President and Sister Anderson are leaving.

This past week was a wonderful one. I absolutely love my district! We are all such hard workers and good examples to one another. Likewise I love our Zone! We are one of the smallest zones in the mission but you would never tell based off of are Key Indicators. Some weeks we have higher numbers than the biggest zones. These past few weeks we have even broken mission zone records! I do not say these things to brag or boast but rather to show appreciation for being around such hard working missionaries. They are all wonderful examples to me. 

We went to the Temple this week and it was an amazing experience! It was the last time we will all be together with President and Sister Anderson. They go home this week and President Richardson will be here. I will miss President and Sister Anderson so so much!!! But I am excited for President Richardson. He will take the mission to the next level. There was so much power as the whole mission all went through the temple in 4 different sessions! I loved it. After our session we got to have a short meeting with President. He just smiled and said well this doesn't happen very often to all be together in the Temple so lets open it up for questions! Since we were in the Temple you can only imagine the questions that we asked. It was such a neat experience. I am so grateful. We even had the meeting in front of the baptistry and we could see the font. How fitting for missionaries eh? haha Anyways I loved it. Even Elder and Sister Sommerfeldt went through our session as well. I just love them both! We all get so excited when we see one another. haha

One of the biggest things I learned this week was the depth of Charity. Sister Andrew and I were asked to give a training in District training on Charity and I think that I learned the very most as we studied to prepare. I love in Preach My Gospel when it relates that the deeper our charity the more we will feel a sincere desire and concern for the eternal welfare of others. Alma came to mind: 

24 Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. Alma 36:24 

The Sons of Mosiah came to mind:

 3 Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soulshould perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble. Mosiah 28:3 

These great missionaries emulated charity in the deepest form. That meaning that they not only cared for the temporal needs of those they loved but rather they focused on there eternal needs. I feel as though I to often associate charity with service and tending to temporal needs but in reality charity is doing all that we can to help meet the ETERNAL needs of others. For example, helping them accept the Gospel, be baptized, get to the Temple, and endure to the end. These are the things that truly matter. This is what Christ did: 

 33 And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men. Ether 12:33 

He truly did everything to prepare a place for us. To make Eternal life possible. In essence, we can measure the level of our charity on our willingness and openness to share the Gospel. I love the words of Lehi a dying fathers plea to his sons : "I have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls." 2 Nephi 2:30 I will always strive to make this my motive. As a missionary, as a daughter, as a companion, as a trainer as a friend, and one day as a mother. 

Temple day with the whole zone. President and Sister Anderson are finished as my mission leader and are going home this week.  He has been a wonderful president.

This week we had a wonderful experience. Before taking our member home we asked if they had any friends we could go and pray with. They did! We went immediately. The family recieved all of us well and allowed us to pray with them. After the prayer the Mother related how embarressed she was by her messy house and I won't lie it was a diaster. We offered to help put things back together for her. Before she could argue my companion and I were already getting down and picking stuff up. She couldn't help but to agree and follow. For the next hour we were able to serve her. It was such an amazing experience to not only help meet her temporal needs but there eternal ones as well. They came to church on Sunday! It was a wonderful miracle. 

Thank you so much for the Package! It was SO fun! Honestly, I forget that Canada was coming up! I am so excited to decorate with all the fun stuff. We have district training on Tuesday so I am going to do something for that as well.. haha they will all get a kick out of it so it will be good. 

Thank you so much for all that you do for me! I love you all so very much!!!! 

Have a wonderful week. 

Love,

Sister Hartley 

That is what happens when you open your heart to the spirit... you change.

Sister Price came to visit and came teaching with us!

We had a good week. One of my favorite things to do is have Family Home Evening with recent converts! We had one with Victor's family last week and it went so well! We got there and I heard this music playing in the background which they normally don't do. I asked what it was and Victor smiles and says, "It is mormon channel!" haha I was so happy. The daughter has come out with us a few times as well and it is always so fun. The son came up to us as well and said, "Sister Hartley when are you going to take me on a mini mission?" It made me so happy! He is going to start going out with the Elders. It makes me feel so happy to see them progress. 

Angie was confirmed yesterday. It was a happy time. She looked so good. In white skirt and very modest top. She has changed right before our eyes. That is what happens when you open your heart to the spirit... you change. 

This morning a sister in the ward took us shopping and Goodwill. It is a really good one because lots of rich people live near by.. haha we each found some fun things. It is always fun being with the members. They really spoil us rotten. 

