Email received 05/06/13

Hey Familia!  

¿Como Estáis?  Yep I feel super Spanish today.  I want to talk in Vosotros.  Cool.  Well it sounds like you all have had a few roller coaster rides the past few weeks.  I hope all is well.  The new baby.   I LOVE THE NEW NAME!!!!  Good work!!!  (If you held it A few weeks more you could have had a MAY baby!)  Op just kidding.  Its so wonderful to have this blessing in your life.  HEY maybe I will see her.  I will be calling on Sunday.  (I'm freaking out right now.  yes mom LED!!!!!)  Satan and his awful temptations WATCH OUT!!! HE WILL GET YA!!  Well anyway I will be calling at 4:00 MY time.  Will you make me a skype account?  We can only use skype to do it.  And send me instructions on how to use it.  I Think  that when you make an account you can add yourself as a friend.  

Well this week as great.  Elder Porter is AWESOME!!!  He is an amazing missionary.  We have been having a hard time finding people to teach.  Its been really great to have him as a companion though.  

Yesterday Elder Porter and I were walking down the street singing primary songs.  It was a really great until we actually thought about the Lyrics and what they really mean.  We thought about "I am a Child of God"  how profound it really is.  Probably the most popular song we sing in the Church probably has the most profound meaning behind it.  Yet I have NEVER thought about it like "yeah I am a Child of God.  This is the most important thing we could ever understand.  If we understand this principle we will do everything we can to enter and live with Him in His Kingdom.  We are children of a all knowing all powerful being.  And we can and inherit Everything He has.  We are His children. 

We found this man this past week that just contacted us on the street.  He had such a pain in his eyes to change his life.  He told us he lost everything.  He had a wife and kids and a job.  He expressed his desire to change.  The Love of Christ just swept over me.  Being in these situaciones is really hard sometimes.  Knowing for a part how Christ felt for us.  Just the desire to do all you can to help these people is incredible.  

We talked about love for a long time last night.  How it is the most important attribute of Christ we could have . Christ said the most important commandments we obey is to Love thy God with all thy heart, and love thy neighbor as thyself.  If we do these things we will do all we can to follow our savior.  I have learned that.  The more I love everyone before me I have more of a desire to serve my Father in Heaven.  I love you all.  More than anything.  Please don't forget your Heavenly Father.  

Always and Forever.

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12

Ps.  Mom I have been craving Brownies like CRAZY.  will YOU SEND ME SOME.  AND CHOCOLATE  AND LOVE       I LOVE YOU

Emaill received 04/29/13

Hey Family,

Well this week was a bit of a struggle.  I had a bit of a hard time with my companion.  It is really hard to work with him sometimes.  He is a really great missionary but he does not like to work much and so working hard and being diligent this past week was really hard.  But he has really taught me so much.  I really felt down this past week just trying so hard to do what's right is so hard sometimes especially when you are with someone that doesn't really want to do the things.  But Thursday morning my heart felt really heavy,  when all I wanted to do was just give up.  I prayed so hard to help me find something that would help me.  To strengthen me once again.  I was reading in Ether 12 that just blew me away.  Verse 27 answered my prayers.  It says that if we come to Christ the Lord will show us our weaknesses.  It says that He shows us our weaknesses so that we will humble ourselves before Him and if we are humbled before Him he will give unto us grace.  And if we are humble before Him and if we have faith in Him he will make our weaknesses our strengths.  It was something that strengthened me so much.  

We had changes today.  My new companion is Elder Porter.  He is really awesome he is from South Jordan.  He has 10 months in the Mission.  I stayed here in Roma.  In Zocalo.  The Center of Mexico City.  Its super cool I love it here.  I am super Excited to work with him.  We are going to have a lot of success this change.  

I am really sorry this is a short email.  I love you all thank you for everything. You all are in my prayers.

Always and Forever

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12

Email received 04/22/13

Dear Family,

This week was really good week.  We worked so hard.  Elder Mendoza is a great missionary.  Its weird to think we are coming up on another change.  We are excited to see what happens with changes.  We don't know if I stay or Elder Mendoza stays.  But we are really anxious to find out what happens. 

There was an earthquake last night around 8:30.  We were walking down the street and we saw a lot of people outside of their house.  We were wandering what was going on than we heard a member from our ward call out to us and told us there was an earthquake happening.  We didn't feel anything until she said something.  It was super weird.  It was just an aftershock the epicenter was in Michoacan.  I think they said it was like a 5.7 or something we don't really know the details just that the Missionaries that are there had a good wakeup call.  Second tiny one in the past two weeks.  cool experience.

We had a miracle happen yesterday.  We were sitting in church with no investigators.  We had passed by with all of our investigadores but all of them were sleeping and didn't answer the door or were  not home.  I got to admit I was a little bit disappointed.  At the End of the meeting we had a man walk up to us and introduce us to his girlfriend Patricia.  He said that she was investigating the church and wanted to learn more.  We taught her just about everything in the church because she told us that she had a lot of doubts and questions.  we kept answering her questions and then she told us that she had had a really cool experience at conference two weeks ago.  She told us that she just kept having a feeling but she didn't know what it was.  We talked about baptism with her.  We invited her to be baptized she said yes but as soon as possible.  We were so happy that we had to restrain ourselves from leaping out of our chairs and shouting for joy.   that same day we taught her everything and was baptized.  that was her first time talking with the missionaries.  Not once in my mission so far has this happened to me.  It is something I am so grateful for.  I felt a bit bad this past week because we were working so hard but not having very much success.  When we do the things that we need to do to the Best of our ability the Lord will do his part.  We will be blessed.  Something very powerful I learned.  Proof to me that we have a loving Heavenly Father who does love us so much that He is begging for us to keep His commandments so that he can give us blessings.  But He will always do His part but us first must do ours. 

At times it is hard to keep the commandments.  But if we keep them we will enter the Kingdom of God.  If we do these simple things that we know we will have this blessing together as a family.  I love you all so much. 

Always and Forever,

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12

PS.  Mom I ran out of money.  Could you send me some more please?  I am really sorry.  I will do better.  I love you so much.

Email received 04/15/13

Hey family!!

Well this has been a really hard week for me.  Elder Ballesteros was special Changed last week.  We don't really know why.  the Assistants called us Monday night and told him he was going to Ciudad Hidalgo Michoacan.  Super weird.  He is from Morelia Michoacan which is like one hour from Ciudad Hidalgo.  But I got a knew companion Tuesday.  His name is Elder Mendoza.  He is from Ciudad Juarez up north and has 16 months in the mission.  But it has been really tough adjusting.  Really tiring and really frustrating at times.  We had an earthquake a few days ago.  It wasn't big at all.  We could feel it just a bit.  But if you were in any big building you could really feel it.

This past week I have been thinking a lot about patience.  How important it really is in our lives.  The longer I thought about it the more I realized how I don't have it.  How much I need to ask for help.  In James 1:5 it says that if we lack wisdom, we ask God to help us with that.  But not just wisdom but anything we need it will be given.  If there is something we lack in our lives we must ask our loving Heavenly Father to help us.  If we ask in faith and not doubting we will be blessed with that thing.  At times it is really difficult to live with the things that we felt.  But that is why we ask.    But we must not focus on the things that we felt.  But the things that we have.  Just like what Elder Holland said that we cannot focus on the faith that we do not have but the faith we do have.

We met with a family that just had their grandmother pass away last week.  Only the two daughters are members and the son and the mother are not.  Their mother cannot hear or talk.  The daughter that we were talking with told us why she joined the church.  She said that she had been going to church at the time for a year before her mom let her get baptized.  She said that when the missionaries were talking with her she wasn't sure about baptism.  They asked her if she had prayed to know it was true.  She said no.  They invited her to pray.  She said that she did it but nothing happened she said.  She told the missionaries that and they told her to pray again.  But more fervently with more of a desire and a longing to know.  She told us that that other time that she had prayed she got the sweet assurance of the truthfulness of the gospel. 

This story really might sound kind of normal but its true.  She had a desire to know.  The only way we will know for a surety is to pray.  To receive that witness that it is.  But we do not receive this answer on our time but on the time of our Father in Heaven.  But also the other thing very important is that we "receive no witness until the trial of our faith."  Every person member or investigator must come to this point.  We must ask in fervent prayer if this church is true.  It is the only way that we will know that it is true.  In this time that we live in it is hard.  But it is so much harder without this testimony.  The ONLY way to get through it is by having our foundations built upon Jesus Christ and his Gospel.  The world says otherwise but we must not listen. We must not forget who we are. Inside a world of darkness.  But always there will be this light.  Leading us through. We must know with our own testimonies that it is true.  It is true.  I love this gospel.  I love my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ.  I am so grateful for this chance that I have to spread and share this gospel.  I love you all so much.  Thank you for the love and support that you give me.

