Nuevo año, nuevo sector... Hola de Chorrillos, Viña del Mar!‏

HEY!

OH MY GOSH! I have way too much to say. Let's see how this goes, okay? But I'll tell you what you're all waiting to hear first, haha don't worry. I got CHANGED :( Seriously bawled when they called me and cried saying bye to everyone. But it's okay, I know that it's what's supposed to happen, and Hermana Watt replaced me and she's awesome, and I know I need to progress in other ways! But Placilla will honestly always have my heart. I love it so so much. 

 

BUT now I am in Viña! So I didn't go too far haha. I'm in a sector called Chorrillos with Hermana Evans from San Diego!!! Who I also got here with! We had the whole Atlanta plane adventure together, we were together for the longer Peru flight too! So it's just been SO nice to be with someone I already know. And I love her! 

I'm in a little branch, the sector is 100% hills, half of them straight up, and the first couple days my legs were KILLING me! It's better now, but that was a big shock after having completely flat sectors the whole mission haha. I don't know the sector very well yet, but I love it already! The view is beautiful, and the investigators are great, so I am way excited. Big plus, I got changed on new year's eve. There's the 3rd best fireworks show in the world and the biggest in South America that they do all along the coast of Valparaiso, Viña, and Con Con, and I COULD SEE IT FROM MY WINDOW! Dream come true! President doesn't let us go out to see it, but he said if any missionary could see it from their house, they could stay up to watch the show. Awesome, no? I was way happy haha. 

Besides that, the week has been great! It was sad saying bye to Hermana Page, I just love her so much. But she's still a hermana leader, so I'll see her at consejo next week and then once more 3 days before she goes home, so it's okay. 

 

Let's see, we have G here in Chorrillos, she is going to get baptized this month si o si, she just needs to quit smoking! She's gone from 15 a day to 1 every other day, and she really wants to be baptized, and we have the faith she can this Saturday. Pray for her!! Also J and C, a MARRIED young couple, so receptive, only problem is the marijuana plant in their front yard. Bummerrr hahaha. But it's fun. 

 

One of my zone leaders is Elder Tinney, my old district leader from a couple changes ago in Valpo!! So that's super fun. Our district is all the office people, one of them Elder Huntsman who was in Placilla with me for a bit! And Elder Brown is still assistant and in my zone, so it's like Valpo all over again haha. 

Honestly I have already seen miracles here though. Totally prepared contacts, even a last minute new year's eve dinner! the didn't have one, but we ran into a less active and they invited us over. Tender mercies. God loves us! I am super excited to be here, and I am really happy to serve in Viña in the mission Viña! I hope all is well at home, I love you all so much! :)

love, 

Hermana Hansen

PS: Also, just to reassure you, I totally embarrassed myself when I presented myself in the branch. Instead of saying i have been out for 11 months, I said 11 years. everyone was teasing me afterwards. So don't worry, Hermana Hansen is still embarrassing herself everywhere she goes, just like good old Hayley hahaha. Have a good week!

 

*Hayley hadn't been able to send photos the past couple of weeks, so she caught up this week by sending LOTS. :)  I am loving it! :)*

 

Fire in Placilla

Ward Mission leader Hermano Lopez and his dog

Surprise Christmas Eve dinner at the Lopez home

The Elders at Christmas Dinner

 

 

 Christmas Stockings

Hayley and her District on Christmas Eve

Cute little Belen wearing Hayley's nametag and Hna. Page's shoes

Comps with Belen

Belen

Belen taking photos of the girls

 

Christmas Dinner with familia Burgos Sinchi

Decorating cookies on Christmas Eve

Cute Christmas companions :)

 

 

 

 

Familia Ubilla and their kitties

Cute Martina

Saying goodbye to the Familia Ubilla

Victor

 

Zaida, Claudia's daughter

Saying goodbye to Claudia, a recently reactivated member

Famila Marchant - the twins were recently returned missionaries and good friends.  Their mother washed Hayley's laundry every week for FREE.

