Hello!

This week went really well! It started off with me saying goodbye to Sister Lovell. That was sad, but then I got Sister Hart! And she's awesome! We've already had so much fun! Her last area was in Willamina. That's where she was trained and she was there for about 4 1/2 months. And now she's with me! And she's from Gilbert, AZ! Arizona missionaries are obviously the best ones! Just kidding, I promise I'm humble...

We got two new investigators this week! One of them was passed off to us from the 2nd ward Elders, and we have our first appointment with her on Tuesday. We went over to set up the appointment and she was so nice! She's really interested in coming to church and learning more about it! Our other new investigator is Lane! So this is a funny story. We were actually teaching Tessa, one of recent converts, when Lane walked in and started being all sassy and antagonistic. He kept asking weird questions from the kitchen and we finally had to ask him to stop and be respectful while we were trying to teach Tessa. Then a few minutes later, he pulled up a chair and joined in on the lesson! He pretty much hijacked Tessa's lesson, but that's okay! He started asking a ton of questions. Like, "questions of the soul" kind of questions! It was awesome! He was putting up a front the entire time, but there were a few moments when we could see past the front he was putting up. We showed him the video "Because of Him." This video is a really powerful video about the life and mission of Jesus Christ. It's impossible to not feel the spirit while watching this video! Anyways, he was definitely feeling the spirit while watching it. YOU COULD SEE IT IN HIS FACE! I felt an overwhelming sense of God's love for him, and I was able to bear my testimony about the reality of living Savior who died for all of us. He agreed to have us come back on Wednesday!

I love serving in the YSA! It was super awkward at first, and sometimes still is, but I love these people so much!

Love,

Sister Hanna

Hello!

The weeks keep getting faster and faster! It's crazy! I will be starting the last two transfers of my mission tomorrow. Didn't I just come out? Oh, wait...that was 16 months ago.

This past week was a good one! We are working with a lot of less actives/recent converts right now. It is truly a miracle to witness those who have strayed come back to the fold! It is just as joyous and just as fulfilling to help people return to God as it is to witness someone come unto Christ for the first time! I get to witness the Atonement in action as I see people change their lives. We are teaching this one kid who was baptized about 2 years ago, but fell into inactivity right after his baptism. About two weeks ago he showed up to FHE with the determination to get active again. He told us that he doesn't want to slip through the cracks anymore. He doesn't remember really anything about the church, but he knows that it's good and he knows that it is true. He's a really awesome kid! He comes to every activity he can make it to and he's always ready for a lesson from the missionaries!

We also got a new investigator this week! His name is Nathan and he's the boyfriend of our recent convert, Tessa. We went over to Tessa's the other day to teach her a lesson and he was there and joined in on the lesson. We taught the Restoration, and Nathan was really into it! We gave him a Book of Mormon and told him that we would love to teach him if he was interested. He seems like a really great guy with a lot of potential!

I do have some sad news to bear :( Sister Lovell will be leaving me. She's being transferred to Woodburn! It's pretty ironic, Sister Hartvigsen and Sister Lovell are the only companions I've had for longer than a transfer, and then they were both transferred to my previous areas! My new companion will be Sister Hart. She's been out for 3 transfers.

Here are a few scriptures that I came across this week that I really like:

James 4: 7-8, 10 - Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Love you all!
Sister Hanna

PICTURES: Carving Pumpkins ~ Nita took us out ~ The District ~ Our ward mission leader Dylan 

and our on-date investigator Austin. He came in his new suit and he looked AWESOME!

This week was a very exciting week!

We took Nita to the temple on Thursday! She loved it! We started off at the visitors center, where the sisters told Nita about the different ordinances that happen inside the temple. Then we went and toured the grounds. She was also able to go inside the atrium with some of our members. After she came out, she talked about how good and clear she felt being inside of the temple. She told us how she's gone to so many different churches who claim to have peace and clarity, but she never felt quite right being there. But being on the temple grounds, she was able to feel complete peace and clarity. She talked about how she can't wait to go back to the temple! Also, I was able to see Sister Ramsay from the MTC at the visitors center and Hermana Rachel Anderson, who I went to high school with! It's so fun to see missionary friends!