Always and Forever,

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12

Ps.  Mom don't send me a camera.  it wont get to me.  Don't worry about it.  If I have more problems I will tell you and you can send me money or something but don't send me anything worth value.  Lots of candy and love sounds great!!  Peanut butter and Jam.  DELISOUS.  Oh and I am going to talk to you on mothers day.  I want to use skype this time.  I love you.  Hey how was your birth day? 

Email received 04/08/13

Hey Family,

This week was a good week.  We have been working really hard for the Lord.  We baptized Isabel yesterday.  I didn't know her at all when she was baptized.  Elder Ballesteros said that she had been investigating the church for years.  He told me that they had tried to get her baptized a few times but didn't want to.  I believe it is because of General Conference yesterday.  After the ordinance she gave a testimony that just blew us all away!  With the words "I know I am in the ONLY true church of Jesus Christ"  it was so awesome to hear that.  That is my first time hearing that.  It made me so happy.  She was so happy.  Feeling such peace is powerful.

Last Monday we met with a members husband who is Testigos de Jehova.  We walked in there really expecting to be talking about the Book of Mormon or how Christ is Jehovah, but instead he told us that he was done with God.  That he believes that God is not loving and merciful.  It was super sad to hear this.  Such desperation such sadness in a mans voice.  He told us that he is an ex Police Officer and seeing the things he saw drove him to this point.  Looking at this from his perspective is really hard.  Just being Missionaries walking down the streets and seeing such sad horrible things is really hard.  But knowing the tricks of the Devil.  Knowing that he is leading people down slowly.  Leading away the hearts of men.  It is really hard to see the light when we don't have it.  We asked him if he could pray.  Really pray to his father in Heaven if He is there.  If he really loves us.  It was really hard to see him say know.  We started talking about pride.  How pride was the first sin ever committed.  Lucifer denied the Plan of Our Savior because of the Pride he had.  Because of the spirit that was there I really believed that he had a change of heart.  He said that that night he would pray with all the faith that he has.  It was really a sad and happy moment to see.  

Last week we visited a in active member named Linda.  She is 104 years old.  She expressed her sadness for not going to church.  She said that she is not able to go to church because of the conditions she is in.  Because she lives alone it is really hard to do things.  It really hit me how strong of a desire she had to go to church.  Something we all take for granted.  It made me so grateful for what I have.  Because of her strong sweet spirit that she has.  We take it for granted the little things that we have.  A house food money, our health.  These things are so big.  Seeing her desire to go to church made me think really hard about what we do at church that keeps us charged and ready for the attacks of Satan.  We need to remember the little things that we have and really take them for what they are.  For how they have been blessings given to us by our loving Father in Heaven.  

In our Zone Conference a few weeks ago President Villarreal quoted a scripture that hit me hard-  Mark 8:34.  Christ invites his disciples to take up their cross and follow him.  Really inviting us to die with him.  Here in the mission it is really hard sometimes.  But we cant expect it to be easy for us when it wasn't easy for Him.  For me "taking up the cross" means the things we must do to follow Him.  At times they are not easy to do but we do it.  For the desires that we have to follow Him.  We cannot think that it will be easy because we all know its not but we do know it will be worth it.  I have such a testimony of this.  I know we must follow Him.  He is our perfect example.  Our Savior and Redeemer.  

I know without a doubt in my heart that these things are true.  The lives that have changed before my eyes, I cannot deny it.  I love you all so much.  I pray for you all every day. I love you all.  Thank you.

Always and Forever,

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12

I took this one for Ely.  One of the army man from toy story.  HE is real.

Me and Elder Ballesteros

Taco de Tripa.  Yes I ate it.  Horrible.  Don't try it.  yes tripa means intestines.  Of what animaI, who knows

Familia Vega.  The family Elder Taylor and I baptized the last week in Cuajimalpa.

Isabel.  She is really awesome

Email received 04/01/13

Hey Family,

This week was a good week.  A bit hard and challenging but that's ok that's just the way it is in the mission.  We had Zone Conference on Wednesday.  It was so amazing!  It was the last official Zone Conference with President Villarreal.  We are all really sad that he is ending his mission.  Its ok. 

