December 29, 2014--Two Letters!!

Dear Family,

It was really wonderful skyping with you guys too!!! Everyone looks like they are doing really well. I got my package!!!!!!!!! The assistants came from the office to do exchanges with the zone leaders and they brought mail!!!! You spoiled me big time! I loved everything so much! The clothes, the jewelry (especially the bracelet), the peppermint bark, the CDs, and the much needed shoes!!! Wow it was so fun. Also it was like I got 2 Christmases. I got to speak to my family on Thursday, and open presents on Friday. Awesome!!!!

Hermana Hilbun is an angel, and we get along great. I’m learning a TON from her. This is her second to last transfer. I really have been incredibly blessed with the companions I’ve had. 

Be sure to tell Becca thank you soooooooooo much for the package she sent me, it was very sweet. The headbands were cute and I loved the candy!!!!!

Sorry I wanted to send pictures but this computer is annoying,

Love you lots

Hermana Hansen

I had a wonderful Christmas!!!!!

We got to have Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas day lunch with La familia familia. (That really is their name). They are amazing! It was wonderful to talk with my family!!!!!!! I love you guys!!!

Christmas in the DR is crazy. There is music BLASTING in our neighborhood 24/7, except for the hours of the day that we don’t have power.  It’s been playing LOUD for 2 weeks. Christmas day we had power all day, so when I woke up Christmas morning, the music was still playing. 

I love you all so much! Thank you for your prayers! Have a happy new year!!!

Hermana Hansen

December 22, 2015

Wow I have no more time to write! But this was a good week. My new companion, Hermana Hilbun is amazing!!!! She is always so happy. I love serving with her. 

La Romana is awesome. The members here are great. We had an awesome ward Christmas dinner with a nativity drama and lots of Dominican food. We had to leave after the food, but I heard the members of all ages stayed until 10:30 dancing. I love the Dominican Culture, why don’t we do that at our Christmas parties? =) 

As we prepare for Christmas, I invite all of you to allow the true meaning of Christmas to come into your hearts. Remember Christ, and move more closely to him. Please watch this video.christmas.mormon.org

Merry Christmas!  I love you all.

Hermana Hansen

December 15, 2014

Another crazy week. Really, I think all weeks in the mission are crazy. It’s pretty hard to get bored.

Another transfer has come and gone. I thought for sure I’d stay in San Pedro since I’ve never stayed with a companion for more than one transfer. I thought, statistically speaking, it was more than likely for me and Hermana Greenstreet to stay together. But no. Me voy )= I’m headed off to La Romana tomorrow. I’m moving further into the countryside =) I’m really, really sad to be leaving San Pedro. I love it here, and I have fallen in love with the people here. I love serving them and teaching them, and I love being served and taught by them.

The mission is a really beautiful thing. You get to meet so many wonderful places and people. My least favorite part of the mission has to be the constant stream of goodbyes, whether that’s companions or members or investigators. I have shared extraordinary and beautiful experiences with the people of San Pedro and I love them with all my heart. I know I’m cheesy.

It’s especially hard to say goodbye to Jhoan. I have had the blessing of teaching him from the beginning of his conversion experience. He has taught me so much about faith, joy, gratitude, and obedience to Gods will. His testimony has strengthened mine. I know the Lord has a plan for me in La Ramona, so I’m excited for the new experiences I’ll have and the amazing people I’ll have the chance to love.

I love what President Uchtdorf says about goodbyes.  I’m paraphrasing, but he essentially says, the reason why goodbyes are so hard is that we are eternal beings, we are meant for forever’s, not for endings. I’m sad to leave but I know I’ll see the people of San Pedro again, and I’m excited for my new beginning in La Romana.

I love you guys!!! Thank you for your love and constant prayers!

Hermana Hansen

Happy Day!

This was an amazing week. Jhoan got baptized!!

His baptismal service was absolutely beautiful. He was so happy and excited. He brought his family and his coworker from the capital who introduced him to the church, along with her family and other friends he has from the capital. A lot of the other young adults came to support him too. It really was a beautiful service.

He asked me to share my testimony, and I felt blessed to be able to share my testimony again before he was baptized. Our ward mission leader, Chester, baptized him. I know Jhoan came out of the water a new man. Because he had faith in Christ and repented, baptism freed him from sin. He was so happy, he was really speechless. He shared his testimony in the form of a poem to us after he was baptized. His faith in Christ and his desire to follow God's commandments never ceases to amaze me. On Sunday he was confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.

I am so blessed to be here. I cannot put it into words. I often think of the scripture in Alma 26:16, where Ammon cannot adequately express his feelings. There is nothing better than helping people come unto Christ. This is the Lord's work. 