On Saturday, Nita was baptized! It was such a great baptism! She even bought a white dress for the occasion! She's so cute! I was able to give the baptism talk and Sister Lovell was able to perform a musical number for part of the program. Nita was beaming the entire time!

Speaking of baptism, Austin finally committed to a baptismal date! We've been teaching Austin since I got to Salem. He's taken it really slow, but he has been changed by the gospel! He's happier and more outgoing! He picked the date of November 12th. And get this, he said the date came to him while watching general conference last weekend! The Spirit is real!!!

Great things are happening here in the YSA ward!

Hope you all have a great week!

Love,
Sister Hanna

PICTURES: Nita's Baptism ~ The family who invited Nita to take the lessons ~ We took Nita to the Temple ~ Hermana Rachel Anderson from Mesa, AZ. I went to high school with her ~ Salem Capital building ~ Waiting to get our car fixed ~ An Elder from the mission made this for me

Hello!

It's getting cold and rainy here in Oregon! I'm excited to have the rain and the clouds back! Also, they have Fall here! There is definitely no such thing as Fall in Mesa, haha. The leaves on the trees are turning red! I LOVE IT.

Sister Lovell and I had a busy week! We saw Nita almost every day! Since she's getting baptized this weekend we had to get all of the lessons taught in a short amount of time. We also watched the Saturday sessions of conference with her, and she told us that she was able to receive further confirmation and assurance that this church is true. She loved being able to hear from prophets and apostles! Her baptismal interview will be on Tuesday, then we are taking her to the temple on Thursday, and then her baptism is on Saturday! YAY!

We were also able to watch the Sunday sessions of conference with our investigator Austin. Austin is progressing very well! He's definitely taking it slower than Nita, but is just as excited. He hasn't committed to a baptismal date yet, but he has committed to a baptismal month, haha. He said that he feels he'll be ready to be baptized in October, so we committed him to pray about a date and we'll be following up with him tomorrow. He even went out and bought a new suit! After conference, we asked him what he enjoyed hearing, and he said that he really liked how much the speakers talked about joy. He told us that since he's been learning about the gospel, he has been so much happier in his life! He is a completely different person from the first time I met him. The light of the gospel has touched his heart!

A quote that I really enjoyed from conference was said by Elder D. Todd Christofferson: "Will you not love Him who first loved you? Will you not be a friend to Him who laid down His life for His friends?" I love my Savior Jesus Christ! He has done so much for me and my family, and for everyone! I know that He died for us, and I know that He loves each and every one of us perfectly.

Love you all!
Sister Hanna

PICTURES: We had to watch the first few minutes of conference out in the rain because there wasn't a woman in the house yet ~ We've been heart attacking our members

Hello!

This past week has been another good one! First of all, it has started to rain again! It flash flooded the other night and Sister Lovell and I were freaking out! It was awesome! We got soaked just from walking from the church building to our car in the parking lot.

Nita is still doing awesome! We had two lessons with her this week. Every time we teach her, she gets more and more excited! She says that she can't wait to make covenants with God and that she will do anything she needs to get to baptism. We taught her the word of wisdom last night, and she agreed to give up coffee and tea without any hesitation! Nita is the most dedicated person I have ever met! We also took Nita to dinner with us last night at our Bishop's house, along with about 10 other members from the ward. Nita fit right in! One of her worries about being in the young single adult ward was that she wasn't going to fit in with people her age. But the members welcomed her with open arms and accepted her wholeheartedly. YSA IS THE BEST!

Here are some funny things that have happened to Sister Lovell and I these past few weeks:

- The cashier at Arby's asked us if we were nuns.
- A recent convert's step dad asked us if we were witches. He was semi- joking, semi- serious..
- A member from one of the family wards mistook me for his wife (Don't worry, nothing weird happened).
- I got hit in the face with a volleyball on Friday night.

