8/6

  This week has been super busy in the area.  Sometimes it feels like we don't have enough time to teach everyone.  Elder Gillette and I have been really working on not letting too many days pass between visits.  We almost never have scheduled appointments because the people always say "if you are passing by and we are here you can teach us."  I really haven't had too many scheduled appointments my whole mission and when we do there is a good chance the people forgot.  I can't complain thought because right now we have some good investigators.  

     Last P-day we bought a pack of colored pencils to give to our investigators so that they can mark things in the assignments we give them.  I don't care as much about what they mark and I do that they are reading.  This colored pencil tactic really works.  It is as if when we give them a Book of Mormon and a colored pencil of their choice they can't help but read.  It has been going really well so I think I'll continue it my whole mission.

     One cool lesson we had this week was with a 50-60 year old woman who just returned to her home in Balabac.  The lesson went so well.  It was as if she automatically believed everything we taught her.  At the end of the lesson we gave her her own Book of Mormon (along with a pencil).  She was so grateful for what we had taught her that she said that when she returns to Balabac she is going to share it with others.  Balabac is an island off the southern tip of Palawan and is technically part of my mission but there are no missionaries there because it's a little far and there are so many muslims there.  Anyway, it makes me really happy that I could share something that can mean so much to someone else.  Right now there are no full time missionaries in Balabac but the Book of Mormon is being shared there now.

     Another cool thing that happened this week because of the colored pencils is our one investigator, Aljan read his assignment and he prayed at the end of the lesson.  He may have also shed a few tears.  He still hasn't been to church but at least he is progressing.  I think he will accept the gospel some time but probably not while I'm here.

     Another day this last week while we were out we tried teaching a newer family but they were busy with their family business.   Their business is they run a small barbecue on the street in the afternoons and at night.  Because we came to them in the morning they were skewering stuff to get ready.  I think the specialty for that day was chicken intestines on sticks.  Because Elder Gillette and I wanted to have a cool experience we sat down and helped them skewer the intestines.  It was a little harder than it looked.  I'm not sure they appreciated our help too much but now at least they know we're friendly.  At these kind of barbecues they sell stuff like skewered intestines, fat, pork, chicken head on a stick, chicken foot on a stick, and some of those "eat first and then know what it is later".

That's pretty much all I remember from this week.  Thanks for the emails.
The church is different here than from Belize.  As missionaries we usually don't do much.  There is no translating or anything like that.  Rarely do we ever teach the lessons.  On a normal Sunday there are about 130 people in sacrament meeting.  Last May the branch became a ward.  We try to work with members but we haven't done any exchanges with them.  Elder Gillette is a good missionary.  He is obedient and nice.  He has been on his mission almost 6 months.  In this mission we don't really have senior companions.  I think it is better that way. 

     I'm excited that I will be home next summer to go up to Cooke city with you guys.\

Love, 

Elder Harkness

8/27

  I would have to say this week was probably the quickest week in my mission.  I can't believe it is p day again.  I have also been thinking about how this past week I have 10 months left on my entire mission.  It is so weird how the mission time passes.  It feels like I haven't been gone that long and that I still know you all as if I were back home last week. 

     This week has been another busy one.  We missionaries were invited by the bishop of our ward to give a lesson for a ward FHE on Saturday.  It went well and it was a nice change in schedule.  The FHE was on unity. We had a few volunteers come up an as teams of two they had to try moving a balloon in between their hips up to their cheeks without using their hands (I hope that makes sense.).  It was really funny to watch.  Another game was listing random items for the primary kids to get and return to the front an the first one to do it was the winner.  One of the things was to go grab their dad's hanky.  I thought "how do you know that all the dads have hankys?"  It turns out  everyone carries around hankys here.  I didn't notice that before.

     Earlier this week on an assignment from the sisters who are in desperate need of a new apartment we did a little "house hunters international" here in the area.  We spent the morning looking for different apartments and found one that was pretty good.

     A really good lesson we had this week was last night with the Grampa family.  We had a great FHE with them last Monday with them and everyone had a great time.  Last night we taught them the word of wisdom.  Brother Grampa has a bit of a problem with drinking and smoking and his wife doesn't like it.  He told us that hopefully he would be able to change his life.  That's when we knew it was the perfect time for the word of wisdom lesson.  It went well and we committed them to live it although Brother Grampa will most likely have some relapses.

     Things are winding down for this transfer and next p day will be my last in the area until I transfer to manila.  I am actually really excited to transfer even if it's to Manila because I have been in this area forever. 

--

Love, Elder Harkness

8/14

   This week we had interviews with the new mission president, President Fermanis.  We also had zone conference.  In my interview president asked me how long I have been on Palawan.  "9 transfers" I said.  He said that I will be going to Manila for sure this next transfer.  I can't complain though.  I will hit my year mark here about August 26.  I have been on Palawan longer than any other missionary here and there are about 60 of us.  He said there is still a chance that I might come back though.  He compares Palawan to the spirit world and Manila to the real world.  I think it will be fine though. 

     As for this week I have been a little bad with writing in my journal so it is a little hard for me to remember everything that happened.  Elder Gillette and I have been working really hard in the area and were able to get two investigators at church which is good for this area.  At zone conference I was able to talk with some of the elders in Quezon, my first area.  That area is still booming.  They had 23 investigators at church while my companion and my record while there was only 15 investigators at church in one Sunday.  I think it would be great to go back but foreigners aren't allowed to serve there anymore because of a terrorist group in southern Palawan that has gotten worse in the last 6 months.  The Quezon elders told me a family that I helped start teaching is now baptized.  It was the one family I wrote about way back I think in December about the wife who's dead mother told her that the true church would be the one that the first thing they talk about is God.  Its really cool because the first principle we taught them in our first visit was "God is our loving Heavenly Father".     

That is pretty much it for this week thanks for the emails.

Elder Harkness