Service Service Service

We have a lot of stories to tell this last week so get your popcorn and enjoy :)))

Background

So I feel like I have already talked about this but I'll go over it one more time. Work in the keys is a little different. It's all about making a good name for the church and missionaries. A big part of that is service, and we did a TON of service this last week.

Valentines Party Prep

First off, happy late Valentine's Day to everyone!!! A big name member in our ward named Lon Wardrop threw a valentines party, and it was our job to get everything ready. So on P-day, we went over and got to work. He lives on the beach with a really nice dock. And if you know anything about the ocean, it likes to spit sea weed out onto the sand, so he had massive piles of seaweed that we had to clean up. Part way through that he told me to power wash his super long dock, so I grabbed the stuff and got to work. A little bit into it, I was making sure I was doing the best I could and making it look the absolute best because that's what brother Wardrop expects. Well I feel my arms starting to burn so I go inside and get a long sleeve.......... But I didn't even think about my bare feet. So after about 2.5 hours of power washing, I didn't realize it yet, but my poor little feet were going to be absolutely DESTROYED. He checked the dock and he said that that was the best the dock has ever looked, and he's had it cleaned a million times so basically I'm a pressure washing pro lol. We continued cleaning, setting up chairs and tables, and getting the majority of stuff ready to go. 

Valentines Party

The next day was the Valentines party!!! We of course went early and finished setting everything up because this was a big event that included a lot of members and nonmembers. By this time, the sun burn had kicked in...... And I couldn't wear normal shoes, because they were so hot and in so much pain that I didn't even bother wearing shoes during the party. It was a great experience though, it was an adult only party so no kids were there and so everyone was just talking and it was a great time. We had food, listen to music, and just spent quality time with everyone.

Funny Story

So with that, before the party started, a few members arrived early and we're Goin on the dock and checking it all out. Just enjoying the beach view and doin some talking. Well for the party, we set up tiki torches all the way to the dock.... And brother Wardrop poured and lit the torches... Well the wind had other plans and came full force before the party started. It started blowing the oil off of the tiki torches, and it was like a flame thrower. And started blowing fire everywhere, and all the way down the tiki torch. That happened to be the one that was HOOKED INTO THE DOCK...... So now all the members start throwing sand on the tiki torch to put it out, meanwhile I'm watching my precious clean dock get demolished by all this sand. It's okay though, brother Wardrop came up and gave me a broom and said "don't let your hard work go to waste", So I recleaned that part of the dock and it looked good as new lol. The fire melted some of the plastic top that covered the first stand that  holds the dock, and also almost burned off the rope that goes to the very end of the dock acting as a rail/handrail. It was pretty wild, lol. 

Oven/Fridge

About last Sunday, a member called us up and asked if we would be available to go over and help put his oven and fridge into the house, because apparently the people that drop it off aren't going to put it inside, which we thought was weird but whatever we can do that. On Thursday, we went over and arrived at his house... Welp we understood why the delivery guys wouldn't put it in. In Marathon, and the keys in general, a lot of the houses are built on stilts so that when hurricanes come and flood the entire island, the house won't get touched, so his house was around 15 feet in the air which is pretty normal. Well he's currently in the process of building his house, and his 3 flights of stairs to get up to the front door has ZERO guard rails or railings, so the construction guys could get up and down with materials without worrying. Which means on all sides of the stairs you could easily fall and land on a ton of construction stuff.. My comp and I saw that and looked at each other with a little bead of sweat on our head. So we start and we get the oven up without any hassle, it was pretty light so we were just careful and it was real simple. The fridge was a different story..

This is a massive fridge let me tell you, it's like 200 pounds and is super tall. How we did it, is the guy had this tiny dolly that we put the fridge on, and I was up on top, and my comp and him were on bottom pushing it. The thing is is that the dolly is super short compared to the fridge, so I'm basically breaking my back to try to grab this dolly and pull it up the stairs. At the top of the second flight of stairs, the stilts the house stands on is next to the stairwell, so this concrete bar is going across that spot of the stairwell. I'm pulling and nearing the top, however the fridge is so tall it's about 4 stairs lower than me. I make it to the top and have my back to this concrete bar.. I said before they lifted another step that they need to lift the fridge a little towards them because I don't have room to move back.. They didn't hear me... So they count down and I pull up and try to push the fridge upright a little bit to get room, but they did not hear me so they just kept pushing and I get pinned between the concrete and this massive fridge. It's right on my chest and crushing me lol. I try to shout at them to turn the fridge upright but fridge was smashing my chest so I couldn't talk, so I was just standing there pinned with this fridge, while my companion and the member are still trying to push this fridge through my body. We ended up getting it lifted off of me and we got it through the front door after having to unbox it and take all the doors off of it because it was too big to fit through the door lol. 

