November 23, 2015- My First Baptism!

Hello world! Elder Hanley here, and yes, we had a baptism. More on that later, though.

This week has been really good. While I do get stressed occasionally, the frequency of the stress is dropping, so that's good. Also, it flew by! Seriously, I feel like I just barely got out on my mission, and November is already almost over. We taught some really cool people this last week, and found a total of 6 new investigators last week! We have quite a few of them committed to pray about being baptized. So, fingers crossed on that one.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner on Friday night. It might not have actually been Thanksgiving, but those are just details. We went to the Liberato-Halls from the Mt. Sneffles ward, and we brought Orlando along. Since it was the night before his baptism, and the Liberato-Halls were just baptized this last month, it was awesome. They are a great family, and they served an amazing dinner. Orlando really enjoyed it too.

We also got Ciera (a less-active we've been working with) to come to Church yesterday. It was great because her daughter, Aspen, has been dying to go to church for a long time. So, it was great.

It's been getting a lot colder as the days go on. When the sun is up, it's pretty warm, but once it goes down, it is freezing cold. It's an issue because we're pretty sure the heater in our apartment doesn't work. So, hopefully, we'll get that figured out soon, because it is pretty dang cold when we first get up in the morning.

And then yes, we had a baptism. Orlando has been waiting to be baptized for so long, that it was awesome to see him take that step. I got to give the opening prayer, and be a witness to the baptism. Orlando had to be dunked twice, but it was great. Lots of people from the ward have been coming out to support Orlando, and invite him over for dinner, and it's just great to see the ward excited about Orlando. Because we're sure excited about it.

A few quick notes: I've received a few socks from people lately. While I appreciate the socks, I am unable to wear socks that are odd colors or have cool patterns. Just black socks. Don't get me wrong, these socks are awesome. I'll just have to wait until I get home to wear them.

That's pretty much all that has happened, unless I'm forgetting something major (which I usually do) so, I'll sign off for now. Thank you all so much for all the support you give me! Seriously, I don't know how I'd do this if I didn't have amazing people in my life, supporting me.

Love,
Elder Hanley

Here is a picture of Orlando's baptism! Bro. Perry in our ward baptized him.

November 16, 2015- 1 Month Down!

Hello world!

So, this week has been...interesting. I was on exchanges a lot this last week. I was with Elder Gish and Elder Schmidtke for Monday and Tuesday, then we went up to Naturita for another day and a half. So, I've only had a couple days actually in Montrose. Being companions with the Zone Leaders is definitely interesting. Elder Smith says that because I've been going on so many exchanges, I'll never have a problem with exchanges for the rest of my mission, which I hope is true.

So, I know I promised news on a baptism, but that didn't end up happening. Orlando is waiting on paperwork from Salt Lake, and the day before the baptism, they still hadn't even started the paperwork. So, we're hopefully hearing news on his paperwork by today so we can get him baptized by this weekend. Stay tuned!

The little time I've been in Montrose this week has been kinda difficult. We're still trying to find more investigators, but so far, no one really solid has come along. We're going to be focusing more on getting referrals from members and from finding the elect this coming week, so keep us in your prayers as we try to find more people.

One of our investigators, Will, progressed a bit when we saw him last. He's always been kind of closed off and distant to previous missionaries, but we read the Book of Mormon with him this last time and he really enjoyed it. We brought Brother Palmer, our ward mission leader with us. Since he's a convert, he was able to bear a really powerful testimony that I think Will really connected with. So, that was awesome.

We also tried to commit Jeanie to baptism. She didn't accept a date, but she said if she felt it was true, she'd be baptized. She seems pretty skeptical of it, but she is still reading the Book of Mormon, so fingers crossed on that one as well. Again, any and all prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Ever so slowly, I'm getting more comfortable with all of this. One of these days, I'm going to wake up and all of this will just be normal. I'm looking forward to that. For now, I'm trying to enjoy being a beginner, and trying to learn as best I can. Thank you all so much for all the support you give me every single day! You are all the best!

Until next time!

-Elder Hanley

Picture 1: This was the first snow of the year. Elder Forrest and I were excited. Don't judge us.

Picture 2: On the way to our dinner appointment one night, we stopped and got this beautiful view from the top of the mountain. This isn't in our area, unfortunately, this is when we were on exchanges.

November 9, 2015- First Snow of the Year!

Hello world!

So, this week has been...interesting. It's kind of been a roller coaster to tell you the truth. On the one hand, I've been learning how to overcome my awkward shyness and talk to people, and how to be a better missionary. On the other, we're losing investigators fast.

At the beginning of the week, we dropped several people who simply refused to progress in the gospel. They didn't keep any commitments, they cancelled any and all appointments, etc. So, we dropped them. It's always sad to drop someone, but we can't be meeting twice a week with people who don't want to progress.

And then we were dropped by several people who we thought were super solid investigators. Which has been kind of disheartening. So, we're trying to get new investigators, which means tracting. We're doing our best to get referrals, so fingers crossed on that front.

Ok, enough doom and gloom.

It snowed!!!! None of the snow stuck, but it snowed! Elder Forrest and I frolicked through it while we were on exchanges. Elder Smith took our picture, but since he is heading to a meeting in Denver, I can't get the pictures I wanted to send. My companions being the Zone Leaders, they often drop me at the District Leader's, and head to meetings in far-off towns. Elder Gish is the District leader, and he and his companion, Elder Schmidtke live in a member's home, so they technically have a pet German Shepherd where they live. Color me a little bit jealous.

We did some service on the day it snowed. We moved some irrigation pipes in the snow, which was really fun. We also chopped some wood once the snow had stopped, and that was a lot of fun as well.

Oh, something else. ORLANDO IS GETTING BAPTIZED. I don't take very much credit for this, since he has wanted to be baptized since before I came out, but now that President has given his Ok, we are baptizing him this Friday. I'm sure I'll get a picture to send home. Orlando's great. He understands so much and is so ready to be baptized. It's awesome to see him take this step, and to see how excited he is for it.

That's pretty much all for this week. Thank you all so much for all the support. Emails, letters, anything, I really appreciate it all! You are all the best!

Until next week, I love you all!

-Elder Carl Hanley

November 2, 2015-Week 3!

Hello world! This is Elder Hanley, and have I got an email for you!

So, this week has been pretty good. I'm slowly getting to the point where I'm more comfortable with the mission. Emphasis on slowly. But I'm getting there.

We have been working hard this week, and honestly, it's hard not to feel discouraged at times. Montrose is a very religious town, and so about 98% of the people we talk to already go to Church, and believe that all they need is the Bible. So, that's been tough.

We have some people who are progressing, though. Orlando, one of our investigators who has been waiting forever to be baptized finally has a baptismal date. So, that is awesome news. We have also been teaching a mother and her son, Jeanie and Cody. Cody is one of the coolest 14-year-olds that I know. He is just so willing to do what we ask him to do, and when we invited him to Church, he asked if it was all right if he brought a friend. He's not even a member yet, and he's already doing missionary work! They both came to Church this last Sunday, and they enjoyed it a lot!

On Halloween, missionaries aren't allowed to tract, so we went to a Trunk or Treat instead. Actually, we got to go to two trunk or treats, since we went on exchanges and they had theirs on a different night. We also went to one of the Christian churches for a carnival type thing. We got some weird looks, but hey, they had free food so I was fine with it.

Since my companions are the Zone Leaders (I didn't do anything bad, I swear!) we go on exchanges all the time. It's kind of cool going to different areas of the mission, and constantly working with new missionaries.

Some days are rough, but my trainers tell me that all of this is normal. One quote I hear all the time is "There is no growth in a comfort zone. And there is no comfort in a growth zone." So, I'm trying my hardest to not feel stressed or discouraged. I just want to work and become more like Christ. Thank you all so much for your support! I don't know how I'd do this if it wasn't for all of you supporting me!

So, I would LOVE to chat with all you lovely people through Email. However, I'm not really allowed to do that. If you respond quickly to an email, that's great, since I get to read it before next week, but I'm just not allowed to respond until next week. Just thought I'd let you all know.

I love you all!

Until next time,
-Elder Hanley

Brother Palmer, our Ward Mission Leader had this awesome Batman pen that projects the Bat Symbol. I said I liked it. He took that to mean that I wanted it, so he gave it to me. Brother Palmer is pretty much the best.

And we did a service project on a farm while we were on exchanges. Here's me being weird in my Hogwarts shirt before we started.