Just lovin' my mission!!

Moloweni Family!!!

Thanks for the shortest email EVER!!! haha jk. man, I WISH I coulda been there in Logan for Thanksgiving!! I for sure was thinking about you guys!!   I FINALLY attached some pictures

On my left the COOLEST MOST AWESOME bishop ever!!

Well, another good week here in East London, doin' missionary work!! we had interviews with the one and only PRESIDENT PROBST!! that man is absolutely unbelievable. I’m not sure how one man can be so smart and knowledgeable of the gospel and teach with so much power. Wow. Our interview was great. he answered all my questions and I could tell he really cared about me, and like he does with every missionary at the end of an interview or a meeting, he says in his low powerful voice, "well, we love you and we pray for you, keep doin' what you're doing." haha every time he says that!

Thanksgiving Feast!!

This week I went on exchanges with the infamous Elder Moorcroft!! He is awesome, and we had an absolute BLAST together! He taught me lots and lots of things.

On Thursday it was Thanksgiving!! We all went over to the senior couples house and had a small "feast". Defiantly wasn’t close to a real Thanksgiving feast!! I was kinda missin' home a lot that day, but i was alright!! Elder Larrabee and i had a feast that night, pasta with meat and some cool drink and pudding!!

Sister Peggy, the like 90 year old STUD, who has had missionaries over for 56 years, has cancer :( she coulda gone in for surgery last Friday, but postponed it for this Wednesday, so that she could feed us on Monday and play Phase 10 with us. She is an amazing lady. She is in amazing shape, and knows she'll be just fine after the surgery. We went over and helped put up her mini Christmas tree and hung out with her. She made us South African pancakes. It’s like watered down pancake mix..So the pancakes are thin, then you put brown sugar on them, then butter on the inside and roll them into what looks like a burrito, then add some more brown sugar..sooooo unhealthy, but soooo GOOD!! Haha

On Friday, we had district meeting and then afterwards we're supposed to get post, but i guess they sent our post to the wrong place...Namibia!!! Shame! We got some of their mail. so no post this week :( well, i guess that means that this Friday is gonna be great! haha. After district meeting, we all went out to eat and then Elder Larrabee and i went tracting and no one was home. then we walked all the way across town to our appointment and they weren’t there. then we decided to check some people, and they weren’t home, and to add on top of that, it decided to rain, and I mean African rain! Haha, but we survived!!



Big group of all our fellow shippers!!!

We visited some less actives this week. this one lady hadn’t been to church for a long time cuz she got offended and wasn’t married and had some other concerns, but after talking with her for awhile, she put her head in her pillow and said "I miss my church." we planned to visit her again this week with the relief society president, and we're doing some service for her. We also had 2 other less actives come to church yesterday! AND a investigator that I really hoped would come, came to church! Yes!

Volanda, the lady getting baptized on the 12th of December, got interviewed by bishop and afterwards he had a BIG smile and gave us thumbs up! I love teaching her, but yohhhh,t he kid is CRAZY! haha sooo distracting during the lessons.

The weather here is pretty warm. Especially in the morning, but then sometimes it rains in the evening! One night there was a lighting storm that was pretty cool.

Just lovin' my mission!!  Miss you all!

ek is lief vir jou (afrikans) 
ndiya ku thanda (Xhosa)

Elder Haws

My monkey friends

My 1st comp, Elder Aires

  



Elder Larrabee and I

   


Our boarding was getting painted, so everything was a messsss. HECKTIC!!!

  

Elder Moorcroft in my bed!



Serving a mission is FUN!!

HEY!!

Man, I really look forward to 2 moments during the week, Fridays when we get mail, and Mondays when I can email my FAMILY!!  Yeahh, Xhosa has the clicking. I’ve been practicing and learning a few of the simple greetings...there are other areas in the mission where they speak Xhosa more, so I’ll learn it more when I go there.

If the Taylors sent a package a month ago, and I haven’t got it yet, do you think I’ve gotten yours yet?! haha nope, haven’t got it. and yeah I told you I got a haircut.and my shoes are fantastic!! Working great! and I think the phone call is 30-40 minutes. sorry I forgot my sim card today :( no pictures. good question about Adam, I dont know who baptized him.

