Week 19 - Liberty Jail

Hello!

Well I know I wrote a lot about the cold last week, but thankfully that didn’t last for too long. This week has mainly been in the 20s and around there, so it has seemed like Hawaii compared to last week! It is such a blessing to have a car in this weather though. I know there are supposed to be a few more big storms, so that should be fun!

Anyway, besides that this week has been pretty good! We had Zone Conference, which is really like the best thing ever to you when you are a missionary. I told President that it is better than going to Disneyland! I am such a dorky missionary, and I love it. But we had some amazing trainings that really helped me a lot. I have come to a point in my mission where I am not a greenie anymore and things aren’t all brand new anymore and it really starts to hit you- this is what I am going to be doing for the next year and some months! And you start asking yourself what kind of experience you want to have. Especially for me- I am having all these companions and other sisters around me going home very soon, and it has made me think a lot about what I want to have accomplished by the end of my mission. Sister VanKomen at Zone Conference gave a talk/training that was seriously a direct answer to my prayer. She talked about how we can do so much more than we think, but we can only do it with the Lord’s help. We can only do so much alone! I really needed to hear that because I have always been a little too self-reliant. It is good to be independent, but especially in the Lord’s work- I can’t do it alone! I can’t take personal responsibility for the people we are teaching if they don’t want to accept our message. I don’t have the time to know every single thing about the Gospel so I can teach perfectly. I absolutely have to put it in the Lord’s hands, do everything I can and then trust that He will give me what I need when I need it. This is not an easy lesson to learn! But it is absolutely essential to learn. We can’t get through this life the way we need to without relying on the Atonement of Jesus Christ! I don’t think I really realized what that meant before my mission, and I am still learning, but it is so important!

Ok. So that is really the most important thing I have to say today. We have been very blessed lately to be finding lots of new people to teach, and some that are coming back into the picture from the beginning of my mission. We started teaching Paul again, and that is going well. We gave him a new gospel principles manual (aren’t those the best?) and it is really helping him to understand the doctrines and the scriptures. We also started teaching a kid named Chris again. He is from Micronesia and speaks a language called Pohnpein (I don’t know if I spelled that right), but speaks English pretty well. It is hard to tell if he understands everything we say, but he seems sincere. He wants to come to church and even get baptized, so I am having faith that this time around he will keep his commitments. We also had an interesting experience the other night. It was about 8 pm and we were trying to contact a potential (aka a person that has shown interest but you haven’t started teaching yet). He didn’t answer the door, and we saw some people across the street smoking and watching us…and laughing. So Sis. Jacobs says she wants to go over and talk to them, so I agree. We go over and it is a few kids about our age, and we ask what they are doing. Of course, they were having a party. But we just started talking to them and stuff, and pretty soon about 4 more girls come out. Eventually my companion asks them, “Have you ever wondered what the purpose of your life is?” It was funny because 3 of them started kind of laughing and saying they had just been wondering that and talking about that the other day. So we start teaching the plan of salvation. By the end really just one of the girls was still listening, but she was so into it. She was just staring into our eyes as we talked and you could just tell she needed it. I could relate to her as well because her grandma died a couple of years ago, and I was able to testify that I had a similar experience but I had a sure knowledge that I knew where my grandma was and that it didn’t just end with this life. So we are going to go back and see her next week, and I am excited. It is so great how Heavenly Father just puts you where you need to be, even when it isn’t what you exactly planned. But it always works out! As long as you are listening to the Spirit and working hard, a way will always be provided.


Well, those are mainly the best things that happened this week. I am trying to think of a funny story to tell you, but nothing is really coming. So many funny things happen though. One thing I didn’t really think about a mission being was hilarious! Yes, it can be hard, depressing, heart-breaking, inspiring, spiritual, and a million other things, but it is also so funny! So many awkward experiences. But it makes sense- meeting so many different people and being in so many different places in a day has to make for some fun times. And I have been so blessed with amazing companions that I can laugh and have fun with, so that definitely helps! Really though, this is the best thing ever. I can never explain to anyone that hasn’t been on a mission what you learn, and how much you grow. I remember my mission prep teaching saying that a mission was like cramming 50 years of church service into 18 months of 2 years. And he was right! It is the biggest roller coaster of emotions I have ever experienced. But you learn so many valuable things along the way. It is just so worth it.

I love you all!

-Sister Hafen