We Progress best And Are Happiest When We Focus On Other People

Hi Familia and friends! 5-5-14 Email

I know I threw everybody off by sending pictures this morning and then not emailing. Haha, sorry about that. They decided not to give us transfer news until this morning to help us focus on our areas better (and kill us with anxiety) so we were waiting for that, and as soon as we got it we went to a dual zone transfer birthday party with all the Spanish missionaries. It was super fun - brincabrinca, piñata, Sonoran hot dogs and piñas. But we got transfer news this morning and we were pretty surprised! We were pretty sure I would leave and Hna Brons would stay, but it's opposite! She will be leaving, and I will be staying.

My new companion is Hna Hurd. She is from Allen, TX too! (That is where Alycia’s, Natalie’s sister’s, husband is from.) I always ask her if she knows any Braithwaites but she doesn't. She's been out for a few transfers less than me, and is super great. I am excited to have a companion that knows the language and already has lots of experience because we will just be able to get to the work like crazy! I am super sad to say goodbye to Hna Brons though. We have really grown to love each other a lot. Transfers are always a great learning experience, and I am excited to see what is in store. 

This week... It was great. I am learning so much. We are continuing to work with Amanda and it's going well. We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ this week, and she really liked it. She just needs to get to church. Really though that family has soooo much potential.

We have been visiting Lupita and Jime a lot, and at first this week it was a bit awkward because they were fighting a lot and criticizing each other, but we kept sharing messages about the importance of family/charity, etc and by the end of the week they were sharing why they decided to get married, etc so that was a really good change to see. They like to chat a lot and are convinced they have to make a meal for us every time we come over haha and love to show us all their old pictures. So the doctrine is coming bit by bit, but we are hoping to help them understand more.

And Paula, we are still working with her, trying to figure out what her needs are and how we can help. I know she will get baptized, but when people are so close the adversary works really hard. She hasn't come to church lately, but we are praying that she will. Last night we had dinner with the Raymundos and invited them to come visit Paula with us, so we all took a walk to her house and visited with the whole family. That was really nice to help her feel more love and support. We are teaching other people too, but those are the most progressing right now. We are always trying to find more and help the ones that we already have. We did lots of little heart attacks for the people we are teaching this week, so that was fun. I think it always means a lot to them too. 

We got to go to the temple this week, and it was super great. There is no other place like the temple! The spirit and peace there is just so special! It was the coolest experience being in the celestial room surrounded by so many people that I love - surrounded by all my friends and all my fellow servants in the work. I realized that that is a rare opportunity. Something I have to cherish! 

So this week was a bit of a struggle for me, but a great learning experience. I was just feeling pretty inadequate and like I wasn't doing a good enough job. It was starting to discourage me a little bit. Sometimes it's hard feeling like you are trying so hard, but you are just going in circles and not seeing your investigators or less active members progress in the way you want. But I was just praying to be strong and to know what to do, and just trying to always do my best. I did a lot of pondering on how I was feeling and how I could fix it throughout the week.

On fast Sunday though, things really clicked into place and I was able to change my perspective. We were doing our personal study in the car after stake correlation and before church started and Hna Brons just looked at me and told me to smile and to smile like I really meant it. It really hit me hard. I just looked outside and saw how sunny and beautiful it was and realized there is so much to be happy for. Then at church, thinking it might be my last Sunday, I started thinking about all the members in that ward and how much they all meant to me and how much I have grown to love them. And an Hermana shared her testimony, and it really hit me. She talked about how selfishness is the greatest enemy to our personal progress. How we progress best and are happiest when we focus on other people. All these things just came together, and helped me refocus on what is important. All that really matters is that I truly love all these people around me and do all that I can to show them that. I need to go out of my way to show these people the love that Christ would. I need to stop worrying about myself and just get lost in the work. I need to be happy with the huge amount of blessings God has given me, instead of being upset about what I don't have. I am really happy I get to stay in this area and continue trying to help it progress, and continue trying to progress myself along with it.

This transfer, I really want to make it all count. I want to just work so hard and give every single ounce that I have to the work. I especially want to work with the members, because I feel like that is a key thing that we have been struggling with. And that's probably what our investigators need most right now. I know we are going to work hard and see good things. 

