11-25-13
Good afternoon, my dear brothers and sisters.
:) How's it going? Around Thursday I started feeling better so everything's peachy again (I've picked up the habit of saying peachy in the mission because in Spanish "pichi" means hobo. So I'm just pichi :).
We've got two really awesome investigators who are progressing-- Sandra, who had read the entire Book of Mormon before and is now leaving off smoking to be able to be baptized, and Hilaria, who has known good Church members her whole life and is now starting to read and pray in her own free time thanks to their help. Unfortunately, both of them canceled last minute our plans to help them get to church yesterday, and neither was able to attend. But if we work hard together for the next few weeks, we just might be able to arrange some Christmas miracle baptisms!
I've felt such a change coming over my desires as I've spent more time out here in the mission-- I feel less and less often the temptation to think about books or music or movies from before, and more and more the need to plan for success in the area, progress for investigators and district members, and changes in my personal actions to be more obedient. I know that's something the Lord has done for me that I could never have achieved on my own, and I'm very grateful for it. I know that the very touch of the light of Christ in our lives often manifests itself in that way, a pure power or influence for good. I hope everyone we teach can come to feel the same way and improve even better and faster than we are trying diligently to do!
I love you!
Elder Hansen
11-18-13
¿Todo tranqui?
It’s great to be writing you again! This week was a roller coaster. We found two really awesome investigators, Sandra and Silvia, who had had very positive contact with the Church in the past. Sandra even committed to be baptized on the 7th of December! We'll be praying a lot and helping them to progress toward worthy goals these next few weeks, and thankfully, so will our branch members. Those were the only lessons we've been able to have with members present for weeks-- it's been difficult to count on branch support when there are so few consistently active attenders here and all have busy schedules. But thanks to an excellent district conference yesterday in which our mission president spoke of the need to know the missionaries and investigators by name and face, we're hoping to be able to turn things around by making personal visits to the members' homes and practicing sharing the Gospel with neighbors, friends, et cetera.
The unfortunate swing of the week was I got pretty sick. I worked anyway but I was kind of a zombie on the streets. (I’m referring to my slow pace and staggering gait; No worries--I didn't have open wounds or a desire to feed on human flesh!)
I doubt I fostered much confidence in the people who saw me…haha.
But this morning as I was slumped in my chair trying to get motivated to start P-Day, a sudden surge of energy came over me. I don't know how else to describe it; I still felt a little weak and queasy, but somehow had just the strength I needed to do everything I needed to. It was a very real witness that I am supported by the power of prayers offered by people like you all over the world. I'm so thankful for the infinite sacrifices made by the Saints that uphold us. I know there is a real force (faith and prayers) that buoys us up, and I'm very grateful for it.
So I think all will be well soon!
Thanks for everything,
Elder Hansen
Santa would look weird down here in that bulky red suit now that it's getting hotter and hotter... haha.
11-11-13
Good morning, America!
So, I'm now with my sixth companion after just seven transfers--I guess no one can put up with me for very long at a time. :) But Elder Martínez is awesome!! He and I have always gotten along really well and wanted to be companions, even though we knew it was uncommon to be paired up with someone from the same batch of missionaries; and wouldn't you know it…verily, it came to pass.
We're excited to get working with members-- our branch president is very motivated, and we're working on having family home evenings with the members and bringing investigators to allow for positive, uplifting experiences. Things should be looking up soon!
I'm sending home a flash drive with all my pictures from the whole mission on it (No worries I copied all the conference talks off of it first.) Kylie can then post at will any of those six hundred some-odd photos. It just takes way too long to load them individually on these slow computers... sorry for the wait, but it will be a fun little Christmas bonus!
Today on the bus, I spoke with a woman named Margarita who looks very much like my Grandma Marsha Hansen. We talked for an hour about her relationship with God and some of her life experiences. She lives far out in the rural interior of Uruguay and only very rarely comes to the city to make purchases. She said she distinctly remembered the only other time in her life (more than forty years ago!) in which she had had contact with missionaries. It made me realize that we can have a dramatic influence on people even in the short moments we have together and be positive examples. It reminded me of the mantra my missionary preparation class teacher, President Christensen, often repeated, "You as missionaries may very well be the closest thing to the Savior that these people will meet in their lifetimes." That's a frightening prospect, but also a beautiful opportunity, privilege, and responsibility. I hope to do a better job of it every day.
Love you!
Elder Hansen
11-4-13
Hey Folks,
This week has been really busy--because of some sick members of the zone we weren't able to do our exchanges earlier in the transfer and I ended up travelling the district most of the week! I feel like I haven't even been in my area since I last talked with you all.
Well, the transfers came in last night, and... My new companion is one of my best friends in the mission! He's a Mexican named Elder Martínez who arrived in the same group as I did--he was actually my district leader in the MTC. Really great guy. And my current companion Elder Morris is going to the Brazilian border to one of the three areas in our mission that is actually in Brazil. So he should have fun too. :)
My zone leader taught me a lot this week about how to teach the Gospel with simplicity and love. We need to sound professional, but we can't be formal and eloquent and expect the importance of our message to get across unless we are direct, sincere, and powerful in testifying as missionaries. I have come to appreciate so much the counsel of my leaders, even when it comes in the form of initially unpleasant correction.
Have a great week.
Love,
Elder Hansen
10-28-13
It's getting nice and warm and will soon be hot. Stays light until eight thirty at night…pretty weird. We eat lots and lots of mashed potatoes. They're almost as common as rice and noodles.
Good afternoon! (It's weird to think people don't actually say that in the states because "Buenas Tardes" is so common here.)
This week was unfortunately uneventful. Our district had a real struggle helping motivate investigators to attend church. I already feel like I've walked all the same streets and knocked all the same doors in Sarandí several times because it's so small. But after a great game of soccer this morning, I think we're all feeling enthused about the work again. We've got a family night scheduled with our branch president tonight in the home of some less active members, so the week should start off well. (It’s the first time he has been able to accompany us to a lesson since I've been here--he's really busy since he works two jobs.),
This transfer we've placed a very strong emphasis on planning; it's difficult to show the Lord our desires to be diligent without having a constant destination and a definite purpose. So we've tried hard to look forward to meaningful activities in every moment of the day to be quickly walking and working toward. It's helped me to see how much more we can accomplish in our lives when we carefully look at the steps we will need to take to reach our goals. Even things like our prayers and studies can be thoughtfully pondered upon before launching into them headlong: if we aim for a certain end to our spiritual experiences (a question answered, a testimony strengthened, et cetera) it is far more likely we reach that joyful finish. So I'm trying hard to push myself and correct my earlier tendency to start things without thinking through what was really needed.
I love you all. Thank you for your support and prayers,
Elder Hansen
