Happy New Year!

Liebe Familie! 

This is my last email from 2013! Weird to think this year is already at it's close.  Christmas Eve, Day and the 26th were absolutely incredible.  We had the opportunity to spend the day with members in our ward and ah. We have such a great ward here in Ludwigsburg!  

The Grahovac's, Sülzle's, Hoffmann's and Zimmer's had u over and man! They are all so great. Had the chance to play with dolls, puppies, crazy German games, and eat (ohmygosh) so much food.  I have literally never been so full in my entire life! haha But, never fear! Everything was delicious and it was great!

Naturally, the highlight of the week was Skyping the fam! Ya'll looked great! (Even Dad who looked a little ill)  I'm glad to hear everyone enjoyed Christmas and that's soo cool about laser tag.  That'll have to become a family tradition.. (aka I wanna play too! haha)  

It's been a while since I've included a funny story sooo here we go!

We got a referral from one of the Elders' investigators and were able to set up an appointment the day of! It was Saturday and on our way over, we just felt like we should really talk about the Plan of Salvation.  We get there, start our lesson, and she LOVES IT.  She had a pretty severe accident a couple of years ago. Due to that, she has some physical handicaps.  The idea that we could be whole again someday really spoke to her and ah! The Spirit was doing some great testifying!  (You're probably thinking right about now.. this is a miracle story.. not a funny story! Juuuust wait!)  Annnd then my great German skills come in.  Attempting to talk about how we all will die someday but, it's no problem because we'll all be able to live again with our Heavenly Father, I mixed the words sterben (to die) and töten (to kill).  All in all, Petra understood what I was attempting to say but, it was really funny nonetheless.  

Sister Brink and Harman

Other great facts, Maria ( a former investigator) came to baptism of an 8 year old boy in our ward! And Grazia (a new investigator) came to church on Sunday and loved it! :)  The work is going forth here in Germany and ah. I just really love it. Random announcement! Young men! Go on missions! Young Women! Pray about it! Feeling the Spirit work in you and seeing people really change because of the gospel is literally a priceless experience.  Ah! I just feel so grateful! Lift up your hearts and be of good cheer! 

Happy New Year, everyone! Love you!

Sister Harman

Merry Christmas

Liebe Familie,

Holy heck.  Alot happened in the past week! That's great! It's always good to hear about all the miraculous happenings, especially near Christmas time.  This past week has been marvelous!  Really really!  I only get one Christmas here on my mission so I have really felt the need to make this December, the best yet! 

We had a great exchange with our Sister Training Leaders! I was able to take over Ludwigsburg and work with Sister Jencks.  It was nice to be able to work with a familiar face! (We've gotten to know each other through Mission Leadership Counsels!)  We had loads of lessons and just tore up the town(s). haha I don't remember if I said, my area covers a bunch of small-ish towns. Sister Jencks is a riot and ah! It was just so great!

Sisters Brinck and Harman

We had our last Sunday before CHRISTMAS!  It was absolutely glorious!  We had choirs singing, great lessons, and loads of non-members at sacrament meeting. I love how Christmas really is a time to remember Christ - no matter what our religious background is. He came and did so much for us and all he asks is that we remember and follow him.  So simple, right?  And yet we make it so much more difficult for ourselves!  I just hope that everyone this Christmas season will remember why we have it! I'm pretty sure I said this all last week so I apologize if it's a bit repetitive.  Here in Deutschland, the most important day is the 24th, they call it Heiligen Abend... aka Holy Evening (Sounds better in German haha) but, it's a time to remember Christ, read the Christmas story, and to reflect on his life.  I don't know what Christmas Eve traditions, everyone else has but, I encourage everyone to read his story this year on Christmas Eve (Luke 2). It brings a special spirit into our lives!

Missionary Christmas!

Christmas Eve and Day we'll be spending with members! And the 26th. These three days are all 'Christmas'.. America has only one Christmas Day.. Germany has three haha ;D 

Merry Christmas and fam! I'll see you (LITERALLY! Skype!) tomorrow! (Somewhere from 9am - 2pm...) Broad but... hey! Builds excitement, right? 

Skype is a beautiful thing!

Love you all!

Sister Harman

We had a wonderful skype date with Sister Harman!  It was amazing to be able to talk to her and see her!  She is doing so well.  She is working hard and doing great things.  I love her attitude.  She shared this about leaving Vienna right before one of her investigator's baptismal date, "I have to have a good attitude! He's not getting baptized for me! He's getting baptized so that he can make an eternal commitment to God."  Love this girl!

Christmas zone conference, Gemeinderat, Christmas Concert and First Presidency Christmas Devotional!

Liebe Familie!

 

Doing well! This last week was CRAZY long but, also incredibly fast.  Makes no sense, right? haha We had a great Christmas Zone Conference, Gemeinderat (Ward Council), Christmas Concert, and listened to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.  So lots of meetings and so many great things were said! 

 

To start, we did some great Genealogy work.  Looking at our family tree, WE HAVE SO MUCH TEMPLE WORK TO BE DONE. Like literally, all you have to do is print the names and take them to the temple.  I can't go to the Temple here soo I would highly encourage, you fine people to take the names of our dear family members to the temple.  What better Christmas present could be given than that of Salvation? Sounds a bit dramatic, but, it's true.  These people have been waiting for a long time and would be ever so grateful to know their family is looking out for them. :) 

 

Like I said, we had a fantastic Christmas Concert.  we have some ridiculously talented people here in Germany.  The music was absolutely incredible. I finally really felt the Christmas Spirit!  It was so cool to be listening to some traditional German music as well!  Wooden flutes, Bass, Cello, and some great folk-ish sounding people.  I love love love German!  It used to sound kindof weird and scary to me buuut, the more I listen to it - the more I love it.  It shouldn't surprise me, I mean it's easy to enjoy something you actually understand haha. 

