Buzzer Beater Baps

Elder Roney, Teresa, Alfredo, and Me

Familia y Amigos!

Qué tal?  Things are going super well out here in Bluefields, it’s been really hot and humid this week so I’ve been sweating a ton, but I guess that’s just Nicaragua for ya!  I think I’ve lost perspective of what the heat is like in Utah because this is a completely different type of heat, but it is all going well!

Anyway this week was pretty crazy.  A lot of stuff went down, all for a crazy ending and that’s why the title is Buzzer Beater Baps, but I'll let you know what happened.

So we had this family to baptize this week and they were super positive.  They went to church, were keeping commitments, and had testimonies and everything.  So we moved up their fecha (baptismal date) for this week.  They were super excited and everything.  On Tuesday we were going to teach them and we saw the guy, Alfredo, walking in the street.  He told us he was going to the hospital and would be back.  He didn’t come back to his house until late and he told us that he was going to have to go to Managua for a surgery on his liver, but he didn’t know when.  He told us he was going back to the hospital the next day to find out.  Since it’s socialist health care system here, the government just tells you when you will have your surgery.  Of course Satan has a little influence there, so we knew he was going to be gone for the weekend.  Sure enough, he found out he was going to leave the next day and be gone for 15 days.  He ended up leaving the next day, but forgot a paper in Rama (city on the way to Managua), and after the panga (boat) ride, he had to come back.  

So he got back, had to go to the hospital again, and they told him he would be going to Managua by plane the next day (Saturday).  We just kind of turned it over to the Lord at this point, praying that he would be okay and could return to get baptized.  His wife didn’t go with him so on Saturday night so we went by to see how she was.  And Alfredo was still there!  Long story short, we got everything arranged and got them married and baptized before 9 o’clock church on Sunday morning and then they were confirmed at church.  A miracle!  It was super exhausting and we had to get up at 4:50 am to get everything ready for the baptism and then worked all day until 9:00 pm.  So we’re pretty dead today.

That’s all that really went down this week, not too much but we were glad to get them baptized.  We are working to find people to teach and we’ve found a couple of receptive people but the majority are just alright. 

Mom, since you asked, they have a piano here and I play it all the time.  In fact, I’m already getting sick of playing it!

Bluefields is different from other parts of Nicaragua that I’ve seen, it’s a Caribbean city and completely different.  It’s super great here and I pretty much know the area now.  It has started raining a little bit more but you can’t really predict the weather.  Because it’s a coastal town sometimes it just starts dumping.  Also, my house is all good!  There are quite a few bugs though.  When we turn on our lights at night, sometimes these little bugs come in that bite super hard.  It stinks but we’ve found that my bug spray with deet kills them.  Elder Roney has a mosquito net over the beds but when he leaves I will pull out mine. 

We have a stove (no oven) and I got some Krusteaz pancake mix and have been eating some pancakes!  Super delicious!!

I hope everyone has had a great week and I will talk to you all soon!

Always remember the power of prayer, it really works!  Love you all and have a great week!

Elder Hanson

The view from one of our investigator's house. You can see the airport and the uninhabited jungle!

Photos of the area

Photos of the area

Bluefields Week 2

Familia y Amigos!

What’s up?  I hope all of you are doing well. This week was pretty uneventful so this is going to be short.  We’ve been working hard here just trying to find some new people to teach, along with teaching the investigators we have right now!  We have a super positive family right now that I’ll tell you about.

Their names are Alfredo and Teresa and they are super awesome! He works as a guard at night for a little carpenter shop down the road from his house.  He’s old and super short, but he has the biggest desire to learn.  We go and teach and they always put a smile on our face. The best part is that they are willing to make sacrifices.  He works from like 5 at night to 7 in the morning but always comes to church, no matter how tired he is.  This week they told us they were going to walk to church and that they would be waiting at the church doors for us before we got there.  Anyways, so we were rounding up people to bring to church and kind of forgot about what they told us.  But sure enough when we got to the church there they were.  They have the biggest desire to be baptized, so we are helping them get married and preparing them to be baptized this Saturday. Today we are going to go look for a lawyer to marry them.  It is going to cost a lot but there’s really nothing else we can do! I’m so excited to see them in white for their baptism!

