Week Five Letter from Elder Hansen

"Success!! Proselyting was amazing! My companions and i were unleashed upon to the streets of Sao Paulo with no mercy!! haha jk it was really good tho, we handed out 9 Book of Mormons!!!

it was hard not to be prideful, most missionaries only handed out one or two. my companions and i were boasting in our strength a little bit when i read a letter from my papa. it refrenced the scripture that says blessed are those that are humble becauce they are compelled to be humble. more blessed are those that humble themsleves because of the word. it really hit me and i shared it with my companions,so we thanked the Lord for our success and i recalled my missionsary scripture (Alma 26:12).

This is my last week in the MTC, what and experience! Ive grown so much in the gospel and in the language, my companions have even heard me sleep talking in portuguese! Im gonna miss my companions, we've grown so much together that they feel like brothers! We had our last supper today at an all you can eat Brazilian BBQ....... im full. in 6 days i'll be in rio!! i hope i have a good trainer, im gonna be pretty dependant on him haha wish me luck!!

PS thank you to everyone who has been writing me!! i can feel your love, i apologize for not being able to reply to everyone, perhaps i'll have more time in the field!"

-Elder Kelland Hansen May 23, 2012

Elder Hansen's Week Four Letter

" Lots of change!! First off some American Elders moved out of our room, and we picked up some Agentinians and a Brazilian!! theyre way cool, they dont speak english so its very motivating to use out portuguese. we have a lot in common, we like the same sports(besides soccer) same music, and we all showed off our x girlfriends! haha we really stepped up our game this week, we taught all of our lessons in portuguese and we are really diving deep in our companion study. I love this work, this is the happiest ive ever been!! next monday will be our first time proselyting... Woot Woot!! I cant wait to make a fool outta myself haha Im not really comfortable with making other people comfortable yet. Im grateful for this opportunity to be here in the CTM(MTC), im learning so much and ive made the greatest friends! my love my instructor Irmao Romalho. he wakes up at 4:30 to get here and gets home near midnight! he truely is devoted to my district and i! we had a long talk in private yesterday, meant a lot to me that someone i barely knew took the time to address my needs. i love these people, but i cant wait for Rio!!!"

-Elder Kelland Hansen
May 16, 2012

Week Three of Elder Kelland Hansen's Mission

"Another week in the prision known as the MTC! just kidding, but im kinda wanting to get out of here already haha. this week was pretty sad, a lot of Brazilians on our floor left for the feild yesterday, it was pretty emotional saying goodbye to all of them. They helped us a lot with the language and knew how to have fun! Im really hoping i get a brazilian trainer when i head out, i will pick up the language a lot faster! My companions and i almost got in a scuffle with another elder the other day... we were schooling him and his district in bball, and i guess he didnt like that so he tried to attack us! luckily my companions and i are champs and cooled the guy down, but now we have this crazy guy to look out for haha dont wanna be sent home in a pine box! jokes haha my companions and i are becoming really effective at teaching! it helps that the language is coming, but we flow as a group and we have gotten better at finding out what our investigators needs are! progress is motivating, and we are on fire right now!! Mom requested some portuguese words.... i guess i will bear my testimony! Eu sei que Cristo e meu redentor. eu testifico que o livro de mormon e a palavras de deus e seus profetas. eu sei que joseph smith e o profeta de deus e temos o evangelho restaurado. eu amo meu salvador, e qeuro ser como meu irmao. that was quick but thatll do for now! hahah until next week then, stay classy!" 


-Elder Hansen

Week 2 Letter from Elder Hansen

"Week number two!

I apologixze for the short letter last week, we are on a tight schadule here, even on p days! The langauge is pretty difficult. We are studying almost every minute of every day, and im learning a lot but its stressfull! I didnt tell tou about my companions?  i have two, Elder Nutt is from texas... hahaha just kidding hes awesome! really hard worker, great sompaion. My other compaion is Elder Lee from San Jose! hes crazy, really outgoing and hard to keep up with haha hes a little guys so we lose him a lot! the schedule is intense, we are always working. Our teachers are really cool... but they dont speak much english so theres a lot of miscommunication! So Quintin L Cook talked to us last week. It was incredible! it was a solid "pep rally" for missionaries! He even gave us an Apostalic blessing, he told us that all of our families will be safe, and that if we have siblings fallen away or parents going through divorces, that they would be strenghtened in their faith. I got to shake his hand too!! it was an amazing experience. every p day we get to go to the Sao Paulo temple while in the MTC, this morning i was feeling weighed down because of the imense task in front of me, but the temple lifted that burden right off my shoulders! I am so happy to be i love all my companions and my teachers. something Ive noticed is that when you forget about yourself, its so much easier to love those around you!"

-Elder Kelland Hansen