"cute"

Sweet Hallelujah!!!!

You may or may not be sad....but only 5 more of these precious e-mails.

And there is MUCH to be discussed about this week!!

• HOORAY FOR THANKSGIVING SEASON!!!! I like this clip about being grateful!!




• Autumn package--Thanks Mom and Dad for the Thanksgiving treats. I love that you labeled all the bags and made it so simple to make. Pumpkin pie will hopefully make it! :) Thank you for the Sees and the matching PJs! We are obsessed with them already. So soft!!! RAWR. And thank you for supplying the survival fund too.




• Paige-- Thanks for the updates!! It sounds like you are doing so well!! My mom e-mailed me about the new Stake Presidency. Pretty exciting. Pretty inspired if you ask me. So exciting to hear about the new comings and goings of life...it keeps building doesn't it?


• Jen & Eric!----THANK YOU for the "Save the Date!!!" I am so excited for you both!!! Such a cute invite! Seriously. I am so excited. Hooray for love. And hooray for Seawolf love at that. I adore you both!!!


• Kjestine!---Thank you so much for the darling package ALL THE WAY FROM DENMARK!!! I loved the story about your grandma. I was CRACKING up. Seriously. Wonderful. And I shared the candy with our dear Sister Andersen. So much love.


• Vicky--I love you so much!! Thank you for the wonderful letter. It was like I got a letter from Mom. Seriously. That really meant a lot to me. Thanks for that. I am looking forward to seeing what you have knitted over the past year. :)


• Niina!!!


• Amy--We shared a scripture with a lady named Amy. She's from Colorado. After we shared the scripture, we paused, leaving room for the Spirit. Amy broke the silence with an unexpected......"cute". Not to mention her response in a later lesson about Joseph's first vision....."awwwww". Thanks Amy.


• Brian--South Africa. We called him up. Incredible. So funny. He tells us mid conversation, very boldly, "Jenna. Amy. I've GOT TO GO".
  Us: "Oh. Ok. We guess we'll talk later"
  Brian: "No no. To church! I've got to go to church!!!"


• Cell phones--Watch out world...so long pagers!! Hello CELL PHONES!!! Just before we got too far into the 2000s, we upgraded beyond the pagers. Although, I love the pager. 143 never meant so much as it does not.


• Joe--the coon hunter in Kentucky is wonderful. Yep. That means racoons.


• Orange Street--this week Sister Mettra and I got to go to a half-way house to speak at their LDS worship service. It was such an incredible experience. I spoke about the atonement. Sister Mettra spoke about love and she also sang, "Did You Think to Pray?". I sat next to Karma after and ate lunch. She taught me a good lesson.
  Me: What are you like most about Orange Street Karma?
  Karma: Toilet seats & controlable water in the shower.


• Dad & Grandma---T'was LOVELY. Seriously. What a beautiful moment. Thank
  you for the frame! And thank you for the 120% support. A moment I'll NEVER
  forget.


• Blessings of the Preisthood
  After dad was in the car accident, I told President Holmes about it. I just shared with him that I'm grateful that Dad's alive and well. Inspired President Holmes invited me into his office. "Sister Harmer, it seems like your dad's a miracle, huh?" I pretty much broke down. I don't know why. I think I'm just feeling like all 18 months are rushing to a stop. Like at the end of a roller coaster. You know? When it speeds up, then stops with a hault? That's what it's feeling like. It's a funny feeling. But I just was so grateful for a caring mission President in that moment. I suppose I'm anxious a little bit about the next undetermined chapter. I know everything will work out and will be exactly what I need. But hey, the unknown is an adventure. He calmed most of my nerves and then was able to offer me a blessing. Basically, when someone who holds the preisthood offers a blessing, it kind of like a reverse prayer. It's from Heavenly Father, but through someone holding the proper preisthood authority. That blessing provided comfort and answers that only me and God knew about. I am so grateful for worthy presithood holders who do everything they can to bless and strengthen the lives of others. Honestly, that restored authority is what makes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unique. It's the authority of Jesus Christ. And that is what FUELS this gospel. If it weren't true, it would have ended with the martyrdom of that courageous boy who said He saw God the Father and His Son in a grove of trees.

