Until God moves you, bloom where you are planted.

Hey Fam!

Alright, lets try this again! I'm not gonna lie, last week I was sad! All that hard work of trying..all for nothing! Dumb computer, even though it was the operators fault. it didn't even say "Are you sure you wanna delete it" or anything. oh well! wont happen again!

Just to summarize that week, it was good as usual. the service was lots of fun and the Nyandoro's had a baby! Now there's 6 kids in that family and not much money. She kept it a secret from us, we didn't even know she was pregnant! haha and she asked us to come up with names of the baby! haha that's how much they love the missionaries. I wrote it in more detail, but when Elder Staheli was interviewing the 2 baptismal candidates, the first one came out after a long time, and looked sad and Staheli said she failed. Her brother came out of his interview and showed me a scripture and said they couldn't get baptized cuz I didn't teach them something...I was like WHAT?! They all started busting out laughing, cuz they were just messin with me! I was scared! haha they got me good though. The bad news was that the other baptismal date we had, yeah she got a job in Durban..so obviously she wont get getting baptized. I was bummed. Oh well.

Sorry I cant really remember the questions you asked in the last email. I promise that I answered them in the last email, that got erased. so just ask them again and I'd be more than happy to answer them. but yes, I would LOVE some pictures from Logan! Maybe just send them in a letter sometime, along with a new CD daddy! hook it up! President Wood said we can listen to any kind of music, not only hymns..so help me out daddy! thanks! I remember that day we hiked that mountain daddy..you made it!! I knew you would you stud muffin. and yeah I just take a peek every week at my blog haha. and woooow, just had to throw that Cafe Rio line in there..thanks! AH! I would do anything for a Cafe Rio meal.  I got that wonderful surprise package from Aunt Julie! WOW! it was awesome, and totally made my day! I thought the zone leaders were just pulling my leg when they said I had a package!  I'm not gonna lie, why did she sent peanut butter?! hahahah and that pen was EPIC! soo cool! thank you Aunt Julie! you are the best ever! and there are no kids to write, I'm sorry.

Last week for P-Day we played a little game of touch rugby! There were only 8 of us playing, and most of us had no clue what was going on, but dang it was fun! For sure different than football, but it was neat to play and learn some of the rules.

OUR BAPTISM!!

I went on 2 exchanges this week! The first one was in my area with Elder Oyiembo! We had a pretty good day! He is such a humble and loving guy who always puts others before himself. then, the next day, I went on an unforgettable exchange with the one and only Elder Whiting! man!! soo fun!  We for sure payed for it the next day for being up late! haha was it worth it, I say yes!  All the appointment's we had dropped, but we still had a decent day. Oh my gosh it was nice to be in a lesson where I didn't have to teach the entire thing haha no offense to Wolfgramm.and it was nice to be in a car all day that day, cuz it was kinda chilly and my legs enjoyed their much needed rest. Cuz on p-day we just play sport and don't even get to rest!  I was soo proud of my son! He held down the area while I was away. He said he was wayy nervous and scared, but he survived. He did the exact things that I woulda done if I was there.

It was a great day!

Since our teaching pool is soo low, we decided to go finding. man, gotta love tracting huh!? Elder Wolfgramm was scared. The first door he knocked he said "hi, do you know where the church is?" hahaha not hi how are you, or didn't introduce himself! haha aw shame. The next house he mustered up his courage, and did better just introduced himself as Elder Haws!! hahah! man, good times. I remember when I was a greenie knocking on doors. It's scary and takes some practice.

As you can tell from the pictures..we had a baptism! man, it was awesome. Everything went just as planned. It was perfect. but yessie the water was freezing again! You should a seen their faces as they came up out of the water. I mean, I was in up to my waist and was frozen haha. They both were so happy. They got changed and bore their testimonies! man! it was powerful. We had practiced a little bit, but they did so good up there in front of everyone! and what was even better was that there mom (who isn't a member) was there. Maybe what they said touched her and she'll have the desire to join us in the lessons we have at their house and someday get baptized.

