Intestine Soup, Yum - 02/27/12

Here you go:

Hola!

Yup, that's all the Spanish you're going to be getting this week. Sorry! Ha ha ha ha

So this past week was pretty cool. I'm really enjoying myself here in Cerro Grande, or Big Hill. I guess technically its Hill Big. I'm still a hillbilly, even when I'm out in the "jungles of Honduras"

Me and my new comp, Elder Gonzalez, are really getting along. I like the guy, even if he is a little weird. We are working our fannies off, and we're having success, which is always nice. We've got 3 baptisms planned for this Saturday.  Two of them are the parents of the Fermin Family, and the other is a 9 year old boy from a less active family.

The only potential problem is the papers. We've been working on the papers forever! Hopefully they'll finally come in this Tuesday, and we can have a marriage this week, followed by a baptism. I bought a cake mix, so hopefully I won't make everyone sick from my cooking.

Yesterday I had the privilege of eating Sopa de Mondongo. You might ask yourselves, what is it? Well my dear friends, its cow intestine soup. Yup, I ate intestines.  It was actually really good. I enjoyed it. All you have to do is get over the texture of intestines, but the flavor isn't half bad.

Its pretty funny, because Latinos love this soup, and almost all of the Gringos or Americans hate it. I think I'm a solid neutral. But yeah, I can add that to my list of crazy things I've eaten.

Well, I hope you guys got a good laugh out of that. I know I did. I'm trying to be better about my writing. I know some weeks I don't put too much effort into it, but I really am trying to be better. I love you all and I think you guys are the greatest. I know that missionary work isn't only for the guys and girls with the fancy name tags. Every single member in this church has the sacred responsibility of sharing it. So do it!

I love you guys.

Elder Hansen

P.S. Happy Birthday Tyler. You're old

Same place, new face - 02/20/12

Here is the latest:

Wednesday was transfers, and I was a little sad to see Elder Urbina go. We made a lot of progress in Cerro Grande, and had a few baptisms, and I sure did learn a lot from him. My new companion is Elder Gonzalez from Guatemala. He is 20, and he has 4 more months in the mission than me. This is his first time being the Senior Comp, so he's enjoying the time to shine, I guess. I don't know. Anyways, I like him. He's pretty cool. He's a little different. He likes to watch TV, but as missionaries, that is kinda against the rule. We have a little portable DVD player, and it almost always has one of the church movies in. He doesn't like to listen to my music because it is in English, so he can't understand it. So we've watched Legacy about 10 times..... ha ha ha!  Okay, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but only a little.

The area is doing really, really well. We've got 4 families that are progressing, and in March we should have some more baptisms. I'm pretty stoked. Next P day we're going to go hike up to some waterfalls, so I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

There have been a lot of fires here in Honduras. People like to start wildfires here' which is something I don't understand. So it's pretty cool to look and see a mountain on fire. Apparently it gets worse, and it turns the sky grey. I don't understand these people, but oh well. But yeah, there is ash everywhere which is fun to clean up.

My Spanish is picking up a lot. I still feel new in the mission, but as I see the new guys come in I realize how far I've come. It's still weird to me that I've been here 8 months, but I guess it might feel like a long time to you guys. It feels super short to me. I don't want my mission to end, but I know that the time is only going to go faster from here on out. I'm getting anxious to be in a leadership position. Most of the Elders from my arrival group have started to train and such, but I'm still Jr. Comp. I know the Lord has a plan and a purpose for me, and that my calling is the same as the AP's, (Assistant to the President) but it would be nice to help out in any way that I can.

I love you guys.

E.H.

Baptizing the Chapel??? 02/13/12

The day before Valentine's Day, here is the news from Honduras:

Happy Valentines Day! I love you all! I'm going to miss not eating pink cream of wheat and having a big red balloon with my name on it, but I think I'll live. Just barely though.

So this week was pretty freaking awesome. Elder Martino, an area 70, came and gave us a really awesome conference this past Friday. Holy cow, it was really cool. We were there practically all day, but it didn't really bother me at all. It was really good to see a lot of my old friends from my last area and also to receive instruction from one of God's authorized servants. It also gave my companion the boost he needed, and ever since then he has been working his butt off (woo hoo) and I have too.

