WELCOME HOME SISTER HARTVIGSEN-- May 29, 2012

Sister Alex Hartvigsen returned home from the Arizona Mesa Mission spanish speaking. We are all glad to have her back safe and sound.

Sister Alex Hartvigsen-- May 21, 2012

Dear Familia , This week has been an adventure. On Monday we had a noche de hogar ( family night) with the L. familia and several other members, part member families and investigators. It was really good and Hno L. shared his testimony about how living the gospel brings blessings. On Tuesday as I was getting in the car to go to the Visitor's center, a member pulled up to us and asked us if we had a copy of the Book of Mormon. We gave him a copy that he is going to to give to a lady who lives on his bread route. ( There is a bakery around her that makes this amazing bread and then delivers it to your door.) He gave us a loaf in exchange for the Book of Mormon. He looked at my tag and then asked me if I had a brother that served in Frankfort Germany. I said that my cousin Michael had. This guy's name is Nathan Smith and he said that he was Mike's mission companion. It was cool. It is a small world and a much smaller church. We had the chance to attend the temple Wednesday morning. It was really nice to go. It was weird to think that it was my last time to go here in Mesa as a missionary. I love this temple and it is such a blessing to be able to be on temple grounds every day at the visitor's center. The Spirit is always there. The temple here is in a rougher area of town and people come all the time and comment about how different it feels the minute they walk onto the grounds. I love my mission! We had dinner with the a part member familia. We talked to them about the role of the Savior and read 2 Nefi 25:26. We also talked to them about the gospel blesses families. We are going to start the new member lessons with them this week. We had a lesson set up with another part member . Our plan was to talk about Jesus Christ and invite their son (12) to be baptized. As we walked up the the apartment, their son came out with some of his friends and headed to the swimming pool and told us that his Mom had gone to Phoenix. We scheduled another appointment for tonight and then went over to a recent convert's apartment. We shared with her Ether 12:27 and talked about how the Lord will strengthen us in our trials. As we were walking out of her apartment we stopped and talked to 2 men on the sidewalk. Sister Slater explained who we were and we talked about religion for a few minutes. They are both Catholic but seem open to talking to us. We said a prayer with them outside and are planning on going by tonight to meet their families and pray with them and invite them to learn more. On Thursday we had a lesson set up with an investigator. We had arranged for a member to come with us but she got sick the last minute and we couldn't find another member in time. We went over and watched Finding Faith in Christ with her and talked about her relationship with the Savior. We found out during this meeting that she can't read. We talked to our Branch President about that and he is going to arrange for someone form the Relief Society to come over and teach both this lady and her Sister in Law to read using a program that the church has. This branch is so good!. On Friday and Saturday I was on exchanges in Sister Romano y Sister Christensen's area. It was really good. Their main focus was inviting people to come to church and the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. They were really good at talking to everyone. While I was in their area, Sister Slater was with Sister Solorzano y Holladay. They went to our area for about an hour because we had an appointment set up to meet with an investigator. They had brought Presidente Solorzano with them. the appointment fell through because the lady was not there. ( we think that she may be avoiding us) but he did have a good visit with her sister in law. This week is going to be great! There is so much work to do and we are going to use every minute. The time has gone by so fast it is unreal. I am so grateful that I have had this opportunity to serve. It has been the best decision of my life. I love you all. Thank you for all of your love and support over the last year and a half. It has helped so much. Love Alex

Sister Alex Hartvigsen--April 18, 2012

Dear Family, I hope that you all have had a great week. Last week was
amazing. We saw many miracles and life is good. We got transfer news
on Sunday and I will be staying in my area and with Sister Slater. I
am really excited to be able to finish here. It is a great area and we
anticipate to see many miracles. On Monday we had a lesson with one
of our investigators and a member from our Spanish ward about the plan
of Salvation. The Spirit was really strong and our fellowshipper was
so good and invited him to come to church with him as well as the
upcoming fathers and sons. On Sunday there was a little bit of
miscommunication and he didn't realize that church was 3 hours and so
he stayed for Sunday school and part of priesthood but had to leave
before Sacrament because he had a previous commitment. We will be more
clear with him when we meet with him this week. On Wednesday we had a
lesson with him about the Doctrine of Christ and we committed him to
be baptized on May 4,2012.! He seems really receptive but we are
concerned that he is not reading the Book of Mormon like he said that
he is. We are going to focus on giving him short specific passages to
read and give him specific things to think about as he reads. We had a
lesson with a less active in our singles ward this week about the
individuality of the Gospel and how Heavenly Father is aware of her
and her challenges and wants to help. We also had a lesson with
another ysa and talked about Enos and the power of prayer. On
Thursday we had a lesson with an investigator. We have been working
with her for a while and we felt prompted to invite her to be
baptized. We talked about baptism and the difference between the power
of the Holy Ghost and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We invited her to be
baptized on May 4th. She said that she would but is concerned about
her negative feelings towards her father and her sister both of whom
are very abusive. We talked about the healing power of the atonement
and how Heavenly Father will give us strength in our trials. She said
that she wanted to be baptized. She has been to church off and on but
did not make it to church this week. We are going to have a lesson and
discuss the importance of Sabbath Day observance. On Saturday we had a
meeting with an investigator who has been hard to get in touch with
for the last few weeks. She was really excited to see us and asked us
if we felt that she is prepared to be baptized. It was then that we
found out that she is not married. We talked to her about the
importance of the Law of Chastity and how she can have a forever
family. We still haven't been able to have a meeting with her "marido"
( we have a challenge sometimes where people here call their partner
their husband) because he is always working. We also had an lesson
with a part member family and talked to them about agency.
This week I have been studying the importance of inviting. This has
really helped me to be more bold in talking to people about the
gospel. I can not control how people will react when I share the
message but it is my responsibility to give them a clear choice and
then they get to choose. Even when people are very rude, especially on
chats or over the phone I have been able to share what I know and
then it is up to them to act. We have a lot of people who call into
mormon.org or log onto chat just for the purpose of wasting our time
and sometimes swearing at us, but every once and a while we have the
chance to talk to people who have sincere questions and really want to
know. Those can be so amazing.
This week as I was in the front of the Visitors Center, a young
looking Apache man came in. He had been outside looking for a job but
was drawn in by curiosity about the Christus statue that we have. He
came in and felt the Spirit and wanted to learn more. Sister Slater
and I taught him how to pray and he offered a prayer in the Visitors
Center and we gave him a Book of Mormon and I shared with him Alma
40. He has been struggling with several deaths in his family and
friends and was just looking for peace. The elders in his area are now
teaching him and I am excited to see how he progresses.
I love you all,
Love Alex

