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 . .