Yesterday right after church we had a ward missionary fireside! I'm not gonna lie, we just planned to wing it! haha like we just assigned what each of us were going to say like 5 minutes before it started! haha but in the end, it turned out amazing! We weren't expecting many people to show up, but to our surprise, it was packed! I was a little intimidated with everyone looking at me and not being exactly sure what I was going to say next. but i did just fine. Bishop came in and was just saying some powerful stuff! dang. I hope that fireside kind of excited the entire ward to do missionary work, cuz honestly, we are struggling to find people to teach at the moment. This week is transfer week. I'm most likely going to stay, so I'm not too excited for any news.

I found a quote that really applies to me I think. it is "Until God moves you, bloom where you are planted" nice!

The scriptures of the week are

Romans 5:11 (only time in New Testament where it mentions 'Atonement')

11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

D&C 60:1-2

1 Behold, thus saith the Lord unto the elders of his church, who are to return speedily to the land from whence they came: Behold, it pleaseth me, that you have come up hither;

2 But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them.

and Psalms 118:24

24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

I'm so grateful for the work that I have been called here to do. I know the eternal significance of the things that I'm doing for the lives of these amazing people. You truly do come to love the people that you teach and serve with. I've also come to realize how lucky and special I am to have been born into such and amazing family with this precious gospel, and to live soo close to the best temple in the entire world! The Lord has blessed me with soo much. Almost too much sometimes. I  just try to show my gratitude and love back towards Him by the way I serve Him. Few things compare to being able to serve the Lord with all your heart, might, mind and strength 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 2 years. what a blessing.

Do you know what time it is? Its time to tell you I LOVE you :)

Have a safe drive home to SD. Thanks for all the things you do for me!

LOVE,

Elder Haws

Just tracting with a nice sunset

There was a trash strike...

If you look closely at the bottom right corner..yeahh that orange machine CRASHED into it

Okay, that was the last time we stay up till 4am

when the car broke down and we were all pushing it

All us elders in the zone around our rental truck!

The curse of the exchange! all our appointments dropped

Africa is beautiful

I accidentally pressed delete! ohhhhhhhhh nooooooooooo

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!! I just spent over an hour typing a email to you, and then I accidentally pressed delete! ohhhhhhhhh nooooooooooo. gosh dang it. It was a powerful email. sorry :(
bye
Elder Haws


Oh the hills of NU14



Our mini FHE we had last monday





The DA we had at Bishop's house last week



From the service...dang my arms are skinny and whiter than snow

 

Looked like a small forest before we got there



Bored in the car



Yeahh, we had lots of people there



I absolutely love Elder Whiting with all of my heart haha

 

Dude, these kids were just peeing in the road

Forget yourself, and go to work!

Dear Family

How are ya?! I've discovered that all that time I spent on facebook at the wee hours of the morning is finally paying off, cuz I can type fast now! all this practice every monday has made me quite the little typer. I know I know, I still havent sent a package...my bad! I really mean to, and have all the intention to, but I just havent gotten around to it. I apologize. and to answer your question daddy, I have give just a few blessings. One to Elder Frost when he was sick, and occasionally in the area. the thing is, that we try and have members use their priesthood and stuff. heck even yesterday we gave one...I just anointed though. isnt the priesthood great! Hey, when was the last time you got to use it daddy? I'd love another CD...you can even send it in a letter not a big 'ole box.

Mommy, I love your emails! I guess you old people just live boring mundane lives, so there's not much to report on! haha, I just like hearing how your guy's week was and just keeping me updated on life.and I'm feeling 100% better now mommy. you can rest easy, your son is all good and healthy.

Now that that is out of the way, my week was just fine. the trainers training we had went well. yoahh, I saw some of the other greenies that were there..dang! I lucked out, big time! Elder Wolfgramm is 100% cooler than them! Straight up. During the training, President Wood just went over the very basic way of teaching the doctrine of christ and just talked about other missionary related things. it was a nice training. man, president wood is sweet! always happy and excited about the work, and honestly just fun to be around. His wife is sweet as well. but he did say that trainers will be training for 12 weeks....meaning that I'll be here next transfer too! AH! haha. I was honestly kinda bummed with the news, cuz I just see missionaries come and go, and all these other stories from other areas in the mission and like climbing Table Mountain in Cape Town and stuff, but I know the Lord called me here for a reason! I guess I just was meant to serve in the Eastern Cape Mission! haha. I decided to take the advice President Hinckley's dad gave to him when he was on his mission. "Forget yourself, and go to work" and that's just what im gonna do. so what if I'll be in East London for a long time.

I guess this month is womens month here. so im church yesterday all the talks were about mothers in Zion. and there is a lady in our area who kinda struggles with English, and she had to give a talk yesterday and was very scared and nervous. So the bishop asked us to go over and help her. We went over there thinking she had like most of it done and we would just kinda help out here and there, but come to find out she hadn't started at all! so the first night we went over there I wrote the 1st half, and then we had to go over there again and finish it with her! Yeah, I wrote the entire talk! haha Elder Wolfgramm just sat there. haha I was nervous with her as she got up yesterday, but she nailed it! such a pro. The bishop was smiling, and so was I. I could tell she was very relieved when it was done with.

We had a fetchin' nice dinner with Bishop and his family! can you say...TACOS! Bishop is loaded, and went to this one store here in town that sells some American items...like taco seasoning, tortillas, and salsa! so yeah, we had a feast! mommy, it tasted just like you made them! but yours are better. Obvious! We took a picture and I'll send it home next week.

On Saturday we went to teach Khayakazi and Khanyasani but we were a little bit early and the really wanted to finish the rugby game that was on...so we watched it! oops! It was only like 15 minutes, and I had like no clue what was going on. All I know is that those oaks are massive and hit hard! South Africa was playing the wallabies of Australia and it was a close game! We lost. and man, Khanyasani gets into it! dang! Like hitting the couch when the guy dropped the ball or the ref made a bogus call! haha I was laughing at him. Elder Wolfgramm loves rugby, so he was happy! haha. After the game we had a powerful lesson, then the other missionaries came to fetch us. As we were waiting, Khayakazi offered us some mvubo also known as African salad. man, its all that people eat over here! Its pap and sour milk! yum yum. I've had it once before, but Elder Woldframm never had. but they gave us a big bowl, and we had to eat it. I finished my bowl, but it wasn't very good. Elder Wolfgramm struggled! For a big boy like he is, he couldn't finish it! haha

Last night, we got picked up at like 8:30 and we were driving back to town when our car died! In the middle of a township at night! not good. We phoned the zone leaders and they came, but as we were waiting for them, we were on the main street and then this taxi and other car stopped and came over to talk to us stranded missionaries! They were sweet! the 3 guys in the one car were evidently a little bit tipsy and been drinking earlier, but dang they were absolutely hilarious! he was "arguing" about/wanted to know our opinion on how God looks at nudity haha! Like how Adam and Eve were naked and stuff! oh man, This guy was cracking us up! haha. They were harmless, but just stood there in the cold with us for over an hour, just talking and hanging out with us. One of them needed a light for his cigarette, and literally stopped a car on the road to ask for a light haha. They eventually needed to go, but we had a good time together! We eventally got some strong rope and the zone leaders tied it to their car, and they just towed us all the way back to town. TIA. We made it home at round about 11pm and were ready to sleep!

The area is doing well. We had these 2 brothers come to church, so that was exciting. We have a map in our boarding of our area, so I've recently updated it with where all the recent converts, investigators, less-active and active members stay. Its nice cuz we get to know where they stay and makes our time in the area more effective cuz if an appointment falls through or if we have extra time, We can check up on those people.

Elder Wolfgramm is awesome! His teaching skills are improving little by little and we have loads of fun together!

