41st Letter 12-30-13

Photos: 1- I love the storms! 2- Me at the Churrasco! Very hot day!

Dear Family,

What a crazy past week I have had. Christmas was great here! We had many parties and people were a lot more welcoming! Of course the best part was Skyping the Family on Christmas day! You all looked beautiful! This week was awesome, but super difficult as well.. I think I know what it feels like to be home sick now... I don't like it at all. I feel very alone here and I am not used to that. I know it will get better over time, though! Just need to keep pushing forward.

Wednesday (25th), after Skyping and emailing the family we went into the park nearby and sang Christmas Hinos (hymns).  A lot of people enjoyed them and we got a decent sized crowed listening for awhile -haha. I have never been much of a performer so it was kinda cool! Really missed you guys after seeing you on Skype.  Also, was very dehydrated so I need to start drinking more water.

Thursday, was a pretty good day but was slow. We walked to a bunch of different members' homes and investigators' homes. Didn't have too much luck. While we were walking a man yelled at us and said he wanted to hear our message. So we went to his casa and taught him the Restoration. I tried teaching parts or saying little things, but I was having a hard time. Plus I don't think some of these people like it when they have to wait for me, cause I talk slow…ha. The lesson went okay though and the man and his mother said we could come back.

Friday, today went a lot better. Had studies and weekly planning. Then we taught a lot of people. Jennifer, the lady we had on date, doesn't really care to much about the church. We need to help her get a testimony, if she wants one. We met a super cool less-active member! She had me bare my testimony in English so she could just feel the spirit. Super nice lady, but has some doubts in the church we need to resolve. After seeing a few other less-actives and members we went to the New Year activity at the church, which was very cool. They always give us a ton of food when we leave the parties!

Saturday, Super hot day today.  We saw a few people today and the visits went well. Elder Silva and I kinda got irritated with one another. He is selfish sometimes…ha. That night we had a class where members and nonmembers could learn English. Radrog and his sister came and I think they really enjoyed it!

Sunday, church went great, but we didn't have any investigators come. After lunch we went to Rodrigos and taught him lesson #1. It went very well and I taught a lot better then usual. Words flew out of my mouth smoothly and I think they could understand! : ) We then went to a class where we learned sign language. I guess some members and non-members are deaf here and it helps to know it. After we went and taught a less-active lady who was super nice!

Overall I have learned a lot this week. My Portuguese is coming surely but slowly. It is really teaching me patients. I am so grateful for all of you and the prayers you offer for me. I really do feel them at this time where I am very lonely.  I love all of you so much and hope you have a great end of the year!

Mom, I was so glad to see you! The family looks so happy! I will send you a list of some things I need for my birthday. I hope your birthday went well! Sorry I forgot to say it! Dad, my companion and I are doing well. We sometimes get frustrated with one another, but that is just because of the misunderstandings -haha. There are a lot of culture differences, but I am starting to get used to them and see that these people are very similar to Americans, they just speak a different language. I think that is what has been hard to adjust to. Thanks for the awesome photos.

Love you so much!
Elder Hauck

40th Letter 12-16-13

 Elder Soares da Silva and I walking

Fatima´s home for Almoço

Querido Família,

Wow!! haha, I finally get a second to sit down and relax! The past week has been insane! I will briefly go through what happened in this email. 

Brazil is amazing! The city I am in is Sâo Borja in the Passo Ramo (branch) we have like 60 members in our Ramo. The Brazilina people are so nice here. They aren't scared of us and they actually will talk to us and stuff -haha.  It is so hot and humid here. I sweat like a gallon of sweat a day! The food is AMAZING, the drinks are good, and the fruit is great; best mangos e bananas!  The language is really stressful and I try to not overwhelm myself. My companion, Elder Soares da Silva and I live with 4 other missionaries in a house, which is a nicer house compared to the others. Elder Johansen, from the MTC, is with us and sometimes the other elders really push us to learn the language, which is good, but gets stressful at times. The whole experience is very humbling.  Mom, I am sorry I didn´t get to call. I will explain why in the rest of this email.

Alright, so Monday President Toombs picked me up and drove me to DIA. I flew out of Denver at about 1:30 PM, by myself, which was very different. I should have called home while I was waiting for the plane, but I thought I would have time in Atlanta, so I talked to some people waiting at the terminal. The plane left late and I got to Atlanta and had to figure out where to go, which was kinda fun to do by myself. At the terminal I found 2 elders from the same MTC district as I and a few other missionaries. On the plane I ran into Elder Melendez. The plane was suppose to leave at 6:58, but it ended up leaving at like 8:00 PM. The flight was so long! Elder Hinkel and I sat by one another and talked about our missions and what not. 

The next morning we landed in São Paulo at about 9:00 (over an hour late) and missed our flight from there to Porto Alegra. São Paulo is huge!! When we flew in you just see buildings everywhere! I took some cool pictures. Some people from church travel were there and they helped redirect us. We arrived in Porto Alegra at about 5:00 PM and got on a bus to Santa Maria. We arrived in Santa Maria at about 9:30 or so and I got to meet President Parrela. He is super nice and we could all tell he had a strong spirit about him. He is also super funny! The time here is 5 hours ahead of Utah, I think. That night we stayed in a hotel next to a church building.

Wednesday, we had a great Café da Minha and then met in the chapel and found our new companions. Elder Soares da Silva is from São Paulo and has been out 6 months. We then were taken out to eat at a restaurant, which was pretty good! The mission office is right in the middle of the city and is super nice! I guess a member donated it to the church. Santa Maria isn´t a huge city, but it's still pretty big. We then had to do some visa work and get our pictures taken. In the streets there are stray dogs running around and people wearing very little clothes.  Stayed another night in the hotel.

Thursday, breakfast was great again and we then went and did some more visa work and got our finger prints. Presdente Parrela talked to us and gave us these 6 scrolls to success, that is on paper and he told us to read them.  We then finally got on a bus and headed out to São Borja. When we got there we took a taxi to our home. Looking out the window I saw a ton of people that are very poor, dogs that area messed up and the drivers are crazy here! Sorry, my mind is so tired -haha. But ya, I have seen some very humbling things already! The people are so nice here, though! It frustrates me that I can't speak well cause I wanna say things to them. The language is coming, though.. just slow. That night we went and talked to the branch mission leader. I understood like 3% -haha. My companion doesn´t speak any English, so it´s lonely sometimes -haha.

Friday, I woke up and ate some bread. I didn´t get much sleep because of how hot it was in our room! I am getting more sleep now though. The mornings are hard cause my mind is working a lot slower, but at night I can understand and speak Portuguese a lot better! Today we had a zone meeting and I understood like nothing. Elder Lapray is in our zone so I got to chat with him for a bit the meeting lasted about 5 hours and we then walked home. We walk a ton each day because our area is huge. We then talked to a bunch of members that night. One family was super cool! The mother's name is Fatima. I got to share a bit on the Atonement and they said I spoke good and that they could understand me.. That night I slept a lot better.

Saturday, today was super hot! We walked a ton and saw a lot of people. I got to say somethings in the lessons but I talk like I'm 4 so I think it gets old for some people -haha. Almoço with Fatima and her family was very good! The beans and meat here are so good! They also have a potato salad with egg which is great as well. The rest of the day we taught and walked. Bruno and Bruna are a married couple and are super cool! Bruno helped me a lot with the language and was very nice to us. That night I felt like the Portuguese was coming much better. I could understand a lot more and could speak better. Slept great too!

Sunday, Church was great! Walking there and back home I almost died of heat though! -haha. Elders quorum was first and then Sunday School and then sacramental. We had a great lunch with some members and then got to teach some more! That night we went to the Christmas devotional, which relaxed me a lot. I am finally staring to not feel so stressed. 

Overall I love it here! It is definitely going to be hard, but I know I am suppose to be here. Pray for me to learn the language. I feel that once I learn it I will feel a lot better.

Mai, I did receive both packages and I will open the envelope one on Christmas Day! We need to figure out when I am going to Skype you guys!  Hopefully it works out!

I love all of you so much!!

39th Letter 12-2-13

My Visa is in!!!!! I am going to Brazil soon!! I can not even think straight right now! I am kinda shaking with excitement!:) Whooooo BABY!! haha, Okay so this week was a great week! Had a lot of investigators show up to church and had a lot of food during Thanksgiving! So I could be leaving to Brazil the 9th or 16th of December!! This is CRAZY!

