Elder John & Sister Terry Haws in the Costa Rica Temple

"Our mission has been so much more than we could have expected. The country is fabulous and the people are amazing. We are just one big happy family. The Flakes are leaving this month so we are going to be short a couple missionaries so we will be working even harder. Our Spanish is improving every day and I start lessons on the 17 of this month so I can better communicate with the people. Our ordinance are great and we have mastered them.
We have been able to go to a beautiful area for Christmas with the Temple Pres. And his wife and the 2nd councilor and his wife and we had a blast so it was a wonderful Christmas. The weather has been great,nice and sunny. We are now in our summer and what they call the dry season. We have really the wet and dry season, but it is great. This has truly been an amazing opportunity to serve The Lord on a mission and it should be something every senior couple should do. We have grown so much with each other and have learned to appreciate the small and simple things. Time is just flying by and I find it hard to know just what day it is.
Our Temple shut down is in February so we hope to travel to some more places and see the countryside. Doing this mission has truly blessed us and our family. If anyone knows Spanish we need another senior couple missionaries.
Thanks again for everything, have a wonderful New Year."

Words from Elder Ryder Nielsen in the Philipines

" I am doing really well. I guess there just hits a point when you decide to leave it all to the Lord and push forward with an open heart and open mind. You take in every experience good and bad and realize the Lord is trying to shape you into the man he wants you to become. Especially the bad experiences although you may suffer for a moment by the time it is over and you have endured you learn spiritual truths that otherwise would not have been learned or understood. The mission is His school ground for spiritual growth.

This week was very good. One thing i like about my new companion is we are always on the same page. We relate so well with each other and we have had about the same experience in the mission so his fire is burning about as bright as mine. He really has a passion for the work and the Gospel. Our pride has been set aside as we try to truly understand each others points of view when it come to studying and preaching the Gospel. That has made the biggest difference, although we aren't the best in speaking the language the spirit can work through us because we have unity and vision before each appointment. I am so grateful to Heavenly Father and the Savior for reaching this point in my mission. Every moment has been a blessing. Even from my last hug with you guys at the curb of the MTC, every moment i can look back and see the hand of the Lord in helping me to this point. I am feeling kind of sick to my stomach with how fast time has flown by they say a missionary's first year is like the first climb of a roller coaster and then you hit your year mark and the last year is the down ward fall. I know there is so much left for me to accomplish i cant imagine it ever coming to an end. One thing Me and Elder Washburn have been focusing on is setting smart goals and then doing everything possible to achieve them. It has been a great tool for our effort and enthusiasm. Elder Washburn and his family are really good family friends with Brent Overson's family. Also my senior year when we played Camp Verde in the playoffs for football we played on their high school football field. He said he remembered the game. I had to laugh their always seems to be connections back to Saint Johns no matter who or where they are from."

Words from Sister Anna Herring in West Virginia Charleston Mission

 

 

"Christmas Eve was amazing. We got to have a district meeting in the morning, first dinner with the Payne family (they fed us Mexican food and had a White Elephant Gift Exchange) then our second dinner was with the Young Family. We then ended the night by caroling with the APs and the Zone Leaders to various investigators and members. I loved it! It was a fantastic day!

Christmas was a fantastic experience. We started off the day at the Rhodes' home and they fed us breakfast, gave us the cutest gifts including journals, notepads, picture frames, and more! Such a great family! We then went home for lunch and then headed over to the Cotrells to Skype and eat dinner! Again, I couldn't believe I got to see all 6 siblings and their families! Kortlynn and Rex you were there in spirit! :) I cried a bit saying goodbye, but then had a returned energy to get to work and I am so excited to start the year off right! It was the boost I needed! :)

Thursday and Friday we got to work and Friday we went on an exchange with the Parkersburg sisters. While I was there, we found out that Sister Kitto and I were getting a new companion for the next week. Sister Shumway from Oregon! Sadly her companion went home and even though that was the hardest thing to see, she is such a blessing! Sister Shumway is the hardest working missionary and is on fire!

On Saturday we got to go to lunch with the mission president and his wife to pick her up which was a blast and then we went to work! We had a miracle night and found an elect family that had been praying for the missionaries! So cool! There are people everywhere being prepared for this message and having Sister Shumway here for the week has brought even more miracles! We normally can't go into houses when there is only a guy, but with 3 sisters we are allowed and we are now teaching another man named Bryan who lives alone! Huge miracle!"

Words from Elder Konnor Lee in PA

 

"Something cool that has been going on is we are teaching a addiction recovery class at a homeless shelter. The hard thing is that they don't want us to talk about God so it is hard to teach. One day we were teaching and we had a man stick his hand in the air. When we called on him he asked us what church we were from. We told him and asked, "how do I become a member of this church"? He went on to say, "You guys have something and whatever it is I want it". We are now teaching him. But how amazing and what a testimony builder! We were not even talking about God but just being there he could feel the Spirit. No matter where we are or what we are doing we must always act like members of the church. People know we have something and we must always remember who we are and what we represent. People are always watching us. It does not matter if we re a young teacher, a beehive or a missionary.

