working hard, lots of success and it's heating up

Monday November 26, 2012

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That makes me sooo happy to hear about Lincoln and Tyler!!!  They are going to be such great missionaries!!!

Man there are soo many changes going on back home its nuts!!!! But oh well that’s how life is. 

 

A little about my life as of late. Well I have a new companion and he is ELDER C! Way cool and he’s from CHILE and so we’re having a blast just working away. I love him and he’s just a ball of energy and full of desire to work his butt off. I love him soo much and I’m super happy that he is here with me. I live with 3 Latinos and those 3 Latinos are all Chileans!!!!  I love them all and I actually love speaking Spanish more than English so it makes me a super happy camper!!

 

So besides that the Lord continues to bless us everyday day and every week and just all the time!!! I know that he is watching over us as we do his work and well he blessed us with another beautiful baptism where we were able to complete a family. C the father of D who was just baptized about 3 weeks ago entered into the waters of baptisms and man it was so special!!! And then the other person that was baptized is named R and guess what she is Chilean tambien!!! But it has been a great week and I love the work soo much!

 

Things keep going well as we keep working hard. I have no doubt in my mind that God exists and loves every single one of us because we are his children. I’m grateful for the testimony I have and that I can share it with those around me every day. It sure is a blessing to me to be able to do that. Anyway that’s about all the news that I have for now but I’ll let you know what’s up next week!!!

 

I LOVE YOU ALL

 

Elder Harker

 

Monday December 3, 2012

 

Wad up Fam ???

 

Well, well ,well, sounds like you are a busy folk. It makes me super happy to hear that all is well back in the good ol winter wonderland. Sounds like it’s pretty cool over there and well we are in the oven over here and summer hasn’t even started yet.  It’s been about 35 on average these days and so we are working hard and well drinking lots of water!!

 

But it’s all just dandy my family and well I love the work more than anything in the world!!! We had the baptism of G this week and man she is a way cool girl and going to be a super fiel miembro de la iglesia. She has changed her life so much and it was soo amazing to see her enter the waters of baptism. It’s the best thing in the world to see when children of God make covenants with their Father. What a blessing to be a part of that decision. 

 

Things are going well and we are seeing lots of success. The ward is doing good and one of our recent converts D is on fire!!! He just preaches the gospel to everyone and shares with them how he changed his life as he came from a pretty sketchy background. He was just called to be our new ward mission leader and i just know he’s going to be amazing and I’m excited to see the work we will be able to do together!!!

Well I don’t know what else to tell you. I just am having the time of my life although lots of times it’s hard and there are many difficulties the work goes on and it’s time to keep moving forward. About the Christmas call cause we got the email today. I don’t know how that day will be working out yet but I’ll let you know in the weeks to come when I will call and by what means. Until next week my beloved ones. Chau

Love Elder Harker

Monday December 3, 2012

 

Hey dad!!! 

 

So things are just wonderful here in Argentina and yup, so far we have been baptizing every week for the last while and it’s not that common, as the mission standard is about one per month. It is very possible to baptize more than one per month but the Lord has been blessing us tremendously!! About church, we have never had 30 investigators in church one Sunday but lately we have been having around 10 which is still a lot for the average missionary here. Lots of missionaries right now I think are having success if they are working hard, but I must say that I feel very blessed to be where I am and to be seeing such success in our ward.  When I first got here in the mission we baptized about 75 per month let’s say, and then we were going for about 100 and now we are averaging about 150 per month. But this month we are pushing to get 200 baptisms. The retention rate I don’t know the specific numbers, but it depends on the ward because we can’t always pass by the recent converts and so we have to manage our time well. It all depends on the ward really and the retention rate is not great but it’s improving.

 

So that’s what’s happening in the mission these days. But man I love the mission and it is such a great experience. We had some more success brought our way as G was baptized this weekend, and well hay qye trabajar y  ´hay que hacerlo, no hay excusas´

I love you

 

Elder Harker

 

Tuesday December 11, 2012

 

I hope you had a good one. Well all in all sounds like the world keeps moving on and well it’s great to hear, especially about all the things going on back home, you guys are the best ever!!! I have the best family in the world!! So I’m super happy that all went well with bball and the singing, and way to go mom out with the missionaries!! Also with activities and well all that stuff that you have been doing way to go!!!

 

As for me, well I’m tired but its good because we are working our butts off and literally because it is soo hot!!! Man I feel like I come home everyday like 10 pound slighter. ahhahah not actually but it’s hot, and I love it!!! This week we had the baptism of R, who is a man we have been teach for the last couple of weeks. Way chosen and just was so willing to keep all of the commitments we left with him and just a way good example of being willing to do the will of God. He’s a great man and it was super great to see him get baptized!!!

 

Another great thing that happened is that on Sunday we had a bunch of new people in church and we are working with all the family of E and R who were baptized recently and well they have a huge family. This next week E grandma is getting baptized and well she is a great great grandmother and so we are working with all her and her husband’s posterity and well they have a lot, plus they all live in our area!!!!!!  The work is great and we are seeing tons of fruits from the work we are doing here. 

 

Yesterday we had our Christmas conference and so that’s why I’m writing today, but man it was super fun although it killed me and I’m super tired from it. We didn’t sleep in 2 hours cause we had to get up at 2 am to travel to Cordoba and then we had the conference did some activities and played futbol and then travel back to Rio Cuarto and got home at like 2 am so it was tough but I loved it!!! We had a super great conference and well I got your package and it’s the 10th so I decided to open it instead of wait and thank you soo much!!! for the ties and the candy and the caramels all way delicious and just thanks!!!! So all is well from that and well we had a great day!!!! 

 

Apart from all that everything is normal and I just love it here. I’m excited for the Christmas season cause we are going to work way hard and just help soo many people!!! ahhh its amazing the Lord showers us with blessing and well I am grateful every day for that. I know this is the work of the Lord and this is the true church that teaches the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that he lives and that this is the time to remember the birth of our Lord and Saviour. I hope you have a great week. 

 

Lots of Love

Elder Harker

Hard work, bit by a scorpion and happy to be back to work!

Monday November 5, 2012

 

Dear Harker Family, 

 

A busy week and I am beat to death!!!!! aahhhhhh but it feels way good at the same time knowing that we worked hard and we had the blessings that come from it. We were blessed with another 4 baptisms this weekend and the matrimony we had last week was baptized and their family was completed. It was soo amazing and man I love all these people. They are just soo great and have a love for the gospel, it just fills my little soul with joy!!

We had a fun filled weekend with lots of stress cause even though they were baptized the mind goes crazy.  Now it’s time to relax a little bit but not too much. 

 

So this week tons has been happening and it’s sad cause I don’t have a lot of time to explain it all but we worked super hard and now my body is reacting with physical pain. Oh well things to deal with. But one cool story that I can tell you is that E the guy who was baptized. The husband told us yesterday that for years he has been telling his wife that when he turns 32 he’s going to change his life. Its way wired to hear to cause he turned 32 this year and the other baptism we had like 3 weeks ago D he also said that when he turned 40 he was going to change his life, and so look at that, within 3 weeks 2 people who said the exact same thing joined the church!!!! What milagros!!!!

Well I’m sorry but I gotta go, just so you know I’m happy and smiling, I’m working hard and I love you all soo much!!! Hope you have a gooder!!!

 

Love 

Elder Harker

 

Monday November 12, 2012

 

Hey Guys!!!!!!! 

 

Well let us start with the good news first, I got the package that you sent and I give many thanks for that!!!!! It was a nice surprise and was well needed, although I am not as big as I once was so the shorts are a little wide but oh well I’ll make due ahahahaha. So this week has been an interesting one and well I was able to work a little bit on those school essays too cause I had some extra time fall into my lap and that’s where the bad news comes in. 

 

I was bitten or stung or something by a scorpion!!!!!! Fun right? So there’s the news and so one day I woke up to a knee that was all swollen, red and burning hot. There is liquid underneath the skin of my knee and so I’ve just been having the week of my life. I went to the doctor and he gave me some antibiotics so I am taking those but unfortunately I have had to stay inside taking sweet care of my knee all this week. We tried to work at the beginning of the week and visit the people that were of most importance but it didn’t get any better and so then we had to take a little more time to rest so that it could start improving. By now it’s not too bad, it’s not all better though and so I still have to watch it and we’ll see what the doctor has to say tomorrow. Hopefully they won’t have to operate to take the liquid out but we’ll see what happens. All I have to say is don’t worry I’ll be fine. If I lose a leg while I’m here, it’s just a piece of me that I’ll leave with my mission. hahahaha jk I’ll be ok. It hasn’t been the funnest week for me. Luckily I have been able to read A LOT!!!!

 

This week we also had to travel to Cordoba because we had a special visit from Elder Jorge F Zeballos of the seventy come and tour the mission We had a special zone conference with him!!!!!! It was way awesome and the spirit was just so strong and so evident throughout the whole thing!!! I loved it. He talked a lot about love and how everything we do and learn is all about love. The work of God, the plan of salvation everything is based on love. The love God has for us and the love that we have for him. It was really great to listen to him and his wife speak as they delivered such inspiring messages. 

 

Anyway I don’t have a ton of time left, but that’s about what’s up with me nothing to new and nothing too exciting but don’t worry I’ll be fine and hopefully I have something great to tell you next week!!!! So anyway until then, I love you all soo much.

 

Elder Harker

Monday November 19, 2012

 

Hey Family!!!

 

Ok well this week has been a lot better than the last because I got to go out and work!!!!!!!!!

My knee was still infected a little but the work doesn’t stop for that. It’s gotten a lot better and still has to improve a little but I’m still taking antibiotics and taking care of it the most I can so things are good and hopefully by next week it will be all better!!

 

So anyway the news for this week. Let’s start with the news that a recent convert father was able to baptize his son this weekend!!! It was such a special experience and the spirit was sooo strong in that baptismal service. It was absolutely amazing and T (the son) after he was baptized just did even know what to do with the feelings he had and just started to cry. He is the son of D and A who have been baptized while I’ve been here and now we’ve been able to see the family be completed! Wow how blessed we have been with so many people coming in to the waters of baptism. It sure is an amazing time to be here and I love the mission and just the work!!! The blessings we have been receiving from the Lord have just been incredible!!!

 

In other news I don’t really know what to say. We had transfer this week and I’m staying here in Bimaco, and well we are just working super hard. I don’t really have a lot of time left but I just love it here. I’m happy for all the days I have to serve the Lord and well it’s time to use them to the best of my ability. Really I just love all that goes on here and the people are amazing and just I love them all. There are the tough times but all I know is that this church is true. This work is inspired from on high, and I know that Jesus is the Christ. I am here to help these people make covenants with their Heavenly Father and I want nothing more than to help those people do exactly that. I know that what I am doing right now is more important than anything else I could be doing in my life. And I know that every able young man needs to serve a mission. So for all those who are of age help them get to a point in life where they can go on a mission. It will change their life. It makes me soo happy to hear that Shane C and Lincoln have their papers in. 

So I am a happy boy and that’s about all I have to say for now. I love you all sooooo much and I give you all one big baptismal hug. 

 

Love Elder Harker

 

 

4 weeks worth of news...

Monday October 8, 2012

 

 

All right now, so sorry but I don’t have a lot of time to write so I’m gunna have to make this a fast one.  This week was bitter sweet because it was a pretty hard week all in all. We worked really hard and now I’m just beat but it was rather a trying time. We are struggling to have people progress so that they can be baptized. It’s been a fight to get new people to come to church. Our persistence has not been too bad, but most has been people that we’ve been teaching for a while and so were trying to find some new people that can come to church and be baptised soon.

