Hei taas!
Zone conference in Oulu this week meant a lot more travel (I'm really starting to like traveling on trains), but the Lord really blessed our time while we were actually here this week.
Monday:
We started off the week right with a lot of finding and teaching, even in only the few hours of work time on P-Day. As we were on our way back home for the night, a stern impression came to find just one more person that night. So I called back to my companion to look left as we came to an intersection. I would look right, and between us, I knew we could probably see someone to talk to. As it turns out, to the left, standing outside her apartment building was a young woman about twenty. So we rode over and talked to her. She was waiting for a friend to come pick her up, so in that short time we pulled out the Book of Mormon and quickly explained our message. Her friend pulled up on her scooter just as we finished testifying of the Book of Mormon's impact in our lives. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.
Tuesday:
We had a couple of appointments with people we've had a tough time getting a hold of. The first was a Vietnamese man, who has consistently forgotten about our appointments despite our best efforts to remind him. This time, we waited at the church for five minutes and when he didn't come, we gave up and left. Just as we arrived home (five minute bike ride from the church) he called and told us he was on his way, but that he was having trouble finding the church. So we hustled back over, helped him to find it, and had a wonderful discussion with him. He's Christian, but somehow just doesn't have a great grasp on how the Atonement truly applies at a personal level. He's dealt with a lot of discouragement in his life, and made a lot of decisions that he's not happy about. We set aside our plans for teaching the Restoration and focused in on his needs. He completely changed. He started asking questions and trying to find truth. He left with the Book of Mormon, promising to read it. He speaks Swedish, and we really believe he could be a great strength to this branch.
The second was with an African lady who's really funny. When we showed up, she was like, "oh hey, yeah I'm just giving the baby a bath." So we sat in her house for fifteen minutes while we waited for her to finish giving him a bath, then lotion, oil, powder, and clothe him. Our member was a champ, though. Just sat there patiently the whole time, and even made a joke with the investigator about how he has six kids and completely understands. Gotta love members. the actual teaching part went really well, except that we had run out of English Book of Mormons, and thus had none to give her. Yeah, E missionaries. (baseball reference anyone?). But she still somehow agreed to let us come back.
Wednesday:
Kinda turned into a hectic day, just dashing all over the city trying to visit potentials before we left for zone conference. We ended up finding a good chance to serve some members in the evening though, so it ended on a high note.
Thursday:
More service for the members, then train to Oulu.
Friday:
Ultimate frisbee for exercise in the morning. So great. It's been forever since I've gotten to play. BOOM! I did take a pretty good knock to the head, though, which gave me a bad headache the rest of the day, but stuff happens. Plus I got a surprise package from the Fishers, so it sorta all evens out :)
Zone conferences with President Rawlings are great. I always leave with so many things I can do better. Honestly, it hurts a little bit, because I always know I have to repent and do so much better, and that involves a lot of personal change. This gospel truly was meant to "afflict the comfortable." But as long as I actually follow through and do it, I know things will work out for the better and I'll be happier in the long run.
Saturday:
6:30 am train back to Jakobstad. Yaaaayyyyyy......not. I actually slept better on the train than I did in the Oulu chapel though. Saturday was packed with appointments, one of them being the African lady we had promised to give a Book of Mormon to. The problem was, we still didn't have a Book of Mormon in English! So, we started to just search everywhere. Every closet, drawer, and shelf, under the beds, in the bathroom, whatever. No dice. We called our BML to see if he might have one, but he didn't answer. So, a bit upset with myself, I sat down to just wait it out, and opened up my package. Inside was a note, signed by all the Laurels at home. They had thrown in some candy too, which is great because my candy drawer has just run out (yes, Mom, I'm sorry but I do have a candy drawer...). Then, at the bottom of the box, I saw something that made my heart stop. Still partially concealed by packing peanuts lay a small, familiar-looking blue book. The Book of Mormon. In English. Ladies and Gentleman, no magician or work of man can rival the mysteries and miracles of our loving Father in Heaven. I no longer believe in coincidence. Unfortunately, the African lady bailed on us, but I took the miracle for what it was and gave thanks to God.
