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

29th Letter 9-23-13

Photos: Eli's Baptism


What a Week!

Remember how I thought the mission couldn't get any better? I was wrong! This week has been the best week so far! Sunday I got to confirm Eli a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and give him the Holy Ghost! Elder Rampton and I worked super hard this whole week and ended up getting 20 lessons, 4 people on date for baptism, a baptism on Saturday, new investigators, found some less actives, and potential Investigators. We have had to ride our bikes faster than ever before between appointments so we could be on time. So this is how the week went.

Monday was pretty much the same as always. Got to email my awesome family and friends. Also, I got to see a cute video of Emme! We talked to some teenaged kids outside of the library that had questions about our beliefs, so we sat with them for awhile. After that we rode our bikes to the church building and played basketball. Had dinner with a super cool family. They kinda reminded me of Jeff and Cambria, just a little older. The lesson with the Kubic's went well. She is still having a hard time, thinking the cancer may come back... I feel bad for her. The evening rides are super nice because of the cool breeze and silence.

Tuesday, we had an early appointment with Braylan, a 20 year old who is very interested in the church. We taught him lesson one and he loved it. He said he feels like it's true already. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted. We prayed with him to decide on the date of Oct. 5th. When we prayed we all felt the spirit so strong. Braylan asked if Oct. 5th was his day to be baptized and after we prayed we asked him how he feels about it. He said it's a yes. He told us he also wants to go on a mission! Such a stud! I studied some Portuguese there in the church and also had lunch. Then we tried a few referrals, but no luck. Dinner with Bishop was awesome. We can tell he really likes us and knows we bring something new to the ward. He is a great bishop. We taught Eli Brackett that night as well as Sister Maximoff. Brother Brady came with us and helped a ton! He is a boss!

Wednesday we got to go to the Temple! It was so awesome! I love the temple. I prayed really hard there, about the people in the area and my visa.  I think it's coming soon! : )  We had Cafe Rio on the way home, which I haven't had it in 7 months. We met with the Hanks and Bishop Haymond. We taught most of The Plan of Salvation and we put them on date for the 12th and 13th of October. To be married and baptized. Sister Hanks prayed for a confirmation on that date. The spirit was so strong as she begun to weep and plead with Heavenly Father for that date to work. This mission is turning me into a wimp -haha. Dinner was with the Conley's and it was good! We then taught Harley The Restoration of this gospel. The spirit was super strong there as well. We know she felt it, but we feel like she is scared to change.

Thursday, we had another earlier lesson, this time with Alex. Taught him Lesson one and he received it very well! He agrees with what we teach and I think he feels the spirit. Invited him to be baptized, but he isn't quite ready yet. District meeting went well and after we went to ARC to do service.  We then met with Dustin. He has had a bad past few weeks. He told us he is sick of being pushed back and he wants to be baptized. We taught him The Gospel of Jesus Christ and also prayed with him to see if the 28th of September would be good. Before the prayer Elder Rampton and I had doubts for some reason. Dustin continued to say the 28th is the day. As we prayed that doubt left both Elder Rampton and I. Prayer is so powerful! We then taught Eli the rest of the commandments. After we taught he told me he wants me to give him the Holy Ghost. I was shocked when he asked me, but felt honored. Dinner with the Agnew's was very good, they remind me of Mom and Dad. They are old, but still super funny ; ).- haha

Friday, we had weekly planning and lunch at the church. Went to ARC for 4 hours after that then had dinner. We tried a few people after dinner, but not much luck. Harley was texting us, having a hard time, and said she didn't want to go through the lessons anymore. We went over and talked to her. We mostly just listened to her the best we could and then answered her questions. She cried a lot. So sad to see someone so scared to change. It's gonna be really hard for her, easier if she trusts in Christ. At one point she opened up and said she wanted to know where God was at her hard times in life. The spirit hit me so hard and love for her filled my heart. We promised her that this gospel would bring happiness and understanding to her. She decided she would finish the lessons with us. That made us super excited!