Sister Alex Hartvigsen-- April 10, 2012

Dear Family, I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter. I know I did.
On Friday more than 14 thousand people came to see the Easter Pageant.
It was so busy and so much fun. That night I was assigned to be
outside with the crowds and talk to them. It was a blast. At the end
of the night, a member of the pageant came up to me and asked if I
spoke Spanish. He then led me to a group of people and explained that
the 15 year old boy spoke no English and wanted to learn more about
the Church. It got his information and permission from his legal
guardian and was able to get him in contact with missionaries in his
area yesterday. It is really cool because as part of a new program, I
will have to opportunity to stay in contact with this kid through chat
on mormon.org as well as phone calls as he is taught. This is really
nice because before when we were able to contact someone and they
accepted the missionaries they kinda went into a black hole and we
didn't ever know what was going on with them after. No we have the
chance to follow up and see more of the results. Another really cool
thing that happened was on Sunday night as I was at the back desk, a
family came up to me to ask a question. They looked at my tag and then
got really excited. They are Hartvigsens too! From what we could
figure out they are from a different branch of the family tree, They
live is Alpine UT. The Dad's name is Darrin but he gets our Darrin's
info and mail a lot. I told them to look me up on facebook after the
mission to see if we can figure out the family history here. it was
really cool. This week was really good and we saw many miracles in
the visitors center as a result of the Easter Pageant. There was a
very special spirit there and we found out that several of our
investigators came and really felt the Spirit and were touched by the
message. We had a lesson with a part member family this week and we
talked about Easter and what they learned from General conference. We
also talked about Alma 7 and the Atonement of the Savior. We stopped
by an investigators home and invited her to the Easter pageant and
taught her children how to pray and after a little reluctance her 9
year old offered the prayer. It was cool. On Wednesday we had an
unplanned teaching opportunity as we were leaving the Sands
apartments. We were stopped by the son in a part member family.
Normally he doesn't really talk to us much ( he is a typical 19 year
old) but he came over and started to talk. We talked to him about why
we came on our mission and then talked about how he can find peace in
his life through the gospel. We talked to him about prayer and how we
can recognize the answers to our prayers. He said that he would meet
with us but wouldn't set a specific time. This week we have really
been trying to focus on talking to everyone and teach when we find and
find when we teach. It has been a really cool experience especially in
the VC. It is impossible to tell who will be interested in our message
so what my responsibility is is to invite everyone and give them the
chance. We haven't had a lot of people very open to listening but it
has helped our confidence as we have done it.
Last night we had this amazing lesson with one of our investigators.
We talked him about the plan of Salvation and what the purpose is of
our lives here on Earth. The Spirit was so strong. We had an amazing
member with us who invited him to come to church with him this Sunday
and really backed up what we were teaching. It makes such a huge
difference when we work with the members together. it is so important
to have good friends in this process and also helps people see that we
are normal people and how the gospel blesses lives. This lesson was
one of those Yay! moments of my mission. On our next lesson with him
on Wednesday we are going to challenge him to be baptized. This man is
very prepared and eager to learn more. We are really excited to see
his progression.
Have a great week!

I love you all
Love Alex

Sister Alex Hartvigsen-- March 13, 2012

Dear Family, this last week has been really good. I have a new companion. Sister S. from Tulsa OK. She is amazing and we are doing really well together. We have had several lessons with the a part member family this week on the importance of prayer and also on the plan of salvation. We have been inviting them to pray about if our message is true for a while but the father seems reluctant. I believe that he is afraid of the answer that he will get and that it will mean some changes in his life. He has made so much progress over the last several months and we will continue to visit his family( his wife is a less active who is coming back to church) but if he doesn't start to progress a little more, we might have to back off for a little while and allow him to progress more on his own. In our singles ward we are working with mainly less actives and activation work. We met with a less active girl and talked to her about goals and how she can use the gospel to reach her potential. She has made so much progress in the last several months and is now working with her bishop to get her temple recommend in the next little while so that she can do baptisms for the dead. We also met with another sister She is struggling with her belief in God and Jesus Christ. We talked to her about the importance of prayer and continued study of the Book of Mormon and invited her to read Mormon 9. We received a text from our district leader this week asking us to go over immediately to talk to a Hispanic man that they had just contacted who was very interested in learning how the Gospel can bless his family. We testified about how we can find answers in the Book of Mormon.
Sister S. brought with her an atomic alarm clock. On Sunday morning we had a correlation meeting at the stake center scheduled at 7am and we were planning on waking up at 5:30 to get out the door on time. Her alarm rang and I checked my watch. 4:30 am....Daylight savings time had started for everywhere but AZ and the clock had switched over automatically. She reset the time and we went back to bed. Yesterday it did the same thing and woke us up at 5:30 thinking it was 6:30. Now we are using my clock and are very aware what of daylight savings time and also a little sleep deprived.
Time is going by so fast. Easter pageant is coming up in 2 weeks and things are going to be so busy and I am really excited. There is so much to do and I am excited for the chance to be a part of it.
I love you all
Have a great week
Love Alex

Sister Alex Hartvigsen--March 5, 2012

Dear Family. This has been a great week. We got transfer news on Saturday night. I am going to be training a new missionary! I am excited and a little bit nervous but I think it will be a really good thing. I will stay with her for the rest of my mission. That will end my mission with a total of 5 companions. II don't know who my companion is yet but I will find out on Wednesday. I am going to be back in the Visitors center and I am excited for that especially with the upcoming Easter pageant. This week we had a really good week.On Monday we met with a part member family and talked about the importance of following the commandments. We met with one of our recent converts and she asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon to share with her co-worker who has been talking to her about the gospel. We had a lesson with a recent convert and talked to her about how the gospel blesses families as well as patriarchal blessings ( she is preparing to receive hers) We had a lesson with a less active women and talked to her about enduring to the end even when it is really hard. We shared a mormon.org profile with her about the sister who has cancer. We also had a lesson with another less active sister and her daughters and we taught about the restoration and the importance of prayer and invited all their family to pray that night and pay attention to how they felt. On Wednesday we had a lesson with a recent convert. Her dad died this last Monday and it has been amazing how well our branch has rallied around her and has really supported her in this time. We had a lesson with the that part member family and taught them about the restoration. Their daughter in law was there for the first time and we challenged the whole family to pray to find out if our message was true and to study the Book of Mormon. On Thursday Sister Sordes was not feeling well and we were driving home so that she could rest when we received a phone call from a recent convert family. Their niece and nephew were at their home and they asked us if we could come over and give them a lesson. We watched Finding faith in Christ with them ( the kids are 6-10) and then talked about how we can pray . It was a really cool experience. the 6 year old was asking really deep questions and you could tell that she was definitely thinking about what we were talking about. Their 12 year old son who we have been struggling to have interest in the lessons ( bad peer pressure from older sister) surprised us all when he explained to his cousins how they can pray and get answers to questions. It was such a good night. I have often found that when we are experiencing opposition (like a sickness ) that it is when we have the greatest miracles. As we do all that we can do, the Lord will bless us. Saturday was a day of miracles. We went over with a member to try and visit an investigator, She wasn't there but Hna R. mentioned that her neighbor was a less active Spanish member and suggested that we go and visit them. This family has dealt with a lot of opposition in the last year with a sister in law dying and that same day a mom dying as well and so this sister has been left to care for her sister in laws 3 kids and husband it was clear that she just needed someone to be there at that time. It turns out that her brother in law only speaks Spanish and wants to come to church but was uncomfortable in the English wards. We are going by this week to talk to him. We also had an appointment with a less active . When we got there, the father of one of the daughter was there. We talked to him about the plan of Salvation. He came to church this last Sunday. We also were finally able to get a hold of B. We talked to her about baptism and her brother and sister in law had a ton of questions about the church, that our member was able to answer. We have an appointment with them this Sunday. On Sunday we were talking to one of our investigators and she announced that she has thought about it and she feels like she wants to be baptized! She just needs to finish her divorce in Guatemala and our branch president is working with her. We had a fireside that we had to leave church a little early to get to. As we were leaving we realized that we had forgotten something at home and had to go home early to get it. As we were leaving we stopped some people who were having car problems to see if they needed some help. ( we couldn't) As we got in our car, a sister stopped us and motioned to us to come and talk to her. She broke down in tears and basically said that she was a member, had gone on a mission but was now struggling to know anything more than God exists. She wants us to come over and basically teach her the basics. It was really cool how Heavenly Father put us in the right place at the right time so that we could come in contact with her. We are meeting with her on Tuesday.
I love you all. Thank you for all you do
Love Alex
This has been a great week and I am excited for the coming weeks.
Thank you for all you do.
Hna Hartvigsen

Sister Alex Hartvigsen--February 27, 2012

Dear Family This week was really good. On Monday we had pday and then we had a lesson with the a part member family and we talked with them about the Atonement and read with them Alma 7. ( several of them ended up coming to the ward activity on Friday and also to Church on Sunday. we were really excited.) On Thursday we had a lesson with a less active girl in our Young Single Adult ward who is coming back into activity. We talked to her about the importance of blooming where you are planted and keeping a positive attitude. We had a meeting with a recent convert and we talked about President Uchtdorf's talk Forget me Not. We Then had an appointment with the a family had talked about tithing and committed them to pay their tithing. On Friday we had a lesson with a women We were planning on dropping ( not visiting with her for a while because she has not been willing to keep any of the commitments or do anything) her if she had not read in the Book of Mormon but she had read!! We were really happy. We talked to her about the importance of reading, praying and revelation through church attendance. Saturday we had a lesson with a sister who has been coming to church for a long time We talked to her about some of her doubts that are stopping her from being baptized. She is basically already living as a member of the church and had never really understood the importance of actually being baptized. She asked us to have a lesson and help her understand baptism better. We Then went over and started visiting with a former investigator She told us that she wants to come to church this following Sunday and is really excited to learn more about the church. I think the biggest miracle of the week happened on Sunday. During the ward committee meeting several of the ward leaders discussed several less active families and the best way that we can help them. As we left the meeting, we got a phone call from one of the sisters whom we had just discussed , who informed us that she was on her way to church and that she was bringing an investigator for us. We were really excited. We set up an appointment to meet with them on this coming Tuesday. Another one of those less active sisters brought her kids to church as well. It was a really good day.
On Friday we did service basically all day. We helped the relief society set up for the ward activity ( a delayed Valentine's day/ friendship dance. We were asked by our ward mission leader's wife to help her make several edible fruit centerpieces. It was fun but also very messy.
I hit my year mark in Mesa this last Wednesday. It was such a good day. We had a temple session planned as a zone and it was wonderful to be able to go in. A year ago was the first time that I had been to the Mesa temple outside and so when I got to go in on my year mark was really cool. I can't believe how fast the time is going. I am trying to enjoy every minute of it. We get transfer news this coming weekend and I only have 2 transfers ( 12 weeks left) It is so weird.
I love you all. Thank you for all you do

Sister Alex Hartvigsen--February 13, 2012

Dear Family, Happy Valentine's Day. This week was really good. On Monday we had a noche de hogar with a less active family in the home of our ward mission leader. The A's are a part member/less active family that we have been working with. Our ward mission leader shared with them President Monson's talk of living the abundant life from the Jan Liahona/ Ensign. On Tuesday we met with the a family. We challenged them to fast and pray about the Book of Mormon and about being baptized when they recieved their answer. All 3 of them came to church on Sunday. We were so happy to see them there and we know they felt the Spirit. We also had a lesson with a thirteen year old girl who has a date to be baptized . We talked about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and how it can bless us. We talked about how we can invite the Holy Ghost as well as cut down on the distractions that make it hard to hear him such as texting during church and meetings. It was the girl that suggested that she shouldn't text during church. It has been amazing to see how much she has changed in such a short time. On Wednesday we had a lesson with a recent convert and her friend and talked about church and baptism. We have arranged for several sisters who live in their apartment complex to take in cookies or a treat in an effort to better fellowship them into the ward and help them to get to know the ward members . On Saturday we had a lesson with a women and we talked to her about the importance of studying the Book of Mormon and praying about it. She has been putting it off and Sister S. challenged her to read even for 2-5 minutes a day at first and start exercising her faith that way and see the blessings that Heavenly Father will bring into her life. On Saturday night we had a baptism for the thirteen year old. It was so cool. We had a great turnout from our branch and the Spirit was really strong. She bore her testimony and mentioned that she was feeling the Spirit and how last week when Sister Sordes and I and our ward mission leader's wife came to her house to get her to come to church that she had been sleeping and had not wanted to but had felt the Holy Ghost tell her that she needed to get up. She went to church with us and really felt the Spirt. On Saturday we were invited to go to a barbacue in the park with several families from the ward as well as several of our investigators and less actives. It was a fish fry. I Hope you like the pictures.
It was a great week.
I love you all
Love Alex
Hermana Hartvigsen

Sister Alex Hartvigsen-- February 6, 2012

Dear Family, It has been a really good week. . On Monday we had a lesson with a recent convert on recieving revelation through church attendance. It was a really good lesson and the member who came with us shared a powerful testimony on the importance of church and establishing unity. We had a lesson with recent convert and talked a little about the plan of salvation. We also had a noche de hogar (family night) ( I speak a lot of Espangish and sometimes I can't remember words ;) with the Relief Society president and talked about the Restoration and how we can recieve answers to our prayers by following the same steps that Jose Smith did. On Tuesday we had a lesson with a women and read Alma 7 with her and talked about the atonement of Jesus Christ. We then had a lesson with a part member family and talked about temples and family history work.On Wednesday we had a lesson again with them again and we listened to Elder Bednar's talk on youth and family history work from Oct Conference. Have any of you had any cool experiences with family history that you want to share with me? Their daughter is going to be baptized this Friday and we are working with the mom nad the daughter to prepare some names to go through and do baptisms for in the coming weeks. On Thursday we had a lesson with a family on the Family Proclamation and talked about how the gospel blesses our families. We had a lesson with a women and her two sons and talked about the Restoration and how Heavenly Father will always answer our prayers.On Friday we met with a recent convert and her friend and we watched Together forever with them and talked about how our families can me together forever.The recent convert's father has cancer and it has been hard for her to be away and not able to do much. On Saturday we had a lesson with a women and we talked to her about church and also about the importance of baptism. She wants to be baptized but has some complications due to a marriage situation. We challenged her to do all that is in her power to resolve these concern and then trust in the Lord. On Sunday we went over and talked to a women and her family about how we can strengthen our Faith in Jesus Christ and the importance of building our lives on that foundation. We read with them Helaman 5:12. We then had an appointment with the a family in our ward and talked about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the importance of forgiving others and also ourselves. It was a really good week.
This week I have been reading the Book of Mormon. I have noticed that as I have read it over the last few weeks that I have felt more peaceful and more optimistic even when circumstances haven't been ideal. It has really strengthened my testimony on the power of the Book of Mormon and I am excited to continue to read and to invite those that I am teaching to read so that they can feel that same peace.
I love you all
Have a great week.
Love Alex

