SEPTEMBER 24TH 2012

 

 

Hey,

Things have been good! We have been trying to find people to teach and right now that involves a lot of tracting! Which if you read my last email home, I told you about a couple of bad experiences. Well on Tuesday morning, we were out ready to knock on some doors and I was just terrified! I don't really know why but I just keep saying Heavenly Father I can't knock on another door, I just can't. But we did and Thank Heavens for the Lord's tender mercies. Every door we knocked on for the next two days were people that were kind. Even if they wanted nothing to do with the church, they declined nicely and I just thanked Heavenly Father so much. I know that not all of them will be nice but I feel like now I have built a protective wall against mean people. :) I am FINALLY feeling so much better!

 

 

 

 I never realized how crummy I felt till I started talking antibiotics and feeling like a brand new person! That has helped so much to really be able to get out and work! This week we have really focused in on finding people but also getting to know the ward members on a more personal level, and especially the less-actives. We have had quite a bit of success in just getting a hold of them and letting them get to feel the spirit. It has proven very true that sister missionaries can get into certain homes that elders sometimes can't. Don't know why but it has been neat to see!

 

The ward we are in are still so excited about having sister missionaries! All the time they tell us we are so glad you are here! It really has been a long time for them and there is definatly plenty of work to be done.

 

Something that I really have come to realize is how much we (people born into the church) take it for granted. We have been so so blessed to be raised in it and to have had that direction in our lives. So many people are converts to the church out here and they always express how truly grateful they are for the gospel and just how they love that they have the chance to here about it before it was too late. There is one guy in particular that, his conversion story and testimony is just so incredible. He has literally gone to EVERY church there is, searching for the truth and the last one he came to was ours, and he just knew. And he tells everyone, "Now don't you go looking for something that isn't there. All you will ever need is right here in this Gospel." It makes me laugh but It is so true. I see people who have no religion in there life or are just happy with what they know, who honestly are miserable. They might not act like it all the time, but really, how can you not want more. The Gospel is an amazing blessing from our Heavenly Father, who truly knows exactly what he needs and when he needs it.

 

There was one family we meet the other day that what happened was just impressive to me. We were tracting door to door and we knocked on their door and asked if we could offer a prayer on behalf of their family. The Mom said, "We were actually leaving" and we asked if there was a better time we could come back and pray for them so she went and asked her husband and he said sure come on in. We sat down and talked to them for about 20 minutes and they are from Turkey and were raised Muslim but didn't practice really anything and both the mom and dad just recovered from cancer. The mom told us about how she didn't believe in anything before and then she got cancer and she started praying. She never felt like she had anyone talk to her but she just keep believing. I then said the prayer for their family, and afterwards the mom was like "I feel so good!" And we pointed out to her that that was the Holy Ghost, Speaking to her heart and testifying truth to her. She was so amazed and she is so ready to accept the Gospel and That was such a neat experience to see just how the Lord truly does prepare the people that are ready to accept the Gospel. If we had been there 6 months earlier before she had cancer, guarantee, that she would of closed the door. It is truly amazing to see the way the Lord works with all of his children and just testifies to me how much he truly knows us individually and exactly what we need when we need it. There is a talk in this month's ensign by president Eyring I believe about people being prepared to hear your testimony! Every needs to read it if you haven't and if you have ... read it again! because it is amazing!!!!

 

 

 

Things are going really well! It's hard and tiring but I wouldn't have it any other way. Missionary work is amazing, really. The Lord has his hand in everything we do and teach and say.

There is about 16 sisters all over this mission. There are 3 valleys. San Fernando (where I am) Santa Clarita and Antelope valley. It goes from San Fernando to Bishop towards Nevada border. So glad the baby calf was born and she is cute! What did you name her? She looks like a bigger version of Missy! Glad dad has some time to breath before spud harvest! Don't work too hard Dad! and Thanks for your comments! You truly have no idea how much I enjoy hearing from you! Tell the the whole family Hi when you talk to them.

