AUGUST 26 2016 ANOTHER SUPER GOOD WEEK!

AUGUST 26 2016

Hey Everyone!! 

Well, sorry this is going to be a short and sweet little email.  Just know that life is all good here in Abancaycito.  

Heres a top 4from the week. 

1.  My new companions is amazing. As usual. I am soooo beyond blessed.  Hermana Arana is from Lima, and she has a little bit less then a year in the mission.  

  (Random fun fact.  In our mission, we dont say how much time we have in the mission. We just say if we have more or less then a year in the mission.)    She has a huuuuge heart, and such a big desire to serve.  I have already learned so much from her :)

2.  Water is starting to dry up in Abancay....thats good. Its been a while since I have had a good bucket shower. :) 

3.  Daycka´s baptism!!  Danycka has such a good and pure spirit about her.  When she came out of the baptismal font, we asked her how she felt, and with a huge smile she said, " Super super  super super feliz!"  Yes, all four supers.  

4. This week we heard a super sad story.  A trailer full of cement crashed into a little house this week, killing a whole family, the mom, the two kids, and the driver.  Their house was destroyed, literally leaving nothing behind.  The father was out working that night, and is the only one alive in the famly.  The other day it seemed like almost all of Abancay was outside flying kites, in memory of this little family.  Oh how my heart broke.  I cannot imagine the pain this young father is going through.  But I have been thinking alot about the Plan of Salvation this week.  I cannot express how grateful I am that we have the opportunity to be with our families forever.  Gods plan is so perfect, and when we understand it and live it, we will come to have an eternal perspective.  I LOVE teaching that in Gods eternal plan, there are no endings.  There is nothing more beautiful then that.  

Well everyone, keep on keeping on :)  This life is a beautiful one. 

Con Amor,   Hermana Hansen

BEING A MISSIONARY IS JUST FUN! :)

MY COMPI

DANYCKA

AUGUST 20 KIDS SMILES ARE THE BEST SMILES

AUGUST 20

This was just one of those weeks where I said, "Is all of this really happening?"  I wish I could tell  you all in details all of the amazing things that happened to us this week, but I will just let you all know...it was one of those weeks. :)

For Firsts.....Cha cha cha CHANGES! Welp, My time with Hermana Lozano has come to an end.  At the end of the change, we started saying, this all just seems all too perfect....we must have changes coming up haha.  I am SOOOO grateful for the time I had with Hermana Lozano, honestly, it was such a tender mercy.  But I am also grateful for new chances to learn and grow.  :)  Father in Heavens plan is SOOOO much better then ours.  Im glad Father in Heaven is in charge and not me...my life simply would not be what it would be.  

This week we found a little miracle family, Marina, Synthia, and Anthony.  Marina is a single mom, and she and Synthia are both members.  A couple weeks ago, Synthia came to church.  Found us, and told us she wanted to come back to church.  That week we went and found and taught them.  Very few times in my mission have a found a family so prepared for THIS moment.  Thursday, we had an appointment with them.  We had planned to teach the Plan of Salvation as normal, but as we entered in, we both felt that we needed to change the focus a little. As the lesson went on, we began to testify of the joy we feel when we repent.  The whole attitude of the lesson changed.  Hna Marina completely broke down to us.  She expressed her desire to just feel free from everything that has happened in her life.  Never in my life have I felt so happy to be able to testify of the power of the atonement.  Honestly it was incredible.  It was amazing to be sitting in a lesson, and see the process of repentance working in that very moment.  Its so real. I know it is. 

She came to church this Sunday for the first time in YEARS.  Before my mission I didnt realize how big of a deal it was for these people to find the courage to come back to church.  But it takes alot of courage.  I was so stinkin proud of her.  Repenting with faith means action.  It makes my heart swell with so much joy to see how the atonement works when we exercise our faith.  

Well I still have a million and one things to tell you all. But you already know how it is. 

1 Nephi 11:22-23

"...knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? And I answered him, saying, Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men, wherefore, is it the most desirable above all things...yea, the most desirable above all things...and the most joyous to the soul."

