November 26, 2012 - Family Email

Hello everyone?!

Homemade by Cody made from a drip pan from the bottom of the stove

So I am so bad!!  I totally left my camera home!  I left the door running this morning because we have a lot of stuff to do and I didn´t grab my camera cord!!! I am so sorry.  I promise that I have some really good pictures from Thanksgiving and Granada.  So yes we totally pulled off Thanksgiving dinner and ya boy Elder Hafen made homemade stuffing.  I have pictures no worries.  The Estrada and Banbury pulled off the turkey as well, but Elder Banbury did all of it.  Haha he had to gut the turkey and I saw the video it was awful haha.  We had a happy Thanksgiving.  My district is by far the coolest district in the mission. 

So about the areas of visitation.  If you could some how make it so that we are here in Jaén on like Saturday afternoon that would be a miracle.  One of the kids in the ward is going to get baptized by his older brother and I would love to be there for it.  I would really like to come to Jaén because all the people here are unreal and I love all of them.  As far visiting Granada I mean it´s pretty and all but there isn´t anything that you can´t see in Sevilla.  The place we went to is unique but it´s really repetitive and cost a lot of money to enter.  I would of course want to go to Sevilla and Cáceres.  There is a place an hour from Cáceres that has a gladiator ring and that would be cool to see.  I actually heard they filmed Gladiator the movie there, maybe.  And of course Madrid is a must and the temple.  So that is my requests I suppose.  I would still love to be in Cáceres for church, that would be nice.  I am going to be weird I know it.  When I hear people speak English here I like run and hide because I don´t know how to greet them ha.

His district having their Thanksgiving Dinner

So I will know if I leave at the end of this week, so next week I will tell ya´ll whether I am going or staying.  I am almost sure that I am getting transferred, so sorry for the delay!

This week was a really good week.  The less active family with the kids we didn´t get to visit again.  They are being difficult but that is alright.  Jorge is doing great.  We taught him two times this last week and he accepted the baptismal invite.  We haven´t set a date yet but we are getting there.  We taught him this last Saturday with a lady his same age from Ecuador.  It was a really good message and Jorge really is progressing.  We also met two of his roommates and they are both from Mexico too.  We ended up teaching them a little bit as well and I know that one of them will really progress.  They are nice guys and they will get baptized!  I have faith that they will.  I may not be here but I will try my hardest to prepare them for the next missionary.  Also we met a new lady that was listening to the missionaries about a year ago.  She seems like she could really progress and has a lot of really good questions.  Her name is Rosa and she is from Ecuador.  Really good and nice lady and I like teaching her, she is fun and really easy to teach.  She has so many doubts and it´s easy to show her with scriptures and she sits there speechless.  We of course don´t try and teach her with signs but with the Holy Ghost.  She will progress and we taught her with our ward missionary Sara.  She is from Mexico and her brother is the one that is getting baptized on the Saturday that you all will be here.  So that is why I want to be here in Jaén.  I love this Mexican family.  The family from Paraguay was sick this last week so we are going to try and teach them this week.  They told a guy that comes to English class that they love it and they will for sure come back.  Also the girl didn´t come to English class either but she said she will come back so hopefully she will come this week.  Other than that everything is normal but we did find 3 new people that can progress.   The Lord really did bless us this last week and I could feel and see the fruit of our labors.  Oh yeah I told ya´ll that Elder Peterson and Manning are the AP´s!  Yeah they are teaching my less active lady from Sevilla.  She wants to meet all of you too.  Maybe we could say hi to her while we are in Fuengirola.  I am pretty sure that President Deere is just going to have all the parents come to the mission home to get us.

Well I sure do love you all!!!  Talk to you soon.  I knew you would be going to Texas for Christmas, that´s fun!  

I hope I answered all of you questions Jude.

CODES

November 19, 2012 - Family Email

Elder Pearce was my DL in el Puerto. Elder Card and Pearce go home tomorrow

Hey family,

Well it was a good week and I had a really good p day.  I am in Granada today and we went to a really famous palace and I took a lot of pictures so I will have to send them to you.  I don´t have my cable with me to transfer all of my pictures that I have taken.  Well if you have seen the blog you can see that we already reached our baptismal goal as a mission which is crazy!!  We are going to hit 450 I hope.  So this week for Thanksgivivng I changed the day of district meeting so that it is on Thursday and we are going to have Thanksgiving dinner with all the district which is 10 missionaries.  So I will take some pictures and you will see what we come up with to eat.  We have plans for a turkey, Elder Banbury and Estrada are in charge of the turkey.

So we had Stake Conference this last Sunday and it was great.  Elder Richards of the seventy came and talked and called the new Stake President.  It´s a guy from England actually that has lived here in Spain the last 10 years of his life.  Today we also met some people from Idaho that just got back from serving a mission in Florida, Fort Lauderdale or something like that.  I asked if they new Heathers brother but they didn´t.  

So this last weekend was fun and I got to see a less active member from Sevilla that moved to Málaga and she is still active!  Actually Manning and Peterson are teaching her boyfriend!  Cool, huh?  This last week was great; we got failed a lot and we had to travel a lot but oh well.  This last week we didn´t get a whole lot of time in the area but good news, we started teaching the Mexican guy named Jorge again.  It was a really good little lesson we had with him.  He really wants to meet with us and admires what we do.  So I hope all goes well and we will be able to see progress in him.  He said when he knows that the church is true he would join it.  So we are going to teach him this next Thursday and hope all goes well.  We couldn´t meet with the less active family that has kids that aren´t baptized this last week.  They kind of act like a really busy family but they both aren´t working, and we are never there in their home for more than fifty minutes.  We teach English class and this last week we had a lot of new people came.  Actually a girl I contacted on the street my first hour in Jaén showed up to English class with a guy that always comes.  So we are going to try and teach her, she really likes me and we talked for a long time in the street when we met. So I pray that she will like the gospel, even though she doesn´t really believe in God.  Also a little family from Paraguay came to English class and they really liked me because I have to teach the beginners class because I have to do a lot of the teachings in Spanish.  So they liked me, a mom, her daughter and son came in and I am going to try my hardest to try and teach them. 

So that is what is kind of going on here, I kind of have to run and I love you all!

Is there any way possible to pass through Jaén for a few hours when you all come in??  Let me know, I just want the members to meet my parents.

Love,

Elder CODES

November 12, 2012 - Family Email

Hey that was a really cool letter I really like that guy.

 

Well ya you got the gist of the email.  The translator in google doesn´t do it correctly.  So send me the email and I will translate it and type it up and send it to you.  After that just do a copy and paste deal, cool?  Pretty much from what I remember is where it says kicked, he wanted to say I am sure you miss him a lot.  I will have to reread it out loud to you when I get home or something so you understand every word.  Ha the man thinks I am going to be an apostle or something, not true.  Yes it is the same Rafa that gave me chicken feet. 

 

So this last week we had everything set for José to get baptized.  He had stopped smoking for two days in a row and then fell and told us that he was done with the church.  We had the Zone Leaders come out to interview him and that´s when everything got messed up.  Elder Adams and I felt so awful because we had literally put all of our heart into helping him and did everything possible and he just didn´t show up to his interview.  Then the rest of the day he failed us and now we are just done.  He called me last night and told me that he still wants to talk to us and I told him when you stop smoking come to church or call us.  He has done this to us three times now and never changes so we can no longer waste time with him.  So that was kinda sad but we found three new people the next day so the Lord blessed us.  They are Seven Day Adventists so they are pretty hard headed about their beliefs.  The good thing is that they believe in the bible and can´t deny things like prophets, authority and the laying on of hands.  They just think that our church has studied the bible and think about it too much and that´s why we practice those ordinances.  They also will not accept The Book of Mormon yet, so we are still in the process.  They listened to the missionaries a long time ago so they already had The Book of Mormon in their home.  The good thing is that they really believe in The Lord so I know they will get converted one day, soon I hope.  I asked them how they knew that their church is true and they couldn´t answer me.  The mom gave me two long stories and never answered my question and the husband just laughed and said we just accept the church I guess.  Their names are Antonio and Pepi and the daughter named Raquel.  So that is them and they can only meet on Sundays so that is kind of rubbish.  We finally got to sit down seriously with the family that has three kids not baptized and talked about what we I guess hope for them.  Elder Estrada and I taught them on splits and we talked about eternal families and it was a great lesson.  We talked about going to the temple and all of that.  The two girls want to go to church and they love going to church but the parents are holding them back!  How sad!  I hope they change because the parents would be like responsible for their kids salvation!  I love the little girls they liked me and Elder Estrada.  So that is what is happening right now in Jaén.  It has poured buckets of rain all day everyday this week.  We get soaked every single day!  Oh so today we are going to the mission home!! YES!  We have a follow up training meeting. 

 

Blanca is doing great, she just got released from one of her callings and now is the first or second counselor in the relief society, the poor thing!  But she loves the callings and teaching, she is incredible. 

Oh so I guess I should tell you that I will most likely be leaving on the 6th of December.  I am still here in Jaén for 3 more weeks.  There wasn´t big moves happening because 21 missionaries leave on that day.  So I am guessing that I will be moving that day and President kind of told me with out telling me.  We will see!  So if you are sending stuff do it now and soon to Jaén because I may not be here when the 6th of December comes around.  

 

So for Christmas Jude, I really don´t care.  You know that I will just want clothes, phone and all that when I get home.  So maybe some creamy JIFFY peanut butter and whatever you all decide.  I really am doing good and don´t need anything special that I can think of. 

 

I hope I have answered all of your questions!  I love you mom and dad so much.  You both are the best!  What that guy said is true and even more!  You are the best parents in the world and I love you all more than you think.

 

CODES

A Letter to Mom and Dad from a Member in Spain

This is a message we received from a member in Spain-I believe he is the one that fed Cody chicken feet in the email that I just forwarded! I had a button that I could push to translate it-hopefully that forwards to you too.

