Hansen Missionary Journal

2011-09-19T13:49:00.002-06:00

Family,

That is great about the Payson temple haha ya never know I might get married there haha. Well the sac temple is so amazing and so different because I have just been to the Provo temple but it was so great to be able to have Sister Davis. Sorry i would have pictures, but i dont have my camera but next week i promise. Well this week we were able to pick up two new investigators and that was good, they are just a couple kids from a part member family. Two girls named Katherine and Annissa or however you spell it, but they are 8 and 10 but it is so amazing how much they know in the gospel. The mom is all excited and said she would go to church but didn't show up Sunday but grandpa brought the kid the dad isn't a member but isn't holding anything back yet well see if he does. We also were able to pick up another investigator i told you about her last week but it was really cool to hear her story. I guess she had a dream of the temple and just started to research the church so that was really cool she has been to church she loves it i think she knows she is getting spiritually feed so that is good she knows its the true church. We watched the restoration with her on Sunday for the class it was good. The ward is starting to pick up, yesterday we talked to this farmer. He and his girls are into showing, i told him to show calfs it was funny that the lord picked me to come here because i get to be with all the farmers. I told him all about our farm and how we work, we talked for a good forty five mins it was way good. Now we just need to get in and talk about the gospel. They are the Miller family, so well see what happens there. Well this week was a good one though, thanks for all you guys do i hope you have a good week and everything goes ok. Dont be afraid to take some pictures and send them, its good to get some every once in a while. Thanks family have a good week love you all.

2011-09-13T21:17:00.001-06:00

2011-09-13T21:12:00.002-06:00

Hey Family,
Well his week has been a good one. We had an emergency preparedness fair with everyone in town and that was really good. We were able to get one investigator from it, she is our only investigator but really there wasn't that many people at the fair so i wonder if it will be done again. But other then the people it was put on really well. Wheatland is a small town and there isn't many people interested like i said we only have one investigator we are hoping to pick up one this week a couple of kids that we are going to start teaching so that should be good. I get to go to the temple this week this Saturday with my trainer who we taught she is an 85 year old woman and she is just cool. but we had Elder Kearon of the first quorum of the seventy come to our half mission conference yesterday so we are taking our p day today but that was really good they are all so spirituall it is amazing they gave good talks and helped us out so much on some of the things. It is funny because it is just review but its so good how much deeper they go into the doctrine. Other then that the ward is doing good we are just going to start new ways to find and do things out there so it will be a good week. Thanks for all you guys do, I hope you have a good week. Thanks so much i love you all have a good week.

Love Elder Hansen

2011-08-08T22:26:00.001-06:00

Hey family,

Well this week went good we got a new investigator just like that then just like that she was gone and down in the bay area she is eight months pregnant and she is staying with mom tell the baby is out and a couple weeks after but she is interested we want to send the missionaries down there it was cool so her name is paulina but she was interested enough to listen then we got to families can be together forever and she just light up so it was cool to be able to see that and how she was excited we were going to have two lessons with her but she left before we got the second one in so now we just have to worry about jo still we are going to have to push back her date because we have stake conference on the 20th so we are moving it back one week i hope she is fine with it she should be. but this week went fast we have done alot of tracting and everything we visit alot of members to try and get them motivated to find those people who are looking for the gospel. the girls over here just had young womans camp too i guess two went up sick and got everyone else sick haha it cracked me up. its funny so our ride to get us around on p day ditched us so this week we found a baby cart and we are going to use it to do laundry and get groceries its funny my comp doesnt like it but i think its funny so its on my bike now haha. we also met a lady who is less active she has a daugther who is twelve but she wants to be baptised i dont think the dad wants it but we will have to start working with them the mom has memory loss too so she just knew us because of the white shirt and ties haha. other then that its still hot but we dont know the temp. so we just keep on moving no matter what happens our bikes are our ac so we just ride. I hope all is well with you guys. well love you all have fun .

Love Elder Hansen

2011-07-26T22:14:00.002-06:00

July 25, 2011

2011-07-26T22:04:00.002-06:00

Hey family,

I hope all is well with you guys. well this week we got a new investigator her name is Jo. she is in her fifties but she was being taught by the sister missionaries and then she had to move she lives in a trailer and man she loves to talk she will talk you ear off. but she will be getting baptized am sure before the transfer is up i would think. she loves to talk so much and asks us questions so we just kinda answer them and try to get a lesson in but she is really solid so it is good to see that. Rosie actually moved back down to her home town we just found out it was funny she just picked up and moved i think she didn't want to tell anyone because she didn't want to be baptized then run but she is a good person i want to keep in touch with her and see how the church really changes her life. other then those we have been trying to find people. we go out tracting and we ran into a woman who seamed interested and was open for a lesson but wanted to talk to her husband before but since we seen her last we haven't been able to get a hold of her haha its funny how people are like that but that is what happens during missionary work i guess. well have a happy 24th have a good one. love you all

Love Elder Hansen

2011-03-31T18:06:00.002-06:00

hello family. Well just so you know, tell the smarts that chad says hi. They told me about him. He is my ward .It was funny to meet him and i was way suprised. It was funny to meet him in my first area and i laughed when i met him. Dad how is work? Thanks for all you do, i have had a really good time out here trying to stay busy and work, but we havent found anyone really to teach. We have a couple,but they need to come to church then they can be baptized. We are working really hard with them. It is Millie, she is nine and Tim, he is thirteen but i havent met him yet haha . We get feed by members every night. It is hard because they dont like to keep commitments. It is really hard because i feel that their parents are holding them back. I am sure Ty knows what am talking about but i know if they continue to do the things they should they will make it. I have loved doing the work. It is sunny out and wow it is hot. I dont like to bike out in the hot with my jacket, but today we went up to the old peoples homes that are all retired i got asked a lot what i did before i was out here. It is'nt farming its ranching so i tell them about the farm and everything its funny to meet all the old timers who say they were ranchers and all that but i have been trying to love the people and just enjoy everything that comes to me. I hope you have a great week and I havent received your package yet, but am sure i will soon. i hope all is well and send some picutres i am going to try to figure out how to work this thing so I can send pictures too. Have a good week and my p days are monday we got busy monday so I wasn't able to write, but have a good week love you all. Elder hansen

Chris

2011-03-02T19:09:00.002-07:00

Chris went into the MTC on Wed the 23 of Feb. He will be there for 3 weeks

Tyler Aug 2 2010

2010-08-05T18:25:00.003-06:00

Well hello family

Sorry about this last week. I don’t know what happened but I almost think that your email is rejecting again for some reason. Well it has been hard working with the ward mission leader. As a mission, the mission is setting a goal of 60 baptisms per month and there is 8 zones in the mission and so it is 8 baptisms per zone that we are trying to achieve. We have 19 baptismal dates as a zone for the month of August which would be really good if we achieve it. Our ward mission leader was a missionary in the Porto Rico mission a long time ago and when he heard of how the missions goal is 60. He got kind of down on us saying that when he was in his mission he was getting 60 as a district and he was an AP in his mission and basically the mission president there. In East London 2nd the ward has a goal of 24 baptisms this year and we have 2 so far and but anyways it’s a long story but we are trying to please our ward mission leader with the way things are done in Cape Town and how ever they did it in Porto Rico. We are trying to get some more member help to find father led, but in Porto Rico I guess that they did not use members to find. Well I just have to look at it as a good learning experience .
This past week we have been doing quite a bit of finding at the Emerald sky flats and we have found some success. It is pretty close to the chapel in Haven Hills and we hope we can find some more father led families in the area. While doing our finding approaches in the area we were able to find two less active families individuals in the area. Zanele and also Lungi and they were found in some pretty cool ways. We found Lungi when the power was out and his flat was the only one with a candle and he asked us, do you guys have some light? We responded back that we have the light of the gospel. We were hoping that more people would come to church with all the commitments that we left but nobody that we saw came to church but we still believe it is a good area to keep going at it. I thoroughly enjoyed the exchanges with Elder Msimango one of the ap’s from Qauznatel in Durban and learned a lot from him to be a better person and better missionary. We extended a baptismal date with the Fuindees and both the mom and Nabisa are excited and know that the things that they are reading from the book of mormon and the things from the gospel that we are sharing are true, so we will continue to work with them and prepare them for the 14th of August. Zokiswa who is also doing very well told us that she was just on leave in East London and she is going back to Queenstown for nursing this upcoming week but we got all of her details and so that we can send it to Queenstown, so that she can be baptized when she continues to be taught. She just loves the teachings of the church and has a desire to come to the truth. It looks like there will be a lot of baptisms here in this part of the vineyard there is 21 baptismal dates for the East London zone and a lot of baptisms projected to be performed in the month of August. Well I hope that you have a good week. I have some stuff on the plan of salvation that I will send to Chris it will be a great help to have learn about some of these doctrines.
Take care and be safe

Love Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler Aug 2 2010

2010-08-05T18:24:00.000-06:00

Elder Hansen
I guess I emailed the poems as well. Here are the quotes you desired.
Love, Sister Probst

Elder Neal A. Maxwell: “…ultimate consecration is the yielding up of oneself to God. If kept, then our performances will, in turn, be fully consecrated for the lasting welfare of or souls.”

Pres. Spencer W. Kimball “Practically all dishonesty owes its existence and growth to this inward distortion we call self-justification. It is the first, the worst, and most insidious and damaging form of cheating—to cheat oneself.”

Karl G. Maeser felt strongly that each of us at one time or another must face ourselves and choose between personal interests and that which we know to be right. He was once asked why he meant by “word of honor.” This was his answer. “Place me behind prison walls—walls of stone ever so high, ever so thick, reaching ever so far into the ground. There is a possibility that in some way or another I may be able to escape. But stand me on that floor and draw a chalk line around me and have me give my word of honor never to cross it. Can I get out of that circle? No. Never. I would die first.”

President James E. Faust: …”An honorable man or woman will personally commit to live up to certain self-imposed expectations. They need no outside check or control. They are honorable in their inner core.”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell: “If we desire the fullness we cannot hold back…The greatest happiness in God’s generous plan is finally reserved for those who are willing to stretch and to pay the costs of journeying to His regal realm.”

Tyler July 19 2010

2010-07-19T18:37:00.002-06:00

Hello,

Well the picture pretty much explains it. Minki was baptized this past Saturday and bro. Duncan Olshig was the one who baptized her. Bro Lopez is our ward mission leader and he is just to the right of me. He is author of a book get better in 90 minutes which I just recently read through. It is pretty good but he is a psychologist and so their is some interesting things printed their. He is a motivational speaker and is from Mexico just hanging out in South Africa of all places in the world because he loves the beauty here. Minkis baptism was a great success and she was even willing to be baptized in the cold water since the hot water heater wasn’t working. I was just impressed to see that Zokiswa and Ndende both came to church it made it a real highlight since we weren’t really expecting Ndende to come and since she is quite lethargic. Zukiswa could definitely be baptized soon since she is reading quite a bit of the book of mormon each day. We hope to find some more father led families which bishop really purposed and I am really impressed with bishop Human and his determination to find with us as well. He said this past week he would find with us a little so he is really a champion. I was able to go with Elder Cooney this past week on exchanges and he is doing quite well. They could definitely have quite a few baptisms in the ward in the next couple of months. We were able to see Jenny, Phillip, and also bro Banda and I saw that they all came to church yesterday. I was really impressed with how he works with the members because sis Vonbrugen came to Jenny's place and helped fellow shipped. I could also see that bro Banda is moving along as well and had some good questions about the Savior being Jehovah so we shared a little out of Ether Ch 3. It is a nice father led family and I just noticed that Elder Cooney has a great love for the area and so there is much success in the old area of 1st ward. We have a lot of good district leaders but Elder Kambeva in Gramstown every time you call him to give reports he just says, We are good. How is the work ethic out there? good. How is your companion? good. Did you have any spiritual experiences? good. Some of these African elders are pretty funny. Well we will have zone conference this upcoming Tuesday and I only have 3 including this one left. It is entitled how do I work with my ward and branch leaders more effectively. For our zone report we are going to do an hour presentation on progress records and how to do them properly to present them to a ward mission leader. I have some good questions that I am going to ask president so that is something I look forward to sharing. I sent the package it is on its way. you will like it but hopefully it gets there. I talked with Elder Cannon and he said his package that he sent took 8 months to get home to Moab, UT. But I insured it so I believe they will respect it. I will send some more stuff out this week though through airmail. Thanks have a good day and send some more pictures.

love Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler July 12 2010

2010-07-18T16:55:00.002-06:00

Hello family,

How was your week? It was a good week. Brother Lopez had a missionary fireside that tied into a motivation speech and their was quite a few people who attended and we committed them to find 3 people in the next 3 weeks to give to us as referrals so we are excited to see the results of that. We are finding more and more people that like the family proclamations when we find near Egoli and we have also been able to do a few business approaches to places like Wimpys in Vincent using the family proclamation. We followed up with this white Africaans family who we gave a book of mormon to the (Wanrensburgs) and they have read through about 40 pages of it and he says that it is really interesting, It is just very exciting when you can give a white person a book of mormon and they are willing to read it. Minki postponed her baptism but will be baptized this Saturday, We don't know why she postponed but she just said it was because of lady problems. Well This week was transfers and both me and Elder Heydenrych will be staying together until August 19. We haven't really been able to watch any of the games at all, but all day the people are usually in their home watching the games. Since we are in East London and there is no stadium cups their just isn't as much noise. I wish that I was kind of serving in Cape Town or Port Elizabeth to hear some more excitement. A lot of the zone hasn't changed much at all with this last transfer. We only had two people that changed in our zone and they were based in Gramstown and so we sent them off and picked up Elder Kambeva and Elder Motsephe from East London airport on Thursday. well have a good week.

love Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler July 6 2010

2010-07-18T16:48:00.002-06:00

Hello family.

Well happy birthday throughout the week Cassandra. I wasn’t able to get the letter through yesterday but all is well for the both of us here. This past week has been good with the members being able to come out with us. We took out Bro. Jikejela on Saturday morning after setting a few appointment during the week and most of them held. We were both just very impressed with Bro. Jikijella and the confidence that he had as he was answering the questions of the people, I think that he just got promoted to be a ward missionary but it was good to have him because a lot of fellow shippers you have to prod and poke to get them to say something but he was very open with the lessons that we taught. Bro Lopez the ward mission leader is going to do a ward fireside with the members of the ward and will do that on this Sunday. He will do a power point presentation to help excite the members to get the gospel to everyone around. Minki we finally was able to help her to baptism and she will be baptized this Sunday so that is really a highlight. We went on exchanges with Elder Cannon and Elder Fozard and Elder Fozard came over to our area. I was very impressed with his teaching skills and his dedication to mission even with the resistance from his family. We had some good appointments that still held and also handed out some of the magazines throughout the day to different business around East London mainly in the Vincent area. I am impressed with the responses that we get of just handing out magazines because a lot of the people that we meet are working class people and usually have some good questions. I was thinking of stapling some questions to the souls onto the magazines to create some more interest in the people, but it is quite nice to get some good responses from different business around. Have a good week.

Love Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler June 28 2010

2010-07-18T16:38:00.002-06:00

hello family,
Chris you had a question about some advice on mission? read the book of mormon and everything will work together for your good. Love the book of mormon because you will have to read it for two years. Well this week has been full of peaks and shadows but this week we had the opportunity to visit Port Alfred and Gramstown. Thursday we came back to do some interviews with President. Sometimes I don't like to write what happens during the week because life is interesting here in South Africa. On interviews I told president I said you know president it seem like mission getting harder as you near the close how do keep up the spirituality and just keep on climbing? He says well it is a lot like the saviors ministry he said the most difficult time was during his last week that is when he went through most of the suffering and temptations and everything to accomplish the perfect atonement. Well I thought about the words that he said throughout that day. Anyways that evening we were headed back to the boarding it was a pretty hard day a lot of the appointments had dropped and things couldn't really get any worse for the most part. We started filling up the car at the pump and Elder Heydenrych said here can you come with me I need to go to the bathroom. So I said alright lets go. He went inside the store and asked the cashier where the toilets were, she said they were just around the corner. So we walked around the corner and all of the sudden something was going on that I had least expected, there was this lady that was crouched down taking a wiz on the side of the building. We walked silently past her to the bathroom and as soon as I got in we both just started laughing, from the looks of it someone was in the woman's bathroom and she couldn't wait to go. I wish she could of at least went to the men's restroom but she didn't even seem embarrassed for the most part or anything. As we came out she was finishing up and just standing there. Well after that incident I was just like what in the world is this place coming to saying to myself well you don't see that everyday and trying to think of the saviors last week. Well it doesn't look like things are going to get any easier and you probably know why I don't give full day reports with all the tribulations that we face around here with these people. Well other than that we have had a pretty good week and we have a baptism on the 10th of July with our investigator Minky. Sounds like everything is going well back at home, just don't tell Kevin that story and tell him that Cape Town is the best mission really in this world. I told president Elder Farley was coming and he asked me if he was related to the Farley that came before. Transfers are coming up next week and so it will be a pretty busy one. Has the summer been pretty hot? Well have a good week have a good day.

love Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler June 21 2010

2010-07-18T16:27:00.003-06:00

Dear family,

Hello, happy fathers day yesterday dad. I hope everything was good. I need to send a package home but it is like 141 rand just to slow boat it home per Kg. and like 271 per kg with the flight, but I do have a lot of world cup stuff and Namibia stuff to send before I go through East London airways again. This zone leader stuff is quite a job sometimes getting all the information from the elders and then sending it to Cape Town. I would have to say the blessing of this mission is the cell phones that every companionship has but it can also be a problem as well. This week we are going on exchanges to Port Alfred and Gramstown today and so that will be a three day journey and then we will be back to East London on Thursday morning with the interviews with President Probst. You asked what the zone leader stuff is like? Well the zone leaders are together as a companionship and so you do the responsibility together. I think that I like it more than district leader because you can work together and just not as a one person. Every Friday we have to get reports back from the district leaders Cannon and Cooney in East London and then on Sunday night we get reports back from Elder Buthelezi and Elder Diphala who are in Port Alfred and Gramstown. Every other week we either call the ap's and send the information to them or it is done by typing the information in which we did that today. We also email all the statistics to the mission office in Cape Town and then give a zone leader workshop every six weeks when president is here and the zone conference is going on. The world cup is going pretty well their are a lot of families that are always home and some of them are willing to shut off the t.v. so that we can teach something. It is funny to get emails from home because they have no idea what being on mission is like. I haven't seen any soccer games but I hear that the USA is tying all their games and South Africa isn't doing the greatest. We have one girl for baptism, her name is Minki and she has been taught now for the past couple of months. We keep giving her dates and she just wants to keep postponing them to the next week. We went to the Kaschula farm this past Friday and Minki was able to attend but I was able to see a lot of people from the other wards because they had a triple ward sausage sizzle. The ap's came this week and we did the exchange with Elder Tanner and Elder Msimango and so I went with Elder Tanner for the day. We have had a hard time finding new investigators lately and so we have been doing some different business tracting. It is really small world, their is this girl that just walked into the email cafe and she said that she is from Mapleton, Utah and she is doing some research for Byu and has been in the country for like a month. Well you will have to send some pictures of the summer because I need some. have a good week.

love Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler June 14 2010

2010-07-18T16:20:00.002-06:00

Dear family,

How are you doing, are you still alive? I didn't get anything from you guys for a first. Sorry I am sending some pretty lame letters and stuff , it seems like I cant send some decent emails with all this zone leader stuff you have to send to Cape Town. Well this week has been good. The world cup started up this past Friday and so there has been vuvuzelas that people are blowing day and night. I hope I can buy some flags of South Africa and world cup stuff to send back home. This past week we had our zone conference on Thursday and it was really good. We focused on the book of mormon and how we can better teach it to confirm the message of the restoration. Elder Heydenrych and I did our workshop and sister probst shared on being prepared. With the death of Elder Zulu a few weeks ago and things that are going on in the mission it was a good lesson. President Probst shared the incident that happened this past week. In the area of Queenstown there was a boarding that caught fire and the elders that were in are safe but all of there clothes and scriptures and everything that belonged to them personally was all destroyed. The elders got back home in the evening from proselyting the day that it happened and they found everything ruined and burned but they found one thing that was not destroyed and that was there area book with the records of the people that were in it. President Probst summarized the reasons why some things were burned and why that wasn't. Scriptures can only be good if they are used for someone else, garments can only be good if they are worn on the body for protection, It was a neat miracle that happened were the area book was completely untouched by any fire or flames. Well the Ap's are coming Thursday to do some exchanges with me and Heydendrych. Well have a good week!

love Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler June 7 2010

2010-07-18T16:17:00.002-06:00

Hello,

Happy birthday Mom!!! I hope that your day goes well. That is pretty sweet that Kevin is coming to s.a.c.t.m. in October. Maybe I will be able to see him at the Johannesburg temple before I leave to home. He is lucky to get a mission president like the probsts they are champions. I have never met a harder working guy that can take so much into his mind like President Probst. Well this week is going to be busy and I don't have a lot of time to type but just know that I love you mom and that I care for you and what you do. I pray for you and the family daily. have a good week.

love Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler June 7 2010

2010-07-18T16:14:00.001-06:00

Hi Elder Hansen, this is Ndapewa Nepaya.... how are u doing? am doing very well indeed. i believe you are doing great and coping in your new place of service, wat is it called again, i knw Elder Probst told me but it jst slipped my mind.

So further? i should really thank you for the wonderful gift, its beautiful and i really love it, thank you so much, am telling you am going to know all hyms from now on...hahahaha.
Am grateful for the time you have been here, for all the good news you have shared, continue to do the good work, and to bless the souls of many.

Alright then i think you must start learning how to write wth your right hand.....lol am jst kidding....i first sent the mail to the wrong address, so the way you wrote the full stop, it looks like -, so they returned it, so i hope this one really finds you as it is.

Cheers Tyler, take care and be blessed!!!!

Tyler June 2 2010

2010-07-18T16:09:00.002-06:00

hello family,

Thanks for the message. We got back from Cape Town safely and everything went very well. I cant believe how much responsibility there is to being a zone leader, I thought it would be easier then the district leader stuff but it is quite different. The zone leader council went really well and there was so much discussed, I have never had so much to eat and sat on a chair in such a long time. The world cup is coming soon and so there was a lot that was discussed in respect to that and how the work will go when that happens. I can see that there will be an opportunity for a lot of foreign people to be taught. President Probst mentioned that when the salt lake winter games were going on the missionary work really exploded and so maybe it could be the same for here in South Africa but I think the concerns was just the safety of the missionaries since there was just one not to recently who died. Well things are looking good for the future the exchanges will be something to look forward to. We get to go to Port Alfred and also out to Gramstown to see the district leaders. The work here is going a little bit slow as far as having investigators but hopefully we can find some more through working with the members. Well nothing to new to report on just traveling around a lot. How is everything going at home?
Have a good week.

love Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler May 28 2010

2010-07-18T16:01:00.002-06:00

Dear family,

I thought i would just write and tell you that i will most probably write to you back on next Wednesday. This week was transfer news for us and so President asked me to be a Zone Leader in East London and so I will be doing the zone leader stuff in East London. I will be in the 2nd ward but It is good to get back to see some acquaintances since this is my first area. We spent most of the day yesterday to get here from George on bus which was like a good 9 hour bus drive from George to East London, Elder Bradshaw and I ended up getting here at like 11 o'clock Thursday night. We are going to fly back to Cape Town to have a zone leader council with President Probst on Monday and so me and my companion Elder Hydenrich will be flying to Cape Town on Monday and then come back to East London on Tuesday, so I will most likely email you back on Wednesday. Elder Hydenrich is from Johannesburg and so he is pretty cool. There is four districts in East London and there is three new missionaries in the zone. Two of them are from England so that is pretty cool because I like the English elders. Well take care have a good weekend.

Love Tyler Hansen

Tyler May 24, 2010

2010-07-18T15:47:00.002-06:00

Dear family,

This week has been kind of a strange one. There was actually a tragedy in the mission this past week. President Probst has been going around to the different districts and zones telling about the death of Elder Zulu from Zimbabwe. We had our interviews on Saturday and it was nice to seek some counsel from a very wise man who knows how to handle situations because my patience is running low. He told us about the death of Elder Zulu. Have you heard it on ksl news or anywhere? I really felt bad for President Probst on having to deal with that situation he said that he hopes that he doesn't have to have another week like this past week. On Monday while President Probst was at a mission seminar in Johannesburg he got a call from one of the Elders announcing the tragedy. I never met Elder Zulu but he was located in Mtatha which is the furthest east in the mission. They decided that they were going to go to the sea on this past Monday p-day. He said that they started to take some pictures on the rocks and basically one thing led to another and they were on the beach and a wave submerged them he said. Elder Zulu was carried out to the sea and he could not get back. They had the search crew after him but it was to late and so he drowned. President Probst didn't tell the details of everything but they must have been swimming in the ocean. As you can imagine it was very difficult for President Probst to tell the family and I think the mission as well. He gathered zones together to tell each zone about it but we didn't go because we are out in banishment and we are kind of our own small zone out here. but I heard he compared it to kind of like an emergency transfer on going to the next area except to the spirit world. Heavenly Father can do many things but wont take away someones agency from them so he compared it to an emergency transfer where things happen to create it such as someone in the branch that is extremely attractive and a distraction or companion problems or anything of that nature. I think that a majority of his family is not members and so hopefully it will provide a way for them to accept the gospel. President Probst just wants us to pay a tribute to him by working harder in mission but I am wondering if he is going to buckle down obedience even more since this incident happened. This past week we went to Mossel bay and located some less active members out there. We went to go see bro Goodger who is a counselor in the branch presidency but on our way out there we received a prompting to see the Meyers and so we were able to see the Meyers family who live in great brak river. I was glad that we went out there because when we got there they were living in some pretty bad circumstances of poverty. Eric and Loraine have been super less active members for quite a while but they have been pretty scarce for money lately. Eric was gone on a trip to Port Elizabeth since he is a truck driver but he hasn't been very busy at all lately in the last couple of weeks. There house didn't have a roof cap and the place around them really looked like a hole. She said that her baby Ersula has been sick over the past few weeks and has gotten to the point where she is constipated and cant go to the bathroom. Elder Jordan (a zone leader from port Elizabeth) and I were able to give her a blessing on Thursday and so hopefully everything will work out well and I really applied the council Elder Oaks gave in the last conference on administering a blessing. I just wish more of these type of people would give us a call because I would love to come and help fix up there house and help them at their home but they are to self-dependent and wont ask for some help. We have been tracting out some of the richer white areas of George lately and we were able to meet up with a guy named Joe Hall who is from near Pretoria. He said he was an owner of a diamond mine and he has a couple of cottage homes in the denneoord area. We will meet with him this Wednesday and so I am pretty excited about that since getting into white peoples homes it is a little more difficult especially when your with a black companion and a lot of white people around here are very racist. Well thanks for everything. have a good week.

Love Elder Hansen

Tyler May 10, 2010

2010-07-18T15:39:00.002-06:00

Dear family:
I don't think your server is accepting much of the messages that I send across. Your server thinks that is must be junk mail or something and so it is just kicking everything back that I send, so maybe i will try to make it sound as if it was as junk mail or anything. I will send some pictures of some past things that we have done like being with the Odells and going to the cango caves.
I really look forward to this upcoming week because we are going to do some exchanging and I will be going with Elder Bradshaw of the district, and president will also be coming to George this Saturday, so I look forward to that. On Wednesday the zone leaders will be coming and staying with us and I will be going with Elder Jordan who is from Johannesburg. We might be able to go to Mossel bay and see bro. Goodger of the branch presidency. Mossel bay is about 50 kilometers away from George and so it will be good to go out in that area and also look up some less active people who reside in the area. With our finding efforts we have been able to find quite a few people who work here in George and reside in the Mossel bay area. We met this lady a couple of weeks ago and she works for a safety firm and she was very accepting to what we had to say. She attends the dutch reformed church and she just got recently married and she said her husband is currently unemployed at the moment. We were able to give her a book of mormon to help her and her husband get through the crisis and provide the spiritual strength to endure. We have a couple that is near to baptism that stay in the coulered area and they reside in pacelsdorp. I met them tracting there and they are just loving the book of mormon at the moment so we just hope that they can progress towards getting a testimony and being baptized and being a strength to the George branch. Well thanks for everything have a good day-

love elder Tyler Hansen

P.s. hey grandma it was good being able to speak with you. thanks for the email and the birthday wishes, have a good week. Can you please tell my parents they need to fix there email it isn't excepting any mail. Thanks alot grandma and grandpa for being there always! have a good day! love Tyler

Regan's Home

2010-07-15T16:20:00.002-06:00

Elder Regan Kay Hansen, is now home and has been released as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Florida Tallahassee Mission.

his Homecoming address will be July 25th in the Nibley 8th Ward Chapel at 10:30 AM

Regan, July 12, 2010

2010-07-12T17:38:00.002-06:00

Well this past week had a lot of changes but it saw us through adjusting and changing to accomplish those things that the Lord saw fit for us to do.

Monday we started off the day with Elder Bawden finding out that he was getting transferred to Daphne. I really felt that it was coming and I hope that his adjustment will go well with being here for so long. We were also able to spend sometime doing are emails and helping him to get prepared for having to move. We were able to visit with the Parkes family and let others now about the changes. We had dinner with the Fairchild's which went really well and then Elder Bawden began packing and getting things all in order.

Tuesday we had a really good district meeting and were able to focus on how we can become more successful missionaries in His service. We talked about different things that come through be a successful missionary and about how we could all individually improve to become better. We then had lunch with the Parkes, Odom's, and Jordan's over at the Parkes home. It was a good time and Elder Bawden was able to say his goodbyes. We then headed to visit Dayton so he could say goodbye and talked with him about a few referrals that he has for us. We stopped by the Martyn's and talked a bit about the Elders Quorum with him and will be working with him closely about doing service in the future. We visited a few other members that Elder Bawden wanted to say goodbye to and then had dinner with the Madison family. We had a really great dinner and were able to share a few thoughts with them. We finished the night by Elder Bawden saying goodbye to Brother Serrano and the Fairchilds.

Wednesday we began the day with Brother Blackburn taking us up to the Theodore building to see Elder Bawden off and a few other missionaries. As we waited for Elder Marshall to arrive we did some cleaning. Elder Bawden had been there for a long time and we cleaned up a lot of things that had collected since the apartment had opened up. We had a lesson with Kimberly Evans who is a recent convert and talked with her about how reading has been going. Ever since she was able to get a Quadruple Combination she has been very consistent with reading and you could see the change that it has made. We came back and met Elder Marshall at our apartment and allowed him to unpack and get things set up before we took him shopping. We had family home evening at the church and had a great lesson on testimony with Sister Byrd. Elder Marshall was able to meet a lot of ward members there and most of the leadership of the ward.

Thursday we went with Brother Cogsdell up to visit with Brent Taylor who is one of our investigators. We had a really good lesson and Elder Marshall and I stayed with one of his friends, while Elder Mackay and Brother Cogsdell taught Brent. We had to split because his friend wasn't interested in the church and just wanted to argue so we just talked and listened to him and allowed him to just talk. We stayed up and Saraland and visited with Allen Peoples and found out that he is transferring back down here for school, so we will be seeing him a lot more. We visited with Sister Coker and her grandson's were there Mathew and Keith. It was great because Mathew is one of our investigators and it allowed us to also see how their family was doing. We visited with a few referrals and found Chrissy and Jeremy Weaver. We were able to share a bit of a message and set up a return appointment with them. We stopped by and visited with the Juarez family and Sister Juarez has been really busy with school. We then went up with the Brother Martyn and Brother Hearn to finish a service project for Sister Mathie.

Friday we started off the day with Planning which went really well and I was able to help Elder Marshall understand and become more comfortable about the area. We were able to update records and talk with a lot of referrals and get them all worked out. We went out and did a little bit of tracting as we around a few less active families that we have been trying to see. We talked with Sister Thompson and invited her to church and activity night. We also visited with the Johnny's who are a recent convert family and they have been doing really good. We then had dinner with the Parkes and Jordan's at the church before activity night which went really well.

Saturday we started off by going to the flea market and visiting Sister Bross and we talked with her daughter. They are both less active but we are hoping to get them back. We then had lunch with Sister Seats and talked with her about how she has been able to help Melissa. Melissa is one of our investigators and we thanked her for her help and support for her. We went and visited with the Blackmon's and found out that Brother Blackmon is in the hospital so we decided when we got back down to visit him. We visited the Wyser's also and were able to talk with them and invite them to church. We visited with Brother Rosales and were able to help him feel a little better because he was dehydrated and he had been having a hard time and we helped him about by listening to him. We had an appointment with Caroline and had a great lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We were able through the Spirit to commit her to baptism on August 7th. I am sad to say I won't be there but everything will go well.

Sunday we had a really good day at church and the spirit was very strong and the lessons all taught us many new things. We were able to have Melissa and Mathew both at church and there were quite a few less active members that showed up to church. Sister Fairchild taught Gospel Principles for us and we were able to spend more time interacting with our investigators through a discussion setting. After church we came back and after lunch visited Brother Blackmon in the Hospital and gave him a blessing. We then came back and did some studies and while we were studying we received a phone call from a member in Birmingham asking if we could give his a grandson who was in the hospital in Mobile. We were able to visit and administer and everything will be alright. We then went to dinner over at Dayton's and talked with him a little bit with doing service and inviting him to church. We ended the night by visiting with Brother Serrano and I said my goodbye's to a lot of people.

It is sad that my time has now come to a close but everything is in God's hands and he will bless his children continually. I know that the Gospel has been Restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith and he brought forth the Book of Mormon through the gift and power of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and gives us a witness that truly brings the Gospel to us in the fullest. I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is powerful and it doesn't only redeem us but it enables us. I know that President Monson is the Modern Day Prophet in these latter days and he is guiding Christ's true and living church. I know that my mission in his hands and strength will always carry me through anything with the patterns of success I have been able to receive in his strength.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan July 5, 2010

2010-07-05T14:08:00.002-06:00

This past week was a very trying week for all of us because we were able to go out and do even though not to many things happened for us. We were able to set up an have some great lessons that really allowed us to feel the Love that our Heavenly Father has for his Children.

Monday we had the normal p-day stuff with shopping and doing our emails. We stopped by Brother Martyn's and talked with him about things in the Elders Quorum. He just got all of his counselors called and they are working on finding those that they can bring back into full activity. We continued after by having dinner with the Fairchild's which was really good and we were able to do some service for them after.

Tuesday we started the morning off by tracting for a little bit which went well. We were able to testify and ask for referrals, which allowed us to stay in the right spirit and be focused on what our purpose is. We stopped by the Campbell's in the afternoon and talked with them for a little bit. They have some family members that are hoping to do the stop smoking program in which we hope will peak their curiosity about he church. We continued with a bunch of tracting throughout the day and talked with quite a few people that we picked up as potential investigators. We visited Sister Hall for a minute and invited her to church. She has been busy with her courses she teaches up at University of South Alabama. We then went to family home evening which went well and the spirit was able to share with me some great insights. We then went and had dinner with the Fairchild's which was great and helped them move a few things.

Wednesday we went to the church and helped set up different things for Sister Jett's funeral. We were able to get a lot of things accomplished which helped take pressure off of the family. After lunch we visited with Kimberly Evans and read in 3 Nephi with her. She has been able to get back in the routine of reading everyday and the change in her life has been great to see. We went and taught a lesson to Melissa and answered allot of questions that she had from reading. She was able to read 1 Nephi 2-3 and she personally learned tons of new things. We focused with her to continue to read and pray which she committed to do. We stopped to see how Sister Mathie has been doing. We were able to catch her at home and she has been doing pretty good since Brother Mathie passed away. We visited with Sister Thompson and invited her to church but she didn't make it. We then went to Sister Jett's wake and talked with a few family members and were there to support in anyway that we could. We then finished the night over at Tyler and Chelsa Colvins home which went well. We were able to give Chelsa a blessing before her surgery tomorrow which really helped her.

Thursday we attended Sister Jett's funeral service which went well and the spirit and the messages shared really touched every one's heart. Sister Jett was truly an example of one who serves and never complained about anything. We had lunch with the Parke's which went well and then we came back and started planning. We were able to set some great goals that will help us to continue to focus on being diligent in the Lord's Service. We visited after with the Weatherington's which went really well. Brother Weatherington has finally gotten to slow down at work and it sounds like they will be able to attend church more often now. We then tracted for a bit and went to Brother Serrano's. Brother Serrano is doing well and even though he has been having to work on Sunday's he has really kept his focus on reading everyday and it has helped him out a bunch.

Friday we went with Brother Cogsdell to visit an investigator in Mt. Vernon but he wasn't home at the time and we set up a new appointment with him. We visited with the Cogsdells for a minute which was great. We then visited with the Christianson's which went well. They have both been really busy with a new child and work which has really kept them from being able to do allot. We then came back and had a great Zone Conference. It was wonderful being able to meet President and Sister Jensen and I am sad to say that I don't get to meet and talk with them more. The spirit was very strong and there was a strong sense of unity throughout the entire zone. We had dinner with the Curtis's after which went well and we are now going to share with them the home teaching message each month. We visited with Sam Smith after and invited him to church. He said that he would be there and we were excited.

Saturday was a pretty busy day all around for us with service and visiting with many people. We started the day with Bishop's storehouse which went great and even with the truck being late we were able to get all the orders out and on time. We then had dinner with the Morris's which went really well. We then went and tracted and talked with some really great people and taught a few lessons but we weren't able to set follow up appointments with them at the time. We had dinner with Ryesha Henderson and her family which went well and we were able to invite them to church. Ryesha's husband isn't a member and a lot of her family there are less active. We finished the night with a little bit of tracting and had a great lesson with Caroline. We answered her questions and shared a little bit more in detail some of the principles about the Restoration. We should be able to set a Baptismal Date with her this week which is great.

Well we definitely stayed really busy today and had a really great turnout at church even with the Holiday. Melissa was able to make it to church and we had a lesson with her and some of our recent converts which went really well. The spirit was very powerful and the testimonies that were shared touched my heart and strengthened my testimony in so many ways. After church we tracted foro a few hours which was great and then we visited with a few members. We visited the Blackmon's and they are doing pretty good. Brother Blackmon told us that he would be at church next week. We had an early dinner with the Hearn's which was great and we were able to spend few moments with them. We then left and visited with a few potentials that didn't end up panning out but that is just fine. We finished the night after a few more visits and tracting by spending sometime with the Parkes and watched some fireweorks.

This week even with the many opportunities that didn't show anything in numbers means nothing compared to the spirit that we felt being used through us and around us. I know that this week that everyone that we saw was able to feel the spirit that we always strive to carry.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan June 28, 2010

2010-06-28T16:56:00.003-06:00

Elder Regan Hansen is in his last two weeks of his mission.

He is flying home out of the Mobil Alabama Airport on Wednesday July 14th arriving home in the afternoon at the Salt Lake City Airport

His Address to the Nibley 8th Ward will be July 25 at 10:30 am at the LDS Chapel on 3200 South in Nibley Utah.

We are excited to see him Return With Honor after serving the Lord Jesus Christ for the Past two years in the Florida Tallahassee Mission.

Regan June, 28, 2010

2010-06-28T16:53:00.001-06:00

This week has seen its different challenges but it has also opened up many promptings of the spirit to bring us to a new understanding of submissiveness for the Lord. We were able to see a change within our investigators that only the spirit and the Lord could bring into their lives.

Monday we had a really great opportunity to strengthen our unity with a new ward member. We were able to spend sometime on p-day with Brother Blackburn and went on some trail rides. It was really fun being able to talk with him and find out that he is willing to go out with us and help us when he can. We continued out the day with our emails and taking care of some shopping and cleaning that we wanted to do. We were also able to visit with the Parkes family which was really great. They are probably the family that I will remember the most from all of my mission. We finished the evening with dinner at the Fairchild's and did some service for them as we were there.

Tuesday we were able to have a great District Meeting that continued to allow us to act upon those things of which we are receiving. The spirit was able to commit us all to do better and we committed that we would act upon it and continue to strive to follow all promptings that we receive. After lunch we visited with Brother Serrano and were able to answer allot of questions that he had concerning the spirit world. His father passed away a little bit ago and many of his family members had questions that he was trying to get better answers for. We had a lesson afterwards with Joe Hickman and we had to be bold with him. We taught the Restoration and focused on how the Priesthood and been restored but he is still very staunch in his Catholic ways. As we expressed our love and concern in such a bold fashion I felt that it broke a barrier that he had up. We will follow up with him this week and from there we may drop him. We continued to do some tracting afterwards which was really good and then we went to the church to help for the set up of Brother Mathie's funeral. We were able to get a lot of different things accomplished and were able to take much of the burden off of the Relief Society sisters backs. We then went with the Theodore missionaries and Elder Bawden did the baptismal interview for Edlyn which went really well.

Wednesday we started off with Elder Bawden's doctors appointment which went really well. He found out that everything was good and he didn't need to come back for anymore follow up visits. We came back and did some studies before starting on our way. We tracted a little bit before lunch and testified to some great people. After lunch we traveled and visited with Sister Kimberly Evans and watched Finding Faith in Christ. As we were there her neighbors brought over some anti-literature for us. We used it as an example that if they brought anything in the future over to just through it away. We were able to then leave and throw away the material ourselves. We then had a really great lesson with Melissa and we focused allot on the Atonement and it healing powers. We watched Lamb Of God and it gave her a real sense and understanding of what Jesus Christ went through for us. We answered further questions for her reading that she had and left her to continue reading in the next chapter. We came back down for Brother Mathie's wake and funeral service. The spirit was very strong and the messages that were shared touched many hearts. We then had dinner with Brother Martyn and discussed things about the Elders Quorum. He is the new president and is wanting to set up things so we can help them and they can help us.

Thursday we started out with a great lesson with Caroline Chebet. We were able to talk with her and she came with a lot of great questions. We asked her how her reading went in 3 Nehpi 11 and she asked a few questions. We followed up about her watching the Restoration and she wasn't able to so we decided that we should watch it with her. The spirit was so strong as we testified and as she watched that she felt a change come into her life. We were able to see the change within her countenance and the spirit was able to answer questions she had in her heart. She committed herself to read and pray to know if what we shared was true. We are planning this next week to set a baptismal date with her for around July 10th. We then went and tracted for a bit which went pretty well. We were able to testify to many people and found a referral for the spanish elders. We went and visited with Evalyn and it was a very night to day appointment. This time she wasn't very open and she really didn't pay attention at all. We felt it may be because of the person that was there, so we are going to follow up and see if she is still open to learning. We visited with the Klug's which went well and found out that Brother Klug will be having surgery soon for the cancer he has but it hasn't spread which is good. We had dinner with Sister Seats which went really well and we left a thought on Ether and invited her to church. We then did some service at the Olsen's and helped cut down a tree with the High Priest and Elders Quorum.

Friday we began our day with planning and we were able to update all of our records. We were all able to do allot of different things and work in unity to accomplish all that was needed. We were able to set some really great goals that will stretch us to keep being diligent and improve personal and companionship goals that we are focused on. We were able to have lunch with the Parkes and Odom's which was really great. We were able to talk about a few different things and working on setting some plans for service up. We went and visited with a media referral that we had which went well. Roderick Fisher said that he would watch the Restoration DVD and we also gave him a Book of Mormon to read. We said that we would follow up next week and he was very open about it. We then visited with the Baylors which went really well and we were able to invite them to activity night. We came back and had dinner then headed to activity night which went really well and a few families showed up.

Saturday we started by visiting with a few potentials but didn't have any luck with them. We went and visited Ryesha Henderson and talked with her for a little bit. She invited us back for dinner on July 3rd and that will give us a good opportunity to talk with her husband Andrew who isn't a member. We then continued before lunch to try and visit other less active members and did some tracting in between. After lunch we went to the flea market and visited with Sister Bross and Sister Evans. We are hoping to get Sister Bross to come back to church but she has been reading the ensign while she is working down there. We then visited with a potential and we still have to follow up next week with her. We visited with the Johnny's which went really well and we were able to answer a few questions for Brother Johnny about them moving soon and getting things set up. We had dinner with a less active member which went really well and we invited him to church but he wasn't able to make it. He has been talking with a few friends that we will be teaching soon.

Sunday we started the day with PEC which went well and we were able to discuss a lot of things of which have been happening and seeing where they can help us. At church a member from Missouri brought one of his friends who lives in the area to church and we were able to teach him and set up an appointment to visit him this next week. It was great to feel of Brother Taylors testimony already and will be looking forward to seeing him this week. Melissa was also able to attend church which was great and we had a good lesson in Gospel Principles. They both stayed for sacrament meeting which went really well and the spirit and messages shared were powerful. We ate lunch at the church and then quickly went off to tracting. We had a really great discussion with a few people but they weren't interested in hearing more. We then visited with a few less active members which went well. We stopped by and visited Sister Gover and we will be setting up another time to visit her. We also visited with the Blackmon's and Wyser's which went really well. We ended the night by visiting a few other members and finished with the last Conference Call with President Summerhays.

This week has brought us a new understanding of staying in the right spirit that way we will always be able to instruments in his hands and be able to witness the miracles that happen within our Investigators lives.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan June 21, 2010

2010-06-28T16:48:00.002-06:00

This week has been a great week but it has also been extremely warm and it is not going to stop. We have just been very careful with making sure we have enough water and that we are trying to talk with everyone because it allows us to break and share the gospel with them which is great being able to talk with more people.

Monday we spent most of our preparation day helping the Parkes by painting and doing service for them. We were able to get much of the task accomplished and were able to spend sometime talking with the kids and having them help us paint and work hard. We then got cleaned up really quick and headed off to dinner with the Fairchild's which went really well and we spent sometime sharing a spiritual message with the kids. We then went and tried to visit with a few less active members and made phone calls for those new referrals we received and those we needed to call.

Tuesday we had a really great district meeting. The spirit was able to have us all commit to different things that individually and as companionship's will strengthen our efforts within his service. We were able to spend some time focusing on some goals to set us companionship's and we were able to set a goal as a district to be more diligent in those things of which we committed to. As a district we had a lunch together and were able to get to know and talk with each other some more which allowed us to strengthen our unity as a district. We then went and did our emails very quickly and then got back to work. We visited with Brother Martyn who is the new elders quorum president and we discussed with him some things that we are going to try and do together to strengthen within home teaching and with members. We went and did some tracting which went well being able to be out and trying to talk with everyone. We headed for dinner at the Fairchild's which went really well and we then went and focused on taking care of phone calls and some last minute things we needed to get for a lesson.

Wednesday we stopped first thing in the morning so I could give a shot to one of the Fairchild's puppy and we then headed off and began to tract. We were able to talk with quite a few people and found some potential investigators we are going to follow up with. We then headed up after lunch to the Saraland area and visited with Sister Thompson. She has been very busy with her garden and it has really been growing good. We invited her to come to church and we are hoping that she will choose to make it. We then traveled up to visit with Melissa who came to church this past week. We had a really great lesson with her and she opened up really well to where the lesson was taken to the end result of sharing about the Plan of Salvation. It is so amazing at how beautiful the spirit guides and teaches. We then had dinner with the Cogsdell and Hayes family which went really great. We shared a thought with them and quickly headed off for our lesson with the Young Women. We had a lesson on missionary work and how through their examples they will carry the Light to their friends.

Thursday we began with having some really great planning. It really helped us to spend sometime all working on updating progress records, teaching records, and other records that we have been working on. We were able to set some really good goals but more importantly we were able to set goals that will help us to be more diligent and patient in our efforts. After lunch we went and visited with Joe Hickman and really focused with his comments and were directed to teach the Restoration. We then went and followed up with Lindsey who we talked with last week and ended up talking with her and also her boyfriend Brad. We were able to answer allot of their questions and a lot of his interest was peaked as we discussed a bit about the spirit world. We then continued to do some more tracting which went really well. We had dinner with the Odom's and shared a message with them before we headed off to the Johnny's. We talked with them about the importance of the temple and keeping them focused on getting there.

Friday we started off in the morning by taking in our car and getting the 2nd recall notice fixed on it. We were able to get a little bit of extra study in and we talked with allot of people there about the gospel. We then visited with Sister DeGuire which went really well and we were able to offer service to her and invite her to church. We then started out in the afternoon doing allot of tracting and talking with allot of people. We were able to visit with a few less active member just to get some water and see how they were doing. We then got some new tires on the car and talked with a few people in there. We went back out and continued to tract before we went and did some service for the Fairchild's and helped them clean up so they could prepare to paint.

Saturday we began with service at the Bishop's Storehouse which went really well and we were able to get allot of things accomplished. We delivered a few of the orders for some of the members in the ward with the Morris's and then went to the Mathie's with them to do some more service. We visited with Sister Jett which was great and she is doing pretty good. She has lost a bit of weight but she is still holding on stronger than ever. We came back and Elder Bawden helped Brother Fairchild do some primer while Elder Mackay and I went out and did some visits and some tracting. Elder Mackay and I had dinner with the Blackmon's and visited with their granddaughter who is not a member. We will be following up and seeing if she is interested this next week. We then came back after doing a little bit of tracting and helped for the last hour before coming in that night and helping with the primer at the Fairchild's.

Sunday we didn't have any investigators at church but we were able to feel the spirit throughout the meetings and really were strengthened. Brother Tyler had his girlfriend at church but we were not able to set up an appointment with them at that time. We were able to help Brother Mathie at church because he has just been getting worse and worse and we found out last night that he passed away. He was a really great man and someone as many of the other that I have learned from their example and will remember it for the rest of my life. We visited with Brother Lambert after church and then continued to do some tracting. We were able to talk with allot of great people and find a few more potentials. We had dinner with Brother Tyler that night and talked about being able to teach his girlfriend. They are both extremely busy driving ambulances.

This week has been a week that we have been able to focus on some new goals and really set a stronger standard to strengthen our efforts and understanding of what the lord wants us to do.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Tyler April 26 2010

2010-06-18T07:45:00.002-06:00

Hello Family,

I look forward to September to see Jefferey R. Holland that will be pretty sweet, Elder Probst told me that he was coming but did not know when. We have had President Kolliker from the area seventy come a couple of times and also Elder Watson of the seventy has also come once to the mission. This past Tuesday we had a really great conference on how to increase our faith to find people to teach. It is something that we are struggling with here in George and so there were a lot of great ideas to find some new investigators. President Probst gave some some great insight and asked some questions to first show that we are in the right mission. He then told us how the transfers work and how we are chosen to areas just like the council given from Elder Rasband of the seventy of choosing by revelation where missionaries need to go throughout the mission. He then asked if we believed we were in the right area in the mission because then there would be no need to proceed on. And then he shared on that if we believed we were in the right place in the right time. It was something great to ponder upon the council that he gave. He is definitely one of the wisest men I have ever met it wouldn't surprise me if he goes to the general authorities. Throughout the week we have been handing out ensigns to different business to help people find some interest and give us a call. We met a nice lady this past week that I have reflected on quite a bit. She works for a safety affirm business and when we knocked on the door she pulled us right into the board room. She was very inattentive as we talked about what we believed, I just hope that she will respect her word and eventually come to church. It has been hard to find white people to teach because most of them attend the dutch reformed but we have trying to think of ideas to say to persuade them to believe in the things that we say. I have learned that racial issues have been a problem in the branch, there is a lot of less active people that don't come because they don't want there children associating around the other children. We just hope that the branch can be strengthened by the conference because it is struggling alot. We were able to watch the general conference on this Saturday and Sunday and it was really great to watch. There was a few sessions where it was just us 4 missionaries and the branch president that watched but we really pushed for the people to attend this weekend but not many investigators and members attended unfortunately. well as for today we are going to have the ap's do some district training Elder Msimango who was in my district for a transfer in Namibia is now the new a.p. here with Elder Tanner. We are going to try and climb George peak which overlooks the ocean and the town of George and then at 7 we will be seeing Deseree and Elizabeth and the there family which are some recent converts. well thanks for the wishes, have a good day and week, send some pictures

Love elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler April 19 2010

2010-06-18T07:22:00.003-06:00

Hello family,

Well this week was transfers so I will stay in George for another 6 weeks at least, I know that President Probst is humbling me in this area, because he knows that I don't like it as much so I will be here for quite a while I feel. We had interviews this past week and he just basically said it will prepare you for the future. I don't like this district leader stuff, I am being stretched to much. it would be nice and I just need to find a way to convince President Probst to move me down to a co companionship or junior or Namibia but it wont happen. haha
This past week was Elizabeth's Dangeans baptism at the river. Everything went really well and the next day the Probsts came to church and President Probst was able to confirm her. We have quite a few recent converts in the branch and with them all, I just don't know if the branch can handle a lot of new members because there isn't enough established leadership, but the branch is growing and President Probst told me that they are looking for ground so that they can build a proper chapel soon in George. Today we are going to be driving to Port Elizabeth to a zone conference on Tuesday. A lot of the days this week are going to be taken away from proselyting between zone conference and watching general conference on Saturday on Sunday. We will have the zone conference on Tuesday and then come back that night I don't think there is another place in the mission that it more compared in banishment and so far away from things than George. I look forward to the upcoming zone conference though it will really give us some good ideas on how to find people here in George. From the talks that were assigned to us we were assigned spontaneous talks on how do we build faith in finding people to teach. 2) what does it me to find them that will receive you. 3) How did the savior find people to teach. So I really look forward to what will be said through the spirit through President Probsts superior wisdom and how we can apply it here in George. Well Elder Maja is in the district still with me and then there is Elder Bradshaw from Centerville, and Elder Hajamaramalala from Madigasscar. The other guys area got whitewashed and this week they also experienced two car accidents. Elder Wilson and Moyo got hit in the back of the car by a drunk driver just before they got transferred to Mdantsane and so there was quite a bit of damage to the car and then Elder Bradshaw drove from Port Elizabeth and they had a brand new car and someone hit them in the back last night so the township of Thembulethu is pretty crazy. Things here are going really good though, Well thanks for everything, have a good week.

Love Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler April 14 2010

2010-06-18T07:00:00.002-06:00

Hello Family,

Well this past week was transfers and so I will be staying here in George another transfer in George. It will be huge growth building experience for me because I have had a hard time in this place. We have Elizabeth Dangeans baptism on Saturday and so that is something great coming up. Elder Wilson and elder Moyo left Thembulethu the township here and so the area will be whitewashed. There will be Elder Bradshaw and somebody from Madagascar come into the area and the district. The area in George has been really kind of slow. there was three hundred extra ensigns from the last general conference sent to George a little while ago and so we are taking them to different businesses and practices for the client and patients to read them. We are just leaving are contact details with them and so i hope soon we can start to get some phone calls with as many that we have started to hand out. I one of the challenges is trying to build good relationship with everyone in the branch because I don't know whats happened in the past but a lot of the members don't want much to do with the missionaries. We talked with a guy that is pretty old in the branch to see if we could visit him and he said he was going to be busy for the entire week. It is just kind of disappointing because I have not met many people to where they cant take one hour out of there week to talk with missionaries. The Odells left this past Friday to Port Alfred and it hasn't been the same without them around. Have a good week tell me how things are.

love Elder Tyler Hansen.

Regan, June 15, 2010

2010-06-15T18:57:00.002-06:00

This past week has really been a stretching week at times because we didn't know how at all we were possibly going to achieve what the Lord needed us to do. As we went and and worked through everything that was happening we were blessed to have a greater understand that allowed us to have His eyes to see, His ears to hear, and His work to become our work.

Monday we had a really great preparation day and we were able to get allot of things done. We were able to doing some cleaning and really focus on a few things at the apartment. I was able to really focus some more time on my journal and also reading and marking in the Book of Mormon. We had dinner with the Fairchild's that night and had a great family home evening with them focused on the Godhead.

Tuesday we had a great District Meeting that really allowed us to gain a greater strength and understanding of how to act and commit to the promptings of which we receive. I felt as if we were all endowed with a greater power at that moment to really see and find those that he needed us to find. We visited with the Hughes after lunch which was good and we invited them to come to church. Sister Hughes has been recovering from a heart attack a few weeks ago and has had some really great progress. We traveled to see Evalyn Matonyei and had a really great restoration lesson with her. She was a member referral of which we received and she was very receptive. We left her with 3 Nephi 11 to read. We visited with Sister Thompson which was really great and we are hoping that she will come back to church. She has had many ups and downs recently and she is still struggling to find stable ground to land on. We visited with the Harris family and had a great time visiting with Brother Harris and his sisters. They haven't been to church for a while and we are planning on doing service for them which hopefully will help us better get in the door and talk with them. We helped the Johnny's fill out a few paperwork things again and just set some goals with them about bettering their situation. We visited with Brother Serrano and had a great lesson with him and read out of Alma. We committed him to continue to read everyday because with work he is unable to attend church right now.

Wednesday Elder Bawden had a doctors appointment which went really well and the doctor said that he is doing better and he can now exercise and soon everything will be completely healed which was great to hear. After we went and immediately began to tract. It was kind of a strange day of tracting because on every house that we knocked we didn't get an answer, but we continued to knock each and every door that we could. We had lunch with Sister Klug which was great and we did a few things for her while we were there. We headed to Kimberly Evans home and had a really good lesson with her and read in Alma with her. She has been reading and it still is continuing to change her ability to greater focus on what he wants her to learn. We stopped and visited with Ryesha Henderson and set up a time that we could come back for another visit and a lesson. We then had dinner with the Fairchild's after a bit more tracting and we were able to talk with allot of people this past time which was great. We found a few potentials that we will be following up with soon.

Thursday we spent allot of our day up at the Mathies helping them with some service they needed. We received a call before lunch that Brother Mathie had fallen so we rushed up to help him out. It is very sad to see that he doesn't have the strength or ability to do allot of things that he used to be able to do. We were able to help him get up and we had a lunch with them which went well. We then spent some doing some yard work and also putting a chair lift on the vehicle to Brother Mathie will be able to use his scooter. Ever since his last set of heart attacks he has never fully recovered but I know that he is trying with all of his heart to do all that he can. We came back down and tracted which was really great and we stopped by the church to get some more water and we were able to make a few calls that we had needed to make. We had dinner with the Millers which went really well and we were able to invite them to church and really help in anyway that we can. They both have some health problems that have kept them from being able to make it to church but luckily Brother Miller doesn't have work this week and can take a little bit of a break. We stopped by and visited with Joe Hickman for a brief moment and set up an appointment with him for the next day. We stopped and visited with Brother Serrano and helped him with some applications that he needed help with.

Friday we planned in the morning because our Thursday became very jam packed. We were able to set some great goals and were able to set up a few appointments with some referrals that we had. We were also able to get records updated which helped us to really specifically focus on the needs of our investigators. We had lunch with the Parke's family which was really great and after we immediately had a great lesson with Joe Hickman. We shared with him the Plan of Salvation and it really hit him very hard. He lost his wife a few years back and she is on the top of his conversations always. We left him to continue reading in Mosiah 1 - 4 and invited him to church. We then tracted for a few hours which went well and we also talked with Caroline who was a member referral and we set up an appointment with her the next day. We had dinner and finished the night off with activity night which went really well and we had allot of people come.

Saturday we started by doing some service with Sister Jett's family by moving her stuff out and getting it put on the trailers so they could move it to her son's home where she is now living. It went really well and there was allot of member support there to help. We came back and had a bit of our studies and then had lunch after a little bit of tracting. We then went out and continued to tract which went really well and we found Lindsey and she invited us to come back and we are really excited. She was very open and really desired to learn more. We then went and had our lesson with Caroline which went really well and she asked allot of great questions which allowed us to each her allot of great truths through the spirit. We left her with 3 Nephi 11 to read and invited her to church tomorrow and she said that she would come. We continued to tract until dinner which went really well and after we continued to visit less active members and make phone calls.

Sunday we had allot of changes within the leadership of the ward and everything is now going to run even more smoothly. Many different people had moved away and they reorganized a bunch of callings. We had a great lesson at church and as we left priesthood we had 3 investigators at church which was really awesome. Caroline was able to make it which was cool and Melissa came with a member. We were able to have them both in Gospel Principle class and we set up appointments with them. We left Melissa with 3 Nephi 11 to read and set up an appointment with her for Wednesday. We had potluck after church and afterwards immediately went out making visits. We were able to visit with Lori Shelton who is a less active member and she has now asked us to call her on Saturday to remind her about church which is awesome. We then began to tract with a Brother Nordwald who is leaving on a mission soon and we had allot of great success. We were able to find Anastasia and will be having a lesson with her next week. We finished the night with some more calls and did a little bit of studies to prepare for a few things.

This week allowed us to see more tender mercies of the Lord. I know that because we continued to work hard throughout the week and kept tracting even when we figured no one would answer the Lord always provides in some way even if it is a way you would never expect to see at that moment.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan, June 7, 2010

2010-06-07T17:43:00.003-06:00

This past week has brought us so much joy in working hard and being able to experience the blessings of the Lord. He has been amazing to us and has brought us into a greater Unity and strength in his service.

Monday we started the day off by visiting a less active members we don't get to visit very often. We visited with the Presley's and stopped to see how there son was doing after being in the hospital. Brother Presley isn't a member and we are trying to establish a more solid relationship with him so he feels more comfortable around us. We visited with the Worthington's and invited them to church. Brother Worthington has been very busy with work and we are hoping that he will get some Sundays off soon. We decided we would try our hand at tracting which went really well and we were able to find Will. He is a really great guy and is open about learning about the gospel. After lunch we headed up into the Eight Mile area and visited with a few less active members. We were able to talk with them and find out where some of their children had moved to so we could get the records up there. We also spent sometime tracting and found a few potential investigators that we are following up with. We stopped and visited with the Colvin's and found out that Sister Colvin's mother hasn't been doing to well and her cancer has spread very quickly. We also talked with Tyler and Chelsa Colvin which was really great and we were able to discuss a lot of great things with them and invite them to church. We had dinner with Kimberly Evan's and her husband which went relay well. He is still not open about the Gospel but at some point he will be.

Tuesday we had a really great p-day and were able to accomplish quite a bit of things. We were able to get through a lot of our shopping and emails quickly which allowed me to be able to spend some more time studying and marking within the Book Of Mormon which is always a great experience. We were also able to stop by the Parkes home and talk with Bishop and the family for a bit which was really great. We had dinner with the Fairchild's which went really well and we invited them all to church. We then went to the church and FHE with Sister Byrd and had a great lesson on family history that she shared with us.

Wednesday we started off the day trying to visit a few of our investigators that haven't been progressing. We weren't able to see them so we went tracting and found Brian. He has a very large background within the scriptures and has a lot of family who is Jehovah Witness. When we came back to our car we found that it has been egged so we quickly went and got the car washed and luckily we got it all of with no damage done to the car. After lunch we traveled into the Prichard area to deliver a few referrals. Neither were interested in hearing more but as we were there we talked with Tasha which went really well and we left her with a Book of Mormon and Alma 32 to read in preparation to teach her the next week. We had a great lesson with Kimberly Evans after and read Alma 5 with her. She shared with us that she hadn't been able to read during the week and we rec omitted her to it. We traveled to Semmes and had a Baptismal Interview with Gus Navarro. He is a really great guy and his testimony was very strong as I was able to talk with him. We had a little Bar-b-cue with the Young Men and Young Women which went really well and we visited with a few less active members of the youth that showed up. We visited with Heather Hall quickly and she is doing pretty good. Afterwards we visited with Joe Hickman and had a really great lesson with him. We left him with Mosiah 1-4 to read and also Alma 5.

Thursday we started out and did a lot of great planning. As I was updating the progress record Elder Mackay was updating the teaching records and Elder Bawden was updating the referrals. As we worked together we were able to accomplish a lot of things quicker and planning went very well. We were able to set goals that will stretch us and we were able to make all of the phone calls that we needed to make. We visited with the Campbell's afterwards and have now set up a time that we will be visiting with them and we will be following up to confirm that it will still work for them. Brother Campbell isn't a member but we are really focusing on his grandson to try and get him back to church, hoping that it will trigger something within Brother Campbell as well. We visited with the Millers after which went really well and found out that Sister Miller has been feeling a lot better but she is still having her day to day battle with MS. Brother Miller has continued to stay busy with the Core of Engineers and luckily has this next week off. We had dinner with the Parkes which went well and we were able to have some time with Bishop Parkes and we were able to help them with their garden. We then traveled to the Johnny's and helped them fill out some paperwork so they could receive some help with food stamps and things. Brother Johnny has been working hard and has been a little bit down because of the lack of hours at work he has been receiving.

Friday we had a really great Zone Conference. His Spirit was very strong and it allowed me to reflect, ponder, and write down many promptings of which I am striving to apply. It really allowed me to reflect on a lot of important things that I have been striving to do and also re-focused myself on how I could better accomplish those goals and be more effective throughout the whole process. It was sad that this was President and Sister Summerhays last Zone Conference in Mobile before they leave. I know that the of which President Summerhays has received and applied within our mission will carry me forever. I have truly felt the Power of our Mission Culture and I will strive with all my might, mind, and strength to continue the Pattern of Excellence that has been established within my life forever. I love the examples they have been and will always be within my life. After we traveled and visited the Johnny's and helped the children prepare for their assignments for Primary. I was able to help Ailleen with her talk on the Holy Ghost. I really do love the Johnny family, especially the children. We had dinner with the Curtis's that night which was really great and we were able to talk with him about the split we would be going on with him on Saturday. We went to see Sister Jett after and she is in bright spirits even while being in the hospital. She is having to have surgery on Monday and the cancer has really now caused her problems recently. We followed up with having activity night at the church which went really well and we were able to have a lot of different people show up and they have now began to invite their non-member friends to come.

Saturday we started the day with Bishop's Storehouse which went really well. We have been able to recently get done quicker and quicker because of the system that Sister Jett instituted has helped so much. It was unfortunate to not have her there. We came back and got cleaned up and had lunch then traveled down to the flea market for about and hour to visit a less active member. We talked with Sister Bross which went really well and found out her new address and that her daughter who is a member is coming into town this next week. Her daughter is a member and we are hoping to get them to church. We traveled to Semmes for Gus's baptism which went really well. We didn't have anyone show up but it looked like the Semmes elders had a few non-members there. We traveled back and visited with the Baylors which went really well and we had a great talk with her and her husband. He doesn't open up to much but this time we were able to talk with him a lot. We came back and had a quick dinner before Brother Curtis picked us up. We traveled up to visit a media referral that we had who wasn't home and we then visited Sister Bexley who we have never met. She is really great Sister and is going to be moving to Grove Hill soon. She has been attending church up there because her parents live there. We then came back and made some phone calls and updated a few more records.

Sunday we didn't have any investigators to church but we had a few less actives that we had been inviting and our attendance was over 100 people this week which is awesome. We had a great lesson with some of our recent converts and the less active members on Honesty. It went really well and the Spirit was very strong, especially as we were able to hear other bear their testimony. We helped do a few things at the church after which went well and we then traveled to see Sister Jett in the hospital. We found out that she is no longer going to be able to eat anything again. The cancer has gotten so back that she is not able to digest food anymore. She is having surgery so she can have a drainage tube because she is only going to be able to have liquids and it is needed because he won't be able to digest things. The doctors have given her 3 - 4 weeks of life left and it is really sad. She has been a Sister dedicated to service and whenever I see her I feel the Spirit of the Lord. She has been a great example for me and I hope that she will always standout to everyone as she has to me. We then visited with a few less active member and did some tracting. We had dinner with the Martyn's which went really well and we discussed with him some things that we can do to help with some of his home teaching families.

This week has been really amazing with the Lord's hand in it every step of the way I feel. I know that because of the Enabling power of the Atonement and the great leadership that we have, that our desires to serve Him with all of our Might, Mind, and Strength will increase daily.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan, June 1, 2010

2010-06-01T17:56:00.003-06:00

This past week has been a changing and growing experience that has really helped me to understand a lot of different things that will continue to help me become better each week. With each challenge and trial that has been thrown my way His Spirit has helped me through and brought me into a new understanding within his light.

Monday we had a pretty great p-day and it was very interesting when we read that we would be training a new missionary. We immediately began planning for that and getting everything set up so he would have a bed and everything would be prepared for him. We were able to get a lot of things accomplished before dinner with the Hearn's and Mason's. We discussed with them about the service we would be doing for them tomorrow in helping them be ready to move to Indiana on Wednesday.

Tuesday was a really great day that really helped us reflect on those who would be leaving and how they made an impact for the better in our lives. We had a really great district meeting in which we were able to do a lot of different role plays and went over the new Zone Conference packet. We were able to prepare and also able to express our Love to Elder Morrison for his dedicated service and example that he ways for each of us. After we immediately went over to the Hearn's and began doing service for them. We were able to help them get everything packed into the moving truck and thanked them for there friendship and the example they were. After service we received a call from Brother Klug and we ended up giving him a blessing. He found out that he has cancer and wanted to know the direction he needed to pursue. We then tracted for a few hours which went pretty good and we were able to testify and ask for from everyone that we talked with. We had dinner with the Fairchild's which went really well and we then tried to visit a few other less active members.

Wednesday we had Elder Metcalf come with us because of the transfer situation and we started in the morning by going and getting a few box springs bought so we would have enough beds for everybody. We were able to find a great deal and talked wit the owner for a little bit. After lunch we traveled and had a lesson with Kimberly which went really well. We followed up with how here reading was doing and you could tell that it had already been making a world of difference for her. We shared a few scriptures and left her with some chapters to read. We came back and met with Elder Mackay our new companion and it went really well. He was able to spend sometime unpacking and getting settled in. We had dinner with Sister Pacetti which went really well and we were able to share a good thought with her. We then finished off at the church so Elder Mackay could meet some of the ward leaders and members.

Thursday we began with a great planning session and really went over all of the things that were consisted of planning and really focused on him learning how to fill out the records. It went really well and we were able to set some goals that are really going to be able to stretch us. We did some shopping so he would be able to get the food that he needed then we went and started tracting. It went really well and he was able to do some great door step approaches. Even with the first door closed in his face we kept him positive and everything went great. We then went to the Parkes for dinner and did a little bit of service before which went really good and we were able to do a lot of things. We visited with the Johnny's that night and introduced him to them. They are doing really good and they have been holding strong coming to church each and every week.

Friday we had a great day fixed on making it an all day adventure into Saraland which we haven't been able to do recently. As we were there we visited with less active members and did 5V5's near their houses. We were able to talk with a lot of great people. We visited with Brother People and he is headed off to the Academy for some training for his job. It will allow him to be able to support his family better with a better income and more opportunities of work. We stopped by and visited with Brother Bedwell since he had shoulder surgery. He was doing pretty good and he is planning on being at church on Sunday. We visited with the Mcdonald's which went well and hopefully we will be able to see them a little bit more in the future. After her knee operation she has been doing a lot better but hasn't yet fully recovered. We visited Sister Shelton and found out that she was going to be moving so we offered service for when she needed it. We had dinner with the Mathie's which went really well. Brother Mathie is still slowly recovering from his heart attacks but, he is still able to make it to church. We finished the night with activity night which went really well and we had even more people show up than last time. It went really well and everyone had tons of fun.

Saturday was filled with a lot of great service. We had breakfast and service at the Fairchild's which went really well and we were able to do some trade-offs throughout. Elder Mackay and I went and did some service for some other members which went really well. We came back and helped Elder Bawden and Brother Fairchild set up a few things and then went and visited s few other people. We were able to have a pretty good lesson with Joe Hickman which went really well and we left him with Moroni 7 and Mosiah 2 to read. We then had dinner with Brother Serrano and had a great lesson with 2 of his roommates very unexpectedly. We ended up teaching Larry and David and it went really well. This was one of Elder Mackay's first full teaching lessons and he did really good. We were able to bear testimony and ask questions that allowed His spirit to guide the lesson to what they needed and wanted to hear. We left them with a few of the pamphlets to read and look over.

Sunday continued to be really great day and the work went very well. Brother Serrano brought Larry and David to church which ended up being really great. During Gospel Principles class we were able to teach Larry and David about the Plan of Salvation and His spirit really took over. They learned a lot of new things and asked some really great questions. After church we went to try and visit with a few referrals but didn't have any success. We were able to visit with Brother Blackmon and he said that he would be at church next week. We visited with Sister Gover and we are working on setting a date for her to come back to church. We also visited with Sister Wyser which went really well and she has just continued to be really busy. Throughout all of these visits we were able to do some tracting when the lightning wasn't going crazy. We finished the night with dinner at the Martyn's which went really well and we continued after with some of our studies.

This week has showed me a new understanding of the Tender Mercies of The Lord. We didn't know when or where our investigators would show up but as we worked hard and finished out the week strong his Tender Mercies opened the doors so we could find Larry and David. Oh, how I truly do love this work and recognizing and thanking the Lord for his Tender Mercies.

Regan, May 24, 2010

2010-05-24T18:42:00.002-06:00

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

Regan, May 17, 2010

2010-05-17T17:38:00.002-06:00

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

Regan, May 10, 2010

2010-05-10T18:17:00.002-06:00

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

Regan May 3, 2010

2010-05-03T16:50:00.000-06:00

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

Regan, April 26, 2010

2010-04-26T20:00:00.003-06:00

This past week has been really great and we were able to witness of the truths of the Plan of Salvation. With Brother Olsen's passing it brought sadness, but it also brought hope to many of those people who were needing the understanding of gospel truths and reassurance.

Monday we started off the morning by doing some service for Brother Curtis. His son was picking up a few things and taking them back to Louisiana, so we helped them pack all of it up. We then continued our day with cleaning the apartment and making sure that we had everything planned out and ready for Elder Bawden's surgery next week. We had a great dinner with the Hearn's and Mason and set up a time to do some service for the Mason's. We finished the night by visiting with the Byrd family. Sister Byrd has been feeling really ill lately and we were able to help her out a bit. We are working on finding her a ride to church because her husband works so much that he rarely gets a day off.

Tuesday we had a really great district meeting. As a group we were able to keep our thoughts and actions focused on the true meaning of the Atonement and strive to become a better group of missionaries. We were able to have some great role plays and focus a bit on our goals and what we are doing to work effectively throughout the week. After lunch we continued the day with tracting which went really well. We were able to talk with quite a few people that were willing to give us some referrals. We also talked with Frank Watts and set up an appointment with him. We visited with a few less active families in between and invited them back to church. We had dinner with the Fairchild's that evening which went really well. We're keeping our focus on Brother Fairchild so we can be guided on how to encourage him to act and come back to church. We finished the night with Family Home Evening with the Parkes family which went really well. We showed there family how to mark the promises in the Book of Mormon and committed them to continue every day.

Wednesday we went early to the Doctor so Elder Bawden could have his pre-operation appointment. All went well and everything is still continuing to go as planned. We came back and had studies which went really well and we learned a lot of great things but more importantly we have continued to learn how to be continually consistent. We went and visited with Sister Evans and had a really great lesson with her. We have been working on helping her to be consistent in involving her husband in more gospel discussion when he is at home. We then visited with Sister Colvin which was really great. She has been dealing with a lot of different things lately because of her mother have kidney cancer and multiple tumors but she is doing as good as projected. We're hoping that we can get everyone in the ward involved in helping her out during these trying times. We finished the night by going to the young men and young women's combined activity which went well. We invited a few less active youth earlier throughout the week and a few of them were able to make it which was awesome.

Thursday we started off the morning by cleaning up the church before Brother Olsen's wake and funeral. Sister Singleton has had a lot of different things that she has been having to do, so we figured we could help lesson the burden which has been upon her. It was really great being able to do all of that for her and for the Olsen family. We then did a lot of planning and really focused on what we were going to do this next week because it is the week of Elder Bawden's surgery. We were able to set up with individuals that we are focusing on having daily contact with but also those we are hoping to set up appointments for later on in the week. We went and visited with Brother Felton after and he is doing really great. He has done some Chemo treatments but it is just a precaution even though he is cancer free which is awesome. He shared with us that he has been able to watch part of conference from the sessions that he recorded. We finished of the night with Brother Olsen's wake and funeral. The spirit was very strong and you could really feel the love that was there. Brother Olsen has really been a great example to me and really everyone that he has ever associated with. As it says in Elder Cook's talk at General conference "The symbol of Christ for the Latter-day Saints will be found in the meaningful expression of our faith and the way we live His gospel." This is what I know by heart what Brother Olsen did each and everyday of his life.

Friday we had the opportunity first thing to do service for Brother Mason. We were able to remove a lot of things from their yard including plants, cement, and other odds and ends that needed to be removed. It was really awesome being able to do that but not only the service but being able to spend time one on one with Brother Mason and talk with him about what pushed him away from church. This time has really allowed us to figure out how we can help him recognize for himself to come back. After lunch we had a great visit with Joe Hickman and we shared some scriptures that really helped him out. We are now going to stay in daily contact with him and give him something new to read everyday and he committed to it. We went and visited with Brother Baylor who isn't a member. He shared with us about Brother Olsen's service and how he thought it was really nice. He invited us to come back sometime for dinner with the family which is great because only 2 out the six family members are members of the church. We finished off the night after tracting by having activity night at the church. We had a decent turn out and are really hoping to invite more people and get the members more involved by inviting their friends.

Saturday we started off the morning by doing the Bishop's Storehouse. It went really well and on the way back home we dropped off some food for some members whose car broke down on the way to the chapel. After getting cleaned up and having lunch we went and visited with Sister Gover which went really well. We were able to get a new number from her and also we are working on pin pointing a date for her to come to church and she is really excited about that. We then visited with Sister Byrd and found out that she has to work on Sunday but she is hoping that soon she will get her work schedule figured out so she won't have to in the future. That night we had dinner at the Mason's home with the Hearn's which was great. We were able to here a lot of different stories of both Brother Mason and Brother Hearn's missions.

Sunday we started off the day by going over to the Fairchild's and helped administer a blessing to their son Tyler. We then went to PEC which went really well and we are now working on refocusing on 20 members to work with. We had the Johnny family at church which has been really great and we also had Mathew along with his family. It has been great seeing the Kelly family come back to church and being able to teach Mathew. After church we visited with the Johnny's and helped them fill out some paper work for their application to move to a new apartment. We were able to talk with the kids for a bit and offer service. We were also able to visit with the Millers, Jeffrey Booth, Sister Hall, and Sister Binkerd. It was amazing to see that even when things looked dim that we continued to press forward and we were able to visit with quite a few members and have some great spiritual thoughts with them. We also visited Laura Teague and will be teaching her this coming week.

This week has brought me more growth within my own testimony especially even as I had said last week, that as we press forward and work throughout the week consistently we will continue throughout the week strong. I feel that we started off this week with a bang which propelled us into finishing our week with a bang. Oh, how I love this work and the consistency that it brings into my life.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan, April 19, 2010

2010-04-19T20:29:00.002-06:00

This week has been a really great week and we set some really great goals last week and this week that continued to propel us into having a week full of great blessings and receiving a continual growing testimony on working hard and not having a fade out finish.

Monday we had a great opportunity to spend some quality time with the Parkes family. We went with them to Fort Gaines and were able to experience some of the history of America. It was a wonderful to read and see of the different experiences and dedication that many men and women put forth for what they believed. We came back and had a great opportunity to talk with a less active member as we were doing our emails which was really great. We had dinner with the Martyn family which was really great. We also visited with a few other less active families before the night was out.

Tuesday we had a really great opportunity to continue to allow ourselves to be more directed by our Heavenly Father as we obtained a stronger spirit from district meeting. As we were able to go over the Atonement and shared different thoughts and feeling that came to us as we pondered and discussed we were all mutually uplifted and inspired. After lunch we went and continued to tract near a potential investigators house because he wasn't home at the time. We had a great time being able to testify of the Restoration and really allow other to feel the spirit speaking to their hearts. We ended up being able to see Kyle which was really great. We had a really good discussion where he truly opened up as we asked him questions and it directed us to teach him about different things within the Plan of Salvation and also the Restoration. We then went over and visited with Rachel and read 3 Nephi 14 with her. She has been doing pretty well and we are continuing to help her pack up some things so her move won't be as hectic in a couple weeks. We had a really great dinner with the Fairchild family and shared with them about weaknesses and read Ether 12:27. We were able to commit them to try and plan how to overcome their weaknesses and then put it to action.

Wednesday we started the morning off after studies by going to the doctors, so Elder Bawden could get all of his tests done before his surgery next week. We then went and visited with Brother Van Zant who has been less active for quite sometime but moved out here for work. He hasn't had much success so he told us that he was probably planning on going back to Utah soon. We immediately went and had a really great lesson on Temples with Sister Kimberly Evans and as we were there her dog gave birth to another puppy. We had dinner with Brother Klug which went real well. We then visited with a few less active member that lived near and were able to talk with them. Sister Wyser has been doing a lot better since she has been busy with work but is still trying to see if she can get some Sundays off for church.

Thursday I experienced one of the most profound things that I have been blessed with. We were asked to visit a member of the Monroeville Branch who had just had a child. Their little daughter had been having some difficulty breathing and they asked if I could be voice for her blessing. When I placed my hands on her the greatest sence of peace encircled and she gripped my hand with the most amazing grip. I was able to be voice for that amazing blessing in which she was promised and her family was promised many great things. As I pondered and thought about this experience throughout the day I received many great things about my future concerning about being a father and a husband. I feel truly blessed because of this great experience. We then continued our planning session which went really well and we focused on really improving and setting goals that would stretch us and keep focused on His work. We then went over to the Parkes and did some service for them. We were able to finally fix a leak under there house which had been causing them some grief. I was glad that being small I was able to make it in to where I could fix the problem without any further complications. We had dinner with the Hearn family that night which was really great and we discussed with them about the Atonement and how it has blessed our lives personally and collectively.

Friday we started off the morning by going over a little bit of the plans that we set and refocusing some goals that we were able to refine so we could receive greater direction. As soon as we were done with that we got ready and went over and did some service for Rachel which she was really grateful for. We were able to rip out a bunch of carpet and fix a few cosmetic problems in and outside of the house. We then came back and traveled up to Saraland to have dinner with the Mathies but it also gave us some great opportunities to be able to visit with a few less active members. We came back down from Saraland having visited with a few people and were able to make some calls to some of our potential and other investigators.

Saturday we found out early in the morning that Brother Olsen had passed away from his short bought with cancer. His funeral is going to be this Thursday at 7 and we are looking forward to being there to support his family at their time of grief. We then began tracting which I was really happy to do. We came to find out that almost everyone on the street had little dogs in their homes and many of them were catholic. We were able to have a few good discussions and were able to ask for referrals from everyone that would allow us to. After lunch we went up near the church to help Sister Parkes with a few things after a Relief Society thing and then went and visited with the Blackmon's. We found out that Brother Blackmon was in the hospital and we ended up giving him a blessing later on that night. He had some complications some medicine to help him pass a kidney stone and he is now doing a lot better. We were able to visit with the Johnny family and they are doing really great. We got everything set up for them to make it to church and we are really grateful for the members helping us get them to church. We finished the night by visiting with Brother Serrano which went really well. He has been doing pretty good and we read some scriptures with him.

Sunday was a really great day for us and I would almost say that it was our best day of the week. We had a great time at church and really the spirit was very strong throughout all of the meetings. The Relief Society sang a beautiful intermediate hymn which brought the spirit in even stronger during sacrament meeting. After potluck we went out with Brother Norwald who is getting ready for a mission and tracted. We had a great time and found both Harry and Adi. It was amazing being able to go out and tract and really see that if we put our full effort in and finish the week strong blessings do continually come. We went and visited with the Wyser's that evening to let them know about Brother Olsen and invited them to church next week. We also received a referral from them which was really awesome. We visited with the Ferrel/Gower family which was really great and we are really hoping we can get them back to church. Brother Ferrel isn't a member but he does strongly support the church. We came back home that night and had a little bit of study and dinner time which allowed us to continue to press forward in our marking of the Book of Mormon.

This week has really been a great week and as we continue to build and strive to increase our happiness by being Obedient we will truly experience the true Joy that Heavenly Father has waiting for us.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan April 12, 2010

2010-04-12T19:37:00.001-06:00

This week has been very wonderful with the opportunity to have seen Keno and Valentine Johnny enter into the covenant of Baptism and Confirmation. We have been able to see what hard work has allowed the Lord to bless us with and we will continue to re-boost and seek to talk with everyone in which we have the ability to speak with.

Monday we had a really good preparation day. We found out that Elder Bawden is having to have sinus surgery because of the illness that he has had but all will go really well and as planned. We were able to prepare for different things and really had the opportunity to shop and get a few things for when his surgery will be. We had dinner with the Hearn's and found out they will be moving soon. They are heading up to Indiana for school and we will have the opportunity of helping them get ready for their move in a few months.

Tuesday we had a really good district meeting and were able to talk about getting rid of any distractions that could allow things to get in the way of the Lord's work. We then traveled to see a potential investigator that we had but they weren't home so we started to tract a little bit early. We were able to talk to some really great people and were able to ask for referrals from many of them. We had really great lesson with Rachel and she was able to read over Alma 40. We read over it with her and were able to clarify things that she had thought about or was wondering about. We had a great dinner with the Fairchild family and we are hoping that with us going over every week that it will propel them to want to be more active. We then visited with a few other less active members which went really well.

Wednesday we started off the morning by seeing and investigator we tracted into but he wasn't there at the time so we talked with her wife for a little bit. We then went and visited with a few less active members near the area. After lunch we were able to visit with Kimberly Evans and finished watching over some of the church history DVDs with her. We are now going to be watching General Conference with her in our next visits. We stopped by a potential investigators house and shared with him the Book of Mormon and he was really excited to be able to read it. We tracted a little bit around the area and then traveled to Keno and Valentine's to begin filling out the Baptismal Records. We had a really great visit with them and had the opportunity to learn a little bit more about their family in the Marshall Islands. We then went to part of Bishop Parke's daughters soccer game and were able to talk with him about different things that are happening.

Thursday we began the day with Elder Metcalf and Morrison and traveled to Saraland to sing and have some lunch with a group of elderly people. It was really a lot of fun and they really enjoyed the opportunity to sing with us and to have us there to support them. The spirit was really strong as we were able to sing. We then came down and planned those things of which we needed to and it allowed us to get the baptism ready and other crucial things. We then went and did some service for Rachel and helped her clean and fix a few things around the house. We tracted after and had the opportunity to find a few potential investigators and were able to ask 8 different people for referrals in those few hours. We then met Elder Krieser and Tolley for Keno and Valentine Johnny's baptismal interviews which went really well.

Friday we started off the day by trying to see a few investigators and getting the baptismal program completed and set up. We were able to talk with a few investigators and set up some appointments with them. We then visited with Brother Serrano and he is doing really well and getting over the sickness that has been bothering him for a bit. We then went and tracted near a few less active members home while we were waiting to get the programs typed up. We were also able to see a few less active members before activity night happened at the church. We had 2 families show up and we were able to have a lot of fun and are continuing to invite more and more families. We were also able to set up a few things for the marriage and baptism.
Saturday we had a really great morning helping out with the bishop's storehouse and then immediately going and doing service for the Mason's who are a less active couple. We had a great time with them doing service and had a great lunch with them. We are going to keep doing service for them and hopefully it will propel Brother Mason back to church. We had just enough time to get ready before we had to go to the church and get more things set up for the marriage and baptism of Keno and Valentine. Both services went really well and there was a lot of support from the ward. The spirit was very strong and Love was truly felt. We then traveled up to the Kelly's for dinner and also were able to help them do a few things since Tim broke his hand just a few days earlier. We are trying to work with Mathew and it looks like he is really close on making the commitment to be baptized.

Sunday went really well and we were able to really feel of the His spirit. I am truly grateful for the priesthood and how it is used to bless so many lives. During PEC we were able to discuss the needs and pray for individuals who are struggling at this time. We were also able to be voice to the ordinance of confirmation for Keno and Valentine. After lunch we went and visited with a few referrals and had a few really good lessons. We then continued to tract and found Bill who we are really excited to meet with again. We finished the night by having dinner with the Parke's family which went really well and we were able to get everything signed by Bishop Parke's on the baptism and confirmation records.

Though this week had many ups and downs at certain times we were able to press through and felt much love and joy with our investigators and members in which the Lord blesses us to be able to serve.

Love You
Elder Regan Hansen

Tyler April 5 2010

2010-04-08T19:54:00.002-06:00

hello,

Well you asked some questions about favorite companions, I am on the 13th companion, I have enjoyed being around a lot of them but my favorites have been Elder Probst and Elder Marshall because I can relate to them and with Elder Probst we can continue the friendship when we get home and go snowmobiling. Elder Maja is an alright guy but with him being from another culture and being raised in different ways things just dont relate the in same way.

Well this week has been kind of deppressing. We found out that the Odells are going to be going to Port Alfred, Elder Odell is going to be a branch president in Port Alfred, it is going to be kind of hard to cope. There are going to be no senior couples here for a couple of months from what President Probst has said. We will look forward when all the Utah missionaries can take a trip to the Odells and be with them. We were not able to watch any conference since the area presidency made the announcement to all the branches and wards of South Africa. It has been a really strange Easter but they are going to just show the recorded version of conference to all of South Africa on the 24th and 25th of April. I guess a major part of why they didn't show satellite broadcast was because they wanted better church attendance at the chapels. It seems like everybody in South Africa just takes a break during the holidays and so I guess it was directed by the Lord even though it is difficult to understand. I am actually emailing at Deserees who is a recent convert in George because we could not find any emailing shops open and the town has been shut down about the whole weekend. So instead of watching conference on Sunday we had an hour of sacrament meeting and then after we went tracting. We were able to find quite a few potentials this past week and found a guy that has really impressed me because he is looking for the truth and has really been humbled by having a deaf daughter and helping her throughout her life but then again he is kind of lazy and doesn't like to read too much and doesn't have a job and says God will give him everything so I don't know some things are interesting around here. I have a feeling this upcoming transfer is going to be a changing experience for me if I stay in George, I hope this area can be a 6 week area for me but I know it probably won't happen. We are having a hard time getting member help and so I can only come up with a few other options which is tracting and street contacting which isn't as effective. We have one baptism coming up from the area which is Elizabeth Dagean, we have a date for the 17th of April but other than that it has been pretty tough for the others that we have been seeing. We have a really good feeling about Sis Johanna who was a referral from Deseree but things are slowly progressing. I just hope that everything will work ok here in the branch with no senior couples here because from what I understand they have been keeping things rolling taking major responsibilities which aren't supposed to be theirs in the branch. Today we are going to go golfing with Elder Odell since it is the last p-day with them so we better go. I will have to send some pictures next week. Have a good week stay well.

Love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Regan, April 5, 2010

2010-04-05T17:22:00.003-06:00

Well this week was by far one of the most uplifting and spiritual weeks that I have had on my entire mission and I am sure that His spirit won't make it be the last that I have. I am truly grateful because of the humbling messages and events that I have been able to witness this week.

Monday we had a a really great preparation day. We were able to do all of our shopping and cleaning that we needed to do. We were able to spend some time with Brother Martyn and his daughter which was really fun. Chloe is such a funny little girl and she is very smart for only being 4 yrs old. We then had dinner with the Hearns and had a really great time sharing topics of the gospel. After we went to Providence Hospital and gave a blessing to Sister Causey's Brother in the Lucedale Branch. He isn't a member but he was able to have his family there and the spirit was voice for what he needed.

Tuesday we started of the day by visiting with Sister Milburn who was in a retirement home. She really can't speak much but her spirit was so strong. We were able to give her a blessing and also read out of the Book of Mormon with her. She is such a great example to me because I have now seen for myself what true dedication to the Gospel is even when physically circumstances can become challenging. I felt the Love that Heavenly Father has for her and it was truly a savoring experience. After we tracted for a little bit before lunch which went really great. After lunch we visited with Sister Thompson who is a recent convert. We found out that her mom is now cancer free and is now going to be able to get back into the routine of things once again. We then tracted and talked with 7 different people before we were able to find some really great potentials. We are very eager to follow up with Brain and Allison about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We had a good lesson with Rachel and offered service. She didn't read Alma 40 this past week so we testified of the truth of the Book of Mormon and re-committed her. We had a great dinner with the Fairchilds and spent some time with their kids and asked them how they were enjoying primary. We had a great family home evening with Sister Byrd and invited her to General Conference.

Wednesday we started the morning off by seeing the Campbell's and they ended up feeding us an early lunch which was really awesome. We then traveled up to the Chickasaw area and tried to visit with a few referrals on the way. We ended up talking with a few other people and followed up with some of the less active members to see how they were doing. We had a great lesson on church history with Kimberly and this week we will start to leave her with a few chapters out of the Book of Mormon to read. We came back down and visited with Sister Wyser and she is doing a lot better. She has had quite a few setbacks but is still pushing forward and keeping her head held high. We received a call from some members who lived really close and gave Brother Klug and his granddaughter both blessings. It is truly amazing to see that there is always and will always be multiple reasons why we go to a certain place each day. We then had combined activity with the Young Men and Young Women which went really well and they are still working on inviting their friends out.

Thursday was a really great day of planning for us. We were able to update all of the records and also right up on the board all of our investigators who are progressing or not progressing and all those we need to follow up with and are hoping to teach. It allowed us to see who we needed to continue to keep our focus on but also those we needed to stop by and let them know we would have to be dropping them. We then visited with Melinda and asked about how all of the family was doing. Her husband Dave is the only member in the family and he has just signed with the army reserve and is now very busy and preparing for his trainings. We then went off with the Monroeville elders and had some really great opportunities tracting. I went with Elder Merkley and the others tracted on the other side of the street. We were all able to talk with some really great people and set up appointments with a couple and will be following up with the other this week. Elder Merkley and I then went and visited Jeffrey Booth and talked with her for a minute before we went and shared a message with the Parkes family. Elder Bawden and Shumway had a great lesson with Keno and Valentine and everything is still lined up for them to be getting baptized on April 10th.

Friday was truly an amazing day at Zone Conference. His spirit was able to testify to all of our hearts and knit them together as one in Unity. I felt truly blessed to be a mouthpiece for the Lord at the times that I was asked. I was strengthened through His Spirit and in increased my faith and desire to continue to act. I am truly grateful for those things of which were testified to my soul that I will be able to share with others of which I have learned for myself and will be their guides so they can learn for themselves. We immediately left and visited with Brother Serrano who had been having some really bad health problems and gave him a blessing. We were prepared to give that blessing and His voice was manifest unto Brother Serrano of the things of which he needed to hear and receive. We then had dinner with the Mathie's which went really well and then went and had activity night at the church and we had a lot of great participation.

Saturday and Sunday were both truly amazing days and I don't know how I couldn't not just combine them as with they were all such a great pattern of revelation revealed through His chosen servants. I feel from the bottom of my heart that conference was truly meant for the things of which I had been thinking and questioning within my soul. I received much comfort, peace, and guidance which is truly going to bless me as I seek to apply and use this knowledge and action in my life. We were able after Sunday session to give Sister Pacetti a blessing and then traveled and taught Keno and Valentine with Brother Nordwald. It was great to have him with us to testify and prepare himself for his mission which is hoping to be leaving on very soon. He working on all of his interviews as we speak and I am very excited for him. We truly had a great lesson and the spirit was able to speak through us and open Keno's heart to the truth. He shared with us such a powerful experience of agency that it testified to me. He had the desire come to use some chewing tobacco and his shared this with his wife and she said that he didn't need it anymore. He then immediately picked up the Book of Mormon and began to read from its marvelous pages and before he knew it that desire had been taken from him. It was a true testimony builder for him and also for us.

I am indebted and grateful for what the Lord has allowed me thus far in my life to witness and I look forward to receive more knowledge for myself and continually striving to be a guide for those who desire to know for themselves of this wonderful truth.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Tyler Mar 29 2010

2010-03-31T16:54:00.002-06:00

Hello family,

Thanks for the messages and the pictures.
We had a baptism with George this past Saturday. The branch doesn't have a font so we baptize in the river or if the river is not full then we go to the ocean. To see George be baptized has strengthened my testimony a little bit about tracting and finding people that are prepared to hear the teachings. Elder Wilson and Elder Moyo found George (the investigator) about a month ago and he was just baptized Saturday, he has been one of the quickest progressing investigator that I have seen from his preparation. he is working for a logging outfitter and is doing the grunt labor for them but he is away from his family that live in Limpopo which is basically the same area from where my companion is from. He is a great guy and has decided to change his life around so it was good to witness the baptism. I spoke at the baptism because Noone came who was assigned to speak and then in the branch on Sunday on the topic of Jesus Christ our chosen leader and savior. This upcoming week we will have the conference rebroadcasted but we wont be able to see the priesthood session and also the Sunday afternoon session which the branch needs to really change because the priesthood here is really struggling along. We have been tracting a lot around George (city) which is hard because there really is a lot of white people here and not really many of them want to here from us. We have been able to meet a lot of people that missionaries have met before in previous years and so we have set a few appointments with these people. We are trying to get some referral work going here but it is quite difficult with the members I don't know if missionaries in the past have not put on a good image to the members so it makes thinks a little bit difficult at the time. Well carry on!

Love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Regan, March 29, 2010

2010-03-29T18:07:00.002-06:00

This past week has been going really well. We had some really great experiences and the Lord has allowed us to become and instrument in His hands. Everything is still going right on course for Keno and Valentine to be Married and Baptized on April 10th. They have been able to get there marriage license and everything is now being set up for this great day for them.

Monday we had a really great p-day. We didn't do to much but what we did has helped us out a lot. We were able to spend some extra time in studies that allowed to to receive His spirit stronger and also caught up on letter and our journals. We had a great dinner with the Hearns and shared with them some of our investigators that we would love to have them help out with. They said that they would help us out and we are really excited to introduce them to Paul Hawkins and his family.

Tuesday we started off the day with District Meeting. We had a great discussion that allowed us to reflect on different things of the Zone Conference packet and how they had changed our daily efforts of service. We had a great visit with Sister Binkerd after and found out that with her MS she is starting to have secondary problems that are taking effect. She has such a great attitude about her situation and has the brightest spirits and Love for others I have seen in her situation. After we tracted for a few hours and were able to testify and ask for referrals from 7 different people we tracted into. We had a great lesson with Rachel Bartlett and she expressed how much she enjoyed reading Moroni 10. She read Moroni 10 to us and we discussed with her about her thoughts and feelings. We left her with Alma 40 to read in preparation to teach the Plan of Salvation. We had dinner with the Fairchilds which went really well and we finished the night out by having family home evening with Sister Byrd and gave her a blessing for her asthma.

Wednesday we started the day off by saving a few miles and biked to a few places near the church to tract and also visit a few referrals that we had received. After lunch we traveled and visited with Kimberly Evans and watched some church history DVDs with her and will be following up on how her reading has been going. After we traveled towards the Parkes home and tracted. We were able to talk with Jennifer and had a really good visit with her. She is a grad student and is very busy but we are hoping to be able to teach her. We had dinner with the Parkes that went really well and then we went and visited with a few less actives and made calls to some investigators.

Thursday we had a great day of planning and continued to have building studies throughout the week that have prepared us better on helping our Investigators. While planning we were able to set up some appointments with some investigators who haven't been progressing as well to see if we need to drop them. After lunch we continued to tract for about quite sometime. We had some great miracles happen and we were able to find Renita, Chiquita, and Jasmine. We had a great first lesson with Chiquita and left her with a Book of Mormon to read and then to pray for herself. She was really excited to receive the Book of Mormon so she could read Alma 32 because from the overview she feels that it closely relates to a few things she is going through. We had dinner with the Odom's which went well and we followed up with Sister Odom on her commitment to give a Book of Mormon to a friend, which she will be doing this week. After we left to visit a few members that we were hoping to see.

Friday we tried to visit a few investigators that we were thinking about dropping and had to drop them. It was truly sad to see how they had progressed so well but didn't quite want to finish. We continued to tract a bit and talked to quite a few people who had some potential. After lunch we continued to tract and were able to talk with Kyle who we should be visiting with next week when he comes back into town from his business trip. We were able to testify and ask for from 8 different people as we tracted. It has been a blessing to see that with a simple testimony many people really think more about those that they could refer us to. We then visited with Brother Serrano for a quick minute just to see how his studies had been coming along. After dinner we visited with the Baylor family which went pretty good. There daughter has had some health problems recently but is now doing a lot better. We invited them to activity night which they are getting more and more excited about coming to.

Saturday we had a great day of service start with Bishop's Storehouse and ending with helping the Fairchild's plant some of their Garden. After we went with Elder Orgill and Elder Shirley to visit with a person they had tracted into and handed Alex and his wife of to us. They weren't able to meet with us at that time but we were able to introduce ourselves to them. We then tracted for a bit which went really well and allowed us to continue to testify of the Restoration. We finished off the night by calling some investigators that we had and invited them to church which will be trying to implement more and more each week.

Sunday was just a really great day and really hard to explain how I felt throughout the day. Church went really well and the spirit was very strong. Mathew was able to come with Sister Kelly his mom and she expressed to us that she wanted him to talk with us about teaching him so he could get baptized soon. It was a blessing that we didn't expect at the time but we are now grateful that we will be able to teach him. After the fast we went and had an afternoon meal with the Bedwell family. We shared with them a thought in Ether and then went with Brother Bedwell to visit Sister Johnson who is in the hospital. She is doing alright but she doesn't know how long she has to stay for right now. Before we left Saraland we visited with Sister Thompson and her husband. They are doing pretty good and we found out that he is going to be pretty busy with work for the next 6 months. We then had dinner with Brother Serrano and had a really great lesson with him. He is getting excited about being able to get his patriarchal blessing and also receive the Melchizedek Priesthood.

This week even though we have had to drop a few people the Lord blessed us by opening the doors and having the opportunity of being able to find those that we can continue to help on their personal Journey to Him.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan, March 22, 2010

2010-03-22T17:11:00.003-06:00

Well right now my joy is very overwhelmed at this point. I received and email from Elder Mortensen. I shared with me this real joyful expression of love that has brought me me to tears and I would love to share it with you.

"Hi Elder Mortensen. Jeff told me that you are home from your mission. We often talk about you guys and how great you were. Jeff and I will be getting married on April 1st. Soon afterward, we will be getting baptized together. We are really excited to grow our eternal family and are very thankful for your contribution in my faith. You and Elder Hansen really made an impact on me. The most memorable thing that you guys did for me was invite us to The Sanders home. For the first time in my life, i was exposed to an eternal family and what it actually means to be an eternal family. Since that day, we have continually worked together to bring the holy spirit in our lives like we felt that night. After we left Florida (and settled in Seattle) Jeff and I started attending the Ward by our home and made them our family. I have a calling...the activities committee which I absolutely love. Jeff has become active in the church as well and has decided to be baptized with me. Thank you again for teaching me the gospel! Please let us both know how you are doing... "

I never knew if I would ever see or hear from them again but I always believed with all my heart that this Gospel was going to change their lives.

This past week has went really well for us and has continued to open new doors for the work of the Lord. It has been a week where the spirit has continually stayed strong and we are striving to continually have that spirit even stronger.

Monday we had a great Preparation day. We were able to get all of the cleaning and shopping done right at the start of the day. We then had and activity with some Ward members and played some soccer with their kids. The turn out was great and we had a lot of fun. That night we were able to have dinner with the Hearn and Mason families. It has been amazing to see how much of an impact the Hearn's have been for this less active family. It has propelled Sister Mason to come back to church and she now has a calling. Brother Mason is coming around and I feel will be right their with very shortly. I am truly grateful to be in such a great ward that is willing to sacrifice to help us and really go and find there neighbors. We then traveled and visited with the Byrd family. They are a part member family with a lot of potential that we have been trying to see for awhile. We are now going to be able to visit with them every week.

Tuesday we started off the day by biking down to see a few investigators that haven't been progressing very well. As we were visiting with some of them we were able to know if we should drop them or not. We were also able to do some tracting. After lunch we continued to tract and went near an appointment we had for later. We had a great time and were able to share our testimony and ask for referrals from 8 different people and talked with many others. We found Sandra and set up an appointment with her which we are looking forward to. We had our appointment with Rachel. She was able to read some of 3 Nephi 11 and we were really happy. We finished reading the chapter with her and answered the questions she had. We left her with Moroni 10 and will be inviting her out to General Conference this week. We had dinner with the Fairchild family. They have recently had some hard times and haven't been attending church but we were able to set up a continual date to visit with them every week, which will allow us to continue to bring the spirit into their home. We had a great Family Home Evening lesson with Sister Byrd and we discussed about temples and the importance of them.

Wednesday we went to visit Sandra but she was able to meet with us so we continued to tract near here home. After lunch we called a few of our referrals that we had received and had some really great luck. We talked with Paul Hawkins and he is really amazing. He shared with us that his family reads the Book of Mormon every night before they go to bed. He has read the Book of Mormon and knows that it is something that he must pursue. We were able to set up an appointment and are very excited for that. We had a great lesson with Kimberly Evans. She has been progressing really well in the church after her baptism and will soon I'm sure have a calling. We had dinner with the Bromgards which went well and then visited with the Johnny family. We are moving there Baptismal Date back to April 10th so we will be able to help them become more prepared.

Thursday we had a really great day of planning. We were able to get some great lesson plans set up and were also able to update all of the records that we needed to. We were able to discuss of those things that we thought that would help our those people we are focusing on and the spirit directed so beautifully. After lunch and planning the Monroeville Elders stopped by before their doctors appointment and we then traveled and gave Brother Tindle of the Toxy Branch a blessing. He has been at the hospital off and on. We then visited with Heather Hall which was great. We have been trying to see her since before Christmas and we were finally able to talk with her. We are now going to be able to meet here husband and hopefully be able to bring her back to church. We did some tracting until dinner time. We then traveled with the Monroeville Elders and visited with the Martyn family.

Friday was a very amazing day. The spirit was very strong as we were at Zone Conference and His Love could be felt by everyone so strongly. I learned a lot of great things and wrote day a lot of great things that came to me through His Spirit. After we traveled to the Kelly's family and had a great visit with them. They are still struggling since Sister Coker's death and we are helping them to continue to work their way back to church. After we tried to see a few members that live up near them.

Saturday was a really great day and the spirit continued to be around us. We started out the morning by doing some service with Brother Klug. It went really well and as we were there a less active member stopped by and we were also able to talk with her for quite a bit. After lunch we went to visit Keno and Valentine Johnny. We found out that Keno wasn't coming home until Tuesday now. We are still hoping for their Marriage to now be 27th of March. We then tracted near there home and talked with 5 people. It was amazing to see that by bearing simple testimony and asking for referrals that those people even though not interested they sincerely tried to think of someone for us to visit. We had dinner with the Hughes family and then traveled to the Adult session of Stake Conference. We found out that Paul wasn't going to be able to make it for stake conference so we will be setting up an appointment with him this week. As we were at conference I received a beautiful prompting which allowed us to set up a lesson plan on how we could better adjust to the needs of this Part member family we are hoping to teach.

Sunday went really well and the spirit continued to uplift and edify all of us as we attended Stake Conference. There were many beautiful messages shared and the Primary choir that sang was truly an amazing spirit felt group of songs. After we visited with Joe Haskins and talked with him about some of the struggles that he was having. He recently began to read the Book of Mormon that one of his friends had given him and he has really like it. We left him with commitments to remove distractions that he has in his home and he said that he would. The spirit and through the testimonies that were directed by him prepared Joe to make the commitment. We then visited with Brother Serrano which went really well. He has been reading a lot of different things within the Book of Mormon and we also helped him with some family history questions that he had. We traveled to Chickasaw for our dinner appointment with Kimberly Evans and her husband Danny. He is slowly but steadily being prepared for the Gospel since she was baptized but he isn't ready yet. We were able to talk with him and really were able to understand a lot of things of which he likes and really is looking forward to.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan, March 15, 2010

2010-03-15T20:39:00.002-06:00

This week has been really great to get out and do some great service and being able to have a few splits this week with some of the members. Being able to follow the prompting of service and doing it for a less active member almost brought me to tears seeing her appreciation and thanks for what the Lord asked us to do.

Monday we had a pretty great P-day. We spent most of our day near our apartment and getting a lot of different things done we needed to do. As we traveled closer to our dinner appointment that evening we visited with different members to see how they were doing. We had a really great dinner with the Hearn's and the Mason's. It has been great that we have been able to have them both there because the Mason's have been less active and Melissa and Eric Hearn are around their same age and they have formed a great friendship. We had a great evening with them and shared a spiritual thought that the spirit testified to them.

Tuesday we had a really good district meeting. We prepared by going over the Zone Conference packet and had a really great time. The spirit was very strong and we all committed to do all of those things for Zone Conference that would prepare us a individuals and companionship's that would allow us to be prepared to receive direction. We tracted near Rachel Bartlett who is one of our investigators before our appointment with her. We were able to share the gospel at the doorstep with a few people. We had a great appointment with Sister Bartlett and were able to read Alma 32 with her and discuss it. She was very happy when we showed up and we could tell that she was excited to hear more. We committed her to read 3 Nephi 11 and to going over the Restoration Pamphlet, which she gladly accepted. We left and tracted near our dinner appointment that evening and found Campbell. He is a really nice guy and we are hoping when we go back he will be interested in having a Book of Mormon. We had dinner with the Klug's that evening and then traveled to institute with a less active member who is coming back to church.

Wednesday we went to visit a few people we had appointments with but the fell through so we tracted near them. We stopped by and visited with Sister Binkerd for a moment to bring her the Relief Society Manual so she could study it until she is able to attend church. After lunch we had a great lesson with Kimberly Evans. She has been feeling a lot better and was happy we were able to make it. We watched some church history with her and as she asked questions and we discussed we all learned many new important truths. We continued to tract near Campbell's home and talked with a few people. That night we visited with the Baylor's who we are hoping to get the kids to come to the Young Women and Young Men activities. We then went and splits with Brother Emmertson and delivered a referral to Jackari. We had a great lesson with him and committed him to watch the Lamb of God DVD we delivered and we discuss it when we came back next.

Thursday we started of the Morning by getting all the tools for the service we did for Sister Binkerd. We saved a lot of time with the help of members and were able to clean her entire front yard. It truly felt great being able to serve her. I had received a prompting to do service for her a few days before and as we discussed it we planned on when we would do it and then we did it. It was such an amazing spirit felt morning and she truly blessed us with her spirit as we served. She told us that she was hugging us deep down inside and she was truly filled with gratitude. We visited with Janice Thompson after service and had a great time being able to talk with her for the few moments that she had. We then traveled to take back the tools to the Parkes and I ended up doing some service there for the family. We ended up having dinner with them and visited with Brother Serrano who was also there helping them with service.

Friday we did our planning first thing and had a really great time. Following the assignment for Zone Conference really allowed me to see a new and better perspective to planning that I had never felt and received before. I am really grateful for this experience and will continue to follow planning the same way to continue to receive and improve each and every week and day. Elder Bawden had a doctors appointment that went well and they put him on some more antibiotics to try and treat the problem he is having. We visited with the Fairchild's and found out the kids were feeling better but Brother Fairchild was under the weather. They haven't been to church a lot because of illnesses and we are hoping that they will be over them and be back to church soon. We traveled to Saraland to our dinner appointment and visited with Sister Wilson on the way up. She has had a crazy work schedule that has been keeping her from work but she is applying for new jobs so she can attend church. We also visited with a few other members who had moved or joined another church. We had dinner with the Mathies which went really well. After, we traveled and visited with the Shelton's and got to know them a little bit better. Sister Shelton stays really busy with work and being a single parent with two kids that play sports and do other activities.

Saturday we started first thing at Bishop's Storehouse and had a really great time being able to serve there. After we traveled back with Brother Klug and gave on of his friends a blessing who isn't a member. We came back home and tracted near our house and talked with a few people. After Lunch we biked and tracted for a few more hours. We have been trying to save miles because we have now been going to Saraland almost every week and sometimes have had to go twice. As we tracted we talked with 10 different people throughout the day. Continuing to Testify of the Restoration has brought His Spirit stronger into my life and has continued to strengthen my testimony at each and every doorstep. On the way back we stopped and talked with Dave Mclaughlin and found out that he is going to join the military soon. They are doing really well for the most part and he is just waiting for some paper work to come through so he can be sworn in. We then traveled to the Mason's and spent another evening with them and the Hearn's which went really well. Brother Mason's trust has continued to build and we are hoping that he will soon be ready to come back to church.

Sunday was a really great day. Keno and Valentine Johnny were at church with the family. They haven't yet got there marriage license but they will get everything filled out this week so they can pick it up next Monday when Keno gets back in town from work. We had a great lesson with them and a few other member on the Sabbath Day. They all committed to strive to keep the Sabbath Day holy. We tracted after potluck and had were able to talk with 5 people. A few of them we have picked up as potential investigators and will be following up with them this week. We then traveled with Brother Lunceford to visit a few members. We talked with Sister Thompson who has been having a lot of problems with her new spouse and his drinking. We ended up giving her a blessing which really helped her a lot. We visited with the Harris family. Brother Harris has two sisters who are less active and we were able to talk with them. We stopped and talked with Bishop Parkes and filled him in on the problems that Sister Thompson is dealing with. We had dinner with the Martyn family which went really well and shared a spiritual thought with them.

This week has been filled with a lot of great experiences. We are still planning on Keno and Valentine Johnny's baptisms for March 27th. It is all depending on when they get the marriage license, but we do have all the rides set up for them so it shouldn't be a problem.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Tyler march 15 2010

2010-03-15T20:13:00.002-06:00

Hello,
Thanks for the priesthood line of authority that is exactly what I am looking for.
Well this week has been pretty good for the most part. We spent two full days out of the area going to the zone conference in Port Elizabeth. I just wish president would just send me back to Namibia but can't really do anything about it. It took us 5 hours to get to Port Elizabeth from George. President Kolliker the area president and of the first quorum of seventy presided at the meeting and is really encouraging us to kneel down with the investigators and ask if what we are sharing is really true. Right now we have one person with a baptism date, her name is Elizabeth and she attends church regularly and is the daughter of a recent convert here. We hope we can just get some more member help on finding some new investigators just so we can use our time effectively. We have only a few people that we are teaching that seem to be really interested in what we are sharing so hopefully we can find some more people through the members. Well I have to go. I will send some pictures next week.
Have a good week.

Love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler march 8 2010

2010-03-11T18:27:00.002-07:00

Hello family,

Well this week has been kind of stressful but anyways ya I got transferred to George, South Africa. I will be the district leader here but I'm not as excited about the area, as Windhoek. My companion is from a small city north of Johannesburg but his name is elder Maja. I am really missing Namibia and being with elder Probst but love the people there. There has been a lot of baptisms in the branch of George but not as good of retention. I flew from Windhoek on Thursday but our flight was supposed to be at 11;00 when we got there at like 9:30 the flight was delayed until 1:30 that afternoon. Since the Windhoek airport is about 40 kilometers outside of Windhoek we decided to stay there and wait for a few hours. When the time came around the flight was delayed again until 4:30 so we waited for another few hours and then when the time came around the flight was cancelled due to technical difficulties. They had another open flight to cape town at 7:00 so we decided to go for this one. By the time this flight had opened up there was a lot of impatient people and a little bit of entertainment throughout the day. We finally made it on the airplane but I was really sad to go. The plane ride only took like an 1hour and 30 minutes to get there which was really quick, probably because of the impatient people the pilots decided to turn on the burners. When I got there it was about 9:00 at night and so we stayed at some boarding in Cape Town. Since the flight was cancelled I missed the bus ride to George which takes like 8 hours so the next day I got the flight to George at 1:30which was like a one hour and twenty minute plane ride. I finally got there at three oclock on the Friday afternoon and the senior couple the Odells fetched me at the airport. The Odells are great and a pretty fun senior coupe to be around. They are from Arizona and it seems like they just love the missionaries. This week is our Port Elizabeth zone conference and so we will drive like 5 hours from George to get there and so we will most likely drive on Wednesday afternoon to get to there and go with the Odells. The branch in George is very small and is a mission branch. There is a very good branch president here just like Namibia but I just hope we can find some people that want to hear the gospel which I hope we can get some referrals going here because I am not a fan of tracting to much, there is not much of a support system. We have one baptismal date established now with a guy named Martin but hopefully as thing go we can find some more interested people. I am jealous for elder Probst right now because there are just some sweet people in Namibia, like all the recent converts and investigators that we were working with. Well I am absolutely homesick for Namibia but hopefully things will get better as the week drags on. George is a nice town with a lot of white Africaans people and we are in the white area. Elder Wilson from Spanish Fork is in the district and is companions with elder Moyo from South Africa, so there is someone that I will be with from my transfer. well when I left John was very excited to come and he sent me an email on how he is doing. When he comes to see you in a month he will bring my painting by and also paint some stuff for you around the house. Elder Probst I miss, but his rash is about the same, he is being sent some cream that might help out the rash so hopefully that will work. Well have a good week and hope to hear more about what is happening.

love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Regan, March 8, 2010

2010-03-08T17:50:00.003-07:00

This past week went really well. By the end of the week we were still looking for some great things to happen. As we continued with our plans and steadily focused on having a sense of urgency the Lord used us to bring more work for us to perform in his strength.

Monday we had a really great preparation day. After we finished with our emails and other things we helped the Theodore elders move into there new apartment. Not a better way to spend a p-day by doing service. We had a great evening with the Hearns and set up some times with Brother Hearn so come out with us for some lessons.

Tuesday we had a great district meeting. Everything went really well with role plays and the spirit was very strong as we continued to learn of the gospel through His Spirit. I traveled with Elder Peterson out to Semmes to see everything that we needed to bring or prepare for them moving in the next day. We tracted for a few hours near Bishop Parkes home and were able to Testify and ask for referrals from 5 different people. My joy continues to grow as we are able to apply these principles in our service everyday. We had dinner with the Parkes family which went really well and finished the night with family home evening with Sister Byrd. We had a great lesson on Talents and Abilities.

Wednesday we traveled to transfer spots and saw everyone off. We traveled out to Semmes and began to get the trailer set back up for the missionaries who were coming there. Throughout we were able to make calls to our investigators and recent converts and set up quite a few lessons with them and were able to have our daily contact with them. We were able to help them get everything established before we left and continued our day. We were able to tract a little bit which was great.

Thursday we visited with John Pugh. He began to have some doubts about the Book of Mormon so we shared our testimonies with him and committed him to read Alma 32. He said that he would read and pray. We were able to set up a new appointment with him so we can follow up with his progress. We then went to the courthouse to get the marriage application for Keno and Valentine Johnny. We are hoping they will get married in the next few weeks and then they will be ready for their baptism on March 27th. We continued to tract near the Parkes home and were able to testify and ask for referrals from 8 different people. Now I could never imagine what it would be like without testifying of the restoration because it brings such an amazing spirit continually. That night we visited with the Johnny family and took over the application for them. Valentine wasn't home at the time but we talked with Keno and asked if they had been reading as a family everyday. They have been trying but he recommitted to doing it again.

Friday we traveled close to downtown and tried to visit a few referrals that we had received. None of them were home at the time but we were able to stop by and talk with Latashe Tucker and set up an appointment with her. Sadly, we found out her mom Mary Tucker who we had been teaching had passed away a few days earlier. We were saddened to hear about it but just reminded her abut the Plan of Salvation and it brought her more comfort. After lunch we tracted near the Fairchild's and had a really great time. We talked with 3 people and ended up having a great lesson with Rachel Bartlett. She has recently been struggling with a few things and as we were able to share about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of the Gospel her countenance changed and His Spirit bore a beautiful witness to her. We had dinner with the Kelly's that evening and had a really good time. It sounds like very soon we will be able to start teaching Mathew and hopefully Sister Kelly's husband will join in on the lessons even if he isn't interested.

Saturday we stopped by in the morning and visited with the Binkerds. We have been trying to see them for quite awhile now and we were able to set up do have dinner there this coming week. We are also planning on doing some service for them without them knowing. Sister Binkerd as Multiple Sclerosis and her husband is still in school as a doctor so they are not able to take care of there yard. We then tracted near there home and talked with 3 different people. It was great being able to get out there and tract. We traveled up to Prichard and visited with Gwendolyn Thomas. They have been having some recent struggles but she wants to come to church. Her son is not a member but has been taught in the past and wants to join the church. It is amazing to see all the doors the lord opens when you are willing to work hard and do what he asks of you. We attended Mary's funeral service at the baptist church. It was a really nice funeral. Thought a bit different, there was a lot of family there for support. We then traveled to the Johnny's and had a great lesson with Keno and Valentine. We had a great Restoration lesson with them and they told us that through their prayers and their daughter being baptized that they know that the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. It was great hearing them bear there testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. We had dinner with Brother Curtis which was really good. He is planning on supporting us in helping Keno and Valentine which we are really happy about. We talked with Brother Felton that evening and found out that he is having Chemo again. He said the cancer isn't back but they have to do it every 6 months. He is planning on being to church in a few weeks. We visited with Brother Serrano and he is doing well. We followed up with his scripture study and it has been going well for him.

Sunday was a really great day. We had a great lesson on fasting with the Johnny's and Brother Serrano. We had a really powerful testimony meeting and the spirit bore witness strongly of the truth that was being shared. Keno and Valentine had a really good time at church, as well as did the kids. We had lunch with the Bromgard's and the Johnny family which went really well. I am truly grateful for their service in helping the Johnny family and being a support for them. We then went to the Johnny's and installed some locks on their doors because they live in a rough area and recently people have been walking into their home during the day. We had a great visit with Jeffery Booth and hopefully we will be able to meet his family. His wife and children are not members but are familiar with the church. We tracted near his home and talked with 5 people which was great. We then traveled to a lot of potential investigators home and set up an appointment with Janice Thompson which was really great. That night we visited with the Baylor's and invited them to church and activity night.

This week has been really been really great and has opened the doors to so much more potential opportunities that will come.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Tyler Mar 1 2010

2010-03-02T17:52:00.002-07:00

Well
This week will be my last in Namibia unfortunately, We had 5 baptisms this week all in Windhoek and then the Katatura branch had 4 baptisms. I will not write much because I dont have the time, I need to do as much as possible here in Windhoek. This week has been great as far as teaching, two of the recent converts that were baptized Ndepewa and Inonge said they want to go on missions. They said they would like to go in like a years time but I hope that they go to Salt Lake so that I can go and see them. This Thursday is transfers and my visa is going to expire so I will go back to South Africa somewhere. Bro John is pumped to go to America and interpret so he is really busy painting. This past Friday he stayed up until 5 in the morning working on one of my paintings and then woke up at 8 to come and clean the church with us. We had the movie night this past Friday evening and it was a great success there was like 62 people who came to it and there was many first time member referrals who came.
well have a good week

love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Regan, March 1, 2010

2010-03-02T05:31:00.003-07:00

This past week has been a really great week and we have been able to set some really good goals that have allowed us to achieve more in the Lords strength. We set goals at start of the week to tract at least 30 minutes a day everyday. We feel that it will give us the opportunity to talk with more people and allow us to testify of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Monday we had a really great p-day. We were able to spend some time with allot of the Theodore elders. We were able to get all of the things that we needed so we could keep our time focused on the Lord's Work. We had dinner that evening with the Hearns which went really well. We tracted before we got there so we could talk with allot of people and testify of the restoration.

Tuesday we had a really great day. We started off at district meeting and had a really good meeting. We were able to have some really good discussions and were also able to have some really good role plays that helped prepare us for things we would do later on in the week. We had some open time after we tried to visit with Martha Tucker. We tracted for a couple hours near Bishop Parkes home. We had a great time talking with as many people as we could. We were able to testify of the Restoration to 6 people and were also able to ask for referrals from each of them. We stopped by and visited with the Parkes for a minute and helped them with a few things. We then traveled to Institute and had a really good time. We were able to talk with Brianna who is attending institute but isn't a member. She is really enjoying being able to learn about the Book of Mormon at this time and we are hoping that we will soon be able to have the lessons with her.

Wednesday we had a great visit in the morning with the Campbell's. We are still working on getting to know Brother Campbell and working with his grandson in having him come back to church. Brother Campbell is not quite ready still for a commitment to baptism and we are allowing the High Priests to work with him. We also talked with Sister Binkerd. She has had some down time this past week because of the Multiple Sclorosis. She has been really under the weather and we were able to give her a bit of an extra boost. After Lunch we had a great visit with Chiquita Tucker. She had allot of great questions that directed us to teach her the Plan of Salvation. She found allot of peace and comfort in what we had shared with her. She committed to read and pray about what we had taught her was true. We had a great lesson with Kimberly Evans. We have continued to teach her about Church History and have been following up on her commitment of reading the Book of Mormon which has been going well for her. We had dinner with the Blackmon family which went well. They are a part member family we are working with and their granddaughter came to church which was really great. Sister Blackmon has been working with her to come to church and she was happy that she came. We finished the night with the Etiquette Dinner for the youth. They were able to invite a few friends which was really great. The youth have started to invite their friends which has been really great.

Thursday we had a really great time planning. We were able to continue to fill out the progress record and update all the teaching records that needed to be updated. We were able to follow the steps in Preach My Gospel which helped us to be more prepared for the goals of which we set last week and the goals that we have set this week. We had a great lesson with Mary Tucker after planning. We shared with her the Word of Wisdom and she committed to stop drinking coffee and tobacco. We will be teaching her the stop smoking program this next Saturday. She has great desires to make the changes of which she needs to do. We're still working on finding a ride for her so she can come to church. We visited with a few referrals that we had and were able to set up an appointment with John Pugh. We left him with the Restoration pamphlet to read. We then went and continued to tract near Bishop Parkes home. We were able to Testify and ask for referrals from 9 different people. Even though at this time no one has been interested I feel awesome throughout the day and the spirit has continued to increase as we have been striving to talk with everyone and ask for referrals. We had a great dinner with the Odom's and followed up with them on the Commitment we left them to Pray to know who they could give a Book of Mormon to. I love childlike faith because of the great example it is. Their daughter gave two Book of Mormons out to her friends with her testimony in them. Her parents were very happy and I feel that it has motivated them to be more committed. We visited with Brother Serrano to end the night. He is doing really well with his missionary work. At work he has been a great example and many of his co-workers have been asking him questions. He has also faced ridicule from others and as he continued to be the example and turned the other cheek it really impressed those who were criticizing him and they have now stopped.

Friday we had a great lesson first thing with John Pugh. He started off by sharing with us some of the feelings of which he had from reading over the Pamphlet. He asked us about how to know who has the proper authority to Baptize. He had recently been baptized into another church but felt that it had not been done properly and has left him questioning. We were able to teach the Restoration and the spirit answered those questions of which he had. He found allot of peace and comfort in those things that had been shared. He committed to read and pray about what we had taught him was true. We left him with Alma 32 to read and will be following up with him this Wednesday. After lunch we visited with Sister Fairchild to see how her family was doing. They have had allot of different illnesses floating around. We tracted around her home before Elder Bawden's doctors appointment. We were able to testify to 5 different people and ask for referrals when we had the opportunity. After his Doctors appointment we went up to the Kelly's home and had a great visit with them. We were able to spend sometime with the kids which was really good. We were able to visit with Sister Kelly and her husband Tim and get to know them better. Since the passing of her sister times of been hard but with us being able to go up and visit them every week things have become allot better for them. We are hoping to teach Tim and her son Mathew who is 9. Keith her other son came to church which was really great.

Saturday we went and helped out at the Bishop's Storehouse which was really great. We were able to serve those who were in need and also uplift one another spirits in this great cause of the Lord's Charity. After we went over and dropped of a few extra things to Bishop Parkes and found out they had been having some pipes leaking under the house. It was great being prepared to help them and we were able to do that service for them and help them with those problems. By the end of it we were able to fix the pipe and were also able to fix a few electrical problems that they needed help with. I love those opportunities that allow us to be able to serve those who need our help. We had a great visit with Brother Campbell and have some one on one time with him. He showed us how to make egg rolls and we were able to discuss allot of the gospel with him. He is coming around little by little but I really think it will be the High Priests and members that bring him into the church. We finished the night with activity night which went really well. We had a few families show up and we were able to have a great time playing some volleyball and basketball. We are hoping that this will propel them to bring more of their friends and invite there neighbors to come and join us.

Sunday went really well for us. We had a great meeting in PEC and had the opportunity to discuss different needs in the ward. We were able to set up a few goals that as a group we are going to work on. Church went really well and Keno and Valentine Johnny were at church with there family. We had a great lesson with them on the importance of scriptures. They committed to read as a family for five to ten minutes every night out of the Book of Mormon. We were also able to set a date for them to get married by and they committed to baptism on March 27th. They are really excited and we are now working on finding out all the details so they can be married in two weeks. After church we visited with the Madison family and asked them about one of his co-workers who is not a member but is very dedicated in helping him as a cub scout instructor. We were able to get some more background and will hopefully be able to start sharing the gospel with him and his wife. We had an early dinner with the Hearns and had a really great time. We were able to learn allot of new things to help some of the members we are focusing on as well as be uplifted spiritually as we were there. We traveled up to Saraland that evening and visited with Brother Peoples. He has still been struggling with allot of things that have been happening and home. He has now set up some goals to help him get him and his family through the hardships. The greatest goal that he has set is to follow the commandments so he will be able to make it to the temple before the year ends. We had a prayer with him which was very spiritually uplifting. We finished of the night by trying to visit with a few other less active members.

This week has been really a great week of service. I have been uplifted by His spirit as we have strived to magnify our callings and become more dedicated in his service. Throughout the week we counted up the total of 20 different people we were able to testify of the Restoration to and also able to ask for referrals. This has really uplifted me so much and we are going to keep this goal set now each day week in a week out.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Tyler Feb 22 2010

2010-02-24T17:51:00.002-07:00

Hello family,

Thanks for the emails, today has been devastating we had to come to the vernhill mall to pay to use the computers. I have gotten by with free e-mails for the last 6 months since I have been in Namibia with free emails but not today, I guess we will have to give the guy some cookies or something. Well this week has been good. My companion Elder Probst's rash is pretty wild. This past Tuesday we went to the dermatologist doctor that we were referred from another doctor and we basically walked out of his office with no type of resolution to the problem. They say it is urticaria, I have some pictures that I will have to send next week basically because there is no usb port from the computer to plug into for the camera. Dr. Smith told him to eat on a diet but well see what happens. My visa expires from Namibia here in the next couple of weeks so I will go back to South Africa at the end of the transfer. Our area may be whitewashed depending on if he stays here or not. There will be a general authority up here next week in Namibia so they can figure out the rash. Me and Elder Probst have had a good time though besides the rash problem this next week Namibia will have 9 baptisms that is planned for. The Katatura district will have 4 and we will have 5 baptisms here. Henry Yeta, Junior and Aminata Decruz will all be baptized this upcoming Saturday at 3. We had a lot of dropped appointments but we are just continuing to peddle around Windhoek finding people to teach. This past week we taught this girl Vistorina the restoration of the gospel and she understood what we were saying perfectly. We gave her a book of mormon and she was really excited to start reading it. We asked if we could come back in the next couple of days and she wanted us to come over the next day. I hope that everything goes well for her and she eventually gets baptized because it will strengthen my testimony about tracting. We listened to the talk from Elder Jefferey R. Holland this past week because we didn’t get to watch the Sunday afternoon session and he gave a powerful message. Bro John has been painting like crazy to obtain some money to get back to the states in April. Well the church is true. Have a good week.

Love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Regan, February 22, 2010

2010-02-22T19:46:00.002-07:00

This past week has been a really good week. As we have explored new options and directions that we have received, we have been able to adjust and really understand some great ways to help our investigators to progress better. We have seen allot of great things this past week and also had some trying times that really stretched us individually and as a companionship at times which enabled us to grow.

Monday we had a really great day. We were able to have a great district meeting that allowed us to follow the outline and experience a new mode of understanding and study. We are now a more unified District which has brought us a better understanding or work ethic and desire in His service. We immediately traveled to get the recall fixed on our car and while we were they we talked with a few people and also got a little more study in. We then emailed because of the Mardi Gras commotion with everything being closed for the celebration. We visited with the Johnny family that evening and had a wonderful experience getting to know them, which has opened many doors to help them on there way to Baptism. This week with their family we will be setting a Marriage date with them and also a Baptismal date with Keno and Valentine. We are excited, but they are more excited because it has been something that they let us know they have been desiring for a long time.

Tuesday we started the day by visiting with a few members and investigators. We were able to see Chiquita and followed up with her if she had watched Together Forever. She told us that she was able to watch it with her children and she really enjoyed it. We were able to testify to her and set up another appointment with her. We also stopped by and talked with Brother Baylor who is not a member and invited his family out to the activity night we are trying to start up. We stopped by a former investigator and had a great visit with her. She is going to call us to set up an appointment and we will follow up with her in a few days if we don't her back from her. We had a really great p-day and were able to accomplish allot of great things to prepare us for the rest of the week. That evening after dinner with the Odom's we traveled to the church and had a great Family Home Evening on Prayer. Sister Byrd asked us to giver her a blessing. We were able to be mouthpieces to bring her more peace and comfort into her life.

Wednesday we had a few lessons that ended up falling through in the Morning so we visited with allot of potential investigators that lived near us. Some of them dropped us and others weren't home but it allowed us to progress in the work and move on to new people to focus on. We were also able to do some tracting which really helped us out. After lunch we traveled up and had a great lesson with Kimberly Evans. She is doing really great and has recently begun a new way of studying the Book of Mormon which has enabled her to reach her goals each of setting a consistent pattern of study daily. We had a great lesson with her on church history which she was really excited about and had allot of great questions we were able to help her better understand. We traveled down to the Bromguards and had a great dinner before heading to Sister Diane Coker's funeral. It was very hard to see her go and know that we truly lost someone that we loved dearly. It has left a void is so many people hearts. She was always a kind person and I truly looked up to her because of her dedication in magnifying her callings in the nursery and also as a visiting teacher. Even though she had many hardships in her life she was dedicated to the nursery children. As was said: "She was never able to have children, but she had more children than most people." Her dedicated service will be missed but the Joy of her Life will always carry on in there Hearts of this ward. We were asked to be honorary pall bearers which was really a great honor. She has made a influence in my life that I will never forget.

Thursday we traveled with the Morris's to her Funeral service in Atmore it went really well. We were able to spend time with the family and talk with the Long's and the Kelly's. They are both Part-member families and we are now able to work with them more than we have before. We have grown a great bond that we are hoping with open the doors to a continued friendship that will progress them to enter into the fullness of the blessing of the Restored Gospel. We came back and tracted for a few hours. I was so happy to go out and to continue to testify of the restoration. It has really brought more joy into my life and brought allot of "warm fuzzies". We came back and planned and set ourselves to be ready for the remainder of the week and next week. Weekly planning has helped us so much recently in seeing where we have needed to direct our focus to help everyone. We had dinner with Sister Pacetti and then traveled to visit with Dave and Melinda. They are a part member family and we are hoping to get them back to church. Hopefully, it will soften their hearts and we will be able to teach Melinda.

Friday we started off the day with Elder Bawden getting his CT Scan. We are hoping this will help the doctors know better on how to help in on getting over the sinus problems he has been having. We then went to Walmart for a few minutes. We weren't exactly sure why we were going but we knew we needed to go. As we were there and employee who was stocking some shelves started talking with us about the church. We were able to have a great conversation with her and set up an appointment to visit with her. I've never seen results from store contacting but now I can say that it is possible when you open your heart and allow yourself to enter into the Strength of the Lord. We went to Prichard to visit James Hunter and Shirley Tucker. As we talked with James we found out that he wasn't interested in us teaching him but he was happy to receive and be able to read the Book of Mormon. We talked with Shirley after and had a good visit with her. She was really excited when we deliver the Book of Mormon to her and were able to share a bit with her about the Restoration and Testify of its truth. We were able to set up a return appointment with her and her looking forward to being able to meet more of her family. We traveled up to the Kelly's and had a really good time with them. We were able to bond with her two sons and get to know her husband a better. We were able to set up another appointment with them for this next Friday and we are hoping that we can continue with them week in and week out. We traveled to game night but no one showed up so we helped with setting up the Pinewood Derby tracks that they were setting up for the stake competition they were having the next day.

Saturday we traveled near the downtown area to visit a few referrals that we had and also a few less active members. No one was there at the time but it was great to get down there and try and see them. After lunch we traveled up and visited with the Juarez family. We had a really great visit with them and were able to finally meet all of the children. We were able to invite them to the Etiquette dinner and also to activity night. We stopped by and visited with Sister Gover and she has been really busy. She is a single mom and in school full time. She is hoping to make it to church and we are continuing to encourage her and help her on the pathway back. We visited with the Blackmon family and talked with them for a bit. We were able to invite Brother Blackmon to church. He comes off and on and we are hoping to help home have more consistency within the church. We had dinner with the Curtis's and then went and visited with the Johnny family. We were able to set up a ride to church for them and the family. They are doing really good and we are hoping to set some dates for marriage and Baptism for them this week.

Sunday was a really great day. We had the Kelly's at church which was really great. We also had Keno and Valentine and had a great lesson with them on Obedience in the Gospel Principles class. After church we were able to visit with the Ferrel/Gower family. It was exciting being able to get to know them and find out that we have allot of things in common with them. Brother Ferrel is not a member but knows allot about religion. He only claims to a few core beliefs but through all of the studies and things of which he has done he is strongly pulling towards the LDS Church. He said that he still has quite a few things to read and continue to pray about and we just continued to encourage that he does so. We were able to visit with Ruxundra and find out that she was able to get her plane ticket to Romania and allot or pressure has been lifted off her shoulders. We were hoping to be able to teach her before she left and have the missionaries go and visit with her family but she is not ready. We might still be able to send the missionaries over there to visit her family when she gets back because they could be ready. We tried to visit a few more less active members and were able to talk with a couple of them for a few brief moments.

This week has been full of many great things. My joy is overflowing from the opportunity of being able to serve the Lord here in Mobile. There are many great things that will continue to happen here in Mobile and I look forward to continue to serve here in this part of the Lord's Vineyard. We have been able to see allot of change within the members and have been able to begin to start with some great member commitments. We have asked them to pray to know wh0 they could share a Book of Mormon with. We have two families so far and are hoping to continue. I really love serving here in Mobile and look forward to the Miracles that are continuing to happen each day.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Tyler Feb 15 2010

2010-02-15T19:28:00.002-07:00

Hello family,
Happy valentines day yesterday, it just felt like another day.
This week has been pretty good, I received some pictures that you sent today I received 7 of them. I sent some pictures of some of Johns paintings, He has some pretty good paintings and he is trying to sell enough of them so that he can get enough money so that he can go to interpret for the conference in April. He said it costs about 1600 us dollars for his plane tickets so he is going to be really busy painting for the next month or so. I think I might get a small one from him to help him out a little bit.
Well this last Saturday Ndepewa and Heaven and Tendai from the other area was baptized into the church. It was cool to see their excitement and It would be really cool to see Ndepewa go on a mission in the future sometime. This past Sunday Inonge and Ntelamo spoke in the branch and there was supposed to be a third speaker but they took up all of the time and Jerry wasn’t able to speak but just bear his testimony. It was neat to see how well they presented themselves even though they were just baptized last month. We hope to have a few more baptisms on the 27 of March but we'll see what happens. We have been working extensively with the branch and we have had great support from them in the missionary work on of the best functioning unit I have ever been in. Well this one is going to short but enjoy the pictures.

Love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler Feb 8 2010

2010-02-15T19:15:00.002-07:00

Hello family
Thank you for the emails. Well this week has been pretty good with a lot of things happening. Next week we have two baptisms with Heaven and Ndepewa. I am really excited about the both of them especially Ndepewa because she is even thinking of going on a mission maybe in the near future. She said she wants to go to Utah or somewhere in the united states so it is cool that one of our investigators has even that desire so I am pretty excited for her. I think that she will be the pioneer for her family because her mom was not really to happy about being baptized for traditional reasons but once Ndepewa shares the gospel with her mom hopefully her moms heart will change. We have been also teaching Evelyn at the Kuthtedze family and it is neat to see her excitement. Her family is from the north but she is attending university of Namibia and studying public relations. This week after teaching her about the restoration of the gospel, she was wondering about the Book of Mormon and we pulled one out of the bag and she immediately she took it out of our hands. She is coming with the Kuthedze family to church every week and so it looks like she is a near future baptismal candidate. We have received so many referrals this week and their has been almost 20 investigators at Windhoek for the district with us having 11 this past week we have had a lot of member help. We have just been trying to visit all of these people and I am particularly excited about Michael and Lucia and Neapo and Ana because they could all be baptized in next months time. This week president Probst flew up and is in Namibia and so we have our conference on the Tuesday. We had our interviews on Sunday night and I asked him if he could maybe renew my visa to stay up here but the government is quite strict here for letting our church up here. Most missionaries stay up here for the six months because of the visa restrictions so after this transfer which ends at the end of February I will most likely fly back to South Africa. I have really enjoyed being here and to see the functions of the branch because this has been one of the best functioning branches out of any ward or branch that I have ever been in. My companion Elder Probst is kind of frustrated lately he has had this rash that he has had his whole mission and doctors don’t know what it really is. It almost looks like hives but it only occurs in the morning and nights and it basically grows on his legs. He has had many steroid treatment shots for allergies but there cant seem to be any major treatment for him. He might go home because of it but we are going to go to a dermatologist this afternoon and he will do a blood test to see what it is. He is Dr. Buys who is in Olympia and he specializes in snake bites like the black mamba and the puff adder and stuff so hopefully he can be able to help him out a little. Bro John came back this week and I seen him at church. He was excited to be home but he loves America and the people of Utah. He said he enjoyed talking with you guys and said dad had a lot of questions which I thought was pretty funny knowing dad. He is probably one of the happiest guys on earth that I have ever met. He said he is going back to Utah in April to interpret his Nigeria language for the church conference, he is defiantly a miracle for the people of church of Nigeria. He said right now he is trying to save up some money so he can fly back which he said will cost him 1,600 U.S. dollars. I think I might buy one of his canvas oil paintings to help him out a little but he said he was going to talk to the church to see if they can help him out when he flies over to interpret. Well I believe that is all that is going on here. We are just peddling around Windhoek. I can’t wait for sister Ruth our Ruth to fly back. She went down to Cape Town with her daughter Lizette to take her to cape town for college, me and my companion have decided it is probably a good thing that she is leaving because she is quite a distraction. How is the snow? Well have a good week,

I love you all.

Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler Feb 1, 2010

2010-02-15T19:04:00.002-07:00

Hello family,
Thanks for the emails. That is really cool that there is a temple being built in Payson. That is one thing I miss is being able to go there. This week has been pretty good. My companion Elder Probst has some bad rashes on his legs and none of the doctors now really what it is. He started off in Mozambique but moved here because of health reasons in his apendex but from most of the doctors that he has talked to they believe it is a bad allergic reaction. He said that he has had the rash since he was in Mozambique and he has been out for over a year. Sister Ruth will take care of it though, she is a champion. I was wondering when John was coming home, I knew that some one from Nigeria would never come home if they went to the states. But it is good to hear that he wasn’t banished somewhere. I received your guys Christmas letter so thanks for that. Well we hope to have 9 baptisms so far this month in Windhoek for the district. I am a little worried about a few of them though. Ndepewa Nepaya who is 23 we encouraged her to tell her mom about being baptized on the 13th but her mom was really to supportive. I wish we could have missionaries go and teach her in the north but it would be nice to explain to her what we believe. We talked to the branch president Charles and he basically said to be patient because his father would not let him be baptized for 4 years so we will do our best. I don’t know about these Oshi Vombo girls. We have been also teaching Ndepewas cousin Jackobine and on my exchange with the zone leaders she said to Elder Shegena and I, she wanted to marry me, so she is one to look out for. She graduated in accounting at university of Namibia and is currently looking for a job in Windhoek or in the north. This week we have been very busy on the bike trying to see everyone in Windhoek North, Darodo Park and Eros. We have also scheduled a baptism date for Henry and Mulima on the 27 of Feb with two other Yeta family siblings. I just am concerned for Mulima because she has to work every Sunday so we are praying that she can find a job to where she can work only on the weekdays. Our district and the branch is also planning a movie night on the 26 of February. We have the films of Emma Smith and the best two years copyrighted and we wanted to make it so that families can come as long as they bring someone with them who they know is not a member. Us as the missionaries are going to be the ones who get the news to members by giving them movie tickets and as the members and investigators come in the cultural hall door we would get there names and addresses on a sign in sheet so that we have the investigators detail and the members details for following up with them and for fellowshipping reasons. The branch president seems very excited and he will provide the projector but we were thinking of renting a popcorn machine for the activity. We hope to get quite a few potential investigators that missionaries can follow up with. Junior and Aminata Dacruz we also have a projected date for the 13 of Feb but when Elder Shegena and I went to go see them their mom got arrested for her visa being expired from Angola and in the process had a heart attack from the surprise. She is fine now and back at the home but her and her boyfriend are not to supportive on helping us teach the kids anything about the gospel. It seems right now we have many dates for the people but at the same time the adversity wants to step his foot in the door with the people as well. Well I believe the highlight for the week was to see Laina and Bro. Farmer come to church. On Monday we taught the Farmers and shared a neat visual aid on the tree of life. We also were able to see Laina on Tuesday with My exchange with Elder Shegena. He was planning on bringing some one to the lesson for us to teach that he works with at his taxidermy shop but it was neat to see him come to church after going stone cold less active. Well that is what is going around here. Have a good week.

Love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler Jan 25, 2010

2010-02-15T18:50:00.003-07:00

Hello family

Well this week was transfers; Elder Mbatha unfortunately had to go back down to South Africa in Googlethu he was a brother. Both he and I became district leaders. Elder Probst a distant relative to our mission president came up and will be my companion. He is a cool guy and his brother served here in Namibia so he has a lot of acquaintances and he is an excellent teacher with thought provoking questions. He is from Midway, Utah. This week has been a really good week for me, I thought I could avoid the leadership but it didn’t work out as planned. We have some good things coming up this transfer and we set a goal as a district for 10 baptisms a month which I believe we can achieve. I have had kind of a hard time keeping track of everyone at church because we had 13 come to church and 20 as a district. We don’t have a car so it is difficult to see everyone throughout the week just by walking around in the rain. It is the rainy season here in Namibia and it has rained about 10 inches and it will continue to rain through Feb. And so it is very green. This week though as Elder Dillon who is from Tucson, Arizona was waiting for our companions we had a really neat experience. There is this girl named Liana who I first met at the beginning of the year when she came to church. She is a girl who has had a rough childhood and she was exiled from Zambia and has lost both of her parents. A couple of weeks After I met her at church we seen her walking down the street and I got this prompting that we really need to see her because she didn’t come to church the week prior. I couldn't remember her name and I could just tell that she was having a difficult time because she just said don’t worry about it. I got her details and but throughout the time she was always neglecting my calls and finally we were able to set up a time with her where she lived in Eros. It was probably one of the greatest experiences on mission because I could see the atonement take effect on her life and a huge burden be taken off. When we first walked into her flat she did not have any electricity and she had just got her baby back from the north and the baby was sick from being malnutritioned. The baby was crying but Lianas grandparents recently tried to take of her baby but must have not fed her well. We asked why she had not been coming to church and it was because she didn’t want to be judged of others. It was just neat to see the atonement take affect in her even though she made mistakes but I was so impressed that she took the courage to come to church because we probably would have not found her. Liana was taking such good care of her of her baby and holding her (Willmana) in her arms and previous to the appointment took her to the hospital in the morning but had very little money and that is why there was no electricity. I knew that if we didn’t leave a little of something for her for the electricity I would being feeling a little guilty knowing I could of done better so we gave her a little to have electricity for a couple of days to keep the meat in her freezer frozen and prevent from spoiling. After the lesson we gave her a blessing of comfort and I was just grateful that we were there with the right people such as our fellow shipper Don to resolve her concerns. It was the neatest thing to see the power of the atonement work in her life and we asked if we could help her with anything else and she just said to keep coming back. It has left me thinking throughout the week on that miracle of the day but I am just grateful for her courage and responsibility even though her times are extremely difficult. Well have a good week.

Love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Regan, February 15, 2010

2010-02-15T17:19:00.002-07:00

This week has been a really good week. Even though our number don't show it I am confident that the Lord is happy with the service of which we have been able to render this week. I know that he will continue to allow us to bear the different challenges that we receive as we continue to allow ourselves to stay within the strength of the Lord.

Monday we had a really great P-day and spent most of it doing allot of cleaning in the apartment and preparing different things. We took care of our shopping and e-mails as quickly as we could so we could get started on cleaning because our rating wasn't the best. We took that challenge and cleaned the apartment and have continued to spend extra time we have on lunch or dinner to clean. We were also able to accomplish allot of preparation that will allow us to save time and keep focused on the important work we must do. We had a great evening with the Hearns and after went and tried to see the Hughett/Byrd family.

Tuesday was a great Zone Conference that allowed me to receive and write down many great promptings that as I apply will allow me to become even better and more exactly obedient. I was grateful for the messages that were discussed and shared because it allowed me to better understand of the great missionary work of which the Savior himself did. His example continues to shine forth and bring new light and lessons deep into my heart. After we visited with Sister Wyser and invited her out to some activities that are coming up and also to church. She had a very positive outlook on the idea. That night we had family home evening but we didn't have anyone come so we went into institute. We ended up talking with Breanna who is a non-member but is excited to learn more about the Book of Mormon. Her fiance is on his way down here for school and we are hoping that she will allow us to share more of this glad message.

Wednesday we stayed near our apartment because on of our appointments fell through. We were able to see a few potentials and past investigators but nothing came of it. We were also able to do 5v5's and have set a goal to testify of the Restoration to everyone that we talk along with asking them for referrals. It has definately continued to increase our finding opportunities and has continued to uplift my spirit continually everyday. We had dinner with Sister Parkes and Sister Odom which went really well and they are helping us with setting up the activity night that we are starting to allow ward members to bring and invite their friends. We then traveled to the Chickasaw area and visited with Kimberely Evans. We had a great lesson with her and have been able to get her a ride to church. Consistency with her other ride has not been established and we all want more consistency so we found a great ward member who is willing to help her out. She has been reading out of the Gospel Principles manual with her husband and we are all hoping it will continue to prepare him to accept His message. During the evening we went and visited with a few part member families who have started to show some sincere interest and are hoping to work with them.

Thursday we had a great planning session. We were able to update all of the teaching records of our investigators and learned a great lesson of being more diligent with keeping them updated. It really helped us to see more of what we will be able to do to continue to help them progress better in the Gospel. We were able to set up some great goals. Between our planning we went by the Church and tracted for a few hours. We were able to bear testimony to 4 different people that answered there doors and were able to ask for referrals from them. We found Monica and she seemed very excited to learn more about His message. We had correlation with Brother Jordan which went really well. We were able to set up a new focus of direction with the new member discussions and establish a good list of people that as a ward we are going to focus better on bringing back into the church. We ended up also visiting with Brandy Rush. She has been struggling recently and we have not been able to have contact with her for a few months now. It lifted allot of worries away and brought a new peace about us all. We gave her a few chapters to read out of the Book of Mormon and found out the next day that she had read them and we were able to commit her to read more.

Friday we tried to visit Latasha but she was not available at the time we stopped by. We went to our backup plan and visited with Brother Cleveland. He has been doing really well and desires to come to church but just doesn't have a ride. We are still working with ward members to get that set up but have not had any luck at this time. We visited with Brother Serrano and did some quick service for him which was really great. We traveled up near the Parkes home and visited quite a few less active members homes. Many people have been home because of school being canceled because of the snow. We visited with the Parkes for a little bit. We found out that a ward member had passed away which was really sad but at the same time I was filled with Joy because she is now serving the Lord in the spirit world and is continuing to magnify her calling there. We didn't have anyone show up to game night so we traveled up to the Coker's to see how they were doing with her daughters death. We ended up visiting with her other daughter and her family. We gave her grandson a blessing because he is taking the death of is aunt really hard. It brought him allot of peace and comfort and as we were able to stay and talk with him it allowed him to reflect and the great times that he had with his aunt and brought some solace into his life.

Saturday we began the day bright and early by traveling to the Bishop's Storehouse. I love being able to help serve and to also see the bright spirits of those who are in need and are willing to help others who are experiencing the same hardships. After we went and picked up Brother Serrano so he could come with us to some teaching appointments that we had. We were able to visit with Mary Tucker and she was happy to see him. His testimony and sharing with her different things of which he has experienced has opened her heart. I know that because of His spirit allowing us all to be instruments that it is allowing the spirit to testify so beautifully. We continued our travels to the Eight Mile are and visited with the Juarez family. We talked with them for a little bit and invited all of the youth in the home to activity night and also to the etiquette dinner that the youth are having. They seemed to be really excited about the invitation. We ended the night by visiting with the Baylor family. We talked with them for a bit and were also able to share with Sister Baylor about the etiquette dinner and the activity night. She seemed pretty excited and said that the kids would most likely be able to come. Only the oldest son in their family is a member and we are hoping this will continue to open the door and allow us to teach the other children or maybe even her husband.

Sunday was filled with many great opportunities of being able to help allot of great people. We didn't have anyone at church but Kimberly was able to make it which was really great and we are going to keep the consistency working each and every week. I was grateful to be able to bless the sacrament and magnify the Aaronic Priesthood. I learned allot of great lessons from talks that were given on forgiveness and also on missionary work by our ward mission leader. After church we visited with Ruxandra who is going through a difficult challenge. She found out that her visa was denied to continue school at the university. She has to be back in Romania by March 2nd, so she was asking us if we knew anyone that she could do some odd jobs for to earn up some money for the flight back. She found out that her visa had been denied just this past week. Hopefully we will be able to help her but more importantly before she leaves to share more of the Gospel with her and in turn she may desire to hear more of it back in Romania with her family. We then traveled to Brother Serrano's and had dinner with him. We followed up with him about his neighbors who he had placed a Book of Mormon with. It was exciting to see his face light up when he talked with them about it and they had been able to read some of the Book of Mormon. We expressed our gratitude for his great work. We also discussed with him about gratitude and gave him some ideas for his talk on the subject of gratitude. We stopped by the Parkes quickly because Bishop had a few questions for us. We then traveled and tried to see a few potential investigators to finish out the night.

I'm so grateful for all of the great things that Lord allows us to feel and receive as we stay within the right spirits and continue to dedicate our lives in his service.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan February 8, 2010

2010-02-08T16:56:00.002-07:00

This past week was filled with many amazing things that we didn't see happening but know that it was from dedication in other area's of the Lord's Work.

Monday we had a pretty good P-day. We spent sometime with the Theodore Spanish elders and played some sports with them. We had dinner with Eric and Melissa Hearn which went well and tried to see the Hughett/Byrd family. Brother Hughett is a recent convert and Eddie Byrd is the only one in the family who isn't a member.

Tuesday we had a great day. We started off well and continued to gain a boost from District Meeting. We went over the upcoming Zone Conference packet. We then traveled up into the Eight Mile area and tried to visit a few of the appointments we had set. We weren't able to see them so we tracted while we were up there. We talked to some great people but, none that were interested in us coming back. On our travels back we visited with the Lewis family. We gave Sherman Jr. a blessing and invited them to church. They have been struggling recently. We had dinner with the Parkes family which was great and then traveled to family home evening that night.

Wednesday we tracted all of Old Government St. We didn't have much success but as we were out we ran into a few less active members that had been coming back to church recently. We kept encouraging them to come back. They have really enjoyed it since they have came back. We had a great lesson with Kimberly Evans. She has been having some health problems, so we focused on the Atonement and helping her seek and understand better how the Lord will help her though her sickness. We tried to visit Marcella but didn't make it on time so we left her with the DVD she ordered and set up a new appointment. We traveled back and had dinner with the Bromguard family. Brother Bromguard has been working here and is originally from Idaho. We found out that he is willing to come out with us which is great.

Thursday we had a pretty great planning day. We started off by seeing Rebbecca Pettway. We talked with her for a few precious moments but she was in allot of distress because of a recent passing of one of her family members. We came pack and had a really good planning session. We were able to update all the record forms. We were able to try and call all of the former investigators. We were able to talk with a few of them and will be setting up a few appointments shortly. We stopped and saw the Baylor family which went really well. We are hoping to start teaching the kids and hopefully that will pull Sister Baylor back into activity. We had dinner with Brother Klug which went really well. After we tried to visit a few less active members in the area before we headed home.

Friday we started off the day by heading over to the Campbell's, to do some service for them. It went really well and we are working with other ward members to encourage Brother Campbell to join the church. He has been an active non-member for over 20 years now. He just hasn't committed to baptism and recently the Bishop mentioned that while talking with him his interest has begun to peak on the idea. We traveled up to Saraland and spent the rest of our day there. We visited with Brother Madden and found out that work has been keeping him extra busy. We saw sister Wilson and found out that her work schedule has now changed so she can come back to church. We are really excited about that because she has dealt with allot of difficult things lately. We had dinner with the Mathie's and were asked to give them both blessings. We then traveled and visited with Brother Peoples. He is still going through allot of challenging aspects but is willing to allow the Lord to help him through it all. He asked us to give him a blessing of comfort and counsel which really helped him and answered many of his questions.

Saturday we started the day off by delivering a few referrals. We were able to deliver Martha Tucker her item and set up a return appointment to teach her. We stopped by Brother Serrano's and shared with him some things that we had learned. He shared with us that he invited his neighbors over for dinner and gave them a Book of Mormon to read. He told us they were excited about the commitment that he gave them. We had a great lesson with Mary Tucker and taught the 2nd half of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It went really well and we are still working on getting her a ride to church. We traveled around to visit some other members and talked with Sister Harbour and also visited with the Mason's. We finally have a great opening with them which is now going to allow the youth and Elders quorum to do some service for them. Not many people have been able to make it in the door to talk with them and see what their needs are.

Sunday we had a great day. We had a great lesson on Charity with 2 investigators that showed up for church who had in the past been taught by the Theodore Elders. We also had Cyrstal Bedwell at church which was great. We hadn't expected Keno or Valentine, but when we talked with them after church the only issue they have had with not getting baptized was because they aren't married. Bishop Parkes is now helping them so they will be able to overcome that obstacle.
The tender mercies of the Lord were shown to us this week. With Keno and Valentine unexpectedly showing up at church and being able to now teach them and help them progress to the Baptism of which they have not been able to experience yet. I know that through hard work miracles and blessings like this will continue to happen here.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

My New Email is now reganh@myldsmail.net

They changed it because of there new transition with Google. If you use the old e-mail it will forward but I don't know for how long.

Regan, February 1, 2010

2010-02-01T17:15:00.002-07:00

This week has been really well even with a few surprises along that way that allowed us to really stretch ourselves and see some really great experiences happen.

Monday we had a great P-day. We were able to talk with quite a few people throughout the day as we shopped and took care of other things we were able to do. As a District we have continued to strengthen our Unity by really getting to know each other these past few weeks since transfers. We had a great dinner with Eric and Mellisa Hearn and discussed the promises they have been able to find out of the conference talks they have been reading.

Tuesday we had a great district meeting. We were able to discuss about the Key and really see and discuss about things that we wanted to continue to work on that would allow us to continue to progress more rapidly. We were also able to share with each other our testimonies of missionary work that has been happening in our areas. Elder Bawden and I then continued by visiting Chiquita and Lorraine Tucker. We had a really great lesson with them and discussed about the Together Forever DVD they had watched and tied it into the Restoration with them. We continued the day with tracting and visiting referrals that had been given to us from investigators and media referrals. We had family home evening that night.

Wednesday we helped move a member out of the Theodore area into our area. We were able with Elder Burnham and Tolley loading and Elder Metcalfe and Peterson helping with the unloading we were able to get done very quickly. We visited with Brother Serrano that night and had a great lesson with him focusing on missionary work because he is introducing his neighbors to the church. We were also able to visit a few less active member on our travels to and from.

Thursday we spent a good portion of our day over in Theodore for Michael McGuff's baptismal interview in Irvington. We then came back and visited a few less active members we have been focusing on before we planned. We were able to plan and set some goals for this week that are going to continue to stretch us. We visited with the Baylor's who are a part member family but they were sick at the time so we just offered them what we could. We had dinner with the Campbell's and talked with their grandson who we are trying to get back to church.

Friday we tried to visit Latasha but weren't able to see her. We have decided to drop her Baptismal Date because she has not been committed to the commitment she has made. The next time that we see here we are going to express how important the commitment is and see if she is will to progress with His plan in her life. We continue the day but tracting near the church. We visited a investigator that we had found but he wasn't home. We ended up talking with his sister and sharing with her about the Restoration. We also gave her a Book of Mormon and Pamphlet and are hopeful she will give us a call back. It started to rain heavily so we continued to make calls we weren't able to make the day before and it went really well. We finished the night by having dinner with Chris and Crystal Bedwell. Crystal has been taught in the past and as we were able to get to know them both it seems that the feeling is right for us and them to begin to teach her again.

Saturday we started the day of with the Morris's and Sister Jett. We traveled to the Bishop's Storehouse which to me is one of the greatest things that I look forward to. His Spirit is so strong as we serve together to help those of His children who are in need. That afternoon we were able to have Brother Serrano come out with us for a few teaching appointments. Out of the 3 member presents we were hoping to have we were able to teach Mary Tucker. She is doing really well and we are still working on finding her a ride to church. Brother Serrano was able to share such powerful testimony from his heart. He has been coming actively for the past 3 months and his testimony is growing so rapidly and beautifully. When we were with him we visited a few referrals and potentials which went well and hopefully we will be able to set up some appointments with them. We finished the night off by visiting with Brother Hughes and then traveling to the Martyn's to have dinner.

Sunday was a really great day. Even thought we didn't have any investigators at church we had 6 less-active families at church that we have been working with. The Shock and Awe was turned to Joy and Love that was shown by everyone. The trust that we have been able to build with the Ward leaders and members is growing stronger week by week and missionary work is enlivening in their homes. I was also touched as we talked about the Ministering of Angels and have started in prayer to have those angels help our investigators and I felt the spirit so strongly as I was able to say those prayers. We visited a few less active members throughout the day which went well. We talked with the Miller's. Sister Miller suffers from MS which has been very hard on her. We had dinner with the Fairchild's and she shared with us her re-activation story, which was full of inspiration. We received an emergency call and went with the Klug's to give Kimberly Evans a blessing. It went really well and it helped her out allot.

This week has been a really great week. I love serving here around so many great people and seeing the Lord continue to work simple but powerful Miracles in all of our lives.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan, January 25, 2010

2010-01-25T17:12:00.002-07:00

Well this week has been a little bit slower but none the less it has brought us much joy in the journey as we have stayed in the Right Spirit of this Marvelous work.

Monday was a great day for being able to see people and also have District Meeting because of the Holiday. We tracted in the morning while the Theodore Elders got the new carpet in their apartment. We visited with Latasha for a few moments of time as she was preparing for the Funeral of her Uncle and also another family member. She wasn't able to make to church so as of now we put it to February 20th. When we visit her this week we will go over with her about the commitment she is making and the Qualifications that will allow her to progress to Baptism. We had a good district meeting with an activity that allowed us to see as a district that as we set goals and work hard and are diligent miracles will be seen. That night we visited with a few less active members and went to dinner at the Hearns.

Tuesday we had a great P-day. We were able to spend some time with the Spanish and English Elders and reflected on the great memories we have had serving around each other and also looking to the new memories that are still to come. We had dinner with the Odom's that night. We also visited a few less actives before hand.

Wednesday we had the Opportunity to travel with Elder Peterson to teach Michael and Rudy in Theodore. We had a great teaching experience and the spirit was so strong. Michael committed to stop drinking coffee to complete his commitment of following the Word of Wisdom. We came back and did a little bit of contacting around while the new Elders were on there way back. Elder Bawden and I then went and visited with Brother Serrano. We shared with him some of the missionary videos and helped and discussed with him how to answer different questions that may be asked by those who are investigating. We then went to the YM/YW combined activity and encouraged them to start inviting their friends.

Thursday we had a great planning day. We were able to update the Progress, Teaching, and Potential records. It took this time as an opportunity to clean out the area book. We called Leola Harris but she wasn't able to make her appointment at the time. We then tracted up and around the church and delivered some referrals. As of right now we have no referrals in Mobile. We found out that we weren't going to have correlation meeting so we decided to visit the Hughett family and visit a few less actives around them.

Friday I had an appointment in the morning with Dr. Shaver who is a less active member. I was able to get everything squared away and get the medicine that I needed for my sinus's. As we were waiting for the prescriptions to be fill we tracted out a few areas. We talked with some great people. After lunch we traveled to the church and continued to tract. We were able to find Shareef. As we talked with him and gave him the Restoration Pamphlet he couldn't take his eyes off of it so it seemed. We visited with the Baylor family. They are a great part member family that we are going to try and get a trust bounded with them so we can hopefully teach the children and husband. We had dinner with the Morris's that evening and then came back and made some calls to see how all of our investigators are doing.

Saturday we decided first thing in the morning to tract and we were able to find Elinor. We then traveled to the Eight Mile area and visited the Juarez family. They have been a little under the weather but have been coming back to church more regularly and we hope to continue to help them make it over that final hump to be fully active. We had a great lesson with Mary Tucker. We taught about faith in Alma 32 and committed her to Read and Pray and also to attend church with us. We then headed to see the Baird family. They are a part member family that we are hoping to work with. Sister Baird wants the kids to attend primary and church but she is struggling knowing that if they become active then she is going to have to. Because we had a few things fall through we decided to do some night tracting. We went to a nice are and talked to some great people and found a few potentials that we will be following up with.

Sunday we had a great day and we were blessed with seeing a few of the Goals that we set become actual. Brother People brought his friend Terrance to church. We have been working with him off and on because of his busy work schedule and were glad that he was able to make it to church. We were also able to set up an appointment with a part member family who came to church. She has been taught in the past but pushed a way for a bit and we are hoping to see if she is ready to take the lessons again. We came back and had some personal studies after church and prepared for a new member discussion with the Thiry family. We were able to have the whole family sit in. The father and son are not members but they came in and listened. The lesson went real well and we were able to get to know the family better and see if we could work with them. We ended the night with the Martyn's and had a great spiritual thought with them.
This week we have set some great companionship goals: always asking for referrals and also putting a focus in our studies for our investigators so we can continue to help them learn by faith.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan January 19, 2010

2010-01-19T18:47:00.002-07:00

Well this week saw many new miracles and a lot of great experiences that I have been able to take a lot of different things away from the experiences of which I was given.

Monday we had a great P-day. We were able to prepare for a lesson that we were to have with Latanya but she was not able to meet with us at that time. We had dinner with the Hearn family and after tried to visit a recent convert family.

Tuesday we had a great District Meeting that helped us focus on the important questions of what was in the President letter. It really allowed me to receive some great things as I was preparing and focusing on the needs of our investigators and also the District. Elder Peterson and I went on a trade off and first visited with Latasha. We have not been able to see her for the past 3 weeks and as we showed up she let us teach her. As we followed up with her we discovered the True beauty of commitments and how well His spirit is provided through them. She had read through both the Restoration and Plan of Salvation Pamphlets including the activities and also 3 Nephi 11 a couple of times. As we continued to discuss in His spirit through asking questions as we shared the Plan of Salvation she committed to Baptism before we even committed her to Baptism on February 13th. It was a spiritual experience that strengthened my Testimony. We also visited with Brother Cleveland and are working with the Leadership to get him a ride. We stopped by the Baylor's and had a great discussion with them and will be focusing on the Kids to see if it will encourage the mom to come back to church. We had dinner with Brother Klug that evening and finished the night of with Family Home Evening.

Wednesday the day started off slow as we tracted. So, as we continued we found the Joy in the Journey and found Hollis. He seemed really nice and we will be following up with him shortly. We then went with Brother Morris to see Michelle and Kimberly. We went to visit Michelle but she left us a note saying she was content with her church at this time so we went and visited a few less actives before we went to Kimberly's home. We taught her the 5th lesson and she committed to the commitments we left her. She is still holding strong and is coming to church each week. We ended the trade off and Elder Bawden and I went and visited Brother Serrano. He has a Job opportunity fall through and was a little down so we shared with him a few scriptures and helped him return back to having the Right Spirit.

Thursday we had a great planning day. We were able to get a map printed off and we pieced it together so we could see where everyone is in the area. We are still putting up the arrows with members names on them but it really will help us on being able to Plan and Work more effectively. I am really excited to see it get done so we can really continue to focus our efforts with more enduring Hard Work. We also went and visited a few less actives and did 5v5's around them.

Friday we began our morning by visiting a few less actives and doing 5v5's. The time really flew by as we were out working and we were able to find Tracy and work more effectively in always asking for Referrals. We delivered a few media referrals and as we were tracting around them we talked with a great brother who has a very strong testimony of the things of which he has witnessed through miracles in his own life. He had same great lessons of which I was able to take away a lot. We visited Sister Gover and invited her to church. We had dinner with the Blackmon's that night after we tracted by them. We had a great time and watched the Restoration DVD with them and Hope that it will encourage her husband to come back to church.

Saturday we began the day by helping and serving those in need at the Bishop's Storehouse. It always feels great being able to go and serve in that fashion and really see how the Lord directs and guides his matters and doings. We then had a lesson with Mary Tucker. She has been very busy with 2 deaths in the family but we brought her some peace and comfort and we found what her feelings and thoughts were and brought His spirit into her heart. We taught Annet Bragg's a great Restoration lesson and she committed to reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. We visited with the Campbell's that evening and will be doing service for them this coming week. We finished off the night by updating a few things in the area book at the same time we had dinner.

Sunday turned out to be a great day. I was able to give a talk at church on Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was amazing at how the spirit taught me as I was able to share a message that He desired of me to share. We didn't have any Investigators but we were able to see a few less active members that we have been inviting to church. We then visited a few referrals and were able to teach Chiquita and Lorraine Tucker. They were referred by Mary Tucker. We were able to share a good message with them and gave them Together Forever to watch as a family because of the 2 recent deaths. We set up an appointment to teach them this coming week. We then visited Brother Serrano and continued to strengthen the spirit within him. He learned a great lesson this week and has been applying so many great new things.

Monday we had a really great day. We tracted in the morning and visited a few members because District Meeting got moved back so the Theodore Elders apartment could be fixed. I am glad it was able to be completed because it has been a struggle for them. We went to visit Latasha but she was not able to meet with us because she was getting things ready for the funerals. We had District Meeting and were able to have a great activity that brought forth Goal setting and how to effectively work to achieve goals individually, as companionship's, and as a District. We then had dinner with the Hearns and had some great talks.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Tyler Jan 18 10

2010-01-18T18:51:00.003-07:00

Hello family,

Thanks for the emails, well send some pics of the snow. It is almost like pulling teeth from a chicken to get some pictures sent. Well this week has been pretty good. We were able to have only 2 of the five we were hoping be baptized but we have quite a few for the upcoming month. Ntelamo and Inonge were baptized on our side and we had 5 total baptism for the country. There was 1 candidate from the Katatura branch and the two from my last area of Windhoek south with the two little girls Lala and Putu. This week will be transfer week so Elder Mbatha will most likely go back to South Africa he finishes in July and his visa will expire soon. I think there will be four elders go back down to South Africa and 4 others to replace them. Well this week has been pretty good for investigators coming to church, we had 13 total investigators at church and Sophia and Jackobine from our area came for the first time so they were kind of my highlight besides the baptism for the week. Sophia lives in Darodo park and she is Lutheran but is confused with the doctrines. We were able to teach her about the restoration and she said she wanted to come and so she did. We have and been teaching Jackobine at Ndepewa's house and she is temporarily staying with her until she finds a job. We hope that she can find a job in Windhoek so that we can continue to teach her and she can be eventually baptized. Ndepewa will be baptized on the 30th of January we were hoping that she would be baptized on the 16th but she had to give up the coffee and so we have been helping her with that. We bought her some roobies tea instead so she can have that during the day, but she is doing great and is one of the coolest investigators. We have quite a few baptisms projected on the 13th of February and so far we have just 4 of them. With Heaven, Aminata, Junior and maybe Mullima. We hope to have some more but right now a lot of people are going back to school. We were teaching a girl named Maria Mulunga and her younger sister but Maria traveled down to Cape Town to study at Stellonbosch to become a doctor, so she knows what she is doing in life because she has kind of had a rough childhood. This past week the institute teacher came up from Cape Town his name was Brother Duncan. But during our district meeting he was trying to come in the chapel and some people came up to him with a knife and so he got mugged at the chapel entrance. We keep the doors locked while we are inside the church whenever someone is in there but when that happened I could see the importance because all they have to do is come in and they could hold a gun and rob all of us. Well other than that experience everything has been good. Have a good week
love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler Jan 4 10

2010-01-18T18:42:00.002-07:00

Hello,

This week has been good, On Monday we had our zone activity and talent show we were able to see the DVD of the boy that gave his mom some Christmas shoes. That night when everybody left, the Windhoek chapel was broken into and they stole the computers. It was out of the family history room but they just broke the locks and cut the cords to the computers. It is sad to see but I am not too impressed with the security company and the church may push for liability of the security company. On Tuesday we had Zone conference. We had the discussion on extending commitments which is my favorite thing about missionary work. It is always neat to follow up with people and see that they care about what we share with them and that they are willing to read from the Book of Mormon. I learned many new things that I can say as extending commitments but by the time we were finished I wanted to go because we had sat in the chapel for ten hours that day between workshops, but I am grateful for the inspiration that President and Sister Probst leaves in the meetings. We only really had one day out of the week that we could go out and proselyte but we were able to do quite a bit a finding in the rain. It has rained a lot this week and it has really poured. I left my jacket back in Cape Town because I didn’t think that it would ever rain in Nam but yesterday we came back just drenched and soaked from the rain, sometime it is nice to have to substitute for the heat. On new years eve and new years we had to stay in so we helped sister Ruth Amunyela paint her house. It looks very nice and she seems very excited about the painting that we had done. Well other than that it has been kind of interesting/boring at the same time but anyways have a good week. happy birthday Chris! And happy new year.
Love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler Dec 21 09

2010-01-18T18:34:00.002-07:00

Hello,

I received a lot of questions so maybe I'll answer them. There is probably 40 active priesthood holder who come each week. Attendance has dropped due to the holidays. It doesn’t really feel like Christmas here. Compared to the states not many people have lights up or anything. Not many people are in the Christmas spirit which is kind of hard to adjust to. We have been teaching quite a few people in Darodo park area and we met these ladies last week who we followed up with this week. Its seems to figure we are having a lot more success teaching women because they are a lot more spiritual. We have been teaching these sisters Charlotte, Josephine and Daniela the last couple of times that we have seen them about the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the gospel. Most of these of these girls have never seen their fathers since they have been alive in the last 19 years and they just here of them being in places like Nigeria. It has really played an effect on me of the gift of love. It is sad to see but there are a lot of people who have never been loved before and their families are just separated apart, just going through the motions of life with out the happiness and comfort of a family bond. It was neat after we shared the lessons with them they said that they really want to come to church but they needed some taxi money to get there. We gave them some money and they seemed as if they enjoyed church and I hope that the messages and spirit they felt can be imprinted on there hearts. But they were a highlight for me during the week. We have also been trying to get 7 baptismal dates this week for the 16th of January. We have 5 solid people so far but we have been also working with Salma and Maria who we have been teaching at the Mongome family. We are fasting with Maria at the moment because she is trying to get some money to go to school in Stellonbosch. It is really playing a tole on me right now because of the heat and yesterday I ate just a cookie. So Im not to geared up for it, but she is cool she is studying to become a doctor. I have noticed that the best thing for them is just to show love by service. I can really see the potential they can have in the future from their living the gospel. They don’t have much support from their mom who lives in Caprivi and family that is across the world. They are good girls and they are leaving Windhoek for the holidays along with a lot of our other investigators. Windhoek is just a place for people to have employment with the companies of diamond mining and large supporters of employment so people can make money. Well this week will be a lot of tracting to do but hopefully we can see miracles in the process. This Christmas it is going to kind of be strange we have to be in our places by 5 on Christmas and Christmas eve for security reasons but anyways will talk with you this week. Have a good week
love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler Dec 14 09

2010-01-18T18:20:00.002-07:00

Hello.

Please Don’t send pictures of the snow it will make me homesick. The days and nights are just getting hot here. We don’t even sleep with covers anymore it's to hot and we have one fan that blows in the night and I just sweat in the night because of the heat. If hell was anywhere it would be in the desert here. Dad you had a question about the food here. It is about the same as South Africa but the prices are a lot more expensive. The milk in the country doesn’t last to long I have noticed but we got some eggs a little while ago and when we cracked them they were rotten so we have had some bad luck with the dairy products here. The mission gives the Namibia Elders a little more money for food though so it helps. I don’t believe there is a lot of agriculture here in Windhoek but it seems a lot of food is shipped from South Africa. This past week was transfers and I am now in the Windhoek north area with Elder Mbatha from South Africa. We moved in on Thursday and We’ll be staying by Sister Ruth who is a member. He is my only true black companion that I have had but he is pretty cool to be around. He speaks zulu and he is just funny because everywhere we go he has to shine his shoes. We also got another senior couple in the area that will be mainly in the Katatura area. They are from the four corners and they are a Navajo called the platerus’s. We are working basically the northern half of Windhoek which include the areas of Windhoek north, west, central and also klein Windhoek and also Eros and Darodo park and valley. We have 15 investigator coming to church and this past week we established dates for 5 of them on the 16th of January. The Namibia zone wants to set a goal of having 40 baptisms in the zone where we are trying to have a big baptism date at the end of the transfer on the 16th of January. I think 40 is definitely be reached and is pretty logical but it will be difficult as well. So it looks like it will be a good Christmas so far. I have some stuff that I was going to send for Christmas but to send mail from Namibia is expensive. It is 10 grams for 6 namibian dollars. With just the few things that I would send it would cost like a 100 U.S. dollars so I will send the stuff when I get back to South Africa. I am excited about the people we have dates set for with Ndepewa, Heaven, and the Yeta sisters from Zambia. They all have a good support system and all have a desire to be baptized. Ndepewa works for a private hospital in ryno park and she is a nurse. She comprehends and understands the gospel and was a referral from her boyfriend who is going to a university in Cape Town. She came to church for the first time this week and this past week we introduced the plan of salvation and gave her a pamphlet to read. When we came back she pretty much told us what the plan of salvation was. We also able to find quite a few new investigators and it seems like a lot of the people have been Portuguese. Elder Mbatha doesn’t like teaching white people. We met with a guy named Paulo who is from Portugal and when we introduced the Book of Mormon to him he seemed very excited about it because he had never seen such correct writing of Portuguese so we look forward to seeing how he is doing this upcoming week. Well I think that is about it for the week but have enjoy the holidays.
Love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler Dec 7 09

2010-01-18T18:11:00.002-07:00

hello

Thanks for the emails. Well this week has been good. We met this family that Elder Haugen and I are pretty excited about in Klein Kuppe in the white area. We followed up with the Vantraan/Gelderblom family that we tracked into. They have different surnames because of divorce and the kids still take their fathers name who lives in Pioneers Park but they are really excited for us to come back. When we first seen them they thought that we were Jehovah Witness but after a short while of conversing with them we began to develop a relationship of trust with them. There is this girl named Milla who is fourteen and she is probably one of the most spiritual girls that I have met on my mission but she had a lot of questions and she was answering herself. She asked are babies baptized and then she would talk to us a little while and respond that they can't really commit sin so she knew that wasn't right. She also told us that the purpose of this life was a time to prepare to meet God and that God was almost like testing us to be here. I was really impressed by their interest and knowledge that was coming by the way that they felt. They don't really attend church at all and don't have a lot of scriptural knowledge so they are really excited to have us back to learn about God. It is just really kind of nice to have a decent conversation with white people who want to learn more about all the confusion. We will see them this Friday which is really something to look forward to. This week we also painted the inside of our old boarding and prepared it for another senior couple coming up from New Mexico. We moved last week from the boarding in Saiderhoff to another place by the fruit and veg. shop in Windhoek. This past Sunday as well the branch had there annual Christmas program that was held by the relief society. They did a really good job and the branch also fed everyone who came to church that day. They ran out of food but it seemed mostly everyone was able to eat something. Well have a good week.
love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Regan, January 11, 2010

2010-01-11T16:27:00.003-07:00

This week had been really good and the companionship though imperfect has become stronger and stronger unified each and every week and I Hope to continue to see that more and more as we adjust and use the amazing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ to adjust and become better in our daily service and efforts to Him.

Monday we had a good P-day. We were able to have the Parkes family and the Spanish Elders out to play some soccer. We played with a few other kids and the Spanish Elders were able to set up an appointment with one of those that we played with. We then went to the Hearn's for dinner and shared a message that helped us understand how to better our study habits. We learned allot of great things from them because they are both in college right now.

Tuesday we tracted near our apartment in the morning. Though it was bitter cold I enjoyed every minute of it. We were able to talk with allot of great brother and sisters. We had some great contacts and were able to find Robbie and also Harris in the morning. After lunch we continued to work hard by tracting around a few former investigators. We talked with quite a few people and were able to share our testimonies with quite a few. We found Latanya and have an appointment with her tonight. We had Family Home Evening that night and we had some great experiences as we read 3 Nephi 11.

We started the day of by stopping by Latasha's home but she was not able to talk at the time so we set up an new appointment with her. We then went and followed up with a few potentials and less active members in the area and did a few 5v5's by them. After lunch we traveled to Prichard and visited Nicki Cotton who asked to have us come over as a media referral. After in our travels to Chickasaw we visited a less active member who wasn't interested and as we were doing 5v5's we found Michelle. We were able to share the beauty of the restoration with her. She committed very strongly to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and of the things we had shared with her. She has friends who are LDS in Monroeville and has been to church up there a couple of times in the past. We had our lesson with Kimberly which went well and she committed to the rest of the commandments that we were able to teach her. It has been truly a blessing seeing how His spirit has worked miracles in her life and has built her testimony so strongly. It brings me such Happiness and Joy. We visited with the Colvins after and had a great discussion. We talked and met all of the family and invited them to church on Sunday. Tyler and his Wife Chelsa came.

Thursday we had a great planning day and have continued to see how me can best focus on the needs of our investigators and really search in His light to recieve guidance and direction for them. We also have figured out how to effectively set up the new member discussions with the help of the ward members. We went to visit Leann but she wasn't home at the time so we tracted some house by her we hadn't visited yet. We had dinner with Sister Pacetti and had a great visit with her and her friend. Hopefully her friend will be able to come to church with her. We finished off the night by trying to see a few less active members.

Friday we had such a great Zone Conference. I was really uplifted and received many great new things that I have already begun to apply. His spirit has just continued to allow me to see more and more miracles and receive such a stronger testimony and Love for His marvelous work. I really felt a confirming witness as I was there and have now rededicated myself in stronger in doing His will in His work. We immediately left from there and traveled to Saraland. We visited with the Christensen's and the Coker family. They are doing really good even with some hard times that have hit them. We had dinner with the Mathie's and I am really grateful for there sacrifice to feed us even though they don't have that much. We visited with Sister Thompson and her husband. She is a recent convert from Minnesota and her new husband is not a member. We had a great little lesson with them and invited her to church because she has been struggling. She did come on Sunday and felt His spirit that she knew she had been missing.

Saturday we tracted over near the church. We weren't able to find anyone but did talk with some great people. We went to Prichard after lunch and had a great lesson with Mary Tucker. We shared with her the Plan of Salvation and His spirit really opened up the lesson as we were able to ask her what her thoughts and feelings were. She really opened up and His spirit testified to her Beautifully. We then visited with the Juarez family. They are doing alright except they have been having a few problems with there house. We had a great visit with them and invited the whole family out to church. We then continued to visit less active member up in the Eight Mile area and did some 5v5's We traveled back and stopped by Beth Baard. We talked with her and her husband who isn't a member. We found out that she wants to get the kids back into primary. They haven't been baptized and her husband's mom is a member but he has never read the Book of Mormon. We shared some of the gospel with him and he seemed quite interested in learning more.

Sunday we had a great church meeting. We didn't have any investigators at church because many of them who have been progressing don't have vehicles so we are working with the members to try and set up a few rides. Kimberly's Confirmation went really well and her countenance has just been glowing and glowing. It is quite the site to see. After we had a few lessons fall through after Church. We went to Bishop Parkes home so he could sign the Baptism and Confirmation record and we discussed a few things with him. After we traveled to Brother Serrano's and had a great lesson with him. He has been struggling in the past and now on his Journey back to full activity the Lord has blessed him so much. Just over the past few months he has gained such a strong testimony and as he bore his testimony to us last night I was humbled with respect at what the Lord has already done for him so far. It has been such a testimony builder for me.

All I can say is that this week was quite the amazing Journey with some ups and downs and in between that made this week a Beautiful experience in the Lives of so many.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan, January 4, 2010

2010-01-04T17:39:00.002-07:00

This week has been really good even with having to fight a little bit of a cold off. I am so grateful that when you are working hard and doing the Lord's work that those things that seem to harp you the most are in the back of your mind or not even apparent at all.

Monday we had a really good p-day. We were able to do allot of things that helped us get ready for the week. We were able to prepare by getting a few things that we needed throughout the week for different appointments that we had set up. That evening we had a great dinner and did some contacting.

Tuesday we had to conserve some miles so we traveled a short distance and tracted for a few hours close to home. We talked to some great people and had some great discussions. We were able to set up an appointment with Leann who we had tracted into. After Lunch we went up to Prichard to visit Jessie and hew wasn't home but we were talked with Mary and taught a first lesson. The spirit was very strong and you could see the light in here eyes because of the great Love that she was feeling. We came back and tracted because we weren't able to talk with Davis. We had some really great discussions and one sister had some really great questioned and we cleared up allot of thing she had heard. Even though she wasn't interested in having us come back she really enjoyed the thought of learning more on Mormon.org. We finished the night with FHE and had a great lesson on missionary work.

Wednesday we went to visit with Latasha but she wasn't available at the time. We visited a few less actives around here and also did 5v5's by them. We went up near the church and visited with Sister Tiller. She is a really great sister and as we invited her to come back to the fold the spirit came in very strongly. We traveled with Eric Hearn and taught Kimberly about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She is doing well and keeping all of her commitments. That evening as we were visiting less active we talked with the Mason's and also with Sister Gover. She is interested in coming back to church and we are going to help her make that final step.

Thursday we had a great planning session after we had Breakfast with Sister Jett and the Morris's. We were really able to establish why some of our investigators were not keeping commitments. We pondered on how to help them or if we should drop them and we received some great guidance. We went and visited Sister Justesen and she is doing really well. We met Sister Maples and she is doing really well to. That night we had a great correlation meeting with Brother Jordan and got everything planned for Kimberly's baptism.

Friday we weren't able to have District meeting because the Theodore Elders apartment flooded. We went and did a bit of tracting when we found out they couldn't make it. We had lunch with the Parkes family which was great. We then went to Prichard to visit Mary and Annet. We were able to set up some appointments with them but were not able to teach them at the time. We had dinner with the Curtis's and that went great. We visited with President and Sister Singleton for a moment and asked Sister Singleton a few things about Kimberly's Baptism. We then visited with the Millers and had a great visit. Sister Miller has been feeling allot better than she has.

Saturday we had District Meeting first things. It went really well and the focus was on planning and making sure that we are figuring our ways in all of our area's to have more effective plan's set up and worked through each and every day. We then went and visited Annet Braggs and had a great lesson with her. We then went an visited less active members in the Eight Mile area. We were able to talk with quite a few great sisters and invite them to come back to church. We finished the night by making calls for Kimberly's baptism and confirming with those who are helping. Crazy enough we actually have all of our referrals done and we are waiting for more to come.

Sunday was a marvelous day. Kimberly had a great day at church and also in Sacrament meeting. After we had her baptism which her husband came to. The Spirit was very strong and the smile that she had on her face almost brought me to tears as I felt the same joy that she felt through her hard work and dedication to be able to partake in such a beautiful life changing experience. We visited with a Referral Terry Clark and watched Finding Faith in Christ with him. We were able to use the DVD to teach him and answered most of the questions that we had and committed him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We then visited with Brother Serrano and went of 1 Nephi 21 with him. It was such a great opportunity and we all learned some really great scriptures together.

This week even with the times that I have felt ill as I was able to work hard and lose myself in the work the Lord blessed me with the strength that I needed to Press forward and Keep my eye single to his will.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan, December 28, 2009

2009-12-28T18:21:00.002-07:00

This past week has been really good but also slow at the same time because of the Great Holiday season that we had and those that are still coming.

Tuesday we went to visit a few of our new investigators if we were by the area. They told us they probably wouldn't be home but they wanted us to check up on them. We then headed up to Prichard and delivered a few referrals that we had before our appointment with Willie Brown. We traveled to Saraland and gave Sister Wilson's son a blessing. We also visited a few less actives we weren't able to see the week before. We finished the night of with FHE and that went great.

Wednesday I went on a trade off with Elder Burnham. He is one of our Zone Leaders and needed him for a baptismal interview for Kimberly. We went to visit Latasha but she wasn't awake when we stopped by. We then went to our Backup plan of doing some 5v5's around some less active members and we found a few strong potentials. We then went to Prichard on our way to Kimberley's and delivered another referral and as we were doing 5v5's we found Jessie Moore who we will be teaching this week. Kimberley's interview went really well after her Neighbors who are Mezonite Jews stopped trying to bring in the wrong spirit. We nicely talked with them and wished them the best of luck. Kimberly will be getting baptized on January 3rd. We ended the Trade off and went to the Baylor's for dinner which was great. They are a less-active, part member family.

Thursday we had a good time as we planned and had a really great companionship Inventory. Throughout the day we did some tracting and visiting to members. We spent the evening with Brother Serrano and Brother Adair. Brother Adair's non-member parents came down and we shared a message about Christmas with them.

Friday we had a great morning by serving at the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen. It was great to see the smile on every one's faces as we were able to serve and help so many. After we went over to Bishop Parkes home and spent some time with them and there family over lunch. We followed up with District Meeting that afternoon and really pressed forward in trying to work hard and effectively throughout the day by planning well. We finished the night with phone calls to our families.

Saturday our day went pretty downhill you could say. We had good plans but allot of them fell through so we did allot of tracting and contacting. We had a good time thought showing the Lord that we were willing to work whether certain plans went through or not. We also worked on updating the progress record and making calls to recent converts to set up the new member discussions.

Sunday went really well. We were able to have a great lesson on the Life of Jesus Christ with Kimberely and she was able to attend Sacrament meeting which helps her on the way to her baptism. After church we visited with a few less active members. We had a few great gospel discussions with them and invited them to come back.

This week even though it seemed as if it was going to slow down for the Holidays we were still able to press forward and keep our eye on the prize of working hard and helping others receive the same blessings that we are able to receive each and everyday.

Love Y'all

Elder Regan Hansen
Thank you for all your Love, Support, Encouragement, and Gifts.

Regan, December 25, 2009

2009-12-26T07:33:00.002-07:00

Christmas Day Elder Regan Hansen was able to call home and talk to several Family Members. His mother spoke to him for over two hours, I just listened and made the occasional comment now and then. He was in good spirit, and is enjoying his time in Mobil Alabama. Attached is a picture that he sent of his Christmas Day Meal. In the morning they volunteered at the Salvation Army Soup kitchen and then visited ward members and the other missionary's in his district the rest of the day.

Regan, December 21, 2009

2009-12-21T15:14:00.002-07:00

This week to me seemed as if one of the most effective weeks that has been so thoroughly planned. It has been amazing at the effective work ethic it has wrought and I am going to share it with the entire District.

This past Monday was a great P-day. We were able to get allot of different things done for the week and were able to get the car all cleaned up for Zone Conference. We had an evening at the Hearns and had some great gospel discussions with them.

On Tuesday we went to the Mobile Infirmary and gave a less active Sister in the Ward a Blessing. She has been having some complications from a Knee replacement surgery. We updated our referral binder and continued to set them up with also including member pages for each zip code so we know what referrals and less active members live by where we are working at so we can effectively see them and do 5v5's. Zone Conference was such a boost for me. All the questions that I had were answered because of the spirit and I really received a strong witness that what we have been doing allot of is what the Lord would have us do. I did receive some great things to work on that will continue to help our area grow even more. The Christmas Party the ward had was amazing and the Love was felt by and through all the missionaries.

Wednesday we had a great lesson with Latasha Tucker. We taught the Restoration and at the end of the lesson we were kneeling with her in prayer. It was such a beautiful experience. We then left her house and tracted for about and hour and found Tracy and Angie. It is amazing at how great 5v5 really are. That day we tried to visit 11 less active member and were able to contact 5 of them and do allot of 5v5's. We had dinner with the Applegate family and talked with Brother Holyoak about his farewell on Sunday. We then went and contacted a few more less active and made some referral calls and we were able to set up and appointment with Annette Shelton.

Thursday we had some great planning that I feel has been the best planning session of my mission so far. We were able coordinate and set up allot of things that will allow us to be more effective though out the day and also with helping our investigators. We then went and visited some less active and found Davis by doing 5v5 around them. We also had a great Restoration with Lennona and Gerrard who we delivered the Lamb of God DVD too. They were excited about the message we shared and have an appointment in a few short days.

Friday was an exciting day. We traveled up to Saraland which we only make it up to about every couple of weeks. We first visited Ryesha and Andrew Henderson. We are still working with him and he has accepted the invitation to learn more. Throughout the day in Saraland we visited 31 less active members and 5 active members homes. We found out that a about 6 had moved and quite a few of them had joined other churches. We had dinner with the Mathie family which was great. We then continued our visits and delivered a media referral to a less active member.

Saturday we had the Bishops Storehouse. It is amazing being able to see how the church is able to help so many of it members. It was great being able to do service and really see the joy in having a great fellowship with those members. After we went and visited some more less active in the 18 zip code and tracted around them. We were able to meet allot of great members and also some great people that we were able to contact through 5v5. Even though they were not interested there stories of overcoming trials were strengthening to my Testimony.

Sunday we had a great meeting at church. We didn't have any investigators at church but we had one of the families that we visited and invited back to church came back. She knows President Spencer and was able to see him. We are going to re-teach the discussions to her and give her son a blessing tomorrow. We had a potluck after church and many of the less active members stayed and joined in the fun. We then went and did more less active visits and also had a great lesson with Brother Serrano and Adair. Brother Serrano has come back into full activity and his desires are so strong and he has been learning at such a rapid pace in the short past 2 months. We have moved Kimberely's Baptism to the 3rd of January and will be teaching her this week and finding out why she wasn't able to make it to church.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan, December 14, 2009

2009-12-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

I forgot to bring my planner for this past week because of the new transfer but I will update everything that we were able to do.

We taught Kimberley a great lesson on the Law of Chastity, Tithing, and The Sabbath Day. We also reviewed the Word of Wisdom with her and she committed to them very strongly and has been living by the Word of Wisdom strongly for a week.

We have continued to teach Nick Barbela and he is doing really well. He came to church last week but was out of town this past Sunday. Brother People brought a friend to church so we had a great priesthood lesson with him and after Sacrament meeting we talked with him and gave him a Book of Mormon. We set up an appointment with Terrence and I am excited because he really enjoyed church.

We applied the prompting that I had received for every block of the Day to have some one's name who is less active or if we were teaching so we could constantly have a backup plan and stay busy. It worked really well and we are still continuing to work on it to allow it to flourish the work even more.

I can't wait to continue to have the Spirit of Christ in this Christmas season build up the Love and Joy this season brings. I am grateful for the opportunity to share the great message of our Savior Jesus Christ and about the Restoration in such a marvelous time of the year.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan, December 7, 2009

2009-12-07T20:33:00.003-07:00

Monday we had a pretty go P-day and were able to make a few calls as we were out and about. We were able to set up a few appointments and also confirm some. We had dinner with the Hearns which was really good. We went and visited the Byrd/Hughett family and they seem to be doing allot better since everyone is over there Sicknesses.

Tuesday we were able to prepare ourselves for the day by having a District Meeting and preparing for Zone Conference by using the new Packet that we received. We visited Latasha Tucker who is one of our Media referrals and had a really great visit. We are going to be teaching her family again this week. We visited with Trennese Hunt and delivered her Book of Mormon and had a great 1st lesson. We delivered a few more referrals that night before our Dinner appointment with Bishop Parke's family. We finished the night with Brandy teaching us with the Articles of Faith and had FHE with Sister Byrd and a few of the other singles.

Wednesday we started by updating our referral binder because we received quite a few more. We then went down so I could get my Flu shot because they were able to get some more in. We went and visited less actives and potentials in the Prichard and Chickasaw areas. We didn't have much success talking with members but we found Jesse Edwards and Carlene Sims who had been taught in the past by the Wards. We had our lesson on the Word of Wisdom with Kimberley Evans with Sister Quinn there. She committed very strongly to the Word of Wisdom. We are working on some times so she will be able to talk with you. We finished of the night with Nick Barbella who had just moved in. He is very prepared and opened to learning and as we asked questions back and forth the spirit directed us to read scriptures that really brought him allot of peace.

Thursday we had a great session of planning and were able to get a few appointments set up for the next few days. It also allowed us to update some formers that had been dropped or other that had moved away. We then went and delivered a few referrals and as we were out we did some store contacting when we were getting a few things. We had missionary correlation that evening and had allot of the PEC members there and set up how we are going to start the new member discussions for the Recent Converts this upcoming week.

Friday we helped the Theodore Elders with moving to there new Apartment. We were able to talk with a few people as w were out and had a few good talks. We delivered a few referrals as we were traveling to dinner and we were also able to visit a few less active member after.
Saturday we had a great day with helping with the Bishop's Storehouse. It always feel great being able to serve those who are trying to do what the Lord needs them to do. We visited with a few less active members and also were able to do some more service for a few other members. We then went and visited Michael for a few minutes and were able to set up a time to come back and visit with him some more.

Sunday we had a great meeting at church and Nick was at church with us. He had a great time and he was able to meet allot of members and also hear some great testimonies. We then went and visited with some less active member and referrals that we had some appointments with. We made a few calls and stopped by Michael's to invite him and his family out to the Christmas Devotional. We ended the night with the Devotional which was a very spiritual uplifting evening.

LOve Y'all

ELder Regan Hansen

Roll Tide!!!!!!

Tyler Nov 30 2009

2009-12-04T16:56:00.002-07:00

hello family,

Well this week has been pretty interesting and kind of fun with the people that we have come in contact with. It seems like a long time ago but we had our zone conference with Elder Hinckley last Monday. I was disappointed how long we were able to see him because the plane flight from Capetown was postponed because it needed some parts so they weren't able to make it until about 4:30 in the afternoon. It was great though we had to do some ten minute role plays with him and also commit the individual for baptism. I think everyone was quite intimidated when there was a general authority right behind listening. He came down to see all of the MTC's and stopped at the MTC in Johannesburg before coming to the mission. He was a missionary with The MTC President Cannon of Johannesburg in the Germany mission. I enjoyed the stories that he and his wife shared and shared a lot of their experience being mission president in Salt Lake City. He asked a lot of questions and we asked a lot of questions to the work and you can tell that he just eats, sleeps and drinks the preach my gospel. That night we had a little family home evening after the first session where we invited all the young single adults to attend. There was quite a few who came but Elder Hinckley talked for a short time and really encouraged Windhoek to get going and encouraged the youth to invite their friends and send referrals to the missionaries. I was really impressed with the love that he has for the missionaries and his devotion to the work. I wish I would of had some more time for personal interaction with him and also to hear from President and Sister Probst and talk with them. But it was really short because of the delay. Well I believe with all the things that have happened the highlight for the week was to be able to speak with Antione Lutombi and see his progression in the Book of Mormon. We left a Book of Mormon with him last week and he has read up to 1 nephi chapter 12. He had some questions about the vision that nephi had so we were able to answer the questions precisely. We have many new and improving investigators who want to read the Book of Mormon so it made the work here go a lot easier. I need to be going but we had exchanges this week where I was able to go with Elder Oleole and Elder Mbatha from Durban, S.A. We had a pretty fun day with all the crazy individuals that we met tracting but I will have to share the experiences at another time. Well have a good week.

Love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Tyler Nov 23 2009

2009-12-04T16:45:00.002-07:00

hello.
It is just getting hotter and hotter here every day. This week has been good a lot of the people who live in Windhoek who are from Botswana are going back home. The exams in school are done for those going to university of Namibia so many people are leaving for home like Tswano. Well this week has been pretty normal teaching and progressing people. It is nice now to be able to have good investigators who will hold appointments and we have appointments booked clear until Friday so it is good to keep effective. We have left commitments for Sakhie and his family to come to church for the past three weeks but he never shows so I believe were going to leave the drop lesson next. I was excited about him because he said he has some good questions for us concerning the Book of Mormon but we can never stay in touch. We hope to set a baptismal date with a guy named Techafara but we cant seem to find the concerns that he has about being baptized because he has been taught everything. This week the senior couple held a YSA activity for the people of Katatura branch and Windhoek branches. We spent quite a bit of time handing out fliers to members who would be able to attend but they said it was really nice to have at the chapel to hold dances and parties and basketball to help the people get married who are members of the church. I miss that kind of stuff. This week there was a big fire in ext. 1 where the Jones live and it is a good thing that many of the houses have cemented walls which held the fires out of peoples yards. It was directly behind the Jones house but it jumped one the wall and burned someones bry/barbecue area. I am grateful for the the American emergency crew of America but it took Windhoek like twenty minutes the Jones said to get to the fire with the two fire trucks that they had. They do a lot of burning around here for one of the reasons is so criminals cannot escape and hide in the bushes but this fire got quite a bit out of hand. I think the miracle for the week was to see a young kid named Moses take the Book of Mormon and read have the excitement that he has. He loves the bible stories but when we brought the Book of Mormon by to him he was really excited to dig into it. Well today is our zone conference with Elder Hinckley they said the plane was a little late coming from Cape Town this morning so the meeting might be postponed a little bit. I look forward to seeing him and am excited to feel his excitement about the gospel so we will see him this afternoon. He is also holding a family home evening with the Windhoek branch so him and President Probst are pretty busy people teaching missionaries and eating, sleeping preach my gospel. well have a good week
Love
Elder Tyler Hansen

Regan November 30, 2009

2009-11-30T17:30:00.001-07:00

This week had been really good. We were able to get allot of things accomplished even through the Midst of Thanksgiving.

On Monday we had a few appointments scheduled but they called and rescheduled them with us which was good. We had our usual P-day and finished that night with the Hearns and a very spiritual evening with them.

On Tuesday we went and visited a few referrals in the Prichard area and visited some less active and part member families as we were there. We went and had a lesson with Kimberley Evans and Eric Hearn was with us. We discussed the Plan of Salvation and I am truly grateful how the spirit works in teaching us all as we ask simple questions and bear simple testimonies. Her testimony is continuing to grow each and everyday. Her Baptism is still scheduled for December 20th. We had a great family home evening lesson with a few members and a recent convert that recently moved here from Minnesota who has the greatest desires to learn.

On Wednesday we went and visited more referrals in the Prichard area and a few past investigators. We were able to find Christian Thomas as we were there. We then spent some time calling all of the Media referrals that we have and what a blessing it is to have 2 phones to call with. We were able to set up some more appointments which was great. Nick is one of the referrals that we received and we called his friend to get some background. He has been regularly attending church in Colorado and recently moved down here. His friend said that he is very close to Baptism and they have talked about it so we are going to be meeting up with him tonight. I am excited to be able to ask him questions about his thoughts and feelings of what he has been learning so we can see how we can best help him. We had dinner with the Madison's and finished our evening by visiting a few potential investigators.

Thursday we had district meeting first thing which really prepared us for the day. We had lunch with the Long family. The husband is not a member and had some rough contact in the past but as of recent his heart has been softened and he is trying to make sure he doesn't have to work so he can start to come to church again. We went and visited a few other less active and member families for the rest of the day.

Friday we visited referrals in a few different zip codes and did 5v5 around them. We then had lunch with the Emmertson family which was really good. Throughout the day we continued to deliver referrals and do 5v5, as with visiting less actives that lived around them.

Saturday we went to the flea market to do some contacting and we talked to a few less active members as we were there. We then spent allot of the day delivering referrals. We were able to have some great lessons with a few of them but weren't able to find times in their schedules that would work out. We have under 10 referrals right now which is amazing but that is not counting the ones that we have had to forward to other areas. We had a great lesson that night with Brother Serrano and he has been keeping his commitment of reading and praying and there has been a drastic change in him the past 2 weeks.

Sunday we had a great day. Sister Quinn a recent convert from Minnesota brought Kimberley Evans to church and we had a great lesson in gospel principles discussing about the apostasy and the restoration of the gospel. She also invited her fiance and his grandson who are not members to sacrament meeting and we talked with them for a few moments. After church we visited the Baylor family and got to meet them and some of there kids. They are a part member family but have some great potential to come back. We also visited the the Byrd/Hughett family and they are doing well. The daughter has been very sick so they haven't made it to church but they are all planning on being there this coming Sunday.

This week has been full of great success even though I thought the Holiday might slow it down but really it just helped us stay committed and understand that where our focus was at in serving the Lord.

Love You

Elder Regan Hansen

Regan November 23, 2009

2009-11-23T17:03:00.002-07:00

I have enjoyed this past week so much because the fire that has been burning inside of me to work hard and be effective has increased and is burning deep within my soul and thoughts.

On Tuesday we had a great District Meeting where we were able to do some role plays that really prepared us for lessons that we had for the rest of the week. We went and taught Kimberley Evans and asked the great question of "What are your thoughts and feelings?" It opened the door for the Holy Ghost to guide our questions to her and she continued to strengthen and bear the testimony of which she has gained and is growing. We set a baptismal date with her for December 20th. We finished of the night by visiting a few potential investigators and gave Brother Adair a blessing.

On Wednesday we updated all the new referrals that we had got and then went out and tracted near our apartment. After lunch we continued to deliver referrals and tract throughout the day also visiting less active members on our travels. We finished the night of by calling referrals and trying to set up appointments for the following days.

On Thursday we had a great planning session that day and were able to finish updating referrals to be written down and decided on certain days what referral areas we would go to and try and set up appointments and tract. We went and visited a couple referrals and tracted around there houses before we went and visited Brother Serrano and Adair. The spirit brought a strong message into there home and we shared about enduring trials. They have continued to read and pray every night. We then went to Brother Jordan's and had correlation with the Bishop and discussed the needs as they continue to discuss and build the new Missionary Plan for the Ward.

On Friday we spent the day up in Saraland and tried to visit and tract around as many less active members as we could. We were able to talk to quite a few members and invite them down to church. We had dinner with that Mathies and did some service for them before and then traveled and visited with Brother Peoples. He has been reading and praying every night and his countenance has changed dramatically since we last visited with him.

On Saturday we started the Day of by cutting down some trees and splitting them so we could get firewood for Sister Koker. It was great being able to work hard and see the smiles on there faces as we deliver the wood. We came back and went and visited a few referrals by us and were able to set up a few return appointments with them. That night we finished by calling some new referrals that we got and planning them out into our schedule.

On Sunday before Church we had a great lesson with Michael and his wife Brenda. It brought the spirit is strongly and we were able to pick her up as an investigator and will be teaching them on Wednesday. Andrew Henderson was at church today and we had a great lesson in gospel principle with him. After church was a little potluck and we were able to meet some member and non-members that we haven't met yet. After we went and visited Michael again and helped him sort out a problem that he had run across. We visited with the Kluggs that night which was great.

Love Y'all

Elder Regan Hansen

Tyler Nov 17 2009

2009-11-19T18:49:00.002-07:00

hello family,

Thanks a lot for the pictures and emails they look really great. Well I wasn't able to take any pictures this past week but never the less it has been pretty good. yesterday we had the branch conference in Windhoek and President Probst gave some really great council to the branch about the excitement of the church. He just recently had a mission presidents seminar with Elder Anderson of the twelve and was very excited about the things they had said. He said don't underestimate the power and glory of this church he said Africa is at it time to blossom like South America. He gave a lot of inspired counsel about hometeaching in the branch I liked one of the comments that he made, he said if you cant take care of your neighbor how do you expect to take care of worlds. He is really excited about the work and I know for myself that he is called of God, it is always good to have him come up and see and speak with him a bit. This past week has been pretty good as we have been able to find quite a few good new investigators and also have support of the branch in helping bare testimony. I don't think that is a problem whatsoever in the branch and that is the help of the fellowshippers like Bro. Don, John, Ozario, and anyone they are always willing to come out and help the missionaries out. We were able to see one of my favorites, Shippo this week, he was a little concerned about the Book of Mormon being not from God but he had some great questions to ask us regarding the spirit world and the restoration of the gospel. I like seeing him because he has great questions to ask and it is always fun to answer peoples concerns when they have them. I am grateful for the health care in America Shippos brother had quite a birth defect when he was younger and while we were there he wrecked his bicycle outside and had an injury to his head. The doctors before did a surgery on his head where they took a lot of his skull out and so on the back of his head he has just his skin to protect his brain. The doctors thought he would just die it why we think they didn't put a plate back on to protect his brain. He had wrecked and was blessed he didn't hit the part of his head that was tender to the brain. He had a bad scrape on the back of his head that just missed the tender part. Elder Haugen had a first aid kit so we were able to help him out a little bit but we hope we can encourage him to go back to the doctor to have a plate put back in to protect him while he is in his growing up rougher years. We were hoping more people would come to church with the commitments that we left with people but we will just have to keep encouraging and inviting to read the Book of Mormon which will give them the spirit in their lives to come. I am personally excited for Techafara and the progress that he is making. Clever a member in the branch is a great support to him and exemplar. This week will be good to be encouraging the investigators that we have at this point that have potential. I believe all they need is some tender love and care and time to help them become what their potential is.
Thanks for every thing and have a good week.

Love Elder Tyler Hansen

Regan November 17, 2009

2009-11-17T17:30:00.002-07:00

This week went well and luckily we were able to find some computers that are allowing us online. Also full of Tender Mercies from the Lord.

On Monday we had a good p-day and got things prepared for this upcoming week. We were also able to clean a bit and get ready for the November cleaning.

On Tuesday we were able to plan a bit since the storm came in. We visited Kimberley Evans that day and focused on her Praying to know if the Book of Mormon is True. She is preparing well for us to extend a baptismal commitment soon. We also stopped by to see Andrew Henderson but he wasn't home so we will be seeing him this week. Brandy a recent convert taught us for about families and then we had FHE which went really well.

On Wednesday we had a few appointments fall through so we delivered referrals and tracted around there houses. We visited quite a few less actives on our way back down and had some great success with them. We also visited Silvia McNeil and taught her the restoration and will be teaching her again today.

Thursday we did a little bit more planning to set up what zip codes we would be working in because of the referrals that we get. We visited with Michael that day for a bit. We then got out and tracted for a few hours which was great even though we didn't have any success. I do have the faith to not see results. That evening we visited Brother Serrano and helped him to continue his understanding of forgiveness and also how to Mark the Book of Mormon.

Friday we had a great Zone Conference and I truly was uplifted. Many of my questions were answered and a better understanding has come since I have began to apply those steps of understanding. I am so grateful for Revelatory Sessions where the Spirit and Love are strongly present. We visited member referral that we received and set up a return appointment and also found Eleynor Coleman as we tracted around the referral. That evening we went and visited past investigators that we had found in the Area Book and visited a few of them. We found Aerika because of that and will be teaching her tonight.

Saturday we began our day at the Bishops Storehouse and Michael met us up there. Even though we have not been able to teach him yet the Tender Mercies of the Lord have allowed us to stay in daily contact with him. He enjoyed being able to serve everyone around him. We did service for the Wysers after that and they were truly grateful. I love doing service. We then went out for the rest of the afternoon and tracted as we were delivering referrals.

Sunday went well even though none of our investigators were able to come. The primary program shared a great message to the non-members and part-member families who were attending. We finished the day by visiting more referrals and less active members. We also talked with Michael and will be teaching him and his family shortly.

Love Y'all

Elder Regan Hansen

Tyler Nov 9 2009

2009-11-10T18:02:00.003-07:00

hello,
I hope this week has been good for you, This week has been pretty good for us here. Me and Elder Haugen are together for another transfer. I believe the highlight of the week was getting a message from Tswano about her prayers being answered. She was having some difficulty a while back with her family not being too accepting of the church and recently her mom apologized and basically said sorry to her about ruining her eternal life so that was pretty cool to see. It just showed me that God works in mysterious ways and knows everyone, everywhere because of his glory. It is good to see the little miracles in life that keep me tinkering along. The baptism of Tswano went really well this week and their was one other from the Windhoek branch and three from the Katatura branch so Namibia is slowly progressing. Another highlight of the week was to see both the mom and daughter of the Lethogoje family finally make it to church. Sis. Lethogoje knows the Book of Mormon is true so we can work with that. We will continue seeing them and they have great potentials for the future. In Pioneers Park we have been visiting a great family that we found a couple days before halloween named the Imalwas. We have been mainly seeing Sunnypo and Magneline. Sunnypo is a younger girl who is in like 11th grade and she received the Book of Mormon a while back and she is now reading it. She has a lot of good questions concerning it and knows it is true and will help her in her life. She is studying for her exams and this week she asked for advice using the Book of Mormon we were able to share some valuable scriptures to help her in the studies. Her testimony of the Book of Mormon is flourishing but Magneline we can help her more to find the desire. Well for the most part the week has been well.

Here are some pictures of the smiley (lambs head) that we had at the Simattas. I didn't eat too much of it but the tongue was ok. Theres pictures of the baptism of Tsawno and also a lizard at the Germans house where we email. The most common language spoken is English but there is a lot of Africaans, German and Portuguese and also many tribal languages like Herroro, Vombo, Oshuvombo, and Damara there is a lot of languages.
Thanks for the love and support

Love Elder Tyler Hansen

Regan, November 9, 2009

2009-11-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

This letter this week will be very short because we are making sure we have everything for the storm that is headed this way. It says the wind could be around 50-75 mph and power could go out but as for now it seems to be getting even milder and it isn't supposed to hit land until Tuesday.

This week we found quite a few people from tracting put not a single appointment went through so we just continued to tract and deliver media referrals. We just wanted to work hard and show the Lord how much we Love him. We also were able to visit many less active ward members which is allowing the ward to trust us even more which is their main focus on getting them more fired up to do missionary work.

At church we had many blessing come from dedicated service. A part member family came to church and we taught Andrew. After when we were going to leave a brother name Michael came in needing to talk with the Bishop. He ended up talking with us and the Stake President and we are now going to teach his family this coming week. Being Dedicated in the Lords service has been great and I am grateful for the re-confirming witness that I am able to receive as I continue to work harder and strive to be more dedicated.

Thank you for all the Emails and Love and Support through letters.

Love Y'all
Elder Regan Hansen

Tyler Nov 2 09

2009-11-02T17:02:00.002-07:00

Hello,

Thanks for the pictures that you sent. This week went pretty well it is just hot here. I don't know where to start but Tshwano still is doing well. She has talked more with her family this week and she was kind of depressed on Saturday night because her family wasn't to accepting of her decision to be baptized. I believe she will do some more talking with her family about the church but I Know that she is the pioneer in her family to opening up their gate. We were hoping a lot of people would come to church this week with all the commitments that we left but only 4 came. This week was transfers and they pulled two more missionaries out of the Windhoek branch so now it is just the four of us. There are 6 in Katura and 4 in Windhoek now. Our area is getting very large now and covers about half of the southern city of Windhoek, we have a lot of people to home teach. We have been able to locate a lot of the less active in the city and have continued to see them. We met with Johanna this past Friday she is attending the University of Namibia and is a niece to the Shikango family. We took Karobo and Leon on with us from the branch to help fellowship but she never made it to church this past week. We were hoping we could find some good investigators on halloween evening but not a lot of people were home. We found a lot of upset people for some reason. There is a guy that stays in Cimbasia who was recently baptized in June but he is dodging all of our calls and attempts, to come and visit him. But we are continuing to find some good people to teach. I think the family that I was most excited for was the Lethologoje family They have been in contact with missionaries for the past couple of years but we followed up with them and they seem to be really excited about the message of the restoration and the Book of Mormon. We were hoping they could make it to church this past week but they didn't come. We will see them this week but I am thinking that maybe transportation could be a problem since they have like 5 vehicles and none of them run at all. Well for miracles of the day, Elder Haugen dropped the phone in the toilet today and it still continues to work but I don't think I'll be speaking on it with out some major bleach cleaning . Thanks for everything have a good week.

Love

Elder Tyler Hansen

Regan, November 2, 2009

2009-11-02T15:13:00.001-07:00

Monday I found out I was getting transferred but I really wasn't surprised at all. I really have come to love Crestview but I did love Mobile area when I was there is the past and I still know some families out there. So to an extent I am excited to see them. We had dinner with the Walker family and said our good byes. We then stopped by the Royce's and informed them on what was happening.

Tuesday it was pouring rain and our service projects got canceled on us. We had a last district meeting with the District and really had a great spirit felt meeting that allowed me to have an overwhelming feeling of love for the great families that I have been able to love and help. We then started getting things packed up because of the rain and things being cancelled. We also made sure that everything was updated and started to leave notes and things that would be important to help the new Elders and Sisters know about the area. We had dinner with the Toolan's and said our goodbye's. We then went and visited the Royce family which was really hard because I love them with all my heart. I know that the Lord will take care of them and he brought me much peace and comfort at these times I would need to adjust.

Wednesday were transfer and I was on the transfer van bright and early around 10 to travel to Mobile. It was great being able to see many missionaries that I hadn't seen and especially my mission father, Elder Rasmussen. I met my district when I first got to Theodore area then Elder Bawden and I traveled to get unpacked and the Halloween Social that was happening that night in the ward. I got to know a few more people that night and talk to some that I already new and that helped out allot.

Thursday we started off by planning allot. Since I am new to the area I received a good basis on the area and those things that take allot of our focus such as referrals. We then went and delivered referrals that went well but we didn't have success in finding. We talked with Sister Binkard at Wal-mart when I was getting some supplies. She is a less active member that we had been talking about earlier that neither of us knew.

Friday we had a Mission Conference with Elder Ringwood of the 70. I received some great impressions that I am already striving to incorporate into my daily missionary service. It was great to also meet allot of new missionaries. That night we had dinner with the Mathie's and they are a funny couple. They are truly in bright spirits even with the trials that they are facing. We also visited Brother Peeples and had a very powerful lesson with him. He has been struggling allot and wants to come back to church. The Love of Christ was so strong and present that my heart has truly been touched and I have come to really Love him and the Testimony that is so powerful and strong. We gave him a blessing so he could receive some guidance. He came to church on Sunday.

Saturday we helped with service and helping with the Bishop's storehouse. It was great being able to help and serve those who needed those things. We attended a Baptism in Theodore that Elder Andrus and Fox had. We then went and delivered referrals and that night we had dinner with the missionaries in the area.

Sunday I was able to meet Bishop Parkes and his counselors. He is really a good bishop and everything is on track with the 20 lessons that I really feel there will be some great success in helping many. We immediately started on delivering referrals and taught a lesson to Anthony and it went well. We will be teaching him later this week. We also set up some appointments with other referrals that we had received.

Love Y'all

Elder Regan Hansen

Tyler Oct 27 2009

2009-10-28T18:05:00.002-06:00

hello family,

Thanks for the emails. I hope everything is going well. This week has been ok. We were able to see many lives progress as they have read from the Book of Mormon. I just wish more people would take the time and read from it to feel of its spirit and help them to walk in greater obedience to Gods commandments. As we have continued to follow up with many families in Rockys Crest we had the opportunity to help Karina this past week overcome some of her difficult situations in her life. We have been teaching her husband End a little bit but one day when we followed up with the family there was a little bit of spouse abuse going on. Karina was in tears and basically sleeping outside the house. We helped her through using the Book of Mormon in using Alma 13 and 14 and really emphasized on the family proclamation it was kind of depressing. I hope that we shared something with her that could help her throughout her day. We have been following up with a lot of less actives and trying to help reactivate them. There is a lot of members in the branch with about 300 members, 120-140 actually come to church each week. We have really put an emphasis on Edison who is a recent convert of a few months who is starting to go less active. He is really dodging us but we hope we can help him in his life. A lot of the less active members that don't come actually live out of Windhoek and live in the northern parts of the country so it is difficult to track these people down where there are no missionaries in the rural areas. It is neat to see the growth of Tswano as she continues with her desire to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and continue to progress towards baptism. She has talked with her family in Botswana, and she knows this is the right decision she is making in her life so she continues to be a champion. Well transfers is coming up this week, and we look forward to the upcoming zone conference of having Elder Hinckley come and visit us. Well have a good week.

I love you all
Elder Tyler Hansen

Regan October 26, 2008, Transfer to Mobile Alabama

2009-10-26T16:08:00.003-06:00

On Monday we had a great visit with Sister Woodard and continued to help her desires to be focused on the temple. We had dinner at the Toolan's and made dinner for them. I great spiritual thought was shared and the spirit was strong.

On Tuesday we had District meeting in Defuniak and had some great role plays and learning really come to me. We then went to visit Sister Mercer but she wasn't home. On the way back to Crestview we visited quite a few less active members. We had a few visits fall through so we tracted which went pretty good. We went on trade-offs that night and Brother Parker and visited the Monroe's.

On Wednesday we went to Holt and delivered a referral and visited a few other members as we were there. We came back and tracted a bit and it went alright. That night we started to teach the Parson's the lessons again and they really opened up to the questions of the spirit.

On Thursday we did service for allot of the day for non-members. They really were grateful for our help. We cam back and planned for the upcoming week. That night we had activity night. We had a few less-actives and a few non-members there.

On Friday we got to a little bit more planning because it was down pouring rain and lightning and we couldn't tract. We then visited less active members and invited all of them to the Halloween Bash. We had dinner with the Wing's and had a great visit. We then went and visited the Walkers and invited them out to church.

On Saturday we went and visited a referral and tracted but didn't have much success. We went with President Miller and visited allot of people in Paxton with President Coleman and Brother Blocker. We went and visited the Reeves and invited them to invite their neighbors to church. We then visited less-actives and invited many of them to church.

On Sunday we had Junior at church but we also had allot of less actives and non-members there. I went on a trade off with Brother Bond and visited the Carr family. We had lunch at the Tews and dinner with the Fisher family. In between we saw the Royce family and also visited a few less active members.

Love Y'all

Elder Regan Hansen

Oh and I am getting transferred back to the Mobile Area. I know quite a few members there and I am going to Mobile. I am also going to be a District Leader again.
my new address is

Elder Regan Hansen
157D Norton Place
Mobile, AL 36607

Tyler Oct 19 2009

2009-10-20T15:55:00.003-06:00

Hello

Thanks for the emails. I am sick of the white people around here with the Germans and Afrikaner's. They are ignorant people but they are making me more patient in my life. Our area mainly consists of large houses fenced with large electrical walls and fences. We have no townships to go to. We speak to a lot of people through their intercoms. The sin of apathy as I see around here and the world just continues to widespread. I had exchanges with Elder Louder from my transfer and we had a pretty nice day we were able to have some good lessons with visual aids that helped the people understand the primitive church of Jesus Christ. We taught Bro. Morroro and his wife Abigale who is a member with Elder and Sister Jones. He was stabbed in the hands a few weeks before I came but he seems like he healing up quite well. He is a teacher at a university and so I think being taught by a couple of young guys he is a little prideful about. We were able to clear his concerns about authority and so we hope we can resolve his issue with him being baptized in another church. He attends church just about every Sunday with his wife so through his faith and obedience he will someday be baptized. I often look at the many women who lead the church and a lot of the reasons this branch functions is because of them, their husbands are to prideful. We have been working with a girl name Vivi. She is from Angola and she is going to the University of Namibia here. She speaks mainly Portuguese and doesn't know English to well. She has such a great desire to learn but we are having a challenge since she can't understand English to well. There are a few people in the branch that speak Portuguese and we have brought Ozario with us frequently to help. I believe the greatest thing that we can do for her is get Sis. Mahitu who knows the gospel and Portuguese to befriend her. She has a copy of both the English and Portuguese Book of Mormon, so we hope we can help her more this week. On Saturday the zone had two baptisms which was really neat to see. Toini Amunyela and Loini Ndahalele they were very excited for the ordinance and they were very happy, since it had taken them years to make this step in their life. Toini Amunyelas sister and I actually went to the mtc with last year and she said her sister has been a great impact on her life so it was pretty cool to see. We hope to follow up with some good white families that we were able to see last week so I hope things go well. The only concern that I have is if the white people are a little racial since most of the branch is black, but if they develop a strong enough testimony it should not matter I just hope that we can find these people who will be strong members in the future. Tswhano continues to be a champion and so she is very excited I just wish all of our investigators were like her. Well this week should be pretty fun on Tuesday I get to on an exchange with Elder Cobia so it will be a lot of fun. The Book of Mormon is amazing I just wish more people would except it and read it and not shun away from it, and despise it as something not from God. Thanks a lot for the emails have a good week and send some pictures.
I love you very much.

Love Elder Tyler Hansen