Transfer 5:2 You Can Do More Than You Realize!!

Hello all!!!

I hope that you all have had a great week and that you will continue to have a great one this week!!

Here in Rwanda we have been seeing some miracles as well as some trials, but both have been for the benefit and learning of each one of us. After all, God will not do anything save it be for the benefit of his children. Whether it be good or bad is up to us and our attitude!

I want to share at least one experience with you all that I had this past week that has helped me to better understand the concept I put up in the Subject Line. 

I have the outstanding privilege to have a companion whose father is an Area Seventy. His father, also Elder Mdletshe, came to Rwanda this past week to preside over our District Conference. Many things were shared concerning how we can become better disciples of Christ and how everyone in Rwanda can improve to help the Church grow stronger and stronger. However, the one thing which stood out to me was the overall theme of love and diligence. 

You don't have to be a follower of Jesus Christ to recognize the fact that love is the most important thing in the world. It unites people, changes hearts, and brings understanding to many. With that being said, how much better would it be if everyone increased their love for others known and unknown!! 

Believe me, I understand that the world has become and is becoming a more and more confused place with many difficulties and troubles. However, it is through pure love (one that is focused on genuine care and the unification of all people), or charity, that we can overcome the world and its noise. 

I have seen this throughout my life and now in the lives of those we see each day.  Even the smallest compliment or smiling at people can change their day. Not only that, but we also have the Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That isn't the greatest expression of love then I don't know what could be!

We literally have the opportunity to live after death and to have peace for eternity. This is all available to us! It is a free gift! All we have to do now is reach out and grasp for the hand that is already outstretched to mankind. To know how, one must simply read and apply the 4th Article of Faith that our Church has put forth to the world. 

I love all of you and I am grateful as always for all you do in your own lives and in supporting me at this time. I genuinely hope that you may each have your heart filled with joy today and that you can feel that you've done some good in the world today!

"You're a shining star no matter who you are"

-Elder O'Hagan

Transfer 5:1 The Transfer of Miracles

Hello friends and family! 

I would like to apologize for the lack of email last week. Our schedule on Monday was a bit rushed. As for this week the email will be short since we got back from the Genocide Memorial late today. 

Before I talk about the highlights of the week, I want to truly thank all of you for your love, support, and prayers. I feel them every day when the going gets tough and even when it doesn't. Each of you are dear friends to me and I am truly grateful for all that you do. 

Now, as for the this week. It was the first in the Transfer of Miracles for our Mission. We have a goal for the entire mission to reach 260 baptisms in 6 weeks time. So far we have had around 28 across the mission! Meeting this goal means that we are having to exercise a lot of faith to see these miracles truly take place, and that we are doing all we can to allow the miracles to happen! So, I'd like to share two experiences with you all that happened this week. The reasoning for the change in background color is that this is taken from my weekly letter to President Collings.

I'd like to start with our Book of Mormon class on Friday. As Elder Mdletshe and I prepared for people to arrive a rainstorm came, resulting in not many people coming to the class. With this we, with the Sisters decided to go stand out in the rain with a copy of the Book of Mormon and started to invite people to come into the class. Many were interested and gave us their phone numbers, but only two came in to learn more in that moment. We had a great discussion and we now have plans to meet them at their homes to teach them more about the Savior from The Book of Mormon!

The second instance came when we were in an area called Batsinda, where a few of our appointments had fallen through. Looking for somewhere to go, we thought of a less active member who lived in the area. As I tried to remember where he stayed, we went into the wrong compound. Feeling a bit foolish for making the easy mistake, I turned around to go to the next gate. A thought then came back to my mind saying "Go back". Because of how I felt going to the wrong gate in the first place I didn't want to go back. After the though came two more times, we turned back and went into the first compound. Within, we found a sister that had concerns about life after death that found our concept of life before and after this one very interesting and wants to learn more. After talking with her we asked if there was anyone else in the compound who would want to learn these things. She told us that there were a few and we went next door. There we found a young family with a newborn daughter. We got to know them and we also told them about how our message and The Book of Mormon can truly bring their family closer to each other and strengthen them against the world. They agreed to let us return and we greatly look forward to that opportunity that the Lord put in our path. 

I know now more than I have before that we must truly being desirous to search for and heed to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost, and that we can only do so when we are doing all we can do to receive that divine support as we support the Divine in His will.  

I know that this work is truly the work of the Lord, and that it is true. No matter how tiring it may be or how high the odds are against us, there is always a way to see the love of the Savior in our lives and to pour that love into the lives of others. Know that I love each and every one of you, and that all things are possible through the Lord and Faith in Him. I know without a doubt that this is true, and shall remain true forever. 

1- Ephrem and Saverin were baptized and confirmed this Sunday! With the lack of a church building with a font, we did the baptisms at a public pool. So that was interesting!

2- One of our amazing Church Guards Alex and our Recent Convert and friend David! 

You are loved!!

-Elder O'Hagan

Photos for 4:6...

Elder O'Hagan ran out of time to draft a group email today after he sent out the photos below.  I decided to share a small portion of the email he sent to me.  

"Some highlights for the past week have been the marriage of Ephraim and Xaverin whose photos are in the previous email I sent. Aside from that, I also had a great time being with Elder Driggs on exchanges for one last time. He really has been a great friend and support for me on mission and I can't wait for you to meet him! Also, we were able to see many blessings come through finding people who can speak English and that truly desire for us to meet them. I hope that I can keep a good record this next week so that I can tell you more about them in detail in next weeks email."

These photos are of anything ranging from our investigators wedding (details in the email to come) to my last exchange with Elder Driggs. I hope that y'all enjoy!

Love,
Elder O'Hagan

Transfer 4:5 Time Flies When There Is Work To Do...

This has been an incredibly short week! That being said it has been a good one as always full of learning from mistakes and trials!

Tuesday: We had Zone Conference and Interviews! It was a very spiritual experience and we discussed one of the most important topics. That is, knowing which way we face each day. It was from a talk given by one of the seventy about putting God first before fearing what others think about us. It really helped me to self reflect on what I do to be exactly obedient and I am now making better efforts each day to improve! I love having this time to learn and improve myself!

Wednesday: We had one of the most spiritual District Meetings of my entire mission today. I really love my district and everything that they do to improve the work in our area. They are a powerful group for sure!

Thursday: Elder Mdletshe had a powerful 12 week session that helped us learn more about each other and how we can make an extra effort here in K3! I know that I say it a lot, but I truly love being his trainer. He has been awesome and he does so much to keep our efforts upwards!

Friday: A few of our appointments fell through today, but despite that we had some really spiritual lessons. Quality over quantity I suppose. The most memorable was our lesson with Emmanuel. He has been on track for baptism for a while, but we weren't sure exactly what his concern was, because he has had many questions. So we just decided to sit down and answer them fully. We talked about prophets and the restoration again and we could see his face light up as we help him better understand why it was so key. He is now on track again for baptism later this month :)

Sunday: We had church in town again, and this time the whole church was in one place! It was very cool to see how the whole church came together in unity to make sure that everything was provided for church to happen! 

Also, we had a baptism! His name is David, and I have to say that he has truly changed since we started to teach him. He now faces his life challenges with confidence in the Lord and with a determination to fulfill any task given to him. I really admire him and the changes he is continuing to make! 

Well, I know that it's not a whole lot, but that is this past week in a nutshell! 

I'm am grateful for the emails I get from each of you and I am also happy for the love and support I feel from y'all! I'll do my best to email you all back as soon as possible. There aren't pictures this week due to the computers not being able, but next week there will be many!!!

Love,

Elder O'Hagan