Christmas Week

Hello awesome family! How are you? Thank you for the emails, it sounds like you are all very involved in good things. Last week I have thought about you a lot as my comp and I have been talking about the fun things that we do with our familys back home. The gifts from the Twelve days of Christmas have been awesome, I and my comp have been taking turns opening the gifts, thank you. Thanks Bloomington youth. I am trying to get the photos to you that I sent last week. Did you get the the ones for the brake parts? I'll try to just get them all to you. As far as I know Skype is bu xing, not allowed. Last week I asked the mission president about sending home sound bits through the email. He did not know so he said no, but if he learned other wise he would let me know; as of now I have not heard. I think that I should send home some cd's with video from my camira, I think. I don't see what would be wrong with that. As for tapes, I can do that, but I'm going to wait to see if we can send sound bites/ movies through the email.

This week has been crazy. Tomorrow I start a sisters mission!!! CRAZY.. I will have been out for 6 months and I'm only in my second tranfer on the island. I'm grateful for the time I have and hope that I can do better everyday!

Wow there is alot going on in the world. I'm sorry to hear about Johnny and Sam. It is no fun to be stuck inside while your a missionary, our time is so short. I hope that they can get back out soon.

Liesl:
can I say you go girl? I tell people about my family and how you are 16 and almost have your AA and they freak out! They love hearing stories about things like that. They love America here! Everything that they do, eat and try to do is because they think that that is how it is in Amarica and so when they hear of something diffrent they love it!!

I'm glad to hear that the Hopi thing went well. Thank you for dong so much good! You all are great examples to me.

ok.. MERRY CHRISTMAS.. I love this time of year, although, it does not really feel like Christmas here in Taiwan. I am wearing short sleeves and shorts in the mornings to go out and excercise, not because that is all that I have, but because it is not cold enough for anything else. Last week the coldest ot got was 9 degrees Cels, which is a bit cold but not freezing yet. :) Anyway so I see the Christmas trees and sing Christmas songs because I want to feel Christmas, and it only works so much... this week is going to be great as far as missionary works, this Sunday.. I get to see my FIRST BAPTISM!! yea!!! I got alot of people ready in my last area, ready to be baptized but I have not seen one yet. Toshe is a nine year old girl and she has member perents that are inactive, but want he wants his daughter to be baptized, so that is going to happen on Sunday your Saturday:). I'll let you know how that goes probably by email, but I get to talk you you before that.

As far as phone calls home go, I just bought a phone card and I get to call for about an hour. I guess that I'll call the office? or home? I'll call home, first, sorry I didn't think about this before, I'm way excited to talk to you! Love you!

Got to go LOVE YOU, TALK TO YOU SOON!

Elder Harr

In Awe of His Blessings and Power

Editors Note: In this email he references several pictures but we didn't have any pictures come through.

Ok got the photos on the way:) WOW this week has been a blast we have seen miracles here in xin1 feng1 and it is only going to get better! First I'll tell you about the photos that I have sent and then I'll tell you some stories.

Three of these photos are of my bike break. The right side, three weeks ago my pick got knocked over by some guy getting on his scooter, and it pulled the snap ring out of the grove. We were waiting for a member to help us peike and so we where on our way to an appointment and could not fix it right then. So I take it to the bike shop and they snap the ring back in to place or so I thought. Since then it has come out of it's place almost weekly. I can keep putting it back into place but since it is such a new bike I thought that I should ask. The bike shop here is really good and they said that they would work with Red Rock, to get it fixed if they could connect. Can you get their email for me so I can get it to them?

Ok, now fun stuff, one of these photos is for a Christmas Card that I'm working on today to send to everyone that has sent me mail. This is right by my house at the top of a hill, and it is over looking part of the city Zhubei, and into the sea. 100 miles across that water is the land known as DaLu or main land China! It is way cool. The other photo in this set needs no explanation it was taken while we where getting photos for our Christmas cards and I think that it speaks for itself:)

Ok, so this week we met Julian!!!! This story is about how we just have to work as hard as we can and just know that the Lord will bless us!
WOW! So we were on our bikes by the train station and were trying to find people to talk to. So we were saying hello to everyone that we passed there a lot of people say "Hi" back as a joke, and have no interest, or as soon as they say it they hurry up and leave. Well this kid who we passed said in English "Hey Elder" I had passed and my companion had as well, we stopped and turned around, he said to us "Your Mormon, right?" comp "Ya are you a member?" he said " No, but I want to be"... wow so we turn around and go back to him and he took off his backpack and said "Hold on a sec I got this..." He then opened his backpack and he pulls out an English Book of Mormon. Comp "Where did you get that?" he said "I went to America, Utah in fact and lived with an member family and they gave me this. I went to church with them and everything. "Wow so we sat down with him and got asking him, so have you read that book, he said "Ya I have all of it, and I have started again, I read it every day" Wow!!.. we said "That is awesome, have you prayed about it to know if it is the word of God?" he said "Ya I pray everyday, and I believe it is a true book." well at that part me and my companion are in the clouds, WOW this 19 year old kid is sooooooooo ready, he has a date for his baptism on the 1/8!!

The Lord loves us and helps us all the way. He knows who we are and guides us to where He wants us to go!

Story two:
Last week I contacted this guy on a scooter and he gave me his phone number and said that he was willing to meet but he had no time to talk right then. Well this guy was for real, I called him later in the week and he set up. We met with him yesterday and he was totally accepting, and accepted the 1/15 as a date to receive baptism... Wow what a week. Work hard. Do your best and the Lord will bless!

I got to go but I would like to ask for Linford's address. Some how I can't seem to find it. Also Coach Pendalton?

Love you

You're awesome! Thank you so much for the new socks! I got them last week and Thank you as well for the twelve days of Christmas! Me and my comp love it!!!

Elder Harr

Learn to Love & 72 oz Western Steak Challenge!

Most Awesome Family,
I want to start by saying that I love you all! You all are such great examples to me and I am so grateful to know you and have so many great friends that have all helped me so much! Thank you for your prayers! The Lord is with us all and I am so grateful to know this. I pray that you all are doing well! Thank you.

Sounds like big things are happening and I am grateful for this, it is how we grow and learn. I am staying busy, or better be, and it is good to hear that you all are as well. The Building is a HUGE thing, NICE JOB! One thing that I have found interesting is how much while on a mission Goals are like the center of what you do. Every week you find ways and make plans to fulfill your purpose as a missionary! I'm grateful for so many examples that have taught me about goals and how to set them while working and becoming more effective!

Ok, so I am adding some photos that remind me of you guys. This little boy is a member that we went to see last night and well it explains it's self. Then I added some photos around my area with my comp in them.


OK so here we go, for next week I will not be able to email in on Monday. We have a temple day on Wednesday. I am so excited to go! It will be my first time to go on the island. They do temple days 4 times a year, and this is my first one. I miss going to the temple every week. So ya, I will be emailing you on my Wednesday, your Tuesday. FYI:)



These bike photos where taken last week on P-day in the church parking lot. I LOVE YOU:)

Today I am about to go to a western stake house! and Eat a 72 ounce stake! If I can eat it in 1 hour it is free and if not well.... I'll... be ... eating peanut butter sandwiches for the rest of the transfer:). I'll let you know how that goes next week:). ha ha! Just know I'm thinking about you, haha and about Cliff, as I take on the challenge!!

Ok no more photos in this one, My companion wants to use my card reader.

This week has been a blast! I am going to see my first baptism in two weeks! I'm so excited, it is a little girl, her Dad is a member but her Mom is not. Elder Barlow started meeting with her last October and she is ready. We still need to talk to her Mom and get her permission but it is looking good:).

I'm glad that you all are doing well. Samuel, your doing well it sounds like and I'm glad for that:)! How is hockey? Chan your playing as well, right?

