He made it to Jamaica!

Last week in Brenham, Texas! It's been a great experience!

This week has been great! We got to do a bunch of awesome things! The weather has been colder but the food has been better!

At the start of the week we set this guy named Jose a baptismal date in February so that was awesome! After we had shared the First Vision with him he told that us that he was feeling great! It was so awesome to see Jose feel of the spirit and know that what we were telling him was true. At the end of the lesson we committed him for a day and it was great! Too bad I won’t be here to teach him more but I know that he will continue forth! 

We also got to go to a worldwide Missionary Broadcast down in Houston on Wednesday and that was such a good experience! It’s funny that a lot of the things that were said during the broadcast from leaders of the missionary program have been taught to us by our Mission President already! Our President is such a good guy and seriously knows what he is doing! My companion and I have realized that the whole mission tries to talk like the President! The way he talks is how the whole mission talks. It’s hilarious! But we did learn a lot from the broadcast and have tried to put it into our teaching efforts. It has really helped on being more direct and meaningful to the certain person we are talking to. 

On Friday, we got to take one of the recent converts from the branch to the temple for baptisms! Our President has been working with the temple in Houston so that every 4th Friday of the Month the temple will be reserved for recent converts to go and do baptisms! He has been talking to other temple presidents and is trying to make this happen for every temple! So, we got to go to the temple and watch her be baptized and confirmed for her mom. It was such a spiritual experience and she told us as we were leaving that she could truly feel the presence of her mom while she was getting confirmed! She didn’t want to leave the temple!

Another awesome thing I found out this week and could be the reason I came to Texas was this member in our branch is from Jamaica! He is a less active recent convert and the rest of his family is in Jamaica and aren’t members! Elder Ross, my companion thinks for sure this is why I came to Texas first! I thought it was cool that I was able to find him and talk with him about Jamaica for a bit! 

This week has been a great last week! It is so sad to leave this place because the people here are seriously the best! They are so nice and our investigators are solid! We have set two dates for February! And the branch is so awesome and supportive of what we are doing! Every night we have been fed dinner from a branch member! It’s hard to leave but I know that I will feel the same way about Jamaica once I get there! It has been a fast six weeks and a great six weeks here in Brenham, Texas! I know that as we continue forth we will be blessed!

Elder Hansen

Having Faith helps us prepare for upcoming trials!

This week was great! We had a baptism with one of our investigators! She was so prepared since she had been waiting so long! I was adopted into the investigator but it was still a great experience because we taught her a lot and helped her through her hard times. She got confirmed the following Sunday and was gone after sacrament because they were moving to Florida! So cutting it close, but she got it done! That’s what counts! She is so great and now she is going to go to the temple when she has time she says! It was a great experience to watch someone grow and change over the time we taught her to the time she got baptized! 

We also went on exchanges this week, which was so awesome! We exchanged with the zone leaders so I got to go up to College Station for a day. We got to go on to Texas A&M campus and go contacting there which was way cool! There weren’t that many people because school hasn’t quite started. Then later in the night we get a call from one of the people we had taught previously that day. He tells us that he is going to kill his friend. We are just shocked at why he is telling us this. So we talk to him for 30 or so minutes on the phone trying to diffuse the situation. We think this guy is just a little out of the system. But anyways he says he is still going to do it and hangs up... He calls back a little later saying that he had done it! We are kind of freaking out now. We couldn’t tell if he was messing with us or if he was being serious so we called the police. We haven’t heard anything else so hopefully he didn’t do it. 

Anyway, our investigators are doing well! A lot of our lessons fell through this week so we didn’t get to see all of our new investigators. We still have 3 progressing investigators and they are solid. It is really too bad that I am leaving next week because these people are so awesome! They are so interested in hearing about the gospel and want to be baptized! It is sad to leave them but I know they are in good hands here in Brenham and hopefully they will continue in the paths they are going in!

This week I also gave a talk! Which the branch presidency let me know 20 minutes before going to bed on Saturday night! So I had 20 minutes to prepare a 20 minute talk. Not good but it turned out alright! I learned a lot about having to have faith sometimes even when you’re not prepared! Sometimes we don’t have time to prepare for upcoming trials in our life and it takes a lot of Faith to make it through! 

I know that as I continue to put forth work and faith the Lord will bless me and the people I am around! That our investigators in Brenham will continue on in their faith and be baptized!  I have loved serving a mission! I can’t wait to see what this next week brings and what we are able to accomplish as we devote our effort and time to the Lord!

Love,

Elder Hansen

Another awesome miracle!

This week has been awesome! We got to meet so many new people and found 2 solid new investigators! I also got my Visa! So I leave the 26th of this month. I’m both excited but sad about that! Brenham is just starting to shape up! I’m finally getting to know the whole branch and our investigators are progressing really well! It seems right as I am getting comfortable with this area and our investigators are doing well, I have to leave! Oh well I know that Jamaica will be awesome also and excited to see what it’s going to be like over there!

This week has been full of adventure! We helped this girl put out a fire that was started up in her motor! She just kept trying to start her truck and then smoke starting billowing out so we ran over and started throwing water! She was actually really calm about it. Like it’s a regular occurrence with her! .So we got the fire out and helped her for a bit and then we gave her a Book of Mormon to help her! Her little brother called us later that night and had said he had read the whole book and loved it within 2 hours! Hahaha fast reader for a 10 year old.

Our investigator that is being baptized this Saturday came to church with her less active husband and said that she is still good to be baptized! She had a lot of doubts the previous week and we couldn’t get a hold of her. So it was so awesome for them to show up and come to church!!

Another awesome miracle this week was having this investigator handed to us and want to be baptized without us even meeting him yet! A member brought him to church for us and he said, that he has been reading the Book of Mormon and wants to be baptized! So we set up a time we could meet for this week and are excited to meet with him!! 

The time is already flying by! It seems as if I was just dropped off at the MTC. Every day is so awesome getting to meet new people and sharing the Gospel with everyone I see! Our members in the branch are so great! They help us so much coming with us to our lessons and finding people for us to teach! The branch is seriously so cool! Even though everyone is so spread out and sometimes have to drive 45 minutes, they still drive in and meet us for lessons with our investigators!

I'm also glad to go to Jamaica to be on a bike because I’m going to need the exercise! Every single night we are fed by the members! The food is so good and there is so much food! So basically I am gaining too much weight! I am loving being a missionary! Every day goes by way too fast and we don’t have enough time to do everything we need to do! Almost always running late! But it is so awesome because we have no time to even think about doing anything else! I have learned more than I ever have this past month and it is so awesome! My companion is great and everything is going great! Can’t wait to see what this week brings!

Love,

Elder Hansen

Are you too busy to hear?

   This week was pretty awesome! It was actually cold this whole week. It’s probably only 45 but it feels way cold just because of the humidity! It has rained every single day and has just been overcast. However, people still want to let us in even when it is pouring rain outside. The most common answer we get is, "I have already been saved". Or something like, "I already have my religion and I go to church every single Sunday". It’s funny how everyone says the same thing almost.

     One of our investigators had a baptismal date for the 9th but now she is moving so she said she will try to do on the 15th. It doesn’t really make any sense and that is a long story. All of our other investigators are slowly moving forward. We had 4 of them at church this past week so that was awesome! It was a scary having them at church on fast and testimony meeting because you never know what you’re going to get people talking about. We had people talking about miracles for a good half of the meeting so maybe that helped our investigators knowing that miracles are true! haha

      This week has been harder because so many of our lessons fell through so we were doing a lot of tracting! But that’s always a good time to try and go find new people interested in hearing more about the gospel. Texas is interesting because you either have people that are super nice that want you to come in and talk for 2 hours or you have most people that will just talk behind the door asking, "Who is it!?" Also everything is so spread out that we are always driving. Driving just gets boring listening to the same 7 church hymns we have in the truck all day long! haha Even though this week has been harder I know that this next week will be better because we have a lot of appointments set up for potential investigators! 

       I look forward to seeing what this next week brings! I know that as we try our best we will be able to find new people that are prepared! I also know that sometimes it’s easy to just say this person does not want to hear anything or he is too busy but really who is too busy to hear how they can live with their Father in Heaven again someday!

