September 30

heya family! holy cowabunga crazy week here in sheboygan. it was mission tour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we got to hear from a general authority this week. it was beautiful. on my mission ive gained such a strong testimony of personal revelation...its just been pourin in this week. the flood gates were busted and this week for sure its been a commin especially with mission tour.
  elder perkins is a man of god. at the begining of mission tour he invited us to change from just objects sitting in the pews..to agents ready to receive revelation. i had prayed to be able to have questions for mission tour because i knew i would receive answers. and all of them were answered. if i were to write em all out might take a bit longer so ill just write one that slapped me in the face real nice. haha.    allll of the greatest missionaries suffered adversity even when they were at thier best. they knew their relationship with god and knew his voice. satin always comes especially when we are working hard and doin exactly what we need to do...our best. the things that i must do that we all must never cease to do...i made a list of a couple things that came to my mind as i thought about what elder perkins was teaching all of us. Never cease to call upon god. Find strength in knowing i am a son of god. Build your foundation on the savior. AND get goin...start your hike right on up the path. we all have characteristics of our heavenly father...he is trying to get us to become that person. president cutler really hit me hard when he talked about becoming consecrated. within that... to be consecrated you must seek to do things to receive blessings..but seek to do things because you really love your father in heaven. that is tough eh? ya it is. but as ive began to think about it and try my hardest to apply it shooot im so much happier. thats something else that hit me hard this week as well. we got home from mission tour late...and i said my personal prayers and really asked my heavenly father for help. ive been quiiiite nervous to start the whole training thing...but the spirit definently comforted me as prayed to lay down my weaknesses at the feet of my savior. cause man..im so imperfect but i know he can help me so much..he can make me perfect. he can lift me to that next height. but i received a strong answer to my prayers that night... just as our savior put his will on the alter for all of us...for me. i have to put my will on the alter, as a representative of the one who did it for me and for the whole world.  he has trusted me with this part of his vineyard. i can sacrafice things my whole mission, put things aside. but if im doing it because i want blessings...thats in vain! im doing no good for the reason im here. the key to become that missionary is to do things self-lessly not selfishly. becoming better because i love the people here. we are their guides back to there savior!!! 

  that was probably confusing but hey made sense when i wrote it down hahaha. crack up. well its been a sick week. ive been nervous goin into training but hey im lovin it. i got my boi saturday but we will get to that in a bit. leading up to saturday elder hernandez and i saw some beautiful miracles. mom...i might have a project for you:))))) ive been working on a trackting book but boy im just not that suave with the whole word thing and email time swings by pretty fast so i dont have much time to organize it suppper well BUT ill continue to try:) but hey what ive done so far has worked out SWEET. everydoor has been hispanic families! so that is awesome. we found this awesome guy florencio. hes prepared. i knew the moment i saw him. so we met him. continued to use the trackting book found two more families! that was a beautiful day. let me tell ya. so friday we went and visited all the recent converts and members and other investigators that elder hernandez wanted to say paz a fuera too less actives as well. it was great. friday night we headed over to carlos' house. i made a scripture case for carlita. she was stoked to see that and also we wanted to stop by just to say good byes. ended up having an amazing lesson with miriam jesse and carlita. we sat em down and just had a powerful lesson on how we know that they are ready to make that first sacred covenant. god prepares people. there was no coincidence that the missionaries knocked on there door...they need this. it was a powerful lesson. but still no date. it will come though. so the big day SATURDAY. 10:00 came around and the ap's showed up at the church building to pick elder mckay and i up to head to green bay for the training. elder taylor brand from holliday utah is my new comp right out of the mexico mtc. freshhhhh as fresh can be! haha its a crackup! he is actually elder gibbs neighbor! speaking of elder gibbs i saw him this week! but elder brand is great. im stoked for these next two transfers. we will see miracles. sunday we had some great new lessons lined up. florencio...we had an awesome lesson with him on his porch for a little bit. he asked the question that all missionaries love..."porque ay muchas iglesias?" thats like candy to the ears right there. elder brand is awesome. we get along great and he is stoked! there is nothing like the mtc fire!! his spanish is great! and hes excited to learn so its gonna be great! its a different experience to have to rely on my own spanish thats for sure! but i like it alot and know ill be growin lots form it.

 a mission is a beautiful thing family! i love it! so flippin much. fall is here some trees are red and super orange! ill try and get some pics....wierd to see colors haha. but hey i love you all and love this gospel.....ITS ALL TRUE. i challenge everyone to be agents this conference instead of just objects! say hi to grandma for me tell her i love her! its great to hear she is doin better.! alright well love you all and make it a great week!

