Be Patient in Thine Afflictions . . .

Family!

This week was amazing. I guess I´ll start off by saying that this Saturday were gonna have a baptism for Michel!  :)   We’re super excited for her!  So anyways I’ll tell ya the story.  On Tuesday we got the news that the baptism wasn´t gonna work out.. we were super discouraged and I really lost like a ton of motivation to work. It was like everything was just drained from me. So we got home and I was reading in the scriptures for something that could help and I came across Alma 26 27 where it talks about the Sons of Mosiah and how they didn’t have any success.. how their "hearts were discouraged and they were about to turn back"... "but the Lord comforted them... and said be patient in thine afflictions and I will give unto you success".  The scripture hit me really hard.. I was instantly filled with the Spirit and felt a peace fill the room.  So we continued praying and praying and later in the week, we got news that the baptism was gonna work out for May 2nd. :)  It was truly a miracle. 

The past 3 weeks have been amazing. Probably the most success I’ve had so far as a missionary. We talked a lot about Priesthood this week.. and how there is a difference between authority and power... that all of us have authority, but when we are worthy, obedient, living the commandments, we also have power.  And that power changes people.

Wednesday night.. Elder Eddington from PG completed 2 years in the mission, Elder Galindo from Spain completed 1 year and I completed 6 months so whatever - we celebrated it anyways.  We burned a shirt for Galindo and a tie for me :)  I’ll send pics :)   For Eddington, we bought a dozen eggs and flour and smashed it on his head... it’s like some weird tradition here in Peru :) 

Saturday was probably the most successful today I’ve had in my mission.  We had 9 lessons and found 4 new investigators. The spirit was with us all day.  We talked a lot about families and if we live the gospel and do what were supposed to do, God blesses our families.  It was amazing to me that I can testify of the truthfulness of that statement because we have that in our family. We are so blessed as a family because we live the commandments of God. 

When I was in the "shower" Saturday night, I literally was a little sad that I don’t have much time left in the mission.. that i already have 7 months gone.  But for real, it’s been the best 7 months of my life.  :)

Thanks for everything. I love you guys.. miss ya. :) 

- Elder Harris

Joke of the week.. we were talking to this couple and they told us that their son had already moved out, has a wife, and his own house.. best part, he's 15! :) haha! I dont even know what I was doing when I was 15.

Bananas!

Family!

This week was great. I feel like ever week just keeps getting better :) 

Last p day, we went to a small village called Huangala.  SUPER SMALL... haha!  There’s like a water spring in the middle of the village and everyone goes there to shower and wash their clothes.. pretty cool! It was just SOO PRETTY and so much fun.  We went with some members that live there up this big mountain and we found some shade and had ourselves a picnic.. we enjoyed it :) Monday night was AMAZING!  I TOOK A REAL SHOWER. Yeah, I know, I can’t believe it either. You can bet I was smiling the rest of the night... for once I felt clean!

Tuesday and Wednesday were great. We taught a ton of lessons, and had the opportunity to give some blessings.  

On Thursday President Rowley, Hermana Rowley AND her parents (x mission presidents) decided they would stop in on out district meeting..  everyone was freaking out but it wasn’t too bad. 

Anyways, in the afternoon... I felt impressed to pass by a less active members house.. I didn’t know them, but we decided to go anyway.  They opened the door, and gladly let us in.  The spirit was super strong in the lesson but little did we know what actually happened. Apparently Maria and Ana had been praying the last little while to really know if the church was true.  They told us when we showed up at their doorstep that day, they received their answers that it was the true church of God. It was really an amazing experience to be part of someone else receiving an answer from God.  They attended church on Sunday, and are progressing swimmingly :)

Friday was DOPE.  We woke up at 5:30 and helped a member Santos Camacho in his banana fields! AMAZING!  I don’t know if you’ve ever seen banana trees, but they’re HUGE. The leaves are literally like 7 feet long.  So after we had a traditional Peruvian breakfast, he handed me a machete and we were off to work :) We finished about 1:00 in the afternoon and we were super tired but you better believe we had a blast :) It was just something new, something I have never done before.

