The Blessings of the Lord

                                                                                                                       August 18, 2014

Hola mi familia maravillosa!!! Thank you for all of your letters this week. I can´t believe that time has passed so quickly. I think this is the last time I get to write you from the mission field as I am unsure what I will be doing next Monday.

It is so bitter-sweet right now, I can`t describe the feeling, I just want to cry and let it all out. I am so grateful for my mission and for everything I have experienced and learned while serving in Chile. The Lord knows what is best for us, and I am so grateful that He prompted me to serve a mission. I am also so grateful that I still have one more week in the mission field. This week I am going to work so hard and give my all. 

  
I have some sad news...Alejandro didn´t get baptized this week. But we are still working with him to help him change and be prepared to be baptized. I felt so sad, because I know that this is the best choice that he can make for himself and his family for all eternity, but he has his agency and I respect that. I know that Heavenly Father was strengthening him. Thank you for all of your prayers and faith, they really did make a difference because he has made so much progress and is changing. The Lord is working miracles right now and I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who helps us become the best that we can be. Please keep praying for him. 

 

We were able to visit Claudia and work with her and she was going to come to church, but sadly  wasn't able to come. We are going to visit her sometimes, but we are going to start focusing on finding new investigators to teach. We are always working to teach everyone but we need to find those who are prepared to listen, and accept this message from our Savior. Please pray that this week we will be able to find. Thank you so much!!!

 

We did better this week with working with the members. We are strengthening them and helping them, and we have received some references, but I know that as we continue to strengthen them and work together, we will be able to help them share the gospel with their friends. Mostly everyone here are converts, so they love missionary work! It is such a blessing!

On Sunday I was able to give my talk about the Savior. I spoke about how I came to love Him, and how He loved us first. I shared about His life and His Atonement and weaved a few things that I have learned on my mission about His Atonement. I also used a little from what I want to share in my homecoming talk, so we will save that for later. I felt a little bad because I went a little over my 10 minutes (got to learn to look at the clock) and the children were a little crazy so it was hard for the adults to listen. But today the zone leaders in our Ward told me that they went to lunch yesterday after church, and the Sister whom they ate with shared that she had really felt the Spirit during my talk. She had been feeling overwhelmed and was going to ask to be released from her church calling, but then she was strengthened by what I said, and was crying. I felt so good when they told me that because all I wanted was that the Spirit would be able to work through me to help those who were listening. I prepared and I did my best to deliver the message that I felt that Heavenly Father wanted me to share, and I know that the Spirit magnified what I had to offer so that Heavenly Father could help His children. The glory is His and I am so grateful for Him. We are all in His hands. 

 

This week I will get to do 2 exchanges as a sister training leader!! We were supposed to do about one a week, but with Alejandros baptism planned for last week, we postponed them. Now we will have two! That will be so exciting and help me work hard at all times. And we always see miracles when we have exchanges! 

 

Today for P-day(preparation day) we had another zone activity. We played the amazing race were we split into teams and did a picture scavenger hunt. The sisters won!!!! ha ha so fun! 

 

I am so grateful for all of the blessings of the Lord. I know that they come from obedience and diligence in living the gospel. Sometimes I feel so sad when we offer to teach people and they reject it for a number of reasons. They don´t know the blessings that they are missing. I just want everyone to have the blessings of the gospel. I know that we are called to be the Lord´s hands in blessing everyone. As we share the gospel, we will do His will, and help His children receive the blessings that He has for them. I am grateful for all of His blessings! I hope you all have an amazing week, and bask in the blessings that He has given you. But most importantly, I hope that you share those blessings with EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you all!!! Have an amazing week!!!
Hasta luego!!

 

Con todo mi amor, Hermana Harris  

La Guerra (The War)

                                                                                                          August 11, 2014

Hola mi familia!!! Thank you for your letters and for everything you are doing to live and share the gospel with everyone you know!!! I am striving to do the same!

 

This week I learned a lot about the war between good and evil. First off, we are still teaching Alejandro and he is faithfully preparing for his baptism on Saturday, but it has been a hard struggle with the Word of Wisdom. He needs your prayers now more than ever, so please keep him in your prayers every day. If this is the last baptism I can be a part of on my mission, I will be the happiest missionary ever. He has tried to prepare for baptism twice, but he kept falling, and then he didn't want to share with the missionaries after because he felt like he couldn`t do it, but he can! With the Savior`s help he can do anything! And this week we had an amazing lesson with him because he had fallen again and he felt so discouraged with himself, but he was able to feel God`s love and know that he can do it. He also received a blessing of comfort and strength to be able to withstand temptation. He is doing so well right now, but it is hard every time he works at night because all of his friends offer him cigarettes. But he is a changed man. We had seen how the Lord has prepared him and changed his heart even in the last week. I know that he will be prepared for Saturday because he is in the Lord`s hands, and the Lord always wins the war against evil. 

This week we worked really hard to find, but we only found one new investigator. She only had time for a five minute lesson and so we explained a little and asked for a return visit, and we will teach her again on wed.

 

We have been trying new things this week. We didn't get to do the face painting, but on Saturday we went to the beach and we drew the plan of salvation on the sidewalk in chalk, and then we taught little lessons to people that were passing by. We were able to write down their addresses, but almost all of them were references for the elders ha ha. oh well.

 

We have a new game plan now. We chose 5 member families that we are going to visit and strengthen and work with them to help them invite their friends to receive the gospel. I know that this will work because when we work with the members it is so much better because the investigators have friends they can trust and ask questions. We are going to work so hard this week to be able to find. 

This week we played street soccer at the church on Wed, and we invited a ton of investigators. We are going to do this every week, and it is a great way to find new people to teach.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of activities, today for p-day we played paintball!! Can you believe that I did that in the mission? I had never played in my life, and I played in my mission. My teammates all died, but in the two rounds, I never got killed!!! And I fought a good fight!  It was awesome! 

I learned more this week about how real the war is between good and evil. We must always be prepared to fight, and when we are prepared and we fight with our Heavenly Father and our Savior, we will always win. We must prepare by faithfully reading the scriptures everyday, by praying constantly, and by always going to church. We must live the commandments and be worthy to have the Spirit. If we do all of these things, we will never fall, we will always win because with Him we can win, without HIM, we cannot. I know that this is true, so my invitation this week is that we can all reflect and think about one thing we can do better to be more prepared to fight on the Lord`s side. I know He will help us change and improve and we will conquer with Him. 

