Elder Holland and Sister Dalton! (SH)

Hey!! 

i don't have a whole lot of time! not any actually but i wanted to say that I love ya so much! thanks for your email! I'm glad that the meds are doing a lot better! Keep that hope! I'm praying for you! Tell bre and all of them that I love them!! 

IM SO STOKED FOR LYDIA I CAN'T EVEN CONTAIN MYSELF I WANT A VIDEO AND PICTURES AND EVERYTHING GOOD THAT COMES FROM MISSION CALLS AND I MIGHT CRY BUT ITS OKAY BECAUSE THEY ARE TEARS OF JOY AND IM SO PROUD!!

totally improper sentence.. oh well.

Oh so we met Elder Holland and Sister Dalton! Didn't know who she was but it was cool! 

spiritual weeks, lots of finding! New ward mission leader and things have already been amazing! This transfer is going to be a good one! Oh and I got a new companion her name is Sister Lammintaus and she is from Finland!!

Double Rainbow! (SH)

Mom! Double rainbow! Does it count for 2 years then? Also learning to
sight read! When you have to sing at a fireside you learn quick!

I love you! (SH)

Thank you so much for your email last week. It was a rough week and that was so good to read wow, talk about mother daughter connection haha!! 
I guess here are some pics from the week... Also went to the dentist hahah oh that sucked!! Also on the way to the dentist got lost and realised that we were in London... Us looking guilty driving in London haha! 
(The driving picture unfortunately didn't get sent--it would have been a good one!)

Dentisit visit in London--fun!

Sister Hansen showing the little tikes around the London Temple Visitor Center

3 minutes of silence... (SH)

Hey everyone! So last week I was gonna write an email and well.. I didn't but it was really good but its also really long! So I'll write it next week! But this week has been really good, we have been doing a ton of knocking I like it. I don't enjoy getting yelled at but the one person who lets us into their house is worth the whole street of rejection. 

The week has been good though, we had two investigators Tracy and Amarah come to church last Sunday and they said they loved it and were coming every week! That was amazing! We wen't on exchanges and a investigator that Sister Fleuren and I had in the MTC got baptized in Illinois so we got to call her and we got a less active to meet with us after years of rejecting missionaries! so great!

So this week we have been doing a lot of knocking and on Tuesday we had been knocking for 2 hours and everyone was so mean for most of the time.. all but one door! The one door was worth it all! BUT my companion hah, we were walking back to our car and shes all "Hey lets go knock that door" and I was trying to tell her that, that was the last door we knocked last time but she wrote the door before that down in her planner as the last door we knocked the day before. I kept telling her that I remembered knocking that door but shes like its fine, I remember the last door being blue so I told her that she could contact in then. She got to the door and knocked super loud and the guy comes to the door and is like "yes" and she didn't say anything at first so I went to say something when all of the sudden she starts looking at pointing at his door and is like "OH, which house number is this ohhh ohh oh, does Ashley live here?" I was so confused... We don't know an Ashley. Me and the guy were staring at her like she was crazy.. Hes like nah there is no Ashley that lives here and shes like oh okay sorry about that and starts walking away.. I had no idea what was going on so I just started walking back to the car and there was like 3 minutes of silence when I looked at her and was like Ashley huh.. She started freaking out and was like I panicked okay, he looked like he was gonna kill me! SO funny! I guess when my companion panics she asks for people she doesn't even know. I was dying! 

Moral of the story is that the Lord has humor and.. to be persistent. We are going back to his door today to knock and see if he will be baptized!

Love you all, have a great week!

-Sister Hansen 

You said Naaahhh! Made my day! (Letter to Daddy Packer) (SH)

So first comment! You said Naaahhh! Made my day! I can't even get over it. I am glad to hear that Grandpa and Grandma are doing well. I am glad that you were able to share that experience. I know that by being obedient even when it seems a little weird we will be immensely blessed. It's crazy to think that something like that could have such a huge impact on the way families are raised. 

I remember when mom was talking to me about Joseph Smith because I didn't know if he was a true prophet but I knew the Book of Mormon was true. Which that post is so true because I had to humble myself and ask instead of just saying that it doesn't make sense and thats just the way it is and that I'm not capable of knowing it for myself. Dang shes good. That is good insight as well. We actually had a really interesting contacting experience on Tuesday. I will send it to you later because we have half our emailing time now and half later so I'll send it then but we learned the lesson of not being able to save everyone. But it goes with this because when we first met the guy (Roger) we could have easily just turned away because he was rude to us at first. 