Alright, so Monday was P-day and we got to email all of our friends and family! Had lunch and then went and had our Zone P-day at the Stake Center. We played Basketball and Volleyball there and it was fun! The AP's came and it was a blast! Had a great dinner and then taught the Kubics. The lesson went very well and we got to really build the relationship with them. I didn't know this but Ranea calculates the square footage of a home for it's taxing and I told her how it sounded cool what she does and she was kind of shocked -haha. I explained how I love construction work and building things and she is gonna see if we can ever help her out.

Tuesday, studies went very well and Elder Ruiz's teaching is doing a lot better! I am gonna have to help him a lot so he can take over this area! We then taught Braylan and studied some stuff out of Preach My Gospel with him. He then came with us to teach Isiah about tithing and fast offerings. It went very well and Isiah is progressing a lot each day! A lady named Ethel, we ran into, called us and needed some help transporting some money to her son. We accepted the offer and delivered the money. The son was a nice man and received us well. Got a good referral for some other missionaries! His son died a few months ago and they are going through a hard time. We then had dinner and we then went and taught Ethel. To our surprise she said she had already been baptized. We got her information to see if the Church still has her records and are now waiting for them to get back to us.

Wednesday, today I hit my 9 month mark. WOW! It was a very good day, though! We went and served at the Food Bank and even got to deliver some Thanksgiving boxes to a Lutheran church nearby. After that we went and taught Nilly the first few points of Lesson 1, with Brother Johnson, and it went very well! She has been so prepared for this! She talked about how she feels something is missing in her life and that this may be it. I had the privilege to testify that this was what she was looking for and that this would bring her peace, happiness and she would feel whole from this! She is amazing! We then taught the Hanks more of the Restoration. Then had dinner and after we went and read with the Terrazas family. They are an awesome family! That night was pretty intense with Rodney. So we talked more about the Godhead and he really was just confused on his stand on the Trinity. He then brought up the Book of Mormon and how he watched a video at his church that shows the BOM has no archaeological proof and that because of that it is false. I couldn't help but laugh a little when he said this. I explained to him that there was archaeological proof, but that none of that truly matters when it comes down to it. We explained to him we don't need any physical  evidence, besides the book its self, to know that it is true! He argued with us a little and to be honest I actually started to get a little mad. I bore my testimony and told him I would die for this book! He looked at me with a puzzled face and things calmed down after that. We told him to do his studies and to actually pray to find the truth. That was a pretty cool experience!

Thursday, Fist time going through the holidays without the family is kinda weird! To be honest I felt a little homesick today, it being Thanksgiving and all. It was still pretty fun though. We had district meeting so we didn't get to play football in the morning. That was kind of a bummer. Thanksgiving dinner was super funny! Imagine the Christmas Vacation dinner they had together and it was close to that. We had it with the Bollocks and Sister Romans, who is blind, and the Hanks came as well..The dogs were running under the table and Sister Romens sounded and acted just like Aunt Bethany, and Brother Hanks is like Uncle Eddie. The conversations went from talking about their dog stories to talking about their kids walking in on them naked and stuff…it ruined my appetite very quickly! haha. It was still super funny!

Friday, went to ARC for awhile and then had weekly planning before going to dinner with the Haymond's. We then tried a few referrals and ended up walking into a young atheist girl who was very nice, but very confused. Talked with Ron about the importance of our message and then got a serious text from Dustin about some concerns he needs help with.

Saturday, Had a great morning and then got to help the Huntleys move a few things. We then went to ARC and helped out. One of the helpers there really appreciates our help. We then had dinner with the Erikson's, which was good. We then went by to see all of our investigators to invite them to church.

Sunday, ward council went great and then to our surprise Ranea showed up as well as Isiah and Amanda! Fast and Testimony meeting went very well and I got to say the closing prayer! Sunday school went great with Amanda and Isiah. We then had studies and then went to dinner at the Rabideau's. It was super good and I even saw a glimpse of the Broncos game!:) haha. We then taught Eli and read with the Terrazas family.

Mom, I did receive that package and we shared the popcorn and M&M's with the Hanks! :)  I am excited to receive the package you sent and you should probably be expecting a package from me as well soon with all the stuff I don't need in Brazil. Great work by being a good member missionary. In the ward I am serving in the members are slowly picking it up and helping out in this great work! Thank you for the pictures as well. They are awesome! :) I sure missed you this Thanksgiving!

Dad, Sounds like the family had a great Thanksgiving week! I bet the house decorations look awesome on the new house! What a great surprise for me to receive my visa! I am so excited to go, but am sad to leave these amazing people here...I have met so many amazing Elders, Sisters, Members, and Non-members! This is seriously the time of my life!

Family, I LOVE you all so much! Thank you so much for all your prayers and fasting for me! I really have been blessed beyond what I deserve. These blessings help me work more diligently everyday! I am so happy and proud to have the Lord for my support as well as my family! Thank you again!  I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I know that He lives and He helps me everyday! I love this gospel and the amazing chance I have to share it!

I love you guys!!

Elder Hauck

38th Letter 11-25-13

Dear Family,

Thank you so much for the packages you have sent me! I even got one from the Rebman's with a whole thanksgiving meal! That was awesome to receive! This week has been a great week! Things are kinda slowing down because of the holidays, but we are still working hard. We found another investigator named Gabby and we put her on date for the 21st of December! She is awesome and really wants to make the change in her life! Also had some miracles through the week as well.

Monday, had a great p-day. Played football and basketball. Had a great dinner with some members and then rode the bikes in the cold weather all the way to the other side of the area to teach Ranea. She is still progressing and seems more happy lately! The ride back took a long time -haha.

Tuesday, had some great studies, learn new stuff everyday! We then picked up the 3rd ward elders and drove to President Jones' house for the Zone lunch! It was super good food as always and we got to talk about our areas with President Jones. Brother Davis, the stake mission leader, is a stud! He really likes our area and the success we are having. He tells us, "train your fellow missionaries so they can have as much success as you!" He is a cool guy! We then went to ARC for about 4 hours. Dinner with the Orvin's was steak and it was very good! We then taught Grace and Rubi more about the Book of Mormon. I don't think they ever  received a clear understanding of what it was. They seem to like Elder Ruiz and I because they actually understand the things we teach them.

Wednesday, TEMPLE DAY! The temple was amazing as always and again I got to feel the strong spirit there! After the temple we went to go get something to eat and ran into two ladies and Elder Tonga and I gave them both a Book of Mormon. This week was Book Of Mormon blast, so we tried to hand out as many as possible! Taught Sister Maximoff and then had dinner with the Bashford's. We then tried contacting a bunch of referrals. As we were walking down this street I saw a man in his garage and i went to talk to him. He got mad at us and said he doesn't believe in forcing religion upon others -haha. I reassured him that we don't force anyone, we only invite. He got more mad and told us to get off his property.. The rest the night went great though! We contacted a lot of referrals and taught them. Many of them were not interested, but still respected us and out beliefs. Did get a new investigator though, her name is Ethle and she is in a wheelchair. She invited us back for this Tuesday (26th). Also, we ran into a lady, Gabby, and asked if she had talked to missionaries before and she ended up being interested!

Thursday, woke up to quite a bit of snow and 18 degree temperature. I got to do a training on Talking to Everyone! It went pretty well. We then tried a bunch of people, but got canceled. We then helped the Datko's move and that took awhile. We then went back to see Gabby and taught her Lesson 1! It went super well and she accepted the invitation to be baptized Dec. 21st!! We then went and taught Isiah a few of the Commandments like, Obedience, Law of Chastity, and Word of Wisdom. It was awkward at parts with his aunt there with him, but it went very well.

Friday, Had Elder Ruiz's training meeting early and it went well! We then had Weekly Planning for a few hours. It went well and we are much more effective.  We then taught Consuelho that night and invited her to be baptized. She didn't say no, but doesn't want to commit to anything. She needs help finding a new job so she can get to work.

Saturday, had studies and then went to Olde Town Arvada and passed out BOM's! We passed out like 6 or so in about 45 min. Talked to some great people as well! We then taught Lindsey and Jesse and it was kinda difficult to keep the lesson under control. Lindsey was very sad because she believes this is the true church and she told us her experience of receiving an answer! Her soon to be husband still hasn't received and answer yet and it kinda frustrates her. She actually got to tears at one point. She is awesome and I think Jesse will receive his answer soon! After dinner we has stake conference, where Presidents Jones and Toombs both spoke! It was very good and Ranea and Brother Kubic even came!

