December 29 2013

Family!

Ha sorry dad for sending you mass amounts of emails, but I just had so many good photos to share this week! I am sure there will be lots more. My comp took super good photos of Christmas eve and Christmas, I can't wait to show you!

Today was a blast we went to a little island off of the main island, called Pulau Ubin, and rode bikes on trails they have all over the island. Wow, let me tell you though, major respect for bike riding missionaries, because I am real out of shape. It's the Filipino food, so good. Anyways we rode bikes for about 3 hours and walked along the wetlands, so so pretty. Dad we walked up this huge tower and it was ridiculously tall and unstable, you would have freaked. There was only supposed to be 20 people on it because it was super old and rickety but there was about 30 and it shook whenever the wind blew. Haha. 

Yesterday was the best day of my mission though. It was my first baptism and it was so so special, i will never forget the day. Keith's testimony was amazing and really helped me to feel that I am really making a difference. It's so awesome to see how much the gospel really can change people's lives, not only that but the impact a testimony has. Keith was unsure about the gospel and baptism till his wife, whose a member, bore her testimony to him and that was when he was ready to really have a change of heart. 

I seriously urge all of you to share what you know and feel about the gospel. It will touch peoples hearts, as cheesy as it sounds. If I can do it, an awkward american girl, you can too! Besides it's so much fun!

Sorry I don't have too much to say. It was such a good week though! 

Sister Lou

P.S. 

Mom I am in love with the necklace you sent, thanks so much. Christmas was great!

I've Hit My Month Mark

Ahhh You Guys!

I am OBSESSED with my mission, quite seriously so. 

This week in terms of missionary work was beyond slow, we literally only had 2 appointments, both on Saturday, but I really got to know a lot the missionaries I am serving with and I love them all so much! They are so much fun. On P-day we played ultimate frisbee in Bishan Park and well it rains all the time here so it was basically a swamp and we got wrecked, so muddy, but definitely worth it. Then we had choir practices Tuesday and Wednesday, all of us, followed by Christmas Conference which was so amazing. I really serve with the best of the best. 

Like I said this week was pretty slow, last Sunday Sister Wynn was sick so we did get to go to church but then we came right back home and she passed out so i was left to read my scriptures till 11pm and make phone calls. On the bright side my scripture study is out of this world now. Luckily she was better by last P-day. However this past Thursday I got unbelievably sick, like super ill and slept literally 48 hours straight, I smelt like death. I am still kind of sick so it's hard to do a lot of work when you sound and look sick, no one wants to talk to me, haha, but we are getting things done. 

I LOVE my ward though! I seriously want to be Filipino so bad. I love them all so much. Yesterday was our ward Christmas party, and boy can they party. Hahaha. It was a huge feast with the most delicious food I've ever had followed by about a million little skits. To my surprise the missionaries were supposed to come up with a musical number as well. As you all know my musical talent is well below par, I can't even carry a tune, but they wouldn't back down. Hahah luckily the best AP's ever are the Elders in our ward and they thought we should sing rudolph the red nose reindeer complete with song and dance by Elder Toney haha. The Filipinos joined in and it was so much fun. I've made some great friends in the ward and I will be so sad when I transfer to not see them anymore, but I am positive we'll keep in touch. They are even teaching me some Tagalog words, I'm so stoked to learn it! I made them promise me to teach me how to have a basic conversation in Tagalog by the next transfer cycle in case I get moved.

There isn't too much to report this week. Its been a weird week but one of the best. And I seriously can't believe I've been away from home for a month. That isn't a very long time, especially compared to those I serve with but if each month goes by as fast as this one did, my mission will be over too quick. 

Love and miss you all,

Sister Hansen

P.s. 

Real quick I ate my first fish and duck this week. Duck is DISGUSTING, like the worst I hate it, but fish is so tasty. When I got to my appointment at an investigators house they had like 3 dead fish, full fish, just laying on plates in the middle of the table, like eyes and teeth and everything still attached, but it tasted so good. I will never like duck though. 

You Guys:

This is truly a dream come true!

Before I get started on my letter first let me say to my wonderful brother Happy belated Birthday! I want you to know meef that I thought about you all day long and was missing you more than ever!

This week was one of miracles! I love serving a mission. The saying, "a mission is 99% hard work and 1 % pure joy and the pure joy makes it all worth it," is true. This week was ROUGH. At the beginning of the week I wanted to die, quite literally, I was constantly tired, we got lost everyday, and my comp and had some differences, however by the end of the week my outlook changed. There is a talk that I heard while in the MTC, "Character of Christ," by Bednar and I was able to read over that on Wednesday and I realized how selfish I was looking at my mission. As my focus shifted from the things I was missing at home and the life I want when I return, to loving the people I am teaching and knowing my purpose is to help people come to Christ this experience has turned from a burden to endure for 18 months to a blessing to appreciate! 

I do have to say though that family those letters you wrote to me before I left have been well read and have helped me in ways you can't even imagine, each one has said something that I desperately needed to hear! I love you guys and miss you so so so so so many much! 

I have to share the best most coolest experience that I had on Saturday night. We were meeting with K one of our investigators and he had been back tracking and had gotten rid of his baptism date and really shying away from the church. My comp and I were so distraught and on Tuesday we decided to text him and challenge him to start reading/watching General Conference starting with Hollands talk "Lord, I believe," (i think that's the title.) After being worried sick all week about how he was doing it was finally time for his lesson. We planned to teach him the restoration again because he had questions about priesthood and prophets. When we got there though the first thing he said to us was that he had been listening to general conference non-stop and I quote, "The questions I had I realized don't really matter anymore, and I want to be baptized, I want to be baptized before the end of the year." WOW! I was so overwhelmed with love and happiness! I can't wait till he is baptized on the 29th! 

Basically I am loving it, the hard times especially because moments like the ones on Saturday night make those rough times so so worth it! I am in love with this work. 

Much Love, 

Sister Hansen!

P.S.

Haha I look disease ridden. My legs are unrecognizable now due to mosquito bites all the time! 

1st Week in Singapore

Hello Friends and Family:

Apa Khabar?

I made it, I have touched down in Singapore and I have been in my 1st area for 4 days now. I was assigned in Singapore south, 3rd ward. My area is the whole of Singapore which is great for referrals, but hard on the wallet. It's a Filipino ward, and they speak in half English and half Tagalog, so the members are helping me to learn a few phrases so sacrament meeting is as confusing. Who would've thought that I would be handing out Tagalog BOM's over English ones? The ward is so hospitable and eager to help in finding and teaching investigators though so I was so blessed in my 1st assignment. 

Singapore is beautiful and I absolutely am in love with this place. I want to live here forever! If I love it as a missionary imagine how great it would be as an actual citizen. 

So the flight here was so so long and even with the help of Advil PM I could not sleep, I was sitting next to the cutest Filipina ever though and I got to explain my purpose and kind of what I was doing and now looking back with my new assignment I know that I was supposed to be sitting by her! She was seriously so cute! I would have to say I am most definitely jet-lagged though. I am so tired all the time especially in the afternoon when it is bed time at home. 

My companion, Sister Wynn, and I are both brand new to Singapore though so we are white-washing this area which is hard especially since the ward had such a deep connection to the previous sisters and our area is HUGE! Lucky for me though one of the old sisters in this area is really helping us out and doing pass-off lessons and she is Sister Parcell's companion now! So i get to see Sister Parcell which is a huge help because I grew very close to her in the MTC and trip to get here to Singapore! Area's really are divinely inspired because I need all the help I can get in adjusting to this new place, routine, and people.

Not too much has happened here though we've only had a couple lessons, most of what we do is ride the MRT (train) to get to places and do A LOT of contacting. It's been hard for me since the English here isn't really American English or really any form of English being able to effectively communicate has been a trial. Singlish isn't my favorite thing but I have already caught myself using it. It's basically conjugated weirdly and the tense of the language is almost always wrong. Basically my grammar will be worse than it already is when I get home. 

The food here is delicious. I am returning a beast. Haha I could honestly eat this food for the rest of my life. The best is probably Chicken Kar-gee and Butter Chicken with Naan. (indian food is everywhere) The shrimp fried rice (which is their normal fried rice) is like floating on a cloud. I am really concerned for my waistline. Haha just kidding, it's great, but I am constantly walking and going from point A to point B I've already dropped some weight. I will have to take some pictures today of the Hocker stands, that's where the good food is at they are like little markets of just different food and drinks. 

Today for P-day we are about to head to Marina Bay and see the Merlion statue and basically everything Iconic to Singapore! I couldn't be more excited and I will have way more photos for you next week! 

Thank you so much for all the love and support that has been give to me! It means a lot! I love you and miss you all, but the work needs to go forward! I am so happy to be a part of it!

Sister Hansen 

The view from my apartment! It's so urban and so green and always slightly raining! That building with the colorful windows is a school! how crazy is that! 

"garbage water" this flows through Singapore everywhere the water is pretty gross and you have to be pretty careful to make sure you are only drinking mineral or filtered water! but look at how green it is

Here is Sister Parcell, so happy I work with her still everyday at a Yishun sign haha we just wanted a picture.

This is a Tao Pah. Every stop on the MRT is a mall and I was so excited to see my first Christmas tree even though it was gold

Ahhh here are my Jellies! Everyone wears these and they are so cheap I have a feeling I will wear them always. What a blast from the past!

This is me and my new comp Sister Wynn (hopefully the computer at the internet cafe is being a little weird) She is great and I truly can't wait to learn all she knows about being a missionary!