That afternoon we stopped by a potential that we've felt good about a number of times, but every time we go he's out of the house. So this time, when he wasn't home, we thought to ourselves, "why are we even here?" We had already tracted that entire building, but we decided to just knock on a few in there anyway. The door immediately to our potentials' left was our first door. A man answered, and as soon as he heard we were representatives from a church, he let us in. I'm always a bit skeptical about anything that easy, but once we started talking, his sincerity and faith in Chirst were so apparent. He is here from Romania, trying to make a better life for his wife and one year old son, who also live here. His Swedish was about as good as mine, so I was able to teach him most of the first lesson. He happily agreed to let us come back the next day and teach him more. He said our closing prayer. VERY INTERESTING. He made us all stand up and then essentially shouted his prayer to Jesus. Ok, so there's a little work to do. But hey, I've seen worse.
Sunday:
We went back to the Romanian, B. He was really excited for us. We taught him about the Restoration. He's Pentecostal, which I'm pretty sure is the dominant religion in his country, but when I taught him about Christ establishing his church, he wanted to know so badly why we had so many churches. We explained the apostasy and the role of Jospeh Smith in the Restoration. He finally asked us, "So what's the name of your church anyway?" We said this is the Church of Jesus Christ. He thought about that for a second. Then, he looked right at me and said, in English, "I'm in." He now has a baptismal date for June 30. Please pray for him and his wife to be baptized on that date.
Later, we met with that part member family and our investigator, M. It had been a while since we had met with him. We started by following up on his reading in the Book of Mormon, planning to transition to baptism right away. As we talked, though, it seemed apparent that he wasn't reading the Book of Mormon to gain a testimony, more that he felt that if he gained enough information from it, he would eventually come to know it was true. We disregarded our original plan and zeroed in on that one point. We taught him how vital the Book of Mormon is as a whole, and that we must ask Heavenly Father if the Book itself is true, not only things inside it. I told him that the Book of Mormon gives us only two options: either it is true, or it is not. It cannot be more simple than that. He thought about that for a long time afterwards. We committed him to pray that night and ask directly, if the Book of Mormon was true. we will be going back tonight to follow up. This could be his time. The Lord's hand is at work here.
I love you all so very much. Thank you for all your prayers and support.
Elder Hansen
Monday, May 21, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Busy P-Day
Just a short email from McKay this morning, since it sounds like they didn't have much time, and we just spoke to him yesterday. For a quick video segment from the call, scroll down to yesterday's post.
Here's today's email:
No hei,
We're in a bit of a hurry today because we have a TON off stuff to get done today. There's so much we need to get back in order in our apartment. Being gone for the better part of a week takes a lot out of us -- I guess you could say today is a spring cleaning day.
The members here were almost as excited as we were for us to call home, as you noticed from the fact that they kept coming in to listen. I take it as a sign that they really like us and are invested in us. We appreciate so much all the members here do for us. They all asked us afterwards what was going on in our families and what kinds of crazy stories we told about the Finns.
One really funny story from last week that I forgot to mention in the skype call. We knocked a door and a younger looking girl answered, around 17-18 years old. Very typical teenager. Elder D gave her our message in the same wonderful way he always does: very excited and enthusiastic. I thought it went great! But, unfortunately, she wasn't interested. She did say we could come back, though, and that her boyfriend might be interested. As we walked away from the door, we could hear her talking fairly loudly on the phone to a friend about the two weird Mormons who had just knocked her door, and rather sarcastically mocked our "big eyes and big smile." Elder D and I just laughed. That's right, we do smile big. Because we're happy. We have no reason to be ashamed just because our message sounds cheesy or doesn't seem real or isn't popular. It's true. I am not ashamed at all to say that I know it is true. Why should I worry what others think? Lasting joy and happiness are not fairy tale ideas. It is not naivete to believe that God exists and that he loves us. The beauty of the message of the Restoration is that it invites all people to come unto Christ and receive incomprehensible, yet still perfectly tangible, literal, blessings from a loving Father in Heaven. As science continues to prove, almost daily, sometimes what's impossible becomes possible just by shifting our perspective and being willing to try it a different way.
