Thursday, September 18, 2014

Sept. 14th

truth be told im getting lazy in journaling and writing letters. but im repenting now. 
ok soooo for this week... 
*flipping through journal to find interesting stories*
well last week after manila we got off the plane and we were catching a jeep so we could go to the mission office, well we accidentally heralded (what a christmas type word to use.. ps: its sept meaning people are putting up their christmas lights here and singing christmas songs at church sometimes) 2 jeeps, well whoops, but the one had been their way longer so we jumped in the old mans jeep, well the other driver got TICKED. and elder tate is just hanging onto the back of the jeep and this other driver drives up behind super close to hitting elder tate and honks and is freaking out. well we stop and he stops and our driver about gets in a fight with their driver. but some other drivers interceeded and elder bledsoe gets out to go try to be a peacemaker and everyone is like NO get IN the jeep. we finally take off again with the other driver redefining tail gaiting on our tails then he zooms around us and we don't see him for 2 minutes until we spot him parked on the side of the road. well sister rico starts screaming duck duck! so i figure he's got a gun and then we drive past and we here a thwack! i look up to make sure no one is dead and no one is... because he swung a broom at us... i was just like I THOUGHT HE HAD A GUN. and everyone else laughed at me. breaking up a rather tense situation. and in the end i still gave our driver a pamphlet. so moral of the story: road rage is of the devil. but even if you are in that situation you can still do missionary work. 
so just to be clear. IT WAS JUST A BROOM. don't go crazy because i thought he had a gun. haha. just so its not like when i had dengue and typhoid and everyone thought i got the bird flu.
other story we were planning for the day and i had this guy we randomly talked to on the road come to mind. so we scheduled him in as back up. well later that day its raining and we're walking past his house so i go lets try it! we do nothing more than walk up to the house and they IMMEDIATELY say come in sisters, then the guy goes and shuts off the tv and the other goes and puts a shirt on and we're just like what is happening. they tell us later they only were all there that day because it was raining and work was canceled. the Spirit KNOWS. so listen to Him. im learning that more and more. Miracles really do happen if you'll just follow up. i think i really just realized that this transfer. 
i love you all
i love this work
i love the Lord
Sister hansen

Sept. 8th

DDDAAAAH EVERYONE IS SPEAKING TAGALOG AND ITS BLOWING MY MIND. I CAN UNDERSTAND THEM. yes. want to know why? im in manila... as in kfc, subway, carpet, hot water, air con, americanized manila. for fingerprinting. all the out going missionaries do it. we flew on a plane that was cool. but want to know whats the coolest?? OUR FAMILY THAT CAME TO CHURCH. they are a blessed miracle. in my whole mission none of my baptisms have been people i actually oymed to then taught then baptized (as in the whole experience) but i found this family :) false. i followed the spirit who pointed them out to me. But it really feels cool to finally know what its like to become an instrument and recognize the spirits voice. but anyway. every time we teach them they just go off about how all our doctrine lines up and this last week not just the 3 teens came but the 2 parents as well. they are those who it was said they are looking for the truth but know not where to find it. they stopped going to church for 3 months at the other and prayed God would send them the right ones. BOOM. we invited ourselves in their porch. we teach. they feel the spirit. they come to church. they give us peanutbutter (did i mention they make peanutbutter for a living) I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER. but not a fraction of what i love them... that made no sense. bear with me. my love for them... there we go. also.. we saw one of the recent converts that dropped off the face of the earth show up in my area (he's the nephew of my first baptism who also disappeared) and im literally probably the only missionary still in the mission who knows who he is. THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES -pres Monson. yeah i asked him how my rc is? oh... he's dead. WHAT. what what what??? when he disappeared and went to manila he died cuz his family was no longer taking care of him and he didn't have the best health... its still kinda like whooooa. i dunno what to think. this is rather a boring letter but ill really try harder next week. just know i am good. i LOVE THE LORD. I LOVE THE FILIPINOS AND THE PINES. and i love you all :) 
love 
sister hansen

