HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Wow I can't believe this is the last email that I'll write in 2008. Man its flown by. It was a lot of fun to talk to family and friends this past week. Its good to hear from all of you and know that everyone's doing good. Well transfers are today and Elder Zambrana and I are both staying. We've already been together for two transfers and this will be the longest I've been with one companion. I'm glad though, we didn't perform as well as I would have liked to last transfer so we're really going to step it up this transfer and work hard. Its going to be great. Tonight we're going to be having family home evening with a less-active family whose daughter we're going to baptize next month. And tomorrow night we're having FHE with a Spanish family over at the Chairez home. Its going to be awesome. I've committed myself to really work hard on my Spanish this transfer and I know that if I do my part, the Lord will bless me with the gift of tongues and my Spanish will really improve. I love working with the Spanish people here. Its a lot of fun. I love you all and hope you have a safe and fun New Year.
Elder Harber
Brett-December 29, 2008
Brett-December 22, 2008
Merry Christmas!!! Well I'm excited to get to talk to y'all this week. This past week has been a blast. I love getting Christmas cards and packages from everybody. Its way fun. Christmas time is so neat. People are a lot nicer this time of year and I love to be able to just think about Christ and focus on his birth and the atonement during my studies. Its great. Last night we went Christmas Caroling with the Toth family and the Savage family and a few other people. We went and sang to some investigators and some less actives and even the bishop. It was a blast. It was the first time I've gone caroling and I thought it was going to be lame but I absolutely loved it. On Saturday the Spanish group had a Christmas party. There wasn't a big turn out because a lot of people are out of town but we had three investigator families come with all their kids. It was sweet. Elder Zambrana and I sang Feliz Navidad accompanied by Eloy Miranda. It was embarrassing haha Everyone was laughing at me because I can't sing at all. But it was fun. I tried my best. Well I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas break. And don't forget what its really about, Christ. I love you all and hope you all have a great Christmas. Love y'all
Elder Harber
Brett-December 15, 2008
Well not a lot changed this week. I'm way excited for Christmas!! I can't believe I get to call y'all next week. Elder Zambrana and I had Christmas cards made this week so be looking for those. We finally got decorations for our tree from some members so we're going to decorate it today for P-day. We had a Christmas Zone Conference in Lubbock on Thursday. It was fun. They let me drive the Corolla. Its weird driving long distance in Texas cuz everything is flat. Its a lot easier to speed though...jk mom but seriously it is. It was a good zone conference. There were a few musical numbers and we watched a few Christmas church videos and we had a mission slideshow. President and Sister Robison got us all a really cool Christmas gift. They got all the missionaries one of those pencil sketch pictures of all the prophets and its the new updated one with President Monson in it. Its awesome. And the guy that drew it signed all of them. Its been a fun week. This morning we went to the alien museum and took lots of cool pictures. I'll try and attach some. Well the work is still progressing. Its kinda slow right now and nobody came to church this week but its ok. They'll come next week. Well I love you all and hope everyone's having a great Christmas break.
Elder Harber
Brett-December 8, 2008
Hey guys sorry I'm writing so late. This morning we left at 7 for Carlsbad. We went to the Carlsbad Caverns. It was really neat and a lot of fun. We got back a little bit later than we expected though and we went to NMMI where we normally email and right as we sat down on the computers the librarian comes out and says that they're closing in 5 minutes. So I barely had time to read my emails before we had to leave. We went straight from there to the public library and there was a 30 minute wait for the computers and dinner was an hour and a half away. So we went and changed our clothes and came right back and they had already given our computers away. So we had to wait another 20 minutes. Now dinner is in 15 minutes and I'm just sitting down to email. Sorry that I can't write you all back individually, I'm sure you understand though. Well this past weekend Bryce Spencer, a NMMI cadet and one of the ZL's investigators was baptized. The cadets always wear there uniforms to church or wherever they go. So Bryce shows up to his baptism and he forgot to bring a white shirt. Bryce is about 6'4" and plays TE for their football team. Of course I was the closest one to his size so I got volunteered to give up my white shirt for him to get baptized in. So I traded him for his white undershirt. I'm not gonna lie it looked pretty funny with my suit and tie. It was well worth it though. The girl that first gave him a Book of Mormon about 3-4 months ago drove down from Utah with her parents for the baptism. She goes to BYU and asked me if I knew anyone named Travis Slade. haha I guess he's in one of her classes. It was a fun weekend. A little bit of sad news...The Toth family who invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner, their son Josh who is a senior at Roswell High had an accident on Saturday right before the baptism. He was at the pool at NMMI and did a back flip and hit his head on the diving board. He was knocked unconscious and some of his friends had to pull him out and rush him to the hospital. He was having seizures and bleeding internally. At first they questioned whether or not he was going to make it. They had to temporarily paralyze him to stop the seizures and they flew him to Albequerque for some better medical care. Before the baptism Bishop Flores and Brother Green one of his counselors were able to give him a blessing. On Sunday we fasted for him as well as a ward. We got the good news today that he is alright and there was no permanent damage and he should be coming home tomorrow. The power of the priesthood is amazing!! I have so much more I want to say but I have to go to dinner at the Golden Corral. I love you all and hope you have a great week. Mom have fun in NY. Talk to you next week.
Elder Harber
Brett-December 1, 2008
Wow I can't believe its December. Just yesterday it was February and I was saying bye to all of you. Well this past week has been a blast. Wednesday was Zone Conference. President Robison is finally starting to get comfortable as Mission President and really making this his mission. Its awesome. We're really focusing on having the faith to double the baptisms in the mission. So this weekend was a good start. Cyrus and Velvet were baptized by Brother Bair. It was a great baptism!! Bishop confirmed Velvet yesterday at church and Elder Zambrana confirmed Cyrus. I was able to give Orion the Aaronic priesthood after church. It was an awesome weekend. We also found out that Sister Salazar's husband who passed away about 6 years ago was a member of the church. He obviously wasn't active while they were married cuz she had no idea. She joined the church a little bit after he died. Its crazy how the Lord works. I know that God wants his children to be together as a family for eternity and he'll make it happen whether its in this life or the life to come. Well Thanksgiving was a lot of fun too. We went and played football in the morning with both wards. It was a blast. I've definitely been sore ever since though haha We ate lunch at the church and the Toth family invited us over last minute for dinner. It was a lot of fun. I was thinking about you all though. I hope y'all enjoyed your turkey day as much as I did. I love you all. Have a great week and be safe.
Elder Harber
Brett-November 24, 2008
Hey everybody. Well this past week has been pretty good. I'm excited for el dia de accion de gracias aka thanksgiving. Its way easier to say in English lol We get the whole day off from missionary work. In the morning our ward is having a turkey bowl so Elder Zambrana and I are going to tear these guys up. And then at 1 the church is having a Thanksgiving Lunch potluck. Nobody signed up to feed us dinner, but I think it will be nice to just relax and do nothing all day. Since we have the day off we're probably going to go watch the football game with some members...jk I wish!!! I'm not even sure who's playing. Oh well I'm over it. Well this Saturday we're having a baptism. We're going to be baptizing Velvet and Cyrus Salazar. I love this family! We're going over there tonight to finish teaching them. Bishop has already interviewed Velvet and Elder Spencer is going to interview Cyrus on Wednesday after Zone Conference. I'm really excited for Zone Conference this week. We heard from the Zone Leaders that President is going to be making some changes. It'll be good, I'm excited to see what happens. We found out that Elder Zambrana and I's dad's (trainers) are serving together as Zone Leaders up in Amarillo. That's pretty crazy!! Oh and we are having a Christmas Zone Conference in Lubbock in December. Normally we only have one per transfer and its usually here in Roswell but since its Christmas we're going to be with half the mission in Lubbock and the other half will meet down in Odessa. Our mission is too big(area-wise) for all the missionaries to get together. It should be way fun though. Well I hope all is well back home. I hope nobody is taking BYU's loss too hard. I was sad to hear that Texas Tech got demolished as well. Well have a great week everybody. I'm truly grateful for all of you and the love and support I get from all of my family and friends. I wouldn't be able to survive without your letters and emails. Thanks so much. I love this gospel and am so grateful for it. Its changing my life and I love seeing the change it makes in other peoples lives. I love you all. Take care :)
Elder Harber
Brett-November 17, 2008
Hey everybody hows it going?? Well this week has been good. We had an awesome weekend though. Transfers are today and everybody in our district is staying. I'm way excited about that. I get to stay here for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last night we got to go the rededication of the Mexico City temple. It was broadcast via satelite at the stake center here in Roswell. It was all in Spanish but it was awesome. President Monson and President Eyring were there and both spoke. They spoke in English and had a translator translate it into Spanish. It was way cool. I love President Monson, he's way funny!! Well other than transfers not a whole lot else is new. Just working hard and having a great time. I miss you all though. Love ya. The church is true!!
Elder Harber
Brett-October 29, 2008
Well the reason I'm writing today instead of Monday is because on Monday we took a little road trip out to Lubbock for Zone Conference. Elder Pearson of the 70 came and spoke so we had a combined Conference with half the mission. I've never seen so many missionaries. Our mission is so big that we never have meetings with the whole mission...even on Christmas. Well the conference was awesome!! Elder Pearson is truly inspired and I learned so much and realized I need to step it up and take things to the next level. He had us all prepare 5 minute talks beforehand on how we can become better disciples of Christ. And I swear everything that I wrote in my talk was covered throughout the day. This past week has been a lot of fun. We've been teaching a ton and I know that we're going to see results sooner or later. Last weekend we went down to the base, that's the more ghetto part of Roswell, and there were some kids playing basketball at the park. Elder Zambrana is way good at basketball, he had a few scholarships to go play in college. So we challenged them to a game in our pros. and said if we win y'all have to come to church with us tomorrow. They thought we were crazy and that they were going to tear us up...oh how wrong they were. We schooled them so bad haha a few minutes into the game they were saying things like Dang do we have to go to church to get this good?? Do y'all play in the NBA?? haha crazy stuff like that. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately nobody came to church with us but we're famous down at the base now. Well things are going great out here. I love serving the Lord and there's nowhere else in the world I'd rather be right now. I love you all. Have a great week.
Elder Harber
Brett-October 20, 2008
Hey everybody. Today is my eight month mark, 1/3 of the way there. I can't believe how fast it's going. This past week has been a blast and has flown by. We had interviews with President Robison on Wednesday, interviews are always awesome. On Friday night we had a fireside with Mario Facione. He used to be a member of the Mafia in Detroit. He came and told his conversion story, it was way cool. Elder Zambrana had to translate so I got to listen to a little bit of it in Spanish. Our Ward Mission Leader here in Roswell just got back from his mission in Detroit, where he met Brother Facione, the same mission that Sister Palmer is serving in. Small world. It was an awesome fireside. Saturday we got permission from President to go to the NMMI homecoming football game. The ZL's are teaching Bryce Spencer who plays TE and Brandon Bennet a member here plays MLB. Brandon is leaving for Uruguay in December and Bryce is planning on getting baptized right before he leaves for his mission. Its been a fun weekend. As for missionary work we've been working with this awesome less active family, the Salazars. The husband just left a couple weeks ago but sadly it seems to be for the better. They've got 3 girls and 2 boys. All within the ages of 8-16. The youngest daughter turns 8 tomorrow and wants to be baptized, the youngest son who is 9 or 10 hasn't been baptized as well. The 13-year-old son wants to receive the priesthood. So we're going over tonight for FHE to start teaching them about baptism and priesthood. I'm so excited!! Well that's about it over here in New Mexico. Love y'all!! Have a great week.
Elder Harber
Brett-October 13, 2008
Hey everybody things are good here in crazy town Roswell. Transfers were this past week. Its been a lot of fun. Elder Spencer is now my DL in Ruidoso. And my new comp is Elder Zambrana. He's way cool. He's from SLC, UT. His parents are from Nicaragua and Puerto Rico so he speaks fluent Spanish. Its awesome finally having a companion that wants to speak to me in Spanish. I'm learning alot. Being senior companion isn't really a whole lot different than being junior. This is gonna be a good transfer though. Elder Zambrana and I are going to tear it up. I love the mission and I love serving the Lord. I hope all is well back home.
Elder Harber
Brett-October 6, 2008
Hola familia. Well this transfer has just flown by!! I can't believe its over already and I definitely can't believe that Blake is home. Crazy!! Well Elder Spencer is leaving but he's not going far. He's the new District Leader in Ruidoso so I'll still get to be around him. I got a call from the assistants yesterday after conference. They told me that they're making me a senior companion. I'm kinda nervous but excited at the same time. I feel like I just got out here and I feel like I still have a lot to learn but I think I'm ready. This last transfer has definitely prepared me for it. Well conference was awesome this weekend. I really loved the second session on Saturday. Elder Wirthlin followed by Elder Holland...It doesn't get any better than that. It was a great conference, I learned a lot and it made me realize that there are a few things I need to work on. There are a lot of changes this transfer in the District. Elder Roper the ZL got released and is going down south. Our District Leader Elder Griffin is going to be one of the new Zone Leaders in Lubbock and one of the sisters are leaving as well. The work has been going well this last week. We picked up about 5 new Spanish investigators. My Spanish is still improving and there's definitely more room for improvement. We got to go on exchanges this past week. Elder Hill (ZL) came and worked our area with me. It went really well. We picked up a couple new investigators and we sat down and taught this Spanish guy named Martin. He doesn't speak a whole lot of English and Elder Hill doesn't speak any Spanish so I got to teach him a whole first lesson by my self. It was a neat experience. Elder Spencer and I also started teaching this couple this week, Kathy and Honario. Kathy speaks no Spanish and Honario speaks no English. Its an interesting relationship. Not a lot of communication there lol We sat down and taught them a couple times this week. It's pretty fun to teach them. What happens is I'll teach a principle in Spanish and Elder Spencer will translate for Kathy and then he'll teach a principle in Spanish and I'll translate. The work has definitely been improving here and I'm excited for this upcoming transfer. I love y'all.
Elder Brett Harber
October 1, 2008 A Day to Remember
The day we have looked forward to for two years has finally arrived! What a great day it was to finally be reunited with Blake! He looks awesome and is so grown up and mature. I can't quit hugging him!!
Brett-September 30, 2008
Hey everybody. Well I can't believe today is officially Blake's last day as a missionary and tomorrow he gets to meet up with the fam. I'm not gonna lie I'm a little bit jealous that I can't be in DC with them all right now. But its ok. The day will soon come when they will all be flying into Lubbock and say, "where is it??" Haha Well this has been a pretty good week. I can't believe this is week 6 of the transfer already. It flew by. Transfers are next week so there will definitely be some major changes in the District. I'm excited, and a little bit nervous, to see what happens. This week is the Eastern New Mexico State Fair so pretty much everything was shut down yesterday. They had a parade and we got to go to the fair for a little bit. We're not allowed to ride any of the rides of course but it was still pretty fun. Well I still can't believe Blake is coming home. Well I just want to echo what he said last week. La iglesia es verdadera. Jose Smith vio nuestro Padre Celestial y Jesucristo. Ellos nos aman muchisimo. Jesucristo murio por cada una de nosotros. Me encanta mi mision y me encanta la iglesia. Les quiero y tengan un gran semana con mi hermano.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-September 24, 2008
WELL, THIS IS IT...I THINK I'LL DO AS JOHN DID IN THE THIRD EPISTLE OF JOHN AND KEEP THIS SHORT..."I HAD MANY THINGS TO WRITE, BUT I WILL NOT...WRITE UNTO THEE: BUT I TRUST I SHALL SHORTLY SEE THEE, AND WE SHALL SPEAK FACE TO FACE. PEACE BE TO THEE..." MAYBE I'LL EVEN LET SOME PICTURES DO THE TALKING...WE'VE HAD A GREAT WEEK IN ROCKVILLE. CZARINA GOT BAPTIZED ON SUNDAY AND WE WENT TO HEAR SENATOR BENNETT AT THE "WHY I BELIEVE" RIGHT AFTER...I WILL CONFIRM HER ON SUNDAY AND CALL IT GOOD. SHE WAS A GREAT WAY TO GO OUT!! WE'LL BE WORKING HARD THIS WEEK TO SEE IF WE CAN FIND ONE MORE FOR THE FUTURE...WHO KNOWS. MAINLY I JUST WANT TO LET YOU ALL KNOW HOW MUCH I HAVE APPRECIATED ALL THE SUPPORT AND LOVE I HAVE RECEIVED WHILE ON MY MISSION...THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING!! IT HAS BEEN QUITE THE EXPERIENCE, WITH ALL KINDS OF UPS AND DOWNS...I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING. I HAVE LOVED IT WITH ALL MY HEART AND WILL TRULY MISS IT...I LOVE MY MISSION PRESIDENT AND HIS WIFE...THEY ARE SO GREAT TO US!! I AM SO THANKFUL FOR THE EXPERIENCES THAT I HAVE HAD THAT HAVE STRENGTHENED MY TESTIMONY OF THIS GOSPEL...I AM 100% POSITIVE THAT IT IS TRUE. JOSEPH SMITH WAS A PROPHET OF GOD AND HAD AN AMAZING IMPACT ON THE WORLD...THOMAS S. MONSON LEADS US TODAY!! MOST OF ALL I'M THANKFUL TO KNOW THAT MY HEAVENLY FATHER AND JESUS CHRIST LOVE ME AND KNOW ME PERSONALLY...THEY TRULY DO CARE. THE ATONEMENT IS REAL...IT HAS BLESSED MY LIFE SO MUCH AND WILL CONTINUE TO CARRY ME THROUGH WHATEVER MAY COME. I LOVE MY FAMILY SO MUCH AND AM SO EXCITED TO SEE THEM...IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT TIME!! THIS IS THE LORD'S WORK AND IT WILL GO ON WITH OR WITHOUT ME...IT'S ALL TRUE, AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. I LOVE YOU ALL...SEE YA NEXT WEEK!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-September 22, 2008
Hey everybody. Well I can't believe Blake is getting ready to go home already. That's so crazy. I wish I could be there to see him but I'm happy out here in Roswell. Things are going really good here. The Lord is blessing us with investigators as we continue to work hard and knock on those doors. We've been trying to get Spanish members to come out with us as much as possible. My Spanish has been really improving lately. I've been studying hard and it's been paying off. I've decided this past week that from now on I'm only studying in Spanish. I'm going to read the scriptures and PMG and everything in Spanish. So hopefully that will help me out as well. This week at church President Wakefield came and visited us. He is the brother of the bishop in the 1st ward, I'm in the 2nd ward. President Wakefield was the Mission President in Spain and the MTC president over there as well. Him and his wife spoke in first ward so I didn't get to see that but they came and spoke in Spanish group as well. It was an awesome meeting. They've still got me playing the piano. It can be rough at times but I've been getting better. It turns out President Wakefield was the mission President of one of my teachers in the MTC, Hermano Hughes. Small world. Well we've been doing quite a bit of service this past week as well and by the looks of it I might become a car mechanic after my mission haha no not really but I got to work on 2 cars this week. It was pretty fun. I know absolutely nothing about cars but I know how to use tools(thanks dad) and just did what I was told. We ate with a sweet family this week. They just moved here from Idaho and she cooked us Cafe Rio...It was so good!! Just like I remember it. I love Roswell and love my mission. The church is true. Hopefully we'll be able to bring some people to church with us pretty soon here. Love y'all.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-September 17, 2008
I'M KINDA SCARED TO START WRITING THIS E-MAIL BECAUSE AS SOON AS I'M DONE I'M ONLY GOING TO E-MAIL ONE MORE TIME ON MY MISSION!! WOW, THAT'S PRETTY CRAZY TO THINK ABOUT. WELL, ANOTHER GOOD WEEK...NOTHING TOO CRAZY GOING ON IN ROCKVILLE. WE HAD A GOOD ZONE CONFERENCE WITH ELDER GARN...HE IS A SUPER COOL GENERAL AUTHORITY!! ME AND MY COMPANION ALSO GOT TO HAVE A MEETING WITH HIM AND PRESIDENT AND SOME OTHER MISSIONARIES ALSO, SO THAT WAS PRETTY SWEET TOO BECAUSE IT WAS A LITTLE MORE PERSONAL. WE WERE WITH PRESIDENT 5 DAYS IN A ROW THIS WEEK BECAUSE OF ALL THE MEETING WE GOT TO GO TO...ON SATURDAY WE WENT TO A STAKE WARD MISSIONARY TRAINING MEETING SO BOTH ME AND MY COMPANION COULD EACH GIVE A LITTLE 15 MINUTE TRAINING SESSION. THE STAKE HIGH COUNSELOR OVER MISSIONARY WORK INVITED US TO DO THAT, BUT THERE WEREN'T ANY OTHER MISSIONARIES AT THAT ONE...IT WAS PRETTY COOL AND WENT WELL. THEN ON SUNDAY WE HAD OUR STAKE CORRELATION MEETING WITH THAT SAME HIGH COUNSELOR, PRESIDENT MANSELL, AND THE DC STAKE PRESIDENT, RON HARRISON. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I'VE BEEN IN A MEETING WITH PRESIDENT HARRISON AND IT WAS SUPER SWEET!! HE'S A COOL GUY TO WORK WITH...ENERGETIC, BUT SERIOUS...I FELT LIKE IT WAS A REALLY EFFECTIVE MEETING!! UNFORTUNATELY, ALL THESE MEETINGS DIDN'T LEAVE US A TON OF TIME TO WORK IN OUR AREA THIS WEEK, BUT THINGS ARE STILL GOING SMOOTH. THE MAIN THING TO REPORT ON IS THAT CZARINA IS GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SUNDAY AND WE ARE SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THAT!! LIFE IS GREAT...THE WORK IS GREAT...LOVE YOU ALL TONS!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-September 15, 2008
Hey y'all. Well things are going good over here in Roswell. When I first got here we had no investigators but we've been doing a lot of finding and we're teaching a few families. Nobody has come to church yet but we're gonna keep working with them. We've been teaching quite a bit in Spanish as well. My comp doesn't speak a whole lot of Spanish so I kinda have to take over in the Spanish lessons and my Spanish has been improving immensely. Its nice also to have Sacrament meeting in Spanish. I'm still playing the piano during Sacrament as well. I've been trying to practice as much as possible but we just don't have enough free time for me to practice. I'm not gonna lie I'm not a very good piano player but I guess its better than no piano. Well, we also got to attend a funeral this weekend so I had some time to think about Garrett this week. It was at the church but it wasn't your typical LDS funeral. The majority of the people there were Catholic. Elder Roper (one of the ZLs) gave a really good talk on the Plan of Salvation. Well other than that, I've recovered from the hike last week and my legs are finally feeling normal again. I think I forgot to tell y'all before but I'm finally driving!! My comp doesn't have driving privileges so I get to drive the Corolla. I keep trying to get him to ride bike with me but he refuses to put his bike together. Oh well, he's not the easiest companion to get along with but I'm trying to make it work and stay positive and happy. I love the area and the members and I love serving the Lord. There's nowhere else I'd rather be right now. I love y'all and hope all is well back home.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-September 10, 2008
THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR ALL THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES!! OF COURSE I DON'T REALLY FEEL ANY OLDER, BUT IT'S COOL TO BE 21 I GUESS...AT LEAST I REMEMBER WHAT I DID LAST NIGHT...HAHA. IT WAS A PRETTY COOL BIRTHDAY...ABOUT AS GOOD AS A MISSION BIRTHDAY CAN BE I SUPPOSE. I TOPPED IT OFF WITH A SWEET NIGHT AT THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY...I'LL EVEN ATTACH A PICTURE FOR YOU GUYS. YA, SO IT'S BEEN A PRETTY SOLID WEEK...NOT TOO MUCH TO WRITE ABOUT THESE DAYS...YOU KNOW THE ROUTINE BY NOW...WE GO OUT AND TRY TO FIND SOME PEOPLE, TEACH SOME LESSONS, DO OUR THING. BUT SERIOUSLY...WE DID JUST THAT, BUT WE DID SET A BAPTISM DATE WITH CZARINA ON MONDAY NIGHT, SO THAT WAS SWEET!! SHE WILL BE GETTING BAPTIZED ON SEPTEMBER 21...I THOUGHT ABOUT MAKING IT THE 28th SO THAT IT COULD BE ON MY LAST SUNDAY, BUT I WANT TO BE THERE FOR THE CONFIRMATION TOO AND SHE'S TOTALLY READY, SO WE'RE JUST GONNA DO IT. SHE'S SUPER EXCITED ABOUT IT...WHEN I EXTENDED THE DATE TO HER, SHE GOT THIS HUGE SMILE ON HER FACE...IT WAS SO COOL!! THE LESSONS ARE REALLY HELPING OUT HER MOM TOO...I THINK SHE GETS A TON OUT OF THEM AND THEY'VE BEEN STRONG ABOUT COMING TO CHURCH THE PAST 2 WEEKS, SO I THINK WE'VE GOT OURSELVES A SOLID LITTLE MOTHER/DAUGHTER COMBO HERE. IT'S PRETTY SWEET...OTHER THAN THAT, NOTHING TOO SPECIAL UP AND COMING. TODAY WE HAD AN INTERZONE ACTIVITY WITH 3 OF THE 7 ZONES IN OUR MISSION, UP AT A MEMBER'S RANCH IN OLNEY, MD...IT WAS SO SWEET!! THEY HAD TONS OF STUFF, BUT I PLAYED HOCKEY AND FOOTBALL. THE HOCKEY IS ACTUALLY IN A RINK, BUT JUST ON THE SPORTCOURT MATERIAL, SO YOU JUST RUN AND GO...IT WAS PRETTY SWEET AND THEN THE FOOTBALL WAS A PRETTY BIG, NICE GREEN FIELD SO THAT WAS SWEET TOO. I HAD A KID FROM THE BYU FOOTBALL TEAM AND A KID FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH FOOTBALL TEAM ON MY SIDE, SO NEEDLESS TO SAY WE HOOKED UP FOR A COUPLE OF TOUCHDOWNS AND SMASHED EVERYONE. THE BYU PLAYER IS A KICKER AND THE U OF U PLAYER IS A RECEIVER...PRESIDENT MANSELL EVEN PLAYED TOO!! IT WAS SUPER FUN!! TOMORROW IS MY LAST ZONE CONFERENCE...WE ARE HAVING ELDER GARN OF THE 70 COME TALK TO US...IT SHOULD BE AWESOME!! WELL, LIFE IS GOOD...I HAD BETTER RUN, BUT I LOVE YOU ALL AND OF COURSE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING EVERYONE SOON...HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-September 9, 2008
Happy birthday Blake and Andrew!! Well this has been a great weekend. We had stake conference this weekend and it was really great. Elder Richard J. Maynes was here and spoke in all the sessions. He's a great speaker and it was a very spiritual conference. He talked a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and celestial traditions vs false traditions. He talked a lot about the family and how these traditions should start in the home such as FHE, hopefully y'all are having it. Well it was a great weekend and yesterday we got to go hike Sierra Blanca up in Ruidoso. That's why I didn't have the chance to email yesterday. We got up at 4 in the morning and it's an hour and a half drive to Ruidoso. We had to start our hike before 6 because they are doing some construction on the road up to the ski resort and we had to beat the workers. It was kind of a long day but it was a beautiful hike. It took just under four hours to get to the top and just less than two to get back down. Its nice to finally see some mountains again. Sierra Blanca is the highest point in our mission at 12,000 ft. I'll try and attach some pictures for ya. It was probably the best P-day I've had yet. There wasn't too much to do in Pecos. Well as for the missionary work its been kinda slow. We've been knocking on a lot of doors trying to find people to teach. We've set lots of appointments with people but hardly any of them hold. I guess we're just going to have to keep knocking until we find someone that's ready. I know if we keep trying our hardest and talking to everybody the Lord will put someone in our path that is ready to hear the gospel. I love y'all and hope you have an awesome week.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-September 3, 2008