You all are awesome. This church is true. This last week we met a guy named Qiao3. We contacted him at a family Mart. He said that he could sit down and talk, so we did. Half way through the lesson it all started to click and he started to cry. This guy is 25 ish and all we had shared was that God lives, He knows you, and He wants to give you his love and his truth, so he called Joseph Smith. When Joseph was saying a prayer to give him guidance to find the truth... He was crying, he didn't say a word, but it finally clicked for him, GOD LOVES YOU, and he wants us to feel his love. He just called to make sure we could meet tomorrow and wanted to move times. Wow he is Awesome, but it helps me see that I need to be here. More than my own knowledge, but to see this man crying because he realized that GOD loves him, that someone loves him.... in Taiwan the people hardly ever, almost never express their love. They express it but they never say I love you or he loves you. So this is huge. Kids almost never get a hug from their parents, they need to learn how to love.

So I LOVE YOU! You all are awesome.

Elder Harr

Talk you you on your Tuesday, my Wednesday.

P.S I got kicked off before I could send this last email so here it is, the BEAST!! I was the only one out of the 7 guys that did it. haha I will get to eat good food for the rest of the transfer:) YEA.. haha. Anyway love you all.





So I have some time before the photos are loaded up, so I'll tell you some more...

This next week is going to go fast! Tomorrow is district meeting. Wednesday is English class(happens every week). Thursday is weekly planning, and Friday is President Interviews. So it is a very busy week. We need to find 4 new people on top of this. It's going to be hard because I live away from the church, where that all happens, but I have faith that we can do it with the help of the Lord. This is his work!!

Also, I need to ask you, what day do you want me to call you? We can do it on our Christmas, your Christmas Eve, Or our day after, your day of Christmas? I can do either. We call from, home and there is only one phone, so we need to get this worked out.

Love you!

November 28 2010

Hello everyone:)

Ok wow what a week! I'll start with you:0 It is so good to hear that you are dong so good. Mom I just got your letter yesterday and we Loved the cookies.:) Thank you so much! You all are always up to so much good! haha I love the photo of everyone in the tractor! Reminded me of lots of fun times working together, I'm grateful that you all are doing well!

I have several letters that I am sending this week to Jared, Chris and other friends. I wanted a photo to send them and I didn't have one printed until this week so I will get those in the mail along with a new update for this week. I hope that they all are doing well, I am excited to hear that Chris got his call!! That is awesome.

Ok so I'll tell you a little bit about the photos that I am giving you .. in the 1st email I sent a photo of our pumpkin:) for Halloween. In English class we had a party and this was the only one that we could find, it was imported from America, funny! The fruit is bigger that the pumpkin is, the fruit in the photo is called a Pummelo? like a grape fruit. Also I sent a photo of Jenny a current investigator, with a date, she is way cool, she speaks English really well for a Chinese person.

this time a have a photo of shi2de3 a new convert on her birthday, she invited us to have cake with her also with me is Elder o1 my companion and Elder Young, his previous comp.

Also there is a photo of me above a part of bei2tou3 the area next to mine, we are just on a hill in the middle of the city, in our morning run:).

OK also in the last one I sent a some photos of food:) yes frog, eel, and turtle are all waiting to be fried up and eaten. I have not eaten that yet but I think that I might get the chance later down the road. I also sent a photo of a family I think that I have told you about them, that is Sam and his family, he is a new member and is from Sweden, way cool.

Merry Christmas!

Pictures from Elder Harr

Happy Thanksgiving!
Yes here are some photos, these are a mix of things. There are some of a new member his name is Sam, also of shi2de3.

OK so I'm starting to figure this out, the photos need to load but I can type while they are loading...

Wow what a week. Time is really flying by, and yet not at the same time. How is everyone at home? Hope everything is well.

I read Dad's email and it said that you where going to order some shoes. The shoes that we bought will work great, just the shoes that I brought with me, the ones that I had in the MTC, which where a leather soul, are done. Before I left we bought some shoes that where rubber, those will be awesome, please don't order other ones. Sorry that was what I was asking about.

So today I moved to Zhubei with Elder Barlow from St George. His family is living in Washington, cool stuff. He says that this next transfer is going to go by so fast...

Trying to send Pictures

Hey Awesome Family:

Wow time has flown by! My first transfer is almost over. It's crazy to see how much I learned, but at the same time how much I still need to learn.

Thank you so much for the shoes! I am wearing them now thank you.

I'm so sorry I wanted to give you some photos today but I can't figure the camera out. I'm using my companions cord to try to up load them but it's not working sorry.

How is everything? I hope that it's going well. From your package sounds like it's getting cold there, Snow! sounds like fun.

This week has been tough. We worked hard and found some good people, people willing to hear our message, but they all had a full week and we where not able to meet with them to share. So it's tough. But this is the Lords work and we get to help Him do it. It's so cool to see the people who are ready. We are teaching this lin2 guy,way cool. He is 25 and we met him three weeks ago, really two and a half. He is gold. He has been coming to church for the full three hours. He has been asking great questions and has a date of the 4 of Dec, way cool! He is so ready to hear everything, and he wants to hear it. Yesterday we had a fireside and he decided to come after staying for all of church.

Love you all. I'll get you some photos sometime.

Elder Harr

Mission Office ltr

Halloween Party

Awesome Family,
How's everything going? Sorry I'm a little early today because we, my district and I, want to go to a investigators house and spend the afternoon up in the mountains, where her house is.

How was Halloween? I thought about you all as I put on a Halloween party for one of my English classes, they loved it! I thought that it was so funny! We wanted to make a jack-o-lantern with them, so we asked a member to help us find a pumpkin that we could carve with them. The only one that we could find was a little one about the size of the quad (Bible,D&C,Book of Mormon)that had been imported from America!! Too funny! My comp and I decided that this is how America could get out of debt, through exporting pumpkins, funny. Taiwan is a great place but it's crazy to see what they don't have, like dry ice and root beer extract. We did find dri ice but it was the only place in a big area and you had to order it three days out. It's all about the small things like that. :)

Thank you so much for the "GREENY package" it was way fun! Thank you for all you do for me. It's way fun to have an American treat to share with the people at English class. Thank you so much... haha and the pop didn't explode ether so good job. Thank you so are all so awesome.

So how was your Halloween? Fun? Did you stay in St. George, or did you go up to Salt Lake? I'm sure it was a blast!

This last week was fun. We only found three new investigators that we can report, so that was sad because we had a lot more than that set up, but for one reason or another we couldn't meet. So that was hard but next week we'll do better. My Chinese is improving so fast, and yet so slow. Last week you said that you had not yet received the letter of "this is not what they taught me in the MTC." Well it's is in some ways but in others it is not. In the MTC they teach you the third tone some what like this "V" but in the real world it is just a drop in your voice, and it comes up a tiny bit as you raise your voice for the next word... So this last week I had to relearn that, or not relearn, but re practice and train more in that one thing. Anyway all in all it was a great week.

Thank you for all you do for me. As I introduce myself to people and tell them a little about me and about you, everyone loves hearing about home school. They like to hear about how we learn and how we are able to go to college at 14 15 years old. Dad, Mom thank you so much for all that you do for us, and for me in particular. You are awesome and I don't say thank you quite as much as I should.

Thank you for putting some bike tubes in that package. That will be nice to have some. Everyone is really worried that my bike will get stolen. Since we have been here, one of the elders that came in with me had his bike stolen last week. So it is a real concern. I've done my best to prevent that from happening, but I look at the parts, on it and think even if they did steal it they would not be able to: 1) ride it and 2) find parts for it, tubes and tires. Thank you for a nice bike.

I am not entirely sure on what the email rule is, I will find out and let you know, in next week's letter. There are a lot of different rules that have been said but I'm not sure what the rule really is.

Haha so I remember last week you said that you found Lauren's Ipod. That is too funny. Any idea where it was? Or did it just show up in the computer room? Too funny. How did we miss it? Haha.... No problem (meiyou wenti) funny.

So funny story, my companion crashed on his bake last Monday. He is alright, but it was raining and so the road was a little slick and there was this concrete dike right next to the road. Well he went up and slipped. It was funny to watch. He got some road rash on his arm. So now every one that sees him asks about it and what happened. It's kinda funny to hear how he explains it.

Well I have got to go. You are all awesome. I love you!

Two Typhoons

Hey awesome family! How are you? You are so awesome thanks for all the updates! Sounds like you have had a great week filled with fun and exciting adventures!

