Channel 5 and Exciting News of Baptisms

                                                                                                     April 16, 2018

Hello Family,

 

What a week!!

This week I was on national Bolivian television! (The national part is probably not true.) We were handing out flyers in the university again when a man walked up with a camera and took a strange amount of interest in what we were doing. So he interviewed me about the English classes for a good 5 minutes and I got to give a short commercial. In the past few days a few people told us, "Hey I saw you on channel 5," and some people who had never attended already knew the direction of the church. So all I can say is, "thank you channel 5!" Although sadly, no one new attended in the end...

 

And now for the REAL GOOD NEWS...  Simon, Sihomara, Sandra and Ruth were BAPTIZED!!

The baptism was amazing!!! There was a great turnout from the Ward and a ton of people came to support their friends and family members as they made a covenant with God!

Simon and Sandra both bore their testimonies on Sunday and they have such strong testimonies of the gospel. Sandra said she felt the Spirit so strong as she was baptized and confirmed and it couldn't have been better!

Oh I keep forgetting to mention that we didn't have transfers! You probably already assumed but Elder Vasquez will be finishing his mission here which means I will do the same! It is going to be a great next few months and I love this Branch!

I know God loves us and cares about each and every one of us. He sent His only Son to rescue us from death and sin. Jesus Christ loves us and gave His life for us because He is our friend. As we follow Him, we show our gratitude for what He did and we can be forgiven of EVERY single mistake we make.

Love you all!

 

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Harris

P.S. Today I tried another food challenge and failed miserably. Sorry mom I know I let you down.

 

 The Burla Burger challenge  

 

 2 - 2 lb burgers: 2, Elder Harris: 0

 

Movie Night with the Flowers (Familia Flores)

                                                                                                           April 9, 2018




 

Hola Family,

What a week! It got real hot again here in Yacuiba (sorry Naperville people if this brings feelings of jealousy.) If it stays sunny and I dye my hair and eyes black and get better at Spanish people might  actually think I am Latino! Then again, maybe not!

Look mom! We made it to the border of Argentina!
We made a quick trip on our P-day.

 

This week we went to the university (smallest university I have ever been to) to hand out flyers for our English class. We handed out a good 80 flyers and had about 40 people that committed to go and a whopping 3 showed up. So it looks like we will need to hand out more flyers this week. But a few new high school kids showed up so it made for a good class! If you´re into musical chairs you don't want to miss next week's class!

On Tuesday we watched "The Testaments" movie with Familia Flores. (That's the Flowers family for you non-Spanish speakers.) I love that movie and Sandra and Ruth both felt the Spirit which was really special. The only thing missing was the popcorn.

The other day we were knocking doors and a little girl answered and asked "who is it?" I said "Elder" and she heard "verde", which means green in Spanish. She said "green???" obviously never having met someone with the name green. We went back a few days later and I fully embraced it and when she asked I immediately responded "Its Green!" I can only imagine her running to her dad yelling "Dad! Green's here!" 

Lots of miracles this week. Familia Flores, Sihomara, and Simon will all be baptized this Saturday! We are super excited! Simon finally made the decision and Sunday in church all of a sudden announced to everyone he was going to get baptized this week which shocked us because he hadn't told us anything! So this week will be great! We are proud of them and they are all so ready to take this step!

Love you all! Have a great week! 

Elder Harris

 

Still making friends wherever we go!

 

 

Happy April!!

                                                                                                    April 2, 2018

Hello Everyone,

 

It is already April! Wow time flies! It seems like just a few days ago we were in March...

 

I want to share a picture of the missionaries in our District. (Distrito Yacuiba)

I hope everyone was able to listen to General Conference! How amazing that there is a Prophet of God on earth today! I felt very blessed to be able to hear his words and the words of the other leaders God has chosen to help us.

One part of Conference I loved was Elder Robbins talk:

" Repentance is not His plan B, it is His plan!"

This week I was reading Alma 42 which teaches us the same principle. This life was always meant to be a time for us to repent, a time for us to change! Repentance is the process by which we put our lives in harmony with the will of God and is ultimately the whole reason we are here on earth! This is not a gospel of staying where you are, it is a gospel of rising and become more and more each day!

Here in Yacuiba, we were thrilled by the announcement that there will soon be a temple in Salta, Argentina! It is about a 5 hour bus ride from Yacuiba and will be much easier than going to Cochabamba (a bit ironic considering its in another country.)

Lots of investigators went to Conference and Sandra and Ruth are doing great! Sandra gained a firm testimony of the Book of Mormon. On Tuesday, she wasn't sure about her baptism, but we gave her a Book of Mormon and returned to see her on Friday. As we were finishing the visit and walking towards the door on Friday, she said, "When was the baptism for again?" We said, the 14th of April. She said "Yep, I am going to get baptized that day!" She is an awesome example of receiving a testimony and acting on it!

I love being a member of this church and a part of His work! Strive to change and repent this week and you will feel so much happier knowing you are accomplishing what He has sent you here to accomplish!

Love,

Elder Harris

Finding Peace in Christ - Happy Easter!

                                                                                                  March 26, 2018

Hi Everyone!

We had an action packed week, I will try my best to include everything.



This week we tried some new things to find young people to teach...we went to a few high schools and handed out flyers for our English class. None of the people we gave flyers to went. BUT, one of those kids gave their flyer to a friend and that's how Daniel came to our English class! He is 17 and super interested in English and the church and he even attended church yesterday! So we are excited to work with him!

On Tuesday, at like 8:00 p.m. at night, our appointment fell through and I remembered a basketball court where they play every night. So we headed down to check things out. They didn't think we could ball up in a shirt and tie, but we played for 15 minutes and met a really cool 19 year old named Juan Pablo who we got to teach Saturday! We are going to play a real game today, wish me luck. I told them I had seen Pau Gasol and Jimmy Butler in person and they all freaked out hahaha. Thank goodness I am from Chicago, that gets you crazy street cred here in Bolivia.

Friday we had Zone Conference in Santa Cruz. It was wonderful to be reunited with Elder Cohelo again. He was the first missionary that I trained, so in mission terms, he is my "son," and I am his "father." It was great to see him!


Father and son reunited once again

The Conference was amazing and I was reminded of our need for Christ in the most difficult times. When we can't find peace or comfort in other places, there is peace in Christ. Thanks to Him we can always feel peace because He went through everything we are going through!

Friday was also filled with delicious food- apple pie, papa johns, and bits and cream.

(Almost as good as Cold Stone)

Other foods we ate this week were not quite as delicious. I guess this is what you get when you buy a burger and fries for 75 cents.

As we stopped by to visit our Branch mission leader, we took a quick picture of his beautiful dog.

What a funny dog! Not sure we got his best side!









We also said goodbye to our good friend Benjamin who is on his way to Mexico to serve a mission.
 

One miracle we saw this week was Familia Flores. We met them yesterday at church. It is a single mom and her two teenage children, Joel and Ruth, who has been passing through a lot of trials lately. Yesterday in the afternoon we were able to teach them and they are so prepared! Sandra and Ruth want to be baptized the 14th of April, so we are super excited for them!

This weekend is General Conference. What an amazing opportunity we have to receive counsel and guidance from God through His servants! As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we believe that God calls a prophet and 12 apostles today just as He did thousands of years ago. This Saturday and Sunday we have the opportunity to hear those words! Please take advantage of it!

If you have trials or questions in your life and you decide to attend, you will be helped and guided in a marvelous way, so please don't miss this opportunity!

The work is great, I love Bolivia and wish this time wasn't coming to an end!

Happy Easter!

Love,

Elder Harris

Happy Holidays! (Birthdays and Father's Day)

                                                                                                       March 19, 2018
Hi Everyone!!!

Happy Bolivian Father's day! Shout out to all the Bolivian Dads out there making a difference in the lives of Bolivian children all over Bolivia. I will never understand why they can't celebrate on the same day as everyone else.

Nothing like fried yucca cheese on a stick!

Also, this Friday is the birthday of two incredible women: My very own amazing mother, and my Bolivian grandmother, Olga Rodriguez. Make sure to wish them a happy birthday! (If you speak Spanish and would like to wish Olga a happy birthday, let me know and I can give you her deets.)

Celebrating with a special Birthday party for Olga

This week was great, Saturday was Ivan's baptism which was really special!!!
He was so happy afterwards and he has been asking a lot about serving a mission which would be the coolest thing ever! We made chocolate chip cookies for the baptism (shout out to Rebekah for the stellar recipe) and it was an amazing service.

Also, on Friday one of the sister's investigators, Felicidad, was baptized. She used to live in our area and attend Church in our branch, so I already knew her and her conversion story is amazing. The Spirit was so strong in both baptisms, and I am so grateful that "the power of godliness is manifested in the ordinances thereof."

Today I read a really neat scripture that I wanted to share: Alma 10:21. Here are the words of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. "I will come down among my people, with equity and justice in my hands."

 

I know this is true! He has come and the marks in His hands from the nails are marks of equity and justice. In one hand, equity, because each one of us is given an equal chance to repent and be forgiven of our sins, and in the other justice, because he paid the necessary price.

I am go grateful for Him and for this opportunity I have to represent Him and share this news with others. He lives!

Love, 

Elder Harris