herro everyone,
i guess i didn't realize that thanksgiving was this week! i thought it was next week. i think i will choose to celebrate by eating fresh mangoes instead of turkey because this past week everyone we saw decided to just give us mangoes. that's a good substitute for turkey, right? right. anyway, think of me as you eat turkey, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole all slathered in gravy. mmmmmmm....gravy...does not exist here.
ANYWAY. guys! this was such a great week! we fixed 3 baptismal dates with our amis and i am feeling GREAT about that. one we're probably gonna have to push back because she didn't realize that she kiiiiind of has to get married before she can get baptized, but we're working on it. and we've been working a lot with some of the inactives in our area lately and it is seriously the best. gaah! there's this one couple, jean-yves and myrna. they've both been through the temple but have been inactive for quite some time. we committed them to be temple worthy before the end of my mission so we could go do a session together before i leave and they were like whoa! that's really soon! and i was like is it too soon to receive ETERNAL BLESSINGS? ok ok i didn't really say it like that, but i was thinking it. but they said YES! and then THEY CAME TO STAKE CONFERENCE! i literally like...happy screamed when i saw myrna there and 1. i think she was kind of scared but maybe thought it was endearing? yes? and 2. i was just like oh man i have become that stereotypical sister missionary. WHATEVER I'M OK WITH IT.
ok. let's talk about two miracles that happened this week. first: we had stake conference. one of the speakers came up to give her talk and she was like i'm gonna speak in tahitian and everyone was like ok that's cool. so i'm listening and stuff and there comes a moment where she says something funny, and i laugh. and everyone else laughed at the same time. and i was like heyyyy...i laughed at the same time as everyone else because i actually thought it was funny and not just because everyone else was laughing...because...i...understand...everything...that she's saying....I UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING THAT SHE'S SAYING!! i think it was like the first time where i realized...hey! i speak tahitian! and i was really happy and satisfied in that moment. the gift of tongues people. it's real. it may or may not take a while to really sink in, but i tell you it happens.
the other miracle: lydie. lydie is a long but awesome story that i will try to abridge as much as possible because i'm typing on a french keyboard and it is annoying. when i first started my mission in Faaa almost a year and a half ago (ah!), Lydie was there living with a new convert family. She was kind of on and off for the lessons, not really ready to commit to anything. Anyway, transfers happen, the rest of my mission happens, etc. Fast forward to about a month ago here in Paea. Riding my bike down the side of the road and i hear, "soeur hansen!! soeur hansen!" i look, it's lydie! she was at her sister's house and saw us and was like "ah i'm so glad i found you! i told myself that if i ever saw you i would start taking the lessons again. when can you come teach me?" HELLO BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! so since then we've been teaching her and last friday we committed her to baptism and she was like yup and i wanna do it on my birthday before you leave--december 25th. BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVERRRRRR!!! lydie is a miracle. and the gospel has changed her--you can tell when you look at her. gaaah! so great.
in other news, soeur cook is doing well. for the moment it's just us two because soeur weller's companion is sick so soeur maitere is with her temporarily. this is good though because now soeur cook is forced to speak more during lessons and she has made a lot of progress. and she is hilarious. when we do language study together i like pee my pants because she really likes to make up words in french. aaha...you kind of have to be there. just know it's funny. OK I GOTTA GO BUT I LOVE YOU ALL AND HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!
love,
soeur hansen
i guess i didn't realize that thanksgiving was this week! i thought it was next week. i think i will choose to celebrate by eating fresh mangoes instead of turkey because this past week everyone we saw decided to just give us mangoes. that's a good substitute for turkey, right? right. anyway, think of me as you eat turkey, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole all slathered in gravy. mmmmmmm....gravy...does not exist here.
ANYWAY. guys! this was such a great week! we fixed 3 baptismal dates with our amis and i am feeling GREAT about that. one we're probably gonna have to push back because she didn't realize that she kiiiiind of has to get married before she can get baptized, but we're working on it. and we've been working a lot with some of the inactives in our area lately and it is seriously the best. gaah! there's this one couple, jean-yves and myrna. they've both been through the temple but have been inactive for quite some time. we committed them to be temple worthy before the end of my mission so we could go do a session together before i leave and they were like whoa! that's really soon! and i was like is it too soon to receive ETERNAL BLESSINGS? ok ok i didn't really say it like that, but i was thinking it. but they said YES! and then THEY CAME TO STAKE CONFERENCE! i literally like...happy screamed when i saw myrna there and 1. i think she was kind of scared but maybe thought it was endearing? yes? and 2. i was just like oh man i have become that stereotypical sister missionary. WHATEVER I'M OK WITH IT.
ok. let's talk about two miracles that happened this week. first: we had stake conference. one of the speakers came up to give her talk and she was like i'm gonna speak in tahitian and everyone was like ok that's cool. so i'm listening and stuff and there comes a moment where she says something funny, and i laugh. and everyone else laughed at the same time. and i was like heyyyy...i laughed at the same time as everyone else because i actually thought it was funny and not just because everyone else was laughing...because...i...understand...everything...that she's saying....I UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING THAT SHE'S SAYING!! i think it was like the first time where i realized...hey! i speak tahitian! and i was really happy and satisfied in that moment. the gift of tongues people. it's real. it may or may not take a while to really sink in, but i tell you it happens.
the other miracle: lydie. lydie is a long but awesome story that i will try to abridge as much as possible because i'm typing on a french keyboard and it is annoying. when i first started my mission in Faaa almost a year and a half ago (ah!), Lydie was there living with a new convert family. She was kind of on and off for the lessons, not really ready to commit to anything. Anyway, transfers happen, the rest of my mission happens, etc. Fast forward to about a month ago here in Paea. Riding my bike down the side of the road and i hear, "soeur hansen!! soeur hansen!" i look, it's lydie! she was at her sister's house and saw us and was like "ah i'm so glad i found you! i told myself that if i ever saw you i would start taking the lessons again. when can you come teach me?" HELLO BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! so since then we've been teaching her and last friday we committed her to baptism and she was like yup and i wanna do it on my birthday before you leave--december 25th. BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVERRRRRR!!! lydie is a miracle. and the gospel has changed her--you can tell when you look at her. gaaah! so great.
in other news, soeur cook is doing well. for the moment it's just us two because soeur weller's companion is sick so soeur maitere is with her temporarily. this is good though because now soeur cook is forced to speak more during lessons and she has made a lot of progress. and she is hilarious. when we do language study together i like pee my pants because she really likes to make up words in french. aaha...you kind of have to be there. just know it's funny. OK I GOTTA GO BUT I LOVE YOU ALL AND HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!
love,
soeur hansen
