Merry Christmas!

I hope y'all had a great Christmas. I know I did. Elder Orellana spent a lot of our time this past week caroling to everyone we know. It was a great way for Elder Orellana to meet all the members and jump right in to everything. I am constantly impressed with Elder Orellana and the special spirit he has. He is sensitive to every spiritual experience that we have. I've realized that I have begun to take them for granted.

Patricia expressed to us some problems she has with some of the commandments. He baptism has been postponed and we are working with her on that. Patricia is such a good person and I'm sure that as she comes to understand the blessings of the gospel, namely peace, happiness, eternal life with your family; then she will make the steps to repent and live the commandments.

Have a Happy New Year!

​ 

Elder Harmon

450 S Peachtree Pkwy Apt R303

Peachtree City, Ga  30269

Out with the old, in with the new

Meet my new companion, Elder Orellana. He's from California, born in Florida, and both his parents are from Chile. He likes to joke around but he works really hard, it's a good combo. He's got a lot of love for service and is always looking to help out. I'm really excited to serve with him.

Patricia and Rene are excited to be baptized. She is going to talk with her boss and if all goes well they will be baptized on January 2nd. It's amazing how in tune with the spirit Patricia is. She knows that this is the right thing for her and her son to do and so she wants to do it. I'm excited for both of them.

Pics

(1-3) District Meeting. The other Elders prepared a wedding/baby shower. The wedding implied that Elder Blake was going to go home and get married, and when a missionary trains a new missionary they say he is having a "baby."

(4) One goes home, the other comes from home 

--

Elder Harmon

450 S Peachtree Pkwy Apt R303

Peachtree City, Ga  30269

Happy Hollanday!

Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles traveled to Georgia this past weekend. On Friday night he spoke to all the Sisters of the state of Georgia. On Saturday Morning he addressed all the missionaries of the Georgia Atlanta Mission and Georgia Atlanta North Mission, over 400 missionaries.

This was my first experience to be in the presence of an Apostle, and I wasn't disappointed. Elder Holland was funny but focused, loving and firm, and he taught with power and authority. I wish I could just tag along with him for a week, or even a day. He is a spiritual giant. I testify that God has again called Prophets and Apostles on the earth.

This week is Transfer week. Elder Blake will be going home to Saint George. I'm going to miss him a lot. These past two transfers have flown by so fast. The branch is sad to see him leave. He has made a HUGE difference here and affected the lives of many.

I'm going to be training a new missionary! I'm really excited. He already speaks fluent Spanish, but his call was to serve english. So it will be a little bit of a surprise to him. I hope he can't speak english very well.

Love yall!

 

Elder Harmon

450 S Peachtree Pkwy Apt R303

Peachtree City, Ga  30269

A Beautiful time of Year

It has been so beautiful here in Georgia. I can hardly believe how nice the weather is and it is December!

This Christmas time is so exciting for everyone in the branch. We have parties and programs and everyone is putting up decorations and trees. I just can't wait to go caroling!

I loved the Christmas Devotional last night. For those of you who weren't able to watch it I'm sure you can find it on lds.org. It was powerful.

Yesterday we had our "break-the-fast" after Church. It was wonderful! I've absolutely grown in love with the people here in this branch.

Love yall,

Elder Harmon

450 S Peachtree Pkwy Apt R303

Peachtree City, Ga  30269

Pics:

1-3) Basically everyone in our district had a birthday in November and mine is in December, so we celebrated.

4-5) Everyone in Peachtree City owns a golfcart because there are paths that lead everywhere. This is definantly the coolest one I've seen.

Just a quick update

The Ramirez Family:

Oscar and Josefina (Oscar's Mom) absolutely love everything they are learning and they are seeing so many blessings in their lives. Elder Blake and I are basically part of the family now and we have grown to love them so much. We asked if they had any questions about the gospel, the church, or anything. Josefina thought for a moment then said, "the only question I have is whether you have one of those white jumpsuits that will fit me?" We all had a good chuckle and I can't wait until they are baptized. The only thing we are waiting on is the Oscar's divorce. 

