Bird in a Box

Hello from Froooooota, everybody!

I'm going to tell a story, so everyone buckle up! 

SO. About 2 months ago, we met this guy while we were knocking doors in the sketchy trailer park in our area. He told us that he sister lived in the apartments next to where we used to live and that she was baptized a Mormon a few years ago and told us to go say hello to her. So we wrote it down and planned to see her later in the week. Wellllll, she kind of fell into the cracks and we forgot about her. Then one month ago, we were driving in that area and I remembered that we were told to go visit that guy's sister and I felt really prompted to go knock her door. So we did! She answered the door and just kind of starred at us for a minute and then let us in. Her name is Melanie, by the way.. I'm not a very good storyteller. Oh well. Life goes on. SO. We talked to her for a little bit and before we left she said, "You guys always show up right when I need you. How did you know to come today? You must be here for some reason.. I guess God is trying to tell me something." And then we left! We started visiting her 2 times a week and learned that she had moved into the ward a year ago, but that she couldn't come to church because she had to work every Sunday. Her husband is from Columbia and is working on getting citizenship here, so they are tight on money and need all they can get. She expressed that she wanted a new job so that she could come to church, but she couldn't seem to find anything. Sooooo, we promised her that if she would read the Book of Mormon and pray for miracles that she would get them. She said she would, but for the first two weeks she kept forgetting and never read or prayed.. 

About two weeks into us meeting with her, she rescued a baby bird from her back yard and started taking care of it. It lived in her bathroom and she, her husband, and her 14 year old daughter LOVED this little bird. We helped her feed it worms (which is so disgusting, in case you were wondering) and watched him grow every week. They tried to release him once he was flying and healthy, but he never left. The little bird loved his people and the people loved the little bird. 

Okay, this is where the story gets good. So this week I was on an exchange in a different area and when I got home Sister Paongo told me this HILARIOUS story about how she and the sister she was with for the day found and rescued this baby bird from a vicious little boy and a dog. They put the bird in a box and carried it around all day because they didn't know what to do with it.. When they got home for the night, our neighbors were outside and they showed them the baby bird. They said they wanted to keep it, so they gave them the box and the problem was solved! 

The next morning, our neighbor boy showed up at the door with the bird in the box and said he changed his mind and that he didn't actually want to take care of it. Sooooo, now here we are, sitting in our apartment with a baby bird in a box. We didn't have anything to feed it and he was not looking too hot after his traumatic near-death experience the day before.. AND THEN WE REMEMBERED MELANIE AND HER BABY BIRD. We called her and told her what the deal was and she said to come right over!

We showed up on her doorstep with a bird in a box and she looked at it and almost burst into tears when she saw it. It turns out her little bird, Puffin, had died from a neck problem 2 days earlier and she and her family were SO sad about it. The bird we brought was the same exact kind and she couldn't believe it. She took it in and fed it and nursed its hurt wing, and then she told us that this little bird we brought was a miracle. She had begun reading her scriptures and praying a few days earlier and this was the first blessing the Lord had given her for it. She said, "You promised me that if I read and prayed that the Lord would take care of me. Now I believe you." 

Then, later that day she found a job offer for exactly what she wanted. The job doesn't require her to work on Sundays, so she promised God that if she got the job she would go to church every week. Wellll, two days after she applied for the job, she called to tell us that she got the job and that she would see us at church on Sunday. Melanie and her family have been drowning in blessings this week and it has been so amazing to watch. 

SO. WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THIS MASSIVELY LONG STORY I HAVE JUST TOLD? 

1) The Lord works in mysterious ways. The Lord somehow guided us to Melanie's brother, which led us to her when she most needed us. The Lord let her family take care of a baby bird that they grew to love and then also allowed it to die. My companion somehow acquired a baby bird and brought it home, and then the Lord told us to bring it to Melanie, who learned a great lesson about the Lord and His promises. 

