Ecuador, Halloween and Floods (and chased by a pack of kids!)

Holaaaaa familia y amigos!!!!

How is everyone this week!! I am so happy to see that you are having a good time coming up on Halloween!! Looks like Ben and Dad are having an awesome time up in Canada going on the big hunt.  So, so happy to hear that Gracie and Brik had so much fun at the trunk or treat.  Cool to see a picture of Gracie and her friends! Hope you all are doing super well!  So the Dodgers choked again in the world series. . . That is just a shame.  Honestly, I was so sad to hear about that.   Dumb Dodgers.  

We get to work with so many great people every single day.  This boy, Charles, reminded me of Brik.

Sometimes it can be a little tricky getting to the people we work with. We got flooded!!  Not the best when you are riding bikes. haha

This week with Elder Handy has been amazing. He is a great companion! I would say that the first miracle came from a mother and a daughter, named Patricia and Estefany. Estefany's husband was a cop back in Ecuador, and was sadly shot on Dec. 14. It was a really touching story that that was the day that her life changed incredibly for the worse.  So she moved from Ecuador to the US, and met the missionaries, which was awesome!! She told us at the end of our last lesson they have decided to be baptized on the 14th of December, in memory of her husband, and the day that changed their lives.  It was so touching, and we are so excited for the day that will change her life for the better. 

We had a Trunk or Treat, and had 4 investigators there!! We were soooo excited to see the success!! It was so awesome!!

This is a pic of Elder Handy, Hermana Abarca and me at the Halloween party. 

A highlight this week was being chased by a pack of kids trying to help us share the gospel.  It was awesome!  

Alberto’s baptism.  We are so pumped for him.  Like I said, we get to work with great people.  

Spiritual thought: I have been studying "submission" this week.  Christ was the perfect example of submission.  He always makes sure that everyone knows he is doing his Father's will.  In Matthew 19:26 it says that Jesus beheld the multitude and told them that with "man, this is impossible, but with God, all is possible".  There are no better hands to be in. Trust Him! 

I hope you all have a great week! I love you all, and keep on keeping on!!!  

Brett / Elder Hansen

Elder Hansen

8585 Woodway Drive  Apt #217

Houston, TX 77063

brett.hansen@myldsmail.net

https://elderbrettmhansen.blogspot.com

I know how to cross the border.

Buenas tardes familia y amigos!!

Muy muy buenas tardes!! I hope everything is all super awesome!! I have loved getting all of your emails!! Mom that was so awesome that you got to see Elder Gong!! Crazy that we got to see Elder Holland, and you got to see Elder Gong.  The apostles are everywhere and we are so blessed to have these special witnesses of Jesus Christ.  It is amazing!!  We are so blessed to be a part of this amazing work in trying to grow God's kingdom here on earth. Also. . . . THE DODGERS ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES AGAIN?!?!?!?! Ok, that is awesome.  Houston was so sad for like 3 days when the Astros lost to Boston.  The Mission Nurse updated me.  She texted me when the Dodger’s won haha, Sister Anderson is the BEST!  Dad, thank you for sending me what happened. I knew Puig would come in clutch at one point.  

I know how to cross the border now! Plenty of people have told me how it works.  It is apparently super expensive.  Like ridiculously expensive.  They have to hire a "coyote" to take them across.  Coyotes are pros that help.  It reminds me of the Underground Railroad.  I can't imagine it.  

We had a miracle happen on Saturday.  Edith got baptized!! It was amazing, it felt like everything was working against us to keep her from being baptized.  It all started with Elder Johnson taking a spill and having to get an X-Ray on his hand in the morning.  Turns out he has a fracture, and got transferred out because today was the last day of the transfer. He is still in the same ward, but different area, with a car.   Anyways, we then went to the church to go fill the font, got locked out, while it was filling.  Then we had a talk cancel last minute and had to find a backup, and then finally the doors to the font wouldn't open.  Soooo, it was like obstacle after obstacle.  But, she was baptized eventually.  She has so much faith, and I LOVE this family and their love of the gospel.  Super amazing single mom of 5, and I had the blessing of baptizing Edith.  