This Saturday is the all Africa Mormon Helping hands! So the entire ward is going to this school and we're gonna do some service...so that should be fun.

Well, the scriptures for the week are
Enos 1:12,27

 12 And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith.

and
D&C 97:15-16.

15 And inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord, and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it, that it be not defiled, my glory shall rest upon it;
16 Yea, and my presence shall be there, for I will come into it, and all the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see God.


Thanks again for the sweet emails every week! Its the highlight of my day! I just wish I could stay on longer and tell you everything about Africa and being a missionary! Hope you have an amazing week! Love you all, very very much!

Till next week.
-Elder Haws


This stud fellowship's all day, every day with the other missionaries...but we stole him for a day and had some fun



Hold me baby!



dang, I like this picture!



Ohh boy...gotta love lookin' at that



We tore up that garden



There are 2 kinds of people in this world..those who are Mormon, and those who ought to be!

Hello!

For some reason, the pictures won't upload today. sorry! not my fault. Next week. but to answer your question, there are round about 120 elders currently in the SACTM mission, with only 3 new greenies coming within the next 6 months. It is hard to find people's houses in the area with no street names and few house numbers, but in our boarding we have a map of the entire area and the houses that are there, so we normally look/study that so we know where we're going. but like I said, the number system isn't very organized and the numbers are all over the place, and the map we have doesn't show the terrain, so that can make it tough sometimes! We don't visit/teach many people that live in shacks, but the shacks aren't on our map that we have in our boarding. and we'll have 3 baptisms on 27 August!

Hope you guys have fun with Sue, Jeff and Nancy! man, what a party.

As for my week, it was pretty nice. no complaints.... but the highlight might have to be getting a package from my family!! Oh yeah baby! I thought it was gonna be just like a "thinking about you" package that cost like 15 bucks to send, but man was I surprised when the zone leaders handed me that massive box addressed to me! you guys rock! I liked the 2 ties you sent. I wore one yesterday, and right now I'm currently wearing the other one! I loved all the snacks and goodies, as well as that epic CD! It is awesome. Its nice to listen to different songs than the same few that I have. Nicely done daddy! but mommy, I got a bone to pick with you. okay, you've been my mother for 20 years now, and since when have I ever worn high socks?! haha jk. mom! haha they are wayy comfy, I'll just roll them down. and dang, another complaint, umm there were no good pictures! haha but seriously, thank you soo much for that nice package! It totally made my day! It was much needed, cuz I got it at lunch time, and decided not to open it till I got back to the boarding that night...and that day we got drenched, so it was nice taking a warm shower that night, then opening a wonderful package from my family

As for the week in the mission field here in Mdantsane, it wasn't a bad one. one of the days we stole elder Staheli's and elder Oyiembo's fellow-shipper and we got some nice stats and it was just nice to have someone to talk to as we were walking and to bear their testimony in lessons. Elder Wolfgramm is still sweet! he's been participating a little bit more in lessons, but you can still tell he's scared and nervous most of the time. but he's trying. yesterday, fast Sunday, after church we got dropped off and worked till 4pm, and during that time of walking in the hot sun and having nothing in our stomach's we were an astounding 0 for 11 on people we wanted to teach! man, it was hard. i was drained of all my energy, and my tank was at E. but we still did what we could with the time we were in the area.

That day I wasn't feeling 100% but I still stuck it out and fasted, but then last night, it was rough. my tummy was hurting mommy! not like throw-up. just aching and kinda miserable. Not fun! and what made it worse was that Elder Wolfgramm couldn't be bothered, and just went to sleep, while I was laying there in pain wanting some love from my mommy! I survived though. I looked back at what food I had eaten in the past days, and not many healthy/nutritious things! so, I guess I'm the only one to blame! that's what I get! its been incredible how healthy I've been so far on mission. I'm still not my normal self at the moment, but I'm not gonna take for granted being/feeling healthy.

