Easter weekend and Spring time!

Querida Familia!

  What a great week this has been!  The weather has been beautiful! Flowers are coming up, we haven't had to wear coats, we've been able to do some outside work; it's been amazing!  And I think the fact that we got to celebrate the life of Christ this weekend made it even better.  :)

  Just a couple of highlights on investigators... The Lopez:  After a lot of prayers, Sis. Probst and I felt comfortable with the decision to let them fly on their own for the time being.  They've been taught what they need to know, and now they have the opportunity to go and do and practice for themselves without us breathing down their necks or pulling them along.  It's always hard to do with a family that you have gone through so much with, but it's what's best for them right now.  Some day, they will get baptized though! I know it :) .  Steve Wallin:  He's up to 2 Nephi 8 now! He's really preoccupied right now with being unemployed, so he's decided that he doesn't  want to commit to baptism yet... We're still working with him and just have some things to work out.  Lamberto y Mari: He's been reading more! We were only able to see them once this week, but we really need to meet with them again.  They love learning, but now we need to help them realize the importance of actions such as coming to church.  Julie Mott:  She is amazing! She was a referral from a member, but he told us to go and tract into her.  We did and she scheduled an appt with us, but we've had to reschedule it about three different times, but finally we were able to meet with her this week! She is a single mom with two sons, and she works for our stake president.  She has had a lot of exposure to the church, and she likes what she's heard.  She really likes the thought of a modern day prophet.  She committed to reading the Book of Mormon, so we're really excited to go back and visit with her some more this week.

  So yesterday, we didn't have any investigators in church, but we had like 7 less actives there that we've been working with! One was the McManus family... They all came to the same hour of church!!  It's the first time that they've all been together in over a year. Bro McManus is a cab driver and doesn't get off until 6:00am on Sundays, so he says that he can't make it to 9:30am church, but he did yesterday! And it was really cool to hear him talk about all the time that he got to spend with his family that day.   Very neat indeed. :)  Also, just another quick/cool experience with prayer and fasting.  This week on Wed something happened in the zone that was kind of sad.  Without going into specifics, we were praying all week and finally Pres Palmer asked the zone to fast together.  Yesterday we fasted and we all finished around 5:00pm and then an hour and a half later we got a text from the zone leaders saying that what we were praying for had happened.  I know that doesn't do justice to the situation, but it was really cool to see that Heavenly Father really does hear and answer prayers.  

  I loved the chance that we had yesterday to celebrate the life and resurrection of the Savior.  This week we shared Alma 7:11-12 with a lot of members and Less Actives that we got to see. Those verses really portray what Christ went through for us.  He suffered pains, afflictions, temptations, infirmities, everything so that he would know exactly what to do for us when we needed his help.  He is always there for us.  He loves us so much.  He came to this earth and went through all of that for me.  For all of us.  We are never alone.  He is always there.  And he is always waiting to help us out.  We can turn to him, no matter what.  He loves being a part of our joys as well as when we are sad.  How grateful I am for Him and all that He's done. :)

  Well, I think that's about it for the week!  I'm glad to hear that the Easter Pageant went well!  I love this time of year. :)  Have a great week! Thank you for everything and I love you all!

Love,

  Hermana Haws

April Pictures

Sis. Probst, Garrett, Sis. Minske, me

Garrett and Bro. Noble (his Young Men's leader)

Sister Probst, Garrett, me

March 24, 2012

Garrett Minske's baptism!

Sis. Minske--his mom :)

Sister Probst in the hospital... :)

FHE with the Webley &Atkinson Families

The Webley's are members and the Atkinson's are their non-member friends.  They're putting puzzles together about the Plan of Salvation.  On the back are quotes about the family from the Family Proclamation and we talked about eternal families. 

Mom...I took this for you :)

25,000 miles!

District: Transfer #8

S. Almaraz, me, S. Mierow, S. Probst, E. Garcia, E. Weidman, E. Mitchell, and E. Nelson

Shoe Goo... :)

My boots have gotten a few holes in them.  Shoe Goo mends it up!

I'm a real missionary now! Ha...well maybe not quite :)

our heads got cut off really bad...

The McManus Family!!

I <3 them!  He's been inactive and she's just working on coming back.  Recently she just went to the temple and he's come to church for 7 out of the last 10 Sundays!

Justin really liked his cake :)

Mmmmmm!!

My lovely companion and the Lopez/Chacon kids in the back

Justin'e 1 yr birthday

Hno. Ramos y Maria Lopez with the main course!

