July 31st

Dear all,
Last week I had mentioned that there was a tornado here. Well I had HEARD there was a tornado and didn't think much of it, but once I had actually SEEN the damage it had done I was pretty surprised. It was a lot worse than what I thought! So Monday evening after Pday was over we went down the road to help out. Most of what we did was tell people where they can go for water and ice and a place to stay down the road. Almost everyone on Kent Island didn't have power for a couple of days which made things interesting in the middle of July. But it was amazing to see everyone come together. Mostly what we've been doing is hauling trees and branches into big piles near the road. It's been great getting to know the community better and serving with them. On Thursday night we were driving home after a long day in Easton and President Johnson called us. He told us that there were some sisters at the visitors center that needed an emergency transfer for different reasons and he wanted sister Rees and I to take one of the sisters for the next week and a half until transfers. We were planning on going to the visitors center the next day anyways for a lesson with Pal, so it worked out perfectly! On Friday we went to the visitors center with Pal and showed him the temple. I got permission to call the Meena family who I worked with in Bethesda and so Lokesh came to the visitors center for the lesson. He bore his testimony to Pal in Hindi and was such a great teacher for him. After the lesson we picked up sister Yang who is with us now. Sister Yang is from China and has been a member of the church for 8 years. She is SO funny and we've been having a blast being together. Her little accent makes some words sound funny. Yesterday we were walking down a street and she stops and points at the ground and says, "oh my gosh, crispy frog!!!!". Sister Rees and I busted up laughing and looked at what she was pointing at. There was a dead frog on the road and it was all dried up. She says the funniest things. Also, since sister Rees also speaks fluent Mandarin, they speak it all the time. So I never know what they're talking about! But they are both so happy to finally be with someone who speaks their language. AND I get to try the best Chinese food all the time. It has been a lot of fun he past couple of days in this trio. Sister Yang and her father have a really cool story. Her dad went to Hong Kong for a business trip and a young man who was preparing to serve a mission met him. They began talking and her dad soon learned that this young man was preparing for a mission for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Her dad became interested and just a few weeks later was baptized there in Hong Kong. Since he was baptized there, he was allowed to go back to mainland China and teach his daughter (Sister Yang). She was baptized at the age of 14. They are the only members in their family and their little branch in China has been through a lot in order to meet and worship each week. Well this young man who was preparing for a mission ended up getting his call and was assigned to the Washington DC North mission! Years later Sister Yang decided to turn in mission papers to go on a mission and where did she get called....? The Washington DC North mission!!! Sister Yang is an example to me of how much Heavenly Father knows us each and has a plan for us. On Saturday night we got a call from a member of the branch presidency asking us if we would speak in church the next morning since everyone cancelled. We all talked about different aspects of sharing the gospel. I love giving talks, especially in the Kent Island branch. We are 90% sure that we will both be leaving this next transfer (next week) and so it was great to be able to speak one last time. We met with Zach after church and taught the last part of the commandments. His baptism is next Sunday and he is really excited for it. We can't wait. This week I read a talk that I really loved from President Uchtdorf called Forget Me Not. One quote I loved is, "Sometimes, in the routine of our lives, we unintentionally overlook a vital aspect of the gospel of Jesus Christ, much as one might overlook a beautiful, delicate forget-me-not. In our diligent efforts to fulfill all of the duties and obligations we take on as members of the Church, we sometimes see the gospel as a long list of tasks that we must add to our already impossibly long to-do list, as a block of time that we must somehow fit into our busy schedules. We focus on what the Lord wants us to do and how we might do it, but we sometimes forget why. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not an obligation; it is a pathway, marked by our loving Father in Heaven, leading to happiness and peace in this life and glory and inexpressible fulfillment in the life to come. The gospel is a light that penetrates mortality and illuminates the way before us". Love you all. Have a great week!!!!!
Love Sister Haertling

