, so we went down to introduce Sister Rasmussen to our neighbors. We started talking about Thanksgiving and the older man said to me, "I can tell you've been liking the holidays because the food is making your face chubby!" Yep... that's a New Yorker for ya hahaha. Really blunt and honest. I vowed from that moment to start eating healthier haha. so DON'T SEND ME SWEETS!

Anyway, yesterday was the one year mark from when I first went through the temple. It's crazy how much has happened since then. I'm grateful for the temple and how it helps me live Better each day. Everyone take advantage of the time you have to go when you can, because I miss going soooo bad!

I'm excited for Christmas! There's a new mormon message about Christmas that everyone should watch! Also, the new video for the 2013 theme song "Stand." Have a great week and please stay safe in the snowy weather!! Love you all!

Love, Sister Hansen!

Transfers

A lot has happened this week! First off, here's the news about transfers! I'm staying in Coops-town and Sister Rasmussen is coming to join me. I've also been called as the Sister Trainer Leader. So that's kind of like a Zone leader for sisters. I'm definitely nervous, but excited. I'm excited to see things get switched up a bit. I'm also happy I'm staying more south of the mission. Sister Langford is going up north and she's going to turn into an eskimo haha.

We had our last district meeting and a district lunch. That was a lot of fun! It's always great to be around other missionaries. I love that as missionaries we're constantly relating things back to scriptures or concepts of the gospel. We "rebuke" each other with come-backs by saying stuff from the white handbook or quoting scriptures. It's hilarious. I love being a missionary haha! We were able to go to the Delhi elders' baptism this week. It went well and it's great seeing the lives that are being changed through the gospel.

On Sunday we had our primary program in Sacrament Meeting. That was SO cute! Seriously, when little kids sing it just makes me cry haha. Since I was in single's wards for so long in college, it's fun being in family wards. Oh yeah, and 2 people in our branch just turned 100 years old. It's crazy! Both of them still come to church every week and go to all 3 meetings. If that's not inspiring then I don't know what is! They're both converts too. It's really cool to see the strong faith that people have!

We've been able to teach a few more lessons, but all-in-all our weeks are still slow. We visit a widow in our branch named Sister Loudon. Her memory isn't the best because she's 90, so most of the time she doesn't remember missionaries, but she ALWAYS remembers me because I have a twin haha. When I walk in she say, "Hey... you're a TWIN!" She thinks it's the COOLEST thing ever :) I love that. I love being able to talk about my twin (Love you Kal!). It's weird not being known without her by my side... what what do ya do?!

Anyway, here are some funny quotes from my week!
---
"Our most progressing investigator thinks he's a wizard..." -Elder Atwood

"Are you still having trouble with that PSYCHO in your area?" -Sister Cutler

"I'll give you 2 quarters if you pack all my stuff for me..." -Sister Langford

"If we had a midget with us dressed like an elf, then people would TOTALLY listen to the gospel." -Sister Hansen
---

Thanks for all that you do :) Thanks for the support and encouragement. Oh P.S. I got Nicee's wedding announcement (thanks for remembering me!) Ahh, peoples' lives are changing so quick! Hope you're all doing well. Let me know if I can do anything for anyone!!!


Love, Sister Hansen <3

Missionary Work

It's been a pretty good week! I gave the training in District Meeting about using the scriptures in teaching. It went well, I hope haha. It's surprising how I'm not that nervous to get up in front of people anymore. I mean of course sometimes I am, but for the most part Heavenly Father has been blessing me a lot :) 3 investigators from Bennington that I taught while I was there recently got baptized. I wish I could've been with them throughout the whole process, but I know Sister Stephens is taking good care of them :)

Whenever our district leader calls us on Sunday nights he always says at the end, "Is there anything we can do for you?" Sister Langford and I the past couple times have been saying, "Hot chocolate, cookies, and a puppy!" We've been saying that for the past few weeks as a joke, and when we came into District Meeting they had hot chocolate, cookies, and fake puppies hahaha. It was really funny. Made my week!

Lately our investigators have either been busy with work or out of town... so we've been spending our time trying to find. We keep ourselves uplifted whenever we're rejected by of course playing "Would You Rather", talking about our favorite Spongebob episodes, and much more hahaha. Oh the simple lives of missionaries!!

Sometimes when things aren't going very well or when our investigators aren't progressing I start to worry that I'm not doing enough or that people are being withheld blessings because of me (of course I'm a girl, so I'm constantly worried haha). When those thoughts of feelings come into my mind I remember something that Elder Holland said....

---

"One day you're going to ask yourself, "Why does this have to be so hard? Why don't people flock to the font? Why aren't we more successful?" Well welcome to the church. Welcome to the gospel. Welcome to the life of the Savior. Welcome to the life of apostles and prophets.

After all that missionaries go through, I have come to this conclusion: Salvation isn't an easy experience. Salvation isn't cheap. It wasn't easy or painless for the Son of God of whom you are to testify. If you're going to be His missionary you cannot ask to completely avoid the pain He felt, the tears He cried, or the sorrow He saw.

I want you to embrace, savor, and cherish every single minute of it. The good times, the hard times. The companions you love and the ones who test your faith. I want you to enjoy all of it. Learn from it, grow from it, and know that it will never come again. So when you come home, stand at the pulpit and bear your testimony that you've suffered the will of the Father on your mission."

---


SO good right? I know that this gospel is true. I'm willing to suffer for these people to know about Christ's love for them. I'm grateful for what I've been able to experience so far on my mission. Serving a mission tests EVERY part of your testimony. On a mission you HAVE to have something that keep you going, that compels you to leave everything behind, that drives you forward, and that makes you forget about yourself. The "something" that compels you NEEDS to be a deep love for the Savior and this gospel, because NOTHING else could get you through a mission. I know I've only been out 8 months, but in that short amount of time my life has already been changed.

I'm so blessed to be serving the people of New York. I love it. I love being a missionary. I hope all of you can keep pressing forward and keep strengthening your testimonies, because that's the most important things you can be doing :) The church is true and the book is blue! Thanks for everything, I love you all!!!


Love, Sister Hansen :)

Working Hard. . .

We went on exchanges with the Hamilton sisters last week. I stayed in the area, and Sister Bowen came to work with me. It went well, and we taught a couple lessons! I hope one day I'll be able to go somewhere for exchanges. I'd love to see and work in a new area for a day!

Our investigators are recent converts are doing well. Cody (Hopkins' son) tried to give a BOM to his teacher haha. AWESOME! We still only have about 7 investigators, so the week was once again full of finding activities. In Bennington we got a lot of referrals and so we didn't have to do a TON of work to find investigators. Here it's kind of the opposite.... so the best way I can put it is that we're constantly working hard with mediocre results. Hopefully the ideas that we have to keep strengthening the branch will help us receive more referrals. I KNOW there are people out there who are prepared. We just need to FIND them!

The work is real. I know God is here with us even though we aren't perfect. Serving a mission is seriously the greatest experience. It's challenging, but the greatest :)

I also wanted to give a quick shout out to my amazing friends in Bennington, from Lee's Marketplace, my friends from USU, and my family. Thanks for your support and for being here for me :) Keep pressing forward and remember not only to live the gospel, but to love it!

Love, Sister Hansen :)

One Step Closer

We've been working hard to find more investigators, and luckily we found a new one! We also are trying to help the branch members do one missionary activity each month, so hopefully that helps their desire for the work to grow. A lot of times in missionary work Heavenly Father won't bless us with new people unless we're already taking care of the people we DO have... So we've been focusing on strengthening the members first. THEN more investigators will come :) I know they will!

We had a Zone Conference and heard from Bruce D. Porter (from the 70). It was great, and we ate out afterwards! We also went to the Hall of Fame last p-day :) It would've been more fun if I was a HUGE baseball fan, but it was still great! On Halloween night we studied for a while, ate dinner, and then carved mini pumpkins. I sent some pictures from the Hall of Fame and the pumpkins, so hopefully those will be up soon (thanks Kallin!!!).

Elder Bird (one of the elders in our branch) had his gall bladder removed. So we brought him balloons in the hospital haha. He unfortunately didn't say anything funny or loopy after he got out... but it was still fun to support him at the hospital! Also, we knocked on this lady's door and she let us rake her leaves! Usually if people aren't interested in our message then we offer service. Most of the time people don't take us up on it, but this time she did!! So we were able to rake leaves and talk to her more about what we believe. She later said, "...well maybe I will be converted haha!" SERVICE WORKS WONDERS!

We're still trying to have faith to find and do the Lord's will. If we keep pressing forward and holding on, I know blessings will come. I love having so many of my friends serving missions at the same time as me! It's been great hearing from them and seeing the miracles that are happening around the world. I know this work is real and I love it :) Anyway, sorry that was a lot of random stuff to report haha... but there you go!
Thanks for the support! I love and miss all of you!!! :)


Love, Sister Hansen <3

Transfers

I completely forgot to tell everyone about transfers because nothing huge happened haha. Sister Langford and I are staying in Cooperstown for another 6 weeks! So I'm glad that I can get more familiar with the area before she takes off! I wonder if we'll be together for 3 transfers or if she'll be leaving after these 6 weeks. I guess we'll find out!

We've found more potential investigators and have had some cool experiences. Its always great when people let you in when you knock on their door :) The other day we were tracting and we knocked on this lady's door. We told her who we were and stared testifying. She then said, "That's nice :) ....... NOW GO AWAY!!!!!!!" and SLAMMED the door HARD. It was so hilarious. It's sad how people can't even have common courtesy in this world anymore... it's almost funny when people reject us so harshly. Its like... really? Haha :) We find joy in the work!

We've started doing service at an elderly hospital called the Manor. We go from room to room asking people if they want to come to something called "The Prayer Meeting." In the prayer meeting there's someone who gives something similar to a talk and then reads from the Bible. Then everyone writes down something they want to pray for, and the person giving the speech/talk prays for all of those things. It's kind of different than how we do things, but it's still cool to see people believing in God. I wrote down to pray for my family... especially my twin sister :) So that's been fun to go to every week!

I know that I sent Trace and Michelle's family some I <3 NY t-shirts, but the rest of the family please don't fret! ;) I WILL send all of you them one day, I just need to space it out so that I have enough money each month. So sometime on my mission each family will get those t-shirts haha. Surprisingly those t-shirts aren't very common... even though I'm in NY.... haha.

Anyway, the work is slower, but it's getting better. I know the Lord has people who are prepared and I hope we can find them soon. Thanks for the support from everyone! I love you all and hope you have a marvelous week :)

Love, Sister Hansen <3

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

This week was great! I feel like I have so much to say, so sorry that this email will be all over the place haha. We've really been trying to find more people to teach. When the Lord sees that we're willing to try new things, He blesses us. So we've been thinking of new finding activities. Here are some of the dumb ones we made up while trying to think of real ones haha.

-Carry around a cute puppy to get people's attention
-Make up a rap song for the first vision and rap on the streets haha
-Purposefully get hurt so we can go to the hospital and convert everyone there ;)
-Become good friends with the workers at a Bakery so we can lock everyone in and make them listen to us haha.
-Stand up on a bench and cry repentance on Main Street.
-Pretend to trip and scatter pictures of Jesus everywhere. When people help you pick them up, PREACH!
-Reverse Trick or Treating (give them candy and a pass-along card)

Of course our REAL finding activities were better, but we thought those were funny :) We also had a fast to find people, so hopefully that will help. The Hopkins family is doing great, and Viktoria and Ian are great we well. They're loving the gospel and progressing!! My talk about prophets in church went pretty good. 3 of our investigators were there, so I hope it somehow helped them understand prophets more.

This week we've also had some funny experiences. Two teenage guys stopped us on the street and asked, "So are you married to Jesus or what? Cause we should all do something tonight!" HILARIOUS. Oh the simple joys of missionary work!

We have to be inside by 6:00pm on Halloween, so that'll be different. Hopefully we can study and get some things done inside. There's a town parade that's going to go right past our window, so that'll be fun to watch. Here are some quotes from this week :

"If hot chocolate stand comes out of our MSF money then we're totes in troubs." -Elder Atwood

"They have a cool bike..... so they need the gospel!" -Sister Langford

"I just want this purple hamster to turn into a scarf!" -Me

Things are slowly getting better, but we're still working hard to get things going. We know blessing and miracles will come if we stay faithful. Thanks for your prayers and support :) There's this quote I really love. It says,

"Unless you belong to a church that requires sacrifice of all that you possess, everything that you have and are, even perhaps the cost of your life... unless you belong to such a church as that, that church could never build within you the faith you need to obtain eternal life."

I know Heavenly Father requires at times ALL that we have, because he wants to give us ALL that HE  has. This means everything to me. I hope it does to you too. Love you all!

"Why don't vampires or mummies make good friends?" "Because they're a pain in the neck or all wrapped up in themselves!" Hahaha ;) HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!


Love, Sister Hansen!

Interesting Week

A lot of random things have happened this week haha. One of the members in our branch that we visit is teaching us how to crochet haha. So I'm making a lavender scarf! I'm excited for it to be done :) I'll for sure send a picture... well if it's horrendous then maybe I won't haha! Also, we were on our way to Stake Conference with the Maher family, and their car broke down. We were supposed to sing in the meeting with other missionaries too... but we didn't make it haha. It was one of those moments when it feels like you're in a movie! We were rushing to get there and be on time, and then of COURSE the car breaks down! It was a funny memory :) Luckily another member picked us up and we made it to hear the last 20ish minutes of it.

The fall leaves are starting to fade away which is a  bummer, but I loved them while they lasted! I've heard that it's snowing in Utah... crazy!! All the holidays are coming up quick and I'm excited. It's going to be rough trying to talk to people on the streets in a few weeks because everyone starts staying inside because of the weather. We have some great investigators though, so that's good! We're teaching a young married couple named Viktoria and Ian. I can't remember if I've mentioned them or not... but they're doing great :) Oh, and I'm speaking next week in church about prophets. That should be fun... haha ;)

I heard Chuck and Barbara are back together and are working things out!!! So that makes me really really happy :) Adjusting still hasn't been easy, but it's better. I'm getting more familiar with the area and I'm getting closer to people. Remember those little pieces of paper that were shaped like apples that everyone put advice on? Well I picked one out yesterday and it said, "1 Peter 1:7" I opened to that scripture and it was PERFECT. It talked about trials being worth more than gold. I've been looking for the reference to that scripture for a while now! That answered my prayers and made me feel better... so thank you to whoever wrote that!!! Missions teach missionaries SO much, and I'm grateful for what I'm learning!

I hope you're all doing well and you're happy :) Let me know if there is anything I can do to help! I love you all :)

Love, Sister Hansen <3

Hopkins Family

After the first session of General Conference we had Trish Hopkins and her 3 boys get baptized!! It was great! I loved seeing all of them dressed in white sitting together, ready to follow their Savior. Her husband and 2 sons will hopefully one day be baptized too. We had good speakers and the baptisms went well! It was amazing to watch, and the Spirit was strong. Because of circumstances, they also received the gift of the Holy Ghost right after their baptisms. That was cool too. Here's what stuck out to me in each of their blessings:

Trish: There is a celebration in heaven for you and your family right now
Cody: God is looking down at you right now, and He is smiling
Travis: You will be strengthened through your trials
Jamison: Your present and future family love you

For the closing hymn we sang, "Families Can Be Together Forever." I started crying haha. It made me really miss my family, but then it made me happy to know that because I'm away from my family, I'm able to help others feel the joy that I feel. I love baptisms, and I'm grateful for the ones I've been able to see so far on my mission.

Oh yeah, and it's crazy to think that one year ago today I was sitting down watching President Monson announce the age limit change... Now one year later I'm on my mission hitting my 7 month mark!! Time can change so fast in just one year!!! I'm thankful that we have a living prophet on the earth, who lets us know God's plan. My mission is now and will always impact my life. I've already met so many great people in Bennington and Cooperstown. A year from now, my life will be totally different, and I'm excited to see where I am!

I loved General Conference! My 3 favorite talks were by D. Todd Christofferson on Saturday, and Richard J. Maynes/President Monson on Sunday! Those really hit home for me. I love asking questions and finding answers to them while watching conference :) The gospel is true, and I love being a disciple of Christ!

Hope everyone enjoyed conference and I hope you all are happy :) Keep the faith! Love you!


Love, Sister Hansen <3

Baby Steps

Work is slowly starting to progress here in Coops-town! We're making small steps right now that will help in the long run. We're still trying to strengthen the members and help our investigators get to church. SO many people here work at the hospital, so it's difficult for people to get work off on Sundays. I know things will work out though!

The other day I guessed how many miles we were going to drive, and I guessed 78 miles. At the end of the day we drove 79 miles! I was SOO stinkin' close... only one off!!!!! It was awesome haha :) It's funny what small things bring missionaries joy! Oh, and this week Sister Langford and I have been playing "Would You Rather" a lot to help lighten the mood and help us laugh more. We've come up with some great ones haha. The other day we were in the car with our Branch Mission Leader/his wife, and we hit a deer! Luckily we were okay and the deer didn't damage the car too much, but the deer here are crazy! We have a deer whistle on our car, so hopefully they'll stay away from our car haha.

