Q & A and a little surprise!

Hola familia!! 

Okay, so this week has been just a ton of contacting!! I do have some amazing news that happened today, but i am going to have you wait till the end to read it!!

First i am going to answer all of mamas questions!

M- So how is Sister Morales doing?  Did she come to church again today? Did her husband come? Are you just visiting or do you teach them a lesson? How do you decide what to teach if you do?

A- Okay so sister morales did not go to church and she told us that she won't go to church again. Sad! We think that her husband was just against her going back to church but he is always super friendly to us! So we gave her the talk about if she isn't going to make the effort then really there is no point for us to continuing to teach her. As we were leaving she yelled to us that her husband made us lunch. So we had lunch with them and talked. So i don't know if she is actually not interested or if she is just a little confused about some of the doctrine so i am not totally giving up on her yet!!

Q- how often do people get transfers there? .
A- Transfers are really random and all up to where the Lord wants to send you! Some missionaries have been in areas for 6 weeks others have been in the same area for 10 months so it honestly just depends on where the Lord wants to send you!
Q- So does your neighborhood have a fence around it? Does your apartment have bars on the windows?
A- My neighborhood is a closed urb. so a huge gate around it, but no my apartment doesn't have bared windows but we have a gate in front of our door!
Q- Does the ward help out with contacts?  

A- Our ward is amazing at helping in the obra missional! They are all willing to go visit less actives with us and we even have some members that have gone knocking doors with us!!

Q-Do you attend ward council? 

A- yes we attend ward council everytime to discuss how the ward can help and discuss our mission progress in the area. We also have a meeting with the elders in our ward and the ward mission leader every single thursday!

Q-Your ward have 30 active families and 100 less active. So approximately how many attend sacrament meeting? 100-150?

A- Actually it is 30 active people so only 30 people every sacrament meeting. It is sad to see, our ward is basically a branch. We have 5 children, 4 on a good day of youth and the rest is adults.

Q-How is the language going? Do you still study Spanish daily? 

A- Spanish is going well i am really starting to be more comfortable it speaking everyday! I study for a full hour everyday spanish! I am going to try way harder in the next coming 6 weeks to master spanish more.

Q-How often do you get together with your sister trainers and zone leaders? Do you go on splits with ward members?

A- Zone leaders i never really see they live with the APs that are in our ward but i never see them. the Sister trainers go on splits with us every transfer. But they are in our district so i see them every tuesday in district meeting! They are amazing!

Q- How is your apartment? Bugs? Clean? New or Old? Rodents? 

A- I love my apartment! We keep basically everything in our fridge because the heat makes stuff go bad very very fast! But hey it is okay Everything being cold is actually nice!

Well cool new fact, I am in the mission christmas choir! I am singing with about 10 other missionaries each weekend in December. We are traveling all over the island to sing to them! I am so excited to get the chance to bring the Christmas cheer to everyone on the island and make them smile and remember Christ loves them!

Okay, okay,  I will tell you my news!! SO, I got a call from President Boucher today. He asked me about how my spanish is going and how hard I am working/studying. He told me that I need to work as hard as i can in the next coming weeks because next transfer, I could have an all spanish speaking, no english, companion. Also he told me that within two transfers the Lord needs me to train a new missionary. I am so excited to know ahead of time and start working to prepare myself, so i can be the best trainer to a greeny!!! So nervous, but I'm glad I know now so I can start preparing!!

Con amor Siempre!!

Hermana Harris

Puerto Rico for 6 weeks

Buenas!

Well i am finally half way done with training wow! I can't believe it. I have already been in Puerto Rico for 6 weeks, it honestly feels like 2 days. So the way we say here is the days seem like they drag on but the weeks and months fly by.

Well for this week sorry I'm gonna be a little boring and short. It was just a uninteresting week. We contacted every single day. It was just kinda a rough week, it seemed like the few investigators we had just seemed uninterested. We do have one that we have kept with though. Her name is Lydia. She is a widowed grandma that takes care of most of her grandchildren every night while her children work. She stopped going to school when she was 12, so she has problems understanding things. It is great though because she will read in the Book of Mormon with us and we get to stop every couple of verses to ask her what she understood and what she doesn't. It is great for me because their is some Spanish words i don't understand. We go over it with her and i do a mini catch up at the same time :) Win win!! So we have visited her a couple times this week constantly reading with her and making sure she understands. 

We got her a ride to church on Sunday. It was so amazing to see how well the ward acted and was so welcoming to her! I am curious to see if she was really impacted by the strong spirit that was there. It was such a great feeling to be able to share the experience of being in the church and taking the sacrament with her. I have never really explained to anyone all the parts that go on during church so it was a huge new experience to not only explain it but to do it in Spanish. haha. It really makes me reflect on how of a lazy member i was in the past. I can think of so many people that i could have shared the gospel with and invited to church all growing up, but i didn't. As a missionary you really come to appreciate all of the members that help in the obra misional, or missionary work. I hope that when i get back,  i can be just like them. It is not enough to just feed the missionaries. We need to give them referrals! I challenge you to the next time you feed the missionaries to give them one name so that they can contact. I promise that they will be eternally grateful.

