12/26/2016 Last Christmas and 13 months

I hope everyone had a super fun Christmas!! It was a blast to skype home and see my cute family. Man I miss them :) This was The last Christmas for Sister Polatis and I on our missions and we tried our hardest to make it the best! We did a ton of caroling this week which was so fun :) I just love the Christmas Season. Everyone is so much happier and kinder! So much happened this week so I'll just quickly fill you in on the highlights. 

We had our Christmas temple conference and it was so awesome :) Going to the temple is one of my favorite things to do! I always feel so much love and peace when I am there. I got to see Sister Kaufusi, Sister Beck, Hermana Woodbury, and tons of my other good missions friends. I also got roped into signing at the conference... it was ok haha thank goodness one of the other sisters, Sister Jorgensen, volunteered to sing with me :) Then there was a professional photographer there taking pics for president and sister Jardine and he took one of Sister Polatis and I and next thing we know we are on the cover of the ensign!!! (Jk it's totally fake hahaha) 

Then Thursday got a little bit crazy! Sister Turner and Sister Cundick (sisters that we serve) went missing for a few hours in the evening and we got a phone call from President Jardine to join in on the search party! We were out for like 2 hours driving around their area like crazy people trying to find them. And it's all because they left their phones at home lol. They came home for a bit and then left again around 3 pm and their phones were on their bed. They didn't realize until they got to this member's house that they were going to do service at. But they didn't want to waste their miles to go back and get the phones so they didn't. So they just went on with their night as if nothing was wrong. Meanwhile, their zone leaders made some calls and eventually got in touch with our mission president and then a search party was started that consisted of the 

AP's, their  ZL's, us, our bishops, a member of the mission presidency that lives in our ward and his three sons, and their door neighbor. Sister Polatis and I were so scared!! No one will ever know how scary it was haha At 8:30 they finally were found at Panda Express for diner.  And good thing, because our mission pres was planning to call salt lake and get the cops involved in 5 minutes!! So yeah it was a crazy night. But they are safe and unharmed so don't worry!! Thank goodness :) 

Christmas Eve we got to watch a movie as a zone! Our mission president picked out the new Petes dragon for us to watch and I loved it!!! It was so good. I'm not sure if it was because I haven't seen a movie in a year or what but I was so happy I just cried he whole time. Lol. 

Christmas was amazing. Being able to partake of the sacrament on Christmas was something I will always remember :) I am so blessed to be here at this time. Thank you to everyone who gave me gifts and cards. I love you all!! Have a fabulous new year and don't forget to continue to light the world with your bright lights! Love you!!

Caroling as a zone on this awesome court that is decorated all cutesy for Christmas. 

Hermana!!!! I love this girl ❤️  

 Sister Beck and McDonald! 

We are famous

13 months WHAT!!??

12/19/2016 Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Holy smokes this week was a long week lol Sister Polatis and I are getting along so good :) I seriously love her so much already! She is super funny and we probably laugh all day long! The work is just super slow right now...but that's ok because it's going to pick up soon :) So kind of some bummer news.... Carlos relapsed and was kicked out of his apartment because of it so now he is homeless. It's seriously so sad. We called him and couldn't get ahold of him but we finally got a text from him. He basically just said to pray for him but that he is just goi to need to figure it out on his own. It's so sad to see people experience so much pain and sorrow because of addictions. But it makes me appreciate and love my savior even more. The atonement is so real and I pray that Carlos can figure it out. 

But on a brighter note.... I am super excited for Christmas!! It's kind of crazy that it is already that time of year again. It kind of snuck up on me haha On Friday our family Ward had their Ward Christmas party. The theme was light the world. So the decorations were awesome! It was really fun :) Our bishop talked us into being part of a singing flash mob during the dinner with some other people hahaha. It was super fun though!

This week mostly consisted of a lot of finding and visiting members to seek referrals. It was long but we made the best out of it. You would think that after a while leading the area would be easy and that you would be used to transfers but I'm not gonna lie it's been stressful and hard. Haha but don't worry I'm doing good and seriously sister Polatis is the most patient and fun person so we are good! 