I like that you pointed out that its often the result of one specific circumstance or event. Its so weird to think how one persons bad experience will affect how they think about that thing forever. If they choose that. We had someone online we were chatting with, his name is Keith. At the end of the chat he gave us his emails and things but before he got off he thanked us for being nice to him. He said that he had a bad experience with Mormons and that he had thought of all of them being that way ever since. But he said that he felt really comfortable talking to us and that we didn't make him feel like we were just trying to get him baptized. It was really nice. Its crazy how we are so quick to judge at first but then when we see the full picture it is actually something quite nice. 

Kinda like the plan for us here on earth. We look at it and judge it all the time. We ask God why when really we should be asking him How. How and What. What is it that you want me to do and How is it that you would like me to do it. When we have that mentality about how God works He works miracles. 

I hope you have a great week! I think I emailed mom back but it may have been to her old email. I also sent her a mothers day package. So hopefully she gets it before mothers day but if she doesn't will you let her know to be watching for it. Let her know I did respond hah but Ill send it to her other new email. 

I love you,

Kori

Soo.. I am really bad at writing weekly emails it turns out.. (SH)

Soo.. I am really bad at writing weekly emails it turns out.. But I'm going to work at it.. We have 2 hours and I can't seem to write them ehe oh well.. 

Family and friends! How are you all doing? This week has been kinda crazy! So first off we are teaching like no one but its cool because it gives us more opportunities to go contacting and it gives us time to do companionship and 12 week studies! We have been missing those and oh man! Talk about feeling unprepared for everything! The busiest day in the visitors center so far has been about 300 people and out of all the hours straight we probably spent 6 to 7 hours straight talking without any breaks being there from 9 to 9. With doing 6 to 7 hours of teaching we can not rely on half of our companionship study or personal or 12 week! There is a reason we have 3 hours of studies! But as we strive to do all of those which we have really done this past week, we continue to see miracles! One of them is Luis!

Luis is an awesome guy hes about 20 and he was with his friend when we went up to talk to him and my companion asked me if I wanted to talk to them and I was like not really but we were almost going to pass them so I was like "Oh hey! We were asking people around what brings them the most happiness in life, so what brings happiness" and he said that it was friends and family. We asked him why and he said that its because those are the people we have the most amazing memories with. We started talking about the Plan of Salvation and then after a while into it he told us that he is really interested because his brother just recently died. He doesn't really believe in a God but he knows that his brother is somewhere because he said he can feel him and he was interested about our teaching of a plan for him and his brother. Woah. Wait rewind.. Right before we had gone contacting we prayed and specifically to meet 1 person who needed our message and not only did we meet that one person but it was someone who had needed the exact lesson that we had prepared. So neat and such a testimony builder for me. The Lord knows exactly what we need and what THEY need and when they need it. We haven't had the best success but seriously as soon as we really made it a part of our plan to do 12 week and comp study things completely changed and we met Luis!

Funny though because as soon as we start seeing success in the area something comes up. So our showers! We have 4 sisters in our flat and 2 showers but we still have to shower one at a time otherwise the water is freezing! So we have been trying to figure that out..4 sister who have to shower 1 at a time and all in the same hour. Fun stuff. But the other night we woke up and our bathroom was flooded! But we can't find the leak.. But still so now this is day 3 of having a flooded bathroom any time we leave it for more than 5 hours at a time! So now we are down to 1 bathroom and now our water heater is broken hah. So 1 shower 4 girls and cold water. Makes for lovely mornings! 

Also my companion tends to stop breathing at night! She didn't tell me until it happened the other night. She got up and ran away! What the heck! Her last companion ran after her and I was confused about what was going on and so the other sister and I got up and went in the other room and shes like choking on the floor. It took her like 15 minutes to calm down and to start breathing normally! Holy scary! She didn't tell me that she actually always needs an inhaler..thats usually something you tell someone. She is alive though so thats good. That same night the power went off and so we woke up like 2 hours later and we were walking around trying to find out what happened again and someone knocked on our door and it scared me so i sorta jumped and started walking to the door and my companion comes out of nowhere and we head butted I'm pretty sure that I bounced off of the hallway wall. She completely floored me!! I'm still feeling that one. 