We have another investigator named Ayoleth who is super positive too.  We teach her in English.  She wants to get baptized, but her partner is married to someone else in Costa Rica and they need to get divorced before Ayoleth can get married to him, so its a tricky situation.  We’re working to get everything sorted out there.

Other than that were just looking to find new people!  One of my companions went home, so it’s just Elder Roney and me here in our area in Bluefields.  I’m loving the area and all of the super cool members here. Our house is pretty cool.  We live really close to the water, just a couple of houses away.  The water smells like fish, kind of stinks, and is super dirty.  Since we are so close to the water we also have crabs crawling out of the drains in our house.

Every mission has a different aspect that humbles you.  The way the people live here is definitely humbling for me.  The houses are always super small with dirt floors and tin roofs.  And the people have nothing.  They go to work, work for their salary, and then pretty much spend it the next day.  There is no savings account or saving up to buy things.  The babies run around naked and the clothing is always dirty.  One lady asked us how the mothers take care of the babies in the US, and we told her that the babies are always in the mother’s arms.  She was shocked because there is very little care for the people here.

This email was super short but it’s all I really got.  This week I wanted to share a spiritual thought, I was reading in the February 2014 Liahona, in an article called ¨Living a life of peace, joy, and purpose¨ by Richard G. Scott.  He talks about 10 things we can do to have better lives.  I loved it a ton and think you will too. I hope all of you have a great week, and I love you all!

Elder Hanson

Sorry, no pictures this week! :(

BLUEFIELDS!!!!!!!!

Bluefields is like a Caribbean city.

What up Familia y amigos,

Let me tell you this week has been super crazy. Let me start with the fact that I had cambios.  They called us at about 12 oclock on Tuesday so I started packing and everything.  We said goodbye to all of my converts there in Jinotepe, and I got in bed.  In the call at 12 oclock they told me I was going to be training, but we got another call at 12:30am from Collado and he said I wasn’t going to be training.  He said there was a big surprise coming, so I just went to bed and everything.  When I got to cambios (transfer meeting) in Managua, Elder Benson the other AP came up to me and asked me if I was ready for what was going to happen.

Anyway I got my cambio (transfer) and I am in Bluefields!  Bluefields is the farthest area from the mission home and only has 5 elders right now.  From Managua it’s a 4 hour bus ride to Juigalpa, the area of the ZL, then another 4 hour bus ride to Rama, and then a 2 hour boat ride here.  After cambios I left half my stuff in the office house in Managua, and then got to travelling here.  It’s super far and it’s like a Caribbean city.  The houses are a lot different and the people speak Spanish, English, Creole, and Mosquito.  I’ll send some pictures here so you can get a feel for what it’s like and everything.

My companions for the moment are Elder Roney, who is from California, and Elder Peña from El Salvador. They are both super awesome, and we are working hard here in our super huge area.  The other two Elders in our house are Elder Rodriguez from Belize and Elder Soifua who went to Alta. Elder Rodriguez grew up speaking English and Creole in Belize and is learning Spanish here. 

We had a baptism on Saturday, and it was great.  The pila (font) was filling up super slow, so we had to use 5 gallon buckets and carry water in from another place.  I was super soaked, and you can see my tie is wet in the picture.

The branch here is a very strong one.  It is a branch of about 200, they have enough people for presidencies in the organizaciones auxiliares.  It’s super awesome.  And they all want to work with us which is a huge change from Jinotepe.  Asistencia (attendance) this Sunday was 150!  The members here are awesome.  Elder Collado told me it’s the best branch in the mission.  I love it here!  It’s completely different and the people are super receptive and actually complete their commitments.

