Monday, November 25, 2013
November 25, 2013 ~ Goiania Brazil Mission, Uberlandia ~ Week 43
MOM DIDNT SEND ME AN EMAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Haha what the heck? That just totally shattered my entire Universe. It's okay mom. I Still love you. But I'm so sad that mom didn't email me. :( (This is Colin's mom! I did email him but I accidentally sent his email to his hotmail.com instead of his myldsmail.net account. I feel horrible!!! I'm like the worst mom ever. We emailed the mission office to tell Colin what happened.)
This week was not my favorite week in the entire world. Our Freaking investigator (Acinom-name chane) was so excited about her baptism and then all of the sudden on Friday she was like, "Oh Eu Quercia falafel com os irmaos, eu nao query conhecer sua igreja mais." ( This means- I wanted to talk with you guys, I don't want to know anything more about your church.) So Sad! She didn't even give us a reason why and then she didn't show up for church, so there's not a whole lot we can do. The Adversary at work again. I was so bummed after she told us :(. But everything will be fine.
We are teaching these two rapazes (young men) who have been to church a few times, but they still aren't sure about being baptized. Their names are Jeferson and Lucas. They are really cool! We are trying to encourage them to read the Book of Mormon and to come to Church. We have a new rule in the Mission that if you're teaching somebody under 15 years old, they can't be baptized for 3 months, unless they have a parent that's being baptized with them. Jeferson is 15 and Lucas is 13, so that makes it a little hard. Which means, this week will be spent on finding new people to teach. We'll keep working on the boys though.
I'm going in today to get my pants altered hahahaha. Yesterday, my suit pants were literally falling off of me lol. I have 5 or 6 pants to alter! The other two are fitting fine. I'm so excited to get them altered, you have no idea. There's this lady in the ward that's going to do it, so I don't think she'll make me pay for it, but I don't know.
Other than that, nothing else happened. My companion and I are getting along great. They say I can speak the language really well! Everyone tells me that they only know that I'm American because of my hair lol. Have a great week!
Love you guys! Tchau!
Elder Hanson
Monday, November 18, 2013
November 18, 2013 ~ Goiania Brazil Mission, Uberlandia ~ Week 42
Dear Famly,
Good News!!!! Rairanne finally was able to be baptized :) Elder Thomas & I marked her baptism date again right before I was transferred, so I wasn't able to baptize her, but I saw pictures of her from Elder Thomas at our Conference in Goiania, anyway, she went under the water all the way. It was her Fourth try haha because she was afraid of the water. She was baptized in Presidente's Carlos pool. I'm super happy for her and her family.
Nothing really happened this week. Haha I feel like I was just in this Internet cafe like two days ago, writing you guys. I really don't have too much to write about this week :/ sorry! We only had 3 days of proselyting this week, because we went to Goiania for that Conference. We finally found some new people to teach on Sunday. That always happens, we find people on Sunday right after Church has ended for the week.
My area is not very big. At least it doesn't feel nearly as big as my area in Rio Verde. My area was massive there! So far I've only been sent to very humble areas in Uberlandia. there's an area that I think I told you guys about last week that's a favela (ask Flavia what a Favela is). It seriously is so poor. We are teaching a wonderful family there and they went to church :). But seriously, count your blessings.
People in Uberlandia UNDERSTAND OUR MESSAGE!!! They get what it means to have a living prophet on the earth today. Everyone pays attention and asks questions during our message here! It makes it so easy to teach people! But like Rio Verde, no one is married and in Uberlandia, it takes longer for people to get Married. But I'm loving this area so far! The name of the street where the Church is located is actually called Rua Joseph Smith haha.
We are teaching this lady named Monica who is very funny. I really do like her! She wasn't sure a couple of weeks ago that she wanted to be baptized, but she told us yesterday that she really wants to, now. So hopefully, everything will work out with her this week and she'll be baptized on Saturday. I don't really know her all that well because the missionaries had already taught her before I came to the area. But pray for her that nothing will prevent her from being baptized this Saturday.
The members here are AWESOME!!! Ala Aurora was actually Elder Di Giordano's first area he served in on his mission. So he talked about how great this area was for him. The members are always willing to help and it's not hard for investigators to feel comfortable in the ward, which is amazing.
Good News!!!! Rairanne finally was able to be baptized :) Elder Thomas & I marked her baptism date again right before I was transferred, so I wasn't able to baptize her, but I saw pictures of her from Elder Thomas at our Conference in Goiania, anyway, she went under the water all the way. It was her Fourth try haha because she was afraid of the water. She was baptized in Presidente's Carlos pool. I'm super happy for her and her family.
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| Rairanne (Next to Colin) |
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| Apartment where we planned and studied in Rio Verde |
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| Outside Colin's house in Rio Verde (Check out the missionary shoes!) |
Nothing really happened this week. Haha I feel like I was just in this Internet cafe like two days ago, writing you guys. I really don't have too much to write about this week :/ sorry! We only had 3 days of proselyting this week, because we went to Goiania for that Conference. We finally found some new people to teach on Sunday. That always happens, we find people on Sunday right after Church has ended for the week.
My area is not very big. At least it doesn't feel nearly as big as my area in Rio Verde. My area was massive there! So far I've only been sent to very humble areas in Uberlandia. there's an area that I think I told you guys about last week that's a favela (ask Flavia what a Favela is). It seriously is so poor. We are teaching a wonderful family there and they went to church :). But seriously, count your blessings.
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| Favela in Uberlandia |
People in Uberlandia UNDERSTAND OUR MESSAGE!!! They get what it means to have a living prophet on the earth today. Everyone pays attention and asks questions during our message here! It makes it so easy to teach people! But like Rio Verde, no one is married and in Uberlandia, it takes longer for people to get Married. But I'm loving this area so far! The name of the street where the Church is located is actually called Rua Joseph Smith haha.
We are teaching this lady named Monica who is very funny. I really do like her! She wasn't sure a couple of weeks ago that she wanted to be baptized, but she told us yesterday that she really wants to, now. So hopefully, everything will work out with her this week and she'll be baptized on Saturday. I don't really know her all that well because the missionaries had already taught her before I came to the area. But pray for her that nothing will prevent her from being baptized this Saturday.
The members here are AWESOME!!! Ala Aurora was actually Elder Di Giordano's first area he served in on his mission. So he talked about how great this area was for him. The members are always willing to help and it's not hard for investigators to feel comfortable in the ward, which is amazing.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
November 13, 2013 ~ Goiania Brazil Mission, Uberlandia ~ Week 41
Dear Family,
TRANSFERRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Haha I was finally transferred after 6 and a half months in Rio Verde. I was so so sad when I got transferred! I loved the people in Rio Verde so much. I will miss everyone I taught and baptized more than anything. The Assistant to the President called me and was like, "Do you know why I'm calling Elder Hanson? Because I just wanted to tell you that I love you." I said, "Love you! Goodnight!" And then hung up. Hahaha He called me like a half an hour later and was like, "Just kidding! You're being transferred!" They all know that I've been in Rio Verde for like, my entire life. I was so mad and super sad :(.
I was transferred to this huge city called, Uberlandia (oober-lan-gee-a). It's seriously so big! I'm surprised that it doesn't have it's own mission. It' has a population of 800,000, while Goiania's population is 1,300,000. The ward that I'm working in is called Ala Aurora (Aurora ward). I've only been to the church here one time. But the people here seem really great! The only thing that's a tiny bit frustrating is that Sacrament Meeting is first and not last here. Makes it a tiny bit more difficult to get people there at 9 am, but it'll be fine.
My new companion is AWESOME! I seriously love him so much! I'm still Senior Companion but he is an awesome missionary and probably will be a senior companion soon. His name is Elder Loureiro, and he's from Curitiba, Brazil, but his family is currently living in the a different city in Brazil called Santa Catarina. A lot of people think that I'm from Santa Catarina because there's a ton of white people with blonde hair haha that live there. There's a lot of German descendants who live there, so everyone thinks I'm German. Anyway, Elder Loureiro is great. He's been on his mission for about 7 months, but he is well trained and it seems like he's been out for 18 months. I think we'll get along well. Elder Thomas and I really became great friends and so I was really sad to say goodbye to him. But, I'm excited to be here in Uberlandia! Also, Elder Wallace (a missionary from my district in the MTC) is in my zone here in the city, and so it's nice to see him and talk to him every once in a while.
