Patience and Little Miracles

(Apologies from the editor that this was posted out of order!)

Hi family!   (Email 1-27) 

Another great week but an interesting one! It was a bit of a slow week for us, but that's okay! We had a hard time finding our investigators at home. Marni and Luis randomly moved out of the state, so we were a bit worried about what happened to them until we found that out. Steve also got this new job and is working ALL the time! We were only able to see him once this week, last night. Unfortunately he doesn't have Sundays off anymore, but yesterday we taught the 10 commandments and really put emphasis on keeping the Sabbath day holy. He will not be able to be baptized this week anymore, but hopefully he will be able to soon! And hopefully we will be able to see him more often this week!

But yes, it seemed like everyone was hiding from us this week. It was drastic compared to the last couple of weeks where we were teaching a ton! Sister Groll was a great example to me of being positive and faithful. Although we weren't seeing the results we wanted to see, we worked as hard as we could and tried to visit and plan as well as we could! Yesterday, during personal study, I read the story about the Nephites waiting for the sign of Christ's birth in 3 Nephi. I learned a lot from it. Although they were persecuted so hard and it seemed like the signs would never come, although they were threatened to be killed for their beliefs, they did not give up their hope or their faith. They stuck true to what they knew and trusted completely in God. It helped me realize that I needed to have more faith and hope in my life too. Although things might not be happening exactly how I want them to, I know that God is in charge of the work. He is our Father and has a perfect plan for each one of us. His plans are different than ours, but they are better. I just need to trust that He will not let me waste my time. If nothing else, I am learning and getting stronger. He blesses us in different ways. He is in charge of this work and it is important to Him. I just need to trust in Him and do all that I can to serve him.

Besides,we really did see miracles this week! Although it was a little bit of a rough week, I got a great testimony of enduring to the end! By Saturday night we had only 2 member presents (lessons taught with a member present), but Sunday just loaded us with miracles! Those investigators coming to church was a HUGE miracle and we were randomly able to get 3 member presents that day! 

Especially yesterday! Rono came to church even though we didn't see him all week! And a member picked up Marta's kids and they were able to come too! It was great! And Manuel, Karen, and Terry all got callings yesterday! All 3 of them were called to serve in young men's or young women's! I was SO happy! Manuel was super excited and told me that it is really going to encourage him to stay active in the church. I think they are all going to go do baptisms for the dead soon and going to the open house for Gilbert! We are going to the open house tomorrow with the Uribes and I am super excited! I have never been to one before!

Also, I don't know if you remember Lena. We had an AWESOME Restoration lesson with her and then the next day she went to Mexico. Well, she finally came back and we found her again! She is the sweetest little thing! We are excited to start teaching her more! When we went to her house, her grandson Luke was there and the next day we found him standing outside his apartments. He asked if we remembered him (we talk to sooo many people it's hard to remember them all, but they always remember us! My motto "fake it til you make it"). Anyway, we were able to share a brief message on the restoration and set up a return appointment with him! It is crazy how perfect the Lords timing is. 

Another interesting thing that happened this week is that we got a referral for the English ward! That was something new for me. Apparently she has requested sisters instead of elders. We are the sisters closest to her. We met her for the first time yesterday. Her name is Kimberly, and boy does she has been through a lot! We basically spent an hour yesterday with her and she just told us all the things that were weighing her down. She was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and right now is really trying to find God. She is taking classes from the JWs (not really interested, but her sister asked her to) and from us. She has a great member friend that referred her. She has a little bit of Native American blood (she thinks) and is very intrigued by them. She LOVED that we believe Christ came to the Americas and that we are so focused on families. I think the coolest thing about teaching her was when she asked if her past would be a problem for her in the Mormon church. Immediately all 3 of us (us and the AWESOME member that came out with us) said no. Truly with Christ, our past is never a problem. We were able to testify that no matter what we have done or been through, all can be made right through Christ. Her broken soul can be healed through His Atonement. It felt so good to be able to testify that to her. I am excited to see where things go with her. It is definitely going to bring some interesting stories I know!

Also the quinceañera was awesome. I seriously have always wanted to go to one.

Time is going by so fast and I can't believe it. I want it to slow down! I feel like I am still brand new, but I am getting closer and closer to the half way point. It needs to sloooowww down! I am pretty sure I only have a few weeks left in this branch, which is so sad to me! I just want to make the absolute most out of this time. I love all of it, the good and the bad. It is teaching me so much! I can't imagine my life without the mission. This is the best decision I have ever made. I love you all so muchamuch and can't begin to express what your support means to me! 

