Cerro Grande "B" - Big Hill - 11/28/11

Well, Elder Hansen experienced his first transfer to Cerro Grande "B".  Here is what he says:

I'm glad to hear how things are going back home. So we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving here, and to be honest I forgot until Elder Dance, my new Zone Leader called us in the night and told me Happy Thanksgiving.

A lot has changed since last Monday. But first off, something really cool happened. So transfers are on Wednesday, and Juan Carlos really wanted me to baptize him, so we got special permission to baptize him on Tuesday. It was an amazing way to finish my first area.

So I was moved over to Cerro Grande "B". It means Big Hill, and it fits. My area covers a very, very, very, large area, and I wish I was exaggerating when I say its 100x larger than my last area. Its on the outskirts of Teguc, and it covers all of the area until the next major city, Talanga. We have to take a 30 minute bus ride to get to one of our areas. I'm super excited though. We have a little bit of everything here. We've got a part of the city, and we've also got a lot of countryside. I'm super pumped. My companion has been here for 3 exchanges with 3 baptisms. So the work here is a little slow, but we're going to change that. We've already set 4 baptismal dates, and that's just the beginning. If there's one thing I learned in my last area is that nothing is impossible. My companion's name is Elder Luna.

He is one fireball of a missionary. Holy cow this kid has got some energy. He is CRAZY! But I love him for it.  I haven't had this much fun in all my mission, and I love it. He is awesome. We need to work on planning a little bit better and also with the ward, but that shouldn't be too hard to fix. I have very high hopes for our companionship. We are going to have a lot of success here, I can feel it.

It was cool to take pictures of the temple last week. Sorry I didn't write very much, I didn't have much time to write. Hopefully the temple will be finished in July of next year. All of the outside is finished, but the inside has a long way to go before its ready. Its exciting to have a temple in your mission, it gives you a goal to set with your investigators for after baptism.

I love you guys. I miss you, and I think you're the best.

Elder Hansen

First transfer - 11/21/11

Looks like he is going to be transferred but we don't know where.  Here is what he sent last week, 11/21/11:

So I got the call last night that I would be leaving my area. To be honest, I was blindsided by it. Yeah, I said there was a chance, but really both me and my companion more than expected it would be him that would leave. He's been there for 6 months, and generally they leave the greenie there and take the trainer out to go be a District Leader or something. But yeah, I get to pack today and say goodbye to everyone. I really do love the members here and our investigators. Its hard to say goodbye. We've been teaching a young man named Juan Carlos. He has been faithful since we meet him. A friend invited him to church, and he started reading and praying before we even met him. He was almost finished with 1 Nefi before we even started teaching him the gospel. He has come to church every week for the past 3 months, and yeah, he is a good guy. The problem was that his parents didn't want anything to do with us. His mom was the one where we intruded and asked why she was holding him back. So anyways, originally they said wait till December, then May, and then it was they don't want him to be baptized period. So this past week has been tough. We spent a lot of time looking for new families to teach because our current ones are flaking out on us, and we need more people to teach. We had 18 contacts this week, and we always set a return appointment so that we could teach the lesson when the whole family was there. Out of those 18 people that said they wanted to hear us, none of them were there for our return appointment. We saw it all this week, and it was pretty frustrating having people lie to your face or just straight up tell you that they don't want to hear our message. But then on Saturday night we got a text from Juan Carlos saying that he got permission to be baptized this Saturday, and he wants me to do it, but I'm leaving areas. Anyways, I needed to have that boost, and I'm grateful the Lord blessed us with softening the hearts of his parents. Sorry if this sounds rushed, I've got to go to the temple right now. The outside is finished, and we are going as a Zone to go take pictures. I think I'll have more time to write afterwards. I love you guys, and I'm grateful for your prayers.

Elder Hansen

More baptisms - 11/14/11

Here is Brett's e-mail from 11/14/11

Okey dokey, here we go.

I am super excited for Tyler! Ahhhh! You have to tell me when he gets his call! I got mine in a little under two weeks, but of course I lived in Provo, which is a little closer to church headquarters, but still, he could get it before Christmas! Woooo hooooo!

This week was pretty intense, but really amazing. I got your Halloween cards on Tuesday, and they were really funny. Thanks for taking the time to show a little love to your long lost bronze boy out in Honduras :) We had 4 baptisms on Saturday, which was also the open house for the new Stake Center. There were over 500+ watching us, so there was a little bit of pressure, but everything turned out great. We baptized Familia Gutierrez and they really are special to me. We've been working with them for over 4 months, (I've only been here for 2 1/2) and there has been a lot of change in them. Its funny how things worked out, because about this time a month ago we were thinking about dropping them, because they weren't progressing. But we had a very frank and clear lesson with them, and they decided it was time to actually do the work required for conversion. We can believe until the cows come home, but until we put some action behind our beliefs, our faith is nothing. Right after that lesson, the family had a little crisis, and it humbled them. We knelt together and prayed for the first time as a family with them. Also, we gave one of the daughters, Linda, a blessing. She said she felt better immediately after the blessing, but she still couldn't sleep that night. So she prayed out loud for the first time in many years, and she said she felt at peace. I had the privilege of baptizing her, and I know that the Holy Ghost is the real teacher, and without it conversion isn't complete.

I love you guys. Thanks for your love and support. We should be having 2 more baptisms this Saturday, and on the 23 we are having changes. (I think that's what they're called in English?) Anyways, life is good

Elder Hansen

 Changes, in Spanish, are more commonly known as transfers for English speaking missionaries.  

Open House on Saturday

In Lynne's email to Brett this week, she included the following quote:

“I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience.  Salvation never was easy.  We are the church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our great eternal head.  How could we believe that it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for him”  Elder Jeffery Holland

Here is Brett's email from 11/7/11 -

I like that quote a lot from Elder Jefferey Holland. I also like the part where he says that both the missionary and the investigator will have to go through a little bit of Gethsemane during the course of their conversion. :) Thanks for reminding me about that quote, I haven't read it in a while. Its one of my favorites.

I didn't get your letters through pouch yet. Maybe I'll get them later today. We'll see.

Give Tanner a high five and a bear hug from me, and tell Tyler that I love him and he's awesome.

This week was pretty normal. We worked really hard with our ward this week. We taught 20 lessons with members present, and 7 other lessons, and 10 lessons to Less Actives, so in total 37 Lessons. I finally reached my goal of having 20, and it felt pretty sweet. This transfer our numbers have been really good, and the best part is that they are continually growing. I love it, and its amazing. I love being a missionary. We have a open house this upcoming Saturday, and I'm pretty stoked for it. They just finished building the new stake center, and everyone in Honduras has been asking us since I got here when its going to be completed. Also as part of the open house, the missionaries from our zone are going to have a huge baptismal service. As of today, there are 16 baptisms planned, and 5 of them are ours. I'm getting in the water and baptizing, so I'm pretty excited. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. On the non-spiritual side of things, this week was pretty cool. We didn't have water for 3 days this week, so that was an interesting experience. The day we got it back the water was brown and dirty, so I got to take a shower in it, and that was interesting to say the least. I ate fish this week also, and they gave us the entire fish. I wish I had brought my camera with me, but it was pretty fun making the fish head talk and taking out the eyeballs etc etc. Our investigators thought it was crazy that I'd never really eaten a fish wish the bones still in it. I really enjoyed it, and it tasted really good. Also this past Saturday/Sunday we fasted, and of course, every single appointment we had offered us something to eat and drink. They understood that we were fasting, but I just thought it was funny how hard Satan was trying to tempt us and how its always when we are fasting that everyone is offering us food. Oh well. :) I'm still loving it

I love you guys a ton. You're the best. :) Be of good cheer

Elder Hansen

Happy Halloween!

Brett's email from 10/31/11 -

Happy Halloween! It was funny, because I completely forgot it was Halloween until I read the email. Everyday is pretty much the same as a missionary, but I love it.

So this week was pretty normal. We had two baptisms this past Saturday. I baptized Heydi. She is an 18 year old girl who has been waiting to be baptized for 3 years. Her Dad is anti-mormon, and refused to sign her paperwork, but she turned 18 recently and could sign it herself. Elder Boyce baptized the other lady. Her name is Suyapa, and she is the mom of Hector (my favorite investigators). We would've baptized Hector as well, but his wife said she wasn't ready to be married yet, which was disappointing, but expected. We're hoping to work with her more and change her mind.

There were a couple of funny stories that happened this week. As with almost all of our investigators, we have to get this one pair married. So we are asking for their name, and she says her name is Cynthia. We asked her how you spell that, and she said "Zeta, como Casa", which in English is 'Z as in House'. Elder Boyce and I looked at each other and tried to keep a straight face. Then we asked her for her birthday, and she didn't know what year she was born in, only that she was 23 years old. I guess I should be more grateful for the knowledge that I have and the blessing it was to be raised in the United States and to have had a good education.

Editor's Note: In Cynthia's defense, (and Brett's, I guess, for those who know more Spanish than he does) in some parts of the Spanish-speaking world (Spain, mostly) the letter C and the Z, when followed by either E or I, is pronounced like our 'TH'. It is sometimes referred to as 'speaking with the ceta' (theta). Because they both make the same sound, they are often mistakenly interchanged.

Another funny story is that we were in a lesson, and Elder Boyce was saying the opening prayer, and he almost ended it by saying 'in the name of Joseph Smith, Amen'. He caught himself at the last minute, but it was still super obvious. I had a good chuckle about that, especially since everyone here thinks that we worship him.

My little spiritual thought for you guys today is on time. Time is the most precious gift that we have while here on this earth. It cannot be bought, or obtained. Everyone is given time to spend how they choose. If you think about it, time really only matters while we are here on earth. In the eternities, we will have infinite amounts of time to do as we wish, but while we are here, every minute counts. We should spend our time wisely, because the 80-90 years we spend here will determine the rest of our existence in the eternities. President Uchtdorf has taught that love is spelled T.I.M.E. My advice is to give those you love the most precious gift you have, your time.

I love you guys :) Thanks for everything

Elder Hansen