October 27, 2014 - Brazil Goiania Mission - Goiania - Week 91

Dear Family,

That´s crazy what happened with Sam! I hope he´s doing okay. I´ll send an email to him this week to help him out. I run into drunk crazy people all the time and they´ve never done anything to me, which is a huge blessing. There are a million bars EVERYWHERE. Like literally, anywhere you go in any city in Brazil, there will be a bar on every corner and it´ll be packed the entire day with crazy drunk people. Every day haha it´s so awful. People yell at us all the time, and I´m really grateful that nothing has happened to us? I´ll pray for Sam this week.

This week was crazy! We baptized Francisca!!! Oh my heck it was so crazy! Like it really was a huge deal to baptize her. It was so weird, at the beginning of the week she was super excited for her baptism, and then we started passing by during the week, and she started avoiding us a little bit and we didn´t know why. On Wednesday night we passed by unexpectedly and she told us everything. She had been looking for a job for a long time, and finally found one. The Assembly of God (A huge evangelical church in Brazil) offered her a job to be a cook at an Evangelical School. They also told her that she couldn´t go to any other church if she was hired and that she would have to attend their meetings like every single day. It pays well I guess, and she was really wanting to accept it. We talked with her for a bit, and she decided not to take the job. We fasted and prayed like cray and it all worked out in the end. We were really worried haha. But she was super happy the day of her baptism and went to a church activity after and she said it was the best day ever. Everyone was happy.

A member from the area - Going on a mission

Francicsa and her daughter and boyfriend with Colin

Elder Pinheiro, Francisca and Colin

This week, I went on a division with an Elder who works in Jardim Curitiba! My first area! It was so wierd being back there because 
it´s been a year and a half since I´ve been there. It has changed a ton and it looks like it´s even poorer haha. It was fun. I saw a few of the members there and they were like "Oh my gosh! You were fat when you were here and you´re Portuguese sucked!" haha it was awesome. 

We´re teaching a few good people right now. Alex, Reciery, and Aparecida. They all have dates for the 8th of November and we´re hoping that it all works out. I don´t really have any special things to say about them yet because we´ve only taught them all one time. But I´ll give details on them next week.

Love you guys! Sorry my emails are getting suckier and suckier every week! You´ll just have to have me tell you guys all of the experiences when I get home! Tchau!

Elder Hanson

October 20, 2014 - Brazil Goiania Mission - Goiania - Week 90

Dear Family,

Hey guys!

This week was pretty good. A few disappointments, but still it was another pretty solid week.

Francisca is progressing demais! Holy crap she is so awesome. She accepts pretty much everything we tell her and she is excited as crap for her baptism. We´ve been passing by her house with members almost every single time and she loves the members here. She went to a Relief Society Activity as well and is super integrated with the members.The baptism was announced in Sacrament Meeting and everyone is super excited. I think the members now are warming up to us and are more excited to help us now because of it. It seems like they have gotten mad with some of the missionaries that have served here in the past and so we´re trying to gain their confidence back. But honestly, it really isn´t even that bad. My companion thinks that it´s really bad, but I have seen a lot worse haha. It´s hard for the new missionaries in the ward when you have retarded missionaries who have served in a ward and do basically nothing to help the ward out at all. But it´ll be fine! Everyone is stoked out of their minds for Francisca´s baptism. She´s like the nicest lady ever. I feel like I'm always sent to areas to clean up and I love it!

We found a few really good people this week, but for some reason, we weren´t able to get them to go to church. But we´re hoping for the best and we´re trying to work a lot more with the members and get references from them. we were able to get 4 member references this week, but we´re trying to think of ways to get more. It´ll be awesome.

Other than that, there´s not a whole lot to talk about. It´s so nuts to me that Cooper is home now! Don´t worry, all of those pictures are not making me trunky haha. Not at all......

Anyways! About the whole BYU thing. I actually have thought about it, and I´m wanting to go into the Psychology field. I´ve changed my mind about everything haha. I want to be a Psychiatrist (Don´t know if that´s how you spell that). I´ll explain why when I come home. But that´s what I´ve decided to do. I hope that it works out with the whole housing situation because I have no friends at BYU other than Travis and Matt haha and I don´t really want to live with somebody I don´t know again. 

Love you guys! 

Elder Hanson

October 13, 2014 - Brazil Goiania Mission - Goiania - Week 89

Dear Family,

So this week was pretty sweet. A few sad things happened, but all in all, it was a solid week.

So about Thaynara and Jonaton. They liked church and everything, but they really weren´t progressing after a few visits with them. They weren´t reading, and not praying with real intent. We then took them to the church to teach them, and they told us there that they didn´t want to meet with us anymore. I´m pretty sure that their family had said a few things to them to get them to stop visiting with us because Thaynara´s mom is Evangelical and her dad hates religion. Thaynara seemed really interested in the beginning, but then I think her family got to her. She was bawling her eyes out when she told us that she didn´t want to meet with us anymore. Jonaton, on the other hand, had never been interested and told us that he wanted to be baptized in the 7th Day Adventist Church haha. Whatevs. I feel like we planted the seed with Thaynara and in the future, she´ll be more prepared.

