Sunday, November 4, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
Devin's twenty cents worth about Conference...and other things
Well, Conference is interesting in other countries. It´s just like we do at the chapel. They set up the projector and everything. Of course because of the time differences, the times get a bit funny. Priesthood Session gets over at like midnight here. It´s great because it´s the only day we get to stay out late. It´s of course much more awesome because we get to hear the words of living Prophets. So it´s all the same as at home except there´s like an option to change the language. Translators speak live over the speakers and it´s like they are speaking Portuguese (Of course the mouths don´t match up). The other funny thing is that the video doesn´t change, so when it gives the lyrics to the Hymn that we sing as a congregation it´s all in English and the members don´t sing. It´s also tough because the audio of the English lyrics throws it off. I sang sort of softly in English with one of the Brazilian elders who knows English enough to follow along.
So I lit up like a Christmas tree when I heard the Prophet announce the news. I think we were all thrown a bit off guard. It was great to see that they showed some of the youth reactions in the Conference Center. So we had to stick around in between conference sessions and they showed some Church news in the chapel. It was a Press Conference that was translated from English to Portuguese. I got the chance to translate for the other Elders who didn´t understand. The conference explained more about the news. I immediately thought about Rick. Rick should go as soon as possible. As soon as I got out here Í felt very strongly that I should have come out earlier. There´s a lot that passed through my mind before (like "I don´t know two years is a long time") but it all got clear early on in the mission. Back at home I felt like maybe I wasn´t ready, but the truth is, the Lord and the work prepare you. The only way you learn is doing it. I think that if Rick goes out now, it will give him a great advantage. Another thing is that as soon as I got on the plane for the mission I thought I´d get real anxious or homesick but I just took it a step at a time and felt good. At the MTC you don´t feel home sick at all (It´s a lot of fun). Then you get to the field and things start to sink in but you just get in to the work and it goes well. I´ll have to wait a bit longer to see him but the Mission will pass by so fast for him and we´ll be telling mission stories over dinner in no time. It´s great to just be involved in the work. It´s a big load off your shoulders and you don´t have to stick around the house doing nothing. I love the friends and experiences and the way that the mission shapes my life.I´m positive that the number of Sister missionaries from the states will more than triple in the near future. Before they all felt that 21 is a long time to wait. Now they can get home around the same time as the guys. The other great thing is that the number of missionaries in the field at the same time will climb. It´s now around 58 thousand. As the number climbs the converts will too and many other youth will be off on missions.
There was a bit of a flood here. I´m really close to the River Uruguay and every few years when it rains hard it overflows both there and here in this small town. It got a few blocks around here. The houses are all fine though and it never got anywhere near our apartment or the chapels.
Last week and earlier today I had internet problems so I couldn´t write before. I remember that Adam always had good things to say about his mission experience. Another good reason that I´m out here is now I can understand some of the things he felt. This week, the other set of Elders in the district had a baptism. It was the baptism of an 8 year old girl and her nine year old brother. The dad did the baptizing. We were at the Chapel to help and we sang that "I like to look for rainbows" in Portuguese as a district. The other great thing is that the senior couple missionaries sang too. You´d love them. They are some of the happiest people I´ve seen. The way they just have fun as they serve is inspiring. When the kids were baptized, it was terrific to just see the ordinance and to feel the spirit. A baptism always strengthens my testimony of the restoration. I found out that the majority of the people I´ve baptized so far on the mission are going strong and have callings in the ward. There´s a family that I taught which has a mom that´s teaching primary and the dad is the young men’s leader. They also give cake to the missionaries once in a while...that´s good too.
Love you guys.
