25th Letter 8-26-13

Dear Family,

The new area is pretty awesome! I am with Elders Rampton and Kasten. Elder Kasten leaves in like a week and a half. Training Elder Rampton is fun. He listens very well and applies what I have to teach him. He is a great missionary and has great potential.

The ward is pretty cool. The first night I got here the Larsen's fed us dinner and sent pictures to our parents. Their son just got a call to Brazil so I talked to him about the MTC and what not. Tuesday was a pretty busy day. We went to the library to take a Preach My Gospel survey and after went to ARC, a donation center where we served for a couple hours. We met a lady there that was out of her mind. She was talking about how Obama is a communist and how he has a Islam brother that lives in the White House and is trying to take down our country.  She gave us all this paperwork about it.  It was so funny 'cause when she was talking about it to us she was acting like people, the government, were listening to her so she was acting very sketchy. Dinner with Bishop's family was fun. He beat me in ping pong so that humbled me a little, haha.

Wednesday we got to go to the temple!!! Wow, the new additions to it is amazing! I wish I could go everyday! I got to drive to the temple and back and it was a blast. I miss driving so much. Going to the temple just brightens your week. It really is refreshing to just sit down, think and relax for awhile. After the temple we went and taught Dustin, an investigator who is on date for baptism September 3rd, but we are gonna have to move it later. We taught him Lesson 2, Plan of Salvation, it went so good! He really wants to understand every part of the lessons because he wants to teach others it as well. Also, we met with the Hanks. They are a nice older couple. They go to church every week, but still haven't been baptized. Later that night we went on splits so Elder Rampton and I were together. We went to the apartments and tried a few people. A bunch of cops with AK47's showed up as we were leaving and as we rode by they asked if we had seen anyone with a gun -haha. So we left to the next neighborhood and tried a few doors and ran into a lady named Harley. She first came outside and said she wasn't interested, but we could tell she was. We asked her a few questions and Elder Rampton asked if she knew why we were called Mormons. She didn't know so we told her. We are now going back Tuesday to give her a Book of Mormon! : ) When we got home that night Elders Kasten and Rampton got in a little fight. We resolved it and I think they are good now.

Thursday, we had district meeting and I taught on Our Purpose. We taught Darren a lesson on being like Captain Moroni. He is 11 and wants to be in the Army, so I think he liked the lesson. After dinner with the Pratts, we had Bro. Morning come with us to teach a lesson.  Bro. Morning is like 70. So the family we were gonna teach wasn't there so as I walked out of the hallway of the apartment complex this guy was sitting there glaring at me. I asked him if we could help him with anything and he said, "Can I help you with anything!"  This guy was like 45, but was acting like a 16 year old. We talked to him for a bit and found out he was atheist. He talked bad on our church and said he could convert us to atheism in an hour, haha. He rambled on and contradicted himself several times. Didn't make much sense. Overall it was pretty funny and it strengthened my testimony. Bro. Morning just laughed most the time at the guy, haha.

Friday we volunteered at the Food Bank and had weekly planning. We met Lynn, who is a solid Christian. He was super nice to us and showed a lot of respect towards our church. He is very active in a church nearby, but said he wanted to read the Book of Mormon so we gave him one! He is a true Christian man. The ward had an ice cream social and a ton of investigators showed up. After we watched the Prophet of the Restoration with Dustin and Tasha.

Saturday we got to watch the Fort Collins temple groundbreaking. After we had a BBQ at the Conlie's. Bro. Conlie is so funny! He is a jokester and calls everyone a turkey...turkey lips, turkey brain, etc...  He is a goof! Sunday church was good. The ward isn't as friendly as the other wards I've been in here, but I think it is because it has a lot of old people. The building we meet in is an old Lutheran church. I'll need to take a picture. We gave two blessings during church, which was cool! After church we taught Eli, a 9 year old. His mom is a lesbian, but still loves our church and wants her son baptized. I think it's pretty cool, the lesbian couple comes to our church.

Mom, you know the Allen's from Saint George? Their daughter is in this ward along with a Bowler brother. Thank you for the cookies and picture! I love that picture and look at it everyday! That is awesome you get to teach gospel doctrine now. You are gonna be a great teacher! Also, you get to teach the 16-17 year olds? You have the best calling ever! : ) They are really using your talents in the ward! Thank you so much for praying for my visa to arrive. I am praying hard too, but of course Heavenly Father's will is more important. We shall see what happens. Did you get my package I sent home?

Dad, thanks for calling to see what is up with my visa. I hope the lady wasn't mad that you called. Knowing there are others that have been waiting even longer then I have kinda brings some comfort. Thanks Dad. Also, thanks for the new pants! They fit perfectly and are very cool. Good to hear Dixie is doing okay in football. The attachments you sent me are awesome! Too bad they lost though...

I love this work so much. Amazing how the Spirit directs us everyday. At times I feel like my mind really is taken over by the spirit. I love feeling this growth of my testimony and seeing others grow as well.  This work is true and I wouldn't wanna be doing anything else.

I miss you and love you all so much!

Take Care,

Elder Hauck