Because He Loves Us!!

                                                                                                 May 12, 2014
Hola mi famila preciosa! It was so much fun to be able to talk to all of you last night. I´m glad to know that you are all safe even though the storm ended our skype time a little early. You are all amazing and I am so proud of each of you! I am especially proud that you are all amazing missionaries and are sharing the gospel with everyone you can! It is so important that we do this, because everyone needs the blessings of the gospel! Thanks for your righteous examples! 

 

This week was amazing!!! We have so many people progressing towards baptism. Mario and Yocelyn have a baptismal date for the 31st of May and they came to church for the first time this week! Fernando also has a baptismal date for the 31st, and Javiera will be baptized this Saturday!!! Javiera´s mom also came to church!! Please pray for all of these people! Thank you for your prayers! We have seen so many miracles this week, as people take steps to come closer to Heavenly Father and to follow the Savior so that they can return to live with them. 

 

This week we were thinking a lot about how we can help more people come unto Christ through baptism. I read a talk about being the type of missionary that challenges and testifies. The author was talking about how we can´t just teach the gospel doctrine to try and convince them that the gospel is true because it makes so much sense. Instead, we need to testify and challenge them to find out for themselves and be baptized. The author asked a missionary how he was able to help so many people come unto Christ and receive the blessings of baptism, and the missionary said, ¨well we just help them feel that their Heavenly Father loves them, and that He wants them to be baptized in His restored church.¨ As I read that, I thought, that is the key!! I had been so focused on teaching the doctrine that they need to know, that I kind of forgot that it is more important that they can feel the Spirit because the Spirit converts, and then they can learn about the doctrine. My companion and I immediately put this into practice. We made sure that everyone we taught could feel the Spìrit as we testified that Heavenly Father loves them, and wants them to be baptized in His restored church. As was applied this, they felt the Spirit testify of the love of God, and they wanted to follow Him and do what He wants. I know that as people feel His love, they will do His will. Because He loves us, He gave us the opportunity to come to earth and progress and choose for ourselves. Because He loves us, He sent Jesus Christ to be our Savior, and to suffer the punishment for our sins, and to give His life for us, so that we may all return to live with Him if we do His will. Because He loves us, He has given us the gospel in our lives to bless us. Because He loves all of His children, He is making it possible that everyone can hear the restored gospel. Everything He does, He does it because He loves us. I know that as we help people feel His love, and learn His will, they will feel the Spirit and they will follow the promptings to be baptized and join the church because they will know that they are doing the Lord´s will. It is my prayer that we can all be instruments in our Father´s hands to help others feel His love, and take the important steps to return to Him. 

 

That is what I am going to do for the rest of my mission, and for the rest of my life!!!

 

We learned a lot of other lessons this week too. One night we were hungry and there was a food place on the way to a lesson and so we stopped really fast to get something (probably not very diligent). While we were waiting for the food, I noticed a bee on the wall and pointed it out to my companion. Then this guy came over that was smoking and I coughed a little, and put my hand directly on top of the bee haha. I bet you can guess what happened. That little bee left its stinger in my hand, and the next thing I knew, my hand was on fire (don't worry, not literally). I learned a great lesson that night. We are never going to buy food again at night. We are going to be diligent in every moment, even if we are a little hungry. There are people out there who are waiting to hear the gospel, and if we aren´t diligent in all moments, they may never hear it! May we be diligent in all things! Maybe then we can avoid being stung by bees. 

 

On Saturday we had an amazing activity. The youth put on a talent show for all of the mothers in the ward, and they invited the missionaries to do something. We decided to dance as pillow people. I don't know if you have ever seen that, but its when you have a pillowcase on your head (we had really big white potatoe sacks instead), and you draw a huge face on it, and then around your hips you put a shirt, and stuff the sleeves with newspaper and pin the ends to the sides of the shirt. Then you dance crazily and it is really funny because the head is huge and the body really small, and when you move your hips, the shoulders of the pillow person move. I can´t describe it really well, you have to see it. You can look for examples on youtube. We have a video of us, but it is too big to send haha it was so fun. The ward loved it!!! They were laughing so hard. And we were laughing so hard. I love the mission so much! Every day is an adventure and I love it!!! 

