My companion, Hermana Mittelsteadt

My roommate, Hermana Clearwater

I Love It Here!

HELLO!!!

So in the CCM, the p days are different each week. We get three hours for p day, one for writing and 2 for errands and whatever else  you would like to do. I looooooved having so many emails in my inbox! Seriously could not stop grinning, I was jumping up and down in my chair from excitement at your family history finds! How amazing that we all had great expereinces becuase of the Allreds this week. I love the gospel! I will try and answer all the questions you asked, mom. Your week sounds like it was just fabulous! I miss the tortilla bar, the food here is cafeteria style, lots of instant potatos and tough chicken ;) 

My companion learned spanish from her dad. He is a high school spanish teacher. Also, she went on a trip to Costa Rica a few months before coming here for a school trip, and stayed with a family that spoke only spanish. This has proven to be a HUGE blessing for me. We teach investigator discussions to our teachers as if they were investigators, and no english - or portugeuse, for the Brazillians in our district - is aloud. My spanish is much to be desired for haha in case you didnt know, learning a new language for 12 hours every day is a tough assignment. I am beginning to understand quite a bit, can say a prayer and bear my testimony and form simple sentences, but Hermana Mittelsteadt having the vocabulary that she does is most definitely one of my tender mercies!!!

This week has been gruelling, emotional, spiritually filling, glorious, and exhausting all at the same time. It never ceases to amaze me how the spirit can work with every single person here at the same time! Again, my companion is amazing...we have come up with some pretty awesome lesson plans, almost always agreeing on content, deliverance, and scriptures. This last week, we taught an investigator who had a seven year old daughter die a few months ago...one of our roommates, Hermana Clearwater (who I ADORE!) suggested I sing for my investigators, if it feels right. She and I have daily duets. Its phenomenal. So we are planning our lesson for this investigator, and Hermana Mittelsteadt suggests I sing Families Can be Together Forever. That was the first time that the spirit was so strong in our lessons. It was a wonderful moment. Another time, we were teaching someone who was a pastry chef, and we compared the Plan of Salvation to baking cupcakes. Our teacher told us that Sister Missionaries are going to save the world. I mean, duh!

Sundays are my favorite here. Almost all of church is in english, and we watch movies about the pioneers and the Book of Mormon, and devotionals from the Provo MTC. This week, the devotional was given by Elder Holland, which was amazing, Obviously. A room full of missionaries about to listen to Elder Holland talk about missionary work...we were pretty pumped up :) He talked about how missions are real life- we should not focus on life after mission, but right here, this moment. We shouldnt look at a mision as an absence from life, but as a highlight of it. At one point, after...ehem...speaking very strongly...(yelling), he said "I dont pretend to be nuetral about this. Im as unbalanced as I possibly can be about this." You must be converted yourself before you can try to teach by the spirit. He told us to astonish people, that they can have earthquakes just exactly where they stand and we can cause it, to speak with thunder...Elder Holland makes me proud to be a missionary. Im going to go out there and astonish people.

But the most amazing experience from this week happened during Sunday school. You meet with your district for the second hour. I LOVE MY DISTRICT. We are a family, and we all know it and acknowledge it and wallow in the comradery that we have with one another. In these short two weeks, we have gotten rediculously close. Well, Saturday night, Hermana Mittelsteadt and I started feeling pretty under the weather, and by the next morning, we both had nasty colds. Hermana Allred gave us some cold pills, and we walk around carrying tissues with us everywhere. And then it really peaked at the end of Sacrament meeting. We both had headaches, sore throats, and were absolutely zapped of energy. We finished the Sunday school lesson about ten minutes early, and before we said the closing prayer, Elder Warrick asked us if we would like a priesthood blessing. We confirmed in the handbook that blessings of healing are in fact aloud, and we both accepted the invitation.

It was incredible.

It was the first time that Ive recieved a blessing of healing- or comfort, for that matter- from anyone other than my dad. And for them, it was only the second time giving someone a blessing. It was short and sweet, but Elder Mchardy- the District leader- each said something personal in blessing that was so obviously from the Spirit that in that moment, I could have just cried from the joy of my testimony of this gospel. He said that I would recieve a quick recovery, becuase he knew it is difficult for me to be sick while learning so much, and that I will be at my full, intulectual potential this week in my studies. The gospel is just so TRUE!

Another great moment...in the mornings, we go down this side stairwell to go to breakfast and then to excersise, and the acoustics are phenomenal. Hermana Clearwater and I have been talking for the past two weeks, ever since I got here, about how we are going to sing Come Thou Fount in the stairwell. And yesterday morning, her last morning (she left early this morning), we did it. And it was amazing! And halfway through, some elders at the top of the stairs joined in and harmonized and I know thats kind of an odd thing to be so excited about, but it was amazing!!!

You asked about the temple- we use headphones, which I was very grateful for...at one point, I turned the volume down to see if I could pick up anything in Spanish...sometimes, I say quick prayers for the English language, and the rare times that I am aloud to hear it.

I love you all! I love the updates on everyone, they make me so very happy. Even though the mail strike is over, they are still playing catch u´p, so I am still not sure about the timetable for sending and recieving anything, but once they come, it will be a good day. Yo soy testimonio de Jesucristo, y ello es mi Salvadour siempre.

LOVE SIEMPRE

Hermana Harkins

This is the best EVER!!!

OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE IT HERE SO MUCH!!! I now totally understand a missionaries need for emails and packages, I could not stop smiling the whole time I read your email, thank you for the fantastic and detailed update. So to answer your question, no it does not feel like REAL winter. It feels like a nice, homey, California winter. Just cold enough to wear a coat, but not too cold to be miserable and moody when you have to walk outside. We split up as missionaries at the airport and got whatever we wanted. Hermana Upton, Hermana McRae and I all got Panda Express together. It was almost surreal to finally meet them! Kind of made everything a little more real, you know? I did try to call in Atlanta, and I could hear you, but you couldn't hear me. Bummer, but its all good!

So as for my daily schedule...we wake up at 6 45 each morning...Presidente Allred plays Tabernacle Choir cds over the intercom to wake us up, how cool is that!! Personal Study is at 7 10, breakfast is at 8 10, then we get physical time from 8 30 to 9 30. My companion ROCKS, for many reasons, but one of them is that she is a runner, and loves jogging in the morning and then doing tons of push ups and sit ups and planks. We are basically perfect for each other!

From 10 in the morning until 10 at night, we have language and gospel study classes, with breaks for lunch and dinner at about 1 and 6 30. While it is difficult and straining and exhausting, I LOVE IT. I have three miestros-teachers- all returned missionaries and all great at teaching us what we need to know to be rockin missionaries.

We got our official Districts on Thursday. I am in District 7, and I already love every single member of our mini missionary family. We have 6 North American Elders, 4 Brazilian Elders, and then Hermana Mittelsteadt and I. Sometimes, it seems like we never stop laughing! We all get along wonderfully, and even though there is a small language barrier with the Brazilians, there's no separating off, everyone gets along and has a great time. I met my mission president and his wife immediately upon entering the CCM - MTC - and they are both great. I actually found out in Relief Society yesterday that we are RELATED through the Allred line! SO COOL!!!

I love hearing about everyone back home. Sarah will do SO WELL! If anyone could handle learning four languages at once, it's Sarah Burgett. She will be an amazing missionary.

Your vacation sounds fun, especially being able to go to the temples. This morning, I was actually able to do a session with some other missionaries in the temple right across from the CCM. It was going to be closed this week for cleaning, and Monday because duh, but they kept it open because they knew the missionaries had been looking forward to the peace of the temple. How amazing is that!!!

The address here is

Pedro de Valdivia 1423

Providencia
 Santiago Chile

And just address to me...haha duh...

