Tuesday, December 31, 2013

KAELEY'S LAST LETTER OF 2013 DECEMBER 30th

 
 
Skyping with Kaeley on Christmas Eve it was so good to talk to her, she just looks and sounds so happy and is loving being in California serving.  Sorry this was not posted Monday, we had some computer issues . 
  
HAPPY NEW YEARS !!!                                                               December 30th 2013
 
 
     Can you believe it!  It’s almost a brand new year! 2014! So crazy! But I can feel that it will be a wonderful year full of new adventures and new hope and faith!
  This week has been great! It was a wonderful Christmas as we spent it with members and decorated people's doors with snowflakes! And getting to see my family! It is always a wonderful time!. It is weird to see them through a screen just because you get use to just emails and then see them. It kind of plays with your mind! :) In a good way though.
   It was a very good week. We found 1 new investigator who seems to really want to learn!! We weren't able to meet with a lot of our investigators this week but we did hear from them and were able to see them for a few minutes. We have 2 investigators that are doing so well and so in tune with the spirit and we know that they will get an answer. 
   We had a wonderful Sunday. Our stake president came into town for the day and also the Elders in our ward gave amazing talks on raising the vision and we will see miracles. It was so powerful and for me personally, changed my view of goals and the way I see things. I am really grateful for that and really needed to hear some of the things were said. The stake president also made some amazing comments that I believe and pray inspired people to share the Gospel with their friends and families. The Bishop also gave an amazing presentation on missionary work and how we can be a part of it, members and missionaries. And that is the whole vision of hastening the work, members and missionaries working together to bring the harvest of souls. Members are so important and make the difference between investigators that stay and walk away from the Gospel.
  I love the Gospel so much and am so grateful for the chance that I have to share it each day. It changes lives every day including mine. I am eternally grateful that Heavenly Father loved me enough to push me to come.  It is the best decision that I have ever made for my life and has changed my future forever.
   We are having a Family Home evening tonight at the church with the members and our investigators that we are super excited about! We are having pizza and games and it turned out to be a lot bigger than we thought but we feel so good about it and are excited!!!

 I love you all and am grateful for the love, prayers and support! All my love, Sister Haws

Monday, December 23, 2013

KAELEY'S LETTER DECEMBER 23RD 2013

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL    !!!!!!!                                       December 23rd 2013
 
     I can't believe it's Christmas! This month has gone wayyyyy to fast. And Christmas should be an everyday thing  because I simply love Christmas. We saw a lot of miracles this week! We actually found 3 new investigators that are very promising. They all came from member referrals and have amazing questions and truly want to learn more. We feel very good about them. We also had a chance to go caroling with some of the members. That was so much fun!! We prayed over our ward list and caroled to those that were less-active or were just in need of a pick-me up. The members really seemed to enjoy it and we had fun. One night was very cold but we were able to have fun and that made it "warmer" you could say.
   On Wednesday, our Bishop's wife had her baby girl. Which was super exciting but then we realized,  she was our choir director for the Christmas program. Then we got a text message saying  "Sister Haws, We know you have heard that the baby was born and we are looking for a new choir director”.  It made me laugh but I had the amazing chance to be a part of it. We only had a couple of days to prepare but it was amazing and the spirit was strong. There were quite a few people there as well and that was neat to see.
  Sorry this is so short but I will see a lot of you tomorrow!!!  I love you all and am so grateful for this time to celebrate the Birth of our Savior, and Redeemer. He Lives, I know he does. I have felt His healing power and strength.  He is my best friend and I know that He is real.  I hope you all enjoy this wonderful Christmas season with family and friends! It is truly a season for celebrating the good news of the birth of our Savior and to share our glad tidings with the World that through the Savior, Jesus Christ, all my return to Heavenly Father.
   Love,  Sister Haws
 

Monday, December 16, 2013

LETTER FROM KAELEY DECEMBER 16TH 2013

Hola !! And Merry Christmas to all !!                                 December 16th 2013  
 
