happiness and things

Not too much time this week but I just wanted to share a few things with you.

- First of all, when we show our faith in the Lord by just going and doing His work--instead of complaining about it or thinking about how hard it is or questioning the reality of His hand in our lives because we aren't seeing the fulfillment of blessings right away--He really does lift our burdens.  This week was kind of a hard one in terms of missionary work and after like 5 consecutive days of getting bailed on, we didn't really want to go contact or do anything in general and it was easy to complain and be a bum.  On Friday, it had kind of all come to a peak and we were frustrated and it was super easy to just want to wallow in it and complain and stuff and not go and talk to people that probably don't care about the gospel anyway.  But instead, we went and contacted.  AND IT WAS THE BEST.  People were super kind and interested and friendly and we met some quality people and had funny moments and all those good things and it was a blessing.  But the biggest blessing is that I felt the Lord's influence and help--His lightening of our burdens--and was assured again that He has not left us alone to do His work.  He's laboring in His vineyard with us, and when we do the things we can and should do with faith and love and hope, EVEN when we don't want to or think that they're too small to make a difference or anything, He steps in and rewards us for our faith.  He never leaves us comfortless and no matter how things are frustrating, He is the One we should look to.  Also, laughter.  That helps. :)

that sign says "be careful!  the dog is mean"...heh heh heh.

- Second, if we really want to be happy and be satisfied, the best thing we can do regardless of the place or circumstance is to seek to love and serve those around us.  Forget ourselves and try to see how we can lift the burdens of others.  In this sense, we will deepen our own testimonies and know our God better, but we will ALSO work real, genuine, important good in this world.  And hey, our world could use more of that.

 that's one of the monuments at panfilov.  soo beautiful there.

(To learn more about this statue, click here.)

You want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause, and bend your efforts to helping people. Cultivate a spirit of forgiveness in your heart against any who might have offended you. Look to the Lord and live, and work and lift and serve His sons and daughters. You will come to know happiness as you’ve never known it before. I don’t care how old you are, how young you are. You can lift people and help them. Heaven knows there are so very, very many people in this world who need help.  - President Gordon B. Hinckley

- lastly, I just have a testimony that the world, more than anything, needs the light of the gospel.  It's a scary place and it's confusing and it's easy to think that everything is going wrong, but I know that as long as we will cling to the Lord, remember to do the little things we can do with our whole hearts and just love those around us, we will see His hand in our lives.  I was studying about the Anti-Nephi-Lehies

the other day and I really think it changed my life.  They were so sure that God lived and that His hand in their lives was something so merciful and grand that they could never do anything to deserve it.  However, they took it one step further and did everything they could in order to show Him their gratitude.  They had so much faith and so much love and had been changed so sincerely, they would rather die than do anything that would potentially wrong their God.  And I want to be that kind of person.  I think you do too.  And sometimes it seems daunting.  But we can start as we are.  As a missionary trying to help people keep commitments, I KNOW that.  If we will continue to read our scriptures every day, meaningfully worship on Sundays and pray personally and as families, we will see the Lord's hand in our lives and continue to become the kind of people that can do His work--a work of love and patience and hope and light...aka the work the world needs right now--on this earth.  Even today.  

He is with us.  He loves us and He is aware of everything that happens.  Trust in Him!  Cling to that and just continue being happy and being good.  D&C 123:17  

" 17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully doall things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

All is well, loved ones.  All is well.

Love you all with my WHOLE DANG HEART,

Sister Hansen

comp photo from the longest day of the year!  right before we helped save a drunk man who was having seizures...day in the life.

the greats weren't great cause at birth they could paint, the greats were the greats cause they paint a lot

ALOHAAAA FAMILY!!  

First and foremost, HAPPY LONGEST DAY OF THE YEAR!! (sang the "treat yoself" jingle like 12 times and no one understood.  Maybe was the saddest moment of the day.  BEST DAY OF THE YEAR) Thought of yous a lot and about what we were doing a year ago.  Baking in New Mexico

and falling in love with the world cup.  