 

Well, thats my week! Let me know about your funny or spiritual moments! I love you all, and I am so proud of you!!! Love you tons!!!

 

Have an amazing week! Hasta luego!

Love, Hermana Harris

Give It Your All!!

                                                                                              May 5, 2014

Hola mi familia maravillosa!!!! Estoy muy emocionada para hablar con ustedes por Skype ésta semana!!!  Thank you for your letters this week!!! You are all amazing and I love reading about your adventures and stories of success. You have so many! I know the Lord is blessing you at all times. I especially want to thank you for sharing your missionary experiences with me! I am so proud of each one of you, and I know that you are blessing so many people as you share the happiness and truth of the Restored Gospel. It is the best feeling ever!!!

 

I have some good news and some not so good news. Which do you want first? Lets go with the not so good.  We had a transfer this week and my sweet hija and best friend, Hermana Blau, was transferred to Frutillares! This is great news for her because she will love it there, and I know there are many people who need her there and whose lives she can bless with her bright smile and happy personality. I am so happy because that was my last area, but it was bitter sweet to say goodbye because we were really close. Maybe now I can kinda empathize with moms out there because I seriously feel like my daughter went off to college/mission and left me at home. haha its so weird, but I am really going to miss her. The good news is that Hermana Martinez arrived here in Coyquén and she is amazing! She is from the north of Chile, and we have the same time in the mission.  I know that we are really going to help one another, and I am happy to be together serving in Chillán! 

 

 This past week was amazing! We were really able to work with the members a lot and we have a ton of plans to work with them even more!  Speaking of members, there is an amazing lady who is a new convert that we had lunch with this week. She is unable to work and has a lot of health problems. The ward helped get together some food to give to her so that she has enough, and guess what, the next week she gave the missionaries lunch! She is an amazing example to me and I felt the Spirit so strong and such a deep love for her as she gave everything she had. 

 

That is one of the lessons I am learning, to give everything, and give it our all. Hermana Blau really taught me that, and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to learn from the Savior and the people that surround me. I know that this is the greatest thing we can do is give it our all. Today for p-day, we watched the movie The Best Two Years in Spanish. haha-- I love that movie. But it meant a lot more to me because I am serving the best 1 year 1/2 right now and I want to make sure I give it my all. In the movie, the missionary for a while didn't work as hard, but in the end, he learned what Heavenly Father wanted him to learn. I know that this applies to all of us, at whatever stage of life we are at. We need to give it our all, and as we do, the Lord will teach us what He wants us to know. We will become the best we can be, as we let Him teach us. I have a little bit more than a year in the

mission right now, but I am going to make the most of it!  

 

Good news! Javiera came to church again, and is progressing toward her baptism on the 17th! Also, we finally were able to teach her mom, who isn't a member! Thank you for your prayers! I know that we will be able to help them both progress towards baptism and receive the blessings together as a family. Please pray for them, and please pray that we can help other people progress towards baptism and find new people. This week, we found Maria Jesus, Mario and Josalyn, Teresa, and Mirza. Please pray for each of them! Thank you for everything!

 

This week we had a lot of funny moments, but I can't even remember one :( But, I will for sure right them down  so I can share them next time. I love you all! Hey, please write me at dear elder if you have time! It is free!!!

 

I love you so much! I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ! He leads the church, and I know that He loves us all! It is my prayer that we can give it our all to become like Him every day. As we do, I know that our Heavenly Father will change us so that we can become like the Savior. Have an amazing week! Love you all so much!!! Hasta Luego!

The Importance of Making and Keeping Covenants

                                                                                April 28, 2014

Hola mi familia y amigos! Gracias por todas las cartas! Me encanta leer de sus aventuras y las semanas exitosas que tienen. Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

This week was great! Some highlights! We had English/piano classes that were actually successful!!! A ton of non-members came!!! Woohoo! We also had a sweet activity with the Relief Society. we ate sopaipillas!!! They are like fried bread, and you eat them with chopped up tomatoes, onion, garlic, and salt. They are so good! It was a great week with many blessings and it was so much fun!  We are so excited for Cesar and Carolina, and their family! They are doing great! Cesar didn't receive the Aaronic Priesthood this week because he went to work out of town again, but he will receive it the upcoming week. They ward continues to fellowship them and help us teach them the new member lessons. We are so excited for the blessings they are receiving! Sadly, we didn't have another baptism this past Sunday, but we were able to help people progress towards baptism this week! 

