Week 78: I Stand All Amazed‏

Dearest Loved Ones,

Happy Thanksgiving!  I give thanks for each of you.  I also am thankful for the wonderful privilege to be a full-time missionary teaching the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!

Sorry for the trunkiness of last week`s email.  This week I successfully ¨forgot¨ that I was getting close to the end of my mission and worked like I know how to work!  I was much happier and enjoyed the moments more.

We were blessed to find many positive new people to teach, among them a few families!  I want to tell you about Teresa and Marlon.  We were going for a return appointment with a different investigator, but she wasn`t there.  Therefore, we contacted another house on the street, and Teresa invited us in.  She`s a young college student with a ¨husband¨ (they`re not married) and a 3-year-old son.  From the start, it was easy to see that she is intelligent and curious.  She accepted the invitation to go to church and get baptized.  When we returned the next day, she had read her whole pamphlet of the restoration and her comment was, ¨I guess I need to get a Book of Mormon then, because it says here that I can know the truth of the message if I read and pray about this book.¨ Okay, we`d love to help you out with that!  She has continued to read and has a lot of questions.  She attended church on Sunday!  We`re just working on helping her gain a testimony in her HEART instead of only an intellectual acceptance of the gospel.

On Thursday, we had a quick Thanksgiving lunch as a zone in a little restaurant.  It was fun and I was grateful to share it with a small part of my mission family!

On Friday morning, I had my final interview with President Russell.  It didn`t feel like I thought it would... I don`t think it`s sunk in yet that I`m leaving.  I have moments (mostly before bed) when I think about it a lot, but it stresses me out, so I try to avoid it.  I am FAR more terrified of leaving the mission than I ever was to come!

We continue to struggle to bring investigators to church.  It was heartbreaking to have found so many positive investigators only to have most of them fall through on Sunday.  Well, if it`s not hard, we`re not learning, right?  We`re NEVER done progressing.  Don`t get complacent!  The Lord keeps His promises when we are obedient.  And sometimes, even when you`re obedient, you have to trust in the Lord`s timing.  I have felt the confirming and comforting witness of the Holy Ghost this week.  I hope you have too!

Sending BIG hugs and much love from Nicaragua!

-Hermana Hansen

Photos:Thanksgiving!

With the gigantona... I think someone gets inside of this and dances?  Never actually seen it performed, but the costume was outside of a recent convert`s house, so we took a picture.