2 Timothy 4:7

Hey everyone. So it´s pretty early in the morning right now, but I couldn't leave without writing another letter. Last week's was pretty pathetic. So we came to the house of prayer so I could write one last email before I left. It feels strange that this is it.

So this last week went very well. Monday in the evening we worked in Chignahuapan with Elder Prieto and Elder Page and had a really good night. Elder Page and I taught a great family that they have that are going to be baptized in a few weeks. Monday night we stayed in Chignahuapan so that Elder Page and I could go to our final interviews together in Puebla. They went really well, the interview was actually a lot more simple than I thought. Wednesday we had our last district meeting which also went well. Thursday was pretty normal. Friday we had a cool activity for Mothers Day and a ton of people came. We had about 30 people in the house of prayer. President Tolentino shared a good thought and then we ate carnitas! Saturday was a good day, and Sunday was awesome! There were so many people that came to church! We had 6 investigators there and in total we were 28 people! Last week we just had 14! The investigators that we had in church were Desiderio and his family, Aurelia, Fany, Cristina, and Areseli. We also had Gloria and Jaime. It was so cool to see the room filled! It's also been a tough week saying goodbye to everyone. It was especially tough saying goodbye to the members and those investigators that are starting to progress. Saying goodbye to Desiderio and his family was almost like saying goodbye to converts. That man is very sincere and humble.

So I can't believe how fast these last months have gone by. I've just tried to stay focused on the work and everything has flown by. It's hard for me to think that I've been here for two years almost. I feel so grateful to God that he allowed me to come to this part of the world and to this mission, Puebla North. I know that I was supposed to come here to meet the people I've met, to have the companions I've had and to serve to people here. I have come to cement my testimony that I know that Jesus Christ lives and knows each one of us no matter where we come from, what language we speak, or what traditions we have. He has an infinite love for everyone. I know that he came to save us all, and that in our days his true church exists on the earth with Apostles and Prophets. I know that the church is guided by revelation, and that Jesus is at the helm. This work will advance, and is advancing. I thank you all for all your support and for reading these emails. I'm sad to end my service, but happy to move into the next phase of my life. May god bless us all, that we may stay true until the end.

Sincerely,
Elder Samuel Hartvigsen

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

Super Short Email

Hey everyone, 

I hope that everyone is well. Today I'm going to write an email that is way short because we ran out of time here. We're in Zacatlan and have to get back to Chignahuapan. However this week was a good tough week. We had a ton of appointments fall though but we were very happy to have an investigator family of 5 in Sacrament Meeting! It was sweet! 

I'll write a bigger email next week (my last week, crazy). Everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Just a little dessert!

Quick Email

Hey everyone,

So this email is going to be quick. Right now we're in Apizaco and we need to get back to our area. Today we went to visit a bunch of converts that I taught. We went to Tlaxcala where Pablo and Cristina are living right now and we saw Pablo. It was awesome seeing him. He's doing well. He´s been going to church infrequently but at least he's goes more or less regularly. We also visited here in Apizaco Noemi, Hno. Serrano, Geraldine, and Carmen Guadelupe and Angel. We were also here with Elder Dixon visiting because we had a lot of people we taught in common. 

Everyone have a great week!
-Elder Hartvigsen

Puebla, Puebla

Hey Everyone. I hope that you`re all doing well. I`m good but It`s pretty hot outside haha. I forgot to put on sunscreen one day and I got roasted. It`s been a pretty hot week in terms of weather. 

Things went really well this week, we worked a lot and were able to have a good amount of success. I`ll start from Tuesday because that was the day I wrote last week haha. On Tuesday we had a good day. We honestly didn't have too many lessons, but it felt like a productive day. We were able to visit Silvia, who's an awesome investigator, we also visited Fernando, a contact from forever ago who's brother is in a bishopric in Mexico City. We had a sweet lesson with him. On Wednesday we had the district meeting, and this time I did get a little car sick in the combi. I think it was because I ate some cookies with milk right before we left. After we got back, we had a good day. We visited Desiderio, a new investigator who lives in the middle of one of the hills literally. To get there we climb up to a water tank and then follow the irrigation aqueduct for about 1 km. He was doing well and excited to talk to us but his wife was pretty turned off to the lesson.

On Thursday we had a bunch of other lessons, we visited Hector and Raquel, a less active and his wife, we saw Silvia again, and we taught some other investigators too. It felt like a rough day during the day, but in the evening when we saw what we had done the whole day it was actually pretty good. Friday was a tougher day, we had almost all the appointments fell through, but the appointments that we did have were awesome. We found two new investigators who are really sharp and are ready to learn and accept. Their names are Lizbet and Cristina. Saturday was packed. We had 7 lessons with investigators and were able to also work with the Tolentino family. They took us with two of their neighbors who are also great investigators. On Sunday we had Silvia in church, and it was great to have investigators in church again after a long dry spell. We also visited Desiderio again and we ate with the Tolentino family which is always really fun. President Tolentin was telling some funny tradicional stories.

Today we are in Puebla. Since these are my last weeks, I have the opportunity to visit some of the people that I visited, and right now I'm in Resurgimiento and we visited Emma, who was baptized when I was here. It was awesome to see her and it's strange to be in one of my old areas. I'm also now a town person because now I feel weird in the city haha. We got lost a few times on the buses haha. Well, everyone have a great week. Love you all!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Faulty Internet

Hey everyone! How´re you all doing? I know what you´re thinking, and I also know that today is Tuesday. I also know that P-day ends Monday haha. No, but yesterday there wasn't internet in Tetela, so we asked for permission from president to email today, and that is the reason that I´m writing today on Tuesday.