Our new companion is Hermana Montañez de México. But we have some sad news. She got transferred to another area this morning, so we are just 2 sisters again. I am so happy to still be here with Hermana Blau, because she is amazing!!!! But we are both sad that our trio ended so quickly. We had an amazing week with Hermana Montañez before she left! She taught us so much about following the Spirit, and being bold, and inviting everyone to a baptismal date... we had kind of lost the focus of always doing this. But now, we are refocused and we are inviting everyone to baptism and to a baptismal date!!! It is extremely important that we do this, because without the invitation that we have to give them, they don´t know how to repent and change, or how to find the happiness that we have. That's why it is so important for us as members to share the gospel with everyone we meet/know. They all need to make the sacred covenant of baptism, and the other covenants necessary for salvation. 

That is something I learned a lot about this week, Covenants. What exactly is a covenant? It is a promise between us and God. God creates the conditions of the covenant and He promises to bless us as we follow these conditions. For example, with baptism we promise to always remember the Savior, Jesus Christ, to take His name upon us, and to always keep His commandments. In return for our obedience, God promises us the constant companionship of His Spirit. Without making and keeping the covenants, we cannot receive the blessings. There are a lot of covenants we can make. We make covenants as we participate in all of the ordinances that we need for salvation, but there are also other covenants. I was studying the Book of Mormon this week in Alma 53, and this chapter talks a lot about covenants. Here is the story of the stripling warriors, but I want to point out a few of the covenants that were made. In verse 10-15 it talks about the covenant that their fathers has made. It reads:


"10. And now behold, I have somewhat to say concerning the people of Ammon, who, in the beginning, were Lamanites; but by Ammon and his brethren, or rather by the power and the word of God, they had been converted unto the Lord; and they had been brought down into the land of Zarahemla, and had ever since been protected by the Nephites.

11. And because of their oath they had been kept from taking up arms against their brethren; for they had taken an oath that they never would shed blood more; and according to their oath they would have perished; yea, they would have sufferend themselves to have fallen into the hands of their brethren, had it not been for the pity and the exceeding love which Ammon and his brethren had had for them.

12. And for this cause they were brought down into the land of Zarahemla; and they ever had been protected by the Nephites. 

13. But it came to pass that when they saw the danger, and the many afflictions and tribulations which the Nephites bore for them, they were moved with compassion and were desirous to take up arms in the defence of their country. 

14. But behold, as they were about to take their weapons of war, they were overpowered by the persuasions of Helaman and his brethren, for they were about to break the oath which they had made. 

15. And Helaman feared lest by so doing they should lose thier souls; therfore all those who had entered into their convent were compelled to behold their brethen wade through their afflictions, in their dangerous circumstances at this time." 

Here we see that they had covenanted not to fight against their brethren ever again. They had made this covenant and it was so important that they kept it because when we don't keep covenants, there is always a consequence. But when we do keep covenants, there are always blessings. In this same chapter, it talks about the covenant their sons made. 

"16. But behold, it came to pass they had many sons, who had not entered into a covenant that htey would not take their weapons of war to defend themselves against their enemies; therefore they did assemble themselves together at this time, as many as were able to take up arms, and they called themselves Nephites. 

17. And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea, to protect the land unto the laying down of their lives; yea, even they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage."


These righteous young men made a covenant as well, a different covenant, but one that was so important, and they kept their covenant with exact obedience and all diligence, and because of this, all of them were spared in the war, and they were victorious. We all have made covenants or will make covenants. We make covenants at baptism, we renew our covenants every week. We make covenants in the temple.  The righteous men of the church make covenants when they receive the priesthood. I made a covenant when I chose to come on a mission, as do all other missionaries. We all make covenants, and we all need to keep covenants. The most important work we can do in this life is to help others make and KEEP their covenants. That is our role. I know that as we invited others to come and make covenants, and then we work with new converts and less actives so that we can help them keep their covenants, we will all be blessed, and we will all return home to live with our Heavenly Father and our Savior. 


