WEEK 100

Kay, so last week wasn't actually week 100, this week is, but I'm not gonna write a weekly next Monday so there ya go.

Well, we had a great week... I introduced my companions to as many formers as I could and helped them to get to know the area before I leave. I said goodbye to quite a few members yesterday, a couple today, and we'll see how many we can get to tomorrow. It sure is tough to leave a place like this, but it's easier when the area I'm being transferred to is one I know pretty well ;)

I just honestly can't believe this whole thing is over. None of it even seems real. I know that's just about the most cliche thing a missionary can say when his mission is winding down, but I don't even know how else to describe how I feel about it. Of course I'm excited to go home and I'm sad to leave, but when I think back on this last two years and all the experiences I've had, I can't believe I made it through. I'm not the kind of person who can do things like serving a mission... at least I didn't used to be. I shouldn't have made it through. I should have gone home week one! I made it through because the Lord made me into what He needed me to be. If anybody asked me what the biggest lesson I learned on my mission was, the answer would be this: The Lord asks us to walk down a lot of difficult paths. At the beginning of that path, we may not feel like we're strong enough to get to the end, and most of the time we're right. God asks us to do those difficult things because He knows what will make us stronger, and by the time we've reached the end of that road, we will have become something better than we were before. That's mortal life in a nutshell right there, and I got to see it all condensed down into two years of my life. I'm just grateful for Jesus Christ and the power that He has to make us like Him. Because of Him, I'm a better person than I was two years ago, and I think I've been able to help some other people become better along the way as well.

Thank you all so much for all the support, love, and prayers you've given me this past two years. It's been an incredible journey and I hope to see you all soon.

Elder Hart

p.s. All these pictures are of people I've come to love and care about a bunch these few months in Dickinson. I've got lots more but I don't have room for all of them here :)

Week 99

Hey guys!

Technically last week was Week 98 but I'm skewing the numbers so that I can write a Week 100 email next week ;)

We had a good week this week! Elder Parker got a new missionary, Elder Crown, so we've just been showing him around this week and helping him adjust to missionary life. I'm hoping these two will be able to learn the area well enough by the time I leave, so I'm trying to tell them everything I can about everybody in the Area Book. Neither of them have been here long, but I think everything will be fine in the end.

We had a couple of our investigators show up for church yesterday, but I didn't see any other nonmembers that members brought, so I was kinda disappointed about that. I think things in our area are finally starting to move again though, so hopefully after the holidays we're able to see some people really start progressing towards baptism.

We're really looking forward to Christmas, we're spending the next two days with two awesome member families and we're stoked about it! Hope all you guys have a great Christmas,

Elder Hart

p.s. My Grandpa Hart passed away last week so I wanted to share a couple of my favorite pictures of him :)

Week 97

Hey guys!

Well, this is gonna have to be a shorter one again since it's so late, but I'll at least explain all the pictures 😂

The first one is just one of me and Elder Nielsen the night before he left that I never sent haha but I didn't have too many pictures to send this week so I threw it in anyway 😂

We had our zone Christmas party this week! It was pretty fun, we just played some games, did a quick little service project and watched a movie called The Fighting Preacher. It was actually pretty darn good -- but that's coming from a missionary who hasn't seen a real movie in two years so take it with a grain of salt ;)

The last one is me with President and Sister Johansen. It turns out their son in law works with my dad, so they wanted to get a picture to send it to him. They're some pretty awesome people, it's been awesome having the chance to serve with them.

I guess that's about it for this week! I sure can't believe the time is running so short. I never thought I'd actually get to the point where my mission was over... my whole life has been leading up to this, so I'm really not sure what to do once it's done. But I've still got a couple weeks left, so I'm not gonna think about that just yet!

Love y'all!

Elder Hart

p.s. My companion is training this transfer, and his new missionary gets here on Wednesday! So we'll be in a trio for my last couple weeks, which should be fun

Week 96

Hey guys!

I don't have a ton of time, but I'll give a quick update on how the week went!

It's been a struggle these past few days as we've tried to help prepare somebody for baptism this month. People's agency is SO FRUSTRATING to me sometimes, especially when it's literally the only thing holding them back from a much better life! We work as hard as we can and pray often for all the people we teach, but when it comes down to it, we can't override their agency. And sometimes I really, really, really want to, especially as I get this close to the end. But we receive no witness until after the trial of our faith, and I'm gonna keep having faith whether I'm able to see another baptism or not.

We had our choir performance this week!... wait, back up. We and the sisters have been in this community choir for the past month and a half and we finally had our Christmas concert yesterday. It was pretty fun, it made me wish that I'd done choir during high school! I was actually planning on joining my senior year but Brazil kinda got in the way... maybe in college though!

We also spent a couple days on exchanges in Bismarck. I ended up spending a day with my old companion Elder Lamb who's an assistant now. We went to pick up two new missionaries and oh man was that weird! I stood in exactly the same spot in that airport that I did two years ago, except instead of my mission president standing at the baggage claim waiting for me, it was two brand new missionaries. It's crazy how fast the time has flown, but it also seems like that was another lifetime. I can't believe it's all finally coming to an end!

Anyway, that's all folks!

Elder Hart

Week 95

Hey guys!

Well, this week has been pretty tough. We did lots of work and did our very best to succeed, but everything sort of went backwards. We met a lady named Trish on Monday who seemed SUPER solid, and we put her on date for December 11th. She was willing to come to church and follow all the commandments and everything. But then she just didn't show up for our next appointment on Wednesday, stopped responding to texts and calls, didn't come to church, and we have no idea what happened to her. And the sad part is, after two years of being on a mission, I'm really not even surprised. That sort of thing happens all the time. People just reject the gospel and can't bring themselves to face the missionaries again. We fasted and prayed for her all day yesterday, so I hope her heart softens this week -- if you guys could all remember her in your prayers too that'd be great!

We had a huge snowstorm on Friday and Saturday, which meant we had to video call for MLC. Holy cow, that was LONG. That was probably the most eventful part of the day too, since we weren't able to set up any appointments or contact anybody because of the storm.

Thanksgiving the day before was really fun though! We ended up going to two different members' houses, and that morning we did service preparing Thanksgiving meals for people who wouldn't have anywhere else to go. The roads were super, super icy but we stayed safe all day.

We're in Bismarck today for P-day, and then I'll be going on exchanges with some other elders tonight. It should hopefully end up being a pretty good time!

That's about it, love y'all!

Elder Hart

Week 94

 audio translation

Week 92/93

Hey guys!

It's been a really busy week, but I guess the only exciting stuff happened from Monday to Wednesday. I spent the first half of the week in Bismarck with Elder Winters, because my companion finally got his visa to Ecuador! I guess I didn't send a weekly email last week either, but that's fine because I don't think anything really notable happened that week except for the fact that he was suuuuper nervous to leave... which is understandable, I'd be really nervous too. But he flew out on Monday morning and I haven't heard from him since then, so I hope he's doing alright. After that, we spent P-day playing games and stuff at the mission home, so that was a lot of fun. It was one of the more fun P-days I've had on my mission, especially since P-days in Dickinson mostly consist of sitting around at the church and not doing too much.

I just kind of tagged along with Elder Winters in his area for the next couple of days. It's always kind of annoying being on exchanges because there's not much you can do to help with planning and stuff in somebody else's area, but it was really fun being there. I kinda wish he was my companion for this last transfer, but my new companion is good too. His name is Elder Parker, he's a pretty good guy. It's always nice to have a companion who's not brand new so that he can actually help with different aspects of missionary work.

We hit all of our key indicator goals this week, which was a pretty big miracle since we were barely able to spend half the week in our area. I think things in this area are starting to do really well again after a couple slow weeks. I'm really hoping that I'll be able to see another baptism or two before I leave in January.

That's about it this time around. I think this is the happiest I've been on my mission, which makes it hard to think about leaving soon! I've made lots of good friends and memories while I've been in North Dakota, and my testimony has been strengthened so much. It's definitely been the best experience of my life.

Anyway, I hope you guys have a great week!

Elder Hart

Week 91

Hey guys!

We've had a really great week this week! We had quite a bit of success in the work that we did -- we were able to find two new people to teach and we finally got somebody at church. Just one person, and we were supposed to have four as of Saturday night, but we count our blessings where we can get them 😂

We had MLC in Bismarck! That's always a party. I got to see lots of old friends: Elder Lamb, Elder Schellenberg, Elder Guzzle, Elder Winters, Elder Larsen... there were some other ones. It's kinda crazy, because over half of our mission went home last summer, so most of the mission has been out for six months or less! So most of the missionaries I know are in the MLC since they're the only experienced ones left. We got to go to the temple on Thursday night, which I'll never complain about. I absolutely love going to the temple. If anyone in this fairly small group of people that I email isn't attending the temple as regularly as possible, please do it! There are so many people in the Dakotas who live hours and hours away from a temple and can only make it a few times a year, and other people in the world can make it far less. I'm hoping to go at least twice a month when I get home, even if it means having to fit it in to a really busy schedule. Anyway, that's my little spiel on that.

