Hoosiers are interesting people...

Hello! I hope that everything is going well!

Mission work is going forward and I still very much enjoy it. 

For those of you who don't know, a hoosier is someone from the state of Indiana. I have no idea where it came from. Even if you google "hoosier" is says that the origin is unknown. While some people use the word to say that it is someone from Indiana, missionaries usually use the word to mean someone who fits into a specific stereo type of people who live in Indiana. Those people usually smoke, are missing teeth because of their smoking since they were about 8, and have some very interesting ideas about anything and everything. We have this one investigator that was just passed onto us by the sisters in our ward and he was given to us because he is starting to creep the sisters out. Great way to introduce him, I know. This man has been described as a "hoosier of all hoosiers," which is a really accurate statement. Every time that we see him and every time that we bring someone to meet him he talks about his belief that we are supposed to eat meat hardly at all. He feels that God has called him to tell people about this and that is why he talks about it so much. His logic is that in the word of wisdom it says that we should eat meat sparingly. He says to eat meat like you use a spare tire, only when you need it. You don't go around driving on your spare tire all the time. To spare also means not to kill, so we shouldn't kill the animals for our food! There are other scriptures in the bible that he uses to defend himself, but they still don't really make the point that he is trying to get across. What is still so funny about all of this is that he still eats meat! He feels bad every time that he does so, but he still will eat it! My favorite thing that this man has said was on Saturday during a Book of Mormon study that we have for investigators and members to come to. We were discussing some chapters in Mosiah and he just starts talking about Adam and Eve. It somehow was related, I don't remember how, but it seemed okay, at first. "God married Adam and Eve and because he married them, he made them one flesh. Because they are one flesh, when they kiss in isn't cannibalism..." what... what! WHAT!!! There were four missionaries there who know how this investigator can be and all four of us were trying really hard not to just burst our laughing! Finally a member just said, "Cool." as if she just didn't know who to handle it. I then thanked him for his comment and we moved on. Ever since then I would say to Elder Lilly randomly, "Good thing kissing isn't cannibalism!" Indiana is definitely an interesting place! 

Thank you so much for all that you are doing!

I love you!

Elder Hayden Cannon

I got a piece of chalk thrown at me... By the Mission President...

This was a good week. We have an investigator that the Sister missionaries told us about and we were finally able to teach him. He has an aunt who is a member and has been sharing things about the gospel with him. He also has a friend who was with him when he went to Temple Square! This man is so elect! We were hoping to put him on date for baptism but he is a little reluctant because of how busy he is. The spirit will have to work on him, but he is going to get baptized, I am sure of it. 

This last week we had zone conference. IT was great! I love zone conference. President Porter always does a fantastic job! President Porter has said it himself that you really can answer any gospel question with "The Doctrine of Christ."  Because he said that, there are people who are wanting to be a smart aleck so they will say "The Doctrine of Christ." It usually gets President Porter to smile and keep probing the missionaries for the right answer. There was one point that President was describing something and no one was saying the right answer and so somewhat to be a smart aleck and somewhat because I thought it was the right answer I said, "The Doctrine of Christ?" The next thing I know, there is a piece of chalk that was flying between me and the Sister who was sitting next to me. I was stunned by that. President Porter even said, "Be glad I'm not younger or else I would have thrown it much harder and I would have hit you..." AAAHHH!!! Eventually, President did apologize and said that it wasn't very Christlike to do that. Sister Porter then came up to me and said that the only reason he did that was because I have a personality that he could do that to me. She also said that him throwing the chalk was a sign of endearment. I just thought that the whole thing was funny. I meant to keep the piece of chalk, but someone took it and put it away... Oh well. 

Thank you for everything you are doing for me! The work is going incredibly well!

I love you!

Elder Hayden Cannon 

It's been a minute... (Indiana saying that means "It's been a while")

Sorry that I haven't sent an email like this in a while. The other Elders don't take as much time e-mailing so I haven't been able to write something for the blog...

Anyway, Things have been great the last few weeks! We had two baptisms on April 16th! We were really excited about that. We are so happy for those people who are coming closer to Jesus Christ and his gospel! I unfortunately didn't sing at that baptism but the other ward had a baptism on Saturday that I sang at. I was rather excited when they asked me to do that. Everyone said that they enjoyed it.

