Hello all
my 'murican friends and family! I hope you're having a wonderful week
and are excited to celebrate the 238th anniversary of our glorious
country! Meanwhile....I'm in Canada. Haha, totally kidding, it's a
great time of year with Canada Day tomorrow (We got to sing "O Canada"
in church yesterday) and the Calgary Stampede starting this week.
Oh...and my year mark this week. As crazy as it is, I've been a
missionary for just about one year. I'm not quite sure how I feel about
it yet. There's definitely excitement, but a lot of anticipation and
nerves as well. As a missionary, you really don't have too much time to
serve God, it's the same for all of us in life, actually, and I just
hope to make the most of this last year in the field.
The week has been good, as it always is in the Lord's service. (Sometimes it's hard to remember that, but it's true.)
One of the highlights from this week was our first lesson with Keith!
We went over on Friday afternoon with a member of our ward we thought
Keith would connect really well with, and nobody answered the door.
Needless to say, we were bummed. We were standing at our car figuring
out what to do next, and Keith drives up! We were super excited, but
had no way of getting in touch with our member who had just driven off
until he got home. It was all good, though, because he noticed Keith,
and thought it might be him, so he came back! Definitely a lot of
tender mercies, and the lesson we had with him was just another one.
Keith is a great guy, with strong faith, and a lot of love for his
family. He personally sacrificed quite a bit so his family could move
here for his wife to accept a job. He's really involved in youth
basketball programs and loves to help kids out from tough situations.
We left him with a Book of Mormon and some other things, and he told us
he would read it, so we're very excited to go back this week and see
how it's all gone!
We also saw Drey and Robert this week and had a great lesson
with them. After we were finished, Drey asked us if there was a baptism
coming up soon, because he wanted to see one! He's definitely close,
and the young men in the ward have done a fantastic job of bringing him
in as one of their own.
Yesterday in church, I was really looking for some guidance and
revelation, and my Heavenly Father definitely sent it. I was so
grateful to have such an obvious evidence of his love for me. It also
got me thinking on personal revelation a bit more, and there's a quote
from Sister Julie B. Beck that does a great job of letting us know how
important it is. She says,"The ability to qualify for, receive, and act
on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be
acquired in this life,” she said. “… It requires a conscious effort to
diminish distractions, but having the Spirit of revelation makes it
possible to prevail over opposition and persist in faith through
difficult days and essential routine tasks. … We can feel certain that
the Lord is pleased when we feel the Spirit working through us. With
[personal revelation] we cannot fail; without it we cannot succeed.”
This is definitely something we all need. Our paths through this life
are all very different, and the only way to navigate it the way we
should is through that guidance and connection with our Heavenly Father.
There are lots of things we can do to make ourselves more sensitive
and receptive to that guidance, and I really hope to become a bit better
at that.
Thank you all so much for your constant love and support! You're all wonderful and I hope you have a happy week!
I love ya, eh?
Elder Hafen
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