Sept. 1st

man... what a week
OF MIRACLES. 
remember how i mentioned that family where the teenagers keep coming to church? yeah heres how prepared they are
ok back ground we just found out recently: the dad is a former priest of some sort. well the last 3 months theyve taken a break because they have been really confused about all the different religions. they mimicked one of them. they said their daughter went to one and *he throws his hands in the air* wooooo woooo woooo. is apparently how their worship goes. yeah well theyve been praying this whole time that the Lord would send His true church to them. well then we showed up and initially they kinda ignored us. then i asked if we could come in their gate. they took that as a sign. so we had taught most of them but we finally caught the dad at the end of a lesson with the mom. then we fired off an inspired question: brother will you say the closing prayer?
... i mentioned he was a former priest yes?
he prayed. 
for.
25.
MINUTES. 
yes i peaked. 
during the prayer he went OFF about the need for priesthood and how we need Gods authority and about how he KNOWS the book of mormon is true and how the world is going to be filled with this book and eventually we'll get into every nation and stuff. and im sitting there like a southern baptist in my head thinking AMEN! HALLELUJAH! hahah mostly about 90% of the prayer was truth. he gets done and theyre all in tears and they just spewed how they've been waiting for this and all this other stuff. i was like yes yes yes. will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized?? they accepted but they were working on some project that was going to take another 2 weeks before they could come to church. well we went back yesterday. somehow they got the project finished and they're coming next week. they also went off how the bom must be true  because the dad has translated a skinny pamphlet from english to ilocano and it took him 3 years. i was like it took Joseph Smith around 60 days! they were all ITS TRUE. i was like yes... but READ it first! and pray! haahahah. this is a last transfer miracle. that's about how this whole last week has gone. Heavenly Father loves me :) i saw vilma the mom and palenke (market) and she bought us bananas. they are so excited and SO AM I. 
miracles really are Gods daily work and can be your work too if you'll just follow the spirit. 
love 
sister hansen

August 24

AH HAHAHAHSAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA 
THATS HOW HAPPY I AM
I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!! 
MY COMPANION IS SISTER BREWER. GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS AND PRESIDENT ALLOWS REQUESTS. SISTER ELDER IS IN MY ZONE (from dingras noon) MY OLD DISTRICT LEADER IS MY NEW ZONE LEADER AND SSSSSIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEERRRRRRR IEREMIA IS GOING TO ..........
DINGRAS A THE PROMISED LAND OF MILK AND HONEY
LIFE COULD LITERALLY NOT GET ANY MORE PERFECT. AT ALL. WHATSOEVER. I HAVE THE BEST PRESIDENT. AND HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES ME. GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I AM SO HAPPY. 
plus we just had an activity at the paradice beach of fort alacandria? questionable spelling... the beach where i had my very first zone activity. so this is just me and sister ieremia. chillin on the beach. we played rugby and volleyball. and won haha.  I AM JUST SO PERFECTLY HAPPY I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF. OH MAN. I FEEL LIKE WHEN I GET TO HEAVEN ONE DAY WHEN I HAVE ENDURED TO THE END IT MIGHT FEEL A SMALL BIT LIKE THIS. NOTHING COULD BE SO PERFECT AS MY LIFE RIGHT NOW
oh
AND MARIE GOT BAPTIZED!!!! SHE'S BEEN AN INVESTIGATOR SINCE 2007 AND FINALLY IT HAPPENED. IT JUST TOOK SOME BUGGING PEOPLE ABOUT PAPER WORK AND WE SOLVED IT. SHE GOT MARRIED AND NOW BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED. GAHAHAH. she is soooo different. the Atonement is so amazing. you don't even know. you take people and you think theres no WAY they will ever change and then they live the gospel and they DO. she physically looks different. she didn't do anything but the spirit is just with her and she is happy. i can not explain it. but the gospel is true and the Atonement changes. repentance is so cool. I know its changed me :) PLUS we had a family except the parents come to church for the 2nd sunday in a row. you walk into their lessons and like you just go whoa. when we asked about if they had questions at the end they asked stuff like how can we be saved? how do you baptize? is ishmael with all the daughters in the bom the same at the ishmael in the bible? who are the angels giving Joseph Smith the priesthood? Is coke bawal? is coffee bawal? (but its fine cuz their mom has a health problem so they don't drink that stuff at their house anyway) and like 20 more. i just sit their smiling the whole time. man sometimes when my faith really starts to waver like is oyming really worth it? (opening your mouth) then Heavenly Father shows mercy and leads me to this napakamagandang family. they're all coming around. 
MY LIFE IS PERFECT. 
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH\
FEAR IS THE OPPOSITE OF FAITH AND THEY CANNOT COEXIST IN YOUR THOUGHTS AT THE SAME TIME. EITHER FAITH WILL TAKE OVER OR FEAR WILL START TO. SO PRAY WHEN CHALLENGES COME. SHARE THE GOSPEL ITS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS. IT SAVES FAMILIES.
I love what President Monson said in the oct 2012 conference
quoting a critic and a prison guard who rehabilitated prisoners " said one critic 'you should know that leopards don't change their spots!' replied warden duffy 'you should know i don't work with leopards. i work with men, and men change every day'" 
and also " courage is the word we need to hear and hold near tour hearts- courage to turn our backs oin temptation, courage to lift up our voices in testimony to all whom we meet, remembering that everyone must havge an opportunity to hear the message. It is not an easy thing for most to do this. But we can come to believe in the words of Paul to Timothy: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testomny of our Lord." 
I love life
I love the gospel
I love THIS WORK
I love you
But mostly I love our Heavenly Father, the Savior, the Spirit who guides
share the gospel
 
