Week 60

Hey everyone!

Wow, sorry it's so late! I just remembered that I never wrote a weekly email! It's been a really good week here, we've seen lots of miracles and been blessed so much!

We did everything we could to get people to sacrament meeting and help the people we're teaching progress, which has led to less time for finding, but we had a lot of success! We were able to get 5 people at sacrament meeting last Sunday, which is more than I've ever had.

Since the beginning of my mission, my grandma has been telling me that she feels like there's one person here that I really have to meet. Well, I've had quite a few areas and met a lot of people, and I never really knew if I had come across that person or not. This week, I met her. Her name is Hope, and she's one of the most amazing people I've met in my life! We met her last week and introduced the Book of Mormon and invited her to read and pray about it. She did, and she has been completely and totally converted by the Spirit in a matter of a few days! She came to church on Sunday and just can't believe all of the incredible changes the gospel has already made in her life. And on top of that, her niece is a less active member in White River that I worked with pretty extensively while I was there a year ago! It's already pretty plain to see why I was sent here to Rapid City, and I'm so excited to see the progress that Hope and the other people we teach make over this week!

Elder Hart

Not too many pictures this week, just a cool sunset and my hair after we played basketball. I'll be sure to get a bunch with me and my companion next week!

Week 59

Hey everyone!

It's been a crazy week here in Rapid City. There's soooo much more to do here than there was in Fargo, so we've been juggling all kinds of things this week. All of the people we have on date right now have their own issues that we have to deal with, and we have so many people to teach that it's hard to keep track of them all! But those are good problems to have, so I'm not complaining or anything.

I've also met a couple different people who have family that I knew in the Valentine area! It's been awesome to get an update on how some of the people I worked with are doing almost a year later. I was able to talk with Nikki's grandma, who's a fairly active member of the Church. We were working really hard to get her baptized when I was in Valentine, but her husband was so against the Church that she didn't want to cross any lines with him, so she didn't progress very much. But her grandma told me that he's finally coming around and is even considering going to church himself! So she's getting a lot closer to getting baptized, which makes me super happy. It's cool to see how experiences I had at the beginning of my mission have prepared me for some of the ones I've had here. I definitely don't think it's a coincidence that I ran into those people; there's even one who's not a member who wants to come to church because her niece in White River is a member that I got to know pretty well!

So anyway, it's been a pretty dang good week, and this one should be just as busy!

Talk to you guys next week!

Elder Hart

p.s. Sorry, I was really bad at taking pictures this week, I'll be sure to take a bunch next week. There was a huge blizzard on Wednesday and this is the only picture I was able to get of it, and it's not super good 😂

Week 57/58

Hey everyone!

Super sorry for not writing last week. Things got crazy with transfers and I totally didn't even think about it.

Well, I'm writing this from Rapid City, South Dakota! I wasn't in Fargo for too long, so I was a little surprised, but things here are great so far! We've been having a ton of success so far, we actually already had a baptism on Saturday and we found 12 new people to teach this week. It's nice to be out of the finding phase of missionary work, that's really all we did in Fargo until a week or two before I left. 

There's a lot of reservations around here (including Rosebud, where I started out my mission!), so there's a ton of Native Americans, and it's so cool to be back among those people! I feel like I'm sort of back at the beginning of my mission but with a lot more knowledge and experience, it's cool to see my progress from where I was then to where I am now. The Natives are a blessed people but also a cursed people, it's such a different way of doing missionary work when you're around them. They're all willing to learn but they're so set in their ways that many of them aren't willing to change. The trick is helping them see that the Book of Mormon contains so many promises to their people that will help them become a happy people again, but only if they're willing to follow them! I guess it's that way with all of us, but the Book of Mormon was first and foremost written to the remnant of the Lamanite people. It's cool to be part of the prophecy that it would be brought forth to them in the last days.

Anyway, things are going super good down here. I'm excited to get going in a new wardand a new area!

Elder Hart

1/2. Rapid City vs. Fargo. They aren't mountains but at least there's a few hills here!

3. Rylie's baptism!