A few P-days ago was interesting. We went fishing and it was the first time that I had ever been fishing. I didn't really develop and opinion of it. All I felt like I was doing was sitting there doing nothing other than wait for something to happen. It wasn't a bad experience but it was no where near amazing. But I wasn't very happy after we went fishing. After we went fishing, there was no time to do anything that we are supposed to do on P-day, like shop. After we were done, we went back to our apartment, got dressed to proselyte, had a little something to eat, and went out to go work. I was not very happy that we weren't able to do the things that we really should have. When we left our apartment I was not in a good mood. What I think is so cool though is that after about an hour of working, I felt great! No longer was I worried and upset about the day. It is amazing how this work truly changes you, even in an hour!

There is a member in the ward here that we have go teaching with us a lot. His name is Woodie and he is great! He has a few puppets and one of them he keeps in the car and will bring it out when he thinks that people will enjoy it. We were going to see an older brother in the ward and Woodie decided to bring Tony (the puppet) in with him. Woodie said, "He is a kid at heart, He will love this!" We went in and he wasn't in his room, he was upstairs listening to someone who comes to that retirement home once a month to sing to them. We decided we would go see him up there. When we got there, Tony came out and was talking with everyone! Woodie and Tony went around and talked to each of the residents there. There was one woman there who even started dancing with Tony! When the man who was singing noticed them, he asked, "Does he sing?" So Tony went up and sang with him! It was so funny! I think those people really enjoyed that. I really enjoyed watching it as well.

I have a new companion! His name is Elder Lilly and he is from Pleasant Grove, Utah. We lived about 10 minutes away from each other! He will have been out a year this month. I am excited to work with him. Things are going to be great here in Ft. Wayne! This is going to be a good time! 

Thank you for all that you have done for me!

Happy Mothers' Day!!!

We have 3 Baptisms planned in April!

There are some awesome things going on here in Fort Wayne!!! We have 3 baptisms planned for this month! We have been receiving a lot of grace. It is incredibly evident that Heavenly Father is involved in our work. Having been thrown into all of this rather suddenly, Elder Tanner and I have needed to rely on the Lord more than ever. It is amazing the miracles that happen when we do so! The people who are on date are very elect! We are so excited for them to be baptized. Before we even started the lesson with one of our investigators, he said that when he would start receiving income that he is already planning on paying tithing... We haven't even taught him tithing yet! This man is so ready for the gospel!!! We are incredibly grateful for the blessing that Heavenly Father has given to us and we are excited to be receiving more. 

Thank you. I love you!

Elder Hayden Cannon

Happy Conference and late Easter!!!

Hello!!!

Things are going really rather well here in Fort Wayne. There is great work to be done here. We had a baptism on March 26th and we are so happy that he was baptized because he was so ready! He is going to be a fantastic life long member. We also have 2 more people on date to be baptized in April. We are so excited! Ever since I have come here we have been seeing a lot of miracles. I think the reason we are seeing these miracles is because Heavenly Father sees how stressed I have been with all of these new responsibilities and is helping all that I will allow him to. One of my zone leaders said that I am a modern Daniel in the Lions den with how I was thrown into all of this. I am so glad that Heavenly Father's hand is in this work because with out it this work wouldn't be at all possible. 

On Easter Sunday, we had something really rather funny happen to us. We were just walking around because we didn't have any appointments and we weren't sure who to contact. So we decided to just knock on a couple houses and see what comes of it. We try not to knock on random houses because it isn't as effective as knocking on doors of someone we are looking for and then knock on their neighbors if they aren't home, but we weren't sure what else to do. There was one house that we knocked on that we decided that I would take the lead. I knocked on the door and asked if John Porter lives there (that is the name of our mission president). The man who lives there said that he had never even heard of that name. We tried to start up a conversation with him but he shot it down with, "my wife has an infectious disease, so I don't really want to be around people." He closed the door and walked away not really sure how to react to that. We weren't sure if that was legitimate or not. If wasn't though, we deserve it because we came to the door with a bogus approach which I would say deserves a bogus excuse of why not to talk to us. If that wasn't the truth, he also deserves creativity points because I never would have thought of that. 

