Keith, the TiWi

Hey, so this week, a tongan member called us and said, "Hey, I have a friend for y'all to teach. Be here at 12 on Monday." We tried to change the appointment, but he wasn't having any of it. So, we now have no time to email, but tongans are awesome! Haha, it was a sweet lesson. Sorry Mom, I don't have time for q&a, but next week we'll do it right. Pictures this week though.

Love,

Cole

This is called a TiWi box and it is big-brothering you the whole time you drive. I kinda like it. It's name is Keith.

Caddy- limo w/ Buttafly doors.

My boi Elder Coltrane haha.

​A good old fashioned spit bubble.

Q&A

What up? Let's hit the Q and A. 

So – how is it to be back in Euless?      It is awesome. On Wednesday (the first day back) it was way rough, all of our appointments cancelled, and it just seemed like the area up and died after I left. But, Thursday was such an awesome day. I got to go see some of my favorite members, the Quevedos. They're the ones that took the box home for me. 

I am wondering if you are still in the same apartment you were in last time? If so, you said you cleaned it real good before you left, so hoping it was all cleaned out!     Same apartment, but it wasn't super clean. Haha, I'm working on it. It'll be surgical pretty soon here. 

How is everything going with Elder Hagen?     It's pretty good. we're working together really well and teaching and whatnot. This should be a good transfer.  

Where is he from?     Glendora, California.

How long has he been out?      He came out 6 weeks after me. 

How is the work going?      Really good. We're still teaching a couple awesome investigators from the last time I was here. 

Did you finish your Book of Mormon challenge? What did you learn by reading it in such a short time?       Still working on it. I have until April 18th. I'm almost done with Alma. It is awesome. I swear the Big Man keeps putting new stuff in there every time I read it.  

Do you like being back with Truck?     YES.

Is it still named Truck?     Yes. 

What is Elder Hagen like?      He's a good guy. He came out when he was 18. He is very helpful, and always wants to help with whatever I'm doing. He is a great missionary. Very sincere, and kind. Has a real positive attitude. 

Do you have an established teaching pool in this area?      Probably on the medium to low side of what I would like to have, ideally. We are working on it, but we have some real solid people and some mediums. 

Will you be teaching any of the people with who you were working when you were in Euless before?      Yes, woot woot. It's great. There are some real ballers out here. 

Got to go, sorry for the late email. We had a rare P-day meeting that ended up lasting for 4 hours. But, as a result, we're going to put a map of mexico and central america and south america in all of the new missionary binders. Elder Hagen and I are making a "culture guide" that is going to go in there too. It is going to be so awesome haha.

Whelp, time to go. Hansen out.

Love,

Cole

Sister Mission- COMPLETE.

Hey so tomorrow I turn 18 months old out here, and Wednesday I finish my sister mission. Haha, it's pretty weird because I feel about half done right now. Also, transfers are here, and it's a good one this time. President called on Tuesday, and he told Elder Leavitt he was going to train a new missionary, and then he said, "Elder Hansen, you are going to go really far away." Haha, I'm going back to Euless, aka my last area, aka the area closest to my current area. It'll be super good though I'm excited to work with the pack over there. More q&a-

So please tell me about some of the people you contacted this week- President asked us to go on a 2 day exchange with some elders, so I was with a new missionary for the 2 days here in Bedford. One day, all of our appointments canceled, so we were just walking around this apartment complex talking to people. We saw this guy with a huge laundry basket on his shoulder, and I contacted him. He just kept walking, so we started to walk with him. We walked and talked all the way into the laundromat, and ended up teaching him a lesson and leaving a book of mormon. That was a good one. 

What was your funniest experience? -  Not really that funny, but one of the elders asked "who are the 5 women named in the book of mormon?" and I guessed sariah, abish, and isabel pretty fast, but I almost couldn't get mary(the mother of Jesus) or eve. Ok, that wasn't funny at all. Haha, anywhey... 

What was your weirdest experience? - Not too weird. Ok really not weird at all, just awesome. So we went to this taco shack in the middle of po-dunk, nowhere texas, and I got a brisket burrito and it was sooo good. Hahaha, tex-mex at it's finest. Texas Forever. 

Did you eat at member’s homes this week? We got dinner from members tueday, wednesday, thursday, and Sunday. They always cook real good. This week was a mix between real mexican food made by a mexican lady, and american food (also made by a mexican lady haha). 

And the bonus question from Dad - How are you? - I'm doin real good. I've been here in this ward for a real long time, but I like it a lot. I'm looking forward to this transfer (and truck) and my new comp Elder Hagen. Haha, I'm in the 4th quarter now, so it's all good (not trunky I promise).

Love,

Cole

Texas Forever

Questions, Answers.

