Monday, July 31, 2017

WEEK 52!!!! July 31, 2017 - Morgantown, West Virginia

Whaaaaaat up y'all! It's your boiiii Elder Hanson in the good ol' place of Morgantown! Wow I don't even know where to begin. First of all, there's a lot of people my age here and for the first few days, I forgot what it was like to talk to people my own age. Whenever I talk to girls my age now I feel like I'm flirting haha even though I'm not (arms length). I love it here though! We barely cover any of the actual campus of West Virginia University though. We cover the cities close by the campus. Also, being a Zone Leader is veerrrryy busy. Haha! I never thought I'd receive so many texts a day from different missionaries asking a bunch of questions! It's a good time though!

As I told y'all last week, my new comp is Elder Howe! He's from Ephraim, Utah! He's literally one of the happiest guys I know! He also loves The Office, SpongeBob, AND Harry Potter (Harry Potter's Birthday today!) 3 for 3!! Heckaaaa! He has a very strong testimony and loves to work hard and have fun! We're literally the dream team. Yeah there was A TON of rain the other day! We're fine though :)  And I'm just in a regular ward and not a student ward. I'm in one of the smaller zones so there's only 8 companionships in my zone. Elder Howe has been out 13 months!

That's sooooo cool you got to go to Missouri! Super jealous actually. I love that you got to see Sharwan in Nauvoo :) 


UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS:

Jeremy and Cassie. So they're this awesome couple who have been investigators for about a month now. Jeremy went into the military and suffers from PTSD and has a hard time with chewing tobacco. They also need to get married before they're baptized. BUT they are both super awesome and we just set them on date for baptism for September 9th! I can relate to Jeremy a lot and that helps him out a ton! Just pray that they'll be able to make it to that date!

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

So in honor of my year mark this week (August 3rd, which is freaking crazy!!!), I thought I would extend a specific challenge to y'all. I want y'all to ponder on who you were last year compared to now. How have you changed? How has your testimony grown? What were you doing a year ago? What are some goals you can make to bring yourself closer to Heavenly Father? Make plans to ACT!

FUNNY MOMENT:

So this one might not make sense if you don't watch The Office but we were tracting on Friday and we came across this lady named Pam. She told us that she had to go inside for a sec before she could talk to us and so while we were waiting for her to come back out, Elder Howe just says, "Paaaaammoooollaaaaaaa" Hahahaha! I was laughing really hard when she walked out. It was kinda awkward but so worth it!

Anyways, love y'all! I hope y'all have a good week :) stay kewl.

Romans 8: 35, 37-39

- Elder Hanson

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Week 51 - July 26, 2017 - Princeton, West Virginia

 whattup y'all!! Wow this past week and a half was probably the most stressed I've been on my mission not gonna lie! But it's all good because LUCIA GOT BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED!! Wahoo!! It was a really neat event to witness and be a part of! I'll talk more about it later but it was great! 

Also, some transfer news. I'm leaving Princeton, WV :/ I think this area was definitely an area where God sent me to GROW! I've grown so much since I've been here and I'm so grateful I had the chance to serve here! I've grown to love the people. I've grown to love the work even more. But most importantly, I've grown to love and rely on my Heavenly Father more. I'll miss it here but now it's time to go to my new area--Morgantown, WV as a ZONE LEADER! It's pretty fetching crazy but yeah! Your boi Elder Hanson is going Zone Leader! I wasn't expecting it at all to be honest. I thought I would remain a District Leader but I guess not haha! It'll be a humbling and growing experience for me! My new comp is Elder Howe (pronounced "how") haha! I've heard he's pretty outgoing dude so I'm hyped!

UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS:

Lucia. So like i said earlier, she got baptized!! Wahooooo!! So it was interesting. We had to BUY a dress for her! Not gonna lie, I felt a little weird buying a white dress from a women's dress store haha. Oh whale. It all worked out in the end!! She asked me to confirm her a member so that was also really neat! I'm glad I got to do it right before I left! Now every member of her family is a member of the church! Wahooo!!