I am so excited to see you next Sunday! We are going to do our skyping on Sunday evening at 6pm, and probably just on the same account as we did last time. (Could someone send me my username haha?) I don't know if I will be able to have access to a computer (most likely will not), so I don't know if we will be able to do the group video call, but hopefully we can work it out. But I have 40 mins to talk, so will probably do 20 and 20. I will start at moms around 6, and then dads around 6:20. May cut it short and skype Alycia for a few mins if we can't get the group chat to work.

Well, just want you to know how much I love you. Every prayer that you do for me and the investigators counts. Sometimes it is such a great motivation for me knowing that there's so many people around the world praying for the missionaries. It means a lot. I love you so much and I am so excited to see you! Have a great week!

Con amor,

Hermana Haynes

 My District At The Temple

Some of my favorite sisters! Hna weber y Hna Garcia are going home tomorrow. Super sad about that.

Selfies at the temple. 

I will miss Hna. Brons

The Gospel of Christ Is What Will Help Her Overcome Problems

(Email 4-28-14)

Buenas tardes familia! Como estan? Todo bien? 

We had  a great, busy week this week! I don't know if I am going to be able to fit it all into one email, but I will try and summarize it the best I can. It’s so crazy, after I live through a day, it feels like it happened a life time ago. I have to read my journal to even remember what we did.

Monday Hna Brons was still sick, so we stayed home and I just studied. 

Tuesday we went and helped at the Resek's to get ready for the ward sock hop. The sock hop was the young women's fundraiser to raise money for girl’s camp, and they asked us to help out with it. Hna Resek had a bit of a crazy week, so we went over and painted a black and white checkered dance floor. It was fun. Then that night we went to the Visitor’s Center with Jime and Lupita and watched “Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration,” film with them. This family is so great. They showed up 10 minutes early to the appointment! Seriously, normally we have to like pull the investigators by the ear to get them to go anywhere with us or to even be home for appointments, but they are so willing to do everything! Lupita is only 22 and loves to talk to us. They like learning, so that’s good. We are trying to go pretty simply with them. They really liked the movie, but came up with some kind of interesting ideas about why Joseph Smith's children all died and about the scene when the devil tries to stop him before the First Vision, but we tried to clarify it. One thing that's hard about them is that they don't really understand that we believe different things than the Catholic Church. She is always telling me that Mary is Mexican, but then I always say back that she lived in Jerusalem with Jesus haha. She always wants to feed us too! It’s wonderful, but we always have to explain that we aren't hungry/already had dinner, etc., but Sunday she was like, “you have said no too many times, you are coming over for lunch today.” So she gave us a giant bowl of pesoli (no idea how to spell that...) she is super. I think if we can just clearly explain the differences and why, she will accept it well. They also came to a baptism with us on Saturday, and that was great. They really liked it. And they all came to church (and her brother Miguel), and we are having a noche de hogar with them and the Reynas tonight! Yay!

On Thursday we had exchanges with Hna. Luna in her area and that went really well. I always learn so much from exchanges. I came back from it though just feeling like lately I had lost some faith/and vision of who I was as a missionary, and hadn't been putting in as much as I could. So I decided I needed to repent. And that's what I have been doing. Since then I have really been trying hard to put in my absolute 100% into the work. I just don't want to risk letting any of a God’s children miss their opportunity. So I am trying hard to study and plan really well, to really discern needs, to ask inspired questions, to be bold, to open my mouth with everyone, to teach when I find/find when I teach. There's always more we can do. Faith is taking the steps forward showing God you want to work, and that's when He can bless you and enlighten you. We have seen lots of miracles since then too. We are both just trying hard to be better. Last night we took the greatest little member out with us, but we didn't have anyone to teach, but we didn't want to let our time with her go to waste. We said a prayer that we would be able to teach someone with her, and were able to have two powerful lessons in the one hour we had with her - when it looked like all of our plans had fallen through. She was so bold too, and just shared a strong testimony of how the gospel was true and how they could know it. It was such a great night. 

My birthday was seriously so great. Way better than I ever imagined! Thanks so much for all the love, gifts, presents. It was so great. I felt so spoiled. And God blessed us so much that day. We were able to teach a lot of great lessons and help a lot of people, and that was just the greatest feeling. There’s nothing better than truly being able to serve someone and help them feel loved. I even saw a fireworks show that night! We taught someone that night outside at a little table, and fireworks started going off!