This week was pretty good. Our numbers weren’t very good, like teaching lessons with a member present and finding new investigators, but overall it was good. Most of our fellow shippers are writing exams, so they couldn’t come with us. We have been doing a TON of walking. Dang. We have been focusing on checking/visiting less active members. You gotta be careful with them, cuz normally there's a reason why they stopped coming to church, so you gotta be careful with them find out why. We played dodge ball last P-Day, that was fun. It was cool to have Sonwabile come out fellowshipping with us, cuz he recently was baptized. I really like teaching recent converts, cuz they're so excited about the gospel, and I LOVE teaching about the temple, eternal marriage, the priesthood, etc. it’s fun!!

We have a baptism coming up on the 12th of December. I really like my companion. I guess you could say Elder Aires and I didn’t have that much in common. Elder Larrabee and I talk about all kinds of things, mostly sports and music. The other night we stayed up kinda late just singing some of our favorite songs from back home. When we walk around the area, we tell each other stories about high school and girls and stuff! haha we for sure have a good time, but also we discuss how we can be better missionaries and how to help our investigators. One thing that I’ve realized on mission is that we do a lot of PLANNING, but it’s good.

Alright, so on Friday night, we planned to just meet the other elders, who we share the car with, at our DA. But we get a phone call and they locked the keys of the car in the boot!!! They work like 20 minutes away from us, and it was night time. So they had to call the zone leaders and they came to get them, and came to get us after we ate dinner. So to make a long story short, ALL 7 of us missionaries plus a fellow shipper had to CRAM into a car only made for 5. Elder Moorcroft is such a goof ball, I can’t explain it, but anyways, he pulled me aside while everyone was getting in the car to distract me...so that I HAD TO SIT ON HIS LAP!!!!!!! Oh my gosh...longest car ride EVER!!!! hahaha everyone was making jokes and stuff..ha, FUN times!

We were at a KFC drive through, and he was totally messing with the people working there!! Haha  The other night the zone leaders drove us home and Elder Moorcroft drove past these 3 people standing on the side of the road, then sped off...then turned the car around, leaned his seat wayyyy back, put sunglasses on, then drove BACK by the same people, going slow, then sped off!!!!! hahahah oh my goodness, we were all DIEING laughing!! hahah oh man, you had to be there!! See, missionary work can be hard and stressful and we have many disappointments, but its times like those that keep us going! Serving a mission is FUN!!

Well, I am really enjoying my time here in South Africa. My testimony has grown a lot and my knowledge of the gospel has grown, and will continue to grow! I look forward every morning to just dive into the scriptures for a whole entire hour, then study with my companion for another hour. The church is true, and the book is blue. I have an interview with President Probst tomorrow!!! I’m excited, but nervous at the same time! haha

I love you and miss you guys!! Hope you have a super week. Thanks for all your love and support. TALK to you kinda soon.

Lots of LOVE,
Elder Haws

This is a baptizing mission!

Hi.

Hope you all had a good week! Thanks for sending me a package!! I can’t wait to get it! I’ll let you know. Send me a picture of the JAZZ uniforms! I live in Baysville, near Greggs street...like 13 Tiddy Cres Court or something like that. We work in Southernwood, near Skyview. The church stays in Belgravia...take Oxford Street to St Luke’s, and it’s at the end of that road, you maybe you can see it on Google. My MSF has covered all my costs so far...but eventually I'll buy some cool things from AFRICA. Sorry, I’m not sending a package home :( next year for sure. I'll just send you my love! And I guess the best present you'll get on Christmas is hearing my beautiful voice! and thanks for paying for the call ;) hahaha I don’t have any clue how its gonna work.  Sometime in the future, could you send a 2G memory card for me? The one for the camera right now is only 1G... we're gonna take some cool pictures this week, so NEXT week I'll send a lot!

Well, ready for the transfer news.....I’m staying in East London!! Elder Aires is outta here...went to Cape Town! the way the transfers go is one of the AP's (assistant to president) calls the companionship in the morning and delivers the news! My new companion is Elder Larrabee, from Kaysville UT. He's been out almost 8 months and just came from Sada, where they mostly speak Xhosa. He can speak it pretty well. So far, we get along great!! We talk sports and about all kinds of things. So now that Elder Aires is gone, I’m the only one who knows the ward/area/investigators in the area..So it makes me feel smart / important! haha I’m pretty much in charge! I’m the BOSS. haha…. But I do feel more responsibility, but that’s alright. When we go to appointments, I do most of the talking, cuz obviously I know the investigator and stuff...its kinda fun! cuz normally Elder Aires did that, but now it’s me! I’m in charge of the phone now too.