We have a couple investigators, one is named Alfredo.  He is super positive, and I love the guy.  He came to church yesterday and the members gave him a book about the teachings of Ezra Taft Benson.  He was so excited that the book was his.  He and his wife will get baptized the 7th of February.

I don’t have a lot more to say.  I think Nate Hank´s son was here in this area because his name is written on one of the closets with the other Elders’ names.  I hope everyone is doing well, and I love you all!  Have a great week!

Elder Hanson

It is so pretty here!

The houses near the water are on stilts.

Elder Pena, Elder Roney and me with the girl we baptized.

Bluefields is on the Eastern Coast, a 10 hour travel from Managua.

New Year, Zone Conference, and Good Eats

Happy New Year!!

Familia y amigos!

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you all enjoyed the activities and counting down for the new year.  We didn't really do much here.  Had a sparkler that the Hermanas gave us, and then watched some fireworks that people were lighting off here.  It wasn't too bad, and it was a good time to just hang out with the companions. There is a cool tradition here, everyone makes big dolls, stuffed with newspaper and at midnight they burn them.  The doll represents the old year, and the start of a new one. I hit the 4 month mark here, and time is seriously flying by!

Crazy to think that it is 2015!  This year will be the 1 year of my life that is completely missionary work, so I'm going to take advantage of it! I know that I will be blessed for this time I have as a missionary.

Nothing really happened this week.  All of the streets were super empty, because nobody was really home. It was practically dead here, but we had to work!  The majority of our investigators weren't home, so we just tried to find new people.  Other than that, nothing really eventful happened the 31st and the 1st.

On Friday we had Reunion de Zona (Zone Conference).  It was great.  Nice to see all of the people from our whole zone. I know pretty much everyone because sometimes I have to go out with the ZLs and it was great to see everyone.  Elder Sacalxot and Elder Hernandez talked about finding the needs of our investigators and commitments, two huge parts of misisonary work. We hung out after for a few minutes and took a picture that I´ll send.  Our zone ended up finishing in 1st place here in the mission, which is super awesome.  This has never happened in the time of President Russell, so we're all super stoked.  Its going to be a huge surprise on Wednesday at reunion de cambios (transfers).  That is when the whole mission will find out that we came in first place.  Jinotepe is usually towards the bottom numbers wise.

On Sunday we ate at one of our convert's houses.  I gained a ton of respect and was humbled by their situation.  They don't really have a ton, but offered to feed us, so we accepted.  Anyway we were eating and they brought out this meat, and we asked what it was.  He told us he didn't know, maybe lamb or something.  So we had to eat it, and it tasted a little weird, but nothing new for Nicaragua!  Anyway, after we ate he told us what it was, and turns out it was snake.  Super crazy but I can say I've eaten snake!

Anyway this Wednesday we have cambios (transfers). I'll find out tomorrow if I have them or not, and I'll let you guys know where I am next Monday!  I'm super stoked to get to work in my own area without trainers!  I hope everyone has a super great week, and I'll talk to you all soon!

Elder Hanson

The Elders in my district. Elder Miculax, me, Elder Sacalxot,
Elder Hernandez, Elder Sheffler, Elder Trinidad

The Jinotepe Zone, #1 zone in the mission!

Elder Miculax, Elder Sacalxot, Elder Hernandez, and me in front of our chapel

Relaxing on P Day

Multizona, Apostasia, Late Night Baptisms, and Happy New Year!!

Me with My Snowflakes on Christmas!

Familia y amigos,

Whats up?  How is everyone doing?  I hope all of you had a great Christmas and you are all enjoying the snow.  That’s awesome that you’re having snow!  I had a dream that I was skiing last night, I went off a jump, felt the drop and everything and woke up from falling off the top bunk hitting my knee on the ground.  It hurts super bad today but I’m just glad it wasn’t my head.  I’ve been taking ibuprofen but we don’t have any ice.  I’ll be fine.  Its pretty swollen but I’m sure the ibuprofen will help with that. 