Funny moment this week. I was walking with some people trying to contact them, and I bumped into a car parked in the street and the alarm went off.. goodbye contact... so embarrassing! haha I love you all so much! Keep being amazing and keep staying strong! Please do everything you can to protect yourselves and others in this war. teach them that they can do all things with the Savior on their side. I love you! Have a great week! Hasta luego!!!

 

Love, Hermana Harris

Invitar a Todos!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                                                                               August 4, 2014

 

Hola! Hola!! How are you all doing?? I am doing fantastic and I am so happy!!!!!!!!!!

 

This week was amazing! It rained all week, and we were soaked every day, but on Sunday morning it was still pouring and we were praying for a miracle so that people could come to church, and right before we were going to leave, we realized that it was bright and sunny outside, and that the rain had stopped. I love the Lord`s miracles!! He answered our prayer and it was perfect because Alejandro was able to go to church with his wife, Giselle, and Claudia was also able to go with one of her 4 daughters. These are are two investigators that we are focusing on and they are progressing so well. Alejandro has a baptismal date for the 16th, and Claudia will have one hopefully for the 23rd. We are working hard to find more people and this week we have some creative ideas, especially because Sunday is el día del niño (kid´s day) and on Sat. we are going to try to do face painting or something for the kids, while contacting their parents! 

 

We are applying a lot new ways to find, and we hope that they will work. We have plans every half hour in our mission, so we decided that everytime our plans fall through, we are going to each contact 3 people. It will help us talk to everyone and find those who are prepared to receive the Lord`s restored gospel. Until we find more, we are praying and working with Alejandro and Claudia. Please pray for Alejandro, because he struggles with the word of wisdom, and he wants to know if Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. It was awesome because on Sunday, the class in Relief Society was exactly what Claudia needed to hear, and the class in Gospel Principles was exactly what Alejandro needed to hear. They are both doing great and we feel that they are so prepared. But we know that there are a lot more people waiting for us to find them, so we will keep working with members, and talking to everyone! 

Funny story. While we talk to everyone, sometimes we have to knock on a random door and ask to use their bathroom. Well, this week my companion knocked on a door, and a middle-aged man open the door and said "Hola, pasen." That means, hey come in... We thought, hmmm it must be a less active member that we don´t know, but we couldn't go in if he was alone. But then he yelled to his daughter upstairs to come down, so we entered the house. She came down, and hugged my confused companion and I, and as she hugged me she said, um I think there is a confusion here. I was waiting for my friends to come over and I think my dad thought you were them. haha it was so awkward, we all started to laugh and then Hermana Baturité asked to use their bathroom, and left me to talk to them. So, I got to know them a little and I explained what we do as missionaries and we set up an appointment to visit them tonight. It´s a good way to find!!!  

This week we really felt God`s love and His support in everything we did. We were able to help someone move, and serve more. We were also able to go around and really help those who were suffering. I love that part of the mission because as we teach the gospel, we help those that have broken hearts, or are struggling, to feel the love that God has for them. Something I have been trying to apply every day is giving everyone the opportunity to feel God`s love. That is why I strive to talk to and invite everyone, because everyone needs to feel His love. We must invite everyone we know, whether they are family members, close friends, or people we have just met. We never know who is prepared, but God does, and as we do our part in inviting everyone, He will help us recognize who is prepared. We can`t say, no, I don`t think he/she will accept the gospel. If we say that, we never give them the chance to accept it. Everyone needs the opportunity, and if we do our part in giving that opportunity to them, they will be blessed and we will be blessed. They may not accept right away, but they will in the future as long as we are good examples and friends. And if they don`t accept, we still did our part in fulfilling God`s commandment to share the gospel. So this week, INVITE EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pray to know what to say and how to do it, but invite everyone. I promise that you will feel so happy as you do! 

I love you all! Have an amazing week! I am praying for you always!!! Hasta luego!!

Con amor, Hermana Harris

Fé y Esperanza! (Faith and Hope)

                                                                                                          July 28, 2014
 Hola mi familia y amigos!!!!!! I am so excited to write you this week because so much has happened here!!! I absolutely love my mission!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so happy to read all about your amazing experiences at girl`s camp. It truly is a time to walk with the Savior. I love our Savior so much and those times are so special when we can walk with Him! I am grateful that I have learned that we can walk with Him daily if we let ourselves. He walks with us, all we need to do is walk with Him. 

 

I want to share a little bit about something I learned today. Today we had Leadership counsel as a mission. This was my first and my last one... but I loved it. It has some great perks, like we get all day p-day today, and papa johns for lunch! But I mostly loved it because I learned so much!

 

There was one part that I really needed to hear today. Elder Scholes, who is a senior missionary here serving with his wife, gave a lesson about Faith and Hope. He used the scriptures to help us to learn about these two qualities. In the scriptures we learn that we cannot have faith without hope, and that we cannot have hope if we do not have faith, so we need both of them. Our faith is based in Jesus Christ, that He lives and that He can help us become who Heavenly Father wants us to be, and can help us return to live with Heavenly Father and our families in the Celestial Kingdom. Sometimes we get hope and faith confused. Hope is really based in ourselves, that we have great potential and we will be able to become like the Savior and receive eternal life. We must have both faith in our Savior, and hope in ourselves that we can do it with His help. God works to increase our faith and hope. In Moses 1 God appears unto Moses and says in verse 3, "Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years, and is not this endless." First He strengthens our faith, and then He strengthens our hope saying,"And, behold, thou art my son...And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for He is full of grace and truth." God always helps us see who we are,and He always tells us that He loves us and is proud of us, On the other hand, satan works to attack our faith and our hope, usually he attacks our hope first. He lies to us, telling us that we aren´t good enough, or we will never be able to change. We can see this through the experience of Moses because after he had this vision, satan came to tempt him to worship him instead of God. In Moses 1:12 satan said, "Moses, son of man, worship me." He sometimes calls us sons or daughters of man, and makes us think that we have no potential to improve or change, or he makes us think we should just give up. But Moses had faith and hope, he responded in verse 13 and said, "Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of His Only Begotten, and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?" When we work to have faith, and hope we can be strong even when the adversary attacks us with lies. We will have the ability to respond to these lies that satan puts into our minds. We may have weaknesses, but we can say with Hope that we are sons and daughters of God, and we can become like Him through the Atonement of Christ. We can do all things with Him. I know that as we pray for greater faith and hope, we will recognize the lies of the adversary when they enter our minds, and we can respond like Moses and say, " Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not; for God said unto me: Thou art after the similitude of mine Only Begotten." 

I am so grateful that I was able to learn that, now I will always apply it! We truly are sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father and with Him and our Savior we can do all things!!! 

