Week 53: 1 Year!

Hello!
How is everyone doing? I hope you're all enjoying your summer!

This week we had exchanges with the Concord sisters! I went to Concord
with Sis. Castillo. The Concord sisters were super low on miles for
their car so we walked everywhere! And oh my goodness it was so
stinking hot! We saw this cute older lady, named Sis. Delevan, and we
had dinner with the Mennis'. Good exchange!

On Friday we had dinner with the Cards and they're super awesome! Bro.
and Sis. Card are converts and they have a cute little girl. We shared
the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis burying their weapons of war. It was
so sweet and the spirit was so strong! Bro. Card made a great comment
about how the Anti-Nephi-Lehis were firm and immovable, and he related
it to our own testimonies and conversion. Do we just have firm
testimonies, or are we firm and immovable?

On Saturday we had dinner with the Rose family and they are awesome!
It was the day before fast Sunday, and we shared Alma 45:1 with them.
It talks about how the Nephites fasted to give thanks. For me
personally, I don't think I've ever fasted to give thanks; I usually
fast for blessings for myself and others. So we all decided to include
gratitude in our fasts! Then Sis. Rose committed all of us to make a
list of 10 things we are grateful for (not including Heavenly Father,
family, and church, because those are pretty obvious). They invited us
over for crepes on Sunday, so we all shared our gratitude lists with
each other. And she committed us to share our lists in our emails
today, so here's mine! (And yeah a lot of mine are pretty churchy
haha.)

1) The Book of Mormon, because it draws me closer to my Heavenly
Father and Jesus Christ and it's the greatest book ever!
2) Pres. Stoker, because he is the best mission president ever! And he
cares so much for all the missionaries
3) my patriarchal blessing, because it gives me so much peace and comfort
4) prophets and apostles, because they lead us and guide us in righteousness
5) The Atonement, because it helps me become who God knows I can be
6) a car, because biking in New England would be ridiculous haha!
7) an apartment, so we have a place to live
8) technology, so I can talk to my friends and family each week!
9) temples, so that families can be together forever
10) to be a a missionary, because it's the greatest calling in the world!

Well, this past week marks one year since I entered the MTC. It's been
very humbling reflecting on this past year. I think of the many
wonderful people I've met and taught, my amazing companions, and how
much my testimony has grown. This has truly been such an amazing year!
It hasn't been the easiest, but it has been the most rewarding. I love
being a missionary! I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who
answered my prayers and called me to serve. My life has been so
blessed because of this amazing opportunity to serve the Lord and His
children.

I know that God is real. He is our Heavenly Father and He loves us
with an infinite and eternal love. I know that He has a perfect plan
for us. It is through our Savior Jesus Christ and His gospel that we
can return to live with our Heavenly Father again. The Lord lives and
loves you! I hope you all have a great week! Love you!
Love, Sister Harper

Here is my new address!
5 Heartwood Lane #91
Penacook, NH 03303

Week 52: Hanover!

Hi everyone!
Wow this week was crazy busy and crazy awesome! On Tuesday night Iwent to Hanover and was in a trio with them until Wednesday night. Itwas super weird but super fun being in my old apartment and old area!Wednesday we had our zone meeting and I gave a training on Jacob 5. Itwent really well! Jacob 5 is so awesome!

Week 51: I'm Back in New Hampshire!!!

Hello!

