Week 3: Temple & District, Bedtime, & Peru's Mail System

O Me Gato (Oh my Cat),

This week has been a lot better!!! I love the temple. Because I was struggling, when I went to the temple I prayed really hard to the Lord. I love the temple now more then ever because it has been a way better week. Being able to go to the temple every week is a huge blessing as well and we are very blessed here at the CCM!!!

I FREAKING Love my district. The Elders are my basically my brothers, I just can't touch or hug them like I do with my regular family. We get along really well and we truly are like a family. I am very blessed to have them here with me. We are all on different levels with spanish, but we all help each other out, which most districts don't. Other districts are way more competitive and everything is a game. I am way glad that I have my district and we are all very kind and loving (in a missionary way) towards one another.

I've never talked about the weather here. Its been cloudy and chilly most days. Its just starting to warm up, and I love the sun!!! The flowers are all blooming, and I wish I had drawing or painting supplies with me. I would just paint or draw for hours if I could. Its so pretty. Half the time I have my camera with me, so I can take a picture, and the other half of the time I just have to take a mental picture. But it is beautiful!!! DAD, MOM, if you come get me, you will be so amazed!! The food is way different here, and they try to make American desserts, but Peruvian style, so they taste a bit different, but I am happy that they try and I get jello or pudding every now and again.

I would like you tell all of you that I happily get up at 6 am and go to bed at 10:30 pm every night, (Amber was the most lazy morning person you could ever meet, so this was our family joke for so long. Especially between her and Justin) and rarely am I tired. I love the schedules here. When we get up, the sun is already up, and it sets at like 6 pm. Which is so weird. There are no stars here, and every once in a while we will see the moon. Other then that the weather is beautiful!!! 

My hair is freaking curly, and I have finally given up on doing anything else with it. I'm very glad that I didn't bring a straightener though, because it has forced me to embrace my natural beauty and I really like my hair now. It's me. And it is way easy!!! haha. 

My turf burn on my knee is now a scare, and it healed really fast and well. So I am really glad. I still play soccer because I can't sit around and watch some dumb american destroy my position. I still get my butt handed to me by the Latinos and the Americans that actually know how to play. But I have improved since arriving so that is a plus. Soccer is crazy here, and the Latinos are FREAKY good!!! Holly cow. 

On Sundays, and Tuesdays we have like 4 to 5 hours of study time, so they have become my favorite days. In my personal study time, I have started looking up all the attributes of Christ in PMG and marking them in my scriptures. I've made a color code for them too. So that has been nice, and I also have learned a lot. Tuesdays we always have a devotional, so we don't have afternoon classes which is way nice because it makes it seam like P-Day starts on Tuesday!!! 

This group of Latinos that we have right now are all way tall!!! Which is way weird. Only a few are from Peru, and most are from Colombia or Ecuador. ha. But yeah. so thats fun. They don't speak English. I teach them a word in English and they teach it to me in Spanish. Usually stuff at dinner, like spoon or fork. Things like that. Its way fun and I love talking to them. 

This past Saturday, some of the surrounding stakes came to the CCM for a tour. We saw so many little kids, and they loved us!!! They lit up when they saw us and many of them took pictures with us!! They were so cute, and it was the prefect energy boost I needed at the time. I love Peruvians already. 

We have fake investigators. Our teachers are them and they are playing the role of a friend that joined the church or someone that they actually taught on their own missions. Its so weird, because these people are our teachers, but they act completely different for that 20 min lesson. But it's gotten to the point where they are real. I actually pray for Blanca or Sophia. I enjoy teaching lessons, although I am still learning how exactly to teach them. I definitely feel more comfortable now then I did a few weeks ago. And my teachers are always way impressed, and they tell me everyday how I am improving. Which I am. 

I figured out this week how to be more grateful. I have improved and I'm doing way better. Once I say a pray full of gratitude, I no longer feel stressed or upset. I feel love from my Heavenly Father. Spanish is still way hard, but I'm learning to look at it in a different light and it's helping. When life is hard, I can always find at least one thing i am grateful for.  haha. 

