ndiyaluthanda usapho lwam kakhulu.

Hey Family,

Thanks for the email. Which picture did you send in to that TV station?! Thats cool. but sorry, no one to write letters to over here. Yeah, Elder McDonald is in Namibia and I'd love that CD with good missionary music on it! That would be nice. Dad, you're a stud at editing! Sweet pic of the SD temple. I'll be honest, being transfered would be nice, but I'm fine if I have to stay! Last p-day we went to the driving range again, and took some pictures by the beach.

I'm not gonna lie, this week was tough. We had 3 days that just everything went wrong. Dropped appointments, dropped fellowshippers, and to make things even worse and more miserable, it was fetching cold and super windy! man, We froze. Elder Grow was frusturated and done with the area. For some reason, I'm upbeat and stuff. he's fine now, but this area can be brutal sometimes. I'm not blaming the past missionaries, but there was an elder who was here for 6 months and hardley did any work and kissed girls and stuff. So the members and bishop dont trust missionaries now, so we're suffering because of that missionary..But it'ts all good! on Saturday we had a baptism! It was nice. I'm not sure why, but Ronals really wanted me to baptize him! I was honored, but boy, the water was freeeezing! That day was super windy! Man, the wind takes a tole on you when you have to walk in it all day. That family, the Nyandoro family, are all recent converts excpet the dad, who works on Sunday, but hopefully he'll get baptized soon. They're from Zimbabwe! I love teaching them.

We had a fun night with bishop the other day. Staheli cooked this good lasagna and we played phase 10..but their daughter was getting fake hair, and she was crying the whole entire time! haha. We had fun!

To make matters worse this week, the wind had a affect on the entire area, and like the power went out, so that was no fun. Did I mention it was cold haha. oh yeah, We were knocking doors, and a guy told us to &%$# off! Not very nice. Yeah, that day we just walked for like 3 hours straight. Man. Good thing Elder Grow is so gosh darn funny. He keeps me going. Same with Elder Staheli...Whenever he picks us up, no matter how late he is, he always just cracks us up and makes us laugh.

Yesterday I taught gospel principles. The lesson was on the sacrament. but it was very cold yesterday, and that meant very few people came to church, so only 2 people were in the class, along with the 3 other missionaries! hahaha. Some members of the ward left for the temple! Lucky ducks! I'm happy they get to go. they only get to go like once or twice a year! I cant wait to come home and go like every day!

Well, I dont have much more to report on. just loving being able to be serving the Lord on a mission.

I cant believe next Monday is July 4th!! We gonna do some fun things. Another thing I cant believe is that president Probst and his wife are going home this week! AHHH!

Hey, do you notice I'm always wearing white pants and a tie in the baptism pictures, yet I never brought any on mission hahaha

Cool scriptures of the week =
1 Nephi 19:9
"And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness  and his long-suffering towards the children of men."

and
Mosiah 28:3
"Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble"

icawa yinyaniso (the church is true)
ndiyaluthanda usapho lwam kakhulu (I love my family very much)

Love,
Elder Haws
P.S. Aunt Julie...you rock!!


Elder Grow and I with East London in the background




The baptism of Ronald...love him and his family



Ronald, Elder Grow, and Me




Just hanging out on P-Day eve





EL MD June 2011



I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!

Hey Family,

How'z it?! Life here in South Africa is perfect! Short, but sweet email. I'm telling you, letters from East London never make it home! All the elders say the same thing. Its better to send them from Cape Town. Thanks, but no thanks about the book. I'll read it when I get back! for sure! Cant think about anything for my package...just surprise me! I guess a mormon tabernacle chior CD would be nice.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY DADDY!!! I thought about you a lot, and hope and pray that you had a fantastic day! You're the best daddy ever. ANYONE CAN BE A FATHER, IT TAKES SOMEONE SPECIAL TO BE A DAD. Amen to that! You're the best.

...Elder Staheli joined the military when he was 17 and served for 2 years on active duty, and has killed 17 people before. Yeah, this guy is legit! haha. So he just took a leave or whatever from the marines and will go back to being a marine when he gets back. I hope that answers your question. But like he was less active before he came on mission, but it kinda wasnt his fault. man, he has some funny funny stories! Like how drill instructors would make fun of and tease wimpy marines! We just die laughing in the car! ah, I love that guy!

This week was zone conference...the last one with the Probsts! It was amazing! President said that in the future all missionary boardings will have DVD players for training purposes....we'll see who the obedient missionaries are, now wont we! haha. and he made us promise something that was VERY deep doctrine...like about the celestial kingdom! I wont say it, but it just blew all of our minds! haha it was sweet. Also, the AP's (assistant to the president) were there. and my former companion...Elder Larrabee is the current AP!! Only the best missionaries are chosen as AP's! man, I love that guy! It was really good to see him! I missed him.

I'm starting to get used to and more comfortable in my new area. this week we walked a boat load, but we worked hard and got some good stats. It was super windy for a few days! One night, it kept me up a little bit. We taught this crazyy old mamma who was soo stubborn and said how she was going to pray for us that we could see the truth and all this other junk. oh well, her loss. Elder Grow was kinda bible bashing with her. man, he was fired up! haha he wants to be a lawyer when he grows up!

I had to go to PEC yesterday morning before church. Since our ward mission leader doesn't come to church, we have to report on who we saw during the week. It was fun. next week I'm teaching gospel principles class..yes! I'm excited.

I dont know if you know this, but here, WWE is super popular!! like John Cena, all those guys! Its kinda weird. all the kids love it, and so do the adults. but last night, we went to teach that family, and WWE was on, and we watched it like for 2 minutes, then a commercial came on, and I asked them to turn it off, but reluctantly they said it would be done in 25 minutes! hahah like that was more important than what we had to share! They just laughed and turned it off, and had a great lesson with the family. The son is getting baptized this Saturday, cuz the rest of the family, minus the dad, are already baptized.

We were playing Phase 10 for FHE with some members, and we learned the word in Xhosa for "you're a cheater" and when we said it, everyone started laughing! haha you say "uligqubusha" (the Q is a click)

But on a serious note, I wasnt going to mention this, but the elders who work in the other ward, close to our area, had a drunk guy pull a gun on them! Yeah, it was scary. soo just dont forget to mention me in your prayers to keep me safe. We try to walk in lighted areas and stuff, but it gets dark starting around 5:30pm, and we need to get to teaching appointments, and our last one is normally at 7pm, so we walk at night. it can be scary, but the work must go on!

Cool scriptures... 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

and
 
Jacob 6:12  "O be wise; what can I say more?"

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!

Talk to you guys next week!
-Elder Haws



Thats Elder Staheli...dressed up like a little school boy, and posing like a model! He's SO funny!

 

Yeah...we freeeze during companion studies haha

 

Doing service as a district.

 

The Nyndoro Family after elder Staheli interviewed Ronald...that baby by Elder Grow is SO cute!

    

Those are bush tents in the background...ouch man!


 

We gonna have some fun this transfer!

Dearest Family

Soo its gonna be harder to get soo many sweet pictures, cuz now that im walking, it can be dangerous to carry a camera around, or take it out when I'm on the streets, but we'll still take pictures. Did you get all 12 of the pics I sent home last week?! Yeah I still lift instead of tract...but sometimes makes me think about how I would do the other kind of lifting back home haha. basically, the back door of the truck swung open and smashed the window of the car...and yeah the other car is automatic, but im not in that area anymore. As a matter of fact, they shuffled up the cars, and it just so happened that the other elders in our ward who always drive us to and from the area, got the exact same car I smashed. haha.

Just overlooking NU14

Oh man, where do I begin with this email. umm, new area! I've adjusted pretty well so far. It's for sure different than my previous areas. and life as a senior companion is fun! haha. Since Elder Grow knows the area and people, he is in charge, but I dont mind at all. I LOVE ELDER GROW! Oh my gosh, this guy is great! Always crackin' jokes...I practically laugh all day, every day! But he is a work horse! He knows when to have fun, and when to work. He's only been out 5 months, but this guy is powerful! such a good elder. We gonna have some fun this transfer!

I'm in the walking area...it is cool. but yessie this place has massive hills! I get back to the boarding and I'm just constantly hungry, but too tired to make anything to eat! haha its a deliema im trying to work out. it was rainy and cold last week, so that wasnt too fun. Now im back to teaching like only 1 or 2 lessons in a day, cuz we dont have a car, and it is super hard to get a fellow-shipper to come with us. and I'm not gonna lie, it can be scary to walk on the streets here at night! dont worry mommy, I'm being safe!

