Tuesday, March 31, 2009

march 31 2009

Hello family,
It sounds like you all had a pretty good week and things are quite well. This week went pretty well we were able to render a lot of service. Right now we are building a game park fence in Brother Billy Vanheardens backyard and it is truly something fun for me to relieve some of the stresses of missionary work. I do get frustrated sometimes because the guy does not know how to build a fence. Something that I am learning with him is complete patience, when he doesn't know what he is doing. This week is transfer week, me and Elder Marshall will see if we stay together another transfer. Here in the next few months our mission is going to see a lot of change. Because the shortage of missionaries in the world our mission will drop down to less than 100 missionaries. When Elder Marshall's group of missionaries leave there will be no incoming missionaries for the next 6 months or next 4 transfers, only departing missionaries. It just simply means that there will be no biking areas and the areas that we are in are going to be huge. Right now the area that we are in is big enough it is probably the size of half of Utah valley. So anyways big changes are happening in the mission in the next six months. Well today will be a short letter but I look forward to general conference and also the game drive that we are going on today with the senior couples. We will be going to Inquenqeze and see the big 5 that they have. Sorry I would write some more but we have to go. Well Have a good week and be sure to write more in your emails they're looking a little skimpy. love you all

Elder Tyler Hansen

Monday, March 30, 2009

Regan March 30, 2009

Everything has been going really well this past week.

I don't have to much time today because we received a call from a ward member and we have to give a blessing here very shortly. I am grateful for this opportunity that I will be able to exercise the Priesthood power that the Lord has given me the Privilege to hold. I know that it will perform those miracles and help everyone one who desires to receive the blessings from the Priesthood.

This past week it slowed down because of rain, rain, rain... We were still able to find those of who we had planned on and the spirit has been attending so strong at each and every lesson that we have had this week. We taught Jeffrey and Kiera the Restoration this past Wednesday and it had the most strongest spirit our of any other lesson that I have ever been apart of.

We all kneeled down in prayer at the end and the spirit brought me to have such sweet tears for these 2 special children of our Heavenly Father. They have received the knowledge of thy gracious spirit and will continue to learn and progress through his help.

If you could keep Sister Parson's in your prayers that would be great. There was some complication after a surgery that she had and it would be great for her and her family to be in our prayers.

Thank you for all of the love and support you show to me and for the love the Savior gives to me from all of you.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

march 24 2009

well hello family,
It is good to here from you and all the new changes that are happening. Dad I hope all is well with your back you will have to tell me what your new job is. It is good that you guys were able to experience the witness of an Apostle and feel of Elder Jefferey R. Hollands spirit. He sends a powerful message and I truly look forward to conference in the next couple of weeks, they mean a lot more on a mission than back at home. I hope that I can be able to hear something that will help benefit me and also the investigators that we invite to come. This week we were able to go out to the town of Butterworth which is a very dirty town but once you get into the outskirts/farmlands they show some pride in there town. I will show you some pictures of the town, I don't have any inside the town but some of the outskirts. We only go out to Butterworth once or twice every transfer which is every six weeks and meet with the Bakitcha family. We really didn't get to teach anyone out there but gave Tata Bakitcha a blessing since his foot was swollen. Butterworth is about an hour and a half away from Beacon Bay but the bishop likes us to go out there to see that all is well with the Bakitchas since they are basically the only members in the whole town. We went fellow shipping with Sepocacula who just received the Aaronic Priesthood and visited some of his family. This transfer is winding to an end, me and my companion requested to President that we stay together another transfer, but we will see what happens. Elder Marshall has a lot of knowledge of the gospel and this next transfer will be his last on his mission. We have quite a few progressing investigators now and this next transfer we may have quite a few baptisms depending on there commitments. We were able also to give a lot of service this week with me and my companion putting in about 30 service hours a week which is really good for South Africa and Beacon Bay since the country is accustomed to beggars. Thanks for the emails and if you would please send some pictures of back home since I realized that I came out here with no pictures. It sounds like things are starting to warm up It will be interesting to experience my first winter here in South Africa since the nights now are starting to get a little bit cold which I like. Thank you for the support I pray for you all the time and look forward to a package.
love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Monday, March 23, 2009

Regan March 23, 2009

I hope all is well and the snow should soon be fading away quickly. It has started to warm up here and has been quite consistent at about 75 degrees now. The Humidity has not picked up a ton yet but it will be very soon so I'm not to excited about it.

This past week had its up and downs but all and all it was good. On Tuesday we went to visit all the new move-ins south of the Highway. We were able to leave cards with them but many of them were not available at the time. We looked at the end of the day and we bike 17 miles.

On Wednesday we basically did the same thing but in the north part our area. We were able to talk with a couple of Move ins and visited some member as we were out and about. We traveled 20 miles and I felt so exhausted that I slept really well.

Thursday we planned so we got a bit of a break from riding but by the end of the day we were playing basketball with the sisters, investigators, and members that join us in some fun.