Good times.  Seriously so grateful for you people at home, but I LOVE this gospel because it's perfect, and in Heavenly Father's perfect love He gave us a plan that has no ends--only beginnings.  And so we begin.  The best is yet to come :)

The trio: Sisters Johnson, Hansen and Waldie, KZ

For real though, this week I have learned so dang much about so dang much.  I learned that it's possible to clean a babushka's rug with a toilet brush and that sometimes the bus conductor WILL close the door and leave the station even if your body isn't all the way on the bus (and as a result, when the third member of your companionship comes up to laugh with you about it, the bus driver WILL slam on the brakes and cause your comp to fly into a woman and have the entire bus explode of laughter and only speak to you in very, very slow Russian) and that thunder is the best sound in the world and that the greats were the people that saw the opportunities in setbacks and that the Plan of Salvation is real and SO MUCH.  I think I'm learning a lot about happiness.  But one of my favorite lessons came in a few different parts.

the view from our gondola adventure! KZ

FIRST, one day I was having a midlife crisis (because sometimes that happens and apparently I have a very low life expectancy) and was thinking about how much I want to do with life and the improbability of it all and all that great stuff.  BUT then I read this talk by Joseph Wirthlin called The Abundant Life.

The Abundant Life, by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin 

(courtesy https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/04/the-abundant-life?lang=eng)

It seriously changed my life, I think.  It helped me remember that Heavenly Father loves us so much.  He wants us to be obedient and to be good and to follow Him and those are all so so so important.  But He also wants us to be HAPPY!  He wants to help us use those gifts and talents HE gave us and to pursue the passions that He put in every person.  It was super inspiring and helped me remember that we CAN do everything we dream of and that it CAN be done by living the gospel simultaneously.  One of my favorite quotes: "we are sons and daughters of an immortal, loving and all-powerful Father in Heaven.  We are created as much from the dust of eternity as we are from the dust of the earth." every person has a spark and God is the one that put it there.  He is anxious to help us and it's never too late to start.  And that's beautiful.

THEN, yesterday, we were contacting in Panfilov Park (met some super good people there.  Like this man who was a born again Christian.  He's a leader in his church and I don't think he understood that we wanted to teach him about a different church, but he just invited us to come to one of his meetings so we could testify to the youth there.  He saw our testimonies and loves the Savior so much, he just wants to do all he can to help other people know Him, too.  That was super humbling.  Good people really are everywhere, and even though this church is true, there's a lot to be learned by how people of other faiths live their lives.  The love is real, man.) and my favorite thing happened.  We were getting ready to leave and the sun was setting and it was beautiful and we saw this little old man playing accordion with a group of people around him.  One of those surrounding people happened to be someone that used to come to the english classes we teach and my comp recognized him and he started chatting and he GAVE THE BEST PEP TALK IN THE WORLD.  He's this ADORABLE man from Turkey and was talking about how he fell in love with accordion music and was like, "I saw this movie and felt in my heart that that's what I wanted to be.  My friends made fun of me and said I was too old but I said no!  I know my heart knows the notes and the rises and the falls.  It's already in my heart.  It's just my FINGERS that are lazy.  I have the soul of a musician.  I already know it all.  I just have to educate my fingers!  And everyone deserves to find love like this!" he was smiling so big and it was so sincere and I was like, you know what, THAT'S RIGHT.  My heart is right.  All of us already know what we love and how to do it.  We just gotta educate our fingers.  And if it's written on your heart, that already ain't no thang :)

tl;dr God lives and loves us, and His mercy and grace extend beyond anything we could ever imagine.  He's your Father and you're made of universe dust.  Go dance or something.

[the view from hiking kok tebe (which was an accident btdubs) (holla at that "trying to have a transition meeting with a friend from english" life)!  it reminded me of diamondhead]

Also, I am learning so much about love.  I used to think I was a loving person but the closer I've come to understanding the perfect love of the Father and of the Savior I realize that I actually know nothing.  But I'm starting to understand what it actually means to love people sincerely and how much work it is and what it means to live by that but especially, that it is everything.  HIS love is everything.  And that's something that never gets old. 

