Goals & Talents

Hey family!!

We had a couple of incredible moments this week! Not to say the others weren't great too but these were just better!

First, we had interviews with our Mission President! He is the most amazing man on this island. He is so guided by the Spirit that it is unbelievable! He told us exactly what we needed to hear to not only make it though the week but to finish out the month. He challenged me to finish my mission with a baptism and a reactivation. I sincerely accepted and we hit the streets to accomplish the goal! One of the most amazing things is that we had a reactivation already this Sunday! Micdalia came to church for the third week in a row! Part of his reactivation included her forming/helping us with a musical number for sacrament. She is remarkably, musically talented. It was so amazing to see her face so joyous as we played and sang “Silent Night” Sunday. A shocker for everyone, in this musical number I played an instrument! It was kind of my fault getting stuck doing this because I didn't understand exactly what she was saying to me at one point. She had asked me if I knew how to play el flota dulce or sweet flute. I thought that maybe that meant the piccolo. Yeah no… the sweet flute is a fancy name for the recorder! So I got to play “Silent Night” on the recorder Sunday. In doing so, I discovered a talent I haven't practice since like third grade when we learned the recorder in music class. Hahaha! But I'm a missionary and we put are whole heart and soul into our less-actives! So I played that recorder and I played it proudly!

Next incredible thing is our investigator named Madeline. On Saturday, I just had a feeling that we needed to visit her. I honestly love her to death but she is to the point that if she doesn't start progressing she will just become a forever investigator that knows everything but is not a member. Anyways, we went to her house Saturday and talked to her. It was seriously the most powerful lesson I have ever had with her. We shared the message from 1 Nephi 11 about Christ and the birth of Christ. It was amazing! We testified of Christ and everything that He does for us. She agreed with us and told us about her faith in Him. We ended the lesson by inviting her to be baptized. She agreed then as we went to say the closing prayer, I asked her if there was anything in specific that she would like us to pray for. This was when she turned to us and her face dropped. She began to explain that she had been talking this morning to her Heavenly Father about all thing hard things that she has been going through. She felt that prayer didn't seem to be making any difference. Then my companion turns to Madeline and asks, “why do you think that we are here? Sister Harris told me today that she just had a feeling we needed to visit you. Madeline, Heavenly Father answered your prayer. He sent us here to help you.” We go on to tell her that we are here to truly get her out of her hard times. That we truly had a message that would change her life and help her. It was so amazing and the Spirit so strong. We left her with the solid knowledge that her Heavenly Father really loves her and is watching over her.

It truly is incredible how just in the little things can be a prompting of the Spirit. It’s honestly something I love about being a missionary because those little thoughts and promptings aren't for me but others. They aren't for my benefit at all. It is someone else's life that Heavenly Father is trying to help. I fully agreed this week with a quote by President Boyd K. Packer that says, “It is important for a … missionary … to know that the Holy Ghost can work through the Light of Christ. A teacher of gospel truths is not planting something foreign or even new into an adult or a child. Rather, the missionary or teacher is making contact with the Spirit of Christ already there. The gospel will have a familiar ‘ring’ to them.”

Everyday we are working harder to reach that Spirit of Christ in everyone. I know that it is true, because time and time again my mission has shown me the truth of this statement. I love you all so much and can't wait to see you guys for Christmas!!

Ponderize scripture is Proverbs 4:2 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. I am going to hit this last transfer with all I got!

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