On Thursday we asked our ward mission leader to check on Paula and see about her baptism plans because we hadn't been able to get a hold of her. He texted us saying that she said she had a problem and couldn't get baptized. That was a little heart breaking. We went over on Friday and Renee wouldn't let us in. But we just waited until Paula was free, and then she let us in. She just looked so weighed down. I guess more stuff happened with her ex-husband. She just cried, and we just hugged her. She is trying so hard to be strong for her children. We are trying to help her understand that the gospel is what will help her overcome these problems, instead of just being something to have when her problems are done. We are really trying to stress the importance of studying the Book of Mormon and the blessings that come from that.

We are trying to help her increase her faith to come to church again because she feels like she can't come because of her problems. Please pray for her. We are just trying hard to follow the spirit to know her needs and how to best help. 

This week I decided to start doing something that the elder from the 70 said he did on his mission - read 10 pages of the Book of Mormon a day. I have been doing it for about 4 days so far, but I absolutely love it. I am learning so, so much, finding so much guidance and answers. It is really strengthening my testimony of the Book of Mormon. There is just something so special about that book, and it helps you and fills you so much. It takes pretty much my entire study time, but it really is enlightening me. I love it.

We find out transfer news on Saturday! There's a good chance that I will be leaving, but we will see. You never know what to expect.

I love you all so much and I hope you all know how much I love my Savior and His gospel. Never take for granted the knowledge that we have and never miss an opportunity to share it. It changes eternities. There is nothing more important than this. 

See you all in 2 weeks on skype! I will let you know more details next week! 

Con amor,Hermana Haynes

My Birthday!

I'm 20!!!!

Hnas. Weber and Garcia tried to sneak up and decorate my door for my birthday, but we walked up at the same time.  They are the sweetest.

I have the best companion! Haha she decorated the door and I was standing right in front of it and didn't notice.

Manuel made me lunch for my birthday! Chile rellenos yummmm!

Breakfast!

Coloring Eggs

This Was Hna. Brons' first time to dye Easter eggs.  They don't do it in New Zealand.

 Ward Sock Hop

Selfie with the companion

Small Miracles and Christ's Love

Hola familia y amigos! (Email 4-21-14) 

Hope you had a great Easter! Thanks for all the Easter packages/Easter & birthday wishes. It seriously has made it all the better. It always makes my day to get something in the mail! I really, really appreciate it! 

Our Easter was really great! Well, church was at least! We miraculously got 6 investigators at church this week. Seriously, it was such a great miracle. One is a recent convert's mom,that we have been trying to teach for a while now, but can never find her home because she works so much. She hadn't ever been to church before, but she came this week!

The best, though, was that Jime and Lupita came. We have been working a lot with them this week, so we were so happy that they came. Their little 3 yr old son, Alejandro came too. They said they really liked, it and the members were really welcoming to them. I was so grateful for that.

We also sang a duet in sacrament meeting "Asombro Me Da," or I stand all amazed. Hna. Brons isn't much of a singer so she was pretty nervous, but it went well. We also got to teach eehives for a little bit and explain why the Book of Mormon is so important to us. By the end of church, Hna. Brons said she wasn't feeling too well, so we came home and she spent the rest of the day throwing up. I felt so bad for her. She seems to be doing much better today though. So I just studied for a billion hours yesterday and went a bit stir crazy haha. We have exchanges tonight, so hopefully she's 100% cured because we are going to our leader’s area. 

But yes, Lupita y Jime are doing great. We taught them like 4 times this week. We don't teach very many principles at once. So this week we just focused on teaching a few principles of the restoration lesson throughout the week. Every time we went we had wanted to invite them to be baptized, but it just never seemed to feel right. So by Saturday when we were in the lesson, I just felt like if we didn't do it then, then we never would. Hna Brons hadn't asked anyone to be baptized yet and she's been pretty nervous about it, so we had been practicing it all week so she would feel comfortable. Haha during the lesson I had to mouth to her, invite them to be baptized! Then, extend a date! She did it though, and she did a great job! Lupita said yes and committed to the 17th of May. Jime was already baptized in the Catholic Church so doesn't understand why he needs to get baptized again. Once he understands, I think he will accept it.

They came to the Easter pageant with us on Thursday too, so that was great. It was a huge miracle that the Easter pageant all came together too. It started at 8:00, and Hna. Brons and I got there at 7:00 and it was seriously PACKED. No parking spots or seats anywhere. But I decided to just park at the house where I used to live and hope it was ok (and it was!), and we just started walking around looking for seats and these sisters from a different mission asked if we needed some because they had 4 extras. That was exactly what we needed, and they said they just had a feeling they needed to save it for someone. We were able to get Spanish translation headsets, find our investigators in the huge crowd, then find our seats again in the dark, nonchalantly grab the anti Mormon pamphlet that our investigators had picked up from some protestors, and enjoy the show. Haha it was a really great experience. The spirit was so strong. It was just a beautiful depiction of Christ's life.

