Silly games and chips and dip - 03/26/12

I guess he is being transferred again.

Hola mis amigos!

Yeah, I know you guys wont be able to understand me, so I'll just leave it at that.  This week was pretty cool! Yesterday I found out that this Wednesday I'll be changing areas! Woo Hoo! I love Big Hill ''B'', but after 4 and a half months, I'm a little ready for a change in scenery. So that's whats new and exciting in my life.

Here is advice for his brother who will be leaving soon for his mission:

I'm glad to hear that things are going well back home. My advice for Tyler is that the Lord calls the weak to do great things. There is a talk by President Eyring from this past conference. I'm going to be honest, it really changed my life. It talks about feeling inadequate, and I highly recommend it. Also, like both Jared and Mom told me this week (that was a pretty cool coincidence) pray! A man is never taller than when he is on his knees. No one can do it alone, so ask and receive.

This week we had a really cool fellowshipping activity. We invited 2 of our families that we are teaching, and the majority of the members that lived closed to them. In total we had 26 people crammed into this little house, but the spirit was very strong, stronger that the heat! Ha ha ha, but it was really cool. The members planned everything.  We brought the investigators and gave the lesson, and then we played some silly games and ate chips and dip. That simple little activity meant the world to our investigators.  It showed that we care about them and that Mormons like to have fun too. Also, it doesn't have to be a grand fiesta with a candle light dinner in a cozy large house. It can be chips and dip in a little room without air conditioning. Anyways, I'm glad you guys are helping with the Lord's work, and I hope that you'll continue to invite others to come unto Christ.

I love you all, and I miss you.

Elder Hansen

Stake Conference and Seventies - 03/19/12

Here is the latest news:

Things are going really well in the field. We found 3 new families this week with very little contacting. We received one as a reference without even asking, which was a very, very pleasant surprise. And the other two were pretty cool as well because we knocked 3 doors and we taught 3 lessons. Every door we touched this week opened up to us, and that was pretty awesome. The Lord is blessing us and I like it.

We had Stake Conference this week. A couple of 70´s spoke as well as Ann M Dibb and Boyd K Packer. We brought quite a few investigators so I hope that they were able to feel the spirit as an Apostle of the Lord spoke.

Life is super good right now. I´m actually not looking forward to changes next week. I like my area, I like my companion, and I like my investigators. I know the Lord has a plan so I need to stop being self centered and be more humble.  It's just hard to say goodbye to people you care about.

I´ve been thinking alot about Grandpa this week. I miss the old stinker. I like to wear his tie he gave me and the plaid socks. Every time I do I say ¨This one's for you pops¨.  I hope he smiling up there and I can bring honor to his name.

I´ve been reading the New Testament during my personal study. I´m in Mark, but I should finish it today after laundry. Its pretty cool to learn more and to analyze the stories I´ve heard my whole life, but never really studied. It's pretty amazing to apply the parabolas a nuestras vidas.

I love you guys a ton. I´m excited for Mothers Day. Keep on keepin on

Elder Hansen

Pretty normal week - 03/12/12

Brett is learning to enjoy different foods:

I don't know if I told you this before, but my first comp, Elder Boyce, really likes Egg Salad Sandwiches. So I ate a few of them with him back in the day, and they weren't all that bad. So I think it was Friday when I made an Egg Salad, and it wasn't too bad. I think it's funny that I never ate it just because of the smell. I'm excited to try other foods that I hated as a kid.

This week was pretty normal. We didn't do much out of the ordinary. Knocking doors, looking for new people to teach. The problem we have right now with our investigators is that the ball isn't moving. It isn't that the ball isn't in their court, it just isn't moving.  Translation, they aren't progressing very fast. We have a goal of 4 baptisms this month, and the families we have are doing well, but won't be baptized this month, so we're looking for people who are ready to accept the Gospel and be baptized.

I know that goals are good because they give us the drive to work our butts off, but at the same time I know that we can't change their agency. We as missionaries ask a lot of our investigators. We ask them to change EVERYTHING about their lives, and we want them to do it as fast as possible. Its hard, but Jesus never said it would be easy.  We're still visiting our slow investigators and we'll patiently lead them by the hand to baptism, but we won't dedicate too much time waiting on them.

We had an activity this Saturday. We didn't get the turnout we wanted too, but we did get the spiritual boost that was very much needed. I highly recommend the movie 17 Miracles. Watch it, love it, and cry. It would make a great birthday present.

I love you guys, thanks for the support.

Elder Hansen

Reading the BOM in Spanish - 03/05/12

 Here is the latest:

This week was pretty cool. We had another baptism this Saturday (Woot woot!) His name is Alex Eduardo Raudales Soriano, and he´s 9 years old. He is like my little brother, and while he doesn´t completely understand what he´s doing, he knows that it's the right thing to do. We play ball alot, and thats how I gained his trust. After that, we taught him strictly the basics, but even then it was hard to keep his attention. The good thing is that his parents are recent converts, so they support him, but because they live pretty far from the church they don´t always go to church. We talked with them about Dia de Reposo, and we´re hoping that it´ll stick and they´ll continue to be faithful. They´ve been coming for a little over a month and a half now, so I´m pretty excited.

We finished the Book of Mormon this week. Technically it was last Monday, but I don´t remember if I told you guys about it. The President made this organized reading plan to finish reading the Book of Mormon in 2 months. I learned a ton, and I really enjoyed it. It was my first time reading it thru in Spanish, and it was cool to me to see how when I started my comprehension was rather pathetic, but by the end I can read in Spanish just as well as I can in English.

We were bummed out when all three of our planned Family Home Evenings fell thru this past week, but the good news is that we´ve got five planned in the next couple of days. Hopefully everything will go according to plan and we can help fellowship our investigators with the ward

So this week has been rather demanding mentally. I´ve decided to give more effort into planning and coordinating with the members. ´We haven´t seen too much success from our efforts YET, but I have a lot of hope and faith that it will be worth all the hassle and that very soon here this area will explode with baptisms. We´ve already passed last years total in baptisms in 2 months, and hopefully March will be a month of miracles. The Stake Presidency asked all the wards to fast and pray for more baptisms and attendance in Sacrament meeting. They are having tons of correlation with the leadership, so hopefully we can get the ball moving pretty soon here. We´ve got good vision, plans and goals, now we just need to convert it into good works.

My companion likes to talk. All the time. Its cool, but sometimes I wish he wouldn´t talk until 11pm at night and let me sleep. But its okay, I really do like him and we are working really, really well together. Its refreshing to have a companion that isn´t counting down the days till he goes home.

Well, that's about all I can think of for this week. I love you guys. I know that the Lord loves us individually, and that everything in our lives has its purpose. Trials make us stronger and the refiners fire is the only way to prove our faith. Keep on keepin´ on

Elder Hansen