Elder Haskell's Mission Site Called to Serve: Long Beach, CA

Coming Home

Elder Haskell is coming home today! Wish him luck on his flight!

His last letter is as follows:

October 31, 2011

Well this is really it gosh i am really nervous, it just doesn't feel real or right haha. I dont know!
I just got out of my exit interview with the Mission President, it went really well and I will greatly miss him!!
I don't really know where to start.
Well our investigator kendy was not baptized, she had her interview and just decided she wasnt ready yet. Although she is doing really well and coming to church, she just needs a little more time and that is just fine, I want her to know she is making the right decision and not have to try and drag her there.
Yesterday was really really tough, full of tears I must admit!! We went to church and at the end of sacrament bishop announved my leaving and asked me to come share a few thoughts. It was really tough and it almost just hit me all at once right then!! But I thought it went well.
Then in the night it was worse, we had a departing missionaries fireside, we all bore our testimonies.. it was really powerful the whole room was just full of the spirit. You could almost just cut it right in half it was great. So i got up there knowing I was going to bear my testimony en espanol, so I started in english and I just got a little nervous and emotional so I switched over to espanol and it felt soooo goood!! I can honestly say that I have never felt the spirit that strong before, my whole life, as I was bearing my testimony with my recent converts there wow!!
I can testify of the love of God, the pure love of Christ Charity, it is a real thing, its not just a nice word or a single act of kindness but is given through much prayer, diligence and work! I never thought I could love a group of people so much, and imagine that the only love that I will have more powerful than this is with my own wife and kids! I love Heavenly Father and am grateful for the privilegio to be able to have a slight understanding of how he feels towards His children! As I was there last night so many memories were just flashing thorugh my head, at the end we sand God be with you till we meet again, and I was next to one of my favorite companions Elder Grover. Together we baptized La familia chaidez!! They were there with their 2 little boys and looked soooo happy, I just thought to myself my gosh this is what it is all about, this is Gods plan, if we will just follow it! Bro Chaidez is now in the Elders Quorom Presidencia and his wife is la secretaria of the relief society!!
Their were also others there as well and I just loved talking to them and cannot wait to visit them again!!
The mission is just a great miracle, it has changed shaped and saved my life!
I love you guys but I am not ashamed to say that it is much much harder leaving my families here to return! I never thought that would be true but their were many more tears in the end than in the beginning!
I know that the Book of mormon is true and that it changes lives!! I also know that Christ lives and like Moroni "and I lie not" He is our savior the redeemer of the world, I have seen His gospel change lives and those are things that I could never deny because they happened right in front of my eyes!!
Seeya tomorrow thanks so much I love you guys

Finally: An Update!

The maintainers of this blog have been very busy of late. However, we'd like to catch up our faithful readers on the various activities of Elder Haskell. BUT, we did want to alert said readers that Elder Haskell is having a birthday on September 25th! Please send him birthday wishes as you deem appropriate (see "Contact" page for address). Now, please enjoy his most recent letters and some pictures!

Thanks for following!

September 12, 2011

Dear Family!!
Well thanks for the emails and support!!! I am always grateful for them!! As well excited to hear how well everyone is doing!
So as for the work here this week things went really really well!!!
These past couple days in particular!
First during this week, at the start we didn't have any investigators pretty tough haha! So we went about doing our thing tying to make sure we were in the right place at the right time and things worked well! After a lot of diligence we finally have an investigator! His name is william, we have only taught him once but his significant other is a less active lady so we will see how things pan out there!
As well have these families here in the area cooking, (in missionary work) they are doing soo good yesterday at church we recieved 2 referrals and as well there are atleast 5 other families that are making great progress at getting there friends to be able to be taught in there home! So that has been really good! Its crazy how much you have to be able to adapt to your area, in whatever place your at. Like in some of my areas your really successful by hitting the streets and things like that. Here it takes a little more thinking almost, you have to find ways to get members involved, (white people arent as loving as latinos at the door) so it has been a way different challenge but so far so good!!! I really hope the missionaries in your wards are using you guys as missionary tools!
As well this week we have been planning a really big fireside that we will be holding so that these people can invite their friends and we can meet them there!
Things are moving and its getting exciting!
oh so something really cool we had the first really bad lightning storm of my whole mission during our studies the other morning it was so awesome everyone here freaked out haha!
These last couple transfers have been moving by quickly, tonight I am going on exchanges with the zone leaders so I am excited to get my hand into a spanish area again for 24hours haha!! I love it so much!! When I get home were gonna turn that little madison branch into a ward!! Its funny to talk about that with Elder Halsey! We have really grown close during the mission I really feel that us serving here in this mission had more to do with just the people here but as well so we could get to know each other! I dont think that we would have been so close if it wasnt for here in the mission and I am excited to work with him in the church after the mission as well!
During my studies I have been just digging into the Book of Mormon, I really do love it, everytime I don't know what to do there is no better place to go! This week I have been reading about the missions of Alma when he gives up the judgement seat to Nehpihah to go and "bear down in pure testimony" I love his diligence throughout, even in Amonihah!! Although I think some of my favorite words from Alma are found in chap 5. He just really knows how to give inspired questions to make you think!
He also talks about our acts! Anyway he is just awesome I am trying to learn from him! But I know that Book of Mormon is true, man and it is sooooo true!
other stuff this week, well we have been working with this less active family from the philipines, the father is in fact a former Bishop, so we really want to get them active together! And saturday they gave us lunch, the craziest lunch I have ever had! So we ate first its called Balut (duck embrio) I ate four of them hahaha they werent to bad! Than with a side of rice and CHICKEN FEET!!! bones and al!! I had a pair of them hahah! As well we had duck meat! SO the good part THEY CAME TO CHURCH TOGETHER hahah!! They really liked having us over and I think our eating of the ducks made them respect us a little more!! It was totally worth it, my companoion only ate one foot and one egg/embrio haha its ok though! So i thought you might like that story!
But onto better stuff we did get some good potentails this week and we will see how it goes in the next couple of days, I am grateful to be able to say that I have no doubt that Heaveny Father is preparing people, and I know that they will be there!!! It just takes finding them! Or them finding us!!
Well I hope everything continues to go well there!
Love you guys
Elder Haskell

September 5, 2011

Dear Family!!
Thanks again for the emials sorry about the mix up on email addresses!!!
Well where to start lets see!! This week went really fast and really well!!
We did a ton of member work this week and have been seeing some success! Its always a great refferral when the members give it to you hahaha!
Some of the highlights this week!
1) Well last saturday we met a guy at the park, a vietnamese father named John. He is a really great guy, great father and he said when we contacted him that he had been looking into the mormon church and how he can become a member!! So we were like WELL you ran into the right guys for that one haha!! So we talked for a while then a couple days later we went to his house and taught him a first lesson!! It wasnt your oridnary first lesson becuase he had already read a ton on mormon.org about Joseph smith and the book or mormon, as well he read the whole pamphlet of the restoration that we left with him in the intitial contact! That was awesome, the lesson went great and he has 3 boys and a wife I just think of them as being missionaries one day!!
This weekend his family already had plans to go out of town so they didnt make it to church although this coming sunday they will be there!! And we will be visiting him this week!! So we will see!
2) This sunday I fasted for families and people to be able to teach! And well as usual the Lord just did His thing, and a former investgator of ours showed up a church yesterday with her daughter!! It was really cool and she loved the testimony meeting! Her name is Leslie and she has 3 kids, two girls and a little boy!! I feel that it is there time, the youth programs just love the girls and boy and we need to help them get baptized!! I am excited to see what happens please keep them in your prayers!! I feel really strongly about them, the mother seemed to be more humbled yesterday!
3) Well you can now see the threads in my back tire and it is still going !!!
4) We ate Mexican food this week 2 times and it was really good!
5) The members here are really working hard and we have been hitting the streets really hard to find people when we are not inviting them to invite their friends!!
So things are going well, on the 23rd of october we are having a ward fire side, it is a program of music, narroration, (i know thats not spelled right) and piano solos, its a program that I recieved at the beginning of my mission and it is going to be really good we're hoping to have a really good turnout!!
The work is moving foward it always will! I have a testimony of that, satan is just not as powerful and 53,000 young missionaries that are humble themselves to ask the Lord for help!! This work is real and I love being right in the middle of it all! There is nothing like it!!
I have a testimony of the reality and importance of the Piresthood, every ordinance in this church is only valid because of this power! I am grateful to be worthy of it and to be able to use it as a representative of Jesus Christ!!
Love
Elder Haskell

