Feb 3, 2014 El Desierto, Cuy

This week has been rewarding. Elder Vilchez and I are working hard with the many less actives. The city of Nazca is beautiful! I`ll share some details about the cit:

1. Its hot.

2. In Nazca, theres actually a bunch of tourism, I think the citys biggest, or one of the biggest sources of revenue. We have the Nazca lines, we have Cahuachi, an ancient lamanite temple for live sacrifices (when they were wicked). We have sandboarding (which we cant do because too many elders have gotten hurt in the past). We have dune buggies that go crazy riding all around the desert, and then park in the city square and make you think, `this city is stinking awesome` And theres also a lot of White people, which is honestly just weird and makes me uncomfortable. I hope I dont ever ever have to speak with one of them gringos.

3. Its a district. In the city, we have 2 branches, and there is one more branch with is located in another smaller city called Marcona about 1hour away. (its a costal, mining town, and the gospel honestly barely survives there. But here in Nazca its interesting. There are some really strong members, and the District president is incredible, President Alarcòn. My branch president lives an hour away in a little tiny town called Palpa, and travels here to Nazca anytime he has interviews or on sunday or whateer, and that makes it hard to have a constant contact with him.

4. Random fact, there is this gigantic sand dune that totally chills on top of the mountains just east of the valley. You can see it, and it looks as if it were watching over the city. I think when christ was crucified, God got fed up with the Lamanites down here making live offerings and covered a whole city with sand in an earthquake, and then stuck it up on top of the mountains. I dont know... just saying. For the record, I made the prediction. Oh, and its the world`s highest sand dune. Yep. Highest in elevation in the world.

5. Its really hot here.
6. It never rains here. This city is one of the driest in the world. Not jokin. But I already love it so dont worry. NAZCA ALL THE WAY!!!

So That is super crazy about Dad`s president being called President Fowler. HIS BROTHER IS SERVING WITH HIS WIFE AS A COUPLE MISSIONARY IN THE CITY NAZCAFOR 2 YEARS. Can you believe that?? I`m serving with Dad`s mission president`s brother. Small Small World.

Other quick things that I wanted to share:

COLE HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON SUNDAY!!! I hope you have a great week! I really am going to try to send some kind of small package for you and Chase, but i fear it my arrive late... sorry. :(

I`ll send some pictures. We`ve already gotten around the city, and even seen some of the smaller towns out around the city. We went to one called Tulìn twice. There are a couple really active members out there, and a few inactive families. So we`re seeing if we can do some work in reactivation.

Mom I loved your talk! Absolutely great. I really loved it. Well done :)

Jan. 28, 2014 Nazca!

I have arrived to the city of Nazca! I am extremely exited to be here, and I know that if we work really hard, every second of every day, we will see miracles happen in the zone. 

It is hot. But truly the weather feels like Utah--DRY! At night here, it`s really beautiful. And the stars come out! I havent seen the stars in months. Lima is seriously almost always always cloudy at night (and during the day for that matter ha). But last night the weather made me think of an Alpine night in August. I already love it here!

We have a fairly big area, and we have investigadors in little pueblos (towns) sometimes a half hour out of the city, and so we might be doing a little bit of traveling. But nothing can be as fun as yesterday`s 9 hours of bus ride... and they make the busses for peruvians, not Gringos! My legs dont fit that well! But its okay.

I have been studying my RepentanceBOM. It is really cool to see which prophets speak more about repentance than others. Alma the younger, for example talks about, and preaches repentance all the time. I assume it must be because he himself had an incredibly real and potent experience with the same. He knows the reality and the power that there is in repenting of ones sins and coming close to Christ. Nephi, for example doesnt really talk that much about repentance. (I think its cuz he almost never sinned haha.)

Repentance is key. I invite you all to study two of my favorite stories that teach us what repentance means to a broken heart. Mosiah 27(finish by reading the retrospection by ALma himself years later in Alma 38) And also: Alma 15, Zeezroms repentance. The book of mormon is of course full of the doctrine, but these are a couple of my favorites that have been on my mind lately.

We all have to change. And what a blessing, and honor it is to do so. And how impossible it would have been to even try, had Jesus Christ not made it possible. I thank him for the beautiful oportunity to change my heart and forget my mistakes. I testify that all of us can and need to repent to have any hope of living a successful, fulfilling, spiritually-growing life.

I love you all!
Tengan una buena semana! No se olviden de leer el Libro De Mormòn! Veràn los resultados mas tarde, si es que sacrifican AHORA.

 Elder Hartvigsen

Jan. 18, 2014 A trip to Nazca

So I went to Nazca this week! I went down and back in 2 days. One of the Zone Leaders was sick and I had to take his place until they got another comp for the healthy zone leader. So I pretty much traveled the 8 bus hours down there, proselyted with the Healthy one for an afternoon, slept, packed the sick one´s bags and came back with president and the APs cuz they had been down there on their own for interviews. It was nice to get a little fresh air and get baked a little by the nazca sun.

