Monday, January 13, 2014

Hello Fam! 

Thank you for the letters and the package! I was able to receive it yesterday and open it up today. I am so grateful for your guys and your willingness to show your love, all the stuff I received was perfect and greatly appreciated! So thank you! I don't know when I will be using my bank card again, but the next time I use it I will be sure to let you know if it works, and I'll be sure to put it away after I use it too haha.

Thats crazy about Russ, but super exciting! I'm sure he will love Seattle, I always enjoyed playing there. It's a great city with lots to do, and thats nice he has some ex teammates there, I look forward to hearing what he has to say. And it's nice he will be able to enjoy the playoffs, it's the best time of year! Speaking of hockey I was able to receive a letter this week from my team. They sent me a Christmas card, and a bunch of them signed their names with a little note. It was so great! Nice to know they thought about me, I really do love them all so much and will never forget my time as a Blazer!

We have had a good week here in Lujan, I don't have too much to write this week but I'll update you on what's happening. We have some investigators named J••• and N•••••, they have 4 kids and are great. But as we started teaching them, and they started trying to do their part everything in their life started to fall apart. As they started to read the Book or Mormon and pray at night, he lost his job within a week. As we talked to them it really made me think to myself, why do these kind of things happen? And the only thing I could think of is the power of Satan. As he knows that someone is trying to make the right changes in their lives, and look for the happiness in the Lord, he attacks their family in any way possible. He's not going to try to influence a family that isn't interested in the truth. It really is amazing to see the power he can have, but I know that our Savior always has more. Sometimes we need to go through a little bit of adversity and hardships to prove our willingness and our faith, and then the blessings come. As we taught them this principle, we invited them to continue to pray and read, and just the next day a man came by and offered J••• a job! What a miracle. Usually our answers come slowly, but sometimes the Lord is willing to answer us in that moment, and really bless us because of our diligence. They still have a lot of work to do, but we are praying that this small miracle will help them continue looking for the truth in their lives. When things get hard always remember this principle Fam! I know that this life isn't easy, but our Father in Heaven is always waiting to bless us.. we just have to do our part. Sometimes it's a little more then we want to do, but its always worth it!

Tomara (One of the daughters in the Alvarez Family) was able to give a talk yesterday in church! She is just 13 years old, and has only been active in the church for 2 months! Awesome hey. We were able to help her prepare her talk this week, and it was such a neat experience to be able to listen to her share her feelings. She talked about her life when her family was inactive, and how the church has brought them so much closer together. Now they want to spend time together and do things as a family. It was amazing to listen to her simple, but powerful testimony. I am so grateful for the chance I have had to be able to witness the change in this family! They are incredibly spiritual and I love them so much.

J•••• was also able to pass his interview for his baptism this Saturday! So we are pretty excited about that. The influence and power of God is amazing. There really are people out there extremely prepared to receive the Gospel, we just have to find them. There is a quote that I have up on my wall in the apartment that says "We will be held accountable for those who we don't find that had been prepared to receive us". Somedays the mission is hard, but as I see this quote it always gives me the extra drive to do what is necessary. The Lord is always doing things for us, and preparing people, and we have to use every minute of the day to find them and bring them to Christ. I have a strong testimony that the greatest people we find on the mission are always the ones we find at the end of the day, after we have worked hours and had no results. It is my prayer that we will always look to help our Lord bring his children back to his presence. And I am so grateful that I can dedicate my life to this cause.

We have transfers this Wednesday. I have no idea what is going to happen, but I am ready for whatever the Lord has in store for me. Whether I stay in Lujan or head out to a different area, the work will go on! I love you all, I will update you on the changes next Monday. Continue to be awesome and examples to all those around you. I pray for all of you everyday. May you continue to receive the blessings you need. Have a great week!

Love, Elder Hansen.

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