Sunday afternoon we went to teach Jhoan. We talked about what it means to endure to the end. We ended up talking about how enduring to the end has a lot to do with following the spirit and sharing with others the joy of the gospel that we have already received. Jhoan shared with us D&C 18 where it talks about the joy we receive when we bring souls unto Christ. Jhoan gets it!

Once we have received the gospel of Jesus Christ the next step is to share it so that others can partake of the joy it brings! (Luke 22:32) Wow. When he read that scripture I started to ask him what he thought it meant but he asked me to share what it means. Haha the tables were turned. 

I love you guys so much! Hope you received all my photos. I sent a ton!!

Love 

Hermana Hansen

Baptism Day Selfie

Me & Hermana Greenstreet

 Jhoans Baptism & Confirmation

Pday at the Beach

Estrellas Baseball Caps

(they are the baseball team in San Pedro)

I love Hermana Flores

Me & Hermana Greenstreet

One of the many stray dogs in the DR

Transfer Day 

Rain!

Hermana Vargas teaching us how to make pera pina. YUMMMMM best juice ever!

Even Elsa can't stop this heat!

Me and Hermana Fox having fun

Te quiero loca

Our Thanksgiving Feast

=) =) =) =) =)

Wow, this was one of the craziest weeks of my mission! But definitely one of the most rewarding.

Last week, our investigator Jhoan decided he wanted to get baptized. We invited him to be baptized on December 6th and he accepted. We knew that teaching him everything he needed to know before the 6th was a huge goal considering we had only visited him 2 or 3 times before. But we had faith and kept moving forward.

We visited Jhoan every day this week. Each day a challenge was put in our way that made it look as if we wouldn’t be able to make it to Jhoans appointment, but every day a miracle happened that made it possible. I know that everything worked out the way it did this week because God made it possible.

Jhoan is so prepared to be baptized. I have never taught someone who has such an incredible understanding of the gospel, and a desire to follow Christ. Since I have known Jhoan, I have seen him change for the better as he has accepted His Savior and put into practice His teachings. Maybe it’s cheesy to say, but there is a light in his eye that wasn’t there before.

I am blessed to have the privilege of knowing Jhoan and being a messenger of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is such a wonderful example. When I asked him why he thought he should obey certain commandments, he said without a pause, “Well, we should follow ALL of Gods commandments…always.”

I cannot wait for this Saturday when I will watch him follow Christ by entering the waters of baptism and making a covenant with his Heavenly Father. I am also grateful for Jhoan´s friends who through their words and deeds introduced Jhoan to the gospel. 

I love being a missionary. Some days are really, really hard. But the opportunity to share with others the gospel of Jesus Christ and watch them change for the better makes it all worth it. 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Hansen

I forgot to post this letter from Carrie 11/03/2014 (Be sure and check out her letter from today 11/24/2014-Lots of photos!)

11/03/2014
I think this may have been the best week on my mission so far!

For the past couple of weeks Hermana Meldrum and I have been making goals to elevate the spirituality in our lessons. We weren’t really seeing a lot of progress. But this week something just clicked. WE figured out how to really discern from the Spirit what the people we teach need to hear. Our lessons have been FILLED with the Spirit, we feel it, the members feel it, and our investigators feel it. I am so happy to be a missionary. I have felt the atonement of Jesus Christ heal me in such marvelous ways since I have been on the mission. I feel like this week was a real turning point on my mission. I am committed to always following the Spirit. Listening for it and staying true to it. That is when miracles happen and lives are changed. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father and all He has taught me. I am so very blessed to have the Spirit play such an influence in my life.

Transfers are tomorrow. Hermana Meldrum is leaving for the capital and I’ll stay here and I’ll start the training of a new missionary. I’m a little nervous but very excited.

I am also sad. Hermana Meldrum and I had something very special. We had high expectations and the same vision but different talents to help us get there. She is very special to me, and an incredible missionary and a disciple of Christ who gives her all to Her Savior and His work. I learned so much from her. And am so grateful for the time we spent together. But I know she will be amazing as she finishes her training in the capital city. 

Love you guys! Have a great week!

WooHoo

So I finally found a computer to send pictures. Hopefully they load in time, they’re all from last transfer.

This was a really great week. We have been working a lot with an investigator named Jhoan. Jhoan is amazing. He’s 21 and got interested in the church through friends who are members. He has been so prepared to receive the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He has a strong testimony of the Savior and is preparing for baptism. Every time we teach him, I see his progress.  He’s happier and he feels the Spirit more. As people come unto Christ they change in extraordinary ways. I love teaching people like him--people with a real desire to learn and keep the commandments. Every time we teach, he asks amazing questions, usually questions we have to study and answer the next visit. I feel so privileged to be the messenger to bring this message to such incredible people. 