 

Things will keep moving forward and it was a real treat to go to Conference and hear such amazing talks. Man I can’t even name one talk I loved more than others but 2 that really stood out to me was Elder Eyring in the Sunday morning and Elder Holland’s as well. The Elder Holland address is nothing I haven’t seen before and I’ll tell you what I mean in the future. But anyway they were both great talks and really inspiring. 

 

So things keep moving forward and life moves on. The road is rough and there are always going to be big bumps in it but we got to get over those and just plow on through. I hope you guys have a good week and I’ll write more next week. I love you all. 

 

Love 

Elder Harker

 

Monday October 15, 2012

 

Hey Fam Jam, 

What’s shak’in babies???

 

Oh man, this week was sure a blessing. I don’t even know where to start but man I just loved every minute of it!!!! So anyways the big news is that we had another baptism!!!! His name is D and oh my goodness, he’s so chosen and I know for sure that one day he will become a great leader in the church!! He was telling his wife who was recently baptized that when he turns 40 he’s going to change his life, he has been telling her that since they have been married so for like more than 15 years. And what do you know; he was baptized like a month after he turned 40!!!! jajajajaj What a tender mercy of the Lord. He sure is special and had his fair share of problems and thoughts but he was baptized al final and I had the opportunity to confirm him a member of the church and confer upon him el don del espiritu santo. That was amazing as the spirit just flows through you and gives you exactly the words that you need to say. I love when experiences like that happen and man it makes one feel worthy of the work we are doing. 

 

So anyway that was one of the many things that has happened this week. We also had 11 people in church and we have quite a few more people lined up for baptism this month and in November we are just going to baptize a ful cause we have tons of people preparing to make this important covenant con el señor. Everyday has its hardships but hey everyday gets better, and it gives us time to grow. So I would say that this week was pretty normal too, we ran into our fair share of crazy people, with lots of things to say to us, at the moment I can’t think of anything in specific, but hey I’ll hit you guys up with a story next week.

 

The weeks are flying by and there is so little time left. I just know it’s time to get to work and get those chosen sheep into the fold of God. There is one shepherd and he has one fold, so now is the time to shine, and now is the time to get the work done. I’m grateful for all that you guys do for me, for all the letters you write and the encouragement you give me. I love you all so much and well be talking next week. 

 

Love

 

Elder Harker

Monday October 22, 2012

 

Happy Mother’s Day!!!!! 

 

Just like last year Mother’s Day here in Argentina was yesterday and so I hope you had a good day yesterday. But besides that no other holidays as of late. 

 

Life is good and its great/sad to hear the temple open house has come to an end. 

I am super proud of all of you for being such great missionaries and that you have brightened the lives of so many people by only inviting them to the most sacred place on planet earth. It sure must have been some great experiences being in the temple for all that time working and serving and I’m glad to hear that my fam was a big part of that as I’m sure lots of other families. 

 

Well this week was a good one. We had tons of success and saw lots of people in the church. We also got a turno for a couple that we are going to marry this next Monday and so they will be baptized on Nov 3 and this weekend we are looking at 5 baptisms so the Lord is blessing us for all the work that we are doing. It’s so amazing as I’ve said before to see the change that people make in their lives as they learn and live the gospel. It’s been a busy week and one thing that happened yesterday is that D (baptized last week) received the priesthood and this weekend will baptize his son, and so things are moving along and the people are happy. There are the challenges but who cares. Things are moving forward and those challenges are small if you’re on the Lord’s side. Sure sometimes they are tough to overcome but you can overcome them. 

 

Me and Elder L are just working away and trying to do what the Lord wants us to do, and this week we put a goal to just invite every single person we talk to to baptism and it worked. We had lots of people in church and now like 30 people with baptismal dates. It’s been interesting and I know that not all of them are going to progress but it’s time to show our faith to the Lord and he will do the rest. 

 

So this week I had kind of a nightmare!!! Well one morning I woke up after having a terrible dream that in it I saw one of our recent converts smoking!!! It  was scary cause she had to quit smoking to get baptized, and anyway we had planned to pass by her that day so I told her about my dream and good news is that she is not smoking so it was a little funny in the end. But anyway it’s always good to check right. 

 

Anyway the time keeps going and there is little time left to do the work and so its pedal to the metal to save the children of God!!!

I love you all soo much!!! 

cya later

Love

Elder Harker

Monday October 29, 2012

 

Hey Family!!!!

 

How’s life treat’in ya??

Well things at home seem pretty dang good and now it sounds like your gunna be a little bit stress free! With all the pageant and the Temple dedication over now it’s time to relax and go to the temple and receive all the blessings that lay inside!!! So, I’m way happy that all went well and now that beautiful Temple is a greater blessing to the members of the church. 

 

So anyway this week for us has been quite a busy one!!!! The baptism went well after a long hard week of work!!! We had 5 children be baptized and they all had the support of their families and so now it’s time to work on them. But anyway all went well and we had to prep a lot of things for the baptismal service but in the end it all worked out just fine and it sure was a spiritual experience. The spirit was soo strong in the meeting even though we had some unplanned events added to the agenda. It was way funny cause as we were ending the meeting my phone rang in the middle of the last testimony and I was the one conducting the service. Then the lady who is a recent convert who was supposed to give the prayer gave like a half prayer half testimony with her eyes open and so it was really awkward so we ended with another Hermano giving the prayer. And then one of the interesting old ladies in the ward who was directing the music just got up after the prayer and shared how she felt so much joy in her heart that she wanted to sing There is Sunshine in my Soul today and so we sang that and man it was just a huge gong show. I’m sure the visitors were just like what is going on. I have to say it was really hard cause I was trying not to laugh as I was on the stand, but anyway it all worked out just fine and then the service ended with refreshments.

 

This morning we have more great news as a matrimony that we have been working with this last little while got married this morning!!! We just came from the wedding and so it was super special to see a family be formed and then they are getting baptized with their niece this weekend. So things are working out just dandy and the Lord is blessing us soo much as we keep working hard!!! Things are good here and there is still lots to do and lots to improve but it’s all a work in progress and so I’m excited to see how the next week turns out. 