(Pictures of the staircase included)

Other Service Overview

We also had a couple other projects this week. There is this food bank center thingy here called Kair, and the senior missionaries signed us up so we went there and helped this old old lady named Phylis. She had broken her pelvis, and had a crutch and would slowly hobble around telling us what to do. She was so very grateful that we were there to help, because she says the missionaries always get everything done fast, and without her having to micromanage us like she has to do to everyone else apparently. We also replaced these people's dishwasher, so I learned how to do that, lol. They live in a trailer and to be able to put the dishwasher in their trailer in the first place, they had to cut out the side of the trailer. So we had to retear out the side of the trailer to get to the dishwasher, but we ended up getting it hooked up and working so I'm proud of us :))

SpongeBob

We received a referral a little bit ago which never happens here so we were super hyped. His name is Dean Albert. We called him and talked to him for about 20 min. He lives on a boat here (which a lot of people do here), born and raised in Marathon which is crazy rare, his kids and ex-wife are very strong members of the church. We set up a time to meet up with him. He told us that he would have been baptized into our church but that he couldn't get his head around Joseph Smith being a prophet. The reason he reached out to us this time is because he saw the movie called Cokeville Miracle. If you've seen it then you know, but he felt prompted to do a little research on the background of the movie. He discovered that almost all the people that were involved in the miracle were LDS. So he decided to reach out again and told us he is "99%" converted lol. So we ended up having that lesson and we taught him the restoration and really focused on Joseph Smith and took a very logical approach to it which he seemed to like and he didn't have any problems or questions with so we should be good there. Towards the end of the lesson I felt prompted to extend a date to him, so I did!! And he accepted!! So he's on date for March 10th, so we are super excited to meet with him and help him along the path. 

I'm running out of time and have to go, but I have some big updates for Danger and some other people. So I'll make sure to include it in next week's.

I love you all so much!! Never forget the Lord knows and loves you perfectly. You're never alone 

Elder Harbs

From Members

My name is Tiffany Stream Wade. My parents are the senior missionary couple here and my husband and I are in town visiting. Thought you might enjoy a few random pics of your amazing missionary setting up for church tomorrow! These guys have been working their guts out all day. I saw them earlier in the day shoveling mulch in the rain! They are fantastic. A lil Danger wanted in the pic. He said you knew him.

The Keys!!!

Some big big changes happened recently and I'm so hyped to talk about it!!

Transfers

So transfers hit and I'm going to Marathon in the Keys!!!!!! It's a small little island about half way down the keys. It's a hot spot for vacationers and tourists. I got to transfers and got my new companion Elder Clayson, this is his third transfer so I'm polishing him. He has only been in Marathon for one transfer so he's pretty new to it as well. We packed up our stuff and made the 4 hour drive down lol. It was super awesome!!! If you don't know, at the bottom of Florida there is a line of islands that vere off to the left. And there are bridges that connect all of the lslands together. Basically there is one main road that goes through all of these small populated island. Key west is the southernmost island, and it is the southernmost part of the entire United States which is super cool!!

Apartment

Our apartment is super cool. It's on the second floor of a building, and below us is a vape shop, lol. The guy that lives down there is always bumping reggae which is super funny to me and we hear it like all night. Our apartment is a one room apartment plus bathroom. It's super small and cozy and I love it. Elder Clayson and I decided to rearrange a lot to make more space in the apartment which worked out great!!!

Branch 

The branch we are in is super sweet. We have an okay amount of members, all of which are on the older side because if you live in the keys, most likely you're retired. A lot of members that do come, have houses here and they decided to come down for like a couple months and then after go back. What's nice is that the president here convinces them to move their records so they can receive callings which really helps out the branch. It is an English branch but there are a few inactive Spanish members that we are focusing on really hard. What's tough is that about an hour north, there's a key (island) called Key Largo. A while ago they had a branch there as well but as of a few months ago the stake ended up shutting it down because there wasn't enough priesthood holders or something. The hard part is that all the members there were left with driving an hour north to the mainland to the nearest ward, or driving an hour here to marathon. So some members find it extremely difficult to come to church which is tough to see. The missionaries play a big roll in the branch, they are in charge of sacrament, cleaning the building each week, leading activities, setting up and taking down events, and more. It's really interesting being in this position because I'm learning to kinda run a branch, which is really fun, lol.

Different Kind of Work

Missionary work here is a little different than what I'm used to. There are so many people that come and go here, and almost all don't stay. What I realized is that a big part of our work is just being friendly, kind, and loving to everyone we come in contact with. Just try to be Christlike with them and make a good name for the church and for missionaries so they can hopefully be inspired in the future if they come across missionaries again. A ton of planting seeds basically. 

