Cold Water!

Hi Fam!!!                                                                                                 April 19, 2017

So you may be wondering why this email is titled cold water exclamation point. Well, I will explain it to you. But, first I want to share a few pictures.

A fun picture of me on the bridge

This is a Laguna De Oxidacion (that means "lake of the rusting," for you non-Spanish speakers.)
Surprisingly scenic given the name.  

This is a member who I think looks like Jerry Seinfield. He was excited when we told him he looks like an American celebrity.

A classic picture of me standing by the Guadalquivir River.  It is so beautiful here!!

This week was quite memorable! We had a zone conference and interviews with president which were both very encouraging. We talked about how finding new people to teach should be something fun! We shouldn't do the same thing every day like just knocking doors, but we should come up with creative things to do to find. I don't know what they are talking about, I find knocking doors exhilarating.

 

This week we met some interesting people. First of all a lot of basketball players came into town for some international league tryouts (it was easy to spot them because there are no other 7 foot tall black people in Tarija and they were staying in a hotel near our house) So we talked to their manager one day. His name is Kevin and he was really nice. He read our name tags and it was so nice to hear my name pronounced in a non-Spanish accent for once. So it was our first time contacting an American person and it went very well.

 

Also we started teaching Mauricio Marquez, a young man we met in the park. He started tell us about his life and it turns out he is a professional soccer player! He played for blooming, which is like the best team in Santa Cruz! So we are teaching a professional soccer player...what a bucket list item.

 

Now back to the cold water. This week our hot water broke, so showering every day was like a really painful game of hokey pokey.

 

Also it has gotten really cold here in Tarija...like 45 degrees! So that has to do with cold and also speaking of water, this weekend Cristina is going to be baptized!!! She was really hesitating and didn't feel like she was ready but we had to great lessons with her and told her "Why wait to receive the blessings?" So she accepted the invitation to be baptized this Saturday! She has her interview tonight, so please pray that her testimony can continue to grow and she can act with faith this weekend!

We have been so blessed this week and the Lord has led us to so many people who are prepared to receive the restored gospel! In our mission we focus a lot on finding families and young people, and this week we were able to start teaching two new families and several new young people! I am so grateful that the Lord hears our prayers and I am grateful for all of your prayers on our behalf.

I love being a missionary and being able to feel the spirit so abundantly! My testimony of the Book of Mormon and the prophet joseph smith grow stronger and stronger each day. READ THE BOOK OF MORMON! It is an absolutely incredible book and will help you come to know the Savior and be a better person. Everyday I learn so much from the examples of amazing men and women in this book who loved the savior and kept his commandments. I know that when we keep the commandments we are blessed! He loves us and His plan is perfect!

I am grateful for all of you and your examples and encouragement. I feel so blessed to have each one of you in my life and so blessed to be here in Bolivia at this time! Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Harris