Hey y'all!
Last week was nuts. I slept in my bed only 3 times, I think.
We did two exchanges, so I was in Pembroke Tuesday and then Cameron on Wednesday. On Tuesday I was with Elder Garrik, he has been out for 6 weeks and is a lot of fun. Their plan for that day was to bike all over the place, so I got to bike 17 miles in the bitter cold. I was bundled up, so I was just fine, but after a couple hours Elder Garrik was coughing a lot and said his chest was hurting, so at the next gas station we went in for a little while for him to warm up. After that he was doing a whole lot better, and the rest of the night was a lot of fun.
On Wednesday, there was a Worldwide Missionary Broadcast. The theme was "Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts." It was super good! I learned a lot about the importance of repentance and how through constant and consistent repentance, that is what will get us to our Father in Heaven again.
After the broadcast I was with Elder Hancock. He has also been out 6 weeks. We went tracting in the cold for a couple hours. I got the short end of the stick a lot this last week. :) It was awesome though, we found this man at 2050 named John. We taught him the Restoration in his driveway while he was out for a cigarette. He loved it and said the Elders could come back to teach him and his wife.
Friday night there was an ice storm that came through and knocked out our power and that day we got instructions not to drive, and be super cautious on the icy roads. We went over to a Part member familys house, Brian and Tristen (they are both 19, no kids). We taught them and had Mark over, he is another investigator. They bonded really well and then on Sunday we were at the Dagley's house with Mark, they were the ones who introduced us to Mark, and he said he wanted to get baptized after he quits smoking. We testified to him that if he read and prayed everyday he would be able to give up smoking.
Love y'all!
Love,
Elder Harper
Monday, January 25, 2016
Monday, January 18, 2016
Fort Bragg/Fayetteville - Week 11
Hey y'all!
Last week was a lot of fun! Two Sundays ago a man, just kind of walked into church and was curious, so we started teaching him. He broke up with us yesterday so that was sad, but other than that the week was pretty good.
Elder Hardy and I blitzed a couple areas this last week. (Blitz = My companion and I split up and one of us goes to another area with the companionship and the other missionary goes to another area with a different companionship). I was in Rockingham with Elder Jones and Elder Livingston. We had a lot of fun. It was awesome to see how much they cared about the people they taught. We went to see a lady that is super sick and could die any day, but she just keeps on going. I think she said she had died at one point, but she came back. She shares the gospel like crazy over Facebook. She said "I'm not where I want to be, but I thank God I'm not where I was." It was awesome to see that she smoked and struggled with a few other things but she looked at how she had improved, found joy in that, and was still focused on becoming better.
On Wednesday we had a Zone Training. The focus was on covenants and how as we more fully fulfill our covenants we are more able to be in tune with the Spirit.
Have a great week!
Love y'all!
Elder Harper
Last week was a lot of fun! Two Sundays ago a man, just kind of walked into church and was curious, so we started teaching him. He broke up with us yesterday so that was sad, but other than that the week was pretty good.
Elder Hardy and I blitzed a couple areas this last week. (Blitz = My companion and I split up and one of us goes to another area with the companionship and the other missionary goes to another area with a different companionship). I was in Rockingham with Elder Jones and Elder Livingston. We had a lot of fun. It was awesome to see how much they cared about the people they taught. We went to see a lady that is super sick and could die any day, but she just keeps on going. I think she said she had died at one point, but she came back. She shares the gospel like crazy over Facebook. She said "I'm not where I want to be, but I thank God I'm not where I was." It was awesome to see that she smoked and struggled with a few other things but she looked at how she had improved, found joy in that, and was still focused on becoming better.
On Wednesday we had a Zone Training. The focus was on covenants and how as we more fully fulfill our covenants we are more able to be in tune with the Spirit.
Have a great week!
Love y'all!
Elder Harper
Monday, January 11, 2016
Fort Bragg/Fayetteville - Week 10
Hey y'all!
We had a lot happen last week. We had a zone conference on Tuesday. After that Elder Garn (one of the Assistants) came with Elder Hardy and I for the evening. We had a lot of stuff come up so we did a split with Brother Bambas. Brother Bambas and I went to teach a couple people while Elder Hardy and Elder Garn went to a stake meeting. I was happy to be out teaching.
At 2115 when we got back together, we got to drive down to Rockingham and then back up to Southern Pines. We got to Southern Pines around 0000. Fun part of this was on the way down we had two cars so I rode with Elder Garn in the truck and Elder Hardy drove solo. Then when we got to Rockingham we took their car so we all had our own car. I got to spend about an hour by myself. It was really weird. I didn't have anyone to talk to for the first time in almost 18 months. CRAZY ain't it!