How is everyone doing? I hope you're all enjoying your summer!Transfers were this past Tuesday and I am back in New Hampshire! I'mserving in the Canterbury ward. We live in a little town calledPenacook and it's right next to Concord. My companion is Sis. McVeyand she's from California (my first companion that's not from Utah orIdaho!) and she's been out for 10 months. We have a mission wide jokethat some missionaries get stuck in the "Maine trap" where they spendall or most of their mission in Maine. I'm kinda doing the oppositesince I've spent most of my mission in New Hampshire. I'm in the NewHampshire trap haha! New Hampshire's awesome and it's good to be back,even though I do kinda miss Maine. But the cool thing is that we'll beable to go to the temple since we're a lot closer! I haven't been in10 months and I miss it so much! Sis. McVey and I are planning ongoing sometime in August!
This week we've been trying to see a lot of members so I can get toknow the ward. We saw a lot of less actives. We taught the Restorationto the Kennisons and it was awesome! We also saw Sis. Ryder and she isthe cutest, funniest, and sassiest elderly lady ever! We sang somehymns and read part of the Book of Mormon. We also met with theBrouillard family. Bro. and Sis. Brouillard are coming back to churchand Sis. McVey said that Sis. Brouillard makes the best homemadewhoopie pies ever! I'm super excited to try them! The older Brouillardkids, Owen (11) and Cole (9) just got baptized in May! They're a superawesome family and they have us over for dinner every week! We metwith Sis. Levan who also just got baptized in May! She's super cuteand we had a great lesson on the Plan of Salvation with her!
So Sis. McVey and I are serving as Sister Training Leaders, which arekinda like zone leaders. We're over the sisters in the Concord Northand Concord South zones. We go on exchanges with them and we alsopresent trainings at meetings, like zone interviews and zoneconferences. On Wednesday this week we're having zone meeting. So fromTuesday to Wednesday, I'm going to be in a trio with the Hanoversisters, and Sis. McVey is going to be in a trio with the Concordsisters. That way we can attend and present trainings at both zonemeetings. I'm super excited to be able to go back to Hanover for aday! That'll be so weird going back to my first area! I'm kindafreaking out about doing my first training by myself and so early onin the transfer. But we've been doing a ton off prep so hopefullyit'll go great!
We had a super sweet miracle! We were out contacting a potentialinvestigator, but she didn't live there anymore. We talked to theperson who did live there, Hailey, but she said she wasn't interested.Then Sis. McVey asked if she knew anyone who had a recent death intheir family (a good way to receive referrals and find newinvestigators is to ask questions like "do you know of anyone who hashad a recent birth or death in the family, or someone who has justmoved into a new home?") Hailey started crying and said that hergrandpa passed away about 2 months ago. We told her that we teachabout the Plan of Salvation, which is a message about hope and eternalfamilies. She said that we could come back and we have a returnappointment with her! Yay!
Also super cool thing! Now that we have our iPads, we're able to checkemail throughout the week, but only respond on Mondays. So feel freeto email me whenever! We can also use iMessage! So for those of whowho have iPhones or iPads you can message me on Monday mornings!
I hope you're all doing well and have a super great week! Have a happyPioneer Day on Friday! Love you all!Love, Sister Harper

Week 50: Off to Area #4 and Companion #7!

Hello!

Well, we got the transfer call on Saturday. I am getting transferred and will be serving as a sister training leader! As a sister training leader, I'll be able to go on about 4 exchanges each transfer, so that'll be fun! I'm excited to be able to serve in a new area, but it's always sad to leave. I really have loved serving in Augusta and the Farmingdale ward. I've learned a lot here and I truly love the people here. I'm also so grateful I've been able to serve with Sis. Cannell for the past 3 months! She's so great and we both have grown a lot together! I will definitely miss having her as my companion. Transfers are tomorrow, so I'll let you know next week where I end up and who my new companion is! We're thinking I'm going to Montpelier, VT, but we'll see what happens!

Exciting news this week! Janice got a calling! She'll be serving as a ward missionary! We're so excited for her! She sent us this text yesterday, "Having a calling makes me feel like I am part of the church. I was scared what [the bishop] would say but I am happy that I can serve my Lord. I pray I will be a good example." Janice is so awesome! This week we set goals for her to go to the temple and we even set a date for her to go to the temple for her endowment! It's going to be May 7, 2016! Sis. Cannell and I are so excited to be able to come back and go to the temple with her! I am going to miss her so much! She's our little miracle and I will be forever grateful that we found her!

Yesterday Sis. Cannell and I did a special musical number in sacrament meeting. We sang "I Need Thee Every Hour" a capella and it went really well! Everyone loved it! I'm so grateful for the gift of music and just how much it brings the spirit! 🎶

So funny story. We were out tracting for a few hours and it was super hot! So now I have this super awkward tan line on my chest from the shoulder strap on my purse! I also have 2 tan lines on my feet from a couple different pairs of shoes haha! It's great! #missionaryprobs

Another funny story! We were walking into the food bank to do service and this lady called out to us and said, "Are you Christians?" "Yes," we said. "Okay, cause you look like one!" Haha it was so random but so great!

Another cool thing! We had dinner this week with a member and she made this really yummy bbq pork. The bbq sauce she made had this Ethiopian spice in it called bebere (spelling?) and it was super good!

Well I think that's all for this week! Gotta go finish packing! Let's hope it all fits! 😬 I love you all! Have a great week!

💕 Sister Harper

Week 49: Happy 4th of July!

Hi everyone!
I hope you all had a great 4th of July! We saw a ton of people that
day! And then we had a really good bbq dinner at our ward mission
leaders house. We weren't able to see any fireworks, because our
apartment is on the first floor and there's a ton of trees in the way.
But we sure could hear them haha!

Well, this week was a pretty typical week, nothing super exciting. But
we did get a new investigator! His name is Brad and he's 12. His mom
is less active and his older sister is mostly active. He wants to get
baptized so he can pass the sacrament! We're super exciting to keep
teaching him and preparing him for baptism!

