Merry Christmas!!!

Dear Family,
Hey there! How is everyone?? Thanks for the letters and packages you have been sending!  And Merry Christmas!!!! :) I can’t believe that it is already Christmas again...  So weird.  It feels like just yesterday was last Christmas!  I don’t know where the whole year went.  But I am happy to be able to share the message of Christ’s birth as a missionary during this time of year!  It is amazing to see how much the life of an individual can change because of our Saviors life.  I love being able to invite people to make changes in their lives to be able to be more like Christ and use his atonement.  So yeah.


Well these past couple of weeks have been nuts.  We have been taking time to plan meetings for the mission ahead for the next year or so….  So just some calendaring things and working on meetings that are this month.  We had a Leadership Training with all the Zone Leaders, Sister Training Leaders, and District Leaders.  It was a cool meeting.  We talked about how to help individual companionships work toward and achieve their goals.  Just increasing a little bit every transfer.  We aren’t asking for impractical things, but as we just set our goals a little bit higher than before we will be able to see some great things happen in this mission.  So it was a good meeting.  Right afterward we had a meeting with all the newly called leaders and talked to them about their roles to lift, inspire, bless and help the missionaries in their districts and zones. 


The other day we had 4 new missionaries come to our mission! The MTC just told us a week or two ago that they were sending them to us in the middle of the transfer. So we had a mini transfer with all the trainers involved and had a couple trainings.  It was a fun day.  I love being with new missionaries! They are so eager to work and to help people.  Full of fire. It helps me remember what I wanted to do when I came out and just puts all of this into perspective.  I feel so blessed to be able to serve and serve with the missionaries in the Utah Salt Lake City Mission. 


As a fun test the other night my companion asked if I could name or write down the names of all of the missionaries in our mission without looking at anything.  So I got out a piece of paper and started writing by zone.  It took me about an hour to do it, but I remembered all 216 missionaries and where they are serving.  I don’t think that I could quite tell you the names of each stake (there are 67) but I could probably get a little over half.  It is so cool to see how the Lord has been able to help me and enlarge my memory and mind to be able to remember all of these missionaries and areas and housing and cars and just everything! I am not sure that I told you this but when President Hansen called me and we were talking and he asked me to serve the missionaries with him he gave me a blessing.  He blessed me with exactly what I have seen happen.  An increase in mind, understanding and memory to help serve these missionaries and that I would have all the necessary means to do so.  I feel so blessed to see the Lord work in my life and help me to be able to bless others.  I truly love this work.
Well I will email again on Monday and probably tell you when I am going to want to call (or skype / google hangout) on Christmas.  I hope you are all being blessed during this time of year and have opportunities to share the gospel with your friends!  I also hope and pray that you are all travelling safely in the weather!!


Thanks again for everything.  I love and miss you all! Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!! :)


Godspeed.
-Elder Hansen

Peak The Strategy.