We started teaching Sam and Elvira, our two Spanish investigators, again this week. Sam still has a few issues to work through, but Elvira is determined to get baptized this time and I'm really hoping they'll make it before I go home. It was good for Elder Nielsen to be able to practice his Spanish with some natives. I think it was a humbling experience for him to see just how far there is to go! I could relate to him pretty well thinking back to a few years ago!

That's about it this time around. I hope everybody remembers that the gospel brings HAPPINESS! There is no other place, church, or organization on the face of the planet Earth that will bring the kind of happiness that this gospel and Church will bring, no matter what trials, questions, or difficulties somebody may be facing. I know everybody on this list is already a member of the Church, but if anybody is having doubts, please know that you can stop. This is the place. We've all been lucky enough to find it, and there's no need to look for fulfillment any place else.

Have a great week everybody!

Elder Hart

1. Just Elder Hart at it with the heart puns again

2. My crazy mission president with his weird Halloween costume

3. This is Javarius LaSquariusness. Elder Nielsen made him and named him. I just took this awesome thuggin picture with him ;)

4. Our MLC group picture

Week 90

Hey guys! 

Super sorry I forgot to write an email this week! It was pretty successful, we found like 4 new people and put someone on date, so that's always exciting. We also had zone conference, which is always a great experience.

I think we're gonna be going to Bismarck on Halloween for MLC but I'm not 100% sure. If not it'll probably be a pretty slow day since we're not allowed to proselyte after 6. Honestly those are kinda all the highlights from the week, sorry this one is so short! I'll make sure I write my email earlier next week.

Elder Hart

This is the only picture I got this week 😬 just our last minute Halloween costumes that we threw together half an hour before our ward party 😂

Week 89

Hey guys!

So I just went to my gallery to look at the pictures I took this week so that I could remember the things we did... and I realized that I didn't take ANY pictures! And so then I thought about it more and I realized that pretty much nothing exciting happened at all this week.

This is normally the part where I give an update on how the work is going, but there really isn't much work happening in our area right now. We did find a guy named Henry that is interested in what we have to teach, but we can only talk with him once in a while over the phone and we're not sure if it's going to go anywhere yet. Other than that, we kinda struck out this week. We spent a lot of time trying to find new people, but we haven't had much luck yet. Not that we're discouraged about it or anything, I'm sure a lot of progress will be made this week, but I just don't really have much to talk about today 😂

My companion got his visa this week! That means he'll for sure be heading out by the end of the transfer, which makes me a little sad. He's a really good kid and a really easy companion to deal with. But I'm excited for him to go to Ecuador and have all the crazy South American experiences that I got to have for a while. It definitely opens your eyes up to what a blessing it is to live in this country!

Anyway, that's about it! Sorry for the lack of pictures!

Elder Hart

Week 88

Hey guys!

We had a great week, we were able to stay pretty busy and I think we got a lot done. Elder Nielsen is my companion, I don't remember if I mentioned that last week or not. He's a great kid. He's a little shy but he has a lot of desire to do the right thing and I know he'll learn fast. He reminds me a lot of the way I used to be; just super timid and reserved and worried about what others think. But if I was able to overcome those things than so can he, and I'm sure he'll grow quick.

We went to the temple with Keith and Jeremy on Saturday! It was great to see them have that experience. They both felt the Spirit really strongly and they're getting really into doing their family history. It's awesome to see recent converts progress!

Carl also got baptized on Saturday night! It's been a looooong journey for him, and it was a really special privilege to be serving here when he finally made the decision to be baptized. His friend came all the way up from Idaho to perform the ordinance, and we were really nervous that the snow storm would stop him and his wife from getting here. But the Lord always provides a way and everything worked out really well.

We had zone p-day in Bismarck today, and that was pretty fun. Not much to say about that I guess, but I just thought I'd let y'all know that it happened ;) 😂
Those are the main highlights from the week! I know it's a shorter one but I won't bore you with all the other random details. Things are going super well though!

Have a great week,

Elder Hart

1. Kayla stole my tag so I got a picture with her before I stole it back
2. We helped a family shake all the apples down from their tree before the storm hit 😂
3. Carl's baptism!
4. Us with Keith and Jeremy at the temple

Week 87

Hey guys!