The Threesome

Pal at the temple

Tornado damage

July 24th

Hello everyone! Pday was on Wednesday, but there is still so much to
write about. This is going to have to be a quick email today but I'll
squeeze in as much as I can. Last night there was a tornado here on
Kent Island and so there's no power or wifi hardly anywhere! So I'll
be lucky if I can even send this email. On Thursday sister Rees and I
were in our apartment studying when we get a phone call from the Elder
and Sister Boren. They were telling us that they couldn't make it to a
lesson that night because elder Boren had fallen and hurt his leg.
They thought he pulled a muscle but found out quickly that he had
broken his hip. So they have been in he hospital since then. He had
surgery the next day and is recovering now pretty well. We went and
visited him when we were in the area. He had a huge grin on his face
the whole time. I don't think I've ever not seen elder Boren with a
smile on his face. Saturday was a great day. Probably one of the best
so far. We headed up to Easton and had a lesson with the Mellors. Zach
is excited to be baptized next month still which we are happy for. It
has been great teaching Zach because the whole family will join in and
most of them aren't members. We taught about the Plan of salvation and
everyone had lots to say. My favorite comment of the lesson was when
we were talking about the life of Jesus Christ and when He died. (The
two other boys were not wanting to sit and listen. One was trying not
to fall asleep from staying up so late and the other was rolling in
all sorts of positions on the ground asking every five seconds when we
would be done. It reminded me a lot of family scripture study at home
hahaha). Their dad asked the question, "Zach do you know who crucified
Jesus Christ??" . Immediately and being completely serious, he says,
"The Germans!!!!!!". We all were trying so hard not to laugh because
he's such a sensitive kid and thought he was spot-on. After that
lesson we went to meet a man and his wife who a member referred to us.
Their names are Bryan and Heather and they are awesome! We got to
share about eternal families which is so important to them because
they lost two children. Then we got to have lunch with a less active
member who we've never met before. She is a really sweet lady and told
us she wants to be a better example for her kids and start coming back
to church. We loved visiting with her and shared the talk, "Don't Look
Around, Look Up" . Sometimes it's easy to see things happening around
us and doubt, but as long as we focus on what our relationship with
Heavenly Father is, then we can be at peace. We got to have a lesson
after that with the Russels! When we got there they said at their
granddaughter who has been living with them had special news for us.
She said that she wants to get baptized! So that is exciting and she
loves coming to church. Brother Russel is the only member of the
church in his family and so to see Ava have interest, makes him so
happy. After that we went tracting for a little while. While we were
doing that, President and Sister Johnson called us, saying at they
were coming over to Easton to visit elder Boren in the hospital and
they wanted to take us out to dinner. We were SO excited. It is a very
rare experience to have actual one on one time with them. So we went
out to dinner and got to have a great evening with them. I love the
Johnsons. It's amazing the relationships that they have with every
single missionary and are some of the most selfless people that I
know. Something that I was reading this week was about our desires.
Elder Dallin H Oaks gave a great talk on desire. He says, "I have
chosen to talk about the importance of desire. I hope each of us will
search our hearts to determine what we really desire and how we rank
our most important desires. Desires dictate our priorities, priorities
shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we
act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming." This
made me stop and think about what my desires really are. Our ultimate
desire should reflect the Savior in becoming like Him. Its a lot
easier said than done, but by choosing to follow Him each day, our
desires will overtime become more aligned with our Heavenly Father and
what He wants for us. Have a great week!!!!
Love Sister Haertling

Sister Rees and Sister Haertling with Pal

July 19

Dear all, 

It's been a long week and a half since our last P-day! But we got to drive to the temple today which was so amazing. As soon as we walked in I just felt such an overwhelming feeling of peace. I love going to the temple. Last Thursday we had zone Conference. It was at a chapel about an hour from Kent Island, so we gave ourselves some cushion time in case there was traffic. Last time we went it wasn't bad at all and so we thought we would be fine....well we got on the road at about 7:00 that morning and 20 minutes in we hit horrible traffic. There had been two crashes and so it took us close to 3 hours to travel 40 miles to zone conference. We were really late. Zone Conference was incredible and gave me a lot of motivation. The focus of this upcoming transfer is the Book of Mormon and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I always love feeling the power of all of the missionaries being together. 