This week of  "Semana Santa" was weird.  Because of Mexico being a Catholic Country they all have like a spring break kind of thing.  But in Mexico they celebrate Easter as 3 days.  Christ's death in Calvary Friday.  Passover Saturday and Resurrection Sunday.  On Friday there are certain parts of Mexico that crucify people as "honor" to Christ.  They don't kill them.  The men are paid or something.  But they are obviously Drugged up.  For me its something super sad.  But it is something that was started like 100 years ago.  Elder Ballesteros said something really funny but really quite true that they are wrapped up in the "false tradiciones of their Fathers."  But with the whole country on Vacation this past week there hasn't been very many people.  Especially Friday, and Saturday.  All of the Appointments that we had those days were not there.  It was super weird and kind of creepy Zombie, Apocalypse Movie like those past two days.  It is super weird not seeing loads and loads of people in the street of Mexico City.  Yesterday was back to normal.  It was actually a cool experience in Sacrament.  Because our area is right by the Hot spot of the city we had a lot of Americans in our Sacrament.  They didn't speak a word of Spanish so they had me Translate the Meeting for them.  Two of these Americans were not members so it was really cool teaching them and especially in English.  We also had two people from Italy in our Meeting.  It was really cool talking with them in Spanish. 

It was really a cool experience thinking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His Resurrection.  Thinking about the Love that He has for us and how I can apply that into my life and to the Life of my investigators.  There are a lot of people that need this.  That really all they need is someone in there life showing them the way to the Eternal Gate.  It doesn't matter who we are but we all could use this.  I know that it is through the pure love of Christ we will understand the wonderful Eternal Plan of our Father in Heaven. 

All of my Love to you.  Thank you all so much for the support that you have given me.  I love you all.

Always and Forever,

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12

Email received 03/18/13

Hey Fam.

This week was such a great week.  SO many great experiences.  We baptized a wonderful family of three yesterday.  Such a wonderful family that we have seen such a big change in.  Elder Tattersall and I found them at the end of last change.  We went by but couldn't find them for a few weeks.  Until like a week and a half ago.  We were so grateful to find them again.  They have experienced so many hard things.  The mom Laura divorced from her husband for horrible terrible things that he did to that family.  When we met them they were just dieing to have some kind of peace in their life.  There is nothing that makes me happier than to see this happiness and peace fill their family. 

Well we had changes today.  I left Cuajimalpa to a place called Tacubaya in the city.  (Look up a place called Zocalo)  our area is right by it.  My new companion is Elder Ballesteros.  He is from Mexico.  He is Temporal.  Waiting for his visa to go to Argentina.  This last change was only a change of 4 weeks.  Because of the change of ages and weeks in the MTC put the Transfer dates out of line with the MTCs and so there was a need for a change of 4 weeks.  Oh and because of that we come home two weeks earlier.  So that was super crazy to think about.

Elder Taylor and I were talking one day this week.  He said something about standing at the gate.  I immediately thought "wow that sounds really cool"  I thought about that more and more that day and what I thought it really means.  Like first about baptism.  How in 2 Nephi 31 he talks about it as "the straight and narrow gate in which we should enter."  Than I thought really about the Kingdom that our Heavenly Father has prepared for us.  It kind of hit me a little bit.  How many things do we have in our life that are like this gate.  That all of us are standing in front of.  But what do we have to do?  We could enter or not enter.  It does us nothing if we stand IN the gate.  We must ALWAYS take that step.  We must always act on our faith.  Really how close are we?  We are all standing in front of this gate.  All of us. 

We met with this man this next day.  He was baptized when he had like 8 years.  He has been inactive for almost 10 years.  His wife isn't a member.  When we were talking this example came to my mind.  That he is standing in front of this gate this door to walk into the Church.  All he has to do is take that extra step.  It was something that hit me so hard this week.  It is even worse for us when the gate is open.  When we can see the inside.  The Happiness the blessings.  For us we have entered the gate of baptism.  The doors are open.  We can "see" the happiness that we can have.  We know.  We know the only way to have these blessings.  We must always take that step.  Always enter the gate.  We can never stay in front looking in.  We must do the things that we know we need to do to walk in the Pearly Gates of the Kingdom of Our Father.  We must not let the temptations and the shafts in the whirlwind tear us down from these blessings.  From standing at the gate. 

I love you all.  Thank you so much for all of the support.  Do not forget your Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. 

Always and Forever,

Elder Hancock

Helaman 5:12

Ps. Mom I have some bad news my camera is not working.  I didn't do anything.  Its not the batteries or anything.  It just wont turn on and stuff.  I am really sorry.  I will figure something out.  I love you.