Then Friday happened. Around 2030 Elder Hardy and I went to an apartment complex. We prayed and asked for the Lord's guidance to find one new investigator. We knocked on a door and we felt like we were at the wrong spot. So we ventured deeper into the complex. We felt like we were in the right place so we knocked 2 more doors and found a couple that was semi-interested so we will go back this week. Then it was 2045 and we were about a 15 min drive from home and we were about to leave. Elder Hardy said, just 1 more, so we tried 1 more. We met a very nice man. While we were talking my mind went completely blank to the point where I forgot everything I was saying so I ended the door approach and we started back to the car, we got about 50 feet away from the door and we saw two young looking brethren walking away from us. We promised to do all we could, so we started following them, as casually as possible of course. They turned around and we started talking to them and shared the Restoration with them. Turns out they are interns at this huge Baptist church called "Mana." They loved talking to us and wanted to learn more so we are going back this week.
And this last bit I felt like sharing. The Spirit has taught me a lot this week. I have felt directionless for awhile and the answer to my prayers finally came, postmarked and everything, it would be so much easier if it worked that way. The theme for the rest of my mission is "yellow lights and little victories." A long time ago I heard an analogy that compared receiving answers to prayers and guidance from the Holy Ghost to a stop light. Red means no. Green means yes. Yellow means use your best judgement or in other words God trusts you to make the right decision. For a long time I have struggled with having self confidence and trusting myself to make the right decision on my own. Getting opinions from others is always good but I am always hesitant to make a firm commitment to something. Little victories, every time I follow a prompting, resist temptation, or take a step toward overcoming my own weaknesses, that is a little victory and a lot of little victories will lead me to the big victories. There is a lot more that goes into it and it is only growing. For example, I learned that by getting so many yellow lights is a good thing, because it means that God has enough trust in me to let me make decisions, which in turn means that I am living worthy of that trust, which has been empowering and humbling at the same time. Over the last while one of my favorite scriptures has become Doctrine and Covenants 58:27-28 "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward."
Love y'all!
Love,
Elder Harper
We had a lot happen last week. We had a zone conference on Tuesday. After that Elder Garn (one of the Assistants) came with Elder Hardy and I for the evening. We had a lot of stuff come up so we did a split with Brother Bambas. Brother Bambas and I went to teach a couple people while Elder Hardy and Elder Garn went to a stake meeting. I was happy to be out teaching.
At 2115 when we got back together, we got to drive down to Rockingham and then back up to Southern Pines. We got to Southern Pines around 0000. Fun part of this was on the way down we had two cars so I rode with Elder Garn in the truck and Elder Hardy drove solo. Then when we got to Rockingham we took their car so we all had our own car. I got to spend about an hour by myself. It was really weird. I didn't have anyone to talk to for the first time in almost 18 months. CRAZY ain't it!
Then Friday happened. Around 2030 Elder Hardy and I went to an apartment complex. We prayed and asked for the Lord's guidance to find one new investigator. We knocked on a door and we felt like we were at the wrong spot. So we ventured deeper into the complex. We felt like we were in the right place so we knocked 2 more doors and found a couple that was semi-interested so we will go back this week. Then it was 2045 and we were about a 15 min drive from home and we were about to leave. Elder Hardy said, just 1 more, so we tried 1 more. We met a very nice man. While we were talking my mind went completely blank to the point where I forgot everything I was saying so I ended the door approach and we started back to the car, we got about 50 feet away from the door and we saw two young looking brethren walking away from us. We promised to do all we could, so we started following them, as casually as possible of course. They turned around and we started talking to them and shared the Restoration with them. Turns out they are interns at this huge Baptist church called "Mana." They loved talking to us and wanted to learn more so we are going back this week.
And this last bit I felt like sharing. The Spirit has taught me a lot this week. I have felt directionless for awhile and the answer to my prayers finally came, postmarked and everything, it would be so much easier if it worked that way. The theme for the rest of my mission is "yellow lights and little victories." A long time ago I heard an analogy that compared receiving answers to prayers and guidance from the Holy Ghost to a stop light. Red means no. Green means yes. Yellow means use your best judgement or in other words God trusts you to make the right decision. For a long time I have struggled with having self confidence and trusting myself to make the right decision on my own. Getting opinions from others is always good but I am always hesitant to make a firm commitment to something. Little victories, every time I follow a prompting, resist temptation, or take a step toward overcoming my own weaknesses, that is a little victory and a lot of little victories will lead me to the big victories. There is a lot more that goes into it and it is only growing. For example, I learned that by getting so many yellow lights is a good thing, because it means that God has enough trust in me to let me make decisions, which in turn means that I am living worthy of that trust, which has been empowering and humbling at the same time. Over the last while one of my favorite scriptures has become Doctrine and Covenants 58:27-28 "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward."