 
 

August 17

man
you would NOT believe this week
because it never happened
because i was lazy with my journal... ehhhh
sorry! 
it's ok. ill just go from my faulty memory (haha i sound like an old geezer)

well i suppose we did find alma the younger
ok heres the story
Im on exchanges in piddig (beautiful mountainous area with even more awesome people)  and we go to this family. the mom and dad are suuuuper active and they have 5 kids. the 3 girls are members the 2 boys are not. but man... i love them. we walk in and one of their non member sons is all WHAZ UPPPP!!! HHHEEEY MAN. haha he's like 30.  i giggled half this lesson and almost cried the other half. anyway back to how it went. we get in there and we were just going to share to the parents but then he was there and when we were all brother we're going to teach you! he grabs his face and says he has a tooth ache. i was all oh really? then he shoots both hands in the air and spurts out LIARS GO TO PIDDIG! yeaaah! but he didn't leave. and i was all brother have you ever been taught? nope daw. (ok not ONCE in 16 years has he been taught cuz he always ran out of lessons dati) so i go ok we've got one shot what do we share. RESTORATION SIYEMPS its our unique message to the world. so we start in on christs life and go through the restoration and i kid you not ive never come closer to crying in a lesson. the spirit was like KKKAAAABOOOM. IM HEEEEERRRE!! yeah you are. man he was feeling it too. he's tried virtually every religion so he's super magaling especially in the bible and stuff. but he was like prepared. at the end of the lesson i was like brother will you pray to know?? and he said like this and gets on his knees and throws his hands in the air and starts chanting something. hahaha no. brother will you really pray and he got serious and said yes. and then i said will you get baptized if the spirit says its true? affirmative. oh man. i can't explain how awesome it was. after the lesson his mom comes up to us and tells us the whole never been taught in 16 years thing and she just looks like she's going to die of gratitude. man we answered this mothers prayer of over a decade. you just feel how thankful she was when she shook our hands. i went out floating on cloud nine. WE WERE THE THUNDEROUS ANGELS in the alma the younger story. sent to answer the prayer of a faithful parent. k so we weren't exactly shaking the ground and speaking in a voice that could divide bone and marrow asunder (we'll practice teach that skill next week for sure) but it was definately a moment when you look up and youre just like wow. Heavenly Father loves His children. well thats about it
ill write some other cool stories next week. 
much love from the filipino
sister hansen
(not even lying about the filipino thing. i ate snails this week and was fine. then i ate a box of kraft mac and cheese... not even. it was 1/3 of a box. and that night i was curled up in a ball on the couch just saying mamatay ako mamatay ako hahah. curse mac and cheese. long live pancit and rice)

