Hello, hello everybody!
The weeks are just whizzing by...it's so weird to think that I'm only half a month away from being out for a year. This has been the fastest year of my life, I'd say..but I digress.
Well, first things first. I'm staying here in Santa Maria with Elder Agle for another transfer. This next transfer is only 5 weeks, so it's a comfortable transition for President Felix when he comes in. (So transfers end June 22nd).
Last night, Elena Thomas, the single mom with 4 kids that I had the chance to teach for a little while, got baptized! I was able to give the talk about baptism at the service, and the four of us elders sang an a Capella harmony of "I Believe In Christ". We sounded great, and the spirit was really strong. What's also cool is that Rachel was able to attend the service! She said that she was glad she came, and she said that she felt the Spirit!!! We had a lesson with her on Thursday at the church, and we were able to answer some questions she had about the Book of Mormon, like how it related to the modern days and why the Book of Mormon is so important. We told her that the Book of Mormon is one fruit that shows that Joseph Smith is a prophet. If the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith was a prophet, and he did restore Christ's original church here on the earth. She understood that, and she's always just so happy now! Rachel went out to lunch with the Relief Society President and a few other sisters, and she walked up to them at the baptism and started talking to them! It was so good to see.
We were able to render a lot of service this week as well. We helped some people move out, and we set up chairs and tables for a wedding reception. As always, our payment was food...Don't worry, Mom, I'm being wise with what I'm choosing to eat! I made a commitment not to drink any soda, and it's been going pretty well so far.
On Wednesday and Thursday, it was 105 degrees outside! We were riding our bikes all over the place, and people kept telling us to go inside. It was a hard couple of days, but things ended up alright.
Going to the temple on Tuesday was huge blessing as well. We were able to do 2 sessions, and I read my patriarchal blessing in the Celestial room, which was really powerful. I love the temple so much. I want to set a goal when I get home to go to the temple at least twice a month. Every time I go to the temple, whether it's for baptisms, endowments, etc., I always walk out wanting to be a better person, and my love for the church always grows too.
Well, I guess that's all for this week. I love being a missionary. There's nothing else that I would rather be doing with this time in my life. It's useless to worry about things that I my miss or anything that may happen back home, because it's all in the Lord's hands, and He is in control of everything. I know that I came out here for a good purpose: to assist the Lord in His work. The Lord IS hastening His work of salvation, and it's an honor, blessing, and privilege to be on the front lines of this mighty work. I love you all so much! Thank you for everything you do!
Elder Harper
Hello everyone! (Again) :)
I hope you all had a great week! It was great to call home yesterday for Mother's Day. Not much more to say than I did yesterday, but it was such a blessing to be able to talk to you all. I forgot to mention that Elder Agle actually applied to UCAS the same year I did, but he was way high on the waiting list and was unable to get in. So yeah, small world! :)
We're super excited to go to the Los Angeles temple tomorrowmorning. I'm going to go on FamilySearch and see if there is anybody who needs an endowment session done. Probably not likely, but I'll check. We were originally going to go on Friday, and I planned to ask if I could get a couple of names mailed to me this week, but it's not going to happen before tomorrow. ;)
So, we were knocking doors in the hot, windy weather, and we talked to somebody named Michelle on her doorstep. We taught her a brief Restoration message and she seemed to enjoy it. She asked us how we could possibly enjoy leaving our families for two years to go to a faraway place to talk to strangers. We explained to her that we gain a lot more out of our missions than we could ever imagine. I quoted the definition of a missionary: Someone who leaves their family for a short time, so that others could be with their families for eternity. She seemed to really appreciate that, and she said, "I'm glad that I came out to talk to you guys. I learned a lot." Hopefully something good comes from it, but even if nothing does, another seed has been planted.
TRAVIN! Since I heard that you are in charge of reading my emails to your family, I just wanna say that I'm so excited for you, and for your mission call coming up. You probably feel a mix of emotions; excitement, nervousness, etc., and that's what's so fun about serving a mission. When that call comes and you find out where the Lord wants you to serve, I encourage you to go on your knees that night and say a prayer to the Lord committing to Him that you will do your best to bring souls unto Him. I definitely know that mission calls are inspired and that you will be called to where you are needed most. Love ya Travinski!
As I said before, not much new to say. I love you all so much, and I hope you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Harper
Hello everyone! What a week it's been.
First, I'll start off with the bad news. Unfortunately, Mario did not get off parole. :( But he is trying to be as optimistic as he can, and we were talking about how turning to the scriptures, prayer, and going to church help us in our trials. He completely agreed and he's taking it well.