This past week has been pretty hectic to say the least!!  To start off, one of our top investigators, his name was Lorenzo, was progressing like crazy.  We visited him not too long ago, a week after we gave him a Book of Mormon, and asked him how much he had read, he said that he was more than half way through.  Like WHAT!! He had a baptismal date, but a few days ago, we found out he was moving to Florida to work for a few months. . . so now he has moved.  So sad.  Here’s a pic of him!

 

Now I have a new companion, the one, the only, the Elder HANDYYYYY!! We were planning this from the first day we came out, and never thought it would happen.  BUT IT HAPPENED!! So we are about to just go all out! He is living in Utah, but his parents are from El Salvador so he's fluent. I am so pumped! His mom never let him eat sugar cereal so he’s going bonkers with it out here.  Hilarious!!

Did anyone read Fred and Ted books when they were little?  We loved them. We took this picture in honor of Fred and Ted.  This picture is for Mom!

Temple trip. 

Elder Ledezma trained me and I trained Elder Johnson.  Great guys.  

I love you all so much!! I hope you all are doing well!  The gospel is so simple, do what you are supposed to do, and look outward.  Act as Christ would!  Christ's gospel will never change, but it will change you!!

Hope you all have an amazing week!!  Go Dodgers!!

Brett / Elder Hansen

Elder Hansen

8585 Woodway Drive  Apt #217

Houston, TX 77063

brett.hansen@myldsmail.net

https://elderbrettmhansen.blogspot.com

Scientologists, Gangs and ELDER HOLLAND!

Buenas tardes familia y amigos!!! 

Como les va?? How are you all doing?  I just saw that Mom and Dad and the rest of the fam just got back from Europe.  I am so glad to hear that you all had an awesome time!! The pictures are beautiful.  It is crazy the number of landmarks that are out there.  I guess it is back to school right now, and I remember that was hard to do after a trip.

This week was pretty wild, full of ups and downs.  And I am sure that the subject line indicated that.  So I guess I will start with the best part of the WHOLE WEEK!! Elder Holland came to Houston and put on a fireside for all the missionaries.  It was amazing!  The most powerful thing from him is his testimony.  He testified to us that this mission is about as close to real life as anyone ever gets.    He testified to us that he did NOT give up his life for a, and I quote, "fairytale".  I was touched with his power.  This man is called of God as a special witness of Jesus Christ.  I got the opportunity to shake his hand, and his ice blue eyes, I felt him looking into my soul.  It was amazing.  I am so blessed to know this to my very core.  

Second best part of the week:  Edith is getting baptized!!! This Saturday is going to be her baptism and I am blessed to be able to baptize her! I am so pumped! So that is super, super awesome!! We are going to visit her again on Friday and then on to Saturday for her baptism!!  Here we are with her kids.  I just looove them!

So, funny story this week that absolutely made my mission!  I’ve been asked multiple times if I was from Cuba! So HECK YEAH!!  I was honestly thrilled and I guess me and Puig are “paisanos".  That is so awesome.  So apparently the language is getting better.  I’ve also been asked just where I’m from and it’s not an automatic belief that I am born in the U.S.  But just as I start to think I’m good, I realize the Hispanics here don’t have the greatest grammar so apparently it’s not that hard to impress -haha

Back to proselyting.  One morning, a meeting with a member family fell through, but we offered to take her trash out.  So as we were walking across the street to throw out the trash, and we ran into a lady, Sharon, walking her dog.  She invited us over to teach her, so of course we accepted.  We asked her what her dog's name was, and she said she hadn't named it, and that we could, so, without hesitation, the dog's new name became Abinadi.  So pumped for that one.  Then we found out that she was a scientologist.  Needless to say, it was one of the most interesting lessons ever.  She was giving foot fives, and things like that.  SO, yeah that was a good start to the week.  