Love Ya all,

Judy

Queridos hermanos Brad y Judy Hafen, soy un miembro de la Iglesia, que vivo en Jaen, donde su hijo, el Elder Hafen esta sirviendo como misionero... El motivo de mi e.mail es expresarles mi mas sincero agradecimiento por las enseñanzas que le han dado a su hijo.

Es un ejemplo para nosotros aqui en Jaen, aqui somo una rama muy pequeña de unos 50 o 60 asistentes cada domingo y su hijo esta haciendo una gran obra... y se que en parte es por lo bueno que el es, pero la mayor parte de que el sea asi, estoy seguro que es gracias a sus padres... no podria haber un hijo tan bueno con padres que no fueran como minimo lo mismo... Yo soy joven, solo tengo 32 años, no tengo hijos, pero imagino que lo echaran muchisimo de menos... sepan que el esta haciendo la mayor obra de su vida, yo puedo testificarles de ello... es un misionero ejemplar, muy simpatico, pero muy recto... el es simplemente especial... yo puedo verlo en sus ojos, el espiritu santo no se separa de el...

Queria agradecerles por haber preparado tan bien a su hijo... le queremos mucho, lo cuidamos, pero el con su amor, su espiritu y sus enseñanzas nos da mas de lo que nosotros le damos...Solo quiero que sepan que tienen un hijo muy especial... será un gran lider en la iglesia, se lo aseguro...

Un abrazo muy fuerte.

 

Dear brothers Brad and Judy Hafen, am a member of the Church, I live in Jaen, where his son, Elder Hafen is serving as a missionary ...
The reason for my e.mail is to express my sincere gratitude for the teachings that have given his son. 

It is an example for us here in Jaen, here we're a very small branch of about 50 or 60 people each Sunday and his son is doing a great work ... and that part is so good he is, but most of that is so, I am sure it is because of their parents ... could not have a child so good with parents who were not at least the same ... I'm young, I have only 32, I have no children, but imagine being kicked out terribly ... know that he is doing the greatest work of his life, I can testify to it ... is an exemplary missionary, very friendly, very straight ... he is just special ... I can see it in their eyes, the holy spirit is not separated from the ... I wanted to thank you for preparing your child so well ... We love you, we care for, but with his love, his spirit and teachings gives us more than we give ... I just want to know that you have a very special son ... will be a great leader in the church, I assure you ... 

A big hug.

November 5, 2012 - Family Email

Hey Family how are you??

So Halloween week was pretty good I guess!  Spain doesn´t really celebrate Halloween but 4 girls died in Madrid at a party so they kind of celebrate it a little too hard.  No one here in Jaén dresses up except the members.  We had a really good party and a lot of people came!   So I have included some of the pictures.  We stopped by and said hello and talked to some of the visitors that came.  Only one of them would give me their information to try and teach them. 

Antonio, Ana, and Javier (vampire)

I have some other crazy pictures that you will have to see.  You will be proud of me when you see them!  

So finding this week was good.  We may not have found a lot of new ones but we did get 19 references so that is what is going on.  We have been working a lot with less active members and that is the fruit we are seeing.  José called us back and wanted to change and he came to church and we taught him last night with Rafa, one of my favorite members.  It was an amazing lesson and the spirit was so strong.  After the lesson Rafa gave him a blessing of comfort to help him stop smoking.  It was a great lesson and José hasn´t bought tobacco for 3 days now I think.  He is hardly smoking now so there is a lot of progress going there and maybe he will be able to get baptized this weekend.  Pray for him.  We met a new lady named Magdelena.  She lives out in a small village and it is really hard for her to come to church and her husband doesn´t want her to have anything to do with the church.  She knows it is true because she has been studying the church for like 10 years through a member. 

I'm sorry but that's just gross!

He said he almost threw up...good for you Cody :)

Rafa

We had a really good ward meeting last night and we have plans to work with this family that has two kids that aren´t baptized!  So we are going to work with Rafa and his wife to get into the house with them because the parents literally work more than any person I have ever seen.  The kids came to the Halloween activity but they are just so shy because I think they are just always in the home alone.  So we will work with them.  We did some good finding this week and we worked really hard and things are looking a little better here in Jaén.  We taught a lot of lessons to less actives and some of them are returning back to church.  We had 10 more people in church this week so that is good!

I am doing really well and we are in the last week of the transfer and I could possibly be transferred next week so hold off on the package or letters.  I will know by Thursday or Friday if I leave or not.  Mom maybe you will have to find the CD online!  Sorry!  

Wow that race looked amazing!  I was getting emotional reading about the race.  That is amazing!  There is still good in the world!  Here is a different story!  I had a lot of weird things happen to me this week.  One probably the worst thing that has happened to me on my mission.  I am going to write out the story to Heather and she can read it to you mom.  It is just kinda gross to put on the  blog.  (It involves a guy that was gay that hit on us and sent a text and called us and stuff, bad news!!) Haha but no worries I am safe and nothing bad happened, it just sucks because I am the one that has do all the speaking in weird situations like that so it means that stuff always happens to me!  Well the church is true and I am loving the mission!

I love you mom and Dad.  I prayed really hard for Dad last night about 14 hours ago so that makes me happy that he is feeling better.

Love you family!

CODES