One more week - 02/25/13

This week has been a really interesting week to say the least. Its been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, but I must say things are a lot better than they were last week. Sorry that I was a little negative, I´m only human.

So we had some really cool things happen this week. On Friday we headed on out to Ojojona to marry Familia "A"! It was soooo cool! Ojojona is this little pueblo out in the middle of nowhere. Its like straight up 1800´s in there with like donkeys and wagons and a huge catholic church. There are tons of little tourist shops with cool little souvenirs. I didn´t buy any, but I might go back later and get some stuff, like a cool leather belt. They were so stoked about it, and afterwards I took us out to eat. It was great!

Then later that day, we had the baptism of "J"! We weren´t sure if he was going to get baptized mostly because we hadn´t taught him lesson 4 until the night before his baptism. Luckily he wasn't  drinking coffee or anything, and he told us how the spirit testified to him that the church is true. His testimony is rock solid, and I´m so stinking proud of him. He makes me all happy inside. His girlfriend turned in her mission papers a week ago, and he said that he wants to go on a mission as well! We´re really happy for them both, and it was really cool to help teach him the gospel.

Binda "A" was mad at me because we didn´t pass by on Saturday. She told us on Sunday that she wants to be baptized now! Ha ha ha ha, I think that's a first that an investigator is mad at me because they want to be baptized immediately. We put a fecha with her for this Friday so that her husband can come. He tells everyone that he´s Mormon, and he´s super stoked to go to church on Sunday. He was going to go last week, but a work partner didn´t show up to take his place. He was so sad about that, and it turns out his work partner lost his job for not showing up. He had to work yesterday, but he told us that this week he´s going.

Things are going great here. We´re having fun, and I´m picking my battles and its working out pretty well. My comp had an interview with President today. Thanks for the prayers.

I think I´ve probably doubled my charity, humility and patience this week. It's good though, and I feel closer to God for it.

Oh yeah, there's only one more week until transfers, and Pres told my comp that I´m leaving. Also there's only one more week of the temple open house.

Take care guys!

Elder Hansen

Another week - 02/18/13

I´m not going to lie, this week was hard.

Teaching wise, things are going great. We´re finding new people to teach, our investigators are progressing, and I´m so proud of our area and of the district. On Saturday, we brought all of Familia "A" to the temple. We finally got the Dad to come with us, and he loved it and said that he felt something tingly in his chest. After explaining that it was the Holy Ghost, he said he liked it and he wants to feel it more. Man, I love the temple."J", another investigator, also said the exact same thing, and we explained that feeling to him as well, and he is going to be baptized this Saturday. We´re stoked!

On Thursday night, I lost my patience with my companion. I blew up on him, and he did on me. It wasn´t pretty. We had exchanges the next day with the Zone Leaders mostly because I needed some space. I talked with them alot about it, and they told me that I should talk to President about what my companion is doing.

We´ve talked alot about it, and I´ve told him that I´m sorry for blowing up on him. There are two ways of correcting people, the Lord´s way and Satan´s way. I feel bad that I did it the wrong way, and I´m repenting for it, but I´m just so sick of dragging him around, listening to him complain and being a hypocrite.

Sorry guys, this letter isn´t incredibly inspiring. I´m frustrated.

I know that Jesus loves me and he loves my companion, so I´m praying and asking for love for him. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Thanks for everything guys. I hope you all have a great week. Take it easy

Elder Hansen

A Rush of Emotions - 02/11/13

This week was pretty crazy. Thanks for the prayers, they worked. 

We had some really really powerful moments this week with my 
companion, including a really long comp inventory. Long story short,
he´s staying, repenting, and moving on. We´ve still got a few little
sins to fix, but we´ve conquered the big ones. 

Saturday we went to the temple twice, once with "D" in the morning
and the other at night with Familia "A". We´ve got plans to go with
"J" on Tuesday and "V" on Wednesday. On Saturday 15k people
showed up to the temple, so needless to say it was a little packed.
The good thing is that everyone said that they want to go back, so I´m
excited to take them when we can take our time and explain a little
bit better what the warm feeling is that they´re feeling and why there
are two mirrors, etc etc. 

Last night we goofed off a little bit. We used the talc powder that we
have and had a huge talc fight. We were all covered in white powder,
and so was the entire house. We had a good laugh, but cleaning it up
wasn´t that funny. I enjoyed it though, and it was a good way to blow
off some steam. 

We had a FHE with President Fortuna last night. All 4 of the
missionary pairs in the district brought a family, and we all squished
inside of a mini van and we hit up his place. It was really spiritual,
and it was my first FHE with the preident. I loved it, and so did Familia
"A". Things are going really really really good right now. 

Thanks for everything guys. I could really feel the Lord´s protecting
hand this week. Want you guys to know that I´m safe and sound. Love
you all. 

Elder Hansen

Open House - 02/04/13

We talked to Bro "A" for the first time last night. He told us before the lesson that he´s been listening to us for a while, that he loves our religion and what we do. He told us that now he wants to tell all of his friends that he´s a Mormon, but he´s scared because he doesn´t know the doctrine, so he picked up the Book of Mormon we gave him and he said that he´s got to be ready for their attacks. He works guard duty, so he´ll have tons of time to read. I´m so stoked for him and for his family. Things are looking really really good with him.

So this Saturday the Open House starts up. I´m freaking pumped! The first session is at 8:30 AM, and I´m hoping I can convince an investigator to go with me that early. If not, I´m sure I can go with one later in the day. We´ll have a bus leave every 30 minutes from the church, so that's pretty exciting. Or I could just walk there in 15 minutes. Either way, I´m going!!! Woo Hoo!

In other news, we had emergency transfers on Thursday.  My comp was called in to take the place of any elder and that elder came over here with me.  I´m trying not to judge him and to just see him as God see´s him. He doesn´t want to be here anymore. He told me that he´s going to talk to his Stake President. He called President last night, and they´re going to have an interview this week. I´m just trying to do what's right. I just want to teach the gospel. Mission drama is so dumb.

I miss my old comp. He´s a great guy, but I´m glad that the Lord trusts him enough to clean up the mess.

We´re planning to have a triple wedding on Valentine's Day. We´re going to marry Familia "A", and they are so stoked! The Relief Society president is throwing a party for them, so I´m really happy that we are getting so much support from the ward.

Thanks for everything guys. If you guys could pray for my companion, it would be great. He needs a lot of help. Also, if you could pray for me, I need to know what to say so that I can help him too. I don´t want him to throw his mission away.

Take care guys! Thanks for all of the prayers. You guys are the greatest!

Elder Hansen