I love you guys like crazy. 

God is there. He is watching over each and every one of us. When we go to Him in prayer with faith, He answers us personally and miraculously. The Book of Mormon and the Bible are true. If we follow the principles that are found inside we will be happier, our lives more fulfilling, our hearts filled with peace and eventually we will reach eternal life through the grace and mercy of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

I love this gospel. I don’t want to imagine my life without it. I am grateful for a loving father who knows and helps me. 

Love,

Hermana Hansen

Halloween with Hermana Meldrum

(We carved apples!)

Pumpkin Pie Bars!  Thank you, Mommy

My District

 My Zone

Kennedy Branch-Mission Leader, Chestetar

 Rain!!!

Helping Hands Service Project

How Hermana Meldrum and I solve disagreements

soy dominicana ya (I am Dominican!)

Saw this outside after a district meeting

 Mangu at McDonalds. Only in the DR.

Its like mashed potatoes but with plantains

Oh the Dominican Republic, how I love you!

Saludos a todos!

So, pretty much being a missionary is the best thing ever. Have I said that before? 

I would just like to comment on how much I love the Dominican people and their culture. I love them with all my heart. They are so open and loving. They tell it how it is, and are rarely embarrassed. People and relationships are so important to them. They say hi to everyone. They love to laugh. They love music and dancing. They know how to have a good time. They are so happy. They are full of life. They have a strong faith in Christ. I hope I am acquiring many of their traits and customs. I cannot think of a better place to serve. I am so very blessed. 

So nothing  too crazy happened this week. Lots of walking, and lots of work. Just the way I like it. Hermana Greenstreet is awesome. After about 5 times of trying to help people say her name she just says calleverde :) She really is awesome. She is very dilligent and in tune with the Spirit. I love her.

Speaking of the Spirit, I really am learning more and more each day that it is the Spirit, not me, that does the teaching. If I always look for what the Spirit wants me to say and do, I will be guided to say and do exactly what God wants me to, and I can be made a servant in His hands to touch the hearts of His children. 

I love you all! Thank you for your constant love, support and prayers.

Love, 

Hermana Hansen

Another great week here in the DR!

My new companion is Hermana Greenstreet. She is amazing. She is so dedicated and diligent. And she is so ready to work hard. She’s patient and has a great attitude. She struggles with the language sometimes, but she knows a lot for one week in the field. She’ll be talking like a Dominican before she knows it. We are working our best to find and teach people about the Savior here in San Pedro. The Lord has blessed us with really amazing investigators with a desire to follow Christ. I am so blessed to watch their lives change before my eyes as they choose to follow Him. 

The highlight of my week was Familia Vargas. They are inactive members that Hermana Meldrum and I found last transfer. We have been working with them for close to 2 months now. I love this family. We brought the branch president to their house last week and had a really special lesson about God’s love for us and how families can be eternal. Once again, we invited them to come to church. As we sat in sacrament meeting and they weren’t there I said a little prayer in my head that they would be able to come. In the last minutes they came. This family hasn’t been to church in 10 years. But Sunday they came! I know I am doing the Lord's work and I am so grateful to be here. 

God lives. He loves each of His children. 

Hermana Hansen

Baptism of Yaki

Familia Vargas

Nilsa, Nederlin & Friley

Me & Hermana Meldrum-Helping Hands Service Project

Helping Hands Service Project

Goodbye Hermana Meldrum

Hot! Hot! Hot!

This week has been HOT!!!!! Every one said it would cool down in October. They lied =) But besides that it was a pretty great week. The mission is never easy but I am so blessed. One of the things I love most about being a missionary is watching people take steps of faith. I love it when I teach a principle (really the Spirit teaches it), and then despite their fear or lack of knowledge they follow it and then watch miracles happen in their lives.

The DR doesn’t have a Halloween equivalent but I get 4 months of Christmas! Yayyy!!!! One of the families in the branch said her kids want to celebrate Halloween because they see it on TV, so I think we are going to carve watermelons with them and a friend of theirs tonight. 

Transfers are next week. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. 

I am very blessed. I love you guys soooo much!!!

Hermana Hansen

The Dominican Republic has this wonderful invention called colmados. They're like little corner stores with all the basic needs and they're open usually from 7 to 10, perfect for

missionary hours! The best thing is that every neighborhood has at least 4 and most deliver. For free!!! the US really needs colmados. Anytime we need something and we don't want to go to the store we just call the local colmado. I love this picture. If you look closely the receipt says Mormonas. 

Soy guatelmateca =) I love this dress! Hermana Flores lets me borrow it!

 My Sister Missionary tan-lines. So cute =)