Janice is doing great! We're starting Personal Progress with her and
also a few other sisters in the ward. Janice should be getting a
calling soon and she wants to start working on her family history!
Yay! And we're super excited this week, because we're going to start
setting goals and making plans for her to go to the temple! Sis.
Cannell and I have basically planned out our trip to Boston to go to
the temple with Janice haha! I'm so excited to go to the temple with
Janice someday! It'll be so awesome!

With 4th of July this week, I've been pondering a lot about the
Restoration. It's so cool how Heavenly Father planned out every detail
for the Restoration to happen. 1 Nephi 13 talks a lot about the
pilgrims and the Revolutionary war and it's so awesome! I'm so
grateful to live and serve in a free nation!

Right now I'm reading the war chapters in Alma. I used to not like
them, but now I think they're pretty awesome! I really love Alma
50:1-12, and we can relate it to building our spiritual fortifications
to defend ourselves against temptation. Captain Moroni builds these
super huge fortifications in every city to protect them against the
Lamanites. He starts with a giant dirt mound surrounding the city.
These mounds are so high that you can't even shoot an arrow over them!
But Moroni doesn't stop there. He builds tall timbers and pickets and
towers on top of the dirt. Then his armies built a fortification in
the wilderness to cut off the Lamanites so they wouldn't even get
close to the city. Holy moly so much preparation! But we should do the
same things to protect ourselves spiritually. We should build our
fortification with prayer, scripture study, church attendance, temple
attendance, faith, repentance, obedience and many other things! That
will help us to stay strong and victorious against the adversary!

Well, transfer calls are this Saturday... Sis. Cannell and I are
pretty sure that we're not staying together another transfer, but we
don't know who's staying and who's leaving. We'll find out later this
week! I love you all and have a fantastic week!
Love, Sister Harper

Week 48

Hey everyone!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes! It was a good birthday! The Elders made me a giant whoopie pie cake! It was pretty good but it was so huge! Then we had a yummy dinner with Sis. Austin! Okay but here's the funny/sad part. We got a voicemail from our investigator, Terry, and he dropped us. :( I was so sad because Terry seemed so solid! But yeah, I got dumped on my birthday on my mission haha! Oh well! He'll accept the gospel someday!

my whoopie pie cake from the Elders

We had zone conference on Tuesday and it was great! President Stoker taught about repentance and how it is a glorious positive! Here are some of my notes:

-Jude 1:22 "And some have compassion, making a difference."

-God loves us because He sees what we can become

-Joseph Smith learned and received revelations because of his desire to repent and change

-salvation is a personal matter, exaltation is a family matter

-Ezekiel 33:8-11 "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live."

-you can know how strong your faith is by how strong your desire to repent is

-Isaish 1:18 scarlet-bright, easily noticed sin; white as snow-clean, new, unexpected; crimson-dark, concealed, secret sin; wool-a process of shearing, sorting, cleansing, bleaching and combing, a process

-"There is nothing exempt from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the Atonement." Pres. Boyd K. Packer

-the Lord does not punish us for our sins, He simply withholds His blessings and we punish ourselves

-failure is not a person, it's an incident

-"Repentance is rarely a voice of chastisement, but a loving appeal to return to God." Elder Neal L. Andersen 

I also got to see Sis. Craig at zone conference!

We saw a bunch of less actives this week! Janice is doing great! We committed her to write her conversion story and she started the other day! I can't wait to read it! Here's one of Janice's texts from this week, "The spirit has lead me closer to God and make me wants to do what is pleasing to my Heavenly Father. I love my Heavenly Father and am so glad an happy that He has given me this chance to grow closer to Him. Have a happy, safe, great day. I love you and am so grateful that the doors never got shut on me." Isn't she so awesome?! I love her so much and her strong testimony!

Well, we heard about the Supreme Court decision this week. The Church put out this statement about it, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints acknowledges that following today's ruling by the Supreme Court, same-sex marriages are now legal in the United States. The Court's decision does not alter the Lord's doctrine that marriage is a union between a man and a woman ordained by God. While showing respect for those who think differently, the Church will continue to teach and promote marriage between a man and a woman as a central part of our doctrine and practice." When I heard about this, the first thing I thought of was this last General Conference and how it was all centered around the family. Sis. Bonnie L. Oscarson gave a talk called "Defenders of the Family Proclamation" and we all need to be defenders of the family proclamation! It's no coincidence that we received such important instruction about the family at last conference. The leaders of the church are truly inspired and they know what we need in our day. 

I found this scripture in my personal study yesterday. It gave me so much peace and comfort and helped me know of my Savior's love! D&C 29:1, " Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the Great I Am, whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins." The Atonement is real and it is for you! I love the Lord and know that He lives! 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Love, Sister Harper