August 29, 2011

Dear Family!!
Well I am glad to hear that everything is well on the other side of the emails, and that everyone is dry from the bad weather we have heard about hahaha!! Thats intense you guys had an earthquake during my mission we have a had a couple 4.0 and such nothing too bad, but in Maryland that just insane!!
As for me week here it went well, the work is always good! We had the confirmations of Barry and Kevin, they both went very good! It is great to think of there futures as priesthood holders and I am excited to see it! Kevin has been talking about going on a mission for a long time and it will be cool to see him go out on a mission!
When it comes to other stuff, we have been working a lot with members to be able to teach their friends and stuff and I have been super impressed with them, it gets me everytime how ready and willing to do missionary work! That is the only way this work moves foward in this type of an area and in any area it is 100 times more successful when members get involved so make sure you have the missionaries over to talk about what you can do to have lessons in your homes!!
So, this week as well, we hit the streets pretty dang hard but thats what we do so it was well! I love contacting people, love everything about missionary work!
We came across some interesting people and some really interested people so we will see what happens in the coming week please pray for our area!
As well my very first baptism in the mission was sealed this week to his wife and kids they we sealed as a family!!! LA familia Garcia WOW how incredible!! As well the Lord has been so gracious, my recent converts seem to be dong so well!!
Lets see some other things that happened this week, well tons of things but the most memorable things are.
1) the confirmations
2) the success of my recent converts
Oh yea, as well we are working with a couple part member families, one the Joiner family, they are a young couple, he is not a member and they have their first kid on the way! He has been coming to church for a while and he just havent been able to sit down and teach, but we finally made contact and have a return appt so it should work out well!! I feel really good about them and hope that he accepts the gospel!
As for the other one it is the webster family I think they are a little younger then like mom and dad (sorry no offense) but he is the member and before we started teaching them he hadnt opened his scriptures in over 15-20 or so!! And now he is reading in the Book of Mormon!! So cool, and his wife is really interested I would say the more of the 2 so there is a lot of potentail there to see her come to the waters of Baptism!!!
As I said before please continue to pray for them!
It was a great week full of testimony giving and hard work!!
I have been learning a lot about how the gospel should shape your life, and not the other way around! I have a testimony that the gospel, when successfully made the center of the home and then other things around it and only then is when you feel that familiar spirit you feel in the temple in your home as well! This life is just a test of how resolute we will be in sharing the gospel and helping out or brothers and sisters!!! I love it and am trying to live it the best I can!! I hope you all will continue to do the same!!
Thanks a lot for all of your love and support!!
Love
Elder Haskell

August 22, 2011

Dear Family!!!
It was really great to hear from all of you in the same week! Thanks so much! I am really glad to hear that all is going well in Maryland and as well in Utah! That is always great to read about!
I am sending some pictures I hope they load well on your computer I think that they are really big haha sorry about that it takes a lot of time to go through making them smaller and such.
They are of La Familia Medina!!!! La Familia Fuentes, Barry and Kevin right before there baptism!!
And my new elder, Elder Elton!!!
So as for things here they are going super well! We had 2 baptisms on Sunday and they were so powerful in fact our mission president showed up for the service! It was great to see him there!
It was such a crowded service that we had standing room only in the batpismal room and the service was done in the chapel!! Pretty awesome huh!!!
The bishop got up and talked about how they didnt have a baptism at all in the past year and it was really sad. Then he talked about the spirit felt there at that service! It had been about 14months or so since there last baptism and now in the past 3 months we have had 5 baptisms!!! It has just been a real pouring out of blessings from the Lord!
This week was one of my favorites in the mission, things have been going well with Elder Elton, he is doing really well and it is really fun to see him grow, he will be a powerful missionary! I love him a lot and as well am learning a lot!
P.s Kim so you know I got those cookies and when there were like 21/2 I ate them in a bowl with, whole milk soooo good hahah!!!! Thanks so much they were really good!
Ok so as well this week, lets see well the lessons we had during the week were really awesome, some really powerful ones, it was really cool to see how Barry was "taught from on high" I mean you guys should have seen his reactions when we first started teaching him, we were talking with him about it as well, at first he would try to argue a bit and would disagree with us a lot. But one thing he always has done is read and pray, and without any surprise he came around haha just like they all do when they keep there committments and read and pray! It was just an awesome experience! He is just eating it up! Its really awesome because these guys are going to make big contributions to the church Kevin is the guy with the long hair and beard, but he just turned 22yrs old and is just awesome he has read the whole book of mormon and is almost done with DyC so good!!! And he wants to go on a mission so were really excited for him!!!
As for Barry he is going to be a great scout master or something like that, he likes to teach and is super smart! They are awesome!
During the service our ward mission leader gave a talk, and he shared an experience. We had committed him to come up with a day to have someone taught a lesson in his home! So the day came around and he didnt have anyone, he had gotten home from work and said he said a prayer and thought maybe he could call some one really fast, then at the same time we were in need of a member to teach with us at a lesson, a very critical one with Barry. So 30seconds after he prayed we called him, he picked up very happy and was like ELDERS how are you doing, we proceeded to ask him if he could join us at a lesson (at first we didnt want to call him because we had been using him a lot) and he said yes, in fact let me pick you and Barry up and we will have a lesson at my house! So the lesson went great! And it was cool to hear about that, the whisperings of the spirit are real, just as real as this email or anything else out there! The Lord really does direct this work, because it is His work, in fact he even takes glory in it! I am so grateful for the gift of the holy ghost!! I love being a missionary!!!!!!
As well this week it was really cool to see Kevins' testimony, his parents belong to another christian church that he grew up in. So he was once baptized before and when he told his parents that he was getting baptized his mother said "I thought you were already baptized once" and he replied well was it by the proper authority and of course she said the pastor has the proper authority and so on. Although Kevin really has recieved the spiritual witness for himself and was baptized, it is so great to see his testimony it builds mine! I love him like a brother!!!! He is for sure a special one!
As for other things, haha well the bike is doing well, sometimes I feel bad for my companion because I ride really fast althogh this week he has been getting way faster!!
Thanks again for all the support it was great to hear from you all! I am grateful for your time! I hope you keep doing well!
As well I would like to end with my testimony, I am grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ, I know that i was and is a perfect sacrifice for us, the only one who could do so! He did it out of pure love, I think its interesting how in the scriptures we are refferred to as his friends by Christ, even though he knew all of the things that would have to happen, we were and are still his friends wow! 2Nephi 26:23-24 Everytime I go through the scriptures, and read this chapter I have to read these couple verses a few times over because it just amazes me everytime!
I have a firm testimony of the restored gospel, "the plain an precious truths" that were here in the time of Christ had need to be restored and it is only by that restoration that we have the priesthood here again! I know that God lives and that he called a fourteen yr old boy, to be His servant! And that today we are led and guided by a living prophet!!! I as well know that the family is ordained by God and has an eternal purpose!!! Love you guys a lot!
P.s I have a ton more picture pero I cant send them all because they are really big and just to many and not enough time sorry!
I hope they come out ok!

New Photos

Elder Haskell is doing well. We'll post some letters soon, but here are some photos he sent recently! Thanks for your continued support.

Feast your eyes on this

We have finally caught up on all of Elder Haskell's letters of late. Phew. He seems to be doing really well. A few great things that he shared last week were pretty amazing:

"So my second baptism in the mission, Jesus Garcia, in the Buena Park 3rd ward, went through the temple on Saturday along with his wife! Elder Elliott and I, being the Elders that baptized him, got to go with them! Wow, let me tell you what…It was just incredible! Seeing him then and now, he is now the second councilor in the bishopric and has now gone through the temple! It was by far one of the most spiritual experiences of my life seeing that! ...And, today marks one year since the baptism of the La Familia Cordova! Wow! They are on fire, too! Their daughter just got her Patriarchal Blessing! And they have one temple prep class left before they are ready to go! How awesome! Man, I feel so blessed by the Lord to have been able to see so much growth in people and to see how the gospel has blessed their homes! Please continue to pray for them as they continue to advance in the gospel! "

Anyhow, enjoy the following letters from Elder Haskell. He will be calling this weekend for Mother's Day. It will be the last phone call from him in the mission field. Time has flown. Thanks for all of the support you have given Elder Haskell. It means so much to him.

March 28, 2011

Hola!!! Ojola que se encuentren bien da salud, y felices!!!!

This week was a really great one for Elder Cluff and me! Probably one of the best weeks that I have had thus far on my mission! So where to start?

