12/15/13 Baptisms for Christmas!

All right so hello everyone!! Let me just start off by saying that this week was amazing!!! Even though at times as you are walking around its a million degrees you have a ton of people always saying hey joy and americano.......I have never done anything more rewarding than serving a mission. I had an amazing exprience this week where it just hit me, even though we had just got punted and we were now heading out to a really far area, the thought just hit me where I was so happy and I could just feel the spirit so much. It was a very amazing experience for me and I was very grateful for it. I know that our Father In Heaven knows our needs and will help us and give us strength when needed. So last saturday we had three investigators who passed their interview so we will now be having a baptism three days before Christmas!! White Christmas no??? yeah even though I won't see the brilliant snow that is just reflecting the wonderful sun, I will see three of God's Children with the biggest smiles on their faces and witness something even more beautiful than a fresh white Christmas. I'm not gonna lie,  at times I do miss the cold.......like I always say it is so hot here in the Philippines. We also have our awesome part member family who has now returned to church!!!! Four weeks in a row they have gone to church. And their kids will now be baptized on the 28th!!! Me and Elder Flores are definitely seeing the blessings of our hard work. I have never been happier to be serving. and I am also way excited to skype my family on Christmas!!! That will be absoluteley amazing!!! It has been seven months since I have talked to them!! But yeah that is about all that I have to report!!! I love you all

Happy Holidays!!

love Elder Hansen







 

First Group Email! 12/09/13

So Unker, (that would be Elder Unker) has been talking me into doing a weekly letter or something so that people know what I'm doing out here in the mission.....I'm not the best at expressing what is happening here but I will try my best. So last p day our whole zone went to a mall. Keep in mind its the Philippines, not America.  But we went to a mall and decided to go inside and Christmas carol because its December....in the Philippines, once its September that means it is now Christmas! It's the BER months octoBER novemBER.... which just means that it is kind of cold....but anyway we went caroling.  No one wanted to at first but once we all started singing it was actually way fun! I enjoyed it...the people gave us weird looks though...and some took our pictures so it was fun. But this week was good.  An Elder that was in my house in my first area just moved into this house so we get to be together again in the apartment.  He is way funny. We also decided to stop by a school that has a bunch of home made Christmas trees out front and we took some pics.  The people were a little shocked we were doing that but its okay....they wanted pictures too. The members are way nice here though and the work is so much better when they come along. We are trying to get them more excited about missionary work especally since we have some baptisms coming up we feel that they will be more excited to do missionary work. One of our families we teach is actually a PM family who went less active in 2008 they have now been to church 3 times and two of their kids will be baptized. Hopefully in December but if not the first Saturday in January.  The Mata family (mata means eye by the way in Tagalog) but they are way sweet! So that's about what is going on so far right now.....but yeah I hope you are all having a great holiday season! Love Elder Hansen

 Elder Hansen and some Missionaries apparently play basketball at 5:00am twice a week. So they made jerseys.  29 is Elder Hansen's baseball number from High School.  Staying in the spirit of the Gospel, his team are the Nephites!

Below:  This must be one of the homemade Christmas Trees that was in front of the school.  Oh to be wearing short sleeves at Christmas time!

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Update 12/02/13

Dear Family!!!!!!!!! Happy late Thanksgiving!!!!  I'm sure you had a great

Thanksgivbing with lots of food and what not!! I  took Elder Flores out to Pizza Hut for Thanksgiving hahaha it was soo good. I payed for him because he has never eaten there before. This email will just be a gratitude email.....

Thank you for the opportunity you gave me to be here on the mission. Thank you for the love you have shown me through out my entire life. Thank you for the support, advice, counsel, partys, baseball games, Lake Powell trips, going to Arizona, Cali, Georgi, New York etc.....Thank you for teaching me how to be the  person that I am today, with out you two in my life I would not be the person I am.   Heavenly Father gave me to you because he knew that you were the right parents for me and through your guidance I would be doing what I am doing now for the people in the Philippines. I want to thank you for taking me to church as a little kid and doing your best to keep me in the church. The changes you and dad made before I was born has now changed many life. If I wasn't a member of the church, if I didn't grow up in the church maybe Brother XXXX would not have been baptized...our decisions effect the eternities. Maybe if we were not sealed in the temple in 2009 I wouldn't be here right now and I would not have been able to help the people I have met so far. Maybe some of my friends would not be on missions at this time...so I want to thank you for all of the great decisions you have made in your lives. I am very thankful for my mission and all of the things that I have learned and how I'm am changing in my heart.  Look up the definition of repentence in the bible dictionary it is really a perfect definition. I have so far had a great time in my mission I have not only blessed the lives of others but I have been blessed by so many other people. All of the members I have met,  all of the investigators,  it really is an amazing opportunity!! I love you all so much and I am very excited to be able to speak with you whether it be on skype or phone! This week has been a great week but there is always more work to be done. One of my batch mates just got called to be a zone leader so that is way cool I'm way proud of him!!

