Monday, January 25, 2016

Faith and Humility qualify us for the work

Hola everybody!!
What a week it has been here in Badajoz! We have witnessed so many miracles and amazing things, but I also feel like I have spent some time in the fire being polished and perfected this week.
On Tuesday, we had district meeting here in Badajoz and one of the Elders gave a taller about teaching with the spirit. We talked about things we can do to have the Spirit with us and then he randomly passed out slips of papers that had these things written on them and we were invited to find ways to improve during the week on whatever we had been given and then share an experience the following week.
Soo.... I drew "exercising faith". As I pondered on that, I wondered, "How can I exercise more faith? Everything in mission work is based on faith, I talk to people having faith that maybe even one will listen, I teach lessons having faith that I'm saying what the Lord would have me say and every day I wake up having faith that it will be a successful day... What more can I possibly do to exercise more
faith!?" Y'all, let me just tell you: I have learned that there is always more that we can do to exercise a little more faith. (:
As I pondered this all week, and as I have strived to exercise more faith and really turn this work over to the Lord, I have seen so many miracles and learned so much! These are just two experiences I want to share...

1. So every Thursday, we teach English class at 8 o clock. We had a future, Carmen, that we have been trying to stop by her house and she is very friendly but just never could receive us. So she told us to come by Thursday at 7 and she would be free. Well, our 5:30 appointment at the capilla ended late - at 7 - and if we were to walk to Carmen's house, 20 minutes away, we would only have 20 minutes to teach her before having to run back to the capilla for English class. Well.... It was raining and neither my companion or I really wanted to run out in the rain to maybe not even have her be able to receive us. However, I just kept having this I,press ion that we needed to go. So I told my comp that we had to go, even though it was far and we were short on time. So we went! And... She was home! We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she was so incredibly receptive and learned so fast. We apologized for having to run after 20 minutes but she still invited us to come over again! I was so grateful for having followed that impression and exercised my faith. Even though it seems something small, I was so grateful to find her and teach her even though it wasn't convenient. It doesn't matter if it's convenient or not because it is the Lord's will.
2. Hermana Dueñas and I had decided to do a fast this week for two of our investigators, Jose Antonio and Edith. (Backstory: Jose doesn't believe in God, and is very much against the idea, but allows us over because he is fascinated with English and America.  Edith is very receptive, wants to come to church and we have a good friendship). We also chose one thing to focus on being more obedient because we know obedience brings miracles. So we did the fast and we had a little bit of contact with them, and I had faith that we were going to see a miracle. Maybe they would come to our activity or to our church meetings or maybe even just Jose would soften his heart and allow us to teach him and his family. Well, Friday came and we stopped by their house to remind them of the activity the next day and they weren't home. So we gave her a call and she was hoping to be able to come. However, then Jose called us and he just yelled at me on the phone for about 10 minutes about how he didn't want religion and all of these different rude things.... I didn't understand all of what he said, but it broke my heart. I got off the phone and just cried and cried. I didn't understand why, after all week long of doing the fast and praying for them and trying my best to be obedient, we didn't see a miracle. I have really struggled with that and felt so discouraged and even still it weighs on my mind. But as I have pondered, I have realized that I can't set the Lord on a timetable of one week to show me a miracle. Maybe, just maybe, even though I couldn't see it, Jose's heart was softened and in the future he will be more receptive, or maybe something else happened, I don't know. But my faith doesn't stop with this week. I believe that truly exercising faith means that even though we have been rejected, doesn't mean we stop praying or bring obedient or hoping to see miracles for them. It just means that we continue on, with charity, having hope that through our faith, someday this wonderful family will accept the gospel.

This week, we also had a worldwide missionary conference! They talked a lot about how as missionaries, our purpose is to teach repentance so that when we baptize investigators, they are true converts and not just baptisms. One thing that was said that I loved was that truly, the gospel is simple and we don't have to make it complicated and we shouldn't make it complicated!!
God is real, and I know that He loves each and every one of us. His gospel is pure and it is simple and it is the only way we will make it back to Him and live with Him again. I know our Savior lives and that because of His life and His suffering, He knows how to help us overcome any trial, any heartache, any sin that we may experience in this life. It truly is a gift to have this knowledge and it's a privilege to be able to share it with others!!
I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the snow back home! Have a wonderful week!!
Xoxo Hermana Hauber


Because in 9 days she goes home to Utah!

My SHE who is going to transfer :(

It's a super big thing here to go to Domino's and pay 6 bucks for
all you can eat pizza. It does awful things to your body and I don't
know why but we went twice this week. 

We had lunch with a member and she invited some friends...They're
here from Michigan, Atlanta, and Illinois to play basketball #supertall

This is at Cronicass... 8 of us ate 2 of these hahaha

We had a culture night where people made food from
their countries. We made chili and cookies!


Monday, January 18, 2016

5 Months a Missionary!

Happy Monday!!
From what I've hear pretty much everyone has work and school off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day so I think today really is a happy Monday for y'all. (: This last week was a good one! Here are some highlights....
1. Interviews with President Andersen. I. Love. My. Mission president! Seriously, he and Hermana Andersen are so uplifting and so full of love, I'm am so grateful and so blessed to have the opportunity to serve with them. Something that we talked about was how the gospel is shared through the words of someone. I invite you all to go read in Alma 5: 7-13 where he is talking about how through the words of Abinadi, Alma came to know the gospel and he says this... "7 Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word... and their souls did expand, and they did sing redeeming love. And I say unto you that they are saved." How cool is that?? Their sounds were illuminated by the word. I LOVE how he describes that and the idea that the gospel can illuminate our souls. It can change our hearts and change us. So cool!
2. Looking for little miracles. So.... Being a missionary isn't an easy thing. Lots of times, people fail us, nobody opens their door, there's always excuses and people in the street don't even stop to listen. But, being a missionary brings so many blessings and miracles, you just have to look for them! This week, I tried to be super aware of little blessings we received and it helped me be so much more positive, to be happy and to see that the Lord truly is involved in every aspect of the work. So here's just a few things I noticed....
We had a super solid lesson with our investigator, Borja!
We found some antiguo investigators who invited us to come back this next week!
We saw sunshine!
We got another bombona of butano so now have warm showers!
3. I learned how to make tortilla de patata! This is one of my favorite Spanish foods and it is delicious. The mother of our branch presidents wife taught us and it was awesome!
4. I hit my 5 months today... Say what?? Shout out to my compi who decorated my desk this morning.
Overall, it was a good week. We decided that the mission is like a mini roller coaster on an escalator.... There are ups and downs all the time but overall, you are always going up. Kinda a lame analogy but it's true! I love you all and thank you for all your support! Have a great week!
Xoxo Hermana Hauber

Our whole district together at interviews!

Recieved my Christmas package from Grandpa and Grandma
Hauber!! Thank you!!

Translation: Take care of yourself... Eat bread.

This is Angelica, a menos activo, and she taught us how to make
tortilla de patata! YUM!

My comp decorated my desk for my cumplemes,
happy 5 months to me!

Tortilla de patata and the rest of our yummy lunch

Monday, January 11, 2016

Día de los Reyes!

Hola todos!!
Well, I have pretty much decided that Spain just never stops partying! Hahaha. First it was Christmas, then the next week was New Years and then this week everybody celebrated the Day of the Kings. This is when all of the kids receive their gifts from Los Magos and it's a big family holiday. Which is wonderful! Except the people don't really like to talk to the missionaries because they are celebrating. Haha. So it was a little bit slower than normal, but I did get to try some Roscón de Reyes we give was pretty dang yummy. (:
This weekend we had the opportunity to go to Sevilla on Friday and Saturday for zone meeting and then intercambios! Zone meeting was awesome. We talked about the importance of obedience, and also the importance of inviting people to repent before inviting them to baptism. Because you can't be baptized if you haven't sincerely repented. We also talked about the metas for this coming year that we have as a mission. They asked us to set goals for our areas and then as districts, zones and finally we made a mission goal. I have thought a lot about how we can set goals all we want, but unless we as a mission - every single missionary - are focused and obedient, we won't reach these goals. It's the same in our lives outside of the mission... We can set a goal to lose 10 pounds, but if we don't follow our work out plan or eat just a little bit healthier or whatever it might be, we won't see results.
^^^The point of this whole rambling thing is to encourage you guys to stick with your New Years goals and then to ACT!! And when you involve the Lord you will see even more success because he is just waiting to help you when you ask.
For intercambios, I had the opportunity to serve with Hermana Nelson!! She has been out for 13 months and I learned so much from her! I'm grateful that we have leaders and examples to learn from and always find ways to improve. 
We had a precious experience, just yesterday with the daughter of someone in the ward. So her mom is a member and the moms boyfriend is investigating the church, we have been teaching him for a while. Well, Brianna, the daughter, is 7 and incredibly smart and so cute and just amazing. Well we found out she wanted a Book of Mormon that was her very own, and of course we have a ton. So we took one and wrote her a note, just bearing testimony and telling her that we loved her. When we gave the book to her.... The light on her face and the happiness was literally the most beautifully thing. She gave us both several big hugs and read the note out loud and continued to thank us for the Book of Mormon.
As I have pondered on this, I have thought about how cool it would be if every person treasured their scriptures like this little seven year old. If every single one of us realized how precious it is that we have revelation FROM GOD. TO US. Written FOR US in these times. Although I have to come to love my scriptures and treasure the time I have to study them, I learned so much from watching sweet Brianna glow when she received her own Book of Mormon. I want to invite you all to ponder just a little on this and what your scriptures mean to you and maybe keep them just a little closer, a little more sacred to you this week.
All is well here in Badajoz... The work is hard, the work is good, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord as a missionary. Thank you all for your love and support!! Have a wonderful week!!
Xoxo Hermana Hauber 

This is Brianna <3
My "little brother" Elder Nye got transferred :(
Our cute district at an all you can eat pasta place!
Nightgowns and mismatching fuzzy socks...
it's becoming a trend
Intercambios with the SHE's!
My SHE Hermana Nelson
Otra vez, Hermana Nelson and I
This is a gofre with dark chocolate :)
Roscon de Reyes! Delicioso!
Apparently I looked like a Sevillana. Hahaha.

Monday, January 4, 2016

New Years Miracles!!

Hello everybody!!
I hope you are all happy and healthy going into this new year... 2016!! Can you believe it?? This week we had a lot of cool miracles here in Badajoz!
First of all, our branch president is AWESOME. And so is our ward mission leader. They are both so willing to help us with the work. They ask us what our goals are, what we are struggling with reaching so they can help us improve. The support here is amazing and I'm grateful to have started my mission here!! #badajozforthewin
Anyways... So our branch president gave us a referencia, and we. Allied her last week to invite her to church and she didn't answer. But then the next day, he brought her to the noche de hogar that we always do and it was wonderful!! She also celebrated the New Years with us, and went to the big dance in the capilla and we met with her again on Saturday to practice English and show her the Book of Mormon. She has made a lot of friends with the members and that is so important. Also, she is from Panama which is pretty cool. (: Another miracle is that we started teaching another girl from Honduras! Like the one from Panama, she is here for studies and is so receptive to this gospel and our message of Jesus Christ. We have been trying to contact her for a couple weeks and finally met her AND taught her.
This week we celebrated New Years! Of course. (: Here in Spain, people all get together and have a big dinner with their families or friends or whoever at like 10 or 10:30. For us, we had jamón, seafood, fresh veggies and this type of meat that I also had for Christmas... In Chile it's called this: "enrollado e guazo" but I have no idea in Spain. Haha. But it was yummy! The main tradition here for New Years however is eating grapes! The last 12 seconds of the year, there are bells that ring every second and for each second, you eat a grape. In the past years, missionaries could stay out and do this with members, but this year our mission president asked us to be in piso, but we could stay up until midnight to eat our grapes and then go to bed. Sooooo we did. And that was how I celebrated New Years. (:
Anyways. We had a good week here in Badajoz and the work is progressing! Just like anything else in life, you gotta take it poco a poco. I hope you all have made goals for this year that will help you improve little by little in those things that matter most!!
Love you all!!
Xoxo Hermana Hauber