Dec 14

So this week ahs been really productive. We have gotten a lot more new investigators and we have been working a lot with people that have been inactive for a long time. I feel that all of this will be really successful in the end. So far, we dont have any dates for baptism. Op even goals. We have people who know they are going to get baptized, the only question is when things are going to fix themselves to allow them to do it. But yeah, I have a lot of hope for the people that we are teaching right now. I hope I get to stay in this area for more than 6 months to see what eventually happens with them but who knows. Ill talk to the president. But yeah. We had 164 people in sacrament meeting this week, tehy said it was some kind of ward record haha. A year ago they only had like 90. So, things are well. Only 2 investigators were able to come to church. This week was rough with jobs, chores to do, etc. All of them do their stuff on sundays. It´s frustrating. But yeah. Nothing really awesome is going on here. My companion is learning more spanish, trying to talk more too, so were getting there. The area is still good. Weve been breaking a ton of new ground here. Every day its like, ¨Wow, Ive never been here before, and this town keeps going and going up the mountain.¨ With my old comp we only stayed in a small area around the chapel with the same people. I dont like that. I think thats maybe why I have holes in my shoes. We walk a toooon now. And our area is ginormous. But yeah. We are going in to San Jose today to pick up the residency of my comp. Nothing really new or exciting this week. Hope all is well.
Elder Harrison Smith

December 7th Two-thousand and Nine

Well, all is well here. No big news, just the usual! Most of our investigators are progressing really well. We have about 5 right now that are prety much ready for baptism, just need a little bit more time to settle out. Oh actually there is good/big news. We changed cooks! Woot. The last one started to complain about us not always being able to come to eat at the same hour every day. She was used to lazy missionaries that wouldn't have many lessons in the morning or early afternoon, but we aren't those kind of missionaries. Haha. We are soo busy. So, we cant always make it to her house in time if we have a few lessons in the morning ya know? And they always always had the TV on or music on, her sister that lives there swears a lot. It just wasn't a missionary environment. So, we got sick of it and switched. Now it´s an investigator. The one that is waiting for her papers to get married. I have a ton of pictures of that family in a letter that I'm sending today. They are awesome. And Nicaraguan, so the food is much much better. And, they could use the money to travel to Nicaragua to take out the document. So, yeah. They are close. Like early January I think. Then there is the couple with the twin girls. I need pictures of them. The twins are the cutest babies I have seen in my life. But yeah, they want to get baptized and married, they stopped buying coffee for now, they just have money/job problems. So, we´re waiting a little on that. Then the 20 year old internet owner has stopped drinking coffee. We didnt even really leave the commitment to stop, we just told him/taught that it was a commandment and we found out today when we went to their house to teach his sister that he has stopped drinking it! Haha. Yes! He is waiting for some kind of big answer to his prayers, but he already knows. Woohoo! He is so sick. Also, our little old "sister missionaries" that livei n our apartment complex are doing awesome with their "investigator". They are a daughter and mom like 60 and 80 years old that live alone, dont work, just teach and visit people and go to the temple. Why arent all members cool like them? They have been teaching, along with us, a couple that also lives in our apartment complex. The woman of that couple is awesome. She has been coming to church regularly, she is reading the book of mormon and Principles of the Gospel. And, when I teach that class Sundays, she is super interactive and always adds true comments. Awesome. Diego, Jonathan and their mom are doing incredible. We took them last night to the Christmas devotional thing. Oh yeah, they fed everyone real tamales. My first time. They are so good. They must have had like 500 tamales. They are wrapped up in platano leafs. Mmm. Ha. Well. What else is excting. I was wrong about the weather. It did cool down for a sec, but we are actually in summer right now. It has been heating up so much lately. But, there is a lot more wind too, so the mixture of a sweatdrenched body and a nice strong wind is enough to cool us down and help us not die. That´s all for this week. Be good, be safe.> > Harrison

nov 30

So this week was good. We ended up having the baptism of the mother of > jonathan and Diego. So that´s cool. They are doign really good. I gave > them the assignment of erasing the chalkboards SUnday morning before > church to make sure that they come. Hah. Our investigators are doing well. > Most all of them want to get baptised and change, tehy jstu have certain > obstacles blocking them still. One family is coffee and moeny to get > married, the other is the birth document to get married, the other is fear > of marriage, another guy works on sundays, the one girl has to change her > job, another couple is scared of how the church is active with calling > etc, the other is a lazy poo and can´t really read and understand what he > has read, one girl doesnt have permission from her parents.. but every one > of those have told us that they know the church is true and that they have > received an answer. The only really hopeful for a straight course to > baptism is the owner of this internet cafe. He came to church for the > first time, is reading in the book of mormon, and when we went to his > house he asked us golden questions. He is 20 years old. I have so much > hope for him, he is so sick. I would chill with him on the weekends if I > wasnt a missionary. So, if anyone adds prayers for missionaries and people > in the world, pray and beg that they can overcome the obstacles that that > are put in their path to the Lord. Man, I feel like sleeping on the > keyboard right now haha. The weather has changed here, it´s a bit cooler > and windy. The sun is super strong though still. It´s still raining the > same amount, just is a bit cooler.. 70´s I would say. This place is bomb. > Anywho, I want to leave. We need to teach this guy a bit more and get home > to study a bit. Hope all is well.>> Harrison

23 Nov

So yeah. This week we had the baptism of Jonathan, the brother of Diego. The mom is going to get baptized this Saturday. I baptized him and she wants me to baptize her. I feel bad cause I want the members to do it, but I guess they can do the confirmation. This baptism was my comps first in the mission, so that is exciting for him. We are doing well. The investigators are moving along slowly, due to problems with things that arent controllable at the moment. Still waiting for the document for Carmen, they are the coolest people I know. Last night we were talking about what comes after baptism, the temple ordinances and the sealing. They arent even members yet and they are hoping for their temple date. Aww yeah. I think they are the reason I was called to Costa Rica. Haha. But yeah. They even are thinking about separating for a sec if they cant get married yet in order to get baptised. He has to leave to panama soon for 3 months to work on chapels and the temple there, so that would count as a separation and we could baptise them right before he left and marry them when they get back. But, I think we´ll have the document before then. We picked up a new investigator, Alex, that was a former investigator. He had to divorce his first wife to get married and baptized so we dropped him a long time ago, but he got the divorce and is now ready for baptism. Woot. That will be in about 2 weeks I think. The couple wiht twin girls, Rodolfo & Jiselle, have been having relationship problems because they are trying to keep the law of chastity. Jiselle told us that he has almost totally stopp anything affecionate so we had to teach them again what is appropriate and what isnt before marriage. They just need money to get married because they want to get baptised. They are cool. We were going to put a baptism goal for the gorgeous girl, but instead we decided to put a goal to get a new job to help stop the sinning, right? And we taught her that we have to have our own plans and actions to change if we want God to put in his part to help us and the very next day she got an opportunity for a job that´s every day of the week except Sundays. Ahh, how merciful is the Lord. So, there´s progress with her. The others are doing well. We are doing pretty well. The both of us have been super tired lately, but were going strong. Today we are going to sacrifice some sport time to take a nap. We had a tiny lesson with Zacharias in his internet store today and right now we are using his compus. He seems to be a baptism with time. Who knows? People are changing but mostly it´s me that´s getting the changes. I love this.> > But yeah, be good. > Harrison

16 nov

This week was really good. A lot of progress I think, and we had 6 > investigators in church yesterday. We have 5 dates for baptism, and > hopefully 2 are for this week. Remember Diego? The 10 year old? He and his > family stopped drinking and buying coffee. Remember them? This week we > have the baptism of his 12 year old brother, and we are hoping to baptise > the mother too. She got baptized 30 years ago with the first missionaries > in Nicaragua, but never got confirmed. She told me "Elder, I dont remember > the missionaries doing the confirmation with me like they did with Diego." > So I told her, " Dont worry, I dont remember mine either.." Haha. So that > was that until the bishop told us that they have been looking for her > records for about 3 weeks and there isnt anything. So.. she was telling > the truth. She was never a member. Gosh. Good thing we found these people > right? She never really went to church after her baptism, and had been > literally inactive for 20 years until we started teaching them. So, > woohoo. Another soul saved :) We are hoping to have her baptism this > saturday with her other son. We´ll see. I want to check in Salt Lake > before we do anthing. Also, we are hoping to get the birth certificate of > Carmen in order to get the passport in order to give it to the laywer in > order to get them married. They are still gold as ever. Just waiting. We > have their date for the 28th of Nov., but we´ll see what happens. We have > the other baptismal date for the 9th of January, but I think it will be in > december. The gorgeous girl ahs come to churc the past two weeks and is > wanting to change. She is progressing incredibly, its just the whole job > situation that isnt in line with the gospel standards that is in her way. > We are going to put a baptism date as a goal to have a hope to find > another job. She wants to change, but she works to feed 7 stomachs in her > house. Also, there are others, but they have a bit of time before their > baptisms. They need to do a little bit of the thing we call changing. > Coffee, marriages, etc. We are looking like crazy for the poeple that God > has prepared. Contacting, using members, etc. Its going well. Im doing > fine. Our area is huge so when we have to go up in the mountain we take a > bus or taxi (they cost the same) but other than that it´s all walking. > Always tired, always satisfied, right? My comp is progressing a lot. I > just need to stop talking in English totally. But, thats about it. Nothing > super cool.>>
Harrison

9 de Nov

Well, I still feel like Im going to die or fall apart, but we are having a > lot of success. This week I counted and we have 15 investigators who have > said that they want to get baptised, and 2 different ones taht have said > they know that Jospeh Smith is a prophet etc. We had 8 investigators in > church, and we will be putting baptismal dates with them soon hopefully. > About the marriages.. um one of the couples has stopped coming to church > and we havent seen them for a while. The other one is freaking awesome. > Their life is super tough but their faith seems unshakable. We went with > them last night and we were going to have the opening prayer and the > little 4 year old said, "arent we going to do it like this?" and he got on > his knees and folded his arms. Those 3 kids are the best. We are jsut > waiting on a birth document from Nicaragua so that the wife can get her > passport for the lawyer. They either will get it today from a consul of > nicaragua or the 20th from their neighbors mom. So, we will have a baptism > and marriage this saturday or the 28th. We have been contacting solely by > the spirit and about 80% of our contacts have given us their addresses and > we have put appointments to visit them. We´ll see what happens with that. > The family of Diego, the 10 year old that got baptised, havent bought > coffee ever since I talked strongly with them and committed them to stop. > The less active mom, the nonmember brother, and diego have all stopped > drinking so we are going to have a hot chocolate party with them on > Wednesday. I think we are going to put a baptismal date with the brother > soon. We contected a guy that was hugely inspired by the spirit, it was > like, you have to talk to this guy, and turns out that he is the husband > of a member, but he didnt get baptised then. So we taguht him and he told > us that he knows its all true, but hasnt done it yet. So we are working > with him as well. He told us that he wants to get baptised too.The brother > of the gorgeous girl finally finished his first communion catholic thing, > so the mom is going to start coming to church again and hopefully will > bring her kids. The gorgeous girl and her borther did come to church > without the mom and the other sister and the frist communion brother, but > they asked us how could they all get baptised as a family and I told them, > read, pray, come to church, and gain your testimony. The gorgoues girl > already knows and has felt the truth, but her life has been hard to > change. Hopefully she´ll change this time around and help all of her > family get saved. Haha. She will bring a lot of preisthood to the church, > that´s for sure. We have a ton of others, but time is limited. I > compromised the couple with the twin baby girls and his sister to not buy > any more coffee after what they have runs out, and I taped a picture of > Jesus on top of their coffee makers, so we´ll see waht happens with that > too. They will get baptised soon I think, they jsut need money for a > marriage and change their life. Haha. Anyway. Hope all is good. I am > really craving Christmas music right now. And a thanksgiving meal. And > snow. Utah, that is the place. I am doing well. No grand news. Got a > haircut today. Played soccer too. My companion is slowly getting better > with his Spanish, slowly being the key word. I think the practice I got > with my cmopnaions in the MTC was inspired. Im healthy, super skinny, and > tired. Hope all is well with everyone at home in the lovely USA.>>
Elder Harrison Smith

November 2

Hey. This week has been super long and super tough. I dont want to complain, but really, I´m beat.
We have had really good success with a few of our newer investigators and their growth in their testimonies. And what that really means is that they got off their butts and decided to look for the God and the truth. That´s really the obstacle in the mission. Ya have to find the people who want or who are looking for Christ. They are the only ones that will do the things necessary to plant and grow a testimony. We had 5 investigators in the sacrament meeting this week, and we have about 17 lazies,or in other words, not coming to church. Right now I am trying to focus on finding the part member families, because most of them are inactive and they are a good source for references and people who will actually try to get a testimony. Ive been reviewing the Area Book and the membership lists and Im gonna get things together to search for them. A lot of missionaries are baptising jsut to baptise and the dont have much retention. In our area we have tons of inactive people and so I want to work with them a lot too. I dont want baptisms that turn into less actives the week after their confirmation. So, yeah.> MY companion is doing well. I really like him a lot. He´s from Idaho and is a farmer (with a 1000 acre farm). He talks like a farmer and Ive started talking like him because before him it was almost no English. But, we are working on his spanish, Im still teaching every lesson and all of the lesson, doing all the contacting and conversating, but we are progressing with him. I feel like I have two missions right now... Teach the people and teach my companion. Its hard to find time. Pray for me and mostly for him. He and I really are a lot alike, just not with spanish. Anyway, nothing more has happened. Still waiting on the lawyer for a marriage. We have another marriage date for the 20th, but they seem weak right now. We might put a few more baptism dates and a third marriage date, but we just have to help them find the money. That´s another huge obstacle. You find the ones who are willing to look for a testimony, and then they get the testimony, but dont have money for a marriage, a decent lock and door to protect their house, or money to buy the bus passes to church. Haha. Goodness. I cant beleive how much I have changed. Thought process, actions, words, etc. Everything is centered on the gospel and obedience. Did anyone read the message from President Monson in the Ensign about obedience? It was awesome. And the one by Scott on temples. Wow.> But, anyway, have a goood week.
Elder H. Smith

Oct 26, baptisms, changes

Well this week had a lot of great success and a lot of wasted time. Lets take time to explain. First with the good. We had two baptisms this week, the inactive/ non member/ member, and one of the young boys. Our district leader said the young boy was awesome in his interview. Like I expected. He is super smart and remembered everything. He has given up drinking coffee, although his older brother and inactive mother still drink it. So, I dont feel as bad baptising a young boy like him, because he has a testimony and knows his stuff. The other baptism is a good story. If you remember we were waiting for Salt Lake to check to see if he had a register for one of his two names, right? HE had had his interview and all, but we had to wait a little more. So, he called us and told us that he was going to be moving like two days before we were to find out if he had registers or not. So, doing what every good missionary would do, we baptised him anyways, without knowing is he had a register or not. Mostly it was a ¨just in case¨ baptism and confirmation (moslty it was our bishops idea). We had the new register ready in case the old ones didnt appear, but if they did we would have thrown away the new register. We baptised and confirmed him at 7 in the morning on tuesday, two hours before he left to work for 6 months. We found out that yes, our prompting to baptize him was correct and they didnt have any register. So, there we go. As for the other investigators, we have a few dates for matrimonios and baptisms, one of the couples is suiper strong and the other is hesitant. Also we are going to put more dates for a marriage and baptism this week hopefully. As for other investigators, things are slow. Its tough finding the ones who are genuinely interested in Christ. But we are moving along. Now to the good stuff. Or bad. We had changes today. I actually cried last night when Garcia was saying goodbye to some members. It was sad. He got moved from trainer to zone leader and I got my new companion. I am basically an unofficial trainer. Usually a missionary gets a missionary older than him to help him out and all, but no. My companion now has only a month and a half in Costa Rica and doesnt know a lick of spanish. I have no idea what the AP´s and president were thinking. HIs first trainer failed miserably in teaching him so basically im his trainer. Im freaking out. But, revelation is real and I have something to learn from this and I need to help him a lot. Its just crazy that wIth my second companion, Im senior companion and pretty much a trainer. I will be teaching alone, contacting alone, handling planning, ward business, and everything. Yikes. He is super awesome and actually, he is the Elder that the president had me call to help him with Spanish. So yup. Thanks president. Haha. Nuts. Crazy. Anyway. Thats whats on my mind. Till next week.
Elder Smith
Pray for me.

