8/27/2023 - Week Six - Happy Mormon Tuesday

This last week has been one of the weeks I've ever had. There was a lot of funny, weird, and exciting things that have happened, so I'll try to sum it up quickly.

One of the amazing things that happened this week was that Doneshiah was baptized on Thursday! It was super hectic because Doneshiah's bus was late (because we forgot to arrange to have someone pick her up) so all her friends, family, and both the YSA and family wards were there, but she was still stuck on a bus... our bad. Anyway, when she did get there the baptismal room was PACKED (there were even people in the hallway to watch it) and the speakers both did amazing jobs with their *3-5 minute talks* that together probably took 20ish minutes. The service was fantastic and there were lots of presents and refreshments after for Doneshiah because it was her birthday! It was really a super spiritual experience overall and some of her friends have even asked to start meeting with us which is fantastic. She was confirmed a member on Sunday and she even was so nice as to ask Elder Carr and me to be in the circle for her confirmation, I was deeply honored cuz she said we were her favorite missionaries she's met with (which is only 4 but I'll take the win where I can get it).

Another cool thing that happened last week was we were able to go to the Cincinnati Zoo. It was really cool to just do something other than missionary work for a minute with my district. We saw all sorts of animals, but I'm pretty sure that's every zoo so I'm not gonna talk about that too much. One thing that is unique to the Cincinnati Zoo is that it is the zoo where Harambe the Gorilla was shot and killed. Kinda wild that I've been to that place now. Unfortunately, they didn't have a statue or really anything for him (he deserves better) so I wasn't able to get a picture with anything like that.

For more of the weird/funny parts of the week I'll just bullet point them: 
• as for the title someone asked us if we were the Mormons and we said yes and he just said "happy Mormon Tuesday" and kept biking on past us. I don't know what it means but I find it funny.
• in a lesson we asked an older lady what she knew about Jesus Christ and she just said "I've been told my entire life that He was married to a backslider." And we had no idea what to do with that information (and we didn't even know at the time what a backslider was) so we just kinda moved on and didn't address it.
• there's a bus stop with an anti drug ad, but all the sign says is EXPECT FENTANYL in very large font and I have started to think maybe everything had fentanyl here so I've been on the lookout.
• We got a referral from some Sister Missionaries in the Ohio Columbus Mission and we needed to call them to get more info on the referral, but in the call Elder Carr started beef with them about which mission is "The Real OCM" (Ohio Cincinnati Mission or Ohio Columbus Mission)
• We also got kicked out of a McDonalds for using their free wifi and not ordering food (therefore not free wifi). It wasn't like the McDonald's was busy either, we were the only ones in there.

For the more spiritual side: 
I've been studying 2 Nephi 2 where Lehi is blessing Jacob and there are a few phrases that Lehi uses that I think are very applicable to us.

Verse 2 "Nevertheless, Jacob, my firstborn in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain."

Verse 11&13 "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so ... there could be no righteousness ... [nor] happiness." 

This chapter is actually loaded with a ton of helpful doctrinal points so I encourage you all to read it, but I liked these phrases in particular because together they tell us that life is hard right now, but that is so that it can be made better. We cannot truly know the greatness of the good times without going through the not-so-good times. Those difficult times in our lives are there to strengthen us too. They don't just provide a frame of reference but they give us knowledge, power, and the ability to overcome. Without hard times our life here would be bland, and we would have no spiritual strength. But, because we have hard times in life, we can enjoy the good that much more and we can stand firm in our faith that God will bless us even when we are in the roughest point in our lives.

Bonus Scripture: Alma 30:39-41,44
Absolute banger story from the Book of Alma, definitely suggest giving it a read this week.

Til next time,
Elder Hansen







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