Kaoha nui mes chers frères et sœurs !!!

It was a good week, we were able to find a couple people to teach through some members that actually want to do missionary work! A lot of good people, members and non members.

We've surprisingly eaten a lot of American food and drinks this week, which is crazy! Not always easy to get out here, but I've loved it. Feels weird though so my body might get a bit of a shock when I get back haha.

There was a friend that was baptized in the other Elder ward and I was able to do his baptismal interview. We instantly became good friends and he had such an amazing story so I was so happy to attend his baptism, he was a really good example for me and the other people that were present. So many people are struggling to overcome the world, and to see people like Tuatahi do the steps to overcome their challenges are really inspiring.

This next week is my last week as a missionary. Yesterday I gave my departing testimony to our mission and it felt really weird to do so... it still doesn't feel real! It'll become real as I leave Tahiti. Elder Justum and I are doing all we can to help our area before I leave. I'm really going to miss representing the Lord, I hope to continue doing so when I get home, just in different ways:)

I love my Heavenly Father and for this opportunity He gave me to see the work He performs among His children. I've loved my mission so much, I've had a lot of trials but I'm thankful for everything I learned because of those challenges. I've grown a lot and I've become more of a disciple of Jesus Christ. You'll just have to see for yourselves in a little bit of time.

Love you all, and in just a short week.

Elder Hansen

One of our other friends, Tiare-Tea is liking the lessons and she was able to shake Elder Soares hand as well! We were really happy for her as well.

I love being a missionary. I'm going to miss representing the Lord 24/7 and helping others come to Him with His authority. I'm excited for the opportunities to continuing doing so when I get home though, it brings me a lot of joy. If you have any service opportunities or need help with anything, let me know please so I can keep going on my path of discipleship.

I love you all, thank you all for everything you guys do for me. I've learned a lot, and I continue to learn more everyday.

From your favorite Elder in the Pacific,

Elder Hansen

Kaoha nui !! Eaha te hakatu??

This last two weeks have been alright, our ward needs a lot of help but we work with what we can and it's been a fun time.

We have a couple friends that are really fun to talk to. Two in specific, named Tepoe and Rohi'au have become some good friends ! They are the neighborhood hoodlums and love to learn from the lessons. They just have a hard time giving up some things but we love them a lot. They might come to the states and I'll be their guide so I'll let you know when they're in town haha.

We were able to go to the temple with the family Lanteires this last week, and it was absolutely amazing. It's been about a year since I've been in the temple! I really needed it and it's given me a boost for these next couple weeks. I'll miss the Lanteires family, but I'll have to come back soon.

I have 3 weeks left on my mission! I'll be normally flying home the 6th of September and arrive the 7th... I will be really making the most of the time that's left...

This next week, we will have the opportunity to be with the Apostle Elder Ulisses Soares!! I'm super excited, it'll be my first time meeting an Apostle:) We'll hopefully have some great photos!

I hope you all are doing well, can't wait to see you all in a couple weeks! So many changes I'll have to catch up on, I'm excited to continue progressing on my path of discipleship, with all the lessons and experiences from these last 2 years.

Faaitoito, je vous aimes tous :):)

Elder Hansen

Kaoha nui tatou!!!

Well, we had transfers this last week and the unexpected happened! I got transferred from Erima to Papeete! Even though it's about 5 minutes away it's a huge difference.

I miss the members and friends from Erima so much already. They're amazing people and we had lots of good times.

Papeete is alright, being in a city with lots of busy people is such a change from Ua Huka. The people's mentality is completely different. Even though we are on an island paradise, we see people stressed and unhappy a lot. A startling contrast from the people that barely have anything yet have so much joy and are content. Question that I ponder: what things should we put in priority in our lives, and how much of a different will it make?

Elder Justum is my new companion, he's from Paris France! We've been getting along pretty well, it's my first time serving with a European and we think the same for a lot of things.

Our area is pretty difficult, and ward is trying to come back to life but it's a slow process. We talk/serve with members, amis, and help missionaries around us as well. A couple more weeks remain, and I'll work these next weeks hard! We will soon have the privilege of Apostle Elder Soares to come to our mission! I can't wait:)

Faaitoito à tous Until next week,

Elder Hansen

We are beyond excited to see him again!

Kevin, Ana, Dylan and Rosario Hansen

Thank you for your continued love and prayers. They have been very helpful!! Please continue to pray , we still have a long road to travel!

I have continued to do very well with the treatment.  Even though I have tolerated the treatment very well, the body's acceptance hasn't done quite as well, as we still have cancer cells in the bones. We are now in the process of doing  an additional round of chemo to finish killing off the cancer cells in the bone.  That will be followed shortly by a bone marrow transplant.

What this means is that my recovery will take longer than originally thought.  With a bone marrow transplant, I will not be able to leave the United States for at least another year to stay close to the hospital in case of complications. With sad hearts, that means we will not be able to return to Tahiti as we would like.

We have not been released yet but would expect it.We send our love to our wonderful missionaries.

We miss you!  Keep up the good work! Our hearts and thoughts will be with you as we watch from afar. And we will watch!! Congratulations  on your 49 baptisms last month!!!

We send our love to our wonderful , wonderful office staff

And also all our friends/ members throughout the islands, We love you!

Bisous

President and Soeur Banner

Kaoha nui, e Iaorana !!!

Well, I've arrived back in Tahiti! Leaving Ua Huka was about one of the hardest things I've had to do, I'm going to miss those people so much. We got to say lots of goodbyes and take lots of pictures, but not enough to explain my time on this beautiful island. I rode the helicopter away from the island alone in the back, it was quite emotional.

The shock of coming back to Tahiti was a lot more than I was expecting! The noise from so many cars and people, the lights, hot water, and air conditioning was a lot for me. Seeing so many familiar faces has proved to be exhausting but very joyful. I've made so many memories here in the Pacific.

Being in Erima is very much the same, but a lot of things have changed too! There are lots of amis, and many of the original people I taught are now members of the church! I'm so happy with them and the changes I've seen in people since I left.

This first week I served with Elder Halverson and Tehaamatai. I served with Elder Halverson last time here in Erima! He's leaving for home tomorrow actually. Elder Tehaamatai had to be transfered to Taravao today and I received my new companion, Elder Temarii.

I've got about 9 weeks left of my mission! The time has passed by so quickly, and I can't wait to work my hardest these last couple weeks in one of my favorite wards of all time.

I'll try to include lots of photos :)

Koutau nui for your support and love, I know Christ lives and he supports us as we help him in His work. The gospel blesses people's lives better than anything else can.

Until next time,

Elder Hansen:)

We've had quite a few nights where we had to join zoom calls with our mission on the mountain, because the internet connection is better up there. We build fires sometimes to keep us warm.

One of those meetings, was our transfer calls!

Elder Hiller is staying here, but I'm being transferred BACK TO ERIMA !!! I’m pretty sad to be leaving this island I now call home, but it will be amazing to see the wonderful people in Erima again. I wonder what the Lord would like me to accomplish there! I will likely finish my mission there.

Because of the few flights and helicopter rides to get back to Tahiti, I'll be here on Ua Huka until the 24th of this month. Then I'll begin the long trip back to Tahiti!

I went bowling Marquisian style with a large grapefruit on our patio one night, it went surprisingly far.

We are working on a large ambitious wooden project before I leave, stay tuned to see its progression...

I've loved serving the Lord here in the very small corner of his vineyard, and I'll be working hard until the last minute to experience and learn everything I can here, because who knows when I'll be back here.

I'm nervous about going back and adjusting again. It'll be good to have warm, clean water again!

Koutau nui to'u mau hoa :)

Keep pressing on.

Elder Hansen :)

It's rained a lot this last week which is really good for Ua Huka, it's usually really dry.

One of our amis was making some tiki's, a lot bigger than the ones we work on haha!

As some of you might know, my grandma passed away this last week. I really wish I could be with my family and especially with my mom during this time. I loved her a lot, and even though she's been so far away, I've felt connected to her. Thank you for your messages and for the support toward my family :)

We also had a meeting with President Banner and his wife where they let us know that President Banner was diagnosed with AML, a rare and aggressive blood cancer. They're returning to the states to follow the procedures that aren't available here. We will miss them very dearly, they worked so so hard for us, and even though President Banner was tired or in the hospital, he continued to put his force towards the work. They are great examples. Keep them in your prayers as they face lots of new challenges and change !

What a week right? We had lots of good moments as well, awesome lessons, lots of adventures, and service. We continue to work hard and expect miracles. We are going through some afflictions but the Lord is standing near us and supporting us every step of the way. I know that for myself, and am a witness that God supports us at ALL times. I'm glad I'm serving a mission during this time, to know the gospel is a huge blessing.

Thank you all for reading :) Have a great week, stay safe, and look for the hands of God in your life.

Faaitoito, je vous aimes !

Elder Hansen :)

Taipi taught us how to grate our own coconuts, make coconut milk, and cook breadfruit (mei)! We learned a lot and now we know how to live in the wild if we need to.

We've been going to Teiki's wood shop a lot these past couple weeks! We made some more projects and helped him with some products of his own! I love working with wood and seeing this ancient art in the works.

This last week we were able to have some leaders of the district come to our island, as well as the Elders of Nuku Hiva, the island next to us! It was great to be with them, I've missed seeing and interacting with other people. They all gave inspiring messages about families and the temple. Our leader on Ua Huka decided to leave so for the moment we are taking the lead. Presiding on an island is a big responsibility.

I miss all the other people in my life, friends and family too. I really like focusing on Christ and on the mission, I just really hope all of you are doing good too. I'll have a lot to catch up on once I finish my service!

We helped one of our members start building his house this last week. It was really fun and we were able to get a lot of it done.

We are slowly progressing with several amis, and our members seem to be doing better as well. I really hope to stay and see the fruits of everything happening out here. Transfers could be happening in two weeks, I hope to stay...

I was super happy to see my siblings finish high school! What an accomplishment, they're putting that stage of life behind them and going on to bigger and greater things! I was preparing to go out when they were just starting junior year of high school. Time flies by so fast.

Sorry for the long email, I need to be better at getting these out. Thanks for still hearing about all my adventures in the Pacific.

Elder Hansen :)

Kaoha nui friends and family! What a couple busy weeks we've had! Last week was transfers, and we found out that I was staying and Elder Parau was leaving to Tahiti. He was sad but felt good about being on his own island again. We found out on the day of his birthday as we were killing another pig...

Our last couple days together we went to say lots of goodbyes to the wonderful people and members of this beautiful island. Elder Hiller is my new companion! It's pretty funny because he was serving on Nuku Hiva (the island closest to us), and we arrived together to the Marquises! He's from Colorado, super awesome, and is ready to get things really going. I'm extremely happy, things are about to get good.

We've spent this last week building the members trust up, preparing them for the branch creation, and for a trip to the temple in August. Things are hard here, but we're going to try our very hardest to help the most people we can. Jesus Christ faced LOTS of opposition, yet it never stopped him from completing everything His father asked of Him. I want to be like Him.

I cut my companion's hair a little bit this last week and I think we had some guardian angels helping me because I had no idea what I was doing.

We started filming some stories from our neighborhood grandpa, Papi Leon! Even though it's in french, he's quite a character to listen to. He's become an amazing friend of ours.

The time is running out really fast, and the end is becoming more real. I want to do as much good as I can before I leave these beautiful islands to go home. Who knows when I'll be back here? I want to see the progression of the gospel on this island. Ua Huka has become a home away from home.

I hope you all are doing well! I've felt pretty disconnected from all my friends and family back home, can't wait to see everything again in a couple months.

Hopefully more pictures this next week, we're hoping to go more places and see more people! Thank you all for your prayers on behalf of the missionaries, we definitely need it.

Koutau nui ia tatou, e mauruuru roa no to tatou kaoha no vau

Elder Hansen

Kaoha nui!!!

We had a lot of service projects this last week, which I love!

Our friend Taipi has a property really far and up in the mountains that has been neglected for a long time, so we went to help him clear the road to the property. It was a long walk but fun to see the "jungle" and get to know our friend Taipi more.

At another service project, we helped fill a ton of plastic pots for our amis to start planting some mangos.

There is so many mangos on this island it's crazy. Our amis neighbor had us for lunch afterwards, and we couldn't help but chuckle about the funny looking plant in their backyard. Marijuana is a huge problem here in the islands. It grows extremely well, and lots of people sit around and smoke all day...

On our adventure up into the mountains with Taipi we found a horse head in a tree. When the Marquises were "discovered", there was nearly 100,000 people that lived in these islands. We are near 10,000 today. A lot of diseases that had never existed for these people did a lot of damage. That's why there was a huge rise in number of animals. There was less people to take care of them and they became wild again and they eat everything. Hunting is the way they control it here and hence the animal bones that are everywhere on these islands. They make for cool necklaces and crafts, which replace the previous human bone ones :)

This next week is our last week of the transfer, and we have no clue what changes will be made... I really hope to stay and see the creation of this branch. My companion does too. We'll see if we both stay! We'll find out this Saturday. This next week should be a good week.

I feel extremely grateful for all the help I've had to get me where I am. As I reflect on these last 20 months, it's impossible to count how many times that members, leaders, friends, and family supported us, gave us food and gifts, and so much more. I've learned countless priceless lessons from all of them. We were called to teach, but I think teachers learn just as much as they teach. Thank you for all you do, even reading these updates. I'm loving my mission:)

Koutau nui mes amis! A pae! Ia mokai!

Elder Hansen :)

Kaoha nui !! It was a hard week but we had lots of good experiences!

On Monday night we had a big family night we prepared for a Papi named Léon. He was a former mayor of Ua Huka, and loves talking to people that'll listen, so naturally we've become pretty good friends. Our theme was on families and miracles, and he almost couldn't stop crying the whole time. 3 years ago he lost his wife and has felt so lost without her. Our messages helped comfort him and he felt her presence. It was an amazing night.

We had an interesting battle Wednesday morning... The day before had rained heavily and we were to do some service for our friend Sumo who lives up in the mountains (think Maui from the movie Moana and that's him). Going there was fine, but coming back down with the mud ended up breaking my bike. We had to call for our friend Taipi to come and save us. With about 7 little kids as our mechanics, we were able to repair my bike enough to ride it around again.

The kids are always around us! I've learned a lot with them and are so much easier to talk to than adults. They're always curious, they (usually) listen and they forgive so easily. Some act better than adults. They wait for us to leave our house, sometimes they can't wait and they beg at the windows and doors for us to come out with them...

On Saturday, our branch president from Nuku Hiva arrived to do some temple recommend interviews, and announced that we would begin the process of preparing for a branch to be established on Ua Huka! As of right now, our mission presidents counselors will come straight here to Ua Huka near the end of May. We have until then to help prepare the members for their incoming responsibilities!

We learned how to build a type of polynesian underground oven, where many pounds of goat and pig heads were cooked for our consumption

We drove with our friend Taipi down to the store, where a cat patrols the iles, and as we drove back we had a beautiful view of the Vaipaee Valley. This tiny island is extremely beautiful, more so when its green. We are quite blessed to be serving here, to see a merciful God stretch His hands to ALL his children, and doesn't forget those on the isles of the sea.

Transfers are slowly approaching and we both wish to stay here. Lots of changes are happening and we are excited to see what waits ahead. Lots of work to do in my last 4 months!

