This has been an amazing week! Transfers are coming up this Wednesday, so we said goodbye to the branch yesterday. We had our interviews with President Johnson this last Friday and he told us that we would both be leaving. Sister Rees and Sister Yang will be serving together in the Chinese program and I will be going with Sister Yang's past companion (we aren't sure what area yet). We will find out tonight for sure when President calls us. We have LOVED serving here on the Eastern Shore.
We had a cool experience last week on Tuesday night. We were just coming back to the car after a long evening of knocking on doors and talking to people. As we were walking down the road, we saw someone pull into their driveway and so we said hello. We found out that his name is Ricardo and he is 24 years old. He works in Bethesda at NIH and is a personal trainer as well. Sister Rees was a personal trainer before the mission and so we talked to him about that. He was really interested why three girls were walking down the street at night and so we told him a little bit about our missions and what we do as missionaries. He said that he would love to find a church family and was interested. We went back on Friday and taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel. Then yesterday he came to church!! It was testimony meeting and he got up and shared his faith in Jesus Christ and how he loved the feeling that he had there at church. Everyone was so surprised and he connected with a lot of people in the branch. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned an older man named Jack who we helped move in. Well we invited him to come to church and he came yesterday! He really enjoyed it and asked a lot of great questions. Pal came to church as well which always really impresses me. He works night shifts and so he comes to church right after work. He's a trooper!
Some exciting news...Zach got baptized yesterday! His grandparent's flew out from Utah to be there and a lot of the branch was there. The baptism was after church so that more people could be there (everyone lives far away from the church) and then we got permission do do his confirmation the same day as well. I love the Mellor family (Zach's family) and am really sad to be leaving them.
On Thursday we went down to Easton to teach the Mellors before the baptism on Sunday. We talked a lot about the priesthood for Zach because he is turning twelve next month. We also got to teach the Russels. Sister Russel isn't a member of the church but comes every week and is an amazing woman. We were able to teach the importance of temples. We shared the video about the family who lives in Tahiti and saves up money to fly to New Zealand to be sealed. We have been teaching their granddaughter Ava who wants to be baptized and she will hopefully be able to next month.
On Saturday we had a little farewell dinner with the Boren's. They are the best! It will probably be hardest to say goodbye to them. We have been through a lot together since we were both new when we got to the area (They started their mission in March and we got here the beginning of May). They will be life long friends for sure. Elder Boren is recovering well from his hip surgery and still always has a smile on his face. He is able to walk with a walker now and he came to church yesterday.
Yesterday at church I loved learning about the theme "Reaching for the Savior". We talked about the woman that we read about in the New Testament who (while Christ is walking by) touches the hem of His clothing in an effort to be healed. She had enough faith to know that if she even just touched the clothing of the Savior, she would be able to be healed. That takes a lot of trust and a lot of faith. I love though how it represents action on our part. We know that Christ is always there reaching out to us, but we have to also make the choice to reach out to Him. It takes humility, knowing that we can't do it on our own, as well as effort. I was reading a talk by Elder Bednar about what it means to become a missionary. In it he illustrates something really important that I love. He says, "In our customary Church vocabulary, we often speak of going to church, going to the temple, and going on a mission. Let me be so bold as to suggest that our rather routine emphasis on going misses the mark.
The issue is not going to church; rather, the issue is worshipping and renewing covenants as we attend church. The issue is not going to or through the temple; rather, the issue is having in our hearts the spirit, the covenants, and the ordinances of the Lord’s house. The issue is not going on a mission; rather, the issue is becoming a missionary and serving throughout our entire life with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength." It really made me think about the sacrament and how important it is in my life. Sometimes it is easy to go through the motions like elder Bednar said. I want to reach for the sacrament with the same amount of need and desire as the woman did when reaching for Jesus Christ with the intent to be healed. The Sacrament can heal us and gives us a fresh start every single week if we allow it to. I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and support.
Love, Sister Haertling
Elder Boren after surgery
Ice cream
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