We traveled a lot today because we had a lot of referrals but we did not see much come from those things. I have learned this week on how to have Patient perseverance.

I was thinking that this week had almost been bombed because we had not found any new "gators." On Saturday we decided that we would go out and tract an area with a ton of townhouses. We found 3 new investigators and found many more potential that we were not able to set appointments up with.

I have been able to see that having patience and persevering through hard times that seem as if you are not accomplishing anything are truly a blessing. It allowed me to understand better how we need to be dependent on our Heavenly Father. Through the great gift of the Holy Spirit we are able to receive a greater hope and hope for those things of the future. With Hope we can always be prepared for out destiny but we will never fully comprehend how great it will be as we enjoy the Fullness of times with our Father and Saviour.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Monday, March 16, 2009

march 16 2009




Hello
Hey dad when did you get a new job you never told me? It sounds like everything is going well though. I enjoy my companion he makes everyday an adventure and he is about ready to go home, so he is quite trunky. We had zone workshops and interviews this week, me and my companion made the request to stay together another transfer since this transfer is almost finished. We will see if we stay together but I hope I do because I really like this ward and the people in the area of Gonubie. I love being by the ocean and trackting by the ocean, just makes missionary work a lot more fun. This week was stake conference and we all gathered together in Mdansane Enu 2 chapel. It was a full chapel but it would be great to see another chapel full with all the area of East London and Mdansane. In Cape Town if everyone was active there there would be enough for 9 stakes and probably even a temple there. But there is only one stake in Cape Town as well as one in Port Elizabeth and also East London. There are two branches in the country of Namibia. I look forward to this week and the few people that are progressing especially the Howe family I think the focus in our area would be finding new progressing investigators. We have a lot of investigators but a lot of them are not progressing at all and its more of just a social hour when your with them, rather than us teaching them. The white people that you see in the picture are the Africans people which contains most of our ward. There are also some from Britain and very few from Scotland but the majority are the Africans which is a the language of Dutch and German and they are a harder people to talk to, that will let us into there house I think a lot because of the apartate in 1994 but they are good people. Thanks for the emails each week they help to encourage me, but I love you all.
Elder Tyler Hansen

Regan March 16, 2009

So I was able to see the pictures that Uncle Steve posted from Tyler. I am glad to see the happiness and Joy he is having just like I am in serving the Lord in such a great calling.
This past week has had it's ups and downs but we were still able to accomplish all the things that we desired . We also had Zone Conference this past week and it just continues to inspire us more and more.

We watched a Movie that is on a church DVD called "Ensign to the Nation". It showed those people who had done so much Contribution for the church not only on the continent but for others. One that really stuck out to me was a Brother from Nigeria if I remember right. He had contacted the church after stumbling across a pamphlet in his home. He received a Book of Mormon but they told him that there were no missionaries in the Continent of Africa.
He taught many of his friends and Families of the is new found truth that he had the opportunity to envelop himself in. He was patient and went through almost 15 years of Long-suffering before the first missionaries. After his pleading prayers and dedicated service to the Lord he was able to be further blessed by the Gospel and receive the ordinances that he desired so much to have.

I have personally applied in my life to have much supplication with the Lord through prayer. I have begun more recently to always rely on the Spirit in my prayers. I have noticed that those blessing's that the Lord desires to bless me with have come more abundantly because of my willingness to rely on the spirit as I Pray.

I spent a bit of time this week on my knees with the lord pleading for direction on how we should help our Investigators achieve their full potential while learning the gospel. With every opportunity I had to supplicate I received such strong feelings of peace and guidance to better myself as a missionary with my own commitments and also those with our Investigators.

I know that the Power Of Prayer with the Guidance of the Holy Ghost can open many new doors for personal revelation and blessings that will continually grant us with peace, joy, goodness, and other fruits of the spirit that enable us to be guided.

Thanks for the support and the great emails.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Regan March 14, 2009




Elder Mortensen and Elder Hansen Looks like they are ready to rumble as the Sons of Heleman



Looks like a nice Place For a Vacation Next year.



We received a package from Elder Regan Hansen today, It had Old letters and Stuff from the Last 6 months of his mission that he felt that he no longer wanted to carry around. We received a disk of Pictures so I will post a few of them here so we can all share.

Paul Hansen

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Regan March 9, 2009


Well this week has been great.

I found out on Tuesday night that a little girl in the ward was being baptized on Saturday and she wanted me to baptize her. She is in a part member family and we are hoping to work with them and bring their family closer together.

We did not have the Opportunity to teach Misty this week. She has been in Gainesville and the Hospital because of the tumor that she has in her liver. I have prayed that she will be blessed and overcome this trial and I have only had peace in my heart.

We talked with Jeffrey and Kiera this week. After their vacation we were finally able to set up a time to talk with them. I found out that Jeffrey was excommunicated 13 years ago but wants to come back. His girlfriend Kiera has heard a lot about the church from him and has been begging him to reach us for the past few months. She was really excited to read the Book of Mormon. We will be teaching them tomorrow.

