Opposition in All Things - 5/27/13

Dear family,

Can I just start off by saying that I love how our e mails are getting. haha It is so very weird thinking I will see you in just over a week. SCARY!!! Well this week was al-right. We had a lot of things fall through, and it was pretty hard at times. I guess I should know by now that there has to be opposition in all things. I would have loved to have been able to baptize my last week but its not looking to bright, because none of our investigators came to church. Next week will be a different story though. 

On the way home from church we got in this car, and there was a lady who I guess was baptized in the church about thirty years ago. She was one of those people who had a big mouth and does not know how to keep quiet, anyways she was very obnoxious. I am telling you this because she said that the only thing that she got from the church was Family Home Evening. When she said that it really stood out to me. It made me think about how family oriented the church really is. What a great blessing.

Well I sure am excited to see you all. I used my card and it is working, and everything is going great! Thank you for your support, and your love.

Love,

Elder Hartshorn

Going to Miss It - 5/20/13

Good day!

We had a great activity today. We climbed the mountain here, witch is called Mt. Soufrere. It is actually the top of a volcano. I do not know what it is about the Hartshorns and hacking, but guess what it rained the whole hike. When we got to the top we could not even see anything. It was still so much fun.

That is so great that Hannah was able to make it to state. I do not think many freshmen get that opportunity.

Well nothing to new is happening here. I received one of the best compliments from a member the other day. She told me that I looked like I still had a year left, and she could always tell when missionaries are going to do good when they go home. That made me feel pretty good to hear that. It still does not feel like I am going to be home in three weeks. My feelings are so messed up right now, because half of me is saying I can't wait to go home, and the other half is saying I love it down here I am going to miss it so much.

Well I hope everything is going good at home, thank you for all your support.

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

Yee-haw - 5/6/13

Good morning everybody!

We also had another positive week. We will also be having another Baptism this Saturday.  Some of our investigators did not come to church though. The work is still going forward and we are finding all sorts of success through our members in this awesome branch.

We do get to chat on Mothers Day, I have the cumputer at six O'clock our time. I guess I will leave it up to you to figure out what  that is your time. I hope it works! This week is going to be super busy. We are going to Barbados to Zone conference. Elder Ramdhanie and I have to teach, and our zone has to sing. That should be interesting considering non of us hicks can sing to well.

Oh, I finally got an email that told me I was going home on the 6th of June. They asked what airport I would like to fly to and stuff. I gave them your e mail, so you should get the flight plans pretty soon. Thank you for all that you do. I love you all very much.

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

Happy Monday! - 4/29/13

Dear Family,

Thank you for the pictures! they were great. That is pretty exciting that Hannah is doing so good. Does any of the other schools have Freshmen that run? I am sure she will continue to progress. I must say I did beat Elder Ramdhanie in a race the other day, and he is a professional cricket player in Trinidad. I guess you don't have to be very fast to play cricket.

We had a good week. Many of the people we have been working with came to church for the very first time this week. Three of our six investigators were there for their first time, and I think they had a good experience. I had to talk. They asked me to speak on reverence, this is the second time on my mission that they have asked me to speak on reverence. I guess I need to be more reverent. It was nice though, because I was able to us most of my notes from the last reverence talk I gave. I received Grandmas letter. You will have to tell her thank you for me. I am horrible at writing letters, as you can all tell.

Well its all starting to wind down now, I cannot believe it. I am still able to keep focused until I go to sleep at night, then I have some dreams about hunting, and ice fishing, or something back home. I normally read a chapter from the Book of Mormon in the morning and it puts me back on the path though. I hope all is going well at home. Is there any jobs opening up in the Valley for me? Anyway I love you all.

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

He showed up! - 4/22/13

Thank you for the great e mail Mom and Dad. Brother Tmon Tmore Davis was baptized this week! It was so great, he is so loved and fellow-shipped by the branch it is ridiculous. The baptism was really good and spiritual. It is crazy how close you get to the people you teach. I also recived my last transfer call of my mission. I will be staying in St. Vincent with Elder Ramdhanie. I am pretty darn excited because we have been finding lots of success. President has made St. Vincent "hick island" haha All of the hicks

are on the island now it is so flippin fun. I am trying to stay focused and finish my mission strong and set an example for the other missionaries of how to end their missions.

That is sad that Sister Wade passed away. I really wanted to see her and thank her for all the support she gave me. I am glad she went peacefully though.

The birds are back and they gave me the card. Elder Bird also said that he had a great lunch with you, and wants to have a picnic somewhere down the line with all of us. I thought that was pretty funny. The best part about the letter was to know that the truck is back up and running!

Sorry my email is so random, I hope you can still get an idea of what is going on down here. I love you all and cant wait to see your smiling faces in six weeks....???

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

Interesting Experiences - 4/15/13

Dear Family,

Thank you for all the great news! I am Glad you were able to meet Elder Bird. He is pretty awesome. He is probably one of the happiest guys you will ever meet. Hannah also seems like she is getting faster! I bet I can still beat here though haha How is the good ol' valley doing anyway?

We had a very interesting experience this week. Our investigator who was supposed to be baptized passed her interview, and was excited to be baptized. When we went to pick her up Saturday , she was not home, and she did not answer her phone. We waited and we called but there was still no sign of her. We went to the church and were met by a lot of the branch, but our investigator never came. We still have not been able to get a hold of her. I have never had this happen before, and it was a little strange for me.

On the positive note Brother Davis is solid for this week, if he shows up. haha He came to the baptism we were supposed to have. He is just really solid and is a part member family. We are excited for him.

Thank you for being so great! I do not think anyone gets as much support from home then I do. I am truly grateful for that.Your the best!

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

Another Short One - 4/8/13

Hey Family,

I am glad you were able to enjoy conference, it was most enjoyable for me. It also sounds like there is a lot going on around there. I am kinda sad I will miss all of Hannahs running, but I am sure you will record a few to watch.

The work here is continuing to progress, we are going to have a baptism this week! The lady who just straight up told her boy friend to move out because she wanted to be baptized  She is so solid. We are working with a few part member families so we might also have a few baptisms on the twentieth as well.

Thank you for your great e mail,

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

Last Few... Weeks - 3/25/13

Hello dear family,

Well for p day today we took a fary to another smaller island! It was pretty awesome! We also had another great week. This branch is awesome! A few members have offered to feed us on my birthday, so you dont need to worry about me down here. We have an investigator who is planning on being baptized on the 13th of April, so I am pretty excited about that. We are still trying to get to know everyone here, but we have seen the Lords hand so much. I am trying to work as hard as ever these last few months. It

feels so GOOD.

Well everything is going good, thank you for all of your support, you are all a huge strength to me.

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

Letter from Sister and Elder Gartz - 3/25/13

Hi, Sister Hartshorn! We all miss Elder Hartshorn here in St. Lucia. I'm sure he is doing great work in St. Vincent and will finish strong. Time is fleeting and some of our favorite elders will go home soon.

We received your letter to Sister Marius and she was so thrilled to get it. She misses Jarom very much. Also your last letter was given to the mission president's wife Sister Mehr who took it to be forwarded on to him.

It was wonderful we could work with your son for a long period of time. He made quite an impact here and taught and cared for many. We experienced and shared good friends and missionary life...there is always a laugh with Elder Hartshorn and Elder Meredith around!

Hope Idaho is warming up - know you are excited for May.
Take good care - it would be fun to meet you some day.
Sister Gartz (Elder Gartz too)
ps great Jarom could have 2 baptisms right before leaving here....

What an Adventure! - 3/18/13

Dear Family!

Wow what an adventure President put us in! My companion and I are blanking this area, and honestly I have never seen more tender mercies from the Lord then in these last couple of days. It seems like every time we are heading a wrong direction He sends someone to put us back on the right path. The members here are fantastic! I honestly love them already. The branch is much larger and stronger then the branch in St. Lucia. The branch President set a goal for us to have eight baptisms in the next two months! We are going to have to work our tail off.

President is relizing that when my group goes home there will be no leaders in the mission so he has put pretty much everyone in my group with a new District or Zone leader to help train them up. So that is what I am doing. My companion has been out for five months and is the District leader here. He is from Trinidad, his name is Elder Ramdhanie. He is a boss, we have been working really hard so far together.

I am sorry but I do not know my address yet. I will try to get it to you next week. You will also have to tell Grandma and Grandpa Hartshorn that I am sorry, I wrote them a letter in St. Lucia but I left it there. Well I gots to go, so id be talkin to you later.

Love Elder Hartshorn

Pics - 3/11/13

Cool Things - 2/25/13

Dear Family,

Thank you for your e mail. My shoes are pretty bad, but my I have not worn my hush puppie shoes as much, so they will be alright until the end of my mission. I was mostly just wondering about the warranty, because if it is free I would love to give it to someone here. Dont worry about sending new shoes for me though.

It is great to hear that everyone is doing good and staying busy. I am glad Hannah is running track. That should be great!

We also had a good week and taught a lot of people. Also two people are going to be baptized this week. Pray that all goes well... haha Transfers are coming up, which reminds me. This transfer is a seven week transfer, so I will now no longer be coming home in May, but in the first week of June. The transfer ends in two weeks.

We are doing something cool in the branch right now. We have been working on getting all of the members testimonies on video. We are going to have a Fireside, and teach about building up Zion, and also on giving referrals. In between the lessons there will be musical numbers preformed. We are pretty excited about it. I can already see it helping the Branch.

I am glad to hear from you.
Love,
Elder Hartshorn

Whoosh! - 2/18/13

Dear Family,

Well as you probably know, I have no time to write at all. I am very sad to hear about Rex. You will have to send my love to Russell and Rocky.

My trip to Barbados was nice. I was able to see so many of my buds in the mission. We stayed over night there, actually two nights.

I am very excited to talk to Elder Egberts brother. That just makes me happy.

I love you all, so just remember that.

