I'm not gonna lie, leaving Owego was sad haha. My last day there we got our car stuck in deep snow and the elders and a member had to come help us get out haha. Then later that night we had dinner with Elaine and Rachael (recent convert & investigator. We had a good, deep, heart-to-heart conversation about a lot of things haha :) (oh yeah, Mom and Dad sorry I spent so much money on my debit card... I was helping Elaine pay for some of her temple clothes!) I'm really going to miss everyone there. I also slipped on the ice for the first time this winter... Well I didn't actually make it ALL the way to the ground, but I did slip. We were running to our car and then I biffed it haha, so it was a pretty hard fall. My hand got hurt, but the cool thing was that my knee didn't get bruised or scraped up or anything because my garments were there :) That was a cool testimony builder on garments! :)
Anyway, transfers went well. My new trainee is Sister Jessica Brown. She's 22 years old and from Washington. She's kind of an odd duck haha, but she's great! She's always trying to brag about how many boys want to marry her... and I'm sitting over there like, "Hey I'm a missionary... I like cake." Ha ha yeah... that's how things have been lately. We're still trying to get used to each other, but it's been good so far. We've been making the apartment cute and cleaning everything :) It feels really homey now that we've decorated it!
I'm actually not in Latham. Latham is in my area, but I'm in a town called Watervliet (water-vleet). We live below the Dunklee family who are awesome members :) After fixing up the apartment we've been trying to find more people to teach. Our ward is really big with a lot of young families and little kids :) I love it! There are actually 4 sets of missionaries in our ward, 3 sets of elders, and us. Our bishop is Bishop Heybourne! The members here have wanted sisters for SO long, so we were received well and everyone was really friendly :) I'm excited to get to know everyone!
I've been trying to teach Sister Brown all that she needs to know as a new missionary, and she's been adjusting well. We hear ad a funny story about an elder tracting for the first time. The person opened the door and he was so nervous that he just paused for a while and then just blurted our, "MORMONS!!!!" Hahaha, I thought that was hilarious! IF she does anything funny like that then I'll definitely let you know ;)
Here are some funny quotes from this week:
"There's GOTTA be a trash can in here.... come on... it's the Relief Society." -Elder Prestwich
"He's not black... but he's big, bald, and cool." -Elder Lords
"We are going to be HILARIOUS wives one day!" -Sister Hansen
"I wonder if God laughed when he invented farting." -Sister Stewart
Oh yeah, 3 people that I was close to in Bennington have been baptized recently! I'm really happy for them :) I also heard that Brother Grover is moving to Logan in a few weeks! I'm sooo excited for him!!!! Logan is the best :D
The library nearest to where we live doesn't open till 2:00pm... so I'lll most likely be emailing sometime after 2:00 every preparation day, just a heads-up! Thanks for everything! I guess that's all folks. Remember God is watching over you! I know He is because I ask Him to every day :) Love all of you!
Love, Sister Hansen :)
Monday, February 24, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
...Come Again President?
So... BIG news. We got transfer calls and President Wirthlin says, "Sister Hansen... I'm about to really rock your world." He then asked if I would leave Owego even though I've only been here one transfer, train a new missionary, AND open a sister's area... WHAT?! Yep, that's seriously what is happening with transfers. I'm leaving Owego even though I just got settled and I'm being transferred to Latham (Lay-thum), it's near Albany. I'm going to be in the city with the Zone Leaders in our ward!
As soon as I hung up the phone, Sister Stewart and I started crying haha. We really wanted to stay together. We were having a lot of fun and working hard. We TOTALLY thought we were both going to stay. My mind is still blown haha. It was really hard saying bye to everyone on Sunday because it felt like I just barely got to know them and was really starting to connect with people. I'm sad to leave our investigators too :( .... but I guess "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord."
Now that the big news is out of the way, I'll tell you about our week. Valentine's Day wasn't very fun at first haha, but then the Smiths had a cute dinner for us (thanks for setting that up Mom, Dad, and Kallin!). It was really cute and fun! I started crying a little when I read the card and they gave me the roses. What a creative idea! Thanks also for the package and letters!!
We had another snow day where we had to stay inside... so that was a little boring, but when we were able to get outside we worked hard. One of the elders in our ward had his birthday this week, so we got permission to bring a member and wake him up by singing with a cake and candles at 6:00am haha. They had NO idea we were going to do that, it was really funny! They live with the Cox family, so it was really easy to do!
Our investigator Tim set a baptismal date for late March!! He also came to church for the first time!! :D He surprised me by coming since it was my last week here :( and he really liked church :)
OH YEAH! We had another cool experience happen! We had just finished lunch and were about to get back to work. I had a random thought that we should call Sister Klug (recent convert). We called her and she told us to come over right then. We went over and she told us she was having a really hard time with some things. As SOON as she started feeling all the weight collapsing from it all, we called her on the phone :) It was perfect timing and we helped her feel SO much better. That was awesome seeing what happens when Heavenly Father works through us to help others :) She made a great turn around!!
Other than those few things, nothing huge happened. Just normal teaching and contacting! I could probably use some prayers because I'm a little nervous to open an area and train at the same time, but I know whom the Lord calls He qualifies :) I'm excited to be around a greenie again hahaha, that's always fun! Oh and Sister Stephens is training again too. So I'm gaining a "daughter" AND a new "grand-daughter." Wish me luck!
Thanks for everything! I hope everyone has a wonderful week :) Thanks for all the Valentines. You all mean so much to me, thanks for being in my life!!!
Love, Sister Hansen <3
As soon as I hung up the phone, Sister Stewart and I started crying haha. We really wanted to stay together. We were having a lot of fun and working hard. We TOTALLY thought we were both going to stay. My mind is still blown haha. It was really hard saying bye to everyone on Sunday because it felt like I just barely got to know them and was really starting to connect with people. I'm sad to leave our investigators too :( .... but I guess "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord."
Now that the big news is out of the way, I'll tell you about our week. Valentine's Day wasn't very fun at first haha, but then the Smiths had a cute dinner for us (thanks for setting that up Mom, Dad, and Kallin!). It was really cute and fun! I started crying a little when I read the card and they gave me the roses. What a creative idea! Thanks also for the package and letters!!
We had another snow day where we had to stay inside... so that was a little boring, but when we were able to get outside we worked hard. One of the elders in our ward had his birthday this week, so we got permission to bring a member and wake him up by singing with a cake and candles at 6:00am haha. They had NO idea we were going to do that, it was really funny! They live with the Cox family, so it was really easy to do!
Our investigator Tim set a baptismal date for late March!! He also came to church for the first time!! :D He surprised me by coming since it was my last week here :( and he really liked church :)
OH YEAH! We had another cool experience happen! We had just finished lunch and were about to get back to work. I had a random thought that we should call Sister Klug (recent convert). We called her and she told us to come over right then. We went over and she told us she was having a really hard time with some things. As SOON as she started feeling all the weight collapsing from it all, we called her on the phone :) It was perfect timing and we helped her feel SO much better. That was awesome seeing what happens when Heavenly Father works through us to help others :) She made a great turn around!!
Other than those few things, nothing huge happened. Just normal teaching and contacting! I could probably use some prayers because I'm a little nervous to open an area and train at the same time, but I know whom the Lord calls He qualifies :) I'm excited to be around a greenie again hahaha, that's always fun! Oh and Sister Stephens is training again too. So I'm gaining a "daughter" AND a new "grand-daughter." Wish me luck!
Thanks for everything! I hope everyone has a wonderful week :) Thanks for all the Valentines. You all mean so much to me, thanks for being in my life!!!
Love, Sister Hansen <3
Monday, February 10, 2014
The Greatest Commandment
This week was pretty good, but it snowed a TON. So we didn't get as much done as we could've haha. There was one day where it was like a blizzard outside, so we stayed inside. We studied, cleaned, and tried to keep ourselves busy for as many hours as we could... but eventually we were going crazy haha. around 7:00 we decided to eat ice cream and watch Legacy (produced by the church). It's basically the closest thing we as missionaries can get to watching a chick-flick haha. So we were really happy and loved it :)
We had dinner and breakfast with quite a few members this week. The Smiths, Hess family, Albujas, the Knudsens and others. It's been really fun! The members have been showing a great effort of doing member missionary work and success is coming from it! Our investigators: Tim, William, and Rachael are all progressing. They love learning and are striving to follow Christ. We had a Linger Longer on Sunday, which was fun!