We had a baptism!!!
Alen (pronounced like the english Allen) Salas, who has been going to our ward faithfully for the last 2 months, finally made the decision to get baptized. He had been going to all the activities and everything, but never wanted to accept a date to be baptized. The sisters had been teaching him, but since hes 25 yrs old, they figured maybe he could relate to us a little, so they kinda passed over the responsibility to teach (which is a really effective way to do it when theres elders and sisters in the same ward. You just kinda make sure the right companionship is teaching the right investigadors.) And anyway, Alen took a little time to not be scared of making the same mistakes over and over again, even after his baptism. (This is actually a very common concern for people investigating the true church down here. They simply shy away from the committment, because they know they will have a very hard time truly abandoning their old habits.)
So we had a great joint baptism with another ward in the stake, and i really enjoyed it. It is always such a spiritually-enriching experience to see someone as they make that huge first step toward salvation.

so yeah um.. my time here in the office has been great. I have truly enjoyed it and more than anything, I have learned some key facts about me and my strengths and weaknesses, and I know that I will be able to make some of the bigger future decisions in my life based on a lot of what I learned here in the office. BUT, the field awaits and I am pumped to get out there :) Not sure where I´m going yet, but wherever it is, we will work hard and lead our zone to constant progress. 

The church is true!! I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful, freezing week. Because my week has been go-to-bed-sweating, wake-up-sweating, kind of a week. And this time around, I´m loving the summer!! The heat just kinda makes you feel accomplished cuz the humidity pulls the sweat right out of you, and you feel like you´ve just run a marathon, or accomplished some really big task or completed a project, and you feel great about yourself. And the sun is finally coming out, which is great, because I am looking super duper white after having been in the office all the time. 

I´m kinda rambling... 

I encourage you all the study the chapters of the BOM where Alma and Amulek (representing the missionary and the local membership of the church) get together and start to preach in their city. I always look at those chapters (Alma 8 and on) and learn a bunch from  them. Alma truly was an incredible missionary. Why?? More than anything, just because he was diligent, obedient, and preach the word from his heart, using pure revelation, but also personal experience. He was very successful, and his brethren the sons of Mosiah even more. There are great lessons to be learned there in those chapters. please read them!!

Love you all.

Elder Hartvigsen

Jan. 11, 2014 Elder Durfey came back!

Well its been kinda a rollercoaster of emotional sorts this week. I think i told you guys Elder Durfey came back, and Elder Clarke and President and I went to go get him from the airport. This wednesday we had another Zone Leader Conference. It was spiritually refreshing as always. When President asked him to stand up and kinda presented him for the second time and explained what had happened (he went home for 2 months), it was a powerful moment. A lot of guys go home sick and after having been in the mission for over a year, after having baptized, after having learned the language and everything, and simply dont come back to the mission. Its a hard thing to say goodbye to your family... twice. Very difficult. But Elder Durfey kinda set the bar high. I will always be grateful to him for setting a great example.

During a break, President and I stepped out and he told me what he was thinking about my time here. He said he wants me to really train Elder Clarke, really get him ready, and transfer all my experience to him as best as we can. He said i´m here until the 28th, so I´ve kinda buckled down. I need some new tactics to stay sane. It has been a very large task staying mentally focused, and just trying to find motivation. Everything seems the same. i´ve been in this office since May.. It´s super hard. I´m learning very valuable personal lessons on Enduring to the End. Wow, it´s been crazy.

The book of mormon is true. I find myself defending it with greater conviction, using it even more often in teaching. I keep finding that all the questions people throw at me, are best answered from it´s pages. Always read it. Keep studying it. Just as we have to consistently eat vitamin C, day after day, over and over again, we have to keep taking vitamin s, the spiritual one. We might get up one day and say, i´m so tired of vitamin C! I´ve eaten it every day for my whole life! Why do I have to keep eating it? But we all know its a constant process that we cannot interrupt, at least in this life. So for now, we must keep reading the BOM, even if we´ve read it before, if we think we know it really well, have learned everything from it. Keep reading it! Dont stop!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week. Saludos de Perú!!

Elder Hartvigsen

Jan. 4, 2014 Moments, and the Key to Know

Completos again!