WHEN I FLIPPED MY CALENDAR THE OTHER DAY, IT HIT ME PRETTY DANG HARD THAT THIS IS IT...I WON'T FLIP THAT CALENDAR AGAIN...IT'S GONNA GO IN A BOX BEFORE I HAVE TO FLIP IT AGAIN...IT WAS A SCARY THOUGHT, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY IT WAS A VERY MOTIVATING THOUGHT. WE HAVE HAD A SOLID WEEK HERE IN ROCKVILLE...THE ONLY BIG UPDATE I HAVE IS WITH CZARINA CAMPOS (TAMARA JAMES' DAUGHTER)...WE TOOK BROTHER DOODY LAST NIGHT AFTER DINNER TO TEACH HER AND HAD A SWEET LESSON. BEFORE WE EVEN STARTED, BROTHER DOODY SAID "SO YOU'RE GONNA GET BAPTIZED, HUH?" SHE GOT A BIG SMILE AND SAID "YEP". SHE UNDERSTOOD THE LESSON SO WELL AND WAS VERY EXCITED ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON...SHE IS ONLY 13, BUT HER MOM IS VERY SMART AND WE CAN TELL THAT CZARINA IS TOO. THE GOSPEL IS GOING TO BE A HUGE BLESSING IN HER LIFE THROUGH HER TEENAGE YEARS AND SHE IS GOING TO MAKE A GREAT MEMBER IN THE FUTURE BECAUSE SHE IS INTELLIGENT AND ON TOP OF THINGS. IT'S SO AWESOME!! WE ARE GOING BACK TOMORROW NIGHT TO TEACH ABOUT THE PLAN OF SALVATION AND TO GIVE HER A BAPTISM DATE...WE HAVEN'T DECIDED ON THE DATE YET, BUT IT WILL EITHER BE THE 21st OR THE 28th...IT'S SO GREAT!! WE AREN'T GIVING UP ON TRYING TO FIND SOME OTHER SWEET PEOPLE THOUGH...WE ARE ESPECIALLY FOCUSING ON SOME LESS-ACTIVES RIGHT NOW, WHICH SEEMS TO BE GOING WELL. LIFE IS GREAT!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH AND AM SO HAPPY WITH HOW THINGS ARE...SORRY IT'S SHORT TODAY, BUT I LOVE YOU ALL LOTS!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-September 2, 2008
Hey everybody. I got transferred to a new area last week. We actually have a McDonald's here...They call it the UFO McDonald's. Main Street here has alien eyes in the street lamps at night...If you haven't figured it out yet I'm in Roswell, NM. Its awesome here I love it. When I got the call I was getting transferred I wanted to go to either Midland or Odessa, or anywhere but Roswell lol But its not about where I want to go but where the Lord needs me. Roswell was pretty much the only place in the mission that I didn't want to serve, I guess just because of the whole alien thing but since I've got here I've realized its not what everyone thinks. Its actually really beautiful here. The highest point in our mission is about an hour away and we're going to go climb it next P-Day. Roswell has 2 wards, it's so good to be in a ward again!! There are 6 missionaries in Roswell right now. The sisters cover 1st ward and the 4 Elders cover 2nd ward. Elder Roper and Elder Hill are the Zone Leaders in the Roswell Zone and they both speak English. Elder Spencer is my new companion and we get to do all the Spanish here in Roswell. They have a Spanish group that meets and has sacrament meeting Sunday nights. This week they had a fast and testimony meeting because next week is stake conference. It was an amazing meeting. I got to get up and bear my testimony in Spanish. The spirit was so strong in that meeting and I feel like I learned a lot from their testimonies, both in improving my Spanish and it was spiritually uplifting. I also got designated the pianist in Spanish group. They tried to play a cd of the hymns in Spanish because nobody could play but the cd player wasn't working so I got to play. It was really scary playing in sacrament meeting. Again I wish I would have practiced more before my mission. Yesterday was Labor Day and the 6 of us missionaries had a barbeque with Mark and Ashlyn(the ZL's investigators). It was way fun and Mark and Ashlyn are way cool. Mark gave up smoking and has only had one puff in the last 2 weeks. They're awesome. Tomorrow is Zone Conference and they've changed things up a little bit. They've shortened it up a bit and our activity is only an hour now. Zone Conferences used to go all day but now we'll have a few hours to work at night. At first I was kind of bummed about it but I know there is a reason that President has decided to do this and we're gonna have to work hard tomorrow night and hopefully see some success. Well that's about it for this week. I love y'all.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-August 27, 2008
WELL, AS OF TODAY I HAVE BEEN ON MY MISSION FOR 23 MONTHS...KINDA CRAZY TO THINK ABOUT. I CAN STILL REMEMBER SITTING DOWN TO WRITE MY FIRST E-MAIL FROM THE MISSION FIELD AND MY GRANDPA TELLING ME, "The first month of your mission is gone already. The next 23 will go just as fast. Use them well." BOY WAS HE RIGHT...NOW WITH 23 DOWN, 1 TO GO, I'M TRYING TO USE THIS LAST ONE EXTREMELY WELL. WE ARE WORKING LIKE CRAZY UP HERE IN ROCKVILLE AND IT IS PAYING OFF...WE GOT 2 REALLY COOL NEW INVESTIGATORS THIS WEEK WHO HAVE LOTS OF POTENTIAL TO GET BAPTIZED. ONE IS A 42 YEAR OLD ITALIAN CATHOLIC GUY NAMED MARIO, AND THE OTHER IS A 13 YEAR OLD GIRL WHO IS THE DAUGHTER OF A MEMBER IN OUR WARD. HER NAME IS CZARINA AND RIGHT NOW SHE HAS THE MOST POTENTIAL OF GETTING BAPTIZED...WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO WORK HARD AND MAKE IT HAPPEN. ROGER CABANBAN IS COMING TO CHURCH EVERY WEEK AND PLAYING BASKETBALL WITH US EVERY WEEK, BUT WILL NOT MEET WITH US OTHERWISE...I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HECK HIS DEAL IS!! CURTIS STUART DIDN'T COME TO CHURCH AGAIN THIS WEEK SO WE ARE DONE WITH THAT...THE WOLFE'S ARE DOING GREAT...WE ARE GOING OVER TWICE A WEEK TO TEACH NEW MEMBER LESSONS, ANSWER QUESTIONS, AND PREPARE THEM TO GO AND GET SEALED IN THE TEMPLE. IT'S SO GREAT!! LIFE IS SO COOL RIGHT NOW...THE LORD IS BLESSING ME SO MUCH AND EVERY DAY I AM SEEING HIS HAND IN THE WORK. I'VE BEEN PRAYING FOR THAT LATELY, TO BETTER RECOGNIZE HIS HAND IN THE WORK, IN THE SMALL AND SIMPLE WAYS...BOY HAS IT WORKED!! I LOVE IT...MY COMPANION, ELDER REX, IS GREAT...HE'S FROM ST. GEORGE AND GOES HOME IN MARCH...WE ARE HAVING A BLAST TOGETHER. WHEN I GOT TO ROCKVILLE I SET A GOAL TO HAVE 3 BAPTISMS BEFORE I LEFT...SO FAR WE GOT THE 2 AND WE ARE WORKING OUR HARDEST TO GET 1 MORE BEFORE SEPTEMBER ENDS...THE LORD WILL DO IT FOR US IF WE KEEP ON PUTTING IN OUR PART. WOW, THIS TRANSFER AS A MISSION WE ARE FOCUSING ON CHAPTER 1, CHAPTER 6, AND LESSON 2 IN PREACH MY GOSPEL...THAT IS ABOUT OUR PURPOSE, CHRISTLIKE ATTRIBUTES, AND THE PLAN OF SALVATION, RESPECTIVELY...IT'S THE COOLEST TRAINING PLAN I THINK WE HAVE...I AM TRYING TO PLACE THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST AT THE FOREFRONT OF EVERYTHING WE DO AND IT IS SO AWESOME. I AM LEARNING SO MUCH AND GETTING A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW IMPORTANT IT TRULY IS...ANYWAYS, THE GOSPEL IS TRUE...WE HAVE THE GREATEST GIFT ON THE EARTH...I LOVE SHARING IT!! JESUS CHRIST LIVES AND THE ATONEMENT IS REAL...I WISH I COULD CONVEY IN MY E-MAIL HOW HAPPY IT MAKES ME WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT ALL AND SHARE MY TESTIMONY OF THAT. I LOVE YOU ALL TONS AND HOPE EVERYONE HAS AN AWESOME WEEK!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-August 25, 2008
Hey everybody...So transfers are tomorrow and I am leaving Pecos. Pecos is my greenie area and its all I know so I'm kind of scared to leave...I think I'm more scared about packing all my junk haha Pecos has been good though and I'm really going to miss it. I'm sad I never got to see Mary Helen get baptized, we finished teaching her yesterday so as soon as she clears things up with her husband she's good to go. I'm so excited for her and proud of the complete 180 that she's made in her life. I'm not sure where I'm getting transferred to yet or who my companion is going to be. They usually just tell us if we're going north or south on the transfer bus but they couldn't even tell me that. I'll have to let y'all know next week where I'm at and give you my new address. Well I love y'all and hope everyone's having a good time back in school.
Nos vemos.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-August 20, 2008
6 WEEKS LEFT AND I'M STAYING HERE IN ROCKVILLE TO FINISH IT OFF...TODAY IS TRANSFER DAY AND ELDER HALLMAN IS LEAVING AND I'M GETTING AN ELDER NAMED ELDER REX...HE IS SUPER COOL AND IT'S GOING TO BE AN AWESOME TRANSFER!! I'M SO STOKED!! STACEY AND CHRIS GOT BAPTIZED THIS PAST WEEKEND AND EVERYTHING WENT SMOOTH WITH THAT...LIFE IS GREAT HERE. THERE ARE SO MANY LITTLE THINGS HAPPENING LATELY THAT ARE SO COOL...JUST LIKE RUNNING INTO PEOPLE I HAVE WORKED WITH OR HEARING ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE I HAVE BEEN AROUND EXCELLING...IT'S SO SWEET!! I DON'T REALLY HAVE MUCH TIME TO WRITE A TON, BUT JUST KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU ALL!! IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT LAST 6 WEEKS AND I'M SO EXCITED...LOTS MORE UPDATES TO COME THESE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS...
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-August 18, 2008
Hey everybody. One more week down. It seems like yesterday I was in here emailing. Well I hit 6 months this week!! It's crazy. I can't believe it's been that long already. Transfers are coming up next week and Elder Bolander's going home so I'm for sure getting a new comp. I have a feeling that I'm going to be leaving Pecos. I'll let y'all know next Monday. Mary Helen decided she needs a little bit more time for her baptism. She has been fighting with her husband a lot and I'm pretty sure they're going to end up getting divorced. Victoria decided that she's not getting baptized either. It's really sad but we're going to try and keep working with her. Jr is still working hard and is working on his mission papers. I'm so stoked for him to get his call. This past week has been pretty crazy. We got to do some more service. We helped the Barrera's clean out one of their rental homes. The people that were renting it completely trashed the place and took off. It was disgusting!! We loaded a trailer full of junk that they had left and took it out to the dump. We had interviews with President Robison this past week also. He's so awesome!! Sister Robison taught us all how to lead music. I already knew how but it was still fun. I've been playing the piano at District Meetings all this transfer. I wish I would have practiced more before my mission. I've been trying to practice at the church whenever we have free time. Hopefully next transfer somebody else in my district will know how to play lol. Well that's about it here in Pecos. I hope all is well back home.
Love y'all!!
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-August 13, 2008
HEY THERE...ANOTHER ONE DOWN AND I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S BEEN 7 DAYS SINCE THE LAST TIME I WROTE. TODAY HAS BEEN A PRETTY SWEET P-DAY SO FAR...WE GOT UP THIS MORNING AND BIKED FROM THE TEMPLE IN KENSINGTON, DOWN THROUGH ROCK CREEK NATIONAL PARK, TO THE NATIONAL MALL. I THINK IT WAS ABOUT A 10-15 MILE BIKE RIDE AND IT WAS SUPER NICE...ROCK CREEK TRAIL RUNS RIGHT NEXT TO A RIVER THE WHOLE WAY AND WE GOT SOME SWEET PICTURES. IT POPS US OUT ON THE WATERFRONT OF THE POTOMAC AND THEN SWINGS US AROUND BEHIND THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL. WE PACKED A LUNCH THIS MORNING SO WE TOOK THAT AND ATE ON THE GRASS NEXT TO THE REFLECTING POOL...THEN WE RODE AROUND FOR A FEW MINUTES AND TOOK THE METRO HOME...THERE WAS A PRETTY SHORT BIKE RIDE FROM THE METRO
BACK TO THE TEMPLE, AND NOW WE'RE AT THE STAKE CENTER NEXT TO THE TEMPLE E-MAILING. I'M PRETTY TIRED NOW, BUT IT WAS SUPER FUN...ALTOGETHER BETWEEN BIKING BEFORE, ON THE MALL, AND AFTER WE MUST HAVE GONE CLOSE TO 20 MILES...IT WAS AWESOME!! ANYWAYS, THE MISSIONARY WORK IS CRUISING ALONG HERE IN ROCKVILLE...WE HAD A COUPLE BREAKTHROUGHS THIS WEEK. ROGER CABANBAN FINALLY CAME TO CHURCH, BUT WE STILL HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO MEET WITH HIM BECAUSE OF HIM & HIS WIFE'S WORK SCHEDULE. WE ARE PROBABLY GOING TO TRY GETTING PERMISSION TO TEACH HIM AT LIKE 9:30 OR 10:00 PM CUZ HE'S READY TO GO. THEN WE GOT TO MEET WITH CURTIS STUART AND SET UP AN APPOINTMENT TO GO TO THE VISITOR'S CENTER. WHEN THAT ROLLED AROUND, ALL KINDS OF JUNK CAME UP AND TRIED TO GET IN THE WAY...WE WERE JUMPING THROUGH FLAMING HOOPS AND PRETTY MUCH DRAGGED HIM BEHIND THE CAR TO GET HIM THERE. WE HAD SET UP A TOUR WITH THE SISTERS IN ADVANCE AND THEY WERE REALLY PREPARED FOR HIM TO COME IN...IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST SPIRITUAL & UPLIFTING TOURS I HAVE BEEN ON. THE SISTERS DID AN AMAZING JOB AT TEACHING US ABOUT THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST, APPLYING IT DIRECTLY TO CURTIS, AND BOLDLY INVITING HIM TO CHURCH. THE SISTERS AND ME AND MY COMPANION PRETTY MUCH HAD TO TIE HIM UP IN A PRETZEL TO GET HIM TO COMMIT TO CHURCH, BUT HE FINALLY DID. HE WAS COOL ABOUT IT ALL TOO...IT SOUNDS LIKE WE WERE FORCING HIM TO DO THIS STUFF AND SHOULDN'T HAVE, BUT REALLY HE JUST NEEDS TO BE PUSHED A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE HE'S OKAY WITH DOING IT, HE'S JUST AFRAID TO COMMIT TO NEW THINGS WHEN HE HAS OTHER THINGS HE WANTS TO DO ON HIS MIND. BUT AFTER PUSHING HIM A LITTLE BIT, HE ENDED UP ENJOYING THE NIGHT AND OF COURSE HE WAS GLAD HE WENT. IT WAS CRAZY THOUGH...THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG IN THERE...THE TOUR WAS REALLY MEANT FOR HIM, BUT I WALKED AWAY SPIRITUALLY UPLIFTED TOO...HAHA. THE OTHER GOOD NEWS FOR THE WEEK IS THAT STACEY AND CHRIS WOLFE ARE GETTING BAPTIZED ON SUNDAY AT 5:30 AND CONFIRMED AT THEIR BAPTISM BECAUSE THEY WILL BE GOING OUT OF TOWN THE WEEK AFTER. SO ALL THAT WILL BE TAKEN CARE OF AND WE HAVE BEEN MEETING WITH THEM OFTEN SO THEY ARE DEAD ON TRACK TO HAVE IT ALL GO DOWN SMOOTH. YEAH!! LIFE IS GOOD...I LOVE THE MISSION SO MUCH!! I'VE BEEN THINKING LATELY ABOUT WHAT IT'S GOING TO BE LIKE TO NOT BE A MISSIONARY AND IT'S PRETTY SAD TO THINK ABOUT...BOTH SCARY AND SAD...I WILL MISS IT LOTS. NEXT WEEK WILL START MY LAST TRANSFER AND I PROBABLY WILL BE GETTING A NEW COMPANION...I'M SURE HE'LL BE A GREAT ONE SO WE CAN TEAR IT UP ALL TRANSFER LONG!! I LOVE YOU ALL TONS...HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND ENJOY THE LAST LITTLE BIT OF SUMMER VACATION.
