God Has a Really Good Plan For Our Lives

Hi family and friends!!       (11/11/13 email)

It's been a crazy, wonderful week. Lots of stuff going on over here. But learning and growing and loving every minute of it! It is really cool being able to see the Lord’s hand in your life helping shape me into the person that He knows I can become. I swear time is just getting faster and faster. I can't even believe it! 

Found a cute old man

Sooo what did we do this week.... This week we really focused on the less active members. It was great. We saw a lot of miracles. We have been working through the list trying to find those who haven't been contacted. We found this really cute old man named Claudio. He hasn't come to church in a long time, but when we found him he said that he know that God loved him because God had sent us to find him to bring back the lost sheep. It was the sweetest experience. You could just feel how much love Heavenly Father has for him. We are really excited to work more with them. It's hard though because everyone's work schedule is so crazy that it can be really hard to find people again. We just want to help this branch become stronger so badly. They are the sweetest people ever. I really just have such a strong, strong love for all of these people here. They have become such a part of who I am! 

We had an awesome correlation this week with our branch mission leader and members from the auxiliary presidencies. We started putting some ideas together to work on a branch mission plan. It is so cool to see the members catching the vision of the work of salvation! They are starting to learn how to all come together and build each other up.

Awkward (non)teaching experience

It's also hard to see people you love so much struggling with their testimonies. A few recent converts haven't been coming to church lately and it breaks my heart! I just want to help them so badly, but we are having a hard time figuring out what exactly the problem is. Praying hard for them! Manuel is doing really well. He came out to teach with us again this week. We had a former investigator that none of us had ever met before call us and set up an appointment with us. So we invited Manuel and he brought his whole family. It ended up being that man talking to us for over 30 mins basically trying to preach to us. It was the weirdest thing. He didn't even ask our names! Haha whenever we tried to speak he would just talk right over us. It was a bit frustrating haha. I just felt bad for Manuel and his family that they had to sit through that. 

Manuel’s efforts to keep the Sabbath Day holy

Manuel called us last night and asked us if we drink milk haha. We said yes and he told us he was dropping food off for us. We delivered milk, eggs, and frosted flakes! He was like missionaries work so hard and I just want to help them! We asked if there was anything we could do for him and he immediately said yes! He asked us to pray for him. They changed his work schedule so he has to work on Sundays again and he is super bummed about it. He has really been missing church and really wants to keep the Sabbath day holy. We are all praying for him and he said he would talk to his boss again today, please pray for him. It is soooooo important that he can keep coming to church! He has been really coming to all the activities though.

Juan and Ana are still just doing wonderfully. Their two older boys started listening to the lessons too! They have come to church for the past 3 weeks and said that they think it's true. They have so much faith, but they are nervous about trying to really figure out if it's right or not.

Sheep and going above and beyond the call of duty

We had exchanges on Friday with Sister Frishnecht. She is so sweet! It was really fun and a great, spiritual experience. We got to go to Yesenia's wedding with her. The wedding was great! We pretty much we're in the back the whole time preparing the food. Haha, Hna Maighan got to keep her hands stuck in a cooler that had a dead lamb in it for about an hour. I started off doing that, but a few seconds into it I'm pretty sure I grabbed an eyeball so I quit.  Then the next day was Karen and John’s wedding! Yay! It went so great. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. She got baptized! Almost the whole branch was there to support them. Haha there were so many people I couldn't even see her get baptized. It was such a special experience. John is a pretty reserved man, but at the reception he came up to me and thanked the missionaries for all that we have done to help his family. They are so special to me.

The furnace of affliction is good for you.