We had a wonderful spiritual experience on Saturday night. We had time for one more door and we both prayed earnestly that we would find someone who would come to church the next day. We were led to Marie. She opened the door just barely a crack not wanting to be bothered. We were bold, happy, and faith filled. As a result she just couldn't turn us away. She allowed us in. We prayed with her and the spirit in the room was evident. We testified of church and she hesitated and wouldn't commit. We taught doctrine of God answering prayers and she agreed that if God told her to go she would. She prayed right there and after we just sat there in silence for a few minutes before asking, "What does God want you to do?" All she could say was, "I'll come, i'll come." She did and loved it! It was a wonderful experience. 

 Thank you for all your strong faith and prayers! 

Love,

Sister Hartley 

It is Mango season!! How do Haitians get mangos off the tree?? Like this! haha We don't have a mango tree near us but they are everywhere... literally all we have to do is while harvesting so how much we love mangos and people just give them to us! They are so good for breakfast or smoothies... I love them. 

We went to a Japanese dinner with a member. It was fun.

I think I may have been working  Sister Andrews to hard.

 We are working on getting this family back to church! The grandma is 80 years old and has quite the personality. 

Angies baptism day.

Some of my favorite people

My Little Greenie, Sister Meeks

Ward Activity

Best photo bomb picture!

Sister Lieber is the funniest lady ever!

Angies Baptism

Like usual, I just don't know where to start. We saw so many might miracles this week. I just love being a missionary. I love Sister Andrew she grows more and more each day. We had a pretty  busy day and I think I really tired her out! Poor thing just collapsed in bed at the end of the day with delightful exhaustion. haha Missionary work is hard work, but even more rewarding. She has been working on memorizing the first vision, but in lessons she gets nervous and reads it from the pamphlet. Well, it came time to say it and she grabbed the pamphlet but I quickly cut in, "I'll hold the picture". and grabbed the pamphlet from her so she couldn't see it. Her face was priceless... But she did it! She said it perfectly and the spirit was strong. I was proud of her and now she knows she can do it! A common theme this week was selfless finding. Here are 2 miracles that I included in my email to President: 

As a companionship we set a weekly chapel tour goal. We arranged one with 2 of our investigators. When we arrived at the church we saw a confused mother and son at the door. Not recognizing them, we quickly parked and approached them. Before we could say anything the Mother said, "How do we come to this church? What time is service? My son wants to become part of it." Turns out he watches BYU TV regularly particularly the weekly devotional. He related how he loves President Monson and all the apostles. Not only that, but the Mom said she had searched every book store looking for a Book of Mormon then she finally realized they could get a free one online and he loves it. We invited them to join the Chapel tour with us and they gladly did. The Mom kept saying how impressed she was and while she didn't know near as much as her son she was open to learning more. Before they left he asked for all the Videos we had that we could give him. We gave him a Restoration DVD. We passed the information along to the Elders and when they contacted him he was already watching the movie. He came to church yesterday and loved it and is getting baptized next Sunday! 

On Saturday night we were contacting at a popular park in our area. We approached a Haitian man reading a book. Though his English was limited, we were able to pray with him and leave him a church card. We didn't think much of it until the next morning he called asking for directions! We were able to give the phone to the Elders who explained to him in Creole how to get there. He came, loved it and is preparing to be baptized next week. It is so neat to see how the Lord works. We were able to find to very elect people for 2 other companionships in our district. We were tempted to ask the question, "When will we find someone elect for us?" We resisted and kept the faith. God then undoubtedly blessed us with a miracle yesterday as Angie was baptized! It all came together. As we are selfless in our finding God will bless us with miracles in our areas.

Angie's baptism went so well! We have been teaching her for quite a while and it has been quite a roller coaster ride. I love her so much.. She is very precious to me. I have never seen her so happy as we did yesterday. So many things contributed to this wonderful miracle but I think a big part of it was love, humility, and the power of the Book of Mormon.. and being bold! haha we definitely were very bold with her. But bold with lots of love.

I love the ward so much. I am getting so close with all the members. They have all touched my heart and life in immeasurable ways.

We had interviews this week with President. I always love the time we get to spend with him and his precious wife. Sister Anderson is an Angel. This is there last transfer. O how I will miss them! President and I talked a lot about the Gift of Tongues. (Remember how I received that at my setting apart?) It was very eye opening. It truly is more than speaking another language. In PMG it says "The Lord declared, "Every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language". We talked about how this means not only in there native language but also in a way that they will understand. In a way that truly speaks to there heart. I have had several experiences with this where the spirit was truly able to give me the words to say to certain individuals that touched there heart and allowed them to understand when previously they couldn't. It is special to experience.God has undoubtedly blessed me with the ability to speak "the language of the spirit" and I am so grateful. 

I love you all! 

Love,

Sister Hartley 

I am a trainer now.

