Hello!
Another week in 'Little Seoul' - transfer outlines are due on Tuesday (transfer outlines is where we put who we think should stay or go in the zone - they're always due 10 days before transfers). It's crazy how quickly things have gone by! Elder Johnson and I are probably going to stay together for another 6 weeks. We're hoping for it, at least. You never know until it springs up on you last minute. We had a meeting with the Stake Presidency, all the Bishops and Ward Mission Leaders in the stake, and President Riggs. We had a lesson scheduled with Lenny at the Curd's home at the same time the meeting was going on. We didn't want to reschedule because it had been so long since we've seen her, so we instead did a full split. I went with Bro. Dixon (WML) to the Stake correlation meeting, while Elder Johnson went with Bro. Curd to teach Lenny. It worked out fine in the end. My presentation went well, and Elder Johnson made it safely to the Curd's home. Only dilemma was, Lenny never showed up! The duration of the meeting, I kept thinking about how awesome the lesson was going, I was confident some serious baptizing was going on! But she didn't show up - she said she forgot about our appointment, so she went to her aunt's house instead. The troubling thing is, she doesn't have a cell phone, so we have a hard time getting a hold of her to reschedule. It was okay, though. When I showed up at their doorstep after the meeting, we taught their family about faith. They had their niece and nephews over from Texas for the week, so they sat in, too. When we got back to the apartment, Sister Curd texted us, 'thank you for the spiritual thought; my nieces and nephews challenge their parents all the time about the church, and I think that was something they needed to hear!' #Browniepoints! Later on in the week, we had an appointment with a less active member, Lester. He told us to swing by on Wednesday, I think. We got there during the Argentina vs. Netherlands game when they were doing shoot-outs. When Argentina won, Lester went ballistic! He's not even from Argentina, he's from Honduras - he only likes them because they speak the same language his country does :). After the game, he took us to Starbuck's. We got smoothies and he got a frapaccino or something like that. We listened to him for about an hour, then we had to go to another appointment. He told us was going to hang out at the restaurant a while longer. Later that night, Lester texts us and gives us 2 referrals! Two Muslim guys asked Lester about us, and expressed interest in taking the discussions. We go their phone number and Facebook info, and scheduled an appointment with them for Friday. We were a little bit nervous, because we checked out their FB profiles and they had a bunch of stuff on their proving Christianity false. It turns out two of them, Dawud and Amid, was super nice and sincerely wanted to learn more about the church. The other guy wanted to argue. Thankfully we took most of the conversation and taught them a lot about e plan of salvation, the restoration, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. By the end, they accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and a restoration pamphlet. They texted afterwards and wanted to schedule another time we could meet! Thanks for all you do! Love, Elder Hansen Sent from my iPad Hey all!
Monday was so sick! We payed soccer with the Spanish program at some outdoor turf fields in Fairfax. It was hot, humid, and sweaty, but we had plenty of water. Our team won, and we got the styrofoam trophy painted gold. It made me really miss soccer! It also doesn't help that almost every living soul here watches the World Cup, and talks about it incessantly. :p but that's okay. We had 2 lessons with investigators taught in member's homes planned, but both cancelled, so we spent the majority of our night with less actives and knocking doors. Tuesday we had an exchange with the Burke elders. I went to Burke with Elder Gledhill, a missionary I went to the MTC with. In fact, he was the first missionary I met prior to entering the MTC that was going to the same mission I was. He and I both served in the Reston ward together our first 2 transfers. It was a great reunion. He just got transferred into the Burke ward, so he didn't really know where we were going or who we were going to visit. We street contacted around a lake, got lost biking in the woods, and somehow, we eventually found our way to a less active member's home. He was a 60 year old man, baptized as a child, but he won't come to church or read the scriptures. He doesn't believe in Jesus Christ, and he won't do the things he needs to to develop that testimony. It was good bough, to visit with him and help him feel the Spirit - even if he doesn't recognize it. When I got back to Annandale, Elder Johnson had some fantastic news. Apparently, they taught a guy who basically said he wants to be a member of our church. He was in a conference in Chicago, and he overheard some Latter-Day Saints talking about their church, and that sparked his interest. He wants to find more opportunities to serve in his community, so he referred himself on Mormon.org. Elder Johnson and Elder Miles taught him about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, invited him to be baptized, and he said "oh yes, I'll be baptized - with all of my heart, soul, and conviction!" He's out of town, like the rest of our investigators, but when he gets back, we're going to teach him the gospel until the cows come home. Wednesday and Thursdays were blurs, I don't remember what happened one bit. Friday was pretty good - in the morning, we had to drive to every companionship in our zone to give them their new insurance cards, then we had to come back to do our studies and weekly planning. By then, it was time to go to an Independence Day dinner with some members of our ward, the Young's. Brother Young told us, "Do ya'll want some Sprite, or Coke? 