Jam Packed Email of Awesomeness

Hello again everybody!

Wow...where do I begin to describe this week?  It was absolutely INCREDIBLE!  This week we had the opportunity to continue teaching Michael and Jose.  They are both progressing really well, and Michael is still on the go to be baptized this Saturday!  The bishop announced it in church and people are fellowshipping him pretty well.  

We had the chance to talk with Jose about the Word of Wisdom this week, and afterwards he said that he knew it was going to be hard but that he's "ready to take it on"!  We ate dinner with members with him a few times this week and he's progressing really well.  He keeps on asking us such good questions, and the better part is that when we answer them, he's satisfied, and his faith and knowledge increases.  It is so cool to see him progress further and further in the Gospel and towards the waters of baptism.

Yet again, another miracle has transpired this week.  We were going tracting this week, and we knocked on a door (...DUH.)  Anyways, a Native American guy answered the door.  After we introduced ourselves and explained our purpose, he surprisingly let us in.  We taught him and his wife the Restoration, gave them a Book of Mormon, and committed them to be baptized next month!  They said yes!  It was really cool!  The only bad side was today we saw him outside with the police...so that baptism probably won't happen.  But!  That is one of the most powerful experiences on my mission so far.

Do you know what else???  We had FOUR investigators come to church yesterday, including the native american guy and his wife, as well as Michael.  Jose was sick, and wasn't able to make it.  So, he will not be getting baptized on the 30th, but he's doing great!  

We taught Michael about the Law of Chastity, and it was a little challenging/awkward talking about it because we didn't really know how much he knew about the subject.  After that interesting discussion was over, we asked Michael about some of the logistics of the baptism that will be taking place on Saturday.  When we first set him with the date, our first impulse was that Michael's father was to baptize him.  We met him last Tuesday, and from what we hear from the other elders he's about as less-active as it can be.  As much as we would of like him to baptize him, we just don't see it happening any time soon, so we asked Michael who he would like to baptize him.  Guess who he chose to baptize him?  That's right!  I will be baptizing Michael this Saturday!  It was such a humbling experience and I can't wait to experience the feelings of the Spirit that will come.  The awesome and unique thing about Michael was the fact that we found, taught, and will baptize him in one transfer.  That's the indicator of a truly elect person.  We have had the chance to talk with Michael's mom a few times this week (she's active), and she has just kept saying how Michael's baptism is a miracle and an answer to her prayers.  The Lord is working miracles in Atascadero, CA.  

If you are not completely exhausted with miracles by now, I have another one to share.  We have been going tracting with some Hermanas for a little bit, and we've become good friends with them.  One of them, Hermana Brown came up to me and told me a little bit about what she's going through.  I won't go too much into details, but her mom is less-active and she's just been worrying a lot about home lately, and she asked me to give her a blessing.  Yesterday we had the chance to give her this blessing, and while I was in the middle of giving her the blessing, the Spirit prompted me to say that her mom's heart would be softened and that she'd return into full activity.  At first I was a little bit scared to, but as I paused, the Spirit kept nagging me to say it, so I did.  She thanked me a ton and we went our separate ways.  Today, 2 minutes before I started emailing, they came out of their emails.  She had a letter from her mom printed off and she wanted me to read it.  Her mom basically said that a lot of people have been taking good care of her and that her "heart has been tendered" and that she missed Hermana Brown so much.  

My jaw just about hit the floor.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true.  If there was ANY doubt in my mind before this week it is certainly gone now.  Miracles happen.  Hearts ARE softened, and people change.  I am so thankful to be an instrument in the Lord's hands.  This Gospel is the only way people can find happiness.  The Lord's work is moving along, and nothing can stop it.  I love you all so much.  Thank you for your shining examples to me.

With a heart full of gratitude,

Elder Harper

Another great week!

Hello everybody!

This past week seemed to FLY by.  It seems that the weeks are getting progressively faster.  It's a weird feeling; how come this never happened to me while I was still in school?

Well, things are looking up here in Atascadero.  This past week we were able to get in contact with Michael's mom, and she gave us the green light for him to get baptized!  When Michael was 8 years old, the bishop at the time didn't think it was necessary for him to get baptized because his autism was so bad.  Now that he's 34, he's progressed a lot since then, and so he can now be baptized.  We read with him a few chapters from the children's Book of Mormon, and he soaked it all in.  We asked him what he got from the chapter we read with him, and he told us all about it with perfect detail!  Michael now has a baptismal date for November 23rd, and we are super ecstatic about what is going to take place in these next coming weeks.   I've attached a picture of me with Michael.  He's such a stud.