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-August 11, 2008
How's it going everybody?? Things are going good here in Pecos Texas. Not a whole lot has happened this past week. We got to do a lot of service. We went out to Balmorrhea with Brother Barrera and helped him load and unload 50 bails of hay for his chivos(goats). And Grandma B(Sis Barrera) fed us Macho Mans afterwards. They're way good!! We also helped Brother Delgado's son rip out the bathroom floor. They're fixing up the bathroom and it was way fun to tear it up and just smash things with a hammer haha. We mowed some lawns too. Not a bad week. The Zone Leaders came down for exchanges on Wednesday. Elder Duffy, my old District Leader and Elder Auten. Elder Auten has OCD so he was freaking out in our apartment cuz it's pretty small and cluttered. It was pretty funny. Well we're still on to baptize Mary Helen on the 23rd. Junior is finally worthy to baptize Victoria but now she's starting to have doubts. So we'll see what happens. Not much else is happening. It's still super hot here!! I can't wait for it to cool down a little bit. Well I better run. I love y'all!!
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-August 6, 2008
HEY THERE, HOW IS EVERYONE? I AM DOING JUST FINE OUT HERE...WE HAVE HAD A PRETTY SOLID WEEK. IT STARTED OUT GOOD ON THURSDAY WHEN WE HAD OUR COMBINED DISTRICT MEETING (ALL 3 DISTRICTS IN THE ZONE)...IT WAS THE MOST SPIRITUAL C.D.M. I HAVE EVER BEEN TO. WE WENT OUT THAT NIGHT ALL PUMPED UP AND GAVE STACEY AND CHRIS A BAPTISM DATE OF AUGUST 17 AFTER TEACHING THE PLAN OF SALVATION...THEY BOTH ACCEPTED AND ARE EXCITED FOR THAT. I HAD THIS CRAZY DREAM LAST NIGHT THAT 2 OTHER PEOPLE GOT BAPTIZED WITH THEM AND THEN WE HAD 3 OTHERS 2 WEEKS LATER...HAHA. UNFORTUNATELY IT WAS JUST A DREAM, BUT WHO KNOWS...CRAZIER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED. WE ALSO HAD 1 OTHER COMPANIONSHIP IN THE ZONE GO OUT AND SET A BAPTISM DATE THAT NIGHT...THEY SAID THAT THE MEETING FIRED THEM UP TOO, SO THAT WAS PRETTY COOL. WE HAD A COUPLE OF OTHER COOL THINGS HAPPEN WITH MEMBERS AND STUFF, AND THEN ON SATURDAY NIGHT WE WENT AND PLAYED BASKETBALL AGAIN WITH ROGER AND HIS FILIPINO FRIENDS. FOR SOME REASON THAT IS THE ONLY COMMITMENT HE IS HOLDING RIGHT NOW, SO THAT'S FRUSTRATING. CURTIS GAVE US THE BUSY EXCUSE FOR CHURCH THIS WEEK, WHICH IS ALSO FRUSTRATING. HE IS READY TO BE BAPTIZED, HE JUST WON'T COMMIT TO IT...WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN RIGHT NOW, BUT HE JUST HAS TO STEP IT UP WITH A LITTLE ACTION. WE TAUGHT STACEY AND CHRIS LESSON 3 ON MONDAY NIGHT WITH A YOUNG GUY WHO IS OUT HERE WITH A FRIEND ON VACATION. HE'S FROM THE MIDWEST AND GOES TO BYU...IT WAS GOOD TO HAVE HIM, BOTH FOR THE LESSON AND FOR HIM. HE CONTRIBUTED WELL AND HE IS PREPARING TO GO ON A MISSION IN A FEW MONTHS SO IT WAS GREAT!! REALLY THAT'S ABOUT IT...WE ARE DOING LOTS OF LESS-ACTIVE WORK AND BISHOP WORK (TRYING TO LOCATE PEOPLE) SO THAT'S TAKING UP ALOT OF OUR TIME RIGHT NOW. IT'S GOOD...WE'RE BUSY AND HAPPY...IT'S CRAZY THAT TRANSFERS ARE COMING UP...HOPEFULLY IT'S A GOOD ONE. I'M NOT TOO WORRIED...ANYWAYS, LOVE YOU ALL TONS AND HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT WEEK!! THAT'S IT FOR THIS WEEK...
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-August 4, 2008
Well things have been picking back up here in Pecos as summer winds down. We had a branch fast a couple weeks ago for one of our investigators (Mary Helen) and this week at church she told us she finally got the courage to ask her husband if she could get baptized and he told her she could do whatever she wanted and a few other choice words haha So we set a date with her for the 23rd of August. I'm way excited to finally see her get baptized. My testimony of fasting and prayer has grown immensely!! President Sparkman's son Jr (Wayne) is worthy to baptize Victoria!! He's awesome!! He's made huge improvement since I first got here. Victoria won't be back in town for 2 more weeks so hopefully I don't get transferred before she gets baptized...knock on wood. Well we had our first Zone Conference with President Robison. He's way awesome!! He likes to use all sorts of sports analogies and told some stories about when he was refereeing. I can't help but to immediately love him and his wife, they're amazing people!! Well thats about it here in Pecos. I hope all is well back home. I love y'all tons.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-July 30, 2008
WHAT'S GOING ON OUT IN THE WEST COAST? MAN I MISS ALL YOU GUYS!! LIFE IS SWEET...WE HAD OUR AWESOME P-DAY LAST WEEK, AND THEN THIS WEEK WAS A SWEET ONE TOO!! WE WENT PAINTBALLING FOR OUR ZONE ACTIVITY, SO WE HAD ABOUT 22 MISSIONARIES AND PRESIDENT MANSELL EVEN CAME TO PLAY...IT WAS SO COOL!! HE WAS A STUD ABOUT IT AND HE TORE IT UP!! HE IS SUCH AN AWESOME MISSION PRESIDENT AND I LOVE HIM TO DEATH!! THE WORK IS STILL GOING GREAT AS USUAL, BUT THERE IS ONE PRETTY SWEET UPDATE. MY FIRST NIGHT IN THIS AREA WE WENT TO THE V.C. WITH A LESS-ACTIVE MEMBER NAMED BROTHER WOLFE TO WATCH A MOVIE...AS TIME HAS GONE ON, IT TURNS OUT THAT HIS WIFE AND 4 KIDS AREN'T MEMBERS. SO WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH HIS WIFE, BUT HER SCHEDULE HAS BEEN PRETTY BUSY. SO THIS LAST WEEK, SHE TELLS US THAT SHE QUIT HER JOB SO THAT SHE CAN FOCUS ON THE KIDS AND WORK HARD AT SCHOOL...SHE IS GOING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND TO BECOME A REGISTERED NURSE...SO THAT MEANS SHE CAN COME TO CHURCH NOW!! SO I WENT WITH ONE OF OUR WARD MEMBER EXCHANGES OVER TO THEIR HOUSE LAST THURSDAY NIGHT AND JUST ASSESSED THE SITUATION...IT TURNS OUT SHE IS FINALLY READY TO BE BAPTIZED AFTER OVER A YEAR OF CHECKING IT OUT. HER HUSBAND HAS BEEN MORE ACTIVE THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS, AND THEIR KID IS READY TO GO TOO. OUT OF THE 4, ONLY 1 IS BAPTIZING AGE, AND THAT'S CHRIS...HE'S 12. WE'RE GOING TO YOUNG MEN'S TONIGHT WITH HIM...THE OTHER KIDS ARE DESTINY, KAYLA, AND BRANDON. BROTHER AND SISTER WOLFE (CRAIG AND STACEY WOLFE) ARE ABLE TO MEET WITH US TWICE A WEEK NOW, SO ON MY EXCHANGE I EXPLAINED THE WHOLE PROCESS AND SET ALL THE APPOINTMENTS UP AND BASICALLY SHE'S READY TO GET BAPTIZED AS SOON AS WE'RE DONE WITH IT ALL...THAT SHOULD BE IN A FEW WEEKS. WE'LL SET A DATE NEXT TIME WE GO OVER, BUT IT WILL PROBABLY BE AUGUST 10. THIS TRANSFER IS FLYING BY SO FAST!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT...IT'S SO CRAZY!! I WENT ON EXCHANGES WITH THE SPANISH GUYS THIS WEEK IN THEIR AREA, AND THAT WAS SUPER COOL...IT MADE ME A LITTLE JEALOUS, I'M NOT GONNA LIE...HAHA. ANYWAYS, LIFE IS GREAT...MY COMPANION IS COOL AND WE ARE HAVING AN AWESOME TIME. THE OTHER 2 GUYS WE GOT COMING UP FOR BAPTISM, CURTIS & ROGER, SHOULD BE COMING AROUND SOON...I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED FOR SURE. I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT WEEK...ENJOY THE PICTURE...LOVE YOU ALL!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Blake w/President Mansell
The cool zone leader with his super cool mission
president at their paintballing zone activity.
Who said missionaries can't have fun!
Brett-July 28, 2008
Well another week down, it seems like yesterday I was in here writing my last email. It's going way fast. The work this week was kinda slow but I'm trying to stay positive. Yesterday Elder Bolander and I got to go to Van Horn with Brother Wally Moon to have Sacrament Meeting. Van Horn is about 90 miles away from Pecos and is a lot smaller than here. There's only a handful of members out there and they only get the chance to take the sacrament once every month or two. It made me realize just how lucky we are to live in Vegas and Utah where there is a church on every corner. The people out in Van Horn are mostly elderly and don't have the money or the health to drive 180 miles each week. There were only 3 members plus the 3 of us in our tiny sacrament meeting in an old museum. It was really cool. I got to bless, pass, speak and pray all in the same meeting. It was a good experience. Well not much else has happened here in Pecos. The weather has been crazy from that hurricane. Usually when it rains here it will rain for 30 minutes to an hour and then it will be sunny but on Friday it rained all day and all Saturday night. It was a nice change of weather. Well I love y'all. The church is true.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-July 23, 2008
HOLY SMOKES, I CAN'T BELIEVE JULY IS COMING TO A CLOSE...I GUESS I HAVE ONE MORE E-MAIL IN JULY, BUT STILL...I THINK MY FIRST FRIEND TO GO OUT ON HIS MISSION (CAMERON) IS GOING HOME TODAY, WHICH IS JUST MIND-BOGGLING TO ME. I COULD BE OFF, BUT IF I AM THEN IT'S PRETTY DANG CLOSE!! THINGS ARE GREAT IN ROCKVILLE...WE ARE WORKING HARD AND TRYING TO STAY FOCUSED. I TOLD MY PARENTS IN MY OTHER E-MAIL THAT NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY NOT TO, I OFTEN CATCH MYSELF THINKING ABOUT HOME. I ALWAYS THOUGHT TRUNKY WAS A JOKE, BUT I GUESS I WAS WRONG...IT'S OK THOUGH...IT'S GOOD TO HAVE A COMPANION THAT GOES HOME WITH ME BECAUSE WE JUST MOTIVATE EACH OTHER TO STAY FOCUSED ALL THE TIME. THE WORK IS WELL AND THE WARD IS AWESOME!! WE ARE STILL GETTING FED ALL THE TIME, AND THE BISHOP IS A GREAT GUY TO WORK WITH...WE'RE TRYING TO GET SOME WARD MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES GOING, SO HOPEFULLY WE CAN SWING SOMETHING THERE. CURTIS STUART HAD EXCUSES FOR CHURCH THIS WEEK, SO WE WILL PROBABLY POSTPONE THE BAPTISM, BUT IT WILL STILL GO DOWN AT SOME POINT. WE ALSO HAVE 2 OTHERS THAT HAVE SOME GOOD POTENTIAL, SO HOPEFULLY WE CAN BRING THEM THROUGH SOON...THEY ARE BOTH IN PART-MEMBER HOMES. THIS PAST SUNDAY NIGHT WE GOT TO GO TO THE "WHY I BELIEVE" AND HEAR FROM MIKE LEAVITT, WHO IS THE FORMER GOVERNOR OF UTAH AND CURRENTLY IN PRESIDENT BUSH'S CABINET AS THE HEAD OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. IT WAS A GREAT TALK!! PRESIDENT MANSELL TOOK ALL OF THE MISSIONARIES GOING HOME THE NEXT 2 TRANSFERS (AUG. 20 AND OCT. 1) TO ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETARY TODAY...IT WAS SWEET!! WE GOT TO WALK AROUND AND SEE ALL THE COOL STUFF THERE...IT WAS GREAT OF HIM TO TAKE US. LIFE IS GREAT THOUGH...MY COMPANION IS A GOOD GUY AND WE ARE GETTING ALOT DONE. THE WORK IS SO MUCH FUN NOWADAYS...I FEEL LIKE WE CAN DO ALOT MORE AND THINGS SEEM TO JUST RUN SMOOTHER. ANYWAYS, I GOTTA RUN BUT THE CHURCH IS TRUE...NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!! I LOVE THE GOSPEL AND KNOW IT CHANGES LIVES...HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-July 21, 2008
Howdy y'all. Sorry I didn't write last week. I was just being kinda lazy lol. Well transfers were last week and Elder Bolander and I are both staying. This is Elder Bolander's last transfer so I get to kill my first missionary. We're both way excited to be staying. The work slowed down for a while but it's picking back up each week. We had a branch fast for one of our investigators Mary Helen. She's way awesome and has a really strong testimony but her husband won't let her get baptized. He drinks and smokes and does drugs so it's really hard for her because she completely changed her life and he won't change his. I don't know what's going to happen with her but I hope that everything works out. We've been riding our bikes a lot and talking to a lot of people. We had some sweet spanish lessons this week. Nothing else really is new here. There's not really much else to do down here in Pecos. Well I hope all is well back home.