Koutau nui to'u utua hae e to'u hoa !

Until next time,
Elder Hansen

Kaoha nui !!! It's been about a month since I last sent out an email. It's been quite a couple weeks, many things I won't be able to include in an email but I hope to share lots of photos:)

To be honest, we've been struggling quite a bit here. The members need lots of help, we have things that haven't been sent to us, and isn't progressing as we hoped it would. But we know it's a part of His plan, we keep trying everyday to do what we can to advance His kingdom here in the Marquises.

We do a lot of service! We cut lots of trees down, clear out peoples faapu's (citrus/banana orchards), and lots of other things. One particular time I'll always remember, we carried massive banana stocks down our backs through some ancient ruins deep in the jungle of the mountains. It's a lot cooler up there compared to the desert landscape we pretty much live in...

We do lots of family nights with the families in our neighborhood! We have access to a projector, and films/videos really get their attention. Polynesians love to talk a lot and often get off topic haha, videos really help.

I've been intrigued by the handmade crafts and tools by the ancient people of these islands. They are detailed, extremely useful, and took much time to create. Everything these people had was on the island and it was all they needed. I wish I could experience that... We had the opportunity to create and carve a manta ray ourselves with some friends!

Our two worst enemies here are the mosquitos (mainly my enemy), and the centipedes. The centipedes venom from it's pincers make you swell pretty bad. The Marquisians see them as a bad sign, that the evil forces are out for you. Would make sense that we have a lot at the house, we are on the Lords errand

We slowly been growing in how many of our members are coming back to church, it's exciting to see:) We hope more people will be interested in seriously taking the lessons with us. We are nearing three months here! We continue to hope for a branch to be created here.

As I approach 4 months left of my mission, I hope I can stay here till the end!!

Unfortunately due to the internet we weren't able to watch general conference this last week, but I hope to read the talks soon. Hopefully you were able to receive the answers and the feeling of hope and peace from the messages of Christ's prophets and apostles!

Well, that's all for this one! Thank you for reading along about my adventures of sharing the gospel to the children of God in the îles of the sea. It really has been the best and the hardest thing I've done so far in my life. These experiences will help me in my future life challenges. I'm thankful to be a missionary of Christ's restored church.

Apai mes frères et sœurs! Till next time.

Elder Hansen

On Friday, we were able to come out of our confinement at last. We met some amis by no coincidence from God with some members and we gave them blessings. They really needed to feel divine love and we felt the spirit so strong.

On Saturday morning, we had the baptism of our dear friend Ramana. That is a day I'll never forget! He's so shy, but is smart and loving. He was determined to be baptized. His dream was to arrive to his baptism on horse, and he did it!! We went together into the water with the waves crashing into us, as he was baptized! He was smiling and laughing as he swam back to shore.

I was so happy for him and the steps he had taken to follow the Savior and be baptized. It seems so simple, but you almost can't explain the feelings it creates. Creating promises with God brings blessings beyond our comprehension.

On Sunday, he was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We had a large feast after church to celebrate for Ramana, we definitely ate lots haha!

It's been really good for us to finally get out again. It might seem so safe and secure at home, but there are so many people that need help out there. Here, our whole neighborhood is aware of each other and their needs. They love each other, they help each other, and they support them in everything. The Marquisian people have been such an example to me of what true Christlike discipleship is.

Just a little bit ago, I passed 18 months on my mission. I only have 6 more months left to serve as a full time missionary! The time has passed so fast, but so much has happened in 18 months too. I've learned a lot and can't wait to see what work the Lord has in store for us these next few months.

"Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him."Psalms 91:14-15

Have a great week everyone! Kaoha nei au ia tatou :)

Elder Hansen  -  Missionnaire

Hae Pure o Ietu Kirito te Peato te Hopea a

If you could tell, horses are the wild animal around here that likes to room into your yard and eat everything.

One day I woke up (with covid right) and I was barely getting out of bed when I noticed 20+ horses just chowing down on all our plants and fruits. I was livid. I ran out and started yelling in my pajamas through a broken throat and tried to coral all the horses out our broken fence. Poop was everywhere and everything in our plot of land had taken a hit. Sad day.

We made Tiki's with a member last P day and they are super cool! They love to create things here out of anything, they are very skilled in arts. The symbols and designs here are beautiful, meaningful, and ancient. They are an incredible people.

Thanks for reading along, sorry there wasn't much this week. Sorry if I haven't responded to your email or message, we just don't have service! We're thankful for the members/amis that come let us use their wifi :)

Have a great week! A faaitoito, in such a crazy world. Nana!

Elder Hansen

Stay tuned for this next week, we have a baptism this week for our young friend Ramana! He's an amazing kid, he has a hard time hearing but is super humble, loves to lasso things, and is super willing to get baptized.

Here's a scripture I'd like to share with you as I've heard of things happening in the world right now:"Ye hear of wars in far countries, and you say that there will soon be great wars in far countries... if ye are prepared ye shall not fear." (D&C 38:28,30)

It's no secret in the scriptures that the last days are going to be insane. We can't change it, because it's the plan of God. What we can change, is ourselves! Preparing yourself is more than just coming to church, it's about our personal faith and testimony. If you prepare yourself, you have nothing to fear.

Love you guys! Have a great week and stay safe out there!

Faaitoito!!Elder Hansen

Ua Huka is really dry right now and because of how hot it gets, it looks like I'm back in Arizona haha! There are wild horses everywhere and you have to be careful where you step. Also to close your gate otherwise they come in and eat everything.

The members here are amazing. They are few, but they sacrifice a lot. It's hard to be apart of a branch on another island, that's why our goal is to create Ua Huka's own branch. There is close to 600 people that live here, all of which are quite nice so far. No cannibalism yet (old Marquisian culture)...

It's been a long week, but the next weeks will be hard too. There's lots to set up and do for these people, but it's all going to be worth it.

I hope you all are doing great. It's kinda nice to rarely have service on my island which distracts me from the craziness that seems to be taking place out there. Hopefully you are able to find those moments of peace and joy, even in times like these. Stay safe and buckle up with your faith, I don't think it'll get better soon.

Faaitoito !! Apai!

Elder Sam Hansen

Ka'oha nui !!!

It's been a couple weeks since I've sent out an email ! A lot has happened especially this last week, because of transfers...

My new area: Ua Huka, in the Marquises Islands ! Along with my companion, we will be trying to open a branch on Ua Huka. We'll be the only missionaries there, and it's been a while since the last missionaries were serving there. We took a 4 hour flight Saturday morning to Hiva Oa and then Nuku Hiva.

Right now I'm living on Nuku Hiva with another companionship awaiting for a helicopter ride onto my island... It's definitely different, and I'm so blessed to have such an experience like this. I love it here, I'll have to pick up some Marquisian though, which turns out to be quite different from Tahitian... (Ka'oha nui = Iaorana)

In Erima, we were seeing lots of things growing and changing in the work. We had two of our friends on date for baptism which was amazing ! Mairenui and Puarau, both young kids and they were really fun to teach. There are so many people I'm going to miss in Erima... It was one of my favorite areas, and I got along really well with Elder Lewis and Halverson.

These next couple weeks are going to be hard, but the gospel is spreading upon every nation and even the iles of the sea. God has called us to preach the gospel at this moment, and He wants us to help His children in the Marquises Islands. We pray they are prepared to listen to our message!

Thank you for reading! Things will surely get interesting in the next couple weeks haha...! I'll probably have lots of stories ! I'm nervous but really excited too. We are blessed.

Nana et mauruuru!

Elder Hansen

This week we've been trying to meet a lot of people in trying to teach more. I love the Tahitian people, and it's a lot easier more to connect with them than being in the states...

We went to a dinner yesterday and they had such an amazing view from their front yard so we had to take a picture. Our area is high up in the mountains, which makes for really good views. Biking would be hard...

My companion Elder Avaeoru made it to his original assignment in New Caledonia, along with many of my Tahitian friends !!! Super excited for them to continue their missions in a new country. This missionaries here are powerful (physically and spritually haha).

That's about all I have for this week, not too much happened. Hope you all have a great week, and are keeping up on your new year resolutions ...!!

Nana, faaitoito to'u mau hoa :)

Orometua Hansen

PS: Elder Hansen and his two companions are limited to one phone for three. It limits their time to post messages and send/respond to any emails you might have send to Elder Hansen. He can read them but sometimes doesn't have the time to respond. He has a lot of emails started but not completed! To make phone calls on Mondays they also have to share, knowing that they all three have their families in Utah (same time zone). Please know that Elder Hansen reads and appreciates all your messages and will answer as soon as he can.
Love,
Rosario Hansen

I got to see my MTC companion Elder Anderson too!!!! He finally made it here to Tahiti, I was so excited for him. He's going to do so much good work here. We HAD to take a picture together. So many memories, and weird how the time passes.

Tenumeroa got baptized on the 25th of December!! I wasn't able to go there since I got transfered, but I'm so so happy for him and the step he took to be baptized. I'll come see him again I'm sure!!

That's pretty much it for this week, just lots of sicknesses and food for the holidays haha!!!

Nana, et bonne semaine !!!

Elder Hansen  :)

It's been such a crazy week this last week, many things I can't explain in detail either so this won't be too long...

We had a mission conference with the whole mission on Tuesday! It was super super great, we had Elder and Sister Nattress of the Seventy talk to us. We learned a lot that will really help us push the work forward.

We had an emergency change in our house of Elders and we are now three Elders! We take care of 4 wards, which has it's pros and cons (2 dinners every night is definitely a pro). Elder Avaeoru is always with me, but we now have Elder Rodgers from Cache Valley Utah with us too! They are such great Elders and we've had a great couple days teaching lots more people from the combined wards.

We took some photos together while almost all together in our zone! It was super fun and it was good to spend some time together as missionaries. I love them all and I'm thankful to spend my time here serving the Lord alongside my Tahitian brothers and sisters :):)

In about 2 weeks, 40 new missionaries will be joining us. Much change is soon approaching...

December is almost here!! It's still sunny and humid here, but I can't wait to celebrate Christmas here.

That's all for this week folks. Hope you have a great week, I love you all!

A faaitoito tatou, Nana!!

Orometua Hansen

Talking to Samuel on Mondays is always so great! It is one of the highlight of our week. This Monday we had the chance to interact with some missionaries of his District. They always come to say hello to us which is so fun. The fact that we can speak French really helps.

I am so grateful to know that Samuel is surrounded by wonderful young men who have the same desire, serve the Lord and help his children. They are an example to me and my family.

We met a member that I had contacted on Facebook awhile back. Super cool to see him while! (Saw after shooting a video, hence the P-Day attire haha)

We have been going out with the Relief Society in our ward to visit some of the inactive Sisters and help them come back to church. If we have enough people that come to church, they can hopefully build another church building that will be a LOT closer than the one right now...

Here's a picture of our zone before Elder Lee Chip Sao went home. He was such a great missionary and he helped me out a lot. He had an impact on the mission, and he loved showing how it had an impact on him.

We had fafaru again this last week! It apparently wasn't too strong but it still smelt like rotten eggs from the other side of the table... It wasn't too bad, not my favorite Tahitian plate though haha...

We have a lady we are teaching named Jenny and she's been seeking for the gospel for awhile now. She's looking for a change in her life and her families lives. She feels like satan is trying to stop her from learning more about Christ, I'm sure she would love your prayers.

We had 26 new missionaries come in this Friday, and because I had to drive some of them around I got to meet a lot of them!!! They are super cool, and they seemed pretty worried to come to a new place with so many new things (just like I was)! It was nice to talk with them and relate with them. Rumors are that 40 more new missionaries are coming in in December!! The mission will see lots of change...

Well, I think that's all I have for this week everyone! Thanks for reading along at my adventures here in Tahiti. You're reading the story of a young man seeing his life slowly change because of the gospel and learn about the world by experiencing it alongside the children of God.

I love you all ! Have a great week! Nana

Elder Hansen

A lot of change is soon to come in the mission, and it'll be cool to be one to see the change since I came in. I'm so blessed to be here, and I've been so blessed since being on mission. I know it's so cliché, but I have found it out for myself. This last week I passed 14 months, also 1 year since I started in Arizona! I'm so grateful for my time in AZ and all the missionaries and people that helped me become me. I couldn't ever repay them, so I know God will.

We went on a hike this morning and it was really fun! It was Elder Lee Chip Sao's last p day, we played a prank on him and douced him in water and flour. We had a good time, I love the missionaries here. They are true friends.

The work is slowly climbing back up, covid and the culture here makes it hard for things to spring back up, but it's coming along. We have a couple people really close to baptism and I wish to stay to see them make those eternal covenants that will bless them forever. The change is real, I know because I saw it in myself.

I hope you had a great week, thank you for reading! I'll be back sooner than we all think, except for my mom haha! Thank you all for your support and prayers in behalf of the work of the Lord and the people of Tahiti. We feel the blessings of the Lord!

Nana, a faaitoito to'u mau hoa!!!

Orometua Hansen :)

We took a photo together as a zone at the end of our district council. I love these missionaries and all the things they do. They had powerful testimonies and faith.

We will be welcoming 10 foreign missionaries this next week!!! More Americans! And as more keep coming it will make the mission change more and more...

That's all for the week. Keep going strong, keep to the faith and hold strong to the values you have. You'll need them soon!!!

A faaitoito mes amis!Nana!!!

Elder Hansen

Iaorana!!!

Not much to report this week, we've been slowly trying to pick up these areas and little by little my french is getting better! It's been hard, but it's how it's going to have to be these next couple weeks and months...

We went on a couple more hikes and walks this last week for our workouts and P-days. It's so fun to explore this beautiful island. I'll miss it so much.

Elder Avaeoru and me are getting along really well, we laugh a lot together and it makes the hard times a lot better. We have so many jokes and videos that I will cherish. I love the Tahitian people.

We have been hearing and seeing a couple mice in our house recently and it's pretty annoying. After a night of chasing one of them around we prayed together for a solution and for us to be more comfortable at home. Just a day or two after we noticed a group of three cats stay around our house at night, kind of like little bodyguards and ever since we haven't heard or since the mice. God really does answer prayers, sometimes in ways that we don't understand. Sometimes, it's really straight forward haha.

It's been raining a little more often the past couple days and I love it. The rain is different to me here, it feels so fresh, relaxing, and relieving. I'll miss that a lot too.

Have a great week everyone, don't forget that God loves you and watches out for you. I've seen His love for his children. Never forget your divine destiny.

Nana my friends!! Til next week!
--
Elder Hansen :)

PS: The picture for this post was taken from the internet. It's Taharuu Beach which is one of the area Elder Hansen is serving.

Ia ora na ia tatou!!

Sorry it's been a little while since I've written an email, these past couple weeks have been quite crazy for us, hopefully I can fit everything in a simple email haha!

We had transfers this last week and I am now training Elder Avaeoru! He's an amazing missionary and it's only been a week!! We are taking care of three wards: Vaiari, Taharuu, and Mahaiatea. We are whitewashing all three, which has proven to be a little difficult to figure it all out in my limited french and Tahitian knowledge haha. Elder Avaeoru has helped us out a lot and I really hope I can get better at french and understand the people here more.

We are now able to go out more! I went to church for the second time since arriving here in Tahiti and it was amazing. Going to church here is my favorite thing, the singing gets me every time.