The greatest act of love from the Father, was sending His son, to atone for every one of us.  The atonement is the most joyous to the soul.  

I love my Savior.  I love that through Him, we can start again...every single day.  That because of His sacrifice, He can take away our pain and guilt.  I know the Book of Mormon is true, because every page testifies that there is a Savior, a Redeemer.  I love being a missionary.  

Have the best week every :)

Con Amor, 

Hermana Hansen

THESE PEOPLE WILL SIMPLY ALWAYS HAVE MY HEART

                                                                     SISTER LOZANO AND ME

    

                                                                AN OBJECT LESSON PERHAPS??????

AUGUST 15 2016 ANDAHUAYLASSS!!!

AUGUST 15 2016

Hooray for another beautiful sunny week in Abancaycito!

Alright here is the week in wrap.  Tuesday we had divisions with the Hermanas in Andahuaylas.  Andahuaylas is about 3 hours from Abancay...and not the most comfortable 3 hours.  The trip to Andahuaylas is very very windy, and everyone told me that everyone throws up the whole drive...super duper :)  We travel in a wee little 15 passanger van, while listening to Peru wino music the whole time. For those of you who know what that is, you understand just how rough that trip was. :)  Anywho, I just prayed my little heart out, and I made it to and going home from Andahuaylas without throwing up.  You may not all understand, but that really and honestly is quite the acomplishment.  

The Hermanas are doing great, and sincerely trying to do Heavenly Fathers will.  This week we were able to share a message with them about gratitude.  During personal study last week, the thought came to me of a talk I had read at the beginning of my mission, that really changed my attitude.  

"Could I suggest that we see gratitude as a disposition, a way of life, that stands independent of our current situation?  In other words, Im suggesting that instead of being thankful for things, we focus on being thankful in our circumstances, whatever they may be."

-Pres. Uchtdorf

Being grateful for "things" and being grateful in our situation, are very different.  Learning to have a literal attitude of gratitude has truly helped me have an eternal perspective.  It really has become my goal to have gratitude become a way of life, and not just a fleeting moment.  Also, those who are grateful, are simply just more happy.  And who doesnt want to be happy. :)

This Friday we had a super duper Family History activity with the whole district of Abancay.  We had a really good turn out, and the Poulsens (the family history missionaries)  came and helped us out.  We had some really special experiences that night.  We have a family, the Roman family, who are reactivating.  The have the goal to go to the temple in November.  They came to Family History night and were able to prepare many many family names to take to the temple. It was so special to see them light up every time they found a new family member to take to the temple. I know you all already know. But I love family history.  I just love working in the Work of Salvation.  

Last Sunday, we had fasted to be able to find a less active family, Family Lloclla.  They are a family with so much potential, but we have not been able to find all of them together.  Saturday we felt very strongly to pass by  them, and sure enough we found just about every one in the family.  We had an amazing little lesson, and the parents came to church yesterday.  I am grateful for the chance we have to fast, and see miracles.

Sunday we had our conferencia de distrito with Presidente Herrera.  We were all waiting in the church building for about an hour, waiting for the connection to work so that we could see the conference that was happening in the other church building. After two hours of waiting, Presidente Herrera ended up coming to our church building and doing another conference.  He and his wife gave beautiful talks about how our faith helps us during times of trial, and what "praying with faith" really means.  

Later that day, we had a lesson with a new less active.  Her aunt is not a member, but was there and participating in the lesson.  The spirit was so strong, as we all bore our testimonies of our Savior, and what the atonement meant to us.  We were just about to end the lesson, when my companion and I both felt very strongly that we needed to end the lesson immediatly.  I didnt understand why, we were all feeling the spirit so strong and nothing seemed strange at all.  Then out of no where, her aunt began to speak, and deny everything that had just been said.  Within two minutes the whole family was arguing and fighting and the spirit we had all been feeling was gone.  Oh it broke my heart.  We tried our best to calm everyone down, ended the lesson and left as soon as possible. We will just truly never ever be sorry if we follow the spirit.  

