Moved but not transferred...and The Big Comfy Couch

AUGUST 29, 2016

MOVED BUT NOT TRANSFERRED...

WOWWIE WOWZERS. What a week! This has seriously been the weirdest, craziest week of my whole entire mission thus far. 

SO. I haven't really mentioned it because I don't usually like to spill the beans on my companion's personal lives, but Sister O. has super severe depression, anxiety, and ADHD. We have been together for eight weeks, and in about week three of our companionship she started struggling really reallllyyyyy badly with it. She had been taking a medication for about a year that really helped and then for some reason it just stopped working. I've noticed that being on a mission takes whatever struggles a person has and amplifies them by about 50 million. Not sure how or why that works like that, but it does! Anyway, she has been progressively getting worse and worse throughout the weeks. We have been in constant contact with our mission president, his wife, and the mission nurse and a few weeks ago we went to a doctor in Denver and he changed her prescription, but it didn't do squat for her. This week it got so bad that Sister Johnson, the mission nurse, told us to pack our bags and go stay the night at the Van Wagoner's, the senior missionaries in our ward. We stayed there four nights this week and went with them to the mission office for three days. I actually kinda liked being in the mission office because they put me to work! I got to play secretary, car czar (that's what we call the guy that deals with the cars hehe), assistant to the president, travel coordinator, and even mission president! Playing secretary was my favorite because I got to answer the phone and sit at the big desk in the front of the mission office. Hence my dumb reference to The Office in my subject line.... hehe.. ANYWAY, we spent most of the week there so that Sister O. could rest and be around the mission staff. 

Long story short, President Gifford and Sister Johnson decided that it would be best for Sister O. to head home and get better there. It is really hard to get better in the mission field because there are no coping mechanisms and you're expected to go out and work, work, work. She was heartbroken about it at first, but quickly realized that it was what needed to happen. As soon as the Spirit confirmed to her that going home was the right thing to do, she said it felt like a weight had been lifted from her and for the first time in weeks she was happy. She went home on Saturday morning and as far as I can tell, she is doing well there. 

I am so grateful for the time that I was able to spend with Sister O. I learned SO much from her. I think the greatest thing I learned was charity. And not like the give to the poor and do good things kind of charity, but the pure love of Christ kind of charity. I learned how to see and feel the way Heavenly Father feels about other people. There were so many times when Sister O was so so so sad, and all I had to do was pray and ask Heavenly Father to help me feel His love for her. He always allowed me to see her from His perspective and He put the words in my mouth that helped me to pull her out of some pretty dark places. I know that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love each and every one of us and that we have such divine potential as His children. Being with Sister O has made me realize that Heavenly Father really does use us as instruments in His hands. I know that I was supposed to be her companion and that she was supposed to be mine. 

SO. With that being said, I'm sure you're all wondering what I'mmmmm doing now! WELL. There was another sister that had to go home for health problems on the same day as Sister O. I talked to President Gifford about it and we both felt that it would make sense for me go just go to her area. The Lakewood ward has a set of elders and sisters, and there just isn't enough work for two sets of missionaries to do there. The ward isn't supportive enough and we felt that I could be more effective in another area. Sooooo, we turned our investigators over to the elders and I am now in a different ward! I am serving in the Cornerstone Park ward in Littleton, Colorado, about 30 minutes from Lakewood, with none other thannnnnnnn *pause for effecttttttt* (appreciate my Despicable Me quote, please.) SISTER PAONGOOOO!!! We were together in Fruita for two transfers right before I became companions with Sister O! We are white-washing Cornerstone Park and this ward is already so amazing. I am excited to be here and to see what more the Lord has in store for me. 

My new address is this!

******Sister Kelsie Harshaw

7158 S Lincoln Way

Centennial, Co. 80122******

I hope that you are all having a happy week! Don't forget to smile big! 

Love, Sister Harshaw

OH. And since next week is Labor Day, I may or may not get to email on Monday. I'll most likely have to wait until Tuesday, so just a heads up!!

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AUGUST 15, 2016

THE BIG COMFY COUCH

Helloooooo to my family, friends, acquaintances, former companions, and everyone in between!  

SO. We're going to do a little backtracking before I start this email and reminisce on a story from the beginning of this transfer.

