Hey All You People

Week 36 (March 20, 2017)

First things first. I want to say happy anniversary to my wonderful parents. How long have you guys been married now?

I have to be honest..... This week we didn't do anything! Mostly because I've had a bacterial infection all week. Woot. 

Yesterday I was tired of being in bed that I told my comp, "Nope, we are going out and working today." Great idea.  No, it seriously was.  I'm not magically healed or anything, but yesterday I found out what if meant to give the Lord everything you've got and then collapse at the end of the day.  Literally, collapse.  So then we went to the doctor lol.  They gave me some pills, and said "take it easy and you'll be fine in a few days."

Since I don't have any stories this week, I'll share some revelations.  You get those when you're in bed listening to talks or reading the BoM.

1. "God loves you more than you know."  
This week I've felt pretty useless.  Being unable to work, your mind wanders and satan tends to make his way in.  You get down because he reminds you of who you've been, not your potential.  He tells you that God doesn't really love you, that he's not really listening to your prayers. He tells you that you are wasting time.  I started to listen to these temptations, but thank goodness for Jeffrey R. Holland because in that moment I started listening to a different source.  

"The first great commandment of all eternity is that we love God with all our heart, might, mind and strength.  But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of his heart, might, mind and strength".

God loves us so much! He will never abandon us.  He never has, and He never will.

2. "We are the products of our own beliefs."  
We all have our own personal beliefs.  Whether they be religious, cultural, personal or political they don't mean anything if they don't influence the way you live.  When you make decisions every day, is your conscience there? Do you know what it is you believe? If not, you should try to write them down :)

3. "You are better than wickedness."  I was reading in 1 Nephi 8 in Lehi's dream, which we all know.  But a verse that I didn't notice before stood out like a sore thumb.  Verse 33 says:  "And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building. and after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also, But we heeded them not."

In my life before, I've been quick to heed the calls of the world.  Those of you who have been through high school know what that is like, but those who are still in it can't really see it.  But this past week I realized how much I want the things of God than what the world has to offer because the things of God last forever.  The world will not.  Our goal should be that last phrase of the scripture so in the last day we can say; "we heeded them not."

Don't listen to sinners.  They don't know anything. 

Y'all are wonderful! Hope life is good and you don't have bacterial infections! See you next week!

Elder Haws

The cure for Cancer, Israelite prophets, and a trip to Machu Picchu

Week 35 (March 14, 2017)

Hey everyone. This week has been the craziest week ever. 

I´ll just tell a few stories for this email. 

This week I was divisions with my good pal Elder Skousen. When we got a call from one of the sisters in our zone who had an investigator who needed a blessing the next day at 4, so we said yes obviously. We got to the small store that they were in and the scene was just sad. The sisters were somber, and the woman who needed the blessing, quiet. We asked what was going on. They told us that the lady had gone to the doctor yesterday, and they discovered a series of tumors in her chest. Cancerous tumors. So kind of having a freak attack elder Skousen and I decided that I would give the blessing. I gave it, they thanked us and we left. I didn´t say anything special in the blessing. I did the best that I could and hoped that the Lord found me worthy to do so. 

The next day I found out that she had gone back to the doctor, and got another test done. Only to find that none of the tumors were cancerous. She was completely cancer free. Like it was never even there.  

Wow.  The Priesthood works guys. 

This next one is just a funny one, and kind of short. But this week I had the opportunity to teach a man named Pedro. Pedro has been attending the church for about 15 years, he´s not baptized, and he dresses like he is from Israel, even though he is Peruvian. We went to teach him. Only to find out that he has the bible memorized, he has no interest in the church, he only attends because he wants to take the Priesthood over to his church (we speculate) and he wants to combine the LDS church and the Israelites. Freak man.  He also has a pet goose which is more of a demon than a goose.

So we went and taught this man. It was the most frustrating thing in the world. Because it turns out that they prepared a sermon for us. We tried so hard to teach them. It was hard. And we found out that Pedro is like their prophet here in Peru. Soooooo that was exciting. We tried to teach the restoration to him. But he kept bring up how there is so much sadness and poverty and bad things in the world. (He was trying to get to his point of joining the churches together there.) That's Pedro.

We also had a baptism this week! Its jorge the guy who we had to pass to another ward because he lived out of my ward! Yeah he got married and baptized on the same day. 

I also got to go to Machu Picchu. That was the coolest thing that I´ve ever done. 

I love you all so much! Sorry this email is late, I went to Machu Picchu on P´day, which is 5 hours away from Cusco. No habia tiempo. 

Conference and Stuff

Week 34 (March 6, 2017)

Me and Elder Bledsoe

Hey everyone, hows it goin?  This week was alright, not too crazy, not too slow either.  

We started off with our interviews with President on Tuesday and nothing special happened there.

Wednesday was our conference.  That was cool.

And then on Thursday, we had divisions again.  This time I was in my sector with Elder Bledsoe.  He's from California.

This past week we found a golden investigator AND a golden family.  We also did a zone fast and we have seen some incredible things happen.

Our golden investigator's name is Joseph.  He has been to church 4 times and we recently decided to contact him because we thought the Hermana's in our ward were teaching him.  Come to find out that no one has been teaching him and he wants to get baptized.  Crazy stuff.

Our golden family is familia Mora Carrena.  They are AMAZING.  We contacted the dad, Brady, in a sewing store.  He told us he was very worried about his wife who has gotten really sick lately.  We told him that we had a message that could seal their family forever.  After that, he perked up and invited us over for the next day.  They are such an amazing family.  We had a small lesson with them.  They asked us super profound questions and they were so interested.  We finished the lesson and we were walking out the door when Brady asked us if we were hungry.  So they took us out to eat.  THAT NEVER HAPPENS.  I hope they get baptized.

We also got to watch the groundbreaking of the new Arequipa temple.  It was awesome! What a special thing for these people.  Cusco does not have a temple, but, Arequipa is only 6-7 hours away.  Which is much closer than Lima!  Temples are so important and I miss going to it.

I was reading 1 Nephi 4 this week and a verse caught my eye. (Verse 3)
After Laman and Lemuel had seen and heard an angel, they still doubted and Nephi points that out to them.  Do we believe, even after we have seen miracles? President Uchtdorf gave a talk about how after time, we become used to things.  Even miraculous things.  Do you still believe? Do you still know the miracle of the plan of salvation, or do you take it for granted? We don't need to see to believe, but we do need to believe to feel. 

Love you all so much, have a wonderful week!!!

-Elder Haws
1 Nephi 3:7

James and Tiffany from Lehi

View of Cusco

View of Cusco