Well that's about it. Transfers are next week so I will find out on Saturday what is happening. I am pretty sure there will be some changes. I would love to be able to stay in this branch for a whole lot longer, but know that whatever happens, God has a really good plan for my life. Lately, I have just been really thinking about the experiences that He gives us to help is grow and refine ourselves. Sometimes the furnace of affliction is just the perfect refiner's fire to make us just a little bit closer to our divine potential. I am so grateful that I can have Jesus Christ as the anchor of my hope. Because of His Atonement, no matter what I go through or how many mistakes I make or how many flaws I have as a human being, I know that there is a way to overcome all of that. I am so grateful for that knowledge. I love you all so much! I miss you so much and just want you to know how grateful I am for every single one of you. My family is the most important thing to me!

Natalie and Hna. Demille

Love you bunches,

Hermana Haynes

The Gospel of Jesus Christ Changing Lives.

(From email of 11-4-2013)

Buenos dias familia y amigos!                                     

Como estan?? Espero que todo este bien con ustedes.Tuvimos una semana buena otra vez! No es una sopresa :) Just thought I would start off with a little espanol today. Haha but hi! How are you!

We all got iPad Minis.

We had another good week. I really have the hardest time remembering what we do with our time... We have SO many things that we do each week, sometimes it feels like we don't have any time in the field. We have an hour of personal study, companion study, language study, 12 weeks program for Hna Maughan, facebook, lunch, and 1.5 hrs to update records into our area book on our iPads everyday before we get out into the field. Plus district meetings, etc. These are all super important things though to help progress the work. This week the entire mission got iPad Minis! We already had them, but they are going to give us new ones soon with iOS7. So all the missionaries were pretty excited about that! They said soon the mission president, stake president, bishops, etc will all have access to our area books and planners. Isn't that so great? We are going to be able to work with the leadership so much more.

Last week we found a whole less active family that no one knew!

This week we really started working more focused on the less actives and recent converts. We decided we needed to filter through our investigators and only focus on the ones that are really going to progress (pretty much just Juan and Ana, and a few others - they are doing GREAT by the way!), and then focus all other time on the branch. We saw a lot of blessings doing that this week too. Last night we found a whole less active family that no one in the branch knew! The Uribe family! They got baptized 3 years ago and have 6 children. 2 of them are old enough to be baptized but aren't so we are really going to work with them! Hopefully prepare their children for baptism and prepare them for a temple sealing - eternal families! They are such a great family already and were really kind to us. I am so excited to work more with them.

The Relief Society and Priesthood are having a competition to unite the branch.

Yesterday we had this big meeting with the branch with all the leadership of the branch. We got together and the branch presidency talked about the statistics of the church - we have 1/3 people coming to Sacrament, etc. They talked about how General Conference focused so much on the rescue and how that really needs to be the focus of our ward. They talked about all the activities we have coming up before the end of the year and how we need to be focusing on reaching out to others and inviting and fellowshipping them. Then we went through every single person on the branch records - if anyone knew who they were, if anyone knew if their addresses and phone numbers were correct, if they actually were in the branch boundaries, etc... It was SOOOO great! They really want to get the records accurate so they can know who we actually have to work with. We knew a lot about the members and where they live and had a lot of new phone numbers, so we were able to help a TON. It is really nice to know that that information will not be lost now after we are transferred out of this area. It is so great to see the branch catching the vision of needing to help these people here in the branch. These past couple weeks they have really been focusing on Visiting and Home teaching. They have a competition between priesthood and RS that whoever gets higher percentages on their visits, the other auxiliary has to make them a dinner! (awesome idea from Hna Maughan!) A lot of them don't even know how to do their visits, so we are trying to work with the RS presidency to see how we can help teach people how to do that. They are trying to get everyone in the branch contacted soon, because on Nov 16th we are having a branch Thanksgiving dinner, and they are going to drop off a dinner for everyone who is less active! What a great idea! It makes me so excited to see us all uniting our efforts to really reach out to those who are in need. I just want all of these people to have the joy and blessings of living the gospel. I just want them to be happy and to be close to Christ! I know that this branch can really become strong. It will take a lot of work, sacrifice, time, and dedication, but it has SUCH great potential!

Manuel already sharing with others.

We took Manuel out to help us teach some lessons with us this week, and it was so great! He was just so excited about the gospel and all the blessings that it brought into his life. It was really cool, we took him to visit a less active family, and the dad from the less active family got super excited to help teach Manuel this new member, and just was bearing his testimony and teaching Manuel. The Spirit there was so great. We shared a powerful message about the Book of Mormon and how it is a protection in our lives. It was such a great lesson. The mother was crying by the end. And then, the next day... They came back to church! The dad said that his vacation from church was over! Yay! Haha at the end of our lesson, the dad told us to open our bags, and he poured in his kids halloween candy. It was so funny. Now we got a little bit of trick or treating too! Speaking of Halloween, we went to an English ward member's house and she had such a cute little Halloween dinner set up! We had green spaghetti and all this kind of stuff and she called it all kinds of cute names! We made some treats during lunch and dropped them off at the missionaries in our district, and then we spent the rest of the night at home studying. We weren't able to proselyte that day. 

 

We made little ghosts of each of the missionaries in our district to go with the Halloween treats!

Juan and Ana are reading the Book of Mormon.

Ana and Juan are doing really well! They came to the Visitor’s Center and watched the Joseph Smith movie and really liked it. We read 3 Nephi 11 with them this week, http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/3-ne/11?lang=eng  and that was really powerful. They also came to all 3 hours of church yesterday, and 2/3 of their kids actually went to their classes! Ana is pretty quiet, but seems pretty interested. Juan is REALLY interested though. He always is so full of questions, but asks them out of sincere desire to know more, not out of a desire to deny it or confound us. He is really reading the Book of Mormon. Ana has been reading a little bit, and they have both been praying to find out if it is true. Ana said she has had a few dreams about the Book of Mormon too. They both said that they think it is true, but aren't 100% sure yet. They have such great potential. They are a really, really great family. At church yesterday the lesson was on the Law of Chastity. We haven't talked to them about that yet and they aren't married, so hopefully that went okay for them. Ana's 17 year old brother, Pablo has been learning too and seems pretty interested! He didn't go to church though. They have 5 kids and the 3 youngest are learning and liking it, but the 2 older boys always hide in their rooms and don't talk to us. 

Karen and John are actually getting married and baptized on this next Saturday. I think we should be able to go to it if we can find investigators to come! Karen asked me to speak at her baptism too, but I don't know if that is still happening or not. It would be better if a member did it. I am so happy for them though! They are such a changed family and will be such strength to this branch! 

Learning a lot from having two companions and going to the temple!

Being a trio is an adventure as always. It is really fun, but definitely a learning experience. I have been learning so much about how to have good relationships with people. This is great marriage prep! Hahaha. 

We get to go to the temple on Thursday! I am super excited! We also have a meeting on Wednesday for all the non-VC sisters because we are going to be helping outside at Christmas lights! Yay! I am so excited! On P-Days some of us sisters are have a choir practice because one day we are going to be doing the musical number for Christmas lights. I am excited! Speaking of that, Mom at some point in time (before Thanksgiving probably) if you could send me my peacoats and nice jackets/sweaters that would be nice. It is really starting to cool down and I think that if we are working outside at night for Christmas lights, I will probably be getting pretty cold. Maybe toss in a few pair of gloves? No rush on this though! 

Random side note, but I had dinner at a guy from my BYU ward's house this week! (Dallin Schnepf for all my BYU friends). Such a small world! 

Ways to grow my charity.

Well, I think that's all I got for you this week. I just want to end with the scripture in Matt 22:36-39. "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." I have really been thinking about that lately. I have been trying to find ways that I can grow my charity and to increase my desire and ability to give selfless service. Sometimes I feel like I get so centered in my own world. But I am here to bless other's lives. I am here to help others and to strengthen and support them. That is why we are all here. I know that as we do that - as we really focus on other people more than ourselves, then we will be happier. It can be hard sometimes, but that is how true happiness comes. I also like to think about Christ and His example. He was so quick to forgive and so slow to offend. He gave so freely of Himself in every opportunity that He could. I want to be more like Him and I want to know Him better. I have been really trying to learn more about His life and to develop more faith in Him as my Savior and center my life more on Him specifically.

Well I love you all so much! And I miss you tons, especially as we are in this holiday season! But I would never trade this time for the world. I am so grateful to be here. I am so grateful for this opportunity to learn, grow, love, and serve. I hope you all have a great week!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Natalie Haynes

A Beautiful Baptism!

Hi Family & Friends!                                                                       (From email of 10/28/13)

A beautiful baptism.

Oh man... I really can't remember what we did this past week. It’s still been a process of trying to figure out how to balance the two areas and everything, but we are learning! Our investigators have been really hard to find/get a hold of this week, so progress was a little slow, but we did have a beautiful baptism! We really focused on Lupe this week, and helping her get really prepared for her baptism. We met with her everyday and just really tried to keep her strong. On Wednesday, for Young Women's meeting, we went to the YW leader's house, and we taught a lesson on the law of chastity. It was really powerful. The three of us just all have really strong testimonies of how much keeping the law of chastity blesses your life, and how painful it will be if you don't keep it. We really just wanted to have a nice, safe environment to teach that to Lupe in, and thought it would be very helpful for all the other girls too if we could make things clear. Also, coming from people only a few years older than them (or for me - only one year older than some of them!), it would help them see how it is relevant in their lives. It went really well. Lupe's MiaMaids leader, Sister Reed, has been such a help in her conversion process. She has been there supporting Lupe through thick and thin. She is always there to give Lupe a ride, and she helped us out with so much! It is so nice to know that although Lupe doesn't have a family that is going to help her be strong in the gospel, at least she has great leaders that will really help her and love her.

 

Hna. Maughan, Lupe, Hna. Demille and me.

She already has her temple recommend!

The baptism went really well. We seemed to have a little bit of miscommunication with the branch leadership, so the three of us got there 45 minutes before it started, and the font was empty and nobody was there.... We were a little worried, but everything came together just fine, even though it felt a little rushed! :) Now, she has already gotten her temple recommend and the youth in the branch are going to do baptisms for the dead on Wednesday! She is so excited! Her less active family came to the baptism, and I think it really touched their hearts! I love her family sooo so much. You never really know what to expect from her family, but you know you are in for a good time!

 

Lupe's baptism

Some progress, some setbacks.

We weren't able to find either Arturo1 or Arturo2 home all week long, but we stopped by and had some really, really good conversations with their families, and hopefully planted some good seeds. Malia, Miguel’s aunt, dropped us this week too we think... She hasn't been answering the phone, and someone that lives with her always says she's not home when we stop by. But Juan and Anna really have some promising potential! They are super interested in the message and really want to learn more.

Also, someone we thought had dropped us, called us back and said he wanted to learn still! His name is Pablo. He is 19 and his girlfriend, Emilia has been taking the lessons and she wants to get baptized. He wants to learn because he knows it is so important to her and he wants to have an eternal family with her. It is the sweetest thing. We are excited to work more with him!

Focusing on strengthening this branch to support new members.

I know last week it sounded like we had a billion investigators, but this week, it seems to be winding down to fewer haha. But yesterday during Sacrament meeting, we just all had a strong impression that we really need to be focusing more on the less active members and recent converts. We need to make this branch strong, and that's the way to start. We are here right now to prepare this branch to be better prepared to bring in and retain the investigators and new converts. This past month, we have seen some recent converts starting to lose faith, or at least lose the action part of their faith. I don't want that to ever happen to anyone that I teach. It breaks my heart! I know that they still believe, we just need to work with them more – make sure they are included and taught, have opportunities to serve, etc. So, I think we are going to focus our efforts on working more with the members who need help, because there are a LOT of them. We have seen huge changes in this branch in the past couple of months, and they are just going to keep on progressing!

The branch president, Pres. Lopez is great. He has 6 kids. He has been a member for 25 years. His wife introduced him to the gospel in Mexico. President Lopez is so dedicated to his calling. He really loves the individual and goes out of his way to serve everyone that he can. I think from the moment he gets off of work until the moment he goes to bed, he is working on his calling (I wouldn't be surprised if he does it even when he is at work!) I don't think his family sees much of him. It is probably hard for them, but they will be so blessed. Hna. Santos is the Relief Society President. She just moved into the branch 1.5 years ago. She has 3 kids, and she is great too. This branch really needs people as dedicated as they are!

Training and clothing swap!

This week, we had a special training for all the sisters in the mission! It was so great! Sister Jenkins shared a great message with us, and then we were taught about nutrition, exercise, and how to properly dress. Haha so cliché but it was fun! And then we brought all the clothes that we didn't want anymore and had a giant grab bag (clothing exchange). We also had interviews with President Jenkins this week. I can't tell you how much I absolutely love and admire President and Sister Jenkins. They are so great. They really love and care for us, and I know that they are so dedicated to the Lord. I feel it is such a privilege to serve in the mission they preside over! President Jenkins is such an inspired man. He always says exactly what I need to hear. And Sister Jenkins just is full of love for everyone. I hope you get the opportunity to meet them at some point. 

How the  branch works and the Trunk or Treat.

On Saturday, we had the ward trunk or treat! It was combined with the English ward that we meet with, the Olive ward. The youth program (Primary & YM/YW) meet with the English ward for the 2nd and 3rd hour of church. The branch isn't strong enough yet to support their own youth program, but they are trying to get some members of the branch into the youth programs to train them. But only the people that speak English can serve in there. It was super fun! They don't really have a carnival or games or anything like back home though. They had a chili cook-off (which the Latinos have no idea what chili is, so they just ate :)) and then the trunk or treat. It was fun!

 

Natalie and her companions with a couple of recently baptized sisters at the ward Trunk or Treat.

The three Hermanas with Sis. Stewart.  They live right behind Sis. Stewart's house.

Well, that pretty much sums the week up! I absolutely love being in a trio. It is so fun. It is like I am always with two of my best friends! They are both so great, dedicated, and hard working. We are still learning the balance of teaching with 3 people, but it will come with time! I learn so much from my companions and I really love them. 

My testimony of daily scripture study, and how I have changed because of it.

I just want to share with you today my testimony of daily scripture study. There is a quote from President Packer that says a daily study of the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes every day will bring a great spiritual power into your life. I started doing that a year ago, and I can't tell you how true that is. I feel like looking back at myself and who I was in high school, I am a completely different person - for the better. And I know that I was able to learn so much and change so much because of the time that I dedicated to receiving revelation from the Book of Mormon. I know that this book has been given to us as a personal guide for our lives. Study it, Love it, Apply it. Just eat it up! I know that God wants to talk with us and give us revelation for our lives, and the Book of Mormon is how He can. The Bible is so great too. I have started reading the 4 Gospels this week and I love it! It is so great to learn more about the earthly life of Christ. President Jenkins has challenged us all to read all of Preach My Gospel by the end of the transfer. We read 5 pages a day. Today we are on page 100! That book is so inspired. I learn so much from it each day. I would encourage all of you to do this along with us! 5 pages everyday until you finish! Also - STUDY JOURNAL. Just do it. You will thank me later :) 

 

Studying the scriptures daily has changed my life.

Very special baptism!

Okay! Well, I still love you all! You are the best! OH I just remembered! We don't teach Karen anymore (the elders do), but we had dinner with her this week! She is getting baptized November 2nd! Ahhhhh that family is so special to me. It just filled my heart to be back in their home. Seriously, some of the most special people to me. It is so good to see that they are still doing well! 

Love and miss you all! You are the greatest!

Con MUCHO amor,

Hermana Haynes

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