Week 40 - Independence Visitors Center

Hello!

Well, another transfer, another companion of course. That's just the story of my life on my mission so far. But I am loving it! I get to make all these really close friends every six weeks. Anyway, I stayed in my area and the VC and my companion now is Sister Finlayson. She is from Oregon (not Utah, a rarity in our mission) and also went to BYU. And she was called to be the new sister leader at the Visitors' Center, which means she will be busy this transfer! So at the VC there are 2 sister leaders that are basically just in charge of making sure things are running smoothly, training us on different things, and going on exchanges with each companionship. Of course this means that their companions also go on exchanges. So this transfer we are going on 8 exchanges, which means that 8 days out of the 6 weeks I will be with other sisters in their areas. It will be fun! Hopefully between being at the VC and exchanges me and her will be able to get to know each other! :) But anyway, she is great. She is a super sweetheart and we are actually similar in a lot of ways.

Sister Bowman finally went out to Kansas to a full proselyting area. She had spent her whole 6 months of her mission so far at the VC, so she was excited to go out somewhere else. It actually seems like everyone left the VC! Only one of the companionships stayed the same, so there are a lot of new to the VC sisters. I love being there and getting to know a lot of the different sisters in the mission- we have about 40, so it is fun to get to know so many of them.

Well, we had some good experiences this week. Probably my favorite this week was a family I took on tour at the Visitors' Center. It was really cool because they had one son with them that had just gotten home from his mission, and another that just got his call that morning. They had it overnighted from Utah. They were just really cool. Also that morning we had a training on what to do when giving history tours- sometimes they just are kind of boring or the people don't really get into them very much. So I got some good ideas at the meeting and was trying to apply them, mostly about being better at bringing gospel topics into the tour. We just were able to have a really good discussion about the early saints and the Book of Mormon and some good things. Then I found out their son was leaving on his mission in about 60 days- perfect! So I challenged him to read the Book of Mormon in 60 days like we did in our mission. Really though, I remember before my mission I would ask people advice about how to best prepare. I got all kinds of different advice of course, but now I have my own! Really just reading the Book of Mormon. Being familiar with the scriptures, especially the BOM, is so powerful on a mission. It is the best thing you can do! That, and learning to talk to people. So I hope he does it, because it will really help him. As they were leaving the VC the mom was talking to me and she said that she was going to go tell her son (that just got home) that he needs to marry someone like me. Ah! I told her she is just going to have to wait at least 9 months. :)

Besides that, we have had some pretty fun storms this week! I remember my friend Kim (from St. Louis) telling me about Missouri thunderstorms and how crazy they are, but I didn't really think much of it. But holy cow! It will be sunny one moment and then all of a sudden the clouds will swoop in and it will start thundering and lightening and just downpouring. It is crazy. On Saturday we were driving to our area and all of a sudden the weather just goes crazy. After 30 minutes roads were flooding and we almost accidentally drove into a huge pool of water, but don't worry, we avoided it. It was just crazy. I have never seen anything like it. And then of course the humidity. Right before these storms especially the humidity just goes crazy. When we walk out of the VC in the afternoon I feel like I am walking into the shower sometimes. So I am just super excited for that plus the 100 degree heat! I just love it so much.

Oh, we had a really good week with someone I mentioned last week. Last Monday we went to go visit this less active who we had been meaning to visit all transfer. She was someone we always wrote down to go see as a backup, but never actually got around to seeing. So we actually went on Monday, and it was awesome! She has been planning to come back to church lately, and her 18 year old sister just moved in with her and wanted to come as well. So then yesterday they came to church, and it was great! The ward was so friendly and welcoming to them. Then yesterday afternoon they came to the Visitors' Center and it was a really good experience. We had a member bring them and she bore such a powerful testimony to them. She is a convert, so it was amazing. I am excited for her! She has had a lot of challenges in her life, but I know that with the gospel in her life she can overcome them.

Well, that is about all I have for this week! I love you all and hope you are doing well.

-Sister Hafen