hiiiiiiiiii everyone,
oooh you know, just sitting here NOT IN AMERICA writing my email. that's right everyone, my mission was NOT in fact to the MTC. i'm in TAHITI!! travels and everything went smoothly, except i was a little congested so it kind of felt like my eyeballs were going to pop out of my head during some parts of the flight. and despite my legitimate phobia of flying over the ocean, i made it safe and sound. it's really surreal flying over the ocean, by the way. it kind of looks like you're upside down because EVERYTHING is blue. anyway, i pretty much had to sign a contract with my own blood and promise my first born (sorry mom, no grandkid fun for you) just to get my luggage over here though. whew. but. the point is. i am here. it is awesome. in order to give you a better image of tahiti, i would like you to imagine in your mind the most beautiful place you've ever seen. then, multiply that by approximately...A BAJILLION. and then, you might understand the beauty of this place. seriously. my companion is probably tired of me gasping audibly and oohing and aaahing over everything. and the stars are different here too! i tried looking for the big dipper and then i was like oh wait. i'm below the equator. WEIRD.
anyway, my first morning here i was awoken by the sounds of roosters crowing. they were just cockadoodlin' it up all over the place. yeah. there are chickens and roosters everywhere here. all over. and dogs. and the dogs are freaking disgusting. they're like some canine zombie army that roam the streets. bleh. sooo i try to avoid them at all cost so i don't get zombiefied too. and/or lose my hair and get rabies or things like that. ANYWAY. my mission pres and his wife are cool and nice. i don't actually remember anything that i said to them the first night because i was suuuper out of it. i do remember trying to speak tahitian to them but i dont' remember what i said. probably something insulting. so i'm in my first area on the island of tahiti, near the city faaa (yes, that is the actual name of the city, my keyboard did not break or stutter). i got put in a trio with one tahitian sister who is my trainer, and another american sister that got here about two months ago. both are very nice and very patient, and i have been able to learn a lot from both. we're starting to get to know each other a little bit better and break the ice so meals and car rides aren't totally silent anymore. ha! oh yeah. we're not on bikes, we have a car. guess who's gonna get SUPER FAT? THIS GIRL. i actually really hate the car. because the roads here are INSANE and windy and uppy-downy and there are speed bumps every 20 feet and guess who gets car sick super easily? THIS GIRL. so i feel like i want to barf about 100% of the time, and then i do about 50% of the time. oh yeah, did i mention that i've been barfing like somebody committed me to it this week? it's been really cute. NOT. i dont' know what the deal is, but i've been pretty sick lately. it's not the food or the water. but i'm feeling better the past few days, so hopefully it's just some weird "hi i'm your body and i hate living in tahiti" thing that i'll get over. by the way i'm terrified to try and drive here because i think evreyone takes speed or meth or some kind of drug before they go on the road. seriously. i get scared.
let's see.. i have like a bjillion things to say but i can't organize my brain. the other day we accidently locked ourselves out of our house so i won the love and adoration of my companions by climbing up through the teeny little bathroom window so i could open the door. in retrospect, i'm not quite sure how i fit, because it's a pretty small window and it was really high. carried by the spirit or something, i guess. haa oh yeah, i met one of the ward members (the ward mission leader, actually) and he was like "hey soeur, did you take a picture the day you got here? you know, like of yourself?" and i was like "...no..." and he was like "oh you defintiely should. that way, you can see and compare how fat you get on your mission." HAHAHAHA AND THEN I PUNCHED HIM IN THE FACE!! not. i just laughed. little did he know, my stomach's recent rebellion has prevented my from gaining weight despite the MASSIVE PORTIONS OF FOOD people giv eyou here. it's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo goooooooooooooooooood though. even when i was barfing i still wanted to eat because it's just so delicious. the fish, the fruit. oh my gosh the fruit. so good. and i had my first steak-frites the other day, which is basically just a huge slab of meat served with fries and this really incredible sauce. gaah! so good! but everything here is really really expensive so it kind of sucks. but still so pleasing to my palate.