We don't get to celebrate Halloween here, which is sad. It's a worldly holiday and we are missionaries so it makes sense. 

MOM or DAD, please update me on all the stuff that happens in Peru. Did you know that the Peruvian mail system is on strike now? Because it is. WEIRD!!! No clue how your going to send me anything now. Sorry. But really keep tabs on Peru. It's an interesting country. 

Only 3 more weeks here and then I get on my last plane to Trujillo. It's so weird. I was trying to write down things to tell you peeps, and it really does feel like 2 days ago was p day. Not a week ago. It's so weird that the new people have been here for a whole week. I struggled remembering what happened this week as well. 

We can now send photos from the CCM. It was a rule before that we couldn't, so I am going to try and send some. I'm not exactly sure how to but next week for sure I can!!! And will. So you will get to see my beautiful face and Lima. ha. I love you. It's been a good three weeks, and I can't wait to actually get out of the CCM. It will be hard but it will be nice. 

Love you all, and the CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!

-Hermana Hansen

Week 2: Priesthood Blessings, Spanish and the Hunger Games

Holly crap!!! This week has flown by!!! Its kind of sad. First of all I would like to say that this keyboard is in spanish, and has some weird keys so sorry for miss spelled words, but you should understand the gist of what I am saying!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

I got a blessing from the Elders in my district because I was struggling way hard with the language, and I was worried my knee turf burn was infected, and I didn't want to catch any bacteria on the field that could send me home. The blessing basically said that God loves me, and that the challenge of this language is here for me to grow as a person, and to really make me work hard. I was very grateful!!! I don't think that I have every cried or laughed so much in one week. Crying is a daily thing for me now... which sucks because I hate crying and I look so ugly while doing it.... hah. 

Our teachers here are also our investigators. We have meetings with them daily, and they play investigators very well. This hour of the day is the hardest for me. I don't know hardly any words in spanish. I don't know what they are asking or what my companion just said to them. My companion is way smart, so she will usually turn to me when she has been talking for a while and will translate. Once I know what we are talking about, I know enough words to bare a testimony, and talk about it a bit. Its freaking frustrating.... Having everyone around speak spanish and literally talk around you.. I've been told by many of my teachers that I need to open my mouth and talk to them. They explained why.... simply, Peru people will think that I am being proud by not talking to them. Which is completely opposite... I have learned that I get way frustrated way easily, and that I have really high hopes for myself. It's hard to let those standards go and just accept whats going on, and not get frustrated by not know a word or two. My actual teachers [don't?] think that I am dumb. I completely understand the lessons and the activities that we do in class. Again, I just don't know how to talk to actual people once they stop. It's way hard.... 

In case you were wondering!!! But I am learning a lot about how to teach and prepare lessons. Our first lesson was terrible!!!! I cried about it for an 1.5 hrs. I am starting to love my companion, and we get along really well with each other now. We are both weird in our own ways, but we talk, laugh, and joke about those things and then move on. So life at the CCM is way nice. But at the same time I feel like I am on a roller coaster. One really good day, two bad ones, one really good morning, a terrible evening. I bad morning, and great 2 days after wards. I seriously have no clue how this next week will be....

Once a week, we get together with a Latino class and we teach each other different lessons. THEY TALK SO FAST HERE!!!! Its so scary. I always have to ask them to slow down.... haha. But it's way good practice, and for the most part they understand what we are trying to teach them!!! ha.

SUNDAYS. I feel like I am in the hunger games. We don't know who is speaking until they announce it. So every week we have to prepare a talk... Which is awesome. And no one really cares if it is in spanglish!!! haha. Yesterday, the advancados, the older girls, people who have been here 4 plus weeks. They left this week. I cried. Monday night we skipped personal quiet time and just sang in the hallway for 20 minutes, and then cried our eyes out with each other. It was so sad! I met a sister from American Fork and I actually had a class with her before we moved. So I will defiantly be talking to her after my mission. I Love her companion, Hermaña Frame. I miss them already.. And it's only been one day!!!

Last but not least, SPANISH and ENGLISH suck. English has so many words for things. I can't think of an example.... but in spanish, you explain or describe with what you are feeling, or seeing, or want. So its taken me some getting used too.... haha. Also they write their sentences backwards. It's weird. You can totally tell we are greenies, because we put the words in the wrong place.

We went to the temple today. It was beautiful as always. smilie face. The sisters in the temple try their hardest to speak English to us, so we know what they are saying... haha. Afterwards, my district and I went to all the places we are aloud to shop at. Last week we only had time to go to a store that reminds me of Target, called tutus. Its way nice, and has a lot of stuff. Anyways, the other stores are gross stores like Walmart, metros and garages... can't spell.... But grajess is garage doors, that have individual shops. I bought 2 jerseys from a lady today and it was wonderful. My legs hurt because we actually had to walk somewhere today and not sit in class for 8-10 hours a day. ha. But its all good. 

I love you all and I can't wait to here from you. Again, if you want anything from Peru, tell me soon, so I can get it in Lima!!! LOVE YOU ALL! Hope your week is going great, and everything is well with you.

The church is true. I know it is. I wouldn't still be out here if it wasn't!!! The spirit is so strong out here, and I love it. It's a grand feeling. I'll send a lot of pictures my first week out of the CCM. We can't send pictures from the CCM, if I didn't tell you that already. Again, LOVE YOU LOTS AND MISS YOU!!!

-Hermaña Hansen

Week 1: Potty Talk, Soccer and Desserts

Hello! This week has flown by. I am so happy that I get an hour to actually write everyone! I love you all. I found the letters you all sent me on Saturday! I finally needed to look at the binder for my oils. haha.... I love you all. I cried and used like 5 tissues  ha.

haha... wrong button... continued...

The airplane ride was way fun, but sooo long! I didn't go pee once, or even stand up because I was so sacred of flying. ha. thanks dad.

The first actual day, no one told us anything. We had no supervision, and no one spoke English!! It sucked. When we finally started to have class, our teachers act like they have no clue what we are saying in English, and they only speak in spanish... Lets just say that I am way frustrated because I have no clue how to speak in spanish... My companion was like a spanish genius, so I hate being her companion because she is way too smart. But I am good... All is good, and I haven't gotten sick from the food yet! I love my companion. She is Tongan, so we are completely different, which makes it hard because we do everything different.... EVERYTHING!!! But I have a lot to learn from her, and I am looking forward to the next 5 weeks here. The first things that I learned was how to say a prayer and testify in spanish. I'm still memorizing the phrases to actually do it, but I'm getting there. In class we wrote down our testimony, and then got to share them with the Latinos that are here for two weeks. Even thought I had no clue what everyone in my district was saying, I felt the spirit so strong. I was balling!!! Way embarrassing. But it was good.

The Latinos are crazy good at soccer. We have a turf field to play on during activity time and P days. Yesterday I got a turf burn on my knee because I was goalie, and I saved the shot from going into the goal!!! I was happy. But now I can't wear pants, and my knee is always pussy. But I've cleaned it really good mom, and it's just working on healing and creating a scab.

I love my roommates. We all flew over together, so we got really close on the plane rides. Even with the Elders too. I love my district. I sleep on the top of a bunk bed with my companion. It sucks, and the beds are way creaky, so when ever you move an inch it wakes everyone up. But we are all starting to get used to it so we can sleep well.