This week we also canned peaches with one of our recent converts who's 89 years old. That was a lot of fun! We were able to watch the General RS Broadcast too, so that was great! I loved being able to listen to our prophet and leaders of our church. I got 3 things out of it that I want to apply more:  1-Keep my covenants and remember them more often. 2- Remember my worth and that God loves me. 3-TRUST God... especially through the hard times.

I'm grateful for the change that I have to be on a mission, and to be learning so much. There are days when I'm REALLY tired and I want to quit, but I keep going and in the end I know I'll be happy that I did. I wouldn't sacrifice my family, friends, and time for anything except the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the most important thing to me. I love it and I'm willing to fight for it :)

Keep being strong and remember that God is with you always :) Love you all!

Love, Sister Hansen <3

C-Town!

This week was a lot better. Adjusting has been a little easier, and visiting with people is more fun because I'm getting to know them! We had Zone Training Meeting this week in Utica, and after we ate lunch at OLIVE GARDEN. Yes... Olive Garden! I haven't been out to eat in a long time, let alone Olive Garden haha. So it was awesome being in a classy place and eating my favorite foods haha :)

We also went to something called The Pumpkin Fest! It's where farmers grow HUGE pumpkins that sometimes weigh over 1,000 pounds... and the heaviest one wins! Then they carve out the pumpkins so they're hollow, and they use them as boats to have a race across the lake! HILARIOUS right?! We didn't watch the whole thing, but we checked out the huge pumpkins while we talked to people about this glorious gospel :) It was great! Cooperstown is just the cutest little town ever! I still love and miss Bennington though. Just giving a quick shout out to Brother Grover, Brother Behunin, and the Kimball family. I love you all and you're in my prayers :)

We have a few investigators who are doing great. Hopefully they make the decision to be baptized soon! I'll keep you updated! Other than that we're still trying to find people to teach and trying to strengthen the branch. Thanks for all the letters that I've been getting, it means a lot and I love hearing from you! :) Have a marvelous week and remember you need CPR to survive (church,prayer,reading) ;)

Here are a few quotes:
"I'm going to be rad when I get home from my mission... fat... but rad!" -Sister Langford
"The only place we haven't looked for investigators is under a rock!" -Elder Garberg
"General Conference is like watching Moses on TV!" -Elder Longwill

Love, Sister Hansen!

Adjusting...

This week has been a little better. Here are some random things that I want to write about! I had a half moon cookie, which apparently are famous out here haha :) We also went to a Harvest Fest where we picked apples for service to bring to food shelters. That was a lot of fun! I've also been able to get to know people a little better. A little girl in the branch came up to me and said, "You have Rapunzel hair!" and a little boy in our branch tried to say "Sister Hansen" but he said "Mr. Handsome." So my new nickname is Mr. Handsome hahaha :) Oh, and I wanted to give my GPS a name... so I named it Liahona haha!

We also had exchanges this week. I stayed in Cooperstown with Sister Johnson. That was SO fun! She's a really sweet sister and I was happy to work with her for a little while! We have a family that is going to be baptized on October 5th during General Conference sessions, so that's exciting! Their last name is Hopkins. The mom and three of her sons are the ones being baptized! We've been preparing for that and we're still trying to find more people who will accept the gospel!

Like I said last week, adjusting hasn't been easy. I've been sick and really tired in almost every way possible haha. Brother Willden offered to give me a priesthood blessing... so I accepted! It was really great! I needed to hear a lot of the things that were said in that blessing. Something that really stuck out to me was that he said, "The fruits of your labor are much sweeter when you've tasted the bitter." That is SO true. The good things that have happened on my mission mean so much more to me because I've been through hard things to get them. Right now it's been really hard, but I'm having faith that good will come from it. I know God is there and He's directing this work. I'm happy to be a part of it!

Here are some funny quotes!

*Sister Israelsen saying bye to her kids: "Bye my offspring!"

*Elder Longwill asking us if we're leaving: "Are you outy like a belly-button?"

"We need to share the FREAKING gospel!" -Sister Langford

"Do you want to sit in the chair of destiny?" -Brother Willden

Thanks for everything that you do for me :) I love all of you!


Love, Sister Hansen <3

Cooperstown

It's crazy that I hit my 6 month mark a few days ago! It has gone by slow, but fast at the same time. I'm excited for what the last year of my mission will be like :)

So I made it to Coops-town! ;) My first couple days have been... interesting haha. It's been kind of an adjustment. It's just really weird going from knowing an area SO well, to knowing NOTHING. I feel lost and like I'm not connecting with the spirit very well, because I don't know anyone or where we're even going. I know that's normal and it will take time... but it's been stressing me out haha. I made myself sick (with a head cold) because of the stress. It's funny how it feels like I'm entering the mission field for the first time all over again!

Sister Langford is my new companion! She's from Alpine, Ut. She's been a good companion so far, and I hope she can be patient with me as I adjust. We've been doing a lot more tracting because they barely opened the area... so that's definitely getting me out of my comfort zone. In Bennington we had a lot of people to teach, so we didn't have to worry as much about tracting or finding investigators... but now we're needing investigators here in Cooperstown. The apartment is really cute though, so that's fun :) My bed is really comfortable and I've been able to sleep a lot better. The area looks familiar to Bennington, but the houses are a lot nicer. I feels good being a place where there are more families :) I know I'm here for a reason and I know that things will get easier... it will just take time. I miss Bennington a lot, but I can't let Satan get me down by thinking about my past area or comparing the two areas. Soon this will be my new home! I'm grateful for the opportunities that we have to learn and grow, even if they're difficult at times. The Lord knows who we need to become, and what we need to go through to become that person. I love His work and I'm grateful to be sharing it!

Hope you all have a fantastic week and are doing well :) I'll be rpaying for you... as always!

P.S.....I would like it if everyone could start send ALL my mail to the mission office address... because it gets stressful trying to tell everyone my new address and then hoping that no letters go there after I've left. Hopefully that's okay! Here's my mission office address once again:

Sister Karli Hansen
P.O. Box 149
Whiteboro, NY 13492-0149


Love, Sister Hansen <3

Leaving Bennington

Well I have exciting news! I'm being transferred to Cooperstown, NY. It's where the baseball Hall of Fame is, so hopefully I'll get to go there on a p-day :) It's a small town too, so it's exactly what I love! I'm super excited :) Also... Sister Stephens is training a greenie! So that means I'm becoming a grandma! PRECIOUS! I can't wait to see my new grand baby at transfers tomorrow haha ;) My new companion just barely got trained, so I'll be the senior companion!

Sister Stephens and I had a great last week together! We tried to work as hard as we could, and we cherished the time we had. Here are some of the highlights or even funny things about what happened in the last couple weeks.

-Brother Scott Grover gave us both priesthood blessings (great experience)
-We went to see the Equinox Sunset
-Someone asked Sister Stephens and I if we were twins hahahaha.
-Brother Grover got pulled over, but luckily only got a warning

Saying bye to everyone was really hard. It felt like I was leaving home all over again. I've grown so close to the Bennington Branch, and my heart aches as I prepare to leave, I'll miss all the fun nights at the member's houses for dinner, and Brother Grover always coming with us to our teaching appointments. I wish I could just take them all with me, but I guess that's what memories are for!

I've learned so much in the 6 months I've been here. I'm excited to learn even more in my next area! Thanks for everything Bennington Branch, you've changed my life for the better :) LOOK OUT COOPERSTOWN, SISTER HANSEN IS COMIN!!!

All of you people back home, stay safe for me okay? Stay happy and live the gospel, because it's true :) Love you all!


Love, Sister Hansen :)

CRAZY STORY!

A couple days ago we started noticing that Chuck and Barbara were acting a little different. They were more stand-offish and wouldn't join in our conversations as much, and we didn't know why. They called us a couple days ago and said that they forgot to tell their Social Security that they got married... so they were going to lose their house and pretty much everything in 90 days (which is funny because they were planning on moving somewhere else in October though).

Anyways, they told us that they weren't going to come to church anymore or to the dinners at the Behunin's house. We were surprised and didn't know why losing their house had anything to di with not being around us anymore. So Scott came with us to their house to talk tothenm about everything. When we pulled up in the driveway Barbara was outside, and she ran inside "pretending" like she didn't see us. We knocked on the door because we KNEW they were there... so we KEPT knowcking ha ha.

