Big Changes!

Some Pics of Goodbyes

Here are goodbye pictures! I said goodbye to all of these wonderful people of Zeballos Cué. All of the thumbs up is because it's just what people do here and it's kinda contagious......

1st pic:  Andreza Moreira, a recent convert who can't actually read. We went to her EVERY week to read from the Book of Mormon with her. A lot of times, we were almost falling asleep because it was just after lunch, but we never actually slept at her house! We persevered!

2nd pic: Hugo Rivas and his family. This man is a wonder. He's worked from nothing and still lives in a destitute area, but his kids go to a really good school and he's sacrificing for their future. He would come out on visits with us frequently and brought many into the fold. He's so wonderful.

3rd pic: Virgenio Caballero and Pablina Amarilla. Investigators who were awesome! He's the one who moved houses to live the law of chastity! They were so cool, but Hna. Pablina was sick that night, so she looks a little under the weather. They are so getting baptized! Must happen!

More Goodbyes!

Here are some more!

1st Pic: Some chamacoco youth! The one on the left is Juan Daniel (Dani) Vierci, and the other is Isabelino. Isabelino read his scriptures WITHOUT FAIL and they were there for sacrament meeting just about every Sunday.

2nd Pic: Gonzalo, Ester, y Fernandito. They were reactivating and I was giving Gonzalo piano lessons just before I left. They were super cool and I loved sharing the gospel with them. He's only 18, she's 17, and they're already expecting a second addition to the family! Crazy how things happen sometimes....

More!

More!

1st Pic: This is the Flia. Caballero. The Hna. Caballero reactivated while I was here, and I got to help out with that (she was an angel in my little choir of angels for the Christmas Pageant). They were so cool and would come out with us to do visits all the time. I loved being with them and they LOVED us to death. I think they loved all missionaries, but we really enjoyed our time together with them.

2nd Pic: Flia. Ramos. They reactivated with us as well, and it was so brilliant. She quit smoking in December and is now Primary President!!!! They love the scriptures and will be brilliant member-missionaries.

3rd Pic: Flia. Rodriguez. The Branch President and his family. We ate lunch there two times a week for pretty much my whole time there and they were cool. I'll miss them.

As many may have guessed by all the goodbye pictures, I left Zeballos Cué A! Not only that, but they moved me to open an area. Somewhere that used to be two areas, and now they're making it three areas. A magical land called Piro'y, in a city called Capiatá, just over an hour outside of Asunción. It's awesome.

I have some other big news. Unsuspectingly, a kind of short Peruvian man of 22 years of age stepped off of a plane a few days ago, with all the hopes of a missionary who set foot for the first time into the mission field. That missionary's name is Elder Gallegos. He is my firstborn son.

That's right! I'm training a brand new missionary! I'm so excited and he's so awesome! He's from Guanta, Ayacucho, Perú, and he's super cool. Super smart, he studied Industrial Engineering for two years before the mission.

I have like no time, but I'll say this, this area is brilliant, the members are kind, it's way wealthier, way bigger, and the houses are way more spread out than in Zeballos Cué. I love it already. We have a lunch appointment every day!!! Yes!!!!

Lots of work to be done too! This place is exploding with missionary work and this is a brilliantly strong ward with an amazing Bishop. Thank you all for your prayers! Enjoy a picture of Elder Gallegos!

And then one of the six missionaries of Barrio Piro'y! (plus our ward mission leader and a recent convert named Samuel AKA Samu).

Have a wonderful week everyone! I'll tell y'all a little more next week. ;)

The Last Week Of Change 5‏

Hello Folks!

Well, I dunno if all of you noticed, but this change, change number 5, was a pretty eventful one with a lot of ups and downs. But, all in all, it's been a beautiful change in which I've met wonderful people and helped acheive wonderful things. We have worked with many in efforts to help them reactivate and have searched hard for investigators. We have found some and are expecting their baptism in the following change. But, it ends this Thursday.

It would end Wednesday, but some worker's union is on strike, and so we're doing it Thurs. because public transit will be down for all of Wed.

But, you may be asking yourselves, "What happens to my beloved Elder this upcoming change? Will he be thrown out into the violent wilderness of the Chaco in one of four or five far off areas? Will he be fighting drug lords in the grand city of Pedro Juan Caballero? Will he stay in the same area for a sixth change (which would indeed be quite a long time)?"

Well, I don't know.

They haven't finished making changes, which is a bit unusual, and so I'll let you know next week. But, anything could happen. What are your bets? Do I go to a far off place that takes an 18 hour bus ride? Will I train a new Elder? Will I keep being District Leader? What say ye?

So, I just thought I'd write a little about the work.

Pablina was missing in action for more than a week..... I'm really worried now. Normally, when you have an investigator who's keeping their commitments and going to church and other such things, you see them like three times a week, so not seeing them once has been stressful.

We were found by a totally random person!

He's a man who has been a faithful member for a good chunk of his life. The missionary who baptized him had a father who was the governor of Utah, so shortly after his baptism, this man got to go to Utah.

He went through the temple, and was going to be sealed to his wife when tragedy struck. She cut things off with him and moved to Ciudad del Este, the only other city in Paraguay the size of Asunción. But, in the last year, he's found a new wife, is supporting his youngest children who live in another part of town, and now wants to start coming back to church. The miraculous thing is that his wife was baptized about thirteen years back by Elders who were apparently somewhat apostate and he really wants to bring her and her children back into the church. So, we're going to their house tonight to do an FHE and make tacos!!! FYI, no one knows what Mexican food is here, but the other Elder who baptized this member was Mexican, and apparently they made tacos tons like twenty years back, so we'll see how tonight goes. ;)

I love you all, you're so wonderful. Remember that there is always hope, In the darkest of situations, we can be assured that there is a dawn awaiting us because God is faithful. He will always deliver and we can always depend upon Him. The trick, then, is to be faithful in our dependence upon Him, rather than excusing our sins and sinful habits. Lets be strong!

Pte. Uchtdorf has a great quote that I've only read in Spanish, but it's something like, "let's not wait to be given permission to become the person we have always wanted to be." It's true. Lets not wait! Begin the path now and you will surprise yourself with how far you come.

Have a wonderful day.

Elder Harris.

That's all, Folks! 

Some pics!

More of our daily pictures. I hope you enjoy. :)

Subject

So, I want to apologize for a lot of seemingly random email subjects. I always intend to explain them, but then run out of time and just get the bare minimum out in the email. It's annoying. Sorry.

But this week's been great! 

My companion and I really have learned how to work a lot more and a lot better. We had crazy lesson numbers this week, just crazy. And this was good. Now, this week we want to get more lessons with active members present and we want to strengthen up this Branch a little. The Branch President and many of the members are really suffering some harsh family problems and we've just been kind of moving along with the work independent of the Branch, but it's time to solve that and strengthen Zion in all of her Stakes. So, I'll report back to you on that.

However, in the way of awesome people, our investigator Pablina had some awesome things happen this week. First and foremost, her boyfriend Virgenio moved out of the house so they could live the law of chastity! It's a miracle! Every missionary I've ever talked to has told me that it's impossible to have someone baptized from the situation they are in, but she's going to be baptized in three weeks because of this! He's moved to the area of the Assistants to the President, which is super Chuchi, so he gets the chapel which shares a parking lot with the temple and two of the finest missionaries in the mission as teachers. He's lucky. Pablina remained here and has accepted a date to be batpized between sessions of conference on Saturday, April 5th!!!! We might push that to the 12th so that she can be confirmed the day after her baptism, but it's going through!!! She has no barriers, and she's so humble and wants to come unto Christ! I look forward to helping her progress towards baptism for the short time I'll be here.