*Flashback to July 18, 2016*

"....Sister O. and I are completely reopening the area we are serving it, so we had noooooo one in our teaching pool when we arrived. On Sunday of last week we decided to fast for miracles in our area and to get the ball rolling. On Monday, the day following our fast, we went to our bishop's house to try to meet him since he and his family had been out of town until that day. We knocked on the door and no one answered, so we went to get back in the car to go to our next appointment. While I was putting my things in the car I noticed a man and a woman across the street struggling to get a couch through their front door, and the Spirit basically yelled at me and told me to offer to help. In my head I was like, "Pshh, silly Spirit! I can't lift that couch into their house! I'm a scrawny weakling, and you know that." But the Spirit insisted that I offer my help anyway. I opened my mouth and asked if they needed any help and she said, "No, I wouldn't want you ladies to get hurt!", and they went back to attempting to shove the over-stuffed couch through the teeny little door frame. We watched for a second and then I said, "Are you sure? Do you at least want an extra hand or two?" She looked at her husband and then back at me and said, out of breath, "Ummm.. yes, please." We went to help, but couldn't contribute much. Turns out you have to have some upper-body strength to lift a couch, and I'm lacking in that department. Sharmin, the lady, told her husband, Scott, to go get more help, so he went to get their neighbor and we talked while they lifted the couch into the house like it was no big deal. She told us that she talked to missionaries about a year ago and that she wanted them to come back, but they never did. I said, "Well, we'll come back!" and to my surprise she said, "Will you please??" She then told us that she and her husband have been looking for a new religion after a negative experience they had with another church and that her 10 year old son is lost and needs the Lord in his life. She sounded so desperate and both she and her husband were excited to have us come back........" 

Well, friends.. This week I sat on the massive comfy couch that I attempted to move into Scott and Sharmin Kanipe's house almost 5 weeks ago as Sister O. and I taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have been trying to meet with them for the past several weeks, but family emergencies kept coming up and they had to keep cancelling. Each time Sharmin called to tell us she had to cancel, she sounded so sad and told us over and over again that she wanted us to come so badly. WELL. Little did we or she know, in those weeks of trial for their family, the Lord was just preparing them further to receive the restored gospel. I HAVE NEVER TAUGHT A FAMILY AS PREPARED AS THE KANIPE FAMILY IN MY WHOLE ENTIRE MISSION. Scott, the father, was raised Catholic and has fallen away in recent years due to some inconsistencies he found between their teachings and the teachings of the Bible. Sharmin's family was mixed, with her dad being a Roman Catholic and her mom being a member of the Lutheran church. They have a son, Kaden, that is almost 11 and they want so badly to raise him with a belief in God and Jesus Christ. Scott's father was just diagnosed with brain and lung cancer from smoking, and he now wants to quit smoking himself. Sharmin expressed to us that she feels a void in her life that she just wants to fill. Kaden lovessss learning about Jesus. THEY ARE PREPARED BEYONE BELIEF, Y'ALL. We started our lesson by singing "I am a Child of God" and the Spirit practically flooded their small home. It was one of the most beautiful and Spirit-filled lessons that the Lord has ever helped me teach. After teaching through the First Vision, Sharmin stopped us and said, with tears in her eyes, "I feel like a weight has been lifted and all I want to do is cry.". And cry she did. 

This gospel is so unbelievably beautiful. To see it touch the hearts of other people is by far my favorite thing about my mission. We are going to be seeing the Kanipes again this week and we are going to invite them to be baptized on the 25th of September, so keep them in your prayers for us! They need the gospel in their lives so desperately!!! 

This is all yet another reminder to me that Heavenly Father's plan and timing is so perfect. All these weeks we thought Satan was intervening and making things more difficult for us as we tried to meet with this family. But it turns out Heavenly Father was just molding and shaping them and preparing them to hear the words the Spirit spoke to their hearts and minds as we taught them. The Lord sure does work in mysterious ways. 

I am so so so happy to be on my mission. I love it and I love spending all day every day serving my Heavenly Father's children in Lakewood. OH. Speaking of Lakewood! We got our transfer news and Sister O. and I get to stay together for yet another transfer!! I'm so happy!!! 

I love y'all sooooo much and I'm so thankful for all the prayers that are sent my way! I sure do feel them!!! Have a happy week and keep on keepin' on!

Love, Sister Harshaw 

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 

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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 

Leaving the Nest, ONE WHOLE YEAR, and more!!!

JUNE 20, 2016

Hello, hello! How goes it, friends?

