Soy un hijo de Dios

I can't even start on the miracles that we see every day...when I start thinking about them, even more come! I'll tell a simple one today...on Sunday, we were out with a member and our appointments fell through. We asked her if they were any inactive members that lived close that we could go visit with her and she brought us up a long alley way to a a huge tin door. An old woman answered it and she had a son behind her doing some kind of yard work. When we asked to share a message with them, they weren't really receptive...at all. And when we asked the son if he was a member, he denied it and said he didn't know anything about the church. We felt and knew that he knew exactly who we are but he didn't really want to listen to us...and we asked if we could just sing a song with them before we left. We turned to page 196, "Soy un hijo de dios" and sang it for them. After we sang, he was just crossing his arms and scratching his head a little bit. After a long pause, he just looked at us and started walking back and forth scratching his head and questioning us all about the need for a restoration and another prophet and apostles. It was amazing to see how this song reminded him and softened him enough to listen. Every time he asked us a question, he just looked at us and smiled with his two or three teeth and then started walking again asking questions. It was so amazing to be able to teach him again about the Restoration and they should be coming to General Conference this weekend. I strongly believe that reminding somebody of the truth is just as important as bringing somebody to it.

This Sunday was a pretty rough one because we only had 1 investigator in church...and a couple weeks ago we had 8. But surprisingly, it didn't take us down too much. I know that the trials always come before the blessings...and I know that faith, patience, and diligence will get us though all.

We gave another talk in Sacrament Meeting (missionaries seem to have the privilege to give many talks ha) but this time I was supposed to talk for 10 minutes about the obra misional! I decided to take a different outlook on it and categorized the missionary work into three different parts. First, to listen. Second, to recieve a testimony. Third, to share it. I used the example of the wise men in Lucas...how they first saw the angel...and then they ran to go see the new baby...and then they shared it with everyone that they could. I related it to Alma the younger of how his dad had taught him and with his dad's words echoing in the back of his mind, he was able to finally repent later on and recieve his own testimony of Christ...and then he spent all his days sharing it. And then I finished with the Joseph Smith story. It really stuck me when I realized how if we never share our testimony, we never give others the opportunity to hear it. Sometimes, we get a little down when we can't see immediate results of our missionary efforts. But by planting the seed, it will be able to grow in the right timing. Alma the younger didn't believe his father right away, but he was able to remember his words in the necessary timing (Alma 36:17). When we share our message, we help people on their first step.

And I'll just end by repeating the words of our bishop real quick..."When you watch conference, there are a lot of men over the age of 80. And none of them fall asleep during the sessions...so you guys can't either." Hahaha. I'm happy I'm a missionary and I'm happy I'm a Hansen and I'm happy that I feel part Guatemalan...these people are special here. They have taught me who I want to work towards becoming in my life. I'll see you guys next week

A Visit to San Pedro - where part of her heart will always be

An amazing, amazing week. On Sunday, M was baptized and it was one of the best days of my mission. We organized a musical number and many people stayed after church to be able to see the baptism. Her best friend was able to talk and it was hard for her to hold back tears talking about the trials in M's life and the changes she had made to be able to make this step. When the bishop got up, he talked about how M's great grandfather was one of the 6 people who organized the church here in Chimaltenango (nobody knew this fact, including her) and then he talked about how every single person in the room had come into the church through these first "pioneers". All of the families were related in one way or another with their conversions or marriages or missionary work. It felt like a huge family welcoming her back in and it was really special to see how Heavenly Father works to guide his children back in, we are all included in His plan.

M - Baptism

One of my favorite parts this week was being able to work in San Pedro with Hermana G.(one of Saras :twins)

Forever Friends - Sara and G

 

Two companions together again in San Pedro!

 on divisions and we were able to take G to accompany us for a few appointments!!! I asked her how she was and she just thought for a moment and then said, "My life changed when I was baptized...but it hasn´t stopped changing. I feel more peace every day and my very thoughts have changed...and A (her husband) changed his whole life to get baptized, but he also keeps changing. We´re just...truly happy." And then when I saw A later, he told me, "Well, I´m reading the Book of Mormon every day but every time I read it, I feel a little bad...I love it and I love reading it, but I feel bad because it always points out things that I need to do better. And I keep changing to become better, but there´s always something more." We aren´t just changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are always changing because of it. And in his prayers, he is still asking for the strength to move forward to be able to become a forever family.

