July 30, 2013

Me and my companion

July 30, 2013

Hi everyone....

This week was another good week of good hard work haha. It's been so dang hot down here and I've just literally been sweating like a machine. It has been such a rewarding week.

We had two baptisms this week of Aidee and Rubi. The both of them are complete miracles. It was truly amazing to be able to see them take this step. They will be two members that go every Sunday for the rest of their lives because they know that this is true. Baptizing just doens't get old haha. We worked really hard with Milton and he totally fell through and just told us that he doesn't want any more. I guess that's just kind of how it goes haha. We actually have a couple of families lined up for this next coming month of August. I'm getting so stoked for the families. Last night I made a set goal with Heavenly Father that I will baptize a family before I get to have a year in the mission because I want to go to the temple with a family before I leave. So be looking forward to that in the next month and a half. We will baptize a family.

It really hasn't been too hard to focus my mind. I thought it would be a lot harder with all the stuff that has been happening but it hasn't been too bad. I hope that I can keep it focused today and just get what I need to get done today. Yeah it's hard today but not half as bad as I thought it would be with Gabe's deathday and everything happening today. I just know that if I work hard, I will be blessed and I will see the blessings in my life. I know where he is and I know that he is watching down over me. I just have the Spirit with me all the time and I know that I'm getting a lot of comfort from Him. It's always on the back of 

my mind, but I know that what I'm doing is what I need to be doing and I know that I am blessed for it. I feel like it would be a lot harder if I were home and if I just had nothing to do but sit on the couch and watch TV, but we've got so much stuff to do that everything just kind of gets shoved to the back of my mind.

Last night I was going up to the house to finish up the night in a bus literally jam packed full of people and I was looking out the window and I was just thinking about how much I love this country and how much I love these people.  I love them and I have been so blessed to be here. Some members asked me last night  "why don't you guys ever eat in the house with us and why don't you guys like ever take breaks?" And I thought about it and just told them "I hate going home and feeling like I could have done more in the day."

BAUTIZAMOS A 14!!!!!!!! 

Thanks for all the support that you have all given me through all the hard times and all the stuff that has happened. I really am so grateful to all of you and soo happy to know that I have you praying for me. I hope to hear from you soon and I am totally jealous that you guys went to Lake Powell. Maybe if I'm lucky, I can catch the back end of a trip next year. I love you all. I love my brother Gabriel and I know that he loves you all too. Have a good week and keep me and my investigators in your prayers.

Love, Elder Hanson

OOOOOOOOOiiiiiii

July 23, 2013

Hi everyone.....

Well this week, Let's just say I went absolutly CRAZY with the work. We had 75 lessons and we will baptize 3 people this SUNDAY!!!!!!! Even though there were a couple days of good hard distraction, I found some good ways to put up with it, to the point that I don't even think about it. I found myself singing hymns allllllll day long. That was something that helped me so much. I find that the more we moap around and the more we let Satan get into our minds, the more he literally just wrecks us. So I decided to not let him in at all and this is just what happens. Our Heavenly Father blesses us and takes our hand and guides us through all the crap haha. But it actually turned outto be a good week.

We have been teaching this guy named Milton for about 2 months and he has have a problem with smoking. He now hasn't smoked for 2 weeks and told us on Sunday that he was ready for his baptism this Sunday!!!!!! PURE MIRACLE.

There is an awesome lady named Aidee that we found less than two weeks ago on a Friday and the Sunday after that went to church and when we got to her house to knock at 5:30 she was already up and getting ready to go. PILAS!!!!!! She will be baptized this Sunday also.

An old man named Rubi, I found him when I just had barely gotten to the area and he had wanted to go to church and wanted to get baptized for a while. He has had problems with his health for the past couple months and now that, that has passed, he has come to church and will be baptized this Sunday. 

We worked really hard and really saw the blessings and miracles of this week. It is so cool to just know that we can put all the trust in Jesus and he will help us with anything we need.

My companion is a total stud and just kills it with me. I literally get to the house physically wrecked and he is just totally fine. He will be a super leader. Just hoping not to mess him up too much,..... :/

I was thinking about sending a package home of the things that I brought down here and that I'm not going to use (like that freaking giant coat from mr mac takes up half a suit case.) so I'll get that done. I'm stoked to help my comp out with the camera. I don't know how he could do it without memories from his mission.

I had a good week. Pray for my investigators in place of me because they need it more and if they get baptized, I'll be just fine :)- I love you all so much and am so thankful for all the support!!!!!! Always in my prayers!!!! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Hanson

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WHOOOOOO

July 16, 2013

Hi everyone....

Well this week was a good week full of a bunch of sacrifices. We had been having really crappy attendance at church and really struggling to get people going to church, so we got up early and got it done. Walked like 30 minutes to the other end of our area and we were knocking doors by the time it got to be 5:
30. It was a really huge sacrifice but it was worth it. We had some solid investigators in church and it was a really huge blessing. We really are super blessed through sacrifices.

It's still going really good with my companion and he has been faithfully teaching me how to was my shirts. It's getting a little better but at the same time it sucks because all my shirts look like someone literally peed all over them. It's kind of sad but I still work the same. I'm not trying to impress anyone haha and pelpe that are really ready for this gospel will accept whether I stink or not!!!!!!!

"Who says that a white boy can't wash his own clothes by hand???"

We had a sweet P-day yesterday because we woke up early and believe it or not, we dedicated it to cleaning the whole entire house!!!!!!!!!!!! It wsa awesome and really productive. Then I got my P-day nap in and went hard. It was really good. And then in 4 hours, we got 9 lessons in. I love P-days because we try to treat them like normal days and get the same things done that we need to get done in a normal day. 

I know that what I'm doing is the best thing in my life right now. I'm seriously so happy to be out here serving my Lord. I feel like my life has literally changed so much in the short time that I've had here and the time that I've had to help these people. I just know that I need to just get it done hard core and give it all to my Savior. I love you all and I'm so thankrul for all you all do for me! I know this is all true and that no matter what happens, if I work hard, I'll be blessed. I know everything happens for a reason!!!!!!!!!!!! God really does have a plan for us and loves every single one of us. That's a great thing to know.

"Who says a white boy can't make a pure Chapin lunch??"

Love, Elder Hanson

Well....

July 8, 2013

Hi everyone....

Well welcome to frustrating week in the life of a missionary!!! I'm getting right up there right now haha. For the second week in a row, we only had 1 investogator that went to church. That is really kicking our butt. I'm just trying to work hard and be able to have success in the Lord's way, working hard and being obedient to the mission rules.

I love my companion haha.  He works hard and just does what I tell him to and does what he needs to do. I think that the thing that I'm learning from my last two companions is how nice it is to not have to be dragging someone around all the time and just have people pulling even weight. It's still a little hard because he's super new and he really hardly knows how to teach, but we're working those kinks out little by little. At least he speaks the language. Hahaha

We're finding positive people every day that do what we ask them to do, they read and pray and know it's all true, the only problem is that they don't go to church. It's hard in our area because we are 30 minutes in bus away from the church and it starts at 7:30 in the morning. Taht makes it interesting for the investigators and for us. I've decided that starting this sunday, we will get up at 4 in the morning to go and pass by every house of every single investigator that we have in the area and get them to come to church. After church, I came right into the house and just kneeled down and prayed for like a half hour and just wanted to know what I was doing wrong to make it so that no one would go to church haha and my mind was blank. I think that a lot of times, we do what we need to do, we just don't give it that little push right at the end to get everything falling right into place. I think that's just the stupid natural man coming in and screwing it all over for us. I have really been loving a scripture in matthew 11:28-30. Look it up. Also there is a scripture in matthew 10:39 that is amazing and just talks about how Jesus will give eternal life to whoever loses his life here in the earth. I sort of just trying to lose myself here in the mission haha. Eminem quote....

I'm always having fun and workiing hard at the same time. I know that the success will come. I know it haha. It's just hard to be patient sometimes in times of stupid trials. But I know that these things are true and I know that they will help us to be able to strengthen ourselves and be able to confront harder trials in the future. It's awesome to know that we really have a Heavenly Father that is aware of every single one of us and that loves us so much and listens to every single one of our prayers. It's so awesome.

I love you all so much. I know that this time of the year is going to be super hard for all of us but I know that through the Savior and just thinking about him a little bit every day, we will be able to get over these hard things and thoughts that come to our minds in these hard times. I know that's the case with me. My mind is so swallowed up in the things of the Lord, that I hardly have time to think about anything else. Thanks for everything that you are all doing for me and I can't wait to see Chauncey when I get home...ugh.....hahaha

Love you all!!!! Elder Hanson

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAISY!!!!!!!!!! I WILL BE WRITING YOU A LETTER THIS THURSDAY!!!! I LOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEE YOU!!!!!!

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HEAT WIN IN 7 lolololol doesn't even matter!!!!!!!!! poo

July 2, 2013

Hi everyone....

Well this week was totally wild haha. I feel like it's gone by so fast but at the same time so slow....

I've gotta say, I miss my little guy Elder Castro. But I got a great newbie named Elder Hernandez from Nicaragua. He is a total stud and he really is stoked to be out here. I'm really happy to be with him and I hope that I can teach him all the stuff that he needs to know to be a great missionary. One thing that surprised me about him is that he walks with me allllllll day and doesn't get tired haha. I walk just about as fast as anyone in the whole entire mission and everyone was telling me how my newbie was going to suffer so hard core with me haha but he walks right with me. It is good but at the same time really humbling haha I really though I was just going to leave him in the dust the first few weeks. But it's better than getting Chris Farley I guess hahaha. We're really working on getting the teaching down and that will take a while. He's only been away from home for about 3 weeks now and so that's pretty normal.

It's a lot of pressure being a trainer in the mission. President literally expects perfection from us and that is really hard. I'm just trying to work hard and do what I need to do to have some success. I've been a little bit frustrated lately because we've been lacking baptisms lately and there aren't a ton of people that are really progressing. It's really hard to get people to church because it's in a whole different city and people don't always come. I get to the house absolutely munched, I'm so tired every night and sore in my legs and it makes me mad that the baptisms aren't coming right now. I guess how they saw it in the mission is true, "some are gatherers and others are sowers." It's so true but that's hard for me to accept that I'm a sower haha.

Stoked to hear that Hank is in piano lessons haha. I really will get right on the piano when I get home and I will pick it up. Never though I'd say this, but i regret being a total loser with piano. 

Gus at Trek is sooooo sick. I loved trek so much when I went. When Cody sat in the seat with tar butt hahahahahaha yes!!!!!!!

Daisy -  It's her b day coming up?? CRAZY!!!!!

Isaiah killing it with the good old rubber band trick on the faucet hahahaah Oh man That kid is insane.

I love you all!!!! Thank you all for all the prayers and all the support that you give me. I can really feel it and really need it haha!

Investigadores: Milton, Madelin, and Rubi. Struggling a little bit but we are going to see miracles I know it!!!!

Love Elder Hanson

I am thinking about getting my mission suit made in the next couple weeks. We live super colse to the guy that makes them and I don't know where I'll be after I leave here. Let me know what you think. It is a good idea right now because I don't think I'll ever be this close to him again. I don't know how much it will cost but It's like 1200 quets and it's like totally tailored and costomized. SIIIICKKKK (all the missionaries get them. It's not jsut me that wants one)

A scary sucker my mom sent me