Happy Halloween

Dear all, 

This week has flown by! I am really starting to love the people here in DC. On Wednesday we were walking to the metro behind our apartment and started talking to a girl named Jessica. She said she had little religious background and has actually been looking for something new in her life. She is from Brazil and told us she would love to meet with us. We will see her again on Wednesday and hopefully she will want to keep meeting with us!! So we went to visit the family that we prayed about last week (we found out their last name is Perry) and they weren't home. We stopped by yesterday and only the mom answered the door. She said she thought the work we were doing was great, but she wasn't interested. I wish the dad would've been home, but that's alright. There were so many miracles with that family and I know that it will all happen in the Lord's timing. The Visitors Center is starting to get a little busier and we have been teaching a lot of people there. Before I came our here I thought that mostly members come to the visitors center, but there are actually so many non-members too! On Saturday we had a Jewish couple come in that we thought were members. We started talking to them and quickly realized they weren't. They had so many questions and ended up talking to Sister Freeman and I for almost 3 hours. It was crazy! They said they might be interested in learning more from the missionaries. We got their number and will stay in contact with them. We taught around 10 other non-members that day and it is such a neat experience being able to see them understand and want to know more about Jesus Christ. A lot of people just see a huge white building off the beltway and want to know what it is, but it is still great being able to teach them and plant that seed. Something that has been bringing a lot of people into the VC (visitors center) is the election. I don't get to see the news or anything so I don't know, but so many people have said they see the Mormon church from the news or something related to the election and want to know what it's all about. We had our Ward Halloween party this week and it was pretty fun. Sister Freeman and I just wore the same outfit and said we were thing 1 and thing 2. I love the Bethesda ward! They are always talking to us and wanting to know how to help. It makes such a huge difference when the members are involved. Also on Saturday, a lady in our ward named Bernice was able to go through the temple for the first time. It was so neat to see how excited she was for that. She was baptized 20 years ago, but fell away from the church. About a year ago she decided she was missing something and came back. Her sister missionary that baptized her flew out to be with her. Bernice is one of the kindest, funniest and friendliest people in the world. Another one of my favorite people is Marti. He is about 65 years old and lives with his tiny little service dog Duke. Duke comes to church with him on Sunday and everyone in the ward knows him. Marti got baptized a year ago and has the best stories to tell. He is a great example of someone who is selfless and a friend to everyone. On Sunday, our mission president and his wife, The Johnsons, came to speak to our ward about missionary work. Then for combined third hour we talked about missionary work too. It was perfect! This morning we were able to have a special training for VC sisters by Brother Lusvardi. He is in charge of all the visitors centers and all the media for the church. We were able to see the new Christmas video that will come out next month. it was amazing!! I can't wait for you all to see it! Something I am really learning is the Atonement. I probably say that every week, but it is real! I am starting to understand how when we have hard times and rely on the Atonement, it's not Christ taking the burden from us, it is finding the strength through Christ to get through the trial. My love for Him has grown so much. I hope you all have a happy Halloween and great rest of your week! 