OK, off the soapbox now. Love you all so much. It was so awesome to talk to you yesterday. Have a great week.
McKay
Here's today's email:
No hei,
We're in a bit of a hurry today because we have a TON off stuff to get done today. There's so much we need to get back in order in our apartment. Being gone for the better part of a week takes a lot out of us -- I guess you could say today is a spring cleaning day.
The members here were almost as excited as we were for us to call home, as you noticed from the fact that they kept coming in to listen. I take it as a sign that they really like us and are invested in us. We appreciate so much all the members here do for us. They all asked us afterwards what was going on in our families and what kinds of crazy stories we told about the Finns.
One really funny story from last week that I forgot to mention in the skype call. We knocked a door and a younger looking girl answered, around 17-18 years old. Very typical teenager. Elder D gave her our message in the same wonderful way he always does: very excited and enthusiastic. I thought it went great! But, unfortunately, she wasn't interested. She did say we could come back, though, and that her boyfriend might be interested. As we walked away from the door, we could hear her talking fairly loudly on the phone to a friend about the two weird Mormons who had just knocked her door, and rather sarcastically mocked our "big eyes and big smile." Elder D and I just laughed. That's right, we do smile big. Because we're happy. We have no reason to be ashamed just because our message sounds cheesy or doesn't seem real or isn't popular. It's true. I am not ashamed at all to say that I know it is true. Why should I worry what others think? Lasting joy and happiness are not fairy tale ideas. It is not naivete to believe that God exists and that he loves us. The beauty of the message of the Restoration is that it invites all people to come unto Christ and receive incomprehensible, yet still perfectly tangible, literal, blessings from a loving Father in Heaven. As science continues to prove, almost daily, sometimes what's impossible becomes possible just by shifting our perspective and being willing to try it a different way.
OK, off the soapbox now. Love you all so much. It was so awesome to talk to you yesterday. Have a great week.
McKay
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Mother's Day Call
We had a great Skype call with McKay this morning - bright and early at 6:00 am. The branch president (who is seen in the video below) was kind enough to invite them over for dinner and to use the computer. We heard him speak in both Finnish and Swedish (which was close enough to Danish that Erik could understand).
He shared the following, from the Mother's Day talk he gave in Church today.
He told us that he loves serving in Pietarsaari - he would stay there his entire mission if he could. Wonderful members, a beautiful area, and the work is going well. He thinks he'll be there at least 2-3 more months.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Happy May Day (late), Mother's Day (early) and Anniversary Mom and Dad (right on time)
no hei,
This week was full of so many miracles I need to be grateful for. Unfortunately, some of them just haven't quite come to full fruition as of right now, but we remain confident that as we rely on the Spirit we will one day see the blessings come to the lives of these people.
Our branch has reached out in love to fellowship a foreign family that lives in the same building as a family in the ward. Their love has led to a desire of a few of the family members to learn more of the gospel. We had the opportunity to teach one couple in the family this week and, although the entire lesson had to be taught through a translator, the Spirit touched us all. This man found answers to many of his questions, all of which relate to the message of the restoration. The Questions of the Soul really are out there in people's hearts and minds. In addition to teaching, the branch has helped this poor family temporally. Friday, we had the opportunity to go put together a bed that members had donated to the family so that the five children who live in the home would have a better place to sleep at night. There was a warmth that filled all our hearts in seeing the wonderful joy of those children as they rolled and jumped on this new bed. Christ-like service and love can and will fill the entire world with this kind of joy. It is the only thing that truly can conquer all barriers.