So I lit up like a Christmas tree when I heard the Prophet announce the news. I think we were all thrown a bit off guard. It was great to see that they showed some of the youth reactions in the Conference Center. So we had to stick around in between conference sessions and they showed some Church news in the chapel. It was a Press Conference that was translated from English to Portuguese. I got the chance to translate for the other Elders who didn´t understand. The conference explained more about the news. I immediately thought about Rick. Rick should go as soon as possible. As soon as I got out here Í felt very strongly that I should have come out earlier. There´s a lot that passed through my mind before (like "I don´t know two years is a long time") but it all got clear early on in the mission. Back at home I felt like maybe I wasn´t ready, but the truth is, the Lord and the work prepare you. The only way you learn is doing it. I think that if Rick goes out now, it will give him a great advantage. Another thing is that as soon as I got on the plane for the mission I thought I´d get real anxious or homesick but I just took it a step at a time and felt good. At the MTC you don´t feel home sick at all (It´s a lot of fun). Then you get to the field and things start to sink in but you just get in to the work and it goes well. I´ll have to wait a bit longer to see him but the Mission will pass by so fast for him and we´ll be telling mission stories over dinner in no time. It´s great to just be involved in the work. It´s a big load off your shoulders and you don´t have to stick around the house doing nothing. I love the friends and experiences and the way that the mission shapes my life.I´m positive that the number of Sister missionaries from the states will more than triple in the near future. Before they all felt that 21 is a long time to wait. Now they can get home around the same time as the guys. The other great thing is that the number of missionaries in the field at the same time will climb. It´s now around 58 thousand. As the number climbs the converts will too and many other youth will be off on missions.
There was a bit of a flood here. I´m really close to the River Uruguay and every few years when it rains hard it overflows both there and here in this small town. It got a few blocks around here. The houses are all fine though and it never got anywhere near our apartment or the chapels.
Last week and earlier today I had internet problems so I couldn´t write before. I remember that Adam always had good things to say about his mission experience. Another good reason that I´m out here is now I can understand some of the things he felt. This week, the other set of Elders in the district had a baptism. It was the baptism of an 8 year old girl and her nine year old brother. The dad did the baptizing. We were at the Chapel to help and we sang that "I like to look for rainbows" in Portuguese as a district. The other great thing is that the senior couple missionaries sang too. You´d love them. They are some of the happiest people I´ve seen. The way they just have fun as they serve is inspiring. When the kids were baptized, it was terrific to just see the ordinance and to feel the spirit. A baptism always strengthens my testimony of the restoration. I found out that the majority of the people I´ve baptized so far on the mission are going strong and have callings in the ward. There´s a family that I taught which has a mom that´s teaching primary and the dad is the young men’s leader. They also give cake to the missionaries once in a while...that´s good too.
Love you guys.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Nothing yet
RATS! We were really hoping to hear from Devin this week and get his scope on how he felt about conference and the new age approvals for missions and his brother Rick most likely going sooner than expected. We assume he must've had zone mtgs and he'll catch us next week. -Joy
New companion coming (emailed Oct 1)
Well this week was terrific...during the week. When Sunday came around almost none of our investigators went to Church. It´ll all work out though. By the end of this transfer I´ll have been here for six months so we can almost be positive that I´ll be transferred next transfer. There´s another four weeks until next transfer. My companion will be transferred as part of an emergency transfer tomorrow. This means that some other Elder had to switch out of where he was at and they picked up my companion because they had to trade someone. I hear my new companion will be awesome.
The funny thing is my companion can not stand the Elder who he will be companions with. I smell another emergency transfer soon to follow.
So the work is slow but we did challenge a few people to baptism this week and I really felt how true our message is and how much the Lord really loves us. I´m learning to really love others and understand them.
This week I started reading the Book of Mormon in Portuguese again. I had already read it a few times in English and once in Portuguese but then went on to study other standard works. After Zone conference this week I started to read the Book of Mormon from the start again. I´m learning a lot more this time around and my spirituality has been getting better. I even feel like my countenance is changing for the better. I´ve been reading out loud sometimes which really has been helping my accent. The Book really does have power.
I love this Church and it´s Doctrines and I love my Heavenly Father.
I have to help my companion with the Transfer.
- tchao, Elder Hanson
Monday, September 17, 2012
Catch Up
Last week the internet in this small town wasn’t working so I couldn´t email you guys.
We found a new family! A Mom a Dad and an eight year old Girl. They are great. We are trying to get them married. Beatriz´s son Williom is going to Church and activities and this week we´re going to commit him to baptism to complete the family. The work is moving slowly. There´s a terrific young man named Fabiano that wants to be baptized but it´s hard to find him at home so while he goes to the Church and the activities we still have to teach him some more before he can be baptized. We´d been planning to baptize Christian who´s just turned 18. He´s more active than a lot of members. Unfortunately, his mom wouldn´t allow him to be baptized before 18. Now that he´s 18 it appears that she still intends to kick him out of the house if he gets baptized. I find it funny that she thinks he´s not old enough to make such a decision but she baptized him as a baby in another church when he was much more conscious of his decisions (Sarcasm).The funny thing is his mother thinks that even if she doesn´t get baptized but allows her son to get baptized, SHE will somehow be forced to pay tithing. My companion and I have tried to discuss things with her but she doesn´t accept our visits. I know that the Lord will will find a way.