 

I guess that’s about all the news I have for now but it’s been a good week with lots of learning experiences. Anyway I guess I’ll catch you later love ya tons!!!!

 

Love 

Elder Harker

 

 

Oct 1, 2012 - great week!

Monday Oct 1, 2012

 

Well this week was pretty busy!!

 

Sounds like you might have even worked harder than I did,  but hey that makes busy weeks for both of us. 

 

It’s always so great to hear about how the temple is doing and the experiences that you are having there. I’m sure it must be absolutely amazing to be in or around it almost every day. Man it makes me kinda jealous to hear about all of this cause one of the things I miss most about home is going to the temple and the spirit that one feels there. It’s so special and unique I love it!!!!!!

 

Well anyway this week we had a baptism!!! She is the sweetest most prepared woman ever!! She was baptized in 2 weeks and so she has been the miracle for us this month. It’s been really tough as Satan has been working very hard on our area. 3 of our baptisms fell through just like that and it was super tough to go through but the Lord will ALWAYS prevail and he blessed us with baptizing Maria I!!! So that was sure a tender mercy of the Lord and I’m so happy to see her a member of the church because she is ready to work. 

 

This week has been a great week of finding new people and me and Elder Lopez worked our butts off and found tons of people to teach and we put a fechas with just about half of them. We were machines and were just trying to become the challenging and testifying missionaries that the Lord wants us to be. There has been lots of miracles every day and for that I am thankful to the Lord. Now with all these people it’s time to just help them progress and grow closer to their Heavenly Father so that they can make the covenant of baptism with him. 

 

Well it’s an exciting time with many new and great things happening in the mission. I hope that you all have a great week and keep busy!!!

 

Love ya Tons!!

Elder Harker

 

Monday Sept 24, 2012

 

Hey Family!!!!

 

So things keep plugging along with all the labour that you guys are doing to help get the temple all ready for the open house. It sure must be exciting to see how it comes along and to be this involved even before the temple is ready to be shown. I’m sure with all the hard work that everything will get done in time and that it will be a breath of relief when everything is done. 

 

Its way cool to hear about the changes in the Bishopric, sounds like they are very good changes and I’m sure the ward will continue to grow and grow with those men working in the Lord’s work. New callings are always so exciting because you just know that the people are going to do very well in the places they are called.

 

Anyways things here are good, we have some baptisms coming up this next Saturday and the Lord sure has blessed us. We were supposed to have 2 this last Saturday but its kinda a long story but the short version is that they were 2 teenagers and their mom just dropped them off at their active uncles house one day and left them behind. we started teaching them and they were gunna get baptized until just this last Tuesday she came back and took them off to Mendoza, (another province) anyway it was super disappointing but with hard work the Lord blessed us with 2 other baptisms for this week. 

 

So things keep moving along as usual and the Lord always has his hand in the work but this week has sure been a toughie. A real faith tester and it has been long days that are hot with not much success. Just trying to find someone new, trying to find the people that are going to progress but it’s been a lot of working this week trying to do what the Lord wants us to do. I know that the blessings always come after the trials but sometimes it’s kind of hard to get through those trials. Anyway we kept going strong just trying to talk to everyone and anyone but not much luck. We live and we learn and I know next week will be better with the baptisms and all. 

 

So I’m looking forward to the future and I know things will work out. Prayer has come a long way this week and I know that for God to help us we first need to seek his help. So it’s tough sometimes but we just need to be humble and get on our knees and ask for a higher help. I know that he answers us and he will help us to the extent where we can still learn and grow. 

 

That’s about it for this week folks, I hope that you have a good one and keep working hard and I’ll let you know what’s up next week. 

 

Love ya lots

 

Elder Harker

Monday Sept 17, 2012

Monday Sept 17, 2012

Wow that’s way awesome mom, the Lord prepares us in such ways that we can’t even realize!!!! It’s amazing how he prompts us to do things. I’ve had a few experiences this week where I just knew I had to do things a certain way and great blessings came of it. For example we were walking down the street through kind of an intersection and down the road we were passing I saw a guy washing his car. I thought I should go talk to that guy, he seems like a good contact and anyway I just felt I should. So we back track about half a block and went to go talk to him and turns out he’s talked with missionaries before and we set up a time to go back and visit him. He seems way cool and definitely is chosen to hear the gospel at this time.

Hey Familia!!!!!!!

 

So what’s up? Well it sounds like a lot has been up lately and things keep going on, with Stake Conference and the temple dedication, you’ve all had your plate really full and you keep marching forward as saints of God. I really enjoy hearing all of the experiences that you guys are having back home and it’s great to see that we are in this work together!!

 

So anyways it’s been a pretty faith testing week, it hasn’t been the best week overall but I know that the Lord has been watching over us every day. We have seen many miracles throughout the week be it big or small, the tender mercies of the Lord we have seen. It’s always amazing to just feel that strong impression or strong feeling that the spirit is with you and has helped you work in a way that’s not normal to complete the purposes of the Lord, and also to see that the hand of the Lord is always present in our lives. Man I love to see that and throughout this week I’ve recognized it more. For example the story I shared with mom about the guy washing his car which you can put on the blog if you want. But also just being able to see that we find people right in the moment they need it. Like the other day we were at the end of the day with almost no success. I think we had gotten into one house all day, and it was like 35 degrees during the siesta and man it was just a hard day on me. But the last thing we did for the day was go looking for a reference and we didn’t know exactly what house it was so we went to knock a house to see if they knew the person. So we knock. tuk tuk tuk and someone opens the door and says ¨do you want to come in Wow!!!! Amazing!! It wasn’t even the person we were looking for but we taught a great lesson and set up a time to come back. Man the lord blessed us. Other times where we were just able to teach in a simple form and testify about the truth of the BOM and everything just worked out. They accepted it and things just went well. I love to see things and just tiny miracles everyday and they happen all around us, we just need to realize what they are. Oh the gospel is so true and there’s no doubt about, God loves every single one of us and he knows when we are in times of need.

