Typhoon!

A super Typhoon hit The Philippines and we were not able to hear from Elder Hansen during the storm, but thank goodness, everyone was ok!

8/13/13

hey guys I'm doing just fine!! haha What's a typhoon to a missionary!
nothing that's what  it is! But yeah there have been some parts that have
flooded here but it hit a lot harder in Manila so its okay I'm doing
all good though. We weren't  aloud to work yesterday so it was way
boring and to be honest it wasn't even that bad.   We could have gone
out and worked no problem. But that's way cool that your out in lake
Powell now. I hope your having a blast, but that does suck that the
water is low.  That will be a ton of people in one boat hahaha but
it will be fun. That is way sad about Jon's brother...tell them I send
my love and prayers when you get the chance. (Our neighbor's brother passed away) As for the work I do
really like my area but right now we only have two investigators so
its like I've gone into one hard area to another.....its basically
impossible to get a baptism now this transfer because of the rules
that we have as missionaries here in the Philippines. They have to go
to church four weeks in a row to even be eligible so we are now on
week two of this transfer..so its going to be four transfers not
counting the MTC in the field with out a baptism. To be honest that
can be super frustrating. When I look at the fact that I'm six months
into the mission and I don't have a baptism it can be kind of
sad.....all I'm doing is working hard and sometimes I don't see the
success. I know its happening but I need something to help out
myself. My old comp said that Jay Ar and Maricell should be getting
baptized on Saturday so that will be sweet!! That alone will be a
confidence booster for me. as for my Tagalog I can say that I'm doing
really well. Six months into the mission I can easily talk to people
now during lessons, preaching by the way, buying food, really anything
its honestly a miracle and a spiritual blessing. You have to be
diligent in order to get these blessings but they come so that's what
matters.   Tell everyone on facebook and what not
that I'm okay no problems or anything, but you can mention that my
ingrown toe nail has come back again and I have a ton of blisters on
my feet hahaha Its all good though.  I just deal with it. I love
studying the scriptures. I learn so many amazing things each day and  I
love the relevance the gospel has in our everyday lives. Honestly if
you learn to rely on the Savior and the gospel in your life everything
else will be just fine. I just want to tell you guys that I love you
and stay safe in Lake Powell!!  More than
anything stay safe because we know Powell can be dangerous.
Love Elder Hansen

First Transfer!

8-4-13

Still no pictures!  Sometimes they are difficult to send from the computers in the Philippines!  Riley will have been out 6 months on August 13th!  I can't believe it!  I miss him so much, but this landmark has come really pretty fast!  So even though Riley has been in the Philippines for over 4 months, this is his first transfer!  Here is the letter!

Hello family,  I hope your all having a blast vacationing and doing cool stuff like that!! I bet Yellow Stone was a blast!  When do you go to Lake Powell?? I think its this coming up weekend right?? But that is extremely sad news to hear.. please give my regards to their family.  (This was in regard to the passing of our friend's son, Chance Slaymaker.  He was just 14 years old) But as for me I did get transferred to a new area. So I won't see the baptism and marriage of Jay Ar and Maricell....but that's okay as long as they get baptized haha!  Right now my new area is called Malasiqui its a branch but its a sweet area! My new comps name is Elder Delapaz he is from Bacolod.   He is like 26 now so its way weird...just think I'm only 19 years old....blows my mind.  Right now I can all ready tell that I will get a ton better at Tagalog here because I have a Filipino companion and all  I speak to him is Tagalog!! Sometimes its quiet while we are walking around but its all good!! haha I'm in an area where they speak a dialect called Pangalektok its super hard to learn haha ! Obviously they speak Tagalog but its cool to learn things in different languages!! My last area is all Ilocano so yeah two different dialects now!! I'm pretty sure those will be the only two that I run into on my mission! One cool thing is that an Elder from my batch is in the same house as me his name is Elder Manzione!! Me and him got way close in the MTC and our plan after the mission is to go work at Lake Powell for summer 2015!! We had a sweet investigator come to church yesterday. It was his first time going. He had had a stroke a couple weeks ago and is paralyzed on his entire left side. He can barely walk now. But he found a way to get to church.  I have taught him once but I can tell my testimony and the spirit me and Elder Delapaz brought to the lesson gave him the reassurance and faith to go to church. The pictures are way sweet that you sent me!! and I have no idea why the pics I sent didn't work?? I will try again though. But I hope everyone is doing good!! out there in the 801 Don't have too much fun at Lake Powell and yes I do want pictures!! haha love you guys

Elder Hansen

A Real Letter!

7/7/13

As I said we received a letter in the mail from Elder Hansen!  I was grateful for this as last week he was not able to write much other than to say he was fine!  I love these the most, because I know he held the paper, I see him in his writing style, I can see him sitting at his desk writing to us, I run my fingers over the stamps that he touched and placed on the envelope and then placed it in the mail bin to arrive weeks later in my mail box!  These are the thoughts of a mom who misses her son!

I wish I could show you the letter because he wrote two paragraphs of it in Tagalog!  We got to go on a sort of scavenger hunt to find someone to interpret it for us!  Thankfully my next door neighbor also went to the Philippines and did not speak Tagalog, but was familiar enough with the dialect that he could tell us what he was saying!  He told us of his love for the Philippines people and how thankful he is to serve there.  He told of his love for Heavenly Father and that through Jesus Christ we can do all things.  He expressed his love for the Savior and his Gospel.  He also told me that I am the "Safety monitor" of our family (inside joke), but a compliment.  He said how mothers are the safety monitors of the family in general.  He said that the 4th of July was just another day there but he got to sing American Patriotic Hymns like, "America the Beautiful" and "The Star Spangled Banner".

Now for the rest of the letter.  He talked about how his Tagalog has come along a ton in the last while.  He knows it is not perfect, but it is a lot better. He hopes to learn another dialect now.
He has become as he put it a 'world class chef!"  He can now make French Toast!

He talked about the challenge of changing companions.  Not that he doesn't like  him, he does, just getting used to another person's mannerisms, personality etc...  He said it is just the two of them in this apartment though and so getting ready in the am is way easier!  Now this Friday he will all ready get a new companion again!  In this letter he thought he might stay in this area again, which would mean he could see through the baptisms of the people he has set to go the end of July.  But, now in his email he feels he will be moved to another area!  We will see!  He also says he is getting a "rice belly"  Haha!  He is so busy that there is no time to work out or run and they eat rice 3 times a day!