Anyways I love you all! Have a great week! 

Love, 

Sister Hansen

I'm glad I'm in England (Letter to Mama Packer) (SH)

So your email will be one for the books...book i just started.. Thank you so much! Groombridge place is so pretty! hah yeah the trees are huge, can't see over them but thats okay.

Thats cool that Elder Holland visited Josh's mission as well! So i have talked to the couple over the visitors center and they said that if our two missions go at the same time then i can go find him.. its gonna happen...hopefully!  

Totally with you on the WHOLE conference thing! A lot of it I was like ohhh that woulda been nice a long time ago or dang yesterdays advice today. But it was so good. I didn't get tired either! We watched one session on Saturday and two on Sunday and then the last one on Monday.. kinda spaced out, made it feel long. But i really enjoyed it! I'm glad that Sister Flueren is here to because so much has happened and I KNOW (see what I did there hah) that it is a tender mercy from the Lord. But yes conference was POWERFUL I have never been annoyed when someone else moved or did anything during conference haha but i was so into it and my companion kept moving and i was dying! aahahhh!

Easter was good this year, ya know being a missionary it was probably the best Easter I have had so far. So many powerful lessons happened and a random couple basically just walked in during conference and was like so we are coming to church on Sunday and wanna be baptized....WHAT?!!!!! So my companion and I went and got their information and told them that we would save a spot for them on Sunday and we are going to start teaching them. It was so good especially because we have 1 investigator who we are pretty sure we are dropping so the Lord is totally aware of where we are, our efforts, and what we need!

HA!! I'm dying! Tell Danielle that she is BOMB! hahaha I can't even. And then Lydia's classic line! Sounds like a typical day! Oh and no no I think Lydia was the one keeping me under control cause now I'm here and I'm tryna figure out what is going on with my anger haha.... its fine. Talk about life being fuzzy...

Ah I'm so glad to hear that you are all doing good! I'm glad I'm in England too. It's a little different but its getting better.

Love you so much, thank you for everything you have done and continue to do. Thanks for the prayers, there have been nights already that I know were manageable because of those. I'm proud of you and am grateful and honored to have you in my life. Thanks for not letting go of me (: Conference << It got me thinkin! 

What is your address? (: I only have half memorized.. 

I love you, Kori

Long flight..AND we went to Groombridge place! (SH)

Hey! How are you all doing?! Thank you so much for your letter! I got it in the MTC but it has been really good to read out here.

We left Utah at 10:05am on Tuesday and got to London at 9am on Wednesday...Long flight.. But I did make it hah. It is good, I'm actually having a really hard time adjusting.. It has rained like every day and its freezing and there is no sun but the work is good! Elder and Sister Pinegar, the people over the visitors center, called me in and offered to give me a blessing. They said that they can tell that I'm having a hard time. It was a good blessing and then today the sun came out and its been warm AND we went to Groombridge place! It is so pretty there!!!

So cool thing here, my companion is Sister Catogni and she is from France. I told her about Jessie and she said that she will write her in french! But another cool thing is that my last MTC companion (Sister Catogni is my 4th already..) But the mtc companion I had is in the same flat as me. so we are not companions but we are still together a lot which i know is a tender mercy from the Lord. But she is Sister Fleuren and shes from Germany and she said she will write Nicole hah she is from the west, the Frankfurt mission is where she lives. She says its 30 minutes away from the Netherlands.

And then we are serving in East Grinstead at the visitors center with Sister Lammintaus from Finland, Sister Rosenkilde from Denmark and Sister Engelbrektsson from Sweden! So I'm the only American and my companion kinda doesn't really like us but thats okay.

Hah jetlag is kinda killin me and it doesnt help with my emotions at all! Hopefully this next week ill feel a little more comfortable here, sunday was a hard day but things are getting better. One of the senior couples told me that when im having a bad day to look at the sky and find one patch of blue and if i can find that, it will be a good day in the end. So i think imma work on that.

But I'm loving it regardless! The work is good! I have never learned so much in my life! Kinda crazy! Ah I love you all so much! Tell everyone I say hi and tell Bre that I loved her email and that she is amazing! And i miss her cooking! I totally would have invested.