 

But other news for this week is that we also had Stake Conference which was pretty great and it was based all on missionary work which was great for all the members to hear, and at the end of the conference all the missionaries got up and sang us included, Called to Serve which was a great opportunity. 

 

Besides that we have Zone Conference tomorrow so we have to travel to Cordoba for that and we have to get up early tomorrow and oh I got your package!!!! Thank you soo much for everything!!! and oh my goodness the t-shirt is the best thing I have ever gotten in my entire life!!! How thoughtful was that!!!!! bahahahaha I laughed so hard when I opened it bahahaahahahahahahah it’s the greatest!!!! 

 

Well about wraps it all up so until next week family. I love you all tons and I hope you have a great week!!!!

 

Love

Elder Harker

 

Monday September 10, 2012

 

Hey Papi, Mami, Rinery, & Sassy

 

Well sounds like lots has been going on, but what week that you’ve written me hasn’t been full of events hahaha

 

About the car that’s a pretty good deal you got there, although it is gold bahaha but oh well now everyone knows that if there’s a gold car it’s the Harker’s. And hey it goes along with our hair color!

 

Sounds like all the church activity is moving along quite nicely within the ward and stake. Also with the temple dedication coming up its sounds like everything is just exciting.

Sara and Jonny sound like they are adjusting to school fairly well, and I didn’t hear anything about Erin but I’m sure she is doing just fine. 

 

So about the work, well where to begin.

My companion, I don’t know if I told you but his name is ELDER L. He is from Paraguay and he’s way cool, not the most talkative person but I am learning lots from him. He really has a lot of desire to work and so we are just going at things head on. The new pension is pretty nice actually kind of small but not too bad, its clean and we live within view of the chapel, like literally  we can see it from our front door, it’s like  50 feet walk.  So it’s very convenient.  Now I’m in Rio Cuarto in barrios Bimaco, it’s still city but nicer than where I’ve been before. Everywhere I’ve been before has been pure villa aka ghetto and like the worst ghettos that exist in the mission/country. In the continent of South America I’ve been told that the 4 most dangerous areas are, 1st the Favela in Brazil, 2nd some area in Buenos Aires South,3rd Las Violetas, where I just came from and 4th Renacimiento where I started the mission. Anyway I’ve had my fair share of sketchy places. hahaha

I love it here and the members and the work is amazing. 

 

We just baptized this last week a lady named A and she’s so awesome, she was so prepared to hear the gospel and so things keep looking up every day that we work. I’m super happy to be here and just to see the children of God come back unto him.

 

One of the best experiences of the week was being able to participate in the rededication of the temple of Buenos Aires. We got to watch it at the centro de estaca por satilte and man the spirit once you entered was just like BOOM!!!! It was an extension of the temple and it was soo awesome to just have that feeling again. It sure made me miss the temple a bunch and I’m so excited for the opportunity to go back and learn so much more. I love the gospel and all the blessings that it brings. It sure was an experience I’ll never forget. The speaker were also amazing and Elder Erying, Ballard and Christoferson were there!!!

 

So everything is just dandy!!!! I love this work and I don’t want it to come to an end. Every week passes by faster and I don’t like it. There’s so much to do and so little time to do it. The children of God need to be saved and we have to help them realize that and bring them to their salvation or better said help them come to understand why they need to take these steps so they can obtain salvation. I just know I love everyday and I look forward to teaching more and more people everyday about the truths we know and understand. 

 

Anyway that’s about all for know I love you all soo much!!!!!! I hope you’re all doing well and keep learning and growing. A big shout out to all those that are preparing for the mission. Learn the lessons and learn to love the gospel and prepare to love your mission!!!

 

 

Thanks for all you do and until next time

 

Love Elder Harker

 

Transferred!

Monday September 3, 2012

 

 

So it is true we did have transfer last week and that’s why I wasn’t able to write cause I was transferred. I left General Lamadrid and went to a little city well a little bit smaller called Rio Cuarto. Its way tight and I had to travel alone for like 4 hours to get there in a collectivo aka Greyhound type bus. It was way chill and I’m here living with the zone leaders and my new comp is Elder L. yay a latino!!!!!! So anyway things are nice and dandy and I’m enjoying my time here so far. I’ll have to send you pictures next week but I just love the work in general that’s about all I can say. 

 

We had a pretty killer week here in the new area and it’s about to explode!!! There are tons of people here that we are getting ready to baptize!!! Its gunna be a great transfer and I know that the Lord will bless us as long as we are being obedient and doing the things that he asks us. I love the gospel in that sense. We teach all the people that if they do what they know is right and what they know the lord wants he is obligated to bless them. It goes the same for us, when we do the things the Lord asks us it’s not a matter of will the Lord bless us, the Lord has to because he is a God of promises and in his perfection he will and wants to bless us. Not gunna lie we had a few tough days in the week but as we kept going strong and worked hard by the end of the day even if it was the last thing we did that day we saw miracles and blessings we did not expect. 

Like at the end of a long day I think it was Tuesday, we had a rough go but we then found this amazing lady who seemed really interested and received what we had to say and is just golden. Then yesterday after an ok day we found a less active member who said that she wants nothing to do with the church. We talked to her for about 20 min and she later confessed her desire and love for the church, she has 3 children who are not baptized and she’s definitely been hurt and has been sad in the past for not having the church in her life. Now that will change. It’s been an amazing week and there has been a lot learned and now there is a lot more to learn. That’s about all I can say for now but I love you all and it’s great to hear how everyone is doing, family friends and the ward. For anyone who reads this and anyone who doesn’t I love each and every one of you and I’ll be talking to you next week!!!!!! 

 

I love the Lord and his Gospel!!! It is true!!!