Another great thing also happened yesterday.  Jose came to church!  He brought his 2 year old daughter with him, and he seemed to have a good time.  Jose is really shy around people, but he'll warm up in time.  When we went to Sunday School, he dropped his daughter off at nursery, and when he came to pick her up, she actually didn't really want to leave with him.  It was awesome.  The High Priest Group Leader also invited us and Jose over to dinner last night, and we had a spiritual lesson about the Restoration.  The entire family bore their testimonies to him and told him that he was on the right path.  We also shared the Mormon Message with him by Neil L. Andersen in which he said, "You don't know everything, but you know enough."  When we asked Jose how he felt, he said that he felt scared, but in a good way.  He is gaining a more powerful testimony each and every time we go to visit him.  With he and Michael, we now have set times 3 times a week that we are going over to teach them, and we are doing our best to have members with us there as well.

We went to a baptismal service on Saturday in which a mom, son, and daughter got baptized into another ward.  The dad is going to get baptized in February, and the spirit was so strong.  When the bishop confirmed the 15 year old son, we heard that he told him that he would serve a mission and bring many others unto Christ.

Well, more news next week.  I'll keep you posted!

~Elder Harper

This area is about to explode!

Hello everyone!

Well, the title says it all.  Our district is on the brink of having quite a few baptisms!  This upcoming Saturday, there's a family of 3 getting baptized. 

As for progress with people, Jose is still doing well, and last week we set him with a baptismal date for November 30th!  He actually accepted the concept of authority really well, and quickly accepted the invitation to be baptized.  When we went by, he kept telling us that he's feeling opposition, and that he has been feeling too guilty to pray;  he's recognizing that that feeling is not from God, which is awesome!  When we went over there last Monday, he told us that he's been working at a restaurant for 3 years, and he's never gotten Sundays off, but he does now!  He's coming to church this week!  If he comes to church for the next three weeks, he will be baptized.  Tonight we are going to talk about some of the Commandments, just to make sure he's on track.  Jose is one of the most elect people I've met out here.  He's so sincere, and he's definitely ready and prepared to be baptized.  He even honked and waved at us when we were riding our bikes one day.  I have high expectations for him.

Also, we were riding our bikes walking down the sidewalk one day, and we found a guy walking his dog.  He talked with us and we set a return appointment for the following Friday.  His name is Michael.  He's a really nice guy, and he is high-functioning autistic.  It turns out, his parents are members of the other ward, and he has not been baptized.  As far as understanding the doctrine, he's OK at it, and he's always learning.  He's high-functioning enough to live on his own, and he can definitely make his own decisions.  A member has taken him to church for the past 2 Sundays, and he loves it.  We talked about the Plan of Salvation with him, and he is understanding the importance of being baptized.  If everything works out, we plan to set him for the 23rd.  His dad is less-active, and so we are going to try and talk with his mom to see if it's OK with her.  Again, he can obviously make his own decisions, but it wouldn't hurt.

Elder Canzona and I are doing some great work.  Sometimes things can become a little rough, but we are always good at resolving things in the end.  It is a great skill to have to be able to do that.  He is very knowledgeable and always has a good attitude, and we make up for each other's weaknesses.  Overall, it is an inspired companionship, as every companionship is.  I'm always learning how I can improve, and I'm doing the best that I can.

We don't get to see President and Sister Castro that often, because we are on the outskirts of the mission.  We guaranteed get to see them every transfer meeting, an occasional Zone conference (about every three transfers), and President's interviews that are about every three transfers as well.  The Zone Leaders go to the Mission Leadership Conference and bring back information that the President talked about, but that's about it.  President Castro trusts his missionaries very much.

On Halloween,  we had a dual ward trunk-or-treat.  We had chili dogs and chips for dinner, and they did the trunk or treat.  There were quite a few less-active people that were there, so that was awesome.  Our mission-wide rule was that we had to be back in our apartments by 7:00, so we couldn't get together and do anything fun really.  I wore my orange tie, so that was about as Halloweeny as I got. :)

Well, this week was a really good week and I can't wait to see the miracles that will continue to take place.  The Gospel is true.  We see so many people every day that are struggling and looking for peace, but the can't find it, or turn to incorrect sources.  The fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to find solace and peace in this life.  I want all of you to know that my testimony of this Gospel has strengthened so much in these 5 months I've been out, and I'm doing the best I can to spread the word.  I love you all!

Elder Harper

Seeing investigators at church is such a neat blessing!

Hello everybody!

