Week 69--Bel Air, Guyana

Week 3--Elder Buxton

Hello family,

 On Saturday, we got a call that Elder Ortega broke his arm while playing basketball with the young men in his branch. It was pretty bad. He snapped both bones. This is the second time in his mission that he broke his arm, and he's going to need surgery. Because his mission ends in January, he ended up having to go home early. We drove him to the airport last night. I was sad to see him go, especially since he was such a great companion, but I'm glad I got to see him before he left. I was sure to get a picture with him.

 We are doing great in Bel Air! The young man who was preparing for baptism this past Saturday ended up deciding to not be baptized. We were sad about that. He feels like he needs to be older. We'll continue praying for him, though! We are very grateful that we have this area to work in, and these people are wonderful!

  Elder Buxton and I are doing great. I really feel that we are working in unity, and we really desire to help the people that we serve here in Bel Air. We are having a lot of fun doing this work.

  I have a testimony of the church and its programs. We got a call from the branch president in Linden on Thursday. Apparently, he was up in Georgetown, and he was at the church, where members of the branch were practicing for the upcoming talent show. He met a young man there who had just started coming to church because his friend invited him. The branch president told us that this young man wanted to be baptized and that he wanted to talk to us. When he got on the phone, we asked him why he wanted to talk to us. He said, "I want to be baptized." We were so excited to hear that! He was prepared by his friend, by the church service on Sunday, and by the church activity, and he had the desire to be baptized even before we met him. We were able to start teaching him yesterday, and he's preparing to be baptized in December. I know that the programs in this church are designed so that Heavenly Father's children can come closer to Him and desire to be part of His church.

  A spiritual experience I had this week was in teaching the family who lives just behind the church. The mom and her daughter came to a baptismal service this past Saturday, and the whole family except the dad came to church on Sunday. At church, the mother was just introducing herself to everyone and really trying to learn more about this church because she told us the day before that she had made the decision to be baptized. She said, "I want this for my family and for their safety." We've only been seeing her and her family for about two weeks, and already, she has changed, and she's preparing herself and her family to be baptized so that they can all have that change even more.

 Love,

  Elder Hanni

Elder Ortega and I before he left the mission due to a broken arm. 

Elder Buxton and I made some great bacon cheeseburgers this week. THEY WERE FANTASTIC. 

Week 68--Bel Air, Guyana

Week 2--Elder Buxton

Hello family,

 I'm so glad that this area is super close to Garden Park, because Brother Beresford got baptized on Saturday, and I got to go to it. It was amazing. I'm so glad that everything finally worked out for him to be baptized!

 We are doing really well in Bel Air. We were able to start a new contact area this week, and we already came in contact with a family there, so we are excited about that. We also randomly found a less active member walking down the street who lives in another area, but we invited her to church, and she was there on Sunday, so that was really cool.

  Elder Buxton and I are doing great. I really enjoy being his companion, and we are both just really focused on helping the people here. We are getting along really well, and I am enjoying learning from his experience.

  I have a testimony of a desire to help Heavenly Father's children. We have an investigator whose brother was baptized just before I got here, but for some reason, he was holding back, and it just seemed like he didn't want to be baptized. We didn't know why, and we just weren't sure how to help him. Yesterday, we went by, and most of the time, we focus on teaching the whole family, but this time, we focused on him. We asked him what would be stopping him from being baptized, and he thought about it for a little while, and then he said, "Nothing." Then, we asked him if he likes coming to church, and he said he likes it better than staying at home. Then we asked how he feels about the Book of Mormon, and he said, "When I read about what Jesus said and did, I just feel like I'm there with him. The Spirit prompted us to share 2 Nephi 31:13 with him and talk about how when we are baptized, we are there in the water with the Savior. At that point, we asked him if that's what he wanted, and he said yes. He then committed to being baptized on the 17th of November! I know that if we didn't desire to help him, the Lord wouldn't have helped us know what to do to address his needs. I'm so grateful for the Holy Ghost and the guidance of our Heavenly Father.

  A spiritual experience I had this week was in following up with a contact that we made last week. It was a woman who was about to get in a car and leave, but we were able to talk to her for about ten seconds, and we were able to get a return appointment. On Monday, we went back, and it turns out that she and her family were going out again, but we had a little more time to talk to her. She talked about how sorry she was that we couldn't meet that night, but she invited us back the next day because she said she really wanted to have help in her family relationships. We went back the next day, and the whole family was there waiting for us, and we had such a nice lesson with them. The mom talked again about how she wanted that help in her family relationships, and we promised her that through this message, she could have that help. As we followed up throughout the week, we discovered that her daughter had brought the Restoration Tract to school and had read the whole thing. She then went and told her mom that she needed to read it more. That was a cool spiritual experience for me, and I'm excited to be able to see that family again.

 I love all of you so much. Thanks for the emails! I hope this week is amazing for all of you!