Thank you all for everything!! I am so grateful for everything you all do for me!!! I love you so much!!!

Mucho amor,
Sister Amaaayyyyy face.

HELLOOOOOoOOOooooOOOOOO!

Nicole Marie and Lauren Marley. You both have really outdone yourselves. Thank you so much. I will be responding to you both personally. But honestly...one of the most memorable moments. Thank you so much for being the best people in my life that I could ever ask for. Both of you.

• My new life: my new companion is Sister Mettra from Orange County, California. She's incredible. For both of us, it's our final 6 weeks as full time missionaries. We get to serve together as Zone Leaders here at Temple Square. We will be serving with sister missionaries from all over the world. Mexico, Angola, Russia, Korea, Australia, Samoa and Jordan...to name a few. On Monday, when I learned about our new assignments, I actually went into the bathroom and cried a little bit. I am just SO grateful. Seriously. This is the last 6 weeks that I get to serve full time as a volunteer missionary. I choose to be here. God chooses the rest. I am so grateful that I get the privilege of serving with someone who cares about what we're doing here. And is 100% real. She gave a talk a few weeks ago. I really liked what she shared: "Is there evidence without my tag that I am a disciple of Jesus Christ?" and "We can't come closer to Christ until we move our feet". She's wonderful. And refreshing to be with. I'm really looking forward to serving with her. AND...she has a wonderful singing voice...AKA she appreciates music. AND she is hilarious. Get out of town!


• Yep. I had the privilege of meeting the wonderfully Hungarian author of the Thesaurus of English Idioms. Great person. From New York. We got to share more with him and his wife about the Beehive House. They met jogging. While she was praying. And he claims to be an answer to that prayer. :)


• We're working with Chloe. A freshman at BYU. Not a member. She is doing everything she can to find out if this is all true or not. She's attending church. Praying. Studying the scriptures. On Sunday she was part of my fast. She hasn't ever prayed on the phone with us before because she's afraid. We always invite her, try to resolve her concerns, but she still holds back. On Monday, we shared with Chloe that we want her to receive answers so badly, that we included her in our fast. Needless to say, she understood how important this is. She decided to put aside her fears and pray. It was beautiful. I wish you could have heard it. This wonderful 18-year-old girl. Trying to know if her Heavenly Father can really hear her or not. I know He does.


• Last week my dad was in a car accident. He was hit by someone running a red light @ 55 MPH. The car flipped 2.5 times, landing on the roof. He crawled out alive. He's doing ok. Recovering emotionally-but no major injuries. THAT is a miracle to me. I am so grateful that EVERY prayer is heard and answered by our Father.


• THIS IS one of the BEST clips from LDS.org I've seen in a long while.

THANK YOU ALL FOR EVERYTHING. 5 more letters and then BAM. I'm back in your lives. Or at least San Jose...for now.

Love love love,

Sister Amy

• Happy Halloween! .....Just kidding. Halloween's over. As the Christmas tree completely decorated in the front lobby of the Beehive House now indicates.




• Welp. First of all....Hooray Lashele!! So exciting! Hooray for Canada!! I'm
  so happy to hear about that!!!!


• AND...SO fun to see Will and Rebecca!! Seriously--all the Sister missionaries in the Beehive House were laughing. They thought you were family. "Yep" was my response. And I wouldn't have it any other way.


• Halloween celebrations were delightful! As a zone, we went to the Haunted Village in Salt Lake. HILARIOUS. We had a really fun time actually. I was pretty much laughing the whole time at the sisters from all over the world squealing. Then on Halloween night, we ate mucho candy, pizza and watched "Despicable Me" and "The Best Two Years". I really
  like the theme song to Despicable Me. It's catchy.


