Week 89

Hi Everyone,

Well this was a good week as usual! Guyana is nuts but I love it! The only problem is they only speak one language but whatever.

My new companion is a guy named E. Birch from Idaho and he is a way chill guy! He has 4 months in the mission and this is his first transfer in Guyana. He is a hard worker and likes to have fun so yeah, we get along great. It’s nice finally having a companion that wants to work as hard as I do! It’s been great. But on transfer day I got to stay in the senior couple apartment with another Elder and took my 5th hot shower in my entire mission! #Blessed  Then we took a road trip all over Guyana to drop and pick up random elders and then my comp flew in and we went home. We had our district conference this weekend so we all went up to the Chapel downtown to do it. On Sunday we had a pretty good turnout but on the Saturday adult session there were only like 25 people there, including the 8 missionaries...... But Pres. Egbert was there! He didn't have time to do interviews but we were able to talk with him a little which was nice.

We also finally were able to have a lesson with Arifa's sister! She is 24 and didn't seem too interested because she would always leave and take care of her baby whenever the lesson started but we "happened" to stop by when Arifa wasn't there and so we cornered her and had a really good lesson! She had some questions about the plan of salvation because her mom passed away a few years back so we talked about that and the spirit was so strong as she learned about everything. She had tons of questions and agreed to meet with us again on Wednesday.  Arifa will be so happy!

But the work is really starting to explode out here! It’s so different here than the islands because there are a bunch of prepared people!!  It’s a fun change and I can't wait for this next week!

Love,

Elder Harsh

Week 88

Hi Everyone,

Well this week lots happened! Probably the biggest news is that my paperwork for Trinidad didn't process yet so I have one more transfer here in Guyana! I am glad I can stay but I do miss speaking other languages.

Yesterday we had Arifa and Krystal's baptism!! It was such a neat experience! Krystal's whole family except for her dad are fully active now and very supportive and the dad came out to the baptism! Arifa was super ready and participates more than any of the other YW in church! It’s been really neat to see her progress these past few weeks. The funny thing was that the water in Guyana is really dirty so when we filled up the baptismal font the water was green! That is normal for the people here in Guyana because they know their water sucks but it kinda destroyed the whole"clean again"imagery......BUUUUUUUT it was still great and we had a lot of members from the branch come which was good because we had to do it in the chapel in town because we just meet in a house and we don't have a font.

 In other news I learned how to make Roti and Pumpkin which is my new favorite food and it’s really fun to make!! We eat a lot of Curry and Roti because there are a lot of Indian people here (like from India Indians not Lamanite Indians) But it’s a really neat culture! I like it here the only problem is E. Alatasi got transferred and that’s kind of a bummer and I have no idea who my new companion is but he flys in Wednesday. Also last week we took a boat ride across the river and saw an alligator! I didn't get a photo but it was cool and I ordered a sweet gator skin cover for my scriptures. All in all it was a great week!

Elder Harsh

Week 87

Hi Everyone,

It’s weird to think we are already on the last week of the Transfer! Crazy how time flies! But at the same time the fact that I haven't had to fly out in a few weeks makes me feel like I have been here for a while!! But this week was great!

We are preparing for the Baptism of Arifa and Crystal which should be nice! Arifa is doing great! She has such a strong testimony and is getting baptized next Sunday! It was going to be Saturday but she can only have work off one of those days so of course she chose to take off Sunday.

It’s a lot different here than in the Islands! The problem is that baptisms come easier so the missionaries feel like they don't need to be as obedient. I saw that back in the DR as well. In the islands I was able to watch the old (DR) missionaries leave and E. Walker and I Trained almost all the newbies, and it was incredible to see the difference it made with the obedience and the work out in the islands. But here there is definitely work to do, but I'm glad that at least I understand that obedience brings blessings, and exact obedience brings the miracles I have seen out in the islands.

We were talking with Arifa and she started talking about the way she received her testimony and how she feels so good about this decision and it was one of the most powerful moments of my mission. I kind of suck at describing that kind of stuff but it was a really neat moment and it has been so great to see the change that she has gone through. She is very ready to make that covenant with the Lord and I can't wait! Also we try as much as possible to get members to baptize investigators but when we talked to her about that she said that she wanted me to do it and once again it made me feel so lucky! Being a missionary really is the greatest.

 It’s kinda short this week because E. Alatasi had the flu AND an ear infection so I was really bored for a few days. But I did learn how to solve a rubiks cube. I guess that’s how this one is going to end.

Love, Elder Harsh

                                 This is from a few weeks ago, during festival.

Week 86

Hi Everyone!

Man conference was great wasn't it?? I have found that not only does conference have the message that I need to hear it also has messages that are perfect for our investigators!! We tried to have it at the church, but this is Guyana so we ended up going to the mission office to watch it with just us missionaries.

Arifa was talking to us Friday about how it is tough with her parents divorced and her mom passed away and her dad is a Muslim but she knows that this is true and has the support of her brother, but she was talking to us about how it was hard. I had never felt so blessed to be from the family that I am from! But when I heard the one talk that talked about keeping strong when you don't have the ideal family I knew they were talking about that for her! But yeah, great conference!

Also we had a really cool experience with an investigator named Derek. He had been taught the restoration but couldn't accept the fact that Joseph Smith was a prophet because it didn't talk about him in the bible. He said everything necessary for us to learn is found in the bible. So we were in that and we didn't really know how to go about it so we just went and decided to listen to him so we could get a better idea of where he was coming from. We sat down and we started analyzing different scriptures from the Bible, some of which he would show us and others we would show him and had a big lesson on prophets. The spirit was so strong and after about 30 mins of the spirit testifying to him his heart was softened and we ended up introducing the Book of Mormon and he not only accepted it, but was so excited to read it that when we were on our way out, we were talking with his wife on the porch and he left and sat down inside and started reading it! He also was really excited to watch conference so I can't wait to go back and see how it all went!

Thinking about Jos going through the temple, I thought I would share a few experiences I have had out here in the mission field.  I have spent the last year around very converted people who would give anything to go to the temple. I have seen people break down because they wanted to go to the temple but they could only afford to go once for their lifetime and their husband wasn't worthy to go yet. I have seen a member who cried like a baby because when we were with him somebody answered his prayer by giving him enough money for a plane ticket to go to the temple. I have sat next to people in the Chapel long after church ended because they said that because this is where they take the sacrament, and this is the most holy place they will ever sit in this life, because they simply weren't able to go to the temple because they couldn't afford it. I could go on and on, but bottom line is, don't take it for granted that you can go through the temple like I did. It’s a big deal and I will never know how those people feel because I am lucky enough to live in Utah.

 This area is starting to get moving and I'm really starting to like Guyana. We eat curry and rice and Roti mostly and it’s pretty good! But that’s about all I can remember for this week!

Love,

Elder Harsh