Monday, January 26, 2015

Week 26!!!! (Hermana Harvey isn't counting, but for those of us keeping score at home, that's 1/3 through folks!!!)

This week has been pretty great. We are working really hard right now to try to find new investigators to teach and we have been teaching a lot of people just in the streets and at their doorsteps.  I feel like great things are going to happen this cambio, we just have to work REALLY hard to help them come! We have a recent convert who we are teaching who is from Kansas and it is really strange because we always teach him in English because he understands it better and I have come to realize that there are a lot of things that I don't know how to explain about the gospel in English!! And it's really hard for me to pray in English! That's probably the hardest part!!
We came across this less-active member in the street the other day with her two kids! She stopped us and said! "Hey! Are you missionaries!? My son said that you guys came by my house and I wasn't home. When can you come by??" And, of course, we were a little bit (or a lot bit) surprised, but we set up an appointment to visit with her the next week!! Now we've gone over to visit her a couple of times and we are going to have a Family Home Evening with them tomorrow with another family in our ward!! They are amazing!! Just a little reluctant to get up in the morning... Just like a lot of the other Chilenos... That's why we have so many less-actives here.  But I'm really excited to go visit them again! Their kids are CRAZY but super fun :) so a Family Home Evening will be great!!
Love you guys so much!!
Hermana Harvey

This is my district. Two of the elders live on this island really far away so they can't take a boat for hours every week to come to our district meetings so we just skype them in!

Hermana Jenkins and I have the same shirt from the CCM!! :)

This is just, ya know, part of my sector here.  It's not gorgeous or anything.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Week 25

Hello Friends and Family!!
So Everyone is asking me about penguins!! No, I haven't seen penguins yet :) We have to travel a little ways to be able to see them but Hermana Jenkins and I are planning on going to this island to go and see them.  We could go to this beach about an hour and a half away or so to see the penguins but people have told us that there is this island that we can go out to for $30.000 pesos each (which is about $60) and you can not only see penguins but walk with thousands of them!! So Hermana Jenkins and I think that it is worth it!! How many times are you going to be at the end of the world, right?! So we'll probably be going in a few weeks! :)
We only have a few investigators right now but Hermana Jenkins and I are already working hard and I can just feel that this cambio is going to be amazing!! We have been working a LOT with contacting in the streets and with the members to try to receive references.  Our ward is super strong and they are a HUGE help to us!! I am so excited about this cambio and I LOVE Hermana Jenkins already!! The sun is unbelievably strong here so I put sunblock on everyday and still end up getting a little bit burned!! It's crazy how strong it is.  And it would actually be really warm here if it were not for the wind coming from Antarctica! The wind is literally frozen.... and there is a LOT of it!! Seriously.  A LOT of wind. Like it's hard to walk at times.  And there are actually cords to help you to walk in centro because the wind is so strong at times that without cords to help you, you can't walk against the wind! So that's fun when we are always wearing skirts :) haha but really. It's fun! :)
I love you all so much!!!
--Hermana Harvey
This is our house! :) It's a tiny little thing but it's super cozy for us two missionaries that live in it :) it's behind a member's house.  There's a lot of that here... little tiny houses behind people's houses that they rent out.

Our sector is super rich! This is one example of a super rich house in our sector :) CRAZY! Yes, we are still in Chile.

Guess What!! Robin Williams isn't dead!! He's just hiding out down here in Punta Arenas!! He's actually our investigator!!

Blanca y Victor!! They're our investigators :)

Hermana Blanca, Hermana Jenkins, and I! 

Monday, January 12, 2015

Thank you Puerto Montt! I'm off to Punta Arenas!

