June 8, 2015

Elder Marple, Elder Winzenried (our roomates) Elder Schoonover (mi hijo!) it's pronounced scew-no-ver

Dear family and friends!

Well as you can see I am once again writing on Monday. My second stint in the office has come to an end and I am once again back out in the mission field! It was weird to leave the office again but I feel like it was time. Elder Belloli and I had a fantastic transfer and we gave a lot of ourselves to the mission. Will definitely miss the Robertson's like always but I am super excited to be out in the mission field... I'm out in General Rodriguez .. it is like 15 km from Lujan! It's an awesome area. Super calm and we have bikes and everything... my legs are killing from these past couple days. Boy am I out of shape!

So we entered the area in a "white wash" which means the 2 others elders left and we came in brand new. I'm with Elder Schoonover.. he's a greenie! So I have the privilege of training him, but the truth is he came pre-trained. He is such an awesome kid and missionary. He is from Saint George Utah and is 18 years old. We get along great and have been having a great time here in Rodriguez so far.

The other day he invited his first investigator to be baptized and it was a super special experience for him. He also said the first vision the other day pretty much by memory. He has so much faith. In church yesterday they didn't tell us we had to bare our testimonies, but when they opened the time to the congregation he was the first one up there to share his testimony! Was incredible, I'm excited to be able to work with him for this transfer!

Things so far in Rodriguez have been great. Like always trying to adjust to the mission life again but it has been going pretty well haha. The area is large and since we are both new we have had some struggles trying to find where we are going haha. But we just ask a lot of questions and I love it. I feel like in life, the church, and the mission that the Lord never allows us to feel comfortable.. and in that way makes us stretch, grow, and learn. This week has been the first time I have opened and area, plus doing it while training has been a challenge. Trying to plan and trying to use every minute effectively has been a challenge but I have learned sooo much about trusting in the Lord.

We have really been focusing on trying to win the trust of the ward leaders. We have already met with all the leaders and spent time with them, trying to show our sincere desire to help them. I had been praying about it a lot and I really felt that this was the way that we should go about things. Instead of directly going to the members and leaders to ask for references, we have been focused on asking who in their respective quorums need some help. We have seen some amazing results. The Relief Society President told us to go visit a recent convert who was struggling and who lives REALLY far away. After we left the President's house we contemplated it but we thought we didn't have time and said we would do it another day. But as we thought this one of the bikes broke, and our appointment called us and canceled. So we had to spend some time repairing the bike.. and when we were done our plans were pretty much ruined. So we decided to go visit this recent convert. We went, had a great lesson with her and tried to bring our love and support. She then gave us a reference, and looking for that reference we found a different married family who is very religious but has been looking for something else in their lives! It was incredible. It was a very humbling experience for us. Showed us that everything happens for a reason, and that we really are here to serve the ward. I know that doing so we will be blessed.

We do have some really good investigators that we were working with that the Elders before were working with. We are working really hard to try to help Maria get baptized this month. She has a date for the 27th but has a couple of doubts, but she came to church yesterday and continues to progress well. There is also a couple Andrea and Oscar who are going to get married in July. Today they are supposed to go and set a date in order to be married in July, and then baptized after. They are sweet. We are working hard to try to get to know all the investigators as quick as possible and trying not to miss a step. I feel like it is a great way to keep us lost in the work! Always something to do.

Well just want to thank you all for your support and your love! Life in the mission is great as always. Don't even know how to explain it. It is just such a joy to wake up everyday and be able to serve the Lord. Hope you never forget that we are all His servants, and that he loves us. Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Hansen.

May 30, 2015

 On splits with the Lujan Elders

With Brisa and her mom at her baptism. 

Brisa's baptism.

Hey fam and friends!

Hope you are all doing good and had a great week! Things are going great down here in the mission. We finished up special trainings this week, I did it almost completely losing my voice.. 8 hours of talking a day sure did take a hit on my voice! It went awesome though and I learned so much from the missionaries! They are so incredible. So during the trainings we always had about 30 minutes (Hermana Robertson, Elder Belloli and I) to prepare the lunch while President talked with all the missionaries together. We served peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.. it was heaven! But we were just talking about it the other day and we made about 800 sandwiches in the past month... oh the things that one learns on the mission. Sometimes talents we never would have expected. It all went super great though!

So today was the baptism of Brisa! It was such a special day. She is a little 9 year old girl.. a daughter of a member that we have helped reactive over these couple months. Brisa has come such a long way in the 2 months that we have been teaching her. She has really come a long way as far as her knowledge, and we have also seen how the Gospel has helped her continue to grow in all aspects of her life. She is just a little girl but she has such a bright future. It has also been incredible to see the growth and change of her mom to see how she has made all the right steps to come back to church. I remember about a month ago she was struggling because she had to work lots on Sundays and late on Saturday nights so it was really tough for her to go to church. I remember that we promised her that the Lord would bless her if she did all she could to complete with the commandments. So that Saturday she worked until about 6 in the morning and then got up at 8:30 to go to church... she slept pretty much the whole time in church haha but she complete with the Lord. About a week after that she got offered a new job and has been working Monday - Friday from 2-6pm since! Today in the baptism she shared her testimony and she shared just how special that moment was for her and how it showed the Lord was looking out for her. The really are such a special family.

We are also working hard with Enrique who continues to progress and has a baptismal date for the 13th of June. He is really still looking for an answer from God but he has such sincere desires that we know it will come. We have been working hard in helping him learn how to recognise an answer, and he has plans on coming to church tomorrow. 

We also found a married family last week, they are super awesome! They have 6 kids all between 11-26! It was quite the lesson the other night. We taught them the Restoration and it was super powerful, they are such a humble family but they understood the lesson super well and we are excited to see their progress.

Osvaldo our recent convert continues to do well. He has been attending church regularly and he is planning to go to the temple as quickly as possible. He is very interested in the vicarious work because he has lost both of his parents and also his brother. Lately he has been working a ton with his family and we have plans to go visit 3 different family members of his this next week! We are super excited. It has been incredible to see his testimony grow and see his personal progress. I have felt so blessed to be able to work with him, and to see the Lord's merciful hand in this work as we did all we could to look for men to teach. We feel like he has so much potential.

So this next week is transfer week.. who knows what may happen. Im not sure but I am excited to see what the Lord has in store and ready to do whatever he needs of me. I already have 4 and a half months here this time.. and almost 10 months in total in the office.. how time flies no! It's incredible. But I have learned a ton and am excited for whatever the next step may be!

The other day I read the talk "Grateful in any circumstance" by President Uchtdorf. Incredible. It helped me sit back and reflect on my life and really ponder if I'm grateful for the things that I have. I love when he says that "the catalyst to develop any Christ-like attribute is gratitude". It's so true. I hope that even though there are many trials in life that we can always be grateful.. I know that if we do we will be happy.

I'm so grateful for all of you. Know that I love you, and pray for you all. Hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Hansen.

May 23, 2015

Osvaldo's baptism

Hola, 

So I was talking to the president this week, and I guess my official release date now is August 3rd so I will be getting home probably on the 4th of August just to let you know ahead of time. 

Hey so we gotta go and do a couple of favours for the President around the mission. We are going to be changing our p-day to Monday. I'll try to get on a bit on Monday to let you know how things are going. I'm doing great just so ya know! Off to work! 

Keep that ball straight in the tournament tomorrow! Love you all and good luck on the course!! Say hi to the Lows for me!

Love you all!!

Elder Hansen

May 16, 2015

Hey fam!

So we just got from a great pday with the Robertson family! We went to their house and had lunch, and then went to the school with their two boys Dallas and Dallin and shot hoops and played some volleyball! It was super fun. Next week I'll try to send pictures.

Tonight there is a cultural event for the dedication of the temple in Cordoba, and tomorrow is the dedication, I'm super excited, it's going to be super awesome!

So ya, I gotta go, but I love you all a ton and thanks for being such a special part of the mission and for all the love you show me! I am so grateful and am really enjoying it so much. I love my Savior and feel blessed to be doing what He would have me do.

All the best, have a fantastic week and know that I love you all!

Elder Hansen.

May 9, 2015

Hey fam and friends!

It has been another fantastic week that really has been very rewarding.

Right now we are doing special trainings in the mission in which we are working just us with one companionship at a time. I have really enjoyed them and have felt such a strong and special spirit being able to work directly with every companionship in the mission. It has brought a lot of light to my life. It really helps me appreciate the great missionaries that we have and their efforts, and dedication to leave everything behind to serve the Lord. I really have grown to love every single one of them like a brother and sister over my time in the mission and thank the Lord so much for this opportunity.

In our area we continue to be so blessed by the Lord. Today is Osvaldo´s baptism and I am more then excited for him, he has such a special place in my heart. The other night I had a very special experience, I just felt the impression to pray for him in my personal prayer and the strongest feeling of warmth came over me and I finished pretty emotional. It is amazing when we sit back and really try to realize what it is that we are doing... not just trying to baptize but trying to allow our brothers and sister receive the salvation and live with our Heavenly Father again. I can't think of anything great, or more special then this.

We also have Brisa, she went to church last week and is doing great! Her mom is a less active member and this week she got offered a new job that is just Monday to Friday! It is such a miracle. With her old work she usually had to work till late on Saturday (last week like 5:30 in the morning) and then Sunday as well. So this new work provides such a great opportunity for her and her daughter to progress spiritually, and we are super excited for them. Her date is for the 30th of this month.

We are still working with Marcos. He is doing well and has plans on coming to church tomorrow with his family. The other day we talked a bit about the Restoration and then they watched the movie together. He is such an intelligent kid, and little by little he is coming around. The other day we talked to Karina (his mom) and she bought her wedding dress! Big step. They are just waiting for the paperwork now to be able to get married, we are super excited for them.

We had another huge miracle last Sunday as well. We were walking through the park when a man 6'6'' said "hey Mormons, come over here" .. so we walked over a bit hesitantly and then he said "Hey I know some mormons, do you want to come inside and drink some matte?" This definitely was a little strange, but Elder Belloli and I didn't feel anything bad so we decided to go through with it. As we entered his house and sat down he introduced us to his 2 kids Isaiah (14) and Paola (12) and we sat down and talked with them all! The mans name is Omar, and he started to tell us about he knew our church. One of the first things he said was "I actually went to one of your churches this morning, out there in Las Heras, I even got up in front of everyone and bore my testimony." We were in shock... and then he went on to talk about how he was reading the Book of Mormon and everything! He explained that not too long ago he and his wife got separated and she is living out in Las Heras... and so last weekend he went out there to see some of his kids. He had actually planned on coming back Saturday afternoon but his car broke down.. so he had no way of coming back. It turns out that were he was staying are members and they were going to a baptism that night... so he ended up joining them, and then to church the next morning! To me it was such a miracle, that the Lord led us right in front of his house that exact same day.. when he was more than ready to receive us. So this week we taught him a couple times and he accepted a baptismal date for the 30th of this month, we are also working to help his 2 kids get baptized the same day. It was such a miracle, the Lord is so merciful.

Well I gotta run but I am excited to see you guys tomorrow! Thanks for everything you do and for being such a great example in my life!

Love you all!!

Elder Hansen.

May 2, 2015

Rice and mondongo! (cow stomache) 

Meal with the Florian Family

Dear fam and friends!

What a great week it has been here in the mission! We have been super busy this week it has been so awesome. We had some special trainings, and then on Friday we had the monthly leadership council, both went reallly well and and I always feel so blessed to learn from all the incredible missionaries here! President as well. I am amazed by his knowledge and his testimony, it probably is the best perk of being here, learning from him.

Today has been awesome! This morning we went to help out a couple missionaries and then this afternoon we went and did service with a member family who is moving! We went and helped them paint their new apartment.. was awesome! The familia Florian. Below I attached some pictures of them, they are great! They cooked us some rice and mondongo! (cow stomache) it was actually super good, sounds appetizing right? She made it with some potatoes and some kind of sauce. Then after we did the service, was a good afternoon.. but now i only have like 10 minutes to write but this week was good.. a little update on the area...

As far as the work in our area things are going so great! We have been super blessed lately and it is so humbling to see the Lord's hand in the work. Osvaldo is going to get baptized next weekend, he has his interview today. He was a contact we did on the bus 3 weeks ago. It has been so incredible to see how prepared he is! During transfer week we lost contact with him for about a week and we were a little concerned. The first time we saw him after that he told us that he had a couple doubts and had thought about changes his baptismal date, but when it came down to it he said he couldn't because he knew he had made a commitment with God to be baptized on that day. It was such a huge blessing! It showed me the power of commitments and how important they are. Also this week we taught him about fasting and tithing.. and he asked us if he is allowed to participate in them before his baptism! He said he is going to fast today with us for the temple in Cordoba and then tomorrow he wants to pay his tithing. What is so special to me is he comes from such humble circumstances and he said "I never have been very well off economically, and I feel like it might be because I never have paid my tithing". It was one of the most powerful things I have heard anyone say, he really does have such strong faith.

For this month we are also working with Alejandra, she is Ruben's wife and she is doing great. She has a really strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration which is incredible. Ruben has been a great help, they read together lots. Her only challenge is church attendance, lots of time on the weekends she has to go see her kid who lives in capital.. but she is working out a plan so she can do both things. It has been great to be able to see Ruben participate as well in the lessons and to see his testimony continue to grow.

We also are working with Marcos and Brisa. They are both kids of less active members that we are helping come back to church. There are so many little miracles the Lord has given us. All of these people have really great chances of being baptized this month.