Here in Taiwan it has been crazy weather, there have been two typhoons in the area, off the coast so for the most part of the week it has been raining and dark. but it is so amazing to see all that the Lord does for us while we are doing his work! Last Friday we had no new investigators, partly because of the rain; people here are scared of it. They would say “oh sorry I can't meet because of the rain,” anyway so Friday night we had no new investigators, but Saturday it stopped raining and we went tracting. We had a goal of 5 new investigators this week and we found and meet with 2 that day and set up 5 others for Sunday. WOW! Miracles!

1st Full Week in Shipai

Hello everyone:

Wow what a week, it has gone by both slow and fast and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm sure that this is how the rest of the mission will be as well, and I hope that I have set the bar high enough that I will only improve from here... when I say fast I mean the week, and by long I mean the day's. This week we had 5 new investigators, which is the golden standard or the bar for the mission. I hope that I can continue to improve and progress from here. It's a good way to start I think and should only get better.

I am so blessed to have you all as my examples and family. As I introduce myself to the ward and the investigators, they all are amazed that I was home schooled and that we have such a big family. They love everything about our family and what we do together. Thank you for all you do for me.

Taiwan is awesome and it's way cool to ride it's streets, and learn about it a little more. I've learned that basketball is growing in popularity here and that there are some really good players here. I haven't had a chance to go play yet but I see people playing all the time. We contact outside a place called the Beitou exercise center, and there is always someone that is coming to play or leaving from playing while we are there.

Food: food is good here. It's not like what we make at home where that vegges and the meat are mixed in with the rice. At least for Taiwan type food, it is always separated into what it is. But in main land China is where mixing the food comes into play. We had a meal that we ordered that was dalu style and it was like a soup, the rice and the everything was in a soup broth.

This church is so true. It has given me so much. Yesterday we talked with a man from Spain and I don't think that he really understood what we were doing because he kept on saying, "Man I'm telling you, stay close to your church, even after your mission because I, for about 10 years, forgot about God and didn't worry to much about him, or how he had helped me." God has helped us so much I'm grateful that I know this.

Love you all your awesome.

Elder Harr

First Week in Taiwan!

Hello Everyone:
Well I'm here it's so crazy! It's somewhat like what I expected and yet it's not either. I am in an area called Shipai, it is to the north of Taipei. The people are all pretty short and yet it's somewhat like America in that it's a good mix of people. People here are crazy. My first full day in Taiwan I went with an Elder to share the gospel. He is not my trainer but a cool elder, anyway we road bikes, I borrowed his comp's and we went to his area. It was awesome, there are a ton of scooters here and they drive with almost no rules. In the city they do not drive too fast but when they get to a light that is red they all weave in between the cars and get up on the line. They don't have a window to roll up. Where were we? Up on the line with them, I thought it was fun. It reminded me on the Tour de France when the riders just ride through the people and they move as your about to hit them. Ya that was on the streets in downtown. One of the other elders that did something similar said " I thought I was going to Die!" Fun stuff! :) It's not that bad here in Shipai but it is somewhat similar.

So one thing that I didn't know to expect or I didn't know what to think is just the overall health of the people and city. It's not as bad as it could be but it's not like America either. Lets just say that it is easy to tell where they people live that have the best jobs in the city because their buildings are clean and taken care of.

OK so to answer some of your questions. Snail mail is all sent to the mission home. They have a box there that we can check weekly. All the mail for the missionaries goes there.

Thank you so much for the bike. I painted it Sunday in between conference sessions. It was fun to listen again and think about what was said. Thank you. I did not get to unpack it. Elder Yue did before I even saw it. I painted it white and black with some yellow. It still needs some paint because it looks nice still. I've got some blue and brown that I'll add to make it look worse. I've decided that it's just hard to make a specialized bike look bad, it just can't be done. :)

Thank you so much for everything, for the water bottle's and the candy, my companion, O zhang lao, Elder Decrencendso, I think that's how you spell it is so grateful that I'll share it with him. So thank you.

You all are awesome. This church is so true. As I talk to people about the church they all talk about how we The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do so much good. We know why, we are all children of God. He wants to help us and wants us to be happy. It is through us that that the Lord can work, as long as we are worthy.

Oh also I get about an hour 40 to 50 min to email. So I should be able to keep you posted on what is up.

Love you all. You're awesome.

Elder Harr

Photos from MTC September 2010

He's Flying the Coop!

Hey Awesome Family:
This is It!! My last Email from the MTC! Crazy. I am so excited to go, we all are, and are trying our best to get as much learned before we leave! We have a lot to learn but it's going to work out in the end. Thanks for the Almond "Joy's" that was fun, and was a fun treat to have for conference. I didn't have a pizza party Saturday because they cant deliver here and the teachers can't bring anything in for us either, but it was a fun weekend. Conference was awesome right? I had so many favorite talks it was a awesome experience!
Dad you are awesome, way to finish. I thought about you Saturday morning, knowing that you had been going for several hours by then and was hopping that you where almost done. Great Job!
Sounds like lots of good things are happening and that's always good to hear! progress in so many areas! How's the New building? Looks awesome, nice job on setting a goal and working for it! How's everyone at the office doing? hope that all is well.
Anyway, for calling you, I'll call the number you gave me. I think that your time line is about correct. I'll get there about 12:30 local time, and then find the gate for Taiwan, and I'll call you about then. I'm glad that it's going to work out.
You all so Awesome! Thanks for your example.
So cool story. I was talking to some missionaries during lunch and they where going to St George for their mission. I told them that they were so lucky! They were sister missionaries that were going to the visitor center! I told them to say "Hi" to St George for me and to have a blast!
The Church of Jesus Christ it true! Prayer works, and it is through prayer we can know everything! When the Spirit is working through you you can learn anything and do everything.
Love you. Talk to you tomorrow!
Elder Harr

Week Before General Conference in MTC

Hi Everyone:

What an awesome week! A lot happened and I'll try to get it all in. Thanks for the tie, I got it Saturday and so timing was perfect. I got to wear it on Sunday and I'm wearing it today (Monday) as well. You're awesome thank you... Thanks for all you do for me! I am so lucky to have a family like you. Know I'm thinking of you, and hope that everyone is doing well. Happy Birthday Everyone! You all are awesome.

Thanks for the address, and you could get Dwyane's address through Facebook if you wanted. I think that you would have to send Ade a message, and ask if he could get it. I think he is st SVU. Don't work too hard on it.. it's not a huge deal.

This is my last week in the MTC and I'm doing great! Thanks for the "Don't go Bananas" package it was funny. I'm doing well. I'm learning a lot and trying to do my best to prepare for the real thing. Only so much I can do while here in the MTC, but that changes really soon! This week I got my travel plans!!! I leave the MTC at 8:00 on the 5th. I learned that I fly to LA then over to Taiwan. It's like a 14 hour flight, crazy. I learned though that once I'm at the airport I can call you in the time that I am waiting for my flight to leave. I'm not really sure how much time I will have in the Salt Lake airport, although it might be the best, with the time changes. I'm sorry I don't have the times of all my flights but I think that I have like a two three hour lay over in LA. I'll send you the details, in snail mail, sorry. I'll get it to you ASAP.

Choir has been made and I don't get to be in it. Both of my companions are though (Elders Buss and Christenson) and it's fun to hear them practice. It all adds to the excitement to hear from the Apostles this weekend. I'm way excited to hear.

The Church is true. This gospel is not something we can take faith from someone else. It's a doing church. We have to have our own faith about it. This is so awesome to know because it makes it personal, and real. Jesus Christ lives and has and will help us everyday!

You are all awesome!

Love you
Elder Harr

Introduction of Elder Harr to his Mission President

President & Sister Grimley,
We think that you are very brave to ask parents to talk about their own children; you may get a few novels. We will try not to capitalize on your time with the opportunity. Thanks for caring about and leading our eldest son, Elder Harr! It is his dream come true to come to Taiwan on his mission, and he knows that it is not a coincidence.

Jed is the oldest of eight children in our home. His littlest sister was born just a month ago, and he hasn‟t seen her. He seeks to be totally obedient and would not even consider asking special permission to see her prior to his departure for Taiwan. We are attaching two photos because we don‟t have any with everyone together.