My life here is good. We set a goal at the beginning of the week to teach 20 lessons. So a lesson is a prayer, 2 or more gospel topics, at least 35 minutes and a return appointment. For this area that is a lot of lessons so it is a huge goal for us. But as we have worked hard and studied and asked for the Lord for help we have had almost 3 lessons a day. Goals really do mean something. I bet that dad had a really good time on his hunt. But I told him that he is not having as much fun as I am having!"

Words from Elder Kent Bloomfield in the New York Utica Mission

 

"It was fun skyiping even though I couldn't think of much uplifting things to say. Did mom get the package after Christmas. With a couple presents in it?

The rest of the week wasn't too exciting we went on Saturday and cut down some trees on a ladies lot and cut them up for her wood stove. On Saturday morning we got a call that a members house was on fire so we drove over as fast as we could. The trucks were spraying it and the family was in the fire station so we went to talk with them. Its the Judd's. The elders quorum president and his wife is the seminary teacher. Well their chimney caught fire and burned most of the house. They moved in with her parents in a different branch. So we wont have them for a couple months. It was sad. But they all are okay, they have two little kids.

Then Sunday morning I got a call from a random number. It was a man named Jason Martin. He and his family were in the area for Christmas and are moving into the branch with 7 kids.

He needed help cleaning out his dads barn because 50 cows were dying in their own poop. It was bad deep and just a horrible situation.

Brother Lawrence,the first counselor in the branch took us during priesthood to look at the barn and see what needs done. He borrowed his dads tractor and we all went and dug cow poop for 4 hours. It was bad. But miracles happen and everyone was taken care of.

Transfers are next week so I find out this Saturday If I leave. I have a feeling I will be for my last 4 1/2 months."

Words from Elese Hauser in the Illinois Chicago West Mission

"This is such a beautiful time of year and I have thoroughly enjoyed
being a missionary this Holiday season! I will always remember this
Christmas and it will always be my favorite because of the different
circumstances I was in. Of course my favorite part of Christmas was
talking to all of you! Except talking to Kyle, he was kind of a jerk
to me, but that's to be expected:) I feel so blessed that we got to
talk for 2 and 1/2 hours!! Although it felt like 20 minutes to me, it
was so great! After we hung up I looked out the window and it was
SNOWING! I was so pumped and it was the most beautiful white Christmas
ever:) Then a Ward member, Sister Charles, came and picked us up and
we went to her house for dinner. We had chicken and potatoes and lots
of vegetables with hummus. And she even took us next door to meet her
neighbor so we could share the Gospel with them but they told us to go
away.... But nothing could dampen our spirits for it was Christmas!
Truth be told, I think you all missed me more than I missed you! Don't
get me wrong, I did miss all of you so much but I was so distracted
with all the craziness going on I hardly had time to think. And I'll
be back in less than a year!
Well because I didn't have enough going on, I also got really sick the
day after Christmas. My throat hurt so bad and I got a pretty high
fever, I haven't been that sick in a long time! So Thursday and Friday
were pretty low key as I tried to recover. But I still have a pretty
bad and cough and cold. I blame it on the fact that 4 girls were
living in a 1 bedroom apartment and out of those 4, 3 of us got sick!
And Saturday a member came and picked us up and helped us move! So we
are no longer homeless and we are in our area! We live with the
Smotzer family. They are an older retired couple with a 6 bedroom
house, so we have the whole basement to ourselves. We'll be here until
the 11th of January when we can move into our apartment. They have a
daughter in her 30's who has down syndrome and her name is Michelle!!
She is so cute and every time I see her I think of one of my favorite
people ever, Michelle LeFevre! So we are doing a car share with the
Elders and we'll have the car for 5 days and then they'll have it for
5 days and so on. So we will always be relying on the members for
rides a lot. But it feels so good to finally be in Oswego. We have big
plans for this week and I'm so excited to go back to teaching! On New
Years Eve we have to be in by 4:00pm unless we have a dinner
appointment so there won't be any staying up until midnight or
sparkling apple cider or much of anything going on here. But I don't
really even care, when your focus is on The Lord and His work, all of
those other "worldly" things pale in comparison. Well I hope you all
have a great Christmas break! I love you all so much!!!!"