BEING A MISSIONARY IS THE BEST!

Love,
Sister Hanna

P.S. Here's a scripture that I found this week that I love!

Hebrews 4:16 - Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

PICTURES: Exchanges in Albany with Sister Lancaster ~ After exchanges ~ Getting soaked from the rain ~ Zone training meeting

THIS WEEK WAS SO AWESOME!!!!

So remember how I wrote about the referral we got last week from a member of our high council? Well..she's on date for baptism!!! Her name is Nita. We taught her the restoration on Tuesday night, and to sum up how it went, she said that two strangers she had just met an hour ago were able to give her feelings and answers that not even her parents could give her. She accepted everything we taught her and was so relieved to find answers to questions that she's had for years. When we taught her about the Book of Mormon, she was ecstatic! She asked where she could go to buy one, and then could hardly believe it when we handed her a copy. She held the book reverently in her hands and said that she would be up all night reading it. Then, we had another lesson on Friday night and we taught her the plan of salvation. Again, she was so excited to learn about this plan! She said that it gave her a lot of hope, knowing that her family would get a second chance. She really loved this plan because it was in line with God's character. We asked her if she believed that the things we had taught her were true, and she said that she believed everything that we had taught her! AND! We committed her to be baptized on October 8th! She committed to baptism right away! She also came to church on Sunday and loved it! She's also coming to FHE tonight. SHE"S AWESOME! She's the most prepared person I've met on my mission. I love her so much!

So yesterday, I got attacked by a sprinkler. We were on our way up to the front door of our dinner appointment's home last night when we heard this really loud clicking noise and saw a stream of water shooting out across the walkway. We thought it was strange, but we kept on walking. And then, before I could even register what was going on, I was being fire-hosed by another one of the sprinklers! I was standing right in front of it, so the front of my dress from the waist down was soaked! The member who was feeding us must have heard me squealing outside, because he ran out the front door and said "Didn't you read the sign?" No, I didn't read the sign! We asked why he had ninja sprinklers in his front yard, and he said they're heat sensored to scare away the deer when they try and eat his flowers. So, that is the story of how I ate dinner last night soaking wet, feeling like I had wet my pants. It was awesome!

Love,

Sister Hanna         

Hi!

So this past week, Sister Lovell and I have seen LOTS of miracles! Just a few weeks ago, both of us were really down and depressed because it felt like NOTHING was happening in the area. But, I have learned that God likes to test our patience so that we will be able to develop greater faith in him. And this week, we have seen the miracles that come from faith! We got three new investigators this week! 

Earlier this week we got a call from Brother Garner. He's the high council representative in charge of missionary work. He called us up and said, "Hey Sisters! I have this friend who I went to law school with. She's agreed to take the missionary discussions! Can you come over next Tuesday night and teach her the first discussion?" UM, OF COURSE WE CAN! We were so excited and so pumped! So, we'll be going over tomorrow night to teach her!

We also got into contact with a former investigator named Julian. He agreed to meet with missionaries again! During our lesson with him on Wednesday, we asked him why he agreed to take the discussions again, and he said that he was able to find his faith with the previous missionaries. He feels like he's lost it again and wants to get it back. And then, without us even asking, he brought up baptism! He said he's thought a lot about getting baptized and he feels that it would make him happier in his life. We bore testimony that it would absolutely help him to be happier and that baptism is definitely a possibility for him. We're meeting with him again on Thursday, and hopefully, he'll commit to a baptismal date!

Lots of good things are happening here in Salem YSA! I know that God is in all the details, and that His hand is evident in all things.

Here's a scripture that I found during my studies this morning that I really like: Psalms 91:1-2 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God, in him will I trust.

Love,
Sister Hanna

PICTURE: It got a little rainy, we got a little wet!