Christmas in Ebeye!

Merry Christmas!

Iakwe aolep! 

It's been a while! Let me get you all caught up.

Wanda and Bilton got baptized! It was an awesome experience. I am super happy for them and their family.

Christmas season is crazy here. Everyone is running around trying to prepare for the holidays. 

Christmas was crazy. We woke up and opened presents then headed over to the church. We were at the church from 10 to 9:30 watching biit. I have some videos and I will try and send them. It was a long day but a super fun one.

The day after christmas I got to call my family. It was a great time. Shout out to the fam. I love them so much. 

Then it was back to normal missionary work. Everyone was so tired from Christmas that they didn't want to study. It was pretty rough. We had a couple good lessons but nothing special. Apparently other churches here biit for 3 days so the streets were empty and it was so weird. 

On Sunday it rained so no one showed up to church it was a bummer. We had a dinner and gift exchange with one of the families in our ward and it was so fun. They are definitely one of my favorite families.

Yesterday we had such a good and spiritual lesson with Ali. I have been studying with Ali for 3 transfers and she is finally ready to be baptized. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and yesterday we asked her if she was ready. She was so happy and said that she was ready, so in the next couple of weeks she will be baptized. We also had a ward family home evening. I ate some pig heart, liver, and kidney cooked in pigs blood with cabbage and onion. Oh man it was so good. It tasted like steak that my parents used to make me.

Today is New Year's Eve which is crazy! It's almost 2020. To you seniors out there... These next 6 months will fly by so enjoy it! I hope you all had a great Christmas that was filled with love and joy. Most of all I hope you all remembered Christ. I love you all! Happy New Year!

-Elder Hanson

pics!

Wanda and Bilton got baptized!

Ebeje

Iakwe aolep!

This week was a pretty good week! The work has been slow the past couple of weeks because everyone is just trying to prepare for Christmas. Everyone is trying to learn biit so whenever we go to study with someone, they are usually gone.

Wednesday was a good day. We had some solid lessons with Peter, Ali, Wanda, and Bilton. Wanda and Bilton are going to be baptized on Saturday so that is good! We had a super spiritual lesson with Peter. He told us he was going to throw away cigarettes, and that he knew this church was true and he wanted to get baptized. He is a stud. He went from 8 to 2 cigarettes in a week and then he told us he was gonna throw it away this week. 

Thursday was a pretty long day. Not much happened. We had a few lessons but most of them fell through.

Friday was a pretty rough day. Most of our lessons fell through so we were out finding. Some members invited us in for lunch and asked us if we knew how to eat fish. I thought I did so I said yes. They brought out a freshly caught fish, scaled and gut it and just put it on my plate. Hahah they thought it was so funny because I had no idea how to eat it. They just told me to pick it up and bite into it. Good times. 

Saturday it rained so nothing really happened again. We just had a lesson with Ali and read Lehi's dream.  It continued to rain all night.

Sunday it was raining so hard so no one showed up to church. Not even members. Everything seems to shut down when it rains. 

Yesterday was an okay day of work. We went to Wanda and Bilton and filled out their baptismal records and then had a good lesson with junior. Junior told us that he teaches 3 biits and that he is always so busy, but if we came to where he was teaching he would just leave and come study with us, so we will see this week. 

Every night at 8 we go and practice biit. It is so much fun. I love it. You could say I'm pretty good. Shout out coach Bullett for all the footwork drills.. hahah. 

I hope you all remember the true meaning of CHRISTmas and don't forget Christ. Please go watch the Christ Child video. It is so good! I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!

-Elder Hanson

Gospel Day in Ebeye

Iakwe Aolep!

All is well here in Ebeye! This week was pretty good. The work is starting to slow down because of the Holidays but I guess that's just how it is.

On Thursday the School we teach at had a big party because they are about to start Christmas break. They don't have school until January so I won't be able to teach until then. The new Elders also came on Thursday so there were 13 Elders on Ebeye. I'm pretty sure that's a mission record haha. 

Friday was a super stormy day so not much happened. Elder Garr, Strong, and Ence left to Majuro so that was sad. We went and dropped them off at the dock. Then we went home and basically did studies all day. 