Progress with the investigators is coming.  We've found loads of new people and we're working on them becoming new investigators. (really busy with Christmas time and most people here go on vacations.)  But, the members are great. I've really been able to get to know the ward and it'll just take time to really get them all but never fear! We've gotten 10 essen termine (eating appointments) for the week of Christmas haha So I'd say.. they like us :)  Keep up the good work and know I pray for you!

 

When asked about her concussion:  Nah. It really wasn't as bad as most. I swear! I just don't really have time to die for three weeks and then feel magically all better. It's just taking me longer to get better because it KILLS ME to sit still and I can't sleep because I can't stop thinking about all the things I should be doing to help investigators/members/companions -.-

About the Elder getting transferred. He's a lucky guy to have been in the Meeker Ward haha  I hear they've got some great families ;)  It's always hard to say goodbye to those we come to love but, when we think about all the new people we can come to love. It's an exciting and great time!  Speaking of which, I was able to Skype D this week and talk to him all about his baptism. He was so ridiculously excited and seemed so happy. It seems like he finally seemed relaxed. Understanding and peace really does come from turning our hearts to the Lord.  It was wonderful to be able to talk to him and to enjoy a small part of his Baptism!

 

 D's baptism 

I love you all and hope you're all getting pumped for Christmas. I know I am!!

 

Love you!

I haven't received any new pictures lately, so if you write to her feel free to ask, beg or plead for pictures.  ;)  Thanks, SIster Harman's mom

Getting to know my new area, investigators, members and my darling new companion!

Dear Family, Friends, and Others (You're welcome too!),

 

This week has been sooooo good! I can't believe I've been in Ludwigsburg for almost two weeks! Time here is just flying as I'm trying to get to know the area, investigators, members, and, of course, my darling new companion, Sister Brinck.  We had our first district meeting this past week. It was a little strange because of the eight members of our district, 4 are new to the district.  Elders Wasden and Graver, Elders Petersen and Jensen, Elders Mickelson and Smith, Sisters Brinck and Harman. Safe to say, it was great!  It's nice getting to know new missionaries and being able to learn and grown in this work!

This week, we were asked to do Genealogy!  So we got to spend a couple hours, working on our family history and indexing.  Turns out! Sister Brinck and I are related! We both go back to English Royalty and wha-la! Pretty cool!  (So you know those little girls that pretend their princesses.... WE ARE ACTUALLY PRINCESSES!) haha Nah, as Sister Brinck pointed out... we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father, ergo heirs to his kingdom!  It was really great to be able to talk to Sister Bieltiza about family history and get to know the 'regular' family history goers.  Turns out family history is bigger for non-members than members here but, don't worry! We're hoping to get our members more active in family history work too. 

 

As I'm sure you all are dying to hear, Destiny was baptized on Saturday!  I was told by Sister Clark that it was a wonderful service. A double baptism, with one of the Elder's investigators, getting baptized as well.  We haven't been able to Skype yet to talk about the experience but, that should be happening sometime this week.  I know I'm excited to hear from him how wonderful the experience was! 

 

Exciting things for the coming week, we have appointments with a bunch of potential investigators,  Zone Training, Zone Conference, and loads of less active work to do! Oh and, today, we'll be headed to Stuttgart to see another Christmas Market! Should be great!  Keep up the good work and try to remember what this Christmas season is really all about! (Hint: it's all about Christ! :))

 

LOVE YOU!

Sister Harman

Sister Harman said, "My head is feeling almost all the way better!"  Thank you for all your prayers! 

Saying goodbye, packing, train rides, new companion and Christmas Markets!

Liebe Familie!

What a week. Seriously.  Getting D ready for his baptismal interview, saying goodbye to everyone in Wien, packing up, super long train ride, new Deutscher Ward, first Sunday in a new ward, new companion Sister Brinck, Christmas Markets, annd here we are to today!

First off, my new address is:

Kirche Jesu Christi

Sister Harman

Simanowiztraße 11

D-71638 Ludwigsburg

Deutschland

Secondly, D's interview was yesterday and I heard from Sister Clark (via email) that HE'S GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!!!!! He' s ridiculously excited and he (and Sister Clark and several members) have promised to send me pictures as I am 8 hours via train away.  I'm really really happy for him and for the great step he is making towards Jesus Christ. D is an INCREDIBLE person and is going to make a fantastic member of the church!

Thirdly, saying goodbye was hard.  But, good. Everyone knows that transfers are apart of mission life and that eventually an end will come to every missionary's stay. That being said, it was bittersweet. I've really loved my time in Wien and I will be eternally grateful (quite literally) that I was able to meet all the great people there!

Fourthly, (incredibly organized today haha) transfers were crazy as always.  I hopped on a train with my two suit cases with all the other missionaries from Wien headed elsewhere. Including but not limited to: Elder Eaker headed home, Elder Jimenez headed to Munich, Elder Robins headed to Freiburg zone, Elder Richman to Passau, Sister Kervinen to Brixon, Elder Helbig to Augsburg, annnnnd several others. (Not really wanting to bore ya'll with the rest). Safe to say, there were several of us. In Munich, we hopped off and were talking to more missionaries (some who were goldens! So adorable! So scared haha)  I was able to talk to a bunch of missionaries my 'age' on the mission which was way cool and then took a train to Stuttgart (with, of course, all the missionaries headed to that side of the mission).  We almost missed our train from Munich to Stuttgart but, everyone made it on and all the luggage too so alles gute! haha I was laughing so hard as we formed a line throwing luggage on! (It's times like that that I remember we're all 18-22)  Finally, arrived in Stuttgart to meet the lovely Sister Brinck, my new companion!  