Here is a quote "Doctrine wise I'm learning a ton of things just from studying each day and I love it.  That will be one thing that I recommend you do.  Study from the scriptures each day, there should be no excuse for not reading in your scriptures each day.  We can give 15-60 minutes a day to studying I promise.  But yeah, being out on my mission I've learned so many things that I thought I all ready knew, but you really can never know all the secrets of the Gospel.  That's why we study each day."
I need to be way more diligent and take this advice.

He says his first pair of shoes are holding up and he is hoping they last a year and then he will start on his second pair.  He is definitely putting some mileage on those puppies!  He is thankful that he still has not had to wash his own clothes!  Someone does it for him!  These are the things he is grateful for: 1.  Air conditioning, 2. carpet, 3. Reeses, 4. Cars, 5. Normal dogs like Betty!, obviously a lot  of other things, but mostly family.  Riley mentioned that he felt like he did not appreciate his family enough or spend enough time with us, he just wanted to hang out with friends.  While I am grateful that he recognizes the importance of family, I have to come to his defense and say, he is and has always been a great son and brother, no complaints!  "On your mission you realize how important family is.  that's a big part of our message for others is how the Gospel can bless families and how through this gospel we can be an Eternal Family."  Riley encourages us to remember to be thankful for families and to also think of all the things Heavenly Father has given us and remember to thank him."

Riley feels he is learning the principle of patience very early in his mission.  The work is hard and mentally stressful.  He wants so much to share this message with others and it is discouraging when people are too busy or they just don't receive the message.  He does have a couple scheduled to be baptized the end of July, but may be transferred before that happens.  But, he wants us to know that don't confuse frustration with not being happy to be there.  He says he loves the work and serving!

Side note, he would love some hand written letters!  So if you would like to send him a letter!

He closed with expressing his love again of family and friends!


7/29/13

Haha! First thing is first don't judge my Tagalog it is far from perfect, and I'm all ready a lot better now than when I wrote that. Its crazy how fast I'm progressing to be honest.    My hope for people who are struggling with anything is that they may be able to find our Savior the one and only healer of our souls. Our true Redeemer and Savior. People's true healing will come when they know that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God who died to save us all. His whole mission in life was to redeem us from the pains and afflictions of the world. It would be very important for us to know that in our lives. It is very important that as we come closer to the Savior, we will be farther from temptation. I'm to the point now in my life where I have realized that if I didn't have the Savior in my life I wouldn't have anything. I could have all the money in the world all the riches and I would still be desperate in the soul. THE GOSPEL IS WHAT SAVES LIFES. I can not stress that enough. Sometimes its hard getting that across to people here because what they want to do is work in the Bukid or they will say may pupuntahan kasi elder....which basically says I have somewhere to go or in other words they have excuses to not put the trust in the gospel and give three hours to our Heavenly Father and go to church. It can be very frustrating at times because you tell them look brother you will be more blessed if you go to church than if you go to work in the Bukid for a few hours. Its the same thing in our lives with all trial. We have time for the gospel we  need to give that time to it we need to be disciples in all that we do or we aren't being truly active. People  need to search out for themselves who the Savior is. What he really did for us.   As for the work I will most likely be transferred this transfer to a new area so I wont be there for the baptisms but they are still getting baptized!! and that is what really matters. I still don't know for sure if I will be sent to a new area but for sure I will have a new comp. by Friday. and yes I am super jealous that you guys are going to Powell.   That will be way fun hopefully you will have a blast! Right now we have 8 ibds we went from 4 to 8 in one week so that work is going good but it can be super frustrating at times as well. Today for our zone activity we went to San Rocque Dam supposedly its the second biggest dam in Asia!! pictures to come shortly!

I had a great week I'm very happy and loving life not sad at all so don't worry about that.  Sorry I went on a tangent but I love you guys keep strong and always pray for opportunities to share the gospel in any means necessary which means by being a good example to your peers.

as Pres. Monson said "Dare to stand alone!!"

 

 

Love, Elder Hansen

 

This is a family Elder Hansen is teaching, the young couple are hoping to be baptized this week!
The pictures of the dam would not download, so I'll try and get them from Riley next week.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GREAT WEEK!!!

July 21 2013

Alright so let me start out with how our week went. It went a lot better than the week before lets put it that way. haha Yesterday at church we had a nanay come to church for the first time and also a new investigator named Omar who is a teacher at a high school here. He is really smart and has great questions. He seems super interested in what we have to teach him so that's good. We also had a funny lesson with him last night, we were talking about where we came from, and Elder Barney asked him, " brother do you know where this baby came from?" as he was pointing to the plan of salvation pamphlet. And Brother got kind of awkward and said well yeah from biological parents and then he got super awkward and said that he was shy to talk about stuff like that. So it was just funny the train of thought he had when we asked him that question, because he thinks more scientifically, {he is a teacher} he thought more worldly.   But then I told him "brother did you know we have a Father of  flesh and a Father of our spirits?" Then I expounded on that. He just seemed really enlightened about where we came from so it was a fun lesson. I am also seeing great improvements in my Tagalog so far this transfer and since I have arrived here my language skills have improved immensely!! We have four ibds right now.  Our couple are planning on getting married on Aug. 10 so that is their baptismal date as well. The girl's mom has been super hard headed always nice but hard  and stubborn. But ever since we went over to their house one day and pulled weeds she has softened up a ton and even went to church on Sunday. And then our last ibd is a little kid of a less active part member family, so if we can return the family we will be able to baptize her as well. The work has been really fun and I'm very happy this week. I cant believe that July is like 10 days away from being over.. it blows ;my mind how fast time goes by. But yeah I've been doing good now that I have a nice ole package here and what not haha. But I honestly don't need anything material wise, it would be cool if you could send me a new journal just like the leather one you bought me before my mission so that I can continue later on. Because yes dad for the most part I have been writing everyday. This transfer I have so for the rest of my mission I will!! But yeah I'm pretty sure I will stay in my first area for one more transfer after this , so that will be from March 29 to Sept 10 or something like that. haha a long time in one area but its all good. We have one area in our mission now called 100 islands the Finnemans will know what that is. Ask them about it hopefully,  I will go there in my mission.!!

