American flag shorts!

September 1 2014

My Dear Family,

   So, last Monday in the afternoon we got a call from Presidente Fortuna and guess what?... I bet you'll never guess... I'm going to train! I'm super excited, but super nervous too, because I still have a lot of things to learn for myself. But, I figure if President called me (and he's an inspired servant of the Lord) I must have something to teach a brand new missionary. I went to a meeting for all the people that are going to train in this transfer and all of the names of the new-bes have Latina last names so I'm like 95% sure that my companion will be Latin and speak better Spanish than me. But, in the mission the important thing isn't how much of the language you can speak. It's more about your determination to bring the spirit into every lesson you teach and have a genuine love for the people you teach. In this meeting the very last thing that Pres. Fortuna said was "No hay tiempo para temor" or in other words "there isn't time to be scared". And that was exactly what I needed to hear. In the mission there really isn't time to be scared of whether people are going to slam a door in your face or reject the gospel. If we're doing all that we can to do our part and let the people know why we're here than God is going to help us with the rest. He will never leave us alone. So in short... I"m still nervous, but I'm super excited to train.

   Also, we had intercambios this week and I got to go visit a different area with Hna. Ludlow. She was wonderful and gave me lots of encouragement and words of advice for training. Right now I'm just super excited and almost can't wait until Wednesday to receive my companion. Well that's all I've got for this week. Stay strong, be bold, and have courage, because this life is too short to be afraid of sharing what we know with the people around us.

  All My Love,

Hermana Hansen 

Aguilar Family

August 25 2014 Electricity again!

Querido Familia,

   We have light in our apartment again! And let me tell you that I am so happy and so grateful for electricity, so don't take it for granted. This week we got to do service in an area called 21 de Mayo in a cemetary that is a little ways away from the chapel there. The elders all got machetes to chop away all the weeds and long grass that has started to grow over the vault/headstone things. And the hermanas got to pick up trash and sweep off all the vaults. The cemetery’s here are a bit different than those in the states, but it was kinda neat to see.

   This week we received a reference from a Hermana in the ward and this man was chosen of God. His name is Romel and he already knows a lot about the church and loves the member. Right before our first lesson with him we had a meeting and learned the importance of stating our authority and our purpose in the first visit. OUr authority is that we are literally representatives of Jesus Christ and our purpose is to invite others to come unto him through baptism. My companion was an awesome example for me in this lesson. At the end of the lesson she just said it straight our with no hesitation, " Hermano we have a purpose here as missionaries and it's not just to teach you the word of God. We're here to baptize you so you can return to live in the presence of God again." Whoah, ya.... I was pretty blown away. I've never been so direct with an investigator, but like I said, he was chosen and he accepted a baptism date and everything. I'll definitely keep you updated on him.

  Well, that's all I've got for now but I promise I'm alive and doing well and loving the work. Miss you all and love you tons.

-Hermana Hansen

August 18 2014 No electricity for 5 days

I´m glad to hear that everyone is alive, healthy, and doing well. Church yesterday was good. I´m finally at the point that I can understand the whole lesson (minus a few words or phrases), so I actually feel like I¨m learning doctrine in church instead of Spanish. I can´t wait til I get the chance to get my back fixed up a bit, because there are days that it bothers me a bit when we´re sitting in lessons. But, I’ve been super blessed with health and all that jazz during this 6 months. I love you tons Mom!

Love,

  Brooklyn

So today is Day 5 that my companion and I have not had electricity in our apartment. We even took the light bill and delivered it to the Elders in the office and they still haven´t paid it, so Thursday night we came home to no light because they cut our connection. The evenings are a little sad without light, because we can´t study, or write, or read, or really do anything. We just sit in the dark on our beds and talk until the elders call us to get our numbers. But, it´s just another experience of the mission right?!

The members and investigators here love to teach us how to cook and in this week I got to learn how to make chicken empanadas and pastel de tres leche (3 milk cake). This cake is absolutely delicious and I´m feeling blessed that I know how to make it now.

