Seriously my favorite week of the mission - November 18, 2013

Hello sweet family

This week has definitely been my favorite of the mission so far! haha! We have met a lot of people!!! And, then, I just absolutely LOVE my companions!!!!!! We have so much fun together and we are so similar. It is great :) 

Let me tell you a little about Greeley... it is not as pretty as my first area (haha) and it smells like cow! Completely different from Broomfield/Boulder! AND IT IS GREAT! I get to see Ally a lot!!!! Last night we actually got to go on exchanges! I got to go with Ally to my very first SPANISH APPOINTMENT!!! How awesome that the first lesson I get to teach in Spanish was with Ally! So special! The lesson was awesome! It was so exciting but it also freaked me out because I am so behind! UGH! I don't like that I have had zero spanish so far. It makes it really hard to learn the language! Ally is so good at Spanish!! I just have to remind myself that she has been in a Spanish area for 3 months now, and I have been in an English area. So, it is ok. I will get as good as she is! I hope next transfer I get moved to the Greeley Spanish Branch! Pray for me!!! I did get another Spanish experience this week :) The other Spanish sisters had a baptism! So I got to go to that and it was all in Spanish. Absolutely amazing! They asked us to sing and I sounded terrible. But whatever. I love singing is Spanish :)

This week we decided to try a new way to find people. We went to a strip mall with mormon.org cards to hand out to people. I was super nervous. Completely out of my comfort zone! The first few people we talked to were not nice and as they walked away started laughing at us. UGH! But we continued on. Then this old man, Jake, probably in his late 60's approached us and started telling us blonde jokes because Sister Smith has blonde hair. But then his jokes escalated to being very inappropriate! He started telling us super nasty and completely inappropriate sex jokes! We told him we had to go and he said, “wait one more”. IT was crazy! We were actually trying hard not to laugh because it was so ridiculous! LIke really, was this happening?? Was this old man saying these nasty things? Then as we were leaving, he told us that we could spend the night and that he would kick his wife out on the couch! AH!!! We said a prayer after. Good heavens! We needed the spirit back! We continued on and decided that the last person we were going to talk to, we were going to give a Book of Mormon to. We walked up to this guy and tlaked to him. He told us he wasn't interested in learning more. He knew some mormons and thinks they are good people though. So we asked him if we could give him something that was really special to us. He said yes, and we handed him a Book of Mormon. THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG AT THAT MOMENT! He started thumbing through it and seemed touched. I hope he calls us! His name is Billy. Pray for Billy :)

I think that is the great thing about missionary work. I am 100% out of my comfort zone! It is hard to approach people and talk to them about religion. It is not something we typically do. And it is hard. Especially when you get laughed at. BUT it is those amazing moments with "Billy's" that make it all worth it!!!! We have been working really hard! I feel like I have started my mission over. I am now doing "real" missionary work. Not much flood work here. We just work on Saturdays if they have a project for us. And it was hard to get used to, but now I am so excited! My companions are such wonderful examples to me! They work so hard and have already taught me so so so much! This is going to be such an amazing transfer! The church is true!!!!!!

Now in response to your emails this week...

• There is a college here, but it is NO WHERE NEAR as wild and CU in Boulder - haha! 

• My ward was great! Hard to try and meet new people and remember their names and stuff. The first week in a new ward is pretty stressful actually. But my ward members are great. SUPER inactive though! There are about 400 members in our ward and only about 100-150 are active! This week, Sister Smith and I got asked to go and translate in Primary! They combine our primary with the Spanish branch's. Sis. Smith did most of it, and there was another lady that did a lot of translating too. But it was still cool. I am getting closer and closer to SPanish :)
•  I think your idea of doing service as a family for Thanksgiving is AWESOME!! Yes, Mike the mailman would be the best to do something for!!! Can’t wait to hear about it.
• I am going to a family called the Adamsons house for Thanksgiving. They are SWEET! We ate our first meal in Greeley with them. They love the missionaries and are so funny! They are going to have a lot of missionaries over! Sister Smith and Hoer and I are going to go to a thrift store and buy ugly sweaters to wear ;) It is going to be SO FUN!!!

