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​

gee dang!! this week, especially this weekend was one of the most stressful time of the mission so far!

MANUEL IS GETTING BAPTIZED TOMORROW!!!!!!! holy biscuits and gravy. we were supposed to have our last lesson and interview with him on saturday but he had to work later and wasnt able to come! we were panicking!! we called him and talked to him for 20 minutes and just got to talk to him and get to know him more and that gave us more reassurance for where we are at right now. yesterday before church, manuel met with someone in the bishopric, we filled out his baptism record, and taught him his last lesson. all under an hour. after church he left and told us he would let us know when we could come over. but he never called nor texted us! he ignored our texts and calls. we were stressing and praying like crazy. it is so difficult to deal with people that use their agency different that what you need to happen. eventually we had the interview! he passed! baptism is tomorrow at 7!! yay!!!! we are so pumped!!! so many prayers are being answered!!

yesterday was cananda's thanksgiving! go canada!

Sister Robinson and i will be staying together another 6 weeks!! yay!!! we are so pumped and happy. we love each other. 

for the first time in my life, i decided to share my testimony on my own free will yesterday for fast sunday. in past areas they have asked the leaving missionaries to share your testimony with the ward. but no one asked me to. the spirit told me to and i did it. i was shaking so bad. i was more comfortable to do it simply in spanish. thats strange. im more comfortable speaking in spanish...huh. but i did it in spanish so that the members of the spanish group could understand and know that i was talking directly to them. it was hard. its easier talking to people face to face than in front of all them at once. 

the mission is still changing me and i love it. you guys are all amazing and important to your loving Father in Heaven. have a great week!! and do as my family does and read the Book of Mormon every. day. 

byeeee!!:) 

--

Hermana Kiara Harker

So many things...

so much has happened. so little time to explain. heart so full yet words non existent. 

back2back exchanges with our lovely sisters. had to deal with some Christlike confrontations. corrections were made. tears were shed. lives being changed.  

we are trying to do and be better so we are doing a cleanse. both temporarily and spiritually. already seeing the fruits and miracles. 

MLC missionary leadership council.  love it. that morning we got a call from a former in spanish. she wanted us to come back over to her house and teach her and her 10 yr old daughter. juana y josefa are their names. her dad passed away and she didnt want the missionaries to come over anymore. so when we went over, we taught the plan of salvation. we also did a soft baptismal invitation. they are on the road to salvation!

Manuel is still working towards his baptism for next tuesday!!! we set up his interview and last few lessons. we are so excited. this gospel is so great. God is good. 

we also were able to finally meet up with our investigator and her 2 less active sons. we read 1 nefi 4 with them, but it was so late we invited them to finish it on their own. it was tricky bc she only understands spanish but her kids cant understand and read in spanish. we will have to have 2 lessons at one time next time. 

General Conference!! got to hear what Heavenly Father needs me to do. i love these times of the year. last one on  the mission...

met with paige another gator. she is great. she already practically knows its true. she was going to the church before we began teaching.

MIRACLE!!! we got a member referral text DURING conference!! we called the ref: Debra and Rob and they had found a BoM in their house and started reading it. loved it so much Debra bought one for her husband! they read it and found conference online and watched ALL THE SESSIONS!!!! we have a meeting with them scheduled for tuesday.

I know that i am truly involved in God's work. I see His hands in all things. 

READ THE BOOK OF MORMON. please. :) 

love you all!! and so does your Father in Heaven!!!

sister during (exchanges)

hermana wilhelmsen (exchanges) goats behind our house.

sister rob in her mermaid tail for conf

nature pic in the car with rc camden

What do you call a dog w/o legs?  It doesn't matter what you call it...  It still won't come!

hehehehe!

wowzers this week was great and this next one is going to be crazy.  weve got back to back exchanges starting tonight and it will be my first time leading out our area...im nervous but super excited. im going to drive the truck around vc. yea baby!;)

last monday was awesome! we organized a sister's lunch and totally had a blast! we bought a red and white checked picnic cloth and a basket with our sack lunches and juice boxes. it was a success. only 4 sisters couldnt make it:( and then we did a 3 legged race with our comps and it was so funny and so much fun! we laughed the entire time! i got some footage. we were exhausted by the end of it from running and laughing the whole time. and then we went to a member's house and watched ephriams rescue. we cried a lot. such a good movie. 

manuel is still on date for baptism!! we are planning on the 10th or the saturday before!!

kinda got bashed by our member's husband at our dinner message. 

had zone conf! we realized that that was my last one before i give my dying testimony in january. because in november we arent bc we are having a visit from a general authority. december is christmas when we have our devotional as a mission. january i give my testimony at zone conf. february im in a plane. that was weird...

we did car checks at a zone conf and i saw my daughter hermana osburn! she's killin it!

went to temecula and i got a re-alignment at a chiropractor. that was weird but i survived it!  i was scared i might die. 

i boiled eggs for an egg salad. eggs were from a member. i peeled them and my last one i noticed the insides were dark. i thought: rotten egg. ilooked more and it had veins! after further inspection, we discovered it was a chicken fetus that i had just boiled!!! we felt sick all day. we put it in vinegar to preserve it. named him jimmy. ended up doing weekly planning outside bc we couldnt focus. then later we went to buy a cookie at at deli to clear our minds of chicken fetus. and at the deli we found our cute investigator Paige with her volleyball team there! shes so cute! we got her numba!

we played football this morning and it was so much fun! im still learning, but it was fun. im out of shape. but im still happy! 

so excited for general conf. i dont know how to spell the whole word for conf...