Saturday was really great. We had a lesson with a less active member, Hermana Clara.  She really opened up to us and shared with us some problems that were going on in her life... it was hard.  I could see the pain in her eyes.  But as we testified of the love that God has for her.. that we don’t understand exactly how she’s feeling, but He does.  I saw a change, mom. I saw hope.. hope that with God she can get through these times.

This week was just amazing. I had so many moments where my heart was touched by these people.. I truly love them with all my heart. My testimony has been strengthened by them.  

I hope you guys had a great week too.. :) like I always say, it probably wasn’t as good as mine :)

 love you guys.. have a great week. miss youuuuu guyssss

- Elder Harris 

God's Hand was in this One

Family!l

This week was amazing!  We had the opportunity to give like 4 blessings and every single one of them was amazing. I love when people ask us too because it’s such an easy way to fill the room with the Spirit. 

Wednesday we had a lesson with our investigator Teresa Castillo. It was a powerful lesson about the Book of Mormon, all 3 of us bore our personal conversion story. After, we invited her to be baptized on May 2nd. She told us if she had received an answer by then, she would be baptized.  Yeah, so Saturday we were just passing through the neighborhood right? We see hermana Teresa talking to her friend Lucia (member) so we went over and got talking to them for a second.  The conversation changed to the Gospel and she told us that she had been praying for the last 2 to 3 months and she finally received the answer that the church is true.   Ah it was such an amazing experience.  We are SOO happy for her.  I know God had his hand in on this one... there’s no other way.   But like always, there’s a problem.  She works every other Sunday. So yeah, to be continued with her.

This week I learned a ton.. we had a zone meeting and we talked a lot about faith. That as a missionary, I must have faith in every contact, every person, and in this work but more than anything, we MUST have faith in HIS timing. In the problems and difficulties that we have.. we must have a hope that there’s a brighter day.

As for Carolay Michele.. she’s ready to be baptized.  Her mom supports her 100 percent but her dad is still a little iffy..   Yesterday Elder Rengifo and I fasted for her and her parents that they would lighten their hearts.. so I’ll keep you posted on that :) 

Sorry i don’t have much time to write today, we got to internet a little late and we got to get heading out in a minute.. so thanks for everything.

I hope you have a great week :) I love and miss you guys!!!

- Elder Harris

PS:  I have not received that package yet... hmmm

A Conference Miracle

Mother!

You’re kidding! I didn’t know that you guys were going to Mexico this week???   I thought that you were talking in like a month or two you guys were going?? oh how jealous I am. hashtag sucky english problems

Well, im happy to hear about your hip... :) Seriously I was super worried for ya... hopefully Cody and Kenzie are helping you out a little... just remember if I was there, I would be at your bedside for anything you needed :) Ii might have even sat with you and watched some movies :)

Like you said, transfers were this week and unfortunately Elder Soto left... he went to Talara to be a zone leader with one of my good buddies here, Elder Chapman. I was a little sad with the transfers... I was really hoping that we would have had another transfer together... but I guess God has other plans :)

My new companion is Elder Rengifo... he’s from the jungles of Peru. He’s super cool... we haven’t had a ton of time together as for now, but we have been getting along great as of now :) And yes, another Latino... crazy! That’s like 4 in a row! Martinez, Melo, Soto, and Rengifo.

This past week was great... Last p day we WALKED to a tiny village outside of Sullana called Marcavelica.  We hung out there drank some coconut milk and enjoyed ourselves on this huge hill that looked over all of Sullana... oh I wish you guys could have seen it.. it was BEAUTIFUL!

Tuesday Elder Soto and I taught the district meeting together and it turned out really well... we’re working with this family Timana Silupu right now... there less active and progressing a ton... they’ve attended church the last 3 weeks in a row so boohya! We’ve been working a ton, but we the majority of the people here don’t really care to know... they just want to listen because it’s the "word of God".  We call them students so it’s been a little tough but I heard something this week I love - "the key to know God is to struggle"

We did get to give a blessing to one of our investigators this week...some things are going on in her life so she asked us if we would give her a blessing of comfort and she asked me to give it.  I felt the spirit so strong and when we finished, I wish you guys could have seen her.  She was just so happy... her eyes welled up with tears and just thanked me with everything she had.