Love 

Elder Harker

Just so happy

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

 

So the week has gone by super fast and again it is time to write this letter. Sorry its late but we had to write to day cause we were doing a zone activity yesterday and there was no time to write cause it ended late. But anyway we had an amazing week!!!

 

First off we had the baptism of B, who is an 8 year old girl whose parents have been investigating the church for over a year now and they are planning on getting married really soon so they can be baptized. But anyway the baptism went really great and she was super happy afterward which was super exciting to see. We also had lots of people in church this week and to end it off we had a great pday as a zone. We got to go out of Cordoba and we did another hike as a zone, and on top of the mountain we had a testimony meeting and planted a flag at the top with all our names on it so it was super fun!!!

 

That’s really good to hear that Sara’s surgery went alright. I hope she knows I’m praying for her and that I hope she gets well really soon and that she can be back on her feet in no time and that all will be ok. She’s a real trooper and she will pull through. 

Also with the Redd’s going to Thailand thy must be super excited to hear that and they should be out in the field pretty soon!!!!

 

So everything is just moving along quite nicely here, we are loving the work, the ward and the people. Me and Elder H are tearing it up and every day we find someone new that’s just amazing. Its weird to see how blessed we really are but I love seeing the people progress the way they do. This last week one of the ladies we have been teaching went through a little bit of a scare. One day after we left she had a little run in with some people where they were trying to convince her to stop listening to us because we work with the gypsies. Anyway the next time we went by it was a little interesting and we had a good talk with her where she was really able to feel what we were sharing was true and she wanted to continue listening. It was really cool to see how the hearts of people can change when they feel the spirit. Satan is always working really hard to try and stop the work but the will of the Lord is a greater force and so we don’t have to worry about it. It was sure cool because she is progressing a ton now.

 

So that’s about all that’s going down over here and so we’ll see what happens this next week but hopefully we see some miracles. Anyway I love you all soo much and I hope that you all have a splendid day!!

 

Love

Elder Harker

 

Great week!

Monday August 13, 2012

Well sounds like things are going well for all of you out there in the heat and you are enjoying yourselves in Fairmont. I’m super happy to hear that all is going well and that you are enjoying your time even without me. But no I’m really pumped that you all have the times of your lives. 

So update from here, are that first we baptized!!!!!!! It was Jose and Linda that made this covenant with their Heavenly Father and oh how beautiful it was to see that. Me and Elder Harris got to baptize and it was soo special for us to do that!!!! I love baptismal services and the spirit that is there. They are part of a family that we are working with and their parents are working on getting married so that they can be baptized soon so we’ll see what’s up. They were supposed to go get their turn today so let’s cross our fingers. 

Then I also found out today that a lady that me and Elder Lerma found in my first area got baptized recently!!!!! She had a lot of work to do and I worked with her for the 6 months I was there but she is sooo awesome and finally got to make that promise with the Lord!!!!! The Lord pulls through in every way and I knew that one day she would be baptized!!!!!

For pday we were just playing some futbol so it was a pretty chill day but super fun and that was about all. The weeks are going by so fast and the Lord is always present in our lives I love it!!!!!  There is so much to do here and there is no time to do it. Anyway the miracles keep coming and the people keep changing. 

I’m just soo grateful for everyday and every second that I have here and the opportunities to talk with the children of God. Fam just keep going forward and I’ll talk with you all next week. 

I love you all soo much!!!!

Elder Harker

Too busy to write much

Monday Aug 6, 2012

Wow!!!!! Sounds like tons of things went super good this week and you guys are having tons of fun!!!! 

It always makes me so happy to hear that you are all ok. 

Well I don’t have much time to write cause we got back late from a way fun pday so I’m really sorry.  We took a trip and went and hiked a mountain so it was super beautiful and way fun too!!!!! 

The work is moving along just great, I love it. We should be having 2 baptisms this coming week and so we’re just getting them ready for that.  This week we have found a bunch of new people to teach too. 

Man I love the work, one of our recent converts M is so freaking awesome, she is 11 years old and yesterday she got up and bore her testimony in sacrament meeting. You could really feel that she knew it was true and it came from the heart, she is changing lots and her parents are seeing this change in her and now there is nothing stopping them from getting baptized too!!! 

Oh just to let you know I took out some money the other day cause one of our investigators got robbed, like everything she owns by 10 men and at gunpoint and 3 kids that were with her. So me and Elder H gave her some money to help get her started again. I felt really good about it and I know she will use it for the best, anyway until next week. 

Love Elder Harker

Hump Day!

It's been a year - time is flying!

Monday July 30, 2012

What’s up Harker’s!?!?!?!?!?!?

So I guess you’re all dying to hear the answers to your questions. I guess I’ll start with that.

How do you feel about that? (about being out a year now)

Well I don’t really know, the feelings come and go and change quite a bit, but really it makes me think about how little time there is left to work so I just need to get step’in and go back out to work. Its nuts to think how fast 1 year has gone and it scares me to think I only have 1 left. 

What has been the best part so far?

I don’t think I can put my finger on one thing that has been the best, but I can tell you that seeing someone make the changes necessary in their life to be baptized, and then to see them come out of the water clean is the most uplifting feeling in the world. To think of them when you first met them until that point is amazing to realize the changes people make for the Lord.

What has been the hardest/worst part?

This I can’t even point out either, but I really don’t enjoy my time when there are problems within the companionship. That does not make the time go by fast and it’s hard to work things out sometimes. It’s hard to teach and do what we do on a daily basis. 

What have you learned the most so far about yourself?

Probably I’ve learned the most about humility/pride, like I’ve said before it’s something that is present in all of our lives and it’s a constant battle. I always come back to thinking about that in my life and how lots of times that’s the causes to our problems. 

What do you hope to learn or want to happen in the next year?

I don’t really know.  I guess I’m not really thinking one year ahead, but I would like to become more of a selfless person. I just want to be able to serve others and I know that’s the purpose here in the mission but I want that to develop to be something that I do the rest of my life. 