Friday was a day that I will never forget on my mission. Very bittersweet. The day started off great. We had a lesson with Pal who is from India and doing great. Then we found a woman named Janice who was washing her car and listened to us for a while and wanted to meet again. After lunch and studies we went to the church for a missionary correlation meeting. -funny story- we went to the bathroom and found soap all over the floor that had obviously been there for a while and hardened. So sister Rees and I got water and mops and by the end of it all, were covered in water and bubbles haha. After that we had a lesson with Debbie who we've been meeting with for the past few weeks and love to death. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ and focused on our faith in Him. She loves watching the Mormon messages. This next part I wasn't going to write about but I felt like I should. We had a great lesson with a family in the branch for family home evening who we've never really met and one of the kids' friends was over. Right after we got there his parents showed up to pick him up. We didn't think much of it, and after the lesson we said goodbye and walked out the door. As we were walking to our car a black suburban pulls up and it is that little boys parents. He starts yelling at us in the driveway about how inappropriate it was to be over at the house while his son was there and a lot of other things that I can't repeat. I've had a lot of people get mad for talking to them on my mission, but nothing quite like this. By the end of the 10 minute rant (luckily the member had come outside halfway through when he heard the yelling) sister Rees and I were in tears. I felt embarrassed and belittled. It was one of those experiences I just want to forget, but what happened after that was what really strengthened my testimony. The senior couple in our branch had just left and turned around in their car to see what was going on. They told us to come to the church building. We talked about what happened and elder Boren gave us each a priesthood blessing. I felt such a great feeling of peace and calmness come over me and the things that were said gave me a lot of strength. The next day I was feeling pretty down still and was praying that I would be able to study something to help me out with what I was feeling. I opened to where I was reading in the New Testament, Matthew 5. These were the verses that I read. 

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

I love in verse 12 where it talks about the prophets before us and examples that we have that sacrificed and went through so much. I took a lot of comfort from that. It helped me realize that I can go through hard things and come out stronger. I like to think of the day when we will return back to our Heavenly Father and meet those people such as Joseph smith, Moses, Abraham, Nephi. We won't ever go through the trials that they went through, but thinking about standing next to them makes me more willing to endure trials with a smile and with gratitude. It also reminded me of how grateful I am to have the priesthood restored on the earth and the blessing it is for each one of us. It showed me that the scriptures answer our questions, bring comfort and they are written for us!!! The next day we were knocking on doors when our phone started ringing. It was a member of our branch who just recently started coming to church. We have been teaching her 11 year old son Zach. They were calling to tell us that they had prayed about a date for Zach to be baptized and that they want to have it on August 6th! We are super excited for Zach, and so is his family. His dad isn't a member, and Zach is such an amazing example/support for the rest of his family. I don't have much time to write today because going to the temple took most of the day. But thank you for all of your prayers. I have felt very blessed this week! 