Lastly, this morning I was reading in Alma (remember when I said I wanted to finish the BOM before my six month mark?  ha.  ha ha ha.) and 19:22-23

" 22 Now, one of them, whose brother had been slain with the sword of Ammon, being exceedingly angry with Ammon, drew his sword and went forth that he might let it fall upon Ammon, to slay him; and as he lifted the sword to smite him, behold, he fell dead.

 23 Now we see that Ammon could not be slain, for theLord had said unto Mosiah, his father: I will spare him, and it shall be unto him according to thy faith—therefore, Mosiah trusted him unto the Lord."

reminded me of you and everyone there and every missionary family or person that has supported a missionary ever in the history of the world.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS.  Thank you for your faith.  Thank you for your love.  This is the work of the Lord and it goes forth in His power, but I know that His hand in our lives is fueled by your faith and I am so so so very grateful.  So thank you.  You the real MVPS.

I love you so much.  I pray for you always and hope you are the happiest people in the world and know how important you are to our Heavenly Father.  He lives and loves you and knows what He's doing with you.  So carry on. :)

Sisters Johnson, Waldie and Hansen with Mission President's wife, Sis. Williams (KZ)

ALL MY LOVE,

Sister Hansen aka the human state of eyebrow emergency

"mormons...ah, like amish people, right?"

HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO MY HOMIES IN AMERICA. (that's you, dad)

(you're all of my homies) (congratulations) also, happy happy birthday my dear cute Gampy :) I hope you watch Nacho Libre 

and spend time with the people you love and have a beautiful day.

Lots of things happened this week and there are SO MANY EXCITING THINGS HAPPENING IN THIS WORK (for real.  this is the work of the Lord.  this is His vineyard and His children that He knows exactly how to help them.  it is so so so interesting to see how undeniably His hand is in the lives of the people here.  also, i think KZ is probably the only place I know of where you can contact someone about religion and have them super passionately be like "no, I believe in my own God" and start defending their beliefs and then say "okay, have a good day" and have them change completely and wish blessings upon you and your families :) such good people.  really really.  and there's rain today so i guess I'm just trying to say that life is magical.) but probably the icing on the cake was our meeting with Elder Paul Pieper on Friday.  He's the man that first brought the church to KZ and he was visiting for a religious conference and got to speak to our branch on Friday.  It. was. amazing.  Seriously.  I was so humbled and energized in so so many ways, but I was especially touched by how personally he had worked with and for these people.  It was seriously a call to repentance for both us and the members about how we do the work of the Lord here, but it was so good.  And I know that it's possible.  I know that this is the Lord's church on the earth again today and that He's never forgotten about any of His children.  I know this is His work and because of that, it will go forth and we can see His hand manifest, even in our efforts that feel so small and meaningless.  I know our Savior lives and that we need Him, and I know His grace is the reason WE have reason to be the happiest and most hopeful people in the world.  And because I know, I am SO grateful to get to do something about it.  tl;dr I'm learning a lot about how to get over myself and how necessary that is.  But it is so good.  And so it goes.

kontik.  oh mahhh.  you kind of do a tim tam slam with them and they're bomb.  don't fret, your time is coming soon.

I love you people.  So much.  And I pray for and fast for and think about you and sometimes cry for you.  Thank you for your examples and influences and love and support and for just being the people you are.  This life is our chance to prepare to meet God!  And because Jesus Christ lives, that is a happy fact :) I love you!!  I love you I love you I love you.  The end.

 the dandelions in the mountains reminded me of dad

Sister Hansen

this is how we do

hello my droogs!

this week was an adventure, especially in terms of contacting.  for one, we met this girl on the street who is seriously GOLDEN.  her dad is from nigeria and moved to kazakh and she's a sprinter and is so cool and funny and real and everything with her just clicked.  we met her on wednesday and then she came to english the next day and also took a book of mormon and we had such a good chat with her and it was just so happy.  so real.  i love that.  and i really hope she wants to hear more.  for another, yesterday we contacted a woman who was super open and listened to like half the first lesson until we realized she was drunk.  hahahah.  we also contacted this man who was from england, and it was all super miraculous and he was so open and stoked to talk to us and proud that we were doing the work of the Lord...until he realized we were Mormons...and proceeded to tell us we were doing the work of the devil and to chew us out using swear words we can actually understand.  haha.  it was an adventure!  big ups to everyone serving in america.  maybe everyone here is muslim and super set in their religion, buuut they don't have a bunch of preset ideas about a book they've never tested or read so everything is okay.  y'all english speakers are champions.  lucky we live kazakhstan.  for real though, the people here are wonderful.  things on the street are always crazy and funny and weird, but they're also really great a lot of the times.  i'm so grateful we get to contact here!

