October & November Updates

Oct 24th
...MY first week was three days so it doesnt count nothing to special on my first day out i got yelled at in Guarani i had no idea what she said and nether did my companion but whatever.  i thing she yelled at me because i was bearing testimony that this was the only true christ and she didnt believe that there was such a thing as a true church.  my second week we had conference and that was great and we went to the temple and i got to do baptism for the dead in spanish i had an awful time with puncution but the power of the priesthood made up for my mistakes. o and durning my second week i anotined two differnt poeple for the blessing of the sick.  so my first time blessing and doing temple work was in spanish very cool had no idea what i was saying but i could feel teh spirit and i knew that God´s hand was behind my words.  o and i went through the temple in spanish it was really cool and i felt like i understood a lot of what they said mostly because i had done it so much and provo that i knew what i was supposed to say.  in the thrid week nothing to unormal for a misionary just thought great lessons and felt the spirit.  but Just yesterday i got to give a talk in sarcement.  that was bretter scary but from what i was told i did a very good job and they were able to understand what i was saying.  i talked about missionary work but i talked about how the two great camandents are love god and thy niaghbor and how jesu said to simon peter if you love me feed my sheep.  so i dropped the cane on the ward and told them if they love god then they would share teh gospel with their nieghbors friends and family....

i´ll tell you a little more about the people.  a lot have no or very little education.  i teach people how can´t read and people how´s grammer is worst then my.  the education here is very very poor but at the same time these are really intelligent people to start they all know two langues spanish and Guarani.

i have servel very great people that i am teaching and servel others as welll but first.  let me tell you that i lovwe my companion he is a really great guy adn we talk and get along so well it is great its so nice to not have that worrying or uncomfortablness.

ok first Juan,  juan is a single man you is a druk and wants to change his life and be an example for his grandchildren.  we met him at a dispensa ( a little family own store)  i was looking for a watermelon and he come up his three huge empty bear bottles and said i have a watermelon for you come to my house with me so you know where i live and then you can come visit me tomorrow.  a great man and i really want to help me...

Oct 31st
...Where did this week go i have no idea time flies on the mission it is crazy crazy.  one great thing that i have noticed this week is how much better my spanish is now i´m not prefect and i still at times have no idea what people are saying but has far as talking about the gospel and teaching people the simple pure truths of the doctrine i go just fine and i have a testiomino of the gift of tongues.  there is no way by my selves that i could of learned spanish this fast. i and i now i could learn a lot faster but i dont but in all the evort that i should i study the gospel in english and then me and my comp speak english all the time the only study i do is read the Book of mormon out loud with my companion.
the gospel is just a amazingly simple and great thing.  all it really is is God loves us so he sent his son to atone for our sins and so that if we follow him and repent we can return and live with god, and all we have to do is keep the commandments,  so because God loves us he calls prophets to Guide and teach us with a loving hand and the commandments are all for our proctection and profit.  i love the saying that says :::  you can not break the commandments because the commandments are prefect and from God, you can only break yourself against the commandments:::  or somthing close to that and i love it because it is so true God gaves us commandments inorder to keep us safe from the devil and from physical and spiritual harm. or in others words to keeps us happy.  mosiah 2:41...
 ...i am teaching some really great people right now and i hope that they will progress but has i have been teaching one thing that i have learned is that people need to have a testimoiny of the book of mormon because if the book of mormon isnt true then josé smith is not a prophet and then he never recieved the priesthood and are church is just like ever other church in the world .  but if they have a testiomony of the book of mormon then they know that one jesus is your savior becasue that is what the BOM is all about 1nephi6 (cant remeber that verse but nephi tells us why he is wrighting the book and it is a very short chapther so you can find it)  two that josé smith was a profeta and that he has and we still do have the authority of God and and three this is the kingdom of God and the earth today. ( the last two paragraphs of the intrudcion of the Book of Mormon).  i´m sorry i didnt get to tell you about my investagatores specficly but i dont have time any more but know that i know that the book of mormon is the word of god and that it is a gift and a guide for us all 2nephi 32:3  i love that book never before have i loved this book like i do now. i wish i could go back in time and take advanteg of reading the book of mormon more before my mission but more than that i wish i studied the book of mormon becasue it truly is writin for our day there are times and times again in the book where profets talk to us and say i am writing this to you us in the latter days.  i invite you all to read the intruducion of the book of mormon and thne serisous thing and proper about why God in hevan and the Profets of old would want you to have this...

Nov 7th

...the feild has been a little crazy this week a lot of druken people and things are only going to get worse hass we get closer to chirstmas.  o YEA i am in summer down here and it is hot and very very hot i never knew a place could get so hot.  i dont have much time today because we are running a little late however  i want to tell you about  hmm i can never remember what i do or what i have already told you about
Wait i got one this week i went on a division with an elder that speaks worse spanish then me  it was so amazing becasue i literally say the gift of tongues becasue there is no way that him and i should of been able to teach but together and with god we where able to teach and to add to that we found four new investagotres.  ( in our mission in order for a person to be a new investagator they have to accept the invitaion to be baptized)  and we saved kittens who were stuck in a tree...

In Paraguay! October 3rd

MY dear family

 

ok i have no idea what is goning on the key board i´m useing is all wierd looking and has the numbers in the wrong spots.  i kow my last quick email gave no real description about paraguay so i´ll try to do better right now.

 

once we arriveds in Paragauy i went up to the conter thinbg and they just looked at my passport and gave me a stamp and on i went i never showed any medicail papers or anything like that.  Our Mission president was waiting there for us at the baggage claim the first thing he did was give us all a big huge then we grabbed our bags and loaded them on a big truck and then we all piled into two vans and six went with the mission president´s wife in there car.