This week was amazing because we worked really hard. We weren't able to help the Mejias Family, I taught them, but they didn´t come to church and aren't progressing, so we are going to have to teach others. Claudia's progression is slow, but we know that as we keep working hard, the Lord will bless us to find those that are prepared. Last night we started teaching the husband of a member, his name is Alejandro. He has prepared for baptism before, but has some difficulties with drugs and wasn't able to be baptized before. He also doesn't believe that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God, so we are going to work with him on that. It was a miracle that we were able to teach him because before, he wouldn´t even enter the room when we were over. Please pray for him, we feel strongly that it is his time now, and that he is prepared, but he needs your prayers and faith, because he needs Heavenly Father`s help and the help of our Savior in order to change and be ready. He has a baptismal date for the 16th of August! Also, please pray that we can keep finding people this week! 

Other news!!! I had my first mini cambio this week, or exchange as a leader! It was awesome!

 

I am so excited to keep helping these amazing sisters! I love you all!!! Thank you for your prayers and your love! I hope you have an amazing week!!!! Hasta luego!

Love, Hermana Harris

Week Number One

                                                                                                           July 21, 2014

Hola a todos! Estoy muy feliz para escribirles hoy día! This week was amazing and I am so grateful for all of God`s blessings! I am so happy to hear that you all had a fabulous week!!! This gospel blesses us every minute of every day and I am so grateful for our loving Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

 

So first off, my companion is amazing! She is from Brasil, so I am going to start learning Portuguese too! She has been a sister training leader for a while, and she is teaching me everything. She loves to work and has always wanted to serve a mission. She is such a great example and I am excited to work with her. We have been able to teach with unity and love for the people, while enjoying our missions!

 

Penco is amazing! I am in the same stake as Frutillares so this week I got to see a ton of members from my old branch. The area here is a little bit more difficult, because it is harder to enter into doors and teach, but we are talking to everyone and inviting them all to learn about the gospel and be blessed. I know the Lord will bless us for our diligence and obedience. We weren`t able to have investigators come to church because we don`t have very many. We are working with a family of 3. They are the familia Mejias, and we are teaching Hermana Mejias and her two daugthers. The husband doesn`t like to listen to the missionaries. Their biggest struggle is that they have not received an answer that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that if they read the Book of Mormon and sincerly and earnestly pray, God will answer them. They will come to know that the Book of Mormon is true, that it testifies of Jesus Christ our Savior, that Joseph Smith was His prophet, that this is the Church of Jesus Christ and He guides it, and gives His authority to baptize. They will know that baptism in this church is necessary so that they can be baptized by water and by the Spirit by someone who has the authority to do so. It will not only bless them spiritually, but temporally as well, and it will help them in their family. I invite all to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true. I know that God will answer because He answered me! 

 

Please pray for this sweet family so that they will be able to receive an answer, and recognize it, and prepare for a baptismal date. Thank you!!! This week our stake had an amazing activity. They did an Youth Olympics with 2 other stakes. One day was with youth only, and the next day they had a marathon race on the beach, and zumba and other activities. As missionaries, we got to go to make sure everyone stayed on the running course. It was amazing to see how the members helped others realize that we can all have fun and enjoy life without having to be doing things that the world promotes, like drinking, and smoking and such. A lot of non-members were able to participate and enjoy the race and zumba and win prizes. I enjoyed cheering them all on!!! It was such an awesome experience, and the church worked with the town leaders to pull if off. Such a great example!!! 

Another cool thing we did this week is we had a sister study just as sisters in the zone. Hermana Baturitè and I are in charge of helping 6 other sisters. We felt like we needed to have a study to get to know them better. We began by playing some get to know you games and eating delicious cinamon rolls that a sister made. They were so good!!! ITs been so long since I had a cinamon roll! Then we taught an amazing lesson about having confidence in the Lord and learning to rely on Him. I know that is what God wanted us to share with them. He loves them and He is so proud of them for their efforts. I am so grateful to be His voice and hands in helping them feel His love. It reminds me so much of Girl´s camp! I know that Girl`s camp really prepared me to serve a mission and love everyone. Please pray that Hermana Baturité and I will be able to help the sisters here. Thank you for all of your prayers and your love! I love you all so much!! Have an amazing week!

Love,

Hermana Harris

Perfection vs. Being Worthy

                                                                                                  July 14, 2014

Hola mi familia maravillosa! Gracias por sus cartas, when I got on I had 24 emails haha love it! So I have so much to tell you from this week! I am so glad you had an amazing trip and are back safe and sound in Naperville! I love you all so much! 

 

Sooooo, we had transfers this week. President called me last night to call me as a Sister Training Leader for my last cambio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I will be serving in Crav in Penco, which is closer to Concepción, and I will be serving with Hermana Baturité, another Sister Training Leader who is from Brasil.

 

I am so excited for this opportunity to serve and I will do my very best to help the sisters and work hard this last transfer! I am so grateful for the blessings that God has given me and for my whole mission!

 

Usually when we have transfers, the elders call us in the morning at 7, but this time our zone leaders planned a breakfast at 10 and we had to go there and everyone chose a name of someone else out of a bag and then we had to annouce where that person was going to be transferred. It was a lot more fun and exciting!  

 

So update this week. Jaime came to church, he is preparing to be baptized on the 26th of July. He is so prepared! We invited him to pray about his baptismal date because he felt that it was too soon. When we called he said that when he prayed, he didnt feel an answerl. But about 3 hours later he called us again to say that he receive his answer and is going to be baptized! We are so excited for him! He used to play the organ in the Catholic church and every time we go to visit him he makes me play a hymn on the piano! So fun! Mario is also progressing! He wasn't able to come to church because he had to go with someone to the hospital last minute, and didn't come, but he is learning and changing and it is amazing! Sadly, Laura and Connie couldn't come either. We will continue to work with them. I am sad that I won´t be there for their baptisms, but I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of teaching them. The Lord truely prepares people and converts them!!! 

 

Mario and Yocelyn went to the temple and loved it! They both shared their testimonies on Sunday in Sacrament meeting as the Bishop asked them to do so, and the Spirit was so strong! They only have 2 months in the church and have changed so much! Cesar is doing well. Thank you for your prayers. What really happened is that a brick fell on his back and broke a piece off one of his back bones, but he is doing well and mending. I know that the Lord answered our prayers and helped him heal and not have an injury more serious. 

 

This week was great and I Iearned so much! We had a sister study and I learned the difference between being perfect and being worthy. The perfection is a constant progression throughout our whole lives and worthiness comes from repenstance and striving to be better every day. The Lord doesn´t ask us to be perfect, but He does ask us to be worthy! Also, I had the opportunity to teach the class in Relief Society this past week. I learned a ton from President Joseph Fielding Smith about baptism, and about keeping our baptismal covenants. We must keep being faithful to the end because we were baptized to enter in the celestial kingdom, not in the terrestrial nor the telestial kingdom. My prayer is that we can all keep our covenants faithfully and fully and remember our goal to live with our Heavenly Father and our Savior and our Families in the Celestial Kingdom forever. 

 

On Wednesday we played soccer as a ward. The elders didnt tell us we were going to play so we showed up in skirts and boots. To not harm my boots anymore, I played in my socks haha I love playing barefoot because it is way easier to control the ball. But by the end of the game, I had huge holes in my socks haha so fun! Thank you for all of your prayers and for your love! I love you all! Have an amazing week and know I am praying for you! 

 

Love, Hermana Harris

O Be Wise!!

                                                                                                           July 7, 2014

Hola mi familia! I hope you had a wonderful week and fourth of July celebration! I sure did! This week we had so much to do, and it went by so fast. We were working hard all week and the Lord blessed us to be instruments in His hands. Let me give you the update!

 

The whole week we were preparing for Anette`s Baptism! On Wednesday we taught her the final lesson, on Thursday she had her baptismal interview, and she was baptized on Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Elders were also teaching a couple that got baptized on Saturday as well, so there were 3 baptisms together and the ward really supported! It was fabulous! Now we are going to start teaching Anette`s dad! Hopefully! Please pray that he will listen to us. 

 

While preparing for the baptism, we worked hard to find more people to teach. The Lord blessed us to find Jaime, who is an older man who has retired and lives alone. He had shared with missionaries before when he was younger, but he ran away before he could get baptized haha. Now, he is very different and he is so prepared. He came to the talent show on Friday, and on Sunday he came to church and he loves it all!!! He has a baptismal date for the 26th of July.

We also found Laura and her 8 year old daughter, Constanza. They also accepted a baptismal date for the 26th and they came to the activity on Friday! It was so perfect because Constanza was instantly friends with Anette, and Laura got along great with Angie, Anette`s mom. They loved the activity and they also came for part of the baptism on Sunday. Sadly, after the baptism they went to a friend`s house who talked badly about the church and said that we do weird things on Sundays. Constanza didn`t want to go to church on Sunday, but Laura told her that she needed to try it for herself to see if it was true. They got to Sacrament meeting late, but THEY CAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOOO!!!!!!!!!!! And they loved it!!! We are going to teach them tonight!

Also, Mario Fica came to church. He is 21, he has a 2 year old son, and he wants to change his life and be forgiven for past choices. He does smoke, but he is progressing. Please pray for him! We have been blessed to find really prepared people. 

 

This week the Ward is going to the temple in Santiago on Friday and Saturday. There is a hotel there and they stay over. The best part is that Mario and Yocelyn are going to do baptisms for their family members! So awesome! Mario is having trouble getting off work, but he wants to go. Please pray that he will be able to get off work without problems. Cesar and Carolina were going to go too, but Cesar had a terrible fall in work. He works in construction and he fell on his back. He couldnt feel his legs and is in the hospital in Concepción. Now he can feel his legs, but the pain is horrible. He can`t walk very well. Please pray for him and his family. They need your prayers! Thank you!!! 

 

On Friday, July 4th, we had the talent show. In the beginning, not many members came :( we had all of our investigators there and not many members. But then they started coming. The talent show was great! My companion acted as a funny singer named Celia Cruz. You will have to look her up. It was so funny. I sang, "Someone like you" by Adele, haha don`t worry, I had permission. I had to pick that one, because there are not a ton of english songs that they know, but they do know that one. It was funny because they thought I sounded like her, and people passing by the church heard me. They asked who was singing Adele. haha Near the end of the activity, the members had me go in front and they all wished me a happy forth of July. Haha I had completely forgotten until that moment, that it was the 4th of July. They had all remembered! So sweet, and so funny that I forgot. oh well, there is always next year. 

 

Funny moments of the week: Lately, a lot of the people that we have contacted are giving us fake addresses. I dont know how they know which houses are fake address but they know. I think that they talk to the missionaries one time, and then decide that the next time they will give a fake address, so they prepare ahead of time and know all of the numbers that they can say to throw us off their trail. It always happens that they give me a number like 864, and we get to the street and find 866 and 862 instead. It makes me always want to run right in between them and pass through the wall like in Harry Potter when they enter Station 9 and 3/4. To bad that doesn`t work. Guess whatelse happened this week? Hermana Martinez attacked me with her smelly socks. We had just finished planning one night, when suddenly she has me in a head lock and her socks in my face! haha she is crazy, but I love her! Sadly, we have transfers next week. 

 

This week, I would like to share a scripture with you that I learned a lot about this week. It is Jacob 6:12, and it says: "O be wise; what can I say more?" I love that scripture because it is so simple but it is so important. Everyday we make a ton of decisions big and small. We need to recognize these opportunities to choose, and be wise and make the right choices. This applies in temporal things, and spiritual things. But we are very blessed because we have a loving Heavenly Father, who will always answer our prayers and who we can consult when we need to make a decision. He will help us to be wise.

 

I invite you all to always "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings," (Alma 37:37). I promise you that He will guide you and you will be blessed throughout your whole life. I love you all! Have an amazing week!!! 

 

Con Amor, Hermana Harris

Happy Fourth of July!!!

                                                                                                               June 30, 2014 

Dear Family,

Thank you for cheering for Chile in la Copa Mundial (World Cup)!

We are all sad that they lost, but it is better for us because now we can work without interruptions.

My Sweet Sister Companions and dear friends!!

On Sat. they played during lunch here so we just stayed inside and worked on productive missionary things that we need to get done, and we studied. This week was amazing and crazy! It went by so fast! Let`s see if I can write about everything that happened!

 

We had Stake Conference this weekend so we were working hard to help our investigators get to the stake center which is farther away. Anet went with her family and had a good experience. She is excited for her baptism this Saturday! Please pray that her father can come!

 

We are also working with a recent convert who has 7 children, and 4 of them aren't members. We are teaching those that want to listen. Constanza is 16 and she is listening and preparing for baptism on the 12th! She came to Stake Conference this Sunday and is progressing! Please pray for her! 

Cesar and Carolina and Maria Carolina, and also Mario and Jocelyn are preparing to go to the temple on the 11th to do baptisms for the dead! We are so excited for them! They are progressing remarkably! Mario received the Priesthood last week. Javiera is also preparing for the temple!  

