Monday, June 20, 2016

June 20, 2016 Pray to never be deceived

(Me and Elder Sialer.... on a mini cambio. Reppin my Peruvian soccer shirt haha)

a sweet view of the ocean with some container ships



Hey guys! So things are going good here. As you may have heard Chile beat Mexico 7-0 this week. So we will get to watch the semifinals game of the Copa Amèrica against Colombia on Wednesday :)

And don´t worry we are still doing missionary work even though the tournament is going on ;) haha. umm... this week we have had a few different experiences of where knocking on doors we got let inside. And they were nice people and stuff, but had their own strong beliefs and didn't end up wanting to accept our message as the truth. One example is that we decided to go knock on some doors in the very richest part of Lirquén (where our ward mission leader lives haha) and the 2nd house we knocked on this kid about our age came out and we asked if we could share something about Jesus Christ with him and his family. And he let us in, and was inside with a friend of us who had their bibles right their on the coffee table and they had just been studying. They go to the Methodist church. And I thought it was actually sort of cool to see 2 teenage kids like us studying from the scriptures for their own personal gain. So we talked for a while about our beliefs and theirs. And we shared about the great apostasy and about the Restoration of the gospel and of the Priesthood, and how the Book of Mormon is the evidence of that. And they had lots of questions for us, and I feel like the spirit was really there, and really helped me answer all their questions. My companion was pretty quite the entire lesson and didn't say almost anything. But its just sad to see people here the truth, and flat out reject it because "they want to just stay with what they already hve." And their excuses are ridiculous like "You know what, Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. And no one gets to the father, but by Him" and we are like...... YEAH DUHHH! We agree on that. haha they just cant think of any other excuse, because I think they even might know our message is true just don't want to accept it.

Or they say things like. There is only One god. And it really doesn't matter what church you go to, the Bible is the truth. And you just have to guide your life by the "sacred word". So thats sort of frustrating when they cant even think of a good excuse why they don't want to keep listening. And the funny thing was that after the kid Manuel (like 20 years old) said the closing prayer, and he wanted us all to stand up with him. And he prayed for about 3 to 4 minutes and probably said "Señor Jesùs" ("Lord Jesus") more than 50 times. Im not joking. every 5 or 6 words he said it...... Talk about "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" right??? haha

Anyways, this other guy last night let us in and we got talking about the same things as the other lesson. But the interesting thing is that his church that he goes to already has a Prophet. William Branham who died in the 1960´s. And they follow his teachings and stuff. And this guy Carlos was totally agreeing with EVERYTHING we were saying from the Apostasy, the need for Prophets, the Restoration. He even said "the bible prophesies that there needs to occur a RESTORATION" haha and he talked about the 12 original apostles and even mentioned the seventy!!! (luke 10) which surprised me. But insisted that his Prophet is Gods representative on the earth not Joseph Smith. And actually he died a long time ago, but his son is in charge of the church but doesn't want anything to do with it so he is sort of "silently waiting for God to do his work" haha and the most absurd thing ever is that he showed us this black and white picture of their prophet at some church pulpit speaking. And there is this little blur of light in the picture above is head like a flash of some sort and they call it "La columna de fuego" (the pilar of fire) and that is a sign that he is a prophet. because some expert in Super natural stuff studied the picture and said that it had to be authentic, and that he is a prophet! hahaha I was dumbfounded when I heard that. That lesson really strengthened my testimony of OUR church.

So basically, its sad to see the world that we live in today. Satan is really good at deceiving the people (even the very elect). And so a suggestion for us all would be Pray for the gift of discernment so that we will never be deceived, and taken down forbidden paths of darkness....

This is the Church of Jesus Christ. I know it.

Elder Hartvigsen

June 13, 2016 Copa America

Amazing Chilean Coast




Hey guys!
Well we took another trip to the beach today for P day and so I am sending a couple pictures from that. Also on Friday we were allowed to watch the Chile vs. Bolivia game in the copa america and tomorrow chile plays panama, so thats always fun to be able to watch those games! :) Elder Lopez wasnt too happy that Chile beat Bolivia in the final seconds, because the refs made a poor call and gave Chile a penalty kick haha. But its all good.. life moves on!