Love,
 Elder Hanni

Brother Beresford Baptism

Week 67--Bel Air, Guyana

Week 1--Elder Buxton

Hello family,

 This week I got transferred to Bel Air. It was kind of a crazy week, but it ended up being really good. Elder Buxton and I are responsible for helping missionaries get transferred to where they need to be. I got my Guyana driver's license this week, and I started driving here. It's kind of fun driving on the left side of the road. I found out that Brother Beresford is going to be baptized this week, and I'm close enough that I'll be able to go, so I'm excited for that!

  Well, this was my first week in Bel Air. I must say that I love the branch here. The members are super amazing, and they love to help the missionaries, so I've enjoyed getting to know them. We are currently looking for a new contact area so we can start filling the pipeline and continue the work rolling forward here.

  Elder Buxton is a great missionary. He really has a great desire to help others come into the fold of God. I've enjoyed the first week with him, and we both just really want to do our best here in Bel Air.
  I have a testimony of the Lord's work. I know that this is His work. I've been a little overwhelmed at first with my new assignment and all the responsibility that comes with it, and it has helped me come to know that I really cannot do this on my own. I know that the Lord can help me to do all things that He needs me to. Like it says in Moroni 10:23, "And Christ truly said unto our fathers: If ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me." I know that He will help me as I have that faith and that desire to work.

  This spiritual experience was an interesting one. I loved meeting the new missionaries coming to Guyana. They flew in very late, and we were bringing them back around midnight, and they hadn't eaten anything. We were not sure what we were going to do, and we just really wanted to help them to have a good experience with Guyana for the first time. As we were getting back into town, of course the places we were passing to pick up food were all closed because it was so late, but then we saw a stand on the side of the road with some lights flashing. We went over, and it turns out that this man sells burgers. We asked him for the number we needed, and when he looked in his cooler, that was exactly how many he had left. We had gotten there in just the right time too because there were other people coming. That was just a simple spiritual experience for me, and I do know that the Lord provides for His servants, and He is a God of miracles, even physical miracles.

 I really like Cooper's costume of a stormtrooper. It looks really cool. Also, Ellie looks really cute. I love all of you so much. I hope you have a great week!

 Love,
  Elder Hanni

Week 66--Garden Park, Georgetown, Guyana

Week 12--Elder Christensen

Hello family,

  Well, this week was fantastic! We were able to have the baptismal services for Brieanna and Akeem! And we got transfer calls... Well, I'm really sad, but I'm leaving Garden Park. I'm really going to miss this place. I'm going to an area called Bel Air. It borders Garden Park, and it's in Georgetown Branch, so I won't be too far away. Elder Eads emailed me today, and he told me that Sister Baby (Brother Mike's wife) just got baptized! She's been investigating since last year August, and she was able to be baptized on Saturday! That's so sweet! My new companion is going to be Elder Buxton. He's from Washington DC, and he's been out for like 18 or 19 months, so that should be fun.

  I love Garden Park so much. I am sad to be leaving, but I am glad that I will be nearby. We were so happy to have the baptism of two people here this week, and there are people preparing themselves to be baptized in November and December. I am so thankful that the Lord has allowed me to be here for five transfers. It has been such a blessing.

  Elder Christensen is great! He is ready to lead out. He's excited that he will have two new companions this next transfer. I am also thankful that the Lord has allowed me to train him. He has taught me so much, and I know that the Lord knows what we need and who would best give us those things we need.

  I have a testimony of this work. I know now that my purpose is not just to help people understand this gospel, but my purpose is to invite and help people to live this gospel. I know that the Lord has given us this time to help Him save souls. I am grateful that in spite of my imperfections, at least He can perfectly direct this work.

  I had a spiritual experience on Monday. We went by Akeem, and we were planning on moving his baptismal date to November 3 since he didn't make it to district conference. At the beginning of the lesson we did that, and he seemed pretty okay with it even though he has been praying that he can be baptized on the 27th of October for a month or two. Then, we moved on with the lesson, and for some reason, the whole time, I just felt terrible. I felt like we had just done the wrong thing, and over and over again the Spirit whispered to me to change his baptismal date back to the 27th, and that he was ready. This was going on the whole lesson, and finally at the end, I obeyed. I told Akeem that I didn't know why, but I felt that if he really wanted to that it would be okay if he was baptized on the 27th. He said he did, and so we went forward with his baptism on Saturday. It was wonderful, and he was able to receive the Holy Ghost yesterday as well as the Aaronic Priesthood. I know that the Lord directs this work, and that my ways are not His ways.

 I love all of you so much! Thank you for your prayers! I love you and I pray for you every day!

Love,
 Elder Hanni

The Agedas and I.

Baptism Day! 

Baptism Day!

My favorite family in Garden Park.  Kwesi, Sheniza, Brother Beresford, Abiola, and all the little girls. 

Sister Pamela and I. 

The picture is from Elder Eads.  This is Baby on her baptism day. 

The picture is from Elder Eads.  Baby's Baptism day.