'Cause I don' drink water on the 4th of July." It was pretty funny :). We drove down to Fairfax to see some fireworks (we were allowed to do that until 10:30). The roads were lined with cars, there was literally no place to park. Even the 'no parking' zones were taken! Every parking lot, every green field, every square inch of Old Town Fairfax was either occupied by a lawn chair, or a can of beer. It was so stinkin' crowded, we just drove up and down Main Street in time for the finale. Thankfully, we beat most of the traffic on our way home. Saturday Sisters in our zone requested a blessing. One of the Sisters was really sick. Elder Johnson and I went and helped. I don't remember much of what I said, but I do remember the feeling of peace and quiet penetrating the room. She was in tears by the end of the blessing. It was a good opportunity. Lenny came to church! We just need to get an appointment with her, we haven't taught her in a couple of weeks. Every time we have something, she cancels. Hopefully we can see her this Monday. We also had a mysterious non-member Russian stranger show up to church. His name is Alex, and he came to church because he was simply curious. He had a Mormon co-worker who was very kind and righteous, and Alex wanted to know what he believes in. He's currently stationed in Fort Belvoire for 3 months to receive training before he goes to Poland for 2 years. He was very kind, and he said he'd come to church next week. Thankfully, the ward members were kind enough to welcome him and invite him back to church as well. I asked him if we could talk to him later in the week, but he said no. Other than that, not much really happened. Kinda slow, with nothing really climactic or exciting. But it was still a good week. Thanks for all you do! Love you! Elder Hansen Sent from my iPad This week was sooooo short.
Seriously, this transfer has flown by! Elder Johnson and I are rockin' it here in Annandale - we had 3 investigators come to church, and lots of less actives came, too! It was pretty awesome. We were sitting in the sacrament meeting, hoping and praying to see some of our investigators walk through the door. We were sweating bullets, because they were playing the opening hymn, and nobody was showing up. Suddenly, blam-o! 3 investigators walk in! Janu, Sita, and Lenny. Janu and Sita are really cool - Sita is from Nepal, she came to the U.S. And married a dude from Nebraska. Their son is Janu. I've never met the husband, but apparently he's been to church in the past with Janu and Sita. He's in Vermont, now. Janu is 16, and he's kinda investigating the church on his own. On a mission, you get the lowest of lows and the highest of highs. When those darned investigators walked inside... I was struck by the Spirit - it pierced me! It was like a new chamber in my heart opened up that I didn't even know was there. I felt Christ's love for our investigators. I felt really accomplished in that moment, because my whole mission I've been working on loving everyone, seeing them as children of our Father. Sharing the gospel is so much easier when you love those you share it with. That's one reason why we're expected to develop Christlike attributes. As our love for others increases, so does our ability to speak with boldness. "Perfect love casteth out all fear," (Moroni 8:16). We had apartment inspections this week. It was only the 2nd time we've had inspections since I've been here - usually they do it every other transfer. Bunch of piles!! My first apartment inspection didn't go so well, the Senior missionaries doing the inspection were super strict and condemned us for not clearing the air ducts of dust and lame stuff like that. But this time was great! We passed with flying colors - our apartment wasn't even super clean :). Today was awesome - we had the Annandale Zone, first ever, annual World Cup! It was so much fun! The Spanish zone showed up, and we 4 games of English vs. Spanish. Elder Johnson and I showed up a little late, but that's okay. We showed up in style with our $10.00 Italia soccer jerseys :). It was really hot and humid, but we had plenty of water to pass around. Our ragtag team of English heroes took the World Cup! Pictures coming to you soon... We also stopped by our investigator, Romelo's house Sunday night. He is from... Bolivia? I don't remember. Somewhere in South America. We were talking to him on his doorstep about the World Cup, when his 2 year old daughter comes running out. He beckoned her, telling her to come inside. He said, "Illana, come back inside! Woodpeckers, woodpeckers!" Apparently, his daughter is terrified of woodpeckers, he was trying to scare her inside. It was pretty darn funny! Well, that's about all that happened this week. Love you all! Thank you for the support and love! Elder Hansen. Sent from my iPad Phew!