Sunday, had the morning session of stake conference and it was great! We then ate our sack lunches with some other Elders and after we went to the Quail building to prepare for WMC.  We then went and tried a referral that we tried to contact like every day this week. Nellie answered the door and we introduced ourselves. She asked if we could talk right then and we said we had dinner in about 10 minutes. We told her we would come back though! We rushed and ate dinner at the Hanks, which was super good, as fast as we could! Called Elder Pratt and he met us there and we talked with her for awhile. She has an amazing life story that shows the hand of God preparing her for this church! She has had an amazing life growing up as a Muslim and converting to Christianity! Her coworkers have also prepared her for this truth as well! It was so cool to see the help of other churches preparing her for the true church! After that amazing experience we went and taught Isiah with Sister Lara and it went very well! I am pretty sure he has received his answer, but is still looking for the same feeling he got the first time we prayed with him. He is so ready to be Baptized!!

Mom, Thank you so much for the efforts of getting my visa work done! I am grateful it all worked out! So, I may get my visa in 2-4 weeks!? Crazy! Tell Amy to stay away from the boys. Sounds like you had an amazing week! I am gonna miss you guys during the holidays! This will be the first time I have ever been away from you during these amazing holidays. I love you Mom!! Emme is SO cute!

Dad, I received the envelop to resubmit my criminal record and I sent it back to SLC about 2 weeks ago. Things are looking promising for me to receive my visa. Elder Chipmen and Sister Hansen, missionaries I came out with, both received their visas! I am pretty sure that paper work is what you are talking about and I hope I did everything I was suppose to do. Will you call the Travel Office and see if i completed everything needed? I went to the police station here and got my finger prints and everything for the criminal record so hopefully you and mom getting the letter from St. George Police  helped speed it up! I don't think the water balloon incident was on the first criminal record either..haha. Thank you so much for sending the cleats and popcorn and HUGE bag of M&M's! : ) I feel the same way about my visa coming soon! The weather here is getting very cold and snow is on the ground.

This week has been amazing! Elder Ruiz and I continue to see blessings and we develop a great love for these people! I am so glad I am a Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! I love my mission!:) I am so thankful for the amazing family that I have and the support they give me. All of you have a great Thanksgiving and think of all the things you are grateful for! I miss you all and love you!

Script. of the day: Ether 12:4

Elder Hauck

37th Letter 11-18-13

Dear Family, 

This week has been amazing! Some exciting things happened that were quite a surprise. I also was able to give a talk in sacrament meeting on Tithing. I continue to feel of God's love for me and my companion. We are continuing to progress ourselves and in the work we are doing. So, since I wrote you on Tuesday I will start from there.

Tuesday, I got to email all of you because of Veterans Day the day before. I also got my finger prints done at the police station and mailed the forms back to church headquarters. Maybe the 3rd time is a charm for my visa. We went to ARC for awhile and then had dinner with the Maximoff's, which was interesting. The husband is Russian and seems like he doesn't really like us -haha. Sister Maximoff is always very nice to us and loves to have us over. That night we taught the Pistora's. Byran had some great questions, but had anti concerns. Most of the Anti-Mormon material is on the prophets, like Joseph Smith and Brigham Young's imperfections and the plural marriage thing. We, as well as Brother Pratt, tried to resolve these concerns, but what it comes down to is that knowing the answers to all this anti crap doesn't matter, it's having a testimony of the Gospel! That is all we can do is invite them to come unto the fold of Christ and help them make covenants. None of us are smart enough to know why all of these things happened and again it doesn't matter. What matters is if the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet, which leads to knowing this is the true church of Jesus Christ. This visit with them strengthened my testimony even more. We then had to clean the car really good for zone conference.

Wednesday, we woke up early to go to Zone Conference. We learned so much there! The stake president came as well and taught us some amazing principles. He is really progressing the missionary work here in the Arvada Stake. After the conference we taught the Hanks. We then had dinner with 2 new investigators. After dinner we taught them The Restoration of the Gospel. It went very well and Lindsey is very ready for baptism. She explained in the middle of the lesson that she felt chills all over and that she wasn't cold. We told her that she was feeling the Holy Ghost.

Thursday, had great studies and then went to ARC for awhile. After ARC we went and tried a bunch of referrals and also tract homes that we felt prompted to visit. We didn't have much luck, but one of the last doors of the night was a solid couple. We talked to the husband about Christ and how he wanted his girl friend to be baptized and I think he feels we can help with this progression. That night we had dinner with the Phillips and Elder Ruiz was able to practice his teaching. I told him to take lead in L.3, and he did very well. That night we taught Cousuelho more of the restoration and she received it very well.

Friday, we studied and then went to the Food Bank. Had lunch there and after we did our weekly planning session at the church. Then we taught Andi, a less-active lady, who went through some hard times. The spirit was very strong with her and I know she felt Him comfort her. Had dinner at the church and then we tried a few more referrals. Ran into a very pretty girl around my age and shared our beliefs with her, but she declined in hearing the lessons. We then taught the Kubic's. We have finally narrowed it down to what we need to do for Sister Kubic. First she must find out what makes her happy in life and then we as members and missionaries need to share with her experiences and anything that can help her recognize the spirit. I think we progressed a lot with her.

Saturday, We had studies and then met a few Elders to have breakfast. We went to ARC after for a few hours. Dinner was with the Maxwell's and then we did Operation Round-up. President Jones presented it to us and Zone Conference, so we went to all progressing investigators homes and invited them to church. I think it is a great idea. Later that evening we taught Rubi and Beto. B. Agnew came with us and talked to Beto about passing the sacrament. We shared the Gospel of Christ with them and it went well. We challenged Rubi to be baptized by the end of the year.

Sunday, I was a little nervous for my talk, but as I studied and prayed that nervous feeling left. Had Ward Council with the new bishopric. We then did Operation Roster, where we call everyone we invited and see if they are coming. Beto showed up and came to pass the sacrament and he did very well! My talk on Tithing went well and I felt like my main focus was on Obedience. I was able to share stories of when I had the paper route and how I payed tithing at a young age. I think they enjoyed my talk. One member said I sounded like a high priest speaking -haha. Lindsey and Jesse both came to church and they enjoyed it very well. After church we had Ward Missionary correlation with President Jones, which was kinda intimidating. He helped the Ward Missionaries a lot and also helped us a ton. Dinner with the Larson's was great and after we had an amazing lesson with Isiah and Amanda. Sister Jentzch came with us and we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit was so powerful in the room. Isiah and Amanda both felt it very strongly. We answered many of their questions. Towards the end we invited them to be baptized on December 24th. It was very bold of us to invite them and we promised the blessings of making this commitment. At the beginning of the lesson Amanda felt like she had never felt the spirit before in her life, but by the end she said she wanted to be baptized and come closer to God, and she knew this would make her a better mother for her son. She told us that night she had felt something different. She was in tears and the faith she now had was marvelous. Isiah was antsy at first but found much comfort from his sisters faith. It was so cool!!! We could all feel of Heavenly Fathers love for all of us in that room. It was a miracle. I know we couldn't have done it without the spirit and I know I will never forget this experience. WOW! Elder Ruiz improved a lot in his teaching just in the past week.

I don't know why I am being blessed so much. This mission is nothing I anticipated. Going on a mission is one of the best decisions I have made in this life. Heavenly Father continues to bless this ward and I definitely see his hand in this work. This is a miracle!

Mom, it is getting cold here. Specifically in the morning and evening. I like the cold though.Thank you for offering to pray for my investigators. I think the Pistora's, Lindsey and Jesse, Isiah and Amanda, the Terrazas Family, and the Hanh family can use some blessings. Moroni 7 is an awesome chapter! I can't believe I am going to be able to talk to you on Christmas. That's the only present I need. Really Mom I don't need anything. I think 11:00AM will work. We will see what works best. Hopefully I can find an awesome member with computers to let us Skype again! : ) Mom, you are right. There is nothing I would rather being doing right now besides serving the Lord. Mom, I love you so much! 

Dad, Thank you for the great sports update! Too bad about Dixie... That is cool about Amanda and Shaye building a home. Sounds like Saint George is doing great! Our family is so blessed! Sometimes I ask why...

I love all of you so much and think about you a lot! 

Love, 

Elder Hauck

36th Letter 11-12-13

Photos: Top-Elders Ruiz, Me & Rampton, Bottom-Elders Rampton, Kasten & Me

Another good week here in Arvada. I found out I will be staying here in the 2nd ward for awhile longer as a trainer. I am pretty excited for it. I am training Elder Ruiz, which was quite a surprise -haha. The work here in the 2nd ward is awesome and the members are very helpful. Really feel like they trust us with their referrals.

