love everyone...

love everyone...as far as i can remember tate has had many friends from every walk of life.  he seemed to make friends easily and was always open to meeting someone new.  his friends for the most part knew where he stood on things...what was important to him...and never really tried to get him to do things that tate didn't agree with.this does not mean by any means that tate was not up for some good mischief...we all know the paper bag on the porch story...  he spoke in his farewell talk how he met a homeless man recently and talked to him for quite a long time.  tate spoke of how this conversation affected him and how his testimony grew of the Savior's love for everyone.  here is a paragraph from tate's letter home...

 the devotionals are amazing down here and when you get two thousand missionaries singing called to serve in one building, i get chills every time hah its the most insane thing i have ever witnessed. one thing i have learned over the past little bit is to love everyone. you may not know there background info or what there story is but everyone in this world chose to come to it and recieve the gospel, some just havent had the opportunity yet. that has changed my opinion of a lot of people here as well as home. everyone is just as deserving as the other one. god loves us equally. so that has been really cool. i have also realized that i dont care how many baptisms i have on my mission, i want people to find out for themselves why this gospel is so great! its not my job to force them into it....im just trying to make their relationship with god better! 

this is sweet hattie j. with her uncle tate....oh how he loves this little one!

                              this big "LITTLE" girl has stolen uncle tate's heart!


tate misses his friends and speaks often of them in his letters and how excited for them to go on their missions.  he has met new friends and looks forward to seeing his pocatello buddies in the mtc.


my companion continues to sleep talk EVERY NIGHT. thats pretty hilarious.

here is a key of the people i will probably talk about and who they remind me of. 

Elder Matagi (Samoan) is like my best friend here....he reminds me of ean and we laugh all the time...
Elder Grammer (huge kid from arkansas, on track team for Naval Academy) is hilarious and reminds me of Nick Bickley 
Elder Beeston (my baseball brother) haha we talk about baseball a lot and have a lot in common... you will get pictures of all these guys at some point...

 i love you guys and miss you guys but we got some advice from a member of the 70 yesterday.....HANG IN THERE... so thats what i am doing...i love it and cant wait to get to chile even if i struggle with the language and stuff! love you guys! 

first letter is here!

here is his first email home

hey everyone! my pday is monday so tahts when i wil be emailing everyone. im not going to worry about capitalizing and all that stuff because it takes too much time. mom can fix it if she wants. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM I LOVE YOU LOTS! eat some cake for me! k so here we go im gonna try and tell you as much as i can in thirty minutes.

 

my companions name is elder frost. he is from american fork and was a swimmer in highschool. he is a little socaially awkward and gets on my nerves a little bit but who wouldnt when you have to be with them 24/7. haha he is ok. i really just want to get to chile. but the mtc is awesome. actually, the first night, elder frost had a bad dream and woke up screaming and jumped off the top bunk and ate crap...scared me so bad...i yelled shit at the top of my lungs hahahahahah good way to start. anyways. my roomates are cool. i get along with one of them really well. his name is elder sperry. he looks like chris farley no joke. funny kid. very funny. he puts dads farts to shame. haha. ummm lets see...

 

my teacher is hermano snyder and i couldnt have asked for a better one. he makes spanish so fun and easy. they do not speak english to you at all so they pretty much force you to pick up the language quick. i can already testify, pray, and teach full lessons in spanish. its crazy what you can do with the spirit helping you.

 

my zone is the best zone here. i have elder jensen (blake) so thats good to know someone. but other then him i have a polynesian elder in my zone who reminds me of ean...he is probably one of my best friends at the time....we laugh everytime we talk...he is awesome...i will send pictures of him soon as well as others. there is also another kid who loves baseball and i get along with him really well...our zone leaders are cool as well. Elder nielsen is going to go play basketball at southern utah university when he is done....btw i tore it up in basketball the other day...haha didnt miss. there is also some very cool other elders that i will send pics of.

 

another cool thing is austin boyd lives two floors up in the same building. i talk to him every night and it makes me not so homesick haha. i love that kid to death. my branch president is a THUG. haha he has some major swag and looks like he is about 90. but its cool. he will interview me this next week so i will let you know how that goes.

 

at night, me and some of the elders play "corbata". its like horse but you spell corbata which is tie in spanish. the loser has to give up a tie to the winner. its hilarious.dani. i saw the hatch family eating there lunch and it made my day a lot easier...tell them thank you for talking to me ha. anytime i get letters or get to talk to people i know from home or something it helps me a lot. calms me down and stuff so taht was cool.

 

the food here at the CCM (tyson). thats mtc in spanish. is decent haha im just always hungry so everthign sounds good. hopefully i dont get fat...oh well...the chocolate milk is amazing. haha i do push ups and sit ups every night tho so i shoudl be good. i get really tired haha like mentally, spiritually, and physically. just because im not used to the schedule yet tho...so yeahhh...

 

oh by the way, i started reading the book of mormon again and i love it. i cannot get enough of it. it is amazing how i never really got into it before haha. crazy stuff that i actually read huh mom? i miss everyone so mom send pictures of family, friends, adn anything else.

 

during gym time we usually play basektball....or soccer...hahah i never thought soccer would be this fun but my zone is freaking hilarious and they kill me. its seriously like im with all my best friends again jsut not as crude:) i could compare so many people to all my friends...i like to people watch too! its fun.

 

TELL EVERYONE TO WRITE MORE. IF THEY SEND A LETTER ON DEARELDER.COM BEFORE 12. IT GETS TO ME THAT NIGHT. SO TELL EVERYONE EVEN IF IT IS JUST A PARAGRAPH:) PLEASE.but again happy birthday....dont worry about me...the lord is on my side and i am doing amazing...i cant believe ive been here almost a week...things are flying by!   TELL EVERYONE TO WRITE DANGET:):):)

and send pictures...of family and friends....i know i told you that a lot but i really want that. 