New Years Eve

Watching from the 17th floor

A thought to Chase

Moments:

There will be moments in your daily life, that present themselves and you get just a second to either seize the moment, or simply let it pass. If you walk around with your head up and your headphones off, you will notice them. If you walk around absorbed in your own world, you will not. I am talking about little moments in class when you see someone who is down, and you feel that one simple compliment could do them a lot of good. SAY SOMETHING. They say we will be held accountable for our sins, but we will be held responsible also, for the sins of ommission.  If I sit back and think about it.... I honestly would give anything to sit in chemistry for one hour. What would I do?? I would pray to Father in Heaven at the beginning, and look around and stare at the back of everyone´s head, and LISTEN, because I testify to you, Chase, that you will receive inspiration in your heart and mind, and you will know something that you didn't before. You will know the thoughts and desires of someone´s heart, and you will be able to tell what they need. And IF YOU ACT, you will make a huge, beneficial, effect in someone´s life. That is a marvelous thing my brother. Do not pass it up!
You may feel to invite someone to a party, or to offer to help someone with homework. You may stand up for someone getting bullied (which is the most exhilarating feeling in your chest), or you may simply look at a girl that a lot of guys would say isn't´that pretty, and you may tell her that you think she looks good today. ANYTHING, will make a huge difference.  Even if for one day, or for one week, you will change her life, Chase. Brother, I tell you, move yourself. Stand up, and DO SOMETHING.

Just the thoughts of my heart.. Spoken as they flowed from my soul and mind. Do with them what you want. :)
Elder Hartvigsen

First, the fun stuff. 

New Years!! We had a great night on New Years. We made completos (remember the hot dogs that the Chileans make? Super good) Then we went up on the roof of our building (remember, 17th floor) and watched the magic.
Here in Peru, there is a tradition that calls for the absolutely riotous firing of cohetes, or rockets (fireworks) from the rooftop of anyone who desires to spend a few souls on the merchandise. I must say, that the tradition, IS A STINKING BLAST. Its explosive. Completely energizing. I now take the liberty of sharing with you all, some of the fotografías. 

Now the good stuff.

The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I am a very grateful possesor of a testimony of just that. It´s interesting, because I feel that I pretty much sat on the very begginnings of, or held the start of, or pretty much planted a very potent, very powerful seed with a divine potential probably 15 years ago. And what´s so interesting is that, though the seed was literally stuck in the earth and left there 15 or so years ago, I simply did not water it. The rain of a mormon lifestyle watered it some, sprinkled it really, but I never spent the time to go fill a bucket and dump it on. Until now.

When I left on a mission, I picked up that bucket of water. When I started to truly defend the book against the doubts of others, and against my own carnal mind, It began to grow. I can say now that my testimony has grown to hold it´s own weight against the wind and wear. It is not yet a mighty oak, but I have watched it grow and augment in size and strength, and that in itself is a beautiful gift from God. I will thank him forevermore, and in that spirit of gratitud, will water the tree unceasingly. I know that the book is true.

I invite you all to read 3 chapters that are filled with study on change and repentance. Mosiah 25, 26, 27. The greatest change that ever takes place, is the change that happens in the heart of fallen man. The change that happens thruogh the purifying, and ennabling power of the death, suffering, and resurrection of the Son of God. Yes, the Atonement, is the the power which cleanses man, and turns him good, and makes him holy. I urge you all to find a way to use the atonement in your life to change from what you are now, to what God wants you to be tomorrow. I promise the future is full of bright hope and sturdy light. 

And if you do not yet know how to use the Atonement, find it in the Book of Mormon. The study thereof is a beautiful tool God uses in the process to turn the coal of enlightening personal experience into the gleaming diamond of a true conversion. Remember that the growing of the testimony is found in the tough and trying in-between, which is: the trial of your faith.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Hartvigsen

Dec. 21, 2013 Merry Christmas (Multizona Navidena)

So we had our annual Multizona Navideña (christmas zone conference) which was pretty fun. We exchanged very comfortably priced gifts, watched the movie Facing the Giants, which we've seen which is that one about the football team that learns to trust in God and they play better for it. And there were some musical numbers too, which turned out pretty good believe it or not. Our mission is filling up more and more with sister missionaries, so we really do have some good singers. Also, we elders from the office (the secretaries and the AP´s) sang a couple christmas hymns in parts, which was fun. I still have my big bass voice! And everyone else in the office can actually sing a part, so it turned out good. We practiced for a total of 25 minutes before going to bed the night before, after finishing all the arrangements and travels and craziness of transfers. Everything went smooth.
Today we were stopped in the city plaza, about 5 times before walking one block. I am truly amazed at the widespread interest there is for the church. It was shock you how many times we run into Mormons when we go places like the center of Lima where there´s a lot of people. Every once and a while we get a taxi driver who´s a member, and members always come up to us on the street. 
So today, this four college kids came up to us and asked if we could do an interview with them in english for their english class, (which has happened to me like 4 times already) and we happily obliged. So the one girl films me and the guy talk for a minute or two in english, and he did pretty well. So she turns to film my companion talk with the other kid, and I naturally started talking about the gospel with the kid I had just been interviewed by. So then, the girl who was in the middle of filming, heard me talking about the Book of Mormon, and motioned rather frantically for her friend to take the camera that was recording, so she could give me her full attention and listen, as if she didn´t want to miss even a single word. So they asked what the difference is between the mormon church and the catholic (they are catholics) and I, like always, tried to be kind and not remind about ALL the wonderful truths that we have that the Catholic church conveniently misses, all in one second but tried to give a quick overview. I talked about the book of mormon, and how Christ came here to the Americas. Which, realluy is always a great tool. You come here to peru, and tell them that Christ came here, and they will never argue or deny it. Their eyes just light up and they ask for more. It´s quite a fulfilling experience to be the guy who gets to tell them that for the first time, and its amazing what a believe people they can be. 
And well, she ate it up. Turns out she´s been really interested and wants to know more, (she herself told us she is very interested) and she happily held on to that book of mormon when we said she could have it. Unfortunately she´s from the Central mission, but it´s all the same really. :) I was very happy, because I saw in her a very strong future member, possibly YSA representative, possibly future missionary, who knows. I literally saw that as a possibly path her life could take, and know I just hope that this is her time, and the God will work with her circumstances so that it can all work out and she can find her way back to the House of Israel. i was reminded of what a wonderful feeling you can get from a really good contact. 