This week we worked hard to help people make and keep their covenants. We worked with less actives, and the Familia Alarcon is becoming active again!!! we worked with our new converts and others and were able to help them come to church! We also taught Javiera, and she is preparing for baptism on the 17th of May! We also taught Carlos, an old investigator who came to church for the first time!!! He didn't accept a date, but we still invited him! We hope to work with him and a few other news we found this week. Please pray for Vanessa and Fernando, Carlos, Javiera, Cecilia, and Marcela. 


Thank you for all of your prayers and your love! I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, where we can make and keep eternal covenants. I love you all! Thanks for your examples of missionary work this week! Keep giving away Books of Mormon! I love you all! Have an amazing week!!! Hasta luego!!!

Happy Easter!!! The Parable of the Mustard Seed

                                                                                                    April 21, 2014

Hola mi familia maravillosa!!!!!!!! Gracias por sus cartas y por compartir su Pascua conmigo!!! Ustedes son los mejores!!!!!! Me encanta mi familia!!! Feliz Pascua!!! Thanks for sharing about your wonderful week. I am so glad you enjoyed it and I am so happy that you had stake conference! It was to fun to see the picture of Sam! She is a mom! So exciting! Congrats Sam! Love you!! Tengo una pregunta para todos! What was your favorite Easter experience this year? Cant wait to read your replies, but until then, let me tell you how I celebrated Easter in Chile!!!

 

This Easter wasn´t at all a normal Easter. It was magnificent!!!!!!! I will start at the very beginning! This week we went to seminary on Wed. That was so fun! haha we have to get up 2 hours early, but the Lord always blesses us with the best days when we go. This is our second time. We go, once a month, so not too crazy. We were working really hard to get everything ready for the baptism this week, so we didn't get to visit a ton of people, but we did visit Fernando and Vanessa. They are Catholic and are afraid to change. Please pray for them! We have a lesson with them tonight! 

 

On Thursday we had lunch with Carolina! She is so cute! During lunch, her husband got home from working outside for a month! Thank you for your prayers in their behalf. He was able to get his baptismal interview the next day, and the ward helped so much! On  Saturday, THEY WERE ALL BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 And on Sunday they were confirmed. The Spirit was so amazingly strong! I just felt the love of God so strongly as I watched each of them enter the water one after another. They are truly following the Savior! A FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another young man that the elders were teaching was baptized too! 4 baptisms in one day!!!

Hermana Blau and I and two elders sang Come Thou Fount in Spanish, and Carolina just started to cry. The Spirit was so strong!



After the baptism, there were refreshments all provided by the members!!!!!!!!!!!!

So many members came to support them! And on Sunday after their confirmation they were welcomed to the ward, and had an interview right away with the Bishop, and all of them members took such good care of them! They are so strong in the church and their testimonies blow me away! AHHHH THEY ARE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Tonight we have are going to teach them about the temple!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

As we were thanking Heavenly Father in prayer for allowing us to help Cesar, and Carolina, and little Carolina be baptized, we realized that we really didn't do anything!


We were only instruments in His hands, but we aren´t perfect instruments and so sometimes we mess up as missionaries, and we definitely made some mistakes when teaching them. But the miracle is that Heavenly Father and the Savior make up for our mistakes.

I read another parable a couple of weeks ago in Jesus the Christ. It is called the parable of the mustard seed. In Matthew 13:31-32 it says: "31Another parable put he forth unto them saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in a field: 32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."

 

I feel like this is exactly what happened with Cesar and Carolina´s family. We just planted the mustard seed, and then our Heavenly Father and our Savior protected it and nourished. They provided the sunlight, and the living water, and They did everything, and we were able to witness the miracle of this little mustard seed becoming a mustard tree. The Lord did everything! He is glorious and miraculous! And the miracles He works are amazing to behold. I am so grateful to have witnessed this miracle of the Savior! He will work the same miracle when we open our mouths and have courage to plant seeds. Planting seeds is easy, He does all of the hard work! I hope we can all plant mustard seeds and witness the Lord´s miracles!

