zoo zoo zooo i love the zoo :D

Brother Jackson (brojack) took us to the zoo today! It was fun! I've seen tons of animals this week! there are live animals for the pageant and then a lizard ran in the VC this week! I tried to wear it as an earring but it got anxious :D

  Oh yeah! and happy birthday to me too! 4 months! I swear I just left gracie girl and her dirty looks hahahahahaha I can't believe you guys are in Utah now!!!

 

Pageant is AWESOME! there are SO many people comin in! It's cool cuz I know tons of miracles and baptisms come from pageant, but it's a little hard because sometimes I really just feel like I'm herding sheep for sure. there's so many people and no time to be personal. but it's still awesome!!!

 

I'm pretty sure over half of the people are from Salt Lake though! and I met Dan Tisdale's companion, he's sweet! I guess Dan's comin down next month, I'm excited! I can't believe my friends are getting home and I'm not there :( oh well. "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven!"

 

Random story I didn't get to tell about last week- we met with the Nahle and Dechezare family and wooowwww their conversion stories were AMAZING! Brother Nahle's brother was the first convert baptism in Lebanon and they got to sign the paper to establish the Chuch in that country! This is the coolest part though- He's an artist,and he said when I get married, I can come down to see him and he will give me and my cute lil hubby a piece of his artwork as a wedding gift! I know it wont be for a looong time. but that's freaking sweet! his work is AMAZING!!!!!!! I'm excited for that. My poor cute lil future hubby, he's gonna have to go through a lot of "Father's Interviews" as I've been told from President Ostler, and Elder Dechezare and Bro Nahle. and I'm only 4 months in! I'ma have a lot of extra daddies by the time I get back! Don't worry Daddy, I still love you the most :D!!!

 

 We definitley had the most awkard lesson the other day. just kiddin't it really wasn't awkward at all, but it was us and 2 male investigators, having dinner outside. he almost brought out candles... we said noooooooooooooo :D hahahaha

 

So we talked to Casey for a long time they other day... and when we left, she called to us- "Sisters... I know I don't say it enough, but thank you. I really do appreciate all that you do for me and Cierra" ahhhhhhh  the BEST! That makes it ALLLL worth it!!!

 

Sunshine Story

Gingerbread story- Life Changing

      There was an elementary school teacher who made all of her students beautiful, intricate gingerbread houses as a Christmas gift. She knew each of her students very well and took hours to make each house exactly to every childs' liking. When they got their beautiful houses, they were thrilled! Each chilled oooing and aweing at their perfect creation. Then after a moment, the children looked around at each other' houses. They realized how different they were. Then they got jealous.

       "teacher! My house has skittles! Everyone KNOWS M n M's go better with Gingerbread!" and other comments were shouted and screamed and plead to the teacher.

        The teacher very hurt, quietly explained why each child got the gingerbread house witht he candy and decorations they did.

       "Suzie, I gave you skittles because I know they're your favorite. You don't even like chocolate..."

       But many of the kids didn't even listen.

        How do you think that teacher felt?

        How different do you think each student and the teacher would have felt if they appreciated the beauty in the difference of each house, rather than be jealou?

       How many times do we shout and cry to the Lord for the blessings He's given us?

       We must appreciate what we've been given. We must give grattitude for them and then we must share them. That's why I'm on a mission.

 

   How many times have I been silly little suzie? In my talents, my body, my life, my family, and especially my call I told the Lord what I wanted and begged and plead, but I don't always get what I want. What is "best", what I need, and what the Lord knows I'll appreciate can all be different things.

    "But God, everyone goes and has cool experiences on their mission! I'm ready to live in a hole and boil my water and eat bugs and learn a crazy language! Everyone KNOWS that's what a missions for!!!"

     And I'm sure it hurt Him...

     "Stacey, you hate bugs and gross things. You can hardly kill a baby spider. You can learn Spanish in the Visitor Center. Plus if you went Spanish speaking, you'd get totally fat! Don't you know you're my princess?"

     He knows me much better than I know myself. My mission is perfect. He is perfect.

 

 

Sunshine Silly Statements

"And social security number"

     "not all of us have those!"

   - Spanish Hermanas :D

"Eat" -Man 6:12 -AJ bahahahahaha

*"At least I'm SOMEONE'S Missionary!"