Saturday we had 3 baptisms, and I got in the water for all 3 of them.
We baptized Keyla, Kelin, and Marian, 3 of the girls from Familia Fermin. Two more cousins moved in this week, so now there are 12 people living there, with 3 babies. We've now baptized 5 of them, and we're working on the rest. I'm super excited for them, and they are doing great.

So we also got to baptize the chapel as well. We turned on the water in the font, and then we locked the door so that the kids wouldn't run in and splash around in the water. Then we ordered a pizza, and ate at the zone leader's house. After that we went and got all the clothes and everything, and it was about then that we realized we left the water running. Ooops! Sooooo yeah, we ran back to the church to find it flooded. There was about 2 inches of water on the ground with more spewing out. That was fun. Any missionary can tell you that Satan works the hardest on baptism days. SOMETHING always goes wrong. So yeah, we spent 2 hours cleaning the church.

So everything turned out alright in the end, like it always does. Life is good, and I'm actually going to miss Elder Urbina, the little stinker. It's been fun working with him, and I'm excited for him to start this new part of his journey. Going home sounds terrible to me, but he seems pretty excited. Maybe when I have more time in the mission going home will sound more appealing. Anyways, I love you all!
Thanks for the love and support.

E.H.

"And Orlando was his name-O" - 02/16/12

Enjoy!

So things are getting better, slowly but surely. Thanks for all the love and support, it means a lot to me.

So this week we worked really hard to get Familia Fermin ready for baptism. They are ready, excited, and waiting, but the problem is still the paperwork. We finally got this paper that says that he is single and from Honduras, but the problem is that they wrote Rolando, when his name is Orlando. One letter was wrong, and now we've got to start all over again! Ugh! Frustration!  The good news is that we had 2 baptisms today! Two of the sons wanted to go ahead and get baptized, so we did! Their names are Leodan (19) and Espiter (17) and they both are progressing amazingly. Both of them bore their testimonies yesterday at church, and I'm so stinkin' proud of them. I feel like they are part of my family, and its amazing to see them gain a love for the gospel.

My companion has 8 more days left in the mission, and the countdown has officially begun. I'm trying to be obedient without being over demanding or critical, but its hard for him to keep the simple rules, like waking up on time, staying focused, planning, etc etc. I've been doing pretty well so far, but it's definitely being a trial of my patience and endurance. I know that this will help me to grow and become more independent, but I'm also anxiously waiting for the 15th to come, if you know what I mean.

I love you all. Every single one of you. Even Tanner when he doesn't shower!
Elder Hansen

Opening New Colonies - 01/30/12

Here is last week:

This week was pretty sweet. We taught a lot of lessons, which was refreshing, and we found a lot of new people to teach. We opened up two new colonies or neighborhoods that no Elders have gone before, so that was pretty sweet. Its weird that people don't know who we are, but its also really cool. We're having tons of fun exploring and searching for new people to teach.

I've had some really spiritual experiences this week, and a lot of prayers have been answered. They are pretty sacred to me.

I love the work, and I love being a missionary. Sorry this letter is really short, I've got to go up to the Mission Office. I love you all, and I hope you guys have a fantastic week.

Jacob 6:11-12

Elder Hansen

Baptisms and bikes - 01/23/12

Sorry, everyone.  I haven't been diligent in keeping up with this blog.  Here is letter from two weeks ago:

Dear Family,

Not much to report this week. Its still the same old same old. Finding, teaching, baptizing. This week was a lot better than last week, and we are having a little bit more success in my area. I'm excited for Jacob, for his baptism and his brand new bike. I know that baptism is essential, and that the Gift of the Holy Ghost will be a great blessing for him.

Familia Fermin is doing great! They are ready to be baptized, but our only problem now is the paperwork, and the money. We need to somehow come up with another 40$, but hopefully we can get some help from the ward and sell some doughnuts or something. They were born in Gracias a Dios, which is this huge part of the country that you can only get to by boat or airplane. I want to go there someday, it sounds pretty cool. But yeah, its hard to get paperwork from there to here, but we've got a plan, so hopefully this week we can get all the paperwork we need.

My companion is doing a little bit better. He's realized that he isn't giving it 100% and he wants to fix it. Hopefully we can use that desire and turn it into action

I love you all and I'm so grateful for every single one of you. I hope you have a fantastic week

A man is never taller than when he is on his knees

Elder Hansen