Saturday was a pretty good day. We had a great lesson with Peter. Wanda and Bilton passed their baptismal interview so they will be baptized on the 21. We had just finished the interview with Elder Taua and Driggs and some people called us over. This guy's wife was super sick and said that she needed our help. We went and gave a blessing to her, and then to him because he was sick as well. They are both less active and said that they would come back to church. They didn't show up on Sunday though.. So we will see.

Sunday we had church. We had a lesson with Ali after church and it was rough. Elder Wright told me I was leading the lesson and he wouldn't bail me out when I didn't know what to say. It was rough and Ali thought it was so funny. Oh well haha. After that nothing really happened.

Yesterday we had so many lessons planned but they all fell through. So we went finding and there was no success. It was super hot yesterday so we were walking around and trying to talk to people but nothing was happening. We had a family home evening yesterday. We ended up giving a blessing to the girl who was having us over. She was super sick so it was a good opportunity. The spirit was so strong during the blessing. It was a super cool experience. After the family home evening we went to biit. During biit there was a huge parade going around for gospel day. They were throwing out candy, but whenever they saw the Elders they would call us over and just give us handfuls of candy. It was super funny. I'm not sure what day gospel day is but it is in celebration of the first protestant missionaries.

That's about it from this week. Not much happened. Just a week of hard work! I love you all and hope you are all doing well!

Shout out to the fam for the christmas decorations!

-Elder Hanson

Typhoons and transfers

The Stake President & Family with the Ebeye Elders

Iakwe aolep!

This week was a crazy one!

On Wednesday we had District council. We were walking to the church and it was raining so hard and the wind was so strong. We were soaked by the time we got to the church. After district council we tried to go out and teach some lessons, but no one wanted to study because of the rain. That night it kind of calmed down so we went to teach Bilton and Wanda. Well they told us that we were in a typhoon but that it wasn't that big. That night I woke up at 2 in the morning because water was dripping on my face. It was raining so hard. 

On Thursday it was even worse. We went to the school to teach english and no one was there because of the storm. We decided to go and try to teach people again but it was just raining so hard and the wind was crazy so no one wanted to study again. We got fed a "Thanksgiving" dinner. We ate some chicken sashimi and rice. It was pretty good. That night our roof was leaking in 11 spots. I woke up again at around 12 because the rain and wind were so crazy that it sounded like someone was throwing rocks at my window. Then I noticed that my bed was soaked from all of the water that was coming through the roof. It was crazy. We set up some buckets then went to bed.

Friday the Typhoon was over and we had some solid lessons. That night we had a stake Nativity. It was super fun. All of the missionaries took a picture with the stake president and his family, so I will send that.

Saturday I went on a split with elder Thomson. It was fun to be able to work in South. We had a super spiritual lesson with one of his investigators. We asked him what he wanted to do with his life, and he said that he wanted to become "christian" which means converted to christ here in the Marshall islands. We told him that through the gospel of Jesus Christ he could become converted. The spirit was so strong and it was an awesome lesson. We got fed another thanksgiving dinner by some members and we got Turkey this time. It was so good.

Sunday was a typical Sunday here in Ebeye. Not much happened but we did get a solid lesson with Lloyd, one of our new investigators.

Elder Wright's toe got infected so we had to do splits on Monday. I went with the ZL's. It was the first time I had to lead a lesson and I thought I did pretty good. We taught Peter on the importance and power of prayer. It was a super good lesson and Peter is doing great with his goals and commitments.

We also started learning biit this week. Biit is a traditional Marshallese dance that they do at Christmas. Man it is so cool and I am trying my best to get good at it haha. It's kinda hard but I think I will get it down. 

Anyway I think that is about it from this week! I love you all and hope you have a great week! Thanks for all the love and support!

Jerramman!

Elder Hanson

Typhoon!

Guggegwe menin

Elder Strong, Elder Hanson, Elder Gar & Elder Thomson

Wow time flies out here on the mission. I am having a great time and am loving life. This week was a great week.

On Wednesday we were about to go do some finding and one of the members asked us if we wanted to go to Guggegwe and do some work there. We had heard of a 24 year old who lives in Guggegwe who has cancer and 6 months to live, so we went. Guggegwe is 7 miles away, but it is in our area. We don't have bikes so we took this opportunity. We got there and there was no one who lived there that has cancer. So we decided to do some finding. No one was really interested, so it was kinda a bust but oh well.