La Familia Fuentes...The husband has really been opening up to us and he is really progressing well! He and his wife have read the scriptures and prayed together. And, when we came over after that, it was incredible they were just a happy family and the spirit was so strong. We had a good lesson. I am really praying hard that it all works out for them! We just have to teach them a couple more principles and they are set! He told us at the end of that lesson that he knows that these things are true! How awesome! So they were able to make it to church and it was awesome. The young couple that a former companion and I baptized (La familia Mendez) is doing a lot of the fellowshipping with them!

On to La Familia Medina! Things are going really well for them also. They came to church, stayed for all 3 hours and they loved it! They were participating and everything! We had a really, really good lesson last night! We finished the plan of salvation and were able to invite them to be baptized they said they still want to learn more but accepted the invitation! So next time when we go over there we’re going to teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ and read 2 NE 31!

Both of these families are really special. I feel that they are going to be huge pieces in the progression of this ward! In fact, both of these families signed up on our dinner calendar, for the month of April. In fact, Sister Fuentes 5 times! WOAH! And she is an awesome cook! In fact, I really hope my wife can cook Spanish food! So the dinner calendar I am learning is a really effective way to get into Spanish people’s homes! Like there are always days where people cancel or just don’t sign up so we just put the names of the less active memebers and part member families there and then call them the day before to tell them we have dinner with them, so far success! Also, it’s good to have investigators sign up!

Anyway so I just really, really love these families they are doing so well and getting so close to baptism! As well we found 11 new investigators this weeks! Man that’s a lot. The work is great we are really seeing some major progress in our areas!

Today, in my studies I finished the Book of Mormon! It was awesome. I love v32 when Moroni gives the overall invitation of the Book of Mormon, for all to come unto Christ and be perfected in him! What a blessing we have to have the Book of Mormon! What a powerful tool it is in missionary work, it is central to every single thing that we teach! I can say that I love the Book of Mormon. I love it! Ahh, he last chapters (like the epistles of Mormon to his son, Moroni) are so powerful and then Moroni just ends it all so powerfully. This is about to be my second time reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish!

Anyway so things are really great. It’s so great to hear that the family is doing well and are healthy! I love the work of the Lord, and don’t have any plans on slowing down ever!
Love you guys! Let me know how you’re doing!

Love ,

Elder Haskell

April 4, 2011

Dear Family!

This week was a really, really good week! A few curve balls, but things all turned out well! I want to start off by saying that, I appreciate your help and support! I love hearing about how you are doing and what is going on for you guys out there! Man, you all seem like your on fire and doing really well!

The first curve ball, wasn’t a super big one but, seeing that I had 5 transfers as a zone leader, President decided to release me and so I am getting transferred! I am a little sad, not really about the leadership thing, but more because of the families that we are teaching! They are doing super well! But it’s the Lord’s will, so I try not to get too caught up in it. I am just going to work and work and not think about anything else! Also, I will be follow-up training so that should be pretty fun. I have never done that before and I will be in a bike area! Never done that before either, so I will definitely be getting some new experiences! Also, I hear that my new area is doing really well. It is called Bellflower, it’s in Cerritos zone, right next to Long Beach! I am kind of nervous though because I have 13months here in Long Beach it’s about all I know. But, at the same time, I’m excited for a new challenge! My new companion is named Elder Zaugg, he is from Canada!

The Medina family is doing super well. They will be baptized next week, I am almost certain. They came to conference and loved it and then actually made us dinner after! And it was so good! Pupusas! It’s an El Salvadorain food and so good!! So they are really doing well and I am super excited for them! As well the Fuentes family seems to be doing well. The husband is still considering everything, but the wife, who is a member already, is really on fire!

So, for another curve ball, the guy that my last companion and I found, Jorge Chaidez, was baptized about 3 months ago! And his wife was still considering everything. But, yesterday I had the opportunity to baptize her! Her name is Daisy, and man it was awesome to see them! They are really young and have a 5yr old and a 1yr old boy! They will make great missionaries!

As for conference, it was so good! Man, sometimes I feel bad that the women don’t get to see the priesthood session live. It is so powerful! But all of them were really good! My favorites were Elder Dalin H. Oaks, and President Monson in priesthood session. I just felt like they were all things that we all needed to hear! I actually wrote down some questions that I had so I could listen for the answers during the conference and it was really fun! All of my questions were answered and it really helped me out. Oh and as well I liked the 2 talks on revelation by President Uchtdorf and Elder Bednar and the one on temples by President Monson!
Things are great here! I love serving. I have never felt this content with where I am and with what I am doing in my WHOLE life!

I love you guys!

Elder Haskell

April 11, 2011

Dear Family,

How’s it going over there in the beautiful Maryland? Things are going great. I feel like it was yesterday that I was emailing you guys! So, as you have learned, a lot of things have changed. I am now in a new area and things are going really well. I am follow-up training and it has been very fun and interesting as well, I always feel like as you teach you learn so much more, so I am grateful for the opportunity to learn and help my companion. His name is Elder Zaugg, and he’s from Canada. He’s shorter than me and a lot littler. He’s a very hard worker and a good teacher. Man, he has learned a lot in just this week. It’s been crazy how fast he is getting it!

As for my area, well, we are the only elders in the ward, and we are on bike. It is a little ward but they seem to be pretty good missionaries. We are teaching every leader in the ward and other families as well, and inviting them to do a program we call “feed my sheep”, (it’s basically the set a date program) that came out in the 90's but a little different, and I am expecting big things out of it!

The name of the ward is called Bellflower and it borders my old area where I was in Paramount for 11months, so its a little strange to be on the other side of it! We are on bike and I like it a lot, sometimes it gets old, and I just want to walk to not look so goofy trying to contact some one, so we just walk, but I do like the biking!

When I got here we had a lot of work to do with our investigators. Now we have about three, and two of them came to church yesterday. One is named Adam, he is 19 and he is getting baptized this coming Sunday, although when I got here I was like why isn’t he in the singles’
ward? So this Sunday he went there instead, and loved it! So we will be passing him to the singles’ ward Sisters and he will be getting baptized this coming week! Another investigator is named Jessy. His son is a member. Also, we have a guy named Matthew. He is Samoan. His wife is a really solid member and they have three little kids. They are so awesome! Nothing else really going on, we’re just trying to keep working hard, getting out there, and being obedient. I know that by doing these things, miracles will happen because the Lord always provides!

I love you guys and let me know how everything’s going for you!

Love,

Elder Haskell

April 18, 2011

Dear La Familia!

I was really grateful to be able to hear from you guys today! It seems to me like you guys are really doing well! I am glad that you all enjoyed the stake conference and were able to be edified!!

So as for the questions that you asked me!
1) I want to start off with Alex Fuentes if you remember me talking about the young couple from Guatemala! While the wife was already a member, Alex wasn’t, and he got baptized yesterday! WOAH! How awesome is that! They are going to be an incredible addition to the ward and are just great people! I am so excited for them. I love them so much! Man that’s awesome! It was so great to hear!

2) And, as for Adam, he got baptized this Saturday! He is talking about a mission already! So we are really excited for him! He is doing really well!

3) Our third investigator isn’t quite to baptism, and we have an appt with him on Wed., and we will see how things go! I still feel like he is ready!

The area is a lot different than my old area. It’s a really small ward, it’s a different feel, but I know that we can still have success in the work here! We have a lot of returned missionaries, so we have been encouraging member work and lessons in members homes! Knocking and street contacting isn't going be the most effective thing in the world, yes of course it works, but we are looking for families. Through trust from solid families in the ward and being able to teach their neighbors and friends…that is how we will get family baptisms! So, I am learning a lot and it’s going well! We just need to get some more folks in our teaching pool!

Well not much more to report on. The bike is great, I love it. It’s really light and fast, it gave me some problems this week but I fixed it and it’s all good now. It was funny the gear changer thing that moves the chain was bent and rubbing against the chain, but I never change the big gear anyway so I just took some pliers to it and broke it off, just a piece of metal that was never being used slowing me down, but not anymore. haha!

My companion and I are doing great and really working hard. We both got pretty dark/sun burnt this week. Man, my farmers tan is out of this world bad and my watch tan line…it’s so funny!

But anyway, the work is great. I love it. Things are moving along and I feel the Lord blessing us as we endure and just keep going, that’s just how it is sometimes!

Let me know how things are for you guys!

Love ,

Elder Haskell

April 25, 2011

Dear Family,

This week was a great week! It was great to hear from you guys and hear that your all doing well and enjoyed your Easter!

