My week in a nutshell (June 9, 2010)

Well Family This is going to be an AMAZING week! I'm so excited! We are going to be having a Baptism on Saturday for amy Walker! Its been really crazing because we haven't had to do anything except teach her which is just so awesome. She was at church on sunday and loved it this was her first normal sunday except for the fact that it was fast sunday but she enjoyed it alot. She really liked relief Society. Then we had her interview on Monday and we gave her her clothes for the baptism. She called us today to make sure everything was set and ready to go for her baptism. We are going to be holding it at 11:00 am on Saturday morning so at 9:00 am you guys can think right now Elder Haws is going to be having a baptism!!!! We are being so blessed right now with people to teach that have a head on their sholders and no what they want to do in their life.
We found this lady yesterday that has just been so prepared by the Lord for the Restoration of the gospel. She believes in modern revelation and that there is one church that is unspotted and has no wrinkles and that that church is the one that the Lord has organized. It is so cool. She has some questions about us at first and her first one was paligamy. So we quickly and rather eaisily got that out of the way and we were able to teach her a little bit of alot of the gospel if that makes sense and then we read out of the Book of Mormon with her. We read Moroni 10: 3-5 and she just loved it and she read it over two more times because she just loved it so much. she said that everything that we shared with her seemed right and that she wants us to come back and teach her more. The best part is that we were teaching her 16 year old son and so now we might be able to see a family come into the gospel. It was really cool.
We were talking to another lady in the same area earlier that day and we had a really crazy experience with her. It is crazy how people are so close to the truth and they just don't know it.This Lady was talking about the Apastacy and about how it was going to be restored and how the apostles were going to be back on the Earth and preaching the gospel and all this really cool stuff but as soon as we told her that there were 12 apostles on the earth she said that there was more than 12 and that she was one of them and it is just so sad that they don't fully understand what an apostle or a prophet is and the difference between us being a prophet and an acctual prophet on the earth to guide and direct the whole world as a church body. She said that she wants us to come back and she challenged us to pray about some of the stuff that she was talking about and so i did and i totally got my answer this morning about what i heard and how i know that the church is true. I was reading in 1st Nephi chapter 13 and it talks all about our country and us getting our independence from England and about how the Bible was going to come forth and lose alot of its simple truths and how the record that Nephi and his seed wrights will be able to restore the truths that were lost and how is was going to go forth and be shown to everyone and it was just such a testimony builder to me cuz I knew with out any doubt that Nephi really saw it. So since he saw it I knew that it happened and that there are just a few of the simple truths not the hard ones that aren't that important but the easy ones that make a huge difference. I know that the Book of Mormon is true with out any doubt in my mind and I love it. I can't wait to go back and tell her that I prayed about it and that he answered me and then tell her how and give her a copy of the Book of Mormon and then teach her the lessons and then Baptize her and watch her faith grow up into a giant testimony. It was just a really good day yesterday and the day before aswell. It is only wednesday and we have already taught 14 lessons and we are hopind to teach alot more.
Last week was crazy though! We left on Saturday to go on team ups with half of our Zone and so we were gone thursday and Friday and we came back friday night and left saturday to go on a team up with the Assistance in Hoover. It was really cool. The week went by so fast though because we were gone so much but we were still able to do alot of really good things in out area for the few days we were in it. When we were in Hoover Elder Canevary and I went and taught one of thier ivestigators and we had another really neat experience during it. His name is Larry and we were teaching him the Plan of Salvation and during the middle of it we taught him about the Word of Wisdom. As we were teaching him he stops us and asks if he can share an experience with us. Of course is what we said. So he tell us about when Elder Cooley and Canevary contacted him he said that he had a carton of cigaterrets in his hand. He said that when the Elders walked up Elder Cooley looked at the cigarrets and didn't say anything about it or tell him to quit he just looked at it. Larry said that he has had a problem with all of the things in the word of wisdom at one point in time in his life. He then said that when Elder Cooley looked at his cigarretes he had this feeling come over him and he knew that he needed to quit smoking so he did. He had already stopped for two weeks then he committed to live the rest of the word of wisdom right then! IT was so cool. I love it when people are prpared from the lord to hear the gospel. It makes missionary work alot of fun.
We are having a blast though. Elder Sheitinger is the man and we are tearing it up. I love ya'll
Love Elder Haws
P.S. We had another really cool experience. we were driving our car and we saw a homeless guy on the corner of an exit ramp on the free way and so we decisded to stop at the next gas station to buy him some food and a drink so we stop at a bp and Elder scheitinger got some cookies and i got to cans of soda and we are going up to pay and this really rough looking guy comes and asks if we had paid yet? and said that he was goign to buy whatever we were getting as he is buying ice and some beer. he is wearing a white tank top. and just the version of a alabama red neck and his name is bubba. Well then he asks the cashier if he knew who we were and he said no so Bubba says they are the sons of God! and he bought our stuff for us and we gave it to the homeless guy. it was really cool. Bubba came and talked to us before we left the gas station though and said how he was a new man and a christian and used to be a racist and a real cool matcho dude and then he found the lord and just wants to help people and it was really cool. we gave him a pass along card and he said he would come to church with us so i hope he does cuz he was awesome.
Love ya!