Words from Sister Elese Hauser in Illinois Chicago West Mission

"We'll here I am in Oswego Illinois! I hardly know where to start
because so much has happened. Last Tuesday we drove to transfers, I
said good bye to Sister Spendlove, and then I wondered how we were
going to make it to our new area. We'll lets just say that hitch
hiking was a very likely option for Sister Dias and I to make it to
our new area. The Assistants told us that they didn't have a car or an
apartment for us. I think in that moment I knew I was in for in an
adventure, but I had no idea how big of an adventure it would be! So
we went to the mission office and sat there and waited and waited and
waited for...... Something. Finally the Assistants figured out that we
could live with the Aurora Sisters. So Aurora is about 15 minutes away
from our area in Oswego. So we are currently living in a tiny one
bedroom apartment, sleeping on air mattresses, with our luggage taking
over the living room! It's so crazy!! And we don't have a car and
aren't allowed to ride bikes in the winter. So, the only way we can
get to our area is rely on the members to drive the 15 minutes to come
pick us up and drive back. I think I've slightly lost my mind from
being so overwhelmed! The great thing is the members are awesome and
so willing to help. We have already had several members make the drive
to come and pick us up and take us to some less actives or to their
house for dinner. The Ward is so thrilled to have sisters and I feel
so loved! Yesterday in church everybody signed up to feed the Sisters
and not the Elders! Poor Elders, we're just so loved:) So there have
been Elders in the Oswego Ward for a long time. Actually, I do believe
Elder Crosby from Joseph City served here about a year ago. But you'll
have to check on that and let me know! We were asked to stand up in
Sacrament and i felt just like a superstar! We went to young women's
this week and they were all so thrilled to meet us. And we taught
Gospel Principles yesterday and the Ward gave us these big gift bags
full of all sorts of stuff! So I've decided no matter where I go I'll
have connections to home. So I first met Read Flake and his ancestors
established Snowflake Arizona, and they visit there every so often.
But they aren't closely related to anyone there. And then I met
Brother Les DeWitt. And guess where he grew up?! Snowflake Arizona:)
And he's related to all the DeWitts in the area. But we already
established that Lobos and Redskins are rivals, but I'll try to put
that aside for now:) Just as long as it's not Round Valley!
I remember last week in Dads email he said I will always remember this
Christmas. That's for sure! Ill always remember my homeless Christmas!
I've been so humbled from this experience. Its been so hard to live
out of a suitcase and not know where anything is and then there's the
missionary work aspect. It's like being injured right when your sport
season was reaching its peak. I just want to yell "Put me in Coach!!"
I'm so ready to work and I want to work. But we're stuck in the
Sisters apartment unless the members can come get us. But even if they
can it's only for about 2 hours and then what? It's so frustrating not
being able to work!!! So we clean, organize, and practice teaching.
I've learned that The Lord has His own time and His own will. I know
you will all say to be grateful for the air mattress that I do have
and at least I have a roof over my head. And I am so grateful!
Especially for the members because they are great! So they have an
apartment for us in our area but we can't get in until January 11th.
And so we're hoping we can move in with a member until then so we can
at least be in our area and walk outside to do tracting if we need
to.i honestly never thought I would be in a situation like this but I
know it's preparing me for something greater. I know that Heavenly
Father is so aware of each of our individual blessings. And as I
ponder on all the things I'm going through, i realize what a blessing
trials are. I have hardly had time to think of Christmas and so I'm
not homesick at all. I have learned true patience and that The Lord
has a plan and will do His will in His time. The choice is up to us as
to whether we let that be our will as well, or give up. So life is a
beautiful thing!
Well I can hardly believe Christmas is in 2 days! Tomorrow for
Christmas Eve we get to go over to this young families house. We will
bake cinnamon rolls and take them to the Firefighters and then do the
usual Christmas Eve ritual with the Nativity and all:) I am so excited
for that! And as for Christmas, plans are still a little unsure. We
are hoping to go to a single sister in the Ward who needs the company
but so far we haven't set anything in stone. But we have been invited
to the Aurora Sisters Ward Mission Leader house to Skype with them. So
the plan for Skype is to Skype here at 3:00. That would be 2:00
Arizona time. And we don't have a time limit so I hope you're all
ready to tell me all about your lives!! I made a Skype profile under
elesehauser and I added Mom and Garret so we shouldn't have any
problems. But if the time changes I can give you a call from our cell
phone on Christmas and let you know. But plan on 2:00:) and you
probably will get a call from a lady in the Aurora who has invited us
with the Aurora Sisters Christmas morning. I got all 5 packages from
you and I felt so loved! We went to the mission home on Friday and
President Fenn made 4 different kinds of chili and some of the Elders
couldn't even handle the hottest chili but it was my favorite!! Oh and
my favorite present was the can of El Pato!!! I almost started crying
I was so happy:) but I haven't opened any of my other presents so
don't worry. Well, I can't wait to hear about all the things that you
are all doing! I hope you all have a great Christmas Eve! Just
remember, nobody can replace this fabulous angel in the Nativity :) I
will miss you all so much but just know that I'm where I need to be.
And the best gift we can give to the Savior is to spread His Gospel to
others. I'm so grateful that I belong to your family. I have so much
to be grateful for this Christmas season, especially the love of our
Beloved Savior. I know He lives. I know He died for each of us. And I
know He will through all of our trials He never leaves us. Just like
the song from The Forgotten Christmas Carols "Homeless" it says "We
are not homeless for in Christ's love there is a Home". I love you
all!!!!!"