Family,
Hey my beautiful loved ones. It's a very joyful day for me to be able to write to you and update you on my life here in Tonga (Ha'apai). This week has been a very up and down week for us, but I would love to give you some of the "UPs" we were able to experience.
We just barely started to teach a new family. This family has a daughter that is preparing to serve in Boise, ID. She is the only member in her family. She has little or no support. It's also crazy that here family has no clue what the gospel is all about. They have never talked about it before so it was an awesome experience to be able to have the daughter (missionary) and here sister and her aunt and her mother and uncle join the lesson! I could see that the missionary was nervous for us to teach her family and if you think about it, she put a lot of trust in us to go forth and teach them. We had an awesome lesson with them. It was powerful to have their daughter there to bear witness as well.
Elder Bunting and I brought up the point that reassured this family. We stated that we would not be in Tonga if this message were not true and we also stated that their daughter would not be leaving them to preach in another country if she did not have the same conviction. We then wrapped up our lesson by talking about prayer and the Book of Mormon. We told them that just like their daughter had prayed to know if this church is true, and just like we had done, we promised them that they can do the same thing and that God will give them an answer! It was amazing to see their hope and anxious desire in our words. We will be teaching them this coming week. It has been fun to see members get involved in the work. We are planning on teaching three new investigators that have been invited by our members. I really enjoy my ward in Koulo. It is just very tough though.
Well, time is short. I love you all so much! I will write to you next week!
Your Brother and Son
Elder Blake Daniel Harmon
Mom "Dude"
Monday, January 26, 2015
Sunday, January 25, 2015
E-mail (Dated: 1/25/2015)
Na'e to mahaki 'i homau feitu'u
Family and Friends,
This has been a very full week for Elder Bunting and I. Personally, I have been able to learn a lot and to gain much trust in the Lord. Sometimes, being a zone leader get really busy, really fast!!!! Sometimes we get so caught up being busy with something that is so pointless and something that should not even be on our priority list, that we forget why we are in such a hurry for it all in the first place...
My mountain to climb these last few weeks has been finding ways to love the elders I’m serving with. I need to both serve them and lead them, and at the same time focus on my responsibilities in my areas. I often reflect back to the words of my mission president. He said, “You are not here to serve the missionaries as a zone leader, you are here with the same purpose as they have and that is to Invite others unto Christ and do so by helping them and teaching them the restored gospel.
Time is short here as a missionary. If I have anything that I want to get across today, it is to not waste the Lord’s time. Hard work and having an eye single to our goal is such an important thing to learn and to apply to our daily lives. The Lord works with us and he is with us, but we must be diligent in our works for they are His. I would like to stress the message that an Area Seventy shared with the people of Ha'apai just yesterday. The message was that of “being prepared for a mission.” It ties in a lot with not wasting time.
I know this message may be hard to hear. I myself was not the most prepared missionary when I came out. Please learn from my mistake and take action! We must learn to become ready for the time that the Lord needs us. I was impressed while reading a letter from a very good friend of mine in Armenia. He talked about determination in this work and talked about how it comes down to how bad you want it. It is when we learn to sacrifice and act with diligence on our righteous desires that we earn a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what I am talking about when I say we must be prepared and we must not waste time. We must strengthen our foundations and we must build our faith now upon the rock of our Redeemer. I want to issue you all a promise about the power of the Book of Mormon. When you read it every day and you come to know it, it will be a protection to you and help you prepare for the mission in which I know you all want to serve.
I hope you understand my point.
To wrap things up I want to share with you a little about my week.....
We were supposed to receive two new elders this week that were to replace Berry and Freer. However, the two boats we own both broke down the same day…..bad luck!!! So, we were not able to make it to Nomuka like we had planned!!!! We were pretty bummed about that.
We had a couple lessons with mama, and we invited her to be baptized but she said that she is unsure. We are keeping her in our prayers and are teaching her again tomorrow.....
We have an investigator that we have been working on for several months that finally came to church yesterday! We were thrilled! It is very cool seeing little tender mercies. We were able to set up new appointments with her!!!! All in all, things are a bit tough right now. But, that’s what makes it all worth it in the end...
Love You All
Elder Blake Daniel Harmon
SYST
 |
| Freer and Berry Leaving :( |
Monday, January 19, 2015
Hand Written Letter (Dated: 1/19/15) [#70 from Tonga]
Family:)
My heart is warm with the opportunity I have to be able to write to you and share with you some of the special moments of my week and some of the trials and learning experiences I have been able to go through.
It's been a very stressful week taking care of all of the transfers and get everybody moved around. We have had a lot of boat problems and delayed airplanes that have been making things more difficult than normal. On top of that, it has been difficult being sick. I have had some sickness that has kept me pretty bed ridden. I'm not really sure what it was, just know that it's over!! Haha, but there are lessons learned in everything we do. It's just a matter of whether we take the opportunities in life to learn and become better for it.
I'm amazed every week to see how much Heavenly Father is trying to teach. Sometimes I laugh and say to myself, "Am I so imperfect that I need to be taught so much?" But, these thoughts are quickly go away because I know exactly why I go through hard things. It is because there are attributes that God needs me to know and things that will help me specifically in the future. This goes for all of us. We need to be humble ourselves and ask God what he is trying to each us in all of our trials. It is only through Him that we can learn to become like Him. Our goal in life is to become perfect. The Savior did not come to the earth to save us all in our sin, but to save us from our sins.
