Week 75 - The Hat

Hello All!

    Well transfers are done, and I'm now getting settled in the Medicine Hat 2nd Ward and YSA Branch.  So far, I'm really liking Medicine Hat, and my new companion, Elder Macmichael.  Medicine Hat (a.k.a. Med Hat, the Hat, etc.) is a city of about 60,000 people in Southeastern Alberta, about 3 hours from Calgary.  It honestly reminds me quite a bit of St. George, which is great!  Elder Macmichael is from Nova Scotia.  He came out on his mission the transfer before me, so has been out about a year and a half.  The ward and the branch are great, and I've met some awesome people.  It's been great so far, and I can't wait to see what the Lord needs me to do here.

    With only being here since Thursday, and pretty much two of those days being back up in Calgary for a meeting, I don't really know what's going on too much in the area.  A lot of our work is in the Young Single Adult Branch though, and one of our investigators, Jacki, came to church yesterday!  That was great, and I'm hopeful we'll be able to help her progress towards baptism.  Otherwise, we're just looking forward to seeing who the Lord has prepared for us to find and teach here.  It's gonna be awesome!

    I hope you were all able to see the Christmas Devotional yesterday, and if you weren't, I would highly recommend watching it!  Elder Todd D. Christofferson spoke, and shared a really beautiful story.  Basically, a community came together to give a little boy one last Christmas before he passed away this past October.  It was touching to see how individuals and groups were able to make such a huge difference in the lives of this little boy and his parents.  Hearing stories like that one may be my favorite part of Christmas, and I would invite all of us to do what we can to bring some of the Spirit of Christmas into to the lives of the people around us.  We don't have to do anything big or difficult, but I think our Heavenly Father does expect us to do something to bless the lives of our brothers and sisters.  As the Lord says in D&C 42:38,"For inasmuch as ye do it unto the least of these, ye do it unto me."  He's given us everything!  I think we can give him a little bit back as we serve those around us.

    I hope you all have a wonderful week!  Good luck with all that you're doing.  Thank you so much for your emails and support.  Be good!  Have fun!  Merry Christmas!

Love ya!

Elder Hafen