Greetings

Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for the letters!! Ah, you don''t realize how much mail means to you until you are in the MTC. I really do love hearing from you. And the package was wonderful! I am so blessed and so loved. Thank you all for being so supportive.

  It has helped to change my perspective on missionary work. Love is so important here. We have had a fake investigator, but i actually do love the person that he has been pretending to be. It is weird. But
our "investigator'' will be baptized on the 14 of August. Right now he is working on not drinking coffee. But he has committed to be obedient to the laws of God, including the word of Wisdom, so i have faith that he can do it. (Our investigator actually becomes our teacher next week. haha). But i know that i have to teach with love and the Spirit. Cause if i am just giving the investigators information, and not allowing the Spirit to convert them, then I am just a salesman.


 There are five of us in our district that are going to Chihuahua, so i will be seeing these guys a lot. :) The schedule here is rigorous. I get so exhausted halfway through day. The days feel like weeks. But i
just see it as an opportunity to learn more each day. ANd then looking back, the weeks feel like days. I feel like today is my first day. Time is flying by! So i better make it count. I have been in the MTC for just over a week. And i have already gained 7.5 pounds. :/ I just hope that i can turn it into muscle! They feed us so much food. It is just like the Cannon Center, but with larger portions. I dont know what hunger even feels like. I can''t remember. i am so fat.

  In other news, you know the young Joseph Smith from the Joseph Smith Movie? Ya, the one who kneels in the sacred grove. Ya, He is here in the MTC. Haha, he came up to me and was just complimenting my paisley tie (he said it looked like it had been cut from the curtains in the temple), and as he was walking away, i asked if he went to BYU cause he looked familiar. Then i found out that i had just seen him in a movie. Hmm. Who knew? But i love it here in the MTC so much. I have grown so much, and it has only been a week. When the new missionaries came in wednesday, i couldn''t believe that that was me a week ago. And my spanish is coming along GREAT. Ah, i get so excited about it. And about teaching the gospel. I CAN'T WAIT TO HELP CHANGE PEOPLE''S LIVES!! Ah, i''m so excited.

 I love you all so much. Thank you for the prayers and love and support. I can really feel it.


Ok, I am out of time. But just remember that I love you all. So much. And that the Church is true. It really is. We have all been blessed so much. I can''t even express how grateful i am for all of my blessings. I love this work. And i miss you all.
 Love,
 Elder Hansen