Well everyone... I have big news!!! Transfers are this week and guess what!!!  I'M GOING TO PUNTA ARENAS!!
I can't really believe that it is happening.  My companion will be Hermana Jenkins, I don't know anything about her yet, and I will be flying out on Wednesday!! I'm freaking out a little bit!! It's strange how you can have so many mixed feelings when cambios come! I am soo excited to go to Punta Arenas, especially right now because there are still penguins this time of year!!  And I've heard lots of good things about the ward that I am going to be in!! (Barrio Obejero... I think that's how you spell it).  So I'll let you know how my flight was and how PUNTA ARENAS is next week!! :)
This week has been pretty crazy... We have had lots of illnesses in our companionship so we have been able to work a lot with members going on splits!! It's funny how God works with us in ways that we do not understand, like sending a flu virus, but things seem to work out for the best!! We almost met all of our goals that we set this week even though we were in and out of the Clinic and we were in the house a LOT for multiple reasons from illnesses to water miraculously collecting on the bathroom floor as we sleep.  It is incredible how we can see the hand of the Lord in this work in all things that we do!! I LOVE THIS GOSPEL and I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!! 
Talk to you again next week from Punta Arenas!!
--Hermana Harvey

Monday, January 5, 2015

Week 23

This week I learned a lesson about not running faster than we have strength... (or something like that... I read the scripture in Spanish...)  We have been literally running to all of our lessons lately and I was wearing my boots one day which don't have much padding in those boots and running on the rocks and everything, I came home with bruises on the bottoms of my feet!! I was running faster than I have strength and it made the rest of my week hard!! But now my feet are better :) So don't worry!!
My testimony has also grown a LOT this week!! I had some moments that I was super duper happy and there really was no reason for the happiness that I felt other the knowledge that this gospel is true!! It's the only way to explain how happy I have been (really... pure joy!!) this week even though I have been soo tired and had bruises on the bottoms of my feet!!  My companions make fun of me because they say that I say how happy I am ALL THE TIME and that I bear my testimony to EVERY CONTACT and every time I put my hand over my heart and ya wanna know why?? This gospel brings happiness!!


So I may have lied (she said at Christmas that they hadn't been getting much rain)... we had lots of rain for a couple of days this week haha But just a couple days of LOTS of rain :)

I got to ride a bike with this cutie!! That was super fun!!

These last 3 pics are from Hermana Smoot's blog! - We went out to chamisa for the 1st and they roasted lamb!! It was delicious! :)



Monday, December 29, 2014

Week 22

Hello friends and family!!
So this Christmas was great! We went over the the Lanskrun Family's house for Christmas Eve (which is really their big day that they celebrate here in Chile and they call it "Noche Buena" and Santa comes that night and they all open their gifts at midnight!  We had Christmas Eve dinner with them and it was pretty funny because we couldn`t eat the salad because it had pig intestines in it and we have a rule that we can't eat pig intestines for safety reasons, so we ate all of the leaves and the outside of a half of an egg for our salad and just pushed the intestine puree to the side of our plate.  Then they brought out the main course which was turkey and guess what? It was completely frozen :) hahaha It was pre-cooked and just had to be heated up but it was frozen through still so they began to cut it up into pieces and heat it up in the microwave little by little haha I got a good laugh out of that.  Then they brought out dessert and it was these cupcakes that they made in a cake pan (because they don't really make cupcakes in Chile so they didn't really know how to do it and they didn't have any cupcake molds to make it so they were pretty funny looking and they had cream on top (the type of cream that they put on Everything here and that really dosn't have any flavor at all.  And ya know what?  Although it seemed like just about everything went wrong with that Christmas dinner, I had the time of my life!! We focused on the reason for the season, our Savior Jesus Christ and we had a live Nativity and laughed a whole bunch.  I cannot think of a better way to pass the Christmas season than focusing on the true reason and finding the Joy that is possible through our Savior, Jesus Christ!!!
We also had a Christmas activity in which we watched "The Testament" and you wanna know who showed up?! About 5 members of our ward and 5 OF OUR INVESTIGATORS!! And they all loved the movie and were amazing about the Idea that Christ came to the Americas! He visited with not only the ancient inhabitants of Jerusalem, but he visited his "other sheep" here in the Americas! There is a whole other part of the story of Jesus Christ written here in the Americas by prophets of old and you can read all about it in the Book of Mormon!!  What an Incredible gift!!
I love you guys!! Hope you all had an amazing Christmas and will have a Happy New Year!! 
--Hermana Harvey
 
We had a live Nativity with the Lanskrun Family on Christmas Eve! :) That was fun!

