Due to the fact that TWELVE of our investigators left for vacation this last week, it was necessary. I think it's just a Chile thing, in January, everyone just leaves. And they don't come back till, like, March. What is that all about?! It is WAY more important to listen to the missionaries and get baptized. Obviously. But hey, what can ya do?
KEEP PRESSING FORWARD! #2nephi3120
Due to lack of time, I will get right to the point and share an amazing experience that we had this last week with a couple that we found knocking doors- Dionel and Edilia. Our plans fell through, so we just started knocking in the street where we were, and there they were, just sitting on their front patio. So we started talking to them and found out that Edilia was baptized about 30 years ago with her daughter. She has many fond memories of the church, but when they moved here, they stopped going and quickly became inactive. Dionel was never baptized, but always supported his wife and daughter in their decision.
Upon talking with them a little bit more, we learned that Dionel had just left the hospital after months of tests and procedures. They had just gotten home about 20 minutes earlier,and were sitting on their porch because, after so much time in the hospital, they had missed the simple pleasure of just being at home. Edilia told us that it was a miracle that he had been released...the doctors were convinced that he would have to be in a home for the rest of his life due to the severity of his illness.
One thing led to another, and the next day, we returned to their home with the elders to give Dionel a priesthood blessing. It was one of those experiences that is hard to describe and impossible to forget, simply because the spirit was so strong. I have found over the course of my mission that it is very difficult to describe the spirit, because there just aren't words. There aren't words enough to describe the joy that our loving Heavenly Father knows Dionel. He knows his needs. And that he loves his children enough to give them what they need in the moment that they need it. Edilia expressed over and over that she knows that God sent us, that the timing was just too perfect to be a thing of luck or chance.
That is another thing that I have learned in my mission. Luck just doesn't exist. Because God lives and He loves us and He has a beautiful plan for us, and luck just doesn't do it. I know that Our Heavenly Father knows us all individually.
Sorry it was short, pero no se preocupe, I'll be home soon :) I'll make up for it :)
Hermana Harkins
Monday, January 26, 2015
Monday, January 19, 2015
Baptisms and Rain Sticks
Ashlynne wanted everyone to know that her update this week will be short.
As a missionary who will be completing her service soon, the mission allows those missionaries to invite their whole "Chilean family" to say goodbye to them the Sunday before they return home. Ashlynne describes it as "one big happy testimony meeting." Her internet time this week is being spent sending invitations to all the wonderful people she has met over the past 18 months.
Please keep Ashlynne in your prayers. Your faith and prayers have made a tremendous difference and are continuing to bless Ashlynne as she serves the people of Chile.
As a missionary who will be completing her service soon, the mission allows those missionaries to invite their whole "Chilean family" to say goodbye to them the Sunday before they return home. Ashlynne describes it as "one big happy testimony meeting." Her internet time this week is being spent sending invitations to all the wonderful people she has met over the past 18 months.
Please keep Ashlynne in your prayers. Your faith and prayers have made a tremendous difference and are continuing to bless Ashlynne as she serves the people of Chile.
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| We helped a little chiquilla get baptized this week, she's cute, huh? |
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| Chilean rain stick, true story |
Monday, January 12, 2015
THE FIRST DAY OF MY LAST CHANGE
I officially have 6 weeks left. One change. 42 days. #surreal But akunamatata, this chick isn't trunky. Para. Nada. You can look at it this way- 6 weeks left...or 6 weeks left TO WORK SO HARD! I am so excited to end it all off with a bang. Peñaflor, you better just watch it. My testimony is just about to explode.
This week was full of interesting experiences. We found that many of the people that we are visiting are either progressing beautifully or stubbornly staying put just as they are...it's interesting as a missionary to try and discern which of these children of God we need to continue fighting for and which ones we need to let be for a moment. It was one of the first chances that my companion has had in her mission in needing to let people go, and she posed the argument of "But they are all children of God, and He wants us all in the Celestial Kingdom."
It's tough sometimes, being a missionary. Because what my companion said is true, God desires that we all can return to live with Him in His presence. And we can teach and preach and testify and minister with our whole heart, might, mind and strength...but if they choose to deny it, there is nothing we can do. I remember once that Elder Holland said "Sometimes I just wish that people didn't have agency." Classic Holland quote, right? But I feel like, at one point or another, we all feel that. We all feel that frustration at seeing people that we love making choices that will bring them misery. We just want to shake them and say "STOP IT!" We want to take them by the hand and yank them over to the other side, onto the path that we know brings happiness and peace, we just want them to ACCEPT IT ALREADY!
But we cant.
Because GOD'S plan is that we can make our own choices.
It's interesting, because He knows that we are going to fall and scrape our knee and cry, even if we knew that, in that particular path, there were boulders and obstacles to trip over. But that is why He gave us the marvelous gift of the Atonement of His Only Begotten Son. Goodness, I could go on all the day about the Plan of Salvation of the Atonement of Jesus Christ...But I will save that all for another day.
In this week, we had an amazing experience with one of our investigators named Victoria. We found her while knocking doors, and right up front, she said "Look, I'm Catholic." But we continued chatting with her, and after a while, she let us make an appointment to come back and visit her. In the first visit, we felt prompted to talk about the Book of Mormon. She admitted that she loved reading scriptures and that she reads the Bible every day, so we invited her to read a little of the Bible and a little of the Book of Mormon. At first she was sceptical, but then we went on to read in the introduction of the Book of Mormon, the part where it invites us all to read, ponder and pray.
