March 14, 2016 - Can Anybody, Find me, Somebody to Bring to Church?

Happy Pi Day Folks!

So, last P-day, we had a Zone Activity with the Palm Beach Zone. I got to see Elder Becker (Trainer) and Rackham (MTC) and we all got together and played Ultimate Frisbee and Kickball. We all had an enjoyable time. The next day we had a Zone Training where we discussed all of the things that we learned at the training we received form Elder Dube. Later that day we taught a lady named Everose, she talked a lot and didn't want to listen to anything that we had to say and wouldn't leave the Catholic church soooo that was less than enjoyable. Later in the week I went on an exchange with Elder Rubio and we found a guy named Renald who was super interested in the Church, so naturally, I got pretty pumped up! But when we taught him the next day and it turns out that he was baptized in 1999 and was unable to find the church here in Belle Glade. So that was awesome, but disappointing because we still didn't have anyone to teach. So we continue to search for people to teach. On Friday, we knocked into a Jamaican guy that said he "wanted to know the correct way to salvation". Of course we were like, you are asking the right guys! But he tricked us and we just ended up bashing for about 30 minutes with this Pentecostal guy... Later that night we OYM'd two gay Haitians, I was unaware that there were gay Haitians because in Haiti they kill you if you are gay because you have a "devil" inside of you, haha.  While we were knocking on Saturday, I lost odds against Elder Prince and had to eat straight Aloe... again. It was just as bitter as last time but then we stopped at an Ice Cream truck and got sno-cones so that made it all better :) 

This week was all focused on finding and we OYM'd 100 people and invited them to church and exactly none of them came... we were pretty discouraged last night. This is the hardest that I have worked my entire mission and it is the least that I have taught, but we know that we will be blessed if we stay diligent.  

Okay, so this week I finished and restarted the Book of Mormon again so naturally my last thought comes from 1 Nephi, " Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him."

Nephi is exhorting his brethren who are rebelling against him. He asks them "How have you forgotten that the Lord is able to do ALL things?" There is no limit to the power of God, but he only does that which is according to his will and his timing. The Lord knows all things and has a wise purpose in all he does. God only does that which is good for the children of men. Also, in order for miracles to be wrought in our lives, we must have faith! Miracles only cease when faith ceases!

I love you all and hope you all remember to wear green this Thursday!

-- Pran Swen (take care)

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

The District with President Richardson

Eating straight Aloe, again - "It was just as bitter as last time." ;)

Eatin' sno-cones and soaking up the sun!

On exchange with Elder Rubio

Striking a pose with Elder Prince

The Palm Beach Zone Warriors

Elder Hansen with the other Elder Hansen

March 7, 2016 - Wo-o-oah Listen to the Music, Wo-o-oah Listen to the Music, All the Time!?

Salutations Friends, Coworkers, Associates, Neighbors, Acquaintances, Past Enemies, and Family!

Here are the highlights from the Week,

This week started out rather grand with a mission tour by Elder Dube! He came to the mission and we had a conference with all the Zones in the North and he taught us about TTIPF (pronounced ttipf) which stands for Teach, Testify, Promise Blessings, Invite and Follow up! He is a super cool guy and looks a lot taller on TV. :)

We taught Odinel (Elder Prince's Recent Convert) the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a good lesson but at the end Odinel took us out in to left-field when he started telling us about how he saw Americans on Mars and how they were speaking "Pachie" and doing business with the little guys that go "ti ti ti ti" and a man that had a thing on his chest that he wanted off. Needless to say, we were very confused. Finally after some digging he let us know that it was a show, so we asked him to bring it to us and he handed us Star Wars - A New Hope!  Elder Prince and I died laughing! It all made sense! Then Odinel told us about the 'Fire-knife' (light saber) that cuts people... Elder Prince and I couldn't keep it together!

While I was knocking doors with Elder Scutt on Thursday we saw a good sized alligator about 8 - 10 feet long in the canal so he decided it would be a good idea to mess with him. We were 5 feet away from this gator and Elder Scutt started throwing rocks at it... very dumb... it hissed at us and then swam away after Elder Scutt hit it in the head.

Later that night we OYM'd (Open Your Mouth) this guy Max and we sat down right there in the streets of Belle Glade and taught him the Restoration! He is a super smart guy and had good understanding.  On Friday, we saw the SpaceX rocket launch from Cape Canaveral! It was so cool! We even saw it staging and saw the first stage come back down to land.  Later that night I crashed my bike into a guardrail when my wheel went sideways as I was transitioning from the grass to the sidewalk... it felt real good... now I have a nice big bruise on my knee. :(  On Saturday I ate some Sugarcane! It tastes like watermelon, oddly enough.

