Wow! So Thursday is really a late day to be sending this email, but due to crazy winter weather here, the libraries have been closed the last few days! It has been an adventure for sure! It started snowing a little bit on Monday, but nothing too bad. Then we had been hearing it was going to be horrible overnight, so we expected to wake up on Tuesday with tons of snow outside. But it really wasn't that bad. Until 10 that is, then it really started snowing! It snowed from 10-6 and was windy and crazy. They even closed the Visitors' Center, which they basically never do. The roads were getting really bad, so they advised us not to go out into our areas. The day turned out to be pretty fun! We did some cleaning, lots of studying, and got to hang out with the other sisters that live in our building and a building nearby.
Besides that, we have actually found some good new people to teach this week! Last week on exchanges Sister Browning found this family when they were knocking on the door of their neighbor but they answered and let them in. It turns out that the mom's mom is LDS and her dad is RLDS. But she was never raised in either church. So they are really cute! They are going through a hard time right now and are probably moving, but they came to the VC with us and loved it. We also got a referral for this guy that moved into the ward that is a member, but has been less-active for a long time. He just got married to this lady from China and wants us to teach her. She is really cute! Has a hard time understanding everything we say, but knows English pretty well. They just moved here and don't really have anything (that is a common trend in Independence). It was so cool because we had a lesson with her this week and invited this lady from our ward to come. She is like 85 and just loved Jennifer (the investigator). Jennifer calls her mom now! Anyway, the day after the appointment the member spent the whole day almost with Jennifer and her husband and helped them out. She gave them a couch someone had just given her, found them some bedding, and took them to a Chinese restaurant so Jennifer could have someone to talk to in Chinese. How cute is that? So awesome. I love when members help out like that! It makes our job so much easier.
I also mentioned last week we were going to get a new companion. She is so cute! Her name is sister Fie'eiki and she is from Los Angeles. I just love her! We have had so much fun being in a trio. We are just always laughing at everything and everyone comments on how much fun we are having. Yesterday she went with another sister to go to some appointments, and we just felt incomplete without her! We are so glad to have her serving with us. It was really funny because she is still kind of serving in 3rd ward, which was the ward she was in before her companion went home. Now she is with us, but on Sunday she actually left church with us early to go to church there for a confirmation. So we keep telling people we have another companion, but she is never there so they don't believe us.
We had a really cool training meeting this week. Every Friday morning at the VC we have a training meeting with the sister leaders and the VC director and wife. We just got a new director and they want to get to know everyone, so all the sisters got up and explained how they made the decision to come on a mission. It was so cool to listen to! 16 sisters all getting up and bearing their testimony of why they are here. There were a lot of common themes in it. Most of the sisters have not been planning to come their whole lives, actually most of us were never planning to go. It seems like a lot of us felt really strongly we needed to do it at this specific time in our lives. It was just a really cool meeting and really full of the spirit. I think I needed that to remember why I am here now. I came out because I knew it was what I needed to do. But as I said when I got up, my reasons for being here have changed a lot during my mission.
I feel like a lot has happened this week, but I don't really know what else to say. Sorry I am in a weird mood today. I feel like my moods have been changing a lot more than usual lately. I guess probably because of the upcoming life change...this week I kind of had a freak out and just cried for like half an hour. It isn't really an emotion I am used to feeling- my feelings are so conflicted in this whole thing. I am excited to come home, I really am. So excited actually! I am excited to apply the things I have learned, see people I love, and just move on with life. But on the other hand, I am not excited about leaving. I just want to be able to feel like this forever. I don't think I have ever felt 2 such strong completely opposite emotions at the same time before. Does that make sense? I really don't think I can explain this feeling to you unless you have been on a mission, and you loved your mission. I hate it. But really I am doing pretty good at staying focused. I had a reality check yesterday- we went to the mall so Sis. Browning could get her hair cut. I haven't been to the mall in 17 months! And this is a huge mall. 3 levels, lots of people and lights and stores. It was overwhelming! I felt like my mind couldn't handle all the commotion or take everything in. It was crazy to me that just a short year and a half ago I would have been totally comfortable just walking around with friends. Sis. Fie'eiki was making fun of me because I was just staring at everything with wide eyes. I said, "is this really what the world is like?" It was pretty funny. So I'm sorry if I'm weird for a while!
I will end with my Book of Mormon reading really fast. I only have a minute left! But I was reading in Helaman this week and love these scriptures in chapter 12:
"And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.
Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.
And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him."
I love this because it is true. A few months ago I came across this and changed all the things in the second verse to relate to me as a missionary. The things he prospers us in! Instead of fields and flocks and gold and delivering them from wars, giving us success and letting us feel the spirit and being happy! And for normal people, having a house and clothes and money and food, being able to go to church and take the sacrament, living in a time it is so easy to serve others. I hope you can change it to fit you! It is so human nature what we do. When He blesses us, we forget about Him after a while. We start to thing we have everything under control. So the only way we can give back over the control is if He reminds us! Unfortunately this is often what happens. But we don't have to do it this way! We can remember Him by doing the things we are supposed to everyday. Ok, I love you all! Thanks for all you do for me!
Talk to you soon.
-Sister Hafen
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