"We are planning a wedding"

Elder Mell and I right after a down pour

Zone selfie

March 28, 2016

Hola! 

Sorry I haven’t been writing this letter regularly... haha, I’ll try to do better! But things are going really well with the work. We have been visiting hermana Sonia whose boyfriend is a member but less active and we  have activated him. His name is hermano Jaime... and guess what? We are planning a wedding!!! She has a testimony super strong and they will be getting married the 9th of April and baptized the 16th of April!! We are working on giving Jaime the priesthood so he can baptize her! 

We also have hermana Noelia who will be baptized the 23rd of April! We have been teaching her and her dad but her dad is scared to get baptized because he is scared of his wife who hates us... haha, we don’t know why. She wont talk to us. But, Noelia said one day, “You guys are right, I am going to make my own decision. I am 22 years old and will decide my own life! So she accepted baptism, it was a super cool lesson!! 

We also are visiting the Parada family and they are awesome!! They have came the church 2 times now. Mostly because they have a 10 year old boy and a 7 year old girl who LOVE the church and if they don’t go, their kids get mad! Haha, so they said they will come every week!! We will be trying to set a baptism date with them soon!!  So that’s whats been going on over here and we are doing really well right now. This Sunday we had 6 investigators in church and we both had to give talks, haha! It was pretty cool!!

"They were so pumped"

My companion, Elder Mayaute and me in our new area.

March 7, 2016

Hola!!

So this week was a crazy week haha..... and  a little scary.. so first

we have two fetchas, hermana Dolores who’s baptismal date is for a month from now

because her work won’t let her go to church. The other is hermano

Blanco who is super cool, he just has worries about his family not

excepting the church but we are working with his wife. And then we also have a family,

Parada who came to church this Sunday! Haha! They are so funny and were

super happy to be there! The father kept saying to every person he saw

“Hi! This is my first time here! Hi! This is my first time here!” Haha!

They were so pumped up to be at church! And their kids loved primary! So

hopefully they will come back!

So, this is the story of the week... mom don’t freak out, it was a freak

accident and everyone is okay. So my companion was on a motorcycle in

front of mine (we have to take motorcycle taxi’s) and we were on our way to a lesson when we crossed into an intersection and another moto crossed and hit my companion’s moto! My companion went flying off. I just off my moto and started running to the family that wrecked into him because there was a woman and a baby and my companion was able to get up and run over too. Luckily, everyone was okay. Then the

crowd starts rolling in taking pictures so we dipped out of there after and my comp took like 5 steps and says, “Elder Harding I can’t walk now, it hurts.” He had fallen on his tail bone. We then called a taxi and went to the house. Later we went to the clinic and got x rays and everything was okay! He is just a little sore but we are still working!

"I will definitely miss Trinidad!"

Family home evening with Trinidad branch.

Trinidad branch also made us a farewell breakfast the morning we left.

My new companion in Montero, Elder Mayaute from Peru.

Rainbow in Montero(not my area)

Zone t shirts we did in Trinidad.

Trinidad Zone!

March 1, 2016

Hola!

Yes! I had transfers! I'm now in a zone called Montero! My area is called La Pampa De La Madre! I'm in another branch. So far it looks like I will only serve in branches, haha, but it is in a stake, so thats cool! My comp in Trinidad, Elder Villalobos had transfers too! He went to Santa Cruz! I am no longer zone leader but I am district leader again! 

So it’s the end of the month and I got to my new house and none of the Elders living there had any money for water, haha, so I've been boiling water to drink this whole week! But we will have water tomorrow morning. The waster all over Bolivia is not good to drink so we buy 30 gallon jugs to use for drinking. Haha! But I'm getting to know the area little by little and I like it here! It’s not as hot as the Beni (the jungle or more tropic area that I’ve served so far) but the people are super cool. I think I still liked Beni more, I will miss it. But I'm happy to get to know more of my mission and work with new people! 

My branch in Trinidad threw us a going away family home evening haha, it was pretty cool. They also cooked us breakfast the morning we left! I will definitely miss Trinidad!

Elder Harding

"It was a crazy week!"

My companion and I with the mission secretaries.

February 22, 2016

Hola!! 

What an interesting week I have had! I almost didn't teach at all.... So what has been going on is that the mission wants to get rid of the lawyer they use for immigration and they plan on having the secretary of the President do it. So the secretary came down to Trinidad to take care of immigration and I asked him if he need help with anything because he has never been to Trinidad. He told me, “No he’s got it.” Then he gets here and had no plan and no idea what to do. Haha! He had 8 missionaries from Riberalta here with him. So we had to run and go take care of everything- get the hotel, plan their breakfast and lunch, transportation, and at night send them out with our zone to go work. It was a crazy week. Once we finally got them taken care of and sent home to Riberalta, and we were waiting for another group from Guayaramerin to come. Then the  secretary got a call and the presidency of the area said we all had to go back to where our own areas are and go on lockdown for three days again.... So what going on here is the people are voting if their president Evo Morales can run for office again. He is already serving four terms and he wants to change the constitution so he can serve a fifth term. The people were going nuts in La Paz and people were even killed. So every missionary in Bolivia went on lock down for three days except my comp and I and the secretary. Haha, we had a bunch of stuff to do for the offices. We had to do our finances for the zone money and later we had to send off the secretary in the airplane. But the first thing we did on the first day of lockdown was to send off the guys from Riberalta to get them back home. So it was a week of running around taking care of things. Haha, but it was all good and fun! 

Elder Harding

"I will die trying if I have to"

Elder Jesus baptism

Pabla's baptism

Me with Elder Jesus

February 15, 2016

Hola!

This week was super good! We were locked up in the house for 3 days and it was nice to rest but it got boring real fast after the first day! Haha, but it was alright, I'm just happy to go work again!! 

In my branch we had 2 baptisms this Saturday. The hermanas had one and we had one! Elder Jesus was baptized!! It was such a super spiritual experience. After we preformed the baptism he started crying and thanked us for everything and for helping him find his new changed life! 

Now the baptism of the hermanas is a funny but scary story haha... So they baptized Pabla who is 83 years old! Elder Olson our district leader was going to perform the baptism. He gets in the water and Pabla took a while to finally get all the way in. She physically couldn’t bend her knees so we went to look for a chair. Poor lady can barely walk...so we were looking for a chair to use and everyone come looking for me and said Elder Harding! You have to go change into your baptism clothes!! I just so happened to have mine with me because our baptism was a couple hours later so I got changed and Elder Olson and I both had to try to baptize her at the same time in the chair.. so the first attempt failed... and she gets super tired fast so we had to wait until she rested a good while. Then she tells us "Elders you have to do it fast my heart can’t take it... but I will be baptized!” “I will die trying if I have too, I know the Lord will help me!" So Elder Olson and I were telling her, “no no hermana you’re going to get baptized and you’re going to live, just rest and calm down... haha Then, the second time we just lifted up the chair and tilted it back and dunked her in real fast!! And it worked!!! She was super happy after and was smiling the whole rest of the day! And Sunday too!! After we had to carry her out of the fount in the chair up and down the stairs! Haha, we were worn out after and for Elder Jesus’s baptism, I was already wet.. haha! It was a fun experience. 

This Sunday we aren't leaving to work again. We have to stay in the house because the people are voting to see if their president can run again. 

But not to worry, everything is going super good here in Trinidad Bolivia! 

Elder Harding

"He is ready to be baptized!"

February 6, 2016

Hola everyone! 

So, these past couple of weeks have been super good weeks. We have been working really hard teaching Elder Jesus. He is ready to be baptized! We will be baptizing him Saturday the 13th of February!! He’s super excited for his baptism! 

We don't have much progress with the divorcement for familia Suarez, but they are still super active and come to church every week! Our branch president wants to give them a little assignment so they will feel like they are apart of the church which will be super good for them! 

And with Jose Luis a menos activo who is a return missionary, we have him coming back to church and we are almost done teaching the lessons and we will have another rescate (rescue) which is when a less active becomes active. I don't know if they call it rescue in English or not. He is super cool, we just need to give him a calling to help him out a bit. 

So I've started teaching English classes this week and it was successful! Haha! We had pretty much every youth in my branch show up! And some from other wards! It was a lot of fun too. Those kids are so funny! We also do a noche de obra misional. this is where people bring friends and we watch a small video and then play games and have fun. The purpose is for the non members to get to know people in the branch and for the branch to strengthen. 

This week we went to santa cruz to have the leadership council and it was a lot of fun. The house we slept in had like 14 elders there. Haha! At this meeting the president talked a lot and very strictly about obedience in the mission and how its not only about what you do and what you shouldn't do, It’s about the person you are and can be.

Elder Harding

"Museo"

February 1, 2016

"Everyone bonded super well"

After destroying a house 

My first time in President's house. It was so cool!!

January 11, 2016

Hola familia y amigos!!

So this week has been a super good week!! We went to Santa Cruz for a leadership meeting and it was super fast. Haha! We had to fly out literally right after the meeting! It was a super good meeting and we mostly talked about making sure we are teaching the people and not just the lessons. We talked quite a bit about teaching clearly about true repentance and how if we teach this repentance, the people will feel the change in their hearts and baptism will be a result and  not to worry about numbers. The numbers aren't just numbers, they are people we need to be focused on. 

In my area we have a new investigator who has been coming to church with a friend. His name is Elder Jesus. Haha! Yes, his first name is Elder, last name Jesus. He is looking for a way to completely change his life because he said he has felt a lot of pain in his life. He expressed how coming to church has already started to make him feel and see this change happening in his life. He has been prepared by the Lord to receive the gospel and he is feeling so much happier now! And he has a friend in the church! 

So we had a hot dog party with the priesthood because the branch has been super weak with the priesthood holders. This activity was super cool! Everyone that came had their guitars and were playing and singing and eating hot dogs, haha! Everyone bonded super well. After, they sang hymns and shared a message! Now they want to do more activities every month! Next, they will be doing a sport activity! We were so happy we finally got an activity going! We have been pushing it for so long and finally everyone got excited and helped out! 

