I hope you've all having a fantastic
Christmas season! I guess it's even been a white one back home. Enjoy
that, and stay safe out there! We're having quite the weather here in
Lethbridge as well. This week, I guess there were two days when we were
the coldest place on Earth...on Earth! Don't worry, the church is
conscious of our health and safety, and we were shut ins for a few days,
which kinda stunk. Anyway, it was kinda cold. ;)
Of course, when the missionaries are stuck inside, missionary
work kinda suffers. We really didn't have the opportunity to do much
teaching this week, and we had quite a few dropped appointments, but
that's ok! (kinda) We can only do so much as missionaries, and then
it's up to others to use their agency to make the right choices. All we
can do is our best. (And I hope we've been doing that.)
We did have the chance to go to our ward Christmas party this
Wednesday, though, which was great! There were tons of members of the
ward there, as well as non-members, and it was a really great
opportunity to meet people we had only heard about to that point. Elder
Law and I also had the opportunity to perform a musical number, which
was apparently okay. It's been great to be with another companion who is
so musical! (Elder Law is a great "greenie" overall, by the way. He
makes it easy to be a trainer.)
Ben and Beth are doing well, though. Circumstances have made
their coming to church the last couple of weeks kind of difficult, and
we weren't able to meet with them at all this past week, but we have a
lesson scheduled with them tonight, and Ben's niece, who is apparently
very interested in taking the missionary lessons, and who is living with
them now, should be there as well! Ben and Beth have been trying to
quit smoking, which has been tough for them, but I really don't
anticipate anything happening that's going to stop them from being
baptized on New Year's Day.
We're still hoping and trying to increase our teaching pool,
and there's a lot of really good potential for that in the ward. The
members of 12th Ward are awesome, and really willing to work with us and
help us out, and we're trying, with our super awesome Ward Mission
Leader, to get things moving even more; It's gonna be awesome!
I've been starting to read the New Testament these past
couple weeks- I highly recommend it, by the way- and I came across the
story of Jesus walking on water. Of course, the storms were blowing and
the apostles were scared, and then even more scared when they saw the
Savior walking toward them on the water, but he told them, "Be of good
cheer; it is I; be not afraid." For Peter, that was enough for a bit,
and he conquered his fear enough to allow his faith to help him walk on
the water himself. Sadly, that didn't last, and Peter allowed the storm
to get the best of him. Just before he disappeared under the raging
water, however, he cried, "Lord, save me."
"And immediately, Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught
him." (Matt 14:27-31) How often are we like Peter? How often do we let
ourselves be afraid about all sorts of things that really don't matter
in the long run? Our weaknesses. Our worries. Other's opinions of us.
Anything. For me, that's pretty often. But the Savior is there.
When we cry to Him for strength and support, He will "immediately"
stretch forth His hand. He's always there. Isn't that enough to "Be of
good cheer" about?
I hope you all have a fantastic week and that you don't forget
what this wonderful Christmas season is really all about! Be good! Be
safe! Merry Christmas!
Love,
Elder Hafen
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