June 2, 2010

Hey ya'll!
We are having the time of our life here in Bessemer because Bessemer is AWESOME!!!! We have been having some really funny experinces lately that is making the work just that much better.
Here in Bessemer we live with another companionship so there are 4 of us in a house. The other companionship is spanish so we don't really see them except in the morning before we leace and at night when we get back and on P-day. about two weeks ago we walked in and they were already home and we were talking and then Elder Ross casually talks about how he got bit by a pitt bull and had to go to the hospital the next day to get it checked out and didn't make it seem like that big of a deal because it wasn't. Well for those of you that have been on missions probable know that the mission presidents wife is really loving and wants to make sure that everyone is 200 % taken care of. So about a week and a half later Elder Ross got a call from Sis Tate saying that he had to either find the dog that day and find out if it had its rabies shot or he had to get the shots himself. Which for those of you who don't know is a series of shots that take quite a while. So they went and looked for this dog for about 6 hours and couldn't find it so they ended up just going and getting the shots. Well the hospital wouldn't give him the shots so President Tate came down to make sure that he got his shots. Remember that President Tate used to be a Lawyer. Elder Ross said that the Head Nurse was yelling at President Tate and that President Tate ended up arguing his way enough to wear they got in a got the shots and left. It was pretty funny Elder Ross said. That is why I love President Tate. Okay not really but it is a part of it!
We are having some good success here! We should be having 2 or 3 baptisms this month. We were able to have 4 investigators at church which was good we were only expecting 3 but we have this one lady whos name is Sabrina. She never wants to talks to us but twice now she has showed up to church when we weren't expecting it! It was such a good things that she came!
We were able to set a baptismal date with a girl named Mckenzie who has been dating a return missionary. she is going to be getting baptized on the 19th of June. We found out she doesn't live in our area though so she is going to be getting baptized in another area in our zone. Its kind of a bummer but its going to be good either way.
We have been working with JoAnn also and she should be getting baptized soon if she doesn't make her date. I think she is going to be able to! She is way sweet and knows when she feels the spirit and knows that the church is good. We just need her to gain a testimony of the book of mormon! which is going to happen.
Amy Walker is another Golden Investigator! We have only had to teach her the lessons. She knows some members in priest river Idaho that she talks with everyday that answer her questions and have been helping her out so its been really cool. she is going to be getting baptized on my birthday! how cool is that? Its like the best birthday present ever!!! I'm way excited for her. she even got antied by her ex-boyfreind and has been getting slack from her mom but she still like hasn't changed at all in the way she feels about the church it is awesome! i'm way pumped.
This week we are going on 3 teamups thursday friday and saturday! its going to be way tireing but way fun. Teamups are great cuz its a chance to learn and to teach and to get to know someone else. I'm way excited. The team up on Saturday is with the AP's and i cannot wait for it. they are so much fun and they are really good teachers so i can't to see what i can learn.
Well i got some pictures that i will send to ya'll. I'm glad to have been able to hear from most of you today! I'm glad that you were able to hear that you had a good time at TAPP and that everyone was safe!
Love Elder Haws

My Address is 803 Fairfax avenue Bessemer Al 35020

The pictures are of
Elder Boone, Elder Harris, Elder Bishop and Myself
Me with some sweet glasses on!
President Tate and I
and a church sign that totally has the wrong words for the scripture. everyone knows that Ephesians 5:4 says: One Lord; One Faith; One Baptism not one God. silly church.
The last one is of my new home for the next little bit!