Yesterday Elder Wolfgramm decided to help out the bishop's wife and carry her baby with her to her car, so being the gentleman that he is, he did. he even strapped the little sissy and her car-seat in the car, and just happened to place his scriptures in the car so that both hands would be free. then, she thanked us, and we waved goodbye. a few minutes later after we had finished talking to the members, Elder Wolfgramm then realized he's left his scriptures in the car! ahhh, fetchin' greenie! he's forgotten his planner, wallet, and other things. I just smile and laugh. haha and he didn't make any plans to go fetch his scriptures from her, so he still doesn't have them. hey, I'm his trainer, not his mother. hahaha

I phoned president Wood during the week to talk about 2 investigators, brother and sister, who wanted to be baptized, but who are under the age of 18 and don't have an active member of the church living in their home. with people like that, we have to ask the mission president for permission or baptize them..just because we don't want them to end up going less active. The bishop is good with it, they have come to church now for almost the past 4 months, both attend seminary, and both have lots of friends in the ward...so they wont go less active! I love those 2 kids! I cant wait to see them baptized.

We went to check up on this less active family that we'd never met before, and we met this cool guy in his mid-twenties who said he wasn't a member and that the members that used to stay there moved. but this guy knew the bishops name, and also President Hinckley, but denied being a member. we set a return appointment for the next week, and just thought nothing of it. then, Sunday in sacrament meeting, he came and Elder Wolfgramm and I were soo surprised! I don't even remember inviting him to church. he smiled at us when he came in, and elder Wolfgramm said "he sings too well not to be a member!" haha then after sacrament meeting he went up and was talking to some of the other people in the ward and then it was evident that he was a member and was just jackin' with us! haha we were all excited like we had a new investigator, but nonetheless, it was good to have him at church.

Dude, Elder Staheli has been taking his time when he picks us up at the end of the day! we normally have an appointment at 7pm and expect to be picked up by 8pm. but, the last couple of days he hasn't come till like 8:30pm! come on bru! haha he doesn't do it on purpose...its just he has to drop off his fellow shipper and then has to travel a long distance to fetch us...but trust me, he drives fast!

This week President Wood will be in town for some training. one day we'll have the entire zone together for training, and another day there's a meeting for the few elders who are training (me) and who are being trained. so that should be fun!

We are assigned 2 families to go home teaching, so I was looking over the home teaching message from President Monson, and it's very nice!

I liked these 2 scriptures this week...

3 Nephi 9:13-14 

 13 O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?

 14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.

and Psalms 145:9

 9 The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

There are 2 kinds of people in this world..those who are Mormon, and those who ought to be!
Talk to you next week! I click 11 months tomorrow!

Lots of love from here in South Africa!
Elder Haws

Only 1 in 5 houses have house numbers on them!

Hey Family -

What an eventful week! cool. sounds like you guys are obsessed with shark week, right on.  Yeah mommy, Queesntown is only like 2 1/2 hour drive away.

You gotta tell Aunt Julie that she forgot to put my name on one of the wonderful loving letters she write me, so the people in the mission office had to open it and see who it was too! haha. I thought it was kinda funny. You're the best Aunt Julie! There is a missionary who just got here who went to Logan High School! Elder Twitchell! he's sweet. We talk aggies and USU! grandma, go talk to his family! haha jk.

Guess what I ate this week, chicken liver. niiiccceeeee. It wasnt that bad, until you're chewing the food in your mouth and the thought comes to you that it's the liver of a freakin chicken. We did get 3 DA's on saturday, that was sweet. It was good timing cuz we were running out of food in our boarding.

We taught the Law of Chastity 3 times this week....crying people to repentance! haha. The weather has been pretty nice recently. just working in a short sleave shirt, no need for a jersey...although sometimes at night it get kinda chilly.

Guess who we paid a visit to this week..the one and only Sister Peggy!! Man, I love that sweet old lady. She taliored like 10+ shirts for Elder Staheli and Elder Oiyembo. We spent over an hour with her. She's still going strong and just being awesome.

