Happy Birthday Mom E-mail

Because it was my birthday last week, Curtis sent me my own special e-mail rather than one to the group. He is doing fine and we hope to have more information when he writes tomorrow. thanks! Lisa

MOM WHERE ARE YOU!?

Hey Fam,

So I didn't get an email from mom.....MOM....ha ha. So I have learned this week to appreciate your emails a little more. Thanks for the update with some of the other guys from the ward. I would love to hear more about what is going on with them. CONGRATS CHRISTIAN!!! SUBIDO!!! DULCE!!! I honestly cant wait to talk with those guys about the mission....in spanish ;). How is Alex? How is Trevor? How is Rusty? How is Jacob?etc.

So this week we are doing pretty good but Satan was hitting us really hard. Everyday we had some great plans but something always happened like having to pay the bills for our house in central.

AWESOME NEWS!!! We got a couch a dining table, it's legit. Our house is fresada(strawberried) or in other words really cool. So I love PMG.

Oh, we found an awesome family but it was really hard and a little sad. We received the reference from Salt Lake which is really rare in and of itself. They are a young couple. We contacted them and the Sister is really sweet and really pregnant. We visited with them and their three little girls in the front room, where there was only a small book shelf and two tires in the corner, until the lights burnt out and then we went to the kitchen. We entered the kitchen to find a small table and about 4 chairs was all that was in the room. We talked with them and found out that he doesn't have a job and she is working at a restaurant. They also don't have hardly any food and three little girls ages 6, 3, and 2 I think. I am seeing a whole new side to life. We stopped by a grocery store before our next and bought two bags of pastries and 6 bananas. We dropped them off at there house and later that night we met up with him as he was going to buy some milk to celebrate the pastries with his daughters. They are so sweet and I can't believe how much faith they have. As we sat down for our first visit I told them that I could see in the future a room filled with food and lights and pictures of Christ and more importantly a feeling of strong fortified faith and love. The wife told me that's exactly what she wanted. We read the scripture in Mosiah 2 about being blessed both spiritually and temporally and this time the scripture had even more meaning to me.... I wish the whole world could have the opportunity to serve a mission in Mexico Tijuana.

Love you guys,

Elder Hanson

Sorry Again Blog Followers

As you can probably tell by now, I am not very good at keeping up Curtis' blog. So here are the last three month's worth of e-mails all at once. It has been a very busy holiday season. Hope you are all well and hope to do a better job of keeping this up from now on.

Lisa

Hola Familia,

Wow, your week was kind of exciting.

So we have just completed half of the training program for Elder Gaspar and I still wonder if I am doing alright. We had interviews with the President this week and he told me that Elder Gaspar is right on track but that I need to learn how to enjoy my mission more. ha ha. You know it's true when the President of the Mission has to tell ya. I loved his counsel. He gave three things that are basically in my mind the key to life:

1. Be obedient

2. Learn the Doctrine

3. Work

I loved it and I am begining to be excited again. The thing that I have noticed that I don't really like in my mission is confusion and not having the ability to do something. So when I get direct counsel that I just apply to my life it becomes a source to put all my frustrations.

So this week we also had the Stake Conference. It was a broadcast for part of it and included General Authorities. My companion and I were waiting outside for some investigators and missed the excitement. But it sounded like there was a bit of counsel and planching regarding a drop in our duties as saints of God. I can't believe how much the mission is connecting with every phase of my life. I feel that with the skills that missionaries obtain in their missions they could have a great foundation for anything if they applied it when they got back.

Well that's about it,

Elder Hanson

Another Gringo In Mexico!!!!

Hey Family,

So I found a Gringo in Mexico the other day. He came up to me and asked haaabla engles? so naturally I said yes....in spanish. ha ha. It turns out that he is trying to teach Spanish (I think he meant English) here in Mexico. I gave him a few tips for when I was trying to do the same thing in my first sector. I then connected it somehow to the Apostacy of the church and we talked about the bible. It turns out that he has been interested in the Mormons for quite sometime and was actually trying to find God. It was really cool but as we left I didnt expect what happened at church a few days later...

We showed up at church and found that our members we had asked to pick up our investigators... didn´t find them. So we were a little bummed. We left church early to go contact people in the street. When we returned one of the sisters told me that some gringo was trying to find me and couldn´t speak spanish. I literally jumped up and down. We later found him in a christian home where he is staying and talked about the Apostacy some more. It´s a really good thing that I had been reading Jesus the Christ because I used alot of James E. Talmage. He is really excited and interested in his really quiet sort of way. When I asked him if he would be baptized when he feels that this message is true he said...irrmaaaakeeee....or in other words he doesn´t know BUT I have alot of hope for him because he absorbed James E. Talmage like a sponge and seems like he is spiritually intune. We will see him Tuesday so I will try to keep you guys updated. My companion is also learning spanish (I think he meant English) and said I like to preach about Jesus Christ....I was proud (=

That´s all for now,

Elder Hanson

Be Nice To Angry People At Work!!!

Hey Family,

So I love my job even when it is really hard. My companion is really helping me out and I am really improving in all aspects as well as starting some others. We have had a lot of emotion this week. This last week we had an expectation of 6 or more people in the church...we got one. BUT HE IS AWESOME!!! We hope that he will get baptized this week. I think he had been using drugs for 15 years and he really wants a new start. We passed by to pick him up on Sunday but couldn't find him. We were a little disapointed and headed to church in a van full of invisible investigators. We looked into the chapel but didn't see anyone so we visited one of our investigators across the street from the church but he was leaving so we headed back to church empty handed. As I walked in the front doors I looked into the chapel as they were passing the bread....WAALLAAA....there he was sitting next to our Ward Mission Leader. He was dressed up, clean shaven, and looked ten times better than we did. Aparentely he had walked to church and was the first person there. He lives about 30 sandfilled blocks from the church!!! YEAH!

One of our investigators this week described to us how she is fighting someone inside her to be a good person. She described instances at work where she just couldn't hold it in and just let out anger. She is an amazing person with a huge desire to do good but I am sure that to many of her coworkers she could be labeled as that "angry person". The thing she really needs is help, concern, and the Savior. I thought about how easy it is to be mad or frustrated with an angry person when really they are the ones who need the most love.

One thing that has been a treasure for me in my mission is these three questions: What? Why? and How? What is usually really simple it could be the problem the person or the idea, why is the reason behind the problem, person, or idea, and how is the application, what we can do to help or maybe the actual action that the subject is doing.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, be nice to the grouch! They could be in the prayers of some missionary.

I love you all tons! but I need to go

Elder Hanson