heeeeeeeeeyyyyy errrbody. im still alive. don't flip a top

soooo our P day got changed... it's now saturday. but am i complaining?? nooooo. our new schedule rocks! so don't worry. i will respond to ya all momentarily in like 4 days. sorry i only have a few minutes to tell you that is all till saturday!! mahal kita!! :) 

a pic of my district that i DEARLY LOVE

 

2nd letter

I serious am going to put the smack down on some of those stupid doctors of moms if they don't get their heads screwed on straight here soon. i really hope its just a hiccup and she gets better super fast. in fact i hoped so soooo much i put moms yours and a few others names on the prayer roll because its good for you. and you all need something im sure that im just not aware of. anyway sooooo fun happening of the week....

ELDER SCOTT CAME AND TALKED TO US!!!! ha! not only that but he left an apostolic blessing on us as missionaries THEN he interupted the girl about to give the closing prayer in front of everyone and continued the apostolic blessing. HOO RA for men of God. they make my day... no week... scratch that lets go with life. Really though cuz they make me want to be so much better. ill write you a letter of what he said cuz i don't have too much time now. sooo tag a log... is... coming. sorta. i feel like a failure and i speak probably as well as baby eli speaks english but minus the cuteness that sails him through it. aw man. im going to have to figure out how he does it someday. i miss babies. i miss sunshine and chilling on the grass listening to music. no music here. but am i complaining? nooooooo it is one of our district goals (yours truly came up with) and we are doing SMASHING i might add. sorta. but we do say 3 nice things about whatever we complained about after we complained about it and we all keep eachother on track because we don't want to be laman and lemuel complain and gossip status. they're dumb. someone in the scriptures had to be. poor nephi. HA funny thing. last sunday we had pretty much the funniest older mormon lady alive come and talk to us. she killed me. at one point she was like DOOOONNNT TOUCH THE ELDERS.... but keep track of the ones you'd like to touch so post mission you can find them at a reunion. she was awesome. she was the first lady to go to the philippines taiwan and somewhere else mission way back then. sweet huh? but anyway so we say bawal (forbidden) when ever any sister in our district is getting a little to friendly. its fun. its all BAWAL BAWAL BAWAL all the time. makes me laugh. and the other day this elder all innocently tries to tap sister morrell on the arm and like 6 girls (automatic reaction) scream DOOOOONNNT TOUCH HER!!!!! The poor elders probably been scarred for life. and his comps. hahah it was awesome tho. flirting is bad here. but we watched this talk by elder bednar on sunday called characters of christ. if you can youtube it or something i promise you'll never regret it. its like the best thing this side of the mississippi. we had a small melt down this week one day when we were all homesick and everything and we just all balled and bore testimonies and stuff. loved it. i cry like a baby here. someone spiked my tear glands in my sleep cuz they're quite over reactive. its just like take a chill pill already. so ive got to go soon but thank you so much for  your package. you guys dont know HOW much letters and packages mean out here. im such a punk for not writing people in the past. it couldve made their day. so pleeeeaaseee write me, email me( again i can email ANYONE now) and dear elder me!!! ( we get them daily) hannah please show mum how to do it. and dad. pleeeeaase. i love you. i love ALLLL OF YOU. i miss you like you wouldn't believe and pray about you even more. i beg my heavenly father to watch over you and keep you safe if its the only thing he does for me all mission. but he does so much more for me anyway. his will be done in all things. im striving to follow it. obediance is hard! how did christ do it. ( i almost said some people kids but that includes us cuz we're all God's children)

sorry i didnt say more to your letters personally but i cant remember it all. ill write a long letter to address it. i love you much. mahal kita( thats about all i can say i struggle. lets be honest. with this language)

sister hansen

ps: thanks for the little scriptures dad they make me happy :) im still finding slip of paper in my bags

ciao(any filipino missionary here would be mad i said that cuz its technically italian. im over it)