Love,

Elder Hansen

Do you know Jesus Christ?

This week with it being Christmas was awesome! Down here in the 80 degree weather with no snow, Christmas lights, or cold just didn't feel how Christmas normally feels. However, most people were home so we got to talk to a lot of people through tracting during this last week. Most everyone believes in Christ down here and go to Church every Sunday. So when we talk to them about Jesus Christ they all say that they already know Jesus and they don’t need to know anymore. It’s funny though because nobody knows enough about Jesus otherwise we would all be perfect if we knew Christ and wanted to be like him!

On Christmas we had a bunch of members invite us over so we were constantly eating food! I have never been so full! The food down here in Texas is sooo good!! It was a really good Christmas to have Christ in my mind and try to share that with other people! One member gave us a bunch of Secret Santa presents so we went and delivered all those. It is so awesome to see people be so thankful and surprised when we would show up with a big present for them! Who knows what they were going to get but at least they were super thankful and excited to get something for Christmas! 

We have a couple investigators who are just stuck...they don’t know what church to be baptized into. So we have been trying to help them realize this Church! It's often hard to put myself in their shoes and see what they are seeing but I know that as I try to help them by sincerely caring for them, eventually they will come around.

I am starting to get more comfortable with being a missionary every day! It was hard to start a completely different lifestyle but now each and every day is more enjoyable. I am so glad for the opportunity I have to serve a mission and I know that as I devote all of my time and will to the Lord, the people we help will be blessed.  I’m excited to be down here in Texas! 

Love,

Elder Hansen

I'm in Brenham, Texas!

Good morning to everyone! I made it to Brenham, Texas. There is literally not a mountain in sight! I am so disoriented it’s not even funny! But the town is pretty small. My companion and I are over a branch. The branch has maybe a 100 people in it and the boundaries for the branch are huge! We sometimes drive an hour to get to get to places within the branch boundaries. But all of the members are super nice! I have never seen so many wranglers and cowboy boots at church! haha Probably about 95% of the men in the branch wear wranglers and cowboy boots to church including the Branch President! We eat at a member’s home every night so that’s way cool!

    At church yesterday this guy was standing in the back just doing nothing. So we told him to come sit by us. By the way this guy is obviously not a member. He was pretty sketchy looking...While he’s sitting next to me I’m thinking oh you know new investigator. Just walks in, wants to be religious! Nope not the case. And so while the deacons are passing the Sacrament he pulls out his phone and calls someone. I'm just waiting to see if he was going to start talking. So he starts talking and tells whoever he is talking to that there is no breakfast here. All of my hopes went out the window! Anyway, as the first speaker gets up he heads out. I was sad for the guy because he didn't want to stay for church but also that he was hungry for some breakfast.

     My companion is Elder Ross. He is a pretty cool guy! He’s been out in the field for 3 months in the same area we are in right now. He is from Morgan Utah. Every companionship that I meet has got somebody from Utah. It is a bit ridiculous. It’s just us two in our apartment. The apartment is way nice, it has 2 bathrooms, washer and dryer, big living room, and a big kitchen. I'm scared to get used to living like this because when I get to Jamaica it’s going to be hard to live in a shack. The apartment address is 1120 Green Street Appt. 3 Brenham, Texas. 77833.

     I also want to say how much better being out in the field is than in the MTC. The MTC was great and all, other than you're practically in a prison. Putting all that I’ve learned in the MTC to use is a lot better. We are always very busy meeting less active and recent converts, and also teaching the investigators that Elder Ross had before I got here. 

      Yesterday as we were tracting we were just about done with this one neighborhood that nobody wanted to hear anything. It was time to leave and head to a dinner appointment when I thought we should stop by one last house. So we did...and they let us in so we taught them about the Book of Mormon. They want to hear more so that was exciting to find someone brand new for the first time. I’m just so glad to be out here actually serving the Lord now! Sometimes when people are rude or just slam the door it’s not too fun but I know that as we continue to work our hardest we will find Joy in everything we do!

Elder Hansen