10/9/2023 - Week 12 - Carr vs. Car

Whats up y'all? This week's been a roller coaster of just crazy cool and crazy weird things happening.

I'll start with the title story, which isn't that funny, but it made for the best title in my opinion. So, it's no secret that Elder Carr is an adrenaline junkie and when we go down this one big hill back to our apartment, he loves to just go as fast as he can down the road. Unfortunately, on Saturday night this week when we were about halfway down the hill (going very fast for bikes) a car decided to turn left right as Elder Carr was going through the intersection (we had the right of way) and Elder Carr trying to not get hit smoothly drifted his bike for about .3 seconds until he flew over his handlebars right in front of the car turning left. Luckily, the car stopped in time so he wasn't run over, but he did rip his pants. So technically the Carr v car fight night ended in a draw, but luckily no one was hurt too bad.

We also found a dude outside the Church who we're not entirely sure is mentally stable. He looked like he was on some sort of advanced drugs and just absolutely zooted out of his mind. Elder Carr in his infinite wisdom let this guy into the church, and he went from picture to picture and would randomly just start sobbing. He told us that we were the first church to let him in (not a surprise) and he told us he wanted to be Baptized. So we sat him down and started teaching him about the restoration. Now in case you forgot that this dude is wacky, throughout the entire lesson he looked like he was doing some sort of mixture between Sign Language and casting out a devil. He would also randomly put his hands up to his head and acted like a he was being possessed by a demon. It was a wild lesson and in the end we taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel as well as the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity. Needless to say he had some weird takes, but said he could live the Word of Wisdom, grabbed his pack of cigarettes, and left. It was a wild ride that I just can't describe well with words.

We also met with a member from the Ward who has not been to church in a long time (30 years maybe), but has realized that he needs to be closer to God and he was baptized when he was 8, but didn't know a lot about the beliefs of the Church. So we've been teaching him a little and he's been reading the Book of Mormon which is awesome and whenever he has a question, he just asks us. He's also trying to get his wife and kids interested in being baptized so we're working with him to set up a time we can meet with his whole family. His story is pretty amazing, but it's too long to write here. This guy is awesome and he's so appreciative of us and says he's trying to teach his kids what we teach him.

We got a text from our ward clerk one day telling us they got some new membership records transferred to the Cincinnati Ward and he asked us to stop by and say 'hi' to them. So we got on our bikes and we took off. When we got there, we found out that it was a Behavioral Healthcare Center (Mentally Unstable Lockdown Facility). So we went inside to just give it a try anyway and we met the most emotionless receptionist ever who pretty much told us she can't tell us anything. So that was wild, and we were kinda upset we biked 30 minutes to this place. And just our luck, it started to downpour right as we were going to leave so we were stuck at the insane asylum for 30 minutes until the rain calmed down. A very comfy place to just chill for the rain to stop.

Some other notable things that happened this week :

• We were in a lesson with a guy named Sterling and he left the room to grab something and we thought it might be a gun, but it was just his phone (we were in a sketchy neighborhood but this guy was super cool).

• Doneshiah, despite being a brand new member, helped us out with a lesson and gave an absolute fire testimony 🔥. Actually made our friend Monica cry it was so powerful.

• Ran into a less active member at McDonald's who asked for the number of one of the ward members who baptized her when she was 8 and they got back in contact with each other!

• Met a Barber named Lonell who we set up a lesson (and a haircut for Elder Carr) with and when we taught him a lesson, he gave me a pair of shoes! According to Elder Hartvigsen, these shoes are pretty cool. I can't remember what they're called tho (sorry shoe enthusiasts).

• We helped out the Family History Center by taking some of their equipment that was old to the dumpsters and absolutely demolishing them. It was some cathartic stuff to just break it all apart and toss it.

• A guy stopped us on the street, told us that he was "holier than us", so we stopped ready to bash this guy. He told us that he hadn't sinned in 7 years (very believable) and started questioning us about the Bible. When he found out that we actually know about the Bible, he calmed down and said he appreciates what we do. Very big turnaround in 3 minutes. He also informed us that God is more powerful than Darth Vader, so remember that kids.

• Our friend Robert came to church again and even bought nice dress clothes so "he didn't stand out as much" to use his words. He's been reading the Bible for a long, long time and pretty much has it memorized. He's been reading the Book of Mormon as well and told us that he knows that it's a true book because he can feel the Devil trying to stop him from reading it. He really knows a ton about the Bible, but he's been Bible studying with all sorts of different religions (even if he doesn't believe in their church) so he has all sorts of false doctrines that he's picked up along his way. Some of them are kinda funny. He also said that Harry Potter (yes the fictional story) is of the Devil because spells and magic are not of God. I didn't laugh when he said that which I'm proud of.

Spiritual Thought: 

Read the Book of Mormon. Just do it.

But specifically 3 Nephi 27. Not only are 3 and 27 my two favorite numbers, but this chapter is Jesus Christ teaching the Nephites after his Resurrection. I love to read the words of the Savior as they came from his mouth. These teachings are super important as they have to do with His divine mission and it talks about the importance of Baptism and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope y'all can find the time to read this chapter at some point this week.

Adiós,

Elder Hansen

Pictures (+ bonus video):