Patricia and Rene are doing great as well. The devil's working hard to keep them from coming to church though. It took a couple weeks for her boss to finally give her Sundays off. Then that week she got sick. The next week church was canceled. Then they were finally able to come, and they loved it. And this week she got called in to work at the last moment. But her faith is strong and she has a real desire, so I know she wont let it get her down. It is so much fun and such a blessing to teach people that truly want to learn and come closer to God.

I love you all, have a great week!

Elder Harmon

450 S Peachtree Pkwy Apt R303

Peachtree City, Ga  30269

Baptism of Jasmine and Nadia

Saturday was the baptism of Jasmine and Nadia, Sunday they were confirmed members of the Church and they received the gift of the Holy Ghost. These are girls have been so fun to teach. It has been amazing to watch everyone accept this family into the branch and love them so much.

I've got a lot more to say, but I can't put it into words at the moment. I've felt God's love very strongly this past week. I have been strengthen by the scriptures and family and friends. What a blessing the Gospel is in our lives.

A lot of scriptures have been going through my head lately but one of them has stuck strong. It's one that I've used so much in my mission to strengthen others, and now it has strengthened me.

Heleman 5:12

12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo,because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

It is no mystery that 'hard times' come to all of us. We never know what tomorrow will bring. But an unchanging truth is that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. With Him as our foundation we will not fall even in the hard times. I'm grateful for my family. The foundation they have, and the foundation that my parents have helped me build.

I love you all!

 

Elder Harmon

450 S Peachtree Pkwy Apt R303

Peachtree City, Ga  30269

The Gospel Works.

We had another great week and a still working with a lot of great people! A new family came to church. Mimi Casas and her daughter. Mimi is crazy. She just doesn't stop talking. Which can be hard sometimes.

 We didn't get five minutes into Gospel Principles before she brought up a lot of concerns. She started talking about a friend of hers that warned her about the Mormons. And she just kept on talking and asking tons of questions, but she didn't give us much of a chance to answer them. In the room we had Mimi, Oscar, his mom Josefina, Fernando, Juan (just get back from his mission), and Sister Cain (who also served a mission), and us. Between Juan, Sister Cain, and us we all did our best to control the situation, keep the spirit in the room, answer her concerns and return the focus onto the lesson. But then Oscar spoke up. And he bore testimony so strong and defended the church with all his heart. He told her about the spirit and how it testifies to your heart. After he finished Mimi asked him, "How long have you been going to this church?" 
He replied, "this is only my second week here."
As we were rapping things up Josefina spoke up and bore her testimony as well. As she directed her attention to Mimi she explained how she just moved here from Mexico. How when we first came to her home she was irritable and hard-hearted. In Mexico she been caught up in a lot of problems and used by a lot of people and committed some serious sins. She had little self confidence and was full of guilt and sorrow. Then she spoke about the peace and healing that she has felt just this past month. It was a powerful testimony. A real experience from a real person.
It has been so humbling to see the faith of this family. They just accept everything. And when they act on the things we teach them they see the difference it makes in their lives. I know the Gospel works! I know it brings peace and happiness. I can see it in the lives of this family.

They are going to be baptized on the 21st of this month.

I love y'all!

Elder Harmon

450 S Peachtree Pkwy Apt R303

Peachtree City, Ga  30269

What a week!

I saw a live armadillo for the first time. We were running in the morning and saw him to the side of the path. I wish I would've had my camera.

Yesterday was a special day. We had the normal three hours of church and then right after we had the baptism of two eight year olds. After the baptisms we had what is called, "break the fast" which is where everyone brings food and we break our fast and eat together. But what made it all better is we had 8 investigators there! Since I have been here we haven't been able to get anyone to church. For us it was literally a miracle.

