Confirmation, and, Is that my name????‏

October 13, 2014

 

Well hello there family and friends!!! This week has been full of service, pain, and interesting turns.

 

We weren't able to see Helena very much this week, but she made it to church on Sunday to be confirmed!!!  For those of you who don't know, confirmation in our church is a little different than others.  After the baptism of water, comes the baptism of fire.  After someone has been baptized, they are blessed by the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Ghost and to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It is a crucial part of the baptism and the covenant that you make.  I am so glad that Helena made it.  It was actually a funny experience.  She had told our Bishop that she wanted Brother Waldram to confirm her, and then when we saw her, she told us she wanted Brother Weissinger to do it.  When she got up there, it ended up being Brother Waldram that performed the ordinance, and that was amazing! It was just what she needed to hear, and we found out later that that is what he needed to do to feel better and be in a better mood.  The Lord works in mysterious ways, and there are no coincidences in this life.  Like ever!!

 

I love you all!! Hope you have a great week!!

 

Find a way to see Meet the Mormons!! It is the #10 movie this week!! For information go to meetthemormons.com

 

Love,

Sister Haws

Conference. Baptism. Blitz. Miracles.‏

October 6, 2014

So big news......

HELENA GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!! Her baptism was beautiful! Our bishop's wife gave a wonderful talk.  Then Bishop baptized her.  Then the elders gave a great restoration lesson.  Then I sang I know that My redeemer lives (the one on my blog).  And then we had refreshments, because we're mormon and that's what we do!  :)  There were so many people there that loved her and supported her.  They all came up and congratulated her.  I loved it.

That same day, our entire zone came to our area and worked there.  We all went and contacted in different places.  It was so amazing!! We had 165 contacts!!!  It was a miracle!! I love when we all work together!! We did that to all of the areas in the zone.  It was so cool!! 

Conference was everything that I needed.  I loved the spiritual reboost that we get from conference!! In case you missed any of it, you can check out lds.org.  They are so uplifting.  It brings me so much peace to know that we have a living prophet today and that those living prophets speak to God daily.  I hope that all of you can look at them and find inspiration.

Scripture for this week! I haven't done this in forever!! 1 Nephi 1:20.  Look for the little miracles, or the tender mercies in your life this week!!

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

Love,

Sister Haws

"There can be miracles when you believe!‏"

September 22, 2014

I don't have a lot of time! I can send only pictures!

 

helena is getting baptized, and we have a new less active to help get to the temple!

 

Love you all!

 

Love,

Sister Kayla Haws

 

 

TRANSFERS!!!!‏

September 15, 2014

 

So you know the movie Jaws? And how there is no music in there, unless they see the shark?  Well, it seems like every Saturday of week six, when the phone rings, I hear that creepy music.  And then your district leader says, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news."  And then doesn't text you again for the next 30 minutes, so you sit there wondering, "what's the bad news?  Is he getting transferred?  Is sister putnam getting transferred?  Am I getting transferred?"  All this races through your head, and you can't think, you can't breathe, all you can do is sit there praying and dying inside.  Then your district leader texts you and says, "Oh, sorry, I forgot about you.  I'm actually the bearer of good news! You're both staying!"  What? Forgotten?  What does that mean?  And then reality hits you.  Staying?  Like, really, truly staying?  And together? Is this real life?  Ah but it is!! It IS real life!! You become a new person, and the zombie is gone.  And then you crash because stress is tiring.

 

Some miracles for this week...

 

We got fed!! We actually had dinners this week! I was so happy! The ward has been a little hesitant to feed us, whether because they don't know us, or they are afraid of allergies and killing Sister Putnam, but we didn't have many dinners before.  But now we have dinners every day this week too!! I am so grateful!

 

We picked up a new investigator.  Her name is Ermalinda, and she is 12.  She is living with her auntie who has been a member for 2 years and just recently moved in.

 

Sister Putnam gave me her frozen coloring book.

 

I got to sing "The Spirit of God, Like a Fire is Burning" arranged by Mack Wilberg.  I love that my choir finds these arrangements that I have grown up, and I get to sing them with the Choir.  I sang How Firm a Foundation with the choir at practice this week as well.

 

I am staying with Sister Putnam.

 

I am staying in South Coast.

 

God is good.

 

Have a good week!