the 3 heads of garlic, featuring Korean food

we also had our last meeting with President and Sister Williams this week before the mission splits.  it was actually super super good.  remind me to tell you allll about President when i get home.  he is such a good man.  he wants so badly to do the work of the Lord with everything he can.  he makes me laugh so hard though.  he's a little bit like chris traeger.

he gets us stoked on life and missionary work but more importantly, i know he's called of God and that he loves and receives revelation for us.  he also gave us each a super awkward bro hug yesterday.  good mission adventures all around.

we'd been at an activity at the church with an investigator that night and then we walked her home and it just happened to start downpouring. #life

yesterday was another miracle of a day but we'll have to talk about it another time.  mostly though, i'm learning so much about what it means to be a missionary and a leader and a follower of Christ in general, and i just have to say that i'm not perfect.  hahahah for real sometimes when i write home i feel so dumb because i really am learning so much and i want to share these things with you but also i don't know how to do it in a way that doesn't sound lame and preachy and ingenuine and also my social skills are diminishing.  life is hard.  but really everything is imperfect and so happy and i love and pray for you all always.  the church is true and Heavenly Father loves us and Jesus Christ is our Savior.  this church is His own church again on the earth and the thing i love the most about that is that no one just has to believe the words of the people around them.  they can know for themselves!  and i know that when we seek the Lord with a sincere heart and with willingness to give it a shot instead of just uprooting everything with doubt, we get answers.  and it's the best.

i love you!!  i pray for you!  i hope you enjoy otter pop season!  have a happy week!!

that sign says "i love you" :)

sister hansen

p.s. one time this week we hadn't opened the windows in our room yet and it's super hot and it was only 6:15am and all i'd done so far was pray and i was super sweaty.  oooorah!

p.p.s. *sister e (who we may or may not have tracked down a number for us so we could call before she goes home this week...) talking about how she speaks in english now (she doesn't speak english) because her comp doesn't speak russian* "my companion...her ears...sister, how you say?...her ears...are...died"

KAZAKHSTAN NEI

"july 4th is on a sunday? what a great year to be gone" - cectra waldie

HELLO MY FAMILY!!! 

Wowwowo this week has been so crazy.  AND SO GOOD!!! 

We've done a lot more contacting this week and it's been the best.  It's hard sometimes but I know it's such important work.  And sometimes, it's super hilarious.  Like on Wednesday, we'd had a meeting and then had 2 minutes before we had to be home and decided to contact one last person, and we stumbled into this man that seemed pretty interested and was nice and had lots of questions...and then at the end he asked me if I wanted to marry a Kazakh man and told me he'd give me his son if I became Muslim.  And then we bore our testimonies and invited him to church (how to friendzone on the mission 101) and invited him to church...and he said he would come with his son so we could meet and I could become Muslim.  hahaha.  But there have been miracles too.  Like this man we met in the park who had such sincere questions about God it made my heart ache a little.  I have such a testimony that these people are our brothers and sisters!  Not even just in KZ.  Everywhere.  And we all deserve to hear the news that our King lives!  Ah man.  I just love this work okay.  Really really.

that sign says don't smoke, don't argue.  hahaha.  we loved it.

Also, on Monday, we made Korean food with a potential investigator because she's Korean, and we put three heads of garlic into one dish.  The meeting was actually good and the food was fine but there was SO MUCH GARLIC.  Can we just talk about this for a second.  I mean really.  For the next three days, everything smelled like garlic.  Clothes.  HAIR.  Hand sweat.  e v e r y t h i n g.  Congrats on knowing such accomplished individuals.