 

Sunshine Solid Statements

*** For every bit of "things" you might be missing; you really aren't missing anything that will change and bless your life more than a mission will.  It's seems such a small price to pay for the benefits you receive that will last through eternity.

 -Lee Anne Cox

*"Prayer is NOT like a fast food order"

 -Pres Ostler

****"Service is the universal antitidote. It always makes you feel better."

*"Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly"

***"Shut up, stop complaining, and get busy!" :D

Easter Pageant starts TODAY!!!!

Maybe I'll win the CROWN! Oh wait... different pageant... and way different crown.. and way better prize... who could ask for anything better than eternal life?
And if any of you are bored or cold, come down and watch! it'll be amazin! also, I guess they're puttin it on lsd.org for the first time? sweet!
Sunshine Sermon-- What I learned this week
Your family is THE most precious thing you will ever have.
And dear family, I'm so sorry for not being as appreciative as I shoulda been, or never there, or driven you crazy with all the sparkles and crowns, and I DEFINITELY never babysat enough- so here's your promise. I promise that I will babysit your kids once a month so you can go to the temple when I get home for as long as I can. If you all do it the same nights I'd probably just have like katie or chan chan come and help me out too. I want you to all go to the temple with your hubbies and wivies as much as you can. Cuz the temple is the BEST! PLUS I love my sweet nieces and nephews and miss them SO much and want to be a part of their lives. You can print this out and hold me to it, I'll do it. Because I love you :D

We are here to be with our family and go to the TEMPLE with them!!! I love love love love love the temple and can't wait until I can go once a week again!!!

Mommy and daddy- you are the BEST!!!! thank you SOOO MUCH for all of the blessings and love and everything you've given me!!!! You took care of me, gave me piano and dance lessons, always supported me in everything I did. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I will ALWAYS be in debt to you. always always always. But I love you SOOO much and will do all I can to make you proud.

Bestest Friendses-
holy moly I have THE BEST friends in the world!!! Tay, Tay, Jess, Jess, Chan Chan, Chase, Michael, Aric, Chelsie, Ashley, Ashley, Katie, Celeste, Aubs, Princess Bre, Scott, Lacy, Nate, Cheri, Kaitlin- holy moly I have so many best friends! (no order of course and I know I'm missin out please don't be offended!) THANK YOU for always being wonderful examples to me and always making me want to be a better person! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH and am learning how to be a better friend. I know a lot of times I was just so busy, but I've realized you're all wayyy more important than crowns or dresses or even pay it 4ward. that's helpin out random people. I love Pay it 4ward and Miss Murray stuff. But I love you more!

Conference
I'll keep adding in bits and pieces of what I learned in conference, but we're always told to bring some questions to conference and these were my questions
1) How can I help my family- both now and in the future?
2) How I be a better missionary?
3) What more can I sacrifice for the Lord?
4) How can I help those people who know they need to get baptized set dates and realize how important it is?
And I kept getting the same answer for every single one

Serve your companion!!!!

Yup. That can help me remember how much my family did for me and be grateful.
That can help me know how to serve my future eternal companion
that can help me sacrifice more and give to her
that can help me gain more charity so I can connect better with my investigators.

SO. That's where YOU all come in
cuz I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!

I need good ideas on how to serve my companion and help her out
I definitely have always tried hard to do that.
I make her bed every morning, I open the door at every chance, I try to make a lot of the phone calls so she doesn't have to, I complement her and tell her I love her- that one I know I can always do more, I write her notes of encouragement. And I want to know if anyone has any more ideas- Grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, friends, family, I need your help!!!! tell me what else I can do to serve her!!!

One other thing I really need all ya'lls help on is ideas for my calling.
I just started a "Sunshine Egg" which is super fun cuz the sisters put scriptures in them and put them in someone else's cubby and its really successful and everyone is doing it! it gives a way to Scatter sunshine with everyone and everyone can serve each other!!!
Does anyone else have any other ideas?
Usually the sunshine sister writes notes of encouragement and stuff to the other sisters... but you know I'm not normal and I always want to do more, so I'd love to hear your ideas!!!!!

that was a tangent... the other answers I got from conference that applied to all my questions were:
"Give thanks. Repent. Teach them about the Temple"
And that's what I've been able to do! We've had so many lessons about the temple this week and I LOVE THE TEMPLE love love love love love!!!! I'm going to work on all of those too!!!!

