Week 62

Hi Everyone,

Well another week is over and it’s been a good one!

We went out searching for a house of a guy that we met on the street last week and while we were looking for it we accidently knocked on the door of the wrong house! It was kinda tough because I had forgotten what the lady looked like so I kinda thought it was her until a little further into the conversation I figured out that she had no idea who we were! So we capitalized on the opportunity and asked to share a message! But, with the whole misunderstanding I forgot to tell her the name of the church that we are from....so after sharing a little bit we asked her what it would mean to her if the true church of Jesus Christ was here on the earth today. She said "oh, I know it is, it’s the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Saints or something like that" She is from Jamaica so she was speaking English and after she said that I was shocked and E Carrillo was confused because he didn't understand. Haha. But turns she comes from a VERY catholic family but her sister is a member in the US and her mom got baptized before she died and sent a letter to her talking about how great and true everything is, and she said that she felt it was true! The only reason she didn't ask her sister for more details is because she said that she didn't want the sister thinking that she was asking questions to make fun of her church.

 I testified of the truthfulness of what she felt and we went on to explain about the Holy Ghost and it was such a powerful lesson! She is living with her 19 year old daughter and we are going back to teach them tomorrow! It’s incredible to me how the Lord prepares his people and if we are on his errand he will put us in the right spot when we need to be there.

It’s been great hearing about all these missionaries coming home and having some of my buddies from the mission leave for home.  But it makes me realize I'm not a newbie anymore! I only have 10 months left and it feels like just yesterday I was hitting 10 months! Time flies out here and it makes me want to take advantage of every moment! This week after interviews with President we took a bus home and I sat by this really angry looking black guy. I really wanted to talk to him, but it  was obvious he wasn't in the mood for anything I had to say so I just asked him if I could practice my Papiamento with him. After asking some questions about his job and family the conversation turned to me and I had the opportunity to do what we do best and testify! I was very proud that I was able to stay afloat with my Papiamento and we got off the bus with a return visit scheduled for this Thursday! It was a great experience when I could really feel the Lord working through me and the funny part was my friend was having to deal with a crazy Dominican Pentecostal lady that whole bus ride. We got off and I told him about the visit and he handed me three little booklets of apostasy. I love the mission. Hope all is good back home!

Also some tourists from Utah came to church! We saw them on the road and they pulled over and talked to us and I guess out of habit I invited them to church and they came! It was really fun to get to know them! One couple was from Orem and the other was from Brigham! They didn't know grandma, but they did know Sheila Benson! She’s part of the family, right? Aunt Sheila has a nice ring to it. Anyways their names were Bryan and Cindy Jeppsen from Mannaway(Mantua) Utah. And the other guys were from Orem.

Also I got my package from the Yuyez family and I have been enjoying putting the smarties into my brand new pockets all week :) If all goes well we will be getting bikes this Wednesday, but we won’t be able to use them because this week Juan David is coming on a Mini Mission with us! It’s where he comes and lives with us and lives all the mission rules and learns what it’s like to work like a missionary! I am really looking forward to that and to celebrate that we bought pizza and wings :)

 It’s been a good day. 

Love, Elder Harsh

                             Tourists from Utah taking pictures of the Elders

Week 61

Hi everyone!

Well this week was good but we had to walk a TON because we didn't have bikes. I never thought I would miss my bike but man, we have walked more in the past week than the other elders who have the car have walked in the past month! haha but I am really jealous you guys are going down to Moab! I love that place.

Today we went to go buy a new camera for E Carrillo because he dropped his in the ocean and so we got to walk around the downtown tourist area which was fun. It’s really different from down in San Nicolaas! We are kind of in the ghetto of Aruba. But hopefully we will be getting new bikes this week.

We are also getting close with an investigator named Victor. He is Dominican and has a ton of faith and wants to change but struggles with the word of wisdom. He is very motivated to stop and says he can feel a difference in his spirituality when he does and doesn't drink. So we are working really hard with him on that. We are calling him every day at 4 when he gets off work to help him and so far it’s working!

Also this week we had a funny thing happen. We were walking and we saw a Dutch lady waiting for the bus, and so we started talking to her and she was really friendly and really interested in our message. We talked to her for a minute longer but we were in a hurry and so we asked her for her address so we could come by later. She told us that the bus probably isn't going to come so she will just show us because it was really close. I ask her what number and right as she was about to tell me the bus passes by and this 50 year old lady in a dress starts sprinting after the bus yelling stop. The bus stops and she gets on and that’s the last we ever saw of her- dangit!!! haha. But I will never forget the view of this 50 year old lady sprinting her hardest yelling after this bus! hahaha.