Monday we got to email and play sports. A few elders in the zone and I even got to go to the gym again! After that we played basketball and shopped for awhile before going to dinner with Greg Johnson. He is such a funny guy! His knowledge of the gospel is insane! Had exchanges that night with Elder Potter coming here and Ruiz going there.

Tuesday, we had studies with Elder Potter and Rampton. Then we went and helped an elderly lady rake her leaves. We also got to share a message with her! Elder Potter is a good guy and we get along with him well. We then went to Beto's house and talked with Counsuelo, Beto's daughter. Asked her if she was interested in hearing our message and she said yes. Her interest must of been high for awhile because she had some amazing questions.

Wednesday, we went to the food bank for awhile and then rushed to zone meeting. It was a very good meeting and I learned a lot. Taught Sister Maximoff about the priesthood, and then taught the Hanks Lesson 1. The knowledge they had from when I got here compared to now has like doubled. We then met with Rubi and Beto and then had a meeting with the ward missionary leader, Brother Rankin. After that we talked with Rodney about more of the Bible. Cleared up more of his beliefs like, he actually does believe in the Godhead and not the trinity. He still is very confused though.

Thursday, Emme's Birthday!! Helped the Hamblin's rake up their leaves and shared a message with them. They are a good family. After that we went to Yogurt Land with Elder Tonga and his comp. to celebrate Emme's birthday! : ) Ran into Brother Winder and his coworkers and Lindsey, a referral he gave us was with them. We talked to her for a bit and she seems very interested! She told Brother Winder that she thinks the Elders showed up for a reason. She is reading the Book of Mormon already and watching General Conference talks online! We hope we get to teach her soon! Met with Jennifer and she gave me a CD with Portuguese songs on it. It is pretty cool! We then went to ARC and had some exciting things happen -haha. Dinner with the Melonies' family was awesome. Only one of them is a member, so I think it might of helped. This night went crazy for a bit... So we met with Laurden and asked her about her preparation for baptism and if she talked to her uncle yet. That's when her mother lost it.  She made me feel worthless...she made me feel like I failed as a missionary. She told us we didn't listen well and that Laurden isn't getting baptized.  Brother Carrol was there as well and totally backed us up. The mother made a whole lot of drama out of it and we ended the lesson and walked out.  I really felt something evil inside Laurden's mom...it was scary. The night ended on a good note, though. We went and taught Amanda and Isiah, answered their questions and then watched the Restoration movie with them. They are progressing rapidly! It's cool!

Friday, I got a new criminal record sheet to fill out so for my visa, so I had to work on that for awhile. This is my 3rd time doing it...Sister Pratt called Mom to get my SS# and I got to tell Sister Pratt to tell my Mom that I love her. : )  We then helped the Datko's move out of the storage unit and they got us food.  We went to the Fayards and talked to them for a bit. They ended up dropping us... I guess they just weren't ready for it.  I feel like they will accept it someday though. Talked with Eli this night and also taught Cousuelo the first lesson! It went very well!  Then President Toombs called us and let Elder Rampton and I know we were both gonna be trainers.

Saturday, we went to the trainers meeting in the morning and then had lunch at Fuzzy's. For dinner we pranked Elder Ruiz into thinking it was a ex-FLDS family and he was pretty nervous the whole time. It was funny! We then went and talked with the Pistora's and shared something with them. Then that night we found out where we were going for transfers. I was pretty shocked when I found out I was staying here and Rampton was leaving.  I am excited to stay in this ward, though. It is a great area.

Sunday, Church was awesome. We had a nice surprise when former Elder Kasten showed up with his parents.  He is a great guy. Mom you probably got some pictures from him. We then met with a high council member who gave us some great ides to improve the work even more. He also told us to try and help these surrounding wards improve their work as well.  Elder Ruiz and Rampton had to pack before going to dinner with the Carrols. The Kasten's also went there and ate with all of us. It was a fun night! We then talked with Rubi and Beto again and Beto committed to come to church every Sunday!

Monday, was a strange P-day. No libraries were open because of Veterans Day so we did our studies and then went and played basketball. At like 2:00pm we left to the orientation to pick up our new companions and I was surprised with Elder Ruiz being my companion. This whole week with all the surprises gave me a headache. ha.. We loaded all of his stuff back in the car and headed home. Had dinner with Sister Maupin and the Johnsons, which was a blast, and then taught the Hanks.

Mom, it sounds like an exciting week for you! : ) A lot is going on back at home. Awesome to hear Amy is doing so well. I will let the Pratt's know how much you appreciate them. Thank you for the video of Emme's party! :) Emme is so cute! Also, thank you for the referral, mom! You are awesome. I will try and find them. If you have any more information about them, like the address, let me know!

Dad, that is awesome you got to talk to Sister (Jeanette) Allen the day after I talked to her. It is a small world! Sounds like you are busy. I am so glad that missionary work is staying a major focus in the church. It is so awesome!! Sometimes I wanna be the 4th Nephite and stay doing this forever! -haha Thanks again for the sports update. Dixie sounds like they are doing work!

Family, thank you so much for all the support you all give me. I feel of your love and prayers daily. I miss all of you so much and hope everything is going well. Continue to help the missionaries in your area and pray for missionary opportunities. I love you!!

Love, 

Elder Hauck 

35th Letter 11-4-13

Pictures: The Huntley's and  Sister Mooring and her famous banana pudding. 

First, I want to thank all of you that have fasted for me to receive my visa this past Sunday. I truly am blessed with an amazing and loving family! You are all so awesome! I bet the visa will be here in no time! This week was a little slow because of Halloween, but it was still a pretty good week.

Monday, I was able to read some sweet emails and we were able to go to the gym to work out. Wow, I am weak! -haha. I was so sore the 3 days after. We also got to Bowl for a bit and play basketball for awhile before going to dinner. We then got to give the Sister who was having a hard time last week a blessing. We think she is doing a lot better now. We then saw the Hanks and worked on their Baptismal records. After that we taught the Kubic's with Sister Long, a previous Agnostic, it went very well. I really hope she soon figures out and believes in what we are saying. Especially a belief in God.

Tuesday, we helped Sister Wagner move the remainder of her stuff and then went to ARC for a while. Monday night we had a Zone Fast for all the investigators, and so we ended the fast before going to dinner. After dinner we taught Laurden a few more of the commandments. Hopefully she talks with her uncle soon to see when he can baptize her. After that we taught Ryan and Melonie, new investigators, a little bit about the Book of Mormon, but mostly did "How to Begin Teaching". They had some great questions! They seem very promising, they even invited us to one of their Bible studies with their friends sometime to share our message to all them. That would be cool! I have noticed, since being on my mission I love studying the scriptures! They are amazing and I fell like I finally understand a lot of things. It's a huge blessing!

Wednesday, we got a call from the Pistora's telling us they want a break from us, so they can think about things... That was kinda sad to hear. Hopefully they didn't run over any anti material.  After studies we went to the Food Bank and helped out there. They are very nice people! Tried a few people out, but had no luck. We taught Sister Maximoff and then the Hanks. They are both doing great! Had Dinner with the Moorings and had some amazing food and her famous banana pudding! I will add a picture of Sister Mooring, the banana pudding, and I. :)  After dinner we had very little luck. Ran into a guy that started talking bad on Joseph Smith, and that irritated me. I absolutely hate when people talk bad on Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith. Part of me wants to slap them in the face and the other part feels super sorry for them.

Thursday, the first Halloween of my mission. We had district meeting, which went well. Brother Morgon, from the 3rd ward, came and trained us on PMA (Positive Mental Attitude). I think I have pretty good PMA. If any of you have a trial with this, look in the mirror and ask yourself, "Where is your PMA?" I think it works -haha. After that we went to ARC for awhile. Then had dinner with the Bollocks and the Hanks. After that we went to the Stake Center to hang out with the other elders, because we couldn't be out after 6:00pm.

Friday, we went to the Food Bank for awhile and then had weekly planning. It was a interesting weekly planning.  Had dinner with a guy that just got divorced recently. He is a super cool guy! Felt bad for him having to go through that.  He had 2 beautiful daughters with him as we ate. That night we saw Rubi and her family and taught her L.2. Beto was gone on tour, so I haven't been able to give Amanda's signed album to him yet.

