Week 35: Are You Ready for Revelation Weedend?

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a super fantastic week! I hear that the weather out west is super nice! It's been getting warmer here, but the nicest it's been has been like 50s. I'm ready for some warmer weather!

Okay, so I can't believe that last week I forgot to tell you guys this! We got 2 new investigators last week! There names are Leah and Raj. I think I told you guys about Leah a couple weeks ago, but I can't remember. They are so awesome! They're from India and they have this cute little girl named Maya. And they gave us homemade Indian food! It was so good! So anyways, we taught them the Restoration and it was seriously the coolest lesson ever! The spirit was there in abundance! After the lesson, Leah said that earlier she had a lot on her mind before, but after the lesson she felt very calm and peaceful. Yes that's the spirit! Oh my goodness, seriously it was such an awesome lesson! 

One day this week Sis. Bee and I were out tracting and she said that there was a less active named Naomi that lived nearby, so we decided to stop by and see how she was doing. We had a great visit with her! We showed the "Mountains to Climb" Mormon Message and she loved it!  http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/mountains-to-climb-2 

Then before we left she said that God works in mysterious ways and that we were basically an answer to her prayers. That was so sweet! And it really just strengthens my testimony of how important it is to follow spiritual promptings, because by doing so we can really help bless the lives of others.

This past week the church came out with an awesome new Easter video called "He Lives." It's so good and I love it! Please watch it and share it with others! http://www.mormon.org/easter

I love this video because it shows that Christ is with us every step of the way in our lives. I know that that is so true! Christ really is in the details of our lives. I hope you all will really take some time this week to ponder about the Savior Jesus Christ and your personal relationship with him. And please share your testimony of the Savior this week! It doesn't matter if it's in person or through social media, just share your testimony of the living Christ! Help spread his light and his love! I know that Jesus Christ lives and the he lives for you and me! And he is always there, every step of the way with us!

I hope everyone's getting excited for General Conference this weekend! Please take the time to watch it! And this week start thinking of questions to ask during conference. The things that will be spoken this weekend are inspired, and are specifically for you directly from your Heavenly Father! 

Lately I've been studying in 3 Nephi where Christ is ministering among the Nephites. I love 3 Nephi 13:31-33 which says,"31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." The Lord is aware of our needs, but promises to take care of us when we seek him first. I know that this is so true! Once I made the decision to serve a mission, then everything with BYU fell into place. I know that that was the Lord blessing me for seeking the kingdom of heaven first. Remember to always put your trust in the Lord and put him first! Have an eternal perspective in mind and I know he will bless you!

I gotta get going, but I hope you all have a fabulous week! Happy General Conference and Happy Easter! Love you all!

Love, Sister Harper

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Week 34: Embrace Divine Chastening!

Hey everybody!

Happy spring! Saturday was officially the first day of spring, but it's still freezing here in Maine so it doesn't feel like spring at all! There's huge snow banks everywhere and they probably won't melt until like July haha!

Wednesday we had Zone Conference! It was so so good! Here are some of my notes!

-focus on who you're serving and you will lose all fear

-how can I increase in love for those around me? 1) pray for them 2) recognize that they're sons and daughters of God 3) ask questions about them 4) remember why you love them 5) smile and be happy!

-include the Savior in your planning and decision making

-D&C 20:37 we do not have the authority to baptize those who are not ready or are not prepared

-decisions lead to priorities, priorities lead to choices, choices lead to actions

-"a successful person makes a habit of what a failing person doesn't like to do" Thomas Eddison

-goals reflect your desire and vision

-your patriarchal blessing is Heavenly Father's long term vision for you

-goals need to be believable, attainable, challenging, and based on need

-"it is in doing, not thinking, that we achieve our goals" Pres. Monson

-life without goals is trivia

-accountability is fundamental to God's plan

-the only measure of success is what you're doing compared to your true potential

-when you're being obedient, you'll be able to fulfill your goals

-embrace divine chastening

-"we have been commanded to be a record keeping people" Wilford Woodruff

-information precedes inspiration 

-we don't receive blessings when we are ungrateful or disobedient 

-if you want blessings, live the commandment that's linked with that blessing

-planning combines vision and effort

-pure desires help us endure opposition 

-it's okay to stop and pray!

-when you come to a meeting and the Lord doesn't chasten you, then you're not listening

-come=sacrifice, follow me=consecration

I love Zone Conferences! It was so spiritually uplifting, but I also learned that there are a lot of things that I can improve on. I love what Pres. Stoker said, that if we don't feel chastened after meetings, then it means we weren't listening. Heavenly Father wants us to learn, grow and progress. And sometimes He kinda gets in our face a chastens us, but it's because He loves us so much and He wants to bless us for our progress. I did a Topical Guide study on chastening this week and I found some super cool scriptures!