But with trials and hard work come the blessings haha. We found this SUPER CHOSEN lady named Francisca this week. We had just left our house after P Day last week, and we saw her and her daughter walking down the street. I had this huge strong impression that I should talk to her, but my companion was feeling the same thing haha and he beat me to her. We talked to her and then we passed by her house the next day and she told us "I have only lived here for two weeks, and I prayed to God every day for Him to help me find the right church to join. And then I met you guys!" Haha she was super happy and accepted a baptismal date for the 25th. She went to church and loved it as well. 

My companion is awesome. He is one of the calmest missionaries I´ve met haha. He kind of has a awkwardness about him. He repeats a lot of things that he says as well haha. It´s pretty much everything he says. It´s strange, he´ll say something, and then right after he´ll repeat it under his breath. The sisters tease him in fun a lot because of it haha.

Other than that, there´s not a whole lot to talk about. I can´t freaking believe that Cooper is home now! Elder Cunnington also went home last week. Don´t worry, I´ve always pushed myself to be exactly obedient throughout my entire mission. I´ve seen a lot of miracles because of it. I know it´ll keep happening as well if I keep doing what the Lord wants me to do. 

Oh, Travis sent me an email and he said that he wants to room with me. Mom, is there any way that you could get in contact with him and arrange the rooming situation? I can´t go onto those kinds of sites here :/. Haha Thanks! Love you guys!

Elder Hanson

October 6, 2014 - Brazil Goiania Mission - Goiania - Week 88

Dear Family,

Hey guys! So this week was a week full of surprises and a lot of unexpected things haha. I was transferred! I honestly don´t know why, but I know President Kuceki was inspired so I´ll go with it. I was transferred to another area in Goiania that´s called Balneário. It´s right next to my very first area in Brazil, Jardim Curitiba. The companionships in my area are two companionships of sisters haha and the two other Elders. I´ve never had sisters in my area before so that should be interesting haha. There´s another companionship of sisters in the ward, and one is from Africa! Crazy huh? She´s from an island called Cape Verde, if you´ve ever heard of it and so she speaks Portuguese and Creole. It´s an area that hasn´t had too many baptisms this past year. President loves putting me in challenging areas haha but it´ll be great. Elder Webb is in my zone! He´s in Jardim Curitiba now.

My companion is Elder Pinheiro, who´s been on his mission for about 8 months. He´s kind of a goof haha but I like him so far. He´s from Belém Brazil (which means Bethlehem in Portuguese haha) which is a really really hot city like right on the equator. 

Conference was awesome. I really did love it. I thought it was really interesting that a lot of the talks had the same topic basically. They talked a lot on how we need to support the leaders and especially the prophet, that we need to gain our own testimony of them and that they are called of God. I thought that it was really interesting haha and I thought that the prophet was going to change some huge commandment or something, i was just waiting for it but it didn´t happen. The great thing about conference, was that I watched it in English! Holy crap it´s been a long time since I´ve heard someone speak English haha. There´s an Elder in the zone here that was so mad that they were going to watch it in POrtuguese (because he´s new in the mission and doesn´t speak Portuguese yet) and was so happy when he found out that the Americans could watch it in English. He was like "the church is only true in English" haha

I loved all of the talks, but my favorite talk I think was from Dieter F. Uchtdorf, when he talked about how we can´t be offended so easily and that we need to be spiritually prepared with our own testimony and not blame other people for our faults and for the bad things that happen in our life. I feel like that happens a lot, especially here. a lot of the less active members fell away when bad things happened in their lives and they blamed it on other people. We need to have our own testimony of the gospel so that when horrible things happen, we can be prepared and overcome them more easily. I liked Elder Bednar´s, of course Elder Holland´s, and Elder Godoy´s talk as well! (Because it was in Portuguese haha) Elder Christofferson´s talk was really good as well.

We´re teaching right now a young couple (who don´t live together! Milagre!) who went to conference and they liked it a lot, Thaynara and Jonathon. We haven´t taught them a whole lot until now, but they both have a date for the 18th. Pray for them so that they can progress and be baptized that day! We just have to teach the Law of Chastity to them and it should work out haha.

Love you guys! This week was a super humbling week, and I was really grateful for it. Can´t believe how straight Noah´s teeth are now! He looks like a normal child now hahaha jk lol

Elder Hanson

September 29, 2014 - Brazil Goania Mission - Goiania - Week 87

Dear Family,

Hey guys! So this week was super interesting. We baptized Flavia! It was so awesome. She was super excited and was teary eyed basically the whole time haha. Our Ward Mission Leader is awesome! He planned the baptism, like who would give some messages and he organized everything. It was probably the best baptismal service I´ve had so far my entire mission. We sang at the baptism! haha The American Sister (Sister Cutler)and I sang Be Still My Soul in English haha and my companion sang with us in Portuguese. They had me play the piano and sing it as well. It was really good! Flavia cried. Of course my companion hated it! But it´s all good! I´ll send some pics of the baptism.

