Monday, September 22, 2014

Some crazy stuff happening in Lompoc!

Hello everybody!

Wow it's been quite a crazy couple of days...last night, we had to drive Elder Cavazos, (my Spanish missionary friend) down to the Santa Barbara Airport to get him home because there was an urgent family emergency.  We watched his plane take off and we hope that all goes well.  He is scheduled to come back to the mission field next Sunday.  So we have been in a "tripanionship" with his companion.

SO!  Transfer news.  Elder Kingrey and I will both be staying here in Lompoc for another 6 weeks together.  (Next transfers end November 2nd).  Our ward is being split as well and we are splitting it with sister missionaries!  The other missionaries are taking our car, so we are going to a full bike area (haven't been in one of those ever since Simi Valley.)  We are going to be working with them and finding a good way to split the ward.  There will be a whopping FIFTEEN missionaries in my district, 9 elders, 6 sisters.

Don't have a lot of time today...so this week Elder and Sister Malm of the Seventy did a mission tour of our mission and we had another Zone Conference.  They also put on an investigator fireside down in Ventura and us, Bishop Riley, and Nancy drove there and it was pretty cool!  There were close to 100 people there, investigators, less-actives, members and missionaries.  Elder Malm spoke about how he went on the internet and saw a webpage about the LDS religion and how it said that people shouldn't trust the feelings of their hearts after they have read and prayed about the Book of Mormon.  He talked about how that was a ridiculous thing for someone to say, and that these people CAN trust the feelings of their heart.  Nancy enjoyed it and she is getting a stronger and stronger testimony of the truthfulness of this church.

Yesterday, a half hour before church, the 2nd counselor in the bishopric told me that they didn't get a youth speaker that day, and so he asked if I could share a 5 minute talk about a missionary moment.  After I gulped, I told him OK.  My mind immediately went back to the story where Elder Agle and I felt prompted to comfort the lady in Santa Maria.  Before the meeting, a young couple who were also speaking that day bribed me and said that they would bake me cupcakes if I could make my talk go longer.  They're so funny...one of my favorite member families in the ward.  Anyway, I went up to the podium with nothing but scriptures.  I tied that story into the Christlike attribute of charity and how the Lord allowed me to express that that day.  I was impressed because I spoke for 20 minutes about it and I bore my testimony.  It was completely an impromptu speech...I'm thankful for the Holy Ghost.

I'm just so thankful for the missionary opportunities that come from day-to-day.  I've been pondering a lot lately how we as missionaries have the best job in the world.  We have the privilege of seeing somebody who is suffering, bear a heartfelt testimony to them of God's love for them, share with them restored spiritual truths about the nature of God and His Gospel, and invite them to be cleansed through the power of the Atonement.  How lucky are we?!  I just can't feel enough love for this Gospel. 

Thank you all for your strong examples of righteousness.  I couldn't be who I am today without each and every one of you.

With love,
Elder Harper

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