Hola ma familia! How is everyone??? Thanks for your letters and emails and love and support! you guys are awesome. Sounds like you guys are having fun out there! Miss you!
Sooo this week has been interesting. found out that I was getting transferred to Salt Lake City . . Cannon Zone . . Pioneer Stake. 32nd and 25th wards . . . we only cover two wards whereas we covered 15 in farmington. . . so yeah there is a lot of differences here. Its a poor neighborhood. pretty ghetto. but awesome people. :) They are a lot more humble than the rich white people in farmington! hahaha but its good. . there is plenty of work to do here. I dont have much time to write today because I still have to email president and he asked us to write a lot this week. so yeah . . but basically we got to the area, bought food, tracted a lot most of the days . . ate with Tongans a lot (there are a ton in this area :) ) So got fed a LOT of food . .. I might get fat . . ehh whatever! And then we have been teaching people a little! We had 3 people on date for baptism, but then none of them showed up for church .. . :( it sucked . . but the 2 can still get baptized because they have been to church a lot, but the other one has to be pushed back a week . . . so thats pretty lame, but we really are trying to get the work going faster out here. And I think it'll work, it just might take a bit of time . . . But thats okay! The Lord will help us. Anyway, the new area is good. . . Like I said in the other email its just west of I-15 in downtown Salt Lake City! you can see some of the high rise buildings from most of our area. Its cool . . We are only teaching black people, but Im fine with that :) so long as they will listen and want to hear about Jesus Christ and about his gospel . I dont care who they are as long as they will listen :) haha but yeah . .. not much else to report . .. Mom, the random picture you got from some lady was because she asked to take a picture of us in Smiths and send it to both our moms. . . so yeah haha it was random but that is me and my new companion, Elder Allen . . He is from Dallas Texas. He is a cool guy. . Not too talkative but good at just going out to work and not complaining which I like a lot :) So yeah . . . Well I gotta run . . its been pretty busy and hectic lately but when things calm down a little more I will be able to write more and let you guys know more about who we are teaching and whats going on and stuff . . . So yeah!
Well . . . the church is true!
God lives and he loves us!
Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer!
Have an Awesome week!
Godspeed
-Elder Hansen
Peak The Strategy
P.S. Just send everything to the new address I gave to you on Thursday . . (except packages mom . . send that to the mission office!!) We will just break in to our mailbox to get our mail out :) hahah . . love you all!
He's back!!!
HE'S BACK!!!!!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Update about transfer
This is not a letter from Elder Hansen but we received a quick update that Michael oops! Elder Hansen has been transferred to Salt Lake City. He is serving in Cannon Zone B which is close to downtown west of I-15. His new companion is Elder Allen who is also very tall and he has been out less time than Michael!
Elder Hansen will write with more details on Monday:)
Elder Hansen will write with more details on Monday:)
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Miracles
Hey Fam. Sup? Hah . . thanks for the emails and letters! I love you guys. hope all is going well for you guys! It sounds like Amanda's homecoming was great! Good to hear. And the work in the front yard looks good Dad! Sorry I couldn't be there to help, but ya know . . this is a pretty good excuse right? :) ha ha anyway . . .
This week was good! Miracles happen everyday. That is a fact. God still talks to and leads his servants on the earth today and helps all those in need who ask for his help and seek his truth with an honest heart and real intent. Its awesome. For example....