Saturday, we taught Alex again. This time Lesson 2. We invited him to be baptized again and he said he needed to wait a little longer to not be so busy, so he can really read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I think he wants to be baptized now! Then we taught Harley The Plan of Salvation. It was a pretty good lesson. Her two sons sat in and had some awesome questions. Then we hustled to the church to teach Braylan the same lesson. His friend Steph came as well. He is getting very excited about his baptism. We then talked with Gin for awhile and she accepted to take the lessons! She is a funny lady! We then hustled to the baptism. It was an awesome baptism. Eli seemed to love it. After the Baptism we had dinner with the Datkos the family we helped move in. They are such a cool family!

Sunday, today was a very spiritual day. We studied until church started and then I got to give Eli the gift of the Holy Ghost during sacrament meeting. When I said the words and blessed him after, the spirit hit me stronger than I have ever felt. During the whole meeting my soul was warm and happy! Never felt something that powerful. I really thought about how amazing of a gift the Holy Ghost really is...and I was able to just give it to someone! The rest of the day went super good! Braylan and Dustin came to church and the ward welcomed them perfectly. We watched a movie on John Tanner during Sunday School. That is an awesome movie! After dinner we met with Ron David he was going through a hard time so we shared a few verses with him. I think it cheered him up. We then went to the Lara's home. They are members and they happened to have a non-member visiting from out of town. His name was Oscar. We talked with him and then did the Prayer Approach with them. After that we went to Isiah's house. He doesn't wanna take the lessons, but he does want to study the Bible with us. We taught him about the Atonement and the importance of it. Then we got to finish the day with a nice quiet bike ride home! : )

Mom, that video of Emme is awesome! Good job Shaye! Mom you are right about Colorado being beautiful. All the rain has made it super green! And yes there are a bunch of hills here. Mom, you could pray for Harley. Thank you! I'm glad you are loving church and the opportunity you have to teach others! You are a Super Mom! : ) Thanks for the prayers on my visa. It will come when my work is done here. The pictures and videos of the family and Emme are awesome! Thank you. Dad, haha, of course Utah won! I'm trying to wipe the grin off my face, but it wont. My bad. Thanks again for the sports update! About the bashing, that's how I see it. It's a waste of time and they aren't receptive at all. Also, glad to hear Dixie High won! That is awesome!

Glad to hear this week was good for the family! Tell Ben congratulations on the wedding. I love all of you so much and pray for you! : ) God has blessed me with so much success!

Love,

Elder Hauck 

28th Letter 9-16-13

Another successful week here in the Arvada 2nd ward! This ward is on FIRE! We have people coming to us wanting to be taught! Got 4 new investigators this week and like 4 other potential gators! They soon will need another set of Elders or Sisters in this ward! Also had the Mission tour with Elder Korbridge! Alright, so here is what happened this week.

Monday, I got some amazing emails from awesome family and friends. After emailing we went to a burger place to eat. Then went to King Soopers to get our groceries. The rain made it hard to keep all our gear and food dry because we were in a truck. Dinner was awesome! I even got a glimpse of the Redskins vs. Eagles game! -haha. That night we taught Brother and Sister Kubic. The Lesson went amazing! Elder Rampton invited her to be baptized once she knows that the BOM is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. She agreed! We will find out tonight how that went.

Tuesday, we woke up, ate and made a new map of our area. It looks super good! The old map had small print and was old. After studies and lunch we went and helped the Conleys move some stuff and went to ARC for about 3 hours. We get to throw away stuff for them in the big dumpster that has a compacter. Breaking the stuff is pretty fun! I guess while we were working a lady came in and asked if Mormons bought Arc. The lady that works there said, "No they just volunteer here."  Then the lady said, "Well see if I ever shop here again." The worker lady stood up for us though and said, "That's mean ma'am." That was pretty funny to hear. That evening we taught Sister Maximoff. She is an awesome lady and ended up coming to church. Must of been a long time since she last came because people were super surprised to see her. We got super soaked riding our bikes around through all the rain! It was awesome! There is a wise saying that people say in the mission, "Your future wife gets better looking every time you go out in the rain, get yelled at, etc... " Pretty much the harder the mission the better looking my wife will be! -haha.

