Week 65

Hey guys!

This has been a crazy week, just like transfers always are! Missionary work almost gets put on the back burner for a couple days with one companion leaving and a new guy coming, especially when he's right out of the MTC! Elder Lamb packed up on Tuesday night, and we spent a little bit of Monday and Tuesday going around and saying goodbye to some of the people he had gotten to know really well. He left on Wednesday at 6:00 (we had to get up at 4:30. It wasn't too fun). It was really hard to see him leave -- I actually teared up a tiny bit that night, which NEVER happens to me when I'm saying goodbye to a companion.

My new companion is Elder Guzzle. He's a really good guy and he's going to be a great missionary someday. He's really quiet and pretty shy, which makes getting to know him tough, but we've already made a little bit of progress there and we've started to get a little closer. Out of the 3 missionaries I've trained, he definitely knows the most about the gospel. He just needs help with being more social and having more confidence in lessons! I don't actually have any pictures with him on my phone, but I'll make sure I get one next week so I can send it!

We have 2 baptisms coming up this weekend for Hope and Eddie! Hope's is on Saturday and Eddie's is on Sunday. We're really, really excited for Hope to get baptized!.... oh and Eddie is alright too ;) haha just kidding, we're really excited for Eddie too but Hope's conversion story is so crazy and I just get super happy every time I think about it. If she's not the only reason I was sent here to this mission, I know she's at least a big part of it. It was really hard to see her say goodbye to Elder Lamb, the three of us just had a really special relationship and it's hard to see that end! But the good news is that we have a big mission conference with Elder Brent Nielson this Friday so he'll get to come back and see Hope's baptism on Saturday!

This should a a great week, I'm really excited about everything that's going on! Talk to you guys next week

Elder Hart

1. Me and Elder Lamb did some service on Saturday pouring out old cans of paint and getting rid of the containers and we got to wear these sweet jumpsuits!

2. Justin, this kid some members were babysitting whose house we ate at. He's such a cute kid 😂

3. Me, Elder Lamb, and Hope!

4. HART RANCH

Week 64

Hey everyone!

Wow, transfers are always hard. We got calls this last week, and Elder Lamb is headed to Dickinson while I stay here and train a new missionary. I was really hoping to be with Elder Lamb until the end of the next transfer, but if the Lord's will for me is to train again then I'm willing to give Him my best! I think He really wants me to learn a lesson from all this change. In fact, there's only been one transfer on my mission where I haven't gotten a transfer call, and it never gets any easier. But I'm learning how to deal with it better, and I know it's going to be a blessing in my life one day. We've been concerned about our bishop recently. 

Despite our best efforts, we haven't been able to get in contact with him these past couple weeks, and we're supposed to have two baptisms in the next two weeks. The work is going really well for us personally, but we can't seem to get the ward on board with it. That's the main problem we've been facing, but everything else is going well.

I've had to question my testimony of the Atonement the past few days as I've contemplated whether I really believe that Christ strengthens us in our trials. I've prayed a lot and asked for my testimony to be strengthened through this experience, and I can already testify that He has uplifted me so much this past couple days. I'm still nervous like always, but I'm handling it so much better than usual and I feel a lot stronger. I know I'm not doing it on my own this time, and I think that was one of the lessons God needed me to learn through this experience.

Anyway, I'll let you guys know how it goes next week!

Elder Hart

Week 62/63

Hey everyone!

So it's been a slower week because of a huge snowstorm we had on Wednesday, Thursday, and most of Friday, so there's not much to tell. Hope, Eddie and Ambria are all still doing really good, they should be getting baptized in the next two or three weeks. Eddie is actually scheduled to get baptized this Saturday, and he passed his interview and everything, but there was a sudden death in one of the other wards and the funeral is going to be held that day. So Eddie will probably get baptized on Sunday, and Ambria and Hope will get baptized the following Saturday!

Today was zone P-day, so we went to Mt. Rushmore and took some pictures there! I only have the ones of me and my companion, but other missionaries took a bunch more that I'll send next week once I get them. Then we just played some games at the church and stuff, nothing too exciting but it was pretty fun!

Last week was pretty much the same as this one. We've been teaching a lot so we haven't had too much time for finding. We've actually been pretty busy but none of it is exciting enough to put in an email! Hope went through a little phase of doubt where she wasn't sure she wanted to keep meeting with us anymore because of the big changes it would make to her traditions, but she took some time to think about it and talk with her family, and she was able to push her doubts aside and she's more excited than ever to get baptized!

Anyway, that's pretty much been the past couple weeks in a nutshell! Have a great week guys!

Elder Hart

Week 61

Hey everyone!

So I don't really have all that much to say this week, just lots of service and random lessons and stuff like that, so instead I'll just tell the story of the one super cool thing that happened this week.

So we went over to Hope's house last week for our lesson. We had been planning on teaching the Plan of Salvation and had prepared pretty extensively, but just as it so often happens, the Lord had other plans. She opened the door and immediately let us in, but we noticed she was walking with a pretty bad limp. We asked her about it, and we found out she had been walking up the hill next to her house carrying some groceries for a friend when she tripped, hit both knees really hard, and strained her ACL in her right leg. She had gone to the doctor and he told her there was a possibility they'd have to do surgery and replace part of it with one from a cadaver, which she was really scared about. The thought obviously came to our heads to give her a priesthood blessing, and we offered it right after she was done telling her story. She accepted and seemed really excited about it. So we explained a little bit about the process and the purpose of consecrated oil, and she asked Elder Lamb to do the anointing and me to do the sealing. As soon as I started the blessing, she began crying, and she didn't stop until I was done! I've never felt the Spirit stronger in a blessing than I did in that one. As soon as I finished giving it, she started saying over and over "You guys are so blessed! You guys are so blessed!" We asked her what she meant, and she told us that during the blessing, she felt something touch her legs, and they immediately felt better. She even got up and started walking around just fine, without a hint of a limp at all! I've never seen the healing power of the priesthood to such an extent before, and it was incredible to see the amount of faith that she demonstrated in order to make that happen. We also gave her friend a blessing of comfort, and he felt the Spirit really strongly as well. Hope accepted a baptismal date after that and I'm confident that she's going to meet it.

Anyway, that's about all the time I've got, but I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Hart