This week Elder Miller and I were planning for the next day and contemplating what we should do after dinner the next day. We had seen a young man in the 1st ward a lot lately and Elder Miller said that he felt like we should go see him and ask him to invite someone to be taught in his home so that he could get the experience of being a missionary before he leaves in September and so that we could teach someone! The next day we went over there, but we were a little later than we had planned. He wasn't even home, so we talked to his parents for a while about their other son who had just arrived home from his mission. We stayed there for a while and around 30 minutes later the young man we planned to talk to walked in. We asked him to do what I said earlier and he said he would. We haven't even heard if he has done it or if any success will come from that specifically, but what happened next was in direct relation to Elder Miller following the spiritual prompting he had to go see this young man at that time specifically. After we left, we rode down Lagoon Trail (a little pathway that goes behind lagoon where a lot of people go for evening walks and stuff) and we were just riding along when we saw an old man sitting on a bench and for some reason we stopped to talk to him. It ended up getting a little contentious because he didnt believe that God still talked to prophets on the earth today. As we were talking to him, a young lady (i'd say about 25 or 30) walked past and heard us talking to him and heard him ask, "What is your definition of a prophet?!" . . She kept walking past, but she felt like she should walk back and talk to us. But she ignored the feeling and kept walking . . We finished talking to the man and rode on down the path and passed this same woman again and just said hello and kept on riding. We got to the end of the path and both Elder Miller and I stopped and decided that we should go back and talk to that lady. The spirit prompted us to go back to talk with her. We rode up to her not knowing how to approach the situation and just said straight up "This may sound weird but my companion and I just got the feeling that we should come back and talk to you..." As we said those words, she started to cry... she went on the tell us that she had been praying for help because she had fallen away from the church and she was trying to get back into church and get her and her family going back to church. She told us that she had been fasting and praying all day asking Heavenly Father to help her. We were able to be that help because of the promptings of the spirit. The most crazy part is that we would not have been there at that time if it weren't for all the things that led up to it . .. Like talking to the old man for so long. . . . or even going down that trail .. . . or in the beginning feeling like we should go to that young mans house the night before! The Lord led us before she had even been fasting so that we could be in the right place at the right time to talk to her and listen to the spirit and help this young lady. It truly was a miracle. I feel so immensely blessed that Heavenly Father could work through us (two 19 and 20 year old guys) to help bring back one of his lost sheep. It was an amazing experience that I don't think I will ever forget. We planned to meet with her this Wednesday and teach her family a little more about the church and why it is so important. Its exciting!!
So yeah . . That was probably the highlight of my week :) we spoke in another ward on Sunday, went to some ward councils and talked to the stake president in the West stake. We talked about how Satan really is doubling his efforts to try to stop this work . . especially in Utah. . . And to counter that, Heavenly Father has called 350 to 400 missionaries to come to the all the Salt Lake missions and the Ogden mission this summer! Its incredible. This work will triumph. Gods power and his work on the earth is always more powerful than Satan. So we are trying very hard to help people come unto Christ and achieve the goal of 3,500 souls. So yeah . .
Wellllll This is a pretty long email already so I think I'll leave it at that. Not much else happened this week anyway.
The Church is true! God lives and He loves us and shows that by blessing us in so many different ways. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer!
Love you guys! Miss you! Hope all is well and that you are having a fun summer!!
Godspeed,
-Elder Hansen
Peak the Strategy
P.S. Transfers are this Wednesday so we'll see if Elder Miller and I get split or not. Hopefully we wont because I haven't even finished being trained. But yeah. wordski . .
This week was good! Miracles happen everyday. That is a fact. God still talks to and leads his servants on the earth today and helps all those in need who ask for his help and seek his truth with an honest heart and real intent. Its awesome. For example....