Ramirez Family

Sister Castro was finally able to give them a ride. They absolutely loved church! Jasmine (9) and Nadia (8) were so excited to see a baptism and kept saying "I want to be baptized too." When it was time for them to go home they didn't want to and kept asking Sister Castro to let them stay longer. Oscars Mom was beaming. She felt so loved by all the members and can't wait to come back next week. Sister Castro told us that she even bore her testimony in Relief Society. She told us that she just felt so good. We are very excited for the whole family!

Fernando

We met him on Saturday. He was wearing jeans and a jean jacket as well. From Honduras. There were some empty beer bottles lined up on the porch and I wasn't sure how well it would go. But he was sober. He said he'd come to church if we got him a ride. So we did, and he did. He came in the same cloths. But he loved it as well. He fit right in with everyone, helped us set up tables, and it felt like he had been a part of the branch his whole life. The member who took him home called us afterwards and told us that Fernando was so excited, wants to come next week, and told him that he wants his children to grow up in this church. I think his family is in Honduras.

They have been talking about dissolving the Branch because it is so small and spread out and hasn't been growing. We have been praying very hard and I know a lot of the members and the Branch President have been praying as well. I know that the Lord answers prayers. This is His work.

Con todo mi amor,

Elder Harmon

450 S Peachtree Pkwy Apt R303

Peachtree City, Ga  30269

"Oh Shenandoah, I long to see you..."

We had so many great plans this week but they didn't really turn out that great. Almost everything was falling through... including the posole. But we met a lot of new people and I'm super excited for this coming week. This area has been really slow for a very long time. The Branch has actually been shrinking from people moving out instead of growing. But Elder Blake and I are both willing to work hard. We understand that this isn't our work and the Lord is blessing us with a lot of miracles.

Oscar Ramirez:

We are teaching him, his mom, and his two daughters Jasmine(9) and Nadia(8). Oscar's girlfriend, who lives in Mexico, is a member of the Church. She helps a lot. Jasmine and Nadia are super smart and they talk a lot. They all want to get baptized but we haven't been able to get them a ride to church yet. They should be coming this week.

Daniel, Ishmael, Manual, Alfredo, and Arturo

Five guys living in the same apartment working construction. But, surprisingly the apartment is pretty clean and the dishes were done and they are all pretty well kept as well. They listen to us very intently. Ishmael is a little skeptical, but he knows a lot about religion and has a lot of good questions. I like that because it makes for good conversations. Daniel is just a super good guy that seems to understand well. Manual, he doesn't say anything. Alfredo is more emotional. He got a little choked up after we taught the Restoration because his whole family is Catholic and he felt like it took away from that. Arturo seems like that guy that everyone else follows. Super fun to teach all of them.  

Photos:

1) This area is the first area I have been in where we've shared the apartment with another companionship. It is crazy, but a lot of fun. Meet Elder Norlund and Elder Parkin. 

2-3) Elder Zwick of the Seventy came. Met up with Elder Taufa. He goes home soon.

Elder Harmon

450 S Peachtree Pkwy Apt R303

Peachtree City, Ga  30269

Bautismo de Yesenia Lopez!

President Foote called us Thursday night to tell us that Yesenia Lopez was going to be baptized on Saturday and that we could go! Y'all probably don't remember, but we were teaching her when I was in Lake Jodeco. But really, she probably taught me more then we taught her. I still remember how strong the spirit was when we taught her and how good it felt. We talk to so many people that don't really care and don't want to talk to us that sometimes when we teach it has to be strong, clear, and straight forward or else they don't get it. But Yesenia was different. Her parents are both members and were sealed in the temple. They moved to the United States when she was 7 and stopped going to church at the same time. She was never baptized and they lost all contact with the church until Yesenia found us and asked us where the church was. She had a real desire to learn. When we taught her it was like having a spiritual conversation with your brother or sister. Moments like those, where both are uplifted together, are where true conversion is born. D&C 50:17-22.

Amador canceled his appointment, twice. But we'll keep doing our best! :)

The branch had a meeting yesturday morning. It got the members pretty excited and a couple of them came up to us and asked us when they could come out to teach with us. That is one of the most wonderful things when you are a missionary!

A less active invited us to come to his house this afternoon so he can teach us how to make posole. It is a soup like thing and I love it! Super excited.

Love yall!

Elder Harmon

450 S Peachtree Pkwy Apt R303

Peachtree City, Ga  30269

Just another week of Paradise

Miracle of the week:

Knocked on a potentials door. Amador answered, he is in a wheelchair. He told us he has attend almost every church, but not ours. He asked us about the Godhead and the spirit and agreed that he believed the same as us. I said, "you have a lot of good questions" to which he agreed, and I asked, "do you have any more?" he kinda smiled a little and  told us, "well, I have do have one. But it is a question that  I know that you guys can't answer. Only God can answer it. Which church is the right church?" He then proceeded to explain how it just didn't make sense how there were so many churches with so many different beliefs. He knew that there had to be one church that was the right one. I wonder what he was thinking when he saw Elder Blake and I standing there with these big cheesy grins on our faces.

How blessed are we to know "which church is the right church." We know that there is a living day prophet. We have the fullness of the gospel. We don't have to wonder which direction to go, because we already know! All we have to worry about is putting one foot in front of the other and continuing on the path.

A little about Elder Blake:

He is from St. George, UT. He is a cowboy. Grew up on a Ranch. We have a good time singing country songs together. He's basically blind and has to hold something two inches from his nose to be able to read it. But that's fun sometimes because I get to be his eyes He goes home in December. Very soon.

Love y'all

Elder Harmon

450 S Peachtree Pkwy Apt R303

Peachtree City, Ga  30269

Temple, Fiesta, General Conference!

What a week! We went to the Temple on Wednesday, El Dia de las Naciones on Friday, and General Conference on Saturday and Sunday. We also had a lot of service projects.

The day of the Nations was a lot like last year. The food here wasn't as good (or maybe I just have a little bit more experience with Hispanic food now) but the dance's were a lot better. Some of the members from Lake Jodeco came for it and I was able to see Rafael again. He is doing good.

General Conference. I absolutely love General Conference! I received a lot of revelation and direction this past weekend. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God!

A couple of the things that stood out to me:

Take the Sacrament seriously. I have committed myself to come to sacrament meeting prepared for the Sacrament by having already examined myself and counseled with God.

Revelation is real. God loves us and he does communicate to us through the spirit. I want to be worthy of the promise to always have His spirit to be with me.

Love. I had a couple personal questions that I had brought with me to Conference. One of the clearest answers I received was Love.

If you weren't able to watch General Conference then go here https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng

I love you all!

Elder Harmon

450 S Peachtree Pkwy Apt R303

Peachtree City, Ga  30269

Pics:

Halfway underground mansion. Didn't get a picture of the inside but it was huge! We helped a rich couple unpack.

Dia de las Naciones

Re: Good bye Lake Jodeco, Hello Shenandoah.

Whoops New Address is

450 S Peachtree Pkwy Apt R303

Peachtree City, Ga  30269

Good bye Lake Jodeco, Hello Shenandoah.

Goodbyes are always hard. But I'm super excited to be here in Shenandoah. My Companion is Elder Blake. He goes home in December.

Elder Harmon

1019 Marquis Way

Morrow, GA 30260

Baptism's and Good byes

Rafael's baptism was on Friday night. It was wonderful! He came an hour early and kept saying, let's just do it right now, we're the only ones that are going to show up any way. But a lot of members came and I know that he felt very loved. He is a great guy and has taught me a lot. He always calls me his "little brother" and Elder Graf is his "Big brother."

President Foote called this morning and I'm being transferred on Wednesday. In the past I would feel anxious and nervous for transfers. And when the call would come that I was leaving I would feel sad to be leaving. For some reason this transfer has been a little different. It snuck up on me so fast I hadn't even thought about it. And when the call came I felt peace. I think it's is because I know that I have done my best in this area. And I love the members here so much, but I'm not sad to leave them because I know that there is somewhere else that God needs me.