This week there was a parade here in Quaraí. It´s a small town and rarely has any one out on the street but during this parade practically every inhabitant was either part of the parade or watching. Every school and every grade marched in the parade. Doctors marched, dentists marched, and at the end the Military showed up too (Tanks and all). There was even some dump trucks and cranes. I forgot to tell you that the race for mayor and other political positions is going on here in Quaraí. While it would be pretty funny in a big city like Santa Maria, it´s hilarious here. Here you need Zero education or training. You just run for mayor. Practically everyone is running. A few members are running too. It´s funny because every third house has a sign with the owners face on it saying what political group they are and that they want you to vote for them. If you have money you can afford to pay a bunch of cars, trucks and motorcycles pass by (ALL DAY) with speakers blasting out your political song. Some are funny but most are pretty bad and no matter where you are this is non stop. Thankfully they don´t do it when I´m trying to sleep. There´s a guy from the Church who is running for mayor and he´s crashed in on our lessons three times already. He just walks in and starts pulling out his graphs and pie charts and starts to give his bit. He knows he´s interrupting and just sits down and starts it up. I find it funny that he served a mission and should know to skip a house and come back to it when we´re there. Of course he crashed a lesson when we were with the branch President discussing marriage. He said "I´m fishing for votes" and the President replied "oh... we´re fishing for souls." Of course I wanted to just say a prayer and leave before he started up but he didn´t let me get a word in about it so I patronized him the entire time.
The works hard but rewarding. I know that this Church is true. I say Church but it´s the Restored Gospel of our Savior. I´m glad that Our Heavenly Father Loves us enough to have restored his Gospel and I´m glad to have been born in a time and into a family that has the Gospel. I love preaching it and teaching it. You´d think I´d get sick of teaching the same things every day but I always feel the spirit and learn something new. I´ve seen the changes and peace that come from living the Gospel. The more I study the scriptures and the doctrine the more certainty I have of truth of our message. I´ve felt the spirit testify so strongly in many lessons that we´ve given. Some people don´t exactly understand the spirit when it testifies. I find it confusing that some people even cry from feeling the spirit but they refuse to be baptized. That´s all part of it though. OOOh I almost forgot. There´s going to be a parade in celebration of a war that they had in southern Brazil. There´s going to be a weeklong celebration and there´ll be a parade of a bunch of people in traditional clothing riding on horses. I will send pictures from the other Elder´s cameras in the future. We´ve never gotten the right cable sent to me.
Love, Elder H.
We found a new family! A Mom a Dad and an eight year old Girl. They are great. We are trying to get them married. Beatriz´s son Williom is going to Church and activities and this week we´re going to commit him to baptism to complete the family. The work is moving slowly. There´s a terrific young man named Fabiano that wants to be baptized but it´s hard to find him at home so while he goes to the Church and the activities we still have to teach him some more before he can be baptized. We´d been planning to baptize Christian who´s just turned 18. He´s more active than a lot of members. Unfortunately, his mom wouldn´t allow him to be baptized before 18. Now that he´s 18 it appears that she still intends to kick him out of the house if he gets baptized. I find it funny that she thinks he´s not old enough to make such a decision but she baptized him as a baby in another church when he was much more conscious of his decisions (Sarcasm).The funny thing is his mother thinks that even if she doesn´t get baptized but allows her son to get baptized, SHE will somehow be forced to pay tithing. My companion and I have tried to discuss things with her but she doesn´t accept our visits. I know that the Lord will will find a way.
This week there was a parade here in Quaraí. It´s a small town and rarely has any one out on the street but during this parade practically every inhabitant was either part of the parade or watching. Every school and every grade marched in the parade. Doctors marched, dentists marched, and at the end the Military showed up too (Tanks and all). There was even some dump trucks and cranes. I forgot to tell you that the race for mayor and other political positions is going on here in Quaraí. While it would be pretty funny in a big city like Santa Maria, it´s hilarious here. Here you need Zero education or training. You just run for mayor. Practically everyone is running. A few members are running too. It´s funny because every third house has a sign with the owners face on it saying what political group they are and that they want you to vote for them. If you have money you can afford to pay a bunch of cars, trucks and motorcycles pass by (ALL DAY) with speakers blasting out your political song. Some are funny but most are pretty bad and no matter where you are this is non stop. Thankfully they don´t do it when I´m trying to sleep. There´s a guy from the Church who is running for mayor and he´s crashed in on our lessons three times already. He just walks in and starts pulling out his graphs and pie charts and starts to give his bit. He knows he´s interrupting and just sits down and starts it up. I find it funny that he served a mission and should know to skip a house and come back to it when we´re there. Of course he crashed a lesson when we were with the branch President discussing marriage. He said "I´m fishing for votes" and the President replied "oh... we´re fishing for souls." Of course I wanted to just say a prayer and leave before he started up but he didn´t let me get a word in about it so I patronized him the entire time.
