i just love THIS missionary...

i just love THIS missionary... i know that i may seem like i am saying this just because i am his mom but....seriously he is the cutest!  he knows how to brighten his mom's day.  i love the words that he writes and the message that he teaches through his letters.  it has been so rewarding to see the growth of tate that has happened throughout his mission.  i can see and feel that his testimony has grown and he truly loves the people of chile.  i love his attitude of always looking on the bright side of things.  even when we have trials and circumstances of our own that seem unbearable if we try to keep a positive attitude we will be able to cope better.  this missionary of mine is the best and this mom loves him to the moon and back!

***on a side note tate signed to play baseball for utah valley university in orem utah this week.  we are thankful and grateful that they honored tate's scholarship while he was on his mission.

tate's message...

 It makes me realize that everything really does happen for a reason. God really does do everything for our benefit here on earth…and sometimes we forget it. I remember the scripture in doctrine and covenants 121 when Christ says  

7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

 8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

This week started pretty well. Monday started with the normal Monday office meeting. Always good to see what everyone will be doing during the week. Now I know why dad always had us do that as one of the first things during the family home evenings. Ha thanks for preparing me dad. Then we ate lunch and headed straight to a meeting with president. We are in the process of doing the changes. I feel like we just did that and now we are doing them again. But it is a tiring process but a really cool one to see how inspired the changes really are. Every move president makes is for the benefit of the missionaries.  I'm grateful for a god who gives me everything so I can progress and be better. 

Tuesday was a Santiago day as we headed up at 530 in the morning to meet elder Archibalds (the secretary of the mission, I live with him) brother who is serving in chile. President gave him permission to go see him in the airport! It was way cool! So awesome to see brothers hug after two years ha! Then we went and made me legal here in chile….no im just kidding. I was legal…just didn’t have a Chilean ID that was up to date. So that took all day long. It was pretty fun though. A Santiago trip is always really tiring but its fun to go up there once in a while as well. We got back and finished a bunch of stuff we were going to need for the end of the week.

Wednesday I headed down to Santa Cruz to help some missionaries divide their sector. I went down there with elder archibald (the one and only from Canada in our mission). We had a nice little drive through the Chilean countryside. I got back and we headed out to go do divisions with villa teniente. (One of my old sectors). I went with a Mexican named elder favila. QUE VIVA LA RAZA. The Mexican elders are sick. We had a really good lesson with some of their investigators who are getting ready to get baptized. I love teaching people.

 Thursday we headed down to talca to do divisions also. I went with elder lazerson from Orem. We didn't teach that much but we had some good conversations on what we could do better. I drove home and we didn't get home until like 1:30 AM. So I was pretty tired.

 We woke up Friday and had to be at the mission home for a meeting with some hermanas from the mission. It was like 22 sister missionaries. And us two. Hahah it's weird being the only two elders. But it went really well.. and then afterwards we did another division. I went with elder baldomero from Hawaii. We had one of the coolest lessons I have ever had. We taught a family of three and we read mosiah 18 with them and when we got to the part about Them “desiring to be baptized”. We asked them to share their testimonies about why they want to be baptized…. I haven’t felt the spirit like that in a really long time. The grandma who has cancer and is the funniest little thing ever bore the most pure testimony of feeling in her heart that its what she needed to do and how she wanted to arrive clean before her savior. It was a really cool lesson. I really do love the Chilean people. It will break my heart to leave them. I hate to even think about it.

 Saturday (today) was SO GNARLY! We went to a place called coya, where we have gone before, but we went to another place up there. Waterfalls and amazing views.. But I love you guys.

elder harding....yall  

WHAT is on your list?

WHAT is on your list?  its that time of year when spring cleaning is on my mind.  the sun starts to shine after a long winter and i want to dig in to every closet, drawer, corner and space to de-junk it. i am a list maker.   i start by making a list of everything i want to accomplish and then i dive into the project.  each time i accomplish something on my list i draw a line through it.  this may be weird but it gives me great satisfaction to see the list get shorter and shorter.  tate's letter home this week has me thinking about another kind of list that i will be making.  a spiritual list.  the things that i need to work on.  i am not sure if i will ever be able to cross things off of this new list as it will be things i must continue to work on.  this list will be a personal list between myself and my heavenly father.  this list will not hang on my fridge but will always be on my mind.  this list will keep me busy long after my spring cleaning  is finished.  i better get busy!

tate's message...


WHAT is on your list?. One thing that hit me hard was a quote that a kid used in his talk about diligence. He said that joseph smith once said, “there is no room in this church for the slothful.” We should always be diligently striving to be better. (or something close) and it made me think how we really do have to be taking advantage of the time we have and be getting better every single day. Pick something that you struggle with and work on it diligently until you fix it! And then once you have mastered it. Pick the next think you struggle with! That’s my challenge this week.

monday was busy and crazy.  we had many medical issues to help with some missionaries.  all is well now but it was quite the day.

tuesday we had another zone conference and it went well. i have a cold now so that sucks but it went well and yes we ate the same thing again...so its getting really really old now. afterwards we got stuff ready for the rest of the conferences and then had a meeting with president about changes... i cant believe we already started talking about them again. i feel like we just did them. time is going by too fast.

 Wednesday we headed down to santa cruz to do do the zone conference down there. It went really well and afterwards we did some divisions. I went with elder Hernandez from Guatemala. He is a really cool kid. We had an amazing day and taught a ton of lessons. At one point we found ourselves in a part called “la granja”. It was a fifteen minute bus ride from town and it was straight Chilean countryside. It was so cool to just walk down the dirt roads and talk with the country people. They are always so nice and willing to listen and just about give you everything they have. We taught a really cool lesson about the Ten Commandments to some investigators that are getting ready to get baptized. They are amazing people. When we left it was pretty late and we walked outside and it was the prettiest thing ever. The moon was huge and then the stars were way visible because we were not by any city lights. I think Chilean countryside at night is one of my favorite things now. That’s how we ended the night. I was still feeling pretty crappy but my comp was pretty tired from driving there so I drove home.it  wasn’t too bad though. We got home at about 1230 and then went straight to bed. 

630 in the morning came pretty fast and we were on the road to talca. A two hour drive. My comp drove down so I just knocked out and took a good old nap. But we ended up having two conferences that day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. So mentally draining . the afternoon session was my favorite conference so far.That night we stayed in a hotel  it was so weird but also a cool experience. I slept really well and it was the best shower I have yet to have here in chile…so lucky me! They actually had a water heater at the hotel so it was like I was showering back at home.

 We woke up, ate breakfast, and were off to do the last two conferences in Curico. They went really well. It was a really cool experience to see the whole mission and meet all the missionaries but it also felt good to finish. We cleaned up, said our goodbyes, and headed out to home sweet home. Good ole Rancagua to our penthouse suite. 

  Here are the links of some easter videos i would like to share with you!

http://easter.mormon.org/?cid=HPTU041514694

https://www.lds.org/topics/easter/videos

i'm so grateful to know that Christ not only died for us. But that HE LIVES. And that is what is so important. He died so we could be forgiven and he resurrected so we can live again. I love Christ. And I know that without a doubt we need to be more like him if we are going to be able to face the challenges that lie ahead.

 So start with my challenge. Pick one thing. And work on it till you master it. I love you all. WE ARE GOING TO ANOTHER BEACH on monday! “BRO”AD TRIP. LATERS. 

where is YOUR heart?

where is YOUR heart?   this past weekend i had the opportunity to go on a little road trip with my daughter to see the grand daughters.  we visited about life and about struggles and trials and heart aches and life's lessons and what it all means in our journey here on earth.  i expressed to her that although i try my hardest to be the best i can be in all i do and say that i often wonder and worry about what people say about me.  i feel like i am a good person and that i try to be a good example but i sometimes fall short and make mistakes.  sometimes i say things that i later regret or wish i had said in a different way.  sometimes my feelings get hurt and i say something in anger.  although i try my best i am not perfect.  my sweet daughter then said something to me that was just what i needed to hear.  she said..."mom i have learned that you cannot worry about what other people say about you.  only you and heavenly father know what is in your heart.  if they truly know and love you they will know the truth."  oh how i needed to hear these words.  i am thankful for a daughter that teaches me.  i am truly blessed!

tate's message...where is YOUR heart?

 And elder wall told us a story of how one day he was In a devotional with a general authority and he told all of them that he knew what kingdom they were going to. And he asked them if they would like to know. Obviously all of them said yes. And he told them "you will be in the kingdom where you want to be, and where your heart is. So where is your heart?"  It was such a cool story and to think about how true it really is. So everyone...where are your hearts?

So Monday started off really good. We had our normal meeting with the office in the morning and then we just ate lunch and headed over to presidents house to have a meeting and set some stuff up for this week and all the conferences.