This week was really good!  Thank you all for the letters/packages/Facebook messages that I was informed about. :)  Spending a birthday in the service of the Lord truly is a blessing.  It's so weird to think that I'm 19...wow.

This week we taught Yvonne (75 year old lady) about the Plan of Salvation as we read the pamphlet with her.  It all sunk in to her.  She said the closing prayer, and she cried!  We invited her to church, and she came yesterday!  They were short on deacons, and I was actually able to give the sacrament to her.  The Spirit was so strong.  I'll see if I can get a picture with her, she's so nice.

We also picked up a new investigator from the Hermanas named Jose.  He speaks perfect English, and he lives in our area so that's how we got him.  Our area is actually the biggest area in the entire mission.  It's about 150 miles from end to end, and it goes all the way over to the Bakersfield mission border!  We never really get to go out there, because we are only allotted so many miles a month in our car to use.

Anyways back to Jose.  He's had a rough past.  When he was younger he always had anxiety and was into drugs and felt like he's been possessed at times.  We would have never even thought because he's the calmest guy ever.  He's been reading the Book of Mormon, and has been praying to know if it's true.  He's recognizing questions of his that are being answered through the Book of Mormon!  He's been saying that it's hard for him to pray and that he feels too guilty to pray.  We explained that "the evil spirit teacheth a man not to pray" and that Heavenly Father wants you to pray when you feel guilty so He can help.  He's understanding really well and we're meeting with him tonight!  We are going to set him with a baptismal date too!  That's our plan!

Last Monday we almost died.  Elder Canzona almost got us in a car accident but we came out unscathed.  Thank goodness.  Thank you for the prayers.

I love you all so much!  Thank you for the support that you give me.  I'll send some pictures of the area next week!

Elder Harper

A-Town ain't finished with me yet!

Date: October 21, 2013

Area: Atascadero

Companion: Elder Canzona




Hello my dear family and friends,

I absolutely LOVE sitting down on the computer and emailing.  It's so great to see all the different pictures and hear from home.

This week went pretty well.  On Tuesday we had to drive all the way down to Oxnard to pick up our newish-used car: a 2011 Toyota Corolla.  It's about a 3 hour drive both ways, and honestly, it was one of the scariest drives of my life.  Elder Canzona, being from Montana, can't drive in traffic....I am thankful for angels that watch over and protect us. We needed every angel we could. :)

Well, now I can write home to say that I ate Vietnamese food on my mission.   We had dinner with a part-member family, and the nonmember wife was Vietnamese, so it was really cool.  We had Bon-Hoi (I think that's how you spell it).  It's nothing gross at all, just some white noodles, pork and cucumbers wrapped in a piece of lettuce dipped in fish sauce.  They told me how fish sauce was made, and I surprisingly held it together.  Try it out!  I'd be down to have that again when I get back!

Well, we also had some great service opportunities this week.  We helped a couple move out of their house into a new one, and on Saturday, we drove out to Creston and split some wood and cut down trees!  Just call me Elder Lumberjack.  It was pretty satisfying...we also had the chance to see the part-member family again there.

Well, the subject line says it all.  I'm staying in Atascadero, and Elder Canzona is as well.  Pray for us that we don't die in a car accident.  :)  Thank you in advance for all the things coming my way.  I love you all.

This past transfer, our district did something really cool.  Each week, the Zone Leaders would pick a color.  In our prayers, we would ask Heavenly Father to prompt those individuals whom he has prepared to be wearing this color, and that we would be able to see them and talk to them about the Gospel.  There have definitely been many miracles wrought from this method, and it was so cool to see all that came from it.  The zone leaders are going to give us a piece of paper with how many people were talked to that wore that color, and also all the names of the people who were invited to be baptized.  I'm so excited!

Yesterday at church was also really great.  Ward Council was better yesterday than it has been in a long time.  Our Ward Mission Leader, honestly, is kind of a pile.  He was chastened a little by the bishop yesterday, and we hope things will be better in the future.  

Well, I love you all so much.  Thank you for your love and letters.  I'm attaching pictures from the temple and the birthday party we had at the beginning of the month.

Love,
Elder Harper

Such a great week

Date: October 14, 2013 
Area: Atascadero 
Companion: Elder Canzona



€‹Hello everyone,
The title says it all.  This week was pretty cool.  Some downs, but some unexpected ups as well.  Obviously going to the LA temple on Tuesday was awesome!  The new SD card doesn't work with my card reader, so I'm going to have to buy a camera cable or something.   I'll send the pictures next week.  It was a 4+ hour drive from Atascadero to Los Angeles, depending on the traffic. We left at 6 o'clock in the morning and got there around 11.  We hit the distribution center and took some pictures.