 

You think your air is bad!!! well it probably is but the smog here is sometimes very bad! so I kind of understand where you are coming from. Keep canning! Then you can feed the whole neighborhood!!! got to love gardens. I got my library card so its all good and a lot more peaceful to e-mail from that the mall!!! I hope everything is going well and I love you all and miss you lots!!!

Love you so so so very much!! Tell the kids hi for me and that I love them and too write me!!!! :) My companion is amazing and I learn so much from her every day! I just love her and am so grateful. Love you!!!

Sister Kaeley Haws and Mission President Hall and his wife

BEFORE YOU ALL START READING, THE ADDRESS SHE GAVE US LAST WEEK WAS NOT RIGHT.   SO IT IS NOW CORRECTED IN HER ADDRESS INFORMATION ON THIS BLOG !!! 

Hey!! Yep it has been one month....actually more. this is the start of the 3rd week so it will be 6 weeks on Wednesday! It doesn't seem like it has been that long yet everyday is so long! I am really telling you, missionary time is super weird. But it is good. That means we can get a lot done in just a day. This last week has been....good....and hard. I am still not feeling a 100% better but I did finally talk to the mission nurse and got some antibiotics that seem to be helping but it has been a slow and honestly, frustrating recovery. It gets frustrating some days because I feel so great and just want to go go go and then out of no where I just feel horrible and end up having to lie down and just rest. I am trying to look at the positive and just keep praying that I will keep getting better and better each day! That is all I really can do. My companion just got sick and I feel kind of bad about that but she is recovering fast, which is good. We have done a lot of tracting this week. When I was in Oklahoma, I loved going out with the sisters there! I had so many good experiences! Here...not so much haha. I don't know if the people are just a little bit nicer in Oklahoma or what but we have had a few nice people here and there but most of them, slammed door, or just plain rude. We had one guy tell us to go mission somewhere else. We just laughed because we have no idea what that means at all. We had another lady step out side her door and tell us basically how stupid we were for believing in what we did and it was just silly. I just love it when people tell me what I believe! I shouldn't say that it has been bad because if anything it is a learning experience. But after that, I really struggling with the courage to go out again and knock on doors because you never know what is behind them. That is truly where trust in the Lord comes in so much and that is really all you can rely on.

 

We knocked (on her door) a lady that is from Persia and just so sweet. She keeps telling us that she believes everything that people tell her about religion and says she is already a Mormon at heart, which is pretty funny, but says not to get our hopes up. We just love her so much because she is such a neat spirit and she actually came to church on Sunday with us. She couldn't stay the whole time but we were just praying that church was something that would really push her to want to come and learn more! so that was a neat experience.

The area we are in, we finally feel that we are understanding where to go and finding people a little easier but I also know that Heavenly Father is helping us and blessing us to find these places. We haven't found a good place to do emails yet because we can't do them in a member's home so I am currently at the apple store in the mall! They let us email which is just great!!! hopefully next week we will have library cards and we can go there. We spend a good amount of time this morning cleaning the apartment because it was slightly nasty. The elders did pretty well cleaning but deep cleaning is a different story for sure! We are more in the run down part of town but it is pretty safe where we are at and we are in a gated community which is good.

We have zone meetings once a month and district meetings every week and zone conferences are, I think, every other transfer or something like that so not too often but district meetings are great because we receive more training that is really really helpful for the coming weeks.

My companion/trainer is still amazing and gets more and more amazing every day! I have learned so so much and can't believe that I still have so so so so so so much more to learn before she leaves!!!! its already week 3 of the first transfer! Time....just strange. :)

It has been super warm and hot here! very humid! it was a 109 the other day and reminded me of Oklahoma and working in the kitchen that was 91 all the time! I have adjusted pretty fast. There is a lot of smog here! some mornings are just gray but most mornings are just beautiful!