Some funny/crazy things have happened this week! Number one. 

We were knocking on this door and a lady answered it with her phone up to her ear. So we just kind of looked at her and then each other wondering if we should talk or wait for her to get off the phone...so awkward. But we just started talking and she kept staring at us weird so we asked her if there was a better time and she finally put the phone down and said "what are you like Jehovah witnesses?" And we explained to her that we were missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which no one knows so then we have to say Mormons and as soon as we said it she started like dry heaving....not kidding. It was so weird. Sister Polatis and I looked at each other then she was like "oh gosh sorry" while she was shaking her head no. Hahahaha so sister Polatis just started saying goodbye and walking away but I couldn't just leave it like that so I complimented her outfit and we talked for just a little but she was obviously disgusted with the "Mormons". Some people! Lol 

Number two. 

We were driving to district meeting and we were stopped at a stoplight and all of a sudden sister Polatis yells "that guy has a gun!!" So I look in front of us and there is this black truck with three guys in it and they all have guns in their hands. And they aren't even being discrete about it. They are like waving them around out the windows! So I started to freak out lol and the light turned green so we got over a few lanes to get away from them as fast as we could. Then next thing we know these cops come out of nowhere and pull them over. Oh my goodness it was crazy!!! But don't worry we were on time to district meeting ;) 

Also another fun thing. Sister Morgan just got a ton of fresh oranges and so sister Polatis and I made some delicious freshly squeezed orange juice :) it is so good!!! 

Sister Polatis and I are not very good at taking pics sorry.... we don't have very many. We will be better!! 

I hope you all have a super fun Christmas and be safe out there!!! Love you all so much :) 

Love,

Sister Harley Munk ❤️️

 Freshy Squeezed

Love this sister

12/13/2016 Transfers

Hey everyone I hope your week has been fantastic!! This week has been kind of crazy and it went by so fast! To start off transfers happened and I am staying in Carmichael in the college oak YSA Ward and the fair oaks 3rd Ward :) yay!! My new companion is Sister Polatis:) She is from Blackfoot Idaho and has been out for a transfer more than me. She is a super awesome, hardworking missionary so I am excited about it! Sister Hyde went to the El Dorado zone with good ole Sister Davis :) Fun stuff!! 

This week we had a sweet miracle. So there is this guy named Carlos that sister Hyde and I taught the restoration too when I first got transferred here. (He lives with a less active member of the Northridge Ward) He felt the spirit and liked the message but he was just not in the right place to accept the gospel. So we released him but on Monday Sister Kirby and Sister McDonald went to that less actives house and Carlos was there and he sat in on the lesson with them. They ended up teaching the restoration and Carlos pretty much took over and taught the restoration to them. Crazy right?! He said that he has been reading the Book of Mormon and that he was finally ready to allow the spirit into his heart. He has been clean and sober for like 2 weeks now and he is working as hard as he can to stay clean. He wants to get baptized so bad and I am just so excited for him. It's crazy how different he even looks! You can defiantly tell that his spirit is getting brighter and he is becoming happier as he repents. Repentance is so real and I am so grateful for it. 

Wednesday was an awesome day too! We went to lunch with the other sisters and we met sister Erickson there!! She came back to visit and it was super fun to see her. We went to the new cafe rio!!! Best day ever. I love that place :) After lunch we drove to east sac and worked on there area for a while. It was fun being there and just getting to know the sisters there even more. We have some amazing sisters serving in this mission! I love it :) 

Thursday I had a serious learning experience haha we had scheduled a ton of lessons like seriously we had a lesson almost every hour. I thought hey this is the best!! We will be teaching all day....but then we remembered something that president Jardine said about finding. If we have so many appointments that we don't have time to go out and talk to people we need to have enough faith to cancel some appointments so we can use that time to proselyte. Nothing in missionary work happens if you aren't finding. Well, we thought meh it's fine! Wrong. Heavenly Father definitely has a sense of humor lol the first two appointments cancelled on us right at the last second so we ended up having like 2 hours open up hahaha I now understand how important it is to sacrifice our teaching time to find new investigators:) 

