Picture: Hanks Baptism
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
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