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Haynes

Temple of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Hi All, 

ABC news did a program called Inside the Gilbert Temple.  This is the new temple that Natalie has talked so much about.  The program is very well done and not only shows the beauty of the building, but also explains what Mormons do in temples and why they are sacred.  I am including the link to the program.  It lasts about 10 minutes.  I hope you enjoy it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_Myis3AlkQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

With love,  The Editor (Natalie's mom)

Learning to Teach By The Spirit

Hi Family! (From email of 2-2-2014

Another week is over. It is just so, so crazy how fast time flies by. I can't even keep track of it anymore! But this was a really good week. I feel like I am learning so much personally. So during my personal study this week, I realized that I need to apologize to all of you! (I don't remember how I started thinking of that, but it’s true I do!) I just want to say sorry for all the things that have let you down or disappointed you or made you worry about me! I know I made a lot of mistakes and I am sorry!

So I hear we won the Super Bowl! Yay! Haha I am so excited about that! I love Seattle! It was awesome I got to talk to more people because I would just bring out Seattle. This week was a really good week, but to be honest I can't remember much what happened... 

On Tuesday we went to the Gilbert Temple open house with the Familia Uribe. Anyways, holy cow I have never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life. It is the most beautiful temple I have ever seen. The spirit there was so great. I had the biggest smile on my face the whole time. The whole family we went with felt the spirit too. They were blown away. They said the higher and higher they got, the closer and closer they felt to God. It is such a miracle. Their hearts are starting to be softened. I was nervous that it wouldn't be a powerful experience for them, but we just kept praying it would touch their hearts and it definitely did. 

Hna. Groll & Natalie at the Gilbert Temple Open House

Another miracle! After our lesson with Steve on Sunday about keeping the Sabbath day holy, we came back on Wednesday and he had found a new job where he doesn't have to work Sundays and he has more time to meet with us! Such a miracle! Thanks for praying for him! We weren't really able to meet with him much though, but hopefully we can meet with him more this week and set up a baptismal date with him! He is so ready! He could do it this weekend if he agreed to it and felt ready. Since this is my last week here (most likely), I selfishly hope he will agree to this weekend, but we will see what happens! As long as he is able to come into Gods fold through this sacred covenant, that's all that matters. He is a very faithful guy.

We taught Marta the law of chastity this week. The lesson went well, but unfortunately her son was crying the whole time so it was hard to concentrate or feel the spirit very strong. She is so faithful though. I love her so much. We encouraged her to pray about it and ask God what was important to Him and what he wanted her to do. I pray that she had the confirmation from God that it's what she needs to do.

On Saturday Karen was asked to bare her testimony at stake conference. She did such a great job. I started crying as she spoke. It was just so inspiring to hear the strength of her testimony, what the gospel has done in her life, and how important it is to her. She is truly converted. I just feel so overwhelmingly blessed to be able to have played a part in it. 

We are trying to find more people to teach right now and really looking for the prepared. We are trying to talk to everyone. God is putting prepared people on our path! I realized last night,that I am just so blessed to be able to serve. Just anyone I can help in the littlest way is such a huge blessing. Because of the mantel of my calling, I am able to help people and it is the best! Just yesterday we had a simple conversation with someone and she said that she loved the aurora we brought and that we made her night. I just love to be able to be a tool in God's hands to bless His children. I have realized lately that I am a bit of a whiner/complainer but I am so blessed! Luckily I seriously have the most chipper/positive companion you could ever imagine and she's been a great example. She is helping me to become more positive and look for the bright side of things first! She is also a great example to me of patience, which is something else I am trying to work on. Life is just so much happier and brighter when you love your life following Christ example. No matter what situations you go through, it is better, more enjoyable, and happier as you face life full of hope, faith and patience for the future. I know that God loves me and that all that happens in my life is part of His plan. I just need to do my best and trust in him. His perfect plan will unfold in my life, and He will make all my efforts worth it. I just have to do my best to serve and. Follow him and use the Atonement to overcome my weaknesses and sins.

I am trying to get better at teaching by the Spirit as well. Each person that we teach has personal needs and problems we are going through, and I don't know what they are. I know that our message is true and that it will help them, but I don't know how to help them see that. After having taught the message of the restoration, unfortunately I found myself kind of starting to present it in a routine. So I am really trying to listen to the investigator and to the Spirit to know better what to say and how to help them. We were teaching a new investigator the other day and she was listening but didn't seem too involved or interested. So I just asked God what she needed to hear to help her see the importance of our message. It hit me that she needed to know that this would be something that would bless her family. As I started testifying of how the gospel blesses families, tears came to her eyes. The Spirit really touched her heart. She began telling us how she grew up without religion and did not want that for her kids. She seemed so much more interested in our message and more eager to read the Book of Mormon. I pray that I can continue developing this skill because it really makes all the difference. I know that the message I have to share is SO important and every single person needs it. I just have to follow Gods guidance to help other people see that.

It is so crazy to me that this is probably my last week here in Liahona 3^rd Ward. So bittersweet. I love this place so much. I love the people so much. But it will be great to start a new adventure too! I just am so grateful for all the people here who have touched my life and I hope and pray that I have/will continue to make a positive impact in this area. I just want to do the lords work the very best that I can. 

Oh and I have started to get a cold... Not too bad but hopefully it goes away soon! I love you and miss you all so much! I am so grateful for your support and really couldn't do it all without you! Thanks for loving me and encouraging me and for helping me my whole life long, love you tons,

Com mucho amor,

Hermana Haynes

Gilbert Temple Open House

She Decided To Pray and Ask If The Book Of Mormon Was True.

Hola familia and friends! (1-20-14)

We had another great week here! Seriously time goes so fast I can't even remember what happens. Some days it feels like we are on the top of the world and nothing can bring us down, and then the next day it feels like we will need all sorts of miracles to have the success haha but that is mission life. Gotta love it! But no, this was a really great week and we have a lot of progressing investigators. I don't think I have ever taught so many prepared people at once. This area is booming! It's sad to think that I most likely only have a few weeks left here. I have become so attached to all these people and this little branch! 

Our branch president's little daughter. So cute!

How our investigators are doing

Okay so I am thinking maybe I will just give a little run down of how our investigators are doing? Maybe. Marni and Luis are doing well. We watched The Joseph smith movie with them at the Visitor’s CEnter and they really liked it. Then we taught them about the Atonement. We invited her to talk to her boss and change her work schedule, and she tried! He said no, but she already has another job lined up so she can not work Sundays! Such a miracle! So probably in about 2 weeks she will start coming to church and then probably 3 weeks after they can get baptized! In her prayer once she said, "we WILL become Mormon" haha it was so awesome. It's like she wanted to get baptized before she even talked to us.

Was Steve concerned about already having been baptized?

Steve is still doing super awesome. Seriously, the people we are working with are SO prepared! We were a bit worried because he seemed to be having issues with the Godhead and getting baptized again, so we fasted for him and we prepared a lesson to confront his doubts. When we taught the lesson, it was like he hadn't ever even worried about it at all. He accepted it all so easily. And we committed him to officially be baptized on the first of February! Then we realized that that's stake conference, so we aren't sure what to do about that... But he is getting baptized! Soon!

A Double Serving

His little mom, Marina is the greatest. She made us ceviche and oh man, that was so hard for me.... It is shrimp and octopus in tomato juice with a mix of vegetables.... I tried so hard to eat it but really couldn't. And I had already eaten and we needed to get home. So I told her that I loved it but was very full and could I please take it home and eat it tomorrow. And of course because I loved it so much she gave me more! It was really kind of her. Dad you will be so proud of me though, I did try a little bite of the octopus! It really didn't taste like too much actually.

He really wanted to be good, but didn’t know how

We are teaching this other guy named Rono and he is super great. His whole life he was pretty much a gangster and really into drugs and stuff. He was in jail for 6 years and just got out a few weeks ago. He wants to change SO So badly. He told us that he wants to be good so badly, he just doesn't know how. I told him about how we went on a hike and he was like - you see I have never even been hiking. I don't know how to do good things like that. But he is trying so hard to avoid those bad things. It is so cool when we teach him. The Spirit is always there so strong. I can just feel how much god loves him and wants him to have the gospel in his life. It really just strengthens my testimony that there's really nothing that we cannot overcome with the Atonement. Christ wants every single one of us to be able to be clean and free from the burden of sin. I know that Christ is our Savior and that we can be cleansed through Him. It feels so good to be able to testify of that to Rono. He really doesn't know anything about God or religion so we have to go slow. But he speaks English and I can't tell you how awesome it is to teach in English! Man that I can actually express myself and explain myself in an understandable way? Haha it's amazing.

Going to the temple open house

We got to go to the temple this week! It was awesome! It's really great. I love the strength and the eternal perspective that comes from going to the temple. I feel so blessed that we get to attend. At the same time it is hard living right next door and not being able to go more often! Oh we found out we are going to the Gilbert temple open house! We are going with the Silva family (like Lupe's family). Super excited! They are always such a riot so we will see how it goes!

I love the temple!

Manuel and work for the dead

We also talked with Manuel this week about family history work and he is so excited to get started and do baptisms for the dead! I can't wait for him. He didn't realize he could do it already, so he was pretty excited to find out. He has also decided that everyone time we come over he needs to make us a meal, which he is a really good cook but man once we already ate dinner and he had these plates prepared with so much food! We are trying to get a family from the branch to invite him and Lupita to the open house.

We had exchanges this week and that was a really great experience. Our leader this time was Hna Gastelum and she is actually from Mesa. It's always fun having a little variety like that and we get to learn more.

She prayed about the Book of Mormon

Marta is doing really great too! She said that after we left one day, she had friends call her and start saying bad things about her boyfriend. She was wondering why after she felt so happy after our lesson, why people were trying to make her upset. So she decided to pray and ask if the Book of Mormon is true. She said that she started reading it and just felt so peaceful. She got her answer and is so excited to learn more! She is always so happy when we come over!

What we struggle with

So, the thing we are struggling with is getting our investigators to church.  We are really working with so many great people that I really do believe will get baptized, but they can't until they come to church. We have been praying and fasting for it, talking about it in every lesson, explaining how church is, talking about the blessings of church, inviting them to sacrifice to attend church. We were hoping that we would have a good amount this week, but only Steve came. And he had to leave for Sacrament meeting. It was a bit of a bummer for me because now I probably won't be here to see these people get baptized. (All that matters is that they do get baptized though!) And it's a bummer that they aren't making that step. But I know this week will get better! Please pray that our investigators will attend church this week!  I love these people so much. 

Sunsets here are GORGEOUS!

How about rejection?

Ti asked to hear about the people who reject us. Haha we do get rejected, but not a ton. The thing is that we don't really do any tracting. We pretty much just work with investigators and less active members. Also, Mexicans absolutely hate to disappoint people to their face. That's a big part of their culture. Hardly anybody will say no to you (only very strong Catholics or JWs) but they won't commit to a return appointment. Or if they do, they don't answer the door. It's really funny. You will go there and knock and sometimes even wave to them through the window, and they will just pretend like they don't see you. Luckily people let us down politely most of the time.

Well, I am doing really well! I love the mission so much. I can't imagine what my life would be like without it. It's hard, but so so rewarding. I am learning so much and just trying to learn and better myself. I just want to be the most effective servant of The Lord that I can be. I love and miss you all so much. I am so grateful for your support and love. It really keeps me going!

Con amor,

Hermana Haynes

I still love pickles!

Every meeting that we have 10% of it is dedicated to after mission preparation. Sister Orr was teaching us tornado survival haha

The Power of the Invitation To Be Baptized

Hi family and friends!      (Email of 1-13-14)

We had another set awesome week here in Mesa! The mission life is the best. Unfortunately Elder Holland had to cancel on us last minute, but we had Elder Jim Wright from the 6th quorum of the 70 come. He did a super great job and the spirit was so strong. He talked about how our missions are an opportunity to change and to become truly converted for the rest of our lives. It was very inspiring. Also, they decided that they would not have Mesa mission help with the temple open house, so we won't be helping out anymore, but that's okay! We can still go once if we bring an investigator/less active/recent convert. It will be such a great experience. Hopefully there are still some tickets available!

Committed to invite someone to be baptized every day!

So we really did have a great week. It was wonderful. We started off on Tuesday with a super inspiring zone training meeting. They talked about how now is the time to harvest, and that we need to focus more on harvesting instead of planting. They helped us come up with some ideas to get our investigators to church (that's something we have all been struggling with! They all work on Sundays!), helped us improve how we give commitments, etc. It was super great and gave us a lot of good ideas. They also committed us to invite someone to be baptized every day, and to invite people to be baptized at every first lesson. It totally inspired us and so we decided to invite everyone to be baptized that day!

The fist invitation

We started off with a lesson with Marta at the Visitors Center and we showed her Gods plan for families. I was just praying the whole time that it would touch her heart, and she left it crying. The Spirit was so strong. We then took her to a teaching room and talked about the purpose of this life and how we need to actively follow Christ. We invited her to be baptized on Feb 8th and she agreed! It was so wonderful! We are going to invite her 9 year old daughter tonight. Marta is really great and we are developing a great relationship with her. She has struggled a lot, but about 3 or 4 weeks ago she had a great spiritual experience! She doesn't know much about religion, but loves everything we teach her. She is learning the importance of her family and how she can have a personal relationship with God. It is so obvious how these changes are affecting her! She can't help but to show her happiness! It makes me so happy to see how happy she is! 

The second and third invitations!

Then we went to go contact a referral from the Christmas Lights, Luis and Marni. This is a great little family. We took Karen with us and taught the Restoration. Their 2 year old boy likes to scream a lot, but you could still feel the Spirit. We invited them to be baptized on the 8th as well and they said yes! Luis said at first that he was already baptized, and I started to get a little nervous thinking it would be hard to help him understand why this was so important. But the Spirit whispered to me that he just honestly did not understand the importance of the Priesthood power and that by explaining the importance of that authority it would help him. And it did! They are very great. Marni really doesn't know much about God at all, but really wants to learn. They had to move suddenly from their house this week, so we were able to help them with that. Last night we taught them all about the importance of scripture study and prayer. They are so prepared and really have great desires! Such a sweet family! We are going to watch the Joseph Smith movie with them tonight at the Visitors Center. I am super excited for that.

The forth invitation!

So yes Tuesday was AWESOME! It was such a miracle that we were able to set 3 baptismal dates in one day, Holy cow! We then went to visit Javier because our other appointment fell through. We hadn't seen him in a while but we were like why not, let's invite him to be baptized! And we did. And he said yes! I was so surprised! Like is this real life? Why haven't I been doing this all along?? He wouldn't agree to a date, but still! It was such a wonderful day! It really taught us the importance of faith. God is in charge of this work and as we faithfully trust in him and follow him, we will have power to do all things that He asks us to. We are trying to let go of any doubts and just fully hope and believe. We can see sooo many miracles here! We ARE seeing so many miracles here!

Other investigators progressing

We have 5 people on date to be baptized! (Except the familia Uribe has been avoiding us all week and didn't go to church, so we will have to set a new date for their daughter, Malia. But we were able to find them yesterday and set up an appointment for tomorrow! We aren't sure why they are avoiding us and hopefully we can figure that out...) Steve is progressing SO well. He has so much faith. He can really feel something different in the gospel. He just found a new job so he couldn't go to church yesterday, and he felt so horrible about it. So bad. It was so nice to see an investigator understand the importance of church like that and to enjoy it so much. He said he is going to talk with his boss though and get him to change his schedule. We taught him the word of wisdom and the law of chastity last night and it went super well. He was so sincere about it. He told us that these things are really hard to do, but that he is going to do it because he knows you can't be lukewarm in following God. He wants to be 100% committed to the Lord. He is progressing very well and is still on track to get baptized on the 25th. We are a little nervous because he makes it sound like he won't get baptized until he knows and understands everything, so we are hoping that he will be able to use his faith and take this big step in following Christ. His mom Marina is the sweetest thing ever. She is like my sweet little Mexican grandma. I love her so much! 

Another great investigator 

We also had a super great lesson with Tina about the gospel of Christ. I love her so much and really hope that she can find the faith and grow the faith to really follow The Lord. She is such a great girl and has so much potential! So we have a lot of great people we are teaching right now that could very well get baptized! I really believe that all of them will! Pretty much all of them have work on Sundays at this point, but we are praying that they will be able to change that. We are really going to focus on church attendance with them this week. If they can't start coming to church, we will have to move their baptismal dates. I just really do love these people so much. And I know that Heavenly Father loves them so much. I know that He is so happy that they are learning about His gospel and making efforts to follow Him. It brings me so much joy to see these people beginning to receive the blessings of the gospel in their lives. There is nothing better.

I do not want to let Heavenly Father down

God has given us so much. I know He is trusting us with His children. I absolutely do not want to let Him down. These people are so important and I want to do all that I can to help them. Sometimes I start to feel overwhelmed by my weaknesses and flaws and start to wonder if I have it in me. But then as I study and pray, the Spirit always reminds me that I cannot do it. I really cannot do it. But luckily, I don't have to. I need to rely on The Lord and on His strength. This is the Lords work and He knows the perfect way to do it. As I do my best to follow Him and to listen to the Spirit, it will all work out. I just want to do my best and do it the way God would have me. I am learning and growing and make more than my fair share of mistakes. But I know that He loves me and that He helps me. I am so grateful that I can trust in Him completely no matter what I may be going through. He never fails me. I am so grateful for his patience, forgiveness, love, mercy, power, and strength.

I love you all so much and really thank you for all the support. It means the world to me and really keeps me going. I couldn't do it without you! I am so happy to be here. This is such a sacred, life-changing experience. I miss you all so much and am praying that all is well!