Hermana Smoot doing her crunches on Christmas morning! Even on Christmas we've gotta be obedient!! :)

Opened our gifts!! I loved all of them Thank YOu!! And the pajamas are super duper comfy!

We made pizza on Chirstmas! It's a tradition in the Smoot house so we upheld the tradition with Hermana Smoot :)
 (WARNING!! DO NOT LOOK AT THESE PICTURES IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH!!!)

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My Papito holding up the skin and head of the lamb right after he had skinned it.  He looks WAY too happy, right?!

My mamita is breaking the jaw of the lamb in this moment... It wasn't a pretty sound...

Yes... that's the head of a lamb that I am holding.  Fun, right?
 

Monday, December 22, 2014

Week 21

Merry Christmas, Friends and Family!!
So one thing that has been different about this week is that for the holidays, there are a LOT of people on cruises which means lots of people passing through that speak English!! I just helped a lady from Australia with her computer because she didn't know how to work it in Spanish.  And the yesterday we ran into a couple who said, "Hey, Sisters!" And started asking us about what they could do for fun around here.  We had no idea... because we're missionaries so we don't really have time for the fun things here haha but it was interesting talking to someone in English... And really really weird. 
One more funny story very quickly... we were walking to an appointment this week and my skirt likes to ride up to show the bottom of my slip every now and then and we were walking through a busy part of town and I looked down and realized that my skirt had ridden up to the point that you couldn't even see my skirt anymore!! It was under my jacket and I basically was only wearing a slip!!!! AHHHH!! I do not understand how it is possible that I was walking with my slip showing for so long for it to get to that point!! And I have TWO companions!! HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?? haha So that was fun. :)
Thank you Sister Gardner for you letters!! I love reading them!! :) And it is always really fun to receive letters from home!! 
Love you guys!!! :) 
--Hermana Harvey
We had an activity where we had lunch and sang christmas songs in the center of town with all the missionaries in our area (which was lots of missionaries).  This is us with Hermana Obeso (wife of our mission president) :)

Holding a chick at a member's house!

Feeding a goose in at the same member's house!
 

Monday, December 15, 2014

Week 20

Hello friends and family!!
This week has been amazing!! We have been working super hard because there is Soo much to do and there is just not enough time to do it all!! I want you to know that change is good!! Even though it may be a little hard at first, when things change, that is when you are able to see the biggest of miracles!! Oh!! And guess what!! I spoke in church yesterday!! Gave my first ever real talk in Spanish!! And I don't think it went bad at all.  I think I'm actually a lot more comfortable talking about spiritual things in Spanish than I am in English!! I spoke on the importance of taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ when we are baptized and our responsibility that we have after we take upon us this covenant.  Everyone told me that my talk was "clarito" or ,pretty much, that they could understand me.  Oh! another thing that is funny about Chile, at least Southern Chile... is that everything is "-ito."  They put -ito on the end of everything in order to make it small... even God... A lot of people call him Diosito. haha! I find it pretty hilarious!! I'm already out of time!! But I love you so much!! OH!! And everything's working out with the divorce of the "C" family so they'll probably be able to be married and baptized next month!!! :DDD I am sooo excited!! A long long process but it is all working out.  And I want you to know I LOVE my companions.  I learn so much from Hermana Smoot and Hermana Bretón EVERYDAY!! Wow... this email was all over the place.  I LOVE YOU GUYS!!
--Hermana Harvey
Here is one of our dog pictures! I find this one to be funny.  First of all because there are three dogs at once and second of all because they were all very loving.

Ivonne and her family! She's an investigator that we have and she found out that Hermana Paxman was leaving and that her birthday was coming up and she threw her a surprise party!!

At Volcán Osorno. My nametag and Volcán Calbuco.

our district right before Hermana Paxman and Hermana Figuredo left

In Osorno... we had to go out there to do some tramites... (I don't know how to say that in English...) me, Hermana smoot, and Hermana Bretón. (Side note from Mom- I said "Did you get a new dress? That's cute!" She said "One of the other missionaries left that dress in the house.  The missionaries leave a lot of clothes behind so we find lots of fun stuff :)" I just found that funny.)