Is your mission experience what you thought it would be – elaborate?

Yes and no. I guess I thought it wasn’t so much about relating with people, going to their level and helping them take the steps they need to while you are right there besides them. I thought it was more, we go, we teach, they change,  but I’ve come to realize it’s like fight through all the challenges of life side by side  with the people we are teaching. 

When you think of each companion you have had – what one thing comes to mind when you think of them and why you had that companion?

Who have you learned the most from and what is it? 

Well I did learn a ton from my trainer Elder L, but right now with Elder H I guess I’m learning a lot of things on my own. So it’s kinda a tie between the 2 because I think I’ve learned a bunch from both but in different aspects of life. I don’t know if that makes sense or not. 

Do you think you have changed and what are those changes?

Yeah I think I have changed, of course I’m still Kent, but my view of life or the big picture and my way of living I guess you could say has changed dramatically. It’s like life is one big chess game and you got to think of every move carefully. You never know what the opponent will throw at you but you need to be ready for each move. I don’t know it’s just like my mind is not in the here and now anymore, it’s in the future in the eternal perspective. I can’t name everything that’s changed but I feel I’ve changed in many ways.

How do you take these experiences and learning’s and keep them going after a mission?

I think really to keep them going after the mission requires me to be fully involved in the gospel, not in the sense where I have to go door to door still but to keep myself living what I just taught for 2 years. Keeping my focus on the eternal perspective once again. 

As you think about yourself before and now are there things you want to do differently after  - things you want a part of your life and/or things you don’t want in your life anymore? 

Yeah of course there are tons of things I want to change from times before, things to eliminate and things to add. Lots of the changes though I think just come down to time management, which is something I’ve always been terrible at. 

Well I hope that those answer satisfy what you were looking for and that you understand them.  I know some might have been a little vague but I hope not. 

So anyway I don’t have a lot of time left, but this week has been a great one!!! We have seen so many blessings in our lives and I’ve come to realize a few of the blessings we’ve received in the past that came to light in my mind. The Lord knows us so well and knows what we need at the right time. I’m still here with Elder H so I’ll be in my area here for 6 months but it’s been going great!!! We had tons of people in church yesterday and so that made me really happy to see that. We also had interviews with President this week and they came at the perfect time. Like I said last week was a little bit harder but after my interview everything started to look up and now I’m better than ever. Life throws lots of curve balls at us but if we keep going strong then we can eventually conquer them. 

Well that’s all for time but I’m super happy to hear that everything is going just great!!!! I hope Jonny is enjoying my room and that he doesn’t destroy it too badly while I’m gone. Anyway keep going strong fam. 

I love you all soooo much!!!!!!!! 

cya later

Love Elder Harker

Monday July 23, 2012

Hola Familia!!

Wow sounds like the week was super chill for you guys, really relaxing and really fun. It sure sounds like Sara had a good time at EFY and also that mom had some time to herself out in Arizona. I’m glad you guys could enjoy yourselves and get some stuff done. 

This week was one that has been pretty hard. It’s the first of the transfer and so something just seemed to change for a couple of days as soon as we got the transfer calls. We had a few little things that we had to sort out. We were working super hard all week but the thing is something wasn’t just clicking right and so we had to do some trial and error. We both had our times where we were frustrated and beaten down a little. We had a few good talks and we got back on our feet. It was hard, the Lord was sure testing us. We would go for hours and we wouldn’t get into a house, so it was just disappointing to talk to everyone and nothing would happen. Our rhythm was thrown off and so we had to work hard to work it out. With the help of the Lord we were able to come through it. It sure has been a humbling week for me cause there were things that I didn’t want to change that I had to give up in order for this to work out. So it shows that when we truly love others and when we want the best for them we will do what is necessary to help out. 

Then finally yesterday at the end of the week after a long hard week of work we found some great success. We found a bunch of new people to teach and they just seemed to pop out of nowhere. We really had to persevere and we could have given up countless times before but as we kept opening our mouths eventually people were open to listen. It sure was neat to see how that works. It’s like the Lord pushes you until you can’t go another step. Just like in Alma in chapter 26 with the sons of Mosiah in verse 27. We were comforted and blessed with success. What great and humbling experiences the Lord has us live!!!  Anyway, so it was a tough one but we came out on top again. So it’s time to conquer the next week.

This morning we had a little bit of cleaning to do so I thought I’d let you guys see the moldy fridge I had to clean out this morning!!! It was so wonderful to do it I just loved it!!! hahaha not really at all it reeked and we’ve been living without a fridge for a while but we get along. So ya, the adventures of the mission. 

Anyway that’s about all I have to say for now so I’ll let you know what’s up next week. 

Love you all!!!!! Elder Harker

Blessed to have some baptisms

Monday July 16, 2012

Well, well, well sounds like you guys sure had a good time down in Utah. I am so glad that you had such good weather and especially that the company was great!! I’m sure being together as a family was sure fun and you got to enjoy yourselves in the water. I’m super pumped for the day when I can enter into water once again hahaa but it’s all good for now. I  guess we’ll just have to wait for the next Harker family reunion. Actually the other day I was thinking about past family reunions and when Dad sung Hava Nagila at the last one and when we made the Harker reunion movie!!! That was all so much fun!!!

Anyway I’m sure you’re wondering what’s up because I wasn’t able to write last week. Well anyway it was Argentina’s birthday last Monday and so it was impossible to find anywhere to write. But I’m good. 

The big news is that we had another baptism this Saturday!!! It sure was amazing with a great spirit there too!! There were four people that got baptized, M, C, A, and M. They are all such angels and we were gunna have 2 more there but one was scared of what his friends would think, but then he saw his sister get baptized and he said he wanted to as well. So we had everything ready the font was still full and we had his clothes but we are going to wait till another day. Then another little girl who turned 8 this week, who was such a miracle, well she got scared and didn’t want to get baptized. So we saw some difficulties but hey we still saw some pretty amazing miracles!!!! I sure was happy with the way things went and it was just amazing blessings from the Lord. 

