Week 94

Hi Everyone!

Well we got transfer calls and its official, I am dying here in Guyana! It is so weird to think this is my last transfer! It doesn't feel like it, except for the fact that EVERYBODY reminds me about it.

 But in other news, Arifa's sister named Zianni has been taking the lessons from us and came to church yesterday! She has seen a big change in Arifa since her baptism and that example has influenced her a lot. She has a baptismal date coming up about mid June, so we will see how that goes! So far so good with that! This past week was Guyana's 50th anniversary of Independence and they had a big celebration that kind of made it hard to work, but I guess it was cool. I wasn't sure what it was going to be like, and I told the members they should have a BBQ and talk about freedom but then I realized this isn't America so they  basically just sat in the streets and drank. I'm glad I'm American.

Also a member had a wedding on Saturday and we went to go help serve drinks and stuff, and we got TONS of free food and drinks. It was great. Also the theme of the wedding was Indian and African so everybody had on really cool dresses and stuff. The groom had a giant stuffed lion on his shoulder. It was weird haha but way cool. Nothing we won't do for free food :)

Love,

Elder Harsh

Week 93

Hi Everyone!

Well this past week we had a zone conference with Pres. Egbert and it was really good, BUT I was rudely awakened to the fact that it is my last zone conference by having to give my departing testimony. THAT was a wakeup call! It feels so weird to just have one transfer left! But not gonna let that time go to waste.

 Zone Conference was great! It was all about the temple and helping us understand what happens and everything. Two of the most repeated quotes were: "The temple is different, not weird" and "I didn't tell you that, the scriptures did" So it was very interesting. We read a lot from the Old Testament and DyC about temples and he made me really really excited to be able to go when I get home! It answered a lot of questions and gave me lots more! He had this big long discussion and said it was only about 20% of the whole thing, which he will give to us when we get home. So do your research because we are gonna have some learning to do! There was a few times where I was mad because we weren't in the temple, but when we get home, we can just head over to the temple and then have the discussion which will be nice.

He told us our priorities when we get home should be 1- hug your mom and 2 -run to the temple. I think under the circumstances step 1.5 will be take a hot shower and step 3 will be go to Cafe Rio. But this Saturday we get transfer calls but from the looks of it I am dying here in Guyana with good ol Elder Birch which I am happy about. Also he is happy because he wants a lot of my stuff when I leave haha. But we had a great conference and I am looking forward to finishing strong this transfer!

Elder Harsh

Week 92

Hi Everyone,

Well this was definitely an interesting week! My companion started a trend and all the missionaries were getting sick this week! There was only one companionship out of the whole zone that didn't have at least one of them sick, and a lot of them had both sick! Kinda weird, and two of them have the Zika virus so hopefully I don't get that haha don't worry I’ll be fine.

But this week we actually had a few days where the sun came out so that was a nice change, but it was HUMID because it had been raining so much. E. Birch was sick for half the week so I don't really have much to say, but next week is zone conference and Pres. Egbert is going to teach us about temples and I am really excited for that!

I kinda broke my permanent retainer on the left side, but I think I’ll just wait to get it fixed.  Apparently if you need work done on your teeth, they inject you with cocaine!  That would definitely make your face numb.  Haha! So maybe it would be better to have Dr. Andy fix it….  Third world countries are fun!

So that’s about it, sorry it’s short this week!

Elder Harsh         

Week 91

Hi Everyone,

Well it was great talking to you yesterday!! Today it’s gonna be quick because E. Birch is sick and so he needs to get home....BUT we still went down to the Rainforest!! We went down and hiked up a big sand dune to a really cool lake and took pictures but then it started to rain a lot so we put our electronics in the Car and explored the rainforest a bit!! It was lots of fun but it was too wet to take pictures....oh well. We were all soaking wet and had a great time! Even E. Birch liked it even though he was puking a bit! So I can now check off Explore the Amazon Rainforest off my bucket list! It was awesome.

 Have a good week!!

Love,

Elder Harsh

Week 90

Hi Everyone,

Well this week was really busy! We kind of forgot about Mother’s day coming up, but we remembered this morning right in time to plan it out!  Hahaha!

We found this new area that I had never been to before so we took some time out of our week to go exploring/contacting and it was pretty good! We met a lot of nice people and a few of them are very interested in our message.

Also it’s the rainy season so it has literally rained EVERY DAY for the past two weeks. Usually it just rains early morning and cuts off around 10 or 11 but sometimes it hits us all day long! So that is good for all the plants but it just makes out for a couple of wet missionaries. Luckily the rain here doesn't make you sick like the rain in the DR. That’s nice. But something really good/really sad that happened this week was that we challenged a member couple to find a friend that they think would be ready for the gospel and invite them over for a family home evening with us. We did it just so that they would cook us dinner, but they ended up bringing a friend that was taught by missionaries 15 years ago. She already had a testimony and had actually been attending church in a different place! We told her about the church that is closer to her house and she also wanted to be baptized but then her husband came back into the country and he doesn't want anything to do with us and told her she can't do any of that stuff. So that was sad. It’s hard to see how sometimes ignorance can be so hard on people. Like even if this gospel wasn't true,(but it is) the church doesn't teach anything but things that bless your life. But lucky for us, we have teachings that bless our lives and also the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ as well as his authority. I am very thankful for the opportunity I have to not only have the gospel but to share it with everyone!

Also this week because of the rain, part of our area flooded, and we got to bike through knee high water. I love being a missionary!

Love,

Elder Harsh