Jed‟s family nickname is “One in a Million” because that is what he is! We are sure you will quickly agree that he lives up to this name!!

Two of Jed‟s strongest spiritual gifts are the gift of obedience and the gift of hard work. Jed started working in construction with his Grandpa by the age of four (4). He had his own tool belt, and his job was often to pull all the nails out of the used boards so that no one would get hurt on them. Other construction workers would notice that he was obedient to his Grandpa and would stay and pull nails until his Grandpa told him it was time to go home, or there were no more nails to pull. He also helped his mother manage storage units and would sweep the parking lot or empty units, scrub graffiti off of the buildings, and help with repairs to the security locks.

Jed is compassionate and service oriented. When Jed was five (5) years old our family moved to Tennessee to go to law school, far from other relatives. Even at that early age, he knew about compassion and helping others. One night we learned that one of the families I (his Mom) visit taught was moving, and we went to their home to help. Upon arriving, we asked how we could be of assistance, and the mother of the family proceeded to ask if we would please go get her family dinner. We were at the time poor law students, with three young children in our family, we didn‟t have much. The mother of this family had no idea what she was asking of us. Jed and I took notes on what the family wanted including hamburgers for this family of five from a local fast food place complete with shakes, fries, etc. In a panic, I went home not knowing how I would pay for the food they were asking for. I went to my bedroom to pray and cry, wondering where I would find the money to pay for the food requested for this family. It wasn‟t long before Jed knocked on my door with his coin bank. His Grandparents had sent him some cash for his birthday, and he had dug it from his bank, and stood there ready to go get the food for that family. I wept. Jed had precisely the amount we needed to buy dinner for that family. We bought the dinner, helped them load boxes, and worked for a few hours, and then returned home for a simple meal from our own food storage, prayers answered and a good deed done with miraculous help from a very young angel (age 5).

It was while we were in Tennessee that Jed was to start kindergarten. He did attend school… for two weeks. We had previously participated in a co-op school where we saw excellent examples of homeschooling modeled. It was during that co-op time that Jed memorized all the Articles of Faith, and was recognized by the primary with a special plaque for being four years old and knowing all thirteen perfectly! After two weeks of school we decided that all day kindergarten for our little boy wasn‟t right, at least not for that year so far from all other family. Jed didn‟t go back to public school until he was ready for college classes (at the age of 14). Today we send Jed Harr (now age 19) to you with an Associate of Science Degree from Dixie State College, needing only 18 credits to complete his Bachelor Degree from Southern Virginia University where he has played as the center on the basketball team for the past year.

Jed knows how to set goals, and works hard towards accomplishing those dreams. His Eagle Scout project stands as a great example of his ability to catch a vision, and go on to accomplish difficult tasks! Jed completed his Eagle project at the age of 14. His project was to build trash bag racks and provide trash bags to the local state parks to help clean up the beaches. He raised over $14,000 for trash bags against all doubts that it could be done! It is a great project which has significantly impacted the cleanliness of the lake even this year, 5+ years later! Jed lives and exemplifies the Scout Law in being trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. Jed has attended, and then later enjoyed serving on staff for many Boy Scouts of America Youth Leadership Training Camps over the past summers including Timberline and On-Belay.

Jed decided at a very young age that he wanted to play high school basketball. He played for the local high school while taking predominately college classes. Then after graduating with his Associates Degree while his school mates graduated from high school, he decided he wasn‟t done playing basketball, and he set out to find a college he could play for even without a coach helping him! He decided he wanted to play for a Christian school, and preferably one on the East coast (to my chagrin). Within a few short weeks, he had several scholarship offers to play, two on the East coast, exactly what he had prayed for! As his mom, I couldn‟t believe that he would really go that far away from home, but he wasn‟t afraid! One of those two schools was an evangelical Christian School in upstate New York. One afternoon the coach called from that school, concerned for Jed. With him on speaker phone, I listened as the coach explained the possible prejudices Jed would face as the only Mormon on campus, regretfully as he really wanted Jed to play on his team. Jed was quick to reply positively to his concern. Jed explained that he knew how it felt to be different, and wasn‟t afraid. Jed told Coach Zarges that he had never fit in, first as a Mormon in our community in Tennessee, then as a home school student playing basketball at the high school, and even just as a young man who stands 6‟8” with size 18 feet. He assured the coach that he was up for the challenge and in fact anxious for the opportunity. A few days later Jed and his Dad flew to New York to visit the two schools, and make the decision about where he would attend. At the close of the first day, Jed said he really wanted to stay at Coach Zarges school. After prayer, impressions came that they should find the LDS branch that he would attend if he attended that school. They located the nearest chapel, which was about 60 miles away to the closest branch. To get there he had to travel partially on a dirt road to that LDS branch, and the only way there would be via bike alone on that road through the rainy Fall months ahead. After getting back to the hotel Jed prayerfully reconsidered (a neat story for another time), and decided to attend Southern Virginia University instead. SVU is predominately LDS, but still some 1500 miles away from his home in St. George, Utah. So his Dad left him in Virginia and came home alone while Jed started school.

Hindsight on the past year; we believe that it was a great training opportunity for all of us to prepare to send Jed to serve the Lord. Jed learned invaluable lessons while at SVU. He learned about living with others, there were eleven male students living the same modular home, only two of which were active in the church. He has cooked for himself for the past year, washed all his own laundry, and lived that far from any family members, most of the time with only a bike for his transportation. The closest grocery and hardware stores were 5-10 miles away in a neighboring town. We chuckle as we think about the days he called, pleased that he had successfully arrived back at his „mod‟ with one cinder block at a time so that he could raise his bed off the floor to allow for storage under his bed. Jed finds a way where there is no road, and accomplishes amazing feats! In short, he creates happiness where ever he is.

Jed‟s confidence and ability to succeed is based completely on his reliance on the Lord. He has always known that his Father in Heaven is near, and hears and answers his prayers. He has been well prepared for his mission by our Stake President through a Mission Prep class taught weekly from Preach my Gospel which Jed has attended for a couple of years, as well as a mission prep class at Southern Virginia University. He has read the Book of Mormon more than a half a dozen times, both as a family and personally. I miss walking down the hall to find his light on and his Book of Mormon in hand.

Jed does not fit the stereotypical “socially awkward” homeschooler that many expect when they hear he has been exclusively homeschooled. In fact, we challenged Jed to follow the For the Strength of Youth instructions especially with regards to relations with other teens. Jed has dated a lot… a lot of different girls that is! He was challenged to date 100 different girls before his mission, and to kiss none of them, and we think he reached that goal. He doesn‟t have a girl friend, but rather many friends! He knows how to be a gentleman according to traditional USA culture, and is teachable and anxious to learn about Asian cultures and ready to be totally obedient in following mission rules.

Our family is very close. Despite being 1500 miles from home for the past year, Jed has close relationships with even his youngest brother (nearly 4 years old). He is looked up to and respected by all of his younger siblings (with the only exception being his newest sister just from heaven). Unlike many families, we don‟t have much quarreling and contention in our home, but rather consider each other our best friends! As the oldest, Jed has led the way in showing respect, loyalty, love and compassion. He has modeled working hard, and playing hard together, following the Proclamation to the World in being a family “established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.” Our family slogan is “Smile Adventures begin at home, and carry love around the globe.” These close relations have made our separation from Elder Harr a test of obedience, an opportunity to learn as a family our dedication to and faith in our Father in Heaven and His plan. It was Elder Harr who pointed out that he is fulfilling our family mission by carrying that Love now around the globe!

Actions speak louder than words, perhaps for a great introduction to Jed Harr, may we suggest you ask him to cut your hair, fix your bike, make Curry Chicken for dinner, put a starter in your car (or put a lift kit under it if you‟d like) and serenade you with a scouting favorite “The Greatest Adventure” which he sang to us on the way to the MTC.

It is our prayer that Elder Harr will bring as much joy to you, the people of Taiwan, and his Heavenly Father as he does to us!

Sincerely,
Brad and Marta Harr

Two Weeks Left in MTC

Hello Everyone!

Thanks for the photo's they are awesome!! As well as the mail! You are awesome. Thanks you for all your work! I'm sorry that the bike thing is harder that we thought, but thank you for all you do for me!