 Tuesday Thursday Friday and Saturday we had zone conferences. All about Christ. So amazing to be able to focus in him and how we can be more like him. That is honestly what we did this week. Conferences conferences conferences. The other things we did were divisions.

 Wednesday we got the opportunity to go to buin and we ate lunch with a matrimony (the walls) who work up there as couple missionaries. 

 We got to do divisions in an old sector and I got to see a few old friends so that was always really cool. . Walking around all day in the street. But at the end of that day it payed off. We taught a really good lesson about the Book of Mormon.

 Also we did divisions the next day. I went with my best friend elder Loar and it was another hard day but it was good for me to get with him and be able to relax just a little bit. 

These last few weeks have been crazy so I'm glad he helped me chill out a little bit and just have some bro time.

 Friday was the same thing. Another zone conference.

 Sorry this email is so short and lame. But one thing I want to invite you to do is read alma 5. President has been talking about how useful this chapter is in our lives. It's a lot of questions we need to ask ourselves as we think about what is really important and if we are doing all possible to be better daily.

 Love you guys. Chao!!! 

elder harding

trunky papers...WHAT?

trunky papers...WHAT?

okay for a mom a mission can be a long thing... and when tate told me that he has a date that he is coming home i wanted to cry...for two reasons.  i am crying out of happiness that a date has been set for when he is coming home and i get to hug that 6'3 little boy...and tears for him because i know he loves his mission and how hard it will be for him to leave. i have come to count on his letters to bring me up when life's trials have brought me down...i have learned from him through his testimony and thus my testimony has grown...i have made it through things that i never thought i would have to EVER deal with and his loving words have helped me along the way.  this little boy of mine has held my hand all the way from chile and told me that it will all be okay.  i love this missionary of mine and am going to go circle AUGUST 14Th on my calendar right now....

tate's message...

also today the secretaries sent me my “trunky papers”… those papers are when I fill out all the info about when I go home and what airport and all that stuff….. Never thought that day would come. Just means time to make every second worth it out here and work hard until the end.

Monday we were in the office all day doing a slide show and preparing everything for the monthly meeting with all the zone leaders and the sister leaders. It took so long we didn’t even leave the office until like midnight. But we got to the house and even had to plan more so didn’t even get to bed until like 2. But sometimes a little sacrifice is good. Teaches me a lesson about what really serving with everything you have is all about.

 It was pretty crazy but it all paid off the next day when we had an awesome meeting. One thing that stuck out to me was about the preparation in all things… everything we do in life requires preparation. Also someone shared about our own personal testimonies of the book of Mormon.  And they asked a pretty good question. When was the last time we had asked if the book of Mormon is true? Sometimes we forget that we need to keep strengthening our own testimonies and need to receiving spiritual confirmations of the truths that we believe. I know I can be a lot better about that and I invite you to as well.  It was a really good meeting and the lunch was amazing. It was sad to know that was the last time that I will some of my friends there because they go home this change… We actually got out to the sector last night and had some really good contacts and talked to a lot of really good people…im excited to see where that goes even though we don’t get into the sector a whole lot. It is still worth it every time we can get out there.

 We were walking around and at about 9:30 president gave us a call and told us to go back to the office and make some phone calls. There had been an earthquake in Chile of 8.0 or something and that there was a rumor of tsunamis hitting the beaches. We have two sectors in the mission who are on the beach. Pichilemu and Constitucion. So we had to call those missionaries and tell them that everything was fine they just needed to get away from the beach and go to their houses. It was pretty gnarly though because afterwards we got a call saying the elders from pichilemu were on a hill waiting with their bishop haha….he went to go pick them up. But nothing ended up happening. 

 Wednesday we woke up and got some good study time in…and then we headed up to buin to do some divisions. I went out with elder doyle and we had a really good day. He is a way cool convert of only three years but has a really solid testimony. I learned a lot from him. We had some really good lessons. Once again I learned a lesson about how we need to always be sharing our own testimonies to reassure ourselves of the truths we already know. But it is absolutely necessary… 

Thursday we were practically in the office the whole day after going to a district meeting…we were getting all the stuff ready for the zone conferences.

 Friday was the zone conferences and it was so amazing… all we did was talk about Christ. It was amazing! i know that Christ lives and that he is our savior. Without a doubt.

 I am really stoked for conference! Listen to all the talks but even more important….APPLY THEM! That is always the harder part but the part that brings the blessings! Love you guys!! Chao!

Elder Harding