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!  

Letter #74: June 17, 2013

Hey guys! 

Happy Father’s Day, Dad!!!!  (Mom, I loved the gift from Austin!  Sooo cute!)  So, I can FINALLY send you all some pics of my Coquimbo adventures from the past 4 weeks!  Things are still great here!  I love my companion more and more.  I’m just learning SO much with her and from her.  She really is sooo amazing!  She came super prepared to the mission (something that I wish I would have been)!!  

We are just here serving and doing what we can to help some peeps.  It’s amazing to me how God works in such mysterious ways.  So mysterious even that it makes perfect sense sometimes. I love the divine design of missionary work.  Converting the missionary as he/she converts the people.  I’m so grateful for my mission at this point!  I wouldn’t trade all my wonderfully awesome and incredibly crappy experiences for the world!!  I love this Gospel, I love this plan, and I love the Savior.  I’m overwhelmed with God’s loving mercy for each and every one of His chilluns.

I’m amazed at the spiritual strength, progression, and happiness that come from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ and every day.  I find myself more and more awed at the simple signs of love of our Supreme Creator.  Sometimes I go back and read my old journals from the beginning of my mission and it still surprises me at what an idiot I was... Ha. Ha.  So embarrassing.  Good thing Jesus and God have perfect patience because I would definitely be in trouble if not...

Anyway, I can’t think of any specific story from this week, so I’m just going to explain all the photos.  :)

Picture 1—Welcome to the Sirius Black house (12 Grimmauld Place) a.k.a. our living quarters/pension. 

Picture 2— Some nice Phineus and Ferb graffiti ft. Perry the Platypus. Stay classy, Chile. 

Picture 3—Hitler Cat. (this is not photo shopped)

Picture 4— Sooo happy with my new companion!!! So happy that I can’t even keep my eyes open...

Picture 5— After talking about how much we want tacos for 3 weeks, we finally go to this Mexican restaurant last p-day to find out that it’s closed... Waste of a good 2 hours walking around trying to find it... Ha! Ha! Ha! SO funny!

Picture 6— Found some olives in the backyard from the neighbors olives trees.  Note to self: *Don’t eat olives fresh off the tree... taste = rat poison...*

Picture 7— Familia Ledezma.  LOVE THEM!!

Picture 8— Hey, what are you guys doin’?... Oh ya know... Just roastin’ some mallows on the stove....

Anyway, love you guys sooo much!!! Have a great week!

Love, Hermana Hermansen

Letter #73: June 10, 2013

Hey thir! 

Things were much better this week!  We were able to work a lot stronger and have more success. We put 5 baptismal dates with people, but only 2 of them came to church, so we only have 2 people with dates now.  That’s ok, though, we still have this week to re-put their dates so that they can still get baptized in June.  The two that have dates are named Lisbeth and Emily.  They are sisters and they are super cute!  They are both super shy and super pretty!  Lisbeth is 18 and Emily is 10.  They live with their mom and she is listening to us, too, but wants the girls to get baptized first.  We found them this week but they both have been attending a different branch for about a year with their cousins.

Hmm... well what can I say... My companion and I  are still getting along super well!!  We are basically always laughing together... I sort of feel like she’s my long lost sister... We have fun. :) I wish I could send pics, but once again this computer is super crappy and will not allow me to do so!  I’m doing really well.  Finally not sick, which is awesome!  I’m just loving the work and loving my time out here!  

Glad to hear everyone is doing well and that Rachel did awesome in her marathon! I can’t believe how much everything has changed since I’ve been on my mission.... I feel like I’m going to come home and everything is going to be backwards and upside down.... Ha! Ha!... Oh well.. Such is life...  Sorry I’m not as funny in my e-mails as I used to be... I promise that I’m still funny, but I’m just not good at remembering things that I want to write on Mondays and the pressure to write fast hinders my witty skills... Also everything just feels so normal now that I’ve slightly forgotten what normal life is REALLY like... Ha.

Anyway, that’s all that I can think of to write for now.... Oh wait! I thought of a funny story!! (This is written by my companion....) Who wants to hear the latest drama about the elders?  

So, first of all, we share the branch San Juan with two other elders, and now we’re four gringos. With all the new sisters in the mission President Kahnlein has come out with some pretty strict rules about interaction between elders and hermanas, which we’re all really thankful for.  But the other elders that are here... are awkward.  And make us uncomfortable.  Like they always stare at us (well duh) and try to talk to us (well duh).  For example, in our mission coordination meeting two weeks ago they tried to walk home with us after and gave us some nasty candy bars.  Which was weird in and of itself.

So this week we decided to try and bypass all that (and the fact that we didn’t have nasty candy to give back to them) by running home.  Literally.  Like little girls.  So we ran from the mission leader’s door for a few blocks, then decided we were good.  So it’s dark and creepy and we’re almost late getting home, so we walk pretty quickly.  And what do we see when we get home? There’s a note on our gate that says "Les ganamos! -Los misioneros" (translation = We beat you!).  So not only did they write us a note (which they’re not supposed to) and not only did they walk through our area to give it to us (which they’re not supposed to) but they came to our house.  OUR HOUSE!!  We were soooo creeped out.  I read it, then I yelled really loud in the street "that’s so creepy!!" and hoped they heard me.  So we told our District Leader when he called that night and he said he would tell the Zone Leaders to tell their District Leader to yell at them.  And I guess he did, because they didn’t try to talk to us at church on Sunday.  So now things are even more awkward.  But hey, that’s the mission right?  And now that is all.