Also, Gonzalo came to church again! He's learning piano really fast. But, the cooles thing is that we met his girlfriend!!! She's only seventeen, but they have one child (about to have two) together and they have plans to be married. I know that the path they'll travel will be a tough one, but I know that they can grow and come to be sealed in a little over a year. I love them so much. We'll be visiting them both this week.

Stuff:

Zone Training!!! they dropped fat cane on daily planning. They showed me how to daily plan well and how to plan out a lesson more effectively. It takes a lot longer, but it really works, and because of it, we were working so much this week. I loved it. However, it means that we lost almost an entire day of work.

Then, the next day, we were moving boxes and had to sit in the back of a moving van... A sealed moving van... Without light...... An elder almost lost his eye from a package that slid back and smacked his face. I include pictures of this trip. :)

Furthermore, we've begun another stake choir, which means we lose all time on Sundays, but I get incredibly enjoyable choral training for a limited time from a man who knows well. It was brilliant.

So, that's my life and happenings. I'll keep you all informed of other things that go on. Feel free to send me wonderful things or demand pictures. I'm always up for sending more!

Also, the last picture is a Book of Mormon story. Which one?

I love you all,

Elder Harris

Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself‏

Hello dear loved ones! How are you all?

This week in Paraguay was a little hotter than last. But, things are starting to settle down to be a cool, pleasant autumn in the Heart of America.

This week was tough for me. For some reason, I just wasn't operating well, and I was really discouraged in the start of the week. I just felt really down on myself and I think I've just always struggled to feel good about my work at anything in life. The result: actually poorer work. Discouragement just breeds bad things, like less diligence. However, on Thursday, I did my very first division with the only other companionship of Elders in my whole District, and that changed things. 

During this division, I was with an Elder who has much more time in the mission and probably knows much better than I on a variety of missionary subjects. I always feel like he should be my leader when I'm with him... But, what I was going to say is that we did this division so I could give a baptismal interview to one of his investigators. And it was a truly rejuvenating experience. The sister was incredibly prepared and it was a great opportunity to see someone's faith grow and flourish and I loved seeing her reach this point. She was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday, and she will be the means of a great deal of good in San Jorge Ward.

At the end of that division, I tried to fulfill my responsibilities as a leader and evaluate our day and efforts, and the Elder really lifted my spirits. He told me I was a truly good District Leader and I left that division feeling wonderful.

After that day, I started to take some time to find ways to keep spirits up, to keep focused on the Lord's work and determined to do His will. I found success and have been able to do much more and in much more efficient ways.

A little bit about people we're working with:

Virgenio and Pablina: New investigators we met almost two weeks ago. They are an unmarried couple who are living together who are truly humble and want to change their lives and circumstances. Virgenio works 12 hour security guard shifts every day without break, but he's trying to find other work so he can come to church. He really wants to have a different life, be renewed. And the Hna. Pablina actually came to church this Sunday! It was so good to see her there. The situation here is one that most missionaries would see as impossible though, because Pablina has a husband who separated from her years ago. So, in order to marry Virgenio and be baptized, she'd need a divorce. Divorces cost a ton here (really it's not much more than 1,000$, but that's a huge amount for the people here). So, it's very possible that they'll be investigating for the better part of this year before baptism, but I have absolute faith that the Branch will come together and get them the help they need to continue on the path towards baptism, no matter how long it takes.

Gonzalo: He's an 18 year-old inactive member who has a child (the child is almost 2 years old). He was baptized when 14 years-old and was a faithful member for over a year, but then fell. Now, he's an incredibly talented person who can operate film cameras, choreograph dance, sing and play music in some professional capacities, and is finishing highschool on an accelerated path so that he can get into some higher education. He too came to church on Sunday and I've actually been giving him some basic piano lessons as a way of helping him want to come to church more. We're hoping to help him to improve his situation and receive the priesthood to be a stronger father and a more capable provider for his son. I think we really can acheive much, but the true test with him comes when I leave and there are no more piano lessons. I don't think he's just been coming for the piano, because he's shown so much sincere interest to grow closer to God, but we're definitely going to need to work on developing a desire to meet with us as a way to love God and the gospel.

Those are the two biggest ones for right now. However, we found some really solid new investigators this week, one of whom has a Capuchin monkey as a pet. We just saw it sitting outside of the house. They're really oddly human.

But, the work sallies forth! Today we're planning on swordfighting (yes, my companion actually used to swordfight before the mission with exaggeratedly cushioned sticks, and so we've fought already up on the roof). Stay tuned for more pictures and adventures next time!

I love you all.

Sincerely,

Elder Harris

Repentance

Hello wonderful family and friends! I want to say thank you for your letters this week, they were a blessing and gave me peace. I love you all so much.

This week was interesting! We've been working really hard to find some new investigators to help progress, however, my companion and I have had some adventures, and needed to change ourselves a bit in order to overcome some struggles. 

Adventure first: Elder Merrell entered the area having daily nosebleeds that ran like a faucet from his face. They were pretty bad. We procured some cream to help things out in there and hopefully heal whatever had broken in his indoor plumbing, but it was to no avail. So, the nurse organized a hospital visit for us.

We went in and the doctor didn't speak English, so I had to explain things to my companion, and once we'd sorted everything out, he said this exactly:

"Okay, entonces, tenemos que cauterizarla."

I dunno if you guys know what cauterizing is, but it's when you burn a blood vessel closed using fire, or chemicals, or electricity. Well, we went back to the lobby to go pay, and on the way, I told my comp a little bit about what was going on, but at the time, I wasn't aware that you could do electrical cauterizations, so I was foggy on the details as to not freak out Elder Merrell. Well, we got back, and I asked how it'd be done, and then the doctor showed us his big pair of tweezers that had bright metal tips, or as my companion would describe, malicious metal tips. He was super freaked out, but we swore it wouldn't hurt. 

They injected the inside of his nose with anesthesia, and then stick the tweezers into the nostrol where his vein had burst open, and nothing happened. Then, I saw the doctors foot press down on a pedal and my comp jerked back in pain.... I didn't know what to think because the doctor just kept saying that it wouldn't hurt, so I must say that I was pretty amused by the odd situation (I mean, the doctor was wearing that weird reflective head thingy, so it was kinda comical looking), but Elder Merrell later said that it was the worst pain he ever felt in his life. For good reason too, he just had a vein seared shut by a hot electric rod.

He's absolutely fine now by the way. The bleeds stopped immediately.

As far as the week goes, we slackened our strength for a time at the start, and a lot of it was because of discouragement. But, the second half of the week, we defied discouragement with the healing power of Christ. We took hope and worked with the honest belief that there is so much good that we can and will do with our efforts. We worked with greater passion and greater faith. It was in this time that I began to pray for a greater change of heart and greater trust, and we just went to our visits and worked with that trust that God would take care, and He did. He provided us with more successes that we'd hoped for and helped us to acheive more. I know that with His help, we can undo the mistakes we make, recently and in the long stretches of past that loom over us at times.

I read the April 2013 Ensign in English today, and I want to testify of what so many have before me. I know that Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior suffered all the consequences of death and hell, but more importantly, that He overcame them. Any who believe that happiness is far from them must know that Christ felt your sorrow and pain, and has happiness anyways. He can undo all pain and suffering you have felt. I know that you can join the Heavens on the morning of the Resurrection of the Just and enjoy a life free from the pains of this one. Let us fulfill the purpose of our creation and have joy, through Christ the Lord who enables us to do so.

I love you all, have a wonderful day.

Sincerely,

Elder Harris

PS my compa and I take a pic every day before leaving. Here are a couple! The prize goes to whom guesses what famous art piece we're trying to imitate in the second.