Subject: Muchas Español
Well this week we didn´t have any apostle come speak to us. It was quite the bummer seeming how we have basically had one every week while I´ve been here in the MTC, but the good news is that this weekend is conference. Im so pumped to be able to just sit back and to listen to all the things that are going to be taught. Conference really is an amazing time. Hopefully everyone will be taking notes and trying to remember a lot of the things that are being talked about. If the things that are being spoken are really from God, then why wouldn´t we want to listen to them, apply them to ourselves, and remember them as well. I was basically a regular week in the MTC. I was able to continue teaching my investigators, and learning more about the gospel. I was also able to get back into my weight lifting routine which was quite nice, got to stay ripped somehow. Jajajaja. On monday we found out that one of our teachers wasn´t going to be our teacher anymore because he is now going to be heading off an important project. I guess there is no written books, for native spanish speakers that would help them in learning portuguese for there missions, so he is going to start compiling a book for them. Kinda cool but it sucks that he will not be our teacher anymore. We got a new teacher, Sister Edwards she went to Paruguay (don´t now how to spell it) on her mission and so far she is a really good teacher. Our speaker this week was Don R. Clarke of the seventy. He talked to us mostly about how to become better missionaries, it was a good talk.
So what is going on back home? Is Bryson still playing football? Keyton did you get my spanish letter?
Welll i don't really have any time left, just know that I love you all, and will talk to you soon
Con Amor
Elder Mooré
Everything.Happens.For.A.Reason
There.Is.No.Such.Thing.As.Coincidence
Catch.You.On.The.Flip.Side
K TOWN MISSIONARY MEMOS- A collection of letters from LDS missionaries from the Kaysville, Utah area.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Elder Matthew Whittle-- Sept. 26, 2011
Hola mi madre Bonita!
todo bien! I got your letter. Thanks. My letter got demolished eh? that's interesting. Did you ever end up getting my plastic knife I put in it? haha I hope so. mui comico. Prison break haha good analogy. Ya I read Elder Terry's email. I hope he's doing ok too. I'll keep him in my prayers. That is one of the funniest things I've ever heard Braxton say. I can't wait to here more stories about that stud. Thanks for sending me so many packages. I love them. They make my days. I probably don't need more food though for the rest of my life haha. And don't worry the spongebob shirt has been worn quite often with confidence. I can't wait to hear from the General athourities of the church this weekend. I love listening to them. They have such a strong testimony, and it strengthens mine when I get to listen to them. I've learned so much about the Gospel, and my Savior while I've been here. I now know the meaning of "feasting upon the words of Christ" I love it! It's better than thanksgiving dinner haha. I take notes at devotionals, and study like a mad man now and I wish I would have been doing this more before my mission.
Elder Ballard told us here at the MTC two weeks ago. If you are having a hard time in life, or are depressed get a small picture of the Savior and carry it with you everywhere you go. When it get's hard or you're feeling depressed take a minute to think about it and realize that Christ understands how we are feeling. We have to be willing to do hard things because Jesus Christ has done harder. So I think I agree with you on that.
It's so weird that I'm on week seven in the MTC already. Time is flying by, which is a good thing in a way haha. I love the spirit here but after a while it get's old role playing. It makes you want to get out and do it for real. I can't wait! . I can't wait for Garret to get his mission call. I'm so proud of him. He's going to be able to help so many people. He will be able to relate to a lot of great trials, and be able to help people overcome them. Tell trudy I love him please. Also tell TJ and Cho the same thing please. Thanks mom. I hope everything is still on for the wedding;) haha Chiste. I bet it's going just great. Tell Meg and Jordan that I love them, and buenos suerte haha
So the other day my companion and I did our first lesson for new investigadors. It was really neat experience because we were going to teach them about the restoration, but when we started teaching we both had the feeling that we needed to talk more about the Holy Ghost and how to recieve answers. As we did this we talked about how the Spirit answers us, and the feelings we get from the spirit. (All in Espanol of course) We then talked about how we could recieve answers about the Book of Mormon. The spirit came very very strong, and my companion and I both had the feeling that we needed to challenge them to Baptism. It was so awesome. We challenged them and they accepted immediately. We also challenged them to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it was the word of God. I think that's the strongest I've felt the spirit during role playing. It's hard to feel it when you know it's fake, but that time it was almost real. I can't wait to have those experiences out in the field.
