Week 68: Diriamba!‏

Dearest everyone,

Ah, so much to say, so little time!  But first, THANK YOU to everyone who wished me a happy birthday and sent kind words!  I love you lots and can`t wait to give you all hugs!

Thank you also to my wonderful cousin Alycia Pace!  I received your envelope.  Your art and note was so perfect. :)

Let`s begin with a quick report of Monday and Tuesday.  On Monday we visited a family we had contacted the night before.  The husband told us he had received missionaries before, so we were excited to see what would happen.  Turns out, he has ALL of the lessons and was even interviewed, but left for Costa Rica before his baptism.  That was about eight months ago.  Now he´s back, and he and his wife accepted baptismal dates.  MIRACLES!  On to Tuesday: We awaited transfer calls (I`ll tell you about that next) and then went to work.  Ligia had some questions about baptisms for the dead after Sunday´s talks, but after we explained, she was super excited.  ¨So, I have to go to Honduras to bring the names of my grandma, cousin, and aunt... I guess I`ll be going to the temple in December, then!¨  Woohoo, now you just need to get baptized first!  And finally, Francisco: He told us that in his head, he felt conflict about the church because he´s always been Catholic and this was something different.  However, in his heart, he felt peace while in the church.  He told us, ¨And I`ve noticed a difference in the two days since I went to church.  I usually have a lot of conflict with my sister, but now I feel more patient and haven´t responded.¨  AH, those are the best missionary moments!

OKAY, now to the real news... I got transferred!  Oh, it was terribly sad to leave Hermana McArthur and all of the super positive investigators we just found.  Saying goodbye to Hna. Karla was also gut-wrenching.  I`m not a crier, but I couldn`t hold back the tears as we talked and hugged.

I`m also slightly distracted and distraught because the memory card in my camera suddenly became corrupted and I lost the last ten or twenty photos I`ve taken, including final photos with Hna. Karla, Hna. Doris, and Hna. Sandra that I was planning to print and send to them.  Now I`m trying to copy over all the photos I can to my USB while writing.

ANYWAY, here I am in Diriamba!  My companion is Hermana Garfield, another gringa!  We did divisions once in Masaya, you can search for the photo.  Here are a few quick things about the area: 1) It`s huge!  And there are hills, which I love!  2) Mototaxis are everywhere, which is surely the best form of transportation ever invented. 3) Our house is super nice.  We have a walk in closet, full size fridge and access to a stove, woohoo!  4) The branch is the most supportive group of members I have ever seen!  More details on that next week, I`m running out of time!  5)  The sky here is gorgeous and reminds me of Loma Linda.  The climate is cooler.  There´s some cool graffitti in the city part of our area and lots of places to eat.

We`ve had some cool teaching experiences and a Sunday miracle and surprise baptismal candidate, but I`m out of time!

I know that the Lord gives us exactly the experiences we need to grow and progress.  Not always exactly what we want, but He knows a lot better than we do, so we should always trust Him.

I feel so happy to be a missionary!  Big hugs to everyone!

-Hermana Hansen

No pictures, due to my damaged memory card... :,(