On Thursday Elder Thomson went to Santo to hand out some Book of Mormons. As we were waiting for the boat to come pick them up we got to see the king and briefly talk to him. He's kinda a big deal here so all of us were kinda starstruck but it was a super cool experience.

Friday was such a good day of work. We had 6 lessons so it was awesome. All of our investigators are progressing well so things are looking good.

Saturday was a weird day. We got rejected. Usually you never get rejected here so it was such a weird experience haha. But after that we continued to try and find people but then the AP's showed up out of nowhere so that was cool haha.

Sunday was a good day. We watched general conference again and it was good. I tried my best to listen haha. 

Yesterday the AP's were supposed to leave but their flight didn't show up so they were stuck here. They were supposed to leave today but who knows if a flight ever showed up haha. Classic Air Marshall (air maybe).

All is well here on Ebeye. I love you all and hope you have a great thanksgiving. 

- Elder Hanson

enjoy some pics

Dogs and Mice

Iakwe aolep!

Another crazy week here in the Marshall Islands.

Wednesday was a good day. Me and Elder Wright fasted for Peter and it was a super good experience. We haven't really been able to study with Peter this week because he has just been gone but we just need to have faith in God's plan for him. We had a lot of lessons and taught the Plan of Salvation to Ali and Wanda and Bilton. Our lesson with Ali was super spiritual and she told us she wanted to get baptized and was willing to break up with her boyfriend so we will see how that goes.

Thursday we had school which is always a blast. We had some more solid lessons. After our lessons we went to a birthday party for one of the bubu's (Grandma's) here. It was so fun. 

Friday was a rough day. Most of our lessons fell through so we went finding. We were having no success and then the ZL's called us because they wanted our help in cleaning out the chapel house so that Elders can move into it. We were cleaning it and I was standing outside talking to some kids. Well my leg was all of a sudden warm and wet and I saw out of the corner of my eye a dog peeing on my leg. I was so mad. I picked up a huge rock to throw at this dog but then the other Elders stopped me because it was a members' dog. Luckily the members didn't see the dog pee on me or else some elders would've ate some dog last week haha.

Saturday was an okay day. Not much happened because there was another funeral. It wasn't as big but not much worked happened. We did take care of the mouse that lived in the central elders apartment. Me and Elder Wright bought some mouse traps and set them up. We sat on the couch and waited for the mouse to come out. It didn't take long. Elder Thomson was so happy because they have been trying to kill this mouse for so long.

Sunday was just a regular Sunday. Not much work happens on Sunday because everyone is either at church or sleeping. We found 2 new investigators which was awesome. One of them is named Loit and he is 19 and one of them is Junior and he is 21. They are friends. We went to ask one of the members if they knew them and instead of answering our questions we just got fed. We ate some fish which was super good and then some not so good chicken. He brought out some chicken and said "Here's some chicken" then he said in English, "It's not cooked all the way but oh well". I had already put a piece on my plate so there was no going back. It hadn't been boiled long enough and it was so awful. I just ate most of the meat and then put the rest under my fish bones haha.

Monday was voting day so there was no school and no one had work. We had 4 lessons. It was a super good day. We finished the plan of salvation with Wanda and Bilton. We also studied with Loit and Junior. Both of those lessons were super spiritual so things are looking good!

I think that's about it! I love you all and hope you all have a great week!

-Elder Hanson

Some picssssss

Another week in Ebeye

Iakwe Aolep!

This week was just another classic week on Ebeye. Lots of lessons that fell through but me and Elder Wright had a lot of fun.

This week it rained so much. Honestly it stinks because everytime it rains everyone sleeps so we can't study with anyone.

On Wednesday we just had district council and some lessons. Not much happened. It was a pretty good day but it was rainy so most of our lessons fell through.

Thursday was school and it was a good time. The kids at school are crazy. There was a fight and it was super awkward because Elder Wright and I had no idea what to do haha. On the way home from school it started to rain super hard so we just waited it out. As usual almost all of our lessons fell through so we just tried to find some more people. It was raining for such a long time so we just decided to go out. Elder Wright was soaked and was just messing with kids. He told some kids to come by us and then jumped in a huge puddle. It was so funny.

