HOLA!

I want to start off by saying THANK YOU for all of the dear elders that I've received and continue to get!! One of the Elder's in my district said "man you are SO loved!" I know I couldn't ask for better support. We get them every night at 9 and thanks to the BEST family and friends a missionary could ask for, I'm known in my district for getting the most every night! I'm sorry that I can't reply to them all, just know that I appreciate each and every one! Each night as I open and read them, my whole district loves to watch my facial expressions as I read them, apparently I make faces and get really into my letters :) I even cried in front of my whole district on day 8, so you could say I love getting them. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the support - I wouldn't still be here if it wasn't for you all :)

Yesterday we taught our first "real" investigator. Before our investigator was just our teacher, but now it's a real person that we hadn't met. Her name is Hely and she's Catholic.They say that some are just members acting, but I legit think that she is truly Catholic! Our lesson was an hour long and I was AMAZED at the fact that I could communicate to a fluent Spanish speaker for such a long time! El don de lenguas is real :) The spirit was SO strong in our lesson and I even cried! I'm just amazed at how much I can grow to love someone who I barely even know!

It's really hard to explain time here in the MTC. No one really understands it unless you've been through it! Honestly, the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. I was so confused when people would tell me that, but now I know! It's true. These past two weeks have been the longest, but I also can't believe that it's already pday!

Spanish is the best. Sometimes I think about how easy it would be if I was just speaking English, but I know that it will be so worth it. It's just hard in lessons wanting the communicate and tell them things about this wonderful gospel, but not being able to because my vocab is so small! It's only been two weeks, but in Spanish I can: introduce myself, make small talk, pray, share a scripture, share an experience, share my testimony, and I have the missionary purposed memorized, the first vision, and the baptism invitation! I'm learning and growing SO much! I love it.

I'm officially the "mom" of the district. I knew it was bound to happen when I pulled out my Tide-To-Go the third day. I'm totally ok with it though :) My district is the best. We get off topic kinda a lot, but we are so fun and work hard. All the Hermanas make me laugh SO hard, and it's the BEST stress relief :)

For gym time, my district plays sand volleyball! Sometimes I play, but usually I run around the court while my comp plays! It's the best!! I love running, and it's awesome to do it at my own pace! Hopefully I won't gain the dreaded MTC weight ;)

So we all know that my fav holiday is the 24th of July, and I was sad to be here and missing out! But the Sunday night devotional made up for it. The Nashville Tribute band came and played a legit concert for us! The spirit was so strong and of course I was crying like a baby! I was also pumped because it's been a long 2 weeks without music :)

I didn't get called to speak in Sacrament meeting this week but, I did teach our district meeting with my comp! We taught about the Book of Mormon. Luckily it was in English :) It went good! That was when I finally felt like I was a missionary :)

I bought a MTC Camelback water bottle from the bookstore this week and it's the best purchase of mi vida :) i love it! My district makes fun of me for how much water I drink lol

This is the hardest thing I've done in my life. But, God is SO good and He is constantly sending me tender mercies. I know that I can do ALL things through Cristo who strengthens me :) I'm praying for you all! Love you so much. Thanks for all the support!!

hermana hansen :)

The Hermanas. We love each other. 

It's the best because we are always giggling and helping relieve the stress of a mission.

Memorizing is our fav ;) Herman Haroldsen helps me so much.

She's so positive and supportive.

Everything we need to study. It is a little overwhelming.

I see Sister Maxey EVERYWHERE, at least once a day. It's the biggest blessing! I love it! 

She leaves for Oregon tomorrow and I'm dreading the goodbye. 

It's been so nice to have someone that understands me here :) 

Our study view last night. I LOVE having the mountains close to me! I'm gonna miss it.

This is Hermana Hansen! She's in my branch! Her room is next to mine and we literally have become the best of friends. If it already wasn't awesome enough that we have the same name, she SWAM in high school too! If it could't get better, she swam the 500!! We were dying when we found that out. We talk about all things swim :) 

Our favorite spot - our desk. lol

Making sure I don't forget how to take a selfie.

What is a mission without a name tag pic.

Another map pic . . . you can never have enough!

The coolest district there ever was.

The people I love so much,

So I'm used to telling literally every single thing that happens to me to my mom, so I hope that as I write this email my fingers won't fall off from writing so much :) I have about a million things to say and not nearly enough time!!

Not 5 minutes after my family dropped me off at the MTC, I saw my roommate from Utah State - Sister Maxey. It was the best thing ever! I may have cried really hard. I also see her at least once a day, and it's the very best ever. I have also seen SO many familiar faces from school. Seeing people from home is my favorite.

My companion is Hermana Haroldsen. She's from Herriman Utah and is super nice. We are totally different people, but we make it work. We both want to be exactly obedient and it helps so much. She is my height and is going to LA Spanish speaking. She doesn't have any Spanish background, but she's been picking it up a TON! She's so open to new ideas and brings a lot of knowledge to our lessons. I'm grateful that we both have a desire to work hard! She reminds me of my cousin Morgan.

My District. So as you all know, we have 8 Elders and 4 Hermanas. It's crazy how close we have all become in 7 days! As we were planning for our first pday and a district, the Elders were getting so worried about doing everything together, down to emailing in the same place. Maybe it's because we all don't have any form of entertainment, but the Hermanas thought it was hilarious because usually the girls are worried about doing everything together, but it's the opposite for our district! The Elders also take SUPER long to get ready. They say it's because of all the buttons they have to use, but I don't buy it :)

We taught our first lesson on Friday! It was SO hard. We had to teach in Spanish, obviously, and it was opugh! We just read from the Plan of Salvation and we did not teach by the Spirit so it was rough. Our investigator is Sophia and we teach her everyday. Each lesson gets better and better! My Spanish is slowly coming along. I used up all of the knowledge from High School Spanish class already!

My mom wanted to know what a basic day is like here :) Our days are split into 3 parts: teaching Sophia, Ciclo (personal, companion and language study) and class with our teacher. Between each is a meal. So we basically just go to our classroom, then the cafeteria and back. I'm already tired of the food, which might be good because then I won't gain weight!! My teacher is the BEST. His name is brother Santillan and he served in Morgan's mission! He actually served with her in the same branch! CRAZY. He looks up to her so much and I'm trying to make sure he thinks I'm a good missionary too :) The days blend together because we do the same thing everyday!

I'm learning and growing SO much. Ciclo is my favorite. I love learning and growing my testimony each day! I'm always tired and feel like I sleep for 5 minutes but it's good. I also want to let everyone know that this has been the hardest week of my life. I cry myself to sleep every night. The mission is not easy, it's a HUGE lifestyle adjustment. I'm still getting used to the missionary life, but I'm honestly way happy. Having the Holy Ghost with me always is the best feeling :)

I'm also getting dang good at looking up words in my Spanish to English dictionary, because I do it about 500 times a day!

Everyone Dear Elder me! My mom said my MTC address is in the first post :) On Monday night I got 10 letters, and my whole district was so jealous lol. One of the Elders even asked if I had a boyfriend because I got so many and I was like no I just have awesome friends and family :)

I love you all. I know that this church is true and that I'm supposed to be here right now, no matter how hard it is or how much I miss my family and friends. Keep writing me!
Love always,
Hermana Hansen

I almost forgot something WAY cool that happened on Sunday!  ELDER BEDNAR CAME! It was so sweet! He talked about the Character of Christ. It was amazing. I don't have enough time to tell you much but the spirit was so strong and it helped so much! It was so cool to have him talk to us specifically :)

Sister Maxey moments after entering the MTC

District Hermanas at the Provo Temple

Classic map picture

My very favorite book :) Thanks Jason!!!

My dearest family!!!

I'm sorry that I didn't email you my first day here! Right when I got here we had to go to the computer for training, and of course my teacher was talking in straight Spanish. He may have told me to email mi familia but I just couldn't understand...so I'm sorry.

When you all told me that the MTC was hard, you weren't kidding. HOLY COW this is so hard. I miss you all so much. I miss the comfort of home. I miss English. I did not sleep well my first night at all! I'm so grateful for my blanket and pillowcase! Little pieces of home are the best.

My comp is Hermana Haroldsen. She's the BEST. She's from Herriman. She reminds me of Morgan. She's tall and quiet, I love her. SHE LOVES TO RUN! I'm so grateful that she is willing to run with me!!! What else...she learns differently than me, but we get along great. It's totally weird having a comp 24/7, so it's been a hard adjustment. You really learn how to adjust to others. She doesn't know any Spanish, so I've been trying to teach her everything I know. She actually took Chinese for a long time, so it's been an adjustment. I also forgot to warn her about the orange juice.

My district is the BEST. We have 8 Elders and 4 Hermanas. I live with all 4 Hermanas. Everyone is awesome. We are all still clueless and get distracted pretty easily, but I love them all. I never knew how close we could all get in a few days!

My pday is Tuesday! I'm so excited for Tuesday.

I heard that Trump picked a VP? and there was another shooting somewhere?? TELL ME NEWS. I AM DYING TO HEAR OUTSIDE NEWS!

We have a lot of study/free time. The teacher comes for 3 hours a day, and then we study for the rest 6 hours. It's long and hard. As a district we have breaks and goof around for a few minutes, anything to relieve the stress! I'm the only Sister in my district going to Costa Rica. There are 4 other Elders going to CR. I think I have to travel without a comp to CR.

I'll write you so much more on Tuesday! dearelder.com me! I loveeeee mail. And outside news. I love you all and think about you everyday, which is only been 2 days. Anyways, know that I am happy and alive. This is the hardest thing I've done in my life. Everyone keeps saying it will go by fast, but I don't believe them yet. It's only been 48 hours and it's felt like 48 days.

My shower this morning was FREEZING COLD water. It was terrible, maybe I'm just preparing for Costa Rica.

My watch face got scratched my first day, but I guess that's what I get for a $10 watch...sorry this is so scattered! I feel like I want to tell you all everything, but I have no time!! An Hermana is waiting for this computer.

LOVE YOU SO MUCH. I love putting my name tag on each day. I love wearing the name of Christ daily. I'm so stressed and I have a million things to think about, but I'm good. I'm maybe even happy.

All my love,
Hermana Hansen

On Wednesday, July 13 Hermana Hansen entered the Provo MTC. She will be there for six weeks. We don't know what day her MTC p-day is. We are anxious to hear from her. Her expected departure date is August 22. 

Here is her MTC address if you want to send her a letter:
     Sister Emily Hansen
     Aug 22 CRA-SJOW
     2005 N 900 E Unit 190
     Provo, UT 84602

(If you use dearelder.com to send a letter it doesn't even cost a stamp. They print it out and deliver the letter to the MTC.)

Each week when I post Herman Hansen's email I will send an email to her family and friends that provided their email at her farewell. If you are not on the email list let me know and I will gladly add you.

Emily's Sister Missionary Host took this picture before they went into the MTC.