Moms post

So.... I know that usually you all get an email when I post to the blog.  For some reason it says I cannot send an email to that many people now.  So if anyone has any ideas for me, I would love to hear them.

Until then please check the blog every week.

Thanks,
Becky

Hey everyone! 

I'm sorry to say that this week has been extremely

uneventful. I'm so sorry. We had to drop like a million people so now
we have no one to teach and we've been spending our time knocking
doors. So... yeah. Maybe next week will be better! Tell me about your
weeks and I'll talk to you all again on Monday! Love you!

Sister Hansen

She's BACK!!!!

A BRILLIANT WEEK IN THE LIFE OF SISTER HANSEN

It's been quite wonderful this week! It's interesting having a Brit as your District leader because the longer you're around him the harder it is not to talk with an accent! Hahaha 😂😂😂 Did you know that they call grilled cheese "cheese toasties" in England? The more you know! 😉

How has everyone's week been? Terrific? Splendid? Well done. My week has been nothing but exemplary, let me tell you why:

WE HAD A BAPTISM!!! FINALLY! Haha Bryce was baptized yesterday! It was awesome! If you've missed the story on Bryce, let me lay it down for you. Bryce has been investigating the church for about 2 years now, and he's gone through 12 sets of missionaries. 😳 He started investigating the church when he was 15, but couldn't get baptized because his parents wouldn't give him permission. While I was in the MTC, the entire South Pointe Ward fasted for Bryce, and for his family. When I met Bryce his mother had finally given him her permission, but he still needed it from his father. We role played with Bryce asking his father's permission, and although Bryce was reluctant, as soon as he started to share his testimony the Spirit entered the room and we KNEW that he would get permission- and he did!! So two years later, Bryce was able to be baptized! The picture I have only has 1/4 of all the missionaries that taught him. From this experience I KNOW that prayers are answered and that fasting WORKS!!!

Other random news:

This week we had Zone Training Council (ZTC), and our zone is awesome! We recognize that we aren't doing our best right now, but we all made really awesome plans for moving forward! Expecting some great things for this upcoming transfer!

(note from mom:  Emma definitely has her sense of humor back.  Look at her face in this photo  haha)

Last Sunday I was talking to the Young Women President in one of our wards and she was giving me a hard time about earning my honor bee. After asking me a few questions it turns out that I made all of the qualifications, and she was able to award me an Honor Bee charm! I feel quite wonderful wearing it- REPRESENT!

I also went on exchanges this weekend with Sister Souba, she's the absolute best & I love her. Wish that we could be companions, but she only has one transfer left! 

                                                  

Also not pictured- that Dad that I told you about last week? Less active? Barbie phone? He came to church this week! And so did another inactive woman! Also Princess had her baby! Not the dog, her real baby 😉😂 So it's been a really good week. Still difficult, still rough, but it's a lot better now that I'm realizing who I am and why I've been sent to this area (It's for reasons like these!)

I think that's it for this week's report! I love you all and I will talk to you next week!

This is Sister Emma Hansen, signing off ✌🏽️

Hello family and friends,

This week was pretty cool. We got to know our new district a lot more, Our zone leader is this big British guy, and his companion is an Aussie, so between the two no one can understand what they are saying 😂😂😂 It's rough. The Zone Leaders are also in our district, but they've been on exchanges a ton so I haven't gotten to know them as well.

Sister Seaton finally got her carpet in, so she's no longer living on concrete. We helped her move all of her furniture and she called us the other night and was like "I want you to come over and walk barefoot on my carpet and eat brownies" 😂😂😂 So we did, and it was probably one of the greatest moments of my life.

We've been doing finding activities a lot lately, which basically a nicer way of saying "we've been knocking doors in the heat all day every day". We've met a lot of interesting people, we met this one crazy dude last night and he talked to us for over an hour. I'm surprised he didn't fall over and die from lack of oxygen because I never saw him take a breath 😂😂😂 He was insane but he wants to make us some BBQ so I guess we're not done with him haha 😬😂

Earlier this week we had a mini missionary for a day and her name was Ashley. I think we scared her. She had never gone out with the missionaries before and she decided to come very last minute. She kept asking questions like "Wait... You do this all day?" and "Can you take naps?" and "You can't use Facebook?" No, Ashley. Missionary life is incredibly dull 94% of the time. But torwards the end of the night she perked up, I wonder if it was just because it was the end of the day and she knew she would be going home soon 😂 Before nightly planning we went through the drive thru at McDonalds and I bought us all hot fudge sundaes. We listen to really goofy songs and I just tried my best to make those last moments with her good ones, because it would kill me if I was the reason some one decided not to serve a mission. During nightly planning I read the section in Preach My Gospel about how "No effort is wasted", and did my best to explain that even though no one had let us in that our efforts were not in vain and that we accomplished a lot, and I thanked her for coming along with us.

Guys. Guys. Why has this realization taken so long? I'm finally figuring out how my talents & skills fit into missionary work. For some reason I didn't think they were applicable? I'm sure all of you saw this but I guess I missed the memo? I love to make people laugh. I love to brighten gloomy days, but for some odd reason I hadn't made the realization that it still applies here while I'm on a mission. Right? Right. I must be slow or something because I totally missed the boat on that one haha. _🙋🏼________🛳__

(That's me waving goodbye to the boat that is my life 😉😂) 

Anyway, I'm learning now that my sense of humor is one of the reasons God sent me here to Vegas. A part of the reason why I've been put in this desert is so that I can help people to learn to laugh! Little moments have been showing me how this all fits in to missionary work, but something I experienced on Wednesday really taught me how much my talents and skills are needed.

A while back a woman from our relief society asked if she could have us over for dinner. She has two daughters currently on missions but she expressed to us that her husband had stopped coming to church, and how she was hoping that we could help just by bringing the spirit into the home. It was a while before an opportunity showed itself, but on Wednesday we were able to eat dinner with the family. Dinner wasn't off to a particularly good start, when the husband arrived he looked at his wife and said "Sisters, what a surprise, I wasn't expecting you". He then told us about how he was considered "less active", and it was kind of a tense situation. Things started to change when a bright pink Barbie telephone starting ringing in the kitchen, with a loud "B-A-R-B-I-E, Barbie girl!" And I, with a completely straight face, not thinking, asked the husband "Is that your work phone?" And he LOST it. Like, he was laughing for at least 5 minutes, uncontrollably 😂😂😂 After that "incident" I continued to make jokes and he would continue to laugh, genuinely. The whole family was laughing, and it was a good time. We left the home and I expressed to my companion "I don't know how much that helped them, but it sure helped me- I felt like myself again!"

The next morning we received a text from the wife and it read: "Hi Sisters, thank you for your sweetness for my husband. I haven't seen him laugh like this in ages. I'm sure you reminded him of our daughters serving missions right now. I hope he returns to church. Would you like any help today?"

So yeah... Haha like I said I'm a little slow, you all have told me how funny I am and how I should never stop laughing but I didn't understand how that fit into my role as a missionary. We teach that our message is the same, that every missionary will teach the same thing if he is following the prompting of the spirit, but I guess that although the message is the same, the delivery is going to be different from missionary to missionary. We aren't all the same, and we aren't supposed to be! God gave us different talents and abilities, and we are here to use them! God puts us in each other's paths so that we can help one another, so that we can build one another up, and I'm learning that one of my ways is by making people laugh! I've learned that while I'm on my mission nothing happens by coincidence. Everything happens for a reason, and I know that God puts things in my path so that I can grow and learn, and also so that I can help others along the way. I'm grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve and to help others in whatever way I can. 

I know that God lives!

Also here's a picture of a Chicago dog a member bought me! It was awesome!

Love,

Sister Hansen

2 months! Can you believe it?

Hey Everyone! 

This week has been pretty uneventful, if I'm being honest with you. Last Monday was my 2 month mark, can you believe that? This is all going by really quick- It's like I'll be on the plane tomorrow! Haha just kidding!

This week was transfers, but it was just a normal week for us! We have some new elders, and they seem... Questionable! Haha all good though!

On Thursday Sister Seaton called us and said she had a gift, and she did! It was a sunshade!

Okay. I'm realizing that this letter is super boring. Sherri is good, Bryce is good, Bill is good. Everything is good. I'm going to end this letter before y'all fall asleep. iMessage me if you want to hear more!

I do have one thing- Yesterday as I was talking to ward members before sacrament started, I looked to my left and saw a couple lovingly watching me. Immediately it was like brain was saying "HOMEHOMEHOMEHOME", I was in complete shock, and at first I honestly couldn't remember if they were from Chicago or Idaho or Florida, but I did know that they were from home. I eventually was able to recognize that it was Brother Smith and his wife from my Rexburg YSA Ward! (If you don't remember, I included a picture I have of him from Rexburg) It was so nice to see them! Turns out that they were on vacation and attended church, and while they were there they asked the Elders to look up my name to find out where I was. They decided to drive all the way out to Green Valley to surprise me! The first thing Brother Smith said was "CAN I HUG YOU?" We were able to talk for a few minutes and it was really awesome. We talked about all of my Idahomies, and how they're getting married or what not (gross). It meant a lot to me for them to remember who I was, and to take the time out of their vacation to visit me! Brother Smith if you're reading this, thank you SO MUCH for visiting me- it meant more to me than I think you'll ever realize! We tried to take a picture, but in the excitement this is the best picture I got.

Okay peace out guys! Thanks for the support! 

Until Monday!

Love, 

Sister Hansen

Transfer 1 is done!

What a transfer!!! Tomorrow I'm headed off to... Nowhere! I'm staying here in Green Valley! And so is Sister Hunt! You all know what that means- More time with Sister Seaton! 😉😄🎉

Haha this week has been packed! We've done a ton, and it's been crazy awesome! We went to Mid 12 Week training, and I got to see Phipps and Holly and Dunham! It was wonderful, those three have an amazing talent for making me laugh. It's like seeing family again! Plus anytime that President and Sister Snow are involved is a good time 😊😉

Bryce and Sherri are good! Bryce is helping us out together his program and Sherri is still coming to church! She's having a really hard time giving up her smoking, and that unfortunately isn't something that we can't help her with. She has to decide to do it on her own! 🚫🚬 Prayers always help! 

There was a HUGE Pioneer Day celebration on Friday, and all the missionaries from 3 different zones attended. Phipps was there, and we all marched in the parade holding an American Flag the size of the church gym. Before the parade started a Sister came up to me and was like "I'm going to stand next to you because I want to have fun!" Nice to know that I still got it! Haha! 😉😏 It was really cool until we realized that the flag was upside down... And trying to get 50 Elders to turn it over (WITHOUT LETTING IT TOUCH THE GROUND) is not an easy task.😳 Haha needless to say, I think a lot of member trust was lost that day 😂😭😭😭 

To finish I'm going to tell y'all about a man we met named Bill. Bill is 87, and he recently lost his wife of 63 years. You all remember the beginning of UP? Think ever sadder. Yep. We met him while we were tracting, and you could tell that he just needed someone to talk to! We joked around and he guessed my first name on the first try. A couple of weeks later we stopped by his house and he opened the door before we even got there! He joked about our make up and hair and is honestly the sweetest and most kind man we have ever met. He asked us why we visited again and we responded with "Just to be friends!" But eventually we got on the topic of God. He said he couldn't be mad at God but he was frustrated that God had taken his wife(Cancer)first. He was so busy taking care of her during her last days that he "forgot to hug and kiss her" and "if only he could see her just for five minutes to give her hugs and kisses". He said that he had prayed last night for "God to take him". We were all near tears, I was crying and Bill wiped the tears away with his hankerchief. We told him a little bit about the Plan of Salvation, and how his wife was still here, and he opened up even more and told us that he had taken his wife's ashes outside the night before to show her the full moon. He started asking us why we left our own families, and told us we were brainwashed and to go back home to our families. It sounds mean and close minded, but really he was only saying it because he cares about us SO SO much. He told us that he felt like he has known us forever and that we are like his daughters. 

We've visited Bill a few more times and he has started to pray and ask God about his wife. Bill has taught me a lot, especially to appreciate what I have. He misses his wife so much, and he regrets so much, that I've just really learned to appreciate every minute I have. Regardless of how miserable I am, I still have an AMAZING family, friends, and air in my lungs. Bill has also taught me how much the gospel blesses families! Teaching Bill that there is a way that he can be with his wife not just until "death do us part", but FOREVER, is such a wonderful thing. I'm grateful for this opportunity to serve God. Even though it's difficult, I'm trying to stay positive and appreciate all that I've been given. Carpe Diem 😊

Also Sister Hunt and I have matching blankets. Companionship Unity on point 👌🏽

Take care! Love,

Sister Hansen