 

Love,

Sister Haws

Heartbreak Hotel‏

September 8, 2014

 

This week is an interesting one.  One of sadness, and of love, and of joy, and of crazyness.

 

Sadness--one of my brothers and best friends out here in the mission has returned home.  Elder J has returned with honor to West Valley, Utah.  I will miss him dearly, but I know that he is where he needs to be.  It was really hard to see him leave.  I wish I could be the one leaving, just so I didn't have to see him say goodbye.  It is hard to leave a mission, and it is even harder to say goodbye earlier than you expected to. 

 

Love--I know that God loves us.  He has shown his hand so many times this week.  This past week, we didn't have very many dinners.  We had about 3, and we told our bishop.  He got up in sacrament meeting, and told the ward that they need to do a better job! I had never seen that happen.  Because of him, however, we filled our calendar all week! This is the first time that has happened since Sister Putnam and I were put together (she has a few allergies, so people tend to freak out).  Also, our dinner last night, gave us 2 huge bags full of groceries so that we could have food when others didn't feed us.  It was a miracle!!! I am so grateful that the Lord provides for His servants!!

 

Crazyness--this coming week is week 6!! That means that transfer calls are this Saturday!! I don't want to leave, and I don't want to leave Sister Putnam.  I hope that we stay together.  Also crazy, my watch broke, and I feel so weird without it on.  I feel like I am missing something, and I can't tell what time it is during lessons.  It's crazy.  Also crazy, Helena moved her date back from the 13th to the 27th.  We are ok with that because we know that it is whatever she wants, and that she will be baptized.  That gives us time to teach her all the lessons and teach her all she needs to know.  I am so excited to help her and to continue to work with her.

 

I love the Lord! I love serving Him and His children.  I truly love this work and would not want to do anything else at this time in my life!! I hope you all have a great week!!

 

With much love,

Sister Haws

 

 Elder J and I

 

 

 Elder J, Elder M, Sister Putnam and I

 

 



Bessie (Helena's mother) turns 90 this week, so we celebrated:)

 

Baptism, Priesthood, and Cartwheels: Life's good!‏

September 2, 2014

 

Aloha family and friends!! This week has been so amazing! I love working in such an area that is amazing! I love it so much!  We have had some amazing miracles.  First off, We set a baptismal date with Helena and we are so excited for her! She will be an amazing asset to this ward, and she is so ready to be baptized. She has so much faith and love for so many people. She is already a missionary!  She has been telling all her friends about the gospel and it is amazing!

 

Sister Putnam and I were able to go to the temple with our district.  It was really good.  I love it so much.  I had some questions answered and just an added sense of peace and love.

 

Steven received the priesthood on Sunday, and it was beautiful! I am so happy for the ways he is progressing in the ways of the Lord.

 

I did a cartwheel on Thursday with the Bishop's daughters....... Note to self, don't do a cartwheel for at least another year!  It hurt my elbow so much, but it was fun!

 

This email is short this week, so sorry!

 

I love you all! Continue to see miracles!!

 

Love,

Sister Haws:)

1 Year! It went by so fast.

August 25, 2014

 

HOLA! Talofa! Ni-hao! Aloha!

 

These are just a few of the languages I have learned on my mission.  I love it so much!!

 

Now, I know that a lot of you are thinking about the whole 1 year thing.  And some of you are thinking, "But you just were home.  You haven't been gone a year."  No, but it has been one year on August 21, 2014 that I embarked on this crazy journey. It has been one year since I entered the MTC, since I said goodbye (the first time) to my family, since I decided to really do this crazy thing.  I cannot believe that this time has gone by so fast! I love it so much!

 

This week has not been too eventful.  The greatest thing though, is that STEVEN WAS BAPTIZED!!! I love this kid! He was baptized, and right before the closing prayer, he got up and bore his testimony.  It was so sincere and so amazing! I am so proud of him!  His brother, who is not a member, made it to the baptism AND church, and his sister (who is a member and serving a mission in peru) was able to skype in to talk to him, and see him make this sacred covenant with his Heavenly Father.  I am so happy that he made this decision.  I love this gospel! I love all the things that I have learned on my mission.  I have loved the people that I have met here, the nonmembers, the members, the investigators, and the missionaries.  Each one of the people I have met have changed my life for good.  I would not trade this for anything in the world!

 

I love you all! Have a great week! Keep seeing miracles!

 

Love,

Sister Kayla Haws