A Spirit of Gratitude

Buenas Tardes a Todos!

Autumn has arrived and it hit with force. Paraguay is landlocked, so the weather can change completely between two days. A pretty warm week on Monday-Wednesday turned into the coldest cold I've experience on the mission until today, which was sunnier, but is still cold. It's only ever in like the 50s or every once in a while the high 40s, which really just is not cold, but with the humidity, you feel it so much more. You have to bundle yourself up so much more to fight it. It's weird. The colder cold hurts worse and pierces and stings, but without humidity, you can evade and escape it better. This cold isn't so painful, but it's is so much more present. Also, no houses have heating, those poor people! They just bundle up with blankets! It's so sad.

Okay, news this week:

Paola:

We had a lesson where we actually talked with HER. Her aunt, Diana, who was baptized at the start of May, has been the only one responding to us in all of the lessons, but we finally got to listen to her (even if it required some rebukes directed towards Diana). It went well. We established that her date should be pushed back a week (now it's the 7th of June), and that little Paola has felt pretty bad from a couple of our visits. It was a humbling visit and I realized that we've been failing a number of people in a number of ways. We will be able to do a lot better this week though. However, it was very productive, and we felt the Spirit and were edified. She's really good and works hard at gaining her testimony.

Natalia Castellani:

Yes! I finally get to put a new name on here! So many people have come and gone and it's just been a really frustrating couple of weeks as far as work goes. But, she called out to us and asked us to come share with her the week before yesterday, and even though we were with the Relief Society President who needed to go home because it was getting dark and we were in a dangerous place, we sat down and had a short lesson. She has three children, one who is in high school, and two little ones who run around quite a bit. She's single and her little family has a lot of medical issues. She was about to be baptized when her boyfriend at the time threatened to leave and take the kids with him if she did. So, she has a testimony of everything and really wants to come to church again because she loves it and, in short, she has received three lessons in total and it's been great. Her date is set for the 28th of June! Let's go to work!

Those are the two most important. No one was in church this Sunday (the attendance was 33 people when normally it's around 90), and that's because of the inclement weather.

There's a lot of temptation to complain a lot and not like the weather, and there are a lot of accompanying difficulties, but I've been trying to not let anything give me a bad attitude ever. That's kind of a goal in life. All things contribute to happiness, nothing contributes to sadness. All things are a gift, especially challenges. I'm not saying to be specifically and individually grateful for everything, but if we, as President Uchtdorf urges, have a spirit of gratitude, we will be happy. We will. I know it.

One more thing:

In my personal study I was looking up love in the Topical Guide and I had a realization; Jesus Christ tells His disciples maybe twice ever (as far as is recorded) that He loves them. And yet, they feel so much love and affection from the Saviour. The deduction? Jesus occupied so much more of His time and efforts showing His love with actions or with other words. People felt His love whether or not they heard His personal testimony of it. Can the same be said of us? Jesus Christ asked us, "As I have loved you, love one another." We should follow His example. Do something this week! Show your love! Be a little more thoughtful, a little more kind, and really gain a deep love for those around. You will feel your heart grow and greater happiness will follow.

May you all have a wonderful day.

Elder Harris

An Arrow to the Knee

All you lovely people!

I hope your weeks have been great.

Mine has been! In spite of certain physical setbacks......

Last Monday, in playing soccer, I fell like four times directly onto my left knee and was left deprived of pretty much all the skin that was previously covering that part of my body. That soccer field was left with some deep gashes as well, but it's been an incredibly enjoyable experience to pour alcohol on that. You guys will see the videos of me shouting when I come home. It's not pretty.

Well! This week was a good one. We were able to find some pretty great new people, but I'll send you more updates about them when we can get some more lessons with them. Unfortunately, the finding process can be pretty bumpy, so I don't want to get you guys all attached to some people that I've only seen once or twice, but I have high hopes! We have like four complete families that have some awesome potentials! I'm excited.

In terms of long-time investigators, Paola López, the neice of Diana, came to church and her baptism is pretty set for the 31st. It's going to be great and a huge tool to help other investigators be baptized, and that really makes me happy. Some people were already asking if they could see a baptism.

Your little missionary is finally growing up! This week we were managing ourselves much more capably and we did some good work. It was joyous. There are a number of other cool things about this week:

Service Project!!! A super awesome member named César Fernández asked us to come by and prune a big tree. He had no ladder, so the task was left to their Big Friendly Giant {yours truly} almost entirely. I pruned that thing to death! No, not really, but it feels pretty violent when you're hacking at branches wildly with a machete. Some of them were pretty big and it took a ton of effort, but it was awesome. And afterwards, he treated me to a breakfast of an egg white that he whipped, and then added the yolk with some sugar and cinnamon and continued whipping for forever. It was an egg from his own chickens too. I thought I was going to get salmonella for sure, but everyone assured me that it's fine.

It was! It actually tasted really good. So remember! If you have your own eggs (none of that store-bought stuff, cuz that's what has the salmonella as I was repeatedly assured) you can just whip that business right up and drink it and it tastes really good.

Okay, we also had Ward Conference this week, in which we had a choir! Yay! I love choirs. That choir, however, robbed us of LOTS of missionary time, so I'm kinda relieved that we won't be going to practices anymore. Ward Conference was wonderful and our Stake President is a man I admire a whole bunch. He's only like 32 or something like that too, which is young, but he has a huge love of missionary work and talks about his mission in Chile all the time. It was a great conference.

My companion replaced his feet! We were able to get him his special orthopedic foot products and he can walk like never before. I think that it's helped him have a lot more desire to work and stay out there  And we're done going into the South Mission! No more trips to the forbidden land of danger!

Other than that.... I have a haircut today.

This week will be really good as far as the work goes and I have some crazy stories to tell you all next week. Expect to hear more about investigators, inactive members, and recent converts!

I love you all. Have a wonderful week!

Elder Harris

Pictures!

A Sizable Update

Hello All!

No, not every week can have an exciting subject line. This week I have to give you all some info and some pictures! So, the writing will be short, but the update big.

Last week, we got our changes. I totally forgot to mention such a happening. But, some interesting things happened. The other Elders here in Piro'y Ward left, and the area was redivided between us and the Hermanas. Because of that, our District shrank down to just the four of us, and I'm now the leader of this tiny little district. I'm happy about that, because I like leadership and I enjoy helping other missionaries work hard and improve. However, I now know for certain that callings in the church mean NOTHING about rank or personal acheivement. We work with numbers a lot out here in the field, and to look at my numbers for this last change..... You'd think I were a Macanero (disobedient missionary). On the other hand, if you look at the Hermanas on the other side of the street, they are doing stellar! It's kind of frustrating, but we're working hard and this change will be so much better. Especially now that we have more population. But, the point is, I am not leader over here because I'm great. I'm not great as far as output goes right now. Sometimes God has other purposes in mind for putting people into leadership, and I think this is something we should all appreciate a little more in the church. Down with pride! 

In any case, I am happy and happy to learn and grow.

After that, I wanted to let you guys know about some of Recent Converts with whom we're working:

Samuel Menchaca: He was baptized this last March. 17 Years Old and turns eighteen this year. He's going through a pretty rough time and really needs a lot of help. He's on a pretty bad path, and his baptism was a step in the right direction, but he's still pretty at risk, so we're putting up a big fight to keep him in the gospel.

Familia Cristaldo: Wilfrida, a really independent woman who I believe to be a lawyer and then her 17 year-old son (maybe he's only 16). There is a dad in home, but he's not a member and is practically never home. We're just trying to help them keep up their first year of activity and really integrate into the ward. No one should be lost.

César: 17 year-old who was baptized the same day as Diana. I'm not going to lie, I don't know him all that well, but he's cool and we'll enjoy our time together.

Gilberto: 16 year-old who ONLY SPEAKS GUARANI. I have no idea how I'm going to learn Guarani on top of all of the other stuff we have to do, but with the help of members and my Father in Heaven, I'm excited for the challenge!!!

Guillermina: An old grandma who got lost in the change of missionaries who was baptized less than a year ago. She can't come to church for lack of ability to walk and we're trying to help her out. We need to get the Sacrament out to her really badly.

Okay! Other than that, here are some pictures! Yay baptism!

Birthtism the Sequel!‏

Hello Family!

So! I think I ought to let you all know that the baptism happened last week! And it also fell on the birthday of he who performed the baptism! That's two of the three baptisms of my mission where there is an important coinciding birthday. I think that's how we'll start inviting people to be baptized on certain dates, where there's a birthday coming up.

The baptism went very well, and though it started late, two youth were baptized. I felt the Spirit testifying of the truthfulness of this work. We take people, even people who are content and satisfied, people who have their own religions and find strength and fortitude in God, and we show these people that there is even more than what they have known. It is beautiful and so real.

But yes! Diana Rodriguez was baptized by Ronald Rolòn and it went very smoothly. There were lots of rambunctious youth and after the baptism (and after the refreshments were done being eaten) what do they decide is the best thing to do? Why, obviously it's to mix raw ingredients (molasses, hot sauce, 100% cocoa powder, etc.) in a cup and start forcing people to drink it. I'm somehow reminded of several incidents that involved a certain older sisterof mine.......

That turned out to be kind of a bad idea, as I had been eating a lot of my own cookie dough that day, cookie dough which contained sour milk as an ingredient..... I feel better now, but I'll certainly never feel the same way about fried banana strips and Honduran stew (one of the Hermanas is from Honduras and made some food for the baptism)....

Actually, the food was delicious.

On the way down.

Never eat anything with small chunks of potatoes directly after anything that might potentially make you ill.

In other news!