For us it went well. Like I mentioned in previous letters, we have been working really hard with the members, because knocking on doors isn’t the most effective thing in the world. But we have been doing a missionary program with all the leaders in the ward and it’s going awesome! The second councilor in the stake presidency lives in our area and his son just got back from his mission 2 weeks ago, so we did it with them and its been so good. Last night, after following the steps of the program through thought and prayer, they selected a family to be able to have a lesson in their home! We also have other families that are progressing very well in the program! I know that in an area like this, that is the only was that families will be brought into the church. But when we’re not doing that, we are hitting the streets and doing all of our part as well.

We didn't have any investigators in church this week. Our third investigator isn’t really interested much right now, but we did find a new family. We talked with them last night for a bit, and we have plans to teach them together this coming week. So their names are Jesus and Anabel. They are a young couple. She has been pushing him, telling them that they need to find a church so it looks like we showed up just in time!

So my second baptism in the mission, Jesus Garcia, in the Buena Park 3rd ward, went through the temple on Saturday along with his wife! Elder Elliott and I, being the Elders that baptized him, got to go with them! Wow, let me tell you what…It was just incredible! Seeing him then and now, he is now the second councilor in the bishopric and has now gone through the temple! It was by far one of the most spiritual experiences of my life seeing that! And it was awesome to do an endowment session in Spanish! In fact, one of the temple workers told me that I should be a temple worker and tell them I speak Spanish when I get home, and they usually will let you work almost immediately and at any schedule! So that is now a goal that I have!

And, today marks one year since the baptism of the La Familia Cordova! Wow! They are on fire, too! Their daughter just got her Patriarchal Blessing! And they have one temple prep class left and they are ready to go! How awesome! Man I feel so blessed by the Lord to have been able to see so much growth in people and how the gospel has blessed their homes! Please continue to pray for them as they continue to advance in the gospel!

Well thanks again for everything!

I love you guys!

Love,

Elder Haskell

May 3, 2011

Dear Family!

Hey, how it is going? This week was a great week!! I really enjoyed it!

So, to start off, we found 4 new investigators this week and we soon had two others. We are teaching a really cool family tonight! Anyway, so one investigator is from an inactive family, her name is Mia and she is 10yrs old! She is a nice little girl. We are working on re-activating her mother who came to church Sunday! And this little girl is just dying to get baptized! So that will be happening soon! And it’s cool to see her mom really getting motivated to be a good example to her and her other children!

As well we have another investigator named Clever. We found him from a street contact, but we haven't been able to contact him since, but that's how it goes sometimes, and I am pretty sure that we will teach him again, he was way nice and has four children and a wife! So we really want to teach them all together!

Also this week Elder L. Tom Perry came to speak to us and it was super powerful! It was so awesome. Also with him came President Whitney Clayton from the Presidency of the Seventy and they spoke so powerfully! Man it just really motivated me to make sure I keep finding ways to always improve! As well Elder Perry talked a lot about "studying The Book of Mormon" like never before! It was really cool and just a great feeling! It feels really good to know you are giving consecrated, diligent and hard work to the Lord. I am not saying I am a perfect missionary, but I know that the Lord is carrying me and making it possible for me to do those things!

So today we also went to the temple! My fourth time in the LA temple, and I just loved it! I love the temple so much and can testify that going to the temple helps us internalized our purpose on earth better than anything else we can do! It is just amazing to be in the house of the Lord!

As for phone calls on Sunday, I will be calling home around 5:30 pm your time, so hopefully you are all going to be home and I will be able to talk with you guys and Kim as well!

Well thanks for all the love and support!

Have a great week and SHARE THE GOSPEL!

Love ,

Elder Haskell

New Transfer

Elder Haskell has been transferred again. His new address is as follows:

Elder James Henry Haskell
16251 Woodruff St. Apt.# 30
Bellflower, CA 90706

Below is a back log of Elder Haskell's letters from February and March. We'll have a couple more from late March and April posted soon!

Feb 7, 2011

Dear Family!

This week was great we have another great family that is just doing awesome. They should be getting baptized soon. They are awesome and I kinda feel like they are my family! Just great people! They will be getting baptized on the 20th of February. Please pray for them!

I just love being a missionary! I really can’t imagine doing anything else at this point. Well the work is really good! Things this week were really good. We really are going to have to hit the finding hard and get some new people in our teaching pool. But, I know there are literally 100's waiting to learn the gospel and be baptized…their families as well!

I appreciate all of your support thanks for everything!!!

Love you guys!

Elder Haskell

Feb 14, 2011

Dear Family!

How are things going? It was great to hear from you! This week was a great one! We have a baptism of a young couple coming up on Sunday! WOAH!

So it’s great, first of all, to hear that Aunt Bonnie is doing well. I was praying for her! I am really glad she’s getting better. I knew she would. She’s a tough one!

So about this week: first off, the young couple, Jorge and Daisy, look really good for this weekend! Daisy came to church this week and left work early. It’s always good to see people making changes so they can follow the Lord! It’s such a faith builder for me! So we were sitting in church and they hadn’t come yet, so we were just waiting for them, then they shut the doors for sacrament and I thought that they weren’t coming! But then we right after the sacrament, the doors opened and there they were! It was awesome!

Let’s see…also this week we found another awesome family on the street. We contacted the mom, and it turns out that she was baptized as a little girl in Mexico! She moved to the US and never went to church again. So, when we went to her house and discovered she has six kids, her husband, and his brother…so they are a family of nine people! They are so awesome, and the only sad news is that I am about 100 percent sure I will be getting transferred and won’t be able to teach them. But, I guess it’s about time. I have been in the same area for about 11months! But, man, this family is awesome, and the husband really enjoys hearing about the gospel, and that is key. Every time we come over he has everyone sit down and we read together and he has them participate. It’s awesome! I am really excited for them!

Our ward is just catching fire. I love Latino people. They are really hard workers and are not very nervous either about sharing the gospel! It’s really cool! So our recent converts are doing really well as well!

It was really cool my companion and I contacted a lady who is about 24 yrs old, about 3 weeks ago. She is from Nigeria and she said she was looking for a church at 8:30 on a Saturday night! Then the next day she was in the single’s ward and she has now gone 3 times and has a baptismal date for the 26th. It’s really cool to see that! My convert family of about a year ago, right when I got to this area, their daughter, who is also in the single’s ward, is fellowshipping her and giving her rides to church. How cool? She also bore her testimony and it was powerful!

Anyway, the work is going super great! Man at the beginning of this week we didn’t really have anyone to teach, but now it’s just awesome and I know it is because through obedience and faith the Lord trusts you with his children you really do become a way to salvation for every person in your area and the Lord puts them in your path! I have a strong testimony of that. It is so true! I love this gospel, missions change the lives of many, when you don’t care a bout your own and go to work! SO go serve! I know this work to be the work of our loving Heavenly Father!

Love you guys!

Elder Haskell

Feb 21, 2011

Dear Family!

So this week was a good week! Things went well. To start off, Daisy and Jorge are doing well.. Daisy wasn’t able to make it to church on Sunday, but those things happen and it all takes time. We talked to Jorge about it because he wants to get baptized, and he has already been to church a lot. We are excited to for him to receive the Holy Ghost and the Priesthood, and help him to be an example in the home. He is super solid, he told us last night he knows what he needs to do, and that is to get baptized. So this coming week he will be getting baptized. We’re really excited for him. We talked to him last night about the impact that this will make on his whole family, like his 2 sons who will grow up to be awesome missionaries! So things are going great. The other family I mentioned, with a lot of kids, sadly went to their church this Sunday, but we continue to have lessons with them in which the Spirit is very strong. Again, this will take time.

Things went well with transfers. I am getting transferred but let me give my new address and then explain. It is 430 Pacific Ave. #14 Long Beach California, 90802! So this is what happened with transfers. We got a bunch of new missionaries and only a couple going home so the split my zone. So we now have 2 zones in the Long Beach stake and I went to South Long Beach! And my new area is RIGHT DOWN TOWN! It’s so awesome! My other companion named Elder Cluff, and I are white washing, which means that the 2 elders that were there are both leaving, and my companion and I are starting fresh…aka white washing! So I am really excited to get out there on the streets of downtown and get those members going down there! I forgot to say that I am staying in the same ward since it is a Spanish ward and it covers the whole stake, so I will still be there! Yes! It is my favorite ward ever! I am really happy that I will be able to stay in contact with my recent converts that way!

So the week was great. We are still zone leaders in The Long Beach South Zone! Man I feel so blessed to be here, I am so grateful for the things that that Lord is placing in my path!