In osorno with a Christmas tree :) haha

Here are a couple pictures of our group of missionaries at Volcán Osorno!!

Monday, December 8, 2014

Week 19

Hello Friends and Family!!
So this week has been pretty crazy.  We have a LOT of investigators now because we combined two sectors that already had a lot of investigators in each!! So it is a lot of pressure and, to be honest, it has been a lot of stress for me!  That is one thing that I am going to have to learn pretty quick here is how to manage everything so that we don't have too much stress.  And we have three heads to try to figure everything out that we need to which means lots of ideas!! :) Haha We have been running from appointment to appointment all week in order to get everything done but along the way we have had some really fun times!  We had a competition on Friday to see who could ask for the most references in one day so we had some pretty funny moments of chasing people down to ask to share a quick message with them and ask them for a reference and in doing this we received four references from people on the street!! It was super fun!!  
My companions are Hermana Smoot, who I have been with since the CCM and Hermana Bretón from the Dominican Republic.  Hermana Bretón is amazing :) She is a very hard worker and is VERY obedient :) She is an amazing example to me and it is so much fun to work with her and Hermana Smoot!!
Hermana Smoot is a singer/actress and she is really good at it!! So we had a little fun having a singing class last night with her and it was super duper fun! haha I tried acting and singing the song "These are a few of my favorite things." Haha I'm not an actress... Or a singer... so it was really fun :)  
We have this new family that we are teaching in our sector and they are incredible!! We taught a lesson on the Book of Mormon and what it is and why it is important and they were really interested and are already reading it!! All three of them (mother, 17 year-old daughter, and 6 year-old daughter) came to church on Sunday and it was so great to see them there!! We had testimony meeting so the spirit was super strong in Sacrament meeting and then we had a great class in Gospel Principles (a class that we have on Sundays to learn the basics of the gospel of Jesus Christ for people recently baptized, who are visiting, or who have not gone to church in a long time) about the signs of the second coming.  She said that she had to leave after that because she had to prepare lunch for her family but then they stayed anyway! And she told her daughter that they would prepare lunch ahead of time for NEXT WEEK!!! Ahhh!! That was so exciting to hear because that means that she is really interested in continuing going to church and learning more!! And her daughter didn't want to leave and even went to seminary graduation with the other youth in the ward!! Ahhh!! So exciting!!
Another amazing thing that happened today was that Ivonne has been having some trouble believing that the Book of Mormon is the word or God and in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ but we explained again the Restoration and how it is the church of JESUS CHRIST with HIS authority to perform sacred ordinances and that it is only through the authority of Jesus Christ that we can run HIS church.  At the end of the lesson she said "Okay, now I understand the importance of having the authority of Christ." She gets it now!! It is only with and through the authority of Christ given through him to the apostles and prophets which he calls to lead the church today that we can receive all of the blessings that are possible through his teachings!!  Just like Jesus Christ went to someone with the authority to perform sacred ordinances (John the baptist), not just any man, we must go to those who have been called of God to lead his church and perform these ordinances!!
So many miracles are headed our way!!
Pictures aren't working again.... :/ Sorry!!
I love you all so much!!
--Hermana Harvey