Oh, last preparation day I bought a plaque that says, "If you don't climb the mountain, you can't see the view." I LOOOOVE it! It's in our kitchen :) Last week I think was Ground Hog's Day! Did any of you keep the tradition and watch the movie? Haha man that's such a great show. 6 more weeks of winter, right??
Here are some quotes from the week:
"I can make a fat-booth picture without even having the app!" -Sis. Stewart
*Sister Klug saying a prayer* "Jesus... you're AWESOME."
"That lesson was SO amazing!.......... we need to run weird." -Sis. Hansen
"We talked and cried about how hard missions are... then we cheered each other up with loud toots." -Sis. Stewart
Hahaha mission life is crazy, but I love it! Some days I feel SO happy and other days it's really hard, but I'm grateful to be here :) I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day this week. I don't have any big plans... shocker right?! ;) Everyone please remember how much I care and how much you're loved. I just love LOVE haha. There's a reason why the first commandment is to LOVE the Lord. Everyone should check out one of my favorite talks. It's called, "The First and Greatest Commandment" (or something like that) by Elder Holland. Stay safe and be happy :) LOVE ANYONE AND EVERYONE! Have a wonderful week! Oh, and Happy Birthday Z!!! :)
Love, Sister Hansen :)
We had dinner and breakfast with quite a few members this week. The Smiths, Hess family, Albujas, the Knudsens and others. It's been really fun! The members have been showing a great effort of doing member missionary work and success is coming from it! Our investigators: Tim, William, and Rachael are all progressing. They love learning and are striving to follow Christ. We had a Linger Longer on Sunday, which was fun!
Oh, last preparation day I bought a plaque that says, "If you don't climb the mountain, you can't see the view." I LOOOOVE it! It's in our kitchen :) Last week I think was Ground Hog's Day! Did any of you keep the tradition and watch the movie? Haha man that's such a great show. 6 more weeks of winter, right??
Here are some quotes from the week:
"I can make a fat-booth picture without even having the app!" -Sis. Stewart
*Sister Klug saying a prayer* "Jesus... you're AWESOME."
"That lesson was SO amazing!.......... we need to run weird." -Sis. Hansen
"We talked and cried about how hard missions are... then we cheered each other up with loud toots." -Sis. Stewart
Hahaha mission life is crazy, but I love it! Some days I feel SO happy and other days it's really hard, but I'm grateful to be here :) I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day this week. I don't have any big plans... shocker right?! ;) Everyone please remember how much I care and how much you're loved. I just love LOVE haha. There's a reason why the first commandment is to LOVE the Lord. Everyone should check out one of my favorite talks. It's called, "The First and Greatest Commandment" (or something like that) by Elder Holland. Stay safe and be happy :) LOVE ANYONE AND EVERYONE! Have a wonderful week! Oh, and Happy Birthday Z!!! :)
Love, Sister Hansen :)
Monday, February 3, 2014
With Us Every Step
Sister Stewart had a doctor's appointment in Albany this week... so that meant driving almost all day haha. We were in the car probably a total of 8 hours. It was fun listening to music and just chatting away though! The appointment went well and hopefully she will be able to stay on her mission. I hope she can, but if she needs to go home then that's where the Lord wants her! So far she'll be staying for at least another 3 or 4 weeks.
We also picked up a new investigator!! We went to see a member (Katie) and she had her friend over. We taught him The Restoration and it went well!! He said he'll start reading the BOM and come to church! We were really excited :) Seriously, the best way to bring people into the gospel is through members. My testimony has been SO solid on that ever since I left Bennington. Oh, his name is Tim!
Sister Rasmussen has been keeping me updated about Cooperstown. She wrote and said that someone called about the Addiction Recovery flyers that Sister Langford and I posted around town, probably 3 months ago. She saw the flyer, showed up, and is now going to the classes regularly!! Sometimes it seems like our efforts go to waste, but it's amazing to see that they NEVER do. Later down the road the work we do WILL make a difference :)
She also told me that the Hopkins boys received the priesthood and passed the sacrament for the first time last Sunday!! :D I wish I could've been there to see, but I know they're in good hands. I'm glad that Sister Rasmussen and I pretty much switched places haha, so keeping each other updated is awesome!
William's baptism was supposed to be this weekend, but his parents told us that he's not ready :( There are some family issues that they're trying to work out, so we're scheduling it fora few weeks from now. Hopefully things will get worked out... we're excited for him though. He comes by himself to church every week and he's only 14!