Saturday, this was a pretty cool day. The weather was amazing so we helped the Pratt's rake up all the leaves and then we walked around the neighborhood with rakes and garbage bags and offered to rake up their leaves. Only one lady let us, but I think it might of sparked something in a few others. That night we got to go to the Country Buffet and eat lots of food with the Allreds, Sister Mopin and their friend.  Then we tried finding a few former investigators, but little luck.

Sunday, we had ward counsel and sacrament meeting went great! They changed the bishopric, which was exciting for the ward. President Jones talked to us a lot about the work and how we are doing a good job. A lot of the members told us how impressed they are with us. They are such an amazing ward. A few of the families even fasted for me to receive my visa. After church we taught Ron David and invited him to take the lessons. I think he is going to! Dinner with the Huntley's was great! They fasted for my visa to come.  After dinner we saw Isiah and Amanda. Taught them the Plan of Salvation and they loved it. They are going to come to church next Sunday! I think the work is picking back up again!! :)

Missionary Mom, you are awesome!! You are doing some great work there in Saint George! I'm sure the Sisters love you so much! Continue to help them with their teachings. A member's testimony can play a huge impact in someone's conversion. That is awesome about Chris Abraham! He is going to do awesome! Sounds like the family Halloween party went great!! Cool to hear of all the weddings going on. Tell them all congratulations. I haven't received Mark Abraham's letter yet and I'm excited to receive another package from home! You are spoiling me, Mom! All the costumes are super cool! Amanda and Emme's costumes are awesome! Tell Emme I love her and Happy Birthday on Thursday!

Dad, the Si costume fits you perfectly! What a BOSS! You even have the cup! Here in Colorado it is getting pretty cold. The colors are amazing though! My companions are getting along pretty well.  We were all trying to get along well for this last week. I think I may be transferred. That is awesome about Greg being hired by Delta Airlines! Thank you for the Portuguese message. I can still read it! :)

I love all of you so much. You are the best family anyone could ever ask for. Continue to serve the Lord by being great and loving everyone!

34th Letter 10-28-13

Photo: Hank wedding before they got baptized.

This week wasn't as good as the past few weeks. We had little success, which made it a slow week. Something exciting is that we got a new Elder with us named Elder Ruiz. He was in Peru learning Spanish and I guess he couldn't handle it so he got transferred here. He is a pretty cool Elder, though.

Monday, we played basketball most of the time. Had dinner with the Phillips and then tried a few people, but no luck. We then taught Sister Kubic. Brother Barlow was with us, he used to work on planes and an engine blew up in his face and now he has bad burn marks all over his face and upper torso. He is a great guy! He gave her a blessing and again the spirit was strong. Out of nowhere I thought of singing "I am a Child of God" with all them. I think it was neat, so hopefully they liked it. I hope she recognizes the spirit.

Tuesday, we had great studies as usual. I love studying! I seriously feel like the knowledge of the gospel I had before my mission was nothing! I love learning this stuff!! We had lunch with Stake President Jones and talked more about the work. He is such a spiritual giant! He gave us some great tips to improve the work here. We then taught Braylan. He is getting ready for the Priesthood now and he is completely ready! Tried a lot of people with not much success. After dinner we saw the Pistoras and watched the Restoration movie with them. They LOVED it!! The grandma was in tears  and they all were fascinated by it all. Karen wants to be baptized by Byran so now we need to get Byran prepared for baptism. He has a lot of great questions! That night we helped the Tyus's move some furniture, which was a good evening workout-haha. When we came home we found out we were getting a new companion. It surprised us both quite a bit!

Wednesday, we went to the food bank and Arc for about 2 hours each. After all that we went to the Hanks' and talked about the Holy Ghost! We picked up Elder Ruiz, had dinner and then had Ward Missionary Correlation meeting. That night we went and talked to Rubi and Beto. They talk a ton, so it is hard to stay on track with the lesson, but we will get it down soon. 

Thursday, we had district meeting and after went to ARC for 4 hours. After that we went to dinner and then taught the Pistoras again. Elder and Sister Pratt came with us and did a great job. Probably one of the better Member Present lessons we have had. They answered the questions we couldn't answer and Byran seemed very satisfied with the overall conclusion to his questions. We shared with them a little of the Plan of Salvation and they seemed very receptive to it! Byran really studies hard and wants to know everything about the church! We then rushed to the Deru's house with Brother Welling and talked about the Atonement with them. They have never really understood the importance of Jesus Christ and specifically the Atonement! That lesson went pretty well. Brother Deru likes to be very confrontational with me... I don't know why. So I stayed more quiet this lesson.

Friday, we had interviews with President Toombs and they went well. He is a great guy! After that we went to the Food Bank and Jeff gave us more protein containers. They can't use them so he just gives them to us. We have like 4 containers in our basement. We then went to Braylan's house and watched The Restoration movie with him. He liked it a lot! Then saw Jennifer and read with her. then saw Rodnet and set up an appointment. That night we taught Laurden a few more of the commandments and it went very well!

Saturday, we helped a less active family move to a new home. We did a lot of the work and they mostly sat around and smoked cigarettes and weed...They did appreciate the help though. My companions kinda bashed heads so we resolved that and then we had weekly planning until dinner. The night then got crazy...So we were on our way to a less active family to try to set up a lesson with them and we got a text from another less active lady that she wanted a blessing. We talked to the first family for awhile. They have been offended many times and they have kinda given up on the church. We talked a lot about what President Uctdorf taught in Conference and I think it really hit home. So after we got out of there we got another text from the other less active lady saying, "My situation just got worse, I have to leave." We rushed over there and gave her a call. She was uncontrollably crying and told us she got in a accident and just found out that the guy she ran into died. We knocked on her door and no answer, the lights were off and we couldn't hear anything. We rushed around the building to see if she was anywhere, but we couldn't find her! All 3 of us were pretty scared. One of my comps thought she may have committed suicide, but I didn't feel like she would do that. We continued to call her but she never answered. Knocked on the neighbors doors and came in contact with a man that told us he saw a lady and her son get in a car and drive away. So we knew she was at least not in the apartment. We called Bishop, but nothing  came through. We drove around for a bit and continued to call her but no luck. We decided to pray and after that we felt a lot more comfort and knew she was okay. Crazy way to end a night.

Sunday, Braylan talked in sacrament meeting so we got to hear him. He is a stud! He gave a perfect talk about spiritual power. We then came to our ward. The whole Pistora family showed up and Elder Rampton got to confirm Brother Hanks and I got to Confirm Sister Hanks. The spirit was so powerful! It was a great sacrament meeting! After church we talked with Dustin about receiving the Priesthood and he really wants it. Then we taught Sister Maximoff more of the Commandments. After that we went and taught the Derus. We talked a lot about what the spirit is and helped them understand the need for the Atonement. Again Brother Deru got confrontational and it kinda irritated me. It's like he wouldn't even listen to what I had to say, he would just assume it was all false...very difficult. They both decided they really didn't wanna know if there is a true church on the Earth or even if there was a prophet. We pretty much dropped them. That night we tried a lot of people and at around 8 we street contacted in Olde Town where a bunch of people were walking around, kinda the middle of town. Talked to some interesting people-haha.

Overall the week was pretty exciting at times, as it usually is.

Mom, sounds like Saint George is doing great! Amy you are turning into the model child! Good job! Good luck with your play performances that are coming up! You will do great! Mom you sound busy! Sounds like you are having a lot of fun, though! Thank you for those pictures of Dad-haha, he is turning into a goof without his main homie with him! I have a few words for him. Also, Sister Larsen told me about this Missionary Mom's thing. I think she sent you the link to join with the Brazilian moms.

Dad, are you okay?  I'm just playin'. Looks and sounds like you are doing great! I think the beard is awesome!  A little pointer on the tie, though. I know you are the one that taught me how to tie a tie, but you need the tip of the tie in a 1 inch distance from your belt buckle at all times. Don't be getting sloppy just cause I'm gone, alright?  Overall you are looking good with the Chips Ahoy cookies.

Cute to hear that Emme still remembers me! : ) I miss her so much!

I love all of you so much! I hope all of you continue to progress in the gospel. Study daily and always pray! We all have work to do in ourselves and with the people around us. Some families in the Arvada 2nd ward are fasting for me to receive my visa this upcoming fast Sunday. They wanted me to invite all of you to fast for my visa as well. A lot of families show a lot of love towards me here...I feel at home. So if you can please fast this next fast Sunday for my visa. 