 

We had another miracle! Javiera came to church on Sunday!!!! She is amazing and is progressing so well!!! 

And now for a drumroll please!!!!!!!! Cambios were today and...................................
  

Hermana Blau and I are staying together in Coyquén and we are receiving a 3rd companion!!! We will be in a trio! It is going to be amazing! We will receive our new companion tomorrow. I forgot her name :( but she is from México!! We are so excited! I just hope Hermana Blau can put up with me for another cambio! We are going to have a blast getting better and better each and every day!!! 

 

This Sunday was super special for me! I love Easter and thinking about the Savior every day! A lot of people are Catholic here so the traditions are different, it was awesome to learn about their traditions. On Saturday after the baptism, we taught Javiera about the Savior and His Atonement and watched the video from the Savior´s life, He is Risen. It is on lds.org. As I watched, I felt the Spirit so strongly as I listened to the Savior´s voice as He accepted the Father´s will, and ask He asked Heavenly Father to forgive the people for they know not what they do. His voice was so full of love..I noticed that He didn't make a sound when He was whipped, or when they pierced His hands. He never cried out. He amazes me so much! He loved us so much and He gave everything so freely. He suffered everything so willingly, and He did it because He loves us! I know that He suffered for us and that He willingly gave His life for us. I know that He rose again and that He lives. He did everything for us, and He still does everything for us! He can help us in anything if we only come to Him. I love the scripture in 3 Nephi 11:14-15. It says: 

14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. 

15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come. 

 

He invites us all to do the same. We can come unto Him one by one and have our own individual experience in which we can get to know the Savior and we can know of a surety that He lives and that He loves us. I know that this is true! It is my prayer that we can all come unto Him and that we can help others do so as well. I love the Savior of the World!! 

 

Feliz Pascua! Happy Easter! I hope you all have an amazing week! May we remember the Savior always! Love you!!! Hasta luego!!

 

Con amor, 

Hermana Harris

The Power of Faith

                                                                                                            April 14, 2014
Hola mi familia maravillosa!!! Gracias por sus cartas esta semana! Estoy feliz que todos están bien! Feliz Cumpleaños a mi hermanita Abby Gracy!! Te amo! I can´t believe you are 13! You were 11 when I left!! Crazy! I am so glad to hear that Bekah and Theo and Reuben are there and doing well! I love them all!!! Enjoy the family vacation together! Today I was getting souvenirs! Woohoo! What would you all like from Chile? I will shop again next week. I love you all!!!

 

This week was really great! Sadly, Cesar and Carolina didn´t get baptized this week, but they are for sure getting baptized this Saturday, the 19th! And they will be confirmed on Easter!!!! So exciting! Everything is organized and they are so cute and so prepared. Please keep praying for them, especially for Cesar, so that he can get done with work in time. Thank you for your prayers, Heavenly Father is blessing them and they will be baptized this week! I can´t wait to send the pictures! 

 

Wonderful missionaries in our Zone



You can see that we have a lot of fun when we are together. 

This week we saw a ton of miracles! We found another Family!!! Fernando, Vanessa, and Tomás!! They are a wonderful Catholic family. We have only taught them 2 times, but I know that the gospel will bless them so much if they will pray and receive answers. I will let you know about their progress. Please pray for them! We are also focusing on Javiera and she is progressing. We hope to teach her mom as well.

We decided this week that we need to focus more on helping our investigators progress, because we were so focused in Carolina and Cesar, and also in finding investigators, and we found so many that we couldn't keep up with them and help them progress so that they could prepare for baptism.  Hermana Blau and I made a list of all of them and came up with 7 families that we are going to focus on, as well as finding in all situations. It is going to be an amazing week!!! We have transfers next week, and I have no idea what is going to happen, but I hope we stay together and can strengthen Coyquén more. 

 

We got behind on our goal of talking to everyone about the gospel. The Lord has asked us to do it through His living prophets, and also through our Mission President, and we have a weekly goal of 140 contacts. We were behind by a few the last two week and we were determined to obtain this goal that God has given us. Last night, we were 57 behind, and we prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help us to obtain the goal that we had promised Him we would complete, and to put prepared people in our path. As we left the house, a huge soccer game was finishing at the nearby stadium and a huge crowd of about 75 people came walking towards us. We contacted as many as we were able to, and then we finished the night with 59 contacts. It was such a miracle and such a blessing, because we did find a lot of people to teach in the future! I know that the Lord blessed us so much! And we had faith that He would. 

