Blessed for Obedience!

Hello everyone!

This week we saw a lot of miracles happen!  Must have been for obedience!

Last p-day after I e-mailed you all, Joseph (one of the ward members) took Elder Thurgood and I mountain biking, and it was legit!!!  So much fun.  It’s not like mountain biking in Utah where you start at the top of the mountain and ride down [guess we didn’t make Tyler ride uphill enough].  Here in Georgia we have hills so you ride up one side and ride down the other side.  There are very few rocks.  Instead there are lots of roots.  It was a lot of fun.  We had like prefect weather as well.

That night we taught Fallon, who comes from a part member family.  Her dad refuses to let her be baptizes but  her mom wants her to be baptized.  So we are teaching Fallon so she knows the gospel.  One day when she is older maybe she will choose to be baptized and already know what she needs.  

Tuesday we had district meeting.  In our district we have the sister training leaders as well as the zone leaders and us so we have a pretty stacked district.  But the zone leaders were at another district in the zone so it was just the two sets.  That was kinda weird and small, but it was good none the less!

Thursday we had an awesome miracle happen.   We were just finishing weekly planning and driving to the church to make some copies and we got a call from a number we didn't know... it was John!!!  John was one of our top investigators about 5 weeks ago but he called us one day and said never come back and never call.  But he called us back and said he wanted to know the truth!  So we told him if he reads and prays and comes to church regularly that he will know truth and we were able to put him on date for baptism later in April.  So that was awesome!!!! yeah!!!!

Saturday morning we had a lesson with Noah.  Previously, we were out looking for potentials in the area book and this one house stood out to me and I couldn't stop looking at it, so I had to knock on it.  We told Noah that we felt impressed to knock on his door that day.  He was very open and willing to have us over again.  So Saturday we went and taught him the whole first lesson and wow he was so prepared.  A lot of his beliefs lined up with ours and we gave him the Book of Mormon, and before we could even ask him he told us he would read it and prayer about it and that he would know by the Holy Ghost if it is true.  It was absolutely awesome to see how prepared and ready he was to receive the gospel.  They are out there!

Later we went on a “time up” with brother Hunt.  He such a cool guy.  He sells medical equipment.  He had sitting in his truck a $2 thousand dollar screw.  Kinda cool.  After that we saw this lady named Heather and taught a little bit on her door step.  That night we went to a ward activity, Siamese basketball... so couples in the ward would wear the same shirt and have two teams of this and would play basketball.  Funniest thing that I have seen in a while.  Sunday we got to teach the deacons about “how do I invite my friends to church?”  Lots of fun.

Last miracle.  So this morning we get a call from Heather one of our new converts saying, “Hey meet me at Kroger, I am buying you food.”  This is a blessing because elder Compton was not wise with his money this month and has about $1.75 on his mission card.  So I was blessed anyway.

Thank you everyone.  Love you all!

Baptism Date Set

Hello Everyone,

This week we had a lot going on in the way of meetings, but we had a great week and we were able to put Joseph and Mary on date [for baptism] for later in April.  We also had zone training and as you can see in the picture, I found someone from Salem.  Yeah, Aaron Nelson is in my mission so I was able to talk with him for a bit.  He's doing good.

We also had Stake conferences this week so I was able to see everyone [from] Calhoun again.  I saw Abraham and Chase who were two I worked closely with.  Both are doing good and are active.  Joe was also there [at stake conference].  It was really exciting to see him there, partly because we didn't know he was coming.  He went up and talked to President Harding for a minute which was awesome because president is a very powerful man and so I hope that it did some good because we are not progressing with him [Joe] right now.

Thank you for the love and support from you all!!  Keep the faith!

Tyler and Companion

Tyler and Aaron Nelson from Salem

Elder Frosty

Hello everyone!

This [week] was a lot of finding and talking with people and meeting all of the other elders’ people that they were working with.  But we were able to move into their room because it was bigger and had enough room for all of our stuff to go into the closets.  So Tuesday through Thursday it snowed and on Wednesday from about 2pm until the next morning, we had to stay in our apartments because of the snow and bad drivers, mostly bad drivers because it was like an inch of snow, but whatever.