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

The Work is Going Onward - 2/11/13

Dear Family,

I am glad to hear that someone finally went ice fishing. We went fishing this morning as well! It was pretty darn fun, but between us all we only cought one fish. One of the Sister missionries had the lucky rod.

The work is going onward. We are working a lot with our members and it seems like it helping the missionary efforts here. We just need to get these people baptized. It kinda depresses me somtimes when people fall through all the time, but it is just another life leason learned from the mission.I m really excited to fly to Barbados this week for zone
conference. It should be great to get to see and hear from our mission President. I dont think there is any other mission where you see you mission president so little. Between the Presidents I have probably seen them about ten times haha

I have so many funny stories building up, I cannot wait to share them with you all. Most of them are random and would take forever to type so I will just save them.

I wrote Grandma, and Brittney this week so I hope they get them.

I love you all, so keep being awesome.

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

Waiting for the Fruits - 2/4/13

Dear Family,

Well we had a pretty good week again... It is pretty much the same ol same ol here in St. Lucia. Not much to say. Our Zone conference is in Barbados. We travel there on Valentines day. That is something to look forward to.

Our investigators are still progressing, for the most part. We should be starting to see some fruits of our labor soon, but I wont promise you anything, every time I do it always falls through. I hope we do though.

i hope everything is going good up there.

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

Sister Marius :) - 1/29/13

Dear Family,

I am happy you got to talk to my grandma down here. She called me after she talked to you and was like "you have a nice mother" I am not sure why but she just wanted to call you. I know she would love to get a letter from you. 

We had a pretty good week The other Elders in Castries baptized! It was one of those people who had been taught by missionaries forever and just decided it was time. We had a few investigators come for the baptism. We should be having a baptism on the ninth. We are continuing to have investigators at church. I am thankful for that it helps keep me going.

How is everything at home? What is Nathan doing? Hannah is running track, that is pretty boss. Is Britt having any fun in Utah?

I hope you all have a great week, thank you for all that you do.

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

Exploding to the Finish Line - 1/21/13

Dear Family,

Well... We had a pretty good week, other then our baptism did not go through. The Dad who in the States told her not to do it. She lives with her Grandma here so we feel like it was supposed to be like this so we could get her Grandmother too, one time.

We received our transfer calls, and believe it or not I am staying again with the same companion. I Feel like I have been here forever, but that is aright because we are having a lot of success. The Lord is preparing so many people in St. Lucia at this time.

We went to some water falls today, it was pretty sweet!

How is everything going at home? Is anyone doing any fishing yet? You will have to tell Grandma Kay that a received her card and I love her too, I will try to write some letters this week. I love you all, and am learning what enduring to the end means. It is not just surviving, but more like exploding to the finish line. I love you all!

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

LOL - 1/14/13

Dear Family,

Thank you for the e-mails and pictures. I am soooo sorry it is cold there, there has been a bit of a breeze the last week here that helped cool things down a bit. I am going to freeze my fingers off when I come back. I can barely sleep with AC on anymore.

We had an interesting week this week. We had an Elder here who had to fly to Trinidad to be interviewed by President. He is one of the Elders on the other side of the island, and he just refused to be obedient. Anyways it was interesting for us because we had to accommodate for his companion. That would be a pretty scary interview. President called him and said you are coming to Trinidad for an interview, oh and pack your bags, in case the interview doesn't go well. haha He is back in St. Lucia now, but President
said he is moving next week. Transfers are next week. It sounds like I am staying...

It is getting hard not to think about life when I get back. It is coming so fast, it is ridiculous. It would be great if you could send in some applications to the fisheries for me, and where ever else you want.

We are going to have a baptism this week, so I will try and send some pictures. The work is going great, I feel like I am growing more now then ever. I am starting to recognize the spirit more and it is helping me be more loving, Even when people are stupid.

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

A New Year - 1/7/13

Dear Family,

I am sending some pictures of a light house we went to this morning for our activity.

We had a pretty good week this week. We are still teaching all those awesome families, the only problem is that it looks like only one of them is going to be baptized this transfer.

We had a lot of distractions this week due to all the New Year celebrations. Also Elder Jones and I had to go interview a Elder on the other side of the island, that pretty much took a whole day. That is ok though, because it was kind of fun.

I was really looking forward to seeing some pictures of the wedding. Did any of my friends come?

Well have a great week, love ya.

Love,
Elder Hartshorn

"Best Man" - 12/31/12

Dear Family,

Well... It was great to talk with you all. My sore throat got a little worse but I am feeling much better now. Even though it was Christmas we still had a good week of missionary work. There is a lot of success going on here. So far though we only have one solid date for the 18th. A girl named Roshelle. Her family is still deciding if they want to be baptized with her. I hope so....

It sounds like the wedding was nice! I got my package and wore my "Best Man" tie haha When I told the people here I was the best man they told me that my family tricked me, to make me feel good about myself. Anyways some pictures of the wedding and everyone would be GREAT! you can send them through the e-mail. That is no problem at all. Well love you all.

Love,
Elder Hartshorn