 

This week I learned so much, but something important that I learned is that Faith is power. It is a power that we have, and Heavenly Father only acts according to this power. The Savior was able to heal and bless the lives of others because of the power of their faith. He will always bless us if we have Faith. I was able to apply this many times this week. When I felt scared about putting Cesar and Carolina´s baptismal date back another week, I had prayed and exercised faith that Heavenly Father will protect them and help them be baptized this week. I also have had faith that the Spirit will be with me, so that I can be an instrument in God´s hands when I teach. The Spirit has been stronger in each of our lessons. When we have faith and trust in the Lord, and when we have righteous desires, He is going to bless us according to our faith, and His will. Therefore, our faith is our super power, and it depends on us. The quality of our faith is the most important. I know that as we go to church, serve others, read the scriptures, pray, testify of others, and study the life of our Savior, our faith will grow and our power will grow. When we have faith, the Lord will help us to do anything, even 59 contacts in only a few hours!!

 

On Saturday, we were able to help with a different baptism, of Norma, a little abuelita that was Jewish but now she is Mormon! She is incredible!!! I love the mission and the miracles so much! 

Today we had a super fun p-day. We had a breakfast as a group of 10 sisters, and I made crepes, and Hermana Blau made french toast and we all shared! It was so much fun to hang out as sisters! I am so grateful for the strength of the Church, and the members, and the opportunity I have to serve the Lord. it is the greatest blessing in the World!

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week! Do all that you can to strengthen the power of your faith! I love you! Thank you for your prayers and your love!

Hasta luego!!!

Earthquake Scare - "I Love General Conference!!!"

                                                                                             April 7, 2014

Hola Querida Familia y Amigos!!! Wow, this week went by so fast, but so many things happened, and each one seems like it happened forever ago. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying Spring!

 

Isn´t it amazing! We are enjoying fall here, because it is not so hot. Good news! It didn't rain this week! Let me start at the very beginning so  that I can tell you everything that happened or as many things as I can remember.

 

So, Tuesday was April Fools Day. In Chile, they don't celebrate it, they celebrate el día de inocentes, which is another day of the year.  But I was watching out just in case anyone tried anything. Ha ha  

 

We worked all day with success and then returned home. After planning, we received a call from our zone leader that there had been an earthquake up north and that it might affect us at around 11:00 p.m. so we had to be ready. It was 10:45 p.m. so we had to act fast. Hermana Blau does really well in emergency situations. So under her direction, we packed our backpacks with lanterns, matches, candles, water bottles, some food we had, and other needful things, and then we changed into really warm clothes, skirts of course haha. I put on my boots and was ready for action. Our plan was to get under the metal door frames if it started, and if it got worse we would get out. All ready and with time to just wait we began to get anxious. And what do we do when we get anxious, well usually we eat. so we started eating whatever we could get our hands on. Really not the wisest haha. Not going to do that again. When nothing happened at around 11:30 we decided to go to bed. So we slept in our clothes ready for action if anything came haha nothing happened. I was pretty convinced that maybe it was an April Fool's joke that our mission president was playing on all of us, but sadly the next day we saw on television that there was an earthquake. We felt so blessed  to be okay. I know the Lord was watching over us, and I pray that the people in Arica are doing well. Im glad it wasn't a joke because it's not very funny to joke about earthquakes in Chile. 

This week was General Conference weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were so excited here! I love Conference so much! We worked hard to get investigators, less actives, and new converts to come to listen to Conference. We had 4 with a baptismal date in the Sunday morning session!!!

Cesar, Carolina, and Carolina came and their baptism will be this Sat. the 12th of April!!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited! Please pray that everything will be okay and that we can get everything ready and finish teaching them the last couple of things. Please pray that Cesar can get off of work so he can be baptized with his family. I know the Lord answers prayers and that everything will be perfect!