Things are going really well here in Trinidad. I think this year is the year this branch will change into a ward!! 

-Elder Harding

"Moto Taxi's"

January 4, 2016

Feliz Navidad!!!

December 28, 2015

Feliz Navidad??

Selfie stick shot

Christmas Caroling in the town square of Trinidad 

Nativity

Elders leaving town after immigration

This bull was grunting at us while we ate lunch.

Cochabamba from the air.

Trinidad from the air

I found a friend

Eco Jet

"When it rains, no one leaves their house"

My best friend Elder Teahan left Trinidad.

Another good friend, Elder Knotts leaves Trinidad.

December7, 2015

Hola! 

So its been a little difficult 2 weeks! Last Sunday we had a down pour. When it rains here, no one leaves their house. So we get to church soaking wet and no one is there. We combined our branch with the another ward, central. And I think total we had 20 people there! And of those 20, 6 were from our branch. But then this week was super hot! And of course, we didn't have rain until Sunday, but even with the rain we had more people come than the week before! Combined again with our branch and central we had 50! That was better, haha! Progress.

This week we haven’t been able to find Alvaro (mr bolivia)... I'm pretty bummed about that but we will keep looking. On the bright side Joe is doing really well and is super excited for us to pass by! He didn’t come to church because of the rain, haha, but I have a feeling he will real soon! He is always waiting for us to pass by and teach him. He's working on his goal to start a new life! 

We also have a recent convert named Raul who is 82 years old. haha! He is the funniest guy I've met! He is super hard to teach because he doesn't understand completely. I think we have taught him the resurrection like 6 times, haha. But he’s super awesome. I love talking to him.

Elder Harding

"We have 3 new investigators!"

Hump day!!! Keeping tradition with the ceremonial burning of the white shirt.

November 23, 1015

Hola! 

This week was super cool! We have 3 new investigators. Ignasio,  Alvaro (mr bolivia) and Joe. Ignasio is a cool guy. He’s a little different and funny, haha, and he has friends in a different ward so he familiar with us and he is super excited to listen to us. Alvaro is Mr Bolivia. And yes, we found him! He is super cool and is very focused on family which is awesome because we teach a lot about families! He is very open and honest with us. He has expressed difficulties he’s had in his life and he has a lot of faith, so I think he will like the message we have for him. Then we are teaching Joe. Yeah, his name is American but only because his dad was obsessed with an old cowboy show called Billy and Joe or something like that. Haha! He is very out going and funny! He also helped us get to our next appointment with his motorcycle!  

This week we’ve also been visiting a lot of less active priesthood holders and trying to strengthen the branch to help it grow. 

I also had a fishing dream this week:( I dreamed we were in Mexico and I caught a huge dorado hahaha!!!

Elder Harding  

"It was a happy ending:)"

My companion and I with President

A place that Presidente took us to eat.

I fished this eel out of the sewer in front of my house.

November 9, 2015

Hola! 

This week was awesome!! First we went to Santa Cruz to have our meeting and it was awesome! Presidente said something that I liked… he asked how is our study? Are we reading or studying? He said in the mission we need to be studying for topics. It was great, he taught everyone the more effective way to study. We were in the offices all day and after our interviews president took us and the zone leaders from Guayaramerin out to KFC! I didn’t know Bolivia had all these places!! 

We got back to our area to work and we were going to visit a new investigator with a member reference. During the ride on the motorcycles, my companion got a bug in his eye and it wouldn’t come out!! But, luckily this new investigator was a doctor! So he saved my comp and his eye and we had a great lesson after! It was a happy ending:) haha! In Bolivia right now it is mango season. I come home with bags full of mangos everyday. We pick them as we are walking!  They are everywhere! Oh, and we got to pass over Cochabamba on the flight home. I couldn’t find the temple or the Jesus Christ statue from the air... but it was awesome sight. 

Elder Harding

"I have to get used to new responsibility"

My comp (on my right) the greengos from Guayaramerin,they are so cool and Martino who I lived with in Guayaramerin.

Everyone leaving after immigration.

November 2, 2015

Hola!

So this week was another crazy busy week without working much... I really miss teaching and a normal routine!! Haha, it’s alright, I just have to get used to the new responsibility. I’ve been helping the missionaries from Riberalta and Guayaramerin with immigration! It’s been crazy, but we have been taking care of them. We’ve had them around for a few days but they left and are finally back to their areas. So this week we have been trying get to know our area a little better because we still don’t know everyone. We are now getting help from our branch council and we have lots of referrals from the members which is great because we have lots of work waiting for us! Today we fly to Santa Cruz for the leadership council and will be there until Thursday... we are always so busy!! But it’ll be fun. My new companion is awesome, I love his desires to work and teach. He is super funny too! We are always joking around and joking around with the people here so our relationships with the families we have are super good and strong. We are working a lot with the priesthood menos activos and activando them and working from references with them and expanding our work from that. We are pretty much starting our area over and starting fresh, I love it and I’m super excited to see the progress!!

Elder Harding