Also, You remember Marva and Daniel Louiselle? They moved into the 2nd ward the DAY before they were going to get baptized. But they still did in the other ward, so it counts, right? :)
Jamie also dropped us this week. We knew that it was coming, but she told us that she was just comfortable with where she was. She knows a lot more than she did when we first found her, and we know that we planted seeds for future missionaries. She has some member friends as well, so she will come around.
This week has been pretty good. It's funny hearing about weather back home, having blizzards and cloud coverages. On Wednesday this past week, it hit 102 degrees and the 90's on other days this week. And guess who was going tracting in it?! Yep. This guy here. It was pretty exhausting, but we bought Gatorade's at the gas station so it was ok. :)
We had a really good lesson with Rachel on Saturday at the church with our ward mission leader. We really got to know Rachel a lot better. In all the lessons that we've had in the past with her, she's sort of been stone-faced and emotionless. When we talked with her on Saturday, she really opened up and she was even laughing at some points in the lesson. We got to know a little bit more about what her background was. We discovered something. She worked for a federal corrections facility for 25 years, and she told us that over time, she became calloused to things that we would find disturbing, so she said that her heart was hardened, but that things going on in her life had caused her heart to be softened. I asked her what sort of things those were, and she said that by allowing the Lord back into her life, going to church, and having missionary discussions had softened her heart.
I don't know if I've told you her main concern. She doesn't really feel worthy to pray to God, and she described it as a "mental block". We explained to her how the Spirit operates, and that that is God talking to us. She had a few experiences that she has felt the Spirit, and when she finished describing one, I stopped the lesson and told her that in order to feel the Spirit, one has to be worthy to do so, because the Spirit cannot dwell in unholy temples. I said, "Take confidence that God has forgiven you, Rachel. He is communicating to you through the Spirit, and that's how you know." It seemed like a light bulb went on in her head, and at the lesson, she said that she was glad she came. At the end of the lesson, we bore powerful testimony about the Book of Mormon, and we told her that the baptismal font is where God wants her, in own due time. She also came to church again for the 5th or 6th and she stayed all three hours. She has great fellowshippers that are answering questions she has. The Relief Society President, Primary President, and Young Women's President are all going to get together and invite her to go to lunch with them this week, so that will be awesome. Things are going great here in Santa Maria. We don't exactly have the biggest teaching pool, just Mario and Rachel, but we are continually asking God to place those people in our paths that are ready to receive the restored Gospel
Basically, Rachel will get baptized. It may not be in the time that I'm here, but that does not matter. She has come so far ever since I've gotten here, and I can't wait to see how much she will continue to progress. I love the Gospel so much, and little experiences I've had here and there are giving me a stronger and strong testimony of the truthfulness of this church. No matter what goes on in any of our lives, we always have Jesus Christ and His Gospel to fall back on because He is the Rock of our Redeemer (read Helaman 5:12). I love you all so much and I can't wait to talk to my family on Mother's Day. Love you all!
Elder Harper
Hello everybody!
It's so good to be here again, sitting at the computer, emailing you all. This week has been pretty great.
On Tuesday, a member took us out to a place called Hometown Buffet, which is basically like Chuck-A-Rama. Why am I telling you this you ask? Because he picked us up in his 2013 Red Camaro and sped us down the freeway to dinner! It was pretty fun. I wish I had my camera. They also had this cake there called Tres Leche's cake that I really loved and I want to make or buy when I get home. Cool story of the week.
There are older members of the ward who recently got married in December and they had us over for dinner as well. They live in the same complex as us so it's pretty convenient. We helped them carry out some drawers from an old desk of theirs and they gave us some really good cheesecake that is to die for. Wow, all my stories of the week involve some sort of food. No wonder I'm gaining weight...I'm already at 20 lbs...oh yeah. We went to Texas Roadhouse on Wednesday with other members....so...fattening. ;P
Get this: This is the climax of the week. On (Miracle) Thursday, we received a text at 11:30 at night from the Media Referral center, which is basically a center where missionaries call to give the names and the new addresses for people that are moving, so the missionaries in the new area can continue teaching. Marva, a member, and Daniel, her nonmember husband moved up from Santa Barbara here to Santa Maria for their honeymoon, and they packed everything they had. We called her on the phone and told her where the church building was, and they came to church. We set up an appointment to see them Sunday night and we came over and got more of their story. We went through all the pamphlets and asked him if he was taught the lessons and he has! He's been taught everything he needs to know and he is living all the commandments! We taught him about temples/baptisms for the dead and he liked the concept. They said that they are only going to be here for about 10 days, but they want Daniel to get baptized HERE while they are in Santa Maria because they are moving to Murray, UT when they leave. Their home teacher is driving up from Santa Barbara on Friday to baptize them, and so we have a baptism on Friday! We are going to give Mario a call later on today and see if he got off parole, and if he does, we will probably have a baptism on Saturday too! The work in Santa Maria is going great! I love being here and see so many people's lives change for the better. Everyone always says that if we were to be with Mario when he first started investigating the church, we wouldn't even be able to recognize him. The church really has changed his life so much. His daughter, who was baptized 2 years ago turned in her mission papers about a month ago, and is waiting for her mission call.