Monday, December 1, 2014

Week 18

Hello friends and family!
This week has been pretty gosh darn crazy!!  Don't have time to tell everything but I'll try to give you an idea of what's been going on here :)  So we celebrated Thanksgiving just us four Hermanas when we got back to our house from 10:00 until our bedtime at 11:00! It was very fun :) I cooked a Thanksgiving dinner little by little throughout the week and we surprised Hermana Smoot with having everything prepared to celebrate! Because she wasn't going to celebrate it (so sad...) But it turned out great!! And we even found pie at the store!! Which was delicious! :)  Hermana Paxman and I also decided that it was a great idea to take pictures with every single dog that we walked past in the streets on Thanksgiving day!! Haha we gave up after a while because first of all, there are a LOT of dogs!! And second of all, it started raining so we were afraid for our cameras. But I'll try to send at least one of the pictures :)  
Another think that was insane about this week was that Hermana Paxman had her "final interview" with the mission president (Which they called to inform us about 10 minutes after she was already supposed to be there. That was an adventure all of it's own) and in her interview President told her about what my transfer is!! I am going to be staying here in my sector, but I will also be in the sector of the other missionaries in my house! We're combining the sectors because there aren't enough hermanas!! And not only that but I will be in a trio as of Wednesday! Ahh!! Hermana Smoot, who lived in my house in the CCM and now in my house here in Valle Volcanes and will now be my companion!! :D Our entire missions together so far!! And I don't remember the name of my other companion :/ But she is from the Dominican Republic.  Fun!  Sooo pretty much I'm freaking out a little bit because we are going to have a MOUNTAIN of investigators to teach and a HUGE sector soo lots of walking but I am soooo excited!! I can already feel that this is going to be an amazing cambio and that we are going to be working soo hard!! Ahh!! I can't wait to meet my other companion!! :)
Oh!! And we went to Volcán Osorno today!! :D  Don't have time to send many pictures but it was super fun!! There's hardly any snow this time of year but we missionaries managed to find some and to have a good long war :) Super fun! 
I'm already pretty much out of time but I love you guys soo much!! And I want you to know that I'm working hard over here!  :)
--Hermana Harvey
 


 

Monday, November 24, 2014

Week 17

Hello friends and family!
I have been learning a lot about what it really means to be a missionary as it comes to the last couple weeks of my training and ya know what I have realized more than anything?  I have a LOT of weaknesses.  I have a LOT of things to learn and I am never going to be able to learn it all.  We are constantly learning new things and finding ways in which we can improve but we always seem to fall short. But ya know what?  We don't have to know everything! We don't have to be perfect!  In the hands of the Lord, it is the most humble and submissive servant that is the most effective tool in the hands of the Lord!  When I think of prophets like Joseph Smith or other prophets in the Book of Mormon and Bible who do not have gifts for speaking or writing and then read the things that they wrote or the things that they spoke unto the people in this time, it is hard to believe that they even had weaknesses! It is hard to think of them as humans! But they all had weaknesses that made them humble and submissive to the will of God.  I have always thought that these weaknesses that these prophets had were just for us to believe more easily that they were prophets because it is obvious that they must have had the help of God to do such great thing, but I have come to realize that it is not just that! Their weaknesses are what make them humble.  Their weaknesses are what make them strong. In Helaman chapter 12, it talks about how we, as human beings, are nothing.  We are even less than the sands of the earth.  I was always a little depressed by this thought.  But upon studying this a little more this morning in my studies, I realized in the verses that followed, it was saying that we are less when we are not submissive to the will of God! The sands of the earth are greater than we because when God commands the sand to move, it moves!  Now imagine how great WE could be! We are a lot more than just sand and if we could let the Lord guide us in the things that he would have us do, just imagine how great we could be! 
I am feeling super nervous right now because in about a week and a half I will be ending my training, getting a new companion, and I will be thrown into the real world of missionary work without my mom (that's what they call our trainers here :)! So I've been pretty nervous because I know that I have so many weaknesses and still have sooo much to learn but this thought that really if we give our will up to God and humble ourselves in his hands, we can be GREAT! So I thank God for the weaknesses that he has blessed me with in order to help me to be humble :)  Tell Brother Chronis that now I understand what it means to Stay Bleu and I am working on that every day!!
I love you so much and thank you for all of the emails!! I LOVE hearing about everything that's going on over there!
No pictures this week... sorry! Next week!
--Hermana Harvey

Monday, November 17, 2014

A great (16th) week, with a visit from Elder Nelson!