Friends at Final Zone Conference

So we had a good week. On Monday after we went to the caves we taught a few lessons to some new people. We had an interesting lesson with a woman that we found that was super interested in the church, but stopped investigating because her husband's family told her that she couldn't listen :(. On Tuesday we had intercambios with Elder Prieto and I was with Elder Page in Chignahuapan. We had a great day, even though it rained super hard. There was also a ton of lightning that was striking super close. When one of the bolts fell some electricity jumped from the umbrella I was holding, kind of scary haha. After that I put the umbrella down and we just got soaked haha. We also taught a ton of lessons, In Chignahauapan they have a bunch of great investigators that are progressing.

Rainy days

On Wednesday we met up in Chignahuapan and then went back to Tetela, had a few lessons in the afternoon and in the evening we went to Apizaco to be able to go to a zone conference the next day in Tlaxcala in the morning. It was also dumping in Apizaco haha. We stayed in the zone leaders house but while we were waiting for them to come to the church to pick us up there was a ward activity of Xicotencatl where I was before. I was able to see Noemi and Steve among other members there. It was awesome! Steve gave me the biggest hug! It was awesome to see them!

On Thursday we had a zone conference, which was the last one I´ll have. Kind of crazy. It was great, I learned a lot and the spirit was there very strongly. President talked about working with the members and miracles. It was also great to see many familiar faces. I saw Elder Dominguez who's a ZL in Tlaxcala, Elder Pantoja who's a DL in Zacatelco. Elder Estrada was also there. It was awesome, and also strange because it was the last time I´ll see many of the those people. On Friday we had weekly planning and a ton of lessons in the afternoon. On Saturday we also taught many lessons. We went to a town called San Nicolas with Pres. Tolentino and taught the husband of a member. It was alright lesson, the guy was kind of stiff. Sunday was normal. We still couldn't get people to church but we got even closer this time! One investigator was on route until her boss saw her and held her up. Next week! And Monday was plain, we just hung out around here and I started to do some of the plans for when I go home that the missions asks for. That was pretty weird. Everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Mission Picture from Elder Oaks visit in February

Grutas de Carreragco (Carreragco Caves)

Hey everyone. Hope that you´re all well as always. We´re doing well here. It was a good week but a challenging one. That´s alright though, because if there weren't tough weeks, there wouldn't be better weeks! So on Monday we had an alright evening in which we found a new investigator that´s really passing through some tough circumstances, she's just barely scraping by, it was humbling to see, and made me realize how blessed I've been in my life. On Tuesday we had a good productive day. We also had interchanges with Elder Prieto and we had a good day. I taught a sweet English class and taught everyone the alphabet song. We taught a bunch of lessons with some new investigators that weren't that open and we taught Joaquin and his family. It's tough to teach with their two little babies sometimes and they seem to be getting a little cold towards what we're teaching which is sad to see.

On Wednesday we had an alright day, we had the district meeting, and had a few appointments. The combis as always are great haha. However depending on the driver I can sleep a bit. On Thursday we had weekly planning and only had a few appointments that didn't fall through in the afternoon. Friday was about the same but in the evening we had a family home evening with the Ojeda family which was actually really good where I learned about how to be a better parent. Just got to keep focused on the mission right now haha.

Saturday was a lot better day, we had 6 lessons with investigators and committed some people to go to church. We were pretty excited that day. Sunday nobody showed up to church, but we had better attendance then last week which was nice. Today we had our district activity where we went to some caves in our area and it was awesome. We also bought carne asada and ate there after we got back out. It was a sweet activity that we enjoyed a bunch! It's also cool to have us 4 Elders from our generation that are leaving. It´s kind of weird to me that I only have a few more weeks left. Anyways, everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

El fin se acerca (The end is near)

Hey everyone whats up? We´re doing well here in Tetela. It´s pretty hot out right now, and I got kind of burnt today haha. We had a good week though, also today is the first day of my last change. It´s crazy to think that I'm almost at the end. It's a bitter-sweet feeling, I really like being a missionary but it'll also be great to be home. Also a shout out for my sister Kathryn who got her mission call to the Ohio Cincinnati mission! She'll be a great missionary!

Monday in the evening we had a good night. We were able to find a few new investigators and visit the Cruz family. It is also awesome right now because we had the time change so it doesn't get dark until 8 which is awesome to be working with more light. On Tuesday we also had a bunch of lessons, gave an English class (my companion is a better English teacher than I am) and ate a bunch of bread. Wednesday was the district meeting which means 3 hours of combi rides and we had a ton of appointments that fell through. It was one of those days where we had a really busy day scheduled and almost everything fell through. Thursday was weekly planning, and as far as I can remember we had a normal day, taught a few lessons and things.

Friday was another normal day, we did have a pretty intense lesson with one of our investigators Joaquin. When we got there he was kind of trying to drop us, saying that he didn't have a ton of time to listen to us for his two newborns, and he didn't really want to change religions anyway. At the end we got him to ask in the prayer if what we were teaching him was true, and after the prayer he just knelt there with his eyes closed for about 7 minutes straight. He said he felt a really peaceful feeling. Cool lesson. On Saturday we found a great investigator that felt the spirit strongly when we taught her the plan of salvation and told us "This is so clear that I can understand it. I would never hear this in my church." She accepted a baptismal date and said she was going to go to church!

Sunday was rough. This last week we worked super hard to commit everyone to go to church and help them all understand the blessing of going, and the consequences of not going, but no-one showed up. It was a pretty big bummer, we were sure at least someone was going to show. Next week. Today we went to a waterfall near a town called Aquixtla and it was super pretty. A member named Alejandro took us and it was awesome! It made me want to go camping haha. Everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen