From Mountaintown to Holy Cross

                                                                                               January 22, 2018
Hi Family!

 

This week was great!  We spent a lot of time on the road because the zone is very spread out. One District is in Villamontes (Mountaintown) about 1 hour and a half away, and the other is 4 hours away in Camiri. On Wednesday, we went to Mountaintown to do baptismal interviews. It was a very long day, but at the end we got to teach Felix! 

We met Felix at church last Sunday. He has been going for several years and I don't know why the missionaries haven't been teaching him because he is ready! His wife Ingrid is a member and she has really been encouraging him and supporting him. He has set a baptismal date for February 3rd and we are really excited for him!

On Thursday night we went to Santa Cruz (another 9 hour bus ride) for a special Conference with Elder Falabella of the Seventy!

Almost all of the mission was there, so I got to see lots of old friends and Olga sent Elder Matheson with some chocolate chip cookies which was a definite highlight!It was probably the best and most helpful Conference I have attended in my life. The past few weeks I had been getting a bit lazy and just wasn't feeling good about the work I was doing and this Conference was exactly what I needed! He spoke a lot about our potential and about being FULL-TIME missionaries! We have to be dedicated to this work every second of every day and it is something I have been trying to do since then!

We also talked about obedience...as we learn in the scriptures, God has sent us here to see if we will do all things that He commands us. There is no time in life when we have more commandments to keep than in the mission, and he taught us that we will never in our lives have another opportunity like this to show Heavenly Father that we will do ALL THINGS He commands us. 

I am grateful for our leaders. I know they are called of God, from the Branch President to President Russell M. Nelson. He uses imperfect men to bring about a perfect work and this is His true church!

He will never abandon us or forget us because He is our Father!

Love,

Elder Harris

8 Vasos al dia (Eight Glasses of Water)

                                                                                                      January 15, 2018
Hi Everyone!                                                                                 

Alan was baptized and Elder Matheson sent me a picture! Although, I was sad to not be there, I am very excited for him and know that the gospel will bring great blessings and joy into his life.

It's been an awesome first week in Yacuiba! I realized that I left a lot of details out last week, so I will try my best to get you caught up today.

Yacuiba is a town of about 125,000 people and here in Yacuiba there are three branches. Ours is the biggest with about 150 active members. The leadership is awesome and really hard working. It is a really well run branch which is exciting! Hmm what else...we are the only set of Elders here in Yacuiba, the other two branches have sister missionaries. This zone has two other Districts in two far away towns that we visit every other week so it is quite different from La Pampa. The funny thing is since there are no other Elders here in Yacuiba, we are both the Zone leaders and the District leaders which is super strange and there is no other place in the mission like this haha.

The title of this email is a friendly reminder to drink 8 glasses of water a day. It is quite hot here in Yacuiba and this house doesn't have air conditioning like my last house. So we have been drinking A LOT of water. Please follow my example in being the perfect water drinker.

We have been super busy with finding this week! We have talked to tons of people and I love Yacuiba because everyone is so receptive here! Noone rejects our message and we have been able to find a lot of new investigators this week! One of them is named Herlan. He is 21 years old and yesterday accepted a baptismal date for February 3rd!

Also our area is GIGANTIC and we have a lot of countryside which is quite scenic and gives us lots of opportunities to star gaze at night. From what I have seen so far, it looks like the typical food here in the countryside is a fried egg sandwich with ketchup because that is what EVERYONE has been giving us. But I do like ketchup and eggs, so I cannot complain.

The branch is awesome, my companion is really funny, and we get along great! Everything is a little different from Lucero but I have grown to love change and can't wait to make the most of it!

I know this church is true and that this is the fulness of the gospel! I love sharing this message with others and hope you all are doing the same!

Love,

Elder Harris

Transferred to New Area - Welcome to Yacuiba!

                                                                                                         January 9, 2018
Hi Everyone!                                                                                  

Yesterday was transfers and my new area is......................Yacuiba! It is pronounced Jah-quee-va, and it is the border with Argentina. We had about a 9 hour bus ride to get here so that is why I didn't write yesterday. I am really excited though, it is a beautiful place and change is always fun!

My new companion is Elder Perriton. He is from Draper, Utah and this is the first time there has been two gringo missionaries here in who knows how many years, so we have gotten a lot of strange looks already. He is from my group and is really cool. He plays the guitar and sings so I think we will have a good time!

 

 

 

 

 

It was hard leaving Lucero! Of all my areas I think it was the place I grew closest to the people and there are a lot of members and converts I will miss a ton!

Saying goodbye...
 

 

 

I will miss all the missionaries in our District!

Sadly, Alan didn't get baptized this past Saturday. His friend got back from the mission yesterday and he wanted her to be able to be there. But he is really ready and hopefully I can get some pics of his baptism and send them next week!

This week there was not the best week for Santa Cruz. There was a giant conjunctivitis epidemic going around (like pink eye but 4 times worse) and yours truly got infected on Wednesday.

On Thursday I went to our District meeting looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame with one of my eyes swollen half shut, but now I am completely recovered so no worries.

 Also on Monday night and Tuesday it rained like never before and quickly turned into a natural disaster here. Several of the canals flooded and many houses were flooded, some people up to their ankles, other people up to their waist, and in Guapilo up to their chins. It was really devastating, but we were able to help some people bail water out of their houses and everything is back to normal now.

Today I was reading in the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 9 and read about how Christ will be the one who judges us and decides whether or not we are worthy to return to the presence of God. As I was reading and pondering, I realized that in that moment He will be judging based on one standard: How have we shown gratitude in our lives for what He did? He gave His life for us so that we might change and become like our Heavenly Father, and every day our choices can either reflect gratitude for Him or show that we have forgotten what He did for us. I hope we can choose this week to show Him we are grateful each and every day by repenting and serving those around us!

Love,

Elder Harris

Happy New Year!

                                                                                                           Jan. 1, 2018         
Happy New Year!!

It is 2018! It is crazy how fast the year flew by, I couldn't have asked for a better year and I am grateful to all of you for making it that way!

We have had a great week, lots of miracles and tender mercies.

Wednesday, I got to visit Guapilo on an exchange which was fun. I got to see lots of old friends and it turns out Sonia, the old lady we taught, feeds the missionaries lunch every day haha! We were able to visit a lot of people I had taught and it was a great intercambio!


One other miracle this week was Herlin! We were walking to an investigators house when Elder Matheson told me he saw a member family trimming their tree. So we headed back a few blocks, grabbed a machete and started helping.

We spent a good half an hour there and afterwards met Herlin, their son in law who is not a member of the church. Turns out the missionaries have never visited him but he is really interested and really open! On Saturday night he accepted a baptismal date and Sunday he attended church for the first time with his wife, who has been less active for years!!!!! It was a huge miracle and we are really excited for him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alan also went to church yesterday and this Saturday he will be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Yesterday, after church, he was talking with all the young adults. They have done an awesome job friendshipping him and helping him feel welcome! Pray that he can continue to progress and be ready for Saturday!

The work is great here, possibly my last week in Lucero so we will definitely make the best of it! I love this gospel and there is nothing better than being a missionary! Have a great week and a Happy New Year!

Elder Harris

Merry Christmas!!!!!

                                                                                                                       Dec. 25, 2017
Feliz Navidad a todos! Merry Christmas to all of you!

We had a great week, one of my favorite Christmas'es ever!!

I was so excited that my Christmas package arrived a little early, but I waited until Christmas to open it. Here I am opening my package Christmas morning... Thanks for the Christmas stockings filled with yummy candy, the socks, a watch, and much more.

A quick recap on our week...

On Monday, we had a white elephant gift exchange as a zone which was pretty funny and enjoyable.

After, we watched the movie, Polar Express. Elder Matheson and I baked chocolate chip cookies and snicker doodles (shout out to Bekah for the awesome recipe) and hot chocolate and we threw the cookies to people and ran in with the hot chocolate during the hot chocolate scene from the movie. It was really fun and made for a great P-day.

 

We also spent a good part of the week in the hospital.

On Friday we had our Christmas conference and dinner with President.

Decorating for the Christmas program with Ernesto

 

 As a zone, we did a short play about Christmas here in the Americas when they were going to put to death all the believers unless the sign came. I got to be the bad guy.

It was a great conference! I love President Rodriguez. He is an amazing man and I know he has been called of God!

Yesterday as a zone we went to a big Plaza. We spent a good bit of time the past few days wrapping up Books of Mormon and yesterday we gave them out to people in the Plaza! It was really cool to have people unwrap their gift and tell them why it was the best gift we could give them! Afterwards we sang Christmas hymns!

Last night we ate dinner with Olga and got to stay up until midnight (here everyone eats Christmas dinner at that time)

There were fireworks everywhere at midnight and today we both have stomach aches from eating so much food so late at night.

Oh as for the hospital, everything is okay haha. There was a missionary that got pretty sick so we  went to visit him and take him food. Gotcha mom!

We made these handmade Christmas stockings

I am really grateful for Christmas! There is no better time to remember the Savior of the World, who gave up His glory to come as a babe in the humblest of circumstances. He did all of it because He loves us.

Merry Christmas!

Elder Harris

Fernanda and Dulce's Baptisms

                                                                                                  Dec. 18, 2017

Hola Family,

 

The best part of this week was the baptisms of Fernanda and Dulce on Saturday!
 

Fernanda and Dulce were both baptized and their Dad was able to attend which was really cool.
 
 
There was great support from the Ward and a lot off their extended family was there too!
It is so cool to think that they are setting the example for the rest of the family.

 

   I know that one day their whole family will be converted because of their decision!

  

One of the young men we are working with, Kevin, went to church yesterday and had a great experience! He is excited to go next week and this week we are going to talk about baptism with him.

 

Alan couldn't go to church yesterday sadly, but he did accept a date for baptism and also a huge miracle is that a few weeks ago he found a Book of Mormon as he was cleaning out a storage area at his college. It is amazing how the Lord prepares people and it was a huge surprise when we taught about the Book of Mormon and he said "I have one of those!" So we will continue to work with him this week.

 

Franco and Raquel both brought friends to church yesterday which was really great to see!

Although we are working hard, we still take time to laugh and have fun.
Here are a few pictures to make you smile...

 

Did someone say cows? I herd that!

Mission Photo Competition - See American Gothic

 

Bishop Oliver and Marcy took us out to Papa Johns on Monday night. It was great to catch up with them!

We are excited for Christmas! Busy as ever, we are trying to never forget the reason we are celebrating.

This week we remember the birth of the Savior of the World. This child was born to bring us eternal life and to show us the way back. I am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave up celestial glory to be born in the humblest of mangers and cast out by mankind, all because of His love for us!

Merry Christmas!

Love,

 

Elder Harris