We’ve just had a baptism and now it’s back to work.  I’m super glad to be here with Elder H that we are working so well together, it really is a blessing. I guess I don’t really have much to say for today, sorry that it’s been two short weeks in a row, but hey I just hope you know that I love you all and that I love this work. I’m so grateful for every opportunity that the Lord has given me to grow. Well until next week.

I love you

Elder Harker

Birthday, Canada Day and a neat experience....

Happy Birthday from Home

Happy Canada Day!

Monday July 2, 2012

Hey FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Well, well, well, it looks like I’ve got lots to say so bear with me here. I guess we got to start somewhere, so let’s go with the Birthday. Well yes I did have a completely wonderful birthday and I know that you were all rooting for me on this special day and thinking of me. So I thank you for that. I really loved the banner that you guys made me. It sure made me feel loved and so that was probs the best birthday gift I could get ever!!!! I really did enjoy my birthday and that day we had tons of cool visits to make and I loved it!!! One of the families they got me a cake!!!!!!!! It was soo tasty and then we had to go so that was kind of a bummer but we had to catch the bus and so I was booking it with the cake in my hand it was way funny I bet for anyone to watch and I bet some people probs thought we stole the cake but we had to go and there was no other choice. I’m just lucky cause we ran by a cop on the way hahahaha but everything is all good. 

Anyway the work is going great I still love it like always and I just look forward to every day. Me and Elder H have had our rough spots and we are learning from each other every day but he really is a great Elder and I love him. We grow everyday and we are working super hard!!! I love everyday even though it can be discouraging at times but I love life!!!! The people are progressing and it is amazing to see people take these steps toward baptism. It really is a great work and a wonderful opportunity to be in the service of man and of God. 

I guess I should wish you all a Happy Canada Day as well. To be honest to you I kinda forgot about it until I got a call from Elder S to wish me a happy day. It was pretty funny because it was on their calendar and I forgot, and they aren’t even Canadian. I felt pretty ashamed. But then I got a call from Elder B too and that was super awesome!!! I haven’t seen him in the longest time but it will be great when we reunite. Then I called Elder Henry and we sang Oh Canada in spite of the day and I was dressed up in the most Canadian things I could find hahaha. But it was a good day at the end.

Well then to the most interesting part of the week. So this last week we had a run in with a testigo de jehova aka Jehovah’s Witness in a contact and so we talked to her like everyone else. We shared a little about the restoration and we actually got her address and set up a cita aka meeting for another day that week. So anyway we were pretty pumped to go and teach her and see what it’s all about. It was super exciting too cause I’ve never really taught a JW before. She also told us to come prepared cause she didn’t think we would be able to answer her questions. Well anyway she also gave us a quiz like where you find the name of God in the scriptures which is Psalms 83: 18 btw but not important cause that’s not even right. Anyway we went and started preparing in the days that followed and it just so happens that Elder Seymour when he left to go home (he’s an Elder I’m goods friends with and way tight) well he regalared me a JW bible so I have one and I have a few kinda anti jw talks by some apostles but really we were just studying to find common doctrine and start with that. The day came and we had to go to the cita. We also brought with us a youth that is preparing to go on a mission to show him how the mission really is. We went and she didn’t think we were gunna show up but we did and so we enter and one of the JW rules are a woman can’t be alone with a man unless it’s her husband or something like that so we thought he would be there. We found a surprise when 2 other jw women were waiting there for us as well. Anyway we talked and shared lots of scriptures but we told them when we first got there that we were not there to fight and any sign of a fight we would leave. So there was no bible bashing but just sharing of beliefs. I think it went really well. They said they would read the BOM and compare it with the Bible and we were totally ok with that. Then we invited them to church and they also invited us to their church. They said they wouldn’t come to ours cause its probs a rule but anyway they invited us and we left after that. We started and ended with a prayer and it was a good meeting and we left a good impression. They also gave us a yellow book that is called. (What does the bible really?) We took it and were on our way. One of the ladies was a pastors or anzianos as they call them daughter. We also found out that they actually have a book about Mormons and tells them about us. It’s pretty much like an anti Mormon book. But anyway the story gets better. They invited us to church and it is Saturdays at 7 - 9 which fits perfectly to our schedule. And so we decided that day that we would go to the church. 

We went to their meeting and listened. We didn’t make a big presence and we were just as respectful as possible. We followed along with the lecture and at the end we talked with a lot of the people. They were really nice tried to accommodate our needs, we talked for a little bit and met all their anzianos, and it would be bishops for us. It was nice, we saw the ladies we had the visit with. It was a good night and we left a very good impression of the missionaries and the church, and really we just tried to mend the relationship we have with the testigo church. I know that we may not see fruits of this visit immediately but maybe in a few months or years someone in that church will talk to the missionaries. We entered with the spirit and we left feeling the spirit because we weren’t there to fight. 

I really did learn a lot from them though. I learned how new investigators feel when they come to a new church or our church. That it is not the most comfortable thing in the world like we might think. We need to fellowship better, we need to be their friends. They want to have a good time. They don’t want to fight. Lots of what the jw do is good, they just don’t have the full truth, they seem to be living the law of Moses to the letter of the law just in modern day times. They are trying to find the path of God and trying to live by high standards it’s just not all the right standards. Everyone there was formally dressed which we see in our wards back home but here not soo important to some people. Everyone was quiet and respectful which is something the ward here needs to work on, especially the youth. I learned lots from my visit, and my testimony was really strengthened. I am so grateful I am living the true gospel with all the right standards. It really was a testimony builder and I’m grateful for the opportunity. 

I know this church is true and that my Heavenly Father loves me. He is there for me when I need him. I can learn everyday through the Holy Scriptures which I love and I know one day I will live with him again. 

Anyway that’s about enough for now but I love you all and I’ll talk to you next week

Love Elder Harker