Love, Sister Haertling

top picture: twinning companions

middle picture: Marti and Duke

bottom picture: Washington DC temple big and small

Week 5

Dear all,
I made it to DC!!! Missionary life is great. It has its ups and downs but I'm already falling in love with DC. We left the MTC at 4:30 am on Tuesday and got here around 3:00 pm. The flight was about 4 hours long. Flying in to DC is so pretty and you fly right past the Washington Monument and see all of the museums. Our mission president and his wife are the greatest and I love them so much. President and sister Johnson picked us up (there was 10 of us- 7 sisters and 3 elders). We went straight to see the temple and then got to see the visitors center. The temple is gorgeous!! As you are driving along the beltway through all the trees, you turn the corner and there it is. I can't get over how big and beautiful it is.  Then we went to the mission home and stayed there for the night. We had dinner, talked with some of the missionaries that came to help out and had a testimony meeting. It's been an adjustment being out on a mission and difficult, but President Johnson is one of the sweetest men I have ever met and is always telling me how right now he is my biggest cheerleader. He was able to give me a blessing and it was just what I needed. I am really lucky and am in a mission that has cars and ipads. I won't get my ipad until next transfer in a couple weeks, but my companion Sister Freeman just lets me use hers if I need something. It is so nice when we are teaching a lesson to be able to just pull up a video to use. The DC visitor center is amazing!! One of my favorite parts is the temple model. It shows every room of the temple and everything is up to date. Even the plants are exactly how it looks in the temple. It is so helpful for investigators who come in because it helps them understand that the temple is not a secret thing, just sacred and the promises we make to Heavenly Father inside are something so special. It is everyone's favorite thing to look at. I am in the Bethesda area right now and it is beautiful! ​​My companion is Sister Freeman and she is the best. She is from Arizona and is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. We get along so great and I love having her as a trainer. We are at the visitors center 6 hours each day. Sometimes we have shift in the morning, and other days at night. The other half of the day we are out proselyting. One of my favorite ways of contacting is going on the metro. We all have metro cards that let us go on the metro as much as we need to. Our apartment building is close to a metro station and so we can just ride the metro and talk to people that way. We go door to door tracting a lot too and have had some good experiences, as well as doors slammed in the face. Most people are pretty respectful though. This week something that Sister Freeman and I have been working on is praying for specific things and then having the faith that they will happen. Thursday morning we prayed in the morning that we would be able to find a family with kids that would be really interested in learning more. We went to teach a lesson to one of our investigators named Doris and she was sick so we went tracting around her neighborhood instead. We knocked on about the 6th house and a little girl opened the door. Her dad came around and talked to us for a little bit. We asked if they would be interested in hearing a message and the dad asked the two girls if they thought they should let us in. They both yelled yes and wanted us to come in so bad. We shared the video "He Lives" and talked for a couple minutes about their religious beliefs. The dad had a meeting and so we couldn't stay long but the girls wanted to learn more. We told them we would be back in the next week. They are such an amazing family and Sister Freeman and I both had tears in our eyes as we left the house. She has been out for a year and that was the first time she has ever been let into a house from tracting. We both felt the Spirit so strong and can't wait to go back. Later in the week some of the sisters that are in the visitor center too came up to us and told us that they ran into a lady who nannys a couple little girls said how some sister missionaries came over a few nights earlier. The nanny said she heard the lesson from the kitchen and all the girls have been talking about is having the missionaries come back. Sister Freeman and I had been fasting and praying for this family and when we heard this we were so happy. We cannot wait to go back and talk with them more!! I know Heavenly Father hears us and will answer our prayers. My first Sunday here was the Primary program and it was great. It is always such a good reminder of how simple the gospel is and what sweet spirit's children have. Thank you all for the prayers and support you give me. Have a great week! 

Love, Sister Haertling

top picture: Washington DC Temple

middle picture: Sister Haertling and her companion Sister Freeman

bottom picture: Entrance into the metro 

Off to D.C.

Today Sister Haertling left the MTC and entered the mission field.  A very kind person took her picture at the Salt Lake City airport and texted it to me.  I have had so many tender mercies since Sarah has left on her mission.  I love being a missionary mom.

Bats, Bednar, and Bronchitis

Dear all, 

This week has been filled with a lot of emotions. I've loved it and learned so much. Last Sunday we got to hear from Richard I Heaton. He spoke about repentance and how we should see the word repent as a joyful thing, not negative. Some of my favorite things he said were:

-How we feel about the word repentance is how we will teach it

-Repentance is not an event, it's a way of life. It is a process of constantly aligning ourselves with God. 

-Repentance is an invitation to make God happy every day. 

The elders in our district left early on Tuesday morning so we said goodbye to them Monday night. It was sad seeing them leave, but we still have 7 sisters in our district so it wasn't too bad. On Tuesday I had a feeling that our Devotional was going to be special. We had been practicing the song "Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer" for choir and our director told us it was going to be a great night. Usually about 10 minutes before the devotional starts they put the picture and name of whoever is speaking, but this time they didn't. We always sing about three prelude songs while they finish seating all the missionaries. As we were singing Praise To the Man, Elder Bednar and his wife walked in. We were all so excited and sang We Thank Thee Oh God For a Prophet. It was so powerful. Elder Bednar talked about General Conference and how to study the talks. He explained how we can get the Doctrine, Invitation, and Promised Blessings out of each talk to really study. He said we should "Ask, Seek, Knock and DIG". I will never forget the song we sang in choir, Precious Savior Dear Redeemer. The Spirit was incredible and the words meant so much to me that day. Earlier on Tuesday, we had class from 2-5 like usual except we had a different teacher. It was our last class before we started Visitor Center training the next day. We all felt pretty good with what we had learned in the past few weeks since we've been here. Well, the substitute teacher decided to make things interesting and had us role play without our companions and teach investigators who didn't believe in God. They had a lot of other things that they weren't sure of such as gay marriage and polygamy. They questioned a lot of church policies that I had no idea how to answer. We did this for most of class and by the end I felt like I really didn't know anything anymore. Most of the lessons we have taught here in the MTC are with investigators who are pretty easy going and really nice to us. I started questioning everything that I had learned and realized I was not very prepared. Afterwards, our teacher shared the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 82:88, "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for a I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mineangels round about you, to bear you up". This scripture really gave me a lot of comfort knowing that I'm not alone and if I am obedient and prepared, that I'll always have help. So after devotional we went to our classroom to study for the last hour. Just as we were about to leave, we heard someone scream from downstairs. I walked out into the hallway and saw a bat flying right towards me. Sister Neuberger and I dropped to the ground laughing and crawled back into the room. Everyone was freaking out and it just kept flying down the hallways. Luckily we were able to escape..it was a really big bat and we ran down the 5 flights of stairs without encountering our little friend again. Today one of our sisters went home, she has bronchitis and will come back when she's better. It was sad to see her leave. I leave for DC on Tuesday and I am SO excited. Also tomorrow we get to go to temple square and walk around with the sister missionaries there. It'll be a cool experience. I hope you all have a great week! 

