Zero to One Hundred in 7 days!!

SO. Miracles are happening and things are picking up speed in Lakewood! Its so great! First things first.. 

There was this guy in our teaching pool (the only person, actually) when we got here named Ricardo. We read through his teaching record and saw that he has made almost no progress since he started being taught, so we asked the ward about him and decided we would probably drop him after we taught one chaotic and seemingly pointless lesson. He started being taught in January, has been invited three times to be baptized, and has said no every single time. He is living with his girlfriend, who just so happens to be a member of the ward. She is active, aside from the fact that she isn't obeying certain commandments.. ANYWAY. When we taught him a second time, we realized that he had soooo many unanswered questions and that he had not been taught according to his needs by previous missionaries. The most pressing questions he had were about the temple, considering his girlfriend, Shirley, wants to be sealed in the temple. He wants to marry Shirley, she wants a temple marriage, and alllll of his questions about the temple have been ignored in order to teach the lessons in the order they're supposed to be taught. BUT THAT ISN'T HOW MISSIONARY WORK WORKS, Y'ALL. One of the most important things that I have learned on my mission is that if you want to teach a person the gospel, you have to meet their needs first. Whether those needs be mental, emotional, doctrinal, or temporal, YOU HAVE TO MEET THEIR NEEDS IF YOU WANT THEM TO LISTEN!! So we made the decision to teach Ricardo all about the temple and to decide after if we should continue teaching him. During our lesson, he listened intently, had questions, and we were able to resolve some concerns that he had. According to his teaching record, lessons with him are usually hectic and unorganized with little to no progress following them. BUT THIS LESSON WAS SO GOOD! It was quite the opposite! We decided to continue teaching him, and had another lesson with him this week. Sister O. and I planned to teach him the Plan of Salvation, putting an emphasis on the blessings that come from following God's plan. Our investigators are all like little kids.. they need incentive if they're going to act. That'e what promising blessings does for them. It gives them something to work toward. The lesson that we had with Ricardo was probablyyyyy the best, most powerful and Spirit-filled lesson that I have taught on my whole mission. The promise that the Lord will fill our mouths is real and it was fulfilled on Friday night. He is a stubborn old man, but I'm a stubborn little girl and with the help of the Spirit we put Ricardo on date to be baptized on the 20th of this month!!! Once the Spirit touched his heart and his needs were met, he understood and could not deny the confirmation that he needed to be baptized. We taught him about the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity, which he has no problem with. He doesn't struggle with anything in the Word of Wisdom and was already planning on asking the Bishop to marry he and Shirley. THINGS ARE HAPPENING IN LAKEWOOD, MY FRIENDS. THINGS ARE HAPPENING. 

With that being said, keep Ricardo in your prayers!! He needs all of the help he can to resist the temptations of the adversary. Anyway, I love you people a lot! I am loving my mission and everyone that is a part of it. Keep on keepin' on and be happy!! 

Love, 

Sister Harshaw 

I have a Release Date!!!!

August 1, 2016

Howdy, y'all! This email is probably going to end up being pretty lame. I don't have a whole ton to report on, but I'll make do with what I've got! Also, our new mission president, President Gifford, is super awesome and not only allows, but actually encourages us to do fun things with other missionaries! This morning we went on a hike with the Spanish district in our zone and saw some sights and all the fun things. That's why I'm emailing so late! 

I talked to President Gifford this week and I officially have a release date, WHICH IS SO WEIRD. I seriously feel like I just got here. I'm going to be coming home on January 2, 2017. That is five months from tomorrow! What the heck! I only have three transfers left.. time on a mission is a precious thing and they aren't kidding when they say it goes fast. 

We're still working on the ward and helping them become more missionary minded. There are a few things they are doing that shouldn't be happening, so President Gifford is going to talk to our stake president and hopefully that will get things going in our ward. If things don't get worked out within the next little while, I wouldn't be super surprised if they pull missionaries out of the ward completely. We just aren't being utilized the way we should be and we could be so much more effective in other places. Its a sad thing, for sure! We're spending all of our time out trying to find people to teach instead of actually teaching people, and that is a total bummer. BUT. I know that the Lord is going to provide and that Sister O. and I were sent to this area for a reason! I'm determined to find that reason, no matter how great or small it may be! 

Anyway, like I said. Kind of a lame email. We need people to teach, so keep us in your prayers if you want more exciting emails from me! (; 

I love y'all and hope that you have a super happy week! 

Love, 

Sister Harshaw 

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

July 25, 2016

Hello, friends! Another week, another dollar! I've had previous companions that would tell me time moves as fast as the cars on the street on the Metro side of the mission, and I didn't believe them until I got here! Time is going so fast and it's actually kinda weirding me out. I can't be a missionary forever, so I've gotta make the most of the time that I have left!! 

Things have been moving along slooooowly but surely here in Lakewood. Our biggest struggle in this area is working with the ward. The ward council meets together every Thursday evening at 9 pm via a video app on their phones, totally excluding us from the meeting. We have asked if its possible for them to meet on Sunday, which it is, but it is more "convenient" for all of them to do it on Thursday evenings. In Fruita every single investigator that we were teaching came to us through the ward council. The members were very missionary-minded and gave us people to teach on a regular basis. I know that we are here to help the members with their missionary work, but in Lakewood it seems that we are doing the missionary work in behalf of the ward! And that is totally bogus! They contribute almost nothing to our finding or teaching. We are brainstorming and trying to come up with ways to get the members more involved in their work, cuz if anything is going to happen, they need to step up their game a little! But hey! That's why we're here. To help the members get excited about finding people to teach and helping them bring more people into their congregation. 

Enough of that rant though! Story time! Yesterday we went to try to meet a less active woman named Shirley Sedalnick. We've tried her several times already, but felt impressed to try her one more time yesterday evening. We knocked on her door and when she opened it, she got the biggest smile on her face and said, "I can't believe that you are here! I was just thinking about you guys earlier!" To which I replied, "Well that seems to be how it works! You think about missionaries and pretty soon they'll show up on your doorstep! It's like Amazon, but better!" We had a good talk and got to know her a little and shared a spiritual thought. She is a single woman living all by herself in a big house and was feeling so lonely yesterday. When we left, she gave us big hugs and said, "Thank you for listening to me. Thank you for listening to the Spirit." 

And that, folks, is what this is all about. This whole mission thing, this whole growing thing, this whole life thing. Its all about learning to listen to the still, small voice of the Spirit. The Holy Ghost really is the most precious gift we've been given as members of this wonderful church, and I really and truly believe that one of the most important things we can learn in life is how to receive, recognize, and respond to the promptings of the Spirit. In the not-exactly-accurate-but-kind-of-close words of Elder Bednar, "Don't worry about where the thoughts or feelings come from. Just be a good boy or a good girl and do good things. You'll realize soon enough that those thoughts and feelings came from the Holy Ghost more often than not." 

I love this gospel and I love being a missionary. I love my Heavenly Father and I love my Savior and I sure as heck love my life. 

Have a happy week, y'all! Be good and do good! 

Love, 

Sister Harshaw