She was reading it out loud, and when she got to "pray", she gasped a little and paused. She looked at us and said "I just felt the most wonderful feeling when I read that! Like something inside of me begging me to do it!" And she just smiled joyfully and continued reading. Talk about best opportunity EVER to testify of the power of the Holy Ghost! It was just so great with her because she immediately expressed how she felt. I know that our investigators before have felt the spirit, but very rarely do they tell us so directly. Many times it is a small smile or maybe a tear, or you can see the chills on their arms, or something like that. But it was wonderful because she TOLD us, and it let us have a conversation about Gods love and desire to manifest to us the truth of His church.
In the next visit, we taught her the fullness of the message of the Restoration, and the same expressive joy came when we were quoting Joseph Smith's Vision. You could just tell that she was imagining herself THERE, perhaps watching Joseph from a far, maybe an angel just anxious to see the look on his face. I don't know, maybe it's not so romantic, but it's nice to think that it was the spirit testifying to her that YOU KNEW THIS BEFORE. THIS IS NOT A NEW MESSAGE. THIS IS THE TRUTH. In that visit, we invited her to be baptized on February 2nd and she accepted. We were really excited.
And then Saturday came. We had an appointment set up for her and we were excited to teach her about the Plan of Salvation, knowing that her family is the most important thing to her, and that this plan that God has for us would touch her heart. But she greeted us at her gate with tears in her eyes, telling us that her husband didn't want us to keep coming, and that it was maybe best that we stopped coming by.
Ugh. Heart crushing.
Now, I don't share this experience to bum y'all out. I share it because it taught me a lesson in agency. Also about God's timing. At some point in the future, she is going to be able to accept the gospel, she will be able to exercise her agency without anyone or anything holding her back, and that moment is going to be gloriously joyful for her. Even though it's sad now, even though it hurts, even though as we walked away, we were trying to construct a plan to continue helping her, perhaps right now is not the moment in which God planned that she could accept this gospel. But I trust Him. And I trust His plan. And I know that the day will come in which Victoria can freely say "Yes Lord, I will Follow Thee."
So Be Bold, Stay Rad, Do What You Do, and Let Your Light So Shine.
Hermana Harkins
This week was full of interesting experiences. We found that many of the people that we are visiting are either progressing beautifully or stubbornly staying put just as they are...it's interesting as a missionary to try and discern which of these children of God we need to continue fighting for and which ones we need to let be for a moment. It was one of the first chances that my companion has had in her mission in needing to let people go, and she posed the argument of "But they are all children of God, and He wants us all in the Celestial Kingdom."
It's tough sometimes, being a missionary. Because what my companion said is true, God desires that we all can return to live with Him in His presence. And we can teach and preach and testify and minister with our whole heart, might, mind and strength...but if they choose to deny it, there is nothing we can do. I remember once that Elder Holland said "Sometimes I just wish that people didn't have agency." Classic Holland quote, right? But I feel like, at one point or another, we all feel that. We all feel that frustration at seeing people that we love making choices that will bring them misery. We just want to shake them and say "STOP IT!" We want to take them by the hand and yank them over to the other side, onto the path that we know brings happiness and peace, we just want them to ACCEPT IT ALREADY!
But we cant.
Because GOD'S plan is that we can make our own choices.
It's interesting, because He knows that we are going to fall and scrape our knee and cry, even if we knew that, in that particular path, there were boulders and obstacles to trip over. But that is why He gave us the marvelous gift of the Atonement of His Only Begotten Son. Goodness, I could go on all the day about the Plan of Salvation of the Atonement of Jesus Christ...But I will save that all for another day.
In this week, we had an amazing experience with one of our investigators named Victoria. We found her while knocking doors, and right up front, she said "Look, I'm Catholic." But we continued chatting with her, and after a while, she let us make an appointment to come back and visit her. In the first visit, we felt prompted to talk about the Book of Mormon. She admitted that she loved reading scriptures and that she reads the Bible every day, so we invited her to read a little of the Bible and a little of the Book of Mormon. At first she was sceptical, but then we went on to read in the introduction of the Book of Mormon, the part where it invites us all to read, ponder and pray.
She was reading it out loud, and when she got to "pray", she gasped a little and paused. She looked at us and said "I just felt the most wonderful feeling when I read that! Like something inside of me begging me to do it!" And she just smiled joyfully and continued reading. Talk about best opportunity EVER to testify of the power of the Holy Ghost! It was just so great with her because she immediately expressed how she felt. I know that our investigators before have felt the spirit, but very rarely do they tell us so directly. Many times it is a small smile or maybe a tear, or you can see the chills on their arms, or something like that. But it was wonderful because she TOLD us, and it let us have a conversation about Gods love and desire to manifest to us the truth of His church.
In the next visit, we taught her the fullness of the message of the Restoration, and the same expressive joy came when we were quoting Joseph Smith's Vision. You could just tell that she was imagining herself THERE, perhaps watching Joseph from a far, maybe an angel just anxious to see the look on his face. I don't know, maybe it's not so romantic, but it's nice to think that it was the spirit testifying to her that YOU KNEW THIS BEFORE. THIS IS NOT A NEW MESSAGE. THIS IS THE TRUTH. In that visit, we invited her to be baptized on February 2nd and she accepted. We were really excited.
And then Saturday came. We had an appointment set up for her and we were excited to teach her about the Plan of Salvation, knowing that her family is the most important thing to her, and that this plan that God has for us would touch her heart. But she greeted us at her gate with tears in her eyes, telling us that her husband didn't want us to keep coming, and that it was maybe best that we stopped coming by.
Ugh. Heart crushing.
Now, I don't share this experience to bum y'all out. I share it because it taught me a lesson in agency. Also about God's timing. At some point in the future, she is going to be able to accept the gospel, she will be able to exercise her agency without anyone or anything holding her back, and that moment is going to be gloriously joyful for her. Even though it's sad now, even though it hurts, even though as we walked away, we were trying to construct a plan to continue helping her, perhaps right now is not the moment in which God planned that she could accept this gospel. But I trust Him. And I trust His plan. And I know that the day will come in which Victoria can freely say "Yes Lord, I will Follow Thee."
