wE WiLL fInD tHeM...

wE WiLL fInD tHeM...everyday we have the opportunity to touch the lives of others for the good.  we see people in the stores...people we work with...our neighbors...our friends...our family members.  there are good people everywhere.  it is our opportunity to be good examples to them.  to really listen...to really care...to serve them...to teach them.

tate's message...

one thing that i did learn this week was IF WE LOOK FOR 

OPPORTUNITIES TO SHARE THE GOSPEL WITH 

OTHER PEOPLE......WE WILL FIND THEM. i promise you that.

 i feel like a lot of the time we don't really look for opportunities but if we were to look for them in our every day lives....we would find them everywhere... this gospel is everywhere and it will help anyone.... who wouldn't want an eternal family? who wouldn't want a ward family behind their back supporting them in their trials? who wouldn't want the opportunity to start over again through the atoning sacrifice of our brother jesus christ? EVERYONE DOES.....so do the little things and look for those opportunities in everything you do. 

this week was really really humbling. it was a chilean holiday kinda like there july fourth down here so no one was home and no one let us in. the weekend went a little bit better for us and we definitely got some good visits....actually something crazy just happened...we just got a call from our investigator rita who has cancer and she went to the hospital and ended up fainting so we had to find a member to go look for her. that is pretty crazy...please keep her in your prayers as we had a lesson with her last night she was really worried about some stuff and really needs all the support she can get... she cant even get enough energy to go to church but all she wants to do is get baptized...its really sad. i hope we can help her. but she always has the attitude I KNOW I WILL LEAVE THAT HOSPITAL HEALTHY ONE DAY. remember her this week for me.

tomorrow i go to santiago again for my toe appointment... it healed fine and everything so i should be good. other than that it is starting to get really freaking hot here. summer is definitely starting.... it is cool in the mornings and then burning hot by 3 o clock in the afternoon. ummm anything else....general conference is coming up so we are excited for that...and we have changes here in two weeks. i think i will stay here but i am not really sure. we will see! 

i love you guys! have a good week! also sorrell keep tearing it up coach.... sounds like you are gonna be head coach here pretty soon!

elder harding! 

mOmMAs bOy...

mOmMAs bOy...so tate is the baby of the family...it is true and he likes to make it known that he is my favorite...(this is not true).  tate was born with a happy go lucky kind of outlook.  he was always laughing and always smiling and did not like conflict.  when tyson and taryn were old enough to both be in school tate and i would hang out all day.  we would go to lunch almost every day...he was my little tag along.  i could never stay very mad at him even when his hair would get long or he would grow out that beard of his...he would always just hug me and tell me not to worry and squeeze me tight until i couldn't breathe...

this is tate's message to me on my birthday...

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM. i want to say thanks to literally the best mom in the world. i don't know any other mom who would wake up every day for us during grade school and dance and sing during breakfast...

 mom i know sometimes i gave you a little scare with some of the things me and my friends did haha but just know i loved you and whenever i did something i always thought first "i wonder how mad my mom would get if i got caught" not saying i always followed the right way but maybe i will tell you some of those stories later...

 haha anyways i just want to say thank you. literally for everything you do. for spoiling me like crazy and for just being the example you are. you were never scared to tell us how it is, or to let us learn through our own mistakes and i know that is a good mom. i know it wasn't always easy hiding that i am the favorite child....but we made it through it together:) i love you mom! we all love you more than you know...and we owe everything we have to you and what you taught us! i love you 

SOOOOO this week was a little more exciting. i got to leave practically the whole week and we got some work done but it was still a really rough week i guess you could say.

 we had a hard time finding people to teach and it just seemed like a trial week so we are hoping to have a good week and find some good people to teach this week. one thing that i did learn tho was about praying, patience, and rest. i was reading in alma 34: 39-40 and it caught my eye. 

so i know that sometimes we have a lot of trials and things but one thing we sometimes forget to do is PRAY. if you aren't doing it...i invite you to start.

 god wants to hear you and is waiting. he will always listen. but you have to be willing and humble follow his guidance also. next thing is we must be patient....we always want everything in this world NOW NOW NOW...

 we need to learn to be patient and learn that everything has its time and if we do our part it will be okay. and then we just need to realize that we may never have rest in this life....

that maybe patience will have to last all throughout this life until the next life begins... that one might be the hardest... i love you all. pray and be patient in all things.

 i promise you blessings. 

tate would like you all to go to this link and watch and listen to this song...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr5Kzy4FF1g

love tate!

TiMe...

TiMe...time is something we can never get back.  we rush here and there trying to fit as many things as we can in a day.  we are busy and tired and feel like we have no extra time.  minutes turn into hours and days turn into weeks and so on and so on...we must find time to fit the important things into our lives.  (tate lost his camera booo!)

tate's thoughts...

i starting thinking about TIME. how we are always losing it. this past year of my life has been going by insanely fast and i realized that i only have one year left on my mission....i have  hit like a mid mission crisis or something haha... but anyways...time is something really important in our lives. maybe we feel that we don't have time to keep making the same mistakes over and over when we know they are  wrong? maybe we feel that we don't have time to forgive others for what they have done? we do not know what is going to happen tomorrow...so we need to start today changing and become the person god wants us to be. don't waste time, because we will never gain it back... i had the chance to listen and watch the dvds from travis's funeral during the time in the house and i realized that travis was not one to waste his time...maybe he wasn't always on time to everything or anything like that...but he always had a plan and was always using his time to get better or to do something productive.. i have a year left on my mission to show the lord that i am giving it all to him. i challenge you to do the same...we do not know how much time we have left in this life...so start changing today and use your time as it if all mattered...just like during sports....we gotta play this game as if it were our last!

 FAMILY!!! whats up? i'm just chilling walking around in one church shoe and a flip flop on the other... i'm looking like a thug.... anyways... this week was really good in the beginning..tuesday night we had a devotional with elder viñas and i learned tons!! A COUPLE THINGS HE SAID: revelation is not our ideas of what is right....and that revelation cant go against what has already been taught...for example if someone says i woke up and received revelation that it is better for me not to go to church....obviously that isn't revelation...also that revelation isn't to know what will happen in the future...it is to know what could happen if we do our part and follow gods plan and his teachings... pretty interesting.!! also just wanted to let everyone know that GOD LOVES YOU GUYS!! sooo just remember that this week if you are having a hard time! 

we also saw a miracle of prayer. the other elders that we live with were having a really hard day and couldn't find anyone....we told them we would pray for them....we then got busy in the house talking and almost forgot....but as we got together and remembered to pray for them...fifteen minutes later they called us. they had found a man who had been praying to god for help just before they knocked his door....prayer works...that man is now on a track to get baptized next month... god is listening....love you guys!!

chao!! love you 

booK oF mormoN storieS...

booK oF mormoN storieS...  when tate was a little boy he would get out his action figures (starwars, cowboys and indians and corps)  to play with.  he would build mountains and forts for them and play inside the house  and outside in the dirt with them.  mingled among all of those action figures was his book of mormon action figure heroes...  nephi, stripling warriors, captain moroni, ammon and samuel the lamanite were always in on the action too.

the first primary song tate learned was book of mormon stories:                                                              Book of Mormon stories that my teacher tells to me 
Are about the Lamanites in ancient history.
Long ago their fathers came from far across the sea,Giv’n the land if they lived righteously 

above tates bed is this poster...

i am so thankful that he has always believed in the truthfullness of the  book of mormon and is now teaching the people of chile.

this is tate's message this week...

 i want to say one thing so mom has something to put on my blog! READ THE BOOK OF MORMON. its true. and it has all the answers we need. amen :)

soooooo this week was an interesting week! it started off with changes on tuesday and it was crazy. all the missionaries were supposed to arrive at the train station at 8.....not one single one showed up so it was a mess trying to send them all down on bus and getting all their luggage and all there too! crazy stuff! 

 then the week went on and on thursday i had a doctors appointment in santiago so we headed up there and did a few cool things to enjoy ourselves...  we ate at taco bell AND pizza hut. we climbed a castle... and we went to the temple store...  so not too bad of a trip. the doctor saw my toe though and just said... oh my gosh i just want to do surgery right now!

 here is a picture of it... you will probably throw up! but don't worry the picture is when it was at its worst...but then the week went on and it was still really a chill week considering the doctor told me not to walk a lot so one day i stayed at a members house while we did divions and my comp went out with some young men. that SUCKED.

  we did something way cool today and went back to a part of my old sector to a huge  market type thing. it sells all sorts of real chilean things so that was way cool to go back there and look at all the chilean stuff!

 this week after wednesday will not be fun because  i have to stay in the house and try not to walk for  3 or 4 days. i am gonna go crazy.  this thursday Elder Viñas is coming to do a zone conference and teach us a few things. so that should be really cool.