This week we learned a lot. We had exchanges on Friday and guess who I got to work with? HERMANA CALL, MY TRAINER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so much fun, and just like old times except that my spanish is better now haha. I love her so much!

 

While we were working we were determined to find someone prepared to receive the gospel. We had been talking to everyone, and we had already talked to about 50 people when we went down a street and started knocking on a few doors. Everyone rejected us, but we kept going. I was walking close to a fence in front of a house when all of a sudden  huge dog barked and jumped on the fence and scared me to death. We started laughing and that is when I looked at a window of a nearby house and saw a lady watching tv by herself. I had accidentally made eye contact with her while staring creepily in her front window and I felt awkward so we moved on. We knocked on her neighbors house, but they didn't want to listen. I told Hermana Call that I felt like we should teach the lady we had seen, so we knocked on her door. Her name is Monica. She answered and we testified of our message and asked if we could share a short message with her that would bless her life. She said she was busy, but then Sister Call asked if we could use her bathroom, haha that`s how we got in. While we took turns, the other got to know her a little more. She is amazing. While we were talking she told me that she had listened to the missionaries once before. She doesn`t usually let them in, but one day she was making bread and they knocked on her door. She told them she was busy making bread and they asked if they could help because they had big muscles and strong arms to knead it. haha she let them in. She told me that they had used that excuse to enter her house and teach her. haha I laughed awkwardly because we had asked to use her bathroom and had gotten in haha but we needed a bathroom so we didn't lie. We began to teach her and she listened and understood everything. We invited her to baptism and she said yes. She had never been baptized in another church, which is a miracle here! We invited her and she was going to come to Stake Conference, but I don`t know what happened. Please pray for her! She is so prepared, but we need to help her progress and come to church. 

Thank you for your prayers and for your love! We are still teaching Cesar and Jasmin, but we had to leave the other investigators because they weren`t progressing. But thank you for your prayers in their behalf! 

This week I have been studying the book from the mission library,  "Our Heritage" It  is all about the history of the church and it is so amazing! I am learning so much and I feel the Spirit so strongly as I read about the restoration of all things, and of the inspired men who were chosen to be prophets and apostles in this last dispensation. I know that this is the church of Jesus Christ. He lives and He loves us, and He guides this church through His prophet and apostles. My invitation is that we can all read this book and understand more about our rich legacy as members of the true church of Jesus Christ! The Spirit will remind us of our conversion and help us be faithful until the end!

 

Guess what? I also finally got the Liahona with the conference talks from April! I am so excited to read them!! Thank you for all of your prayers and your love! I love you all and I hope you have an amazing 4th of July!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are going to have a talent show that day! I will let you know how it goes! Love you!!!

Hasta Luego, 

Hermana Harris

"El Partido Mas Importante!" (The Most Important Game)

                                                                                                  June 23, 2014

Hola mi familia marvillosa!!! How are you all doing?

 

This week was awesome!!! We learned a ton as we worked and saw a lot of interesting sights here in Chillán. Let me tell you the funny things first!

 

One day we were out contacting and there was a dog nearby, like there always is, but when we did a double take we realized that this dog had 2 barretts in it's fur by its ears. Haha so weirdly funny!!

Also, we are teaching a little old lady that has diabetes and other health issues and she can't walk, but she sure is a fan of soccer! I ask her about the world cup because she watches it and it is hilarious because even the older people here watch the world cup like crazy! Okay, another story about older people. We were walking to a lesson when suddenly we look up and see a grandmother walking on the roof haha. And finally, this week we had a lesson with Cesar, but there were two flies in the house that were bothering everyone, so before we started the lesson he brought out his fly swatter to kill them. But his fly swatter is super advanced. It is in the shape of  a tennis racket and it has an electric current, so when you hit a fly, it gets electricuted and falls to the ground. So he hands it to me and I was in charge of killing them. I got them both, when suddenly they rose and started flying again. Note, it doesn't kill them, it just stuns them. But that is the coolest fly swatter I have ever seen. 

Okay, now for the spiritual part. This week Anet came to church with her mom, and Cesar and Jasmin also came. Anet will be baptized on the 5th because this week is Stake conference and we are going to wait so she can be confirmed the next day after her baptism. Cesar and Jasmin are progressing, but he doesn't like being pressured so they still haven't accepted a baptismal date. Please pray for them! We were also teaching Fransisco but he didn't come to church, and Crelia, Martina, Katti, Richard and his mom didn't come either, but we hope to keep working with them so that they can receive the blessings that Heavenly Father has for them. We also hope to find more people who are prepared to receive the gospel. Please pray that we can do so. 

I learned a lot of things this week, but yesterday we had a lesson in Relief Society that was amazing! It was about leaving a legacy, and a sister who is a returned missionary gave the lesson! It was perfect as she always defined all of the words so that the investigators could understand.

 

Sometimes we forget that as Latter-Day-Saints, we speak a different language and the investigators have a hard time understanding. She spoke about the importance of covenants in leaving our legacy and especially about the covenants that we make at baptism. A covenant is a pact between God and us, but it is different because He sets the conditions and we promise to live them. When we are baptized we promise to take upon us the name of Christ, to always remember Him, and to keep His commandments. We promised that we would attend church every Sunday.

 

Why is important that we attend church? Well the two most important reasons are to take the sacrament and renew our covenants. We can pray, have activities, and worship Heavenly Father and the Savior in our houses, but only in church can we partake of the sacrament, and remember our covenants, repent, and promise God again that we will keep our covenants. We need to take the sacrament every week! It is so important! That is why we need to go to church every week. We also need to go because we love our Heavenly Father and we obey Him because we love Him. We don't do it to get blessings or receive praise, but we do it because we love Him. I know that as we are loyal and true in keeping our covenants, and as we go to church every day, we will be blessed! With every commandment, comes a blessing! I know that God will bless us in all things temporal and spiritual! 

Although the world cup is going on, may we remember that this life is the most important game that we can play. It is a test, and we must prove ourselves. Every day is game day and we must be ready to perform our best and win. And we can only do this when we keep our covenants and do God`s will. I testify that He is our team captain, and with Him we can`t fail. It is my prayer that we can all make good decisions so that we can win with Him. I love you all! I hope you have an amazing week and keep on winning! Hasta luego!

Love, Hermana Harris

Happy Father's Day!!!

                                                                                               June 16, 2014
Hola a todos!!!!!!!!!! Les amo muchisimo! Thanks for sharing your favorite scriptures and experiences from this week! I am so grateful for each of you! HAPPY FATHER`S DAY!!!!

