Week #54 June 19 2017

Hola Todos!

We had transfers this week and.............! I am staying! Elder Patience is also staying! This week we had a really rough week. I will admit, it really was a great week, but some things felt like there was opposition in all the world. Monday we actually had a pretty great day, though all the plans we had fell through except for the last part in the which after some patience, we were able to teach Frank(He is hispanic) and his two sons. It was actually a pretty awesome lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It felt very naturally to teach in that setting for some reason. Tuesday, we met with a man named Guido who was stoked to learn and have a discussion about the Restoration, but, he had not read like he said and was very adamant that he read before so that he would be prepared. That was fine by us and very cool! We had an awesome mission conference with Elder Brent Neilson. Some cool thoughts were that Elder Bednar and Elder Oaks both wake up 4:30, Exercise and then study the scriptures. That is pretty impressive. As well, I also learned many other important things that pertain mainly to the missionary work. Then came Saturday, We had an awesome lunch with a member, but we had many appointments and they all fell through. Then, we had issues for setting up the branch activity afterwards, as well as other people going to the hospital all of the sudden. All in all, it felt like the world fell down on us. The good thing though was that we did have a successful baptismal interview. The activity turned out pretty well. Then came Sunday. Our investigator to be baptized next week was not at church because someone else went to the hospital as well. Then, we got cool ties for Father's day! We drove to York for dinner with our Branch President. We came back and then had a super awesome miracle! We were trying to find a referral and we get there after driving 45 minutes and the address doesn't exist, as well as we are in the middle of the country with no Hispanics in sight. We knock some doors and have no success. We go back to the car and find out that we needed a space in the street name and made way more sense. We decided though that we had to be there for a reason so we decided to knock one final door. We drive to it, and as we pull up, there is a car sitting in front of us who turns on and starts moving. That was really freaky and startling. It turns out there is a young lady that was looking for a job at the place we had decided to knock, and they thought we were the owners pulling in because they weren't home. We were able to share the message of the Restoration briefly with her and she was very excited to learn more. It was neat to see how we were guided exactly to the right place at the right time to find this child of God. Especially in an area (it was a referral for the English Sisters) that has not been able to find anybody in a while. Long story short, it was a long week, but we were very blessed. I am grateful for all the love and prayers!

Sincerely,

Elder Haynie

$4 shoes that are like new!

Pants from my companion!

The best ribs in the world!

Week #53 June 12 2017

Hola Todos!

This week was sort of crazy! We started of the week strong, then went straight into district meeting on Tuesday followed by an exchange with the Zone Leaders. I went into Lititz for the day and my companion stayed in our area. (The secret is that I really never left my area because Spanish speaking missionaries cover everywhere!) we had a really good exchange and I learned lots! We taught two different people named Tim, one that I had found the last transfer while on an exchange. It was interesting to see how much he had progressed since the last time that I had visited with them. Sometimes when we teach, we really have to slow things down for people to be able to understand what the message is, and other people are a lot more able to comprehend what we are saying. A lot of it has to do with their desire and willingness to listen. Some people are brick walls while others thirst for what we have to share. Earlier on that exchange, we taught the other Tim, and it was interesting to see how much different he was to teach. This Tim was a history professor who had gone through a stroke. He knew his stuff for sure, but also was humbled to be able to listen. At first, we just answered questions, but as the lesson began, then questions slowed and he was able to follow surprisingly well. It was neat to see really when the Spirit hit him because the questions, these were sort of aggressive type questions, stopped and he seemed stunned in a way. I think it is interesting how key the Spirit really is to everything that we do as missionaries. We really are just crazy young people without it. The rest of the week was pretty interesting. We had a few days where we did all we could, we followed and adjusted our plans, and still nothing. But it is cool to note that we were still able to exceed the standard of excellence and have great success. All in all, the work goes on and I am grateful to be here.

Sincerely,

Elder Haynie

Week #52 June 5 2017

Hola! This week was another great week here in Lancaster PA! We are teaching like crazy up here! This week we had a pretty normal week, but it was very full. I think the interesting thing was the way that it was made busy this week. I have a hard time finding what to write because I have seen a lot of different things happen, and it is quite hard to figure out which happened this week and which did not. I will say that I wake up a lot happier if I get a slight bit extra sleep. This week we had a nice wide spectrum of just about everybody. We had people that were very awesome and excited to learn, we had those who did not want to listen to us at all, We had those who wanted to listen to us but didn't hear anything we said as we later passed and he was drinking and said today I do bad... We had those that we taught they smiled, but understood nothing. Then there were those nice tender moments of miracle where they said "I finally have the tools in my hands to follow God" It was definitely fun. Some highlights were the fact that Hno. Guerrero decided to invite all of his friends to hear the gospel. He wants the branch to be strong, and he wants to be able to say at the end that he did his part to give them the opportunity to hear.Because of that our week was full of him sharing his testimony with his friends and it was a beautiful thing. I feel like the real joy in sharing the gospel comes from doing it with those that you love the most. That was really the coolest thing this week. I just can't help thinking of all my friends and imagining what would happen if I did share the gospel with them? Don't I love them? And if they love me yet still don't want the message, then won't they respect that as well? I can't think of anything happier then inviting someone that you love, a friend, a family member, to enjoy what makes you truly happy. I just feel like I want to share with everybody, especially all of those that I know whom I am friends with. All in all, I feel the need to share and do what I can to bring this joy to the lives of others!

Sincerely,

Elder Haynie