Well I hope you have a great week! "The choice is yours";) I like that quote by the way. Tell everyone at home I love them and pray for them everyday. Thanks for being the greatest mom in the world. I love you and miss you too! Vaya con Dios!
Love Elder Whittle
todo bien! I got your letter. Thanks. My letter got demolished eh? that's interesting. Did you ever end up getting my plastic knife I put in it? haha I hope so. mui comico. Prison break haha good analogy. Ya I read Elder Terry's email. I hope he's doing ok too. I'll keep him in my prayers. That is one of the funniest things I've ever heard Braxton say. I can't wait to here more stories about that stud. Thanks for sending me so many packages. I love them. They make my days. I probably don't need more food though for the rest of my life haha. And don't worry the spongebob shirt has been worn quite often with confidence. I can't wait to hear from the General athourities of the church this weekend. I love listening to them. They have such a strong testimony, and it strengthens mine when I get to listen to them. I've learned so much about the Gospel, and my Savior while I've been here. I now know the meaning of "feasting upon the words of Christ" I love it! It's better than thanksgiving dinner haha. I take notes at devotionals, and study like a mad man now and I wish I would have been doing this more before my mission.
Elder Ballard told us here at the MTC two weeks ago. If you are having a hard time in life, or are depressed get a small picture of the Savior and carry it with you everywhere you go. When it get's hard or you're feeling depressed take a minute to think about it and realize that Christ understands how we are feeling. We have to be willing to do hard things because Jesus Christ has done harder. So I think I agree with you on that.
It's so weird that I'm on week seven in the MTC already. Time is flying by, which is a good thing in a way haha. I love the spirit here but after a while it get's old role playing. It makes you want to get out and do it for real. I can't wait! . I can't wait for Garret to get his mission call. I'm so proud of him. He's going to be able to help so many people. He will be able to relate to a lot of great trials, and be able to help people overcome them. Tell trudy I love him please. Also tell TJ and Cho the same thing please. Thanks mom. I hope everything is still on for the wedding;) haha Chiste. I bet it's going just great. Tell Meg and Jordan that I love them, and buenos suerte haha
So the other day my companion and I did our first lesson for new investigadors. It was really neat experience because we were going to teach them about the restoration, but when we started teaching we both had the feeling that we needed to talk more about the Holy Ghost and how to recieve answers. As we did this we talked about how the Spirit answers us, and the feelings we get from the spirit. (All in Espanol of course) We then talked about how we could recieve answers about the Book of Mormon. The spirit came very very strong, and my companion and I both had the feeling that we needed to challenge them to Baptism. It was so awesome. We challenged them and they accepted immediately. We also challenged them to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it was the word of God. I think that's the strongest I've felt the spirit during role playing. It's hard to feel it when you know it's fake, but that time it was almost real. I can't wait to have those experiences out in the field.
Well I hope you have a great week! "The choice is yours";) I like that quote by the way. Tell everyone at home I love them and pray for them everyday. Thanks for being the greatest mom in the world. I love you and miss you too! Vaya con Dios!
Love Elder Whittle
Elder Josh Terry--September 26, 2011
Hey everyone!
Its been another week.. crazy how fast the weeks go by and how slow the days go. i love it out here but i am definatly excited for christmas and things where i can hear your voices and see you all. :) so mom to answer your list of questions.. :) my health is okay. im still a little sick... i got my eyes checked and they said that they are almost perfect so they dont think that is the problem.. however them being off a little might be. so as of now i dont need to get contacts! that was some really good news. the bad news was i still didnt have any idea what the sickness was. I went to the doctor and he said i have a pretty good sinus infection. so i think that could contribute quite a bit. also i talked to another member and he said when he first moved here he got sinus headaches from allergies to something that was only in minnesota.. he described to me the exact symptoms of everything that i have been feeling. so i think that might be it. im going to go get some claritan stuff or whatever its called to see if that will help any. but im honestly doing okay, its hard to work all day bein real sick but ill be fine. so dont worry about it :) My comps favorite colors are red, dark blue and yes he likes paisley. yes i did get the calendar that you sent. it is pretty funny! haha
So, our lessons have been going pretty well. we have two people that are pretty golden and some others that the lord will have to work on a little more. the first ones name is lynch. He is such a nice guy. he has gone through a divorce recently but has full custody of his kids. so thats good. but we have taught him the restoration and part of the plan of salvation. he is really understanding it. He is the type of person that has been searching for the gospel his whole life. The spirit that we felt there as we were teaching made it all worth it to be out here. i think that he will make it. the next ones name is tim. He is a friend of one of the guys in the ward. he is 19 or 20. i feel really bad for him. when he was little he got ran over by a car so his legs are really messed up. what comfort it could bring to him to know that in the next life his body will be restored and he will be able to run around and be free of that trial. we taught him last night and he committed to reading the book of mormon. he said he would read a chapter or 2 a day until we met next. so i really hope that holds true.
Before i forget i have to tell you a story about last Thursday. This less active lady in our ward asked us if we would come and dedicate her home that she just moved into, so we agreed and headed over. well we got there about an hour early so we decided to tract for an hour. This is the story of Tulip Street. its in a part of town that is just below middle class. not to bad. So we walk up to the first house and they answer the door and its this black guy in just his underwear. before we could even say anything he told us to come on in and talk. . anyone who has been tracting knows that this is rare so we ran in. we sit down and we get talking and after like 5 minutes of talking he tells us he is a member of the church he just hasnt gone for years. It was crazy. He had somehow slipped through the cracks and was forgotten. but we found him and he agreed to let us come and teach him all the lessons again and to teach some of his family that hadnt heard the gosped. he is a nice guy. so we leave his house and start walking to the next house. there is this lady goin for a nice powerwalk so we stopped her and started to talk. she accepted our card, but then my comp said " we believe that throught the prophet joseph smith god has revealed more scripture" and before he could finish she chucked the card at his face and said that God would never do that and ran off. i was absolutely shocked at how rude a "christian" would be towards that. oh well. we moved on to the house we were going to and in the window it was painted all sorts of bright colors.... yup they were gay. needless to say they told us to leave and didn't want anything to do with our church.
Then we knocked the next door.... And this is where we get the story of Lennart Larsen.... So we knock on the door and he comes out wearing a robe.. just a robe. and some moccasins, and holding a bowl of some kind of soup. so he walks out and says "hey your lookin sharp what are you sellin" haha we told him we were the missionaries and he told us a story of when he was young his mom would always yell for all the lights to be turned off and everyone hide when the missionaries knock on their door. ohh by the way lennart is like 60. he is all stumbling around i swear he had just taken meds or was drunk or something. but he started talking and forgot he was holding his bowl of soup and it slowly poured all over his feet and he had no idea because he wasnt all there at the time (i think) then he leans up against the door and as he is talking his eyes glaze over and he falls asleep mid sentence. i couldn't help but laugh. i honestly lost it and started laughing. eventually we did the loud clear our throat thing and he woke up and continued talkin like he had never fallen asleep. wierdest thing i have ever seen! well we gave him a book of mormon and a restoration pamphlet and he gave us his card, and we left. we decided that we shouldn't knock any more doors on that street. they were all crazy! so we went and dedicated the sharps home and left :) that was a good experience. another interesting thing happened. we were driving down the road and we passed this car that was on fire in the middle of the road. . the people were all safely out of it thank goodness but i have a few pictures ill try to attach to this email..
That was all probably to much information but it was a really funny day. Nate and natalie thank you for the emails. you are all awesome. some of the funny words you use :) haha anyways yes nate i do remember that part of Hot Rod and that will be the first thing that i do to you when i get home! haha dont let me forget. thank you everyone for all the emails that you have sent me it means so much to me! nate and nat i will get you your letters as soon as they get here. :) i had a couple interesting thoughts that are random but i liked them from study today. so ill share a few
"Character is not developed in moments of great challenge or temptation, that is when it is intended to be used"
"Humility isnt thinking less OF ourselves, it is thinking less ABOUT ourselves."