Nothing much happened this week because we were hardly in our area at all. We went to Goiania to have a conference with President Costa (a member of the seventy). It was so good! I seriously loved it so much. And I realized at the end of the conference that I understood everything that President Costa said! Haha So that was a confirmation to me that I'm solid with the language. Anyway, he said many things that I'm going to apply in my work here in the field. That's the reason why I didn't email on Monday, because we were in the conference with him on that day. I'm seriously loving my mission! I'm realizing that everything is always better when you’'re positive. This past week I have been reflecting on my mission and analyzing everything I could do better and what I'm not doing...always room for improvement! I'm working as hard as possible to bring this wonderful Gospel of Jesus Christ to these people. I've decided to forget myself and just completely devote my time, talents, and love to others. I want to be worthy to always have The Holy Ghost with me. I'm very grateful for this amazing Truth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
There is this new American Elder who arrived in the mission this week. He and his companion live with us. He's super stressed out and so I've tried to do everything I can to help him. He's struggling with the language and not understanding anything. Also, he got extremely sick this week. His stomach started hurting like crazy and it spread to his back. They don't know what's wrong with him, but he'll be going to a better hospital sometime this week. Pray for him because he's so stressed out about it. I feel so bad!!! I didn't get sick, but I remember how hard it was when I first came to Brazil, with my Trainer and everything, so I want to help him out the best way I can.
Also, I think I need to get new pants haha. My suit pants barely stay on me and I don't want to get them altered because it costs money :'( but maybe I'll have to do that haha because it's getting scary. People are telling me that I finally have a neck lol. I'll have a better letter next week because more things will happen I'm sure haha. I'll send some pictures next week because this computer is super slow with the pictures. Desculpe. Love you guys so much! I hope everything is going well with you guys....thinking about you ALL...all the time! Tchau!
TRANSFERRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Haha I was finally transferred after 6 and a half months in Rio Verde. I was so so sad when I got transferred! I loved the people in Rio Verde so much. I will miss everyone I taught and baptized more than anything. The Assistant to the President called me and was like, "Do you know why I'm calling Elder Hanson? Because I just wanted to tell you that I love you." I said, "Love you! Goodnight!" And then hung up. Hahaha He called me like a half an hour later and was like, "Just kidding! You're being transferred!" They all know that I've been in Rio Verde for like, my entire life. I was so mad and super sad :(.
I was transferred to this huge city called, Uberlandia (oober-lan-gee-a). It's seriously so big! I'm surprised that it doesn't have it's own mission. It' has a population of 800,000, while Goiania's population is 1,300,000. The ward that I'm working in is called Ala Aurora (Aurora ward). I've only been to the church here one time. But the people here seem really great! The only thing that's a tiny bit frustrating is that Sacrament Meeting is first and not last here. Makes it a tiny bit more difficult to get people there at 9 am, but it'll be fine.
My new companion is AWESOME! I seriously love him so much! I'm still Senior Companion but he is an awesome missionary and probably will be a senior companion soon. His name is Elder Loureiro, and he's from Curitiba, Brazil, but his family is currently living in the a different city in Brazil called Santa Catarina. A lot of people think that I'm from Santa Catarina because there's a ton of white people with blonde hair haha that live there. There's a lot of German descendants who live there, so everyone thinks I'm German. Anyway, Elder Loureiro is great. He's been on his mission for about 7 months, but he is well trained and it seems like he's been out for 18 months. I think we'll get along well. Elder Thomas and I really became great friends and so I was really sad to say goodbye to him. But, I'm excited to be here in Uberlandia! Also, Elder Wallace (a missionary from my district in the MTC) is in my zone here in the city, and so it's nice to see him and talk to him every once in a while.
Nothing much happened this week because we were hardly in our area at all. We went to Goiania to have a conference with President Costa (a member of the seventy). It was so good! I seriously loved it so much. And I realized at the end of the conference that I understood everything that President Costa said! Haha So that was a confirmation to me that I'm solid with the language. Anyway, he said many things that I'm going to apply in my work here in the field. That's the reason why I didn't email on Monday, because we were in the conference with him on that day. I'm seriously loving my mission! I'm realizing that everything is always better when you’'re positive. This past week I have been reflecting on my mission and analyzing everything I could do better and what I'm not doing...always room for improvement! I'm working as hard as possible to bring this wonderful Gospel of Jesus Christ to these people. I've decided to forget myself and just completely devote my time, talents, and love to others. I want to be worthy to always have The Holy Ghost with me. I'm very grateful for this amazing Truth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
There is this new American Elder who arrived in the mission this week. He and his companion live with us. He's super stressed out and so I've tried to do everything I can to help him. He's struggling with the language and not understanding anything. Also, he got extremely sick this week. His stomach started hurting like crazy and it spread to his back. They don't know what's wrong with him, but he'll be going to a better hospital sometime this week. Pray for him because he's so stressed out about it. I feel so bad!!! I didn't get sick, but I remember how hard it was when I first came to Brazil, with my Trainer and everything, so I want to help him out the best way I can.