    Well this week has been pretty darn good. Up's and down's but that is what helps us to grow closer to the Lord.
   Monday we were finally able to teach one of our investigators that we haven't been able to see for about a month and we had an amazing lesson of how the Holy Ghost plays such an important role in our conversion and helps us to learn the truth of all things and we felt that it went really well. He is very intelligent and uses a lot of big words that make it difficult for me personally to understand, haha  but,  it is very entertaining and I am really grateful for the spirit that can understand and then tells me what to say.   And this was also our last day with our Elders that served here with us in the Bishop Ward. They both got transferred and they put 2 new elders in. But we spent most of the day just having fun with the Elders before they left. We all became close and good friends so it was hard to see them leave. You really do make some of your best friends out here.
   Tuesday, we went out to Benton which is like 15 minutes from the Nevada Border and visited some members and meeting some really neat potential investigators. We also met the new elders and one of them I already knew from before and the other one is fresh from the MTC.
   We were able to do quite a bit of service this week for people and we had some very good connections with some of the less-actives in our ward that are wanting  to go to the temple. There are 2 single ladies that we are really working with to help them go to the temple and they are so excited. There is one that is so strong. She has been a member for about 4 years and has an amazing testimony. She was inactive for a while but she came back because she feels so much peace every time she walks into the church. And she just glows. The Gospel has changed her life and does each day and she is such a strong example to me of being truly converted unto the Lord.  We were able to see one of our former investigators who is having a really hard time. His wife is really sick and might not make it too much longer so we were able to read some scriptures with him and we sang for him and his wife. The Spirit was so strong and you could just feel how much the Lord loves them and is very aware of them. The wife received a priesthood blessing and it was powerful. I just love moments like this being a missionary. It reaffirms that God loves His Children and we are here for them.
  We also had the wonderful chance to see our mission president this last weekend which was so nice and a much needed visit! I just love him so much. You can see the power of God within him and the love that he has for his missionaries. He is an amazing man and I am so grateful to be here and serve with him. I just felt so safe and so much peace being around him. I didn't want him to leave. We told him he should move the mission home up here and get a private jet and then he can fly wherever he needs to. :) He even liked that idea.
   We also got to go on splits with a member in the ward and we saw so many miracles. One of the coolest things was that we ran into a couple of Hispanics and I have been trying to learn Spanish so we can at least give them something and I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help me and I told him who we were and that we share a message about Jesus Christ and it can bless his family. Then I bore my testimony on the Book of Mormon and the spirit was so strong. He replied and said that this book is very important and I said yes. The member that I was with speaks a lot of Spanish and she said after that I had to have gotten the gift of tongues.  She said when I started, there was a lot of grammar errors but when I bore testimony of the Book of Mormon, she said it was perfect and he completely understood. I don't know if it really was but the spirit was so strong and he knew that is was good and important. We were able to give him a Book of Mormon in Spanish and he wants to learn more. Don't really know how we will teach him but the Lord will provide a way. I love being a missionary more than anything in the world. There is so much joy and peace that comes from sharing the Gospel each day. I never not  want to share it. This Gospel changes lives. I know that it has mine forever and I am eternally grateful for that!!! I have gained a relationship with my savior and Heavenly Father that no one can ever take away from me and I am so grateful for that. I know that through that relationship, I can get through anything because they are always on my side. This truly is the work of the Lord and He is preparing His Children for His coming. Thank you for all your support and love and prayers. They are felt! I hope everyone has a wonderful week!         All my love,  Sister Haws.