Subject: 19 de Octubre 2009

Hey there. What a week. First with the important stuff. We had to postpone the baptism of the inactive nonmember member because we are checking his registers in Salt Lake. Apparently he is under witness protection from Guatemala. Like I said his family got killed and he had to leave the country. So, the changed his names and he got baptized under a different name so we are checking the two names right now. It takes like a week they said. So, we’ll see what happens. Either way it’ll all be good cause he’ll get his register found or a new baptism either way. As for our other investigators they are doing great. We have the two brothers’ baptism this week, they are doing great. One of them is really excited and the other one is way shy. So we are working with them. The two couples are doing alright. They are still golden; we just have to wait for one of the couples papers and passport and divorce. It’s possible that we will have their marriage and baptisms this week, but more likely on Halloween or after. The other couple said that they want to get married the 20th of November on his birthday, so we are trying to push them to do it now, but being careful with them. We picked up 3 more really great investigators. They are an unmarried couple and the sister of the man. They are like 35, 50, and 45 years old I would guess. They have been progressing really really well and the two women have described to us that they have gotten their answers about Joseph Smith. We gave them Books of Mormon the other day and they are good. I think we might put a date for them soon. They are a pretty funny story too, but ya had to be there. The man is very evangelical so the first time we went Elder Garcia said the opening prayer for the lesson and like 3 seconds after he started to pray, this guy started to say his own prayer too. He did it correctly though, it was just weird to have two prayers at once. Then at the end of the lesson I explained -in depth- what is prayer and how it´s done. All was great and they said they wanted me to pray. So, I started to pray and then he started to pray too. So i stopped and let him do it. The sister and I opened our eyes and looked at each other and she sorta laughed too. They are really nice though and he has learned since then. They understand everything really well and this last visit we had they gave us one of their old irons, sweet huh? I often think to myself that our investigators are cooler than our members. They give us food more and they give us free things. But that’s about it for the progressing investigators. We are still waiting on permission for two others, and are trying to work with the members more. Our contacting has really sucked lately, but it’s only because we don’t have much time for efficient contacts. We are super rushed in between appointments and that means the contacts arent very great. And also my companion isnt very interested in getting new investigators because he’ll be leaving this week. Our changes are like the 26th. This Monday. Wow I didn’t realize it was so soon. The mission feels like it’s flying by. Every time I check the date it feels like Im living in the future or skipped a week. I hope my new companion isnt a butt. Anywho, my companion and I had a good experience with the Word of Wisdom this week. We both drank a big glass of iced tea. But we didn’t know it until after. A member gave it to us.. can ya believe it? So we’ll be needing to give them a good head chopping. Also, this week we had stake conference with a seventy. We had 4 investigators and 4 recent converts and an inactive with us. It was incredible. He talked about the importance of Family night, family prayer, and family scripture study. He related it to 1 Nephi chapter 5 verses 9,10,11, and 21 and 1 Nephi chapter 1 verse 1 till 4. *Everyone who is part of a family should study those scriptures and look for 1) what did the family of Lehi do to strengthen their family and 2) What blessings did Nephi receive from doing those things. I’ll talk more about it the coming week to explain what this Seventy explained. It was really cool.
As for me personally I’m doing really well. I love what Im doing, I love my dumpy area, I love our members, and I love our investigators. Im healthy, don’t have many problems with Spanish, and am working hard. I don’t know what more to say. I am not an illegal immigrant anymore, got my residency, and Im learning a ton. Mostly from the bad examples of others but it’s still learning eh?. Hope all is well.> > Elder Smith

Subject: hey oct 12

Well this week has a whole lot more appearance of success. It was a good week and we have been doing basically the same things, but we have gotten a lot more who are ready and a lot of good news for the progress of our investigators. The 2 couples that are golden are going strong. They both have doubts about marriage but have lived together for 1 & 6 years, so all the difference is a piece of paper and rings. They came to our ward this week which is a lot bigger than the one they were going to so it was different for them, but it´ll all be fine. Our bishop talked with the two that are more doubtful and he has practically the same history as them and a super strong testimony of how living the true gospel will improve your marriage exponentially. We also watched Together Forever with them last night, and they are looking good for their dates of the 24th of this month to get married and baptised. We are waiting on divorce papers for one of the couples and doubts for the other. Also, the two brothers of the inactive mom that I talked about a while back came to church. They were going to come the week before last but couldnt so we picked htem up 1.5 hours early to make sure they could come. They live in a shack in a field and the mom doesnt have a job so they literally live off the fruits and sugar cane that is in this field. One of them is super stoked about his baptism, but the other one is super timid aobut this stuff and doesnt want people htere watching him get baptised. But they love the bible and have been reading the BoM so we´re going to get them baptised the 24th as well. We had 11 investigators in church and 2 newbies that a member brought so this week was great. OUr other baptism for this month (the 7th) is a man that has 40 years, his family was killed by a gang or something like that in Guatemala so he is here living with a member family. He thought he was baptised, but he had been inactive for like 20 years so we had been trying the ´reactivate´him. But turns out he didnt get confirmed or baptised or something happened and he has no records. So we had been teaching an ínactive´that really wasnt a member. So he watns to get baptised this week, and we taught him L2 and L3 this week. He is super smart, knows Japanese Portuguese espanol and english but all of his titles and records from university burned in his house in a fire so now in Costa Rica he doenst have any title and had been looking for work and barely found a nighttime security guard position. He is really positive for how badly his life has sucked. Kinda like a weird Job. Its not a werid weird, its a smart weird. But weve got his baptism this week. So that is 7 these nexts two weeks that we are working on. We have two others taht are waiting only on the permission of their mothers, and about 10 more that are promising for November or December. Its sad that my companion will be leaving me this month though. We dont know for sure but this is his 6th month here.> As for everything, Im doing well. I think Ive hit my plateu of weight. Havent lost or gained anything in a while.> The lightning and thunder here are so much cooler than in utah. The thunder is like 3 times louder and the lighting lights up half the sky. And it happens more often. There was a black red and yellow snake outside our door in the bamboo this week too, I got a picture of it that I can send home. Everything's good. Hope all is well.
Harrison

Recent Pics Of Harrison's Mission

10-05-09. Subject: Conference Week

Not a whole lot this week. Conference was awesome! We had 6 investigators come including the 4 that are golden and practically members already. But man, what a good conference. I watched all of it in Spanish too. And an African spoke, how cool. I wondered if that was the first time in Church history? Anyway, our investigators are chugging along well. With the 4 we just have to get one divorce and 2 marriages. So we are working with them to get that all worked out. The mom of the girl still hasnt signed the papers, but we are having the missionaries where her mom lives go to talk to her and teach and answer questions. We think shell get baptized this month. We also are going ot start teaching the niece of the recent converts that is practically a member. She comes a ton but we just have to find a time and place to teach. The other one thats progressing is still slow. We can only meet with him about 1 time a week, so its tough. My companion is still awesome, but its almost 100 percent sure he´ll be leaving. I hope I dont get a weenie. I think I forgot to tell you that about two weeks ago we got a new music rule that we should only listen to music with the logo of the church on it. So, I erased everything. Everything but MoTab, BYU choirs, el Libro de Mormon en voz alta, and some spanish hymns from the church website. No more Jon Schmidt or anything. Hmm what more. I got a package from Chelsea, it was awesome. I finished eating the Charleston Chews that day, and the chocolate was gone quickly thereafter. Thanks cuzzin! That´s about it. Sorry it´s shorter than usual. Love ya.
HARRISON

Email: Sept. 28

Hey everybody
I am doing really well, this week was really awesome. Tuesday night we started divisions with the missionaries in Aserrí and I went there to be with our district leader, a gringo. It was a great break. Speaking in English all the time was awesome. That area is a little bit richer and more educated and thus the people actually know how to speak Spanish, not hick-spanish. Nobody there believed that I only have 2 months in Costa Rica because all the other missionaries are awful with Spanish in the beginning (and many for longer). People asked me where I learned spanish and I told them ´San Miguel, for the past 2 months´. I also told a lot of them that my mother is Mexican and that made them less surprised that I can speak Spanish. In their area is a place called Jardín, we went to teach some of their inv. con recién conversos. They were alittle bit poorer and it was raining and there were about 10 other people there besides us. So we sat on the ground to teach them while rain dripped on me. We almost had to shout when the rain picked up. It was good to learn from our DL; mostly learned what not to do. Haha. Good missionary, bad habits. What more. I have a sorta funny story. There is a little community of old people between our chapel and the street so we had contacted them a bit ago. We went to talk with them again this week, and found Octavio, and 80 year old man, with bright orange swimming goggles on, on his front porch with tupperware bowls of dirt and liquid. We asked him what he was doing and he told us that he likes to experiment with things of the earth and sciences, but that what he was doing was way scientific and had big words that we wouldn't understand. Words like hydroperoxide and nitrogen. Haha. He had some gold coins and was stripping off the metal etc. It reminded me of Grandpa Lofgren a ton, except that grandpa is smart and not crazy. What more.. we didnt have our baptism, the mom of the girl thinks LDS´s are satanic because we know that he is a spiritual son of God too and that makes us satanic. We got references from our zone leaders for two families that live together. They are golden. They have been going to church with their boss in another area so we are teaching them. The dads are brothers and they all live together. But with every good thing comes some kind of conflict. This week was the end of the month and when you can really see what numbers you need to meet your goals. So, these families were going to come to our church to meet the bishop of our area etc, but the ZL´s called them Saturday night to set up an appt. In their church with their boss. So, that was a good boost for their numbers.. What a shame. So we need to call them and get on their cases. These families are super interested, told us they have prayed and received their answers (woot), and we put a date for their baptisms and marriages for the end of October. Sweet eh? We only have to deal with our ZL´s and its a smooth ride for their key the the kingdom of God, baptism. OUr other investigators are good too. We are hoping to have 6 baptisms this month. Those 4 and 2 others. The max would be like 8, but that would need a few miracles, so we are praying. Also, we contacted some other people yaddayadda and got to know them a bit and them us and they were guessing where we were from and they thought I was from Colombia or Peru. UYSH! One of the first to think that I'm not American. Fun stuff. Good week all in all. Hope everyone is doing fantastic.
Harrison

9-21-09 Email.

Hey> >
Tough week. It seems like almost all of our work is falling through the cracks. We had about 8 accepted dates for baptism two weeks ago, and now none of them are gonna be accomplished. Two of them (the brother and sister of the pretty girl) will need to be moved to October, we are going to cut off two others(the DJ in our complex and the older man that reads the BoM a lot) because they havent been able to come to church for 1.5 and 3 months, respectively. Three others (the parents and a niece of some recent converts) are going to have to be moved to October as well. The parents want baptism, but dont want to leave the catholic church tradition, the alcohol and the coffee. The niece doesnt live with them but comes to church and wants baptism, its just a heck of a time trying to teach her. She doesnt live with them, we dont yet have permission to teach in her house, she doesnt have a phone, and there isnt a male in her house too. So we are trying to teach her sundays and when we have appointments with her grandparents. The one last date that we had fro baptism was a for sure go until today. We filled out her register papers last night but she took them home to get them signed and her mom wont do it. Wow, eh? So, we´re struggling with those. We have some other references, some good contacts as well. So, things arent moving slow, just hard. Really, this is tough stuff. But the blessings that I know will help the people helps me move forward. I can teach, testify, and do all I can, but the people will Always have the ability to choose.> As for me, Im doing great. I got a great package from my lovely mother on Wednesday with oreos, hershey kisses, Reisen, and starbursts. The oreos were finished friday morning, there are like 5 kisses and reisens left, and a bunch of starbursts. So Im feeling a lil sick and fat, but it was worth it. Real american food is the best, especially chocolate. I worked out my legs Saturday morning and every step feels like my butt and inner thighs are ripping apart. My testimony is strong as ever. Almost every moment I see how having the gospel helps people be happy, and even more how not having, or even worse not living, the gospel really can ruin a family, home and a person. The spanish is fine. Its an obstacle that I am slowly climbing over. My companion is awesome. He speaks spanish without a latino accent so people think he is American. I think that is one of the reasons I have trouble with understanding the poeple here. I understand everything he says, but when the accent is thrown in its almost a whole new language.> Everything is good. Hope you all are too.> Harrison>ps Nils is going to England or Washington

09-14-09 Email.

Hey everybody.> > Another good week of work. It seems like we are always tired, but that's what> t happens when you do things. Where to start.. We are always having good> experiences with members in our ward. A lot of the wards and branches here have small wards and no mission leader, but luckily we have one and a > lot of members. Almost every week we have had a member bring their friend> or cousin or someone who lives with them. (That happens a lot. Often the> re are like 10 people living in one very small house.)> But the work of members really a huge factor in conversion and retention. Even though our ward is great, we still ahve to do a lot of the teaching of less active and recent converts. I know missionaries are supposed to do> that, but here in San Miguel it feels like a loss of time because there > are a lot of poeple, mostly families, that are willing to listen and compromise. I wish we could get more home teachers, visiting teachers, etc.> As for our investigators, we are still finding newbs and having to cut a few out. We have two sure dates for baptism Set. 26th. And we have some who> accepted the challenge and hopefully we'll get them in the water. Mostly the biggest problems here are people getting to church and the Word> of Wisdom. We are teaching the parents of a recent convert, they are strongly catholic, and have said that they can feel the changes in their lives from our teaching and they have a testimony, but they don't want > to let go of their parents religion and tradition. It is super hard with > these two. We had a date with them for the 26th as well, but they didn't come to church so we have to postpone it and work with them more. Its really sad and discouraging when things like that happen. We are close to having to cut off 2 or 3 families because they havent progressed and we need> to move on to the ones who are actually ready. Also, the Lord has been able to use us in reactivating a lot of families, mostly part member families. Probably about 20 people in all have been turned from inactive or less active into coming 3 out of 4 times a month. Its awesome, and leads to opportunities to teach their family members who may not be members yet. > Our ward had a goal at the beginning of the year to have 20 convert baptisms in 2009. I think right now we are at about 17. My companion had 7 awesome converts in July, and we got 4 in August. This month will be a little lower but October has a lot of promise, and thats not counting the people we dont know yet. Costa Rica is still dirty as ever and every day I can seehow tight Satans grip is on the world. Immorality is everywhere here; that is probably one of the saddest things that I have come upon. Also,addiction is rampant. It's especially tough with coffee and tea. Its almost guaranteed that everyone we teach loves their coffee. Today was> changes, and luckily I get to keep my companion for another 6 weeks. We> are tearing San Miguel apart. Yesterday I had my first steak. It wasn't anything like steak. My favorite thing to eat is definitely fried platano. Super rico. I have learned more in 6 weeks about my life and what I > want in my future than I did my whole life. What things I want to do, and> things that I know I will never do(with family, work, friends, etc.)> We picked up a newb that came to church with members that has read a ton in> Gospel Principles and the intro pages of the Book of Mormon. He is interested and clearly sees something different about us, but he is stuck on his coffee. We gave him a powerful lesson and focused on Joseph Smith and > the truth of his calling and revelations. I am almost to the point where > I actually teach half of the time. We also had another reference this week of a part member family (only the mom) who has two daughters and a boyfriend. They have been together for 12 years! but dont want to marry yet. > We taught them lesson 1 and it was great. They have come to church two weeks in a row now!Hopefully we can receive the info we need to know what to teach and where to take them to lead to baptism. I really feel that San> Miguel is going to need a new ward soon, maybe within 2010. Anyway Im doing well and loving it. To all the gooders, you guys are awesome. Keep up> what you are doing, I know you guys are some of the best in your mission> s because of who you were before the mission. Thanks for your friendships, you guys are the bomb.> Elder Smith

09-07-09 Email. Subject: Eso

Whats up> Nothing too great this week. I really am not good at remembering things that don´t matter. As of now we have 4 dates for baptisms this month, but I really don´t have much faith in them. Maybe one or two, but they aren't progressing like we want them too. One is the older man that promises us he´ll come to church and never does, but he is always reading the book of Mormon. Another is the DJ that lives in our complex thing. I have a lot of hope for him, he reads and prays, likes us a lot, jsut cant really get Sundays off from work because his DJ team works Thursday to Sunday night. We´re trying to get him to church, he has a date for the 26th, well see if we have to delay it. THe other two are a brother and sister of the gorgeous girl who have a member inactive mom. They like us a ton and we are going to have to be more direct with them soon. The 14 year old reads and takes notes on every verse, the 12 yr old goes to mutual every week and wants to get baptized. The whole family drinks coffee and when we taught Word of Wisdom the girl said she doesnt care about anything anymore. Not a big deal because we dont think she has much interest in the church, just the white missionaries. But the brother has a little bit of hope. Their date is for the 19th; they´ve been to church like 3 times, but we dont know what the Lord wants us to do. We might baptise him and let him be the example to the rest, but we have to get the mother into it all too. She is a good commitment keeper with reading and all, they just dont seem to be able to findtheir answer. maybe they arent ready, but we´ll see. We are teaching the niece of our cocinera and she is awesome. Shell be baptized real quick. This ward is great with referrals and sharing the gospel. We have a few young people to teach that want to be baptized, and a husband of a inactive member taht came to church wit ha member. We are doing a noche de hogar with them tonight. They also have two daughters that arent members. Woot. Also, we are still waiting for the mom of our 4 baptisms to meet with a lawyer to get married so she can be baptized too. I hope we get some baptisms in this month and get some ready for next month.> As for the others, we have a big pool of investigators that dont really read or come to church, and we are going to be cutting them off soon, that will be hard. but there are always other ones that we contact and can teach and give a chance.> It´s awesome how powerful the truth of our message is. I feel really like we dont do much because of the truthfulness of what we say. We really are tools in the hands of the Lord. Those who are ready and have an open heart always will feel the spirit testifying of what we have to teach.> If any of you have friends or family who you think might have any chance or interest, teach them. Or send the missionaries to their house. There are no negative consequences of sharing what you know and feel.> As for me, things are well. I think the toe doctor didnt know what she was doing, but we go in tomorrow to see whats up with it. It doesnt hurt much, just is annoying. Understanding people when they speak is coming little by little, and Im trying to build my vocabulary. My comp is awesome. We have changes on the 14th, in a week, and he might be going. Actually we both mightt be going but he is more likely. I sure hope he doesnt go, that would blow. He has been awesome as a friend and trainer.> I dont have anything really cool to say or stories to tell. We helped build a hosue for one of our non progressing families. They are full of sin but love us. We pretty much build half of a house in like 1.5 hours with them. Wooden frame, tin outside, and plywood walls inside. What else.. > Hope school is going great for everyone. I love not having homework and being able to study and share the gospel every day. Woot. My life is so much better than yours :).> WIth love, -Harrison.

8-31-09 Email. Subject: 4 baptisms, woot

Hey all.> So this week was awesome. We are just doing all of the normal missionary stuff, and its going great. I cant really remember details of the week, but all four baptisms went through, no surprise. Now we are just working with the mother of the 4 to get her married and baptized too, hopefully this month. We also have like 4 other dates for baptisms this month too, so we spend a lot of time with those people (teaching, answering questions, staying friends, etc). One of them has been an investigator for a while. He is about 70 years old and lives with his catholic wife. He reads a ton, and eats up the lessons, he just doesn't seem to be able to come to church. So, we put a date with him to be baptized to push him a little. Jaja he is a little crazy. He doesn't have teeth, and is always moving his hands when we teach like its gonna help him learn. He reminds me of grandpa Lofgren, just Latino and not as smart. > But anyway, with the baptismal group we had, the star of the four that read a ton and had the most interest scared us on Friday. We were going through the 4th lesson and came to prophets and she absolutely refused to believe there was a modern prophet. Crazy eh? She knew the BoM was true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that this church is the church of Christ but she kept on saying that there is no way she could believe there is a prophet today. So I was like Oh crap. What do we do with that? We taught them for like an hour more (because that is a serious doubt) about if the churc his on the earth, there sorta has to be a prophet and there has to be the authority to baptize. We told her that the only reason we were there as missionaries was because we were called by prophets. We threw every scripture at her about prophets and even her family started to teach and explain it to her. And then at the end of the lesson guess what happened? She still refused that there is a prophet and agreed to pray, but said that this time God wouldnt answer her. So, panicking because I knew she wouldn't be baptized without a testimony of this, remembered that we had left the conference issue of ensign at their house. I had the Mom go get it and I marked three of the talks by President Monson. She needed the fruits of the modern prophet to believe. We went back the next day and she was 180 degrees different. What a relief eh? So all went well.> Today for pday we had the "one month check" for the newbies. Oh yeah, also I went and got surgery this morning. How could I forget that. We had to wake up at 5:30 fr our appointment. Dad, remember how the first surgery on my toe I had like 5 shots of anesthetic and still almost yelled my lungs out from the pain? yeah they did the same thing except with no anesthetic. They cut a bit of it like 1cm in, then got a tool and jammed it all the way down the bed of my toenail. I almost died. There was another guy there for the same thing that passed out. Anyway, hope it heals up.> Back to the one month check- we went to the office that is an hour away and right by the foot doctor and talked with the president and the AP´s and then went up a mountain, took pictures, came back and ate at the presidents house. All in all it was a loss of time, but oh well. Now we are in San Jose, its been raining all day and neither of us had an umbrella so Im pretty wet. Everything is well though. Pura Vida.> -Harrison

08-24-09 Email. Subject: 24 de Agosto

Okay so this past week was pretty good. We dont have many new investigators because we have been focusing on the ones we have already. So we are needing to contact more and teach more new families. Its tough work. The stomach problems seem to have come back. I dont know what it is, a bug, the food, who knows. > Nothing super great happened this week. We had 7 investigators at church and a lot of people who want to get baptized and a few people who are hopeful soon. > This Saturday we have 4 baptisms (ages 12, 14, 18, 25), all of the children in a family with unmarried parents, the dad has been inactive for almost 15 years. They have a date to get married and then the wife will be baptized too. So that is incredible. They dont have any income so its really hard. Saturday the dad told us he didn't ever want to come to the chapel again and he doesnt beleive in God and praying etc because ever since her starting coming to church, things have gotten bad. They really dont have food and are struggling. We taught the family some of the commandments for the baptismal date, and then focused on their problems. I taught them about why we always need to be living the gospel and always praying reading etc. because this life isnt necessarily the time when we are going to be happy. There are things to help us be happy but we are here to learn and earn happiness after this life. I sorta told them so what if you die today? If you are living the gospel, you'll get what you want. While we were leaving I talked to the dad one on one sorta and told him that I know how hard things can be without a job, but stressed to him that without God we are nothing. We went back the next day and he was completely different. He had come to church in the morning but was saying throughout the lesson how much he needs God. He asked if he could say the opening prayer and he is a bit more hopeful. He really needs a job though. Also in this same family the oldest child is mentally handicapped. She understands and knows waht we are teaching, but we explained like it says in Moroni 8 that the Atonement covers the incapable. But, she isnt stupid. She listens and asked us yesterday if she could be baptized too. The bishop had previously met with them and told us he wants her to be baptized with the family. She has the capacity of at least an 8 year old. So we called the Mission pres and he gave the thumbs up as well. So we will be baptizing 4 this Saturday. Woot.> As for other families, they are well. The family H. (one with the hot daughter) has two children that want to be baptised one girl is 14 and the boy is 12, the mother is inactive, and the pretty one is slowly building a testimony. The mother knows its true and enjoys our lessons, they have a 9 year old that is all over the place, and two older kids (23,25) who dont really listen. We dont really want to baptise them until the mother reactivates a bit and the older hot sister wants to be baptised. This is because they will need a support system... it would be 2 baptisms that go right to inactivity. So, we are working with them. The trouble is that the sister has to make money for the family and we think its not a very reputable job. Its a super tough situation.> The other family G. still is dwindling in their problems. The mother asked us if we worship Joseph Smith, but she likes the BoM. They ahve two sons like 15 and 12 that like it too and have said they think its true, but they arent willing to change and dont show interest at times.> The neice of our concinera want to be baptised too so we need to teach her more. She was a referral and is now the girlfriend of our ward mission leader, who by the way is way cool-he puts his papers in soon. Haha this caused a bit of controversy with the family that is going to be baptised because one of the girls liked the ward mission leader haha. Anyway.> The guy that lives in our complex reads the book of mormon but still cant come to church. Agh. He said that reading the BoM is different than anything else and any other book. We need to teach him that that is his answer and get him to church.> we have a few others that we have though the first lesson that are interested as well.> Oh yeah, last night we saw Family H. on our way home and they told us that we couldnt go down their street because the oldest brother had heard that some people wanted to assault us or hurt us. I dont believe them but we took a taxi home and later learned that yes most of them have guns but they only wanted to beat us up, not rob us. Haha. Costa Rica.> I had a mango the other day and almost died of pleasure. They are sooooo rico. And pineapples here. Mmm mmm good.> Thats about it from San MiHell.> Paz> Harrison

