Week Six. (GOOD NEWS)

Well, I'm sorry to disillusion everyone to the lies and falsehoods of our friend Dora the Explorer, but you have been deceived all your lives-- here in Uruguay, "adios" is a greeting!  Basically another way to say hi--go figure. :)

 

Well, the Uruguay, Montevideo mission is happy to announce.... (drum roll, please...)  I can now email everyone!   What fun.  I also have an hour on the computers.  Please continue sending longer letters (everyone but my mom, that is, who now has license to resume lengthy email-writing :) to the other email address, but I can briefly respond online with much less delay than waiting for mail both ways.

 

I couldn't decide what to name this week's letter-- I was torn between "If at first you don't succeed, fry, fry again," "Sideways rain and the word as a seed," and "Nancy."  Mostly the first two though.

 

But I will explain the titles so you don't think that I've gone entirely crazy or that my sense of humor has been reduced to such poor puns.  Here in Uruguay, whenever it rains, people make a treat called "tortas fritas."  They're like what we think of as scones (or Indian frybread? can't remember if that's the same thing) at home.  Anyway, just dough fried in "grease" (really cow fat, but you try not to think about that because they're delicious), really.  They're great, and it helps take people's minds off the less than pleasant weather.

 

Because it rains A LOT here.  Both in terms of quantity and frecuency.  In a matter of minutes, the sky can go from cloudless blue to pouring, drenching, cold downpours, and then back again to look innocent as if it never did anything at all.  Not to worry though--Elder Griffin assures me that in the winter (coming up in a month or two now--weird backward climates!) things are much less bipolar--because instead of raining on and off, there's just a predictable, constant drizzle or more of water from the heavens. :)  The wind is weird here too, and is often strong enough to blow the rain straight to the side.  It looks hilarious to see everyone hold their umbrellas at ninety degree angles to their bodies, but it's what must be done to keep the head dry.  The rest of you just ends up getting wet--it's some thing we call "si o si" ("yes or yes")--that is, nonoptional, unavoidable.  Like how everyone and their dog owns at least one dog.  :)  that's si o si.

 

We've still not seen much success with investigators, but some less active members are returning little by little and the members are trying hard to get us references and help out.  One lady, Brenda, seems to know everyone in this town of thousands of people--even in the very distant outskirts of our area, when we ask people what they know about our church, they know that their friend Brenda is a member  (her son, the only return missionary within a several kilometer radius, looks like a giant Latino Elvis, if you can imagine that).  Another sister, a recent convert named Luisa who cooks incredibly well, is also very ready and willing to invite those she knows.  But despite our pestering, we have yet to see an investigator join us in our Sunday meetings. 

 

We keep praying and fasting and hoping though, faithful that the Lord has put us here in little Varela for a reason.  As with all of us, even though we may not see the fruits of our labors right away, God's ways are higher than our own, and He sees the distant scene, the eternal perspective of what our meager efforts here may yield weeks and months and years down the road.  As we continue to be good examples for others and give them opportunities to have positive interactions with members of the Church, they will grow to accept further knowledge of our Gospel message.  We are always sowing seeds in the hearts of those around us--hopefully for good.  Not every seed will fall on barren ground.  Good will be accomplished.  But the hour of the harvest may be yet a little way off in the distance.  Everything has its time and its season.

 

May all of you continue to be wonderful examples and sowers of the Good Word of God,

Elder Hansen.

 

Oops-- P.S.!  I got mail!!!  Aunt Julie and Aunt Debbi, Grandma Hansen, the Elder Hansen 2.0 (aka Spencer) update, et cetera--thank you so much for your words of encouragement!  Be patient, the answers to your questions are in the works and will be arriving in the next few weeks.  Or by a quick email if you'd rather, because I suppose that's possible now.

Week Five.

 I can't believe it's already been more than a month since I left!  the time really flies out here.

   The work in Varela is really struggling.  Every time we find a new investigator, it seems that he or she disappears for the next few weeks until they forget about us.  Part of that is due to the agricultural culture out here in the interior--many of the people here are farmers who go out to the fields for weeks at a time to tend rice and cattle, and then we just happen to catch them on one of their off days.

   But the members are all really sweet.  They remind me of my grandmothers-- always kind and concerned about us and the other members.  They also cook incredibly well--we eat a lot of noodles and pizza, which is pretty humble fare that reflects their circumstances, but it's still somehow delicious every time!  :)  The next step is figuring out how we can do as well in our culinary experiments around the home...

   Right now our zone is doing a ''forty day fast'' from the things that we feel are holding us back from successful, productive missionary work (for me, that means cutting back on movie quotes and putting an end to the humming of rock music, among a variety of other silly things I tend to do that distract me from the matters at hand... yikes!).

