RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY.....

 

LUCKILY... the rain did go away. Did anyone see the forecast of the East Coast lately? What a nightmare! We had three straight days of just DOWN-POUR. Not a light mist, but a heavy fall. It was CRAZY. I went through 6 pairs of socks and 3 pairs of boots in 3 days. Absolute mayhem. BUT... it has stopped and the beautiful Fall weather has set in. The leaves are changing and I'm LOVING IT!

 

 

So I know that I mentioned that our teaching pool is lacking right now. But I think I failed to say that we do have ONE investigator - and she's PROGRESSING! Such a miracle. Let me tell you about her:

 

 

Her name is Sun Tuang and she is from (you guessed it) South Korea! Just like Huneok (who we got to see, by the way. He is moving to Ballston, VA this week - SAD). She has lived in the US with her family (husband and two little girls) for two years while her husband goes to school at Georgetown and works. She is the CUTEST. Unfortunately, we can't understand much of what she says and she can't understand us :( We bring our Korean member so that helps A LOT, but we are really learning how to teach simply! So we were able to get her a Korean Book of Mormon in the hopes that she understood the importance of it and would read it. Found out at our last lesson that she read 4 chapters! FOUR CHAPTERS!!!! This is huge! Haha I was so excited. She said that she was confused, but in my mind, I thought about how the Spirit guided her to read the word, even if she didn't understand much of it. THANKFULLY, we picked up Korean pamphlets and this should help us in our teaching. Pray for Sun and her family!
 

The majority of our work is with less-actives. The one I told you about last week, Monica Charmok, is doing SO WELL. She joined the church 18 years ago and was only active for 2 years. And though she's thought about going back for a long time, something always stopped her. Monica told us last week that she feels closer than she's ever been. She suffers from anxiety and depression, so going to church can be difficult for her. BUT we missionaries are good at starting with the basics. We are getting her to pray VOCALLY (remember that counsel?) and to read her scriptures each day - we know that this will REALLY prepare her for entering into those chapel doors again. She even told us last week that she was once on track to enter the temple and how she desires to have that be her goal again. AMAZING!

 

 

I feel so blessed to be working with Monica. She reminds me a lot of my beloved Sister Bradshaw from Great Falls. Missionary work extends to more than just baptisms - I'm a firm believer in that, CLEARLY! Haha but seriously, I can see the Spirit work within these women and its changing their lives! All they need is someone to show them and a lot of love and support from the ward. I feel blessed to be a part in their returning back to that which they once loved and knew to be true. It's humbling really - take nothing for granted... especially the GOSPEL!
 

Thank you so much for all of the love and prayers! I feel them all! Have a wonderful week and enjoy the FALL - before it's gone!

 

 

Loves,

Sister Hansen

 

 Picture:

This is our Zone at "Gifts of the Heart"! It's an annual event where members of the church donate things they don't want and it turns into this GIANT one-day thrift store where less-fortunate members and nonmembers can take stuff home for FREE. It's really cool! We got to help out :)