Well as I was talking about, this last week was transfer week. Sister Glade shipped off to the VC to be companions with Sis. Clark, one of my favorite people ever. And I am still here in Great Bend. My new (and my 10th companion by the way!) companion is Sister Lund. She is from Manti, UT and has only been out on her mission for 6 weeks- she was in Missouri then came all the way out here. It has been interesting to have such a new missionary as my companion! I guess you just usually take for granted that your companion has experience and kind of knows how everything works. It will be a growing and learning experience for me I'm sure. This transfer has lots of fun things in store! Next week we have Zone Conference in Wichita, the week after I go to a leadership conference, and at the end of the transfer we are having another all-mission conference in Topeka. Elder Scott is going to be speaking! So exciting. That will be the 4th apostle I will get to meet on my mission. I am so spoiled.
Besides the excitement of transfers, this week has actually been relatively quiet and calm. Surprising for
Great Bend 67530! Last transfer it all started my second day there with Chris dying, and it never slowed down after that. But it looks like this transfer is going to be a little more calm. Oh, one exciting thing that happened is that Pam finally talked to us again! It had been 2 weeks since she talked to us, and we decided we were going to drop her (missionary term that means stop teaching/contacting her) at the end of the transfer if she didn't answer. On Tuesday we went over and the door was open! Just the screen door was closed and we could hear her inside. Finally Sis. Glade told her she was probably being transferred and she wasn't leaving without a hug. It worked! :) She let us in and explained herself and told us some concerns she has. She thought we would be mad at her because she doesn't think she is ready to be baptized. Oh man. So we talked about it and hopefully we will be able to help her overcome some things this transfer. Other investigators are doing good, we didn't see a lot of them last week, so not much to say.
Oh, also Anthony got confirmed on Sunday! It was really neat because one of our recent converts (he has been a member for a year) was able to confirm him. He was really nervous but he gave him a really simple and short blessing, but it was also powerful. One thing I have loved seeing on my mission is the strong and simple testimony that a lot of recent converts have. They haven't grown up in the church, so it isn't apart of their culture as much like it is mine. But I also think a lot of the times their testimonies are just so pure. They are based more on their own personal search and witness from the Holy Ghost. A lot of the times they have had to make big changes in their lives to live the gospel, and they know the difference it has made in them. It is awesome. It has been awesome to see the changes in Anthony even in the last six weeks I have been here. Just a couple of weeks before I came he went on a church tour, then since I came he has started coming to church, started living the word of wisdom and other commandments, started really reading the Book of Mormon, has prayed a lot more, and just changed a lot of his attitudes and ideas. I think I have mentioned before that our investigators are the closest things we have to children- we watch them take these little steps and they just make us so proud! Then before we know it they are walking on their own two feet without our help and just running. It is a special relationship we have with our investigators. Sometimes I just laugh at the fact that I am a 23 year old girl telling much older people how they should live their lives and why. But for some reason it works! I guess because that is the way the Lord set it up. :) Oh- that reminds me of something Stacy said this week. We were talking about how she wants to get baptized, but she is waiting for her husband to become more a part of it. I asked her why she really likes the church and how she feels, etc. She said she wants to raise her kids in it and be a part of it because it makes you a better person. She has noticed that even though there are a lot of good churches out there and they teach similar things, for some reason this is more of a lifestyle change, it is 
really living it, and it just feels different. I asked her why she thinks that is, and she didn't know. But we concluded that it is because this is the Lord's church, and it is the way he wants it to be set up. So of course it is going to feel right! I thought that was pretty cool.Well, I guess this is going to be a pretty short one. I am doing my best at this point to try to make the most of the little time I have left on my mission. Sometimes you just feel like all this time has gone by and you haven't accomplished everything you were supposed to. But I guess that is kind of good- it keeps you going! It is also cool to look back and see all the changes. I know I have grown a lot, but I want it to keep going! These last three transfers I am going to do my best to really develop these things I have learned and figure out how to make them lifelong habits, not just things I do on my mission.
OK! I love you all! Thanks for your prayers and support.
-Sister Hafen
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