3 months...

Famila and Friends... 

We gather together now to celebrate... HAPPY 3+ MONTHS. and in one week on papi's birthday my happy 2 months in the Pines. Sometimes I wish time would hold up. Eh. Life goes on. And so does the work. 

well this week was... interesting. Line of the week: are they drunk? sounds sketchy right but let me explain. On Friday we're walking down the streeet past some teens and I get an overly enthusiastic HI! so i say hi. then they say you're so beautiful! me: slamat po! (they're way too outgoing and friendly is what im thinking) then they yell can we talk with you?! I about just keep walking and sis Gadiano goes: want to talk with them? my first question: well are they drunk? nope. (they are actually 2 super cute outgoing friendly girls who know different missionaries and wanted to discuss my eye color but they let us teach them and they're basically golden) tapos... Saturday comes around and another investigator (we'll call him Ronny) comes uop to us just as we're headed to give a different stroke victim investigator a blessing. His eye's are serioiusly wider then a deers. "sisters I want to be taught!" (now our sweet but unknowing Nanay fellowshipper is all YES! lets teach him|! ( umm ... nanay, Ronny likes to send us good morning :) texts and not let go of my hand when we give hand shakes and be creepily friendly and interested)) so we're all.. um we have an appointment and he's all i want a lesson. I said great! then come to church. he never showed up but afterwards sister G goes do you think he was drunk? I just started to laugh because whenever anyone is abnormally eager to hear our message we assume they're drunk. 

haha its life so now for the spiritual matters: this week we got punted and basted (dumped) and punted and punted. we got a hard core text from one investigator telling us she has her own God and religion. (um same God silly. aaaand you're wrong so be baptized) and is kinda is lame being basted cuz they're throwing their salvation that you're working so hard for out the window. So we got dumped by 3 people then I got bit 32 times on my legs in one day(the red cross could get liters of donations from my mosquito friends i give to so generously) and i got made fun of for being white (uncommon occurance but it happens) So by friday i was kinda done with it all. and just enduring. 

But then we committed Arnel and Jane annnnddd.... FAMILY to baptism!!!! a family a family a familiy!! and not jsut any family they live in a house aqbout the size of 2 of our closets down stairs. six people in a 4 by 12 ft space. so SSUUUUPER poor. and we taught about tithing and im all this lesson will be taough. Um want to know what they said? money come money goes. Basically we'll pay tithing and save money for a marriage license too. and Tatay Abs (abraham) is still coming to like 12 hours of church. both wards and mcm. I feel like a proud parent. sorry for all the spelling mistakes I was trying to type fast (I tried to fix most of them before it went on the blog- rachel's sister) . BUT THIS WORK IS amazing. truly. be thankful for the trails because the rainbows always follow the storm if you keep your vision high and youre attitude up. love you all. mom get better please :) and read the scriptures yall everyday. theres power there. Tell kirst sarah and emily I love them and im proud of them :) 

love you all :) 

oh... and this is what I do with uneffective mosquito nets. 

love sister hansen 

i love wash. MIRACLES HAPPEN

so basically my week was stellar. what's new. I love this work. like nothing else. nothing makes me happier. Im just waiting for the announcement where they say in general conference: so like the scriptures we've decided to Let you go on a mission for 14 years... alma the younger status. SIGN ME UP! jokelang but kinda serious.

 There is SO much work to do and nothing is more satisfying then seeing this ward and all the people we know change. its awesome.It's really like Ike said in an email one week. You understand everything one second and the next its day gone again. 

Soooo what to tell you about this week... there was one man we contacted on the street. He is a tan taller version of the old man on UP i kid you not. THEN he proceeds to tell us how his son goes to University of the Philippines... UP college. oooohhh this is too great. sometimes I have to learn to contain my excitment.

 I feel like Im finally starting to feel like I'm not in a dream. probably because im starting to understand people. im in a time warp still though. 3 months?? sayyyy whhhhaaaa??? nonoooonononononon No. ive got work to do. time can't go by. 

oh and heres the miracle of the week... probably not what you were expecting but I now love doing wash by hand. yes yes. i know pathetic thing to be happy about but it was my goal for the week and you know what?? God help you achieve righteous goals so I changed my attitude and now its this glorious mindless work of squatting and scrubbing. may i never be cured of this condition.