Sisters Conference!

:)

Back: Maxfield, Holbrook, Hilton, Almaraz, Ruiz, Shoppman, Baron, Sis. Palmer, President Palmer, Wright, Nielson, Tippetts, Hicks, Morgan, Everill, Harutunya

Front: Choo, Linn, Collins, Brambule, Zeigler, Christoffersen, me, Mierow, Donaldson (she's from Eagar!), Probst, Ginos, Tekanene, Bowers, Whitney, Driggs

*YES, I just did that from memory! :)

These are the office sister and I love them!

Sis. Hill, Sis. Blaine, me, and Sis. Roos

Snow is pretty...when it melts by noon and I don't have to drive in it. :)

The apple on the left is a normal sized apple.  The one on the right is one we got from Lamberto y Mari.  It's huge!! :)

Conference!!

Querida Familia!!

  This was just an absolutely awesome week and General Conference just topped it all off!!  I love the chance that we have to listen to a living prophet and to the apostles and other leaders of the church.  They truly are men called of God to help guide us and show us what we need to do.  But before we get into conference, just a quick update on everybody...
  Lamberto y Mari:  They're still doing good... Now he's the one reading in the Book of Mormon!  These two are great and they do have such a big desire to learn, but we're having a hard time getting them to come to church.  Mari's had quite a few spiritual experiences this past week, but she still tells us that she's not sure which church is true.  We just keep telling her to pray about it; God loves her and wants her to know the truth. They're oh so close! Keep praying for them that they will read and recognize their answers to prayers. Steve Wallin:  So, Steve is a referral from a member... He was given a Book of Mormon by this member a while ago and he's been reading in it, but finally is ready to talk with missionaries.  Well, our first time meeting with him was that time that when Sis. Probst got super sick in the middle of the lesson.  We talked for a little bit but then set up another time we could go back.  So, this past week we got to see and talk with him again.  We talked more about the Restoration through Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  We encouraged him to read it and then the next day we met with him again.  By the time that we met with him the next day, he'd already read 12 chapters of the Book of Mormon.  He said that he hadn't understood a lot of it, but then we asked him questions and he did know quite a bit.  But he said that he was a little confused about the tree that they kept mentioning.  Ding Ding Ding! The tree of life; Lehi's dream! I love that part! So, we re read it with him and talked about the symbolism of the dream... It was so sweet! And he was really understanding! When we got to the part about the fruit of the Tree of Life and how it's the Atonement of Jesus Christ, he said, " Oh, well, so if I want to be happy, I have to be on this path and hold onto this rod, which are the scriptures, then I can take part of the Atonement and turn everything over to Christ, and then he will help me." That's just a paraphrase of what he said, but you can tell that he was starting to understand it! The Spirit was really strong and we invited him to be baptized and he accepted, so now he has a baptism date for May 5th! We're really excited for him.  I love having a chance to work with so many people and to help them see how the gospel of Jesus Christ really can make them happy.
  And now for conference!!  It was amazing... I loved that so much emphasis was put on the family.  The importance of families, the importance of teaching in the family, being righteous examples, etc.  I also loved the emphasis that was put on living the gospel of Jesus Christ and having it embedded in your heart.  Elder Anderson's talk about "What thinketh Christ of me?" and Elder Eyring's talk about overcoming trials with faith were some of my favorites.  I love the chance we have to learn more through a living prophet and to receive guidance and council from a loving Heavenly Father.  He loves us and doesn't want us to be alone.  That's why he's given us so many tools along the way.  When we hold onto them and learn more of Christ, his doctrine becomes part of us and we learn more about true discipleship.
  Well, that's about it for the week!  I love you tons!! Mom, thanks for the packages this week!  We started the Easter puzzle today. :)  I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
  Hermana Haws

Hospital run and BAPTISM!!!

Querida Familia!

 

  Don't be alarmed by the headline... It wasnt' me :) ha This has definitely been a little bit of a different week, but it ended in the best way that it possibly could!

