At the baptism of Jorge with Presedente Peralta, Elder Toledo and me.

My District in Lujan!

A sneak peak of Sister Carter putting together the birthday gifts for the missionaries. Looks like Skittles!

Hey Fam! 

Thank you so much for the letters this week. I always love the support that I feel when I read your words. I can see a change in you guys every single week, a change spiritually. It really is an amazing thing and I couldn't be more happy. There is nothing greater than this Gospel, and I love to see you all thriving in it, doing your best to improve everyday! Sounds like the weather there in Canada is wild! Can't make up it's mind. I can tell you that the weather here knows what it wants to do, burn me haha. I have never experienced heat like this in my life! I think when we went to South Carolina is was hotter.. but that was for moments at a time. Being out in the sun all day in these clothes definitely is tough, and I have never sweated more in my life! Gross I know. But I love it, it's all a part of the wonderful experience.

Carter you are a stud. Keep up the good work, I'm always so proud when I hear of the things you are doing! Make the best of every moment you have. 

I know the girl that bore her testimony that was baptized, I don't know how to spell it.. but her name is Notando. Something like that? She came to Family Home Evening and Institute with us in the summer. About 5 other youth, and me were able to give her the first dicussion one day. With the help of President Dudley. We were able to share our testimonies and brief experiences in our lives, that is so awesome she got baptized!  

We had a great week in Lujan. As you know transfers were on Wednesday, and since you didn't see my picture that means I'm still in Lujan! I was so happy when we recieved the call and they told me I was going to be here another transfer, Elder Toledo is here as well! Tuesday night we went to the house of the Alvarez Family and had a "goodbye" dinner you could say, everyone thought I was going, including me. And not gonna lie it was hard, I was close to tears. The bond that you form with people through the Gospel is amazing, and so incredibly strong. I never knew that I could form a love so deep for people that I haven't known for that long. It is defintely one of the greatest, and most special parts of the mission. At their house on Tuesday they wanted me to say a prayer in English to bless the food. I was excited to be able to say a prayer where I knew the language for the first time in 5 months, but I seriously couldn't do it. It was the most Spanglish prayer ever, half English, half Spanish. I can't imagine what it's going to be like after 2 years. We had a good laugh about that.

On Friday night we had a Family Home Evening with the whole branch in the church. About 40 people showed up I believe. We did karaoke, and man it was a blast! There was definitely some good laughs had there. Elder Toledo and I sang a really weird Spanish song that I didn't understand much at all, but it was all in good fun! Definitely was a nice night to relax and enjoy time with the members, we were also able to bring a few investigators, who really enjoyed the activity as well. Bringing non members to activities really is the best way to slowly introduce them into the church! I know its hard in Magrath, but if you ever have the chance I encourage you to do it!

Jorge was baptized on Saturday! It was such a special day for him. He was so excited, and all went great. He was so happy, it has been cool to see him progress so much in just a short period of time! So we had the baptism at 4 in the afternoon, which is during their siesta (When everyone takes there afternoon nap) haha. So the only people that went to the baptism was Jorge, Presidente Peralta, The Hermanas, and us. For a moment I felt bad that nobody else came, and also that Jorge's friend didn't come because he was sick. But Jorge was so incredibly happy, it really did show me that the number of people, or the "hype" of the event really isn't what is important. The promise that he made with God is what really is important. It was cool to see him and his excitement. A man with little experience in the church taught me a lesson quite neat. He taught me what's really important in life, that the size or quantity isn't important.

I am so grateful for all of you. I pray for you always that you will continue to have the happiness and success that you deserve, and that our Father in Heaven wants for you. I hope that everyday we can continue to use the Atonement in our lives, it really is the greatest gift we have in our lives. We can use it to better ourselves in every moment, and we can use it as many times as we need too. We only need to humble ourselves and have the desire to change. I have seen so many humble people change their lives completely, and it has given me a new view in life. I hope that we can continue to rely on the Lord in every part of our life. He loves you, and so do I!

Have a great week!

Love, Elder Hansen.

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.

Cutting grass on a vacant lot by the church with Rodrigo. 

Hey Fam! 