 I've also realized this week how selfish i am. forgive me friends and family. I'm working on it. I will never be the same. I want to be a Filipino. they're... so cool. you've got to experience this culture some time. sorry this week was more boring then most letter wise. I'll go for some cool stories this week. SO prepare for my next letter. its coming. and as always pray for me :)

 I LOOOOOVVVVEEE THIS WORK AND THESE PEOPLE AND EVEN THE MOSQUITOS. joke. not the mosquitos. but really it rocks. and I love you all. i hope you had a happy 4th. you sound like youre killing it in meets and everything else. mom I miss your letters. have someone teach you how to email:) missionaries need members. true story.

sister hansen signing out

love you :) again and the pic is of tatay (that actually means father its a term of respect you call old people here his real name is) Abraham's baptism

Here is the one from this week

hahaha im thinking you maybe felt to pray for me on transfers day. it went glorious. 

buuuuutttt.... STORY TIME. let me just quote my journal. "ha so today i finally had a creeper mcCreeper experience.

 ready? So we're outside April's house (she's a nine year old part member with a baptisimal date and attitude. i pretty much love her) and we see her so we're all can we teach you? and while we're bartering with her theres this dude like 3 feet away staring.... ok. so i say hi. he then goes siiiissster... Hansen (creepin on the name tag) I had a dream. (me: um.. great!) ... about YOU!! ( mom this remind you of your creeper at college?) you need to touch me so i can be free (ok you're now on the weirdo list get lost) Sister will you touch me? me: sorry its bawal (forbidden) (obviously he is more off his rocker then moms college creeper who said he dreamed about her then proposed) him: why is it bawal?? (did i tell you he was speaking english) me: because we're missionaries! (at this point im all april do you know him? she says no then shouts something probably not super respectful at him... love her) sister will you show me how to pray? teach me your lessons! me: later right now we're going to teach april. him: i will follow you sister!!! i have the same face as Jesus (ok dude you've gone to far) at this point we start walking away and true to his word he starts following us. so we like sorta run and april is all get in my house! so we do and he starts yelling creeper stuff from outside the door. weirdo. luckily he disappeared after. what can i say? filipinos love me. i actually was pretty pumped after cuz i finally had a weird missionary story. so there it is. The gospel is for everyone. except the creepers (see fine print) 

and WE BAPTIZED TATAY ABRAHAM THIS WEEK!!!!! he is so awesome. when he got sustained a member of the church yesterday he cried a ,little. he is such a changed man. you don't know the half of it. he told us how he was in manilla and just felt like he should come to Laoag. then his family was being taught. then he came to church and had the sacrament and knew this church was true. and now he smiles all the time and is pretty much a rock. he comes to church at nine and goes to both wards! golden? i think so. we got to see the work of salvation yesterday. soooo so SOOOO GOOOD. MISSIONARIES NEED YOU! I NEEEEEEED YOU. k that sounds creepy (that seems to be the prevailing word in this letter) but its true. everyone needs to find a reason to have the missionaries over. find the less active. find the investigators. because it is SO crucial they have a friend when we leave or good luck keeping them in the church. anyway i got to go. transfers this week. i didn't get transferred BUT im training an american in 4 weeks... pray for me. I LOVE YOU ALL :) Life is good and the church is true and filipinos are my favorite. 

till next week

sister hansen :) 

this one is the letter from two weeks ago

(sorry this one is late... I wasn't able to update her blog because I was at girls camp so today you get two!
-Hannah Hansen aka Rachel's sister)
Dad i guess im supposed to ask about some crazy hike you dragged everyone on... sounds like you ;) do tell all. k that day was vacay (vacation but i wanted it to rhyme) for like 4 hours. i was in heaven playing capture the flag.

 soooo news for this week... it was zone conference and elder teh of the 70 and his wife were there again. and we were all asked to prepared 3x3 minute talks on various subjects. im just thinking. k. i JUST talked in sacrament and in their stake auxillary leaders meeting. im good right? well they get up to anounce the speakers. very first one... of course its me. again. love it. ha and the subject is the one that i struggled the most to write... well so im not sure how that went but i did it. 

so i hugged elder teh's wife again. we're basically tight now. she said she went on a mission to pay back God for her awesome life and ended more in debt then ever. that's how i feel. missions ROCK. still cant speak or understand much. its a bit pathetic. but let me quote ursula "you've got your looks, your pretty face. and DONT underestimate the power of body language" hahahaha i kill myself when quotes pop in my head that fit. its struggle town usa (as sister storey would say) and its great. 

We were teaching tatay ooohhh... who by the way IS BEING BAPTIZED THIS WEEEEEEKKK!!!! FIRST ONE. im a little pumped. but he said a prayer at last nights lesson in which he said he couldn't have come to know this church was true. yyayayayay spirit. seriously it made my life. he is a new person. i kid you not. he didn't smile once for the first 3 weeks we taught him. he smiles all the time now... he exudes the light of christ. he knows he's been forgiven for past sins and it is honestly the most amazing wonderfully awesome thing ive EVER seen. to see how the gospel can totally change a person and fill them with just this hope and light... it makes me so happy. ive never been happier. each day is a struggle. but tatay... tatay abraham is making it all worth it 10 times over this week. i love him.

 latest adventures. i woke up the other day with over 30 bites on my ankles. im at war with mosquitos... they may have the upper hand but i have stratgem. here comes the net. i seriously am resorting to buying a mosquito net. haha i said this week to sister gadiano " im going to have THE most HIIIIDEOUS legs when i go home and i wont care because i sacrifice them in the service of the Lord" it happens. im over it. OH. most import thing. rice face is REEEEAAALLLL curse round faces. ive got the beginings of one and someone tell ike this week to tell me pronto what to do. i refuse to have a rice face. kanin mukha (rice face in tagalog) its totally unacceptable. it doesn't compliment any of my outfits. we cant have that. well missions rock and everyone should go on one. they're seriously the best struggle but so awesome experience you can have ever. i wish sometimes the days would speed up and the weeks slow down. live it up and have no regrets. talk to everyone. that's what im trying to work on. hope you enjoy my rants cuz time is so short. well i love ya'll. till next week

sister hansen :)

ps i got a little homesick thinking about round up week and summer games but i got over it so no worries. ive got to put my whole mind and heart into the mish. IIIII LLLOOOOVVVVEEE YOU ALL :)

wowza! way to go hannah! you rock. really you do. I tell everyone about my stellar good at everything family. Ah what good genes we have. Salamat Po Dad and Mum. 

hahahaha funny that you all had to talk in church... i did too! The bishop comes up to me at the beginning of classes after relief society and goes Sister want to talk in sacrament... naturally i thought he was joking. haha funny bishop... he just stares. Ummm... what subject? tithing :) ooooh... well... i suppose.... how long? -oh uhh 10 minutes! (now it was my turn to stare) oh um 5 minutes! ok... i will try bishop. I think i talked for 7. blessings to me. haha don't know if they even understood it... im over it. But was someone praying for me yesterday??? because at church i was understanding people!! like they said a joke. i got it. miracles happen people. That seriously made my day. its about the worst feeling in the world for someone to spout off giberish then everyone laughs and you just smile weakly. yeeeaaah so nice to laugh. oh!

 Dad happy Fathers DAY!!!! late. i know. But what a great day it was. k eye opener this week. Friday it rains. ha you think you know rain? you probably don't. it POURS here. like singing in the rain status on steroids. in 20 minutes its up to your ankles. and do you feel legit? yes, yes you do. Like a boss... or a pioneer. or someone that forges through things for the greater good. I smiled like a weirdo while i got soaked.

 Then later we were teaching Tatay Abraham. (this is the moment)  ill just quote my journal: "So yesterday we were sitting in a lesson with Tatay Abs and we were soaked and our toes were prunny (i taught sis Sadiano that word and i was so proud... i thought you'd like to know) and our shoes were dripping water from the inside out. and were sitting on the ground and he was on a small stool and there were 3 lizards on the ceiling and we used a flash light cuz the lights were dim and we testified. and i thought: this is the real deal. ha no airbrushed only the good parts "the district" episode here. Theres probably roaches in the crack underneath me im sitting on and the twins are noisy and i cant speak and i love it ALL. ha i've serioiusly never been happier/more content. Maybe Im becoiming more like a Filipino but you're just happy because you trust in the Lord, you know he answers prayers, and you will be ok. Yay missionary work!  

Yup that's my entry

Life is good. Our thief/contact who robbed our neighbors was caught. Heavenly Father answers prayers. and when we tried to explain to sister mimi who the gentiles are in the scriptures she goes oohh... so kinda like muggles. hahahahahaha oh man. i love this work. 

We're praying tatay Abraham has a good interview this week and will be our first baptism next week! we'll see. Well i love you all. Hey. Dear Elder me! we still get them after like 3 weeks but its free! so keep them coming. till later. Share the gospel because it rocks. 

Ps: im going to come home with such a weird sense of humor. All my jokes are now gospely... yeah we'll see how that goes. 

-Sister Hansen

P.s. I have a new motto. you might want to tell everyone. It's FAIL GLORIOUSLY!!! good motto eh? its better to fail trying to do the right thing then sitting there like a pansy and wishing you had said or done something but you didn't. failing is great. its how we learn. 

Sister Hansen at the Beach of P-day

I went to the beach.... and killed at steal the flag. what's new?

Dadio! my mission president and his wife are the Barrientos! pretty much love them. They're filipino. They must love me too cuz remember how I spoke in stake leaders meeting just me and sister Gadiano? well after sister Barrientos goes "they're two of our finest" ummm... ive only been out 2 weeks but thank you! ill take it! then after this lady comes up to me and hugs me (she'd been teaching) but i was all awkward because in our mission its bawal (forbidden) to hug anyone! I just realized She's Elder Teh's wife. As in Elder Teh of the 70. a general authority's wife hugged me!! and i was awkward! who preaches to a 70's wife? I do apparently! check that off the bucket list. hahah.

Oh and remember how someone broke into the eddingtons house? yeah so we found out who. it was this kid we actually contacted on the corner a few nights before. crazy eh? he said he was mormon (but he had bleached hair.... suspicious) and was an rm of manilla but when i asked for referrals (rms should know what that is right?) he looked at me all confused (k my tagalog isn't THAT bad that i mispronounced referrals IN english) anyway.... so his name is romel. and we have like 50 jokes about romel now. If something is creepy or we hear a creepy sound. its probably romel. 

DAAADDDD HAPPY FATHERS DAY NEXT WEEK!!!!  I will write you a heart felt letter the day after deal? look forward to it :)

 OH today for zone activity we went to the beach. THE BEEEEAAACCCHHH. aaaannnnddd then we played capture the flag. as in my favorite summer game of ALL TIME. on the beach. my inner swimmer came out and i was pretty competitive. I gave a stirring speech to all my team (cuz i was captain) about how its better to fail gloriously then sit in a stale mate for 10 minutes. I seriously love our zone and i hope they like me cuz im kinda a dork but I dont care.

 I will try to send picture next week! ask barb for my story on how my tagalog got made fun of but then the lady came to church. sorry my thoughts are scattered. but it was a good story. man i love this work. and its kinda sad buuuuutttt My fame has died. like hannah montana or sagwa. what was once popular is forgotten. they probably got sick of me the 4 time i said hello po going down the same street, the same day. 

The bugs have decided to level up and the party is now on my arms. bites EVERYWHERE. love it though. haha. battle wounds and such. mostly my biggest struggle here is just the language. I have SO MUCH to say but i speak like im 3. im over it. ill just keep trying. it will come. the lord is with me. I seriously rely on him sooooo so SO much. I pray every day for the gift of tongues so I can be a better teacher and help these people. 

news of the week: I got tatay Abraham (our not just golden but platinum investigator) to smile. I seriously cannot wait for his baptism on the 29th. he'll be my first. first let me tell you how i did it. sooo filipinos have this strange notion that white is beautiful (everyone wants what they cant have) so we're talking about it at the hilarios and Sis G goes tatay do you want to be white? and he says yes. and i go "hindi! HINNNNDDDI! (no) and i told him his skin was beautiful and he cracked a half grin! my life is complete. 

so some funny moments: this week sister diamonds ipod is playing and its tab choir. and i could swear they're playing the "praise to budah" song on king and I. I started to laugh. its a bit ironic the tab choir singing that. I dunno... 

I just want to tell you all I love you. and I think of you. Be kind to each other. And NEVER be sarcastic IF its at someone elses expense. its the most belittling thing ever. 

Mom i love you. i want you to get better soooo much. so get a blessing. and just trek on. kayo mo yen! (you can do it) the lord is always with you. he is with the walkers. Lean on him. I promise the closer you try to be to him the more you'll see him everyday. im sorry you're sick. its like the hardest trial ever but I love ya'll. know that. until next week :) ill live on. 

love you

Sister Hansen

I Love this place

Pamilya ko!

I love ya. ha the noah thing actually made me laugh. because yes he was guided and all but the part about raining forty days and nights... rainy season is coming and apparently it does flood. ppppaaaarrrtaay! My comps name is sister Gadiano. She's filipino funny patient and rocks. Mom get better and try to walk the block it might help! at least id hope it would. and this week was a little hard but I see miracles every where. 

ha last week after I sent you all the letter funny thing.  Istart to feel sick. Soon ive got this burning fever and im bed ridden and its like 85 degrees in our appartment and im wearing a sweatshirt dress and sweats. I guess that was nice cuz I embraced the sweat. funny thing is I actually sorta like the heat now. I go into the air conditioned church and its cold. yay sweat! Im kinda struggling with the language so keep the prayers coming. I CAN'T UNDERSTAND IT. gah its like the most frustrating thing in the world to try to bear your heart out and they don't get OR if they do and respond you just say ano(what?) and they repeat their selves and you just stare at them... and stare... and stare some more. hahah awwwkkward. so you look away. and act like you never said anything. welcome to my life.

 But at least the filipinos still think im gorgeous. I love them. hahhahaa I seriously die. I get cat called at so much and I just have to laugh cuz they're all so funny and like 2 heads shorter :) kwento! so yesterday im walking past this bar (i think and this older dude goes heeellllooo beautiful! (in english) haha i just said hindi!!!! sister SSEEEESSSTTTTEEERR! :) he goes oh. hellooo seeesster. do you see why i love these people? they are so much fun. I say hello po to EVERYONE. its great. I'm no longer the new white american because I walk down the same streets like 40 times a day so they just smile now cuz they know a hello po is comiing. My investigator we committed to baptism is named tatay abraham. He's like 59 and he's not doing well cuz he has an enlarged heart but ace (nephew) and his sister nanay crisamel were recently baptized. When I bear my testimony to him I can tell he really listens even though i can't understand him. I don't know why but I can tell he really listens to my words. He's such a sweet heart. we practically live at their house. ive got to send you a picture. you wouldn't believe the building they live by. ha the other day ace (he's 19 and we committed him to serving a mission :) ) figured out how americans put an s on the end of things to make it plural so he goes hello po's ingat po'sssss and then as we were leaving he was getting pretty excited about it and he goes ingat possssssssess SSSIISSSTTERRSSSEZZZSS hahaha I laughed so hard.

 oh ps: the eddingtons (older couple that lives right RIGHT next door, got their house broken into and 2 computers a tablet and a cam corder stolen. stupid head robber. and it was on Bro. Eddingtons birthday too!(sound familiar dad?) these people gave us toilet paper and toothpaste on Sister Obras birthday and bought trick candles just to see her try to blow them out for 10 minutes and they get it when I say old man status. They're so funny. and they got stolen from. the guy has said he was an rm from manilla the night before when he was chilling inside our gate and they asked who he was. creeper status. no worries we're getting locks.

 the work goes forth! we might challenge 2 or 3 people to baptism this week if all goes well. man do I love Filipinos. I just WISH I could understand them! pray for me still yes? Emily!!! I know how you feel I had 36 bites on my legs before i figured out how great off is! they're so itchy huh? can you all believe its been two months???? I feel like I got dropped off last week. oh man. I miss ya'll. i got a titch distracted thinking of ya'll this last week but im working on just focusing on the work and not thinking of the pool and summer and such. well ciao!

love

sister hansen

ps: good luck ya'll in your swim and work! trust in the lord and rely on him and he'll help you

pss: i LOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEE my district. Im in with the other girls in my appartment the office elders and the ap's. They seriously are all so funny. i love it. we clicked immediately.

psss: i NEEEEDD to learn this language. ok im done

Ace's House

 Some of the food