Sister Brinck is great. She's 21, from Cali, graduated from BYU in linguistics, speaks French and German (pretty solid), loves playing trumpet and enjoys singing in her spare time.  This is her fourth transfer and Ludwigsburg is her first area.  Then Sister Brinck and I with Elder Mickelson and his golden, Elder Smith, (who are whitewashing the Ludwigsburg Elders) took a train to Ludwigsburg and went to work! The members were really excited to meet the three new missionaries and so we were able to have loads of member appointments over the weekend.  

My first Sunday was great. We have about 120 members here in the Ludwigsburg ward and have one of the biggest primaries in Germany (or so the rumors go haha).  It really just reminded me of wards in Utah.. but in German.  So you're probably thinking whoa! Sister Harman's first Sunday in GERMAN?! What the what! She probably freaked out and died. Nope, several miracles occured and I was able to understand and talk with people just fine!  Not fluent or anything but, it all went really well!  I really am excited to get to know these members better and get to work here in Ludwigsburg.  This is a newer Sisters' area as I think I said last week so I wasn't sure what I would be going into.  After looking at the area book... there's some work to be done! We don't have any progressing investigators right now but, the Lord will provide!  It's kinda funny actually. I feel like I should be really nervous because the area is kindof dead but instead I'm just really excited.  I figure this is a great opportunity to try new ideas, and really be able to see what works and what doesn't work!  We're going to see some crazy miracles!

Ludwigsburg Christmas Market

Other than that, we're going to a Christmas Market today and I'm fairly certain I'm in love. They're the cutest things in the entire world and it's SO easy to talk with  people about Christ with Christmas on the mind! The time is so right for Ludwigsburg to just explode with success!  

LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Harman 

P.S. Sister Harman is still having headaches but she said they are getting a little better.

I am headed to DEUTSCHLAND!

Liebe Familie!

Another crazy week has gone by, bed rest. Transfer Calls. Zone Conference.  The big news is finally here! I'm headed to my second area!  Where am I headed?  DEUTSCHLAND!  I'll be serving in Ludwigsburg, Germany with Sister Brinck. She's a transfer younger than me on the mission and was trained (born and raised) in Ludwigsburg.  So she's been in there for 3 transfers.  I'm really excited and really terrified to go to my first German ward!!  I know it's going to be an adventure :)

About my head, I'm slowly feeling better. As in all things, recovery just takes time. So much to my chagrin, I have had the blessed opportunity to take time and rest.  (Thank you for your prayers in Krissie's behalf! Her headaches come at the end of the day when she is tired and not all day now.) This week was good despite this, and our investigators are doing great! D is SO excited for his baptism and has his baptismal interview TOMORROW!  To say I'm excited for him, may or may not be an understatement. We were able to have three lessons with him this week and he just gets it!  We've gotten his Baptismal program all lined up and ready!  Now you might be looking at that first paragraph and thinking what?! She leaves right before he gets baptized. The answer is yep! I'm going to be in Germany for the 5 baptisms, we have set in December!  Sister Packer, who will be working with Sister Clark, will have the privilege of being here with all these INCREDIBLE people! One thing our mission has been doing, I'll be able to Skype our investigators, after their baptism and congratulate them!  That way, I can sort of be there (even though I can't actually be there to witness it!). (Also, not skyping during the actual baptism.. that'd be weird! but, afterwards haha!) The most important thing is that these people feel supported and loved on their big day!  

Zone Conference was great!  We really focused on working with our members.  Everyone always talks about how it is SO much more effective to work through members and it is SO true. People are willing to ask their friends their questions of the soul, that they may not want to ask a random stranger from America.   I mean really.  Imagine someone stopped you on the street and tried to talk to you about religion.  What do you do? Now I'm not saying it doesn't work sometimes. Because  it totally does.  But it is so much MORE effective, to be able to share the gospel with people we already know.

Also, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I'm so grateful that I've been able to serve here in Wien and meet some of the best people in the whole wide world; that I've had three rock solid companions (Sister Young, Woods and Clark) and that I'm going to have another great one with Sister Brinck!  But most of all, I'm grateful for my family! That you all are so supportive and encouraging! God (for some strange reason, I haven't yet figured out) allowed me to be with you glorious people, and I'm so glad! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This work is so great and I can't imagine a better place to be doing the BEST WORK EVER! :) Seeing people come unto Christ, begin to understand the Atonement and how it effects them is the most wonderful thing and I feel privileged to witness it! God is good! 

Have a great week and know that I love you!

Sister Harman

Vienna Zone with President and Sister Miles

A trip to the doctor, exchanges, zone training and resting when I can!

Servus!

So to answer the many questions about my head.  1. I'm not dying or coming home or anything  like that. 2.  It's a minor concussion, so with pain medicine and some rest; I should be fit as a fiddle in a week or two :)  3. I really love you all for your concern!  (Thank you for your prayers and concern!  She is feeling better and a big thank you to her wonderful companion, Sister Clark.)