This week was super sloowwwwwww here in little Fruita. The reasoning behind that is something called Country Jam...... its a HUGE country music festival that they hold out in the middle of a random field in the middle of nowhere Mack, Colorado. It lasts four days and everyone and their dog goes. People from all over the place bring their campers and set them up in this massive field and then they go crazy and listen to music! It seriously looked like a whole 'nother town that popped up in the desert overnight. And its not just some dinky little music festival. Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, and Carrie Underwood were just of the few people who joined us in Mack. It was actually pretty fun for us to watch. There were more people in our area than I have ever seen before and we could hear the music while we were out working! I'm not sure who decided that a four-day music festival in Mack, Colorado would be a good idea, but props to them for giving us an entertaining week! (Seriously though, y'all should look it up. Its kind of hilarious.)

I really don't have a ton to report on this week! We taught Joan Robinson with President Murdock and it went pretty well! She is doing well and I love her to death. President and Sister Murdock leave in just two weeks and its going to be so sad to see them go! Our new president and his wife, President and Sister Gifford, get here on Saturday this week, but I probably won't meet them for about a month. Unlessssss I get transferred over the mountain in a few weeks.. which President told me is highly likely :( I've been out for almost a whole year and I haven't left the Grand Valley yet, so it'll be quite the move! I'm actually pretty excited about it though. I quite like change.

Anyway, this is kind of a lame email, but oh well! Y'all love me anyway! Hope everyone is having a happy happy week and keeping cool! OH. Side note.. I am SO happy that summer is here. Its like 95 degrees every day and the people here are dying. Meanwhile I'm dying of HAPPINESS. I LOVE SUMMERRRRR!

I love y'all!

Sister Harshaw

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JUNE 27, 2016

Howdy, loved ones!!

So to start off, let's talk about swamp coolers. Has anyone ever heard of one of those before? No? Good. Because they are the most ridiculous things that have ever existed. When I got here last summer I walked into someone's house and heard this terrible loud noise. I asked what it was, and we had an exchange that went something like this:

"What is that noise??"
"Oh, that's just the swamp cooler."
"The what..?"
"The swamp cooler!"
"Swamp.. cooler..???"
"Yes, the swamp cooler!"
"........Do you have a swamp in here, orrrrrr..."

And then the lady explained to me that a swamp cooler is what they use in this valley to cool their houses down. It still made no sense to me, even though we ended up having to use one in our own apartment every night. Then it became winter and I forgot all about the stinky swamp coolers.

BUT NOW ITS SUMMER AGAIN. So two weeks or so ago we went to turn on our swamp cooler because our apartment was getting hotttt, and it blew out nothing but hot air. Its supposed to like.. blow cold moisture into the air to cool it down because its so dry here. So we called the apartment manager this week and told him it wasn't working and he sent a guy out to fix it while we were gone for the day. We came back and it was working well and we were happy campers untilllllllll, the maintenance guy knocked on our door at 9:45 to tell us he was working on the roof to fix it because it started leaking into our upstairs neighbor's apartment. We then went into our bedroom to discover a GIANT POOL OF WATER in our closet.... right underneath all of my soaking clothing. The dirty swamp cooler water leaked allllllll over all of my clothes! Lame, right?? Luckily, we have some super stellar ward members and Sister Kinder, the ward mission leader's wife, took allllll of my clothes and washed them for me.

The moral of the story is that swamp coolers make no sense and they are lame and loud and they make your apartment super humid and freezing cold cuz you can't control the temperature (or maybe you can but I have no idea how lol) and Colorado is weird and I'm going to live in Texas forever where they have air conditioning. Basically Texas > Colorado. Hehe don't worry though, Colorado. I love you too. Just not as much as Texas (;

Anyway, that was a really lame story that I decided to tell because otherwise we had a very uneventful week! Everyone is still out of town or harvesting in the fields. We did find some great new investigators, but we won't be able to teach them until next week... because they are out of town. hahahah geez louise, its like everyone wants to go out and have fun or something!!! So rude! (;

This is probably my last full week in Fruita :( With that being said, if you're going to send mail send it today or send it to the mission office!

Oh! And President and Sister Murdock go home this week! So sad! But President and Sister Gifford are here and I am excited to get to meet them and work with them and learn from them for the last few months of my mission! Yay learning!!

Andddd another thing! I'm not entirely sure how emailing will work next week. Because it will be the 4th of July and the library will be closed and the next day is transfers... Sooooo I will probably either email on Saturday or bright and early Tuesday morning before transfers. But likely not Monday. Just a heads up!

