AUGUST 12th 2013 Kaeley's new letter

Tigers, bears...and TRANSFERS!   Oh my !!                                                                                

    Another transfer down and not very many to go. Transfers are always an exciting time but also very nerve wracking and sometimes difficult just because of all the changes that take place. And this new transfer is nothing short of changes. I have a wonderful new companion. Her name is Sister Baliar and she is from the Philippines! She has been out 13 months and she is so Christ-like and has this amazing passion for the Gospel and her testimony is so powerful! I love her a lot already. She is now a new sister training leader with me here in the valley and we have stewardship over 4 companions of sisters. In our Zone, last transfer, we had 4 sisters and now we have 11 in the same zone! Some day we will outnumber the Elders! haha. But it has been great.

  We haven't started exchanges yet but next week we start and we are really excited! We love the sisters already so very much.   We have had an amazing week with many miracles. We have 2 investigators with a baptismal dates  and they are both doing well especially one of them.  He is the one I keep mentioning that we met when we first got here and then he disappeared but now he is back and really committed this time and it is so cool to see the difference in him! He is so excited to get baptized and we took him to a baptism yesterday afternoon and it was really neat to see him just all excited to be there and he really wants to know the truth.

  They say that in each of your areas there is a person you are there for and it is so true. I am still here because of him. He has a very special place in my heart and just picturing him dressed in white and being baptized just brings tears of joy to my eyes. It really is all about the people. I love them so much and they are the ones that make the area great! And our other baptismal date is doing well. He was kind of struggling in understanding why we needed to be baptized but we helped resolve some concerns and that was really good to see him change from being sad to being happy.

  The ward we serve in is amazing! They are so spiritual and really have a desire to do missionary work and we love being around them.

   We had kind of a scary experience, Sister Baliar almost got attacked by a pit bull dog.  Where we serve there is a lot of them around and this one was one of our investigators dog. She told us that she was still training it not to jump so we thought she meant like jumping happy and excited cute little doggy jumping.  NOPE.  She meant like killer attack dog jumping.  Wish she would have told us that before.  But,  there was definitely angels protecting her  and I said after, "welcome to your new area." haha. It was kind of scary but she is okay and nothing bad happened Thank Heavens. We definitely have the Lord's Protection

  Our other investigators are doing very well. They are progressing slowly but they are progressing and that is what matters. I think one of my favorite things about being a missionary is you get to feel a little of that love that Heavenly Father has for his children and to see how he views them. It is an amazing feeling. I am so grateful for the chance to serve! This Gospel changes people's lives when they really apply the teachings. It is a Gospel of Change and of peace and joy and we have witnesses that truly with our investigators that are coming closer to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is everything to us and especially to me. He is my true friend and I am grateful for his Sacrifice for me.

*** BIG SHOUT OUT  to my cousin Austin who leaves for His mission this week to Raleigh North Carolina !!!! You are going to be amazing!!!!   Love you lots and I am proud of you that you are going !!!      

Thanks for all the love and support! Sister Haws

AUGUST 5TH 2013

Hello!!!                                                                                             August 5^th 2013

     This week was really good and fun!  We have transfers this Tuesday and my companion is getting transferred  :( Kind of sad news and something we weren't expecting but the Lord needs her somewhere else to bless people's lives!  So I will get a new companion this Tuesday which can be kind of nerve wracking but you have to really trust in the Lord and this is His will.  It is exciting as well but, just the unknown is hard. You really learn to trust the Lord on the Mission because it is all up to Him and you just go with the flow.

    We have seen even more miracles this week. Our investigators are all doing really well. There are some that are just completely changing their lives around and it is amazing to see the difference the Gospel makes. They are just changing on their own and really seeing the blessing from living the Gospel. We found 4 new investigators this last week that are really great. We have one girl that is dating a man in a different ward but wants sisters to teach her so we are teaching her and she is amazing and really wants to know the truth. We love her a lot.

   Our investigator with the baptismal date is doing well and is so excited to get baptized. One of our members gave him a mini Book of Mormon and he carries it with him everywhere!!

 We had 3 investigators at church and 1 of them finally came after 2 months!!!  That was so exciting to see him there and he seems to enjoy it. The other investigator that came was the investigator that we found when we first got here and then he just disappeared but now he is back and seems to be ready this time to make the changes. I hope so because I love and care about him so much!! It is amazing how much you come to love people and how much you grow to care about them as your serve them.

  It has been really nice this last week weather wise. Not too hot at all. It has been surprising how cool it has been here. I was expecting it to be hotter than this but I am not complaining!! It has made being outside nice and easier to work.

