I'm feeling loads better!!

Liebe Familie!

Sister Harman

So sorry about my email being so short last week! As I'm sure you've heard, I was feeling really sick. But, never fear. Fever is gone, and I'm feeling loads better. Mom. I love those books. (The Divergent Series)  I didn't even know they were making a movie! I'm sure it'll be awesome! You'll have to put it on my list of books to read and movies to watch when I get home.. You're still got loads of time to start making it but, I expect a decent list when I get home haha

This week was spent with the first half really a blur. Just staying in bed and getting better but, by the end of the week - we were finding and teaching as per usual!  Speaking of teaching, we had an amazing lesson with the Grimes.  Can I just say I love this family?  Watching them make progress in the gospel has been incredible and they are just so wonderful.  Little Jonas was sick this past week, so we asked if we could bring the Elders and their home teacher with us for our lesson.  The Elders and Harold would be able to give Jonas a Priesthood blessing (like Jesus gave to the sick in the Bible).  This blessing we knew, would help Jonas recover more quickly and give the family, the assurance they needed!  Sister Grimes was very excited to have Jonas receive this blessing.  After the blessing, little Jonas was so peaceful! (A big task for this wild 3 year old)  The Elders headed out and we had a lesson about covenants.  We wanted to make sure that the family really understood what covenants are and why they are so important to us.  Without covenants (promises we make with God), we can't possible become cleansed from our sins.  We had challenged the girls to pray about baptism this past week and they said they felt like God is telling them that Baptism is something they need in their lives!  The Spirit was so strong during this appointment and I could really just feel how proud our Heavenly Father is when we begin to follow Him.  

In other news,  my lovely Gemeinde Ludwigsburg called me like crazy this week to wish me well and to offer mountains of food! All the Relief Society Sisters were determined that their Chicken Soup really could heal me haha :)  We really felt the love and support of everyone! So thankyou! We could feel the prayers :)  

This week will be transfer calls and I'm just patiently waiting for whatever comes.  I have loved my time here in Ludwigsburg and would GLADLY stay another transfer (especially so that I could be here for the Grimes Baptisms!) but, if I'm sent elsewhere, I know it'll be a great opportunity to learn from another companion and a new area! 

I love missionary work. I love being a missionary.  Heck, I even love being a missionary when I'm sick, because at least I'm still a missionary!

The Krissie we know and love!

Thank you for the love, emails, letters, packages, support, and prayers! I really feel them!

Love,

Sister Haman

P.S. We're having a massive finding day this Saturday with all of Stuttgart and Freiburg Zones coming together. It's going to be great!  This week we're having a MASSIVE combined finding day with over 80 missionaries and all the YSA members.  We'll be doing a Book of Mormon flashmob (where everyone sits down at a certain time, pulls out a blue copy of the Book of Mormon, and reads for 15 minutes) We'll be doing this in Stuttgart, on Königstraße one of the busiest streets in Germany! I'm so excited to see what kind of publicity we'll be getting and hopefully be able to spark interest in our church!  

Cool fact: In Germany, people drink lots of tea, But, mostly fruit teas (which are allowed!). The missionaries laugh about how we never drank tea until we were out on missions ;)  

What it means to be a friend?

Liebe Familie,

I'm not feel super red hot today so this is going to be a short one. Sister Powell and I had the opportunity to teach at a Jugendwochende (a stake activity for all the young men and young women). They had loads of different workshops that people could sign up for! We taught our's about communication. It was so great to see the young men and young women getting so excited about stepping out of the box when it comes to friendshipping.  We highlighted the importance of really LISTENING when someone is talking to us (that means put your phones away!) and loving our enemies.  One girl made the comment about being friends with MOFs. (Menschen ohne freunde.. literally people without friends) While at first, it shocked me, I realized that every language and culture has people they treat just like that. Who people say literally aren't WORTH being someone else's friend.  

Basically, I'm just going to be studying alot this week about friendship and what it means to be a friend.  I know I always want to be the kind of friend someone else would like to have :)  

Love you all!

Sister Harman

Sister Harman's mom here:  When Sister Harman says she doesn't feel good that means she is quite sick.  I pried it out of her that she has been running a fever, chills, sore throat etc for 3 days!  Luckily, members take care of the missionaries!  Yesterday, the Bishop and Ward Mission Leader sent her home from church to go to bed.  Thank you Bishop and Bruder Stein!  She is tough as nails but didn't feel good enough to finish her email to me, so her sweet companion Sister Powell did. 

This is Sister Powell typing now...Sister Harman is curled up on the floor. I'm going to take her home and make her go to bed. Thanks for having such an awesome hardworking daughter. 

