Christmas!!!

Hey hey!!! Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!! I hope you guys had a super fun and exciting Christmas!!!

There's not a ton to report this week.  For Christmas Eve we had an amazing dinner with Giovanis and his wife, and it was so fun!!! We just ate some super good Cuban food and talked the entire time!! Giovani's sister was there and she lived in Canada and spoke pretty good English which was a good break from Spanish for me, lol!! 

Got super spoiled from my family and the Christmas gifts they sent me, which was amazing of them!! Facetimed at the same time and opened gifts together on Christmas day.

On Christmas we had dinner at a member's house and their friend was there as well. Turns out he has a crazy background in the army, he was in the Colombian military to help bring down Pablo Escobar.... And apparently he was a super soldier it seemed like, lol. He was hired by the US gov to help their soldiers through the jungle! He looked like a soldier from the movies, he had this huge LMG with the bullets growing across his chest in the X. Literally had picture proof of all the stories he told us, which was crazy!!!

We've had another week of a lot of people falling through and not picking up. We only have like 1 or 2 actual progressing people which is frustrating, but we are working hard to find more. 

Spanish is coming along nicely, doesn't help that some days I just hate Spanish with all my heart and don't even want to listen to it, lol, but I'm improving. That's all that counts. 

We played some pickle ball again.  Elder Anderson and I played each other and I ended up winning and he threw his paddle over the fence almost to the road. Turns out he completely broke his paddle! He did some surgical maneuvers (mom check spelling on that) on it and now it's glued back together, so we'll see how good it is this week, lol.

Last thing, I GOT NEW WHITE SHIRTS AND I DON'T LOOK FAT ANYMORE!!!!!! So anyone wondering why it looks like I gained 50 pounds in the 2 months I've been out.... I haven't, lol. So I'm super excited about that, but overall this week was pretty good, it flew by, and Christmas already came and went, which is crazy to think.

I'm sorry everyone for the short letter. I don't have a lot of time, but I hope all is well wherever you're at!! 

Hope you have a great week! 

Love, 

Elder Harbs

Pictures:

1-2: Mom gave me pajama bottoms for our traditional Christmas Eve that have my Dog Shasta's face on them. Best gift ever!

3. A member's dog, named Chewy. We became best friends, lol.

4. Merry Christmas

5-6. Heyyyyyy

7. Look, Mom..."I'm not fat anymore!" (newer slimming white shirts) (Btw, he did pick the original shirts he went out with, not mom's fault!)

8. New Lego Creation

Heyyo!!

This week was a lot better, not as homesick, Spanish is coming along better, and the work is progressing!! 

Giosvanis is progressing well!! I love going to their house because they have the cutest 2-year old ever!! He is the one whose wife is a member, and he's still so interested!! We taught him the plan of salvation and it went super well! I spoke pretty well and he was engaged the whole time. It was funny because his wife would keep setting the 2 year old on the ground because she didn't want to be held, then she would just walk across the house and the wife would have to chase her down. It was super funny, but we got through the lesson and they invited us for dinner on Christmas Eve!! So we are super excited for that!

And also Argentina won!!!!!! Which was super good for the members here because they all wanted Argentina to win, everybody was watching it, it was so crazy. I can only imagine what's happening with Caleb, aka Elder Harbertson (my cousin also serving a mission), over in Argentina. Crazy stuff, people have been riding around with Argentina flags everywhere, and everyone was outside after the game which was so fun to see. 

It truly feels like a different country over here in Florida, I actually forget sometimes and wish I was back in America sometimes, then I realize, lol. It is just so different here 90% of the people we see here are latino on the streets, with Spanish billboards and signs, people walking the stoplights trying to sell flowers to the people waiting to go, it's just an entirely different feeling and vibe and I love it!!

Spanish is coming along slowly, I'm noticing that I'm actually understanding a lot more and can speak my mind a little faster and clearer. Elder Anderson and I say a bunch of little sayings to each other which has helped a lot. One thing I noticed is that when it comes to lessons, it's kind of a struggle for me to speak and teach the lesson, but then the second I leave the house I can speak almost completely fine to Elder Anderson which is pretty frustrating, but I'm working on it!!

Overall just trying to get used to a couple things in the mission life, getting super excited for Christmas.  My Mom just told me she sent off my christmas package so I'm so so so excited to get that!!! Christmas lights have been going up everywhere, but it doesn't feel anywhere close to Christmas because it's still 80 degrees outside, lol. 

I hope everything is good with you guys!!

Love you all,

Elder Harbs

Pics:

1. Hats the members gave us

2. Pretty clouds

3. The gifts we got from the members

4. Our Christmas tree!!!

5 & 5a. I made Chicken Divan for the house with the help of my amazing mom!

6. Made best friends with a random cat

7. Weekly Planning?

8. A million cool lights, I'm sorry my camera sucks

9. Legos

10. Christmas bandit?

11. Me (for my mom, lol)

Mission Facebook Page

Crazy Week

Okay so this week has been so crazy, lots of ups and downs, highs and lows, but overall it was a pretty good week.

