3.26.12

hey fam!

Well this week I would just like to express to you all the importance of references! honestly my testimony of references has grown so much. Here in my area we have this family the Cabana familia and they have basically become our family here. They are amazing. Well the mom out of nowhere has come to us with names of a bunch of different people she knows and she has gone to them and asked them if we can stop by and made appointments with us. I am not going to lie. References are the way to success in missionary work. Literally all of our investigators that are truly interested and understand our message are the references of this family.

The other day we asked the daugher of the cabana familia (Rocio) to go out and help us with some appts and as we were walking in the street her friend ran up to her and greeted us all and invited us in her house. She told us that she is a religious person and that she also left to do a 6 week mission. She then asked us what our message consisted of. We then shared with her the whole restauracion and the spirit was so strong in the mission. We then invited her to General Conference this weekend and she didnt even hesitate to say yes. She told us that she felt so good from our visit and asked when we could pass by again and invited to have dinner with her family this week.( can you say AMAZING) We then left her house to go home for the night and Rocio ended up staying and hanging our with her for the rest of the night. Rocio told us that Erika (the girl) asked her several times throughout the night about the conference and told her that she wanted to go saturday and sunday with her. I am just saying this is pretty much a miracle and it is all because of a member.

My testimony of references has grown so much in this past week. i know without a doubt that missionary work wouldnt function without the help of the members and their references. Truly the members know the people and they know the people that could be ready to hear the gospel so my invitation to you guys this week is to think about your friends, the people that you pass or see at the store and share the gospel with them. Share your testimony with them and how the gospel blesses your. You never know when it will affect a soul. LIke the scriptures say God is happy if we can save one soul but how does he feel when we save several souls. It truly is an amazing work. Its not easy but it is incredible to see peoples faces as they feel the spirit teach them and touch their heart. Things are good. I am happy and things are starting to look up in our area. we are excited!! love you all have a wonderful week!

love,

hna van wagenen

3.19.12

hello,

well another week has passed. man do the weeks just seem to be flying by. This past week was a pretty normal week but we actually had to drop two of our investigators this week. and it is two our our investigators that have gone to church and everything. It really stunk. One of our investigators is called Isabel. She is very catholic but after teaching her for several weeks someone we finally got her to come to church with us (a miracle!) We tried putting baptism dates with her but she just didnt want to accept because she has already been baptised in the catholic church and she just cant change. The catholic people here are very into the traditions of their fathers. So we had to let her go because she just became very closed off with us and didnt really want it anymore. It really is hard to lose an invitigator like that. but I guess that there is someone else here that is prepared to accept. So the other day we were taking a taxi to the church and we started talking to the taxi driver about the church and he told us that he knew a little bit about the church because not that long ago his friend got baptized and he went to his friends baptism. He then went on telling us that he saw a huge difference in his friend after his baptism and he just had a light about him. We then invited him to know more about the church and he said honestly i would love to learn more and i have so many questions about life that i want answered. I want the missionarys to come teach me. ( can you say that he is like chosen! super prepared to have the gospel in his life only that he doesnt live in our area.... sad day!) We are kind of in a slow part of the work right now it just seems like all of the work that we are doing just doesnt seem to be going anywhere. It makes things a little bit hard but we just keep going and keep trying to study and see what we can do as missionaries to better our teaching skills. Preach my gospel really is incredible. It has so many amazing things in that book.

Well that was pretty much my week. Nothing too exciting just another week in the crazy life of a missionary. I continue moving forward and learning lots. I feel like my view on life has truly changed and I am learning things and growing in so many ways it is awesome! the mission is hard but so worth it. I am happy I love my companion the people here is Formosa(my area) are amazing. They are some of the most friendly people I have ever met. The members have become my family. THey are amazing. I feel grateful to have been sent to this area because it truly is a big difference to my first two areas. well gtg love you all lots! have an awesome week.

love,

hna Van Wagenen

3.12.12

Hola Familia!

Well another week has passed and I am not going to lie this past week was one of the harder weeks I have had in the mission. I feel like we worked so hard this week working with the members and working hard to help our investigators progress and go to church on sunday and then on Sunday when we passed for our investigators they either werent there or made up excuses. It is just so frustrating when you feel like you have worked so hard all week and then sunday is the day to see your work when they go to church on sunday and they dont go. It just makes me feel like all of the hard work that we have done was pointless. Its like the people here just dont want to make time for God. As I was really sad yesterday after church because none of our investigators went to church it made me think a little bit more into things. I thought.. look at how sad I am to see that these people dont want to make time for God I cant even imagine how sad God is when he sees that his children reject him and dont want to make time for him. It has gotten me to think a little bit more about life. Everything we have is from God. We are here on this earth because God sent us, God has given us our bodies and blesses us everyday but what are we doing to thank God. We have so much to thank God for and it just hurts me to see these people that just dont want to make time for God. We are here everyday calling people to repentance and teaching people how they can be saved but they just dont want it. It is def not an easy job. I am not going to lie. but Its like we are put a little bit more in the shoes of our savior Jesus Christ who died for us and did so much for us but people just dont want to follow him. When I feel like I just cant go anymore because its too hard I just think of my savior and how much more he went through for us and how this is only a little thing that I can do for him.

Things are good i promise. I truly am happy I love my comp. The area is hard but we just have to keep going and keep working. I am truly grateful to be here because I am learning and growing in so many ways. I am truly learning the purpose of life and the things that are most important in my life. I thank you all for your love and support. I know I couldnt do this without you guys. I am truly grateful. Love you all lots. Have a wonderful week.

Love,
Hna Van Wagenen

p.s. We did an activity this past week with our zone and the 2 branches and ward. It was a carnival type thing. These are some pics from it.

3.4.12

Hi!
Well it sounds like the news from the week is the new dog. Your letters made me laugh. That is so something that dad would do. Have you came up with a name yet? haha I love that you wanted to name the dog Shelley. what a crack up. let me know when you come up with one.. hmmm I cant think oh anything

Well another week has past. I am not going to lie it is kind of freaking me out how fast the time seems to be passing. It seems like when things are going well (good area, good comp) the time just seems to fly.. ahhhh!!!! Things are going well. My comp is Awesome. It is crazy because she only has like 3 months in the mission but she is just not afraid to open her mouth and speak the langauge. I was def not like that when I was still new. It truly is awesome because we work together well and I dont feel like I have all the load on me. We split duties up which is awesome. The area is good. We have an investigator that the hermanas we teaching before I got here for the whole transfer and now we have been teaching him for these past few weeks. He got in an accident serveral years ago and I think after the accident he was pretty messed up and like a child. NOw he is more normal but the problem is that he cant walk well. He has to use a walker. He has gone to church 4 times and absolutely loves it and thinks that he is a member. He wants to get baptized but the problem is that he doesnt want to get baptized until he can walk prefectly normal again and he smokes. Ahhhh so we are kind of frustrated with it a little bit because we feel like we have been doing so much to help him stop smoking and help him to understand the importance of getting baptized NOW! I guess the mission really teaches us how to have patience huh? haha we made a goal with him to pray and ask God if he needs to get baptized for the 17 de Marzo. We know that God will tell him yes but it is a matter of him recognizing this answer from God. SO this is one of difficulties right now but I have faith that everything will work out.

I seriously feel so happy and grateful to my heavenly father that I am here on the mission. This past week we were heading to the church for a meeting with our president of the branch and we were already kind of late and as we were walking my comp stopped and said no we have to clap at this house. So we clapped and a lady came out and without even telling her who we were invited us into her house. She is a solo mom with 4 kids and lives there with her 14 year old sister. We shared with her our message about familys and how we can have an eternal family. The spirit was so strong and they were so happy. I dont know what will happen with this family. I really hope that we will be able to continue teaching them and bring the gospel in the lives but I just feel so happy to see the light in the peoples faces when they feel the spirit and here us tell them that god truly loves them and our message is a happyness and peace. It is such a privelage to be able to bring this happiness taht I have into other peoples lives. I know that the gospel truly brings happyness into my life. and I know that we are literally sons and daughters of God and that he wants us to be happy and enjoy this life. I know that prayer is so important and that the scriptures are truly a blessing in our lives. I lvoe this gospel. Well i am out of time but I love you all lots. Have a wonderful week.

Love,
Hna Van Wagenen

Pic 1: my comp and I celebrating our 5 months and 1 year mark with Cake. yummm!!! :)

Pic 2: Moving to our new apt

Pic 3: running into my mtc friends at transfers

pic 4: a day of lluvia. mucho lluvia