Week 80 - Another One Bites the Dust

Hello All!  

Well, another transfer has come and gone ....already!  I feel like I was leaving East Calgary about a blink ago, and now my time with Elder Macmichael is coming to an end.  He's being transferred up to Calgary, so I'll be getting a new companion on Thursday.  It's been a fun time serving with him, and I'm anxious to see who the Lord wants me to serve with next.  I'm sorry, but you'll all have to wait in suspense a little bit longer than me, but I'll let you know what's going on next week for sure!

    This week was pretty fun.  I got to meet Beth for the first time, which was quite the experience.  Beth is one of the roommates of Jacki, one of our investigators who I'll talk about more in a second.  She's pretty passionate about her beliefs, but it's sometimes hard to tell what those beliefs are.  Anyway, we had some really good conversations with her this week that I hope helped her to think about things a little differently.  She's a really respectful and genuine person, and I hope the truth comes into her heart one of these days.

    Jacki is actually in Calgary at the hospital right now.  She had a bit of a sledding accident a couple weeks back, and broke one of her vertebrae. (I hope that's the right singular.)  It's been a big trial for her, and she's suffered a lot of anxiety and disappointment because of it.  Anyway, we went to see her on the day she was going up to Calgary, and gave her a blessing.  We'd talked to her about them before, but she hadn't accepted one yet, but she did that day.  It was a really cool blessing, and what made it cooler was that they came to take her away probably 30 seconds after we finished.  The Lord's hand was definitely in it, and I'm hoping that experience will help Jacki accept the gospel more in her life.

    It was probably the same for all of you, but this Sunday we had a great lesson in the third hour of church from the life of President Ezra Taft Benson.  His life was so inspiring, and he accomplished so much as a church leader, as well as in every other aspect of his life.  I think the biggest reason for all of that was because he followed the first and great commandment, to love the Lord with all his heart.  He showed that in everything he did, and he saw what happened when he did what the Lord asked.  President Benson said, “When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives.”  That's so true.  I've seen many examples of that on my mission, and I plan on doing that better now and for the rest of my life.  It might take some serious courage to put the Lord first, but it's more than worth any risk or sacrifice.

    I hope you all have a great week.  Thank you for your support and love.  It means so much.  I love you all!  Be good!  Have fun!

Love,

Elder Hafen