So not much more to say other then I know that this gospel is true and the work is as well! Thanks for all of your great support and as well your love! Keep up the hard work and pray that the Lord prepares people for us to find, teach and baptize.

Love,

Elder Haskell

Feb 28, 2011

Dear Family!!!

Hey so how are things going? This week went well. A lot of things have changed but it’s been really awesome! So I am now, like I said, downtown Long Beach and it’s so awesome! My companion and I are whitewashing, and it’s been great! We have been knocking like crazy contacting everyone!

So where to start: well, the members we have in our areas are what I call anchor families, like the former bishop, elders’ quorum president, and other solid families, so we have been pushing them really hard to get us referrals, and its seems to be working out pretty well! They have really been trying to think of people and give us legit referrals so we will see how that goes! As well our area is really small because it’s full of people, so we have been walking a whole lot and just contacting a whole lot! We started with zero investigators but we recently found a family and they have 5 children! I’m really excited for them! This week flew by, I don’t really know what else to say! Oh yeah, Kim, you will like this: so we live like right at the harbor like basically where Mommom lives, but in California here in the long beach harbor. So, we run there every morning and every morning I look out to the Pacific Ocean and it’s awesome to see the sun just coming up! So awesome. I really like it!

So we have a lot of work to do and it’s just been awesome! I haven’t slept this good in my whole life that I can remember!

Well thanks for everything. It’s great to hear you’re all doing really well. I love you guys. Downtown is awesome. We have been jumping a lot fences to get in apartment complexes…haha! And, Long Beach is really, really pretty. I love it!!
The work is true. We are all here because of missionary work, so go help those Elders out!

Love,

Elder Haskell

March 7, 2011

Dear Family,

Well what can I say…things are awesome! It was a great week! We didn’t teach as many lessons as we had planned but some great things are happening and it’s really exciting! So we started off with really only a family to teach and no one else but we have about 4 or 5 families now and 2 of them are really solid.

La familia Ovalle is family to some members in the ward.
La Familia Medina live next door to a super solid family!
La Familia Fuentes, the wife is a member but the husband isn’t!

So, through the Lords help we have some great people investigating the church in our area! Please pray for these families!

One family from El Salvador, and they are really genuine. And they have a baptismal date for the 27th! Oh, something that I forgot to tell you about last week was the baptism of Jorge Chaidez. He is an investigator that I found and he got baptized last Sunday, and yesterday I was able to confirm him a member of the Church! Also, I was able to ordain Luis Hernandez, another recent convert, to be a priest in the priesthood! And what a blessing it was to feel the work of the Lord through his priesthood authority. He was able to use me to exercise his priesthood on the earth. WOAH! Well, I think it’s awesome anyway! So those were some pretty big highlights to the week for me.

So my area is a lot different then my other one. In my old area there were only Mexicanos, but here people are from everywhere like Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, but still the majority is from Mexico (my favorite)! It was funny the other day in a lesson this guy told me I better be careful or the police and going to send me back to Mexico and not believe that I am from the United States. hahah!

So some other things, I always try to ask myself a question and the end of weeks and days and transfers.."is the area better than yesterday or a week ago, or last transfer" and I am so grateful to say yes! There will be families joining the church this month, I know it! We have some people that are really willing to know if this is true and it’s just a great and indescribable feeling to be able to help them in this process! And let me tell you what, the ward is catching fire it’s really great to have there trust I can see it in them!

I really don’t know what else to talk about! The weather here is in what I like to call "the incredible time of year" because it’s not crazy hot, but like high 70's with a slight breeze. So nice!

I am grateful to hear about how well everything is going there on the home front. It makes me happy! I know that missionary miracles can happen anywhere, especially if the members have desires to serve! So I would encourage you to get out there and find ways to help the missionaries and bring others to Christ!

I am so grateful for my membership in this Church and the power that the Holy Ghost has to lift and shape and mold and purify haste que tengas algo que Dios puede usar, y seguir formando y mejorando! I know that the power of the Holy Ghost and the Atonement of Jesus Christ are real! I see it a feel it everyday!

Well, I am going to go play some basketball with some other Elders! I know this work is true this gospel is the only true gospel on the face of the earth. I know Jesus Christ heads his Church through a living prophet! The Lord will ALWAYS provide for those who are humble enough to ask for help and work for it! I know this to be true for myself!

Have an awesome week!

Love you guys!

Elder Haskell

March 14, 2011

Dear Family!!

Well another week has flown by. Ahhh. This has definitely been my fastest transfer! But I have a lot to tell you about this week!

So this week was probably one of the most successful weeks, work-wise, that I’ve had on my mission. So we are teaching the familia Medina, they are really awesome and from El Salvador. So they have three kids and they just happen to live next door to some members. So this week we had the member family invite them over for a family home evening. We had already taught la familia Medina the first lesson, and then we taught the lesson at the family home evening on baptism. The member family bore really hard core, strong testimony. It was PERFECT! And la familia Medina came to church this Sunday, and are reading the Book of Mormon! In fact we talked with the wife and she said that when she prayed, every time she just wanted to cry! So they are doing really, really well!

We’re also teaching la familia Fuentes. They are a young couple. The wife is an inactive member and the husband isn’t a member. They have 2 young children. Tthey came to church also on Sunday and they said that they loved it! So we are really excited for these families.

La familia Medina has a baptismal date for the 27th of March and Los Fuentes for the 2nd of April!

A lot of recent converts from my old area are really coming along in the Church, and you can see it! As well some less active members are coming. La familia Cordova, the family that I baptized about a year ago now, came to visit me…well the wife and daughter did, the husband went to his ward with his grandson…but it was so awesome! They are doing so well. Man, I love missionary work. I love the people. I love serving them and I love seeing people. There is a saying in Spanish that goes like this "agarrar la onda" which means grab the wave but people use it for like when someone just gets it! And I love seeing that in people! And I love seeing them being taught by the Spirit and I love seeing them be baptized! This work is so vital to everyone. I hope there is someone around you who you are trying to help come unto Christ! Who are your investigators?

So the work is just doing really, really well, we have some other people who are doing alright but we are really working hard with the members to teach their friends, really trying to get their trust, and when we can’t do that, we are hitting that pavement! It’s just great! I don’t even mind knocking doors…haha…a lot of Elders hate it, I mean it’s not the most effective thing, but it can be, and sometimes it’s just what you have to do! Except when people answer the door in English…haha…then it’s not too fun!

So I hope all is well on the home front! I am hearing great news about the green car! It’s so awesome thanks so much. You can just name her "esperanza" hahahaha…that is “hope” in Spanish! I want to let you guys know that I really do appreciate all of your prayers on my behalf and for my investigators!

I love you guys!

Love,

Elder Haskell

March 21, 2011

Dear Family!

This week was another good week in the great Long Beach! I would like to talk about the 2 families that are doing really well!

First is La familia Medina. They are the family from El Salvador. They did not make it to church this week, but we had some really, really powerful lessons this week, the most recent being really good! It’s hard to find them together because he works nights and she works days but she doesn’t work as constant as him, so sometimes in the afternoons we can catch them together! The wife has read to Nephi chapter 8, how awesome! They are doing well. It seems like if it’s an individual that they get baptized a little bit faster but since it’s a family, we want to make sure they are together on this. As well they did come to a baptismal service that we had for some other Elders and I really think they felt the Spirit! So that’s the update on them. We also gave Hermano (brother) a blessing when we came for an appt because he was really sick and he got better rather quickly. It was awesome!

Also, la familia Fuentes, as I said they are a really young couple and they are doing really well! They did make it to church on Sunday, which was really awesome. They came a little late and I didn’t think that they were going to be able to make it, but they sure did, and it was awesome! So things are going well, and I am really, really happy! But even better the people we are teaching are happy!

Oh, and great news: the family I baptized last April is on their last temple class and then in April the husband gets the Melchizedek priesthood! WOAH! I get to go with them to the temple!

I hope all is well there!

Keep working hard!

Love,

Elder Haskell

Updates from Cali

Two important updates:

1) Elder Haskell has moved! His new address is as follows.

Elder James Henry Haskell
430 Pacific Ave. #14
Long Beach, California 90802

2) Elder Haskell has sent Photos! Check them out.

We'll be posting some of his recent letters before March ends. Thanks for your continued support of Elder Haskell.

January Letters

Here are some letters received from Elder Haskell throughout January. It sounds like he's loving the work, the mission, and the people with whom he's serving. We hope he keeps up the good work!

