Scavenger Hunt (4/23/18)

Hey guys, I hope you all have had a great week! This week has really flown by fast, a lot has happened. To start off we went down to Asahikawa...again. This time was just for splits. Also we had an awesome District activity that Monday! We had a city wide scavenger hunt which was really fun! We had some really crazy things to find like 10 taxis in one photo, somebody named Kobayashi, and a Lamborghini! It was tons of fun and I was paired with one of my favorite Elders in the mission, Elder Takano! We found just about everything on the list but nobody could find the Lamborghini. We even went to the travel office in the Asahikawa Eki and asked them to call various toy stores to find one. We then found out that not only did no store have one, but that a lot of people had come in asking these various stores! We made it seem like they had become a hit item all of a sudden, I just hope that they didn't order a bunch of them just to find they aren't so popular anymore, Haha!

Then I had splits which went pretty well. What was really sad though, was that because I couldn't bring bikes down my companionship didn't get to ride them. A few hours into proselytizing and we get a call from the other Elders... some random teenager ran into the other Elders (specifically the person who was riding the bike which belonged to the Elder I was splitting with) and ended up destroying the back tire of the bike. Then they rode off and ran away. In the end they were able to get a new tire for about 30 dollars.

The day we got back was also an interesting day as we were able to suddenly meet some friends at the Library as we were walking back from the train station to our apartment. Certainly some Heavenly coincidences. We also had an investigator of ours bring an entire lunch for her dance group and the church members here after Church.  Recently a friend of hers died and it seems like we were the only ones who sent any words of encouragement. At that time she was feeling rather depressed and that's when our text came. We sent a scripture from the Book of Mormon. She seemed to have really have been touched by that.

I hope all of your guys' weeks have been fantastic!

Love y'all

Elder Harvey

 This tricycle was 3000 dollars! 

For these pictures we had to get a 7-11 a Lawson and Seicomart combini(convenience stores) all in one picture.

Special Wakkanai Ice cream we got from an investigator. 

Miracles Inbound (4/16/18)

Hello Everyone.

I hope you have all been well. Things have been busy as ever. We had to go down to Asahikawa which always makes things that much busier! We had a wonderful Zone conference which was a highlight for sure. The day before we had Zone activity which was nice. We played a combination of scattergories, are you smarter than a deacon, and whose line is it anyway. The highlight of it was the whose line is it anyway! Some really great acting there. It was kind of funny because for some reason we were doing it all in English so some of the Japanese missionary's English was hilarious!

During this Zone conference we talked about a lot of things. We talked about dust mites and dignity, how we've changed, faith and more. But to me the message that stuck with me most was about motives. We talked about coming to really love the Lord and examining ourselves. Up to now I don't think I've ever truly examined myself before. It was mostly about examining our motives and trying to become more in line with the Savior's motives. As we do so we will find dramatic changes in our lives and will continuously find more joy. I was able to learn a lot about learning who I am and was able to apply it. It was a really great exercise and I learned a lot, I would highly recommend it to everyone.

Some other highlights are some big miracles that happened on Saturday!  We started off the day by going to an appointment with an investigator. She wasn't there. So we go to the Library for studies and find 2 less active members inside! We already had an appointment scheduled for 12:30 that same day and we were able to get the other less active member to come as well! Then, right as we finished talking with them we get a call from the investigator who wasn't home apologizing for not being there. We told her we were still close by and she told us to come over! Truly a series of blessings that came in the Lords time table! We were also able to meet with a few other people and make some appointments with new people. Once again we are going down to Asahikawa but I'm excited for when we get back! Miracles are on the way!

I hope you all can see the daily miracles in your lives and continue to find joy in the miracle of your family and friends!

Love y'all

Elder Harvey

Soya Misaki! (4/9/18)

Hey guys! This week went by super fast! We spent a lot of his week trying to find new people to teach. It has been really awesome! I also got to go to a bunch of places in Wakkanai that I've never been to before! To name one, I went to the Northern most point in Japan on Monday! It was crazy! We went with one of our investigators, who we also met with a lot this week, and one of the sisters in our ward. It was really fun! Right now we are on a train to go down to Asahikawa until Thursday. Kinda nice though because our heater just broke! Haha We also had general conference the past 2 days which has been great.  It was a little lonely watching it with only my companion and I.  Though I guess that happens every year because we watch it in English.

It was great to hear all the amazing messages given and all the things that I was taught. I'm also looking forward to restudying them! About half way through Conference I really just wanted it to end already so I could start reading them over again! I know that as we follow President Nelson's council to do so we will strengthen our testimonies and come closer to heaven! I'm looking forward to being able to continue to change!  To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

I love you guys!