Con amor,

Hermana Haynes 

We went on a hike this morning!

Don't worry I was my usual self and tripped and fell and scraped up my knee real bad. Same old me :)

First a member gave us $40 for dinner because she couldn't cook for us. So we got Thai food. Yum. Then someone secretly paid for our Thai food for us. Awesome.

So then we got IHOP this morning. Double yum. And we still have $20. Awesome. People here are toooo nice to us! And yes I am wearing the same sweater in both pictures. Let's just say sometimes it's too much work to get creative with outfit options. So I may just wear the same things.

More Joy Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Hi Family & Friends! (From Email of 1-6-14)

We had such a great week! It was so fun! The week goes by so fast, but then thinking back, it feels like those things happened so long ago. First of all, thanks Rachelle for the keyboard! I love it!

Temple Open House Guides

So Christmas lights finished up this week. (I can't believe that that was just this week!) It was a bitter sweet experience. It was so fun to work there, but so nice to have time in our area again. We have gotten some really good referrals from the lights too, so it is awesome. We just found out, though, that we are going to be able to work at the Gilbert Temple Open House! How awesome is that??? Before we were told, that if anything, we might go over there as a mission. But now, we get to work two 5-hour shifts. Oh man I am so, so excited. What a special opportunity that is! And on Saturday, apostle Jeffrey R. Holland is coming! I swear, it is always one thing after another. Seriously, I got sent to the best mission in the entire world. I don't know how I ever got so blessed. I have had so many special, once in a life time opportunities here. I love, love, love it. 

New Year’s Eve

So New Year's Eve was super fun. The Uribe family invited us over for a big dinner with them. That family just melts my heart. Love them. We ate a ton of food... Gorditas, tamales, pastel, champurrado, brownies. Had to end the year with a bang, right?? Then, we went and had our last shift at the lights! Hermana Maughan actually came back and saw the lights, so it was really fun to see her again. She seems to be doing really well. This man came and talked to us about how we are really preparing now for the Second Coming and how we are fighting the last fight. It has just really been hitting me lately how we are really in the last days. It is crazy to me that God chose us to be here at this important time. 

Hna. Groll and me at Temple Lights.  The stickers on our name tags that says Espanol are so that people will know we can speak with them in Spanish if they want.

Mission New Year’s Party

On Wednesday, we had a Mission New Year’s party! It was SO fun! Believe it or not, but the weather is absolutely perfect right now. We went outside and played kickball, human foosball, do you love your neighbor, sand volleyball, all sorts of fun stuff. It was so fun. And then each zone got assigned a scripture story and we had skits. And they gave us lunch and dinner. Haha President's challenge for the transfer is for our mission to lose 1,000 pounds because we are all getting fat. They had scales out where we weighed ourselves, and the next time we have zone conferences they are going to bring them out. Our goal is to lose 5 pounds by then. (soooo don't send me any food or anything please! unless its healthy!) That was on transfer day, so a bunch of missionaries had a party for their first day. Isn't that funny?

Prompted by the spirit

We weren't really supposed to go out and proselyte New Years Eve just because there were so many parties/drunk drivers out. We didn't know that though, and we had an appt. But when we got to the apartment buildings, we just both had a feeling that we shouldn't go out that night. It was weird. We prayed about it, and just felt like we needed to go back home. So we did. Don't know why, but you never doubt the Spirit, right? :) (don't worry, I am completely fine and safe haha!) But it was nice, we had some extra time to study and ponder and prayerfully set goals for the new year. 

How he felt when he prayed for the first time

We went out on Thursday and tried to contact the appt we missed on Wednesday (with Steve), but he wasn't home, so we went to a referral that lived right above him, Roberto. The referral said to visit him on Wednesdays, but we thought we would give it a try anyways. So it went awesome. Roberto was super interested in learning more. He speaks English well. We kind of briefly went over the Restoration with him, and he kept saying, "wow, that is so awesome." It turns out he works from 9-9 every day except Wednesdays, but he happened to get off early that day and was home. He even took that as a sign from God. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon, and he told us how he was really looking for more direction in his life right now and was hoping to find it in that book. We invited him to pray, but he didn't know how, so we taught him. He wasn't scared to try at all. After he prayed, we asked him how he felt. He said, (ok not exact quote, but close enough) "wow that was so cool. I feel lighter. I feel something really special. I don't know how to describe it. It's like I really just connected with God." Guys, it was SO great! And he wants to go to the open house! Just wish he had more time in his schedule! (he works at a Vietnamese restaurant Ti! He offered us free food haha)

