Hello all,
Can you believe I turn 23 this week! Of course I had to bring that up first- I wouldn't want anyone to forget about the great letter they were planning to send me this week! And I actually have gotten some pretty good mail lately from my friends. Usually no one but my family writes me, but this last week I got a letter from my friends Kari and Matt, Tyler, and Jillian and Raymond. It was a pretty good week. But anyway, I just said that so that all you that haven't written me will feel guilty and send me something this week. :)
But my birthday is going to be great! A couple of weeks ago we were eating at our bishop's house and my birthday came up and they said they wanted to have us over. So now she is making me a special birthday dinner and it is going to be awesome! I love this ward so much. There are so many just incredible amazing people in it. Yesterday we were sitting in church and I was watching the people come in and sit down and talk to each other, and I was watching all the adorable kids, and I just was overwhelmed with how much I love these people. It is really a ward family, moreso than any ward I think I have ever seen. The people in the ward care about each other so much. I am going to be sad when I leave it, which is inevitable unfortunately.
Well, this was a great week! I went on two exchanges which was fun. I am continually amazed at how different Independence is from my area in Lee's Summit. There is just a different feeling in the place. And much different people. Lee's Summit is a lot like Liberty was, it has a more community feel and is nicer. Independence has the most interesting people ever. But anyway, we also had some miracles this week! We have been teaching this girl Amanda who is the sister of one of the members in our ward. Our plan this week was to really commit her for a date to be baptized in the near future. So we get there, and the first thing her sister says is that Amanda has some news to tell us. We find out that she has been thinking about baptism and has decided that she wants to work toward being baptized. Awesome! She decided she wants to be baptized on her birthday in September. Amazing! That was so exciting. Also this week we were able to contact Roberto again! He had been sick for like a week, and since he doesn't have a phone we couldn't just call him. He called us twice this last week but both times we were in meetings, so we never got ahold of him. So finally we just went to his work and finally found him again. Miracle! We are going to meet with him tonight and hopefully set a new date for baptism- it was for this week, but he still hasn't been able to get work off on Sundays to come to church. I am confident it will happen though. I am excited to see the miracles that will happen in his life!
We also had some cool experiences with some less active members in the ward. One night this week one of our members called us with some good news. He was at wal-mart and happened to run into a young man who got baptized a few years ago. The young man had been coming to church and activities up until a few months ago when his house burned down! So crazy. But once it burned down, nobody could find him anymore. But he found him at wal-mart and was able to get his new address, and we visited him. Now this week he is going to come to the youth activity. Nothing we really did, but such a missionary miracle. It just shows that the Lord is mindful of all His children! Also this week we visited this lady who joined the church about 2 years ago, but since the wards split a little while ago has not been coming or anything. She kind of got lost for a while because she moved, but she was found again and we were able to visit her. She is so funny. We were able to get her a ride to church yesterday and she came for the first time in a long time. The best thing ever was in relief society she leaned over to Sis. Finlayson and said something, but I couldn't hear. I asked her what she said, and she said, "right after we left on Friday, she gave up coffee, tea, smoking, and either pot or pop." Pretty great. We didn't even talk about any of those things, but apparently she decided she needs to get her life together again. It was cool because she has been in a lot of different churches in her life, but she told us that the Mormon church feels like a family. So true. I am excited for her to become active again.
Ok, two more cool/funny experiences and I will close. This week on preparation day we didn't have a car to go into our area, so we decided we would just go to the VC, eat our dinner that someone was bringing for us, then do some planning for the rest of our week. Since we had just gotten up from naps just barely, neither of us really looked that great and then we walked from our apartment to the VC, and it was really hot and humid. By the time we got to the VC, we looked super cute. Anyway, we get there and notice all the sisters on shift are up by the Christus statue singing, and there is a big group gathered around. We asked the senior couple on shift what was going on, and they told us Elder Andersen was there! As in, Neil L. Andersen of the 12 apostles. So of course we tried to clean up a little and fix our hair and stuff, but then we were invited over to take pictures with them. We felt a little silly with no jackets or anything, but it was really cool! He was super nice and thanked us all for being missionaries and serving. Later we even got to take a picture with just him and his wife and our mission president and his wife. So cool! This is the 3rd apostle I have been able to meet and shake their hand on my mission. What a blessing.
Another funny experience. For the past couple of weeks at the VC we have had a cat friend. I
think I sent a picture of it a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, this cat just hasn't left us alone. It always shows up in the middle of the day and just sits right outside the door. It was doing it this week again, and then our VC director actually took it to an animal shelter because it wouldn't leave. So anyway, on Saturday we come on shift and walk up to the VC and hear a bunch of meowing, and notice that there are kittens in the bushes! And at this point we didn't know the cat was gone, so we figured it was there too. But later we found out what happened and that the kittens were abandoned! They were getting really loud and crawling all around the flowers and you could tell they were really hungry. Of course, a bunch of us decided this was not ok so we decided to take care of it. It was a funny sight- 4 sister missionaries trying to take care of thise 4 little kittens. But thankfully a member in one of the wards was able to come and take them because all of the animal shelters are apparently closed on weekends. Weird. I love how little things like this provide entertainment and excitement to me. The life of a missionary.
Well, that is about all for this week! Thank you all for being amazing. I love you all!
-Sister Hafen
But my birthday is going to be great! A couple of weeks ago we were eating at our bishop's house and my birthday came up and they said they wanted to have us over. So now she is making me a special birthday dinner and it is going to be awesome! I love this ward so much. There are so many just incredible amazing people in it. Yesterday we were sitting in church and I was watching the people come in and sit down and talk to each other, and I was watching all the adorable kids, and I just was overwhelmed with how much I love these people. It is really a ward family, moreso than any ward I think I have ever seen. The people in the ward care about each other so much. I am going to be sad when I leave it, which is inevitable unfortunately.
Well, this was a great week! I went on two exchanges which was fun. I am continually amazed at how different Independence is from my area in Lee's Summit. There is just a different feeling in the place. And much different people. Lee's Summit is a lot like Liberty was, it has a more community feel and is nicer. Independence has the most interesting people ever. But anyway, we also had some miracles this week! We have been teaching this girl Amanda who is the sister of one of the members in our ward. Our plan this week was to really commit her for a date to be baptized in the near future. So we get there, and the first thing her sister says is that Amanda has some news to tell us. We find out that she has been thinking about baptism and has decided that she wants to work toward being baptized. Awesome! She decided she wants to be baptized on her birthday in September. Amazing! That was so exciting. Also this week we were able to contact Roberto again! He had been sick for like a week, and since he doesn't have a phone we couldn't just call him. He called us twice this last week but both times we were in meetings, so we never got ahold of him. So finally we just went to his work and finally found him again. Miracle! We are going to meet with him tonight and hopefully set a new date for baptism- it was for this week, but he still hasn't been able to get work off on Sundays to come to church. I am confident it will happen though. I am excited to see the miracles that will happen in his life!
We also had some cool experiences with some less active members in the ward. One night this week one of our members called us with some good news. He was at wal-mart and happened to run into a young man who got baptized a few years ago. The young man had been coming to church and activities up until a few months ago when his house burned down! So crazy. But once it burned down, nobody could find him anymore. But he found him at wal-mart and was able to get his new address, and we visited him. Now this week he is going to come to the youth activity. Nothing we really did, but such a missionary miracle. It just shows that the Lord is mindful of all His children! Also this week we visited this lady who joined the church about 2 years ago, but since the wards split a little while ago has not been coming or anything. She kind of got lost for a while because she moved, but she was found again and we were able to visit her. She is so funny. We were able to get her a ride to church yesterday and she came for the first time in a long time. The best thing ever was in relief society she leaned over to Sis. Finlayson and said something, but I couldn't hear. I asked her what she said, and she said, "right after we left on Friday, she gave up coffee, tea, smoking, and either pot or pop." Pretty great. We didn't even talk about any of those things, but apparently she decided she needs to get her life together again. It was cool because she has been in a lot of different churches in her life, but she told us that the Mormon church feels like a family. So true. I am excited for her to become active again.
Ok, two more cool/funny experiences and I will close. This week on preparation day we didn't have a car to go into our area, so we decided we would just go to the VC, eat our dinner that someone was bringing for us, then do some planning for the rest of our week. Since we had just gotten up from naps just barely, neither of us really looked that great and then we walked from our apartment to the VC, and it was really hot and humid. By the time we got to the VC, we looked super cute. Anyway, we get there and notice all the sisters on shift are up by the Christus statue singing, and there is a big group gathered around. We asked the senior couple on shift what was going on, and they told us Elder Andersen was there! As in, Neil L. Andersen of the 12 apostles. So of course we tried to clean up a little and fix our hair and stuff, but then we were invited over to take pictures with them. We felt a little silly with no jackets or anything, but it was really cool! He was super nice and thanked us all for being missionaries and serving. Later we even got to take a picture with just him and his wife and our mission president and his wife. So cool! This is the 3rd apostle I have been able to meet and shake their hand on my mission. What a blessing.
Another funny experience. For the past couple of weeks at the VC we have had a cat friend. I
Well, that is about all for this week! Thank you all for being amazing. I love you all!
-Sister Hafen
1 comment:
:)Happy Birthday Sister Hafen! Your birthday is the same as my older brothers. cool!
I love reading your blog
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