Week 21 - Hitting a groove

Hellloooo!

Well pretty big week this week. I was feeling super stressed about everything at the beginning of the week, but I said more than a few prayers and this week was honestly the greatest. Elder Hernandez and I are hitting this groove and it's almost like nothing can go wrong. Obviously, appointments fall through and people just disappear sometimes, but that's not really all that bad because it just gives us a chance to look for more and more people. And sure people don't always listen to us, but that just gives us a chance to find the people that are really ready to listen. I've grown to love contacting because it's always something different. Always... haha and everyone has a different story to tell. If we just find the right question to ask, we could be there for about 20 minutes listening to their life story, their dad's life story, and his dad's life story. But one thing that has helped me a lot is to just tell myself that behind this next door is the next person to be baptized. No matter how much time they give us, what they're doing, or if they really seem interested, this next person needs to hear the message that we're sharing, because in the long run, salvation is a little more important than sweeping the porch or digesting your food (yes we have gotten that one before haha). 

I'll try to do this like Maren:

Monday we had a normal p-day for the first time in a long time. I think all my time here I've had about 3 completely normal p-days. We got out and managed to squeeze in some lessons.

Tuesday was my first district meeting! Felt super weird, but it went really well. After that, we did some super good missionary work I'm sure..... honestly I'm really not very good at this because the days all just mix together.

Wednesday was a super good day! Before we left the house, some of our plans had already fallen through and I really wasn't sure where we could go, but we started walking and after about 2 minutes one of our older investigators that we hadn't visited in about a month, popped into my head. He's an older man, who has no use of his left arm and leg. He uses a wheelchair and is usually just sitting on his front porch waiting for something to happen. We had visited him a few times before and he always said he believed what we said, but whenever we invited him to be baptized he would say no. But this time we went and when we got there he was just coming out of his house. He let us in and we started talking and had a really good lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we got to the point where we could commit him to be baptized, I wasn't sure what he would say, but Elder Hernandez made the invitation and he accepted! I was so surprised at first I didn't know what to say, but he was serious and even accepted a date. But he came to church this weekend (which was an adventure) and he said he really liked it. The rest of that day, not really sure what happened, but it was still a good day.

Thursday I had my first baptismal interview. Super stressful, but he was completely ready and it went really well. I had more trouble spelling his name right than anything haha. 

Friday we found a new family and their son has some incredible stories. He's about 25 I think and he works a ton, but he had a pretty rough past, filled with drugs and drinking and a lot of bad stuff, but he told us an incredible story of one time when he was in the hospital waiting on an appointment after a pretty serious accident, an older woman came and sat next to him and told him that God has a plan for him and he has a big purpose in this life. The interesting part is that his mom was with him and she didn't see anyone next to him. When we told him about the plan God has for all of us, he really took it to heart and accepted a baptismal date. 

Saturday we met with the boyfriend of a girl in the ward and he was really interested in everything and has been attending the past few weeks. He said no religion has called his attention before like ours. It was amazing to see how interested he was and how willing he was to learn more. When we made the invitation, he asked how soon he could be baptized haha which is really amazing to hear. We decided to plan it for his birthday so it should be really special for him.

Sunday was fantastic. Always is, love Sundays.

Well that's about it. Love you all. Have a fantastic week!

Elder Hansen

Week 20 - Mission conference and a new assignment

Family!

Don't have any dramatic story to start with this week, so sorry if it's not as captivating haha but I guess I do have a little bit of news.

So Sunday night is when they let us know about the changes, so that we can pack that night and leave in the morning for our new area. Last week was changes and last Sunday, they called us to say that no one had changes. So assuming we would have another 6 weeks together, we all just went to work as normal. Then on Wednesday night we got a call and they told us because on the mission conference on Friday we would have changes Thursday and then on Friday leave with our new companions. I was assuming this would happen, but it was still sad when they said Elder Duran had changes. And then they got to my changes.

Gotta pause to make this more dramatic.

