A Fresh Week in Lompoc

Hello everybody! 

This week has been quite a good one.  I think Lompoc is really cool!  There's some mountains in between us and the ocean, but we still feel the western breeze. It's not even close to the humidity of Ventura.  I've really noticed that Lompoc is a gold mine as far as missionary work goes.  We have been walking down the street, and Elder Kingrey has said, "There's an investigator that lives here, a potential investigator that lives there, a less-active that we see that lives here..." and it goes on and on.  The field definitely is ripe and ready to harvest here.  I just need to sharpen my sickle and reap. 

One of the cool things about the Lompoc Ward is that the Vandenburg Air Force Base is in the boundaries.  There are a lot of military officers that live there that go to the church.  Pretty much this entire last week we've had our dinner appointments at the base.  We park our car in the parking lot, and the person we're having dinner with picks us up, drives to the gate and gives the officer his pass.  We've had dinner with a Tech officer, a Chief, and a Captain this week!  Let me tell you, I was pretty nervous to have dinner with a captain, but it was fun.  He didn't inspect my dinner plate haha. :D  It's been good to hear their stories of how they joined the Air Force and what they do.  I've recently been thinking about becoming a Physician's Assistant for my career (don't really know why), and all of them suggested that I go through the military to do that so I could have schooling paid for.  My options are open...I'll look more into that when I come home.

We also had another neat experience.  On Wednesday, we had service with one of our investigators, named Yvette, and we helped her pick some fresh strawberries from her garden.  I ate some of those and they were super good.  I LOVE strawberries.  (Another thing the mission has done for me...I hated them before).  I also ate a chili pepper too.  Let's just say that I needed some sour cream fast.  Anyways, all three of us rode our bikes down to the beautiful flower fields by the mountains (see picture) and talked about the scriptures.  The reason we rode there was because they were going to launch a rocket from Vandenburg at precisely 11:29 AM.  I got a picture and a video of the rocket being launched!  It broke the sound barrier and it rumbled the windows in the nearby houses.  The sister missionaries in Solvang even said they felt it!

On Thursday, the church's carpets were being cleaned, so we had District Meeting in Solvang!  It was cool to drive through that cool little Danish town and see the windmills.  I thought of Grandma and Grandpa DeLeeuw, looking at all the windmills. 

Well, my computer was really slow this morning, and so I didn't have as much time.  Elder Kingrey's awesome, it's been cool to see how we've both changed since the MTC.  We had another investigator with a baptismal date this Saturday, but her dad won't let her. (Deja Vu...)  Oh well.  I love you all and thanks for everything you do for me!  Thanks for the love and prayers!

Elder Harper