 

I LOVE YOU ALL AND CANT WAIT TO HEAR FROM YOU! LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD. YOUR BABY BOY IS DOING FINE AND I PRETTY MUCH RUN THE MTC NOW HAH....LOVE YOU BYE

 

ELDER TATE JOHN HARDING

goodbyes

goodbyes...are always hard no matter how you look at it.  tate had many goodbyes to say over the past few days.  they started on sunday for those who came to his farewell.  he said goodbye to coaches, teammates, friends and family members. tuesday was a full day and night of saying goodbyes...

                                 goodbye to laynie bo

                        goodbye to travis shelby abbie kannon
                                     laynie and madden

                          goodbye to troy tawna hunter 
                                  karson and jensyn

                                          the boys

                                         miss taigen

                                miss raegan

                                      tanner

tuesday night he was set apart as a full time missionary.  tate then said goodbye to both set of grandparents and his bishop.  

                                  bishop farnsworth

Wednesday morning came and tate was very emotional as it came time to leave.  this house that he had always called home had always been a safe haven for him no matter what was happening in his world was soon to become a memory.  he struggled leaving his room for the last time not knowing if it would ever be the same. i promised not to touch it!

                                         tate's room

then it was time for his dad to give him a father's blessing before we left.  his dad gave him a wonderful and peaceful blessing that all would be well for him.  during the blessing without coaxing or prompting his dog koda went over and jumped into tate's lap and buried her face in his lap.

                                    koda-tate's dog

                                                               

on the way to the mtc we were met by tyson dani and the girls...he sure loves this little family and those two little girls have his heart.  after tears and hugs and more tears and a final goodbye we set off again.  of course i sat in the back with my sunglasses on trying to be a big girl...tate decided or maybe it was greg that tate needed one more donut before he left so we pulled over to get one. we then headed further down the road to get some lunch.  we ate at zuppas which i am sure was delicious but none of had much of an appetite...all of our stomachs were rumbling

 the next stop was the provo temple to take a few pictures.

 it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our last few moments together... it was time to take him to the mtc.  I am not sure what i was expecting because it has changed from the time i dropped off tyson.  i remember trying to be so brave as we went in with tyson and watched the movie and sang the songs.  i felt like i was doing an amazing job until tyson reached over during the last song and grabbed my hand...i held that hand... the same one that used to fit into mine and was now being swallowed by my grown son...oh how i didn't want to let go.  this time with tate the new procedure is to drop the new missionaries off at the curb where they are met by other missionaries.  we pulled up and my heart was beating out of my chest and the tears were falling down my face.  tate hugged his dad and then gave me my last hug from him for two years.  instead of me comforting him he whispered to me...mom i am okay i will be fine...i couldn't even talk other then to say that i loved him...and goodbye...

elder harding...my little boy was on his way...till we meet again tate...goodbye...your mom loves you and is so very proud of who you are and what you are doing!

***from now on updates will be taken from tate's letters home***

the farewell

the farewell...as tate got up to speak and  i sat there looking at him and listening to him give the message that he had prepared my mind began to  wander.  this young man that stood before me was no longer my little boy.  gone were the days when he threw apricots over our neighbor's fence pelting their newly sided house.  gone was the little boy in a diaper that would bravely protect his BIG sister as they were sent to the storage room to retrieve something for me.  gone was the little boy who would smell like oatmeal after eating it for breakfast.  but now here  he was a young man who was ready to go into the world and serve the people of chile.  i sat and listened and wondered where the time had gone.  i miss those days and that little boy but i am excited for days to come. i guess i can say this young man will always be my little boy...

change

Tate assigned me to do a blog while he is gone on his mission to keep family and friends updated.  I have never done this before so Tate  thought I should practice...so here we go...

I have always said that I love change.  I love to paint a wall, move furniture around, buy new clothes, try a different food, new hair color...basically i love change. This summer has been a summer of change. 

I got married at 19 years of age and was a mom by the time I was 20.  So basically I have been a mom forever.  I never defined myself by anything else besides being a mom.  I loved every stage that my kids were in and felt like I kind of grew up right along with them.

Our house is about to be come very empty as Tate will be the last one to leave in a very short week.  It still seems like I should be running kids to practice or helping with homework or hurrying off to a game...like I said a summer of change.

Tate has always wanted to and said he was going to serve a mission.  I think he never thought otherwise.  Earlier this year  he was contacted by a college coach and offered a baseball scholarship to a school he really was excited about going to (UVU).  We went with him to talk to the coach and see the campus and I could just see the excitement in Tate's eyes.  This was a pretty big deal for a kid from Pocatello Idaho to get an offer like this.  I remember thinking to myself that I was now not sure if Tate would want to serve a mission but decide to go play baseball instead.  Baseball is something Tate would do every day if he could.  I later asked Tate what he was his thoughts were.  He told me that first he would serve a mission and if the baseball thing worked out than it was meant to be.  

Tate's baseball scholarship is being held for him while he is on his mission.  Tate had faith all along that things would work out.  That is one of the many things I love about this boy...he just knows.

Like I said before...I love change...

Farewell will be at 11:00 A.M. at the Satterfield Church Building, there will be food afterwards at the house so come and eat! Hope to see you all there!

Tate was not allowed to run a blog on his mission, but I will be keeping everyone up to date on a weekly basis along with pictures! Stay tuned for more information! Thanks a ton for everyone's support!