Hello everyone! Hope that everyone is doing well and loving life! Know that I pray for each and every one of you, I care for you and I want you to be happy!

I made it a month! Can you believe it? I've already been out on amission for a whole month, it seems like a blink of an eye! Here's tohoping the next 17 go by just as fast! 😉

This week has been great! On Tuesday I met Sherri, a woman who the

missionaries had taught many times but could never get her to commit

to coming to church. Sister Hunt and I went in to the lesson expecting

to have to "DTR", you know- Define the relationship. If Sherri could

not commit to church we would have to stop visiting her because we

would be wasting our time. We want to teach people who are willing to

progress, and we knew that if she wasn't willing that we would have to

stop seeing her for a time. It's always hard to have these

discussions, because you love the person, and you want to help them,

but you can't keep teaching them if they aren't showing signs of

progression. So, we went to visit Sherri, and guess who came to church

on Sunday? SHERRI!!! 😆🎉 Haha Sherri is one of those people who you

just know that they are meant for you. I was bold when talking to

Sherri, she kept turning to my companion and saying things like "She's

a tough one" and "She's not going to let this go, is she?" We talked

about how she had woken up early the Sunday before and thought about

going to church, and we were able to help her identify that it was the

Spirit telling her to go to church! On Sunday we walked into the

chapel and there she was, 30 minutes before church! Ah man, Sherri is

awesome!

We also were able to visit another really sweet woman, who is

currently on bed rest. She has the most lovable Pit Bull named Baby,

who is CONVINCED that she is a lap dog 😳😂 We also matched, so that

was pretty cool 😎😏

One Friday we had Zone conference. (That's when all the missionaries

in our area get together for training) Our new motto is #PlanB (I

didn't name it I swear 😂), and it is centered around getting

baptisms. Whoever gets the most baptisms gets "The B". I know what it

sounds like. 😉😳😂

Before I go, I just wanted to put a plug in here for enduring to the

end- On Tuesday Sister Hunt and I spent our evening visiting less

active families. I realized that day how easy it is to fall away!

These families had NO IDEA that they were less active, but they

absolutely were! I think it's so easy for us to see ourselves as never

becoming less active, but as we left those home that night I realized

that it was a real possibility that this could happen to me, or to my

parents, or to anyone! These families had stopped doing the little

things. They had stopped coming to church, not because they didn't

want to, but because they didn't make it a priority. They hadn't been

reading their scriptures. Little things that had built up and gotten

them to where they are today! So to everyone who reads this letter:

Recommit yourself TODAY! Continue CPR (Go to Church, Pray, Read your

scriptures) I know that it can be hard at times, but God will bless

you for keeping his commandments! It will all be worth it in the end!

"For thou shalt devote all thy service in Zion; and in this thou shalt

have strength. Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them,

for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days."

Doctrine and Covenants 24: 7-8

Anyway, it's been a beautiful week here in Vegas. I'm so grateful for

all of the many great blessings I've been given, and I'm excited for

the many adventures that lie ahead! The sky is blue and the church is

true!

Until next time,

Sister Emma Hansen

"Brown is my new favorite color"

How do I begin? This week has been something else. Nevada is great, brown is my new favorite color! Hahaha it is HOT! And I mean REALLY HOT. We're in the middle of a heat wave right now, and guess what? BIKES. Yep! We're on bikes. Want to know why? My beautiful companion crashed our car on Friday. 🚨🚨🚨😊🔫 Yep.

Oh man. This week has been crazy. I'm trying to remember back to last
P-day, and it's hard to believe that I was in the MTC! I miss it so much. On our last day we sang "Popcorn popping", because we had always joked that it would be the opening hymn. We finally got to sing it, and Elder Holly (being a recent convert) thought we were all insane.
It was so strange saying goodbye to our little family, you could tell
that we all wanted to hug it out but instead we just shook hands. We
ended by singing "God be with you till we meet again". The next
morning we woke up and had to say goodbye to the Texas missionaries. We were all crying, and it didn't help that it was 3 AM 😁 1 bus ride, 2 trains, and an airplane later we met our mission president and his Wife, they are amazing! President Snow is so great and kind and understanding, and Sister Snow is so funny! One of the Sister training leaders made a green smoothie and offered her some and she responded with "NOPE NOPE NOPE THAT LOOKS NASTY" ... And then she feed us funeral potatoes and cookies 😂😂😂 She is also an amazing pianist 😍

The Las Vegas mission is AMAZING. Seriously. I'm currently in Green
Valley and Henderson, and I cover both the South Point and Legacy
Ward. The members are always willing to come out with us, and we have dinner every night. They are always offering water, or Air
conditioning, whatever we need. I have some ideas that I think will
strengthen the Ward even more, and I'm excited to present them next
week at Ward Council. My area is apparently the wealthy area, and I
believe it! The tub in our apartment could fit 4 people comfortably
haha! I was able to talk to Elder Dunham and Elder Holly, and it's
definitely different. 😁 Elder Holly says that he is convinced he will
get shot, and Elder Dunham has no hot water, a broken window, and
blood stains on the floor... Pray for them 😂😂🙏🏼 

Sister Hunt is my new companion. She's from Ohio, and she's been out
for 5 months today. Turns out we were both at BYUI at the same time,
we just didn't know it! I'm grateful for her, and I've learned a ton
already. I know we can accomplish amazing things.

So about my week... You're probably wondering about our car. Sister
Hunt hit a curb and popped our tire. I remember how to change a tire
(THANK YOU BROTHER LESTARGE), but our E-brake wasn't working, so every time we jacked up the car it would roll backward. We called our District Leaders and with their help we we able to lift the car up
enough to get the spare tire on. Yep, I can lift a car 💪🏽 Just
kidding, there was probably like 30 Angels helping us lift that car.
We got the spare on, but it kept making strange groaning and creaking
noises, so we parked it and have been on our bikes ever since. I like
biking but it does not like me haha- my legs are so beat up. And it
wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the heat and the skirt. Have you
ever biked in a skirt? It's questionable! 😂😁

Yesterday, because we were on bikes we found a bird with a broken wing. My companion was freaking out and didn't know what to do but I just grabbed a cloth I had in my bag and picked him up. I guess you could say I'm not afraid of birds anymore! 😉 We brought him back to our apartment (Don't tell the White Handbook) and kept him in a box. Today we brought him to an Animal Hospital near our apartment and they were able to take care of him.
That's honestly been my week. No baptisms or anything incredible, but
I have witnessed MANY small miracles. Thank you all for your prayers
and letters, I love them and I know that I have been blessed. I can
email and iMessage from 2-4 on Monday (Nevada time) so be sure to keep me updated! I love you and cannot wait until I can hear from you again

Until next time!

Love,

Sister Emma Hansen

Last week at the MTC- ready for change

FAMILY!!!!   FRIENDS!!!!! I LOVE YOU!

P-days are the absolute best; I love them with all of my heart! Thank you, thank you, thank you for the letters and emails and pictures! I've kept all of them! Even if I don't respond please know that I love reading them! Thanks so much for your support! Mama I'm so glad you were able to see Mimi! I miss you and love you all! Okay so first things first:

MATT'S GOING TO SLC??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? That's so crazy ha-ha. He and Conor might actually luck out, I don't know if I'm supposed to say, but the quorum of the twelve and the Prophet will be here for 10 days in the near future... Do you think there's a remedial MTC course that I could take?? Hahaha just kidding! ;) I'm super excited for them!  

Okay so a couple more little house keeping things- I meant JAMES 1:5! Ha-ha that's my bad... it's the one that's "If any of you lack wisdom..." Is my plaque going to be wrong now? Ha-ha because I don't know anything about darkness and the comprehension of light :) If so it'll definitely make for a good story! Also about the blog- Mama that sounds great, thank you for doing that! My only question is if you post it on your Facebook, can my friends see it? I have a lot of non-member and member friends who I think would like to know what I'm up to... Maybe you could post it to my Facebook or tag me in it? 

Also I cut my hair. It kept falling out, probably because of the stress, and it stopped curling because it's so dry. I decided to chop it all off while it's still free here in the MTC, I'll try to add a picture.

(She didn't include a photo)

Also last night I had Taco Bell. God is real. ;)

Random note: I thought you'd like to know that my proselyting license expires on the 13th of December, so that's most likely the latest I will be home. Start your countdowns!

Okay so tomorrow I fly out! I'll look for Caleb! My flight is at like 8AM, will he be there? I'll keep my eyes peeled.(they didn’t see each other) I have to pay for my own luggage and the mission home will reimburse me, so I was planning on putting that charge on my Debit card. I'll call home at around 7AM tomorrow morning Utah time; I'll plan on calling the home number. Excited!!! VEGAS HERE I COME!

