Pray for a Baptism & Read the BOM!

Hola Todos!!!
This week has been a pretty hard but great week! We have been having trouble with finding and keeping investigators. We do find people and get their numbers and addresses but then we are never able to find them! We started also making what we call the "hit List". It is a list of old investigators that we will drop if we are not able to see them by the end of the week. Our area book is now cleaned up and so we need to start filling it with golden investigators now. I know that if I pray and have faith this will happen this week! Also our mission president has mad a goal for every companionship to have a baptism in the month of may. So please pray for a miracle! I certainly am!

This week I was able to finish the BOM for my third time!!!! I got so much more out of it! It is so amazing! I have come to find a love for the BOM by reading daily and pondering it's words. Now if you were like me, and find it hard to read the bom I give you a challenge. Try to read the bom with real intent each day. Make it a part of your day and not something that you have to check off your list. Pray to have the desire to read (this actually helps a ton!). I know that the BOM is true! I know that you will know as well! Please just read it!

This week we were able to find a lady named Monica Aguierre. She is our most progressing investigator right now even though she is not progressing that much. We were able to teach her lesson 1 and she kept saying, "this is so cool! I have never heard this before." It was really amazing and the spirit was really there. We are having another lesson with her today. Hopefully it goes well!

Another Family that we are working on right now is the Muñoz family. Vanessa (the mom) was a potential investigator that we stopped by. She was really open to having us come back. So we set up a return appointment and stopped by. We taught her lesson one and she listened to everything that we said. He spirit was really strong! Then Roberto (the dad) came home. He walked passed us and said hello but didn't shake our hands! We were so nervous! Then he set his stuff down and we thought he was going to go and eat or go in the back room like all husbands do (usually the husbands aren't as open) but he sat down and listened to us intently! What!!! It was so cool! Even though we didn't have any time to teach lesson one again we talked a little bit about our church. He said that he had gotten a blessing before from his friend who is Mormon! We are teaching them again on Tuesday! I am so excited!

We tried our best to get people to church this week but no one showed up. We called everyone the night before and even stopped by a house early in the morning :(

This week we had the opportunity of having a mini missionary come out with us for Saturday and Sunday. A mini missionary is a youth that come out with the missionaries to experience the work. Her my name was Sister Vaenuku. It was fun to to have another person. I did feel bad hough because most of the lessons were in Spanish.

That is my week for this week! If I work hard with diligence and keep praying, reading and going to church I know that great miracles will orc cure this week! I know the same will happen to you if you do the same! Tengan una buena semana!
Hermana Hansen

Saratoga!

If you would like to send Taryn a letter, her new address is:
121 Saratoga Ave #2124
Santa Clara, CA 95051
Only letters can be sent to this address.
Packages will have to be sent to the mission home, and right now the mission home is being relocated, as soon as we hear we can send packages again, I will post the address for the new mission home..

Of course she can also receive emails at taryn.hansen@myldsmail.net

Hello Family!
I know that you have all been wondering what is going on this week in my new area! And I am excited to tell you all!
First of all Hermana Reyes (my new companion) is amazing! She is from Peru! She moved to the United states when she was 15 years old, so she knows English really well! She has been out on her mission for more than a year so heat means that I will be "killing" her (or sending her home) just like I did with Hermana Killian. I don't like sending companions home because then I don't get to see my old companions later 😢 She is full of the spirit and loves everyone! When we go contacting she will not let the person go! Which is awesome because sometimes we end up getting a return appointment even though they wanted us to leave at first! She really pushes me like Hermana Killian did. This is a very good thing. I feel like I have a lot to work on still and she is helping me be the best I can be! She loves asking questions and has helped me to start asking people questions and to be interested in their lives. She says it really shows hat you care about what is going on in their lives and they will be more open to you. Which is totally true!
The Saratoga Area is totally sweet! I am still learning my way around but I know I will get a hanging where everything is soon. Hermana Reyes is really good at pointing out landmarks and streets, but I am still struggling (just a little bit). So in this area we are over the San Tomas Spanish Branch and the Moorpark English ward! I get to be over an English ward! Totally Sweet! Our goal as a companionship is to baptize someone into the English ward! I sure hope we do! The only hard thing that I have found out is that white people aren't as open. They either ignores or simply say no... I guess that is OK! We need to weed out he golden investigators.
This week has just been a ton of weeding out the potentials that aren't interested. We do have a few people who might be good.
So first is a teen named Angel. He really reminds me of my brother, Jaron! I really don't know why, but he is really cool and funny. He is about my brothers age too. I hope that we will still be able to keep teaching him.
We did have a lot more investigators that we had to drop he is week... His week we really need to find find and find!
Well I have to go! Hermana Reyes made popsicles and I really want one!
I hope everything is going good with all of you! Keep doing the small and simple things! I know that great things will come to pass!