Anyway, I love you all and hope you're having a happy happy week! Be good and make someone smile!

Love,
Sister Harshaw

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JULY 5, 2016

Well, ladies and gentlemen..... This is it!!! I am leaving the nest!! I am being TRANSFERRED. I'm going..... far far away to Judea's plains!!! Lol I am so lame it hurts. Oh well. I'm going over the mountain to Lakewood, Colorado! It is close to Denver and holy moly it is going to be so different. I will be white-washing the area, which means I'm reopening it after it has been closed for a while. There were elders and sisters in the area a little while ago, but they took sisters out and left some elders there. But they worked in the office, so they did like, no work. Whichhhh means I'll be starting from scratch. Its going to be so fun!!!! My new companion will be Sister Oswald and I have never met her. I think she is pretty new to the mission! Anddddd I have been released as a Sister Training Leader for the time being! They wanted me to reopen the area since I'm now one of the "more experienced sisters" (lol I still feel like a baby), but there are already two STLs over there and they can't have another. One of them has only been an STL for one transfer and one goes home after this transfer, so he (one of the APs) said I'll likely be recalled when they leave. Which I'm glad about. Cuz I really love that calling (: Oh, and President Gifford is here! He called to tell us transfer news, so I've heard his voice and I know he is real!!! Hopefully I'll get to meet him in real life pretty soon since I'll be so close to the mission home. SO YEAH. This transfer will be an exciting one! I leave in about an hour and a half to get on the "transfer train" that'll take me over the mountain.

I'm going to miss Fruita sooooo much though! Seven months is an awfully long time to get attached to people. I have learned SO much here and I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has allowed me to stay as long as I have. I hit my one year mark this week and I've spent a majority of my mission in this one area, so I think it'll probably hold a special place in my heart for like, ever. I'm gunna miss the country and the farmers and the gardens and picking fruit off of random wild trees and feeding cows and getting muddy and the kind people and farm-fresh eggs and alllllll of it. I love it here so much.

Yesterday we went and spent my last day in Fruita in the most awesome way possible! A member took us up on the Colorado National Monument and it was BEAUTIFUL. I've been kicking myself in the pants since we went up yesterday for not going up there earlier. Its basically just a whole bunch of canyons and river and pretty scenes. Independence Monument is this super cool freestanding cliff thing and the search and rescue team climbed up it and raised a flag from the top, so it was super patriotic and majestic and whatnot. We hiked around and drove the 20 miles through the whole thing. It was a funnnn day. Sometimes its nice to not email on Mondays cuz it gives us more time to do fun things like that. (:

Anyway, I am excited to see what Heavenly Father has in store for me in Lakewood! It is going to be quite the week, so hopefully I have lots to report on next week! I hope that y'all are having a happy week and that you had a happy happy Fourth! Oh, and we had a great Fourth, by the way. We had to be in by 9:00, but we could see the fireworks they launched from the mountain perfectly from our apartment parking lot. (:

I love y'all!!
Sister Harshaw

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JULY 11, 2016

Helloooooo, from Lakewood, Colorado!! This has been quite the week and I have loved every minute of it!

First of all, I have a fantastic new companion. Her name is Sister Oswald, and she is HILARIOUS. She has been out for three months and just finished her training, so she still has the "greenie fire" and I'm so glad she does. She is excited to be here and is already such a good missionary. She is super quirky and fun! She only has one eye (true story-lost her vision in her right eye when she was two), but totally rocks it! I'm excited to be her companion and to learn from her for the next five weeks!

Next, LAKEWOOD IS A WHOLE NEW WORLD TO ME. Its awesome!!! Fruita was all country and the houses were a mile apart and there was one stoplight in my whole area.... Lakewood on the other hand, is quite the opposite. We are right outside of Denver and the traffic is NUTS and there are people everywhere!! Like, EVERYWHERE. There are so many opportunities to talk to people and share the gospel and to serve. I'm loving it already.

Its really fun to be whitewashing the area too. The elders who were here before us literally left us with nothing, so we are starting from scratch! We have spent most of the week going to member's homes and asking for referrals and then going out and contacting them. We have already met so many people! They aren't quite as friendly as the folks on the Western Slope, but its a new challenge and it is so fun to learn how to handle these people.