 

We also had Eugenia in church. She is a little abuelita who we have set a baptismal date for the 29th. We taught her and she really wants to be baptized, but in the past she has shared with missionaries that she only wants to be baptized to have financial help. We are trying to teach and help her have spiritual experiences so she can love the gospel and want to be baptized for the right reasons. Conference was perfect for her, because she is passing through a ton of trials. She has diabetes, and is almost blind, and she is struggling financially and with her family. We are going to keep teaching her, but please pray that she will want to be baptized for the right reasons. 

Speaking of Conference, what were your favorite talks? I had about 7 questions that I needed answers to, and the Lord answered them all!!! Prayer totally works! I loved all of the talks, but I especially loved Elder Uchtdorf´s talk about gratitude, and the Prophet´s talk and all of the talks about loving people more and being a true disciple of Christ. The most important thing  we can do as disciples of Christ, is love others just as He did. Not with a superficial love or liking, but with a deep true love. This is something I am going to be striving to develop for everyone. We talk to so may people every day, but I want to love them more deeply, and help them to feel that love so that the can receive the true gospel and have the joy that we have! I love this gospel!!! It is so amazing!!!!!

 

I am grateful for a living prophet through whom we can hear the sweet words of our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. I have never cherished Conference so much as I have on my mission, and I will always cherish it this way forever! We are so blessed!

 

Something I heard the other day, a member was teaching the gospel principles class and he said, if the bible disappeared, how many church organizations would fall apart? And if the Book of  Mormon disappeared, would we fall apart? No, because we have a living prophet who receives direct revelation from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The church will never fall because they guide and direct it through their servants. I love this church and this gospel! I know it is true with all my heart! We must love others and help them find the truth too, through our actions and through our words. 

Last night we had some interesting ways to serve. As we were working after conference, (it ended around 7) we were contacting by some houses. All of a sudden we see a cat attacking some small animal like a rat or a mouse. As we got closer, we saw that it was a hamster! I frantically shooed away the cat and tried to pick up the hamster who was so frightened that it was scrambling everywhere and when i got it, it would jump out of my hands. I finally caught it, and I wonder how weird Ï must have looked scrambling around for the hamster. Hermana Blau could not stop laughing. We knocked on the nearest door, and I weirdly explained the situation, that we had found a hamster being attacked by a cat and we wanted to return it to its owner. The lady told us it was her neighbors. So we went to the other house, and Hermana Blau was still laughing haha and I explained the situation again and returned their hamster haha and then, I contacted them and asked if we could return another day to share a message about Jesus Christ with them. They said yes and we wrote down their information and went on or way.

 

A little while later, we were talking to another woman, and her cat escaped. We chased it and brought it back and while talking, again it escaped. So we chased it and caught it and gave it back.  She said we could return as well. Haha such weird ways of finding people. By catching their pets and giving them back, but it is a way to serve  It's also just a funny moment of the week.

 

We had some strange encounters this week with a few drunk men. One man was asking about our church while he was really drunk and we kept walking in front of him. We turned and went another direction, and about a block later he was beside us again talking about the church. He was really creepy and moved really fast. We quickly crossed a street and lost him. We will have to be careful and to only talk to them when they are not intoxicated.  

Today for preparation day we went to play soccer for a zone activity! It is so much fun! I love playing in Chile!  This week was so amazing and we are excited for the upcoming week and that Easter is getting closer. This time is a great time to teach about the Savior and His restored gospel! I love my mission so much! I am so grateful to be here and I am so grateful for all of you and your prayers! I hope you have an amazing week and know I am praying for you! Love you!!!! Hasta luego!

Love, Hermana Harris

A Light Shining in the Storm

                                                                                                   March 31, 2014
Hola mi familia!!!  This morning I made pancakes with instant oatmeal  and egg whites and a little vanilla. It works!!! And on top I put vanilla yogurt and fresh peaches! What are you all enjoying there?  I am so excited to hear from you!! 

