January 25, 2016 - Solvang Ward

Hey All! 

So, this week has been a good one! First full week I have had in a long time! And we saw some really cool things happening! 

So, Monday night we got a call from President Felix, which immediately brings cause for some sort of alarm. Thankfully, he had a referral for us! There is a member in the Southern part of the mission, who's nephew had committed suicide, and the father and mother of this man lived in our Ward, and they both aren't members. Apparently, no one had come from their church to help them out, and President asked us to go to their house and share the message of the Plan of Salvation with them! So, that night we prayed to know when exactly would be the perfect time to go by and see them, and immediately after the prayer I said "10:30" and we wrote it down and went right in the morning. We prayed hard for the Spirit to be with us during this meeting, and as we walked to the door, we both felt this overwhelming feeling of peace inside of us. The father answered the door, and we stated that we were Representatives of Jesus Christ, and that we had been told of his and his wife's circumstances and came with a message of peace. Elder Hubbard thankfully told me what I said next, because I basically blacked out. (THAT is when you know that the Spirit is there!) So when we had said that, his wife walked around the corner! So they both were at the door, and I stated that the message we share is one of peace, one that doesn't end at death and didn't begin at birth, and I think all four of us were fighting tears. It was one of those moments when you could SEE the Spirit enter into their hearts. We are going by sometime this week, and we are going to their son's funeral on Saturday. Such an amazing spiritual experience, definitely one of the strongest experiences I have had on my mission so far!

We set Rick up with a baptismal date of March 26th. So that was cool! Rick knows that the Church is true, and he knows he needs to get married to Vanessa and get baptized, and so it is really going to be neat to see how they progress in the coming month! Little Jeremiah has seemed to bring them closer together, and it's been amazing to see how far they have come! Christie is doing well as well. We started this 15 step program for her to quit smoking. It's one that is supposed to stop all desires of smoking in seven days! She smoked on Saturday (we introduced it on Friday) so she is restarting today, and should be smoke free by next Monday! 

Cool story of the week! So we got a referral from the Hermanas (Sister missionaries). They had talked to this guy in Solvang named Christian Bale? Saw him in his yard, and one of them said "that guy looks like Batman!" So they went up and talked with him, and she said "has anyone told you that you look like Batman?" To which he responded "Yes, Because I am Batman..." Basically, we don't know how interested he is, but he wasn't against having us Elders coming over to his house. We have been driving past his house every day since we got the address, and we will continue to do so until we see him and talk with him! So cool. Writing down Christian Bale in your potential sheet.

Wednesday was sweet. We had the Worldwide Missionary Training! 75,000 missionaries from around the world listening to the counsel of living day Prophets and Church Leaders! It was amazing. We learned more about our purpose, and about "Preaching Repentance and Baptizing Converts!" It was awesome. Elder Bednar spoke about letting the Holy Ghost fulfill his role in teaching. We are only here to bring the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ UNTO everyone's heart. Everyone else has the responsibility to invite it INTO their heart. And that is done by the Power of the Holy Ghost! We can't get in the way of the Holy Ghost, we need to only invite it into their home, and help everyone else know how to keep the Holy Ghost in their lives! 

This scripture was mentioned in Sacrament Meeting yesterday, and I really liked it!:

"10 Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God,that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people.

 11 Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him.

 12 And we did take courage with our small force which we had received, and were fixed with a determination to conquer our enemies, and to maintain our lands, and our possessions, and our wives, and our children, and the cause of our liberty." (Alma 58)

Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us! And as we pray to Him and ask Him for help, He will strengthen us! Maybe it will not be a temporal boost! Helaman, Gid, and Teomner did not get more men as a result of their prayer. They were not able to see the results of their prayer until AFTER they went into battle! Heavenly Father answered their prayer by giving them the strength to make it through, to win back the land they had lost, and to make do with what they had! Maybe not the way they expected their prayer to be answered, but it brought about the same result!

Hopefully you all are doing well! This Church is true. I can tell you that! Keep moving forward! My ankle is doing well. I had Physical Therapy on Friday, and I am doing stretches everyday! I am able to work still, and when it feels like I can't do much more, we take a break! Gotta mend it up :) 

Well, I love all of you and hope you all have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Harvey :)

List of Potential Contacts showing Bat Man!