It's all about love... January 24, 2011

How’s the snow doing? Is it melting now? Cause Coach Bowring rubbed it in pretty hard… Ya, so tell Devin to go get on my snowmobile or I will come home and it will blow up.
I guess I will give you a run down on what the branch is like here. We have like 7 people here. It is really small. We are trying to create unity and in order to do that we need to do fun activities so this is where your part comes in mom, because you are the activity master… the tevékenységek master. So you need to write me with some ideas something like we can do. Our situation is pretty limited. I am thinking of crafts or little hobbies like we could bring and have like a craft night. We could create Family Picture frames and do that and they could decorate it and stuff and take it home for their family, just stuff like that. We don’t have a gym obviously. But like any activity mom, just something that brings people together if you could help me out on that. The importance of coming to church is to take the Sacrament and to show Christ that you are thankful for the atonement. I talked about Love today in Sacrament Meeting… and it is the reason we do what we do. I talked about the thing that motivates us to do anything, our biggest motivation and our biggest motivation is our want. Ultimately everything is all about want. Everything we do and everything there is and nothing else can compare to our wants. That is why we do what we do. But on top of that there are things that govern our wants. I read a bunch of scriptures hoping that they would understand what my point was. And I read I Corinthians 13 the entire thing in Hungarian in their Bible which is almost an entirely different language. When the bible was translated here it was a different type of language so I would say 40% is completely different than the Language now. They use different conjugations, different verbs, verb buildings…constructions so like, Hungarians have a hard time understanding it because it has changed a lot over the years and I read that all by myself. But it was aimed that Love is our ultimate motivation. Love changes our want and love changes everything. We can want this and we can want that, is why we do stuff but if we love then it changes what we want. Ultimately love is just a want of everything that is good for me, for you, for everybody that is what true love is that is what true charity is. I have been thinking about that a lot. If you are doing something out of love then the spirit isn’t going to leave you. It is that simple, I have learned a lot. This whole transfer has been all about love for me like figuring out what love is. What it really is and how it really profits us. That is what I have learned so far especially this transfer. I am obedient, I do the things that are in the white handbook. Like I do my best to do my studies, I do this, I do that, but without love it doesn’t do a thing. Love first then everything else comes after that and that is basically what my Pres. told me. He basically said the only thing we are here to do is to love. And through that love we want their happiness and through that want for their happiness we preach the gospel and in order to preach the gospel better we need to stay closer to the spirit. And in order to stay closer to the spirit we have to follow these rules. And we have to do those things that will keep our minds focused on it. But above all, it is all about love. Love first and then everything else comes after that. And that is what I have really really learned and I am really thankful that I had the chance to learn that. And it has really impacted my life a lot. I just wanted to say I love you guys. I am really grateful for everything you do for me and all the prayers. I am so grateful for all the memories I have with you, especially up at the cabin. Enjoying those times, building it with you guys... that is a really fun place for our family and the memories we have and the memories we will make when I get back. Just don’t build too much I have got to be able to work on it. I think everything is a dream, I still think this whole mission thing is like a dream for me. It feels really surreal. I am going to let you get going. I love you a lot. Keep filling me in on what is happening there. Send me a picture of you guys on the snowmobile up at the cabin. That would be fun and let me know how that goes. Love you guys!

January 17, 2010 Email

Nothing real new. I did have a cool experience with this guy who is not our investigator but the other elders. He hunts, we see him on the street all the time. i showed him a bunch of hunting pictures and told him how our entire family is gung ho mighty hunter. he was all sorts of excited, hes like hey lets go eat, we gotta talk more hahaha but i came to email instead, and he came to english class, and started talking to me, and was like hey.... you wanna shoot something? i was like huh? haha he said yeah, the fox hunt is on right now, you wanna go huntin? hahahahah i explained to him that after, i would haha and that i really wanted to but yeah. hahahahey can you send me some good american recipes? a member wants a bunch.... recipes... desserts... just send whatever.... haha cakes, cookies especially, stuff like that. brownies, coconut bars, things of that nature.
Oh can you send me a picture of what our house used to look like. When it was blue?
Sunday was so great, i dont know why. Nothing special, out of the ordinary happened, it was just a happy day. Went to church. Me and another elder helped with primary, Pres gave us permission or even a commandment, that we help with the kids, take them out of sacrament whatever, haha and then, we went to a members house because this week was a special consecration week, where we just met with members, strengthened them, dug for referrals, and i held the lesson, it was just an awesome day. I was happy beyond anything i have ever been, i felt so lucky to be here with these people in that program, i still feel happy, just annoyed at my health.
we are gonna get going now. I love you soo much. thanks for putting up with me. things will go the way the Lord needs them to. im doing my best to help my back. so yeah, not much else i can do...
Take a few pictures for me. tell the bros and sis to write me! Tristen and Colby!!! do they exist?