Sara with the family she loves - G and A and kids (the two in green shirts are part of the extended family - all were baptized when Sara served in San Pedro - this is inside their home. They are sitting on the family bed where they all sleep.

 I also saw J and we had a lesson with his friend in his house (he is introduing the missionaries to all of his friends and family). His friend accepted a baptism date for this 30 of March and J just has an amazing testimony. HIs mom said that because of the dramatic changes in Jorge´s life, there must be something good about this message haha. She was prepared and quickly followed in his footsteps, and other family members are listening. I love San Pedro!!

I also love my companion sooo much, she reminds me so much of Kim Hansen. She told me that there was an atheist on the bus who started to talk to her about how there is no God. She said, "I just told him that there has to be a God because of all the every day miracles. I just said ¨Just look at the orange, it has a perfectly peel to protect it and then when we open it up, there are perfectly packaged, bite-sized pieces. Isn´t that evidence? I didn´t even get started talking about my mangos...¨" Haha she is so funny and I am so excited for these next couple weeks I have with her. The work is going along in this area and we are seeing miracles every day. Like Gl and A, I´m just truly happy and it increases the more time I have to share this message.

Happy week

I hope I still have friends left when I get back because EVERYBODY is getting engaged! But I´m happy for all of you :)

Thank you so much Aaron Cooper, Dallas, President Hixson, Wyatt, Leticia and Terri Lamp for the letters. And the DearElders of Paige, Alexa, Cole, Michelle, Dallas and Adrian. And the packages from the Hillsdale Ward bishopric, the Garry family and Cristina and Sean! I can feel your love from afar, the mail system isn´t the best and the postcards I sent back in October never arrived...but I am very thankful for all of the support.

And ALL of your prayers have been answered concerning my new companion and my health...because my new companion was the mission nurse!!! Hahaha. We received a new nurse for the mission and my companion, Hermana C, extended a change more and was released as being the nurse so that she could be a training sister with me her last change. We have been friends the whole mission and this past week has been such a blessing, the blessings really do come after the trials!

Baptism on Sunday - Darling little girl "J"

Other good news...N was a man that I helped baptize in my first area and all of his family was baptized! Also, S and her daughters were baptized in Santa Lucia the weekend that I left. Annnnnddddd, J BAPTIZED HIS MOM ON SUNDAY. Seriously, this week has been full of miracles. We had a baptism on Sunday, a little girl of 9 years and her story is a miracle but also really funny, it´s one that I´ll have to tell when I get back.

M reminds me so, so much of my best friend at home. Her best friend here in Guatemala is a returned missionary and she has helped us out a lot teaching her. She has had a LOT of trials in her life and she talked to our mission president yesterday. We weren´t sure when she would be able to be baptized and were waiting anxiously outside of the room with her best friend. After their interview, he came out and said, "Hermanas, baptize her as soon as you can. She is ready to be baptized and is strong." She had tears streaming down her eyes and she told us, "When he told me that he feels I have repented and that I am ready to be baptized, I just felt such a peace and I have never been more excited in my life." It was a beautiful experience and her baptism will be held this weekend. Her returned missionary friend reminds me surprisingly of myself and I hope I can also be an example and help bring this change in people´s lives when I return.

Sara teaching new friends (M and M ) how to make 'rollyups' 

We are also teaching the mother of a missionary serving in Panama. She has been very hard these last couple weeks and has refused to read or pray or attend church...but we saw a miracle on Sunday as she walked into the chapel with her other children. We are still helping her make little steps and her sister, the Aunt of the missionary, was overjoyed to write her son and inform him that the mother is now starting to attend church.

And I also love this ward...we have been giving a watermelon to two families every week for the past couple weeks. With the watermelon, they have the responsibilidad to eat it with their family but also invite somebody they know to come and enjoy it with them (and we are also there with a message ready to share it with him). We have been able to have so many lessons in the houses of the members and they are getting more and more excited to introduce us to the people they know that need this message. We are seeing miracle after miracle and have 7 progressing investigators, I love this area and my companion and I am so thankful for the lessons I learned last change, they really prepared me for this time.

I am happy I am a Hansen and I am happy I am a missionary. UNtil next week

The missionaries "cook" and her family of 8 daughters.