The works hard but rewarding. I know that this Church is true. I say Church but it´s the Restored Gospel of our Savior. I´m glad that Our Heavenly Father Loves us enough to have restored his Gospel and I´m glad to have been born in a time and into a family that has the Gospel. I love preaching it and teaching it. You´d think I´d get sick of teaching the same things every day but I always feel the spirit and learn something new. I´ve seen the changes and peace that come from living the Gospel. The more I study the scriptures and the doctrine the more certainty I have of truth of our message. I´ve felt the spirit testify so strongly in many lessons that we´ve given. Some people don´t exactly understand the spirit when it testifies. I find it confusing that some people even cry from feeling the spirit but they refuse to be baptized. That´s all part of it though. OOOh I almost forgot. There´s going to be a parade in celebration of a war that they had in southern Brazil. There´s going to be a weeklong celebration and there´ll be a parade of a bunch of people in traditional clothing riding on horses. I will send pictures from the other Elder´s cameras in the future. We´ve never gotten the right cable sent to me.
Love, Elder H.
Monday, September 3, 2012
A Slow Week
So Becca is going to have another girl? That´s terrific. Well, everything here is fine. We have a few possible baptisms but the works going pretty slow. This week was Sister Philipelli´s birthday. There was an activity in her honor and everyone went. There were tons of people there and it was a really special night. Elder (Her husband) gave a short speech in front of everyone. It was great.There was food there so naturally some inactive members came.
I felt the spirit very strongly in testimony meeting this fast Sunday. We attend sacrament meeting for two branches so I got double helpings. There´s been a great deal of funny little things with my companion and the other companionship, lot´s of inside-jokes. I´m happy and appreciating the mission and the spiritual orientation I am receiving. I´m studying the scriptures a lot and the New Testament is making more sense this time around. This week we made soup and one Elder made brownies that didn´t really turn out. I also ordered a pizza that wasn´t any good =(. Not too much has happened this week. This might be my last transfer here. I hope that everything works out with planned baptisms before I have to leave.
Funny News: An Elder got chicken pocks while on the mission. He´s fine now though.
The Mission President will swing by to interview us this week. I´ll make sure to take advantage of the interview.
We had to fly through p-day today and I don´t have much time to write. I love you all.
- Elder Hanson
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Optimistic
Então... quer dizer que... Sam Nelson casou-se? Que legal! (Translation from Portuguese to English: So you mean to tell me that Sam Nelson got married? How cool!) I´m excited to hear that Sam Barlow is going off to serve already.
Well we´re going to baptize a young man named Fabiano. He really listens during the messages and understands them. We still have to teach him more but he accepted a date for next month. There´s also a young man named Cristian who already knows everything. We just have to sit down with him and mark a date. He stopped us on the street the other day to tell us he´d been thinking about it a lot.
I was reading John the other day and when I came across verse 18 in chapter 21 I got emotional. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." I always get that way reading that verse. I know it's not exactly about this but it´s true that the Lord changes us and we do things that we wouldn´t normally do if it weren´t for Him. He stretches and shapes us.
We had an activity at the Church. My companion and I invited about half the city and there wasn´t a single non-member who went. It´s tough but we´re still chippin´ away at things. The work goes on.
One of the young men I taught in my first area named Julian was baptized about a week after I was transferred from there and is active. He found out where my old companion Elder Andrade would be at on Sunday and went to Sacrament meeting in another city to visit Elder Andrade.
We played ping pong with the branch President today for P-Day and we had lunch with the Philipelli´s (married couple missionaries). They are great and have three potential families to baptize...the couples just don´t want to get married... That´s normal here. That´s okay though, the Philipellis have a history of successfully marrying people! Wish me luck this week.
I would love a new razor" =)
I´ll have to send Rick some Brazilian deodorant. It´s so awful.
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