This week has been incredible as always. We had an exchange with Sister Kervinen and Sister Regnier.  They serve in Graz, a medium sized town about 2 and a half hours South of Wien.  I had the opportunity to go to Graz to work with Sister Kervinen. It was great!! She's from Finland and is incredibly hilarious.  I love hearing her great stories and her German is beautiful.  Since Graz is so far away, we usually meet in a really small town (Murzzuschlag, say that one three times fast :D) in the middle and then switch companions there.  Anyways, as soon as Sis. Kervinen and I got to Graz, we threw on some work clothes and did service! Can I just tell you how wonderful it was to wear pants?  It was really really nice haha We were cleaning out this man's apartment.  He has recently had a terrible fire and so we had to pretty much take out the entire room so that construction people could put everything new in again.  When we first got there, he was in tears looking at the remnants of his apartment, and by the end of our visit, he was singing! It's so incredible to watch hope literally grow within someone else! Also, helping out with the service project were the Graz Elders: Christensen and Byers! It was cool to see Elder Christensen as a missionary!  (Elder Christensen is a friend from when we lived in Burley, ID)

We had our Zone Training meeting on Wednesday and it was great to get to know all the missionaries in our zone a bit better. Sister Clark and I taught about hope, and family mission plans! We were able to talk about the difference between hope and despair and how we can be more hopeful in our missionary work.  Sister Clark and I were a little worried that it wasn't going to be a smooth transition because we hadn't been with each other for two days but, we just opened our mouths and the Lord did the rest!   It's so interesting! Remember how absolutely terrified I was to get up and talk in front of people?  Now it's like nothing! I LOVE IT.  (I love not getting nervous.. still not super in love with talking in front of everyone buuuut, baby steps!)

We had two baptism this weekend in Wien and they were so great! We had lots of their non-member friends come and it was a great introduction to the church!  There is always a really special feeling that accompanies a baptismal service! This Thursday we have transfer calls!  It'll be interesting to see what happens.  Everyone tells me that I'll be headed to Germany but we'll see! I have been here for four transfers so anything could happen! haha 

Friday! On Friday, we have ZONE CONFERENCE! I'm sooo very excited to see what President and Sister Miles and the Assistants have planned for us.  Should be really really good! :) Other than that, I'm just looking forward to a week full of appointments and resting my head when we have time :)

Love you all!

Sister Harman

A week of fall outs, a concussion, and mission leadership council

Liebe Familie!

It's finally starting to feel like Fall here! Cold, wet weather, and the cold that starts to bite! Geez. It's going to be a crazy Winter! (Safe to say, I'm really glad I'm only going to be here for one Winter!) This week has been.... an adventure! haha Still a great week as always but, it's been filled with well! Adventure!

Monday was the start of week of fall outs.  11 appointments in a row.  Someone no showing or calling last minute to cancel. Kind of a bummer but, we were able to do less active work.  In our ward, we have lots of records for members that no one knows.  Either they are less active or no longer live in our ward boundary, either way - Bishop Jovero has asked us to be super sleuths all over the city and to find out what has happened to all these people. We've been working on it bit by bit since we're usually so busy with appointments.  But, since this week we were particularly free.... we got loads done on the list!  

Second great adventure,  on our way home last Monday night, there was quite the large group of drunk people on our straßenbahn.   Sister Clark and I were sitting and talking to this lady, when these two guys (speaking ... I think Persian)  start reaching over the top of us to smack this sign and have a really loud conversation about directions (I assume.. no clue what they were saying). One of them had this big backpack half open and it was absolutely full of beer cans (again.. not unusual)  but, he also had an open can in his hand.  I was watching the can as he was hitting the sign and thought Dang it! He's going to spill that all over Sister Clark.  Five seconds later, bam! All over Sister Clark.  I'm helping her wipe it all off when BAM! The sign they've been hitting... falls off the side wall and you guessed it! Right on to my head.  One concussion later!  Everyone stops talking and they start to try and touch my head.  I firmly told them I was fine, and not to touch me and then they ran away.  But, never fear! The Lord blesses his servants and I'm feeling alright :)  (Sister Harman has a  history of  concussions, prayers in her behalf would be greatly appreciated.)

Third great adventure,  Mission Leadership Council.  Always the highlight of my month!  We get to come together with the missionary leaders of our mission and discuss how we are running, what we can do better and just resolve problems that come up!  We had a really great discussion about hope that really made me think. Sister Miles shared something from a talk her Dad gave, and he said 'Insufficient hope often means insufficient repentance'. (A More Excellent Hope, January 1995)  This really made me think.  When I'm lacking in hope, it's probably because I'm not using the Atonement of Jesus Christ as I should be.  Have I really put my heart into becoming better and exercising my faith in my Savior Jesus Christ? I'm going to work every day to be a little bit better! I want to become the kind of person who glows with hope!  We all know people like that and I kept thinking man! Why can't I be that way too?  So from today on, hopefully I'll start glowing a little bit more :D

Also, the song, Brightly Beam Our Father's Mercy ( Brightly Beam Our Father's Mercy video) has really been in my head this week and I really love it!  Give it a listen!

I love you all!

Sister Harman

I feel so grateful that I have the opportunity to serve as a full time missionary

Yo!

 

My week was AWESOME!  Sister Clark and I didn't have any exchanges to do this week so we got to work together all week! It was strange to have a normal week but, really nice.  Sister Clark and I are doing great.  Just having lots of appointments, meeting loads of new people and trying to get our ward really excited to do missionary work.  Mission Leadership Counsel is this week on Thursday and Friday and transfer day is November 28.  Transfer calls will be the week before and so that'll be when we find out what's happening to us. So we've got quite some time till then!

 

I'm glad we have some good hardworking missionaries in our ward back home! Meeker is a field ready to harvest and I'm sure it's been so interesting to have 5 full time missionaries mingling in with the ward!  That's too bad some of the youth in the ward haven`t been coming.  Tell those missionaries and Katie to get on it! It really makes such a huge difference when the youth are active.  I know it really has in our ward!

 

Super cool experience this week: D has decided to be baptized on December 1st!!!  He has been praying about a baptismal date for quite some time and he really felt his answer this week!  We sat down for a usual lesson (we teach him every Tuesday and Thursday) and right before the opening prayer, I asked him if he knew what day it was.  (He had told us last week that he had prayed and knew what day the Lord wanted him to be baptized, BUT he wanted to wait until Ian was there to tell us all together! Ian (super awesome joint teach) has come to nearly every lesson, we have taught D and they're really good friends now)  It was Tuesday. The AMAZINGLY great day that he had promised to tell us when he would be getting baptized. I was... ahem.. a little excited as you can probably imagine.  So right after the amen, he said 'December 1st.  I will be baptized on December 1st.'  He then proceeded to ask when we could schedule the interview for his baptism.  He is so ridiculously prepared and excited! Yesterday at church, he started to invite the members to his Baptism :)  He has changed so much since I first met him (he had a beer in his hand, when I first met him haha) and is so ready to make these changes not just for today, but for the rest of his life! 

 

Speaking of change...Ian, a young man in my ward, just left for the Provo MTC today.  I can't believe it!  I was here in June when he received his call and he invited us (Elder Smith, Martin, Sister Woods, and I) to his house for the big opening! When he read off that he was going to Poland, I just died with excitement. He then said that he would be leaving in November and I thought WOW! That is so far away, he has loads of time to prepare.  Many mission prep classes, joint teaches, and millions of answered questions later, he's a full time missionary!  The time has flown by. It was crazy watching him say goodbye to the ward, giving his final talk for two years and, then last night, his setting apart.  He invited the missionaries again, this time it was Elders Reading and Abbott, and Sister Clark and I.  (Weird that I'm the only one still here...)  It was so great to see his whole family there and watching him literally GLOW after being set apart as a missionary.  I feel so grateful that I have the opportunity to serve as a full time missionary and I know that I wouldn't trade this experience for the world.  For those of you considering serving missions, DO IT. You will never regret your decision. For those of you who have served a mission, REMEMBER IT. When was the last time you were a joint teach? Or when did you last read your mission journal? Or shared some of your faith with someone who doesn't know? The reason why missions are so fantastic, is because you give your time, efforts, sweat and tears into a cause that`s so much bigger and better than yourself.  You jump with joy when someone comes to church, cry with them in their trials and do everything you can to help THEM decide to be better.  This has been the best six months of my life and I cannot wait to see what this next year will bring!

 I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! And hope you have a great week!  

 Sister Harman

Sister Clark and I are doing AWESOME!

Servus :)

Another crazy week in Wien has come and gone! Sister Clark and I are doing AWESOME! We've had an incredible week with an exchange with Wiener Neustadt, Interviews with President Miles, and Stake Conference.

To answer your questions:  our investigators are doing great!  D has been praying about his baptismal date AND he received his answer!!! He was so excited! He said he really felt God talk to him and let him know when he was to be baptized.  He's been coming to church every week this month and he came to Stake Conference with us.  HE LOVED IT.  Every talk he was just eating up.  The Stake Conference was, of course, in German and so he had a headset on to translate it into English for him. Sister Clark afterwards was talking to him about how Stake Conference is a gathering of all our members in an area and hearing from those who lead us!  D  loved the talks, and the atmosphere and everything.  Afterwards, he quietly told us about how the organization in our church just made sense and that he just felt at home at church and whenever we teach him.  He told me on the way to Stake Conference, how grateful he was that I found him and began teaching him the gospel because he knew it was something that was going to change the rest of his life. I tried to push it off but, he just told me that he had been praying for God to lead someone, who knew the true church, to him. And then he just turned away and acted normal.  I just sat their dumbstruck because it hit me again! Man! Everyday we are led to talk to other people, I walked up to D and talked to him and now he's getting baptized and excited to prepare himself to enter the temple someday.

We have two new investigators this week Joy and Christina.  C is young and is studying here.  And J is from Nigeria.  One funny story with her in that, our first lesson. She got so excited when we brought up Baptism that she jumped out of her chair and started pacing.  We were both so surprised that we had to try not to laugh.  She kept saying hallelujah and was talking to loud. It was really surprising but, funny none the less. She really does have so much faith and wants to follow God.  We'll work on the reverence later haha. 

Wien 3 District with President Miles

Stake Conference.  President and Sister Miles spoke which was great and having D there was the best part.  Also, I understood most everything that was said. Ah yeah! German is coming :)  That being said I still have so much to learn. I really loved how Sister Miles talked about Christ-like attributes.  It's nice being able to pick one thing to work on and then the next month pick something else.  It gives me a solid goal to work towards and not feel overwhelmed with all the things I need to improve on! Baby steps still get us to the top of the stairs. :)

Speaking of languages, we have lots of Philipino members in my ward.  Aka they speak lots of Tagalog.  We have this less active sister that we visit every week with two active sisters in our ward.  The less active sister doesn't speak English so Sister Banban and Jovero usually translate.  Every Tuesday around 1 pm, I've been at this dear sister's house.  We were having a lesson with her in which the Philipino sisters had a conversation for like 5 minutes in Tagalog.  Sister Clark looked at me and asked me what they were talking about and BAM. I was able to translate their conversation from Tagalog to English. After another minute of this, the Sisters all stopped talking and just looked at me.  I didn't even understand why everyone was freaking out until Sister Jovero asked me in Tagalog if I was understanding her.  I said yeah and then they all died laughing. So weird. I guess I can understand Tagalog. Gift of Interpretations anyone? haha Now I can't wait till my German is like that!

Pday fun!

Other than that, my week was just teaching a million of lessons and helping people come unto Christ! My health is perfect, and the other Sisters are doing a-okay too.  

Love you all!

Sister Harman

We've seen alot of miracles and the Fall weather here is so beautiful.

Hey Fam!

 

This week has been really good!  We've seen alot of miracles as always and the Fall weather here is so beautiful. The leaves have really begun to change colors and it hit me this week that it is actually Oktober!  What the what! I swear I just got here and yet, it's Oktober already. before I know it - it'll be Christmas!

 

I had the chance to really think this week... okay. You've been out for a little while.  What have you accomplished so far? What do you want to accomplish as you continue working?  And the even more important thing.. what does the Lord expect from me?  I know that there is so much I can learn from being here and teaching these people but, what does the Lord really want me to get out from my time here?  This question hit me pretty hard because heck! I've been out for almost six months and I don't know how much progress I've made on the goals He's set for me!  So I took some time during personal study to really reflect on what the Lord wants me to learn and it was really eye opening! Prayer and study really does answer the questions of our hearts! So ask! ASK ASK! 

 

Cool story! One of the JAE in our ward, gave his farewell talk this week and man! It was so good! He recited D&C 4 from memory and I was so proud! We've been teaching him mission prep. and he's come so far! I really wish I would have memorized things like that before because it's alot easier to memorize things in German if I already have them down in English!  Both D and D, two investigators, came to church on Sunday and they LOVED the services.  We have the best Sunday School teacher on Earth and she taught literally the best lesson I have ever heard about the Spirit. The only hard part is we haven't taught the Plan of Salvation to either of them yet. But, no fear! They both loved the lesson anyways and are so prepared to hear the rest of it now! 

 

Anyways, I love you all and encourage you to really take time to find out what the Lord wants you to accomplish at this time in your life!  When you do, He will show you all that you need to be doing!

 

Love,

Sister Harman

It's great to be a missionary!

Fall in Vienna! 

Servus!

 This week has been good! My ratio was right around 1/10 people we talked to, wanted to hear more. Sadly, one in 10 of the 1/10 is an English speaker so it's hard sometimes to find potentials for us! haha that being said, we're been working really hard and found two new investigators this week! J is from Romania and Vincent is from Nigeria.  V came to 6 hours of GC, (I think I told ya'll about his last week. We had three lessons with him in three days because he just wanted to hear more and more.  At the end of our first lesson, I felt really strongly to invite him to pray about a baptismal date and WHAM! He prayed about the church, the Book of Mormon, Thomas S. Monson, and Joseph Smith! All after our very first lesson with him.  Just like James 1:5 promised, when we ask in faith, God will answer our questions! V came to the next lesson with a firm testimony that this church is the restored church of Jesus Christ on the Earth. It really was incredible to see how much one progress one person can make when they have the faith and are willing/ready to act on it! He then decided that November 23rd is the day, he would like to be baptized into our church.  We taught him all about the Baptismal Covenant and what that would mean for the rest of his life.  Meaning, that this is an eternal commitment, that we make to God to really change and decide to follow him the remainder of our lives.  He completely understood and said, that after he was baptized, he would like to return home to Africa and teach his friends and family about God's true church on the Earth, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Following that incredible lesson, we were fairly certain that there was no way we could have a better lesson with V! We knew he would be so excited to hear about any gospel lesson, we felt like he really needed to hear about the Plan of Salvation.  As we taught the Plan of Salvation, he was glowing! He just smiled the entire time and would ask all these questions about how he could help his ancestors receive these truths as well! We were winding down the lesson, talking about the degrees of Glory, when he started telling us about his dream the night before.  He was in a dark room all alone, when a door opened and he saw Sister Clark and I, dressed all in white. We reached out to him and he came through that door into a bright, beautiful room.  We took him by the hand and led him down a path until we reached a white veil. He talked about how happy and joyful he felt in this beautiful, white place and that he knew we were going to help him reach the kingdom of God. That what we were teaching him was the path that God wanted him to be on.  The Spirit was so strong. After relating the rest of his dream, we all just sat there and looked at each other.  It's incredible to really know that God will show unto ús the way, all that we need to do is ask!  It was at this moment that I knew I wouldn't be transferred because I needed to be here to help him prepare for Baptism and to really begin his journey to the kingdom of God.

So when Transfer calls came, it was no surprise because HEY! I'm staying in Wien for another six weeks! This'll be my fourth transfer here and I can't imagine a better place to serve for the first 6 months of my mission.  Wien is a city of miracles! :) And Sister Clark and I will be here to see them all! The other Sisters in my apartments are getting split.  Sister Lewis is headed to Switzerland and Sister Motto (Sister Clark's last companion) is coming here to work with Sister Judd.  It'll be cool to get to meet her because I've heard so much about her! Also, we're staying Sister Training Leaders (YAY!) so we'll get to do exchanges with all the sisters in our zone again this next transfer! I'm excited to get to meet the new ones that are coming! AND GUESS WHO ELSE IS COMING TO WIEN ZONE! Yep, you guessed it. The only person I know from before my mission, Elder Callin Christensen. So crazy to think we'll be seeing each other in missionary mode but cool!