So Be Bold, Stay Rad, Do What You Do, and Let Your Light So Shine.
Hermana Harkins
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| Just me and my comp enjoying that burning Chilean heat :) |
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| We bought a watermelon :) |
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| Gotta take a picture with the sign directing us to the hospital :) |
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| Got home from the doctor appointment and the girlies that we live with got me my favorite things; what gems :) |
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| A member gave us sushi :) |
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| Me and a girly in my ward were matching yesterday without even trying :) |
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| Us ward missionaries together yesterday; we had changes today, so of course we all had to get a final picture together |
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| My companion from El Abrazo, Hermana Marquez, went home today; had to get a final picture together |
Monday, January 5, 2015
Happy New Year :)
I remember New Year's Eve last year in that little pension in Los Errazurriz, making my very mission centered goals for 2014, thinking to myself "This is the only year in my whole earthly lifetime that I will be serving a full time mission. I hope that it feels like the longest year of my life." Well, I am here to tell you that it was just the opposite...2014 ended up being the fastest year of my entire life. I reflected on 2014 this last Wednesday night (as a pension we made pizza and stayed up till midnight to see the fireworks), and all I could think of was how fast it all went. Its interesting...all of my goals last year were for the mission. Almost all of my goals for 2015 are, well, trunkie. So I will just wait to think about them until I get home ;)
I actually wanted to share a great experience that we had this last Wednesday. it was New Year's Eve and we had received special instructions to return to our pensions, safe and sound, an hour earlier than usual, and to return earlier if we felt that people were going a little too crazy. Hermana Damian and I were determined to work up until 8:00, taking advantage of every moment to work. Our hopes got a little dashed as we found that everyone that we had planned was out of town or had family and friends over, loud music, BBQ out front...and not too willing to accept a message from the missionaries. Phooey.
BUT WE ARE DETERMINED MISSIONARIES WHO ENDURE TO THE END!
And at 7:30, we found a new family of investigators to teach :) Just one of those moments where you recognize that God blesses us for our efforts to endure, to work hard, to be obedient...one of the hardest days of the year to work, as missionaries, and we found a family! I love that!
I also have an epiphany from my studies that I want to share. (I'm sorry if you don't want to hear about my studies...I only have so many pdays left, and I want to share my studies! So ha!) Anyone who is even a little bit involved in mission work right now knows that it is very important to help and support the people who have been recently baptized. The problem is that in this zone, many- MANY- of the recent converts are inactive. They get baptized, and within one or two months, they have completely stopped coming to church and accepting the missionaries.
In our sector, we have 4 recent converts and none of them have come to church in over a month. We have tried everything that we can think of to help them, and it feels like nothing works. We have even gotten to the point of writing them letters with scriptures to read and activities to do, looking for the meaning and application of the scriptures, expressing how much we care about them...The only thing I can think of to describe it is that it makes a missionary sad. To see someone who, very recently, felt so full of love and testimony to make the choice to be baptized, and for some reason or another, they just...fell.
So I was reading the Book of Mormon, in one of the best parts, Alma 26. Verse 6.
Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.
WHEN THE STORM COMETH THEY SHALL BE GATHERED TOGETHER IN THEIR PLACE.
Guys, this life is just hard. We don't preach that it will be perfect upon being baptized, we preach that we will have the ability to endure with FAITH and HOPE for a BETTER WORLD. We preach that we will receive a portion of the spirit of God, the GIFT of the Holy Ghost, to always be with us, should we live faithfully, to help us and to guide us. We teach that we can partake of the sacrament each week to renew our covenants, our cleanliness, to keep the stream steady of blessings and companionship.
We need to be "gathered together in (our) place." And we need to help them continue being "gathered in their place."
That's my epiphany. It pierced me.
I'm sorry that this is short, there was a problem with the connection and my time has been cut short, pero no se preocupen :) we can talk without any sort of Internet disconnection here soon :) Be bold, stay rad, do what you do and let your light so shine :)
Hermana Harkins
I actually wanted to share a great experience that we had this last Wednesday. it was New Year's Eve and we had received special instructions to return to our pensions, safe and sound, an hour earlier than usual, and to return earlier if we felt that people were going a little too crazy. Hermana Damian and I were determined to work up until 8:00, taking advantage of every moment to work. Our hopes got a little dashed as we found that everyone that we had planned was out of town or had family and friends over, loud music, BBQ out front...and not too willing to accept a message from the missionaries. Phooey.
BUT WE ARE DETERMINED MISSIONARIES WHO ENDURE TO THE END!
And at 7:30, we found a new family of investigators to teach :) Just one of those moments where you recognize that God blesses us for our efforts to endure, to work hard, to be obedient...one of the hardest days of the year to work, as missionaries, and we found a family! I love that!
I also have an epiphany from my studies that I want to share. (I'm sorry if you don't want to hear about my studies...I only have so many pdays left, and I want to share my studies! So ha!) Anyone who is even a little bit involved in mission work right now knows that it is very important to help and support the people who have been recently baptized. The problem is that in this zone, many- MANY- of the recent converts are inactive. They get baptized, and within one or two months, they have completely stopped coming to church and accepting the missionaries.
In our sector, we have 4 recent converts and none of them have come to church in over a month. We have tried everything that we can think of to help them, and it feels like nothing works. We have even gotten to the point of writing them letters with scriptures to read and activities to do, looking for the meaning and application of the scriptures, expressing how much we care about them...The only thing I can think of to describe it is that it makes a missionary sad. To see someone who, very recently, felt so full of love and testimony to make the choice to be baptized, and for some reason or another, they just...fell.