Eventually Chuck SWINGS open the door and starts YELLING at us. He was saying that it was ALL our fault because we were the ones that helped them get married. We just stayed calm and said quietly, "We just want to help both of you through this." He got even more furious, slammed the door, and called the cops on us haha. We left as soon as he slammed the door. He told the police we were "stalking" him (which is hilarious because that's pretty much what missionaries do all the time to their investigators). We knew that the cops were "looking" for us, so we went to the police department to turn ourselves in haha.

We were kind of scared and nervous, but we knew we had done nothing wrong. We went there and explained everything that had happened. They completely undersetood and told us that Chuck calls ALL the time about the dumbest reasons. So arresting us wasn't even a thought that ran through their heads, which was awesome. How funny would that have been to be arrested while serving a mission?? Missionaries are like the last people who should be arrested hahaha. We felt bad that Chuck and Barb got WAY mad at us, but it's not our fault that THEY didn't notify their Social Security.

We are going to give Barb and Chuck a while to cool off and think about everything. Hopefully they come back to church and realize all that the church has done for them. It's just crazy how things can change SO fast. Just two days before, we were over there having a lesson about going to the temple and having a great time. We've been praying a lot that their hearts will be softened and they'll talk to us again.

It was really hard emotionally to hear/see him yell at us like that. We know we've done the right thing and have helped them get on the path, but staying on the path is their choice. Satan is working hard to keep them from going to the temple.... which is sad. After all of this happened, Sister Stephens reminded me of the scripture D&C 127:4. Even though they're mad us/the church, we don't need to take it out on ourselves. Even if we're persecuted as missionaries sometimes, there WILL be a reward in heaven for what we do. We hope they come back!!!!!!!


Love, Sister Hansen

Working Hard

Last week was a good week, but because of the trials our investigators are going through we felt emotionally/spiritually drained. So this week we wanted to keep going strong even though we felt drained. We ended up having the best week EVER! I think this week was the hardest I've worked since I've been out, and it felt awesome :) I know Heavenly Father and His angels helped uplift me, because there was NO way I would've survived this week with my own strength. I'm grateful for your prayers, because I've DEFINITELY been feeling them :) 

There are a few random things that have happened that I want to quickly share! Chuck is now passing the Sacrament and it's so awesome to watch! It's cool that he is now exercising his priesthood and helping those around him! Chuck and Barbara are just awesome :) I also cut my bangs straight across! I like them and it was good to have a change! I've learned quickly that they take a lot of time and attention haha... so I'll probably be growing them back out again so I don't have to rush WAY fast to get ready in the mornings. 

What can I say, I just wanted to be the same as Kallin and try having straight across bangs ;) Maybe one day in the future I'll have them again though! 

We've been doing a lot of service too, which I love. We helped a member in the branch pull weeds, and then we helped do some gardening in a community garden that helps support a Kitchen Cupboard in town. It's been fun doing something different, but still serving the Lord :) While Sister Stephens and I were pulling weeds for our member, her little boy who's probably only 1 or 2 came up and handed me an orange lily (flower). Lilies are my favorite and so I almost started crying hahaha. It was the cutest thing ever. It helped remind me that there are people who care :) 

On Sunday almost all of the talks were about families. A returned missionary spoke on families, and it was great! I see returned missionaries so differently than I did before... it's awesome! I was thinking a lot about my family and how grateful I am for hem. Then we went to sing the closing hymn and I randomly opened up to the hymn, "Families Can Be Together Forever." I got a little teary eyed... I love my family and I'm grateful that I can be out here teaching people about eternal families!  

Also, yesterday we were teaching one of our investigators and she asked a question that I wasn't sure of. I had NO idea how to answer the question, but as soon as I opened my mouth, the answer came to my mind. I remembered my dad teaching it to me a little while before I left, but I had forgotten it until that very moment. So that was a cool experience! Seeing that when we open our mouths they will be filled with the right words if we're following the spirit... so thank you Daddy and thank you Heavenly Father! ;)

Transfers are coming soon, so it'd be great if everyone started sending my mail to my P.O. box address instead of my Bennington address. That way I don't miss any of your letters if I end up getting transferred :) I hope I get to actually live in New York soon, but I guess we'll see where the Lord needs me :) I have other funny stories, but I don't have much time to write them... so maybe I'll tell them next week. Thanks for everything that you're all doing for me, I really appreciate it! The gospel is true and God loves you :)

Love, Sister Hansen

Busy Week

We've had a pretty busy week. Sister Stephens had a doctor's appointment, we had exchanges with the Saratoga sisters, and we had an All Sister's Conference in Utica. Those were all great experiences! The Sister's Conference really helped rejuvenate me and helped me see the great missionaries we have in our mission. There's such a strength that comes from being with all sisters :) We had one of those testimony meetings where you choose a hymn/bear your testimony and then we all sing it. It was really spiritual and I couldn't even sing because the Spirit was so strong! We sang, "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go," and it really touched my heart.

About a week before I moved to college I remember singing that song in Sacrament Meeting. For a number of reasons I was nervous about going to college and I didn't know what was ahead of me. A couple years later I look back and I LOVED my time at college. I wonder why I was ever scared. Well now we sang that song at the conference and it made me think that yes, missions aren't easy and I've been a little scared at times, but I know one day I'm going to look back and be so happy that I served the Lord. I already have great memories and I'm excited for the memories that I'll make and the lessons I'll learn. Singing that song just brought back a lot of memories, and I'll forever love that song!

September is going to be a big month. We might start using ipads, Facebook, and now we can only have side bags (no backpacks). So we'll see what miracles September brings :) We're excited! I love doing this work. I feel like I'm a therapist/counselor for God haha. It's draining at times, but it's great. I love knowing that this will help me be a better mother and wife one day. I can feel your prayers and I'm thankful for your support! Love you all!!!!!!!


Love, Sister Hansen

Good Times!

This week has been full of funny/neat moments! Actually, what week ISN'T full of funny or neat moments?! Anyway, here are some of the things that happened!

Sister Stephens is the one that sees/finds bugs, and I'm always the one that ends up having to kill them. So she found this HUGE spider. I stepped on it with my shoe and I thought I killed it, but all of a sudden a dozen or more TINY baby spiders started running in every direction from off of the mom's back!!!! We both started SCREAMING and I eventually killed all of them, but I was terrified for a few hours and constantly felt like bugs were everywhere haha. It was a funny, but heart wrenching experience! There are just so many bugs here because of all the trees haha.

Also, Chuck received the priesthood on Sunday, and Barbara received a calling! When President Murphy called their names to stand Chuck stood up fast, turned around and just started WAVING to everyone. It was great haha :) Barbara's new calling is that she is in charge of the calendar where everyone signs up to feed us (the missionaries). She makes sure that we're fed during the week. Perfect calling for her!

Having Chuck receive the priesthood was a great experience! I felt so happy for him and he looked so proud and happy after :) They're doing great and still loving the gospel! It's amazing to see how far they've come!! Oh, and it's the cutest thing because Chuck calls Heavenly Father, "Lovely Father." Haha how awesome is that?! :)

Then I heard this joke that was pretty funny. It says, "When I say a dirty word like exercise, I wash my mouth out with chocolate!" Hahahaha. I just think that is HILARIOUS! Maybe that's just because I'm a missionary and small things seem hilarious, but yeah... we had a good laugh after hearing that one!

The other day we got done with a lesson and were a little down because our investigator isn't progressing very well. I felt down because I started taking it out on myself and feeling like I wasn't being a good missionary, but then when we came home for lunch, I had 4 letters in the mail for me, including a package! They were from Kallin, Trace/Michelle, Elder Geddes, and Sister LeBaron! I felt so happy and I was rejuvenated again! I was reminded that this is the Lord's work, and I'm out here doing good things. I love how Heavenly Father just sends tender mercies exactly when we need them :)

I love this gospel and know it's true with ALL my heart :) I love being able to study and learn new things each day from the scriptures. Hope everyone is doing well and that you're enjoying the gift of the gospel :)

Love, Sister Hansen <3

Fun Fun!

Well, this transfer has started of going well! We had a fun dinner at the Behunin's house! We celebrated Danielle's birthday, and so when we sang Happy Birthday to her we sucked air from helium balloons and then sang.... it was HILARIOUS! Such a funny memory haha :) Then on our way home we saw these bugs called lightning bugs! They kind of look like fireflies, and they glow! On my bucket list I wrote down that I wanted to see real fireflies... well I'm pretty much the closest I can get to that haha, they're awesome! That night Brother Behunin also gave us some shirts from Palmyra when they went to the Sacred Grove. SO NICE OF THEM :)

We went to the reception of a couple in our branch that just got married in the temple. Their names are Aaron and Lyncee! They're such a cute couple :) We helped them set everything up and take everything down when it was done. I'll admit that Sister Stephens and I have gotten a little love sick at times since we've been to 2 weddings lately! And another one of our investigators might be getting married soon too haha... oh the life of missionaries! :) It was really fun though, and we love being a part of this branch!