I know this Church is true. I know that I am nothing without my fathers guiding hand. i know that I need my savior Jesus christ. I know that I will simply NEVER reach my Full Potential, if i can´t lean on his atonement for second chances, and I thank him for that. Please remember to always read your book of mormon. In that book , is where you´ll find these pure truths in more abundance, and clarity, then anywhere else, I promise. Don't even try to mess, it´s true.

Feliz Navidad, y mucho amor para con todos! Les amo mucho!

Elder Hartvigsen

also: a letter to mom

Wow Mom. You guys sure are busy. It´s really funny because when you get out here,  things really change. I honestly think about it, and the things I miss, or maybe get small moments of homesickness about, are things like snowboarding with dad and chase and cole, or going to football games with them, or family vacations, (and of course writing music). But that´s it. I don´t for one second miss having my own cell phone and texting and stuff. There is now longing in me for that, like there is for other things. There is no longing for any other material thing, except maybe for a grand piano or beautiful guitar (which is probably more connected to the experience I have while using them, and not the object itself) and that is very interesting to me. I know that those things don't matter, and while I maybe thought i would miss my iPad, or my phone, or my computer, I simply don't. It´s a strange thing. Chase will probably find out about that when he gets out there. Those things really don't matter, so when you talked about being stressed about buying gifts, and about me maybe feeling bad for not receiving anything, I just grinned.

Dec. 14, 2013 We will become perfected in Him

making completos with a family in our ward

Chileans love to make these hotdogs (completos)

With the Bishop in his office

Sister Douglas doing inspections, we passed!!

So it´s transfers already. You know what it´s like, work work work, stress, stuff to do. But I think we´re already ahead on certain things so I feel pretty prepared. I don´t have much to say this week. Angela got baptized on Saturday! It was truly a spiritual baptism. I felt the love our father and Jesus Christ has for us. She gave a great testimony.

President was just teasing me a minute ago, that he´s pretty sure he knows where I´m going when I leave the office. He said I don´t want to get you exited, but where you´re going is an amazing place. And he didn´t say anything else... It´s killing me! The righteous desire of my heart is to go to Nasca, which logically is possible (looking at who would be my comp and the time they have there, and all the factors) so I´m hoping.

I truly wonder why the Lord blesses me so much sometimes. I dont even think I deserve all the things he gives me, and has given me, and yet he still does it. I think he put me in this office, to learn alot about who I am when faced with a problem. I have been fronted by very tricky situations and solutions are demanded from me, and I have learned so much about what makes me tick, and what I can be good at. I testify that Our father in heaven knows exactly which character traits are our strengths and weaknesses. He puts in situations that will refine and polish our talents, and literally hammer us where it hurts, jabbing right at the weaknesses, proving to us that if we look to the arm of the flesh, we will fall miserably, but at the same time showing us the miracles that our God will work through humble men. He proves to us that it may be your absolute achilles heel, and if you are humble, and broken´hearted and humble spirited, he will take you in his hands and literally turn those weaknesses into strengths. (Ether 12:27) It is incredible.

May we all be humble this Christmas season, and remember that he loaded 100 percent of fear, folly, and failure onto his perfect shoulders, and beat them. He can guide us through anything. He has the capacity. He has the Love.

I bear witness that Jesus Christ is the long-awaited Messiah. He came to redeem his children from their weaknesses, if they but believe on Him. He will come again for us to give out reports, and he will judge us, worthy or insufficient. May we all humble ourselves, so that he can make things strong unto us. We will become perfected in him.

