Monday, February 25, 2013


Hello,                                                                                                              February 25th 2013
    Well, the end of February is near. And that just seems crazy weird. We just started the new  year and now, as companion put it, only 10 months till Christmas today! I told her not to say that! That is wasn't right! :)
  Monday night, we were able to give some service by helping someone make flowers out of fondant for a wedding that is coming up in the ward and we made roses! They were so fun to make and a neat service chance for us. Tuesday was fairly busy with finding time and we found a new investigator through door knocking and he seems like he could be pretty solid. He is super open and really friendly and going through a hard time. I think he knows he needs something and we have that "something" he needs. We also had a follow-up training this last week for all the new missionaries and their trainers. That was really good to go to and we were able to see the progress on both ends and learned a lot more. MIRACLE of the WEEK! The less-active that we have been working with for about 5 months FINALLY came to church yesterday! It was so good to see him there and to see him light up and enjoy it. He has really struggled with coming  and so to see him exercise his Faith in Christ and come was just a miracle and so cool!!! We also had an investigator come to church and she really enjoyed it! That was definitely another miracle. That has been kind of the theme of our mission is miracles. To look for them and to see the hand of the Lord and allow the Spirit to direct us to where we need to be. It has been really cool to see how the spirit directs us and helps us to find people that are prepared to hear the Gospel. We found an amazing street where we found 7 potential investigators in a matter of 45 minutes. That was so cool!
   We received 28 new missionaries this past week with transfers and some of them are visa waiters for South America but it brought our numbers up to 205! They opened 13 new areas and our mission is growing! It is so cool to see that the Lord's work is moving forward and moving fast! I recently read in Alma 39 and the last couple of verses, 17-19 talks about how important it is to make this Gospel and the Plan of Salvation known to the people of the earth. When we were teaching one of our investigators on Saturday, we taught the plan of Salvation, and it was completely new to her and the information gave her the hope she needed. Sometimes I forget how blessed we are to have the knowledge that we have but with that comes a responsibility to share it with those who don't have it. And reading that scripture in Alma helped to increase my understanding. Missionary Work is amazing and so neat to see how the Lord works and prepares people to receive the Gospel. The testimonies we share are never wasted and with fast and testimony meeting coming up, we can't let fear stop us from sharing because someone needs our testimony and that someone might just be us! I know that the Lord truly works through us to bring others closer to him and in the process, we grow closer as well. We truly are in the service of God when we serve others. A testimony is a form of service. So I challenge you to think about sharing your testimony this Sunday and to truly see the Lord work through you for someone else. Trust in the Spirit and he will direct you! I love this Gospel and know that this is Christ's True Church! It is TRUE !   Love,   Sister Haws

Tuesday, February 19, 2013



Hello!                                                                       February 18th 2013

I can't believe that February is almost over! Crazy! It was just the start of a new year. And you know what is even more crazy. I have 1 year left....strangest  feeling ever. I don't like it.  I might just rebel and stay a missionary forever and ever! I am still working out the details! :) I love missionary work so much and the change that has occurred not only in me but the people that I am around and how the Gospel and the Savior help them.

   This last week just seemed to fly by! We had exchanges on Tuesday where another sister came to my area and my companion went to the other area for 24 hours and it is such an amazing learning experience! I learned so much and am so grateful for that chance.  We also had a wonderful training that was just for Sister Missionaries on Valentine's Day that was amazing! Our mission President's wife had taken the scripture, Moroni 7:45 and broke it down for us what Charity really was and how to get it. It was amazing! We spent literally 6 hours on 1 scripture and the insights were amazing! It was really cool to see how the pure love of Christ can make us whole and help us to help others in the quest of finding the truth and who they are to God.

 We were finally able to get one of the less-actives we have been working with to commit to church! That has been his hardest thing for some reason but he is finally going to come! We didn't have a lot of luck with our new investigators this week but we had a lot of great potentials that we came into contact with! We had a couple of our investigators come to a Baptism though which was really exciting and just neat! The Spirit is so strong at Baptisms and is a wonderful chance to remember the Covenants we have made with our Father in Heaven.

