1st week in San Jose

Tomorrow we get to video chat with her! We are all very excited.

Here is how her first week in the mission field went:

Hola mi familia y amigos de San Jose California!

I would like to start out from arriving here in San Jose because I have a lot to say and not that much time to say it.

Right after our 2 hour flight to San Jose my mission president, President Mella and his wife picked us up and took us to lunch at Olive Garden. We were able to talk about what we would be doing for the rest of the day and also about the mission. After lunch we had some boring orientation and safety stuff to do and then we got to go to dinner at the Mella's home. They had this adorable golden retriever who totally reminded me of Sundance because of the way he acted. I was so happy to be able to pet an animal again! We were able to watch "Meet the Mormons" as well. Which was pretty cool because it was only first day in the mission and I got to watch TV!

The president had us take a video of ourselves so that we can watch it on our last day here! That will be cool to see in a year and a half! Except I was crying the whole time!

The next day I got my companion and my area! Her name is Hermana Killian (she's Irish... like her ancestors are not like she was born there)! I am in Menlo Park! It is a pretty beautiful place, even though it is a huge city! We first planned our day and then went out to various appointments. It was raining all day! Poor Hermana Killian's feet were soaked through! Luckily I wore my boots! I got to meet Isabel who is a less active with 3 little boys! She was so sweet! Also I go to to meet Humberto who is a recent convert who has an amazing testimony of the gospel! He is really funny and teases Hermana Killian a lot! We also contacted one man named Osmand (we think) but we haven't been able to see him since because he hasn't been home. He is from Guatemala!

One embarrassing moment that I have gotten over now, so I will share it is that I peed my pants! Or my dress... It was terrible! Hermana Killian was in the bathroom and all of a sudden I had to go! I hope you all get a laugh out of this! It was so embarrassing because it was only my second day knowing her! But she was totally cool with it. She even apologized for hogging the bathroom! She is great!

We met a cute older lady who is German and moved to Chili when she was little! She was so happy to find out that I was German too! I got to meet Hermana Killian's most recent convert who she taught, Arturo! He is so awesome and funny! I wish I could understand what he was saying better!

This day just kept getting better and better because first of all we had trouble with the parking meter not taking our money, just to find out it was past hours that we needed to pay! Then I was texting the wrong Arturo so some random person was getting our texts about where we were going for dinner so Arturo was late! Then we were going to talk to a man who would be waiting for the crosswalk with us and he ran into the street instead... I was happy we didn't kill him! Then we texted Arturo the wrong address, so he was still running late (he was in a small neighborhood walking around... in the dark... alone! I felt so bad!) Then Hermana Killian walked in on someone in the bathroom! Then I found out that the word that one of the Branch Presidency in the MTC that was supposed to mean groovy DID NOT mean groovy! And then our waiter asked us if we wanted Cocaine! Ya that was an interesting day! Arturo said that I was a white Mexican because I didn't know the word for goat so I said Una Chupacabra come estos (A chupacabra eats these). He thought it was cool how I knew what a chupacabra was!

On Saturday we helped Ann Minnie move a couch. All I will say is that she is an interesting person... but that is who Ann is! :)

We met an old man named Jesus who is totally adorable! He has great faith is God! We are going by to visit him and give him the first discussion sometime this week!

We had an amazing ward party! There was Mexican music and dancing! Amazing food! Those paper decorations and piñatas! I had a blast!

On Sunday we had a ward council! I barely understood anything that was going on. But one cool thing that happened was that the English ward had a giving tree to give money to and they raised over $8,000 dollars. They bought a ton of Target and Safeway gift cards for everyone and we get to hand them out to the poorer families in our ward! I can't wait!

I didn't have to speak in Sacrament or anything and that made me happy! We did have to go to two Sacrament meetings because Arturo can only make it to the English meeting at 3. So I got two Christmas programs :)

Humberto fed us dinner last night and we had to eat on the back porch, in the cold because the other lady that lives there wasn't there! It was fun to talk with him though! He taught us how to tie a tie so that we could teach Arturo how.

Well that is all I have time for right now. Hope you have a Merry Christmas, I love you all!

Last week in the MTC

Hermana Hansen leaves for San Jose tomorrow, which is my birthday! She will be able to call me, what a perfect birthday present for me. I can't wait!

Here is her letter for this week...