Sooooo. I love my mission. yup. I wish I could write about every single miracle. but I'll just tell you the best

Sunshine Miracles
***Lindsay (Name has been changed just in case). So. Some of you may remember an Elder that just left from Mesa, Jake Stapely. He's the one where I got a very distinctive answer "He is the answers to your prayers"and I've had more answers to why that is. Basically Lindsay and Jake just met and connected very quickly and they're totally getting married when he gets home and I had no idea that any of this had happened. We talked about it for a while and I told her my experiences with Jakes farewell and we realized something. God's timing is perfect. They had both fallen away from the Church and they wouldn't've been ready for each other earlier. IT all works out perfectly, now he gets to go on his mission and be more prepared for her and she's gonna go on a mission now too! We decided that at the Visitor Center! Which made me realize something for me,  This is exactly where I'm supposed to be and if it wasn't He'd tell me! I know that I've known that for a long time... but it was just another reason why it's STILL true! there's so much more that goes in to this story... but... yeah. no. time. and kinda personal or whatever. BUT I just know that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be, even though I used to wonder if I should be somewhere else. But I was wrong. He's always right. I just need to be more humble and accept His will quickly so He doesn't have to prove it to me. ahhhh i love miracles and answers to prayers.

***Katie came to the VC again! She's doing well! (She's the junior who i committed to baptism at the VC) she'll get baptized as soon as she can, but her parents wont let her until she graduates. She came in with her friends looking for me (she came in twice last week lookin for me how cute!) and we had an AWESOME lesson about temples!

***Africa!!! So this guy was at the place where we got our car fixed, and he told us about how his friend wrote him on his mish about how she'd found his future wife. He was in africa and her name was africa! He was like no way! and he told his mission president, and his mission president was like "you're totally gonna marry this girl!" how easy is that for direct revelation from God. Hope it comes that easy for me haha there's way more to that storyyyyy


*TANA GOT BAPTIZED! such a good baptismmmmm! She's the one I committed the first day I was here! When I asked her how she felt after, she said "like a mormon!"

Other Fun stuff!
Cierra is doing a pageant
Some strong members moved in to 4 peaks! woot woot!
We set a date for Katie... in December. They're getting married in Novemeber... but it's still progress
I've now been out of the mission 4 times. (twice lost, twice to get our car fixed haha) thats what happens when you live in a TINY mission!
we ate with the rubens this week!
We had 9 lessons in one VC day!!! woahhhhh!
I sooooooooo want to be a YW leader somedayyyy!

Sunshine Silly Statements
*My BOAT!
     Sis Everette started a boat fund with all the money she picks up off the ground. hahahahahah
*"Ya know, if I just walked the subways and streets, I could TOTALLY get a boat in like 3 years!!"
       "Or you could just get a job"- me :D
*"I'm a celebrity!"-me
*"At least I'm SOMEONE'S Missionary"-me
     so being a vc sister is pretty sweet. I LOVE it when people come in and ask for ME and we have a lesson! It's sweet! i know I'm here because of those people! (Katie:D)
*I love mormon view!!!
    Spent time at the Seminary this week to talk about easter pageant... they're so mormon ;)
*"I look like a hobo selling newspapers" -sis everette :D
*"Conference is like a good chili... it's better the second time!" President Ruben


Sunshine Solid Statements
***"Chose the right companion"
        When we go to dinners with members, we always ask them what we need to do to have a successful family. this is the first answer we get EVERY TIME!  I'm not lookin or thinking about it too much now, but I pray every night for him- where ever he is. Definitley gonna be the coolest guy EVER!
*When I work hard it will change who I am
  So i can find me a dang good man!
*If you work hard, you'll attract those people who could have anyone else
*I've always wanted to be the best at everything,
 Now all I want to be is the best mommy!
uhhh why are all these about marriage? but for realsies, for the first time in my life I'm actually looking forward to getting married and can really see myself doing that... in less than 20 years from now haha. And I know I can put everything else below it. Even pageants (say what?) yes, even pageants. Who'da thunk. better print that one out folks.
*Those who are greatest in the Lords Kingdom are those who look for opportunities to serve- E. Perry!

