"God Hath Sent His Holy Prophets"

We've had a pretty amazing couple weeks!!!

Valle Family

Super amazing update for them. We finished teaching Ernesto, and the week of his baptism, Erick met with the bishop and got approval to baptize his son!!!! It was an amazing experience and the support from the ward was amazing!!! I was also asked to be the person to confirm Ernesto , which I've never done before and I had no clue that I was doing it lol. So I had a quick training from the ward counselor 30 sec before but it went great!! Erick throughout all the lessons was basically teaching them for us, it was so amazing to see him return to church. AND not only that...... The week after Ernesto baptism............. Erick got called as the Stake Clerk First Councilor in the Finance department. We talked with him and he said that he has been lookin' into it since they called him and he says it's basically what he already does. They are such a powerhouse of a family and I'm so happy I was able to be a part of their return. Ernesto is now practicing with the youth to sing 2 songs in a sacrament meeting  coming up. Ernesto also received the priesthood and will be helping pass the sacrament. Last Sunday was the first time I saw Erik and his wife take the sacrament. It made me want to cry, they have been to church every week since we have met with them, and they have not been taking the sacrament . So that was a tender blessing to see them participate.  They make me so happy!!!!!!!

Fiesta Latina

The Fiesta Latina is a massive annual party in the ward, where everyone comes and decorates a table with the country they are from. They make food, prepare song/dance, and just have an amazing time. We invited a ton of our friends to go, and there was a massive turnout. There were so many countries there, colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Guatemala, and Brazil is even there, lol. We all tried food from different countries, and we had a USA table where we served root beer floats LOL. Funny enough so many people said they have never tried it and they loved it. A lot of people thought it was actual beer. We had some friends go and they absolutely loved it. Duan was there as well and he was having a time of his life.

Tabernacle Choir Concert

The day finally came where the Tabernacle Choir came and had their concert!! Before the concert everyone is outside waiting to get in. I was able to see all the missionaries and all my past members who I was really good friends with. It was such an amazing experience being able to have a little reunion before the concert! We had quite a few friends come as well, so we were running around everywhere trying to help them get in and get their tickets figured out. The choir sang a ton of different songs from different countries, and it was such a spiritual experience. We sat next to a couple friends and some elders, and we had super good seats as well!

Zone Pday

We were finally able to have our Zone today that we earned by reaching 100 baptisms in one month. And we literally played basketball and pickleball all day long. Me and another Elder went and got pizza and brought it back for everyone. There are only two sisters in our Zone, because the other two had to get et'd out. And so President told them to join another zone for Zone p-day because they would have been the only sisters, lol. So having only Elders on Zone p-day was super fun.

Maritza

We found a new woman recently, and we have been meeting with her semi consistently. We gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to read it. The next time we went over she pulled out her Book of Mormon and she read what we asked her to read, and she highlighted a bunch of parts. And she had questions! It was so surprising and so satisfying that someone actually kept a commitment. She was able to make it to church last Sunday and we sat here next to one of our eternigators, and they were getting along super well. We're going over this week and we are going to try to put her on date.

Finding

Finding has been so difficult in this area. There are no apartment complexes, and almost all places are gated or "no soliciting". And I know we legally aren't soliciting but people don't like to listen, and I'm not going to start an argument, lol. But we have basically resulted to knocking all of these rich people's doors, lol, which isn't going great. We've tried everything we can think of and it's not working very well, so please pray for us!! 

Random stuff

We got a referral that I called and got to know super well, shared the scripture and asked her when we can go over. She said she's pretty busy but she invited us to her baby shower

Duan got the priesthood but couldn't go to church 'cuz the breaks on his car stopped working

My companion got a Costco card so we were able to grab some food from there. Remind me of home going with my Mama

Blanca Mendoza is a member who we are good friends with. She signed up for dinner and boxed up some food for us to pick up. She drew a picture and wrote our names on them

We got a new English teacher and he taught his first class, it was basically music as he had the students match the pitch of the piano 

Going home soon

Well it's starting to hit me pretty hard. I have my transfer interview and my departing interview this week. I just finished what's called My Plan, that missionionaries who are going home do to make plans and set goals so they have a direction when they get home. When missionaries get to that point it's basically over and now I'm starting to pack to go home, and to plan everything out. Last Sunday was fast and testimony meeting, because this week we have stake conference. The elders quorum counselor, Mark, told me to bear my testimony, lol, so I did. The ward hadn't really realized I was going home so soon. So after that sacrament meeting everyone was thanking me and basically saying goodbye, lol. Best part is that so many members are inviting us to come over to feed us one last time which is an upside. I'm still working as hard as I can every single day and taking advantage of the last few moments I have to serve the Lord 24/7.

Spiritual Thought

Mosiah 3:13

13 And the Lord God hath sent his holy prophets among all the children of men, to declare these things to every kindred, nation, and tongue, that thereby whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he had already come among them.

Preach. General Conference coming up and we have the opportunity to hear from the Lord's chosen students. And they do exactly what the scripture says. Helping us gain our testimonies in Jesus Christ, believe in Him, turn away from our sins and to receive great joy. And not only that, but General Conference reaches almost every Kindred, Nation, Tongue, and People. 

I have a powerful testimony that their words and their messages come from the Lord, and they speak to bless us. If we have the Spirit with us as we listen, the Spirit will help lead & guide us to know/ earn what the Lord would have us do.

I'll hit y'all with my last email next week. But for now, the grind continues.

Love you all!! Thanks to those that take the time to read these emails, and even those that skip to the pictures, lol!

Elder Harbs