Love y'all lots!!
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-July 16, 2008
HEY EVERYBODY...SORRY TO DO THIS TO YOU, BUT I HAD A TON OF E-MAILS TODAY AND MY ROOMMATES ARE ALL DONE AND WANTING TO GO, SO I DON'T REALLY HAVE MUCH TIME TO GIVE A BUNCH OF DETAILS. BASICALLY LIFE IS GREAT IN ROCKVILLE...I'M SUPER HAPPY ABOUT THIS TRANSFER AND HOPE THAT THINGS CONTINUE TO GO GREAT. MY COMPANION IS REALLY COOL AND THE AREA IS A GOOD ONE TO BE WORKING IN...THIS IS BY FAR MY MOST DIVERSE AREA, AND IT IS MUCH HARDER TO FIND PEOPLE TO TEACH. WE HAVE A BAPTISM COMING UP ON JULY 27...IT'S A GUY NAMED CURTIS STUART...HE HAS BEEN INVESTIGATING THE CHURCH FOR YEARS AND HAS FINALLY DECIDED TO MAKE THE JUMP. I'M NOT POSITIVE WHERE HE'S FROM, BUT HE LOOKS AND TALKS JAMAICAN OR SOMETHING...HE'S GOT CRAZY DREDLOCKS AND IS WAY GOOD AT SOCCER...WHO KNOWS. THE WARD IS AWESOME...I GOT TO ATTEND A FUNCTIONING P.E.C. MEETING AGAIN AND THEY EVEN WERE EXPECTING US...OUR NAMES WERE ON THE PROGRAM AND PEOPLE WERE INTRODUCING THEMSELVES TO US AND ALREADY KNEW A LITTLE BIT OF OUR BACKGROUND (OUR AS IN ME AND MY ROOMMATE...THERE ARE 2 COMPANIONSHIPS IN THE ROCKVILLE WARD...WE LIVE TOGETHER). THE WARD GOES ON FULL SPLITS WITH US ONCE A WEEK AND THE MEAL CALENDAR IS FULL...WE HAD DINNER 6 OUT OF 7 NIGHTS THIS PAST WEEK, SO THAT WAS BLISSFUL. WE ARE ALSO DRIVING A 2008 CHEVY MALIBU, AND ARE SPOILED WITH ALL THE STORES WE NEED CLOSE BY UP HERE IN ROCKVILLE. THERE'S EVEN A P.F. CHANGS AND CHEESECAKE FACTORY RIGHT BY OUR HOUSE, SO I WON'T HAVE TO GO TO POPEYE'S CHICKEN OR THE SHRIMP BOAT FOR MY BIRTHDAY...HAHA. I AM REALLY SPOILED RIGHT HERE AT THE END, BUT I FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO EARN IT. THE WORK IS ALOT SLOWER UP HERE, SO WE ARE GOING TO WORK SUPER HARD TO MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN. TWO HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK...ZONE CONFERENCE WENT AWESOME AND THEN ON SATURDAY WE WENT TO "POTOMAC VALLEY" TO HELP OLD PEOPLE IN A NURSING HOME PLAY BINGO. I GUESS WE DO IT EVERY SATURDAY AND BOY WAS IT A RIOT...THEY ARE PRETTY FUN TO BE AROUND AND THEY JUST LOVE OUR HELP IN PUTTING THEIR PIECES ON THE BINGO CARD AND WHEELING THEM AROUND...THEY ARE SUPER GRATEFUL, SO IT MAKES US FEEL GOOD TOO. ANYWAYS, THAT'S LIFE UP HERE IN ROCKVILLE...I HOPE EVERYONE IS DOING GREAT AND KNOWS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU ALL. AS ALWAYS, HAVE A GOOD WEEK...
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Blake-July 9, 2008
TRANSFER WEEK AGAIN!! I HAVE 2 LEFT AND JUST MOVED TODAY, SO I WILL PROBABLY END UP DYING IN THIS AREA. I LEFT ANACOSTIA TODAY AND CAME UP TO ROCKVILLE, WHICH IS JUST BARELY NORTHWEST OF THE TEMPLE. IT'S SO GREAT TO BE UP NORTH FINALLY!! I'VE WANTED TO SERVE UP HERE MY WHOLE MISSION, BUT HAVE BEEN DOWN SOUTH AND IN THE CITY THE WHOLE TIME. IT WAS SURPRISINGLY HARDER TO SAY GOODBYE TO PEOPLE IN ANACOSTIA THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN...WE WORKED WITH SOME GREAT PEOPLE AND MADE SOME REAL AWESOME PROGRESS. I REALLY HOPE THAT TIFFANY AND TIERSA END UP GETTING BAPTIZED...I FEEL LIKE THEY WILL, BUT ONLY TIME WILL TELL. WE HAD A GOOD LAST WEEK, AND THE FOURTH OF JULY WAS ESPECIALLY COOL. WE GOT TO GO OVER TO A MEMBER IN THE CAPITOL HILL WARD'S HOUSE FOR DINNER WITH THE CAPITOL HILL ELDERS, AND THEN WATCHED THE FIREWORKS ON THE NATIONAL MALL FROM THERE. WE WERE UP ON THE 8th FLOOR, RIGHT ON THE WATER IN SOUTHWEST DC. IT WAS SWEET!! EARLIER IN THE DAY WE WERE IN THE CITY FOR THE PARADE AND ALL THOSE FESTIVITIES, SO IT WAS A FUN DAY. THERE ARE SOME GREAT PEOPLE LEFT FOR THEM TO TEACH IN ANACOSTIA, SO I HOPE IT WORKS OUT. ELDER COATS GOES HOME NEXT TRANSFER (AUGUST 20) AND ELDER TRUMAN, WHO REPLACED ME, GOES HOME WITH ME. MY NEW COMPANION IS NAMED ELDER HALLMAN AND HE IS FROM ALBERTA, CANADA...HE SEEMS LIKE A GOOD GUY, BUT HE GOES HOME WITH ME TOO SO I DON'T KNOW IF WE'LL BE TOGETHER UNTIL WE DIE. HE WILL PROBABLY LEAVE AND I'LL GET A NEW COMPANION TO KILL ME OFF, BUT I GUESS WE'LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE. THE GUY I'M REPLACING HAD ALL KINDS OF GOOD THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THE WARD AND AREA, SO I'M SUPER EXCITED ABOUT BEING UP HERE. WE EVEN HAVE A DINNER CALENDAR!! HAHA...IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE SEEN ONE OF THOSE... :) ANYWAYS, THE MISSION IS AWESOME. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! I SERIOUSLY CAN'T BELIEVE THAT IT'S WINDING DOWN...IT'S KEEPS GOING BY FASTER TOO, THAT'S THE PROBLEM. I AM SUPER EXCITED TO POUR OUT MY WHOLE HEART AND SOUL INTO THIS WARD AND AREA, AND HOPEFULLY ALOT WILL HAPPEN UP HERE. I'M NOT SURE HOW SUCCESSFUL IT'S BEEN IN THE PAST, BUT I THINK WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO WELL. THAT'S ABOUT ALL I KNOW FOR NOW, BUT I WILL FOR SURE KEEP YOU POSTED. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH...HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND WISH ME LUCK...
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Blake-July 2, 2008
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!! YEAH…IT’S MY LAST MAJOR HOLIDAY OUT HERE AND HOPEFULLY IT’S GONNA BE A SWEET ONE. WE HAVE SOME BIG PLANS BECAUSE P-DAY HAS BEEN MOVED TO FRIDAY AND PRESIDENT STILL LET US E-MAIL TODAY…AND WHEN I SAY BIG PLANS, THEY’RE REALLY NOT THAT BIG COMPARED TO ALL YOURS I’M SURE. WE ARE GOING TO GO DOWN TO CHESAPEAKE BEACH AND WATCH THE FIREWORKS ON THURSDAY NIGHT, AND THEN COME BACK UP TO THE CITY FOR THE PARADE ON THE 4th…WE THEN GOT PERMISSION TO GO TO A MEMBER’S HOME IN CAPITOL HILL, WHO HAS A SWEET VIEW OF THE NATIONAL MALL FOR WHAT WILL HOPEFULLY BE THE BEST FIREWORK SHOW IN THE NATION. ANYWAYS, THIS PAST WEEK HAS BEEN A GOOD ONE WITH THE MISSIONARY WORK…LATELY IT FEELS LIKE IT’S ALWAYS THE SAME WITH NO REAL BIG HIGHLIGHTS. WE HAD THE MONTHLY “WHY I BELIEVE” ON SUNDAY AND ANOTHER MEETING WITH PRESIDENT MANSELL ON MONDAY MORNING, BUT OTHER THAN THAT IT HAS BEEN RUNNING AROUND GETTING STUFF DONE FOR OUR ZONE AND THEN WORKING IN OUR AREA WITH WHAT TIME WE HAVE LEFT. WE TAUGHT SOME NEW MEMBER LESSONS AND LAST NIGHT AT SCRIPTURE STUDY WE HAD 4 LESS-ACTIVE OR RECENT CONVERTS THERE…THAT WAS PRETTY SWEET!! WE ALSO SET ANOTHER BAPTISM DATE THIS WEEK WITH A LADY NAMED KEISHA MELTON…HER DATE IS FOR JULY 20 AND I’M PRETTY SURE I WON’T BE HERE. TIERSA MIGHT BE ABLE TO GO DOWN ON THE 13th, BUT IT’S NOT TOO LIKELY ANYMORE CUZ SHE’S GOING OUT OF TOWN THIS WEEKEND. KEISHA IS A REALLY NICE, REALLY HUMBLE LADY WHO SHOULD WORK OUT…SHE HAD AN ASTHMA ATTACK SATURDAY NIGHT AND HAD TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL SO SHE WASN’T ABLE TO MAKE IT TO CHURCH. I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO BE THERE FOR THE BAPTISM BECAUSE IF SHE WERE TO GET BAPTIZED, SHE WOULD NEED AT LEAST 2 PEOPLE IN THE WATER WITH HER. ANYWAYS, THAT’S LIFE FOR NOW…WE ARE TRYING TO FIND SOME MORE PEOPLE BECAUSE IT FEELS LIKE WE’RE NOT TEACHING NEARLY ENOUGH RIGHT NOW. I LOVE THE WORK THOUGH AND KNOW THAT IT’S TRUE…I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A FUN AND SAFE FOURTH OF JULY…LOVE YOU ALL!!LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-June 30, 2008
First of all I have to say happy birthday Kaitlyn :) I love you!! Well things have been good this week at the home of the world's first rodeo. It's been nice and cool and its been raining all morning so its a good change of weather. This last week was rodeo week. West of the Pecos Rodeo was Wednesday through Saturday. It started on Wednesday morning with the parade. We rode bikes down to the parade and did some finding. It was pretty cool. We set up a booth at the rodeo all week so we got to talk to a lot of people. The only problem was that most people go to the rodeo for the sole purpose of getting wasted so it was somewhat ineffective but still fun. It was a lot of work though and I'm glad its over. I did get to watch a little bit of the bull riding though and that was pretty sweet. Today for P-day we're going to Fort Stockton to go bowling and hang out with our District. Its gonna be sweet. It'll be the first P-day I've spent with other missionaries. We had to save up the miles though cuz its 50 miles away and since we only get 1000 a month we were a little low and had to ride bikes quite a bit. I finally got my bike fixed but after a few days of riding bikes, Elder Bolander's bike broke too. I guess I'm just not meant to ride a bike. So we ended up walking quite a bit this last week. It's been fun though. President Rose is gone and President Robison is supposed to be here either today or tomorrow. We're having interviews with him next week so I'm excited to meet him. Well things are great here. Elder Harber you're wrong...I'm pretty sure Texas Lubbock is the best mission in the world. Haha love y'all.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-June 25, 2008
I AM SOAKING WET RIGHT NOW IN THIS FREEZING COLD ROOM HERE AT THE SUITLAND STAKE CENTER BECAUSE WE JUST GOT DONE WITH OUR ZONE ACTIVITY OF WATER KICKBALL...IT WAS SO SWEET!! WE PLAYED KICKBALL, BUT THE BASES WERE LITTLE KIDDY POOLS AND HOME PLATE WAS A SLIP & SLIDE...WE HAD A BLAST!! IT HAS BEEN A PRETTY AWESOME WEEK...LOTS OF WORK TO DO. WE KEPT BUSY WITH LESS-ACTIVES AND SOME INVESTIGATORS, ALONG WITH OUR COMBINED DISTRICT MEETING. PRESIDENT MANSELL TOLD ME THAT I'LL BE MOVING THIS TRANSFER (COMING UP ON JULY 9), AND THEN I'LL HAVE 2 MORE WHEREVER I GO. THE WAY THINGS ARE GOING I'M PROBABLY GOING TO GO TO THE DC 2nd SINGLE'S WARD, BUT IT'S NOT FOR SURE...JUST A GUESS. WE HAS STAKE CORRELATION WITH THE STAKE PRESIDENCY AND MISSION PRESIDENCY THIS WEEK, AND THEY GOT INTO SOME MORE DETAILED STUFF THAN USUAL, SO THAT WAS REALLY COOL TO SEE HOW SOME THINGS RUN IN THE STAKE AND MISSION. WE GOT TO GO UP TO THE VISITOR'S CENTER ON SUNDAY NIGHT WITH BEULAH TO SEE SAM PAYNE AND MARVIN GOLDSTEIN PERFORM...THAT WAS AWESOME. MARVIN KNOWS THE PIANO BETTER THAN THE BACK OF HIS HAND!! MARK BENDALL CAME UP AND SAID HI AFTERWARDS...HE SERVED IN THE VEGAS WEST MISSION AND WAS IN MY WARD FOR 6 WEEKS. WE SET UP A LUNCH APPOINTMENT THE NEXT DAY, WHICH WAS SUPER FUN. WE GOT TO TALK ALL ABOUT THE MISSION HERE AND THE MISSION THERE, AND HAD A REALLY GREAT TIME. HE'S GOING TO THE DC 2nd SINGLE'S WARD RIGHT NOW AND WILL BE AT BYU IN THE FALL, SO I SHOULD BE SEEING HIM AGAIN. HE'S A COOL GUY!! HE TOOK US TO CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN AND IT WAS SWEET...TIERSA RIDLEY HAS A BAPTISM DATE NOW, AND WE ARE WORKING ON HER MOM REALLY HARD RIGHT NOW TOO. A LESS-ACTIVE WE ARE WORKING WITH TOLD US LAST NIGHT THAT HIS WIFE IS READY TO BE BAPTIZED TOO, SO WE POTENTIALLY HAVE 3 COMING UP IN THE NEAR FUTURE. SORRY FOR NO SPECIFICS ON THE WORK, BUT IT'S MAINLY JUST BEEN SEEING PEOPLE, TEACHING LESSONS, ALL THAT GOOD STUFF. NOTHING SPECIAL YET...HAHA. ANYWAYS, I LOVE YOU ALL...I LOVE WASHINGTON DC!! IT IS THE COOLEST MISSION EVER...I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE NOT BEING A MISSIONARY. HAVE A GREAT WEEK...THE GOSPEL IS TRUE!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-June 23, 2008
