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