We also had the opportunity to contact a referral this week that we've been holding on to idly for two months. We've been praying for the wife in this couple to have a successful recovery from her lung transplant surgery, which happened in such a miraculous way as to really strengthen her already strong faith in God. We been praying for them for all this time, but had never felt right about when or how to contact them. Friday night, during our planning meeting, the Spirit told me, "Now is the time." It was a feeling so strong that I could not ignore it. So the next day we biked nearly five kilometers, in the rain, to try to contact these people. Needless to say, during that entire bike ride I was questioning the purpose and validity of that prompting. But eventually, we arrived. We knocked on their door, explained who we were, and explained how we had been praying for them with their friends. We then told them how their friends had suggested we come by and offer to serve them, thinking it must be difficult to continue life as normal with all the stress of major surgery and recovery. They replied that there wasn't much we could do for them right then, so I simply asked if we could come back the next day and share a message about families. They said of course! We met and talked with them about the Book of Mormon (turns out he had actually been meaning to talk to his friend, our Branch Mission Leader, about the Book) and how it blesses families. It was a wonderful discussion, but unfortunately they decided that meeting with us isn't necessary right now and said they would call. It hurt, but I know we followed the promptings of the Spirit, so I have to believe that we acted right and we simply need to wait for the Lord's timing.
Another miracle we saw was with our Chinese investigator, Bobby. He loves the church, but for the first time this Sunday he realized that the Holy Ghost can speak to him in Chinese! I was shocked. He has investigated for over a year now, been taught all the lessons, been with us in church, read the Book of Mormon in Chinese, and still somehow had gone without the knowledge that Heavenly Father understands all the languages his children speak. There was so much joy as that realization hit him.
In other news, I bore my testimony in Swedish in testimony meeting yesterday. I was sitting there feeling like maybe I could, but by the end of the meeting I still hadn't so I decided to just sit back comfortably. Just them I made eye contact with our BML and he motioned with his head for me to go up. So I did. It wasn't perfect Swedish and I didn't say anything too special, just a really simple testimony. But at the same time I had a small amount of only-slightly-justifiable-righteous pride at doing it in a third language. Feel free to judge me on that one.
Can't wait for next Sunday! We've set up time to Skype from a member's computer!! So excited to talk to you!
Love as always,
Elder Hansen
This week was full of so many miracles I need to be grateful for. Unfortunately, some of them just haven't quite come to full fruition as of right now, but we remain confident that as we rely on the Spirit we will one day see the blessings come to the lives of these people.
Our branch has reached out in love to fellowship a foreign family that lives in the same building as a family in the ward. Their love has led to a desire of a few of the family members to learn more of the gospel. We had the opportunity to teach one couple in the family this week and, although the entire lesson had to be taught through a translator, the Spirit touched us all. This man found answers to many of his questions, all of which relate to the message of the restoration. The Questions of the Soul really are out there in people's hearts and minds. In addition to teaching, the branch has helped this poor family temporally. Friday, we had the opportunity to go put together a bed that members had donated to the family so that the five children who live in the home would have a better place to sleep at night. There was a warmth that filled all our hearts in seeing the wonderful joy of those children as they rolled and jumped on this new bed. Christ-like service and love can and will fill the entire world with this kind of joy. It is the only thing that truly can conquer all barriers.
We also had the opportunity to contact a referral this week that we've been holding on to idly for two months. We've been praying for the wife in this couple to have a successful recovery from her lung transplant surgery, which happened in such a miraculous way as to really strengthen her already strong faith in God. We been praying for them for all this time, but had never felt right about when or how to contact them. Friday night, during our planning meeting, the Spirit told me, "Now is the time." It was a feeling so strong that I could not ignore it. So the next day we biked nearly five kilometers, in the rain, to try to contact these people. Needless to say, during that entire bike ride I was questioning the purpose and validity of that prompting. But eventually, we arrived. We knocked on their door, explained who we were, and explained how we had been praying for them with their friends. We then told them how their friends had suggested we come by and offer to serve them, thinking it must be difficult to continue life as normal with all the stress of major surgery and recovery. They replied that there wasn't much we could do for them right then, so I simply asked if we could come back the next day and share a message about families. They said of course! We met and talked with them about the Book of Mormon (turns out he had actually been meaning to talk to his friend, our Branch Mission Leader, about the Book) and how it blesses families. It was a wonderful discussion, but unfortunately they decided that meeting with us isn't necessary right now and said they would call. It hurt, but I know we followed the promptings of the Spirit, so I have to believe that we acted right and we simply need to wait for the Lord's timing.