(Moroni 10:32,33)

Elder Hartvigsen

Dec. 7, 2013 A New Comp

It´s warmin up here. the Sun was out all day and it got pretty hott around lunch. I love it! And christmas is coming! It´s fun to see everyone 

I have a new companion. His name is Elder Clarke from American Fork. He´s a really great Elder, very friendly, calm. He is really willing to learn and do his best here, so I just hope I can teach him all he needs to know to get this done right. He will grow so much in his time in the office. I know that I sure have.

Mom to answer you question... my time in the office has been very beneficial to me, because I have learned a lot about leadership, and about creativity, and about willpower. I have learned what it takes to run a mission. I have watched president Douglas in endless meetings teaching these Elders, encouraging them, correcting them, helping them become better missionaries. I have learned a lot about myself as well, while performing all kinds of different tasks and doing all kinds of diferent jobs. 

One thing I have learned, is that inability is at least, mostly self-imposed. If you believe that something will be imposible, or that you can´t do something, you probably will never get it done. But the man who believes that there is a way to do ANYTHING, he will find that way and put everything he has into doing it right. I believe that learning about the atonement, and then being in a position where a lot depends on me, I have been forced to simply find solutions. President teaches me that he never wants me to go to him with an excuse. Excuses mean nothing. You find solutions. And sometimes, when things go wrong and it is not even your fault, you take the guilt anyway. It really teaches you a lot about the Atonement... taking the blame for things you never did. It is a very divine experience and requires much self-control. But it brings great emotional, and sipritual learning.

I believe that president caught on pretty quick that I love to create things, and make things look good. So he had me making reports and printing up mission fact reports, and designing flyers and stuff like that and it has really been pretty fun. President trusts my advice when it comes to design and layout and things, and just the fact that he asks my opinion gives me this boost that makes me do a better job. It´s really great.

I´ve been reading my repentance book of mormon lately. President asked the whole mission to take a hardcover book of mormon, and read it tapa a tapa, (cover to cover) and mark all passages and things about repentance, in red. It´s an interesting exerience to see how it turns out. I love the different things you learn everyday and every time you read the book of mormon. It truly is the most beneficial piece of literature any man could ever read. I love it with all my heart, and it truly is the rock of my testimony, just as Jesus Christ is the rock of my salvation. The book bears wittness of him, and for that I know that it is true. I love it.

Please read more from the wonderful book. I know it is true and that no one can waste their time in reading it. 

Elder Hartvigsen

Nov. 30, 2013 Happy Thanksgiving

So just to fill you in real quick on the investigators. Angela is still progressing. She shifting her schedule at work, so tomorrow she is coming to church, which is very good. She hasn´t been in a couple weeks, due to work, so we need her to be more faithful about coming on Sundays. Jean Carlo is still in the military school, and while he is a very good kid, and emails us and says he is still reading the BOM, we think he will need more time, considering we´ve only been able to teach him once. But he does want to be baptized, and we are exited to watch him make an impact on the ward when he arrives. He has a lot of potential.

Also, there is a couple we are helping. Jennifer and Paulo. Jennifer is a member of the church already, and her father and family, but she had her kids super early with this guy Paulo who was raised as a 7th day adventist. But the thing is, he is leaning toward the LDS Church! We taught them last night, and their case is super hard. They have these two little boys, 3 and almost 1 years old. And they are horribly wild and rowdy and it is near impossible to get the spirit to be there with us for even 5 minutes. It´s kinda one of those odd situations, where I believe God wants us to be creative to figure out the solution. We´re working on it.

So honestly, we have had a hard time ever getting to any real teaching, or real doctrine, or helping answer their questions, because we can only stay a very short time before their kids go crazy. They are a young couple. She is only 19, and he´s like 26 I think. But they´re good people! And we really love them. They want us to keep coming. They are always calling and i really see the need in their eyes, and they´ll say after a week and a half without seeing them "Where have you been all week? We were sure you´d forgotten about us."

It´s really sad, because they need help, and they want to do the right thing, but in all honestly.... they do not fulfill any commitment. Dad, you´ll remember people like this. Here we call them investigadores eternos (eternal investitadors). They always want you there, but they simply don´t do anything to show they really want to change their lives. They have all these problems and need help, but we can not do anything until Paulo stands up to his boss and says, "give me Sunday off. I need to go to church." In many cases, the bosses are a lot more merciful than the people think, they just have to act! So please pray for them. Not for any miracle to happen, because I don't think it will. God is very patient, and very reluctant to bless us when we sit in our chair asking and asking and asking. But when we stand up and start doing the work ourselves, simply HOPING that he will step in and help us out, he does. It´s that simple. So we are trying to get Paulo to at least read the chapter in the Book of Mormon that we leave for him to read, or at least show up to church one Sunday. Hopefully Jennifer can find a little bit of free time to help him do so.

