May 18 2009

The myldsmail keeps messing up so I'm using this one.
Happy belated birthday Jenny. I did receive the package. It was great. I haven't had good old fashioned American sugar in a while.No I did not loose my driver's license. I thought that my wallet story was pretty cool, but you guys seemed to not think so. For me it was a pretty big testimony builder of prayer, and proof that God's watching out over his missionaries. It's pretty impossible for it to just be chance of another member happening to find my wallet on a bus in Mexico.Well, I got my new companion. His name is Elder Moscoso from Tobasco, Mexico. He has eleven months in the mission. He has been entirely on the coast in Guerrero with almost six months in each area. Apparently he has developed a coastal accent. He is kind of difficult to understand. He talks really fast and doesn't annunciate, but we can communicate. His family are converts to the church and he was baptized when he was thirteen.We get along pretty good, but he is definitely different than my other companion. I kind of have to be in charge and keep us from wasting hours at people's houses. He's a good missionary, but he has his times of laziness. But I have noticed that the people are much more receptive now that I am with another Mexican. I think that's one reason why a gringo is almost always with a Mexican.I really enjoyed hearing that story about the Janke family. I didn't know there were cool stories like that in our own family. I would also be interested to hear about Dad and Clint's missions. I've never really really hear them talk about how the work was in Asia. Where was the most success found or whether there was much success at all or some stories about converts. Today I am writing a little later than normal because we went to this castle thing today with a bunch of people from the zone. It was just a giant huge, old Spanish castle with tunnels and stuff. You just pay ten pesos to go in and then you can climb all over whatever and explore the whole thing. It was covered with a lot of graffiti, but was still really cool. I have no idea about the history of the place. But it is called La Sienda and is located in Cuaixtla, Morelos.Yesterday we visited with a member and he told us his conversion story and I thought it was way cool, so I'm going to tell it. One night this man had a dream. In his dream there was a large river, and across the river was a really happy family. Also across the river was a large building with pillars. Out of the building came two personages dressed in white, with white beards, and white skin floating in the air. One of them asked him where he wanted to go. He replied saying that he wanted to cross the river and see how this family was so happy. The personage said it's not yet your time, and he woke up. For a while after the dream he had an unsettling feeling. Then, about a month or two later two missionaries showed up to his house gave him a Book of Mormon, sang a hymn, and left. When they sang the song all of his bad feelings went away. Months passed without seeing the missionaries again. He read the Book of Mormon one and a half times before he saw the missionaries again eight months later. He saw two missionaries sitting on the curb outside his shop and he approached them and told them his story. They told him that his dream meant he needed to be baptized and he was baptized that week. When he went to church that Sunday he was given the Gospel Principles book. In it he saw a picture of Joseph Smith's first vision, and he was able to identify the two personages he saw. Not long later, his entire family was baptized.Well, I will include some pictures of my adventures in Meixico.The computer is not working very well today so I could only upload one photo of the castle thing.
Love, Elder Hansen

The back of my convert, Julia's house

Anti-government graffiti in Jona. It says, "This is how the government treats the pueblo".

My first alacran I killed in the apartment. Alacran is just the name

of a scorpion that is pretty common in Mexico.

That phone call last night was nice, but it was kind of hard to hear everyone. I'm in Cuautla right now waiting for my new companion to arrive. I am currently on splits with two other gringos. The large mass of middle school girls getting out of school had fun seeing that. But everyone is pretty certain that my new companion will be a Mexican. It will definitely be a learning experience.

This week we found a family that just moved back to Mexico after living in Saint George, Utah for thirteen years. Their four kids are US citizens and the two oldest speak better English than Spanish. The mom joined the church a while a ago, but none of the kids or her husband joined. The whole family is way cool, and we hope to get them to come to church this Sunday.

I felt like I didn't get to answer some of the questions very well last night. So, you asked what are some of the main differences I notice. One thing, almost nobody owns a car, but almost everything you need is within walking distance. There is a little shop like every block, and a bigger stores in every neighborhood. And if you need to go farther to get something there is a bus or van or taxi that passes every 30 seconds. Another thing, there are animals everywhere. Almost every home owns a couple chickens or turkeys or a pig. Of course there are lots of dogs too, but I haven't ever had problems with the dogs here. Also, public drinking is something that just isn't seen too much in the states. Being a white guy, I can usually just pretend I don't understand and they will go away. Another thing I have noticed is that every single person here claims to be religious. The same guy that is passed out on the corner one day will claim to be the most devout christian when we knock on his door. If I think of more I will write later.Or if you have more questions I will try to remember to answer them.

I really enjoyed Clint's letter. It might have even been better than Dad's pirate story. Sorry, I don't have much else to say this week. It was a pretty typical week.But here are a couple photos.The first one is the back of my convert Julia's house. The other is anti-government graffiti in Jona. It says This is how the government treats the pueblo. The last one is my first alacran I killed in the apartment. Alacran is just the name of a scorpion that is pretty common in Mexico.Ok well I will be sure to write all about my new companion next week, and this time I won't have to be nervous that he's reading it because he won't understand it anyway.

Take care and good luck with the house and stuff.

Elder Hansen

Swine Flu May 4 2009

Elder Hansen's sick companion - it's the flu, but not swine flu

cbre bocas or mouth covers

Quarantined and a little stir crazy

Last week I didn't know much about the influenza thing, but that is all anyone talks about now. My companion has been sick for a while, and he was very sick just in time for the peak of paranoia here. Our landlords are also doctors and own a pharmacy. My companion went to the pharmacy to buy some medicine and was coughing a lot. Later in the night one of the doctors knocked on our door wearing a surgical mask. He started questioning my companion about his symptoms and then made him promise that he would go get checked at the health clinic. The next day we went to the clinic, and the doctor said he has the flu but not the swine flu. But because he was sick he would be more susceptible to the influenza thing. He ordered him to stay in the house for several days until he got better. The mission president then called him and said to stay in for two days. Two days later we went back out to work, but my companion was still really sick. We went to some member's house for something and she got way mad at us for being outside. We continued to work, but every person chastised us for working while sick. The mission president then called and said we should probably stay inside until he gets better. So, this week was pretty boring. I stayed inside almost the whole time. One can only read Jesus the Christ for so long before loosing it. For me, it was after about 20 pages. But I read every Liahona in the apartment. This includes the October conference issue. I read every talk including General Relief Society. After reading for several hours one day I was kind of going insane, and I built a fort in the bedroom. It was pretty sweet, but my companion is lame and wouldn't go in.

On Saturday I got to go on splits and actually work. It was great until I got back to the apartment and realized I didn't have my wallet. I have searched every inch of the apartment at least 50 times, but it's gone. I'm pretty sure I must have left it on the bus. Well, I lost my church credit card, but I didn't lose my personal card. The church card had zero money on it and has a very small credit limit. But in total I lost my driver's license, my temple recommend, 100 pesos, a pizza hut gift card, and a target gift card. I was pretty mad about losing all that, but oh well life goes on.

There have been some interesting theories being spread about this influenza. Some people think that it doesn't really exist and it's just made up by the politicians. Others believe Obama brought it when he came to Mexico. Some think it's a sign of the apocalypse.Sorry, I don't have too much to say. This week was boring. We are being careful about washing our hands and being clean and stuff.

I'm glad to hear people like the letters, but it would be nice to get some in return. This week it was only Dad. But last week I got five, so I guess it's ok. Also, some kids have been asking if I have any female cousins or friends. If Amanda or Allie want to practice their Spanish or help a Mexican kid learn English send me some email addresses.

Included is a picture of me and my companion with our cubre bocas (mouth covers), my diseased companion, and me doing Dad's napkin trick with a tortilla.

Next Sunday is Mother's Day and this is the number you can call to reach me 01-735-355-1054. Don't hang up if you hear someone talk in Spanish. It is the number of our neighbor's phone. Just say something and she will realize it's for one of the gringos. I will write later in the week to see what time you should call. You should buy a calling card so it's not so expensive. Ok well, take care and I will talk to you soon.

Elder Hansen

April 27, 2009

Bret's First Baptism: Julia (in white) & her brother, Marco (in tank top)

Yummy missionary breakfast

Subj: hola
Date: 4/27/2009 6:03:00 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: bretchansen@myldsmail.net

So I just heard about this whole influenza thing yesterday for the first time. We were eating at someone's house and a soccer game was on, but nobody was at the game. I asked why and they said the city is quarantined for the influenza. Today I heard more about it from other missionaries. Nobody here in this pueblo seems concerned about it, but in the city, Cuautla, where we went today there were some people with surgical masks. Suposedly, nobody in Morelos has got this sickness, but that information may not be correct. We have been told to wash our hands a lot, but the people here don't ever have soap in the bathrooms or running water. I will try and see if I can find some sort of soap that I can carry with me. But I am surprised to hear all this about this flu thing, because I really knew nothing about it.

Mom, I am pretty sure my weight is more stable now. The last time I weighed myself was the second week and I wasn't eating a lot then and was more sick. I never really got sick this week, so don't worry. The only weight I lost was what I gained in the MTC.

Well, I will begin with a funny story. I was on exchanges with a Mexican companion and we were sitting in the back of a combi (a van that takes people places in town). Our driver was about twenty, had an earing and looked like he thought he was pretty cool. So at first he was just listening to some Mexican music, but the next song that came on was Shania Twain's "Man I feel like a woman." I started laughing, but I was the only one in the car that could understand English. My companion asked me what the song was saying and I explained that usually girls only like that song, but he didn't believe me and said he liked that song.

So, this week I got my first baptisms! I baptized a woman named Julia and her son Marco. It was awesome. This woman came from an inactive family, but recently her sister has started coming to church. So we went to visit the family one night, and we talked with them a lot. We found out that the missionaries kind of stopped teaching Julia after they found out she was living with someone that she wasn't married to, but she used to come to church a lot with her kids. But a few months ago her boyfriend left her. We started teaching her and found out that she has a strong testimony of the church, and we invited her to be baptized on Saturday. We also invited her nine year old son Marco to be baptized. Marco was so excited, and he was really helpful in motivating his mom. During the baptismal service Marco was smiling the whole time even though he was wearing white pants that were way to big for him and a beater. Julia was a little nervous, but afterwards she said she felt really good about her decision. It was so cool to be part of that experience, and it made me really grateful to be here as a missionary.

Dad, I was glad to hear about Kevin Butler. He was one of my good friends in the MTC. It was also cool to read Steven's letter last week. It is interesting to hear how different the work is. He was so excited that he had taught nine lessons to new investigators. In our mission we are supposed to find 25 new investigators a week and we to teach 25 lessons a week. It usually is a little less than that, but that is the goal. But I think the difference here is that a lot of people will listen to us and invite us back, but they have no intention of changing or acting upon what we teach.

This week we had stake conference which was way cool. Our mission president and his wife sang a song, and they both have really good voices. They sang that Kenneth Cope song "I believe in Him" in Spanish.Ok well, I love you all and keep me updated with all that is going on out there.

Elder Hansen

P.S. attached is a photo from the baptism and one of the missionary diet

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