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

Bret reported to the MTC January 21 at 12:00 p.m. Our family had the usual photo shoots in front of the Missionary Training Center sign. His immediate family was all present, even Brooke who flew in from California. Bret was given his name tag with a green "dork spot" as Clint called it. He will get to wear the green spot until the next week's Elders report in. This indicates he doesn't know anything yet and needs special attention. After a week he reportedly gets to remove his green spot and blend in with the other Elders.

If you want to write Bret, here's his address for the next few weeks:

ELDER BRET CHRISTOPHER HANSEN
MTC Mailbox #270
MEX-CUER 0323
2005 N 900 E.
Provo UT 84604-1793

We'll post some pictures shortly. If you post messages, I will copy/paste them in our family's emails to him.