Thank you for the pictures! I am blown away by that rink at the Cabin, that thing is so legit. Looks like you guys are just living the life with no worries. And dad I can tell from the picture how good your form is! Now I know where I got my few skills from! Looks like things are great and cold up in Canada, wouldn´t want it any other way right. I often tell everyone about Canada, the snow, and how cold it is and they are just blown away. Most of them have seen snow once or twice in their lives, and it never was enough to actually stay on the ground. Crazy how different the world is. I have moments where I am dying of heat, but for the most part Im doing good. Just gotta learn to deal with it and drink a lot of water, but all the members keep telling me the worst is still to come.. how nice eh haha.

I cant believe Jonny got called to Argentina! That is so awesome! You will have to tell him congratulations for me, and tell him that Argentina is the best and that he will love it! Do you know what MTC he's going to report too? Its wild that those kids two years younger then me have left and are leaving to serve. So many missionaries these days, its great.

I am so sad to hear about Taylor Elliot, that is so horrible that that happened to him. He was such a nice kid, I know I only played hockey with him for one year but he always was a great guy to the younger players. I am also extremely glad for the plan of salvation. It is something we teach a lot here, and although it´s sad.. the people that have been through the hardest things are often the most receptive to the Gospel and it´s teaching. I know that his family will see him again. And even if they aren´t able to be taught by the missionaries now, I hope that they will be able to have this knowledge and this peace of mind that we have. I have no doubts that there is a life after this one.

Just like Christmas we had a regular day New Years, were able to teach and proselyte for most the day. But in the night we were able to spend some time with the Peralta´s and eat asado.. which is cow meat. It´s the thing to eat down here, it is so good. I have a lot of pictures, I will have to send you some one day. We were able to spend time there until about 9:45 because we had permission as a mission to be out a little bit later that day. The people down here are crazy about there fireworks yes. On Christmas, and New Years they all light off a ton of fireworks at midnight! On Christmas I woke up to a bunch of loud bags, but on New Years I was so tired I just slept right through it haha. I think that New Years is bigger then Christmas here, and it´s crazy how different their traditions are because it is Summer and not Winter. Definitely a different thing for me but I loved it all the same!

The picture I sent this week was one of us cutting grass by the church. Nobody owns the property so there were weeds about  8 feet high! We didn´t have a machine to use, so we got 2 machettes.. (help me with the spelling haha) and were able to cut down about half of the weeds. It was some tough work, but it was a lot of fun haha. We were able to do it with President Peralta, and Rodrigo who is in the picture. He´s one of the boys in the Alvarez Family, stud. That was our excitement for this week!

We had a miracle this week at the church which was pretty special. This past month has been tough for us, we have been able to find and teach lots of good people but getting them to progress towards there baptisms has been hard. We have one investigator named R••••••, she is great but she can´t really remember the things we teach her. She wants to get baptized but she needs to attend church another time before she can. She told  us she would be waiting for us to pick her up on Sunday morning, so we went.. and she wasn´t there. She forgot and left. We were a little frustrated as we went to the Church without her, because now we have to move her baptism back another week. But as we got the church and entered the chapel there was this man that we didn´t know, so we approached him to see who he was. And the first thing he said to us was "quero bautizarme" which is "I want to be baptized" we were in shock. He was an old investigator of missionaries before, but had some problems with his health. But now he is feeling better, and we were able to visit him yesterday and plan to help him be baptized! What a blessing from the Lord. We had been working hard and not having much success, but as we continued on the Lord placed a man in our path, a man prepared. His name is J•••• so if you can pray for his baptism on the 18th we would greatly appreciate it!

I love you guys all so much. Everyday the mission gets better as I learn more about how to do the work, and more importantly learn the will of my Savior. He only wants the best for each and every one of us. Those who have the Gospel and those who don´t. I love being able to spread his Gospel with others, and more importantly his love. Everybody needs the healing and loving power of the Savior in their lives, and I hope that you guys too are able to share it with others. I have learned the smallest things make the biggest difference, I hope that you will always remember this, and continue to be examples to all those around you. Have a great week!

Love, Elder Hansen.

This picture is of the baptism of Martin! Such a stud. The family Alvarez is so happy these days!

For Christmas I gave the Alvarez family my Canadian flag. They were so stoked haha. Love them.