Elder Staheli clicked 1 year on Saturday...he's only 1 transfer, or 6 weeks ahead of me! He set a cone on fire with petrol, then peed on it to put the fire out! haha. also we had a nicee DA with bishop, it was delicious.

Alright, so since this week wasnt very eventful, a while ago I made a list of things that you only see/are unique to Townships in South Africa. Okay, as you can see from the pictures, ALL of the houses are exactly the same! 2 bedroms, a living room, and a kitchen...all very small, and made of brick. There are quite a few houses that have added on and renovated their houses to make them bigger and stuff, but for the most part, they're all the same. but the lame thing is, only like 1 in 5 houses have house numbers on them! ah! It can be hard to find houses sometimes. I feel sorry for the post man! haha. and the number system is jacked up. Like one side of the street will be like #732 and the other side will be like #16...its confusing! If you think Townships have street names...think again! NO street names. Their yards are not kept at all and they cut their weeds with weed whackers and not lawn mowers. The dogs, yoah, dont even get me started with township dogs! they roam here like wild animals! Most all of the are not neutered so like the utters hang down (gross) and they all have lots of diseases and stuff. ew.

Some of the main roads have pavement, but most of the roads are just dirt...with lots of rocks and plenty of potholes. and yessie they like their speed bumps! oh man, this one stretch of road has 19 (yeah, I counted) I'm just glad to walk most of the day and dont have to endure them all day. On the weekends, cars just weave through the drunk people on the streets, especially near the taverns. In a township, you will no doubt find kids always playing on the street! they dont have toys, or adult supervision (thats for sure) but they just have the time of their life playing in the dirt or playing soccer in the street. all the kids wear uniforms too!

Very few people have cars here, and so people get places by either walking or taking taxis. Theres 2 kinds of taxis, nice ones that hold like 12 people, and the small ones that only hold 4 people, and are in pretty bad shape. people call them cockroaches! I'm glad we're not allowed to ride in them. plus, they drive crazy! I've told you before, people most of the time just burn their trash and listen to House music super loud all the time.

Training Elder Wolfgramm is still going well. he was kinda a rebel back in the day, and turned his life around, and here he is on a mission. but he doesnt have a super big amount of knowledge about the gospel, so im just teaching him everything I know. Most of the times I have to teach the principle, and he just adds his testimony to mine. we role play (practice teaching) in the morning so he can get more comfortable in lessons when he has to teach. we need to find more people to teach, so i think im gonna take him on a little adventure and take his tracting in Mdanstane! Now thats an experience! haha. Most nights after we get back to the boarding and plan for the next day and fill out the area book, he just crashes on his bed cuz he's super tired. Normally in the morning, he would get up and shower first, but the last few days he's been polite and let me do the honors, so that he could steal the extra 10 minutes under the covers! haha and he still snores big time, but usually its just like right after he lays down, then during the night he sometimes doesnt snore. I've mastered the technique to fall asleep while someone is snoring...or maybe I just pass out just I'm just so gosh darn tired. haha. thats one thing I've learned/notices/picked up on while serving a mission... lots of qualities and characteristics and other things that I need to find (or not find) in my eternal companion :) buttt that'll have to be in another email...or just for only me to know! haha

A Xhosa word I'm starting to use to the many many less-active members here is Nqabile (Q use a click) which means scarce. haha. Everyone always laughs when they see us mlungu's speak Xhosa! Espeically the bigg mammas and little kids.

Scriptures = 2 Nephi 9:18, 41

18 But, behold, the righteous the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever.
 41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

Hebrews 13 :8   Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Are you guys doing the Mormon Helping Hands thingy on 20 August? We are!

Man, long email! I only do it cuz I love you guys!
Cant believe its already August!

Stay well
-Elder Haws


Our 'greenie' dinner!



My son Elder Wolfgramm and I...in Africa

 

We're teaching this girl and she'll get baptized soon.

 

Some of the elders in the area



Elder Grow and I on a sign





Us and the Nyandoro kids