I think I'm starting to finally see why I was put in Green Valley, it's been a really good week.

HEY PALS!

How's it going in Chicago? Idaho? Utah? Florida? Hawaii? Texas? I hope that you all are doing GREAT!

Now that it's the last week of the transfer, I think I'm starting to finally see why I was put in Green Valley, it's been a really good week.

A while back I was introduced to a 17 year old named Bryce- he had been investigating the church for over 2 years and had been through 12 sets of missionaries, but his parents would not give him permission to be baptized. Sister Hunt was at a crossroads, she didn't know what we should teach him. I had a prompting that we should role play with him, which was something I had learned in the MTC. We met with Bryce in a member's home, and we had Bryce role play with the member father and mother asking his own parents for permission to be baptized. Bryce was nervous and tried to avoid the role play by changing the subject many times, but when he began to share with his "parents" why he wanted to be baptized, the spirit filled the room. This past Friday we received a text from Bryce asking when he could be baptized, and we've reserved the Stake center for the 14th of August! 🎉🌊

The members here are amazing. This transfer I organized a "Member Missionary Night", and its purpose was to be a miniature "MTC experience". We had trainings, and activities, and it was a lot of fun! We had 3 wards and 4 sets of missionaries attend, and it was great to see everyone laughing and feeling the spirit. We're hoping now that our members know who we are and how we teach they will feel more comfortable coming out with us, and sharing the gospel with their own friends!

One of the reasons why I know that I was called to this area was an experience we had this last week. We received a referral from a girl who had just been baptized, and who was referring her parents to us. We went to the house and knocked on the door and guess what? THESE PEOPLE ARE LITERALLY ME 30 YEARS FROM NOW. Both of them worked at Disney world, and the husband worked food service and then got a job as an event coordinator. They got engaged in front of the castle, and now they're retired with 3 HUSKY PUPPIES. AKA ME AS HECK. They were super sweet and kind and we talked about dogs and Disney and the Gospel for almost an hour. It was awesome. We asked when we could visit again and they were like "We don't really know because now that our kids are gone we don't have to be an example to anyone- we do whatever the heck we want!" 😂😂😂 Can you tell that I absolutely adore them??

Anyway, like I said it's been a great week filled with blessings and miracles. I know that God knows us each individually and he puts people in our path for a reason- We just have to be bold enough and brave enough to figure it out! I love you all and I hope you have an awesome week! The only picture I have from this week is from Zone Conference, but here you go!

Love, 

Sister Emma Hansen

Really... this is all she wrote last week! Posting this weeks letter and it much better! :)

Hey Family!

It's been a great week in the Nevada Las Vegas mission! Sherri attended a baptism and is seriously considering getting baptized herself! It's super awesome! We've done a lot of street contacting/finding and have met a lot of new, cool people! I'm also driving now so that's an adventure.😉 We went on exchanges and I had the opportunity to be with Sister Souba (She's so awesome!) It was great! She kept saying that I was going to be a legend in this mission. That's always nice to hear, right? 😏 Haha just kidding! We visited Sister Seaton (I LOVE that woman!) and she had bought us patriotic socks! Oh man I totally forgot that Independence day was this week! It was honestly just a regular day, but at the end of the night we sat on a Golf field and watched the fireworks from the strip! 🎆🗽 But yeah... that is just about it! Sorry that this letter is so short, I just don't really have anything else to say!

Maybe next time!

Love,

Sister Emma Hansen

✌🏽

Hello Everyone! I love you! Hope things are well 😊I think missionaries are the only people on earth who say "Just need to get through the weekend and then it's Monday!" 😉

This week has been very very... Interesting 😂😅😉 You know how I was called to serve in the desert, right? Right? Okay well why then was it HAILING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER? WHY? WHY???

And WHY WERE THE STREETS FLOODED? WHYYYYYYYYYY?!!!

Isn't that crazy??? IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT. I have videos of us driving through the road, which was at that time a river of water, and it engulfed half of our car 😳 (You will have to ask my Mama if you want to see those 😉) It was insane! After it stopped hailing Sister Hunt and I got out to snap these photos in the church parking lot. (The church is on high ground, and there was still this much water) It was all fun and games until we got back to the car and realized that the car was locked, with the keys, the phone, our wallets, and our shoes all inside.😬 All we had was an iPad and an umbrella. It was an EVENTFUL day. 🙃😂😂😂

mom note:  I have the videos and I cant seem to figure out how to post them.  I think it might be a problem with her ipad and my laptop.  I have to say I was quite upset when I  saw the videos.  The water was really high and they drove thru it.   I have already lectured her on how dangerous driving thru standing water can be and she promises if it happens again she will do things differently.  It just goes to show these missionaries are in the Lords Hands and prayers of safety do obviously work.

What else happened this week? We saved another animal! This time it was a dog, we found him running around in the street hot, tired, and confused. 2 guys in a truck told us they had been chasing him for over an hour with no luck. We told them that we would continue trying. After many failed attempts (Chihuahuas are fast 🏃🏻) I had the prompting to open all the doors of the car. Sure enough, the chihuahua jumped right in, (Thank you Heavenly Father!) and with the help of members and the Animal Hospital, he was reunited with his family the next morning!

On Friday we were blessed it be able to attend the Temple. It's so beautiful! I am so grateful to have the temple in our mission, it helps so much to be reminded of why we, as missionaries, are serving. As much as we emphasize baptism, our end goal for our investigators to be worthy to come and partake of the blessings of the temple! Baptism is just the "gateway" for all of the amazing blessings of the temple. Go to the temple often! If you can't make it there, try your best to go to the temple in your mind and in your heart. You'll experience great peace if you do!

Okay, so as I come to the end of this letter I feel that I need to address something. Most of you have picked up on the fact that I haven't been very happy here. I have my good moments, and I share those moments in the letters I write home- but I guess you all know me too well! You can sense that something is up! The truth is that I've really struggled these past weeks... It's different out in the field! Even though you're surrounded by people, it can become very lonely. I tried to deny that I was unhappy for a while, and I just kept pushing, but something my trainer asked made me really look at myself and reevaluate. My trainer asked "Do you ever laugh?" The girl that I had spent 24/7 with for the past 2 weeks had never seen me laugh? You all know me- laughing is who I am! I'm always laughing, or always trying to get someone else to laugh! That question really made me think- and I realized that I had forgotten who I was. Coming on a mission, you sacrifice everything. You give away your time, you put your family on friends on hold. Here in Vegas I felt rejected. Unloved. You can only endure so much rejection until it begins to wear on you. It wears you down, and soon you start to fade. It's difficult because you've invested so much, you've given yourself to God. And when you've given up everything that's ever made you YOU, who are you? Who was I? I didn't know anymore. And for someone who has always felt confident in herself, for someone who has always felt loved and appreciated, it really made me question who I was when all of that was taken away...

 My answer to my question came to me in a way that I would have never guessed. My answer came in the form of a 71 year old woman named Tanya Seaton. Sister Seaton is a member in our ward who has offered us rides, meals, and plenty of hugs. She gets bitter if we don't stop by at least one time a week for cold waters and chocolate 😂 Every time we knock on her door she'll make a comment like "Now get in here before you both melt on my doorstep!" This time was no exception. She opened the door right away and told us to get inside before our brains boiled 😳 We hurried inside and before we could even put our stuff down she grabbed us both by the arm and told us that she had VERY important and special company coming that evening for dinner. We were both surprised and asked who it was. She whispered softly but powerfully: "Representatives of our Lord, Jesus Christ!". I could feel tears begin to form, as I realized that was the answer I had been looking for. As many times as I had heard it before, it hasn't sunk in until that moment. I am a representative of Jesus Christ. Sister Seaton wasn't going to let us forget it either- She oversaw the setting of the table, the cutting of vegetables, and continued to act as if Jesus Christ himself would be eating with her that night. Only her FINEST silverware and dishes were to be used, and Disciples of Jesus Christ weren't leaving until they had dessert!😂 I realized that as I've been a missionary I've begun to understand just a sliver of how Christ must have felt while here on the earth. He was rejected, laughed at, and I'm sure he felt lonely and unloved at times too. But Sister Seaton helped remind me that our work wasn't in vain. She showed us through her example how much Jesus Christ meant to her, how much she loved and valued him. She was grateful for his atonement, and she testified of the Savior throughout our dinner with her. 

While serving my mission I've had to rely on Christ and his atonement more than I ever would have thought- I could no longer turn to my parents or my friends for support and help in times of need- the only person who could help me was, and is Jesus Christ. He makes the difference. He won't take away our pains or trials but he will make them easier to bear, and we CAN rely on him. Sister Seaton showed me that night why I serve a mission. Because Jesus Christ changes lives. I testify and act as his representative. I serve so that others can experience the joy that I have felt! I know that Jesus Christ lives, I know that he suffered for our sins, and I know that because of him I can be with my family FOREVER. Times will still be hard and storms may rage (LITERALLY 😉) but I know that this Gospel is worth the trial and pain. I'm away from my family now so that other families can be together forever! It will all be worth it in the end.

(Sister Seaton's favorite color is orange. 😂❤️)

Until next time! 

Love,

Sister Hansen