Elder Ethan Haws : Week 40

This "stinking dog" wouldn't stop following us around while doing service; so I conquered it.

This week was an amazing!

It was MIRACULOUS! It’s like I’ve been in this endless storm and suddenly the rain is slowing down and sunlight is peeking out from the clouds.

We had an incredible week of finding investigators and having sudden and needed blessings just happen. Not only did we find TONS of investigators, we helped out the less-actives and amazing things are happening with the members.

Monday.

We had a good p day and prepared well for the week. We went to visit our ward mission leader and had a family home evening with the Uribe's. The FHE was amazing. We got in there and felt like we needed to share a video. I looked down the list of the messages we had and felt impressed to share one. We shared the Mormon message that just came out about the other prodigal son. We applied it to family relationships and forgiveness. By the end we were all in tears. The president thanked us for sharing what we shared and commented that he has been frustrated with the past missionaries because they hadn't been able to have these kind of spiritual moments between the family and the missionaries for a long time. THAT IS HUGE FOR US. His trust is essential so we were thrilled.

Tuesday was just a day of work, contacts and trying to invite more people to the activity on Thursday.

Wednesday.

We started off by visiting E. and had a pretty brief lesson. We are probably going to have to drop her because she doesn't progress or keep any commitments. It’s an extremely hard situation.

Elder Martinez and others standing on the Sepulveda family's second floor construction

project. The missionaries have been helping with the addition.

We visited the Sepulveda family and had an awesome lesson with them. We are gaining lots of confidence with them and are happy to see them coming back to the church step by step.

We were looking for more investigators and headed over to visit a lady we had contacted a few days before. We knocked on the door and they let us in! Her name is Martha, we talked with her and her oldest daughter and surprisingly David, a less active youth, came in to visit as well. David is this family's cousin. Everything was perfect. We got to know them and applied the gospel to all their doubts. Apparently they have shared with missionaries for quite some time. We hit it off extremely well.

We also felt like visiting the lady who owns a completo shack by our house to see if she was interested in listening to us. We bought some completos and used the opportunity to have a lesson with her. It went well, but she wasn't too interested to continue listening to us. One day, we think she will be well prepared to accept the gospel.

Thursday.

We really focused on the activity and prepared well for it. It was a little FHE activity and we had lots of fun playing games and such. It was a good success. We had really low attendance because it was FREEZING outside, but we had a good time.

Retiro branch activity

Friday.

We had an incredible day! We found 7 new investigators in one day. That is so rare here in Retiro. That is worthy of being called a miracle.

We found an evangelical family of 4 people, and had a lesson with the 3 workers that work in the Municipalidad (City Hall) here in Retiro. (We found them while doing contacts last week and I randomly asked if they needed any help or if we could offer some kind of service. They were surprised and said they needed help setting up some desks in a little building. We accepted and they told us we could pass by and visit them in their office in the Municipalidad.) We had an awesome visit with them. They are so prepared for the gospel. We talked about their past experiences with the church and their thoughts on it. We showed them temples, explained a little bit about eternal marriage and the plan of salvation, and the book of Mormon. They are the best investigators I’ve found here in Retiro.

Saturday.

All our plans fell so we went around and started extending invitations for the upcoming activity on Thursday. We stopped by the BR family and had a very interesting lesson. S’s mom was there and she was high and drunk. (And she’s like 90 years old! What’s up with that!?) All she did the whole time was say, ''I DON'T KNOW, BUT I DON'T KNOW, I don't believe in anything, I only believe in the Lord.'' And random stuff like that. It was kind of funny.

We also visited Alejandro and Evelyn. They have made the decision that they want to get married before the year is over! HURRAH, they can get baptized this year!

Sunday.

We had the highest attendance at church during my whole time here! 34 people at church. It was amazing!!

We ended the week with finding 15 new investigators. That's 3 more above the standard of excellence for our mission. We are so content. It is amazing the blessings that we have received.

Amazing things are happening here, and I am so happy to be a part of it all. I hope the mark that I leave here in Retiro will last forever. I am grateful to be an ambassador of the Lord. It is a privilege without price (priceless privilege). I am so blessed to be a part of the work of salvation. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior. I am grateful for their love and their mercy. It is a pleasure to serve them with my whole heart.

Thank you for all you do. I love you guys so much. It is always so good to hear how you are doing every week. I love you all so much more than I can express. I miss you! Until next week!

Elder Ethan Haws