Another miracle we saw was with our Chinese investigator, Bobby. He loves the church, but for the first time this Sunday he realized that the Holy Ghost can speak to him in Chinese! I was shocked. He has investigated for over a year now, been taught all the lessons, been with us in church, read the Book of Mormon in Chinese, and still somehow had gone without the knowledge that Heavenly Father understands all the languages his children speak. There was so much joy as that realization hit him.
In other news, I bore my testimony in Swedish in testimony meeting yesterday. I was sitting there feeling like maybe I could, but by the end of the meeting I still hadn't so I decided to just sit back comfortably. Just them I made eye contact with our BML and he motioned with his head for me to go up. So I did. It wasn't perfect Swedish and I didn't say anything too special, just a really simple testimony. But at the same time I had a small amount of only-slightly-justifiable-righteous pride at doing it in a third language. Feel free to judge me on that one.
Can't wait for next Sunday! We've set up time to Skype from a member's computer!! So excited to talk to you!
Love as always,
Elder Hansen
Monday, April 30, 2012
Terve taas!
Rakkaat vanhemmat, sisarukset, ja ystävät,
[Good to see you! My dear parents, siblings, and friends]
My brain feels completely fried this morning, and I'm not really sure why. It might be because the sun has been really rude this week and has started to come through my window at 4:30 am instead of politely waiting behind the clouds til the time we're supposed to wake up. We've really worked hard this week, though. We had a wonderful District Meeting here in Pietarsaari on Wednesday in which we discussed truly caring for people. In particular, we talked about the way we speak to each person we try to share the gospel with each day. How do we think about them? How do we take into account their circumstances, their emotions? We cannot see everything Heavenly Father has potentially done to prepare this person to receive the gospel. So, if we were to think about every single one as THE ONE, how would we talk to them differently? It proved to be a good kick in the pants for yours truly. I've always wanted to err on the side of not worrying so much about what I say, and trust that Heavenly Father will make up the difference when I don't say everything perfectly, but really, it's so much more important that we really give our very best to each person, because every single one could literally be the one we've been praying for. Caring so much, loving so much, truly pouring yourself into everything you do, takes a lot more energy and focus. Makes me wonder how Heavenly Father feels about us. "I put you right there for that reason, why can't you see it?" "Wait, you just asked me for this and now you won't take it? What's wrong with you?!" Ok, perhaps a slightly irreverent tone for our Heavenly Father to use, but you get the point. Thinking about others strengthens my faith because I know this is how my Heavenly Father feels about me every day.
Monday:
Everyone bailed on us. Three appointments in a row. It's disappointing, but as you all know I need to learn to be more patient, so I think this is just one of His ways to teach it to me. Gotta have back-up plans.
Tuesday:
I taught my first full lesson all in Swedish, all by myself. I had a headache afterwards. It was one of the Bulgarians who came to church five or six weeks ago. We never got his address, so we haven't been able to find him, but we ended up just tracting into him. He's really cool, but my Swedish might even be better than his. He really wants to know why we drink water instead of wine in the ordinance of the Sacrament, which was a perfect way to lead into a discussion of the Restoration.
Wednesday:
Above mentioned District Meeting, lunch afterwards, and then splits with Vaasa. Elder B and I, after having had a remarkably bad day in terms of finding people, finally found a man tracting. We really focused the whole day on finding people with the idea that this one could be prepared, so before this man opened his door, we were ready for him. He told us he really doubts if God is even there, and that's why he left the Lutheran church this week. He assumed that that meant we wouldn't want to talk to him anymore. But we ignored his apparent disinterest and testified that we had come to know that God exists through prayer. He said he wondered why we didn't see more miracles in this world. I told him that in my mind, any one of us having the right and the power to speak to the Everlasting Creator of the Universe at any moment, on any day, in any situation, was the among the greatest miracles I have ever seen. the smallest, shortest, simplest prayer, when offered sincerely, truly is a miracle. It has blessed my life so much. We continued and showed him Moroni 10:3-5, in which any one can know that this book is true, and that God still speaks to men. He was blown away. He told us what a great promise that was to him. He gladly took the Book of Mormon and agreed to read. Unfortunately, he bailed on our appointment and we haven't been able to make contact with him since, but that simple conversation at the door made me realize how much our attitude and expectations about each person can change the outcome dramatically.