This Wed. we had a Zone Conference with our mission President and it was wonderful. He talked a lot about faith and fear and how they can´t co-exist (I’m not 100% sure if that is a word in English), because one of them will always overcome the other. If we let our faith drop then fear will take over, but if we strive to increase our faith, then we will have no fear to prevent us from acting on our faith. It´s really a simple concept.  And this week I´ve been putting it into practice. I´ve had a bit of a fear inviting people to baptism in the first visit (even though PMG tells us that we should), but this week I decide to take the challenge and initiative to invite all of our new investigators to baptism in the first visit and it´s amazing the things I´ve seen. Not everyone accepts the invitation, but the spirit there is so strong. Also, in this conference the family that we baptized came and sat up front and all the missionaries got to ask them questions about their conversion and how they felt when we invited them to do certain things. It was a powerful meeting and amazing to see the great amount of faith that these new converts have in the gospel. It was definitely a rewarding experience.

Well, things here in Honduras are great. We´re always hot, sweaty, and we walk EVERYWHERE. I feel super blessed to be where I am and am thankful to my father in heaven for this opportunity, because it really is an opportunity of a lifetime. I love you all and pray for you often.

Mucho Amor,

Hermana Hansen

August 11 2014

So in this past week I completed 6 months of being in the mission and my companion completed 1 year. Wahoo! We did have a little bit of celebration with a little ice cream. It was wonderful!

  I don´t have a lot to report this week, but I just want to share a little of what I´ve learned this past week. I was reminded (again) that God knows us and loves us individual. He is completely aware of all of us children. He knows what is best for us and knows exactly what we need when we need it. Sometimes it´s hard to accept his timing, but when we really strive to align our will with the will of God life is so much easier and very rewarding.

   I was also reminded of the importance of obedience with exactness. Yes we are all going to make mistakes and falter a little along the way, but if we really try to be COMPLETELY obedient, again, our lives will be easier and we will be blessed. Now, I´m not saying that life is magically going to be easy and care free, but it will be EASIER and more rewarding. Well, sorry that this message is short but I just wanted to share a little bit of what the mission is teaching me.

 Love you all,

Hermana Hansen

August 4, 2014 A new area with new changes, but the food is good!

This week I had the grand opportunity of going to a dentist here in Honduras. I was a little scared for my life, but don't worry she fixed my retainer and I think things should be good from here on out. Also, if anyone is worried about me not eating enough here because the food is different, don't even give that a second thought. This week we went to have lunch with the Sierra family and she seriously gave us enough food for 5 lunches!! A huge pile of tajeritas (it's kind of like eating a stack of potato chips with cabbage and parmesan and a red sauce), 2 tamales, a big bowl of rice soup, and then to top it all off a nice little cookie. Directly after this meal we went to visit an investigator that gave us two more tamales to eat. I thought I was going to explode because there was so much food inside of me!

   On a happier note, we married a family and had 5 baptisms this weekend. We were so excited for this couple to get married and we bought a cake and everything. And one of the members here was helping the bride out with her hair and makeup too and right when we were leaving the house to head to the church for the wedding, the lights went out. I was so worried and just said a quick, pleading prayer in my heart that we could still have this wedding. When we got to the church everyone followed us inside and we had this wedding with 2 flashlights and phone. It was quite the experience and I don't think that they will ever forget it either.

   This fast Sunday was amazing. In the first 10 seconds of the meeting there were 14 people sitting up on the stand waiting to bear their testimony. I had never seen that happen before and it was quite the site. It reminded me of the importance of bearing our testimony every chance we get. We don't have to get up there and talk for 5 or 10 either. Yesterday we heard from about 30 different people in this new ward and everyone only talked for about 1 or 2 minutes. It was a powerful meeting and I was so grateful that our new converts got to experience a meeting like that. I hope you all remember that and bear a strong, but brief testimony in every opportunity that God gives you. I love you all tons.

Les Amo Mucho,

Hermana Hansen