Monday, May 24, 2010

Regan, May 24, 2010

This past week has been filled with change and improvement as we set our goals and began to press forward in putting our trust in the Lord and striving to fulfill the challenges and designs of which he prepared for us to face this past week.

Monday we began the morning having a really great lesson with Melissa. We were able to teach her the Plan of Salvation which went really well. We shared a lot of great scriptures and as she shared her thoughts and feelings many new doors opened up for us to pursue. We left her with Alma 32 and 3 Nephi 11 to read. We continued the day with emails and spent sometime with the Semmes Elders before dinner. We had a great dinner with the Hearns and prepared with them for next week when we would do service and help them load and pack up for there move to Indiana.

Tuesday we had a really great District Meeting and His Spirit was able to teach us many new things. Elder Bawden directed us into some role plays which really prepared us all for future things that would come our way. I really love role plays because it really can help us better discern the reactions people may have. After lunch we traveled and had a really great lesson with Joe and followed up with his reading in Ether 12. He was able to read and apply different things within to his life that should give him a greater and improved strength. We then visited with Brother Serrano and gave him a blessing and asked him about how work was going for him. We then continued with tracting throughout the day and making visits to members which went really well. We were able to share our testimonies and be strengthened by so many people faith. We had dinner with the Fairchild's which went really well and we gave them the commitment to be at church on Sunday.

Wednesday we started the day by visiting a few referrals within the Prichard area and had some great success. We were able to talk with a couple and set up some appointments which should help us to continue to stay busy. We tracted a few streets while we were there and talked with a few people that commended us for our dedication to serve the Lord. We had great lesson with Sister Kimberly Evans and re-focused with her on continuing to read everyday. We left her with a few chapters to read and will be following up with her. We had a great visit with the Juarez family after and were able to invite them to a few activities of which the youth are having. We then made a few phone calls to media referrals and set up an appointment with Julies who we will be seeing on Tuesday. After doing some tracting we went to the family history potluck that the youth did and they had a lot of success.

Thursday we started the day by doing some service by helping some members with their food storage and preparation for that which went really well and we were able to accomplish a lot of different things. We came back and did our planning really well and continued to prepare us to finish out the week strong and help everyone that we can. We then started our trade-off and Elder Tolley and I stayed in Mobile. We went and visited with the Johnny's and they were doing really well. We went tracted for a bit before we had dinner with Sister Pacetti which was great. We received a phone call and on short notice we were able to change our plans and do service for Sister Olsen which went really well.

Friday we began the day by trying to visit a few people that bishop has asked us to see and went and tracted. We were able to find Laura and had a really good brief Restoration lesson with her. We set up an appointment with her which we handed off to the Theodore Elders. We visited with the Campbell's and had lunch with them which went well. We discussed teaching the lessons to them each week and they are fine with it and now we are waiting to see when the rest of the family will be able to come over. We are going to be following up with them in a couple of days to see what will work best. We then tracted for a few hours which went really well and we were and to find Mary Kelly. We had a great visit with her and we found out that in the past her family was LDS. We are excited to visit with her this coming Wednesday. We then ended our trade-off which I felt went really well and had dinner before activity night. We had a lot of people show up which was great and now we can see that as we invite and are patient people will come.

Saturday we started off at the Bishop's Storehouse which went really well and we stayed really busy getting orders organized and even having to deliver a couple of them. The Morris's took us to the church and we put Brother Larubi's order there and then went and deliver Brother Serrano's to him because with the new job he wasn't able to make it. We went to the Fairchild's to pick up a few things and then took them up to Sister Parkes since they were on our way to some areas we were going to. We were able to do some tracting which went really well and we talked to some great people. I was able to call Brother Blackmon as I told him I would and he said that he would be at church on Sunday. We had dinner with the Fairchild's which went well and we helped Brother Fairchild do a few things.

Sunday was really great and we had some experiences that strengthened my testimony. We had a really great time at church because even though we didn't have any investigators we had the Fairchild's, Brother Blackmon, and a few less active members we had been visiting. After church we decided to not go and have lunch. Even though we were hungry we decided not to. We were traveling to visit with a few members and the thought came to go and try and visit Sam Smith again. We showed up at his door and he told us that we couldn't of come at a better time. He has been dealing with a lot of different things and asked us if we could give him a blessing. We found out after that 10 minutes before he had been praying and seeking for help to bring him some peace. We came to find out that we were the answers to his prayer and together we had one of the sweetest experiences. I know now that it truly is the sweetest experience to follow and act upon promptings in which we receive. We then visited with the Farrel family which went pretty good and we are hoping to get them back to church soon. We did a little bit of tracting in between and visited with a few other members before we had dinner with the Martyn family. It was really great spending sometime with them and discussing over the lessons we learned at church.

This week has been a confidence booster for me and being able to receive the knowledge for myself the understanding of how true it is of the Joy that comes through following a the promptings of His Spirit.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Monday, May 17, 2010

Regan, May 17, 2010

It Looks like Elder Hansen Has received his Release Date on July 14, 2010. Time has sure flown by, It's a short 2 years. He thinks he will finish his mission in the Mobil Alabama area.

Paul Hansen

Well this past week has been really good and we are still continuing to strive and always to become better at the patterns of success we are establishing within the success of the Lord. I have truly felt his strength as we have been able to try and be consistent and diligent within our efforts in daily service to Him.

Monday we had a really great preparation day. Elder Bawden had a doctors appointment first thing that went really well and he is only having to go back in a couple of weeks and we will see from there. We then went and got the oil changed and did all of that fun stuff to get the car ready and looking good. We went and visited with Brother Serrano and he has now officially been hired on for the job and is very excited about it. His dedication of sticking with everything and enduring through the trials he has faced; has built my testimony up in strength being able to see is example. We stopped by and helped Sister Parkes with a few things and then traveled and had dinner with the Hearns which went really well.

Tuesday we started off with District meeting which went really well and His spirit was able to direct us and be able to feel his love. We were able to go over quotes from conference and Captain Moroni's message. We went over some role plays and watched a few video clips that brought out some new understanding within the quotes that had touched us. After lunch we had a great lesson with Joe Hickman and he is doing well. We followed up with him and he was able to read over 3 Nephi 11 and he prayed about it. We didn't commit him to pray but were excited when he shared with us that he felt it was true. We then left him with Alma 40 to read over. We also visited with Joyce and set up an appointment with her for Saturday. We continued throughout doing a lot of tracting which was really great. We were able to testify and ask for referrals from many different people and found a few potentials and Irena who we will be seeing this coming Tuesday. We had dinner with the Fairchilds which went really well and Brother Fairchild has now committed to come back to church which is great. We had FHE with Sister Byrd which went well and we learned different things that happened in the church before the Book of Mormon was published.

Wednesday we went to see a investigator we had but he wasn't home and we decided that we should drop him because he hadn't been following through with his appointments. We then went and continued to tract near there and had the opportunity of finding Melissa and having a Restoration lesson on her doorstep. She had a lot of the same questions that Joseph Smith had and His spirit was teaching and confirming truth to her. We had a great visit with Kimberly Evan's after and talked a lot about her continuing to read an pray everyday. She has been very inconsistent with it and we could tell and this should now help her have that consistency once again. We then came down and tracted before we did some service for a member. We helped Sister Huff get some things moved with some other members which went really well and I was happy that we were able to help her. We had dinner with the Martyn's which went really well.

Thursday we began with some really great planning which allowed us to be able to set up a few appointments that same day for us which we were excited about. We set some really good goals and we are seeking to find new investigators and keep our teaching pool up so we can teach more and more people. We then went with Brother Morris and traveled up and saw a few media referrals which we had. We had a great lesson with Jessica Quinn and hopefully we will be able to stay in contact with her. We also say Sister Rush which was great and met her husband for the first time who isn't a member. We had a great visit and she is working on getting off work on Sundays so she can make it to church. We visited the Robinson's after and set up a time that we can come and see their daughter. She has been less active for a little bit and wants to get back into the routine of things. We finished the night with some tracting and had dinner with the Odom's which went really well.

Friday we started off the day with Elder Bawden going to the doctor to get some antibiotics and he is doing a lot better now. We then went to see Melissa but she was busy so we set another appointment with her. We then tracted and talked with a few people that really didn't like us but we just shared our testimonies and thanked them for their time. After lunch we visited with Joe Hickman and had another great lesson with him. He had read Alma 40 and really enjoyed it and is now wondering why the bible doesn't teach about the spirit world. We shared with him how having two testimonies bring us more confirming truth and he loved it. We left him with Ether 12 to read because he has been going through some things and it stuck out to us both to leave it with him. We went and tracted for a little bit and visited with Sister Thompson before dinner. Sister Thompson is doing pretty good and her husband's back has been doing better. We had a great dinner with the Parkes and then went to activity night and how some new people show up which was exciting.

Saturday we started off by visiting with Joyce and had a great Restoration lesson with her. She was really excited to have a Book of Mormon and we left her with Alma 32 to read and pray about. We're hoping she will be able to make it to church with us on Sunday. We went to the Fairchild's right after and did some service for them which was really great. We then hurried of after lunch to visit a few focus families. We talked with Brother Blackmon and invited him out to church. We are also now going to call him every Sunday and invite him to church and we are hoping that this simple invitation each week will bring him back to church. We visited with the Wyser's which went pretty good. We found out the Sister Wyser had hurt her leg and her daughter Hilary found out that her car started on fire when she was in school and it had to be totalled. They are still working really hard an are hoping that everything is going to get better, which it will. We then continued to tract in and out between those visits and were able to talk with quite a few different people.

Sunday we had a really great PEC meeting and really helped the bishop see who we were working with and how they were progressing which he is always happy to hear. We didn't have any investigators at church but were able to talk with all of them and invite them to church next week. The Johnny's were able to make it and we had a great lesson with Brother Johnny in Gospel Principles. Sacrament meeting was very uplifting and the messages shared brought to me new insight. After Potluck we went and visited with Brother Serrano and gave him a blessing. He wanted some direction on what he must do as he is now working 12 hours a day and really doesn't want to lose touch with the spirit. He has been very nervous because he doesn't want to fall away again because he has truly felt the happiness of the Gospel. We then went and did some tracting before we had dinner with the Fairchild's which we helped prepare with them. We then had some cupcakes at the Parkes house as we celebrated Elder Bawden's birthday with them.

This week has opened my eyes to different understanding and had enabled me to want to work even harder because of the Joy we have been receiving even when all we are doing is tracting. It is amazing what a testimony can do when it is sincere and heartfelt.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Monday, May 10, 2010

Regan, May 10, 2010

This week has been really great and we have finally been able to go out full force and do the work that the Lord has set for us. Elder Bawden's recovery has gone well and our strength in the Lord has given us more opportunity to succeed in working hard and being diligent in His cause.

Monday first thing Elder Bawden had a doctors appointment that went really well and the doctor expressed that his swelling has gone down and he is healing really well. We then went and did some shopping with some members and helped them carry there food out to their vehicle which was fun. We talked with a few Sister's that came out from Utah to ask about the Marquee sign and we spent some time expressing how it has helped and built upon the work of the Lord here. We had dinner with the Hearn's which was really great and we were able to meet Melissa's dad who is from Brazil. He shared with us many stories from his mission and expressed for us to continue to work hard day in a day out and I am taking that to heart. I am going to press forward working up until the day that my work is finished in this life.

Tuesday we had a really great Zone Conference and the spirit was very strong. I was very happy for the silent rebukes that I received that humbled me and allowed me to greater see where and how I needed to improve. Oh, how grateful I am that the Lord loves me enough to rebuke me to change. I have learned so many great things from this past general conference and am grateful for the quotes that we were able to study over. After zone conference Elder Bawden went back to the doctor to get some different medications and as he was there they did some other stuff to his nose and said that even just from yesterday it was dong even better which was great to hear. We had dinner with the Fairchild's that night which was great and we got some one on one time with Brother Fairchild and found out some of the reasons that have been keeping him from church and we will be setting goals with him later this week on how to overcome those obsticales. We then went and visited with a few less active members and shared some spiritual thought with them.

