Week 95 - My Companions are Hilarious!

Howdy!

This week has been great!

First off, our investigator Kelsey is doing really well! We taught her 3 times this week and she came to church. One of our teachers talked about baptism and it's effects on us, and Kelsey started weeping. She's excited to be baptized!! She's elect! She also came to a YSA baseball activity we had this week too!

We had a TON of our lessons fall through this week, and we weren't able to have any lessons with any of our gators other than Kelsey. Hopefully we can get with them this week and find out whose got intent and who doesn't. Despite that, we had lots of fun this week, probably because my companions are hilarious.

Saturday, we did a Book of Mormon booth in Uptown Saint John. We went around with clipboards and invited people to read a page from the book and highlight the things they learn about God. It was a lot of fun! It was a fun way to get people to read the Book of Mormon, and we got a few potential investigators from it.

That's about all from this week. We should have a couple of new investigators next week! We have lessons set up with a few solid people so we'll see how that goes!!

Hope everyone is doing well back home. Have a good week!! 

Elder Haslam

Fountain with beavers in a park in uptown

Homie we got to read from B of M, and now he wants his own!

Pages of the B of M that we had people read

Dinner at the Crilleys

Ward game night

Week 94 - This Week Was So Great!

Hi Guys!!

This week was so great! I had the best week on my mission for finding new investigators! We found 4 this week! One was someone who contacted us on Facebook and the other 3 were found through knocking! The one found on Facebook is named Kelsey, and she's so awesome. She's 23 and lives out in the boonies of our area, so it's a miracle that we are able to teach her. Actually, some Elders in Moncton found her and starting messaging her about the gospel over Facebook. They taught her over Skype with us and then we met with her in person. She came to church, and she's on date to be baptized! She's awesome! She really wants to be baptized and establish a relationship with God. She's probably the most solid of our 4 new investigators! I only really have time to talk about her today!

We had zone conference in Fredericton yesterday. It was weird to go to Fredericton because I haven't been there in over a year. It was also weird to not see it covered in snow! I was there from December to April before, so it was buried in snow that whole time. But the zone conference was probably the most spiritual conference I've been to on my mission. It was President and Sister Pratt's last conference, since they're leaving next week. I'm really, really, really going to miss them. They've had such a major impact on my life. President Pratt has helped me through a lot, and I have no clue how to repay him. It's gonna be hard to finish the last stretch of my mission without them, but I'll be alright. I'm convinced that one of the primary reasons I was called to this mission is because of the Pratts--God knew they could teach me invaluable lessons. He wanted to give me an exit interview despite me still having a couple months left, so that was really nice and gave me one last opportunity to learn from him. I love that man!

That's about all I have for this week! I know that God is real. I know His love is real even though we may reject it at times. His love isn't dependent on whether or not we are obedient to commandments. He loves all of us no matter what we have done. I do, however, know that His love is magnified and enriched as we live in accordance with His will. I've personally felt that in my life. We should always be seeking what the Lord's will is for us every moment of every day.

Love you all! Have a great week! 

Elder Haslam

Last Zone Conference with President Pratt

Week 93 - First Week in Saint John, NB

Hi Everyone!

I don't have much time this week, so I'm sorry if this one is brief...

The past few days here in Saint John has been AWESOME!!! I love my companions Elder Ball and Elder Ablett so much. This honestly could end up being one of my favorite transfers. The members here are fantastic, and they love the missionaries.

Saint John, New Brunswick is easily the biggest city I've served in on my mission. We've been walking through uptown Saint John and have met a lot of interesting people. So far, we've been spending most of our time finding since we have no current investigators. We do have some cool people to follow up with, however, so I think we'll find at least two or three people to start working with this week.

I'm really happy and I'm so excited for this transfer and this area. It's going to be great. Love you all! Have a great week!! And Happy Father's day to all you dads out there, especially mine. Love you, dad!

Elder Haslam

Week 92 - Back to New Brunswick Baby!

Hi Everyone!

I'll run you guys through the week.

Wednesday we had district meeting and after that we spent the bulk of our time creating family trees for the people who signed up for one at our booth last Saturday. But we got those all finished up and they'll be delivered sometime this week.

Thursday we went to Halifax for an exchange and had a blast!! I spent basically from 1:30-6:45 in downtown Halifax either street contacting or doing a booth. Elder Olsen tagged along at our booth, so that was fun!! We invited people to read random Book of Mormon passages to see what it teaches them about Christ. We talked to some cool people and some funny people too! I love Halifax. There's sooo many people to talk to there.

Friday we helped our investigator Judy move into a new apartment. We helped her move all the big stuff, and it was a huge relief to her. She really appreciated our help! Later we had a dinner with the Walkers and our recent convert Mare. She's been struggling a bit lately, so we working to get her back on track. She seemed to benefit from the lesson and the dinner.

Saturday was spent mostly finding because we had 4 lessons fall through. It rained a ton in the morning, and we got SOAKED!!! It was fun though. We got a couple of cool potentials, so hopefully they'll turn into new investigators sometime this week.

Sunday we had stake conference, which was awesome!! A seventy, Elder John Pingree Jr., spoke. I had a lot of my personal questions answered by his talk. Later in the day, we picked up a new investigator named Kirk. He's from Jamaica, and he's dating a less active. He had a lot of deep questions, and he really seemed to grasp the Restoration when we taught him. He's a cool dude!!!

Monday morning was all spent doing call-in reports. We later had an appointment to get our car serviced, so we spent some time there messaging random people on FB to see if they're interested in learning more. That was really fun, and we now have a few conversations going on with people in the area!

Yesterday, we found out about transfers!! I'm heading to Saint John, NB to be with one of my dream companions, Elder Ablett!!! He's from England!! We lived in the same apartment over a year ago and  since we both came out the same time, now we'll probably finish our missions together. At first we thought we'd be whitewashing, but later we got a call saying we'll actually be in a TRIO with another one of my dream companions, Elder Ball!!! I legitimately have journal entries saying I hope I'm companions with these guys! I am so blessed! I'll also be in the same zone as Elder Ipson and Elder Olsen, so I'll get to see Ipson again before he goes home, and I'll also get to be around Elder Olsen! I'm so pumped!!! Blessings all around!! Back to New Brunswick, baby!!

Although I'm super stoked, it's sad to say goodbye to Kentville. I absolutely love this place and the people here. I'm having to say a lot of tough goodbyes, but I've been tremendously blessed to spend 6 months here!! This area and the people here will always have a special place in my heart.

Hope things are well at home. Love you guys! Hope you have a good week!!

Elder Haslam

new Companion, Elder Ablett

Riding Bikes with Elder Bringhurst

Kentville District

Sunset in Halifax

Me and Elder Olsen