My favorite class is my Book of Mormon Class. We all sit in a circle and just break apart 2, maybe 3 verses in 30 minutes. It's to get us used to how we would read scriptures with investigators. We wouldn't just sit down and read a whole chapter. we would pick the verses that are most meaningful, and go through them slowly, so that they can digest the information and let the Spirit do its work. It is incredible. I wish we could just read the book of mormon all day long.

So in case you didn't know, learning a new language es muy dificul. But it is coming along! Everyone here is in the same boat, learning and growing and really trying to do their best. I will admit, it is a struggle for me. I can express myself perfectly in english...it is hard for me to not be able to express them easily while I am here and trying to speak in spanish as much as possible. We do foux investigator meetings with our teachers, and I really just can't say much of anything in that situation at this point.

BUT.

I can say a blessing on a meal in spanish. I can introduce myself, and ask someone simple questions about themselves. I know foods, greetings, a few scattered, simple phrases...my favorite...Tiene hacer que hace. You have to do what you do. That's one of the first things I figured out how to say. It is frustrating, but I am putting all of myself into learning this language.

At one low point, I regretted putting in my papers that I was willing to learn a new language. Seriously, you can't just assume it will all come to you and you get it quickly, this is the hardest thing I have ever done. But I keep telling myself- I was willing to serve my Lord as a missionary. So I should be willing to go wherever, do whatever, preach whatever he needs me to. So I am here, in Chile, learning how to do exactly that.

I love this gospel! And I LOVE CHILE! I got to go shopping at the grocery store this afternoon, and walking down the cobblestone streets of downtown Santiago was just thrilling to me. They have fruit stands and farmers markets everywhere, street performers and vendors and beautiful trees and shrubbery. I LOVE IT HERE.

Last bit, I don't have much time left, but on our way out of the supermarket, we stopped to eat some ice cream Herman Mittelsteadt had purchased and a man approached us from a camera crew - that's right, folks - and starts talking in rapid spanish. Even though my rockin comp knows spanish pretty well, we had no idea what he was saying. Then finally, he starts talking in english. Hallelujah. He tells us hes from a local tv station, and is wanting people to imitate and sing like PIN UP GIRLS for his tv show. So we are like, dying, and then Hermana Mittelsteadt says I love to sing.

Thanks a lot, pal.

So he asks me to sing for him! I show him my badge, tell him I'm a missionary, and maybe instead of a 40's hit, I could sing one of my church songs for him. And he said YES! And I sang Called to Serve FOR A MORNING SHOW!  

So, yeah. This week has been both grueling and amazing. I love it here, I love Chile, my companion, my District, but most of all, I love the gospel. Which is why I'm here. Tiene hacer que hace. I love you all. Write me letters and emails! Por Favor! Ciao!

Greetings From Beautiful Chile!

Greetings from beautiful Chile! Just a quick e-mail to tell you that I am here, I am safe, and I am SO HAPPY!!! We arrived at about 8:30, were met by an MTC worker at the customs exit, and by 10:30, I was assigned my room and roommate, who will more than likely be my companion. Her name is Hermana Mittlestead, and she is delightful! 19, from Idaho, and as excited about the gospel as I am. I will go into more detail on P-day (which is yet to be announced) when I have a bit more time. But, as for now, know that I LOVE YOU ALL, I miss you all like crazy! But here I am, hours into the first day, and I am already in love with Chile, with the MTC, with being a Hermana Missionary. And get this...the temple is right on campus! You walk out the doors of the MTC and there it is. Amazing. Hopefully I can e-mail you the photos that I have taken so far. Oh, and for the record, flying overseas. Not my cup of tea. I got about 3 hours of sleep. But I have this crazy missionary energy, it is so AMAZING here! I could just devour the energy that everyone has, the spirit that we are all permeating. I know that this is where I am supposed to be, and serving the Lord is what I am meant to do. Adios!

-Hermana Ashlynne Rose Harkins

p.s. they call me 83 pounds...because my suitcase nearly made a new record ;) DO WHAT YOU DO!!!

Mission Photos