Week 47 - Split in Halifax

Hello Everybody!

This week went by pretty quickly!

Wednesday we had district meeting, and I gave a training on teaching the Restoration simply, quickly, and powerfully. It went really well! After, Elder Warner and I went knocking for 5.5 hours, and we talked to a lot of really nice people, so that was good. 

Thursday, we called this guy we gave a BoM to a couple weeks ago and he told us that he read the entire Book of Mormon! We were super pumped. So we stopped by his house and visited with him. We sat down and he slapped down a bunch of anti articles onto the table and started going through them with us. It was pretty annoying haha, but it was also fun because we addressed everything he brought up and used the scriptures to back it up. He was pretty closed off though, so I don't think he really listened to us. We're still not sure if he actually read the BoM. If he did, he certainly didn't do it with an open heart. Oh well. 

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I served in Halifax with one of my trainers, Elder Larson. His companion was needed someplace else, so I was his companion for a few days. I got to attend the Halifax YSA ward on Sunday and that was awesome! Some of the YSAs had us over for dinner too. I had a ton of fun, and it was really nice to serve with Elder Larson again after all these months. It was weird being in such a big city though. 

The other day I got to go on exchanges with Elder Ipson! We went knocking and had a ton of fun. He and his companion are traveling the mission to give some basic training to all of the missionaries. So they gave us a district meeting, and it was really awesome! I learned a lot and Elder Ipson killed it!

Hope everyone is doing well! 

Elder Haslam

Future Missionary (age 5): Elder Tyler Haslam

On a split with my "Mission Dad" - Elder Larsen

Week 46 - Zone Conference

Hey Pals!

Our only investigator, Suzanne, dropped us this past week. She just told us that she's not ready to quit smoking. She says she likes her cigarettes and tea too much to get baptized. She'll be baptized one day, but now just isn't her time. 

On a happier note, this past week we had our Zone Conference, and we talked a lot about ways we can help get our investigators to church. I got to see Elder Ipson there and we took yet another picture together. (They never get old.)

Elder Warner and I are still on the hunt for new people to teach. We've been knocking doors like crazy. We've also stopped using our car from 5 pm-9 pm, so we can walk more and talk to all the people that pass us while we walk. 

Also, one time this week, we were knocking and this guy who was so high answered this door. He was smoking marijuana, and he blew a puff of it into our faces. It was so bad and stinky haha! So we just reached out and gave him a pamphlet with our number on it and ran away. :)

That's about it for this week. Thanks everyone for all that you do!

Love,
Elder Haslam

Elder Ipson and Elder Haslam

Week 45 - Saying Goodbye is Hard

Hi!

The highlight of this past week was being able to go to the temple! I'm lucky that I get to be here in one of the Metro areas that's allowed to go to the temple on every transfer day. I got to go through with Dippy too so that was fun!

This past week was pretty sad because I had to say goodbye to Elder Breinholt, Elder Stratton (one of my trainers), and Elder Ablett (leaving Dartmouth to go to Newfoundland). So I had to say a lot of goodbyes on transfer day as well. 

This past transfer has been pretty rough. We've gone about 8 weeks without finding a new investigator in our area. We've been working really hard but we just haven't been seeing any results. I was getting really frustrated and really discouraged with our whole situation. The next personal study I had, I opened up to D&C 6:29-30. In it Christ says,

"29 Verily, verily, I say unto you, if they reject my words, and this part of my gospel and ministry, blessed are ye, for they can do no more unto you than unto me.

30 And even if they do unto you even as they have done unto me, blessed are ye, for you shall dwell with me in glory."

These scriptures brought me a lot of comfort and relieved me of all my frustrations. I realized that while I may be getting rejected over and over, day after day, I'm having experiences similar to what Christ must have experienced. I realized that being rejected is an essential part to living a Christ-like life. It also brought me great feelings of gratitude towards the Savior. Even though I may think I have it rough, the Savior had to deal with much worse circumstances and he was a perfect person. I'm not worried about getting rejected anymore. All I care about now is doing what the Lord asks of me.

Hope everyone has a great week! Love you all!

Also, Happy Birthday to Mom tomorrow. You're the best!! Love you!!

Elder Haslam

Elder Haslam & Elder Ablett

Elder Stratton, Elder Haslam, Elder Breinholt

Message from Elder Ablett

Week 44 - Independence Day

Hi Everyone!

We did a lot of finding this past week. We've been struggling to find some people to teach, but I think we'll find someone soon. We'll just keep up the pace.

Friday we had a Skype call for all of the French missionaries, and I said the closing prayer in French. It took a bit of practice and memorization, but I think I did decently. I probably only messed up 12 times, so it wasn't too bad.

Saturday was Canada Day, and it rained a ton. We were able to talk to a lot of people, but we got completely drenched!! It was still fun though.

The other day we were knocking in North Preston, which is an all-black community about 15 min out of Cole Harbour. We met this one guy who yelled at us because we weren't Israelites and everyone in the town was. He was yelling at us like "Don't be preachin' to these Israelites, man. Go find some people who aren't descendants of Benjamin." We were really confused, so we just ran away and knocked on a different street.

That's about it for this week! Hope you all had a good week and enjoyed the 4th!

Elder Haslam