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been another wonderful week! It is getting hotter and more humid each day. Rain is starting to be 

more consistent. Everyone says that it will soon rain every day in the mid afternoon. I am not complaining 

though because I would rather be rained on then in the hot direct sun. Anyways it is an adventure. Sister Andrew 

is my new companion! She is 23 and from New Zealand. I love her so much already. She is very humble and quick

to apply anything that we talk about. I am kind of overwhelmed with training but I know the Lord will help me. I want to give 

her the experience that Sister Stegelmeier gave me. Those first 12 weeks were the best thing for me and I hope to do the 

same for her. Her accent is pretty much the best thing ever. She always says things like "heaps and heaps" to say a lot. or 

the rubbish bin or lets go to the toliet. She has lots of cute little things that she says, anyways we are getting along well. 

It will be a good next 2 transfers. 

My new companion from New Zealand, Sister Andrew 

Remember how in my setting apart blessing President Lybert said that I would be known through out the mission as a 

hard worker? Well at Transfers we were giving Sister Anderson a hug and she told Sister Andrew that she had one of the 

hardest working sisters in the mission as her trainer. I love Sister Anderson. She always says just what I need to hear. Later that

day Sister Smith, one of our STL's, said the same thing. I was feeling very inadequate but these two inspired comments

 were truly words from the Lord that he trusted me. I am so grateful. 

This past week we felt very inspired to harvest in our ward mission leaders area. Before Harvesting we went to there house and asked if they wanted to come with us. Two of there girls readily agreed. We said a prayer together and then asked them to take us to all there friends houses. They, being young and fearless, did just that! It was a wonderful experience. People who normally would have refused us openly accepted us as they saw the kids with us. We were able to bless many wonderful families. People that we had knocked on before and didn't agree to let us pray were now happily accepting us. It was a miracle. Afterwards we talked with the family about how we had planted many wonderful seeds and how they could help harvest them. We talked about family home evening and they committed to inviting a particular family over the following week! It was so wonderful to truly work side by side with the members. It is no doubt slower, but ultimately I know it will lead to not only baptisms, but also continued activity. I have a strong testimony of member missionary work. 

Well I think that is all for now. I love being a missionary. I learn so much everyday. I miss you all but am never homesick. There is just not enough time to be. I love you all! 

Love,

Sister Hartley

You know that the missionaries are all together when the church parking lots looks like this! haha This way we don't have to back each other out. Also I am the designated driver now! It feels so good to be driving.

Victor and Neida were married on Saturday and then baptized on Sunday. The family is now complete!

Neida's Wedding day

It has been an amazing week here in Delray/Boynton. We got transfer news last night and I am staying and training! I am beyond excited to be training a new missionary. I will learn so much. This means that I will be in this area for at least another 3 months. I love this ward and area so much. I am getting to know the ward so well. 

Nedia made puffed wheat square.  She googled the recipe.  She said she hunted the grocery store high and low for all the ingredients.  What a sweetie.

We had a wonderful week. The weekend was especially a highlight. Victor and Neida were married on Saturday and then baptized on Sunday. The family is now complete! I love them so much! They have changed so much in such a short time. There family is much closer together and so much happier. They sure like to tease me about being Canadian. Especially about the whole "Squares" thing that I told Mom about last week. They truly are a miracle from the Temple. That is where it all started. I love them. They have there eyes set firmly on the Temple and are going to do what ever it takes to get there. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Mom thank you so much for sharing what you have been learning in PMG with me! That made me so happy. I love that you are studying it. I definitely agree with you that I feel like an investigator every time I read it as well. I am really working on trying to teach the Doctrines simply. I tend to make it more complicated that it needs to be. Role playing really helps with this. 

Well I know this is short... so much goes on that I just don't know how to put into words. I have lots of pictures that just say it all. 

I love you! I hope you have a wonderful week. Next week I will for sure send a picture of my little Greenie! Can't wait to meet her tomorrow. 

Love,

Sister Hartley 

                                      Victor and Neida's family are complete. Here is their journey:

The children get baptized

Neida and Victor get baptized.

The Victor and Neida get married.  The journey is complete!

Add caption

We see miracles as we labor.

Boy do I have a funny story for you! We were meeting with Victor and Neida to make plans for there wedding and we were talking about refreshments for after and I said, "We could just have relief society sisters bring cookies and squares" They all just looked at me so funny. All of them. What is a square? they all say? I was like you know "cookies or squares" They had no idea what I was talking about. Everyone I have asked since then has never heard of it described that way. They just say brownies or dessert... it was really funny anyways. I don't know it must just be a cardston thing. They also have never heard of puffed wheat squares before!!!! They have never heard of puffed wheat? Who would have thought eh? Can you please send me some puffed wheat? 

It is hard to believe that the last week of the transfer is here and with that the final week for Sister Price. We, like always, are motivated to give it our all and remain resolute until the end. We have no doubt that God will bless us with many wonderful miracles.

The work is progressing very steadily here in Delray. We recently met with our ward mission leader and helped him form a ward mission plan. We are focusing a lot on member missionary work in effort to strengthen the ward with strong, elect, whole and complete families. Yesterday started the  beginning of a ward 40 day fast for missionary purposes. In addition, we are encouraging each individual and family to create and implement a family mission plan. Bishop has allowed us to teach the upcoming 5th Sunday lesson to further help the members catch the vision and create there own plan. I am excited for it. The ward council is very supportive. We all work very well together. 

We love our area and continue to  We are excited for Victor and Neida's  marriage and baptism this weekend. We are working with several others that are progressing well. We are striving to have a consistent teaching pool. We have been finding much success as we prayerfully identify less actives to visit. God always leads us to someone to teach as we rescue. We felt very inspired to visit a less active family that we had been diligently working with but not seeing much action taken on there part. We weren't to motivated to go and see them again but the spirit directed us to so we did. When we knocked on the door an unfamiliar face answered. Turns out the Mother's brother just moved here and is currently living with them! We were able to teach him and solidify them all for church. He came and loved it! He has been reading in the Book of Mormon and is very excited for baptism. It is such a miracle. 

In the Book of Mormon I have been reading in Ether. What wonderful lessons we can learn. One that stood out to me was the importance of accountability. We must always return and report. Doing so gives us further instruction and enlightenment from God. It is when we forget to account with the Lord that we no longer progress becoming stagnant, comfortable, and thus prideful. The Brother of Jared and there families heeded God's guidance for a time but then sat still for 4 years because they were content with what they had. Think of what they could have done! Think of what I could do if I would consistently account with the Lord! In effort to do this, I am recording more in my journal each night as I pray... I write down the revelation he gives me and what he wants me to do so that I can report on it the next morning or night. What peace this has brought. 

I love Preach My Gospel and continue to learn and grow as I make it the center of my studies. How is your study of PMG coming? I am still patiently waiting to hear what you all are learning. One truth that I have been learning about is how death does not change our personality nor our desires for good or evil. Teaching this restored truth, especially to those who struggle with addictions, is powerful. How important it is to get things in order here while on earth, for that is the very purpose of life. When we die we will not all of a sudden be smart and have a full understanding, but rather our bank of knowledge and attributes will be but the same that we learned and worked for in this life. Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end! 

Love,

Sister Hartley 

Exchanges are wonderful.

It has been yet another week of miracles up in Delray North. Sister Price and I are doing well and it is hard to believe that our time together is drawing to a close. We are determined to remain resolute to the end. Looking back on our time together, I can see that she has taught me so much and I am most grateful. I think the biggest thing she has taught me is the importance of charity. We cannot help anyone unless we first love them. I will be eternally grateful for this lesson. 

We had exchanges this past week and I had the wonderful opportunity of being with Sister Smith. I love this dear Sister! I learned so much from her. Throughout the day she asked me inspired questions as to how I was doing and how our companionship was doing. I was really able to open up and recognize areas in myself that need attention. We talked a lot about how the Lord defines success and how I need not be so critical of myself. I feel a lot more peace within myself after the exchange and I am grateful to Sister Smith for being a Christlike leader. She is amazing. 

On exchange we saw a miracle with a couple we have been teaching that went to the open house. They need to be married but had not picked a date yet. Thus, our end goal for the lesson was to have a marriage date picked. The spirit was strongly present as Sister Smith and I worked together asking inspiring questions, sharing doctrine, and testifying. Finally, we concluded with promising blessings. It was amazing to just observe them after: they both looked at each other, pulled out there phone and examined the calendar. Then looking up they both smiled and said, "May 24 and baptized on the 25."! It was a wonderful moment and truly a miracle. 

We were in great need for new investigators on Saturday so we prayed earnestly that we would be able to teach as we found. God definitely granted us our desire as we knocked on Carlee's door. She loved the prayer and felt the spirit so strong. She accepted everything and we were able to teach her the Sabbath day to solidify her for church. The next morning we went to round her up and she was already up and getting ready! She came to church! Since we weren't able to teach her prior, she was confused as the speakers talked about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and other things. During gospel principles we took her and taught a powerful restoration lesson. We were able to have 2 members with us who were previously of the same religion that she was. She related to both members so well. It was an amazing experience and truly a miracle. Carlee is so excited to learn more and be baptized along with her husband! 

All in all, it has been a successful week. The Delray Beach ward continues to grown and be strengthened as we strive to reactivate and baptize strong elect families. We had a meeting with our ward mission leader this past week to help him for a ward mission plan and set specific plans as to how we will strengthen the ward. We are excited to put our plans into practice. 

Love,

Sister Hartley 

We are able to eat McDonalds for free.

Service project

Just cooking supper for everyone.