Week 49 - Transfers and a Ward Activity

Hey fam! 

Not too much to report this week. We had changes, but only two Elders left and one changed from Limon to Siquirres so it doesn't really count haha. But Elder Hernandez left which was a little sad. Gonna miss that kid. We had to go to his new area and drop off his suitcases while he went to San Jose, but it was nice to have a little adventure. Elder Ramirez served close to that area and some members helped us get them there and then took us out for lunch. They took us to a fish restaurant that was one of the most secluded places I've ever been, but it was the best fish I've had in a loooonnggg time, with some very crispy fries (you would've loved them Mom!). I'm just hoping that someday we'll get to go back.

Saying goodbye to Elder Hernandez

Miracle of the week! So with the changes this week, we lost basically all of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and we needed to have a ton of people in church and find a ton of people to hit our goals for the week and the month. I was feeling a little stressed out, but we said a few prayers and left Thursday with a ton a faith that we were going to find every family that lived in Siquirres. We came home that day with 2. And then Friday we came home with 4. Then on Saturday we had a ward activity, which went super well, but I'll get to that. The point is, that it killed a ton of time that day and we only found 2 new investigators. Which meant Sunday we needed to find at least 7. At 7:00 we had 1 haha. I was just hoping and praying for everything I had that we could find something. We kept walking and searching and we passed by our cook's house just to see if there was anyone there. She was a little busy, but told us to go contact a house nearby. When we got there they received us super well and we found 5 new investigators there. They also told us to contact the house next door, and there we found another 3. When we got home that day, I just felt so relieved to know that God is always watching and, even though we might not see it, He is always working to help us.

Our new contacting method

But about the activity. We had been planning it for about a month, but after some miscommunication, we ended up having to change a lot of things in the few days before, including what time it was going to start. It was supposed to start at 1, but nobody showed up until 2 and there was barely anyone there. We had planned to have 5 teams of 6 do 5 different games. When we started we had 1 haha. It was kinda a rough start because the Primary had an activity too and they ended right as we were starting so all the kids came running in and we had to calm them down and put them into teams and then other kids found the water balloons and then more people started to show up, but after about 10 minutes of organizing, everyone was in a team and in a game. Once everyone was doing something, it all started running a lot smoother and by the end it had turned into one of the best ward activities we've ever had. The members stepped up a lot and it was so fun to see people who in church look serious, dancing and cheering when their team won. I've never seen adults so excited to throw water balloons! It wasn't perfect, but it turned out well and they all said we need to have more activities like that. We're not that creative so who knows if we'll be able to think of more, but we'll see how it goes haha.

But anyway, hope you're all doing super great. Love you guys a ton!

Elder Hansen

Week 48 - A wedding and a baptism

Baptism of Yoser, Maricela, y Estrella

Hey fam!

Hope you're all doing great! This week was really really good. Everything worked out well for the wedding and baptism. We had a ton of support from the members which was a nice relief. Usually, we're running around all week getting everything set up, but this time all we had to do was bring the people and fill the font. The ward is really stepping it up. One of the best parts was that President Hayes and his wife came. They hit some traffic and we were worried they weren't going to make it, but luckily the baptism before the wedding was delayed so they were there for all of them. Everything is better when President comes.

The Wedding

So like usual this week was super fast. This transfer was unbelievably fast honestly. We don't have changes, but unfortunately, like I was expecting, Elder Hernandez is being transferred. But the good thing is that he's not leaving the stake so we'll see him for stake conference still. 

We finally got to move into our new house though which has made everything better. It's not that I didn't like living with four Elders in the house, it was just really crowded. We're still working on getting everything set up, but it's looking good. 

But anyway, it was a super good week. I'm just hoping we can keep it going. I'm super happy to still be with Elder Ramirez, it's gonna be a lot of fun. Hoping you guys are all doing awesome, love you a ton!

Talk to you soon!

Elder Hansen

Week 47 - General Conference and a Trip to the Beach

Hey guys!

Hope you're all doing really well!

Don't have a whole ton to write, just got back from the beach and I've forgotten a lot that happened this week, sorry.

This week was another fast one. I was talking to Elder Ramirez about how fast this whole change has gone by. It's already October!! Gotta be honest, it's scaring me how fast this is all happening. But I'm finally getting to that point where I feel old in the mission. And it doesn't really help that over half of the zone has less than 10 months in the mission haha. 

But anyway, on to the week!

So this week we were working like crazy the first few days to make up for the time we were going to lose this weekend. We had leadership council on Friday and the conference so we knew it was gonna be a rough week work-wise, but the Lord gave us a lot of chances to make up lost time and we managed to make the most of it.

Friday was great. Got to learn from President Hayes. Always incredible. The only bad part was on the way home, the bus that should only take 2 hours, hit traffic and was delayed 2 hours more. Such a long bus ride. 

Conference was really good! Kinda hard to get it in English, so I didn't get the full experience this time, but I still loved it. 

Well sorry that was a really boring email but hey at least it's something haha love you guys! I'll send some good pictures next week! 

Elder Hansen