Love ya. Keep being awesome!!!

Elder Hansen

ps there is a letter on its way with your names on it....

Confirmation... Jan. 10, 2011 email

hey mom and dad, i heard the snow
pounded the state? igaz? the baptism was
good, the confirmation was the spiritual part,
really cool. send pictures. LOVE YA!!!
(we received a package of letters in the mail, there was also a mini marathon program which Twila snatched right up and gave it her best to pronounce and read aloud…so I recorded it and we sent it to Trev)
wow.... nice try Twilla.... hahahahahahahahahahahahah i have actually heard that hungarian is thee hardest. but whatev. Hahahaha
The confirmation was the cool thing. me my comp, the branch pres, and his 1st couns, when he said, receive the Holy Ghost, its was crazy spiritual. wow. it was so cool. and Pres and Sis. Baughman happened to be talking in our branch that Sunday so it was way cool.
Ya i read Coach Bs letter.... why does it snow exactly when im not there????!?!?!?!!! Hahaha No snow here! Apparently we are having a quarrel or disagreement of sorts, but i can get it to come back! haha
I got your letter mom, thanks:) i needed it that day.... I finally made my cake last night hahaha i made snowmobile tracks in it :P hahaha Yeah, cakes bake amazing here though, the middle went so high up it almost touched the heating coil.... hahaha
haha you didnt get to see my new, hair cut. short as its ever been..... hahahahaha i cut most of it. we just use buzzers on the highest length haha and then another elder finished my sides and stufff. But right now, i dont have to worry about it.
hey send me some pics! haha yeah. so im just gonna go ahead and say, dont expect those packages i sent.... what do i do? rebuy somethings to send you?
ok, i just bought some wayy cool stuff in a hunting store a sweet forest poem on a slice of tree haha so ya hahaha i think i need to come home with a true hungarian hunting outfit hahahahaha Hunter green everything, robinhood hat, and yeah, you get the picture hahahaha, how is the basketball team doing???
Oh wait, jeffs stuff will get there, but i sent you guys' stuff when i was in Budapest, including the nieces and nephews bracelets... theyre gone. but jeffs is coming....
Has anyone else used the sled??? They better have with all the snow!
Umm i actually have a deal with an elder who just went home that when i get home we are going up there haha my comp is from washington state. oh yeah, me and elder nielson have a lot of plans for sledding and cabin and hunting trips.
hahaha im gonna get going and workout... that is if we have hot water.... hahaha having some trouble last night lost hot water, and the sink is leaking, but its a good thing i was raised the way i was, the shower has had problems forever with water leaking out so i went to a hardware store, bought silicone, sealed it up, used a hanger to smooth it out. slick. hahahaha
i love you guys so much, keep being awesome.

