Email received 06/24/13

Hola Family,

I am really sorry again.  This will be short again.  This week was an amazing week.  We went to a conference yesterday for the New mission presidents but it was broadcast to the whole world.  it was amazing!!!  conference past there were 65,000 missionaries in the field as of yesterday we have 70,000 missionaries in the field  5,000 since April!!!!!!!!!!!  WOW!!!!!!!!!  We had the last conference with President Villarreal.  It was the best Zone conference I have ever had.  We are so sad to see him go.  He is such an amazing man  We love him so much.  But I have to go.  I love you all so much.  Hold fast to the Faith.  Keep your foundations on Christ.  I love you all.  Thank you all for the pictures and the letters!!!!!!!!!

Always and forever

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12

PS. Mom - I got the Package thank you so much.   I love you.  Write me Before ten next week.  I will write in the morning next week.

Email received 06/17/13

Family,

  

This week was so great.  We worked so hard.  Elder Sanchez was telling me  that the area was struggling a bit.  We had the faith that we could change it.  We are.  We are changing.  We cant afford to listen to Satan.  Its all in our thoughts . We are working so hard.  I am so sorry but this will be really short.  We had a pretty strong earthquake on Sunday morning early.  We woke up and our apartment was shaking pretty bad.  It was pretty great.  Good story.  But I love you all so much.  I am doing really great.  Sorry next week will be longer.  I love you all so much.

always and forever

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12

Ps.  Mom,  Thank you so much for the email.  Thank you so much for those inspiring words.  I love you so much and am so grateful for you. 

Email received 06/10/13

Hey family,

It sounds like things there are going really well.  That makes me super excited to hear about the yard (not the houses).  It will be really nice to have the yard in.  I cant wait.  That makes me really sad to hear about Pappap and Granny.  Grandma emailed me her journal that she has been writing on the matter.  I will keep her in her prayers.

Well we had changes today.  We didn't get our calls until 4:00 pm yesterday afternoon.  It was kind of crazy.  I left Roma and am now in a place called Granjas.  Still in DF.  My new companion is Elder Sanchez.  He is from Chiapas and has 4 months in the mission.  He is an amazing missionary.  I am so excited to work with him.  Although on the other hand I am sad to not be with Elder Porter anymore.  He has made me such a better missionary and person.  He has really helped me become converted even more.  I have such a deep love for him and for all he has done for me.  For being an amazing example for me.  I really understand why President Villarreal put us together.  

Yesterday we met an ex missionary that went home last year.  We spent the night in Presidents house my first day in the Field.  He was there with his parents.  they are from Lehi.  It was so weird talking to them.  I went to school with their other son David.  He is friends with Derek.  I really need to write Derek.  He has been on my mind lately.  Anyway, it was really nice talking with them because they are such nice people.  The world isn't such a large place.  It actually seems quite small.  

We baptized a Joven named Angel yesterday.  His sisters are members but he just never wanted to be baptized.  He has gone to church with them almost every Sunday but just didn't want to.  So many Elders have talked with him but he really just didn't want to.  Elder Porter and I talked with him and he said he wanted to.  He just told us he wanted to.  It was such a miracle for us.  We had worked all week so hard but nothing really happened.  We have been teaching an amazing family  that had to go out of town this week but will get baptized next Sunday.  It is very difficult to keep working hard with a good attitude when nothing is happening the way it should.  We were so grateful for this divine blessing given to us by our loving Father in Heaven.  Yesterday was a great day.  But it was kind of hard saying goodbye to the people I have grown to love.  I have really seen myself grow in this way.  I used to hate change.  But I am getting more and more used to it.  I feel extremely blessed to have this weaknesses become strengths.  

My birthday was a bit hard.  We ate pancakes for breakfast.  But ended up just not the way I thought.  All of the citas that we had fell through.  We were cursed and yelled at by a drunk guy.  Just didn't happen the way I thought.  We were going to buy a cake but we procrastinated too long and it was too late by the time we came around to buy one.  Its alright.  Its not a big deal.  