The funniest thing happened the other day! It's kind of a long story, but one of the lights in one of our closets wasn't working, so we had to call the Landlord to fix the circuit. We had to stay home while he was there, so we decided to watch a nativity movie that was in our apartment (don't worry it's an approved missionary movie haha). The movie started playing Christmas music, and then we realized that almost every room in our apartment has Christmas lights hanging up in it... so he probably thought we were these weird Mormon girls who LOVED Christmas hahaha. We laughed for a long time :) Missionaries have to find dumb things to laugh about ;)

Here are some quotes from this week!

"Sister Stephens... that was NOT a companion-like thing to do!" -Sister Hansen

"You have puppy dog eyes... we should give you a name and collar!" -Brother Behunin

"Bury me with a shovel, because we we're all resurrected I don't want any trouble coming up out of the ground!" -Liz Rottler

"There's a famine in the land of miles for missionaries." -Elder Cleveland

"Alright, I'll pay $1,283 for it!" -Brian

Hope you all have a marvelous week! The church is true and the book is blue :)


Love, Sister Hansen <3

Chuck and Barb

This past week was so great! Chuck and Barbara got married on Tuesday!!! President Murphy was the one who married them. The feeling in the room was great! I felt so happy and proud of them! It was a small, cute reception :) The colors were white/pink and all of the branch members helped out SO much (thank you!!!!!!). They used CTR rings for their rings haha. It was great hearing them say "I do" and kissing afterwards! I had never been to a wedding before, so it was fun! It's so amazing seeing the steps people will take when they're getting closer to the gospel :) CONGRATS CHUCK AND BARB! I'll hopefully get to the other library and have pictures up next week!

We had a great Zone Conference this week and a huge rain storm haha. I have NEVER forgotten the keys before, but the ONE time I do, we're locked out of the house during a big rain storm! It was hilarious! We ended up opening the door with a debit card though, so we were safe! It was a funny moment though :)

Brother Behunin is so great! He is always getting us small gifts. He gave Sister Stephens and I necklaces with the Salt Lake temple on them, little oil holders for our key chains when we need priesthood blessings, and a little statues of Christ. He's such a great member of our branch and we love him! Of course we love everyone else too, including Brother Scott Grover, Sister Kimball, etc. They're all great :) I'm happy to be a part of this branch!

I have two stories! One of them happened when we were talking to someone on the street. They told us that their friend was in the park one day, and a squirrel just came up and bit him in the toe hahaha. Apparently the squirrel had "rabies" and he went to the doctor haha. Random stories come from talking to people on the streets.

Then, when I was in church on Sunday I heard the primary kids singing, "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission." It was SO cute, and it's amazing how that song has such a different meaning than it did before... crazy! I'm on a mission!!! Sometimes I still can't believe I'm here and that I'm a missionary!

Chuck and Barbara's baptism is going to be this Saturday... AHHH!!! We're excited and so are they :) Pat (our other investigator) has set a baptismal date for September 28th! She's so sweet and loves the gospel! I don't know if I'll get transferred or not, but transfer calls are on the same day as our baptism... so we'll see if I'm leaving or not! This work is true and it's real! I love it!

Thanks for all of your love and support! You're greatly appreciated :)


Love, Sister Hansen <3

Baptisms!

Transfer calls came and we're both staying again, yay! 6 more weeks in good old Bennington, Vermont haha :)

Well here's the big update about Chuck and Barbara being baptized!! There was a good turn out of people at the service. Actually, 4 elders from our district surprised us and came to support! That was really nice of them!

A few members from the branch spoke and they were great. Then, believe it or not, Sister Stephens, Sister Jones, and I sang, "Let The Holy Spirit Guide." We were pretty nervous so it wasn't AMAZING or anything, but I'm glad that I was able to participate in the program!

Barbara's son (Brian Grover) is the one who baptized them. He was baptized less than a year ago and is already being able to baptize them... how awesome is that?!

Barb was a little nervous and stiff, so it took about 4 tries before she went completely under. Haha it was quite the experience! With the help of Brother Jones, Chuck went completely under the first time! There were some awkward and funny moments, but to me everything went perfect :) I felt so happy seeing them in white :) I can't even describe how I was feeling the whole time! I felt so happy that they were on their way to becoming a forever family!

Before I came on my mission, I remember getting on my knees and asking Heavenly Father to help me find people who will LOVE the gospel; not those who just accept it, but who will be passionate about it and LOVE it. That's how Barb and Chuck are. They love it and that makes me happy :)

I also prayed that one day I could help a couple get married/baptized. Heavenly Father definitely heard my prayers. He blessed Sister Stephens and I with Barb and Chuck! SO AMAZING :)

On Sunday there were conformed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost by Brother Scott Grover. That went very well! It's cool/crazy to think that they're members now haha! I can't wait to help them progress even more in the gospel!

Not much else has happened, but we're just working hard and trying to find even more people who are prepared by the Lord :) I love this gospel, it works miracles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will hopefully send pictures of the baptismal service soon. Thanks everyone for your support :) I love you all!


Love, Sister Hansen!

Joys of July!

I love the small, random things that help us be happy in life! Here are a couple things that have made Sister Stephens and I happy this week :)

On our phone we usually have a picture of us together as the background. We were once looking through the phone and found something called "Face Warp." So we messed around with it and found out that we can take pictures and warp our faces to make them funny! So we take pictures all the time and then change the background without the other sister knowing. Then the other sister picks up the phone to use it and there's a new ugly/warped picture of us hahaha. It's so great and makes our days better!!!

We went into a store and didn't know that it was a really high class store. We were looking at some coats that were cute and then looked at the tag. They were $3,100 each!!! We almost passed out just looking at that price haha! We just slowly walked out and pretended like we knew we were shopping at a super nice store haha!

Chuck and Barbara had their baptismal interviews this week with out District Leader (Elder Mecham). They were a little nervous, but guess what... THEY PASSED!!! ;) They both have strong testimonies and we love being with them! Sister Stephens and I sometimes forget that they're investigators because we're so comfortable and open with them haha. They are starting to have us over for dinner and feed us just like the members do! We love them :) They're going to be members soon.... crazy! Their wedding is tomorrow and we're excited for that too :) I'll let you know how that goes!

The humidity has been pretty bad lately. The best way to describe it is I feel like I'm swimming while I'm walking haha. It's like a wall of hot air! We've been walking around a lot more because some of our miles got cut. I've been sunburned a couple times too!.... Oh the joys of being a missionary!

For the 4th of July we had a fun dinner at Brother Behunin's house! He always decorates the tables fun for whatever occasion we're having. He's the best! I hope to stay here for one more transfer! Sister Stephens and I hope we both stay... but I guess we'll see! Transfer calls are in a couple weeks, so everyone needs to start sending things to the mission office, not my Bennington address. I don't want mail to get there after I've left... IF I leave Bennington!


Weekly quotes:

"Look it's raining outside! Scott's car is getting baptized!" -Chuck

"Because we're skinny, give us SALADS... don't make us FAT." -Sister Hansen

"Are you doing anything fun for the 4th of July?!..........missionary work!!" -Elder Moore

"Most people think I go to Wal-mart to get tuna fish, but I don't!" -Mary


Hope you're all doing well and hope your testimonies are staying strong :) Keep the faith! Love you all!


Love Sister Hansen :)

Summer

Okay it's official... I'M AWKWARD AROUND LITTLE KIDS! Being a missionary is hard when it comes to being around children, because we can barely do anything. They're always wanting me to hold or hug them and I find myself just getting all tense and awkward haha. I'm trying to follow the rules, so not being able to hold kids or babies has been challenging at times! I can see why missionaries come home and are a little awkward at first haha. We'll see how I am after 14 more months ;)

Oh, and I want to thank all of you who remembered my birthday and who were sweet enough to send me gifts :) You helped me feel loved and I couldn't have asked for better birthday presents than hearing from you :) THANKS!!!

These past few weeks have been great! We've had some great experiences! One of them was after district meeting. There was a HUGE rain storm while we were driving home. Branches from trees had fallen in the road every so often, so Sister Stephens and I were able to give some service by moving the trees out of the road! It felt good to help cars be able to drive safely on the roads :) Then later in the week we went on a picnic with the Brownell family, but only the girls haha! We went to Willow Park and had a great time!