This week has been AMAZING and AWFUL and WONDERFUL and HORRIBLE all at the same time. I wish there was more time to go into it all. A dear friend from our district had to go home. (Emma goes into more detail but to protect privacy of this sweet missionary I am editing)  We were allowed as a District to walk her to the gate, and we sang "God be with you till we meet again" per her request. We were all very worried about her,  we received an email from her saying that her parents had kicked her out.  Please pray for her. She was one of my closest friends here.  I am so proud of what she has done, and I admire her for the courage she has. Mom- I gave her your phone number. I told her that if she needed someone to talk to that she could call you. I hope that's okay.

On a lighter note, I had my first real investigator! Her name was Emi, and we were able to commit her to baptism! It was sad to say goodbye, but I feel grateful that I was blessed to be able to teach her, most people you teach in the mission training center are actors or member volunteers. Emi is from Japan, and goes to BYU. She doesn't speak much English, but the gift of tongues is definitely not just for foreign missionaries! I'll do my best to add a picture of us with her. She always asked questions and even took notes while we taught. I love her, I love her, and I love her!

  Erik- I didn’t forget you asked about my "one legged teacher".  His name is Koloa Wolfgramm, and he attends BYU-Provo. You should look for him! He is really super cool and spiritual and humble- It took a lot of prying but we found out that he lost his leg to cancer when he was 4, had competed in the Olympic Bobsled team, almost went to Sochi, but decided to serve a mission instead. He was called to serve in London Chinese speaking. There's actually a documentary on his life being premiered at the BYU theater tonight, you should totally go! I know what you're thinking, don't worry- we got him to sign our Preach My Gospel(s), after much protest. I could see you guys becoming good friends. If you do go, and if you do see him, please tell him Sister Hansen says thank you, he really was an incredible teacher, and I'm grateful for everything he taught me.

Speaking of my MTC teachers- We also had another teacher, Sister Gregerson, who acts as if she escaped from a Disney movie. As crazy as she is, I am really grateful for her and I know that I could turn to her with anything. I really trusted both my teachers, and I know that they really cared about all of us. It was really hard to say goodbye to them yesterday. But I want to end my email with this story- It meant a lot to me. Today is P-day, and we are given the option to go to the temple in the morning. Last night we couldn't really decide if we wanted to go... So we made plans to meet this morning at breakfast, and then decide. We met today at breakfast, and still couldn't decide, so we got dressed, and decided to meet at the front gate. The Elders ran about 40 minutes late, and our excitement was fading fast. We tried to keep a positive outlook, even though the first few hours of our day seemed like a train wreck. We walked up to the temple, and last minute decided to watch Baptisms be done. We waited in there and after decided to try to do something else. We got changed, and found the longest line I have ever seen. We waited, and waited, and waited. We were frustrated and worried that we were wasting too much time. Just when we were about to leave, Sister Gregerson turned the corner! She told us that she had an impression to come to the temple today, but did not know why! I KNOW that this was no coincidence. 

When Elder Bednar came to speak on Saturday he said that when we are on the Lord's errand that there are no such thing as coincidences. God is in the details of our lives. I know that this is true. Because we were late, and because we watched baptisms, and because there was a line, and because Sister Gregerson followed that feeling she had, she was able to see the District that she had taught and prayed for the past three weeks in the Celestial room. 

God know us all. He loves us. And I know that God is sending me to a place where I will have moments similar to the one I had this morning. Nothing is a coincidence. I have a testimony that God is real, that he loves us, and that he sent his Son to die for us.

God be with you all, I love you!!! I'll talk to you again soon!

Sister Emma Hansen

MTC- week 1 It is hard!

Hey Family,

I've loved receiving your letters through DearElder! I've only received 1 hard copy, but I've been able to read some of the "receipts"  on my email. To answer some of your questions, I know that first letter sounded super happy- I wasn't, I was crying... but the Sister standing behind me told me "not to mention anything negative" Hahaha :) It's been tough, I won't lie. I have yet to make it a full day without crying, but it hasn't been all bad. The withdrawal from caffeine... Not bad. The food... Not bad...  I'm really doing my best to have a positive view of the MTC, Even if it does feel like a prison. I'm grateful that I'm here in the summertime, our district likes to take walks in the evening, sometimes we just stand at the front gate, looking at the mountains. It's really nice after being stuck in a classroom for 8 hours. Speaking of my District, I LOVE THEM. I love them! They're the closest thing I have to a family here, and we all take care of each other. We've gotten so close already, I feel like I've known them forever.