This week Elder Miller and I were planning for the next day and contemplating what we should do after dinner the next day. We had seen a young man in the 1st ward a lot lately and Elder Miller said that he felt like we should go see him and ask him to invite someone to be taught in his home so that he could get the experience of being a missionary before he leaves in September and so that we could teach someone! The next day we went over there, but we were a little later than we had planned. He wasn't even home, so we talked to his parents for a while about their other son who had just arrived home from his mission. We stayed there for a while and around 30 minutes later the young man we planned to talk to walked in. We asked him to do what I said earlier and he said he would. We haven't even heard if he has done it or if any success will come from that specifically, but what happened next was in direct relation to Elder Miller following the spiritual prompting he had to go see this young man at that time specifically. After we left, we rode down Lagoon Trail (a little pathway that goes behind lagoon where a lot of people go for evening walks and stuff) and we were just riding along when we saw an old man sitting on a bench and for some reason we stopped to talk to him. It ended up getting a little contentious because he didnt believe that God still talked to prophets on the earth today. As we were talking to him, a young lady (i'd say about 25 or 30) walked past and heard us talking to him and heard him ask, "What is your definition of a prophet?!" . . She kept walking past, but she felt like she should walk back and talk to us. But she ignored the feeling and kept walking . . We finished talking to the man and rode on down the path and passed this same woman again and just said hello and kept on riding. We got to the end of the path and both Elder Miller and I stopped and decided that we should go back and talk to that lady. The spirit prompted us to go back to talk with her. We rode up to her not knowing how to approach the situation and just said straight up "This may sound weird but my companion and I just got the feeling that we should come back and talk to you..." As we said those words, she started to cry... she went on the tell us that she had been praying for help because she had fallen away from the church and she was trying to get back into church and get her and her family going back to church. She told us that she had been fasting and praying all day asking Heavenly Father to help her. We were able to be that help because of the promptings of the spirit. The most crazy part is that we would not have been there at that time if it weren't for all the things that led up to it . .. Like talking to the old man for so long. . . . or even going down that trail .. . . or in the beginning feeling like we should go to that young mans house the night before! The Lord led us before she had even been fasting so that we could be in the right place at the right time to talk to her and listen to the spirit and help this young lady. It truly was a miracle. I feel so immensely blessed that Heavenly Father could work through us (two 19 and 20 year old guys) to help bring back one of his lost sheep. It was an amazing experience that I don't think I will ever forget. We planned to meet with her this Wednesday and teach her family a little more about the church and why it is so important. Its exciting!!
So yeah . . That was probably the highlight of my week :) we spoke in another ward on Sunday, went to some ward councils and talked to the stake president in the West stake. We talked about how Satan really is doubling his efforts to try to stop this work . . especially in Utah. . . And to counter that, Heavenly Father has called 350 to 400 missionaries to come to the all the Salt Lake missions and the Ogden mission this summer! Its incredible. This work will triumph. Gods power and his work on the earth is always more powerful than Satan. So we are trying very hard to help people come unto Christ and achieve the goal of 3,500 souls. So yeah . .
Wellllll This is a pretty long email already so I think I'll leave it at that. Not much else happened this week anyway.
The Church is true! God lives and He loves us and shows that by blessing us in so many different ways. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer!
Love you guys! Miss you! Hope all is well and that you are having a fun summer!!
Godspeed,
-Elder Hansen
Peak the Strategy
P.S. Transfers are this Wednesday so we'll see if Elder Miller and I get split or not. Hopefully we wont because I haven't even finished being trained. But yeah. wordski . .
Monday, July 16, 2012
Zone Conference
Anyway...
This week we had our first zone conference in the Salt Lake City Mission . . . It was loooooong . . we got there at 8:30 am and left at 5:30 pm . . . . It was a lot of training and stuff . . . This new mission is a lot different . . its interesting to see the difference between the two missions just based on who the mission president is. . .. . there are a lot more random rules that dont make too much sense to me . . but dont worry I am still obedient and am trying my hardest to do my best it just seems like in this mission the best isnt good enough. . . They made a goal to baptize 3,500 people this year in the Salt Lake City mission. meaning if every companionship baptizes once a week until the end of the year we will reach that goal . . . But its just difficult. We have tried really hard since getting to Farmington and we have only had two baptisms . . . . . soo It just makes it seem like our best effort isnt good enough .. in all honesty, this mission just seems a little more prideful than the Ogden mission was . . . like . . I dunno just a bunch of little things make it seem that way . . like in our training at zone conference the president said and I quote, "If you go to an appointment with a less-active member and don't come out of it with a referral then it was a waste of your time." That sounds pretty harsh to me considering the worth of EVERY soul is great in the sight of God... I understand what he was trying to say, that we should get a referral from anywhere/everywhere we can, but the way he said it was bad . . . anyway, enough of me complaining about the new mission!