This week I had a couple different birthday parties, which was so fun! AT the Behunin's we are dinner, had cake, and then carved watermelons! I know it sounds funny, but it was awesome! I'll hopefully send some pictures soon. My other party was at the Kimball's house. I didn't know it, but Sister Kimball invited more of the branch members to the party and they showed up to surprise me! It was so sweet and we had a great time playing games and eating cake :) It really felt like home! I'm grateful to be surrounded by people I love! I hope my amazing twin sister had a good birthday too :)

Here are quotes for the week!

"You don't look like Christmas, but I on the other hand look like a nun!" -Sister Stephens

"When you mention a wedding in the church... the women go NUTS!!!" -Scott

"It smells like a porta-potty... with cat food in it!" -Sister Hansen

"I'm getting Bennington eyebrows!!!!" -Sister Stephens

*In a frustrating situation* "Okay okay okay... talk like Christ, be like Christ... everyone's great!" -Sister Hansen

Chuck and Barbara are doing great by working towards their wedding and baptism. We're almost done planning everything, but we're getting closer to Tuesday the 9th! We're all excited :) I love this gospel and I love the experiences I'm having out here!


Love, Sister Hansen!

Bitter Sweet Week

The Leadership Broadcast really was amazing! It's awesome that the church is coming up with new ways to spread the gospel. We won't be able to access more internet cites until we have the permission to, so we'll be patiently waiting until it is our turn to start using other cites! I loved watching the videos and hearing the music on the broadcast. I cried multiple times haha! It's great to be here and to know that so many of my friends are also serving :)

President and Sister Wirthlin came to our branch this week to speak in sacrament! It was fun having them there :) President Wirthlin is having to regulate our miles because of all the new missionaries coming in... so we get cut 100 miles a month. Sister Stephens and I are on the lookout for some used bikes haha. It would be so nice to get bikes! We'll see if we can get a couple in the next few weeks.

The other day Sister Stephens and I were driving on a fast road, so we were going about 60 mph. All of a sudden a squirrel ran out RIGHT in front of us. We both started SCREAMING and freaking out! Luckily it ran away and we barely missed it haha. We just burst out laughing afterwards. We both said that our hearts were beating SO fast. We're such girls... it's hilarious! The bugs are starting to come out too, so we're having sooo much fun killing bugs in our apartment ;)

Our investigators are doing well! We had one investigator set for my birthday, but we had to postpone the date because she can't keep the Word of Wisdom completely. That's okay though! We just love helping her get closer to Christ :) Our other investigators  (Chuck and Barbara) are doing SO well! We've taught them all the way up to the Law of Chastity, so they've decided to get married before they get baptized!!! The wedding is on July 7th, and the baptisms are on July 20th :) We're SUPER excited!! :) Some of my true self started coming out again because I LOVE weddings and cute couples haha. So I've been squealing and screaming a lot lately :) We only have a couple weeks to get the wedding together, so hopefully it'll work out! I'm grateful for them and the decisions they're making! It makes me so happy to see them willing to change for the Lord! Ahhhhh, I'm happy :D

This weekend is mine and Kallin's 20th birthday, so this is a bitter/sweet time for me. I've been thinking about her a lot lately, so it's been a little rough. I have to admit that being away from family hasn't been easy. I know it will be worth it, but it for sure hasn't been easy. I feel like I'm mostly myself out here, but I feel like there's something missing... then I realized that there IS something missing... and that's Kallin. I don't think I will FULLY be myself until I'm with Kallin :) She's my other half and best friend. I'm so lucky to be a twin and am happy for these amazing 20 years we've had together. I love you Kal, thanks for being my everything! Happy 20th Birthday you "filthy animal" :)

Anyway, I hope you are all doing great :) I love the Lord and I love the gospel. I thank Heavenly Father for every single day I'm out here! the gospel is true and never stop living it :)

Love you all!


Love, Sister Hansen :)

Mini Miracles

Heavenly Father is so amazing! We have had many experiences this week that have been unbelievable! Heavenly Father helped us cross paths with 2 families who really needed help, and we have been helping them through some problems. It's just amazing how everything works out perfectly, and you can see God's hand in EVERY detail of the work. I'm grateful for the Spirit prompting us to talk to these people!

Our investigators are doing well! They love the gospel and are learning, but we can also see Satan trying to tear them down. We're helping them stay positive and battle their fears. They've been coming to church more, so we're happy about that! I love seeing people change because of this gospel :)

At the end of each day I'm more and more amazed at how amazing Heavenly Father is, and I feel so blessed to be on a mission. Of course a mission isn't easy, but I'm grateful to be here and I love the people! There are days when I LOVE it and days when I want to give up, but when it comes down to it, there's no other place I'd rather be :)

One of our investigators was graduating high school, so we went to the high school graduation! It was really weird being back in a high school again haha. The graduation was good and everything, but it made me happy to be out of high school and on a mission :)

Sister Stephens and I are having a great time serving together and we laugh a lot. We keep reminding ourselves that this is missionary fun, not missionary work :) I love being called SISTER HANSEN!!! :)

Funny quotes for the week:

"Don't go out in the rain, you'll melt cause you're so sweet!" -Brother Behunin

"Did you know that a microwave is a mini nuclear bomb?" -Elder Zenger

"Mormons? Ohhh, those people who walk around carrying coffee and cottage cheese!" -Sister Hansen

"Ohhhh poopy scoopy!" -Sister Stephens

"No aggressive driving, no speeding violations, just pure... beautiful!" -Elder Johnson

"Just stay inside your little house, play cards, read the Book of Mormon, and don't MOVE!" -Sister Hansen

"Yee-hah!!! Go Vermont!" -Sister Hansen


Hope you're all loving life, because it's precious :) Miss and love you!


Love, Sister Hansen

Transfer Calls

Well transfer calls came, and I'm staying in Bennington!!!!!!! :D Sister Stephens and I had a feeling that we were going to stay, but we were a little nervous. When the ZL's told us that we were staying, both of us started squealing and hugging each other haha. I think we hurt their ears over the phone haha. Sister Stephens and I just really wanted to stay together and help our investigators get closer to baptism! I love it here and could stay here for a long time if the Lord needed me to :)

I've had a cold for the last 2 weeks. It's been pretty hard because colds drain your energy. Sometimes as a missionary you don't realize how much work you really do each day until you're kind of sick and then everything is ten times more tiring haha. I'm slowly getting over my cold, but it's been pretty rough! I just want to get over it so I can go full speed again :)

At our district meeting we had a lunch that was really fun! I love getting together with other missionaries! It helps rejuvenate me :) This next transfer we're getting a new set of sisters in our district. Before, Sister Stephens and I were the only ones, so having new sisters should be fun!

I seriously love this work. The other day one of our investigators came up to us and said, "I can't WAIT to be baptized... I'm SO excited for that day." I just wanted to cry because I was so happy. There's nothing better than seeing people become closer to Christ. I LOVE IT!!!

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be on a mission! It has helped build my faith and I've met so many amazing people! I'm also grateful for my friends who are on missions, like Sister Newton, Elder Geddes, Elder Beck, Elder Christensen, etc. It's been great to hear from them and share experiences :)

I hope everyone is doing well and has a wonderful week :) Love you!!!


Love, Sister Hansen

Summer Begins

I forgot to mention that last week we went to the Stake Picnic! All of the missionaries in our stake were also there and we had a great time! We played baseball... and when I say "we" that also includes ME. Crazy... I know! ;) When I got up to bat it took me probably 5 tries before I actually hit the ball. It was pretty embarrassing... but oh well. At least I gave everyone a good laugh, right??

The work has been good. Our investigators are doing well, but we can see that Satan is really trying to get in the way now... So hopefully we can help them get through the struggles they're going through. Everyone out here says the work "wicked." I think it's hilarious. They'll say things like, "That's wicked awesome!" So if I ever start saying wicked, then you'll know why ;)

Well, the weather has been pretty crazy lately. About once a week we have flash flood or tornado warnings haha. At first Sister Stephens and I started FREAKING out, but then realized that the warnings weren't AS bad as we thought they were going to be. We had one really bad storm though. We were driving in it for about 5-10 minutes. We were driving through about half a foot of water! Luckily Heavenly Father kept us safe and we made it home.

A small tornado actually touched down only a little ways from our house... crazy! While the storm was raging we were looking out the window and I jokingly said, "IT'S THE SECOND COMING!" We both laughed and were happy that we could stay lighthearted, even though the storm was a little scary.