pss: i run like a gypsie. if gypsies run. i dunno but i ran 40 minutes straight the other day. a new record. ha i was pretty proud. ive got my swim body back. tis the oddest thing. im getting buffer in the mtc rather then weaker. and i still eat like a horse. that is messy and A LOT. hahahha its ok . its how i roll.. but no body runs longer then me on the track. no one. i outrun the xc boys and girls and the lifters. the closest is this army chick. but it feels great. maybe i got a little of dads genes mixed with moms football/tennis arm after all. life is good :)

elllllloooooo salam and good evening to you

Yeah,

So you know how in alladin they say salam and good evening to you? we say salamAT. because we're that much cooler. Aladin can't touch us. hannah your email still makes me laugh ;) i love it. i hope you get your senior pics soon.  hahahahahaha so guess what the girl to guy ratio is in our district.... 8 girls to 3 guys. That WOULD happen! pffft who needs hot elders anyway? NOT me. really tho. Stay awwwaaaay from the elders. We had a lesson on sunday. She was the funniest old woman (what is she to you? an old woman) lady talking to us. She said DONT TOUCH THE ELDERS.... but keep track of the ones youd like to touch then at reunions feel free! hahahahah. really tho i stay away from elders. they're much to flirty. So mga(means plural form) kasama are sister storey and sister porter. They are both suuuuuper cute head strong lovely sisters of God(ps we cant eat gum or say guys here soooo now sister is kinda the new word for dude. what up sister?) I love them very much. We taught our third lesson to keveeeeeen Yesterday. NAILED IT. oh hey kevin want to be baptized if you feel it's right? sure! if i know its right! good cuz youre going to know!!! (EVEN tho i know you already know we know you're mormon... joys of teaching probably we guess a mtc teacher. you cant pull the wool over our eyes kevin. you will be REbaptized!! oh aaaannnnd we did it memorized! HOT DOG. k im getting a little excited with the caps lock but thats how it goes. Ps Im sending home a letter about the new rules on emailing... they include emailing FRRRIIIIIENDS and getting 60 WHOLE BLESSED MINUTES!! 200% baby of what we had before. We say thank you prayers all the time now since we basically can pray and bear testimony like natives now. Not really but the gift of tongues is real! sooooo real. ( with hard work see small italized print for more on it)

But its real! If this were spanish(with icky spanish teachers who teach at Lehi high who shall not be named) it'd be like spanish 1 the first week and spanish 2 the second week. I can already sort of understand and talk to Kevin the native who talks really fast whom i love. mucho much. want to hear our motto? for our branch anyway... obediance brings blessings. strict obediance brings miracles. ummmm blessings... great! miracles BETTER!!! id like an order of miracles for my strict obediance please! we have seen miracles. hahahah so you should have seen me day 2 here. I was all what. is. going. on?!?!?! i felt dead last in my class cuz mgakasama are just suuper brilliant individuals that learn way fast  so i felt very inadquate so what did i do? i asked for a blessing from our cute(in a little boy way dont go thinking anything crazyu ;) dl. we have to best elders. theyre super funny. all 3 of them. today we went to the temple and besides being this spiritual feasting groud its a physical feasting groud. WHY HAVE I NOT BEEN TO THE TEMPLE CAFETERIA BEFORE NOW???  that place matches the rest of the temple. heavenly. loooooved it. so good. so cheap. great service. 5 stars.

so every day here feels like sunday. so when we get to sunday its more chilll but still like every other day. want to feel the spirit 24/7 and feel guilty for going to bed 5 minutes late come here. ITS AWESOME! it really is THHHHEEEE HARDEST THING i have EVER done! its the longest days of your life. like spiritual emotional and physical drainage and its addicting. im getting sucked into it and i just want to love everyone not complain and be EXACTLY obediant.