I love you allll!!! You're the BEST! Thanks for all the letters you've sent and all the letters you'll send ;)
love, Sister Sunshine!

______
Murray Missionaries!
Hola mi amigos! Miracles are alwayyyys happenin' in Mesa and I'm so grateful to be a part of them! The Easter Pageant starts this week and runs through Easter and I'm totally stoked for all the miracles I'll see!

A quick quote I wanted some of ya'll to hear:
"Some people think that preaching is the greatest part of the business in building up the Kingdom of God. This is a mistake... Anybody can preach, he is a poor simpleton that cannot, it is the easiest thing in the world. But as President Young says, it takes a man to practice."
-John Taylor. Mission Report in Salt Lake of Europe
August 22, 1852
You should all read that talk! It's AWESOME! It's like in the very beginning of the discourses.

Another one from the same talk which I needed to hear...(from same talk)
"The First Presidency asked us if we would go. Yes, was the reply: we can go anywhere, for if we cannot do little things like these, I don't know what else we can do. Some people talk about doing great things; but it is not a good thing to travel a little, or to preach a little. I haer some of our Elders saying, sometimes, that they are going to do great things- to be rulers in the Kingdom of God, Kings, and Priests to the Most High and are again to exhalt thousands of others to thrones, principalities, and powers, in the eternal worlds; but we cannot get them out of their nests, to travel a few miles here. If they cannot do this, how will they even learn to go from world to world?"
Slam down on Sister Hansen for sure. I got my call... and cried for 3 hours. Total failure. Now I can confidently say, I'll go anywhere where he wants me to go because he goes where he needs me and where I'll truly be happiest in the long run. Even a Visitor Center... which is my favorite part of my mission by the way. who'da thunk?

plusssss since some of you wont be preachin the gospel full time pretty soon (sorry to mention it) but I just want you to remember that you can ALWAYS preach by the way you live!!! "Always teach the Gospel, if necessary, use words."

No really, I've committed more people to baptism in the VC than my area. It's amazing!!!! some I'll never see again, but some like this sweet girl Katie (shes a jr) come in all the time and I teach her the lessons cuz her parents wont let her have them in her home! hahaha
The other day this woman millie came in from Canada and I taught her lesson 1 2 and 3, W.o.W. L.o.C. temples marriage, EVERYTHING! She's totally gettin baptizedddd!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the VC!!! Miracles happen there that couldn't happen anywhere else!

I LOVE it here in Mesa! Miracles are happening EVERY SINGLE DAY! I'm so happy to be here!
Wasn't conference amazinnnng??? and if you all end up taking... well i guess EVERYONE talked about it... so everyone's advice and get married before I come home, I guess I don't die cuz I know this is where I'm supposed to be... but I DO hope to have a few friends still around when I get home bahahaha

I love you all! Keep praechin, teachin, and livin the Gospel!!!!
"The Church is true, the book is blue, God loves you, and I do too!!!!"
Sister Sunshine
Stacey Marie Hansen

I'm shaving my head. It's official

If you disagree, speak now or forever hold your peace.
JUST KIDDING! haha thank goodness to all of you for pageants because that's the only reason my hair isn't cut up to my chin yet! I can't even wear pony tails or messy buns at the VC so that's annoying.
But while it was BLAZING down here, YOU GUYS HAD SNOW! bahahahaha just sayin.I don't miss it.

BEFORE I SAY ANYTHING ELSE--- THANK YOU MOMMYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR SENDING THAT STUFF AND FOR MY SUPPPPPER CUTE NEW EARRINGS! I WEAR THEM EVERY DAY!!!!!! YOU KNOW JUST HOW TO MAKE ME HAPPY!!!! Betsey Johnson earrings and a love note? WAHOOOOOO!!!!! I LOVE YOU MOMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! and I hope you had a fun time at Disneyland on your birthday and I hope you're having a BLAST in the cook islands right now!!!!

My letter is gonna be super random today cuz I didn't get time to really collect my thoughts.ummmm ok.