So reflecting on this past 6 weeks, i have grown in so many ways. I definitely have a lot more patience then I have ever had! I have truly made the effort to brush off the little things, when a person totally rejects us. It isn't us they are rejecting. I can't take it personal, honestly it is the spirit and the lord that they are rejecting. I have learned that to be really converted in this gospel you have to make the effort every single day! If you want a lasting testimony of the truth, you have to do the work! I need to be reading my scriptures everyday, praying to my heavenly father often, and i need to be waiting and listening for spiritual promptings!! I love being on a mission it is the best decision i have made thus far in my life. i am so grateful for each of you for supporting me and helping me prepare my whole life to serve the Lord for 18 months! The field is white and it is my time to harvest! 

Con Amor Siempre

Hermana Harris

hit TWO MONTHS!!!

Buenas!!

Wow I finally hit TWO MONTHS!!! I can't even believe it! It feels like just yesterday was my first day in the CCM! I have definitely been reflecting this week on how far I have come. I know my testimony has grown leaps and bounds from where it was. It is incredible how much closer to Christ and to my Heavenly Father I feel. I can fully say that it is because I spend so much time on my knees talking with my father in heaven and I spend all day in the scriptures. I have definitely gained a strong testimony on how much the prophets in the scriptures really wrote for these latter days. I challenge all of you to study at least a verse everyday, and you will see the blessings in your life.


We met a fantastic lady this week. Her name is Lucy, she is all alone. Her husband died a few years ago, so it was incredible to share with her the plan of salvation. I am so glad for the testimony I have so I can share with everyone else that there is a life after this! We will live with our families forever


I was prompted to share an experience that I had in gaining that testimony. I shared about when Grandpa Harris passed. I remember being very confused and extremely sad that I wasn't able to visit and see my grandpa ever again. I remember being so scared that anyone else in my family would pass. It took me awhile to truly understand that my grandpa was in heaven with Heavenly Father. I hope that everyday, that I live in the way to make my Grandpa proud and I become a little more like him. Every time I am in the grocery store I remember the stories daddy told me about how grandpa would make the cashiers smile. I know that grandpa is in heaven sharing the gospel with everyone that didn't get the chance to learn on this earth. I am so happy to be doing that same thing here in Guaynabo City!


On Wednesday, we went to visit a less active that we had made an appointment with. She lived an hour and half walk away from our house. So we started off, my companion and I, talking the whole entire way. Sadly the less active wasn't even home. So we walked back home so we could finish our morning studies. Seemed at first like a waste of 3 hours of missionary time, but honestly I am so grateful for those three hours. Hna. Watkins and I talked the entire way. We talked about things that really have strengthened our companionship. It was amazing what opportunities Heavenly Father sends our way to shape us. Take a moment to stop and think of the trials that we have been through there is always a lesson to be learned and on the other side of a trial we will always be stronger. I know that this area is for me to learn a lot of patience. haha


Friday we decided that we were going to the opposite side of our area, called Bello Monte. We were blessed to find two less active families!! We sat and talked to them and set up times to return this week to teach them. We challenged both families to watch General Conference! The mom/grandma of one of the families was so sweet. Everyone in Guaynabo has gates around their houses so we have to yell "BUENAS" until someone comes out. She came out and started talking to my companion for a minute then looks at me. Her jaw drops then she keeps repeating oh mi usted es un muneca- (you are a doll). She kept saying over and over again that I was muy bonita, beautiful, and that I was a doll. It was super sweet until she called over her son and husband just to look at me, hahahah . Hey we got to teach her and she invited us in because she apparently thought I looked so pretty. A little confidence builder! We are meeting with them again tonight so I will update you on how it went!


Conference was awesome wasn't it?!?! Wow I can't believe how blessed we are to be able to hear from prophets!! The elder from Puerto Rico, I know him!! He is part of the area Seventy here. He gave a talk at the CCM!! I was able to shake his hand and talk to him and his wife there!! My favorite talk was on where do we face! It was incredible to reflect upon each decision we make asking ourselves where do we face! ( sorry running out of time but I would love to talk more about it later)

I love you all so so much


More pictures next time i promise!

Hermana Harris

Disciple of Christ

Hey family!!


Well first things first I have few favors to ask mama.


1. I forgot my patriarchal blessing in my journal by my bed... I would really love if you could send me a copy or email me a copy!


2. What is sister Tingey's address, she sent me a letter and I wrote one back but I lost the envelope?


3. Not a favor but sister Logsden's address is: Urb. Las Cumbres III & IV, 559 Washington Calle, San Juan, PR ( I don't know the zip sorry)


4. Has Grandma Murphy recieved a letter from me? In every letter see sends me she says she has no idea if I am getting them.. please tell her am and that I am very grateful for her letters and the dollars that are in it.



