Wow did this week fly by. It feels like my entire mission all wrapped up in one week. I don't remember what we did on las Tuesday but oh my goodness did it feel fast. It was a very productive week. Elder Jewkes and I are excited to be together and to try to come up with ways to bless the zone. I think we've come up with some decent ideas and I am excited to see them put into practice. I am so excited to work with him, we've been planning this Companionship for about 4 transfers now haha, we have always wanted to be companions and we are really enjoying it so far.
One thing we also realized is that we actually have a lot of ideas. We pray every night for every missionary in our zone by name, and give them random calls just to let them know we are thinking of them. The motto we came up with for the zone is "Choose Joy", just like the EFY song, and I used the acronym that mom always uses. JOY is putting Jesus first, then Others, then Yourself. That's the motto. We did 2 things, Zone wide this week that is going to really bless everyone. First off, we spent a part of a Companionship study going way back through the records to find what the record is for each key indicator in the past year+. What is the highest amount of people found, people at church, on date, and baptisms in a month. So we found all this information and we realized that, heck yeah, we want to break these records. We called them the watermarks. So we set up, if we break the News record we get a pizza party. Church record gets a Zone Barbecue at the park. Date record gets a surprise from President. Baptismal record (and we called permission for President on this one) gets an extra zone temple trip. We are so excited because EVERYONE wants to go to the temple, it's like gold. And so far, everyone is super motivated to find, teach, and Baptize. It is great, and we are excited to see the miracles roll in because of it.
We also implemented a zone wide fast, basically for a miracle, yesterday. Well, we totally saw one yesterday. Totally came from the fast that we decided to do, Zone wide. I have been trying to teach Estela for 12 weeks and we gave her another little stop by this past week. I got to talk to her, tried to make her feel comfortable with the missionaries. We actually knocked her door in the pouring rain, but we felt an impression to knock. The reason I have been so antsy to teach her is because she has had 2 previous baptismal dates, used to come to church a lot about 10 months ago, has been taught 88 percent, and is still friends with the Relief Society President. Anyways we talk and she seemingly showed zero interest in coming to church. Well.... Elder Jewkes and I started our fast on Saturday night. Right around that time, the Relief Society President got a call from Estela asking her if she could come to church and if they could pick her up. So I saw her in church, and got to sit next to her. It was a fantastic meeting with tears flowing, but Estela is tough. So she didn't cry. Until the final Hymn came around, "Loor al Profeta". Then she lost it crying. I explained that this song was about Joseph Smith and she said that she knew. It was a spiritual confirmation for her that what the church teaches is true. She knows it. It was amazing.
I also, must say, don't cry very much. Especially in Spanish, usually the tears don't flow out. When I feel the Spirit I am usually not overcome like that. Well as I was singing about the death of the first prophet of the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I did as well. I felt such a profound love for him. For all he sacrificed. The mobbing, the attempted robberies, being called an outcast, all so that he could bring to pass what God had called him to do. There are power in hymns.
"¡Loor al Profeta, subido al cielo!
Déspotas luchan en vano contra él,
y en el cielo está con el Padre.
Nunca la muerte le podrá vencer."
The death will not overcome him. He was called to do his work here. He was completely imperfect. But isn't that amazing? God works through imperfect people to bring to pass immortality and the eternal life of man. I am so grateful to have been entrusted to be called here TO Houston to help others realize what God's purpose is for putting us all here. And how we truly can gain eternal life. I know this work to be true, and to be one of the greatest works ever. It is the work of the Lord.
Miracles happen every day, you just need to be looking for them. I am so blessed to be able to see the Lord's hand daily. I saw another miracle of being guided by the Spirit. I got the chance to go on an exchange with the Chinese elders today. First off, 2 crazy experiences. I had this impression to walk down this sidewalk of an apartment complex, and then told the elders that there is almost always someone behind a 13, so we knocked a 13. As we did a man walked by and we called out to him. He asked us if we were "Mormons", we said "that's kind of what they call us" and he said "No way, I have been looking for the Church!!" He apparently was a recent convert who just moved to TX from Portland. He speaks perfect Chinese, and his wife, who is from Beijing, is not a member. The Chinese elders were so excited, and I was too! It was amazing. Then, right around 7pm, we decided to go grab a Chinese shave ice treat. First off, wow it was good, but 2nd, as I walked in I saw HNA SANTIESTEBAN!! She was from H1. It was such a cool miracle. We talked and the Chinese elders met her Chinese friends she was with. It was a miracle.
I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week. I am so grateful to have you as family. I know we were put together for a reason. Either all of this was one big coincidence, or none of it was. I'm pretty sure the answer is the latter. I love you all tons!
Elder Hansen
Brett
1. After losing 11-0 in volleyball against some big Hispanic family, they loaded us up w tacos and Cokes to go for free!!!
2. Me and Elders Feng and Palmer
3. Me and Elder Shelley after MLC. Miracle we got him to smile haha.
4. Just got a new Spanish missionary from Laie, Oahu. Yeah.. HE IS A RED RAIDER!
5.Me and Hna Santiesteban
6. CHINATOWN!!
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