So this past week has been awesome!! The weather cooled off a little bit but its been pretty humid and in the high 90's all week. Its still way hot!! But I got to get wet and cool off a little this weekend. We baptized and confirmed Frank this weekend. It was awesome. A lot of the members were out of town this weekend so there weren't a whole lot of people at the baptism or at church but its all good. All the Spanish members were at the baptism and we even had an investigator, Mary Helen, at the baptism. She wants to get baptized so bad but her husband is against the church and doesn't let her come to church sometimes. He's been starting to soften up a little bit lately and I think she'll be getting baptized pretty soon here. Our other solid investigator, Victoria, moved back with her family to Uvalde to be with their dad for the summer. So that's kind of a bummer that we don't get to work with her again until August. But we found a guy named Alfredo who we just got done teaching a first lesson to this morning. He recently got out of prison and is a recovering alcoholic and wants to change his life. We set a baptismal date with him and I've got a really good feeling about him. I love the work out here in Texas. There's nowhere else I'd rather be. The gospel truly blesses and changes lives. I'm so grateful that I can share the amazing plan that Heavenly Father has for us with everyone in West Texas. The church is true. I love y'all. Oh I almost forgot...I saw President and Sister Rose for the last time at Zone Conference this week. They're getting ready to go home at the end of the month. President Robison and his wife should be arriving on the 1st. Hopefully I'll get to meet him this transfer. President Rose is awesome and I'm going to miss him a lot. I only got to see him 4 times but I've learned a lot from him and really come to love him in the short time that I've known him. I'm excited for President Robison and what he's got to offer. Love y'all again.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-June 18, 2008
HEY EVERYONE…I’M ALMOST OUT OF TIME ON MY COMPUTER SO I’M GONNA MAKE THIS BRIEF. IT WAS A PRETTY GOOD WEEK HERE…IT WAS ONE OF THE FASTEST IN A LONG TIME. THERE’S NOT TOO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT BECAUSE ELDER COATS AND I WENT ON EXCHANGES WITH ALL OF THE DISTRICT LEADERS THIS WEEK, SO THINGS HAVEN’T BEEN NORMAL. THERE HAS BEEN LOTS OF DRAMA IN THE ZONE, WHICH I NEVER ANTICIPATED HAPPENING BEFORE MY MISSION. I THOUGHT ALL THAT WAS DONE IN HIGH SCHOOL…HAHA. OH WELL…WE HAD A SWEET LESSON WITH THE SMITH FAMILY AND GEMILLA’S MOM JOINED IN ON THAT TOO. MAYBE WE CAN WORK SOMETHING OUT WITH THAT. I GOT TO GO DEEP INTO ANACOSTIA AND CAPITOL HILL ON MY EXCHANGES, ON A BIKE, AND IT WAS SUPER FUN. WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE THIS MORNING AND WE ARE PROBABLY GOING TO THE VISITOR’S CENTER WITH THE SMITH FAMILY TONIGHT…THINGS ARE WORKING OUT WITH BEULAH, TIFFANY, AND TIERSA NOW…WE ARE TRYING TO BAPTIZE TIFFANY AND TIERSA, BUT THEY DON’T COMMUNICATE AT ALL AND SOMEHOW IT TURNED ON US, SO WE HAD A BIG FAT TALK LAST NIGHT. IT WASN’T VERY FUN, BUT IT WORKED THINGS OUT SO HOPEFULLY WE CAN MOVE ON AND GET IT DONE. YESTERDAY WAS ELDER WHITE’S BIRTHDAY SO WE WENT TO THIS PLACE CALLED KOBE STEAKHOUSE…IT’S A JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE OUT IN LARGO, MD AND IT WAS PRETTY SWEET. THIS LITTLE JAPANESE GUY CAME OUT AND COOKED OUR MEAL RIGHT IN FRONT OF US (THE GRILL BASICALLY IS OUR TABLE). IT WAS SUPER SWEET!! ANYWAYS, WE HAVE SPENT A TON OF TIME ON ADMINISTRATIVE STUFF LATELY AND I CAN ONLY HOPE THAT WE GET MORE TIME TO PROSELYTE THIS COMING WEEK. I LOVE THIS WORK AND KNOW THAT THE LORD IS AT THE HEAD OF IT!! MAY YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEK…I LOVE YOU TONS!!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-June 16, 2008
How's it going y'all?? Things are going way good here in Pecos. Its still way hot but I'm dealing with it. We've been doing a lot more teaching in Spanish this last week. On Friday I went on exchanges with our District leader Elder Duffy and we taught a first and a second lesson in Spanish. That's pretty rare to get more than one Spanish lesson in each day but it was way cool. I felt like it was the best Spanish I've spoken since I've been out. The work is going great. We're getting ready to baptize Frank on Saturday. He's awesome!! He asked me to baptize him so I'm way excited about that. Oh this week they found a puppy and his 2 year old son Johnadam named the dog "Harber" haha I've never had a dog named after me so that was pretty cool. I hope all is well back home. The church is true. Love y'all.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-June 11, 2008
HEY HEY HEY…HOW’S IT GOING? THINGS ARE AWESOME HERE IN DC, OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT IT IS FREAKING HOT AND HUMID. THE TEMPERATURE IS JUST BARELY OVER 100, BUT THE HUMIDITY IS SO HIGH THAT I REALLY CAN’T WALK OUTSIDE TO OUR CAR WITHOUT SWEATING. I’VE NEVER REALLY BEEN IN ANYTHING THIS BAD…GOOD THING WE GOT OUR AIR CONDITIONED CAR!! HAHA…I’M PRETTY DANG THANKFUL FOR THAT RIGHT NOW. UNFORTUNATELY WE HAVE DONE A LOT OF DRIVING IN IT THIS WEEK…WE HAD TO GET SOME STUFF TAKEN CARE OF OVER IN CAPITOL HILL AND UP IN NORTHWEST DC ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, WHICH TOOK LOTS OF BOTH OF THOSE DAYS. WE HAVE BEEN TEACHING OUR RECENT CONVERTS THE NEW MEMBER LESSONS AND WE ARE REALLY TRYING TO SIFT THROUGH OUR OTHER INVESTIGATORS THAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW. TIERSA ACCEPTED A BAPTISM DATE THIS WEEK AND WE’RE HOPING TO GET HER MOM ON THE BOAT WITH HER. WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO…TIERSA IS SCHEDULED FOR THE 22 OF JUNE, SO WE’RE PRETTY PUMPED!! OTHER THAN THAT AND A GOOD FAMILY HOME EVENING AT THE STAKE PRESIDENT’S HOUSE THIS WEEKEND, WE HAD A COUPLE OF OTHER WILD EVENTS. ON THURSDAY ONE OF OUR ROOMMATES GOT JUMPED…HIS COMPANION, WHO IS A LITTLE TALLER, DIDN’T GET TOUCHED. ELDER WHITE GOT SURROUNDED BY ABOUT 10-12 FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD KIDS AND GOT PUNCHED IN THE FACE ABOUT 10 TIMES. IT’S PRETTY BRUISED, BUT NO MAJOR DAMAGE WAS DONE…HE GAVE THEM ALL PASS-ALONG CARDS AFTERWARDS…HAHA. THEN ON SATURDAY THE ANACOSTIA DISTRICT DID A CAR WASH, WHICH WENT REALLY WELL. WE WASHED ABOUT 20 CARS AND GOT 13 SOLID REFERRALS FROM IT. A COUPLE OF US HELD SIGNS, WHILE 1 WAS INSIDE THE CHURCH BUILDING PROSELYTING, AND THE OTHERS WERE OUT WASHING THE CARS. IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE FINDING ACTIVITIES I’VE PARTICIPATED IN ON MY MISSION. LET’S SEE: 1. THEY ONLY SIGN UP IF THEY REALLY WANT US TO COME 2. THEY HAVE A CAR!!! (THAT’S A BIG PLUS) 3. THEY KNOW WHAT THE CHURCH LOOKS LIKE AND HOW TO GET THERE IT DOESN’T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THAT!! THEN ON SUNDAY WE CAME OUT OF STAKE CONFERENCE AND HAD A FLAT TIRE, SO WE HAD TO TAKE IT TO PEP BOYS ON MONDAY AND GET IT REPAIRED…IT WAS LOTS OF FUN TO CHANGE THE TIRE IN A SUIT IN THIS SUPER HOT AND HUMID WEATHER…NOT!! NO REALLY…IT WAS ONE OF THOSE EXPERIENCES THAT WASN’T VERY FUN IN THE MOMENT BUT NOW LOOKING BACK IT’S PRETTY COOL. ANYWAYS, LAST CRAZY EXPERIENCE OF THE WEEK, WHICH IS BY FAR THE CRAZIEST. YESTERDAY WE WENT UP TO SHADY GROVE HOSPITAL FOR ELDER COATS’ DOCTOR APPOINTMENT. WE WENT OUT TO LUNCH AFTERWARDS, THEN WENT TO THE MISSION OFFICE TO TAKE SOME EXTRA STUFF AND PICK UP SUPPLIES FOR OUR ZONE, AND THEN DOWN TO THE VISITOR’S CENTER TO DROP OFF SOME PAPER WORK. SO WE GET TO THE VISITOR’S CENTER A LITTLE AFTER 4:30, AND RIGHT AS WE TURN THE CORNER I SEE 2 VERY FAMILIAR TOUR BUSES. WE GO IN, AND I ASKED THE VISITOR’S CENTER DIRECTOR, ELDER CHILD, ABOUT THE TOUR BUSES. HE SAID HE DIDN’T KNOW WHERE THEY WERE FROM, BUT THAT THE MOVIE THEY WERE WATCHING WOULD BE OVER IN A FEW MINUTES. I TOLD HIM I WAS PRETTY SURE THAT I KNEW HALF OF THE PEOPLE DOWN IN THAT THEATER, SO HE TOLD ME TO STICK AROUND. WELL, I DID, AND IT WAS A PRETTY COOL, BUT TO BE HONEST, A MOSTLY AWKWARD EXPERIENCE. I GOT TO TALK TO A FEW PEOPLE FROM MY HOME WARD, MOSTLY YOUNGER SIBLINGS OF MY FRIENDS, AND THEN TOOK A PICTURE WITH A COUPLE OF THEM THAT STUCK AROUND. WE ONLY TALKED ABOUT 10 MINUTES, TOOK OUR PICTURE, AND THEN SPLIT, BUT IT WAS JUST CRAZY THAT THAT WOULD HAPPEN. IT WAS COMPLETELY RANDOM AND SOMETHING I WAS DEFINITELY NOT EXPECTING…IT WAS PRETTY COOL THOUGH. I’LL SEND THE PICTURE THAT WE TOOK…THAT’S ABOUT IT FOR THE WILD EXPERIENCES THIS WEEK. THIS COMING WEEK SHOULD BE AWESOME TOO AND HOPEFULLY WE’LL GET TO DO LOTS MORE TEACHING THAN THIS PAST WEEK…I LOVE YOU ALL TONS AND KNOW THAT THE GOSPEL IS TRUE AND THAT THIS WORK TRULY IS THE WORK OF THE LORD…HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-June 9, 2008
Hey y'all. Things are going good here in Pecos. Its extremely hot still but I'm starting to get used to it. Its not that bad. We had a sweet lightning storm Saturday night. We didn't get to mow the lawn in it or anything but we watched it in our apartment for a little. I guess there was a tornado watch too but I never heard if there really were any. Well the work is going good. Transfers were last week and Elder Brandon went to San Angelo. My new comp is Elder Bolander from Idaho. He's been out 21 months so he's probably gonna die here in Pecos. We get along good. He's kinda dorky but he likes to work so I can't complain. He's not very athletic but we've actually been working out and running more than I did with Elder Brandon. We had 6 investigators at church yesterday and one of our most solid investigators was out of town. Frank is getting baptised on the 21st. Its gonna be awesome. The food here is really good. Mom don't freak out but I tried a couple things that are kinda gross. I had menudo and barbacoa the other day at the Alba's restaurant. I didn't like the menudo very much but the barbacoa was awesome!! President Sparkman said he was gonna cook me some lengua pretty soon here so that will be interesting. Well love y'all hope everything is good back home and in DC. The church is true.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-June 4, 2008
GREETINGS FROM WASHINGTON DC AGAIN...ANOTHER WEEK DOWN AND THINGS ARE STILL GREAT HERE. IT'S BEEN A PRETTY GOOD WEEK, BUT NOTHING SPECTACULAR HAS HAPPENED. WE HAD AN AWESOME ZONE CONFERENCE YESTERDAY WHERE WE HEARD FROM ELDER HARDY OF THE 70 AND FROM PRESIDENT WILLIAMS (SECOND COUNSELOR IN THE MISSION PRESIDENCY)...ELDER HARDY WAS GREAT. PRESIDENT WILLIAMS SPOKE ON TIME MANAGEMENT AND GOAL SETTING, AND IT WAS AMAZING. I'VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS ZONE CONFERENCE FOR A WHILE, AND I JUST HOPE THAT I'LL BE ABLE TO APPLY THE THINGS THAT HE WAS ABLE TO TEACH US. WE ALSO MOVED APARTMENTS ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY, SO NOW WE ARE IN THE BUILDING NEXT DOOR AND UP ON THE TOP FLOOR INSTEAD OF THE BASEMENT...IT'S A WORLD OF DIFFERENCES. WE'RE PRETTY HAPPY...WILLIAM AND GENEA WERE BOTH CONFIRMED ON SUNDAY, AND ELDER COATS & I PICKED UP SCRIPTURES FROM THE BOOKSTORE FOR ALL 3 OF THE SMITH'S WHO JUST GOT BAPTIZED. THEY LOVED THEM AND WERE SUPER EXCITED, SO WE WERE VERY HAPPY WITH THAT. EVERYONE IS STILL DOING WELL AND WE ARE WORKING ON OUR BAPTISM FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE. I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT IT'S ALREADY JUNE...THE TEMPERATURE IS IN THE HIGH 80's FOR NOW, BUT SHOULD GET HOTTER...THE HUMIDITY REALLY DOESN'T HELP AT ALL RIGHT NOW EITHER. OH MAN...ON SATURDAY WE WENT TO WEEDWHACK A LAWN THAT WAS LITERALLY ABOVE OUR HIPS. IT WAS OUR RELIEF SOCIETY PRESIDENT'S LAWN, AND HADN'T BEEN TOUCHED IN A LONG, LONG TIME. WHEN WE GOT OVER THERE, WE FIRED UP THE WEED WHACKERS AND BAM, IT STARTED TO RAIN A LITTLE BIT. WE THOUGHT NOTHING OF IT AND KEPT GOING...THEN ABOUT 10 MINUTES IN, IT REALLY STARTED TO COME DOWN. 5 MINUTES LATER, IT IS POURING INSANELY HARD AND WE AREN'T STOPPING...WE WERE DRENCHED REALLY FAST, AND THEN THE THUNDER & LIGHTNING CAME. HOLY SMOKES, IT WAS INSANE!! THE LIGHTNING WAS RIGHT OVER OUR HEADS AND THE THUNDER WAS CRACKING SUPER LOUD, BUT WE JUST KEPT LOOKING AT EACH OTHER AND OCCASIONALLY WOULD LIFT UP OUR WEED WHACKER OVER OUR HEAD AND LET OUT A WAR CRY. IT WAS ONE OF THE COOLEST THINGS EVER...THERE WAS A TORNADO WATCH THAT DAY, BUT WE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT A TORNADO. THE LAWN IS DONE THOUGH AND LOOKS SWEET, AND WE'RE STILL HERE SO ALL IS WELL. ANYWAYS, WE'RE JUST GONNA TAKE IT EASY THIS FINE P-DAY...WE HAVEN'T HAD A SLOW ONE IN A LONG TIME, SO IT SHOULD BE SWEET. THE GOSPEL IS TRUE AND JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAVIOR...HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!
