Haitian-ing the Work: January 19, 2016 - Tornado Warnings in the Weather and With Our Investigators

Se toujou limye nan Florid.... oswa Filadelfia.... m paka sonje
(It is always sunny in Florida... or Philadelphia... I can't remember) Okay?

Hello Everyone, it's time for me to give you the quick rundown and highlights from the week:

So, this week Sandra (our golden investigator) got Anti-ed (I hate Anti-Mormons, and by hate I mean moderately dislike). Woohoo, yeah sooo not excited about that... :( She texted us and told us that we didn't need to come by anymore and that she "didn't want to be a member of the Mormon", soooo that was basically the worst. On the bright side, I went on exchanges with Elder Charlton and rode my bike for the very first time since arriving in the mission! While we were out, I challenged a couple of black kids to a 2 on 2 game of ProsBall (Proselyting Basketball). We told them that if we won they had to come to church on Sunday. We totally destroyed them 5 - 2! I guess I still have my skills from my old Church ball days. Anyway, on Friday we had a Tornado watch in our county here in Florida, so Elder Murat and I went and knocked doors on Hood Street! On Saturday we had all-you-can-eat pancakes at I-HOP which were delicious. On Sunday we had a Regional Stake Conference for the South Eastern United States. Elder Rasband, Clayton, and Hales all spoke on a broadcast to 105 stakes! It was super awesome. They taught us a lot about temple attendance and how to improve our families through the gospel.

So our new investigators that we are teaching are James and Pedro. They are both reading in the Book of Mormon and Pedro has a baptismal date for the 13th of February! They are both super cool and we are helping them change their lives!

Yesterday was MLK Jr Day or as I like to call it, all-the-black-people-stand-outside-day! We were driving through Hallandale Beach and everyone was outside and were looking at me, because I was the only white person... but yeah, it was a party day for everyone. We also found Enoch and Eevee who were super high and covered in 100's of piercings (He mentioned that Eevee had about 50 on her tongue). After the prayer Eevee gave Elder Murat a huge hug which I enjoyed way more than he did. :-)

That is the Readers Digest version of the week, Mom you have the whole thing in my voice recordings, but those were the highlights!

As for a last thought this week I was reviewing some conference talks and learned a little more about yielding to Christ and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Often I have found that when I look at myself and all of the things I have to do and overcome and the trials that lay ahead of me, I want to shrink and give up. Looking ahead I don't think that I am strong enough to endure, because it's true that there are many things required of us and there are also many trials, but as we put our faith in God and turn our hearts to Him, nothing is impossible. In this last General Conference Neill F. Marriott said, "If we earnestly appeal to God, He takes us as we are—and makes us more than we ever imagined.... but yielding to the Lord’s way is the only way to lasting happiness." As we kneel before God and yield our hearts to him, we no longer have to go through our trials alone. We will be guided and yoked together with Christ who has already, "descended below all things" and whose " burden is easy and yoke is light."

President Gordon B. Hinckley said: “If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God. …The Lord will not forsake us.” If we continue to press forward and do all that we can, we need not fear for the Lord will not forsake us. He has given us a priceless gift and that gift is the Holy Ghost, as we "yield to the enticings of the Holy spirit" we are then able to "put off the natural man" which keeps us from progressing.

President Eyring taught, "The most valuable inspiration will be for you to know what God would have you do.... Whatever it is, do it. When you demonstrate your willingness to obey, the Spirit will send you more impressions of what God would have you do for Him." As we listen to the prompting of the Spirit we are given the knowledge to know what our next step is and what God would have us do! The Lord promises us this in Doctrine and Covenants 11:12-13 which states, "And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust‍ in that Spirit‍ which leadeth‍ to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge‍ righteously; and this is my Spirit. Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten‍ your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy." As we follow the Spirit and put our trust in him and our Savior, we will have joy and we will be able to endure and overcome any trial that we encounter because all things are possible with Christ!

-- M renmen ou plis pase jako pam, ki pa gen anpil sinifikans paske m pa gen yon jako...

men mwen toujou renmen ou!
--(I love you more than parrot pam, without much significance because I do not have a parrot... but I still love you!) Who's Parrot Pam? Google Translate is not helping much today.

We got the real translation from Matthew today, its: "I love you more than my parrot, which doesn't mean much because I don't have a parrot."

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

The maiden voyage of the mission bike. He's been in the mission for 3 months now.

He forgot to mention the gun that he and Elder Murat found while our knocking on doors. This was just laying on the side of the road, near an elementary school. They didn't do anything with it except take a picture of it because they didn't want to "get arrested".

They truly are in "Holly-hood".