I'M TRAINING!!!! It was the biggest surprise of my life. At first I honestly didn't believe them, but they were dead serious haha. It didn't hit me until that night and I barely slept after that, just way too much to take in. The next day we went to San Jose and had dinner at the President's house (always the best meal I've ever had) and then they assigned our new companions. My hijo is Elder Hernandez, he's from Honduras, and he's just a little taller than me (which has thrown me off a little). He's 21 and has only been a member for a few years, but he's an absolute rockstar and I can't wait to see what we can do. 

With new companion Elder Hernandez

But wait there's more!

Elder Duran was the district leader and after he left I assumed it would be another elder in our district, who has more time in the mission and is a superstar missionary. But I got a call from the zone leaders and they told me I'll be the new district leader. Second biggest surprise of my life haha. So this week has changed a lot for me. But add it to the book of the Adventures of Reese, right dad? haha It's been a lot to try and wrap my head around, but I know that it's going to teach me a lot and I know with the help of the Lord I can do it. 

Last selfie with Elder Duran

Other than that, the mission conference was amazing. Elder Richard J. Maynes of the Seventy came and gave us an amazing lesson - some deeper doctrine that just blew my mind. Elder Duncan from the Area Presidency gave us a talk about the mission and his experience with a missionary who made a huge difference solely through his example and by never letting the negative things people said about an area affect how he worked. Then Elder Maynes got up and shared and experience of a young man he baptized. And it was the same missionary that Elder Duncan had talked about. Really amazing example of how much of a difference we can have as missionaries. 

Well that's about it fam, hope you're all doing great and I love you all. We're doing great out here, living the dream. 

Elder Hansen

Pictures posted by Sister Wilkinson on her Facebook page:

Week 19 - Baptisms and an erupting volcano

[Ed. note - So, for those who didn't see the post we put on Reese's Facebook page, the Turrialba volcano erupted in Costa Rica this past week. After reading headlines like this:

Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica Erupts on a Historic Scale 

...and seeing pictures like this:

...and learning that the volcano was only 30 miles from where he is, we were at least mildly concerned. And, of course, he knew that would be the case, so he decided to have some fun at his parents' expense.]

Family

I hope this email goes through. It's been really rough out here since the volcano erupted. There's ash everywhere, every once in a while a couple rocks hit the ceiling, and the sun is almost blocked out entirely. The air is tough to breathe and we're running low on clean water. The power comes in and out, if we're lucky we've got about 5 minutes of power before it goes out again. No days off through, and we've still been working through the storm. We can barely breathe, but we have to get out and work. I hope this isn't my last email...

Ok sorry, I wish I had a cooler story to tell but we haven't even seen any ash here. They closed the airports in San Jose, and it was pretty bad in some parts, but here in little ol' Siquirres, we're doing just fine. 

This week was absolutely fantastic. We had one baptism on Wednesday and then four more on Saturday! One of them was the mom of two kids Elder Duran had baptized before I got here, two were a couple we had been teaching since my first day, and the other two were twins who didn't appear in the system and so we had to re-baptize them (their dad is one of our investigators and we've been to their house a lot and taught all of them together). But Saturday was our Sabado Blanco for Zona Limon and our goal was that every companionship would baptize. We didn't quite hit that, but everyone planned as many baptisms for that day and tried to have members baptize too so there would be as many people dressed in white as possible. I was floating in the clouds the rest of the day haha. 

That night we celebrated Elder Duran's birthday too which was a lot of fun. Our favorite family invited all the Elders to their house for dinner and cake and ice cream. It was some of the best food I have eaten and we all stuffed ourselves way too much haha. And as part of tradition here, we smashed an egg on Duran's head, don't really understand that one, but hey it's tradition. Just hoping it doesn't happen to me.

But anyway, super super good week. Don't worry about us, we're all safe and sound, loving life. Love you all. Have an amazing week and share the gospel with someone. It's the best, trust me.

Elder Hansen

Week 18 - Multi-zone conference and a jungle hike

With President Wilkinson at multi-zone conference

Hey Fam!

Well I hope you love all the pictures. We went to the super cool house I told you about and I brought my camera finally so there ya have it haha. But now I don't have as much time to write. 

This week was really just the best. Investigators are coming out of the woodwork and making a ton of progress and it's been incredible to see. One investigator was investigating for a while, but had kinda dropped off. We had visited him a few more times, but he wasn't as interested as before. But on Sunday he came to church and told us he had had a dream about Joseph Smith and that he believes that he was a prophet and everything and it was really really special. 

2nd row from the top, 2nd from the right

We had a multi-zone conference on Wednesday with President Wilkinson and Elder Alonso from the Area Presidency. They both gave absolutely phenomenal talks and I loved it. We had gone down early to spend the night in San Jose and we stayed in an apartment up on the second floor of a house and we had a gorgeous view over the city at night. I love San Jose more and more every time we come. 

On Saturday, we had an activity at the church for our investigators to come and watch the Restoration movie and it was super great because we got a ton of people from our area, but not as many as we were planning for, so we had a lot of extra food (not necessarily a bad thing).

Also this weekend should be really good for us. We've got 5 people committed to be baptized and I know it'll be a really good day. It was tough the last month because we were the only companionship in our zone that didn't baptize, but I know that was just a test for us and now the Lord is blessing us. I can't wait for this weekend. And this could be the last weekend with Elder Duran, so it'll be a good way to go out. I'm anxious for changes, but we'll see what happens. 

Yesterday, for P-day, we went to Hermana Elsa's house, and we went on a hike through the jungle down to a river in a canyon and it was amazing. We saw a bunch of these tiny little orange frogs and I ran into more spider webs than I can remember haha. There were a ton of rocks at the banks so we took full advantage and threw rocks for a good 20 minutes haha. They had a trampoline too, and it was so much fun to get on again. We made the mistake of eating before though, so after we didn't feel too hot, but it was more than worth it.

Well I love you guys a ton, I hope you have a fantastic week. I love this work so much and I can honestly say there's no place I'd rather be. 

Elder Hansen

On the trampoline

Week 17 - Cow stomach

Hey team!

So I've not got a ton of time because we're going to head out to a member's house to make pizza. Gonna be super super good. We've made pizza a few times and it's always different but always super good, we just pile on whatever they have and queso and call it a pizza haha. 

This week was another super good one for us. A little disappointing because one of our investigators was going to be baptized this weekend but now is having second thoughts, so we're working really hard for that. But other than that, it's just been amazing to see all the miracles with our investigators and in our district and everything. Of the 6 Elders in our district, 2 are likely to change this transfer and one is heading home so it'll be a lot different after that, but we'll see what happens. 

We've been teaching the man I told you about with the bullets in his leg a lot more. He's told us a few things about his past and he's really had a tough life, if you couldn't tell from the bullet thing, but he said right now his biggest problem is giving up smoking. A few nights ago, we gave him a blessing and after that he said he felt something different and he knew he could do it. We committed him to be baptized and I really think he's going to make it. There's a big difference in him and I know he really has the desire to quit. And I know the Lord is going to help him through everything. 

One of the strongest members in the ward came with us to visit a less active on Sunday night and after a super powerful lesson we went to her house for a little dinner/dessert, not really sure which, but she asked us to give her and her son a blessing. Her son said he didn't want one, kinda awkward, but she still wanted one and asked me to give it. Not gonna lie I felt pretty nervous because I had only ever done the annointing before and I wasn't sure if I could give a good enough blessing, but I said a prayer before and as I spoke I felt everything else fade away and I didn't feel like I was saying anything, but rather words were just coming out of my mouth, words I didn't even know I knew. Really special experience for me. 

Oh and we tried cow stomach. Our cook made it for her family and said we could try some if we wanted. She made it in a soup and the little taste she gave me before was pretty good so I asked for some more. I don't know if it was a different soup or what but it wasn't nearly as good after the next few bites. The taste wasn't that bad, the worst part was the texture. It was cut into little strips and just mixed in with the soup so it was basically like eating worms. Yeah. Not gonna try that again haha.

But anyway, love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Hansen