Paula.... I don't know. We are hoping and praying that her baptism comes together for this Sunday. That's the goal. She hasn't been to church for 3 weeks in a row. Her niece is staying with her right now, and her niece does not like us. She won't open the door for us and always hangs up on us, so Paula is really not having much support from her family. Depending on the day, her daughter absolutely hates us, or wants to be our best friend. It's been hard to have a nice lesson where the spirit can be felt. But we are trying hard and praying hard. We just want their family to have the peace that the gospel brings so badly. I know it can and will happen if it God’s timing. We just are trying to figure out the best way to help this family. Please keep them in your prayers!

We were able to teach Amanda this week, and help her clean her house, so that was really fun. We are really trying to get her to come to church because she hasn't yet. We had a couple other lessons with some people that seem promising, just their schedules are so busy. We also were able to teach a couple less active families, so that was great. 

Ok want to hear a kind of cool/crazy story? I officially am not a fan of dogs. Every time we walk through the trailer park we are so on edge because they always come out of nowhere and start barking at us so loudly. Normally, they are all bark and no bite so I just ignore them and approach the houses anyways. So we had a referral type thing that we were going to check out and they had a gate in front of their trailer, but no signs of dogs so we just decided to keep going. We opened the gate and started walking to the door, and two huge dogs come charging towards us out the doggy door. They were big and they were mad. They really looked like they could kill us. So I get so scared I just drop my books and run to the gate. I was trying so hard to open it, but I was so panicked I didn't realize that the handle was on the other side. Hna. Brons had to push me out of the way and open it haha. But I think the coolest part was that about halfway down the ramp, the dogs just kind of stopped unnaturally. I really think that we had angels protecting us. It wasn't until we had the gate closed behind us that they started running at us again. It was just really cool to see The Lord watching out for us and His hand protecting us. Don't worry it wasn't a big deal it all happened really fast, I just thought it was a cool experience. Let's just say we are always a little bit more on edge around the dogs haha.

But this week has been a great week for me to reflect on the Atonement of Christ. I am so grateful for all that He has done for me. I am thankful for this time I am having on my mission to get to know Him better. He really is the only sure foundation that we can build on. He sacrificed everything for us so that He could help us overcome all. We are so undeserving of His love and grace, but He is always there willing and ready to give us love and help. I know that this is His one true church here upon the earth. I know that He leads it. I know that He is intimately aware of every single one of us and He love each of us. I feel it is such a privilege I have to be able to represent Him and His church.

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

we went to Panda Express with a senior couple Hna Brons knows from New Zealand that are serving in Phoenix. I am such a klutz and dropped the entire tray before I even sat down... Haha, if only that wasn't surprising of me.

My first time trying alambre. It was pretty good! Who knows how to spell it though... (Editor's note: a popular Mexican dish consisting of grilled beef topped with chopped bacon, bell peppers, onions, cheese, salsa and avocado.^[1][2] It is usually served with freshly made corn or flour tortillas.

I observed Paula making her chocoflan and it is so good so I wrote a little recipe haha. Have fun trying to make it! Someone perfect it and then make it for me when I come home. (Also find some Mexicans and you can sell it to them. She sells hers for $25 each!)

Chocoflan

4 eggs

1 can evaporated milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 bar Philadelphia cheese

Mix all those ingredients in a blender

Put dulce de leche Carmel sauce on the top of a round cake pan. Spread out every along the top. Then spray sides with anti stick spray.

Make chocolate cake mix.

Mix both the flan and the cake in the pan.

Put oven to 350. Cover the pan in aluminum foil. Poke holes in the aluminum foil. Put the round cake pan in a pan that has water so it can boil in the oven. Put in over for 1 hr and 45 mins. Let it cool.

I observed Paula making her chocoflan and it is so good so I wrote a little recipe haha. Have fun trying to make it! Someone perfect it and then make it for me when I come home. (Also find some Mexicans and you can sell it to them. She sells hers for $25 each!)

She Knows the Gospel Of Christ Will Bring Her A Strong Family

Hello family and Friends! (Email 4-14-14)

Sounds like you all had a great week! Yay that is so good to hear! We did too! If I can only remember what happened though is the real question....

The heat started this week. It is officially summer here in Mesa, Arizona. Say hello to sweat, dehydration, acne, and all other lovely things for the next 5 months of my life. You may ask what happened to spring, which would be a very good question. But I am coming to learn that there is no such thing as spring or fall, ok not even winter in Mesa. Just summer. Eternal summer. Haha but I love it of course. My goal is to not complain about the heat for the whole summer, so we will see how that goes! But I actually kind of like it in a weird way, just because it makes me feel more like a missionary. It makes me feel like I have to work harder and give more of myself and really work for all these people that I am trying to help. I don't think a mission should be too comfortable. It’s supposed to be work and trials, so I am excited for what is ahead. 

We found a couple new families this week, so we are excited about that. One of them is the Familia Ramirez. The dad is a less active member that only speaks Spanish, the son got baptized a few months ago, and the mom and daughter both want to get baptized. The English missionaries have been working with them for a while, but things have kind of stopped progressing (the mom has sleep problems and hasn't been able to come to church), so they are thinking maybe if we can get the dad reactivated, that will help the whole family. We haven't really taught them yet, because they are super expressive and love to tell stories. It is funny to talk with them. They have a really strong testimony of the gospel, especially of the Book of Mormon. So hopefully we will be able to unite all the family and help them progress towards making covenants through baptism.

We also had our first lesson with that family we did the service for before in the trailer park, Jime and Lupita. Her brother, Miguel, wants to learn too, but he wasn't there for the lesson. They are SUPER prepared. Alexandra was telling us about how the world would be such a better place if everyone was Mormon. She always talks to us about how good it is that we are going to marry Mormon boys because then we will have strong families. I guess a lot of Jime's friends drink and she really doesn't want him to go that way. She wants to have a strong, happy family and she can see that the gospel will bring her that. She’s already asking questions about baptism and things like that and we haven't really taught anything more than how to begin teaching points and explained the Book of Mormon. They said they were going to come to church yesterday, but didn't so that was a bummer. But we have an appointment with them tonight and a member that is going to get along so well with them is coming. We are going to teach the restoration and invite them to be baptized so be praying for us around 6pm tonight! :) Miguel knows a bit more and has gone to church at Valencia, and the other sisters say that he wants to get baptized too, so we are excited to start teaching him. What great blessings, right?

We had the Easter Pageant on Saturday and that was really fun. Have I told you about the Rojas family? They have the 2 teenage boys that are obsessed with? Haha, well they are great. Pretty much no religious background. They came to the Easter pageant with us! They came super early though so we entertain them for like 5 hours. We started off with a convivio/party in the park where all the Spanish wards came and we had dinner there and talked. Then we walked over to the Visitor’s Center and watched the show. It is beautiful. I couldn't watch too much because their little 5 year old daughter was literally asking me questions and talking to me the entire time haha. It's just this live show that has a bunch of actors and dancers that displays the entire life of Christ. I got to see Manuel, Karen and her family, and a bunch of other people from Liahona 3! And I saw my old investigator Marta and Consuela! They ran right up to me and hugged me so tight! And guess what! Consuela got baptized on Saturday! Yay!

We also did service and got to organize and clean out the Vega’s pantry haha. It was really fun actually. They are the best family and are always so willing to help us at a moment’s notice.

We taught Paula the law of chastity this week. She accepted it well. Mina is going through a depression though with everything going on with her dad and has decided not to get baptized with her mother. Please pray for her and this whole family. They are going through a hard time. Last night we visited Paula and went through the baptismal interview questions with her. She is pretty ready. She had been drinking coffee a little though, which bummed me out a little. But we stressed the importance of living it, especially these last 2 weeks before her baptism. We talked about the importance of the covenants that we make at baptism and just really tried to help her understand the importance of this step she is making in her life. I just feel like something is missing or not quite right, but I can't quite put my finger on it yet. Please pray for them. And pray for us that we might know how to best help them. 

We are really enjoying every minutes. Some days are hard of course, but the hard times make the good times that much sweeter. I have absolutely loved being able to study the Atonement lately and learning more about my Savior. I am coming to understand that there is really nothing that we cannot overcome through Christ. If we humble ourselves and have faith in Him, truly anything is possible. He set the perfect example for us and we need to strive every day of our lives to emulate Him.