Thursday:
Missionary work.
Friday:
We made it out to Munsala again. A's little three year old daughter was the cutest thing ever. When we came in, she got shy and ran to hide behind the couch. A said she'd been talking about me all day. Yes, my best friend in this branch is a three year old girl who I can barely communicate with. What's the big deal? After I came and "found" her behind the couch, everything went as normal. She disappeared into the back room for a second and came trotting back out with the family cat (which is about as big as she is!) in both arms, so she could show Elder D. Then, after that, she disappears again, and comes back out with a kitten! Apparently their cat just had kittens, or as this little girl calls them, "Kissy babies." Elder D and I still haven't stopped laughing about that. She's so funny.
Our message to A was that God is with her always. We read from 2 Kings where Elisha tells his servant, "Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them" I love that story and the message it holds to anyone who feels lost in trying to simply do what's right. No matter what, if we do what's right, He will be on our side, and God plus anyone else is always a majority. It was a well needed message for her. T stayed upstairs, but he at least gave us a ride home, so we got to talk a little bit.
Saturday:
See Thursday
Sunday:
Awesome talks about families in sacrament meeting. I got to translate again, which was fun, but one of the microphones kept cutting out, so when I couldn't understand the Swedish and I couldn't hear the Finnish, I just either made something up or had to whisper into the translator, "Sorry, guys, just didn't get that part." I felt really bad. But, they were all very appreciative afterwards. We had a dinner appointment after church that's about a twenty minute bike ride away and takes us past the really awful smelling factory just outside the city. On the way back, we decided to go home by a different route, through the woods, so we wouldn't have to pass the factory again. Both the best and worst decision of my mission so far. The path through the woods was nothing but a swamp. There were parts we had to stop and just walk the bikes through because it was just too thick to bike in. We forded a few small streams, trying not to sink in because the banks we had to walk on were only about three inches thick and would crumble if we weren't fast enough, dragging our bikes through the water along with us. Then we got to a part where we literally had to ride our bikes through the water, and we had to ride fast, because if not we would get stuck with nowhere to stand, and fall right in the water. Not gonna lie, I felt a bit like Indiana Jones the whole time. I'm just glad Finland has no snakes. Eventually, we found the straight and narrow path that led to eternal joy and happiness in the form of a solid bike path and made our way home. I love being a missionary.
Well, that's all for now. Have a great week everybody.
Love,
Elder Hansen
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Spring!
It's almost, kinda, barely, officially Spring here! Oh wait.....the rain outside just turned to snow....nevermind. Back to January.
Hey everybody,
Ok, so actually it's beautiful outside right now. I can't believe how much sun we've had the past couple of days. It's still a bit chilly, I'm still wearing a scarf most days, but that's mostly just to block the wind while we bike. Elder D LOVES biking, so we basically bike everywhere now, even when it might be more effective to walk. But that's just my opinion.
Monday, I had a really wonderful experience at a less-active's home. Elder L and I went to just share a short spiritual message with this family who he had spent a great deal of time working with. We thought it would be best just to share our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and how it's helped us. That's the message we share, with some variation based on circumstances and the Spirit, with every less-active - The Book of Mormon blesses us and our families. If they get back into the Book of Mormon and receive again the witness they once had, no other concern really matters. That is the power of this book and the plan through which it was brought forth. I took the chance to talk about 2 Nephi 31:20 - the scripture that has become my family's motto, and how that has united us so much. At the end of the lesson, this less-active mother talked about how wonderful it was that our families both seemed to be so strong and faithful, and that it rarely, if ever, felt that way in her home. We bore testimony of how the Book of Mormon had been the center of our families for so long, and that it was a key to being happier together. We then committed this couple to read the Book of Mormon together every day. We'll see this week, hopefully, how it's been going.
Elder D and I had a great first week together overall. It got off to an almost completely hassle-free start with only one crisis at the train station. Elder L got on the train fine, but Elder D had a bit of trouble getting his bike off, and the train people weren't very happy about the 30 second delay. Sorreeeeeee. Sheesh. I did get to give him a nice welcome to P-Town dinner that night though, with my own chicken alfredo from scratch (yeeeppp, don't even use a recipe anymore).
One of the best pieces of advice Elder L gave me before he left was: "Don't stress." I really learned a lot about how to do that this week. One night, I was trying to come up with a good plan for what to do the next day. I was racking my brain forever, but nothing came. I prayed, nothing came. So finally, a little frustrated, I just started writing down ideas in my planner. Tract here. Tract there. Visit this person. Visit this member. etc. Then it suddenly hit me. Like a slap right to the face it was so obvious what we were supposed to do! So I wrote it down. I prayed that night for specific driection about how to conduct that appointment with this member so we could review with her the needs of the people we had been jointly praying for. Everything became very clear, and the next day everything went smoother and better than we had planned.
The next day I had another experience similar to the one above. We were walking from one place to another, with a decent plan, but perhaps not the right one, because my heart just wasn't in it. I prayed in my mind the entire walk to find a better thing to do. Then, out of nowhere, the answer came again in the same way! It was wonderful. We went to visit another member who lived not too far from where we were, and with whom we had been praying for the same people as in the story above. She happened to pull into her driveway JUST as we walked up to her home (which is perfect timing because she lives alone and we can't go inside without another man but that's not a rule most missionaries have followed in the past so we always have to explain it over and over to members and it's a bit of a distraction at the door sometimes). We had a brief discussion with her about how we could help these people, and out of just a five minute discussion came the plan to invite them all over for FHE at this member's home so they could feel the Spirit again. We volunteered to share a spiritual thought as part of the FHE. As we were leaving, she mentioned another friend of her's that we could pray for, and she ended up bringing that friend to church this past Sunday!
To sum up, the past two stories have really helped me to realize that we cannot ever force the Spirit. It will come when we are ready and open. Stress always inhibits the Spirit, so don't stress! Also, at least for me, the Spirit typically speaks when I'm in motion, not just waiting around for the answer to be given and for every detail to be set in place.
Okay, to be honest, if any of that sounds like it has a slightly more serious tone, it's because I try to write as many of the success stories in my email as possible in such a way that I can just copy and paste it into my letter to President and I don't have to spend time re-typing stuff. Lazy, right?
Here's the fun part of this week. We got locked out of our apartment. Bummer! Wait? how is that fun? All that means is a bunch of embarrassing phone calls to get someone to come open the door, and a couple hours wait to be able to get in. Unless you do it my way. We went outside and found a decent looking stick. I came back in and shoved it through the mail slot in our door, then managed to lever the stick into position to pop the handle and pry open the door. I felt pretty proud of myself, especially because I stayed calm the whole time. It did hurt a little bit, though. The mail slots have these teeth on the inside designed to essentially prevent people from doing, um, exactly what I did....yeah. So to get the stick into the right position and rotate it, I kinda just had to bite the bullet and man up to the pain, but really besides some scratches and a small amount of swelling it wasn't really that bad.
We also had a great chance to serve some people this week. They were just out raking leaves in front of their home, so we offered to help. We had a great time chatting with them, and, even though they weren't interested in our message, they thanked us for the help and said it "warmed their hearts to see two young men who are just so good." Those are the moments that make me feel like a true representative of our Savior.
Love you all so much. Have an awesome week. Pitäkää hauskaa! [Have fun!]
Vanhin Hansen
Hey everybody,
Ok, so actually it's beautiful outside right now. I can't believe how much sun we've had the past couple of days. It's still a bit chilly, I'm still wearing a scarf most days, but that's mostly just to block the wind while we bike. Elder D LOVES biking, so we basically bike everywhere now, even when it might be more effective to walk. But that's just my opinion.
Monday, I had a really wonderful experience at a less-active's home. Elder L and I went to just share a short spiritual message with this family who he had spent a great deal of time working with. We thought it would be best just to share our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and how it's helped us. That's the message we share, with some variation based on circumstances and the Spirit, with every less-active - The Book of Mormon blesses us and our families. If they get back into the Book of Mormon and receive again the witness they once had, no other concern really matters. That is the power of this book and the plan through which it was brought forth. I took the chance to talk about 2 Nephi 31:20 - the scripture that has become my family's motto, and how that has united us so much. At the end of the lesson, this less-active mother talked about how wonderful it was that our families both seemed to be so strong and faithful, and that it rarely, if ever, felt that way in her home. We bore testimony of how the Book of Mormon had been the center of our families for so long, and that it was a key to being happier together. We then committed this couple to read the Book of Mormon together every day. We'll see this week, hopefully, how it's been going.
Elder D and I had a great first week together overall. It got off to an almost completely hassle-free start with only one crisis at the train station. Elder L got on the train fine, but Elder D had a bit of trouble getting his bike off, and the train people weren't very happy about the 30 second delay. Sorreeeeeee. Sheesh. I did get to give him a nice welcome to P-Town dinner that night though, with my own chicken alfredo from scratch (yeeeppp, don't even use a recipe anymore).
One of the best pieces of advice Elder L gave me before he left was: "Don't stress." I really learned a lot about how to do that this week. One night, I was trying to come up with a good plan for what to do the next day. I was racking my brain forever, but nothing came. I prayed, nothing came. So finally, a little frustrated, I just started writing down ideas in my planner. Tract here. Tract there. Visit this person. Visit this member. etc. Then it suddenly hit me. Like a slap right to the face it was so obvious what we were supposed to do! So I wrote it down. I prayed that night for specific driection about how to conduct that appointment with this member so we could review with her the needs of the people we had been jointly praying for. Everything became very clear, and the next day everything went smoother and better than we had planned.
The next day I had another experience similar to the one above. We were walking from one place to another, with a decent plan, but perhaps not the right one, because my heart just wasn't in it. I prayed in my mind the entire walk to find a better thing to do. Then, out of nowhere, the answer came again in the same way! It was wonderful. We went to visit another member who lived not too far from where we were, and with whom we had been praying for the same people as in the story above. She happened to pull into her driveway JUST as we walked up to her home (which is perfect timing because she lives alone and we can't go inside without another man but that's not a rule most missionaries have followed in the past so we always have to explain it over and over to members and it's a bit of a distraction at the door sometimes). We had a brief discussion with her about how we could help these people, and out of just a five minute discussion came the plan to invite them all over for FHE at this member's home so they could feel the Spirit again. We volunteered to share a spiritual thought as part of the FHE. As we were leaving, she mentioned another friend of her's that we could pray for, and she ended up bringing that friend to church this past Sunday!
To sum up, the past two stories have really helped me to realize that we cannot ever force the Spirit. It will come when we are ready and open. Stress always inhibits the Spirit, so don't stress! Also, at least for me, the Spirit typically speaks when I'm in motion, not just waiting around for the answer to be given and for every detail to be set in place.
Okay, to be honest, if any of that sounds like it has a slightly more serious tone, it's because I try to write as many of the success stories in my email as possible in such a way that I can just copy and paste it into my letter to President and I don't have to spend time re-typing stuff. Lazy, right?
Here's the fun part of this week. We got locked out of our apartment. Bummer! Wait? how is that fun? All that means is a bunch of embarrassing phone calls to get someone to come open the door, and a couple hours wait to be able to get in. Unless you do it my way. We went outside and found a decent looking stick. I came back in and shoved it through the mail slot in our door, then managed to lever the stick into position to pop the handle and pry open the door. I felt pretty proud of myself, especially because I stayed calm the whole time. It did hurt a little bit, though. The mail slots have these teeth on the inside designed to essentially prevent people from doing, um, exactly what I did....yeah. So to get the stick into the right position and rotate it, I kinda just had to bite the bullet and man up to the pain, but really besides some scratches and a small amount of swelling it wasn't really that bad.
We also had a great chance to serve some people this week. They were just out raking leaves in front of their home, so we offered to help. We had a great time chatting with them, and, even though they weren't interested in our message, they thanked us for the help and said it "warmed their hearts to see two young men who are just so good." Those are the moments that make me feel like a true representative of our Savior.
Love you all so much. Have an awesome week. Pitäkää hauskaa! [Have fun!]
Vanhin Hansen
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