This week was pretty great! I'm still getting to know the Annandale area - I'm meeting a lot new people and I'm trying to become familiar with the road names. The Zone is doing well. We improved a lot on our finding new investigators, but we can do so much better! We're hoping to pump up everybody enough this Tuesday that they'll wanna put a hole through a wall!! We've got an awesome zone activity planned this Tuesday. We're going to do a Survivor challenge! This week, Elder Raban and I went on an exchange!! It was so much fun to have the dream team back together. That night, he and I taught Morris in the Perez family's home. There's family WAS a part member family, but Elder Johnson and his last companion baptized the Father, and their 12 yr. old daughter. They were so excited to teach their friend Morris in their home. Morris has been investigating for a year now. He actually had a baptismal date. The day of his baptismal service, he ditched. He's still open to learning, he just has uncommon concerns and challenges. The lesson was really powerful - Brother Perez did an awesome telling Morris about his conversion and the way he felt at his baptism. Morris said he would come to church, but he didn't show up. :p we're going to keep working with him. If he keeps getting taught in the Perez's home, then his conversion will be quickened. The rest of the week was pretty good - checking up on referrals, investigators, and tracting. Missionary lyfe is the lyfe for me!! Love you all! Elder Hansen Sent from my iPad Hello everyone!
Annandale is wack. There're so many Koreans here. A member took us out to lunch and told us this area has the 2nd largest Korean population. California is 1st. I really like it here, because our eastern boundary touches the Alexandria 2nd ward (one other area I've served in). Transfers were awesome. I was shocked and stoked when I heard President call Elder Johnson and I to be companions. We were in the same MTC district together, so it's cool to see how much we've both changed. Our teaching has gotten a LOT better. The first few days right after transfers were so busy! Nobody else in the zone has a bike rack except for us, so we were driving to and from apartments late into the night dropping off bikes, suit cases and luggage. We were also staying up late planning for what our Vision for the zone is going to be his transfer. I'll give you more info on what our vision is going to be later, but lemme tell you... It's gonna be awesome! Church was really good, the ward members are kind, and we've been fed every night since I've been here. There's a strong support of member missionary work. We've already taught 1 lesson this week with an investigator in a member's home (we call those Ideal Lessons, and we are tracking those as a "mission wide key indicator"). We have two more Ideal Lessons set up for tonight. So cool! This ward just had 2 baptisms a couple of weeks ago, and Elder Johnson and I are excited to work together to pump out 3 - 4 more in the next couple of transfers! Have an awesome week, everybody!! Elder Hansen. Sent from my iPad paid by your tithing funds. Hey all!
I've landed in Annandale, VA! My new companion is Elder Johnson. He and I were in the same MTC District. My new address is: 7915 Charles Thomas Lane, Apartment #3. Annandale, VA 22003. Elder Raban (trainer) and Elder Miles (MTC comp.) are District Leaders in our Zone! I'm stoked for this transfer! Love you all! Sent from my iPad |