Learning The Gospel Of Jesus Christ Has Been Restored To The Earth Really Helped Him

Hello family and Friends!!                      (Email 10-21-13)

Trio of Trouble ;)

Well what a crazy week. Just when you think that you are getting the hangs of things, God likes to switch things up :). It is really so cool though to see His hand in all things, and see His plan for your life, for the mission, for all of His children unfolding. So, Thursday evening, we got a call from President Jenkins telling us that we were being changed into a trio! We now have another super awesome companion, Sister Demille! Yay! She has been my roommate since I've been here, so we already were super good friends, and it is just super awesome. Not only have that, but we now have 2 areas! And man, are we busy. A whole lot of changes - this has been one of the craziest weeks ever, but I love it.

We have come home every single day absolutely exhausted. It's the best. It's definitely another adventure. We have been trying to really plan and get organized and schedule our time well. We still just work with the Liahona 3rd branch, but we have the east and west sides of it. The elders have the big chunk in the middle. It's weird teaching with 3 of us, but we have been trying to make good lesson plans and just organize our time well. We have a lot of fun together, so I am loving it. It's so nice to have challenges like this because it shows that God trusts us and that He wants us to learn and to grow. We stacked up some bunk beds, moved some desks upstairs, and we were good to go! Trio of Trouble :)

Lupe is getting baptized!

So we have had a bunch of success this week! It's been awesome. Lupe is for sure getting baptized next Saturday! She had her baptismal interview and we scheduled the stake center. We are so excited for her! She has been waiting for this for a long time. I hope that she gets all the support, love, time, and attention she needs from her family and the church to help her stay strong in her decisions and in her attempts to change. The Young Women’s Organization has been such a great help with her. Her leaders just love her to death and do all that they can for her. On Wednesday, we will be teaching the Law of Chastity to the Mia Maids and Laurels for the Young Women’s lesson and for a lesson with Lupe. We think it will be really good for them to hear it from someone their own age. 

Me, Lupe, Hna. Maughan & Hna. Demille at the temple.

We could feel the Lord’s hand in the way we were lead to a new investigator.

We also found such an awesome investigator this week! His name is Arturo. It was a cool way that we found him. The Spirit just whispered things to both Hna. Maughan and me to get us on the right path to find him. He kind of lives with his family but is homeless... kind of. I don't really know. I just know that his life is really hard right now. He is far from his family, and just really hurting. But he has such a love for our Heavenly Father and such a strong desire to get closer to him. We taught him about the Restoration to the earth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he just cried. When we told him about the First Vision, when God the Father and His son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, he told us that he had goose bumps, and that he didn't have words to describe how he felt. He told us that he knew our message was divine, and that it was what God wanted him to learn. The Spirit was so strong during that lesson. It was beautiful. We taught it outside at night, standing on the street. Just really trying to teach him, love him, and help him to feel the love and hope that God has for him. We invited him to be baptized on November 9th, and he was like of course! We are hoping for no complications with that. It is hard to find him though, because he works absolutely as much as he can and doesn't have a phone. But God is really watching over him and taking care of him.

                                                                   

Teaching more members of Manuel’s Extended Family

It's so fun to have a new area because we get new investigators too! It's the best. We are teaching John's (Manuel’s dad) sister-in-law and niece, Malia and Alexa. At first, Malia was not interested at all, but she has been talking to Karen, and now her heart is being softened. She is starting to understand the need to get closer to God and to follow Him and worship Him daily. She had a lot of questions and doubts, but learning about the Restoration really helped her. 

More brand new investigators, and they came to church!

We also are teaching this great couple, Juan and Anna. Sister Demille found the on the side of the street a few days before all the changes. We have done a lot of how to begin teaching and shared the book of Mormon with them, but haven't taught a full lesson yet. However, they already came to a baptismal service and to church! They are super interested in learning more and have some good friends that are LDS. We think they might have gotten a little overwhelmed by all the activities going on within the church, so we are going to try go slowly with them.

