January 25, 2016- A Slow Week in Rifle

Hello world! How is everything going?

Shout-out to Kara, a.k.a. Sister Haven, who has received her mission call to Ogden, Utah!

Like the title implies, this week has been very slow. For one, because I have been kind of sick this past week, and for another because people keep cancelling on us. So, it's been pretty slow.

We had a Broadcast on Wednesday which was sent out to all missionaries throughout the world, and it was really good! It focused on working with members in our work, and on loving the people. It was cool, because that's what Elder Vaka and I have been focusing on this transfer, so it was cool to see some advice on how best to do that by our living apostles.

We are still working with Jordan, and he is doing great! He is set to be baptized on February 20th! So, we're mainly meeting with him a few times a week to uplift him and help him be as ready as possible. As for Juan, Mary, and Christian, they are doing great! We taught them the Word of Wisdom this last time we met with them, and they had absolutely no problem accepting it. It was amazing! And Mary officially will be able to come to church next week, so we're hoping to see all three of them at Church!

We officially have Spanish Elders in Rifle now. So, that'll be good, since before, the Hermanas in Glenwood would only come up a couple times a week. But it's good to see that we'll have some Elders close-by to work with the Spanish speakers here.

We picked up dinner from a member the other day, and on the way back: Horses. We saw 5 horses wandering on their own down the road. So, someone is missing 5 horses. We felt sympathetic, but they're horses. What are we supposed to do?

Thank you all so much for all the support you give me from home! Seriously, it's the best! I love you all, and I will talk to you all next week!

-Elder Hanley

January 19, 2016- Stuck in the Snow

Hello world! So, first off, yesterday was MLK Jr. Day, so our library was closed. So, we are emailing today. Sorry about that. Now, back to your regularly scheduled email.

So, I'm companions with Elder Vakameilalo now! (Pronounced Vaw-kuh-may-law-low) But most people call him Elder Vaka. He's super funny and cool and it's been a lot of fun to work with him this past week!

We are changing things up a little in Rifle, and putting more focus on Member Missionary work, trying to work through the ward to find investigators through the members, as opposed to tracting. Pretty much the whole town has been tracted, and we've been experiencing a lot of rejection when we do that recently. So, we are focusing on having lessons with members about missionary work, and on sharing missionary-related thoughts after dinner appointments. So, please keep us and our ward in your prayers.

But yes, we did get stuck in the snow. We had a lesson with the Wolfs, and they live like 30 minutes outside of town up this really big hill. We struggled a little to get up the hill in our front-wheel drive Chevy Cruze, but we made it safely. On the way down, however, two of our wheels ended up in a ditch. So, we got stuck.

We called Brother Wolf, and he came down in his big truck, hooked a chain to our front axle, and yanked us right out of there. It was all very exciting.

Other than that, we are just trying to expand our teaching pool, and are trying to progress the investigators we do have. So, any and all prayers sent our way would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all so much for all the support you guys give me! It means so much! Until next week!

-Elder Hanley

 Stuck in the Snow

Our hero, Brother Wolf, after he pulled us out.

January 11, 2016- Greetings, People of Earth!

This is Elder Hanley, reporting to you from the Rifle Regional Library, where we are currently emailing from.

Anywho, this last week has been really good, actually! Now that the Holidays are over, and people aren't so busy, we actually get to talk to a lot of people, as opposed to this last month.

First off, we got transfer news last night, and I'm staying in Rifle! Elder Eastley is unfortunately being transferred, so I'll be getting a new companion tomorrow. But I'm excited that I'll be able to stick around and hopefully be able to see Juan, Mary, and Christian be baptized.

So, like was said, this week has been really good. First off, JUAN CAME TO CHURCH! Mary and Christian were both busy on Sunday, so Juan came with his little daughter and it went so good! Everyone in the ward was super nice, and were super comfortable talking to Juan and making him feel welcome. He called us after church was over to thank us for bringing him, he LOVED it. So, that is a good sign. But if everyone could keep Mary in your prayers, she is currently trying to get Sundays off so she can come to church. It's looking like she'll have to either find a new job or be a stay-at-home Mom if she wants to come to church, so we really want them to be able to provide for their family, whichever she decides. So, yeah, please be praying for her.

We also went to see some people in the area book. We went to talk to a Less-Active, and she told us she wants to come back to activity, and we set up a day and a time every Wednesday to go see her. AND we went to see a former investigator, and she invited us and told us she loved to hear the missionaries teach, so we'll be going to see her regularly as well. Good stuff!

Also, we are teaching Chelsea again. She is going through A LOT right now, in terms of her family and her boyfriend, and it's just a lot of not so good stuff, so please keep her in your prayers as well.

Other than that, we have been doing a bit of tracting, trying to expand our teaching pool, (since most of the investigators we found in December seem to be avoiding us) and so I will keep you updated on that.

Thank you all so much for all the support you give me! Seriously, it's the best! I love you all, and will talk to you next week!

-Elder Hanley

Don't judge.

This is from our road trip to Denver last week. Quite beautiful!

January 4, 2016- HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hello world! This is Elder Hanley!

So, this last week has been...interesting. We got to drive up to Denver for a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, then we spent the night in the mission home and drove home the next day. Then on Thursday, we got to drive to Grand Junction for the Mission tour, where we spent most of the day receiving training on planning. That was actually a lot of fun!

Then on Friday, we did Weekly planning. So, we really only had two full days of missionary work, so it has been a little slow. But we picked Chelsea back up! She has been experiencing some real push back from her family, and she took a break from meeting with us. But we got back in contact with her. You know how we did it? We left a pineapple on her front porch. Sound weird? Yeah, that's the point. Anyone can leave candy or cookies, but it takes a true mad genius to leave a pineapple.

People never forget a pineapple, and so she texted us and we got back in contact. So, we are going to start meeting with her again. She says she is still willing to be baptized, but she feels she needs to know more first. :)

Other than that, not much has happened. Sorry this is such a short email, but quite honestly, this last week was uneventful. Thank you all so much for everything you do to help this Elder out during these two years! It really means so much to me!

I totally forgot something amazing that happened last week! We were out driving, and we got a text from the Spanish sisters who were in town for the day. They told us to go knock on a certain door, and said they had a good feeling about it. So, we did. We met Mike, and we taught him the 1st lesson, and he felt the spirit really strong, and we are now going to be teaching him! So, that is really exciting! Just thought I'd share that to tell you all not to ignore promptings! It might seem silly, but even the littlest of promptings can mean a huge deal. If the sisters had ignored that prompting, we never would have met Mike!

I love you all!

-Elder Hanley