LOVE FROM DC,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Brett-June 2, 2008
So its been an interesting week. It's also transfer week...the bus leaves tomorrow morning to head north and then heads back down south on Wednesday. Wednesday we're driving to Odessa to meet the transfer bus. Elder Brandon is getting transferred to San Angelo where my buddy from the MTC Elder Coy is. It's too bad that he's leaving cuz we've got a ton going on right now. Yesterday at fast and testimony meeting we had 6 investigators at church and 2 of them got up and bore their testimony. The first one, Mary Helen, she started coming to church a few week's ago but her husband won't let us come over and teach her. So we've been teaching her at church. She got up and said she knows the church is true...I was so excited. As soon as we finish teaching her she'll be baptized. The second, Victoria Herndon, she's our branch president's son's girlfriend. We met her a couple days before her and Jr started dating and she is way set on getting baptized. She got up and said that she's beginning to know that the church is true but she just wants a little more time before she gets baptized. I can see it happening this transfer. Jr decided this weekend that he wants to serve a mission too...he's been struggling for the last year and it was so exciting to hear him say he's going to start his papers. We have one more investigator that is for sure getting baptized this transfer. Frank Pietro, he's in his 40's and has pancreatic cancer. I'm not sure if its terminal but he's super excited about getting baptized. He's got a strong testimony and a lot of faith. He was out of town yesterday or I'm sure he would have given his testimony too. I feel bad that Elder Brandon has to leave as soon as we start having success. Oh well I'm excited for the next six weeks. Love y'all a ton!! Hope all is good in Vegas. I hope its not too hot there...its about 115 today. I'm dying!! Well I gotta get going have a good week.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-May 28, 2008
TRANSFER DAY!!! THINGS ARE GOOD HERE IN ANACOSTIA STILL…ELDER COATS AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER, WHICH IS SUPER SWEET!! WE HAVE SO MUCH GOING ON RIGHT NOW AND HOPE TO HAVE ANOTHER AWESOME TRANSFER…HE IS SO MUCH FUN TO WORK WITH AND WE REALLY COMPLIMENT EACH OTHER PRETTY WELL. OUR ROOMMATES, ELDER SANT & ELDER NORMAN ARE BOTH GONE…I WON’T GO INTO DETAILS BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO TALK BAD ABOUT THEM, BUT IT IS A HUGE RELIEF. LAST TRANSFER WAS ONE OF THE WORST LIVING SITUATIONS, BUT WE REALLY DID OUR BEST TO MAKE IT WORK. WE MANAGED, BUT THIS TRANSFER WILL BE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR. WE ARE LIVING WITH THE ANACOSTIA NORTH ELDERS STILL, BUT NOW IT’S ELDER ANDERSON AND ELDER WHITE…BOTH OF THEM ARE COOL KIDS AND SHOULD BE MUCH BETTER TO LIVE WITH. WE WILL PROBABLY BE MOVING APARTMENTS THIS WEEK JUST BECAUSE OF ALL THE PROBLEMS THAT WE HAVE HAD SINCE I HAVE LIVED HERE. IT WILL STILL BE IN THE SAME COMPLEX, JUST A DIFFERENT BUILDING AND ON THE TOP FLOOR INSTEAD OF THE BASEMENT…WE SHOULDN’T HAVE ALL THE LEAK PROBLEMS NOW, AND HOPEFULLY NOT AS MANY ROACHES AND STUFF. WE’LL SEE…ANYWAYS, THIS NEXT TRANSFER WILL PROBABLY BE MY LAST HERE AND THEN I WILL MOVE TO MY DEATH AREA. WE HAVE LOTS OF STUFF LINED UP RIGHT NOW AND PLENTY OF WORK TO DO…NOTHING IS SET IN STONE LIKE THE BEGINNING OF NEXT TRANSFER, BUT WE HAVE 6 PEOPLE WITH SERIOUS POTENTIAL THAT WE COULD BAPTIZE THIS TRANSFER. HOPEFULLY WE’LL BE GETTING WET A FEW TIMES…THINGS ARE GOOD WITH THE WARD AND EVERYTHING LIKE THAT TOO. THEY ARE DOING WHAT THEY CAN AND I HAVE ADJUSTED AND COME TO APPRECIATE MY WARD THAT MUCH MORE…BOTH OF OUR BAPTISMS WENT DOWN THIS PAST SUNDAY TOO. THE WARD SUPPORT WAS OK, BUT THE PROGRAM WAS GREAT…ELDER COATS BAPTIZED WILLIAM SMITH (16) AND I BAPTIZED GENEA SMITH (15)…BOTH ARE GEMILLA SMITH’S KIDS AND ARE AWESOME!! THEY ARE ALL DOING REALLY WELL RIGHT NOW AND BISHOP IS WORKING WITH GEMILLA AT GETTING HER AN APARTMENT. ALL OF OUR OTHERS ARE DOING GREAT TOO…BEULAH IS AWESOME, AND WE ARE STILL TEACHING HER GRANDDAUGHTER TIERSA. WE WENT OVER TO OUR WARD MISSION LEADER’S HOUSE, BROTHER BRISCOE, FOR A COOKOUT ON MONDAY AND THEN UP TO ONE OF ELDER COATS’ FAMILY FRIENDS IN BETHESDA FOR DINNER…THEY ARE ALL GREAT AND WE HAD AN AWESOME DAY. LIFE IS GREAT!! WE HAVE AN AWESOME ZONE AND AWESOME LEADERS IN THE MISSION AND I FINALLY FEEL LIKE I HAVE A GRASP ON THINGS. I LOVE THIS WORK SO MUCH AND LOOK FORWARD TO ANOTHER AWESOME 6 WEEKS WITH ELDER COATS!! THE CHURCH IS TRUE WITHOUT A DOUBT…NO DOUBT IN MY MIND!! NOTHING CAN STOP OUR WORK FROM PROGRESSING WHEN WE DO ALL WE CAN TO HAVE THE LORD ON OUR SIDE…I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT WEEK…LOVE YOU ALL TONS!!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Blake-May 21, 2008
HEY EVERYONE, HOW'S IT GOING? LIFE IS GREAT HERE...I KNOW MY LAST COUPLE OF E-MAILS HAVE BEEN KINDA SHORT, BUT I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE. TODAYS IS PROBABLY GONNA BE EVEN SHORTER CUZ I LEFT MY PLANNER AT HOME AND I CAN'T REALLY REMEMBER ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR THE SUPER SIGNIFICANT THINGS THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK. WE GOT UP AT 4:30 THIS MORNING TO GET READY, PICK UP SOME OTHER MISSIONARIES, AND WATCH A 5:50 SUNRISE FROM THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL. THIS IS THE THIRD TIME I'VE GONE, BUT ONCE AGAIN IT WENT BAD...THIS TIME THERE WERE TOO MANY CLOUDS, SO WE DIDN'T GET SWEET PICTURES. I'M GONNA GET IT TO WORK BEFORE I GO HOME!! ANYWAYS, WE WENT TO GET SOME BREAKFAST AFTER AND THEN WENT TO THE BUREAU OF ENGRAVING TO WATCH SOME MONEY GET PRINTED...THEY SAID THAT THEY PRINT ABOUT 700 MILLION DOLLARS A DAY!! IT WAS INSANE...THEY HAD THESE HUGE SHEETS OF $100 BILLS JUST SITTING THERE...MILLIONS OF DOLLARS SITTING RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR FACE. WE'RE E-MAILING FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AGAIN AND ARE PROBABLY GONNA HANG OUT ON THE MALL FOR A LITTLE. ANYWAYS, GEMILLA GOT CONFIRMED THIS LAST SUNDAY!! ELDER COATS WAS THE VOICE AND IT WENT GREAT...SHE IS SUPER EXCITED AND HER KIDS WILL BE GETTING DUNKED THIS WEEKEND TOO. GENEA IS FOR SURE GOING DOWN, BUT WILLIAM MIGHT HAVE TO GET POSTPONED...WE'LL SEE. THE OTHER DAY WE WERE TALKING ABOUT HOW WE ARE WORRIED ABOUT HOW LOW OUR TEACHING POOL IS RIGHT NOW SINCE WE JUST BAPTIZED EVERYONE...LITERALLY LESS THAN 5 MINUTES LATER WE RUN INTO THIS FAMILY, HUSBAND & WIFE WITH 4 KIDS, WHO ARE RECENT CONVERTS...THE KIDS ARE ALL UNDER 8 EXCEPT FOR ONE OF THEM WHO IS 9. HIM AND HIS MOM TOLD US THAT HE WANTS AND NEEDS TO GET BAPTIZED, AND THEY ARE EXCITED TO COME TO CHURCH. IT WAS SO CRAZY!! THE LORD IS BLESSING US SO MUCH RIGHT NOW, IT'S AMAZING!! WE WENT ON EXCHANGES WITH ONE OF OUR ASSISTANTS, ELDER BELNAP, THIS PAST WEEK. DURING THAT TIME WE REALLY LEARNED ALOT, AND WE WERE ALSO ABLE TO TEACH THIS FAMILY THAT WE HAVE HAD A FEW VISITS WITH...I HAVEN'T MENTIONED THEM YET, BUT I THINK IT'S TIME...THIS IS A MUSLIM FAMILY FROM PAKISTAN. THEY HAVE 3 GENERATIONS LIVING IN THE HOUSE, AND THEY ARE SUPER NICE TO US WHEN WE COME. OUR BELIEFS ARE TOTALLY DIFFERENT, BUT THEY LISTEN AND ARE EVEN SUPER HOSPITABLE...THEY FED US (AMERICAN FOOD) :(AND THEN WE GOT TO ANSWER QUESTIONS WHILE TEACHING PRINCIPLES FROM LESSON 1, THE RESTORATION. IT WAS SO COOL...THEY ARE REALLY SET IN THEIR WAYS, AND IF ANYTHING COMES OF IT THEN IT WILL BE A LONG TIME FROM NOW, BUT THEY ARE HUMBLE AND WILLING TO LISTEN, SO WE'RE DEFINITELY GONNA TRY AND PUSH THE ISSUE A LITTLE BIT, ESPECIALLY WITH THE YOUNGER ONES. I WON'T EVEN GIVE YOU THE NAMES CUZ THEY'RE TOO CRAZY, BUT IT IS THE SIDDIQUI FAMILY. ANYWAYS, WE GOTTA GET HEADING OUT BUT LIFE IS GREAT...I LOVE THIS GOSPEL SO MUCH AND ESPECIALLY LOVE MY FAMILY. I KNOW THAT THE LORD LOOKS OUT FOR EACH OF US WHEN WE DO WHAT HE ASKS OF US, ESPECIALLY THE LITTLE THINGS...HE'LL BLESS US MORE ABUNDANTLY THAN WE CAN EVEN HANDLE SOMETIMES!! I LOVE YOU ALL TONS AND HOPE ALL IS WELL...TAKE CARE AND HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
P.S. - WE SAW THE AIR FORCE 1 JET FLYING INTO ANDREW'S AIR FORCE BASE THE OTHER DAY...IT FLEW REALLY LOW, RIGHT OVER OUR HEADS. THEY ALSO HAD AN AIR SHOW AT ANDREW'S SO WE GOT TO SEE SOME REALLY COOL AND REALLY CLOSE FLY-BYS OF THE BLUE ANGELS...BASICALLY THIS MISSION ROCKS!! :) LOVE YOU
Brett-May 19, 2008
Howdy y'all!! Well things are good here in Pecos. This was probably the best week we've had so far work wise. One of the apostles( I don't remember who) said that missionaries should be teaching at least 20 lessons a week so that's always our goal and the average in our mission right now is like 13 or something but Elder Brandon and I worked our butts off and finished our 20th lesson last night at 9:30. It was sweet!! The members have really been helping us out too. We met an awesome couple this week, Norma and Roberto, her uncle Tony Delgado is a recent convert in our branch and they're living at the Delgado's right now. Tony is getting ready to get the priesthood so we went over there to teach him and ended up teaching Robert and Norma too. Norma is amazing!! She's so excited about the gospel and has been praying for guidance in her life (she's had a rough past) and she said that we're the answer to her prayers. She's way excited about getting baptized and Robert said he would be too but the only problem is they're not married. So hopefully we can get them married and baptised. Well everything else is good here. Its starting to get hot here in Pecos...its supposed to hit 102 today but I hear its even hotter in Vegas. Well I hope everything is good.
