first week in BELEN

Fruit salad, yummy yummy :) 

MILLIEEEE

Heyyy family and friends. Gosh I love you all so much.

Ok today I want to talk about transfers, pros and cons.

PROS: It is a brrrrraaaaannnnnnnddd new start, you can start over and with a fresh new companion, new area, and you can talk to anyone because no one knows you! 

CONS: Just imagine taking up your WHOLE life that you knew, everything, the members and everyone you know. Like lifting you out of your comfort zone, nice little bubble. :)))

WE HAD A BAPTISM! She is named Allison and she is so CUTE! So I actually visited her once when I was in splits waiting to train, and I felt, I am gonna be in her baptism, and it turns out that I was! :) It was such a great day, and we had a double baptism with the Elders! We had it right before Women's Conference! It was such a nice day. 

Ok what else? Well I am here in Belen, with some of the best members ever! (We almost always have dinner) and I am happy! It's hard adjusting to a new comp, but it is good! Hermana Varela is super different than any of my other companions, but it's still super good! :) God wants me to learn from her. 

I know this church is true, I know that God will help us and lift us through our burdens and when we feel like when can not walk another step! :) I love it here and I love my Savior. He is my best friend. He lifts me up when I feel I can not. 

Have a great week and be sure to share the gospel with someone this week!!! 

xoxoox
Hermana Hansen

Filling up the FONT!

BAPTISM OF ALLISON!

Me and the cutest little members ever.

The best place ever.

ya no soy una mamá

8 months. Holy cow.

Splits with the STLs.

The son of the family we are reactivating. Love him. 

Yesterday he told me about Thomas S Monson and Jose Smith that he learned in Primary. 

Somos una familia. 

The best friend investigator, that I left....

buenas! 

Ok so the news is out, I GOT TRANSFERRED. Yeah I was expecting it, but it was still wayyyy hard! I have opened up my heart to this area and saying goodbye to everyone I love was HARD for me to do. I have opened it up, let them come into my heart and Santa Cruz was my home. But, it was time to leave. I am here in Belen! I live around the corner from the temple! It's the same area as the AP to the pres, so no biggie :) But fresh starts are my kinda thing, I feel really excited. and saying bye to my hija was not the best :( 

Lets talk about how hard saying bye was yesterday! Really I was just a mess all day, crying. But I will be back SANTA CRUZ, got that mom and dad? Lets go back :) haha But we had a FHE with Reina and Henri last night, and they told us that they are working to get sealed. I was literally so excited I started to cry. So there's that. :) 

Running on 30 minutes of sleep thanks to packing and living 5 hours from the capital of the country. But ya no mas. 

Pues estoy feliz aqui en la misión. Sé que estoy aqui por algún razón y que estoy aqui para ayudar a los demás. DAME ESTE MONTE! I have been thinking and studying a lot of the Book of Mormon. I know it is the truest book on earth. I am so excited that I can share it with others. Lets go, I am so pumped with this transfer!! 

Oh fun fact: I had an ingrown toenail and a member just pulled it out for me! Yeah it hurt real bad! And also, I made pancakes from a premade mix, and the members were so amazed with my ¨skills¨ and that I could actually cook :) 

It's amazing how I have just lost myself in the work - thinking about my inv, members and how I can help them out. It's amazing and I am loving my life. Thanks for the help and support in emails and prayers. LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH.

Hermana Hansen 

Hate goodbyes.

FHE WITH REINA Y HENRI.

FHE WITH REINA Y HENRI.

My dad, me, my mom, and my daughter. FAMILY.

Ahhhh got to see my bff again.

My new comp!! Letsss go! 

hoy es un dia especial

Family Home Evening with the recent converts :) 

Literally in the middle of no where.

My face: happy, exhausted and full of the joy of the gospel.

I know the book of mormon is true. 

HOLA! 

So today, I don't mean to be trunky, but I officially have 8 months in the mission! IT BLOWS MY MIND. I am not sure how I feel about it, happy, sad, overwhelmed or scared. Pretty much all of the above :) 

President came all the way to Guanacaste this week (a 5 hour drive) for a zone conference and then took us out to lunch! WE ACTUALLY ATE IN A RESTAURANT! It's been 9 months since I have done that! Pretty awesome. It's because our zone had the highest number of baptisms in the mission. ush! And the zone meeting was on receiving revelation and the importance of presenting a plan before the Lord in order to receive answers. It was super powerful. 

WE ARE WORKING WITH A COUPLE NAMED VALENTINA AND VICTOR AND THEY ARE AMAZING. Literally we go over 4 times a week to check in on them, and they are doing great. They came to church 2 times, and they are gonna get married on April 1 and get baptized!! They are not drinking coffee, and she is giving up smoking and getting professional help. it is seriously amazing to see how the Gospel is helping them change their lives and grow closer to God! We are super happy and I just hope I don't get transferred in a week.....

So everyone who has been on a mission KNOWS how tiring it is, and how hard it is, but also how wonderful it is!! On Tuesday I literally wrote down in my planner each miracle we saw, and at the end of the day, the page was full!! It was amazing. I love it here and I love the work I am doing. THANKS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT. 

I know Joseph Smith saw God our father and His Son Jesus Christ. We have evidence that Joseph restored the Gospel with the Book of Mormon. It is the most true book on earth and I love reading it each day! 

Have a good week!! I will be here in 90 degree weather :) 

xoxooxx

Hermana Hansen

When my zone got me a cake and smashed my face in it!! hahah

Paying it forward with the birthday surprises!! 

hahah We smashed his face in the cake. Best tradition ever.

buenas

She is like my second mom.

My fav sisters made me a cake for my bday :)

My favorites. The kids of our inv! Fam Gutierrez :)

Hey fam!

Ok first off, I am so happy. The mission is HARD and I am lying if I said that I don't cry a lot, but the Lord is so good, and always works miracles according to our faith. :) 

Pues to answer a question from my family. When I say USH its a good thing!! It's just a saying here in the mission. We as missionaries say it when we are happy or something good happens! hahah Also a day in the life of Hermana Hansen is like this: wake up, exercise, get ready, plan for the day, study, we eat at the house of Hermana Reina, then we just either go contacting or pass for our inv!! and visit the recent converts, the members and then we enter the house at 9!! It's pretty basic! We have a new schedule where we can do our studies when we have time!! It is way nice! We walk a lot and it's super hot but I'm lovin' it! And in between all of that we make contacts in the street. 

So, some things happen in the mission that are ALMOST unbearable. We went by the house of a REALLY solid family that was investigating the church, fam Gutierrez, and they told us that THEY DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE. I actually teared up. It felt like I was saying bye to my family once again, like the MTC drop off. It was hard, and while I said the prayer to leave, I started bawling. Really it is amazing how connected I get with every single person. Not sure if it is good for me haha.

Yesterday the members invited us to lunch, and they SURPRISED me with a cake! It was so good and sooooo fun!! I have learned how to open up and LOVE the people. Also we had a family home evening with the family that we are reactivating last night, and I cried. I know I am here to help them. What a joy it is to be here. 

MARBEL HAS A CALLING! She is called to help teach those who don't know how to read or write. It's pretty awesome!! :) I was so thrilled when she told me. I am so blessed that the Lord has allowed me and my daughter Hermana Chub to help her. 

I love it here!! I am genuinely happy. I want you all to know that Christ lives. He suffered for us so we don't have to suffer in this life. I love it here. 


Hermana Hansen :))))) 

FHE with Riena! She made us the BEST food, 

it was a tortilla with sausage and cabbage and pico de gallo. SO GOOD. 

umm so this is rice with STARFISH. Yeah I ate starfish. 

Pday food: a classic fast food in Guatemala! It's like a hot dog but way better! 

20 years old :)

District Santa Cruz takes on San Jose! :) 

The besssst elders made me a cake for my birthday and TOTALLY surprised me!

Birthday breakfast hahaha

Yes contacting and we ran a crossed a turkey in the street. Welcome to Costa Rica

Just cooking a lil fish for lunch

Yep I woke up to this by my face Sunday morning! 

HEY FAM

I am currently 20 years old. Ok so my birthday was so fun but also a normal day!! THANKS TO MY AWESOME MOM I had a package waiting for me :) and then we just like had a normal day, I actually forgot it was my bday, then we went to go to comp study in the chapel with the elders, and ALL DAY they hadn't wished me a happy birthday, I was like ok cool they forgot, but THEN they surprised me with a cake and balloons :)))) It was so awesome. First and only birthday here haha. Check!!

Literally I could go on and on about how wonderful God is and how He just works miracle after miracle. We are working with 2 families right now, and they are both progressing!! God is just so good. the dad is a really heavy coffee drinker, and when we taught the Word of Wisdom he said, "Well if this is a law that God gave us, we better follow it!" hahah WOW God is so good. 

We went to the temple this morning! It was seriously SO awesome :) I went in with 2 specific questions, and came out with 2 specific answers. I know God hears and answers our prayers, even when our trials seem insurmountable! 

My faith in Christ has grown so much. He lives. He is here to help us. The priesthood power is real and the keys have been restored to the earth. God can talk to us and give us such comfort through priesthood blessings :) 

Also, we are reactivating this family, the family that we eat lunch with every day. They are wearing CTR rings and are coming to church, praying and becoming active :) I know that our work as missionaries is also to help the members. 

I am so happy! Literally on cloud nine here in Costa Rica. dead tired, but really happy. Love you all and THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT and prayers!!!! 


Hermana Hansen

CTR RINGS! The less active family that we are reactivating! 

Twizzlers! mmmm

Gringas! (she doesn't speak Spanish yet, but she will get there)

Some pictures we received this week from a member - 

Living on a prayer

Our DL who baptized Marbel! ush!

We had a multizone conference, 

so this is an example of when all the sisters are wearing their best clothes haha

hashtag live pic...took it like 5 minutes ago. We are here in this Internet in COSTA RICA

HEYYYY family. 

This week was pretty good!! We are just constantly receiving miracles, the LORD IS SO GOOD. We had the confirmation of Marbel on Sunday, and she called us and told us at like 7:30 that she was sick and couldn't make it. We explained to her the importance of her coming, and she finally said that she would come. SO the meeting started, still wasn't there, and then SHE WALKS IN RIGHT AS THEY ANNOUNCE HER CONFIRMACION. USH! Like it was perfect timing and I know that the Lord is working miracles.

I have learned SO much more about Christ in this week than I ever thought possible. I know I have mentioned it before, but really as disciples of Christ, we have to pass through our own "gethsemane" here in our lives. That applies to missionaries as well as members. :) I know that He is there to help us through everything. 

I have been reading the conference Liahona, and have gotten SO MANY ANSWERS. How amazing it is that we have the Lord guiding our church through prophets and apostles, who receive revelation. :) This church is so true. 

Something I learned this week is a quote from Sister Carol F. McConkie. "He does not want us to suffer longer or endure more trials than needed. He does want us to turn to Him and allow Him to ease our burdens, to heal our hearts, and to cleanse our souls through His purifying power." WOW it is so true! I invite you all to turn to Him, let Him heal you in times of trial. 

We are working with a family, Family Gutierrez, right now. They have a date for the 4th of March, and they need to get married also. But they know that the church is so true. Oiga the miracles are so wonderful. Pray for them and that we can find money to get them married. 

God is so good. Even though I feel like my mission has been trial after trial, I know that I have come out stronger from each one, each day, each week. It is amazing representing Christ each day, and there is nothing else I would rather do. I love you all! Thank you for all the support and prayers, keep um comin ;) 

so much love,
Hermana Hansen

My fav breakfast - eggs with ham and like corn pancakes. Super yummy. 

The besssst fries you will ever eat, sold here in Santa Cruz.

God answers our prayers!

Hahha proof that people call me Hermana Hansel. 

pls notice my sick pin of the costa rica flag and the USA flag :)

MARBEL 

Dear Family, 

This week was a miracle week, and it wasn't even semana de Milagros :) 

Basically we knew that President would be here in Guanacaste, and so we were all on edge! Haha but we went on Sunday morning to pick up Marbel for her baptism! And while we were walking to church, the District Leader called me and said, ummm our parents (President and Sis Laboriel) are here! So I was sooo nervous because he was gonna be here for our baptism! :) So we walked in and greeted everyone. The Bishop told us that there wasn't WATER. So they were figuring out how to fill the font.

MIRACLE: About halfway through Sunday School they got the water to work. 

MIRACLE: We got a whole family in the church. It's a family of 5 and they want to come to church every week! We are working with them, they really want to progress! 

MIRACLE: The baptism of Marbel was right after church, and Pres stayed to watch. SO MANY MEMBERS stayed to support her!! It was so awesome!! And the members gave great talks and everything went SOOO SMOOTHLY. 

MIRACLE: We literally didn't have lunch on Sunday, and as every missionary knows, when Sunday rolls around, you are ALL out of food. So we were just gonna figure something out, and then a member calls us and shows up at our house with a PIZZA! It was such a miracle.  

MIRACLE: Hermana Laboriel checked our house and we got 5 stars!! It was super clean, and she told us, very nice job hermanas :) USH!!! 

This email is crazy, but I know that God hears every single one of our prayers. He always is here for us and loves to support us. I know that I am here for a reason, and I LOVE being a missionary :) It's hard, and there are HARD days, but it is all so worth it when you see someone in the waters of baptism or when you have a great lesson. I love it here!!! 

love you all so much 

Hermana Hansen 

heyyyyyyy pizza

McDonalds in the big cityyyyy

My bff hannah will appreciate this, a SERGER! in Costa Rica!

When we went to the Safari and . . .

THE GIRAFFE ALMOST ATE MY HAIR hahahah