Love, Sister Haertling 

July 10

Dear all,
Sister Rees and I had a great week full of fireworks, exchanges and
humidity. Compared to the Tri Cities, it's like breathing water here
haha! All of the doors to our apartment building are always fogged up
on the outside because of the humidity and you can't see through it.
But I'm pretty used to it now. Last Tuesday it was the Fourth of July
and nobody was really home, or if they were they were in the backyard
shooting off fireworks, so we weren't sure how effective knocking
doors all night would be. We decided to try and find a place where
there was a fireworks show or something where more people would be
walking around. So we found a place down by the water and the pier
where everyone was. We were able to talk to a lot of people and a
couple people came up to us asking about our missions. While we were
walking around, a little girl about 5 years old walked passed and
started waving to us with a huge smile on her face. I didn't really
recognize her at all but she starts saying to her mom, "Mommy those
are the two girls that came to the house to ask if they could wash our
dishes or mow the lawn!!! Can they come back?????". We had met them
while knocking on doors a few weeks prior and she remembered us. The
mom didn't really want to talk to us but her daughter did and we ended
up having a good conversation with the mom. It was really cute to see
that the little girl remembered us. Then yesterday we saw her again
while checking up on a former investigator's house that we had never
met an hour away in Easton. It was the craziest thing. I guess they
are cousins or something like that! On Thursday we had exchanges with
the sister training leaders which is always great. I left the area for
the exchange with Sister Lusk and we went to their area which is Bowie
Maryland. Sister Lusk and I were roommates about 7 months ago when I
was in Bethesda still and she is from Idaho. We met some great people
and had a lesson with one of the recent converts in their ward. He is
from India and joined the church about 2 months ago. When we go on
exchanges we stay for 24 hours and get to spend the night with them. I
love exchanges, but by the end I'm always ready to go back to my own
companion haha. On Friday after we exchanged back to our companions,
sister Rees and I were leaving the apartment when we saw a man in the
parking lot trying to get something out of his car. We realized it was
the same man that we helped move in last week! So we went over and
asked if he needed some help. He laughed and said, "wow, you two are
always here at the right time!". We helped he and his wife move all of
their pictures inside and he told us he would have to have us over for
dinner one night. He has a lot of really amazing stories and
experiences in life that are cool to hear about. He worked for NASA
and went to MIT...also he served in the military, is 70 years old and
working on his doctorates degree right now... he is really successful!
But he told us he knows a bit about Mormons and has worked with a lot
of them. On Saturday we were out knocking on doors in Centreville and
met a really neat lady named Rosemary. I loved her as soon as she
started talking to us. She is in her 50s and is awesome. She came out
on her porch and told us to sit down so that we could talk. She had a
lot of questions and knew SO much about the church. She has been in
the health field for a long time and was telling us what she likes to
do. While I was answering a question about the Book of Mormon she
turned to me and asked me to stick out my tongue....I was really
confused but I did and she was like, wow, do you have a rash or
something that's irritating you????? And I looked at her like she was
crazy but said yes, I had shingles that wasn't going away and she ran
inside and made a list of all these different things that I could do.
She said that she had shingles when she was 20 and told me all about
my immune system that the last doctor that I went to told me. It was
kind of weird how accurate she was for not knowing me at all. (She's
like one of those palm readers except with tongues hahahaha). Anyways,
she told us that she would love to talk more about religion and she
has felt bad for so many years about not making it a priority in life.
She has so much potential!
This week I read an amazinggg talk by Virginia H Pearce called, "Keep
walking and give time a chance". It talks about the pioneers (which I
love reading about) and the diligence that they had. This little part
of the talk I love. It says,
“Week after week, they sang as they walked and walked and walked and
walked and walked. When I think of pioneers, tragic scenes come to
mind: handcarts in blizzards, sickness, frozen feet, empty stomachs,
and shallow graves. However, as I learn more about that monumental
trek I am convinced that along with those very real and dramatic
scenes, most of the journey for most of the people was pretty routine.
Mostly they walked and walked and walked".
She goes on to list all of the little things that the pioneers had to
do to prepare for each day, what they did while they were pressing
forward on their journey, and then what they did at the end of each
day. She then says,
"So what does all this have to do with us in our current world? I
believe it has everything to do with us. Most of our lives are not a
string of dramatic moments that call for immediate heroism and
courage. Most of our lives, rather, consist of daily routines, even
monotonous tasks, that wear us down and leave us vulnerable to
discouragement. Sure, we know where we’re going, and if it were
possible we would choose to jump out of bed, work like crazy, and be
there by nightfall. But our goal, our journey’s end, our Zion is life
in the presence of our Heavenly Father. And to get there we are
expected to walk and walk and walk". President Howard W. Hunter said,
“True greatness … always requires regular, consistent, small, and
sometimes ordinary and mundane steps over a long period of time.”
Sometimes I know for me it's easy to want quick results after just one
day. But there is such a great joy that comes from steady progress and
diligence in the little things that we do every day. Scripture study,
prayer, partaking of the sacrament each week, going to the temple
etc.. I'm stubborn and so a lot of times I think that those things
aren't going to solve my problems, or they're too easy, but they
really are what will bring us closer to our Savior, give us daily
strength and increase our testimonies. Have a great week!!!! I love
you all.
Love, Sister Haertling

