Week 14 - Liberty Jail

Hello!
It is almost Christmas! So exciting. This is also the last week of the transfer- transfer day is Tuesday the 22nd. I am sad to see Sister Maxfield go, but I know her family is so excited to see her. I am sure I will be sticking around the jail for at least one more transfer, so I will have a new companion before long. But I will know on Sunday, so I will let you know next week!

But in other big news…BB is getting baptized on Sunday! You have to be non-smoking for 2 weeks, and he hasn’t smoked since last Sunday, which is amazing. I am so proud of him. As long as he keeps it up this week (and he will!) and continues, he will be able to be baptized! He is so ready. Yesterday we told him about this and he was so excited. He was almost crying and told us it was better than Christmas morning, and that he was ready to give his life to the Savior. Those are the moments you just live for out here! Amazing. So me and Sister Maxfield will speak, and the baptism will be right after church so we think we can get the majority of the ward there. So exciting! They already love him, and this will be great! So hopefully next week I will write all about it and send some pictures.

Besides that, this week it REALLY turned into winter here in Missouri. We had a big snow on Tuesday night, and some pretty freezing days. On Wednesday the temperature with the wind chill was 5 below freezing. But don’t you even worry, I had so many layers on. I had nylons, then wool tights, then leggings, then a slip made out of fleece material, then my warm skirt. Also boots. And on top like a thousand layers as well, along with my long coat, scarf, and gloves. So it was great! I have never worn so many layers in my life but it kept me warm. We just have to add like 10 more minutes to layer up in the mornings, but it is worth it! We will be out there working, no matter the weather.

Also this week was Zone Conference! SO so good. I just love ZC. It really is like a spiritual refill every transfer. We had some really good trainings by the assistants and President and Sister VanKomen and others. It was very Christ-centered and we talked about Christmas a lot of course. I loved a lot of the things that were said, but one thing Sister VanKomen said was that Christ’s gift to us was his life and his sacrifice. Shouldn’t our gift to Him be the same? I loved that because it is true! The best gift we have ever or ever will receive was Christ and

his sacrifice. One thing President said that I loved was that being one of the Lord’s missionaries this season is one of the greatest gifts we can have this Christmas. So true! As we share this message with others, it really is the best way to show our love for our Heavenly Father and for Christ. Zone Conference was also fun because I got to be there with my companion! She had left the night before (she is traveling to all the Zone Conferences to sing with a group) and then she stayed there and didn’t get back until the next night. So I got to be on exchanges with two different sisters. That was fun, but it is always good to have your companion back. There is just something special and different about working as a companionship to achieve the same goals. ZC was fun/sad though because it was her last ever! She got up and bore her testimony at the end, then in the closing song she started crying and of course so did I. I think I should just accept the fact that I will cry when my companions leave me. You just get to love them so much, and then they are just snatched away. But that’s ok, it is a growing experience right? Anyway, also at ZC President told us that as an entire mission, we are going to be reading the Book of Mormon the first 60 days of the year. It is going to be awesome! I am so excited.

Well, it was a great week! And this one I am sure will be one of the best of my mission. Thank you for your letters and prayers and support, it really does mean a lot to me. And I can feel the strength! So thank you.

I love you!

-Sister Hafen