We had an outdoor nativity last night! We were able to dress up as soldiers and participate, was so spiritual and awesome!

Christmas celebrations continue right up until the 6 of January, which is the Day of the Kings. The children polish their shoes and fill them with straw and put water nearby to feed the camels of the kings. In return, the kings leave gifts for the children.

Hola Familia! Feliz Navidad y Año Nuevo de Argentina!

I love you guys so much. I am so grateful for the opportunity we had to be able to talk on Christmas, to be able to share experiences and our testimonies with one another. It really was a moment and a time very special for me. Definitely was the quickest 40 minutes ever, but I enjoyed every second of it. I have to thank you guys for your support and for your spirit. I could feel your love and your compassion through the computer haha. I could also feel the Love of the Savior so strong when you guys were talking. Thank you for living lives so worthily, you really do have the spirit of the Lord with you. I could feel it. It's something Ive been thinking about a lot today. How grateful I am for a family who is so worthy, and the biggest thing is you are worthy to be able to enter the temple. This is one of our greatest gifts, and I'm glad we are able to take use it to bless our lives and the lives of others.

Sounds like things are going great back home. Glad to hear Christmas was good as usual! You guys are all spoiled, especially Jordan. I am always so excited for you guys and love that you are having fun and enjoying life. I'm glad the Maxwells are doing well, I pray for them often and am so glad for the friends we have. we really are so blessed!

The other day we did a service project at the church. There was a field with grass about 8 feet high, and we cut it all down with a machette! haha Took us about an hour but it was so fun.

Although it has been 2 weeks I don't have a lot to say because we talked just a couple days ago. But things in Lujan are good. We had the baptism of Martin a couple weeks ago like I said. Little kid 8 years old, he is great. He wanted me personally to baptize him, which was a great honour for me. The Alvarez family is so content right now and are loving the church. They are going to mutual, activities, and church every single week! They are easily one of the most active and involved families in our branch right now. They haven't missed church for almost 2 months! Its amazing what the Lord can do. If we just do a little bit on our part, he will literally bless us more then we can imagine. I have seen this so strong with this family. We are now teaching some of their cousins as well. Its a cool process. As they become to love the Gospel more they are starting to have the desire to share it with others!

At this moment things are a bit hard when it comes to finding new people to teach. But we have a few people with baptism dates for the next couple weeks. We have one lady named L••••••• who is awesome! But all of her family is Evangelistas which is a problem at the moment. She has a testimony of the church, and she told us when we talk and when she's in the church she can feel something she has never felt before. So we are working with her a lot right now. She has the desire to be baptized but she is scared of what her family would think. Her daughter who is 12 years old actually left the house to live with the dad because she doesn't want her mom to be baptized. It is one of the hardest situations to try to deal with for her, and for us its a tough situation as well. But we have been praying to the Lord a lot for help and guidance.

Last night we had an outdoor nativity at the church! Where the the basketball and football court is. They built a little nativity and a stable where the shepherds were, and they had fire all around the outside of the fence. It was so sweet! There was one hermano who was narrating, and the rest of us participated and sang just like we do back home! The coolest part is that they had a wire strung from one side of the fence to the other, and when they started talking about the new star they turned on a light that was dangling from this wire. They pulled it across the whole court and the wise men followed it. It was such a cool experience!

I am starting to find more joy and love for the little things everyday, and especially for the opportunity to preach the gospel. The more I apply the teachings in my life, the more I know that this church is true and that it blesses families. I have seen it change the hearts and lives of so many people. And although we have been members for many years, and know that everyday it helps shape and change our lives, so that we can become better people. We really have no idea how great our potential is, but it is my prayer that with the help of the Lord we can become all that he wants us to be! I love you all. Thank you so much for your testimonies and for the love you show me. I know this is the greatest thing I could be doing at this point in my life. Thank you for supporting my in my decision! Have a great week, all the best!!

Love, Elder Hansen!

It was Camilo´s birthday on Saturday! (Son of President Peralta) Turned 3 years old, so cute! We baked a cake for his birthday, he was so pumped haha.

President Peralta dressed up as Camilo´s favorite character, Sappo Pepe! Haha they have such a great family.

We had a great activity in the church the other night! Had a dance and a ton of food. I love the members of Lujan so much!