January 3, 2011

Dear Family,
Well I hope you had a good new year! We sure did here! We had 2 baptisms in our zone. This coming Saturday we will be having another wedding/baptism! I am super excited!
My greenie companion and I started teaching this family in May or something like that, and now they well be getting baptized! WOAH! I am really excited. They are awesome! It’s going to be a huge step of faith for this family to go through with this, and I ask for all of your prayers! We are doing great here. It is the last week of the transfer and I am getting kind of nervous. I would really, really miss Paramount and Long Beach if I got transferred, and my compantion and I have the same amount of time here in this zone, so we will see what happens!

So, nothing else huge happened this week. I am getting better at eating spicy food, I think. Also, the families that have lately been baptized are doing well. Pedro comes out teaching with us and everything, he is so awesome! I believe he will make a great bishop one day! Also, I am enjoying still learning more Spanish. I really like the culture. It’s weird now to think about not ever knowing the Latina culture. I really, really love it! The food is great. I love tortillas. I think they might be the death of me! As well they make the best caldo (soup)! I fell so blessed to be here!

This week as well we had interviews with President Bubert and it was awesome! He is great, just an awesome leader I really want to be like him one day! So things are great! I am loving the mission!

Thanks for all of your support!

Love, Elder Haskell

Also, just so you know, I live in an apartment with 4 elders so in the Christmas pictures there were other elders in there and they live with us!

January 10, 2011

Querida Familia!
?Que tal, Como Estan?

So I would like to start off by saying THEY GOT BAPTISED! It was so awesome! The family we’ve been teaching, well, the couple was married on Saturday morning and baptised Saturday night! Woah! It was so much fun and just a great feeling to be able to help this family! I love them so much!

So as for transfers another surprise! I am staying where I am. How crazy is that! 8 transfers in the same zone, in fact in just about the same area! I am so excited. We have some other good families and I know there are more families that we are yet to find!

As for my companion, he will be going to Long Beach East zone to a Spanish branch; I am sure he will like it! And as for my new companion his name is Elder Grover. He’s awesome! We came out to the mission together and he is a super hard worker! I think if he were at our family party everyone would think he is a Haskell. We are a lot alike, but different as well! I am just really excited. We will hit the streets so hard and keep baptizing! I am so grateful for the companions that I have had. They have all been such great examples to me. And my mission just keeps somehow getting better, it’s crazy. Right when I think it can’t get any better, boom the Lord just keeps giving. It’s so incredible!

We found a lady this week and she is really solid. Her boss at her work is actually an awesome member in our ward! We were talking with her sister-in-law at the door and she came right up and told us when we can come back and that she is interested. So, we will see what happens this evening when we have a lesson with her! As well, we have another young couple that we have been teaching for a couple weeks, and it looks they need to get married but as they progress we will see how it all turns out!

At the baptism we had on Saturday, Pedro, a recent convert gave the talk at the baptism and he did so well! It was simple pure doctrine and from the heart! And I could just see it in some years Obisbo (bishop) Pedro. He is doing so great! And his wife as well! We were talking about going to the temple with them in a year and how it’s only nine months away now. He was like, “we will see” and she was like, “don’t worry Elder Haskell, it’s going to happen in a year, or I am outta here!” haha! They always joke around with each other but she is super solid too and is doing awesome!

As for Gisella and Luis they are doing great. They are still progressing and are an amazing family!

So kind of a funny story the other day, my companion and I were walking down the street and there was a lady in her yard so we went to talk to her, she had a little yappy chiwawa, (they roam around in gangs in Paramount haha) and so we were trying to talk to her, my companion was saying something when this little chiwawa finally stopped barking and I looked down and it was peeing on my shoe! HAHAHAHA! I was like, “Oh man!” It was kinda funny! My companion was cracking up so hard!

So as for the Spanish it’s going awesome. Still loving it and trying to learn everyday! And the food of course is still way good! I really want to master this language the best that I can and use it as a tool for the rest of my life!

So I got the card from Uncle Mark. It was way cool to see a whole bunch of pictures of you guys! I really enjoyed it! Mommom looks really good! And you all do! It was kind of scary when every one wrote see you soon and stuff like that (except for Charles, he wrote "keep up the hard work") I kinda liked that one better!

So things are great! This week I was taught a lot. I have learned through the changes of our investigators and the power of the Holy Ghost. I have learned that as we make room for the Holy Ghost with time we will see the changes in our lives and be prepared to help others!
I believe that as we 1) understand our relationship wtih God, that he is our Father, 2) recognize what Jesus Christ did for us, 3) realize the role of prayer, and 4) search the scriptures, we will start to see the influence and power of the Holy Ghost! And we will be taught!

Thanks again for all that you guys have done for me in supporting me! Please keep my investigators and recent converts in your prayers. Thanks so much!

Love, Elder Haskell

January 17, 2011

Dear Family!

So this week was so awesome. Man, it was so cool! The families that my former companion and I have baptized and doing super good!

So where can I start? Well, this week looked liked it was going to be a good week but it got a lot better really fast! We have been working really, really hard! We decided right from the start that there wasn’t going to be anything holding us back from working hard! So we went to work just doing the normal missionary things, knocking on doors, talking to every one, and going by to visit some people! Well, as time went on it just caught fire! We ended with 14 new investigators! It was crazy. I don’t think I have ever had a week with this many new investigators! We have found 3 new families and they are solid, too! We have set about 6 new baptismal dates! It was so awesome! One of the families has four children and one on the way! We’re also teaching the brother of the husband of this family and his wife. So we will so how things go!

We had Stake Conference this week and President Hinckley’s son came and he talked a lot, well basically the whole time, about temples he said that his dad said that the greatest thing he did in his life was seal all of his grandchildren together with their spouses! So it really made me think about the importance of the temple and the blessings that we have!

So this week was awesome. My companion is awesome and we still only speak nonstop Spanish. I refuse to be a lazy missionary and speak English! It’s been really awesome. I don’t really know what else to say than that it’s just been an awesome week!

I hope that you all are doing well and thanks for all the support!

Love,

Elder Haskell

Jan 25, 2011

Dear Family!
First off sorry this letter is a day late. Our P-day was changed only for this week because the temple is not open on Mon. So we went to the Temple this morning! And it was so cool. We went as a zone, all 26 of us! It was just awesome to see! Then at the end the temple, President took us aside as a zone and we had a little meeting in a chapel. It was so cool!

So things are going great as a ward. We had 14 investigators in church on Sunday and as a companionship we had five in church!

We have a new family, Jorge and Deysi, who are a young couple. They are super solid! Jorge brought his two sons and nephew who live with him to church. We also had a mother of 4 little daughters, 2,3,9,11 yrs old, come to church all dressed up. It was so awesome! We had a Family Home Evening with the whole ward, which we have the last Monday of every month, and it was so awesome. Jorge’s whole family came and they LOVED it. The missionaries were in charge of the game and my companion had a really good family game, so we enjoyed it!

I got two packages the same day this week. It was like Christmas all over again! Aunt Carol and Kim sent me some things, and it was awesome. Thanks so much! And as well to all of the other family members that have sent me things!

So the Spanish is going great. My companion and I have been working really hard and we are really pushing the members who live in our are and ward to help with the work. Our recent converts are still plugging along and doing really well. It’s great to see them grow and go to activities and give us referrals!

So the weather is so perfect here right now! It’s like 70's all day with a slight breeze! I am really in love with the mission! Sometimes it’s hard to even think about where to start or how to describe it! I am probably doing a really bad job at it!

Well so I have told you about my investigators. There are more but I can only write so much! Jorge and his nephew have a baptismal date for the 6th of Feb! They will be a great addition to the ward! So I really love the people here, they are great. It’s so awesome serving around them! And for them!

Now my companion! Elder Grover! He’s a really awesome elder. He works his tail off! And is learning Spanish really well! We have a game with a point system. If someone talks in English the other gets a special card and whoever has the card every night gets a point until the next P-day. Then the loser buys pizza. As you can imagine, we’re both athletes and so very competitive. So, there isn’t much English spoken between the two of us! Elder Grover is really a great guy, for sure a companion I will be friends with forever. He's kinda like Eric and I smashed together into one person and really muscular. He’s a country boy from Utah and it’s really easy to teach with someone who wants to work just as hard as you and knows it can only get done through the Spirit, obedience, and love!

I want to bear my testimony of the reality of this gospel, Jesus Christ, and our Heavenly Father who loves us enough not only to give us his son, but also a plan. Thanks to the Restoration of the gospel it is all made possible! I want you to think about how different you lives would be without the restoration! WHAT A BLESSING!