anyhoo, we have quite a few investigators right now so we stay pretty busy, so it's good. yesterday we went tracting fo rthe first time and it was actually way fun! well, maybe not fun. but it was good and we were able to talk to some people and set up some lessons. the people here are all super nice so i wasn't afraid of getting spit on or anything. we have two people that we're teaching right now that only speak tahitian, and they're really old. and i don't understand anything they're saying. i taught my first lesson in tahitian the other day, and i felt good about what i was saying but i had NO IDEA what the heck the lady was saying back to me so i just kept looking at my companion, and she'd nod to me to say yeah go ahead, ahha. she's a saint, my companion. anyway, the lady is really cute but she talks like she has a mouthful of food that's she's chewing with no teeth. and thens ometimes she'll laugh and cover her face with her hands and she just looks so cute that i start laughing too so she thinks that i understand by i'm like NOPE FOOLED YOU I STILL I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON! haha! it's frustrating. but i know it will get better. i just have to keep trying.
anyway, my companion is waiting to use the computer so i think i'll wrap this up. i forgot my camera cord but i will remember to bring it next week so i can send pictures! oh yeah, one more thing: people don't use toilet seats here! it took me a few days to realize that. every time i would go into the bathroom at our house, the toilet seat would be up. and i would be like what the heck? is there secretly a man living here? is one of my COMPANIONS secretly a man? who knows. so i asked my american companion about it and she was like yeah they just don't use toilet seats. some places don't even have them when you go. so that was interesting. anyway, on that note i guess i'll end. i'm happy to be here. adjusting has been interesting, but it's been good and the people here are very warm and generous. i love you all and hope everything is going well!
love,
soeur hansen
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
September 6, 2011
oh HAAAIIIIIII!!!
soo....guess what? THIS IS MY LAST PDAY IN THE MTC! this time next week, i'll be IN TAHITI OH MY GOSSHHHHHH!!!! so insane. so awesome. i got my travel plans, so it's all official and everything. i leave the mtc at 8:00am on monday (september 12) and my flight leaves from slc at 11:30. then i fly to LA, have a 4 hour layover, then i'm off to the south pacific. ooohhh yeaaaah. so i'm pretty STOKED OUT OF MY MIND about that. it's very surreal to think that i'm actually leaving. although the sister that i wanted to punch in the face for telling me that she was supposed to leave before me even though she's been here 5 weeks less than me is still leaving before me, which i was secretly still wanting to punch her in the face about.
asa side note, the spacebar on this keyboard is very sub-par, so excuse any lack of spaces.
ANYWAY. i have some important/sad/whatever you want to think news. this weekwas the week that i cracked. hold on a second i have to go yell at an elder for stealing my washer. ok justice has been served. anyway, on the topic of yelling at elders, yes. this week i cracked. i for real, in a sincere righteous indignation yelled (literally) at a pair of elders in my zone. let it be known that it was merited. i (and the people around me, fyi) was totally disgusted by their behavior and conversation. let's just say that sometimes elders think that sister missionaries are called to be the visual entertainment for the elders. so yeah. i got pretty heated. and i yelled at them. and told them to shape up or get the heck out. one of them got really scared and immediately apologized, the other one got really mad and stormed off like a child. but then he apologized later. i kind of felt bad for yelling, so i apologized for the yelling later, not for what i yelled. some elders really are just idiots. they might actually have brain damage. anyway, it's all good now. but i was so fired up it was ridiculous.
also, let me just tell you about the best day of my life yesterday. mrs. holli hale robinson is probably the best human on the planet. imagine my surprise when, as i'm getting ready after gym to go to lunch, i heara knock on the door in my residence hall and open it up to see her smiling face. WHAT?!!!! SHE BROKE INTO THE MTC TO BRING ME CAFE RIO WHAT?!!!! not that i'm condoning breaking into the mtc. that girl has guts. but seriously. it made my day. no. it made my mtc stay. it was so awesome to see her and hug her! it was like unreal though. i think i've become one of those socially-awkward-around-normal-humans missionaries. which is unfortunate. but i was so happy to see her. and then when i walked back into the room with that pork salad (i'll be honest, i very briefly considered running and hiding and eating it all by myself in the bathroom or something, but i decided to try and be christlike, and also the mental image of me eating a pork salad by myself on the toilet was just too pathetic), there was much rejoicing in the land. everyone went crazy. it's like we were on drugs for real, we were all so happy. so holli, if you're reading this (i'mgoingto write you a letter anyway), just know that you made a lot of people happy that day. i'm pretty sure you will be exalted for that. and you freaking snuck into the mtc. respect forever and always.