God has taught me a lot here in Lake Jodeco. I've learned to really trust in Him and to counsel with Him daily. Perhaps the greatest blessing was the time I spent serving with Elder Graf. Now, he is not perfect by any means and we had our days where we were butting heads so hard that we both came home with goose eggs. But he is a devoted missionary and a great leader. I think at times I was a little like Laman and Lemuel. I have been on a mission longer then him and I had to humble myself to be able to learn from his example and experiences.

Elder Harmon

1019 Marquis Way

Morrow, GA 30260

Pics:

1-2) Baptism

2-4) Lot's of exchanges

"Marriage Counseling"

We went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders on Thursday. I learned a lot from Elder Alade about Personal revelation. How comforting is it to know that we have a loving Heavenly Father? He wants to help us, He wants to guide us, and He wants us to enjoy ourselves and be successful! We just have to make sure we keep communication with Him.

On Friday we had an emergency exchange with one of the companionship's in the District. They needed "Marriage Counseling" as they called it. I've come to the conclusion that man and man just weren't made to live together. One of the hardest things of being a missionary is having a companion that is so different than you and having to work hard and work together. Not easy. But you sure do learn a lot.

I'll keep this one short. I love y'all and I know God lives! I've felt the Spirit, I've seen the blessings of following promptings and felt the regret of wishing I had. May we all make the time to talk with God and recognize his love and guidance in our lives.

con mucho amor,

Elder Harmon

1019 Marquis Way

Morrow, GA 30260

Just telling stories

A couple months ago when I first came into this area and was serving with Elder Jones, we helped out someone who had run out of gas. They were driving a suburban, had tried to turn off onto a side road and got stuck right in the middle of traffic. No one was stopping to help them so we pushed the car out of the way and helped her to get gas. Her friend, Anali also showed up with a gas container to help. And, lucky us, they both spoke Spanish. We were a little more focused in the driver of the stranded vehicle then we were her friend. We got her address and phone number and the address of Anali as well. I plugged the addresses into my gps.

Fast foreword... 2 weeks ago Elder Graf was just calling through all the numbers in the phone to see if anyone was interested and he called Ruby. We set an appointment and saw her twice last week. She's a little quiet, but she's smart and listens really well.

Yesterday, things went through and I wasn't really sure what to do. But I kept clicking on Anali's name on the Gps. Since we met her we had never gone to see her. So, we went. Turn's out she is the sister of Ruby, and she is awesome! We sent an appointment to see them both this Thursday. God is truly aware of all his children and there have been many times where I knew without a doubt that we were in a specific place at a specific time for a specific reason and that God wanted us to be there.

People update:

Rafael

He set the date of the 19th of September to be baptized!! He's still as funny as ever. But we caught him off guard one day and just stopped by. I think he was taking a nap or something because he was a little grumpy and kept correcting everything that Elder Graf said in Spanish. Then Elder Graf was a little grumpy and I just thought the whole thing was a little funny. Good times.

Sevilla's

They are still awesome! Gloria wants to send missionaries to her sister in Mexico. She is on point and understands everything so well. Still working on divorce so that she can get married to Jesus. It had been about a month where we lost contact with them and they weren't coming to church. But we met with them Saturday and we are going to see them tonight.

Lopez

You'll hear a lot more about them later. The parents are members that hadn't been to church in 11 years. They have come the past two weeks. Their daughter Yesenia is 18, and hasn't been baptized. So we are starting to teach her. We had a noche de hogar with them at the Paredes house. Lots of food, lots of fun. Yesenia has a lot of really good questions.

Sorry this email is a little long... Love y'all!

Pic:

Guess!

