contact lots of former investigators and lots of potentials (missionaries keep records of people that might be interested). We did this with little success for a few days, but had fun and met a lot of people. One of the days we knocked on the door of a former the sisters had taught just once about a year ago. This lady answers the door, tells us she was sick (she sounded horrible!) and told us to come back in the evening sometime because no one is usually home during the day. We said we would, and kind of forgot about it. On Thursday we had a very interesting day. Almost no one was home all day, none of our investigators were answering the phone, but we just kept going and refused to get discouraged. We remembered that lady from a few days before and decided to try her again. We knock on the door and her daughter who is about 18 answers and tells us her mom isn't home, just her. We talked to her for a minute and then the mom pulls up and comes into the house, then invites us in. Miracle! We start talking to them and the mom tells us all about how her dad died a couple of years ago, and ever since then she just doesn't know what to think about religion. In her life she has been Catholic, Jehovah's Witness, Assembly of God and a few other Christian religions. Since she has heard so many ideas about life after death, she just doesn't know anymore. I asked her what her main question was, and she said "I just want to know where he is!" We shared some scriptures from Alma 40 with her and she loved them. She was very interested in the Book of Mormon and we gave them some copies. We told her we would love to start teaching her about our beliefs and she was all for it. Sister Powell said "I am so excited to start teaching you!" and she was very excited as well. It was pretty much awesome. So we are going to see them Tuesday and I am so excited! I love how we didn't find them until the last possible moment, because we had an appointment next. Sometimes I think Heavenly Father is just testing us to see if we will keep going even when we don't want to. I have a testimony that if we just don't give up, we will see blessings.I also have a testimony of dropping people. That sounds funny, so let me explain. It seems like lately we have had a few investigators really just not going anywhere at all, but we have kept them around to teach because we love them. We like to call them eternigators in the mission. Basically just people who will let you come and teach them and like you, but they are not intending to get baptized at any point. It's different than people that are just slow, because some people just take a long time but still make progress. Anyway, some of our investigators have turned into eternigators lately but we have been holding on to them. But this week I remembered back in my 3rd transfer when we had this same problem. We basically dropped everyone and stopped teaching them if they weren't progressing, then we were blessed with new people to teach. Totally true! Thursday when we found this new family was the day we decided to drop some people. And along with just finding new people some of our newer investigators started taking off more. Francisco who is the boyfriend of one of our members told us in our lesson before we could get around to it that he wanted to be baptized. And Deborah, who is the lady we met at the post office a long time ago but haven't been able to see for a while, let us in and is really excited to start meeting regularly with us now. Kind of cool! Seriously, sometimes missionary work is monotonous and discouraging if you let it be. Trying to contact lots of people that aren't home when it is 20 degrees outside is 
not the funnest thing in the world. But when we focus on the good things and laugh and appreciate the miracles that happen, it makes it all worth it. The other day it was so windy and cold we wanted to die every time we got out of the car. But at one door we went up to I opened the screen door to knock on the real door and the screen door blew out of my hand with this huge gust of wind and almost took out sister Powell! Thankfully she kicked it back, but it was hilarious. It is moments like these that keep me going on these cold days. What else happened this week...oh. Haha. We went and saw Pam this week and when we went over she just started bawling! It was crazy, because Pam is tough and I think I have only seen her cry like one other time. She was telling us about a situation she had been dealing with that day and how in the past she would have just been a jerk, but ever since she has been coming closer to God she is becoming "softer" which she is both happy and mad about. She is losing her protective shield of meanness she used to have, and doesn't know how to deal with it. She also told us how a couple of weeks ago she decided she was going to smoke a cigarette just to be rebellious (she quit a few months ago). But the whole time she was standing on her porch she was thinking about us and was scared we would drive by and see her! Awesome. Then it made her so sick she went inside and threw up. It was pretty funny! But she learned her lesson I guess. For some reason our faces pop into people's heads when they are doing something or about to do something bad! I love it.
Well, I guess I will end with something I have studied this week. I have been reading in Alma the last couple of days, and I just love Alma 5. It is such a humbling chapter. Seriously, if you think you are good and strong, just read that chapter and the Lord will tell you pretty quick some things you need to work on. I also loved in Alma 10 when Amulek is sharing his conversion story. Amulek grew up in the church, like many of us had, but he just didn't get it most of his life. He says "Nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power. I said I never had known much of these things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people. Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart, even until the fourth day of this seventh month, which is in the tenth year of the reign of the judges." So what he is saying is that he had no reason to not believe! He had seen miracles and been taught things, but he just never allowed himself to really hear and understand. I think that is so true with us today. How many of us need a wake-up call like Amulek before we finally start living what we say we believe. I know for me it took my mission to really make me start understanding how important this stuff really is. The gospel is everything! We have so much but it is so easy to take it all for granted. I am grateful for the knowledge and understanding I have of my Heavenly Father and my savior Jesus Christ. We are such a small percentage and sometimes wonder why I am so lucky and blessed to be a part of it. It is a miracle!
Well, I hope you are all having a happy December so far. I love you all! Thank you for all you do!
-Sister Hafen
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