There is one way and one way only that we can become perfected....we must learn of Him. Sometimes that means we must go through some of what he had to go through.....
I feel like I am preaching, but I just want you all to know that I am grateful fro my trials. I'm grateful for Jesus the Christ. I'm grateful for all He did for me! I know that because of Him, I can be comforted, I can find peach, I can find patience, He can teach me charity and love and that by listening to His teachings, little by little He can help me become like Him.
We currently are teaching a couple of investigators but seem to be struggling to figure out how to help these souls of Christ progress. We are having hard time finding ways to help them keep their commitments. We continue to follow-up. We continue to promise blessings. We continue to pray for them and fast for them. We teach them what they need to do. It is hard to keep the fire in my eyes when I don't see it glowing back in their eyes.
Maybe you all could give me some advice. It is just very hard because investigators in these areas are very rare and we don't seem to have any success with the ones that we have.
We will continue to help, invite, and pray always. We are doing well out here. I love my companion. We will be lifetime friends. He has been a true blessing to me in my life! I am sure he will always and continue to be. I love these people! Even though we have our frustrations, I love them still the same!
Love you all so much!
Elder Blake Daniel Harmon
Your Son and Brother for Eternity!
Ofa lahi Atu
My heart is warm with the opportunity I have to be able to write to you and share with you some of the special moments of my week and some of the trials and learning experiences I have been able to go through.
It's been a very stressful week taking care of all of the transfers and get everybody moved around. We have had a lot of boat problems and delayed airplanes that have been making things more difficult than normal. On top of that, it has been difficult being sick. I have had some sickness that has kept me pretty bed ridden. I'm not really sure what it was, just know that it's over!! Haha, but there are lessons learned in everything we do. It's just a matter of whether we take the opportunities in life to learn and become better for it.
I'm amazed every week to see how much Heavenly Father is trying to teach. Sometimes I laugh and say to myself, "Am I so imperfect that I need to be taught so much?" But, these thoughts are quickly go away because I know exactly why I go through hard things. It is because there are attributes that God needs me to know and things that will help me specifically in the future. This goes for all of us. We need to be humble ourselves and ask God what he is trying to each us in all of our trials. It is only through Him that we can learn to become like Him. Our goal in life is to become perfect. The Savior did not come to the earth to save us all in our sin, but to save us from our sins.
There is one way and one way only that we can become perfected....we must learn of Him. Sometimes that means we must go through some of what he had to go through.....
I feel like I am preaching, but I just want you all to know that I am grateful fro my trials. I'm grateful for Jesus the Christ. I'm grateful for all He did for me! I know that because of Him, I can be comforted, I can find peach, I can find patience, He can teach me charity and love and that by listening to His teachings, little by little He can help me become like Him.
We currently are teaching a couple of investigators but seem to be struggling to figure out how to help these souls of Christ progress. We are having hard time finding ways to help them keep their commitments. We continue to follow-up. We continue to promise blessings. We continue to pray for them and fast for them. We teach them what they need to do. It is hard to keep the fire in my eyes when I don't see it glowing back in their eyes.
Maybe you all could give me some advice. It is just very hard because investigators in these areas are very rare and we don't seem to have any success with the ones that we have.
We will continue to help, invite, and pray always. We are doing well out here. I love my companion. We will be lifetime friends. He has been a true blessing to me in my life! I am sure he will always and continue to be. I love these people! Even though we have our frustrations, I love them still the same!
Love you all so much!
Elder Blake Daniel Harmon
Your Son and Brother for Eternity!
Ofa lahi Atu
E-mail (Dated: 1/18/2015)
Wow, so we got a random call from the AP's yesterday telling us that they are giving us the transfers, then probably onTuesday everything will take place!!!!!! We found out that Elder Berry and Elder Freer are going to be going back to the main island!!!! SO Sad to see our buddies leave us, but it is only for a season. Elder Freer is a new zone leader with Elder Grant in my old zone back in Tongatapu!!! Elder Berry we are not quite so sure where his new area is at!!!! But we are excited for there new oppurtunities!!! We have two new Tongans from America come to work here in Ha'apai, and I'm very happy to say that im staying with Elders Bunting and Swan!!!! We love working together here in Ha'apai!!!!!
As for our area we have had some really good things happen this week!!! We have been working with Pxxx the boy I was telling you about a couple weeks ago. We have finally had the oppurtunity to reteach him. He has been able to get a really good handle on his smoking problem.... He has strong desire to quit and be baptized. We are exctied to see his progress and see his desires change to follow Christ!
We are working with a new girl named Mxxxxx as in LIGHT. She is awesome!!!!! We have enjoyed her. We are continuing to teach her tomorrow and want to commit her to baptism. She is 15 this year. She has alot of friends that are a really strong support to her. She has been able to keep our commitments and we can see her change with excitment:)
We have a really big zone conference with president on Tuesday, and afterwards all the changes will probably take place here in Ha'apai. so I guess we will just see.
We have had a lot of cool oppurtunities with our members this week to get close with them. Me and my companion are really enjoying our Koulo ward. I don't know if i told you about Fangale'ounga but we dont have a bishop there now or a ward mission leader or a 1st counselor. Our second counselor is the only one with the preisthood in that ward. Kinda sad for the members and hard for the work... but we are working on it. This week on Thursday we are going out to Nomuka for some firesides and training for the district presidents.