Well the week was actually very good! we taught quite a bit, helped a lot of people with random things and had a baptism on Saturday that counted on our records, then a baptism on Sunday that didnt count for us, but we taught her because her mom isnt a member and we are trying to get her baptized too! So yeah . . Things are starting to pick up a little. The Lord has started to bless us because of our efforts here. I love just being a missionary out here. It is just the best thing that I could do. I love teaching and constantly learning more about this gospel and about how I can better bring souls unto Jesus Christ . . We have such a great, happy message to bring to everyone and I love being the one to tell people about it! I am quite under-qualified though. But the Lord helps us and strengthen us as we try our hardest . . thats for sure!
Hmmmm . .well . not much else to report! OHH! I just remembered dont send the letters to the mission office in Salt Lake! They said they won't forward our mail to us . . (Stupid right? I dont even understand why . . . its really not that hard. . . . pfffffff anyway) Just send them to Farmington till the 25th and the day after I should get to email you if I am in a different area and give you the new address to send stuff to. So I'll let you know when my address changes and mom you can put it on the blog err whatever so that other people like maybe some friends err someone can write me where Im at . . . If you send anything to the mission office its okay, I just wont get it till the zone leaders go there to get it. (We can't even pick up our own mail there . . . pfffffffffff)
Well I think that is it for this week! There was a parade in Farmington that we walked around and talked to tons of people and then we also saw some fireworks that night for this festival days thing. It was sweet!
Miss you guys! Love you all. Have an awesome week.
God lives and loves us.
Jesus Christ is our Savior.
The church is true.
Godspeed.
-Elder Hansen
P.S. Here are some pictures of us at the two baptisms!
Monday, July 9, 2012
4th of July!
Well hey ma familia . . . How are you guys?? It was great to hear from you guys! I dont have time to reply to you all individually this week :/ but I read through all your emails and they were great! I can't believe you are going to Hawaii Jamie!!?!?!?!?! Soo nuts! You are one lucky duck . . I am a little jealous . . . But its good out here!
Hmmm welll this week was alright! It was the 4th of July soo that was good! We went down to Salt Lake and went to a park for Mission Conference and just ate a bunch of food and played sports. There are a bunch of polys (Polynesians) in our mission and I was the only white kid playing volleyball with them! It was sweet :) they are good ha ha so its fun to play with them.
Oh and that morning we met our Mission President. It was cool . . Him, his wife, the APs, and our zone leaders were all crammed into our tiny apartment thing. . .It was weird . . and they didnt seem like they wanted to be there . . The whole thing was a little weird and seemed sorta unnecessary, but it was nice to meet him. He is a very loving man and I am glad he is my mission president!
Well what else . . .
We have been teaching a little more, and mostly still trying to find people . . I wish the wards would start helping more . . but its alright, we just keep trying to get them involved and stuff. it'll keep getting better.
OH! A crazy connection was made yesterday! I met a Brother Smith at one of the wards yesterday and guess who his brother is?!?! Everett Smith from the Louisville Ward!!!!!! It was awesome :) He was my young mens leader for a while and stuff . . So that was cool :) And Yeah this lady that was a little crazy asked us for our parents numbers and called you guys to tell you we are doing well . . ha ha she was a little nuts, but she insisted on calling you guys so yeah . .
Well Not too much else has happened. A lot of new rules in the new mission . . Like no caffeine (good thing I stopped drinking it and decided not to for these 2 years before I left.) and only Motab and church hymns . And nightly call ins instead of weekly . . and just different stuff all around .. It will take some getting used to but its all good.