 

we all went to the church office buliding.  one of the coolest things about paraguay is there is no traffic rules people, cars horses and motocycles go where ever they want at what ever speed.  the office building had a huge eight foot tall razor covered fence arounded it it looked more like a fortress.  every person that can afford it has the same thing or close they have sharp poking sticks or metal fences and if they are solid stone walls the put cement on top and stick glass srads (broken glass)  on top so if you touch them you get cut up.  its really cool in my opinion.

 

the first night here i got to sleep at the president´s house in asuncion it was nice enough to be in the states and yes it too had a razor wire fence. the roads here are really cool the main roads are like ours theya re paved but the rest are cublum stone  and not even that they just throw stones on the ground and pressed them or the roads are just dirt.

 

on wednesday all 27 of us new elders got to go to the last stand of the Gaurin indians.  it on top of a mountian and they built a huge staute thing that tells the story and history of their last stand it also looked out over all of paragaauy it was really cool  then after that we went to go get our new companions.  i was very ecitied and i still am.  My companion is Elder McKeon he is from Oregon in a city near portland.  he is a great Elder and i would be very lost with out him he has been out here for about a year now and i would be lost with out him.  i am serving in a area Call DEL MASTREAO  i probale spelt that wrong but in english it means ¨´of the Master´´  it is a little suburd about 30 minutes from asuncion.  in this area there´re both kinds of people there are the very ´´rich´´ meaning they have a real fence and painted houses to the very poor one lady that we tought lived in a house made from 2by4 peices of wood cardboard and sheets of pli wood  one room and what not but she was great very happy and kind. the thing that is cool about paraguay is that the people are so great but at teh same time so weird.

 

first they wil give you everything they have but yet there is a huge problem with stealing hence the walls of death around everyones home.  second instead of knocking at doors he stand outside the fence and clap.  and if they dont want to talk to us the send there little children over to talk with us and tell them that they the parents arent home and so we tel them to go tell there parents that we want to come back another day and what day and time would be best for them so then the kids go back and talk to the parents that arent there it is pretty funny. the other weird thing is that everyone just throws there trash on the ground i have a new apercation for trash cans.  there are no trash cans for public use and there is only one in our house which i will tell you about later.  paragauy is beauitful the countryside is great and the people are great too.  everyone sits outside and drinks maete which is just water with hay in the cup,  what they do is cruch up this herb stuff then the have a special straw thing and they pass it around in a big circl and they all drink it is a very social thing and they very cool thing to do is one drive a motorcylce and then make leather covers for your big two liter water coolers.  the leather work down here is very impressive i´ll try to send picture some time soon and the picture i have attached i have no idea what they are because i cant see a preview of them because this computer can´t think that fast or just doesnt work that way so hopefully there of something important.  i am typing this before i have readed anyones email to me so i´m sorry if i dint get to answer every question i´ll be sure to prepare poperly for next week.

 

my house is one of the nicer houses in the mission and wqhat they mean by that is that it is bigger.  unfortanly it s a huge mes so so so so so os os os os  so  dirty me and elder McKeon are going to play spring cleaning today so that will be fun i guess.  we live behind a little store and these store owners have like a peacock, 4 parrots and a monkey and dog in there back yard right infront of our house its really cool to see them but they are the most noising things on earth i never knew that a bird could make so much noise. evry morning they wake us up early and keep talking through out our personal and compion studies.

 

i know this is a vewry poorly worded letter and the grammer is awful but learning spanish has destoried my english. i love you all thanks for the love and support love alway Elder Hafen

D-DAY for Drop Off! July 27, 2011

Things have changed at the MTC since the swine flu outbreak.  Now it is only a curbside drop off.  You spend more time waiting at the intersection to turn into the MTC, than you do saying goodbye to your missionary.  The elders wear White Tags over their black name tags.  They say simply "HOST".  and they are very good at what they do.  Jonah's luggage was almost completely unloaded before I had the car turned off.    My reccommendation to all future missionary moms is this:  take an nonaffilliated individual with a automatic digital camera.  Let them out of the vechicle first and just keep clicking away and take hundreds of photos.  I do not have a picture of Jonah infront of the MTC or at the corner by the pretty brick wall that says "Missionary Training Center".   but here are a view that we took at BYU marriage housing were Jonah's brother and sister-in-law live.  there home is less than 3 blocks from the MTC.

Missionaries are Soooo Handsome

I think this is the 8X10 I should hang on the wall.

Jonah's last free moment.

Dedication

What a GOOD day!

Big brother Danny is a fine missionary example.

Eliza's goodbye drawing.

Look no tears!

Elder Hafen will be an uncle in October.

<3  Brotherly * Sisterly love  <3

July 24, 2011 Elder Hafen's Farewell

Thank you to everyone who came. 

 It was wonderful and the bishop was amazed at all of you - Jonah's friends.

I should have hired a photographer.  To bad Ms. Tegge was unable to attend.

Here is a very small sample...

Temple Day June 25, 2011

My family and I attended the temple on Saturday June 25, 2011 in St. George Utah. 

 It was a wonderful day!

What will Jonah do without sun glasses?

The proud parents.

Brother Danny with wife Laurelle

Elder Bryson Warby

Aunt Jane. thanks for coming!

  

Jonah loves Grandma and Grandpa Pete

My one and only post

Well my dear friends today is the day before i enter the MTC.  i Can not even begin to tell you how excitied i am for my Mission. i never thought this day would come and now BOOM here it is less then 24 hours away. i am so happy to be able to serve My God aswell as the people of Paraguay.  i will miss my Family very much i love them all so very much and i will say one thing about my dear Mother  never in the world has there been a greater person she knows what i need before i do and she shows here love for me in uncountable ways i love here very much so never forget it MOM you are the love of my life. Thank you so very very much mom and to the rest of you know that i love you.