Love you all,

Elder Hauck

Sorry didn't take any pictures this week. (The photo is from the Hank wedding from last week)

33rd Letter 10-21-13

Picture: Hanks Baptism

ANOTHER amazing week here in Arvada! This work continues to amaze me. I find new miracles every day! This is such a blessing! So this week we started off kinda slow, because everyone was canceling on us, but by the end of the week it all paid off!

Monday, got to play basketball for a long time. Then we met with the Hanks and finished up a few of the commandments! They have changed so much in the past 2-3 weeks.. It is a miracle! Then we got to see the Kubic's again. The spirit has never been this strong while meeting with her before, so it was a very powerful meeting! She opened up to us big time and told us how scared she is about dying because she doesn't know if there is anything after this. I quickly turned into a baby and bore my testimony of the plan and our purpose of being here and returning to live with our loving Heavenly Father. I really hope Sister Kubic receives an answer soon!

Tuesday, while having studies we got a call from a 5th ward member. He told us of a couple moving into our ward and that they want to hear the lessons we have to share. It's always great receiving referrals from members that are potential investigators who sound completely ready! We went to ARC for awhile and then got canceled on a ton.  But that night we were able to teach Laurden a few of the commandments. The night was full of cancels, but we did contact Bryan and Karen and they are awesome! 

Wednesday,  went to the temple today! I love going there so much.. never gets old! Elder Rampton and I save miles up so the temple trip which is about 80 miles round trip doesn't hurt us. That afternoon we taught Braylan and answered a lot of his questions. We then got a ride to Westminister to give Liz, an old investigator, a blessing.  Then we saw the Hanks again and finished the commandments, planned the wedding some more as well as the baptism. They are so excited! Dinner with the Datko's was super good! They took us to Texas Road House! : ) We then taught the Deru's a bit of the Plan of Salvation and read 2nd Nephi: 2 with them. Then visited with Beto and Rubi. Beto is hilarious!

Thursday, taught Alex Lesko more about the Book of Mormon. He is getting a lot closer to baptism. Brother Bowler helps us a lot, because Alex won't open up to us, but he will to Brother Bowler. District meeting was great. We did a role play of the Restoration and First Vision and I did the whole lesson in Portuguese. It was hard, but a good refresher. Then we saw the Hanks again to get their Interviews done and they both went well. That evening we went to Byran and Karen's house and helped them move furniture around.  They also fed us dinner! Karen's mother and daughter were there as well and they all have a Texas accent! It's super cool! They lived by a Mormon family in Texas and became very good friends. The Grandmother loved us. She continued to give us complements on our church and ourselves. They asked a ton of questions about the church and we answered them. By the end we asked if we could share our message with them and they all 4 agreed!

Friday, went to the Food Bank for a long time and then rushed to read Helaman chapter 1 with Jeniffer and then we went to Sister Maximoff's house and talked to her about a few of the Commandments.  Dinner with Brother Tyus was very good and after he came with us to teach Laurden. When we got there Sister Chase, Laurden's mother, said she wasn't there but that we could share a message with her and her son Dillan. It went well, but Sister Chase started to feel like we were harshly preaching to her? It was pretty confusing.  She broke into tears and kinda got mad at us.  I think she may have a drug addiction problem...Idk.  Then her ex-husband showed up with another one of their sons, his name is Derek. Derek was high. He was talking about how we need to be more like Jacob and accept our better alien. He also told us that we are intimidating and he doesn't like it. He said we need to study more and accept that alien. Referred it all to the Mormon rainbow. It was all pretty confusing, but very funny as well.  So we left that place pretty fast. Then that night we saw the Hanks again to finish up some plans with them.

Saturday, we visited Gin and Carl and taught them The Restoration and Carl loved it. Gin seemed a little hesitant. She said, "I feel like the spirit is telling me that this isn't true." Carl quickly said, "And I feel the spirit telling me I have to pee!" -haha. It was pretty funny when he said that, but I really hope Gin doesn't feel that way. We then went to ARC for a while and then prepared for the Hanks wedding. It went so good! They were so happy!  We then taught the Deru's the whole Plan of Salvation. Sister Deru is a big feminist, so we have to be careful with what we say. I shared with her the story of the 2,000 stripling warriors and how important the role of their mothers were to their success. She loved it, because she has 4 boys and she even cried a little. That evening we went and taught Byran and Karen the Restoration. The spirit was so strong there. I know they felt the spirit tell them it was all true. At the end we asked them to be baptized. They didn't really give an answer, but they said they would pray about it. We invited them to church as well.

Sunday, we had ward counsel and then prepared for church. Brother Hartley gave me two talks on faith and that things happen for a reason. Usually to strengthen us. He feels really bad that I haven't received my visa, which is very kind of him. I can really feel the love of the ward for my companion and I. The Hanks showed up and Byran and Karen showed up as well! Karen came up to me and said, "Last night I thought a lot about what you said and I opened up the Book of Mormon to a random page to read one verse and the verse was about being baptized!" I asked her how she felt and if she believes it was in answer. She said, "Yep!" This made me feel like I got hit by a bus of joy and happiness! I couldn't stop smiling!- haha.  After church we went to try a few people. Talked to Rodney and Harley and then went to the baptism of the Hanks. It went o good! Probably one of the best baptisms I have been to! After they were baptized they were both crying and Brother Hanks came and told us he felt warm, not like temperature warm, but like inside warm. After dinner we went to teach Isaiah Lesson 1. It went so good! His sister Amanda was there and she had a lot of interest as well. Again the spirit was very strong in that room! Isaiah recognized that he has been feeling the spirit when ever we come talk with him. We challenged all of them to read and pray. I think they all will. That ended off the week very well! : )

Mom, Elder Rampton is doing well. I am kind of giving him the chance to be Senior companion so he can learn more and get a feel of taking the lead in lessons, planning, and pretty much everything. He is doing very good! It is getting beautiful here. The trees are changing and it snows a little every week. Soon I think it will be snowing a lot! That is awesome to hear you guys are all getting together as a family every week. I miss taking advantage of those great conversations. It is cool to see how well Amy is doing with her busy schedule! The address I am at is 5123 Zinnia St. Arvada, CO, 80004. Transfers are Nov. 10, so I could be moving. Sending mail to the Mission Office gets it to me where ever I am. I got letters from the Diamond's and from the Fords! : ) Tell them I said thank you. Thank you for the updates on the Visa. I feel like it might be too much work and time to get the new retainer here in Colorado.

Dad, thank you for helping me with the whole visa thing. Hopefully they get back to you soon! It's a relief to know that the general authorities get to decide when and if I stay. Sounds like you all had a great week! That's sweet Jeff saw Devin at the gym! I try to keep in touch with him. It's good to hear he is preparing for a mission! Darn Utes... 

I love you all so much and miss you. Heavenly Father is watching over me so don't ever worry about me. I continue to grow my testimony and grow the love I have for these people here. This work truly is an amazing blessing for us all!

Love,

Elder Hauck

32nd Letter 10-14-13

Another awesome week! I hope all of you had a great week like I did! I love staying busy! Time seriously soars by! Found more investigators and have 4 on date for Baptism! The increase of success in the work since I gotten here has improved so much! Okay so here's the highlights of the week.

Monday, again I got to email all the awesome people in my life! Then we ate and shopped before going and playing football at a field. That was fun! The weather here is getting a little cold, so playing football is super fun! We had another great dinner with a member, like we usually do. Then we saw the Kubic family. Sister Kubic is trusting us a lot more and is opening up to us. We think we know what we need to do now to help her feel of the Holy Ghost and believe in God.

Tuesday, this was a busy day! We had some great studies and then taught Braylan about the Priesthood! He is excited to get it some day soon! He continues to be a stud! Went to ARC for awhile and then hustled to see Sister Maximoff. We challenged her to read the BOM and she is doing super good! She updates us on where she is at all the time. She is a sweet older lady. Dinner with the Grays was good! They told us some crazy stories that have happened in their life. We then went and saw Laurden and taught her The Plan of Salvation! She thought it was super cool! She is smart for a 9 year old. We then saw Rubi and Beto and finished the Restoration with them.  She just needs to get her work schedule changed to make it to church!

Wednesday, we saw Braylan again and talked about the Temple. We then went to the Food Bank for service and then had Zone Meeting, which was super good! The Sister Trainer Leaders did a great training on helping ourselves and others become converted. After that we rushed to see the Hanks and talked to Brother Hanks about a few of the Commandments. His faith has grown so much! Dinner with the Petersen's was good, a older couple, but super cool and funny! Had Ward Missionary Correlation and then talked with Rodney. He seems to understand better and we feel like his interest in our church is increasing. Everything he tries to prove wrong in our church doesn't make sense when he tries to prove it wrong. We don't ever argue, we just look at the Bible and break it apart so he can understand it. This actually strengthens my testimony so much. Our church makes so much sense! The doctrine is perfect. Every time I find something that seems off I study it out and I always find the answer. This Doctrine we have in our church is perfect! All these other beliefs don't make sense, because they are missing some vital pieces that we have! 