I love you all so much! Dad I will read all of the references you have given me so I will write you a letter with my interpretation or insights about those scriptures, you are really the light in my life keep up the good work at home.  keep your testimony bright, remember we are always being watched so let your light so shine forth!!!!! I love you all love your son

Elder Hansen

 

11/30/13 Thoughts on Typhoon Haiyan

11/08/13

Typhoon Yolanda as known in the States or Typhoon Haiyan as known in The Philippines hit land fall on November 8 2013 early in the morning.  This was the largest ever recorded storm to hit landfall.  When a satellite image of the storm was superimposed over the United States it covered about 1/3 of the country, this may give you some idea of the magnitude of this storm.

Needless to say we watched as the Typhoon approached, at first without much thought.  Elder Hansen has all ready been through several Typhoons since being in the Philippines.  They just stay indoors and no big deal, so I wasn't very worried.  However, as news was released we realized that this was not an ordinary storm.  A typhoon is just another name for a Hurricane.  The force of this storm was in line with Hurricane Katrina only much, much larger.  We prayed and watched the news footage anxiously as the carnage became clear to the world.  We were told via Church news reports that the missionaries had all been moved to safety a few days in advance, however, several of the missionaries from the Tacloban mission were unaccounted for.  The death toll was enormous there and we watched and cried and prayed while waiting to hear of their fate.  We knew our son Riley was accounted for again through church broadcast, but we had not heard from him and did not know what kind of condition he or his surroundings were left in.  The wait was excruciating.  Luckily and really Miraculously all of the over 200 missionaries were found and returned to Manila for reassignment.  Our son Riley was not one of them, he was safe in Urdaneta and it turned out that they just had rain and some wind.  They had heard about the missing missionaries and the devastation, and were very concerned for all of the people and very sad.  But, I don't think they quite grasped the horrendous condition and death etc... as they are not able to see tv or hear radio or read the news.  All of their information came from their Mission Presidents or talk around the towns.  I was thankful that Elder Hansen and his area was spared, I am extremely grateful for that blessing.  At the same time I am so torn up and saddened by the plight of the Philippine people in the affected areas.  There was a massive loss of life and injury.  Whole cities were destroyed.  I am also very grateful for the missionaries all being saved.  After hearing several of their stories, it is nothing short of a miracle that they all survived.  I am also sad for the horrific images they will carry with them and for the fear and physical and emotional toll it took on them.  Riley has one personal friend that was one of the rescued Missionaries who was injured and will need to come home and have surgery.  Elder Hansen is quite concerned for him.  Our prayers and well wishes are with him and his family.

After all of that, the broad concern of the missionaries in the hard hit areas was having to leave the people they love behind.  Realizing that many people they knew were killed or had loved ones missing.  That said, I want to follow up with what is being done to help.  Many missionaries were on sight helping with supplies and comfort from the beginning.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were there almost immediately trying to set up communications, shelter, supplies and love.  There are several other wonderful countries and organizations who are helping in the effort.  This is a time when we see how Christ uses his people as his hands.  People come together in love from all walks of life.  This is when we see goodness in the face of tragedy.  This is when we realize that we are all brothers and sisters in this world, and it is so important to "Love One Another" as the commandment states.  "Out of trials our strengths are shown to us" (Unknown) My love and prayers go out to the Philippine people.

Sharon Hansen

***If you would like to help with the Philippine Relief there are several ways.  There are many well known and reputable organizations that would love your help.  The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints has a humanitarian aid fund that anyone can donate to.  Prayers are continuously needed!

Baptisms for December 21! 11/24/13

11/24/13

 

 

 

> wow my family had a very busy week this week!! Two farewells!! Haha that is so sweet! ( His friends Josh and Koa both had their farewells the same day.)  But man this week was so awesome! We had 10 investigators at church, one full family!! They are scheduled to be baptized on the 21st of December! They are so willing to follow anything commandment wise!!  They are seriously so golden. Back in 1999 they were taught by missionaries but a Baguio (storm) came in like that week they were supposed to be baptized so their house was destroyed......so they lost contact with the missionaries until now.....so as soon as we started teaching them they were so receptive.  It has been so awesome and we have now got Tatay or the dad to join in the lessons and the whole family was willing to extend their baptismal date just so that they could all do it together. So even though sometimes the work is hard we do have blessings like these. We do have other families that we are teaching.  They are really nice as well.  Hopefully they will be be able to start going to church pretty soon. As for me I have been doing great.  We wake up at 5 in the morning two days a week to play basketball and I work out all the other days....trying to get my six pack back again!! In the mission there is a thing called the six month to sexy plan....yeah I'm just starting on the 1 yr and stay sexy plan hahahahaha but I'm having a blast here in Aguilar.  I'm hoping that my companion does not get transferred.....that would suck it would be like six transfers in a row where I have had a new comp.....and that is not fun because you have to adjust to new comps all the time. but I will try and send you some pictures from the past couple of weeks so you can see my beautiful faces here!!!!!!! haha but I'm glad you are doing great.  Have a great Thanksgiving! I will have a great one here working hahah love you guys love
> Elder Hansen

