Sister Abbey Hafen // Week Forty-One // "You Will Find What You Look For"

Wow this week was great. I have felt fine and am glad that hospital trip was just a fluke and will NOT becoming a regular thing for me

First things first… we had a Women of God Specialized Training, and it was incredible. It was an ALL sisters meeting, the mission split in half. So half of us went to Cauayan on Wed and the other half on Friday. Sister Rahlf (mission president’s wife) and the wives of the senior couples, and then of course President Rahlf spoke to us. It was one of the most incredible meetings I have ever been in. I learned so much and seriously know this mission is for the rest of my life. I got a new charge, a new start for the week and for the rest of my mission. I am soo happy I got to be a part of that.

We have been using so many of the things we learned in Women of God Conference in our teaching and referring to the quotes and stories that were shared. We had a really spiritual lesson with one Recent Convert who has been struggling lately, and it was all on womanhood and her potential. She is 16 and is doing her best to live her standards, but has so many darts coming at her from all sides. She opened up about her friend that is not living the law of chasity and lost her virginity 1 year ago, but is not a member of the church- she asked if she would be held accountable at the last days for that. We told her yes, that all of us have to live the commandments to return to heavenly father. We told her that as a woman of god, as a chosen servant of his, SHE could become the instrument for this friend to receive the gospel- to become ready to meet Heavenly Father. The lesson was so awesome, and I honestly felt such a sincere love for this young woman- and her friend that I haven’t even met. I could just feel and relate to the love and worry she had for this friend of hers. The spirit was so thick as she shared and opened up to us, and Heavenly Father testified to all 4 of us that night as we talked of becoming Women of God.

So this week was full of very spiritual moments. Some of the most spiritual yet so far on my mission. 

Tuesday, we were working, and we really just got ‘panted’ (it means like no one is home, plans fall through, etc). Everyone was gone, out of town, or just did not want to listen to us. It was frustrating, and I was tired, and it started to get hot. I was just praying so hard that I would keep my head up… and of course I received strength. Us three just laughed and made the best of it (I am in a threesome companionship if I didn’t mention that last week, sis bien is just temporarily with us). That night we decided to visit a member (they are sealed/endowed) who we had heard was taking the lessons from his sister who is Jehovah’s Witness. We got talking and shared about families, and then shared about the importance of the covenants we made in the temple. In this lesson was the mom and dad, and their niece who is 15 and very very active. I asked him what some of the temptations that we feel come at our families today… and then he opened . and then started with tons of questions, and we knew that his testimony was really just shaking. I won’t tell the whole story, but after 10 or so minutes of clarifying the story of Adam and Eve, they just kept asking for proof in the bible of everything we were saying. As we were searching and helping answer their questions, I literally just got a prompting telling me to clarify what OUR purpose as missionaries was and make it clear to him how he can know what we are saying is true. 

I explained very clearly to him that I’m sorry, there is NO way to prove this is the true church- there’s no magic solution, there’s no verse in the bible that says to ‘join the mormons’, there’s no essay or video clip of Jesus Christ saying this is His church; there is one way, and one way only, to know if this is His Church. And it’s what we tell investigators every single day- to ask Heavenly Father. To read the book of mormon. And to act on the prompting you will receive if you have a sincere heart. I knew he was asking all these questions to try and prove to the Jehovah’s witnesses that our church is true, or maybe to prove to himself that our church wasn’t true.

Then I said, “Brother, sister, here’s the truth; if you look for things to destroy your faith, trust me, you’ll find them. They are out there. But I promise you, I promise you, if you look for things to strengthen your faith, you will also find those.”  Sister (the wife) repeated the very words I said to her. And she said (of course all of this is in tagalong haha) “That’s right. Yeah, that is true. What you look for you will find.” 

As us three bore testimony to this couple, the spirit was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. I was so grateful that the power of our calling was present in that lesson, and that our words could cut right to this couple. Especially the testimonies of my companions. Brother then opened up about being worried for his family, if this really is the right place, having the right authority to save his family. We bore strong testimony to him and I know they felt it. From what started out as maybe a subtle debate, or a battle, ended up being one of the most powerful lessons and moments on my mission. We ended on such a good note, and we set to have a family home evening with them (which is tonight) and they were MORE than happy to have us over. We are doing a lesson on the book of mormon and are going to challenge them to read it as a family are going to do our best to help them find the testimony that at one point, they really did have.