Baptism... Jan. 3, 2011 ...Kaposvar

well we had 2 super p day for new years so today is a work day except for email and shopping..... and just got done with lunch
Things are going good, we had a program with a lady that is getting baptized saturday. She set her bap date the first day i was here, its been a little less than a month that she has been an investigator, good lady, desires salvation.
Comp is good, i talked with him this morning, about my question, i still just keep asking myself involuntarily, i read in PMG about what the prophets have said about it, and the things i have heard just keep bugging me for some reason... if everyone gets a chance, why now? what IF someone rejects the gospel because of me, will they get another chance?
The "now" question, we have to do the things here on this earth, baptism, temple work, that is plain in the scriptures.
I honestly dont ask, or go looking for these questions... i just need to realize that this life plays a bigger role than we think, i have kinda thought, well, this life gets over, and when we look back it will be short, but we are here to be happy, and i thought, well, everyone can grind it out and deal with it, and so what , it doesnt matter in the big picture, but it does, we have to be happy, to us still, this life is long, but for some reason my view keeps looking at the bigger picture, missing the details that there is a here and a now and a reason for both. and thats just how it is.... after i searched and pondered this morning, i read my patriarichal blessing, this work has great eternal importance, we just cant comprehend how everything works exactly. and my patriarichal blessing kinda helped me feel what i needed to feel, there is a reason, to do this work, its all about love. and looking on this life as such a small thing is the opposite of what we should do... it has huge importance, much of which we are not able to see, but its there.
And ive also thought that maybe He gave me this question for something to be revealed to me. who knows? and at sometimes, i get scared that worrying about it or studying about it will be like "looking beyond the mark" But either way, i feel happy doing this, and i feel the spirit testify through me when i teach about the Gospel... There is something for me to learn, whatever it is.... im doing my best....
this is my little niche here, but at the same time i do kinda miss home, just being able to talk to you face to face and not be limited by letters and numbers in expressing myself... and yes, when i read my blessing, i felt the confirmation. Everything in it was something i wanted here on this earth and it made me realize that there is point to time here, like family, and friends. And moving on, the Gospel. We may not know the meaning of all things, but thats why we have faith, and the Holy Ghost
Pic explanation.... Me, on a train, from Budapest to Pécs.
some weird tree carving i saw when streeting.....
A 1950 chevy pick up. Like dads, only older and not blue.
me and the sweet shirt i bought plus my tag fits right on the pocket.... hahaha
I love you all, i have to get going, keep sending me pictures, and a voice recording would be awesome if at all possible.... i love you, thanks for all that you do and for the strength you are to me in my life and my mission....

Going to Kaposvár... Dec. 20, 2010

Well, Im going to Kaposvár its in the south west, with Elder Miller, i dont really know him but yeah. i am pretty excited actually about my new comp i know that he is a pretty straight kid... follows the rules, and is a really humble kid.... I think it (Kaposvár) is a little bit smaller town. We have to find some people who will stay strong to influence those around them.... that way, it can slowly spread.... but for now, we just gotta do some work, and do what we can.... This mission is an awesome place, i feel like its my own little mission that no one will ever experience, im excited....
It’s kinda like i tried to explain to one of our investigators... just because we are in the church doesnt guarantee simplicity, it doesnt always change the situation the way we want it to... it changes our perspective.... and even though its hard, there is this unexplainable joy that we receive from this knowledge even when we are outwardly unhappy..... nothing in life is easy, in fact nothing in life really is not hard.... but its all worth it, and you feel better when youre on the right path, even though your back hurts and you have to pack up for the 3rd time in 3 months. Nothing in life worth having or gaining is easy to get. Its like your just wandering in a dark world, no aim no goal. With this you still have the darkness and you fall but you get to see that light up ahead that you know that eventually, if you keep going on the path, the Savior will meet you and get you there with path He trod.
I get this picture, a mountian, we are at the bottom, Christ is at the top, He has already walked from where you were, we begin to walk forward, he begins walking down, sometimes the path gets a little tricky, we cant see Him, so we call out for help, we hear His voice, and continue, sometimes we fall, we get lost, He tells us how to get out of it, He's been there and sometimes we sit, but we get back up and we walk towards Him. Eventually, we meet, tired, worn and ready to collapse. He picks us up, he carries us like a lamb upon his shoulders bearing all that we are, with us, and takes us to the top. And we see it all, we look funny at the trials or the bushes that we tried to walk through, and we watch Him again start the journey to gather the rest.
Some good progress was made this last week... we got let in for the first time in Pest, we decided to try tracting, which is wayyyy hard in pest, and this kid talked and had a good program with him.... and streeted a guy who said he knew it wasnt by chance that we met.... it was cool to hear. i also got to partake in a blessing so yeah but that was cool haha
How is it there: Snow? what?

I will be back to Budapest on the 23rd for zone conference to get the packages to... have you got anything from me yet???! i have sent everything, and i have a few things left to send, but the bulk is out, (We asked him if there was anything he would like for Christmas or his birthday.) i havent thought of anything, oh a new spine.... my back has been killing me lately..... i still speak better than i understand though hahaha which is usually backwards... hahaha