Wedensday, Woke up early to be taken to the Mission Tour. It was great to see all the Elders and Sisters I hadn't seen in awhile. Found out that 2 of the Elders from my district from the MTC got their visas! I hope that means mine is on the way! The Mission tour was around 7 hours. I learned so much from Elder Korbridge! WOW he is a stud! I feel like my teaching skills were horrible compared to what I know and can do now! He is an amazing teacher and I can tell he has been blessed with knowledge from God. You can see his amazing testimony through his face! He helped us use Syllogism in our teaching. Pretty much what that is is to have a belief, another belief and then come up with a conclusion. Using this in our teaching is more like a Destination, a Route, and then the Conclusion. We learned that every lesson we teach covers those 3 points. That evening we didn't have much luck, but we had ward missionary correlation with Bishop and all the ward missionaries. Elder Rampton and I can tell Bishop really likes us and the dedication we have to this ward.

Thursday, during the morning time I got to really study what I learned at the mission tour!  Was nice to organize all my ideas. Today we had a Zone training and President Jones came to it and trained us some more on how we can improve! His training was awesome as well! After the meeting Brother Bashford picked us up and we went and gave Sister Romans a blessing. She is blind and is going through some hard medical problems. Brother Bashford gave an amazing blessing the spirit was so strong! Rode our bikes around in the rain some more and ran into Chuck. He told us we need to come back and talk to his wife. So we probably will this week. Also, we ran into a young lady named Katie, in the apartments, that seemed very interested! She gave us her number and said to call her sometime. After that we ran into the atheist guy again. Only this time he had his friend with him. They were with Ron, Fabien, and Tarisa who are good Christians. Once he saw us coming he ran to get his anti-Christian crap. He tried bashing on us and I just told him, "Hey we aren't here to bash; we are only here to talk with our friends." Fabien agreed with us and told the atheist guy to cool it and told him he was insane pretty much-haah.  This upset him pretty good, so he didn't really talk after that. We talked to Ron, Fabien, and Tarisa for a bit and another atheist came up and started talking bad on us. It gets hard sometimes to not bash on them and laugh at some of the stuff they say. It kept going so we decided to leave. I went to shake the first Atheist guys hand and he grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go. He said, "Boy you have a brain up there, use it! Read the book called 'The End of Faith' it will be the best book you ever read!" This ticked me off pretty bad! I looked at him in his eyes and wanted to say a few choice words, but smiled and chuckled a bit-haha. Fabien stood up and started yelling at the atheist. It was pretty cool how he stood up for us.

Friday, we gave Sister Gray a blessing and talked with her for awhile. We got a referral from Church Headquarters and set up a appointment with Alex. On the way to his house this lady waved us down and asked us questions about our church. We got her contact information and will see her this week! Alex's lesson went great! We got to know him and his beliefs. We teach him at the Bowlers home, Vance's and Brad's brother's home. After that we went to ARC for 4 hours. After that we tried a few people but no luck. That evening we tried Isiah and he actually sat down with us and we did "How to Begin Teaching" with him. He wants to talk with his parents first and see if they are okay with him taking the lessons because he is only 15.

Saturday, we got to meet with Harley along with her 2 sons. We taught them all part of Lesson 1 and they seemed to enjoy it. Harley really has been prepared and is going to meet with us twice a week!  We went to ARC after that for a bit and then had dinner with the Maxwells. Her husband is atheist so we asked him a few questions. I couldn't imagine being married to an atheist.. That would be so hard! That evening we went to see Rubi and Beto. Talked with them on trials and weaknesses and how we can overcome them with Christ. Beto is a music artist and is a great singer! He goes on tour a ton and is super busy. He sing in Spanish and sounds like he is pretty popular in America. Rode home again in the rain. It is getting pretty fun now! : )

Sunday, ward counsel and the meetings all went great! Eli had his baptismal interview and is ready for this Saturday! He is a cool kid! After church we went to lunch with the Larsons, the people that sent the photo the first day I got here. The lunch was super good and we shared a good message with them. Kevin, their son, is going to Brazil and leaves next Wednesday.  That night we did our studies and worked on Eli's baptism record. Have been studying a lot from Revelations. Wow, that stuff is interesting. It takes like 30 minutes just to go through one chapter because I search the footnotes and find the deep meaning of it all. Very cool stuff!