Umm... things havent been too different here lately. Still working like normal, and we have been bringing a couple of investigators to church but ones that arent really progressing, or ones that dont even live in our sector ha. Actually we had a cool thing happen on friday. We ate lunch at a members house and their less active daughter and son in law came over to eat mostly so that we could give her a priesthood blessing along with her dad (active member). And turns out that the husband of the daughter (Christian) has been really really interested in church and has been reading tons in the book of mormon and the doctrine and covenants and we are going to send the missionaries their to teach them, I am positive that he is going to get baptized. I have never seen someone with so much interest and wanting to find the true church and raise his 2 kids there. Its always such a blessing when I get to see people like that. And the bummer is just that I usually see people like that who are from other sectors. They actually live in Chiguayante in the same ward that I was in last year. But its just a blessing to be able to take part in the process of conversion at any stage. Whether we score the tuchdown (baptism) or whether we just make a 5 yard gain someward toard the middle of the field ALL POSITIVE EXPERIENCES COUNT!!

Umm... now not too much else has happend this week. If I think of anything I will tell you in your personal emails that I respond. Love you guys tons!

#finishstrong....8...weeks... ;)

Love,
Elder Hartvigsen

June 6, 2016 Taking back the Ocean!



This guy is in the ward, and his son is the 2nd counselor in the stake presidency! And they live in a tiny little home with tin walls and a tin roof and this little patio type thing in the back where he cooks crabs (and makes very little money doing it) but they are a happy family. and thats what matters! The material things obviously don't mean much to them.

Cooking crabs in boiling water

One of the millions of stray dogs here








Hey guys, so this week has been pretty good. I really like my comp Elder Lopez (from Bolivia) he is super tranquilo (chill) and we get along great! It has been so absolutely cold here in the afternoons. The sun goes down at like 6 pm and it is just frigid. I have ear muffs and stuff, but I bought a beenie today. Its strange that its been so cold here because we are right next to the ocean that it should be moderating the temp.... but its not. haha

Anyways, yesterday we brought 2 investigators to church which was sort of a miracle. Because that was the mission goal for the entire month of June (2 investigators per companionship in church every week in june) and today is president Arrington's birthday, so his wife really really wanted us to get the goal for his last birthday in the mission. ha and we got really close! like 152 investigators in the entire mission. We are gonna see if they have potential in progressing. One is a lady that has been attending for years and sort of stopped going the last few months, we just sort of re animated her to go, because she is waiting in about 2 months is going to finish her divorce papers to be able to marry her boyfriend and then get baptized. Another is Anita who is 11 years old and is the little sister of a recent convert. So hopefully we can work with her as well.

So after a service project one morning got canceled this week, I took my comp to the beach to take a few pics, because he has never seen the ocean before. Bolivia is a landlocked country, and all the chileans here bug him and joke about him coming to steal the ocean. Because Chile actually took like the northern coast of bolivia in a war a long time ago, and the Bolivians are still ticked about it. haha and we made a new friend (the black dog that wanted to be in the pic.) THERE ARE STRAY DOGS EVERYWHERE HERE!!

Well, thats about it for this week. I know the church is true. I know that when we bare our testimony, or share it with someone else.... it becomes stronger. So find ways to bare your testimony of the things you do know to be true!!

con mucho amor,
Elder Hartvigsen

May 30, 2016 the Flashlight salesman

this is my district!! From left to right: Hna Conde (argentina) Hna Pyatt (Massachusetts) Elder Fonseca (honduras/california) ME, Elder fuentealba (chile), Elder Melo (Brasil)


all my years of science fair, and school projects/ book reports paid off!! :)


FHE last night with Jorge Rojas and his wife Karina,

eating (FREE) at our ward mission leaders restaurant today! "El Rincón Marino"



Hey guys! So its transfer day, and I am staying in Lirquén (almost for sure to die here) :) Im excited and my companion is going to be Elder Lopez from Cochabamba Bolivia. WooHoo my 2nd Bolivian comp ha! Also I am going to be a grandpa... because my son Elder Parker is going to have a son (train) ha. And Elder Fuentealba is headed off to Chillán where believe it or not, he is going to be in the same ward as his older brother and sister in law. Its a small world after all right???

Yeah so this week we had our activity on saturday and we had an EXCELLENT turn out!! Like 50 people went. And 5 of them were investigators. 2 of the investigators were people brought by members, and 3 of them were people that we had contacted in the street and given them an invitation and they actually went! SHOCKER! anyways... we had contacted a couple in the plaza about 3 days before the activity who are from the North (Antofogasta) and are living here for a few months working and went and LOVED the movie The Testaments and we gave them a book of mormon after the activity and got their number to call them and set something up! And the other guy who showed up is named Jorge Peña and we contacted him literally 20 minutes before the activity started. So the plan was that at 7 we were going to start and at 5:30 we were going to meet in the church and go out with some members to pass out the remainder of my cards and invite people to the movie that very afternoon. So NO ONE showed up at 5:30... (not a surprise really) and so at about 6:15 my comp and I just decided to go ourselves and 1. get rid of the 40 cards or so that werent going to be of anygood after the activity and 2. maybe find one person at least to bring to the movie. So after giving out 4 cards or so we realized very quickly that the people "no estaban ni allí" (didnt want anything to do with it) haha and so we thought we were just going to be wasting our time. So we started back to the chapel and we see this guy selling flashlights on the corner of the street and I said Hi and he said hi back and was sort of looking at me really friendly. (And thats a dead give away that something is wrong... or right actually haha) because everyone tries to avoid us even by avoiding eye contact.