Well this week was awesome!! We went on splits! So for sisters they have a companionship called the Sister Trainers they are basically another set of zone leaders just for the sisters. Ours are Hna. Rivera and Hna. Dias. They are so amazing both of them are Latin, sassy, and incredible strong missionaries. They came to us on Tuesday and Hna. Dias went with me and Hna. Rivera went with my companion. I learned so so much from Hermana Dias! She helped answer all of my million questions on the best ways to do this and that. She also was super helpful with my Spanish and could explain to me in simple Spanish what I need to work on and what were my strengths. She just went contacting with me. She taught me that the best way to get someone to listen to your message is simple, Ask for water! Hahah it really worked. We would ask if they would do us a favor and fill our water. Everyone in Puerto Rico for the most part is very kind and will fill your water bottle. After that we sneak in our message. It is amazing how much more receptive someone is. I can't really explain it but it makes the difference to not just jump to: somos missionarios de la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias. One thing that I really have learned these past weeks is people really like talking about themselves. Hahaha If you start a conversation just asking questions one way people will be obligated and willing to tell you lots about themselves before they even care to hear anything about you.


Okay so this week I have really noticed that I have a lot of work to become more like Christ. It was an eye-opener reading in "Preach My Gospel" about patience, charity, and love. It is sad to think about how I have been acting around my companion. I really haven't been showing her the love that she deserves. She has been trying to help me in every way and I was just being stubborn and unwilling. It was a little stab in the heart reading about how Christ loved everyone and he died and suffered for me. And as a example and disciple of Christ I was not putting forth the effort. I have been spending this week trying to make the extra effort each day to strengthen my relationship with my companion and find little things each day to serve her. I know that with how different we really are and the only way to be able to get along is if we both forget ourselves and go about doing the Lord's work.


It has been a hard week thinking that the girl I thought I was, isn't the one I am being right now. I thought I normally got along with everyone, I was the one who could find little things that amaze and made each person special. I love everyone for their quirks. I have not been that person with my companion. That is my biggest goal of this companionship is to have more charity, love and patient like my elder brother, Jesus Christ.



This Friday we had a incredible opportunity. We had an appointment to teach Enid our English investiagator. Sister Watkins had an incredible idea! We invited Sister Boucher, the mission president's wife, to go with us. She doesn't get this opportunity because she does not speak Spanish. It was amazing to share about the Book of Mormon and feel the spirit. I love hearing Sister Boucher bear her testimony on when she took the promise in Moroni 10 and found out for herself that the book is the word of God. I can't wait till next Friday to get the chance to meet with Enid and Sister Boucher again!!



Saturday I met the coolest lady ever! Her name is Sylvia she has been a member for the last 30 years. She is this little black lady that has gone on 3 missions! She served in Ecuador and Puerto Rico when she was in her 50s and 60s! She didn't just work in the office but she was a normal missionaries knocking doors and teaching lessons. On Satuday she took us contacting to less-active members houses. She was so bold and inspiring!! She has an incredible strong testimony and wants everyone to have the same! I want to be a missionary just like her!


Okay okay I know you all have been waiting for this, Sunday. Well this Sunday was a huge day for us. First things first, Saturday night at 9:45 the YWs president calls us and asks us to teach because she can't make it to church the next day. So to add a little stress we both have to teach in Spanish with only a couple of hours notice. To top the nerves and stress, we already had been asked to talk on Sunday. Plus, because no one plays the piano in our ward, Sister Watkins played the piano and I had to conduct music in Sacrament. (Hna. Watkins was very very nervous because she hasn't played in years. Earlier in the week we brought home one of the keyboards from the church so she could practice, she did amazing!


I was so so nervous for my talk but I think it went pretty well. I talked on how the Book of Mormon is such a great blessing and strength in our lives so why don't we share it with everyone. I was glad that I got the opportunity to speak. Practice always makes it a little easier for the next time. But what really made this Sunday amazing is that the elders in our ward had a baptism!! It was a part member family, the mom was not a member. It was so amazing to see how happy she was coming out of the water all clean and pure. It was incredible to see the joy that the gospel brought to her and her husband and son. I can't wait to help someone take those sacred convents for themselves!


To make Sunday even better, we went back to a lady's house that we had contacted earlier in the week, Lydia, and she welcomed us in. We were able to share with her the message of the restoration. It was muy chevre (Spanish cool/awesome). When we started to talk about how Joseph Smith read in John 5:1 about asking God, she shared her testimony on prayer. She was brought to tears telling us about how she knows that her father in heaven answers prayers and is listening. It was incredible the way the spirit touched her heart and ours! I can't wait to see if she is going to progress. The best part is she has a sister that is a member!! Part-member families are the easiest to teach because the investigator has a support system in the gospel and someone to ask questions too.


Every P-day Sister Logsden is a miracle worker. She comes and picks us up every Monday and takes us to the grocery store, the post office, library to write letters and feeds us lunch. She is so so incredible and wants to help us out in everything we do! On Sunday she made calendars for us and the elders for meals and passed it around the ward.She is our mom away from home! She is always making sure that we have food and will randomly text us and tell us to come over and grab some food to bring home or stops by and drops off food. I am incredibly grateful for her and the love that she has shown to us each week!



My testimony has increased so incredibly much in these past two months. I can testify that the more you share the testimony the more it grows. I am so thankful for the chance to be born into the truth and be a member of Christ's Church!


I hope you all have a fantastic week


Con amor siempre


Hermana Harris