2) Our Heavenly Father is SO aware of us. He knows what we need and he knows how we will best learn (in this case, through baby birds). He knows what makes us happy and will bless us with those things if we will be obedient to His commandments. 

3) THE LORD KEEPS HIS PROMISES. He commands, we obey, He blesses. That's how it works, folks. Simple as that.

4) Listening to the Spirit is SO important. This story wouldn't have happened had we and Melanie not listened to the Spirit.

5) The Lord loves us and will not leave us hanging. Melanie was is a rough spot when we found her, but the Lord stepped in and took care of her. Its like President Uchtdorf's talk about how the Good Shepherd rescues simply because he loves us. 

ANYWAY. This ended up being forever and a half long... Oops. Well, if you get anything from this, just know that I know our Heavenly Father lives, loves us, and will rescue us when we need rescuing! I love my mission and I love learning! Have a happy week, friends!

Love, 

Sister Harshaw

this is Sister Harshaw's mom...we just happened to have 3 baby birds hatch the same week that Kelsie was having her bird miracles happen:).  I didn't get any pics from Kelsie this week, so here are the babies that we had here in Texas:)

Many random wonderful things!!!

June 6, 2016--Mike the Headless Chicken and other Fruita things

Hello, loved ones! How is everyone doing this fine and dandy day?? 

This week has been so great! I don't wanna take up everyone's lives, so I'm gunna go day by day and sum it up! (I'm supposed to use "refined and dignified" language when I email y'all, but that would make me sound like a boring robo missionary and I'm not in love with that idea. Oh well. I'll be refined and dignified when I'm old.) ((But probably not.)) 

Monday:

Monday was/is/always will be P-Day, which means it was/is/always will be a lovely day of the week for me. We email and grocery shop and clean the apartment (sometimes) and write a million and a half letters! Its always a fun time. (PS if you want to be my best friend you should write me letters. I love letters. Mail is such an exciting thing.) 

Tuesday:

I went to Vail for MLC (Mission Leadership Council) with President Murdock and all the other Sister Training Leaders and Zone Leaders! It was sooooooooooo so so great! They talked a lot about being bold with our commitments and follow ups, which is something I really needed to hear! I sure do love President and Sister Murdock. They leave at the end of this month and its going to be so sad! But it was a great meeting and I love getting to spend the day with a bunch of other sisters. (Side note, six of the eight STLs in the mission are sisters that I came out with! Talk about a bunch of dang good missionaries! I love learning from them!) 

Wednesday:

We had a lesson with Joan Robinson.. earlier in the day we had a mini zone meeting where one of the assistants and I talked about our mission goals for the months of June and July and how we plan to accomplish those goals. One of the plans is to invite everyone in our teaching pool to be baptized in the months of June or July! I was feeling super pumped up after MLC and our mini meeting and knew that we needed to be bold and just invite Joan to be baptized and put her on date for the 25th of June. She is ready and she just needs to get in the water... Sooooo we did just that!! We were bold and expressed our love and put her on date! I am soooo happy for her! And let me tell ya, folks.. if you want to bring the Spirit into any discussion, no matter what the subject may be, EXPRESS YOUR LOVE FOR THAT PERSON. It works wonders and the Spirit loves it. Joan is amazing and I am so excited to be able to continue working with her toward this new goal of being baptized on the 25th. 

Thursday:

We had district meeting, and then everybody and their dog cancelled on us. That was lame, but its just part of the job! Summer is a tough time for the work in this area because everyone is gone or farming or both. I don't know how they manage it, but they do. Speaking of farms, I think I need to have one when I grow up. If Fruita has done anything for me, it has convinced me that the farm life is the life to live. Whether or not I'll ever actually have one is questionable, but a girl can dream, right? Right. 

Friday:

Weekly Planning. Also commonly referred to as "Deathly Planning". Don't get me wrong, its a great thing and I don't mind doing it, but it takes basically the whole day and sitting on a cold metal chair gets realllll exhausting. 

Saturday:

Saturday was so great! I was on an exchange with a sister from Grand Junction and she came with me to Fruita! Her name is Sister Richards and I loveeeeee her! She is the only other sister that I've met that has heard of Anthropologie (my fave store ever) and as silly as it is, I'm pretty sure our entire friendship is based off our love for that place. Fashion and cute things bring girls together. It just happens. The Mike the Headless Chicken Festival was going on, so OF COURSE we had to go check it out. We went and wandered around and looked at all of the booths and then got gyros from a Greek food truck for our lunch hour. It was an hour well spent and I sure do love me some Fruita. We taught a few lessons and then did a bunch of service pulling weeds. My tan lines are coming along nicely. They're actually really terrible hahahah I'm basically wearing a watch 24-7. We also went to a nonmembers house and picked strawberries out of her garden. She let us keep everything we kept and my desire to be a farmer grew by about 500%.

Sunday:

The Sabbath Day is always a wonderful day, although for some reason its also the most exhausting day of the week. I sure love my mission, but I am sooooooo looking forward to taking fat Sunday naps again when I get home. Church was great and I am the Fruita 2nd ward's biggest fan. I love it here so much. 

ANYWAY. That ended up taking up more time than I thought. To sum it all up, it was a happy week and I am so happy to be here doing what I'm doing. Being a missionary is a fantastic thing and I highly recommend it. I hope you are all doing well and keeping cool! And in Texas' case, I hope you're all staying dry too! 

I love y'all a million!

Sister Harshaw 

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May 30,  2016-Service Galore!!

Hello! Warning, this is about to be the lamest email ever. It was a rather uneventful week, so I don't have a whole ton to report on! 

The best thing about this week was the lesson that we had with Derek Walker and his family! He really is getting back on the boat. He has been reading from the Book of Mormon every single day and I could feel a difference as soon as I stepped foot into his house. The Book of Mormon really is so so sooooo important!! It gives us spiritual protection and helps us avoid deception and all the bad mumbo jumbo that this world has to offer. Derek is making a ton of progress in overcoming his challenges just because he is reading daily! It really does work! Haha, I sound like an infomercial. Whatever. 

Other than that, everyone and their dog decided to go out of town this week. Its summer here in Fruita, so that means everyone is either too busy harvesting their fields or they're out of town. Which means that we did about a thousand pounds of service this week. Weeding, painting, planting gardens, ya know. The usual. OH, GOOD NEWS. The Mike the Headless Chicken Festival is this week!! Sister Paongo and I will definitely be sacrificing our lunch hour to go and check it out. Gotta love good ol' Fruita and their famous headless chicken. I've been saying it since I got here in December, but this is truly the weirdest place you will ever find. I love it.

Oh, and another thing. Sister Paongo and I sang in sacrament meeting yesterday. I had to sing a solo. It was the first and HOPEFULLY last time that I will ever have to do that. I am not a fan of public singing. Talking and playing flute or something like that, sure. Singing? No. No thank you. BUT HEY. Missions are all about expanding our horizons, right? Well consider my horizon EXPANDED. 

Anywayyyy, as I said, this is the lamest email I've sent in a while. But it'll have to do 'till next week! I love you all and I hope you're happy happy humans! Do something good today! (:

Love y'all,

Sister Harshaw 

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May 23, 2016-Fruita Forever!!!

Hello, hello!! 

So. We got transfer news.... and guess what...... I GET TO STAY IN FRUITA AGAINNNNN!!! This is my 5th transfer here and I could not be happier to stay!! And, for the first time since I was trained as a baby missionary, I get to keep my companion!! I'm so happy to be here and I really hope I get to stay as long as possible!

Want to hear the greatest thing ever? We had ward council yesterday and Bishop informed us that Derek Walker, the one that I have been working with since my first transfer here in Fruita, is making progress again!! He has been struggling with an addiction, but Bishop Howell has been in contact with him every single day for the past few weeks. They have been working hard and taking steps to get him back on the right path and he's actually been getting back to where he should be! Bishop challenged him to be baptized before the Fourth of July and he really thinks that he might be able to make it!! I am soooo happy about that! I love Derek and his family and nothing would make me happier than to see him get baptized. We'll see what the Lord has in store for us this transfer! 

I went and had my follow up x-ray on my foot and he said that it is looking exactly the way it should! Its healing well and I just have to be easy on it for another month and then I'll be good to go! It was actually kind of funny.. He was like, "Alright! You're looking great! Take it easy for another month, but you can go back to walking like a normal person. No more crutches for you!" but little does he know I've been a rebel and I didn't use them even once.. hehe oops. Shame on me. Oh well.

Yesterday the primary chorister was out of town so she asked Sister Paongo and I to do singing time in primary with the little people! It was soooo much fun! I love the little people so much. I feel like they teach me more than I teach them all the time! Fave quote from primary yesterday-

Primary teacher: "So, how did the church get restored??"

5 year old boy: "Construction workers."

hahahah anyway, I don't have all that much to report this week, but life is good and I love being a missionary! I get to stay in Fruita, Derek is making process, and I'm a happy camper! 

I hope that y'all have the best week ever! Stay happy!

Love, 

Sister Harshaw 

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May 16, 2016-I Heart the Murdocks!

Hello, hello!! 

This week has been a pretty good one for Sister Paongo and I! I really don't have a wholeeee ton to report on, but that's okay! 

My favorite part of the week was definitely the zone conference that we had! President and Sister Murdock go home at the beginning of July and I'm so bummed about that! I've really come to love them and I am so thankful for the opportunity I've had to work with and learn from them. They say that one of the biggest reasons that you're assigned to your specific mission is that you need to learn something from the mission president and wife serving there. I totally believe that! If I could sum up everything that they have taught me in one sentence, it would be this: The Book of Mormon will save your eternal life. They--especially Sister Murdock--have SUCH strong testimonies of that book. At the beginning of my mission they challenged us to read the whole entire thing in six weeks. That means reading 13 pages a day every day for 42 days straight. I am soooo thankful for that challenge! Over the past 10 months that book really has become my best pal. I am thankful for their contagious love of the Book of Mormon and for the testimony fof it that they have helped me develop.

As far as the work goes here in good 'ol Fruita, its still moving right along! Joan Robinson is still like, my favorite person to ever exist. She was supposed to come to church yesterday, but backed out last minute. That was a bummer, but I love her anyway! She has such a lovely spirit about her and I always feel like I'm more uplifted after teaching her that she is! 

This is the last week of our transfer! I'm coming up on six months of being in Fruita.. which means I very well could be transferred next week. BUT I SURE HOPE NOT. I love it here so much! Its a good thing that BYU is only 3 hours away from here! I can come visit anytime I want! Woooo! 

Oh also, an update on my foot! The mission nurse came to our zone conference and looked at my foot and she was like, "Wow! You've been doing such a good job! You've been icing it and elevating it and it looks perfect! Good job!" And then I told her that I've actually been the worst and that I haven't done any of that... then she said, "Well, then you have a miracle foot! It looks way better than it should at this point! Exact obedience really does bring miracles!" So there you have it, folks. Obedience brings blessings, but EXACT obedience brings miracles. 

Anyway, I hope that y'all are having the best week ever! ALSO. This week everyone keeps telling me that they're hopping on the Texas bandwagon and I couldn't be happier about it. Way to stick up for whats right, Texas!! I knew I came from the Promised Land!! (; 

Love y'all!!

Sister Harshaw 

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May 9, 2016-I Love My Mama!!

Hey, hi, hows it going??! I hope that everyone had a lovely Mother's Day and that everyone showed their mamas a little extra love and appreciation! I had such a fun time Skyping my family yesterday! Its kinda hard to believe that the next time I see their faces will be in the DFW airport and that I really and truly don't have all that much time left to give the Lord my all as a full time missionary! Time flies, and I don't know if I like it very much. Missions are such a blessing and its a privilege to be involved in this great work. 

This week has been wonderfulll. Joan Robinson--one of my favorite people ever--is making such amazing progress! She is now reading the Book of Mormon every single day. She sends us a text at the end of each day telling us what she has read, and she is always so excited to tell us. She also just gave up coffee, tea, and alcohol this week all on her own! We haven't even specifically talked about the Word of Wisdom, she just wanted to do it for herself! I am glad that she is being consistent with her reading because that is what will get her to baptism. She is an amazing woman and I feel so blessed to have been able to watch her progress so much!

My foot, for anyone who cares, is fine and dandy. I've still been bad and haven't used the crutches, but I really just don't need them! 

I just realized that I don't have all that much to write about. I think I'm getting to that point in my mission where I just kinda feel like I'm saying the same thing every single week. But oh well! 'Tis the way it goes when you do the same thing every single day! At least the things we do every day are amazing! 

This email will just have to be lame, but life on a mission is lovely, I'm happy, and all is well in the world! 

Have a super week!

Sister Harshaw 

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May 2, 2016-Midlife Crisis

Hello to my favorite people on the planet!

This week has been so wonderful! Know why? Because I'm a missionary! Duh!! 

So first things first, an update on rock-foot!! It looks to me that mom already gave it away, but I got my foot looked at on Tuesday and I have a 5th metatarsal base avulsion fracture, which is fancy doctor language for this:

A ligament in my foot pulled on my pinky toe bone and it cracked it in two places! How fun is that!! They doomed me to using crutches for one whole entire month, but I've kind of been the worst patient in the world..... I've only used them like once this week for half a second....... The crutches hurt my arms way more than my foot ever hurt! My foot actually doesn't hurt at all. If I step on it wrong it pinches a little bit, but other than that its like I didn't do anything to it. I know I should be better and use the crutches, but they are not my friend. Oh well.. tomorrow is a new day, right?? 

Also, I got my one cold for the year this week which was rather inconvenient, but oh well. I lost my voice and its still gone even though the cold is going away. Its kind of hard to do missionary work when your voice isn't cooperating. I'm over halfway through my mission, so I guess this and my foot is just part of the inevitable mis-mission crisis that everyone goes through. Its not too bad though. I think I'll live. (;  

In other news, we found the most fantastic new investigators this week! Actually, per usual, we didn't even find them. They were handed to us! Bishop Howell called on Friday and said he had a family for us to teach. Their names are Kyle, Kelsie (great name, great spelling), Dakota, and Cale Sena.  Kyle was baptized in the year 2000, but his records were lost somewhere between then and now, so he has to be rebaptized! His wife, Kelsie, has no religious background and is like a clean slate. Sometimes I really enjoy working with people who know nothing about God or religion because they absorb everything we say and they have no biased opinions. Their two sons are six and nine and ready to be baptized as well! Cale will have to wait two years to be baptized, but Dakota is nine and good to go! All three of them are on date for May 28th and we are feeling great about them. We started praying specifically this week for the ability to find FAMILIES that have been prepared to receive the gospel and the Lord answered our prayer about as quick as He could. I have a strong testimony that the Lord provides for us if we will do our part. A lot of times our own finding efforts don't bring forth many fruits, but if we will give the Lord all we've got I know 100% without a doubt that he will bless us for our efforts. 

I love this work and I love the gospel. Its such a privilege to be a missionary. (:

OH ALSO. I CAN'T WAIT TO SKYPE YOU PEOPLE IN T-6 DAYS!!! I can't believe its already time for that again! And its my last one for the mish! After this, the next time I see your lovely faces will be in the DFW airport! Whatttt!? Time is going really quickly and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it! 

Anyway, I love y'all and hope you have the best week in the world! 

Sister Harshaw  

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