Thanksgiving was great. We ate with the Douglas Family. So I actually had a very american thanksgiving dinner. Yams. Stuffing. Turkey. Rolls. Jello (with raspberry!) Potatoes. The whole shebang! I have been feeling very thankful lately for the investigators that the Lord has blessed us with. Never forget how blessed you are!

Elder Hartvigsen

Nov. 23, 2013 Blessings have come

o

Elder Rasband's visit!

Christmas packages from home arriving for the missionaries 

Our view out of our high rise apartment

Cool story from the week:

So President told us he was going to try to get Elder Rasband free for just a sec so we could meet him. on Tuesday, we were in the office, and I had the door open cuz I had let the post office guy in with letters. And I heard a really, really deep voice coming from down the hall and thought, oh no. he´s brought him here, hasn´t he?  Sure enough, Elder Rasband and President Douglas showed up to the office unannounced! They walked around to see all the rooms, asked me to take a picture of them by President´s transfer board, and then took a picture with all of us in the lobby of the office. Then he told us a cool experience that had happened to him and Elder Nelson in Cusco over the weekend (everything cool happens in Cusco! I have to get there someday.) And then he left with president to go down south to Pisco to have a couple meetings. It was quiet amazing. He has this incredibly low, room-filling voice that kinda reaches down into your soul and rattles your bones. You can feel the weight of the calling by the way he conducts himself. Very awesome.

....

We have had some great lessons this week with a couple investigators who are progressing! We are teaching this girl, Angela. She is 20 years old, and has a best friend from work who brought her to church one Sunday. So we started teaching her. She is progressing right along! She has been very receptive of the message, very accepting of the Book of Mormon. (some people come prepared). She has a baptismal date for the 7th of December. Her challenge is that she works every other Sunday, and can only come to church every week. But she has committed to come each Sunday that she doesn't work, and it is a good start. (honestly, she´s more faithful than most investigators, and many members here. We are struggling with church attendance.)
The other day, I started planting the idea of serving  a mission in her head. After baptism, it is our goal. It could work because there are two other girls in the ward about 20, 21 years old who are recent converts and preparing to serve a mission. So we are kinda trying to create some key friendships here... It´s very interesting the strength I´ve found in the youth of this Generation. In my mission, I have struggled to find mothers and fathers ready for the gospel in their lives, especially mother and father together (without any major problems). BUT, we have always been able to find young adults who are responsible, receptive, intelligent, PREPARED to hear the gospel. It has been a wonderful experience to teach them and watch the change that happens in the life, very subtly, but very quickly, from the moment they get involved in the LDS community.

Another kid we are teaching is Jean Carlo. His girlfriend is a member of our ward (similar theme, right?? hmm..) She has brought him to church a couple of times, but we can never teach him because he has no time (kinda a popular theme in Lima. You live in Lima, you work all day every day and HAVE NO TIME.) But we finally taught him for the first time, and he is very spiritually sensitive and humble and quiet (which is odd because he is in the military school). But he accepted the 7th of December as well! With him we have kinda a interesting tactic to keep in touch.
While studying at the military school, the kids get shut in for 2 or 3 weeks solid and they cannot leave and they have no phones or anything. It´s kinda weird. But they do have internet.... SO, we have been emailing him once a day keeping contact and leaving small reading commitments. Like, we´ll leave him 1 Nephi 4,5,6, and the next he writes back to let us know how it went. So we bear testimony to strengthen the feelings he has had while reading, and we give him more reading and commit him to pray about what he has read!. It´s pretty cool! The enemy is always there to make everything more difficult, and nothing ever turns out exactly like we plan it... but that is the jist of it all. He is progressing slowly, reading the Book of Mormon, gaining a testimony little by little. When his girlfriend Mayra can, she helps out to, to keep him going.

Christmas is coming, looks like. We set up a tree here in the office, and we are starting to get a lot more packages than usual for all the missionaries. I´m nervous for the weeks just before christmas, because I don't think we have enough room here in the office for all the packages!

Love you all!! Have fun! Tengan una buena semana!!

Nov. 23, 2013 Elder Rasband's visit

I´m going to try to mention a few things really quick.

The conference with Elder Nelson and Elder Rasband was very rewarding. We had a very small group there. Just about 125 missionaries--the half of our mission in lima. Elder Rasband spoke on a couple really interesting things. He mentioned D&C 88:73 (and the surrounding scriptures) that talk about hastening the work. This day is the day in which the work has been, and will be hastened. And WE are the ones hastening it. The church is changing, and has absolutely gone gung ho on this new form of missionary work--working shoulder to shoulder with members to find investigadors to baptize, FIRST by looking for inactive members of the church whose time it just may be to come back, and therefore bringing family members they might have to the church for the first time.
It is very exiting that finally, from here on out, and probably in the next year or so we will really start to see a difference in the retention rates worlwide, and especially in south america. I love watching members of the church get involved and fired up, and the truth is that all of our successes come from working with the members. When we find people on our own, those people seldom turn into converts at the same accelerating rate, or with the same results, as people who members introduce us to. It is phenomenal.