So I was reading the Book of Mormon, in one of the best parts, Alma 26. Verse 6.
Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.
WHEN THE STORM COMETH THEY SHALL BE GATHERED TOGETHER IN THEIR PLACE.
Guys, this life is just hard. We don't preach that it will be perfect upon being baptized, we preach that we will have the ability to endure with FAITH and HOPE for a BETTER WORLD. We preach that we will receive a portion of the spirit of God, the GIFT of the Holy Ghost, to always be with us, should we live faithfully, to help us and to guide us. We teach that we can partake of the sacrament each week to renew our covenants, our cleanliness, to keep the stream steady of blessings and companionship.
We need to be "gathered together in (our) place." And we need to help them continue being "gathered in their place."
That's my epiphany. It pierced me.
I'm sorry that this is short, there was a problem with the connection and my time has been cut short, pero no se preocupen :) we can talk without any sort of Internet disconnection here soon :) Be bold, stay rad, do what you do and let your light so shine :)
Hermana Harkins
Monday, December 29, 2014
How Silently The Wondrous Gift is Given
I'm just saying, Christmas as a missionary is THE BOMB. Merry Christmas, y'all. I hope it was as great for you as it was for me. Maybe it wasn't white...but, come on. How many times can you say that you were a missionary in Chile for Christmas? I can only say that twice. So thankful and so joyful to have been here in my Chilean Winter Wonderland. (And really, who wants to be cold when you can be getting a tan? not this California girl!)
A quick rundown of what we did for Christmas...Christmas eve we had the big Christmas dinner with a family in the ward that we have grown very close with in their process of reactivation. They invited us in OCTOBER, wanting to be certain that they had dibs on the sister missionaries. A few weeks ago, they asked if the other hermanas that we live with had been invited to have dinner with someone from their ward, and when they heard that the answer was a no, they invited them as well. Which was really special, one because we are really good, close friends after this short while of living together, and because they could also enjoy Christmas eve with this great family.
The tradition in Chile on Christmas eve is to do a BBQ. You better believe we just went ALL THE WAY with that BBQ. So delicious. They gave us chocolates and lip gloss as Christmas gifts and sent us home on our merry way laden with cakes and leftovers. Once we got back to the pension, we started in on a mini Christmas devotional that I had planned a few weeks ago, singing some of the Christmas hymns, reading in Luke, watching the He is The Gift movie and sharing our testimonies of Christ. We then opened our presents and went to bed, content. In the morning we made a gringa breakfast of french toast, muffins and bacon. Accompanied by lemon and triple stuff oreos.We had gotten special word from our mission President that we could stay in the pension till one that day, so we all sat down at the kitchen table and just took turns sharing our favorite scriptures. I just LOVE being a missionary and being with other missionaries, because how many times can you just sit with 3 of your closest friends and share your favorite scriptures with each other? That is a pretty unique thing, if you ask me.
Then there was skype :) That was just #joyful
And for the rest of the day, we power-walked like madwomen from house to house to house sharing He is The Gift and testifying of Christ's birth with as many people as we could in the short period of time of talking with our families and our missionary curfew. All in all, a delightfully jolly Christmas. I will miss being a full time missionary next Christmas, because this has been one of the most spiritually-centered Christmases of my whole life. I tried to wallow in it as much as possible.
I wanted to share with you all a very interesting experience that we had this week. Yet another experience in which we were able to get to know the Holy Ghost just a little bit more, to figure out how he works in us and in others. I will try to find the right words to describe exactly what happened and exactly how it made us feel afterward.
This last Wednesday, we were working in the allotted time that we had between our weekly district meeting and our Christmas dinner, and were blessed to have been able to visit quite a few people in "our flock" as Hermana Damian and I have come to start calling it. One of those was with a family that we are helping to come back to church. We felt prompted to share with them one of my personal favorites in Mosiah 18 that talks about the covenant and promises we make with God in our baptism, the specific things that we promise to do when we take that step into the waters of baptism. They all are members their whole lives, baptized when they were 8 years old, everyone else in their family is a member...they have been in this for quite a while, and yet, this last week was the very first time that they were brought to the awareness of what they had promised their Heavenly Father.
And let me just say, the spirit was CRAZY strong! It gave us the most wonderful opportunity to touch their hearts through testimony and really testify, of the love of our Heavenly Father, of the blessings that he has waiting for us, and that the sacrament is there to help us in our ever ongoing process of TRYING to keep our covenants. As Elder Holland said in his talk at last Conference, "(we) must do what (we) can" to serve our Lord and Savior and to keep his commandments and stay true to the covenants that we have made. I would dare say that it was one of the most spiritually guided lessons in my whole mission. We left feeling emotional and feeling triumphant, KNOWING that we made a difference for them.
So we took that emotion and kept going, taking a chance and dropping in on a recent convert that went inactive almost as soon as she got baptized about 6 months ago. In my 4 months here, we have only ever spoken to her through the gate in front of her house or when we run into her in the street, she never seems too happy to see us. Always too busy or too tired or "just about to leave." But we keep trying, and wonder of wonders (#fiddler), she let us in! We were joyous! We had to promise a 5 minute message and that we would leave right after, but she let us in, and that was huge for us.
But it was so interesting, because almost as soon as we sat down, my mind went absolutely blank. It is something that has happened a handful of times in my mission, when I feel so potently that the spirit is not present. Something else that I have noticed is that, when we are accompanied and guided by the spirit, I am able to fluidly and understandably speak Spanish; something that was more cherished in the beginning of my mission when I struggled with the language, but still something that I acknowledge as the help of the Holy Ghost. And when I don't feel it, I cannot speak. I just cant. I forget words, I forget vocabulary, I mix up masculine and feminine forms...simple things that I overcame many, many months ago.
And that happened as we tried to share a message with this sister, but we both found it difficult to teach, the testify, even to speak. Even my latina companion was simply left with a blank mind and an empty mouth. D and C 84:85. It will be given to you in the moment that it is needed, but only if the spirit is present. We left feeling stunned.
As we discussed it afterward, we both admitted to feeling a little at fault; I mean, we are the missionaries. We should be able to bring the spirit with us wherever we go and touch people's lives, we study and prepare in every possible moment to minister to these precious sons and daughters of God, especially those who are recently baptized AND going wayward, we were finally able to enter in and have the opportunity to help her...but it seemed that the spirit just wasn't having it. But WHY?
Because sometimes, we simply cannot control the situation or we cannot control the choices that others have made or are making that make it possible for "the dear Christ" to enter in. Perhaps that is strong, perhaps it's not the most giddy mission experience...but I want to share with you all the things that I learn. And I learned so much about the spirit in that short time span of 45 minutes. When the spirit is not present, there's not much we can do. And when the spirit IS present, it is "glorious", as Elder Uchtdorf said. (can you tell I've been studying the General Conference Ensign?)
May we all do our part to allow the spirit into our lives. Be bold, Stay rad, do what you do and let your light so shine :)
Hermana Harkins
A quick rundown of what we did for Christmas...Christmas eve we had the big Christmas dinner with a family in the ward that we have grown very close with in their process of reactivation. They invited us in OCTOBER, wanting to be certain that they had dibs on the sister missionaries. A few weeks ago, they asked if the other hermanas that we live with had been invited to have dinner with someone from their ward, and when they heard that the answer was a no, they invited them as well. Which was really special, one because we are really good, close friends after this short while of living together, and because they could also enjoy Christmas eve with this great family.
The tradition in Chile on Christmas eve is to do a BBQ. You better believe we just went ALL THE WAY with that BBQ. So delicious. They gave us chocolates and lip gloss as Christmas gifts and sent us home on our merry way laden with cakes and leftovers. Once we got back to the pension, we started in on a mini Christmas devotional that I had planned a few weeks ago, singing some of the Christmas hymns, reading in Luke, watching the He is The Gift movie and sharing our testimonies of Christ. We then opened our presents and went to bed, content. In the morning we made a gringa breakfast of french toast, muffins and bacon. Accompanied by lemon and triple stuff oreos.We had gotten special word from our mission President that we could stay in the pension till one that day, so we all sat down at the kitchen table and just took turns sharing our favorite scriptures. I just LOVE being a missionary and being with other missionaries, because how many times can you just sit with 3 of your closest friends and share your favorite scriptures with each other? That is a pretty unique thing, if you ask me.
Then there was skype :) That was just #joyful
And for the rest of the day, we power-walked like madwomen from house to house to house sharing He is The Gift and testifying of Christ's birth with as many people as we could in the short period of time of talking with our families and our missionary curfew. All in all, a delightfully jolly Christmas. I will miss being a full time missionary next Christmas, because this has been one of the most spiritually-centered Christmases of my whole life. I tried to wallow in it as much as possible.
I wanted to share with you all a very interesting experience that we had this week. Yet another experience in which we were able to get to know the Holy Ghost just a little bit more, to figure out how he works in us and in others. I will try to find the right words to describe exactly what happened and exactly how it made us feel afterward.
This last Wednesday, we were working in the allotted time that we had between our weekly district meeting and our Christmas dinner, and were blessed to have been able to visit quite a few people in "our flock" as Hermana Damian and I have come to start calling it. One of those was with a family that we are helping to come back to church. We felt prompted to share with them one of my personal favorites in Mosiah 18 that talks about the covenant and promises we make with God in our baptism, the specific things that we promise to do when we take that step into the waters of baptism. They all are members their whole lives, baptized when they were 8 years old, everyone else in their family is a member...they have been in this for quite a while, and yet, this last week was the very first time that they were brought to the awareness of what they had promised their Heavenly Father.
And let me just say, the spirit was CRAZY strong! It gave us the most wonderful opportunity to touch their hearts through testimony and really testify, of the love of our Heavenly Father, of the blessings that he has waiting for us, and that the sacrament is there to help us in our ever ongoing process of TRYING to keep our covenants. As Elder Holland said in his talk at last Conference, "(we) must do what (we) can" to serve our Lord and Savior and to keep his commandments and stay true to the covenants that we have made. I would dare say that it was one of the most spiritually guided lessons in my whole mission. We left feeling emotional and feeling triumphant, KNOWING that we made a difference for them.
So we took that emotion and kept going, taking a chance and dropping in on a recent convert that went inactive almost as soon as she got baptized about 6 months ago. In my 4 months here, we have only ever spoken to her through the gate in front of her house or when we run into her in the street, she never seems too happy to see us. Always too busy or too tired or "just about to leave." But we keep trying, and wonder of wonders (#fiddler), she let us in! We were joyous! We had to promise a 5 minute message and that we would leave right after, but she let us in, and that was huge for us.
But it was so interesting, because almost as soon as we sat down, my mind went absolutely blank. It is something that has happened a handful of times in my mission, when I feel so potently that the spirit is not present. Something else that I have noticed is that, when we are accompanied and guided by the spirit, I am able to fluidly and understandably speak Spanish; something that was more cherished in the beginning of my mission when I struggled with the language, but still something that I acknowledge as the help of the Holy Ghost. And when I don't feel it, I cannot speak. I just cant. I forget words, I forget vocabulary, I mix up masculine and feminine forms...simple things that I overcame many, many months ago.
And that happened as we tried to share a message with this sister, but we both found it difficult to teach, the testify, even to speak. Even my latina companion was simply left with a blank mind and an empty mouth. D and C 84:85. It will be given to you in the moment that it is needed, but only if the spirit is present. We left feeling stunned.
