Letter #24: June 25, 2012

Dear Family,

Alrighty, for the news this week-

So mother let me explain, every 6-week period is called a “change”.  I am in my second change right now. Every change you have to ability to change companions or areas or both or stay the same.  You can stay with the same companion for 1 or 2 changes usually, but no more.  You can stay in an area for up to 5 changes but 2-4 is normal.  This past change the Hermanas Alvarez and Estrada (with whom I lived) were transferred, my companion and I stayed the same, and we received NO new hermanas in our pension.  So that means that we inherited ALL of the area from Hermanas Alvarez and Estrada, plus our own area.  So we are going to be super busy for the next 6 (now 5) weeks!!!  We are both super excited though!!  We got everything figured out with our companionship and are doing our best to be following the rules now.  We also have a lot my space in the pension now so that´s nice. 

We had 2 investigators attend church yesterday, which was AWESOME!!!!  Jorge and Daniela.  Jorge has a baptismal date for some time in July!  He is super funny and I’m excited for him!  Daniela is one of the daughters of Alejandra, whom we’ve been visiting for the past 3 or so weeks.  Alejandra has 3 daughters Berni (age 8), Anggi (age 10), and Daniella (age 17).  I’m hoping they all get baptized!!! 

We have been working hard contacting and knocking doors to try and find new people to teach in our new area.  Oh man, people are crazy.... and Chileans LOVE to talk!  Even when we get rejected (which is often) we usually end up having a 10-15 min conversation with people. Ha! Ha! 

Mom, yes I still get stared at and whistled at and called after.  EVERYDAY!  I’m a pro at ignoring it now. The worst is when we have to walk on this road that is under construction... ALL of the workers stop working and stare and yell and whistle.  It’s like a chorus of cat calls. I HATE IT. Ha!  But they’re harmless. 

Rachel, do you have any exercise tips for me?  I have 30 minutes every morning and I don’t want to get fat.  That’s cool that everyone has been having so much fun!!!  It makes me jealous that I’m missing it !  And Mom, YOU BOUGHT A LEXUS??????? Ha! Ha!  That’s cool!  I’m glad you’ve been having fun running into all of my friends!   That’s way funny about Kirt and Alec!   Tell everyone I say ¨Hi¨ :)

I ran into that elder that I was supposed to keep an eye out for at zone conference.  Elder Robinson, I think?  Ha!  I didn’t remember his name, but he remembered mine and stopped me to say “Hi”.  He’s in one of mom’s aid’s wards or something... 

Tell Austin, that I will write him back in a letter :)  It´s funny because I didn´t even think that missing home and the language would be the things would be an issue, but they are the things that are the hardest for me.  The things that I thought would be hard were the schedule and being rejected, but those are the easy things for me to deal with.  Ironic eh?  The more focused I stay on the schedule and working hard, the less I think of home and the easier things are. 

Hey Family, I have an idea for you for you scripture study... :) I have been doing this for the past several weeks and it’s AWESOME.  Study the Book of Mormon, but when you do, only study a few pages or one chapter per day but for like 20-30 minutes.  Find ALL you can from it.  Every principle, every blessing, every example.  And really take in and realize what is happening.  Visualize it as a literal story.  I’m finding super profound and cool things in passages I’ve read over dozens of times.  Try it!  I promise that if you do, your lives will be blessed even further and you will have the the spirit to guide you more powerfully. 

Guess what???? MY companion and I have the opportunity to go to the Santiago Temple on July 7th!!!! I’m super excited!!!!  There is an old lady who has been a convert for a year in our ward, who is going through for the first time and the bishop invited us!!  I’m stoked!  It will be interesting in Spanish, but good thing the spirit speaks all languages... Ha! Ha! :) 

Please Tell Courtney, HAPPY WEDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t believe I’m missing it!!!!!!  And I can’t believe it’s already here... Holy crap!!  Tell her I wish I could be there with all my heart and I wish her and Steeb the best!!!!