I have to say that this week was amazing!!! We saw a lot of miracles and felt the Spirit guide us, but the best part is that we really felt our Heavenly Father`s love this week. I am so grateful that we got to celebrate Father`s day, and I am so grateful that it is on Sunday because that is our Heavenly Father`s day and we get to celebrate Him every week.

We had interviews this week and I love having interviews with President because he is so inspired to tell us what our Heavenly Father wants to tell us. I was able to express some of my feelings as a missionary and I know that the answers he shared with me come from a loving Heavenly Father who knows each of us personally and wants to help us more than anything. He is always there and He works miracles in behalf of His children! 

Good news! Hermana Martinez and I are all better! Thank you for your prayers! I know that that was a miracle that Heavenly Father gave us as we all joined together in faith and prayers! Thank you for your faith! We were able to work hard all week. Well, almost all week because the World Cup interfered a little with that. When Chile plays, the people start celebrating early and drinking. We had to enter on Wednesday night at 6, when we usually work until 9:30. That was quite an adventure, but it helped us get things organized in the house and as missionaries. It is crazy to be in a country where everyone loves fútbol!! I love it!!!! Let me know how the U.S. does in the world cup. 

We have been working with Crelia, Katti, and Martina, and also Cesar and Jasmin, but sadly, none of them came to church on Sunday. We only had 1 investigator in church. Anet came with her mom, Angie, as she is preparing to be baptized on the 6th of July!

 

We found a lot of new people to teach this week, including the mom and younger brother of a less active youth that we are working with. The young man is named Richard, and his mom is Maria Angelica, and his brother is Manuel. Please pray for them as well as all of the other people we are working with.

 

Last night we also taught Fransisco and Elizabeth. They are a couple that Hermana Blau and I had taught before but then they were never home. We finally passed by again after leaving them for a while, and they were home. As we taught about baptism, Fransisco expressed desires to change. They then told us that they are going to separate and get a divorce. I was so sad to hear this, but we realized why Heavenly Father sent us to this family again. He knows them because they are His children, and He wants to help them. I know that our Heavenly Father knows each of us and takes care of us always. We are blessed to have the gospel because He has given to us. We must share His love with others and help them to receive it too. Please pray for this couple, and that we will be able to be instruments in God`s hands to help them. 

The funny things that happened this week is that we knocked on a door and a little grandpa opened the door and he said something that I didn't understand but left the door open and went further into the house. We were waiting there for quite a while to see if he was going to get someone when suddenly we see him peek around the corner like he was checking to see if we were still there haha. I began to question why he left the door open if he didn't want to hear us. but about 2 mins. later, another man came out and talked with us. It was just so funny and random.

 

Also, last night we were teaching a less active family and the lesson was really spiritual about the Restoration. My companion had testified and was starting to talk about the restoration of the Priesthood. She said that Peter, James, and John had given the Priesthood to Joseph Smith, and then she second guessed herself and asked us if it was Peter, James, and John to make sure she had said it right. haha there goes our credibility. Not really, but it was more funny because she had said it in Spanish of course and in Spanish their names are Pedro, Santiago, and Juan, so when she asked me to make sure, I was a little doubtful because Satiago doesn't sound at all like James haha Its okay, we got through it, and yes Pedro, Santiago, and Juan restored the Melchizedek Priesthood. One more funny moment. We had a sister`s study on Saturday at 10:00 a.m with the sister training leaders and they asked us to prepare a part to teach. But I completely forgot about it until I received a call from Hermana Call at 10:08 in the middle of companionship study. Haha We walked there quickly planning our lesson as we walked, but it worked out great so no worries. I love the mission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for everything! I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week! Remember that Heavenly Father loves you and He knows you! He will always help you and He will use you as an instrument to help His children! Hasta luego!!

Love, Hermana Harris

He Changes Willing Hearts

                                                                                            June 9, 2014

Hola mi familia!!! Gracias por sus cartas! I´m glad to know that you are all doing well. I´m so sorry to hear about Uncle Wilf! He is amazing and is sharing the gospel with those in the Spirit world. I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation that God reveals through His prophets. I know that it is true and we can be with our families forever! It is amazing! I am so proud of all of you and the testimonies that you share with everyone! I love you all!

 

Highlight of the week!!

 

MARIO AND YOCELYN GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

They are so cute and we are so happy for them! 

 

 

Mario shared his testimony at the end of his baptism and testified that this is the true church and the spirit was so strong! They received the Holy Ghost yesterday. 

 

 

 

This week was quite the adventure. On Tuesday when we had transfers it began to rain. Hermana Martinez had had a bad cough for 2 weeks and so we got permission to go to the Clinic. The doctor said that she needed to be in bed for at least 3 days so that she wouldn´t get pneumonia. That is the worse news that missionaries can here. We had a baptism to prepare and people to visit.

 

Well we tried our best to take care of her and stay in, but sometimes we went out to work and sometimes I went with a sister and another sister came to stay with her. The worse part is that it was raining all week and this did not help at all. Then, I started getting her cold haha, but I don't have a cough. On Friday we worked out in the rain and then her cough got even worse. Our doctor had told us not to go in the rain and we got in trouble so Saturday we stayed inside. We figured it was better for Hermana Martinez to get better so that we can work this week, instead of staying the same and having to be in the house again for another week. We had specific instructions to not work when it was raining.

 

Well on Saturday it would rain and then stop and I would look out the window and say, Hey it´s not raining, we can work now! And then it would start raining. ha ha

But we had to go out for the baptism of Mario and Yocelyn.-- It was the highlight of our week!!

 

Our week was hard because we weren't able to work very much, and I don´t know why but I was super tired this week. I felt like I was losing energy. But Presidente Arrington received inspiration for the whole mission that we need to be more exactly obedient in every way. So as a mission he asked us to study the Atonement every day this week and apply it in our lives and then fast as a mission from Saturday to Sunday so that we can have the desire to be exactly obedient. I knew I was losing the energy that I needed to be exactly obedient, so I prayed earnestly to have the desire to do so for the rest of my mission, and after the fast, I know that God has changed my heart. I have the renewed desire to be exactly obedient like before and I am so excited for this week. It was hard to be exactly obedient while sick, but the Lord still blessed us on Sunday. 

 

Remember Crelia? Well, we started teaching her and her two daughters, Katti and Martina again. And they came to church on Sunday and are preparing to be baptized on the 28th!!!!!!!!! We are so excited to work with them!

 

No one else came to church, but we are still working with Cesar and Jasmin, and Anet and Angie. Thank you for your prayers in our behalf and in behalf of our investigators! Please pray for my companion so that her cough can get better. And please pray that it won't rain. And most importantly, please pray for these people! I know that God is watching over them and will continue to do so! Thank you for your faith. 