Mom, the flooding didn't really affect any of the area we are serving in. So it didn't really slow us down or anything. We did hear about it. 4 people died and like 200 people are or were missing? Mom, you are right about our relationship growing in the past year.  Kinda funny to think how selfish and just dumb I was...haha. I'm excited to have those long conversations with people, mostly family, when I get home. I actually know how to listen now! Sorry to hear about Cam's Grandfather. I could tell he was an amazing man just from meeting him a few times. Amy sounds like she is growing up fast! It's crazy! Let Joni know I say hi and that I love her! Good to hear Lauren is doing well! That video of Emme kissing Mandi is so cute!

Dad, not as much service opportunities to help the flooding. Just battling the rain storms. No one really got any water damage in our area. We do ride bikes a lot. Probably close to 20 miles a day. I like it quite a bit. Yes, we do wear helmets, Dad. Emme has 5 teeth!!?  What?? Sounds like the funeral was amazing and you got to hear some good stories about Cam's Grandpa. Once again, thanks for the sweet sports update! The BYU vs. UTAH game is gonna be good! I'm hoping for an amazing sports update from you!

Family and Friends, Thank you all so much for the support you have given me throughout my life and especially right now! I love all of you and miss you.

Love,

Elder Hauck

27th Letter 9-9-13

Photo: Me and The Conley's

Coolest Family,

This week went great! So, last you heard from me was last Tuesday. I am still sleep-talking in Portuguese and having dreams of receiving my visa..haha. So after emailing we had a training with President and one of the AP's. It was a good training on extending commitments. I even practiced a few in Portuguese- haah. Well, after that we did our studies that I love! I think of before my mission and sitting down for an hour to study was something I had to force myself to do. Now I absolutely love it! I studied quite a bit from the BOM, of course, and also Revelations this week. That evening we were able to see Grace and Rubi. We spent a lot of Tuesday and Wednesday saying goodbye to people because Elder Kasten was leaving Thursday morning.

Wednesday, we had to pack all our stuff up because we had to move to a new house...the Pratt's. They are awesome! The new set up is super nice. We have a fridge of our own and the whole basement to study in. Later that afternoon we taught the Hanks L.1. It was an okay lesson, but they seemed to get off track quite a bit. It's hard to teach them sometimes.  Dinner was super good! We went to Grifth's...a burger place.

Thursday, Elder Kasten left in the morning and now it's just me and E. Rampton. We had to go to the church early to pick up clothes we had left at the church, so we rode our bikes. On the way to the church there is a huge hill we have to go down. Well, on the way back we were trying to get as much speed as we could down the opposite side of the hill so we could get up the big hill as much as possible. I went first and got across the street that has a median with a cut out for the sidewalk to go through. Well, the opposite side of the street where the curb-cutout is wasn't lined up so we couldn't make the turn. It scared me a little and I somehow jumped the curb going about 20 MPH. I looked back hoping E. Rampton could make it, but nope...Haha, he took a pretty bad spill. He is okay though. It was pretty funny. Studies went great after that and also had District meeting. The trainings were good and I got a lot out of it. After that we helped a new family move into the ward. They are an awesome family!

Friday, I went to E. Tonga's court date. It went great though! They finally dropped all the charges on him and we won't have to go back again. E. Tonga was pretty happy about that. That night we did the Prayer Approach with the Conley's. The Prayer Approach is so powerful! We taught Eli Brackett and put him on date for the 21st of this month! He is a smart kid! After that we saw Fabien, Tarisa, and Ron David siting on their porch drinking and smoking. We talked to them for about an hour and gave them a Book of Momon and invited them to take the lessons. They want to think on it.  They are good people that believe in a lot of the same things we do. I hope they will listen to us. They told us how much respect they have for us and that we have changed their lives.

