12-01-2014

Dear Mom, Dad, Jordan, Alex,

so I just want to say i love you all! thank you mom and dad for the wonderful letters that you sent and also or the emails! Mom I'm sorry I am horrible at writing home. But I promise I'm taking pictures! This week was a little bit rough with getting investigators to progress. Sis xxxhad an IBD for Dec. 13 but we found out that she isnt married yet so she cant be baptized. We were pretty bummed about that. We found 11NI this week so we still have a lot of potential in the area. we love our ward members and we are thinking of ideas that we can do to help them out with the ward and the work here in urdaneta. Please pray for our ward here URD. 3rd ward. today is Dec. 01, 2014 we were talking with others a little earlier and they are just saying its crazy how fast 2014 has gone by. its like it went from 2013-2015. Missions help develop people into who they need to become. Well for me it has put me on the right path. I can see a bright future to be honest. I do get a little nervous thinking about work and school and the real world but I read my blessing the other day and it just said I need to put the Lord first and if I do that all will be well and I wont sacrifice anything. And when you have a mindset of serving the Lord and then doing other things there are no sacrifices. 

I am very thankful that the sisters stopped by our house. please tell them one missionary to another how much I appreciate their efforts.  I deal with people every day trying to help them come unto Christ and it can be difficult when people dont want to. It literally hurts you inside at times. We met an old man who his church doesnt have a name but Americans stop by his house and do bible study with him 2 a week and that is there religion. We told him that he is missing out on a lot of things in the bible and we want to help him understand those things but he is so blinded and shut off that he wouldnt even let us in the house. so being a bolder missionary we kindly told him that he isnt yet following Jesus Christ and left. haha butI literally felt sad for him because he is so far away from the truth. 

Dad- about some of our questions. we are asked to speak a lot and all the missionaries always expect us to know what to do and say. We visit other zones and what not but usually dont speak unless invited. We usually speak at training meetings like Train the Trainers, New Missionary Training, Missionary leadership council, quad zone conferences, zone interviews. those are a few but its really fun. Even though Ihave been speaking in front of a lot of people now I'm still not used to it. I still get nervouse sometimes.....but i would say im comfortable now.  Mom Dad do you have any advice for me for my last two months in the mission? Its weird to think that I'm coming home to be honest even though I love you all I'm going to miss my second home A TON..... this place is just beautiful the people have changed me forever. Anyways I love you all so much

love, 

Elder Hansen

--

ELDER HANSEN

URDANETA STAKE

URDANETA 3RD


 

So I don't want to believe that Christmas is right around the corner! Time is crazy fast and I dont like it. I'm exctied for Christmas but that is it ha. The week went well, we found a lot of new great investigators and are hoping they will progress! our IBD isnt married pala so were kind of disappointed about that but we will keep working with them it just takes faith! The mission is awesome I love the experiences that I have everyday! Keep the Philippines in your prayers! This is where the nicest people live and I can testify to that!

love Elder H

--

ELDER HANSEN

URDANETA STAKE

URDANETA 3RD

 

Elder Hansen and Elder Mahayahay

Sent from The Mission President :)

Titled Rats!

11/23/14 Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you all for everything you do for me! I cant imagine my life without all of you. especially my family. With the spirit of Thanksgiving I just figured I would thank all of you! Life here in the Philippines is really amazing. I'm so grateful I have had the chance to live and serve here for the past two or so years. The love you build for people when you serve them is the Christ like love we need to develop for all. As a missionary you develop that attitude to serve everyone. I think I really needed that in my life. I am finally coming to realize my real purpose in life and no its not just to be happy. One thing I am grateful for is being able to see the change in others. Even with my batch mates serving with them here in the Philippines I have really seen them grow spiritually and I'm very grateful for that. The mission is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and that we treat everyday like thanksgiving.

The mission and our area here in Urdaneta is doing really well! We got to do some exchanges but our exchanges are different than most missions. we bring the other companionship into our area and then split. So the sad thing is I don't get to see other parts of the mission. But the good part is that the work is going really well here! Sis. Rose Mary went to church again! Her Baptism is on Dec. 13th please pray for her and for her progression! We found a ton this week too and will be finding a lot this week so that the teaching pool will get bigger! Here in the computer shop I'm listening to these kids who are very blind to things spiritually speaking of course in Tagalog but using vulgar language and it just makes me irritated...I want to tell them nicely to (shut up) haha anyways Elder Mahayahay and I are doing great and the comp is going really well! I cannot believe this is the last week of November....time is way too fast here....anyways I love you all

love, 

Elder Hansen

Mom dont worry I got the package and we have all ready made a box of brownies! THEY WERE SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!! haha im waiting until christmas to do the fudge I bet its feezing there tho...and i dont want to go back to it...i will die! haha That is cool that Bingham won again! (we're the best) how did Mikey do?? Here life is going good most of my updates are on my group email. You get that right?? Also I cant believe that I'm down to 2 months...it cant be true...also I cant believe that I all ready have a scheduled talk!! But I will think and ponder about that. Life is going great here. Im literally having a blast every day and time goes by way too fast. Im sure life is going by really quickly there especailly with the holiday season in full force. before you know it it will be new years.... about the skype call. we can do it from dec. 22- dec. 26. 45mins is the max. The area is being a little bit more tight on the time but its okay cause I will see you guys like a month after that...haha anyways I'm doing great this eamil is for all of you!! Thanks so much for everything you are the best!!! and I hope you have a great thanksgiving!!! I know I will by serving the LORD. thanks again and I love you \l

love, 

Elder Hansen

11-16-14 New Investigators!

Thank you so much dad for the great letter! That is awesome to hear about your experience at church earlier today. Every Sunday can be a spiritual experience we just have to be open to it. I wasted a lot of Sundays at church back at home not really paying attention and just going because it was something I had to do. f you ever get the chance please tell President Philipoom that I love him and please also tell Bishop Carver the same. Yesterday at chruch while we were sitting in the sacrament hall waiting for church to begin we noticed that only one of our investigators was there. (we were excited about that but hoping for more) that was
Brother Ceasar, we have been teaching a lady who is from Tacloban. She was affected by the massive storm that came in last year. Her house was destroyed she was on top of a building with water up to her waist...so that shows how deep it the tide was and she was holding two little kids in her arms so they wouldnt drown. Anyways it was a great experience when we met her because she had met elders before and went to church before. It also just so happens that their neighbor here is also a member but they are kind of less active. So what we did is decided to make the members fellowshipers for sis. Rose.  Two Sundays ago we had planned with them that sis. Rose would go with them to church and none of them came...sis Rose was even ready to go but the members werent....then throughout this week we made sure the members were there at all the lessons. So I go back to where we were sitting in sacrament...we started singing the opening hymn and they wernt there yet but I decided to look back again...of course being ancy to see if they would come...and turns out they did!They even brought other members with them that are Less Active!! We gave an IBD to sis. Rose Mary last night for dec. 13. things are going pretty well here! I'm glad that Bingham killed Riverton!! haha is that bad to say?? nope!! haha I'm glad for Mickey! Tell the Greens Hi for me.   Tell mom that I love her and I'm excited for the other packages but the one has not come in yet. Also tell her how much I appreciate her and all that she does for me. oh you will notice that i withdrew a decent chunk of money last week .that is because i got two ingrowns removed haha but im doing good now and i dont think i will get them again for the rest of my mission. Time sure is a flying....I'm way excited for Preston! If you can tell him to email me. ( He is a baseball friend who has decided to serve a mission)

anyways the misssion life is doing great !!