So my whole entire district left this morning to go out into the mission field. The only ones left here at the MTC are Hermana Sanft and I. It was a really sad day yesterday when we had to say goodbye to one another. It was really weird having to stand to the side of the Elders when we took pictures though. Usually in pictures you put your arms around each other but we had to stand a foot away... I don't know I just found it weird. Then when we said goodbye we shook each others hands. I just wanted to give them all a big hug! They are all going to be amazing missionaries! Hermana MacDonald also left with the group this morning. I felt bad because I wasn't feeling well last night so when she woke me up to say goodbye I gave her a big hug, said good luck and fell right back to sleep. I know that she will be just fine! I hope she has a blast in Louisiana! I hope I will see some of them again one day. 

For our Tuesday devotional last week we had Craig C. Christensen from the Seventy come and speak to us. He gave a really good talk about the things that you should be yoked to. You should be yoked to the Savior, knowledge of the missionaries who came before us (PMG and the White Handbook), your companion, and the members of the wards we serve in. He was a really good speaker. 

On Wednesday for breakfast I decided that I really wanted a bagel. So I went over to get one, but they only had raisin bagels. So I sat down waiting for them to re-stock the bagels. After 10 minutes I gave up and got the main meal. And of course it was just my luck that right as I sat down with my food they restocked the bagels! I was so mad! My companions made fun of me!

One of my best friends from the Hill Cumorah Pageant arrived this week to the MTC! Michaela Jones! Since I was getting over a cold, during gym time we just hung out around the residence waiting for new people to come in and see where they were going. I thought that I probably wouldn't see her at the residence hall, and that I would have to wait for dinner to see her. Then randomly the elevator opened to drop someone off while she stayed on to go to the 4th floor. We saw each other and totally freaked out! It was fun to see a friend that I hadn't seen in a long time!

At choir practice last week there was an Elder who gave the closing prayer who said he was going to Germany Turkish speaking. Hermana MacDonald wanted to know if he already knew German since he is going to a foreign country and learning the less popular language for that area. So she decided to ask him! "Do you speak German?" He said yes. Hermana MacDonald thought that was so cool, but as she continued up the stairs and I passed him, I heard his companion ask if he just lied... And he said YES!!! I told Hermana MacDonald and she was so mad! Every time she saw him after that she would say, "There is the Elder who lied to me!"

So as ya'll know my companion is Tongan, so the other day our district decided to ask her what our names would be in Tongan. Here they are!

Taryn: Teleni

Kody: Koti

Miles: Malie

Gabriel: Kepiolo

Katie: Kaati

Landon: Leiteni

Brandon: Panitoni

Christian: Kilisitoni

Diana: Taiana

Kawan: Kavani

Our names our different in Tongan because the Tongan Alphabet only have 16 letters in their alphabet, so some letters have to change. I also learned how to say Hello: Malolele, How are you: Fefehaki, and Thank you: Malo.

One of the Elders in our district apparently has a huge problem with sleep walking and talking. The Elders said that one night this week he got out of bed and put his bed sheet around his shoulders like a cape, and walked around in circles for about five minutes. Finally he stopped, walked over to Elder Mooney's bed and stared at Elder Mooney for about another five minutes. Elder Mooney was sleeping and didn't even know that was going on! Finally he took off his "cape" and started stuffing it into his laundry bag. "DISGUSTING!" He said. Apparently his cape got dirty and he needed it washed!

We had an infield orientation this past week to help us prepare for going into the field. A lot of people said that they were not excited for it and that it was going to be really boring. I prayed to my Heavenly Father that I would be able to pay attention and get some things out of the orientation. It worked! We talked about the Doctrine of Christ that we will be teaching about while out in the mission field. Then we talked about goal setting. And lastly about working with members. The members are the best source for us to find people to teach.

On Saturday, our last day in class, I told Hermana MacDonald that she could straighten my hair and do my make-up. She had been pestering me for quite a while to do it! So I finally gave in! It was so weird seeing my hair strait for the first time in more than 6 months! It was funny to see all of the Elders faces when I walked in with my hair being totally different!

On Sunday, you know how they always announce the people who are going to be giving talks at the last second (right after the Sacrament). Guess who had to give a talk! ME! I totally knew it! I was so nervous and I could hear all of the "ums" I was saying! The only good thing about it was that Brother Nay (one of the people in our branch presidency) said that my conjugations were right on!

For the Sunday night devotional we had the BYU Mens Choir come! What an amazing opportunity! They sang beautiful songs! Right as they came out I noticed on young man that looked exactly like Elder McCombs in our district! I pointed him out to my companions and they agreed. Later that night we asked the Elders if they had seen McCombs's twin. They had seen him too! So it was a fact that he did look a lot like McCombs!