We had a lady giving a talk yesterday pass out right in the middle of it and it was super scary! she is doing ok and they think her blood sugars just got too low but talk about scary! just watching someone go down out of nowhere. just glad she is ok! My ward is still amazing! We went to a dinner and they served fish and I was like I can do it not a problem....that didn't end well. I was sick the rest of the night. so fish bad. haha

The work here is hard but great and I can feel something amazing is coming! we just have to keep going and working hard! It is great! This week has been a great week in learning about repentance. I make so so many mistakes each day and its hard to realize how much I need to improve and grow but I will tell you...The Atonement is so real! it makes up the difference when I can't and it makes ALL the difference. I just keep thinking " Why, why would Jesus Christ ever forgive me?" But my mission president said why wouldn't he? I cannot tell you how true that is...really! Jesus Christ dies for our sins for everything. Our short comings, weaknesses, everything and that truly shows how much he loves each and every one of us. and how much he truly knows us individually. The amazing thing about the atonement is that we just need to turn over ever part of ourselves to his and we can truly, and honestly be changed into someone more like him! It is just incredible. I hope everyone knows and understands that the atonement applies to everyone!!! not just some or another but everyone!

I hope everyone is doing well and Thanks again for the support love and prayers! they are truly felt! Its a great day to share the gospel where ever you are and with anyone your with!!! :) 

Love Sister Haws

 

First Letter From the Mission Field

Hey!!!

       Yep Mondays are my p-day! It has been pretty good. We are in the area of Chatsworth California. It is located in the San Fernando Valley. It is very very beautiful but differently different than Idaho and Utah. But there is a lot of mountains and we sit down in the very bottom of the valley. It has been rather warm the last few days. hit 101 the other day and that was kind of fun :) My trainer is Sister Mix and she is from Inkom Idaho! So pretty cool we are both from Idaho. She is completely amazing! I have already learned so much from her in just 6 days and I know I have so so much more to learn. If any of you have heard of the Term White washed for missionaries, then you know what is coming. Yep my first area I have been white washed. :) White washed is a term used by missionaries where they send two brand new missionaries into an area that neither of them have been before. Normally they keep one missionary and just transfer out one so at least one of them know what they are doing. So we have been put into the Chatsworth area with neither one of us know where to go or who is around so we have been using the maps like crazy!!! AND This area was switched from Elders to sisters AND we found out that the ward we are in has not had sister missionaries in over 10 years. No pressure right?!?! But it is super fun to basically just start from the ground up and learn everything new and figure out what we need to be doing in this area. So crazy, but I know that the Lord has a purpose in it. There is so much work to be done in this area this week will be mostly figuring out who is who and trying to get a hold of people and set up appointments. Our ward mission leader is brand new and so full of ideas and it will be great to work with him! Our apartment is pretty nice but a little dirty. But the elders that lived there before did pretty well in keeping it clean. I mean for elders that is. Haha jk that is not true. But we did spend some time cleaning. It was really really good to talk to both of you! It was good to know you are doing well. and that you miss me :) We actually, if we can find a member, we can Skype home for Christmas but I will let you know more about that when it gets closer.

       Yes, Sister Ruston was super sweet about it. I am not sure if I was suppose to do that but hopefully it was ok. Because there hasn't been sister missionaries in such a long time, people are extra excited to have us and we seem to have dinner with someone new everyday which is pretty nice because we live on such a small budget. It is definitely enough to get by but it is nice not to have to worry about some meals. And I haven't had anything strange yet so hopefully that streak will keep coming!!! The people in our ward are amazing. They are mostly older with a few young families but so sweet and thoughtful. It will be great to work with them. I am in a car area which really is a huge blessing to me because I am still fighting my cold or whatever it is. There are some days that are pretty tiring and being on a bike would be rough ! So I am extremely grateful that the Lord is looking out for me! Missionary time is so so weird and other missionaries will understand. The days are so so long yet the weeks just fly by and days no longer matter. The only day I can really know is Sunday! So it is weird, but good.

        I just want to thank my family and friends for all the support and love and prayers because I truly feel the power of prayer and I know Heavenly Father helps and hears those for the missionaries. And not just us. EVERYBODY! I know he hears prayers. I have felt that so much in the last 4 weeks. The Lord definitely has his hand over missionary work! it is far too organized to not be. and now I am going into missionary mode. NEVER be afraid to share your beliefs and testimony with those around you. They need to hear it and you never know who is ready for the gospel. I just encourage any of you that read this to pray for a missionary moment and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. He will truly tell you when and who you need to talk to. Even if its just a hi and The lord loves you! You will be surprised what will happen.