In NU16 on a cold, wet day! shop shop

So our district leader is Elder Staheli...from Nebraska! this chap is a marine! haircut and body type, and all! He's been many places around the world..and you're not gonna believe this...he was in Camp Pendalton!!! small world. Dude, this guy is a total goof ball jokester! He knows how to have fun! like in the grocery store, he was like "hey Elder Grow, your boyfriend called, and he wants you to call him back!" hahahah for like the whole store to hear! and like at church he'll say to the old mammas "ooooooo mamma, you look good today!" hahahaha. and then at like dinner appointments, when the mamma is in the other room, he'll say really loud "HMMMMM mamma!!!" (sounding like he is in pain) then she'll come rushing in like somethings wrong, and elder staheli will just say mamma this food is so good! hahaha this guy is hilarious! hahaha I love it. He caught a crab, and shot it with a blow gun...and he shoots township dogs! hahahah.

He is training a brand new missionary from Kenya. he was going to like switch name tags with me at the airport to mess with the greenie missionary, but we decided not to.

A new term they all say is "fetch" so now I've picked up on it a little bit.

Our boarding is not so good. the landlord's are strict about how much water and electricity we use. dumb. and the boaring stays in the shade all day every day....so its a freakin igloo! no joke! its like always below 60F.. not cool. Elder Grow and I just huddle around the small heater in the morning during comp studies. also, the washing machine dont work...can you say hand washing? I can. and if its rainy and cold, your clothes dont dry.

Yesterday at church we listened to 3, back to back to back, boring talks, all on repentance! hahaha. but before that I got up and bore my testimony, that was sweet.

Mdantsane Zone Training 1June 2011

Cool scripture...Mosiah 18:21

"And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another."


This week is the final zone conference with President and Sister Probst! They go home 1 July, 2011! They will be greatly missed.

Well, time is up! LOVE YOU ALL, SO MUCH!!

-Elder Haws

Yeahh, I survived.....

Dear Family,

Sorry about those pictures last week! I never knew that they didn't go through. I guess that makes this week just that much better! Lots of pictures from Elder Haws! I broke down and decided to buy a 4GB memory card for my camera, cuz my 1GB one filled up. So now I can take lots of pictures!  That is the talk by Elder Holland that I wanted...Good Things to Come thanks.

So here's how the whole African hair works....girls here are only able to grow small little afros. so, every girl here buys fake hair, and they sit down for like hours and have someone like braid it into their hair, and then they have long hair! Does that make sense?

and yeah I stay warm enough here and yeah Spur has American food. We just used some golf clubs from the driving range..they just borrowed them to us.



the before...

 This week was interesting. We got a sweeeet new red car last Monday! Driving it was heavenly! Automatic! On Wednesday we had zone training with President and Sister Probst. It was really good. We watched a talk Elder Holland gave in he MTC and he talked about how missionaries don't study very well, and he recited John 21...when the apostles, after Christ died, thought it was too hard to keep the church going now that He was gone. They thought it was fun while it lasted, so they decided to go back and do what they were good at...fishing. They fished ALL night, and caught nothing. In the morning, a man from the shore asked if they caught anything, and they said no, and they were told to cast their nets on the other side of the boat, and when they did, they brought up SO many fishes that it was a miracle the nets didn't break. Peter jumps into the water and swims to the shore to meet the Savior, and He had made breakfast for them.

Then, Christ tells Peter the classic lines, "Peter, lovest thou me more than these?" "Feed my sheep" and he does that 3 times. We all know the story. And the funny thing is, Peter isn't a fan of 3's (he denied Christ 3 times) but basically Christ is straight up asking Him if he loves Him. And He also makes clear that when you came and followed me, you left your nets forever! There's no going back. That is the moment when Peter became the apostle that people would beg to just be in his shadow, he was so powerful. So Elder Holland related that to us missionaries. When we decided to come and serve a mission, we left our nets forever. Before we watched it, Sister Prosbt asked us to write down all the things we left behind at home...family, friends, school, work, etc. I was amazed at how fast I was able to write them down. But then after listening to Elder Holland, it hit me that I left those things, my nets, and decided to serve a mission. I don't know, I can't really explain it, but it made sense to me, and it was powerful, at least I thought so!

