La Pradera - 12/10/12

So on Monday night I think I had one of the saddest phone calls of my life. The Zone Leaders called and the first thing they said was ¨We´ve got the changes¨ I felt my stomach drop, and before they even told me, I knew I was going.

My companion was upstairs washing clothes, and I walked up there and he said that my face was pretty depressing. I really, really didn´t want to go.

So I went and prayed, and immediately I felt a calm feeling coming over me. I know that everything is going to be alright, and it will all work out in the end.

The ZL´s asked for me to stay, and they also asked if they could stay. President told us that the Lord inspired him to change me and to change them as well. A cool thing that happened is that Elder "E" and I both left Torocagua, and we both went to Comayaguela. So he´s still my ZL, and its going to be great working with him.

President taught a really cool lesson at the changes. He said we can choose to be like Nefi y Sam, or we can choose to be like Laman y Lemuel. Both groups went to where the Lord told them to go, the difference is in the attitude that they had

My new area is called La Pradera, or the prairie. Its pretty big, and its in the Comayaguela Zona. Turns out that my area is right next to the temple, so I really like seeing it every day. This week they announced the date that the Temple will be dedicated, so we´re all pretty excited. Open House starts up in February, and the Dedication will be March 17. Chances are that I´ll still be in the Pradera in March, so I´m pretty stoked. Now we´re just waiting to hear if President Monson is going to come.

While I really don´t know my area that well just yet, I do know that it is really big, and that it hasn´t had very much success. This zone has always been a hard zone, so I´m glad that the Lord trusts me enough to send me here. We´ve seen several miracles this first few days, including that we put 3 baptismal dates when we really didn´t have anything going for us. I´m pretty stoked, and things are looking great. Hopefully we can meet our goal of 20 baptisms, which will be the most baptisms this zone has had in a couple of years.

My companion is Elder "A". He´s from El Salvador, and he is my 4th companion from there. He´s got a transfer more than me, but he is really cool. We get along really really well, so I´m excited. He comes from a family of 8 and the country, so its really good to have a humble companion. He shares everything, and I´m blessed to be here with him.

Thanks for everything guys. You´re the best. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Elder Hansen