 

 I learned again this week that God can change us when we let him. I am so grateful that He has changed my heart and desires again so that I can keep becoming who He wants me to be.

I am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ.

 

This week I read in Jesus the Christ about the Atonement. I have been reading it throughout my mission and I am almost done, but as I have been studying His life and His mission, I have come to know Him better. I love Him so much and I am grateful for all that He suffered for us. I know He did it because He loves us. Everything He does, He does with love. I am grateful that I can represent Him and help others come unto Him. I am grateful that He can change me, and I am grateful that I can work along side Him as He changes other people. This is His glory. Every baptism is His! I am so grateful!!! I love you all! I know this is the church of Jesus Christ! The only church that has His name, and all of His gospel. It has His authority, and His truth that blesses us and everyone! May we always represent Him! Have an amazing week!!!! love you all!!!

 

Love,

 

Hermana Harris

Mind Over Matter, Spirit Over Body

                                                                                                    June 2, 2014
Hola mi familia!!!!!!!!!!!! Estoy super feliz para saber de su semana! Sounds like you have all had an amazing week! I sure have! I am so proud to hear about your missionary work. You are all amazing! Keep sharing with everyone! They all need the gospel! 

 

On Monday night I received my Easter package!!! haha finally! I CAN´T BELIEVE I RECEIVED A CHOCOLATE FROG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was so amazing!!! haha I love my life! All of the package was amazing! I especially liked the bunny glasses. We put them on right away as we saw what else the package contained. Happy Easter!!! 

 

Today we found out the transfers for tomorrow. Hermana Martinez and I are going to be together for another transfer!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!! She is so much fun!

 

 

We are going to have the baptism of Mario and Yocelyn this Saturday!!! They are so cute! They were struggling in their marriage, but now they are changing so much as the gospel of Jesus Christ is improving their relationship and changing them personally. Mario stopped smoking and drinking and they are going to family home evenings with the members. I love being a part of helping them, but I truly know that the Lord is who helps them! 

We had them come to church,and Cesar and his daughter Jasmine, and also Anet, the daughter of a less active member. They are all preparing for baptism. Fernando also came, and Maria Eugenia, who is the wife a member. We are working with her and she finally came to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for your prayers! Please keep praying for them! We need the power of your faith.

 

We had an amazing week, and we worked hard to talk to everyone and help Hermana Woodbury work in her sector too. We had so much fun in our little trio, that sadly is going to end tomorrow, but good news! Hermana Call is going to be Hermana Woodbury´s companion so I will be seeing her a lot! 

 

This week we had a ton of adventures!

 

On Wednesday we had a conference with all of the sisters from the mission!!! I got to see all of my old companions and it was so fun!

We had blueberry muffins for breakfast (that never happens!)

 

We had a conference in which they spoke about us as sisters and gave us ánimo to know that we are doing great and to not be too hard on ourselves. Hermana Arrington, our Mission President´s wife, has wanted to have a conference like this since a year ago and it finally happened!
She is so sweet and works so hard to help us.

The Spirit was so strong in the conference and I learned a lot. One thing  I learned is that when it comes to obedience, it is all about Spirit over Body. We need to let our spirits rule our bodies and not the other way around. We need to choose to listen to the promptings that the Holy Ghost whispers to our spirits so that we can control our temporal desires. That is why we are here on earth. We need to learn to control our bodies with our spirits. This can apply to obedience to all of the commandments. When we break a commandment it is because we let our bodies rule our spirit. We must strive to be constantly obedient to our Heavenly Father and His commandments. If we do His will and not our own, this is ruling our bodies with our spirits. The Savior gave us the perfect example of this! I am going to strive to be exactly obedient always, and to do what the Lord asks even if my natural man wants to do something different. I am learning how to do this in the mission and I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn this.

 

My invitation this week is that we can thing about a commandment we may be breaking, and that we can rule what our natural man desires with our spirit and strive to obey this commandment constantly. I know that with the Savior´s help, it is possible to put off the natural man and change to become like our Heavenly Father. I have seen this with my converts and investigators, and in my own life. 

So after learning this an other things, we then played some games in the conference. They were so funny! I will have to teach them to you after the mission because its hard to explain. We also had lunch at the conference and some members from our ward Coyquén served lunch!

 

The conference was amazing and really helped us feel the Lord´s love for us! I want to invite all of you to take time this week to feel His love. Sometimes we move to fast and we don´t take time or we dont remember to just stop and feel His! His love is amazing! It is the most desirous about all other things. Please take time to feel it. I know that He loves you!!! He knows you and He is so proud of you! Thank you for helping others feel His love too!!! 

I can't remember everything that happened this week but I have a funny story from last week. One day it was raining and when it rains all the streets flood. The problem is that some of the streets have holes that you can´t see when it floods. Well last week we were about to cross a street and I was reassuring Hermana Martinez. I said, "I know these streets, don´t worry, there are not any holes here." And I bet you can guess what happened. As soon as those words left my mouth I took a step and fell in a hole. The water was up to my knees and my skirt got wet. haha but it was so funny that it didn't even matter. Another funny thing about Hermana Martinez and I  is that we are constantly bonking heads. When we did that dance of the pillow people, we were dancing and bonked heads and we do it all the time by accident. It's horrible but we can't stop laughing. haha The mission is so funny and I wish I could tell you all of the funny moments that we have every day because there are thousands, but you would have to live it to understand. 

I love you all so much! Thank you for everything! I hope you have an amazing week and do your best to rule your body with your spirit, and to feel God´s love for you!!! Hasta luego!!!

Love,

 

Hermana Harris

Trio Again--Fiesta!!!

                                                                                                 May 26, 2014

Hola mi familia!!! I am so happy to read about all of your fabulous news! I hope you are enjoying your day off! I am! Hermana Martinez and I are going to take a nap later today! We are a bit tired after our mountain adventure last week.

 

This week was super crazy!!! We were in a trio again because a sister who had extended her mission went home at a weird time during the transfer. We have one more week until transfers and her companion, Hermana Woodbury is with us for that week. She is one of the sisters I will be living with in Provo after the mission. She works in an area next to ours, and she is our sister leader, so we work in her sector and in our sector! It is crazy and hard but it is fun!!

 

We started playing women`s soccer on Thursday nights this past week. You know how all of the churches in the U.S. have basketball courts. Well in Chile they all have canchas de fùtbol (street soccer courts outside) It is fun! But it is just starting so not many came, and then the lights outside didn't work so we ended up playing ping pong instead!

On Friday night we had an activity that we put on for missionary work. We organized it with our Mission leader and it was a like a advanced 18 de Septiembre. We had everyone come to enjoy a folk dancing night. So people danced la cueka, and ate sopaipillas and we had a folk dancing/singing group come and perform.

 

Javiera´s dad has a group of singers and dancers who play instruments and sing while others dance. They are all firefighters, or family members of firefighters. Their performance was amazing and the activity was so much fun! As missionaries we also did a funny skit! Everyone loved it and so many investigators came!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Relief Society provided all of the food! It was a great success and really helped Mario and Yocelyn who were able to come. 

Mario and Yocelyn came to church this week! As did Mirta, and old investigator, and Fernando. Fernando is struggling so please pray for him, we are going to teach him this week and help him prepare but he might not be baptized this Saturday.

 

Mario and Yocelyn are progressing but they need lots of prayers, as does Felix. We weren't able to visit him a lot this week because we need members to enter, but he didn't come to church. Please pray for him!

 

This week we found a less active sister whose family inactivated when she was 12 and now she is grown up with a husband and 3 kids. She wants to come back to church and so we are teaching her and her 10 year old daughter. Her husband is not a member but he is never home when we go because he works out of town, but we are working on helping their family. The mom is named Angie, and her daughter is Anet! Please pray for them! We are working on finding more people and helping them all progress, but we need to focus on these people right now. We also couldn´t visit Cesar and Jasmine this week because they were out of town, but we are still trying to work with them. Thank you for your prayers! 

The best thing that happened this week is that Cesar received the Aaronic Priesthood!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!! So exciting because now he can baptize his other daughters!!! I am so grateful for the Priesthood that our loving Heavenly Father restored to Joseph Smith. I know that this power and authority is only given to men who are worthy members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! This is the church of Jesus Christ, the only one that has His authority and His revelation. I am so grateful to be a member of His church and to have the opportunity to share it and help others come unto Him and enjoy the richness of the gospel!

 

There are so many things that I learned this week, but what I loved most is that in personal study I read a little of preach my gospel that will help our investigators, and I read the Book of Mormon, and the Bible, and Jesus the Christ. This week I was reading 3 Nephi when Christ comes, and I just was able to read and learn from our Savior and His example in all 4 of these books. I am so grateful for our Savior and for his forgiveness.

 

On Sunday, my companion gave a talk on forgiveness. She challenged us all to think about someone that we have not forgiven yet, and to ask for the Savior´s help to forgive. I want to challenge all of us to do the same. We cannot receive forgiveness if we do not forgive. Our Savior and our Heavenly Father can only forgive us if we forgive others. The best part is that they are so willing to help us forgive others. I know that sometimes it is hard, but as we look to the Savior,  and we ask for His help and His strength to forgive, He will help us. I love you all so much! You are so amazing and I and so proud! Have an amazing week and know I am praying for you!

Love, Hermana Harris

Climbing the Mountain of the Lord

                                                                                              May 19, 2014
Hola Familia!!! Les amo con todo mi corazon y estoy emocionada escribirles hoy.
This week was amazing!!

First things first, Javiera was baptized on Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wooooohoooo!!!!!!!!!

 

It was so sweet and she is amazing! I love watching people change as they learn about the gospel and the Spirit touches their hearts. They might be the most prepared people, but it still changes them so much, and you can see it in their countenance.

 

She was so happy on Saturday and she is going to love the church!!! We are teaching her mom, Mirza, please pray that her heart will be softened and open to the restored gospel.
We are also working on reactivating her father.

Hermana Martinez and I are working hard. It is so fun to have the same time in the mission because now we kind of know what we are doing. ha ha sometimes...

This week we had Mario come to church, and Fernando, and we also had a new investigator come to church with a baptismal date. His name is Felix, and he is an alcoholic. He has a disease in his liver and he is basically in the final stages and could die at any moment. So he is very important to us! He was a reference from member and the first time we contacted him, he didn't open his door and he yelled at us to go away, that he would never talk to the Mormons or go to church. After that, I felt like we needed to go back because that day, someone had said something about persistence, and it kept circulating my mind. We went back, and he was nicer the next time, but he didn't let us in. Then, we saw him in the street one night, and he had no where to run, ha ha and we talked to him. We asked if we could come share a message with him to help him, because God loves him and wants him to be happy and return to live with him. And Miracle! He said we could come the next day, and when we taught him he accepted a baptismal date and the invitation to come to church. On Sunday we walked to pick him up, and he was all ready, in clean clothes and shaven. He liked church, but sadly when we passed by with members later that night, he was drunk. Please pray for him. He needs to stop drinking so that he can be baptized. Please pray that his addiction will be healed. And please keep on praying for our other investigators.

We had another miracle. A young father came to church with his 8 year old daughter. His name is Cesar and she is Jasmin. They were just a contact, but they came, and we are going to teach them on Friday!! Please pray for them!! Please also pray for my convert Loreto. She is struggling and needs a lot of prays to stay active. Thank you for your faith and love!!!

Today we had an fun zone activity!
We went to the Termas de Chillan.
They are hot springs and a ski resort where there is snow.















We were so excited because Hermana Martinez has never seen snow before, but sadly, there was only a thin layer on the ground when we got there. It was okay because it was still fun, and we hiked up the mountain.


It was hard and tiring because the ground wasn't very good for hiking and it was steep but we made it!
A lot of times, the others wanted to turn back early, but I wanted to keep going and persevere until the end!



Climbing this mountain reminded me a lot of our lives. It is exactly like climbing a mountain.

We have to be steady and sure and keep going no matter what! We can't stop because we haven't journeyed this far in the gospel just to give up and lose everything!

When we were baptized, WE PROMISED GOD that we would keep His commandments, and remember our Savior always, and represent Him in all things FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!


This means forever and always!

We cannot give up! We made these promises and the reality is, that if we don't keep them, we can't have the blessings of eternal life with our families, and with our Savior and our Heavenly Father.

If we don't keep our promises and stay active in the church, then our Heavenly Father can't keep His promises to us. It doesn't matter how strong our testimony may be, we need to keep going to church EVERY SUNDAY!!! And if our testimony seems weak, we need to go so that He can strengthen us! We must always be active! It makes me so sad to see people go inactive for different reasons, because they may have made the promises before, but they aren't valid if they don't keep them.


It is my prayer that we can keep climbing the mountain of the Lord no matter how difficult. I pray that everyone will keep climbing until we can reach Him for eternity. That means we must climb for the rest of our lives!

I love you all so much! Thank you for keeping your promises. It is our calling to help those who are struggling to do so. Have an amazing week and know that I love you! 

Con todo mi amor, 

Hermana Harris