Friday We had some solid lesson but nothing special. I have a funny story though. We were walking down the street and there was this kid who just had a dead rat in his hand and he was swinging it around by the tail haha. He got so embarrassed when he saw us. It was so funny.

On Saturday we had such a spiritual lesson with Peter. He is struggling with the word of wisdom and wanted us to pray for him. We then taught him about fasting again and he said that he wanted to fast on wednesday. So on Wednesday we are going to fast with him. He has a ton of faith so I hope everything works out.

Sunday was church and the whole stake watched general conference. We watched it in Marshalles so I tried my best to listen and to see what I could understand. I understood a good amount of it so the gift of tongues must be real. haha. No but fr I know the gift of tongues is real because sometimes I will have no idea what to say in lessons and then I will just immediately know what to say and how to say it. 

Anyway that's about it from this week! I hope you are all doing well, and I love you all!

-Elder Hanson

Christmas already

Me and my boy Angelo

Iakwe aolep!

Man it was a crazy week. Let's get right into it. 

Wednesday wasn't anything special. We just had district council which is always a good time. Also Elder Hanks came from Majuro for a week to say bye to his biological mom before he goes home to Utah. He started his mission in Kiribati but came to Ebeye about a year ago to find his biological mom. He came back again to say goodbye to her. He goes back to Kiribati tomorrow and flies home on the 14th. He is a super cool guy and it is so cool to see him and his family reunited. Also he brought my package so shout out to the fam.

Thursday was Halloween. We went and taught at the school and after we had been teaching for an hour they told us to leave and come back for the Halloween celebration. Some of the churches here think that Halloween is of the Devil so they were protesting it. A bunch of the kids asked us if our church likes Halloween. It was pretty funny. We picked up two new investigators and have had some awesome lessons with them. They seem so receptive to the gospel so hopefully everything works out.

Friday was an okay day of work. We tried to meet with one of our investigators and her boyfriend but he was in jail because he got drunk. Alcohol is illegal here but people buy it anyway. A lot of our lessons fell through so we went around and tried to find people to teach. 

On Saturday we had a lot of lessons set up but most of them fell through. We went to the store and found a lady there who had previously studied with the Elders before but they never came back. We were walking to one of our lessons yesterday and we saw the same lady. I felt like we should go talk to her so we did. She told us a little more about herself and told us that there was something different about us and was shocked when we told her that I was 18 and Elder Wright is 19. She told us to come back and that her and her boyfriend are looking for a church to go to.

So last night we had a big ward family home evening to kick off the start of Christmas. It's kinda weird because it is November and it feels nothing like Christmas because it is still so hot outside. Every ward here on Ebeye has their own beat (dance) so we will start to learn that soon.

Quick story. Earlier this week we were watching these kids fish. As soon as they catch one they immediately start eating it. It's so weird. They just bite into it and use their hands and teeth to gut it and then will just go to town. 

I think that is about it from this week! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

-Elder Hanson

Some kid going ham on a fish haha

Enjoying a drink by the ocean.

Baptisms and boils...

Moriann's baptism

Iakwe!

Another week in the kingdom of Ebeye. Not much happened this week but I will give you a quick rundown.

On Thursday Elder Nelson and I went around to all of the members and investigators and told them that he was leaving and that I would be getting a new companion. We had a dinner that night with the Stephens and it was a good time.

On Friday Elder Garr, Thomson, Fitts, Jormeia, Nelson, and I went to Kwaj. We went super early because their flight was supposed to leave early in the morning. Their flight was delayed for so long and we didn't even know if their flight was coming. It showed up and we said our goodbyes. We waited another hour or so for our new companions to show up. My new companion is Elder Wright. He was previously training my intake brother, Elder Halliday, in Majuro. When we got to Ebeye we unpacked and went and visited Moriann to make sure everything was ready for the baptism. After that I just showed him around the area.