I LOVE YOU FAMILIIA!!!!!! THANKS FOR BEING SO AWESOME!!!! HAVE THE BEST WEEK EVER :)

CON AMOR,

HANNAH :)

DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN WE SAID WE WERE GOING TO THE SAME MISSION?? …. YA, WELL, WE ARE!! 

(This is an email from one of Hannah's favorite people from Broomfield that I received last week. She was a Mom away from home for Hannah and I am so grateful. What a great "tender mercy" to get this email!)

Diane - So here is my fun little surprise.  We went to Loveland to say our goodbye's to a missionary that served in BR3 and is finishing an honorable mission.  Once a missionary serves in our ward they are a forever member…just keep that in mind. So when we got to Loveland to see our missionary friend, he suggested that we head over to the Greeley Stake Center where we would surely see another missionary he served with and that we also love.  So we headed there and found out that we knew two missionaries there who had served in BR3 and had a happy reunion.  There were some sister missionaries outside of the building and I knew the chances were high that one of them might be serving with our dear Hermana Mangum so I asked if they knew her.  Two said "YES!" One will be her new companion in a trio and the other is Hermana Mangums dear friend, Hermana Mehner!  Yay!!!! I love it!  So we took a photo but didn't visit too long. I was cold outside and wanted to go inside but Hermana Mehner was headed a different direction.The two friends will certainly see each other while serving in the same area, I think it might even be the same zone if I remember right. We are soooo sad the Hermana's are transferred from our ward.  They are dear to our hearts and were needed here, we are grateful for the time that we did have them here.  Plus WE LOVE THEM!  I can honestly say they are favorites for sure.

So awesome!

Love,

Kendra

The Big Goodbye - November 12, 2013

Wow, this has been a crazy week! A lot has happened. I haven't read your emails yet, because I don't know how long I will be here at the Library as I have to head off to my new area... GREELEY!!! So I wanted to send out my email first.

So yes, I have been transferred to Greeley. I am serving in an english area again... I am not happy about that. I NEED SPANISH! It is soooo hard to learn Spanish in the states already, and it makes it a hundred times harder when you haven't been able to serve in a Spanish area! Ugh, oh well, I do know it is where I am supposed to be. AND, ALLY IS IN MY ZONE! We will see each other all of the time! I am so excited! I am going to be in a trio. I was really nervous about that at first, but when I found out who my companions were, I got excited. I think it is going to be great! Hermana Smith, and Sister Hoer (said like "her") are my new companions :) Our ward is the Glenmere ward. My companions are both the Sister Training Leaders for the area. So I will be going on exchanges a lot. And every time I do, I get to go with Ally!! I am really excited!!! I am really sad to leave Broomfield/Boulder. I have loved it here! Especially the people I have met! It is really hard for me to go. But I do think this next transfer is going to be a lot of fun! This transfer is only going to be 5 weeks because of Christmas, and then the next one will be 7 and then we will go back to 6 week transfers. 

For "Transfer Doctrine" (that is what we call it when we find out where we will be going), a member invited our zone to their house for a bonfire. It was so much fun! I will send you pictures of it!

I think the hardest thing about leaving Boulder Area is not being able to see Carole and Mike. I am sooooooooooo sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THEM!!! We met them up for frozen yogurt last night to say goodbye, and it was the hardest thing ever! We were with them for 2 and a half hours! When it was time for us to go, Carole hugged me forever and ever! And she bawled! She is so sad I am leaving. We have become really close, as you know. It was one of the hardest things having to say goodbye. But, she said she is going to drive to Greeley and take me out to lunch :)