At the Zone Conference

Lunch at the Zone Conference

Hola Fam!! 

Thank you so much for the letters and the updates again this week. Sounds like a very eventful week up there in Canada! I always love to here how you guys are doing, always brings a smile to my face and peace to know that things are good as always. Sounds like there are lots of changes and things happening in Canada at this moment, that´s awesome. I just wanna say that Darin´s comment made me laugh so hard, haha that kid is awesome. I´m proud of him for serving such a great mission!

I heard that we don´t get our packages until our Pday as a mission, which is next Monday. They always keep the Christmas packages so the missionaries can stay focused on the work until Christmas time, which is smart. Next Monday we are going to the temple as a mission, then having lunch and doing a program. I'm in the Christmas choir for the program! haha Really going outside of my comfort zone and practicing my singing skills. I'm excited. It's going to be an awesome day. We also are going to the temple this Thursday with our branch and a few of our investigators! I'm super excited about that, it´s going to be a great day. I heard that Argentina has the new movie as well, so I´m excited to see it next Monday.

Thank you for the update on the Skype. I look forward to hearing and seeing you guys on the 25th! We only have 40 minutes to talk, so be ready haha It´s going to go by quick but I know that it will be great. A good moment to share as a family to share experiences, I love you all and am excited to hear from you! And just to remind you we don´t get computer time next Monday because we are going to the temple, so I won´t be sending you a letter. We get time to Skype on Christmas instead.

Things in Lujan are good with Elder Toledo! I never knew it could be so different trying to adjust from one companion to another! Not in a bad way at all, just in general. Every missionary does things different so it is taking a little bit of practice to get good flow in lessons, but Elder Toledo is a great missionary so things are good! He doesn´t speak any English at all haha, So I have spoken English once in the past 2 weeks. It´s definitely helping my Spanish a lot. It has gotten a lot better and now I can teach all the lessons with ease and talk with people we meet. Definitely makes things more enjoyable when you can understand and reply haha. Finally I don´t feel useless. And I´m eating as much as possible I promise! I don´t know how much I weigh these days but definitely a little bit less. But don´t worry I never feel like I´m starving. I needed to lose a little bit of my fat anyways!

This week a lot of good things happened. We went to the Birthday party of Camilo, which was so fun. We had a dance in the church as well.. and even though we can´t dance as missionaries we had a blast. The members here are awesome and always love to have a good time. The craziest thing was yesterday though. We have a machine in our pension that we have to turn on to have hot water in the shower. I went to turn it on like I do every single morning, and for some reason the flames exploded and now I have no hair on my one hand haha. and I lost a little bit of hair on my eyebrows and eyelashes as well. Like a science experiment gone wrong in the classroom hey dad! Haha me and the comp had a good laugh about it. But don't worry I´m good!

Right now we have some good investigators, but it has been a tough week. We have been trying hard to find people who have a firm desire to change and follow Christ. We have lots of people who like what they hear, but the principle of action is always a hard thing for people. We are still trying to find a good way to get the people we teach to attend Church. For them it´s hard, because it´s about a 20 minute walk, and lots of them don´t have money for a bus or taxi. It´s always a hard thing trying to get them to attend with all the things happening. We usually need to help them or pick them up with other Members. We have one lady L••••••• who has gone to church for the past 2 weeks and has a baptism date for the 28th. She has 3 kids as well, so we are working with them a lot right now to prepare them for this great day! She has a lot of faith in Christ, but she was baptized before in her life.. so right now we are just trying to show why she needs to be baptized in our church. In reality, before my mission I knew baptism was important just because it´s always something we do. But now I am really learning why it is so important. It really is the only way to achieve salvation and to open up a new life and opportunities. It´s something that we really focus on. Usually when we teach we focus on the blessings it brings, rather then the negatives. It always helps them see the possibilities and the blessing the Lord has for them, if they will only extend their hand and receive them.

This Wednesday is the baptism of Martin! He is one of the kids in the Alvarez Family! He turns 8 on Wednesday and he is going to be baptized the same day! I´m so excited. I have watched this family absolutely change so much, and now you can literally see with your eyes the blessings and the happiness they have because of this gospel. The mom is so excited for Wednesday and for his baptism, it´s going to be a great day and I´ll be sure to send you pictures of it in 2 weeks!