Saturday was a solid day. We woke up and Elder Ence was sick. So me and Elder Jepsen went on a split. Two missionaries who have only been out a transfer who don't really know the language walking around and trying to teach people. Hahah it was a great time. We went and visited this lady and we were talking to her and she asked us a question. I had no idea what she said and still have no idea. Elder Jepsen looked at me and asked if I knew what she was saying. Hahah we were so lost. We told her that we didn't really know and she didn't seem upset so that's good. After that, Elder Wright and I went to visit Moriann and make sure she was ready. She was excited and her husband Dixon was excited to baptize her. So we had the baptism and it was awesome. After the baptism Dixon told us that he wanted us to study with his kids so that they could be baptized, so we are working on that. 

Sunday was just a normal day. After church we just went around to every single investigator and planned lessons. We went to Peter and he wanted to study right then. We shared with him Ether 12:27 and the Spirit was so strong. It was such a cool experience. 

Monday was a good day of work. We taught a lesson to one of our new investigators Beltina. She is the Ward clerk's daughter and he referred us to her. She seems really receptive so that is awesome. We went to Luann's house after that and she told us that someone in her family died so she couldn't study until next week. Hopefully everything works out and we can study with her soon. 

Earlier last week Elder Thomson stepped on a nail and it went into his foot. He thought he would be okay because it healed and didn't hurt. Then on Thursday he had a huge boil on the bottom of his foot and he said it hurt so bad. He couldn't sleep and had a fever because it was infected. A bunch of the natives told him he just needed to cut it off. So on Friday he went with his brand new trainee to the hospital to check it out. The doctor said he needed to do a little cutting and without any numbing just went to town on it. Elder Thomson said it hurt so bad but he is doing good now. Just a quick story of how missionary life is here in Ebeye. If it rains and you have an open wound on your feet then it's over.. hahah. But don't worry all is well here.

I love you all and hope you have a great week. Thank you for all the support and emails! Here are some pictures from the baptism and a picture of a sunset. Majol definitely gives Utah sunsets a run for its money!

-Elder Hanson

Majol definitely gives Utah sunsets a run for it's money!

Transfer's Baby!

Iakwe!

Well I made it through my first transfer in Majol. It's crazy here. I'm on an island less than a square mile and 15,000 people live here. I'm surrounded by the ocean and by people who speak a language that I barely know. People here don't really have anything. A lot of people live together in small plywood shacks with tin roofs. Something I  have noticed though is that they are always so happy and love to see the Elders. Whenever we are walking around on the street kids will come up to us and ask us to play a game with them or to do a magic trick. Most people really respect and love the Elders.

This week we taught a bunch of lessons. One of my favorite lessons we taught was with 2 of our investigators, Luann and James. Luann and James are dating and we have been studying with Luann for a while now, but we recently started studying with James. We taught Luann about the sacrament and James about the Book of Mormon. During the lesson the Spirit was so strong so I decided to talk about how if we read the Book of Mormon and ask God if it is true He will answer our prayers. It was super spiritual and I was able to bear my testimony in almost perfect Marshallese. 

Another cool experience from this week is that me and Elder Nelson had the opportunity to give a blessing to a member who was sick. I was able to anoint in Marshallese which was super cool. The Spirit was so strong and I know that the member will be blessed. 

On Friday our investigator Moriann had her baptismal interview. She passed so she will be baptized on Saturday! I am super excited about it because her husband is an RM and he really wants to get sealed in the temple so now they will have that opportunity.

Saturday it rained all day. We had some lessons and then went to a baptism that the South Elders had. Whenever it rains here the streets flood. After the baptism we were on our way to a members birthday party and we were walking in water that was up to our shins. Me and Elder Jepsen were walking together and he stepped into a hole, lost his balance, and fell into the water. I just started to die laughing. It was so freaking funny. He had to go home shower and change before we could go to the dinner haha.

I think that is about it from this week. I love you all and hope you have a great week. Thanks for all the emails and support!