 i'm sorry for not saying much that is interesting this week! it was a really long and crazy week full of things that just didn't have much significance.

love you 

elder harding! 

sUcCeSs...

sUcCeSs...I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. MIchael Jordan

success comes from getting up after disappointment or failure and trying again and again.  we often get discouraged after many failed attempts but think of the unknown successes that would come from trying just one more time? or this little gem of advice :)  ..."if at first you don't succeed, do it like your mother told you!

tate's message on success...

 one thing i have been thinking about a lot lately is the word success.... but what is success? is success something the world defines? or something god defines? it was on my mind a lot lately and i came to the conclusion that no matter what....all the success that the world can give you doesn't mean anything....but the success in gods eyes means everything. a lot of the time we look for worldly success...which isn't always a bad thing...but a lot of the time we need to look for godly success and see if we are doing the things that will truly matter to us in the end. we always need to have an ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE. so my invitation is to sit back and think about putting the things of god first in your life and being successful to him, before you think about being successful in the world. both are fine. but one is definitely more important and will help us more in the end.... 

WELL as usual this week flew by my face and we are already starting a new change.  elder dixon and i will stay together for another change here as zone leaders but it was pretty sad to hear that elder page is going to leave. we wanted him to stay... but everything happens for a reason! i am really happy to be staying with elder dixon for one more change and it looks like we are going to have a really good change! at least we are hoping so!

 some cool things that happened this week were we found a miracle family.... we were walking down a road looking for a totally different person when all of the sudden we see a lady hanging out her window. so we waved and just thought nothing of it.... a few seconds later i thought i heard someone say elders!.... so i turned to my comp and said we are going to go talk to this lady....right as we turned around she was already looking at us and told us to wait and before we knew it we were talking to her at her gate....we asked if we could come in and she let us in. we then came to find out that her husband is a member but they are separated now and that they have had the missionaries before and that they are looking for something more in their life. !!

 amazing what god does when we do our part. also one of the teenage girls i found back in buin got baptized the other day so that was amazing to hear that she finally got into the water. nothing better then to hear that someone you found finally got baptized and made a covenant with god... i have come to find out that i seem to do that a lot in my sectors....i"m not the one who reaps the numbers or who gets all the glory...but every time i have left a sector someone i found has got baptized...and that makes it worth it.

that is my week family! i love you all 

love you guys! 

 

chao!!! elder harding 

mY bRoThEr...nIcK...

mY bRoThEr...nIcK...tate always talked about a coach SORRELL. 

                                                     nick and tate senior year

 he liked him...he looked up to him...he considered him a friend...and now tate has him as a brother.  nick joined our family a little over a year ago after dating taryn for two years.  he joined this big mormon family...not really knowing what to expect.  he has jumped right in at family reunions...family dinners...family get togethers.  he usually has at least one or two kids hanging on him at any given time.

                             gramma kunz and her grandsons
                                 nick and tate on the right

  he is my favorite son in law.  i love him for who who he is and what he stands for.  he is hard working and honest and a great example to our family.  the kids he coaches and teaches look up to him and consider him a role model.  his classroom is full every lunch period with kids that just need a place to be.  they feel safe there and nick makes sure of that.  i love that he is a good husband to taryn.  they fit together perfect.  we feel pretty blessed to have nick as part of our big crazy family.  this is what tate has to say about nick...

                                                 andy nick and tate at graduation

i want to shout out to one of my best friends also....happy birthday SORLLLLLLLLL.... thanks for the example you are to me in everything you do. you have had a huge influence in my life... probably more than you know.... as my freshman football coach... freshman baseball coach....jv football coach.... jv baseball coach....varstiy footall coach....and varsity baseball coach.... i know that the things i learned from playing under you have helped me out here and will continue to help me for my whole life... thank you for being an example to me... love you man! have a good one...OH AND YOURE GETTING OLD... 