Also, I think I need to get new pants haha. My suit pants barely stay on me and I don't want to get them altered because it costs money :'( but maybe I'll have to do that haha because it's getting scary. People are telling me that I finally have a neck lol. I'll have a better letter next week because more things will happen I'm sure haha. I'll send some pictures next week because this computer is super slow with the pictures. Desculpe. Love you guys so much! I hope everything is going well with you guys....thinking about you ALL...all the time! Tchau!
Monday, November 4, 2013
November 4, 2013 ~ Goiania Brazil Mission, Rio Verde ~ Week 40
Dear Family,
This week was so good!!! We had another two batismos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We baptized this kid Matheus, who we've been teaching for awhile. We actually had his baptismal date set for next week, because the rule was that people under 16 years old had to go to church 4 times before they could be baptized. But the rule changed last week and he had already gone 3 times, so we were really happy he was baptized this week! The youth in our branch are amazing! They are always so welcoming to every moca (young women) or rapaz (young men) and they are always making friends with them, so it's really easy to get the youth investigators integrated into the branch here! Matheus has so many friends already and he's been going to seminary now for forever. It's awesome that he has such good support from the youth!
We also Baptized Zito's son, Wangrisson!! I think I told you about Zito's last week? Not sure, but we have been teaching him and he is GOLDEN. I love Zito so much! He's always bringing new people to church every week and he's not even baptized yet! He brought his son, Wangrisson to church a couple of times and he really liked church, so he was baptized! He hasn't been as integrated with the youth because he hasn't gone to seminary yet, but he's been making friends at church and so everything will work out with that. We also invited Zito to be legally married so he can get baptized and he accepted! They still have to wait until the end of November to get officially married though. It's such a miracle and he has such a desire to be a part of Jesus Christ Gospel. I'm so excited for him! His wife is not as interested as he is, but she went to church this week and she also brought her sister with her! So hopefully we'll be able to baptize them all! Seria excelente!
I'm so afraid that I'm going to get transferred though. Today is when we're going to find out if we got transferred or not, and I'm so scared! I want to be here so bad for Zito's wedding and his baptism! Also, remember Habyta's mom? She and her boyfriend are trying everything they can to get married so they can get baptized as well. They're super firm in the Church and they come to church every time, so I would be so sad if I wasn't able to baptize them. They're planning on getting married sometime in a January, so I don't know, but I really want to be here for them as well.
Everything is going so much better! Now that it's getting better, I want to stay in Rio Verde forever haha. Elder Thomas and I are building a strong companionship and are really good friends. But I'm pretty sure I'm going to be transferred, if not today, then for sure the next transfer. No one stays in an area for longer than 6 months! I want to stay so bad! The people here are so receptive to our message and I just love the Brazilian people to death. We love teaching them because they are pretty accepting to everything we throw at them. It's super hard work but it's all worth it in the end.
I'm not even worried about my Portuguese anymore. A lot of people here think that I'm from the Southern part of Brazil (because there's a lot of white people there) and they say that I don't really have an accent anymore! Which means a lot to me because a few American missionaries, who have been out for almost two years, still have trouble with Brazilians understanding them. I don't have a problem with this anymore, everyone understands me now haha!
Anyway, I laughed when I saw Noah in the SLENDERMAN costume haha. SO OBSESSED! Love you guys! Ate a semana que vem! Tchau!!! Beijo! :/
Elder Hanson
This week was so good!!! We had another two batismos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We baptized this kid Matheus, who we've been teaching for awhile. We actually had his baptismal date set for next week, because the rule was that people under 16 years old had to go to church 4 times before they could be baptized. But the rule changed last week and he had already gone 3 times, so we were really happy he was baptized this week! The youth in our branch are amazing! They are always so welcoming to every moca (young women) or rapaz (young men) and they are always making friends with them, so it's really easy to get the youth investigators integrated into the branch here! Matheus has so many friends already and he's been going to seminary now for forever. It's awesome that he has such good support from the youth!
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| Colin and Matheus |
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| Colin, Wangrisson and Elder Thomas |
Everything is going so much better! Now that it's getting better, I want to stay in Rio Verde forever haha. Elder Thomas and I are building a strong companionship and are really good friends. But I'm pretty sure I'm going to be transferred, if not today, then for sure the next transfer. No one stays in an area for longer than 6 months! I want to stay so bad! The people here are so receptive to our message and I just love the Brazilian people to death. We love teaching them because they are pretty accepting to everything we throw at them. It's super hard work but it's all worth it in the end.
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| Rio Verde |
Anyway, I laughed when I saw Noah in the SLENDERMAN costume haha. SO OBSESSED! Love you guys! Ate a semana que vem! Tchau!!! Beijo! :/
Elder Hanson
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