~~A Pleantiful Pioneer Padoo to you!!~~

(Padoo is the word that starts with a "P" that I could think of to insert instead of hello"

Well. It has been a very Utah week. Let me just tell you, Utah loves pioneers. LDS, Jewish, Baptist, Catholic, Atheist or otherwise. We celebrated 1847 this week here in Utah with Pioneer Day. 1847 is when a lot of the first settlers arrived in the valley, driven here by their faith, determination and courage. We got to go to the Days of '47 Parade. SO HILARIOUS. I was cracking up. Also, try explaining "floats" to people outside of the US. Hilarious.

We met a few people this week who I won't soon forget:

--We met a man named David this week. 29 year old member. Just started going back to church in January after about 10 years. We were able to talk with him about why he came back and why the pioneers kept going too. Sister Yao and I shared the pioneer story for that fit him best--the sandstone foundation. After 9 years of putting in the sandstone foundation for the temple, the pioneers realized that it was cracking and couldn't support the whole structure. They pulled out 9 years of work and started over with granite. It took the pioneers 40 years to complete the Salt Lake Temple. David feels like he is 29 and tired of backtracking. Well, that's exactly what the atonement is for. The pioneers knew exactly what they were building. Not a condo--that's for sure. And 9 years of unreliable foundation needed to be corrected. That's what I'm trying to figure out too.

--Megan from Beverly Hills! She is classy. So nice. So sweet. You would think she has everything figured out. She's a 28 year lawyer from Southern California and gorgeous too. But she asked us why her Mormon friend are always so happy. And then asked Sister Yao and I why we were happy too. And as sincere as I've ever seen anyone, she asked me, "do you ever get sad?". Yep. I do. Really sad actually. But it's how I manage the hard stuff that I find real joy. Not the type that is always easy to understand, or even laugh about. I am grateful for the perspective that the restored gospel gives my life.

I love you all SO SO MUCH!! Enjoy the parade photos!! ALSO, my favorite was the LDS.org float. Or the Tongan marching band with the guy dragging the cooler at the end. I couldn't decide. :)

Love you all!!
Sister Amerilla

Hoooaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh,

We'll just call it awkward. This whole week has been weird. Weird and refreshing. Story of my life.

Seriously. I think that the falcon watchers kind of sum up what the scoop is. So, a few weeks ago, there was a HUGE deal in Salt Lake about these darling baby falcons. You know me, I love the birds (Yay Bodega Bay!).

This family of falcons built a nest in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, on top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. So, in lieu of this, locals have teamed up and started what I like to consider Falcon Watch. They bring their lawn chairs, hairly legs and chest hair, binoculars and sassy falcon watcher attitudes. I LOVE THESE PEOPLE. They are my people. Most days I feel inclined to pull up a borrowed Visitor's Center wheelchair. One day we were talking to a man named Jeff about the falcon situation (yep. I like updates). He said that Charlie, the baby falcon, wasn't doing so well. He was just learning how to fly. So, we were all a little worried that he would fly into oncoming traffic or even a shiny window. PLUS, Charlie the falcon took a little hiatus for about 26 hours with no spotting. So, sincerely, I said, "Well, I will definitely keep Charlie in my prayers. I hope we find him!" Jeff, rolling his eyes a little, said, "Better yet, try looking for him".
I loved that moment. Hello gospel principle! Prayers without a little action won't get anyone too far. But action without a little prayer is the same. The combination of Heaven's help through prayer, plus the determination to do our best is the BEST and MOST EFFECTIVE combo. You can thank Jeff for that one.

My weeks are filling up with lots of meetings, evaluations and numbers. One of my favorite experiences took place this week with Sister Tizhanina (from Russia) and Sister Parrella (from Brazil). Sister Yao and I were assigned to help evaluate what we could do to help them improve and celebrate what they are doing well. It's Sister Parrella's first week here. She's new. She's wonderful. After an hour with them, we were able to see how incredible these two really are. The most beautiful thing about their companionship is how much they let each other blossom! Sister Tizhanina treats Sister Parrella as an equal. As she is.

Basically, Heavenly Father keeps re-teaching me that letting other people learn by doing is the most effective (and supportive) form of leadership. That's Christ-like leadership if I've ever heard it.

THANK YOU TAMARRA!!!!!! Yep. So much love for you. THANK YOU! Tears were shed. I am really missing you right now--especially during this funny transfer. Who will watch PMG evaluation with me on our fancy DVD players? Oh and Carol big tooth grins at you and says Hi back. As does Evelyn. Evelyn has bangs now too, by the way. Super in style.

AND!! I announced in Danish on Sunday after the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Music and the Spoken Word performance!! Yeah!!

My favorite clip of the week: Hooray for research analysts! Especially when Tom claims Silicon Valley as one of his former homes.

LOVE YOU ALL!!

Hope you got a kick out of the falcon story.

Love you!
Soster Amy

Non-Parallel Structure

Well. Well. Well.

Kind of a crazy week. Let me break down the new numbers for you all.

Transfer #9 of 12.
5 more months.
4 more transfers. (6 weeks each).
3 more seasons.
2 more....ugh. I'm stuck. sorry. Non-parallel structure.

Well, the week started with me dropping Sister Kemsley off at the airport. I felt like I dropped of one of my vital organs. I love her so much!! (I know you're reading this....no...I'm not crying. But maybe later tonight....) (How does it feel to listen to Iron & Wine and wear pants?)

So I have a new companion!! Sister Yao!! From Taiwan. She's wonderful! Very different from Sister Chen from Taiwan. By the by, (thanks Nicole for the phrase-ology), Sister Chen was a GIFT. I learned so much from her. We got to enjoy every single day. VERY happy 6 weeks for me.

Sister Yao is from Changhua, Taiwan. She has 2 younger sisters. And for fun, she used to make sell steering wheels. Needless to say, she's driven. :) This is her last 6 weeks. She also breathes a little heavier than usual if she's thinking. We laugh about that together often. We are serving together as Zone Leaders for these next 6 weeks. So, we've got a some new responsibilities and assignments. ALWAYS busy. More meetings. And a lot of really incredible learning. I am really learning SO SO MUCH.

SO...for the miracle report...5 out of 7 days this week, Sister Yao and I met Danish people. No joke. I hope you are all realizing that the amount of Danish people I meet is amazing. There are 5 million people from that country. And only 150-200 sisters at Temple Square...which, is in the middle of UTAH. (Not my #1 tourist spot when visiting the US). But hey. They come here. I meet them. We hygge. It's a miracle. I really feel like Heavenly Father is letting me return a lot of the appreciation and respect I have for them.

I'm working on feeling that way about everyone I meet. I wake up every morning and put on a name tag that says, "Sister Harmer". I told a darling couple this week that every morning, as I put that on, I am reminded of HOW my Heavenly Father wants me to treat other people. I am LITERALLY their sister. In a very sweet, spiritual way. Can you imagine if everyone treated each other like brothers and sisters?

Call me a Beatles-loving hippie. But I love it.

AND HEY!!! A little Bay Area love!! Missionaries (like me) opened the San Francisco Giants game the other night!! YAY!!!!

I love you all so much. So grateful for my friends and family. I am SO SO fortunate to have so many DIFFERENT and amazing people in my life. Truth.

Thank you!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Sister Amy

"Stop Being Crazy" eyes

Hello world!!!

First of all, let me just say... my niece is adorable. I feel like I should have one of those passive-aggressive bumper stickers that hails the, "my niece is cuter than yours" or something. BIG MAC ATTACK!!! Mckenzie is the best. (Mom, can you put that horse picture up on the blog? Seriously, the world needs to meet Mac!)

Monday we find out the scoop for the next 6 weeks. Changes go in effect on Wednesday. If I go to serve in another state in the US at all, it would be starting Wednesday. I don't really think I'll go...that's my gut. Some sisters leave, but not all. I'd say maybe half go. ANYWAYS. That's just a heads up. So technically, next week I could be writing to you from Alaska. Ha! That'd be the day. I have 4 more 6-week transfers. Woah. Does that rock your world? Does that make you want to get the party plans in action? Get excited. I'm not sure if the Bay Area can handle me again. They needed an 18 month breather methinks.

ALRIGHT. I think I'm babbling. I'm not even looking at my notes. I do take notes, you know. Throughout the week, I'll jot down things I want to mention in this e-mail. So....a few:

• THANK YOU LISA for the darling "classic Barbie" card! I miss you so much. I miss your Monets. I miss snacking with you. And bike rides. And looking at bugs and flowers. Seriously. I am SO looking forward to just syncing up our lives again. LOVE LOVE!!





• THANK YOU Jennie for the card!! I loved the art!! Very classy. Very Jennie. Thanks for thinking about me!! Love you so! Hey--can you send me a picture of Spencer's dog?





• KJESTINE!!! TUSIND TAK PIGE FOR DIN SODE DANSK GAVE!!! I loved it so much!!! Ugh. I miss you SO MUCH!!! Happy birthday to YOU this week!!!





• JUST to let you all know---missionaries can be fashionable. It's not breaking any sort of commandment from God to love what you wear. Phew. AND just to prove it, the missionary department thought up some stylish new ideas. (MOM, you're going to love this. Seriously.) The first time I saw this, I felt like I was doing a little online shopping at Nordstrom. Not so. Just strengthening my testimony of being human, not a robot missionary with starchy clothes and bricks for shoes. Basically, when sharing the happiest message in the world, we can look the part.





• Hey-o! Mormons take on New York City!! TIME SQUARE has a new add spread. LOVE THIS!!





• Laie Temple Dedication Celebration!! Yay for Temples!!





• I'm going to miss Sister Kemsley!! She goes home on Wednesday!!!





• And, I love Sister Chen. She's really incredible. She's one of the most supportive companions I've ever had. The other night, we were getting ready to go to sleep and I was a little restless. So, naturally, I clean. I was wiping down the counters in the kitchen, channeling my inner Willow Street. We go to sleep the latest 10:30pm. It was a few minutes til 10:30, and I turn around and there is Sister Chen, with a warm smile and "hey, stop being crazy Sister Harmer" eyes. I'm really learning that we all deserve supportive people in our lives. I hope that I can be that for other people!!! She's a gift.





• NICOLIOLIO!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE STICKERS and moolah and love. SERIOUSLY. BEST week ever.





• Made a cake for Sister Chen this week as an "I'll miss these 6 weeks" goodbye. She reminds me of "Stich", so I naturally included that on the cake.





• So, every night Sister Chen and I prayerfully plan for the next day. Tuesday night, we planned to meet someone on Wednesday from 7-8pm. We planned for 1 lonely guest and felt like we should focus on the atonement and a living prophet. Enter Spencer. 7:15pm we met Spencer. A 17 year old from Utah. Loves to rock climb. Likes REI and Cliff bars. Hallelujah. We started talking with him. We went up to the roof of the conference center. That's one of my favorite thinking places at Temple Square. It reminds me of the roof at the Oakland Temple. He's been through a lot. Really questioned the existence of God or not. And the importance of a living prophet. And the power of the atonement. Me too. The atonement is why I am on a mission. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to take full opportunity of that atonement. I love the atonement. So beautiful.

Welp...time is of the Emril Lagasseeee essence!!! BAM! Out.

--Sister Hams

Parental Note: We got the following email yesterday from Sister Ku from South Korea. Amy will not be going out into the field beyond Temple Square. She will likely serve out her mission there.

Hello Sister Harmer,

My name is Sister Ku from South Korea. I know, very exotic. By the way, your daughter is now a zone leader and her new p-day is on tuesday so she won't be able to email you till next Tuesday. Her new companion is from Taiwan, Sister Yao who is my companion till today.

Sister Ku

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN QUINN!!!!!

If you are anywhere near Lauren Quinnfield from now until July, pinch yourself. Because you're exactly where I want to be. Please celebrate her life, her wit, her amazingly saucy good looks and everything about her. Make sure you feed her jordan almonds or mother's apple pie truffles from See's. And then if you want, take her for a pedicure. She loves those. Or you could take her for a nice drive out to the beach, or Chico. Hay!!! Don't forget the good music. I love you so much Laureny!!! Have the best birthday EVER!!! We'll celebrate in December... on the plane to Europe. :) LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!

• New Video !!!! -- I am a HUGE fan of all the sassy new videos. Here is Nadia. From London (love it). Speaks Farsi (hello high school prom date!!!). Yay multicultural!!



• Tangled! In leiu of Tangled...I must talk about hair!! THANK YOU SO MUCH ANDREA!!!! My beautiful cousin thought she'd send a little love my way for my birthday. SO THOUGHTFUL!!! I dyed it the other night....and WHEW! I feel like a fresh woman. Me gusta mucho. Seriously. I love my new hair!!!! Fresh!! AND...if you've ever seen Tangled, like I have, then you'll know how obsessed you can become from the creepy flower song. I LOVE that creepy flower song!! I often sing that to Sister Chen. Often.



• Steve the mailman from New York -- Seriously. Amazing. He was hilarious. He wants to learn more about Jesus. Ok. We can help with that. The Bible and the Book of Mormon are good places to start. He is so excited to learn more with the missionaries in New York. We always get a "God bless you" when we hang up the phone with him.



• Swedish boyfriend -- YAY!!! Finally!! Danes!! I thought for a while that I had met all the Danes I could. Nope!! They're back!! We got to meet a DARLING, very Danish family. 2 little girls and their mom and dad. The parents are not together anymore, but still think that it's important to do things as a family. Pretty cool, methinks. So, what does little 2 year old Pia say to me upon introductions?
  •Pia: "Hej! Jeg har en kæreste"
  •Me: "Er det rigtig?"
  •Pia: "Ja. Han er Sven"
  •Me: "Nohh.....Ok. Er han fra Svenska?"
  •Pia: "Oh ja"
  •TRANSLATION:
  •Pia: "Hi! I have a boyfriend"
  •Me: "Is that right?"
  •Pia: "Yep. His name is Sven"
  •Me: "Nohh.....Ok. Is he from Sweden?"
  •Pia: "Oh yeah"
  •I LOVE DANES!!!!!



• Don't mess with Samoan Aunties -- So, Sister Chen and I were heading up to the Christus this week. We had just opened one of the movies here, and met a Samoan family. There was about 15 of them. Well....because we can, we decided to play the Christus naration in Samoan. Be-a-u-ti-ful. Then, Sister Chen and I felt like, hey, family=family presentaion. We have a brand new version of a presentation here called "God's Plan for Families". I really like it. Anyone can appreciate families. It's great because you walk into a baby's room, a grandma & grandpa's house...all sorts of stuff. So, at the end, we have about 15 minutes before the buildings close, but one of the Samoan aunties says, "Sisters. I'd like to say something. Is that ok?" (Do you think I'm going to say no to a Samoan auntie?) Well, she gets up and is bold. She says, "Sisters, there are 3 people in this room who don't know about the restored gospel. Aofia, Josepha, Faaololi...I love you so much. I want to be with you forever. After I die, I want to continue this. This isn't the end. I want that so bad. The way to make that possible is through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ". The whole room was so quiet. They all knew Auntie was serious. I learned a lot from them. Bold-not cold. That's love. Everything else isn't.



