Week 5

Moktata iakwe!

Another week in the MTC. I'm gonna be honest not much happened this week. It was just a routine week here at the MTC. We basically just had class and that is about it. We had a TRC yesterday and it was pretty good. We forgot to introduce ourselves which was pretty embarrassing but we taught an amazing lesson on God's love for us and how the gospel blesses families. 

Something I really liked about this week was how our teacher brother Thiel compared the story of Nephi and his family leaving all of their riches how and following the Lord to us as missionaries. I mean I definitely didn't leave as much as them but you get the point. 

Today I got to go to the temple with Elder Halliday, Jepsen, Parkin, and Kennedy. They are some great people. I love the temple and it is such a great experience. Elder Parkin and Kennedy are serving in the Singapore/Malaysia mission. They are super funny. I'm so glad that we have become so close. 

A great scripture that you all should check out is D&C 112:10. It talks about how we should humble ourselves and the Lord will lead us to where we need to go. I know that as we humble ourselves and stop focusing so much on ourselves that the Lord will bless us and help us do what we are supposed to do.

I love you all and hope you are all doing great. Also sorry about the lack of pictures haha. I haven't been taking that many, but once I get to the islands I will send lots! Jerramanwoj!

-Elder Hanson

Week 4

Elder Hansen and Elder Templeton from BHS.

Iakwe! Iakwe! 

This week has been pretty good. The language is coming along and classes are not as boring as they used to be haha. 

Last Friday we had our first TRC. It went super well. We taught about the blessing of eternal families. We taught an RM from North Carolina. She served in Majol and was super good at kajin majol. I understood almost everything but it took me a second to respond because the sentence structure in marshallese is flipped from English. It is definitely going to take some getting used to. 

Saturday was just a normal day of class. Nothing too special. Just class and studying. Sunday was a normal Sunday. Tons of meetings. It was the last Sunday for the older half of our zone and it was super sad. Half of the Samoan missionaries left right after sacrament meeting. I wish they were still here. That night we had a devotional from Tad R Callister. It was super good. He talked about how the Book of Mormon is true and how all of the things the critics say have been proving wrong. It wasn't your typical devotional, but it was super interesting so that's good.

Monday was rough. All of the Tongan and the rest of the Samoan missionaries left. It was so sad. I'm gonna miss seeing all of them around. Other than them leaving, not much happened. Just class. Tuesday was amazing. We had class in the morning and then that night we had a devotional from Elder Bednar. It was so good. He talked about how missionaries need to stop worrying and just go do the work. He also talked about how important 1 Nephi is. He told us that it was placed at the beginning of the Book of Mormon for a reason. He said that the example of Nephi following the spirit is so important and it is probably the story that we will read most in our life. 

Wednesday was just a regular day. My district got to host and I got to host my friend Elder Hansen from high school. He is a great guy and will be an amazing missionary. We were all super excited to meet to new missionaries in our zone. Although they are not going to any island missions we still love them. There are 60 new missionaries who are going to Tonga and Samoa so now we are with the Russians, English, Spanish, Malay, and Indonesian speaking missionaries. Fun fact. Kolepoke's grandson is in the Tongan class right next to ours. If you don't know who that is just look it up. You'll find out.

Yesterday was good. We taught a lesson to our teacher and at the beginning I tried to tell Elder Jepsen that he was stupid, but I accidentally called my teacher stupid hahah. It was so bad I could not stop laughing. I apologized and told him I was trying to call my comp stupid and he understood. We finished the lesson and our teacher was dying. It was pretty funny. 

Today is pday and not much has happened. We have another TRC tonight so that should be fun! That's about it from this week! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

-Elder Hanson

My district got to host the new missionaries coming in.

Week 3

Temple with the trio.

Iakwe! 

This week was pretty good. When I first got to the MTC the older elders would tell me that days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days and it is honestly so true. 

On Saturday we just had class and nothing special. 

Sunday was good. I was asked to say the prayer in sacrament meeting in Marshallese. It went well. After Sacrament meeting we had like 4 other meetings but nothing special. Then we had a devotional by Preident Leseur and his wife. It was great they talked about how important going to the temple is, and how we need to take advantage of all of the temples we have around us. 

Monday was a normal day of class. We taught a lesson in the morning which was fun and my Marshallese is getting so much better. 

On Tuesday we taught another lesson and had another devotional. This devotional was from Elder Nielson of the seventy. He answered a bunch of questions that missionaries had submitted and it was super spiritual. I took some notes and a couple things really stood out to me. One thing I really liked was how he said that we need to teach people and not lessons. This really stood out to me because we have our first TRC today and my companions and I were so focused on what we were going to teach that we completely forgot about the person we are going to teach. 

On Wednesday we had more class, taught another lesson, and then had more class. Classic day at the MTC. But one of my best friends, Elder Templeton, came into the MTC so that was way nice. I love seeing him Elder Watts, Elder Burg, and Elder Ward around the MTC. That night we had study time. Me, Elder Papalii, Sister Leiataua and some other missionaries had a great discussion. At the end of the night Elder Papalii and Sister Leiataua told us their personal stories on coming back to church and the power of the Atonement. I had never felt the spirit so strong. It was a great night. All of the Missionaries that were here when I first got here leave this next week which is super sad because they are like my second family. But I know they are going to do amazing things in the field. 

On Thursday we had class. In the morning we taught a lesson on families and it went super well. We used the lesson we are going to use tonight at our TRC so we could practice it before the real deal haha. That night we read Alma chapter 13 as a class. The spirit was so strong. You all should go read it. Today we woke up at 5 and did our laundry then just chilled until 11. We went and played some volleyball and then went to the temple. It was a great time. Tonight we have our first TRC and are teaching a lesson on family. Hopefully it goes well haha. Wish us luck. That's about it from this week! I love you all and hope all is well! Also quick shout out to my Brighton Boys back home. Good luck at your first game. Hopefully you don't go 2-8 hahah.

-Elder Hanson

Temple with Elder Folau. 

Week 2

Me and Elder Folau

Iakwe! 

Man this week was a blur. Before I give a run down of things I just want to wish a happy birthday to my angel mother. I hope you have a great day! Only one more haha. Everyone should go wish her a happy birthday. 

Saturday was just a regular day of class and it was average. Pretty boring, but it's a grind haha. 

Sunday was fast Sunday and it was probably the longest day besides the first day. We had a bunch of meetings and then sacrament meeting. Sacrament meeting was fast and testimony meeting. Most of the older missionaries bore their testimonies in the language they are learning here. It was super cool and spiritual. We had a devotional Sunday night and it was pretty good. After the devotional we watched The Character of Christ by David A. Bednar. It is super good and talks about how we need to turn outward and help others rather then turn inwards and focus on ourselves during the hard times. He told a story about how when Christ had just atoned for our sins and was betrayed by Judas one of the guards came to get him. Peter cut the guards ear off and instead of worrying about himself, Christ healed the guards ear. It is a super good talk but is kind of an MTC exclusive talk but I'm sure there are bits and pieces of it out there somewhere. Me and my comps counted and we ended up singing 17 hymns on Sunday. 

Monday we had class and we had to teach our teacher a lesson in Marshallese. It was pretty hard. After class we had exercise time. I am confident that my branch would destroy any other branch in volleyball. There are some crazy good volleyball players in my branch. 

Tuesday was just class and then a devotional by Elder Clayton of the Seventy. He talked about how we as missionaries can not convert people to the gospel and how the true converter is the Holy Ghost. On Wednesday we taught another lesson and I balled out. After class we had study time and our whole branch studied outside the residency. After study time we all just hung out and told some stories and told pictures. Elder Ealeilei is probably one of the funniest people I know. He is straight outta Tonga and is seriously just the funniest. 

On Thursday we taught another lesson. We had a lesson planned out about the Holy Ghost but we had to change last second to Eternal Families because our teacher was acting like someone who was recently widowed. Also we could not use any notes so I said a quick prayer and asked for the blessing of the gift of tongues. The gift of tongues is 100% real. I knew exactly what to say and how to say it. Of course it was not perfect but my Marshallese has gotten so much better. That's about it from this week. I love you all and am so grateful for all of your support. 

Love,

Elder Hanson

Elder Merita and Elder Ealeilei

Study time with Elder Folau From brighton,
Elder Riggs from Eagle Idaho, Elder Halliday, and Jepsen

Iakwe

Ej et am mour? The first couple of days here in the MTC have been pretty crazy. Just a lot of classes and work shops. Luckily we had our last workshop for a couple weeks this morning. They are so boring, but pretty helpful so that's good. Wednesday was my first day and honestly it was probably the longest day of my life. It felt like 4 days in 1. 

When we first got here we got all situated and found our companions. I'm actually in a trio because one of the Elders in our district didn't show up. My companions are Elder Halliday and Elder Jepsen. Elder Halliday is from Spanish Fork Utah. He is a cowboy. He did high school rodeo so that's pretty cool. Hopefully he can teach me the cowboy way haha. Elder Jepsen is from Salt lake City. He went to High land High school. He played golf and tennis in high school. He is a super cool and spiritual kid which is good. 

After we found out who are companions were we went to class. Majority of the class was in Marshallese so I had no idea what was going on. After our class we had a welcoming devotional from the Mtc presidency and their wives. It was pretty good but long. After the devotional we had 2 workshops and they were so freaking long. We then met our branch. We are in branch 14 with missionaries who are going to Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Malaysia, Kiritbati, and Singapore. Its sick. Our Ap's are Elder Williams from Australia, and Elder Neria from Olympus. They are both super loving and spiritual. All of the missionaries here are so welcoming so it's super easy to fit in. 

On Tuesday we woke up went to breakfast and then we went to the MTC store to pick up our materials. We had class about the doctrine of Christ it was super spiritual and I loved it. It was a 3 hour class though so that was a little rough. I'll get used to it... hopefully. We had lunch then had personal study time. I love personal study time. It's great because you kinda just get to disconnect from the MTC and jsut have some personal time with God. We had another workshop after that and then companionship study. We worked on the language during our study so that we can speak it better. We are trying to use mostly Marshallese when we talk to each other, but it's pretty hard because I barely know anything. 

We had dinner and after that we met our branch Presidency. I love them. They are super loving and understanding. Today is our first p day. We woke up and ate breakfast had a workshop on the gift of tongues and now we have free time until 6:15 then we have class. The temple is closed so we won't be able to go this week which stinks but it is supposed to be open next week. Anyway that's about it. I love you all and I'm thankful for all of your support. I know this church is true and there is nothing I would rather be doing with my life right now. I know the gift of tongues is real. Read D&C 90:11. It talks about how every man will hear the gospel in their own tongue through missionaries. Anyway that's about it! 'Till next week

With Love, 

Elder Hanson

Me and Elder Jepsen

The trio

Me and the Aps