Here we had a pretty good Christmas.  I had a great time talking to my family and just hanging with my companions.

I want to thank all of you that wrote on snowflakes for me.  I loved each and every one of them, and it was probably the best present that I got.  I feel so blessed to have so many people supporting me.

Anyway this week was great.  We had a multizona (multizone conference) on the 24th.  It was super awesome!  We listened to a message from Presidente Russell, had an awesome meal, played some games with the other zones, and then had a slideshow of our families.  Presidente Russell y Hna Russell were super generous and gave us some awesome gifts.  It was awesome to be together as a mission close to Christmas, get to know some more people, and to feel the spirit!

We met this crazy guy this week, who is puro apostasia (pure apostate).  He is a pastor for one of the churches here.  He was trying to tell us all of this super weird stuff about Joseph Smith and every idea he had was super dumb.  His main problem with Joseph Smith was that he was saying that the timeline of Joseph Smith having "the vision" and when he restored the Church didn't match.  It was dumb.  The most crazy of his ideas is that missionary companions are always a North American and a Latino because the North Americans are brainwashing the latinos.  He told my companion to wake up and realize what was happening.  It stinks because there is a super positive person who lives in his house, so we´ll see what happens with him.

We had 2 baptisms this week, both on Saturday.  They were Herty's wife and Ana.  The baptism of Herty's wife went super smooth and everything, and I'm sure she's going to be a faithful member here with her husband.  Ana was a different story.  We went to interview her on Friday and she told us that she had to go to work, and was saying that January would be better.  She passed the interview and everything but her work was the only problem.  On Saturday the APs were in Rivas and came to talk to Ana and Milagro about being  baptized.  Milagro decided she didn't want to be baptized this week.  We had 6 misisonaries in their house at 9:30 pm talking to them.  We asked Ana what was stopping her from being baptized that night.  There was nothing so she was baptized at about 10:30pm Saturday night.  The harder part was her confirmation.  She called us on Sunday and told us she was at work and her boss wasn't going to let her leave to come to the church to be confirmed. We were super discouraged but when we showed up, she was already in the church.  A miracle for sure.

After our baptisms we’re pretty empty for investigators right now. We did meet this person who came to church on Sunday, and she had all of the lessons in San Marcos, a city super close to here. We're going to try to baptize her this Saturday.

We don't have any plans for New Year's and we will be working all this week, there's no rest!  I'm sure the streets will be dead, but theres nothing we can do about it!  We will have to figure out what to do!

The zone finished with 19 baptisms for the month of December, the most in all of 2014.  We're working hard and have great plans for this next year.  I don't think we reached the mission goal for the year, which is a bummer, so I'm sure well be working even harder this next year.

I hope all of you have an awesome New Year this week and I love you all!

Elder Hanson

Going in for my flu shot

Multizone Conference (Elders Hayes, Naisbett, Trinidad, Hernandez, Collado, Benson, Sacalxot and me)

Multizone Conference

Reading Letters from Home at the Multizone Conference

Elder Collado and me

Hermana Russell, Presidente Russell and me

Elder Hernandez, me, Herty, Herty's wife, their family, Elder Miculax, and Elder Sacalxot

Elder Miculaz, Elder Hernandez, Ana, Ana's family, Elder Sacalxot, and me

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Familia y amigos, 

How’s everyone doing in the 801??  I hope everything is going super well for everyone and you are all enjoying the weather.  Word on the street is there’s not a ton of snow, which makes me happy because I’m not missing anything!

This week was a little rough.  I got my first Christmas present, Monday without p-day.  We just get an hour to write and that’s it.  We're trying to reach our goal here of 1800 baptisms for the year and its not going so hot.  So we’re working hard trying to get people baptized this Saturday!