Bonnie. Okay so remember her? She's the GOLDEN investigator that we found about a month and a half ago? Yeah she's back!! We were able to teach her again and commit her to baptism! I'm excited to see where she goes from here! Hopefully Elder Christensen updates me on her ;) haha! But yeah she's awesome!

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

What's your favorite General Conference talk?? SHARE IT with someone this week! You don't have to share the whole thing but just your favorite section! General Conference talks are modern-day scripture! So when you share your favorite talk with someone, you are also sharing scripture!!

FUNNY MOMENT:

Y'all are gonna think I'm dumb after reading this. So after the baptism on Saturday, we were all just having some civil conversations with each other and then one of the primary kids comes up to me and asks me if I can do a back bend. And I literally answered, "Uh fetch no I can't do that." But then she talked me into at least TRYING. So I tried and.....I failed. I popped something in my back when I did it and I literally couldn't stand up straight for the rest of the day. It still kinda hurts but I'll get over it haha!

Anyways, I love y'all! Thank you for all of your support, love, and help since I've been here in Princeton! Hope y'all have a great week! I'll let you know ASAP as possible what my new address is :)

John 3: 16

- Elder Hanson
Lucia's baptism!

Saying goodbye to Princeton members



Princeton District lunch!





Great Bluefield Ward members



Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Week 50 - July 17, 2017 - Princeton, West Virginia

Whattup y'all!! Sooooo this week was very very interesting to say the least. It was very eventful but CRAZY at the same time! This week was full of miracles, testimony builders, and salty dogs!! I'll explain in a sec. Haha! But, overall, this week was great!

UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS:

Lucia. So first things first, SHE PASSED HER INTERVIEW! She's gonna get baptized this week! However, we had a scary experience with the rest of the family. They had a lot of questions this week and told Lucia that if we couldn't answer their questions, then she can't get baptized. Needless to say, I was freaking out hardcore. But, with the spirit, we were able to help them out A LOT! She came to church yesterday and said that she wanted to get baptized for HER and not just for the family. It was a miracle! Just pleeeaasssee pray that she'll continue to have that desire to be baptized this week! She's sooo great!

Vicki & Gabe & Emma. So they didn't come to church yesterday :/ we aren't too sure why but we're seeing them tomorrow and we'll be able to figure it all out! Our next lesson with them is the Plan of Salvation so pray that that goes well!! They're awesome people :)

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

So this week, I was able to meet my new mission president, President Lindhardt. He was talking about how relationships are strengthened where the spirit is present. And instantly, the challenge that came to my mind for y'all this week is to attend the temple WITH a friend or a family member. Whoever you want to strengthen your relationship with! Because you are GUARANTEED to have your relationships strengthened as you center your relationships on the gospel of the Jesus Christ!

FUNNY MOMENT: (actually pretty scary)

So I was on exchanges with my zone leader, Elder Prince this week and it was a good time! However, when we were tracting, we came across this really adorable dog that was just chilling on the driveway. I went to go pet it but then Elder Prince yells "No! I wanna pet it!" and he steps in front of me. When he did that, the dog jumped straight up and growled at him and then went straight for his ankle and took a good chunk out! It was insane! But I laughed way too hard at it too haha!

Anyways, I love all y'all! I hope you guys have a great week and keep being the amazing examples that you are! Transfers are this next week so I won't write until Wednesday.

D&C 3: 4

- Elder Noah Hanson
Elder Crook and Noah - before Elder Crook goes home

Sad to see Elder Crook leave

Princeton District

Monday, July 10, 2017

Week 49 - July 10, 2017 - Princeton, West Virginia

Whattup y'all! It's your boi Elder Hanson! For those who are wondering, I'm doing really good! We've been workin' hard and just trying to do everything we can for the Lord :) I went on exchanges with an elder in my district named Elder Willie! He's a great kid! He's actually gonna be part of my "funny moment" so stay tuned lolz. Plus, It was a pretty lame 4th to be honest haha. I thought I was gonna see a lot of fireworks going off on the 4th but literally there was NOTHING. I was super sad to be honest haha it's all goooood though! 