Love y'all.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-May 14, 2008
HEY EVERYONE, HOW’S IT GOING? I HOPE ALL THE MOTHERS HAD A GREAT MOTHER’S DAY…MINE WAS GOOD, GETTING TO TALK TO MY FAMILY AND ALL. THIS PAST WEEK HAS BEEN A GOOD ONE…I GOT A PHONE CALL FROM SISTER MANSELL THIS PAST WEEK BUSTING MY CHOPS ABOUT THE PICTURE I HAD SENT OUT OF HER. SHE WAS TOTALLY KIDDING AND IS THE COOLEST MISSION MOM…SHE SAID THAT HER SON WAS DOWN AT LAKE POWELL WITH UNCLE MARK AND THAT HE HAD SHOWED HIM THE PICTURES, AND THEN HER SON HAD CALLED HER AND GIVEN HER A HARD TIME. SHE WAS LAUGHING AND WAS SUPER NICE…SMALL WORLD I GUESS. THE BAPTISM WENT WELL ON SUNDAY ALSO…GEMILLA SMITH HAD HER WHOLE FAMILY THERE AND WAS BAPTIZED. I GOT TO PUT ON THE WHITE PANTS AGAIN AFTER A LONG DROUGHT, SO THAT FELT REALLY GOOD…PLUS IT WAS IN THE COOLEST FONT IN THE MISSION. THE CHURCH USED TO BE A BAPTIST CHURCH, SO THE FONT IS UP ABOVE AND BEHIND THE PULPIT IN THE CHAPEL…IT’S PRETTY SWEET!! GEMILLA HAS SUCCESSFULLY QUIT SMOKING AND SHE TOLD US THAT WHEN HER OLD BOYFRIEND TRIED TO GET HER TO SMOKE AGAIN, SHE TOLD HIM THAT “[SHE] MADE A COMMITMENT AND NOW [SHE] HAS GOALS AND DREAMS”…HOW COOL IS THAT? THEN LAST NIGHT AT SCRIPTURE STUDY SHE TOLD US ALL ABOUT JOSEPH SMITH CUZ SHE IS 20 PAGES INTO THE JOSEPH SMITH MANUAL. WE ARE CONTINUING TO TEACH WILLIAM AND GENEA TO PREPARE THEM FOR BAPTISM ON THE 25th, AND BEULAH IS ALSO HAVING US TEACH HER GRANDDAUGHTER. BEULAH IS DOING GREAT HERSELF AND WILL BE GIVING HER TESTIMONY AT THE “WHY I BELIEVE” THIS SUNDAY. IT’S GOING TO BE GREAT!! ALL IS WELL HERE IN DC…WE HAD OUR INTERVIEWS WITH PRESIDENT THIS WEEK AND I’M PRETTY SURE I’LL BE STAYING HERE WITH ELDER COATS, WHICH IS PERFECTLY FINE WITH ME. I LOVE THIS PLACE AND I LOVE MY MISSION…THIS IS THE LORD’S WORK AND IT CANNOT BE STOPPED. HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND TAKE CARE…
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Blake-May 7, 2008
SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE THESE LETTERS ARE SO REDUNDANT AND I NEVER REALLY KNOW HOW TO START THEM. I WON'T BE LONG THOUGH BECAUSE NOT TOO MUCH IS NEW HERE AND WE HAVE TO LEAVE SOON BECAUSE WE HAVE A TOUR SCHEDULED AT THE PENTAGON AT NOON. THE MAIN THING RIGHT NOW IS THAT THINGS JUST KEEP IMPROVING, SO THAT'S GOOD...WE ARE WORKING MUCH BETTER WITH OUR WARD RIGHT NOW AND GETTING THEM MORE INVOLVED IN MISSIONARY WORK. NOT SUPER INVOLVED, BUT MORE INVOLVED. BEULAH IS STILL DOING GREAT AND TROY IS STILL DOING GREAT...GEMILLA SMITH IS SCHEDULED TO BE BAPTIZED THIS SUNDAY AND HER INTERVIEW IS TONIGHT WITH PRESIDENT MANSELL. IT'S KINDA UP IN THE AIR WHETHER HE WILL LET HER DUE TO HER SITUATION, BUT WE'RE PRAYING IT ALL WORKS OUT. IF SO THEN SHE WILL BE BAPTIZED THIS SUNDAY AND WE WILL GET WILLIAM AND GENEA SOON AFTER. WE HAD A NICE FAMILY HOME EVENING DOWN AT OUR STAKE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE ON SUNDAY NIGHT THAT WE TOOK 2 RECENT CONVERTS TO, BUT NO REAL BIG EVENTS OTHER THAN THAT AND THE BASEBALL GAME. THE BASEBALL GAME WAS SO COOL!! IT WAS A REALLY GOOD GAME AND THE NATIONALS ENDED UP WINNING...THE NEW STADIUM IS SWEET AND IT WAS JUST COOL TO SEE EVERYBODY IN THE MISSION. I GOT TO GO ON EXCHANGES THE LAST 2 DAYS WITH SOME BUDDIES, SO I HAVEN'T BEEN IN MY AREA SINCE SUNDAY, BUT THOSE WERE REALLY FUN. NOTHING TOO CRAZY HAPPENED HERE IN THE HOOD THIS WEEK EITHER...SORRY, I FEEL REALLY LAME RIGHT NOW. I THINK I'LL MAKE UP FOR THE CONTENT OF THIS E-MAIL WITH A PICTURE...I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND KNOW THAT THIS GOSPEL IS TRUE. WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED SO MUCH AND I'M VERY THANKFUL THAT I HAVE HAD ALL THE SWEET THINGS I HAVE...KEEP ON KEEPING ON AND HAVE A GOOD WEEK!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
Blake-DC North Mission at the Nationals Baseball Game
Brett-May 5,2008
Hey y'all. Everything is still good here in dirty old Pecos. Abby and Jacklyn, the baptism we had lined up for the 17th, didn't show up to church yesterday. That was kind of a bummer. She's an awesome investigator and really excited about the Book of Mormon and prophets but she just moved from Odessa a couple weeks ago and she just found a job this week so we haven't been able to get a hold of her. We'll keep trying though. Betty and Jesse, the brother and sister that we baptised last week got confirmed yesterday. It was awesome. Elder Brandon blessed Betty's 6 month old baby yesterday too. The dad took off about 3 months ago so Jesse is helping her raise the baby and supporting the 3 of them. Betty doesn't work but Jesse works for President Sparkman, our branch president. Its really a sad situation cuz they're both very uneducated and have extremely poor living conditions but its just amazing to see them grow and progress in the
gospel. The ward members have really been helpful in fellow shipping them. I still haven't done any teaching in Spanish this week. Its a bummer cuz my spanish isn't improving at all because I don't have very many opportunities to practice. We have some spanish members in our branch though so I bore my testimony in Spanish yesterday. That was pretty cool. Well nothing else is
really new here. I don't know what else to say. I hope all is well back home.
Love y'all.
Elder Brett Harber
Blake-April 30, 2008
WE HAVE HAD ANOTHER CRAZY AND BUSY WEEK HERE IN THE ANACOSTIA WARD...I REALLY NEED TO START ORGANIZING MY THOUGHTS BEFORE I COME HERE BECAUSE THERE IS JUST SO MUCH TO SAY AND TELL ABOUT, BUT WHEN I SIT DOWN AT THE COMPUTER I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START. I GUESS I COULD START WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT STUFF...I MENTIONED LAST WEEK THAT TROY WAS BAPTIZED ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20...THIS PAST SUNDAY, APRIL 27, HE WAS CONFIRMED BY ELDER ROBINETTE (ONE OF THE SENIOR MISSIONARIES WE HAVE IN THE WARD), ALONG WITH BEULAH LEE. BEULAH'S BAPTISM WENT DOWN ON SATURDAY AT 9:30 AND SHE WAS BAPTIZED BY ELDER TREBAS. HER FRIEND, SHEILA, FLEW OUT FROM TACOMA, WA AND WAS ABLE TO BE HERE TO SUPPORT HER...SHEILA WAS THE ONE WHO INITIALLY INTRODUCED BEULAH TO THE CHURCH AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN A GREAT EXAMPLE AND FRIEND TO HER. BEULAH ALSO HAD HER DAUGHTER, TIFFANY, THERE...TIFFANY BROUGHT HER 2 DAUGHTERS, TIERSA (16) AND TAYLOR (6?)...IT WAS SO GREAT TO HAVE THEM THERE AND THEY ENJOYED THE SERVICE LOTS. WE HAVE SINCE TALKED TO BEULAH ABOUT TEACHING TIFFANY AND TIERSA, AND BEULAH THINKS IT WOULD WORK OUT GREAT...BEULAH IS SUPER EXCITED TO BE A MEMBER AND SHE REALLY WANTS TO BE A MISSIONARY. I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE BEULAH...SHE HAS BEEN ONE OF THE COOLEST CONVERTS I HAVE HAD ON MY MISSION. WE HAD TO WORK HARD TO PULL HER IN, AND NOW SHE IS ONE OF THE STRONGEST AND MOST EXCITED CONVERTS I HAVE HAD. SHE ASKED ME TO CONFIRM HER, WHICH I DID ON SUNDAY...I HAVE NEVER DONE A CONFIRMATION BEFORE, SO I WAS A LITTLE NERVOUS...BUT AS I PRAYED AND ASKED THE LORD TO GUIDE ME, I FELT HIS LOVE AND IT JUST WORKED OUT. THE WORDS WERE ABLE TO JUST COME AND WHEN I WAS DONE, I FELT LIKE I HAD BEEN ABLE TO CONVEY TO BEULAH WHAT THE LORD HAD WANTED HER TO HEAR. IT WAS NOTHING SPECIAL, BUT I BELIEVE IT WAS SPECIFICALLY FOR HER. SHE IS GREAT THOUGH!! I AM TRULY BLESSED TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO WORK WITH HER...SHE IS ALREADY EXCITED ABOUT THE TEMPLE NEXT YEAR AND SHE WILL MAKE A GREAT LIFETIME MEMBER. WE ARE STILL WORKING WITH THE SMITH FAMILY AND HOPEFULLY WILL BE ABLE TO GET SOME NEW INVESTIGATORS HERE IN THE NEAR FUTURE. WE ARE STILL INSANELY BUSY WITH OUR AREA AND THE OTHER MISSIONARIES IN OUR ZONE, SO THAT IS REALLY MAKING THE TIME FLY SUPER FAST. I LOVE BEING OUT HERE SO MUCH, EVEN IF IT IS A LITTLE GHETTO. I PROBABLY SHOULDN’T TELL THIS STORY RIGHT NOW, BUT I’M OK, SO I THINK I WILL. SO THE OTHER DAY I WAS IN MY KITCHEN MAKING SOME DINNER AND I HEAR 4 GUNSHOTS…I WAS LIKE, DANG, THAT’S CRAZY. WE LIVE LITERALLY RIGHT BEHIND A POLICE STATION, SO I WAS THINKING IT’S COOL. THEN ABOUT 30 SECONDS LATER THERE ARE A TON OF SIRENS AND THEY ARE CLOSE…SO I JUST KEEP DOING MY THING, AND THEN ABOUT 5 MINUTES LATER I HEAR A HELICOPTER UP IN THE AIR, AND ALL THIS IS GOING ON THROUGH MY WHOLE DINNER. THEN WE GO OUT TO LEAVE, AND EVERYTHING IS CAUTIONED OFF AND THERE ARE POLICE AND NEWS CREWS EVERYWHERE, LITERALLY A STONE’S THROW AWAY FROM OUR HOUSE. SO WE ASK SOME NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS WHAT HAPPENED AND THEY TELL US THAT SOMEBODY JUST GOT SHOT…WE WERE LIKE, WHOA, THAT’S CRAZY…THEN THE BEST PART…ONE OF THEM SAYS, “YA, IT’S KINDA GHETTO AROUND HERE.” HAHAHA…WE WERE DYING!! ANYWAYS, I’M OK AND LIFE IS GOOD…THE LORD IS LOOKING OUT FOR HIS SERVANTS. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT WEEK!! WE’LL ALSO BE AT THE NATIONAL’S BASEBALL GAME ON SATURDAY, SO IF IT’S TELEVISED THEN LOOK FOR A BIG CROWD OF MISSIONARIES…HAHA. LOVE YOU ALL LOTS!! HAVE A GREAT DAY!!
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER
