Monday, January 5, 2015

Week 31: I dreamed a dream...

Hello, everyone!

Happy New Year!  I celebrated by... sleeping through all the midnight fireworks and noise.  The mission exhaustion is just that deep!

It was nice to have a more normal week this week after the two most stressful weeks of my mission.  Let´s see what I can remember that would be of interest to all of you:

-I´ve learned that the scripture in 2 Nephi 31 that says the Spirit speaks to us in the way we can understand is very true.  Nicaraguans understand the Spirit often times through dreams.  And sometimes they ask us as missionaries to interpret their dreams... Sorry, I still haven´t reached Joseph of Egypt status on that front.  Anyway, here are two positive dream stories from this week:

Elieth (who is radiantly happy ever since her baptism) told us that she had been nervous and unsure about getting baptized on the 27th.  She had been praying for a witness that she should go forward with this major step, and the night beforehand she had a dream that she was entering the baptismal font dressed in white.  So, she went through with it!  Ah, I love being on the same team as Heavenly Father in this great work!

Elizabeth (recent convert) has been passing through some majorly hard trials in her family and with some of the leaders of the ward.  She was on the point of giving up the fight and leaving the church, but she decided to ask God first.  She prayed and said, ¨If I´m supposed to stick with this, let me dream of my mother and father tonight.¨ The next several hours she slept restlessly, but at 4:30 AM she dreamed of both parents right before being awoken by a mistakenly set cell phone alarm.  Wow, I love that woman for her strong testimony and her great personality!

-One of the best moments of my week was when Erwin walked into sacrament meeting literally pushing his two rough-looking teenage non-member friends in ahead of him.  Afterward, we asked him how he got them to come, and he said that he just decided to pass by their houses on the way to church and told them that church ¨no es nada aburrida.¨  And they both liked it, because we watched a cheesy 1980´s church video in Gospel Principles.  The Lord works in mysterious ways...

-On December 31st, we returned to our apartment at 9:30 PM to find a tarantula on the wall of our study room.  There was considerably less squealing and fanfare than the first time this happened... just took some quick photos, smashed him with a broom, and swept him up to begin planning for the next day´s appointments.

-Tania, age 14, was looking through my photos on my camera and came across some photos we took before entering the MTC.  
¨Who´s that?¨ 
¨Oh, it´s my mom.¨ 
¨No, the one in the middle.¨ 
¨That´s me!¨ 
With huge eyes, ¨I don´t believe you!  Really?! Wow, you´re so skinny!¨

Thank you for your honesty... hahaha!  I figure I´m either preparing for a parasite, or my spirit is just getting so big that my body has to expand to fit it.

Anyway, I´m going to send photos now.  But I hope you all had a happy new year and are working on meeting your goals!  It was fun to think back on all that happened in 2014 and set new goals for the coming year.  It´s been a year of major growth, that´s for sure!

Love you lots!

-Hermana Ali Hansen

Photos:

1) Christmas dinner at the multi-zone conference with my randomly curly hair and three of my favorite ladies

2) Elieth and Juan Carlos with Emanuel on their wedding day!

3) Cutting the cake

4) Baptism of Elieth

5) Happy New Year!  Burning the old man...

6) Our other roommate, with El Libro de Mormon for reference






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