Final Letter! He comes home in 2 days!!!

"This week was unbelievably normal? i never thought that the word normal would have to do with missionary work, but that what it was! the studied, prayed, fasted, opened our mouths, preached the words of Christ, and witnessed miracles. What a divine routine! it truly is a special blessing to be a representative of Christ.

Everything was going normal until i received all call from the assistants saying that i had an interview marked with the President this next week. i quickly scanned my mind trying to remember any rules that i had broken or if i had offended anyone. He then reminded me that this would be my FINAL interview.....

i haven't stopped crying since then.

what a privilege it has been to represent Christ these past two years. the mission has past as though a dream(Jacob 7:26), i think they've mixed me up with another missionary, there´s still so much fight in me! But i can say, even though i may not be perfect, that the miracles that i have witnessed here in this personal holy land were divine. i cannot deny the tender mercies of the Lord in this marvelous work.

i read some comforting words this morning in II Timothy-

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

these words were comforting to me, reminding me that the only constant is change. I can say with all of my heart that i have fought a good fight amongst the children of God here in Rio. I am grateful for everything tha God has given me in return. There´s so much more to do! i am anxious to experience the next page of life, even if the story has a few twists!

Meanwhile the fight continues here, Nova Iguaçu is receiving more missionaries!!! Its good to know that the work here isn't going unnoticed(not the glory of men is important... there's just soo many people here who need to hear this message!) My poor companion, who hasn't even finished his training, will have to show the area to all the new Élderes... pray for him!

I praise God for the chance he has given me the chance to help build his house here in Rio. Im humbled as i reflect on all of the love and support he has given me- through members, converts, companions, leaders and you guys! I am forever changed. I bid a temporary farewell to the beloved city Rio de Janeiro, i´ll be back soon! and for my family and friends, i am sooo excited to labor in your midst to bring other unto Christ. I love you all, and will see you soon!

Com amor e fé, Élder Hansen"

Easter letter:

"This week was an especially diffcult but an especially rewarding for us! the neighoring area was closed due to an emergency transfer, so who was called to take care of all of the leftover investigators? ÉLDER HANSEN AND PIRAJÁ TO THE RESCUE! our area is now a lot bigger, and we have only a week to master it all! the reception was varied, we were surprised to find some investigators ''rebelling'' against us in response to the disappearance of the other missionaries. but we did our best to show them that we´re here to love and help them just as the others were!

Of the millions of inhabitants here in Rio, i just happened to run into Mateus, a young man that was baptised while in my first area! since his baptised, he stayed firm for a while but then turned back to the drugs and trafficing life that he was once involved in. When hearing of this, it broke my heart. Well, after our unexpected reunion on the train he joyfully told me that he´s returning to church!! ive contacted the missionarires there to visit/fellowship him, i have high hopes that the ward/missionaries do everything possible to help him stay on the straight and narrow!

This week was special in the fact that all of our lessons were centered on easter. As with other holidays, most brazilians use the days off work to booze it up and commit all manner of abominations. i was glad we were albe to bring a message so contrary to this social norm. as we taught about Christ, sooo many miracles happened! hearts were softened, investigators progressed, families grew closer, and i could feel the powerful but gentle touch of the masters hand in my life and in the work. we brought this atoneing message to a young man named Douglas, who had stopped to progress due to doubts about the Book of Mormon. as we shared the easter lesson, he decided to take up his cross and follow christ, as soon as possible! He told us the Joseph Smith and Book of Mormon had to have been true, in no other book has he felt closer to the savior and understanded better his sacrifice! He was Baptised this saturday, telling me that if i didnt baptise him, that he´d never enter into the water. How could i refuse? we normally let the members preform the ordinances to create freindships and more fully involve the ward, but i couldnt hide the joy as i put on my white tie and lifted my right arm to the squre one last time. the happiness cant be described as he gratefully embraced me in the font as a reconcilled man with God. How grateful i am for the redeeming power of the atonement!

A Happy Easter everyone! I hope that in the midst of calamity and despair, that we can remember Christ. He is the Light!

PS Here is a powerful video that my mom sent me about easter. Enjoy! 

http://easter.mormon.org/?CID=bhl-71000156"

April 14, 2014

"this was a blessed week! its a struggle to fit in all of the miracles, trials, and expericences we pass through in one email. the Lord is extending his merciful arm to us as we look to serve him! Élder Pirajá is progressing alot, everyday he pulls a little more of the workload, its been incredible o see the growth in both of us!

We had a the baptism of a refferral this week! Ilma and her son Paulo lost their home due to those floods a few months back(this was one the most impacted areas of Rio). When a member stretched her hand out to help while in this time in need, she was inspired to shre the gospel! Ilma has really confirmed the prophesy in Amós 8:11-12, ive never seen some who has belonged to so many different faiths! its been incedible to see her establish herself in the solid fountation of christ´s gospel!

imagine if every member involved himself/herself in this marvilous work? im certain that the world would change. i hear of wars, death, sin, and heartache everyday. all of this would change if we all shared Gods approved cure- the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

it hit 85 degress this week..... i almost froaze to death.

our efforts in gaining members support are paying off! the secret is SERVICE! this week we´ll help our bishop who teaches brazilian jiu-jitsu clean out his dojo along with other various service projects for the members. we´re doing our best to involve the elder´s quorum, the more the ward can see that we´re here to work, the better!

we´re also working hard to retain our new converts. we pulled out all the weeds and plants growing in Kelly´s garden. i reminiced about all the summers going out back to take care of the yard and garden. its funny how such a simple chore can bring so much peace an serenity! Kelly didnt know how to react to our simple act of charity, but rewarded us with a fairly expensive but deeply rich chocolate cake :) her family is also opening up to us! lets put'em all in the water!!

everyday i feel a change withtin me. evey step seems to bring me closer to christ. im so grateful to serve him!

Com fé e Alegria, Élder Hansen"

April 7, 2014

"Ive had a great week! Ive learned sooo much in this general conference im excited for the challenge of putting it all into practice!

My Mission President, Geraldo Lima, was called to be an Area seventy!! after all of the work he has done to make way for the temple here, he is the right man for the job!

we had a special baptism this week! Kelly, a widow of 39 years has been looking for this church for so long, it has been a privelage to help her find it! she has enbraced the gospel so quickly, the members have embraced her as well!

there are so much to do here. More people to visit, more families to convert, more lives to bless. Im so grateful to be a representative of Christ!!

Com amor e fé, Élder Hansen"

March 31, 2014

"Soooo this letter will be super short, we´ve gotta go down to Rio to settle some missionary stuff, so i´ll be really quick!

The training is going AWESOME!! My "son" is picking up the swing of things! the work is picking back up!

We had a great opportunity to serve this week. we with the members cleaned up a skate park here in Nova Iguaçu. I LOVE SERVICE!! miracles happend. i´ll send photos next week!

Im sooooo excited for conference. ivé been studying Mosiah 1-5 to prep myself for it. i hope everyone not only listens to the messages, but brings with them a question to be answered. I can promise that the Lords servants will answer!! dont forget to invite all your friends to participate!

Amo vocês!

Élder Hansen"

March 27, 2014

"This week was aweome!! My new companion is Élder Pirajá! he´s my fourth companion from Rio Grande do Sul, and so once again, he´s whiter than i am!

He´s come with such a desire to work. His vision of the work and faith in Christ are without limits, he´s been incredibly prepared for the work.

Im not sure if Jasmine saw the same thing while training, but my sompanion copies EVERYTHING I DO. if i hum, he hums! if i grab a second plate at lunch, he does too! he´s even been observing and copying my personal study... its crazy! but its really been helping me to be obedient, my example to him is everything!

We´re learning a ton together. Unfortunately the "baptismal well" dried up once My new companion arrived, so we´re throwing ourselves into the work 200 percent. im grateful that my previous companion prepared me to train, now im already used to doing all of the work.... 

My companion is learning pretty quickly, his apetite to learn is incredible! He wants to do everything at the same time but doesnt know how haha ive have some pretty good laughs this week. im patiently teaching him the basics(how to wash clothes by hand, iron clothing make food, etc.) he reminds me alot of mylsef when i got here!

the work is going great, i know that i was supposed to stick it in for one more round( i should have been home last week.... all of the elders from my group are now sending trunky emails to me from home). its in overtime that the players give it there all, im hitting the nos on the last stretch!!"

