I'm continually learning

An amusement park we pass by

Haha I didn’t really even notice that I was lengthening my stride but yeah, Elder Holbrook and I are almost rushing from place to place all the time. I already have a hole in my shoe, that’s crazy! I’m so happy that I will see the Rice's still in our ward! Yeah, the couple that was a miracle, kind of ended in a bad story. the night before we were going to teach them they said "We feel we will not need your services, don't contact us again." So that was a pretty hard blow and we only have one progressing investigator. Todor! I love that man! and I know I will baptize him, I just know it. He has a strong want to know if God is there. He just doesn’t know what to do or how to do it and he thinks that God needs to show him a sign before he will pray for one but I know that the only way is to submit and humble himself. I told Elder Holbrook "I will break him." haha 

So this week was pretty good. We have had a good amount of lessons and it was a lot of fun. I listened to the Nashville Tribute "The Work" like every day. I also am growing really close to this ward and I love them even if they are a little strange. We ask everyone what their conversion story is because everyone is a convert and I am amazed every time. I also want dad to send me an email of his conversion story please!  I also want Tyler’s cookie recipe. I’ve noticed that I like the food here a lot more than I used to. They always have cream or custard with their cake and it’s amazing.  I also want you to make me a banaffee pie when I get home, Mom, they are amazing.

But all that aside, this week I really found out about myself, who I am and who I want to be and I know that you can do anything if you work for it with all your heart and if you know you can. I also found out that all missionaries do is just work work work and that’s ok with me. The days are going by faster and I know I only have a little more time on my mission even if it doesn’t feel like it yet. I’m excited for next week and I’m excited to talk to more people and to get some pretty sweet experiences. I love you Mom and Dad! 

I am a FISHER of MEN!

Yes I know Elder Fisher from the blog you saw. We will be taking care of him next week and training him because the zone leaders will be gone all next week all over Scotland to do whatever they do and we didn’t go to the baptism because we didn’t have an investigator going so that’s lame because I got to know the girl that got baptized.   It should also be interesting next week because he’s had it easy with the zone leaders and we are going to show him what real working is. Maybe next week you will hear about me in his next blog haha

Words from the scanned list above of Scottish words with translations written down:

Paul = Pal

Ken = know

Aye = yes

Nae = not or no

Mare = more

Dawn = down

Oot = out

Canna = can’t

Dee = do

Dwaney = don’t

Fit = what?

Wee = little or small

Wee baren or wee uns’ = little kids

Heed = head

Deed = dead

Knackered = tired

Gutted = devastated

Heaps = loads, a lot

Bitty = bit

Heam = home

New or noo = now

Loon = boy

Quine or queenie = girl

Sare = sure

Tae = tie

Kirk = church

Numpty = idiot

Ejut = idiot

Nip = go by

Pop = into

Call = visit

Chap = knock

Thing me = anything you can’t remember the name of (like what-cha-ma-call-it)

Tune = town

Whose or whosie = house

Hae = have

Foo = what?

Shopping = groceries

Corridor = hallway

Just now = right now

Straight away = right away

Fruit and veg = produce

Fae = from

Yoursell/himsell = yourself/himself

Blether = talking

Far = where

Spick = speak

P.S: .Sorry for not having really descriptive emails, I never remember what happened this week 

More details from last week from hand written letter received Saturday, August 24

Dear Family,

August 12, 2013

I love you all so much and the letters from Mom always lift me up. Today we went to Slaines Castle and it was super cool to look and walk through it.  We had Sister Gilmore drive the sisters and the Carson's joined and we drove with the zone leaders and bumped up bagpipe Scottish music on the way there.  Over all, a really fun day.  Also I remember looking at the ocean and you could see for miles and it was amazing.

 August 13, 2013

I’m still trying to figure out everything but I think I understand a lot of mission life.  There is always more to learn.  I care about the members.  I just believe the ward needs to love us in order to have the desire to help us.  Elder Holbrook is an amazing worker, he is always on task but he has a hard time talking to people.  Sometimes I just talk to people just to have them not be afraid of us.  I’m saying all of this because we went over to the Condies and they are grandparents and the son and his wife live there until their house is built with their two new grandchildren, a lovely family, and I talk about Zoey, Bryson, and Ivy the entire time. I am still learning from Elder Holbrook every day and he knows more but I believe I am with him to strengthen myself with talking to people so I am blessed.

 August 14, 2013

Today was just a full day of learning.  We had zone conference and I learned I need exact obedience and that I do have to give it my all and be more excited about things.  It was weird because President knew exactly who I was and my name and we just talked about how I’ve been getting along with missionary work and things like that while waiting in line for lunch.  Tonight we went to see Brother Davis.  I love Brother Davis.  He is super funny and the nicest man ever.  He explained to me something that I will live by forever.  He told us what had just happened with a girl he was planning on marrying and he told us also how his first wife cheated on him and his second wife that he had a son with died soon after and you would never believe all this man had been through because how strong he is in the Gospel and how happy he is.  He taught me two things: 1.  Enjoy your mission because how hard it seems now, life after will be harder.  2.  Love is not enough, you need to DO all you can for your wife all the time and hold on to her forever.  Also if you aren’t willing to give her all you got then she deserves better. 

August 15, 2013

Today wasn’t too eventful, just a lot of weekly planning.  We also helped Sister Lamb with moving things to her attic and I put together a shelf and a radiator cover so it was fun just putting those kinds of things together.  Elder Holbrook and my goal is to find new interesting finding ideas and my mind always goes blank.

August 16, 2013

Today was just a really good day!  We had a lot of lessons on the street and got a lot of potentials out of it.  Today I think we saw a small miracle.  We were taking the bus to a potential investigator where we knew where they lived maybe and they were perfect because they literally walked up to us two months ago and said, “We are interested, could we get lessons or something?”  But since we had to go to another appointment we forgot to ask for their number and info.  Well anyway, we were on the bus to go to the place where we MIGHT find them and they walked on the bus a couple stops after us and we had the biggest smiles on our face and now we will meet with them next Wednesday.  

August 17, 2013

Today was not a bad day.  We had some really good lessons and the sisters in the Bridge of Dawn had an investigator that wanted to get baptized and was interviewed by Elder Holbrook because he is the district leader and he got to the question of who she wanted to baptize her and to do the ordinance and she said she didn’t know any men with the priesthood  and she just asked if could do it and he was just like, “Sure.”  But was freaking out on the inside.  So anyway her baptism was today and even though we never taught her, Elder Holbrook has 8 baptisms but that was his first time performing the ordinance.  I don’t count it because I just went, but it does show that baptisms do happen.  We also ran into Jamie Wallis, a kid with red hair about our age and was related to William Wallis but he just said, “So what are you guys about?  I see you all the time and I’ve always wanted to talk to you.”  And he said he is addicted to hard drugs and he wants help off them.  We said, “Well, we can help.”  I also found out Jeffrey R. Holland (My idol) served in the Britton mission and I can relate to him because he knows exactly how it is and went through the same experiences that we talk about on his mission because things are the same all over the UK.

August 18, 2013

Today was a really great Sunday.  Surprisingly Sunday school and priesthood were both about relationships and temple marriage. I did actually learn a lot.  It was Brother Davis’s last week teaching Sunday school and he was an amazing teacher.  I learned that if you want to have a relationship you need to love God a little more and that I really need to be the best husband and father I can be.  I know that I really shouldn’t be worrying about it but I just want to change myself and let the Lord mold me to who He wants me to be. 

A good week

We had a really good lesson with Fidel and his wife. they are from the Congo and they are really interested.  We had Bro. McCray go with us and it's just so crazy how much better missionary work goes when you can get just the slightest amount of help from members.   A couple weeks ago I thought that the ward should be pretty much doing our work  for us but I kind of want to put myself through this hard work because I really think it will shape me.  I also think that when the ward is just willing to help then that means the world.

This week has actually gone really well. We started off with nothing and at the end of the week we have a few strong people. We did get a couple fake addresses but other than that, not too bad.  The man that I felt a prompting to knock on his door is named Todor and we met with him and I can just tell that his heart was just softened like butter compared to the last time we spoke.  I know there is a reason I am talking to him and I just feel something when I talk to him.  It's going to take a loooot of time but I think I can help him eternally. We also joked that if he is right (about there being no God), then we won't see him smiling after this life, but if we are right, then he is going to see us with the biggest grins.

The Condies normally teach the Institute class and do an amazing job but last week they had their son and grandson visiting and they went to the Scotland tattoo festival which is a big thing.  I'm not sure what it's about but they say it's super amazing.  We wanted to teach to connect more with the YSA because from what we have seen, the most success has been through people around that age and I just want to have them be around us more. We have some top secret plans that the missionaries are going to do that I call project mayhem and it involves us just making activities with the ward because this ward doesn't have any.  So we are going to do monthly missionary activities with the ward like munch and mingles and just things people can easily invite there friends to that aren't members and we are going to have a missionary week with the YSA and it's going to be amazing. 

 
This week went really well.  I learned a lot and I had a lot of fun. It's crazy how you can summarize pretty much everyone's religion here that you talk to.  They are either Christian, Born again, Catholic, or Church of Scotland, or atheist.  Every single person we have talked to has said they are not very active or don't know much about religion. But there are some really good people here.  I just can't say how many times we have heard people say " nah, I think I'm fine with just the bible, I don't need anything more." We also ran into a man doing yard work and we offered to help and we talked about religion and he said that we only need the bible.  So we didn't want to, but he just made it easy so we ended up proving him wrong with scriptures from the bible and his reply was, "Nope, we only need the bible." But he's a really nice guy and we offered to still help him with his work. This next week looks really promising and I'm excited. We also went to Slains castle and I feel dumb because I took off my name badge when we were running because I didn't want it to fall off and I forgot to put it back on for the pictures.

Slains Castle - Wikipedia:  Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Errol had 'New' Slains castle, originally named Bowness, built in 1597.   The wings around the courtyard were extended in 1664 by addition of a gallery or corridor, and in 1707 the entrance front was renewed. In 1895, the author Bram Stoker visited the area, staying at a cottage near Cruden Bay, and he may have been a guest at Slains. The castle is commonly cited as an inspiration for Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula".  

In 1913 the 20th Earl of Erroll sold New Slains, ending more than 300 years of occupation by the family. It was purchased by Sire John Ellerman, who leased it out. In 1925 the roof was removed to avoid taxes,and the building has deteriorated since.

We're lengthening our Stride!

King of the Castle 

You never know where Dracula might be lurking....

                                                                                   

                                                                                 

Dinner at Elder & Sister Condie's

                                                                                               

                                                                                                I finally found a Reliant Robin!
                                                                                                    They're kind of a trike/car combo.

A little ho-hum

Yeah I’m not sure how the letters are working. I have sent one each week but they take forever to get to you. 

This week took forever because all of the ‘moves’ weeks do. Everything was mixed up so it got me out of the groove and it was pretty hard. The work slowed down a lot this week but hopefully we can pick it up again. We talked to a guy on the street that didn’t believe in prophets but, he did believe in ancient aliens and ancient jet packs that people used and he says that’s why they think they are prophets.  You know - the usual. Not much has really happened this week, it was just really hard. I’m not sure why. We got two sister missionaries in our ward and a new zone leader with a trainee so a large portion of our ward is missionaries now haha. We also helped a woman in our ward move and I’m learning a lot more. The work is getting easier but I’m going to have to get a lot better if I’m going to do this for the next two years and I know that. I love you all and I love you dad, I want to go camping and get fish and chips right when I get back. I l love you too mom!

Sunday was very good.  Priesthood had a very good lesson on doing your best in your calling and it really related to me of course.  We had an okay time chapping today.  We had a goal of just knocking on five houses on each side of a potential street and I had a prompting to keep chapping on one side and we ran into an interesting atheist who actually found a Book of Mormon from his friend who found it on the ground and was going to throw it away but he kept it because he wanted to prove it wrong…but he hasn’t read it yet so that’s kind of interesting.  

I love every letter you send me.  - Elder Hanson   
                                                                                                                  On Aberdeen streets

                                                                                                                     One transfer down

                                                                                                                  Bacon comes in slabs of ham

                                                                                               They sell chocolate oranges year-round here

Saturday Night Live

How can I most aggravate PETA?

                                                

OUCH!  UK Exchange Rate

                                                                                                  

Two weeks ago was the last time we were invited to ward council meeting. The ward is a good ward and I love them. Yesterday I found out that 90% of them are all converts and all were taught with missionaries. The ward is also filled with mainly old people which can be a problem but I know there is a lot of help it needs and that's why I'm here. On average, missionaries stay in one spot for about six months so there is a lot more bonding that will happen. I'm already scared that I'm going to miss the ward and Aberdeen even though I still have at least 3 more transfers to go.

About the castle we went to dinner in - They just rented it until they got all of their stuff from home shipped here and that took a couple weeks so they just rented it because they thought it would be exciting.  They only got to really use five rooms but they are huuuggggeee rooms haha.  They have three kids.  Everyone works here in the oil business and he is a businessman for an oil company.  They had some modern furniture but a lot of it was left authentic.  The castle has a lot of history in it and it's in a movie but other than that, it's just rented out. The gates I was opening were about a quarter mile from the castle itself.  They have one of those LONNNNGGGG dining room tables and it was hard to reach stuff but we all sat together at one end.  Now they live in a normal house...well a normal Scotland house.  
This week the work started off really slow but ended really well.  I miss Top Gear sooo much and everything here is exactly like it - haha. 

We have p-day on Wednesday on the last week of transfers.  We still get to email but today it’s a little later than normal. Today all the missionaries went to the Condies for dinner even though it was lunch time. 
                                                           

We went to the cliffs!

This week was awesome.  I have to tell you about Saturday.  Ok, so first off we started off in the morning and got 5 street lessons!  Then in the afternoon we met with the zone leaders to get their church key and two drunk guys walked in between us and one got three inches from my face and yelled and swore at the top of his lungs at me and I just tried not to burst out laughing. Then later that night we ran into Frank, a recovering alcoholic that we talked to and he was super interested. He was actually on his way to an AA meeting and said he needed religion in his life and that he was a part of the Church of Scotland but he said that doesn’t really mean much because he was just born in it. He said that he knew what we had to say would help his life and he knew that it would strengthen his bond with his family... and we didn’t even say anything yet haha.  Then he asked if he could go to our church which was in less than 24 hours and so we gave him our information and he thanked us greatly.  Then a little after that a homeless man that we know that’s a really nice guy and he knows a lot about religion was talking to us and asked if we had a pound or two.  I knew he was good for it but missionaries can’t give out money. Then a man from across the courtyard at castle gate yells at us "are you Jehovah witnesses!?" and I just said "No, Mormons" then he replied "Oh, do you have 5 wives" I then said "nope" and the guy and his friend asked the homeless man what he wanted and he said oh just a couple pounds for food.  Then the man reached in his pocket and gave him a bunch of change and said, “Here this is from me and not from whatever they believe in.”  Then another man walks over and yells, “Are those j-dubs?”  and the drunk man said, “No, Mormons.” and the guy runs up to me, pushes me to a wall and says,  “C'mon, convert me! You have 10 seconds!”  and I just was like, “Ummm I can’t convert you, you have to convert you.” and so Elder Holbrook was talking to the homeless man and there were three drunk guys yelling and swearing at me and I was loving it, it was sooooo funny. Then two Christian ladies walked by and asked if I was doing ok and I said, “I’m ok but thank you for asking.”  They continued walking and the three drunk men cooled down a little and one left.  The other got more drunk and then left and the last one, we actually had a good conversation on why bad things happen to good people and he walked away and I said, “Hey, anytime you see us just give us a wave.”  So we gave him a card and asked if he would check it out when he got a little more sober.  Then the homeless man came back and he had pop and some crisps and we talked to him and sat next to him and met his homeless brother that worshiped the devil.  I was just like..... 'ok.' And we almost got accepted into the homeless mafia which was cool and to end off the night we had a homeless prayer circle. haha   Mom, if you’re scared I was in danger, I was okay. This happens a lot and Elder Holbrook told me that I just looked so happy when I was talking to the drunk people that it was funny. Anyways, I love you all and I’m actually really loving the work. 
I love the scriptures you send me.
Elder Hanson                                                                

First time on a train

                         

Aberdeen International Market

A little more insight into my previous week.

From handwritten letter with an excerpt written day by day, received August 3, 2013:

Dear Family                                                                                     Aberdeen
July 22, 2013
Ok, this will be the last letter if this letter doesn't go through because I really hope they didn't lose my other ones in the mail.  Today was a nice and easy p-day.  A lot of people emailed me and that was so nice to hear from them and Sister Barlow sent some pictures of the youth hike/walk thing and it was funny because I got to see Adam Hoopes in my hat.  After I was done emailing, we went to a park with the other missionaries to have a campfire which was nice just to talk to people and it's weird because most of them are going home.  After that, Elder Holbrook and I got some braces (suspenders) and we are also excited this week because we got some really good food to make and I have Mom's cinnamon roll recipe and it will be amazing.

July 23, 2013
On exchanges today I went with Elder Meline and he goes home at the end of the transfer so it was weird being on the completely other side of the spectrum.  When I went out tracting with him it was like my first day all over again, I never knew what to say.  But, everything was ok and not too crazy.  Elder Meline is also in a car area so we actually got to see the country-side and it really hit me that 'Wow, I am actually in Scotland!', and I also saw a ton of sheep.  Other than that, it was a pretty normal day.

July 24, 2013
Today marks the one month mark of my being 19!  Since time moves so fast, I still don't feel like it.  Today was a very nice day.  At the end of exchanges Elder Meline gave me pointers since he is going to be done with his mission in two weeks.  He explained that I need to live everyday like it is my last on my mission.  It is great advice.  I  just need to take that step and act.  We also got to teach an English class today with a guy named Neftaki and it turned into a lesson.  He is super funny and really curious which is a good thing.

July 25, 2013
Today was something that I needed, we had an all Scotland conference and so we drove for three hours to the mission home to listen to Elder Texiera and he taught me that I need to work a lot harder and that there still is an importance of street contacting and that it does have a place.  We also got to go into ward council today for the first time because they didn't allow missionaries in until now and we gave a preview of the lesson we will give to the ward on member missionary work.  I feel like this is something this country needs and deserves and I am more than happy to be on the front lines of this change.

July 26, 2013
I'M GOING TO START WRITING IN ALL CAPS TO IMPROVE MY PENMANSHIP WHICH IS VERY MUCH NEEDED.  Today was just really good.  I'm not sure why but everything just went very well.  I also know I just need to work a lot more and with exactness and I also need to show the Lord I can just put in the work and everything will work out.  Time is still an obstacle that I need to overcome but that will only come in time and work.  Today we also had a lesson with a Nigerian woman and we had another approach to ask her if there was anyone she wanted us to pray for and she ended up praying for us after we were done with our prayer.

July 27, 2013  (Mom's birthday)
Today was awesome.  We are pretty busy and the work is really moving and I am so blessed.  I now have confidence that I can do this and I know it will be hard but every time we have hard days that means a good one is soon to come.  We went to some potentials and street contacted pretty much the entire way there and we had a very good dinner appointment and the food was amazing.  Other than that it was a pretty average day.

July 28, 2013
Today was just a really good day.  It was raining like crazy!  So I just had a thought in my head that we should help everyone by holding an umbrella from their car to the building and it might sound weird but I think that thought was from the Holy Ghost because of the rain, that would have not been my idea.  It was a perfect way for the ward to bond with us and that is absolutely what we need and we are doing really well but I know it is because of the Lord.  We ended the night at Sister Holman's (sp?) with a dinner appointment and the food was amazing and I'm just afraid that next transfer when they add the sister Missionaries that they will get all the attention from the ward and the dinner appointments.