Thursday, we had great studies and then taught the Biddles. They are a nice older couple that go to a rich community church here in CO. We had a discussion about our beliefs and they don't seem to understand that there is only one true church. And they don't care if there is. I don't understand how you could be fine with not finding out for yourself which church is true. We shared Ephesians with them, where it talks about "One Lord, One Faith, One baptism" .... Seems pretty clear to me. They still were not interested, so we left a BOM along with our testimonies and they said they would call us if they had questions.  After that we went to ARC and dinner with the Johnsons. They told us about how they went on the tour in Guatemala about the BOM and I told them that my Grandpa Hauck is an archaeologist and that he does BOM studies. They put it together and got very excited. They have a book that talks a lot about what Richard Hauck has discovered and his ideas of the whole BOM discovery. That was super cool! We then tried to contact a bunch of people, but no luck.

Friday, we taught Braylan about the Holy Ghost, because his Confirmation is this Sunday. We went to the Food Bank and then had weekly planning. Finally got a hold of Brian. He said, "I don't know if you two are up for this, but I don't wanna just know something. I wanna know everything!" We sat with him for a bit. We then had dinner with the Chase's. It was so good! After we taught Laurden The Gospel of Jesus Christ. The evening is what was crazy. We got a text from Jennifer about how she needed a blessing very bad. We decided to call Brother Johnson, the 2nd counselor of the bishop. That was inspired big time. Jennifer has a strong relationship with Brother Johnson, so it was perfect for her at that time. She was so sad and was talking about how she wanted to give up on life. She was bawling! It was so sad to see someone like this. Brother Johnson said perfect things. The spirit was so strong! By the time we left there she was filled with joy and peace. She knew the steps she needed to make to get back on track! That was a cool opportunity to see someone like that, not that is was good she was going through all that, but that the spirit was so strong that she was willing to change.

Saturday, we got to teach Alex and we found out what his concern is. We resolved it with the help of Brother Bowler. I think Alex will soon be ready for Baptism. We then taught the Derus a little of Lesson 2. They ask some great questions! Then we had the opportunity to see Brother Scudder, one of the investigators who got baptized that Elder Tonga and I taught. He baptize his daughter! We got picked up by them and then got brought back as well. I'll send a cool pic of us in the car. We got home and had dinner with the Rozeskis and went out to eat! Then saw Rubi and Beto again. Beto is such a goof! He is seriously one of the funniest guys I know! 

Sunday, we got to go to the 5th ward sacrament meeting for Braylan's Confirmation. I was able to confirm him and it was so awesome! That feeling I get is something hard to explain.. It's the Spirit though, that's for sure! After that we met with Bishop Haymond. He is a great Bishop. He talked to me about how I'm dealing the whole waiting for my visa thing and he thanked me for serving in his ward. Then he told Elder Rampton he got accepted into BYU. Dad did you get the picture? Sacrament went great and after church we went to the Hank's home. The Relief Society is the best! They have the whole wedding for the Hanks ready! We talked with both of them about the commandments some more and they seem ready! That night we saw Isiah again and talked with him more about our beliefs. Tom, his dad, used to be interested in the LDS church, so he, Isiah and Ann sat down with us. BTW Ann is less active. Isiah decided he does wanna take the lessons now. So this is awesome, maybe Tom will find more interest.

This work continues to blow me away of how fun and amazing it is! I have seen my conversion to this gospel grow so much in the past 7 months. It is truly amazing. This is the happiest time of my life so far!

Dad, it's sad to hear Amy got an infection. That can't be fun! Good to hear Steph got to come home to visit! Tell Steph and Amy I love them! So about my visa... I think you should call and see what is going on, Dad... Maybe it will work! I will be praying that it works out for the good. The sports update is awesome! Utah did work!! I bet they will be ranked soon. Love you Dad, Thanks for all the prayers!

Mom, the work is going great! I feel bad for little Amish with her wisdom teeth gone, but a 25 on the ACT is good! Good job Amy! Mom good job inviting your non-member neighbors to the ward Luau! You are a good missionary! A lot of times when I'm in a lesson I think, "I wish my Mom or Dad were here to help them understand." I think it would be so cool to have one of you as a member present!

I love you all so much. Please pray that my visa comes!

Love, 

Elder Hauck

31st Letter 10-7-13

 

Photos: Giant Pumpkins at the Hanks, Braylan's and Ian's Baptisms

JEFF HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You are old..Love you man! Another great week here in Arvada. We didn't have a baptism in our ward, but we still got to do a lot of great things. The weather is getting a lot colder now and I like it a lot! The car makes it nice too.  General Conference was awesome! it was so nice to sit down and listen to these great men and women speak to us! I would say it was the best conference I've listened to! So this week was pretty busy and that is what made it so great!

Monday, P-day was awesome. We played basketball and football. We had dinner with the Hanks and they fed us a ton of rib's potatoes and even more! It was a feast! The Bolock family came with us and they have become good friends with the Hanks. They deserve a lot of blessings for feeding us all that food when they have trouble supporting themselves already.  We shared a message with them before we left and they always enjoy it. We then went over to the Kubic's and planned on showing the "Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration" but she had some great concerns we should of addressed the first time we met with her. She doesn't know if there is a God.  We talked about it the first lesson, but she didn't say anything about not believing in God. So today when we see her again we are going to try and help her know there is a God. Hopefully it goes well...

Tuesday, we met with Braylan and talked to him about the commandments. He is going to start going to the 5th ward, where he is suppose to go. He is so ready for his Baptism! He is a stud. We then went to Arc for a long time and had a good time. We then met with Braylan and his Bishop to figure out the whole baptism. We then went over to the Conley's and talked with them. Brother Conley has a surgery tomorrow, so we got to give him a blessing! He is such a good guy!

Wednesday, we taught Braylan more about missionary work because he wants to start getting ready for that. He then came with us to the food bank to do service. After that we went to Sister Melonie's home and taught her about Baptist and sacrament. We then contacted Melton Johnson and found out he is active and has two homes so he attends the other ward. We then taught the Hanks a little on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and read 3 Nephi: 27 with them. Dinner was pretty unique.. We just had waffles. It was good though! They had giant pumpkins outside their house that the husband grew! Mom did you get the picture?  We then went and talked with the Deru's, they are super nice. They don't have much of a religious background so we talked a lot about questions they had. They seem very interested though! We then went to Rubi's house with Brother Lara and taught lesson one to them. We committed Rubi to be Baptized November 2nd!

Thursday, we had District meeting and went to Arc after for awhile.  Didn't meet with Braylan because he got in a car crash. He said he was pretty sore from it and didn't want us to come by. We then met with Gin and Carl. They are awesome! They are a little older, but are still super funny. We talked about God's love for us and how this gospel can bless their family. They agreed with a lot of our beliefs and are interested in hearing all the lessons. Dinner was great with the Schillings and their son, who is less active. We shared a strong message with them and they gave us a great referral! Then met with the Lauretzen's,  members in our ward.

Friday, we met with Braylan and talked more on his baptism. He is still ready for it more than ever and he said he wants to bear his testimony after he is baptized. We went to the Food Bank again and then had weekly planning after. We showed the Joseph Smith movie with Sister Maximoff and she loved it. She is getting ready to go back to the temple! That night we had dinner with The Chase's and taught Laurden, the 9 year old daughter. She want's to get baptized very bad so we got her a date on the 19th of October! : )

Saturday, we got to teach Alex before conference. Taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I think he liked it, but every time we invite him to be baptized he declines. He needs to pray about the Book of Mormon still, but never gets around to it. General Conference was awesome of course! We watched it at the stake center. The Hahn's were driving through so Elder Tonga and his companion as well as us went with them to have lunch in between the sessions. I loved President Uchtdorf's talks! He is such a stud! After the afternoon session we had Braylan's baptism. Elder Rampton baptized him and the whole program went great! He had a lot of non-member family and friends there. The priesthood session was great too! After we went and tried a referral, the Biddles. They were so welcoming and gave us a time to come back! The husband reminds me of Ken Gee, the guy who bought the house on Foremaster.

