Members are the key in missionary work

Dear mom! 

 

I'm so glad that you had a great birthday. Yes you are right, wisdom comes with age. Know that "you are not aging, you increasing in value." I had a shirt that has that quote and it's been stuck with me since then. I was able to get the email grandma Hall send out about grandpa Hall's biography and it brought so much tears to my eyes as I was reading. Grandma Hall was really amazing man and we all are going to miss him so much. 

Well I had really great week. The first few days are kinda of hard but things are going very well now. I think we are going to get along fine with elder Baker. He sounds like he is excited to have me here because his previous companion was rough to to him. From what I heard from Elder Baker his previous comp didn't liked working at all. They spent a lot of time in the apartment because he didn't wanted to go out. I think that is one of the reason why the work is so slow here. So far the lord has blessed me with really great companions who are obedient and hard workers. I am so great full for that. Hard work and obedience is the key in missionary work and even in our everyday life.

I am the senior companion now. Being a senior companion isn't hard at all. There are few responsibilities and I just have to set a good example. One of the privilege you have for being a senior companion is driving. So I've been enjoying driving but driving out here in the city is little scary. This area is way colder than Smyrna. The coldest was -5 digress the week before I got here. It's little warm now but still cold. 

Thank you so much for everything and I hope you will have a wonderful week! 

Love Elder Haws!

 

 

I hope you all had wonderful week. This week has been so wonderful for me. I am loving my new area and comp. I ended up in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. It is such a huge are. It covers three measure towns, about 25 to 35 small towns that are right next to each other and two cities. We have to cover all that by ourselves as for now but I think they are going to split the area in half and put the sister missionaries here. My new companion name is elder Baker and just in case you are wondering..... He can bake too! He has been out for 3 months now. He has lived all over but he moved to Washington with his family right before he came out and that's where his family is living now. Something that I have in common with him is that he is adapted as well. And not to be racist but he is half black. 

Well the work in this are is very slow right now, we have a lot to do. It scared me so bad when elder Baker told me that they usually teach 2 to 4 lessons a week. We have set some goals and trying so hard to improve that. Right now we have about 5 soiled investigators right. One is getting baptized this Saturday. His name is Chris and this man the most prepared person I ever met. He has been investigating the church for about two months now. We were able to teach him three times since I have been here and it's all most like we don't even need to teach him. He knows everything and agrees with everything we say. 

I already love all the members here. They are so wonderful and loves to help out the missionaries. All the investigators we have right now are through the members. We have this lady named sister Dean in the ward and she is just so wonderful and sweet. Oh my goodness, it almost feels like I have known her from pre-earth life. She is a ward missionary and she has been helping us out a ton. She pretty much knows everyone in the ward. Every time we are in the area that we don't know, we gave her a call and she just feels us up with information. 

I had to gave a talk at sacrament meeting yesterday. I talked about my favorite topic which is missionary work and setting goals . Here is a portion of my talk and I hope it helps. Sharing the gospel and serving others is something that the lord expects from all of us. When we were baptized we all promised to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ and that we will always remember him and keep his commandments. The best way we can take his name upon ourselves is by sharing the gospel with others. In D&C 18:28 "The Savior has made it clear that if we desire to take upon us his name, with full purpose of heart, we are called to go into all the world and preach his gospel to every creature". Jesus Christ has also said "If ye love me, feed my sheep. If ye love me, keep my commandments” we show our love to the savior by serving and loving our brothers and sisters. 

I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to be out here and serve others. Being on a mission is the best experience ever. It's been such a great learning experience for me as well. I have been able to learn how to be patient and endure through hardships and challenges. In D&C 24:8 . It says "Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days” I also were able to develop a great skills such us setting goal and working hard. 

Setting a goal is not simply saying I am going to work on this thing. There is more to it than just that, there is steps to be taken. The first step in setting goal is knowing the goal itself and knowing why you want to accomplish that goal. You do that by seeking revelation from Heavenly Father through prayer. Ask your Heavenly Father what would he want you to accomplish. After figuring out your goal, the next step is to write it down and put it somewhere where you can see it everyday. After that figure out what steps are you going to take each day to achieve that goal and work on those steps each day. The next thing is to reflect back and see how you are doing on that goal. If you are doing well keep it up, if not ask someone for help or seek guidance from Heavenly Father. 

If you accomplish your goal, keep up with the good skills you have developed, pick a new goal and start working on it. If you miss your goal, don’t get discouraged; just start again from where you left off. Remember that God will help you succeed if you turn to him with sincere heart. President Uchtdorf said: “God loves you this very day and always. He is not waiting to love you until you have overcome your weaknesses and bad habits. He loves you today with a full understanding of your struggles. … He knows of your remorse for the times you have fallen short or failed. And still He loves you. … He wants you to achieve your destiny—to return to your heavenly home in honor” I know that God will help us in all aspects of our lives if we put him first and do his will. 

I am so sorry for my novel email but I hope you will learn something from it. Something that I learned out here is that the members are the key in missionary work. I hope you all will have an opportunity to share the gospel with others around you. I'm going to leave you with a challenge this week and don't worry it's not a hard one. The challenge for you for this week is for you to get to know the missionaries in your area and pray for them by name. Pray for them that they will be able to find people to teach. 

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. I hope you will have a fantastic week. 

Much love, Elder Mubarek Haws!!!