I love you all and miss you too! Hope you guys had a wonderful 4th!
God lives and loves us. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.
The church is true.
Godspeed.
-Elder Hansen
Peak the Strategy
Well hey ma familia . . . How are you guys?? It was great to hear from you guys! I dont have time to reply to you all individually this week :/ but I read through all your emails and they were great! I can't believe you are going to Hawaii Jamie!!?!?!?!?! Soo nuts! You are one lucky duck . . I am a little jealous . . . But its good out here!
Hmmm welll this week was alright! It was the 4th of July soo that was good! We went down to Salt Lake and went to a park for Mission Conference and just ate a bunch of food and played sports. There are a bunch of polys (Polynesians) in our mission and I was the only white kid playing volleyball with them! It was sweet :) they are good ha ha so its fun to play with them.
Oh and that morning we met our Mission President. It was cool . . Him, his wife, the APs, and our zone leaders were all crammed into our tiny apartment thing. . .It was weird . . and they didnt seem like they wanted to be there . . The whole thing was a little weird and seemed sorta unnecessary, but it was nice to meet him. He is a very loving man and I am glad he is my mission president!
Well what else . . .
We have been teaching a little more, and mostly still trying to find people . . I wish the wards would start helping more . . but its alright, we just keep trying to get them involved and stuff. it'll keep getting better.
OH! A crazy connection was made yesterday! I met a Brother Smith at one of the wards yesterday and guess who his brother is?!?! Everett Smith from the Louisville Ward!!!!!! It was awesome :) He was my young mens leader for a while and stuff . . So that was cool :) And Yeah this lady that was a little crazy asked us for our parents numbers and called you guys to tell you we are doing well . . ha ha she was a little nuts, but she insisted on calling you guys so yeah . .
Well Not too much else has happened. A lot of new rules in the new mission . . Like no caffeine (good thing I stopped drinking it and decided not to for these 2 years before I left.) and only Motab and church hymns . And nightly call ins instead of weekly . . and just different stuff all around .. It will take some getting used to but its all good.
I love you all and miss you too! Hope you guys had a wonderful 4th!
God lives and loves us. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.
The church is true.
Godspeed.
-Elder Hansen
Peak the Strategy
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Mission Split!
Well its official! As of yesterday, July 1st 2012, I am serving in the Utah, Salt Lake mission. So thats cool! I don't feel any different . . . Ha ha but I will meet the new mission president and his wife and the APs on Wednesday morning this week. They are coming over to our apartment to meet us . . . I guess we should clean up . . ha . . But yeah.
Well some of you may be wondering why I am emailing on Monday this week . . . Well it is because P-day for the Salt Lake mission is on Mondays. But the weird thing is that today isnt P-day for us. We were just told to email today and then work the rest of the day and then Wednesday will be P-day because it is the 4th of July and so we have mission conference in Salt Lake that evening. Its going to be a weird week, but after this week P-days will be Monday from now on. So you can expect to get my emails on Mondays! (Meaning you can / should :) write me emails sometime during the week before the next Monday.) Ha But yeah . . . Not much more happened this week. We worked hard . . . My comp Elder Miller has an infection in his leg and so we went to a PA in one of the wards and he said it was probably a staff infection and so he is on antibiotics and stuff. . . I hope he doesn't die. Ehh im pretty sure he won't!
Anyway . . What else happened this week. . . . We spoke at a Camp Helaman thing for young men about to go on missions in the next year err so. It was good! We just bore our testimonies and I told them about what it would be like since I was just in their shoes like a month ago! Ha . It was easy to relate to them and I hope they get something out of what happened to me and my experience thus far. Well its pretty hard to believe but I have been out for 2 months today. . . I just realized that when I looked down at the time on the computer and it said it was July 2nd.. thats crazy!! Its going fast, but slow at the same time. Its hard to explain, but I love it! Its hard, but completely worth it. I am glad for all these experiences that are somewhat difficult, but strengthen my testimony and help me become a better missionary. Its good :) ha.
