холодец, молодец (Aspic, well done)

(холодец--look this up.  ate it for the first time last week :') 

холодец = Aspic: "a dish in which ingredients are set into a gelatin made from a meat stock or consommé" (Source: Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspic])

also ate tiny octopus soup aaand liver last week!  

remember when i didn't even like onions?  my name is sister hansen and i am GROWING!! hollaaaa)

What up beloved homies.

This week was a super good one!  I feel like time is just going faster and faster and it is BLOWING MY MIND.  Do you realize that a year ago I was speaking in church?  And we were celebrating Thanksgiving by roadtripping to Las Vegas?  Is this even real life?!  AHHH.  I wish it would slow down but I guess if it won't stop that just means we can't stop either.  "WORK WORK WORK...the greatest secret to missionary work is WORK." #truuuuu and life is good!!  Also, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Mum and Dad!  Really hope it's a special one even though it's already bound to be because I remembered the date (the 27th holla holla) for the first time in my 20 years of life.  Love yous :')

Alright alright alright.  This week was super special.  With Christmas coming up and with the fact that He is the center of this work aaand the entire gospel, I've been thinking about the Savior a lot this week.  I added reading the New Testament to my personal study and am in 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon and as I have read it with questions about how to help others and how to change myself and how to love Him more and live better, I have really been so floored at His love for us.  As His crowning and probably most talked about attribute, I know that's cliche, but He really does love us all in a perfect and complete and absolutely individual way.  It's been special to read the Bible and see specific and concrete examples of this love.  

One story I have been thinking about all week is in the last chapter of John.  After being with the very Son of God during His mortal ministry--something you would assume would change people forever--they decided to go back to their ships and live out their lives in their comfort zone, doing what they knew.  But I LOVE what happens when Christ comes back and calls to them to throw their net on the other side.  Peter, as soon as He realizes that it's the Savior, without hesitation jumps right in and swims as fast as he can back to His feet.  Peter then gets asked if he loves the Savior and gets told to feed His sheep.  From my studies on this and also Elder Holland's talk from October 2012, 

there were SO MANY INSIGHTS I've had on this throughout the week.  It's really changed how I want to live my life, with the time I have left on the mission and throughout the rest of my whole life!!  I want to live in a way every day where the Savior could ask me if I love Him, hear a confident and ready "yes", and be able to see it in the way I live every day.  Peter is such a real example for me, too.  Throughout Christ's ministry, he was constantly immediately "jumping" all in for the Savior (like the time he walked on the water) and then maybe falling short of the glory of God like we all do (like the time he denied knowing Jesus).  I feel like I can relate to that a lot.  So many times I've immediately affirmed "of course I would follow Thee, don't be crazy" and then lived a little less than that.  But this particular story taught me a lot about the character I want to have and the character of the Savior.  I want to be like Peter and so willingly and wholeheartedly follow the Savior in every instance, even when I'm sheepish because I got caught sleeping (or in this case, fishing when I knew that there were things more important than fish), and I want to get to the point where I not only return and repent and retry wholeheartedly and without hesitation, but also STAY there.  To hold myself to the desire and passion of the moment even when the moment itself has passed.  Really love how Elder H. talks about how this was the pivotal moment in Peter's ministry and how if he hadn't been 10000000%, wholeheartedly, ALL IN for the Lord before this point, he was now.  That's the kind of attitute I want to have and the kind of effect I want the mission to have on me and I know that means that I have to live like that every day...which brings me to the Savior.  Even though He must have been a little disappointed in Peter and the disciples, He just called them again to the work, accepted them and told them to go and feed His sheep.  He frankly forgave them and just asked them to give all they could.  So I commit!  Like an elder in my district said, "it's okay to be chastened".  So often on the mission I just want to be perfect and get sad when I'm not, but He doesn't want us to be perfect just for the sake of goodness--He wants us to feed His sheep.  To lift and love His people and help them receive the healing and joy and forgiveness and peace and strength and power of the Atonement and the Savior in our real personal lives.  Also, Sister Waldie and I have been listening to "Come unto Christ" (the youth theme last year, apparently?) and watching the video approximately 28349082309482309x EVERY DAY.  