I forgot my camera cord, so no pictures today.

This week held lots of good things. On Wednesday, there was a Fireside with an Area Seventy from down here. He asked that we bring all less active members and investigators possible, and our ward came out in force! It was awesome! We had Diana, and like 5 youth from the Asentamiento (poor part of town) there and it was a great experience. The following day, that same Seventy and his wife gave us a long Zone Training Meeting. He dropped cain on some of our habits and urged us to use the wonderful tools we have as missionaries. I really took what he said to heart. 

His wife really worked with us on how to pray. I realized the power and tool that is prayer and I absolutely love her suggestions. Good prayers have a unique quality of changing us, and our communication with God should be important to us. I've started to think about what I want to say and how I want to say it. I've started to pray harder and work more to acheive those prayers. God is faithful, and I know it.

Also, this Seventy is none other than Elder Wilhelm, whom I met back home because they are close friends of grandma and grandpa Harris! It's a very small world! I was really happy to meet them again.

That's all for this week! I love you all and wish you well! Know that you are in my prayers!

Love,

Elder Harris

Hobbits

If any of you remember, one of the remarkable qualities of hobbits is their feet. They have sturdy feet that can endure anything. They are also short and enjoy food. My companion, while being short and raving about the beauty of Peruvian food, is sadly not a hobbit. Because of some delicate foot problems, we had to go to a traumatologist on Wednesday to see about some insoles for his shoes. The doctor's office lies about an hour and fifteen minutes into the South Mission. The doctor wasn't there on Wednesday.

So! We went back on Friday. Both of these trips were after waking up sometime around four 'o' clock a.m. and began with me hanging out of the front door of a packed bus for the first few minutes. I mean that literally. So many people in one bus that the only way we can board is if I stick my toes on and hang out the door. Once you do get in, there ceases to be anything holy or consecrated about the principle of personal space. I think the wind carries it away when you're hanging out the door.

After the doctor's visit, we had to walk another twenty minutes and find out that the insoles cost 150$! That's money that the mission will cover, but it still sucks to take it from them.

This sounds like complaint, but it was actually pretty fun and I'm glad that I have the experience. We got to see the city! It's bustling and cool and we don't have anything similar in the North Mission, and it was fun to walk on those streets a little.

Other news:

I kinda took charge of a youth choir that we're putting together for a Ward Conference on the 18th of May, and it's coming along in an interesting way. I have never played a piano and sung an accompaniment part at the same time (let alone in Spanish), and it's really, really difficult. I have to have everyone stop sometimes to get a grip on what it is I am doing. We practice on Wednesdays and Fridays, and it's fun.

The work:

Well, we lost time and struggled to use time effectively, and the result is that we didn't actually get a whole lot done, but these things are happening:

Sebastian told us he doesn't want to know anything more about the church. It's because he's really struggling with a lot of personal things right now, like having recently been released from prison, and he doesn't want to expend the extra effort. I wasn't pleased by this, but I respected his decision and let him know that if he ever has any questions or wants help that we're here.

We found one interesting new person, but I'm reluctant to tell you guys about her until we've had more lessons and her family proves to be real, long-term investigators.

Diana Rodriguez officially made the decision to be baptized this Saturday! She's super happy about that decision as well. We have the baptism planned, and will be having a Family Home Evening tonight to get her mother's approval in handwriting. It's so awesome! She's going to be baptized this Saturday! In Elder Gallegos very first change he found someone, taught her, and taught her all the way up to her baptism just before the end of the change! It will be so wonderful.

As far as my personal progress goes, I've really gained a thirst to know Christ better, and to be near to Him. So, I've been reading a lot about His mortal ministry and His time among the Nephites. It's so wonderful. Today, for the first time, I was able to read a passsage of scripture and really feel the words of the Savior, His gentleness and love radiating from the pure doctrine He spake. I love my Savior and I do this because of Him. This is His word, His power. He is the vine, and I strive every day to be a branch of that vine. I know that I am weak, but in Christ I can be perfected, remembering always His atonement and His living, abounding work for me. I bear my witness that Jesus is The Christ, and I invite all to come unto Him.

In the church, sometimes our focus falls and we fail to realize the real meaning of what we do. Please, read through the sacramental prayers and note where we promise always to remember the Savior. Always remember the Savior. Keep Him in your mind. If you feel you must know Him better, search the scriptures, search the Father, the Spirit will speak to you in those instances and bear witness of the Messiah. I know these things are true, and I know that Christ has declared His way. It is now perfection, but it is to keep His commands, His ordinances, and to serve with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. Please, take note, and follow Him even as a few fisherman, a tax manager, some followers of a prophet, and the friends of these men did in Galilee. Come unto Him from the crowd as Nephi did and come before Him to kiss His feet and arise to receive His word. I know He is the Way and the Life of all those who would seek the Kingdom of Heaven. This is His kingdom upon the earth. 

I know it.

Elder Harris