Week 65 - October 30, 2017 - Morgantown, West Virginia

Hey y'all!! First of all, Happy Halloween tomorrow! I honestly cannot believe it's already Halloween...next Halloween i'll be home. That's kind of weird to think about so i'm not going to! From what I've heard, Halloween in Morgantown is freaking NUTS! So we're most likely gonna have to go in early and do some planning or something productive. The college kids here have no problem partying whatsoever soooooo yeah it's gonna be a party but not a good kind of party. Oh whale. Also it's soooo cold here! It's not supposed to get any higher than like 38 degrees today and basically the rest of the week. Lol. Pray for me and my ability to get cold easy.

Also, we had a trunk or treat activity on Saturday for our ward party! It was so fun actually. It was fun seeing all the different costumes and stuff. There was an activity at the trunk or treat called "The Harry Potter Room". Needless to say, I was hyped. And you bet your bottom dollar I got a Harry Potter wand from that room. So did Elder Prince. Elder Prince was nice enough to let me go into the room even though it was definitely for like 5 year olds. It's ok though. He's a homie.

UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS:

JD & Danielle. I can't remember if I've already talked about them but they're a couple of people from a family that we're teaching! They care a lot about their family and have always had a lot of questions about religion. They're awesome! Danielle came to the trunk or treat with 2 of her kids, Noah and Malachi! Pray for them because they have a lot of things they'll need to change in order to be baptized. They're doing great though!

Aaron. So Aaron is a 12 year old whose dad is a returning member. Remember Aaron Wolfe? The guy who signed the stop smoking workshop paper? Yeah we're teaching his son now! His son is very smart and very interested in the church! He's progressing pretty well. We just need to get  him to church! Pray that he'll be able to make it to church so that he can be that much closer to baptism!

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

So this challenge is pretty specific. The challenge this week is to pray specifically to Heavenly Father for an opportunity to help someone who might be struggling. Then sit there for a bit and wait for an impression of WHO specifically you can help out. Because Heavenly Father knows who needs help and who could use YOU and YOUR example. 

FUNNY MOMENT:

So yesterday, a member was telling us about how when he was younger, he would throw water balloons at people on the side of the road while he was driving. There was one specific story when he said "I threw the water balloon in the middle of a group of college students and the guy I hit got super angry and THREW his phone on the ground. It was the most expensive water balloon shot ever!!" Hahahahaha! I love the members here!

Anyways, love y'all! Stay safe and have a great Halloween!! :)

"Look unto me in every thought. Doubt not. Fear not."

- Elder Hanson

Pretty West Virginia

Donkey Kong

Halloween Elders

On splits with Elder Jensen

Love West Virginia trees!

Week 64 - October 23, 2017 - Morgantown, West Virginia

Whattup y'all!! It's your boiiiii. So update: the squirrels here are having spaz attacks and gathering a bunch of nuts to prepare for the harsh winter we're about to have! Soooo that's chill. Literally. Also, there was a hot air balloon festival this weekend and it was sooooooo sik!! I have pics to prove it so y'all know i'm not lyin'! K anyways...

 UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS:

Jeremy and Cassie. So cool story. We went over planning on teaching the restoration again just to see what they both remember about it cuz it's been a while. We got there and turns out Jeremy has had it ROUGH. Like really rough. So we taught him what a priesthood blessing was and I was able to give him a blessing. It was a really neat, testimony building experience for both me and Jeremy. Pray for the both of them. They're really struggling but they're keepin on!

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

So something that I'm trying to get better at is writing in my missionary journal every night. I'm not bad but i'm trying to be a lot better! So something I wanna challenge y'all to do is KEEP A JOURNAL of what goes on in your life every day if you aren't already. It's really neat to look back and reflect on how you felt, what happened, and the experiences you have. I promise you will not regret it! Try it for a week and see how you like it!

FUNNY MOMENT:

So on Wednesday, we did a pre-missionary experience for the youth here. And these group of teenagers were guessing how old each of us (missionaries) were. They guessed Elder Prince to be 23 or something like that. And then they turned to me and said ".....30?" 
Holy what the what?? Do I really look that old?? Haha! I guess that's a good thing maybe but i don't wanna be old yet haha! Anyways, i'm only 19 people, calm down. 

Love you guys so much! Thanks for all the support and love :) talk to you next week!

Alma 32: 28
Elder Noah Hanson

Morgantown and WVU

Balloon Festival

Balloon Festival

Balloons!

 

Week 63 - Morgantown, West Virginia - Oct 18, 2017

Ayyyy y'all!! So as you can guess from my subject title, we had transfers this week! And good news! I'm staying in Morgantown for another 6 weeks with Elder Prince! I truly feel like there's a lot more I can do here and so I'm very happy I'm staying. We've got a lot of good people we're teaching and I'm hyped to see all of them progress! 

Also we did pumpkin carving this morning with a bunch of missionaries! It was really fun! I struggle at pumpkin carving. I tried carving "DK" (cuz donkey kong) and it kind of worked out. I'll send a picture of my art skillz and you'll see what I mean. Haha! Everybody else's are sik! And then there's me...haha. Oh whale.

UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS and LESS ACTIVES:

John and Kristy. They're doing good for the most part. We just need to actually sit down and teach them. They're having some struggles but we're hoping to teach them this week! Just keep praying for their progression cuz there really is SO MUCH POTENTIAL! 

