Elder Hanson: Happy Thanksgiving

I'm glad Devin had fun at the Turkey Bowl. I really miss flag football. Have a good Thanksgiving, we don't have that here. I'm really sad to hear about your boss's Grand-baby. I'll be praying for him. Yes, Monica and Bryan told me that they are having a boy and that they will be living in idaho so that will be cool because I'll see them all the time when I go to BYUI. This week was a pretty good week. Nothing too interesting happened, just been working. That's all you can do sometimes. Sorry my weekly letter may be a little late this week and might also just be a little later in this area because of how the mail system works down here. I have noticed that I have gotten the hang of things here and everything is starting to feel normal with the whole being in another country thing. However, I still see that I have a lot to improve on and work on.

Letter home, arrived Dec 3, 2013

Dear Family, Airdrie Scotland

Nov 18, 2013

P-day is always a good day. We visited shops and went by the Rangers stadium and just looked around it and Elder Parsons wanted a football scarf. We also went to see some little parts of town and had dinner with the Poories (They had all four of the Airdrie missionaries over). Elder Parsons gave a really good spiritual thought about how we over complicate things and forget the basics, read and pray, and we will be successful always if we just follow those steps.

Nov 19, 2013

Today was just fast. We stopped by the Cummings and just wanted to see if they needed service or anything and in turn they invited us in and had hot cocoa and one thing I noticed is that in Airdrie they are huge on making yourself at home and if you don’t, they’ll tell you to. Sister Cummings told us about how she grew up in the Catholic church and just explained some things and it just really opened my eyes.

Nov 20, 2013

Today just showed me how much I hate staying in the flat. We had to wait for my bed and they gave us no specific time so we just had to wait and I was bored out of my mind. Thankfully it arrived around 1:00 today so we didn’t have to wait too long. Other than that we got out and just did some good work. We also talked with Mohson and just learned a ton about Muslims and I learned a lot but we still have a little work to do.

Nov 21, 2013

Today we met with Shane and his girlfriend and had a pretty good lesson with them. But part way through our lesson his mom called and found out we were there and she said they can’t see us anymore or she will kick them out of her house. So it just sucks getting kicked out but it’s okay because they still want to see us, we just can’t teach them at that house.

Nov 22, 2013

Today was one of those at the end of the day just sit down and just know I did my best and tomorrow is another day. Today involved a lot of walking. I’m still using my first pair of shoes. I’m trying to make them last at least six months. I always wonder to myself what my mission would be like without tracting all the time. It probably means I’ve been doing a little too much chapping when my knuckles are sore. We didn’t have any success but we had a good view on the way.

Nov 23, 2013

Today we went to see Mohson and it was good. He’s pretty stuck in his ways so I know we have a lot of work on our hands. He isn’t against anything we say but Muslims are very hard to teach in that way. I have noticed people are very set in their ways. They are brought up with a religion that some are active in and know about but so many of the people we talk to were just brought up with it by their parents and they know nothing about it but they are still very stubborn. The difference with me is I had the freedom to choose and I could see it was correct first hand and I know what I’m actually talking about. It would be nice to just get into a discussion with someone that actually read the bible and knew what it says. I know people’s faith more than they do and it’s frustrating when they just close the door on us because they don’t like being told, “Oh, you really aren’t supposed to smoke and drink yourself to death.” All I know is they don’t know what they are missing and the one to let us in will be very lucky.

Nov 24, 2013

Today church was really good. The other missionaries brought an investigator to church that’s just golden and is a really nice lady. I have noticed my studies are amazing compared to before my mission and I can tell it will really help me with college. My thoughts also are just more deep and meaningful because I’m constantly thinking and learning all the time.