So, last P-day I had the most AMAZING preisthood blessing from Elder White (director of the VC) and I got CRYSTAL CLEAR answers to my prayers! HOW COOL IS THAT?!? usually when I have questions and I get a blessing to help me out, they're usually just blessings of encouragement, but this one came out and ANSWERED my question- even talked about the person I had questions about. coolest thing ever. The only other time I've felt so much peace was my 2nd year at Miss Murray when I knew I'd done my very best and what ever was supposed to happen would happen. When I didn't win, I knew it was all ok. I knew it was all for a reason. I love the Lord and the peace he gives!

Gloria and Dick left Wednesday morning. I am sooooooooooooooo so sad!!!! I will miss them so much! I hope I get to see them again!

I am helping a lot with the work at the VC, Elder White gives me a lot of random responsiblitities. This week, I wrote up a report for him on CMRs, PMRs and Top Boxes... none of those make sense to any of you... but it was really interesting to me and I LOVE responsibilitities and being useful and helpful :D

We're working with the Leivas family on going to the temple. There are like 12 of them and most of them are adopted. I'm so excited for them to be sealed together for eternity!!! They are a really cool family!

Sis McKenna gave me some new hideous dresses for Jody/Jumper Wednesdays (when i dress super ugly :D) I was excited.

Elder Dursteler told us the coolest story. It's called the "Bruised apple" story... if anyone wants to find that story online and email it to me I would be eternally grateful, but basically it's about these businessmen who were walking to their flight and they knocked over a little girls apples from her apple stand. only one man came back to help her and gathered all the apples off and gave her $20 for the damage. The little girl was blind and when he turned to leave she said, "Sir, are you Jesus?" we need to make our actions Christ's actions. I want to be more like Him every single day :D

OH MY GOSH JESSICA ROSE- I met you in 30 years! The Jacobson family reminded me SO much of you! she even has your same gorgeous eyes and does her make up the same way and she looks like you! She's gorgeous! and her husband looks like ben and is FREAKING HILARIOUS! I LOVE their family!!! He kept makin fun of my companion cuz her boyfriend totally lives in Mesa... Long story. basically they met at BYU-I but she had already gotten her call. he's been in ID the whole time untillll next month he's movin home. bahahahaha

Another family we ate with this week was the Wilson Family. Rick- they reminded me a ton of you! He was SO goal oriented and had the kids chanting about attitude and all this stuff. it was crazy i loved it! AND he only speaks portugese to his kids. THEY KNOW PORTUGESE! it's freaking SWEET! I wanna learn spanish so I can do that to my kids. or marry someone who can do that. cuz I want my kids to speak more languages that just english. that would be sweet. Ahhhhh but at the end he
Brother Wilson taught me something really cool. So... a lot of people on their missions write like a "list" of what they want in their future companion, which is a super good idea, cuz you see a lot of families and you have a lot of examples of good and... not as good families on the mish. But instead of writing a list of what he wanted in his future wife, he decided what HE wanted to become. Much better idea I think, so I'm starting my "Super Sunshine" list bahahaha I'm cool. Yes!, I love sharing the Gospel, but this next year and a few months can help me shape the rest of my life and by becoming the best me I can be, I can shape a happy eternity :D how cheezy.=D

Random story... I burned my neck with the curling iron 2 days ago. it looks so so so bad. NOT cool!!!

Saw Meredith this week!!!! I LOVE HER SO MUCH! it was so confusing when she walked in though, for some reason I wasn't expecting her, then when someone walked in that looked just like her I just thought "wow she looks like Meredith" what a dork! She's so cute!! yayyyy! She's comin up to BYU in the fall though so I told her she has to visit a bunch before then!
haha got a letter from jake this week from when he was still on his mission! He got switched to Elder Prince and Elder Morris' Mission! He saw the letter that I had written to Elder Prince and stole the addy from there and sent me a letter! It was nice, but I can't write him back cuz he lives in my mission! like 2 seconds away from the VC.

Melissa got bit by a Brown Recluse. GROSS! She found her hand was just swelling in random places... it put her in the hospital and they gave her the wrong antibiotics so now her kidneys failed and she has to do dialisis 3 times a week! HOW AWEFUL right? however... the scar was kinda sweet. staples all over. she looked like frankenstein. gotta look at the bright side I guess.

We have a new VC sister- Sister Crowe. She is the PERFECT sister missionary. Curly permed hair, HUGE smile, ugly shoes. I LOVE HER! She went to Atlanta georgia on her mission, but got sent home for medical reasons. so now shes a service missionary at the VC. She serves 36 hours a week then just lives her life. its pretty sweet.

I've seen a lot of miracles from being dilligent and sacrificing....
MIRACLE STORY! :D
Sooo... I'ma make this short... but I hope you all realize the amazingness of this!
Ok, so during conference, Elder White came in and grabbed me and asked me to help out at the VC, there were a few nonmembers there that wanted tours. So I met Millie. We started it off with a prayer, I taught her the basics of lesson 1 2 and 3, the word of wisdom and law of chastity, temples and families, prophets, and at the end, SHE COMMMITED TO BE BAPTIZED! saaaaweeeeeeeeet!!!
When I told her the first vision, she was just like "woah!" "wow!!!"  she LOVED it!
She's in her 60s and from Canada. And is totally getting baptized by the end of this month, I'm sure of it.
She is very strong in her faith, but realized the truth of what I taught her.
HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH YEAH!!! TRANSFERS!!!!
me and sis everette are staying togetherrrrr!!! and sister McKee is coming to my zoneeeee!!!! I"M SO STOKED!!!! elder dursteller is leaving :(

Super Sunshine List
*I gotta learn another language so I can teach my kids another language :D
*I'ma have pics of the temple in every room of my house :D
*I'ma KNOW the scriptures! I'm getting really good at being able to just pull up random scriptures- one of the reasons I'm glad I came english speaking. I know my scriptures. It's sweet. way more than just scripture master.

I don't really have anything for my sunshine statements cuuzzzz I didn't get it all ready. there will be a plethera next week.

The CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD LOVES YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND I DO TOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
***Sister Sunshine***

and the best part of my whole weekkkkkk!!!
NAN IS GETTING BAPTIZEDDDDD!!!!!!!
(rene's sister!)
I"M SOOOOO EXCITED!

Monday March 21st

Deeearest Family and Friends
Missionaries are the most bipolar people on the planet. at least I feel that way. This week has been filled with some super AWESOME things and some super NOT AWESOME things. mostly awesome though :D the reason why missionaries go up and down so much is kinda like that mother's expression "you're only as happy as your saddest child" Same with investigators. When you're so involved in people's lives your SOOO happy when they're happy and SOOO sad when they're sad. Sundays are the worst.

Let's see, did I see anyone I knew this week? Yes... yes... Oh yeah. The Fish's? They know Rick's family. One went on a mission to Everette Washington. And I see people that know Haleigh Van Eerden every day. Oh and Nick? Totally in Meredith and Jake's stake! She stiillll hasn't come to visit me!

We're gettin some new sisters in June and August-  2 from Colorado, 1 from Utah, 1 from PAKISTAN and 1 fromMONGOLIA! How freaking sweet is that?

We heard a story in a special sisters training this past week. I'd heard it before, but it meant a lot more to me this time.
I wrote a song about it. hopefully the story makes sense. and  this first part of this song song is supposed to be funny sooooo hopefully you guys think its funny. its definitely a lot funnier in person. 
the age of the person I see singing this would be about 6


I've got a silly string of pearls
that I wear around my neck
they're not gorgeous pearls
well, really they're not real

But I bought them on my own
and its all I could afford
so I'll wear my kinda pretty pearls
all year

Oh how I love my silly string of pearls
they make me feel like such a pretty girl
They're not the very best, but it's all that I got
and you know what? I love them a lot.

My dad keeps asking for my pearls
I dont know why he wants them
He know I love them
and well, he's a man

But he kept asking me
So I thought that I would see
What my dad would want with
girly little pearls

Oh how I miss my silly string of pearls
they made me feel like such a pretty girl
They're not the very best, but it's all that I'd got
and you know what? I loved them a lot

Then he gave me a new strand
the real ones- Dillard's brand...

Now I dont want my silly faux pearls again

Oh how I love my brand new string of pearls
they make me know I am my daddy's world
He went and he bought, the best that dillard's god
and you know what? He loves me a lot

So when we think we have it all
Then Jesus gives a call
don't ask,
cuz he knows just what to do

He'll take your silly string of life
the one you thought was super great
and He'll bless you with the best cuz he loves you

So when you have a silly string of pearls
or when you're all caught up in your own world
Heavenly Father wants to help- Just give it all to God
and you know what? He loves you a lot

So there's my silly song about a silly string of pearls, but the concept has literally changed my life. I had a certain strand of pearls that was weighing me down... A lot. then I gave it up. and I was blessed. A lot.

Friday morning we found out that Tana, my to-be first baptism had to be switched to another set of missionaries. But that night- we got a call about a girl Hilary that is getting switched to us! WHAT A MIRACLE!!! It was literally within 24 hours of me giving away that last strand of pearls. And now the Lord is blessing me.

Everything we give to God, He'll give back. but way way way better :D
Sacrifice is something man has been commanded to do since Adam. And I'm falling right in line and "putting my life on the altar of God" (my next song that you'll get soon... not finished yet)
Luke 18:18-30

Katie is doing awesome and brought her mom whos less active to church this week! We worked a lot in conquistador a 50+ park in our area and had some awesome experiences there! I love it down here! I love the people SO much and am learning SO much and am taking SO much in and I think becoming a better person :S hahaha

***Sunshine Scriptures***
*Matt 6:19-21
*John 14:27
2 Nephi 25:23
Hebrews 5:4
Moroni 7:16-17, 19
***Luke 18: 18-30 The scriptures that made me decide to go on a mission :D

***Sunshine Statements***
*"I decided on my wedding colors Sister... SPARKLES!" -who else?
        baaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahaha probably the funniest thing that happened this week. My companion is now TERRIFIED of me... I caught her completely by surprise...    she thought i was being serious, until I told her the colors :D she's quite the sporty little girl...
        however, I DID get her to wear a crown necklace this week! WIN!
*What are those for?" "...PAGEANTS!"
      Our Ward Mission Leader's little girls do pageants and some of the dresses were in the front room and I was SOOO excited to tell her what those pretty little dresses were used for :D

***"Follow Christ"
           I've been thinking a lot about the recently, and if you break down everything in the Gospel, it's really quite simple. All we have to do is follow Christ. If we follow Christ we will be baptized by someone holding the proper authority, we will be charitable, serve others, love others, and help others, and ultimately we will follow Him home. I have really been trying to teach simply. that's as simple as you can get :D

*"If you pray, you'll be blessed with good looks like me!" -Rob McFarlin
          Cami and Rob McFarlin are the CUTEST couple in the whole wide world. she is ADORABLE and he's just a big GOOFBALL! Embarassing her ALL the time it's hilarious! Oh yeah, I gotta mention that this was to a class of 7 year olds!!!! I totally wanna be with a goofball forever. Why wouldn't I want every day to be an adventure???

*"I'll get my BIANCA out and spray your eyes!" -:D
       haha my bianca is my peppermint breath spray. Or the black woman I hold in a can who attacks scary men

*"As long as you think you're funny, and the people around you think you're funny... I think you're good to go" -Sis Everette

"I founds SPARKLES!" -me:D
"I'm sad for sad guy"
    sometimes... people get nicknames when you don't know their names :S

ok these ones are serious now

**People don't like to change. (Especially old people.. who we're dealing a lot with right now) If there's something you need to change- do it and do it now! The longer you establish a bad habit, the longer you'll be driven by that habit, the less likely you'll be to ever change.
*Same thing with forgiveness. There's no reason to carry a burden longer than necessary. Ever.
*Forgive, Forgive now.
***Being humble doesn't mean being nice, It means giving the Lord your life.
Take your life- take everything you've got, and do what's best- just give it all to God.
*Never ignore a prompting.
*Everything happens for a reason.
* Sharing is caring. and the best things to share are those thigns that make you happy. That's why I'm sharing the Gospel, nothing could make me happier.
* All you can do is all you can do.
         If you've done all you can, the Lord will help you.
*God never sealed the Heavens- man did. It was man who proclaimed there would be no more revelation and God had said all he needed to say.
*Families are forever. Isn't that so cool?!?
*The quality of our lives has more to do with substance than syle. A quality life is one that positively influences others and makes the world around it a better place in which to live. That's the life I want to live.

I LOVE YOU ALLL!!!!
Sister Sunshine! :D

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"