anyway, i have to go switch my laundry and i'm almost out of time. i should be able to email a little bit later this week since i won't have a pday next week, so i'll try to make the next one a little more exciting. i love you much and still think about you often!
love,
soeur hansen
soo....guess what? THIS IS MY LAST PDAY IN THE MTC! this time next week, i'll be IN TAHITI OH MY GOSSHHHHHH!!!! so insane. so awesome. i got my travel plans, so it's all official and everything. i leave the mtc at 8:00am on monday (september 12) and my flight leaves from slc at 11:30. then i fly to LA, have a 4 hour layover, then i'm off to the south pacific. ooohhh yeaaaah. so i'm pretty STOKED OUT OF MY MIND about that. it's very surreal to think that i'm actually leaving. although the sister that i wanted to punch in the face for telling me that she was supposed to leave before me even though she's been here 5 weeks less than me is still leaving before me, which i was secretly still wanting to punch her in the face about.
asa side note, the spacebar on this keyboard is very sub-par, so excuse any lack of spaces.
ANYWAY. i have some important/sad/whatever you want to think news. this weekwas the week that i cracked. hold on a second i have to go yell at an elder for stealing my washer. ok justice has been served. anyway, on the topic of yelling at elders, yes. this week i cracked. i for real, in a sincere righteous indignation yelled (literally) at a pair of elders in my zone. let it be known that it was merited. i (and the people around me, fyi) was totally disgusted by their behavior and conversation. let's just say that sometimes elders think that sister missionaries are called to be the visual entertainment for the elders. so yeah. i got pretty heated. and i yelled at them. and told them to shape up or get the heck out. one of them got really scared and immediately apologized, the other one got really mad and stormed off like a child. but then he apologized later. i kind of felt bad for yelling, so i apologized for the yelling later, not for what i yelled. some elders really are just idiots. they might actually have brain damage. anyway, it's all good now. but i was so fired up it was ridiculous.
also, let me just tell you about the best day of my life yesterday. mrs. holli hale robinson is probably the best human on the planet. imagine my surprise when, as i'm getting ready after gym to go to lunch, i heara knock on the door in my residence hall and open it up to see her smiling face. WHAT?!!!! SHE BROKE INTO THE MTC TO BRING ME CAFE RIO WHAT?!!!! not that i'm condoning breaking into the mtc. that girl has guts. but seriously. it made my day. no. it made my mtc stay. it was so awesome to see her and hug her! it was like unreal though. i think i've become one of those socially-awkward-around-normal-humans missionaries. which is unfortunate. but i was so happy to see her. and then when i walked back into the room with that pork salad (i'll be honest, i very briefly considered running and hiding and eating it all by myself in the bathroom or something, but i decided to try and be christlike, and also the mental image of me eating a pork salad by myself on the toilet was just too pathetic), there was much rejoicing in the land. everyone went crazy. it's like we were on drugs for real, we were all so happy. so holli, if you're reading this (i'mgoingto write you a letter anyway), just know that you made a lot of people happy that day. i'm pretty sure you will be exalted for that. and you freaking snuck into the mtc. respect forever and always.
anyway, i have to go switch my laundry and i'm almost out of time. i should be able to email a little bit later this week since i won't have a pday next week, so i'll try to make the next one a little more exciting. i love you much and still think about you often!
