Week#12: August 29 2016

Hola Todos!

This week was actually pretty tough but it was pretty great at the same time. Elder Baum and I gave an zone instruction at zone training about Spiritual planning. I'm not exactly sure how to apply it to all of you (except for those on missions) except that when we are guided by the Spirit, that is when we are instruments in the hands of God. Alma 29:9

Also this week we found out transfers. Elder Baum is being Transferred and my new companion will be Elder Garcia Cordero. This week we had some pretty cool miracles.

1. We had an adventure driving to an area this week called Mt. Airy. It's about 45 minutes away and there is not a whole lot of work up there. We had a few formers and a solid referral we wanted to meet, but some things fell through. There was a lady up there who was kind of mad that we were knocking some doors and said that it was illegal. My thought though is this. I am so glad that the message we bring is free of charge. That is whats makes proselyting legal in many places. Our price though is not one of this world, but rather a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Because it is true that we ask people to change. That sometimes is a price too much for them, but our job is to show them the light and the truth of our message.

2. Later that day, we met with a man named Giovani who was just a random guy we helped last week. He actually showed up and wanted to learn. It was pretty great. We met with him again on Friday and gave him a church tour. It turns out that he thought we were Catholic for some reason, but now has the desire to read the Book of Mormon and search for himself. Blessings of having a member.

3. Same day, we pass by a house to see if we can meet with a guy named Aldo. He's outside hiding while smoking some weed, but the other man in the house was super cool. His name is Samuel and he was super ready to learn. We didn't have much time, but we gave a copy of the Book of Mormon and left a restoration pamphlet. We set an appointment for Saturday before a baptismal service for our member's son. We came and he has read the pamphlet and a part of the Book of Mormon. He had some basic questions and it was an awesome lesson. He wants to learn and progress. He offered the prayer at the end, and this is his first prayer with us and we haven't talked about it yet, and he offers the most beautiful and sincere prayer I think I have ever heard. Miracle.

I don't have a ton of time this week to keep writing, but these were some really cool experiences I had this week. I love you all and hope that you can keep doing your part in the Lord's service.

Sincerely,

Elder Haynie

I found this chess set at good will, but it confused my camera

selfie at the church

beautiful sky

This is my new planner cover. Faith.

the baptismal service we had

Week #11: August 22 2016

Hola Todos!

This week has been very fast and long. During the week it seemed forever long, but looking back it feels like it all happened yesterday.

Highlights from the week. First off, we had Exchanges again and this time I stayed in the area and Elder Meyer came with me and we had a blast. He can't speak Spanish so basically I was all by my lonesome. The day started off pretty good, but things quickly got changed from what we had planned. There was a man the English elders found who needed a ride but we aren't supposed to give rides. Long story short, later that week we ended up picking him up as a super solid investigator. What a blessing. The rest of the week was a lot less eventful.

Good Stuff!

1. Talk with everyone. This is something I have been working on because it is the thing that scares me the most out here. It is hard to introduce yourself in your own language, but to share the gospel and introduce yourself in a different language is a little stressful. The thing about it is that it really is not as hard as it sounds. I am learning more and more how to talk with people, but the real key is to not be afraid and open thy mouth.

2. Do not Gossip! I didn't realize how harmful this could be until now. It is causing a pretty big rift in the branch. Point being, it doesn't really matter. We can still love them and treat them the same. As a missionary we deal with the worst sort of people. Yet, we are able to love them as Christ would. It is an amazing thing to be sitting with someone and trying to help them come unto Christ.

3. Service does miracles. We were having an interesting day and we missed the bus because it came early. So because of that we decided to contact until the next bus came. as we were about to head to the bus stop again, we walked by a family moving in. We helped them move and they were SOOOOO grateful! I was amazed! We had to continue on so we called the English elders to come and help. Because of that service, that families whole view changed and their hearts were softened.

4. There is no point in complaining. My companion has been sick since I got here. He never complains. He has been this way for almost his whole mission, all but his first two transfers and he is at a year. He also recently rolled his ankle super bad and we walked all day. He didn't say a thing about it. His outlook is a huge example to me. There is no point in complaining about things we cannot change. it is better to keep moving forward with a smile on your face because the Lord has bigger things for you.

This has been a growing week for me. I'm sorry I don't have pictures this week, my camera died at the zoo and the batteries I got don't work well with my camera, but I bought some good rechargeable ones today so next week you all can see my bright shining face with a new haircut, hopefully today! I love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Haynie

Week #10: August 15 2016

Hola Todas! Sean feliz que no estan aqui!

Yeah as you could probably tell, we had a way hot week. Saturday we walked all day and the High was 113. It also is about 900000% humidity! (Actually because it was so hot, the relative humidity was probably pretty low even though the air was wet)

As far as business goes, this next transferish we may get ipads. They have not announced anything, but we got some things we had to read about using technology and we are having some general authorities come. Maybe, maybe not, but I will keep it posted.

Also exciting, we are teaching a man named Gregorio who is super close to having a baptismal date. It is truly wonderful to see the gospel working in people's lives.

The good stuff!

1. This week was not the most productive work because of the heat. We tend to talk to people who are enjoying their evenings but it was just too hot for people to be outside and not very many people let us in. There are two lessons learned from this. First, endure to the end. Though our days were long and the heat was intense, we did the work we needed to do. And by the end, we got the reward of driving down to Damascus to teach Gregorio. Second, the few people we did talk to needed to hear our message. We were needed that day at that specific time to bless their lives.

2. Members are the key to missionary work. We had a super rough week last week because no members kept their commitments. However this week, we had a super productive use of members. When our members came with us, we had much greater success. An example of this is the fact that we were able to get in to a home that normally would have just said there's no man in the home, but we had a male member with us. Also, we had lots of success with a less active named Rene. He related with our member very well. His big issue is that he has bad friends, and having a member there to be his friend was crazy helpful.

3. We are all family. This is super easy to see when you see the interaction of our Spanish Branch. One of the Sisters' investigators named Carmen invited three or so families to come over and eat after church. They then in turn invited Gregorio and us Elders to join. It was great food and just a wonderful feeling of fellowship. We had to leave early, but the Sisters told us that Gregorio basically shared his testimony of the importance of church. Great miracles!

4. We had New Trainee/Trainer meeting this week and just one of the things President Christiansen said was that Exact Obedience brings the Gift of Discernment and that the Gift of Discernment brings Miracles. I think this is true as a servant of the Lord. We are blessed when we are obedient, but we are missing the key gift required to be able to help bring souls to salvation. We cannot know how to help people without this gift. Though in many instances we may see miracles from being exactly obedient, the greater gift is the Gift of Discernment, of being able to know a person as God knows them.

Do not be lousy members! Help the missionaries. Also though, remember that you do have lives to care for. Lift where you stand. That means do not try to do it all, but give what service you are able.

Be a Missionary. Do not be afraid to share the joy that this wonderful gospel brings. It is hard, yes, but you only have to sweat for a conversation. We may have to work and sweat every day, but every time that you invite your friends, that reduces many hours I do not have to. Member help is the strongest help a missionary can receive. The success of missionary work comes when we as members are willing to open our mouths.

I love you all and am grateful for your prayers.

Sincerely,

Elder Haynie

Also we went to the Zoo today!

After the trainee meeting

Random balloon we found

Zoo pictures!!

Week #9: August 8 2016

Hola Todos!

 First and foremost, my apartment number is 103. I realize that I forgot that so hopefully none of you sent anything this past week. Also, something I keep forgetting to write about, but is kind of cool. So, on July 1, our mission boundaries were changed and we lost the Annapolis stake but we gained two other stakes form the Pittsburg Mission. Jared might find that pretty cool!

Highlights from this week:

Well, I had my first exchange on Wednesday-Thursday morning. Then we went and did some emergency service for the Catholic school who needed help loading desks and chairs which was to be sent to West Virginia because of flooding there. Then after I get back from my Exchange, I find out that one of my companions is being Intermediately Transferred to Lancaster. Apparently, an elder there went home and Elder Skarda was sent up there to replace them. Friday, we went and did service that we do every other week and cleaned the floor of this homeless kitchen called Frederick Rescue. We went to the Temple on Saturday for our 6 month Temple trip. It is very beautiful there. We went to the Spanish session with most of our branch who went down to support Karen Gemio who was receiving her endowments as she leaves for her mission tomorrow. All in all a very interesting week.

Things I learned this week

1. The Lord does not bless until after the trial of our faith. This week we had almost none of our scheduled appointments work out. Also, all of the members that said they could go with us could not actually go. We had a very rough week, but yesterday we did get some comfort. We found a highly potential investigator named Ruth. We also talked to a man named Melvin who seemed very interested. Though we will likely have to refer these two to other companionships, I am happy to serve.

2. The key to being effective is to always remember that your time is the Lord's. I went on exchanges this week with my district leader Elder Wadsworth. He is actually orriginally from the PA mission. The thing that I liked about the experience was that he always had the priorities correct. we could be talking and suddenly he would change subjects because we were about to reach an appointment.

3. We are answers to people's prayers. Also on exchanges, we were on our way to visit a family in the ward but we stopped to talk to a lady named Katie. She was sitting on her step and we just started talking. She felt lost in her life but that God was there. We taught her the restoration and she was super excited. She said she had prayed for help and we came and gave her what she needed.

4. The priesthood is both real and has power to bless lives. Also on that same day, I had the opportunity to give a blessing. She was preparing to go into surgery and she wanted comfort. It was a really neat experience because apparently she was blessed with exactly what she needed. I am grateful to know that blessings really do come from God.

This week has been pretty amazing.

Sincerely,

Elder Haynie

P.S. I will get better about pictures

These were the Elders from my CCM district

This is my first Sunday in Frederick. We had a baptism that day! His name is Jaime.

This is just a little puzzle we were working on during lunch one day

I didn't have time to take a good picture, this is as we were driving out

Week #8: August 1 2016

Hola todos!

This week has been a way fun adventure! Concerning the weather, it is sooooooooo hot and humid. It actually cooled down a hair to about 90's and 100% humidity but it was in the 100's. A few items of business: 1, I do not get an ipad, apparently though my call packet says I would, this is not an Ipad mission. 2, for my parents, I do not need to buy a bike because there is one here I can borrow at least for a little while. 3. My address is 5900 Howard Farm Ln.           Fredrick, MD 21703.

This week was way fun and hard! We got bus passes because we trade off the car with the sisters every other day. Remember, our branch covers most of the stake. So that has been fun. Actually this week was kind of rough because a lot of people canceled and the people that were supposed to come to church didn't but all is well. On Saturday, we went to a branch activity, you have to go if you are in a Spanish branch otherwise they will be SUPER offended and...No es bien...Anyway it was great and then it poured on us and we got soaked. We played some vollyball in a circle and then left for an appointment. All of our appointments cancelled, it then poured on us again, we barely missed the bus and it did not stop, we stood some more in the rain, finally got some dinner, our phone broke and finally got a ride back home. It was a long and interesting day.

I learned quite a bit this week

1. We all gain testimonies for ourselves. Alma 5:44-48 I think. It is the same for everyone and it is a beautiful test of faith.

2. Don't judge a book by it's cover and also the Lord puts you where you need to be. We had another lesson with Pedro and he was much more sincere to learn. However, he does have a little bit of a disability because he has a little bit of short term memory loss or something. However, his sister that stood in for the lesson has quite a bit of potential. Also, the same thing happened with a guy named Marcos who initially appeared to have a lot of potential, but we taught the restoration and it turns out his roommate has a lot of potential. elder Baum had a strong feeling to visit Marcos and I am so glad we followed that inspiration.

3. When we teach teach simply and with power. Our mission leader is a great missionary. He knows how to teach to needs and to emphasize the important points. He does not have to go in depth, but simple and understandable.

4. The Power of the Holy Spirit is real. We had a street lesson that probably will not go anywhere, but when we shared the first vision, there was no denying the truth of it.

5. The power of Satan is real. I am frustrated by this one, but it is evident. Every time we are about to share something powerful, there is some distraction. It is like there is literally a force trying to stop the work of God. I am comforted though that even with this, the power of God is manifest, and that every time it happens, which is frequent, I know that we are doing right.

6. The basics to gaining a testimony are to read the Book of Mormon, pray, and attend church. It is simple, but it is evident that the world is fighting against the work because of all things we can ask people to do, they feel like they can't do these. But I know that if we do these things we will gain a testimony that Jesus Christ lives.

The work moves forward.

Sincerely,

Elder Haynie

p.s. I am not sure the next time I will E-mail. Technically today is not preparation day because we are going to the temple this Saturday! Next week we have a weird service thing all day so I might not get back until next Thursday.

Week #7: July 25 2016

Hola Todos!

It sure is great to be here on a mission! I am excited to say that I am in the best mission of the world. (Sorry to break it to you) Our mission motto, Teach repentance and Baptize converts. I am also glad to say that at this rate, I'm going to have the most companions ever on a mission. I am in another trio with two elders, Elder Skarda, and Elder Baum. They are both wonderful guys who are training me well. I am in the city of Frederick and my area covers all but one ward of the stake. The Spanish branch is awesome, and things are going well. Super exciting, we had a baptism this Sunday! His name is Jaime Ventura. He is truly a great guy and has such a strong testimony. We are working with 11 investigators and many less actives. I am still trying to learn everybody's names, but things are going forward.

Funny experience this week, we had a lesson with a guy named Pedro. It was a hand-off lesson from the Hermanas because Pedro kinda had a thing for one of the Hermanas. We met at a buffet and tried to teach but it was super difficult because Pedro has a cleft pallet and was super hard to understand. We will see where he goes as an investigator now that he cannot meet with the Hermanas any more...

Also, a cool experience for me was being able help a less active named Rene. He is a guy that knows what is right, but doesn't want to give up what he is doing. Though, in our last lesson, I was straight with him and was like do you want to be better? If you do what do you need to change? And then we made list of things he said he needed to change. I told him to put it in a place he would see it and that I would check with him every night how he did with his goals. We will see how that goes.

The GOOD STUFF!

1. Don't get stuck in a mindset that the way things are will always be. Do not doubt even before you try. I learned this because I see it a little in my companions who are great, but could be better if they did not have this mindset.

2. Be attentive and punctual. Like I said, my companions know their stuff and are great, but we plan and make goals, but I feel like we are selling ourselves short because we sometimes take too long with something, granted sometimes that is needed, and then we miss out on other opportunities. Basically Good, Better, Best. My companions are better than many others, but I think we can improve still to be the Best we can be.

3.Don't be afraid to open your mouth. Of the time I had the greatest success, it was when I just talked to all that I could. It also is a bit more difficult in Spanish because I am not the best at speaking or understanding.

I don't have a lot of learning points this week because most of it is applied. Also, I just did not have a whole lot of time just to think and write in my journal. Hopefully I will have more next week.

I love you all,

Elder Haynie

Week #6: July 13 2016

¡Hola todos!

This eek seems a lot shorter because they moved p-day to today. This is my last week and I am very excited to be going to the field. I am scheduled to leave at like 7:30 on tuesday, which means we leave the CCM at 4:30. this is AM... Just a thought, Elder Bench told me to try using shampoo on the shirt collars. If it works, spread the word!

The good stuff!

1. I've been thinking about things I want in my future family, and I made a list of goals to make it possible. My thought is that as I am aligning myself more with God's will, certain things are becoming more important to me.