• I am a HUGE fan of polynesian people. HUGE. Bay area!!!! YAY!!! Here is a person named Gabe. Nothing is better than a big tough person appreciating family, friends and faith.



• Stine -- HURRA HURRA HURRA!! It was SO fantastisk to see you!!! HOORAAAYYYYY!!!! I want to hear all about this Little Cottonwood Canyon romance... :) Oohh la la. Maybe we'll need to ride bikes together someday. San Francisco? Ok. Tak.



• Lauren's lotion kit -- THANK YOU SO MUCH QUINNIE!!! I love my fresh hands for humid Utah. So humid. Sweating buckets. Drip drip. I was so ridiculous. Humid? Ha!! And I was like, "No. Really. It is SO humid there. Seriously. So bad" Seatbelts anyone?



• Lashelle -- You look great! So good to meet your friend!! I hope you had fun at the concert!!



• "Shin" (part of leg. and yes, love the band...) -- Word of the week with Sister Chen= "shin".

YAY for summer. Yay for sunshine. Yay for JOY. All week long.

LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE
Hermana Harmer

So much has happened this week. Today was a pretty special day too. Birthday!! Yeeaayyyeahhh!! I thought it would be a little anti-climatic... but alas, we are having a grand time!!

This morning, I took Sister Tizhanina, from Russia, to the dentist. She needed some work done, so Sister Chen and I went on a little exchange. Anywho...I decided that I would write up some key points for today's e-mail while I was in the lobby, staring at pictures of cracked and shattered teeth. Seriously, those pictures frightened me!! I'll tell you what. I definitely will stop biting my nails for at least a week.

• BIRTHDAY LOVE!!!


• THANK YOUS!!!!


• Grandmas and Grandpas!!! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!


• Margaret!! Thank you for sweet gifts!! YOU are so thoughtful!! I will be sing that stationary to write you!! :)


• Pancakes from room mates this morning.


• Tiffany, Chelsea, Inez, Nicole, Mom and Dad.....I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!! THANKS for the Birthday love and love!!!


• Brownies from Sister Kim & Tizhanina


• Cake from Sister Kemsley


• Awesome hand made card from Sister Chen


• Boba!!


• Jennifer!


• Paige, Steph and Mama Knudsen!! So crazy. :) Love you!! You are family.

French Book of Mormon vandal
So this story is actually pretty funny. Sister Chen and I met this guy from France last week. He told us that he grew up Catholic, but that he considers himself atheist. I told him that most of my closest friends are either atheist, agnostic or "spiritual" of sorts. He then kept peppering questions to us about how we knew for ourselves if any of this is true or not. Study and pray my friend. Study and pray. We talked about the Book of Mormon. He was FASCINATED by it. We told him that if he wanted one, he could have one from his local missionaries for free and could continue to learn with them if he wanted. He didn't want that. Well...we parted ways. About an hour later, Sister Chen and I walked by the display with tons of different Book of Mormons in all sorts of languages. Yep. French was missing. Swoop!! We laughed an awkward laugh.

"I Sit All Amazed"
Last Sunday for church, we got to hear Steve and Carol Mikita speak. They are a brother and sister team. Steve is paralyzed. I'm not really sure what his exact diagnosis is, but he needed help tilting his head to the microphone to speak. Once he has help to the motor on his wheelchair, he can maneuver the chair. Here's the thing, even given his circumstances, Steve Mikita went on to be an attorney general, and recently an author. (That's the title of his book, "I Sit All Amazed")He spoke with us about choosing our attitude, regardless of our situations. SO incredible. He then shared with us the love he has for the gospel. And or the perfect plan of happiness. All unfair things are made up through the atonement. Here's another person named Luis Vance who lives life with a wheelchair.