Well, family I must be going now... Thank you for all your love and support. I could NOT be here without you!!!!  Being away from you all is still super hard for me (everyday) and probably will be for my whole mission, but I am enjoying my time here!   I am sooooo grateful for you all!!!  I can’t fully express in words how grateful I am..... Seriously.  I think about you and pray for everyday!  Don´t forget me! ;)

Until next week!
-Hermana Hermansen

P.S. Brettly, do you think you could make a dvd with a bunch of “Mormon Messages” in Spanish on it?  If not, don’t worry about it!!!  But if so, that would be super RAD!!  We show little videos to our investigators a lot and I thought they were in the pension for us to use, but they are my comps... they are super awesome to show and invite the spirit quickly and powerfully!  Just a thought.  Don’t  worry about it too much! Thanks :) 

P.P.S Thanks everyone for writing me!!!! (Rachie, I got another dearelder, I now have 4)
Peace out like a trout.

P.P.S.S. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Letter #23: June 18, 2012

Dear Fam,

1st change is over!!!! Woot!  Six weeks down... 57...60...63...ish... MANY more to go... Ha. So here are the changes that were made.  Hermana Alvarez and Estrada are going to the coast, no sisters are taking their place which means my companion and I inherited their area. Woot.  Ha! Ha!  We have a huge ward (Troncal 1) and a branch in San Pedro (Troncal 2).  Lots of work, but I’m really excited!  This also means that I will be living with just my companion and I in the pension and no one who speaks English... Ha. Ha. Awesome :)  We had zone conference last week and it was fun!  I got to see Hermana Ortega!!!!!!  She says that if you can, mom and dad, that you should try to visit her family again because they would love it!  We had a really busy week because we went to La Ligua twice which took up all activity for both those days and zone conference was in Villa Aleman, which also took up most the day.

Last Saturday I was sick and we stayed home and yesterday we went to San Pedro to meet some members.  So Saturday, I was having flu-ish symptoms... my whole body was ache-y, I was hot and cold, and my throat has been sore all week and my nose was icky too.  Hermana Gillespie told me some remedies to do and I slept most the day.  I feel great now!  It’s amazing what a day of rest and the help of the Lord can do.  We have a new awesome investigator named Alejandra and her 3 daughters.  She wants to find the truth and wants more direction in her life.  We’ve had 2 lessons with her and have another tonight.  We asked her to be baptized but she said she didn’t know, but I think she will :)  She cried in our last lesson because she was feeling the spirit.  It was awesome.  Anyway, I hope all is well with everyone!!!!  

Happy Father’s Day, yesterday, Dad!!!! Hope it was great!!!! I love you all!!

Until next week.
-Hermana Hermansen  

Letter #22: June 18, 2012

Hey Rachie!!

So I thought today that I would fill you in and answer all of your questions that you asked in your DearElder letters. I´ve received 3 so far. I received two on June 4th and one on June 14th. I get duplicates of them too... I don´t know why though.  It happened in the MTC, too. Ha! Anyway, here we go...

Hermana Ortega and I are about 45 minutes away by bus. We are both in the “interior” of the mission which means we get to see each other at zone conference (which we had last Thursday). There are 3 parts of my mission. North, Interior, and Coast. North = La Serena and a few others that I don’t know.  Interior = Quillota, Villa Alemana, Limache.  Coast = Valparaiso and Viña (where the mission home is located).  I believe there are about 20 sisters and about 200 elders in the whole mission.  We just had changes (can you believe that I’ve already made it through my first transfer?) so now, my comp and I, are the only sisters in our zone, but we also have a matrimony.  

We used to have 4 sisters but they just got transferred to the coast.  They were serving in part of our ward (a branch 20 minutes away), but now my companion and I have them both. Ha! Ha! A lot of work, but I’m excited.  Our pension (apartment) is little but clean. It will be super nice with only two people now. We have one small bathroom, and one open area room where you enter and we have a small fridge and a gas stove with two plates and a sink, and a mattress as a couch (ha), we all have our own little closet things in this area too, and we have an upstairs with two tiny closetish rooms, and one bedroom that barely fits our two bunk beds, I took pics that I will show you one day.  

Our mission president and his wife are AWESOME! I´m sad to have only had them for two months, but I’m glad I got to have them at all.  I’m sleeping ok most nights.  Some nights are FREEZING and sometimes I have flea bites that itch and keep me up and sometimes the bed is uncomfortable, but all in all it’s good.  Getting through customs and everything when I first arrived at the airport was easy peasy.  The mission field is easier in some ways than the MTC and harder in some ways.  Mostly it’s just different.  The MTC is hard because you have zero freedom and the field is hard because you’re so busy.