I feel like nothing happened this week kinda, so I'm gonna answer all of momma's questions. She (or you) asked, "I am wondering what this week was like.  Did you have Zone Conference?  Did you have any appointments?  Did you have any baptisms?  Did you meet some new investigators?  How is your new area?  What are some interesting things about your companion?  What are you studying in the gospel right now?  I really would like to hear about your day to day life."

Did you have Zone Conference?  This week we had MLC, it's a meeting with all of the zone leaders and sister training leaders from all over the mission. It's fun because I get to see old friends and whatnot, but really because Pres. trains us up right about what he/ the big man upstairs want us to do that month. 

Did you have any appointments? Yes. Haha, jk, I'll be more detailed. We had a buttload of punched appointments this week, but we had a few good ones. We got one of our investigators to go to a fireside by Pres. Ames, and he (pres.) did a way good job and taught about the godhead and it was awesome. Elder Leavitt and I translated.

Did you have any baptisms? Nope.

Did you meet some new investigators? We met a couple new ones. Almost every time we meet someone, within 10 seconds we're talking about where they're from. We told this lady we were from mexico just jokin around and she laughed and said to Elder Leavitt- "no, tu te ves muy white boy" Hahaha. 

How is your new area? Good. Still going strong here in Hurst. Haha, it's a good ward. My area is pretty much pure apartment complexes. there's tons of houses, but it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack looking for spanish people in there. So, apartments all day yay.

What are some interesting things about your companion? Haha, not a whole lot. Not that he's not interesting or anything. 

What are you studying in the gospel right now? Right now the whole mission is reading the book of mormon from cover to cover, in 65 days. So I'm focusing on that, and then just whatever the people we're going to teach that day are going to need. Some interesting study topics in the past have been-

Perfection and the Gospel

Faith, repentance, baptism, gift of holy ghost, endure to the end

The Fall of Adam and Eve

Grace

Justice, Mercy, and The Atonement

The Godhead

and some other fun stuff. 

I really would like to hear about your day to day life.  Technically that's not a question, but here it is. At 6:20 I wake up and brush my teeth, then we go run a mile or so. I eat breakfast and get dressed and whatnot, then we study for 3 hours, (personally, companionship, then spanish). Then i eat lunch. We hop on the bikes and go contact people or tract, and come home for dinner. Then we usually have a member come out with us at night. 

I pretty much don't speak english unless someone is there that isn't a spanish speaker. I like to eat chicken and brown rice. I like to take 20 minute power naps during lunch. I decided that I only want to listen to really churchy music, but I'm just not a big fan of motab, so I don't really listen to anything anymore. But I really like silence and thinking about stuff. 

Whelp, that's about all. I am good at question answer I think.

Love,

Cole

P.S. i don't really have a ton of pictures, sorry. I'll be better next week probably maybe.

**Photo's from the Facebook page of the MLC Conference**

"Real teamwork is created when leaders value the differences, encourage cooperation and involvement, and recognize that, like them, the people they lead are changing, growing individuals".~ Lloyd D. Newell 

 "In all of living have much fun and laughter, life is meant to be enjoyed, not just endured"~Gordon B Hinkley 

"At council meetings both individual and organizational needs are considered. recognizing the unique circumstances surrounding a particualr unit, geographical area, or set of individuals, the council identifies the programs and activities that need to be planned and correlated".~ M. Russell Ballard 

 "Regardless of the size or makeup of the council, the things that really matter are loving motivations, an atmosphere that encourages free and open discussion, and a willingness to listen to the honest input of all council members-as well as to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit as it comes to confirmtruth and direction." ~M Russell Ballard

"Wise shepherds recognize the need for physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual revewal...From that renewal, positive change will flow." ~Alexander B. Morrison

Happy Birfday Dad!

Hey, Happy Birthday Dad! I hope it's a good one! 

We had a pretty chill week. Literally, it was super cold here and there was actually snow and a little bit of an ice storm, it all started on Monday and it's been off and on since then. There was like 3 inches or less of snow, and EVERYTHING shut down haha, it was so bad. I miss Utah and real snow and whatnot. 

So in Mexico there is a soap brand named FAB. In gospel principles the Ward mission leader was teaching and he told us that through Jesus Christ we can become clean through FAB

Fe (faith)

Arrepentimiento (repentance)

Bautizmo (baptism)  

Haha, it was the best lesson ever and I can't wait to teach it to someone haha. 

So because of the snow pretty much nobody left their house all week, and you'd think, "hey, that's good, advantage missionaries," but what really happened was a lot of people told us "come back when it's warmer." Hahaha, that is the top 3 worst excuse I've ever heard haha. When church started at 8:30 on Sunday morning, there were 17 people in the building, including 8 missionaries. Haha, Hurst 3rd spanish group yay! More people filtered in all day, but it was so small and empty in the morning. 

One of our investigator's name is "Perfecto." Hahaha, we've been having a lot of fun with that (good fun). 

That is about all for the week. Hope y'all have a good one!

Love,

Cole