Well, Love ya!

Elder Haskell

Jan 31, 2011

Dear Family,

It’s been a great week this week! The work here is going great! This week we have been able to keep working hard and it’s showing! So to start off, Jorge and Deysi are doing great. It’s great to see them progress! Also, the three families that were recently baptized were all at church this Sunday, and the husbands will be receiving the priesthood! So they are doing really well. The ward is really, really catching fire! They are really starting get to get into the missionary work, and it is so awesome to see! Latino people are talkers and people persons, if that even makes sense, so when a Spanish ward gets behind the missionaries it’s just wild fire! I am really excited to see things start to pick up even more!

So its just feels like I was here yesterday it’s crazy! But, I wanted to answer a couple questions. I got the package from Aunt Carol. It was awesome. I sent her a thank you letter, don’t worry mom! And, I received the card from Uncle Mark, and it was really cool to see all you guys in pictures. It’s kinda crazy how you all look the same but at the same time there are some who look different. Mommom looks really good though like she’s really strong!!!

In the mission, in order to keep people in your teaching pool, you need to be constantly finding people to teach. There are all kinds of ways to find people. Some elders prefer some methods over others but this week we decided to do a little bit of everything! We did some knocking which is always pretty enjoyable. Then for some elders street contacting is a finding activity but I more define it as a constant activity. It’s something we should always do, we need to talk to everyone, so we did a good bit of street contacting in between appt’s when we were walking and things. We also went through the ward list and went by all the members that live in our area that we don’t know, and then we also went through our former investigators, and I feel that we found a little bit of success from doing all of that! And I know that there will be fruits that come from the work we are putting in!

We have met one man named Daniel. I actually baptized one of his daughters named Daniella. Daniel’s oldest daughter, Deysi, was baptized a little over a year ago, and she is now going on a mission! She is really trying to help her Dad get into the gospel and get baptized! So he has a baptismal date for this Saturday, the 12th!

Also Jorge and Deysi came to a baptismal service yesterday as a family! They are a great family and they want to be united. I have faith that they will be baptized soon!

So something fun that happened on Sunday: although we’re in a Spanish ward, we’re in an English stake. So you would imagine it would be a problem when a member of the high council comes to give a talk, because they don’t speak Spanish. So that’s what happened on Sunday. So, during sacrament meeting, the bishop asked me to translate for the speaker. One problem: the speaker’s first language is Samoan, because in the Long Beach stake there are also two Samoan wards. But he did speak English, I am not saying he didn’t it just wasn’t the most perfect. So I got up there a little scared because I am a white guy in front of a bunch of Spanish people. Then I stand right next to a man that stands, uh, about 6' 4” and about 330lbs, an Islanders guy. And, here I am translating into Spanish! Haha. But I think I did a pretty good job, the ward gave me a lot of compliments, so I just thanked Heavenly Father for the help! It was funny the lady that gave us dinner that night told me that I could pass for a Mexican! YESSSSS!!!!

So the work is awesome. Our families are doing great here! I am really, really excited about the families that we have, and I am excited to tell all about them in the coming week! As well to hear from you guys on how everything is going!

Well the work is true! And I know it, its a simple as that. Outside of anyone else, I know it for my self, outside of anything other influence except for the Holy Ghost!

Love you guys,

Elder Haskell

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. We have collected a few letters from Elder Haskell, below. Also, Elder Haskell has sent some photos!

We'd like to highlight two items from his letters.

First, Elder Haskell was able to "go on splits" with Elder Halsey. "Going on splits" means that pairs of missionaries swap companions for the day and go out to proselyte. So, for a day Elder Haskell got to teach with Elder Halsey, who is from the same home stake. The two grew up competing in Church basketball, and it was a fun reunion for them.

Second, Elder Haskell shared his testimony of the Book of Mormon in his letter dated December 27, 2010. We'd like to emphasize it here, as it was very sincere and encouraging:

"So I want to end with my testimony and a story. Last night one recent convert came teaching with us. He is just on fire and bearing his testimony to everyone! And I was talking to my companion about it and how he was like that because he is reading the Book of Mormon! And it hit me: it’s as simple as that! The Book of Mormon really is what Joseph Smith says, "the most correct of any book on the earth"! My testimony is that by reading daily any person on this earth will know 1) that Jesus is the Christ, 2) that Joseph Smith was called by God as a prophet in these days, and 3) that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the kingdom of God on the face of the earth in preparation for the second coming of the Messiah!"

If you'd like to read more about the blessings of reading the Book of Mormon, you can explore counsel given by Church leaders on lds.org, including this article from the late President Hinckley.

Well, thanks again to everyone for continuing to support Elder Haskell. He's working hard and loving every minute of his mission. We have all been blessed because of his service.

12/6/2010

Hey Family!

How are things going back there in Maryland and Utah? I hope you’re staying safe and working hard! And enduring to the end!

This week was an awesome week! I have to admit I say that every week, and its always true! The work is just incredible; I have really been enjoying my time helping the Lord in his work! I have felt His hand and I can testify that this work has nothing to do with a single missionary, but instead the Lord and His children! We are just here to be the hands and feet that keep it rolling!

So some news: First of all we had an INCREDIBLE baptism yesterday! It was so great and it’s just great to see these people grow. I have grown so attached to them! There is a place for them in my heart! I have been really trying to work hard and make sure I am doing the Lords will in what I do!

So this Family, well the dad is from El Estado De Mexico and the mom is from the U.S., but all her family is from Jalisco, Mexico, so clearly she speaks both languages! I have really seen changes in this family; it is just so incredible and hard to fit in an E-mail! But they are just doing great! We had a recent convert say the closing prayer of the baptism. The bishop’s wife said we’ve been working hard. I feel that we are getting the full confidence of the ward, and I know they will share their friends with us as we help them understand the role of a member and how it’s their responsibility to find people for the missionaries to teach!

We are starting the take out a couple older priest-age boys on splits, and I like to be the best example to show them how the mission is a commandment of God! So it’s good to help them!

Also, we did a lot of knocking, but I feel that we have some big things keep coming and I am super excited about it!

I have a testimony of this work and the role of the Book of Mormon in it! The promise that Moroni gives as a prophet’s last testimony is true! And it is something that needs to be done often! The Lord will tell you in a way that you will be able to recognize that the Book of Mormon is true! And I know it’s evidence that we as well have a living prophet and the priesthood and the only true church on earth!

I love you and hope you’re all doing well! I know you’re working hard, and hope you have some great holidays! I love all of your support!

Love ,

Elder Haskell

12/13/2010

Dear Family!

This week was really enjoyable! I feel like we have been working really hard. And always I have felt that The Lord has prepared the way! I have no idea how many times I am going to say that, but it’s always true! Nothing huge happened this week, but some things did that will turn out with good results! So I am pretty excited about that!

On Sunday we had four people who are investigating the church attend church! One family we are teaching was there, and the father is just hilarious. They are hoping to get baptized the 9th of January so we are really looking foward to that!

As well this week I have started to learn my Christmas vocabulary for Spanish! It’s really fun! As well we had some good leadership meetings with President Bubert. They are always awesome and I feel like I am able to learn so much from them!

The only thing tough this week that happened was that the couple that we baptized last Sunday, they were going to get confirmed this past Sunday, but their little son who already had a broken arm fell again because he likes to run and he hurt his hand that morning so the went to the Hospital and they couldn’t make it to church but the we be there next Sunday!

So I am really enjoying my time as a zone leader. I feel like I am learning a little about how to be a leader and help other elders, and I am really enjoying it. Our zone is so awesome; I have a lot of hard-working elders in my zone! Not that it’s all about numbers because it’s not at all, but I am proud to say that because of their hard work that we have the most baptisms for the year of 2010 and it’s awesome! I am super proud of them!

So am also excited for Christmas. It should be really fun. I would love for you guys to call my recent converts and wish them a merry Christmas or something but they all speak Spanish. But its ok I will tell them you said merry Christmas!

Well this week I would like to bear my testimony on the importance of keeping focused and having righteous thoughts! I have seen Satan come at me in my mission in a number of ways, but it’s funny the Spanish people are always like "El Diablo no se duerme" or the devil doesn’t sleep. But I have seen how that power of keeping others in mind especially your investigators and the Lord, has brought me protection. I have learned that if you are busy thinking about yourself that’s when he really comes at you, but if you out and "about your Father’s business" then you will be able to battle against Satan and he will flee!

So be about the Lord’s work and put him in all your thoughts and decisions and you will be protected! I know that it is true and I Love my Savior!