The Book of Mormon is true. I know my Savior lives. i see miracles happen every day. I love my Redeemer. I love the feeling i get when i put my fears to the side and just serve and talk to God's children. its a feeling i thrive on. i love finding out who i am and who i can become. i know that being truly happy only comes though the Savior and His gospel. He changes people. He changed me. through His eternal love and atoning sacrifice! i love you all so much. i encourage all to look deep inside yourselves and turn to the Savior. He won't let you down. you won't be disappointed in what happens. Give yourself to Him. Only good things come out of it. i know it because its happened and is happening to me. 

Love, Hermana Kiara Harker 

pictures:

I am never with my comp and never in my area here in vc. so many exchanges. but its so fun. im loving it. im so tired all the time and we are crazy busy all the time. but its the greatest thing ever. 

OH MY GOSH LAST WEEK WE PUT OUR INVESTIGATOR MANUEL ON DATE FOR BAPTISM!!!!!!! OCTOBER 10 HERE WE COME!!!!!! he is so solid. we love him so much. such a hard worker. his family is in guatemala. he is 20 and has a child. he is so sweet and funny and is really wanting to know the truth. he is so solid. so much love. 

i am loving green salad with feta cheese and hidden valley ranch. good stuff. 

i hit 13 months in the mission. holy wow. in a few months im going to have to start My Plan which is something for missionaries to do to prep them for going home...sos

i gave a talk yesterday about the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

#harkerisacurse comes from all the good things that happen when i leave our area for exchanges. is a joke. a funny one. 

everything is awesome. everything is good when youre part of a team. 

love you!

love hermana kiara harker:) 

September 11, 2017

im running out of funny things to say. this week went by so fast! i dont even remember what happened! theres so much to do and when its time for bed im out like a lite. need to write more. my accent is changing. im turning into a real californian. ive been here for too long. 

my little brother got baptized!! he is the cutest thing and i love him with all my heart!!!!

oh yea i ate cod this week. i thought i liked it but actually it felt like i was chewing on rubber. i still dont like sea food. 

we are being taken over by ants.

i got to spend the day in my old area in san marcos on exchanges. saw some familiar faces. i love them.

i cant remember more stuff. but it was really good.

2 more investigators! yay!!! this area is poppin!!

love you so much all!!!

dont forget to laugh!!

dont forget to read the Book of Mormon!! i know my mom is!:)

we went fishing this morning. i didnt catch anything. rob did. 

huge squirrels up there.

we were at pep boys for like 2 hours getting a tire change.

VC (Valley Center) 

Happy Labor day!!

Wow what a wonderful week! i am absolutely loving it here.

Shout out to my little bro bubby max is getting baptized this week!! what a big boy. everyone give him a big hug for me please!!

Its quite different being in a part english part spanish ward. its weird having the chapel quite full and using the overflow section! english wards. and it was weird having more than 2 deacons passing the sacrament. so many new things. it was so stinking hot this week. its was up there in the 110's. melting. but we are blessed with a beautiful white truck all the time. ac comes pretty fast. our humble abode doesnt have ac. we have a swamp cooler so we keep the screen door closed but the door open so air can get in the house. i havent used my covers to sleep. its quite hot in the morning too. 

My new comp is sister Robinson. shes practically our next door neighbor back at home. they are from south jordan. she knows maddie pack (now married) and more friends i know! she is so freaking funny. we laugh so much. ive had a few close calls of almost peeing my skirt. our area is huge here in Valley Center. bunch of huge houses and farms and green. there was a fire this past week because of the heat. but then it rained the next day. so beautiful. 

So there are 7 companionships in our zone of sisters. so we have to go on 7 exchanges in like 4 weeks. so we went on one yesteday and it was so fun. we walked so much and now my feet feel like i just walked around Disneyland for the day. and my hips arent used to it so they are sore too. but it was so much fun.

This week was super crazy busy. theres never a normal day. we try to go to all the district meetings in the zone and weve got our exchanges and meetings and everything. so much fun. we had Missionary Leadership Council (pics below of the leadership...the council) i wore my blazer because you know...its The Council;) and Sister Radford (she works at the front desk) she made these huge chocolate chocolate cookies!! they were so chocolatey and heavenly. probably gained 5 pounds that day. but it was such an amazing cookie. 

We had a miracle! our investigator hunter. he does bee removal for his job. he met with us outside his house and it was 105 degrees. he has so man friends that are members, always wanted to be "mormon" and everything. we had a great lesson, and then the next morning he tells us that that night we met with him, he had a big bee removal job and got a reall good paycheck. like one of the biggest ones hes had! and he told us that he knows its because he is starting to meet with us! its amazing when the people you teach recognize the blessings of coming unto Christ. 

Moral of this email, is that it was a fantastic week. 

Love you guys!

Love, Hermana Kiara Harker

pics:

ice cream with my sisters here

sister radford

bye to the fasts

exchanges