• For Sister Moisio: We went to Music and the Spoken Word last week. Andrew Undsworth was playing the Tabernacle organ. Then, not until the final song, did I realize that our dear friend, Clay Christiansen was mingling amidst the clarinets and violins with a piano. He just keeps sneaking up on us! On a beautiful note, we sat behind an incredible family. 3 kids. Tweens. Mom and Dad. The dad was baptized 3 years ago. And they were sealed as a family 2 years ago. "Sister missionaries" they said. Beautiful. Pretty sure I stared at them with a warm, probably creepy, smile, for the majority of the performance.


• Met a psychologist from Marin county this week. Made me very happy. Him and a friend were in town to visit with his grand kids. Lovely people. To the core. Bob and Bryce.


• At one of the District Meetings this week, I had a miniature break down. I just looked at these incredible women who I get to serve with. Together in the foxholes as Sister Kemsley would put it. I am so grateful for them. For the sacrifices they've made to honor the pioneers and their faith in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It's impressive really. And at the same time, for whatever reason, we feel inadequate. Not good enough. I shared with them that the times I regret the most here are the moments when I was scared. It's a waste of time. And the message isn't about anything but hope. Took me long enough to figure it out. And I'm still learning. But honestly, if it's about Jesus Christ, than it's a beautiful thing. That will bless and strengthen.


• Word of the week: efficacious. Great word. And proliferate. Also a wonderful word.


• Hooray for artists on Mormon.org!!: Rose. Brian.


• And I really like this photographer's work on create.lds.org: Nick. I'm actually a big fan of the Desktop Wallpaper options.


• I am grateful for the family and friends I have. I love you ALL so much. I love my Sonoma friends. Willow friends. Westmont friends. Family friends. NCYLS friends. YMCA friends. El Camino friends. And everyone in between. Thank you for being 110% authentic.
  
  I love you all so much.
  Thank you for everything!!!!
  -The Amy
  
  P.S. Today's agenda: Asian Market. Hawai'ian BBQ. Groceries. It's going to be a good day.

CONGRATS to Jen, Keith & Mason!!! SO HAPPY!!! Hooray for a happy happy Christmas!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Brittney!!! My Christina cousin!! I love you SO SO MUCH!!! Get ready for the best bike ride ever in a few months. Or, we could just wait for the sun and go to the beach.....:) Love you!!!!

Grandma Harmer! Sounds like apple season was wonderful! Happy happy birthday!!
Thank you!!

Brett for your letter!! I liked the artistic red tape. And I really appreciated the updates on life. It sounds like we have a lot of catching up to do. So much has been happening. Please know that you're in my thoughts all the time!

Paige! Sounds like you're doing great too. Sorry I won't make the Turkey Trot this year. I think I'll need a solid year to condition up to running more than 15 minutes. Thank you for the encouragement and support. I really means a lot!!

The Bryan family!! Thank you for the mind puzzles, the beautiful art, letters, encouragement and support and of course, the treats. You are such an incredible family to me. Thank you so much!!

Familia!! I love you all so much. Thank you for the make up and the goodies!! I really appreciated the note Mom. Seriously. And thank you Grandparents for ALL of your encouragement and thoughtful letters. They mean SO much to me. You have no idea. I treasure each one. Grandma Davis--can you draw a picture on the next one?

Margaret. I love you. You are an eternal friend. Thank you so much for EVERYTHING.

Tamarra (mi amiga) has updated her mormon.org profile!! I appreciate the tagline.

We got to talk to Michael in Ghana again this week. He's wonderful. When we called, he was eating fufu. From how he describes it, it sounds delicious. Very ghanan dish apparently. Someday. He shared with us how grateful he is for the plan of happiness that our Heavenly Father has for us. Although we're a world apart, it's beautiful to me to know that God is mindful of each of us. He knows when we're eating fufu, watching Oprah, crying, laughing, stressing out and everything in between. I am so grateful to know that He cares about us no matter what.

We met a man named Jeff. He was refreshingly genuine. His story hurt my heart. He was in Salt Lake to talk to his attorney. He's getting a divorce. He has 3 kids. Really nice guy. Kind of like talking to a chocolate bunny from See's. Really nice, but a little empty. He told us about how he used to believe that God was his father, that the Book of Mormon was true, that families were central to life. I asked him how his perspective changed over the years. What had happened? He shared with us how it was the smallest things. Stopped praying. Stopped studying the scriptures. Stopped attending church. And eventually, stopped nurturing his testimony. He stopped caring. And he said he was happy. But he just kind of shrugged it off, like, "well, I guess I'm happy". Who am I to judge and break out my happy thermometer, but I'll tell you one thing-- the pioneers are teaching me a lot about true happiness. Amidst death, heartache, illness and poverty, they still managed to find the type of happiness that lasts more than a minute. The type that lasts for eternity. I shared with Jeff how much Heavenly Father STILL loves him. No matter what. And how He wants us to enjoy eternal happiness. No need to wait for blessings. We can start improving the quality of our lives now.
Thank you so much for everything.
I love you all so much!!!!!
See you soon,
Sister Amy

Pink Mumu, sandals and zip-up El Caminio hoodie

Hello.


Well. I am tired. My body is akin to a 134 year old tortoise. Wrinkly, slow, old and often likes to be cozy inside the home.
Happy Birthday Dad!!! Hope you liked the cake I sent.....in 2012, we shall go on an adventure for your birthday celebration.
Happy Birthday Sweeney!!!!!!!! I hope you see this, but Sweens, we must eat some more gelatto when I come back. And I want to hear ALL the high school drama that I have missed for over a year!! I hope you are doing SO well!! I think of you all the time. Especially when I see guests on the square wearing Pumas.
It's been an exciting week....to say the least. On Friday, President Holmes, the mission president here, felt like we should have a mission-wide meeting. (Which, by the way, takes a little coordination and is tricky to coordinate. Matching up 150-200 people's schedules in a moment's notice--a task). Anywho....we did. Friday night we had a sit down serious talk about safety. President Holmes re-addressed a lot of the policies and procedures we have here at Temple Square, but really reemphasized the importance of why we have them.
Well...that very night--Friday--my apartment's carbon monoxide meter went off at 2am. Annoying. But we knew exactly what to do. And no one complained. Fortunately, it just needed a battery change (such is life). But...it was excellent prep for Saturday night.
Saturday night, our neighbors decided to have a bit of a fiesta. (For the record, I love listening to them...these are my favorite people. They play acoustic guitar and have Christmas lights adorning their patios. They put me to sleep, pleasantly reminded of my college years.

Things got a little out of hand I guess, because a fire started. It's SO close to our apartment complex (the shrubbery and trees joining the two buildings doesn't help...) that we evacuated our apartment too. And it was a pretty big fire too. Like a movie. Maybe I just thought that as I tried to peel my eyes open at 3am standing in my Pink Mumu, sandals and zip-up El Caminio hoodie.

Lessons learned: always be prepared. Keep sandals by the bed. This mission is run through inspiration.
And hey....here is Brandon Flowers from the band, The Killers. Who says you can't love the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and be a rock star? That's my plan as it were.
Carol, my homeless friend gave me her apple the other day. She doesn't have her two front teeth. So chewing is a little tough for her. She loves applesauce though. :)
Michael in Ghana is so lovely. He wants to be baptized there so that "his soul can feel cleansed"
Barbara in Texas talked to us too on the phone. She's in the hospital actually. They will be checking to see if there is fluid in her lungs. She loves talking to the missionaries. And said, "I'm not about floppin' religions or nothin', but I am about Christ". She is so funny. She also shared with us that she knows the country singer Clay Walker. Wonderful. We shared with her the last 2 paragraphs of the introduction to The Book of Mormon to which she responded, "Oh neat! I like the way that's worded". Neat-o.
Today, we ate Hawaiian snow cones!! Lovely.
This week, try something new. Maybe a new cafe, or a new book, or even a new friend. I promise you won't be disappointed. It's my favorite thing to do.
Love you all so much. I DREAM about you more and more.

Good luck this week Jen!!

Love you all!!
Sister Amy

Money can't buy me love...but it can buy me marshmallows, which are pretty much the same thing.