  On Wednesday night Sis. Probst got super sick... Like couldn't stop vomiting sick.  That was also the night of Garrett's baptism interview, so it made for a very interesting night.  She's in the bathroom on the couches and I'm running around trying to get things figured out with Garrett.  But, Garrett's interview went great and he was all set for Saturday! Back to Sis. Probst, anyways, she got really dehydrated and so we had to go to the hospital so that they could put her on an IV.  They said she caught the stomach flu that's been going around.  But, they got it under control and told her that she was on bedrest.  So, we ended up getting home around 1:00 am.  She got up out of bed twice that whole day, and then on Friday I think she got up maybe three times. Needless to say, I had a lot of study time.  And, we actually had quite a few lessons set up, so I got to go out and do those.  We have the best ward members! They were so willing to help with anything that they could... I am so very grateful for them!  Sis. Probst is almost 100% now, which we are really grateful for as well! Oh, and luckily I never caught it.  Thank you, mom and dad, for a strong immune system :)

  Well, now to let you know how everybody is doing... Lopez family:  Justin, the baby, was sick when we went by, so we didnt' get a chance to talk for very long.  But, we did talk about prophets and general conference.  Maria is really excited for it, so we'll see them at the church later this week to watch it! Lamberto y Mari:   This week we had another lesson with Lamberto y Mari.  Mari told me that her son, who is in jail, asked her what the purpose of his life was. Everybody tells him that God has this plan for him, but what is it?  So we reviewed the plan of salvation a bit, but we had another lesson to go to so we couldn't go super in depth.  But that question stuck with me and so the next time we had a lesson with them, that's what we talked about.  Heavenly Father put us here to prepare and meet God.  We do that by following the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We're also here to have joy.  And we do that by following Jesus Christ and keeping his commandments.  So, in our next visit with Lamberto y Mari that's what we talked about and we were all over the scriptures talking about these things. At the end I had the chance to bear my testimony that I know that God loves us and he doesn't put us here to be miserable; we are here to follow His son, Jesus Christ.  When we live the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are truly happy.  At the end, Mari looked at me and said, "When you speak, you make the world seem better and more beautiful.  I have a desire to do better.  I want to read and learn more and that helps the world seem better too. I love it when you two come and share these things with me and my husband." It was a really special moment and I knew how much God loved her and how much he wants her to be happy.   Garrett Minske: GOT BAPTIZED!!!!  It was a really good service and the talks were great.  A lot of ward members showed up as well to support him.  You could tell he was excited, but of course he's 13 so he was trying not to show it. :)  

  We also found a couple of new investigators this week that we're excited to start working with.  This area is great and hopefully we'll just keep finding more of those that Heavenly Father has prepared to have the gospel!

  I love being a missionary and having the chance to share this message and to really know how much God loves each and every single one of us.  We are all his children.  I am grateful for my Savior and that he makes it possible for all of that to happen.

  I am really excited for General Conference this weekend!! I've got a couple questions that I've been thinking about, so I'm really excited to listen to our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, his counselors, and the apostles.  Have a great week!  Love you all!

 

Love,

  Hermana Haws

Transfer calls and Baptism prep

Querida Familia!

  Well, what a great last six weeks that it has been!  I love East Wenatchee and am so grateful for all the lessons I've learned here and for all the people I have had a chance to meet.  And I'm looking forward to another six weeks here!!  That's right, we got transfer calls last night and I'm staying here in East Wenatchee!  And my companion is... Sis. Probst!!  We get to stay together again :) We were pretty excited when we heard that.  There's been kind of a lull in finding new investigators, but we have some pretty exciting things set up for this week, so we're excited to still be working together and to be working hard! 
  Here's an update on how everybody is doing: Lopez Family: They are getting much more involved in the branch! The Ramos' family has worked wonders with them.  Eutiquio hasn't drunk in about two weeks and Maria's been more calm/patient and that feeling of peace is again in the home.  Maria and Eutiquio have been reading in the scriptures together and it's been so good for them!  I have such a testimony of the gospel strengthening family relationships... There family is so great and I love the chance to work with and help them.  Alberto y Mari:  We've been having really good lessons with them lately... The Spirit has been super strong.  We watched Finding Faith In Christ with them this week and talked about what we can do to increase our faith in the Savior.  We talked about baptism again and Alberto said that he would, but he just doesn't have enough faith right now and Mari said she'd do whatever her husband did.  But he and Mari have been reading together, and it's helped him a ton. The next time we met with them, we talked about the Sabbath Day and the need to come to church and how they can receive answers to their questions at church.  At the end of the lesson, Mari said that she's been feeling really confused about not knowing which church is true.  She's grown up and been active in the Catholic church, but since she's been reading in the Book of Mormon, she likes and believes what she's reading... We read through Moroni 10:4-5 with her and told her that God is the only one she can ask that question to and that he will answer her.  They're doing so well and they are so great and really are a special couple.  Garrett Minske:  His baptism is this Saturday!!!  He's pretty excited about it and it has been so fun to teach him!  He went to a Priesthood Preview meeting that the ward had last night, and he's just so excited for everything.  Seriously, for being 13, he asks a lot of questions and they're actually really good questions.  He thinks a lot about what we say and when he reads in the scriptures, he comprehends a ton.  He has his interview on Wednesday night and tonight we are going over the baptism interview questions.  
  We also have two lessons set up this week with investigators that members have referred to us, so we're really excited to meet with them and see how it goes.  Lots of good things are happening!!
  This weekend we also had a chance to do exchanges...  I went to Quincy with Sis. Krambule and it was a really good exchange.  She is such a good missionary and I am so grateful for the chance that we have to do exchanges and to learn from other missionaries.  One of the things that I loved about Sis. Krambule was that in her teaching, she really does take every opportunity to testify about Jesus Christ.  He is our Savior and Redeemer and everything that he did while on the Earth, well, everything that he has ever done, has been out of love for us. I am so grateful for the gospel; for the chance that we have to apply his teachings in our lives.  For the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon where we have the opportunity to read more about the Savior and his life.  I love my Savior very much.  He has become a lot more personal to me on my mission, and I know that everybody can have that relationship with him.  He wants us to come to him.
  I love you all so much! Thank you for all that you do!! I'm pretty sure that I have the best family and friends in the whole world and I'm grateful for every single one of you. Have a great week and I'll talk to you soon! 