This has been such a wild week! We had transfers last Wednesday, and transfer day is always really weird and really busy. Elder Hansen was pretty bummed to leave after just one transfer, but I was pretty excited to get a new missionary who's really excited about missionary work. My new companion is Elder Nielsen. He's a visa waiter for Ecuador, so he learned Spanish in the MTC, and crazy story -- my older brother was his MTC teacher! Haha so it's pretty cool to just pick up his training right where Tanner left off. We also had Elder Cockle with us for a few days. He's just about to go home, and President Howell let him choose where he wanted to spend his last week in the field. He served here two years ago, so he was able to help us get in with some members that we don't know very well.

Another super crazy thing happened on Tuesday. So we were teaching a guy named Grant Ausk a couple months ago when I got here. He's the husband of a less-activeish member and he was thinking about getting baptized for a while, but then he and his wife moved to Colorado. Before he left, he asked my old companion Elder Bagley if he would come back to Dickinson to baptize him if Grant was ever passing through town. Elder Bagley said he would, but none of us really thought that would ever happen. Well last Tuesday, Brother Dalton got a call from Sister Ausk, who told him that they were coming up through Dickinson this weekend and that Elder Bagley was going to be coming up from Idaho to baptize Grant. We hadn't heard anything at all about that, so Brother Dalton called Elder Bagley and asked if he knew about it. Elder Bagley had absolutely no idea that anything was going on, but he said he could make it up here if it was possible for the baptism to happen. So we spent all of Tuesday night making calls to the bishopric and the mission president, and somehow we all of a sudden had a baptism planned for Sunday after conference! For the super limited time we had to plan it, everything actually ended up going really well. Quite a few ward members showed up and even a couple of the Ausks' nonmember friends. It was really cool to see Elder Bagley again too!

We had a great time watching general conference these last few days. I can't believe how much you can learn from all the talks when you're actually paying attention haha. I'm proud to report that I officially made it through every general conference of my mission without falling asleep a single time! Hopefully that trend continues after I get home ;) I tried something this last time that I've never done, but I've always heard of other people doing it. I had a couple questions and trials that I was hoping to receive answers and guidance to, so I prayed this past couple days that I'd be able to find the things I was looking for in the talks. I was figuring that I'd find some roundabout answer in something one of the Apostles said or some subtle allusion to one of the things I was thinking about, but I couldn't believe how directly both of the questions I had were answered! That's definitely a practice I'll continue as I watch general conference in the future.

I hope you guys have a great week!

Elder Hart

1. Our district last transfer
2. It's official, I want a chinchilla
3. Grant's baptism!
4. So me and Elder Cockle accidentally wore the exact same outfit a couple days ago 😂

Week 86

Hey guys!

Well, it's been a pretty wild week. I'll start off with transfer news: I'm staying here in Dickinson and Elder Hansen is getting sent back to one of his old areas. I'm gonna be training a new missionary and serving as a split zone leader with one of the elders in Bismarck, so it's going to be pretty crazy! It should be good though, I'm really excited.

The other big news this week is that our friend Carl, who's been looking into the Church for about 45 years, walked into church yesterday and told us he was ready to get baptized! So we set a baptismal date for October 12 and he said he'll let his friend in Idaho know so that he can come up here and baptize him! There are a lot of missionaries who have been waiting for that news for so long, so it's really cool to be able to finally see it happening. Jeremy also got the priesthood yesterday and he's getting ready to go to the temple soon. Yesterday was a day full of miracles!

We had MLC in Bismarck last Thursday and Friday, and we got to go do a session in the temple, which I'm always really excited about. It's always fun to see some old friends from the mission too.

I've been thinking a lot this week about how much I've changed on my mission and what a crazy experience it's been. Today I've been out for 20 months, and I can definitely say it's been the hardest 20 months of my life. But I also know that the Lord has been with me every step of the way, because there's no way that the kid that walked into the MTC in January 2018 would have been able to do any of the stuff that He's helped me to accomplish on my mission. The power of the Atonement goes so far beyond the redemption that we so often hear about. Beyond redeeming us, it enables us to progress, improve, and become more like our Heavenly Father. It doesn't just allow us to be forgiven of our sins, it gives us the chance to rise above them and allow ourselves to become stronger. As I've devoted myself to serving the Lord, He's changed me into a completely different person without me even really realizing it. He does that for all of us, whether we know it or not.

Anyway, that's it for this week! Talk to you guys later,

Elder Hart

1/2. Me, Elder Hansen, Elder Hughes, and Elder Guzzle at the temple