So to start out, I gave away a Book of Mormon all by myself! Elder Anderson and I were riding to one of our upcoming lessons, and I have been starting to start off the conversations between us and some people we find in the street. And that morning I told Elder Anderson that I'm going to give away this Book of Mormon or I'm not going home. So I saw this couple walking with their kid and Elder Anderson was like "this is all you", so I rode up, knees weak, arms are heavy, except mom's spaghetti wasn't quite there (if you get it, you get it). I kicked off the conversation and asked how they were. We kept talking for a min, all in Spanish just so you know, and I asked if they knew what the Book of Mormon was and they actually said they had.  So I asked them if they had one and they said no. So I went right on ahead and pulled mine out for them.  We then got their information and are going to be meeting with them pretty soon, so that's sick!! I rode away after that, so hyped and happy, it felt amazing!!

Today we played a ton of basketball, and it was so fun. A ton of Elders met up at the church and played some full court games on the tiny court. It was a ton of fun and I was hitting my shots which was feeling so good. We also played some pickleball in the morning for exercise which was super fun because it has been so long since I've played and it went super good!! Some time this week Elder Anderson and I are going to go again in the morning and play with a bunch of old people and probably get destroyed.

I became really homesick halfway through last week and it became really hard for me. It hit after a long day of struggling with Spanish, not being able to understand as much as I should.  I couldn't speak to save my life, and when I got home it all fell on me. I ended up getting re-motivated and the rest of the week went super well, so that's awesome!!

We taught a super amazing lesson this week to a guy named Giovanis. His wife is a member, however, she hasn't been to church since moving to Florida, so it has been about a year and a half. They have the cutest kid and the husband is super interested in the church which always feels good. Elder Anderson and I taught the restoration which went super well.  The family was helping me out with Spanish the whole time which is nice because they were very understanding of me trying my best to speak. The Spirit was so strong the entire time, and Giovanis ended up wanting to say the prayer at the end so we taught him how to pray and he did great!! It was funny because when I was reciting the first vision in Joseph Smith's words, she was mouthing it with me which was fun to see. 

We have been finding a ton of new people, and normally, there are not a lot of Cubans, but everyone we have been finding have been Cubans and they are my absolute favorite!! They are a lot harder to understand because they slur and speak a ton differently, but I'm so happy we are finding them!!

I hope you are all doing amazing, I'll be keeping you all in my prayers.

Love you all,

Elder Harbertson

Crazy First Week

Man this has been crazy. A ton went on and it all went by so fast. I got my trainer which is Elder Anderson, and he is awesome!!! His Spanish is really good, he's been out for just over a year, and we both love Star Wars. We have been doing a ton of work and a ton of studying together and I love the elder, he's my papi and I'm his hijo because he's teaching me everything, lol.

There's a ton to learn on how to work the area book, setting up lessons and recording everything you do. We haven't had a ton of lessons this week but we are grinding really hard to get some set up. I feel bad because I'm always just kinda quiet in lessons because I don't really know what's going on or what to say. But I'm trying really hard and I'm slowly getting better and better. I can normally understand what is going on, and get about half of what the general idea is, but get little on the specifics. This last Sunday I bore my testimony in church in Spanish because it was fast Sunday, and it went great!! I think I said everything right, but who knows, lol. It's been frustrating not being able to say what I want to say or understand what people are trying to say to me, but I am trying my best and just trying to have a good attitude about it.

I already miss my mom's cooking, she made the best stuff and I can't cook to save my life, lol. So I've been surviving off of ham and cheese sandwiches and some smoothies. It's alright though because my mom gave me some ideas today so I should be good to go. Today was my first p-day and we went and played some mini golf which was super fun. I tied for first with 2 other elders so that's a dub in my books. Then we went and got some food, and headed to a surf shop right next to the beach and I was dying the whole time. I ended up buying a hat and we headed to the church.

Crazy miracle:

We had a referral last Saturday on this guy named Yelian, and we went ahead and gave him a call, and he picked up!! We taught him a quick lesson and invited him to church, and he said he would come!! He actually ended up showing up and we introduced him to a ton of people and took him to class. He seemed like he was having a good time and making friends so we will see where this takes us!!

I've been saying "dude" and "guys" a ton so I decided that every time say that instead of "Elder", I do 10 push-ups......... After Sunday I had 150 push-ups lined up. I'm getting better though so that's good!!

I hope everyone is doing great, I miss you all and hope all is well!!

Love, 

Elder Harbs

Mom: He told us there are 8 areas in his mission. He's currently in Green Acres, Lakeworth area, which is North of Fort Lauderdale.  Also, he took a nice crash on his bike the first day!  He laughed about it.  Now that that's out of the way, lol.  He lives in a house with two other Elders, The Zone Leaders, and his companion is their District Leader.  He said that most Elders live in groups of 4 together. He likes his room he sleeps in, not a bunk bed, and they each have their own desks. He is really happy despite the normal frustrations of learning a new language!