 Anyways I love you guys a ton keep strong and try to become missionaries for our ward back home. 

The missionaries need your help I promise!!

Love,  Elder Hansen

Early Pictures from Elder Hansen's first days in Urdaneta!

Back Row 4 from right

Center Back

Back of picture

Left of picture

Back Row

 

These are some pictures from Sister Monahan's Blog from Riley's first days in Urdaneta!  Very tired, hot but also excited!

 

Elder Riley Hansen reassigned to the New Urdaneta Philippines Mission! Updates June-July 2013

Elder Riley Hansen as of July 1, 2013  was reassigned to the Urdaneta, Philippines Mission.  He has actually been there since he first arrived in The Philippines, but it is now its own new mission.  There is a Temple due to be built there, so the work needs to move forward!  They are really working on strengthening the members as well as spreading the Gospel to those who do not have it in their lives yet!

 

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  6-9-13

 

Hello Family, the only one out of that group that I know is Elder Christiansen he was in my district at the MTC, he is awesome!! That is way cool that you are able to speak with other missionary moms from my mission that is actually way cool.  But yeah the temple they have been talking about building one here forever, but the members need to pay there tithing more here before it actually gets built.   I believe that the ground breaking will be around the end of this year. but it won't be finished while I'm still here....so oh well. haha The fact that there will be a temple here means that the work is going forward here. Thats all that matters. but that is way cool that we have had people from all over reading about it, too bad I don't have much to say yet hahahaha just kidding. This week was really cool, we had one investigator who said that she relates herself a lot to Joseph Smith because he was searching for the correct religion and didn't know where to find it and stuff like that but then later on as she was talking to us she said I have been looking for the right church and she said that I have found the right church. So it was way cool.  The thing is we have to get these two married before they can get baptized, so hopefully by the end of July they will be able to be baptized, the thing is either me or Elder Sikat wont be here. An interesting thing was said to us last week by one of our APs he quoted one of the prophets I can't remember who, but he said no matter what part of missionary work you are doing they are all steps. finding, teaching, baptizing they are all steps to get them to the final goal which is Salvatino. So it doesn't matter as long as you serve with all your heart, might, mind and strength you are bringing people to Christ.

I'm having a blast here though each day is a great day, except today hahah because I have to get an ingrown toe nail removed....its going to kill hahaha but oh well.   It means I'm working hard ! I hope the family is doing good it sounds like everyone is doing great, Tell Alex to email me with more detail about what he is doing with school and life and stuff. If you see Tav and Druce and Lund tell them I love them and also tell them congrats again, and I definitely want to know what Brennan gets drafted at, are they expecting a high draft or no?  Hopefully I get transfered to Baguio because rumor is there is an American burger joint there!!!! So I'm hoping hahaha but anyways I love you guys so much keep working hard in all that you do and remember to always become like Christ. He told two fisherman to follow me and I will make you fishers of men. That is exatly what I'm trying to do out here. I'm trying to become more Christ like in my life.

I would invite you to do the same and just you wait and see all the blessings in your life emulsiify if that make sense haha!

Love Elder Hansen

 

 

6-17-13

 

hahaah mom don't worry I'm doing just fine my toe is just fine and yes I'm taking care of it no need to worry! Yes I got the tie as well. I'll try and send you a picture later on.  I think I have a couple of pics for you!! This Friday I will be getting a new companion.  It's going to be weird.  So next Monday I will send you a picture of him.  You know what's weird is that I got an email from some random elder saying that his mom read your blog about me and he asked me about my mission.  He was using an lds account so I think he is on a mission right now too. But who knows, his name was like Elder Taylor?? So I don't know ahha but I hope your doing good mom, don't miss me too much I'm doing just great over here in the Philippines!! But yeah if you ever feel bad about me just read my patriarchal blessing it will give you comfort I promise, and I think I know why yours says you will have a love for the islanders, a lot of my best friends are Tongan and Samoan,, so tha'ts cool!! haha Ben should be getting his call pretty soon make sure you get a hold of him and go to him when he opens his call!! Everything is going good here though mom I promise.  Things are going great with our investigators there are a couple who are really close to baptism now, so that is really exciting!! This gospel if you think about it is hope for us. The plan of salvation is all about how we can return to our Heavenly Father and have eternal families, this message gives people hope and this hope is brought to the hearts of others by the power of the Holy Ghost through us as missionaries. They feel of the hope and then they start remembering the plan they have all ready accepted once. I'm very grateful that I'm sealed to you and dad and it brings so much comfort to me to know that all the temple and missionary work for every single person will be finished during the millenium so even though some people might not accept the plan here, they most likely will in the spirit world.

I love this work I love you guys tell everyone that I   love them and Happy Fathers day again

love Elder Hansen

 

6-17-13 Father's Day!

 

 

6-23-13  We got home late and Riley had all ready checked his email when I sat down to write him.  BIG MISTAKE!  This was his response.

 

where's my family???? haha

 

My Response

Elder Hansen!
We are on line!
We just got back into town, and was just sitting down to write you a letter when your email came through!  You usually don't email us until around midnight or later!
Are you officially in the Urdanta mission?  did you get your new companion?  How is he?  I put yours, Elder Sikat's and your unkown new companions names in the temple this week!  We received your letter and it was marvelous, I treasure it!

 

haha okay sweet write me a long letter and i ll write you one at the same time!! but yeah im in the urdaneta mission im still in my first area my companions name is Elder Barney from Arizona. I like him a lot but what day did you get my letter?? That seemed kind of fast but not really ahaha

send me a long letter though

 

(I sent him a long email and a very long letter in the mail!)

 

So this week was a super long week.  I was really hoping to get transfered so I could experience a different area but it will be good being here for another transfer.  Hopefully we can get a baptism this transfer. Cause it definitely does get a little hard or you start getting a little down on yourself when you feel like the work isn't doing good. But its okay me and my new comp are going to do work here!! I'm excited, as for Elder Sikat he is in a zone called Rosalles zone.  He is still in the Urdaneta mission but not in my zone!! As for the finals I all ready know who won...dang heat! haha but yeah its all good! Lets see,  my new companion is from Mesa Arizona and he has been in the mission for a year and 4 months. so he is starting to get close to the end of his mission! he is a great kid very nice etc. But no I'm still in the same apartment so its kind of like home now! haha But this week like I said earlier was kind of rough, just with the transfer and having to adjust to a new companion for the first time and now I'm leading out the area so I don't want him to think that the area sucks and stuff like that so I'm a little stressed out but I'm okay! Hopefully we have two inv. that are close to baptism if we can get the permission of the husband and then get the okay by the zone leaders, I know that if I get those baptisms that my hard work is paying off! We are in the branch and trying to help develop it here!! I'm hoping to strengthen this branch a lot by the time I leave the area! We need to get the members more involved in the work and hopefully that will get some good inv. and LA coming back to church!! Kyle is doing great in the MTC.  It's funny seeing the pictures there cause even though the MTC is fun I don't miss it because it isn't like the field at all, its WAYYYYYY to comfortable hahahahahahahahaha but yeah he is doing good there. I'm doing good as well!!!

I'm excited for this transfer but also kind of nervous....but yeah I hope your doing good mom and dad I love you guys and yes mom I'll start another letter just for you hahaha that definitely is a mom thing about the whole I touched the letter I wrote you so you love to touch it kind of thing.

anyways love you guys love Elder Hansen

 

 

haha thanks family I hope what I say can help bless your lives back at home!! Just know that I love you all and I'm very blessed to have you in my family hopefully I have a sweet week and hopefully you can be able to send me a package pretty soon! haha just kidding but if you want to you can. Love you guys keep up the work and remember that anything is possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ. Bad relationships with others, overcoming sin, or addictions, even physical, mental and emotional pain if we learn to rely on our Savior every day.  That is when we grow closer to our Savior and truly feel happy. love Elder Hansen and make sure to write me letters as well it is nice to get letters from people just send it to the mission address and its the same address but its just changed from Baguio to Urdaneta! Everything else is the same!! love you guys love Elder Hansen again haha

6-30-13

Okay its going to be way hard for me to reply to everything but I will try!! Let me first start off with a I'm getting fat here....hahaha Its all the rice and not working out...its sucks!!!!!!!!!!! but once I hit my six month mark in the mission I will start working out more to keep my self in shape. But as for the package no stopping it now!! haha but I hope I will stay where I'm at in the mission until I get it then I can be transferred haha but I definitely am doing a lot better now I'm not worried anymore we are now more organized in our planning but we definitely need more new investigators so that we can have more success here in Asingan. As for my companion I like him a lot it just took some adjusting. Its definitely weird its like getting used to a new roommate but your forced to be with him at all times haha But its all good.   We have hung out with some of the same people and we like the same music and stuff so that's good!! I have been having fun! The work was good this week we can always do better but yeah hopefully we will have some better success this week, hopefully by July 27th we will have two baptisms, we have one couple who are planning on getting married but hopefully their date for marriage is in July. The sister is pregnant so it will be sweet to baptize them so they can start their family off in the right way!! Then hopefully a year from now they will get sealed in the temple!! if that is all I would do in my mission I wouldn't care!! If I could just get that one family sealed I would be pleased!! I did have one dream early in the week that I went home from my mission after two years of course but I couldn't speak Tagalog and I didn't get a single baptism but I didn't want to tell you that had happened so I would lie to you and it was one of the worst dreams I have ever had. It felt like I was a complete failure, but I know that I'm doing a great work and the success will come with my diligence!! I hope the family is doing good! I hope that you are all safe and getting along!   Boating with the Diamonds sounds like a blast and that will be way fun for them to go to Powell with you guys, too bad Pam and Dave can't go that isn't fun at all....but I'm sure the Diamonds would love it! Maybe Brooke will be able to go with you guys again to Powell two years in a row! that would be funny, might as well take Kenna as well to fill in my space at Powell!! haha just kidding! but those dog things are nuts they look crazy!!  I know how Jacob feels the dogs here drive me nuts!! There are some of them that are crazy and they will run after you but all you have to do is act like you pick up a rock and they will run away, or hit them with your umbrella!! haa but yeah dogs drive me nuts here!   As for the work it's fun!   The broadcast was way sweet we watched it on Sunday because we are a week behind of everything. yeah it was way cool but we won't be starting some of that technology here for a while...but yeah I was thinking about what dad said abut how I am leading out a new era of missionary work,, that really is true!! Making history here in the Philippines!!! I am having a blast here but I need to email Alex now so I love you guys keep on studying the scriptures and do member missionary work it truly is needed!! the members have to be involved in the work so I would like to invite you guys to follow the teachings of the apostles in the broadcast and always be looking for missionary opportunities and try and find people you can refer to the missionaries, then join them in the lessons, it will strengthen your testimony and the investigators so that is what is really cool!! but study,  study,  study, I promise you can never read the BOM to many times! and I promise Dad I will check my t's and dot my i'.  s .... I will be safe though so don't worry,

love Elder Hansen

7-7-13


Hey guys Happy late Fourth of July as well!!! hahaha I hope you all had fun at Utah Lake!! I bet it was HOT! but I bet swimming and stuff felt way good! Was there a lot of people there or not really?? I would imagine that there was a lot but I don't know?   As for my Fourth of July I got to sing some good ole American hymns from the hymn book that was about as exciting as my Fourth of July got!! haha but I hope your having a good Sunday right now! and I hope that you both remembered to fast today!! haha Cause I fasted! But yeah so I sent you guys a letter today so you will probably be getting it in about three weeks its not way long only three pages but hopefully that's okay for you! and no I have not received your package or letter yet. but that's okay. Do you remember when you sent it? The pictures of all of you  are way cool I bet you had a blast!

As for the work here we had a pretty rough week I'm not gonna lie but we were able to find a lot of new people to teach so the week was still effective. But what matters is that we are still pressing on in the work of the Lord. and I hope that you can both begin your missionary work there at home with all the people you meet. Like it said in the video conference the other week members need to be more involved in missionary work, there cannot be any boundary between missionaries and members. so I would suggest that you guys try and get referrals for the missionaries and help them teach them and then become the fellow shipper for that person. It would be so awesome for you both to be part of the missionary work out in Utah. Oh and I also heard that they get to have iphones and ipads there....lucky for us we get a nice 1990s Nokia cell phone hahahaa but at least its durable...but yeah I'm still happy as a clam but the work can be stressful!   I had one of the weirdest dreams last night, I dreamed that one of my friends was my companion and he was chasing me trying to kill me with a shotgun he ended up shooting me in the arm and I had a huge chunk missing form my arm it was a way crazy dream. But anyway that's about it that has happened so far. But I guess a ton of my friends are heading into the MTC really soon now so that just blows my mind!! Tell dad to drive safe to Elko and that i love him.  Tell Jordan and Alex that I'm proud of them and that they need to read their scriptures and you can also tell them that I love them if you want...hahaha and I love you too mom thanks for all you have done for me and for all that dad has done for me I love you all 

love Elder Hansen

ps Elder Lipscomb is my zone leader now, I think you know his mom from that website haha

 

 

I just have to make one little comment!  OOOOOOHHHHH YUCK!

A special thanks to Brian and Deon Williams (Connor's Mom and Dad) for giving Riley this tie!  If you look at it closely it has Temple Spires and windows on it.  This tie was designed by Brian's brother who through an accident is paralyzed and blind.  After this accident, he pictured this design in his mind and had it made!  What a special gift!

 

LATEST UPDATE AND HUMBLE PIE FOR MOM!

4/28/13
 A LITTLE HOMESICK FOR BASEBALL!


Okay so that is decent for Bingham haha they need to continue to step it up, when do they start
playoffs? It should be coming up pretty soon now right? You will have to keep me updated for that stuff! I have a pic of me and all the boys and occasionally I look back at all the great times we had! and also I have my glove and I can even just smell it and it takes me back to the field. Its helpful to me because I really love baseball and even though I'm in the Philippines the gloves still smell the same! haha

Everything is going great for me.  I'm healthy and everything like that. As for like a routine we start out in certain areas where we have a group of people to teach and stay in that barangay and then work back towards base camp,  and each day we have different barangays that we go to. Somedays are a lot tougher than others because people are "busy" or not there... so it can get really frustrating but all we need to do is continue to keep working. But a daily routine for us is we wake up at 630 and start our studies by 8 we study until 12 and then have lunch until 2 that is when we go out to work until 9 or 930 depends on if we have lessons or not at that time. And then we have to be in bed by 1030! haha so its a pretty jam packed day each day but its way fun! 

On Saturday I had the opportunity to give a talk at a little girls baptisim ahaha it was quite difficult trying to do it in tagalog but it was still way sweet!The way things are run in the church here are very unorganized though so sometimes its hard to feel the spirit just because things are so crazy at times. but it was a great expereince for me!

love Elder Hansen

 

4/28/13

LETTER TO MOM (NOT THE HUMBLE PIE YET!)

 

first off let me just say that you are looking gorgeous mom!! you look like your 25 right now!! and dad looks like he is 49 hahah oh wait he is... but it is almost his birthday huh?! and hopefully I will be able to skype home on the 13th here and the 12th there so it will be mothers day for you and dads birthday for me! but the pics were way cool to see thanks for sending them to me!! I've been doing really good though mom! I'm glad that you got to visit with everyone I hope they are all doing very good oh and next time you see the Greens let them know I say thanks for the cookies they were delicious! I'm sure Brooke and Kenna will be over for visits throughout the summer they just love you mom you were the only reason they even hung out with me! haha sorry this wont be crazy long today but definitely try and let  me know when you want to skype!! I''m so pumped to be getting that package but yeah just a bunch of candy and stuff will be awesome!! That's cool that summer is coming around it will be a very fun summer if you just keep busy then you wont think about me as much! haha and just know that I'm in a paradise out here doing the Lords work so you can be jealous that way...haaha p days are lame...all we do is shop for food email and go back we don't have time to do anything else it sucks..I thought it would be different than it was. but oh well I enjoy emailing home!! but I'll keep up the great work I promise!! love you mom try and email me once tonight alright? so I can see how your doing oh and I started that letter that I will be sending in a week or two so be getting ready for that it will take a little while for it to get there though.

I love you so much mom thanks for everything! tell all my friends going on missions that I'm proud of them and definitely try and get there mylds.mail addresses for me!!

love Elder Hansen

 

 

5/7/13

EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS

 

RILEY IS COUNCILING DARIN ON SHARING HIS TESTIMONY WITH FAMILY OR THOSE WHO ARE INVESTIGATING THE GOSPEL.

 

 I know that if you share your testimony with him often and not be afraid to challenge him to do this like going to church, reading the BOM,  etc.  he will develop a stronger faith. That is one thing that we as missionaries do all the time. We ask people to commit to doing things because faith without works is nothing. And there is also no saving grace or the atonement in our life if we don't keep commitments and live the way we are supposed to be living. So that is truly a great blessing for him and for you!  You have done so much for our family its crazy I love you so much dad thank you for everything you have done for me!!

 

I KEEP ASKING FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT HIS MISSION EXPERIENCES!  KEEP IN MIND HE ONLY HAS ONE HOUR TO EMAIL EVERYONE INCLUDING HIS MISSION PRESIDENT.

Mom its very hard to write about all the things we do as missionaries and to talk about our investigators especially over email just because I don't have a ton of time. But that is why I'm writing you guys a letter that is literally starting form the day I left the MTC.  Probably up until now and then I will start another one for like the next couple of months and send that to you? Will that be okay? cause by doing that I can get into a lot more detail about what is going on! You know what is crazy though mom is that I have all ready basically been here for a month and a half! and next p day skype day for us is my three month mark!! now that is crazy! See on p days we literally have like no time do anything...it really kind of sucks but p days are also very nice because you can kind of relax and just walk around and do whatever. Today we had a zone activity so what we did is like a treasure hunt kind of thing throughout all of Urdaneta where we had to find clues and do all these different things it was way cool and then after they fed us.  And what they did was got a bunch of banana leaves and laid them out on the table and then you put rice and different meats on the table and you all just feast but you only eat with your hands, its a Philippine thing haha but it was way cool! Tomorrow well basically tomorrow one of the assistant to the President goes home! its like hard to look at him cause he is leaving and I'm still new in the mission. Sometimes it feels like there is no light at the end of the tunnel because I still have a while but I know I'm out here for the right reason and Im really having a blast!! The nice thing is I have lost 20 lbs. here hahaha I'm back down to 200 or 199,  I prefer 199 :) I love you mom I'm so pumped to see your  lovely faces next week and that day is going to be a great day because we have curfew which means we have to be back at our apartments by 6 and p day ends at six so we cant even go out and work next week, it will be nice to have a little break to fully recoup!

I'll write Jordan and Alex next week! I love them though and I love you and Dad so much give Betty a kiss for me and be safe this week! 

love elder Hansen 

THE SKYPE CALL HOME!

 

On Sunday May 12th at around 9:30 pm we finally were able to Skype with Riley for an hour!  It was a great day!  It was Mother's Day for me and Darin's 50th birthday the next day!  What a great gift!

He looked healthy and happy!  He laughed a lot and was peaceful, joyous, radiant looking!  He just seemed truly happy!  I thought that I would cry right off the bat but it was such a relief to see him and to hear his voice and to realize that he is exactly where he wants and needs to be, that I only felt joy and relief! He asked about everyone and of course about Bingham Baseball!  He and his companion joked a bit, his companion would tease him that he stares at our pictures every night!  Then they would laugh!  It was so nice to see that they have a good relationship and have fun together.  I know Riley respects him and has learned a great deal from him.  We asked him about the work.  He told us that the focus was mostly on reactivating members who have fallen away.  Then, through those members, the work can grow.  He Loves the people of the Philippines so very much!  He told us some stories of tracting.  He said sometimes they will ask if they can come and talk to them and they will yell, "I'm busy, too busy!"  When actually he can see that they are just laying in their hammocks!  HAHA!  People take pictures of him, because next to most Philippino people he looks like a giant!  They also like his blue eyes and blond hair!   He had a man who was very drunk tell him over and over that he was his angel.  They did not attempt to teach him that day, but went back again another day.  Hopefully he will be an angel in this man's life!  After laughing and catching up Riley informed us that time was short and that he had to go soon.  He is very obedient and will not break the rules!  So he ended the call by bearing his testimony in Tagalog for us.  It was at this time that I finally cried!  But, not so much out of missing Riley, and I do!, but out of the love, the conviction and the sacredness of that sweet and sincere testimony.  Riley has grown by leaps and bounds and loves The Lord and this work that he is doing!

 

Sharon

 

 

5/12/13

Okay so I'm sorry I don't have as much time as I thought I would so just this once I'm going to send one letter to all of you. Hey I just want to let you guys know that I'm so grateful for the amazing opportunity I had to talk with you guys over skype! It was seriously so nice seeing all of your beautiful faces!! I cant believe how fast time is actually going by! I'm so excited to continue serving the Lord and I'm so grateful for this mission! But thank you so much for being such great examples to me! You have all helped me out so much its unreal! Its unfortunate that I can't speak with you guys longer but it was nice to see your faces and hear your voices it was really like I was just sitting in the room!! It was such a wonderful day and mom I just love you so much happy mothers day!! I hope dad Jordan and Alex all treated you very well and they made sure you were taken care of! But thanks for being such an amazing mom! I love you so much its unreal! Dad and Jordan, and Alex  you guys know I love you so much so thank you for being such great examples to me! I love you guys so much!! I'm sorry this has to be short I wish I could write more but I'm just grateful for the opportunity that I had to talk with you today!!

kfinn and Ben!! freak thanks so much for stopping by!! it meant a ton and it was so awesome to see you guys again!! It was literally like nothing had changed!! you guys are just the same as a couple of months ago!! so I just want to  say I love you guys and that your just amazing thanks for the friendship you have given me throughout the past couple of years!! you guys are studs keep up the good work and I promise that time will fly by and it will  be no time where we will be going to school together or something!! love all of you keep on working hard and remember to trust in the lord for everything!! He is always there for us!! 

love Elder Hansen

 

 

5/20/13

 

RILEY'S RESPONSE TO DARIN TALKING ABOUT HIS LESSON ON PATRIARCHAL BLESSINGS

dad,

I want to first start out with the thing that has probably influenced my life more than anything besides my family.

and that is my patriarchal blessing. The other day during lunch some of us in the apartment started talking about graduation and all that stuff. and it got me thinking about where I was a year ago today. A year ago today I wasn't ready to go on a mission, I wasn't a horrible kid but I didn't have the right spiritual attitude and I was more about having fun playing baseball then going on a mission. I had just graduated I was going into summer playing baseball and preparing myself for the college baseball career. And then I started thinking about the influence and the change of heart let me say almost an immediate change of heart of when I read my patriarchal blessing for the first time in a long time. I read it and it just hit me. I understood that going on a mission is what I'm supposed to do. It literally turned my life around completely, the path of playing college baseball would not have been the best path for me. That doesn't mean it wouldn't have been a good path, but the best thing and the most beneficial thing for me to do at that moment was to serve a mission. And the only way I truly knew that for my self was because of my P blessing. I know that if you get your patriarchal blessing as soon as you can and you PONDER not just read it, then it will truly guide you in your life. It doesn't matter what age you are,  you can always learn from your blessing. 

As far as you buying the Harley I think its sweet!! Even though you wrecked on one a while ago doesn't mean you can't get another one. Especially having that be your dads is a special blessing for you. You will have to send me a pic of it I bet its still in prime condition knowing your dad haha! Thats way cool about Bingham though hopefully they keep doing work! What round are they in.? Are they just at quarter finals right now? But yeah I understand not telling me about everything going on at home but don't just keep me out of the dark. Talking about stuff like this doesn't make me homesick at all. In fact I wasn't even homesick after the skype session! But yeah definitely keep me updated on what's going on! 

Was there a lot of people at c wills farewell? And hopefully my talk was okay. I think back on it and just think about you balling like a little baby down in the congregation hahaha! But I'm sure they both did good! and Kyle's farewell is like a week away?! Thats so crazy. its really weird to think about how fast time goes by out here. I think the main reason time goes by super fast is because you only get to hear things once a week from everyone so it all has one week gaps but it seems completely recent to me yano? But I just want to say I love you dad thank you again for everything and I want you to think back on when I turned in my papers and how much of an influence my P blessing had on that decision. because a year ago today I would not even begin to imagine myself in a computer room in the Philippines serving a mission. but here I am. :) and that is definitely because of my blessing and the Holy Ghost Testifiying those things unto me.

