Week 73 - Another transfer

Baptism of Denise and Sofia

Hey fam!!

Well this week is one of the slowest weeks in Costa Rica. It's called Semana Santa and almost everyone takes the whole week off and goes to the beach so the whole area was like a ghost town. And the people that stayed home, had family in town so they didn't want to receive us haha so we spent a lot of the week visiting the few investigators and members that were in town and watching all the Catholic processions. 

It's really cool to watch because they act out almost the whole last week of the Savior's life starting with His entrance into Jerusalem and finishing with His resurrection Sunday morning. It's a little weird because they make a whole bunch of Christ statues and carry them around in the streets, but its a nice touch to help us remember the importance of this week. They also have the tradition to make a fake Judas and burn it Saturday night...... not sure about that one.

So it was kinda a slow week, but on Thursday I got a call from one of the APs that I had to be in the office Friday morning for the leadership meeting because I was going to have changes. I gotta admit I was super bummed when I got that call because I love Moravia so much. It's been so much fun and to only be here one change was heartbreaking. So Friday I went to the leadership meeting and President told us because of the success we were seeing in the mission, he didn't want to change a lot of the leaders this transfer, but that Elder Adams, one of the APs, was going to head out and finish his mission as a trainer, leaving an open spot to fill. I've had some surprises in my life, but I've never been more shocked to hear my name called. I don't really remember what happened after but everyone asked me if I was ok because I guess my face kinda went blank and it looked like I was going to pass out haha but I managed to make it through the meeting and the shock has almost passed now. I'm really bummed to be leaving Moravia and I'm incredibly nervous for what's coming, but after this change I've understood better the plan the Lord has for all of us and that He really is in charge here. It's a new adventure and I know I'm going to learn a ton, so we'll see what happens.

Saturday there was a baptism of a few investigators I taught in El Carmen and President gave me permission to go and then the rest of Saturday and Sunday we spent saying goodbyes to some of the families we had really gotten to connect with. Sunday I got to give a talk since I got cheated out last week and I think it went ok, and it was a good chance to thank and say goodbye to everyone I hadn't been able to visit.

But anyway, hope you guys are all doing great. Love you all a ton! Happy Easter! Enjoy conference! Wish me luck!

Elder Hansen

With Elder Garay

Lincoln Plaza, the huge mega mall in Moravia

Ruben, the ward mission leader

Hermano Roger

Week 72 - Go help the missionaries

Hey guys!!

So I learned my lesson from last week and I won't be writing just a paragraph again anytime soon haha. We were playing about an hour and someone kicked the ball and it rebounded off the crossbar and smacked me right it the face. I went down and felt like my eye had gotten smashed in haha. I kept playing, but started seeing funny from my right eye and my head started hurting like crazy. After we finished playing, we headed back and Elder Garay wanted to stop somewhere to eat. I was feeling sick from my headache so I just asked for a milkshake. Elder Garay finished eating and went to pay and I stood up to grab my bag but starting feeling worse so I went to go sit down. I almost got to my seat when I felt everything coming back up and I puked all over the table haha at least there wasn't anyone else to see it in the restaurant, but the guy who made the milkshake gave me a pretty hard time haha. We got home and I collapsed on the bed and had to worst headache I've ever had in my life. So I learned my lesson for only writing a paragraph last week.

Other than that, life's been really good here. We went on unplanned divisions with two youth in the ward and found some really good new investigators, one of which we've been teaching almost every other day and has been progressing really well. She came to church this Sunday and basically bore her testimony in gospel principles class of her experience reading the Book of Mormon. Miracles! 

Also, the bishop had asked me to give a talk on Sunday, but last minute the speaker showed up and I got bumped off the program. But it worked out because the gospel principles teacher didn't come so they put me to give the lesson and I just used my talk. It was a little tough because I had to stretch a ten minute talk into a half hour lesson, but I think it went over ok.

But I feel like I just got to give a quick push to everyone reading this to do something this week to support the missionaries. The members here are some of the most willing and dedicated I've ever met and it's been such a big help to the work here. So everyone think of something you can do and GO HELP THE MISSIONARIES. Even the smallest thing you can do makes all the difference. Members are the key to success in missionary work and when the members and missionaries work together, everything goes better and the success soars. 

I love you guys a ton. Even though this has been one of my harder areas, I've never been happier and I've been able to see more and more the hand of the Lord in my life. Everyday there's something small that happens that reminds me who's really in charge here. 

Love you all! Have a great week! Hope this was worth the wait haha.

Elder Hansen

Week 71 - Off to play soccer

[Ed. note - OK, so here's this week's *cough, cough* email. I've been saving a couple of pictures, so I'll add them here so that it was hopefully still worth everyone's time to click the link to the blog :) 
Reese leading the music - who knew?]

Hey team!

Well this week was super great. We're seeing a lot more growth in the area and finding a lot more people. But I gotta be honest, we're gonna play soccer right now and it's been a good 5 weeks since we've played so I'm gonna cut it short. Love you! Next week I'll write a lot! 

Elder Hansen

Week 70 - David's baptism

Hey guys!

Time is going by way too fast. I barely have time to send off my weekly email before I'm stuck in front of this computer again trying to think of what happened this week haha 

I ran out of time last week, but last Saturday I got to go to David's baptism. It was so special to get to see it even though I had moved areas. He gave me the biggest hug and had a huge smile on his face the whole time. Love that guy. (and yes dad, I took pictures haha) 

We spent a lot of the week walking and contacting which made it a little longer of a week, but we got to know the area a lot better and found a few new people. It's been really interesting to open up the area, because I've always been used to showing up to a new area and having people to teach and reactivate, but here we're starting from zero. But the best part is that there's nowhere to go but up! 

Had a little bit of drama this week. After our meeting with the ward mission leader on Thursday, we headed home walking and the sisters and elders got a ride from a few members to their house. We had just gotten home when we got a call from the elders that the sisters had gotten in an accident. They went in separate cars so the elders were fine, but the car the sisters were in had gotten hit head on. They were fine, just really shaken up, but by they time we got there, they had gotten checked out and everything was fine, except for the cars involved in the accident. The front of the member's car was smashed and the other car had flipped over, but from what we heard, the lady driving wasn't seriously hurt. It was just a miracle that everyone was ok. 

On a lighter note, on Saturday, our lunch appointment fell through so we decided to go to the mall close by to see what was there. I had no idea but there's a Smashburger here! It was the best burger I've had in 16 months. 

But those are the highlights of the week. Love you guys a ton! Life's going great, can't believe how fast time is passing. Have a great week everybody!!

Elder Hansen

[Reese sent this picture with a caption "Our cart stuffed with healthy food". Uh huh. Donuts, Swiss Miss, and a Fruit by the Foot variety pack.]

With Elder Garay