We also had a super awesome last district meeting. It was really spiritual and we were left with the commitment to pray for humility....we'all see how that goes..... 😬 hahaha 

Friday was a sad day. Sister Kirby left us :( I miss her so much!! Buuut the fun news was Sister McDonald got to join us for the rest of the weekend! That was a blast!!!! I am praying we can be companions one day! I am pretty sure we just laughed our heads off the whole 3 days. It was so fun! On Saturday we went to a baptism and Carlos came :) He loved it! And we had a lesson with him afterwards and man he is just so awesome! Then we also got to go to hot live Nativity that they have up by the temple. We met some investigators from the Northridge Ward there and they loved it. The spirit was so strong! :) 

Sunday was awesome! There were some awesome talks given and of course the spirit was strong as always! 

Well sorry mom Sister Polatis and I don't have any pictures yet... but we will soon :) I love you all! Oh ya and HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!! I love you and miss you ❤️ 

Have a fantastic week!!

 Lunch with Sister Erickson

 I love Cafe Rio

 Last Zone picture 

 Trio Life

I realized I only have 6 months left....better start losing that mission weight

lol This is for Apen

12/5/16 Happy December

Holy Smokes I can not believe it is already December! Well this week was a busy one. We had a mission leadership conference, exchanges, team ups, and zone training!! Zone training was awesome :) We  asked the training off of our awesome MLC like we always do and the zone loved it. We talked about the simplified planning guidelines that we got when we got Facebook. We did a ton of role-plays with the members of our zone. It was so helpful for me especially because planning is where it all starts. If you plan your day effectively then you will have an effective day. Makes sense :) We also talked a lot about joy and how planning effectively will allow us to find more joy in the work. Good stuff!! Sometimes it's hard to get something out of zone training when you are the one standing up there but the spirit was definitely there :) At the end of zone training one of my best friends Sister Kirby gave her departing testimony to the zone. She goes home this week and I am so excited for her to start this new adventure. She is the bomb diggity and I will seriously miss her so much!!! Can't wait to go to hair shows with her and party all day ;) 

Sister Hyde and I got to go on exchanges with the lovely east sac sisters. I went with Sister Cundick and Sister Clemens and Sister Hyde went with Sister Turner. It was super fun to be in my old are again and be with Sister Cundick again!!! She is still the sweetest and such an awesome missionary. (She was trained well ;) ) I couldn't get over how pretty everyone's houses are looking with all the Christmas lights. I LOVE Christmas so much!!! I can not wait to have sacrament meeting on Christmas. 

Then we went and did team ups with the Northridge sisters:) I got to spend about 2 hours with Sister Kirby and Sister McDonald went with Sister Hyde. It was a fun time! 

All of our amazing recent converts are doing awesome :) Samantha is friends with everyone in the Ward which is so nice for Sister Hyde and I. It's a good feeling not having to worry about who is going to give her rides, sit by her, etc. The YSA Ward is so good about being there for her. Yay!! 

We had some miracles this week as well! Our awesome district leader, his comp and our zone leaders all came and we did a blitz in our area. I was really excited because miracles always happen when we do stuff like that and they did! Sister Hyde and I went by and knocked on a former investigators door and he opened it and said "Hey. It's been a while since missionaries have come by." He told us that his life had gotten kind of hard and he could use a message about Christ. But of course right then was a bad time for him so we got a return appointment for Wednesday! 

Then.... sister Hyde and I called another former named Robin and she literally answered and after we told her who we were she said oh awesome can you come by and help me out. We asked her how we could help her and she said well I want more information about being baptized. My jaw dropped and I almost started crying. Sister Hyde and I are so excited! Hard work pays off people!!! So we are meeting with her tonight :) Pray for us! 

