Mar. 14, 2015

 With some of the Elders going home. my pants are so big now I'm so skinny haha. I'm going to get them fitted.

 Us at "Siga la Vaca" with President and Hermana Robertson!

 5 AM trip to the airport with the office elders! 

Lunch at President and Hermana Robertson's house with the missionaries going home.

Hola Hola como están mis queridos!?

Thanks for all the videos! They were super awesome, I laughed pretty hard at some of them, you guys are so weird haha. I definitely laughed super hard at Paxton´s video. Please tell everyone thanks who sent in a video, and let them know I love them! I definitely felt your love and support. So crazy I'm turning 22. Can't believe it. Time sure does go by fast when you are enjoying yourself. Don't think we will be doing anything to crazy for the big day, just going out and teaching the Gospel :) the best gift one could ask for! We are planning on going to the mall today for P-day, so maybe I will spoil myself and buy something... But you guys know me.. probably won´t happen. I hope Carter and the boys do well in their game tonight and make in to provincials! I will be thinkin of ya bro!

This week FLEW by! But seriously. So like I mentioned last week (well in the letter I never sent) that this week was transfer week again. Can you believe that I've already been in the office for a full transfer again? Incredible no! So as AP the responsibilities are quite different than before and I really enjoyed it! On Saturday we got to go with the missionaries going home, and took them on a bit of a tour. Just to a park down town where President said a couple words and then we took some pictures. After we went to President´s house and had a testimony meeting, ate lunch, played some games. Then they asked President and Hermana for adivce in what they should do when they get home (this is when Elder Collins and I left the room.. haha) we have to stay focused in the mission still! It was a super awesome experience though and I learned a ton hearing from their experiences. Then we took them all to the airport. It was pretty crazy, a little sad as well. We dropped Elder Webster off so that was really weird, will miss that guy. He has become a great friend of mine. So we were out till about 12:30 in the morning dropping missionaries off at the airport... Then on Tuesday morning we got up at 4:30 to take the last missionary home, and to go pick up the new missionaries! I felt like I didn't sleep at all! But it was so cool to be there as the new missionaries arrived, just to see the excitement in their eyes. And also to see how confused and lost they were. Brought back a lot of memories haha. So we spent all Tuesday with them getting to know them, talking about their lives and why they decided to come on the mission. We also did a lot of games and some trainings here in the office and President talked to them a lot about the mission. The highlight though is that we left with them to go do contacts in one of the parks here! So Elder Collins and I did some demonstrations and then we gave them all Book of Mormons and went out with them to the park to talk to people! It was super fun. Just to see how they overcame their fears to talk with others. Especially those with the language barrier. It was a cool experience though and a lot of them gave Book of Mormon´s away, after they were all super content. It was a big testimony builder for me, just to see how our personal talents really don't matter. or even if we speak the language, but if we are worthy and have the desire the Lord is the one who does all the rest.

Wednesday was transfer meeting and I'm still with Elder Collins. We are having a blast, I am enjoying my time with him so much. He really is one of my greatest friends, we have a ton in common and we just enjoy working and enjoy the responsibilities that we have. It definitely makes life so nice! President and Hermana Robertson took all the office out for dinner yesterday, they are such incredible people I can't wait for you guys to meet them some day.. they are such a special part of my life. We went to a restaurant called "Siga la Vaca" which in English means "Follow the Cows" haha. It's an all you can eat meat restaurant and it was really good. I went to town on the osado, matabre de pollo, matabre de la pizza, pollo, chinculin.. just the good stuff ya know :) I will send you a pic of us all there. Love it so much!

I feel so blessed to be a missionary and to be apart of the lives of so many amazing people. These past couple days helped me to have gratitude for life, and for the progress that our Heavenly Father allows us to make. I could reflect on where I was when I first got here, on where I am now, and where I want to get. It is so cool to reflect on the way that the Lord works in us. I was reading a talked called  "the 4th missionary" by Lawrence Corbridge the other day and I came across this quote and wanted to share it...  "Just give it up. Surrender your will to Him. Unconditionally. Withhold nothing. Turn it all over to Him; all of your desires, wishes, dreams and hopes. Be true and faithful in your head and in your heart, not just in your behavior. Trust in Him. Trust Him who knows all things. Trust Him who has all power. Trust Him whose love for you is perfect. Trust Him, who alone suffered, paid and atoned for your sins, and for your weaknesses as well.Trust Him that He will make of you, immeasurably more, than what you will ever, ever, in all eternity, make of yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge. You will create an ordinary man. He will create a God."  To me it's interesting that me that we can make out of ourselves something good, something that is acceptable. But the Lord can make something incredible out of us. I really do know this is true, and it's incredible to see how the Lord can change us if we LET Him. I know that if there is something you guys want to achieve, you just need to give all you have to the Lord and He will be the one to help you achieve your goals.

We have 2 great investigators that are progressing for baptism for the end of this month. One is Ruben and the other is Walter. Ruben has a testimony, it is just a matter of trusting in himself and realizing that he knows these things are true. He is just very hesitant sometimes. We are working with him though and he is progressing very well and has plans to go to churchon Sunday. Walter is such a nice genuine person, but he just is never home. We works a lot so it has been really hard to have contact with him, but he has a sincere desire to be baptized so we are really trying to help him understand the importance to put the Lord first in everything. So his progress is good just a little bit slow.

We are also working like crazy with Karina, who needs to get divorced and then married. She wants to get baptized like crazy though and her divorce is getting close to being finished. The awesome part is that we are teaching her whole family. Right now her 2 sons Jonny (23) and Marcos (11) both have baptismal dates and they are both progressing really well. Jonny tried to commit suicide a couple weeks ago, and since then he has been a new person. He has been so humble and attentive to the Spirit and to the things that we teach, and he really has a sincere desire to change so he never goes through another moment like he went through. They are a super special family. Karina´s future husband (Cristian) is also less active so we are working with him and he went to church last Sunday which was really great. It was so awesome to see the whole family there! They are super special.

Besides this we have a couple other families we are working with. It has been super rewarding because we have been praying and focusing on finding and teaching families, but we are finding a ton that are juntados. They are great people, but have a ways to go before they will be ready to receive the Gospel, so we are looking for new people to teach everyday!

Well life is great!! So happy. We are running to the mall so I'm gonna head out and enjoy the day with the office staff! Hope you guys are all doing great. Never forget that I love you with all my heart and I pray for everyone of you. I know that we are blessed when we are obedient to the Lord's commandments and when we truly are humble and submissive. I know that our Heavenly Father lives and loves us, and this is what brings me the most peace and joy every single day of my life.

I love you all, 

Elder Hansen.