Week 47 - June 26, 2017 - Princeton, West Virginia

Hey y'all! Wooooww I don't even feel like this week happened! It went by so fast it was nuts! But, like last week, we were able to see sooooo many miracles! Just goes to show you that when you do ALL you can for the Lord, miracles are bound to happen whether we see them or not! We also get a new mission president this week. That's also super super crazy. President and Sister Salisbury leave this Saturday and we get a new mission president! President Lindhardt. I'm truly gonna miss President and Sister Salisbury so much but I know that President and Sister Lindhardt are going to do a great job in leading the mission and are called of God!

UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS:

Andrew. Okay so get this. He's not quite an investigator yet but he WILL be! Yesterday, we got a call from some random number and so we answered it and he said, "Hi, I'm Andrew and I wanna learn more about your church. I just moved to Princeton and I want to find purpose in my life." I just sat there in silence for a little bit and I was just like, "Well, we definitely have the answer for you." He told us that he is gonna come to church this Sunday to see what the Mormons are like and he's super excited!! And so are we!!! Holy cow! Miracles are for real y'all! We now have about 5 investigators headed towards baptism!

Vicki. She's still on fire. She was able to get Sunday's off!!! So now she can come to church! She's so excited and so are we! Haha! We'll have to change her baptismal date but we're not worried about her at all :) just keep praying for her!

Lucia. So she's also still on FIRE! She's sooooo awesome! We set her baptismal date for July 22nd! And she's coming to church this Sunday and we could not be more stoked! We're gonna go over the Word of Wisdom with her this week and I don't think she'll have a problem with it! Just continue to pray for her as well!

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

So if y'all remember Ronald A. Rasband's talk at General Conference, he talked about following the first promptings of the spirit. Now this challenge is pretty general because it's different for everybody. But my challenge to y'all is whenever you get the feeling to do something good, ACT! And some of you might ask, "How do I know that it's the spirit talking to me and not just my own thoughts?" Well, to quote David A. Bednar, "Quit worrying about it." If it's a feeling to do good, it's the spirit. So my challenge for y'all is to ACT!

FUNNY MOMENT:

So I don't know if y'all know this but I am not the biggest fan of mustard. You know like the yellow stuff that people put on hot-dogs for some reason? Yeah that. Anyways, on Saturday, my companion poured mustard in this huge spoon and he put that spoon in his mouth like it was candy. I gagged hardcore. But when I gagged, it made him laugh and so he SPIT OUT the mustard and it got all over my pants and I was soooo low key salty (not happy). But I laughed too so it was all good! But yeah I hate mustard.

Anyways, love you guys so much! I hope y'all have the greatest week ever! Treat yo'self! Thanks for all the love and support :)

Helaman 5: 12

- Elder Hanson

Beautiful West Virginia Sunsets

It's is your birthday Elder Willis

My District is the BOMB!

Week 46 - June 19, 2017 - Princeton, West Virginia

Whattup y'all! So these past 5 days have been just full of miracles! Seriously! It's crazy to see the progression of Princeton just skyrocket!! I'll let you in on one of the miracles that we saw this week here in a sec but yeah it's all goin' good over here! Also, Happy Father's Day yesterday to my Padre! Happy Father's day to all the dad's that do all they can to raise their children in the best way possible! Y'all are much appreciated :)

UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS:

Vicki & Ed. Sooooo Ed got arrested. Yikes! That's the bad news. The good news is that Vicki said it's really likely that her boss will let her have Sunday off! So that she can come to church! Ed should be back later on but for right now it's just Vicki. Which is ok! Because her family will want to learn too sooner or later :) so I'm not worried! Just continue praying for her!

Lucia. Okay so here's the miracle. Lucia is the mother of a fairly recent convert and the grandma to a bunch of kids in the family! She's a hardcore catholic. She never really wanted anything to do with us whenever we went over. But the other night, I had the impression to just ask her if she wants to learn about the Book of Mormon. She said she would (pretty reluctantly). We had the lesson and it was great! She committed to reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. Then the next night we went back over and she had read the pamphlet we gave her and she told us that she KNOWS it's true. She asked to be baptized and wants to be baptized SOON! Truly a tender mercy from the Lord! The spirit was sooooo strong! It was incredible :) and my comp couldn't stop smiling the whole time haha! But who could blame him right? :)

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

So this is a simple one. We all have SO MUCH to be grateful for! Except it's easy to say "Well if I had THIS, then I'd be happy." Take a moment to look at all the blessings in your life. It truly will surprise you what Heavenly Father has done to make you happy! Even if you can't see it at the moment. The challenge this week is to say a prayer full of THANKS! No requests. Just thanks. 

FUNNY MOMENT:

So I can't remember if I told y'all about this but a nickname that was given to me in the MTC was "Donkey Kong". My best friend Elder Wilson told me that I look like Donkey Kong when I smile haha. If you don't know what donkey kong looks like, look him up haha. Anyway, my entire district knows that that's the nickname I was given when I was in the MTC. The other night, I was calling a set of sister missionaries to ask them a question and one of the newer sister missionaries in the background asked, "Wait is this Donkey Kong speaking?" She's literally been out a week and she already knows about it. So that's cool. Hahaha! Hopefully that funny moment made sense. I kinda just said what came to my mind as I typed haha!