Not much happened this week, we didn’t have any baptisms, and have still been trying to find new people to teach.  This week we have 3 possibilities for baptism, which is super awesome, and I know it is the best gift that they can give to our Father in Heaven. 

Anyway, I don’t really have any stories or anything so I’m going to tell you about one of the people we’re going to baptize.  Her name is Ana and she is the sister of Lupe.  When we first started to teach Lupe, right after Felipe’s baptism, Ana didn’t want anything.  Lupe was super hard to teach too, but Ana wouldn’t even listen to us.  Slowly we started talking to her and finally we got her to commit to come to church.  She would always say, ¨I’ll come to church but I’m not getting baptized.¨  Anyway, after her first time in church she said that she loved it and it was the best church she had ever been to.  She accepted fecha (baptismal date) and we’re trying to help her stop drinking coffee!  She has a baptism date for this Saturday! She’s super hilarious and is always fun to teach!

Anyway that’s all I really got for this week.  Pray for these people to get baptized please, we really need them!  I love you all and hope you all enjoy your Christmas.

Always remember the real meaning of Christmas.  Make sure you descubre la dadiva (Discover the Gift), acepta la dadiva (accept the Gift), y #comparteladadiva. (#SharetheGift)  Love you all!  

Sorry this week was super busy and I don’t usually carry my camera so I don’t have any pictures!

Love,

Elder Hanson

One Week Until Christmas

Elder Hernanadez and Me

Familia y amigos,

Que nota?  I hope everyone is enjoying the weather in Utah, I heard its a little bit warmer.  Sounds a little bit like Nicaragua!

Anyway things are going super great here in Nicaragua, the weather has been a little bit cooler these past couple of days, and one night all of my companions wore sweaters, hahah!  It’s like unheard of to wear sweaters in any other area.

This week went super great, not much happened but I have 2 experiences to share.  First of all last Sunday we were walking to go and teach and this person came up to us and asked what the requirements were to be a member of our church. She told us she had a family of 5 that wanted to learn.  Anyway we looked for her house for like an hour one day and couldn’t find it.  The next day I was looking in antiguo investigadores (old investigators) because all of our investigadores (investigators) aren’t doing too hot, and I found the person.  Turns out the exact situation happened about 6 months ago and the missionaries visited, and everything was a huge lie.  They had an address and everything so we visited the people, they are huge Testigos (Jehovah’s Witnesses) and they were shocked when they saw us in the door.  Stinks that they are all liars but I thought it was kind of funny.

The other happened yesterday, we were trying to find new people to teach and this guy let us into his house.  We started como comenzar a enseñar (getting ready to teach) and were talking to him.  This guy was literally perfect.  He told us that for the new year he was thinking about joining a new church, and the night before he prayed that he would have direction in his life.  I know that we were an answer to his prayers.  I probably won't be here for the majority of the teaching, but it was a cool experience and lesson where I definitely felt the spirit.

We had interviews with President Russell and it went great. He told my companion I was doing really well and told me to keep working hard and baptizing.  We have interviews every 3 months and he interviews all the missionaries at around the same time.  Everyone in our district was interviewed on the same day.   I know that two other zones, Carazo y Universitaria also had interviews this week.

We didn’t really do anything today on p-day. We just wrote letters and then went to buy stuff.  I finally found a PSG jersey and bought it, and I also bought peanut butter.  Jinotepe kind of stinks because there isn’t anything cool to go and see.  One thing is that there are a lot of pizza restaurants.  Every p-day is kind of the same.  I have heard that in other zones there are awesome things to do!

The rest of the week not much happened, we're working with Ana, Lupe’s sister and she is super awesome. We're working hard here in Jinotepe, and time is flying by.  I hope all is well at home and everyone has a great week!  Love you all

Elder Hanson

And remember, #ComparteLaDádiva (#SharetheGift)

Me and Elder Sacalxot (Elder Scheffler with the photobomb!)