Picture Update

Our family had a BBQ on the 24th of July and the grand-kids helped make a paper chain to count down the days until Hermana Hermansen returns.  Her official release date was September 24, 2013; however, she may be given the opportunity to extend her mission by a few weeks.  We will find out her exact return date in her next e-mail, as she had interviews with the Mission President this week.  We made a chain of 60 days....so the count down will start soon for us!

The Four Grand Kids

And the count down starts....

We also found some pictures of Hermana Hermanse on the Vina del Mar Mission Blog.  Enjoy!

Zone Conference

Hermana Andreasen and Hermana Hermansen

Letter #79: July 22, 2013

Family,

Well, hello there all.  This week was much better for me than the past two!  (Emotional-wise that is...) Things are going well.  My companion is fun!  We gave talks yesterday in sacrament meeting.  They went well I think... the 20 people that were present seemed to enjoy them… ;)  It’s funny/interesting how hard changes can be sometimes... but that is all part of the growing process. Without changes and difficulties we couldn’t have the essential growth that is necessary to continue progressing in this life.

We have interviews this week with the President and I am looking forward to them.  I will then be able to tell when exactly I will be coming home and if I can extend or not.  So, this week, I wrote down a list of some very important lessons that I have learned on my mission so far and I wanted to share it with you guys.  So these are like quotes/one-liners that either I made up myself or heard from others, but all are things that I have felt and learned deeply and personally... (a.k.a. here is a little bit of my heart out there on the line so no judging... Ha! Ha!)

Things Learned in a Far -Away Land Called Chile—

-A smart person learns from their mistakes, but a wise person learns from the mistakes of others.

-If you want to bring out the best in someone, love them.  And if you want to bring out the worst in someone, criticize them.

-It never gets easier, you just get stronger.

-When things get bad, don’t complain.... because then when things get worse, you’ll have something better to look back on.

-When tempted to whine, count your blessings instead.

-Don’t cry over spilt milk.

-Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.

-Obedience plus effort = joy.

-We aren’t expected to be perfect, but we are expected to try.

-Recipe to any happy relationship = 1.  Mutual sacrifice 2.  Mutual forgiveness  3.  Laughter.

Well, there are a bunch more, but I am out of time so I will save them for next week!! Enjoy!!

Love you family!!

-Hermana Hermansen

P.S.  Here are pics.

Me and my companion on a bus

Our House

Getting lost in a field...what?

Oh hey, what time is it?...Oh wait, let me just check the tree...

Letter #78: July 15, 2013

My mom,

I am good.  :)  It’s been really interesting for me to be here..... I’m definitely learning A LOT and I am getting a chance to see how much I’ve grown over the past year... My companion is great!  Her mom might try to contact you!  Her name is Jennifer Taylor.  By the way, Rich Andreasen is Hermana Andreasen’s dad. :)

The Fourth of July sounds like it was fun!!  In all honesty, I kind of forgot that it was the fourth... I mean I know it was the “4^th”, but not of July.  Ha! Ha!  Holidays don’t exist as a missionary. Thanks for sending my package!!  I’m excited to get it.  I should be getting it this week!!  Your little vacation sounds fun!  I love Wolf Creek.  Cool about the couches too!

Hey, so I have some crappy information... So one of my suitcases broke pretty bad and I’m going to have to buy a new one..... Sorry...it actually wasn’t my fault...  My zone leader broke it on accident, but it was already half way broken to begin with...

I am happy.  We are working hard and I am learning lots!!  I love this work.  Our ward that we are opening is kind of difficult because there is a lot of drama and stuff going on, but we are working hard to overcome everything.  Church attendance is super low!!  We have like 20-30 that show up late to sacrament meeting... In Relief Society, there were 7 of us (including my companion, myself, the teacher, and the Relief Society President), but that’s better than last week... Last week Relief Society had 4 people (including me, my companion, the teacher, and the president).

It is kind of nice that I know my way around Quillota, but lots of memories and flashbacks keep entering into my head at random times... It’s just ironic, ya know?   I’ve seen some people from my old ward here, too, which has been nice and weird at the same time.  Found out that Felipe (one of my converts) is active!!  That was happy for me to hear.  :)  Anyway, don’t really have much to say today.  J

LOVE you LOTS!!!!!

-Hermana Hermansen

P.S. I think that was really nice what you said about the kind of missionary that you think that I am.  :)  And what dad said was nice, too!  Thanks!! 

Letter #77: July 8, 2013

Hello guys,

I’m back in....Quillota.  My new companion is awesome!!  Her name is Hermana Shelby Taylor from Sandy.  She is super cute and super nice and we get along!  We are working hard!  We are re-opening an area.  There haven’t been missionaries here for 2 months and before that there were Elders.  It’s interesting to be here again, but the ward really needs our help so we are doing all we can to help them.  There were only 30 people at church yesterday, and 25 of them got there late.

That’s all for today.  I’ll write more next week.  I can feel the help of the Lord with me with all of the changes that have taken place...... I am still happy!!!  Everyday I do a little better and I’m a lot stronger now, so Heavenly Father knows I can handle changes.  SOOO happy to be a missionary!!  There is nowhere that I would rather be!!  I love you all SOOO much!! Wish me luck. ;)

-Hermana Hermansen

Letter #76: July 1, 2013 "Just another HAPPY week as a Missionary :)"

Hey there! 