Monday, December 9, 2013

LETTER AND PICTURES FROM KAELEY DECEMBER 9TH 2013

fun in the snow

Pictures from their ward Christmas Program





Their whole zone
Hello!                                                                                                                                                    December 9th 2013
   Can you believe it is almost Christmas?!? Where has all the time gone! I just can't believe it! But I LOVE CHRISTMAS! Especially as a missionary because people are nice and people are focused on the Savior so much more! I wish it was like this all year round! The first Presidency devotional was amazing! I especially liked Elder Nelson's talk about finding peace through the Atonement of the Savior! The spirit was so strong.
   Our Christmas program went SOOOOO well! Everyone loved it! We didn't get as many people there as we would have liked. BUT the majority of the ward was in the program so those that were watching it were less-actives or non-members! So that was really cool to realize! We had so much fun doing it and so many people said they would have loved to see it again! They did get some of it on camera but we don't know which parts so you may or may not get to actually see it "live!" I loved it so much! We were very tired after but it was worth it! We even had the family we are teaching come to it and they really loved it!
   We didn't really get a lot of people visited this week because we were busy with the program and trying to let my companions  knee rest. Her knee isn't doing so hot right now so any prayers would be much appreciated! We know the Lord will provide a miracle but we just have to be patience. It is getting better but just taking a while and we are trying to take it easy for her.
   We did visit a few less-actives that are doing well and a couple of them have been coming out to church lately! Which has been so great!  We still have SOOOO much work to do in this area and it is moving forward. But sometimes it is overwhelming. Our human mind sometimes freaks out a little bit and says how can we ever do this but the spirit side says keep having faith and trust in the Lord. It is a decision we have to make every day. To trust in the Lord and not get down or discouraged. That is exactly what Satan wants is to discourage us. But he will never win! We have seen so many miracles and we know the Lord is working side by side with us. We couldn't be doing what we are doing without him.
   Last night was one of those moments that discouragement set in and I had to make a choice. We were talking about everything that we need to do and everything that needs to change. And of course, my human side said, "AHHHHHHHH, this is dumb." But I realized after,   that in order for things to change, I have to have more faith. So that is exactly what I am working on this week. Increasing my faith and relying on the Lord. I look back at times and just see how much I have changed and grown closer to the Lord and I am so grateful for the testimony and the Conversion that has taken place in my heart unto the Lord. I am so grateful to be a missionary especially this season because this is my gift to the Savior, serving him and sharing His Gospel. That is one of the best gifts we can give the Savior, is becoming more truly converted unto him and sharing His Gospel with those we love. Thank you for all your love and prayers! I hope the days leading up to Christmas are wonderful and each of you feel the love of the Savior each day!
 OH MY GOODNESS! The best news of the day, that I forgot to say is that I am staying in Bishop another transfer, (probably finish out here) AND I get to stay with Sister Kimball and Wilkin! Both are done with training and normally they split us up after that but they didn't! The Lord needs us together and we are so excited to be together for Christmas!!!!
   I love you all dearly! Have a wonderful week! Love, Sister Haws

Monday, December 2, 2013

KAELEY'S LETTER DECEMBER 2ND 2013


Hello!                                                                             December 2nd 2013

    I hope this finds everyone well fed and happy since Thanksgiving just happened! It was a great day for us in the mission field to spend it with friends who have become like family. They had an open house that anybody could come to so we met a lot of different people and just had a good time eating and singing Christmas songs! :) Christmas time is my favorite and especially as a missionary. People tend to be more open about hearing about Christ. I wish it was like that all year round but we will use it to our advantage!

   We were able to have quite a few lessons with Less-actives and they all went very well. And we made some good contact with people. We officially have a baptismal date for December 28th that we are really excited about! She is a 16 year old girl who's Aunt is a member and she really loves the Church. So we feel pretty good about her.

   And this weekend for the first time in about 2 years, they had a Baptism of a part-member family of a 9 and 11 year old boys. It was very powerful and so nice to see a baptism again. The spirit is always so strong at them.

   We have faced some difficulties within the ward and just things that we really need to help and change so that the missionary work in this area can move forward. I know the Lord will provide a way and that is where faith has to play such a huge part. Sometimes we can't see how things will work out or how things will play out. But with faith leading us, we don't have to know all things. and that is such a blessing and can truly help us to rely on the Lord and I have come to learn the more faith we exercise, the more miracles we see.

   This week, we have a lot of practices in order to get ready for the program. We are hoping it will get taped but who knows. It will be a lot of fun and we are helping to put up some of the decorations and that has been fun and pictures will come of that for sure! This week will be a great week! I love you all! Sister Haws