Sunday was super spiritual! Elder Krogh and I went on exchanges so we could go to Ian's baptism. Watched General Conference and then prepared for the baptism. It was good to see Ian and his family and friends! You could tell he was so excited for this! I had the privileged to baptize him. As we walked to the font he was so happy and pumped for it. After I asked him how he felt and he almost got in tears. He looked so happy after! It was amazing! His friend K.K. talked to us and it was powerful and then I heard I was confirming him as well, here at the same meeting. I didn't know I was confirming him, so I had to brush up on the Confirmation blessing. The spirit was so strong as I gave him the Holy Ghost.. It felt a lot like when I gave Eli the Holy Ghost. The spirit is so powerful! I was so blessed to be able to do this for Ian. He is a good friend! After the afternoon General Conference session we went and taught the Deru's with Brother Phillips. It went good and we challenged them to read and pray about the BOM. That night we had dinner with a super cool family that updated us on the NFL games and then we taught the Hanks Lesson 3. It was probably the best lesson we have had with them so far. They are so sweet!

Mom, Some of the talks that I loved were, Ballards, Nelsen's, Uchtodorf's on how our church isn't perfect, but our doctrine is! I loved the quote "Doubt your Doubts before you Doubt your testimony." I am glad you enjoyed it! I missed some talks because of all the travels we had to make. Your feast and testimony meeting as a family must have been awesome! I wish I could have been there for it! Glad to hear Amy is doing well with the wisdom teeth gone! Sounds like you all are having a blast!! I couldn't see the video of Amy for some reason.

So usually the mission office is told a period of time where I will stay here for good, but they haven't told them anything! President Toombs just told me to keep waiting and he will let me know what's going to happen. So as of now, I still could go to Brazil.

Dad, Thanks again for the sports update and photos! Sad to hear Millie is falling apart. I was thinking about how the Priesthood session was weird without you being there with me.. haha. It is crazy to think in only a little over a year I'll be back home! Time is flying! The sports update aren't distracting, so don't worry about that.

Family, thank you again for all the support! I love you all so much and miss you. Continue to help the missionary work grow! Crazy to think we have 15 million+ members in our church now!

Love you all,

Elder Hauck

30th Letter 9-30-13

Picture: Dustin's Baptism

ANOTHER great week! This week has been a lot harder, but we got a lot done and even got another Baptism! I will be staying in this ward for another transfer, which I'm happy about and plus we got a CAR!! : )

Monday, this P-day was the bomb! We first went and emailed then had lunch and after went bowling! I bowled a 132, which was alright. An elder in our zone can sound a lot like President Toombs so he wanted to pull a prank, so he told me to change his phone number's name to President Toombs on the phone. He called and talked to Elder Rampton and told him he was going to the Fort Collins mission for good because they need help with the flooding damage. The elder called a few other people in the zone the same way. Some of the elders that got the call were mad about it. Pretty much the whole zone was in amazement that people were really getting moved because they thought they could be called next. It was pretty fun! -haha. After dinner we rode around trying to find people to teach, but we had little luck. We did get to teach the Kubic's, though, and it went well! Another nice quiet bike ride home.

Tuesday, we had very little luck.  We did meet a cool older couple and did the prayer approach with them. They go to a popular church around here and they talk on anti-Mormon stuff there. They were pretty nice still and I think we cleared up some lies. We went to ARC for a few hours. Dinner was the highlight of the day. Sister Mooring is from the South and she made some good food! The dessert was very very good! It was banana pudding! :) The rest of the night nothing too exciting happened.

Wednesday,  we served at the Food Bank for a bit and then had lunch at Grith's. We all got the Monster Burger and my stomach killed the rest the day-haha. We taught Dustin a few of the Commandments and got his Interview done.  I heard from some members that they caught some guy in the LA consulate who would find 19-21 year old males from Utah trying to go to Brazil and hold their paper work. I think that is probably what happened to mine...

Thursday, district meeting went good! Our District Leader is a goof! We finished the commandments with Dustin and planned his baptism. He is so ready for this! He is gonna be a strong member of the church! We then taught Braylan who is getting baptized on the 5th. He is a stud! We teach him a lesson and we have him teach us back. He is also preparing for a mission so we got him a Preach My Gospel book.  We then went to ARC and after planned the baptism for Dustin. At 8 or so we went over to meet with Rodney. Immediately he pulled out his Anti stuff and tried to prove us wrong. He was a lot like Eric, if you remember him from my last area, but nowhere as smart. He contradicted himself so many times that he didn't make sense of his belief. We would show him things in the Bible like "faith without works is dead" and he would totally understand it differently. He feels like we don't have to work for our salvation. It was pretty irritating, especially for Elder Rampton, because this is the first time he has run into a guy like this. We rescheduled a time to come back though and I gave him some answers to his Anti-Mormon belief he receives from idiots off the internet. So I'm glad we get to go back, but I don't know if there will be much progress.

Friday, we went to the Food Bank again and had lunch at LnL, a Hawaiian restaurant. It was super good! We had weekly planning and when I went upstairs to give Brother Rankin, the ward mission leader, the program for the baptism Elder Pratt was there with our car. He gave me the keys and I decided I wanted to pull a prank on Rampton...so I just didn't say anything. We got ready to head out and work, so we put our helmets on and grabbed our bikes and walked around to the front, because our bikes are in the backyard. He saw the car and had to take a second look at it to realize it was our car. I pretended I didn't know about it's arrival and started getting "excited" with him. Then I started saying, "But where are the keys?" and then I pulled them out of my pocket with surprise and said, "Oh here they are!" Elder Rampton doesn't like the pranks sometimes-haah. Dinner went well and then we taught the Hank's a lesson. They are having some troubles, but are still having faith in the Baptism!

Saturday, This was the busy day! First we went and watched "Joseph Smith, The Prophet of The Restoration." I think he liked it a lot! We need to get him to church! We are loving the new car! We then went to teach Braylan a few of the commandments. After that we taught Eli and a few of his friends. Then we saw Harley and talked to her. She told us she doesn't want to take the lessons anymore. It was sad and we tried hard to explain to her why this is important, but she decided she doesn't want to see us again. It was pretty sad...but the good thing though, is after that we got to have Dustin's Baptism! It went so awesome! After he was baptized he told me how he felt different, he felt clean! The whole program went perfectly! I could feel the spirit so strong today! It was amazing! I was the one who got to baptize Dustin and I was honored to do so. We then taught Ron David and he actually gave us a time to come back! That night we found out who was being transferred and who stayed.

Sunday, sacrament meeting went great! Dustin was Confirmed by Elder Rampton and the testimonies were awesome! After church we taught Dustin about the First Resurrection and the Priesthood! He wants to get the priesthood so bad! It's so cool to see his true desire in all this. After that we had no luck. No one was home and people kept rejecting us. Dinner was good though and that evening we taught Rubi and Beto. We asked Rubi if she really wanted to be baptized or not. She said she really does. We told her she has to work hard for it and it's not going to be easy. She said she was going to try to get work off so she can make it to church and said she will do what it takes to be Baptized. Beto got a little emotional when she said she wants him to Baptize her. Beto Terrazas is a recent convert and also is a musician that is pretty popular. His music is super cool! I showed him Amanda's CD and he loved it! Amanda, he wants a signed CD from you! So could you send one for him?

The week went well and I continue to strengthen my testimony! I love this work so much! Everyday I get to feel the Holy Spirit stronger and stronger as I learn to recognize it better. I love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ so much and I know they love me. I also know they love all of you! I'm very excited for General Conference and think they will talk a lot about missionary work! It's gonna be awesome!!

Mom, I don't know exactly how or where we will watch it. I think probably at the stake center. I can't believe Emme can walk! Those videos you sent me are so cute! Gosh, she is so CUTE! I miss her.. Glad to hear you love teaching the lessons on Sunday, Mom! You are awesome! Those paintings from your childhood chapel are beautiful! I will be praying for Amy as she gets her wisdom teeth out. Make sure you film it so I can see how she acts after, haah.  I love you Mom!

Dad, Thank you for the support. You and Mom have always been there for me! Everyone, I have the best parents in the world!! Also, thank you for the sports update! I actually get to use it when I street contact Bronco fans-haha.  You are right about me maybe having a new NFL team. I still like the Jets, though, and enjoy hearing about them. You and Si look like brothers, Dad. You should be on Duck Dynasty! I will try and baptize Payton while I'm here!

Family, I love all of you so much and miss you. Continue to help the missionaries in your area. They need your help!

Love,

Elder Hauck