Jan 17 2010

Greetings from the Kingdom of MESA ARIZONA!
I am officially calling the Arizona Mesa Mission the PRINCESS mission for all of the below stated reasons:

I live in a palace
I get fed delicious food every night
It's sunny every day
I get to go running for an hour a day
I eat all the fruit I want right from the trees
There's SO much member support
I will hardly ever go "tracting" cuz of all the member referals
I committed someone to be baptized the FIRST DAY I was here and working!
I get to stare at the castle (temple) ALL DAY!
...there's even a ward called the "Princess Ward" baahahahahaha It's like "princess court" or something like that. I'll get a pic sometime!

When I turned in my papers I was fully expecting and excited to live in a hole... boil my water... and eat bugs...
God knows me too well.

My companion is Sister Chelsea Watrous and she's THE BOMB! She's beautiful and loving and helpful and understanding when I'm an idiot and most important has a super strong testimony! She graduated from Riverton in 05 and has lived in Texas and Florida since. She's pretty much a stud. Except the girliest version of that. she has GORGEOUS blonde hair and is always SUPER cute! I've been praying for her since August 2nd- the day I decided to go on a mission. Plus, I even wrote President Ellsworth a letter literally begging him for the BEST trainer he could give me.  He delivered. Ask and ye shall receive right? She's a trainer here at the VC. That's like the highest calling you can get.
Oh yeah, there's all sorts of callings I can get here. The Lord seriously knows me.

Mesa is close to home. I've already seen people I know! Or people who know people I know.  I sat down in my 3rd of 4 ward on Sunday, looked up on the stand and saw none other than President Ruben! Not Paul, but his brother! I talked to his wife for a bit. Ahhh how small the mormon world is. And the world between Mesa and Salt Lake.

I love being at the VC. Just like I thought, we get shifts from 9-3 or 3-9 and the rest of the days are proselyting. We get at least one full proselyting day a week. And I will get around 2 full proselyting transfers. There are a few oddities, like one sister who got switched to VC and one sister who had 4 transfers away, but that's pretty rare. I love all the girls, they're super cute and SO not catty at all!

My zone/district is awesome! My district leaders are always letting everyone know they're loved and appreciated which is a big deal! It really makes me want to work harder.

I've definitely learned that telling people how wonderful they are is a lot more motivating then telling them what they need to do. people want to live up to the reputation that precedes them. Our stake president- President Ostler has definitely taught me that.


Day by Day Breakdown
Tuesday- left the FIVE DEGREE weather with 10 Elders to MESA! President picked us up and we came to the Temple, had a quick meeting then went to the Mission home. Had another meeting and ate lunch. Interviews then off to work with our temporary companions. I was with Hermanna McKenna and Sister Rodriguez. They were in a zebra area so I got to hear some spanish. we worked, took pictures on the ugly green couch, and went home and to BED!

Wednesday- Got up to run, went to transfer meeting, got my companion (YAY!) and went to work! Got food and such at Walmart, taught some lessons, and committed Tana, our sweet little 12 year old to be baptized.

Thursday- Worked in the morning, VC at night

Friday - Same schedule

Saturday - Weekly planning (aahhhhh) and VC

Sunday - Getting everyone to church, bringing everyone to church, and sitting through looooots of church! Heard 5 different talks on honesty... honestly!

Monday - P DAY! our P day ends early cuz we have to be at the VC at 5:30

Pretty much we do the same thing every day- run, teach, call, VC, eat, and sleep. it's all WORK WORK WORK and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!

A few Sunshine Statements for ya'll:
No one can be offended when offered happiness
"I lover to PHWAM people with the Spirit" - E. Dursdeller
If you want to hear the Lord's love, read the scriptures; If you want to feel His love, pray. -President
When you look for miracles, you will see them and they will come
This is the time to change. This is the time to watch people change. We can watch them and learn and grow together." -E Armour
We need investigators, not spectators
We love PEOPLE not NUMBERS
Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of cancer
My purpose is not to fix others' problems, my purpose is to lead them to Christ and Heavenly Father so they can.
"wanna make memories" -me!
"What have you gained?" "Depends on what you mean!"
"I was asked to speak on honest, and honestly I wasn't too thrilled"
There are 2 people you can never lie to, yourself and the Lord
If you do what you need to do, you'll be where you need to be



The key is to BE and not SEEM - President
Normal people look at bad parts of town and see people to stay clear of to be safe; missionaries see bad parts of town and see people to teach to bring them to Christ. - SMH

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

PS CHASE! I'M SO EXCITED! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH L.A.!!!! ahhh see you in... forever! but thats ok!
PSS CHAN CHAN! I need pics from Miss America ASAP! Thanks for being WONDERFUL!!!
PSSSS Nate- thanks for those talks, I'm writing you a for real letter... soon! but seriously, thank you!
PSSSS I LOVE YOU ALLLLLL!!!!
PSSSSS The church is true, the book is blue, God loves you, and I do too!!!

Jan 7 2010

HI FAMILY AND LOVED ONES! This week has been rediculously humbling. ahhh let's start with last week.

New Year's was dumb. we counted down to 10;00. probably the most uneventful new years ever. and I was asleep at the coming of the new year. oh well, at least i was obedient (which can't be said for some of the elders in our district :D (when i have an asterisk- that just means it's one of my sunshine statements from that  day cuz i'm just writing you the main points out of my journal :D) *every missionary has their own legend, you can be remembered for good or bad. i'm gonna be remmeembered for AMAZING :D *Be an A team Missionary!!! Me and my companions are getting so close that we're finishing each other's sentences... the problem is we're so close we have the same sense of humor now, and sometimes we just laugh sooooo hard we cry!... even sometimes when we're  praying! On new year's day I SMASHED the record for sit ups in the MTC. it was 411 for the girls and 1650 for the boys. It has to be done in a 50 minute period and I did ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND FOUR! I was so proud. one of the highlights of my mission already :D *Gag me with a spoon* sis Loar :D Near the end of their time here our district got reaaaally distracted... and distracting. haha... just quoting comedians and movies and playing games... but it was fun. even though i still studied most the time. Our last day with our whole district was Sunday and we had an AMAZING devotional!!! Monday was soooo hard! Half our district was gone including my 3rd companion. It was like 1/3 of me was missing. It's still hard. Tuesday the rest of the district left so it was just me and sis Oja. **Happiness is not found at thhee end of the road, it is experienced along the way. so take not for granted each moment of your life and yyou will find a reason to be happy each day. Don't worry so much about tomorrow, that you forget to live today!** *I met a lady "betsey Jensen" at the Doctor's. SO funny. I almost took a picture. she liked my earrings* *You cannot lead others to Christ unless you yyourself have found him* *The call to be a missionary is a call to become more like Christ and bring others along the way* *SHOWING service is better recieved than TALKING ABOUT service* Ok, now to the meat of this E-mail. Holy moly  how much I've been humbled. Our first day of Visitor Center training was cool... but I had a really hard time with it. The whole first day they were basically just telling us about how lucky  we were to get called VC, which is absolutely true- here's some of the reasons -We were picked FIRST -The most important resource in a VC is the MISSIONARY -We are picked because "they can see our testimonies through our pictures" cool eh? so maybe that only pretty girls get sent there thing IS kinda true... which I don't know if I like or I hate. I knew  I wanted to be the face of something... thought it was Utah, but it's much more fulffilling to represent THE CHURCH :D And I realized that the VC teachers (we have 2- sis Murphy and Metzger) do this EVERY week! A LOT of the time they spend teaching is just comfortinng girls with their calls because the girls who get called VC are definititely some of the most HARD WORKING, FUN LOVING, CREATIVE missionaries there are, and we feel bad that we're not allowed to do what everyone else does, but the thing is- we really DO learn more than otherr  missionaries. All mission presidents request VC sisters for their time in the field and when the MTC is hiring, VC sisters get 1st priority. That's a pretty big deal if you ask me. And I KNOW all this... but I just don't want to BELIEVE  it. I had a reaaaaaaaaalllllllly hard time being ok with my assignment, and I still have a hard time with  it. I was such a brat the 1st 2 days of VC training cuz the 1st day was ok, but the 2nd day they were like "how do  you feel" and I told them the truth- I FEEL LIKE A TOUR GUIDE!!!! which is absolutely NOT true, and I know  that... my heart just hurts. really really really bad. I dont' have time to get into a lot of it, but I've had a change or heart. or at least I've decided to. FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT. I've decided to NOT complain about my call for 1 second more. NOTHING is bad enough that complaining makes it better. People have been through much harder things and been in much worse situations and places than I''m in. Because it took me such a long time to truly accept my call, it made me nervous that if I had been more humble and willing to accept my call earlier, if i would have gotten a call that I really wanted. and I prayed about it very hard and when we went to the temple this morning, I definitely got my answer.  It was in D and C 50 and it says something along the lines of "This is what God wants and if it were any other way it would NOT be of God" As I'm teaching people, "Because God says so" is THE best answer I have for most questions, but people still want more rationalization, and I'll give it to them, but because God says so really is the best answer. And now I have to be the one to actually accept it. I KNOW I am going to Mesa for a reason. I am called to a PEOPLE , NOT A PLACE. and I need to stop being prideful. In the times before Christ, people would sarifice animals. After Christ, we're told that all we have to sacrifice is a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I am putting my entire life  on the alter of the Lord and letting Him make me into the person He needs me to be and I need me to be, and most  importantly my future family needs to be.  I'm not OVER it, but I'm done complaining. God needs me to be a leader. THAT is who I am and who I will always be. I was born into the TRUE CHURCH because He knew I would share it. And that's exactly what I am going to do. "I'll go where you want me to go Dear Lord Over Mountain or Plain or Sea. I'll Say what you want me to say dear Lord I'll be who you want me to be" I love you all. Christ sacrificed His all so I can have it all