She says to give the family a hug from her, and that she'll do her best to get better soon!

WE LOVE YOU ALL!

- Sister Powell and Sister Harman 

What a wonderful companion Sister Powell is! Thank you Sister Powell and we love you too! 

Every single person is a child of God! These people have hopes, dreams and fears and needs love too!

Liebe Familie,

Doing just super this sunny Montag morning!  This last week has been full of beautiful temperatures, (it's soo warm!) and teaching the good word of God!  To answer a few questions, nope (i asked if her allergies were bothering her.)  I just avoid cats and I've been good to go!  Annnd biggest challenge on my mission?

That's a good question... Biggest challenge on my mission. I might think about that this week and then get back to you.  I don't think I have had an experience that gave me so much pause as to say it was a challenge... let alone the greatest challenge of my mission. Hmm.. till next week on that one! 

But, the greatest suprise blessing! That I could learn German so fast, or have the strength to work 16 hours a day, that I would enjoy talking to random strangers all day every day about Jesus Christ, that wearing a skirt every day doesn't phase me (I still like pants more but, I don't mind skirts), I enjoy listening to EFY music (Surprise!), I enjoy having a being with someone 24/7, annnd that I'm beginning to understand so much more about what I thought I already understood: the gospel!  

This week I had an incredible moment.  I sat down on a bus, getting ready to contact lots of great people... at that instance, my fellow bus riders saw my badge and scooted away.  I was so sad!  There were not too many people on this bus, so getting up and finding somebody else to talk to wasn't really an option.  A couple young men, proceeded to say some really not so nice things, and I just found myself feeling really down!  It just broke my heart. These people have NO idea what they are missing out on. This gospel, God's Plan, provides the opportunity to be not just happy for now, but, to be happy ETERNALLY.  (One of those you know you're a missionary when... moments)  I got a small glimpse at what the Sons of Mosiah meant went they said, they grieved for the people who were dwindling in unbelief.  It was a pain so palpable that it physically hurt!  We stepped off the bus, and walked slowly to our apartment and I just wanted to cry!  Sounds so silly but, I was really upset. After planning, I sat down and said some mighty prayers. Recommiting my efforts here to serving the Lord. To really put my heart, might and mind into his hands, and SURPRISE! I felt whole. Happy. Ready to go to work again!  And that's just what we did! Since that night, we've found even more people, who were ready to hear about His gospel, and we enjoyed every second of it!

Also, side note for this week... have you all seen this video yet?

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/bullying-stop-it?lang=eng 

I loved it! I think it really helps us put into perspective that every single person, we see, is a child of our Heavenly Father! These people have hopes, dreams and fears and, as such, need love too! So love people! Go say hi to that quiet person, give a sincere compliment, say thank you, and remember that God and his son, Jesus Christ, love you!  

P.S. I love you too!

Sister Harman

Full of miracles, finding, teaching, and lots and lots of eating.

Liebe Familie!

So it's März! That's pretty cool ;)  This week was splendid!  Full of miracles, finding, teaching, and lots and lots of eating. We actually weren't able to go to the Art Museum this past week - but, we went with our Bishop and the Elders to the Rittersport Chocolate Factory instead! It was AWESOME! I love chocolate and I love seeing where it is made.  This really nice Turkish man came and fixed our bathroom sealent thing!  He is a kind gentleman with 3 children, just around my age, and said he'd love to come to our English class sometime!  

So our less-actives are doing well!  As I said, we've been meeting with the Grimes family every Friday night. Jessica, one of the daughters, came to our English class on Wednesday and it went really well! She understands so much English, but is a little shy to speak it.  S. Grimes, Alisa, and Jonas also came but, they stayed outside and talked to Bischof Kern and S. Kern who were both at the church as well. It was the first time S. Grimes had been in our church building in a really long time. Fast forward to Friday, as per usual, we had our appointment with the Grimes family.  To start, the girls talked about how much they enjoy their Book of Mormon readying and how excited they were to come to a normal Sacrament service! (They had come with us to Stake Conference last week) . As we taught the kids about the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement, you could just see the wheels turning in S. Grimes' mind.  She ended up closing the lesson with some of the sweetest, most heartfelt testimony I have ever heard! The kids just all quieted down and the Spirit just brought this wonderful peace into the room. It was so wonderful to see the family really come all together to make progress in coming to Christ. Families are the most clever invention (Heavenly Father gets some style points for this one!).  We're put in a unit, in which we can learn, grow, thrive, and support each other.  It made me really wonder... do I treat my family as the miracle it is?  Not bad, but, I can always do better! So I decided, I'm going to be a little better. Might be a little bit easier, thousands of miles away but, either way! I'm going to start now haha Soooo go thank your family! They do so much for you! (Cough... thanks guys! You're really great!! :D)

To sum up this week... I love Ludwigsburg. I love our investigators, less actives, members, random people that I get to talk to.  I love German. I really love this gospel.  The chance to share, what makes me who I am, is an incredible, life-changing opportunity that is literally priceless!  And, of course, I love you all!

