Life on the Island

Dear all, 

This past week and a half has been the longest, but greatest week of my mission so far (I know I probably say that a lot, but I actually mean it this time). It started off last week with Miriam and her son Sebastian. They were both baptized last Saturday! All of her family came, with their extended family. None of them are members of the church, and they are just the sweetest people ever. Sister Cleaver and I sang, "I Feel My Saviors Love" and there was a lot of the ward there to support her. Then a couple of hours later following the baptism we were able to meet the Meena family and Brother Olsen from the ward at the temple and go inside to do baptisms for their family. Lokesh and Nirma both have been doing their family history and they were baptized for their grandparents and great grandparents. When Lokesh came out of the temple and we were walking around he turned to us and said, "this is the best decision I have ever made in my life". Another really neat thing that he said was immediately after we left the temple he told us that he could feel a huge difference in the way that he felt. They can't wait to go back and do more work for their family. Something that Nirma said was, "Now we aren't the only members of the church in our family, there are four more!".Experiences like this just strengthen my faith so much and remind me how much Heavenly Father loves us and wants us all to return to Him. On Monday we got a call from President Johnson for transfers. We only get a call from him the Monday before transfers if we are changing areas/companions, so as soon as we saw his number we knew that one of us was leaving. Since I had been in Bethesda for almost 7 and a half months, I knew I was leaving. We answered the phone and President Johnson said he was sad to split sister Cleaver and I up, but he had a special assignment for me. He started to explain to me that there was an area far away that he needed me to go to over a really long bridge. I was a little bit confused when he told me I would be going to Kent Island. I knew that it was over in the Annapolis zone, but that was it. He told me that there was a little branch there and that missionaries hadn't served there for a long time. There have only ever been elders there and so when everyone found out that president was sending a set of sisters there, all of the elders were a little upset haha. As a Visitors Center sister, we spend half of our day in the VC and half of our day in our area proselyting. So this meant that I was going on my "outbound" where we spend 2 transfers (3 months) as full proselyting sisters and don't come into the VC at all. Also when you go on your outbound you are put with a full proselyting sister, but President Johnson told me that I was going to be serving on Kent Island with Sister Rees! Sister Rees is also a visitor center sister who got to the mission after me. We have been roommates for the past 3 months and so we know each other really well. She is really laid back, but such a hard worker and determined. So sister Rees and I have been assigned to the Kent Island branch, full proselyting, whitewashing (which is missionary term for -both new missionaries in an area, so you don't know anyone yet or know the area at all- usually you are transferred to an area where one of you has served there already and are familiar with the people/area), and the area has been closed down for a long time for missionaries not being there. Kent Island is about an hour and fifteen minutes from the visitors center and in order to get there you have to drive over a toll bridge that is a little under 5 miles long!!!!! It is the coolest thing. Right now we don't have an apartment on the Island and so we stay in Pasadena. Its about 45 minutes from Kent Island which means that we get to cross the bridge every morning and night! It's a fun drive. 

So on Wednesday, we went to transfers, packed all of our things into our car, said goodbye to our former companions (Sister Cleaver is staying in Bethesda and is with Sister Rawlins who was Sister Rees' former companion and also our roommate haha!), and headed on our way. We dropped off our things at the apartment and were excited to get over to the Island to check things out. We were about 30 minutes away and we were in heavy traffic. About 2 hours later (a mile down the road) we realized why things were moving so slow. There was a huge accident on the freeway which was the ONLY way to Kent Island. There were helicopters landed on the freeway, firetrucks, ambulances and it wasn't going to be cleared up for another couple of hours. Eventually things cleared up and we got there! It is such a beautiful area. I've been surrounded by traffic and city for all of my mission and so to see fields and country with houses spread out I was so happy. It felt a lot more welcoming. We cover kent Island, but most of our area is the eastern shore as well, so our area is about 3/4 the area of our entire mission boundaries. We looked at the map, because our area just got expanded again and now our area is almost the same size as Delaware haha. It's great. The weather has been so warm this week. On Wednesday it was 95, and then throughout the rest of the week it has been in the 85-95 range. I'm getting used to the humidity for sure. There is a senior couple out here that are probably the kindest people I have ever met. I am already dreading the day that we have to leave them. They have been here since March and so they are still kind of new. 

On Friday we stopped by the branch mission leader's house. When we knocked on the door, they looked at us and started crying! Their branch has been needing missionaries and they recognized me from the visitors center during Christmas time. It was a new and really amazing feeling to feel how much they needed us there to help this branch. We have been able to meet a lot of the branch and I just love them so much already. We have been tracting a lot, but also a lot of the work is with less actives. It is a new experience for me, but these people here are really special. One cool experience that we had a couple of days ago was, we were tracting and a lady answered door. She was really surprised to see us and asked if we could come in. We went in and she told us that she was baptized over 20 years ago, but hadn't been since she joined. She asked us where we were from, and when I said Tri Cities Washington, she started screaming...for reals screaming haha. She told me that all of her kids were born in Kadlec Hospital over in Tri Cities and that she lived there for a really long time. She didn't know a lot of the same people that I did, but she knew all of the places and it was cool to see that connection. She said that her daughter would want to meet me and we invited her to church. She said she would think about it, and so hopefully with time she will! 

This week I have been studying the talk, "To Whom Shall We Go". It is amazing. One of my favorite parts is, "Brothers and sisters, accepting and living the gospel of Christ can be challenging. It has always been thus, and it ever will be. Life can be like hikers ascending a steep and arduous trail. It is a natural and normal thing to occasionally pause on the path to catch our breath, to recalculate our bearings, and to reconsider our pace. Not everyone needs to pause on the path, but there is nothing wrong with doing so when your circumstances require. In fact, it can be a positive thing for those who take full advantage of the opportunity to refresh themselves with the living water of the gospel of Christ.In the end, each one of us must respond to the Savior’s question: “Will ye also go away?”9 We all have to search for our own answer to that question. For some, the answer is easy; for others, it is difficult. I don’t pretend to know why faith to believe comes easier for some than for others. I’m just so grateful to know that the answers are always there, and if we seek them—really seek with real intent and with full purpose of a prayerful heart—we will eventually find the answers to our questions as we continue on the gospel path. Brothers and sisters, I promise you in the name of the Lord that He will never abandon His Church and that He will never abandon any one of us. Remember Peter’s response to the Savior’s question and words:“To whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. “And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” I testify that there is “no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ."

I am so grateful to have the knowledge of our Savior and of His restored church on the earth today. Having it makes me so excited to share it with everyone else. I was reading through my family testimony book, that all of you wrote in for me this week and was reading how because we know so much and are so blessed, we have an ever greater responsibility to share it. When we do share it, it will grow even more! I love you all! 