Elder Nelson talked about how we are the ones to hasten the work, and that faith is believing that God can, and will, work miracles through his very imperfect children--us. He said that "God does the unlikely with unlikely people." He accomplishes the impossible with very imperfect souls. He mentioned various examples we have of ideas, or concepts, or scientific "proofs" that we have seen, and when god wants to perform a miracle, he sometimes takes the weakest, or the the most unlikely, or the most ironic set of skills and uses them to absolutely perform a miracle--something that should not be able to occur. He said Childbirth is a very good example that he uses often. (Think of the unlikelyhood of the actual birth of some very wellknown cases namely The virgin mary, and Abraham´s barren wife. God accomplished the impossible, with someone very unlikely.) I thought it was a cool thought.
He also spoke about this dispensation being a very important and exiting time to live. He said that "in YOUR (mine) generation the gospel will fill this earth." I thought that was a very exiting prophesy.

Also.. We are going to meet Elder Rasband at president´s house tomorrow! I am exited as I´ll get out. just those of us from the office. He is going to eat lunch with president before traveling to a meeting we have in the south of our mission, and President wanted to give us the opportunity to meet him. Hopefully he´ll tell me something really cool like where the three nefites live (haha joke, everyone knows they live in Peru).

That´s about it for now. I have to run get my eyes checked. They´ve been bugging me lately. 

Love you all!!
Elder Hartvigsen

Nov. 18, 2013 a rewarding week!

I´m going to try to mention a few things really quick.

The conference with Elder Nelson and Elder Rasband was very rewarding. We had a very small group there. Just about 125 missionaries--the half of our mission in lima. Elder Rasband spoke on a couple really interesting things. He mentioned D&C 88:73 (and the surrounding scriptures) that talk about hastening the work. This day is the day in which the work has been, and will be hastened. And WE are the ones hastening it. The church is changing, and has absolutely gone gung ho on this new form of missionary work--working shoulder to shoulder with members to find investigadors to baptize, FIRST by looking for inactive members of the church whose time it just may be to come back, and therefore bringing family members they might have to the church for the first time.
It is very exiting that finally, from here on out, and probably in the next year or so we will really start to see a difference in the retention rates worlwide, and especially in south america. I love watching members of the church get involved and fired up, and the truth is that all of our successes come from working with the members. When we find people on our own, those people seldom turn into converts at the same accelerating rate, or with the same results, as people who members introduce us to. It is phenomenal.

Elder Nelson talked about how we are the ones to hasten the work, and that faith is believing that God can, and will, work miracles through his very imperfect children--us. He said that "God does the unlikely with unlikely people." He accomplishes the impossible with very imperfect souls. He mentioned various examples we have of ideas, or concepts, or scientific "proofs" that we have seen, and when god wants to perform a miracle, he sometimes takes the weakest, or the the most unlikely, or the most ironic set of skills and uses them to absolutely perform a miracle--something that should not be able to occur. He said Childbirth is a very good example that he uses often. (Think of the unlikelyhood of the actual birth of some very wellknown cases namely The virgin mary, and Abraham´s barren wife. God accomplished the impossible, with someone very unlikely.) I thought it was a cool thought.
He also spoke about this dispensation being a very important and exiting time to live. He said that "in YOUR (mine) generation the gospel will fill this earth." I thought that was a very exiting prophesy.

Also.. We are going to meet Elder Rasband at president´s house tomorrow! I am exited as I´ll get out. just those of us from the office. He is going to eat lunch with president before traveling to a meeting we have in the south of our mission, and President wanted to give us the opportunity to meet him. Hopefully he´ll tell me something really cool like where the three nephites live (haha joke, everyone knows they live in Peru).

That´s about it for now. I have to run get my eyes checked. They´ve been bugging me lately. 

Love you all!!
Elder Hartvigsen

Nov. 9, 2013 La Fortaleza del Real Felipe, a cool fort we visited this past week!

Nov. 9, 2013 Mormon and Moroni

So, this is something I studied this week. I loved it. 


Moroni was a smart guy. He and his father, also a very smart man, did some incredible work in the composition and protection of the Book of Mormon. Mormon, kind of in the background, is pretty much responsible for the entire BOM, but Moroni also helped in the end. He did a great job abridging the Jaredite record, and I love the following: Moroni 7.

In moroni 7, Moroni introduces one of his father´s talks on faith hope and charity. Mormon starts out by addressing members of the church who already "have obtained a sufficient ^chope by which ye can enter into the ^drest of the Lord." These members are you and I. We already have a testimony, or a hope, however big or small it may be. He speaks to us about good works, and other good things. One is that he helps us know how to judge good from evil (which, as easy as it sounds, can become very difficult as themes and ideas mix and intermingle). Then, he explains that to make it easier to judge these things (good and evil), we are all given the Light of Christ, and reminds us to be careful how we judge, for our own actions determine our later consequences (v. 18). 