-Elder Hanson

One Month in Ebeye

Elder Hanson and Elder Nelson

This week was good. President came to Ebeye so this was the first time I got to meet him. He is a great guy. We taught a lot of good lessons this week, and Louanne and Morianne came to church. A funny experience from this week was last night we had a family home evening and we were singing the closing hymn and two of the members (Pedro and Marlene) just started laughing so hard because one of the elders is kinda tone deaf haha. Pedro and Marlene would just look at me and start laughing so hard. Some Marshallese people are just brutally honest so after the song they told this Elder that he sucked at singing but he just played it off and told them that he knew. It was kinda sad but pretty funny. Then everyone just started joking around. People here don't really understand American humor but there are some RM's who do. One of the Rm's was at dinner last night and just started roasting everyone in English and it was so freaking funny. A lot of people here understand English but they don't understand sarcasm. So the Rm was being so sarcastic and the missionaries were just dying because all of the Marshallese had no idea what was going on. Also it rained super hard on Thursday night and our house started to flood so we had to put out 13 buckets to collect the rain. Then in the morning we got a call from the District Leader. The church had flooded so we spent 3 hours cleaning out the water that was in the church. Overall it was a good week. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

-Elder Hanson

The King's Funeral

Iakwe aolep!

This week was crazy. The iroojlaplap or king died so this week was basically just a funeral with little work. It started on Thursday. His body came to Ebeye and there was a parade. Then everyone went to the protestant church for his funeral. Every church on Ebeye has a funeral service for him and ours was last. On Friday we went finding but no one wanted to study because of the funeral. On Saturday it was the burial. So no one wanted to study on Saturday. Sunday morning we woke up at 4 and watched the Saturday morning session of conference and then we had church. People don't usually like to study on Sundays. Yesterday was a solid work day. We had some good lessons. One of the main people we are studying with is just gone. He went to an outer island to jambo. I have no idea when he will be back. Today is the last part of the funeral. I'm not really sure what it is but i guess I'll find out. On Saturday we had a great kajota. We got steak and it was amazing. Overall this week was good! I love you all and hope all is well! 

-Elder Hanson

Kingdom of Ebeye

Another week in the heat of Ebeye. It rains quite a bit but I can't tell if it is a blessing or not. It cools down when it rains but then it gets so much more hot and humid. Also when it rains no one does anything. All the marshallese just go in their houses and sleep, so the work slows down. It rained all day on Thursday. Thursday was also manit (culture) day. It was super cool. We got invited to a celebration at the school we teach at. It was cool to see all of the cultural dances. During the celebration they brought us mõñã in Majol, which is the cultural food. It consisted of a whole cooked fish that I just had to dig into, some raw fish on the side, some hermit crab, breadfruit, and coconut. If you know me then you know I don't like sea food but I'm not soft so I ate it. I'm starting to like it more and more each time I eat it. The AP's came to Ebeye this weekend. We went to Kwaj on Saturday to pick them up. It's always a good time when you get to go to Kwaj. Also this weekend was Stake conference, so we greeted Elder Johansson who is a pacific area 70. At stake conference he talked a lot about how we must minister to our neighbors. His talk was super good and applicable because 66% of the stake is less active. Stake conference was a great time. I think that's about all that happened this week! I love you all and hope all is well. 

-Elder Hanson

Ebeye Boi

Another great week on Ebeye. It is so hot and humid here. As soon as I get out of the apartment I start sweating. I am still getting used to not seeing the mountains wherever I go. So this week we did a lot of studying and finding. Ali and Peter have baptismal dates for the 12 but we're still working with them on some things so we will see what happens. We are studying with an Rm's wife but every time we go to study with them the power is out. So we have been going back almost everyday to try and find a time that works with them. Marshallese people will never say no. Even if they don't want to study with us they will set up an appointment then just flake. So this week when lessons fell through we would go finding. We picked up some new investigators this week so that is good. One of the people who wanted to study with us is a deacon at a different church here. We taught him the restoration and he wanted to know who had the authority today so we told him about President Nelson and showed him a picture. He was in awe. It was a super cool lesson. One night we were walking back to our apartment and this guy just calls us over. He starts saying he wants what we have. Elder Nelson and I thought he was trying to rob us. We asked him what he wanted and he said he wanted the glory that we had. He said he had been watching us walk around for a couple of days and said that there was something different about us and that he wanted it. He lives in the Central area of Ebeye so we reffered him to the Central elders. It was such a cool experience. Another thing happened yesterday. We were going to a dinner appointment with Elder Garr and Elder Jormeia and this guy starts talking to us. Elder Jorby is from Majol and the guy we started talking to lived in Utah for a while. Turns out this guy and Elder Jorby are cousins. So we give him a book of Mormon and he said that he had been looking for us for a long time. He says he knows a lot about our church because he is from Utah and he is very interested. He works at the US military base on kwaj so he can only study on Mondays and Saturdays so we have an appointment for Saturday. This week was good. I am loving the work. The language is getting better day by day. I hope all of you are doing great! I love you all and thank you for the continuous emails and support!

  

With love,

Elder Hanson

pictures will come soon. I don't know when, but soon.

First week in Ebeye

I finally made it to the Marshall Islands!

Iakwe aolep. 

Man I can't believe I am in Majol. It's been a pretty crazy week. 

On Thursday we got to Majol. I was on Majuro for a couple days. As soon as I stepped off the plane I realized how hot it is. It is so hot here. The AP's picked us up and took us to the mission home. President and Sister Foster are in Fiji so I haven't met them yet. I met up with Elder Peterson and it was so good to see him. I figured out I was going to Ebeye. I'm pumped. 

Friday we just chilled in Majuro, went shopping, and packed for Ebeye. 

Saturday we got to Ebeye. It is even hotter here than it is in Majuro. Also the power will just randomly go out. The past 2 nights it has gone out right before bed so we have no ac. 

Sunday we just went to church. That night we had a dinner. We ate sashimi and it wasn't too bad. Most of the time we just eat chicken rice and potato salad. 

Monday we had some lessons. Peter is one of our investigators and has been taught all the lessons. He just needs to throw away cigarettes. One of our other investigators is Ali. She's super quiet but seems pretty receptive. Since I don't know that much Marahallese I usually just pray and bear my testimony haha. 

Today was p day. We went to this island called ñeñe. We took a taxi to it. We ate some coconut and walked on the beach and just chilled. Then we walked back. It took us about 2 hours but it wasn't too bad. 

Anyway all is well here in the Marshall Islands. Thanks for all the emails! I love them. I will talk to you all soon!

With love,

Elder Hanson

Me and my trainer Elder Nelson

Week 6: Last week in the MTC

Elder Jepsen, Elder Halliday, Elder Taufa and Elder Hanson.

Wow I cannot believe I leave in just 3 days. Me Elder Jepsen, Halliday and Sister Ameto will be leaving the MTC on Tuesday at 3 am. We are going to fly to Phoenix, then Hawaii, and then to the Marshall Islands. We stay a night in Hawaii and then in the morning we have a flight to Majuro. I am so excited. 

This week was good. Honestly it was kind of a long week but it was worth it. Pretty much we had class and that was about it. This week I tried to learn as much as I could and made sure to take advantage of the MTC. I started reading the Book of Mormon in Marshallese and it is pretty rough because it uses a lot of ancient words that I have to look up in my dictionary. I have noticed that ever since I have started to read the scriptures in my language that I can speak a lot better. 

We had a TRC yesterday and we prepared a lesson on families. Right when we were about to call we realized we were teaching the same person and that we had already taught on families. So we had to improvise and come up with a lesson on spot. We decided to go with faith. We quickly found a scripture and jumped right into it. It was super rough, but during the lesson I said a prayer in my heart that I would know what to say. She asked us a question and I had no idea what she was saying. I had a feeling that I should bare my testimony on faith and how it helps our lives. So I did. To be completely honest I don't even know what I said. Something along the lines of how if we have have God will bless us and how God has blessed me here in the MTC and how God loves all of his children. It was such a cool moment. After the TRC my teachers told us that she was asking us how we started our faith haha. So I guess I answered her question wrong but my teacher said that what I said was super good and how even though I answered her question wrong it still applied to her life. 

Not much has happened here. I am so excited to get to the islands. I promise I will have better stories haha. Everyone should go read Mosiah 26. It is a super good chapter and I love it. I read it a couple of weeks ago during study but I keep coming back to it. I love you all and am praying for you. I'm not sure how much I will be able to email in the Marshall Islands but I will do my best hahah. 

Jerraman!

Elder Hanson

Me with Elder Taufa and Halliday.