Oh my goodness I forgot to tell you that this week Vaquero blessed the sacrament!! I got special permission to call him and I talked with him and he is doing so well!! I miss him so much but he is doing so well! Just wanted to let you know :)

Also this week Sister Hanson (an American who lives here) offered to give us haircuts because my hair still looked awful from when that Dominican guy cut it! I guess she just took pity on us but they also gave us dinner and it was great. Bro Hanson coined the Phrase "the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is two weeks, unless you are E Harsh, then its two months!" I didn't think it was funny but whatever.

Have a good week.

Love, 

Elder Harsh

Week 60

Hi Everyone,

Man! Conference weekend was great!! I had so many questions answered that I didn't even know I had!! And yes we had a few investigators at conference! We had it in English and Spanish so I was with the English people and E Carrillo was with the Spanish ones. Conference was perfect for them. There was a few times where I wanted to stand up and yell "are you hearing this?! This is what you need!!" But I kept quiet and we all felt the spirit very strong.

Also this week somebody went through our gate behind our house and cut the lock on our bikes and stole them....so lots of walking :/ The mission is getting us new bikes, but they are being sent from Trinidad, so it might be a while. We got to drive one day while E. Atkinson was off Island so that was nice. It was good to be driving again but it made me miss Rex. I'm glad you got to meet the Yuyez family! They are great! Also, Sis. Yuyez is a really REALLY good cook :) She’s the best!

 Also I maybe need pants... my shirts are fine for now but my pants are starting to get holes in them so maybe you could send a few more pants? If not, you can send them in a few weeks when I am in Trinidad. But what I really need is smarties. Lots of smarties. The pants are optional but I really do need smarties...

Anyways love you tons mommy!!

Elder Harsh

This is the Yuyez family from Aruba.  They came for General conference.  He is a Branch President in Aruba.  They are very nice people and it was fun to meet them!  They are going to take a package back for Blake.  J

Week 59

Hi Everyone,

Well this week was transfers so that meant a lot of running back and forth from the airport but we did get to have the car for two days! That was nice but I can now see why every Elder that goes to the Orajestad area gets fat! It’s literally sit, walk to the door, repeat. So as weird as it sounds, it’s kind of nice to be back on our bikes!

 But we noticed that at the end of the month everybody gets super busy and can't have their lessons and so we spent a lot of this week contacting as well as trying to track down people.

Juan David is still in Colombia until Wednesday so I am looking forward to hearing about his Temple experience! He leaves in November two weeks after transfers...So I probably won't be able to be at his farewell :( Since he had been gone that also means that Sis. Patricia has been gone which means no food for us. Can't wait to have them both back!

But the branch is doing really good and we have a few investigators that have committed to come to conference with us! I am super excited for that!

 Also yeah we did see the moon and it was so cool! We took our mattresses and put them out on our balcony and slept outside and watched the moon. But yeah, hopefully we will be able to have more lessons this week and keep helping our investigators receive blessings!

Love,

Elder Harsh

Week 58

Hi Everyone,

Well just like that another transfer is over! I will be staying here in San Nicholaas with E. Carrillo to finish his training and I will stay district leader.

 This week was kind of a blur but there was one day that was really weird! We went with the members to go clean up a beach and then after helped another member with a food thingy she was doing and then went and cleaned the church and then ran home to shower and try and make it to our lessons we had! We then had a great lesson with a less active family that is reactivating and on the way to the next lesson we stopped and talked about how we really need more members especially more priesthood in our branch, because we have like 10 Widows. But on the way home, a car waved and pulled over in front of us. Tourists sometimes do that and it’s fun to talk with them, but this time it was a new family! They joined the church about a month ago in Holland and moved back here! They were so happy to see us because they didn't know where the church was, so we told them where it was and they seem like a great family! They said they always have the Elders over for dinner too but we have to wait until they finish moving. So we offered to help and we are probably going to get fed pretty often by them!!

Also this week we had a contact that was very interesting. We sat down with him and he had TONS of questions about the plan of salvation. We were over there for over an hour explaining him things and he kept getting really excited and at the end he said "I am going to be very honest with you, I have studied with over 10 different religions, and you are the first guy that actually makes sense to me!" And that is the light that the Restored Gospel gives. He even came to church on Sunday and liked it. The only sad news is that Juan David and his mom Patricia are going to Colombia for the next 10 days. Sister Patricia is like our mom and so we are going to miss them a lot, but they are both going through the temple for their first time! It was so fun helping them get prepared and they are both super excited! But that’s pretty much this week in a nutshell.

I am so excited for General Conference! It’s kinda like Christmas here in the mission, and Christmas is that one day that you get to talk with your family...

As for getting my luggage, I got tired of emailing the DR office because they would just say "we are working on it" so I talked with Sis. Egbert and gave her a description of my stuff so if all goes well it will be sent to Trinidad where it’s at least in the boundaries of the mission, but I won't get it until I get transferred down there.

Oh yea!   Mommy- I went and bought a new memory card just to make you happy. Also Pres. Buckley is the old branch president and the coolest guy ever. He is the one that reminds me of JJ.

mi ta spera ku boso ta hopi bon.

Love,

Elder Harsh

My new address is:

Trinidad Port of Spain Mission

1 Morequito Ave Bldg. #10

Valpark Plaza

Valsayn

Trinidad & Tobago

Week 57

Hi Everyone!

Welp, another week has come and gone and I have really been focusing on my Papiamento and I am getting pretty good! I understand almost everything but I am in the "mountain man" phase (duck dynasty) where I can talk, but it’s just painfully slow.

E. Carrillo coming along with his English but this is a tough place to learn English because almost everyone knows Spanish. But I am sure he will get the hang of it soon.

This was a great week, up until Saturday and Sunday! We had Saturday and Sunday completely booked with lessons and EVERY SINGLE LESSON FELL THROUGH! Those days are tough. I am super sunburn from being outside for two complete days but we did have a few lessons off of contacts and we did an impromptu service and cut down this massive tree in this less active's yard. I got to play with a chainsaw for 3 hours and he came to church for the first time in 4 years! It was a win win situation. This is a tough area but we are making the best of it.

 Today we went with Pres. Buckley to eat pizza and after downing 12 slices, he took us to the biggest mountain (hill) in Aruba and said the view is great at the top, so we ran up all the stairs and I almost puked. But you could see the entire island from the top! It was so cool you could see ocean in every direction!

We also have an investigator who finally got her answer that she knows the Book of Mormon is true. It doesn't matter how many times that happens, every single time is special and I feel the spirit so strong! She has tons of questions but loves it when we come over and we always have super spiritual lessons with her!

We had a mission reunion with all the zone (the 3 islands) with Pres. Eggbert and Elder Martinez of the 70. It was great and I learned a lot. Also mom I only have 1 memory card and it doesn't work so that is my excuse for the next little while for why I haven't been taking pictures.

Have a good week!

Elder Harsh

Week 56

Hi Everyone

Well just like that another week went by! This week was a lot better, we were always super busy! I am really having troubles thinking about the details of this past week. We had a really good lesson with one of Juan David's friends. He is a 17 year old kid and is way nice. We had already talked about the Restoration with him and so we come with Juan David and we talk about the importance of the Book of Mormon in gaining a testimony. It was a super spiritual lesson and Juan David bore a very powerful testimony because he is a convert (like everyone on the island) and he is also preparing to go on a mission so it really helped his friend and afterwards Juan David said that now he knows why missionaries are always so happy, because we get to do that every day! And it’s true! I love sharing the Gospel!

Speaking of that, we were out contacting last night and it was getting late, but we decided to try one more house before going home. We offered a short prayer and then I kind of had the feeling we should go up to this one house, but it was completely dark and nobody was outside, so Instead we tried the house next door. The front door was open but nobody answered so as we were walking away, I heard a guy cough from the dark house. There weren't any lights, but there was a super dark Jamaican guy sitting there that I couldn't see! I thought I was talking with nobody so I quickly made him laugh and then I saw teeth, so I started talking with him and he said that he is recently married and he made a promise that if God would let him marry a beautiful girl, he would turn his life around and go to church. He said he had been looking and praying for help to have the courage to go to church! He is a very humble guy and we have a lesson with him later today! I can't wait! So I guess what we learn from that is even if you are a super black Jamaican trying to disappear in the dark, God still hears and answers your prayers. Have I mentioned how cool Jamaican accents are??

 I came to a very interesting realization this past week, and it’s that every good story on your mission comes from contacting! Or I think you guys call it tracting, but in Spanish it translates to contacting. But anyways the good, the bad, and the funny stories come from contacting and I love it! This week we had an afternoon with all three! We had a really good contact that we will visit again tomorrow, we had a really funny one where the daughter was trying to flirt with us and her Dad kept saying things to her in Papiamento to motivate her because he thought we didn't speak Papiamento,

We contacted this one house and this freaking GIANT came out! He was like 7 feet tall but not skinny! He was super muscular and had really broad shoulders and after I introduced myself he said I can't talk to you. I asked him why and he said "Porque tu eres de Jesucristo, y yo soy de SATANAS"(You are of Christ and I am of Satan) and his voice got all deep and creepy when he said that I said oh ok, bye and I freaking turned tail and ran! And my companion couldn't stop laughing. So apparently we had a run in with a devil worshiper.  Haha there is never a dull moment with us!

 I am really enjoying the mission but it seems like the more you enjoy it the faster it goes! I guess that’s just the way it is though.

Anyways until next week,

Elder Harsh

                                                       Blake on top of a cave in Aruba

                               Juan David just after he received his mission call to Paris France