Love y'all!
Love,
Elder Harper
Monday, January 4, 2016
Fort Bragg/Fayetteville - Week 9
Hey Y'all!
Quick miracle story.
Quick miracle story.
While
I was with Elder Kiddle while we were tracting, we found a man named Calon. He was nice,
and we tried to set up return appointment but it didn't work out then. When Elder Hardy first got here we ran into him on base. I should have
taken that as a sign but I didn't. Then this last Saturday his name
came to mind so we went to see him. We knocked on his door and he
immediately let us in and we shared the Restoration with him and his
Girlfriend. At the end of the lesson we asked if he had any questions
and he said, "all I really have to say is thank you." It was a great
tender mercy for us. As we walked away the scripture that came to mind
was "they are kept from the truth only because they know not where to
find it." People are hungry for the truth but they don't know where the
buffet is and it is a great feeling when you can give them directions.
Love y'all!
Love,
Elder Harper
Monday, December 28, 2015
Fort Bragg/Fayetteville - Week 8
Hey everyone!
Elder Hardy and I are having a blast! Last week was pretty hectic with Christmas, but it was a lot of fun.
I got to go on exchanges with Elder Sheely on Wednesday and then I got to be with Elder Medrano for a couple hours on Thursday.
Holidays partially exist in the mission, we typically just work through them. We still had things to do on Christmas but the Spirit that came in was extra special. It has been awesome to see how much more open people are during Christmas time.
Sorry I don't really have a whole to say this week. Love y'all!
Elder Hardy and I are having a blast! Last week was pretty hectic with Christmas, but it was a lot of fun.
I got to go on exchanges with Elder Sheely on Wednesday and then I got to be with Elder Medrano for a couple hours on Thursday.
Holidays partially exist in the mission, we typically just work through them. We still had things to do on Christmas but the Spirit that came in was extra special. It has been awesome to see how much more open people are during Christmas time.
Sorry I don't really have a whole to say this week. Love y'all!
Love,
Elder Harper
Monday, December 21, 2015
Fort Bragg/Fayetteville - Week 7
Hey y'all! Merry Christmas!!!
This last week was a crazy week. We had transfers last Tuesday. Elder Kiddle got transferred and now I have a new companion, Elder Hardy. He is from Pleasant Grove, Utah. He is a blast! We get along really well and both of our sights are set on becoming the best people we can be. He goes home in 5 weeks, so we are set on making them count.
Wednesday we did exchanges. I was with Elder Jenks here in our area. We had a great time. We went on a Bro date to Olive Garden with some gift cards we had been given. The waitress asked us if we wanted some wine!
Thursday was a good ol' work day. We ate a dog biscuit, just for the heck of it. I do not recommend it!!! They taste like cardboard and not the good kind!
Friday we had a leadership training meeting in Raleigh which took the majority of our day. I also started to get kinda sickish with a sore throat, pretty sure it had nothing to do with the dog biscuit.
Sundays we spend at the church pretty much all day because we cover two wards. Sunday night we went to see the Volavolas. They are Fijian, and they had this weird looking thing on their wall, turns out it's a whale's tooth. In Fiji when a man wants to marry a girl it is tradition to give the father a whale's tooth as a symbol of engagement (Mom tell Steve he needs a whale's tooth)! Then We had a coordination meeting with our ward mission leader and those are way too much fun. I'm shocked we get anything done. Because of my sore throat, my voice dropped what sounds like an octave, which made me sound like a smoker. Brother Ralston gave me some drugs and now I am doing better. I still sound like a smoker though.
Love y'all! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Harper
This last week was a crazy week. We had transfers last Tuesday. Elder Kiddle got transferred and now I have a new companion, Elder Hardy. He is from Pleasant Grove, Utah. He is a blast! We get along really well and both of our sights are set on becoming the best people we can be. He goes home in 5 weeks, so we are set on making them count.
Wednesday we did exchanges. I was with Elder Jenks here in our area. We had a great time. We went on a Bro date to Olive Garden with some gift cards we had been given. The waitress asked us if we wanted some wine!
Thursday was a good ol' work day. We ate a dog biscuit, just for the heck of it. I do not recommend it!!! They taste like cardboard and not the good kind!
Friday we had a leadership training meeting in Raleigh which took the majority of our day. I also started to get kinda sickish with a sore throat, pretty sure it had nothing to do with the dog biscuit.
Sundays we spend at the church pretty much all day because we cover two wards. Sunday night we went to see the Volavolas. They are Fijian, and they had this weird looking thing on their wall, turns out it's a whale's tooth. In Fiji when a man wants to marry a girl it is tradition to give the father a whale's tooth as a symbol of engagement (Mom tell Steve he needs a whale's tooth)! Then We had a coordination meeting with our ward mission leader and those are way too much fun. I'm shocked we get anything done. Because of my sore throat, my voice dropped what sounds like an octave, which made me sound like a smoker. Brother Ralston gave me some drugs and now I am doing better. I still sound like a smoker though.
Love y'all! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Harper
 |
| Merry Christmas from Elder Harper and Elder Hardy! |
Monday, December 14, 2015
Fort Bragg/Fayetteville - Week 6
Hey everyone!
So last week was a lot of fun! We had a lot of stuff going on. We had a Zone meeting Wednesday. It was way good! Can't really remember what we talked about right now but I do remember the Spirit was super powerful.
I was with Elder Smith in his area which is coincidently our area so we weren't to far from home. Quick miracle story from exchange. I was with Elder Smith in his area and we found ourselves with spare time to tract at 8:30. I asked Elder Smith what our goal was in for the time we had and he said 2 new investigators, I'll be honest I thought we could only find one, but We put some faith into it and we went out and found a man in 2 minutes and taught him a 20 min restoration lesson. Then we only had a few minutes to find another person. So we started knocking doors with lights on hoping that was more likely to result in someone being home. At 8:59 we were running to the next door. We knocked and no one answered. Feeling deflated we started walking back to the apartment. Luckily we were only a minute walk from the apartment. Half way back we saw a man sitting outside so we talked to him, taught him a brief restoration lesson. So we found our two. It's crazy what faith can do.
Then on Friday we had a Tri-Zone Christmas Zone Conference. There was a story there that was shared that was super powerful. There was a lady that spoke named Nicole. She has a special needs son that had a lot of problems when he was born. The doctors said he would never be able to walk or do anything a normal kid would do because of the position his neck was in. She went on to explain all the trials they have been through and how they have overcome them. One trial was her son needed to develop his neck strength to balance himself, so that he could walk. The way to do that was to crawl around on the floor, but it was super painful for him to crawl. So Nicole spent a month crawling around the apartment trying to get him to follow her so that he could get the strength needed to walk.
That story made me think a lot of our Savior Jesus Christ and all that he does to come down to our level to lift us up to a higher level.
Well that was last week. Love y'all!
Love,
Elder Harper
So last week was a lot of fun! We had a lot of stuff going on. We had a Zone meeting Wednesday. It was way good! Can't really remember what we talked about right now but I do remember the Spirit was super powerful.
I was with Elder Smith in his area which is coincidently our area so we weren't to far from home. Quick miracle story from exchange. I was with Elder Smith in his area and we found ourselves with spare time to tract at 8:30. I asked Elder Smith what our goal was in for the time we had and he said 2 new investigators, I'll be honest I thought we could only find one, but We put some faith into it and we went out and found a man in 2 minutes and taught him a 20 min restoration lesson. Then we only had a few minutes to find another person. So we started knocking doors with lights on hoping that was more likely to result in someone being home. At 8:59 we were running to the next door. We knocked and no one answered. Feeling deflated we started walking back to the apartment. Luckily we were only a minute walk from the apartment. Half way back we saw a man sitting outside so we talked to him, taught him a brief restoration lesson. So we found our two. It's crazy what faith can do.
Then on Friday we had a Tri-Zone Christmas Zone Conference. There was a story there that was shared that was super powerful. There was a lady that spoke named Nicole. She has a special needs son that had a lot of problems when he was born. The doctors said he would never be able to walk or do anything a normal kid would do because of the position his neck was in. She went on to explain all the trials they have been through and how they have overcome them. One trial was her son needed to develop his neck strength to balance himself, so that he could walk. The way to do that was to crawl around on the floor, but it was super painful for him to crawl. So Nicole spent a month crawling around the apartment trying to get him to follow her so that he could get the strength needed to walk.
That story made me think a lot of our Savior Jesus Christ and all that he does to come down to our level to lift us up to a higher level.
Well that was last week. Love y'all!
Love,
Elder Harper
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