So something told me to turn around and talk with him so I did and we talked for like 3 or 4 minutes and I gave him the invitation and he said he would like to go. And so 20 minutes later he showed up to the activity and absolutely LOVED the movie. He is Evangelical and is sort of crazy, but turns out he is from Hualpèn and lives in the very same sector where I was (Cerro Verde) and we gave him a Book of Mormon as well and are going to pass the reference to the missionareis there (Elder Soliz my son, and Elder Ketch also from Alpine, UT) haha so hopefully something comes of all that :)

I just felt so good after the activity because I felt that all our time and efforts were good for something! Also this 15 year old young woman came up to me after crying and said thanks so much for inviting her she had never seen the movie but loved it and said "Now I know for sure that the Book of Mormon is true!!" and also an inactive member went who had not set foot in the chapel since the day he was baptized (8 years ago!) So it was a total success :)

And that was the highlight of our week. So... the church is true. The Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel, and if we are looking for opportunities to share the gospel and are willing to simply OPEN OUR MOUTHS, they will be filled. And David the investigator ended up having to work saturday and could go... but thanks for your prayers anways! haha

Love you all
Elder Harvigsen

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

May 24, 2016 Biggest Spider Ever

My last interview with President Arrington

and this nasty huge spider that got into our house somehow. Oh I actually know how.... there is an inch gap at the bottom of our front door that practically ANYTHING could crawl through! hahaha #goodoldchileanarchitecture

This is something we aer doing for President´s birthday on June 6. We all printed this paper out and wrote on it "what we have learned from him" and took a picture with us holding the sign to make a huge 200 missionary collage!

it says "President Arrington, what I have learned from you is to never give up on myself and just always keep on going!"



Hey guys! So its been another good week. And we are starting the last week of the cambio, so should be interesting right? I think I am going to stay and finish my mission here, but we wont know until next week.. haha but Im good with whatever happens!!

So last week we had interviews with President Arrington, and it was our last one with him, because he goes homein 6 weeks. And the new President Catala (from Buenos Aires) arrives! Anyways, I will send a pic that I took with him and sister Arrington because i didnt have any with them. He has been a great help and support to me during my mission, so Im really greatful for that! And his wife of course is AWESOME too!!

okay, so saturday night we had 2 very different encounters with Evangelicals that made me laugh on one occasion, and feel scared on the other one. 1. We saw some people buying completos on saturday morning, and we went into this little house where they were making them, and we bought a couple, and realized that it was a fundraiser for an Evangelical church. haha we were like oh cool! good for them! And its funny because when an Evangelical sees us they will almost always say "Hello brothers, God bless you! Blessings!!" (I think thats their way of trying to be nice and respectful haha) anyways I told my comp afterward.... that the completos werent very good, but thats okay. Because it was for a good cause. #supportthegreatappostasy
2. Yeah that same night we were walking past a different really small Evangelical church on this hill at about 9 PM, and thats usually when they are all in church anwyays. And its very common to hear the Pastor inside sort of yelling and preaching repentance and stuff, and hear loud "hallelujah´s" etc. or music playing.... but what we heard was totally different. We heard the pastor (or some man) absolutely yeling and shouting and really the only words I heard him repeat were things like "the spirits of God, and  the spirits of the Devil" and in the background their were at least 2 or more women absolutely WAILING!!! (remember in the movie the other side of heaven when those Tongans are mourning for the deceased.... yeah it was like the same thing) and Im pretty sure they were trying to perform some healing, or casting out of spirits or something weird like that.

I just felt sort of sick to my stomach and scared for the people inside, and we only listened from the outside for like 5 to 10 seconds! and then we left. It reminds me a lot of the scripture in the New Testament in Matthew 7:21-23

 21 ¶Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth thewill of my Father which is in heaven.
 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
They do work "miracles" in other churches. But I know that its not always by the power of god. And so it something crazy to think about. Anyways, I give thanks that we do have the Priesthood in our church, and that we do have the Holy Ghost!
Thats about it for this week. Love you guys!! 
Con much amor, Elder Hartvigsen