Flavia's Baptism with ward members

Colin, Elder Santos, Flavia and Bishop

Making some soup on P-Day

Basquete lol para toda a vida

Unfortunately, Ana Clara was not baptized. We literally have no idea what in the world happened. It was honestly so weird. She passed in the interview and everything and the mom was totally supportive, but then the day of the baptism we kept calling them and they didn´t answer the phone. Then we went over to their house to give them a ride to the baptism, and they weren´t there! We still have no idea what happened. We´ll pass by there later to see. Haha this has never happened my whole mission so it was cray! 

So..... we were at President Kuceki´s house this week eating lunch and Pres. told Elder Santos that he was going to be transferred this week to the farthest city in the mission, and that he would be the group leader there! (There´s not even a branch yet in the city). He didn´t say anything to me, so I thought that I would be staying in the Goiânia ward, but nope! Surprise! I´ve been transferred again! I have no idea where, and I´ll find out on Wednesday. I was honestly so surprised. I don´t have any idea what will happen to me.

Cooper freaking ends his mission this week! That´s so crazy to me. I really did like his testimony that he sent. It really does seem like he´s changed haha.

Love you guys! Hope you get better mom! sorry about that.

Elder Hanson

September 22, 2014 - Brazil Goiania Mission - Goiania - Week 86

Dear Family,

Hey guys! This week passed by super fast. It seems like the weeks keep passing by faster and faster. I feel like it was yesterday that I was writing you guys haha I can´t believe it´s already been a week.

So Ana Clara was not baptized this week. Her mom (Luciana) wants her mom to see the baptism, and her mom lives in Brasilia, and so she´ll come this weekend to see it. Not a huge deal. But anyway! Flavia and Ana Clara will be baptized on Saturday!!! We´re really excited because the sisters that work in our ward (Sister Cutler from Virginia and Sister Amaral from Minas Gerais Brazil) will also have a baptism. They´ve been working really hard this transfer and have not seen any success so we´re happy for them. 

Good news! So you guys know that Leandro was a reference from a member from São Paulo right? Turns out that the guy who gave the reference used to be a mission president in Brasilia like 20 years ago and I believe is a stake president in São Paulo now. He found out that Leandro got baptized and sent a letter to the secretaries here congratulating us on the baptism. He said something like "Congrats to Elder Santos and Elder Hanson for the excellent work in baptizing Leandro". Haha he also said that he sent the Ensign to them and so they´ll have the Ensign coming to their house for at least a year. Cool huh? I forgot the guy´s name but I took a copy of the letter that he sent and when I come home you guys can see a copy of the letter lol. But it was really cool. 

Also! You guys remember Arlei right from Parque do Sabiá in Uberlândia? He´s preparing to go on a mission! I guess he´s getting all of his papers ready so that he can go next year. I´m super stoked for him and Elder Neeley is really excited about it too. Remember his sister Cristiana? When we were teaching them, only Arlei wanted to be baptized, but Cristiana was baptized last Saturday!!! That´s so awesome. Now Arlei will have support from his family in the church and that will help him stay even stronger. Also Alisson is preparing to go on his mission as well!! He just has to finish High School and he´ll already start his mission papers to be able to go next year! So awesome.

We found this lady named Karina this past week. She´s super interested in the church. She had heard a bunch of crap about the church from her mom, "Mormonism is..." Haha and so for some reason, she wanted to find out more about the Mormons. We gave her a book of Mormon and everything. We haven´t been able to teach her since then, but it looks promising!

Love you guys! I´m just gonna stick through this last week of the transfer with my companion because I´ve realized that it´s just the way he is! It´ll be great!

Elder Hanson

September 15, 2014 - Brazil Goiania Mission - Goiania - Week 85

Dear Family,

     So this week went better. Actually, at the beginning of the week, it was going horrible haha. But then, it has gotten better and better every day.

     Anyways, this week was a rough week for our zone. The zone did not baptize a single person even though there were a few dates marked for this past week. Sunday came, and a lot of people with baptismal dates didn´t go to church so a lot of dates fell. But it´s okay! I´m not gonna get myself down because of that. It´ll all work out. My comp seems to be okay as well so that makes me happy. 

We have a date for this week! We have this lady named Luciana and her husband Weslei (not married) but they´ll get married next month! We´ll baptize Anna Clara, their daughter this Saturday! She´s super inteligent and loves church so it´ll be great. Next month will be Luciana´s baptism. She is super awesome! She invites all of her friends to come to church with her, and she doesn´t get down when they reject her. Weslei will have to wait a little longer because of some stuff he needs to take care of.  

Flavia will be baptized next Saturday! We´re super stoked for her to get married this week. She´s super awesome and basically has a calling already in the Primary haha. Só milagres!

Love you guys! Please don´t worry about me! Throughout my mission I have learned to be self animating? Haha don´t know if that´s a word or if that makes sense but I´ve learned that I´ve gotta keep myself motivated always or everything will go up in flames haha. I´m great! I´m loving my mission so much and I´ll be super sad when it´s done. Sorry my letters are a struggle!! haha you´ll see how bad my English is when I come home! Love you all!

Elder Hanson