Another Feast!

We finally received two e-mails from Curtis on Friday, May 27th. He actually wrote the first e-mail on the 20th but just as he was ready to send it his time expired and the computer logged him out. Its great to know all is well!!!

May 27^th, 2011

Hey Family,

Another week in the MTC and it is still...crazy intense as usual. I was rather upset that I wasn't able to send my email from last week until now but it's good that GMail has that little autosave stuff. I was sooo close! Pero, gracias for all your letters and emails. Losiento por la Español (Sorry for the Spanish). It kind of slips in here and there. I am also trying to have you guys all slowly learn Spanish through my emails.

Okay so Funny story # dos!

Here at the MTC we are all music deprived so we all start trying our own versions of songs in all sorts of ways. The latest one for me is trying to beat box (my district doesn't appreciate the learning process). Another thing we do is that the showers become the Tabernacle choir as well as various renditions of Lion King. ha ha. We all gasped in amazement as one of the language training tools we use has a loggout function that sings "TAAAALLLLL". We all get a kick out of that and it becomes a highlight to our day.

Well, I am out of time once more. I love you all and I pray for you guys always. Thanks for your love and support. Spiritual thought for the week by President Hinckley: "Don't do anything stupid". Oh and here is something really cool in a talk given only to missionaries for trying to have the spirit by Elder Benson: Don't worry....be a good boy and a good girl.

Love you all,

Elder Curtis Hanson

May 20, 2011

Hello! !Hola!

Wow! Thank you all so much for your letters. They really are a strength to me and I love hearing about everything that is going on out there. I was so excited to receive some letters from friends this week. It really makes a missionary’s day or week depending on how long he has been waiting for one.

So I was able to go out into the real world yesterday and this morning! It´s weird. ha ha. I was worried about being brainwashed here in the MTC but I realize that it feels more like being sanitized. Have you seen how many billboards there are on the side of the roads? It seems like everything is trying to get you do this or that every moment. Well, the reason that we got to go out into the outside world is that, as Mexican Missionaries, we had to go to the Consulado de Mexico en Salt Lake. We were so excited to go and be there but then it turned out to be just a building with a lot of Spanish posters and signs(which was exciting). It still looked pretty official but the novelty slowly wore off as we spent a couple hours there just sitting. The system in Mexico actually crashed yesterday so we had to come back this morning. This means we missed our weekly temple trip, sad day, but the good news is that I got my visa! Who knew that three little signatures would be the gateway into living in another country for 2 years! They didn't give me anything but I think the church just takes care of it for us.

So I got the box! Yeah! The cookies were gone within the hour with the help of the guys from my zone. ha ha. I got everything including my license and the pictures of the savior. The packing peanuts were even fun! Thank you so much for the pictures. They are in my room right now and I love to look at them.

Now with the spare time I would like to tell funny stories:

The Benson Theory

So my companion has the supernatural natural ability to summon our Mission President directly behind him. All he needs to do is say something mildly inappropriate or even just weird and POOF!, there is the Mission President. So the latest incident of this was last night in our residence hall. We had just gotten back for the day and he was fixing his bed with his back to the door. I quoted a favorite quote from Top Gear just as I saw President Hansen walk in the door, sadly, Elder Benson also appreciated this quote and louder repeated: Ï JUST SOILED MYSELF!!! as President Hansen was walking right behind him. This isn´t the first incident and most of the time President just shakes his head and keeps walking. ha ha.

So I ran out of time to tell more of the funny stories but I will try to send more next week,

Hasta Luego!

-Elder Curtis Hanson

No E-mail last Week

We haven't received any e-mails from Curtis in the last week. Hopefully we will hear from him soon.

Not by Bread Alone!

Hola!

So the MTC has almost become second nature to me now and there seemed to be a lag in my attitude and spirit. … I began to notice that things were becoming robotic. Not very good things to say the least. I believe it was all due to lack of nourishment. I began to read in PMG one day in the Language section and it says: "First study the doctrines and the lessons in your native language. That understanding will strengthen your testimony and your capacity to teach and testify convincingly". This spoke directly to my heart. I have been worrying so much upon the words that I need to say and less on the feeling behind the words. Something that I have been worrying about for quite sometime actually. I slowly began to recognize that I needed to be the investigator. I am amazed by the process of becoming a part of this gospel. For every investigator I commit there is another commitment that I have to uphold as well. It's amazing to see how the gospel is so universal and needed for those out of the church and in the church. …I was able to read a little bit more about the savior starting in Matthew .... I got to the fourth chapter and read where Satan came tempting Jesus, "if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread", Jesus responded by quoting scripture, " Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God". I was amazed in that the very statement of we need to be constantly nourished by the word of God he showed the evidence of his own desire for knowledge in quoting the scripture. This scripture impacted me in regards to what I had been lacking. My "spirit" was starving and I could not live by bread alone. I wonder if I had not had the pressures of the MTC and the means for the spirit to communicate how long I could have gone starving without recognizing it. I challenge everyone reading this to make sure that they are "live"ing. If your life just doesn't feel right ask yourself if you are feeding both your spirit and your body. So that is my spiritual thought for the day. Thanks for letting me share.

WOW!!! That is awesome that Rusty is coming to Mexico! Just FYI I have seen Elder Salsberry and Elder Smith around quite a bit as well as quite a few guys from BYU-I including Elder Rainbolt and Elder Goodman. When I fist met up with those guys I was so excited I started mixing Spanish and English without meaning too. ha ha. I took a picture with Trevor the other day which was really cool and I want a copy. I was talking with Alex and he said that after our missions we should go on a road trip to all of our different missions. BRILLIANT!!! We can even hit Rusty's and Trevor's missions....maybe. It may take quite awhile but that would be so sweet. My roommates are amazing and my companion is still as awesome as ever. Tell Rusty congrats and I am soooooo excited for him!!!! I will try and let the other Elders know about that.

Is there anything else you would like me to include in my next email? I don't know what to really tell you guys sometimes.

Hasta Luego!

Elder Curtis Hanson

Famine then Feast!

Wow! Three weeks since we took Curtis to the MTC. Unfortunately, "Mom" was not able to post any additional blogs until now, so here are Elder Hanson's first three e-mails all together.

May 6^th, 2011

Hey Family and Friends!

Just FYI I only have 30 minutes to both read and send an email. I have however possibly found a way around this dilemma but I am not sure if the MTC Presidency would approve so I am going to ponder it a little more. In other words please try to refrain from sending me lots of emails unless you want a short email per week…. Thanks to everyone who has been sending me letters I will respond as soon as I can.

This week has been incredible. In the MTC I have found out just what serving a mission is really about. I want everyone to serve a mission. If a missionary is successful in his call it is impossible to have him come home the same person that left. I love it out here. I have recently been able to learn more about repentance. Repentance is not something to fear, it's something to rejoice!!! I want everyone to look at "repent" in their scripture study and change it to "godlike change" because that is all it is. It is the process of changing from something less godly into something a little more holy. It may hurt some but the result is well worth it. … I recognize I have a lot of "repentance" to do. I love it out here though. I am growing. I admit that mission has made me aware and therefore sad some days and it is a painful and agonizing process to try and root out the natural man. I have no doubt that this is the only place that it can be done in so fast a time.

Prepare yourself for the missions of life! Go to your own MTC!

-Elder Curtis Hanson

May 1, 2011 Sunday

Hola Familia y Amigos,

....I love it here at the MTC - the Spirit is so strong and consistent. It makes a world of a difference for spiritual progression when all you have to worry about is whether or not your conversation in your dorm room is condusive to the Spirit. The latest problem: arguing whether or not Canada or the US is better. ha ha. …. Oh! Funny experience! I was laying in bed the other night and I looked up at the bottom of my companion's mattress and had the strangest urge. I then put my feet on the bottom of the springs and pushed up and down up and down! Elder Benson got some good air and the whole room was laughing even Elder Benson who said afterwards that it felt like a roller coaster. Another funny thing with the MTC is that everyone is gaining weight and it takes a ton of effort to stay thin. It's not good when all you do is sit in a room all day with a bunch of other guys and have all you can eat food in the cafeteria with quite a bit of good stuff. We do have the opportunity to go to the gym and that is awesome! I have been running and working out a lot with another Elder from my district. We have made a "goal" to have abs in three weeks time when he heads of to Honduras.

We had the opportunity to go to the temple today and it was an awesome experience as a missionary. I am beginning to realize how amazing the gospel is and how much I have taken it for granted. It is so true and I have only scraped the surface. I am afraid what makes things unachievable is the idea that if we can't see it, it isn't there. When we are at the bottom of a hill or even on the side of the hill we can't comprehend the view on the other side until we make the effort to climb higher.

Striving to climb a little higher,

Elder Curtis Hanson

April 23^rd, 2011 – Saturday

Hola!

It has been so crazy out here. We only get triente minutos to email home so this is just going to be a splurge of emotions and thoughts. I recognize so much I need to work on and the overload of the language lessons and gospel study is really intense. I love my companion, when I first walked in to my classroom after getting my name tag and the introduction process I didn’t realize how tall he is until he stood up. He is huge! 6' 7" and really nice. Both of us were initially concerned with how we would get along but we are very grateful that we aren't too bad.

I think one of the biggest things for me to learn in the MTC is to have charity. Today we had an amazing discussion and it seems that the key to missionary work with the investigators is to 1) listen to the spirit and 2) listen to the investigator. Growing up in the church with the family I do I feel I have had quite a bit of experience with the Spirit as for the listening to the investigator it gets a little harder because there is something that happens when you are listening with the spirit and to the investigator. You need both, if you do any violations to the priesthood power as found in D&C 121 then the spirit of the Lord is grieved and amen to the priesthood power of that missionary.

The first day my companion and I had the opportunity to teach investigators in a huge group. We had three different investigators each with different problems and concerns. It's interesting because the investigators were real, despite being a member they were retelling their personal stories through their acting, things that they actually faced. ….. My life has been so blessed and I never recognized what I have been treating so lightly as a member can cure the deepest heartache of an individual, the gospel of Christ or Evangelio de Cristo.

I have recognized that I have been so selfish even in trying to be selfless. In the classroom Hermana Anthony had a lesson on Charity and I recognized what Charity being a gift really means. It is not available through any facet of mind that can be created by man, it is only through the reliance on God and Jesus Christ that we can get this wonderful gift which is necessary for missionary work. I challenge all those back home to start your own missions of love and charity the most valuable lessons in life cannot be found within one's own head. I have sadly wasted a lot of time there and it will be a hard trial to get out of there. Asking for God's help is necessary.

As for the rest of the MTC experience it is crazy. I have never worked so hard! I sleep and dream of Spanish. Yesterday, my roommate said that I was speaking in Spanish! It's everywhere. We are already contacting and I take my dictionary practically everywhere. I have run out of time, until next time....

Hasta Luego! Amo Ustedes!

Elder Hanson