May 19, 2014

Hey, I don’t have a lot of time because we had a fun p-day and then it took forever to get home and then it took forty minutes for this page to load sooo... I’ll keep try and keep it short and focused! 

I really just wanted to give a shout out to a man in the world that pretty much taught me everything I know. He is one year older today and I’m sure that makes him wiser! His name is Bryan Dee Hansgen, oh you don’t know him? Talk to him after any sporting event, the family will be in the car for forty minutes waiting for him. Some, (well just mom) call him the "Mayor of Murray." If you don’t know him you should and you should probably repent for not knowing him.

Throughout my life I had a lot of people come up to me and say, “your Dads the bomb” or “your dads sick.” I was left thinking to myself, he isn’t even that cool and he probably doesn’t even know what "sick" means!

I mean this guy not only raised two great children (almost 3) to be successful and self sufficient but, he also probably parented your kid on and off the baseball field. I remember a lot of times in my life growing up walking out side in my little “whitie-tighties” and yelling for my dad from the front porch. I usually found him with a kid from the team talking about something a little bit more serious than baseball. Well I guess I thought that because it usually ended with the kid crying and hugging my dad. He called them "the come to Jesus meetings." I have had a few of these so called meetings in my life, a few more than I would have liked. I was a little frustrated with them and felt a little too young to appreciate them. I can’t say I remember the first one I had.

But I do remember this; he talked to me like he was my best friend. He got to know me, he cared about me, he yelled at me and cried with me. He has always been there for me. Most people say they have the best dad, but they don’t.

This dude still hits home runs like its nothing. When his phone rings at six or seven at night he knows that it’s someone short a guy and the first person they think of is "Hench”  Anyways I didn’t write this email to talk about his skills, I just want a lot of people know him like I know him…

One of my favorite things about my Dad is that he admits when he is wrong and he doesn’t take crap! He is completely honest, ok that was like three things. The point is he is awesome and it’s his birthday today! He is a worthy priesthood holder that walks the straight and narrow! He has done some pretty cool things in his life but, when I look back at all the stories I have heard, I think that the coolest thing he has done was made a family, a family strong in the faith.

Sometimes he gets on the wave of YouTube videos and bugs you to watch them with him, and sometimes when I was trying to sleep he was “Jimmy jammin’” in his jam room but, he taught me more things that I can remember! I plan on spending a lot more time with him and a lot more time listening to him!

Thanks Dad, and Happy Birthday!

Elder Hansgen