  We had dinner with a Hispanic family on Saturday and they had a fiesta! It was a lot of fun and our whole district was there and it was fun to spend a little time with them before our district is split. A lot of people are getting transferred out but it will be fun to meet missionaries that came from the other mission! There is a lot of changes happening as the new mission is getting up and running but it is amazing to see the hand of the Lord in the Work and see how he is guiding everyone.

 I love being a missionary especially at this time. It is just so cool to be apart of the world wide change and see all the missionaries going out. This Gospel is real and changes people's lives! Each and every day. Thank you for all the support! I love you so much and miss you lots!!! Sister Haws

Kaeley's letter July 28th 2013

Hello Everyone  !!                                                               July 28^th 2013

 

 

    The Lord has blessed us with many miracles this week and it has been amazing to see the Hand of the Lord in the work. We had 8 people come to church!!!!!! one of them is one who has a baptismal date for August 31st! He is 17 and he was an atheist but now he believes in God and loved church and the Gospel! He has changed so much and he is just amazing! We have seen so many miracles with him and he is doing well. We also had the part-member family we are teaching come and we had a miracle lesson with them and learned what some of their concerns are which was really good.

    We also found 5 new investigators this week that are all amazing and all going through so much and could really use the Gospel. Everyone could. It is really hard to see someone reject it without even knowing what it could do for their lives.  And it is even harder to have someone reject it after they have felt the spirit. But I know they will have another chance! We are still working with a lot of the original people we found when we first got here.

We are really trying to help the ward members invite their friends to learn about the Gospel and we have a sacrament meeting open house that will be really neat. They are centering the talks on the Savior and the Atonement and then after they will have some sort of display set up for the different areas and activities the church does. It will be neat.

  We had 2 exchanges this week that were both fun and we saw a lot of miracles while on exchanges. The sisters in the mission are just amazing and are so Christ-like.I learn so much from them each and every week. We have been so busy with appointments and exchanges and our investigators, it has been great and nice to be busy. I didn't realize that an area could be so busy. Compared to my last area, we just did a lot of finding. We found out though, that the less-actives that had come back to church are still coming and 2 of them have gone through the temple now! That was the best news ever!!! It made my whole life! To see them progress and go through the temple and to have those blessings.

This work truly is the Lord's work and I am so grateful for the honor to serve him and to help his children. I know this church is true and that Christ is the head of his Church. I am so grateful for the Gospel. We would have nothing without the Book of Mormon and a living prophet to lead and guide us. This Gospel changes people and it is amazing to see them use the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love my Savior and am eternally grateful for His love.

  Thank you for all the love and support!  All my love, Sister Haws

 

 

THE NEW BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIA MISSIONARIES

Hello!!!!                                                                                                               July 22, 2013

 This week has been another fly by week but has been so wonderful and so many miracles! The Lord is hastening His work and with that comes so many more miracles!!! We had exchanges on Tuesday and Wednesday and I got to go to Spanish work for a day! That was so much fun and so different from English work. I love Spanish so much and someday I will learn to speak it.  And, the sister I went with was from Idaho!!!! Idaho is the best! Haha so we got to talk about home for a while! She has been out for 14 months and she is so amazing! But it was a lot of fun and I learned so much from her!

 We saw a lot of miracles in both of our areas while on exchanges. New investigators and some amazing contacts that hopefully will become new investigators.   Thursday we made another trip up to Bakersfield again for a meeting and it was so pretty and just a fun drive! All through the mountains and it is so green and pretty. I love the desert but it was nice to see green things again instead of just brown sand :)  Friday we had an amazing district training and then we had a lesson with a lady who had come to church the previous Sunday and wanted to know more and now she is a new investigator and she is just loving the Gospel. She keeps saying that everyone has so much peace and she wants that. On Saturday, we had a few appointments and we also helped some of the Sisters in their area with finding for a couple of hours and that was a lot of fun!  We are teaching this lady who might be slightly crazy but she is so funny and we love teaching her and she loves the Book of Mormon. We really feel she will progress but it will take some time.

  Sunday was really good. We didn't have anybody at church which was disappointing but next week we will see more miracles! But we had a lot of finding time and we found 3 new investigators just yesterday and they all seem to really want to know so that is really exciting. We also met a wonderful lady last night who has been through so much and has strong faith in God and we are going to teach her and her son this coming week and we are super excited to teach her. She seems so ready! We also had an amazing miracle with a less-active that we had been working with. The last time we went, the spirit was not strong at all and we didn't know that we wanted to go back but we felt that we needed to give it another chance. So we went back and she was completely different! The spirit was so strong and she was so happy and just glowing. It was amazing to see the power of the Book of Mormon and what it truly can do to someone when they open their hearts to the changing power of Christ. I love the Book of Mormon so much. It truly has changed my life and still does each and every day. I am so thankful that a loving Heavenly Father has given us such an amazing gift. I am so grateful for the chance to serve the Lord and to serve others as well. The power of the Atonement really does change people from the inside out and we have the message that people need!  Share the Gospel with everyone you meet because you never know who will be touched by your words! I love you so much and miss you! Sister Haws

Camping sounded and looked fun!!! I am glad you got to see Wes and Alyssa and the kids! I miss them a lot but glad they are having fun. My ankle is better still kind of sore but it is getting better. The Family day at the temple will be so much fun!!! I am so excited for you and the family to get to do so much work for our deceased relatives. It will be an amazing day for both sides of the veil!  I love you mom and dad so much and hope you have a wonderful week!!! Your the bestest ever! Thanks for all you do and your love and support!!!!  Have a great week and remember to pray and read!!! and go to church!!! :) Love you Sister Haws

Kaeley's letter July 15th 2013

Just for your information, her companion in the picture from last week is the tall one to Kaeley's left. 

Hey!                                                                                                                                      July 15^th 2013

   Another week has flown by and guess what!? Today is my 11th months mark! Can you believe it? Neither can I! My companion and I figured it out that we only have 5 transfers left which are just going to fly by. So strange. Anyway, on a more happy note, this week was pretty good. We had an exchange with one of our sister companionship that went well. We also were able to set 2 baptismal dates with a couple of our investigators and one of the them is one that we had taught in April and May and had a baptismal date in May but then disappeared! But we found him again and he seems to be more prepared this time and we are really hoping because last time, it broke my heart for him to leave! I told him I might punch him if he tried that again and he just laughed. He will know I am serious if it happens again! :)  Sometimes that can be the hardest part of missionary work is seeing someone walk away from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ after they KNOW that it is right. But Preach my Gospel says. "those that are ready will act upon your message." So I guess some people just aren't ready yet.  The  other investigator, we have a lot of hope for him. He knows that it is right and has liked everything he has seen and heard so far and seems ready. So we will find out over the next couple of weeks!

  We had to drop a couple of our investigators this week. One of them was really hard but he is not ready. He was doing so well and progressing very fast and then out of the blue said he doesn't really care to know if God is there or not. Which is soooo sad but some day he will need God. Everybody gets to a point in their life where they have nothing left but God. And that is why we missionaries are here. To be there when that does happen and offer hope! We have seen a lot of miracles thus far and miracles are coming more and more often. The Lord is hastening his work. I was reading about the Gathering of Israel and it was cool to see how many of the prophecies are being fulfilled right now! There are so many that are happening and it is amazing to be a part of it.

  We have a 2 exchanges this week. One of Tuesday and one on Friday that will be a lot of fun! I love exchanges and getting to learn from the other sisters and see how well they are doing. You really get the best training as a sister training leader because the sisters just teach you so much! I love it a lot!

I love you all!  Stay strong in the Gospel !   Sister Haws

KAELEY'S LETTER AND PICTURE JULY 8TH 2013

 

 

Hello!!!                                                                                                                                  July 8^th 2013

  This week has been one of the most packed and filled with miracles I have had! On July 1st, history was made as the new Bakersfield mission officially started! Huge moment in the history of the Church! We had the amazing chance to drive to Bakersfield on Tuesday (Which is sooooo Beautiful by the way, very green!!!!  Especially compared to the desert area where I am at )  for a leadership meeting and to get to meet the new Mission President Wilson and his wife! They are absolutely amazing! They have an incredible love for the Gospel and love to work with young people. So a mission is perfect for them ! It was fun to get to meet the other missionaries from the Ventura Mission! There are 75 missionaries from both missions that create the new Bakersfield mission and we were able to meet the zone leaders of the other mission and talk about things that would be implemented from both missions to create the standards for the Bakersfield mission! It is so neat to see the work progressing and moving forward and this next transfer, it looks like we are getting about 53 new missionaries!  The very first transfer in Bakersfield! Crazy but so exciting and I am so grateful to be a missionary at this time in the history of the church! It is so cool to be a part of the miracles and soooo many more miracles are happening!!

   We also had so many miracles with some of our investigators and finding people to teach! We found 5 new investigators this week AND we had a Surprise Baptism come up on Saturday. We had been teaching an 8 year old girl who was already planning on getting baptized on July 6th. But she turned 9 on July 2nd. and after they turn 9 they have to go through the missionaries! so we had that which was so neat to see and be a part of! She is an amazing girl and so smart when it comes to the Gospel!

  We also were able to have a wonderful lesson with the part-member family we are teaching on Saturday and we committed them to come to church and THEY CAME!!!!!!!  all 7 of them and that was such a huge miracle and blessing to have them there!!! We were so excited to see them and we can't wait for them to someday go to the temple and be an eternal family! We just can feel that they are so ready and just need that push to come and to find out the truth! We also had 2 less-actives come to church that haven't been in a long time so that was really neat to see! We also meet with another part-member family last night that she hasn't been to church in 25 years and she is coming this next Sunday! She has had a rough life and has 3 kids with handicaps and the gospel is going to help her sooooo much! We love her a lot and are so excited to teach her and get her going again!    We had some disappointments this week just with some of our investigators not calling back or we can't find them so we are hoping they will show up soon! Because we miss them and they were all doing so well! Kind of sad but the Lord is incharge and when they are ready, They will come back!

  We have had 2 exchanges this week and they went well and I got to go on Bike!!!!!! It was the best ever! A little sore but it was totally worth it!  You get to talk to soooo many more people than in car and it is just nice to be outside. It was a little hot that day and it got to me in the afternoon but I loved bik ing so much! We are trying to see if we can get bike for our area for a while to save on some miles but who knows. The mission president likes sisters to be in cars, which is understandable. There are some areas that are questionable but it is nice to know we have the spirit to guide and warn us!

It is an exciting time to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! We have the truth and it is only this Gospel that can and will save the World from complete destruction because it is Christ's Gospel and His Gospel is for everyone! Pray for chances to share your testimony with others and the Gospel with others and I promise the Lord will place in your path those who are ready and need what we have. It can be scary but with the Savior by our side, All is possible!      Sister Haws

KAELEY'S LETTER JULY 1ST 2013

Hey!                                                                                                     July 1^st  2013

   HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO EVERYBODY !!!   

 Time is just flying faster and faster. It was just Monday and here it is...Monday again! This last week has been great! It has been HOT but honestly, you don't really notice when you are teaching the Lord's Gospel. Yesterday it was about 110 and it was just,  oh well.  90 is super uncomfortable but once it’s over 100 it is just hot so that has been good and I am actually really enjoying the heat! I know, crazy but  we are just starting so we have to get used to it fast!

   We have seen so much progress with our investigators this week and seen some neat miracles! One of our investigators, the 18 year old, we had a very spiritually powerful lesson with him and we know he felt the spirit but he is kind of hiding from it. Which is sad to see but he isn't giving up on finding out if God is really there or not.   We had another investigator who was struggling to come to church but did come yesterday so that was good to have her there.   There is an older man that we are teaching who is so ready and willing to hear what we say. We invited him to be baptized but he said he needs to know more and he would pray about it! It is amazing to see how the lord prepares people to hear his Gospel and only more and more people are being prepared! This really is the Last days!

 We had a neat experience. A former investigator that we were teaching and that had just disappeared one week, his name popped into my head so we went to visit him and he really needed us right then and was trying to find God and how to be a better person and things so we talked to him and hopefully we will be able to start teaching him again and he is amazing! So ready and so cool to feel how the Lord works through us!

This week, we get to meet with our new mission president,  Brother Wilson and his wife,  and find out who our other sisters are that we will be doing exchanges with! We are super excited to meet him and to be able to work with him and help the mission move forward! It is crazy to start in one mission and end in another but I am so grateful to the Lord for him trusting me to put me in this calling and for him helping me to magnify it the best I can! We had one exchange this week that was really good and have a couple more this week and at least 2 every week for the rest of the transfer!   I love exchanges and being able to train and learn from the amazing sisters! They are so amazing and love the Lord so much and are doing their very best!

 My companion is amazing! I love her so much! Sister Dyreng has an amazing desire to serve the Lord and she works hard so we get a lot done which is wonderful!  Her and I get along very well and I have learned so much from her already and it's only been 2 weeks. She has an amazing talent of talking to people and that has been helping me to branch out even more to talk to people!  She is great!  She has really been helping me to focus on the Savior and testify more of him which is exactly what I needed!

I had kind of a shocker the other day. I was thinking about the beginning of my mission and where I had been thus far and it hit me like a ton of bricks that I don't have very much time left. It was quite disturbing honestly.  I couldn't believe it and how fast it had gone!  It just made me grateful to be out here serving the Lord and helping to move His work forward. I am so grateful for the Gift of the Holy Ghost! It really is one of the greatest gifts possible and just brings so much peace and comfort! I love the Gospel and we are so blessed to have what we have and to know our purpose in this life! Don't forget to share your testimony with someone this week....or in fast and testimony meeting :)!  It is a wonderful chance to bless someone else as well as strengthen your own! I love you so much and miss you!!!  Sister Haws