Okay, time for my last thought:

"Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance.

Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden." (2 Nephi 26:27-28)

God hath given all men the chance to partake in salvation! None of us are forbidden from earning Exaltation!  He has given it with out price, we do not have to pay for our salvation, all men can be saved regardless of race, wealth or position, however we must all follow the commandments of God. In order to receive salvation we must perform all of the necessary ordinances and continue in righteousness until the end. Then will we be exalted on high as joint-heirs with Christ.

Love you all, stay safe, don't do drugs, and tell someone you love them!

-- Pase bon semen (have a good week)

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission
Haitian-ing the Work

Elder Hansen tries sugarcane for the first time.  

He says it tastes like watermelon!

Chatting with Frank (Elder Prince)

The poor gator that Elder Scutt threw rocks at.

I'm glad it chose to retreat into the water instead of chasing them!

Elder Hansen with his MTC comp Elder Petry

Yum, chicken!

On the plate is poul fwi, bannann peze and pikliz 

Chicken, fried plantains, and pickled cabbage

Elder Prince enjoying his Haitian dinner :) 

Working out at the house.

Of course, you wear your shades while working out ;)

February 29, 2016 - I want to ride my Bicycle, I want to ride my Bike...

Happy Leap Day everyone!

Well, I have been out for 6 months now so that is exciting.  I am just starting my sister Mission ;)

So lets get down to the nitty gritty. Belle Glade is a farm town where they grow sugar cane and that's it. Oh, and there are Alligators in the canals :)

Anyway, so this week we did a lot of finding, trying to find people to teach and prepare for baptism. We did a lot of OYM's (Open your mouth aka street contacting) and knocking! This week on Wednesday I popped my back tire... sad... and I have spent all week trying to patch it but to no avail. On Thursday we were fed by Sister Dixon and she made a delicious homemade meal of green beans, chicken, rice and cornbread. It was soooo delicious! On Saturday we went and did service for this Palestinian guy named Manny who is starting a tuxedo store and he gave us all free stuff! Then I went on an exchange with Elder Mota the Zone leader and I taught their Haitian investigator the Word of Wisdom, haha. On sunday Evela our dropped investigator randomly came to church and I had to translate Sacrament meeting into Creole, so that was pretty terrifying and exciting! 

Okay Last Thought, 2 Nephi 10:23-25 "Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved.

Wherefore, may God raise you from death by the power of the resurrection, and also from everlasting death by the power of the atonement, that ye may be received into the eternal kingdom of God, that ye may praise him through grace divine. Amen."

We should all be grateful for the wonderful gift of agency! We have the choice, to follow God, or not. So let us choose wisely and do as Jacob directs and be reconciled unto God because it is only through his Grace and the Atonement of Jesus Christ that we are saved! Therefore choose this day whom you shall serve! 

I love you guys! I hope you all have a great week :)

-- M'renmen figi ou (Love your face)

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

The new crew... Elder Scutt, Elder Prince, Elder Shreckengaust and Elder Hansen

They grow sugarcane here

Elders Shreck and Prince on their bikes

Elder Hansen and Elder Prince

These guys are goofy!

The new ride, they share it to get to town and then they bike.

He found the Blue Bus right there in his neighborhood!

It makes it feel more like home :)

February 22, 2016 - Straight Outta Belle Glade!

Hello Family and amigos!

This was a pretty exciting week! On Wednesday, I transferred to South Bay and it is awesome! We call it the Promised Land of Haitains! There are tons of Haitians here and I get lots of practice with my Creole. :) Our house is way bigger than my last apartment, and its our own house which is nice. We share a car but bike everywhere, we use the car to get to District Training in Wellington and to Belle Glade from South Bay.  Our area is all of South Bay, Clewiston, Pahokee and Belle Glade, but we only work in Belle Glade. Belle Glade/South Bay is nice! In the house we have Elder Scutt from the Bahamas and Elder Shreckengaust from St. George. My Comp is Elder Prince from Logan, Utah and we get along great! We have tons of fun together. In Belle Glade we have a Branch and it's actually pretty small, there were less than 50 people there on Sunday. It's a different experience being in a branch that is for sure. Here in Belle Glade we find tons of change on the ground, which is cool. We collect it and put it in a jar at the house. When we were biking home Saturday night, I got chased by a German Shepard, so that was a little frightening. We see alligators every day in the canals around Belle glade, they are pretty big but not huge. ;) I sent a picture of one of our dinner appointments... it was very fishy. We eat tons of stuff that I don't know what it is and everything has beans in it. ;) Other than that we have continued to try to progress the work here in South Bay Creole, knocking lots of doors. We didn't teach a lot this week but hopefully we will be able to teach and find more this coming week.

My last thought comes from the member of the High Council who spoke in our Branch, "The scriptures are like a parachute, if you never open them they'll never save you!" This is true! Just having the Book of Mormon isn't going to help us progress! As we read each day we increase our spiritual strength and increase our ability to withstand temptation!

I hope you all have a great week and love you all!

-- 

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

He's in Gator country now. He said they see them everyday... yikes!

Matthew sent this photo to us last week with the title Manje Pwason, which means "eat fish."

I asked him this week if he really had to eat this and he confirmed that once it was cooked they did eat it!  He said, "it was fishy." It was also served with beans which he despised before he left for his mission.  Now, it looks like beans are a favorite addition, especially when he's not sure what he's eating.

Their favorite new member and newest Ward Missionary, Jacques. :)

Here is the new crew; Elder Scutt, Elder Prince, Elder Hansen, and Elder Shreckengaust.

The three blind mice and Shrek?

The "cool" people in the Hollywood Ward

The new place in South Bay.  It looks like he got his flags in the mail.  

The lights are a nice touch. 

From Hollywood to South Bay/Belle Glade

February 16, 2016 - Sweethearts, South Bay, and Storms!

Hello y'all and Happy Valentine's Day!

Big news from the week is that I am transferring to South Bay and my new companion will be Elder Prince! South Bay is like the promised land of Creole so I am excited to go! Elder Murat was transferred to Fort Myers and will serving as a Zone Leader.

Because of this I will just give you the brief highlights from the week!

This week we knocked a lot and did some service. We also had Zone training on Tuesday and learned more concerning our full-time and part-time Jobs as missionaries. On Sunday Jacques was sustained as a ward missionary which is exciting! Later Jacques called us and asked us to come over to say a special prayer with him.  We thought he might want a blessing or something. But when we got there he showed us some important papers he had found. They are the deeds to some land his family owns in Haiti that he thought were lost.  They are worth a lot of money to him and his family. He was so excited that he found them that he was shadow boxing and hugging us.  He asked us to say a special prayer of thanks to Heavenly Father with him.  It was awesome! 

Also President Hoopes who is in our ward pulled us aside and let us know that we should say some goodbyes! So we did say lots of goodbyes on Sunday and yesterday. This morning our Hurricane warning siren went off so we went to our bathroom and chilled in there for a while until the storm passed. We did our personal study while we were huddled in there. The storm flooded Hollywood and knocked down tons of trees, but we are safe!

Last thought will be short, "And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.  And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ. And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, he findeth himself on the lefthand of God." (Mosiah 5:7-10)

Always remember whose name you bear.

Love you guys have a great week!

-- M renmen nou tout (I love you all)

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

Elder Hansen is going to miss these two.  Jacques just got called to be 

a ward missionary and Elder Murat is headed to Fort Myers to be a Zone Leader.

Some of the Haitian families in their ward, Getine, Rommel, Murat, & Rulls.

The Zone with President Richardson. 

I looks like someone was making them laugh!

Another round of Smash Face with the District. They really love this game!

I sent them these lips pops for Valentine's day!  I requested this picture!  

Elder Murat is such a good sport!

With the Rommel Family.

One of these things is not like the other. :)

The Storm on their last day in Hollywood bringing tornado force winds.  

They huddled in the bathroom for personal study, while the hurricane sirens were going off.

The storm blew down lots of trees and caused some flooding.

I love how Hollywood is completely in the red. Red is bad. :(

February 8, 2016 - I've been in Hollywood for 4 months & I still haven't seen the giant Hollywood Sign...

Hello Family, Friends, Relatives, Neighbors, and other people on my Email list

Well, this week can be summed up in one word, Shenanigans!

Yep, you heard it folks. First off we went to 'Steak n Shake' and there was a very loud and large woman sitting in the booth next to us. She was informed that she had been banned from 'Steak n Shake' but insisted that she owned 'Steak n Shake'. She then asked us, the four Elders, for money which of course we had none, so she called Elder Vancott, and A-hole (can I say that?) and called the rest of us "poor nerdy boys." She then continued by saying that everyone was a jerk to her because she was so fat and beautiful and that everyone should stop being so jealous. Then she said to our waitress that she shouldn't be jealous because she was big and fat too. Anyway, all in all, Shenanigans!

Then we taught James who is having his life ruled by his wife (who wears the pants) ((Can I say that either?)) so he cannot come to church and we can't come to his house, because she won't allow it, but he still reads in the Book of Mormon everyday.... AHHHHHH Shenanigans!

