Hoppy-Go-Lucky

APRIL 25, 2016

Hiya!! 

This week has been so wonderful! I mean, its actually been pretty average.. but average on a mission is still wonderful because there isn't anything better than being in the service of the Lord! 

So update on rock foot: 

I mayyyy or may not have broken one of the tiny bones on the side of my foot! My whole entire foot bruised up and was/still is all kinds of colors, but the bruise looks a little bit better every day. I still can't walk like a normal human though (I limp around and I feel like a goblin or something hahaha), so the mission nurse is making me get it x-rayed tomorrow morning. Boooooo. I really hope that its just sprained cuz I have a really nice 20 year no-broken-bones streak going and I'd kind of like to keep it going. But we'll see what happens! It only hurts when I walk, so it really hasn't been too much trouble which is good! Its also bad though because missionary work requires a lot of walking and I don't particularly like not working, so I've been on it a lot. Again, there are good and bad things about having a high pain tolerance! 

On Thursday I went to Vail for our Mission Leadership Council and it was soooooo good!! I love having the opportunity to be a part of it. We spent the whole day discussing how we can help the missionaries in the mission work harder and be better and find more people to baptize. We talked a lot about having the faith to reap and how we can encourage others to have that faith. It was a longggg day, but it was so good. And I loved getting to spend it with some of the sisters that I came out here with! Its so cool to see how far we've all come from 9 months ago. Missions do gooooood things to people, that is for sure. Oh, and another bonus of going to MLCs is the drive there. I love the mountains and the drive through them, especially in the spring. It is soooo pretty. Its all about the little things, folks. (: 

Sister Paongo is still quite the companion. She is hilarious, but a total stinker too! She is very stubborn but I've found that she just needs a little bit of love and patience and she gets things done. We are still working on being more unified in our teaching, but we are getting better and better every single day. I am glad to have the opportunity to learn from her!

We got to speak in church yesterday and I talked about the Book of Mormon! More specifically how the Book of Mormon is proof of the Restoration through the prophet Joseph Smith. That book seriously is amazing. I know without a doubt that its true, and it has become one of my best friends since I've been on my mission. If you haven't already, pick it up and start reading it all the way through! Its good for the soul. (; 

I hope all is well and that you're all a bunch of happy campers! I know I am, and its all because of the gospel of Jesus Christ! Its the best! Missions are the best! Life is the best! 

Love, 

Sister Harshaw 

We All Need Some Smiles Sometimes

APRIL 18, 2016--LET THEM EAT CAKE and ROCKS

Hello, hello, loved ones!! How is everything going in the world? Hopefully it isn't tooooo bad out there. (; 

So! This week has been a great one! I have my new companion and her name is Sister Paongo (pronounced like Pongo from 101 Dalmatians hehe) and she is from Tonga! She is hilarious and a great missionary. She has been out for one more month than I have, but we'll go home together since I have to be back a little early for school to start! I'm having a litttttttllleee bit of a hard time connecting with her, but nothing a little time won't fix. English is her second language and she speaks it well, but she doesn't really pick up on my sense of humor or anything like that which is kind of funny. But I love her already and I am excited for the transfer with her!! 

We found two awesome new investigators this week and they are both on date to be baptized on May 14th!! Well, actually.. We didn't really find them, they were basically given to us! One of our ward missionaries, Sister McKnight, is the best member missionary I have ever met. About two months ago she called and told us that she went to her friends house and that she basically broke down, telling her that she wants truth but doesn't know where to find it.. WELL GOOD NEWS!! SISTER MCKINGHT HAD WHAT SHE WAS LOOKING FOR! Her name is Leslie Weber and her husband's name is Simon. Sister McKnight has been working on and preparing them for about two months now, and boy are they ready for the gospel. She called us one night and was like, "Hey! You're supposed to come to my house for an 8:00 member lesson but there has been a change of plans! I called Leslie and told her that I'm bringing her a cake and a spiritual thought to lift her spirits and that spiritual thought is going to be you. I want you to teach Leslie and Simon the first lesson." And so we did!! We taught the first lesson, the Spirit was strong, we invited them to be baptized, they said yes, and we ate cake! Bada bing bada boom!! Seriously, I don't know how it happens in this area, but people are always just falling into our laps. The Lord is aware of our efforts and blesses us for them, that is for sure!!

On a different note, do y'all want to hear a funny story??? Okay. Here it goes. Hahaha okay, prepare yourselves..... this is good. SO. Last night we stopped at a member's house to use their bathroom. And when we were leaving, I stepped backwards off of the ONE step on their porch as I was saying bye and rolled the side of my foot on this big old rock that was hiding in the grass really hard. It hurt pretty stinkin badly, but I have a megaaa high pain tolerance, so I thought I just pinched a nerve. Welllllllll, we were driving and it kept hurting and I was like.. hmmmmm... maybe I should look at it... So we went home and I limped inside and took of my tights and socks and there was A MASSIVE LUMP ON MY FOOT!!! It was huge and gross and swollen and started to bruise and I couldn't put weight on it. Soooooo I tried to call the mission nurse like 5 times and she wouldn't answer and so I texted the mission president to see if he could get ahold of her and he didn't answer either!! (Good thing I wasn't dying, am I right?) So I just went to bed and it was still swelling and looking all grody. Then I woke up in the middle of the night and it was hurting super bad, so I took an advil and propped it up on a pillow and went back to sleep. Well the mission nurse FINALLY called this morning and I told her what happened and that I couldn't walk on it and she was like, "Uhhhh......... Yeah, okay. You're going to need to wrap it and ice it and elevate it and not walk on it for a while and then call me back on Wednesday and if it isn't better then you have to go to the doctor guy." (pretty much word for word, duh.) SO YEAH. I murdered my foot on a rock! Isn't that pathetic and kind of hilarious?! This awesome lady in our ward came over this morning and looked at it and she said it looks pretty bad and she wrapped it and gave me ice and whatnot and she has been driving us around all morning! (Its my right foot, so the nurse said driving is a no no.. boo.) She also is making me use crutches which are dumb and not as fun as they look when you're like 10 years old. But hey, every day is a new adventure and this adventure just so happens to be a little less comfortable and convenient than others! I'll keep you updated on the status of my rock foot next week hahahahahah so pathetic. Good one, Sis Harsh.

Anywayyyyy, other than that, this week has been another one for the books! Lots of tracting, teaching, studying, and other fun things! I'm going to Vail for the leadership meeting on Thursday and I'm excited because I get to see some of the other sisters that I came out with that are now STLs as well! It should be a wonderful day!! 

Have a happy week and be sure to look for other people to share a smile with! We all need some smiles sometimes. (: 

Love,

Sister Harshaw 

the injured foot

****************************************************************************************************

APRIL 11, 2016--BOOTS AND MUD

Howdy, y'all!! 

This week has been pretty nuts, hence the subject line! But it has been soooo good anyway! I love my mission! 

To start off...... Transfers are here yet again... And guess what! I GET TO STAY IN FRUITAAAAA!!!  WOOOOOOOOO!! I am so happy to be staying here! I absolutely love this place and I love the people and I love how weird it is and I'm just so excited that I get to stay! I do, however, have to say bye to Sister Johnson which is a big fat bummer sandwich. I love her so much and we have had the BEST time together the past 7 weeks. She is going to the metro side of the mission, so it'll probably be a little while before I see her again. Boo! My new companion will be here tomorrow and her name is Sister Paonga! I haven't ever met her and all I know about her is that she is from Tonga... or is it Samoa... uhh.. one of those places! And that cheeseburgers are her favorite thing about the United States! It should be a gooooood time and I can't wait to meet her! (:

Okay, now for our crazy week! I'm just gunna bullet point this stuff cuz otherwise it'll take like 12 years to type it all out. 

• First! Our mail has been all kinds of messed up since we moved! In order to get our address changed we had to go into the post office like 6 times and then we had to get a lease emailed to us and then we had to get permission to forge the signature of the lady in the mission office and thennnnn we had to put all of our mail on hold because the mission office lady forgot to change our address and thennnn we had to wait forever for the mailman to change the lock on our mailbox and then they forgot that we asked them to hold our mail so they kept sending it to the wrong address and BLEH. Basically, the Fruita mail system is not up to par and we don't really know where all of our mail is at the moment.. It should be sent to the post office for us to pick up later this week though, so it should be all worked out now!
• Second! Our car just about up and died on us this week!! The engine started making all of these weird noises so we called the car guy in the mission office and he told us to take it to Sears. Sooooo on Friday we drove to the Sears in town thinking it would take an hour or so and then we would be good... False. We sat in the food court for an hour (shoutout to Sears for being attached to the mall) and then they called us to come back and they spouted off this list of things that were wrong with it and told us to bring it to the dealership. And I don't speak car, but you know when the guy at the dealership looks at the list of things wrong with it and goes, "Ummm, yeah. Wow. Okay... Um. Let me go talk to the manager and get you on our schedule." that it must be pretty bad. So they took our car and we don't get it back until Wednesday! Not having a car in an area that is pretty much 20 miles of farmland is proving to be pretty tricky...  but its a good thing the members like us here! They have been so kind and have given us rides everywhereeeee. The Fruita 2nd ward takes such good care of us and I love love love them so much! 
• Third! I may or may not have accidentally locked us out of our apartment the other day.... hahahahah I am used to having the car keys all the time and for some reason I just didn't think to grab our little house key off the counter. Luckilyyyyy we had a window open. I had to break in through our window and jump down the wall cuz we are below ground.. It was a fun time! Pictures to come! 
• Our new apartment is great, but its got a lottttttt a lot a lot of bugs. Ew. Cockroaches are the main culprits. I actually haven't really seen a cockroach before this week! Its super gross but also really hilarious. I have become the cockroach catching queen of Fruita. My weapon of choice is the vacuum, but sometimes I'm merciful and just catch them in a cup and throw them outside. Maybe I'll rethink my career choices and become an exterminator instead. I'll let y'all know how I feel about it in a few weeks. 
• Something random that I have discovered. As a missionary, I CANNOT pay for my own meal. We don't go out to eat very often, but the few times we have I haven't had to pay once! A month and a half ago Sister Hall and I went to iHop with some of the sisters we had stewardship over and a man came up to us and gave us a free meal card. But before we could even use it someone else in the restaurant paid for our whole table! Sister Johnson and I went to iHop again last week and used the free meal card for a huge meal that we shared. Thennnn, this super nice member made us a bunch of barbecue and included $20 dollars for us to get something else. Soooo when we were at the mall on Friday we remembered the money and were going to use it to buy lunch. But before we could I ran into some members from my last ward and they insisted on giving us money for lunch, even though we already had some.. he gave us $40 dollars and walked away before we could decline. Thats 4 free meals in a little over one month, folks! Being a missionary has its perks! 

So yeah, that actually just ended up being me rambling for like 12 years so I'm not sure why I even bothered with the bullet points. OH WELL. Despite this week being absolutely nuts, it has been such a wonderful and happy 7 days. The members in this ward are great and I love the people that I am teaching. I'M SO HAPPY THAT I GET TO STAY HERE FOR AT LEAST 6 MORE WEEKS. There was a sister that served here for 10 months and I'm really hoping to bead her record. We'll see what happens. (;

I love y'all and hope everyone is having the best week ever! Count your blessings and don't forget to smile!! 

Sister Harshaw 

breaking in because "someone" forgot the key

*********************************************************************************************************************************************

APRIL 4, 2016--HOME SWEET HOME

Hello hellooooo, everyone!!

This week has been wonderful! I don't have a whole ton of time today because the library is hoppin and I'm gunna get booted off the computer soon by someone with a reservation anddd we have a bunch of stuff to do! Ya know what would be really nice to have? An iPad. But alas. So sorry in advance for the short and lame email!

Guess what! We moveddddd!! Our new apartment is soooo much better than our last one! It has all new carpets, new counters, new cabinets, and new utilities. Its basically brand new and its in a wayyyyyyyy safer area! Yay for safety and no drugs in the air vents!

Between packing, moving, unpacking, and General Conference we had quite a bit of time cut out form the work this week, which was actually kind of a bummer. But wasn't conference so great?? What a privilege it is to be able to hear from the prophet and apostles every six months! I already can't wait for next conference! I really liked Elder Bednar and Elder Holland's talks. I just really love conference in general. Its the best thing ever.

Oh. Something awful. IT SNOWED THIS WEEK. As much as I love my mission, I will probablyyyyy never live here. I don't want to live in a place that snows when it should be warm outside. Fortunately, its been nice and warm the past few days and I'm pretty sure we're supposed to get up to 80 degrees this week! WOOOO!!

This is the last week of the transfer already! Time keeps moving quicker and quicker the longer I'm out and its weird! With that being said, if you're going to send mail send it now! Our new address is

Sister Kelsie Harshaw
1074 Cedar Way #106
Fruita, Co. 81521

As much as I'd like to stay, I have a pretty high chance of getting transferred, so send it quick! I'll know about transfers on Saturday so I'll be able to tell y'all where I'll be next week.

Ummmmmm, that is kind of all that I have to report on this week! Moving went well, Conference was the best, and I'm a happy human being! I love being a part of this great work and I love the gospel. Its such a blessing to have the knowledge that we do! Like I said, a mega lame email.. but its better than nothing at all, right? (;

Love y'all to infinity and beyond!!

Sister Harshaw

heart-attack!!!

******************************************************************************************************************************************

MARCH 28, 2016--HOPPY EASTER!!!

Hello, hello, helloooo!!! Holy moly, this week has been so wonderful! Lots of new people to teach, good exchanges, good foods, a happy birthday, and a happy happy Easter!! 

My favorite day of the week was yesterday, by far. I love love loveeeeeee Easter and it only gets better when you get to celebrate your birthday along with it!! The absolute best part of the day yesterday was Joan, one of my favorite investigators ever, coming to church for the first time!! We have been trying to get her to come to church for quite a while now, but she never wanted to come because she was afraid of offending her devout Catholic mother. Her mom isn't even alive anymore, but just the thought of going to the Mormon church made her feel like she was dishonoring her family. BUT SHE CAME YESTERDAY AND IT WAS THE BEST. She is neighbors with several LDS people and absolutely loves them. She comes to all the social events and she loves having us over and she is sooooo receptive to the spirit. Church was her biggest obstacle, but I am pretty sure that yesterday helped her get over that barrier! It was testimony meeting and it was so stinking great. Two of her neighbors got up to bear testimony and they mentioned how happy they were to see Joan in the congregation. By the end of the meeting she was absolutely beaming. She told us that she felt so loved and welcomed and that going to church was the most wonderful experience for her. I realllllyyyyy hope that we will be able to put her on date to be baptized soon! Transfers are coming up after next week and I really really really hope that President will let me stay here! I love Fruita so much! The people are so kind and loving and they take such good care of us. The work has picked up a TON since the holidays and I am just loving my time here!! 

Also, my birthday was so great! Thank you thank you thank you for all of the love y'all sent me! It made me the happiest human on the earth! On Saturday the Balens from my first area came and brought Sister Johnson and I to lunch and Munchies, a weird little local Fruita restaurant. I got grilled cheese because duh, and they brought a cute tiny birthday cake! I love the Balens!! Thennnn on Sunday some members invited us over for lunch after church, we made cookies and delivered them to a bunch of people, and then some other members made me a super yummy birthday dinner! I just felt so loved all day and it was awesome. I love people. The ones here are lovely. (: 

This work is so amazing and I feel so blessed to be a part of it! Its weird to think that I'm already halfway through my mission and I'm not sure how I feel about it! I hope you are all having a great week and that you're staying nice and happy! I love my Savior and I am so thankful for His Atonement and Resurrection. Its a pretty amazing thing to think of all the opportunities that Christ has provided us with. Life is amazing. I'm a big fan of our Heavenly Father's plan for us. (:

I love y'all a million and then some!! 

Sister Harshaw