Oh my goodness, last week before transfers, I took my driving test with the ZL's! WOW! I was super nervous. I was driving with 3 other elders. (the ZL's and my comp) the ZL's are SO funny and like to mess with new missionaries. So they like recorded me on camera when I started and like my face got all red and they were giving me such a hard time about EVERY little thing! hahahahah I was waiting at a stop light, and they put the car in neutral when I wasn’t looking, and I was just sitting there revving the engine until I realized what they did. While I was driving, one of the AP's called them and Elder Moorcroft was telling him how mad of a driver I was and stuff. They said that would be the last day I would ever drive on mission! hahaha. oh my gosh, I wish I could explain all the funny stuff they said, man, you shoulda been there!!! My cheeks hurt from smiling too much!! hahah. It was an automatic, but still, driving with the steering wheel on the right side of the car and then driving on the left side of the road, in freakin South Africa where there are crazy taxi drivers, people running in the street, etc; let’s just say it was kinda FUN!! It actually wasn’t as bad as I thought!

I have to admit, I think I’m starting to get in missionary mode. Elder Aires said the other night while I was sleeping, I got on my knees and started praying and invited him to join me! hahaha some missionaries have taught entire lessons in their sleep! ha!

Last week in the Cape Town mission, we had 34 baptisms and 21 confirmations! whoot whoot! haha. This is a baptizing mission!

Good luck and work hard Daddy!! Mommy, how is work going?! cleanin' those teeth! Don’t worry, I brush super good morning and night, and occasionally floss!

Well, I’m outta time! Love you LOTS!! Miss you!!!    Have a fantastic weeek!

Love,
Elder Haws

Thanks for your love and support.

SUP family!!

We don’t have daylight savings here. I still haven’t gotten my hair cut yet...but I will today!! It needs it, bad! It’s out of control haha. I just use a bar of normal hand/body soap to wash my face, it works alright. no complaints. Too bad Westview is struggling. I don’t need shorts; I got some from a dude in the MTC. Hope you guys had a good week! I was thinking about how the missionary moment went........ I’m sure it was good!

I think I've lost some weight, but our scale isn’t exactly accurate. Most mornings I normally stretch and work out a little bit, but when you walk all day every day, you get tired, so I normally don’t work out a ton, push-ups and sit-ups, etc. That’s cool about the priesthood line of authority. Sure I’d love a copy of it. I'll send some pictures next week, probably. This week wasn’t very exciting at all, but it still was a good week in here. We taught a good amount of lessons and did some tracting and found some new investigators. No cool stories to share or anything, sorry.

This Sunday Sonwabile got baptized!! He was so ready, also Khayakazi and Zinzie got confirmed, and us missionaries got to participate in that, so that was awesome.

This is the end of my 1st transfer!! so on Thursday I’ll either say here with Elder Aires and things will stay the same, OR I’ll get transferred somewhere else and get trained by another elder for a transfer. You are in training for your first 2 transfers. Another possibility is for Elder Aires to move to a different area and I’d get a new comp. That would be kinda stressful on me, cuz I don't know the area and our investigators and stuff, but I’m up for the challenge! All the other elders have said that President Probst is always unpredictable...so you never know what will happen. but we'll find out soon and I’ll of course let you know what happens.

My click day is tomorrow...2 months on mission!!! it’s weird to think that missionaries who learn another language would still be in the MTC for another month...and I’ve already been out for an entire transfer.

I see so much poverty in this area, and I wish I could help them out somehow. People digging in trash cans, going and teaching people in super small houses where I don’t know how they can live in something like that, going to DA's where the mom and kids (no father) sit and watch you eat and probably know that they have saved up money and sacrificed a lot to feed us. but I like this quote, "You can’t do everything for everyone everywhere, but you can do something for someone somewhere."