Ahhhhhh...People of the World!! (I love the Spice Girls....)

Kneader's is delicious. It's one of my Utah favorites. Seriously. I'd say it's been about 1 year prior to serving here that I realized how much I cared about Kneader's. It's a bakery. Utah. Wonderful. Cinnamon rolls that are simply divine. And the warm dinner rolls remind me of Grandma Davis. Anything that reminds me of Grandma Davis is going to be a hit.

We had a Zone Leader training this week @ President Holmes' home. It was incredible. I learned so much. Sister Holmes has a darling thing on her wall that says: "Money can't buy me love...but it can buy me marshmallows, which are pretty much the same thing."

Ghana!! Yep. We have had the delight and privilege of speaking with people in Ghana this week. Sister Maneha and I called Michael in Kumasi, Ghana. He's wonderful. I was calling on behalf of his friend, Corrine, who we met at Temple Square. She used to live there for school for a while. They had had some conversations about faith, The Book of Mormon and about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But to her chagrin, hasn't really been in touch with him too much since she left in the summer time. WELL, I called Michael and he was wonderful. Go figure, I had just called him while he was reading The Book of Mormon and watching Oprah!! We are insta-friends! My two favorite things to do. He then told me that he wants to go and attend my church. Then he stopped. Corrected himself and said, "No no. This is not your church. This is not my church. This is The Church of Jesus Christ". Well said Michael. AND....they do have a temple in Accra, Ghana.

Last night= DANISH tour! 21 people. Torben wants a copy of the Book of Mormon in danish from missionaries.

I know this is a super short e-mail this week, but honestly, I feel so grateful for the privledge it is to serve here. I am learning so much about important things in life. People. Perspective. Priorities. Plans.

Watch THIS about a family that comes together when tradgedy strikes. I thought about 3 places: San Jose, Denmark and Rohnert Park. (Opportunities to Do Good)

Thank you all so much for supporting me through it.
I love you all!
The Amy

Hello Familia y Amigos!!!

JEN!! I am thinking about you, Keith and Baby Mason ALL the time!! I love you so much!!! Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you and your family!!! Other than prayers and dinner rolls, I'll need specifics... :) Love you so much!!!

This week has been incredible. I don't know how it can keep getting better every day after over one year, but it does. I love serving as a missionary--especially on such sacred ground. At the beginning of the week, I anticipated stress and havoc, but none came. Things were busy, but everything worked out--as it usually does. Coordinating schedules for the Cover Zone assignments (for the transfer as well as general conference weekend) took time, but was worth it in the end. Things seemed to flow. No hiccups. My favorite moment of the week was training on Thursday night. Sister Maneha and I met with all the sisters in the humble original church office room. As we walked through the home, we could feel the help of Brigham Young and all of the pioneers who sacrificed their lives to be in the valley. In the final room, I felt like I was wearing magic glasses. I could see about 20 sister missionaries, representatives of Jesus Christ, doing their very best. We all want to represent Him well. It was a special moment because Sister Maneha and I could testify to these sisters how we know Brigham Young, his family, and every person who ever steps foot in this home, tries their best. That's the beautiful hope of the gospel.

AND from conference, I LOVE the new youth family history site. Call me a nerd, but geneology is wonderfully exciting.

I really miss Sister Moisio. She's a forever friend for sure. She taught me so much about faith. Sincerity. Hope. And never giving up on people. The thing I love about Sister Moisio is that she's 100% real. She's not a phony. Authentic and sincere, but not weird.

Thank you Mama for the boots!! And the very special note. Guess what? Praise to the Man was sung at the Saturday Afternoon session I attended. Pretty sure I looked ridiculous. I was crying through it as I thought about you and what I'm doing here. Happy/joy tears of course. Grateful tears. Overwhelmingly humbled tears.

Thank you for everything everyone. I feel SO privileged to serve and know that this experience is preparing me for a lifetime dedicated to loving and serving other people.

Love you all so much!! Thank you so much for everything.

Sister Amy