We had some awesome experiences happen all in one day haha. We made plans to tract a street, and when we finished that street we felt like we needed to keep going and tract the back roads that only had a couple houses on them. We were knocking on a door, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a man sitting on a rock by the river. We didn't know if he was over there smoking something or what, but we decided to go talk to him haha. We ended up talking for about 15 minutes. He's kind of familiar with Mormons and said he'd like to know more! We got his number and will call him this week!!! His name is Lee!
Then we went home and had lunch. After lunch I was looking at the map of our area. This wasn't in our plans, but i randomly closed my eyes and pointed to a street haha. I felt like we needed to go there for some reason. So we got in our little Toyota Corolla and went to Gary Drive. We parked the car and as soon as we got our a guy was passing us walking his dog. We started talking to him and found out that he's a less active that no one knew about haha,. He moved in without telling anyone I guess. He said we could stop by! SO cool!!!
It was great having those two experiences happen on the same day! I felt sooo happy! This truly is the Lord's work. I know that Heavenly Father is with us in every step we take!! Oh, speaking of step haha.... as we were walking down Gary Drive a car passed RIGHT as Sister Stewart slipped on the ice HARD CARE haha. It was hilarious! We couldn't gain composure for like 20 minutes hahaha. Man, that's on great thing about winter ;)
Well, it was a great week and I love being here! I love the people that we bisit and I'm grateful to be a missionary :) Remember during this month (and always) to show a lot of CHARITY towards everyone <3 Love you all!
Love, Sister Hansen!
We also picked up a new investigator!! We went to see a member (Katie) and she had her friend over. We taught him The Restoration and it went well!! He said he'll start reading the BOM and come to church! We were really excited :) Seriously, the best way to bring people into the gospel is through members. My testimony has been SO solid on that ever since I left Bennington. Oh, his name is Tim!
Sister Rasmussen has been keeping me updated about Cooperstown. She wrote and said that someone called about the Addiction Recovery flyers that Sister Langford and I posted around town, probably 3 months ago. She saw the flyer, showed up, and is now going to the classes regularly!! Sometimes it seems like our efforts go to waste, but it's amazing to see that they NEVER do. Later down the road the work we do WILL make a difference :)
She also told me that the Hopkins boys received the priesthood and passed the sacrament for the first time last Sunday!! :D I wish I could've been there to see, but I know they're in good hands. I'm glad that Sister Rasmussen and I pretty much switched places haha, so keeping each other updated is awesome!
William's baptism was supposed to be this weekend, but his parents told us that he's not ready :( There are some family issues that they're trying to work out, so we're scheduling it fora few weeks from now. Hopefully things will get worked out... we're excited for him though. He comes by himself to church every week and he's only 14!
We had some awesome experiences happen all in one day haha. We made plans to tract a street, and when we finished that street we felt like we needed to keep going and tract the back roads that only had a couple houses on them. We were knocking on a door, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a man sitting on a rock by the river. We didn't know if he was over there smoking something or what, but we decided to go talk to him haha. We ended up talking for about 15 minutes. He's kind of familiar with Mormons and said he'd like to know more! We got his number and will call him this week!!! His name is Lee!
Then we went home and had lunch. After lunch I was looking at the map of our area. This wasn't in our plans, but i randomly closed my eyes and pointed to a street haha. I felt like we needed to go there for some reason. So we got in our little Toyota Corolla and went to Gary Drive. We parked the car and as soon as we got our a guy was passing us walking his dog. We started talking to him and found out that he's a less active that no one knew about haha,. He moved in without telling anyone I guess. He said we could stop by! SO cool!!!
It was great having those two experiences happen on the same day! I felt sooo happy! This truly is the Lord's work. I know that Heavenly Father is with us in every step we take!! Oh, speaking of step haha.... as we were walking down Gary Drive a car passed RIGHT as Sister Stewart slipped on the ice HARD CARE haha. It was hilarious! We couldn't gain composure for like 20 minutes hahaha. Man, that's on great thing about winter ;)
Well, it was a great week and I love being here! I love the people that we bisit and I'm grateful to be a missionary :) Remember during this month (and always) to show a lot of CHARITY towards everyone <3 Love you all!
Love, Sister Hansen!
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