March 17

"IM GONNA BE A DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thats right! i´ll be training a newbie these last six weeks! i´ve got six weeks to cram everything i know into the poor guys head. from what the secretaries said he´ll probably be an american... looks like i´ll have to re-learn english!

we´ve had three barbeques this week... im getting fat :)

we had two baptisms this week- Marcos Vinicius and Romário. solid young men of great faith. ive gotta run to the new trainers meeting in rio. more details about them later!!

i love this work. im praying that my "son" is ready to work, and that im ready to train him!!"

March 10

this week was once again slow, but at least we´re able to work again now that the "bagunça" is through!

a man named Reginaldo was baptised this week. he has putting off baptism since before i got here, but now that the family rolled into town, he decided to "fall into the water!" cant say that i had much to do with the conversion process... but at least the ward is getting more animated, we actually had a correlation metting this week(which we´re supposed to have every week with the ward leaders) and the members are wants to work with us..... YAAYYYY!!!

i cant lie, this entire transfer ive been pretty spent. because of every challenge here ive had to do 200 percent of the work which is... tiring :/ but im happy to be here! im so grateful to be a representative of Christ. more details next week!!

March 3, 2014

Sorry these are so late!  I just love Kelland's example though:

March 3, 2014

"I LOVE CARNAVAL.... just kidding. defintion of carnaval in Hansen´s ditctionary- Brazil´s excuse to pilliage, rape, murder, sin, and committ all other atrocities available to the sons of men. This special week includes never ending traffic, high prices and a conveient "repentance day."

here in Nova Iguaçu it isnt too bad, ive only seen a couple naked people and some men dressed like women... most people go down to the center to "celebrate." the only problem is that since carnaval is a national holiday, no one works, since no one works, almost everyone travels. that has caused our work to slow down a bit since our most prepared investigators wont be back untill next week... ive learned a ton about patience!!

but we managed to baptise this week! his name is Paulo Henrique, the son of a less active who lives with a non member. on the day of the baptism, his father entered the chapel for the first time! i think they had a good experience, we´re planning on inviting them to marry so the father may be baptised as well! im soo happy with our sucess, but we need more families! familis will help one another withstand the tides of life and the winds of trial... we´re turning over every stone to find the eleites!

my companion is gradually getting up to speed. im focusing on first being the BEST example i can be. like moroni explains this well to pahoran, that we must clean the inner vessel before attempting to clean the outter. the work is still pretty unbalanced, but im more than happy to help my companion and friend adapt his work and atittude to the Lord's will. it all starts with me!!

this week was rather delicious, this week a recent convert invited us to eat some brazilian delicacies with him and his family. this normally means cow feet, tail, tongue, and other innards, but i was surpised to find a table full of sea food! i favorite was probably the shark...... sooooo GOOD :D

with the coming of the world cup, brazil has braught in some american food into their supermarkets, including LAYS and OREOSSSSSSS. im a happy little boy!

after this email we´re gonna grab a SUBWAY that just opened up... count your many blessings, count hem one by one!!!

i made a personal goal to give all that i meet at least one compliment this week. every contact in the street. every member. every missionary. and you guys are included! thank you sooooo much for reading my emails and for the prayers! i compliment you for your patience with me and for your love of Christ. i want to be more like him, i hope to spread his light! thank you for supporting in this persuit, i have a along way to go but im where im at because of loving family and friends!

February 26, 2014

"Soooooo ive recieved a lot of blessings!

we had two more baptisms this week... this area has so much potential! Gracinha was a miralce contact(sweetest lady ive ever met), and Isaura is a person whose dealt with much suffering, but has progressed so much in the gospel! we´re seting a goal to baptise weekly here, is possible if we have faith!

i think the key word that has helped us here is WORK. Moses 1 :39 helped me a lot. God has all power, what does he do with his time? HE WORKS! so why sohuldnt we??? forget the excuses(im opening up a new area, im tired, my comp doesnt want to work, etc), they deteriorate a man´s character. forget about yourself and WORK!!!

after all that has been said, it is the Lord who grants us our sucesses, we must be forever grateful to him and for his helping hand! i feel closer to the Lord this week!

one worry that i have is the support of the members. we could baptise everyone in the neighborhood, but what will happen when we´re transferred?? we had several progressing families and other investigators at church, but the ward reception was luke wam..... what do we do? we´re really working hard to open up the ward´s eyes. this is salvation we´re talking about, and they´re a part of it!! its at moments like these that i am grateful for the incredible exmple of my parents, me showed me how members should be missionaries!

thank you all for the prayers, miralces are happening here in Nova Iguaçu!!!"