Sara treated her "cook" to an ice cream cone. I THINK she is happy about it :)

(you may notice some fun gramatical errors - I am leaving them because I think it s fun to see her Spanish take over the English in her speech and writing. Kathy)

Watch out for Llorona!

The time has come in my mission where I finally slept in my clothes with my plaque still on, the days are really tiring us out. Last week we had divisions three times and we also had over 60 lessons, including 30 with a member. We found 41 new investigators because our mission is preparing to baptize 400 in March! The work is getting harder and harder.

One of the challenges that I am facing is that I now have the responsibility to teach an investigator and prepare her to be baptized in just a week. My companion can´t teach her (I will explain later or you can ask my parents) and I have been told that I need to find members and teach her alone, without my companions. With four divisions this week, I am pretty nervous about teaching her everything alone but I know this is what I need to do. We only taught her 2 lessons before and she has attended church a few times, it feels like I´m preparing one of my own best friends to be baptized.

Besides the challenges, this week has been very, very funny. I was helping a member make tortillas and another woman came over and said, "That was your tortilla, wasn´t it?" I guess it wasn´t as round as the others...and I guess I will have trouble finding a husband because she told me that because of my tortilla talents (or, lack of) it´s going to be hard for me to marry well! ha ha. It´s funny how important cooking skills are here, I have a lot to learn! Also, we often return at night through a dirt road surrounded by dark fields (don´t worry, we are accompanied by members) but my companions have had trouble sleeping all week since a woman was heard crying outside our house, they are now convinced that the llorona is coming to get them...it´s been a fun week. And the last funny thing I can think of is that I was practicing English with them and I pointed to scissors and I asked what is was. When I said told them that they were called scissors, my companion immediately said, "Oh! Like ¨Little Caesars" and now she always says "Little Caesars" and bursts up laughing haha. I love living here and I am excited but also a little sad for changes coming up. I will inform you guys next week of the changes! ADIOS, LES AMO!

(I looked up llorona. She is part of a very common belief/legend among Hispanic and Latin American peoples  of a woman whose soul is condemned to roam the earth for eternity - crying for her children. . . )

Funny circumstances

This week has been filled with funny incidences. The first started at about 8:30 at night when three police cars passed by us with their sirens. In the first police car, a head poked out the window of the back seat and yelled "ADIOS HERMANAAAAS!" laughing hysterically...the next day, one of our investigators asked, "Did you guys see me yesterday? The police had to take me and my friends home...and I saw you guys walking! I yelled and the policemen asked who you guys were and I just told them, `oh they are my other friends, but they weren`t with us tonight`." It started the week with many funny incidents in the wrong place at the wrong time...The second incident was when a recent convert fell back into a drinking problem and he gave us alcohol to dispose of. I put it in my backpack to throw away in the trash cans outside of his house...but before we could throw it away, another investigator saw it in my backpack. Of course she knew that it wasn`t ours, but it was pretty funny. The third incident was on Sunday when we passed through a field and a baby puppy started crying when it saw us...there was nobody living around there and no way to find his mother and my companion picked it up...which made it think that she was his owner. We tried to just leave it ... then we looked for the owner of the mother but we had no success. He followed us all the way to the chapel...and even into the chapel. With 20 minutes to spare before church, we then had to take a tuctuc to pick up investigators and ask them if anybody wanted a new puppy. He found a new home and is now happy and safe.

Besides all the funny things that have passed this week, it was also a week of miracles. I went and worked with two sisters in Solola (including Hermana E!!!) and also two sisters in San Martin. I am loving the divisions and learning all the different areas of the mission. One of the best things that happened was hearing from G and A. My "daughter" Hermana G is still in S P and is training! She came to my area and we were able to work here and I was able to hear everything that has been happening in my old area. G and A are primary teachers and are loving their calling. A didn`t come to a branch activity and when the sisters passed by later, they asked him why he missed the activity, he responded, `Ah, I know. I was making all these crafts for my Sunday class and I lost track of time because I kept wanting to do more and more." It really is amazing how the gospel changes people. From having a difficult, unmarried relationship with the two of them, to having a strong family with church callings, it`s amazing to see the changes that come. My mission is continuing to change my life every single day, I`ve been thinking about home a little more than usual, but not in a "baggy" homesick way. I`m thinking about it more because I now have a better idea of who I want to be and who I want to become. I am so grateful for all the lessons my mission is teaching me, I would never become the person that I hope to be without this last year. I love this gospel and I love every day here in Guatemala. And I love all of you! Until next week, Hermana Hansen