2. When we repent we need to be willing to do as King Lamoni (father) did. He was willing to give his sins. To me there are two essential parts to that. first, we need to be willing to give them up. When we sin we place our sins as having value, and we need to treat it like we are giving up our sins for the Pearl of Great Price. Second, we are giving our sins and their burden to Christ through His Atonement.

3. I was watching some Elders play basketball after I had finished playing with the Latinos(Which by the way was way fun! None of them were super great, and they really didn't know the rules all that well, but they were there just to play and have fun. It was very relaxing) Anyway, the american elders were playing a game of 5 v 5 and most of these guys had played in high school. I was amazed at the teamwork and the ability to have healthy competition. I think this was the result of two main things. First, as missionaries, we don't keep score so the game does not matter if it is won. Second, the Spirit that we have is a constant reminder of who we are and of the focus of the important things in life.

4. The Atonement leaves no traces, no Tracks...What it heals stays healed. I was really impressed by this quote because it shows the power of it. I also think it is interesting that Christ is the only one with scars on His resurrected body, and he has at least 8.

5. I am grateful for personal revelation and the ability to be prepared to hear specific answers to my prayers. It seems like every address we have answers something I have been searching for.

To my dad, you should look up D&C 132:5. Add it to your references of obedience, i.e. D&C 82:10.

My last thought is that we all make a goal to be as obedient as we possibly can.

¿Cómo se dice "chair"?

SEEYA

(for all the non-spanish speaking folk chair is silla and the double ll makes a yuh sound.)

Love,

Elder Haynie

Week #5: July 8 2016

¡Hola Todos!

This week has been FOREVER Long! I think that was mainly due to the fact that they changed our schedule like crazy and made p-day a different day. Speaking of which, my next and last preparation day in the CCM is next Wednesday! Things are really moving forward here and the work is going great! I am learning everyday how to be a better servant of Christ and am anticipating the field.

Some more of business items. Please send my letters to Nathan Beaver. AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOLANGIE! I hope you had a great day!

To my Family

I am so glad that you were all able to get together. I'm sorry that life is busy, but I've learned here that the day is actually easier that way. I'm glad things are progressing as a business and that you are able to stay on top of things even if it is crazy. Just a small request, do you think that you could send pictures? Those are the best. They speak more than the words do and it gives me comfort to see your smiling faces.

The GOOD STUFF!

1. It was wonderful to go to the temple this week and I have been thinking a lot about the Fall. I can testify that it truly was for a wise purpose that it happened that way and that I am so grateful for them.

2. We must be humble to receive God's help. I think this one is pretty cool because the more I have felt that I've needed His help, the more I've been humbled to realize I need it and I have received it, but only while I was humble.

3. A thought on my experience when asking to know if the Book of Mormon was true. A while back, and every time since, when I finished the Book of Mormon I took Moroni´s challenge. The experience I had was disappointing at first. There was no change in me. At first I thought it was because I had already know it was true all along. However, I think that I understand it more now. There did not need to be a change of heart because my heart was changed. I didn't need a different confirmation because I know with every fiber of my being that it is without a doubt true.

4. Being in a trio can be hard, but when we all feel the guidance of the Spirit, it is like having the mouth of 4 witnesses. VERY POWERFUL

5. Picture in your mind the finger of God touching the stones prepared by the Brother of Jared. Then think of this quote "Touch the lives of those you teach. Be the finger of God. Let them have the Faith to Change." -- Elder Bench 

He was showing me his little drawing book and it had a drawing and that quote.INSPIRATION

6. An Awesome word in Spanish acomedido-- helpful, obliging, solicitous, generous, attentive, courtious, Doing without being urged. This is a word that describes how missionaries should be!

7. When you get an impression, follow it in Faith without a doubt. I had an impression that I followed. I don't know why or if anything will come of it, but I have the comfort to know that I acted.

I love you all! Keep up the good work!

Sincerely,

Elder Haynie