I've had so many weird experiences that have gotten me out of my comfort zone so much!!! And my companion knows all about my bowel problems. We really have to go everywhere together.... I don't really like it. On Monday, I had a fabulous experience with the toilet in the girls stalls. I had to pee so bad, but I was also hungry after the day was done. RIGHT. So I hurry and ate a snack and then bolted into the bathroom. Well I had held it for way to long.... So I just pulled down my pants, and went for it. Well I forgot to check it the seat was up.... and it wasn't. I realized this while I was peeing because the sound wasn't the same.... So long story short, I peed all over the floor in my stall. I cleaned it up of course, but now everyone gets out of my way at night if I am heading to the bathroom so I don't do it again... It so funny. And of course everyone knew about it the second it happened.... so I just had to deal with it, and laugh at my self because it really was funny!!!! DAD, you were right about the toilet paper... I would have never thought that people would throw their toilet paper in the garbage can in the stall instead of just in the toilet.... These people live weird lives here, and do everything so different. The water in the bowl even circles around in the different direction. IT'S weird....

The food here is really good. I should say the desserts are really good. We eat eggs and bread for breakfast, chicken and rice for lunch and dinner. We eat ice cream a lot for dessert, but it so good. THEIR CHURROS are so good. I don't think I spelled that right. The bread that's thin and long and has a butt loud of sugar all over it.... YEAH THEY ARE GOOD!!!!

CHURCH. I love church.... I love Sundays now. The bishop calls on people to speak right after sacrament meeting. They do this just so we can learn to always be prepared with a talk. We literally don't know who is speaking until they announce it!!! Its so scary... And even if I did get called on, I would just bear my testimony in Spanish, but say my talk in English!

I'm learning a lot, and the spirit is so strong here. I love it! TODAY is my P day. We get to go to the temple, and shopping afterwards on p day mornings. I loved it today! The temple is so small, but it was so beautiful!!! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!

OH. PS. I can't upload pictures onto the computer at the CCM or MTC. So you won't get to see what I look like now with my crazy curly hair, or what I am doing till i get out in the mission. Oh speaking of my mission, there is talk that the temple will be dedicated in April or May on 2015, so i will be there!!! I'm so happy!! and excited.

If anyone wants a soccer jersey, or cool Peru tie, I can get them for so cheap here. MOM put more money on my card.... like $50. please. Soules, are weird. But really, let my know what team you want for the jerseys and I can get them for like $10 US dollars. You won't get them for a year and a half, but I will have them for you when I get back!!!! AH!! One week down peeps. ONE week. There is a saying here at the CCM. Days feel like weeks, weeks feel like days. It so crazy that I've been here for a week!! But at the same time each day is sooooo long!!! ha. Well lots of love. I miss you all! Your in my heart. I will try and answer all your questions, but I only have one hour each week to write, so I will TRY!!!

-Hermaña Hansen I love Peru!!!

Sorry for the spelling errors. haha.. I am trying really fast!!!! again, LOVE YOU ALL

I MADE IT

Her flight left at 6:37am from St. George to Salt Lake. She then flew from SLC to Atlanta Georgia.  From There she sent to the Chile airport, the Lima Peru airport where the MTC is at. Hugs from everyone, even Kadin, and Zoey didn't want anything to do with her at that moment unfortunately.  Amber looked and seemed very ready and calm with what was ahead of her.  She will be missed but I know that she knows what she is doing is right and Heavenly Father is watching over her.

Farewell for 18 months-- Off she goes on her adventure!

Here is her first of many emails home::

I have 5 mins to write this. I made it!! AND I have my name tag! Im so excited. The flights were long, and I am way tired. I got an isle seat on the first 2 flights, so I didn't sleep on plane. When I got a window seat on the last flight, I couldn't sleep, because I wasn't tired. I got 3.5 hours of sleep last night, so I am kind of all over the place. My P-days are on Wednesday, so I will be able to write you a longer email in a week! I'm here for only 6 weeks, which is weird for some reason. I thought that I would be here for 2 months. Time will go by so fast! I looked at the schedule for next week and we get to go to the temple!!!! I cant wait! EVERYONE here speaks spanish..... No one from administration speaks English so communication is hard right now. I am rooming with 4 other sisters, all of who I flew over with, so that is fun!Love you lots, and I am already starting to miss you!LOVE YOU!!!!

Hermana Hansen