OHHHHH!!!! Also in June Elder Holland is coming to speak and ALL the missionaries in the England mission go to hear him and I got told that I can go find Jake!!! I just about died! So I'm freaking out about June! Also we will be getting i pads on April 29th so thats cool i guess. Email from home in pjs on pday!

Anyways I love you lots and it is really good to hear from you! Thanks for the email addresses!

-Kori

Pictures of Groombridge Place (the Packer Ancestral home of John Packer where Kira Knightly's version of "Pride and Prejudice" was filmed--the home was the main Bennett family lived!  These are on the grounds of the home.)

MTC = My True Conversion!!! Literally! (SH) FIRST LETTER FROM SIS KORI HANSEN!

First off... STAIRS! Holy cow! Our classroom..5th floor, our residence..3rd floor, food..2nd floor, health stuff..3rd floor. Lets just say that if my calves are at least twice as big in 3 weeks I am going to be a little disappointed. Also I am that one sister that just happens to get sick right when I come here! Its been fun! Its amazing though because it doesn't affect studying or learning or... waking up at6:30 at all! 

My companion is Sister Nelson, she is so amazing! She is from Idaho and is going to the Chicago mission! How cool right?! We have also just been assigned to be the Sister Training Leaders! I'm not exactly sure what it all means but I'm excited to learn more about it aside from the basic instruction that we've been given! There are 8 of us in our district, four Sisters and four Elders. The Sisters Sister Nelson, Sister Athay, Sister Bell and myself and the Elders are, Elder Campbell who is also the district leader, Elder Mckniel and Elder Howard who are the zone leaders and Elder Obrey! They are so amazing! I come to love each of them more and more every day and its totally cool to see how much I learn from every single one of them! AMAZING!!!

The first day was so so good! We kinda just jumped right into stuff but it was incredible how much of it made sense even though it was completely new! We had a huge welcome devotional thingy the day we got here and the spirit was so strong! WOW! We sang EVERY person sang their hearts out! The spirit was so strong! We also did a thing called Meeting the investigators! We had huge groups of missionaries go into a room with an investigator and first a set of Elders would start to teach and then it would open up for the rest of us to ask questions, comment, teach by the spirit!! So powerful! 

Yesterday we had our first "normal" day of classes. We met the investigators that we will be teaching for most likely the rest of the time that we are here. We learned about the Plan, Study, Teach cycle! Then we did personal study and companionship study. We are teaching two investigators! Zach and Saidie! They are both so amazing! We have only gotten the opportunity to teach Zach but the day is not over! But first thing is yesterday it was our time to teach and so they told us to leave the classroom but didn't tell Sister Nelson and I where to go... So we kinda just walked into a random room to see where we were supposed to go and it just so happened.... to us.... of course that it was the room he was in and so it was like walking into his home and it was embarrassing and he was like are you the Sisters haha No..... But on the bright side we got to teach him today and we knocked first!! We taught Zach about Prayer and God's love for us. Zach was talking about how he didn't feel like him and God were in a good place and he didn't really know if he believed in a God. Sister Nelson and I totally started tearing up when he said he felt that way, we bore our testimonies and left him with an invitation to pray and ask if Heavenly Father is there. We left with a hope that something inside of him was touched. Amazing guy though, really! 

Learning by the spirit!! Holy arahadhfkasdhgdfa!!!! I can't even begin to explain it! It is almost scary how much we learn and grown within ONE day here. If I wasn't a missionary I don't think I'd be able to handle all of if but the spirit makes it possible! We teach in class every day and study beforehand by ourselves and with our companions and stuff comes to mind that I've never even heard of! For example thinking of things to teach Zach and about prayer and stuff, I had no idea about the mosaic law and it came to mind and all the ways that we could use it to teach and everything! The spirit truly works with us if we ask! The more we ask for the harder we work! Exact obedience comes with that as well. As we strive to stay exactly obedient we have seen miracles EVERY SINGLE DAY!! (hahah day 3...) I can't wait for what is to come!  

Love you all!! -Sister Hansen

I love you all so much! I miss ya all too but.. MTC is amazing and I kinda wanna be here for more than 3 weeks but its cool! I just wanna bear my testimony to you guys that I know that this gospel is true. I know that Jesus Christ knows exactly what we are going through and exactly how to succor us. If we turn to him with everything we are he will in return prepare us for everything that we can become! I know that He lives and loves us all so much! He sees all of us as we dressed in white waiting to come back. I love Him and love you all and I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.