July 24, 2017 -"...but care... for the life of the soul."

Hello All,

Things are going well down here in Key West. We are running into a lot of roadblocks but we are working through it! We weren't able to find anyone this week and it was hard to even find people to talk to. There are a lot of people that are on vacation, either visiting Key West or live here and are on vacation elsewhere, so it's a struggle but we are holding on. We are hoping that we will be able to make some progress with some of our eternal investigators here in the Branch and have a miracle right before I go home! 

This week we helped an older couple clean up their yard, which is a little different in Florida when you are working with palm trees and banana trees and using a machete! It was fun though! Another day this week we were a little low on miles so we had to bike 9 miles to an appointment and they weren't there.... so we biked 9 miles back down the Keys. It nearly killed Elder Te Hira. I think he would have preferred one of those boats from Johnny Lingo, or maybe a cow... who knows! We cover 30 miles of islands south of the Marathon branch, but have few miles, since we have to travel so far for meetings and transfers, so we bike a lot.

Anyway, it has been UNBEARABLY hot lately, it says it's only 93 degrees but it feels like a thousand... It's good though. Lots of water... and sweat...

In my studies this week I came across a couple scriptures that I would like to share, 

"And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said: What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy." (Alma 22:15) "Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full. Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the soul, and for the life of the soul." (D&C 101: 36-37)

What I love about these scriptures is that they both mention Joy. If we are willing to give up the things of the world, and care for the life of the soul, more than we care for the things of the flesh, then we will be able to have Joy, Eternally!

-- Love

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

Elder Hansen and Elder Te Hira are the Southernmost Missionaries

in the entire Continental United States! 

He said they went to a restaurant out on a pier and they looked into the water and saw a shark swim by.

That never happens in Idaho! Love the hat and the shirt!

They're closer to Cuba than the rest of Florida.

This is the map of their Branch Boundaries.

We love that it includes a bunch of uninhabited islands to the west :)

Pretty views of the ocean from just about anywhere!

The storms of Florida - these clouds are looking threatening!

July 17, 2017 -"...they began to cover... from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east."

Greetings from the land southward!

Island life is great down here in Key west! It is REALLY hot and humid here on the island and we have had a couple big storms come through, so just normal Florida Weather. 

Elder Te Hira and I are working with a couple of Eternal Investigators so hopefully we can help them progress. We have been able to meet all the members here in the Key West branch. The Branch is very glad that they have missionaries here and they give us a lot of opportunities to serve. One miracle we saw this week was an investigator named Marada who came to church. He is Cambodian and it a commander in the Marines. He has no Christian background so it has been interesting teaching him. After sacrament meeting we spent a whole hour on "What is the Godhead." It went well, he is full of faith and recognizes the spirit, but is "Just here to learn and not planning on joining." Sure Marada, we will see what happens! ;) He is really cool and we are lucky to be able to work with him. 

Finding has been going slow, but we are still moving forward!

For my last thought, one scripture that I came across this week was in Alma 15:16, "And it came to pass that Alma and Amulek, Amulek having forsaken all his gold, and silver, and his precious things, which were in the land of Ammonihah, for the word of God, he being rejected by those who were once his friends and also by his father and his kindred..." 

The thought that came to mind was, what do we really hold dear? What is most important to us? Do we hold to the things of the world more than to the iron rod or are we like Amulek who was willing and did give up everything to serve God. Amulek not only gave up all of his earthly possessions but was rejected by his own family. Do we have the conviction to do the same if called upon to do so? I hope that we would.

Love you all! 

-- 

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

Elder Te Hira from New Zealand, Australia and Utah

and Elder and Sister Roe who serve in the Marathon Branch

"...they began to cover... from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east."

Their luxury tool shed apartment!

The kitchen area

Bedroom and bathroom

July 11, 2017 - "...even to the narrow passage which led into the land southward."

Hello Everyone!

I had a pretty crazy week here in Florida. On the fourth of July we were having a great day we were getting ready to have our fourth of July party and birthday celebration and then I got a call for the assistants to the president and they told me that I was being emergency transferred to Key West the next day! So I packed up all my things so that I would be ready to drive all the way down to Key West the next day. Key west will be my last area and I will have my 16th companion. My current companion Elder Hasara will be transferring and I will be getting a new companion tomorrow! It has been a crazy week here but it looks like I will be going out with a bang on my last transfer here in Florida! The branch here is great! We live in a tiny house (a converted tool shed) right behind the Branch President's house, President Rengiil. It is really hot here and there are tourists everywhere.

Sorry I don't have a lot of time, but it is exciting to be here!

My last thought, "And now my beloved brethren, I have said these things unto you that I might awaken you to a sense of your duty to God, that ye may walk blameless before him, that ye may walk after the holy order of God, after which ye have been received. And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive. And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works."

Sometimes we need to be awakened to a sense of our duty, and evaluate ourselves to make sure that we are "humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God."

These awakenings help us remember who we really are and what this work is really about and keeps us from being lulled away into carnal security. 

-- Love

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

Elder Hansen with his new comp, Elder Hasara, 

and Elder and Sister Roe from Stone, Idaho

At transfers with Elders Christensen and Burns

All ready for the 4th of July!

Rocking their patriotic ties

July 3, 2017 - "And the brother of Jared began to be old..."

Well ladies and gentlemen, 

It has been a week for sure! Hopefully I can give you a concise update on what transpired. On Tuesday we were out of miles so we biked all over Ft. Lauderdale and it was hot.... All of our appointments fell through but we ended up teaching a guy that we knocked into named Ductan (Dictahn) and he was the first Haitian I have ever met that understood the importance of a lay ministry! It was a miracle! Then on Wednesday... We had District Training which is always fun for me :) Then after some standard missionary stuff we had something out of the ordinary happen. An investigator brought his son to mutual! Renald Pierre-Louis brought his son Jeremiah to young mens! They have only been taught the Restoration... and that was 3 weeks ago! So that was awesome! Then on Thursday we visited Jacques and then ate with Sister Chestnut and all of here crazy Grandkids! Then all of our appointments fell through again so we were knocking at 8:47 at night and we found the Etienne family! They are an older couple and Madanm Etienne's sister is living with them as well. They are the coolest family ever. We taught them on Saturday and they came to church on Sunday and we set them with a baptismal date for July 22nd (Good day right mom?) They call us angels and Madanm Etienne already chose me to baptize her. We took Jacques with us to teach them and he was talking me up I guess! Haha :)

Good times here in Ft. Laud! Sunday was a good day since we got the Etienne Family to church and that was the best birthday present I could have asked for! In other news, we got a new Branch President in the Sunrise Branch and to commemorate that (and subsequently my birthday) we had a huge Branch potluck after church and we all ate soooo much! All in all a pretty good week!

My last thought, "I would that ye would be diligent and temperate in all things." Alma 38:10

In all that we have to do as members of the church, our families and society, it is important that we have inspired priorities chosen through the lens of the gospel in order to know how and where to utilize our time. Once this is done it is of paramount importance that we are diligent but also temperate in what we do. As King Benjamin said " it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength." but this doesn't mean that we can jog or walk, we still have to run! And just like with running, the farther and faster you run, the easier it is to do so. It is the same with our own lives. It is very easy to say that we are tired and then sit down, fall down or even lay down on the job! On my mission I have met many people that have no job, sleep all day and yet say that they are tired. If we decide to do what has to be done we will be able to do it!

I hope you all enjoy your 4th of July and try not to blow up your hands with illegal fireworks!

-- Love 

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

Happy 20th Birthday, Elder Hansen!

Yay! He got all of his birthday packages! Even his honey bee tie :)

The birthday celebration before he was unexpectedly transferred to Key West!

The District

Saying "goodbye" to Elder Royal

The Krew- Elders Belnap, Royal and Pippert

He's told us about these crazy cars with the comically large wheels.

These are 34" wheels on this one. :)

June 26, 2017 - "the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me"

Hello Family,

I am going to be really quick today because we are super busy! But I have pictures so that makes up for it!

On p-day we went to the beach and played some ball! That was pretty fun but it was kinda stormy.

This week we did missionary work and found people to teach! Wooohooo! We had President Richardson's last Zone conference and it was great! Sister Richardson cried of course. In other news, my recent convert Jacques Leon from back in Hollywood is now the Ward Mission Leader in Ft. Laud 2nd ward!  And update on Jacky, he came to church and has a date for July 8th! So we will continue to work with him this week.

A few weeks ago I talked about how we found a lady named Patricia Lane for the English Sisters, well last Saturday she got Baptized and is the newest member of the Ft. Lauderdale 2nd ward!

Also to explain the title of the email, we sang a musical number in sacrament meeting, just the 4 missionaries. We sang "All Creatures of our God and King", it was interesting, haha!

Those are the highlights and here is my last thought from President Packer: 

"The flow of revelation depends on your faith. You exercise faith by causing, or by making, your mind accept or believe as truth that which you cannot, by reason alone, prove for certainty. 

The first exercising of your faith should be your acceptance of Christ and His atonement.

As you test gospel principles by believing without knowing, the Spirit will begin to teach you. Gradually your faith will be replaced with knowledge.

You will be able to discern, or to see, with spiritual eyes.

Be believing and your faith will be constantly replenished, your knowledge of the truth increased, and your testimony of the Redeemer, of the Resurrection, of the Restoration will be as “a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life.” You may then receive guidance on practical decisions in everyday life."

As we exercise faith in the Savior and in our Heavenly Father, we will qualify for direction in our daily lives!

Love you Guys!

-- Love

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

At Fort Lauderdale Beach with Elders Royal, Pippert and Belnap

Playin' ball at the beach!

June 19, 2017 - "And he shall turn ... the heart of the children to their fathers..."

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone had a happy Father's day! This week was another week of missionary work. We went out and talked to a lot of people this week and we had a fun time while we were doing it. This week we really focused with Jacky on trying to get him ready for his baptismal date on the 24th. Unfortunately, he had to work last minute on Sunday and we also ran into some commandment issues, so we will see where we go with him. This week we took Jacques Leon with us to visit some of the Less-Active members and that was fun. For those that don't know, Jacques Leon was baptized in Hollywood when I was being trained, so it is good to take him out with us. :) He wants to go knocking with us this week so we will see how that goes. It should be hilarious. This week miracle-wise we knocked into this old Haitian mommy who most of the time aren't that elect. Older Haitian women usually have their own churches and don't want to change, but this lady was named Bernita and she has been to church twice IN UTAH!! Most Haitians have no idea what or where Utah is but she has been there and been to church as well. Her son is an active member of the church over there, so we are hoping that we will be able to help her progress as well.

On Friday, we were in the biggest thunderstorm I have ever been in! The roads were all flooded in seconds and there was standing water everywhere! The lightning was right over our heads and I got soaked in the 3 seconds it took to get from the church to the car! That was an exciting experience. On the missionary work side of things, we weren't able to teach anyone this week other than Jacky and we weren't able to get anyone to church so that was too bad. One of the days this week, I forgot which, we went and saw a less-active member named Immacula. Right when we visited her we found out that they were moving so we helped them pack up their stuff in the pouring rain. That was fun... Then on Sunday night we went and visited them again because her husband is not a member. So we stopped by and low and behold, she made us food! This was the first time I had Haitian food since I left the Haitian Ward in Palm Beach! It was super good and we were very full! Then we talked with the husband named Makenz and we got to know him and talked about basketball. It was a good time. Hopefully we will be able to help him get baptized!

That was about it for the week, time for a borrowed last thought for Father's Day:

It's called "The Truth about Dads" on LDS.org

https://www.lds.org/blog/the-truth-about-dads

I hope you guys have a great week!

-- Love

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

The FFLM North Haitianaries

Doing some studies with the "revelation cap" on

June 12, 2017 - "...the Lord shall send thunder and rain..."

Hey y'all,

This was a pretty good week! We have had so much rain it has been unbelievable! There was lots of flooding all over south Florida. We almost gathered up all the animals into an Ark, but fortunately, the rain stopped and sun came out. We were able to see some cool miracles. Right before District Training on Tuesday, we went out and knocked for the 15 minutes that we had despite the pouring rain. We only knocked 4 doors but we found Patricia who loved the prayer and ended up coming to church! The Ft. Laud English Sister's are teaching her and she is excited about the restored gospel! Also, we were sitting in our second sacrament meeting on Sunday in the Sunrise Branch and we had no one committed to church, but miraculously, Chumly showed up! A Haitian guy that we met 2 weeks ago on a district knocking blitz in the Sunrise Sister's area! In addition to Chumly, Jacky came to church and he loved it! He was the one that went to church many times back in the Dominican Republic! In other news for the week, half of our ward is moving in the next three weeks so that will be an adventure! I also went on exchange with the Zone Leaders so that was a fun reversal of roles! Other than that it was a pretty normal week. We have been knocking doors, talking to Haitians and getting soaked in the rain!

My last thought, "From the newest ordained deacon to the most senior high priest, we all have lists of what we could and should do in our priesthood responsibilities. The what is important in our work, and we need to attend to it. But it is in the why of priesthood service that we discover the fire, passion, and power of the priesthood. The what of priesthood service teaches us what to do. The why inspires our souls. The what informs, but the why transforms."

All of us know more or less, what we should do, and for the most part we do it, but it is so eternally important to ask ourselves why? Why do I go to church? Why do I pay tithing? Why do I do home teaching? The list is endless. If we don't know why we are doing something, then that means we aren't doing it for the right reason. I invite all of you to ask yourselves why you do what you do. I promise that the Spirit will inspire you and help you transform your life!

-- Love

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

Just a glimpse of the rain

Elder Widney, my Zone Leader

"White people food"

June 5, 2017 - Be strong and of a good courage, for the Lord thy God, will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Hello Peeps!

This week has been a roller coaster! So I will give you mostly the ups and not just the downs. So, this week I have been sick so that has thrown a wrench into the work. We went out everyday though! One miracle we saw this week was that while we were search for a family with some very vague directions that the previous Elders left us, we finally came to a point where we were completely lost and we were out of miles so we were biking. When we finally stopped and realized that we had no idea where we were going we realized that we were in front of a Haitian looking house, so we decided to knock. Jacky opened up and we were able to teach him and set him with a baptismal date! We had District Training on Wednesday and it went really great! Then since it was the last day of the month we were on bikes so we biked around and knocked trying to find where all the Haitians are in our area. We were able to find some spots but Elder Royal got a flat tire and we had no patches with us so we had to walk home... Then on Thursday we knocked some more and then got picked up by a random Less Active member that took us to a really great chicken place in the middle of Wilton Manors and if you want to know what Wilton Manors is famous for you can gGoogle it if you want, haha... :) Anyway, they were a super weird family, like really weird, but they were nice and dinner was good! Then we knocked some more. On Friday, I went on exchange into the Spanish area with Elder Pippert and everything fell through so we biked and knocked all day, in the rain!

Then on Sunday we unfortunately weren't able to get any investigators to sacrament, but we are beginning to figure out our way around in this new area so hopefully this upcoming week will bring some newfound success!

One last funny story, we were biking on Wednesday and Elder Royal was leading the way and I looked down for some reason, then when I looked up again I saw one of the cables used to stabilize power poles, you know the ones with the yellow plastic thing on them, well it was sticking up out of the middle of the sidewalk and I hit it with my right shoulder and flew off my bike spinning sideways doing a 360 and landed on my butt with my feet in front of me facing the same direction I was going. So that was pretty funny. I'm sure the people that drove by had a funny story to tell when they got home!

Time for my last thought:

Something that I was thinking about this last week was how often we forget who we really are! We get so caught up in the busyness of life that we forget that we are children of Heavenly Father who watches out for us and is there to help us. He promised Alma and his people, "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions." (Mosiah 24:14) God did not take away their burdens but he made it possible for them to bear it. If he took away our struggles there would be no growth. Through Jesus Christ we can overcome!

--Love

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

The people I live with Elders Pippert, Belnap and Royal

(We are loving the red Christmas tie in June)

May 30, 2017 - "cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you"

Hello Friends and Family!

This week was a crazy busy week with transfers and whitewashing and all the other things going on! So, to give you all an update on what is going on here, I am in the Ft. Laud 2nd Ward and in the Sunrise Branch. We cover those two units which means that we go to church twice on Sunday, so that is fun. The wards are both pretty small but there are Haitians in both which is good. We were able to find some new investigators this week, one of whom is names Hosanna and she came to church and accepted a baptismal date for the 17th. Unfortunately, yesterday she told us that she was too old to be baptized again and was being really stubborn so we had to drop her....

In other news, let me tell you about my konpanyon, his name is Elder Royal and he is from Toronto, Canada! He is a convert to the church and moved from Potoprens, Haiti 5 years ago. We speak in Creole most of the day because I have found that is more effective. This is his second area and he was trained in Belle Glade by Elder Lewis, if you guys remember him from about a year ago.

Everything is going well here, we were able to teach a guy named Pierre yesterday and he seemed pretty interested in the Church so we will see where that goes.

My last thought, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts." (Jacob 6:6) 

This made me think of as our part of being disciples we need to reciprocate God's love for us. He is always there for us, His interest is always our betterment and He wants to give us everything He has! But how often do we "cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you"?  It is our job to be as faithful as God is, to love him as he loves us and to give all we have to him so that we can receive of his fullness.

I hope you all have a great week!

-- Lanmou (Love)

Elder Hansen

Florida, Fort Lauderdale Mission

Haitian-ing the Work

Saying goodbye to Elder Child

My District

With Elder Royal and our new 2017 Chevy Malibu