So I am headed out tomorrow to San Jose California! I am so nervous, but I know that the Lord will give me peace. I hope that I will be able to catch on quickly to what I need to do out there! We leave at 6:20 a.m. and fly out at 11:20 a.m. I also get to call home, which I am so excited for! I get to call my family on my sister's birthday! I bet she thinks that that is a great blessing and miracle! Then in about 11 days after that I get to Skype them! It is crazy how these little things make you so excited! 

I love you all so much and can't wait to write you next Monday about what is going on in the warm weather of San Jose!

Almost finished at the MTC!

Hermana Hansen is doing great. She has almost finished her stay at the MTC! She will leave for San Jose California on Dec 14th. She has finally got a cold, she has been able to stay healthy amongst the sickness sometime now. She is happy to have all the medicine Mom insisted she pack:) One of her roommates had to go home to get her gallbladder removed. She says they are hoping she will be able to join them in the mission field after Christmas. So her companionship has become a trio. I am getting excited to talk to her on Christmas! Here is her letter from this week:)

So if ya'll didn't know already, Hermana Taylor has been sick over the last few weeks and ended up having to go home on Thursday morning. The doctors were able to finally diagnose her. Her gall bladder is only working 5% of the time! For a gall bladder to be considered alive it needs to be working 30%. So she has a dead organ in her body. She is not able to process food well and that is why she has been sick. Her surgery is sometime this week and hopefully she will be able to join Hermana Sanft and I in California soon after Christmas. On the bright side she got to go see Moana! I am totally jealous! 

So we had this thing called a Skype TRC on Wednesday. That morning Hermana Sanft woke up without a voice! I was freaking out so much! We went to teach the lesson and she still had no voice. I had to teach the whole lesson by myself! He asked halfway through the lesson why my companion was not speaking to him. I struggled to explain why and finally after five minutes of me pointing to my throat and saying "Ella es Infermo," he finally understood! We learned about the importance of teaching the gospel two by two because that lesson was terrible!

Hermana Sanft, MacDonald and I are now a trio! At first it was really hard, but now I can see how much of a blessing it is. We have come closer together as companions. And also I don't have to speak as much during the lessons! :)

Hermana Sanft was really sick on Thursday. We ended up having to take her to the Urgent Care Clinic just down the street from the MTC. She has had a Sinus infection, and she was throwing up, and then her heart started to hurt. She does have a heart condition that she has to be careful with and it was acting up at the worst moment possible! After about a half an hour she felt better and the doctors don't know what happened. So they told us that she needed to rest back at the rooms. Hermana Mac Donald and I just hung out in the main living area while Hermana Sanft slept. 

While hanging out, I had put on a jacket that my mom sent me from home and found one of my cat's fur on it! Now, if you know me you know I love my cat! So to be funny I taped the piece of fur into my journal! My companions thought I was so weird! It was hilarious! Now I have a little piece of my Kitty while I am away!

Hermana Sanft got a huge package from her family on Friday full of food! One thing inside the package was one of her favorite desserts which is a Jelly Roll! She had us try some of it, and it was delicious! Hermana MacDonald has been trying to speak more Spanish outside of class so she told Hermana Sanft, "Gracias por compartiendo su gato con nosotros! Muy Delicioso!" One thing you need to know is that gato means cake in french, but it DOES NOT mean cake in Spanish. For you who don't know Spanish she said, "Thankyou for sharing you cat with us! It was delicious!" Just so you know I did not eat what Hermana MacDonald ate... I just had the jelly roll! Haha!

Hermana Sanft was still sick on  Saturday and Sunday! So we had to do exchanges through out the whole day so that she could rest! The STL's were really helpful! They had to make many trips back and forth to pick one of us up and drop the other one off! Hermana Sanft got a blessing on Sunday morning from President Hyde. In the blessing he said that she would be healed from her illness! Ever since then she has been feeling a lot better! I am so thankful for priesthood blessings and the blessing that we can receive through them!

Just so you know... I have caught the cold finally! I was so surprised that I had lasted this long without being sick! I have been treating it for the past few days with Airborne, Dayquil and Nightquil! Yesterday was the worst day ever and I ended up going back to the room with Hermana Sanft to sleep. I got a full twelve hours of sleep last night and I feel so much better today! I thank my Mom for sending me with so much medicine that I didn't think I was going to need!

I am so excited for tomorrow though because one of my Best Friends from The Hill Cumorah Pageant will be arriving here tomorrow afternoon! I am so excited! But I am also sad because I don' t get to be a host while I am here :( I don't know why, but there must be some reason why.

So that is about it for this week! I love ya'll!