love,
soeur hansen
August 30, 2011
hi everyone,
i'm titling this email "sister hansen laments" because I'M SAD. my district is gone--i said bye to the last half of them this morning at 4 am, which indicates two things: i'm tired, and i'm all alone. well, i'm not all alone. now i'm just paired with the other solo sisters in my zone. who are just such special spirit daughters of god and i'm determined to love the crap out of them by the time i leave the mtc but that has yet to happen. actually, i thought i was just going to get lumped with the new sister coming into our zone tomorrow, but at branch council on sunday, my branch presidency informed me that i was getting placed with the sister that's having some big drama in her district in the hopes that i will be a (and i quote) "calming influence." and i was like branch president says whaa? basically i'm getting assigned to be a babysitter, so this will be fun. the sister that i'm getting paired with is...well...let's just say she has one of the strongest personalities i've ever encountered IN MY LIFE. she prides herself on speaking her mind because it's her culture or whatever, but really i think it's just an excuse for her to be tactless and rude. and she presents all of her opinions as hard facts and refuses to let other people have differing ideas. it's really really adorable.
can you tell i miss sister sandoval? saying bye to her was really hard. saying bye to my district was really hard in general, especially since literally EVERY PERSON in my zone thinks it's suuuucchhhhh a funny joke to be like "oh yeah sister hansen, you realize that by the time YOU leave, 3/4 of these people will already be gone! ha ha haaa!" and i'm like oh man, is that joke STILL funny for you guys? it's definitely still funny for me, even after the 40th time! no really! tell me again! did you all coordinate this, or are you all just in the possession of such uncanny senses of humor? oh i can't even stand it. you slay me. all of you.
cough. i'm not bitter.
anyway, i can honestly say that i love every person in my district. we had some really rough patches, and i can't say that i loved everyone all the time, but i can pretty confidently assert that we had some miracles occur during the mtc in the way that we all grew together so much and by the end of our time, EVERYONE was sad to say goodbye. so let me just tell you--prayers work. if you want to love someone, and you work hard enough to get there, god will help make up the rest. so i guess i'll be putting that to the test again in these next two weeks. it's my goal to be sad to leave my dear new companion by the end of my time here.
yesterday a returned sister missionary who served in tahiti came to talk to me during one of my class times about her experiences--it was sooo cool! except i'm kind of freaked out now because she told me that she got proposed to like...15 times on her mission, by members and investigators, married and single. she was like "yeaaaah because you're american and you have an accent, you instantly become about 40 times more attractive than you ever thought you might have been. so basically....any friendly interaction that you have with a male under the age of 40, he'll fall in love with you. and if you're really nice to them, they'll think you're in love with them." she advised me to NEVER let any of them play the guitar for me. i was laughing, but also kind of peeing my pants. so am i just not supposed to talk to people? haha. i don't know. i'm exaggerating a little, but actually not that much. it will be interesting though. it was way cool to hear all her stories though, and it just made me even more antsy. the other day, sister sandoval and i were talking, and she was like, "you do realize that when you came into the mtc 9 weeks ago, you had no idea how to speak tahitian. and now you're teaching 45 minute lessons in tahitian all by yourself." and i was like huh i think you're right. THE GIFT OF TONGUES IS REAL, PEOPLE.
oh yeah, i had to go to in-field orientation (which is basically like what all the departing missionaries have to go to the few days before they leave, i had to go with my district even though i'm not leaving yet). it was pretty boring. some of it was cool though. i mostly just drew cartoons throughout it, because i'm 6 years old. at least they were pertinent to what was being discussed, although i would be lying if i denied that one of them was me walking up to a guillotine. whoopsie.
i wish i had more exciting things to report this week. mostly i'm just tired and depressed right now because i was suuuuuuuuperrrrr disobedient last night and went to bed at midnight (don't judge, haters) and then got up at 3:30 to help ss get ready, and then went to bed at 4;30, then got back up at 6:30. and mostly i'm just sad my district is gone and i'm all alone without my friendz. guhhhh making new friendsssss nooooo funnnnnn.....whatever. this is so whiney, so i'm gonna leave now. i still love everyone quite a bit, and miss y'all bunches and bunches. hopefully this email doesn't make you want to go eat your feelings or anything. i'm still happy and excited about being a missionary. i'm just REALLY ready to fly over the ocean to my pretty little islands. okiloveyoubye!!
love,
soeur hansen
i'm titling this email "sister hansen laments" because I'M SAD. my district is gone--i said bye to the last half of them this morning at 4 am, which indicates two things: i'm tired, and i'm all alone. well, i'm not all alone. now i'm just paired with the other solo sisters in my zone. who are just such special spirit daughters of god and i'm determined to love the crap out of them by the time i leave the mtc but that has yet to happen. actually, i thought i was just going to get lumped with the new sister coming into our zone tomorrow, but at branch council on sunday, my branch presidency informed me that i was getting placed with the sister that's having some big drama in her district in the hopes that i will be a (and i quote) "calming influence." and i was like branch president says whaa? basically i'm getting assigned to be a babysitter, so this will be fun. the sister that i'm getting paired with is...well...let's just say she has one of the strongest personalities i've ever encountered IN MY LIFE. she prides herself on speaking her mind because it's her culture or whatever, but really i think it's just an excuse for her to be tactless and rude. and she presents all of her opinions as hard facts and refuses to let other people have differing ideas. it's really really adorable.
can you tell i miss sister sandoval? saying bye to her was really hard. saying bye to my district was really hard in general, especially since literally EVERY PERSON in my zone thinks it's suuuucchhhhh a funny joke to be like "oh yeah sister hansen, you realize that by the time YOU leave, 3/4 of these people will already be gone! ha ha haaa!" and i'm like oh man, is that joke STILL funny for you guys? it's definitely still funny for me, even after the 40th time! no really! tell me again! did you all coordinate this, or are you all just in the possession of such uncanny senses of humor? oh i can't even stand it. you slay me. all of you.
cough. i'm not bitter.
anyway, i can honestly say that i love every person in my district. we had some really rough patches, and i can't say that i loved everyone all the time, but i can pretty confidently assert that we had some miracles occur during the mtc in the way that we all grew together so much and by the end of our time, EVERYONE was sad to say goodbye. so let me just tell you--prayers work. if you want to love someone, and you work hard enough to get there, god will help make up the rest. so i guess i'll be putting that to the test again in these next two weeks. it's my goal to be sad to leave my dear new companion by the end of my time here.
yesterday a returned sister missionary who served in tahiti came to talk to me during one of my class times about her experiences--it was sooo cool! except i'm kind of freaked out now because she told me that she got proposed to like...15 times on her mission, by members and investigators, married and single. she was like "yeaaaah because you're american and you have an accent, you instantly become about 40 times more attractive than you ever thought you might have been. so basically....any friendly interaction that you have with a male under the age of 40, he'll fall in love with you. and if you're really nice to them, they'll think you're in love with them." she advised me to NEVER let any of them play the guitar for me. i was laughing, but also kind of peeing my pants. so am i just not supposed to talk to people? haha. i don't know. i'm exaggerating a little, but actually not that much. it will be interesting though. it was way cool to hear all her stories though, and it just made me even more antsy. the other day, sister sandoval and i were talking, and she was like, "you do realize that when you came into the mtc 9 weeks ago, you had no idea how to speak tahitian. and now you're teaching 45 minute lessons in tahitian all by yourself." and i was like huh i think you're right. THE GIFT OF TONGUES IS REAL, PEOPLE.
oh yeah, i had to go to in-field orientation (which is basically like what all the departing missionaries have to go to the few days before they leave, i had to go with my district even though i'm not leaving yet). it was pretty boring. some of it was cool though. i mostly just drew cartoons throughout it, because i'm 6 years old. at least they were pertinent to what was being discussed, although i would be lying if i denied that one of them was me walking up to a guillotine. whoopsie.
i wish i had more exciting things to report this week. mostly i'm just tired and depressed right now because i was suuuuuuuuperrrrr disobedient last night and went to bed at midnight (don't judge, haters) and then got up at 3:30 to help ss get ready, and then went to bed at 4;30, then got back up at 6:30. and mostly i'm just sad my district is gone and i'm all alone without my friendz. guhhhh making new friendsssss nooooo funnnnnn.....whatever. this is so whiney, so i'm gonna leave now. i still love everyone quite a bit, and miss y'all bunches and bunches. hopefully this email doesn't make you want to go eat your feelings or anything. i'm still happy and excited about being a missionary. i'm just REALLY ready to fly over the ocean to my pretty little islands. okiloveyoubye!!
love,
soeur hansen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)