Rollercoaster

Hey family!!

My week was a mental and physical rollercoaster! Both horrible and amazing!! To start this week off, it was the week of Luis's baptism so we went into the week knowing that Satan would work really really hard to mess this up. But the Spirit will be there the whole time fighting to keep us on the right track.

Monday was like any other normal day. We did go and meet Luis in the plaza to make sure to review with him. We wanted to make sure everything was going great for him and to review the baptism questions. So a good day, no a great day!

Tuesday, we went with a Sister in our ward to meet with Luis again in the plaza. Once again we waned to see how he was doing. It was amazing to see how happy he was to know that everything was going great.

Wednesday was a super hard day for us because other then Luis we had basically nothing. No one wanted to listen to us and no one wanted to accept us. Nothing.

Thursday! Thanksgiving! I can officially say that it was the worst Thanksgiving of my life. So I get a call from Luis about 10:30am telling me that he was not going to get baptized simply because he didn’t want to. He called us back around 11:30 to say he was sorry and the real reason was because he didn’t understand why he needed to be baptized again since he was baptized in the Catholic church. My heart broke! As I turned to my companion, she saw the look on my face and couldn't decide whether to be extremely sad, to cry, or to be mad. We head in to our Thanksgiving lunch after that. Best part of the day because the lunch was pretty amazing! We had rice, pasteles, turkey, yuca root, cheese flan, and coconut flan. Trying to forget all that happened that morning, we spent the day helping Madeline and Wanda decorate Madeline’s house for Christmas! It was so much fun putting up lights and decorating the Christmas tree!

Friday hit us like a ton of bricks when we woke up though. Literally, it was Black Friday for us. We did though put on our plaques and went to work. As we head down to the Plaza, who do we see sitting on the bench? None other then Luis himself. Of course, we headed over to talk to him. It turns out that he just got super nervous and scared of what he was going to do because he realized how serious this was. I turned to him and said, “Luis do you know why we asked you to be baptized?” He said no and asked me to explain. “Well, Luis, we are representatives of Jesus Christ. We didn't ask you but He did, because he loves you and he wants the best for you. He is the one guiding you to the waters and He will be the one forgiving your sins.” After that we said our goodbyes and started to walk off when he said “hey I want you guys to meet this friend of mine.” So we start talking to this amazing Puerto Rican/New Yoker who is the same lady that we gave as a reference to the elders. So in the middle of talking to her, Luis says to her that if she wasn’t busy tomorrow that he was getting baptized at four and she should be there. Our jaws dropped to the floor! But okay!! We got to work immediately calling the elders to arrange the interview and everything went perfect! When he came out of his interview, Luis was so happy he almost yelled, “now I'm going to be a new member!”

Saturday was just perfect! The baptism went really well and the Spirit was super strong.

It is weeks like this that I truly know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and He is the one that is working in this Obra (work) and I am only his servant!

I love you all and hope all is well!

Con Amor Siempre

Hermana Harris

God of Miracles

Hey family!!

I just want you all to know that I love you and am extremely grateful for all you do for me! I know that you each are a huge blessing in my life and I could never replace!

This week for my Ponderize scripture I am studying 2 Nephi 31:12:

“And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.”

If you get the hint… We have a baptism coming up this week! It literally has been the biggest blessing and miracle that my companion and I have seen this month. So his name is Luis Morales. We met him on November 6th. We had the impression to go and visit a less-active that we haven't been able to find in awhile named Nora. It was a huge blessing that when we walked up she was outside her house doing her laundry. We went up and started talking to her about everything like that we are newish to the area. We asked her story of when she got baptized and so on. She had just happened to have had cooked some food for two of her friends and invited them over while we were there. 

We started talking to the group. This is when we met Luis and Ismael. Both have been investigators of the elders before so we kept talking to them to see what they remembered, share a scripture, and head out to our next appointment. We invited all three of them to church the following week even though we knew that the next Sunday’s church they wouldn't be able to attend because it was at the stake center in Ponce. So the following week, they just left our mind. We were running to and from different areas and didn't get the chance to see them. Saturday, we were walking from another less active’s house when we passed Luis in the street. He said, “So did you guys get a ride for us to come to church?” With shock on both of our faces, we said, “well of course we can get you both a ride.” I literally have never in my mission had an investigator remember an invitation that we had made two weeks beforehand! So they both come to church and just loved it! They participated in all of the classes and the Spirit was super strong. Then in sacrament, Luis turns to my companion and I and said “so when can i get baptized?” You all should have seen Sister Taylor’s and my face! We were in shock! But we totally seized the moment and set a date for the following Saturday. He said, “okay at what time can I be there?”  We are seriously in awe. This is literally what we had to have been looking for.

More background, Sister Taylor and I have gotten to the point of frustration this past month on finding investigators. We have talked to so many people yet dropped so many investigators that haven't been progressing to the point that we didn't have anyone to teach. So we keep on walking and keep on contacting, we just really weren't seeing the fruits of our labor. Luis is our miracle. My companion and I both know that he was the person that Heavenly Father prepared for us to find and to teach. Since day one he has been ready for this gospel!

I do know that God is a God of miracles like it says in Mormon Chapter 9. I know that our Savior lives and this really is his work. I know I work day by day with the Lord. We have days that are hard but He is there holding our hands leading us on to the next day. I know that He is the one that places everything in the perfect place and position so that we can help more people come unto Him. I know that is the work of missionaries. Coincidences don't exist; the Spirit guides everything! The Spirit has been so strong on the days that I can't even imagine my life without Him. I know that by his guidance everything will be okay. We have trials so that we can learn and be humbled enough to accept the blessings that will come along!

I love you all dearly and hope that this Thanksgiving you can show those you love why you are truly grateful for them! Even more importantly, show your Savior how important He is to you!