soooo gym time comes around i head up stairs and start on the track. looking like the slowest cow of a sister missionary to ever attempt to jog. i really wasnt going to slow but everyone was crrruuuuiiisssing. until they started to drop. ah Ha! (said like mario). oh hey elder i thought youd last longer then me? guess not! i ran further and longer then anyone else up there. men and women alike. then i did push ups. maaaan push ups. apparently girls dont do that here cuz i got looks from boys pumping weights like what are you DOING? ummm working out? tell coach ZAN SHIN! and i creamate. k competition is bad but it feels so good to exercise and run 31 minutes straight. yes 31. not XC status but im over it. 4 miles with no music on a small track in something to be proud of. until you curl up after the workout in your room in the fetal position cuz you ran just a bit to hard. whatever. im over it. 

so everyone here is going nuts over the food and not in a good way. all i here is complaints. and then im just in a corner looking like a dejected animal like... i like it.... ha i actually love it! yaayayaya to meal times. its no temple cafeteria but i do like it much.

sooo why havent i got any letters? im thinking maybe i told you the wrong email. buuuutt please dear elder me! all week! its way easy and i get it that day and then i can write more to you on p days. also if possible could you tell lindsay smith jentry mcgregor grant lamont(his number is on my phone)  and anyone else pertanent its legal to write me so please do! id really like it. email me people!!! dear elder me!! if you love me. write me! really. PS: shout out to cheyenne for being the first and only one to write me of my friends. I love her :) she is awesome and her letter made my day.

mahal kita pamilya! (not sure if its correct sentence structure oh well)

sister rachel Hansen

the work rolls forth and im enjoying every minute of the mtc as advised love you! 

one more thing! (hahahaha that's what uncle says on jacccckkkiiiiie chan!)  i still have 15 minutes hahahahahahahaha. please get me some of my friends emails. pleeeeeaaassseeee! i really want to write some of them! BUT not nearly as much as i want to write you because i ADORE YOU all! really you guys. i about flipped when i saw i had a package. so more random things. in our room we have these things called narnia holes that contain hidden treasures. sister porter found a temple reccomend case and some sheet music! guess what i found??? wala. that means nothing. but i did open a drawer and find...... ha im not going to tell you cuz its coming in my letter that was in response to all your letters so ill talk more to you in that letter. but for now you can wait. and wait. ah ha. im so sneaky. P day is really so great. i neeeedded this! i cant believe i made it to  this day. this place is really a time warp. like it slows down the days speeeds up the weeks, slow weeks, fast months. thats how it goes. im trying to love every second and just laugh. and i do. i state whatever i feel like as long as its righteous and just let it go. so thank you so much for the gum :) i cant eat it during the day which is kinda puh-lame but i can during our wind down our so thanks! im stocked! ps: ike said he would write me. tell him to write me. he promised. prrrrooomiised. write me!  love you! love my comps. this work is soooo so so hard. just letting you know. its like the hardest workout ive ever done times to for how it drains. but if you give your whole self you can be blessed! got to go do more stuff and fill my schedule cuz 5 minutes a day wasted over 2 years is 18 days. at least thats what the guro(teacher) said.

paalam :)