As you can see, this week was as usual the best week ever!  We had Zone Training with our whole zone, set a baptismal date, found out about transfers, taught a million and a half lessons, R came to church, and are going to the aquarium today. It's great to be a missionary!

I love you all and hope you have the best week ever!

Love,

Sister Harman

Cleaning day, Mission Leadership Counsel and General Conference = Spiritual Week

Sisters Harman and Clark at the train station 

Servus!

I loved hearing how everyone is doing! I'm glad ya'll are still kicking ;)  This week has been great as ever! We had such an incredibly busy week with a cleaning day (exactly, like what you are thinking), Mission Leadership Counsel (MLC), and General Conference!  Safe to say, it was a spiritual week!

Cleaning day was just that! We spent all day Wednesday scrubbing down our apartment, getting rid of extra stuff and moving things around. First problem. We don't have a mop. Also, our floors were really dirty haha I got to spend like 2 hours on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor of our whole apartment.  I was laughing by the end, thinking shoot. I better get some blessings for this. Cleanliness is Godliness went through my mind like a chant! Anyways, by the time we were done - the apartment looked BEAUTIFUL. Elder Riser and Robins had said their cleaning day was the most spiritual experience of their week and we had laughed at them. Really though. With the apartment super clean, it really is a place of peace and a place where the Spirit will reside.  It was really cool!

Mission Leadership Counsel. Two blessed days spent in Munich, Germany. We had the chance to learn all about diligence and about how we can become more diligent in our missionary work.  It really hit me - am I working as hard as a I possible can? Am I really consecrating all my might, mind, and strength to this labor?  I definitely do my best but, I thought.. man! I can do better.  So my new goal is to become the most diligent I can possibly be.  Elder Robins had this cool idea to start counting every person I talk to everyday. And then count how many potential investigators I get. Make it a ratio... say 1 out of every 10 people I talk to will be interested in learning more.  So if I want to find 2 potentials in a day, I need to be talking with at least 20 people.  It just got me really excited to see what my ratio is. Do I pack a spiritual punch when I talk with people? Do I help them feel the spirit so that their desire to come to Christ will be realized? So. That's my lastest goal. We'll see how it goes! 

General Conference! What could be said about the sweet awesomeness that was General Conference! Listening to all the prophets speak was like Christmas. Literally, it was so cool being able to hear from the leaders of our church and really feel what God is wanting each of us to hear.  I really know that those leaders are so inspired! Here's a super miracle story! D, a member of the Wien 2 Ward, loves to go around and give out the Wien 2 Elders' cards. He gave one to a man and invited him to General Conference. This man, named V, gave the Elders a call and then came to the first session of General Conference on Saturday. I introduced myself and sat behind him during the session. The whole time he was riveted! He really couldn't get enough of the speakers and when I invited him to the following sessions on Sunday, he gladly accepted the invitation! He came to the Priesthood session and the Saturday Afternoon session! 6 Hours of General Conference! He said he loved what he had heard and would like to learn more. We'll be meeting with him today to teach him all about the Restoration of this church on the Earth.  It's so great to know that this restoration is what enables us to have prophets and inspired leaders here today!  It was just a testimony builder for me that conference really is for each person individually, even if there are millions of others watching!

LOVE LOVE LOVE you all and I'm excited to hear about all the missionary experiences ya'll will be having with all this member missionary work happening! 

Love,

Sister Harman

P.S. Tell Dr. Krueger when I get back I'm going to teach him auf Deutsch ;) 

This week has been a blur and it's General Conference time!

Hallo!

This week has been a blur.  I think I blinked and it was gone haha We had two exchanges this week so it was very very busy.  No, we haven't been able to watch the Relief Society General Conference but, they're playing it here on Saturday at 4.  We get to watch the Saturday morning session live... It's at 6 pm here and then we watch the Sunday morning live.  The rest are recorded and we get to watch them later.  To say I'm excited for General Conference would be a GROSS UNDERSTATEMENT!

General Conference, for those who don't know, is a chance for the world to watch and hear via television or online broadcast, from prophets of God.  I'm really excited to hear what great words of wisdom they'll be telling us. You're so right, I can't believe it has been a year since the age change. I never would have imagined that I would be here one year afterwards but, man! I'm so glad that I am!  Becoming a missionary is quite literally the best decision I have ever made.  I have been able to really study the gospel of Jesus Christ like I never have before, teach people the sincere truths from my heart and watch as the Spirit of God helps them really come unto Christ. I guess I always thought I would be a big part in someone else's conversion to the gospel.  The longer I am here, the more I realize, it has absolutely nothing to do with me.  I just open my mouth, and the Lord speaks. We will come out of lessons or even just finish conversations with people on the street and I'll think: what did we even talk about.  I love love love just watching as the Lord helps his children find faith and hope in his gospel!

Cool stories from this week!  Sister Woods and I (my previous companion)  had been calling this less active family since the week I got here.  Every week I would talk to this sweet woman on the phone and every week she would tell me she and her family were too busy to visit us or come to church.  We eventually created a relationship over the phone.  Every Friday around 12pm I would call and we would chat about the business of her week. Two weeks ago, I spaced calling.  The first time in 3 months.  I called her on Saturday when I remembered and she chastised me for forgetting haha.  She then called us on Sunday and said that she and her family had time on Wednesday to meet.  I was thrilled out of my mind and so shocked it took me a minute to tell her that, of course, we would be there!  We were walking to her house when we passed a flower shop.  I felt really strongly that we should buy some flowers. So Sister Clark and I did!  We then went to her house and I was starting to get a little nervous. Is it weird to give someone a plant on your first meeting?  What if they didn't want it? We walk in to their home and guess what she absolutely loves'?! Flowers/plants/shubbery. They have the cutest apartment ever and it is full of green.  She got so excited and made a spot in the center for our little pot of flowers. The lesson went great and the Spirit was so strong! And guess who we saw at church on Sunday! This family! MIRACLE!

Also, I went on exchange with both Sister Scoggin and Sister Judd and it was great! They're both super Sister Missionaries :)

Oh! And about Saturday, we had a Young Single Adult activity where we split companionships and went out contacting people with a member of the YSA (JAE). I was able to go out with a girl named C. She's cute as a button and wants to serve a mission! She turns 19 in two weeks and is preparing herself to go.  She was a natural and I got to speak SO much German. It was really good for me to only speak German to someone.  I'm kind of hoping that I get a native German speaker for a companion someday. That'd be really cool!  AND then on Sunday! Bishop Jshowed the Daily Bread videos by Elder. D. Todd Christopherson and those are incredible! Everyone should watch them... Mom you should put a link here!  Daily Bread Videos Watch it! It's SO GOOD!  Another cool thing, a young man from the 1st ward just returned from his mission in England and the Stake asked him to go to other wards as well as his own, and relate his mission experience.  It was way cool! I hope that when I get home I can talk in several wards in our stake and inspire more people to go on missions because they're the BEST.  

Anyways, I'm glad life is still chugging along and I wish you all a super week!  By the way, think of a question for General Conference! It'll help you get so much more out of conference!

Love,

Sister Harman

We were able to hit this week hard :D

Hey Ya'll!

This week has been a bit chillier and oh so rainy!  Sister Clark is feeling loads better so we were able to hit this week hard :D  Aka a super awesome busy week!  To answer your questions: it's not that chilly so we totally still go running in the mornings!  There's no good excuse not to do the best thing ever! I miss running so much sometimes.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited to go running by myself when I get home.

Great story for this week:  we were going to an appointment with T. She's a former investigator, who has decided she's ready to make some changes in her life so BAM! We're teaching her again.  She has so much faith and has read the Book of Mormon through already.  She actually had a baptismal date before but, due to some struggles the date was dropped and she dropped the missionaries.  Anyways, things have changed so we were heading over for an appointment when we realized we were going to get there about 15 minutes early.  We figured we could walk around and talk to some people around her neighborhood until it was time for the appointment.  Just as we start walking around, the heavens opened up and I swear! It rained buckets and buckets and guess who forgot their umbrellas!  We did!  I just started laughing so hard!  Sister Clark just gave me the most intense look and said, 'This isn't funny!'  After that remark, I just started laughing even harder, all the while the rain is pouring down.  There is absolutely no one on the streets and we're just walking around looking for some place away from the rain. All the while, I'm laughing.   Finally, it's time for the appointment and what happens? The rain stops, the sun comes out and people are everywhere.  Oh and did I mention that T had to work late so she wasn't home yet.  haha Basically, I just kept laughing thinking... man! Now this is a missionary experience! Don't fear! We called up R and had a super appointment about the Law of Chastity instead!  Spirit hit like a freight train and everyone was smiles!

One cool story this week:  We went to a member's home today for lunch and while, it didn't apear like she was struggling at church. She really needed someone to come and just tell her that she was doing a good job! I forget sometimes, because we are so busy with Less active members and investigators, that we are here to help the members come unto Christ as well.  We really do get to mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and lift the hands of those that have fallen.  It's incredible to see the difference a friendly greeting or warm hug can really do to brighten someone's day!  I love it!

We had tausch this week with the Graz Sisters.  Sister Armstrong came up to Wien to work with me and we had a ball!  We taught lots of super great lessons to the coolest investigators in the world and were able to be in charge of a mutual activity.  We did a relay race through a missionary day.  6:30 wake up! Fruh Sport! (Exercise!) Run get dressed! (I brought some really ugly clothes I found in our apartment. Thank you, past Sister Missionaries! haha)  Eat breakfast! (Elders brought bread and water..) Scripture chase! Contacting someone and invite them to church! Take off the missionary clothes and BAM! Tag the next person in line!  It was really super fun and I've never laughed so hard.  Sister Armstrong is a champion. She ate the piece of bread in like .2 second and then Elder Abbott slipped and fell and man! We just had a really great time! Plus, there were two non-members there and now they know us! (The Elders got their numbers!) Woo. Solid day! Oh! And Sister Armstrong got to celebrate her year mark while in Wien! She's been out for a whole year. What a stud muffin!

Other than that, life is just chugging along.  Oh! and one more funny thing! I've decided I would be a terrible pioneer.  Our washing machine broke about two weeks ago and we've had to hand wash our clothes for the past two weeks. Man. I am so grateful for modern technology. It would be the worst not to have it and I firmly believe that I was put on Earth at this time so I wouldn't have to suffer haha  If you have free time, check out this awesome scripture that helped me this week! Romans 8:35, 38-39. So good! I'm glad everyone is doing super well at home.. Random fact! We had an Earthquake this week. It was small but cool none the less.  I'm excited to see how the missionary work goes forth with Elders and Sisters serving in Meeker. I'm sure it's going to be so awesome!  Give everyone hugs for me and know that I love you oh so much! :)

Love,

Sister Harman

P.S. I have two exchanges this week! It's going to be crazy! Wish me luck! :)