I love you all so much thankyou for all your support!!!
ELDER BLAKE DANIEL HARMON
MOM, DUDE
BROOKLIN SYST
Monday, January 12, 2015
Hand Written Letter (Dated: 1/12/15) [#69 from Tonga]
Hey my beautiful family :) I am excited to be able to tell you a few details on what is going on out here in Ha'apai. We have had a pretty good week! We have been getting quite a few new people to teach. It' s been hard to keep hold of the people we have been teaching. We have taught a few people from New Zealand and they have now returned home. It has been sad to see them leave and to lose them as investigators! Oh, my ADHD is kicking in, but I ran into someone out in Uiha when I was there and they are a family with a rugby player that lived in Sopu when I was there. To help you remember, he normally stayed in New Zealand, but he came back with his fiance from England! I just found out that she got baptized. My companion and I had taught her the lessons and committed her to baptism, but she left to New Zealand too quickly so we did not get to perform the ordinance. It was so awesome to see that she had followed through and had been baptized!!! I was told she is strong in the church and is doing very well! Haha, Tonga is such a small world. Every day I ask individuals if they know people from my old areas and they always tell me "yes"!! Crazy, crazy!!
So, as I was writing, I got a call from the assistants, and they told me that Bunting and I will be staying here another transfer!! We are actually really excited! It's amazing to be with a good companion! Bunting and I seem to complement each other really well. I always tell people that he "completes me" as a missionary, haha! I really enjoy this opportunity that God has given me!
Barry and Freer will be leaving us, so that is really sad. It's okay, and we only have so much longer anyway! We will be with them eventually back in the states. As for our zone, we still have Elder Swan!! So excited about that so I will probably be leaving here in March or April! So, I still have some really good time left here in Ha'apai! I'm excited because we have had some solid people we are working with! It's amazing to see the progression in our ward here the last few weeks! We have worked so hard to be able to get our members more involved! It was awesome to see people change. We have really focused on repenting, changing, and moving forward as a ward! We have actually been able to help our ward mission leader out with stopping his Kava drinking!! So, he has been doing tons better and it has changed the atmosphere for us here! He is so much more happy all the time and is more excited for the work!
Well, could be more excited to continue the work here in Ha'apai. Love you all so incredibly much! You all are incredible and I pray for you each and every day!! Remember that there is no fear when you have faith and your works match your faith!
Your son/brother
Elder Blake Daniel Harmon
We are Eternal!
Sunday, January 11, 2015
E-mail (Dated: 1/11/2015)
Hey everyone!!!
What an intense week this has been. Its funny we were joking around with a couple missionaries this week and they said, "Hey you two travel so much they might as well call you to the Quorum of the Seventy -- haha! We got a kick out of it. But we really are blessed to be able to have so many opportunities to be able to travel and teach and to share our testimony with so many people in rural areas. This week we took a plane to Tonga. We actually left just about 30 minutes after talking to you on the computer on p-day. We had a nice short flight to Tonga. There were also some plane difficulties but I went into detail in a letter for you. Pretty much we just didn't know if the landing gear would work or not hahaha. Tonga was really good. I got to see Elder Lao and Tuitavake and Tuakalao and Lavaka from the MTC and also Elder Crosby. Then, when I went to the Mission Leader ship meeting, I got to see Harris, Grant, and Deihl. So it was just like a being at a big family home evening!!! I have pictures, they are just back at the house because I forgot them...my bad...next week though!!!
Mom, Elder Patey is actually still in Vava'u and I have not had the opportunity to see him my whole mission. I was able meet Elder Mafi from Spanish Fork, His companion is Elder Jones from the MTC also!!!! I got to stay at Elder Talanoas, the kid I trained and that is the house I actually stayed in for the first two weeks of my mission waiting to go to Vava'u. So, the week was full of tender mercies. The whole meeting was actually on how to have meetings with our wards and stake counsels. It was really good I have been able to learn a lot from it!!!! After reading dad's email today about presenting and doing it with confidence, I realized why he is never nervous. It is because he reviews and reviews and practices and practices before hand. It's so important to always be prepared. Scouts isn't just for when you are younger it can help you out along the way in life.
We actually tried to come back here on a flight Wednesday but the engine blew on one of the planes so our flight was delayed!!!! So, it turns out we finally got back on Thursday. Right after the plane landed, we drove to the warf and we got on the boat and went out to Ha'afeva for a district meeting with all of the branch presidents and we did role plays with them. Then, we held a big fireside and we gave talks..... So, it has been a week sense I have been in my own ward. Yesterday, we had ward counsel and we gave a presentation that is helping the ward understand how we need to repent, change, and move on....
I Love You All So Much!!!
Your Are Always in My Heart!!!
MOM DUDE
Brooklin SYST
What an intense week this has been. Its funny we were joking around with a couple missionaries this week and they said, "Hey you two travel so much they might as well call you to the Quorum of the Seventy -- haha! We got a kick out of it. But we really are blessed to be able to have so many opportunities to be able to travel and teach and to share our testimony with so many people in rural areas. This week we took a plane to Tonga. We actually left just about 30 minutes after talking to you on the computer on p-day. We had a nice short flight to Tonga. There were also some plane difficulties but I went into detail in a letter for you. Pretty much we just didn't know if the landing gear would work or not hahaha. Tonga was really good. I got to see Elder Lao and Tuitavake and Tuakalao and Lavaka from the MTC and also Elder Crosby. Then, when I went to the Mission Leader ship meeting, I got to see Harris, Grant, and Deihl. So it was just like a being at a big family home evening!!! I have pictures, they are just back at the house because I forgot them...my bad...next week though!!!