 

This week was crazy!!! So many things happened! Guess what!!! We found 12 new people to teach this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The standard of excellence is 10 and we found 8 on Tuesday, 2 on Wed, and then 2 on Sat. It is the first time I have ever gotten it on my mission!!! And they are families! They are all amazing and we are praying that they will continue to progress! We taught Francisco and Elizabeth, who are so interested and love learning about the gospel. Elizabeth is praying for her answer! We also found Crelia and her daughter Martina, who have shared with missionaries before but never were baptized. Crelia wants her whole family to share with us! We also found Marcela and Connie, who is a mom and her daughter who are also interested. And we have a family of 3! Joel, Carola, and Maria really want to learn and are so great, their schedule is what makes it difficult to visit because they both work late. We also have Gerardo, who is a young man who wants to know about the church and has so many questions. And finally, we have Eugenia who is an elderly lady who needs the gospel, and we have Jorge, who is the husband of a less active! We had a ton of great lessons with each of them, and we hope to be able to share more and help them progress towards baptism. I know we were blessed to find so many people to teach because we have been striving to talk to everyone we pass.

 

We are still teaching Ignacio, and he had an amazing experience when he prayed! He received an answer and had a baptismal date for the 19th of April, but he didn't come to church. His aunt Jaqueline, is reactivating and we want to teach her son, Diego as well. We also had a great experience with Javiera, she is the cousin of a young woman in the ward, and she is reading the Book of Mormon and will go to conference this week! I am so excited!!! Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the Women's broadcast on Saturday, but they will rebroadcast it this Saturday in the morning and we can go then! Crelia and Martina, Fransisco, Ignacio, Carolina and Carolina were all going to come to church yesterday, but they didn't come :( Carolina(hija) was sick and her mom had visitors come last minute and she forgot to watch the time, and missed coming. but they are still doing amazing and are excited for Conference this week. They switched their date to April 12th  FOR REAL THIS TIME!!! It will be easier because Cesar will have finished working out of town (the elders where he is are teaching him!), and it would be difficult to have their baptism in between Conference sessions. Also, Carolina the younger isn't reading and praying, and so we are going to work more with her this week. We will have a family home evening with them tonight! Please pray for them that they can be ready in time, especially Carolina (hija)! But, Mirta came to church! We hadn't been able to visit her during the week, but she showed up to church. She had been waiting outside of the home of her neighbor who is a member and they came to church together!!! We are going to visit her! The work is progressing so much and I love it!!!

 

This week we went to Seminary at 6:30!!!! Woohoo!! So many memories! That was Tuesday, the same day we found 8 people to teach!!! Seminary does bring blessings!!! It was so fun to be with the youth. They are each taking turns giving a Book of Mormon to a friend! 

 

All of the members in the Ward had a temple trip this week, and it was so special! They were gone on Friday and Saturday and they shared their experiences yesterday. The Spirit was so strong! I am so grateful for these faithful latter-day saints who do everything they can so that they can go to the temple. There was a family who was baptized 2 years ago that was sealed, and they had 2 weeks full of trials before and they weren't going to go, but then they did! They made it!

 

Another young woman was struggling to get permission from her mom, but she did everything and with miracles, was able to have the money and the permission to go. I am so grateful for the temple. It is our light in the storm and it helps us and helps others. It is so important that we remain worthy to enter the temple and help others receive the blessings!!

 

There was another light in the storm this week! We had a huge storm here on Saturday. Sadly, the weather suddenly changed from summer to fall/winter. It rained all day here on Saturday. We worked through it and we were soaked through, but we kept shining our light and sharing the light of Christ and the light of His restored gospel! We were smiling and laughing as we saw so many funny sights and had funny experiences. At one point, we were trying hard to not step in puddles, and we weren't paying attention and walked into a huge puddle. Our feet were soaked, but it didn't matter, now we could walk in all the puddles haha

 

It is amazing how happy the gospel makes us! I know that we have the light that Christ has given us, so that we can be a light shining in the storm. We can be a light in our own storms/trial, and we can also be a light in the storms and trials that others have. it is because we have the Savior and the light that He gives us. He wants us to share that light with everyone. I know that everything about His restored gospel is true, and all of it is light! As we go about our everyday lives, I hope and pray that we can shine the light of Christ 24/7, in all that we say and do. May we look for the opportunities to be a light to those who are passing through storms.

 

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!!! Be a light to everyone especially when it rains!! We will enjoy the rain together!!! Love you!!!! Hasta luego!