Conference was amazing, as usual! There were so many great things that I really enjoyed. I always forget my notes to emailing so I am not able to share specific thoughts of mine, just know that lots of revelation was received. The people who spoke to us are definitely called of God and were guided on what to say so that something would stand out to every person who listened. 

I am so grateful to have this experience as a missionary. I am learning so much here that I never could learn elsewhere. This is where I need to be, helping these people come to Jesus Christ. There is a quote from Joseph Smith that I found that I really like, "I love your soul and the souls of all men, and do all I can to bring them salvation." This is my goal, to do all that I can to bring the souls of all men to salvation because of my love for them.

I love you all!!! Thank you for all of your help, thoughts, and prayers. They definitely have an effect all the way out here in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Elder Hayden Cannon

On Saturday we had Elder Neal L. Andersen come to our mission and speak to us. It was amazing. The second that Elder Andersen came into the room, you could feel a incredibly special spirit there. It is amazing to hear from apostles outside of General Conference. They have so much more freedom and aren't restricted on time. Elder Andersen was hilarious! What is impressive though is that he is still able to use humor while still having the spirit there. That was very unique to have a special witness of Jesus Christ bare his testimony of the Savior. It is an experience that I will never forget. 

The pictures that I have put on this are from our zone playing goal ball. Goal ball is a game for blind people and there is a member of the ward here that is going to be on the Olympic team for the US for Goal ball. It was really fun. We all really enjoyed it. 

There was something interesting that happened to a couple of our investigators. We have been meeting with a married couple who are on date to be baptized this next weekend. The husband is all for being baptized and is willing to do all that he needs to in order to be baptized. We have been struggling to work with the wife. She doesn't have nearly the same commitment level that her husband does. We met with the husband one day and not his wife and he explained why she wasn't there. Earlier that day, his wife went a little berserk and called the cops on him for no reason. Because she was going crazy, she ended up getting arrested. Even through all that, he is a little shaken up, but he is still wanting to be baptized next weekend! Satan works hard on us when we are going to make big decisions to come closer to Jesus Christ. They are going to be hard struggles, but we can get through it with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ's help. 

Thank you for everything that you are doing for me as well as to help Heavenly Father's work progress. 

I love you!

Elder Hayden Cannon

Playing Goal Ball

AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

So to explain the subject line, I have a story to tell. President Porter asked to talk to me during lunch at Zone Conference on Thursday. We start talking and he starts asking me some questions. Apparently I had the right answers because then he told me that I was going to go back to Greenville with the assistants, pack my bags and that I would be training a new missionary. For the rest of Zone Conference I could barely focus and I could not sit still! Not until after Zone Conference did one of the assistants tell me that I was also going to be a district leader. So there has been quite the change since last week. I am now serving in Fort Wayne Indiana. I am a tri-state missionary! That isn't something that not many people, even in this mission, get to say. It is especially rare since I am only 6 months out and this is my 3rd area. I am excited for this but a little overwhelmed. I have two options in this situation, I can either learn and grow a ton in this experience, or I can fall... Hard... Luckily, I have Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ on my side and I know that they will be how I will make it through this on top. I am truly excited. 

There were somethings that I was able to catch at Zone Conference that I did really like though. My favorite thing that was said was a definition of humility. "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, Humility is thinking of yourself, less." We all have been blessed with amazing talents and gifts that Heavenly Father expects us to use. He not only expects us to use them, but to know about them and to be confident in using them. Being confident is not being prideful. In fact, something that we all tend to do is one of the most selfish things that we could do. When we beat ourselves up about things that "we aren't good at" that is one of the most selfish things that we can do! All we are thinking about is ourselves in those instances. We must not beat ourselves up over these things. Look at them as an opportunity to grow and figure out how you can use the talents that you do have to better serve Heavenly Father. 

I am grateful for this gospel and how we are able to change and grow because of it. 

Thank you all so much!

I love you!

Elder Hayden Cannon  

My new companion Elder Tanner