Job 5:17

Proverbs 3:11

Psalm 94:12

Hebrews 12:6

Revelations 3:19

Mosiah 23:21

Helaman 15:3 

D&C 1:27

D&C 61:8

D&C 101:5

D&C 105:6

D&C 121:43

D&C 136:31

These scriptures are so awesome! Also there's a new Mormon Message about the 10 commandments that is so cool! Here's the link, make sure and watch it! 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/obedience-to-the-ten-commandments

Okay one quick tender mercy that happened yesterday! We were out tracting and the wind was blowing like crazy! It was so cold! We both thought about just getting our 10 ITLs (invitation to learn) and then going in the car and making phone calls or doing something warm before our dinner appointment. But then we both decided to embrace the cold and keep tracting until we needed to leave for dinner. And shortly after we decided to keep working the wind stopped blowing! I know that that was the Lord blessing us for working hard and being obedient!

Sorry I'm out of time! I love you all and hope you have a great week! And sisters! Don't forget to watch the General Women's Broadcast on Saturday! 

Love, Sister Harper

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

So New Englanders have the most random customized license plates! We found on that said "Tis True" and we're like you know what's true? The Book of Mormon!!!

Look at this cute dog!!! His name is Peanut and he literally fits in the palm of my hand!

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Week 33: I'm in Maine!!!

Hey everyone!

Transfers were last Tuesday and now I'm in Augusta, ME! Our area is Augusta and a couple neighboring towns, but we're actually part of the Farmingdale Ward. My new companion is Sis. Bee! She is from Tremonton, UT and has been out for almost 5 months. She is so awesome and so cute! We work so well together and I just love her! She is seriously an answer to my prayers and I feel so blessed to get to serve with her!

So I remembered my notebook today yay! And I want to share with you my notes from the big mission conference a couple weeks ago cause it was just too awesome!

Elder Grant Bennett 

-the church is a lifelong leadership training program

-we all have the Holy Ghost as our tutor and the scriptures are our textbook

-you can't fail if you're built on the rock of the gospel

Bishop Causse

-when you've made covenants, then an invitation from the Lord becomes a command (Alma 5:62)

-a covenant is an eternal yes to the Lord

-transformation happens when we benefit from the Atonement

Elder Donald L. Hallstrom

-the Holy Ghost is the ultimate teacher

-church meetings are for instruction and edification on how we should act (D&C 43:8)

-teach so that people have a desire to be lifted up

-when you are humble enough to change, then the spirit can be the true teacher

-"faith is a principle of action and power" Joseph Smith

-you can receive answers during church meetings if you are faithful (D&C 44:2)

-you can know that you are feeling the spirit if you have the desire to repent

-always sings hymns in church so that you don't deny yourself from feeling the spirit

-do not miss opportunities to feel the spirit!

-the Lord will love you forever

-when you know who you are, you will never think about quitting

-don't let anything conflict with you ability to receive revelation

-we all have access to the Atonement and can be whole

So yeah mission conference was pretty awesome! And then this weekend we had stake conference so I want to share some of my notes from that too!

-the best way to teach the gospel is by example

-we all can be angels to help bear others up (D&C 84:88)

-trials bring conversion

-if you haven't felt the Holy Ghost is your life, then you're not applying the Atonement

-the strength of the church starts in the home

-you don't have to be a full-time missionary to receive full-time blessings from the Lord

-conversion=the desire to do good continually

-conversion is not just a change of belief, but a change of attitude

-those that are truly converted to the Savior and His gospel will never fall away

-a testimony is to know and feel, conversion is to do and become

-as we come to know the Savior, we will have the desire to change and to share it with others

-the Book of Mormon 1) helps us know Christ 2) gives us hope 3) helps us be wise 4) teaches us of God's love and patience 5) gives us a knowledge of the Restoration

Yay stake conference! Okay so Sis. Bee and I had some really sweet miracles yesterday! We saw this couple, Elizabeth and Brandon. The sisters before me have stopped by their apartment multiple times, but haven't been able to have a lesson with both of them. So last night we showed them the "Because of Him" video, and then the rest of the lesson was totally by the spirit! We started talking about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and the spirit was just so strong! Elizabeth and Brandon are so prepared to receive the gospel, it's so awesome! We invited them to read the Book of Mormon and they accepted! We're seeing them again in a couple weeks and I'm super excited! I'm not doing a very good job at describing this awesome lesson with them haha, but it's times like those that make me love being a missionary and help me know that this really is the Lord's work. 

After Elizabeth and Brandon, we decided to tract for a little bit. We did a few houses and then it was getting late and kinda dark. But we decided that we would do one more house. A man answered the door and he was on the phone. He knew that we were Mormons and he said that his girlfriend is a Mormon. Turns out that his girlfriend (Peggy) is a less-active in the ward and he was on the phone with her when we tracted into him! Sis. Bee talked to Peggy on the phone for a minute, and Peggy said that her boyfriend needs the gospel and she wants him to meet with the missionaries! Holy cow! I am so grateful that we knocked on his door! We're going to talk with Peggy this week and see if we can meet with her and her boyfriend soon. I feel like huge miracles are on their way!

