2/9/2015

Another great week in the mission!

We had a meeting with President Corbitt this week, and we talked about the importance of the Spirit in missionary work.

I have a very strong testimony of the Spirit in the mission. As I teach, I search for revelation from the Spirit about what my investigators need to hear.  As I do this, I see miracles and I see a light in their eyes that confirms to me that they have felt Heavenly Fathers love. I don’t know how to describe it exactly, but as I have learned to teach by the Spirit on my mission, my mission has changed!

I LOVE YOU ALL LIKE CRAZY LOTS!!!

Hermana Hansen

Photos from Carrie (1/26/2015)

Beautiful View from My Apartment

Bus Ride with Sister Hilbun to the Santo Domingo Temple 

Beautiful Day at the Santo Domingo Temple

La Romana Zone at the Temple with

President and Hermana Corbitt

US Coast Guard in Santo Domingo!!!

The Town Where We Translated at the Clinic

Translating at the Clinic with Hermana Hilbun,

Elder Amador and Elder P

2/2/2015 A Really Great Week!

My Heavenly Father has reminded me time and time again of his infinite love and support for me. I don't even know where to begin with all the things I have learned. But I know God lives. He loves us. I know because as I seek Him, I see His hand in my life daily. 

He loves us so much that He sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the price so that we can make our way back to Him. I know that because Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself and took upon Him my sins, pains, weaknesses, anxieties, and sadness. He can heal me from anything. His power has no limits, we are never too far from His perfect redeeming love.

I know that as we humble ourselves and realize our incredible need for our Savior, and as we follow His teachings, He will change us, and make us into people we could never become on our own--stronger, more faithful, kinder, and more patient. He will fill us with His charity and with His love. As He does, we will become more and more like Him until one day, through His grace we will become even as He is.

There really is no greater gift. There is no greater gift than the atonement of Jesus Christ. I cannot think of any greater gift than to change, to have my very being changed into something better than it was before. 

That is the message that I am here to share. That our Savior lives, and because He lives we have every reason to rejoice.

I know God fulfills His promises if we just have faith in Him.

I love you all. Have a beautiful week! I invite you to search for Gods hand in your life and record the experiences in a daily journal. 

Hermana Hansen

1/26/2015 Carrie sent several photos to post, but I am having trouble adding them to her blog. I will keep trying. Check back in a few days.

So transfers have rolled around again! And for the first time I’m going to spend a second transfer with the same companion. I am very grateful because I still have so much more to learn from Hermana Hilbun and from La Romana. 

This week we traveled to a part of our area where we’d never been before. We took a 20 minute bus ride farther out into the country. It was beautiful!! And the area has basically never been visited by missionaries. I could tell by the increased amount of stares we received haha =) From the minute we got there, we saw miracles. One being, the Lord guided us to a family of 11! They had such a beautiful Spirit. The parents came to church on Sunday and we felt the Spirit strongly as we taught them. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! 

I also learned a lot about humility this week. I was studying and pondering about how we can find spiritual progression without any really hard trials. The Spirit testified to me of my absolute need for my Savior in every minute of every hour. Before, I was trying to improve mainly by my own efforts and rely little on His grace. Now, relying on His grace has become my central focus as I try to give Him all my heart, might, mind and strength.

I love Moroni 7:48. We have to pray with all the energy of our hearts so that He can FILL us with HIS love. 

I love you all!!! 

Hermana Hansen

1/19/2015 What a Cool week!

We were able to teach some really cool people this week. Since we started teaching Pablo, he has come to church every Sunday even though he has to walk there on crutches. He is amazing, and I am so grateful for his example of faith. 

This week we got to do something really cool. Hermana Hilbun and I, and 2 Elders traveled to San Pedro to translate at a medical clinic. We took a bus to my old area, then drove 30 minutes through sugar cane fields until we got to a small village. It was some of the most severe poverty I've seen since I've been in the DR. We walked into a one room cement building where they had sheets put up to make different hospital rooms. There were people lined up out the door with every sort of medical problem. It was an extremely humbling and heart wrenching experience.  I was really grateful that I could use my Spanish to serve in this way. The doctor would have questions for me to ask the patient, then I would translate back to him the answer. I learned a lot of new medical terms. We worked from 8 to 5 and it was exhausting, but it was one of the coolest experiences of my life.

We also went to the temple this week! I learned so much. It truly is the house of the Lord. While I was there, the Spirit testified to me of our Heavenly Fathers love. 

I love you all!!!! 

Have a fabulous week!! Thank you for all you do!!!

Hermana Hansen

1/12/2015 A Short Letter & No Photos

I had another great week in the mission =) This one was FULL of meetings which meant early mornings and long bus rides, but it was totally worth it. I love the meetings we have with President Corbitt. He truly is an inspired man, and I learn so much from him. Not just how to be a good missionary, but how to be a Christlike leader. And most importantly, how to become a more faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.

The greatest news of the week!!!! 

I found out yesterday that Jhoan received the Aaronic priesthood, and blessed the sacrament for the first time =) Wow, I'm so happy!

Shout out to Celeste! I have the coolest little sis ever! Woohoo! First place on the balance beam!

I'm super excited to go to the temple this week!

I love you all, and you are in my prayers!

Hermana Hansen

1/5/2015 This week was Awesome!

First of all, New Year’s--I tried to sleep at 10:30, but the music blasted, and people were yelling into microphones outside our house ALLL night. At 6:30 when I got out of bed it was still going on. 

A fun tradition that they do here is all the young men run up to you and all the cars in the street begging for money so they can make sancocho for their parties. It’s a Dominican soup. 

Today was dia de los reyes. In the DR they don’t give gifts on Christmas, but rather on the day of kings--to celebrate the wise men that visited Jesus. The kids were in the street playing with their toys today =)

Hermana Hilbun and I visited a fair today to by souvenirs. A bunch of the vendors walked up to me and started speaking French. They ALL thought I was French, and not Hermana Hilbun, only me. Apparently, I look French =)

This week was incredible. We worked really hard and found a ton of amazing people to teach. I cannot even begin to write all the miracles we saw. One was that we found a new investigator. Even though he’s on crutches he walked a long way so that he could come to church. He is incredible. We found another investigator, John Wesley that wants to be a missionary =) 

Love you all!!

Hermana Hansen

I was sooooo spoiled for Christmas!  Thank you Everyone

It was definitely time for new shoes

Aurelia & her cute grandkids

Victor & family in San Pedro

Views from my apartment in San Pedro