Elder Harmon

1019 Marquis Way

Morrow, GA 30260

Follow the Spirit

This past week went well. We been working a lot to find new investigators and people to teach. Monday night we planned to go to a specific trailer park to find people. On Tuesday we finished up some appointments and the time came to go to and find. I put it in the gps and we started out. Then I thought, but that is at the top of our area and we have to go to the bottom afterwards and we only have this much time. I pulled the car over and asked Elder Graf where else he wanted to go. He was very firm and set that we were going to go where we had planned. I blundered out my excuses and he told me again that we had been inspired last night to go to that trailer park and so we should go to that trailer park. Grudgingly, but knowing he was right we went to the trailer park. We saw an older women leaning out her porch door in a chair and grilling some carne asada. I wish I would've gotten a picture of it. As we talked to her, her daughter, Guadelupe, pulled up. We expressed the desire to say a prayer with them and Guadelupe readily offered to let us in the house. We told her we couldn't unless there was a man. Surprisingly she told us to wait, walked past us, and went around the back of her home. We stood there for a couple minutes wondering if she was ever going to come back. To our surprise she came back with Ricardo, a recent convert who hadn't been to church in a month. We taught the family with Ricardo and both came to church yesterday.

I learned the importance of following the spirit and following through with impressions no matter what. Elder Graf had had an impression to go to that trailer park and I am very glad that he listened to it instead of me. This truly is the Lord's work and not our own.

Elder Harmon

1019 Marquis Way

Morrow, GA 30260

Baptism de Pamela Padilla

Pamela got baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday!! It was so special and she was so happy. After her confirmation she was grinning from ear to ear and just glowing. She has grown a lot. When we first started teaching her she told us that she couldn't say a prayer in front of people and she wouldn't. Yesterday she said the prayer in Sacrament Meeting and she did just fine. I'm very happy for her and excited for all the changes she is making in her life.

Yesturday was crazy.

Saturday Night:

 President Bishop called us and told us that the couple that he assigned to speak in Sacrament Meeting had just told him that they were going to be in North Carolina for the weekend. So he asked us if we could speak.

Sunday Morning

8am-9am: 

Spent preparing our talks. Most of the time Elder Graf just kept asking me how to say things in Spanish. I studied a little bit and was able to organize a couple thoughts.

10 am:

We had a meeting with the Branch Council at . During that time I remembered that we had to make what's called a "Progress Report" for a meeting we would be having after church. Usually we fill it out on Thursdays with Hermano Paredez, but we weren't able to do that. So, I quickly jotted that down while my companion kept writing his talk (we weren't very affective in that meeting).

11am:

 We went to Priesthood meeting where the teacher read us a talk in a nice monotone voice. My companion continued to write his talk and I remembered that the next class was Gospel Principles. Which we teach. Usually we prepare a little bit in the mornings for the class, but we were writing our talks.

12pm:

We round up everyone. I quickly look through to book to see where we are at. Fasting. We say a prayer and I teach the class on the fly. I hope that they all learned something.

12:50pm:

We all file into the chapel. Someone tells us to go talk to someone by Pre. Bishops office. We find a couple with a little two year old. The husband immediately begins to complain to us about how they had been waiting there for 2 hours and how they are starving and his wife is pregnant and they want us to do something for them. All this while Sacrament meeting is starting. We quickly round up the extra bread that wasn't used for the sacrament, which they really didn't seem that excited about for someone who was starving. We get back in time for the sacrament. Pamela receives the gift of the Holy Ghost. We talk.

2:15

Correlation Meeting with Branch leaders. Lots and lots of meetings.

Of course the day didn't end there but it was a pretty exciting start. I can remember listening to some leaders and thinking that they weren't very organized and that I could write a better talk or explain whatever they were trying to say in a better way. I now know that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes in leadership, and that it is extremely hard to take care of so many things. I have a lot of respect for all of my leaders, and especially for our living day Prophet.

Love ya'll

Elder Harmon

1019 Marquis Way

Morrow, GA 30260

Pics:

1-2) Pamela and Alex at her Baptism

3-4) Mystery soup. We think it was intestines. Not the best thing I've eaten so far...