Then getting beyond just picking good things from all the bad things, he teaches us how to "lay hold on every good thing." this is important, because if you want to see miracles, or have any kind of spiritual experience for that matter, (things that build our faith even stronger), you must exercise the faith that you already have.

Then, in verse 40, he starts to talk about these other traits of hope and charity. I like to call this part, gospel math, because Mormon lays out this super cool equation that explains where each of these things comes from. I invite you all to read the chapter, because I´m not going to outline the whole thing here. 

Hope is a precurser for Faith. Humility and Meekness come before hope AND faith. Then we get to charity, which in some regards is stronger than them all. For "^acharity is the pure ^blove of Christ, and it endureth ^cforever". I think this is magnificent. Because Christ extends this beautiful wonderful charity to all those who simply look to him, have faith in him, follow him. And better yet, Christ will give you this love so you can be more like him, and feel what´s it´s like to have it for someone, and the process is very simple. I will let you all study the chapter to find out how to do it. (I know you prob know how already, but you may have forgotten..)

Please study Moroni 7. It will bless your week. I promise that what it says in there is true. Faith hope and Charity are traits to make sacrifices for. Powers to yearn for. I invite you all to search after them. Try to develop them and become more Christlike people. I bear my testimony that Christ can give us hope-- If you find it hard to have faith in something at first, start with hope. Hope for it. Hope it´s true. Elder Holland taught us that it´s ok to start with just that. And then, work towards faith that´s strong enough that you keep all the commandments, even though you dont understand many of them. (Also very OK. You won´t EVER understand the commandments until you keep them first.) And then comes, Charity, and you will find that you do things for people you never thought you could. You will see the power of Christ working in you, and THAT is truly a treasure, an honor, and a blessing.


In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Hartvigsen

Nov. 2, 2013 Thoughts on effort

Thoughts on effort 

101%


We act and act and act, every day. We push ourselves in things that sometimes present themselves in the moment; seem to appear from nowhere.. We find ways to make things work, always thinking creatively, executing strategically. And all the while, problems occur in the peripheral. Sometimes problems you create yourself, in just one second of letting your guard down.

To your left people ask for favors. To your right, objects solicit your attention. And for the most part we keep moving. We take the stewardship given at any given moment, and we usually do just about our best. But not always. 

I thought I had thought of everything. I had everything planned out. Days of moving missionaries male and female from place to place, all depending on the fact that my co workers, friends, companions, had done their part to make their stewardships interact with mine at just the right moments. We move missionaries, we give them documents and assignments, advise, money, plans, commandments, encouragement... We watch them fulfill for the most part. But nothing ever goes the same way it was thought out.

Then at the end of each night, more exhausting than before, we look back and remember the good and bad. The actions spent well, and the moments waisted away. The mistakes made. They have the greatest effect. Sometimes acts of ommission even stronger than a misfired act of commission. And sometimes other peoples´ acts affect mine, or me, or my life. Sometimes in ways that i would rather not be a part of. In ways that make life harder for me, make me more... TIRED.

All of these entities, living and and breathing, and all of these chain reactions having started at some point and set to finish with a release of energy of SOME KIND. And one sits in the middle and is expected to tread water. And carry someone else, even if just for a moment. You learn things when leading. How does something so human, so selfish, so one-minded, so just that- a human, every reach past its own fleshy walls and put forth EFFORT to help someone else? Whether they do it on errand, or better yet of their own free will, they do. They serve. .. They help. .. They try to push out, instead of pull in. There has to be something else at play here.

There is. It´s called One-hundred and one percent. 

I thought everything was going according to plan, and then things changed. I always knew that I could only trust in my own planning up to a certain point, but that I would surely make mistakes, just as I had before. And when something goes terribly wrong, and 5 other living breathing things miss the bus, was it my fault?? I don´t really know. 

But the problem was that 100% had already been given. There was nothing left to give and I am beat. Won. Down. 

And then came 101. Someone else, sent from the master of all, came in and pushed where my hands had worn out. Pulled where i had lost grip. They put in their own effort, to make up where mine had simply... RUN OUT. They found my missionaries and stepped in as leader, if only for a short time. They took them one half hour more to San Juan, and caught that same bus. And my loss, whether truly all my fault or not, was irrevocably and undeniably e r a s e d. That is 101percent. It comes in only where nothing is left. It interferes ONLY when all faith is almost lost, and fear is making camp. IT comes only from one source. 

I say to you that it is real. There is no one else who holds the answer to so many problems. There is no one else who can it up when there really isn´t any time left.