It's amazing how soundproof the temple is.  Outside there is so many horns blaring and sirens, but as soon as you step inside, wow.  Can't hear a sound.  It was so peaceful to go to the temple. The first session a Japanese lady was there, so it was the old movie, but I didn't realize she was there until halfway through so I kept trying to see the difference, but I couldn't.  It was kinda funny.  So, we went through again, and I did get to see the new movie, it was AMAZING.  I'm definitely going to go to the temple so many times when I get home now.  We got back at 9:30 that night, it was such a great day.

Another cool experience to tell!  So Wednesday, we were running a little bit ahead of schedule, so we decided to go to the local park and talk to some people.  When we got there, Elder Canzona had to go the bathroom.  As we were heading that way, I spotted a lady sitting on a bench with her mom.  I felt horrible for doing it, since he had to go--but I said hi.  She said something back, and I pretended to not hear what she said so I could step closer and start talking.  Well, that simple "Hello" turned into a 45 minute lesson with this lady.  All we asked her to start off with was, "What do you know about Mormons?"  She kept telling us things that weren't true, (polygamy, etc.) and we corrected some of her thoughts.  We taught her about the Restoration, and a little bit about the Plan of Salvation, because she told us her father recently passed away.  We gave her a Book of Mormon, invited her to read it, and asked her if she would be baptized if she found out it was true.  We got her address, and set up a time for us to meet with her.  Time certainly went fast, and before we knew it, we were late for dinner.  We found out she lives in the other Elder's ward, and we told them about it.  They went by, continued to teach her about the Restoration and Plan of Salvation, and set up another appointment to meet with them tomorrow.  She is now a new investigator of their's.  And how did all of that happen? A simple "hello"!  I may never see Vivian again, but I will remember this simple experience that helped build my testimony.  This Gospel is true, and it is such a blessing to be able to share that with others!

This week is the last week in the transfer, so if any of you decide to send letters please send it to the address in Oxnard.  Thank you!

Well, time is getting short, but I just want all of you to know that I know that this Church is true, and God really calls people in their weakness and qualifies them for His work.  I've changed so much already by being out here on this mission, I can already tell.  Thank you all so much for your examples to me.  I love you all!

Elder Harper

General Conference was awesome!

Date: October 07, 2013
Area: Atascadero
Companion: Elder Canzona

Hello everyone!

 

It's great to be here in the Family History Center writing this email. I love preparation days for many reasons...

So yeah, this week went pretty good. We were able to meet with Mike and Robin at Burger King on Thursday and go over the last things they needed to: ten commandments, law of chastity, and review the baptismal interview questions. They have such a strong desire to be baptized!

General Conference was so good! I have never taken so many notes in a general conference before. All the missionaries in my district watched general conference in the stake center here in Atascadero. General Conference is like Christmas morning. Although I must admit, Sunday morning I was thinking a lot about crepes... It was so great to be able to hear the voice of the prophets and apostles, especially with uninterrupted times. I'm lucky that it's just an hour earlier here...Mike and Robin have such a strong desire to be baptized, but it's hard to get them to come to church. Since they are homeless, they are really hard to get a hold of, and all we have is their cell phone number, which was not helpful because it was turned off the entire time. They absolutely HAVE to come to church this Sunday. If they do, they will be baptized October 19th! (An early birthday present, might I add... :))

 

It's so crazy that Brittany's getting married tomorrow. Take lots of pictures for me! Get a cardboard cutout of me or something so I can stand in the line... :) It just so happens that Elder Canzona and I get to go to the Los Angeles temple tomorrow! I am soooo excited! General conference, preparation day, and a temple day; nothing better. I will take pictures when I get there and send some home.

 

There is a member who recently got the Melchizedek priesthood who has a friend who is not a member. Her mother is going to die very soon, and so we have been teaching her the Plan of Salvation. We didn't get to finish the lesson, and the next day she was nagging us about it. We take that as a sign that she's ready to take the lessons. I have been on 3 exchanges in the past week, and all three of the other elders couldn't believe she was not baptized, so we are going to be working on her soon, and she is a goal for baptism next transfer. Well anyways she held a triple birthday party for her mom, Elder Canzona and I this last week, and it was so nice of her to do. I can't believe I'm turning 19 soon...geez.

I love you all so much! Mom, thank you for the package! I will not starve this week. That's a really good thing....

Until next week,

Elder Harper G