"Strong faith in the Savior, is submissively accepting His will and timing in our lives, even if the outcome is not what we hoped for or wanted."

-David A. Bednar

Truly having faith is trusting the God can do all things, according to HIS will.  His plan is perfect.  And I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows what, when, and why we need what we need. 

I love you all very much. Have an amazing week! :)

Con Amor,

Hermana Hansen

FAMILY HISTORY... WE ARE DOING IT!!!    AND LOVING IT!!! 

PDAY!!

AUGUST 8 2016 BACK TO THE HOMELAND

AUGUST 8 2016

Hey Hey Hey family and friends!  Well this week was plum full of special little tender mercies. Im so grateful that I get to love these little Peruvians.

Tuesday after English Class, the missionaries from Tamburco said that Nataly, (my sweet darling beautiful little convert from the beginning of my mission) would be coming to the church. AHH happiness. She walked in, and I snuck in behind her. When we saw each other, she just burried her head in my chest, and we had ourselves a good little cry.  One of my favorite moments in the mission. With the size of our mission, the chance of you seeing all those people you love so much after you leave an area is pretty slim. But I have been blessed enough to be able to come back and see all my Abanquinos that are so dear to my heart.  Friday we did divisions with Tamburco, so I was back in my turf!  Such a beautiful day to be with old less actives that I was teaching, and my converts.  This week I have been able to see all of the little miracles that God has worked here in little Tamburco.  Little 19 year old Roxanna, was very less active when we found her.  Now she will be leaving on a mission in a few weeks.  Hermana Sefarina, cried every time we visited her.  Now she smiles from ear to ear.  She told me, "I read the Book of Mormon every day. I dont understand anything, but I read it. And it makes me so happy." These are the people that I will ALWAYS admire and look up to.  I got to go visit Nataly Saturday morning, and wow what a beautiful little time we had.  This time hasnt been easy for her.  But shes one of the most couragest people I know, and I know that her Father in Heaven has a very special plan for this very special girl. In other sad news, I went to go visit my very first convert, Rosa. Remember our sweet little Rosa?  My little abuelita who didnt speak a lick of Spanish?  Well, a few days ago, our sweet little Rosa returned home to her Father in Heaven.  My heart broke a little, but I was so happy that I had the chance to visit her famiy this week, and reflect on her life, and the knowledge we have of the Plan of Salvation. Families are meant to be eternal. That I do know.  

D&C 101:36

"Por tanto, no temáis ni aun a la muerte, porque es este mundo vuestro gozo no es completo, pero en mi vuestro gozo es cumplido."

We find joy in Christ.  And I personally have found what REAL joy is, through being His servant.  

Bueno. I love you all very much. Sending all the love and gratitude in the world your way. Thank you for everything!

Con Amor, 

Hermana Hansen

ONE DAY I FORGOT TO PUT ON BUG SPRAY...THE WORST!!  BUT HEY, SOMEONE TOLD ME SHAMPOO WORKED JUST AS GOOD-----JUST SO YOU KNOW..IT DOES WORK :)

SEFARINA!!! A SWEET LITTLE REUNION...

I GOT TO SEE NATALY AGAIN!!  JOY!!!

I GOT MY PACKAGE MOM!!

PDAY

AUGUST 1 2016 FELIZ DIA PERU!!

AUGUST 1 2016

Is it really August ya?  I thought summer went by fast at home, but wow it has flown!  I hope you are all having bucket loads of fun these last few weeks of summer!  

Well, we had a super duper packed week here in Abancay.  At the end of every week, I am SO amazed at how truly blessed we are.  My Heavenly Father is oh so good to us.  I love being on the Lords errand. This week we had divsions with the Hermanas from Andahuaylas and Talavera.  I know I say this all the time, but I just love doing divisions and the chance I have to learn SO much from every Hermana.  Every missionary has such a different and unique spirit, and everyone has something special to bring to the misson. 

