HAHAHA, IRFAN MAHMUD.

I'm working on a "year in review" and found this gem. OH MY GOSH.

If you tell me you watched it without laughing, I won't believe you.

sunday in B&W.

Today was beautiful.

and that is all I really have to say this evening.

more life updates to come :) 

peace & love,

abs

Spring Break, oh emm gee. #OMG #STG

Oh man. Spring Break was so good. SO GOOD. 

The week leading up to it was crazy as flames (not sure what that means, but whatevs). I had a chem exam and an anatomy exam. It was madness. Friday, my Mother Deer got into the 801 and then Saturday, her, me, and my sista all hit the road for IDAHO! We stopped at a fancy place for breakfast on our way out and then got going. My cousin Jordan had her mission farewell (heading to Ukraine) and so a lot of the fam went up. It was so fun. 

Everyone says they love their fam, and their family is so great, and blah blah blah but SERIOUSLY. My family is so awesome. I love to hang out with my family and spend time with them.

We stayed the whole weekend in Idaho. We had family dinners, family game nights of UNO, and I stayed up way too late every night with my cousins. I was so glad to hang out with Jordan before she left- I forget that we are such good friends and it was SO good to catch up on life. Can't believe we're both serving missions. Anyway, the weekend with the DREAM TEAM (Me, Mom, Heidi) = PERF. We got back Monday afternoon, I worked 6PM-6AM Monday and then Mom and I hit the road Tuesday morning for St. George. 

my cute outfit, haha.

view from the backyard

Tuesday night, Grant met up to stay the week, and we cruised around the Steeg. I forget how much I love the Steeg until I get back down there from not being there for a while. I love all the "lookout" places. Dixie Rock, The Big D at the Airport, above the hospital, and over in St. James Place up kinda by Summit. We went and saw Elder Cameron Cox off. That boy is going to be a great missionary. I love him and am so proud/excited for him. 

Wednesday we babysat the boys in the morning and that was a blast. They are SO CRAZY but I love them. They loved Grant and told me that HE was the boss of ME. Those boys are so dang fun. We then ran mission errands all day. Immunizations, passport, you name it-we did it. 

Thursday we hiked the Red Mountain with Joey and Tirsa. It was SO good to spend time with those two. I was kind of a baby on the hike, but I did legitimately feel kinda sick. Haha, but I knew the view would be so worth it, so we made it to the top. We laid up there for a while, letting the breeze cool us off. It was such a beautiful day. We realized it was like 3:15... and I had to be AT the temple by 5:40. We cruised off that mount and I made it in time. 

Going through the temple Thursday night was beautiful. I seriously was so grateful my family could be there with me, it was so comforting. I missed Heidi, Eric, and Mikelle, but was so happy to have my Grandma Hafen, Kira Bott and her mom April. We saw a lot of other Santa Clara friends in there which was awesome too. We went to Larsen's Frost-Top after. Mmmm, so good. 

We were driving home from Larsen's and who's rolling down their window screaming to me? The one and only OLIVIA EARL. We followed her to Joey's and hung out there for a while. It was so good to see her and to chat with Joey's parents! 

Friday, I spent some time with Weston and Tirsa. Later, Grant and I ran some more errands and just cruised the town. John called and said he was going to take the top off the Hummer... and asked if we wanted to take it out. Heck yeah! We took it out by the new airport and just cruised around. Ah, it so so peaceful out there. That night we saw Jack Reacher with my parents. I was kinda out of it and fell asleep... but it was a good movie (from what I saw, haha)

Saturday we did homework and headed out. The next day was Grant’s sister’s farewell, so I headed up to Ogden Sunday morning for that. It was so good to hear his sister speak, she is now in Chicago, just bein' a full time missionary! So crazy. 

Grant's little sister, Liesl.

Life is good. More updates to come.

Peace & Love

abs

thingsweforget.blogspot.com

Why is this so hard?

Quick Reminder: Alma 7

23 And now I would that ye should be ^ahumble, and be^bsubmissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

 24 And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.

 25 And may the Lord bless you, and keep your garments spotless, that ye may at last be brought to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the holy prophets who have been ever since the world began, having your garments spotless even as their garments are spotless, in the kingdom of heaven to go no more out.

 26 And now my beloved brethren, I have spoken these words unto you according to the Spirit which testifieth in me; and my soul doth exceedingly rejoice, because of the exceeding diligence and heed which ye have given unto my word.

 27 And now, may the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and herds, and all that you possess, your women and your children, according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever. And thus I have spoken. Amen.

Well folks, here's to faith. *cheers* We've got this. Seriously. From the wise words of my institute teacher, Brother Case: 

"We're all gonna fail. We're all gonna learn. And we're ALL gonna make it. If you NEVER give up, NEVER throw in the towel, and just KEEP TRYING... you will make it. There's no way you can't."

-Brother Case

University of Utah Institute, 2013

Oh, blessed day.

Chemistry and Anatomy exams.... both finished.

Girl's road trip with Heidi and momma this weekend.

St. George all next week.

Praise the heavens!

peace & love...abs

Dear Sister Hafen,

"You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. you are assigned to labor in the Philippines Cauayan Mission....You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, June 19, 2013. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Tagalog language."

In my stake president interview before I got my call, my stake president said "You are going to be incredible, Sister Hafen.... Even though I just met you, you are someone who has a happy disposition, am I right?" I responded yes and we continued the interview. "A mission call is inspired. How many times in your life are you going to get direct revelation through a prophet of God? Probably never again. This time of your life is incredible." I told myself that I knew my call would come from The Lord. But after it came, my faith started to shake.

Can I be honest? .... it's been a rough few days. The fact that I am leaving on a mission is unreal. If I can say 4 words that have never been more true in my life... they are "The Adversary is real." I thought I knew what it was like to be brought down by Satan and I KNOW that Satan is a piece of crap... But I didn't know how badly he didn't want me to go on a mission until the week I was waiting for my call. SO much doubt filled my mind. 

"WHAT AM I EVEN DOING? SERIOUSLY?" "DO I EVEN KNOW IF THIS CHURCH IS TRUE?" "I LITERALLY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ANYTHING IS ANYMORE." <----- i="">seriously. these exact thoughts ran through my head. 

Hundreds and thousands of these mission call letters get sent out every week, and I've probably heard over 30 of them read out loud by friends, family, and freak, even random people on YouTube. 

But what's funny, is that the last paragraphs of the letter often times don't' get read. We read the first part and freak out, and then that's it. We call everyone we know, post on Instagram, Facebook, EVERYWHERE. I got my call 3 days ago and read the rest of that page for the first time a couple hours ago. Here it is:

"Your purpose will be to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. As you serve with all your heart, might, and strength, the Lord will lead you to those who are prepared to be baptized. 

The Lord will reward you for the goodness of your life. Greater blessings and more happiness you have yet experienced await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve the Lord in this labor of love among His children. We place our confidence in you and pray that the Lord will help you become an effective missionary."

These last two paragraphs give me real peace, comfort, and hope. 

The Lord knows us personally. He knows my mom, Miss Suzy Q. on the corner, the homeless man by the freeway, the President of the United States, and he knows me. He knows I'm supposed to go to the Philippines and he knows that I am capable of learning the language (not on my own of course. HA!)

If you don't know if God knows you, ask him in faith. Ask him a couple times. Be diligent.. he'll answer you.

I cannot wait to begin my "labor of love" by preaching the gospel and bringing the Filipino people unto Christ.

reading my call to my mom and dad each on FaceTime

one of my biggest examples, so grateful for my sister Heidi and that she lives so close to me :)

YES

I'm starting today.

peace & love,
Sister Hafen