Hermana Hansen

Last 2 weeks, and a Transfer

Apr 10th 2017

This week has been a pretty interesting week!

So this past week we got a notification from our investigator, Brian's mom and she said that he couldn't be baptized on the day that we had set him up to be. We still don't know why or when he is going to be baptized but we are going over tonight. So hopefully we can figure it out and he can still be baptized sometime this coming month. He is really cool! He is ten and saw his cousin get baptized a while ago. He wanted to get baptized! He is from a part member family. So hopefully his family will reactivate and we can get another baptism out of it.

Another cool lady that we are teaching is Elonia. She is really cool. We have only had 2 lessons with her but she understands everything we teach. She didn't come to church, but that was mostly our fault. We didn't know that church was combined with the English ward and thus making church at 9 and not 12! So...

We did have a miracle a church though. We randomly got a phone call from a guy named Moises. The other sister had contacted him and gave him our number. He said that he wanted to come to church. Since church had already started and was almost over, we told him that he could come to the other English ward at 2, and he did! We have a lesson with him later this week.

That is about all that has been happening this week! Thanks for all you love and prayers!

Apr 17th 2017

So everybody! I am getting transferred! WHAT! I am totally freaking out! I leave tomorrow! My new area is going to be the Saratoga zone and the San Tomas Branch. My new companion is Hermana Reyes! I have already met her and she is super duper cool! I am so excited! I found out Thursday night when Hermana Worthington received a call to train and I did not. So I spent all week packing, writing notes to investigators and members, and also stopping by to say good bye to a ton of people. I am so sad to leave this are but I know that the people here are in good hands. 

I am especially sad to leave my best friend's, Bladimir, Arturo, and Humberto! They were all upset when I told them. Ugh! Good byes are the worst!

All of our investigators are doing great! We see Bladimir every Tuesday and Saturday. He is getting stronger every time we see him. Even though he can't get baptized right now I know that he will one day. He is my miracle! We haven't been able to see Elonia for the past week so I hope everything will be ok with her. Maria P... I am not so sure about. We haven't seen her in a while either.

We have two really cool people right now. One is Moises. He is the one that randomly came  to church last week! We had a lesson with him and set a bap. date for the 29th of April! I will be able to return for that if it happens! I totally believe it will! The other person is Nancy. I remember Hermana Killian and I had knocked on this one door once before and the people weren't interested, but I had a feeling to try it again. Nancy opened up and looked skeptical and asked if we could come back another day. All of a sudden she randomly changed her mind! We taught the first lesson right away! Cool right? She has a bap. date for the 30th of April. We just need to get her to church.

I love you all! Keep doing the small and simple things and great things will come to pass!

Read the BOM Everyday!

Hey Family! How are y'all doing this week! I am doing great!
This week has been a big testimony builder for me. Even though it was
hot and we were knocking doors for hours with no success we still had
faith and found new people to teach. There was one day when we had no
success all day! We went to one house looking for a potential
investigator. He didn't live there anymore but we found an amazing new
investigator. Her name is Elonia. She has 2 cute adorable kids! Hey
kept coming out during our lessons and showing us their toys. I am
excited for her!
As you all know general conference was this week. We made a ton of
invitations and passed them out to a lot of people. Guess how many
people showed up to general conference... 0 :( not even any of our
investigators came. We are just crossing our fingers that they watched
it at home.
I am sorry for the short email but that was about all that happened
this week. Thanks for all your prayers! If any of you are struggling
read the talk from President Monson from conference! The BOM is
amazing!

Yup! They were bed bugs...

Elder Truitt came over to our apartment and searched our beds for
Bugs. At fist he did not find anything but a few hours after he left
he called us to say that he found one on his sock! It had hitch hiked
from our apartment to his! My arms look a lot better now that we are
bed bug free!

This week we set two more baptismal dates! That means we are now up to
4! We are having a lot of success in this area right now! All thanks
to our father in heaven! I know with out him none of the miracles that
I have been seeing would be possible.

Jenny isn't doing so well. We don't believe that she is going to be
baptized on the date we set with her. We haven't been able to meet
with her for weeks.

Rosario has been sick this whole week but we were finally able to meet
with her yesterday. We set a bap date with her for the 29th of April.
She is so amazing! I can't wait! She is so prepared! We taught her
about the sacrament yesterday and she started saying that she didn't
like how church leaders are paid money. We told her that they aren't
and she was really grateful for that!

Bladimir is doing great! He is still pushing forward. Repentance is
real! The Atonement works!