"Happiness isnt getting something, its becoming something"
i wont bore you with all the other quotes ive found that i really like but i wanted to end with a story i read this morning. I was reading about Abinidi. He went and told the whole city that they would die if they didn't change there ways, and eventually they all killed him. When he died he must have thought that he didn't make a difference, seeing as they put him to death. but alma was converted. basically thats a long story short but as a missionary that story really helps me. as we are out here we get made fun of and looked down upon and some days feel like we didn't make a difference. but we dont always know the influences that we have left on people, even if it is just planting seeds. I love how though he only converted one person look what came from it. We really need to put it in perspective that even if you only effect one persons life, think of all the peoples lives that they will effect. its an on going chain. i regret that i didnt share this gospel with other people back home. i challenge you to do so. find ways that you can help bring other people unto christ. as it says in DC 16:6 the thing that will be of the most worth unto you in this life will be to bring others unto christ. i want to leave my testimony with you that this is true. the happiness that you feel when you see someone come unto christ is incredible. well i have to go but i love you all and i hope to hear from you this week! stay strong in your faith.
Its been another week.. crazy how fast the weeks go by and how slow the days go. i love it out here but i am definatly excited for christmas and things where i can hear your voices and see you all. :) so mom to answer your list of questions.. :) my health is okay. im still a little sick... i got my eyes checked and they said that they are almost perfect so they dont think that is the problem.. however them being off a little might be. so as of now i dont need to get contacts! that was some really good news. the bad news was i still didnt have any idea what the sickness was. I went to the doctor and he said i have a pretty good sinus infection. so i think that could contribute quite a bit. also i talked to another member and he said when he first moved here he got sinus headaches from allergies to something that was only in minnesota.. he described to me the exact symptoms of everything that i have been feeling. so i think that might be it. im going to go get some claritan stuff or whatever its called to see if that will help any. but im honestly doing okay, its hard to work all day bein real sick but ill be fine. so dont worry about it :) My comps favorite colors are red, dark blue and yes he likes paisley. yes i did get the calendar that you sent. it is pretty funny! haha
So, our lessons have been going pretty well. we have two people that are pretty golden and some others that the lord will have to work on a little more. the first ones name is lynch. He is such a nice guy. he has gone through a divorce recently but has full custody of his kids. so thats good. but we have taught him the restoration and part of the plan of salvation. he is really understanding it. He is the type of person that has been searching for the gospel his whole life. The spirit that we felt there as we were teaching made it all worth it to be out here. i think that he will make it. the next ones name is tim. He is a friend of one of the guys in the ward. he is 19 or 20. i feel really bad for him. when he was little he got ran over by a car so his legs are really messed up. what comfort it could bring to him to know that in the next life his body will be restored and he will be able to run around and be free of that trial. we taught him last night and he committed to reading the book of mormon. he said he would read a chapter or 2 a day until we met next. so i really hope that holds true.
Before i forget i have to tell you a story about last Thursday. This less active lady in our ward asked us if we would come and dedicate her home that she just moved into, so we agreed and headed over. well we got there about an hour early so we decided to tract for an hour. This is the story of Tulip Street. its in a part of town that is just below middle class. not to bad. So we walk up to the first house and they answer the door and its this black guy in just his underwear. before we could even say anything he told us to come on in and talk. . anyone who has been tracting knows that this is rare so we ran in. we sit down and we get talking and after like 5 minutes of talking he tells us he is a member of the church he just hasnt gone for years. It was crazy. He had somehow slipped through the cracks and was forgotten. but we found him and he agreed to let us come and teach him all the lessons again and to teach some of his family that hadnt heard the gosped. he is a nice guy. so we leave his house and start walking to the next house. there is this lady goin for a nice powerwalk so we stopped her and started to talk. she accepted our card, but then my comp said " we believe that throught the prophet joseph smith god has revealed more scripture" and before he could finish she chucked the card at his face and said that God would never do that and ran off. i was absolutely shocked at how rude a "christian" would be towards that. oh well. we moved on to the house we were going to and in the window it was painted all sorts of bright colors.... yup they were gay. needless to say they told us to leave and didn't want anything to do with our church.