This was a good week of mail for me :) I got a letter from the E8 Primary! With cute little letters from the kids! I loved it! And Carah Heineman Burrell wrote me!!! I was absolutely thrilled to get the letter! I can't wait to write her back! I hope I can get to it soon! It has been super crazy and busy this last week. Also, the package for Hna. Jarvis came this morning before we left! So I got to watch her open it! SHE LOVED IT!! And even cried. Thank you so so so much for doing that for me :)

Ok, so crazy story... So on Tuesday we had a Mission Tour. Which is when a General Authority comes and trains the missionaries. It was really good. Elder Gay, from the 70 came. So the meeting was in Loveland, which is about 45 mins from Broomfield. So, on our way home, we are driving on the freeway, with 5 sisters in our car, when Hna. Jarvis runs over a block of wood and blows our tire out... We luckily got off the freeway before it went too flat and were able to pull off in a safe area. Well, the tire was completely flat. And it was freezing outside and dark. So we called some Elders to come and rescue us. Haha! They got lost, finally found us about 30 mins later, and changed our tire. We got back in the car to go, and what happened?? Our car battery was dead!! Not joking. None of us had jumper cables, so we had to flag someone down from the road and they actually didn't have any either, but they ran home and got some for us. We didn't get home until about 8:30, when we should have been home at like 6:00. It was a long and crazy night!

Saying goodbye to everyone was super hard! Hard to leave the ward, and my zone. I have just gotten to know and love everyone so much! But, as hard as it is, I know that I am supposed to go to Greeley right now, and even in English. I am excited for my next adventure and to be close to Ally!! Heavenly Father has a plan and a purpose for me there. I am excited to see what it is!

I love you guys so so so so much!!! I hope you are doing wonderful! I will now read your emails from this week! I am excited to hear how it has been for you :)

Love,

Hannah :)

P.S. Mom, will you send my some brown shoe polish for my boots?? (WHICH I LOVE BTW)

Transfer Doctrine Bonfire :)

The awesome Elder Welch!

This is Sister Woessner - I LOVE HER!! She and Hermana Jarvis are companions now :)

And fabulous Elder Gable!!!!

Me and Hermana Cropper - could not love her more!!

I can't leave Hermana Jarvis :(

We had a little bad luck!!

Rescued by the Elders!!!

And a second rescue…man, what a night!!!

Good bye to Sister Engstrom? … I just can't do it :(

Good bye to the Kaiser's?? ….. nooooooooo :(

The wonderful Drake Family - I am going to miss them!!

Saying goodbye to the Deckers - no one told me this was going to be sooooo hard :(

This is Katie B. - one of my favorite people I have ever met!

To be honest, I can barely handle the thought of leaving Mike and Carole. I could not have grown closer to 2 people than these two. They literally mean the world to me and I am soooo grateful to have met them and been a part of their lives. This relationship will go on FOREVER!!!

One of the last houses we worked on in Boulder

Yes, Mom, that is me standing in there :)

Last P-day in Boulder and I found a FREE PEOPLE store!!!!

VIVA COLORADO!!!

Thank you Lennon - we LOVE  the quotes!!!

This is all of Hermana Jarvis' posterity :) A M A Z I N G !!!

Super sad to leave each other … but off to Greeley I go!

I am so impressed with the members in Colorado!!! - 11-4-13

Hellllllooooo beautiful family!!

OK, where to begin?? I guess I will start by thanking you for the package this week! :) I LOVE the journals!! Thank you so so so much Mom! Lennon- I LOVE THE PICTURE!!! I hung it up in my room! and Max- thank you so so very much for the letter! I seriously have the best family!!!! 

So, I am sure you noticed I dipped into home funds this week... I try really hard not to! But I ran out of money last week and had to dip in in order to survive. I needed food ;) haha! 

This week I got to eat dinner with the Spanish sisters in the stake and went to the Portio's home again. We went with them last transfer too :) I LOVE THEM!!! It gets me SO excited to serve in a Spanish area!!! This is the last week of transfers, and I am praying that I get moved to the Boulder Spanish ward, that way I get Spanish, can continue to teach people here, and be in a familiar area for the holidays! Pray for me!!!!!!! But, having dinner with them also freaked me out. I have forgotten a lot from the MTC... it has been 2 1/2 months with no Spanish... not fair! I really hope next transfer I get Spanish because I need it!!!! 