Great job on the triathlon last weekend everyone! I'm glad that you had a great time and finished the race. Also, as always, I'm sure that the Cub Centennial was awesome! Keep doing good.

Sounds like everyone is doing well and is happy, or at least I hope that this is the case. You are all awesome. Thanks for your example of doing so much good! It's fun to hear about what's going on, like Liesl and the jeep... sorry.... Jk, he just wanted a ride in it:) and the Blessing this weekend. Know I'll be thinking of you, sending my love. Travel safe and have a good time.

This week has been Great. It's crazy only have two weeks left before I leave which is crazy because I have so much to learn and so much that I can learn but it's good. All I can do is to do my best and study my hardest and trust in the Lord to help me. When I get to teach and help His children come to know him and to feel the Love that He has for them in so many ways. I can't wait! It's so amazing what you can learn with the Holy Ghost as your teacher, and when you have a calling from the Lord. It's awesome!

Also this week (yesterday) the GYM opened up again! Hopefully for good now. So everything will be happening again, group firesides and devotionals, and Basketball. :) No that's not as important but it's going to be fun!! I don't know what's going to happen with the Priesthood Choir. As far as I know nothing has happened yet. There is still a chance that I'll get to go.

This week I've been recommitting myself to everything. Chandler and people learning Chinese read chapter 7 of PMG, and find your purpose. It's only yours. Don't make it anyone else's. This is huge and the Spirit can help you. It's part of the whole planning thing from Elder Holland. When we do our best and plan, then He can help us.

This church is true, and this is the Lord's gospel! We have the chance to help spread the love of our Father in Heaven to all his children. Many, many don't have any idea who He is. Share it!

Love you!

Elder Harr

Slide Show of Elder Harr in MTC

Anyone There?

To the Awesome Harr Family,
Hey everyone how are you? Where in the world are you this week? I think about you when I get to go up to the temple, because I can see the valley and I wonder how many times you have been through this area in the last week.

This last week was great and kind of weird. This week on Thursday I thought I saw the Excursion. Weird, it was like ours except that it was a gas excursion not a " Real One." (Diesel)

Everything is going great. The language is coming slowly... but it's coming. This week Elder Buss and I got a new companion. He came in with the newest group and has great Chinese, so he got advanced to our district so he can practice teaching in Chinese. He lived in China for 8 years so that helps! Time is really crazy here, I have about three and a half weeks left here in the MTC and then I get to fly out! Crazy. Crazy! I have so much to learn between now and then! But with the Lord I can do it and be the missionary that He wants me to be!

Anyway, this last week I had a cool opportunity. The choir started up for one week, last Tuesday was the only performance so far, then they closed it back down because the GYM is closed again so the floor can be re-done. So I got to sing once and then they asked for people to fill out a questionnaire for a Priesthood choir (my guess is they will sing for conference) but I don't know that it will happen now that the GYM in closed again. We are hoping for the best.

So what's been going on? How is school going? Is it cooling down there yet? I think it's funny some mornings are getting cold and I don't seem to mind, but everyone else does, and I find myself wearing a coat because I have to match my companions. Ya, it's great. Anyway talk to me... How's track? hockey? horses? how is everyone at the office doing? also I remember that you told me that Brother Maughan had a pace-maker put in as a result of a stroke. How is he doing? Please keep me posted! Also how is Brother Calvin doing? Is he doing ok? With Brother Maughan not feeling well, will you check up on him every now and then? Just to see how he's doing? Sorry lot's of questions. There is not a lot to write about here in the MTC. The schedule is the same and we didn't have anything really out standing happen this week other than the Tuesday night fireside and choir performance.

Tuesday night was really good. The speaker talked about prayer and having meaningful prayers. That was cool. I was able to grade myself on how my prayers are going and what I can do to improve them. I also got to think about why I came on a mission and re motivate myself to always do my best here in the MTC.

The Church is true! Through prayer we can come to know our Father in Heaven and know what He wants us to do and say. We can be happy and have hope for a great future and push forward, even when we don't know what is going to happen and we are not sure. If we do what is asked like 1 nephi 3:7. The Lord gives us a way when He asks us to do something and we can trust in Him forever.

Love you

Elder Harr

One Month in MTC Left

Hey Family:

Wow another week at the MTC down! Crazy yesterday marked the one month mark of the time that I have left in the MTC, so I'm way excited! It's crazy how time goes so fast and I'm learning so much!!! Chinese is going well and it's crazy even though I can't say as much as I want to, I can say a lot!! Last Saturday I taught my 2nd lesson in Chinese and I thought it went well. It was so much fun because I got to teach a RM that came home with Nate Carter last week – Crazy! They knew my name and where I was from and everything – kind of weird. I guess that they have photo's of all the new missionaries that are coming in so that all the older missionaries can help us when we get there. I'm not sure if that's the reason or not but way cool!!!
How about China??? Did Pres Anderson talk about it? Even though no missionaries yet it's getting there!! It's funny to be speaking Chinese just around the MTC. Other Elders will ask me about the how difficult it is to learn and stuff like that. It is so fun to speak and sometimes think only in Chinese! Crazy someday it will flow better! Good to know that the Chinese class is being started again. The Bolters left this last week, I think they have been here for like 8 weeks they where only to be here for three, so I hope they got out! I've meant to send Pres Anderson a letter and tell him about books and about what they have been teaching me, but I just haven't been able to. Have you been able to go the the BYU book store?
It's sooo good to hear about everything! Liesl keep driving the Jeep to school. It's so fun to hear about that haha! No time is too early:). There is a red Jeep Cherokee that parks where I see it almost everyday, fun stuff. Chandler - new ice - you and Sam will have a blast, I'm sure!

Elder Holland is awesome. I have listened to hear a talk that sounds very similar to what you told me recently. He has given at least 4 talks close to that topic. " DON'T YOU DARE GO HOME" is one that is awesome but he gave it at the MTC so I don't think that you can find it. I'll send you some of my notes on it way cool. Another one is the 'You Are as Close to being an Apostle Now as You Ever Will Be” He says that in fact our job as a missionary is almost the same as that of an Apostle, so you (missionaries) are an apostle with a little a. Way Cool! Missionaries are called of God and we are doing His work!
This is the true Church of God. He loves us and wants only to help us! He sent his son Jesus Christ to help us return to Him. He has given us a Prophet today that leads and guides this church in the world today! We are all his children and through prayer we can talk with Him! Read Moses 1 - Way cool to study about prayer and having "Great Faith" read the notes on the bottom!
You are all so awesome. I'll send some ideas in the mail about names for our baby sister! Chinese people pick names they want to become! FYI something to think about but sounds like some good choices have been thought about. What a blessing!

Love you all,

Elder Harr

New Little Sister born Saturday prior to this Letter

Hey Family:

I am so happy to hear that everyone is doing so good! I'm so glad I've been thinking about you all week! I'm glad you doing well.

This week I listened to several talks about the Atonement, Christ and families. I'm so glad that ours is so awesome! Thank you Heavenly Father for such a huge blessing! Families are forever and I'm glad to know this! It's amazing what the gospel can do for families! Have you seen last months message in LDS.org? Great example on how the Atonement helps us in our everyday life! The gospel is true! I was at the temple yesterday on a Sunday temple walk and saw a little girl maybe 2, I couldn't help but think about the FOUR sisters that I have at home and just family as a whole! I'm so grateful for our family!

This week was awesome! Last Tuesday I got to hear from and see Elder Holland. So awesome! I didn't get to talk to him personally but it was way cool. He gave us three things that missionaries don't do, but if they would do they would be successful they are

1) Personal & Companion Study. He said that even though missionaries are in the MTC for a time they don't learn how to really study the Gospel! I thought about our family study and thought about that example!

2) Planning. He said missionaries don't know how to plan. He said that a missionary should have every 15 min planned out of where they are going what they are going to do on the way and what they will teach...

3) Was that we are not BOLD enough! We do not teach with POWER OR AUTHORITY! He said that we have been called of God why in the world are you scared to open your mouth and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ like the Son's of Mosiah did... with Power?