Dec 22 2010

I am absolutely LOVING the MTC! I love my district, I love my teachers! I LOVE EVERYTHING.... except maybe the food. cuz that's terrible.

I have been blessed to be put in a "tripanionship" for the MTC! My companions are Sister BreAnne Oja and Sister Janda Loar. Sister Oja is from Seattle and she's going to the HAWAII VISITOR'S CENTER!!!! and Sis Loar is from MESA and she's going to Charlotte North Carolina!. We get along really well. They both told me they never thought they'd be friends with a pageant girl, but I'm not sure what they figured that meant. I think most real pageant girls aren't what people expect. If someone expects someone who's all in it for the glory, they're not gonna find many. It's too much work to do it all for yourself. You MUST be in it to serve others.

As you wellllll know, Mesa was NOT my first pick of my assignment for my mission... but... I'm starting to be more ok with it. When I'm with all English speakers, I'm happy with Mesa, cuz it's probably one of my top picks of where to go in the country cuz... There's a lot of connections there. When I'm with people going crazy places speaking crazy languages, I'm greatful that I don't have to have massive panic attacks and freak out cuz I'm not gonna understand everyone. I really get to study the scriptures and know them better. I'm lovin it. Also, as my teacher brother Wanket said, "We have the truth, we might as well KNOW it." What a stud.

My district is awesome. The boys are going to either Charlotte or Mineappolis. I am SOOOOOO glad I'm not going somewhere cold!!! We goof around a lot, but they all have strong testimonies and are here for the right reasons. Boys will be boys... that's all I'm gonna say.

In regards to Mesa...

In our first BGM (big group meeting) (I'm shortening this story immensley) a brother spoke of how he served in Chile and 20 years later some of his investigators' grandkids showed up and told him how much success THAT family alone had brought into the church! Then I realized that I already have a lot of ties to Mesa and I'll only get more! I haven't been called to serve an 18 month mission, I will be down there and keep in touch with a lot of the people I teach and I'll be able to see the growth and stay friends with them forever!!! So I was excited about that and just feeling the spirit so stron and I was so happy

Then the Elder next to me just turned to me and asked "where are you going sister?"

 "Mesa"

"Woooahhhhh, that's where I'm going to."

"uh, why the huge reaction"

"well I can just feel your testimony is SOOOO strong, just by sitting at you. more powerful than about anything I've ever felt. I was going to tell you those people serving with you should be soooo honored. and well, I'm honored. I'm honored to even be sitting next to you!"

wow. how do you react to that? I know I'm going to Mesa for a reason.

Then, I was still bummed I didn't get called spanish speaking and my companion (oja) turned to me and said "Sister hansen, you could COST SOMEONE THE GOSPEL in the time it took you to learn another language." wow.

Mesa needs ME and Mesa needs me NOW.

I know that there are people being prepared for me RIGHT NOW for me to come teach the Gospel to them.

I KNOW this is the truth, ALL the truth. There are so many good people on this earth, but they just don't have all the knowledge.  If it wasn't true, and if it wasn't the FULL truth I wouldn't be giving up a year and a half of my life!!! I'm so proud to serve as a messenger of our Heavenly Father to teach others HE LOVES THEM and knows EXACTLY what they're going through!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

Sister Sunshine!

"A missionary is someone who leaves their loved ones for a short time so that others can be with theirs for Eternity"