08-17-09 Email...Subject: Spiritual High

Hey there> This week was pretty awesome. I can´t even explain how high my life is right now.> My stomach is doing better. IT was only those first few days of getting used to the diet change. But I love the food that I get fed here ñ it might be because I'm starving every time I eat, but it is delicious. Mostly it´s rice and beans with some kind of ensalada or salsa and maybe meat. We get a lot of good drinks too. I have only had one bad meal which was mondongo or cow stomach. Tasted like a poopy wet dog, and felt like rubber. I almost threw up. But everything else is great. We pay a member cocinera for lunch M-F and Saturday and Sunday we eat with other members. Breakfast for me is usually banana and oatmeal with maybe some bread, and we dont really usually eat dinner. Sometimes we get fed at appointments but not usually. I think I have lost weight too. Yesterday I had to cinch my belt up one more hole. Yikes.> Every Monday we take our dirty laundry to the church and we pay a family to do it. We use the computers with the missionaries in Aserri, the next district over, in a little internet shop. We buy food after using the internet, which is after going cool places in our areas. I have crazy pictures and you are going to go nuts. This place is the closest thing to heaven. My bed is awesome, I´m so exhausted at the end of the day that I sleep the whole night, no problems. The problem is the shower, ugh. Anyone who reads this, be thankful for warm water with pressure. Here its either a drizzle of hot hot water or a lot of cold water, it´s ahrd to get in between. There are a ton of bugs. I wake up with bites all over my body, most likely from mosquitoes. But I did have two huge purple yellow bug bites on my left calf for a few days. I´ll send pictures of all of this.> What else. Investigators. We have a ton. People here are very christian and receptive. We have about 10 or 11 truly progressing and had 14 at church yesterday. A lot of our investigators aren´t able to come to church, but study the BoM so it´s a tough situation. We have 3 baptismal dates for the 29th of this month for 3 kids in Ramirez family with unmarried parents but a member father. The problem is that they all want to be baptized at the same time, but the mother and father need to get married and tehy don´t have any source of income. So that is tough. They have a date to get married in Sept. Also, the have a mentally challenged daughter that doesn´t need to be baptized obviously but they want her to be baptized too. So we have a lot to figure out with this family and need to talk to the President about the daughter. Hopefully the date this month will stick, and then the mother will follow suit and get baptized after the wedding.> We mostly teach families because that is who we mostly contact. We have two families that aren't really progressing much, the Godinez and the family of Roberto y Maria. They Roberto y Maria familia come to church with their kids almost every week, but dont want to be pressured into baptism. The dad is stubborn and hasn´t read or prayed or anything. Who knows what will happen. The Godinez family is absolutely messed up, but I love them so much. The mom Marcela lives alone because the Dad comes and goes. They have like 5 kids, 3 of which are hopeful. Abel, Edwin jr, and Angelica. Angelica is the cutest kid I have ever seen. And I taught her to say I love you in English and it´s soul melting. They problem is that they know they need to change, they like us a lot, but haven't read or prayed yet.> We also have another family that is similar with a single mom, but she has 6 kids, 3 girls and 3 boys. One of the girls is 20 and drop dead gorgeous. They have problems with sin and all that but are really receptive and love us as well. The mother is interested and the son want to get baptized. we taught our first lesson with them yesterday and are going back tonight for noche de hogar. They are a referral we got from our cocinera and hopefully she comes tonight too. They would be awesome members.> We also are teaching a guy who lives in our little complex place. One floor down. His name is Ever and read the Book of Mormon and hasnt prayed. He is sincerely interested and asked a lot of questions about the BoM. He is a DJ and has a nice sound system and frequently plays popular rap of hip hop music. It´s distracting but I dont complain. :) > So, we have a ton of people ready and needing, all we have to do is help them along. It´s awesome to see how much Christ can change people and how the Spirit really works through us and touches their lifes. We have more investigators but I dont want to bore you.> As for pday´s, we pretty much just hike in the jungle. It´s insanely green. Last week we hiked up to a giant cross in Aserri. This week we bussed to Acosta and went to some rivers and waterfalls. Oh yeah, to get the the little waterfalls we had to pay Jose to take us there. HE had an old school Toyota Land cruiser, and we had to walk through a farm like place. An old Tico in all khaki with a machete and kakhi hat helped us out and showed us where to go. He was so tuanis. Also, he farmed sugar cane and when we were leaving he cut some canes and had us run them through his manual press to make the sugar juice and we drank it right there. So good. Everywhere there are just lime, lemon, and orange trees. So we stopped on the side of the road and got some oragnes and lemons too. It´s also common to see wild parrots. There were a ton today by the house of the elders in Aserri.> > Anyway. The work is awesome. The Spanish is slowly coming. I´m really having a great time teaching and sharing what I know.> Love you. Thanks Chelsea for doing the blog!> > Elder Esmeet

08-10-09 email.. Subject: Costa Rica is jungle mixed with garbage

So, I am starting the mission in a place called San Miguel, but people sometimes like to call it San MiHell. It is about 30 minutes or so south of San Jose and I love it. The first week has been so awesome. > My trainer is Elder Garcia from Guatemala. He knows a little bit of English and we are helping each other learn. My area is really hilly and covers quite a bit of ground. People are extremely poor here (it´s the ghetto), most of the houses are covered with metal sheets and aren't really houses. They are something that Scott and I could make in a day, given the supplies. Obviously there are some nicer ones, but not by much. The people are just like you´d expect Latinos to be, but they come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Most everyone here is Costa Rican, or ticos. There are some illegals from Nicaragua or Honduras, but not many. Because the area is poor, people are humble and pretty nice. My companion says its really dangerous here but I don't believe him. (The people are littler here anyway, the only thing dangerous would be a gun and people are too poor to be able buy them.) But, the people are cool. Lots of drunks, druggies, and disgusting immodest women, but for the most part it´s normal. I was warned before coming here that most women want a white baby and it´s true. I get hoots and stuff. My companion says that they say some bad stuff too. Haha. And it´s not only the girls, everyone gets infatuated with a gringo. They try to speak English or try to swear in English. Hah. Todo bien. But in reality, we mostly contact families. I mean we don´t ignore other people, but families are much more receptive and ready for the gospel.> I think I´ve lost a lot of weight already. We eat quite a bit I guess, but I swear more comes out than went in. I had the runs for the first three days, barely avoiding a few catastrophes. But the food so far has been great. Nothing like what I expected. We usually only have to buy breakfast. We get fed lunch every day and most of the time people give us food at night too. > There is garbage all along the streets (if you want to call them streets) and in most of the rivers too. I see probably around 50 stray dogs everyday. Obviously people here drive crazy and there are a lot of motorcycles. I saw an ATV the other day in San Jose too. My comp. said that it was illegal, but that cops here don't really care. > The ward is awesome, it seems like a normal ward when inside the chapel. I was surprised at how strong the members are in the gospel. We have about 140 members in our area, which is only one ward, not bad.> Anyways, I have pictures of everything, I´ll be sure to get them home soon. It´s gorgeous here minus the garbage. My apartment is nice and pretty dang big as well, compared to the rest.> The Spanish sure has been a kick to the face. I know Spanish I swear, I just don´t know how to listen or to speak it. People speak so fast and slurred. It´s nuts. All I can do is get the jist of what´s being said. So that makes teaching a little bit hard as well as contacting. But I know how to share scriptures and bear testimony, just following along in a lesson can be hard. > I am doing really well, I really love this. I get to go to bed exhausted and thrilled and know that I get to wake up and do it again. It´s awesome.> Anyway, love you all. People ask me if I miss home and I just tell them no, mostly because I dont know what they are asking me.. :) Love ya´ll.

08-04-09 Email..Subject: Im doing better than ever

Well Im alive. It was close though, we almost got hit driving and I think I might have seen a dead body, but who knows. It`s crazy pretty here. Tons of plants and the city almost isn't a real city. It definitely doesn`t have skyscrapers or anything close. The houses are close to each other, I`ll take pictures. Its kinda like laguna but without a beach. The houses are very similar, just not as nice. The humidity isn`t bad at all and it rained while we were driving back. My president is incredible. I love him. I know this is the mission Im supposed to be in. Cant wait to find those waiting for me. > Spanish is going to be a slap in the face. Yeah. Pray for me.> I don't want to waste time, I sort of need a nap as well.. Haven`t slept for a while.> But I love you all so much. Thanks for everything and I`ll be sure to write you soon. Love you