We received a lot of referrals this week from Salt Lake and we were able to deliver all of them very quickly. We set up an appointment with one of them but she wasn't there. We stopped and talked to a few people that were around her complex and found Stephan. He is a really cool guy and is interested in what we have offered him.

We taught Suzin this week. We taught her The plan of Salvation and it went real well. At the end of the lesson we kneeled down in prayer to show her how to pray. She was a little bit reluctant but she said she would pray after we left. I felt the need to commit her to baptism and she said yes. We are shooting for March 28. She wasn't able to attend church yesterday so we are hoping to have it then. If you could Keep her in your prayers that would be great.

The spirit has been so strong since the baptism. I felt such love from our Saviour after I had performed the ordinance. She was so happy after and it just made me so joyful. I know that with the work that we are doing at this time that we can all feel the joy and satisfaction as we invite all our friends and families to come unto Christ.

Thank you and I love all of You

Elder Regan Hansen

Monday, March 9, 2009

March 9, 2009




Dear Family
It sounds neat that Elder Holland is speaking in Stake conference he is a very bold and powerful speaker. I enjoy the spirit that he brings from listening to him especially on a mission. Listening to the prophets on a mission is somehow more meaning to me. This last week though was a great week, we were able to get in contact with Elray Duplaci who is always gone on business in Joburg. We have an appointment with her tonight at 7 and she says she just has some questions about the Book of Mormon to clarify with her. She kind of wears the pants in the family so if she gains that personal testimony for herself it will make a big influence on her husband and her family. I am really excited for the next couple of transfers the way it is looking now we are going to have 2 or more baptisms depending on if our progressing investigators keep to there commitments. Since Elder Marshall has just one transfer left we are going to make a request that we stay in the area for another transfer in which I really hope happens. I really enjoy the ward and the members we have a lot of support from the members even though our area is so spread across the valley. This week we also met with the Howe family another one of our progressing investigators who lives out in sunrise on sea a very beautiful African village. I don't think the area has had a lot of missionaries out there before so there is a lot of potential especially from the people that we have met with. Val Howe is an about 70 or so and he is an electrician for the casinos here is East London but with his latest heart problems he is really more interested in the message that we share and he was saying how he is kind of lost in the wilderness right now. They go to the Lutheran church but I think they don't really know why they go like it says in the bible they search for the truth but they know not where to find it. So that is the boat that they are in. Hettie Howe is the sweetest lady and she will do anything for anyone at anytime. She is mainly the one who we converse with but they both have a deep interest in genealogy work so we are planning to give them a lesson on family history work. This family I am greatly excited for ,They had missionaries visit them before and they didn't take the message really into heart. Since we met with Valentine and the complications that they are having, the gospel is sparking a deeper interest in their lives. They love to tell us about their grandparents, parents, great grandparents and if they know what we know it will bring a miracle to them and their family. It sounds like things are warming up back home, I am not excited for this winter because is starting to get darker now in East London in the mornings and in the evenings. It gets light at about 7 and gets dark at about 5. Then again I enjoy the cooler temperatures. Have a good week, I love you very much. Track ting this week here we go.

Elder Tyler Hansen

Monday, March 2, 2009

Regan March 2, 2009

Hey everybody I hope that your past week has been filled with the Love and Joy that our Saviour has for you.

This past week has been full of Miracles, as was last week. Those who we found have heard our message and have continued to want to hear more about it. I have been able to see how these families and individuals have been blessed through their diligence in following the commitments that we have asked them to Keep.

I am grateful to see that progress because it helps me understand that if they continue like they are they will be able to attend the temple before I leave.

We have found 4 new investigators this past week and the work has been phenomenal. We have been talking to a part member family and we will be teaching the Husband tomorrow about the temple and the blessing that come for attending. We are hoping through this that he will want to be baptized and continue to work towards with his family to be sealed together for time and all eternity.

We called Jeffrey on Thursday and will be teaching him on Wednesday with his girlfriend. He is from SLC and really has a desire to learn. We also decided that riding our bikes in the rain would bring us some fruit if we were diligent in what we had planned. We delivered a Book of Mormon to Dianne and will be teaching her about it on Wednesday.

Misty has been progressing real well but we recently found out that she has a tumor in her liver and has to go to a Hospital in Jacksonville. We have been able to comfort her with the message that we have and she expresses how great she feels the spirit as we come and testify of truth to her. If you could keep her in your prayers that would be awesome.

With my fast that I had yesterday I was blessed with a better understanding of patience and the strength that is within it boundaries. I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to strive to continue my progress of obtaining more fully the Christ Like Attributes that will make me out to be a better disciple of our Saviour.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a great talk on "Developing Christlike Attributes" and I know that with the direction of his message that it has brought me into a new understanding of how I can better achieve to strengthen myself and to become one in Unity with our Father In Heaven, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost to fulfill the path that he has chosen for me to accomplish.

Love You and thanks for the support

Elder Regan Hansen