Then we knocked the next door.... And this is where we get the story of Lennart Larsen.... So we knock on the door and he comes out wearing a robe.. just a robe. and some moccasins, and holding a bowl of some kind of soup. so he walks out and says "hey your lookin sharp what are you sellin" haha we told him we were the missionaries and he told us a story of when he was young his mom would always yell for all the lights to be turned off and everyone hide when the missionaries knock on their door. ohh by the way lennart is like 60. he is all stumbling around i swear he had just taken meds or was drunk or something. but he started talking and forgot he was holding his bowl of soup and it slowly poured all over his feet and he had no idea because he wasnt all there at the time (i think) then he leans up against the door and as he is talking his eyes glaze over and he falls asleep mid sentence. i couldn't help but laugh. i honestly lost it and started laughing. eventually we did the loud clear our throat thing and he woke up and continued talkin like he had never fallen asleep. wierdest thing i have ever seen! well we gave him a book of mormon and a restoration pamphlet and he gave us his card, and we left. we decided that we shouldn't knock any more doors on that street. they were all crazy! so we went and dedicated the sharps home and left :) that was a good experience. another interesting thing happened. we were driving down the road and we passed this car that was on fire in the middle of the road. . the people were all safely out of it thank goodness but i have a few pictures ill try to attach to this email..
That was all probably to much information but it was a really funny day. Nate and natalie thank you for the emails. you are all awesome. some of the funny words you use :) haha anyways yes nate i do remember that part of Hot Rod and that will be the first thing that i do to you when i get home! haha dont let me forget. thank you everyone for all the emails that you have sent me it means so much to me! nate and nat i will get you your letters as soon as they get here. :) i had a couple interesting thoughts that are random but i liked them from study today. so ill share a few
"Character is not developed in moments of great challenge or temptation, that is when it is intended to be used"
"Humility isnt thinking less OF ourselves, it is thinking less ABOUT ourselves."
"Happiness isnt getting something, its becoming something"
i wont bore you with all the other quotes ive found that i really like but i wanted to end with a story i read this morning. I was reading about Abinidi. He went and told the whole city that they would die if they didn't change there ways, and eventually they all killed him. When he died he must have thought that he didn't make a difference, seeing as they put him to death. but alma was converted. basically thats a long story short but as a missionary that story really helps me. as we are out here we get made fun of and looked down upon and some days feel like we didn't make a difference. but we dont always know the influences that we have left on people, even if it is just planting seeds. I love how though he only converted one person look what came from it. We really need to put it in perspective that even if you only effect one persons life, think of all the peoples lives that they will effect. its an on going chain. i regret that i didnt share this gospel with other people back home. i challenge you to do so. find ways that you can help bring other people unto christ. as it says in DC 16:6 the thing that will be of the most worth unto you in this life will be to bring others unto christ. i want to leave my testimony with you that this is true. the happiness that you feel when you see someone come unto christ is incredible. well i have to go but i love you all and i hope to hear from you this week! stay strong in your faith.