7-30-09 Email - Subject: The Countdown

Hey there> This week has been really great. Not as much teaching and such but more of spiritual lessons, questions about spanish, and going over our purpose and how to better serve. We haven't put a whole lotta focus on the Lessons, don't know why but it's been an obvious change. > We went to the temple today, like every Thursday, but this time we ate at the temple cafeteria. When we and my comp got to the register the lady told us you could only pay with cash or check and neither of us had enough cash and neither of us had checks either, luckily a member was there and she came over and wrote a check for both of us. I felt guilty eating my food, but she said that that was the easiest way she has ever fed the missionaries. > But yeah, I'm definitely getting nervous to leave. It's gonna be a huge shock of culture and of a work shift. I mean we work hard here, but I don't even know whats gonna hit me once I get to the field. Luckily, I've got a lot of help from other places than my own body and mind.> I really can't wait to teach real people who will actually be permanently influenced by the things I teach them and the things they feel when I share what I know. > We had the language planning meeting for missionaries leaving teaching us how to study once we get in the field. They told us that they rate language skills on a scale of 1-7. They had samples of people learning English and had exaples of each skill level. They played a level 2 and 3 and then the 7. They asked these samples a question about baptism and the missionary would answer. Level 2 really said nothing coherent. Level 3 said a few words that I understood like baptism and important and something that sounded like 'a new door to a life'. And then they told us that the level 3 was the average missionary that leaves the MTC. Are people really that dumb? :P I really feel like I am at least a 6. I might be limited in vocabulary, but I know what I am saying and I know what other poeple say to me. So I feel confident at the moment comparatively to the average. Although I do know I am gonna get kicked in the juevos when I actually get out there.> I'm starting to wish that I would have bought some more music while I was at home. MOTAB gets boring after a while. > Anyway, this week went well. My companion and I get along great and have fun together. I just hope I get a good trainer. Hopefully a native with a good work ethic. Hah sounds rare to me, but it's possible. > I don't really know what else to say. This tuesday we taught lesson 2 in Spanish again and it went well. Things are fine and Im felling healthy and ready to leave.> Next time I email, I'll be in Costa Rica!> -Elder Harrison Smith> > > Family- I hope that all is well on the beach. Gah. It was awesome to hear your voice through the phone though mom! My retainer got fixed fine.. sorta. They did it too tight or something so now one of the teeth taht the retainer is glued to is being pushed out, sorta making a gap, but who cares. > I have some stuff I will be sending home soon. I have two of the USPS white read and blue boxes that you sent filled up with stuff coming home. I should probably get you a hand written letter, but I really dont ahve much time. I dont know how the mailing is in Costa Rica eitehr, but it might be a good idea to let people know on facebook and the blog that im gonna be in costa rica and to send their letters there...> Um I dont know what else. I love you tons. Miss ya a lot and I pray for you every night. Be safe!

Email- 7-23-09

> Yo> > This week was great! Like always, right?> My mind can't really retrace back this week because I just barely got our flight plans! You don't know how happy I am.> Today has been good, we had study and breakfast, went to the temple, had lunch, wrote letters, took a 10 minute nap, and went to do laundry. Our DL got our flight plans right before we came to e-mail. So. I leave at 12:50 in the AM on the 4th. I arrive in Atlanta Georgia at 6:30 AM. Then I have a 4 hour layover til 10:00 AM and I leave to Costa Rica. The plans say I get there at 12:10 PM, which would seem to only be a two hour flight but I dont know the time differences. It would be cool if you could find out the differences and actual flight times for me and dearelder me. So yeah that's crazy exciting. > This was the first week with my new, new Companion Elder Munson. It went well and we taught Lesson 2 in Spanish along with the Word of Wisdom. Spanish is going well, but I feel like I only know Gospel spanish though, which might be great or might be terrible for when I get there. I feel like the only way now to progress in the language is being immersed in Speaking because I know the grammar, just need the experience.> The MTC is really dragging on. It's great and all and I appreciate it, but it's getting old. Maybe that is supposed to happen, but I can't wait to do things for real.> I haven't been playing soccer this week becuase I pulled my groin about a week ago. I've put on some pounds without that exercise; I'm like a total of 10 pounds heavier since the beginning.> I forgot to tell you last week that I bought a comb. Yeah, I really bought a comb.I am parting my hair now. Hahaha. It's just that I see the noobs with fohawks and stuff and think low of them, so I decided I should look more respectable and professional.> I would be lying if I told you I still enjoyed the food. But, I'm trying to be positive so that's all I will say about that. But... the skim milk here is bomb. I have had at least 2 cups of skim milk at every meal. Only healthy and real food here besides fruit. I think I have at least 2 or 3 bananas a day too. Im not so excited about rice and beans though. Hopefully I'll learn to love it.> These past days have felt a lot less productive because we have been over everything in Spanish and PME. I need to get some more fake investigators I think so that my study will be more focused. As for LInda nad Elizabeth in the RC, I wasn't able to contact them much after the emails. So they are gone. But we did start to do Spanish outbound calls for Book of Mormons, Joy to the World DVD's etc. That is terrifying, especially becuase I really don't know what they are saying.> That's about all. Thanks for everything!> Miss you all!> > -Harrison AKA Elder Smith> > > > > -> > LOVE YOU!

Email 7-16-09 Subject: yo yo yo

So hey. I now have only 20 minutes to write. A whole lot of stuff went on this week so I'll have to be brief about them.So. First, we lost a teacher. Second, our district switched companionships. They are both related so I'll try to explain well.We have one Elder who is extremely selfish, complains a lot, and causes a lot of grief in the class. Most of the teacher thing was his problem, and the whole companionship thing was his problem. He was in a trio and bashed one both of them and made one of them really want to go home and have no desire to teach or try to learn Spanish. The teacher thing was because this teacher was very opinionated and he didn't like it. He got offended a lot, which was reasonableconsidering some things she said. A couple of time I even sorta debated with her on doctrinal things.. she was wrong a lot of the time. So there as a lot of contention with her and the other Elder. So she eventually got switched out with another teacher this week. He is awesome. Crazy awesome and I have to say I am glad. We will hopefully accelerate in learning. But the whole companionship thing was his problem as well. The elder who was in a tri with him that wanted to go home decided to stay. The president of our branch told him that he could change companionships if that's what it would take to have him stay. So now him and I are companions and thingsare going well. He is actually not too bad at Spanish, I guess the thrashing he took form the one elder really got to him. So I'm really trying to help him out and make him see that he is doing well and needs to be here. But every other companionship got switched around as well. Good switches too. I am very happy with them at least.But the funny/bad thing is that this whole district switcheroonie thing was very serious. I don't think it has happen much if ever at the MTC. That's what they said at least.Maybe they are trying to intimidate the one elder into obedience. Haha he sure needs it.Anyway. That switch happened right before we taught the first lesson in Spanish for the second week. The night before we got switched. So, in the morning we had to teach, and it went super well. I was impressed. My new companion, Elder Munson, used most of his Spanish right with a little help and we taught the lesson well. Oh yeah, the 'investigator' was Islamic. Non Christian, so that was a chore. But it went really well. This week we are prepping for Lesson 2 in Spanish. This will be a doosey. Anyway, I got great letters from Cassidy and Lana. So good to hear from family! I don't think there is much else to say.Things are busy, and the only way for me and some others to progress in Spanish is to speak it as much as possible. We have learned all the necessary grammar things. So all is well. But wo unto him that sayeth all is well. So I will say, most is well.. and some things will always need to be worked on. Love you all. Sorry if this letter seems unorganized, I am very pressed for time! Love love love ya'll. _Elder Smith

Pictures!

Harrison sent us his card with some pics, so here are a few:)...