      You probably saw that I didn't have to buy a bike yet and I am hoping I won't have to even if I get put in a bike area. I think I can borrow a bike from someone who isn't in a biking area if I do but I know I will be in Chatsworth for at least 12 weeks. If not longer where this is my trainer's last 2 transfers and she is with me the whole time. My address is 1025 De Soto Ave. #127 Chatsworth, CA 91311. If you would just make a post on facebook with this address on it so people know where to send it. They can still send stuff to the mission office but it takes a while to get to me since someone from our district has to go up there and it kind of varies how often that happens. My blankets and stuff all got here and it was so nice to have them and something familiar. Plus I love that blanket.

     Its funny you brag out peach clobber because I actually ate some homemade the other day as well. So in your face :) totally kidding.

 

     I am so sorry to hear about Ross Clements and my thoughts are with their family. That is exciting about a new bishop! I didn't realize that bishop lundin had been in so long already! but that is good.

 

     You can send me pictures to my email. I don't have a way to print them out but I would like to see any pictures you take of family and such and Raini's senior pictures of the course! (I am sending home an sd card with my pictures from the MTC on them. You can pick some and put them up. 

 

     I am so glad grandpa is doing well and I hope grandma is doing ok as well. Please give them my hugs and love and tell them they are in my thoughts! and thank grandma for the letter .

     Well better get going! I love you both so very much and miss you lots! I can't wait to hear from you!!!... love you lots

Sunday September 9th 2012

All this week since Kaeley flew out to California I have been just  so anxious to hear from her on her next P-day to know what town she is serving in, who her new companion is, how she is doing and all that stuff a mom wants to know and the wait has been LOONNGGG !!!  

   After I got out of church today I recieved a phone call on my cell phone from a number I did not recognize so I answered it and there was a sweet voice on the other end that said, " Hello Sister Haws, my name is Sister Ruston and I am calling to tell you that your daughter is doing well and is happy and give you a report on her and tell you our ward is going to take good care of her."   I was a little surprised by this call.  She continued on to tell me that Kaeley was in their ward today and bore her testimony and seemed like such a nice young lady.  When she was visiting with Kaeley after church she asked her how long she had been out, when Kaeley replied only 5 days this nice lady asked her if her mother knew where she was ???  hahahaha. I thought that was pretty cute.   So Kaeley told her that she had not had a p-day yet to write to us and let us know where she was, so Sister Ruston told Kaeley to give her our phone number and she was going to call us and tell us where she was because she had sent her sons out on missions and knew how important it was for parents to know where their Missionaries are serving as soon as possible !!  She told Kaeley that she would call because she is "legal" to do that, Kaeley is not !!  That was funny too :)  It was good to hear where she is and that all is well and she is loving it there.  Kaeley is living in the town of Chatsworth and the ward she will attend is in Northridge.  We should get an e-mail possibly tomorrow with more information from Kaeley.  

AND SHE'S OFF !!!

                       Kaeley is officially out of the MTC and on her way to sunny California !! 
      We got  a phone call from her at 10 a.m. from the Salt Lake airport, she flies out at 11:15 a.m. and will arrive into Burbank California about 1 p.m..   She is excited and also nervous to get out in the mission field and apply all the things she had learned in the MTC.   She said she loved the experience in the MTC and will miss being there, but won't miss the food :) and will be glad to get into an apartment and cook her own food !! 



     She said it was a little wierd to leave there after being in such a protected and spiritual environment these last 3 weeks and go out in to the "real world".  

     She is excited to meet her new Mission President and his wife and find out where she will be serving and who her first companion will be.  She loves that her whole district of 16 missionaries she had in the MTC is going out with her today to California.  

     It was so good to hear her voice, she sounded happy and said she is happy and is so glad she is there and doing what she is doing.  

     Now we are anxious to get her next letter to hear where she is, so now we wait .........