Saturday, Studies and weekly planning went well. We went to Arc for a few hours and then went to the Country Buffet. E. Rampton and I ate a lot of food! The Maupins and Allreds were nice to take us there! : ) That evening we went to see Harley and Hans. Harley really opened up to us and told us that the spirit that we have has impacted her. She actually started crying when she talked about us. This work is truly amazing family. We really do have the true Priesthood on the earth today. People not even of our faith can feel this spirit we all have. Harley and Hans accepted the invitation to hear the lessons and Harley is gonna read the Book of Mormon. Heavenly Father has prepared them for us. They are so AWESOME!!

Sunday, Eli came to church with his Mom and her "friend". Sacrament meeting was awesome along with all the other meetings. Ray, the Conley's son, who hasn't come to church in a long time came also! He seemed to like it. That night we had dinner with the Rozeski's. They are an older couple and the husband is a convert for 11 years. He is a stud and played ball at BYU in the 70's. That whole family is awesome! After that we went and taught Beto, Rubi, and Grace. Beto is a crack up, haah... So we taught the Restoration (L.1) it was going great until we get to the part of the First Vision. Right when we are about to speak Joseph Smiths words, Beto comes in and says, "Oops, I ran over someones bike".  Elder Rampton left his bike in the middle of the driveway and it is done for. Other than a few things the week went smoothly. Training E. Rampton is fun and I feel like this is where I am going to learn the most.

Mom, thank you so much for the beautiful information about your conversion. I wish I would of talked to you and Dad more about this before I left. Looks like you are turning into a missionary! Rejections aren't too bad for me now.. Sometimes it is hard when you can feel the spirit saying, "They need this, don't give up!" yet they continue to reject... That's the hard part. I'm curious what was that ladies rejection to you and the Sisters? I love the pictures you sent!

Dad, the piano looks great! Good work! I heard BYU won! You guys are so lucky you got to be there to watch the game! Sounds like that storm was insane! Glad you all are safe. Thanks for the awesome pictures! Hill looks like a boss! Glad you all enjoyed the game! Man I miss football!!! haha. Reaping the Uncle Si shirt! haha. That is hilarious! Looks like BYU might have a shot at The U this year ; ) ha.. That game is going to be awesome! You are the Man! I love the sport updates.

Being the senior companion is awesome! I get to take all the good I have learned in the past 6 months and train it to E. Rampton! This work is true and the growth I have received in these past months is so precious to me. Wouldn't trade it for anything. I still have a lot of work to do though. I Love all of you and miss ya.

Elder Hauck

26th Letter 9-3-13

Another great week here in Colorado. Had a lot of success, but it was kind of a slow week.

Monday, we played basketball for a few hours and that night we had an awesome lesson with Brother Kubic. We showed him the Mormon Message "Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them." This is probably my favorite Mormon message! You should all watch it! This video really hit home for Brother Kubic. it was just what he needed! He is a big guy that loves to lift weights, but by the end of our message he was in tears. I absolutely love when the spirit really hits someone to the point where they want to change. He is less active and his wife is a non-member. Later in the week we met with them again.

Tuesday, we had the lunch with Stake President Jones. He is such a spiritual giant and really gave us some great tips to improve the work! The food is always super good, so that's another bonus! We have been spending a ton of time at the library because Elder Kasten is going home soon and has to fill out his "trunky papers."  I guess they really do call it that... haha. Later that night we got our hair cut by the Bradys. We had a lesson with them as well. They are a super cool family!

Wednesday, we got to serve at the Food Bank for a few hours. After that we went to the high school to help Sister Larsen, the PTA president, with setting up a sale in the school. We taught the Hanks a lesson on the Book of Mormon and after gave him a blessing. They really want to be baptized soon, but they need to do a few things first. We had a great dinner and ward correlation that night as well. We ran into a guy named Chris and tried to help him take the trash out, but he wouldn't let us. We talked for a bit and he turned out to be a really nice guy. We gave him a BOM and we are going back to see him this week. We also ran into, Fabien, his wife, and Ron and talked to them more about our church. Ron really loves our church as did Fabien, but his wife was very anti. I think we resolved a few misunderstandings she had of our church.

Thursday, I got to give a training on faith In Christ. I loved planning for and giving this training. Faith really is the base of all we do. I really didn't see it as in action before my mission, but now I see it is even more then a hope for things not seen, but an action for things not seen. Acting upon our faith is what God wants us to do. Exercising our faith like the muscles in our body is what grows and strengthens our testimony! I hope to continue to grow my faith! Of course I gave candy out in this training, that's how you get their attention!  The rest of the day was very slow. Mostly studied with Elder Rampton and set up appointments while Elder Kasten did his trunky papers.