Something that I've been trying to work on a lot lately (along with the rest of my district) is remaining focused on the work! It's so incredibly easy to get distracted by worldly things. And I'll admit, Satan's been doing everything he can to distract me this transfer for some reason. It wasn't until I was reading through my journal a couple nights ago that I really started to realize what I need to do differently. I read a quote in my journal that said, "Don't give up what you want most in life for something you think you want now." It was kind of like a spiritual awakening for me. So a goal that my comp and I set is just to say "Remain Focused!" every day before we leave the apartment! It's helped a lot! But don't get me wrong, it's not like I've been distracted my whole mission, it's just been a temptation a lot this transfer for some reason. Anyways, yeah rant over! Haha!

UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS:

Lucia. She's still doing soooo good! She came to church again yesterday :) :) wahoo!! Her baptismal interview is this Friday and we went over the baptismal interview questions with her yesterday and she passed with flying colors! We are SO excited for her! Please just keep her in your prayers that she'll be able to pass the interview! She's such a great lady! She is looking at a baptism date of July 22.

Vicki & Emma & Gabe. So we've been teaching Vicki for a while as you know but we were able to pick up her two kids Emma and Gabe! Gabe is 13 and Emma is 11. They're awesome! It's different teaching kids about the restoration but we were able to do it! Haha! They plan on coming to church this Sunday so that's exciting!! Just keep praying for them that they'll be able to make it :)

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

So something that I've realized this week also is that we spend so much time thinking of the things we need to IMPROVE on instead of the things we are good at right now! It's not a bad thing to think of what you need to improve on but we need to take some time to think of what our CURRENT strengths are. So my challenge is to y'all is to take some time to think about your top 3 strengths. And then kneel and thank heavenly father for those strengths. 

Anyways, thank you all for your incredible Christ-like examples. Truly blessed to have so many positive examples in my life :) love y'all! 

"Don't give up what you want most in life for something you think you want now."

- Elder Hanson
Elder Willie and Noah

Comparing ties - haha

Elders in my awesome District

A real Donkey Kong tie!

Monday, July 3, 2017

Week 48 - July 3, 2017 - Princeton, West Virginia

Happy 4th of July this week y'all!! That's so crazy that it's already the 4th of July this week! Time literally flies! I'll admit, I'm gonna miss the fun traditions we do back home on the 4th but I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be and I'm more than hyped to be here! I'm also so grateful to live in this country and the freedom that we have! Also, people have been lighting fireworks all of June haha. People here are pretty impatient to wait to light fireworks on the 4th! But it's been fun to see all these AWESOME fireworks all around us when we tract haha! Also, I've been out 11 months already??? WOW! 

UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS:

Lucia. So guess what??? She came to church!! It was her first time ever coming to church and she LOVED it! We also taught her the Word of Wisdom yesterday and she said that she had a problem with coffee but that she was willing to give it up because she "knows without a shadow of a doubt that Joseph Smith was a prophet"!!! Wahoo!! We're so excited for her! Keep praying for her that she'll be able to live the word of wisdom and be ready for her baptism on July 22nd! 

Vanessa (recent convert). So yesterday at church, she told us that she got a calling! She's now known as the official "greeter"! Haha! She's very shy so I think being the greeter will be good for her! She's scared to death but she's gonna do great! Haha!

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:

So this week for district meeting, we talked about the importance of the spirit in our lives. We all kinda came to the realization that it can be so easy to take the spirit for granted. So my challenge to y'all is to think of a way that you can invite the spirit more in your own individual lives! Set goals and make plans to do what you need to do in order to have and feel the spirit more in your life!

FUNNY MOMENT:

Okay so wow. Yesterday at church, I went up to greet my bishop and I shook his hand and said, "Hey Bishop Boone!" He looks at me and grins and says, "Hey Donkey Kong, how ya doin?" I just stood there in awe...even my freaking bishop knows that my nickname is Donkey Kong. Wow. Shout out to Elder Wilson.

Anyways, I love all y'all so much! Thank you for all of your Christ-like examples! Keep being awesome and have a great week :)

3 Nephi 27: 13-14

- Elder Hanson
The Cascades

My District

Cascades

The Cascades

Tracting cuz no more miles for our car for the month :-/

Monday, June 26, 2017

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!

Monday, June 19, 2017

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