Saturday we had the Central Coast Helping Hands project, which is basically the Mormon Helping Hands, but the local leaders of the church wanted to expand it so any denomination could attend. There were people from all sorts of different faiths that were there. We met at a high school and we scraped off old paint in the bleachers and repainted them. There was a big BBQ afterwards and the Father from the local Catholic church blessed the food and it just united us all as Christians. It was a great day, and we were really tired afterwards.
I should probably tell you that over the past couple of weeks, I have learned how to play Texas Hold 'Em, or Poker (not with face cards!). We've been going to the other elder's place during our lunch and evening hours and we've been playing uno and betting pushups. It's been fun. ;)
Basically, I love being a missionary. I love the new surprises that come each day, and you never really know what's going to happen. For example, yesterday afternoon we were walking down a busy street and some guy pulled up next to us and called us the f-word. I love it, because all we do is smile, wave, and say, "Have a nice day!" Being a missionary is awesome. I've never had so much fun, and I've never felt the power of the Holy Ghost so strongly either. You can plan to do one thing, but God pulls you another direction and you end up doing something completely different. Missionary service has its ups and downs, but over time, you forget the specifics of the bad experiences and remember the specifics of the good ones. God truly does have his Almighty Hand over His missionaries, and there's never been one time where I've felt scared or threatened or afraid of what might happen, because I know that the Lord is there and He won't let anything happen.
I'm so excited to call home in just under two weeks for Mother's Day. Family, I'm so sorry that I haven't been answering specific questions that you've been asking me, but I will answer any question that you have when I call home. I love you all so much! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Harper
Oh. P.S. My toe did break. A ligament pulled too far and pulled off a piece of my bone. I put it in a little splint for a couple of days, and it's basically already healed.
Hello everyone! Happy Easter!
This week, as usual, has been AMAZING! To start off, I would like to tell you a cool story that happened to us.
We saw in our area book a potential investigator named K.C. that was found in Dec 2012, and so we decided to stop by and see her. We approached her apartment building and we saw her outside and she was watching her son ride his tricycle. We introduced ourselves, started talking to her, and asked her if the missionaries before ever talked to her about families. She said no and we taught her a little bit about the Plan of Salvation. I took out my planner, and one of her 6 kids saw a picture of Jesus and he said, "Jesus is really strong!" We said "Yeah!" and the little girl ran up to me and just gave me a hug out of nowhere. All of them were just super excited to see us and we said a prayer with them all. K.C. asked if there was anything we could give to her to read, and Elder Agle and I just looked at each other, and we fumbled through our bags. We gave her a Restoration pamphlet, a Plan of Salvation pamphlet, and a Family: Proclamation to the World pamphlet. We have a return appointment with her tomorrow at 10:00 and we are super excited! It was definitely a tender mercy and miracle from the Lord.
Also, on Friday, I most likely broke my toe... ;) I was looking for one of my CDs under the couch, and Elder Agle told me where it was, so as I was sliding my foot forward to get up, my foot hit one of the legs to the couch and I probably broke my 3rd toe on my right foot. It kinda hurt. It doesn't hurt really to walk on it anymore but I'm going to go to the urgent care facility to see a doctor right after I'm done here to make sure it's healing in place. If not, they're going to have to break my toe again and set it in the right place. Wish me luck haha :P
BUT! Onto more serious things. Seeing Elder Nelson on Saturday and Sunday was so cool. We drove down to Ventura and I was able to sit on the 5th row! Every missionary got to shake his hand as well. When I shook Elder Nelson's hand, I said, "Pleasure to meet you" and it kind of caught him off guard. He said "Thank you" a few times and then gave me a pat on the back. It was such a cool feeling to shake the hand of an Apostle of the Lord. My foot suddenly didn't hurt so much :) There was a question and answer session and somebody asked how we know if we are being changed. He said that repentance is conversion and we can know by how much we desire to serve others at all times. It was such an inspired question and answer that just struck me to the core.
On Easter Sunday he also came again and spoke to the Santa Maria stake. His wife talked about the Atonement and how we need to use it more often in our lives and it answered a lot of my questions. This week has been so cool...wow.
