My new sleep talking companion

My new companion

I am missing Hermana C but I am super excited about me new companion, we're already super good friends. She is from Las Vegas and is probably the most consecrated missionary that I know...so much that she sleep talks about lessons every night. This week, I woke up to her sleep talking in Spanish saying, "Okay, let's finish with a kneeling prayer." (She then got out of her bed and kneeled down on the floor...) She then said, "Okay, Hermana...will you say the prayer?" I then replied, "Well...I can't." She was really confused and woke up and said, "Hermana Hansen? What time is it? Did I finally sleep through the night without waking up?" She was pretty excited for a second because it would've been the first night without waking herself up sleep talking...but it was only 2 45 in the morning haha.

We have been teaching some really positive people. They family that attended for General Conference was progressing very well. We went to their house and the dad told us, "Did you get my call last night? I was hoping you two would come and teach us and so I looked for a coin and then went out to find a pay phone last night." They wanted to get baptized and everything was running really smoothly...until we found out that they aren't lawfully married. They had told us the first lesson that they were...but the wife has a husband in Esquintla. They seperated and her husband refuses to divorce her and so she is unable to get married to Cristobal and they are unable to be baptized until they are married. This is a pretty common occurence here because divorces usually cost a lot more than weddings and they agree to seperate, but never legally sign anything. It was a little sad to find that out when their baptism was coming up, but I know that they will continue to progress in this waiting period of time.

loving the children

I thought I loved my mission, but it just seems to get better every single day. I have learned to permit myself to just be open to learning about everyone and everything, to listening to every story that these people have had...to hearing their testimony and struggles. I reflected a little bit hitting this 14 month mark and I can honestly say that, before my mission I knew Christ as the son of God...and now I know Him as my Savior. I'll be honest, my body has been a little tired sometimes this last change...but I have found strength from sources that I wasn't even aware were available. The Atonement empowers us, He knows us and we can do all things in Him. I would like to think I've worked my hardest my whole mission, but there are always things we can get better on. But I want to give Him another gift...during Christmas, I wanted to give Him my mind so that I could be consecrated. But now I want to give Him my heart, I want to get totally lost in this work so that I can complete finding every person that I promised I would find. The time is short...a year and a half is short...but I know that every minute is a gift, the mission is a gift.

Evidently Guatemalas do not smile for pictures - - - UNLESS Hermana Hansen makes them!