Thanks for all the support you and the family give me. I really do love my time here and I'm doing my very best to do all that He would have me do.  It's funny, the more I study consecration - the more I want to give to him. It's a really interesting topic and helps me see that it's only by giving Him everything - that I have anything. I don't know if that makes sense but, it's a topic I'm working on :)

Thanks for your love and emails and letters and prayers! Alles!

Love you!

Sister Harman

What. A. Week.

Liebe Familie,

What. A. Week.  We had transfers, and Stake Conference this week. As you know, nothing changed here in Ludwigsburg but, in my district, we have two new additions! Elder Rozan from Spain (straight from the MTC) and Elder Herzog from Wien Zone! It's really fun to have some golden power back in our district (Elder Smith here in Ludwigsburg is now done with his training) and an Elder I know from my time in Wien! Woo! 

haha so last P-day... That's a good story. Sister Powell has been having so issues with her feet, so we called up the mission nurse, got the necessary supplies and I had the blessed opportunity to care for her feet. Don't worry! I volunteered.. I didn't think we would find someone else willing haha  But, this Pday we have some workers coming to fix something in our bathroom so the only P-day like thing we're doing today is emailing ya'll!  We got permission to have the rest of our Pday on Thursday so we'll be heading to an Art Museum in Stuttgart! :)  

Also, questions about health and overall wellness.  I'm doing great! I'm fairly certain my asthma is gone, and my hip never bothers me annnd I am just happy to be here.  Sounds cliche but, God is really making everything work out so that I can just work hard here and not worry about other things! It's great! Sister P has been a little sick but, nothing too bad. She's been a trooper about the whole thing.  

Funny story from this last week, I was almost kissed by a Macedonian man.  (don't worry. I'm an expert dodger!)  

Random.  I met a lady from the Stuttgart International Ward - her aunt and uncle used to own a ranch in Meeker.  And she has a friend that used to live there too.  I don't know if you'll have heard of them, but, it was strange to meet someone who actually knew about Meeker haha.

Our investigators are doing as well as ever! I told ya'll a while about about this part member family, we've been teaching. We have an appointment with this family every Friday and we always bring a joint teach. Last minute, our joint teach fell out.  We called everyone imaginable, but, they were all busy.  We were still excited for the lesson we had planned.  We wanted to play a game with the youngest boy so that he wouldn't get bored and rowdy but, still keep the older teenagers involved. We had him be Samuel the Lamanite and everyone else were told to throw little pieces of paper at him.  It went over so well and then, the rest of the lesson, he was just ready to sit still and we were able to talk about the importance of the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Why would so many prophets risk and, many, sacrifice their lives for a book?  If the message it contains is really worth someone's life, shouldn't we be treasuring the message they contain?  The Spirit did all the work and before we knew it, they were all agreeing to study daily in the scriptures.  Because the following day was Stake Conference, we made plans with the daughters to get ice cream together and then go to Stake Conference.  

The Saturday part of Stake Conference was so simple but, so powerful. Several new members of the church were asked to share their conversion stories.  About how they came to the knowledge that Jesus Christ is their Savior and that God has a plan for them. Then, the youth (12-18) and all the missionaries got up and sang The EFY Medley, A really really really beautiful song.  (If you don't know it, you should look it up and if you do know it, you should listen to it in German :))  Everyone was crying and the Spirit was palpable! 

Sunday Conference was also amazing. It was a broadcast from Salt Lake City, in which Sister Stephens, Elder Bednar and Elder Hales spoke.  This broadcast was specialized just for the people here in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It was incredible! All the speakers, really spoke to the needs of the people here and about the importance of family.  Making and keeping the covenants of Baptism and of marriage, a priority in our lives!  I loved it!  And, Elder Bednar, gave his talk in GERMAN! No translation needed.  He served his mission here 40 years ago or so and it was so cool to hear him speak the language of the people.  They loved it!  I think as English speakers sometimes we take for granted the blessing we have to hear from prophets and apostles first in our own tongue.  That blessing is often overlooked, but, man. It really does make a difference. 

Stake Conference was really incredible.  I felt really blessed to come away, not only with ideas on how I could help our investigators, but, also for me.  When we come to meetings with a question, whether it's a stake meeting or simply sacrament meeting. We open ourselves up to inspiration from God. I am really excited someday to go back to school, meet someone great, get married, have some adventures, kids, life!  But, there are so many things that I really need to learn before I'm ready to do any of that. It's silly, but, I had this big moment that told me why I needed to go on a mission!  So that I would be ready to weather the future.  This is really my preparation for the rest of my life.  Without my time here, I would be literally ill prepared for life after.  Not too mention there are people here I need to teach about the gospel!  So many people!  

Basically, I just love my mission. I love serving people. I love teaching people. I love depending on the Spirit. My Companions, the Lord.  And heck! I love German too! 

All in all, this week was incredible. I love serving people, making people laugh, cry and come to realize there is more to this life than what the world tells us.  I'm just really grateful to be here!

Thanks guys for all your do for me! I really appreciate it!!

Love you!

Sister Harman

An Amazing Valentine's Day!

Dear Family!

So this week. Crazy, super fast and full of finding new people! We actually did not get the chance to do family history this last week but, we will be doing it this week! So all is going well there! We have a million dinner appointments (Ludwigsburg is known for having lots of really delicious eating appointments!) The weather HAS BEEN really warm and it's been raining quite a bit as well.Still no snow though. And, (what you're really interested in all) transfer calls!

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SURPRISE! I'm staying :) I was totally expecting to stay here with Sister Powell, so I'm just happy we were right! There's still loads of work for me to do here in Ludwigsburg and I'm not ready to leave yet! So with transfers, not too much is happening in my district, Elder Graver is getting Transferred to Klagenfürt in Austria, and Elder Wasden is getting a golden, and Elder Peterson is going to Vienna first Elder Duke is coming from St. Pölten to replace him. But since these Elders are in Heilbronn and Pforzheim, respectively, so it does not really affect, my work too much. All four missionaries in Ludwigsburg (including me are staying!) 

Anything fun and exciting this week? HECK YES! To start, we had an appointment load Sunday with a family that had been anonymously meeting with missionaries. We invited them to learn more about our church and very politely They DECLINED (They also Offered us Coffee, a crazy incense this stuff .. not so great for this Asthmatic! Haha). So we left the appointment quiet but hopeful, a little confused. We had really felt 'strongly that we should contact this family but, then they were not really interested. I just figured then, that meant that somebody in the general area must be super ready to accept the gospel! As we were walking back to the train station, I saw this lady with a really sweet hat - so being the friendly young lady, I told her I liked her hat. She turned around, saw my name tag, and proceeded to ask me if I taught people about Christ. I was super surprised and a little taken back I responded with the affirmative. SHE THEN ASKED ME IF I HAD TIME ON TUESDAY TO TEACH HER ABOUT OUR CHURCH. (Sorry a little crazy with the caps but, imagine this in my really excited voice). We scheduled an appointment that worked for us both. Flash forward to Tuesday morning, had a great lesson about the Restoration. Ines was getting so excited, she stopped us, pulled out her phone and called her brother, 'Come now! You've got to hear this! ' A little bit further in the lesson, she pulls out her phone again and calls a friend, 'Albert! Get over here! This is the word of God! ' Sister Powell and I just look at each other like what? Is this real? Anyways, long story short, we had an incredible lesson and all three of them wanted copies of the Book of Mormon and to learn more about our church. We set a return appointment for Valentine's Day and she asked us to bring some more Book of Mormon to give to her friends. 

February 14th. Day Friday. 9:00. Valentine's Day. On a whim, we decided to bring seven copies of the Book of Mormon with us. We sit down, start our lesson, when she stops us and asks if we could write a nice note about how we came to know God (or our testimony) and then we could go out with her to deliver all of these books. Again, Sister Powell and I exchange looks and begin writing our testimonies quickly in all books. Ines Introduces us to all her neighbors in her housing complex and we are inviting all people to come to know more about our Savior, Jesus Christ. We were able to give all these books away in about 20 minutes and she asked us to bring more when we come by next week. One thing she said just blew my mind, 'Sisters! It is Valentine's Day, a day of love. Should not we be sharing the love of God with those we love? ' (Translation but, it's pretty much the same!) I know this is a little bit of an echo of my email last week but, heck. Now I have an incredible experience to go with it. 

And an inspiring quote from one of my favorite Germans, President Uchtdorf 

"Because love is the great commandment, it ought to be at the  center  of all and everything we do in our own family, in our Church callings, and in our livelihood.  Love is the healing balm did repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond did unites families, communities, and nations.  Love is the power did Initiates friendship, tolerance, civility, and respect. It is the source did over comes divisiveness and hate. Love is the fire did warms our lives with unparalleled joy and divine hope. shoulderstand Love be our walk and our talk. "

Another really cool experience we had with  this part member family we've been teaching. The mother HAS BEEN inactive for about 15 years or so, the husband is American and is serving in Kuwaiit right now. None of their four children are baptized, and while the lesson was not really heart stopping this week, it's been incredible to see the progress they've been making as they just read in the scriptures, pray and make changes to come to church every week. They have not made it to church yet, but, I'm confident they'll be ready before I am transferred! The daughters are 16, 14, and 9, a little boy who is 3. Alisia and Jessica are just so ready for the gospel and when we talked about mutual, youth conferences, they were both just so excited! 

In other news, we had a day finding in Pforzheim on Saturday, Which was incredible! I looooove talking with people. I know sometimes it can be a little scary but, when you open your mouth - the Lord does make the most incredible things come out. I think I spoke my best German this past week when i was talking with random strangers. Ah! Tell Doc Bob hello for me! And if anyone else ever asks. I can not wait to report to the people of Meeker about all my dear and amazing experiences I'm having here. Basically, life is good. I'm happy, healthy, and serving the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength annnnd I love it!

It sounds so silly but, sometimes I feel like I needed to come out on a mission to show people that  totally normal, average girls quietly have a desire and the ability to serve the Lord. While sometimes it makes me nervous how much people look up to me, I've realized that what I do really HAS an impact and it can be a really positive impact. Really hit me this week that while I can not be perfect, I need to strive to be, in order to lift up those around me. Especially now that I'm considered an 'experienced sister' (do not know when that happened haha), Elders, Sisters, Young Women in our ward, investigators, members, look up to me and expect me to give an answer. I may not be a boy scout, but, I now REALLY love the motto: Be prepared! :)

Thanks for all the inspiring examples you've shown me in my life. Really. You've always been someone I could look up to for guidance, leadership, and an answer to the questions I've had. Even when you did not have the answers, you knew to direct me to my Heavenly Father and I'm just really grateful for that!

Love, 

Sister Harman

Happy Valentine's Day!

Liebe Familie! 

Happy Valentine's Day!  I know I say this every single week, but it's still true every week, this week flew by!  We had our Zone Training on Tuesday and then on Saturday our Zone Conference.  I always love getting together with all the great missionaries in our zone and learning together.  I swear, who would've known that 18-22 year olds could have such profound things to say. (Apparently, Heavenly Father :))

The lovely Sisters Harman and Powell

Something that really hit me as I was listening to the counsel given, is just how ridiculously important it is to be virtuous.  Virtue. To be clean. Worthy. Prepared. To do what is right, even when no one is watching.  It really goes right in hand with Integrity.  With that, Sister Miles talked about the importance of setting a good example. She really highlighted that it is through our example, seen and unseen, that people come to know Christ. People see us walking around with badges on everyday.  If one day, Sister Powell and I decided to leave the badges at home and go to a movie, EVERYONE WOULD NOTICE.  This world is no longer a world of anonymity. Technology has changed and made the world a much smaller place. People are watching our little lights and, while it might be easy to do, we cannot think for a second that our contribution is not noticed or important. It is important. You are important. 

President Miles then talked about the Book of Mormon. It's so simple. But, it's really true, the little things we do make a big difference. The advice to set a good example or to read every day in the Book of Mormon seem so cliche and are things we've heard million times.  But, the reason we keep hearing them, is because quite honestly, we're not doing it well enough yet.  We watched this video and man. If this doesn't make you want to read the Book of Mormon, then you might need to watch it again.

Testimony of the Book of Mormon

Stuttgart Zone February 2014

Fun story this week:  Got a referral from a member. Called her up, scheduled an appointment and had a super awesome lesson, where she was able to ask us all the questions, she has been having about the church but, couldn't find the appropriate setting to ask them.  She's in her 70's and is actually from Peru  (she married a German). She was a little disappointed neither of us spoke Spanish (we communicated in German). Flash forward to Sunday, asked around if there were any Spanish speakers. None. RIGHT THEN. A young guy from America walked in and said he just moved to Ludwigsburg for 6 months for an internship for Porsche.  Guess where he recently returned from? Yep! A mission in Peru! God really does put people exactly where they need to be when they need to be there! LOVE IT!

We are so lucky to have a God who loves us so much!  He gives us so much help to come unto Him! I'm so grateful to be sharing his love with others and to feel my love for others grow every day.  And while we're talking about love.... Happy Valentine's Day! Go get out there and share the love!

Love,

Sister Harman

Sister Harman's mom here:  We received pictures this week, no more pictureless posts for a while. :D  Gotta love Dropbox.com  :D :D