Then we went to the Book of Mormon Musical and handed out 53 copies of the Book of Mormon and 125 between the 2 companionship's! Whether or not they read it... who knows? But that is a lot of Liv yo! The next day we were knocking and ran into 3 Jews in a row, and were informed that this was a Jewish neighborhood. Then went to Hallandale and the first 2 doors were also Jewish...... More Shenanigans!

Then we found a Haitian family and they were astounded that I could speak creole so I got a return appointment! The mom and the daughter both commented on my butt... and the daughter touched it! Talk about Shenanigans!

Then Saturday night we saw a Porsche getting pulled over by 14 cop cars.  Sunday night while we were out knocking, every door said that they were watching the Super bowl.... so they didn't have time for us or something....

My last thought is borrowed from a friend,

"Last thought... Remember Naaman? (2 Kings 5) He's probably one of my favorite people. He was a leper and was told that there was a prophet in Samaria who could heal him. He went to Elisha the prophet and was told to wash himself in the Jordan river seven times to be healed. After he was told this, Naaman was mad. He thought the prophet should just come out and heal him, or he could at least wash in the rivers of Damascus instead of Israel. Now this is my favorite part-- Verse 13 "And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, wash, and be clean." Why is it that when we are asked to do simple things we don't want to do it, but if we were asked to do a great thing, we would? If Heavenly Father came to you and said something amazing like I want you to baptize half the world, you would do everything in your power to do it. BUT, when He asks us to read our scriptures, pray, keep the Sabbath day holy, etc. it becomes so much harder. We need to be following all of His commandments, not just the glamorous ones. We are in or we are out; we cannot be halfway." (Copy Right USU 2/2016)

Alma chapter 37 in verse 46, "O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever." 

Let us not be slothful in putting off the simple things each day that build up our Armor of God!

-- Love you all

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

Handing out copies of the Book of Mormon to people 

as they are leaving the "Book of Mormon Musical". 

Just between 2 companionships they handed out 125 books!

The Fantastic 4 - VanCott, Murat, Hansen, & Butterfield

With Elder Naea after they went on splits together. He's a Spanish speaking Elder.

Matthew thinks he looks like Uncle John!

February 1, 2016 - Well, it's Groundhog Day... again... and that must mean that we're getting rained on in Florida

So first off "hello", and secondly Happy Groundhog day.... tomorrow!

This week was another rollercoaster ride of missionary experiences and a tornado of.... well actually a tornado. Yes, there was a tornado in Ft. Lauderdale somewhere by us but it was just a little one that tore the roof off of a college and piled cars on top of each other, so everything was good there! Last P-day we went to the beach in our church clothes so everyone stared at us, so that was awesome. On Tuesday we met with James and his friend "Smiley" ( he did smile a lot)  was there and he is a Hebrew-Israelite, descendant of Moses through Aaron, yada yada yada. Anyway he was trying to bash with us and he was just really confused because he thinks that only non-white people will go to heaven and that we (well, I) was sent here "to be a scourge" to the black people. He also still lives the Law of Moses and other strange things like that. So that made us pretty heated. Then we also handed out copies of the Book of Mormon at the Book of Mormon Musical in Downtown Ft. Lauderdale. People really weren't that interested but some other elders went after the matinée on Saturday and handed out 25ish. So that's pretty awesome! We got a new investigator named Nicolette from Martinique and she was super cool, but now rejects our phone calls so she probably got Anti'd. Anyway, on Friday we got to go with Jacques to do Baptisms for the dead! He loved it and can't wait to go back. Elder Murat was able to do the baptizing for him and I got to do confirmations. It was an awesome experience! The Saturday we stayed home all day because Elder Murat was sick and has been all week so I cleaned the entire house! On Sunday we all gave talks in sacrament meeting. Mine was on becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ through service. Which brings me to my last thought.

Mosiah 2:17 "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." And Doctrine and Covenants 42:29 "If thou lovest‍ me thou shalt serve‍ me and keep‍ all my commandments."

When we serve others we show our love and commitment to God. Christ taught us "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

As we dedicate ourselves to the Gospel and serve others we lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven!

-- I love you and wish you the best!

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

Taking Jacques to the temple to do baptisms for the dead.

The Fort Lauderdale Temple

They went to the beach on P-day in their 

Missionary attire and got a lot of strange looks. :)

Rockin' the Matthew Mowhawk!

I don't know what this is, but they've made some 

kind of collage out of this poster on the wall.

Brother Diamonte took them to Taco Bell on the way home from the temple

Poor Elder Murat was sick this week :( They used the extra time to prepare 

their talks for sacrament meeting and to speak to during third hour as well.