Hello!                                                                                                 April 29^th 2013

   Thanks for all the Birthday Wishes!!!! I appreciate all your thoughts and remembering me !!  It will be weird to be another year older!

 It's been another wonderful week in sunny California and the temperatures have decided to jump up!  Which it does feel great in the shade but walking around in the sun can definitely be draining.  Praying for energy becomes a part of every pray! Haha but it is wonderful.

For the miracle this week, we found 7 NEW INVESTIGATORS! That is so many for us and it was amazing how we found them! They are truly blessings from the Lord. We have a teaching pool of about 15 right now and they are all amazing people! A lot of the time, it is just hard to get in with them. They get excited to meet and then they forget or aren't there. That can be discouraging, but President Gordan B. Hinckley said, "Never, ever give up on the slightest spark of interest." I always remember that and that helps. The one investigator with a baptismal date is doing ok. He didn't come to church yesterday like he was suppose to and we haven't heard from him and we are kind of worried but, can't do anything about that agency thing. The ability to choose is great, except for our investigators! Haha totally kidding. It is great, and we just have to show them how to use their agency wisely which can be hard sometimes but that is what makes missionary work entertaining to say the least.   The little 8 year old girl we are teaching is doing well.  She is so smart and cute and just loves primary which is really cool! And her mom is enjoying coming back to church and hopefully we can get her brother coming as well.   The recent converts that we have been teaching are doing well! Their love for the Gospel is growing  and becoming stronger. Most of the time it seems that they are teaching us without even knowing it! It is great!  I love seeing how Christ's Gospel changes lives and helps people to find that peace and happiness that these days seem impossible to find.    We had a lesson with a wonderful lady on Friday that she was raised to not talk to Mormons but she is really curious about what we believe in and wants to understand and she is really open and ready to learn. She has some concerns that we have to work through but she will be ready soon! The Lord really knows his children and loves them so much! Every time we get to teach someone, my love increases for them because I get a taste of the love Heavenly Father feels for them.

I was reading In 3 Nephi, These are the chapters that are about the destruction before Christ comes. As I was reading it, I just felt that I was there and could feel the sadness and heartache that was happening. And I realized, "Do we wait to call on the Lord until we are in darkness and despair or do we call on him before so we DON'T get to destruction and despair?"  “It made me think a lot about when I decide to call on the Lord in my own life? It always seems that we wait until we are at our breaking point to ask for help, that we become humble to listen to the Lord. And I believe that if we would just call sooner on the Lord that we would be spared a lot of heartache and trouble. It was a really neat thought and I just love the Gospel so much! This Church is true because it's Christ's. Christ can change hearts and bring peace that is not of this world. As we strengthen our testimonies, we draw close to the Lord and the Lord to us. I am so grateful for the chance to serve and be able to help those that are searching. Thanks for all the Love and support! Love you all! Sister Haws