Then, a few hours later, we had a guy call us over and say "Elders, shouldn't you have a car?" Of course we agreed with him.  We get to talking and found out that his name was Jonathon and he actually was baptized 3 years ago.  He knows everything about missionary work.  He told us he wanted to come back to church because he has hit kind of a low point in his life.  So we are going back to teach him on Wednesday.  As we were talking to him, a car honked at us.  I wondered if they were church members of course, but Johnathan said, "Naw man, those are gang members".  So all the sudden the sign that they flashed made sense.  Then Johnathan's friend came up to him talking about all the friends they have that are doing time.  Yeah, that was interesting, but we are trying to get him and his family of 5 back to church. He said he really wanted to change.   

Here we are celebrating Kiko’s birthday party.  Super cool guy.  

Right now our bikes are in the shop.  My pedal fell off and stripped all the metal around it.  Must be from getting so much use!  Today we are going to downtown Houston with some other missionaries.  Had to throw a few “booos” out to the Astros - still a little bitter about last year’s World Series.  Maybe the Dodgers get a rematch this year.  Kind of cool though because I just saw Jackie Bradley Jr.(Boston Red Sox)  just walk into the park.

Here’s a few pics with some other missionaries. This is Elder Tai - I could take him -haha

This is from my zone after watching conference.

This is my man Elder Parks.  We had a training session.

Two spiritual thoughts for the day! Philippians 4:7, God's peace transcends all understanding.  Truly, I have realized that my understanding is far from perfect.  But I do know a few things with all of my heart.  God loves us, and Jesus Christ died for us, so that we can live again.  I love them with everything I have got.  

A second thought is in Ether 12:4 and I love it.  It’s all about hope and if we have our hope anchored to the Lord, we will forever be abounded in good works.  So my question for you is where and what are you anchored to?  I love the Vanderbilt motto, “Anchor Down”.  I think this motto of what your anchored to will be with me for the rest of my life.  Once you are decided that you anchor yourself to the Lord, Anchor Down!  Make sure you are centered in Him always and you will forever be “abounding in good works."

 Love you all so much!! Have a great week!!

Elder Hansen

Elder Hansen

8585 Woodway Drive  Apt #217

Houston, TX 77063

brett.hansen@myldsmail.net

https://elderbrettmhansen.blogspot.com/

Cats, hairballs and more cats!

Hola familia y amigos, como estan?

How are you all doing this week, it has been awesome getting all of your emails.  Isn't it so crazy that we are in October already?  It is kind of freaking me out!  We are coming up on General Conference and being able to hear from our prophet.  I am so excited!  The rumors are flying here in Texas too.  We’ll see what happens!!

I’ve gotta start off with a photo of Elder Johnson and I with Eduardo and a frog. I love it here. 

We went with a bunch of elders to move a lady, and OH...MY...GOSH.  She had a ton of cats.  Like holy heck. I have NEVER seen so many cats in my life.  The amount of cat poop and hairballs were disgusting.  We moved a ton of stuff, she didn't have much packed up.  I started sneezing like crazy, and wow.  Lots and lots of hair.  So that was definitely a highlight. haha

Thai Spice Buffet with part of our zone was our food adventure a couple days ago.  You know I can’t let a week go by without a shoutout to some good Texas food!

We had some great contacts this week.  We were talking to this one guy named Freddy, and while we were talking, this one guy walked by us, saw us, and walked back.  After we finished talking to Freddy, we found out that his name was Milton. (I think everyone needs to meet a Milton.)  One of the first things that he said was that his brother converted to the church, served a mission in Mexico, and is active.  He said that he saw a huge change in his brother, and wants to know how he can have the same.  He told us he wants to find out how to join the church.  I was thrilled.  He is gold.  Told us to pass by as soon as possible, is going to come to church, and wants to come to all the activities too!! SO AWESOME!

President Guthrie challenged us to read at least 20 minutes of the doctrine of Christ before we leave the house. It has been awesome.  I have learned if there is one thing that can change our behavior it is the gospel of Christ.  Give it a try and see if you feel a change! 

Love you all!  Going to go throw the ball around with President Guthrie and Elder Bruning!  Elder Bruning came out of the MTC with me as an English speaking missionary and was then told to learn Burmese!! It doesn’t even look like a language.  Makes me SO grateful for Spanish!  hahaha Here’s a shot of the two us writing our families.  As soon as we are done here we are off to find a place to play catch! 

Have a great week!

Brett  /   Elder Hansen