Hope Gallery
Hooray!! We got to visit the Hope Gallery in Salt Lake City this week. Highlight of my week. And what kind of art do they feature? Yep. Scandinavian artists, with a focus on Carl Bloch. AND Louise (my friend from Denmark) worked there this spring for about 6 weeks. Why have I not been there sooner??

Ron from Georgia
73 years old. Came to Temple Square a few years ago, but didn't want to learn more back home. Ron got in touch with us and told us that now he thinks it's about time that he learned. He told us that on Wednesday, he and his wife drove 25 miles to find his local LDS chapel. No one was there, but now they know where to go when they go on Sunday. That to me is faith. Doing. Action. Experimenting. Not just discussing. And thinking, but really acting.

2 cockroaches in one week Disgusting. Enough said.

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!!!
Hooray!! Everyone eat cake today!! :)
Sister Amy

Hooray! And my new favorite video of the week!!: Moments that Matter Most

"Wow, You're normal."

~~ALOHA!!!!~~

That's Sister Chen's favorite greeting. She went to school in Hawaii before serving her mission here. THANK YOU DAD!!! I got the fun package filled with love!! And candy!! And AMAZING pictures. I loved the NCYLS one!!! THANK YOU!! And so exciting to hear about San Jose!! I told a few Sisters here. You know...water cooler talk. You have no idea how excited they got. Seriously. SO GREAT!!

THANK YOU
--Josafat!! I loved the Samurai hat and the balloon. So did the sister missionaries here from Japan. They were pretty impressed. :) Thanks for the updates too! I can't wait to buy a pair of pants from you someday!!
--Margaret!! It sounds like you're getting into the whole Nevada scene. YMCA and callings to boot! THANK YOU so much for your sincerity and endless friendship. You have NO idea what a good example you are to me.
--Seanold!! Skydiving?? Nice. Sounds like you are doing really well! Happy happy!!

I'm going to cut to the highlights for this week. Way too many to include:

• It's official. I can now take Danish tours. In order to take language tours at Temple Square, sisters need to pass off with another sister who speaks that language. Before this week, I just bump into miracle Danish people on the square. Now, when we get Danish motor coaches or people requesting a tour in Danish, they will page (yes, like 1990s pagers) 2 people. Sister Andersen, from Copenhagen, and yours truly. You have no idea how grateful I am for Danish people. Being able to help them understand eternal hygge is a really great thank you I think. :)


• Yesterday, Sister Chen and I got to see President Monson. This week marks the 100 year anniversary of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Tons of celebrating going on here. We saw him. The thing is, I know that Thomas S. Monson really is human, like everyone else. At the same time, I know that he really does have a lot of responsibility. He serves as a living witness of Jesus Christ. Just like Noah (no...not the San Jose based bagel shop). Sister Chen started shouting "Zai Jian!!" (Bye!!) and waving on his way out. I am so obsessed with her. She's hilarious.


• One of my favorite moments of the week: 2 couples from Pennsylvania. 50s-60s. Best friends. 4 people. 4 different faith backgrounds. After about 15 minutes with Sister Chen and I, walking around Temple Square, one of the women said, "Wow. You're normal. I don't know why I didn't think you would be" Breaking down prejudices about Mormon missionaries: mission accomplished. Isn't that beautiful? I love that! She was able to relax!! And then she was open to understanding some of the beautiful meaning behind the things there.


• I am really grateful for Sister Chen. Something that I'm learning is that loving who we're with is SO important. I really feel like I can trust her. THAT, is a gift. Can you imagine if we all trusted the people around us? She has taught me so much about authenticity, history and laughing. We get to ENJOY every day!! That is HUGE. Such a blessing. SO many miracles with her. Including many Chinese motor coach tours. FILLED with sincerity and care for the people we get to meet. I love it.

Thank you all for EVERYTHING YOU DO!!!

Love you!! We're off now to the mall. To find a Boba drink (reminds me of the Bay Area) and get our eyebrows waxed. And tonight, we're watching Tangled.

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!
Sister Amy