Elder Hartvigsen--September 26, 2011
Hey everyone! sorry it has taken me so long to figure out that i need to hit "reply to all" haha (thanks dad) anyways its the last week of this transfer and its crazy how fast time goes on! i went on exchanges with my zone leader elder dallin johnson on saturday. it was really crazy cause we both went to davis, and never really knew eachother, and now all of a sudden we are with eachother so much preaching the gospel. he is a great missionary and a great example! this week has been pretty hard, but i guess that some are harder than others. i hope everyone is doing ok at home, i am doing pretty good here. im almost guaranteed to stay in this area cause of this 12 week training program. its super itense and fast paced, but i also have learned a ton! we have an investigator we are teaching who is like 6 foot 10, he looks like goliath, but he has the softest heart, i have developed a very strong love for the people here, and especially this guy. he is so in tune with the spirit, and it seems that he is the one teaching me. he has a baptismal date for the 22 of october. his family is going through some hard times right now. his daughter is a meth addict, and they are too poor to get her good treatment. he had been praying for an answer, and for help. well they sent an email to this tv show called intervention (which is a really big tv show) and out of the thousands of emails i guess they looked at his, and picked their family for an episode of intervention. i guess on the show, they give out like 20 thousand dollars worth of treatment for free. so daughter will be able to get the treatment she needs. it is just a huge miracle and an answer to prayers. it is such a testimony builder to me that if we pray sincerly, god will answer us. i have seen it so many times in my own life just being out in the mission field. anyways i hope everyone knows how much i love them! stay strong, thank you for all the support!
-Elder Hartvigsen
-Elder Hartvigsen
Sister Alex Hartvigsen--Sept. 26, 2011
Message bodyDear family, I hope everything is going really well for you. This week has been really good. This week has been really good. We had a lesson with one of our investigators. We taught her about the hope that the gospel brings into our lives. We had a lesson with a women and we also taught her about hope and faith. The Spirit was very strong as we talked about how we can trust in the Savior in all things. We met with a women and watched Finding Faith in Christ with her and her two daughters . We read in Moroni 7 with her about Faith, hope and charity and talked about how we can feel get strength from the Savior. On Friday our ward had a talent show that we were invited to come to. Our Bishop loves having us at these ward activities because many people come and invite their friends and it is a good way to meet people. Sister Beu sang I know that My Redeemer lives in Spanish. She did a really good job. It was a lot of fun and their was a good turnout of members and investigators. On Saturday we had a shift at the visitor's center until 6 and then we went to the last few minutes of the general relief society broadcast. It was really good and I'm excited to read the rest in next months Ensign.
It was a really good week. I am excited for this next week and the opportunity that we have to listen to general conference. The day after conference the church media initiative about mormon.org will be starting here in the Phoenix area and we are expecting to see great results from this. Its going to be great.
I lvoe you all thank you for all you do.
Love Hermana Hartvigsen
It was a really good week. I am excited for this next week and the opportunity that we have to listen to general conference. The day after conference the church media initiative about mormon.org will be starting here in the Phoenix area and we are expecting to see great results from this. Its going to be great.
I lvoe you all thank you for all you do.
Love Hermana Hartvigsen
Friday, September 23, 2011
Elder Tyler Hartvigsen--Sept. 21, 2011
Hey Everyone!!!
So again, sorry about last week being such a short email, i only had about 15 min. on the computer total, and i had to write my mission president! so guess what?? i had my first baptism yesterday!! i was able to baptise this girl named kaitey, i taught her the very first day i got here. she is so strong in the gospel, she reminds me alot of you mom, because none of her family are members, and yet she is so strong in the gospel, and she has such a strong desire to follow christ. its been a really great week. we have about 5 people on date for baptism next month, and we are very excited about it. baptising kaitey yesterday was one of the best experiences for me. i wish you all could have beent there! but the pictures will just have to do. ;) i am so happy to have this opportunity to be a missionary. it is such a privlege to be a tool in the hands of the lord. fergs i got all your letters and its so great to hear from you all! i loved the pictures. janice and abbey, i got your letters too, thank you all so much!! brooke, going on a mission is something you would never regret doing! if you pray about it, i know that you'll get an answer, i prayed very hard about going on a mission, and i got the strongest answer ever that i needed to go! this has been one of the best decisions i have ever made, i am so happy to be out here, and i have already learned so much! i feel like a new person! i love reading the scriptures now! haha i finished the book of mormon in exactly one month, and now im reading it over again, as well as the new testament. i love it here so much, and i love you all! stevie, im sorry about the elbow man, you have been in my prayers! tj, thats cool that your taking an EMT course, well i guess you might be, haha that is very cool though! i went to this members house the other day, and he had SOOOO many guns, he had over 40, he showed them all to me and my companion, i was just drooling over them! haha he had a legit reloading set up as well, it was really cool. haha anyways i hope everyone knows that i love them, and i appreciate all of the support, i'll talk to everyone in a week!
-Elder Hartvigsen
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Sister Alex Hartvigsen--Sept 21, 2011
Dear family, This last week has been a really good one.. On Tuesday we met with an investigator with whom we have been meeting for a while. We went with a member. We talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon and how we can gain a testimony for ourselves.Yesterday we were also able to meet with her and we talked to her about the Christlike attribute of Faith. . We then had an appointment with a really cool family. We talked to them about the Restoration and how they can find out for themselves the truth of our message. we talked about recognizing answers to prayers. they have really been prepared to hear our message. They have been meeting with the Jehovah's witnesses for a while but they do not agree with many of their teachings. When we stopped by yesterday there were the Jehovah's witnesses there so we were not able to set up another appointment then but we are going to call them and set one up for this week. On Thursday we were able to have a lesson in a members home with one of our investigator's . We taught the Doctrine of Christ using 2nd Nephi 31. She has been getting some really good fellowship in the wards that she has been attending. On Friday we met with a less active family at the Visitor's Center. We talked about the importance of family. All the family wants their father to attend church with them but he is being stubborn. The wife has asked us to give them the member presentations in hopes of helping her husband feel the Spirit and want to come back to church. We have also been meeting with our members and helping them prepare for the upcoming media initiative. This last week in my personal study I was able to finish the Book of Mormon in Spanish. It has been my goal to do this by my birthday and I was able to do it. This is the 3rd time in my life that I have read it in Spanish but defiantely the shortest time doing it. I love the Book of Mormon! I have gained a stronger testimony of the power of this book and has helped me to know the scriptures better. It has also helped my Spanish improve significantly. My Birthday was really good. We got up and played soccer at 6am as a district. As we were walking out of our apartment we discovered that some other missionaries had decorated the outside of our front door for my birthday. It was fun. after we got ready for the day we went to district meeting. It was a really good meeting and we talked about charity as well as the importance of teaching people not lessons. The spirit was really stong as we talked and learned together. After district meeting we went to the Visitor's center because the Elder and Sister White each month do a birthday lunch/ departure lunch and it just happened to be scheduled on my birthday. It was fun. We went up to Scottsdale and went to the California Pizza Kitchen. After we made it back to the Visitors center I was assigned to make phone calls. I have not had a lot of success of phones recently but as a center we have all been challenged to be more diligent on our phone calls. We always start with a prayer. I prayed that I would be able to talke to at least one person who would accept meeting with missionaries. The very first person I called accepted. It made me really happy. During our dinner break, Sister Beu called me out to the front greet area. There waiting for me was one of my favorite families in our ward. They had brought me tres leches cake. I love this family. They were baptized back in January an are now one of the rocks in our ward. They are so supportive of missionary work. I have really fallen in love with them since I have been here. It was a really good day. On Thursday we were invited to a members home for dinner and to celebrate Mexico's independence day. It was their son's birthday as well. Part of a Mexican birthday involves getting your face smashed into tres leches cake. They did that to their son and then they also did it to me because it was my birthday the day before. ( enjoy the pictures) On Friday we had a mission tour with Elder Choi of the Seventy. we were in meetings with him from 9 am till 4 pm. It was really good. He talked about the importance of building friendships with our members, investigators, companions and especially with the Savior. I was able to learn alot that I am excited to use in my area. As part of the tour, 3 or 4 missionaries were selected to have a personal interview with him. I was on of them. It was really cool. We talked about my family and what my experiences so far as a missionary. He promised that I would be blessed as a result of my mission and that the rest of my family would be blessed as well. I really enjoyed that opportunity to meet with him.
On Saturday we got our transfer news. I'm staying with Sister Beu and we are still in our area. At the end of this next transfer (6weeks) I will have been in this ward for 9 months. I love this ward and the people and I am grateful that I can continue to serve here. Its been a really good week!. I love you all. Thank you so much for all your support.
Love Hermana Hartvigsen
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