Ok so I said that I was going to write you a really good e-mail today, but it’s been kind of a crazy p-day and my keyboard isn’t functioning that great, but I will do my best! :)

Ok this past week was just the usual of being on a mission.  Our water got turned off for some reason.  Didn’t know why but, hey we’re in Chile.  So from Monday until Wednesday, we were without running water = using our emergency water (so grateful we had some) + going to the church (we have keys and it’s like 30 seconds away from our house) every time we have to go to the bathroom... quite the party.

So, then our neighbor named Domingo (sooo cute!! an old man with a limp) tells us that the water bill people came and told him (tried to tell us but we weren’t home, obviously) that our water is going to be turned off because we haven’t paid our bills for May.  Called the mission office and turns out that our water bill is impossibly high.  Turns out we have a leak somewhere in the house and someone is going to come over this week to fix it.  Fun.  But on a happy note, we got new mattresses last Monday!  Woot.  My companion’s mattress was just a giant foam pad anyway and mine was like sleeping in a canoe because it sunk in so much.

So, Domingo is the cutest old man ever!  He loves his Maroon 2000 Toyota Camry and is always outside taking care of it.  Every time he sees us walk by his house he hobbles over to talk to us. We are in the process of trying to teach him because he is just too cute!  Topics for which he stops us to talk about = how much he admires the U.S., his weekend trip to the beach, we better not stay our too late because ghetto San Juan isn’t safe for two hawt babes (EVERYONE tells us that, pretty much every day...sooo funny).  

We’ve started teaching the grandma of Familia Ledezma (that one that I sent a pic of a couple of weeks ago).  She is sooooo cute!  She has been Catholic all her life, but loves us sooo much that after having 14 years of contact with the church and always being sassy to the elders ,she decides that she wants US to teach her.  She’s read like 8 chapters in the Book of Mormon and just has such sincere desires!  Such a champ! LOVE HER!

Ok, so have I ever told you how when something good is happening, whether it’s a great contact or a super important/spiritual part of a lesson, something ALWAYS happens to ruin to the moment.  ALWAYS...  So the other day, we were contacting this cute couple and it was going great!!  And then... this crazy lady who was high and a lesbian comes up to us and just starts saying crap about how she and God have secrets and crap about reincarnation... It was weird. Luckily, my companion and the member that was with us (Tamara Ledezma, the one whose grandma we’re teaching) could distract her while I finished contacting the couple and they accepted a Book of Mormon.  Crazy Satan.

Well, to finish up just wanted to say that changes are this week again... Insane how fast time is going by!... We won’t know what’s going to happen until tomorrow morning, but my companion and I are REALLY hoping to stay together!!!!!  It’s sort of stressful but the Lord knows what He’s doing.  I LOVE this gospel and I LOVE this work!!!  I know that Christ is directing this work and that he awaits all with His arms extended to come unto Him. LOVE YOU ALL!!! Have a great week!!

-Hermana Hermansen

P.S.  Mom, Brandon, or Rachel, do you know of such a pill that prevents dehydration?  A member whose son is going to Brazil on his mission asked me about it, but I have no idea! She told me to ask you guys.... Does it have a name?  If so, what?  Thanks!

Letter #75: June 25, 2013

Dear Fam,

So this week was good.  We had Zone Conference yesterday, which was AWESOME (and also why I am writing today, Tuesday)!!  I love them sooo much!  Always soooo full of so much good information of how to be a better missionary.  I liked it very much so!  I’ve been feeling so lazy with writing e-mails lately and I do apologize for that.... It’s not that cool things and missionary things aren’t happening; I just haven’t got much motivation to write it all out when p-day rolls around... Please forgive me...

It sounds like everything at home is going well!  That is good to hear!  I am happy that everyone is doing so well!!  I am doing so well, too!  Just loving being able to serve the Lord!  I had to fill out this little “Personal Information paper for missionaries going home soon” just barely and it made me feel all antsy like... like in a way that I don’t want this to end and I’m not ready to come home.... It’s so weird.... But luckily I don’t have to think too much about it… Just made feel weird for a second... Blehk…I don’t want this time to end!!  I love being a missionary!!

Last night, we had such a powerful lesson with one of our investigators who is a night guard at a school.  We go teach him outside while he night guards.  He is the sweetest, hugest, Chileanist guy ever!!  I was so overcome with the spirit and I just knew exactly what to say and my Spanish was just flowing out like crazy without even the slightest bit of hesitation!!  I am fluent now and don’t have to think much to speak (other than what I’m going to say), but this was a divine flow... I love when that happens because it’s just evidence to me that I’m being guided by the spirit.  So cool.

My companion and I are still getting along super well!  Transfers are next week and we are really hoping to stay together.... But only the Lord knows what we need, so we will see what happens.  I will keep you posted.  This transfer went by WAY too fast!!  I feel like it just started... ugh.  I hate how when you are enjoying something time goes by so fast and when you are suffering through something time seems to stop... It should definitely be the other way around, but whatevs...

Hmmn... Well, I’m out of time for today, but I will try to write a super awesome e-mail next week.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

-Hermana Hermansen

P.S. Mom, thanks for sending my package!  Super excited to get it!  Also, going to extend as long as I can!!!  Love you!