Sister Hannah Lynne Andersen

Tuesday, July 15, 2014~Week 48
Antipolo; 11:35 AM Tues (PH); 9:35 PM Mon (US)

Heyyyyy family! Soooo this was a pretty interesting week. First of all, I would like to announce that transfer announcements came and luckily, I'm staying here!! Yayyyy!!! We all guessed that Sister Atu'ake would transfer because she's been here for three transfers now and she's been with Sister Brown for 2 already but to our surprise, we're all staying!! Haha this is the first time that this has ever happened to me where everyone in the house is staying. There's always been at lease one person that transfers. So we're pretty excited because everything's just gonna be super normal still.

What do you mean you don't want to do this any more??
#preachmygospelvideos #bestpartoftraining
#onlymissionariesunderstandhowgreatthispictureis

Alrighty so it's been a while since I shared a HannsBoNanns moment. But this one is just so typical that I HAVE to share it! So last Wednesday, we were out working in the morning and we were just standing near the chapel talking to some tricycle drivers about the gospel and we were finishing up our conversation when suddenly it just started to rain really really hard. And so we ended and then Sister Hernandez and I turned to go into the chapel for a minute and we open the gate, and I'm walking on the muddy cement and then BOOM! My foot slid right out from underneath me and I fell right smack dab on my bum! I was already wet but now I was wet AND muddy! But I just kind of laughed and then quickly got back up and then took another step and then BOOM! Same thing happened! Hahaha and I fell right back down but this time I slid on my bum a good foot and half! By this time I was cracking up! I was so dirty and so wet and it was just so funny!! And so Sister Hernandez helped me to slowly walk underneath the shelter of the church and I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe! And then I kind of washed off my legs and arms in the rain but only for like 30 seconds because it stopped raining! It rained for like a minute and half and then stopped! I was like, it literally rained just so that I could fall down! Hahaha ohhhh man it was good. I love those moments. They never get old.

And then that same day, I got super sick. I had the flu. It was not fun. I threw up a couple times and I was burning up but I felt chilly even though it was just as hot as ever. I h a t e being sick on the mission because I don't know what to do. Haha you just have to sit there and suffer and the only time I ever really get kind of homesick anymore is when I get sick because I just want mom and dad to take care of me. I never know what to eat or drink when I'm sick but mom and dad always knew and they always made it perfect. So being sick is just NOT fun. I was sick on Wednesday and Thursday. Which also is a shame because that's so many appointments that you miss. So that made this week kind of hard. But it's okay! Because I got better and all is well now!

And then. On Friday. I ate......... BALOT! {For those of you who don't know what balot is, it's a fertilized duck egg. With feathers. W E T F E A T H E R S.}

#balot
(It's pronounced baloot. It's fertilized duck egg.
Yes there were feathers. Hahaha)

Yeah that was the stupidest idea e v e r. So what happened was, Sister Hernandez and Sister Atu'ake said that Sister Brown and I had to eat it because what if someone transfers and you're not truly a missionary in the Philippines if you don't eat balot and blah blah blah excuses excuses and Sister Brown and I were stupid and said yes! So that night on the way home, we bought balot that Sister Hernandez and Sister Atu'ake said was okay { I later found out that it was 18 days old which is definitely NOT okay!} And we came home and I prepared myself to die.

I was nervous.

Hahaha soooo basically here's the run down. We all started to peel our eggs and I stopped after I barely peeled the top off and I sat there staring at it and then slowly...... I just started to cry.

It. Was. Disgusting.

I couldn't help it! Haha I don't know why but the tears just came! And they didn't stop! I kind of just cried and little by little {it took an hour} I ate my balot.

I didn't like what she just pulled out of the shell.

Hahahaha I wish I could send you the video but it's 20 minutes long! That's something you can look forward to for when I get home. It's actually super duper hilarious and I believe you will thoroughly enjoy it. I was cracking up after because I really just look so pathetic and scared.

I was a happy camper. Can you tell?

#balot

Oh man. But hey! At least I can say I ate balot! But be assured it is NEVER happening EVER again! #imsobrave #gohanns #praythatidontdie

My Moon
{My camera literally has the best zoom ever}

And then I've got some sad news too. So our investigator, A., who is super duper amazing and I love her to death! She can't get baptized yet :( It's that same situation where she had a husband before but they split up and now they each have different "spouses" but there's no divorce in the Philippines and annulment is soooo expensive. So the church policy is that if that is the case, they can still be baptized as long as they have been with their new spouse for a period of at least 5 years. A. has only been with her new spouse for almost 2. Soooo we went over and explained to her the situation and you know what she said, "Ayos lang yan Sister! Pagsubok lang ito. Kaya ko ito!" Which means, "It's okay Sister! This is just a trial. I can do it!" We were like OH MY GOSH WE LOVE YOU! Anyway, so we set a baptismal date for December 2, 2017! Sooooo we'll all just have to pray that she'll stay strong until then! I'm not worried about her though. Because she's super strong in her testimony. She's already made it to Mosiah in her Book of Mormon reading which is kind of basically a miracle because it's so hard to get people to read the Book of Mormon! But aside from that, she lives with a super active recent convert and the ward all knows her and loves her. So I know that she'll be okay. Still, prayers!

This is Mark. He's so adorable!!!

Hello Super Moon!

#supermoon #superview

Sister Atu'ake and Sister Brown!

We're at the very tip top of our area and the
view was sooooo pretty that night with the moon.
The camera could not capture it.

As for the typhoon that's coming, in answer to your questions, yep it's going to affect us. They told us that we need to be in by 12:00 pm. I don't know how strong it is or anything. I just know that we have to be inside and we have to wait there until they tell us it's okay to go out again. They said probably until Wednesday morning. So probably what's gonna happen is there's gonna be some poppety corn and movies such as the Joseph Smith movie and the Testaments and Legacy playing nonstop until we've got the clear to leave. My cute little anak is scared though. Actually, every time there's super hard rain, she gets really nervous because it takes her right back to Yolanda. She's nervous too because she said that right before the storm, it seemed like nothing was wrong. The weather was just super calm and normal and then it just hit hard. So she's nervous. But it's okay! We'll be fine! Sister Brown has her water tube ready to go so all is well! Hahaha ohhh man. I love my kabahays.

Oh ya know. Just praying with a water tube.
Just in case our house floods or something.
Better safe than sorry right??

Anyway, it was a good week full of all kinds of adventures! I'm just super grateful for be out here in the mission field. Because yes times get hard and it's super rough some days but I've found through out my whole mission that there is always something in every single day that makes me laugh and makes me happy. And I'm so grateful for that. Heavenly Fatehr really loves me. He's never made me go a day without giving me something to smile about! I love my mission! I love the Philippines and everything that comes with it! I'm super excited for this upcoming transfer! I know it's gonna be great! It's a pretty big one because I turn 20 this transfer AND I hit my 1 year mark. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?? Who can believe it?? Not I!! Yesterday was my 11 month mark which means I've only got 7 months left to work my tail off! Time is going by so fast! Only 5 transfers! Bahhhhh. Plus! My nanay, Sister Jones, and Sister Hepworth go home tomorrow! That's. So. Weird. It's weird because I literally remember saying to Sister Jones one day, "When you go home, I'll be where you are in your mission." And it's here! It's so crazy!

TODAY

Time goes by so so fast! Don't let a minute pass you by! Live every day to it's fullest and you'll be able to look back and say to yourself that not only are you satisfied with what you've done, but you're perfectly happy with everything you've accomplished! So go! Live! Make mistakes! And then go again! Turn your cant's into cans and your dreams into plans! I hope that you all have a wonderful week! Thank you for the constant love and support! You're all always in my prayers! Miss you all! LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!

Love, Sister Andersen