We called a lot of people, like 60 calls or something.  Then I got really bored when we ran out of people to call.  We decided to make a snow man and so for the next hour we made a snow man.  His name was Elder Frosty, so we were in a three some for a day.  Then like a snowman, he melted away.  :-)

Friday was a weird day.... we talked to one of the less actives in the trailer park and asked her how she liked church and she started telling about how she went to this waterfall and they were taking these really good picture by it and how she could see through the snow and see rocks and stuff.  As we walked away me and my companion were like, "what happened!?"  Then we went to Publix and saw this family that was looking for work and such so went over to say a prayer with them.  They were from India and talked with an accent.  We started to say a prayer and they all begin praying, all of them at once.   I was so shocked I stopped and just stood there while my companion laughed at me.  I never had that happen [before].  Anyway, I was kinda weirded out by that just because it had never happened before or something.

Then we went and taught an investigator and we were talking about belief and what they believe and the wife was telling us how she didn’t believe that you need to do anything.  You just need to be a good person and that is what God wants you to do.  She didn’t believe she needed to read the Bible let alone the Book of Mormon and didn’t need to go to any church.  So I asked her how she communicated with God and she said she can just feel him and that’s how she communicates with him.   I was so frustrated....  

Then on Sunday we were blessed to have Mary and Joseph come to church and since it was fast and testimony week and since it was ward temple week everyone talked about the temple and everyone talked about how families can be together forever.  My companion and I were like well this could go really good or really bad.  But we have faith that that was what they needed to hear and so we hope they enjoyed it.

We were able to meet with [Joe] last night and read from 2 nephi 31 and talk about the gospel.  It was really a laid back lesson.  Really he’s not super interested in baptism right now.  Sports and school are keeping him busy so we are kinda sad about that.  But he is going to be baptized at one point soon in his life.

Thank you all for the prayers and support you send our way.  Love you all take care!  Keep the Faith!

Chicken Feet!

Hello everyone,

This week was another week.  Weird stuff happened like it snowed on Wednesday and Thursday.   And it was really cold...  but it was fun.  So starting with last Monday…

We ate with the Shaws and they decided that we needed to try chicken feet and so they warmed them up in the microwave.  For anyone that wants to know, they taste like fat but feel like eating jello with a fatty taste.  Not something that I plan on eating ever again unless someone feeds them to us...  So that I would say that was enough excitement for the week.  But no!

Tuesday was pretty calm but Wednesday it was snowing and cold while we were on bikes.  I wasn't down for that.  So by five o'clock we went home and made calls...   Oh and did I forget to say that I was on exchanges so Thursday I was on a bike again...  but since it’s cold and it’s the South and people are nice, we got into more homes that day than most.

We were able to get in contact with all of our progressing investigators.  Also, we were able to meet with this lady named Nina.  She is willing to listen to us and we [are going to] teach her more but she’s not going to be easy.  We haven’t been able to see Joseph and Mary because of some drama with Joseph’s job.   We found this awesome lady Saturday and hope to meet with her.  She is very interested, so that is cool!

So we have transfers news!!!  Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!  Well I am staying in Burnt hickory and so is my companion but they are closing the other elders’ area.  So we are kind of white washing but not really so it’s pretty exciting because we have the car to ourselves as well as all of the members, the “team ups”, and dinners.  So I am happy.  Oh and [we have] the whole house too!  They didnt leave us with very many investigators but they also haven’t really tracted much in the last 6 months so we will change that!

Thank you all for the love and support!  Love you all and miss you all!  Keep the Fatih!

Good and Bad

Hello everyone,

This week is going to be short because I am at a member's house and we have limited time, so please forgive me.

This week was good and bad so we will start off with the bad news first.  By the end of the week we had zero people on date and we had to drop one of our investigators.  He told us that he wasn't ready to [be baptized] at that time so we told him that if he had the desire to change to give us a call and we would help him.  So that was sad to see.   Also, I was sick most of this week.

But we were able to get our member present lessons up and teach more so it made up for the sadness.  We were able to get back in touch with Tina and her kids (the big family we found).  That was good because we had an appointment with them.   The dad wasn't there but we were able to talk to the family.  [Tina] said that [her husband] was told by family that our church was bad.  That’s why we haven't been able to get them to church.  So things are looking good for them because the rest of the family love church!!!

We also plan on getting Joe back on date.  Really he just wants a little more time to prepare himself.  We had an awesome lesson with him last night we talked about how you feel the Holy Ghost and that it’s not a different feeling but that it’s a good feeling that we get is the Holy Ghost.  Joe told us he really liked it, and for a teenager to like a lesson like that is good, I would say.  We were not able to see Joseph and Mary.  They were busy and sick and I was sick so it didn't happen.  Joe's baptism date is going to be pushed back a bit but it’s going to happen soon-ish, hopefully while I am here.

