Last Email!

This morning we are going up Palomar mountain to have breakfast with the Ewens for the last time. The family with all the kittens. And then we are going down to Escondido to sign transfer journals. It's kinda like year book hahaha. And then I have to be at Bobier in Vista at 4:30 and then we go to President' s house at 5 down in Carlsbad to have dinner and testimony meeting and then we just get to chill and hang out the rest of the night. It will be me, 3 other sisters and 1 poor elder hahaha. Then Tuesday morning we wake up at the butt crack of dawn and go to the temple!! And then we go to the airport!!!!!  

Thank you so much for everything. Thank you for loving and supporting me all this way. Thank you for everything you have done. I have the greatest family in the world. I cannot express how sad I am to leave these people. Nor can I express how freaking excited I am to see you guys!!!!! I can't freaking wait! I've been all packed for like 4 days now. I've been able to get rid of a lot of stuff and helped a sister that's leaving for her mission in March with clothes haha. I can't wait to be home. I can't wait to see you and be with you and do things with you. I love you. The time we have all been waiting for has come! 

I know that my Savior lives and loves me. I know that He has been watching over my family this whole 18 months for me. I can't believe how blessed I am to have a family like ours and the knowledge that we do. I love you more than anything. I love God. I love my mission. And I have grown to love myself too.  I know everything I've done so far is right and true. And I can't wait to see what happens when I come home. I'm so excited for my life. 

Love, 

Hermana Kiara Harker

One Weeeeeek!!!

Ahhhhhhh!!!! I cannot believe it!!! 18 months is closing! 8 days. 8. That's straight crazy.

I had a dream last night that we were down at the bottom of the street waiting for max and Bella to get home from school so I could finally see them and I just gave them the biggest hugs. Ah I was so happy. I can't wait to be with everyone again and hug all the time. I am so blessed to have such a loving family. 

Yesterday I was so sick. I've had a cold the past week and then yesterday night I took a Nyquil and a detox tea and I woke up in the middle of the night with diarrhea and throwing up. I had an achy body and my joints all hurt. So for the first time in 18 months we missed church. My last chance to say good bye to the ward as a whole. Bc next week is stake conf. But I took lots of meds and went to a members house last night and they took care of me and I slept so well last night. I woke up this morning feeling 100% better. It was the worst though. 

Positive: we got smartphones on Saturday morning and so I'm emailing you from my bed while borrowing my neighbors Wi-Fi!! Blessings!! 

I'll see you so so soon!! 

Love, Hermana Kiara Harker 

me sick yesterday just eating dry Chex :(

me emailing from my bed after showering. I'm still using my turbie. :) 

Jan. 29, 2018 Two More Weeks!

today we got pedi's 

and yesterday for my b day!! love you all! see you in 2..WEEKS!!

love, hermana kiara harker :)

Three more weeks!

im realizing more and more that im just like my mother. we planned another sisters activity and we had them all over this morning for breakfast. I was in the kitchen cooking most of the time and everyone was looking at me calling me "mom". im proud to be a mom to these lovely sisters and take care of them. I love them.

we went up the mountain again whilst on exchanges and got to be with this one kitten named Snarf. female. and I love her. she just cuddles and perches on my shoulder. I love getting to know people and growing closer to them. I see how they are divine children of God. I feel so close to my Heavenly Father when im in His nature. I felt the spirit so strong when descending down the mountain. beautiful sunset and beautiful creations. we saw a skunk (one of two that we have actually seen alive) and two coyotes.

I have loved seeing myself change. I know that I have only changed because of allowing Jesus Christ into my life. I have never been so happy in my life. And I know I can only get happier. I love living a life I love. I love you all!

see you in 3 weeks!