 

 

 

Goodbye, Placilla!

New Year's eve fireworks in Viña del Mar!

Feliz navidad y prospero año nuevo! Y feliz 11 meses!!‏

HELLLO FAMILY.

I'm so so sorry but once again Ihave literally no time because we had a CRAZY VIÑA ADVENTURE today so we have to just rush around doing everything haha. Hermana Page has to get her last visa stuff wrapped up and the elders in the office drew us the worst map in the world so we spent 4 hours of our p-day getting lost in Viña. WOOHOO! haha But it was fun at the same time so I'm okay with it. 

ALRIGHT. This week was honestly incredible. I can't even put into words how grateful I am to be a missionary at this time and in this mission, this zone, and this sector. It is incredible to see the hand of God in my life and the lives of the people around me. We didn't see any baptisms, no investigators even came to church, but I can honestly say that we were instruments in the hands of the lord this week. I felt like a true representative of Jesus Christ, so I cannot be any happier. And so much closer to him! Basically, we just were very direct with a lot of people, but with so much love and so much spirit. And I saw their lives change in front of my eyes. So many times! It was the best feeling in the world. Weeks like this make me want to be a missionary forever! 

There are a lot of stories to tell, but I don't have enough time :( I'll tell one that is really special and close to my heart. There is a couple, Maria and Marcelo. Marcelo is a recent convert and Maria used to be less active but activated when Marcelo got baptized last March. Marcelo is SUPER faithful and an amazing member, he is elders quorum second counselor and has done baptisms for the dead a ton and goes to church every single week.  But Maria is inactive again since she got a job in Santiago. But honestly, they are like family to me. They're the ones that did my surprise birthday party! And have done countless other things for us. So this Christmas we made presents for people that are special to us and one of them was for them. We had cut out a picture of a sealing room, made it transparent (not going in to details now but it takes a long time but its way cool) and wrote on another piece of paper so it would show through ´todo valdrá la pena´ which means it will all be worth it. We gave it to Marcelo on church on Sunday just really upbeat and then all of the sudden, when he read it, the sprit was SO. STRONG. Honestly, it was like we were in this different world, and he started to cry. We went to their house that night and put the goals of working as a team with them so that they can make it to their goal, to be together forever - that everything WILL be worth it. Everyone was bawling. It was amazing. A Christmas miracle. Even though we basically told Maria she loved man more than God, it was full of love and the sprit, dont worry! :)

But yeah, basically a million things,  it's been awesome. I gave my testimony on Sunday because the ward thinks I'm leaving on Wednesday for cambios, and I cried the whole time. I love this ward, and I know God loves this ward so much. I needed to be here. Even though yeah it wasn't as fruitful as ovalle in terms of baptisms, I know I left it better than I found it and I know that Placilla left me better than it found me. I don't want to leave, I love it too much, but if I do have to leave, this Sunday put me at peace. 

Other than that, I love the mission. I can't believe 11 months have gone by already, and I said bye to Hermana Barros today :( So done with saying bye to old companions! But I'll let you know where I'm at next week.

Love you all so much, have an amazing week! happy new year!! :D

hermana hansen

hayley asked me to share the link to this video on her blog this week as it has meant a lot to her this season:  http://easter.mormon.org/

**Also, no photos this week, so I found some that members had posted on Facebook to use this week. :)  Not sure why the last one is so HUGE!**

Christmas eve dinner

Christmas eve with the family Burgos Sinchi

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve dinner

Viviana

At the December zone conference

Cute comps at family night

At a Christmas party

REINA GLORIA.‏

 

Subway is coming!

Hey family!

So this is gonna be short and sweet since I'm seeing you guys this week! (WOO :)) And I have a lot to do this p-day so I don't have a lot of time haha. BUT this week went insanely well!! We have seen SO many miracles!!! We have a new part of our sector and literally every single time we go we see a ton of miracles. We have found people that are basically saying to us: 'BAPTIZE ME'. So I am way way way excited for the fruits we are going to harvest soon! 

I know that God answers our prayers, because after a hard couple months I just said EVERYTHING and told him about how hard it had been and how hard I had worked and how it was getting draining, and He just shows miracle after miracle. Honestly I am so spoiled and blessed. and so happy to be in the mission! The best choice I have ever made, for real. 

 

And fun story of the week, I'll fill you in more later, but we met a crazy inactive lady literally named Reina Gloria (queen glory).  We saw her ID and EVERYTHING! And she has a ram horn bugle that calls down God. So she did it so we would be protected. Honestly I have never had to hold in laughter as much as I did in that moment in my LIFE. hahaha 

 

Anyways, I will fill you in on more spiritual experiences and adventures on Christmas, 5 pm my time! 

Love you all so so much :)

Hermana Hansen

 

Studying away

With their neighbor, Loreta

Making pancakes for family night

Family night

Zone Conference

 

Singing at Zone Conference

Presenting at Zone Conference

Perdí mi agenda.‏

 

Cute Hayley with her Gingerbread House

HEY FAMILY

First off, it finally happened, Hermana Hansen lost her agenda. SO surprised it didn't happen earlier (and I think the rest of the world is too) but due to small miracles it was found by the dentist and I can go pick it up next week. :) 

BUT HEY besides that, it was a good week!! I have seen so many miracles! We still have had to go to Viña a bunch for my companions mouth - but we have now shared the gospel with like EVERYONE in the dentist's office hahaha. And I talked to the bus driver the whole hour back to Placilla and ended up giving him a Book of Mormon! And he committed to go to church! He's from a different zone, but still :)

 A lot of other little miracles happened like that, I saw HUGE changes of heart in less active members. And that C is progressing like none other. He came to church without his wife for the first time and we found his doubt (he doesn't do everything 100% because he's afraid he's going to talk himself into believing instead of getting an actual answer). 

The member we brought with us bore an AWESOME testimony - that C is going to notice the difference, and when he has the answer, he's gonna know he didn't talk himself into it. Just like how he loves his wife but he knows he didn't talk himself into it. 

C is gonna take off for 20 days to spend christmas in Peru with his wife and daughter, but I'm hoping I'll still be here in Placilla when he gets back, because he's way close :)

We've found some cool new investigators, and we have some more area, really just amazing. We had the Christmas zone conference with president, and it was so awesome! I cried. The spirit was so strong. I am so happy to be here during Christmas. the sacrifice brings the spirit more. And what a blessing to share about Christ in this time of Christ? Honestly I have felt the spirit so much lately. The "He is the gift" video makes me cry every time. And I don´t cry EVER in lessons, but I already have a couple times. Oops. But the conference was awesome. We have only 2 key indicators now - baptism and total church attendance - and they're gonna do it in all of South America! I'm way excited for it. :)

Also fun fact, got to do intercambios with HERMANA BLUTH again! :) It was so fun. I love reliving MTC times, and so good to see her and how much we've progressed. I really am so lucky to know ALL the people I've met in the mission, I love all the missionaries I've met! And the people from Chile. It's gonna be rough to go home, so I'm making these last 8 months the best they can be! 

The church is true. trust in the Lord and he will show you everything you need, I promise. 

Love you all so much!! Merry Christmas soon!! :)

HERMANA HANSEN

ps. the pictures are Martina and I , me and my ward mission leader having a picture war, and GINGERBREAD HOUSE that Hermana Page and I decorated (thanks mom!)

 

Hayley and Martina

Cute comps with their gingerbread house

Hayley's ward mission leader - having a picture war

 

 

Side view

Cute Hermana Page with the gingerbread house

Riding in the back of Felipe's truck

Riding in the back of Felipe's truck

Reenacting "perks of being a wallflower" scene

cute decorations

Ward Christmas party

Elder Oldroyd and Felipe

Elder Swindler and a recent convert

Musical chairs

Hayley and Hermana Page at Leadership Conference

Girls being silly at FHE ( a sweet member posted this on Facebook)

Another cute photo from Monday night's FHE - stolen from a Facebook post of a member in Chile.

Él es la Dádiva.‏

No photos this week, so here's one from the mission blog of Hayley & comp last month.

HEY FAMILY

Okay so I know you guys probably have heard of it and have seen it a million times and are probably sick of hearing it, but oh my gosh. I think it's called "He is the Gift" in English. (She is referring to the new video found at:  http://www.mormon.org/christmas) The Spirit it brings is so strong! We saw it in leadership council with president and literally everyone was crying. Even president, who's seen it like a million times. I, Hermana Hansen, even cried! And I never cry in the mission - haha -I don't know why! I even cried today when we showed it to someone and I bore my testimony. We have an amazing tool with that video, SHARE IT!!!

OKAY but moving on! This week was INSANE, again! First, on Monday my companion had a ROOT CANAL. The whole time they were saying its a "tratamiento de conducto" which we just directly translated as "conduct treatment" which sounds like some little tests... BUT NO, surprise root canal!! Tuesday and Wednesday were way good. Then Thursday was Hermana Page's surgery. HOLY COW. I watched the whole thing. It was gross and way more intense than i thought!! They cut the first layer of her gum, lifted it up, and scraped out the cyst!! And she was awake!! GAH. The cyst was like the size of an olive pit. HE SHOWED ME THE HOLE. Gah. It was crazy. But she was awesome about it. 

The next day (less than 24 hrs later) we had to go to leadership council! But she went anyways haha and was swollen and bleeding a bit, but it was fine. We came back and she had to rest again. So we didn't work a lot but we saw REAL miracles. We had someone with a baptismal date (just didn't come to church, P, we're going to go visit her). We found some awesome new people, and really were the means to help a lot of people. So I'm happy with the week! Our numbers are actually awesome because we were really only able to work 3 of the 7 days this week and taught like 16 lessons! So it's going well. 

I hope you guys are all having a lovely christmas season, I love you all so much! I do miss traditions, but I got to decorate a tree this week. And I feel so blessed to be focused on Christ and have the feeling of the spirit magnified during this time of the mission :) HAVE A GOOD WEEK!

Hermana Hansen

I WILL FIND ANOTHER‏

 

Hayley in her Christmas pj's, glasses, and headband that I sent.  Such a cutie!

HELLO FAMILY :)

This week was way better! Honestly Hermana Page is so awesome. Obviously there are times that we don't get along, but that just happens when you live with people. She's helping me so much to become who I need to be here in the mission. And we're basically the same person, she's just the later on in the mission version of me. LOVE HER TO DEATH. 

The beginning of this week was rough, I was WAY sick with like bronchitis or something, but we went out and worked all day every day anyways haha. We're in the busqueda (search) for new investigators, so that means a ton of contacting! But it's been awesome to find new, honestly prepared people. I love finding people and seeing their face when they hear the hope that the gospel can give them! 

 

C is progressing mas o menos, but he DRANK the other day :(((( But I still have a lot of faith in him. Even if he doesn't get baptized with me, I just love him so much I hope he does get baptized one day! Y and her family are progressing still, but Y had to study a lot and so they couldn't come to church but they're still great! 

This week has basically just been good. I just want to work on really being a good disciple of Jesus Christ so that I can live up to my calling. I love being a missionary SO MUCH and I can't even believe that now TEN MONTHS have gone by!!! I just want to live up every second that I can. Love you all lots, HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!

con amor,

HERMANA HANSEN

ps: I'LL FIND ANOTHER

 

Christmas Hayley and Hermana Page

They stopped to teeter-totter

Hermana Page

View of Placilla

Placilla