  In my studies this morning, I was reading Alma 37! It is a great chapter and the one versus that really stuck out was Alma 37:6. "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass." That verse has so much power and meaning. My first thought was about the Book of Mormon. It is an amazing book of Scripture and has an amazing power within it. Yet it confuses people all the time. I realized that Heavenly Father is so simple in the ways he brings people to the Gospel. The Book of Mormon for him was such a small and simple thing to bring to pass yet it has been a great means of helping people and giving us direction! It was just a really neat thought this morning and I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost. He is our greatest teacher! I hope all is well! I love you all! The Church is true!! Sister Haws

Pictures !!!!!!

Kaeley the baking Missionary
Valentines Goodies

Sister Cottrell and Sister Haws


     Sister Haws and some
      members of her Ward. 


Monday, February 11, 2013

FEBRUARY 11TH 2013

Hey!
This week has been wonderful! It has been a test of faith but so wonderful. Earlier this week, I was really struggling just keeping my faith strong enough in the Lord to know that things would pick up. Things have been slow, progressing forward but slow. We are in a great need of investigators but it seemed like maybe we weren't doing enough. That was definitely Satan and I tried not to let him in, but sometimes, I am weak. :) Friday morning, I was really struggling and just lost on what else we could do. I knew we could work harder but I didn't really have the faith to want to do that since nothing had been happening.
We received an amazing training from our Zone leaders about Hope and how we had been exercising our faith and working and now we needed to have hope that things would work out. The Gospel definition of Hope is sure, abiding and active. When I think of the word Hope, I just think of "I hope something will happen." But the Gospel version of Hope, allows us to really know that the things we Hope for will happen, If we do our part.
That training really helped me to put things in perspective. I was still struggling and just fighting with myself about things and the Zone leaders afterwards asked if we were doing okay and it was just a witness to me that Heavenly Father really does know that thoughts of our hearts and those tender mercies are what help us to recognize his hand in our lives. The Lord showed me he really does care and has an amazing amount of Trust in us to find those that he has prepared. AND!!!!!! Then MIRACLES happen...
Friday night we were teaching a less-active in her home and we were just getting ready to go over the Restoration and we hear a knock on her door. It happened to be her neighbor who came in, sat down and asked if she could join. Both of our jaws dropped and it kind of threw us off guard! We knew that the less-active had previously already asked her if she wanted to learn more and she had said no and we found out afterwards that the less-active had not seen her in about 2 months. We were able to teach her and leave a book of Mormon with her to read and she is really excited to read in it and we have a return appointment with her and the less-active later this week. It was amazing and most definitely a Miracle and tender mercy from the Lord. It hit me right after how much of a Miracle that was when we left and we knelt down and said a prayer of gratitude and just cried. It was amazing. I had never seen anything like it.
We also had a new investigator that came to Church on Sunday and she is amazing and just so ready. She seems to be searching for something and I think she is starting to recognize that she might have found it. We have also been praying for a family to teach and we think that she is the one. She has a beautiful family that is truly ready to receive the Gospel.
We also were able to find a lady who seems like she is going through a tough time right now and invited us in when we had just meet her and that threw us off guard. We weren't really sure what to do but we set a return appointment with her for this week as well. We found 3 new investigators in 3 days that seem really promising. The Lord really does know when to give out Miracles! It was just amazing and I have literally felt my faith and hope and trust increase! Sometimes that is the test of our faith. The Lord wants to see how much we truly trust in him and how much we are willing to follow him even when things are hard. If we have faith, it will be tested, and then the Miracles do come. I know that God is a God of Miracles and he is willing to grant those Miracles. We must just exercise our faith and hope in him. We truly can have a sure hope in Heavenly Father because of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He made everything possible for us. It doesn't matter what we go through, we can and will make it with the Help of the Savior. I bear witness of that. I have seen it so strongly in the last week. I know that the Savior lives and is there for each one of us. That Heavenly Father knows and hears our hearts whether we tell him in prayer or otherwise. And he is always there to stand by us even through those hard times. I am so grateful for the prayers and encouragement from family and friends. Your prayers are truly felt each day and especially through the hard times. I know that this is Christ's True Church once again restored on the Earth and that the Book of Mormon is true and is for us in this day and age to help us and guide us to find true happiness that only comes from following the Lord and his commandments. It is amazing to be a part of God's army and helping him find his lost sheep. I am so grateful for all that He has given me. I love you all so much and truly appreciate every prayer, thought and letter! Stay Strong! The Church is true! Sister Haws