 Elder Haprer-Smith

September 23

buenas tardes!
 mom! im still district leader and now am training also sorry if last week was a little confusing!
  can you believe ive been out niner already? time continues to...fly.
 wednesday we took off to plymouth about a 30 minute drive through the countryside. couldnt complain. super green rolling hills cows the whole enchilada...but slowly the colors are changing. fall is here. its been like az winter a couple days here but im goin to the death with rockin the short sleeves. gotta get the most use out of em. so our idea for plymouth was to find a bunch of new investigators and have lessons with all our investigators that we found the week before. all our appointments fell through and we didnt find no one. BUT we had one heck of a lesson with indalecio. he is the man. it was the first time i got to meet him he was thrown off that i knew spanish ...i assured him i still got plenty to learn. but he was just talkin my ear off about everything. it was a good time. indalecio is a chef...he made us some dang good food probably if not the best pretty close to the best mexican food ive ever had. we taught the plan of salvation after. when we started talking about the pre earth life he stoped us and told us that that was new to his brain. hes never known that but when we said it ..it felt familiar to him at the same time. he said the closing prayer and after he said hes never felt how he had felt today. he is eaten up the lessons, reading the book of mormon, praying, he is golden!!! BUT he works like crazy...and sundays are his busiest days...this last week we had a companionship fast for indalecio. i was expecting a huge miracle when we called him on saturday to see if he would be coming to church... we were sad to hear that he couldnt. but the miracle and blessing is he has been reading everyday and praying! so hey thats a miracle and a blessing. and he will have next sunday off! 

  this week has flown by i cant beleive its already is gone! shooot. i get my new comp this saturday! im stoked to train and have to rely on my spanish so that i can really grow in the language. its gonna be hard but i can do it. new challenge. new mountain. and im stoked! so next monday ill give you the deets about it all. translating at church is getting better. its quiete a hoot sometimes but my spanish has definently increased because of it. its a good way to learn....

 one of my favorite parts of the day is studies. this week i received alot of revelation and just solid strengths and answers through the book of mormon. in jacob 4:8 Behold, great and marvelous are the ^aworks of the Lord. How ^bunsearchable are the depths of the ^cmysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man ^dknoweth of his ^eways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the ^frevelations of God.

  how unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of our heavenly father...we learn and learn and keep learning. there is no end! this week we  have mission tour with elder perkins from the seventy in appleton! im excited to learn even more and to be able to receive revelation through elder perkins to uncover and learn more through the spirit. as we search we will find. as we ask we will receive. heavenly father knows us and loves us. and though his depths are unsearchable we can continue to uncover his mysteries through our diligence in being worthy of the spirit and asking. personal revelation is such a blessing. and conference is coming up in two weeks!!!

love you all! mission is amazing. i love it. keep pressin forward!

-elder Harper-Smith

September 16

  well first off i gotta say rightnow has been the greatest part of my mission. its amazing the things that are happening here in sheboygan. str8 up amazing. im blessed to take part in it. 
  so this week i had exchanges with both sets of elders the english and hmong elders. exchanges...wow this week was rediculous! wednesday i went into hmongs area. elder mckay came and picked me up within 20 minutes we had a baptismal date. it was crazy. we went to their investigators house ended up teaching his daughter through 2nephi31 and now she wants to be baptized on october 19th october 19this gonna be a huge day...as a distirct...we are gonna have over 8 baptisms as of now...talk about miracles. but emily is str8 up golden. elder mckay and i honestly we have the best unity in lessons more than ive had with any of my companions. its crazy hhow the spirit thrives as we teach and we can both feel its guidance. wednesday night we set some lofty goals....but we had faith that we could make them. our goal was to teach 18 lessons and 10 new investigators. distirct meeting this week i really felt impressed to talk about well i just really broke down D&C 100 and focused on our savior and his atonement... i was preparing for district meeting and verse 4 really hit me hard for somereason.. "i have suffered you to come unto this place for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls."  wherever you are ...that second, that minute that hour of rough trackting, that door being slammed in your face, whatever it may be...the lord has suffered for each and everyone of us to be there. for me the power of my saviors atonement becomes more real and real each and everyday. the focus of district meeting was finding...keeping our lines in the water at all times. not only that but trusting in your savior, having confidence and trust in him that opportunities will come and when they do we need to "lift up our voices" and not be nervouse or unconfident in what to say but we need to trust our heavenly father and savior that they will lift up our voices with the things that they would say. i love in alma 26 when ammon just blows your mind up with the spirit. everything happens because of our heavenly fathers grace. the whole chapter is so powerful but i love verse 22. we come to know 4 steps that we must do in order to bring forth thousands of souls just like the miracles ammon saw. 1." he that repenteth"- we have to know our weaknesses. 2. "excersiseth faith" we must act in faith to overcome. 3. "bringeth forth good works" be diligent work work work. 4. "pray without ceasing" 
 so my commitment i prayed hard to figure it out...and this scripture really gave me the answer. as a district we all committed to before any door opens (apartment, car) to sincerly pray to have opportunities to find those that are prepared. to have opportunities wherever the day may take you to have opportunities to lift up your voice and share this amazing message we have.  and i thought real hard and prayed to know what i could promise them. its a simple commitment something we all do...but i felt guidance as i promised them that there solid progressing investigators will double... and that promise was fullfilled this week!! it was absolutely amazing to see that. but finding was the focus of district meeting...in my exchange with elder mckay at the end of the day we had taught 26 lessons and had found 11 solid new investigators. we saw str8 milagros everywhere we walked.  thursday i had exchanges with the english elders. elder cranney came here to the spanish area with me. what a day. it was a good 3 page journal entry day haha. the begining of the day was slow. doors slammed slammed and more slamming. elder cranney was getting a little down..but miracles happen on exchanges and i promised him that. the next door we knocked on opened right up! lenard. boy was he stoked to see us! he was great ful to see us. a great new investigator for english. it caught us real off gaurd on how accepting he was. crack up. we had a lesson with luis at 11... ill give ya a short version of it but it was probably one of the craziest spiritual lesson of my mission. luis...i feel is along for the ride. just one of those investigators. its carlos' brother in law. but i wanted to be as bold and as loving as i could this lesson. so i dug deep and so did elder cranney... we asked how he had gained a testimony of joseph smith...he told us "well through you too i feel good about it" when he said that we found out he hadnt been praying hadnt been doing one of the most important steps to conversion...asking his heavenly father. right then i received a prompting. PRAY. so thats what we did. i got down on my knees, elder cranney followed and as well did luis. hes a really shy guy...doesnt feel comfortable praying. we knelt there testifying of prayer. heavenly father is waiting. he wants to hear form all of us! so i started...i said a short prayer...then elder cranney...then it was luis' turn. we knelt there for a good 2 and a half minutes silently. the spirit was so strong. luis kept sayin i cant man i cant..but we just waited. i knew he felt the spirit he jus tneeded to listen to it. another minute went by and finally i just looked up at him and said... "hey luis..your father in heaven wants to hear from ya...all you have to do is ask him. he wants to give you the answer. and i promise you will receive that answer right after you pray" i dont think ive felt a prompting more strong than that one. and as i promised him he would receive that answer right then the spirit filled the room even more. silently we waited with our heads bowed. and then luis began to pray... well. luis received his answer the second he closed in the name of our savior. it was amazing. he just looked up at us smiling. INCREDIBLE MIRACLE. he told us he knew that joseph smith was now for sure a prophet of god. we went over what that means but still he wont except a baptismal date. something is holding him back...still need to find that grasp that is keeping that doubt. we found like crazy this week and had amazing spiritual experiences as a district. things continue to unfold. yesterday was the simple docterine sabath. bishop holmes puts a side each month one sacrament meeting that is devoted to the simple docterine of the church...which should be every sunday haha but here in sheboygan ya never know what to suspect. but it was a killer sacrament meeting. all the recent converts got up and gave talks. carlos, antonio they both gave powerful talks. and then brother klunk got up and gave a str8 up amazing talk. brother klunk...someday you all need to meet him.... but the reason bishop holmes does sacrament meetings like yesterdays is for our investigators... this ward is so missionary focused it is GREAT. and as missionarys through doing our part it really lifts the ward. speaking of a missionary minded ward we got a member refferal last week that i forgot to tell you about. indalecio. our first appointment was on wednesday...i was on exchanges but elder hernandez told me all about it. indalecio is amazing. he reminds me of grandma...just so prepared ready for the gospel. indalecio will be baptized october 19th if he can get work off and come to church. but he told us he will pray and fast for that opportunity. that alone shows his faith.... family i love my mission i hope ya know that and can feel it in my letters.  i feel so blessed rightnow its rediculous....heavenly father never lets ya get comfortable though... he likes to throw curve balls to get ya even to higher hieghts. ill be training next transfer!! pretty sick eh? im so stoked!!!!!!! 

 ya know to become the greatest missionary heavenly father has in store for me ive been focusing on the weapons i have that are holding me back from blessings my heavenly father has in store for me, to become the "4th missionary". its hard and its different for everyone but i want my mission to change me i want it to be sacred and the best two years ..so ive been praying to know those weapons and then acting in faith and burring those weapons just like the anti nephi lehies. not forever but while im here. faith is a powerful word ive come to find out and through the faith they had and through their sacrafices they were made great servants of the lord... loose yourself in him and you will find yourself. ive "burried" a couple things that took me along time to shooot it was really hard as well and there in my heavenly fathers hands now...but i know through that great things will come to pass. as a district we have all been praying to know what more things we can do even better what weapons we still have out... sheboygan is rising....next transfer we will be soaring. heavenly father is lifting us... and its such a blessing. alma 26:36-37
36 Now if this is ^aboasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a ^bbranch of the tree of Israel, and has been ^clostfrom its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, ^dwanderers in a strange land.
37 Now my brethren, we see that God is ^amindful of every ^bpeople, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

 i definently know im not perfect! not even close!!! but this is my life and im stoked to be here. 

love you all the mostest! 

-elder harper-smith

p.s. i can see my breathe today!!!