Love, Sister Haertling 

Hello

Dear all,
I don't have much to write about since I just had pday on Thursday! On
Friday we had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. I got to
stay in Bethesda and be with sister Freeman!! It was a lot of fun. We
got to visit a lot of people that we taught together when we were
companions. While we were tracting we saw a bunny on the sidewalk. We
decided to follow it and it stopped at a house, so we decided we
should knock on the door. A man answered and he said that he had met
missionaries about a year ago but he wasn't interested. We asked him
if he would be interested in meeting again and he said yes! We have an
appointment with him this week, and his mom who is 92 years old really
liked talking to us at the door. The bunny was definitely inspired
haha. On Saturday we were at the VC and Miriam's husband and two kids
showed up unexpectedly. We gave them a tour and focused a lot of Jesus
Christ's example and what we can do in our lives because of Him. It
was a really cool experience and Sebastian is very excited to be
baptized. On Sunday we had a regional broadcast at the stake center,
which was amazingggg. Elder Oaks talked about missionary work and also
a lot of the youth of the church. He talked about technology and how
our phones should be our slaves, not our masters. He invited us all to
start reading the Book of Mormon in our life everyday, and if we are
then to continue doing that. One of my favorite things he said was,
there's a big difference between being active in the church and active
in the gospel. Being active in the church can be easy, just showing up
for meetings each week, but being active in the gospel requires effort
and preparation. After church Miriam had her baptismal interview with
Elder Bennett! Everything went well and she is excited for Saturday.
We walked over to the visitors center after that and I saw some elders
walking in the parking lot with two ladies. Let me start from the
beginning of this story 4 months ago. Back in January I answered the
phone at the front desk of the visitors center. A lady named Lisa from
Washington state said hello and said she had a question for me. She
told me that she had a cousin named Poleen who lived in Washington DC
who isn't a member and she really wanted her to try going to church.
So I took all of Poleens information down and told Lisa that I would
make sure and call poleen. So I went back to the online teaching
center and called the missionaries in the DC 3rd ward, gave them her
contact information and everything. A couple of months went by and I
would call Poleen and nothing was really happening. She loved talking
to me though haha. She is African American and one of the sweetest
ladies ever. Somehow her contact got deleted on my account and so I
had no way to get ahold of her or know how she was doing. Then about a
month and a half ago I got switched into a different district of
missionaries. I heard some elders sharing a miracle about someone
named Poleen and that she was going to be baptized with her daughter
Poleen. It didn't click in my head until about 5 minutes later and
asked the missionaries if it was the same Poleen I had sent about 4
months earlier. They checked and said yes!!!! So last Saturday Poleen
and her daughter May were baptized!! Fast forward to Sunday....we were
walking over from the stake center to the VC and I saw two ladies with
the missionaries who are in the DC 3rd ward. I ran up to them and got
to meet Poleen and May!!! It was such a special tender mercy that they
were there at that exact time and got to give them hugs and talk.
Poleen was really happy and said, "wait so you're the nice girl on the
phone that talks to me??" Haha. It was an experience I won't forget.
On Sunday night we were tracting and sister Cleaver wasn't feeling
good. We were going to head home since it was late, but decided we
would tract five more houses. The first house we knocked on after
deciding we would stay was a nice man who was very curious about what
we were doing walking around in dresses. He asked us to come in and we
had an amazing lesson with him and his daughter. Their family is from
Tanzania and he works in the embassy here. They want to come to church
this week and said that they would really like a place for their
daughter with youth the same age as her. We are meeting again with
them this next week! Thanks for all of your prayers lately. I have
felt so much love!
Love Sister Haertling