July 3rd

Dear all,
Happy Fourth of July! It's been a great week here on Kent Island/eastern Shore. Exciting news.....sister Rees and I get to stay together here for another transfer! Yay! We didn't think it was possible since we are both visitor center sisters and usually if you go on your "outbound" (leaving the visitor center and going full proselyting) then you're together for only one transfer. We feel really blessed to get another 6 weeks to work hard and be in this branch. Last week we finished cleaning and painting Australia's back porch finally. She and her husband both said we could come back to share more messages with them which is exciting. This week was full of tracting, tracting and more tracting, but we met some pretty amazing people. One of those people was a man named Scott who is married and they have a cute little boy. They told us that they don't really go to church, but need to get in the habit of it again. They were willing to let us come back another night and so we have an appointment with them tonight. On the same street that we met Scott, we also met a young girl about our age named Kendal. She was really friendly and we talked for a while. We made some connections and found out that she had been to the Kent Island branch a couple of times because she dated a boy that was a member there! She had just gotten her wisdom teeth taken out, so we didn't stay very long but we are hoping that we can meet soon. On Tuesday it was Elder Boren's 70th birthday!! (he and his wife are the senior missionaries here). We decided a couple of weeks ago that we would have a surprise dinner for him and so we found out details of what he likes from sister Boren. When we told her, she started crying...we were a little bit confused but she continued to tell us about how nobody had ever done something for her husband like that. Ever since his illness years ago (he struggles with speech now and remembering things) she said that his family hasn't been very kind to him and it's really hard for him. She was so happy he could feel special for a day. His favorite food is a burger with mashed potatoes on it...it's actually really good! So last pday we decorated and then we surprised elder Boren. He loved it and every time we see him now he is talking about it haha! He is so great. On Thursday it was one of the hottest days so far and very, very humid. Sister Rees and I had been out in the sun tracting for a few hours and nobody was wanting to listen to us. Then our phone rang, and it was a member of the branch and she said she had a friend who wanted to talk to us. A man named Brian took the phone and started telling us that he and his wife had been going through a rough time and have been trying to find a church that felt right. He said that after meeting this member of our branch, he was really wanting to learn more and to meet with us! We had an amazing conversation with him and they are definitely prepared. It seems like it's always in those moments when you're tired and getting discouraged after working hard and not seeing much of what you think is "success", that you see the blessings or a miracle to keep you going. It was a tender mercy for sure and let me know that Heavenly Father is aware and in control of our every day lives. On Friday we were tracting and ran into a family sitting on their front porch. Their daughter Hannah who is about 11 looks at us walking up and starts yelling, "the elders are here, the elders are here!!!" Haha. We both looked at each other a little surprised and found out that their family had met with missionaries a long time ago and are good friends with members of the branch. After talking for a while and getting to know them, the mom gave us her phone number and told us to come back. She said that her son who is in the hospital right now was just saying the day before that he wanted to study with the missionaries again! So we are excited about that. They have a lot of potential and their daughter came to church on Sunday with one of her friends who is in the branch. On Saturday we were just about to leave the parking lot of our apartment when we saw an elderly lady trying to move some boxes out of a big U-haul. We got out and asked if she needed any help. She said, "wait are you being serious? Are you sure?" And we said yes and helped her move everything into her new apartment. Her and her husband were really old and they said that they had spent all day trying to pack everything up by themselves and they had no family around to help them. So it was fun getting to help them and they wanted to hear all about missionaries and what we do. On Sunday in relief society, the lesson was on obedience. There was a quote from president hinckley that I really loved. It said, "the happiness of the Latter-day Saints, the peace of the Latter-day Saints, the progress of the Latter-day Saints, the prosperity of the Latter-day Saints, and the eternal salvation and exaltation of this people lie in walking in obedience to the counsels of the priesthood of God". There are so many promised blessings that are ours if we will be obedient to what the Lord and His servants have asked us to do. Happiness, peace, progress, prosperity, eternal salvation, exaltation and so much more is right in front of us. All He asks of us is to be faithful in keeping the commandments and being obedient. It reminds me of a couple of scriptures in Mosiah 2. Verse 22 says, "And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you". Later on, the chapter ends with this verse.. "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." It's amazing that Heavenly Father will always bless us for following him. It says that He never doth vary from that which he says. Also this week as I was studying in Alma, I read a verse that mentioned fasting. It said in Alma 45:1, "Behold, now it came to pass that the people of Nephi were exceedingly rejoiced, because the Lord had again ​​​delivered​ them out of the hands of their enemies; therefore they gave thanks unto the Lord their God; yea, and they did ​​​fast​ much and pray much, and they did worship God with exceedingly great joy."
I hadn't really realized the part of that verse when it says that they gave thanks and fasted and prayed. I've never fasted just out of gratitude. I've always viewed fasting as something that you do when you need help and/or strength, which it is. But with fast Sunday yesterday I decided that I would fast and not ask for anything, just thank Heavenly Father. It was a really neat experience and I was able to see just how much I have to be thankful for. I feel so blessed to have so much love and support from you all! I hope you all have a great week and I am grateful for each one of you.
Love, Sister Haertling