Wednesday we had the a great time starting out after studies tracting. It was great to be out again working hard full-time and not having to worry about anything but doing the Lord's work. We visited with the Campbell's and had lunch with them which was great. We are going to re-teach them the lessons and include some of their family who are less active and non-members and we are excited about it. We had a great lesson with Sister Kimberly Evans on shared a lot of testimonies from past Prophets with her. She had some non-member friends over and we were able to answer some of the questions they had and hopefully will be able to work with them. We came back and did service for a member and helped her move a treadmill into a car. We visited with the Johnny's which went really well and we gave them some bibles that they had ordered and shared a message with them. We got invited over to dinner with a less active family which went well. We then went to the Mason's and talked with them and hopefully when Brother Mason gets back this week we can set some goals with them.

Thursday we had great beginning of the day and were able to set up some really great plans for next week and were able to make some calls which was also great. After lunch we visited with Sister Byrd which was great. We are working with her on coming to all the church meetings and she is planning on coming to family home evening on Tuesdays again which is great. We visited with Joe Hickman on of our investigators and had a great lesson. We followed up and found that he had read Alma 32 and really enjoyed it and commented that it made total sense. We shared about Faith and Prayer with him and left him 3 Nephi 11 with him. We then went and tracted for a bit before we had dinner with the Parkes. We had a great dinner with them and were also able to do some service with Bishop Parkes which went well. We then got a call and went and did some service for the Fairchild's because their air conditioner went out and their neighbors gave them an old one that we helped them install.

Friday we started of the day by visiting with a the Henderson's who are a part-member family. We were able to share a little thought and set up a return appointment with them. We then went and tracted a bit before lunch which went really well. After lunch we continued to tract for a few hours which went really well and we set up an appointment with Joyce which was great. We had dinner with the Curtis's which went well and we were able to do some service for them. We then visited with Sister Hoy's daughter who isn't a member but she wasn't too interested. We then went to the Klug's which went well.

Saturday we started by serving at the Bishop's storehouse which went really well and took a little bit longer than it normally does. I really love serving at the Bishop's Storehouse and serving with great members. After lunch we started visiting less active members and tracting around there home which went really well. We visited with the Johnny, Harris, Thompson, and Binkerd families. We were able to get into the door with some of them and share some thoughts of upliftment to them. We were able to tract which was great and talked and testified to a lot of great people but didn't get any referrals this time.

Sunday was really a great mothers day and everything went really well. We started the day off with a great PEC meeting and really focused on many great things. We had Mathew at church which was really great and as a non-member he gave a talk in primary. We are still teaching him and working on getting more consistent appointments with them. I was able to give a talk which went really well and throughout church you could feel how much Love Heavenly Father has for all of the Mother's. We were able to visit with a few less active members and were able to also call our families which was great. This week had been really great and I am excited to continue to work hard here in Mobile. The ward has continued to bring us much strength and friendship that will continue to carry into our investigators hearts.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Monday, May 3, 2010

Regan May 3, 2010

Well this passed week I will sum up in a few paragraphs because with Elder Bawden's surgery and recovery time we did a lot of our work from in the apartment or at members homes that we were able to visit. This past week everything went really well with Elder Bawden's surgery and Sister Parke's and Sister Odom were there to support him. Throughout his recovery I was able to do a lot of righting in my journal about different things that had been on my mind that I had been thinking and pondering over. I was also able to have some really great studies for Zone Conference and also marking promises within the Book of Mormon. We were able to call and stay in contact with a lot of our investigators and by the end of the week we were able to make a few visits with some members and investigators. I was able to do service at the Parke's home while Elder Bawden was inside. I was able to finally fix their water leak and has now brought much relief to their family. We were also able to do service as a ward for Sister Olsen while she was in Utah for Brother Olsen's burial. It was as her yard was completely changed and it didn't look the same. We were able to weed, rake, and fix parts of the fence. We ended up filling a 14 foot trailer up twice and emptying it. Throughout the week we were able to set up appointments for Saturday and Sunday. We had a great lesson with Laura Teague and shared with her some miracles within the Book of Mormon which allowed His spirit to teach her gospel truths. Even though this week wasn't filled with traveling His spirit was still able to attend and teach us many new and great things. With the extra studies I was really able to take a step back and really ponder and explore many great options that I know the Lord is willing to bless me with the opportunity to be challenged and succeed.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen