Week 65

Wow, we are so close to Christmas! How time flew by! I cannot believe that It is almost here, we have been working our guts out to get the He is the Gift initiative to all of Concepción. I guess the saying is true; time flies when you’re having a good time.

We had some cool experiences this week.

First off from the activity last week we were able to get some good references. We saw one that was pretty cool and we called the guy up. His name is Estefano. He is from Chile but knows English and even lived in the UK for about a year while studying in Cambridge. We called him up and set up an appointment and he was very excited about it. Seeing that he was excited we were pumped to go visit him the next day. So the next day we went by and he let us right in. He lives in a huge apartment building kind of like ours but a lot nicer. We got in and we just started speaking English. It was so weird. I’m now so accustomed so that when I’m in another person’s house I just speak Spanish. We hit it off really well. He is also engaged to his fiancé named Maria Jesus (What a coincidence, eh?). So we are excited for that. No one here in Chile, and I imagine in the world now wants to be married. They only live together unmarried. Estefano is 22 and Maria is 20.

We started the lesson and to start it off we shared He is the gift. Estefano didn’t have time to see the video while he was passing by in the activity, just give his reference. So we shared the video with him and Maria. They loved it and we began talking about a lot of subjects mainly focused on their religious background and Christ. They have a lot of doubts about the churches because they have just have had bad experiences. So we taught a bit of the restoration and gave them pamphlets. They were excited and we set up an appointment for the next day. They are SUCH cool people. We are so excited to be teaching them!!!

We came back the next day and Maria was feeling a bit sick, so she just stayed back in the other room. We were able to talk to Estefano and he started right off the bat and said something like, ‘’Guys, I loved the pamphlet, especially one part. I was reading in the part about Joseph Smith and where it said that God told him that the other churches were wrong and said that the honor me with their lips but their hearts are still far from me, and that part really struck me. I mean I felt like a shock and I felt like it was true.’’ We just sat there in unbelief. NO ONE ever reads the pamphlets or even pays attention to us in lessons EVER. It was a Christmas miracle….. With our minds reeling we started to teach and go through the pamphlet with him. We got to the book of Mormon and it got pretty spiritual. We pulled out a copy and gave it to him with a chapter to read. He responded saying, ‘’Awesome I was just going to ask you where I could get a copy so that I could read it.’’

Let’s just say that we were stoked and we invited him to baptism and church and he accepted both but he said that he wasn’t sure about a date to be baptized because he wanted to read the book a little bit first. Same with going to church. We said of course you should do that and left him with the invitations. We are going to be working with him this week and with Maria and we are excited to see how they will progress. They are as golden and golden gets here in Chile!!

So Christmas time is close and people are 90% more stressed and mean. It was really hard contacting people this week because they all wanted NOTHING. But oh well we sure gave it our all.

We had a multi stake Christmas concert in Glaizner last night and it was awesome. And because it was multi stake the Andalien stake came as well! As I hoped, people came pouring in from Nonguen. It was incredible seeing them. I thought that they had all forgotten about me because it was about a year ago, but they all saw me and shouted ELDER HAWS!! They all came and greeted me, The Ruminots, Rosas, Fransisco de la Torre, The Reyes Moya Family, and all of the Ferreiras were all there! It was awesome catching up and oh man it was like seeing best friends after a very long time. I love those people so much and I am sure that our friendships will last into the eternities.

I am excited for Christmas and really enjoying the meaning of it more than I ever have before. It will be very spiritual I am sure.

We are having a huge Christmas activity as missionaries. The ENTIRE mission is heading to Chillan to have a big conference. We expect that something big will happen. We are hoping that we will see a general authority because as rumor has it the Concé temple will begin construction in January and an authority, or an apostle needs to be there to do it. We are hoping that an apostle will come! So just rumor…. Let’s hope it happens.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope this week goes well for all of you! I love you all so much. I miss you all terribly and I love you all so much. May this week be the merriest and jolliest of all!!

 I love parts of the message President Monson Gave some years ago:

In the New Testament of our Lord, John describes a journey by those who would worship.

“And there were certain … among them that came up to worship at the feast:

“The same came therefore to Philip … and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.” (John 12:20–21; italics added.)

Little children have another way of expressing the same wish. Most often they say, “Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear, things I would ask him to tell me if he were here.” They seek after Jesus, and so it has ever been. No search is so universal. No undertaking so richly rewarding. No effort so ennobling. No purpose so divine.…

The formula for finding Jesus has always been and ever will be the same—the earnest and sincere prayer of a humble and pure heart. The prophet Jeremiah counseled, “Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jer.29:13.)

And when we find him, will we be prepared as were the wise men of old to provide gifts from our many treasures? They presented gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These are not the gifts Jesus asks of us. From the treasure of our hearts Jesus asks that we give of us: “Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind.” (D&C64:34.)

In this marvelous dispensation of the fullness of times, our opportunities to give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but they are also perishable. There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved.

Until the next one. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Elder Ethan Haws