4 more emails!

if you don't read my emails, your in luck because I only have 4 more to write. hold on a little while longer.

like usual we spend some time at pep boys. this time we talked to two people. the first lady wasn't having it. she didn't even want to talk to us. the second was a really nice guy by the name of Doug. he was so nice. he used to be a preacher and he gave us great counsel and advice. a great guy. I had a fam his card and when I pulled it out to give it to him, it had crusty pre-melted chocolate on there so I had to dust it off on my bag. he hovered over me watching the whole time. I told him: don't look at this Doug, don't watch me. ive learned that I love talking to people. that will be weird when I go home, ill probably still make conversation with people wherever I go. we tried to give Doug a BoM but he said he already had one. we asked if he would read it. he said: probably not. but that's okay bc at least he has one in his home!

our mission is now getting smart phones. but ill get one when I get home before most of the mission. so that's fine with me!

I cant wait for this year with a new Prophet! I love that sometimes the leadership changes but the church doesn't! It's still true! and so is the BoM! love it! 

Hermana Kiara Harker

last planner...trunky planner

zogg and I

thom and i

NEW

new year

new comp

new harker

new everything

said "see ya later" to my comp rob yesterday. but ill see her in 6 weeks haha

i had a trial that turned into strengthening my testimony...funny how that works. so this past saturday we had to wake up at 5am and do service over in fallbrook where all the fires were at. we helped a lady that lost her childhood home and her trailer she was living in. there was nothing left but the frame and the tires. and barely that. fires are scary. after that we did transfer book signing, which is like year book signing for missionaries. after that we didnt have time to shower the soot off and so we borrowed clothes and went out to dinner with some sisters and got out just in time to carol one last time with the sisters. super busy day and the whole time i was super anxious and paranoid! i was flipping my lid and stressed! i hated it! i came to realize that i was that way because i wasn't able to have my personal study that morning nor at all that whole day! it was the worst! 

the next day we went to see our converts debra and rob. and debra is always so stressed maybe just because of the holidays and her aunt betty passing away. but she just goes on about bad feelings and having too much to deal with. and at that moment i was able to relate and testify to her about my experience from saturday and how my day and who i am completely changes when i am not able to have that one on one focus on Heavenly Father and to take the time to get out of this crazy world and focus on Christ and Heavenly Father. i think it really registered to her! 

but you guys, i reflected back on my life before the mission and my lack of reading the scriptures, and for those of you who knew me before i was always a stressed, worried, and nervous wreck! if you didnt see that side of me, lucky you. but i know that i was that way because i was too focused on the stupid world and i didnt ever take a break to just read from the word of God! i know that reading the Book of Mormon truly effects every aspect of my life. i have experienced the fulfillment of promised blessings from our living prophet on reading the Book of Mormon daily. guys, its true i tell you! if you dont believe me, go test it for yourself. go pick up the Book of Mormon and just read! IT WORKS!!! 

i love the Book of Mormon.

i love my Savior. 

I know that HE lives and that the Book of Mormon is TRUE!!!

Love, hermana kiara harker

pics: 

-introducing my new comp: hermana thomas!!

-me and our tree

-happy new years!

-typical Rob

Merry Christmas!

all of a sudden there are 7 days till Christmas

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GOOEY!!!!! holy nut she is 19...

that same day I completed 16 months as a full time missionary...2 more to go...but actually ill be home when I hit 18 soo

DEBRA AND ROB GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!! I love them so much. Yesterday they completed their baptism with receiving the Holy Ghost! Debra is in bad health and so Rob had to wheel her up in a wheel chair :( but she was determined. she knew they needed to go to finish their baptism. they are amazing. we have FHE with them tonight...hey dad! could you send me some of your FHE on DVDs? I want to give them to Debra and Rob!!

We are super busy like always and I love it.

Line came home from her mission and so now im the last one!!!

love you guys so much. instead of thinking about presents and materialistic things, really focus on the Savior and His life. try to picture and imagine what life was like for Him growing up and coming into this crazy world. traditions are great, but do something different this Christmas. I promise you will remember it for the rest of your lives!

love, Hermana kiara harker 

Always on....FIRE

Not only has our mission been on fire this week literally, spiritually we are on fire as well. i would have thought my mother would have been a nervous wreck, but she was actually having the time of her life in hawaii! so you probably didnt even know, ma! Debra and Rob are entering into the waters of baptism this late afternoon at 5 o'clock! we are so so excited! President Thomas is coming, and a bunch of deb and robs family is coming, lots of non members, etc. its going to be a great time. 

weve been suuuuper busy with leadership-ness and dealing with other people not in our area, but its been great! 

oh yea and then sister rob chopped off a little more of my hair~!

love you guys so much! please read the Book of Mormon--it will save your life. 

--

Hermana Kiara Harker

With President and Sister Thomas

Couples Baptism

#MIRACLE!!

last sunday we caroled in our area and we caroled to debra and rob our investigators and then last monday debbie called us and asked how hard it would be to do a couple's baptism!!!! wattt`11.1/1/1/1/1/??!?!?!?!? she said that rob considered himself a mormon after we caroled to them!!! this is a guy that said it would take a year or 6 months to get baptized. #sisterpower

so next monday they will be baptized. they have already decreased dramatically the amount of alcohol they drink every night. they are amazing and we love them so much. please pray for them.

we went to the temple!!!!! i love it there. then we went to the cheesecake factory for lunch with our member. it was a great day. 

it was just a great week and this next one will be even better. i go to church only 10ish more times until i am home...hehe

pics:

exchanges with sister fogg and wells

brunch with debra and rob

Not your average Thanksgiving...

but it was a dang good one! 

we set debra on date! Dec 11 here we come! hallelujah! she is amazing and i love her so much. 

last year we had 3 dinners. thank goodness we only had 2 this year. we had a pretty traditional one with a white family: turkey gravy, blessed homemade rolls, green bean casserole, taters, etc. but then right after we went to a columbian home. they speak perfect english though. and their older daughter is dating a british pro chef guy. and so he made us 12 different dishes! we had lamb, duck, fish, scalloped taters, brussle sprouts, fancy carrots and more. it was crazy. and then we had a gramcracker gingerbread house making comp and it turned into a frosting fight between two sisters. it was so great. oh yea and the british guy fed us caviar on a silver spoon! i spit it out after a while. it was like a spoon full of soft sand right out of the ocean. so salty. 

then we started caroling with all the sisters in the zone: 19 in total. we baked a bunch of cookies and then went to some less actives, actives that needed some extra love, and our investigators debra and rob. it was so successful! we even got our members to drive the sisters around with us bc yanno, limited miles. the less active invited us back for dinner, debra cried, the active cried. it was just a splended night. 

EVERYONE NEEDS TO GO CHECK OUT LIGHT THE WORLD PLEASE

oh yea and i had sister robinson chop my hair off

love you so much! byyyyyyeeeeee!

pics:

hair before 

and after

me this morning. rob wrapped me like a mummy. check out my crocs.

November 13, 2017

Short Email

so many things happened. 

leadership responsibilities are hard and time consuming but we love it.

we love our moms. they supplied our new pajamas. 

sunsets lately are unreal. i love them. i love clouds. probably because my head is up there so often. hah!

we have hit under 100 days until things get craaaazy back in Draper UT when i go home...please follow the Prophet's councel and be up to date on food storage. 

Quotes from President Thomas:

 

Only on Christ's triumphant shoulders can we ride to celestial glory--if we will but choose through our faithfulness to do so.
--Jeffrey R. Holland

For the fruit of the gospel to blossom and bless our lives, we must be firmly attached to Him, the Savior of us all.
--Jeffrey R. Holland

We must not become weary of doing good, and we must not become impatient; the changes we seek will come... in their time.
--Kathleen H. Hughes

May we be anxiously engaged in gathering in His sheep who have gone astray, so they can be safe in the fold.
--Ned B. Roueche

love, 

Hermana Harker

The Radford's

Thanksgiving Week

Elder Wakolo from the 70 came and spent 2 days with our mission this week! it was so cool! he's from fiji!

our investigator Debra called us the other day and asked when we were each going home because she wants us both to be here when she GETS BAPTIZED!!! we havent even set a date yet! we are thinking the 9th of December! she is so solid. we love her so much. her british husband will not be too far behind. we are so pumped. 

rob and i are staying together!!!!! another six weeks!! and then she goes home!!! and then another 6 weeks!!! and then i go home!!! yes. its true. better believe it.

yesterday we were either in the car, or in a church building. we were sitting down all freaking day. first we went to our church meeting with debra and her husband rob. then we drove to our members house and they drove us to Del Mar to go to church with our investigator Hunter that soon will be baptized as well. and then driving back to vc going 80 mph (our member bc tiwi wont let us). and then we drove again to bobier in vista to go to the face to face. driving. sitting. all. day. long. but i love being a missionary more than anything. 

also i made it into Helman in the Book of Mormon. i will finish before Christmas!

well i love you all so much. i know the church is true. i know that our Savior Jesus Christ lives. and i am so thankful for all your prayers and support. 

happy turkey day this week!

beware of the meat sweats!

love, Hermana Kiara Harker

p.s. if you would like to enjoy a Christmas card from Sister Robinson and I, please reply back with your home address:)

--

Hermana Kiara Harker

California Carlsbad Mission

pics: 

posterity picture!!! my trainer "mom", and my two "daughters"!!! hermana osburn is training (so im a grandma) but she went home for something.

we often dont have enough time to do laundry on p days...so at 9ish i sometimes have to wash my clothes by hand...

weekly planning and sis rob drew faces on my toes

Holy chicken I love the church.

I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY.

Tuesday: Halloween "party" with the sisters. we got all crafty and painted and ate goodies and had a great time. sister rob and I looked so great in our costumes. we had so much fun. we realized both during the day we forgot to put deodorant on. too busy.

Wednesday: Went to dinner. they had just killed their pet chicken an hour before we got there because it was annoying them, and so we ate it for dinner. it was really hard to do that. im thinking about going vegetarian when I get home...meat has scared me on my mission. I was eating the chicken leg and it was really rough meat and it was either the Achilles tendon, or the knee cap that snapped off the bone and then slapped me in the face...I almost lost everything I ate that day. I stayed strong and spit the knee cap or tendon into my napkin. you could say I was full pretty fast. Sister rob ate the rib cage.

Friday: we went up Palomar Mountain again. I love that place. we ate dinner with a less active family and taught their non member daughter. she is so close to getting baptized. they just live on the freaking mountain and cant come to church very easily. I love them.

Saturday: we had a lesson with Debra and Rob with the Tanners. I love them all. Rob went to the temple open house and brought us back the pamphlets, AND burned us a CD of the pictures Rob took and gave us each one. I love them.

Sunday: was the best day of them all!!! Debra and Rob came to church!!! and then they stayed for class and learned about family history. they love it. they will be coming back!! oh yea AND THEY PAID TITHING!! WHAT??  and then we were invited to sit in primary and share what we do to serve and how people serve us. and it was so cute because a lot of them recognize that we have come to their house and they freaking love us! and THEN we got invited to teach nursery about Joseph Smith and they sang songs for us!  HUNTER WENT TO CHURCH AND BORE HIS TESTIMONY in another ward because it was closer to his work. We had a bomb lesson with Eric, we are still teaching with the YSA elders. AND THE CLOUDS YESTERDAY WERE SO FREAKING COOL!!!

ALSO I THINK I FOUND OUT WHAT MY FAVORITE COLOR IS!! ive gone through this identity crisis and I haven't had a favorite color in years. but just the other night I opened up some glow sticks my mom sent us and I gave half to rob. I noticed she had a really pretty color. it was a red/magenta one. it was so cool. I dropped the ones I had and asked if I could have hers. she gave it to me and I slept with it in my hand that night. guys, it was such a cool color. I kept it in my bag with me the next day. I like red. then I carved a small pumpkin and put "RED" engraven into it. I like the color red.

ok im done. thanks. bye!

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!

love, Hermana kiara harker

Happy Halloween!!!

syd will be 21 tomorroww....ooooooollllddddddd

today started off going to ihop and eating pumpkin pancakes. gotta be festive. 

tis the season

too many things happened this week:

-my mom hates my crocs

-we picked pumpkins

-had 3 exchanges

-went up to the Mountain! Palomar mountain. i want to live there... we had to bring socks and crocs to help feed pigs and walk around a la's farm. so a pic is down of our outfits. no shame.

-i finished reading all of PMG and now i can focus on the LdM

-my parents met sister Rob's parents and my WML brother Tanner

-got a bunch more Persimmons

-We taught Debra and Rob. Rob (fingers crossed) went to the Meridian Temple open house. Debra wants us to come over on a regular basis...yay!!!!!!!!

-The church is true and i know that God loves me 

-i love Halloween . im sure it might be my favorite. we are in the library and there was a wee parade of kids with their costumes walking through just for us (bc we are the only ones in here...) walking to graveyard smash. "oh Darla, oh Christmas!"

-my rc Ramon from oceanside sent me this huge duffle bag of stuff he bought be! 3 pairs of shoes, hats, a scarf, a watch, coloring books, socks, candy corn footballs, and so much more. it has been amazing to see the change from when we first found him, fast forward almost a year and here he is! so successful an happy. i love him.

today on the agenda is an all day P day! ive got my halloween gettup, glue on nails for my costume today (pictures attached next week), we are gonna get crafty with the sisters and have some spooky good fun, carve a gigantic pumpkin, and play some wiffle ball and volley ball, with some donuts on strings, and zombie nerf war? maybe? theres no rest here. 

be safe out there! we will be in a safe church bc halloween gets crazy out here i guess. 

enjoy!

love hermana kiara harker

r

No group email this week:(

We are super busy today and i cant write a weekly email.

Sometimes it hits 50-60 degrees and im freezing. i might get hypothermia when i come home. i have to put socks and a cardigan and turn on the heater to be comfortable.! its nutz! 

Pday will be Tuesday next week bc Halloween. we have been planning something for our sisters for halloween and im super excited to tell you about it and send you pictures. its going to be so fun. you would be so proud. 

Please enjoy these pictures for now. 

our zone

exchanges

a selfie

grapes

4 more months to go!

14 months ago today i left for Mexico. 14 months ago yesterday i was set apart as the Lord's missionary. I was just thinking about that this morning. i tend to think about that every "anniversary" i come across. I think about the time and who and where i was before my mission and when i got set apart. and holy mole i am so glad it is in the past. And i have loved the company of the Holy Ghost so strong every day of my mission. That and the Book of Mormon have helped me through everything. I have been having many experiences like Ammon in the book of Alma, where "i cannot express the least amount of what im feeling". those inexpressible feelings have been with me since the beginning of last week. 

Last monday we had a lesson with our gator Hunter. we set him on date for baptism for the 4th of November. he has such a huge and great team of members cheering him on and supporting him through all of it. We are literally just there (for now) to teach the lessons. and we are barely doing that at all! the old ward mission leader in the ward knows him and has been teaching him more than we have! its great!

And then Manuel got baptized just the day after! and let me tell you, filling the font was probably one of the most spiritual feelings ive ever had. back in February when Ramon got baptized, the ward mission leader or the elders filled the font for us. But this last Tuesday was just amazing. Such a spirit filled service. and it was so sweet! our bishop that doesnt speak a lick of spanish gave him a welcome by having someone translate his talk into spanish. so great. 

picked up a solid potential that came to the baptism as well. things are poppin here!

then right after, we had a meeting with our new Zone leaders and we introduced the idea of the Cleanse. Its the thing  weve been doing for a few weeks now of straight MoTab, clean apartment, clean car, clean language, clean thoughts etc. And we have been seeing sooooo many miracles. and they accepted it and now its our zone theme. now the zone is seeing many miracles. BEING A MISSIONARY IS AWESOME!!!

 then last thing is the Christmas initiative!! its coming so soon! missionaries near you are preparing for it already! we have a specialized training meeting this tuesday that Sister Robinson and i are leading and its going to be so choice. we are so pumped for this. we are pumped practically all the time. i love her. 

this is a long email. so many good things are happening. 

pics:

manuel

i ate a passion fruit. it was weird.

i may or may not have peed my pants laughing...

a craft my mom sent me. we mimicked the faces...

filling the font​