Love Elder Hansen

 

5/20/13

THIS LETTER IS IN RESPONSE TO ME TELLING RILEY ABOUT THE PASSING OF JACKIE LAMBOURNE DEL TORO.  RILEY IS GOOD FRIENDS WITH COLE, JACKIE'S BROTHER.  THEY ARE AN AWESOME FAMILY.  JACKIE DIED AS THE RESULT OF A CANCEROUS BRAIN TUMOR.  23 YEARS OLD, MARRIED JUST A COUPLE SHORT YEARS.

 

Oh my heck that is so sad about Jackie.....that seriously made me cry a little bit.   I feel absolutely horrible for the Lambournes.  Make sure you send them my love okay??? But yeah I will definitely email Cole.  I don't have a ton of time so I will send him a long email next week. Wow things sound like they are going great at home though!! Sounds like everyone is healthy and doing good things in their lives!!!

Alex riding a bike?? haha! who would of thought just kidding! 

and Jordan going on dates????? who would of thought?? haahah just kidding again! 

that is seriously so awesome for both of them! I was seriously laughing when I read the story of Alex

 getting stuck in the river bottoms hahaha that is to funny!!  but yeah dont worry mom I'm writing a big letter that is talking all about my mission so far and about my favorite foods and about people I have been teaching and about my first two lessons I taught in the field and about some sweet investigators that we have right now! You can put all of that in the blog so dont worry!! Its just hard to do stuff like that over email because I don't have a ton of time to think everything through. And actually put a lot of detail into the emails. but I will definitley have a ton of     detail in the letter. I'm starting to forget English words all ready because I don't use them enough.. its so weird, I couldn't think of the word detail for forever....haha but yeah our investigators are super sweet im really excited for you to read the letters later on!! Oh and yes I got the package today but I didn't want to carry the box around so I opened up the package and put everything in my backpack hahah its so heavy!! Thanks so much for sending me so awesome snacks it will be nice to actually eat some normal snacks for once!! Man it was so sweet talking to you guys the other day thanks for that opportunity again. And it is kind of expensive to send letters and I dont have time ever except on pdays to send them so yeah its kind of annoying but I will get it off to you next Monday! I'm going to send some cool pics of ME to you now!! haha

 

 

 

 

5/28/13

OK!  I PROMISED YOU "MOM EATS HUMBLE PIE!"  WELL HERE IT IS!


I waited faithfully for the letter Riley promised to send that would update me more fully on his mission!  But, it never came!  So after speaking to several other Missionary Moms I was feeling a bit in the dark about Riley's mission!  I was anxious to hear all the stories of his experiences!  Then, I would hear that one missionary or another could email for a couple of hours!  I would read blogs of long, in depth letters from my friends children and we would get nice, but short emails, without a lot of information!  I was, as I put it to Riley, "Getting Bugged!"  (How old am I?)  Needless to say I couldn't just wait for the promised hand written letter that Riley was working on!  No, I had to press and dare I say?...Whine even!  Until I got what I wanted, or did I?  What follows is a beautiful letter, chalked full of information about Riley's mission, AND a dose of HUMBLE PIE for MOM.  Because instead of trusting my son to be doing exactly what he needed to be doing, I put my feelings first.  I was so persistent that he did indeed tell me all he could about his mission at the expense of probably writing others who equally benefit from his letters.  What I learned is just accept what your son or daughter is writing you.  Let them do the work they are called to without the worry of pleasing everyone at home.  Just be glad for the news that is shared and know that when they return you will have so much to talk about!  BIG lesson learned!  Forgo the humble pie and choose chocolate instead!  Here goes!
Sharon

THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT FROM MY LETTER TO RILEY, THIS IS WHAT HE HAD TO CONTEND WITH!  I'M SO SORRY!

I'm kind of bugged because some missionaries get to email for as long as they want every week.  They get detailed accounts of their week.   The in state missionaries send letters and emails every week.  I know you are writing me a letter, but I feel a bit in the dark about your mission.  Are you sure that you guys only get 1 hour to email?  I don't know what to even tell people about your mission.  The one thing I can usually say is he seems happy and loves the Philippines.  I don't know what the answer is, I just wish I knew more about your actual mission, things you are feeling, questions, concerns, people.  I guess this is a lesson in patience for me.

THIS IS RILEY'S RESPONSE

That's awesome that Bingham took state!! Tell them congrats!!! and tell Lund and all of them if you see them again that I love em!

as for other missionaries....maybe their mission pres. is not as strict. Cause I promise you are only supposed to email for an hour...its up to our self to govern that....but we all know who is truly always watching. We are on the Lords errand so if I'm granted one hour of the Lords time to email that's all I'm going to use. So I'll tell you how my mission is going so far I'll spend about thirty minutes typing starting now talking about my mission!:) so first...its hot!!! haha it is unbelievably hot here !sometimes. And when its not hot it is really super wet! like shoes soaked from the inside out wet hahah so I havn't decided what weather I like best yet. On Sunday it rained so hard it was unreal and its just the beginning of Tagulan or the rainy season. and we havn't even experienced a Baguio yet. which is just like a super crazy storm! I'm actually really excited to experience one of those just because it would be way cool to see. As for investigators especially at the beginning of my mission they weren't very strong. Only like one would be progressing or none...so it was kind of hard to teach and especially because they were new investigators. A couple of weeks into my first transfer a lot of those investigators dropped us...so we were not able to teach them anymore...that was really frustrating and hard to deal with. I actually got kind of bummed out for a while. The work at that point got super hard. We had to do a lot of finding and being patient. That is one lesson you learn as a missionary right off the bat being patient. Because you cant control what the investigators want to do. you just have to invite them to repent by making changes in their lives reading praying going to church and following all the commandments. and if they choose to accept,  that its up to them. A couple of weeks ago our ward was split and me and Elder Sikat were assigned to the branch. So of course being a branch there isn't as many members or priesthood holders. So it definitely makes things more difficult. But what happened was  the branch and all the members are way more enthusiastic and have the drive to help others and bring their branch together!! And something else happened the work of the lord is starting to boom where we are at. Just on Sunday we had nine investigators at church! which is a lot of investigators! And then after sacrament they all went to our gospel principles class and then after that they went to relief society and priesthood!! I mean it truly is a miracle when you think about the work of the Lord. We never see the blessings until after the trial of our faith. That is one thing that will continue to happen throughout our lives. As I have been out serving the Lord I have come to realize this lesson, that even though for a couple of weeks our work was hard we didn't have as many lessons and we definitely didn't have investigators at church we needed to persevere! We needed to have faith and be diligent in our work and trust in the Lord that in his time he will bless us. Because like I said before, this is the work of the Lord, not my work. I need to be patient for his blessings and not try and do it all myself. As I was studying earlier today I studied a topic in Preach My Gospel,  well actually its a quote and the quote is this.. Pres Boyd k Packer- "true doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. the study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior" as I studied that quote I thought about Christ like attributes and how they can benefit us in the mission field but they can also benefit us in life. So I came up with a little plan to study an attribute and learn how to apply it in our lives. First,  we need to define such attribute in our own words that we want to develop.   Then we need to provide an example of such attribute, then third how to become that attribute. All of that is done before you look up the definition in the scriptures or online or in PMG. After you do these things,  study scriptures about such attribute, look up true definition and then after you know how to do these things you must do them. But like the quote said behavior changes by studying doctrine. So if you don't know the doctrine of what you want to become how can you become that? So that is what I'm doing and I did humility. This basically revolves around being grateful for what the Lord has done for us. And like it says in Alma 26:12 I will not boast in my strength but in Gods strength. I kind of went off on a ramble there but its important for us to develop these attributes especially for missionary work. We have to be obedient in all that we do and when we do these things we are more blessed. I have experienced this in my work all ready. I have experienced when times get hard we have to work harder and after we are just at the brink of exhurting all of our energy then the Lord comes in and carries us the rest of the way.   It's that extra step that we need to take its the extra ten minutes we need to plan or its the last house or appointment that we can go to after being rejected all day where we finally find someone who is waiting for us saying thank you for bringing peace into my life. We have to devote our entire time to the Lord and nothing less. I have been trying to be focused on the Lords work so that I will be blessed and we are now definitely blessed our investigators are progressing like crazy and are having a great experience going to church and we are having a great time teaching them and blessing there lives. I love this calling and I'm so grateful for this experience! I'm so grateful to continue serving the Lord and like it says in our baptismal covenant,  we ALL need to take upon us the name of our God at all times in all things and in all places! If we do that the Lord will look at us with a great love in his heart  and a great appreciation for our devotion unto him.

I love you guys and I hope this is a little better insight on my mission so far:)

Love Elder Hansen

I am so amazed and humbled by the love and devotion Elder Riley Powell Hansen has shown for the Lord and the people of the Philippines!  I am so proud of his desire to be obedient and to work hard so that the lives of these sweet people can be blessed.  I will never push my son again for more information or anything!  I am just so happy that he is committed to serving Jesus Christ.  I will just love and cherish every moment of his mission and any information I receive from him is just frosting on the cake!

Sharon
 

 

LETTER FROM DARIN TO RILEY

 

Riley.

Very impressive response to moms email. I am happy and quite impressed at your dedication to being exact and precise ,In your dedication to the lords work. You are a terrific example to all of us! However that means squat! To us. The important thing is what that MEANS TO YOU! In other words, you are doing the right things for RILEY! THAT enables you to
Help your investigators which is pleasing and encouraging to you! And you are doing a fine job, and sticking to the rules will benefit all !! You, your family, your friends, your investigators, your missionary president, etc...... KEEP ON DOING EXACTLY WHAT U ARE DOING!

LOVE DAD

 

RILEY'S RESPONSE 6/3/13

 

 

.hahaha thanks dad!! did you like how I used the spirit to get my point across!! Just kidding I was just being honest but thanks dad that means a lot!! I just know that if I'm exactly obedient in the work I will be even more blessed. It's the same way in life if we follow all the rules and all the commandments we will be more blessed and even more happy in our lives.

I have to email Cole so I need to end this email but I love you dad!

Love Elder Hansen

 

(Thank goodness for Dad's!)

 

 

 

 

 

6/3/13

 

Mom, you didn't offend me at all.  I just wanted to make sure you knew that I am just following the rules I wasn't mad at all I promise!! But that did come off like I was semi mad didn't it?? So sorry about that but yeah I wanted to make sure you knew that I'm doing the right thing but I also wanted to let you know how my mission is going since you were very persistent hahaha just kidding. It's just kind of funny because I can kind of say what I want to say because its not like you can come half way across the world to yell at me:) hahaha but yeah I hope that gave you a little more insight about my mission and this week we were able to get three investigators to church and all three that went to church bore their testimonies it was way cool!! I was really impressed that they had the courage to do that!! Also the work has been going really well we have some pretty solid Investigators.  But no I havn't transfered yet its just every six weeks there is a transfer. I'm still in the same area. Oh and yeah you eat pancit a lot here its a favorite for like birthdays especially because its cheap. But was it pretty good or no?

That trip sounds like it was way fun!! and the Harley is lookin sweet and yes mom you do look good in the leather pants hahaha and of course dad looks like a stud with his Motorcycle gear on! Make sure to not sell it I want to ride it when I get home.

I really do need to keep this email short if I'm going to email Cole today. So I'm sorry about that but don't worry about me I didn't even know there was an earthquake here haha and no I don't need anything I'm doing just fine!! love you guys sorry this is so short but just know that I love all of you guys so much and that I'm out doing the Lords work, and dad you better have fasted hahaha 

love Elder Hansen

So in 10 more days on June 13th it will be 4 months that Riley has been out!  He is feeling really good about the language.  He feels like he could be a leader even though it would be scary!  He is learning a lot and relies on the Lord.  He loves the work and the people!  He is happy!  I am happy! I am learning a lot about patience and prayer.  I am learning to rely on the Lord to take care of my son!  My testimony has grown in abundance!  I miss him with all of my heart and soul, but this experience has strengthened me, our family, definitely Riley and most importantly the people that he teaches.  I would not trade this experience for anything!  Mahal Kita Elder Hansen!