The ward is hilarious. They call it a "Nearly Dead and Newlywed" ward. The people are all either SUPER old or SUPER young newlywed couples! There is noooooooo in-between. There is one active young woman and the young men's program doesn't even exist, so that's a different dynamic for sure. We live in a member's house in the basement, which is AWESOME. The lady we live with is named Mary Grebe and she is 97 years old and she is certifiably the cutest old lady to ever exist. She gets up every morning at 7:00 and goes into the kitchen and makes herself some oatmeal, then she prays veryyyyy audibly over her breakfast and for her family, and then she listens to general conference. Her son and his wife live across the street and come check on her every day. She just left with her family the other day to go to a cabin in Montana for a month, so now we have the house all to ourselves! Its so nice!

OH. My new address is this!

Sister Kelsie Harshaw
2175 S Estes St.
Lakewood, Co. 80227

Mother, pretty please share this with all of my people as soon as you cannnn (:

We also got to meet our new mission president and his wife, whom I love already!! The Giffords are great and they are going to do great things for this mission. I'm glad that I get to learn from them for the last 6ish months of my mission! They are from Rexburg, Idaho, where he was the dean of economics at BYU-I. Sister Gifford was a 2nd grade school teacher and is just as sweet and spunky as can be. They're super young too! They're in like.. their late 40s-early 50s. They have three sons and the youngest came with them to finish his senior year of high school. Its going to be so fun to have them here. (:

Anywayyy, thats the scoop on my life at the moment! Hopefully this week we'll find people to teach and to bring into the gospel! There sure are a lot of people who need it here!

I love y'all and hope you're having a happy week!!

Sister Harshaw

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JULY 18, 2016

Hello, loved ones! How is everybody's summer coming along? Hopefully they are as lovely as can be!!

SO. Story time. Sister Oswald and I are completely reopening the area we are serving it, so we had noooooo one in our teaching pool when we arrived. On Sunday of last week we decided to fast for miracles in our area and to get the ball rolling. On Monday, the day following our fast, we went to our bishop's house to try to meet him since he and his family had been out of town until that day. We knocked on the door and no one answered, so we went to get back in the car to go to our next appointment. While I was putting my things in the car I noticed a man and a woman across the street struggling to get a couch through their front door, and the Spirit basically yelled at me and told me to offer to help. In my head I was like, "Pshh, silly Spirit! I can't lift that couch into their house! I'm a scrawny weakling, and you know that." But the Spirit insisted that I offer my help anyway. I opened my mouth and asked if they needed any help and she said, "No, I wouldn't want you ladies to get hurt!", and they went back to attempting to shove the over-stuffed couch through the teeny little door frame. We watched for a second and then I said, "Are you sure? Do you at least want an extra hand or two?" She looked at her husband and then back at me and said, out of breath, "Ummm.. yes, please." We went to help, but couldn't contribute much. Turns out you have to have some upper-body strength to lift a couch, and I'm lacking in that department. Sharmin, the lady, told her husband, Scott, to go get more help, so he went to get their neighbor and we talked while they lifted the couch into the house like it was no big deal. She told us that she talked to missionaries about a year ago and that she wanted them to come back, but they never did. I said, "Well, we'll come back!" and to my surprise she said, "Will you please??" She then told us that she and her husband have been looking for a new religion after a negative experience they had with another church and that her 10 year old son is lost and needs the Lord in his life. She sounded so desperate and both she and her husband were excited to have us come back. We'll be meeting with them on Wednesday and I'm super excited to see how things go with them! That experience just added to my testimony that if we are being exactly obedient and if we listen to the spirit that the Lord will guide us to the people who are looking for the gospel. We have been praying specifically for the Lord to lead us to FAMILIES that have been prepared, and that they too will be led to us. It is nooooo coincidence that Scott and Sharmin Kanipe decided to rearrange their living room right as we arrived in the bishop's neighborhood, and that Bishop wasn't home. There is no such thing as a coincidence in the Lord's eyes. In heaven, everyone is right on time.

I love this work and I love having the opportunity to share my secret to happiness with everyone that passes my by. The gospel is such a blessing in my life and I am soooooo grateful to have been born into it. I hope that everyone is having a wonderful week! OH. Also. I hit my one year mark this week! I can't believe how fast time is going.. I still feel like a baby missionary, but I'm all old and "experienced" now. Its a strange thing..

ANYWAY. Have a happy week and I'll talk to y'all next time!! (:

Love,
Sister Harshaw

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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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