week 17

Man these weeks fly by so fast!!! I swear I emailed like two days ago! haha Things on the other side of the world are doing good! Cowdens leave Wednesday?? That is crazy! Time goes by so fast! Nothing too new with investigators. We have two that really want to get baptized. One guy about 22 and a girl about 17. We just need to get through the lessons. We are still waiting on three divorces to get cleared and after that we should have about 5 from those to be baptized. So nothing so far right now. Just slowing moving forward..The one with all the friends is very good!! All the friends thing still confuses me. I dont get what she was saying haha but she is a very good investigator...She loves everything we share. The only thing we need to work on is for her to stop saying "Jisu" in the middle of prayers. Haha its funny though. I have met everyone in the zone and they are all alright, a few that are so so but I only see them on p day and district meeting. Last p day was actually fun though. We went to Hibiscus, its a carnival in Suva, it was way fun. Hahah the boil thing is getting better. It feels a lot better but still healing. We had Dr. Nelson and Dr. Hillyard (ZL's) do surgery on it one night. Hahah wow!!! We took pictures and videos that I am NOT sending home!! Youll have to wait til I get home. Haha it was gross! It was so funny though. Its doing better now and I am feeling a lot better. I have been drinking more water and eating a lot of apples too. The training is still going good. I am keeping the thing the entire time so I can always review it. Its really good, I love it. The Mission President is good. I only see him when I go to Suva which is not every often but he and Sister Klingler are great. I like them alot. Yeah money is good, we get 130 every two weeks that they put on a card that we got when we got here so I just use that. We are usually pretty solid with food. One of the elders actually said today that he thinks I lost weight. I cant tell but oh well. I set up this new work out schedule but then I got the boil and got sick so once its gone Im going to start doing that. now. I recieved the family newsletter from Grandma the other day. Hahaha Darens explanation about YC was sooo funny. I was laughing so hard!! Thats also way cool about Kents calling, how does he feel about that? The other day we get back to the flat and we have no water at all! Our tank was completely empty...the pipe broke and all leaked out...so we had no water for about a day or two. Haha it sucked but its fixed now. Hey whats Keatons email?? I want to email him (can someone send me Keatons's email address? Thanks) The language is alright. Some days are better than others but I know i cant get frustrated. I just need what do what I can each day.I just want to speak it! Tell everyone I say hi. Things here are going good. Fiji is awesome and its crazy to see how the gospel changes peoples lives and how Heavenly Father works in peoples lives. Its awesome. I am very happy to be a missionary! And no we dont sleep on actual beds haha. When i get home I am going straight to a chiropractor and getting a massage!! I still sleep good for the most part, but it would be nice to have an actual bed and not a little foam thing. Thats so funny about Jordyn! Not going to lie, I found the Jordyn of Fiji! She always runs to me and holds my hand and stuff... so funny but NO ONE WILL EVER replace Jordyn!!! Tell them I say hi and tell Jordyn I miss her! Anyway thats about all for today! Thank you for all the love and support in my life. One thing I have for sure learned is how much you guys have done for me. I wouldnt be here and be who I am without you guys..Thank you so much! I love you guys so much!! Miss you and love you all!!! Kalougata Tiko! 

Elder Hansen

P.S. Jordyn used to live next door to us. She is 4 years old. She told her Dad today that she is concerned Shane will have a girlfriend when he gets home. She doesn't want anyone to be his girlfriend but HER! She is so funny and so cute!

week 16

Hello from Fiji my family!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASH!!!!!! One year closer to 30!!  Dad kava is a big problem here, its a cultural drink that gets you drunk haha its on all the islands. Its pretty much dirt water and one of the apostles, cant remember who came said "Dont drink kava!" Everyone does it, even our branch presidents do, its one of the biggest problems here. Thanks for the package, i will watch out for it!  So if we dont stay at the churches, we stay in a baby flat and then every other week we stay at two other flats. Everyone is chill...there are a few different people but its all good, their cool. Pday in our zone sucks haha, its so boring and I only been here a month! Umm sometimes i have gotten really cold but funny you talk about the health because these past couple days haven't been the greatest! I think because I dont drink enough water. Where we serve, there isn't alot of water and they dont serve drinks at dinner. Also the food isnt the healthest either. So I had hot and cold flashes every now and then but i think its just cuz not enough water and not eating healthy foods.  This week I'm going to load up on water and start buying a lot more fruits to eat and stuff. Also, i have a freakin boil on my butt hahahhaha ahh it kills!! I got some stuff from Sister Klingler today so hopefully it heals fast. Its so annoying though. Oh well its all good I'm fine :) No worries! Just gotta shower! Unfortunely one place there isnt a shower so im going to be extra clean now! Its all good though! So I attached some pictures on another island. We were on exchanges and I was with Elder Pate and the tide was soo low that we were able to walk to the island. Haha it was sweet. How many people can say the walked to an island!! This training that we are doing for the new missionaries is bomb!!! Its soo good, I've learned a ton from it..Its awesome! And we watch alot of the districts so I see Shelisa Payne in it a ton. Its sweet to say i know her haha. Service the other day, we were pulling weeds and it reminded me back at the old house haha it was funny. We had another baptism this week, a 9 year old Milika. The branch pres said he would bring a dress for her and guess what she used?? A white bed sheet and wrapped it around her! Oh in sacrament yesterday, president gets up there and says I would like to invite Elder Hansen to give a spiritual thought to us today...ha I was like uhhh crap! No notice or anything.  I just looked up Alma 26:12 and I hope it translated in a way that they could somewhat understand it. It was decent but it was kinda rough! Haha oh well thats how I learn right!? Well thats about all from Fiji! No worries here! Dont worry about the health thing, it happens to everyone here so its all good! I love you all and miss you all!! Hope you all are happy!! Have a good week!!

Elder Hansen

week 15

Whats goin on my family!? Aww Belgian Waffle sounds so good right now!  So everything is going good still! We had the 3 baptisms yesterday! The waterfall wasn't the coolest but its still a waterfall! Yeah all the churches are open air and one of them is in a house. We drive a truck, its pretty nice but it gets dirty like crazy with the roads we drive on. I'll get a picture next week. We found a dead lizard in our flat and a ton of ants eating it hahaha it was gross!!!! I have a picture but Ill wait to send it. So remember that investigator that said she was going to bring all her friends?? So we went and she brought friends alright! Haha there were about 20 kids there!! It was crazy...i was just like uhh so these are your friends huh? Haha it was funny. But I dont really know whats going on with that but we'll see I guess! We had the hardest service day ever the other day. It was for an investigator, gathering wood. So we go up the mountain to get wood and we realized, we didn't have a way to get it down the mountain. So we got two long sticks and then got vine and wrapped the wood onto the two sticks with the vine. It was working pretty well for a while. each of us would hold one side then carry it, but it was still hard cuz we were walking up and down the mountain in mud. We definitely fell a few times but then it all fell apart so we had carry it by hand. It was terrible! It took like 5 hours! We had no energy at all. Oh well, we like to refer to it as enduring to the end because we didnt give up. Right when we were almost at the bottom, we got bags and water. It was awesome. We also have a new training program that i guess is brand new world wide in the church. The goal of it is to have the trainee be able to train after 12 weeks. It comes with a dvd and so we are the first elders ever to have a dvd player for their own training. It"s really cool. First day was today, it was awesome. I emailed our president and I promised him that if he needs me to train, I will be ready for him after these 12 weeks. I really want to take full advantage of it all. Fijian is so so... somedays are better than others, listening has improved alot from the first week, but speaking i still struggle. I just cant say what i want. . Tell the Grandparents and Val i say hi too and happy birthday! So this week is kind of a short email, not a whole lot happened but it was a good week! Hope all is well there...Things in Fiji are going good! Elder Key and I were talking about it and this is a very mentally challenging mission....A- language B-Fijians dont talk and are very simple C- Kava D-People dont know how to do things the right way.....we are trying to get all of these fixed.  I am going to get them do church right... dont know how but i will! Well talk to you soon! These weeks have flown by so fast!!

Elder Hansen

week 14

Bula noqu matavuvale!