Hello friends and family!!
So I realized that I don't usually talk about the little things that happen in my days that are funny... like when we are doing contacting in the streets and something funny happens... so I have a few stories to tell today about those things :)
We were walking to our meeting with the ward mission leader this Saturday and we were almost to the church building, going up this hill to the chapel, and this man stopped us and said "Hello! I'm Jesus Christ!"  I looked over to Hermana Paxman and she was just smiling at him and nodding her head and I thought... "does she understand what he just said?" Then the man continued with "Yes... I am Jesus Christ... and you are spies from the United States."  I though for sure by now Hermana Paxman would say something or at least look at me to let me know what to do but when I looked at her she was still just smiling and nodding her head!  So at this point I thought... okay... she doesn't know what's going on so I said, "no, actually we're here as missionaries to share a message about God and Jesus Christ." (which I now realize probably wasn't the best thing to say to a man who thinks he IS Jesus Christ) and he responded with "No, I am the only man who can preach about Jesus Christ be cause I am he!  The prophets of old testified of my coming and here I am!"  So what is our response to this bold statement? Of course, "Oh! Mucho gusto!" then we said we were sorry, we have to go to a meeting and we walked away.    Funniest thing ever!  And we don't even think he was drunk! He didn't smell like it.  So that was fun! :)
Then we were walking to an appointment the other day and this little boy came up to us (we think he was about 9-10 years old) with his arms high up in the air and said "Hey! Remember me?!"  We responded honestly saying that we didn't (because we know we would have remembered this little character) and said that he had probably talked with other missionaries.  He said yes and asked us if we would come to his house to read from the word of god with him (and that he has a book of mormon) and talk about how our message can bless the family because the family is very important to him.  But he also said he's very busy these days so he gave us a strict schedule of when we could meet with him.  Haha! So cute! Can't wait to go talk with him and share with him how the gospel can bless his family and read the words of God! :)   Oh, and he also said that when he's big, he's going to help us out and become a missionary just like us! Ahh! ¡¡Mi Corazón!!
So this week we had the chance to go to Osorno and hear from Elder Nelson!!! He was here!! In Chile Osorno!! I couldn't believe that I got to meet him right before I left for the mission and then got to hear from him again here in Chile!  I wanted to tell him that I was in the Lancaster stake when he went there when we went up to shake his hand but I lost my nerve because no one was saying anything other than "Hello, how are you?" and I didn't want to take up too much of his precious time.  But it was awesome!! And his wife was there too and she spoke.  Just want to let you all know that she is amazing!! I absolutely LOVED her talk!  She talked about how every second of our lives here is important and one of my favorite quotes from her talk was "The Savior is coming tomorrow. We just don't know which tomorrow.  So what are you going to do today to prepare for tomorrow?"  I love it because it is so true! Another thing that was interesting was that I was able to understand Elder Nelson and his wife while they were talking and also the translator!! It was pretty interesting but a little confusing at times because I was having a little bit of a hard time focusing on just one of them! But it was useful when I missed something that he said and I could just listen to the Spanish version :) 
So, más que nada, this week has been a huge spiritual high with lots of fun moments!!
I love you all so much and loving hearing from you!! Thank all for writing!! It really means a lot to a missionary!! :)
An awesome head-dress thingy that our ward mission leader had from a wedding he went to :)
Out of the window of the bus on the way to Osorno to hear from Elder Nelson!

Monday, November 10, 2014

My first baptisms!