Through God we receive all Blessings 11/17/13

11/17/13

(He was writing this email at the same time I was writing him one and neither of us realized it.  So, yes, I NEVER miss emailing Elder Hansen)


So my family doesn't want to email to me huh?????? haha well its okay I understand you don't really love me!! But as for me I'm doing great. We had another really good week we now have 8 IBDS  so hopefully those will continue to progress and what not. One thing that happened was that some of our investigators were not able to go to church yesterday so that was a bummer.....I was really frustrated at first.... but me and Elder Flores were asked to give talks yesterday...like 10 min before sacrament so its like okay prepare a talk in ten minutes.....in Tagalog ready go>> haha!  I shared two example of people in the scriptures. One person Ammon boasts of his God because he knows that because of him he receives all the blessings. And the other is a group of Nephite dissenters that would boast in their own strength. What happened was  that when danger and problems came God left them in their own strength so they all basically died or got messed up and the spirit left them. But Ammon continued to receive many blessings. So that is what I talked about yesterday. But I don't know if you heard but my friend that was one of the missing missionaries in Typhoon Haiyan,  is going home because he messed up his hand way bad on a knife in the middle of the typhoon....so he will get it operated on in the states and then head back out. He also saw a lot of death so he is very sad as all of us are......but as for me I'm doing just fine here in Urdandeta mission. I really am doing great here we have a FHE at families house later on tonight.  They are some of our investigators so hopefully this should be way fun!!! I'm buying ice cream too so it should be great!!!! But hopefully you can email me before I have to get off...anyways love you guys love

Elder Hansen

 

 

2nd email

alright thanks for that amazing email! I got it late for some reason....I don't know why but I'm doing great! I sent an email all ready but I just want to say thank you for everything and I hope you have a great week.

Tender Mercies 11/03/13

11/03/13
Wow so that is some great news!!! Its awesome to hear how you are doing and the changes that are happening in your lives. I hope the blessings will continue for you all!! that is way awesome!!! Please tell them that I'm very proud of them and to just keep up the great work and to know that all blessings come from obedience! (This was in reference to some close relatives who were able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood, not mentioning names for privacy!)   Congrats to Alex for passing the first test.  I know he can pass the second one too. They might not give him his license though because he has a receding hair line. haha just kidding. (That is in reference to his brother who passed his Real Estate test and is now licensed!) I will be sending you letters later on today! So about me! So my third area! Holy crap time flies by its crazy I'm on my third area now. I was kind of bummed that I got transferred but its okay. But my new comp is awesome! Elder Flores. We get along really well. The area itself is kind of hard we don't have any progressing investigators or IBDS so we have some work to do here....but I'm ready for the challenge. The members have been really nice though and for the most part they are willing to work with us. Its just the fact that our area is pretty wide so we have been working on finding people but its kind of difficult. As for teaching though it goes good. We have some good potential investigators. I have been doing really good here and I'm very grateful I have a Filipino companion so that my Tagalog will get even better.  (He is also learning a new dialect called Pangasinan or something like that, most of the people speak that but also Tagalog in his new area) Hearing such great news about (close relative)  as I just read dads email makes me very grateful for the tender mercies we receive each day. I don't think we could count how many we receive each day like ever but those little blessings like getting a text from someone you love just as it seems that things are at an all time low can completely change your attitude and maybe your life. I know that XXXX sending that text at that time to dad was not a coincidence, our Father in Heaven knew that you needed to hear that amazing news about XXXXX dad. All I know from what I have experienced is that you cannot give up on people. If we put it in terms of our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ, they have never given up and will never give up on any of us, the gospel of Jesus Christ is there for us.  All we need to do is put forth a little bit of effort and test our faith a little bit and grab on to the hand of mercy that is extended endlessly out to us. I just want you to know that I love you so much no matter what happens.  Whatever happens I will be here to lift up the hands that hang helplessly down. If you are ever sad or depressed send me an email because I'm here for all of you.  Please if you need help ask your Heavenly Father.

I love all of you please take care of yourselves this week have a great week. I will as well.

Love Elder Hansen