Sign posted on several doors around town. Translation: (courtesy of sister-in-law, Kelli) "This house is Catholic, we don't accept proselyting from Protestats, Jehova's Witnesses or any other sect"

The Elder's version: "This house is Mormon, we don't accept proselyting from Catholics, Jehova's Witnesses or any other sect" Ha Ha

Lovely photo. If only Bret had told us where it was taken.

WEEK 3 IN MEXICO

I guess I should start writing down things throughout the week because I usually can´t think of what to say when I write this. This week I went of exchanges a few times. Last week I only did it for two hours, but this week I went for a whole day. I was with Elder Altuzar, and I was in his area. It was interesting to be in a new area and with a companion that didn't know English. He also has a really thick accent and talks fast. But by the end of the day I felt like my Spanish had improved and I was better able to understand my companion. I also learned something very important from the two occasions I spent with this elder. Most importantly, I learned the importance of planning. We wasted so much time as he walked around thinking of what to do next. I couldn't help because I had never been in that area. I am grateful that I have a companion that is willing to plan the night before, so we never waste time.

This week we had zone conference. It was way cool, and president Gardner is really good at motivating people. We had a person scheduled to be baptized yesterday, but she was not home when we went to pick her up for church. It was pretty disappointing. She was way excited for baptism, but then her family came into town and gave her a lot of doubts. I think her family leaves soon, so we will be able to talk to her alone and get her back to church. But something way cool happened. There is a kid that is about 16. He has known the missionaries for about two years and has received all the lessons multiple times. He plays soccer with the kids from church every Wednesday. But he has never wanted to commit to a baptism date. His sister got baptized in December, but him and his mom wouldn't commit. But on Wednesday we had a really long talk with him and got him to commit to this Sunday. I think if his mom can see her son baptized it will help her a lot in her desire to be baptized.

Last night we talked with a preacher for a while. We were pretty nervous to talk to him, but he was really nice so we decided it would be alright. He sort of preached to us for a while, but everything he was teaching was Mormon doctrine. We showed him some scriptures in the Book of Mormon that matched exactly what he was saying. He didn't let us talk too much, but want to return and talk to him. It sounds like this man is more than prepared, but he may have to get over his pride to allow us to teach him.

This week was pretty tough to find people, because everyone was on vacation. Lots of people went out of town, but even more people came into town. This little town was packed with people from Mexico City. They all came to their big weekend houses or to see relatives. There is a town near us that has a big water park, and there were thousands of people there. For some reason everyone in this town has either lived in or has a relative in Minneapolis. I didn't know there were Mexicans there, but apparently everyone from Morelos goes there. I heard they even have towns named after towns here in Minneapolis. Here, Easter Sunday isn't really celebrated too much. I was kind of surprised. I heard there was a really cool parade thing on Saturday that we didn't see. But I'm glad holy week is over and all the rich people are going home. I'll try to send more pictures but it takes forever to load.

I love you all,

Elder Hansen

Elder Hansen's Address

Here's Bret's address for all you who want to write him or send packages:

To write to Bret, send letters only (only plain paper, no photos or any other stuff) to:
Elder Bret C. Hansen
Mexico Cuernavaca Mission
P.O. Box 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150
Our Tel. 011-52-777-314-3653


And to send packages, send to:
Elder Bret C. Hansen
Mexico Cuernavaca Mission
Ave. Palmira #35
Col. Palmira
Cuernavaca, Morelos C.P. 62490

Week 2 - Adjusting To Mexico

Next door neighbors with noisy roosters

Bret in the MTC
Bret & his MTC Companion, Elder Collins, hamming it up

This was a long week. I feel pretty adjusted to the whole Mexico thing. It´s not really weird to see chickens everywhere. Turkeys still kind of scare me. My companion said his first companion was attacked by a turkey and has scars to prove it. The other day I saw a man herd like 15 cows down the road on a bicycle with a stick in his hand. It was pretty impressive.
This week is semana santa (holy week). The kids all get out of school for it. There were a few parades last week, but there will be a lot more this week. There was a parade of high school age kids all wearing creepy masks that looked a lot like the burger king guy. They were doing this weird dance, but when they walked past us one kid yelled out a very flamboyant "Hi!" It was pretty much the funniest thing I have ever heard. If people know any English here they love to show it off. There is one cab driver that sometimes follows us around. A group of drunks offered us some beers and shouted random English phrases at us.
We have an investigator, Maria, that is scheduled to be baptized this coming Sunday. She is kind of old but she is way awesome. We have another lady that has come to church for a while and really wants to be baptized but her husband must first get divorced and then married to her. But it should't be too long. We also found two new people this week that have a whole lot of potential.
On Thursday I went on divisions with Elder Vargas from Veracruz. It was interesting being with a native companion, but I learned a lot. I feel like I am improving a lot in listening, but my ability to speak hasn´t improved much. It´s probably because my companion likes to talk in English all the time.
Conference was pretty hectic. The drive is about 45 minutes on a bus. We drove back and forth between dearly every session. I couldn´t really understand anything. But the very last session on Sunday we got to watch in English.
Mom, could you please take some money out of my bank account. Take all of it out except for like $150. I don´t really feel safe with all that money on my card.
I can´t think of much else to say. I attached some pictures, but this service is incredibly slow so I only did 3. The first one is Elder Collins from the MTC, the next is me at the MTC, and the next is my neighbors with the roosters that love to make noise all morning.
Well it was nice to hear from you all. Mom, please don´t become the crazy cat lady. From your letter it sounds like you´re venturing a little too close. I love you all.
Love,
Elder Hansen

This is Bret's Mom. Sorry I haven't been updating this blog. We are getting ready for a move to Wisconsin and remodeling the house to get it ready to sell. The blog has kind of taken a back seat. Here's Bret's first letter from Mexico. Looks like he will have some adventures to look forward to. And to think he wouldn't eat left over spaghetti at his own home. Here's the letter:

First Letter from Mexico: March 30, 2009

Wow a lot has happened this week. I arrived in Mexico City at 4:00 AM and took the bus to Cuernavaca at 6. I threw up like seven times on the bus. The president's house is super nice with a pool and a great view. I met my trainer there. His name is Elder Johnson from Irvine, California. He has been in this area for five months so he pretty much knows everyone and everything about this town. He is a really hard worker and was excited to get me because his last companion often refused to work. My area is called Jonacatapec. It is a little town with one main road and a bunch of neighborhoods around the road. We also cover two other little towns down the road from Jona which are kind of a pain to get to. Currently we are covering two areas. The other one is called Amayuca. I haven't been there yet, but that area has a ward and a branch. In Jonacatapec we have a brand new nice chapel for our branch. It's only like a ten minute walk from our apartment. Our apartment is apparently one of the nicest in the mission. When I first saw it I was little grossed out, but after visiting other houses I realize how nice it is. I kind of like it now except for the roosters that live next door. We actually have hot water in the shower. We have a neighbor that is a member. She is an old lady that lives with her daughter who is a school teacher. She lets us wash our clothes at her house. She has a machine that gets the clothes soapy but then we rinse them by hand and hang them up. This place is definitely another world. We are the only white people for miles and people like to let us know that. There really isn't anything American about this place, but I'm already starting to get used to it. There are definitely some really poor people here that live in some of the neighborhoods. There are also a few really rich people too. In a couple neighboorhoods there will be a huge house with a pool and a really tall gate surrounded on either side by shacks. Rich people from Mexico City build big houses here and live here on the weekends because the land is so cheap out here.Every week the same members feed us. I've had some interesting foods but I have been able to eat everything so far without getting sick. My companion got pretty sick from this fish we ate. It was pretty interesting to have a whole fish in my bowl. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. But all the members here are way nice. And my last name is so incredibly hard for them. They all make some comment about the sunburn I got on the first day. One woman calls me Elder Quemadito which means little burned one.The language isw pretty dificult. I can usually follow along with a conversation, but it seems like whenever someone directs a question at me I don't understand. I kind of feel like I don't even know where to start studying. Today was P-day so we went to the big city Cuautla. We played soccer at the stake center with all the elders from the zone and then we ate at Burger King and shopped at Wall-Mart. It was pretty awesome. Apparently this city has three stakes in it even though it's really not that big. I heard they have had missionaries there for like almost 100 years. This week we did a lot of contacting. We taught a couple good lessons. And with a few follow up lessons. But it is really hard to get people to come to church here. Every Sunday morning during church the market starts. Everyone uses that as an excuse. The people here are mostly pretty nice and we usually get quite a few appointments with people. But people like to not be home when we schedule appointments. Right now we have one woman with a baptism date but she needs to come to church one more time. We have three or four investigators that come to church regularly but need to get divorced or married before they can get baptized. I'm excited for general conference but I don't think I will be able to understand it. Also, I think it will be really tough to get investigators to the stake center. Well, we've got our work cut out for us here. I was going to send pictures but I forgot my cable so hopefully next week. I'm glad to hear all is well at home. I only get letters or packages every three weeks at zone conference. As far as I know packages will get there if you use ups or fedex. But, don't worry about sending me stuff. Ok well I love you all, and I will write again next week.

First Letter Home

1 21 2009

Dear Family:

Well it's kind of strange writing this letter because I saw you all this morning. But so far everything has gone really well., Today we just went over the rules and did other things to get settled. They say the first 3 days are the hardest, so I'm looking forward to that I don't think it has really hit me yet. It sort of feels like EFY right now, but we'll see how it feels in a week or so. I met my companion today. His name is Elder Collins and he is from San Diego. He seems pretty chill. I think we will get along really well. I was made the senor companion, but I don't have that much more responsibility. Well, I don't have that much news since this morning. Keep me posted on Dad’s interview.

Love,
Elder Hansen
PS I left my iPod in my backpack, so please store it in a safe place.

First Day at MTC

With the family on check-in day at the Provo MTC. L to R Brooke O'Farrell, (Mom) Janice Hansen, Clint Hansen, Bret Hansen, Jennifer Axelgard, (Dad) Ross Hansen

Clint's wife, Kelli, helped out by babysitting Bret's nieces & nephew

Ali

Summer

& Zachary

Preparing to Serve

Bret was set apart as a missionary on January 18, 2009. Here he is with (L to R) Bishop John Quinlan, his father, Ross Hansen, Bret Hansen, President Gifford Nielsen.

Bret with his parents, Janice & Ross at President Nielsen's home.

Bret receiving counsel from Pres. Nielsen