Well we gotta get going! I hope you all are doing well and have a Happy St. Patrick's Day! Love you all!

Love, Sister Harper

 

Week 32: I'm Getting Transfered!

Hello everybody!

Oh my goodness! This last week was super crazy but super awesome too! We got to see a lot of people and we had some really good lessons this week! Probably my favorite lesson this week was with our investigator, Gigi. We taught the Restoration and the member that came with us, Sis. Spencer, bore such powerful testimony! Oh my goodness the spirit was so strong! 

Definitely the highlight of the week was the mission conference on Saturday! It was so much fun to see all of the missionaries! I'm so mad, I forgot my notebook today, so I can't share with you my notes from the conference. Pres. Stoker asked us to come to the conference with a question, and mine was which Christlike attribute should I work on next transfer. And I got my answer and my answer is humility! Elder Hallstrom talked a lot about how humility and the ability to feel the spirit go hand in hand. The thing that he said that stuck out the most to me was, "When we are humble enough to change, then the Spirit can really teach us." In Moroni 10:5 we learn that we can know the truth of all things by the power of the Holy Ghost. But we have to be willing to act on the things that we learn and have the desire to change. 

This morning I was reading in Alma 32 and here Alma is teaching the Zoramites. The Zoramites had experienced a lot of afflictions. But Alma knew that their afflictions were for their good. Verse 6 says, "And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word." I love this verse! The times when we are truly humble are the times when we are the most prepared to receive instruction from Heavenly Father. 

Elder Hallstrom talked about Joseph Smith's experience and how he was truly prepared to receive his answer. Joseph Smith wanted to know spiritual truth, but he was prepared to act on the answer he received. He was willing to change based on the knowledge that he received. JSH 1:18 says, "My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join." There have been a lot of times in my life where I've asked the Lord questions and expected to receive an answer. But the times when my prayers were truly answered have been the times when I have been humble and have had the desire to change. And I have been so blessed for acting on the answers that I've received! They've truly changed me and helped me to be a much better person! 

Well, we got transfer calls on Saturday night, and I am getting transferred. I'm really sad to leave Manchester, because I love it here and the people are so awesome! But I am very excited to serve in a new area! I'll let you know next week where I end up! 

Thank you everyone for all of your love, support, and prayers! I love you and miss you all! Have a great week!

Love, Sister Harper

Week 31: Winter's Almost Over

Hello!

Oh my goodness can you believe that it's March already?! Time goes by way too fast! But yay only one more month until General Conference! And yay winter's almost over! We haven't gotten snow for a while now and it's starting to warm up, which makes me super happy!

Well, not a whole lot of excited stuff happened this week. Wednesday to Thursday we had exchanges! I went to Canterbury, NH for the day with Sis. Boyce and it was such a good exchange! We tracted on dirt roads! It's been so long since I've done that! There was one lady who let us in and we got to teach her the Restoration! It was super cool and the spirit was so strong! 

​me and Sis. Boyce on exchange in Canterbury

On Friday we got to do service at New Horizons again and that was a lot of fun! Then Friday evening we had a ward activity and it was a lot of fun! It was Manchester and Bedford wards and we had hot chocolate and treats and games! 

​at the ward activity (R to L: Sis. Young, me, Sis. Marquis, Bro. Young)

Saturday evening we got to go to a baptism for the Bedford ward. The sister that got baptized is named Sherry and she's been investigating  the church for like 8 years or something! And her younger sister and her family (the Reischer's) are in the Manchester ward. It was so cool to see Sis. Reishcer and Sherry sit next to each other at the baptism! They both looked so happy! And oh my goodness the spirit was so strong there! I love baptisms! 

Yesterday we saw one of our investigator families and we read 3 Nephi 11 with them. 3 Nephi 11 is super awesome because it's the beginning of Christ's ministry to the Nephites after his resurrection. At the end of the chapter Christ is telling them his doctrine, which is simply have faith, repent and be baptized. One of the family members made a super awesome comment on this that I love! He said that Christ didn't ask us to not sin, but Christ did ask us to repent. I think that is super cool! Christ understands that we can't be perfect, but he's given us the opportunity to learn, grow and change. Before my mission, I always thought of repentance as this big, scary thing, but it really isn't. Repentance is simply the power to change. Our purpose in life is to learn and to grow, and a lot of times we make mistakes on the way. But because Heavenly Father loves us so much, he's given us the opportunity to overcome those mistakes and to learn from them, and that's through repentance. Repentance is such a huge blessing!!! I love it!

Well I think that's all the exciting stuff that happened. This week is going to be crazy! Tomorrow we're going to be in a trio for the day, and then Saturday we're having a mission wide conference! I'm super excited! Elder Hallstrom from the presidency of the seventy and Bishop Causse from the presiding bishopric are going to be there and it's going to be awesome! And then transfer calls are this Saturday, so we'll see what happens! Sorry this week's email is kinda short, but time's running out! I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Harper