We have 3 of our investigators getting baptized next Saturday the Fifth. We are so excited! One of them is the cousin of our recent convert, and yesterday, SHE asked to work with US! She was so awesome at fellowshipping our YSA/Youth investigators, and honestly is so awesome. She is so excited to be baptized. She said to me the other night, that one night while laying in bed, she just thought “yes, I get to be baptized next week.” Hahah, it was so cute. She is attending the youth conference in april and I am praying that she will have a really spiritual experience as a new member of the church. The programs of the church really are what gave me my first conversion of the gospel.

I love the people here; I love them and legitimately desire them to receive the gospel. I seriously feel Christ’s love picking me up on the tired days, and I feel Him helping me love and discern the needs of the people here. I actually feel I am starting to naturally see their potential instead of instinctively judging them. I don’t have to trip over the language every 5 seconds and I can just really listen to every word they say. We are being so blessed, the three of us here in Almaguer. I am so happy to be on a mission and am just so happy. I love my companion(S).

This is one thing I think I told Grant the other week, is that it seems like everything that is happening to me, is answering or filling some sort of hole that I had before the mission. All of the things I was aching for before, to be like this or that, are slowly just being filled while I am here. I seriously have never been so sure of anything in my whole life, that this is the church of Jesus Christ. The spirit is very real. The gift of tongues works, and God is mindful of all things, and all people.  

Love,

Sister Abbey Hafen

A monkey. Yeah, a native monkey in the backyard of our investigators house.

We went to these falls earlier this morning. Kasibu Falls. 

Investigators :) the day Shamiah (our inv. getting baptized saturday) worked with us.

Me and Sister Bienvienuto:)

Sister Abbey Hafen // Week Forty // "R.I.P. Betsy Kofin"

First off, I give my best regards to my gold fish that I got September of 2009, who just passed away. I love her and know that we will be together forever!!!! I LOVE YOU BETSY. * Moment of silence * 

So.... I went to the hospital last night, but everything is fine now. yesterday morning i felt dizzy, and while i was showering, felt something kind of push on the back of my head, but i thought, whatever. because lately i have had those dizzy spells that i had last year, but they haven't been too bad. i told my companion, and then during sacrament i felt that same push again, and then twice again in a row. i then felt my body start to pass out so i grabbed my companion and started feeling that feeling, and knew i was gonna go... but i didn't quite pass out, i just kind of blacked out and started breathing really hard. We were on the front row so the branch president could see, so he sent someone down during the talk and we walked out. i was a wreck and couldn't walk and just had no strength. Then i blacked out. i didn't want to go to the hospital so i just got a blessing and then slept in the branch pres office all day (because if we went home, we'd have no transportation to get anywhere if there was an emergency).

Then that night, we had a FHE with the branch, so i came out just to eat. then as i was eating, i just felt everything stop in my body, and the next thing i knew was i could hear the branch pres counselor saying "sister hafen, sister hafen," but i couldn't respond. then i felt myself black out again and then we walked to the tricee and went to the hosptial. I got an ECG and they took my  BP but everything was normal. i felt fine again after about 20 minutes and we came home. then this morning while showering, i felt that push again, so i came out in my towel and just sat down and just sat down with my roomates. But as of now... I just feel super weak and uneasy, but I have a feeling it will go away. 

Okay. So other than that, this week ROCKED. We had some awesome lessons and have been soo blessed. We are now a threesome, a sister from another zone is with us until the end of the transfer.  It's been a wild week, but so good. We are being so blessed. The branch here really is way awesome. 

We have a baptism this saturday, the 2 11yr old granddaughters of Nay Rita, and then another baptism next week of the cousin of our recent convert. She is 16 and legit is sooo awesome. I am so impressed with the youth here. 

Because we went to Batad on Monday, Tuesday had meetings and emailed, and went to help another sister who was in the hospital and couldn't get ahold of any leaders in our zone, and Sunday WE were in the hospital, this week just was WEIRD. One quick story I want to share was a lesson we had with a less active, who now is our part member family we are working with to be baptized and sealed- we just happened to be in this one part of town, and we saw the branch pres and his wife leave this house and we talk to them. They told us that they just visited a less active there and that she really needs some uplifting. We said we would, and a few hours later we went by. Wow. The spirit was SO strong- we just asked questions to get to know them and really just clicked. there were silences, but they were so full of the spirit. Their neighbors think they are crazy and have been causing problems to them lately. They have been struggling to make it from day to day and have been just looking for some where to turn. They said we could come back everyday, but we thought that would be over-doing it haha. We go there 3 times a week and they are just so awesome. They are warming up to us and really are such a sweet family. 

Heavenly Father is so aware of each of us and our needs. I love my Savior and love this work. This week was weird, but full of blessings. I love this work and am so happy I am here.

Love,

Sister Hafen

saturday night dinner with president (and his wife is by me)

bayawak- lizard. yeah i ate it.

bayawak- lizard. yeah i ate it. (me and the branch president)

cute lil sis bien cooked breakfast for us.

This AWESOME part member family we found. Rabena Fam

YEAH. caribou.

Nay Feria

The Housing Senior Couple.

Half Way Mark! I got a pouch from my cute anak (trainee) the night of my halfway mark.

I love my comp

Van Halen and his friends

the kids bathing in the river :)

Sister Abbey Hafen // Week Thirty-Nine // "Batad- Banaue Rice Terraces, 8th Wonder of the World"

First off, we are emailing today (Tuesday) because yesterday we went to Batad- Banaue Rice Terraces, 8th Wonder of the World...... :) so we left at 2AM and got home at 10PM. So we are emailing today. Every missionary gets the opportunity to go at least once while they're here in the mission, so if you're ever assigned in Solano or Bambang, you take the opportunity :)

Second...  That hike in Batad was SO HARD- legitimately the hardest hike I have ever done, and probably will ever do in my whole life. But definitely worth it. I will say, I won't do it again, but I am so happy I was able to go and add that to my experience. I had some seriously spiritually uplifting moments on that hike, ones that I will never forget and that are very sacred to me. I am so happy that I went. Although today my body is aching and I am so dang tired, haha. WORTH IT.

A tender mercy from our week. So I don't know if I mentioned, but last week or the week before I think it was, we decided as a companionship to fast. I was inspired from some entries in the Sisters in Zion Newsletter (the newsletter with 8 of us missionaries from high school) and from some journal entries Grant sent me from his mission, to fast as a companionship. We fasted to find a family- a new investigator family, but we kept it pretty open, just any family. Maybe a new less active family to work with, or a new part member, etc. We fasted 2 fridays ago, and then this sunday our prayer was answered. We had dinner at our Branch President's house Saturday night and we asked them to pray for families they could refer. Then his wife shared that she has been praying, and one night, the face of her classmate flashed in her mind. She prayed and prayed, and it felt right. So the next Sunday, we went over there, with another member of the branch presidency. We met them, taught, and it was awesome. A mom, dad, and 4 kids. The lesson was actually kind of frustrating, because our branch president's wife and fellowshipper, and the referral, are more comfortable in ilokano (a different language). So as they talked, it was in ilokano. So like, it was SO hard to pick up and to bridge their conversations to ours, and feel like it was flowing, but I just prayed SO hard that it would be fine. Our branch president's wife is an RM, so she knows all the right things to say, and her testimony to him was SO powerful. 

The classmate, he has been taught maybe once before, and he gave us a little bit of a hard time about coffee, but we just laughed and have been praying for them to be prepared to hear our message. We now have an appointment with them every Wednesday and Saturday, and they invited their neighbor who they know is mormon to come join in the lessons (less active for a long time). That night, Sunday night (the night of the day we contacted the referral) we were laying in bed after our companionship prayer, and i said "Sister Dasalla. Natanggap natin yung sagot sa ating fasting." (we recieved an answer to our fasting). She said "Oo nga, pala. Wow. You're right." (oh yeah we did, wow, you are right.) It was such a sweet moment. I said "I love you Sister Dasalla" and it was awesome. We seriously are so blessed every single day and Heavenly Father is so wise. 

We also just street contacted this Nanay (Nay Mely), and at first it kind of felt like she was mocking us, but we just kept it cool and I was praying really hard, and by the end of our conversation, she was looking with amazement at my pictures of the temple. She was asking lots of questions, and we set up a return appointment. She is a "crusado", its a religion here in the philps, and it started in 1955. It's so freaky and I just hate it haha. Anyway, we returned on Saturday, and just got to know her, asked questions, and LISTENENED. This is one goal we've been working on, is just listening with love, and letting the spirit have time to breath and tell us what to say. We just listened and listened, and by the end of the lesson, she was crying and hugging us. She is feeling soo alone and feels like her prayers aren't being answered anymore. I always forget how powerful the message of the restoration is, and it truly was so powerful that day, as we shared the restoration to her and what happened to Joseph Smith. She promised to pray about Joseph Smith and set a return appointment. It was so awesome. After the lesson, we just walked in silence for a minute or two, and then Sister Dasalla said, "wow. nafeel ko talaga yung spirit kanina (i really felt the spirit earlier). wow. we just knew what to say." She put her arm around me and we just walked down the street smiling so big. We are being so blessed every day.

I seriously love our companionship, the area, the people, language, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. We had splits this week and working with Sister Barril was incredible- she is such a good teacher. She goes home in 2 transfers, and is our housemate :) I love her so much, and working with her was even better than just being housemates! She is so intune with the spirit, and all of our lessons were "first return appointment lessons with new investigators" so it was a lot of getting to know them and "How to Begin Teaching". It was so awesome how the spirit works in these people as we testify of straight truth and let them know that their Heavenly Father loves them, and has a plan for them. It's things I have heard my whole life, but as you testify of that to people who really don't accept that, its awesome. The new people we taught came to church on Sunday, and it was AWESOME. I love this work so much. 

So many things happened this week, so my letter is really long. But it was all just SO GOOD. We had an FHE planned with an active member who's husband isn't a member, and when she told him about it, he really didn't want it to happen. We dropped by the morning of the FHE to confirm, and she told us what happened, but she said to come anyway. We went, and after we said hi to brother, he left. haha. Anyway, we had so much fun. It was her sons birthday, and all her kids had a blast. It's so funny, because when members or investigators want to celebrate, they always want the missionaries there to have a family home evening because they know everyone will have a good time if we're there. The love people have for missionaries is so humbling, I can't even explain it. 

On the hike, there were soo many foreigners, so I took opportunity to talk to them because they spoke english :) I realized its really hard now to talk to people and share the gospel in english, i just naturally do it in tagalog. But wow, of all the people I talked to along the way, these 2 girls (both from England) really had an impact on me. I started talking to them, and then they asked why I was here. I explained what we were doing as missionaries, and they were amazed. They asked so many questions and I answered them, and then I asked if they were religious. The one wasn't really, because she wasn't raised that way, and the other was athiest. When I heard the words, "Ya know, I really don't believe in Jesus Christ. And the longer I am in my profession, the more I believe that" my stomach just sunk. I legit don't know if I have ever heard that come out of someone's mouth. We are so blessed here because filipino's all have a belief in God and Jesus, but literally, before this girl even said this, I just saw this deepness or hole inside of her. I just prayed so hard to know what to say, as these two were sharing their beliefs and their lack of beliefs, I just listenend. I listened so hard, and prayed to know what to say. As we got talking, it legit just turned into close friends expressing their beliefs. The setting was so comfortable and as I testified of how I've come to know Jesus Christ is real, the spirit was so strong. The chills ran through my whole body, and these girls couldn't take their eyes off of me as I testified. After, they just were silent, letting these words run through them. I just smiled and all the one could say was "..Wow." It was a very special experience, one I will never forget. 

I love my calling as a missionary, and am being so watched over every day. I love the Savior, and know He lives.

Love,

Sister Hafen

the falls

the very bottom... the falls :)

the natives were LOVING sister k's hair

Me, S. Howlett (we were roommates in the MTC... :) )

two natives that live there. Batad- Banaue Rice Terraces, 8th Wonder of the World

Batad- Banaue Rice Terraces, 8th Wonder of the World

Batad- Banaue Rice Terraces, 8th Wonder of the World

s.barril, s.jones, s.lasay, me.

our investigator, Kyle :)

Happy Birthday, cous! (haha, sister maddock is my aunts neice)

hahah in Tatay Tapec's tricee (its for hogs)

Kate Dela Cruz :) we had an FHE for her brothers birthday

FHE at the NERI household

On splits :) this GOLDEN family.. wow so humble and ready for the gospel

me being funny in planning again. hahaha

the meat shop in the market... it just sits out like this but its fresh and fine :) look at the little fans above

ALICIA-