Julia. She's doing great! We saw her this week and she's still as awesome as ever! She's planning on coming to church this week :) so that's exciting! Just keep praying for her as well! We're trying to figure out how we can get her husband who has a hard time speaking english involved. Pray for that as well. Haha. 

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

Who has blessed your life recently? Tell that person how much you mean to them and what they've done to bless your life! As you express your love to someone, you'll be spreading Heavenly Father's love as well. "The gospel is what connects hearts and relationships." - Elder Cook

FUNNY MOMENT:

So we did another booth a couple of days ago to try to find some people to teach! And at the booth, we tried pulling people in by saying "Hi how are you?" or "Do you have a few moments we ask you a question?" And there was one girl and her friends that walked by me and I was like "Hey how y'all doing?" and one of the girls just stared at me weirdly and then whispered to her friends "That's a weird looking tie." 
I was like......you're kidding. College people here aren't the nicest all the time. hahaha. 

Love y'all! Hope you guys have a safe and fun week :) talk to y'all on monday!

D&C 31 (my favorite missionary section in the Doctrine and Covenants)

- Elder Hanson

FOOOOOGGGGGGG!

Fog Pic

Morgantown Zone

Cammo Bros

Fall is here

The creeping Fog

Cammo and Fog

Pumpkin Carving Skills

Week 62 - October 9, 2017 - Morgantown, West Virginia

Heyyyy y'allll! Wow! This week FLEW by! I can't believe it's already time to write another email! Hahaha! I don't even know what time is anymore cuz I feel like it isn't a thing on the mission. Like Elder Prince and I both realized that we only have 10 months left!! Whaaaaat? Holy cow! Time truly does fly by when you're having fun sharing the gospel with others :)

UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS AND LESS ACTIVES:

John and Kristy. So John is a member but Kristy is not! A member of our ward referred them to us and we were able to teach them! Kristy is a Baptist but she seems pretty sincere in learning more about the gospel so that's exciting! We're gonna see them again this week so just pray that she'll be able to read the Book of Mormon and feel it's truth! :)

Schnopps. The Schnopps family have not been to church in a while and they used to have missionaries over all the time! But we got there and felt that the relationship that they had with the missionaries was just completely gone. We're gonna try to figure out how we can gain their trust again in us and build that relationship with them. So pray for them as well that their hearts might be softened as well!

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

So this one is gonna be tough for some but it'll be worth it! Haha! So being in Morgantown I notice that a lot of students have their faces literally in their phones all the time! It's kinda sad actually. So my challenge to all of y'all is to turn off your phones one night this week and just spend quality time with your family or close friends. Don't get distracted from what's really important in the eternal scheme of things!

FUNNY MOMENT:

So yesterday a member was holding a baby named "Justice" while she was talking to me. And I noticed the baby was smiling a lot at me and I just turned to Justice and said "Hey Justice!". 
The member turned to Justice and said "Whoa! She never smiles at boys! I guess she has a crush on you! Breathe it in Elder Hanson! It's not like any other girls in Morgantown are gonna want ya." 
Ouch. Hahaha I didn't even know how to respond to that. I mean I'm not trying to impress anybody anyways but come on lady!

And, Also fun fact, so this kid was selling football flags for his school band and so I bought one ($10) and it was a New England Patriots flag! But when I got it this week, it was a freaking Green Bay flag. I was NOT HAPPY! haha

Anyways, love you all so much! Thanks for everything and all the support :) truly blessed! Stay safe and keep on keepin' on!

D&C 88: 84

- Elder Noah Hanson

10 Months left!

On the way to the Holler!

We made tons of French Toast

Week 61 - Oct 2, 2017 - Morgantown, West Virginia

Whattup y'all! Wow! I don't know about you, but general conference was DEFINITELY something I needed this week!! It's always such a neat time to hear from the leaders of the church because you KNOW they're inspired by God. I think one of my favorite talks was Henry B. Eyring's when he talked about "fearing not to do good." There are so many opportunities to serve those around us! Our service to others is a reflection of our love for our Heavenly Father and His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Ah! I loved conference!! 
I am hyped that Utah State beat BYU. We bet a member here that the Aggies would win. Wahoo! haha

UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS:

Jeremy and Cassie. Soooooo okay. They both got bronchitis this week from their baby...yeah. It's been a tiny bit of a struggle teaching them but we are seeing them tomorrow evening and so hopefully that works out! Just continue praying for them. They really need it right now. 

Something that Elder Prince and I are doing more often is trying to FIND. We have investigators but not a lot of them are progressing and we want to be as effective as
possible when we proselyte so pray that we find those who are TRULY ready to hear the gospel :)

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

What was your favorite general conference talk? Post a link to it or post your favorite quote from it on social media! It's a great way to get people to start investigating the church or see what they've missed out on! It's also a great way to share your testimony!! :)

FUNNY MOMENT:

So we had MLC (missionary leadership council) this week and Elder Prince and I wore these crazy socks with sharks on them because for those of you who know me, I love wearing crazy socks and I don't know why. But ANYWAYS, so we go to the meeting and 
everything is fine and dandy but then a missionary comes up to us and tells us that we shouldn't wear those socks. I guess it was a bad thing to wear my socks....? I don't know hahaha it was a little funny but HEY we didn't really know. Haha!

Anyways, love y'all! Hope you guys have a safe and fun week :) keep on keepin' on!

"Go about doing good!" - Henry B. Eyring

- Elder Noah Hanson

Falling asleep on the way to MLC

Elder Cornwall's squid hat

At the doctor

Splits with Elder Webb

Noah and Elder Prince