The pace of the people here is way laid back.  People wake up late and go to bed late.  Lunch is the big meal of the day at 1:30-3:00 pm.  It’s huge and long.  Ha! Ha!  It’s very common that we set appointments and people aren’t home.  Oh!  The best is when it’s really cold or it rains a lot and people go home from work early because of it.  Ha! Ha!  If only I could have that excuse back home, “Oh sorry boss, it’s really cold today, so I have to go home.”  When the weather is super cold or rainy, there are hardly any people in the streets.  Good time for knocking doors, though.

I’m not sure what the predominant religion is. I haven’t heard about native religions.  It’s really similar to the states, I think.  Most people believe in God, but don’t have a religion or they just claim Catholicism.  Our church buildings are the nicest buildings here.  They all have iron barred fences surrounding them that are like 15-20 feet high.  The members take really good care of them. Not as nice as the ones in the states, but they are always clean and are very similar to the ones back home.  

We sing in sacrament without a piano (always).  Ha! Ha!  It’s funny because the songs get slightly off-tune a lot, but no one cares... or maybe they just don’t know and think that’s how they’re sung... probably the second... Ha! Ha!  The members here are SOOOOO loving!  They are awesome! We greet and say goodbye to all the ladies with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  It’s the norm here and I’m used to it now.  

For my hair and make-up, it just depends on the day.  My hair is almost always up and for makeup it just depends.  I wear makeup to church every week and zone meetings for sure, but the other days....... Ha. Ha.  That’s cool that you cut your hair!  Do you like it?  I had an hermana trim mine like a week or two ago. :)  Anyway, I think that’s all your questions.  Ha! Ha!  

I think having Bailey at your house once a week is a great idea!!  You should try reading like one chapter per time out of the Book of Mormon and help her identify lessons in it and how she can apply it.  That would be awesome for her!  A start for her gospel knowledge and testimony.

Anyway, I’m going to write the family now.  I love getting your letters and hearing about yours and Brett’s life!!!  You are an awesome example to me, Rachel!!  Your example of living the gospel in your life and being a faithful member is something that is hard to find and I’m grateful to have someone to look to.  I can’t wait to come home and live the gospel!  Sometimes I hope the time goes fast but I’m enjoying it while it lasts.  Ha. Ha.  I miss you and I love you!!  Keep on being strong!!!


Love,
Hermana Hermansen

Letter #21: June 11, 2012

Hola Family!!!!

Wow, I miss you all sooooooo much!!! Today we went to the beach and it was beautiful! The town and beach we were at is called Papudo. The whole time I was there, I was wishing you all could be there with me!! Look this place up, it’s sweet and if we ever come back to Chile, we will go there. This week was so much better than last!! Things are going so great now!! We are working hard to find and teach people! This work is so fun!! We ended up losing May and Carla because of some weird things, but mostly I think it’s because May learned out about the law of chastity and the word of wisdom and didn’t want to change….Oh well, we planted a seed.  We found a new investigator named Jorge and he is golden!! I love him so much! Ha. Ha.  He just loves and accepts everything we teach and he came to church on Sunday and he’s getting baptized on July 14th. (Sorry that was a run on sentence but I don’t have time for grammar today...)

We also had a conference in Viña on Wednesday.  IT was AWESOME! I got to see Hermana Ortega which was a huge comfort for me. Her parents were in Africa when you took the hangers FYI.  I hope we get to be companions again someday!  At the conference I also found a kid who I went to high school with!! Crazy eh?  We hung out a few times in high school and I even went to his house, but we never even talked after, and where should I run into to him, but Chile of all places because we’ve been called to the same mission!! Ha! Ha! Seriously so ironic. His name is Keeten Williams and he goes home this August.  

Anyway, thank you SOOOOOO MUCH for sending me that package mom!!! Seriously, I cannot even tell you how much I appreciate that.  I miss so many things from the states! This morning in the shower I could see my breath…it is that cold.  We have to turn on the shower, get wet, turn it off, soap up, and turn it back on to rinse to save hot water... Ha.  Ha. Fun stuff.  I’ve always really appreciated the luxuries we have, but now I REALLY APPRECIATE them.  I also miss speaking in English sometimes... I feel like I would be such a better missionary if I could just speak in English and really talk to people, but I’ve been called here for a reason and I trust in that. God knows everything, so why not trust Him, right? :)