We went to quite a few places to take pictures and explore our area a little more, it's so beautiful. The Tahitians say it isn't because there's too many people and everything's been modernized. They say the islands around Tahiti are where it's really pretty, maybe someday I'll get to go :)

A week before transfers I had an interesting experience. We received a call from the Elders late at night, who told us that someone was maybe trying to break into the sisters home... Immediately we all left in our tiny Toyota Avanza and we pretty much flew down to Taravao. Family is everything here, so if a member of family is in trouble, the whole family responds. We were so close to their house until we spotted a group of three militarized police men (les gendarmes) stop us at a roundabout (keep in mind this is near 10 PM, when the countries curfew is at 9 PM).

We hurried to try to explain the situation that was happening and after some back and forth they told us to lead the way. So here we are, leading the police to the house and we arrive with pretty much our whole zone of missionaries in the parking lot with the sisters. The police talked with them and tried to figure out what was going on. Some dude was apparently lurking around their house and trying the fence and walking around, so the police went out for a search in the neighborhood. We all talked together to release some adrenaline and we all went home around 11 PM, while the sisters went to sleep at the senior missionaries home for the night. Quite an adventure!

Otherwise, we are doing pretty well here. We now have an Elder Ward from Texas in the mission which is awesome, hopefully more foreign missionaries are able to come soon! (Possibly 8 more by the end of this month!)

Thank you all for reading, hopefully I'll be better at writing in the coming weeks. Hopefully there's lots of good photos for ya!

Nana!

Elder Hansen

One of our Elders had a birthday and so we had a big breakfast and dinner and tried to do what we could to make it a fun day in quarantine!

It's such a blessing for me to be here. Of all the missionaries that are waiting patiently to come to their original mission, they send me. I really hope I can make the best of it and learn what I need to learn from my Heavenly Father. We all can't wait till more missionaries come here, we need them!

Sorry it's not too much this week, but hopefully more pictures and stories to come as we get to go out more this week haha!

A faaitoito mes amis! Nana!!
--
Elder Hansen :)

Kaoha nui!!! (Ia ora na from the Marquise Islands)

This week has been a bit of a change of things! We are working a lot on the social media work that's taking place in the mission and this next week we hope to go around the mission to train the missions how to best use the tools we have. We were given a Chromebook to help us in this process and I'm still shocked to have a computer as a missionary haha!

Because most of the missionaries are alone with their companions in this confinement, President Banner decided to move a lot of the companionships together so we can have company and work together online. We received the Elders from the island of Rurutu in our home which has been such a blast! I've definitely had a lot more opportunities to grow my French (a little Tahitian too), and more growth to come.

We are still confined till next week at the least, sometime this week we could be informed that it will be prolonged again if the status hasn't changed... We have high hopes that it will be finished and we can get out again.

Maybe when we get out again we'll have more pictures haha, in the meantime here are some pictures of our new Elders.

Hope you all have a great week!! Love you all!Nana!

Elder Sam Hansen

Ia ora na ia tatou!

Not much to report this week, we are still in confinement! We hope it will end on Friday but now they have stopped showing the public the case numbers, which isn't a good sign. If things aren't better we'll have to continue past Friday... Pray for the people of Tahiti!

Our amazing member Ahutua (who started to teach me Tahitian), dropped off some tradition Tahitian food, even though it's confinement haha... One of the parts of the meal included Fafaru, which is fermented fish with fermented coconut milk... It wasn't too bad, my body just definitely isn't use to it! Poisson cru is becoming one of my absolute favorite dishes too, I'm so grateful that I'm not allergic to fish here in Tahiti, so I can enjoy so much more. I love fish!!!

We have started to become a little crazy, and have started to make friends with this spider with crab features. He goes into hiding most days but sometimes he'll march around our kitchen or our ceiling doing a funny little routine/walk. He helps keep us sane haha...

Hope you all are doing good!! The world is definitely getting scary but I hope you know where to turn to find peace and joy. It's definitely comforting to be a missionary during this time, and I want to keep up the things I'm learning here for the rest of my life. I've learned so much!

I love you all, thank you again for all your support and prayers. I pray for you as well, I hope we can all can find more comfort in this crazy world.

Have a great week!!! Take care!!Nana!!!

Elder Hansen

Elder Hansen

Elder Hansen

IA ORA NA !!!

Sorry it's been a little bit as it's been a crazy couple of weeks, as I am now writing this email from Tahiti!!

I arrived here July 29th, flying from Phoenix to San Francisco, then to Tahiti! The island is so beautiful I probably will never stop taking and sending pictures of my adventures here.

I love President and Soeur Banner, they took great care of me and worked so hard to get me here. The situation here is pretty rough, there are only about 60 missionaries and Tahiti might be heading into another lockdown. We are seeing close to 700 new cases of COVID everyday, which is the worse they've seen... We are confined right now due to contact with an infected person and have about a week left till we can leave the house. Lots of online work to be taking place haha!!

I miss the Arizona Tempe Mission and all the missionaries and members I knew and love. I had to say goodbye to my companions Elder Rasmussen and Hansen, to President and Sister Goaslind, to the Chandler Zone, and to the mission via video. So many experiences where had there and I will never forget them.

We live in Vairao, on Tahiti-iti, or the smaller part of Tahiti. With so many less missionaries, we actually take care of all of the smaller island! It's so beautiful here, apparently on the most beautiful part of the island. Lot more quiet and the people are so so so kind, I love them so much. They speak more Tahitian here though, so I hope to pick it up quickly...

My companion is Elder Lee Chip Sao, and we get along super well. He knows French, Tahitian, English, and Tagalog, so he is well equipped to help me learn the language! He is helping me learn the culture of Tahiti as well as the mission. We can't wait for more missionaries to arrive.

There are mosquitos EVERYWHERE. Apparently our house is known throughout the mission for having lots of them. We have spray so don't worry haha. We see lizards crawl around our house all the time and yesterday a tarantula crawled out of a bowl I grabbed and 20 minutes of panic to get it outside insued...

The food is plentiful and I have loved all that I have received so far. Most meals consist of lots of fruits and bread and rice and meat. All my favorite kind of food :):)

Although we are confined and are trying to push the work forward, I'm enjoying life here very much. The people here aren't poor, they have what they need and they are happier than many I've seen in the states. It's truly a inspiration for me to see God in the details in my life and focus on true joy I can find through the gospel and those around me.

Well, this is what I have! My adventures and experiences to come, thank you for all your support and prayers in allowing me to have the experience of coming to this beautiful island and be with this beautiful people. I'm forever grateful for my God and His Son, that know me perfectly. It is their eternal calendar to direct, and I'm blessed to be an instrument in Their hands to allow other people and families to find their way to eternal life and happiness.

Hope to hear from you, Ua here au ia tatou! ( I love you all!)

Nana!

Elder Hansen

Elder Samuel Hansen made it to Tahiti on July 29!!!

We were able to see him and talk to him on Monday. He was so happy to share his experience since he arrived. His companion who speaks 4 languages (French, Tahitian, Tagalog and English) is awesome!! He is hoping that the other missionaries will join him soon.

If you look at the map, he is serving right now on the smaller part of the Tahiti island, on the West side. You can see that the road doesn't go all around because of cliffs. There they speak more Tahitian than French so he has a lot of work to do! The people are amazing, the place is beautiful and the food is delicious.

Rosario Hansen

Here is Samuel's quick message until he gets a phone. The phone he had for Tempe doesn't work there:

IAORANA TATOU!!!

This time it's real!! Tahiti and it's people are more beautiful than I could ever imagine. I'm feel so blessed to be on this beautiful island, teaching what I have come to know is true.

Stay tuned for more adventures and truths I'll be learning here:)

Iaorana!!!! Sorry I didn't write last week, we've been pretty busy!

We had the opportunity to do the Haka for some senior couples that are leaving our mission!! It made me really feel the culture of the islands. I hope to go to Tahiti someday.

We had a baptism for Joey!!! It was such an amazing experience and their family loved it. He was confirmed a member of our church in church the next day and they gave their testimonies. Joey impressed us all, I'm so proud of him!

We've been doing a ton of service the past couple days and it makes me so so happy. I love serving others with a passion!! We've washed cars, bagged bags of food for starving kids around the world, and organizing pallets at a food bank!

We made matching ties with Elder Stewart in our ward. I'm so happy I got to learn how to make ties, I'll probably be making lots more!

We celebrated Independence Day together as a zone and had a waffle party even! I loved feeling so patriotic.

I love my district, we play sports in the mornings twice a week and it's always super fun. We ate at IHOP this morning as a district and talked about where we are going for these next 6 weeks! I'm going to Chandler and I'll be in a trio again! I'm nervous but excited to know some old friends and make some new friends!!

We had a little party with a lot of the men in the McQueen ward and it was at the estates that have a lake in their backyard. One guy was super super good at wake boarding and was doing flips through the air and it was pretty fun to watch and be close to the water.

I'm excited to start this next transfer, nervous but ready to see more experiences in my mission. I haven't heard anything else yet for Tahiti, but hope that others will get their visas ready so that they can go!! Keep praying and being the wonderful person that you are, because I have no doubt that you are. Keep trying, and rely on the Lord!

Nana, I love you all!!

Elder Hansen

Iaorana ia tatou!!

We got some interesting news this last week as you may have already heard! What that will mean for me and my travel plans to Tahiti I don't know, but at least it is heading in the right direction and more missionaries can join the work in the islands.

I had a ton of exchanges this past week. (An exchange is when we swap our companions for a day to see a different area or see what you can do better) I did one with the assistants to the President as well, and it was kinda stressful but I got along pretty well with Elder Harmer. We worked hard and we saw a lot of cool things happen! I'll send a picture of us.

I also had an exchange with my zone leader Elder Majdali! He's a super great guy and we got along really well too, and we related in a lot of ways. We helped a guy named Jason learn about our church and he wanted to possible come to church someday!! We took a picture at the end of the night with Frisbees as halos haha...

Me and Elder Furtado try to practice our ukelele's together sometimes, I love him a ton! He definitely keeps me sane right now and we definitely get along!

I've been pretty tired this last week, lots of change and lots of work being done. I'm hoping to have some good experiences this week and hopefully we'll take some good pictures.

I learned the Haka today with some of the other Elders in our zone!! It made me so excited and I was so happy to do it, I'll probably practice it everyday. We are practicing it so we can do it for a senior couple that is leaving our mission :) I almost feel homesick for Tahiti, and I've never even been there. I'm in love with the culture and the people.

We are teaching our friend Joey still, who is 12, and his baptism is this Saturday!! We're super excited for him and for this big step he's taking. Praying all works out.

Our bishop had a heart attack on a young mens trip a couple days ago and he should be going into surgery this next week. It was a miracle he was able to get to the hospital, God's hand was all over the whole situation. Please pray that the surgery goes well and that he recovers well.

Well, sorry I don't have so much this week! I love being here in Arizona and love everyone that is here, the missionaries and the people that we meet. I can feel God's love for them! Everyone in this world matters, and we all have a story. But what links us together is the strength that Christ can give us, I've seen it myself.

I hope you have a great week!! Love you all!!!!

Elder Hansen

All visa categories are now available for those needing visas to come to Tahiti.  People coming to Tahiti must have a negative covid test within 72 hours of arriving AND have been vaccinated.  The vaccination has to have been completed at least 14 days prior to arriving for all vaccines except Janssen. That one must be completed at least 28 days prior to arrival.

That means missionaries need to get vaccinated if they have not already done so and apply for their visa.  We have not yet discussed with the Missionary Department of how and when the process will begin.  Do not apply for visas until instructed to do so. We cannot receive 100+ missionaries at the same time.  The visas received to enter Tahiti are only temporary visas and only good for three months. That means if you apply too soon, you will have to apply again. Once here, we apply for a longer term visa.

The travel department will give specific instructions on what type of visa to apply for.  Coordination of applying for a visa and traveling to an office for an in person interview is a must.  I imagine it will take at least 1-2 months before we begin to see the first missionaries arrive.

We will keep you posted as we learn more details of how things will unfold.

Président Banner

After sending a personal message to President Banner, it is possible that French missionaries (and dual citizens like Samuel) would be able to go sooner. We are waiting for more instructions from the Missionary Department. But this is great news for all the missionaries assigned to Tahiti!!
Rosario Hansen

UPDATE from President Banner:

Just a little follow up from my earlier post. This morning there were meetings on getting things rolling for our mission.  I was told there are a limited number of people working on visas which creates a bottleneck in the processing.  I was told to expect two months.  I was also told that generally, the church wants missionaries to be in their new assignment at least six months, especially for those going internationally.  I have asked if it would be possible to try to expedite those that are on the bubble of that time frame.  I hope we can to get as may as possible here.  We will have to be patient and see. The Lords timing is perfect.  Have faith that things will work out the way they are supposed to.
Président Banner

ANOTHER UPDATE from President Banner:

Let me clarify one thing and add another.  It will take about two months to process visas plus around six months to be in the field.  That means there needs to be about eight months left to start the process. I know there are a few who have just under eight months left and I am asking if it is possible to expedite them and get them started right away to get them here. I wanted to add that I do not believe it will be mandatory to come.  If a missionary is happy to stay where they are, then I believe that will be accommodated.
Président Banner

We bought out the whole supply of Mountain Dew Baja Blast at a grocery store, because of our love for it. Only found at Taco Bell!

We went to Mod Pizza together as Elder's in our district and it was pretty fun. We have a great time together and we've grown pretty close. I also love pizza so it's a win-win.

I got to see one of my missionary friends from Casa Grande again last Tuesday! Elder Hatch is a good missionary and we get along quite well, hopefully we can be companions or serve around each other again.

It was a fun week. I've noticed it's kinda hard for the mission to figure out working in the heat and creating a schedule to work with that. Facebook and social media is going to start being bigger, crazy to think being on a mission has changed so much!

I love you all so much, thanks for tuning in!!! Nana!!!!

Elder Hansen

What a week it has been, we are starting to get more comfortable with being over two wards. There are so many people and situations to get used to!

We had a meeting up in Tempe and I got to see my trainer Elder Hafen!! He goes home this transfer so it's probably one of the last times I'll see him here on the mission. He's such a great missionary and person, one of the great friends of my mission.

There's a really nice community in our area that has a private lake and the houses are absolutely incredible. We hope to spend more time over there, they are awesome.

We made our own dinner Saturday and it was super fun. I got to make hamburgers again for the first time in a long time since Marley's! They tasted delicious...

The sunsets never fail to impress me, they are so beautiful. The heat is really starting to come, it'll be almost 118 this week!! It really does feel like an open oven sometimes, and it's pretty dry. I'll be careful and drinking lots of water so don't worry :)

I got called to be on the film crew for the mission, so we'll see what projects I'll be working on and creating.

That's about it this week!! I hope all of you are doing well!!

A bientôt!!

Elder Hansen

Iaorana tout le monde!!

The transfer ended this last week and I had to say goodbye to pretty much everyone in my district. They all got send elsewhere and it made me pretty sad because we were really tight and we had a great time! But good things never seem to last very long... They even made me a song where each one of them had a part in it and it really touched me a ton, they made me so happy to be a district leader. They're so awesome and I can't wait for the day where we can reconnect again after the mission.

Here's a picture of me and my trainee Elder McShane saying goodbye to each other! He's off to Tempe and I hope the best for him.

Elder Merrick, pictured in the beautiful hat he has, is one of my best friends I've had in the mission so far I'll miss him a ton, he's off to Yuma in a city called Wellton. What a cool place to be!!

I got a steak from one of our members in return for service and it was so so good but the church building didn't have any forks so I found a weird one...

My new companion Elder Sudweeks is awesome! He's from Long Island, New York, which is pretty cool. We have been getting along and it's going to be a good transfer I'm sure already. I'll take some pictures this next week for sure.

I've been kinda stressed out about running two wards at once but we are making it work. The Lord is helping us for sure. We'll be working it through and it'll be a great week I'm sure.

I still haven't received any news on Tahiti.

I'll try to get more pictures from this next week... Hope to talk to you all this next week!!!! Thanks for checking in on me!!

Nana!!!

Elder Hansen

IAORANA!!!!!

This last week was quite interesting, it was the last week of the transfer yet again and we found out today the news!

I'll be staying here, and Elder McShane will be out of here to Tempe. I'll be receiving a car again and another ward! So I'll have lots of work cut out for me this next transfer. I'm pretty sad there are so many missionaries leaving my district, I began to really develop a relationship with many of them. It was quite a transfer.

We went to IHOP this morning as a district as we waited for our calls to find out where we are going next transfer! I love them all, they are such fantastic missionaries and friends. I'll miss them a ton, we definitely grew close this transfer and it took a lot but I'm glad it happened.

Here's a picture of us with our friend Charlene!! We play tennis and ran with her a lot and she's amazing. She makes us so happy and she loves talking with us and recently took us up on learning more about learning about our church and beliefs! She's great!

Here's a picture of our district at Helping Hands, a organization that helps Muslims (and others) around the world! It's fantastic and I look forward to being there each week.

The sunset's can be so so beautiful out here and I'm even more thankful that I could have such a wonderful camera to take pictures of moments like these!!

One of our members has an awesome music room and I was stuck in there for quite a little bit haha!

A couple weeks there was a less active member who by a miracle saw us walking in the apartments and told us about her son and her other children. We came over to start talking to Joey, her son, this last week and he wants to be baptized!! We got to pick a date and will be working towards it with him!! He's an awesome kid.

Elder Myers is a clown just I can be sometimes and I've loved having him in our house this last transfer. He's definitely helped keep my mind sane, he's from Salem Utah so I'm hoping we'll get to hangout when I come home. We are similar in many ways and so he helped me a ton.

I got my second dose of the vaccine and it kinda destroyed me haha! That night was pretty bad, and the next day felt like a dream. A lot of missionaries felt kinda bad from it, but we're all doing okay now. I haven't heard any news about Tahiti but I'll continue to press forward here in Arizona! This week I will have been a missionary for about 9 months already!! The time is going by pretty fast, it's crazy.

The mission has been so worth it. Yeah there's a lot of things I'm missing and lots of events I don't know about in the world. But I've learned so much about myself, other people, and what's important in life. I never want to forget the things I've experienced and seen myself. No one can ever take away my testimony of Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father. Nothing makes sense without them. Nothing in this universe is a coincidence. We as humans can be pretty ignorant, and refuse to look at other options and try to learn truth. We have so much to learn, forever.

Thank you for listening and reading these. I don't know who does to be honest, but just know it makes me happy if you are interested in my experiences out here in Arizona. I'd love to hear from anyone at my missionary email: samuel.hansen@missionary.org!

Talk to you next week with all the changes that will take place this week!!

Nana, and have a great week! Find joy!

Elder Hansen

Iaorana everyone!!!

It was a long week but we are working hard and hoping to see some blessings come from it.

We got to go to the Gilbert Temple!!!! It was so so so beautiful and the feeling of peace and comfort was absolutely amazing, I missed being in there so much. We got to do some baptisms for the dead with some people in our ward and got to spend the day out of our mission!! I can't wait for the day it opens again. Email me to talk more about it or if you want to learn more about the temple!!

We do service at Midwest Food Bank almost every week with our district! We got to clean some semi trucks the other day and rested under it for a break from the sun.

On Saturday we had a zone car wash and a random guy named JC came out and talked with us and offered to dance to some jazz on the back of his car to attract more people to come. He was super cool and I'm glad I got to meet him. He was definitely an old soul!

Not really any news on Tahiti right now, 2nd dose of the vaccine is coming in about a week and a half and we'll have to see what happens after that.

We have been teaching a lady named Charelene and we go to play tennis with her and we started teaching her about God's plan and she loved it so far!! We're excited to be talking to her, she's awesome. We'll have to take a picture next time!

Sorry I don't have that much this week, we're just cracking down and working hard! Hope all of you are doing great!!!

Nana!!

Iaorana!!!!!!

It's been so long since I've written a weekly email, I'm really sorry... Not too many things have happened in the past couple weeks however, we are just working hard in the sun, biking, and working with my new companion Elder McShane!!
Elder McShane is straight from the MTC! I'll be training him for at least another 3 weeks. He's from Tricities Washington! He's a pretty cool guy and we get along and have been finding joy in the work!

Here are a couple pictures of my district! They are all such spectacular missionaries and I love them all, they work hard and they have wonderful personalities. We get together almost twice a week in the mornings to play sports!

I got to share the story in the little book called You Are Special with the Garner family! The kids loved it and they still remember it, it's an excellent story and would definitely recommend reading it.

We got together as a zone to create little hearts for Mother's Day and 'heart attacked' a couple doors in our wards! I love doing service projects together, service is so fun and it's where you get to practice what you teach!!

I went on a exchange with my zone leader and it was such a cool day, we got to see so many miracles from just talking to people and asking if there was anything we could do for them or if they were interested in hearing a message! It was pretty inspiring, I still have a hard time talking to people that are in the street because missionary work has changed a lot from the past. We have to be careful that we don't fall back into the old ways though, modern problems require modern solutions! I also went on an exchange with my old roommate Elder Ford, he's a great missionary and we had a pretty great day as well!

I took some better pictures for the motorcycle dudes we've been talking to on Saturday! I'm so thankful for my wonderful mom and family that sent me my camera and other things all the time. I definitely don't have an excuse to take more pictures now! I love going to see the motorcycles:)

I got the first dose of the vaccine on April 30th, and plan to get the second dose on May 27th! It didn't make me really sick, my arm was just pretty sore and I got pretty tired for the days afterwards. No updates on going to Tahiti, the vaccine should help though. The earliest time we could see me going is the middle of June, but we'll see.

Enjoy a picture of our Han Solo jello we got to have from the Stewarts on May 4th haha!

I hope you had a great Mother's Day yesterday! Mother's are amazing, I've definitely learned that more and more since I've been on a mission. I love my mom so much, and see so many hard working moms through all people I've met so far. I hope you take this spirit of respect and love for mother's and carry it on to the rest of the year, mom's are more important than just one day!

The heat is really climbing here in Arizona, it's kinda crazy. The worst is yet to come, bracing for 110+ °F and above...

Well, I hope to have more for next time but thanks for tuning in!!!! I love you all and hope everything is going well for you and your family!!

A bientôt!! Nana!

Elder Hansen

It's been a great week! It was the last week of this transfer so we tried to get lots of things done, and we had so many cool miracles come from our efforts!! I found out that I am staying here this next transfer, and I'm training a new missionary! It'll be a good time, I'm nervous but hoping that everything will be awesome!

One of the most exciting things happened on Saturday, I found a stunt motorcycle group!!! I had to stop and talk to them of course, and they're so cool! We talked to them about what it means to be a missionary and the things that we do nowadays! We hope to go there on Saturdays to talk to them and hopefully I can take some pictures for them and get to bring a good spirit and influence. I'll include some pictures I took!

Here's a picture of why yo-yo's are important to capturing the attention of children :):) They're a great family and I love them a ton! (see photo at the beginning of the post).

I love snakes and I got to play with this one almost every time I go over and he just slithers around!

We got to meet Gentry Stein today!! He's a yoyo World Champion! He did so many incredible tricks it was crazy!!! We got to talk to him and learn from him for almost two hours. He was super fun and nice to us:) He signed my yoyo!

Elder Nielsen graduated from training on Friday! It was a fun time and we surprised our trainees with some signs and poppers! They really enjoyed it and they got to practice all the lessons! I got to see my other son Elder Carpenter there too!!

We had a movie night and watched Meet the Mormons!! A couple of investigators from the other areas came to watch! So even if there wasn't a lot of people there it was worth it.

Well it's going to be a busy week but stay tuned to know who my new companion is and what comes of all the people I'm talking to! I love you all and hope that you have a great week!!!

Nana!!

Elder Hansen

Bonjour et Iaorana!!!

It's been a long week, we tried to get lots of things done that we wanted to do! We made lots of trips to drop off cookies, played football for many hours with the neighborhood kids, and got to talk and meet a lot of inactive members this week!

While dropping off cookies, I noticed how interesting it was that when the person didn't answer the door, there was always someone nearby we could talk to very briefly. Just being visible as a missionary has quite an affect on the people around us. Especially now, because everyone is so use to distancing themselves from others, it's shocking to see two dressed up young men wanting to talk to people and help others! Definitely a testimony to me of how ministering should take place. Developing relationships with people is how you open doors for the gospel to be shared. Seek trust and love first, and my oh my how things change. Love those around you!

We learned how to tie a lava lava from one of the members in our ward! Brother and Sister Stewart served in the Marshall Islands/ Kiribati Mission and plan to go again in August! I love talking to them about the Pacific! I love them lots, they care so much for the work and they watch out for us all the time.

I heard that Tahiti will be opening it's borders May 1st! I don't know what that will mean for me, but I'm excited to see that things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully I can get my vaccine and make the process go faster! We'll see what happens, pray for the people of Arizona and Tahiti!

I go to play golf with some members on P-days sometimes, I'm learning but I kinda stink right now haha!

We got invited to a breakfast with a family in our ward and we felt like family to them, it was such a fun time :)

We had a ward breakfast and service project on Saturday! Me and my Zone Leader Elder Hurd helped our ward make some wipes for the Native American Reservation. It was fun and great to be apart of a project like that.

Well, that's been pretty much everything that's happened this last week! Sorry I don't have that many pictures this week, I'll try to do better:):) I hope everyone is doing okay, keep pressing forward, everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, that means it's not finished yet:) One of my favorite scriptures, 2 Nephi 22:2, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation."

Hope to hear from you! Have a great week, A faaitoito!!!!

Elder Hansen

Here's my little pal Frank! He was such a playful bird and he loved sitting on my shoulder. We sat next to a pool that night talking to a member tell stories, as the bird tweeted into my ear and watched the sunset. It was quite a beautiful moment, so I had to take a picture.

Elder Madsen, was my first zone leader in the mission and due to a bicycle accident he is heading home sooner than expected to have surgery on his shoulder. Pray for him! I love him so much and we were great pals.

Almost two weeks ago, we went to the Yoyo factory and met the Co-founder! He's super cool and hooked us up with some awesome Yoyo's!! We are developing a custom Yoyo project which I'm keeping a secret until further notice... we took a picture and we go often to talk to him and the other workers!

Here's a couple pictures of me and my companion! You can see the colorful yoyo Elder Nielsen is holding there haha!

We had a zone conference a little bit ago and we had quite a few missionaries from my original zone in Casa Grande so we took a picture together!

General Conference was amazing!!! Its a church broadcast that has a ton of speakers that talk about Jesus Christ and the meaning of Easter! There were so many good messages that will definitely apply to this next month's and the moments we are living in right now! Now, how are you going to apply what you learned?? I'll be analyzing the talks these next couple weeks, and I invite you to either check it out or review it again!

Well I hope I had a good amount to make up for last week. Hopefully I'll have time time do this next week.

Until then! Love you all!

Elder Samuel Hansen

I am currently serving in the El Dorado ward here in Gilbert! Now, it's not really in Gilbert because that's another mission, but I live in the little sliver that our mission has. Our area is just a couple blocks!! Such a change from two cities! My companion's name is Elder Nielsen, we are just a duo! He's an awesome missionary, he loves to work hard and I can't believe I'm training him myself. He kinda trains me instead so haha!

The ward here is so awesome, they are a lot younger than the ward out there in Arizona City. We have sports nights and I love them! There are a couple people who are from Polynesian countries or served in the Pacific, which makes me really happy. Hopefully I can find out how to get a lavalava soon!

Being a district leader is stressful, but I am liking it so far. It's hard to plan out district councils, but I love getting to know the missionaries in my district and helping them in the ways I can. I have 12 missionaries in my stewardship! We have about 34 missionaries in our whole zone, that's pretty big! This zone just got combined, Gilbert plus Mesa, so now we are known as one big Mesa Zone.
We have done a couple service opportunities with our zone, people are always so amazed when 30+ young adults come help them move in and out of homes. It goes by pretty fast, let me tell ya!

I'll miss being in Casa Grande and all the people I got to meet, but I'm excited for the future and how everything will work out. Plus, I'll definitely come back in the future to see how they're doing :)

Well, that pretty much sums up the past couple of weeks here in my missionary life! The work is so great and seeing so many tender mercies in my life over the past year since the pandemic started. I invite you to do the same, what things have changed in your life and miracles that have happened? You'll be surprised the more you analyze, promise.

I'd love to hear from everyone and anyone! My mission home address is still the same and feel free to send me an email!!!

I love you all so much. Stay strong, this has gone on for far too long. Look for answers in General Conference and look for Lord's hand in your life. Unique challenges will bring unique blessings. Keep to the faith until you can say what Paul said near the end of his life, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7)
Persevere to the End!

Elder Samuel Hansen

I loved all the service we did this week, we helped lots of people move, helped at the food bank, and worked lots of hours in the sun! Service is really so so important and it really embodies the characteristic of Charity and loving others that are in need! Service can be huge projects that take days or just a simple smile or treat can lift someone up. Take advantage of serving others!

One of my companions, Elder Hafen, wore his sweater over his shoulder and we thought it was funny so we copied him and took a picture!

The sunsets and the colors in the sky of Arizona are so beautiful, almost every night still I am blown away by how beautiful everything looks.

Paul is praying! It's great progress for him and I really wish to see him before I go and that he can continue to progress.

We met with Woody again and he opened up with us. The relationships you develop as a missionary are amazing. We shouldn't be robots! I hope things go well for him and that he gets baptized soon!!

I really hope to hear from you guys! I'd love any ideas for fun activities or things I could do with my new district as a district leader. As you can tell, I'm pretty nervous about it, but it'll be a good opportunity to learn and grow!

I love you all so much!!!! Until next week!

Elder Samuel Hansen

Elder Samuel Hansen

We went on another hike to Picacho Peak! It was so fun and it was quite amazing to see the improvement since my first transfer. I was able to get up the mountain a lot easier and it made me proud of the progress I've made.

I LOVE SERVICE PROJECTS!!! We helped dig a ton of deep holes for a porch to go in. We dug for hours in the Arizona sun, reminded us of the movie "Holes"! They called me "Zero" from that movie because I dug so fast haha!

We give service sometimes as a district if a project is really big and it's super fun to work together. I love my district!

Well, that's about all I have for this week! I hope you all have a wonderful week, I'd love to hear from you!

Until next week!

Elder Samuel Hansen

This page (Facebook) was meant to be a page to share pictures of arrivals, departures and meetings so that families could share in the events of their loved ones.  As we were delayed, it took on more of a news report of what was happening in narrative form.  Now that we are here, pictures and mission events that we are involved in are being posted and we will not have much time to keep the narrative going.  With that said, here is a note about what we know is going on.  

Two weeks after our arrival, the Prime Minister of France decided to close the borders to France and all its territories to anyone not a part of the European Union.  This meant that all tourists in Tahiti had to leave within a matter of a few days.  This meant that the majority of international travel to and from Tahiti would cease in a few days.  This order was to last at least through the month of March.  Thankfully we had been here long enough to have a residency card so it did not apply to us.

The explanation given was that they wanted to protect the country from the spread of the newer, faster spreading variant of the Covid virus.  It had not yet arrived here but had in a few other places in the French Protectorate.  Fortunately for here, the number of new infected cases have been dropping for weeks.  A week ago the daily average was in the 20’s and last Friday was only five.  That is progress to be sure.

Although the numbers sound good in Tahiti, the bigger picture of Covid in France and the United States is dictating the long term visa policy restrictions.  With the exception of the recent Prime Minister’s closure, the borders for tourists had been open since July.  It appears that this stance may not change until new covid cases fall significantly and vaccinations have been common place.  We do not know how long that may take but hope it is sooner than later.  

The work of the Lord moves forward.  Keep your prayers and faith coming.

President and Sister Banner

Note from Rosario Hansen: Samuel has the French citizenship and does not need a visa to travel to Tahiti. However, the latest decision of the French Prime Minister do not allow citizens to go to Tahiti. There are French missionaries waiting to go also. When they are cleared to go to Tahiti, Samuel will probably also be cleared.

Bonjour mes amis!!!

We had a pretty great week this week! We've been trying to teach a lot of people, some successful and some not so successful. We are still teaching Woody, he came to church last Sunday and it made me so happy to see him there!! He's so excited about this whole process and he loves the church and what we do. He would be what we call "elect" for sure.

We were trying to go to an appointment this last week and we were already running late when a train came out of nowhere! It was so long!! We waiting there for like 8 minutes for this some 3 mile long train to pass by... We hurried to the appointment and it went perfectly fine, we even meet another family member that came into the driveway at the exact same time we showed up. The Lord must have needed us to be there at that exact time for a reason, and right now we don't know why. If we had came to that train crossing maybe 10 seconds earlier we could have beat the train, yet it was perfectly timed to delay us. The Lord works in mysterious ways and you can't be frustrated, this is his work! We are only the instruments and his hands!

My companions are great, we joke around a lot and we are really starting to grow closer together, which is so important! Elder Carpenter is doing great starting in the mission, it can sometimes be hard for a lot of missionaries, but he's enjoying it!
We are starting to become pretty close to the food bank that is Coolidge, we love going there to do service, and they anticipate us every time.

I love this quote from Gordon B. Hinckley. Simply do what you can and in the way you know, and the Lord sees the effort you put. I know that this is so true especially as missionaries! We are a bunch of 19-21 year olds trying to spread the most important message in the world, we are so far from perfect. But we try our best and the Lord works through those efforts that we make. He can do the same for you in all you do! Just put him first, and trust in Him. He can change your life, I've seen it happen in my life and the lives of those we try to teach.

Sorry my week hasn't been so exciting, I'll try to take more pictures this next week! Trust in God a little more this week, I'm reminded of that each time I see "In God We Trust" on our US coins. We see that all the time yet we never think about it!

I love you all!!

Elder Samuel J. Hansen

The sunsets never fail to impress me!

We met with a new investigator and friend named Woody this past week and he plans to be baptized in the end of March!!! We are so excited for him, he just absolutely loves the peace and light that comes from those that are a member of the church. He wants that for himself and nothing would make a missionary happy then providing the way for that to happen! He plans to pray about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and about being baptized.

We've been getting some rain this past week, which is quite relieving! It hasn't rained in a pretty long time and it's great to have some clouds.  

I graduated from being a trainee!! We met in Tempe and we taught all the lessons and heard a couple messages from President Goaslind and his wife, as well as the Assistants. Afterwards, we "graduated"! For many, this was the only graduation they experienced because of the pandemic so it was a special moment. I'm very thankful for my trainers Elder Smart, Elder Larson, Elder Dryden, and Elder Hafen that have helped me become a better missionary and helped me come closer to Christ. It's been an awesome beginning to my mission and I'm excited to be training now and look to the future!

Do you notice those around you that help you? I'm so grateful for coming here to Arizona because I'm learning so many things from so many people that are helping me become who I want to be. Sometimes we don't notice the small changes we make to become better, and looking back to see where you come from is such a great joy. Are you surrounding yourself with people or things that are helping you become who you want to be? Little changes can make a world of a difference over time, so do you want it to be for the better?

Analyze the things that influence you, even the small things because they still impact you!

I hope you all have a great rest of your week. Work hard and play hard!

Love you all, nana mes amis!!!

Elder Samuel Jan Hansen

Welcomes don't get any better than this! What a great group of people to welcome us to this beautiful island!!!

President and Sister Banner

Love,

Président and Sister Banner

This week has been pretty great. Isn't it crazy how it's already 2021!?! We've had lots of lessons and service. It's pretty good to keep busy, time flies and the work becomes more joyful.

We are glad to start a new year, it gives us the opportunity to look back at the past year and see all the things we have experienced and learned. I'm ready to apply all we learn to this next upcoming year!

I don't really have anything interesting to talk about, this past week, not even any interesting photos... I promise to take more pictures!!!
I hope everyone is having an awesome beginning of the year!!

Elder Hansen

(The picture is a funny sign we saw at our apartment complex!)

Iaorana to'u mau hoa!!

Man, it's been busy couple of weeks!! But I'm sure you could say the same thing, haha!

Two weeks ago was the last week of my first transfer in the field, and we did so much. We met with so many people to goodbyes, because Elder Smart left for home at the end of that week! It was so awesome for me to see all the connections and relationships that he had with the ward for the short amount of time he was here, I want the same for me!

My birthday was also that week! It was super awesome, there were so many people that really made it the best day they could for me. We were with the Christensens the day before my birthday and they found out it would be the next day and Sister Christensen made me a lemon cake!! I was really really good and it made me so happy. The Carling family also dedicated their dessert to my birthday at dinner with them and that was super sweet. I got a couple letters and a package from home that I opened that night that really made my day too:)

Before the transfer ended, we had two baptisms on Saturday the 12th!! It was so amazing, quite a miracle to experience in my first transfer. Kaylee was so excited and she has been so happy and proud ever since then, which makes me so so happy for her. Patrick got baptized too, and it was pretty amazing for me because it was with him that I had my first real lesson on my mission. He may not want to admit it, but this gospel and the baptism has been changing him since I first met him. He has the desire to be better and I love that, that's what the Lord wants too.

Sister Powers is amazing, she's gone through so much in her life and yet everything she does is for God and Jesus Christ. She has amazing faith. She has two cancerous tumors in her spine that cause her tremendous pain, along with a new injury of some dislocated fingers. She has two sons that we love to talk to that need the influence of the gospel.

Brother Castillo is probably the most amazing person I could ever meet in my life. Almost everyone that comes to this mission has heard of the legendary Brother Castillo and only dream to meet him. How grateful am I to know such an inspired instrument of the Lord. He is an inspiration to me. Without spoiling his story, which is probably the plot to a movie, he loves the missionaries more than anything and gives everything he has for our benefit, because they helped in his conversion twice to the church. I continue to learn more through his stories and experiences that change my view of the world.

We dropped off Elder Smart at the mission home to go home! It was bitter sweet, we had such an excellent transfer to end his mission and to start mine. I'll remember it forever, that's for sure. Elder Larson got transferred to Yuma and we stayed together for a day before transfers.

My new companions are super awesome! Elder Dryden is 23 months in the mission, he's from Virginia and we are pretty much the same person to be honest. Elder Hafen was in my zone but got transferred into my companionship! He's hard working and is a little over a year old in the mission. We are an awesome companionship, it's going to be an awesome transfer.

Christmas was awesome!! We got to go caroling for almost 9 hours last week and I really hope we made lots of people happy, it definitely made me happy and enjoy the true spirit of Christmas. My package from home hasn't arrived yet (update: arrived on December 28), so many packages and mail is being delivered around the country that it's really lagged behind but it should be coming soon. To be honest it was a really good experience for me to not have any presents for Christmas. There are so many people around the world that don't get gifts. I realize even further how spoiled I am!! I got to really focus on the reason for the season, Jesus Christ!! Honestly, it made me so happy. When you serve others and focus on them, it can be pretty easy to forget about yourself, which I'm grateful for.

No updates on Tahiti. The cases are definitely down from the spike, some days are zero but some days are 100+ cases. We do hear of some that are getting sent to their original missions, but the process is not clear and kind of random. We'll see what happens I guess. I am pretty happy here, if the Lord wanted me to stay here for the whole 2 years I would know it was for a good reason.

With this new year starting up soon, I encourage you to look back at all the things that you've learned and apply them to this next year. Things may not get better, but that doesn't mean we can't stop pushing hard through it!

I hope to have the time to write you all next week!!! Happy New Years and make some awesome goals!!!

A faaitoito, nana!!

Elder Hansen

I've learned so much this Christmas season as a missionary. I get to focus on the Savior every day, and it's really changing my life. I hope you have put Jesus Christ the center of the season this year, especially with all the hardships that have come upon the world. Finish the year strong! Remember the lessons you've learned this year and apply them to next year! Let Christ be the focus and I promise the blessings come. Trust that God has a plan for each of us, and that Jesus Christ is helping us along the way. I love you all!

Merry Christmas!

Elder Hansen

My 4th great-grandfather's name was Marriner Wood Merrill, and he was an apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as well as the first Temple President of the Logan Temple (Pictured below).

His stories are absolutely amazing and I could share many but I'll share just this one: "When the Logan Temple nearing completion in 1884, the First Presidency of the Church had the responsibility of choosing the man to become its President. President John Taylor earnestly desired to be guided aright in the matter and select the right man and so he prayed fervently for inspiration. While doing so, a voice seemed to say that the man for the post was Bishop Merrill of Richmond. In view of all that he had heard, President Taylor was exceedingly unconvinced and could scarcely credit the inspiration he receive. So he prayed on. Then there came the distinct and unmistakable impression of a voice, "Bishop Merrill of Richmond." And that settled it and he was chosen and he filled that position with energy, enthusiasm, credit, distinction, and general satisfaction until his death in 1906.
On October 7, 1889, Marriner Wood Merrill was ordained an Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the hands of President Wilford Woodruff."

Thank you for reading this story, I love my ancestors and family history work. I learn so many lessons through their examples and I know that you can too.

Elder Hansen

#LightTheWorld

Today is Elder Samuel Jan Hansen's Birthday!

We are so proud of him and the wonderful young man he has become. He loves the Work! We love you Samuel! We can't call you but we are thinking of you.

Elder Hansen

Iaorana!!!
Do you ever just have those weeks that are just so busy that you forget everything that you've done? So yeah, that's pretty much what's happening to me right now haha!

It's been awesome down here. The area is doing really really well and we are seeing miracles almost everyday. It's definitely a harvesting time I feel like and it's amazing. There are so many members and non-members that just love to talk with us and we are fed every single night. I love them so much!!! There are so many different people that live here and I love just listening to all their stories and lives.

Two Sundays ago when we went to church, we thought it would be just like normal but wow we were blessed. We somehow left church with several new people to teach that very day. We were so shocked, it was a miracle! One of those people is Kaylee, she was meeting with the missionaries just when COVID happened and then she moved and the missionaries got quarantined. Fast forward to that Sunday, she had moved back here and is READY TO BE BAPTIZED. We went to her house that night and among one of the very first words she told us was, "How do I become a member?" "What do I need to do to be baptized?" I couldn't even begin to try and explain how happy it made me! We put her on date to be baptized the 12th of December, so we are working for that date!! She has felt the spirit before and during our lessons and it's overwhelming, she loves it so much. She's ready to learn so much and I'm excited for her.

We were about to leave for the church the other night when I felt like playing with a hackesack with Elder Smart before we left. 15 minutes later we were leaving the apartment and saw there had been a bad accident from someone just leaving the apartment and got T-boned. Instantly me and Elder Smart realized that we were probably saved from that accident just then. It's kinda funny how God can work through your weaknesses.

We are waiting for the moment when we will be quarantined, covid cases are on the rise and we feel Arizona will follow the same mandates as Utah here pretty soon. I really hope not, I absolutely love being outside and talking with members face to face and actually meeting people who are interested in the gospel in person! The online MTC didn't let me have that experience, and I'm just eating up every opportunity here. You really become more grateful for things after they are gone and you realize how good they were.

We hiked Picacho Peak this last P-day and it was awesome!! It's been awhile since I've hiked, I was so sore but it was good. The view was absolutely amazing, I'll have some pictures attached that just show how high up we were! Didn't think I could get up that high in Arizona...

That's why I'm so happy President Nelson gave us such an amazing message a couple weeks ago. How amazing was that?? We got to hear from a prophet of God, exclusively for 15 minutes, about a topic he had a prompting in the middle of the night to give. It's so important to look for the good in our lives, even when things don't seem so good, because you will be more happy and see how much you DO have. I have definitely come to know that as I have shared that message with many families and thought about it personally. Please don't forget the message! Apply it into the Christmas season! Christmas this year may be a little different for a lot of people, but what can we be grateful for? How can you share your light with other people, so that they can have one more reason to be grateful?

I think with everything that's gone on this year, we need to strive to make this season the best of it all. We should serve others more, look out for people in need, be grateful for what we do have, and #LightTheWorld!! I promise you that as you pray for more opportunities to do so, they will be given to you. There are so many in need. You will be blessed as you serve your friends and neighbors.

I love you all!! Thank you for reading about my experiences and the lessons I'm learning :) Send me and email or even a real letter, I'd love to hear from you!!

A faaitoito mes amis!!!

Elder Hansen

The rate of spread of Covid in Tahiti has slowed somewhat but still is higher than it should be.  It is hard to determine how many active cases there are currently but a slower spread should bring active cases down as those large numbers of previously infected work their way through.  Hopefully this trend will continue to improve so that life can return somewhat to normal.  Vaccines arriving in the next few weeks  should also help calm fears and help us return to a more normal life.  

The number of Mission Presidents unable to get to their assignments have dropped from the original 55 down to only four.  Besides us, the other three are Japan, Peru and Russia.  Work on our visas through the Senator’s office continues but hasn’t yet produced the desired results.  We continue to scratch our head as to why vacationers are allowed to come but not long term residents.  The recent surge in Covid cases worldwide can be the only reason.  

Like so many missionaries, we are anxious to get to our originally assigned field of labor.  In the meantime we want to serve, and like so many others, we have been temporarily reassigned while we wait for our visas.  On December 3rd we will be leaving for the Temple Visitors Center in Laie Hawaii.  Officially it will put us in the same time zone as Tahiti and in the proximity of Tahitians who work at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  

We look so forward to be doing what we can to help move the work of the Lord forward in whatever way we can.   We have faith that he knows what is best and that his timing is perfect.  We are grateful that our service begins soon and look forward when we can all be together in Tahiti.  

We pray for all our missionaries and their success and well being.  A faaitoito noa!

Président and Sister Banner

Turkey day deserves what I am most grateful for. Jesus Christ.

Why? Because He knows exactly everything I'm going through and can help me overcome it. He made it possible for me and everyone I love to have eternal life and everything that that can mean. He taught us amazing lessons that help us become better beings. He's done it all so that we can become our all. Follow Him, and I promise it'll be worth it.
#GiveThanks

Today I'd like to share a trial I'm super grateful for. Before the Home MTC I went to MTECH, a technical college, and became an advanced EMT. COVID-19 stopped us from being in class for many months, where hands-on experience is critical, which made an already hard class even harder. Those couple of hours of classes during the week dragged on and made me grumpy and the rest of my day depressing. Can you imagine my horror, when I found out I would be on zoom for 7-8 hours everyday for 9 weeks in the MTC?? I spoke with my stake president and he told me something I took to heart, "What you put in is what you are going to get out. Work hard and it'll be an awesome experience." I decided that I would try my best to make the best of the situation; I took lots of notes; I tried to participate a lot; I tried to laugh and make jokes and have a good time. The difference was CRAZY. I learned so so much in the MTC and it changed my life. I will never be able to full express my gratitude for my MTC teachers and my districts. The time flew by so fast while I was in the MTC, I learned two languages, and I grew much closer to my Father in heaven and Jesus Christ. Be grateful for the experiences that make you YOU!!
#GiveThanks

I'm so grateful for agriculture and farmers today. I picked my own cotton a couple days ago and have been feeling so grateful for those who work tirelessly in those fields. They put food on our tables and most times we don't even think about it! #GiveThanks

Today, I'm so so grateful for my companions. This trio, works MIRACLES. I'm so grateful that Jason Smart and Levi Larson could be training me in this crazy world. We work really hard but we have so much fun. Time flies...
#GiveThanks

Today I am grateful for love and kindness. The world needs so much of that right now. I'm so happy and grateful that I get to serve a mission where I get to spread that everyday. I love to serve others SO MUCH. The simplest things can make a world of a difference.What can you do to spread more love and kindness around you??
#GiveThanks

I'm so grateful for my family!! I love them so much and they mean so much to me! Families can be together forever, and I'm so happy that through this gospel, that can be reality:) How can you be more grateful to your family?? I regret all the times I wasn't grateful for my family, let them know you love them!
#GiveThanks

I'm so grateful for the beauty on this earth!! During COVID I haven't been able to really go out and appreciate the beauty that is around us, but it's everywhere!! This planet was created for us and I feel so much peace and happiness when I take a moment to look around us.
What's a beautiful place you've seen??
#GiveThanks

IN ENGLISH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlcILxGmVrI

EN FRANCAIS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWRtticTr20EN

ESPANOL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlmHQBGmC84

Iaorana tout le monde!!
Sorry for not writing last week, it's been a crazy couple of weeks!!

For those who didn't hear, I was almost sent to Tahiti! The church canceled my flight to Arizona and said I was going to Tahiti in the next week! You better believe I was overwhelmed with emotions! But the next day they changed their mind and was sent of to Tempe later that day... kinda crazy! I was prepared to go to Arizona but with all the mix up it made it a little harder. They changed their mind because Corona is booming down there. So pray for Tahiti and for the situations around the world!

It's been so good here. I met my companions and went to our area which is around Casa Grande and Arizona City. I love it down here, and I LOVE my companions. We are so unified and they are a blast.

My first week was kinda weird, trying to get use to actually being a missionary haha! But I loved it, we did so much service and I'm all about that. We have dinner almost every single night with a member and that is such a blessing for me to actually see real people! The members here are amazing, they have so many stories and experiences and they love the missionaries. I love it:) We aren't allowed to go contacting on the street or anything like that but we interact with all and any we can while out and about.

Almost two weeks in I feel like I'm getting pretty use to the system and how things work, still have so much to learn though. I'm loving it all though, I had an idea of what missionary work was like and it wasn't all good things. I had an idea of how I thought it would be best and went I came here it's how its been going!! Its centered on just helping people be better, and I love it! I love helping people and especially in this life right now, people just need someone to talk to and to hear them talk. That's what we do!

I've seen several little miracles while being here already and some are precious to me but I just have to say that I've been guided so much by the spirit, and if I could give any advice in my whole life it's to follow those little prompting to do something. It'll eat at you if you don't do it, and even when you do the weird little things you feel, you will feel so good and you never know what can happen.

I guess my little message for you all is about what I've experienced. I didn't know what it was like out here until I just did it. If you are scared about taking the next step or knowing what the gospel is really like in your life you just have to try it! Its like my mama always said, "you don't know what it tastes like until you try it" haha! Life is about the experiences we have, dont be afraid to experience them! Be courageous and remember what you stand for and who you are! God will help you as you do your part! Some of the only things you can control is your attitude, and if you try to be happy and keep it up I promise anything will go smoother. Control what you can control and let the rest happen and continue forward! I've become a lot happier by living this way, even though it can be hard sometimes.

I'm sorry I don't write so much, its a little harder to write from a phone... but if you have any questions or things you want to talk to me about send me an email, I'd love to hear from anyone!!!

Until next time friends!!!

Are you struggling to see when the blessings will come? Maybe wondering if what you are doing is good enough? Well, I have.
I've been thinking a lot about these questions regarding patience and trust the past couple weeks and wanted to share a little bit! We must continue to do the things that are right. Don't give up because you don't see the blessings!! You must continually nourish and grow your faith, in patience! Consistency and patience is key! It's uncomfortable and it's hard, but the rewards are above anything you'd want. We don't know everything, we must "believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." (Mosiah 4:9)   He knows best when those blessings will benefit us most, so trust Him! He knows more than me, many people know more than me haha, but He knows best!!

If you want to hear more just contact me!
Or read this talk by Jeffrey R. Holland that is AMAZING:
http://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/.../2020/10/57holland...

We had the opportunity to talk to Samuel tonight for the first time since he left!
After a tumultuous departure, he arrived in Tempe Arizona on Tuesday,
November 3rd. The night before we received information that the Pacific Area Presidency had given approval for him to go directly to Tahiti! His flight to Tempe was cancelled! Of course Samuel was excited! The Visa Department of the Church told him to stay home that week and that he would be flying out soon.

The next morning we all went to work and school. We received a phone call mid-morning that the Area Presidency had changed their mind because they didn't realize how bad the situation was with Covid-19 in Tahiti. To keep him safe, they decided to go with the original plan, send him to Tempe Arizona. Samuel ended up on a flight to Arizona after all, and on the same day originally planned. He arrived after all the other missionaries arriving that day.

The Tempe Arizona Mission was very welcoming and I will be forever grateful. Thank you President and Sister Goaslind for taking care of all this young men and women.

He was assigned to be companions with Elder Smart and Elder Larson. Both have been fantastic with Samuel. Elder Smart is on his last transfer before returning home. Elder Larson was serving in Mexico when Covid-19 hit, was sent home for a while then ended up being reassigned to the Tempe Arizona Mission.

They live in Arizona City where it's really dry and Samuel experienced his first sand storm!!

The 3 of them are assigned to just one ward and the members have been fantastic with him. They often feed the missionaries and take care of them. One family told him that he was too skinny and needed to eat more!! He probably thought I was in contact with them or something?‍♀️!!

Samuel does a lot of service which he really loves. His P-Day today was very busy and he wasn't sure he was going to be able to write something for the blog but he was able to answer to our emails to him. We talked to him for a very long time.

It brings peace to my heart to know how much he's loving the work and how he enjoys the time he spends with his companions. He can't believe it's been already a week!

We saw some pictures of his apartment and it looks really nice. His desk is full of books, French, Tahitian and English!!!

I'm so grateful to my Heavenly Father that he sent our son to a wonderful place with wonderful people. I couldn't ask for better! I pray that he will continue to love serving others and that he will grow his testimony by doing so.

I just love this picture so much. Our faith, no matter the size, can make a difference in our lives and the lives around us. We just have to use it as much as we can! It can be hard in our world today, but that's when we need it most!!I have faith that if I continue to do what's right especially during this hard year, then I will be blessed!! What are some things you have faith in? Let's hear some ideas!

The work continues to move forward despite conditions world wide.  There were 28 baptisms in the Tahiti Papeete Mission with only 58 missionaries.  Learning to live with the new normal will be challenging but doable.  The work will accelerate as we learn to use it in the work, the technological tools we have been given.  The biggest threat will be living in the past and wanting to do things the old way.

Members will also need to adjust in this shift.  For example, a simple way to help would be to share an uplifting message on social media and then sharing with the missionaries the contact information of ANY positive replies.  The missionaries will take it from there.  It pretty painless but reaches a wide audience in a hurry.

The missionaries, on the other hand, must be prepared for frequent, shorter contacts with those interested in hearing the gospel message.  They will have more lessons and more investigators.  

The gathering of Israel will also be much more collaborative going forward.  This week the church announced that members who refer friends can help participate in teaching them through technology regardless of where the participants live.  What a blessing for touching the lives of those we love, regardless of where we or they live.  Even with Covid, the work will go forward.

Speaking of Covid.  The last few weeks have seen a huge increase in cases around the world, including Tahiti.  France has initiated partial shutdowns.  In Tahiti, they already had a curfew in place and a few new social restrictions were added based on what was recommended from France.  Nearly a dozen missionaries came down with Covid by going into members homes, but most have already recovered.  As such, the missionaries can only be fed by the members right now if the food is dropped off.   In spite of this, baptisms continue.

As mentioned last time, the church is working directly with our Senator’s office to try to get  visa exceptions for Sister Banner and me. When they checked with the Consulates office last week, they were evasive in their answers but said our situation had been elevated on October 15th.  We are not sure exactly what that means but any movement in the right direction is appreciated.  With all that is going on politically in Washington this coming week, the next follow up will be in about a week.  

We hope that the recent Covid restrictions do not dampen our chances at getting visas.  We think often of all our missionaries who have received calls to Tahiti and we pray for them regularly.  We hope that France will begin issuing long term visas for them in the near future and that Tahiti will be a safe place for them to come/return to.  

We are so grateful for your continued thoughts and prayers.  We are hopeful we can get to Tahiti in the next two or three weeks but know the Lord’s timing is perfect.  In a coming day we will see the wisdom in what he has prescribed for us and for your missionaries.  We will update you if anything in our situation changes.

President and Sister Banner

I finished the last week of the MTC!!! It's crazy, it's gone by so fast. I have so many things I have to talk about this week so we'll just get started:

I first just want to thank so many people. SO THANKFUL for my wonderful teachers Soeur Holt and Frère Miller (and Soeur Corrigan and Frère Sebra from French). They had so many stories, helped me grow my testimony so so so so so much and helped me learn languages I never thought I could grow at the point I am at now. I want to thank the other missionaries in my group too, their testimonies and their knowledge and light has helped me become such a better missionary and without them I wouldn't be as happy as I am. I'm so thankful for my family, for dealing with all my weirdness, and for all the support they give me and the love they show for me:) I am so grateful for my companion Elder Anderson too, he has such an AMAZING testimony and we have become such a strong companionship. I hope all my companionships will be like this, he's helped me grow so much and we have done so well teaching together it makes me so proud of the effort we made.

I can't thank anyone however as much as I need to thank my Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. I have personally grown closer to them over these 9 weeks more than I ever have in my life. I have personally seen their works in my life. I have seen miracles happen and I'm learning more everyday to put more trust in them.

I went to the temple this week!!! It was amazing!!! I loved it and I really wish I could go again but it seems it may be awhile before I can... I'm glad I could give many of my family or friends an opportunity to go, I finally got to see why it's so important to continue going and be in the Lord's house. The spirit I felt in there was AMAZING. Please don't take the temple for granted, even when they open again.

I leave for Tempe Arizona on Tuesday, two more days left!!! We still have our hope for Tahiti though. We received word that the mission president and the mission department approved me to go to Tahiti this week!! But we are still waiting on a response from the Pacific Area Presidency... so we'll see. Super close though!!
I don't really have much of a spiritual thought today but something has been lingering in my head since Friday in my very last class of the MTC. Frère Miller told us that we need to use the gifts given to us from God to further the work, that there is a reason we were chosen to serve at this time; we will need to use our own personalities and talents because that's what God wants!! This idea is perfectly relatable to your own lives!! You have special talents and abilities given to you from God. You are here on Earth during this specific time because of who you are!!! Be you!! That is who God needs, and that is what the people around you need. Keep trying to be happy and spread charity in the world, we need it so much!!!! I hope you really take that to heart, it's pretty important.

I will speak to you all in the next week about my adventures in the first week in the field!! Always feel free to send me any emails about anything, I'd love to hear from you:):)

A faaitotio to'u mau hoa!!! (Be strong my friends!)

See you next week!
--
Elder Hansen :)

IAORANA!!!!! Eaha to outou huru?!? (How are you all doing?!) My second week of Tahitian went by pretty fast but it was probably the hardest week I've had so far. I'm been very fatigued, overwhelmed, and stressed out. It's getting better though, I'm learning how to overcome these moments. It's hard but it's part of life, we got to overcome the hard moments to become better!

I taught my first lesson in Tahitian this week! No it did not go that well haha, but you have to start somewhere right? It was really the first time for me to realize what it's like to stretch in a language that isn't your own. I was so frustrated and I can't create sentences from my own mind quite yet so I had to read it off like a script. It's not the same and you can't teach from the spirit like that so I can't wait till I can. Tahitian is such an amazing language, I just can't wait till it becomes a part of me.

I got my french passport on Tuesday!!!!!!!! We made contact with the mission travel department and we'll see if anything comes out of it!! We have high hopes and continue to pray that the situation in the world can lessen up. So far I'm still going to Tempe, we'll see if anything changes in the week but the plan is still for Arizona thus far:)

Speaking of which, I have one week left in the HMTC until I leave for my assignment!!!! I'm almost out of here! Yes it will be sad and hard to leave home, but I'm ready to move past being stuck on a screen all day. November 2nd will make for 2 months as a missionary so far! It's going by fast... I'm ready to interact with real people and teach them about the wonderful things gospel has to make their life happier and more peaceful :)

I've been thinking a lot this week about my role as a missionary and why I'm here. I'm an 18 year old boy, leaving behind my chance to finally start my own life to help spread a gospel message to the world. I for one know that I do not have nearly enough knowledge in my age to help in things that this world needs. But, I think that's also the point. This gospel isn't very complicated, and just it's simple messages and truths can change someones life forever. That is powerful. I feel the pressure already, but it's important to remember that as long as I do the right things and I have faith, the Lord will help me and use me to hasten this work!

Just because missionaries do this full-time doesn't mean we as members don't have to do anything! It also doesn't mean you have to teach lessons and travel to Tahiti (most wouldn't complain haha), it just means to live the gospel, try just a little harder each day to be like Christ, and let others see that light! My whole life I have had the most spiritual promptings on the subject of charity. Every time I think about it, it makes me so so happy and it's all I ever want to do. I strongly, strongly believe that we need more charity in the world today. I believe that is the answer to everything.

1 Corinthians 13:8 - Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

If it can literally never fail, it's probably a good tactic to invite others to Christ... It's the arrow shot from a bow that will never miss the middle of the target.

Moroni 7:47-78 - But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

The world needs so much of this right now, and it needs it from every single person. By small things great things are come to pass, that means it doesn't have to take a lot. A smile, some cookies, just asking how someone is doing can make a difference. Yeah it's cliche, but it's because it's so so so so true. I invite you to try a little harder at that and see what blessings you can see from it. You will see blessings come, I promise.

See you all in a week to report on my final week of the HMTC!!!!

A faaitoito to'u mau hoa!!! (Good luck my friends! :) )

Elder Hansen

IAORANA!!!

Well, I had my first week of Tahitian!!! It is such a cool language, it sounds so cool and I can't wait til I can really speak it. Tahitian is really so different from any language we normally encounter, and especially french. The culture really speaks through the language. The more we learn Tahitian, the more we learn about the people of French Polynesia. I really really can't wait to go there, I've been practicing and studying for weeks now to teach these people and I have grown a profound love for them, and I haven't even met them yet!!!

My previous district was split up, so half of my new district I've never met! They are awesome, and they have such amazing testimonies and personalities. I know they will do such amazing work and be such a light in people's lives. My new teachers are absolutely amazing too. They both served in Tahiti, and I can see how much love they have for the time they spent there. It's sad i'll only get to be with them for a few weeks, but I hope to be friends with them always!

My French passport is on it's way!!!!! I received an email that it was complete and that I will receive it soon!! I really hope it can help me out and that it can be taken into consideration. We will continue to hope and pray!

We recently talked about the Grace of God in class and it was an amazing discussion. The main idea of grace is "divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ." Through faith in the Atonement and repentance of your sins, we can receive strength and assistance to do good works that we could otherwise not be able to do if left to our own means. Isn't that amazing??? Maybe that's why they call it 'Amazing Grace' (such a good song).... In order to receive this grace, we must do all we can in our power to do the best we can. Grace means God will fill in the rest. "It is truly the grace of Jesus of Christ that makes salvation possible." So no, we can't receive this gift by sitting down and doing nothing and say "God will do it". But you can rest assured that after you do all YOU can, God will help you with the rest.

Before I started the MTC, I went to MTECH to become an Advanced EMT. For almost four months I did online classes. I absolutely dreaded it and it made my whole day worse. These months felt like years! It was 3 hours a day, which sounds pretty hefty already right? Well, I started to be scared because I soon found out that the MTC would be online too, 6 hours every day on zoom! Oh, the horror! I was so so worried I would absolutely hate it and everyday would be a nightmare, because I didn't want to! When I talked with my stake president before I started, we talked about this and he said something I took to heart: "The more you put into it the more you get out of it." I did exactly that, I told myself I would try everyday to make it good and learn as much as I can from it. Guess what? The time has passed so quickly I feel like it was last week I started. I've learned so much and I can feel the difference in strength, physically and spiritually. What did I do different? I put my whole effort into these classes, and I did all I could to learn more and be a good missionary, and guess what? I was blessed for it. Everyday is awesome, not a nightmare. I feel strong, not weak. I feel uplifted and happy, not sad and grumpy. That, is the grace of God.

I know that as you do all you can do to become better, God will help you and fill in the rest. Learn to trust in Him. Learn to hear his answers. Learn to see the help He sends your way. You are His child. He loves you, and He wants to help you all He can. You just have to do what you can, have faith and do a little better everyday, and prove you are working for it, and trying:) You will see it. Have faith :)

I love you all, I send my love and my prayers your way! Do some good this week!
E tatou mau utuafare, ua here vau ia tatou :) (You are family, I love all of you) Mauruuru roa, nana!

Elder Hansen

This week was the last week I would be learning French! It's been crazy to think that it's already done, time went by so fast. It feels like just last week I was starting the MTC... This upcoming week means I will be starting to learn Tahitian!! I'm super duper excited to learn it, but I'm pretty nervous too. This will be the first time learning a "new" language, as french has been pretty familiar to me my whole life, so it will be an interesting experience.

It was hard to say bye to my teachers, even though it's been 6 weeks. We grew really close as a district and with our teachers. I'm going to miss the other missionaries so much. They made it so much fun and really helped grow my testimony of the gospel. About half of us were able to meet together on P-Days a couple times to play games and just be together and I'm so glad we did that. It's sometimes hard to remember there is a real world out there when you are stuck in your basement all day.

An amazing experience happened to my companion Elder Anderson and I on Monday. We were teaching our amazing amie about the Godhead. I was finishing up the lesson and extending an invitation to pray to ask if the things we had talked about today were true, when my wifi stopped working and kicked me off of Zoom!
My companion was left alone with her in the call, and I couldn't rejoin!! I was super panicked and mad, but not as panicked as my companion felt! He had a hard time hearing french, and he was having a hard time throughout the lesson! He told me later his experience in this moment: "The moment you're picture froze I panicked and was more scared than anything in my life! I said a quick little prayer in my head that I could understand and that it would be okay. She was in the middle of asking you a question, but since you froze she asked me. In that moment I understood every single word she said, and was able to respond perfectly, even with words I didn't know I could say. We talked for a little bit but then she had to go. It went so well! The spirit was overwhelming, I had a spiritual high afterwards haha!!"
It was such a humbling experience for me. While my companion was teaching with the Gift of Tongues, I was yelling and mad I had been kicked off while I was feeling the spirit. When my companion told me what happened afterwards, everything just made sense and I was overwhelmed with the spirit. I never got kicked off of my wifi like that before, but it happened on that exact day, that morning, that exact moment in our lesson when we felt the spirit most. I felt the hand of God in my life that day and I'll never forget it.

Look for His hand in your life and I promise you'll find it every step of the way. Pray to see it, maybe to see where He has been. If things are bad and seem hopeless for you, know that there is a reason, that you can make it out okay! Things didn't look too hot for me in that Zoom call and I felt helpless, yet it was the most spiritual experience of my week.

Stay strong and try to be a light in the world! Strive to look for His hand in your life!!!

A bientôt!!

Elder Hansen

Ia ora na, mes amis!!

It's been quite a long week, I have learned much more French and about the gospel. My brain is pretty loaded, and my eyes too haha! Don't worry we get enough breaks, sometimes.

I received my reassignment on Tuesday (September 29) to... the Tempe Arizona Mission! I'm pretty excited, even if it is 10 hours drive away, it will be completely different. My mission is right on the border of Mexico, and has a ton of desert. It will be pretty hot, but more bearable in the upcoming months when I will be serving. I feel it is right for me to go there even if it is for a little bit, I know that I will be needed. There is much work to be done. My parents are wondering if the church could possibly retract the assignment if Tahiti opens sometime soon and my French passport comes in the mail. We will see I suppose.

I received a strong impression Tuesday night that I will be learning Spanish, even though I will be "English" speaking. Spanish would make the third language I'm learning, along with French and Tahitian. This next week will be my last week in French! Afterwards, I will be starting my three weeks of Tahitian, learning from the French language. Hard weeks are ahead...

I've learned so much this past week that it's hard to think about what I could even share with you. I thought about it and my thought was answered in General Conference this weekend. This gospel can be very simple. We are to have faith in Christ and our Heavenly Father; repent and change ourselves daily to try to become better like Christ; be baptized and follow our commitments by taking the sacrament; learn to live by the Holy Ghost and it's promptings; and do these things for our whole life.

Sometimes we get caught up in the details, or we do too much at a time and we fall right back down to where we started. But we must take it step, by step. One thing at a time. Grow your faith in Christ and learn to trust in him. He will guide you if you do so, I can promise that. There are so many things in the world that can bring us happiness, many things, but the gospel brings a kind of happiness many don't think of because they don't know. Eternal happiness!!! That is what this life is for. Through Jesus Christ alone, we will live in a state of happiness for all time and eternity. That is what we all should strive for, because a life-time of happiness we can't even comprehend is more worth it than most happiness found here.

There's just so much I could go into and I want to share but I'll end here and let your eyes have a rest haha! This church is true but more importantly I know God the Father and his son Jesus Christ to be true. We are saved because of his infinite sacrifice for all mankind. He died, for you. He knows you, and everything you have and will go through. Trust and have faith, and I promise you will be blessed. In His holy name, Amen.

I'll be here next week, stay tuned for my last week of french!
Nānā!

--
Elder Hansen :)

It's been quite a busy week, and not much exciting has happened. A lot of French learning and learning about the gospel!! It feels like it's gone pretty fast so far, only two more weeks in French left to go... I've learned so much in the MTC already, and so much more about this gospel than I really ever have in my life, and that in itself has been a real blessing for me. I really just needed to get the basics down and expand from there again and in doing so has been extremely amazing. I seriously see answers to prayer more now, I feel more happy, I have more energy, and I feel like my mind is opened. If any of you want to know how to feel that, start with the basics!

Learning to have faith is absolutely key, and you can build up that faith by first, praying often and with real intent, talk like you were actually talking to your father, because He is! Second, I recommend taking the time to read the scriptures, you can't build faith on something you don't constantly seek to understand, right? I learned that you don't have to always read through the scriptures beginning to end to "read the scriptures". Find scriptures on topics you have trouble understanding! Focus more on the quality of the scriptures you are reading instead of quantity. The Holy Ghost will speak to those who diligently seek to find the truth, I can promise that.

I was able to be with some of my friends from the district last Saturday for the first time!!! It was absolutely amazing to finally see the faces of the missionaries I've been looking through a screen for weeks... We had a blast playing pickleball and we talked about the adventures of 2020 and our crazy mission life so far.

I also taught my very first french TRC lesson on Friday!! It was pretty nerve racking, and I had no idea how it would go, but it went really well! Our amis "Dorothée" was so nice and really nice to us and our very basic understanding of french. However, I felt really bad for my companion because the moment she found out my mom was from France and that I grew up speaking it, she spoke much faster and it was a little overwhelming for my companion and even me... It was an amazing experience though, it's amazing how the spirit can still work through another language where you barely know what you are saying :)

I love you guys. Life is absolutely crazy right now, and I completely agree. The Savior knows too. Look to him for guidance, his gospel and the simple truths found in the scriptures can be applied to literally everything. Message/email me if you need any help at all, I'll be there for you!:)

--
Elder Hansen :)

We were fortunate this past week to have a Pacific Area meeting via zoom With all the Mission Presidents and their wives. It was presided over by Elder Gary Stevenson and Elder Brent Nielsen of the Presidency of the Seventy.  We learned that of the 55 original mission presidents that had to wait to go to their assignments, only 16 remain, two of which are in the Pacific Area. We are one of those two and the other is for Fiji.

As far as visas are concerned, more categories have opened up but not yet the one needed.  Progress is being made but slowly.  The church is working with the Utah Senators’ offices to see if they can get us an appointment with the French Consulate to help speed things along.  Your prayers are being heard.  We feel the time is coming soon for us.

As far as Covid is concerned, Tahiti had their first two deaths earlier this month.  It was a married couple in their 80’s.  They each had other underlying health issues.  The average age of those getting the virus in the islands is in the mid 30’s. They have had over 1300 total cases but most are mild with only 224 still active.  Other than a big spike up which lasted for a few short days, the active cases have been trending down since September 1st.  If you want to follow these cases on your own, you can go to « epidemic-stats.com ». Once there, go down near the bottom and find French Polynesia and click on its flag.  It will show you a graph of total infected and total recovered, then below that will show a graph of the trend of those still currently infected.

Other interesting information from our meeting this week.  Over 31,000 missionaries were moved in 40 days this spring.  Before Covid, there were over 68,000 missionaries.  This dropped to 43,000 and is now back up to 52,000.  US missions are at 124% of capacity and those outside the US at 52%.  The number of US Missions may temporarily expand from 200 to 260 by the end of the year until missionaries can go back to their original assignments.

Missionary work is still progressing well during the pandemic.  Per missionary, the number of baptisms has not dropped, but with fewer missionaries overall, the total number has dropped.  The baptisms in some missions have dropped significantly if the missionaries have been waiting for the pandemic to end.  The  missions who have continued to focus on their purpose, have used technology and other ways to continue to preach the gospel and done very well.  In fact, the Pacific Area overall is only down 4% of previous baptism rate with significantly fewer missionaries.  In other words, the baptism rate per missionary has actually gone up!  

Hearing this news only reinforces our belief that this devine reset has only begun and that the work of the Lord is going to accelerate going forward.  Mobile phones are continuing to be integrated into the work and will help accelerate it in Tahiti.  We have read the script.  We know who wins in the end.  We are on the winning team!

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.

President and Sister Banner

What a crazy week it has been!!! Starting off and the very beginning will take us to September 12, when the mountains behind my home were on fire! We could see the flames and there was so much smoke. We were safe, many homes had to be evacuated in safety though. The fire kept burning but away from us so it was more safe :)

I had a ton of classes this week and we learned a lot of french and are starting to learn the lessons in a mix of english and french. My district is just the best and I've had so many moments where I've laughed so hard! 18 year old boys will still be boys... I taught two more lessons to our previous 'amis' we taught last week and they went really well! We run out of time every time which stinks but we felt the spirit so strongly in our lesson about the restoration. It was incredible.

We left for San Francisco on Thursday at 3:15 and the flight was smooth and fast. I love flying and traveling so much I was so excited!! My parents not so much hehe. We arrived and got settled in for our appointment the next day. I went to San Francisco to get a French passport and French ID, because I could go to Tahiti sooner if I do! The french passport would bypass the Visa that they are not issuing right now, which would be very nice to not do. The appointment was successful!! It was such a crazy experience in the Consulate. We entered the building, which seemed to be under construction, and talked to the guy at the front desk for my appointment. He led me to the elevator and I found out I would go alone, which was what I was scared for. He told us it wasn't his rules because it was "a whole different world up there." Oh boy, he was right. I got up to my floor and everything was in french. Informational signs, flags, decoration, and pictures on the wall were all in French! Even the guys behind the counter and walking around were very typical french men (white-ish hair, tucked in shirt but the two buttons on top of the shirt undone, the French-from-France accent) I luckily had everything I needed, and my application for passport and ID!! Hopefully I will receive it in good time...

I have many thoughts from my time wandering around the city of San Francisco that I'd like to share. As many may know, the city is struggling with homelessness. Many people walk the streets carrying everything they own, which isn’t much. Sometimes people forget they are children of God too, and I couldn’t help having an overwhelming desire to help them. I felt so bad for their situations, to the point where I felt guilt walking by in my white shirt and tie. It’s almost impossible to think of what they are going through and the things that have happened in their lives. This concept applies to every single human on earth, even though some may be worse than others. But we must remember that God loves every single one of them, and he wants them to be happy and live with him again. We are to Love God and His children, He loves us unconditionally. How sad should it make you to think they do not know this??

Please smile a little. I know it’s cliché to say you never know who might need it, but it’s true. A lot of people don’t know there is a God that loves them no matter what, that they are His child, and that He wants them to come back with Him again. The least you can do to share that divine love is spread it a little, and try to be happy in faith that there is a plan for you and that Jesus Christ lives.
I love you guys:)!!! Sorry this is so long, it was a productive week for sure:)

Elder Hansen :)

I had to share...

Samuel has been doing MTC from home for two and half week now. While he’s on zoom calls pretty much all day from his bedroom, I learned more of his experience now that we are in a hotel room here in San Francisco.

I like to hear him laugh with his District. I like to see his smiles. I like to hear the jokes like if they were all his buddies. They are his buddies! They are just young men going through the same experience, not a real MTC experience, but still an uplifting experience.

As I listen to him speaking French, I’m just amazed by the knowledge he already received. I know he has a good basic knowledge of French but this is all new vocabulary to him, one that he never learned with us. The other missionaries are learning at the same time. Some have studied French for a couple of years, some not at all! How in the world can they already say so much in French in such a short time?! If this is not the gift of tongue, then I don’t know what it is. I can’t explain it. Miracles exist. They are unfolding before our own eyes.

Hi everyone! It's definitely been a long week, having classes for so long each day on top of the other things we have to do is quite straining to say the least... But it's the good kind of learning and I've been learning so so much about French and about the gospel that it makes me so much more excited to go and do some work!

I taught my first two lessons this week through the TRC! They were in english (thank goodness), and they went really well! Both times we had to throw out our lessons because we felt we could talk about something else that would help our amis! So I most definitely felt the spirit multiple times and it really really surprised me. I would open my mouth with only single words floating around in my head, but I spoke and it sounded amazing!! I felt shocked as I was saying and I felt overwhelmed with this feeling of peace, because I was nervous about doing okay and that I would say the right words. I'm pretty sure me and my companion both said the right things because they both wanted to meet with us again! We got good scores from both of them too:) It really gave me hope that I will be okay when teaching in the field. I can't wait!

We've been growing closer together as a district and it's amazing for me. Because of corona I haven't really had the opportunity to be with a group of friends and really get to socialize. I've missed that a lot. I'll definitely have the opportunity these next two years to get to know people... Staring at a screen for pretty much all day definitely isn't the best and it hurts, but it's for a good reason I guess :)

I have recently found an excellent passage of scripture that helps me when I feel I don't have faith or don't have hope that things will work out, Ether 12. The specific scripture that I feel is most helpful is verse 27, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." We all aren't perfect, not even close. We all have weaknesses and faults. Sometimes we have a hard time being honest with ourselves or others that we do. But here is the promise that God makes: If you humble yourself before him, and have faith in him and in all he can do to help you -- he will make weak things strong, in you. I have many faults, and I knew that before I started the MTC. I earnestly prayed to God and admitted my weaknesses and I told him I would honestly and truly trust in Him, that he could help me. By doing so, I put my faith in him. Not joking, I have noticed a difference since then. I was able to teach those lessons this week through knowledge and power I didn't even know I had.

I can tell you from the bottom of my heart, that this church is true. It is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ that was once on the earth nearly 2000 years ago. No, it's definitely not perfect, because we are imperfect human beings. But it's message and truths are perfect. You know who is perfect?? God and Jesus Christ!!! Put your trust in them! Have faith and have hope, that is what will keep you happy in this trying times!! Keep on trying! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
--
Elder Hansen :)

Bonjour mes amis!!

My very first 'week' has gone by in the HMTC! So much has happened that this email could be hours long to read so I'm sorry if that is the case...

I was set apart on Tuesday night by my Stake President with my parents and grandparents. It was such an amazing experience, and I can't lie I definitely did shed a couple tears. It was such a wild experience for me, I grew up waiting until the day I would be serving a mission and thought it was in forever and I had so much time. But here I am, and listen up kids time goes faster than you think. I couldn't sleep that first night thinking about my first day of the MTC. We went through our class and I love everyone in my district! We have a Sœur from New Zealand in our class which makes our schedule a little funky but not as weird for her, as you can imagine, being 12 hours ahead of Utah time.

I love my collègue Elder Anderson! He is the youngest of 4 with three older sisters, he loves singing, playing the trumpet, and I can tell he has a strong desire to help others come to Christ. We've had many discussions and he has lots of ideas and thoughts that help me learn. Super grateful for that.

Learning french is hard. I've got a lot of the basics down and conversational words and pieces from speaking it at home, but I am completely new to learning gospel related words in french. I'm getting there though, and I'm super impressed with my district and how well they are receiving the instruction from our teachers, Frère Sebra and Sœur Corrigan. I LOVE THEM BOTH! They both served in the Lyon, France mission so they both speak french I'm more familiar with. They both go to BYU, but Sœur Corrigan just moved from Scotland 3 weeks ago. I absolutely love her accent. LOVE IT.

We have made plans to leave for San Francisco in a couple weeks in an attempt to get my french passport to allow me to go to Tahiti sooner! We really really hope it works and that everything works smoothly, we'll be praying hard. Something else that's new in life is now we have a puppy!!! His name is Toby, and he's an adorable little white Pyrenees puppy.

I feel like I've changed since I've started the MTC, I definitely feel like I'm happier inside even if I look and feel tired from all the zoom calls. The gospel of Jesus Christ is really starting to change me and I can't even really tell you what it is specifically. Through reading the scriptures, praying, and talking more about the steps people have to take to make it back into God's presence makes me feel happy, and more eager to teach and tell others about it! It's incredible, and I can't wait for the MTC to be done so I can be out there caring for people and loving them. We had a workshop on Thursday where one of the presenters brought up Moana (the Disney movie that takes place in my islands!!), and a song they sing called, "We Know The Way". In 2 Nephi 31:21 we read, " And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ ."

The doctrine of Christ is the only way we can return to live with our father in Heaven. He is the only way. If we know the way, we should proclaim to others that we do, just like the people of Motunui in Moana proclaimed, We know where we are. We know who we are. We know the way. I wish you all a good week, and remember who you are! A child of God :)

Nānā mes amis!!

PS: BIG THANK YOU to Brother Chad Bailey who made this cake for me!

We'll wait for him to share his experience but from what I heard it was a fun experience. As I arrived home from work I went to see Elder Hansen in his bedroom. I tried to sneak in really quickly and take a picture. He was praying with his district! This is going to be so fun!

Today was also his siblings' birthday, Ana and Dylan (twins). They picked the place to eat dinner and they chose Marley's, where Samuel's used to work for over 2 years! As he was there, he decided to help them cook our own food! Way to go Samuel!

Tonight, Samuel was officially set apart as a full-time missionary. It was a very special and emotional experience. Samuel's grandparents, Ted and Linda Hansen, were there, our Stake President, President Brown, Kevin (as parent and Bishop) and myself (mom). Ana and Dylan (Sam's siblings) were in quarantine (they were exposed to Covid at school) and couldn't come.

As I reflect on my own experience as a convert, I'm humble by the fact that my son has chosen to serve the Lord and bring his love for the gospel to others.

Here are his own words:

"It feels so surreal, ever since I was a little boy I’ve said I wanted to go on a mission, and I can’t believe it’s already here! I get set apart tonight and tomorrow starts off in my basement but I pray I’ll be out there someday serving God’s children, anywhere I’m asked to go, letting them know that in this harsh world even now, God loves them, and I do too. This gospel can bring so much joy into someone’s life, the feelings of relief and love are immense. I hope to share that with everyone I come in contact with, and invite them to turn to Christ

Instead of a weekly email, you can sign up for my blog which can be found in my bio! You can email me personally at: samuel.hansen@missionary.org

I love everyone I’ve come to know in my life so far and I’m ever thankful for the support and care I’ve received:)

Maruuru mes amis, à bientôt!

@ Tahiti, Papeete

It has been six weeks since our last post and felt it was time for an update.  About 55 mission presidents and their spouses were delayed getting to their assigned areas.  Since the first of July, roughly 35 of those are still waiting.  The last we heard, nearly half of all missions in the world are still confined to their apartments and that the work is progressing through digital means.  

We are still waiting for the French Government to start allowing the long term, category D visitor visa for those from the United States.  We found out this week that they review this every two weeks.  There was one new category that showed up this week, so there is a little movement.  New Covid cases have been trending down in the US the past few weeks which is a good sign.  Hopefully that trend will continue in order to begin the processing of the needed visas.  A request has been made to the High Commissioners office in Tahiti to see if they can help us get our visas.  If not, then we will just have to wait until the needed visa category is approved for everyone.  

In Tahiti, Covid is on the rise.  Tourists started coming back in mid July provided that they tested Covid free, three days before leaving for Tahiti.  Four days after arrival, another test is taken.  Since opening the borders, 16 tourists have been identified as having the virus after the second test and were isolated quickly.  According to government reports, no one in the service industry who serviced them has contracted the virus as they must follow protection protocols for their jobs.  The locals on the other hand, who have not practiced the recommended protocols have been the ones to spread the virus.  Anyone in the outer islands who catches the virus are quickly transported to a safe location in Tahiti to protect the spread from occurring in the outer islands.  It appears that Tahiti is not planning to close their borders again as they are strongly encouraging their citizens to practice protective measures.  As of today, 465 have been infected and 169 no longer are showing symptoms of the virus.  Ten have been hospitalized.  Younger people who frequent bars have been the most affected.

Smart phones are currently being introduced into the mission.  After the initial training on the use of them, the first step is to get all area books digitally entered.  After that, the missionaries will begin to use them in the work, including social media proselyting.  At the low, there were 19 missionaries in the mission, now there are about 70.  The increase is from Tahitian missionaries being repatriated due to Covid.  About a dozen of these missionaries have been using smartphones in their previous mission which will help with getting things started in Tahiti.  We do not have a current count, but as of a couple of weeks ago, the mission has had over 60 baptisms since early April.  So even with the disruption, the work continues to move forward.  

We firmly believe the Lord’s purposes will be fulfilled and many miracles will come from our current experiences.  In a future day, church history will look back on us being pioneers in our own right, ushering in the digital age of bringing the gospel out of obscurity.  Missionaries have gone forth, been called home, reassigned and sent out again.  Many missionaries currently in the field will have had the experience of serving under three or even four mission presidents.  It will reshape their future, much like those in the Mormon Batallion.  We look so forward to doing our part and look forward to working with these incredible spirits that have been sent into the work at this time.

With next week being fast Sunday, it would be very appropriate to include those currently or preparing to serve in Tahiti in your thoughts and prayers.  Something else to include would be that this pandemic, at home and abroad, might abate so that missionaries can be sent unhindered to their assigned areas.  

We pray for you and your families.  

President and Sister Banner

“Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things”. Often, when we do not understand something, we start to wonder “why...”. The Lord will try our faith in all things and that is exactly what is happening now. We have the faith that the Lord knows what he is doing even if we don’t completely understand it at this moment. We have the faith that this is all for the ultimate good of the work. Elder Uchtdorf during our training a couple of weeks ago called it a “divine reset”.

After the Mission President’s training, 77 Presidents and their spouses were able to go to their assigned field of labor. 55 were delayed. So we are not alone in this endeavor. This week, three of those delayed received their visas and will be on their way soon so progress is being made.

Upon arriving in San Francisco, we got word that the visa request by the Paris France Mission President and his wife were declined. Only short term visas are being processed at this time. In addition, their paperwork was going to be returned. We were hoping they would be given an exception, or at least keep their paperwork for faster processing once long term visas were again being granted. Since they did not make the hoped for exception, nor were they going to keep the paperwork, we canceled our appointment knowing that we would have the same fate. We hope that they will begin processing long term visas in the near future.

We are confident that they way will be made clear for the work to move forward better than ever before. The transition may seem unsettling and messy, but it will eventually work for our good. We don’t have a “perfect knowledge” of things right now but we put our faith and trust in the Lord’s timing. We look forward to seeing and working with you soon.

A faaitoito!

President and Sister Banner

Dear Missionary,

Congratulations on your call to serve as a full-time missionary. As announced by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, all missionaries will participate in an online MTC experience until risks associated with COVID-19 subside. This training will take place through videoconference technology in your home or another suitable location.

Online training will begin on your originally scheduled MTC start date unless you are specifically notified otherwise. You will learn together with a district of up to eight missionaries and two assigned teachers. You will participate in online instruction with your district for up to six hours per day. You will have an assigned companion in your district with whom you will participate in online companion study and practice for one hour each day. You will also be assigned to conduct one hour of personal study each day and to complete practice assignments throughout the day.

You will receive an email with additional instructions three weeks prior to your scheduled start date. In the meantime, answers to most general questions related to online training can be found here:  Online MTC Training: Frequently Asked Questions

We are grateful for your desire to join in this significant work!

The Missionary Department

Mark S Banner, 60, and Melissa Mae Banner, four children, Palisades Ward, Ririe Idaho Stake: Tahiti Papeete Mission, succeeding President Steven R. Fox and Sister Debra L. Fox. Brother Banner is a high councilor and temple ordinance worker and former stake presidency counselor, stake clerk, YSA branch president, bishopric counselor, elders quorum president, gospel doctrine teacher and missionary in the Tahiti Papeete Mission. He was born in Burley, Idaho, to Golden Leo Banner and Helen Wilma Stoddard Banner.
Sister Banner is a ward Primary president and temple ordinance worker and former stake historian, stake Primary president, stake Young Women presidency counselor, stake Young Women camp director, ward Young Women president, Primary teacher, gospel doctrine teacher, seminary and institute teacher and missionary in the Australia Brisbane Mission. She was born in Carthage, Missouri, to Jacob Cyrus Kentner Sr. and Donna Mae Durman Woods.

"We were officially set apart on June 4th by Gary Stevenson as Mission President and companion of the Tahiti Papeete Mission and received our French and Tahitian name tags this week. The official start date was to be July 1st but we have to get visas before we can go. We also learned this week that the offices that issues the visas may not open until the end of July. This will possibly push our starting date to mid or late August before we can go." (June 14, 2020)

Sister Banner and I have our Mission Presidents Training this week which is held near the end June each year. This year it will be online just like all current missionaries. There, we will be trained by the First Presidency and most of the Quorum of the Twelve. From there, those that can will go to their assignment.

Tahiti has been Covid free for nearly a month now and as such will begin welcoming tourists back July 15th. As missionaries who will be there an extended period of time, we are required to have visas. The visa offices for France are currently closed although this past week they started accepting applications. Upon further investigation, we determined that the accepting of applications did not include the US. The week before that, Missionary Travel had told us that the visa offices might not be open until the end of July. We do not know if that means a limited opening or a full opening including the US. In any event, those from the US must wait a few weeks, including us. At least things seem to be moving forward.

We are not sure if the visas of those who were already serving in Tahiti before coming home are still valid or not. If they are still valid, then it is possible they may be able to return sooner than those who have to wait for a visa. Of course, this also depends on the priorities of the Brethren and coordinating with transfer cycles and how it affects all the missions as missionaries are moved.

Based on what we know so far, we expect to be in Tahiti mid to late August. We put our full trust in the Lord's timing and that it could be sooner or later than that if it is his will. We firmly believe that the Lord is hastening his work and that Covid-19 is causing the elect to reprioritize their lives and making them more receptive to His gospel. At the same time, we believe how we share the gospel is also being reshaped so that we will be more effective with the tools that he has provided us. It will not be business as usual going forward.

We love the Lord and his gospel. We love our missionaries, those in the field, those who have completed their MTC training and waiting to enter the field, those preparing to enter the MTC and their families. Even though this has been a disrupting time in all our lives, we believe we will look back and see it as a blessing as we discover the many miracles that will take place because of it.

We are excited and look forward to working with you in this work. It will truly be a blessing to those who engage in it and to those who receive it.

Love

President and Sister Banner (June 21, 2020)