. sup!

Hey Errbody! Im going to make things very short this week because I have so little time. 

This week was alright.  Not the best I have had, but we taught some great lessons and had some miracles happen so that 3 people are going to be baptized next Sunday! Should be awesome! 

I really don't have like anything to say... ha ha I don't even really remember everything that happened this week.  But yeah.

We had dinner with some families in the Swahili branch, including President Musungu again! We try to build trust with all of the members in the branch so that they can really help us push the missionary work forward. So yeah.

The work is picking up.  It is a tender mercy from the Lord.

I love this gospel. It helps me in everything I do and I know that the Lord is there for me and will strengthen me when I humble myself and ask and put in the effort.

Well I know this is really short, but I just don't know what else to say and I am very rushed for time.  I promise next weeks email will be better!

Wordski.

Miss you and Love you all! 

The church is true.

Godspeed.

Love,

Elder Hansen

 

Peak The Strategy

oh P.S. That picture is of a random street in Salt Lake City and it made me laugh so I took a picture.  Sick.

Snow!

Sup fam? So its been snowing so freaking much here.....  It just keeps snowing.  As soon as I think it is going to warm up and melt a little, another storm comes in and dumps another foot or two of snow!  Its ridiculous.  ha ha but I like the snow so its all good. :)

Well I miss you all, I hope you are doing great! This week was pretty great.  We had some great lessons that helped our investigators that are on date become more excited about their baptism and truly understand why they need to be baptized.  It is pretty simple to explain it in english, but as it is translated it is hard for them to understand... but we are making progress. 
We had zone conference on Thursday.  It was very uplifting and inspirational. I have so much to learn and do to become a more powerful missionary.  We talked a lot about working with the ward leaders and about having an increase of faith to invite and to see miracles.  There is work to be done. 

I did some baptismal interviews for some investigators being taught by missionaries in our district.  I love having the opportunity to do that.  To see how someone has grown to understand the gospel and is prepared to be baptized.  I love hearing their testimonies and what they have come to know through the spirit. Most of the time it is pretty simple, but strong. A simple declaration of truth (which is basically the definition of a testimony) can be gained through the experience of reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know if it is true.  That is why we as missionaries are ALWAYS inviting people to read and pray.  Once they have a conviction of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon everything else in the gospel will fall into place.  That is why the Book of Mormon is the strongest tool we have to use as missionaries.  I love it. I love reading it and I know it is true.
Word.

Anyway.... what else happened this week? Hmmm. Oh! So we ate dinner with a family on Saturday. The Fathers name is Amram Musungu (known as President Musungu.)  He is the man who started the Swahili Branch!! He has done so many cool things for the church. We were talking to him at dinner and he was telling us how he was converted when he was younger, maybe 16 or 17. Then he went on a mission when he was 18 years old. He served as a full-time missionary for 27 months. Pretty cool right? It gets better.  He came back and since he knows Swahili and English so well, he played a big role in the translation of the Book of Mormon into Swahili!! He also did a major part of the translation of the triple combination.  He actually had some of the transcripts of the Doctrine and Covenants at his house when he was translating them into Swahili!  He also has been translating General Conference into Swahili for years now.  He is such an amazing man. He does so much for the church!  And to top it all off, he is in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!!!! ha ha he is one of the few black guys. I know there is the famous one from England, Alex Boiea (I have no idea how to spell his last name! haha) And the other one is President Musungu!  He is a boss.  He is helping us a lot with our investigators and giving us a lot of ideas of how to help to members of the branch become strong members and prepare for missions.  So I thought that was a pretty cool thing to share with you all.  I feel pretty lucky to be able to meet some awesome people on my mission.

Well other than that not much else.  We are trying to find a translator who speaks Maban and English so that we can teach a woman that wants to be baptized this weekend! So I hope we can find someone!

I love you all! I hope you are all doing well. 
Have a good week.

Godspeed.

-Elder Hansen

Peak The Strategy

P.S. Here is a picture when the snow is coming down really hard but it doesn't do it justice.  I was kinda cold. ha ha :)
   

(Short but oh so sweet to hear from Elder Hansen)

Well hello family!  I miss you all!  Thanks for the emails and letters and pictures. You all rock.

So... Im going to keep this short today.  I don't have much time and I don't have a ton to say. 
We had a pretty average week.  Put another person on date and 7 people came to church.  Taught some good lessons, but we couldn't find translators that were available much so we had to just watch movies and use pictures a lot.  But yeah.

Hmmm what else happened this week??  Not much!  Got a flu shot.  It was free because this man who loves missionaries (his name is bro. Hansen) paid for us to get them. 
We had to take some of our investigators in our car to church because nobody could take them! It was ridiculous. 

Anyways,  I don't think much else happened.  Elder Lee has some friends back from New Zealand that came into town this weekend so they fad us on Sunday night.  It was good :) It was funny to hear everyone talking with their accents and saying things like "ehh?" at the end of every sentence. ha ha they also say " ohh true?? " instead of us saying like "oh really?" ha ha it was crazy.

Well I know this is really short, but nothing really crazy or out of the ordinary happened this week.  We set a goal of 15 baptisms for our district in February.  I think we can do it! It'll take a lot of prayer and faith and then we will see miracles.

I love this gospel. I know it is true.
God lives and loves us.
Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.

Love you all!

Godspeed.

-Elder Hansen

Peak The Strategy

Word.

Well hello!  How is everyone??  I hope you all are doing fantastic and
staying healthy, happy, and safe in this winter weather!  How much
snow was there in Colorado??  Nothing in Oregon right?  ha ha well we
got about 2 or 3 feet.  It was pretty intense!
Anyway, this week was transfers!  I am still in the same area with
Elder Lee still.  No changes.  Still trying to learn swahili as well.
We had some interesting experiences this week!
First off we woke up on Wednesday morning and went to go leave to go
to the mission office.  We go outside to our car and we can't find it!
 It wasn't where we left it!  At first I thought it was a prank by
some other missionaries and that I had accidentally left it unlocked
and that they had put it in neutral and pushed it somewhere else, but
after looking around we couldn't find it still.  Then I was scared
that it had gotten stolen!!  So we made some phone calls to our
landlord and some other people and found out that it had gotten
towed!!!! pfffff!  Soo stupid.  It was parked in OUR parking spot
behind OUR apartment.  I have been parking in the same spot for 2
months! And then randomly it gets towed because we were supposed to
have some sort of parking permit that we had no idea about!  So yeah .
..  We got our car back later that day and it cost $214!!  Thats a
freaking lot! We got a permit for the car now so we don't get towed
again, but I feel so jipped because we didnt even know anything about
it and now we are supposed to pay for half of the towing cost.  So
Elder Lee and I each owe like 50 or 60 dollars.   So that was pretty
annoying.
Other than that we actually got some good missionary work done!  We
found some new people to teach and put them on date to be baptized on
the 10th of February.  Also we put another family on date to be
baptized on the 3rd of March right after the father gets back from
Kentucky.  They have been taught a lot and want to be baptized! So
things are looking up :)
Then when the storm hit, we were told that we couldn't use our cars
all day on Friday.  And our investigators live very far away!  So we
helped shovel some driveways and helped some other Elders that live
close by with their missionary work.  Then Saturday we just taught
some more people.
Hmmmmm . . . anything else crazy happen?  I don't think so.  Just
trying to help everyone come closer to Christ.  In the Swahili program
our purpose can mean a lot of other things as well though.  Like
helping these people learn english or set up their internet!  We did
that last night for a man named Innocent and his wife.  So yeah.  "Ask
the missionaries,  they can help you!"  Its the truth!
Well I love you all.  I'll have to keep this pretty short because we
have some other errands and things to do today.

I know God lives.
He loves us.
This church is true.
Love you all!
Godspeed.

-Elder Hansen

Peak the Strategy

Hey.

Alright. Thanks for your love and support as usual! I miss you all and I am very happy that you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years together!

Well, life is pretty normal.  Last week we had an activity as a mission for new years eve.  It was fun.  Just eating food, hanging out with other elders and having a good time.  There was a really funny talent show as well.  So overall it was a good new years eve.  

Actual New Years day was a little frustrating.  We are supposed to go out and work and talk to people, but not many people want to talk to the elders on this holiday!  People are usually with family and trying to enjoy the short time they have together.  So it wasn't the best day for missionary work, but we still got some good things accomplished.

This week we had a zone meeting and set a goal for baptisms this month.  For the month of January the Salt Lake Zone has a goal of 40!!!  Its pretty high, but it is a possible goal.  With the Lord's help I believe we can reach this goal.  I am excited for this next month of missionary work.  

The Swahili branch is still struggling a little.  Not many people to teach and a lot of the members are a little corrupt...  Its a little disheartening, but we are trying to help everyone in the branch.  Non-members and members alike.  There is a lot of work to do.  We have had a week of going through lists and trying to find more people to teach that can progress in the gospel and come closer to the Savior by being baptized.  We taught some great lessons last week and should have a lot more this week.  

Well not much else is new....

We met with the Espae family a lot (they are recent converts except for one of the daughters, Fazili, who we are trying to work with) .  .   .   They are funny!  I am sending you a couple pictures of us with them.  We went over there one evening and there was a party going on.  It turns out it was a relief society activity at their home!  They invited us in and fed us African food.   Fish head and some white playdoh looking stuff that they call FooFoo (There is another name for it that they use sometimes but I forget it...) . . It was interesting.. :)  It was actually good though!  But when we left we smelled like nasty fish. . .  The smell still won't come out of my jacket :/   . .   Its gross. .  . ha ha but its all good.  We know we have had a good day if we come home smelling like Africans :)  ha ha ha no joke! They have a distinct smell!  We even use that smell to find them sometimes! ha ha anyway, My companion Elder Lee pulled out his camera and immediately all the little kids wanted to have their picture taken so they all jump in next to you and then you take a couple pictures! So thats what these pictures are.

Wordski.

Well nothing else to report.  Stake conference was yesterday.  It was cool.  One of the counselors from the SLC Temple Presidency and his wife spoke to us.  It was very uplifting.  The goal of going to the temple and being sealed there as a family is very important!!  For everyone!  We are so lucky to have temples all around us. Don't forget to go to the temple as often as you can!!!  It is a very important work!   

Sick..

Well thanks so much Mom and Dad for the package this week of all the Christmas cookies and stuff! :)  It was soo good!  I already ate a lot of it!  ha ha thanks so much for sending it!

I love you all!

The church is true.

Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.

Godspeed.

-Elder Hansen

Peak The Strategy!

P.S. My hand is doing a lot better.  After they stopped wrapping it up all the time it healed quickly and now it is doing well! I won't get full range of motion back because I destroyed the pulley in my finger and they couldn't repair that, but it is doing well.  Just letting you know so you don't worry about it Mom! ha ha :P

Happy New Year!

Hello errbody....  sup?   Well it was awesome to talk to you all and see you on google hangout on Christmas!! I loved seeing Samuel smile. :)  It was great!  I can't wait to meet him one day! He will be almost 2 by then though! ha ha oh and it was good to see all of you as well . . :)  anyway,  Merry Christmas!

This week was good.  Christmas was fun.  Just chilled and ate good food with members.  Then Wednesday was alright. Had some good lessons.  But then on Thursday morning I got sick.  I don't know if it was something I ate that gave me food poisoning or if it was stomach flu, but I was like dead for 2 days...  I didn't eat anything for those two days and I could hardly keep any water down.... It was just not fun. ha ha but Im better now!  Still haven't eaten a lot yet, but I'll get there.

 

Other than the sickness, we taught some great lessons and built trust with our investigators.  Also our investigators husband got here from Kentucky and we started teaching him and he seems very open to it all! So I am excited for that.  They even came to church, even when she had her gall bladder removed on Wednesday. 

 

We talked with our branch president, President Dennett a lot and he told us about a lot of people to go see and try to teach.  He is a great man.  We ate with him and his family yesterday as well.  It was good.

 

Well.... not much else happened.  Its been an interesting week.  My finger has been giving me a lot of trouble lately.....  Like last night it hurt so much that I couldn't get to sleep... I didnt get to sleep until 4:15 am . . ..      So I got less than 2 hours of sleep last night. .  It sucked.. but I went to the doctor for an appointment this morning and they gave me more medicine and told me to take it easy on the therapy so that the cut can actually heal.  Its been bleeding lately too . .  and a lot of the skin on my finger is dead and falling off .  ha ha . Its all really annoying.  ha ha but its all good.  Im over it.

 

Hmmmm.  Well.  Happy New Year!!!!  I'll miss eating freaking awesome snacks and stuff with you all and stayin up late playing card games!   Have fun!  Hope you all are healthy and happy.

Love you all.

God lives and He loves you too.

Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.

The Church is true!

 

Godspeed.

 

-Elder Hansen

 

Peak The Strategy

Swahili Elders

Hello my family.  How are all of you?!?  I hope you are all doing well and getting excited for Christmas!  Im excited.  It will be a lot different than a normal Christmas though, but its all good. Thanks for all the packages you have sent!  I haven't opened anything from your package yet Natalie... should I wait for Christmas??  Anyway, thanks so much.

Well this week has been an interesting one.  We have done some missionary work and helped some people, but we have had a lot of personal troubles and stuff.  We went to the doctor 10 times in the last 2 weeks....  Its annoying.  Mostly physical therapy and other appointments for Elder Helmstetter, but its been just very time consuming.  Also just not feeling well at all.  I am doing pretty well now, but Elder Helmstetter had trouble for a lot of the week.  I'll probably tell you more in the email next week about some changes that are probably going to happen.

Anyway, enough of that.  

Life is okay.  Just trying to work and stay focused and keep feeling well.

I've been working out more because Elder Helmstetter was as trainer at a crossfit gym in California so he makes me work out and wants me to get strong.  Its pretty funny.  He would punch me in the stomach for 1 minute straight to try to toughen up my abs.  He doesn't hit as hard as he can of course, but enough to make it very red and even bruise a little... ha ha he is funny. 

Anyway, I don't know why I am even telling you all this.  My mind is a little scattered, and I don't remember what all happened this week.  

We drove up to bountiful though and went to a pawn shop to buy a guitar for our recent convert Pascal!  He played in the Congo, but hasn't had a guitar since, so we were going to buy him one.  The owner of the pawn shop is mormon and he knew we were missionaries and so he asked why we were getting a guitar.  We told him the reason and he ended up giving it to us for free!!  It is a $300 guitar and he gave it to us for free!  It is awesome the spirit of giving and love that comes with Christmas time.  I love it.  That man really blessed the life of this refugee from the Congo and he doesn't even know him.  Its great!!

Well Im going to send you a picture of my stitches and of Elder Helmstetter's leg (about 3 weeks ago when it was really bad) so that you can see what happens to the Swahili Elders.  Ha ha its awesome.

Im going to keep it short.  I don't know what else to say anyway.  I'll let you know more next week.  

Keep on being awesome everyone.

I love you all!

The church is true.

God lives and He loves us.

Jesus is the Christ.

Godspeed.

-Elder Hansen