Hello World

Holo, mi familia y amigos,

Well, it has been an incredible week! There is so much to tell! I've already learned so much in Spanish and I've been so blessed from the Lord. I have two amazing companions- Hermana Reyes from Hawii (going to Salt Lake North Mission) and Hermana Farley from California (going to Tempe, AZ with me). We have grown so close in the past week and they've strengthened me so much already. Hermana and I have so much in common and Hermana Reyes is just so cute that we can't help loving her. My district is also so wonderful. We're all going state side , so we can all relate pretty well to each other. There are two other companionships in my district, Elder Frost and Elder Young, and another trio-Elder Valasco, Elder Dean, and Elder Brough. I love them so much! They are wonderful guys and so dedicated to following the Lord. It's been amazing to actually witness what a mission does to young men. It's only been one week and these Elders have already grown so much. We've grown very close as a district already and we love to spend time with each other, which is good because we're together for 15 hours everyday!

I also have amazing teachers Hermano Reading and Hermano McCord. They know so much about the gospel and about Espanol and they are teaching me so much learning Spanish and the gospel, and loving others, AND how to teach well all at once is a little crazy, but the Lord is blessing us so much through it. It's incredible being a missionary and seeing how much the Lord is blessing me by doing his work. I don't feel different as a missionary, but I see the Lord working through me more and that's incredible! Learning Spanish is very funny sometimes. I think partly in English and partly in Spanish now. Just writing this letter it is hard for me to write all in English. My district and I have made so many silly mistakes and we end up just laughing about them later. Yesterday one of the elders was trying to ask me if I knew about Jesus Christ in Spanish and he accidently said, "Do you know that you are Jesus Christ?"

My Zone is amazing! They are inspiring young men and have such deep testimonies and desires to serve. One of the teachers in my zone is actually a good friend of mine, Wes Teerlink, and it's good to see him every once in a while. I've also seen some other people here in the MTC-Elder Jordan Heaps, Elder Durrant, Hermano Jeff Goodrich, etc. It's been great. I also ran into a girl that used to be in my home ward. Her name is Lilliana Martinez and she joined the church a few years ago. I remember Brittany Westover and I used to go visit her all the time and now she's a member and going on a mission. Amazing!

This last week I've learned a lot about humility and faith. I've learned that I need to humble myself and put my trust in God. I won't be me that will be able to do the Lord's work, it will be the Lord working through me. The days are long, but the Lord is strengthening me and blessing me with so much. I wish I had time to tell all the good things that have happened since I've been here, but just know that there has been a lot. I've also learned the importance of obedience. If we are not obedient, we do not have the Spirit and we can't change lives.

Last night my district had the first opportuntiy to practice teaching someone. We were super nervous, but when we met the girl we were to teach, she was so sweeet and the Lord helped us to have the Spirit with us and it went super well. I know the Lord will bless me.

I apologize that I don't have a lot of time to write, but I want you all to know that I love you. I would love to hear from you if you have time. I didn't know this before, but dearelder.com is an awesome way to send mail. It's free and like email, but it gets printed every day and we get the mail the very same day you email us. Thank you to all that have already written me: Nina, Stephanie, Rachel, Lauren, and Suzy. It has been such a comfort to hear from you.

To close, I would like to bear my testimony to you in Espanol:

Yo se que Dios nos ama y Jesucristo expio con nosotros. Yo se que el Libro de Mormon is verdadero ye la iglesia as verdadera. Yo se que Tomas S. Monson es un profeta. Jesus es el Cristo vive. En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

Love you all. Sorry there are no pictures yet this week. I'll see if I have time next week.

love,
Hermana Hansen

MTC

So here we go. I'm Anneli's mom and Andrea and I'll be writing her blog. Most of it will be emails from Anneli but I will be writing every once and while. I'm not a writer so just hang in there with me and I'll do the best that I can.
Tuesday night we went to the stake center so Anneli could be set apart as a missionary. Our stake president and dear friend President Linnell set her apart. Our bishop, Bishop Coates and Anneli's Uncle Ron and Aunt Christy came to support her and we really appreciated it.

Anneli was scheduled to be at the MTC at 1:00 but we went down early to take some pictures and go to lunch. We wanted to take pictures in front of the MTC signs but they took the signs down so we settled for this picture across the street from MTC. We had to hurry and take it so we wouldn't get any cars in the pictures.

Then we went to lunch at Kneaders (Anneli's choice). It was delicious and we had a great time talking. Kara and her fiance, Justin, joined us.

We then all hopped in the car and drove in to the front of the MTC. It was an awesome sight to see so many missionaries lined up along the sidewalks to help the new missionaries in to the MTC. We were directed where to park and we all hopped out as fast as we could before they told us we couldn't get out. Thanks to Justin for taking these pictures. We cried and hugged for just a few minutes and then she was gone.

I had to put this picture in because McKay was so cute.

Dad and Anneli (Kara will be mad that I put this picture on).

She's so excited for her new adventure.

See you in 18 months.

We were driving out of the MTC and my youngest daughter Maryn was just sobbing and my sweet little 6 year old son hugged her and said "Don't cry Maryn I'm still here." This really helped us all to feel better.

I thought this wouldn't be hard because Anneli has been away to school for 3 1/2 years but it was much harder to let her go knowing that we wouldn't see her at all for 18 months though I think we'll probably hear from her a lot more on her mission than we did when she was at BYU.

Mormon Message Obsession

You might have noticed all the Mormon Messages that I have posted on the side of my blog. I know it's a little excessive... I knew there were a couple of them I wanted to put up, but as I went to figure out which videos I should post, I found myself touched deeply by each one of them. What a great tool the church has put out to touch not only the lives of it's members, but also to touch people interested in the church! Attached is a of a few more of my favorites. Please take time to watch them when you have some time or go to the Mormon Messages channel on YouTube. They'll change your day...

New Years: Look Not Behind Thee

Charity: An Example of the Believers

Tender Mercies

8 more days!

Oh, Happy Day!

About a week ago I had my "non-farewell talk" in church. What a crazy, wonderful day! Because sacrament meeting started at 1, we decided to have a get together at my place before and after church. Maybe not the best idea because of how stressful it was to get it all ready in time, but it all worked out great. The favorite part of my day was the people! Friends and family from every aspect of my life came. I am so, so blessed to have you all in my life! Thanks to those who made it and especially to my mom and Grandma Livingston for your help. Thanks to the rest of you for your support. The countdown is 9 days till I leave. It's coming so fast!