I love you all so much, and I love my Savior! I hope you all have a great Easter and that you are truly able to feel the Saviors love as you contemplate the importance of His sacrifice for us. Have a great week! I love you!

Con amor,

Hermana Haynes

Easter Pageant

Studying

Cool Cactus!

Me and Hna. Brons

We had a zone Easter egg hunt today.  It was so much fun!

The Spirit Witnessed To Me As I Shared My Testimony of The Book of Mormon

Hi family and Friends!  (Email 4-7-14)

Sorry this email is a bit late and is going to have to be a bit short as well. Today we went over to Apache Junction and went to an old mining ghost town. These members took us and another companionship and just took us around for the day and bought us everything. It was super fun and cool to see everything! We get so spoiled here! But because of that, I don't have much time to email!

This week went very well though! We were able to teach and find a bit more and help the less active members. There are a bunch of less active members in this ward and we are trying to work more with them. Paula has decided to move her baptismal date to the 27th, but we are going to encourage her to move it to the 26th so that she won't have to wait a week to get confirmed.

We also had a great lesson with Amanda again. We went over and helped her cook dinner, clean her house, and then we had a lesson. It was a great evening! She always has lots of good questions and has sincerely been studying things out in her mind her whole life long. We expressed our desires to meet with her more frequently, and she agreed if we would come over in the mornings! Yes!

We also had a first lesson with a new investigator named Tina. I think I talked about her before? But she had chairs outside all set up for us and was waiting for us. We taught the Restoration and it went very well. One of my favorite parts was just how strong I could feel the Spirit while I shared with her my testimony of the Book of Mormon and how important it is to me. I told her how it has changed my life and taught me and guided me so much. And the Spirit just strongly testified to me that every word that I was saying was true. It was a really great experience. We also did more service for that family that moved into the trailer park. We got to paint their walls in their house! It was fun!

Holy cow, how great was conference??? I LOVED it. We went to our stake center on Saturday morning, but for some reason they didn't play it there, so we didn't know where to go. So we went back home, shoved our beds together, and watched it in our apartment on my little ipad screen haha. It was nice and cozy. And we just decided to leave our beds like that for now haha. But really, it was so inspiring. I learned something from every single talk. Some that I especially enjoyed were Elder Uchtdorfs, Elder Bednars, Pres Monson, ok all of them! I don't think I have ever heard such an inspiring conference before, covering so many different topics. I am just itching to start reading and studying them again! And what about Elder Ballard’s invitation? Gonna start writing me about what you are learning in preach my gospel?? :)

This week is the Easter pageant and I am so excited for it! We are going to have a great week! I love you all so much and am so grateful for your love and prayers! Have a great week!

Con amor,

Hermana Haynes

"Alycia's having a girl face" (Natalie's sister had an ultra sound and found out she is having a girl.)

Service

Setting up for the Easter Pageant

Visit To Apache Junction

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

From the Editor (Hna. Haynes' mom),

One of the blogs posted last night includes a list of articles and scriptures about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Natalie's mission president put this list together and asked the missionaries to study one reference per day in preparation for Easter.  Natalie has invited us to study along with her.  We are starting the reading a little behind so will not finish before Easter, but I also invite you to join us in studying the atonement of Jesus Christ.  I have added links to the first few materials below, and will continue to add more throughout the next few days. All articles can be found at: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

1. St. Matthew 26-28

2. "The Atonement: Our Greatest Hope" - Pres. James E. Faust

3. "The Atonement" - Elder Russell M. Nelson

4. "Testifying of the Great and Glorious Atonement" - Elder Neal A. Maxwell

5. "The Atonement of Jesus Christ" - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

6. "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles"

7. "Missionary Work and the Atonement" - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
8. "Justification And Sanctification" - Elder D. Todd Christofferson
9. "The Need of a Redeemer" Jesus The Christ, chapter 3 - Elder James E. Talmage 
10. "The Atonement and Salvation", The Articles of Faith - Elder James E. Talmage (not available
      on line)
11. "The Atonement of Christ", Mormon Doctrine, chapter 9, Elder Bruce R. McConkie

We Asked Her To Pray To Know If Heavently Father's Plan Of Salvation Is True

Hi family and Friends! (Email of 3-31-14)

Another week has gone by! Can you believe it? Time just is the weirdest thing. Well, this week was good! A bit slow, but good. It was hard to find people home for some reason, so we weren't able to teach as much as I would have liked. Hermana Brons has been having really back headaches and things lately that seemed to be getting worse at the beginning of the week so that was pretty hard for her to work through. So we decided we’d better take her to the doctor. Turns out she has TMJ problems too! So she got a blessing, they are making her a nightgaurd, and have her jacked up on ibuprofen. It seems to be helping a lot.