Momma's Boy

Foot Brace

3rd Companion-Elder Orton
First 3 Roomates and Companions

His District

7-9-09 Email-Subject: Spanish & Fireworks

Well well well
Lets think.. is there anything new that has happened... Um k here we go. So this whole past week has been preparatory for teaching Lesson 1 in Spanish in the TRC (the place we teach every week). That was on Tuesday and it went really well. All my conjugations for the past tenses, present, future, conditional, progressives, and stuff all seemed to be right to me, and I didn't have to pause to think about them. My companion is still struggling hard when he speaks. For that TRC visit though we had to also do our 'task' so that we don't only know gospel Spanish. Our task this week was to talk about foods as if we were eating at a restaurant with an investigator. It went really well for me. Communication seems to be alright as long as the person Im talking to isnt talking a million miles an hour. So yeah, that was nice to get over with. That was on the 7th.
Now backtracking in time to the 4th.. They (the MTC presidency I presume) palnned a 'play' of sorts about Lesson 1 for our entertainment on the 4th. I think they told us it was going to be a play so that we wouldnt stay in our rooms and sleep instead.. It was terrible. It was a combo of Lesson 1, reformation, and American/European history. And it wasn't a play at all. They videotaped 'actors' pretending to be Saul/Paul, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. But the horrible thing is that these actors were in awful costumes and wigs in front of a green screen, AND they tried to make it look like they were looking at the camera and talking to us, but it was obvious that they were reading from line cards off to the side. So instead of making them look like they were tlaking to us, it seemed like they hired blind actors who had googly eyes and couldn't look straight. About every 20 minutes (after each 'actor' finished their monotone dialogue)there would be a roar of laughter from all the 2000 or however many missionaries in the gym becuase of how ridiculous the costumes and wigs were on the next actor. Every time it seemed to get worse. What killed me even more than that is that they started this whole [public] play thing out with a video of oceans, volcanoes, mountains, rivers, plants, fish, and animals.. with a deep harmonic voice reading the story of the creation from Moses in the background. Sound familiar? It was a really uncomfortable 3 hours. At least I got to laugh I guess. And sorry for making you read all that, I just couldn't keep something like that in, wish ya coulda been there to share it.
They made up for their horrid play by letting us watch fireworks that night from Stadium of Fire. Very cool. They started at like 10:20 and our bedtime is 10:30. We got to stay out til like 11:10! I think I got to sleep like at 11:30. It felt like rebellion even though it was allowed.. Oh yeah! Our district is all about obedience though. It really makes a difference too. Makes you really wish all missionaries at the MTC could grow up and get rid of their 'too cool' attitudes and obey. There are a lot of those here it seems. Goof offs with little respect. What can ya do..
What else. Im not district leader anymore! Woot. My four weeks was up so we switched. Such a relief. Um. The two older district both have their flight plans. Crazy crazy. Can't wait to get mine haha.> My life here is pretty boring. Sorry ya'll. I'm making the most of it though. I already told yas but we go to the Referral Center to take live chats and phone calls and yesterday a woman named Linda came onto a chat taht I accepted. She is incredible. She is not a very happy person and hates her job, but is Christian and just needed some help. So I gave her my whole schpeal about how this Gospel and the Book of Mormon can help families, bring peace, through Christ we can get help in any time of trial, etc.. But she was totally receptive. It's awesome and bittersweet to see how God humbles people to make them come to him. I shared Ether 12:27-28 with her and she said she "really needed that". I also taught her to pray and told her that it was literally communication between her and Heavenly Father and that she should let Him know of all the things in the life that she is grateful for and that she loves. I told her to talk to him, to let Him know that she is having a tough time with confidence, with her job, etc. and tell Him that she wants and needs his help. I told her that he really wants her to pray to him every day - every time she feels grateful or feels she needs help with anything. She seemed super grateful.
She was really awesome. I need to email her to get a return appoinment and chat again. She'll be ready for baptism soon :P. There is such great joy in sharing the gospel though.. knowing that I am giving someone something that I know without any doubt will bring them lasting happiness and hope. Love it.
I chilled with Elder Casey Hartle a bit yesterday during my language study hour. We talked a bit in Spanish and I gave him a short testimony. It's awesome seeing so many bro's around this place.
I dont think I have much else to say.
I'll give ya'lls a sample of my personal testimony en Español.
Estoy agradecido por mí Salvador, Jesucristo, y muy agradedico por la oportunidad tengo a servir una misión. Se qué el Libro de Mormón es verdadero y es la palabras de Dios. Lo amo. Amo leerlo y orar sobre las cosas que aprendo. Se qué José Smith fue un profeta y que él restauró el Evangelio y Iglesia que Jesucrito establicó en su vida en la tierra. Se qué el sacerdocio, la autoridad y poder de Dios, está en la tierro hoy. Se qué poseo esta autoridad. Se, sin dudas, qué Jesucristo sufrió en el jardín de Getsemané, y en la cruz por la salvación de la mundo. Etsoy agradecido por Él en mí vida. No se qué donde estaría sin mí Salvador. Amo el Espíritu Santo. Tan mucho ayuda ha venido mediante el Espíritu aquí en la CCM (MTC). Amo mí familia. Madre y Padre, y hermanos, primos, tiós, tias, abuelos y abuelas. Gracas por su tiempo en mí vida. No se si este testimonio fue en grammatica perfecta, pero Yo se qué todos los cosas aquí es verdad. Comparto estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo, nuestras Salvador, Amen.
Love you all. This gospel is true.
-Harrison
Fam- sorry, that was a long letter. um but i love you. thanks for everything. write me some dear elders, i think i only got two this week, one from tay and one from mom? correct? and i didnt get any from my friends! gosh. hopefully its jut the USPS sucking like usual, instead of my friends being dumb.
well i love ya'll so much I miss you all.

07-02-09 Email-Subject: Semana Cuatro

Hola
Four weeks.. and its still the same things over and over. I really don't know what to write. We have played soccer 5 times now.. and I have had our only goal in 4 of the 5 games. Woot. That's the most exciting thing I can think of.. Haha.
I didn't see the prophetat all, although at our devotional last friday there was Oaks, Holland, Christofferson, Bednar, Anderson, Perry, and I think Scott. So that was really cool. Elder Holland spoke very powerfully about having the Holy Ghost as your third companion. Very cool.
I didnt get to meet my Mission President because of the dang swine flu. Bogus. Just an excuse for Elders to take a day off and nap. :P
As far as teaching goes we are doing better. We were doing a whole lot better in teaching in unity even though I would always have to clear up things or go back to make sure some points made sense, but we are teaching with the spirit and that's what counts. This week we are teaching Lección Uno en Español, that will be interesting... Me talking for half an hour in Spanish. My companion is really struggling with it. We are still having to work a little bit on pronunciation with him, while I get to teach about Apostasy, Priesthood, Christ and the Atonement, and Joseph Smith and the Restoration... all in Spanish. Yeehaw. I am memorizing scriptures and stuff in Spanish like it aint no thang, so thats nice.
A little fun thing, one of our branch counselors has a very unique voice that probly sounds a lot like Ray Romano or Scott, but with their nose plugged. Also add in a little bit of a St George or Parowan accent and you´ve got it. Entonces, I can mimmick it exact and at least once a day i get someone in our zone prodding me to do the Brother Leuwellyn voice. Es muy divertido, ¿no?
I don´t know if ya´ll care but every week we have to do a teaching appointment at the TRC and that´s our main investigator. But we are also supposed to go to the TEC twice a week to teach or do workshops. And on top of that we are supposed to teach at least one teacher in our zone taht pretends to be a progressing investigator. The TRC is where we teach the full lesson no matter what and thats where we are teaching lección una in spanish. At the TEC we mostly get demonstrations and do lesson plan workshops etc. Our progressing teach investigator was Alejandro (Hermano Massey) for the first 3 weeks, but he went to Cali for the summer sooo we didn´t have a teacher for a while. So we went fake contacting yesterday and fake met Felipe (Hermano Peterson) and will be teaching him this Saturday I guess.. maybe in Spanish, who knows.
But yeah Elder Barrett and Elder Tanner Lofgren have left the MTC. Elder Casey Hartle is here and we chat it up everytime we see each other. I guess Elder Nate Sorensen came in yesterday so hopefully I´ll see him a bit.
I am still coughing and breathing heavy. It still sounds like a thunderstorm in my chest, but I feel fine. I just cannot wait to teach real people. I´m starting to get sick of teaching Mormon investigators, but I geuss thats whats best to help. I love yo uall so much. Really everyone. Friends and family, thanks for everything. Thanks Chelsea tooo, you are the best.
Love The wise man of the tribe.

Family-
um um um> Im glad Hunter is alive, thats always good news. Im halfway done and it feels like this is the only life I have lived. Everything before seems like a dream and every day here just blends into the next. Um, mom, I think you can dear elder me while Im in Costa Rica... for free... but I dont know. mething. :P But seriously.
Thats crazy about Daniel. Waht caused it? do we know? Anyways Ill pray for him.
The package was awesome. Ill send home my camera card today. i think i have around like 70.. who konws. Also.. very important.. how can we exchange clothes without having to send the m in a package? I owuld love to send some stuff back and have soem other things here. Like a real shirt that isn´t my cruddiest thing. Ya know? Also, I might send home my silver face shaver. The old black one me and scott got is the best, i use it everyday. all my everything else seems fine. I dont think i´ll need anything extra before I leave, but ill let oyu know.
Scott, Good luck with school and all that. When kyle gets home make a company so I can have a nice job when I come back :P also, i would love your lesson plans... and any study tips, things i should know, etc..
Taylor, so when are you gonna kiss a girl? hopefully soon. How is summer going? do you ahve a job yet? if not, Scott, have dad make him get one. also tay, who is using the car and who gets it when school starts?
Hunter, hows it doing little brother. Hopefully you´re summer is filled with outside things and not xbox.. even though i do miss CoD.
Did any of you see transformers? or harry potter or anything cool? I dont know when they come out but let me know about them :).
Love you all so much.