   The country is awesome.  Green, rolling fields as far as the eye can see (the edge of the world is visible all around little Varela), blue skies uninhibited by mountains and filled with perfect marshmallow clouds, and the world's prettiest flowers and coolest bugs...  Now if only I could get my email acount to send pictures!  No worries I'll have some up soon once I've figured a few things out.

   The culture... hmmm.  Everyone is really friendly and open--talking and sipping mate (the herbal drink here that everyone is always drinking) like good old friends even with strangers with us.  Everyone has at least one dog.  They put mayonaise on everything!  Potatoes, salads, you name it.  Good thing I had taken my side of the mayo vs. miracle whip controversy years ago.

   And God loves all of them as much as you or me.  I know there is great work to be done here, and that as we lay aside the things that impede us from having an eye single to God's glory, ''fasting'' from things that matter less, we will see great blessings.

  I love you all!  ¡Nos vemos!

Week Four

Well, down to business! I'm doing great! My little Hobbit-legs have survived the first couple weeks of walking, all the food is agreeing with me very nicely (lots of rice, noodles, and "milanesa"--like chicken fried steak). Even though we only really eat one full meal a day and then snack occasionally, I'm starting to worry about getting fat.... Ha ha not that that would bother anyone here: they're all super frank and open about things that we might consider negative characteristics in the States.

 

Our little branch is doing well--we went from 13 in attendance last Sunday to 18 this week! Unfortunately, we're still struggling to find new investigators and reactivate the numerous baptized but inactive members here in Varela.

 

I had my first intercambio (exchange? :) this weekend in which my companion went to the city 33 with another Elder and I kind of had to take the lead here with an Elder unfamiliar with the area. It was really scary! But it helped me get out of my shell a little (sorry, turtle analogies...). I'm starting to feel more comfortable speaking Spanish with strangers and friends alike. So all is good news.

 

And the best good news of all, of course, is The Good News: namely, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's sometimes sad to me that people will smile and wave as they make one of the worst decisions of their lives in rejecting that glad message, but I also know that God will help them, one step at a time, to see the importance of what we teach. Like the Hymn "Lead Kindly Light" (number 97 in the English hymnbook I think?) teaches us, God will not always show us the big picture, but He will always help us to see the next step we need to take, teaching us "line upon line, precept upon precept." And little by little, each of us can come unto Christ.

 

I love you all! ¡Buena suerte!

 

--Elder Hansen

Week Three

All right, some quick notes before the update.  So it looks like people can send things to mom or dad, for you to forward to me so I can actually read them as an email--I can do the same, sending stuff to you guys to be distributed.  But since I only get half an hour a week on the computers, it would be more effective to send things through the other email (1-2 weeks longer for me to get them) or snail mail (3-6 weeks).  

A reminder for if you ever send me packages-- declare low costs, and "missionary supplies." Speaking of sending me things... The thing I could really use is stamps.  That way I could send free mail through the Church to be sent out from Salt Lake headquarters.  All right, so this is my first real P-Day!  I'm in a little internet cafe in nearby city "Treinta y Tres" (literally, the number 33 :).  This is where we meet as a district, buy more than the basics, et cetera.  Pretty neat place--I really like it both here and in Varela.

So the Varela branch has a pretty small Church-going crowd.  We started meetings yesterday with eight people and had maybe fifteen for Sacrament meeting.  And they're all old people--mostly old ladies.  So it's a little tough for us to really get the members involved in the missionary work, even though they're all friendly and willing to help, health doesn't always permit.

We came here as a "white wash," where neither missionary had served in this area before the transfer.  It meant kind of a clean slate--no investigators, references, et cetera, leaving us to find them anew!  So the first week has been a little rough, but now things are picking up some.  Hopefully everything will continue to be on the rise.

The food's pretty good, we just don't have a ton of time to eat during the day.  Glad I brought my spicy sauces though!  Nothing is seasoned quite to my specifications :)

Elder Griffin is awesome.  Like you saw, he's a really tall redhead.  He actually served in Varela several months ago, and has been AP in between then and now.  A great role model I can look up to in more ways than the one I am obligated to.

So I don't have too much time today for a message--I'll keep it short and sweet.  There is always something we can be doing to help the work of God progress!  Share references with the missionaries, or testimonies with less-active members, reach out to befriend others in the ward, even just attend a visit with the missionaries so they can enter a single woman's house.  We can have such a big part in spreading the Gospel and finding joy in that service--both for ourselves and for others around us.

I love you all.  God has a wonderful plan for each of you!

Elder Hansen (i.e., McKay)