Cubans

I originally thought that coming down here to an isolated island would make my Spanish take a big hit, however there are SOOOOOOOO many Cubans here it's crazy. There are trailer parks completely full of them. I'm getting a lot better at understanding them which is really comforting. I have always struggled with their accents, how fast they talk, and the words they skip, lol. 

Miraclesss

We had a super amazing experience the first day we got here. We got to Marathon and just hit the ground running and started visiting people and talking to everyone. There wasn't a ton of success of people willing to talk, but we just kept going. It got dark and we saw a couple guys outside their trailer and we decided to go talk to them. After a min, they offered us a shot to which we accepted, jk, but towards the end of the conversation I saw a truck full of Latins pass by and I was like NOOOOO as they drove by because it looked like a family. But I saw where they parked so we ended the convo super quick and we went over there. We got to know them and their names are Milagros (the mom), Noelbis (daughter but an adult), Noelbis' son Juan, and a baby. They are from Venezuela and they have lived here for 3 years so I don't think they are goin' anywhere lol. We talked about the gospel and about God for a min and we invited them to come to church on Sunday and they said they would love to come. Flash forward to Sunday and they actually showed up!! They walked to church and we greeted them at the door. We sat down with them and I translated for them for sacrament. Then for second hour I went to Relief Society to translate as well. It was such a spirit filled meeting where a ton of the sisters in the ward were sharing some amazing experiences. And Milagros actually answered a question that the teacher asked and I shared it with everyone and they all loved it. They felt super welcomed by the ward even though nobody spoke Spanish, lol. I have some super high hopes for them and I'm super excited to work with them!!!

Danger

Danger is a kid I got to know pretty early on in the week when I got here. My comp briefed me on him a little bit and told me how he has been taught by the missionaries for over a year. And instantly I had a million questions. But the situation is that he is super strong in the church, he comes to church every week, try's to come to activities, reads the Book of Mormon daily, prays all the time, and has tons of friends in the church. He wants to be baptized.... But heartbreakingly, his parents won't allow him. They are catholic and don't want him getting baptized. They are the NICEST people ever though and I connect super fast with them. They are from Cuba and they speak very little to no English. They feed us all the time, they say we have a second home there, and that if we need anything to let them know. Now for a lot of missionaries they would see danger and drop him because he is not "progressing", however we have seen some MASSIVE improvements with him. For example, normally Danger walks to church, but his parents came and picked him up, and they stayed in the parking lot and talked with us and another member that spoke a little Spanish. Then, they made something for Danger to bring for the linger longer that happens after church every week. AND THEN, we pushed for Danger's sister, who is 7, to come to church, and she came!!! Then they are starting to allow danger to go to activities, there was an activity a little bit ago where the young men went up to Miami and spent the night then went to a Miami Heat basketball game. We play pickleball with the branch every week and normally danger walks there, but his mom dropped him off and stayed for a little bit. His parents have been seeing him change for the better and how he is improving and becoming a better person through church, and they said if he keeps it up, he can be baptized by the end of the year. I personally think it can be a ton sooner, like within a month or two. They are opening up more Nad more and more and I'm so excited for Danger. 

We go over there and play basketball with him sometimes and he's actually really good for a 13 year old lol. So we have some battles. We asked his parents if he could come knock doors with us this week and they said they would love that!! So I'm super excited to get him baptized soon because he's dying to be!!

Key Largo

Wow, that last paragraph was massive, my b.  So continuing with the Key Largo point, where the branch was dispersed, the house that the missionaries used to live in is still owned by the church, so we got approval for it, and last week we went up on Wednesday afternoon, worked the rest of the day there, then slept the night at that house, then worked all the next day and went home that evening. It was basically going up there and trying super hard to visit and strengthen all the members up there to help them out and show love to them. It went great!! We met some amazing members that don't come to church and extended a ton of invitations. That is something we are planning on doing weekly if our miles let us because it's an hour away.

FOOD

We have been getting fed by everyone, lol. We keep doing visits and they keep giving us food. We were walking by a trailer park and this Cuban was prepping fish behind this restaurant, and we decided to talk to him and he invited us in and LOADED our plates up with Cuban food and we befriended everyone working there, lol. Then the next day, we were walking by a trailer park and we found a couple Latinas outside cooking and we went to talk to them and they asked if we wanted Tomales. SOOOO yummy. All the members always send us home with food and our pantries are full, lol. I thought I was going to never get fed here in this tiny little island but that is definitely not the case so far, lol. I love it here and I'm so excited to keep working hard here everyday!!!

I hope everyone has an amazing week, and we will see ya next Monday :))))

Elder Harby