We have lots of work and are just trying to do all we can! We have a lot of potential investigators, a lot of investigators that are progressing, and a lot of less active members to work with. So our schedules are FULL. It's the best though. 

God does all He can to help us find happiness and we can trust Him.

The mission is great! I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I have already learned and changed so much from it. I know I have even more to learn and grow from it too. Sometimes it is hard, but life is always hard. Hard things are how we grow. I just really want to get better at understanding and discerning the promptings from the Holy Ghost. I know that Heavenly Father is giving me the guidance and direction that I ask for, but a lot of times I just have a hard time recognizing it. But I know that He always hears my prayers. I know that He loves me just as much as He loves all of the people that I am working with - my companions, my investigators, the branch members. Every soul is great in His eyes. I know that He hears my prayers and that He helps me through my struggles. I know that He does all that He can to help us to find happiness. I know that I can trust Him no matter what, even when it's hard. With faith and humility, He will direct our paths for good. Don't ever lose sight of how much He loves you. Don't let anything compromise your relationship with Him. He will never lose that love for us, but sometimes we just don't think, and do things that take ourselves father away from him. But no matter what, He is our Father and we are His children. I love Him so much!

Thanks for all your support, prayers, and love! I feel so spoiled by all of you! I seriously have the best family and friends a missionary could ever ask for!

 

People always take qunicenera pictures out by the temple and this random guy told us to get a picture with this cute girl at her quincinera!

I love you all so much! Always stay strong and stay smiling! Know that I think and pray for you often :)

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Haynes

New Experiences Sharing The Gospel of Jesus Christ

Hi Family and Friends!                    (Week 19 From 10-16-13 email)

Natalie’s Gospel Minute

Something that I have been thinking about a lot this week is the Atonement, and the Sacrament. I just want you all to know that I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that He took upon Himself all of my pains and all of my sins. And because of that, I have a way to be clean. I know that Heavenly Father loves us. He always wants the best for us. All He does, He does to help us. To benefit us. To fight for us to come back home to Him. I know that He listens to our prayers. I know that when we pray with faith, with real intent, that we can see miracles in our lives. I know that the Atonement heals. I know that God has power to heal us from everything - physical pain and suffering, spiritual pain from sin, from abuse, from hard times, from just being down. I know that as we try to replace negativity in our lives, with the light of Christ, that we can find joy. Only through Christ can we find peace. I know that Christ loves me, because He, a perfect pure person who never knew the pains of sin, was willing to endure the pain for all of my stupid things that I do because He loves me. He wants me to have a way to be truly happy. I know that we can trust our Heavenly Father no matter what, and that we need to be humble and honest with Him and with ourselves. I love them both so much!

Making The Most of A Lot of Changes.

This week has been a week full of changes. Haha what an adventure. Although we didn't transfer, our area boundaries changed. The new elders took the majority of our area. Now we have this teeny tiny area and were left with only one investigator, Lupe. So this week we had to say goodbye to all of our investigators and our progress. I think that is one of the hardest parts of being a missionary. Making such strong, special relationships with the people you teach, but you have to be ready to hand them over to other people and say goodbye at a moment's notice. You never know when people or missionaries will move, or random changes will be made. It is hard to be so close to them, but not be able to visit them! Especially Karen and her family. It was hard to say goodbye to them. But it was so good - at church they were the first family there all dressed up and ready to go yesterday! The elders are really good though and are taking good care of our investigators, thank goodness.

So now we are left in this area that's really super super super small, and we have nobody to teach. It’s such an adventure haha. Lupe has been in Mexico all week, so we really had nobody. On Tuesday and Wednesday we spent HOURS organizing our area book, printing off screen shots of our teaching records on our iPads, etc getting everything ready for the elders in their new area. We gave them like 4 inches thick of records, and were left with maybe about half an inch.... No potentials, no one.... So we have been having fun with it. I hope I don't sound like I'm down about it, because I'm really not. I think it is such a great adventure. It's a lot different than what I'm used to. I've never had to really look for investigators like this before. But it's so great. We've been meeting a bunch of new people and improving a lot as missionaries.

