Week 19 - Happy Remembrance Day

Hello All!

    I just want to start off and wish you a happy Remembrance Day!  I hope you're all having a fantastic day and week, and that you're enjoying the onset of winter, wherever you are.  I know I am. ;)  Haha, Raymond is great, as usual, and the end of the transfer is almost upon us.  With that comes some exciting news. . . I'll be training next transfer!  I'm very excited/nervous, but I trust that this is actually what's supposed to be happening. (cross my fingers)  It's crazy to think that that missionary is in the MTC right now, probably going through the same things I went through four months ago.  Anyway, it'll be fun! :)

    Elder Lauzon and I have been working hard, and the people of Raymond are, I think, really starting to get excited about missionary work!  We've been going on splits with (pretty much) all of our wards weekly, and getting a lot done.  Never think that there isn't missionary work to be done, even if you do live in a place where "everyone" is a member.  There's always work to be done!  Isn't that awesome?!

    There's not a ton to report this week on our investigators, other than they're making good progress!  Ryan, who we started teaching last week, will be baptized this Friday.  His mother really wants him to be baptized, and we've been meeting with him very often to make sure that will happen. He's such a sweet kid, and I really hope that his baptism will make a difference in his life as well as the life of his family.

    We met with Ethan for the first time in a while this week, which was great!  We met with his sisters as well, and all of the girls showed up for church on Sunday, though Ethan did not.  The four of them have also started studying the Book of Mormon together every night, which is awesome!  As they get along more and more and learn to love another a little better than they have in the past, I know it will make the time they have to wait to be baptized so much easier on them.  I just hope that we'll be able to help them make a difference in their lives and become the amazing people I know they can be.

    Joe continues to do well... he just has to wait.  It's ok, though.  Experiences like this help us all grow, and I really think it has helped Joe grow and that it will continue to do so.

    Other than our investigators, we've been meeting with a lot of Less-Active members and Recent-Converts, and that's been great.  Interacting with them has really reinforced to me that missionary work isn't just baptizing people.  There are so many members of our church who need friendship, who need encouragement, who need love and a sense of belonging.  We can help strengthen them.  It helps a lot to love them.

    That kind of brings me to my thought this week.  In one of our sacrament meetings yesterday, there was a talk given on love, and I loved it!  The sister who gave the talk shared a quote from President Spencer W. Kimball: "The greatest force in the world is love."  How true that is!  Think about the most incredible and important event ever to take place, namely The Atonement, and what motivated that.  Love.  Our Heavenly Father loves us so much "that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)  I'm sure it's easy for parents to imagine how hard that would have been, but our Father in Heaven did it because He loves us that much.  We need to love Him back.  That is the first great commandment.  Our Heavenly Father has given us everything, I think it's fair for us to try to love him with all our heart, soul, mind ,and strength! (Mark 12:30)  We also need to love one another.  Who are we not to?  After all, Christ came for all of us, and we are all in need of the power of His Atonement.  It can be hard to love our brothers and sisters, though.  Our Father is there to help, though.  He can give us love, we just need to ask him for it.  One of my favorite scriptures is Moroni 7:48: "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."
    I love you all so much!  Have a fantastic week!  Be good, and always remember to love each other.  Have fun, too!

Love,
Elder Hafen