Week 20 - Liberty Jail

Hello all,

First, sorry about last week family! We got to the library on Monday to email, but then realized it was a holiday so it was closed, and we had to email the next day. Of course we were oblivious to this fact, because we don’t think about stuff like that! We don’t get holidays, so we rarely remember when they are.

Anyway. This has been one of the most roller coaster weeks of my mission. They say a going on a mission is like going on an emotional roller coaster, and they are right! I was telling my companion the other day that I have never in my life experienced such a range of emotions in the space of one day, usually I am pretty stable! Anyway, we found tons of new investigators this week, which was awesome. One cool thing about it- the first door I ever knocked/talked at myself when tracting was this family in an apartment building. The kids speak English and Spanish, but the parents only speak Spanish. We started teaching their 17 year old son for a while, but it didn’t go very far. Then since I now have a Spanish speaking companion we decided to go back the other day. It was awesome! We got in and talked to the family except for the dad, and the mom loved it. We had a really good lesson about the restoration. Then we went over the next day because one of our appointments cancelled and we wanted the 17 year old to meet one of the kids in our ward we had with us. We talked to them a little and the mom had already read most of 3 Ne. 11 and loved it! She was clutching the Book of Mormon and just grinning. It may be a challenge because her family is very Catholic, including her husband, but we will do what we can with the situation.
As far as the other side of the roller coaster I was talking about, along with the miracles we have seen this week there has also been a lot of opposition. For example, on Thursday and Friday we had 9 different appointments set up, all with different member team-ups (that means members come with us to teach) and it was going to be awesome! But as you can probably guess, not a single one of those appointments happened. Every single one of our investigators called to cancel or just wasn’t there/didn’t show up. It started to get a little bit ridiculous! But honestly, I just think the adversary is mad that we are working hard and seeing miracles. Wouldn’t you be? And we are just not going to let him win! I also know that this is a test of our faith. It is so easy when you are working hard and not seeing the results to just give up or even just not work quite as hard as you were before. But that is exactly what Satan wants you to do. If he can do that, he can start having more and more power over you. But it’s not going to work! We are just going to pray and work even harder to get the strength we need to overcome him. We really feel like amazing things are coming in our area and we have already seen that a little bit. As long as we just keep on going in faith, we are bound to see the results eventually! It will just be in the Lord’s time, not ours.

I think one of the hardest things I have had to deal with on my mission is working with people that you know have felt the spirit, you know even want to join the church, but something or other is standing in their way. It just breaks my heart. One thing I have really learned is that agency is huge! And it is also a gift from God given to everyone no matter what. Agency is what makes the Plan of Salvation work! Even from the beginning, Adam and Eve had agency, and we had it even before we came to earth. It is so easy when working with someone that just can’t quite seem to make that commitment to think that it is you, it is something you are doing wrong or need to do better at. But after you have done all you can do- teach them the gospel with the spirit, pray for them, give them commitments to keep- it is all ultimately up to them. And when they don’t choose what you know will help them, it is heart-breaking. I think that I have a miniscule taste of what it is like to be a parent. You just put everything you have into these people! Anyway, that is something we have seen a lot lately, and you just have to give it to the Lord or else you will get so depressed. That is one thing I have been really grateful to realize lately on my mission is that lots of things are just out of our hands. And if we are working and doing our best, the Lord will take care of it. He will lift our burdens and our sorrows and our weaknesses, as long as we let Him. If we don’t let Him, we suffer way beyond what we need to. There is no way to get through life and really be happy if we don’t let Him help us. Just no way. We may think things are going good, but the second life starts to get hard is when life gets not so happy anymore. But when we rely on the Savior to help us, we can be happy even when hard things are happening! I know that that is true. It is easy to do, but it is so necessary!

Anyway, I know my last two emails have been very missionary sounding, but I think that someone else has needed to hear what I have written. I hope it has helped you to read about the things I am learning! Seriously, if you are feeling apathetic, or lazy, or in a rut spiritually, just go on a mission! You will fast break out of all of that.

Ok, so here is a funny/ridiculous experience we had this week. So the Liberty 2nd ward sisters called us the other day and told us they have someone for us to teach- a man that had just moved into our ward from theirs that wanted to be baptized. So we go over on Saturday night and it was interesting. It is this man named Eddie that is 78 and just very set in his ways. He told us he wants to come to church, but there is just one problem. He wants to bring his dog to church. And he refuses to come without him! Apparently a few years ago his dog was in his truck which was stolen for a few days, and he didn’t see him for 6 days or something like that. Ever since then he doesn’t go anywhere without his dog! The best thing about it- the dog’s name is Sparkplug and it is a tiny chihuahua. So we will see what happens there! It was pretty funny.

Anyway, that was long, but I hope you enjoy it! I am learning a ton of amazing things every day. Please continue to pray for me.

I love you!
-Sister Hafen