Experiencing Missionary Work In a New Way

We just read through our entire area book (which only took us like an hour to do haha) and organized them into groups. We have just been going by and trying to talk to as many people as we can. Lots of people don't live there anymore or aren't home, so we talk to their families, their neighbors, whoever is outside, EVERYONE. We just need people to teach! We need something to do haha. We have met a lot of great people and set up a few return appointments. Nothing looks too promising yet, but you can't expect to build a strong teaching pool in only a few days. We tried calling every member in our area to set up appointments with them and ask for referrals. We have about 4 active families in our area, and about 15 total in our areas. Most families are less active, or may don’t even live there anymore. We have been trying to visit them at their houses, call them. We went to one of the strong member's houses yesterday, taught a little lesson about the Restoration, and they gave us 2 referrals! It was a miracle! We're super excited to check them out.

 

Even though there have been a lot of changes, I still
LOVE the baby animals!

Angela's family named the female puppies Haynes and Maughan.

A Surprising Find

Oh super cool story! We knocked on a former investigator's neighbor's door, and this family opened. We started talking to them, and they just kind of walked away and left us at the door, but then their little grandma walked up and started explaining why they couldn't talk right now, etc. So we said sorry and we would come back another day, but then to our surprise, she was like,"No I would love to hear a message about Jesus Christ!" She brought us outside, and we just started talking to her. She is the cutest little thing. She is a great-grandma, had 13 children who all turned out really well. Her name is Lena. We taught her about the Restoration, and she just absolutely loved it. She said everything made so much sense. When we recited the First Vision, she told us she got goose bumps. When we told her about the Book of Mormon, she said that her Dad always had that book, he always said how good it was and that she should read it, and that she could remember him talking about Jose Smith. She said that she hadn't seen a Book of Mormon since he died. She was so excited about all of it! Seriously I have never had a first lesson go that well. The Spirit was so strong, and it just felt so good to share such a sacred message with someone who loved it and appreciated it so much - someone who was so responsive to the Spirit. Of course, she left the next morning for Mexico and Texas and isn't coming back until December... Haha that's okay though. Her grandkids really liked us and we are going to go back and visit them. It was so cute. She said the closing prayer and ended it, "In the name of Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith, Amen." It was so sweet. I mean, we didn't really know how to explain that we don't pray to Joseph Smith, but we thought it was really great that she already had that much love for him. 

Finding People Who Are Ready to Progress – Not Just Being Nice

We have a few people that seemed pretty interested to learn more, but each time we've gone back when they've told us to, they haven't been home, they've been showering, or the teenager’s parents are gone. So we will keep trying and keep searching. It is kind of cool to be able to experience such a different side of missionary work. With Spanish work, it is super easy to find new investigators because pretty much anyone will talk to you and they hate to disappoint, so they will always say yes, almost always accept commitments, but then they stop answering the door when you come back, don't actually keep any commitments, tell you to come when they know they won't be there, etc. So it's really easy to find new investigators, but hard to find ones that are prepared and that want to progress. But we are praying hard and doing all that we can. Finding with faith! And just really having fun with it. I love being able to meet and talk to so many different people. After Sis Demille's bike gets fixed, Sis Maughan is going to use that and we are going to try biking around our area to be able to talk to more people.

It's finally starting to feel like Fall here! Well, I mean if fall means that 80* feels cool to you. It's so weird. Sometimes I need to wear a sweater but its 70* outside. And now my hands even get freezing cold when its 70*. I never understood it before, but now I do haha. And it gets dark a lot earlier. Pretty much at 6:30. Which is a bit annoying, because not many people want to open their door to random strangers when it's dark outside, but that's okay. 

Looks Like The Baptism Is Still On!

Lope came home yesterday, and we talked with her. She still wants to get baptized on the 26th! Yay! It's still tentative because she hasn't been able to keep the commitment of reading the Book of Mormon and praying yet, but yesterday she sounded pretty changed and that she had a greater desire to do it. Really hoping that she can follow through with it. She is such a fun girl. She's gone to Young Women's for 3 years so she knows a lot about the gospel and has felt the Spirit a lot through all of their lessons and activities. It's just hard for her because her family environment is a bit crazy. But they are all great people. They are so fun.

Well, that's all that I can think of really for this week... It's been super good. Please pray for us to find :)

Real Intent vs. Real Intent To ACT

One last thing - something I have been thinking about lately is the phrase "real intent". So often I always just thought of it as a real intent to know, to find to grow closer to Christ. But lately I have liked to add, "real intent to act." Pray with a real intent to act on the things that you ask for (real intent to try to make changes in your life) and on the answers that God gives you. Study the scriptures with a real intent to learn and to change from what you learn. It just adds so much more to the little things that we do. I just want you all to know how much I love this gospel and how grateful I am to all of you who have helped me learn the importance of it and have given me a great environment to grow my testimony and faith in Christ.

I love you all and I am so grateful for you love and commitment to supporting me! You are all the best! Miss you tons!

Con amor,

Hermana Haynes

Updates On Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Living in Mesa!

Hi family and friends!

It's been another good week here. It was a pretty normal week. Nothing super exciting, nothing bad. So overall no complaints! We found out transfer news on Saturday! Hna Maughan and I are staying together in this area for another transfer! Yay!

We will have six full field missionaries in this one little branch.

They are changing our area a little bit because they are bringing a set of elders into our ward, so we will have a smaller area. (Just hopefully they don't steal Karen from us!) They actually made a lot of changes. They made 2 zones that are completely Spanish now. My new zone is called Sonora I think. Hermana Mayorca is leaving :( But Hna Demille is staying and her new companion is Hna Castillo. I did my day training with her on my first day and she seems really great! So new roommate! We will miss Hna Mayorca lots though! Hna Demille will be full field this transfer so we will have six full field missionaries in this one little branch. It is going to be great. We are going to be able to do so much good work this transfer. I am super excited.

Natalie (third from left) and the zone ready for zone  sports.

 

Me (second from right) and the sisters in my zone.

 It's nice to not have to switch companions again because it feels like at the 6 week mark is right when you start to get into the swing of things together, so having to split up is always a little hard. I am super excited though. I love this little branch so much. It is so good to see it progressing little by little each week.

Yay! I get to keep my companion, Hna. Maughan for at least another transfer!

Cooking Mexican Food.

Hmm this week... We did service with Hna Lopez (the branch president's wife) for a few hours. We peel dried peppers and dumped out all of the seeds for a few hours. It was really tedious. But it was fun! Mexicans have entire dinners at their wedding receptions so she had to cook dinner for 300 people for her son's wedding all by herself. I want to learn how to cook Mexican food so badly. I always tell everyone to teach me, but we never really have time.

 

Okay, so we have fun sometimes too!

Quincinera!!!

We had exchanges this week. Sisters exchanges are different, the training leader companionship splits up and one of them comes with a different companionship. So we had exchanges with Hna Watkins in our area. It was so fun! She was born in this area, so she showed us around and we visited some of the old people she used to teach, and I got invited to my first quincinera!!! I've been wanting to go to one so badly! I hope it’s still in our area, we are going to go check it out on Saturday. Seriously quincineras are the biggest deals here. They are like almost as big (maybe bigger?) than a wedding.

The Investigators

Karen

Karen is so converted (she watched all 4 sessions of conference and LOVED it) and ready to get baptized. She has received all of the lessons. She says she wants to get baptized very soon, hopefully by the end of this month! We want to focus more on the Atonement of Christ, healing, and forgiveness. I think that that will help a lot. She is so great. I love her so much!

Lupe

Lupe has been really hard to get a hold of this week. We had awesome lessons planned in her YW leader's house, but she didn't come. And then she is in Mexico for a week, so we are not sure what will happen with her and that baptismal date. She really wants to be baptized, but I don't think she really understands it and the commitment that it is. She is the sweetest girl and really wants to do what’s right. It’s just very hard to teach her in her home because it is such a distracting environment, and she is a typical 14 year old girl, so doesn't do a very good job of remembering to keep her commitments. I really hope that things can start changing there. She could really have such a wonderful, happy life if she can really apply the gospel to it. I love her, she is the best. 

 

More pictures of Zone lunch.

A new person to teach.

We found this guy in our ward that I guess isn't a member, but he has been coming to church with his brother for like 5 months. His name is Albero. We told him we were coming over and that we were going to start teaching him. He is a little apprehensive about it, but that’s okay :) His brother is super excited! Albero just doesn't like that we ask him questions and that we try to make him pray. But he will get used to it. I think a lot of people, when they realize that we have the truth, they get scared. But I really think, if we go slow and are really nice and loving, and help him to really feel God's love, then his heart will soften and he will want to change.

 

Me and Hna. Leon.  At least we still get to be roommates even if we aren't companions any more.

Angela, Marcos and Juana.

Angela, Marcos and Juana have been going well too. It's hard to teach them because they are very quiet and do not open up very much, but we have been diligently teaching them. Juana says that she wants to get baptized, but she isn't sure when! Yay! Except she is moving to Mexico soon, so who knows what will happen. Plus she hasn't gone to church because she has a newborn baby.Marcos really wants to get baptized, but Angela wants him to be older and to really understand the decision he is making. Angela has been getting a lot of help with her testimony from her friend, Elaine. Elaine is a great little missionary! She has asked us to have a Noche de Hogar with them every Wednesday. Last time she invited a lot of her non member friends and neighbors! She just wants to share with everybody and it is so great! We love her!

 

Okay, so I'm still excited about our new car!

The adversary is really taking control and his power is spreading.

Soo... General Conference??? Best thing ever? Yes, I think so. It was seriously the greatest. I loved every single talk. I don't think I can choose a favorite because they were all so good. I loved the focus on the family and on God's love and support. Seriously I learned something so great from each talk. I don't think I have ever had a greater conference experience (except maybe when they lowered the mission age of course :) ). I found myself just hoping for one more talk, completely soaking in every word. Of course I love the emphasis on missionary work. I have been realizing that we are running out of time, and the adversary is really taking control and his power is spreading. We are fighting against him every hour of every day. The only way we can overcome is through this gospel. Through living it, loving it, studying it, and applying it. Every person needs this. The world is not fair and they have no chance without the gospel. It is not fair for us to withhold this gospel from them. They are looking for it, and we are the only way they can learn about it. God has let us be born into/learn about this gospel because he trusts us to be the ones to share it with all of His other children. I can't wait for the conference talks to come out and to just study them up!

 

Zone lunch at Nici's Fry Bread!

It's like they are just pretending its Fall.

We had an awesome zone activity today! Tthat's why this email is late...) We had a pancake breakfast! It was super fun. We had the best zone & district this transfer. It will be sad to not be with them this transfer! We would go out to eat at Nikki's Fry Bread sometimes after ZTMs. And we have zone sports in the mornings every other day. We started doing them outside this week and I like that a lot more. It's finally starting to cool down! Yay! (when I say cool down, I mean 90 degrees in the afternoon instead of 110, but it really makes a difference!) It's so funny to see everyone putting out pumpkins and fall wreaths, when it still looks and feels exactly like summer. Always blue skies, shining sun, heat, and palm trees. It's the weirdest thing. It's like they are just pretending its Fall, but that's okay haha. 

But, yep I think that's about it! Can't believe 4 months and 2 transfers in the field have already flown by. The time goes way too fast. I love my mission so much. I love all that it does for me and the way it teaches me to be a better person and the way it prepares me for my future. I love the people that surround me. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. And I love you!

Have a great week!

Con amor,

Hermana Haynes

Two Baptisms And How The Gospel of Jesus Christ Changes Lives

Hi Family!

It's so great to hear from all of you! This has seriously been one of the best weeks of the mission! We successfully had our first baptism! (First two if you count Manuel!) We saw so many miracles this week. It was great.

Miguel would always pray that his baptism would come faster.

So Miguel, Karen, and John have been progressing unbelievably well. This week we were really focusing on getting Miguel ready for his baptism. We met with them every day. Miguel would always pray that his baptism would come faster. We gave him the kid's version of the book of Mormon that Mom sent, and he read 60 pages in one day. He couldn't put it down. In the next lesson we had with him, he was showing us his favorite parts and what he learned from it. The Spirit was so strong in that home this week. John started talking about how great of an example that Miguel has been for him, and how he wants to start being a better parent and being the example for his son instead. He has been sitting in on all our lessons, and has been living commandments like the Word of Wisdom, and the Sabbath day. He came back to church this week for the first time in years! He is pretty committed to coming back to the gospel. They both have just been so proud of their son. I can't even explain it. Miguel has been such a missionary to everyone in his family. We talked with Karen and John about when Karen was going to get baptized, and Walter told her how he wanted work on having a temple sealing together. YAYYY! So many blessings this week! We are going to try and set a baptismal date for Karen this week! 

Me, Miguel and Hna. Maughan at Miguel's baptism.

 Miguel has been teaching his little cousin everything about the gospel.

Miguel had a very specific request Blue jello, in little cups, with blue spoons. How can you say no to that little boy!

I seriously have never met a child so receptive to the Holy Ghost.

Miguel and Manuel's baptism was absolutely beautiful. I can't even describe it. The branch really stepped up this week and helped fellowship them both a lot. Our branch mission leader worked really hard to help us prepare for the baptism. So many people came! The room was overflowing! Really the Spirit was just so strong. Hna. Maughan and I were able to sing a duet of I Need Thee Every Hour (Senor, Te Necesito) and it went really well. We got a lot of people crying :) Miguel (and his parents) and Manuel were both just SO HAPPY! After the baptism, I asked Miguel how he felt, and he said, "I feel like the Holy Ghost is already inside of me." After his confirmation on Sunday, (where he was blessed that he would be a great missionary & receive the blessings of the temple) he said, "I feel like I'm on God's path for me, like I am in His hands." I seriously have never met a child so receptive to the Holy Ghost before. He really has a testimony. He is so mature. He has been teaching his little cousin, Alexa everything. She came to the baptism and to church yesterday and she wants to start taking the lessons now! Her dad is John’s brother and he is less active, and her mom is not a member I think. We are hoping for another similar success story! 

Miguel read 60 pages the first day!

Manuel knew it was the path God wanted for him.

Manuel gave his testimony after his baptism about how happy this gospel has made him. He couldn't stop smiling. He said 2 days before his baptism, he was really looking for a firm answer if this was what he should do or not, and when he read 3 Nephi 9:14, it was his answer and he knew it was the path God wanted for him. When I asked him how he felt, he said that he has never been happier in his whole life. He is so great! He was blessed in his confirmation to be a light to our branch and to help it grow. He already has done that. He is so friendly and outgoing, and makes sure everyone feels loved and important. It has been such a huge blessing and privilege to have been such a big part of both of theirs conversion. As their lives have changed, mine has also. They are such an example to me. It is so crazy to think about how these people and families were when I first met them. Now they are completely different people. They are HAPPY people. The gospel has such a healing power. 

Me, Manuel and his daughter, and Hna. Maughan

Her grandma was overjoyed when she found out.

We set a baptismal date with Lupe this week! October 26th! She has been taking missionary lessons for so long, but it is really hard to teach her because her home is very busy & people get distracted from the lesson so easily. So we just helped her see how ready she is and how strong she is already, and that she can do it. She has been going to Young Women’s for 3 years. We met with her YWs leaders this week, and we were able to teach the lesson in YWs yesterday! It’s so weird to think that I was a Laurel less than a year and a half ago... I feel like such a different person since then. It was fun though! We got to teach about becoming like Christ, and of course we put a missionary spin on it :) But we will have to work hard with Lupe. She is nervous about living the commandments, and it will be hard for her because she won't have parents encouraging her to live them. Her grandma was overjoyed when she found out though. She was crying! We have talked with her Mia Maid leader and have worked out a schedule to teach Lupe in her leader's home, so hopefully that will help a lot. We are so proud of her for making this decision! 

Me and Hna. Maughan

Yes! We have a ward missionary!

We have just been trying to talk to everyone we see, and give everyone an opportunity to hear the gospel. We had a lesson with Jose, Alonso (a Recent Convert’s) next door neighbor. We have been talking to him and his roommate, Manolo. Manolo is this really nice 60 year old man. It’s so weird though because he is totally white, but doesn't know any English. His grandparents moved to Mexico from Uglslavia (is that a place? he said it in Spanish... (editor’s note, yes, Yugoslavia.)) But they both seem pretty open to learning more. We took Rene (another recent convert - who got called as a ward missionary yesterday! Yes! We have a ward missionary!) with us to teach him last night, and it went well. He said he won't pray until he reads the entire Book of Mormon. It's bad that he won't pray, but good that he wants to read the whole book!

Our ward mission leader owns a restaurant and it's awesome. Whenever we go out in public, members always come out of nowhere and try to pay for us. Sometimes more than one offer. It is so great to have a mission with so many members, and a Visitor's Center. I can't tell you how many members when I ask their conversion story, they tell me how they randomly went to the Visitor’s Center without knowing what it was, and a few months later got baptized. 

The members love us!  Free food at Nilsen's Frozen Yogurt!

Actively choosing to develop the attributes I want to have

Seriously, we just had a lot of miracles this week. It has been great. Heavenly Father has really been blessing us in the work. I am learning so much every day. I wish I could explain how much my mission has helped me to grow. I didn't even realize that I needed to grow or could grow this much. And there is still so much more learning and growth I have to grow. I have really been learning the importance of actively becoming the type of person that I want to be, actively choosing to develop the attributes I want to have. It's hard because you have to choose to be patient, choose to be humble, and those are not the things that the natural man wants to do. But, if I don't try to develop them now, I will never be the type of wife, mother, friend, sister, daughter, servant of the Lord that I want to be. I have been trying to have more sincere prayers and really focusing on SPEAKING to my Heavenly Father. The Relief Society conference was great this weekend. It really helped me to grow my love for the prophet. His words really inspired me. It is such a huge blessing that we literally have a prophet to lead and guide us these days. That is so important. I always like to tell that to people when we do street contacts because so many people have no idea! 

Me and my roomies at the temple.

We had a great experience going to the temple on Tuesday. It was so nice to be able to renew that eternal perspective and have a great reminder of the importance of this work. I love the temple so much. The Spirit there is so strong. It is so cool to be able to be there with a bunch of other missionaries. Zone Conference on Wednesday was really good as well. We have the best mission president ever. President and Sister Jenkins are so great. They are really down to earth, but so focused and loving. They really have such a vision for the work and want to do all they can to help it be successful. We learned a bunch from them. I have a really fun zone and district this transfer, so it's been really great. 

I love this place! (Mesa, AZ temple.) 

My zone at the temple.

He will give you back more than you give Him.

I just want you to know that the gospel is true. It has all the answers. God loves you personally. He knows you personally. He wants you to know Him personally. Let Him heal you, and let Him help you! He will if you give Him all, and He will give you back more than you give Him. 

Sisters in my zone.

I love you all so much and I am so grateful for all of your love and support! You are the best!

Con amor,

Hermana Haynes