We finally got to meet with Lily again. We set a bap date with her and
we have another lesson with her tonight. Her mom is really worried
about coming to church and doesn't want people to judge her. If we
could just get past that we could re activate the whole family!

We have been trying to narrow down our teaching pool because we got a
ton of new investigators! Our zone got 60 this week! What! One set of
elders got 14!

The church is true everybody!!! I want you to know that to grow and
keep a testimony of the gospel all you have to do is follow the
counsel from this scripture: By small and simple things are great
things come to pass! Small and simple things! Pray, read the
scriptures and go to church. This is all! I have a strong testimony of
this. As our investigators do these things they grow closer to their
Heavenly Father, but when they don't they are more easily led away. I
know that if any of you are struggling all you have to do is go to
church, pray and read!

I love you all!

Hermana Hansen

Bed Bugs! I think! Also CRUSHED MORGAN HILL!!!

This week has been amazing! At the beginning of the week we set a goal
to get 50 new investigators as a whole zone and crush the Morgan Hill
zone! For the past few weeks Menlo has only been getting 12ish new
investigators as a whole zone so his was a stretch for us! But we
totally did it! We got 53!!!! Ahhh! WHAT! TAKE THAT MORGAN HILL!

Out of the 53 investigators that we found, Hermana Worthington and I
found 12! On fire!!! This area was being prepared thanks to the help
of Hermana Killian!

Even though this week has been super amazing it has been really hard
for me. I didn't know why but I was really stressed out! Almost
everyday I would have a melt down due to stress! With he help of
Hermana Worthington I found out that I was trying to be someone I was
not. I kept trying to be more outgoing and trying to suppress myself.
I found out that I still need to be myself I just need to enhance the
qualities that I already have. I have felt a ton better since we found
out what was causing me so much stress.

So I bet you are all wondering what I mean by bed Bugs! On Saturday
morning I woke up with red bumps all over my arms! I have no idea what
from! Someone is coming today to check it out! I am either hoping that
we do have bed Bugs so that I know what the red bumps are, but I also
don't want them because it is really gross and we would have to wash
everything!!!! But then I wouldn't know what the red bumps are!!! So
ya. You will find out next week I guess :) unless you are my mom then
you will probably find out later today :)

We also set another baptismal date with a boy named Brian. He is 10
and part of a part member family! He saw his cousin baptized and he
really wants to do it too!

We have an amazing new investigator named Rosario! We have had 2
lessons with her! She is always saying that God sent her angels right
when she needed them!!! I am so excited for her!

Well thanks for all of your support! I love you all! Never give up!

I read a really cool story in the BOM this week! Look it up! Helaman 5!

Hermana Hansen

Saying Goodbye & Hello

Hey everyone! This week was the first week of the new transfer and I
have a lot to write about!

Last week I had to say good bye to my momma :( Hermana Killian went
home. I learned so many great things from her. We had so many laughs
and so many tears. I am so grateful that  she was tough on me
sometimes because it made me into the missionary I am today. She
taught me how to be a missionary!

On Tuesday we dropped her off and of course I bawled like a baby! 😥 I
was so nervous for the change that was going to happen. She encouraged
me and even though she is not with me now I know that she is still
encouraging me. I know that she won't want to hear his, but I cried!!!
A lot!!! The first day was fine and then the second day, when we had a
lesson. Oath with Bladimir and Arturo I cried. The whole way
through!!! Hermana Worthington is so amazing because I she would be
sad that I was missing my trainer, but she totally understood what I
was going through. I didn't cry the rest of the day, but the next day
I cried in the morning again when we were singing hymns at comp study.
But don't worry Hermana Killian, I am doing better now! I have
adjusted! I still miss you but I am in control and have taken the area
by storm with my new companion!

Hermana Worthington has a ton of new ideas for this area! The first
day she told me that she wanted a ward list and to visit all the
members! By doing this and contacting as we go, we have found 8 new
investigators this week! Sorry, it is a lot so I can't remember all of
their names! We are hoping that by making our new investigator pool
larger we can result them in some baptisms. We have also set a
baptismal date with an investigator named Jenny! It is just a goal
right now. She said she might not feel ready by then but if she is she
will be baptized!

On Saturday we went down to Hollister, Hermana Worthington's old area,
for a baptism of one of her investigators. Her old area is full of
fields, cows and hills of green! Don't worry Hermana Killian, I would
still rather go to Greenfield!

That is all for this week! I love you all! Just remember to always CPR
(Church, Pray and Read)!

End of a Transfer

This week has been a really great week despite that it was the last week of the transfer and my companion will be leaving me tomorrow! AHHHH! I am taking over the area! Watch out Menlo because I am coming for you!

This week I have had stomach aches everyday! I don't think having Mexican food every night is doing anything good to keep me healthy! So I started eating less oily things for breakfast and lunch and it has helped a lot!

I know that you all want to know who my new companion is... Hermana Worthington! I have met her a few times and she is really nice! I am so excited to work with her! Funny thing, She trained Hermana Taylor (One of the sisters in my MTC district).

Bladimir is still doing awesome! YAY! He came to church yesterday! Finally after 4 weeks of not coming. He really needs the spiritual strength. He is so happy now! He used to only talk about the negative things in his life, but now he focuses on the good! He is really sad that Hermana Killian is leaving and I hope that he can have a good relationship with Hermana Worthington.

We are still teaching the 9 year old named Lily. Her family is really nice and will talk to us and let us in. They want Lily to be baptized, but Lily needs to come to church 3 times. Her family is not coming. We have been inviting them for over a month now. We just have to figure out why they aren't coming and maybe why they went inactive in the first place. When we were teaching Lily this week something really weird happened! She goes to this really weird Christian School and they are always teaching her stuff from the Bible. She is really knowledgeable about religion. We were talking about Jesus Christ and she told us a story her school had told her... ready? She said that when Jesus was little he got mad at his friend and killed him with his powers.... the point of telling these kids this was to tell them that Jesus wasn't perfect because no one can be... her mom did not know they were teaching her that stuff. She was as shocked as us! Maybe now they will put her into a normal school that doesn't teach false doctrine! We just told her to always pray to make sure things are true and God will tell us if they are or not.

The only other really important investigator right now is Maria Penalosa. But we haven't been able to see her for two weeks which really worries me. We call her and she still sounds interested. It just seems that she is really busy right now. I sure hope that we don't have to drop her.

That is all that has gone on this week! I hope everyone is doing great back at home! I love you all. And always CTR (choose the right) and CPR (Church, Pray, Read)!

Santa Cruz

This week has been a really interesting week!

Hermana Killian started not feeling well last Monday. She slept for
most of the day. That was just the beginning. I let her take some of
my NyQuil, and since it was mine she didn't want to use the little cup
so she poured the medicine into a cup. She took and and thought that
it wasn't a lot so she took another dose! The next morning she
couldn't get out of bed! We found out later that she took 2 full cup
fulls! That is 4X the amount that she needed to take! My dad is
probably cringing right now! The only people we went to visit that day
was our dinner and Bladimir.

We finally decided it was time to have another lesson with Bladimir.
He hadn't been praying, reading or coming to church. He was really
angry and upset! It felt like there was a big storm cloud in the room.
He felt alone and had no peace whatsoever. We told him the only way to
feel better is if he would pray. We told him he had to pray that
night. We had another lesson with him on Saturday and he had a light
in his eye! He was smiling and so happy! He had prayed! He said a
peace came over him and that he felt happy and peaceful now! I love
seeing that light in his eyes! He is totally ready to do his part!
Yay!

On Thursday I went out with the Samoan sister, Sister Lavata'i because
Hermana Killian was sick. I hadn't been out of the apartment for a few
days. We visited one of my members who gave me a Mexican shirt! We
then went and did a service called Ivy League. We went to dinner with
a member named Maribel. Sister Lavata'i had a meeting to go to and it
was really cool to hear people talk Samoan. I couldn't understand any
of it but it was still cool to hear! Sister Lavata'i was fun to get to
know better!

On Saturday we were finally able to get out of the house and do some
hard work. The only problem was that I locked the keys inside of our
apartment! So we had no car and no way to get back inside! We tried
calling everybody but no one would answer! So we were stuck. We
decided to walk around Redwood City. After walking around for an hour
the Samoan sisters picked us up and took us to EPA. We visited a few
of our members and their members. They dropped us off at our dinner
and the members at we were eating with said that they could get us in!
We didn't know how. They took us back to our apartment and Hermana
Luna jumped the fence to get into our apartment complex! Then Hermano
Luna tried breaking into our apartment with a screwdriver and a credit
card! But since it was locked at the door knob and not the deadbolt he
couldn't do it! He then called a locksmith! We told him no! That we
could sleep with the other sisters, but he wouldn't take no for an
answer. Thankfully the manager finally called us back and let us into
the apartment!

We went to Santa Cruz today! It was a lot of fun because I got to go
places that I have been before. It was fun to see all of the sea
lions. We hung out at the beach and walked the boardwalk!

Today we are also having a "surprise" party for Hna Killian because
she is leaving next week. I say "surprise" because she knows about it.
Some people aren't very good at keeping secrets!

My testimony has grown so much out here! I love the people so much! I
can't wait until someone decides to change their life and be baptized!
It will be an experience I will never forget!