P.S. Hey! Sounds like things worked out with the car well! Glad you have a safer car to drive. That other one made me nervous. haha. You are exactly right about the kind of music we listen to. One little thing is a big thing and can make the difference between our downfall. We see it all the time out here. Those little choices we make can make a huge difference and affect the rest of our lives. "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass." Alma 37:6 (I think) and it works both ways. I never realized that music had such a powerful effect on me till I came out here and only listen to wholesome music and then go into a restaurant that has awful music...and sometimes something that I used to listen to. Amazing how it works. We sure get immune to the trashy things that are sometimes in the music world out there. There is no where else I would rather be than here! It is the best! Love you Sister Haws

Monday, February 4, 2013

FEBRUARY 4TH 2013


Hey,                                                          February 4th 2013
 Well it's February...Already! It was just January! Crazy how fast time flies when you are having fun! This week has been really good. It has been slow when it comes to finding people to teach but it has been busy! My love for the mission has just exploded in just the last week and I love it so so much! AND!! It's warm again! Yay! I love this weather. 75 degrees! PERFECT. Sorry to all those still in colder climates. I will try to enjoy some for you! :)

 We had a lot of finding time and we ran into some amazing potential investigators and I know that it is just a matter of time! The hearts of the people are truly being prepared and it's cool to see the hand of the Lord in their life even if they don't. We were door knocking and ran into a couple of amazing people. The first was a lady who has such strong faith and a deep love for her family and she is one that is pretty interested in reading the Book of Mormon. We meet another man who was older and he was a scientist and he is working on developing an artificial pancreas for people with diabetes so it was really cool to just talk to him and we were able to leave a Family Proclamation and a Book of Mormon with him so that was really cool. We were also able to have a wonderful lesson with a less-active who is really struggling with coming back to church. We went to the Church and into the Chapel and were just able to sit there and feel the peace and love and the spirit was so strong. It was a neat experience not just for them but for me as well. I have never really just sat down and felt what is there in the Chapel and that was really cool to feel how peaceful it was.
  We also had the chance to help someone move on Saturday who wasn't a member but good friends with some members and that was a great experience to get to know them and truly see how the Lord is preparing them to one day hear the Gospel. We were a little sore the next day but probably not near as sore as the Elders who helped us. (We let them carry all the heavy stuff.) :)

    The same lady who hadn't been to Church in 40 years is still coming to church and really making all the necessary changes she needs to make to bring her life in closer harmony with the Lord's teaching and it is so cool and rewarding to see her progress and the Miracles that have been happening. That is truly what it is. Miracles each day and I love seeing the Lord's hand over the work. Even this Morning when we were grocery shopping, a lady stopped us and asked if we went to the Mormon Church and we said yes and she said she didn't know that there was a Church right in our area and was so excited to be able to come back to Church! It was really cool. I love being a missionary. Sometimes I can't believe I am on a mission and serving the Lord and it makes me that much more grateful to be here! I love the people and getting to serve them and share the message of Jesus Christ. It truly is "a marvelous work and a wonder!"
   Well we are headed up the "rock." The only place in our mission that you can see the Ocean from! It's beautiful! Pictures definitely to come!





Love you all! Sister Haws