Elder Harvey

Northernmost point of Japan where you can see Russia.

The Life, and the Legend (4/2/18)

Hello Everyone. I hope you had a great week! Mine was, once again really busy! This week on Thursday an old missionary came back to Wakkanai. He served here about 2 years ago and was already out of the mission by the time I first got here. He is a legendary missionary that is still being talked about from time to time. His name is Youza. He was an absolutely amazing missionary that everyone looked up too.  We had a chance to eat dinner with him and he's a way awesome guy. He just graduated Tokyo University, the best college in Japan. He has come up because he got married this past week! Woohoo!

Other than that a lot has happened. We have been able to meet with a lot of less active members and friends who are interested in our message. We also ended up playing a lot of ping pong this week too.

Our branch president absolutely loves ping pong so it helps bring him and our other friends - haha! We also were able to make a bunch of new friends this week. We have been really trying hard to make time to go out and find some new people to teach. It's really easy to just fill yourself with busy work, but we have been trying to use our time a lot more effectively. In all it was a great week!

This last Sunday was awesome, unfortunately General Conference for me is a week late but that gave us a fast Sunday on Easter which was really awesome. We had 2 less active members here this day as well. It was really cool to be able to really focus on the resurrection of the savior and how we know he really Lives! That one fact has so much importance in our eternal lives. It was a moment of eternal glory and meaning. Because he Lives, we will conquer death, because he lives, God is truly our Father in Heaven, because he lives, his teachings really lead back to God, because he lives, we can have eternal Joy with Him.

I love you all and hope you have an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Harvey

Busy, busy, busy! (3/26/18)

This week has been really awesome! We have been able to meet with a lot of people and talk with them about God. It was really great to see people's eyes light up as they saw what this all meant for them and their families! It is great to see just how much we can gain from the gospel and the blessings that come with that knowledge. I hope everyone has had a great week and will have another awesome week following!

The snow here is starting to melt which is really nice. I hope we will be on bikes soon! In this week we have walked all over the place. I feel like I've gone over our entire area land wise in just this one week! This next week is also going to be very busy but I am looking forward to it! This week we had a less active member come to church for the first time in a number of decades! It was great and he really felt the spirit! I love how church, no matter where you are in the world, can be such an amazing place!

I love you guys and hope you all have an awesome week!

Love

Elder Harvey

Transfers! (3/19/18)

This week has been awesome! I said goodby to one of my absolute favorite companions Elder Gonzalez, he got transferred down to Hakodate! Which means I'm still up here in Wakkanai! I got a new companion from Oregon. His name is Elder Shum. He's way awesome and was trained by one of my past companions Elder Smith.

This week we spent a lot of time saying good bye to people right before Elder Gonzalez left. We even met people that I had never met before! It's absolutely crazy just how many people we have up here to teach! So of course this week has been a lot of getting Elder Shum used to the new area and going around setting up appointments! In all it has been a great week and we were able to have a few lessons too!

Things are going great here as usual! I hope you guys are all having a great week too and continue to see the Love of others in your lives!

The train ride down and back from Asahikawa took forever. Literally took all day. Unfortunately that morning I had to say goodbye to Elder Gonzalez as he took a bus. He got on the bus at 6:30 in the morning and arrived at Hakodate sometime around 10:00 at night. I felt so bad for him. Anyway I love you all and hope you continue to have a great week!

Love

Elder Harvey

Finally made it back!! (3/12/18)

Hey guys! I hope you all have had a great week. This week has been awesome for us! It felt so great to be back in Wakkanai with all the people I have come to love so much!

This week we were able to meet with a lot of our friends and had a lot of great discussions about the gospel. It was great to see how these people have come to learn more about Jesus Christ and their Heavenly Father while I have been here. We also met with a few less active members and got to see their testimonies start to rekindle. It was great when we showed up to one less active member and he instantly asked us to come over again to teach him this last Friday! He has such a sincere desire to know God and to feel his love. Before we could even think to ask when to meet again he had already set a date for our next appointment! I absolutely love being on the Lords errand. I know that God loves each and everyone of us and is helping us walk back towards him. He is right by our side every step of the way! I hope you guys all have a great week and are preparing for General conference! I can't wait! Oh and this week is transfers so I will be sure to tell y'all any changes.

Love,

Elder Harvey

Here are some pics of some dessert we made for a ward pot luck.  

This was my breakfast.  Take out the granola and that's what we had under the chocolate. It took way more time than first anticipated. 10/10 will not make again as a missionary. Though it was delicious the yogurt was plain yogurt with strawberry or blueberry jam mixed with raisins kiwis and banana. All in all it was a hit. Might do it again after the mission.