So remember Martin and his family? The taxi driver? Well anywho, we went and visited them this week, and turns out Martin is a member!  He was baptized when he was 12 years old. We got there and hey said, I think I have a picture with some people like you. Sure enough pulled out a picture of his baptism with the Elders! So crazy.  He doesn't remember much, but he does remember the good feeling he had attending church.  He also testfied of how the Elders taught him about prayer and how it has played such an important role in his life.  We were kinda bummed because we can only teach him on Sundays for his work, but we are really excited to work with this little family!  Hermana Lozano and I feel very blessed this week :)  

We had a super super tender lesson with hermanita Juana Tapia. Shes been a member for about 12 years, but hasnt assisted for quite some time.  She shared with us her testimony of her Savior Jesus Christ, and the strength she has recieved from His atonement.  I LOVE teaching the doctrine of Christ.  Juana totally lighted up as we reminded her of those basic principles that had brought her so much peace in her life before. 

Wednesday we had our multizona with Presidente Herrera and interviews.  We talked alot about the culture of the mission, "to teach repentance and baptize converts."  We talked about how sometimes we are obedient, but in our own way. There really is only ONE way to be obedient.  Just one.  Presidente Herrera was a semenary teacher for a long time, and he knows SO much about the scriptures. He invited us to spend the first 30 mintues of our personal study every morning to just study to Book of Mormon, and look for "cause and effect principles".  Its been a beautiful experience to study and apply the scriptures in a different way. I just love the Book of Mormon so much.  

This week I was reading in Luke 10 about Mary and Martha.  

"Pero respondiendo Jesus, le dijo, Marta, Marta, afanada y turbada estas con muchas cosas.  Pero solo una cosa es necesaria, y Maria ha escogido la buena parte, la cual no le sera quitada."

I love that so much.  Remember to look for the eternal perspective in ALL things.  Only one thing is needful.  

I love you all very much! Have a fabulous week!

Con Amor,

Hermana Hansen  

                                             LAST PICTURE WITH PRESIDENT AND HERMAN HARBERTSON

DIVISIONS WITH HERMANA BINGHAM

SELFIE CON HERMAN HERRERA

CONCILIO

MUST HAVE FOOD ON THE BRAIN WEEK!! :)

COMIDA COLOMBIANA

                                                                     LUNCH!!

EATING HAMBURGERS..UMMMM

JULY 25 2016 MEETINGS AND STUFF....

JULY 25 2016

Welp, this week was somewhat uneventful, but yeah a good ol week here in the gran mission Peru Cusco!

This week, we were in Cusco, doing divisions,Consejo de Lideres, meetings, and other sorts of meeting stuff.  It really was incredible.  It was my first Consejo with the new president, and we could just feel that Presidente Herrera really has been called of God to guide and direct this mission. 

We talked alot about the culture of the mission, to teach repentance and baptize converts.  I feel like if I have gained anything in the mission, it is a testimony of repentance.  But not just because I have spent the last year of my life teaching about it, but because I have literally lived it.  Sometimes I feel like Alma, who because of the conversion that took places, had the desire to help everyone feel the same!  I took have come to know and understand the sweet joy that comes from daily repentance.  Its just so so important. 

We also talked about how to become a leader like Christ.  One thing that really impacted me was that Christ was the perfect leader, because he was the perfect follower. Really, Jesus Christ came to simply fulfill the will of His Father. To just simply be obedient.  He was a leader, because he understood what it meant to follow. Thats something that I too want to develop. I too want to be a good follower. 

In other news, I feel like my Heavenly Father gave me a few lessons to try my faith this week.  Sandra is having some challenges.Sometimes these things really do just come out of the blue, but I know they are to try our faith. 

Also I got to know a cute litte family, la familia Yupanki, who are getting ready to go to the temple to be sealed in a few months. I feel very privileged to be able to help them in this process of prepàring to go to the temple.  

Also, we found some amazingly wonderfully prepared souls yesterday, simply by listening to the spirit, and following those promptings.  I can truly testify that you will NEVER be sorry for listening to the spirit. Its just beautiful. 