Love you all!!

Peace and blessings... peace and blessings...

-Hermana Hermansen

Letter #72: June 2, 2013

So hey guys!

I feel sooo great!  So, I have been slightly sick lately... It’s like a cold... Then things got better, but now my companion is slightly sick, too. We are really cool. J  We are doing the best in our missionary work, but it’s a little hard when you have been sick.  We actually are managing just fine.  No need to worry.  We have been talking with the mission nurse and she has given us some over-the-phone remedies...

I’ve been getting to know some members in the branch this week, which has been fun.  Things are super different here as far as church norms go (because it’s so small... the branch I mean).  It’s fun learning about and adapting to the differences, though.  We had to teach all of primary yesterday (5 kids ages 7, 9, 9, 11, 11) and were advised about it yesterday while at church.  We had to just make something up on spot...it went ok.

We have one investigator.  Her name is Gladys and she is really funny.  She’s an old lady and she like shout/yells everything she says so she always sounds angry, but she’s not, that’s just how she talks.  I get a kick out of it.  :)  She accepted a baptismal date but then couldn’t come to church on Sunday because she got sick.  She’s had a lot of trials in her life and is just ready to accept the gospel.  She sells clothes in the flee market and so her house is just filled with TONS of clothes.  We help her sort the clothes and put them in bags or boxes.  The other day she was in the other room and was shout/yelling so my companion was saying things like “Oh yeah”, “uh huh”…back to her and then we realized that she was on the phone in the other room and not even talking to us... It was hilarious!  We laughed sooo hard!  

So here’s a funny story…The other day a guy in the street was getting upset because we wouldn’t tell him our first names... It was kind of funny actually... He like backed us into a wall and was saying how no one is going to trust us if we don’t tell people our first names and then he told us to watch out and be careful like 7 times because people here can’t be trusted.... He was nuts.  His name was Freddy.  We couldn’t tell if he was drunk or on drugs (because he didn’t smell like either one) or just crazy.... People here are great. Ha! Ha!

Our area is seriously sooo ghetto!  It’s really funny.  I can distinctly and quickly identify the smell and differences between alcohol and drugs in the street now.  (BTW, it smells soooo bad in the streets sometimes!! Like it will just overwhelming be smelling of dog poop or burning things or throw up or fish or vinegar or alcohol or drugs... The other day there was the most overpowering smell of burning something mixed with vinegar and poop and it lasted for like 10 blocks... nasty.)   Don’t worry though, the Lord watches over us and protects us!!  I don’t even get scared in the streets at night.  I can physically feel the Lord watching over us and protecting us.  I’m just glad that I don’t have to live in this environment forever.

My companion and I are getting along super well!!  I love her soooo much!! She is soo hilarious! We are pretty much constantly laughing (even though we are way sick right now)!!  Random facts about her: She’s one of the 19 year-old sister missionaries. She’s a twin.  Both her parents and her brother served missions in South America (Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay) and her twin sister has her call to Argentina and she’s in Chile.  I can finally include a pic of us because this computer works. :)  Pic = us on a bridge with the view of the ocean that we have.

Well that’s all I really have to say for now... Hope all is well at home!!  The pics look nice, Rach!!  Good work cleaning up the house! (BTW, that was the only e-mail I got from home this week... gay, but obviously I forgive you).  

I’m just loving missionary work soooo much!!  I love this gospel and I love this church!  I love how strongly I can feel the spirit ALL the time!  It’s the best!  I’m not looking forward to coming home yet..... Sorry guys.  I love you all, but I’m way not ready for the normal responsibilities of the world... Plus I just love ghetto Chile way too much!! :) Anyway, keep it real.

Until next week!

-Hermana Hermansen

Letter #71: May 28, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

Ok, this transfer brought about more changes than I was expecting.... I got transferred to... Coquimbo (pronounced ko-keem-bow)!!!  It’s in the northern edge of my mission, so I definitely had a 6-hour bus ride to get here and only got 2 hours of sleep my first night here.  Ha. Ha. Awesome.

I’m actually somewhat sick as I write.  Just with a cold, but I’ve almost lost my voice.  My companion was already here so I traveled up with a group of three other sisters and some elders. I sat by this sister missionary named Sister Castleton from the Brighton area.  She’s super cute and we talked basically the whole way.  We actually had the same trainer, Hermana Flores, so it was way fun to talk with her and I think it helped her to be able to talk to someone in English with experience in the mission (she is fairly new).

Our bus left at 8 at night on Wednesday and we got to the bus station here at 3:30 in the morning, then we had to wait until 4 am for the Zone Leaders to come and then we went to our pension, which is super dark and damp (it is literally the Serious Black House from Harry Potter) and we had to have to two other sisters sleep there (because it was too late to take them to their area).  So, I let them have the bed and I found a foam pad for the other one and I slept on the cold cement ground for 2 hours.  It was great.  Ha! Ha!  

So, my companion is SUPER cute!!  Her name is Hermana Eliza Andreasen and she is from Queen Creek, Arizona (which is close to Mesa).  She is hilarious!  Training lasts two transfers (12 weeks) and I am finishing the second part of her training.  Her companion before was from Peru and she went home.  Apparently she was really weird and didn’t really teach Hermana Andreasen much, so it’s kind of like I’m re-training her.  Fun. Fun. :)

We are in a branch now and we actually share it with a companionship of Elders.  I guess my companion and her last companion were the first sisters the area had in years, but since they didn’t really do much I feel like I’m re-opening the area.  It’s actually kind of sad because the members have said stuff to us like, “Oh finally NOW the sisters have arrived!”  I just don’t understand how there can be missionaries serving that just don’t get their purpose and how to be missionaries, even at the end of their missions.... Makes me sad and sometimes even really frustrated on the inside... anyway....

Our area is super sketchy…Ha! Ha!  Everyone in the street always tells us that it’s too dangerous to be out after dark, but nothing has happened so we are just careful wherever we go.  We are right on the coast so we can see the sea and we are kind of up on a hill.  Everything is just super crappy looking and dirty here…Ha.  But our house is clean!  Just dark and creepy.  Makes me realize how nice my last area was... You never know how good things are until you don’t have them… So I was going to send some pics of my companion and our area but the connecter thing isn’t working... Hopefully next week!

I had a lot of mixed feelings leaving my last area... I was there for 7 months!  It felt like my home and so I sort of feel like I just got dropped off on the curb again and I’m having to start over getting used to some things… Ha! Ha!  Hermana Call is awesome, too, so I’m going to miss her, but my new companion is super cool, too!  I feel like I’ve been super blessed with my gringa companions!  They’ve all been incredible!

Hermana Ramos finished her mission and went home… It’s weird being one of the oldest sisters in the mission now, but I’m really grateful that I am an older one because there are sooooo many noobs and they are basically having to train themselves!  That would be way hard!  I’m grateful that I’m at least experienced and know what is going on.  That makes it easier to enjoy being here.  I am really loving my mission!  It’s such an incredible experience filled with so many ups and downs.  I can really feel myself being refined and prepared for the future.  There are really interesting and really intense feelings that you experience on a mission.... It’s difficult to explain, but when it all comes down to it, I think the biggest over-all feeling that I’ve gotten from being here is just the infinite and eternal love of God. He loves us so much that He allows us to suffer and experience things and learn them for ourselves. He puts things in our paths that we need and it is up to us to get the most out of everything He gives. 

Well, anyway, we are running short on time today because we had to go to La Serena (most north of mission Viña del Mar) to change my address so I’m legal and we waited there forever!! I won’t have time to write people back, but next week I should! Love you all!! 

Love,

Hermana Hermansen

Letter #70: May 20, 2013

Hello Mommy!! And the rest of the world....

Transfers have not happened yet.  They will happen this Wednesday!!  We still don’t know who goes and who stays, but I’m pretty sure that I will be leaving good ole Villa Alemana.  I’ve been here for 7 months now....25 new hermanas are arriving to the mission this change and most of them are Latinas.  Who wants to bet that I’ll be training one of them?  :)  Ha! Ha!  Life is good. Always learning and always growing.

So we had a baptism this past weekend!  It was really cool!  It was our investigator who had to get married and quit smoking, so it was awesome to be able to see him get baptized!  The life of him and his family has changed a ton in the past few months!  I feel like perhaps that was one of the reasons Heavenly Father let me stay in this area so long because I literally got to see the whole process.  It was a HUGE testimony builder for me.  I love this family sooo much!  I look up to them and all of the sacrifices that they’ve been making for the Lord!  There is a difference in the feel of the home, in their presence, and in how they are.  They truly have become Disciples of Christ and they are committed to continue deepening their conversions, which will happen as they live the gospel.

Here is a pic of Carlos with the old bishop (far left) who baptized him and his family (the rest of his family are already members, except the baby, of course, and one daughter).  

Anyway, I don’t know what else to tell guys.  Things are going good.  I’m trying to fight not falling into “a rote pattern” of being a missionary.  It’s hard sometimes always having to put so much of myself out there all the time.  My personality, my feelings, my testimony, and my heart.  It really is a constant battle and it never seems to let up any.  

I’m surprised that I’ve made it this far in my mission.  I never thought that I could... That’s how I know the Savior, Jesus Christ is helping me.  He has been able to make more out of me than I ever could have made out of myself.  I know that He really is the Son of God and that He loves and watches over us.  He is the great Redeemer and He will come again and reign in all His glory.  I love Him with all that I am and I am just trying to do the very best that I can to serve Him.  I love you all sooo much!!  Thank you for being my loving family and for all of your support!!  Peace out, trout!

LOVE,

Hermana Hermansen

P.S. If you want to look up blogs of one of my companions, Hermana Anderson’s is vinadelmorg@blogspot.com 

Testimony from Hermana Hermansen (via Skype Session)