love, 

Elder Hansen

11-09-14 New Companion Elder Mahayahay

Hey mom so transfer week was crazy!! We are always so busy running around the mission helping people out with different things and getting everyone ready for transfers. To be honest it takes a ton of time away from the work like 3 to 31/2 days total of no work! The time is going good my new comps name is Elder Mahayahay! He is really nice and is from Palawan which I like. It is a really beautiful area in the Philippines. That is really sad to hear about Lance but I  hope he can get back out soon. ( Lance played baseball with Riley in high school.  He was on a mission and began to lose his eyesight.  He had to come home and have surgery, but is all ready back in the mission field again, Yea!)  The work is going pretty well here we need to get finding some more. We werent able to get very many new Investigators this week but this next week will be a great one!! Funny story. we were able to teach brother Ceasars wife the other night who is pregnant, and was supposed to give birth in the next few days. but while we were there she wasnt really experiencing pain or dialating but i guess when we left she went into labor! I guess the baby was just waiting to hear our lovely voices before she came out. And another part is that the doctor told them that it was a guy....but a night later the dad was changing the diapers and he noticed that it wasnt a boy but it was a GIRL!!! hahaha how can the doc. even mess that up?

I'm doing really good here.  I was a little nervous to lead the area and to lead being an AP but I'm doing okay now! No problems. Another things is mom the one package came in the same day Elder Macabenta went home! But he was on the bus when we got to the office. haha oh well I will get it to him some other way. Life is going great and I love you all so much! Have a great week!

love elder Hansen

11-09-14
So this week was crazy fast especially getting the new missionaries settled in! haha They are so young! Its weird to see new missionaries come in and thinking that I was exactly like that. I have also seen some of the other missionaries come in and how much they have grown up in just a short time .Its weird to think about life. We are always new to something going to do something new new job new calling new friends new life but what doesnt change during all of that is our Savior. His gospel will always be the same and that is the truth. Truth never changes. No matter who we are the gospel is the same for everyone, and if we follow it we will be blessed. Life is good! I love the mission and i am growing up so much here. I feel like I'm a different person driven by different things. My life isn't focused on myself anymore. I'm focused on facing Jesus Christ. I love my Savior and I love this calling and I dont want to ever take the tag off.  It will always engraven in my heart! IM doing great thank you for all the prayers I really feel them

i love you all so much

love Elder Hansen

--

ELDER HANSEN

URDANETA STAKE

URDANETA 3RD

 

10-13-14 and 10-28-1412 weeks left! Lots of Pictures!

 

 11/03/14

 

 

 

Yeah time goes by pretty quickly right? The holidays just seem to take so long to get here but when they are here they fly right by. Its all ready Nov. 3

My comp goes home tomorrow:( and then I start another fun week of bringing in the new missionaries!! haha It will be hectic on wed. we have like 25 coming in and 20 of them are elders and will all be staying at our house!! haha but its always fun. Right now I'm just stressing out at leading the work as an assistant. I'm basically the one who knows what to do with all things so I'm going to be the one accountable. It will be a really great learning experience!! That is crazy about the giants!! Didn't their ace throw 3 games that series?? That is way nuts!! The giants seem to win all the time. 

Mom

BETTY LOOKS ADORABLE! (That is our dog and I sent him a picture in her Halloween costume)  I'm sure Halloween was really fun!  The work isgoing great here! XXX went to church again so he is now a progressing Investigator which means he is reading going to church and keeping other commitments that we give him. Please continue to pray for him! Elder Macabenta goes home tomorrow but no the packages didn"t make it in time. (I sent Elder Hansen and Elder Macabenta Thanksgiving dinner in a box and a BYU t shirt for Elder Macabenta, but it didn't make it before he left ) he is most likely coming back here for Christmas to visit the mission so I will give it to him then. We will have a lot of time the next month to focus on the area! So I'm expecting to have a lot of success!! Pray for our leaders here in Urdaneta 3rd ward! Especially our bishop,  he is such a kind man.  Anyways things are going great here!!

I love you guys.

 have a great week

Love Elder Hansen

10/28/14

 

hello everyone,

sorry  I'm horrible at writing home. Its been like two weeks since Ive sent a decent email home to all of you. The weeek was a great week! I got to go to Manila! I also visited the temple there and it is amazing.  I just love the spirit at the temple, its been way too long since I have been to the temple and actually done a session. I miss being inside but this is worth it! This week we had some great lesson with our investigators. Brother xxx is way into the gospel and wants to learn more.  This week I get a new comp so we will see how that will go. I'm sure he will be amazing even though I dont know who yet . I know he will be a great companion. This coming up Sunday we have a special area broadcast. Elder Oaks is coming... announcements about the temple?? hopefully!@! If not that is fine too . It just depends on the Lord. anyways the week was great and we are expecting an even better one this week!

I love you all so much Love Elder Hansen

tinatamad ako magsulat sa inyo ngayon....masaya ang linggo namin!! tinatamad ako kaya nagtatagalog din ako...mas nahihirapan yata ako sa english kaysa sa tagalog.......mahal ko kayong lahat! ingat kayo lagi!!

nagmamahal, 

elder hansen!

larawan #1 kasama ko siya sa MTC!

elder aisea po!

10/05/14 Waiting for Conference!

This was a great week!!!

Elder Macabenta and I even though we were fairly busy we got some great work in!! We contacted some great part member families and we are excited to teach them and help them come back to church and in turn help the non-members come to know of the gospel!

Some of the other Less Actives that we met were really stubborn and did not even want to talk to us...  anyway there isnt much you can do there if they really dont want to listen to us. Time just keeps speeding up. this weeek will fly by because of our zone interviews and then of course for us here in the philippines we are delayed a week of watching General conference....I am so excited though.  I have some questions in my mind that I know will be answered in some way, if i just listen to the spirit. We have been playing a lot of basketball lately at the church in the mornings! Its so addicting haha 5 am we are up and playing! I just love to be running around. It also helps me just have fun for a little while and enjoy a good game. As I am starting to see some of my friends going home from their missions I realize how fast it does go by. I realize that everyday we get up and do all that we can for the Lord but there are also times where we wish we could get that 1 minute back. We just wish we could experience that one joyful moment again and again and again.  However if we were like that, the "enjoyable moments" we become less and less enjoyable. That is why I am so grateful for trials and problems in life. so that when I do have the joyful moments they are that much sweeter!! Anyway we had a great week here and are hoping for even better things this upcoming week!

Love Elder Hansen

--

ELDER HANSEN

URDANETA STAKE

URDANETA 3RD

 

Yes. He is now driving in the Philippines! Scares me to death!

 

09/29/14 New Missionaries! Busy in the Zone!

That is so weird that Jessie and Jordan are now home from their missions...I cannot even imagine that from today until January I only have four months left in the mission...and no I'm not counting the days promise. I'm just blown away at how fast time goes by.. a couple of sisters emailed me from my batch I go home but in a way I hope a lot of things have changed.

This week we had the new missionaries come in there were 25 of them!! sooooooo many! They are so young and just brand new from the mtc....

Anyways we basically had three days with no work because of that. so not much happened for us this past week... we are hoping to see some good progress in a few of our investigators but we need to find a lot more. This next month we have zone interviews so for the next like three weeks every day except monday ,sat, sun. we will be traveling to other zones giving workshops and what not.......this next month will fly by..I'm trying to think of what else I have to say...not much.. make sure you tell Jordan and Jessie  HI! for me and congrats!! wow I Love the mission so much.. I have learned so much here and am still learning . The things stated in my patriarchal blessing are definitely coming true...Ii love this church with all my heart and will always remain true. I will never hide my light from others. I can say in front of anyone that I am LDS and I will share my beliefs and bear testimony to them that I know that Jesus Christ lives and this is the restored gospel. Just look at the fruit of what happened to Joseph Smith. Look at all the good things that came from his decision to find the truth......"by their fruits ye shall know them" nothing more true than that scripture right there. 

MOM I AM WRITING YOU A LETTER TODAY SO DONT WORRY!! I have little time left so I'm going to say good bye and that I love you all

Love Elder Hansen

 

 

The following are some pictures from a senior couple missionary and another blog of Zone Conferences.  Elder Hansen and his companion did training and other responsibilities.

The Sister Senior missionary commented to me that Elder Hansen is "always smiling!"  That makes me happy!  His nickname from infancy was "Smiley Riley!"