Have a great week and

Happy Turkey Day!!

Con Amor Siempre,

Hermana Harris

Hard Work

Hey family!!

The week was incredible! I feel like this week was one of the weeks in my mission that I have learned the most and been humbled a lot. I have learned that blessings always come, sometimes not when you expect them, but they always come.

 This week, we really hit it off running with a huge desire to conquer the world! Hahaha! But seriously, we are running off of the greenie fire that my companion has for the work! I love it so much! We have been contacting like crazy! The sad thing is that though it was a killer we just were having no success. We would walk and walk and talk to everyone we saw but nothing. We kept a positive attitude though and kept at it. We kept thinking, “Okay, wow so we just need to find a new part of our area that is might be more affective.” So we kept at it.

One of the days, we went and visited one of our less-actives. The lesson broke my heart… We learned that she wasn’t baptized though she knew her church was true. She never got baptized though she knew to follow Christ and that you need to be baptized by immersion when you aren't a baby. But she has a lot of places where her testimony is not there. We were prompted to teach her about the Restoration. I honestly had been scared to teach this lesson because I have heard rumors of her lack of faith that Joseph Smith was a prophet. It turns out that it was the best lesson we had all week. We started the lesson reading in Mathew 21, a parable that Christ told that works perfect with the Restoration. Then my companion explained the fist vision. As we saw our less-active quote with my companion the entire first vision, we could feel the spirit enter the room! I tried to end the lesson telling her about the Book of Mormon and how we are so blessed to have such a blessing in our lives. This is when she began to open up to us. She explained that she doesn't know if it is true, she doesn't know if Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that she doesn't believe in all the things of the Church. As some background info: she has been an active member for the past ten years and has only gone in-active in the past 4 months. It broke my heart to know that no one has been there these past 10 years to help her develop a testimony, to teach her the true doctrine, and to show her what we really believe. We both shared our conversion story, about how we both came to know the Book of Mormon was true. It was so powerful to see her be brought to tears as we shared our thoughts and feelings. The most incredible part is when Sister Taylor began to testify. Even though every other word she looked at me to help her translate and the in-active Sister was helping, she brought a whole new spirit into the room. You could literally feel the determination she had to share her experience and her love to this member. I was so grateful in that moment for a companion that doesn't let anything bring her down. I know that she will do so great in her mission and has a testimony that will change so many lives! We challenged the L-A to read the Book of Mormon from the start and pray with a sincere heart to our Father in Heaven everyday to know if it is the truth!

After a week of working so hard, the biggest blessing and miracle came Sunday morning. From about 6:30am, we received call after call till it was about 5 times by two of our investigators that we just double and triple check that they had a ride for church and to tell us that they were ready! It was literally exactly what we needed to see after a hard week. Those are the fruits that make missionary work worth it. Oh, to see the true desire to change and to do the Lord's will like I saw in these three people this week! I know that this is the Lord’s work and I know that through him, I can do miracles!

My Ponderize for this week Mormon 9! Go read it. What’s yours?

I love you all greatly and hope that you all are spending a little time of your day to thank your Father in Heaven for a miracle and blessing that you have been given! I love you all so much and can't wait to see your lovely faces in little over a month on Skype!

Have a great week!!

Con Amor Siempre,

Hermana Harris

Gratitude

Hey everyone!!

I just want you all to know that I love you! I seriously love you all and I am overly grateful that I have a forever family! I am grateful for the best and craziest little sister that I know will always be a forever friend to me. I am grateful that Heavenly Father prepared a way for Jaren to meet Hannah so I could have the best sister-in-law in the world. I am grateful that He lead Aubrei to Aaron so they could be the divinely chosen to be the parents of Charlie Rose who I already know will be an incredible addition to our always growing family. And I am grateful for the best parents in the world that teach us and guide us everyday by there heavenly examples.

The week has been CRAZY!! My new companion is Sister Taylor from Grants Pass, Oregon. She is 20 years old and literally like my twin. We have all of the same habits, likes, and dislikes. Its a little scary but amazing. I feel like grocery shopping is going to be super easy today! Hahaha! So she is what I was over a year ago, struggling a lot to learn Spanish. It has made me constantly reminisce of my first months in the mission. It was a huge eye opener of how much she learned in just a week though. She started on Wednesday not understanding anything that they said to her to Sunday getting the jist of what we were talking about in the lesson. The best moment though for me was Sunday. We were in a lesson teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I turned to her at the end to invite Hayde to baptism. The huge smile that filled her face as perfect Spanish flew from her mouth as she invited her to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. It was the one of the best feelings in the world to know that the Lord was there with us in that moment helping her teach in Spanish. I was seriously overjoyed to see her basically skipping down the street after the lesson. I want her to know that in these short 12 weeks we have together that everything is possible with Christ by our side! I know that He is here when we are trying our hardest to have the spirit in every moment. I am super excited to be able to show her the ropes and teach her Spanish!

So this week, I am focusing on her in my Ponderize scripture. So I can focus on how to help her and what is the best way that she can learn.

D&C 109:36 36: “Let it be fulfilled upon them, as upon those on the day of Pentecost; let the gift of tongues be poured out upon thy people, even cloven tongues as of fire, and the interpretation thereof.”

I love this verse because I really have learned in my mission it is not only to understand but to talk in the gift. I know that if I didn't have the Gift of tongues I would not be able to do the things that missionaries do each day.

I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father for giving me this great blessing! And blessing me with the opportunity to share my knowledge with Sister Taylor! Pray for us. We need all the help that we can get!

Funny quote of the week: Hermana Luz, 86 year-old ward member: I think Puerto Ricans eat more rice then the Chinese! (And it’s the truth!!!)

I love you all and hope that you have a great day!!

Con Amor Siempre,

Hermana Harris