And the coolest thing is that I really feel how this is changing my life and my heart and the way I think about and treat others and myself!  And so it is my job to help others do the same.  AND THE WORK IS SO SWEET.  leggooooo.

(Fall pic) "from that super happy pday we had up there with the elders.  kazakhs have this tradition/superstition that they do NOT sit on the ground ever because they think you'll go infertile if you do so they do that squat--we call it the "Пацан (meaning "kid") squat" heh heh"

Ah ah ahhahahahhahhahah I AM SO BAD AT USING TIME but here are a few other things:

- all the missionaries here in Almaty spoke in church yesterday to pass along the message we got from E. Holland at the meeting for members and we were asked to speak for only 5 minutes and guess who spoke for EXACTLY FIVE MINUTES AND GOT A HIGH FIVE FROM THE SECOND COUNSELOR OH YEAH HOLLA AT YA GIRL.  also i really love Russian a lot a lot.

always the one not doing a patsan squat.  hahahah

- there's a single mother and her son in our branch that are really struggling and one day we felt like we should just call them and say hello.  Their living conditions are pretty bad but she just found work (something everyone here is struggling with right now) and things are getting better.  She mentioned in passing that they didn't have enough money to buy groceries this week but that all was okay.  That night, we had a little extra time so just bought a few things and went to their house.  The gate to their area was closed so we had to call instead of just dropping them off and that was embarrassing, but we just went in and said hello.  When they asked why we were there and we pulled out the groceries the mom burst into tears (which happens pretty often so we weren't too surprised) but then the son--who's this 10 year old kid that is SO adorable and tender hearted but not moved too deeply by stuff like this--also started bawling and they both just said thank you.  The mum told us they'd just been talking about their situation and she'd been promising that things would change soon and that if they relied on the Lord, He would provide for them and literally as she was talking about it we had called.  And we gave them so little but the love in that room was so divine and we all just cried and hugged and Mormon Tabernacle Choir was playing in the background and it was just so special to get to be the good in someone's life in that way.  Mosiah 2:17 is real, homes.

" 17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn^awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the ^bserviceof your ^cfellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

- We haven't met with N yet this week because she is working SO MUCH so she probably won't be baptized before we leave this city but that's okay because she is amazing and will someday.  A that just got baptized hasn't been to church since we've been home from Turkey and we're kind of worried about her but she's been in touch and we're trying to meet with her and we pray for her a lot.  And then there's A--the contacted A.  We met with her last night and talked more about the Restoration and the living prophet.  We watched a talk from President Monson and she really liked it and she told us that she really does feel something and has been praying all this week but feels like she hasn't received an answer yet.  We got to testify about how answers do come while we act in faith even when we don't "know" and we got to share our own experiences and it was so special.  I don't really know how to convey it with words but there is so much love in that little family and they are 3 of 4 people I've met and worked with on my mission that I really feel like are 100% family to me now.  They are just trying their very best and they have so much sincerity and pure intent and with hearts like that, I KNOW the Lord will answer their prayers, that they WILL recognize it and that they will be baptized.  Her 14-year-old daughter even mentioned that she wants to become a member of our church last night!  And.  I don't know.  I just know that Heavenly Father has such a big plan for them and loves them so much and I feel that every time I'm with them.  BEING WITH THESE PEOPLE HERE IS SUCH A PRIVILEGE.  They're our brothers and sisters indeed.

Alright alright I have to goooo but I love you all heaps and heaps and pray for you always.  Thank you for all you do.  Have a happy happy Thanksgiving my loves and enjoy some pecan pie for me!  Love you with my whole heart.  Be good, be safe, be happy :)

love,

Sister Hansen