Six Weeks Down!

I had an awesome week! To start off, I witnessed a miracle! About a month ago, Bishop Russell received a call from a woman who worked at an adult foster care home. She asked if bishop could bring by some tithing slips for a woman who was living there. So, of course, bishop sent us! We get there and find out that the woman who requested the tithing slips had just moved in, and had only been in LaPine for about a month. Her name is Wanda, and she is so sweet and cute and old! So anyways, we talked and got to know her a bit, and then got the phone number for the home she was living in so that we could set up a time to come back and visit her. About a week later, we called Wanda to see if we could come and see her, but the lady who worked at the foster home said she had moved out! WHAT!? So we lost Wanda, and we didn't know where she had gone too. BUT! On Wednesday night, we get a call from Sister Alvarado. She lives at Prairie House, the old folks home, and was telling us how there was this new lady who moved in and was LDS. AND GUESS WHO IT WAS!? It was Wanda!!! We were so excited and happy that we had found her! So the next day, we went over and visited Wanda. When she opened her door and saw who it was, her face lit up and she swung the door open for us to come inside! She was so happy that we had found her again! Almost a month later, we had found Wanda again. It was so awesome to experience that!

Tomorrow is transfers, and I'm losing both of my companions :( Sister Henry is going home, and Sister Anthony is getting transferred. So since this week is transfers, that meant that we had our last district meeting this past Friday. It was super emotional and super spiritual because about half of my district is leaving. So since people are leaving, Elder Giddings (the district leader) thought it would be a good idea to sing God Be With You Till We Meet Again. NOT A GOOD IDEA. I was crying as soon as the piano started playing! I sobbed the entire way through, and so did my companions. It's hard enough losing one companion, but I'm losing two! It was terrible, I was a mess haha. They better not sing that song at the end of every transfer, I won't be able to handle it!

Elder Giddings gave an AWESOME lesson in district meeting on Friday. He started off by talking about "The Hero's Story," which is basically the plot line to every super hero story ever. A hero discovers he is super, he goes around doing super things, a villain shows up, the villain beats the hero, but then the hero finds their strength and they go on to beat the bad guy. Everyone knows this story, but what most people don't realize is that it's the story of Christ! And that's why people love it so much! The people are unknowingly searching after the story of Christ, and that's why it is told time and time again. I can't tell it nearly as well as Elder Giddings told it, but I'll attach the story to this email so all ya'll can read it. IT. IS. AMAZING!

On Sunday, Elder Hansen of the 70 spoke in our ward! He's the area representative. He spoke about serving and magnifying your calling. He said, "It doesn't matter where you serve, but how you serve." My companions and I also had to teach Gospel Principles. The lesson was on charity, which was very fitting because we had just had the Great Giveaway. Every year, Bend, Redmond, LaPine, and other stakes put on this big event called the Great Giveaway. They fill every room in the church building, including the cultural hall, with donations that they collect year round. Clothes, furniture, toys, books, everything! They organize all of it and then give it away. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come and take anything they need. We had about 700 people come through the church! It was awesome! The entire cultural hall was filled with tables full of clothes and shoes, and then every other room in the building was designated for a certain item. It took an entire week to get the church set up for the event, and the members have been collecting donations since last October. It was incredible to see so many people being helped. Many of the people who were there needed school clothes for their kids, and if it wasn't for the great giveaway, they wouldn't have been able to get clothes for their kids. The people were so grateful, and I feel so blessed to have been able to help them. And anything that is left over is donated to Deseret. Well I love you all! Keep doing amazing things!

Love, 
Sister Hanna

PICTURES: Wanda ~ LaPine District ~ Heidi (a recent convert)