We also found an awesome family the other day, they have a son who is 17 who is super awesome and then another "half son" who is living there with them. They all want to go to church tomorrow and they seriously have so much potential. The first 2 lessons we focused a ton on the restoration and the book of mormon and they understand so well. We have seen as we focus on these 2 topics our investigators have more purpose, they understand what their part is in finding an answer about the "one and only true church over the face of the earth".

Well things are going fantastic here, everyday seems to go by faster and faster and we are just trying to make the best of it! Still training in the morning with Hermano Echeverria, it's super fun. The other day we went and ran stairs, and I could hardly walk after. Crazy next week is mother's day! Can't believe how fast it came.. ill try to let you know some details next Saturday.. but I imagine Sunday afternoon .. like 2 or 3 your time. The Stake President invited us over to do it there, so ill have to give him a call and then let you know.

Thanks for all you, love you all a ton. How blessed we are to have the truth in our lives, and how privileged we are to be able to share it with others! Praying for you always! 

With love, Elder Hansen

April 25, 2015

 My comp Elder Belloli and I!

Us with the missionaries going to the temple!

Mis queridos amigos!!

How are all my dear family and friends!? Hope all is well and that you had a great week, thanks for the letters! Always good to hear about life back up there in Canada, sounds like the weather is finally getting nice!

This week sure has flown by and has been amazing! Every time their is transfers everything just feels like a blur it's crazy, but I have learned a ton this week. My testimony is always strengthened by the experience of the missionaries going home and then the energy and faith of the new missionaries. Crazy Elder Evans is going home this week, you will have to give him a big huge for me!

I actually have a new companion! His name is Elder Belloli. He is 20 years old and from Turlock California. He played water polo before the missionary and was a competitive swimmer.. he is such a stud! He is an incredible missionary, has been out for 18 months now and he has so many great ideas for our area and about how to have more success in the work. It has been a great couple days and I have learned a ton from him, and we have learned a lot together. I'm excited to work with him and I know things will be great!

Things are fantastic here in the mission. We got so blessed this week to be able to go the the temple. There was 2 missionaries that had never been because the Argentina temple had been closed for the past 2 months.. but just on Thursday it opened back up! So on Thursday Elder Belloli and I took the 2 missionaries and their companions to the temple and we all got to go through a session together! It was so incredible and I felt so proud and happy for them. There truly is nothing like the temple.. below I attached a picture of us.. and then with my comp!

As far as baptisms go we have some really great people for the month of May that we are really excited about. Oswaldo is still doing great and is progressing very well. We are really working to have more contact with him in order to help prepare him, but the great part is that he always completes with the commitments that we leave him. Also every time that we see him he mentions that he is excited for Sunday. It is so great to see someone with such excitement to go to church, he says he feels something incredible there and he wishes he could go more then just on Sunday! He's so prepared and it has been such a miracle to be able to work with him.

Alejandra the wife of Ruben is doing really well. The other day she wasn't to sure about the church because she said she already had been baptized and joined a church before. So we explained simply the authority and then how a baptism with the authority could and will bless her life.. she took it really well. Like I said Ruben is always there present and there is nothing cooler then hearing him share his testimony. The other day we were talking about the Plan of Salvation, and we just got the the part that talks about the 5 steps we should make in our lives (faith, repentance, baptism, holy ghost, endure to the end). As we were talking Ruben jumped in and said to Alejandra "you have faith, you are repenting of your mistakes, so what would be your next step?" It was so incredible. To think he has only been baptized for 2 weeks, and then to have him ask a question so inspired like that.. I felt the spirit so strong. After she answered Ruben's question it led perfectly to the baptismal date for the 23rd of may! She is really excited. The only problem is Sunday's, she goes to see her son who lives in Capital so we are trying to work all this out to help her attend church.

We also have Walter. He is doing good and we are hoping by next Saturday he will be able to get baptized. There have been a couple difficulties we are trying to all work it out together, he is putting forth a good effort so that is something awesome to see. We also have Brisa and Marcos. They are both children of different less active members that we are working with. They both have attendances and are working towards a baptismal date.. we are hoping the both of them will be ready for the 9th of may. We also have been looking like crazy for new families and we have found a couple really great ones lately that we are praying will go to church tomorrow! This week has been crazy busy but we have been working hard to make the best of every minute we have had, we have some great plans for tomorrow so we are excited.

Things are great! Crazy that it is almost May. Hope that life is great back there and that you guys are having fun in all that you are doing. Remember how much I love and pray for you all.. and that my biggest wish is to see you succeed in all you do. Thanks for being such a big support to me, and thanks for being so faithful in the church. You have always been my examples when I most needed it. Stay strong and I know the Lord will bless you :)

With lots of love!

Elder Hansen.