Invitations to be baptized

On Friday, we had another lesson with the Uribe family. We taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then we invited the two kids, Malia and Donato, to be baptized. We gave them Book of Mormons probably about a month ago, and Malia is already almost done with Alma. She's only 10 years old. Can you even believe that? I don't really think anyone else in her family is even reading much. When we invited her to be baptized, she was SO excited and said yes right away. We set her up with a date for the 24th! Donato, who is 9, said he wants to learn more (like about the Book of Mormon, and when Jesus was born, etc hahahaha that kid cracks me up). His family told us though that really it’s because he is scared of water. We tried telling him that we can make the font less deep for him, etc but he didn't want to commit to anything. Pray for him that he can overcome that fear and understand how important it is! And pray for us so that we can know how to help him! They all came to church on Sunday (well except the dad and one girl), but with the time switch at church we now start with Sunday school, and they had to go pick their dad up from work in an hour or so, so they left. I was super bummed about that. But hopefully they will stay for all 3 hours next time. At least for Sacrament meeting.

Singing in front of the statue of the Christus at the Visitors Center.  I'm in the front on the right.

Please pray for our investigators

We decided that this transfer we really want to focus on Steve and on the Familia Uribe because they are so close! We weren't able to see Steve as much as we liked, but we had a lesson with him Saturday about the Restoration, and he came to church on Sunday. He is super prepared. He has a strong belief in God and already could recognize the Spirit in his life. The only thing that might hold him back is feeling like he doesn't know enough. So please keep him and the Familia Uribe in your prayers. We have a noche de hogar with the Familia Uribe and Presidente Lopez's family tonight, and a lesson with Steve, so we are super excited.

More miracles

We have contacted some referrals that seem pretty promising, so we are excited about that. This area has SO much potential. Seriously, we see miracles every single day. Yes, we do spend a lot of our time knocking doors that don't open, or that do open and aren't really interested in talking to us. But yes, we do get to help so many people and touch so many lives. There is so much good to be done! We had an awesome miracle yesterday! The husband of one of our new members has not been open to learning about the gospel. But yesterday we went over to visit them, and only found the husband, sitting in his truck. He said he just got off the phone with Mexico and was sad because he missed them.  He ended up really opening up to us. He told us about how he knows there is just something different about us. How we are so sure of ourselves and always do good things. He said when he goes to our church he really feels something different inside. He said he has been praying to know if it’s true, but just hasn't gotten an answer. We were able to really bare our testimonies to him about how this gospel was something for him. He is scared to leave behind the family tradition of his current church, but we told him that God just has more blessings that He wants to give him. We told him how the Spirit touches our hearts and how to recognize it. We invited him to read more from the Book of Mormon and to pray with a specific question. He told us that we could come back to share more of our message with him, and that he would allow his son to be baptized! It was so great. We will see how it goes!

One more picture at Temple Lights!  I loved serving here SO much!

The work is going great. There is so much to do! I know that The Lord is preparing people. He loves every single one of His children and wants them all to have it. That is something that I love about the gospel. It doesn't matter who we are, what our backgrounds are, or what we have been through - the gospel is literally for every single one of us. There's not a single person that we walk by on the street that doesn't need the gospel. One of my goals is to be bolder in sharing it, to really fulfill the magnitude of my responsibilities and calling as a representative of Jesus Christ. I know that we can work miracles with our faith. Part of our mission statement is that "we expect and facilitate daily miracles." The Lord will provide the way!

I love you all so much and miss you tons! Hope all is well with you! You are always in my prayers!

Con amor,

Hermana Haynes

            

Teaching About Jesus Christ at Christmas

Feliz Navidad y Feliz Ano Nuevo!   (From email of12-29-13)

Hi Family and friends! Ahhhh it was SO great seeing you all and talking with you all on Christmas. What a blessing! I miss you all so much and it was so great to hear your voices and see your cute faces. Christmas already seems like a lifetime ago. So crazy. But thanks so much for all the gifts that you all gave me! I feel so spoiled! My teeth are already looking whiter Ben haha.

Christmas in the mission field!

Okay we had some great miracles this week! The Familia Uribe finally came to church on Sunday! YAY!!!! I love that family so much! They have 5 girls and 1 boy. The 2 youngest absolutely love and adore us. It is the cutest thing ever. They are always giving us toys and presents and cookies. We hadn't been able to have a lesson with them for a while, but we did on Friday night. We taught the Plan of Salvation and we did a little puzzle of it with them. The kids loved it. They have 3 girls that are Young Women’s age and the YW leaders are trying to reach out to them now too. (For some reason the girls’ records aren't in this branch so they didn't know about them). They invited us over tomorrow to celebrate the New Years with them, so we are really excited for that. Seriously though, this is the sweetest little family you would ever meet. It is great. They only came for Sacrament meeting, but that was a huge blessing! (The dad had to work, so they had to go pick him up after sacrament meeting.) 2 of the kids would be convert baptisms, so we hope to be able to set baptismal dates up with them soon! I want to help this family get sealed so badly. The Gilbert temple open house is opening in a few weeks, so we are hoping to be able to get their family to that! 

We also had another great miracle! The English elders gave us this investigator to work with that they had been teaching who had a baptismal date. His name is Steve. They gave him us because his mom, Marina, only speaks Spanish and seemed really interested in learning more. So we went over there, and it turns out Mrina is a less active member who we had been trying to find! (The elders had NO idea she was baptized! Haha, they were like "that's what you get for not knowing spanish!"). She is the SWEETEST little viejita abuelita you will ever meet. I absolutely adore her. She has gotten pretty sick, she has to do dialysis 3 times a week and it’s pretty hard for her. Steve just lost his job too, so things  are a bit hard for them right now. Marina wants to come back to church so badly though, and is so happy that her son is joining her! (She just got baptized a year ago and is the only member in her family). Steve really likes the gospel, and agreed to be baptized on the 25th of January! They both came to our cute little Spanish branch yesterday!

OH I FORGOT TRANSFER NEWS!!!!!! I AM STAYING HERE ANOTHER TRANSFER WITH HERMANA GROLL! YAY! I am sooooooo happy! That is 5 transfers here (maybe more?? :)) Seriously, I adore this place. We have SO much potential for the month of January, and it will be so great because Christmas lights are ending so we will have more time in the area. 

Yay!  I get to stay with Hna Groll for another transfer!

On Monday we made tamales and tortillas with the Familia Rojas (Lupe’s family). It was super fun. That family is always so crazy and it is a blast. I love it. Everyone makes tamales for Christmas, so people have been giving us some and they are super yummy! I just can't even express how much I love my mission and how much I love these people. They are so so great. We have been trying to teach a lot of people, continue working with the less active members and recent converts, and just trying to talk and share with EVERYONE. This area has soooo much potential! 

Making tamales for Christmas

Rollin out the toritillas!

This next week will be a great one. We have a New Year’s party on Wednesday! Just like how we had a Christmas one. We are having a New Years one for the whole mission! Okay, I know this is super annoying, but could someone get me a blue tooth keyboard thing that I could use for my ipad? They are so great. That way I can use my email time more effectively, and put my journal on the ipad. I went to target today to get one and it was $80, so I was like no way. But if you could find one cheaper online, I would so appreciate it and pay you back.  (Editor’s note, Rachelle sent one to her. :o)  )

Yesterday at the Christmas lights, this 14 year old girl gave us cookies haha because a few weeks ago she had us try these cumquats that grew on the temple grounds and they were disgusting. It was soo sweet of her to remember us and look for us. She brought her whole family to meet us too. We meet so many cool people at the Christmas lights, it is so fun. People are FASCINATING. Everyone has a different story and a different cool background. I learn so much from all of them and they help me shape my life and figure out who I want to be.

A lady who told us on her mission she never felt like she was fulfilling all that she could.

One of my favorite things to do is to ask the elderly people or the return missionaries for advice. They always have the greatest things to say. One sweet tender mercy was a lady who told us on her mission she never felt like she was fulfilling all that she could or that she was good enough, but she prayed about it and God told her one word, "enough". It really brought tears to my eyes. She just told us how she knew God thought our sacrifices and our efforts were enough, that He was pleased with us. That is really all that I want to do is to please Heavenly Father. I just want to serve Him and serve His children.

Also, a week or so ago we were walking in these apts and this man, Manolo, stopped us. He had gotten baptized in a different branch 6 months ago and just moved to our area. He was SO happy to see us! He recited all these scriptures that he had memorized, and finally came to our branch because he knew someone now! God is always placing people on our path. He knows EXACTLY where His children are.

Well, that is pretty much how the week went. Just keeping busy and trying to do my best. Learning more and more every day. I am just trying to cherish every single minute of this. I feel so blessed and privileged to be able to serve a mission. It is such a sacred opportunity. I know that this is the Lord's work and that sharing the gospel is the most important thing we could ever do! I love you all so much!

Con amor,

Hermana Haynes

A little more Christmas fun!