Adventures of Elder O'Hagan: December 2017

Monday, December 25, 2017

Week 13: Nohelinziza!!....

Hello Everyone!

I hope that you are all having an outstanding Christmas with your friends and family! Know that I send my love and gratitude to all of you for your support and love that you have shown me throughout my mission so far.

This weeks email is also to let y'all know that both today and next Monday I may not be emailing a whole lot due to activities, but I will do my level best!

Here in Rwanda we had one of the greatest gifts of all. The opportunity for people to be baptized! Both John Maina and Mugisha Pacific are powerful people that I have had the privilege to know and learn the gospel with.

Oh! Here's another update. I have a new companion. His name is Elder Young and he is from Beaver, Utah. He is a really fun guy to work with and we look forward to another great transfer of doing the Lord's errand in Kigali!

Anyways, I hope that you all truly get to spend time to enjoy your families and loved ones and to Light The World for one last day!

With love and the Christmas spirit,

-Elder O'Hagan

Monday, December 18, 2017

Week 12: "I think that this is the beginning to a beautiful friendship"...

Sent at 1:22 PM (CAT)
Received at 4:22 AM (MST)

Week 12: "I think that this is the beginning to a beautiful friendship"...

Hello Everyone and Nohelinziza!! (Merry Christmas in Kinyarwanda)

This week has been the fastest so far and it makes me sad, because it marks the end of my time serving with Elder Driggs as my trainer and companion. While the quote in the subject line may be incorrect to the original from Casablanca, truly I have learned much from Elder Driggs that has helped me become a better missionary.

As for the week, some really great things happened!

Tuesday: We taught some solid lessons today and we also performed some service by peeling potatoes for a couple of different families. This was cool because it allowed for some more trust with one of our investigators, and it reminded me of how Ammon gained Lamoni's trust through service to be able to teach him the gospel (Alma 17-20).

Wednesday: The highlight of the day was going Christmas Caroling as a District! We went to both members and investigators alike to sing Christmas Hymns and deliver small cakes! Sister Wright drove us around our area and we had a blast! And those we sang to really loved it!

Thursday: Today was a trying day! There was a bit of discouragement after one of our lessons that didn't go that well for me personally. However, I was reminded of something Mark had said over and over again: Don't Hesitate! When it comes to sharing the gospel of Christ, it can be a really daunting task! But if we have faith and we act on it without hesitation, we can truly feel the Spirit in our lives and the lives of others!

Friday: This was just a real swell day! That's all!

Saturday: Every single member of the Branch who we could visit or have help us translate our lessons was at a wedding. So we went finding and did small service alllll day! It was really fun actually! We even found some powerful potential investigators that I'll be teaching next week with my new companion Elder Young!

Diligence truly brings great rewards!

Sunday: We went to say goodbye to our recent converts for Elder Driggs today and we also taught a few lessons. The people are really loving here, and it never ceases to amaze me.

So, that was my week in brief! Next week will be Christmas!! So continue to Light the World this month as we come closer to that wonderful day!

I love you all so much, and I bid you adieu!

Elder O'Hagan

Monday, December 11, 2017

Week 11: Now I'm Back Again...

Sent: 4:45 PM (CAT)
Received: 7:45 AM (MST)

Week 11: Now I'm Back Again...

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the week delay in my group email. We had some difficulty with the internet here last week.

Anywho, I learned a lot this past week about the wonders of the gospel of Jesus Christ as well as how wonderful my time as a missionary truly is!

Monday: We had some interesting things happen! We lost our phone and the contacts we had on it, so we got to do things the old fashioned way until we got a new one! Also, I got my first haircut from a Rwandan that didn't speak English. It was interesting for sure, but luckily it doesn't look bad at all!

Tuesday-Wednesday: We really got to see the importance of listening to the Spirit in lessons and being diligent in the work. I've really learned a lot from Elder Driggs as my trainer. He is a very powerful missionary and he inspires me each day to be more in tune with the Spirit and focused on what exactly the people we teach need.

Thursday: We had Zone Conference, which is always a great experience! We had some fantastic training form the leaders of our Zone and we also received great counsel from President and Sister Collings. One thing that really stood out to me was the remark they made about having super faith. Super faith is doing things that may seem impossible by relying on the Lord and the Holy Ghost. I learned from this that the more we do the unthinkable good in life, the more we will think that we are able.

Friday: Today we had interviews with President Collings. Again, he is a truly inspired leader and I received great advice and encouragement to do the work! After this, however, our day became rather hectic. We got to do some service for one of our investigators who owns a rental shop. (Picture attached) I also learned more about how the trials and moments that we feel we have failed in life are actually moments of future victory!

Saturday: Nothing too special today. One funny thing that happened was we had an investigator jamming out to Cyndi Lauper music videos as we entered her home. It was interesting for sure.

Sunday: WE HAD A PRIMARY PROGRAM AT CHURCH! It was so awesome! And the children knew how far to hold a mic from their mouth so that they didn't sound garbled! It was a great time! We also saw an amazing miracle from being diligent in reaching our goals! We were one short on our weekly baptismal dates and we decided to not go home until we had it. As we visited a member's home, we found one of her neighbors instead that was truly prepared to receive the message of the Restoration. We aim for him to be converted and baptized December 30th! The Lord truly provides after we do all we can!

So that was this week in a nutshell! I hope that you are all doing well! Also, don't forget about the Light the World program that the Church has put together! It is a great opportunity to do service and feel love this Christmas season!

Pictures: