July 28, 2015

What's up fam??

We've had an awesome week this week!! Everything is still super sweet out here in Lemon Grove and the Sweetwater 3rd branch.

Last Wednesday we started out the morning by going to a class put on by LDS Family services. They have a therapist who councils a lot of people but she also offers a missionary class every once in a while and we were invited so we went. It was awesome. She talked about communication, it was something that is really made for families, but it applies to everyone. Basically it talked about how we respond to people who are in an emotional state. There are 12 really common responses that aren't necessarily the best ways to handle situations like that, and instead she offered 4 alternatives that would help the other person to feel loved, instead of feeling controlled. It was super good and she always connects everything to the atonement and the Gospel so it was sweet and it's something that I will use for the rest of my life. Especially as a dad but it can also help with companions and investigators.

After that we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders, who are in the other Spanish ward in the stake, they live in National City. I went to their area, with our new zone leader Elder Laws. He started in the Chula Vista Zone, so we already knew each-other, he's super cool! We had a lot of fun, and had some good experiences on exchanges. It's awesome to learn from one another.

To end the exchange we went to a Mexican restaurant in our area called Mariscos Altata, we go there a lot because on Wednesdays and Thursdays they have fish tacos 2 for 99cents so we hit that up as often as we can and they're huge!!! Random fun fact but the days we go there are always good days. To be honest we went there both Wednesday and Thursday... it's that good.

Friday we had district meeting Us and our four sisters! Plus the Zone leaders came to join us so that was a good time. Our district is super fun and we talked about using the Book Of Mormon and how important it is not only in knowing the church is true but in also receiving a testimony of Jesus Christ as our savior. We have been putting a lot of emphasis on the Book of Mormon with our investigators, especially in really helping them to read it and understand it.

Saturday we went and did service with an awesome family in our ward, they have been less active lately and I had never been able to meet them with Elder Gonzalez, but Elder Cloes and I went by on Friday and she invited us to eat on Saturday at their daughter's birthday party.

So we went to eat but they were still setting everything up when we got there so we did some impromptu service and helped them set up all the tables and chairs and she did a candy table similar to the one mom did at amber's wedding, so we helped her put the candy in the dishes and everything. They are super awesome and it was good service, and they said to come back later to eat lunch with them which we did, we had chicken and beef kabobs with rice and  veggies and a ton of desserts. It was super good and they gave us a bunch to take home which was really good. We are excited to teach them and help their family grow even more in the gospel!

Sunday all the people flaked on church again... but we don't get down on it! Sometimes it's kind of frustrating when they say they are going to come and they don't, but it is what it is. We can't overcome their agency.

After church there was a carne asada at our ward mission leader's house in honor of a member who just got endowed, it was awesome. we love to share time with the members plus you can't complain about carne asada tacos...

Monday was a super awesome day, we went to go visit our investigators in one area but neither of them were home, so we started talking to someone we met on the street, named Anna. It was a great talk and we were actually able to teach her the entire restoration briefly and simply right there on the street. She said we can come back and talk to the rest of her family on Wednesday. She also mentioned that she has a brother who is a member and lives in Pasco Washington. 

Right after that we had to go do a little bit of time entering all of this information into the Area book Planner app so we went to the nearby library to use the wifi. While we were there we got a text from someone with a 425 number, which kinda freaked me out for a second but it was all in Spanish (good Spanish, not Google translate Spanish) so I figured no one was messing with me. Anyway it was Manuel, and he said he had just moved from Bellevue where he had met with missionaries. So we set up an appointment to meet up at the church with them. 

So we went along with the rest of our day, went to meet up with Santiago but he wasn't home so we went to try Hector, someone Elder Cloes had talked to on exchanges with Elder Cardiff. He wasn't home but we were able to talk to his mom. WOW! His mom is awesome. She was talking to us about how she really is trying to do her best with her kids (19, 18, 10 and 7) and how she wants them to have a belief in God but it can be hard, and she's a single mom, who was in a bad relationship before and she just has really sincere desires for her family and it is great to meet people like that, so we will go back and teach them on friday and she said we will be able to find her whole family together which is great. 

After that we went to dinner at our Branch President's house (The Dominguez family). It was great. They are an awesome family. They have 5 kids (Jose, Joyce, Josy, Joyce-lyn, and Josue) It's really hard to get their names straight but basically it's an awesome family and we had a great dinner with them. I feel like we have been developing more trust with the members  lately, especially president Dominguez. 

After dinner we met up with Manuel and his wife Paola (from the phone call, the ones that moved from Bellevue). THEY ARE SO COOL! They have lived here in the states for about 2.5 months and have been meeting with the missionaries in Bellevue for the majority of the time. They are super cool, they have 2 kids back in Mexico and are just an overall great family. We were so stoked to meet them!!

Today was a great morning as well! We took our dirty clothes to the friendly neighborhood Laundromat and they came back even dirtier! We also got the usual view from the Laundromat, not just 5 but six cop cars. (I'll include the picture). 

And that's the week!! Thank you for the love and support!

You are the best!  Elder Hansen