Gung Ho No No

Today while i was talking to my sister she was telling me how on her mission she had some gung ho AP demoted to ZL because he was disobedient.
no.
It was you can only be AP so long. But her last transfer in the field she got in a friendly competition on baptisms. Let's be frank. Missions aren't about the numbers...
UNTIL THE LAST TRANSFER! hahahhahahah. just joshing.
It happens though. Especially with gung ho "i can baptize the world" AP elders. Or sisters. BUT she won :) And I started quoting pride and prejudice  "you should all go to Brighton (or where ever her last area was)! For that is the place to get converts (noooot husbands. that's gross. missionary mindset!). baha so I make myself laugh. That's life. And you get to hear about it :)
K so switching up the subject!
On a spiritual note it was conference and it twas glorious! Loooooved it!! (like wheezey from dragon tales... i know you know what im talking about. everyone watched it as a child) But a talk I really liked that hit me was Erich W. Kopischke talk. Here's some gems I found: while talking about Heavenly Father and Christ, "They do not accept us because of our title or position. They do not look at our status. They look into our hearts. They accept us for what we are and what we're striving to become. Seeking and receiving acceptance from them will always lift and encourage us." aaannnnddd "As we follow the simple pattern the Lord has laid out, we will come to know that we are accepted of him regardless of our position, status, or mortal limitations. His loving acceptance will motivate us, increase our faith, and help us deal with everything we face in life. Despite our challenges we will be successful, prosper, and feel at peace."
I realized I don't have to please everyone and their dog! I don't have to bend my values or back down when people make fun of me for what I do or do not do. GET OVER IT. As long as I'm doing something the Lord would be proud of, other people's opinions (if they're stupid) can drop and burn for all I care. I can be bold and people can disagree! Stand in the flames! (iiiiii fell into a burning ring of fire... k im done with quoting stuff for today) But really. I'm going to go forth with confidence and spread the word! because it's awesome and I love it!
This church is true! If you're a non member and reading this I just want to say test it out! God loves you! He will NOT lie to you. Just read The Book of Mormon. It can't hurt. And what if it IS true? You often hear everyone say what  if you're wrong? BUT what iiiiifff... we're right? What if Joseph Smith really was a prophet who saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. Crazier things have happened. Take the atonement and try to wrap your head around that! But it did happen! Miracles happen because we have an ALL powerful, ALL loving, ALL righteous Father that will do ANYTHING to see that we get back to him safely. This is His work and His glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of men (and women if youre touchy and want to throw that in). Just test it out! Is a religion that teaches people to be the best they can be and have hop in eternal life really so bad? (I'm sorta rephrasing this from an awwwessome testimony I heard recently) But that's my schpeel. Take it or leave it! :)
Welp here's the last post before I'm set apart. My sisters will update it now. Party on, Choose the Right, and Obey with Exactness!!! :) later gators 

cow tipping

Once upon a  time.... long

long

long 

ago. 

Jk it was just my junior year in high school. I was at a meet and this creeper kid came up to me and was all

helloooo rachel. 

me: Ummmm... im pretty sure i don't know you...

You don't remember me?

me: No ive never met you(now let me finish my rubix cube on the side of this pool in peace!) 

You're right i just read your name off your swim pants

me:.... (Quit looking at my pant leg) 

Soooo you do rubix cube?

me: Yuuup. its our latest team obsession. just learned it.

so what else do you do for fun in Lehi?

He'd been implying Lehi was kinda a hick town to begin with so my friend, being the grounded amazing person she is, was kinda sick of him so she thought of the most small town activity she could and said... Cow tipping.

I. About. Died. 

Laughing so hard.

 He just looked confused and eventually left. It was perfect. 

BUT me being the honest Abe I am I didn't want to make her a liar. So I'm proud to say I finally did it! 

Some of my good friends on swim team work with cows so they asked the owner if we could tip a few! He said it was fine but watch out for the recently made mommy cows as they might charge and trample you for coming near their calves. 

Joy. 

Ever heard those stories of missionaries who right before they enter the MTC break their arm playing basketball, ooor get paralyzed landing wrong on a last moment skiing trip. I've heard of people also snapping their arms and EVEN breaking their rumps.

But how lame would it be if I was delayed and when asked why I just am like... Oh. Ya know. I tried to tip a cow but she got ticked and trampled me. Every day excuse right. 

But that didn't happen. All the cows apparently have a late curfew because they were all awake. But I tried! A for effort!! One day I'll tip a cow... Maybe before I leave... maybe after, but I'm determined! My apologies to you cow lovers but trust me. They're fiiine. This coming from my friends who spend hours with them.

Guess it's still on the bucket list! :)

PS: I LEAAAVVVE IN 5 DAAAAYYYSS