Love you guys,

Elder Haskell

12/20/2010

Querido Familia Haskell!

?Como Estan? Espero que esten bien y que vayan bien!

It’s great to be able to email you today! I am really excited for the chance to call you on Christmas.

So as well thanks for the packages that are in transit if you haven’t sent one yet please put no signature necessary, so that way it can just stay at my door until I come! So that’s enough about all that Christmas stuff! I hope you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We had the chance to have the confirmations of the two members we baptized last week! It was awesome, and we had a good family that we are teaching come to the ward party. It was awesome!

So, before I forget, I went on exchanges with Elder Halsey. It was fun! It was kinda crazy to think what the chances were of going on splits together, but it was great! So…back to this week! Well, we had a good week with one family that needs to get married and its all in process! As well another Family wherein the mom is a member and the dad isn’t. They have 3 little girls and hope to get married soon. We are excited for them! As well last night was pretty cool! We found a family of 5 and when we started teaching them, they kept telling us how Catholic they were, but I felt the Spirit really strong and really feel that they are a prepared family! They are going to read and pray together as a family! It was cool. So, the wife was asking us a couple questions and her teenage son started to answer them and explain to his mom how they can receive an answer!

It has been raining a ton this week. Pretty crazy how crazy people get around here when they actually get weather. It kinda makes me chuckle! But it’s actually flooding pretty bad!

So our recent converts are doing really well. It’s crazy how the Lord works. It looked like we were just working hard and people just weren’t progressing, but we have be so blessed for the families we have to teach! It’s been so amazing the blessings that we have been receiving! I am sorry about the short letter this week but I will be talking to you guys in a couple of days!
I love you all so much!

Remember why it’s called Christ-mas!

Love,

Elder Haskell

12/27/2010

Dear Family!

It was really good to hear all of your voices on Christmas! It was a good one for me, lots of food and good times with our recent converts and investigators! We really had a good time! So it feels like I just talked to you yesterday .

Anyway this week was great! My companion and I had to give a spiritual thought for Christmas and it was interesting to see what we both talked about. My companion started with diligence and then I talked about how to be a happy missionary/obedience and I felt the Sprit really strong. I felt like the zone got excited to get out there and work hard! So that has really, I feel, been the focus of our work this week. Between my companion and I we were working diligently! We knocked a lot of doors this week! We don’t want to fall into the routine of visiting investigators who are no longer interested all day, which can sometimes be very easy to do because it’s a lot easier. But instead we hit the wet pavement. It was awesome! And we got out there, then the interesting thing is that we didn’t find anyone to really teach (that’s what we thought). But then last night after working hard all week, at our last 2 appts we found 2 really good potential investigators. First we went to visit a lady who got baptized not long ago but hadn’t been to church in a little time, and as we were leaving we asked a guy to move his car because he parked behind us then, he said "ustedes son mormones?" and of course we said yes then he began to tell us that he was living with a family of Mormons and he went to church with them a number of times! So we will be going back to visit him here soon. He said he really likes church, so we will see! Then at our last appt for the night we visited our recent convert family, and the dad’s really good friend was there, who also had been taught by elders before, and is going through a really rough time. So he lives there with them now, and we will be teaching him soon. We’re really excited about that!

With the investigators we have right now things are going well! The family from El Salvador and Mexico (Samantha Perez) are doing really well. Then another family that is trying to get things worked out to get the mom and dad married, are doing well. We are planning on setting up a wedding and baptismal date with them this week! And the dad has 2 daughters who want to be baptized as well! But the only bad thing is that one daughters pushed her older sister down the steps and she broke her ankle! Oh man, but they are doing well!

So I got some questions about the taco eating contest on Christmas Eve. Yes, we did it! I ate 12 and my companion beat me by 1! I could have kept going but I wanted to be able to walk! It was fun. Our one investigator has a catering business and his wife is such a good cook! Oh man! So that’s where we had it. There were chilis on the table also, like chili peppers, and everyone else ate one bite of each one. I was the only one who ate a whole one!

The Spanish people always say if you want to learn Spanish, you gotta eat spicy chilis, so I think its been working for me !

Well, things are really going great, I have to say. It sure did rain a lot! Both my shoes were so wet, that they grew mold on them! Funny, huh? But, its all good, they were my beat pair already!
So things couldn’t be better today. I will be sending home some pictures! I hope you like them; they are from Christmas, the baptism of the family I’ve talked about and of another investigator we’ve been teaching.

So I want to end with my testimony and a story. Last night one recent convert came teaching with us. He is just on fire and bearing his testimony to everyone! And I was talking to my companion about it and how he was like that because he is reading the Book of Mormon! And it hit me: it’s as simple as that! The Book of Mormon really is what Joseph Smith says, "the most correct of any book on the earth"! My testimony is that by reading daily any person on this earth will know 1) that Jesus is the Christ, 2) that Joseph Smith was called by God as a prophet in these days, and 3) that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the kingdom of God on the face of the earth in preparation for the second coming of the Messiah!

So as the New Year comes up I hope you take into consideration reading the Book of Mormon cover to cover in the coming year as a New Year resolution! I can promise you that you will know by the power of the Holy Ghost that these things are true!

Love you all and thanks so much. Hope you have a good New Year’s and a safe one!

Con Carino,

Elder Haskell

Moved!

Elder Haskell has moved!

Elder James Henry Haskell
6481 Atlantic Ave. Apt. N250
Long Beach, CA 90805

Super Fine

November 15, 2010

Dear Family and Friends!

This week was a super good week, really good! PURO ESPANOL! Puro Poder! So there were some really good things that happened!

First, I would like to say that I hope you’re all doing well there back home! I am also glad to hear about Sam! I hope he does well! Tell him that he can write me anytime!

So this week things went really well! I really enjoy my time with my companion! He is super easy going and really good to teach with! His name is Elder Flores! We have been working a lot with some less active families! We had two such families in church on Sunday, and one of the nephews will be getting baptized on the 28th! Also, we knocked a lot of doors! Oh, and Elder Zwick from the Seventy came and it was awesome! He gave us some really good advice and told some great stories about mission work! I am just really enjoying the mission! But we also have a new family that we found and the father of the house came to church this week! We have taught them everyday and they are really progressing well. He is from El Salvador and she is from Sinaloa, Mexico. I really like their Spanish, it’s a really cool accent! He is a great guy. We are really excited for them!

We are also working hard with ward members to get them missionary-minded, and it is going to make a big difference, I already know it! One thing that Elder Zwick said is that it’s the ward’s responsibility to provide missionaries with people to teach! So we have been practicing invitations to church and activities with our ward members at dinner appointments! And it’s pretty fun! I hope those back home are helping the missionaries and finding families for them to teach as well! We have been doing really well teaching, and it is because the Lord is providing. This week we taught 30 lessons! That is the most I have ever taught since I think my first transfer in one week! Ten of the lessons were with member of the church present. So the ward is helping us a good bit, and it will keep getting better.

Being a Zone Leader has been going well. I am really learning a lot of how to be a real leader and I have been trying really hard to make sure I show love to all my Elders! So its going well!

I have learned some good things this week! The real importance of charity and virtue! One thing I have learned about charity is that the more you understand and exercise charity, the less you will think of yourself! It is not always the easy road but it is definitely the one of the Lord!

Also, this week I saw Elder Halsey for the first time in a long time, and it was really good to see him! I saw him and gave him a huge hug! It was so good to see him here! I really enjoyed that!

So, the couple that just got married and baptized is doing really well. The brother is going to be a great leader in the church, and his wife is going to be the best bishop’s wife ever! She is such a good cook, and feeds us every time we come over! Phew. They and really loving The Book of Mormon! It’s just so great to see!

Transfers will be coming up in two weeks, so things and starting to go around! Who knows what’s going to happen, but I would really love to stay in my area for at least one more transfer. But, it’s whatever the Lord wants! Some other “sort of” big news is that next Monday (the 22nd), we will be getting a new apartment. So, after you send your weekly letters if you could just hold off until the following Monday to get my new address, that would be great. I will be in my same area, just in an apartment closer to our area so we don’t have to drive as far to get into our area!

Well, I guess that’s about it! We are working really, really hard and I know that the Lord will bring blessings! Please pray for our area and investigators!

My testimony this week is simply that the Lord teaches us through others! That is something that I have seen my WHOLE mission and didn’t really realize it a lot until I became a missionary! So, look for opportunities to learn from and be open to others, and you will be a more effective servant of the Lord for it!

Love,

Elder Haskell