As we discussed it afterward, we both admitted to feeling a little at fault; I mean, we are the missionaries. We should be able to bring the spirit with us wherever we go and touch people's lives, we study and prepare in every possible moment to minister to these precious sons and daughters of God, especially those who are recently baptized AND going wayward, we were finally able to enter in and have the opportunity to help her...but it seemed that the spirit just wasn't having it. But WHY?
Because sometimes, we simply cannot control the situation or we cannot control the choices that others have made or are making that make it possible for "the dear Christ" to enter in. Perhaps that is strong, perhaps it's not the most giddy mission experience...but I want to share with you all the things that I learn. And I learned so much about the spirit in that short time span of 45 minutes. When the spirit is not present, there's not much we can do. And when the spirit IS present, it is "glorious", as Elder Uchtdorf said. (can you tell I've been studying the General Conference Ensign?)
May we all do our part to allow the spirit into our lives. Be bold, Stay rad, do what you do and let your light so shine :)
Hermana Harkins
Monday, December 22, 2014
Es el Alba de la Redención; Dios por El nos dará Salvación
Well, this was one of the most spiritually fulfilling weeks of my entire mission! We will be honest, lesson or number wise, we were a Little low. Having the misión Christmas party and 4 choir performances in various parts of the misión made it a Little difficult to work as we would like in our sector. But let me tell you, EVERY MOMENT WAS COMPLETELY WORTH IT. I LOVE CHRISTMASTIME IT IS THE BEST EVER.
I'll start telling you all about the Christmas party. It was pretty classic, we were all to come dressed in red and white, we sang Christmas hymns, there was a big slideshow video of a bunch of pictures that we have all taken this last year; about a month ago, the assistants started emailing us all, asking for our best pictures from 2014. Then they put them all in a slideshow and we all had a good laugh at some of them. Half of the pictures were of food that we were all about to eat...ya know. Mish life. President and Hermana Barreros gave great talks about how He is THE GIFT of Christmas. We even had a special visit from the Santiago temple president and his wife, who also talked about the grand gift of Jesús Christ. We did a white elephant gift Exchange (I got a box of bon bons. Merry Christmas to ME.) And we finished it all off with Silent Night. We do Christmas parties right here in Oeste.
And then there were the four Christmas Choir performances that we did...oh my goodness, people. It was the best experience that I have ever had singing in a choir. And I honestly didn't think that anything could top singing in A Capella choir my senior year. YEAH. IT WAS THAT GOOD. We sang (in Spanish, but for y'all, I will obviously write it in English) Worship the King (look it up, its great!), Far Far Away on Judea's Plains, O Come All Ye Faithful, Away in a Manger, Joy to The World, Oh Come Emmanuel, Silent Night, Oh Holy Night, and the First Noel. I just wish that you all could have been there, because it was one of the most spiritually fulfilling moments of my life. For REAL though. I love Christmas. I love music. I love those two things put together. On top of that, it was a choir of missionaries TESTIFYING THROUGH SONG.
It.
Does.
Not.
Get.
Better.
It was also just fun...the performances ended late so we had to do some sleepovers in other sister missionaries' pensions, and the first night, it was 10 girls. 10 CHOIR girls. So much fun. We made french toast for breakfast that morning. The next night, it was just 6. But we woke up and had the most delightful conversation of just sharing our testimonies and discussing the scriptures. I mean, really, what 19-21 year old girls DO that? We really are a very peculiar people. But it was delightful. Out of the many blessings that I have received due to serving this misión, one of them is the fact that I have made so many life-long friends. Life is beautiful.
To end, I would like to share a thought with you all. I had a speaking part in the musical program where I was to quote the first paragraph from Jesús is the Christ...every single Word in that statement is beautiful and I am positive that they studied it out and planned it all and prayerfully pondered on how they shall Word exactly how they wanted to testify of our Savior...and my favorite part of what I shared was where it says that there is no other individual that has ever lived that has made such an impact on everyone who has and shall live.}
I want to share my testimony...
I know that my Redeemer lives. I know He loves me. I know He loves all of us. I also know that we have a very loving Father in Heaven who is so full of mercy as to send His only Begotten Son to live, die, resurrect and give us all the hope of eternal life. I know that Christ is my Savior. I know that he knows us. And I know that He is The Gift.
El es la Dadiva.
Feliz Navidad a todos...que recuerden a Cristo este año.
Entonces sea directo, permanezca radical, haga lo que hace, y sea una LUZ.
Con Amor-
Hermana Harkins
I'll start telling you all about the Christmas party. It was pretty classic, we were all to come dressed in red and white, we sang Christmas hymns, there was a big slideshow video of a bunch of pictures that we have all taken this last year; about a month ago, the assistants started emailing us all, asking for our best pictures from 2014. Then they put them all in a slideshow and we all had a good laugh at some of them. Half of the pictures were of food that we were all about to eat...ya know. Mish life. President and Hermana Barreros gave great talks about how He is THE GIFT of Christmas. We even had a special visit from the Santiago temple president and his wife, who also talked about the grand gift of Jesús Christ. We did a white elephant gift Exchange (I got a box of bon bons. Merry Christmas to ME.) And we finished it all off with Silent Night. We do Christmas parties right here in Oeste.
And then there were the four Christmas Choir performances that we did...oh my goodness, people. It was the best experience that I have ever had singing in a choir. And I honestly didn't think that anything could top singing in A Capella choir my senior year. YEAH. IT WAS THAT GOOD. We sang (in Spanish, but for y'all, I will obviously write it in English) Worship the King (look it up, its great!), Far Far Away on Judea's Plains, O Come All Ye Faithful, Away in a Manger, Joy to The World, Oh Come Emmanuel, Silent Night, Oh Holy Night, and the First Noel. I just wish that you all could have been there, because it was one of the most spiritually fulfilling moments of my life. For REAL though. I love Christmas. I love music. I love those two things put together. On top of that, it was a choir of missionaries TESTIFYING THROUGH SONG.
It.
Does.
Not.
Get.
Better.
It was also just fun...the performances ended late so we had to do some sleepovers in other sister missionaries' pensions, and the first night, it was 10 girls. 10 CHOIR girls. So much fun. We made french toast for breakfast that morning. The next night, it was just 6. But we woke up and had the most delightful conversation of just sharing our testimonies and discussing the scriptures. I mean, really, what 19-21 year old girls DO that? We really are a very peculiar people. But it was delightful. Out of the many blessings that I have received due to serving this misión, one of them is the fact that I have made so many life-long friends. Life is beautiful.
To end, I would like to share a thought with you all. I had a speaking part in the musical program where I was to quote the first paragraph from Jesús is the Christ...every single Word in that statement is beautiful and I am positive that they studied it out and planned it all and prayerfully pondered on how they shall Word exactly how they wanted to testify of our Savior...and my favorite part of what I shared was where it says that there is no other individual that has ever lived that has made such an impact on everyone who has and shall live.}
I want to share my testimony...
I know that my Redeemer lives. I know He loves me. I know He loves all of us. I also know that we have a very loving Father in Heaven who is so full of mercy as to send His only Begotten Son to live, die, resurrect and give us all the hope of eternal life. I know that Christ is my Savior. I know that he knows us. And I know that He is The Gift.
El es la Dadiva.
Feliz Navidad a todos...que recuerden a Cristo este año.
Entonces sea directo, permanezca radical, haga lo que hace, y sea una LUZ.
Con Amor-
Hermana Harkins
 |
| Me and my comp at the misión Christmas party |
 |
| Me braiding hna hardens hair in the bathroom before a choir performance...ya know. mish life. |
 |
| Friday morning...because of the choir, we had to do a huge sleepover in a pension in Talagante. This was in the morning...I am obviously Reading scriptures out loud as Hermana Durham is making french toast for 10 sister missionaries. |
 |
| Christmas grafiti :) I love my Chile |
 |
| Taking advantage of the short time that we had on Saturday morning to work in our sector...we literally knocked doors as I held my pillow in my arms. You get to a point where you just dont get EMBARASSED anymore. |
 |
| Me with some choir friends and my comp :) |
 |
| I found a Street called California! |
Monday, December 15, 2014
Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room
We woke up pretty early today to make it to one of my Christmas choir concerts that we had in the morning, and I am way tired, but you know what? I am full of all sorts of Christmas cheer, and it makes it SO worth it. Also, the words to the hymns in Spanish are similar but don't always have exactly the same meaning, and I have really relished this Christmas season, pondering over the words to the Christmas songs and hymns that I just love so much. Ya know. It's just the most wonderful time of the year.
So this week, we have really cracked down and started sharing the He is The Gift (El es la Dadiva) with the entire world.
He is the Gift Video
And it is AMAZING. I am almost positive that all y'all have seen it, but I am still requesting that it be posted to my blog (please and thank you, parents of mine!). It gives me chills every single time we watch it, and at this point, we have watched it at least 50 times in our teaching and contacting and such. Guys, it is the BEST. We have found an amazing way to share the message that has proven to help those we teach feel the spirit of Christmas and also feel a desire to do something more than just decorate the house, eat yummy food and give gifts to their seres queridos.
We are doing a STOCKING FOR CHRIST.
For real. Keeping that good 'ol Harkins Home tradition alive and spreading it around our whole ward. We have a white stocking, we walk around everywhere with it and little index cards and tons of pens. We talk to EVERYONE about He is The Gift, we share the video (we have it on a little pen drive, we are radical modern here in Chile Santiago West Mission), and then we read in Matthew 2 about the 3 wise men and those classic gifts that they gave. The most precious, valuable, things that they could imagine to give to the Son of God. And then we explain how the stocking ties into it all. You write down on your index card a gift that YOU want to give to Christ...something personal, something that requires effort (like going to church every Sunday, reading your scriptures, being a better disciple of Christ, its between you and your Redeemer)...something precious and valuable that you want to give to your Savior for Christmas. And you put it in the stocking.
In my family, the tradition is that before we put our cards in the stocking, we take out our cards from the year before. And we read them to see if we had accomplished what we promised to do. Whenever we get to explaining that part of the stocking tradition, they always get really silent and serious. And that is when you can see on their faces that they are really thinking about what it is that they can give to Jesus Christ. It is in that moment that we give them the cards and the assignment to ponder and pray over what it is that they will give, write it down, and put it in the stocking the next time we come. When Christmas is over, we are going to store the stocking in the cabinet in our study room with instructions on how the stocking works, and that they are to pass all the cards back so that everyone can check and see if they completed what it is that they promised.
COOL, RIGHT? Christmas is the best. I feel like I just didn't take advantage of the Holiday Season last December, we are just ChristmasChristmasChristmas here in El Manzano! Working hard with He is The Gift and with our little white stocking, and we have had all sorts of amazing experiences, helping others to feel the REAL spirit of Christmas.
One of those experiences happened this last Saturday night. It was 8:58, we were just about to our pension to finish up for the day, and we start talking to the family that lives in the house in front of us. Mom, dad and their son, all sitting together on their front porch swing, enjoying the cool evening air. It was awesome, because as soon as we said hello, the mom stood up and told her husband to go get the keys to open the door. We literally had barely said "hola", and it was as if they were just waiting for us to talk to them to share the good tidings! I LOVE that! So we go in, we get to know them and we explain our purpose as missionaries, and then we dive right into talking about Christmas. Their house had exploded with Christmas decorations; a tall tree, lights inside and out, lots of little Santa and Reindeer and Snowman decorations...you could tell that they are into the holidays.
We ended up not being able to share the video...interesting how Satan controls technology. First their tv USB jack wasn't working, then the Internet wouldn't connect, we even had our min DVD player that has a USB jack that usually works, but in that moment, it just wasn't happening. But that's OK! Because we have the scriptures and our testimonies, and that requires absolutely nothing from technology's wonders! HA! So we shared in Alma 7:10-13 and in Isaiah about the prophesy of Christ's birth. We had a great, open conversation with them about Him as our Savior, she being Catholic and he being Evangelist. But they were really eager to talk to us and to listen to the message that we had.
At one point, she said "You know, up until this very moment, the thought of Christmas celebrating Christ's birth never entered my mind. We get all hyped up for the tree and the presents, but we so easily lose our focus on the true meaning." Talk about WOW! I love when the spirit guides us to those that are ready, and then works so efficiently in their hearts to help them acknowledge the beauty of the message that we bring, and help them to WANT more. To want to listen not only to the message of He is The Gift, but to want to hear about the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation, to feel a true desire to press on in this path, to enter through the covenant of baptism, to endure to the end and live in the presence of God.
And all because a loving Father sent His son.
Church is true, folks :) Be Bold, Stay Rad, Do what you do and Let your Light So Shine :)
Hermana Harkins
So this week, we have really cracked down and started sharing the He is The Gift (El es la Dadiva) with the entire world.
He is the Gift Video
And it is AMAZING. I am almost positive that all y'all have seen it, but I am still requesting that it be posted to my blog (please and thank you, parents of mine!). It gives me chills every single time we watch it, and at this point, we have watched it at least 50 times in our teaching and contacting and such. Guys, it is the BEST. We have found an amazing way to share the message that has proven to help those we teach feel the spirit of Christmas and also feel a desire to do something more than just decorate the house, eat yummy food and give gifts to their seres queridos.
We are doing a STOCKING FOR CHRIST.
For real. Keeping that good 'ol Harkins Home tradition alive and spreading it around our whole ward. We have a white stocking, we walk around everywhere with it and little index cards and tons of pens. We talk to EVERYONE about He is The Gift, we share the video (we have it on a little pen drive, we are radical modern here in Chile Santiago West Mission), and then we read in Matthew 2 about the 3 wise men and those classic gifts that they gave. The most precious, valuable, things that they could imagine to give to the Son of God. And then we explain how the stocking ties into it all. You write down on your index card a gift that YOU want to give to Christ...something personal, something that requires effort (like going to church every Sunday, reading your scriptures, being a better disciple of Christ, its between you and your Redeemer)...something precious and valuable that you want to give to your Savior for Christmas. And you put it in the stocking.
In my family, the tradition is that before we put our cards in the stocking, we take out our cards from the year before. And we read them to see if we had accomplished what we promised to do. Whenever we get to explaining that part of the stocking tradition, they always get really silent and serious. And that is when you can see on their faces that they are really thinking about what it is that they can give to Jesus Christ. It is in that moment that we give them the cards and the assignment to ponder and pray over what it is that they will give, write it down, and put it in the stocking the next time we come. When Christmas is over, we are going to store the stocking in the cabinet in our study room with instructions on how the stocking works, and that they are to pass all the cards back so that everyone can check and see if they completed what it is that they promised.
COOL, RIGHT? Christmas is the best. I feel like I just didn't take advantage of the Holiday Season last December, we are just ChristmasChristmasChristmas here in El Manzano! Working hard with He is The Gift and with our little white stocking, and we have had all sorts of amazing experiences, helping others to feel the REAL spirit of Christmas.
One of those experiences happened this last Saturday night. It was 8:58, we were just about to our pension to finish up for the day, and we start talking to the family that lives in the house in front of us. Mom, dad and their son, all sitting together on their front porch swing, enjoying the cool evening air. It was awesome, because as soon as we said hello, the mom stood up and told her husband to go get the keys to open the door. We literally had barely said "hola", and it was as if they were just waiting for us to talk to them to share the good tidings! I LOVE that! So we go in, we get to know them and we explain our purpose as missionaries, and then we dive right into talking about Christmas. Their house had exploded with Christmas decorations; a tall tree, lights inside and out, lots of little Santa and Reindeer and Snowman decorations...you could tell that they are into the holidays.
We ended up not being able to share the video...interesting how Satan controls technology. First their tv USB jack wasn't working, then the Internet wouldn't connect, we even had our min DVD player that has a USB jack that usually works, but in that moment, it just wasn't happening. But that's OK! Because we have the scriptures and our testimonies, and that requires absolutely nothing from technology's wonders! HA! So we shared in Alma 7:10-13 and in Isaiah about the prophesy of Christ's birth. We had a great, open conversation with them about Him as our Savior, she being Catholic and he being Evangelist. But they were really eager to talk to us and to listen to the message that we had.
At one point, she said "You know, up until this very moment, the thought of Christmas celebrating Christ's birth never entered my mind. We get all hyped up for the tree and the presents, but we so easily lose our focus on the true meaning." Talk about WOW! I love when the spirit guides us to those that are ready, and then works so efficiently in their hearts to help them acknowledge the beauty of the message that we bring, and help them to WANT more. To want to listen not only to the message of He is The Gift, but to want to hear about the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation, to feel a true desire to press on in this path, to enter through the covenant of baptism, to endure to the end and live in the presence of God.
And all because a loving Father sent His son.
Church is true, folks :) Be Bold, Stay Rad, Do what you do and Let your Light So Shine :)
Hermana Harkins
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