I really enjoyed this talk it was awesome. It set a standard of what I want to be and do when I get out in the mission field!

Anyway that is one thing that I learned this week. Oh today I read/ listened to Elder Hales last conference talk, listen to it. It was on movies and the rating system and how we need to be careful and "be there." It reminded me of earlier this year in Sunday school with the movie problem. If and Apostle is not old enough to see it are we? Anyway thank you for standing up for what is right and true!

Ok so that was another thing from this week. It's hard to believe this but this week I am half way done with the MTC!!! I think that I told you that I'm a zone leader now so I get to welcome new Mandarin Missionaries into my zone this week - Crazy! It's not really a huge deal but just to think that I've been here for 6 week's - crazy!

Chandler, it is awesome that your starting up Chinese again. Did you get the books? Good luck!

Sorry my email time is up.

Love you! You're Awesome!

Elder Harr

1 Month Anniversary in MTC

Hi Everyone:

Well there went another week at the MCT! Yeaa. Starting week 6 which means that I'm almost half way though with the MCT, Crazy is there life outside of the MTC? :) No just kidding, but for real it seems like we have been here for ever and and the sametime like we got here yesterday, crazy.

This week has been very good I taught my last English TRC lesson last Saturday and so now it's really time to crack down and get ready to teach those same lessons in Chinese (zhongwen) sorry tones are weird on the Emails and don't show, anyway crazy. this week all of the older districts leave the MTC and get to go serve. They are awesome and have been great examples to me and to everyone else here as well. This means also that I was released on Sunday as the district leader, that was great and I learned alot from it. But Sunday morning I was called by President Baker into an interview with Elder Buss (Elder Buss my tongban( companion)) and we were called to be the Zone leaders.... Crazy I thought I was going to get some time to study some more:) no I kow that this will be good, we don't do much as Zone leaders here in the MTC but it's cool still and I'm going to learn alot more :)

Thank you for the letters this week:) Thank you for the package it was awesome, I got it on Saturday which was our 1 month of really being in the MTC. I'm happy to hear that the TRI went well, Way to go Brin and Sam, Nice job. and holy cow you got to see President Uckdorf!! what did he say? that's way cool. It also sounds like you had a great time at Education week thiat's awesome. Know that you are in my prayers to be safe.

Mom: You are awesome, take it easy!! Please be Safe, Love you I'm praying for you... I can't wait to hear how your doing!

Chan: I'm glad that you had a great time at the Jamboree, haha I told you that the Food was going to be bad:) weird how that works right? haha no I'm glad you had a great time I hope that you learned alot as you went to all the Historic places, how they needed to work together and love each other, they had to work together because they only had each other, the early saints had to stand and walk as one, reminds me of the Nephites when they worked together and loved each other and walked towards the same goal they where happy all of them where happy. We can see how it ended when they didn't love one another and help one another. I hope that you saw that as you went to the places that you did!

Liesl: Thank's for the " letter from a friend" no I didn't get it the first go around thanks for mailing it to me it's awesome. What where the unforseen problems with Wrangler? I hope that he's doing better now.

Dad: You are awesome I hope that all is going well, know that I love you thanks for your example of hard work and fath.

I'm out of time love you, I'll send some snail mail but know that you rock! good luck this week

God lives, he loves us, and we are his children!

Love you

Elder Harr

Language "Clicking" - SYL!

Family:

Yup another week has gone by in the MTC:). It's crazy starting today the older Mandarin missionaries start leaving to their missions. This is so crazy because this means that I am getting close to being to the half way mark in the MTC. Ok it is still a ways away but I'm in week 5 now. My companion was looking at when he leaves for France and his date is about Oct 4 and mine is about Oct 5, so this means that I'm here for just over 11 weeks not the twelve + that I thought it was going to be. Crazy.

So this week has been great, the language is starting to "click" and we are doing better at speaking it more and more and English less and less (SYL= speak your language) anyway everyone is stressing it so it will click for everyone sooner than later! This week I got to learn how to follow up on commitments in Mandarin, SO COOL! To be able to ask people if they have been reading the scriptures, and praying to know if they are true, it is awesome and then being able to very simply, very simply to answer their questions about what they have read is so cool!

This week I got to listen to Elder Holland’s talk that he gave called "Missions are Forever" so cool! He speaks with so much power!!! He gave this talk in the MTC and so I'm not sure if you will be able to find it but it is way cool!!! I've learned a lot from listening to his talks that he gave in the MTC, I hope you can find some of them because they are awesome, but I'm not sure if you will because it was in the MTC and they don't publish everything!

Anyway way cool, Elder Buss had a way cool experience this last week, he had to go the the French Consult in California for his Visa and so he got to talk to 4 families about the gospel while he was there, way cool opportunity!

Thanks for the package, cookies are great, like always and thank you for the fan! It's going to help a lot.

Chandler, Chinese is so cool I'll write a letter but glory, garden, boat, and beginning's - Chinese words/characters are so cool. I'll explain them in the letter but if you see Pres Anderson or Nate ask about them :) You'll love it!
When does Nate get home?

This church is so true! I'm reminded of Elder Holland’s talk last October about the Book of Mormon, it is so true. We have been so blessed. The Book of Mormon is true! Jesus is my older/ big brother and has done so much for me. I'm so grateful for Him. I know that God loves all of us and wants us to return to live with Him again! We are so blessed!

I hope all is going well. I'm sorry to hear that the camp out wasn't the best that it could have been, but good job for making it happen!
What has been going on?

Mom, love you. How are you doing?
Dad, thank you for your example, of hard work and dedication!

Love you! Watch "Mountain of the Lord" sometime, that's awesome as well.
Sorry my time is up. Love you. Talk to you later.
You all are the best,

Elder Harr

3rd Letter, but Who's Counting?:)

Hey Family!

Another great week in the MTC, where do I start? did you get my letters with the account stuff in it? sorry I was a little slow getting the last one the mail. did you get the books from BYU? hope so.

This week has been crazy, so i'm going to start at the end and work my way back,

Today I got to go the the temple, it's always a great day, I learned / saw things that I haven’t before and had a great talk in the celestial room with Elder Fish, he is leaving in two weeks for the San Cal mission, way cool elder, I never realized how cool the book of Arbaham is! there is some way cool stuff in there!

Yesterday I got to pray in Sac meeting in mandarin! crazy it's so amazing how much I'v learned here,:) the Lord is helping me so much! after that we got to go for a temple walk and had a blast, we ( johnny nick and I) tried to find each other so we could have a photo with the three Harr's but not this week we weren't able to connect, maybe next week, but I did see Elder Koford and Elder Osler and Elder Willson, all great elders thatI know from SVU, we are meeting tommorrow night before Elder Willson leaves, and then Josh Yarn joins us on Wednesday. Crazy!

Saturday was great we all went to the TA ( Teaching assistent) where we contacted in Chinese it was so cool because we got to testify about the basics of the church and got to know them and know about their family so cool, if we have xinxin ( fath 4 and 1 tones) we can do anything! thanks for the awesome example! you are so awesome!

I hope that you can understand this because I tried to type some chinese and it's being weird!

It's so crazy how much you can learn when you ask the Lord for his help. I asked my tongban what his fear is right now and same he asked me and we both decided our fear was to fail, to not be good enough, and fall short, but then we read D&C 84: 56 I think and 116 and we agreed that if we just rely on the Lord we don't ever have to worry about that at all!

Thank you for the cookies everyone that get's one loves them and says thank you so much! I have two requests this week, will you send some addresses? for family and friends? and will you send a battery powered fan? I like to hang my shirts and there is not the best air flow through my room so it takes awhile to get them dry. thanks for all that you have tought me.

you are so awesome! snail mail :)

Love you

Elder Jedediah Harr

2nd Letter Home

On Mon, Aug 2, 2010 at 2:15 PM, Jedediah Harr wrote:
FAMILY:
Hi everyone how is life? I hope everything is still going well, no I know it's going well because we are known by our Father in Heaven!

