Everyday is Awkward!

I'm not gonna sugar coat it. Every day is awkward. But in a good way! It gives me the strangest feeling, talking to strangers about Jesus. But it is so much fun! It's actually a huge adrenaline rush, talking to people and not knowing whether or not that they're going to reject you. We went to the house of a less active family the other day, and they completely rejected us. At first I wanted to cry, and then scream, but then I just wanted to laugh! I just want to smack them upside the head with a Book of Mormon and be like "Get it together! You know this stuff is true! What's wrong with you?" But we're not allowed to do that, so we just have to smile and walk away, haha. But the thing about rejection is that it's okay if you get rejected, because no effort is wasted. Just talking to them and letting them know that we love them and that they're Heavenly Father loves them is enough to plant a seed that future missionaries can continue to water and grow.

So my companions and I had an AWESOME lesson with this lady named Elyse. We taught her the Plan of Salvation, and she completely understood what we were teaching her, and she told us that it answered so many of her questions. She's still praying about the Book of Mormon, but she told us that she feels good about it. We're going to try to commit her to baptism this week! She is so ready to receive the gospel, and I am so excited for her! Also, she's the manager of the Best Western here in town, and she said if we give her a box of Book of Mormons, she'll put them in every room right next to the Bibles that are in the night stand drawers! She's the best haha.

We also had a lesson with a lady named Cindy. She was baptized about a year ago, but she isn't coming to church because of some health issues. She's also just struggling with life, and my heart just goes out to her. We watched The Restoration with her, and the spirit that was brought into the room was incredible! We started talking about her trials and her challenges, so I shared with her D&C122:7 and told her that all her troubles will pass, and that she can find her strength through the Savior. Everybody was crying! I find myself doing that a lot. Crying. It's kind of annoying how much I cry, but it's also great because that means the spirit is there!

So it finally happened. I had someone ask me "You're from Arizona, why are you not tan?" I'm sorry, please excuse my whiteness. But it was actually really funny, and I laughed about it the rest of the night!

I have homework for all of you! Read the The Family: A Proclamation to the World. The world is becoming so wicked and the value of families is basically nonexistent nowadays. Read it, and remember how important it is to love and cherish your family!

So last night, bishop had us speak at a youth fireside about missionary work. My companions and I, and two returned missionaries spoke. I talked about my mission preparation and gave my testimony about the temple. The temple is the best place in the world!!! GO TO THE TEMPLE! I cried, of course, when I bore my testimony about the temple. I'm so sad that I only get to go twice a year, but I am also so grateful for my mission president and his decision to take all the missionaries to the temple during general conference. 

Another cool experience I had this week was when we went and taught Sister Alvarado. She lives in the nursing home and is less active because her health prevents her from going. But we planned to teach her about Individual worth, and while we were driving there I had the prompting that we should play her the song, Beautiful to Him. The song is about not following the world's standards, but seeing yourself through God's eyes and recognizing the beauty that He see's within us. Anyways, she loved it! It was the most spiritual part of the whole lesson! Moral of the story, if you have a prompting, follow it! And if you ever doubt that a prompting you receive isn't a prompting, it is most definitely a prompting. Satan is always trying to get into your head, and he does everything he can to try and prevent you from following to the Spirit. 

The closest place to LaPine with missionaries is in Bend, which is about 45 minutes from here. We have district meeting every Friday in Bend, so we drive down there and get to see all the other missionaries in my district. But other than that, we don't see other missionaries. I'm in a trio because when the new group of 24 missionaries (me) flew in two weeks ago, it created an odd number of sisters. So they put us in a trio. So my next transfer I'll just be in a companionship. There are 34 new missionaries flying in next transfer! There are so many new missionaries because all of the original Oregon Salem missionaries are going home. OSM has only been a mission since 2013, so there's a lot of people going home. There's 3 grocery stores here in LaPine, and one of them is pretty much the same thing as a Fry's. But it's small town so everything is expensive. There's a Target and a Walmart in Bend, but we can only go there every now and then because the drive uses up to many miles on the Jeep. We're only allowed 1700 miles a month. But our area is so big that it's not a big deal if we go over our mileage. We just have to make sure that we're trying to stay within our limit. There's a Subway and a Taco Bell haha. And then some other family owned places to eat.

I love and miss all of you! Read you scriptures and pray everyday! A scripture a day keeps the devil away!

Love,
Sister Hanna