We have a rule in our mission that says we have to wear our suits all day on Sundays unless it is over 80 degrees. It was 75 all day. We rode 20 miles on our bikes. In suits. We were exhausted. But we had a good salmon and ham dinner at a member's home so we were happy. :)
Overall, this week has been great. I love being a missionary serving the Lord. There are so many exciting things going on all around us and sometimes we need to just slow down and thank the Lord. I love you all and I hope you all had a good Easter!
Elder Harper
Hello dear Family and Friends!
So! Another transfer here in Santa Maria has begun. Three new elders came up, and we are now back to 2 companionships in the ward. Brother Cadena, a convert baptized last August, was kind enough to drive us all down to Ventura and back. Everyone is getting along well, and it's nice to have some new, fresh elders in the district. It's funny...I am the oldest one in the district "mission-wise". It's really weird to think that because I still consider myself fairly new. Wow, how time flies.
Like I said last week, Elder Agle is my new companion, and he is pretty cool. I forgot my camera cable, so I'll have to send a picture of us next week. But I did get a picture of the district. Elder Agle grew up in Glendale, CA but moved to Mapleton when he was 10 or so. He's pretty funny. On Saturday and Sunday nights, there was a Christian community choir, with members from our church and others that were singing a requiem. We've been singing "REQUIEM!" back and forth and it's been pretty funny.
Unfortunately, this week was a bit of a drag. There were 5 lessons that cancelled on us, and a potential investigator dropped us, but it didn't get us down. We just had the fabulous opportunity to knock on doors and do what we call "miracle walks", which is basically just street contacting. There was a "femi" guy that answered the door and he kind of bashed with us for a little bit. It kind of caught me off guard, but we always just brought it back to prayer, and we invited him to just pray to know if the things we were saying are true.
As missionaries, all we are supposed to do is "invite others to come unto Christ, by helping them to receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." Sometimes I think missionaries in general get discouraged if someone doesn't want to learn, but we shouldn't. We simply invite them, and it's all on them and their agency to decide if they want to learn more. Our job is just to teach and testify clearly to help them make the right decision.
We are SUPER excited to be able to see Elder Russel M. Nelson twice this week! We are having a mission conference in Ventura on Saturday, and then the special stake conference on Sunday. We are preparing ourselves to receive some GREAT revelation.
I can never bear my testimony enough. I know with all my heart and soul that this church is the only true church upon this earth. I know that God and Jesus Christ restored the Gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and that that same Gospel is on the earth today. Thomas S. Monson is a prophet who receives direct revelation from God. The powers, keys, and authority that bind husbands, wives and families together for the eternities has been restored, and those ordinances are performed in the 142 holy temples. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, and it reveals the correct interpretation of the Bible.
I love you all so much. Thank you everyone for all you do. I'll catch you next week!
Elder Corey Harper
Hello everybody!!!
Wow, what a great week it has been! With General Conference on Saturday and Sunday, it really just topped it all off. First things first, I am staying here in Santa Maria for another transfer, and my new companion is Elder Agle. I've been in his zone before and he seemed pretty cool.
This past week seemed a little bit slower than the previous few, a lot of cancellations, but still great. Now, with it being transfers, two new elders are coming into the same ward, and the area will be back to how it was before. I'm super glad that I am staying here, this is a great ward. That also means that I will be able to witness (hopefully) the baptism of Mario, and I will be able to attend the special stake conference on Easter when Elder Nelson is coming up! I also heard that he is going to be staying afterwards for about an hour or so to shake hands and meet the members. I will do EVERYTHING in my power to be able to get a picture with him.
General Conference was amazing! I loved Elder Holland's talk and the powerful testimony he bore. "I know that the priesthood keys have been restored to this Earth, and I am more confident of that, than I am that I am standing before you at this pulpit today, and that you are sitting before me today." Wow! We all met at the stake center and watched all the sessions. Benito and Griselda saw the sessions on TV, and Benito came to the Priesthood Session as well! We were so happy! Mario also came and saw the Sunday Morning session at the stake center.
Well, there's not a whole lot to say this week, and I'm running out of time, but I want to share with you a simple, yet cool experience we had yesterday.
We went tracting, and we were knocking on a door and a hispanic lady opened up. We explained who we were and that we share a message about Jesus Christ. She expressed that she was not interested and she said that she didn't believe in God. We bore simple but powerful testimony that there IS a God out there who lives and loves all of us very much. I told her to look around, and see His creations, and that it was all evidence that there IS a God. Nothing much really came from it, but I felt confident that I was bearing testimony of the things that I knew to be true. It was a great experience.
I love you all so much! Thanks for all you do!
Elder Harper
P.S. Grandma! I tracted on Roper St.!
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