I can't think of anything else exciting to tell you. Oh! Sister Kirby and I did another color on sister McDonald's hair this time. We nailed it! ;) I hope you all have an awesome week and see miracles happen in your lives! Love you 😘😘😘

 Zone picture

 Love these sisters

11/28/16 Thanksgiving and Food Poisoning

Happy thanksgiving everyone! I hope your turkey day was better than mine was... It all started on Wednesday when I went on exchanges with the lovely Sister McDonald. She is the best! We had such a fun exchange and taught some pretty bomb lessons :) For dinner I was starving, as usual, and the member that fed us made us a big breakfast meal. I was super excited to stuff my face and get to know the members. By the time I was already on my second plate the sweet member that fed us said "Oh I don't think this sausage is cooked all the way...." Well it wasn't. About an hour after dinner my stomach started hurting so bad! I felt so bad for Sister McDonald because I was down and out for the rest of the night and morning. So that was my thanksgiving... throwing up and sleeping. I'm still not feeling the best but I can at least eat and hold it down! Improvement. So as a zone we were able to do a zone service project on thanksgiving. I was feeling ok so I decided to go and I am really glad I did. We went to a retirement home and just ate lunch and talked with the residents there. It was super sweet to see their faces light up when we asked them questions about their families. It reminded me of the times we would go wheel the cute little old people to sacrament meeting for young women's in bountiful. Good times! 

We also had a special zone training on thanksgiving night where we introduced the missionaries to the new #LIGHTtheWORLD Christmas initiative. Holy cow I love the new video!! I really like it because the past Christmas and Easter videos have been about remembering what the savior did but this year it's actually doing what Christ would do if he were here. I am super excited to hear about the miracles that come from serving others this Christmas season. Sister Hyde and I can't wait to share the video with everyone we meet :) Being a missionary during Christmas is just the greatest! 

Well thanks to the food poisoning I have been in for most of the weekend so there isn't a lot to report on. Stay tuned for next week!! Love you all and I hope you have a great week :) 

Love ya!
Sister Munk

 Last PDAy we made a yummy cake and put a candle in it that my mom sent

to represent 1 year! These two elders are my district and zone leaders and we were

in the same district at the MTC. It was fun celebrating one year with them.

Elder Calvert, Me Elder Pennington

 Exchanges with Sister McDonald

Sister Hyde and I made a cute turkey for the zone activity an we all wrote

some things we were grateful for.

11/21/16 1 Year down 6 months to go

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has flown by so fast! To start off I hit my year mark this week..... I am officially one of the oldest missionaries in the mission which is super weird. To say time is flying would be an understatement. I took some time this week to sit and reflect on all the growth and changes that have happened this past year. I can honestly say that this year has brought some sad and unfortunate events but even more memorable are the countless spiritual experiences, happy times, and incredible people that I have met. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. With 6 months on my mission left it has hit me hard that I only have a short amount of time left to become the missionary I want to be. I know that with my saviors help I can accomplish all that he has asked of me. As I was studying this week I came across a quote by Ezra Taft Benson from pmg that I really loved! "We are commanded by God to take this gospel to all the world. That is the cause that must unite us today. Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family” I know that this statement is true! I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be apart of this great work of bringing the gospel to all the world :) (Even if it just here in Sacramento) I just want to say thank you for all the love and support that I have received this past year. I am so blessed! 

Moving on... Samantha got confirmed this Sunday!!! She was so excited to finally receive the Holy Ghost. She was also really excited to stand up in front of everyone so we could raise our right hands and welcome her into the Ward. Haha she is so funny! The light in Samantha's eyes is hard to miss. The gospel has truly changed her! She has already told bishop she wants a calling so she is ready to rock and roll! I can't wait to see the amazing things I know she will do in the gospel. 

Another fun thing! Sister Kirby is also a hairdresser and she brought her cards so we were able to go to salon centric (I was in Heaven!) and we bought some color, brushes and a bowl and we died Sister Hyde's hair! We pulled 6N from her roots down and left the ends alone. We were kind of going for a melt look. Anyways it was so fun!! And it turned out awesome :) Angie and Kailee you would have been proud my sections were perfectly straight! (Still got it 😉) 

Now that Samantha has been baptized we are in finding mode!! We as of right now have really no one else progressing. So back on the bikes we go!! So far the weather hasn't been too bad but it has rained for a few days. Also I think I am officially acclimated to California weather because I am always freezing now. One of the members of the YSA Ward is going to byu Provo and we always joke that we are going to die in the Utah winter. It's like 60 and I am freezing! Hahaha 

We were able to read the Book of Mormon with The Harris family and it was super fun. They are the cutest kids in the world! We read 1 Nephi 2 with them and talked about obedience and faith. They seemed to really like it and understand it. The families in the fair oaks 3rd Ward are so sweet and I have loved getting to know them. Our YSA Ward is kind of a struggle. It's so tiny! Plus most of them are leaving in January to go to Utah for school. Sister Hyde and I think it might be dissolved or combined with another YSA Ward soon. :( sad day. 

Well happy thanksgiving everyone!! I hope you all have a fun time with family and friends. Hey you should all go look at my last post on Facebook and comment on it! 

Oh ya and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL MOTHER!! I hope you have an awesome day :) I am so grateful for you and for everything you have taught me. Thanks for being one of my best friends! I miss you!!! 😘😘 

Love you all! Have a great week!  

Love,

Sister Harley Munk 

 Love these crazies!!

 Before Pictures

 One of the Happiest days of my life!! #imissthesmellofcolor

 Back on the bikes.

 the cute Harris kiddos

 FLASHBACK to the MTC 1 year ago!!

Happy 1 year!!

11/14/16 Baptism!!

Man so much happened this week :) To start off Samantha got baptized!! Yippee :) Samantha is the best, she has such a strong testimony! Every time she talks about the gospel she gets the biggest smile on her face. She has truly felt the joy and happiness that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

We also had stake conference this week so Samantha won't be confirmed until next week so keep her in your prayers because Satan is going to continue to work hard on her. I know she will make it though!! 

So stake conference was really really good! On Saturday night the stake president called people at random from the congregation to bear their testimonies and I was sure I was off the hook because he had never really met me but I was wrong!! Out of all the missionaries of course I was the one that got her named called out. Oh my goodness I was freaking out! I had no idea what to say!! I am just so grateful for the spirit because honestly I don't even remember what I said. The whole walk up to the pulpit I was praying for guidance. Praying that my mouth would be filled and it was. I have a testimony that when we put our trust in the Lord he will help us no matter what it is. He is there. :) 

Zone training was awesome! We talked about having a sense of urgency in our work. In MLC president Jardine shared an experience with us. Him and sister Jardine went to a mission president meeting and they met elder Rasband and thy were able to talk with him about things. President Jardine said that not only was the spirit strong while talking with an apostle of the Lord but the sense of urgency was there as well. I think we sometimes forget that is life is not on our timetable it's the Lords. His work his hastening and it is for good reason! We need to all have a sense of urgency as we prepare ourselves for that day when he returns. 

We also talked about the importance of serving others whether it's the members, less active members, investigators, or just nonmember who show no interest. When we serve we show our Savior that we appreciate and love him. We left the zone with the commitment to find 25 ways in 25 days to love the Lord more. I'm not going to lie it's hard to think of 25 ways but I can promise you that it is possible and it is the best thing ever. One of my new fav scriptures that I came across as I was studying is 1John 4:19. I invite you all to Read it and apply it! 

This week ended with a bang! Literally :) One of our sisters, Sister McDonald crashed on her bike and got really hurt. So at like 8:30 we got a phone call from sister Kirby that they needed a ride and at she hurt her arm. So we rushed over there her elbow was definitely swollen and huge and gross so I made a sling out of some pajama pants that we just happened to have in the trunk of our car and we rushed her to the emergency room. She was a good sport though and even though the pain was a 7 on the 1 to 10. After all the X-rays they found out that she fractured her elbow but the swelling was so bad that they couldn't cast it yet so now it is just in the sling until it gets less swollen. 

That is all I can remember that happened this weekend plus I don't have much time left so I love you all and hope you have a great week!

 This was the awesome sign that we made to introduce the mission goal to the zone

25 Baptisms this month and service and urgency.

 Best Zone leaders and Sister Eva

 Samanthas Baptism

 ER Visit

Pajama pants sling :)