I have really been struggling lately with feeling like I am not good enough to be here.  Or waiting for things that just are not coming.  Why it feels like I have not learned to changed as much as I thought I would by this point.  Why I feel like I am not having success as a missionary.  Wondering if I have to learn something that I feel like I have not learned yet.  Just little things. I am trying so hard to keep these thoughts out of my head but I just cant help it.  The only way to get over it is by going to the Lord in humble prayer.  It is so hard sometimes.  When all feels hopeless.  when it feels as if the world itself has come to a stop.  or it feels as if no one hears or understands.  The Lord does.  Our Heavenly Father knows exactly how we feel.  Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ suffered for every single one of our afflictions.  We must remember.  We must apply the Atonement in our lives.  We must do the things that we know will strengthen us.  By this we will be strengthened and brought out of our trials and afflictions.  I know that He hears our prayers.  I know He will never leave us.  I know these things are true because I have felt it.  It have felt as if He is wrapping His arms around me.  There is no greater feeling or peace than this.  The comfort and counsel of Our Father through the Holy Ghost.  

I love your all very much.  Thank you for the love and support.

Always and Forever,

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12

Email with pics for Eli 06-03-13

This is for Eli for his birthday.  Please apologize that it is by email.  I don't have stamps but when I do I will send it to him later.

I love you so much mom.

Email received 06/03/13

HOLA MI FAMILIA!

It really sounds like you all are going to have such a fun summer.  I am really excited for all of you.  It also makes me SOOO happy to hear that Jovi was blessed yesterday! 

This week was a really interesting week.  We had five people that were supposed to be baptized yesterday but all of the dates fell and none of them went through.  Really it was hard but all week I was thinking of what Elder Porter told me.  I have really seen my self grow this past week in faith.  This whole week I was thinking of FAITH and even though none of these baptisms went through I know it's just a "trial of my Faith".  I am so grateful for this trial actually.  I have really seen what kind of potential I have and what I am capable of.  I think without this experience I would not have learned this.  So it is a testimony to me that we learn through our trials.  That is why we have them.  President Villarreal told us that we should be asking our Father in Heaven for more trials so that we can learn and grow.  I really know and feel that this is true.

The reason why 4 of these investigators didn't get baptized yesterday was because the mom got in a fistfight with the wife of one of his sons.  She told us that she did not feel well enough to get baptized.  When we were talking with them it was probably the most intense lessons of my life.  She was just so upset.  We felt so bad for her.  She had always had a problem with her daughter in law but it had never come down to fists.  We told her that Satan was trying to get her to be baptized.  When we let our guard down is when he strikes.  Especially when we are trying to do something that is so big like being baptized.  He is always trying to prevent us from progressing.  He is always trying to make us feel sad upset uncomfortable or that we are not worthy to pray or go to church.  We must not let us in.  We must do all we can to keep him out.  This family will get baptized next week.  They really want this peace in their lives.  I am so grateful for them. 

I love you all and I am so grateful for the things that you all do for me. 

  

Always and forever

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12

Email received 05/27/13

Hey family,

Wow sounds like this past week was really great.  I am really sad to hear about (LOVED ONES).  I will pray for them. 

This week was such a great week.  We had so many miracles happen.  Gabriel the man I told you all about last week was baptized yesterday.  He has such a desire to follow Christ.  Being able to see this change in him is so amazing.  I am so very grateful for this. 

We have been teaching a daughter of a less active family.  She told us that she wanted to get baptized but nothing came out of it.  She said that she would get baptized for like three or four weeks now.  But it has not happened.  They were baptized two or three years ago but they have not been too church since their baptism.  Instead they got like 15 times a month to the Universal Church.  We talked with Elizabeth (the daughter) a few days ago and asked her if we could visit with her and she told us we couldn't because she was going to be at that church.  We have talked to a lot of people that go to that church and they all say that it is a true church because they do miracles.  We were really upset about this.  I will not say anything about other churches but this one really upsets me because we were trying to set a goal with the family to enter the temple.  The thing is that Satan can do miracles.  He will fool us with anything. He uses other churches to lure us away from the truth.  We must be so very careful.  It is very rarely that he flat out lies to us.  He can even trick us into feeling good about sinning.  The way we must avoid this is by doing the small and simple things.  Reading the Scriptures going to church praying are all things we must do to avoid these things in our life.