Well, sorry not too much this week! I love you all very much!  

Also, Happy Birthday Shout out to my man Luke!

Hasta Luego!

Con Mucho Amor, 

Hermana Hansen

                                               HERMANA LOZANO LEFT TWO PLAQUES ON.  

                      SOMETIMES WE REALLY DON'T HAVE TIME TO LOOK AT OUR SELVES.  HA HA HA 

                                                    MEET LA FAMILIA HERRERA

                                              FOOT BALL FIELD--PERU STYLE

 
                                  HA HA A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS!!

JULY 18TH 2016 ANGELS IN DISGUISE

JULY 18 2016

Muy Buenos Tardes!

Bueno. Just too many wonderful things happened this week. I wish all of you could see all the amazing things I see everyday.  Anywho, last Friday we had divisiones with the hermanas from Vista Alegre in Cusco.  I was with Hermana Baker, who was here just before I came in. So she already knew the sector.  It was perfect because she could show me a few homes and families.  We went to visit a family at 7, but when we got up there, they were not there.  We decided to look for a few less actives that lived waaaay up there in those Abancay hills.  She started naming off some people, and we both felt that we should visit a less active named Margely.  We knocked on her door and no one was there. A little disapointed we turned around to head back, and there was a cute little 5 year old girl standing behind us.  I really dont know where she came from, but she told us that the women doesn't live there anymore, and explained that she had moved across the street.  We talked to her for a sec, and thanked her for her help.  Hermana Baker and I walked away and said, wow what a blessing that that little girl was there to tell us that! Anywho we crossed the street and knocked on the door, the door we thought was where she had moved to.  Again, no one was there.  We turned around to leave, and once again out of no where the little girl was standing behind us. She said, No its two more houses down!  At this point, we were a little curious to who this girl was and where she had kept coming from.  Sure enough, we went a little farther down, knocked on the door and found Margely.  We turned around to thank the little girl, and just like that, she was gone.  In that moment  we realized that God had sent us a little angel that night. Im not sure how else we would have found the house.   We were able to find Margely and her kids and teach them.  After the lesson Margely asked us, how did you find me? I had moved houses quite some time ago, and I was worried because I wasnt sure how you were going to be able to find me. Angels in disguise. 

The same day, my companion was with another hermana, in another part of our sector. Earlier that week, Hermana Lozano and I had contacted a taxista, Martin,  and after we got out of the car, we really felt like we needed to follow up with that contact as soon as possible.  Hermana Lozano went Friday to go look for Martin.  They knocked on the door, and his wife answered.  She was a little suspicious at first, but eventually let them in. His wife explained that she was so surprised that they were there.  The day we contacted Martin, he went home and told his wife, "Today, two young girls rode in my taxi...and said they wanted to come visit me and my family. I think they are going to come visit us."  His wife just laughed at him, because she said he NEVER accepts or listens to anyone when it comes to religion.  She said, yeah right you know you wont listen to them. She was so surprised that he accepted that we come visit them, and that we actually came to visit them.  Martin wasnt there, but his wife was so happy and excited that they were there. Next week we will visit them again.  

Honestly, its just incredible.  We are just obedient, doing a small part, and God works the miracles.  In other wonderful news, Sandra is amazing and is getting baptized the 30th.  I love her.  She has had a very beautiful conversion, and her change is evident. She just radiates now.  I cannot tell you all about all the wonderful people we found this week.  God is preparing the hearts here in Abancaycito.  This next week we will be in Cusco all week, for divisions and concilio.  Crazy crazy crazy is my life! But I dont want it any other way!

I love you all very very much. Thank you for your prayers, and words of support. Hope you all have a super fun summery week!

Con Amor, 

Hermana Hansen

                                                              P-DAY BACK IN CUSCO

ME AND HERMANA LAZANO

                                                OUT TO EAT WITH OUR PENSION

   



                                        HA HA HA...7-11 ALMOST!.  I LOVE PERU SO MUCH