Love, 
  Hermana Haws

Stake Conference and yet another good week! :)

Querida familia!

  Just want to start off saying that I love you all a ton!  I'll probably end my letter by saying that as well, but I figured I'd start off with it this week too. :)  We woke up this week to really windy, snowy weather!  Winter's not giving up.  But it's really not that bad because the rest of the week we've had beautiful weather!  I just love it here! :)  We've had a lot of fun experiences this week, so let me tell you about them!

  Lopez Family:  We had a really good lesson with them on Friday night.  We invited the Ramos' (their fellowshippers) to come with us so Hno Ramos came with us.  So, Maria hadn't done her reading, which was Ether 12, so we started off by reading it with them.  Then it led to a really good discussion about faith and hope and humility.  Hno Ramos is such a good friend to and for Eutiquio.  Before Hno Ramos was baptized, he used to drink as well and so he knows exactly what's going on and he has the strongest testimony of how the gospel really helps and how it can heal and bless families.  He bore that testimony to the both of them and it was neat to see the difference in them.  They're doing well and they both came to church this week.  At the end of the lesson Maria invited the whole Ramos family to come over for a "comida" yesterday to celebrate Justin's 1st birthday.  That's a huge step for Maria!  So we all got to go over for dinner and cake.  I love this family and I know that the gospel really could help them out.  Alberto y Mari: Well, this last visit that we had with them, we had the chance to visit with them and we were planning about talking about the Sabbath Day, but when we went and checked to see if they'd been reading, Mari said that she had finished Jacob but was going back because she didn't understand 2 Nephi 31.  Perfect chapter to read with them!! So we read through it with the both of them and talked about the Doctrine of Christ.  We talked about faith leading to repentance leading to baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and then continuing to do those things.  And I really felt the urge to really talk more about baptism and repentance and how baptism is how those sins that we have are washed away.  When we finished reading the chapter we got their thoughts and the spirit was super strong.  Mari had tears in her eyes.  It was an awesome feeling.  Then we went back and read through vs 10-12 with them when the Savior invites us to follow him and do the things he did.  Then I said,"the Savior is inviting us to follow him... Even though we, the missionaries are here and are the ones talking with you, the invitation to be baptized comes from him.  So, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the Priesthood authority of God?"  The Spirit was super strong.  Mari just kept looking at us with tears in her eyes... You knew the Spirit was working with her... Then Lamberto said yes and then Mari shook her head.  Then we extended the date of April 14th and Mari again was quiet... The Spirit was still working with her.  But then Lamberto jumped in and said they needed to think about it and that maybe they will.  So, they didn't accept the date, but said they would pray about it.  Huge improvements with them! I'm really excited to go back there this week. Garrett Minske: He is such a stud!  He had his 13th birthday this week!  We went over there to go teach him with his mom and he started asking us about Easter and what it is and why we celebrate it.  So we watched Finding Faith in Christ with him and his mom.  He really has a true desire to learn and he comes up with really good questions.  It's so fun teaching him.  He's really excited about his baptism on the 24th.  And, needless to say, Sis. Probst and I are too. :)

  This week we also had our first ever Sisters Training.  All the sisters from the mission, all 29 of us, got together and had training.  It was so great! At the beginning we had a chance to talk to every sister for a sec and then at the end we felt like we at least knew who everyone else was. :)  Then we went and Sis. Palmer talked to us about how we can have effective visits with less active members.  Super helpful! Then a Bro. Cabbage who is some kind of director of counseling or something over our mission and the Kinnewick mission, came and talked to us about stress management, setting expectations, and communication especially in our companionships.  It was a really beneficial training.  Then in the afternoon we broke off into groups and had a chance to teach and learn from one another.  Then we had a Q&A session with Pres. and Sis. Palmer and to conclude it, Pres. Palmer talked to us about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He quoted Joseph Smith in that "Everything in the gospel is an appendage of the Atonement."  That is so true... The Atonement is why we have hope and happiness and purpose here on this earth and in our lives.  

  I am grateful for my Savior and that he chose to atone for me and for all of us.  I had the chance to talk in the Spanish Branch yesterday and it really hit me hard that He really does love and know every single one of us.  I'm grateful for that knowledge and for the time of year that we are coming into: the Easter Season.  He lives and because he lives, we have that chance to repent and have happiness and be able to one day go back and live with our Heavenly Father. 

  I love you all!  Thanks for everything! Have a great week :)  

Love, 

  Hermana Haws

Greetings from Washington!

Querida Familia!
  How has everybody's week been?!  I heard about Sis. Clouse and I am so sorry to hear that she passed away last week, but I am really glad to hear that the funeral went well.  I love the knowledge we have that this life isn't the end, that there is more.  We can live with our families forever.  Heavenly Father has given us the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation to help us out in times like these.  He gives us the plan so that we can have that comfort and so that we know that He is always there for us.  What a great blessing it is to have such a loving Heavenly parent.
  This week has been a pretty good one and we a lot of fun things happened!  Let's catch you up... MARIA LOPEZ: We met with her last week and had a pretty good lesson on faith.  She is struggling with putting her faith in the Lord, realizing that she is never going to know everything or know exactly how things will turn out.  That's why we need to have faith in our Heavenly Father and that he knows what is best for us and that he'll be there to help us out.  We're still working her to help her see that.  ALBERTO Y MARI:  We watched the Restoration DVD with them this week and it was a really good lesson. They didn't come to church yesterday though... We have to work with them on that.  They are reading though and Alberto told us that he really likes the things that he reads and that he has the chance to learn more about God.  He's like a sponge, it's awesome to have the chance to work with him.  ROBYN AND TALISHA:  Are two new investigators that we taught this week.  They are a member referral and they're awesome.  Robyn is a single mom and Talisha is her 13 yr old daughter.  They've come to church a couple of different times over the years with different friends.  They've been going around to different churches and have been going with main stream Christians, but they like the times that they've come to church. We talked about the Restoration and left them with the Book of Mormon.  I'm really excited to go back and talk with them again.  ADAM AND HEATHER:  So, the sisters here tracted into Adam way back in October or something like that.  His wife was in Seattle b/c their daughter had been born 13 weeks premature.  So, we've been stopping by periodically over the past couple months to see how things have been going with them and this last week we had the chance to teach them.  We got to know their different religious backgrounds a little bit more and we set up a church tour with them for tomorrow night.  I'm really excited about them as well. GARRETT: Is an awesome young man.  His 13th birthday is this week and every time we get to see him, he talks more and more about his baptism. He's been reading in the scriptures and loves coming to church.  We had a lesson with him and his mom this week, and it was really good for his mom to see how excited he is.
  That about sums up the week!  We did get some more snow this week, about 4" on Wednesday, but it was all melted by Saturday or so.  The weather here has been beautiful!
  I love being here and sharing the gospel with others.  We just get to offer blessings; blessings that come from living the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Yes, that may require some sacrifices, but the blessings in the end are totally worth it.  Peace, joy, happiness, knowledge, eternal families, eternal life, getting to live with Heavenly Father again... Those are just to name a few of those blessings.  I love my Savior, Jesus Christ.  This is his work and I am so grateful that he trusts me for a short amount of time to be his full time missionary. The gospel is true! :)
  I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
  Hermana Haws