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

Week 43 - Cape Breton

Hi Everyone!

This week we got to go to Cape Breton (5.5 hour drive) for a  mini-zone conference. We were allowed to do 4 hours of sight seeing afterwards, which was awesome! We visited this old French fortress that's right on the ocean called Louisbourg. It was so cool. There was this really old church in the building that the general lived in, and there was this huge picture of King Louis in the church rather than Jesus, which affirmed my testimony about the apostasy. haha 

This week we taught Suzanne 3 times again. We made her a study program so she can start getting things out of her studies. Hopefully that'll increase her testimony. She's says that if God wants her to quit smoking, she'll "feel his presence." We're going to share the scripture about procrastinating repentance with her next time. 

Yesterday in studies I read in Ether, chapter 6. It talks about how the Lord caused that there should be fierce winds blown upon the Brother of Jared and his group while they were in the barges. The winds caused them to be swallowed up in the sea, and it actually made there journey seem really miserable. I was asking myself while reading, "Why did God do that to them?" Then I read in verse 8 where it says: 

"And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind."

I realized that although the Lord may have made the journey more difficult for them, the purpose of the fierce winds was to blow them toward the Promised Land. The Lord never ceased to blow the winds because he knew it would allow the group to progress to their final destination. Sometimes we might feel that the Lord gives us unnecessary trials, but the only reason why he gives them to us is so we can be pushed closer to Him. I'm grateful for my trials, and I know everything happens for a reason.

Hope you all have a great week! Love you!

Elder Haslam

Week 42 - Special Olympics

Hey Everyone!

Happy Father's Day to my dad and to all the fathers!

This week has been pretty good. We did lots of volunteering!!

First off, I went to New Glasgow to go on exchanges with Elder Fairbanks and Elder Hoole. Elder Hoole and I went street contacting near a Catholic college, and we saw a bunch of people wearing these weird yellow shirts. We asked if there was an event going on or something and they said it was the Special Olympics for all of the Maritimes!! We asked if they needed any volunteers, and they were like, "YES!!!" and then we were like, "YESSSS!" So we went in, got some yellow shirts on, and volunteered for several hours helping them set up for the opening ceremony. I had to go back to Cole Harbour, but the New Glascow elders went back and volunteered for another 5 hours the next day. It was pretty awesome!

As far as investigators go, Suzanne is still doing the same. We're starting to make a mini study program for her with videos on lds.org and things like that because she's not very literate. We think that will help her build the faith that she needs to quit smoking. Please, still, pray for her. 

Saturday all the missionaries in the metro and surrounding areas got to volunteer at a street hockey tournament in Halifax. It's the largest street hockey tournament in Canada and, man, some of these Canadians are insanely good at hockey. It was pouring rain though, so our job was to take squeegees and scrape the water off of the courts during timeouts. We did that from 8:30 am - 7:00 pm with 20 min breaks for lunch and dinner. It was pretty brutal but also a ton of fun. I got to hang out with Elder Ipson again because he came up to volunteer too!

This Thursday, we're going up to Cape Breton Island for a mini zone conference! President Pratt gave us permission to do 3 hours of sight seeing after the meeting!! So I'll try and take some pretty good pictures. We have to drive almost 5 hours to get there though, so that's a bummer. 

That's about it for this week. Love you all!! 

Elder Haslam

Finding Investigators at St. Francis Xavier University

On a Split in New Glasgow at St. Francis Xavier University

Volunteering at the Maritime Special Olympics

Glasgow

Week 41 - It's Getting Hot!

Hey Everyone!

This week has been pretty good!

We had district meeting this week with President Pratt, and it was awesome.! He gave us a training about hope and how we can use hope to contact people and teach people more effectively. It was a great district meeting, and I'm glad he came!

Suzanne is still the same. She wants to get baptized, but she keeps on saying that she'll quit smoking but that it will be on her own time. She doesn't want us to pressure her. We hope that if we keep meeting with her, she'll have courage to finally quit smoking. It's a work in progress, but I know she can do it eventually. Again, please pray for her.

Yesterday, we picked up the Grand Falls elders from the airport, and we got to go on a mini exchange with them. It was so fun because Elder Warner and I both served there, so we were just talking to them about what's going on in the area and how the members were doing.

It's starting to get hot!! Today it hit 34°C (93°F), but with the humidity it feels like 40°C (104° F). Elder Warner and I have had to take some breaks at times because we've been so sweaty. It doesn't feel like Utah at all!


Well, things are going great. I love my mission. I love being able to serve the Savior full-time. I'm grateful that I'm able to share the gospel with others. I know it's true, and I know that it's the key to happiness on Earth and joy in heaven. 

Thank you for your support!

Love you!

Elder Haslam

P.S. I didn't take any pictures this week. Sorry.

Week 40 - Almost Summer in Halifax

Hi People!

This week we had zone conference, and I got to see Elder Ipson again! I love zone conferences. I always learn so much at them. For this one, we talked a lot about how we can give our investigators more real intent. It was great.

We taught Suzanne four times this week. She was supposed to start the stop smoking program today, but she just texted us and told us that she's already relapsed and that she just went out and bought two packs.  We're going to keep meeting with her and hopefully her faith can build so she can have the courage to finally quit smoking. Please pray for her.

We got news yesterday that on June 17th all the metro missionaries will be doing service at this hockey event in Halifax. There will be almost 25,000 people in attendance! We'll be able to watch a bunch of hockey, so that's going to be awesome!

This Wednesday I get to interview an investigator of one of the Dartmouth sisters for baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her name is Alex, and she's going to be baptized this Saturday, so we're super excited for her.

Well that's about it for this week. Happy summer everyone! Love you all.

Elder Haslam

Elder Ipson in Nova Scotia

Me and Elder Warner

The Bay

Me by the Bay

Wooden Name Tag