I love all y'all so much! Congratulations to all those who have received their mission calls and who are going to receive them! Y'all are great :) have a great week!

Alma 29: 9

- Elder Noah Hanson

Week 45 - June 14, 2017 - Princeton, West Virginia

Hello y'all! Alright, so let me just start off by warning you: I've only had like 12 hours of sleep this whole week and a half so if there's anything in this email that's super weird and out of the ordinary, just remember that sleep hasn't been a thing for me this week haha! I'm fine though honestly. Just super hyper right now. You've been warned!! Also thank you all who wished me a happy birthday! You all mean so much to me :) truly THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! Love y'all :) I got some great packages and the zone leaders took us to the mall to dream about buying stuff. haha. Also, some members made me a cake so it was fun!

Also, transfers happened this week! Elder Christensen and I are both staying another 6 weeks here in Princeton! Wahoo! I mean I was kind of expecting it but still anything could've happened! This is also our Mission President's last transfer with us before he leaves! It's crazy! Lolz.

UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS:

Vanessa. (not an investigator anymore lolz) but I have exciting news! She got her temple recommend from our bishop on Sunday!! Wahoo!!! As of right now, we're just trying to schedule a time she can go to the temple with the relief society here! It's so exciting!! She's super hyped :) who can blame her right?

Vicki & Ed. Soooo good news and bad news. Bad news is that Ed kinda got scared to leave his catholic congregation because of some false things he heard so he backed out. He still wants to hear what we have to say and all that but he doesn't wanna commit :/ kinda sad but GOOD NEWS! Vicki is still strong! She's more nervous now that Ed's gone but she still wants to come to church and be baptized so that's good! Just please pray for both of them! Prayer is always good!

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

What is your favorite Mormon message video? That's a tuffie isn't it? ;) but my challenge to all y'all is to share your favorite Mormon message on social media! You never know, somebody that comes across it may need it right at that moment! So don't be shy in sharing your favorite Mormon message! You will not regret it!

FUNNY MOMENT:

So the other night, I had the weirdest dream I've probably ever had. I don't remember most of it but I do remember that I was wearing tap dancing shoes while I was tracting. I remember waking up when our alarm went off and I was literally sweating. I must've tap danced or something in my sleep I don't know. I sat up and just said to my companion, "Ugh...I hate tap dancing." 

Anyways, hopefully this email wasn't too weird. I love all y'all so much! Thank you for always being there for me even though I'm like 1300 miles away! Haha! Have a great week!

"I knew it. And I knew that God knew it. And I could not deny it!" - Joseph Smith (restoration)

- Elder Hanson

My Awesome Princeton District

Week 44 - June 5, 2017 (Noah's Birthday!) - Princeton, West Virginia

Heyyyy y'all! It's your boi Elder Hanson! We've had yet another incredible week and I'll tell you why! Unless you don't want me to tell you why...well that sucks because I'm gonna say it anyway! It was a great week because I'm really starting to see this area progress now! Elder Christensen and I are truly gaining the TRUST that we need with investigators, members, and less actives! Gaining trust with your area is KEY to missionary work! And I know the reason why we're gaining this trust is because of DILIGENCE and OBEDIENCE! So for those of you who are planning on going on a mission, always remember that TRUST IS KEY to missionary work! I love my District. Each companionship has had a baptism this transfer. Also, I got your package you sent for my birthday! Everything was essential! The Lego Batman card was the best! haha.

UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS:

Vicki & Ed. So we had a lesson with them on the Plan of Salvation on Saturday and we were also able to pick up their son Gabriel as an investigator during that lesson! He had a lot of interesting questions which sparked his interest in the gospel! He's 13 years old! They didn't come to church yesterday but Vicki said that she's gonna ask her boss if she can get Sunday's off from now on so she can come to church! Please please pray that it all goes well for her and the family so that they can come to church and experience the blessings that come from it :)

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

Love one another. That's the challenge this week. If you feel that it's hard to love a specific person, stop thinking that way. Remember the Atonement of Jesus Christ and what He did for each and every one of us. He did it out of pure love, even for the people that despised Him. So how much need have we to love our neighbors, even our enemies. So if there's any feeling of hatred in you towards a person, let it go. You will feel so free! It feels better to love than to hate.

FUNNY MOMENT:

So last night, we were at a member's house and they wanted to give a spoonful of this INSANELY HOT hot sauce to Elder Christensen and me. I went first (I took one for the team) and I no joke started tearing up. Then I turned to the camera (my comp was recording me) and said "Man...that's straight fire." Keep in mind, I had a lisp at this point because it was so hot. So it sounded more like "Man...thath thraight fire." 

Thank you all for your amazing examples every week in your emails to me :) they mean a lot to me! I love y'all! Have a great week!

- Elder Hanson

P.S. I don't feel any older. But I guess I'm 19 now?