Hola Familia y Amigos!
      This week has definitely been a roller coaster of emotions but more than anything, I have learned this week that the Lord is always part of this work.  I had great faith in this fact before but now it is even more obvious.  At times it may feel as though there is no possible way to do all the things that the Lord requires of us but I find comfort in the scriptures in knowing that "the Lord giveth no commandment unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the things which he hath given them."  This is so true.  There are Many times in life that we just feel as if the Lord has given us too much.  That we have received just too hard of a task and that it is just simply impossible.  I have felt that way multiple times this week but as I have read in the holy scriptures and turned to my Heavenly Father in prayer, I have found that he can strengthen us in those moments that we do not think that we can continue and if we are focused on the joyous moments that we can bring into the lives of others and the way that we can be of help to those who are in need, he will lift us up and give us strength beyond that which is possible for any human being.  The Lord is with us at all times and in all things and this gives me the motivation that I need to make sure that I am with him, that I am working on His side, at all times and in all things. Having the opportunity to be a part of this work in bringing others to the knowledge of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a huge blessing and although it may be hard at times, I am receiving many more blessings than difficulties.
     We had intercambios (I think the word is exchanges in English...) this week and I had the opportunity to stay in our sector and guide the way to all of our appointments and lead the discussions and más que nada take the lead.  And if you know me, you know that I am AWFUL with directions and get lost at the drop of a hat so this was quite a challenge for me.  Just have to say that this was another way that my faith was strengthened in the fact that the Lord helps us in every moment of this work because we never got lost! I was able to guide us through our sector and lead the discussions and everything! And we had no problems!  It was amazing! And I also had the practically perfect example of Hermana McNeil who is one of our hermana leaders for our zone.   She is pretty much the perfect missionary and I was strengthened so much by her example!  I learned how to have much better contacts in the streets and how to make sure that each and every person that I talk to understands the purpose of why we are here and the joy that we can bring into their lives.  It was so great!  I want to be an example to each and every one of my companions in the way that Hermana McNeil was to me! 
      Javi and Coni were baptized yesterday!  After lots of things going wrong and the chance to work very closely with our ward (which was a true miracle!) and talk more to their parents, we were blessed to be part of this amazing moment in their lives to make this covenant with God!  It was so great! And Dad will be happy to hear that I have been practicing singing and us four hermanas in the ward performed a special musical number in the baptism. ;) This is the beginning of an amazing new life for these girls!!
      I love you all so much!!!!
--Hermana Harvey


We made books for the girls to record special events in their lives in relation with their new lives in the gospel! We have moments such as their baptism all the way to their sealing in the temple with their husbands! ;) So exciting!



Monday, November 3, 2014

Week 14

Hello Friends and Family!!
    This week has been great! Especially Halloween! First of all, it was super fun to see that the kids actually go out and do Trick or Treating here!! Or Dulce o basura ;) soo fun! So as we were out working there were a bunch of little kids in costumes banging on fences for candy" ! ;) so cute!  So that was super fun! And also this day we just had the spirit so strong in our lessons! I don´t know what was different about Halloween but we just were able to teach with more power and conviction and we had a member couple in one of our lessons and we invited our investigator to be baptized and he said that he was not ready yet and that he had a lot he needed to do to get ready before he would commit to anything and we were talking about the importance of acting on the things that he knows to be true and how if we do not act on our responses that we receive from the Lord, he will not continue to give us more knowledge and answers to our questions and as we were talking about this, this man that we had with us (who converted to the church about 5 years ago and now is a very strong and active member) bore his testimony on the importance of acting on the responses through sharing his experience with converting to the church and the spirit was so strong when he was speaking!  Still he said that he is not prepared to make this change in his life right now but I could feel that his heart was softened at least a little bit more through the testimony of this member! There are so many blessings that come when you have a member in your lessons! It is incredible! So family, friends, if you have the chance, I would like to invite you to go out with the missionaries! They NEED your help! Trust me... We as missionaries can Not do it alone! 
      We've been doing a lot of preparing this week because two of our investigators are being baptized on Thursday!  Javiera y Constanza! I am sooo excited for them!! Their parents are less-active members and they are 11 and 9 years old! The missionaries have been teaching them for quite a while and now if finally the time!! They are so ready and soo excited for their baptisms!  Whenever we ask them any questions at all about the gospel their response is ALWAYS to go to church on Sundays and be baptized so that they can be "limpiasita" or clean (in a cute way) . haha I love it! AHHH! So exciting!!  I hope you all have a great week!
--Hermana Harvey
Our district right before our last transfers!

Had lunch with Familia Canales and this was our "ensalada" a tomato stuffed with ground beef

Javi and Coni! the two girls who are going to be baptized on Thursday (sooo exciting!) with pictures of the world that they drew because we were talking about the creation!

Chile at sunset in our sector!

I made the cinnamon rolls! They were delicious!!

My companion and I pretty view from up en el campo.  We went up here for a lunch appointment and the member who we ate with took the picture for us!