August 11

ok this weeks email goes like this
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
 
k no. but thats what was in my heart yesterday (sunday). you know what i hate? when people make fun of other people. it BUGS me. bad. no. ok heres how it went. we were at church and theres a lady in the ward who has a mental illness of some sort but it's not obvious. She tends to sleep through meetings, and wear shirts too tight and skirts to high to church.  in relief society we had a lesson on eternal marriage. one of the sisters made it a point to say that she was still single and waited for everyone else to laugh. then in the other class she was called out for falling asleep. then in sacrament all the members turned to eachother and laughed when she sang SUPER LOUD. stop. stop stop STOP. it was all i could do not to get up and rebuke the whole congregation. i was so mad. she's also the ONLY member in relief society there on time. she's also the ONLY member who is doing her family history. she's also the ONLY member who sings loud and proud the sacrament hymn. and the only member who talks to us before church starts and says sisters there are SO many Less actives down where i live. they are so kawawa. what the point of their membership if they are just going to be LA. let's go visit them. i said what time? she says saturday. i say DEAL. oh wait... the elders have a baptism on saturday. she says sisters it's ok. ill just go visit them anyway. they need people to help them come back. UMMM YEESSSS. We are commanded to LOVE our neighbor. that is the second commandment only to love your God. how can people say prayers and give talks about love then mock their brothers and sisters. that's not going to fly. Not with the Lord and NOT with me. we're going to talk to some leaders.
that was the fire and brimstone portion. 
 
but life is GOOOOOOOOOOD. PEACHY AND HAPPY AND I LOVE LIFE :)
we contacted these old lolas this week. they didnt really let us get a word in edgewise but the lesson wasn't for waste. because then their dog came waddling out and made my life. first ill just say what they said they feed their dog: bread. bread and milo instead of water and dog food. this poor poor dog hahahaha. it looks like someone stuff a good 3 or 4 full sized pillows into its torso. IT WAS THE FATTEST DOG I HAVE EVER SEEN. hahahahahaha i laughed and then asked if i could take a picture of it. i don't usually do that but this thing was HUGE. so fat and cute hahaha. 
also we had a WEDDING THIS LAST SATURDAY. it was masaya. it'll be more masaya when she gets baptized though and then they go to the temple one day. *sigh* so cute. i love life. everything is masaya. thats missionary work. if you want to be happy serve a mission. but don't just serve, give your whole self to the mission and the Lord will change you and make you masaya ;) 
go google translate masaya now. 
love you all
from your masayang sister
sister hansen

August 5th- k worlds shortest lamest email

(sorry everyone this is Rachel's sister, I fell behind on her emails because I was moving out to school and life just got crazy... but I will catch up on all of them right now! and good news she will be home in roughly 3 weeks!)

heh heh heh. 
im obedient. 
hence the title. 
ive got 10 minutes to win it 
ready go
well piddig came to our apartment on monday cuz there was a land slide that almost got to their apartment. i was just a little one though... daw. and i was just grumbling in my head like how long are they going to be here, are they going to eat all our food and what not. being selfish and lame. but then president pulls up with sister barrientos and all the sisters in the back. and all my murmuring feelings faded away. and he gets out and cheerfully says "We brought you the refugees!" and i was like "that's good cuz this is camp" hahah. man he and sister sacrificed their whole evening to rescue some scared kawawa sisters. and I love those sisters. so i gave myself a mental slap and welcomed them in. 
I love being a missionary
love sister Hansen

this weeks line came in a law of chastity lesson... haha isn't that just the lesson where all good missionary moments originate (if you've seen the district you'd understand) hahaha but we're teaching a bunch of kids and we're just like so in short the law of chastity is you have to be married before... and hannah (shes 8) goes before kissing!!! uh... hahah yeeeahhh... kinda. haha we were going to say live in but we just left it at that. \
also after a super good lesson where we just expounded doctrine and testified tatay pio turns to sister ieremia after she said something particulary magaling and goes you're so smart!.... pwede na magasawa! (basically means you can now get married) hahahahahaha i just laughed and laughed.