Love, Sister Haertling

Top and middle pictures-Visitor center training this week.  9 hours of training...they were tired!

Bottom picture-Sister Haertling's two cousins in the MTC at the same time as her L-R Cayden Cazier, Mark Mathews, Sarah Haertling

Heavenly Father answers our prayers and knows us each individually

This week has been amazing! General conference was so cool in the MTC. I will never forget it. Singing called to serve with all of the missionaries and all of the conference center was so powerful. I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. Later that evening we had our Sunday night devotional where someone speaks to all of the MTC. This week they said that they had a special treat for us. We sat down and found out that BYU vocal point was giving our devotional. They each talked about one word that they feel best described their missions and then of course sang a lot. My favorite song that they sang was Nearer My God to Thee. If you've never heard it you need to look it up. I've listened to it a lot before I came out here but they were even better in person. On Tuesday night we got to hear from sister Linda K. Burton. One of my favorite things she said was "Remember who you are and more importantly, Who's you are". On Tuesday I got an email from my mom saying that my cousin (Cayden Cazier) would be coming to the Provo MTC the next day because his visa wasn't here yet. I was going to be hosting the new missionaries on Wednesday for a short time and so i was excited that I might be able to see him. Well I found out that I was going to be hosting the missionaries arriving early in the morning, not the huge group of missionaries where hundreds at a time come in. I was pretty upset that I wasnt going to see Cayden. On Tuesday night in class we learned more about how Heavenly Father answers our prayers and can give us miracles in our life. So that night I prayed that I would be able to see Cayden the next morning while I hosted even though it was a very small chance because most of them arriving were international and I didn't even know where he would be. The next morning we arrived in the lobby and they gave us instruction on where to go and take each missionary. I heard all of the host's say that the first van was arriving. The door to the shuttle opened and the first missionary to walk our was Cayden! I couldn't believe it. My eyes immediately filled with tears and ran out to meet him. The man out there wouldn't let me hug him and usually sisters have to host sisters, but he let me be Cayden's host. I was so happy. I only got to be with him for about 10 minutes but I was so happy. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers and knows us each individually. Luckily Cayden and i had the same gym time today so we got to play basketball together and talk for an hour. So the building that I have been living in had bats in it so we had to move into another building today. It was kind of a pain to repack and unpack everything, but the place is closer to everything and is a lot nicer. It even has yogurt and cheese sticks in the vending machines so my companion and I think that it's definately worth it haha:) We've been teaching new investigators this week, their names are Kailyn and Debi. They are both so nice and we love teaching them. I loved how much general conference talked about the doctrine of christ and having faith. That is all that we've been learning here for the past 2 weeks. Next week we start visitor center training which will be fun. There are 4 sisters and 3 elders in our zone that will all be leaving on the 18th which will be nice to travel with to DC. I hope you all are doing great and enjoyed conference last week! Thank you for all of your prayers I have felt your love. Have a great week!

Love, Sister Haertling

Top picture: the infamous MTC picture

Middle picture: Sister Haertling with her roomates

Bottom picture: Beautiful sister missionaries.  The girl in the middle with blonde hair is Sister Neuberger who is going to be serving in the Nebraska, Omaha mission with Sister Haertling's grandparents.  She and sister Haertling have been together a lot while at the MTC.  

Sister Haertling

Unit 101 DC North Oct 18

2005 N 900 E

Provo UT 84604-1793

sarah.haertling@myldsmail.net