The Lord answers our prayers

Hello again!

Man, this is crazy.  Every week it just seems like it goes by in a heartbeat.  The weeks are just becoming meshed together and everything is going by so fast.  My time out here has really been the fastest time in my life.  I was pondering to myself the other day, and in about a week, I will have been out for 8 whole months.  That is just so weird to me.  I'm really starting to feel "missionary old" when I talk about some missionaries I've been around in the past and some people don't even know who they are.  It's just so weird.  Time certainly flies when you are in the service of the Lord.

Wow, where do I even begin for this week?  Well, every Monday we do our usual stuff.  This last week we played basketball, dodgeball and football in the Church's carpeted gym.  We all decided that we don't like carpeted gyms that much, so we are going to go to the other gym today and then play ultimate frisbee outside.  P-days certainly are a blessing, just to have a change in routine and to be able to let my mind rest for a little bit.

Haha so this week 1 of our 4 total investigators moved, so now we are down to 3 that we each only see once a week because their schedules can't really allow it.  All of them have baptismal dates in April.  There's a guy named Mario and he's super cool.  He's been meeting with the missionaries for a long time now and he's just solid.  He's about 450 pounds and Native American.  He's really funny and the Church really means a lot to him.  He has many friends in the ward, and he goes to church every week without fail, and he's been doing that for a year now.  Why isn't he baptized you ask?  Well, he is currently on parole and won't be free until April.  He's super excited.  His daughter was baptized a year ago and she's preparing to go on a mission, it's pretty cool.

The other 2 investigators we have are Benito and Griselda.  They have a 2 year old daughter named Julietta and she's adorable.  They are both progressing really well, also.  Benito is totally ready to be baptized today, but Griselda wants to wait until the Saturday before Easter Sunday to do it because she feels it will be more special.  We've explained to them that it's all the same, but she insists.  They are trying to find a way for them to afford paying tithing and everything, and there's only so much that we can do.  

There is a man named Jason McGuire who just got baptized on Saturday.  He is super solid and he inspires me to be a better missionary.  Anyways, Benito and Griselda were able to go to his baptism and they really liked it.

So, as we were tracting we had door slam after door slam after door slam.  We prayed on a lady's driveway that the Lord would humble the people and give us someone to talk to.  We knocked a couple more houses and then we found a guy named Jesse.  We talked with him for 45 minutes on his doorstep and we bore our testimonies to him and invited him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon.  He seemed a little hesitant to, but we are going to stop by again.  The Lord really does answer our prayers when we pray in faith.

Well, my time is just about up.  I love Santa Maria, I love the ward, and I love my family and friends.  Until next week!

Elder Harper

My first week in Santa Maria!

Hello everyone!  It's great to be here to email all of you once again.  This week has been a trying week, but also a week full of miracles!  First things first, to clear things up, I'm follow-up training Elder Gaylor.  It's been kind of like a "white wash" though because he's only been here one transfer and we're still both figuring things out.  Elder Gaylor is a convert of 15 months!  He told me his story.  He's the only member in his family, his friend invited him to EFY and he felt the Spirit, and the missionaries came over and taught him and he got baptized!  Member missionary work, it's the greatest.  He said that he could just picture himself doing the same thing as the missionaries were doing, and so here he is!  He's freshly 18 years old, and he's really cool!

So, to describe Santa Maria, it's pretty cool.  There's an LDS, Lutheran, Baptist, Catholic, and Non-denominational Christian church on one street.  It's super crazy..As far as the actual missionary work goes, the people here are really prideful.  They think that they are well enough off and most of the time they don't hear us out, except for the miracles that I'm going to describe soon!  To be honest, I've never had as much rejection in one week than I've had this week, but that's OK!  I really can feel all of your prayers for strength and it's helping me a ton.  I'm learning not to get discouraged over it.  People have their agency, and it's just our job to invite them to learn more, to testify, and to help and serve them.  

It's really nice here in Santa Maria.  On Saturday it was 85 degrees outside, it's super weird!  I'm not used to this!  The members here are AWESOME.  So much love and support for us.  There's 4 missionaries in this ward, and we have the northern half of the ward.

So, miracle report time!  So this week, we had 3 AWESOME miracles!  My 2nd day here, we were going tracting, and I told Elder Gaylor to pict a street he wanted to tract. 

We were tracting down a street, and Elder Gaylor remembered a former investigator that lived at a certain house. We knocked on the door, and we had a 20 minute lesson with them on the doorstep. It had been about 4 months since they've been last seen, and the lady said that she wanted us to come by and keep studying with her, but it took a visit from us for her to realize it. It was a really cool experience, and they committed to come to church this upcoming week.

The next was when we were in the park contacting people, when we met a lady named Teresa. She talked about how there are so many distractions in the world today, and that she wanted to read the Bible, even though it was really hard. We explained to her that we could help her with that, and we talked with her about the Plan of Salvation. We gave her a pamphlet, and as I was bearing my testimony of it to her, tears streamed down her face. We got her address and phone number, and the other elders had a nice referral. Miracle for sure.

The last was just yesterday when we were going to go to an appointment with a member to see an investigator. As we were all walking towards the investigator's house, an older less-active lady and her son came outside. The son said, "Look who we have here!" It turns out the lady requested a blessing from her son, but the son was all by himself, so he was about to leave and go grab someone. We were able to go inside and assist with the blessing at the EXACT moment they came outside. God put us in their path.

There have been so many times this week where I've said, "The Church is true!"  We have been striving really hard to be EXACTLY obedient, and because of that, these three miracles occurred.  What a blessing that is.

Another transfer come and gone...

This week has been pretty good, a great week to end off the transfer:  So remember the lady that we did service for that came to church the next day?  She came yesterday too, and she approached me and said, "I just want to thank you so much.  You brought the Spirit into my home that day.  I have been reading the scriptures, and I stopped smoking!  I have a coffee pot in my house, and I'm slowly giving that up.  Thank you!  You lit my fire!"  Just from that experience, I know why I stuck around here in Atascadero for another transfer, just for her!  It was such a blessing.

Drumroll....However, I'm being transferred!  I'm going to the Santa Maria 3rd Ward.  I don't know anything about there, except that I'm going to be training another missionary by the name of Elder Gaylor.  Great things are awaiting me in Santa Maria, I already know.  Atascadero has been great.  I feel like my testimony of the Gospel and about prayer has been strengthened up here.  I have gained a lot of confidence here, and I will take that with me throughout the rest of my mission and the rest of my life.  I am thankful for the ward here, and I can't wait to meet new people and see new things.  (Transfers end on February 23rd).  

As for Jose, he is taking a break from us.  He told us that he didn't like the way we do things at our church, and he wanted a break.  I know he'll come around, many seeds have been planted.  I have to go now, but I'll be emailing you next week in Santa Maria!

Elder Harper

What a week :p

Hello everyone!  

This week has been pretty good.  I can't believe it's already the last week of the transfer...man how it goes by fast.

Today I would like to express my gratitude for the letters that I have been receiving.  On Thursday I received the letter that Grandma handwrote to me, and it was such a blessing.  When she said that she was writing it in the front room of the Wayne County house, I visualized the room and pictured myself there, it was really nice and peaceful.  As always, I am thankful for the letters that I got from Mom and Dad.  Mom, thank you for the talk that you sent me.  I LOVE it when I get talks in the mail.  It really helped me out a lot.  I liked the part that Elder Holland said that missionary work isn't easy because salvation never was easy.  It was awesome.  Dad, thank you for your letter as well.  It was awesome to get a letter from Ashley too!  Thank you all so much!

On New Year's Day, we went out to dinner with a member.  We went to a Chinese restaurant.  (Have I ever told you how much I love Chinese???) There must have been something in the food, because Elder Navarrete got really sick that night.  He went to bed really early, which was odd, so I went and watched a DVD.  When I finished, I went and said my prayers and went to bed.  About 15 minutes later, he sat up and stood still for about 15 seconds, and then he bolted for the bathroom.  He threw up ALL OVER HIS BATHROOM.  He was feeling too weak to clean it up that night, so we closed the door and let it sit... :)  The next morning he still wasn't feeling well and slept for the whole day.  We have two bathrooms, but meanwhile, the smell was starting to make me sick, so I asked him if he was well enough to clean it up.  He said he was feeling really weak.

So I cleaned up his puke.  Probably the most charitable thing I'll do on my mission.  *Picture attached.  :D

Yeah, that was an adventure....three cheers for latex gloves.

On a more serious note, we went on companionship exchanges this week as well.  We did some service for a less-active lady in the ward, and she was so grateful that we came to help her.  She started crying as soon as she opened up the door and saw us there.  I can honestly say that I felt the Savior's love for her at that exact moment.  We helped her carry some boxes to her garage, moved a desk, and re-strung some lights in her backyard.  She bought us pizza, and he opened up the scriptures and read her some good verses.  She, again, started crying and told us that she really needed this experience.  She said that she knows that the Church is true, and she said she would go the next day.  Yesterday she came to church!  When she heard the testimonies, I could just tell that everything was sinking in.  I got up to bear my testimony, and again, she started crying!  She asked for a priesthood blessing after sacrament meeting and she cried after it was over.  She personally thanked us for all of the support and encouragement she received.  I can honestly say that that was a time that I felt truly happy.  When I stopped worrying about myself and looked outwards, just to help her, I forgot about myself in the process and felt Christlike love for her.

I'm thankful for testimonies, and for the power that they bring.  There is nothing more powerful than a testimony that is confirmed by the power of the Holy Ghost.  A testimony is really the only thing that we possess that truly defines us.  Never hesitate to share testimonies, because we know of the power they bring.  

This church is true without a doubt.  As a member in our ward says, "If the Church isn't true, then there's no cows in Texas!"  I love you all.  I'm excited for this full calender year of missionary service that is before me.  Thank you so much for all the support and letters!

Elder Harper

Christmas week!

Hello everyone!

Well, I'll just start off by saying that because it's holiday season, I only have about 10 minutes today, so here I go!

It was so great to talk to all of you on Christmas!  Everyone sounds like they are doing so well, and the phone calls were something that I really needed.  Thank you everyone for coming to talk!  I would like to also thank everyone who sent Christmas cards my way.  They were much appreciated.

So, Christmas we had breakfast and dinner with the Berman's, and it was so fun.  We watched Ephraim's Rescue and had some prime rib.  It was great!  

Ahh! I got to go!  Catch you all next week!

Christmas is already here??

Hello everybody!

This week was awesome!  Like I said, we went to the temple on Wednesday on the temple bus.  We woke up at 3:45 and we drove to San Luis Obispo to catch the bus at 5:30.  Us, the elders in the other ward, 2 Hermanas, and a set from Arroyo Grande were all on the bus, with some members of course.  

When we got to the Los Angeles temple, all of the English speaking missionaries from the San Fernando mission were there.  When we arrived in the session, there were about 175-200 people.  It was so powerful!  The seats were filled all the way to the back.  The spirit was so strong, and it was cool to see how powerful the missionary force is.

The missionary Christmas devotional was awesome!  We, as a district, sang "What Child Is This" and as a zone we sang, "Joy to the World" the Spirit was so strong and we watched clips about the Nativity.

Well, I won't really be saying much in this email, because I will be calling this Wednesday!  I can't wait, it's going to be so nice to talk to you all again.

Love you all!

Elder Harper

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting FAT!

Hello everybody!

Man I LOVE this time of year!  It's so great to be able to get to email the ones I love back home at this wonderful Christmas time.  

Well, I guess I'll start off with the bad news first.  Soooo...this past week we met with Michael once, and everything went really well and the Spirit was strong and everything, we read the children's Book of Mormon with him, and said a prayer and left.  He seemed extremely happy.  About 2-3 days later, we stopped by again, and there was a note on his door that said, "DO NOT DISTURB, MISSIONARIES DO NOT DISTURB."  Elder Navarrete and I looked at each other and we were super confused.  We knocked on the door anyways, but nobody answered.  Michael didn't go to church, and we got worried.  We've been trying to go by with his new home teacher but have been unsuccessful.  He won't answer the phone or anything.  This is what we think:  We think that because of his autistic state, he was really angry that Elder Canzona was no longer here and the whole change of the routine threw him off.  We've been trying to get his new home teacher there and everything, but we've just never had the chance.  We're sorta stuck with it all... and that's where we're at with him.

Well, now that that's out of the way I want to share a cool story with all of you that that happened this week.  We were tracting out some adjacent apartment complexes, and we saw a man walking down the street in the distance.  We had the feeling that we should talk to him.  So, we ran down the stairs and met him on the sidewalk.  We stopped him and asked if we could leave him with a card, and he said no.  Elder Navarrete got kind of discouraged and I told him that sometimes the Lord just gives of promptings to see if we'd follow them.  As we were walking back to the complex, there was another man who was walking down.  His name was Jesus (Hey-Zeus) and we talked with him for 20 mins!  We talked about baptism with him and he gave us his number.  We've been unable to contact him but we're still trying!

Jose has been sick with the flu all week and we've been unable to meet with him. :(  We saw him a few times though and gave him some scriptures to read.  He is set, however, to be baptized January 9th.  I'm crossing my fingers and praying that it all works out.

We invited Yvonne to our ward's Christmas party and she came!  It looked like she had a lot of fun and she sat with some members.  It was cool to be able to go to the ward Christmas party because it reminded me EXACTLY of our ward's back home.  It was just so awesome to feel the same spirit there.  Speaking of Ward Christmas Parties, I got a letter this week with letters and pictures from OUR ward!  I loved it!  Thank you to all who helped with that!  22 Missionaries?? Wow.

OK, so to answer questions about the Christmas call.  I'm not allowed to do it.

Just kidding. :)  We will be calling from a member's house around 10-10:30 ish so be ready!  Sorry, we are not allowed to Skype unless it's to another country.  I don't know why...but oh well.  We were told to try to keep the calls short, but yeah...we know how that works. :)  Let's still try though. haha.  What number am I calling?

I'm glad everyone had fun at the Progressive Dinner.  I was thinking about that yesterday.  Just for kicks and giggles, was it the Survivor finale too? :)  From the looks of it, Lincoln had a blast!  Thank you for the video, Cam and Lex!  

This week is going to be great!  On Wednesday, we get to take the bus to the temple!!!  It's Elder Navarrete's birthday this month, and we're super excited!  On Friday, we have a Christmas devotional in Santa Barbara and it's going to be great!  

Thank you all so much for your love and support.  Other missionaries do not have that same opportunity and blessing, and so I am that much more grateful for all of you.  I love you!  One more email until I call, mommy!  One more!

Love,

Elder Harper