Transfers are next [week] and I am hoping I can still call this home but we will see. love you all!!! thanks for the support and love!!!

Keep the Faith!!!!!!

Exchanges With The ZLs and Another Companionship

This week I went on exchanges with the zone leaders and then with the Burnt Hickory 1 elders.  So it was a busy week!  Elder Olive came to our area and I stayed.  We were able to meet with a less active and meet with an investigator Nina, and then we had a member take us to Jason’s house.  We were able to get him on date [baptism] for the 28th of February, so we are excited to work with him.  Then we were able to talk in companion study about The Destination and Route and how to use it in every lesson that we teach.  Elder Olive was able to make it very clear for me which was nice of him.

On Friday I went to Elder Argyle's area and we did some finding that day because they didn't have any set appointments.  But we were able to find three new investigators, so it was still a good day!

We had a little miracle on Thursday.  We were going to a potential investigator to get in contact and while we were trying to find the house, there was this one house that I could not stop looking at, so Elder Thurgood and I went and knocked on this door and we told him that we represent Christ and we wondered if he would like to say a prayer and so we did.  Then we asked him and if we could come back and share our message with him and he said yes come back!  So it was pretty exciting especially since it is hard to tract or knock doors in wealthy areas.

So elder Thurgood and I were going to go mtn. biking [today] but it rain last night so sadly that won’t happen this week.

This week was better than last week.  We were able to get another person on date for baptism for the 28th of February.  Hopefully it goes through.  Jason is his name.  He is a really nice guy.   He's been taught by other missionaries.  The only things holding him back are Word of Wisdom problems.  So if we can help [him] get over those problems he will be home free.  The crazy thing is he was found and was being taught as far back as when Jeff was on a mission!!!  Shout out to you Brother!!!!!

Joe is doing good other than he didn't come to church this week.  But we are trying to help him to have a spiritual moment by himself with his scriptures.  But he's a teenager in high school and girls and sports come first sometimes, but we are trying.  Joseph and Mary are doing good.  We were able to talk about the Destination and Route with them.  They have a Book of Mormon.  Joseph is having a hard time understanding it so we are trying help him understand the B of M style of writing.

This week we have Zone training SO WATCH OUT ON FACEBOOK!  YOU MIGHT SEE PICS OF ME ON THE ATLANTA GEORGIA MISSION PAGE!  [Be sure to like the “Georgia Atlanta LDS Mission - President John & Deborah Harding” on Facebook]

This week we had cleaning inspection and while I was cleaning I found a dead scorpion in the study room!  Kinda weird.  I thought scorpions only live in the desert [but I] guess not.

By the way, "Destination and Route"  is this the route of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end.  Destinations are the gifts that God will give us if we follow the gospel of Jesus Christ which gifts are Eternal Life, Gift of the Holy Ghost, and a remission of sin.  That’s something we want in all of our lessons that we teach, door approaches, and everything we do in our [missionary] lives.  Powerful!

Wow so this letter is probably the longest of all.  So enjoy.  Thanks so much for the support and love that [I] get from all ya'all!  keep the Faith!  Ether 12

Playing Guitar

Hello everyone,

This week was hard.  We had like one member present for a lesson when we should have had like 8.  But appointments fell through and members fell through.

My companion and I got to go to a leadership training meeting since he is the district leader.  That was really uplifting.  We talked about member missionary work and how to get the members excited about missionary work and provide referrals.  We tried it and my companion and I got two referrals from one member just to start it off.  That was awesome because tracting in [affluent] areas is hard and is a big time killer.  It was really nice to get those referrals.  Then we taught Joe the plan of salvation again at the Coleman's and then we had some free time so we helped the Colemans take down some stuff from Christmas.  My companion almost died...  Bro Coleman is a CEO of the company that sells chicken to McDonalds and so he has a pretty big house.  It was my companion’s first time there so it was pretty funny.

Oh! Awesome thing!  We were able to teach Scott W and he is really cool.  He has guitars and drums so we taught a lesson for 30 mins, then we went and played guitars and drums.  It was a lot of fun playing and having a drum behind you is awesome!!!

We rode our bikes a lot this week since it’s the last week [out of miles].

So I know a lot of you have your mission calls or you are getting them soon, so I would really like to hear where you are going and when, so shoot me a letter as soon as you find out!   That would be awesome to hear!!!  Thank you for all the support that you give me!  Have an awesome day!!!