MOM- I am so so so happy you had a wonderful birthday! And that you liked your present from me :) I had SO much fun putting it together!! I won't lie, I wish I could have been there with you... sounds like you had the best time! But, Mom, Sister Kaiser did give me a big mama hug from you on your birthday! She told me you told her to... haha! I loved it and even though she is about 10 inches shorter than you... It felt good :) 

So this week it was the Boulder Stake's 40 Anniversary event. I had heard it was going to be good, but man, IT WAS AMAZING!!! I mean it really was truly incredible!!!! Someone in the stake painted famous pictures of Christ (like Christ with the children, Mary and Christ, Peter and Christ, etc.) but he only painted Jesus in the pictures and then had people come stand in the picture and pose as if they were actually in the picture with Christ. I hope that makes sense! It kind of reminded me of the Pageant of the Masters in So. Calif. that we went to at Tiffany and Glen’s. They also had an orchestra, a regular choir and a children’s choir (all members from the stake) who sang as they showed the pictures. THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG!!!!! It made my love for Jesus Christ a thousand times stronger! I didn't even know that was possible! And I felt his love for me immensely! Mike and Carole were so impressed!!! They invited us over for lunch the next day and they told the Elders that were with us that we have opened up a door for them they didn't even know was there! I AM SO HAPPY!!! 

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! I HOPE YOU HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEK!!!! 

XOXO

Hermana Hannah :)

This photo came from a great member of Hannah's ward - THANK GOODNESS, as we did not get any photos this week!!

Best Birthday Present Ever - H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y spelled out by my fabulous missionary (Post by Diane - November 1, 2013)

Hannah has always been the best gift giver, and she didn't disappoint this year. While out serving the Lord, she pulled off this meaningful, beautiful gift! (Sorry…these are pictures of pictures, if I had more computer skills, I would have scanned for better quality. Maybe in another life!)

Me in my cute skirt you sent me at the Engstrom's home :)

Me and Carole (my favorite person in the world!!) She took us for a hike by her home after doing some service for her one day.

Me and Ally at our last training meeting in Fort Collins :)

The fabulous Engstrom's…they are WONDERFUL!!!

My Zone! I took this after a birthday lunch at Olive Garden for one of the Sisters :)

This is where I am every Sunday :)

President and Sister Brown

My hair looks kinda weird in this pic…oh well! :)

You know how I feel about McDonalds!!

The library that I email you from every Monday :)

The wonderful Sister Kaiser! She's so amazing and takes such great care of us!!!

It is definitely fall here - and check out our sweet brand new 2014 Chevy Cruise!!

On my bed, snuggled up in my favorite blanket :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

I love the BOOK OF MORMON - October 28, 2013

Hello familia :) This last week was fantastic!!! To start it off, I finished reading the Book of Mormon on Tuesday! It felt so good to read it again! This was the first time that I have every truly taken time and really tried to understand and study the it. And boy was it an amazing experience! I felt the spirit so strong! I KNOW THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE. I hope you are all studying it! I feel like that is the one thing I should have done better before I came out on my mission, to have read the Book of Mormon more. It is an amazing book!!!!!!!! I love love love love the scriptures :)

So this week, Sister Jarvis and I visited a less active older lady in our ward. The lesson went really well! And as we were leaving her house (it was 9:00) we saw a shooting star!! I have never seen one before! It was incredible! I was having a harder day that day and feeling like I was missing out on things at home. It made me totally happy to see the shooting star. Instantly my worries went away!  Turns out the shooting star was actually a meteor! and was on the news the next day! It was pretty incredible! :)

Mom- thank you so much for your letter and article this week. They were so inspiring and great! What a neat story about Tito! and Lennon- you sit next to him in your class?? That is cool! I shared that story during our district meeting this week. I was asked to give a recitation on “enduring to the end” and I thought Tito was a wonderful example of that! So thank you so much for sending it to me :)

The Engstrom's are on vacation right now, so we have the house to ourselves :) But next week when they get back, all of their kids are coming into town. So we will go from having the house to ourselves, to there being a houseful! It will be so fun :) I just feel bad that we are invading on them... but they love us! Also, the transfer ends in 2 weeks, and I don't know where I will be going. So this week you can send mail to the Engstrom's house, but next week if you send anything, send it to the mission office so I can make sure I get it! 