Missionary work can be hard at times and days can seem like they last forever and that you work so hard all day and have no success, but you just can’t get discouraged. That can be hard sometimes, but so far I’ve kept my spirits up and trying to make the work FUN!! :)

Miss you!! Have a fantastic week! Thanks for your love and support.

LOVE,
Elder Haws

Molo from East London! (Molo means hello)

I totally forgot it was Halloween! I was trying not to think about how much fun everyone was having at the Howl! Things are going well. You guys looked good for the trunk or treat! and when I meant pictures, I meant send me pictures please, I cant print them out. the other books in the set are true to the faith (I have that) and our heritage, and another one I think. its the missionary library...so those are the only books we're allowed to read.
Grandma said she was sending me a letter every Friday...but I haven't gotten any. I don't mind, I just hope shes not sending them all to the MTC still.  and make sure that you tell aunt Julie I'm getting her letters, and that I LOVE them, I just haven't had time to write her (or anyone) back...but I will!!

Ohh my goodness, tell the Laurels THANK YOU!!! I LOVED that awesome package they sent! totally made my day! and tell sister Hatch about my blog cuz she was asking me some questions...

You wont believe this...I haven't cut my hair in 5 weeks!!!!! it is sooo long, but not really.

Lets see, what happened this week.....well, I went on exchanges with Elder Fozard, he's from England. he's super cool. we had some other elders over till like midnight and then me and him stayed up till 3AM!! don't tell president! we talked about all kinds of stuff! it was fun. I thought we weren't gonna have a productive day, but it was the total opposite! it was pretty much the best day on mission! he was fun to work with and we taught 6 lessons, that's a full day. this one guy we talked to for like almost 2 hours. you could totally tell that he was prepared by the Lord for us. he survived 2 car crashes and knew that God spared his life for a reason. he said he was looking for a church, and that 19 years ago he met with missionaries and was about to get baptized, but he didn't. he didn't remember anything they taught, so we taught the restoration and the Book of Mormon and gave him a baptismal date and stuff, it was great. we also ran into a lady that Elder Fozard taught a few months ago and she wants to get baptized, but just needs to know that its true. then we went and visited the 2 girls that were getting baptized and taught them. and our DA that night was delicious.

The next day it was back with Elder Aires and we just went and hit the pavement, knocking doors and teaching people the Doctrine of Christ. we found some great investigators and have appointments with them this week, hopefully they keep their commitments!

The rest of the week went well. but this weekend was General Conference!! wow, soo powerful!! I loved each and every talk so much, and cant wait to get the Liahona and study each talk in detail! I thought it was cool when during the priesthood session Elder Nelson asked all the missionaries to stand up! ha. and I actually saw a person I knew who was singing in the MTC choir during the session.

This weekend we also had 2 baptisms! Zinzie and Khayakazi! those girls are awesome. the spirit defiantly was there and it was for sure a special day for them. it was sad, cuz Zinzie didn't have any family there, and Khayakazi only had her mom and sister. seeing those girls faces after they came up out of the water was priceless. then they got changed and bore their testimonies. wow. it was great. that's what missionary work is all about. all the hard work, planning, walking in the rain to see them for our appointments was worth it. and it gets better, Sonwabile gets baptized this week! he really wanted me to baptize him, but we are instructed to have one of the members of the ward baptize them, cuz us missionaries leave after a few weeks, but the person from the ward most likely will stay in the ward with them and watch them learn and progress.

I saw something sad this week. we were walking down the street and I looked over to the other side of the street and there was a fight. these kids had to be like 10 years old. this big Afrikaner was punching this smaller African, and some friends were standing around them. the big white boy won, and just walked away while the other guy just sat there on the ground and started crying and wiping the blood from his face. it was sad. but that's just how it is here. you gotta be tough.

One of our fellow-shippers that comes out with us recently got a job at the cinema. he gets paid 14 Rand an hour...that's just a little bit under 2 bucks an hour back in the states. sure, things are a little bit cheaper here, but still, that's not very much.

Well, next week is transfers! I dont know if I'll stay here, or be transfered. all the elders say you never know what President Probst is gonna do!  My click day is on the 9th...so that will be 2 months on mission! but I've been out in the field for a month! im not gonna lie, it sometimes can seem a lot longer than that! but then other times it seems to have gone by fast.

I love you!!! thanks for all your love, prayers and support!!

Elder Haws