Elder Porter and I were talking last night.  I was telling him some doubts that I had.  He told me something that really changed my mission and my life.  He told me I need to LIVE the gospel of Christ.  We teach it every day:  Faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, Enduring to the End.  He was telling me that this gospel is a lifetime thing.  We are baptized once but we MUST take the sacrament EVERY week to be worthy to keep the spirit with us.  But when it is a process we can't just cant say the same person.  Enduring to the End means we can't go back to the person we were before.  We have to stay in constant motion.  It is the ONLY way we can become perfect.  I have been struggling a lot with thinking lies about myself, things that are not true.  Satan works his way into our lives with little thoughts about us.  Through doubting.  But if we doubt we cant have faith.  And when we do not have faith we cannot do the other things.  Without faith we will not be moved to Repent for the things we do wrong.  We must remember who we are:  Children of our Father in Heaven.  We cannot be trapped in the lie of saying that we are not good enough.  We are.  It is a flat out lie.  But we must go on.  We must Endure to the End and NEVER return to who we were.  I will NEVER return to who I was before my mission.  I am so grateful for this principal.   

Satan will always be attacking us but if we are built on the Rock of Jesus Christ WE WILL NOT FALL.

I love you all thank you for the prayers.

Always and Forever,

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12

Email received 05/20/13

Hola Family!!

Well my week was FABULOUS!!!

Not too much happened but it was great.  Working in the FABULOUS Work of the Lord.  It's so FABULOUS!  Elder Porter is FABULOUS!  I am learning new things from him every day.   We got news that the guy that owns our apartment is upping the Rent.  So the mission told us that we have to find a new one...In one week the funny thing is that we got the news three weeks ago.  Don't procrastinate.  Its bad.  I should have learned that in High School.

We are still having a little bit of trouble finding people to teach.  We are doing all we can to find them.  When we love we will have a greater desire to follow the Commandments of the Lord AND serve His glorious children. 

A few weeks ago we had a man named Gabriel walk up to us telling us that he heard things about the church and that people were saying how FABULOUS it would be to be baptized but he told us that he didn't want us to teach him at his house because his family is REALLY Christian and don't like us very much and so he said he would call us.  We waited two weeks for him to call us.  Last Monday around 4 he called us telling us that he really wanted to talk to us.  We went to where he was working and told us that he really wanted to be baptized.  He is such an amazing person.  Yesterday he went to church and is preparing for his baptism next week.  We are so excited for him. 

Yesterday we were looking for a man that we had been teaching.  But while we were knocking on his door two men came up to us.  One was so drunk he was just falling over into buckets of water.  The other was high but this man started talking to us.  He was telling me about his wife and three really young children.  He was telling us about he wants to change his life.  He was telling us about his problems and the first thing we told him to do was to stop the things he was doing.  It was super sad to me to see these two men like this.  He told me that he couldn't stop.  The Devil just has such power over us when we are doing these things.  But we can escape.  It is never to late for us.  He puts these lies into our heads to get us to stay down.  He then proceeded to tell us that he has faith in God that he loves him.  Which is so true.  But faith has two parts to believe and to act.  We must always act.  We must always repent.  But we are able to do it.  Christ paid for our sins.  So why should we suffer for them.  The feeling of freedom when we repent is the greatest feeling we could have.  I know I have felt it.  The Atonement is the greatest gift of all.  He is there.  He is waiting for us to come to him.  We cannot wait to repent.  We want the freedom now.

We just got back from interviews with the President.  It was so amazing but it was the Last one we would have with President Villarreal.  It was so amazing.  I am so grateful for him and how he has changed my life forever.  I love him so much.  But while we were waiting the Assistants were talking with us.  Elder Christoferson (I went to school with him) was telling us about the word MORE.  Being a missionary there is always MORE that we can do to be better missionaries but more important to be MORE like Christ.  If we are always doing MORE than we did yesterday to be more like Christ we are always progressing.  We must always do MORE to serve the people around us.  Just the way Christ did.  He is a perfect example for us.   We must always strive to do MORE.

I love you all so much I am so grateful for your love and support.

Always and forever

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12

Email received 05/13/13

Dear Family,

Well I don't have to much to say because I already talked to you but I Just wanted to send a few pictures.  I want to let you all know how grateful I am for you how much I am grateful for your love and support.  I love you all so much.  I pray for you all every day.  I love you.  Have a good week and please remember your loving Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ.  I love you all so much. 

Always and Forever

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12