Yoah, President gave some powerful insights...like how we, as missionaries, are heart breakers. We go around and try and crack people's hearts just enough to let the Savior's influence in. And he also changed the word of Tracting, or knocking on doors, to LIFTING! That's what we're here to do. Lift people. So what if they don't let us into their house, or reject us. They're not rejecting us, they're rejecting Him. President talked about the Rule of 7. People need to hear things/be exposed to things 7 times in order to know it. Cool huh?!

Sister Probst talked about how important trust is. Is it more important to be Loved? or Trusted? and trust takes a long time to build and establish, but only a second to take it away.



Yeahh, I survived

 Anyway, now to the thing you guys are probably wondering about! What in the world happened to the car?! Well, I'll tell you. So, Friday after district meeting we had to take the keys to the chapel back to bishop. I was the one driving. We were up by Highway, a truck, that had apparently been robbed while on Highway, sped around the corner, and we saw it, not too far from us, and out of the back of the car, a few things were falling out of it, because obviously it had just been robbed and the doors to the back of the truck were not locked, so they were open. So there was pretty much nothing I could do. It all seemed to happen soo fast. Our car wasn't really moving, and all I think I said was "OH SHOOT" then BANG! It happened just like that! YOAH! It was scary. Don't worry mommy, no one got hurt! But I did have a lap full of shattered glass, and had to spit out some small shards the somehow made it into my mouth.

Remember how this car was brand spankin' new! yeah. bummer.



Check that out!

We pulled over to the side of the road, and so did the other driver, and we exchanged info and stuff. He was cool about it, and not a jerk. We waited there for like half an hour for the police to come, and they showed up and just said, "go to the police station" haha. So we did and sat there and had them fill out all of this paper work that took forever, but eventually they were finished, and we were on our way...but there was one slight problem..our car had a massive hole in the windshield! So I had to make some phone calls to the mission vehicle coordinator and a guy in town on what I should do...and the decision was made that I drive back into town, with the car the way it was, and swap it with another car, that was supposed to be going to other missionaries, but we took it, cuz we needed it more than them. So, we hopped into a new car, and drove back to MD and were back to work by 5pm! Hectic.


Had to drive like 25K's like that...traveling 80K/hr

Church yesterday was good. Had a powerful DA and then some sweet appointments with our recent converts who were just baptized. Mamma Pam said she felt the Holy Ghost soo strong when she was baptized, and it was very apparent that she was extremely happy. 2 of her daughters have passed away, so we had a powerful lesson yesterday on the temple, and she was so touched and happy and excited to one day go to the temple and do their work for them. Then, we saw Chris, and talked to him about missionary work and life as a missionary. He is eager to get out and serve! It is great to see.

Well, this morning on the way here to the email shop, we got a phone call from the man himself...President Probst! He asked if we were ready for some transfer news....and we sure were! Elder Barlow is staying in the area....and as for me.....I'm just going to Mdantsane 2nd ward! And my new companion is Elder Grow, from Idaho. I am now a senior companion! haha. But boy, another 6 weeks here living in East London. Good thing this place is super nice! I'm not sure, but I think the area is a walking area...and it has been chilly some days, but that will be just fine. Elder Grow is a funny guy. Super sarcastic. We'll have some fun together!

So this week I hit a dog while I was driving! I didn't do it on purpose! But it still lived and just scurried away. We finally got the General Conference Liahona! I've already read most of the talks! CHECK OUT PAGE 41! Yeah, I'm pretty sure Elder Barlow took that picture, and those 2 elders were the AP's (assistant to the presidents) Elder Cooney and Elder Cannon. Those guys are awesome!

Sooo, remember by dad (trainer) Elder Aires! Well, he goes home on Thursday! It's a shame I won't be able to see him. I love that guy.

Now I'm in 1 Corinthians and loved Chapter 2 verse 9. Powerful.

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

And hymn 101 "Guide Me to Thee" is sweet...just sayin'

Time to say some goodbyes and then some hello's. This past transfer has just absolutely flown by! I worked hard, and did all the things I needed to do in the area. I'm for sure going to miss it! I'm sure the 2nd ward is just as sweet!

Good thing you guys are praying for me and the Lord is keeping me safe!

Mucho Love,
ELDER HAWS!