Wowow where to start... thank you for the package it was way fun to get one thanks for the cookies and for the ipod. Unfortunately there is no music allowed in the MTC this includes the MO TAB but I will use it when I finally get out there for sure thanks. I think that my calculator is in my school textbook box in fox hunt, up in heaven. Sorry. Let me know if you still can't find it, I'm sorry that I didn't leave it at home. Thanks for the letters and I'll try to answer some of the questions you asked me.

I am in the 18 branch district C, I have 6 elders including me and 2 sisters in my district. As I have been very involved I have not yet joined the choir because there is not one here right now, this is because the MTC is redoing the gym and is closed for all major events like that, this means no b-ball for awhile and no huge "called to serve" songs yet, but it will open soon I hope:)

I have tried to go and buy the books for Chandler and President Anderson and the book store will not let me buy them because "we are here strictly for the elders and sisters in the field" but you can buy them through BYU book store and I can and will get you a list of what books they gave us and what books I have used the most so far, when looking at them you need to go through the BYU book store because they print and bind two of the major books that we use.

I worked out my shots and everything is going to be great, they are going to give me my last two shots like a week or so before I leave and we'll be set!!

P-day is always on a Monday for me, at least while I am in the MTC, it's so cool today I got to go to the temple and spent an extra hour in there it was way cool I get to go once a week on Monday's, I also got all the names done for Granny so tell her to start looking for those, my district and I finished them and would love some more if you or her have some!

Liesl... hahah thanks for the letter good luck with the CPT, play around with the PROGRAMS button on the calculator when you find it;) haha your awesome!

Last night after the fireside the MTC shows church films we got the see Mountain of the Lord, it was awesome. watch it. I know it's been awhile since I saw it, but it was really good. wow I have 5 min left...

This week and been really good but tough at the same time I got to go to the TA this week for the first time and teach, the TA is Teaching Assistant. Way cool because we had to contact in Mandarin and then ask to teach in English, after that we got to teach a lesson way cool.

This is so awesome God lives and the BOM is true;) and we have a prophet on the earth today to guide us through our life.

You all are awesome love ya
Elder Jedediah Harr

1st P-Day in the MTC!

Hey fam,
Holy cow what a week how are you? hope you got home safely. this is crazy I get 30 min to write you an email and it took 10 to get in to the account... anyway. hope all is well. chan is off ok?

This week has been crazy wed I got my companion Elder Buss he is awesome, He is from Wyoming and is so cool. he took Chinese for one full year and then went to Taiwan to sing last summer in Taiwan, way cool he is way good with the language and this is good for me because I need all the help I can get!! you all would like him he is going to France mandarin Chinese speaking crazy. he went to France as an exchange student, way cool kid!

So far this is what has happened. Wednesday we met out districts and were put into companionships, also we were given a Chinese name, mine is huang it means yellow and is short for the yellow river, look it up it is the second tone. Thursday we learned how to pray in Chinese and that is so cool almost all the prayers that I have heard now are in Chinese!!! Friday we learned how to testify in Chinese and new my tongban (comp) and I do it at least twice a day. way cool. It's Hard to believe that it's been only a few days, my tongban said it is best that it feels all like one day because you go to bed at 10:30 and get up at 6:30 both when it is dark so there is no change then we spend all day in the class room, all day, except for meals and one hour that we get to exercise for 40 min.
Saturday we learned how to start a conversation and the basics of that, way cool. Sunday was slower by along way, way cool we sing all the songs in Chinese and most of the talks in church are in Chinese as well, wow right..? This truly is the lords work. Today is p-day (Monday) and the only day that we get to email and write letters, so just some FYI. guess what I'm the district leader, it's cool but busy just like a normal Sunday :) jk

How are things? get home ok? I love you so much. Thanks for your example!!!!
FYI I can read letters during the week I can only read emails for this 30 min.

Love you so much
Thanks for all you do sorry I'm out of time, but look forward to hearing from you.

Elder Harr

Last Text Messages on Elder Harr's Phone

S has been working on transfering Elder Harr's last text messages. For history sake, here they are. His text is in italics. Enjoy:

L.W.
Hey thanks for all the things that you have done for me, thanks.good luck on your mission smile
C.G.
Bro you are the best this is it. About to hand over the phone. Thanks for all you have done. Do your best to get your call and go to the temple! It’s awesome. Every Wednesday morning at the 5:30 with Pres. Anderson! Good luck, you better keep in touch
okay man good luck bro I’ll follow you out sometime soon send me your address.
Okay buddy, I’ll try it’s on my face book. But will do
Okay man! Have a great and awesome two years!
B.T.
Bro thanks for all you have done for me. Your awesome. Do your best to get your call. Thanks buddy.
hey man it goes both ways..lots of good memories many more to come. You’ll do good;)
J.K.
Bro see you in a week or two . When’s your farewell my family wants to come. You’re awesome see you soon
ha-ha love ye kid! Sorry I had it last week
oh man sorry mine was last week too. cool. See you soon
haha yup see ya buddy
K.L.
You are the best. Thanks for all you do. Love ya
I love you forever thanks for being such a great example for my boys. Xoxoxo
Bishop S. from BV
Thanks for everything you are awesome. I’m about to hand over the phone and walk into the MTC. Thank you for all the prep that you helped me with. Thanks.
Best of luck to you Brother Jed. You are the best. Have fun.
L.S.
L thanks for the way fun times. It was way fun getting to know what an awesome person you are. I’m lucky to know you. Thanks.
Jed you are going to be such an outstanding missionary. I’m so glad W. set us up and I was able top get a taste of what a remarkable young man you are! Thanks so much for the good times and I can’t wait to hear about all your incredible adventures! Thank you Jed Harr:)
J.P.
Bro you are the best this is it. About to hand over the phone. Thanks for all you have done. Do best to get your call and go to the temple! It’s awesome. Every Wednesday morning at the 5:30 with Pres. Anderson! Good luck, you better keep in touch
I promise I will get there! thanks for being the best friend I could ever ask for! I will stay in touch and you better to! good lunch man and get lost in the work. you will be an amazing missionary. Good luck bro
D.B.
Hey I’m sorry I haven’t been able to talk to you. Thanks for all you’ve done. I’m taking off for two years to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. And to share the Book of Mormon. Please read it? I can have one delivered if you don’t have one. Thanks. good luck with ball. Thanks buddy.
Thanks for thinking about me I will keep you in my prayers be safe n stay smart.
You bet buddy. Thanks
Granny K.
I love you. Thanks for all you do!
You are 1 in a million. Jesus Christ has chosen you to stand in His Place, to say and do what He Himself would say and do and you are mine sealed together with super glue that will never pull apart. THANK YOU FOR REPRESENTING ALL OUR FAMILY. 123 I love you forever and forever.

Reporting for Service

He is off! I wasn't sure we would make it through, or how we would, but we did! Today was a day for our history books! We got up and still had a few lists of things we wanted to gather - new razor, Tylenol, Advil, cover his scriptures, edit and have him sign the Power of Attorney, etc. Not much, but some jobs that needed doing. We didn't get up early, but were all up and going by about 8:30 a.m.. I walked out to the kitchen to hear something in the garage sometime before 8. I found Jed there, on the ground under his jeep, working on the exhaust manifold! Of all things! He is so darling! Sunday after his farewell our dear friend and Stake High Counselor gave me a hug, and complimented Jed for his message. Then he said that the thing about Jed is that he is "the whole package!" I totally agree! Someone else quoted that later, he must have said it to more than just myself, we all agreed! Jed is smart, handsome, clean, pure, worthy, obedient, hard-working, spiritually in tune, strong in the Gospel, etc. etc. I know I am his Mom and I am biased, but that was not my comment, but rather that of Brother L, then quoted later by another!

So this morning, B went to the store and picked up some donuts, we stopped at Shopco and bought the Advil, razor, etc. We also checked on school supplies for our Indian Reservation project the end of November. (We buy the school supplies while they are on sale - usually around the 24th of July - we learned the sale doesn't start until tomorrow!) Then we went up Little Cottonwood Canyon for a donut run. We wanted to go to Lisa falls, but road construction deterred us, and we decided not to mess with the wait, and just stopped by the river at about the red gates. We shared donuts, threw rocks in the river, and I watched my beautiful kids together! Brad took pictures, clicking quickly trying to preserve the memory of this together time! We called everyone together, and linked hands, forming a family circle that I pray can be reunited in just two years! Then we all put our hands in the center and did a "Smile-Adventures" cheer together! Wish I had a picture of those beautiful hands all there! They all had to be in, and we didn't take any out to snap the photo. We returned to the fox hunt house, completed the last few projects and packing, cleaned the house quickly and scooted out the door. Elder Harr was to be at the MTC at 1:00 p.m. We wanted a few minutes to take pictures at the temple and MTC, we didn't save many minutes!

Because Jed wasn't able to fix the problem with the jeep, we decided to pull it back to St. George with us, so Brad had to load the trailer again. Jed was busy with his final items in his suitcases. It was a rush to get out the door. We only had about 15 minutes at the temple to snap pictures. That was plenty! I cried buckets all the way there! When we climbed into the car, Brad started singing:

The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.
The choices, the changes are all yours to make.
The mold of your life is in your hands to break.

The greatest adventure is there if you're bold.
The choices are there for you to take hold,
To learn all their meaning, you must not delay,
To share them with others, for that is our way.

The one who's a dreamer and never believes
Who watches the world, won't roll up his sleeves,
Will never know pleasure, will never know pain.
The joys of success are all yours to gain.

The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.
The choices, the changes are all yours to make.
The mold of your life is in your hands to brake.

The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.

This was the song that Jed learned from dear Kendall B. at On-Belay a number of years ago! We loved the message of this song then, and today it was totally appropriate! We sang songs most of the way to the MTC, or at least some did, I mostly cried. Elder Harr sat in the front seat next to me, and sent farewell text messages to his friends. I want to transcribe some of those tomorrow. They brought us all to tears!

Reaching the Provo temple grounds, we pulled (with the jeep and trailer in tow) up to the top, stopped to take pictures, :). Then we jumped in, and drove down to the MTC. Because we had the trailer, they weren't anxious to let us in the parking lot! They had us flip and head straight out the same exit, and said they would send missionaries to come help him. They did. We pulled up to the curb and an Elder Radmall came right over, and before I could get out of the car, he was asking in the window, aren't you from St. George. Elder Harr got out, unloaded his bags, and immediately began introducing himself and reacquainting himself with Elder Radmall. They played on the same basketball team like in 6th grade. He was so busy that I tried to simply give him a fist - rock - to say good-bye because I had already cried and hugged, kissed his soft cheek and cried more. He paused for just a moment with a big grin on his face, and then returned the gesture to both Brad and I, and then said that he had everything, including his copy of passport and immunization record in hand, and off they went. Elder Radmall pulled a suitcase, and another Elder helped with another, and away they went. We climbed back into the car, and sobbing, pulled out. Wow! A few blocks down the road, we found the BYU Creamery, and decided that we should all stop crying, (now several were crying) and go to get ice cream. So we found a way to park this big rig, and went for ice cream. Sorry Elder Harr! I am sure dinner was welcome tonight since I am not sure you even got a donut this morning because Brad was so busy snapping your picture! We finally got on the road, and were just about to Nephi when one of the little girls had turned around to look in the back of the car, to see his scriptures! We covered them with leather this morning, and they look awesome, but because we were still working on them, his bags got loaded, and they didn't get zipped inside. We decided to turn around and go back to deliver his scriptures! It was nearly a two hour detour, but I am sure he is grateful tonight to have them. Of course we didn't see him again, Brad took them to the main entrance, and they promised to find him, and get them in his hands.

We finally arrived home after 7:30 p.m. to be locked out! The power at our home was off, and we couldn't get in. Finally we were able to lift Brinley in the Kitchen window! I had to be the District Representative at an Eagle Court of Honor at 8. I was late, but grateful to make it at all! Brad called the power company, and they came and fixed the power, we are grateful to have an air conditioner tonight! Grateful we came home tonight before the freezers were defrosted, fridges hot, mess! Tender Mercies! So many today!

As we left the MTC the first time, the sky was totally blue, but it rained enough we had to turn on the windshield wipers for a bit. Tears from heaven, confirming that my Heavenly Father knows that today wasn't an easy day for me, but that it was the right thing! I am so grateful for the blue sky and the short little show of emotion that said it was ok, but that I didn't need to wallow in grief! Really not a reason to have grief today! This was a celebration...Not that he is leaving and my nest is getting empty, but rather than he is worthy, willing, and going to Serve the Lord! Thank you Father for 19 years with that amazing young man in my home! Please watch over, protect, direct, and hug our little Elder Harr for both of us! xoxoxo

Mormon Missionary Biz - CNBC.com

Mission Call!

Wow, Jed has not written here forever! Naughty on him! He returned from Southern Virginia University the first week of May, 2010. He drove across the country with a young man named Jordan from Las Vegas. Together they stopped in Nauvoo on their way visiting church sites there. Then they continued their journey back to Utah and then Nevada for Jordan.

Jed received his LDS Mission Call while in Pennsylvania at the National Basketball Championships back in March! He opened his call literally minutes before the Final Championship Game with all of his SVU Team gathered around! It was a day never to be forgotten! He will be serving in the Taiwan Taipei Mission speaking Mandarin Chinese. He reports to the Provo MTC on July 21st, 2010.

That day we invited friends and family from all over to add their guess of where Jed would serve to a map. We left the original map with him in Virginia after the event, but this is a picture of the one posted here at home so we could all be ready to figure out where he was going. Jed's dream mission was Taiwan Taipei! He has taken Mandarin Chinese in a class organized by our Stake President while here in St. George for the past two years. When I visited his apartment in Virginia in November, I found two of the four walls of his room covered with the missionary discussions in Chinese! He had the articles of faith in Chinese! He had simple words - testimony, family titles, etc. taped all over the walls right over his bed! While there at SVU, he was taking Spanish, and so the wall over his desk had words in Spanish, but his preference was the Chinese! He told me weeks before his call that he would love to serve in Taiwan, that he would be there ready to go into China when it opened! We teased him a bit about being so tall in a short country! He said he would start with the story of David and Goliath and lead right into Ammon the Missionary, sharing his testimony and love of the Lord with the people, converting them! He is ready, and this is exactly the mission he dreamed of!

The night he opened his call, we cheered the game on, which they ended up loosing by 7. They played great, and were thrilled to make it to that level of the competition! What a night we will remember forever! I recorded details on my blog on March 6th with follow-up details in the next post dated March 12th. That night, March 6th, 2010 as I dropped into bed, I opened my book in the wee hours of the morning, after the celebration party we facilitated, and I turned right to Helaman chapter 3 first reading:

3...in the which there were an exceedingly great many who departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and went forth unto the land northward to inherit the land.
4 And they did travel to an exceedingly great distance, insomuch that they came to large bodies of water and many rivers.
5 Yea, and even they did spread forth into all parts of the land, into whatever parts it had not been rendered desolate and without timber, because of the many inhabitants who had before inherited the land...
8 And it came to pass that they did multiply and spread, and did go forth from the land southward to the land northward, and did spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east.

Then not really wanting to hear the they spread upon the entire face of the earth, I flipped a couple of pages, and my eyes landed on these verses in Helaman chapter 5. Helaman 5:17-19 which testified to my heart that my Father would give him the very words he should speak in this very foreign land! Those verses read:
17 And it came to pass that they did preach with great power, insomuch that they did confound many of those dissenters who had gone over from the Nephites, insomuch that they came forth and did confess their sins and were baptized unto repentance, and immediately returned to the Nephites to endeavor to repair unto them the wrongs which they had done.
18 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did preach unto the Lamanites with such great power and authority, for they had power and authority given unto them that they might speak, and they also had what they should speak given unto them—
19 Therefore they did speak unto the great astonishment of the Lamanites, to the convincing them, insomuch that there were eight thousand of the Lamanites who were in the land of Zarahemla and round about baptized unto repentance, and were convinced of the wickedness of the traditions of their fathers.

It was in the LDS General Conference, Priesthood Session of April 2010 that Elder Rasband gave this touching talk about the process of calling Missionaries. As the boys came home and related the experience of hearing about this process, the spirit bore witness once again that this was indeed the right place for our Little Jed - I mean Elder Harr to be serving!