February 26, 2024 - 27th Email - No more excuses

 Hey yall

The city fair finished yesterday so now people are gonna be home more often which is great

All in all this week was probably the least eventful week of my mission

A couple things happened, like on Thursday our President came to our ward activity, a culture night where they had a lot of stuff from different spanish speaking countries

What was weird was some random dude pulls up to the activity that nobody knows (bro looked like hispanic Einstein) and he had a bunch of german kids books and set up a german table which was very strange

And he was talking to us about how he taught kids both spanish and german

Yeah he was weird and nobody knew him or if he was a member or not but he acted really weird so they ended up at our ward council meeting talking about making sure parents can see their kids at all times and stuff and to not let them wander

We ran into the basher we met a few weeks ago again it was super weird we were biking and he had a flashlight aimed toward us and said "hey remember me" and we thought his truck broke down or something so we just didn't say anything about how we blocked him on facebook and we asked if he needed help but apparently the truck he was next to wasn't his and he said "I got all the help I need from my Father in heaven" and so we were like ok we don't even think he knew we meant the truck but we're still confused as to why he had a flashlight

He was actually like really nice and now we feel bad for blocking him on facebook

Otherwise had some really epic lessons and some people come to church for the first time!

Went down to North Shore (half hour drive) on Saturday for a member dinner and we ended up tracting down there a ton because the other elders had a lesson so we weren't in our actual area for a like three hours (we stay in indio)

Also that day we went on exchanges and I stayed in my area again

Also we went hiking today that was really fun

Yeah it's kinda nice to have a mostly chill week I needed the break fr

Aight bye my phone is dying

Pictures!

-some from the culture night and with prez

-down in north shore

-some hike pics

February 19th, 2024 - 26th Email - Biking is hard

Hey

So I wanted to start with a little funny story

When I got here we didn't actually have a door to our bedroom

And so there was a door sitting against the wall right outside our bedroom so naturally I just said "okay we're putting this thing back on" so I found 6 screws in the closet and I put it in

But lucky me I put it in upside down

And also lucky me I put in the wrong door, it was too small and when I tried to close it it wouldn't reach the other end. It was meant for the closet in the other bedroom but they removed that door too.

We found our bedroom door lying down behind the living room couch, so I took out the other door and put in the right one.

So that was funny lol

Ok lookin through my schedule to see what stuff we did

On Monday there's a block that says "getting lost and stuff" and I'm pretty sure that was when Elder Allen and I got separated for a hot minute

It was really late and dark so we were biking and Elder Allen turned into a neighborhood and I didn't see him do that because I was a little behind, so I kept going because there was a shadow in front of me that I thought was him but turns out it was some lady so i kept going until I reached the entrance to some apartment complex and I just sat there for like 15 minutes until I turned around and Elder Allen was pulling up on his bike

Turns out he fell pretty bad when he noticed I wasn't behind him, he turned around and hit a speed bump really hard on his bike, so he called President (since that's what you're supposed to do when we get separated) and because of that they did a training on what to do if you get separated in the missionwide zoom meeting on Wednesday lol

Tuesday we had our soccer night where a lot more people actually showed up and it was fun

I fell off my bike though, we were riding like normal but then we were going to hop on the sidewalk to cross the street and there was a little tiny bump between the bike lane and the sidewalk that'd be light work no reaction but I tried to get on from the side and so I just fell over, luckily I stopped myself with my hands and got back up on my feet pretty quick

Some lady opened the window of her car and asked if I was okay lol

Wednesday was Zone Conference, it was in the Bermuda Dunes building down here (idk why they didn't just go to the stake center in Palm Desert, that building is huge and the Bermuda Dunes building is tiny) but it was really cool to see a bunch of people I recognize and realizing I've been around a while lol

They kicked off a new facebook work thing where we get points for doing specific things and the zone that gets the most points gets socks with President's face on them

And we all got heart glasses for Valentine's Day so that was funny

Our friend Richard is on date to be baptized on the 3rd of March so that's pretty epic

On Thursday we went to the young men's activity and there were a ton of nonmembers there so that was cool plus we got hamburgers and we kinda want to go to all the young men's activities if there's nonmembers there plus to excite them about missionary work

On Friday we blitzed up in Palm Desert (aka we tracted for two hours) and turned up nothing but it's okay we had a really funny cat follow us the entire time

On Saturday we exchanged with the Zone Leaders so that was fun, I was with Elder Morgan down here on bike

It was actually super chill I was scared to lead for a second but I ended up being fine

Except for when I fell down again

There was a really dumb part of the sidewalk where we were biking and I had to go out on the road in order to get back on the sidewalk but then I hit a ledge again between the sidewalk and the road and my bike ended up falling over and I fell on my back and got bruised up on my leg so that was fun

We were heading to a contact but we just went home after that lol to eat lunch

But on Saturday I got to watch my niece get baptized over phone so that was great

And we also just went ham basically and tracted a ton and found four new people to teach

Elder Morgan is a Spanish missionary too up in palm desert so he was able to work fine in the ward which was epic that I wasn't alone for once on an exchange (because we were the only Spanish Elders in Victorville except Elder Gannon in Barstow)

Yesterday was good too we struggle getting people to church but we had a great member dinner (he had to drive us though lol he lived a 40 minute bike ride away and the car elders had a different dinner)

Yeah that's my week slowly getting used to bike work and it's very quickly warming up

Ok love yall bye and Jesus loves you too

Elder Hanson

Pickchers

-outside

-yearly fair going on right now

-the park we went to for our zone activity

-a ladybug on my pants

-me and elder Morgan

-chillin with Elder Allen

Lehi the Prophet

I was studying the lesson for this week's Come Follow Me, and I listened to a couple of podcasts. I liked these insights.

In 1 Nephi we learn that when we have faith and exercise our faith in God, he will help us during our uncomfortable situations. In a covenant relationship one can do hard things because we are yoked with the divine. Nephi teaches us that they made it to the promised land because they listened to God, they did hard things with God’s help, and they kept that covenant relationship with God.

2 Nephi 1

Lehi left Jerusalem, his land, house and possessions, he was very obedient and followed what had God commanded him. In verses 16  and 17 we read that Lehi had anxiety of his soul, that his heart was weighed down with sorrow and was fearful because of the hardness of their hearts (Laman and Lemuel). Lehi experienced many difficulties even when he was keeping the commandments. We shouldn’t expect that life is going to be perfect and that everything will work out just how we want it. Life is challenging. Shery Dew said:" It is not living the gospel that is hard, it is life that is hard.”

Lehi suffered many afflictions but he was always faithful to the covenants he had made with God. Even during those difficult times he felt the love of Jesus Christ.  In verse 15 Lehi says, “The Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell, I have beheld His glory and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.” 

2 Nephi 3

Our Heavenly Father’s plan is to use the House of Israel to bless the earth. Having adversity doesn’t mean we are being punished. When we are in a covenant relationship with God we can have absolute confidence that God will help us during our adversity.

2 Nephi 3:13

He shall be made strong

God makes and keeps his promises. When we are struggling we can go to the Book of Mormon and read how He kept His promises in the past which means He will keep them in the future.

The Plan of God has been going on all along and we have a role to play in this plan because we are part of the covenant family. We join the covenant family when we are baptized.

2 Nephi 4

Nephi in his difficult times turned to the scriptures.

God answers our prayers

When Conner was transferred to Indio last Saturday, February 3rd, I was very stressed and worried that he was going to be riding a bike. I was already feeling better about him driving in Victorville and happy that he was getting a lot of driving experience when he was transferred.  On Sunday night I was extremely worried for him being near cars especially after finding out that prior to Conner being there, his companion Elder Allen had been hit by a car and dislocated his shoulder. Thank goodness Elder Aleen was protected and he was ok other than the shoulder.  I was desperately crying and praying that God would help me not be so anxious and that God would keep him safe. I didn't want to feel this way the whole time he was serving in Indio. While praying a thought came to my mind that I should read Conner's patriarchal blessing. I had been sleeping in Conner's room because we are redoing the master bath and it is very dusty. Conner's patriarchal blessing was conveniently in the drawer on the nightstand nest to me. I picked it up and read it. It is a beautiful blessing and talks about his mission and other wonderful things. I felt better and was able to fall asleep. I now read his patriarchal blessing often to help me stay calm.  I am so thankful that my prayer was answered. Heavenly Father loves us so much and wants to bless and help us we just need to go to Him in prayer and be obedient to His commandments.

February 12th, 2024 - 25th Email - The days are hot but the nights are cold

Well I guess the days aren't that hot, like Saturday was a little warm but last night was actually pretty cold

Anyway hey

So this week was pretty crazy, first full week on bike which is weird a ton of junk happened

So on Tuesday we were supposed to have our ward soccer night and nobody showed up lol, only two recent converts but we somehow had fun lol

Also one of them knows Elder Gonzalez cuz he served here, he's pretty chill and he's like 20 years old so he's thinking about serving a mission

On Wednesday we went to Palm Springs because Elder Allen had a doctor's appointment

I think I forgot to mention this last time but a couple weeks ago he got hit by a car on bike and injured his shoulder which it seems pretty weird they put him on bike again this transfer when it physically pains him sometimes (more when we're not riding our bikes which is weird) but he's chillin (at least he says he is)

So yeah he had a checkup type beat on Wednesday and apparently he just barely doesn't need to get surgery (which I feel like means he should get surgery anyway but whatever)

Also that night we had a lesson with a basher

Bro was a facebook find too and those are usually promising

But yeah he was talking the whole time trying to convert us to his way of thinking, he takes everything we already believe to the next level and the whole time I was wanting to say "bro it's not that deep" but idk how to say that in Spanish

Also he was asking us where we lived and stuff and saying he'd give us a ride home but I'm not boutta trust him so we left

But he wouldn't let us leave

We probably "left" like five times but he kept talking

It feels like our travel time takes forever sometimes (I mean it does) but it also takes a longer time because we talk to legit everyone we see which is something to get used to for sure

Thursday we were at this cool place called Dave's hot chicken (it sells hot chicken) it was pretty fire ngl

Also on Thursday was an epic miracle

So basically we had been teaching this dude a lot and we had only been teaching him on his porch but he finally let us inside his apartment and it's this huge group of like 10 25 year old dudes from Venezuela and we gave them all their own book of mormon

Honestly they're super promising so long as we get the first guy to church and stuff it was awesome

Also Friday was fun we barely rode our bikes at all that day

We were tryna get another lesson with the big group of guys and then also get a member there (because that's important also they kind of entertain them for us) but nobody was answering or saying they could go

We called like 7 people to come, until finally we gave up and then had dinner with a member, we just asked him "hey do you wanna come with us to a lesson right now" and he was like "sure" and then he drove us there and then drove us to our next lesson, and then the night was over and he drove us home lol. We barely rode our bikes at all that day. Just a little bit in the morning when we went to the church to attend a funeral. That member came in clutch like crazy

Saturday was hecka long

Idk it just felt like it was never gonna end I don't think I've felt that way yet about any day on the mission but sometimes it just be hard

Not for any particular reason either it just felt like time was going by at half a second per second

Then sunday was pretty chillin

Yeah that was my week

Overall bike is cool but also really hard but we gettin through it, for all I know I might only have five more weeks on bike

Or I might have eleven

I'm okay with either I guess I need the cardio

For a spiritual thought I just wanted to point out miracles are real and happen all the time especially when a car gets a little too close to us because bike lanes here are absolutely terrible and nothing happens or when we call a member 20 minutes before a lesson and he says he'll come or when someone listens to us because we ask them their opinion on the superbowl they happen all the time! You just have to be on the lookout for sure.

Ok bye

Fotos

-outside our apartment

-just pictures around Indio

-minecraft lawn fr

-lookin dapper

-grapefruit tree

February 5, 2024 - 24th Email - I miss my truck

Hola everyone

Forgot to mention there was an earthquake last week, we were in a lesson and everything shook for two seconds, the epicenter was in Rancho Cucamonga I think but that was my first earthquake ever so yeah

Anyway transfers happened and it was pretty crazy

I left Victorville and the High Desert to the other end on the mission down here in Indio, one of the four Spanish bike areas

Elder Pittman is training now in Victorville now taking good care of my first area I'm gonna miss that guy we were best buds, maybe President moved me because we got along too well lol

But now my new companion is Elder Allen and we boutta be best buds again

My first transfer where I move ever so that's pretty weird, we all went to the mission office, which is attached to a church building, and learned where we were going from there. I already knew I was gonna be on bike so I was a little scared but I ended up getting a bike for free so that was pretty epic

It's a lot greener down here than I thought it'd be, it honestly has a totally different feel from Victorville and we've also had several people tell us "hey this place is dangerous don't come over at night" so that's fun and we end up going over to those places at night anyway because that's pretty much all our area is

The ward is super cool though, I felt at home in the other area so now I have to get used to here but I already like the members a lot

Funny story though

So if y'all remember our tiwi (car tracker thingy) wasn't working so we unplugged it per Elder Peterson's orders, and then the Assistants called us two weeks into last transfer to plug it back in so we did and we had no problems until morning of transfers where our car wouldn't start. We tried to jumpstart it but the thing was not working and we had to take a different truck down the hill.

Also I left my towel at the Victorville house so I bought a new one

There was also a night last week that was super windy lol it was absolutely nuts

Work is way different on bike. We're able to talk to everybody we see. Like someone will be getting out of their car and we'll just ask them "hey, want a picture of Jesus?" So that's cool

It'll take a long time to get used to being on bike but I've adjusted a little bit, I feel like sometimes I'm pretty slow but I'm boutta have real strong legs after this

And we have some epic promising progressing people

And honestly even though I'm sad I left Victorville (like I said it legit felt like home) I know I left the area in good hands and our friends are going to get baptized there and I feel like I made an impact while I was there, and I hope I can feel that again while I'm here

Saying bye to people was hard though I will admit

And tbh I forgot most of what happened during the week before transfers lol

God loves the people here in Indio just as much as those in Victorville so it's my job to do the same

Alright bye love you guys

Pics!

-we broke this chair

-elder Pittman has creepy red eyes in this picture

-elder pittman and I in front of the house

-trying to fix our car (that's Elder Gannon)

-elder Allen and I (dude's tall)

-rocker cactus (it's fake)

-seagulls??

-green jeep

Oh yeah I also took a picture of a used diaper we saw on the sidewalk but I'll spare you guys that sight