A lot of the members started calling us to make sure we were okay, including Brother Grover, Brother Behunin, Sister Campell-Copp, and Sister Kimball. We were so grateful for their support and for showing they'd be there if something really did happen! The storm eventually passed and the next day it looked like nothing had even happened. It was an adventure! Now the weather has been really hot. The humidity is pretty hard to get used to, but I know that I'll slowly adjust!

Transfers are coming up! Sister Stephens and I are pretty scared haha. We're loving being together and loving being in Bennington. We're hoping SO bad that we both get to stay here... I guess we'll see! :/ Transfer calls are this Saturday... so on Monday I'll let everyone know what's going on! I hope to stay here, but if the Lord needs me somewhere else then I'll be willing to go! "Ill go where you want me to go dear Lord..." :)

Well, I better wrap things up. Hopefully I'll have more time next week to write all of you back!
Love you!!!


Love, Sister Hansen

Mission Memories

Wow, I'm so happy! I love being a missionary and I'm loving being on my mission :) The people are amazing! The members, investigators, and the people we meet each day. Transfers are soon, and I hope that I don't get transferred! Sister Stephens and I want to stay together to be able to see our investigators be baptized,  and we just want to stay in Bennington. I guess if the Lord needs us somewhere else we'll go there, but we REALLY want to stay. Keep your fingers crossed! Our investigators are doing great, and we're trying to work as hard as we can. I love the work!

We had exchanges, and Sister Adkins came to work in my area with me. We went to something called the "May Fest." It's where there are tons of booths and fun things to do all along main street! We were focusing on OYMing (open your mouth), so being on Main Street during the May Fest was perfect! We were able to talk to a lot of people! There was a military booth where you could do push-ups  and I decided to try! I did 24 push-ups and won a bag of cheetos hahaha. Great prize, right? ;) After I was done doing push-ups everyone was cheering and clapping. It was REALLY weird because as missionaries we're so used to people ignoring/avoiding us. It was fun having people actually being nice to us for a change haha!

Later that day Sister Adkins and I went to try knocking on this guy's door that we had met a few days before. We knocked on the door and no one answered. So we waited a bit and then knocked again. We all of a sudden heard him scream through the door, "TAKE YOUR HOLY WATER AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ______!!!!!" We just awkwardly backed away from the porch and left haha. It was scary, but funny at the same time. We laughed about it later!

Here are some funny quotes for the week!

"I'm so used to things being odd, so I don't really notice strange things anymore." -Sister Hansen

"God can still see you... even if you're hiding under a bed." -Brian

"Do I act funny around old people?" -Sister Stephens

"It's an exciting world out here in Bennington!" -Sister Stephens

"I hear sweet and I come running! What can I say, I'm sweet!" -Scott

"Sometimes I wonder if I'm still on earth." -Sister Hansen

Thanks for all that you do! I'm grateful for my family and friends and love them! Hope everyone has a great week!


Love, Sister Hansen

Funny Moments!

This weeks has been SO awesome! Sister Stephens and I are having a great time and love the work! The Lord is blessing us with new investigators, and we now have 3 investigators who have baptismal dates!! We're really excited for them, and we can't believe the progress they're making. The Lord has His hand in every aspect of our work, and I'm grateful. The baptismal dates are set for June 29th and July 13th. We're excited to help them along the path towards baptism :) We just hope we get to stay here for at least another transfer so we can see them get baptized!!! Pray for us to stay here ;) haha jk.

It was sad to hear about President Monson's wife dying, but at least we know where she is and that they will be able to see each other again :) I haven't heard details about it yet, but I would really like to. So if anyone can let me know then that'd be awesome! I love our prophet and love being able to testify of him each day :)

Lately Sister Stephens and I have had the most funny/random moments and we laugh our heads off. The other day we were just walking down the street in a trailer park, and some dogs started coming up to us. All of a sudden this guy comes running after them and calling their names, and he was wearing these TINY short shorts that had Spongebob on them hahaha. A lot of men in this town wear REALLY short shorts... and I guess to them it's normal. We just laugh all the time!

At our apartment we keep finding these gross bugs! I think they're called House Centipedes. They have these LONG legs and are HUGE. Definitely way worse than spiders. Luckily they're dead when we find them... I think Heavenly Father is blessing us because He knows if we found on of them alive, I think we'd die haha! We hear sirens constantly every single day. I think there's ALWAYS someone being arrested, a fire at a house, a car accident, etc. Hearing sirens constantly has become normal to me now. We just start laughing whenever we hear them!

Sister Stephens has been adjusting well, and I'm grateful to be her trainer. Lately when people have been asking us questions, she has been trying to answer them... and sometimes her answers are hilarious! She gets the names of the streets wrong, and it's so funny! She called Houghton Lane, Horton Lane... and she called Safford Street, Savage Street. Also, the other day we introduced ourselves to a random citizen and she said, "Hi I'm Sister Hansen... no wait... no I'm not! I'm Sister Stephens!" We burst out laughing! I know exactly how she felt because SO many times I got scared whenever we talked to people, and I almost said my name was Sister Blackburn haha (by the way, I love and miss you Sister Blackburn!).

Anyway, missionary life is great and I'm happy to be here :) The challenges we face are always worth it, and I'm so happy for the people who are preparing for baptism. Thanks for all of your support!


Love, Sister Hansen

Miracles

This week has been SO great! We've picked up more investigators, and Heavenly Father is blessing us to find people who need the gospel. There are several stories that I would love to share, but I don't have the time. All I can say is that having faith brings miracles, and I'm so grateful that I can see miracles each day. I can't remember if I wrote this in my last e-mail, but one of our investigators is scheduled to be baptized on my birthday!!! Is there any better birthday present? NO! :) I'm really happy for her, and we're grateful for her progress.

A few funny/great things that happened this week!

-Talked to my family on the phone!!! :)
-A bird pooped on my backpack haha
-When our District Leader asks us if there is anything he can do for us we ask him to sing us a hymn. HILARIOUS!
-I got a shirt that says, "Vermont: What happens here stays here... but nothing ever really happens."

The work has been great! I'm enjoying working with Sister Stephens. I LOVE teaching. That's my favorite (probably every missionary's favorite) thing about missionary work. I love being able to study, do service, tract, etc... but teaching is my absolute favorite! I love being able to see people's eyes light up and see them change their lives. I love being able to testify of our Savior and His gospel!

Also, there have been a lot of times when I hear the song, "I Like To Look For Rainbows" and I almost start crying haha (in a good way). It's kind of a long story, but it reminds me of my days in Old Farm and just being at Utah State in general. Just being with the people I care about, and having such a good time at college.

It always reminds me of my friends from Lee's Marketplace (LOVE ALL OF YOU!!!) and other friends from Old Farm. Thanks for your support, and I'm grateful to have you as friends :) Keep Logan in shape for me, alright? ;)

Hope everyone is doing well :) Keep being faithful and don't waste the time you have on this earth, it's precious!


Love, Sister Hansen

I'm Training!!

This week has been amazing! Seriously, Heavenly Father is pouring out blessings. We picked up 3 new investigators who are hungry for the gospel. We're LOVING being able to teach them, because their desires to learn are so strong! Their names are Pat, Barbara, and Chuck! We found all of them through member referrals. Member referrals help sooo much!

For a while Sister Blackburn and I felt like we were doing SO much work and not very much was coming from it... but we're now finally seeing the fruits of our labors, and I'm really excited ?) I'm starting to gain an even stronger testimony about being obedient and doing what's right even if not much is coming from it. Eventually Heavenly Father will help you and you WILL get blessings. Sometimes it just takes a little bit longer :)

Being a trainer was a little stressful for the first couple days, but I'm adjusting pretty well! Sister Stephens is from Washington, and she's great! She's willing to work hard and is a great sister to be around. We get along well and I'm glad to be with her!

The weather is beginning to warm up, and we're happy about that :) More people are outside, and it's so fun to walk everywhere! The trees are starting to bloom and it's really pretty! I love it here and when I think about leaving Bennington my heart sinks a little bit. I hope I stay here for a couple more transfers. I love the branch members, and I'm grateful for other people I have met.

The other day we met an old Korean lady named Kim, who was working in her yard. We were talking to her for a while, and she was HILARIOUS! People with loud cars/motorcycles would drive by and she'd start cussing them out SO bad. We couldn't help but laugh! I don't think I've ever heard someone cuss so many times in one sentence hahaha. We're going back to visit her sometime this week! People here are unique, but awesome :)

I love the work and time is going by a TINY bit faster, but not completely. I have days that are hard, but once something great happens then those hard days are all worth it :) I don't have time to write much more, so I better wrap things up. Thanks for your prayers, letters, and e-mails. I love you all and the gospel is truer than true :)


Love, Sister Hansen

Training- Almost here!

So first off I have some crazy news. I'M TRAINING! When transfers are here I'm going to be training a new greenie, taking over the area, and starting to drive. I'm a little nervous, but I know that Heavenly Father wants me training for a reason. It will help me learn everything really well because I'll have to explain it to her and set an example. I feel some pressure coming my way, but I'm still excited for it :) Ahhhhhh!

While Sister Blackburn was on her temple trip, I worked with the New Hartford sisters for the day. We had a lot of fun, and it was good to experience a new area. We went to a Refugee Center and taught English to people there. It was a different experience, but cool at the same time! Later in the week we had what we call "Special Training" or "Return and Report." So I got to see all of my friends from the MTC. It was great to hear their stories and see them again. It always uplifts your spirits when you see your friends again! The training was great, and it helped me learn how to be better!

We have been having more success with finding investigators and teaching more lessons. We're excited about a few people because we feel like they're closer to baptism :) I love the people here and I love the work. I love being tired at the end of the day because we did our best for the Lord. It's challenging at times, but if it wasn't then it wouldn't be a mission! :)

Here are some funny quotes/highlights from this week!

Two Polynesian elders in our mission sat on a couch and broke it hahaha.

Two Jehovah's witnesses knocked on OUR door and tried to give us pamphlets. AWKWARD!!!!!!!!

"Be on the lookout for a purple toilet!" -Sister Blackburn

"Here's our number if you never want to call us!" -Sister Hansen

"My legs are white... already to harvest!" -Sister Blackburn

I'm grateful for all of your support and letters. I hope everyone's doing well!


Love, Sister Hansen

Changes

This week has been a lot better! We've been able to catch more people at home and teach more lessons. We have quite a few potential investigators, so that's good! We're loving being able to help the people and bring them unto Christ.

We had exchanges with the Glennville Sisters, and that was a good experience! It was fun to be with a different sister for a day and learn from them. I was with Sister Childers! Sister Blackburn's last day is the 30th... crazy! Then I'll be getting a new companion. I'm a little nervous to be taking over the area, but I know with the Lord's help I'll be able to do it.

One of my favorite things that we've been doing lately is going to visit the less actives that are senior citizens. Whenever we go we meet so many funny old people. Some of them yell or say crazy things like, "You can come for entertainment here... and it's FREE!" or "I might break my neck doing this... but that's not unusual!"

Whenever we leave those homes we're always laughing. We passed an old man in a wheel chair and he said, "Hello!....oh hey... you're CUTE!!! I think we've met before!" We just die laughing. We get to sing to them too, so I love doing that! :)

Nothing MAJOR has happened this week, so I don't know what else to say... but I'm adjusting a little better to missionary life. I'm grateful for the gospel and I'm grateful for all of you!


Love, Sister Hansen

Ups and Downs

Like last week, this week has been a little bit slower. People keep canceling or not showing up again. That's why we've been having to do a lot of tracting and making good backup plans. 3 of our investigators are ready for baptism, so this week we're hopefully going to set dates for them to be baptized!! :) We know they're ready... they just need to somehow get work off on Sundays or find a different job because most people work on Sundays here. They know the gospel is true... but getting them to commit to Sundays is sometimes difficult! Here are some funny things that happened this week:

I microwaved some Nutella to put with strawberries... DON'T EVER DO IT! There was lightning in the microwave haha. Later I looked on the Nutella container and it says, "Do not refrigerate or microwave." I learned my lesson! :)

I had a dream that I tried to sneak into the Priesthood Session of General Conference haha. I dreamed that I dressed up like a guy and watched about 5 minutes and then they kicked me out. When I woke up I just started laughing! Apparently I'm excited to hear the talks from that session! Plus, Sister Blackburn had a dream that I was carrying a bag of spinach in with me to a movie theater hahaha! I guess that's what comes from me trying to eat healthy!

Quotes for the week:

"Even if people think we're creeps, at least we won't be the strangest people they've seen in this town!" -Sister Hansen

"LOOK! The lady across the street is preparing for a flood!" -Sister Blackburn

"Move your feet! Your scrummy toes are falling off!" -Brother Behunin

"I feel like a ravenous animal that wants to eat EVERYTHING... especially chocolate." -Sister Hansen

"I think I should go give this to a homeless person... or something...." -Sister Hansen

This week has been slow, but still a good one! There are a lot of ups and down in missionary work, but you learn to love all of them. I'm grateful for my friends and family who have been writing me. This gospel is true, and I'm trying my best to help people come to know their Savior. I love you all!

Love, Sister Hansen

Missionary Life

This week has been a little slower than the others. We've been ready and excited to teach people, but as a missionary you learn fast that people will cancel appointments, forget, or won't even show up. It's a little disappointing, but you keep trusting in the Lord and having faith. You can see people progressing so much in a lesson, and the next time they see you they're hesitant about everything.

It just shows that this work is true, and Satan is working on them because he doesn't want them to progress. We have been praying with faith that we can keep finding and teaching people. As long as we do our part, I know the Lord will help us. There are times when I get down on myself and think that I'm not doing enough, but then I remember that I've only been out for a few weeks. I'm not going to be perfect, but I'm trying my best and that's all the Lord wants :)

General Conference was amazing! As a missionary you're constantly busy, so sitting down for a while and listening to conference was nice. I know what the apostles and prophets taught it true. I know God and Christ live. I know we're His children and that He loves us. This is a marvelous work, and I'm so happy to be sharing it with others!

Here are some fun highlights for this week!

-My skirt was accidentally shut outside of the car door during our car wash, so my skirt got all bubbly and soaked haha.
-We got ice cream from an ice cream truck!
-If we slip or fall during the week we owe everyone doughnuts at district meeting! Yes, we've already had doughnuts haha :)
-A man answering the door in nothing but a small robe
-Trying some hot sauce that said, "This product is 800 times hotter than jalapeno peppers." IT WAS SOOOO HOT!
-GENERAL CONFERENCE

Loved this joke I heard:

There were 3 missionaries who encountered a genie, and they each had one wish. The first missionary wished that he could get mail every single day of his mission. His wish was granted and he got a letter every day of his mission.

The second missionary wished to baptize hundreds of people. His wish was granted and he baptized 200 people.

The third missionary wished that he could be like Christ completely. He wanted to teach like Christ, tract like Christ, hope like Christ, and act like Christ... EVERYTHING the way Christ would. So the genie granted the third missionary's wish by turning him into a sister missionary!

Hahahahahaha!


Love, Sister Hansen

Happy Easter and April Fool's Day!

This week has been great! We have been doing a lot of tracting. Most people turn us away, but there have been a few people that have let us in. They weren't necessarily interested in what we had to say, but we had some good conversations about religion. We have a small teaching pool of about 6 people. A lot of them are getting closer to baptism, which is SO exciting :) Their names are Millie, Dylan, Ashley, Annette, and Roxanne.

While tracting this week, we found 4 new people who want to start learning! The Lord is definitely helping us every step of the way. There are days when all people do is slam the door in your face, but when you find that one person who wants to know more... every single slammed door becomes worth it :)

We've met some pretty interesting people here! I think that's the biggest thing I've had to get used to. People aren't always mentally there, and aren't clean or take care of themselves. So it's frustrating trying to find people to teach sometimes, because you don't even know if they're mentally sane. Most houses are completely falling apart. We get really uncomfortable at people's houses because they're so dirty and gross... but I'm learning to just accept it. I'm trying to look past all of that and see how the gospel could help turn that around.

We come across a lot of hoarders, and people who just trash everything. When I imagined New York, I imagined a really high class place... but I guess where we were it's not that way. I'm sure there are nicer places in the city, but not here haha. Definitely different... but I'm sure I'll get used to it!

The members have been feeding us Easter dinners, with fun activities like coloring Easter eggs and finding baskets :) Almost EVERYONE has a dog, which I love. Most of the times they're nice, but sometimes we come across scary ones. The weather has been getting a little warmer, but like Utah, it can change in 5 minutes haha!

There are days when I KNOW that I couldn't get through them alone, and that's when I'm grateful for your prayers. The Lord is helping me tremendously, and I feel so blessed. The gospel is true, and I love it. I have truly seen what this world is like without it, and I've only been out a couple weeks. I want to save my brothers and sisters. I love them a want to help them. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us, and we need to let EVERYONE know that.

I hope all of you had a great Easter and Happy April Fool's Day!!! :)

Love, Sister Hansen