February 22, 2014

"This week was better!! we´re beginning to crawl out out of the hole we were thrown in, the work here is appearing more and more possible!

to help the work kickstart here with the members, we had to provide some inspiration... and what inspires more than a baptism??? Talia is a 16 year old girl who has been going to church for over two years, but had not yet made covenants with our Lord. With some support from her friends, we helped her use her testimony to act!! we´re hoping that the baptism sparks the missionary spirit within the ward, because we´re the only ones thrusting our sickles at the moment!

in sacrament meeting the first councillor informed the congregation(including myself) that i would be giving a talk... thank goodness for the spirit!! i flipped to some key scriptures that speak of accelerating the work and invited the members to take part, i hope that it makes a difference here!!

RAIN!!! it rained for the first time this year!! in december we had all of those floods, then the rain stopped!! for a month and a half we tolerated the hottest summer since the 1940´s, every day over 110 with a heat effect of well over 120.... now my skin is looking pretty brazilian :D

this week i had the chance to work with the missionaries in Nilópolis.... what Deja vu!! its incredible to see how much cleaner it is here, i didnt see a single automatic rifle the entire day!!!  theres a new train station and a lot of nice apartments now.... i guess the world cup is making a difference! haha to make things even better, Élder Nutt(my CTM companion) is currently working there as well, its incredible to see how much we´ve grown since São Paulo! we were able to visit a couple of recent converts that i had worked with over a year ago, its a privilage to finally return to where i started off. before i was transfered to Resende, i gave a blessing to a young man who was going though a spiritual storm(which i had no knowledge of). It was probably the most inspried blessing that i have had the privelage to give. well i met up the the boys family to see him, and turns out he´s already been on a mission for 8 months! apparently the family has been wanting ot thank me for the blessing since then, i gently reminded them that blessings come from the Lord, not form me!! im glad too see that i "left my mark" here in Niló. i blamed myself for my entire mission so far for not doing more here, but the Lord has been merciful unto me by showing me these blossomed fruits! 

Speaking of fruits, i saw another one this week..... John Lennon, a convert i worked with in Resende, moved to Nova Iguaçu!! he has almost a year as a member, and he´s preparing his paprs for a mission!! he´s alos dating a sweet girl in the ward, i couldnt be more proud of him!! i feel like the Lord has been revealing all of this to me to pump me up for the road ahead. theres sooooo much to do here in the ward. but i know that with the lord, we can do it!! the are sons and daughters of God to save here in Nova Iguaçu!

PS our Chapel here In Nova Iguaçu is on Rua Luis de Matos, it should be easy to find on the church site. we live on the same street!(which is such a blessing, in all my other areas we lived at least a half hour on foot from the church)"

and my new comp. Élder Leal!!!

February 3, 2014

"Well, my time in Sulacap was short, because im already being transfered!!

 

I ended my time here with a bang, We had the baptism of a young man named Diogo, he was such a strong testimony of the gospel!!

 

we also reavtivated a family this week. Marcos, an ex bishop, had fallen away because of the brain cancer of his youngest son. he´s not very likely to live, and the trial has had a very negative impact on him. the first time we visited him, he greeted us with coldness and told us the he wished not to be treate as an inactive. well, when we returned we did just that, we stopped treating him as a inactive and more as a friend. it was incredible to see him slowly open up. it was even more incredible when he showed up to church with his enitre family. One more family has returned to Christ´s fold!! he really is needing a friend, i hope Élder Stinnett and his new comp can start where we left off!

 

 

I am happy about the short time i spent here(even though half of it was spent in our house...). tons of progress has been made, where there were no investigators there are now baptisms!! but theres still so much more to do. i feel as if im still needed here. the members are still unprepared to answer the prophets call to accellerate the work. but i am needed elsewhere, i confide in the Lord and his revelations!

 

My new area is..... Nova Iguaçu, which is the neighbor area of Nilópolis!! (dont worry mom its a lot safer there than Niló :P) i´ll be opening the area so wish me luck!!

 

Have a great week everyone, and tons of missionary experiences!!

 

Com amor, Élder Hansen"