April showers really do bring May flowers

 Dear all,
> I have soooo much to write about from the past week and a half!! We
> haven't had pday for a week and a half because we got to go to the
> temple today! We had Zone Conference last Tuesday and it was all about
> diligence. We talked about how we can be diligent in our prayers,
> scripture study and fasting. On Wednesday we had an appointment with a
> man named Henry who we were meeting for the first time. We met
> at......Barnes and Nobles....(He was the one who picked it... out of
> all the places in Bethesda) if you read my last email you'll get it
> hahaha. But this experience was one of the greatest experiences on my
> mission. A lot better than last time at Barnes and Noble! Henry and
> his wife are both nurses in the military and have a little girl. He
> knows a little bit about the church and had so many amazing, sincere
> questions for us. We talked about the restoration, plan of salvation
> and temples. He was just so curious!! We invited him to be baptized
> and he said yes! The sad thing is that they are moving 30 minutes away
> in a week, but the important thing is that he and his family will be
> able to join the church!! On Thursday we had a really cool opportunity
> to teach a group of teachers in the community. Sister Johnson asked
> The elders in our ward and ourselves to teach the class. It was kind
> of a different teaching opportunity because it was a comparative
> religions class. It was a lot about the history of the the church, but
> we also talked about personal revelation, the temple, and the Book of
> Mormon. It was a good chance to study the gospel topics essays that
> the church has on more of the controversial topics like race and the
> priesthood, gay marriage, and polygamy which were a lot of the
> questions they asked about. It was a two hour class, so we put
> together a PowerPoint and all taught different points. Something
> really cool was at the beginning we asked how many of them had met
> missionaries before and all of them had, but almost 15 out of the
> group of 40 had met them within the past couple of weeks. One lady
> came up to us afterwards and told us that she had just met the
> missionaries last week and never got their information and now is
> interested in learning more! It was really great. On Friday we were
> out tracting for most of the day. We knocked on one house and we
> talked for a little while. Then we asked him some questions about why
> he thought he was here on earth and what his purpose is. He told us he
> really didn't know and has been wondering about it for a while. Then
> we told him that we knew God loved him and had a plan for him and that
> he had a purpose here. He was really interested in learning more. He
> is 21 years old and going to school right now and since he was the
> only one home we couldn't go inside to teach him, so we just stayed
> onside on the porch. We taught the first lesson and by the end he was
> asking about how he could be baptized!!! The spirit was so strong and
> it was amazing to hear the questions he had. We don't get to teach him
> since he's YSA, but it is incredible to see how many people are here
> just waiting to hear this message. Heavenly Father is preparing so
> many people and will guide us to them if we are obedient and willing
> to work hard. On Saturday we got to meet with the Meenas! They are
> doing SO good. We talked about family home evening and also finding
> their ancestors so that they can do baptisms for them next Saturday.
> On Sunday Lokesh received the priesthood and both Nirma and Lokesh
> were given callings. Nirma was called to be a greeter for sacrament
> meeting so she can work on her English and get to know more people in
> the ward. Lokesh was called to be in the elders quorum presidency and
> it just makes me so happy to see them all walk into church each week
> with huge smiles on their faces. We are continuing to meet with Miriam
> and her kids to work towards baptism. They really want to and the kids
> are finally used to being at church for "sooooo longgg" haha. After
> third hour each week Sebastian (he's 9) jumps out of his chair after
> the closing prayer and pretty much runs outside to move around. When
> you aren't used to sitting for three hours at church, it can be kinda
> hard. Last night we got to help at an interfaith meeting where leaders
> from all different churches came to talk about how they can help in
> the community and be aware of others. It was really great to see
> everyone together and hear what they believed. A funny experience this
> week was, a couple days ago we were trying to check on a woman who
> came into the visitors center and said she wanted to learn more. We
> got there and in order to walk up her walkway to the door, there was
> this mean looking goose. We tried walking up to it and it started
> hissing at us and running towards us...so then we tried walking around
> it, and it still chased us and wouldn't let us pass! We tried every
> way around this dumb goose for over 10 minutes when finally a guy
> walked out from next door and said that she wasn't going to move cause
> she had eggs near by. Finally 5 minutes later when the goose was
> eating something in the grass we made a run for the door and got
> inside the apartment building. The lady wasn't even home, but it made
> for a funny story! Yesterday at the visitors center we had two younger
> guys come in wanting to know what the temple was. Sister Cleaver and I
> showed them around the visitors center and talked to them about what
> they believe. They are seventh day Adventists and actually have a lot
> of similarities. One of them spoke French and ended up taking a Book
> of Mormon in French. The other guy took one in English, and said he
> would be interested in hearing more from missionaries!. They loved the
> because he lives video and I learned so much from them. The whole time
> I just kept having the strongest feeling of love that Heavenly Father
> loves all of us so much and wants all of His children to return back
> to him. Last week I hadn't been feeling good and my shingles came back
> behind my ear and neck. One of the senior missionaries elder Tolman
> who serves in the visitors center with us was able to give me a
> blessing so that I could sleep and some of the things in the blessing
> that he said were so specific to me. There were things I was thinking
> about in my mind and worrying about, but hadn't told anyone. I know
> that Heavenly Father is aware of our thoughts and struggles and is
> always there to help us. I'm grateful for the priesthood, for the
> comfort and power we can find through it. Thank you all for the
> prayers and love!
> Love Sister Haertling
>