Yesterday was pretty much just a huge miracle.  After a couple of days where we had learned a lot of hard lessons and maybe pity-eaten an entire pan of cornbread too late at night, SO MANY GOOD THINGS HAPPENED.  Church was so spiritual (p.s. spoke in church yesterday and didn't make anyone's ears bleed.  Heck yeaaah) and we had so many inspiring lessons and bonded with the members here and everything was great.  We went home and during lunch, we called all the sisters that hadn't been at church that day to say we missed them and to see if they needed help.  Some of the people on that list are blatantly inactive and it was kind of scary to call some of them and be like "hey, we saw that you weren't at church today!  is everything okay?" when we know they hadn't been in like 6 years.  But we saw SO many blessings for doing it.  Every single one, super inactive or not, really appreciated it.  They laughed with us and at us when we stumbled in Russian and it was one of the sincerest experiences I've had lately and it was just so dang good.  This work has always been about the "one", you know?  And that's enough.  Right after we finished, we got a call from one of our investigators (she is seriously money.  I LOVE that woman and her clean heart and how much she needs this gospel and how she understands that and ahhhh) who "just happened to be in the area and wanted to know if we wanted to meet and maybe read the Book of Mormon and stuff."  She called us and we met and it was so needed for her and it was SUCH a good lesson.  Wowowow.  And THEN last night we had a meeting with this couple that got baptized a year ago at the Carters.  This couple is from Moscow and they're young and hip and so funny and COOL and they are pretty much just the cutest humans on the planet.  They haven't been to church for like a month and we finally got a meeting with them and I was nervous that it would be really awkward because they're really cooool and maybe we were overreacting and it wasn't something they needed and maybe they could do it on their own and stuff...but then we started and watched the Mountains to Climb video 

and were talking about faith and how we can build it and the wife just started crying and thanking us for the fact that we met with them because they knew they were inactive and wanted to be closer to the Lord and ahhhhh it was worth the run on sentence because IT JUST BROKE MY HEART.  But then it was healed because the gospel does that for all of us.  And just...things are so good.  Missionary work is the happiest and hardest thing in the world and I love every day I get a chance to do it.

LASTLY, something I've been thinking a lot about lately is love. (duh.  It's me.  duh.  duhhh.) (also, the phrase "i love love" is just as uncommon in Russian as it is in English.  not even mad.) Last week during zone conference, Sister Porter--the wife of one of the members of our area presidency--spoke and talked about this.  She talked about how missionary work is the fulfillment of the first and greatest commandment and elaborated on how "all the law hangs" on this commandment--to love God and one another.  She then showed us a sweater and a hanger and illustrated how love--the hanger--is what gives everything else shape and joy and beauty and meaning, and promised us that if we would study the Savior and about His Atonement, we would feel that in our lives and it wouldn't just be time in another country away from those we love.  It wouldn't even just be something hard.  It would be time that was beautiful and alive and that we loved because we would understand why we were there.  And it is the TRUEST THING EVER.  I've been thinking about it a lot and trying to live it and it's really hard.  But it is the best journey.  And even though I love you all with my whole heart, I know this is really important work.  Today in the Book of Mormon (p.s. won't finish it before the six month mark but my testimony of that book has grown so much the last week.  READ IT!!  LET IT CHANGE YOU!!) I was reading in Mosiah and just cried.  It was where Abinadi is bearing testimony of the Atonement and of the fact that God is merciful and we are ALL already redeemed and then was like "that's all" and was willing to die.  He gave a message of complete love and then DIED for it.  But it was that important.  He knew it and had felt that and He personally was so sure that his soul was saved from every pain only in and through Jesus Christ and His Atoning love that He was willing to die to show it to others.  THAT is faith.  That is grit and bravery and conviction and testimony.  But mostly, that is love.  And that's something we can show everyone around us, every day.  And that's enough.

I love you family.  I love you I love you I love you.  I love all you dang people that read this.  And I pray for you all the time.  Keep on keeping on and know that Heavenly Father is always ready to hear and help you.  We're going to be okay.  And that's all I have to say about that. 

All the love IN THE WORLD,

Sister Hansen