So funny story... yesterday a young man, that the elders in our ward have been working with, came to church. He is mentally handicapped and is less active. He is SO loud and funny! He struggles with some Word of Wisdom things too. So yesterday, Sister Jarvis and I were on our way to the bathroom and this young man stopped us and talked to us. Then he pulled out his e-cig... and tells us it helps him stop smoking... hmmm... haha! Then he sticks it in his mouth and blows in our faces! IN THE CHURCH!!! Then said, "smells like melon right!?" Oh. My. Gosh. It was hilarious! It was so funny and very inappropriate - haha! I didn't know how to respond! I was not expecting him to do that! Ha! The elders are trying to convince him that even e-cigs are not ok to use. 

So, the absolute best part of the week has been the time we have spent with Carole and Mike!!!! I didn't know it was possible to love some one so much who wasn't your family. These are friends that I will have for the rest of my life! Carole has become really attached to me and I to her! She tells I am her favorite missionary and how grateful she is that I have come into her life and that she knows God orchestrated all of it. She also tells me that when I get transferred she is going to write me my entire mission and that after my mission I have to come back to visit her. Mom, when you come to pick me up, WE ARE GOING TO VISIT CAROLE AND MIKE!  They are very religious. They pray and like to start every day of service we do with them with a prayer and end with one too. They talk about all the miracles they have seen in their lives ever since they have know us. They talk about how much they love God and Jesus. 

So this week on Tuesday, 8 of us missionaries were doing service and we decided to write our testimonies in a Book of Mormon and give it to Carole and Mike. Their reaction to us giving it to them was one I will never forget. They were so touched and grateful! It made me SO happy! Then on Friday we went back to their house and Sister Jarvis and I invited them to come to our ward Chili Cook Off. They were so excited!! Mike couldn't come because their son, Joe, was sick, but Carole came to it on Saturday and had the best time! She was a little social butterfly! She went around and tried every chili and talked to everyone she came in contact with! She told us she was so impressed with all of the families that were there and the unity she felt in the church with all of the members. I had the best time with her! 

Sister Jarvis and I went back to help them on Sunday after church. Some bad weather is expected this week, so they need as much help getting everything done! We canceled our dinner we had scheduled so we could help Carole and Mike. We stayed until about 8:15!!! We got so much done! There is still more to do, and we are going to come back on Tuesday to hopefully finish things up on the outside of their house. But yesterday while we were there, we got even closer to Mike and Carole. They really opened up to us. Mike fixed us a yummy dinner that we enjoyed after a LONG day of cleaning! They told us they wanted to adopt us :) Carole told us a lot about her life. She and Mike have been through  A LOT!!! More than I feel one family should go through! The spirit was so strong and undeniably there as we talked. I KNOW THAT CAROLE WAS SUPPOSED TO COME INTO MY LIFE! And me into hers. We have this bond now that will hold us together forever. I am so grateful for her! We have a stake activity this weekend that is supposed to be fantastic that I am going to invite them to. Anyway, I am just so grateful for this relationship I have made with them!!!!!

Mom- could you send me some excedrin and advil in your next package? I will send the boots today! Thank you for all you do!! I LOVE YOU FAMILY!!!!!!

XOXO

HANNAH :)

8 missionaries going about doing good :)

Our attempt at a Carrot Bund

t Cake - turns out ELEVATION messes up everything!!! haha

The Chili Cook Off with Carole!!

Me and my GREAT companion!!!