We're all from super different backgrounds, and would not have become friends under any other circumstance, but being stuck in a "jail cell" of a class room all day has really brought us "misfits" together, and we now really enjoy each other's company.

We've called ourselves The Breakfast Club ;)

We spend all our time together, I've never spent this amount of time with a group of people in my life. I'm so grateful for them, they've helped me so much!

Oh, and our teacher has a prosthetic leg.

Anyway. . . Like I said the MTC is rough, missing you all is rough... I cried my eyes out for like 3 hours after seeing primary children sing. I wish I could call you. I can call you on June 15th while I'm in the airport though! That makes it a little better, right? :) I'm growing a lot already and I've found a love for teaching the gospel. I'm trying my best to be obedient, and I know that through Christ I can do all things. Please keep emailing and writing, I know it"s hard because it feels like you're talking to a brick wall, but I love it! And Mom- I love the quotes, the last one was from Mulan ;) Thank you so much for everything. 

Your Daughter,

Sister Hansen

MTC-week 2

Hello everyone!

I have received so many emails and letters of support, thank you so much! I'm still trying to figure out the best way to answer all of you with the little time that I have, for now I'm just going to write one big letter, and I'm sure that Mama Becky will forward it on to you all! Thank you all so much for writing, it has really helped me feel as if I'm part of the fun! Please keep writing! I have been receiving your Dear Elders, but they've been coming 10 at a time :) My mailbox is #40, that's my bad! I prefer to get Dear Elder just because I get to hear form you so much sooner, instead of waiting an entire week!  Thank you all so much for your prayers and support, blessings have been raining down from Heaven!

This past week has been CRAZY, I don't know where to begin. Things have gotten a lot better, I've stopped crying haha. Our District has really been stretched, and it's been pretty hard at times, but we've grown closer and have become incredibly tight. Instead of separate companionship's, we all are together 24/7, and it feels much like a family. I have never spent so much time with a single group of people in my life. In fact, we are all sitting together right now! I received both packages you sent, and I just wanted to say thank you so much! Although the sweet rolls were delicious, the card that you included meant everything to us. There are several in my district who haven't heard much from their families, and there is one Sister who doesn't even know if she'll have family to come back home to, her parents cut her off when she decided she was going to serve a mission. I know that those few words came exactly when we needed them the most, and we all thank you!!! Thank you everyone who wrote cards to me in the other package, they lifted my spirits and I love them!

Dad, you asking if we've become the Sandlot gang made us all laugh, because we actually have compared ourselves to characters form the office. We have our own Michael Scott, Elder Holly, who can become INCREDIBLY annoying INCREDIBLY fast, but in the end makes us all laugh from the outrageous thing he says. Elder Toone reminds us of Dwight Schrute, because of his scientific answers to everything and quirky ways :) Elder Dunham is Jim Halpert, he is always making sarcastic comments, and trying to make sense of the other two. The Sisters are comprised of Pam, Meredith, Stanley, Angela, Kelly, and I'm Andy, Watch a couple of episodes and it'll give you a pretty good idea of how classes in 35-D are :) We've been working really hard and improving every day, and I am excited to leave for the field next week! Our flight leave at around 8:30 on Wednesday morning, and it'll be me, Sister Phipps, Elder Dunham and Elder Holly. The rest of our district is going to the San Antonio Texas mission. I'm a little worried about airport security, I have a feeling Elder Holly might try to bring scissors on the plane or something haha. But yeah expect a call from me at around 6am Utah time! It'll be sad saying goodbye to this little family we've made, but we've already started making plans for reunions! It makes it a lot easier knowing that I'll get to talk to you!

Tonight Elder Bednar is coming to speak to us, and the MTC choir will be debuting a song written by him! Even Elder Bednar's grandchildren will be there, as part of the performance. Our entire District is in the choir, so if you find a video of the song look for us!

My time is almost up but always know that I love you! I'll try to include pictures in another email, we took Stan the Dinosaur around one day after service so look for that! Thank you so much for everything, I realize now more than ever how blessed I am! I'll talk you again on Tuesday! God be with you until we meet again!

Love,

Sister Emma Hansen

P.S.- My favorite scripture is John 1:5