Friday, Rampton had his follow-up training meeting. I got to drive again to Aurora, which was a blast, and the meeting went pretty well. This week I have been praying for my visa so much! I really hope it gets here soon. I even fasted today! Mom and Dad you know how hard it is for me to fast,  haha. I actually grew my testimony of fasting though because of it. I really see that it's not just a sacrifice of food. This helped me realize why I'm sacrificing other bad habits I need to leave behind. That night we helped put down a wedding reception and I met a man named Mark Teady. He knows you Mom. He went to school with you and said he had a crush on Nancy Empey! -haha. Brother Teady is the Bishop in the ward next to ours and is an awesome man! Do you remember him mom?

Saturday we were on fire! We met with Sister Melonie and the Laras. Mom by the way, she is the daughter of the Allens from your wards growing up. John and Jenette are Sister Lara's parents. They are die hard BYU fans so I get to bug them about the Utes! : )  On the way to dinner we tried Harley again. Her boyfriend answered and talked to us for about an hour! His name is Hahn and is a lot like Harley. They believe in much of the same things we believe in. It is super cool! They both are interested in meeting again! Think the day couldn't get better? Well it does. As we are riding our bikes home from dinner we see 5 teenage kids playing ball. They invite us to play and we say, "If we beat you guys, you have to listen to a lesson." They agreed so we beat them. They asked a ton of questions about what we are doing and about the church. Three of the guys go to a Christian church regularly and have strong testimonies. We talked about life and they shared a lot with us. Had a pretty powerful prayer with all of them in their driveway afterwards as well! We got them all BOM's and pamphlets because they want to study it. We will probably meet with them again soon!

Sunday, the Hanks came to church and loved it. We had a meeting with bishop and I think it went well. Had dinner with the Laras and got to hear about the disappointing loss of BYU.  Helped move in some furniture for a single mom with 5 kids. I guess her boyfriend stole all the furniture from the apartment, but when we showed up he was there and so was a lot of furniture. I guess he actually just sold the furniture or something. Kinda confusing, but not our spot to judge...

Monday (Labor Day),  we went to the car show, which was pretty fun! Saw some sweet cars. I'll add some pictures. Taught Dustin about the gospel of Jesus Christ and helped him through some hard times he had during last week. He wants to be baptized now, which is good because he lost a lot of interest when he went through this hard patch last week. Also, we taught Brother Kubic and his wife. She's not a member, but I think she loved the message we shared. They both agreed to take the lessons again!

This week really was awesome, even though it was slow I still loved it. My companions are awesome and we work hard.

Mom, Elder Kasten heads home Thursday to Kaysville Utah. Elder Rampton and I get along great. He is trying hard to work hard. He is from Simi Valley California. Arvada is pretty old in most of the parts. A few nice areas, but the middle of the city is in our area so we meet a lot of people down there. Members do feed us every night! : ) The routine is crazy, Mom. It changes everyday. Usually I wake up, workout, eat, have personal study, and companion studies. I do the 12 week training for Rampton and then I do language study. After lunch we are out doing stuff until 9:00 or so. Everyday is a surprise! Haha. Mom, not many girls are writing me so don't worry. I hear from Devin, Chris, Elder Challis, Kurtis, Cortney Sherman, Megan, and a few other people sometimes. Mom, I'm glad to hear you are helping the missionaries in the area! You are probably a great blessing to them! We sometimes get lunch from members, but not very often. Rides sometimes as well.

Dad, thanks again for all the sport updates! Also glad to hear Steph is doing well at UVU. She is going to have a blast and grow so much! I bet the new finish on the piano will look great! The whole visa situation isn't taking my focus away, just is getting crazy because they say if I don't get it this transfer I might be reassigned here for good... I'm getting a little impatient, haha. I know if I stay here it's for a reason.

I love you guys so much and love hearing from you. Hope everything is going well!

Love,

Elder Hauck