Abbey in the Philippines: Sister Abbey Hafen // Week Forty-Four // "Holy Week (as in like, the week that Jesus Christ died, not like "holy week" like "holy flames!"‏

what a week. WHAT a week. So many awesome things, and of course, also some not so awesome things. First off, I will honestly just say I am learning so much I sometimes just walk around all day saying prayers thanking heavenly father over and over. Sister Suay is such a good, hard, worker. She is so deep in this work- an answer to my prayer. I seriously prayed specifically 2 weeks ago that I would find a way to lose myself in the work, that i would find additional ways to never think or daydream about home and to have my mind running all day with what the investigators need, and i even prayed that i would get stressed out about the work- in order to get me to lose myself in it. He answered my prayer EXACTLY.

We had SUCH an awesome work week this week- 5 new investigators, 30 lessons- just awesome. Investigators and less actives came to church and it was so happy. It was seriously fun working SO hard. We prepared an Easter Message, as our mission president asked us to try, and we SHARED IT WITH EVERYONE. We had an INCREDIBLE zone conference this week, and the things we learned in Zone Con- we applied, we really did. I honestly felt the spirit guiding sister suaybaguio and i this whole week, and it felt so good. After Zone Con Sister Suay and I talked and just cried that night, feeling the Love of our Savior- and not just his love for us, but for his other children. Our desire to work hard and serve grew more than ever. It was seriously a very special and sacred day for me and for her.

One miracle of Holy Week and the message we shared of Easter:

We were walking from one of our appointments, and decided to stop by a former investigator (like we always do) (the mom of our AWESOME recent convert). We sat down at her little street store, and she talked to us, and we got a snack, and then she invited us right in. We sat down, got talking for a while, and then I asked if we could share an Easter Message with her. She said of course, and then her HUSBAND walked in. We invited him, and he sat right down. We shared with them Mosiah 14, and the things we learned at zone con about Christ and his last days on this earth -It was incredible. Our testimonies of Christ were strengthened so much at Zone Con, that as we testified in every appointment this week and shared all about Jesus Christ, the spirit was thick. They agreed to investigate again, and we are so excited to keep teaching them- maybe we can complete the family of Jan Jan so they can go to the temple :)

On a sad note, we taught 4 different crying mothers this week, 4 different mothers with 4 different husbands who have selfishly lost themselves in alcohol, leaving these women to fight this life by themselves. It was seriously so hard to watch, and I just became even more grateful for the family I was sent to. I am always asking myself why I was so blessed, but instead of thinking about it for too long, I just let that question drive me to find other families I can share this gospel with.

Seriously, things are great here in Almaguer. We honestly saw so many miracles this week. One thing I noticed this week, is that because we have agency, Heavenly Father has to use the crappy situations we put ourselves in, or others put us in, to bring about miracles. I hate that one of them had to be a crying mom with a drunk, wasted, asleep husband in the other room, but because of that, she accepted our invitation to come to church. She accepted the invitation to come worship our Savior, in order to get energy and strength to fight the next week. She brought her entire family- all wearing white t-shirts and clean jeans- to church yesterday.

As we went to pick them up, there her husband was; no shirt, ripped jeans, inside their little store. the look on his face as his cleaned up family, his 3 sons, wife, and baby daughter loaded in the tricee, was empty. I shook his hand and said "Brother, come with us next week." and a small, sad, smile with the tiniest bit of desire was on his face. We have been trying to visit this family and share with them for weeks maybe months now- and because of one Saturday afternoon that we dropped by, with her husband drunk and wasted in the other room, she was able to feel the love of christ and the need to come to the house of the Lord and worship. We have been so patient with this referral family, and our faith and prayers are starting to be answered- small ways are finally starting to sprout.

Sister Suay and I are happy. We are united. We are seeing miracles and loving this work. We are working hard and are soooooo tired at the end of every day. Sister Suay was an answer to my prayers and I honestly still can't believe some days that I am here on a mission.

Love,

Sister Hafen.

us with our investigator family at church yesterday!

Almaguer North, Bambang, Nueva Viscaya

picture 1.

picture 2. hahahaha.

Brother Allan and his family on their daughters birthday :)

Almaguer North, Bambang, Nueva Viscaya

6:35 am... picture: hahaha, we have one room in our apartment that has AIR CON! (air conditioning, which is RARE). so we all sleep there every night- and i get freezing. Who would have thought during SUMMER in the philippines i would be wearing a jacket to bed, hahaha.