Hello everybody,
Well just to clarify, this week is transfer week, so I haven't been transferred yet if I am going to be. We find out tomorrow what happens and then Thursday is actual transfer day. My companion knows though because she is a sister leader, and sister leaders help President decide what to do with transfers. So basically she knows but can't tell me, which is just awesome. I really hope we stay together for another transfer, but knowing me it just won't happen. I guess people can't handle being my companion for more than 6 weeks. :)
Well, besides that my family mentioned how hot it is in St. George right now, and my dad predicted exactly what I would think about that. Which is that at least it isn't also super humid like it is here. The days that we work in the VC in the morning and then go out I feel like I am walking into a sauna the minute I step out of the door. I am grateful I had the winter to kind of get my body more used to it, but still, I don't think I will ever really get used to it. I really can't complain though, because we always have a car with air conditioning, and some of the missionaries here don't have cars at all. Something else I am still not used to here is how fast the weather moves and changes. You can be outside boiling up in the sun one minute and then in 30 minutes or less it is super cloudy and thunder-storming and blowing like crazy.
That reminds me of a cool experience we had this week! So we had an appointment with Roberto (the guy we found by just talking to him while he was doing yard work/who is going to get baptized hopefully soon) but it was really last minute so we didn't have anywhere to meet with him, aka a member's home. Since he is a single man we have to either bring another woman with us or meet outside, so the plan was to meet at a park and do a lesson there. Just about 20 minutes before we are supposed to meet with him we are getting out of dinner with a member and it is starting to sprinkle and the clouds look angry. You could just tell it was about to downpour any second, and the air felt really heavy. Of course I started getting worried because I didn't know what we were going to do and how we were going to meet with him, and I didn't want to cancel. But my companion just said we would pray and it would all work out. So we got to the park we were supposed to meet him and said a prayer that we would have time to meet with him without rain. He came and we were able to have a really good lesson with him. He has a lot of problems in his life right now, none really his fault but caused by bad influences around him. There was nothing we can really say or do about it, because as missionaries we aren't allowed to really get involved in people's lives too deeply or give personal advice and stuff like that, which I am grateful for. All we can really do is teach
the gospel and promise blessings by living it. We were telling him that he needs to pray about all the stuff he is going through so he can receive guidance, and he was agreeing but not super excited about it. A long time ago he had kind of a bad experience with prayer and he hasn't really prayed since then. But then at the end of the lesson I just felt like we needed to talk about praying about it again, and I promised him that if he prayed he would recieve help. At that point he says "you know, before when I said I would pray I really wasn't going to, but now I will." It was pretty funny. But I was glad we talked about it again. He told us later in the week that he did actually pray! and it was good, but we don't have the details yet. I am excited to see what happened. But anyway, in case you were wondering it didn't actually rain during the lesson. Just a couple of sprinkles. It's funny because earlier in my life I would just say that it was a coincidence, that it doesn't make sense that Heavenly Father would stop the rain just for us that day. What about the people that want rain? Why would He do something that small just for us? But I know that He does love us enough. He is aware of the little tiny miniscule efforts we are making in Lee's Summit to try and bring the Gospel to people. And He is aware of each of us and our desires and hopes and dreams. And He wants to bless us. But sometimes, we don't bother to ask! I can't really think of any one experience that stood out to me this week. I was able to take a lot of really great tours at the VC this week. I always appreciate it when families come in that are spiritually prepared for a good experience. There are the groups that just look at you with glazed over looks and won't talk, and then there are the groups that understand why the spirit is important and are willing to let Him in during a tour. It makes all the difference in the world. One thing that really got me a little angry this week was when a man and his son came in and me and another sister went to show them the history presentation. They had just come from Liberty Jail where the sister had "bore her testimony too much" and now they were in a hurry to go to a baseball game that didn't start for hours and hours. Anyway, at the beginning
of the tour he told us, "we know you have testimonies, so you can skip that part and just tell us the history." Wow. I kind of just wanted to walk away at that point and just tell him to watch the videos then, but we stayed and tried our best to make it a good experience. I'm sure they have a wonderful family and are actually really great people, but that just made me sad. Especially for his son. There is such an opportunity to have a spiritual experience at places like the Visitors' Center and the historical sites around the area. I have had some of the most spiritual experiences of my life while doing tours. But the people have to be open to it. We have to let the spirit in, because he does not go to a place that he is not invited. But then I also had some really amazing experiences this week, especially with some great families that came in. With one of the families, the mom had spent months doing research and finding stories and making games that she could use with her young kids to prepare them for the trip. It made all the difference in the world. Instead of her kids being bored because they didn't know what was going on, then were involved and excited even at young ages. Sis. Finlayson took them on the history tour and she said that the little 4 year old raised her hand and said, "My mom told me that Emma had to walk across a frozen river because the wagon was too heavy and she had to carry her babies and out papers under her skirts and she did it because she had faith." This was a 4 year old! It was amazing to me. I have learned so much about families from serving in the VC and the kind of family I want to have. Well, nothing much else to tell! I love it here. I hope I don't get transferred, but we will see what the Lord has in store for me. He likes to surprise me. And of course, the second you start to feel comfortable where you are, you can pretty much count on a new challenge. I will let you know what happens!
Love,
Sister Hafen
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