Sister Alex--January 30, 2012

Dear Familia, I hope that you all had a wonderful week. My week has
been great. I was transfered to a new area this last Wednesday and I
love it. My new companion Sister S. is really cool and we have had
a lot of fun together. On Tuesday we had a lesson with the a recent
convert family. Their daughter is a recent convert and we talked about
keeping the Sabbath day holy as well as fasting. We also met with a
women and her large extended family. We watched finding faith in
Christ with them and talked about how we can increase our faith and
also how we can come closer to the Savior. On Wednesday was transfer
meetings and lots of moving. Escondido in Spanish means hidden on
Wednesday we discovered why. We got lost on our way back from
Scottsdale and we couldn't seem to find escondido for a while... It
was definately an adventure. We helped several sisters move into their
new areas and then we also had a lesson with a part member family . We
talked about the importance of reading the scriptures and feasting
upon the words of Christ. We explained our purpose as missionaries and
invited the sister and father to pray and ask Heavenly Father if our
message is true and worth listening to. ( when we went back a few days
later the sister told us that she ahd prayed and that she feels good
about listening to us but wants to learn step by step. We are really
excited to continue to meet with her and her family and have a FHE set
up with them and some members from our branch on this coming
Wednesday. On Thursday we had a lesson with a 14 year old girl. Her
mom looked really familiar and after a while I realized that I had
met her at the Visitors center back in March or April and she had
accepted missionaries. It turns out that she was baptized a little
while later and then her daughter started to investigate. It was
really cool She was supposed to be baptized on Saturday so we went
over the baptismal interview questions with her and her mother who is
a recent convert. WE also talked about tithing and the importance of
paying it and setting an example for their family. On Friday the girl
had her baptismal interview and she passed!!! We were really excited
to have her baptism on Saturday but we encountered some opposition
when she became sick and couldn't go through with it. We are hoping to
reschedule for next week.
This last week we recieved a challenge from our zone leaders to read
the Book of Mormon al lthe way through during this transfer. It has
Dear Familia, I hope that you all had a wonderful week. My week has
been great. I was transfered to a new area this last Wednesday and I
love it. My new companion Sister Sordes is really cool and we have had
a lot of fun together. On Tuesday we had a lesson with the a recent
convert family. Their daughter is a recent convert and we talked about
keeping the Sabbath day holy as well as fasting. We also met with a
women and her large extended family. We watched finding faith in
Christ with them and talked about how we can increase our faith and
also how we can come closer to the Savior. On Wednesday was transfer
meetings and lots of moving. Escondido in Spanish means hidden on
Wednesday we discovered why. We got lost on our way back from
Scottsdale and we couldn't seem to find escondido for a while... It
was definately an adventure. We helped several sisters move into their
new areas and then we also had a lesson with a part member family . We
talked about the importance of reading the scriptures and feasting
upon the words of Christ. We explained our purpose as missionaries and
invited the sister and father to pray and ask Heavenly Father if our
message is true and worth listening to. ( when we went back a few days
later the sister told us that she ahd prayed and that she feels good
about listening to us but wants to learn step by step. We are really
excited to continue to meet with her and her family and have a FHE set
up with them and some members from our branch on this coming
Wednesday. On Thursday we had a lesson with a 14 year old girl. Her
mom looked really familiar and after a while I realized that I had
met her at the Visitors center back in March or April and she had
accepted missionaries. It turns out that she was baptized a little
while later and then her daughter started to investigate. It was
really cool She was supposed to be baptized on Saturday so we went
over the baptismal interview questions with her and her mother who is
a recent convert. WE also talked about tithing and the importance of
paying it and setting an example for their family. On Friday the girl
had her baptismal interview and she passed!!! We were really excited
to have her baptism on Saturday but we encountered some opposition
when she became sick and couldn't go through with it. We are hoping to
reschedule for next week.
This last week we recieved a challenge from our zone leaders to read
the Book of Mormon al lthe way through during this transfer. It has
impressed me as I have read about the different ways that each member
of this family reacted to adversity. This week we felt a lot of
opposition as we tried to help this girl be baptized. Although I can't
control many circumstances I can control how I react to them and do
all that is in my power to accomplish the Lords work. I was reminded
of that while I read 1 Nefi 16 when Nephi broke his bow. He didn't
complain. He did the best he could and made a bow and then went to the
Lord. I can do the same thing when my bow breaks ( or a baptism
doesn't go through on a day we have planned) If I do my part then I
know that the Lord will make things work out in the way that they need
to.
I am also covering a Young Single Adult ward. Yesterday as we were in
that ward I kept looking at this girl on the front row because she
looked really familiar. I went up to her and I found out that about 4
years ago she was in my College Singles ward at SUU. She had moved
down here at the end of that year. I am even friends with her on
facebook. It was truly a small world experience.
I love you all so much
Have a great week!
Love Alex

Sister Alex Hartvigsen--January 23, 2012

Dear Family, I hope that you all had a wonderful week. Things here have been really good. We had a really good lesson with a women. She was a referral from the Visitor's Center and when we went to visit her we realized that we had contacted into her husband about a week before and he had said that we could stop by. She is having some family struggles right now and we talked about how the gospel blesses our families. She said that we could come back on Friday or Saturday so we could meet with both her and her husband ( they work conflicting shifts) We are planning on stopping by this week. On Friday we had a meeting with our branch president and he gave us several families that he would like us to go and visit and we are excited to do that. We had a lesson with a women and talked to her about the hope that the gospel brings into our lives even when we are having challenges within our families. We have also tried really hard this week by looking for ways that we can build trust with the members through service. This has involved everything from helping to put away christmas trees and decorations to SIster S. giving a dog a bath and a haircut.

On Saturday I recieved news that I am being tranferred. I am going to a Spanish branch named Escondido. It is in Mesa. I am excited because in addition to working in the Spanish branch I am also going to be working in a Young Single Adult ward. My companion is Sister S. from France. I know her from the VIsitor's Center and she is a lot of fun. I am also not going to be working in the Visitors Center for this coming transfer. We have the potential to do some tranfers full field ( not working in the Visitors Center every day) I loved being full field the last time I did it because we have a lot more time in our area and it is easier to get to know the ward and the area. I think this will probably be my last opportunity for this because next transfer is the Easter Pageant and all of us are in the Visitors center then and then after that is my last transfer. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I love you all. Have a great week
Love Alex

Sister Alex Hartvigsen--Jan 17, 2012

Dear family,
this week has been a good week. On Tuesday we had a dinner and a lesson with a less active women and her family. We talked about obedience and the blessings that come as we keep the commandments. We read with her in Mosiah 2:41 about how as we keep the commandments we are blessed in all things.Our ward is setting up a few families that we are going to be practice teaching the lessons to. We are excited. On Wednesday we had a lesson with a women and her sister We read the introduction to the Book of Mormon with them and talked about how we can come to know that it is true by study and prayer. One of the ladies told us that she knows this is true but she is scared at what the implications are if she joins the church. She knows that there will be opposition. We talked to her about how we are strengthened as we keep the commandments We shared Ether 12 with her and talked about faith. We are going to try and set a baptismal date with her this week. Her sister had some questions about authority and apostasy. We had brought a member with us who used to be Catholic and she was able to answer many of her questions. It was really good. On Thursday we had a lesson with the a less active/ part member family. We talked to them about 1 Nephi 8 and how we can hold to the rod of iron and recieve all the blessings that Heavenly Father has for us.
This last week, we got a new Visitor's Center director. It is going to be strange not working with our old directors. There will be many changes over the next several months are many of our senior couples and sisters leave for home. Change can be hard but it can also be really good.
I hope you have a great week. I love you all
Love Alex

Sister Alex Hartvigsen-- January 9, 2012

Dear Family.
This week has been a good week. We have had many miracles. I think the highlight of the week was on Thursday and Friday. A family who I taught back in May went through the temple and we sealed together. ( I taught and baptized the 9 year old daughter and the rest of the family was less active when I first met them.) It was beautiful and the Spirit was so strong. I feel like if I came on my mission for no other reason other than to be able to be a part of this family's experience than my mission has been worth it. ( I know that there are other reasons that I am out here) .Things at the VC have returned to normal. They had the 90 nativities packed up and out of here by the 2nd or so of January. Things are a little crazy right now because the Whites ( the directors of the Visitor's Center ) are preparing to go home this next week. It will be so weird not to see them everyday. Luckily for me, they live in Davis County Utah and so I will still get to see them when I get home. We get the new directors next week I think. There are many changes coming and it will be good and interesting to see how everything works out.
W e were able to have some really good lessons and cool experiences this week.
On Tuesday, we headed off to the Visitor's Center to watch the Joseph Smith Movie with some of our investigators and our former branch president as well as some former investigators that he had invited. President Smith bore his testimony about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. Everyone there enjoyed the movie and the spirit was really strong. When the movie finished, one of our investigators was in tears was in tears. We found out later that she was thinking about all the trials and challenges that Joseph and the early saints went through. She knows that this is true but deep down she is scared that once she makes that decision that even more trials will come and she is not sure how to handle those. We shared with her 1 Cor 10:13 and talked about how we are never alone. We also talked about how we can find peace in sincere prayer. We are working on fellowshipping her and her family into the branch by inviting different auxilary leaders to come with us. One of the members who was with us at the Joseph Smith movie referred our former investigator family at the VC. I called them up and they said that we could come by this week. I am supposed to call her today and set up an appointment to meet with them. On Saturday as we were driving, Sister S had the impression to go over to a less active family's home. We turned around and went over, not knowing why we were there. It turns out that the mom of this family had been praying that someone would come by so that she wouldn't be alone. She has been struggling with health problems and has felt very lonely. Sister S shared 2 Nephi 32 with her and talked about prayer and scripture study and how we can feel the peace as we read and pray. It was really cool. At the end of the lesson, we were invited back to visit with the whole family( it didn't work out though when we returned it was only the mom again but we still had a good visit) .
I hope all of you have a great week. I can't believe how fast the time goes. It sometimes feels like I blink and it is a month later.
I love you all
Love Alex

Sister Alex Hartvigsen-- January 2, 2012

Dear Familia, I hope all of you had a fun and safe New Year Celebration. We didn't do too much down here other than work at the Visitors Center. I was outside a little later in the evening and was able to see some of the fireworks that people were shooting off. It was fun. This week was good. We had a meeting with our recently called branch mission leader, on Monday. On Tuesday we met with a less active women and talked to her about the blessings of obedience. On Thursday we met with a recent convert lady and her sister. We talked about revelation through church attendance and the importance of feasting on the words of Christ to feed our spirits. We shared with them 2 Nefi 32:3 and talked about how that spiritual nourishment can help us have the strength we need the rest of the week. We met with the a recent convert family and one of their family members. We watched Finding Faith in Christ and talked about what we can do to strengthen our faith. We asked each family member what they can do to strengthen their own faith. We had a discussion about how our faith will often be tested before we see the fruits of it. It was a really good lesson. This week as I was in the Visitors Center, I was giving a presentation in front of the Christus Statue that we have here ( its just like the one in Salt Lake but about a foot shorter). After I got done giving the presentation, I went and started talking to a man who was sitting on the bench looking at the Christus. He looked like he was about to cry. I asked him if he was OK and he answered back in broken English. ( sometimes its really hard to tell who speaks which language) I switched to Spanish and we started to talk. He was really struggling with choices that he had made in his life and came to the Visitors Center so that he could find some peace. I explained that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ all those feelings of guilt and shame can be healed completely as we repent of our sins and come unto the Savior. I testified that the Savior knew him and loved him. It was really cool to watch his demeanor change as I talked with him. He accepted my invitation to send the missionaries to visit with him and teach him more. It was such a good experience. This coming week will be really good. A family that I taught in my English area back in May is going to the temple on Thursday and Friday for the first time to be sealed as a family. I am so excited for them.
I love you all. I hope that you all have a great week.
Love Alex

Sister Alex Hartvigsen--December 28, 2011

Message body
Dear Family, I hope that you all had a wonderful Merry Christmas and are all gearing up for a fantastic New Year. It is so wierd to think that it is almost 2012. This year has been full of craziness and many fun adventures and has really flown by. It is weird to think that I will be home in 2012 ( so I'm not going to think about it. Gotta love denial right? ;) ) This last week has been so good. On Monday we had a lesson with a women and her sister we watched the Restoration dvd and talked about how we can go through the same process that Joseph Smith went through to get our answers. On Tuesday we had a lesson with a less active women we talked about 3 Nefi 1 and how the Lord will always answer our prayers as we put our trust in Him. We then went over to a less active family we shared with them DyC 25 and talked about the power of good music. We then sang several hymns with them. It was really good because even their kids participated ( usually they hide in their rooms when we come by) On Thursday we met with a recent convert and read with her and her family Luke 2 and talked about the gifts that they can give the Savior this Christmas. This week as we were going through a list of former investigators and less actives/ recent converts, we decided to visit one of the people that Sister B baptized when she first was in our area over a year ago. We knocked on the door of the apartment and a man came to the door. It turns out that the man who we were looking for had moved back to Mexico but this man who answered the door was interested in learning about our message. We set up an appointment to visit with him the next day and we brought a women from our ward with us. It was a good lesson and he committed to come to church this next week when the schedule changes to 10:30 ( he works at 12-8pm) He doesn't have much of a religious background so we have been studying PMG how to teach those without a Christian background. We are really excited to continue to teach them. On Friday we met again with the women and her sister and their families and taught them about faith from Alma 32. Their father, who has not shown any interest in the lessons participated with us and it was really good. Christmas Eve was really good. We attended the baptism of a 14 year old girl On Thursday she decided that she wanted to be baptized on 24 Dec. The service had such a sweet Spirit there. We went to a meeting/ Christmas Celebration at a church next to the Visitors Center. Because of the baptism, we made it there just as the celebration ended. They had been doing a celebration of different cultures of the sisters through dance. Sister Mc turned on some celtic river dancing type music. I slipped off my shoes and the next thing I knew I was dancing. I definately suprised a lot of people with my dancing skills and many told me that they had no idea I was so light on my feet. It was a lot of fun. I haven't danced in a long time. After we finished we went caroling to different assisted living homes with a family. One of the homes that we visited has a sister living there who was baptized a few months ago when she was 101 years old. It was so much fun to celebrate Christmas with them. It was really cool and you could tell that it really touched the residents who lived there. Music can have such a stong impact on our spirits. Our dinner for Chirstmas Eve cancelled because Hispanics celebrate Christmas on 24 and no one was willing to feed us that day. We were invited to eat with Sister N in her English area. I was really excited to eat American food. When we got there, we found out the that husband has a Brazilian mother, and went to a mission to Brazil and they eat Brazilian food for Christmas. It was a little ironic. But the food was SO GOOD. I am going to have to learn how to cook Latin food or else I am going to go into withdrawls when I go home. ;)
This week I have come across several references to being bold as I have studied the scriptures. Every time I saw it I marked it. As I was at the visitors center on Christmas Eve, I decided that I was going to be more bold than I have ever been. I try to keep a prayer in my heart at all times but I put a special focus on it that night as I prayed to be let to people that were prepared. As a result, I was able to speak to many people who shared names of friend who they want us to call. I was talking to a lady in front of the replica of Jerusalem and we started talking about the temple. I talked about the temple and how we have temples on the earth again so that Heavenly Father can bless us. I was very bold and promised her that if she would learn more about the gospel that the temple could bless her and her family as well. SHe accepted my invitation and filled out her info for the missionaries. IT was such a great week.
It was such a wonderful Christmas.
I hope that you have a wonderful New Year. I love you all.
Love Alex

Sister Alex Hartvigsen-- December 13, 2011

Dear Family, I hope everything is going well for you all up there. Things here are going really well. Christmas lights have been going on for about 3 weeks and we are having the opportunity to talk to many people as they come in. It is crazy as between 1000-4000 come in most nights but it is a lot of fun. Last week I was introducing a movie for a group of people in a theater here. My companion did an introduction in English and then I did my part in spanish. When I got finished, a cute little blonde girl on the front row stood up and said loudly enough that everyone could hear it " Well, I don't know what that was!"( refering to my Spanish skills) All the theater burst out laughing and she fled into her mom's arms. it was really cute. This last week has also been a little bit crazy because my companion was just completing her mission and we were busy getting her packed up and prepared to leave. I got transfer news on Saturday night. I will be staying in my Spanish Branch and I am getting Sister Solorzano from Nicaragua. This will be a lot of fun. This week has been good in our area. We met with a recent convert Thursday. We read 3 Nephi 1 with her and talked about how we can trust in the Lord even when things are really hard and he will guide us. We are never left alone. We met with the really big extended family on Monday. They had some doubts about prayer that we addressed . They are Catholic and have been praying to the Virgin Maria. We challenged them to continue to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it (not through Maria) to get their answer. We talked more about prophets and read with them in the Book of Mormon. We also met with a less active women who is coming back to church. We talked to her about prayer and read part of a conference talk by Elder Bednar about prayer with her.
I really don't know where the time is going. It moves so fast. I hit my year mark on Thursday! It doesn't seem real. I am excited for another great transfer. I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful week.
Love Alex

Sister Alex Hartvigsen-- December 6, 2011

Dear Familia, I hope that everyone is doing well and that no one got blown away in the last batch of crazy weather. Things here are really good. I love my branch (congregation that I'm working with) and all the people are so loving. I hope to be able to stay here for a while. We find out transfer news this Saturday and the chances of a new comp are pretty high especially because Sis N is going home. It will be interesting.
This week has been really good. A few weeks ago we were driving in an part of our area that we normally are not in because it is far away and we have a very small miles limit on our car. We were inspired to turn on this little street and we spotted a family outside their house. We jumped out and started talking to them This family is actually about 4 families living in 2 apartments right next to each other. This sounds kinda familiar huh? We invited them to come to meet with the ward employment specialist on Tuesday night and they all ended up coming (about 12 people) We met with them several times this week and taught the restoration and also the plan of salvation. We had a noche de hogar with them last night with our former branch president in the his home. We invited them to come to church on Sunday and 12 of them came and seemed to really enjoy it. We invited them to be baptized but they feel like they still need to learn more first and we challenged them to continue to read the Book of Mormon and pray to receive an answer. We are really excited to continue to meet with this family.
This last week I studied the doctrines in the Plan of Salvation especially the Atonement. As I studied it hit me once again that even though the Savior did pay the price for our sins it did not eliminate our personal responsibility. We have to accept the Atonement into our own life by doing the things that he is asked us to do in the Doctrine of Christ 2 Nephi 31. If we don't do this we don't have claim to the Atonement. God will not force us to be happy or to accept Him. My job is to help people understand the Atonement and then its is up to those that I teach to apply it and make it a part of their lives.
I love you both so much. Have a great week.
Love Alex

Sister Alex Hartvigsen-- November 29, 2011

Hi Everyone, I hope that you all had a wonderful Dia de Accion de Gracias. (Thanksgiving) I know that I did. On Wednesday I was with English Sisters in their area because Sister Nishiguchi was on exchanges. We were able to talk to many different people as we walked around. Sometimes we would even be driving and if we saw people we would park the car and jump out and talk to them. It was fun. We talked to a member that way and somehow we got on the subject of poaching in other peoples area which just means when you teach someone that other missionaries should be teaching ( like English missionaries teaching in spanish and using and Interpretor rather than letting the Spanish missionaries teach.) This member said that it was a big problem in his area because all the Spanish Hermosas would always take it. It made me laugh because he mixed up Hermosa ( Beautiful) for Hermana ( Sister) I am a Spanish Beautiful and thats the way that I like it. haha... towards the end of the day we stopped to talk to a couple teenagers who were sitting on the street corner. On of them, mentioned that he is Peruvian and said that we could come over and talk to his family. We went by their house later in the week but they weren't home. We are going to pass by again. On Saturday Sister Nishiguchi and I were in a part of our area where we normally don't go. As we turned on down a street we saw a group of people outside of their apartment. We went over and started to talk to them and explain who we are. One of the ladies had known some members back in Nevada who had invited her to come to church but she couldn't go because it was all in English. We told them about our ward and invited them to come. We also set up an appointment to come back and teach them. When we went by on Sun night we taught about the restoration and the Spirit was very strong as we taught about the First Vision. It was a really cool experience and I feel like we were definately led to these people. There are 3 families there that share 2 apartments next door to each other. We are really excited to teach them again this week. I was in the VC on Sun getting ready to leave when a women in SPanish asked me to do the Christus Narration for her ( the words that are played in front of the statue of Christ) I played if for her and bore my testimony that I knw that she was loved by Jesus Christ. I then asked her if I could do anything else for her. She then told me that she wanted to learn more about the Bible and the purpose of life. That wasn't exactly what I was expecting but I was really excited to be able to help her get in contact with the missionaries from her area. I was even more excited when I realized that she lives in my old Spanish ward. I am excited to see her progress.
Have a wonderful week
Love Alex

Sister Alex Hartvigsen-- November 21, 2011

Dear Family This last week has been really good. We met with a recent convert family. We taught them the plan of Salvation as part of the new member lessons. We went over to an investigator's house with a member of the primary who brought the family cookies and she invited the family to come to church. We had a lesson set up with a recent convert. We taught her about the Restoration of the Gospel. Met with her later in the week as well and read with her and her sister in 3 Nephi 18 and talked about prayer with them. On Sunday we went by an investigator couple to see if they were going to come to church. They have said that they were coming before but something has always seemed to come up. We decided to ask them if we could get a ride to church with them. They said that would be fine. The women and her daughter drove us to church and then told us that they needed to go and pick up her boyfriend from work. So they promptly dropped us off at the church and drove away. It wasn't exactly what we had in mind. We are probably going to be giving them a break for a while until they are a little more prepared.
The Christmas lights come on on the Temple starting on Thanksgiving and we are really gearing up for the big crowds that aways come this time of year. It will be crazy for the next six weeks but it will be a blast.
Have a great week and a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am thankful for the chance to have all of you in my life.
I love you
Love
Alex
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Sister Alex Hartvigsen-- November 7, 2011

Hi everyone. I hope that you are all doing really well. This last week has been good. I am excited to work in this Spanish branch with Sister Nishiguchi. I was only in the area from about Thursday This last week we met with a recent convert. We read 3 Nephi 11 with her and her family. We met the a less active family and read with them Alma 32. We had a church tour with a couple of investigators and set a baptismal date with them for next month. Later one of them was sick and we went over with our ward mission leader and branch president so that she could recieve a blessing. She definately felt the Spirit and we talked about the Holy Ghost together. We are now working with them to get to church. We met with an investigator . We defined our purpose as missionaries. It soon became clear that she was more interested in Bible bashing with us so we decided that it would be best not to meet with her at this time.

I love you all
Have a great week
Love Alex