The harder I work, the less I miss things back home. I LOVE when we work hard.  It makes me feel better about being here and it makes me happy.  I am so happy when we are out on the street talking to people and being welcomed into homes to teach.  I may not be able to tell them this quite yet (so I will tell you), but I have such a great love for these people!!!  After every lesson I tell my companion ¨Ellos son super buenos, no? Me encanta ellos!¨ (Basically, that means, “They are super great and I love them”). She finally said to me, you always say that.  Ha! Ha! But it’s true!!!!  I love spreading the gospel and I love the people.  I’m learning so many things that make me excited to apply these principles I’m learning to my own life.  I love you all too!!!  Seriously, I could not be here without your love and support.  This mission is hard.  It’s harder in areas I didn’t expect and it’s easier in areas I didn’t expect.  Even though it’s hard, I’m super grateful for this opportunity I have to be here right now!!!   I love this gospel. This gospel makes everything worth it. I love my companion too. I’m learning a lot from her! 

Brandon- Thank you so much for your e-mail.  It was something I definitely needed to hear.  Actually, EVERYONE, (you may or may not know this), but every single e-mail I get from every single person is something that I needed to hear.  Please don’t hesitate to write me prompted feelings because I need them.  Never be afraid to follow the spirit.  Never be afraid to share the gospel.  It’s what everyone needs!  But not everyone is ready.  Remember who you are and whose you are!  We are children of a Heavenly Father who loves us all and wants us to be happy. I know this is the true gospel of Christ! I know that stronger than I ever have before.  Live it!  That’s why we’re here.  I love you all with mi corazon!!!!  Until next week… :)

Love, Hermana Hermansen

P.S.  Here are some images from Papudo

Letter #20: June 2, 2012

Dear Family,


Ok, so this week was sort of rough for me.... but it was good too!!  First things first... I have fleas!! Ha! Ha!  Literally. Bugs here are not bad, but fleas are very common.  They get in your bed and bite you in the night.  I have about 30 bites, but they are starting to heal now.  We’ve been cleaning our blankets in the bath tub all this week.  The other Hermanas have them too, but my companion and I have them the worst because we’re by the window.  Ha! Ha!  Don’t worry though, it’s not a big deal, just funny and the bites itch.  

The work has been kind of slow this week.  


Because of the language barrier, I learn a lot my example.  It is actually nice to be able to speak English with Hermana Alvarez every once in a while since my companion can’t understand English.  Missions are just hard sometimes. I am definitely learning a lot about patience!  My Spanish is coming along fine.  Hermana Alvarez says I’m about 7.5 out of 10 on the fluency scale. I still have a hard time understanding sometimes because they speak so fast, but I can pretty much say almost anything I want to in Spanish now.

Brandon, thank you so much for you e-mail last week!!  They were things I definitely needed to hear!  I found a cool article in the Liahona this past week about the Marshall Islands, you would like!! It was called “Sailing True in the Marshall Islands”, in the April 2011, Volume 35, Number 4 issue.  It was about the members there and about some of their conversions.  Super cool. Look it up :)  


Tell Nina Happy Birthday for me!!!!!!! Sorry it’s late.

Mom- I was able to buy some sweaters, which are saving my life!!! Thank you so much!!! I bought 3 and they were about $12 dollars each.  Things here are cost almost the same and in the U.S. and a lot of things are actually more expensive here.  The only thing that is way cheaper is the produce, which is awesome!

The members feed us a lot! Ha! Ha!  Rachel, they do put mayonnaise or ketchup on EVERYTHING!!  Luckily we don’t eat dinner, just a snack before we go to bed.   Tell Cody and Nina and the kids that I love and miss them like crazy!!!  

I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!  I MISS YOU A LOT, TOO!!!!! 

I´m doing well and enjoying the different things here and I´m learning SOOOO MUCH!  That’s all for now.  Thanks for your prayers and support!!!  I LOVE you soooooooooooo much and am so grateful for you all!  I know that this church is not only true, but it’s real. I’m here in Chile to help build God’s kingdom, just as it was prophesied of in the Book of Mormon.  Read the Book of Mormon daily, and I promise that you will have more peace, more guidance, and more happiness in your lives!! Have a great week!


Love,

Hermana Sarah Hermansen


P.S. Mom- I don’t think my loose wire is a big concern now, but we’ll just have to take of it when I come home next year.