                              
                      nick and tate and taryn with

                               tates mission call

SOOO some things that happened this last week ummm lets see :) we are teaching this lady who has cancer and we had a lesson with her this last tuesday. she has always wanted to get baptized but she wanted to wait until her husband got to chile from ecuador. but we know that he might not even come. we talked about the importance of baptism and why it is necessary. she accepted a date to be baptized at the end of september and she told us ¨"im just gonna tell my husband if he doesnt get here by that date...its not my fault hahah" she is amazing and is way funny. one of the strongest people i have ever seen. one thing she always says is I JUST KNOW THE NEXT TIME I GO IN FOR TESTS...I'M GONNA LEAVE THAT OFFICE WITH NO CANCER AT ALL.

 that really made me think for a second about the way our attitudes are a lot of the time. think about yourself in that position....doing chemo therapy and knowing that you have cancer and that its going to take a hard fight...but you keep telling yourself i know that i will just come out of the next time perfectly healthy.....

                                         
                               tates normal face



made me think for a little bit about my life and the attitude that i have towards my challenges...do we look at them as a chance to overcome something and grow....or do we look at them with an attitude of THIS ISN'T FAIR....god gives us trials to help us learn....and without learning...we cannot live with him again.

 therefore trials HELP us get to our goal. they HELP us live with our families forever...  challenges are blessings... and if we look at them with the attitude that i will come out of this better than i was before...we will truly learn and become a better person.

 me and elder dixon are finally getting used to being zone leaders and are just always really tired... but its part of the job...so other than that i am doing well...LOVE YOU 

ELDER HARDING! 

LoOkInG fOr My FrIeNd...

LoOkInG fOr My FrIeNd...When tate sent me his email today he asked me to share this in his blog...he wanted everyone to know that he is happy and loving his mission and that  he loves and misses everyone back here...the following is a story that tate has read and that touched him and he wanted to share...

"Brothers and Sisters, as you know, the last 2 weeks, I've been waiting for my mission call. During the time I was waiting i had a dream. I knew it was not a common dream. I dreamed I was in the pre-existence and was waiting for my call to come to earth. I was filled with the same anticipation and encouragement I had before I got my mission call. In my dream I was talking to a friend. I felt a special closeness to him, even though I have never met him in this life. While we were talking, a messenger came and gave me a letter. I knew it was my calling to go to earth. Excitedly my friend and I read the letter. I gave it and asked him to read aloud. It read:

"You have been called to earth in a special time and a special place. You will be born in the true church and the priesthood of God will be in your home. You will be born in a land of plenty, a land of freedom. You will be born in the United States of America. "

 

My friend and I rejoiced to read my calling. While we were rejoicing, the messenger returned. This time he had a letter for my friend. We knew it was his call to earth. My friend gave me the letter to read aloud; His letter said:

 

"You have been called to go to the earth in circumstances of poverty and strife. You will not be raised in the true church. Many difficult times will be a part of your life. The land where you will go is full of political and social difficulties, which impede the work of the Lord. You will be born in Chile. "

 

My friend and I cried while reading his calling. My friend looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "When we are on earth, you in your choice land of the United States of America and me in Chile, my friend, please come and find me."

 

Afterwards, this young missionary, with tears in his eyes said, "Brothers and sisters, I received my mission call ... I'm going to Chile.

 

There is a second part of the story. About a year after the sacrament meeting the bishop received a letter from a missionary in Chile. The letter had a sheet of paper, and on that sheet was written in capital letters four words:

 

 "I FOUND MY FRIEND"

 

I will pass through this world but once. If there is any kindness I can show or any good thing I can say, the time is now. Do not reject it, do not deny it, because we will travel this road again."

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO family this week went by really freaking fast! not going to lie it was a pretty boring week. not too successful but also we had a a lot of fun.  it rained quite a bit this week and actually we were caught in the rain one day without umbrellas doing contacts for like 3 hours....WE WERE SOAKED...but it was also pretty fun ... i really do enjoy the rain down here.  elder dixon and i  are getting used to being zone leaders together and are finally figuring out how it should be done and how we will have success together. so i am grateful for him and he is becoming a really good friend. we also had interviews this week with president and it went really well. i can tell he is an amazingly spiritual man and knows what he is doing. 

 i cant believe in a year from now i will be home. i feel like i have been here for such a short time yet i feel like i haven't seen you guys in like 10 years.  i know you are all doing well. one thing i noticed this week was how much my family means to me!  i noticed that my family truly is blessed and we have an amazing bond that not a lot of people have. keep it that way. not many people in this world have functioning families like we do with good standards and the blessings of the gospel.

 i am really proud to be able to represent our family out here and serve for two years. i know i wouldn't be here without all you guys!  i am doing really well! the time just keeps flying by and sometimes i don't even remember what we did yesterday!...good thing i write in my journal every day... chao love you!!!