Beautiful girl in her 'corte'

Solola in the morning

Missing chickens - - -

The member that makes us lunch has a cage with 6 chickens, I´ve become pretty fond of them because they remind me of the chickens grandma has and I always like to feed them out of my hand. But when I finished writing to you guys last week, we went to her house and there were only three chickens...and we had chicken for lunch. She then explained to my companions the two best ways to kill chickens and the best way to kill cows. After the recommended process, they basically just take out the feathers and boil the whole chicken and so this last week, I had the privilege of eating both cow and chicken stomach. It´s pretty weird that I used to be a picky eater before the mission...

I am really loving my mission and being a Sister Training Leader. We will probably be having 3 divisions this week and we often wake up at 4 in the morning. I am not quite sure where we get the energy, but I do know where we get the source of happiness! I´ve been learning a lot about perspective these last couple weeks, and it really is just the optimism we need to have. As a missionary, we will have the same circumstances and companions and houses and investigators for a year and a half. But the mission depends on our view of it, we can decide the level of happiness that we can achieve. The work is a little hard right now but it just makes me more grateful because it is helping me learn to depend more on the Lord through it all.

Every day, we contact people in the street. On average, I usually talk to about 25 or 30 different people and about 10 families. My agenda is so full of names and addresses, that it´s a little hard to be able to talk with everyone that accepts. But there are often times, when a contact really impacts me and we keep passing for them. It happened this last week, it was just a normal contact of a husband and wife but I couldn´t get them out of my mind until we passed back for them. Her mother had died and their was a mourning type of depression that had come over her life. In a humbled, block house, we were able to teach this family of the plan of salvation and the opportunity given to everybody to have hope in this life and peace in the next. My weekly letters can´t begin to express all the little moments that pass and I´m trying to remember them all and write them down, because I´m starting to realize that I won´t be a called, set apart missionary in Guatemala forever. But it doesn´t mean I won´t stop sharing this message, I know I am where I am supposed to be and I love all of you. My home is here in Guatemala and my family is split through many different countries now. I love this work and I love my opportunity to be a missionary of Christ.  (I had to leave Saras original wording here as it shows how Spanish has become her language!) note the word passing. :)

Baptism of D and M (aunt and her nephew)

A time of reflection - Happiness

HELLO EVERYONE!!!! I am loving every second of my mission, entering the month of February and one year, it`s been a time of a lot of reflectioning. (I had to keep that word in here to show that Sara thinks in Spanish now) One of the greatest lessons I've learned is the element of happiness that can be earned with faith and perspective. Our cook that cooks us lunches is one of the happiest people I have ever met. Her father died when she was young and just years later, her mother died, leaving her at the age of 12 with many little siblings (I think she told me she had 6 little siblings) and she raised them all. I can`t even comprehend the problems that some of these people have but there is nothing more beautiful than their sincerity and happiness in their families. I am so grateful that I can share a message of such great happiness to people who so desperately need it.
Here are the answers to some of the questions I have received...
So how goes life in a Latino world? It definitely has it`s challenges but I am learning many different things and I know everything I learn this change will help me in the future.
HOW do you travel? We walk everywhere but sometimes we take tuk tuks...they are like little motorcycles with seats in the back. It`s like a little taxi. We take buses to the different areas to do splits and we stay in their area for 24 hours. I left my bag on the bus last week and by a MIRACLE, we were able to find it again. We are helped a lot in our travels

What is Chimaltenago like? It is beautiful, most of the people wear cortes (look it up on google) and Spanish is their second language. We had 2 baptisms this Sunday of a woman and her nephew. The people here are genuinely beautiful and are open to learning about Christ.

Where else did you go last week? I went to Patzisia and also to Itzapa.
Do you like the traveling? I love it and I love working with the other sisters, every area feels like a different mission.

My time is running out but I will try to write a better email next week...these last couple weeks have been crazy but it should begetting better since it`s moving into the center of this change. And I will be writing next Monday since we have interviews with President!