Mom, Elder Patey is actually still in Vava'u and I have not had the opportunity to see him my whole mission. I was able meet Elder Mafi from Spanish Fork, His companion is Elder Jones from the MTC also!!!! I got to stay at Elder Talanoas, the kid I trained and that is the house I actually stayed in for the first two weeks of my mission waiting to go to Vava'u. So, the week was full of tender mercies. The whole meeting was actually on how to have meetings with our wards and stake counsels. It was really good I have been able to learn a lot from it!!!! After reading dad's email today about presenting and doing it with confidence, I realized why he is never nervous. It is because he reviews and reviews and practices and practices before hand. It's so important to always be prepared. Scouts isn't just for when you are younger it can help you out along the way in life.
We actually tried to come back here on a flight Wednesday but the engine blew on one of the planes so our flight was delayed!!!! So, it turns out we finally got back on Thursday. Right after the plane landed, we drove to the warf and we got on the boat and went out to Ha'afeva for a district meeting with all of the branch presidents and we did role plays with them. Then, we held a big fireside and we gave talks..... So, it has been a week sense I have been in my own ward. Yesterday, we had ward counsel and we gave a presentation that is helping the ward understand how we need to repent, change, and move on....
I Love You All So Much!!!
Your Are Always in My Heart!!!
MOM DUDE
Brooklin SYST
Monday, January 5, 2015
Hand Written Letter (Dated: 1/5/15) [#68 from Tonga]
Family:)
Wow, this has been an incredibly intense week. We have been through quite a lot! After we talked to you all on Monday, we jumped on a plan soon afterwards. We had some intense moments as we flew towards Tonga. Just a week before, me and my companion were talking about the Mormon message w/Elder Nielsen and the crashing plane. As the story goes, Elder Nielsen was on a plane when one of the engines blew and everyone on the plane freaked out and some people lost control of their emotions, but he was calm because he was ready to meet his Savior. My companion and I talked about this and asked each other how the other would act in this situation. We both concluded that we would both want to be calm and know that we are guiltless to meet our maker. While we were flying to Tonga, we were close to landing when the alarm went off in the plan and the landing gear would not come down. People on the plane freaked out but as it was going on, my companion and I looked at each other calm & knowing. The plane shook itself until the wheels finally popped out and we were able to land. I learned a very important lesson about always wanting to be ready to meet my Father in Heaven! How important is it that we constantly live in a way that we can be calm and ready to meet our maker.
We had a very good stay in Tonga and I as able to tell you a lot of detail about it in the last e-mail I sent! But, on Wednesday, when we were supposed to return to our area, we were surprised with more plane problems! It was pretty intense when the airport filled with police, fire trucks and even the army showed up with water tanks. I never thought I would see organization like this in Tonga :) As we tried to identify the problem, we soon saw a plane landing with one engine and only one moving propeller! Pretty intense. Good thing they had a good pilot to be able to land the plane! We later found out that it was a volcano eruption of ash that had affected their plane! Anyway, we made it back safely on Thursday to our area. They actually flew us out on a really early flight at 5AM.
Things are going amazingly well. We just got back from Ha'afeva where we were able to go out and teach some branch and district counsels and we were able to teach at some firesides with the first counselor and also President Tupou!
Grateful for these amazing opportunities that I am having and grateful to see the Lord's hand in all I do and am able to do!
Love you all so very much!
Your Son/Brother
Blake Daniel Harmon
Ofa lahi Atu
Wow, this has been an incredibly intense week. We have been through quite a lot! After we talked to you all on Monday, we jumped on a plan soon afterwards. We had some intense moments as we flew towards Tonga. Just a week before, me and my companion were talking about the Mormon message w/Elder Nielsen and the crashing plane. As the story goes, Elder Nielsen was on a plane when one of the engines blew and everyone on the plane freaked out and some people lost control of their emotions, but he was calm because he was ready to meet his Savior. My companion and I talked about this and asked each other how the other would act in this situation. We both concluded that we would both want to be calm and know that we are guiltless to meet our maker. While we were flying to Tonga, we were close to landing when the alarm went off in the plan and the landing gear would not come down. People on the plane freaked out but as it was going on, my companion and I looked at each other calm & knowing. The plane shook itself until the wheels finally popped out and we were able to land. I learned a very important lesson about always wanting to be ready to meet my Father in Heaven! How important is it that we constantly live in a way that we can be calm and ready to meet our maker.
We had a very good stay in Tonga and I as able to tell you a lot of detail about it in the last e-mail I sent! But, on Wednesday, when we were supposed to return to our area, we were surprised with more plane problems! It was pretty intense when the airport filled with police, fire trucks and even the army showed up with water tanks. I never thought I would see organization like this in Tonga :) As we tried to identify the problem, we soon saw a plane landing with one engine and only one moving propeller! Pretty intense. Good thing they had a good pilot to be able to land the plane! We later found out that it was a volcano eruption of ash that had affected their plane! Anyway, we made it back safely on Thursday to our area. They actually flew us out on a really early flight at 5AM.
Things are going amazingly well. We just got back from Ha'afeva where we were able to go out and teach some branch and district counsels and we were able to teach at some firesides with the first counselor and also President Tupou!
Grateful for these amazing opportunities that I am having and grateful to see the Lord's hand in all I do and am able to do!
Love you all so very much!
Your Son/Brother
Blake Daniel Harmon
Ofa lahi Atu
Sunday, January 4, 2015
E-mail (Dated: 1/4/2015)
Hey Everyone!!!!
Wow, what an incredible week!!!! For the past week I have been in Uiha with my companion!!! We finally got the opportunity to go teach our investigator out there!!! We totally thought she was suppose to be over 50 years old by the way they were talking about her and her husband, but when she walked in the room we noticed she is only 18 years old!!! She is very young haha her husband is actually only 17. Their story is actually really intense on how they ran away to Vava'u last year and they got married. I was a little nervous going into it because I thought it might be kinda hard seeing the way things have been in the past for them. But, as we taught her, we saw her faith and her determination to have a family and have them grow in the gospel. She wants to be a strong woman in her husband's life and she is wanting to be worthy for him in the temple.
We also had the opportunity to teach another boy that we found while we were there, his name is Kxxxx he is 16. He is hilarious. right when he walked in to the room when we met him he did the traditional kiss with us hahaha -- he is amazing!!! Haha, Bunting and I both had a really cool connection with them. I have pictures with them at the baptism but it was on a different camera (buntings) and it's at the house so I will send it next week. However, here is a picture of Bunting performing the baptismal ordinance!!! Anyway, I knew I would have little time when I got here, so I wrote a letter about lots of little details about our trip to Uiha and our teaching opportunities. I will be sending that today when I go to Tonga so hopefully gets to you in the next two weeks or so!!!!
The baptisms were incredible, so spiritual and you could see how committed these two are to their Heavenly Father in making their baptismal covenant!!! I'm excited because they both have good support of friends, family, and ward members. So it should be amazing!!!
I love you all so much! So goo to hear from you all in your emails, and all you sound amazing!!!!
MOM "DUDE"
BROOKLIN SYST
P.S
HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SEEE YOU ALLL THISSS YEARRRR!!!!!
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Wow, what an incredible week!!!! For the past week I have been in Uiha with my companion!!! We finally got the opportunity to go teach our investigator out there!!! We totally thought she was suppose to be over 50 years old by the way they were talking about her and her husband, but when she walked in the room we noticed she is only 18 years old!!! She is very young haha her husband is actually only 17. Their story is actually really intense on how they ran away to Vava'u last year and they got married. I was a little nervous going into it because I thought it might be kinda hard seeing the way things have been in the past for them. But, as we taught her, we saw her faith and her determination to have a family and have them grow in the gospel. She wants to be a strong woman in her husband's life and she is wanting to be worthy for him in the temple.
We also had the opportunity to teach another boy that we found while we were there, his name is Kxxxx he is 16. He is hilarious. right when he walked in to the room when we met him he did the traditional kiss with us hahaha -- he is amazing!!! Haha, Bunting and I both had a really cool connection with them. I have pictures with them at the baptism but it was on a different camera (buntings) and it's at the house so I will send it next week. However, here is a picture of Bunting performing the baptismal ordinance!!! Anyway, I knew I would have little time when I got here, so I wrote a letter about lots of little details about our trip to Uiha and our teaching opportunities. I will be sending that today when I go to Tonga so hopefully gets to you in the next two weeks or so!!!!
The baptisms were incredible, so spiritual and you could see how committed these two are to their Heavenly Father in making their baptismal covenant!!! I'm excited because they both have good support of friends, family, and ward members. So it should be amazing!!!
I love you all so much! So goo to hear from you all in your emails, and all you sound amazing!!!!
MOM "DUDE"
BROOKLIN SYST
P.S
HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SEEE YOU ALLL THISSS YEARRRR!!!!!
Monday, December 29, 2014
Hand Written Letter (Dated 12/29/2014) [#67 from Tonga, Last Letter of 2014]
Family,
I'm running low on time like crazy lately and haven't been able to sit down and write to you! I apologize! It's actually the 4th of January on a Sunday night here and I'm just barely getting the opportunity to write you something little :) It's actually pretty late, but I can't miss a week of sending you a letter! :) Also, we go to Tonga tomorrow so we will be sending these off to you!
This week has been full of blessings and amazing miracles. I know I will be mentioning them in the e-mail, but I will tell you a little about some of the funny details that I will probably leave out of my e-mail.
So, we have been in Uiha this whole last week. I don't know if I have told you too much about it before, but I'll do a little more explaining. It's a village with a ward, then there is another village with a branch called Felemen. The whole island is dusty. It reminds me of the sand dunes back home with no hills and the sand is all dirty! We showed up to our house and there is no electricity and no running water! Once again, the roof leaks water!! So, we were there for about 4 days. We showed up the first night and we taught Fiexxxx and Kavxxx! It was really cool having back to back lessons with people that were prepared to listen and to keep commitments. What most missionaries would call the gold investigators! We proceeded to teach the rest of the week and then Saturday came along! This is the day we planned to have the baptism and also the day we planned on the boat coming to get us and take us back to our island!
We woke up and the water was dripping on us and there was a nasty storm outside. It was pouring. You don't even see rain storms like these very often in the states! We were worried, but my companion with faith aid not one thing on this earth can stop Heavenly Father's work from hastening and progressing and that if this is what the Lord has in store....then we got on our knees and prayed that the storm would clear and we would be able to conduct the baptism! WE also needed desperately to get back to our house in Koulo. For one thing, we didn't bring extra pairs of garments or clothing and were disgustingly dirty. We also needed to get back to Tonga because boats can't drive here on Sunday!
In the meantime, my companion and I went out and mad the best we could out of the situation. We went outside and ran around in the rain! We were to our knees in water, no joke! We went and tried to figure things out with our members be we had no support! Finally, we got a call from the boat driver and he said that they were coming to get us! So, we got our stuff ready and we headed down to the boat dock. Were were absolutely soaked. Then all of the sudden, out pops the sun and the rain stops. Our 1st counselor said, "Grab your investigators! I will grab the bishop. Meet us at the dock in 10 minutes!" So, we ran to Feixxxx and Kaxxxx and got them ready. They were so excited we were the ones that got to do the baptism ordinance! We went down to the ocean and did a small service & literally, as my companion was performing the baptism, the boat came from around the corner!
God answers our prayers and this is his work not ours! He has all control! WE need to always choose to follow him and be worthy and to constantly have faith in him who is all powerful!
Love you!!!
Your Brother/Son
Blake Daniel Harmon
We Are Eternal
I'm running low on time like crazy lately and haven't been able to sit down and write to you! I apologize! It's actually the 4th of January on a Sunday night here and I'm just barely getting the opportunity to write you something little :) It's actually pretty late, but I can't miss a week of sending you a letter! :) Also, we go to Tonga tomorrow so we will be sending these off to you!
This week has been full of blessings and amazing miracles. I know I will be mentioning them in the e-mail, but I will tell you a little about some of the funny details that I will probably leave out of my e-mail.
So, we have been in Uiha this whole last week. I don't know if I have told you too much about it before, but I'll do a little more explaining. It's a village with a ward, then there is another village with a branch called Felemen. The whole island is dusty. It reminds me of the sand dunes back home with no hills and the sand is all dirty! We showed up to our house and there is no electricity and no running water! Once again, the roof leaks water!! So, we were there for about 4 days. We showed up the first night and we taught Fiexxxx and Kavxxx! It was really cool having back to back lessons with people that were prepared to listen and to keep commitments. What most missionaries would call the gold investigators! We proceeded to teach the rest of the week and then Saturday came along! This is the day we planned to have the baptism and also the day we planned on the boat coming to get us and take us back to our island!
We woke up and the water was dripping on us and there was a nasty storm outside. It was pouring. You don't even see rain storms like these very often in the states! We were worried, but my companion with faith aid not one thing on this earth can stop Heavenly Father's work from hastening and progressing and that if this is what the Lord has in store....then we got on our knees and prayed that the storm would clear and we would be able to conduct the baptism! WE also needed desperately to get back to our house in Koulo. For one thing, we didn't bring extra pairs of garments or clothing and were disgustingly dirty. We also needed to get back to Tonga because boats can't drive here on Sunday!
In the meantime, my companion and I went out and mad the best we could out of the situation. We went outside and ran around in the rain! We were to our knees in water, no joke! We went and tried to figure things out with our members be we had no support! Finally, we got a call from the boat driver and he said that they were coming to get us! So, we got our stuff ready and we headed down to the boat dock. Were were absolutely soaked. Then all of the sudden, out pops the sun and the rain stops. Our 1st counselor said, "Grab your investigators! I will grab the bishop. Meet us at the dock in 10 minutes!" So, we ran to Feixxxx and Kaxxxx and got them ready. They were so excited we were the ones that got to do the baptism ordinance! We went down to the ocean and did a small service & literally, as my companion was performing the baptism, the boat came from around the corner!
God answers our prayers and this is his work not ours! He has all control! WE need to always choose to follow him and be worthy and to constantly have faith in him who is all powerful!
Love you!!!
Your Brother/Son
Blake Daniel Harmon
We Are Eternal
Sunday, December 28, 2014
E-mail (Dated: 12/28/14)
Hey Family!!!
Wow it was awesome to be able to hear from all of you this week!!!! Even though I was able to get you pretty caught up, we had some things take place here that I would like to tell you about today.
I think I better start off with the bad news so that I can finish with the good news. Do you all remember the man that I taught over in Hihifo with Elder Hafoka on a companionship exchange? He was the man that talked in the fireside about preparing to enter the temple with his family. Well, we got a very sad call yesterday that he had been struggling with breathing last night and that he passed away as they rushed him to the hospital. It turns out that there was nobody at the hospital at the time. It is really sad to see someone so close to us as missionaries pass away so early on in life. I know that Heavenly Father looked at this man and said it was time for him to come home. Ever since he was baptized, he has been diligent in his priesthood responsibilities. I have never seen the gospel change someone's life in such an incredible way as I saw it change his. I know that it will be an incredible experience for his family to go to the temple to be sealed to their father and husband. I know he is waiting eagerly for those blessings and ordinances on the other side of the veil.
Let me change to a very positive note. We have begun to teach an incredible faithful son of our Heavenly Father, I have written a letter all about it. This young man's faith is taking him places that he could not go otherwise. If his works are as great, he will achieve much and conquer all. He is struggling with some addictions so we are working with him to conquer them through faith and through the spirit.
I love you all!!!!
Your Son, Elder Harmon
DUDE mom
SYST Brooklin
Wow it was awesome to be able to hear from all of you this week!!!! Even though I was able to get you pretty caught up, we had some things take place here that I would like to tell you about today.
I think I better start off with the bad news so that I can finish with the good news. Do you all remember the man that I taught over in Hihifo with Elder Hafoka on a companionship exchange? He was the man that talked in the fireside about preparing to enter the temple with his family. Well, we got a very sad call yesterday that he had been struggling with breathing last night and that he passed away as they rushed him to the hospital. It turns out that there was nobody at the hospital at the time. It is really sad to see someone so close to us as missionaries pass away so early on in life. I know that Heavenly Father looked at this man and said it was time for him to come home. Ever since he was baptized, he has been diligent in his priesthood responsibilities. I have never seen the gospel change someone's life in such an incredible way as I saw it change his. I know that it will be an incredible experience for his family to go to the temple to be sealed to their father and husband. I know he is waiting eagerly for those blessings and ordinances on the other side of the veil.
Let me change to a very positive note. We have begun to teach an incredible faithful son of our Heavenly Father, I have written a letter all about it. This young man's faith is taking him places that he could not go otherwise. If his works are as great, he will achieve much and conquer all. He is struggling with some addictions so we are working with him to conquer them through faith and through the spirit.
I love you all!!!!
Your Son, Elder Harmon
DUDE mom
SYST Brooklin
Monday, December 22, 2014
Hand Written Letter (Dated: 12/22/14) [#66 from Tonga]
Family,
Awe, it was incredible to be able to talk with all of you this week. You know what they way about a mother's voice, it brings home straight back to the heart! You all sounded so good. Brandon & Brooke are freaking me out just a little bit :) Brandon is a giant, haha. I think it's funny how we have talked about him becoming huge while I'm on my mission, then he will be able to take me out in the airport. Haha, now it is no longer a story. He really is big now and I'm going to be running at the airport. Brooke on the other hand is no surprise. She has turned into the stunning beautiful girl that we all knew she would! Wow, what a huge tender mercy to be able to talk to Brittany and Michael on Christmas. It was a true blessing. Dad and Mom, encouragement from you is what keeps my engine turning! Can't wait to sit in our family room and talk until the sun comes up! :)
I would like to share some really cool experience that have happened to my companion and I since we last talked! So, we had to do a big yearly report and send it to the president the day after we talked on the phone. So, we went to our bishop's house to ask for the church key. When we came back from returning the key, our 1st counselor was there and he had an investigator there for us to teach! While we were thinking of what to teach him, my companion had a strong impression that we needed to teach him about the Book of Mormon. So, as we got to know this man, we found out that he has been trying to quit smoking for a long time. As we taught about the Book of Mormon, we talked and testified of the power that it can have in his life! He was in tears as we testified. In fact, not a dry eye in the room. Then, he looked at us and he testified of the truthfulness of all that we had taught, Then, he committed to what asked of him.
I saw the spirit work through my companion's words and through mine as we trusted in the Lord and listened closely to the spirit.
I'm so grateful for every little tender mercy and blessing from the Savior and our Eternal Father!
I thank you all so much and love you all so dearly!
-Elder Blake Daniel Harmon
P.S. Sorry letters are short. Time is so precious right now!
Mom "Dude"
Awe, it was incredible to be able to talk with all of you this week. You know what they way about a mother's voice, it brings home straight back to the heart! You all sounded so good. Brandon & Brooke are freaking me out just a little bit :) Brandon is a giant, haha. I think it's funny how we have talked about him becoming huge while I'm on my mission, then he will be able to take me out in the airport. Haha, now it is no longer a story. He really is big now and I'm going to be running at the airport. Brooke on the other hand is no surprise. She has turned into the stunning beautiful girl that we all knew she would! Wow, what a huge tender mercy to be able to talk to Brittany and Michael on Christmas. It was a true blessing. Dad and Mom, encouragement from you is what keeps my engine turning! Can't wait to sit in our family room and talk until the sun comes up! :)
I would like to share some really cool experience that have happened to my companion and I since we last talked! So, we had to do a big yearly report and send it to the president the day after we talked on the phone. So, we went to our bishop's house to ask for the church key. When we came back from returning the key, our 1st counselor was there and he had an investigator there for us to teach! While we were thinking of what to teach him, my companion had a strong impression that we needed to teach him about the Book of Mormon. So, as we got to know this man, we found out that he has been trying to quit smoking for a long time. As we taught about the Book of Mormon, we talked and testified of the power that it can have in his life! He was in tears as we testified. In fact, not a dry eye in the room. Then, he looked at us and he testified of the truthfulness of all that we had taught, Then, he committed to what asked of him.
I saw the spirit work through my companion's words and through mine as we trusted in the Lord and listened closely to the spirit.
I'm so grateful for every little tender mercy and blessing from the Savior and our Eternal Father!
I thank you all so much and love you all so dearly!
-Elder Blake Daniel Harmon
P.S. Sorry letters are short. Time is so precious right now!
Mom "Dude"
Sunday, December 21, 2014
E-mail (Dated: 12/21/2014)
WOW TIME IS CRAZY, another week in Ha'apai has flown by!!!!! I'm going to keep it nice and short seeing that I will be talking to you all in just a few days from now!!!!!! We have seen some incredible things take place in our area. We have some even more amazing visions/aspirations for the future of all the areas that we are working in!!!! We have four baptisms set up for this coming week on Saturday. I can't think of a better way I would rather spend the holiday than bring Heavenly Fathers children back into the fold!!!!
Lxxx and Uxxx from Fangale'ounga are so excited to be baptized. You should see their excitement! These are two kids that I know I have been sent here to focus on. There has been no one to help these two until I got here with Elder Bunting. We are trying to do everything we can to help elevate the work here!!! The twins from Koulo have accepted dates. Also, we have setup an appointment to go out to Uiha next week to teach the lady from the referral I told you about a while back!!!!
I am so excited to talk to you all this week and I am so grateful for the opportunity I currently have to serve the Lord during this holiday season so that others can receive the true and restored gospel!!!
Love you all so much!!!
ELDER HARMON
MOM 'DUDE"
Brooklin SYST
Lxxx and Uxxx from Fangale'ounga are so excited to be baptized. You should see their excitement! These are two kids that I know I have been sent here to focus on. There has been no one to help these two until I got here with Elder Bunting. We are trying to do everything we can to help elevate the work here!!! The twins from Koulo have accepted dates. Also, we have setup an appointment to go out to Uiha next week to teach the lady from the referral I told you about a while back!!!!
I am so excited to talk to you all this week and I am so grateful for the opportunity I currently have to serve the Lord during this holiday season so that others can receive the true and restored gospel!!!
Love you all so much!!!
ELDER HARMON
MOM 'DUDE"
Brooklin SYST
Monday, December 15, 2014
Hand Written Letter (Dated: 12/15/14) [#65 from Tonga]
Family,
Awe, honestly, so excited right now to be able to talk to you all next week. The excitement has built up so much, can't believe this will pretty much be the last time because the next time, I will be coming home just a month and days later! I bet you are reading this letter and wondering why I am writing in pink, but it has honestly made me want to put hot pink plasti dip on my rims! Haha :)
There have been tons of tender mercies everywhere in our wards and branches! It is not because of their efforts, but because the Lord is opening doors and we are there to enter! The Lord is hastening His work with or without us, it is up to us if we want to jump in and help push the rock! This is where agency comes into pay. The mission truly teaches you the way that Christ wants you to use your agency and he shows you all the blessings you can receive if you continue to strive for the rest of your life with those same desires and continue to use your agency in righteousness then you will continue to want to serve and be engaged in this great work! It is so true when they say that service cures the broken hearted, the stiff necked and the self concerned. This is because service gives you the desire to love and be like Christ because you see people how Christ sees them!
The mission has given me so many incredible things but one of the things that I will cherish forever is the desire that I have to serve others. There is no better thing that we can do with our agency than to do things with love and care as we serve God's children. As I think of how many ways there truly are to serve, my mind is overwhelmed! I think this is truly why my mind is on wanting to do something in the medical field because there will be so many opportunities for service and I will be doing something every day that makes people happier and healthier!
Haha, honestly just some random thoughts of the day!
We are teaching and continuing to teach 5 progressing investigators and they all have baptismal dates. The Lord continues to surprise me as he uses us as tools!
Love this work. This is our time to put what we can into it and show our Heavenly Father our love for him and our brothers and sisters. (Mosiah 2:17)
Your Brother and Son
Blake Daniel Harmon
Your Family Forever!
Awe, honestly, so excited right now to be able to talk to you all next week. The excitement has built up so much, can't believe this will pretty much be the last time because the next time, I will be coming home just a month and days later! I bet you are reading this letter and wondering why I am writing in pink, but it has honestly made me want to put hot pink plasti dip on my rims! Haha :)
There have been tons of tender mercies everywhere in our wards and branches! It is not because of their efforts, but because the Lord is opening doors and we are there to enter! The Lord is hastening His work with or without us, it is up to us if we want to jump in and help push the rock! This is where agency comes into pay. The mission truly teaches you the way that Christ wants you to use your agency and he shows you all the blessings you can receive if you continue to strive for the rest of your life with those same desires and continue to use your agency in righteousness then you will continue to want to serve and be engaged in this great work! It is so true when they say that service cures the broken hearted, the stiff necked and the self concerned. This is because service gives you the desire to love and be like Christ because you see people how Christ sees them!
The mission has given me so many incredible things but one of the things that I will cherish forever is the desire that I have to serve others. There is no better thing that we can do with our agency than to do things with love and care as we serve God's children. As I think of how many ways there truly are to serve, my mind is overwhelmed! I think this is truly why my mind is on wanting to do something in the medical field because there will be so many opportunities for service and I will be doing something every day that makes people happier and healthier!
Haha, honestly just some random thoughts of the day!
We are teaching and continuing to teach 5 progressing investigators and they all have baptismal dates. The Lord continues to surprise me as he uses us as tools!
Love this work. This is our time to put what we can into it and show our Heavenly Father our love for him and our brothers and sisters. (Mosiah 2:17)
Your Brother and Son
Blake Daniel Harmon
Your Family Forever!
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| Had to show what Blake meant by his Hot Pink letter:) |
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