I love you guys so much. I want you to know that the sacrifices in life are small. Somedays I feel overwhelmed, but I simply have to remember what our Savior did for us. I truly believe our pains and hardships are only for a short time. It´s my prayer that we can overcome them and enjoy this life as a family, and that one day we will be able to live as a family forever! I know it´s possible and that it´s the greatest gift that God has for us! I love you all, can´t wait to see you all in a few days!

Mucho Amor!! 

Elder Hansen.

An evening with the Alvarez family

At the transfer meeting

Last day with Elder Valdez

Doing service on Rosalia's roof with Brother Peralta

My new companion from Chile

Hola Familia! 

Sounds like things in Magrath are freezing, but great as usual! It´s so crazy how different it is, but I can tell you I don´t miss the cold one bit. Yesterday It was 38 degrees here and humid as ever, in my suit during church I was dying haha, but it´s all part of the experience. Definitely losing a couple pounds of sweat everyday haha. I can´t believe those pictures of Carter, he´s a beast! Looks like he´s having a ton of success and enjoying it. He´s huge now, but how many pounds does he weigh? Love all the updates, I always enjoy hearing how things are going. Tell all the fams that I love them, the Christmas broadcast was always my favorite. They had it last night here in the Church but we didn´t go because it was to late for us.

We are going to call you guys on Christmas day, the 25th. President Carter wrote us about this. So I´m going to write this week, and the next week, but on the following week we don´t get email time. We only get time to call our families. So we need to plan this all right now. I'm thinking that I'm going to call you guys at 3 o´clock here, so 12 in Canada. From the house of President Peralta. If you could write me back and let me know if it´s all good I would greatly appreciate it!

Well we had transfers this week like I said. They call all the missionaries the night before and tell them what is going on. They called Tuesday night, and told Elder Valdes that he was going, and that I was staying. We went to the transfer meeting on Wednesday in a taxi, and yes they pay for our rides when we go during transfers. But if we have to go other days for personal things we take the bus and we pay for it, but it´s not expensive at all. 

So I´m still in Lujan and I have a new companion! His name is Elder Toledo haha, he´s from Chile and he´s sweet. We get along good. It´s still a little different without Elder Valdes, after being with someone for 3 months straight a change is weird. But I know me and Elder Toledo are going to be great friends as well. He has about 1 year in the mission. But for now I have to lead the area and all the lessons because he doesn´t know anyone, it is definitely a little more stressful, but I have felt the presence of the Lord more in my life, and I have depended on him more then ever. There really is so much to do, and sometimes it is overwhelming but I feel like things are going good. We have a lot of work to do right now, we don´t have a lot of really solid investigators after the Baptisms in November. But we have a couple that we are working hard to help and progress. I have learnt so much in this past 3 months in the field, but I sometimes feel like I know nothing. Missionary work is hard, but I am growing to love it more and more everyday.

We did service for one of our Investigators Rosalia the other day. We helped her build part of her roof, with the help of President Peralta. It´s always nice to be able to do a little bit of the other kind of service as well. Not only teaching, but serving the people in all that they need. It´s a good way to build a relationship and trust with them, showing that we really are here to help them with all the aspects of their life. I had a little accident during the service though. I was on the ladder helping President Peralta, and the ladder started to slip. I was only about 3 feet in the air so I decided to jump off. I went to land on this giant board, but the board was actually just covering this giant hole in the ground. So I went crashing through this board and fell about 3 feet into this giant hole! I wasn´t hurt at all, and we definitely had a good laugh about this haha. Good times.

We also had to sing yesterday in Church. Me, Elder Toledo, and the 2 hermanas that are in our branch. We sang "Because I have been given much I too must give" I don´t remember the title in English. It was definitely interesting but I think it went well. I can tell you that I don´t have the same confidence and voice I had during the Primary Presentations all those years ago haha. My singing has definitely got worse with time, but it happens right. I think I´d rather give a talk in Spanish than have to sing. 

The mission is great. Now I have more of an obligation to talk and teach everyday and I´m starting to love it more and more. It is helping me develop more of a testimony and a knowledge for the Savior and his life. I have learnt the more that we apply his teachings in our life, and especially the atonement, the more we desire to follow his example and use the Atonement in our lives. I love you guys so much, hope you have a fantastic week!! Love you all, look forward to seeing you all very soon! If you can write me back about the Skype ASAP that would be greatly appreciated!! 