The first couple days of the week were pretty rough for her, but it was so good to see her just push forward with faith. That was a good example to me. The members here bless us so much. We are so spoiled. Sister Brons doesn't have any insurance because they don't have insurance in NZ and was really worried about the medical costs. However, the doctor was a member and didn't charge anything. Also, we were completely out of money for the past 2 weeks, and last night some English members sent us home with a bag of food, a member gave us $10 for groceries, and now a different member owns a carwash and they wash our car for free. I feel so blessed. The members here are so strong. I love when we have dinner with the English members, it helps me see how I want to be as a wife and mother. They are all so kind and loving. 

Last night our dinner appt had to cancel, so the dinner coordinator for the English ward told us to come over and we helped make dinner and baked cookies with her kids. She has a friend that speaks Spanish so we went and dropped the cookies off at her house and we are going to invite her to the Pastorela. I mean Easter pageant haha. Unfortunately her friend wasn't home, but we are going to have to go back that means! 

Paula is doing well still. She went to church at Valencia this week which was a bummer because this was the last Sunday before her baptism with general conference next week. I just am not quite sure she understands the whole ward boundaries thing. But she is progressing well and her daughter is all excited to be baptized again, so that was a huge blessing! 

We were able to teach Amanda again on Friday, and that was a great experience. I always just leave feeling the spirit so strongly when we teach her. We taught the plan of salvation, and it all made such good sense to her. It was like the spirit was bringing these eternal truths back to her remembrance. We asked her to pray to know if the plan of salvation was true, and she said she didn't need to because she already knew it was. Everything she says just brings so many scriptures to my mind to share because the spirit has already taught her so many truths because she has been searching. As of right now though, she is only interested in us coming over once a week and isn't interested in attending church. But hopefully we can work on that :) I just have such a special feeling about that family.

We had transfer meeting on Wednesday so we are officially covering the whole ward! It's nice to have some more area. The trailer park is really fun. It's a great place to go contacting. Lots of less active members and potential contacts live there. Actually an investigator family is moving from Valencia into the trailer park Mesa Grande so on Saturday we went and helped them clean out their new trailer for a few hours. I love doing service projects, haha, to be able to do something hands on. It was really fun to help! Haha they are painting the inside bright green. The family seems really interested too, so after they move in we will start teaching them. Yay! I feel like we have so many people to help, but nobody that wants to progress. It can be a bit hard, but nothing I can't handle with God! :) It's hard to distinguish if it's me not doing enough or if it's just how things go sometimes, or if it's just people’s use of agency. Probably a bit of all 3. There's always more that we can do, right? I just got to keep going with faith and hope.

This morning I was reading D&C 12-15 and it was just such a good reminder of the importance of this work. "And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father. Amen." (D&C 15:6) God has given me stewardship over this area, and I don't want to miss a single soul. I just want to share the love and blessings that Heavenly Father has given me so badly. 

The General Women's meeting was so great on Saturday. I am SO excited for conference. Seriously I have been looking forward to it forever! April is going to be a great month. There are so many fun things that we have coming ahead, and I am really excited! (But of course we all knew April was the best month already - got to start my birthday countdown haha). 

I feel like as I learn to work with other people, I am learning so much about myself. I am learning to see myself how other people do and to know things that I never realized before. It is a really interesting experience haha. I am learning how to communicate better and just so many important skills. I just really want to take this time to tackle some weaknesses that I have and become a better person, because what better time than on your mission, right? So that's the goal. Hermana Brons and I are really focusing on two goals that we have: speaking more Spanish with each other, and teaching in better unity. 

Haha this email was kind of a bit all over the place. Sorry about that. Just want you to know that I am doing well and I am happy! The mission is challenging every single day, but I am grateful for that because I am learning so much. I miss you all more than you know and I love you all SO much! Have a great week and a happy April!

Con amor,

Hermana Haynes

 P-day at batting cages. My first time ever! I wasn't the best, but it was fun! And I had frozen yogurt for the first time in 10 months. It was heaven!

Adventures last p-day

P-day pizza

Saying goodbye to roomies

Making food

And the first dust storm of the year. It's starting early so that means it's going to be a hot summer.... Gonna die.