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry I didnt do it last week.  I felt so bad!! How was it? I can send you a present if you want but you'll have to wait like 3 months. The fish was weird to eat haha yeah you just pick it off from the top and bottom then eat it. So did you get all the pics then??  That was after church.  They bring all the pots in then the women serve it so they are all onthe other end. Another thing about eating is you dont leave until everyone is done eating or until they give you permission. When you are done eating you say vinaka vakalevu na vakayakavi(thank you very much for dinner) then they say vinaka vakalevu vakayagataka (thanks for eating it) then you say kerekere me'u vakacegu? (Please can i rest?) then you just sit back off the sulu (tablecloth) and just chill. So sleep...we travel alot!! So we sleep in two churches..sai oko and nasautoka and then we stay in two flats with two elders in each one like twice a week. We use candles at the churches.  Technically we dont have a set house... we just bring our beds and all of our stuff and put it in the car. Fijian is tough but understanding it is a lot better now. I got a dictionary and a grammer book this week so I actually have something to study and use now. I just want to speak it!  We went on splits one day and I went to an english area. Wow... so much easier!  I want to be able to do what i did in English in Fijian!! But just gotta keep working and be patient. Oh yeah, so i just got back from taking my driving test for my fijian license...PASSED!!! Haha so i can get my fijian license now. I just fill a form out then turn it in! Sundays are different for sure here.  So in Priesthood yesterday, the 1st counselor was teaching but we were teaching him...he didnt know the offices of the Aaronic Priesthood. He thought we were all teachers. So we had to explain to him the differences and duties for them.  We always start  like an hour or so late everytime .The Unit in Burewai is the best and they have like 10-15 people in it.  They are always on time. We are working on improving it. We have 3 baptisms this week and then one next week. They will be in a waterfall! haha i cant wait! So I drank a coconut right out of the tree this week  then ate the fruit after. Its soo good!!! You cut it down then poke a hole through the top then drink it and then eat it. Its delicious! We also baked a cake in the microwave this week too! Yeah we are chefs! Oh yeah i forgot to tell you before, they love to breastfeed during lessons in Fiji too. Haha its perfectly normal here.  The other day we went to see this girl that really wants to take lessons and she said next time we meet, she is going to bring all of her friends. I'm excited to see who she brings.  It could lead to something really good! Also, I was praying and all of a sudden i just hear Jisu Vinaka Jisu! It caught me off guard...During the prayer she was saying Jesus thank you Jesus. Ha so something we gotta work on! It was funny though. Im glad Spennys went well.  Man these weeks fly by so fast!! Well things are still going good in Fiji.  Oh, yeah i dont know if my body changes real fast or what but the other night, I got sooo cold at night!  Well love you all and miss you all!! Hope all is going well.. Tell everyone I say hi!! Love you guys!Elder Hansen!

week 13

Bula vinaka!! Haha man I swear I just emailed like 3 days ago! Time flies by! So we get about an hour to email and we just go to an internet cafe. Yes we have a phone. We do laundry at one of the flats that has a washer but then we just hang them to dry. We cook noodles, eat bread and potatoes. Thats about it.  The members feed us a lot. We study in the morning then go to whatever village we go to for the day. I only drive because my comp doesn't have a license and doesn't know how to drive haha but Im teaching him how to. Stick shift is doing good now. The hills still get me every once in a while but Fijian people drive like maniacs. The roads are up and down mountains and are pure dirt and rocks buts its good though. It rained almost everyday this week and we and our car got very very muddy. Haha it was fun. Things with the comp are going good. No problems at all.  I'm still hot but not too hot. Elder Inu is in Nadi and Moaalii is in Lami. Pday was good.  We played basketball and football. Haha don't worry dad, i dont get competitive. The food has been suprisingly good so far.  I ate a fish right out of the water. It still had scales, bones, eyes and all haha it was pretty good! One thing is they are very creative here.  For a stereo, they use their phone and then put it on a orange cone and it makes it louder. Haha its pretty cool!  We have 4 baptisms within the next two weeks. Then we will have 3 or 4 more after that but we are just waiting on two divorces and when those are done, it will be set. The kids here are so fun.  Its awesome. Still frustrating with the language, I'm able to understand them better than the first week, but i just want to speak! Hope all is well. Love you.

week 12

Bula Vinaka!! 

Well my first week in Fiji has definitely been a crazy week but a very good week! My area is called the burewai area...We cover three villages sai oko, burewai, and nasautoka...Every area is awesome but the kids in nasautoka are awesome! So driving a stick when i dont know how and on the left side of road was very interesting! But its ok... the car and us are in one piece! You definitely learn alot on the mission! haha Now I can drive a stick shift! haha Im pretty comfortable with it now but man these roads that i drive on are sketch! Dad there is no shot in this life or the life after that you would allow the truck on these roads! haha they are pure dirt and up and down mountains. The description is very accurate....very poor. We have used candle light and we sleep in two churches which are houses of members. They are not big at all and our flat where we are suppose to be at, is about the size of our kitchen...with 4 elders in it..but we only stay there twice a week cuz we travel to three different areas. I have used one real shower, a hose, and a pvc pipe (picture) to shower haha its awesome..Food has actually been pretty good. I've been suprised. We ate shrimp right out of the ocean. ha we had to take the legs and head off and what not.I have a video but its too big. We crossed a river on a bilibili which is a bamboo raft type thing. We stand on it and cross it ha its sweet...All the teenage girls here call me prince william haha its funny. I dont know why but its funny! The kids is nasautoka are awesome. They follow us everywhere, sleep with us, and just have fun. Its awesome...All the babies just stare at me and wonder why a white guy is here. haha its awesome. Church is definitely different here. We started almost 45 minutes late and we had preisthood with the YW. We teach sunday school too. We had 3 baptisms Saturday and I baptized one of them and also did the confirmation for one(english). I didnt know i was doing the confirmation until 5 seconds before. I was nervous!! But you learn by doing, right? It was a really cool experience though. Its crazy people don't know their birthdays and some dont know their last name here. Its sad. We have 4 baptism interviews scheduled for next week so the work is doing really well in our area right now. This family, the Inkoes, really impressed me the first time i met them. They have had all the lessons and go to church every week and hold a FHE every week and they are just waiting for a divorce to get settled then they will be baptized. Its awesome...the dad was telling me about how it happened and all and the man has great faith and loves his family! The language is frustrating, but sometimes I can understand but others just talk way too fast!! Its frustrating but just gotta be patient and continue to work..My area is pure Fijian and people say this is the best place to start for the language. Things are great though. Im in the bush and getting dirty and just experiencing all different kinds of things ha i love it. Tell everyone I say hi too! Elder key is really good...we get a long very well. He's from Samoa and been out just a little over a year. He is really good in Fijian so i just try to listen as much as i can and try to pick up on things..Alright well hope all is well!! Love you all!! Miss you!! But i love Fiji! Time to get back to work!

Elder Hansen

week 11

Surprise email from Elder Hansen!!!!

Bula family!!

 Well Im here safe and sound! The past two days, we have stayed with the aps in Suva and just did a few things and chilled,..Pres and Sister Klinlger are really cool!!  She baked us the best cookies ever!! I got my sulus! hahaha i love it....The ride from Nadi to Suva was terrible  It was soo long! Right when we got there we went and played basketball ha it was awesome...Yesterday we went on splits and we taught this 10 year old girl who was the smartest girl ever!  She was reading the Book of Abraham. It was nuts!!!  I dont know even know what to say!  Fiji is awesome!! My new comp is from Samoa Elder Key and our area is called Burewai...aka "The bush". We are taking a hike to a village today and sleeping in the church...sound familiar??  I'll be sure to take lots of pics dont worry!  Oh yeah and there is not one bit of englsih in our area...its going to be really hard but really good, everyone says that this is the place you want to start at cuz all there is is Fijian so I'll be working hard!  I dont know even know what to say haha its crazy here, definitely different but its good.  So supposedly I am baptizing someone Saturday too in Fijian! haha quick start huh!? Also, we are in town right now but in a bit we have a 3 hour drive to our area and my comp cant drive and its a stick which I'm not very good at and they drive on the left side of road here and i have to drive to our area. hahha not gonna lie kinda nervous but I'll get it done! Man Fiji is different and it's what I expected it to be.  I'ts awesome tho i cant wait.I'm definitely going to have a lot of adventures. It's my third day and I'm already having a ton...Oh yeah during our lesson yesterday  we heard some kid gettin beat too. Thats normal though here just kind of caught me off guard. It's gorgeous here tho for sure, both poor and nice areas, its crazy. Next week I'll email some pics. But everything is going good and time to work! Love you all and I'm in good hands! haha oh yeah guess who is my ZL?? elder Hillyard! (he's the young man whose family we visited right after Shane got his call) Alright well im out matavuvale! love you!!