Love love,

Mucho Amor, 

Elder Hansen.

With the Alvarez family to celebrate a baptism!

Hello Family!! 

Thank you for the updates once again. Im so sorry Carter that things didn´t go better in volleyball. Sounds like you guys had a tough weekend. But I´m so glad that you were able to enjoy it and make lifelong friends. Winning championships is always fun, but I believe you will remember the friendships and the good times for much longer than anything else. They really are the things most valuable.

I´m so excited Carson gets out there so soon, he has waited a long time for this and I know he will be a great missionary. He will bless so many people in the process, and he will be able to learn so much himself. I can´t even explain what I´ve been able to learn so far on my mission. It´s something so different than you could ever imagine. I love it. What day does Makenzie leave?? I´m super excited for her too. Get that Spanish going so one day we will be able to talk fluently haha! I still have a long way myself before I am fluent, but everyday the Spanish gets a little bit better. 

I don´t know how or where I will contact you for Christmas, but Elder Valdes said it´s usually over Skype on the 24th. So I will keep you updated more and more. They do celebrate Christmas here yes, but I don´t think it's as big of a deal as it is in Canada. I guess I will have to wait and see. Plus its going to be super weird with no snow. It´s probably going to be 40 degress outside, so crazy for Christmas. Usually we still proselyte on Christmas I believe, it´s a good time to share the Love of the Savior with others and talk about his birth. I hear there is always a special blessing for missions during the month of December, lots of love, so I look forward to being able to share it with others.

Last Monday on our Pday we went out to eat as a District to celebrate our success. We went to an all you can eat restaurant, it was the first time I've eaten out here in Argentina! It was so good. There was all kinds of meat and sausage. But they all looked exactly the same... and I ate 2 things of cow intestine haha, They looked exactly like the sausage. I ended up being sick for about 2 days but I feel better now. What's a mission without a little sickness right? 

The 24th really was a day I will never forget. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I could never have imagined a day like that, and am so glad I was able to be apart of it. It´s truly amazing what the Gospel does for families. I sent you a picture of a family just 2 weeks ago I believe, the Family Alvarez. I am going to send another picture of them this week. They are all members but they have been inactive for about 3 years now. Federico is their cousin and has been living with them for about 2 months and was one of the people baptized last week. I can remember the first time we taught them, they were so timid, there wasn´t much conversation, and they were a little hesitant to invite us in. But every lesson their faith grew and things began to change, and now I can honestly say I love them with all my heart. They have such a special spirit with them. The day of the baptism there was 12 of them that attended, and yesterday 8 of them went to church. The gospel has given them a new light and in reality a new life. They have so much joy, and every time we go over there they are laughing and truly enjoying themselves. And even though they often make fun of me for my Spanish, I have grown to love them so much. This Gospel really does unite families like we can´t imagine, it is something so special that you can´t explain but only can feel. And I´m so grateful we have it in our lives. Yesterday they invited us over to eat at their house and celebrate the baptisms and the birthday of one our their cousins, it was a good time. We had a big meal outside and share stories about the baptism and about our families. I tried my best to explain you guys with my broken spanish haha.

Also on Sunday our 3 converts Alberto, Federico, and Fransico were able to receive the Aaronic Preisthood! It was awesome. I´m excited to see them progress and continue to grow and build their faith. Alberto has a wife who has been a member for about 10 years, and they want to get sealed in the temple! And Federico has been expressing a sincere desire to serve a mission one day! The day of their baptism is something special, but even more its the gateway to so many opportunities and blessings! I can´t wait to be able to see what things they will accomplish in their lives!

We have transfers this Wednesday. Elder Valdes and I will likely go our seperate ways, one of us will probably stay in our area and the other will be transferred. I love Elder Valdes, we have become great friends and I will miss him. But it´s part of the mission. Whatever happpens I look forward to the new opportunities I will have and the other great missionaries and people I will be able to work with! I'll let you know what happened in one week!

I love you with all my heart family. Have a fantastic week.

Love, Elder Hansen.