We also taught Primary again this Sunday and we taught the Young Men and Young Women in a different ward. It was good! Its hard to believe that I am already out here teaching a lesson to these youth when I feel like it was just yesterday that I was there just a little deacon running around and having trouble paying attention to the lesson and stuff. Ha ha man, time just keeps moving forward whether we notice it or not. Anyway. . .
Not much else happened. We have 4 appointments set up for tonight though so that should be awesome! Im excited to teach! Wordski.
Well I gotta go. but Happy 4th of July!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) hope you all have a great time! and I am sure I will be jealous of the barbeque you all will have!! :( ha. Thanks for all your letters and emails and stuff! It is much appreciated! Paula Happy Belated Birthday! (Sorry I didnt write you or make you a card :( but maybe I will this week if I get the chance.)
Love you and miss you guys.
The church is true.
Godspeed.
-Elder Hansen
Peak the Strategy!
p.s. what is this I keep hearing about Jamie and some sort of job offer?? You should let me know Jamie! haha
bye
Well its official! As of yesterday, July 1st 2012, I am serving in the Utah, Salt Lake mission. So thats cool! I don't feel any different . . . Ha ha but I will meet the new mission president and his wife and the APs on Wednesday morning this week. They are coming over to our apartment to meet us . . . I guess we should clean up . . ha . . But yeah.
Well some of you may be wondering why I am emailing on Monday this week . . . Well it is because P-day for the Salt Lake mission is on Mondays. But the weird thing is that today isnt P-day for us. We were just told to email today and then work the rest of the day and then Wednesday will be P-day because it is the 4th of July and so we have mission conference in Salt Lake that evening. Its going to be a weird week, but after this week P-days will be Monday from now on. So you can expect to get my emails on Mondays! (Meaning you can / should :) write me emails sometime during the week before the next Monday.) Ha But yeah . . . Not much more happened this week. We worked hard . . . My comp Elder Miller has an infection in his leg and so we went to a PA in one of the wards and he said it was probably a staff infection and so he is on antibiotics and stuff. . . I hope he doesn't die. Ehh im pretty sure he won't!
Anyway . . What else happened this week. . . . We spoke at a Camp Helaman thing for young men about to go on missions in the next year err so. It was good! We just bore our testimonies and I told them about what it would be like since I was just in their shoes like a month ago! Ha . It was easy to relate to them and I hope they get something out of what happened to me and my experience thus far. Well its pretty hard to believe but I have been out for 2 months today. . . I just realized that when I looked down at the time on the computer and it said it was July 2nd.. thats crazy!! Its going fast, but slow at the same time. Its hard to explain, but I love it! Its hard, but completely worth it. I am glad for all these experiences that are somewhat difficult, but strengthen my testimony and help me become a better missionary. Its good :) ha.
We also taught Primary again this Sunday and we taught the Young Men and Young Women in a different ward. It was good! Its hard to believe that I am already out here teaching a lesson to these youth when I feel like it was just yesterday that I was there just a little deacon running around and having trouble paying attention to the lesson and stuff. Ha ha man, time just keeps moving forward whether we notice it or not. Anyway. . .
Not much else happened. We have 4 appointments set up for tonight though so that should be awesome! Im excited to teach! Wordski.
Well I gotta go. but Happy 4th of July!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) hope you all have a great time! and I am sure I will be jealous of the barbeque you all will have!! :( ha. Thanks for all your letters and emails and stuff! It is much appreciated! Paula Happy Belated Birthday! (Sorry I didnt write you or make you a card :( but maybe I will this week if I get the chance.)
Love you and miss you guys.
The church is true.
Godspeed.
-Elder Hansen
Peak the Strategy!
p.s. what is this I keep hearing about Jamie and some sort of job offer?? You should let me know Jamie! haha
bye
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