Howdy, y'all!!
This week has been suchhhh a good week!! And it all starts with the arrival of my new companion!! Her name is Sister Hall and she is from Alabama. She has been out for 15 months and only has one more transfer after this one, so she's old! She is sooooo great. We are the only sister training leader companionship in the mission and I'm so glad I have her! I'm already learning so much from her and I'm glad to finally have a companion that has been out for quite a bit longer than me. I was kinda feeling like there was a lot I hadn't learned considering my trainer had only been out for three months more than me and I was the senior companion in my other two companionships. But now I get to learn from someone with a whole bunch of experience and I'm so happy about it! Being a STL is a lot of work and I'm glad I have her to show me the ropes. We work super well together and we're already seeing the work move right along. The members here call us the Southern Sisters. Its a super fun time (:
Wanna hear the most awesome thing ever?? Okay cool. So there is this lady in the ward named Catelyn who recently became reactivated and went through the temple right after Christmas. She has three little girls and a nonmember husband. Her husband has been coming to church every week since Christmas, but we heard that he wasn't interested in taking the lessons from us because he turned down four other sets of missionaries in the past. Wellllll, we like to work with part-member families, so when Sister Ytac and I were together we decided to try to set up a member lesson with their family so we could meet and possibly teach Derek, the nonmember husband, even if he really wasn't interested. Catelyn told us that she wasn't sure what day would be good for us to come over and told us that she would get back to us.
So we went over last Sunday to return some jars to Catelyn, and Derek met us outside their house. He told us his family was sick and that we wouldn't want to go inside, but then he was like, "Its actually so crazy that you came over though because I was supposed to set up an appointment with y'all at church today, but couldn't find you." So he set up a time for us to come the next day. Sister Ytac and I thought it was for a member lesson, BUT WE WERE SO WRONG. He wanted to start taking the lessons from us! So we taught him lesson one and it went soooo so super well! He has been reading the Book of Mormon every single night and has been attending church every single week. He told us that he had taken lessons from the missionaries before but that he just didn't feel it. But some recent events in his life have made him open his eyes and he said he feels so ready now.
Well yesterday Sister Hall and I went over for another lesson with him and we committed him to be baptized on February 19th! He was so excited and so ready to accept the invitation! He told us that he has researched so many religions but that none of them have ever rung true, until just recently when he said he opened his spiritual ears to the gospel. We are so excited about him! We will be seeing him three times a week and he will be baptized a month from today!
Its so cool because his wife was bearing testimony of the blessings of the temple that she has already seen, even though she only went through a few weeks ago. Derek having the desire to be baptized is definitely one of them. He is so prepared and ready to receive the blessings of this gospel! We talk a lot about how the gospel blesses families, but seeing how this has brought their cute little family together has really strengthened my testimony of that.The work in Fruita is interesting, but I have gained a strong testimony that as long as we work our hardest and do all that lies in our power, that the Lord will provide for us. My favorite scripture is Doctrine and Covenants 123:16-17, and I know that that scripture applies to the work we do. If we will cheerfully do all that lies in our power, the Lord will reveal himself. We will see miracles and we will see his hand in all that we do. THE GOSPEL IS THE BEST.
I hope y'all are all having a great week and that you're all happy campers!!
Oh! Something else that is awesome! I get to conduct companion exchanges with the sisters in the Grand Valley and so today I'm on exchanges in Pear Park! My baby area! Its so fun to be back and to see all of my favorite people. Life is good. (:
I LOVE Y'ALL.
Sister Harshaw
crowns courtesy of a 7 year old in our ward QMH=Queen Missionary Harshaw
JANUARY 11, 2016
Hellooooooo, family!!
So I suppose I should start off with transfer news, yes? I think yes.
Welllllllll, Sister Ytac will be leaving and I will be staying......... anddddddddd! I have been called to be a Sister Training Leader!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!! President Murdock told me that my new companion will also be a Sister Training Leader, so that is going to be so much fun! In this mission the STLs are usually not in a companionship together, but I guess they're starting something new and sticking us in the same area! So if you don't know what a STL is, its pretty much like.. a female zone leader. Or something like that. We conduct companion exchanges with all the other sisters in the Grand Valley and go to the fancy schmancy leadership meetings in Veil and all that jazz. There are a lot more responsibilities that come with it, but I am so excited and ready to learn and grow in the ways the Lord wants me to! So yay!! Moving on to fun big new things! Also, when you're called as an STL in this mission, you stay an STL until you go home! I hit my 6 month mark on Friday, so its relatively early for me to have this calling and I have a little less than a year of sister training to do! Thats nuts! But again, I'm so excited!! :D
Aside from that, this week has been a good one for Sister Ytac and I! We did a lot more teaching this week than usual, which was reallllllly nice. This area is a lot different than my last one where we had a whole bunch of set appointments every week and it took a few weeks to get used to the different dynamic of teaching in Fruita. We have a great investigator that the sisters in this area have been teaching for quite a while, but we're finally starting to see some goooooood progression from her. Her name is Joan and shes in her 50s and she is great friends with a lady in the ward. We had her start reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning this week and she is loving it already. I am excited to be able to watch her progress some more!
In other news, its really cold here. It gets up to like 35 degrees and all of a sudden everyone and their grandma goes outside in shorts and T-shirts because its "sooooo warm". BUT I BEG TO DIFFER. Its really cold. And I have decided that I am less than fond of snow. But I will survive!! Spring will be here in a few short months! :'-)
Anyway, Sister Ytac has to go pack and whatnot, so I have to get going pretty quick here! But I love y'all and I'm so thankful for all the love and support (and mail) you send my way!
Have a wonderful week and be happy!
Sister Harshaw
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JANUARY 4, 2016
Holy moly, it seems like I haven't talked to y'all since like.. last year!!!
HA. Get it? Cuz like.. the new year. Sorry folks, it turns out I'm still just as lame as I was last year. Oh well. Maybe 2017 will be better. (Lets not get our hopes up.)
So this week was really quite slow for us! The holidays are over and things are slowing down and people have somehow already lost the Christmas cheer that softens people up a little bit. Its really funny how that works. A lot of people ask us if we are more successful around the holidays, but we're generally not. People are just a lot nicer about the way they reject us! (wow that sentence sounded really pathetic but it actually is funny hahahah) The Fruita 2nd area is definitely an interesting one. It is a very large area geographically, but very small in population. When we knock doors a majority of the people say something along the lines of, "We just took this survery two months ago." and they aren't interested. New investigators are difficult to find here, but we know they are out there so we just keep looking! Most of the new investigators we find are actually referrals from members. (GIVE REFERRALS TO THE MISSIONARIES IN YOUR WARDS. We live off of those things.) They know the new people who move in around them and let us know. This area is great even though it seems to be a little exhausted, and I know that Heavenly Father promises us that if we do our absolute best that He will give us blessings. I love working here and I know that all of the work we are doing is not in vain, even if the numbers we have to show each week are few!!
This is somehow already the last week in the transfer! The longer I'm out on my mission, the faster time seems to be going, the more I love this work, and the happier I get. I'll hit my 6 month mark next week which just blows my mind! I have just under a year left to make the most of the short time I have to give my all to the Lord!
Sorry this email is rather boring! Its a good thing y'all love me anyway!! (;
Unless you send it today or tomorrow, hold off on mail until I know if I'm getting transferred or not!
I love y'all a million! Be happy!
Sister Harshaw
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DECEMBER 28, 2015
HELLOOOOO, LOVED ONES!
I hope y'all had the merriest of Christmas's! Mine was an absolute blast!! I got to experience my first real white Christmas and it was like.... magical!! It was so pretty and we had so much fun in it! But now its not Christmas and its cold and the snow is still there and I'm kind of ready for it to be gone.. But oh well, I suppose I will live!! Christmas really was great though. My favorite part, by far, was getting to Skype my family!! It was so much fun to see everyone and to know that they're all still just a bunch of dweebs! (; I already can't wait to do it again on Mother's Day.
Because of the holiday, this week has been kind of slow as far as the work goes. We didn't teach all too many lessons and we didn't find anyone new to teach, but its all good! Its a new week and there are new opportunities to be found!
An update on the Kaden situation from last week:
It didn't happen. hahahaha We were super pumped about him but then we found out that he has Word of Wisdom problems and that he had to leave before he could be baptized. But he is working on his problems and is going to be baptized in whatever area he's going to next. So yay for whatever missionaries get him in the future! He seems super awesome and solid.
Honestly I really don't have a whole ton to say today! So to make up for my lack of words, here's a hilarious compilation of the things people have said regarding my age: (Most people I meet do not think I am old enough to be on a mission and they all comment on it.. I started recording all of the comments cuz they're generally super funny.)
"You're a missionary? You don't look old enough to be 15!"
"What are you, 14?"
*an old man to another old man in the ward*
"Check it out, Craig! We've got a 12 year old missionary!"
"Yeah, you don't look old enough to be out of high school.."
"Man, they're sending the missionaries out younger and younger!"
"Sister Harshaw, you look like a baby."
"Wow, the kids I babysit look older than you."
Anywayyyyyyyy, I hope you all have a happy new year! Set some awesome goals and stick to them!! I'll be enjoying the new year in my dreams maybe.. :'-) (Going to bed at 10:30 has no appeal to me. The night owl in me is still alive and well. Oh well.)
Love y'all a million!!
Sister Harshaw
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