The Best Month of My Life

Anneli's first district. Many of them have left the MTC and she said there are a lot more sisters in her district now

Some amazing Elders and Sisters in her zone.
Anneli is in a threesome companionship and she loves both of these sisters. Anneli is on the left then Sister Farley and Sister Reyes.


Sorry there hasn't been a post for a while. I lost the password. But Anneli sent it to me so we're up and going again.
Andrea(mom)

Oh, my goodess! I can't believe it's already been a month that I've been here. It went by so fast! It truly has been the best and hardest month for me. This is the best decision I've made in my life so far for sure! I love being a missionary and even when I am having a hard time, I can always see so much to be grateful for.

This week seemed to be a little bit harder than the previous weeks-or maybe I just expected myself to be better than I am at everything by now. For whatever reason(s), I've been really discouraged about my teaching abilities and trying to do my best, but still messing up so much. Never before have my flaws affected other people so much! They affect who I teach and also my companions and the way our lessons go. But I am so grateful that this is happening now where I can still prepare and get feedback about my teaching. I was talking to a good friend of mine that entered the MTC yesterday and I was talking about life here and I realized how good I have it here: I have amazing companions that are truly so patient with me and just love me no matter what, I have awesome teachers that really want to help me be better, I have the opportunity to learn the gospel 24/7, I love my district, I don't have to worry about anything else in life (money, social life, dating, etc.), and the list goes on and on...My life is truly blessed and I know that the Lord loves me and that somehow He can see the good I'm trying to do. As it says in Sam. 16:7, "Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

This week we've done a bunch of teaching, but I still want to do better. I think we'll get another investigator soon so that we can become even better. We have three right now, but I think the more we practice teaching, the better we will get. We've had some awesome lessons, where the Spirit has been so strong, and some not so awesome lessons, where we've tried, but just didn't quite get it. But those awesome lessons are the ones that keep me hopeful.

I was talking to my companions today and wer realized that we are getting through this experience soley because of the Spirit and laughter. We don't have the strength to keep going, yet the Spirit gives us that strength and comforts us through it all. Then there are the times when everything is going wrong and all you can do is just trust in the Lord and find something to laugh about. For example, last night I was in the bathroom with my companions getting ready for bed. My companion, Sister Farley, was brushing her teeth and she started talking to me. In the middle of talking to me she goes silent and has a look of pure distress on her face. And then she says: "I'm brushing my teeth with facewash!" We were in the midst of a crisis, but we couldn't help but die laughing for about 5 minutes. Oh, the Spirit and laughter can get you through anything!

As we've been learning Spanish, we've been experimenting with what words work together and which don't. There are some words and phrases that make perfect sense in English, but just don't in Spanish. We've come up with many of those and we call them Apostacy Palabra's (words). Here are some of my favorites: "Oh no, no hizo!" (Oh no, you didn't!), "Nunca-mente" (Nevermind), and "Fuego Obras" (Fireworks).

This week the choir here sang this song called Behold the Wounds in Jesus Hands. It's such a beautiful song about all the savior has done for us. I don't have time to type the words, but look it up-it's beautiful! While we were singing the song, I was filled with God's love-but not just for me, I could feel the love he had for all of His children. It was so sweet and so pure and I knew that if I could get my investegators to fill that love, there would be no doubt of the truthfulness of our message and what the Savior could do for them. I keep praying for more of that love, especially when I teach.

This week another sister in my branch asked me to be apart of a musical number to use to tryout so that we could preform in one of the firsides/meetings here at the MTC. I'm part of a trio and we're singing The Olive Tree, a song I have always loved, but that means more to me now that I'm actually doing what it says in the song. We tried out this morning in front of two of the Mission Presidency's wives and they loved it. So in the next week or so, we're going to preform that for the MTC. I'm so excited and nervous, but mostly excited. The Lord has been helping me with my ability to sing since I got here. I feel a lot less nervous to sing in front of people and more confident in myself, especially because I really believe in the messages of the songs and want to inspire others with them. What a blessing!

This week our zone got 11 new missionaries and 5 of them are Hermanas! I'm so excited to have more sisters and so excited to get to know them better. I need to go soon, but I wanted to share a scripture. My good friend Matt Paskett shared this with me a few years ago and told me on his mission he labelled this scripture "How to Keep it Real". It's Alma 7:23-24. It is truly an inspired few verses of how to keep a good perspective on life and how to be an amazing servant of the Lord.

Anyway, I love you all! Thanks for the prayers and the letters and reading this! I especially have been thinking about my extended family this week. Love you and miss you lots!

Con Amor,

Hermana Hansen