As for General Conference, I LOVED IT. 10 hours went by WAYYY to fast. I had a lot of questions answered and a lot of personal revelation received... I wish we could watch conference every day.

 I was fortunate enough to watch 4 of the 5 sessions in English.

Oh get this, so Sunday Morning... all of Sullana attends church in the stake center, right? we had more than 700 people attend conference. A MIRACLE! I don’t know how.... it was amazing. The whole sacrament room was filled as well with every room. Since there was so many people, a couple of the missionaries including me had to run all around town looking for chairs and coordinating everything so unfortunately I missed the 1st hour of the Sunday morning session including the talk from Thomas S Monson... I was a little bummed but I guess the others got to see it so it makes up for it :) 

I loved every talk, I don’t think I can pick a favorite... but I loved the one about how we should dance to the music of the Gospel.

I hope you had a great week in Mexico... love you guys!

- Elder Harris

Not Every Day is Good, But There's Something Good in Every Day

Family!

This week was great!  On Monday we went to Paita.. a different city about an hour and a half away to watch the new movie ¨Meet the Mormons¨.  It was super fun to see my old companion Elder Martinez and one of my buddies in the mission Elder Nuñez.  

Tuesday was amazing as well.  Because of the rain, Santos (a member) fence broke so we spent all morning building a new corral for his chickens.  It took like 5 hours but we got it done :) We built it out of sticks and bamboo. It’s dope.

Later in the day I went on splits with Elder Spencer from San Antonio Texas.  We got some great news that Michele got permission from her mom to be baptized. Now we’re just working with her dad.  Oh my word though, she was so happy.  BEAMING with joy.  I wish you could have seen it.  

Wednesday we had back to back splits and I went with Elder Eddington from Pleasent Grove.  He’s been in the mission for 23 months so he knows what he is doing and he really taught me a lot. Like ¨not every day is a good day, but there's something good in every day ¨. I loved that quote.

Friday we had a multi zone meeting in Talara! Ahh it was so good to see my old zone and all my friends. Especially Elder Melo, my old companion and Elder Hanvey.  President Rowley is amazing.  Seriously, I look up to him so much.  He’s the best example of someone that is Humble.  He talked about the powerful testimony of Abinadi and that we have the potential of having a testimony as strong as his.. but it’s not gonna come over night.  Testimony is a word of action.  He invited us to look inside our own conversion and ask ourselves what we´re lacking from obtaining a testimony as strong as Abinadis... 

Saturday... well... we visited this less active member named Koki.  He’s 49 and still lives with his mom. We asked what he remembered about Joseph Smith and he started telling us about Moses so that should tell you a little bit about who were working with here... in that sense, it was a little bit of a hard week.  We had 2 investigators drop this week and didn’t want anything to do with the church.

Elder Soto has been a little stressed out.. and has thrown almost all of his District Leader responsibilities on me and so I’ve just been trying to be a good companion and help him out. What makes even more stress is we didn’t have water for 3 days this week.  As you already know, those days are miserable. And to go even farther, apparently Elder Soto and I ate something on Friday cause we got SICK on Saturday and Sunday.  Yeah... diriah up the wazoo and the worst part, we had no water to flush the toilet. 

OTHER THAN THAT, it was a great week :) I truly love being a missionary.  I wouldn’t trade it for the world.. I was looking back the other day and I got a little sad that I had already been out for almost 7 months and I don’t have much time left. I’ve learned so much.. Ahh I wish you could be here :) I wish you could live my life for just a week :) 

I  hope everything goes well for you this week with your hip. I’ll continue to keep you in my prayers... 

love you guys, miss you.

- Elder Harris

Buckets of Rain

Family!

Hey!  What up?  This week was nuts.

So there’s this rumer going around in Bellavista that the purpose of the Mormon missionaries is to convert you into the church, then they kill you and take out your eyes... yeah, I don’t know how it got started.   More importantly, I don’t know how people actually believe that... but it’s spreading.

On Wednesday, about 7 PM it started to rain. Ahh we were so happy we were jumping around like little kids... but then it continued to rain... and rain... and rain... then it got a little scary. The ceiling started leaking, the walls like were becoming wet, and water was flooding our room.. we had NO IDEA what to do.  Luckily, I’ve had some experience of shoveling water out at home so we rolled up our sleeves and went to work.  We stayed up super and didn’t get much sleep that night... what made it even worse is that the water dripped all over my bed.  It continued to rain for the next 2 days and the streets were FILLED. I felt so bad for the people here... the majority of their houses have dirt floors and so when it rained, their floors got filled with water and now they’re like mud pits.  

Friday it stopped and it was HOT!  45 degrees celsius.  All the houses were filled with bugs, wet, and HUMID.  It was a long, hot week.  

As for the work here, it’s progressing.  Our investigator Michel has attended church the last 3 weeks in a row.  She’s only 17 and she needs the permission of her parents to be baptized and that’s kind of a problem.. she has a super strong desire to be baptized so were working with her parents now and we’ve been praying a ton for her and her family.  She shared her testimony with us this past week and oh my word, what an amazing experience.  It wasn’t the biggest in the world, but it sure was powerful.  We invited her to share it with her mom and guess what? She did! So her mom is gonna attend this Sunday. Well, were hoping.

As for me, I’m doing great.  I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling the whole time :) I’m just  loving it down here :)  Yesterday, I ate cow liver if you were wondering.. it tasted like cow poop. I wouldn’t recommend it.  OHHH get this, so last night we were planning... and there were these drunk guys just hanging out on the corner.  Then all of a sudden they just started this huge brawl... people were throwing punches, throwing rocks, beer bottles.. it was nuts.

As for my week, that’s about it.  We’re working hard.. Elder Soto and I are getting along great still... probably don’t have much time left.. transfers are in 2 weeks.

I hope you guys had a great week.... tell Ty happy birthday! And I hope everything goes well with the surgery this week.. I’ll be praying for you.  

Love you tons! Miss you guys!

- Elder Harris

ZIP. ZERO. NADA.

Family!

This week was... harder than usual. We didn’t have much success at all. We worked hard though. 

Tuesday was hilarious. my hair was getting a little long so Elder Soto offered to cut it... all we had were little kid scissors but I said what the heck and he cut it.  It doesn’t look good at all but I’m a missionary so YOLO. 

Wednesday Elder Soto went to Piura so I got to be on a split with Elder Beidleman and Elder Walker from Herriman. We were in my area and... well quite the interesting day.  This Elder Walker is a big guy, and when we picked him up we were returning to Bellavista and you have to go up this hill and the moto we were in couldn’t get up this hill. We all got out and started pushing.. people are yelling .  . .  it was so funny. 

Thursday I went on splits with Elder Llanos from Lima in his area, Cerro Mocho.  It’s about 30 minutes away from Sullana and the drive is AMAZING. So pretty. So green and tons of tiny villages and palm trees EVERYWHERE.  Miles and miles of rice fields... and its super cool how they grow it. They like drown the fields in water and the rice just grows.  Coconut trees, banana trees, guava plants. 

Friday morning when we ended the intercambio, Elder Soto lost the key to our room.... we didn’t know what to do because there’s no spare.  We finally got a neighbor named Jesus to get us in.. when we walked in, I was expecting to have some water... but the water got shut off some how so basically for the next 3 days we had no water.  Zip zero NADA.  Seriously it was the worst it’s ever been.  Not only did we not shower, flush the toilet, we didn’t even have water to wash our hands... brush our teeth... ahh it was longggggg.  soo dirty.

It’s such a different world here... I wish you guys could see it.  In the US everyone has houses and cars and boats and all this crap and here the people are just praying to have water... to have electricity... to have food on the table for their kids. Like I always say - so humbling. 

Sunday was great.. both of our investigators with a baptismal date attended church.  Michel and Teresa.  We were super happy about that, so pray for them that they can continue progressing. 

So seriously that was about my whole week... we worked and worked and walked and walked and sweated all week. it was hot this week too.. got up to 43 degrees celsius which is like 110 degrees farenheit. But don’t worry, I never stopped smiling. :)

I learned a lot this week... when we truly understand the Atonement of Christ, that is when we will truly live the Gospel.  That’s been in my head all week, and I just love it. So this coming week, I’m going study that like crazy.  

I hope you guys have  a great week... love ya tons! 

- Elder Harris