Shortest Week Ever‏

I'm so sorry everyone!!!! There's only an hour this week and on top of that I lost like almost thirty minutes of time to a survey. But! Some amazing things have been going on this week!

The big, awesome things that are going on are the following:

Yesterday, we had a total of 12 less-active members in Church. That was amazing. One family is a couple of recent converts who were baptized in September but haven't come to Church since early January. They came yesterday and we have such great hopes for them! It was after a lot of striving and visits, but this week they just up and started to keep the commitments we extended them throughout the week, and then came to Church on Sunday.

There was a new Less-active man who came and was very sincere. It was Ward Conference, so the Stake President was very involved in all of the meetings, and he pulled forward this middle-aged man (named Eudelio) who sincerely confessed that he feels empty as he's not been in Church for so long, and that he came that day to be filled. It was beautiful to hear without eloquence but with so much sincerity.

I was able to play piano for a youth choir that sang during Sacrament meeting, and it went very well. We were happy.

This week has been good, as I said, but I find that I've been losing slowly the Charity that I was learning to obtain. Negativity has a way of finding footholds and creeping into our minds and hearts, and I think I've been kind of hard on my companion for lack of the merciful perspective that we take when we love sincerely. So, this week's focus is on being kind, merciful, and have a pure love and charity in my heart.

And that's the invitation for everyone! It's a busy time of year for anyone who's studying, but I hope that everyone can find some way to serve those around them this week.

Also! To the family:

The Mother's Day call is next week! I can do it Friday May 8th, Saturday May 9th, or Sunday May 10th. I think that Saturday or Sunday would be best for all of you guys, but let me know what you think! I'll take all responses privately and write next Monday to let you all know the day and the time that I'll be logged in to see everyone and wish you all my love!

With Love,

Elder Harris

Work, And Hopefully Diligence

Good Afternoon All!

Paraguay is going nuts with the weather here. It's sometimes cool and nice, then the temperature drops and it gets way rainy, and then the sun jumps out and it's hot and humid. The result is a lot of carrying an umbrella when there's absolutely no apparent need for one, and then immense gratitude that I brought an umbrella a couple of hours later when it's raining cats and dogs. ;)

This week has been good. It's been the first week since I've been out in the field with substantial uninterrupted work (although there were still a couple of interruptions). The only things that stood in the way were the Tuesday Zone Temple Trip!!!! It was so great! Also, awesome to get to go to the temple twice in five days. I have such a testimony of the temple and what we do there. It's absolutely straight from Heaven and I know that those are real covenants and ordinances of the Gospel that we do there. After the temple, we had a beautiful testimony meeting, where some Nivaclé youth who will be leaving on missions soon bore testimonies. Oh yeah, remember me emailing about Nivaclé youth? Those same youth have had their calls for a while and will be heading to the Buenos Aires MTC in early May. So cool! 

After the testimony meeting, we ate pizza and watched the success video and a video that Elder Milton made about house maintenance. It was funny to see these things and not have had anything to do with them. Nice work Elder Milton. :)

And then there was the work. :)

We were able to find a couple of new investigators this week! One of them had a really good, spiritual experience with the video: "Because He Lives" and we shared quite a bit about baptism and the Restoration. She accepted everything wonderfully. Her only real trial is that she's now with a man who does not like religion at all. But she's married to another man with whom she's separated but never divorced, so things there will probably have to end anyways..... We'll see. That's something to worry about AFTER she has a firm testimiony of the Restored Gospel.

There's one family of incorrigibly inactive recent converts who never have a reason to not go and always seem desirous to change and come into activity when we visit. I don't know what we're doing wrong to not be able to gain their confidence. One night, when we didn't have time to share anything, but I had all the ingredients to make some good ol' American holiday hot chocolate (just means it's flavored up with nutmeg and cloves and other deliciousness), we even sat down and made them all cocoa and then just up and left. Result: they love us to death, and respect us a lot as missionaries, but still don't trust us enough to tell us what impedes them from coming to Church. I'm puzzled.

However, the parents of the mom are starting to listen to us, and there's hope that if we can get the WHOLE FAMILY to start coming, they'll all stay active.... But, we'll be praying and fighting a lot for that to happen, and proceeding with caution.

As a missionary, we try and work a lot, but I often feel a little self-conscious about how much I'm able to work. I'm always looking at how much we could work and comparing it to how much we do, or even how effective and strong the work we put out is. It's so easy to see imperfections and weaknesses, and I personally have a tendency to view these mistakes as sins. But I was reminded to read an article in the April Liahona (Ensign) about the difference between weakness and sin, and understanding how to overcome weaknesses helps me not to be so hard on myself for not serving perfectly. I know that we all have weaknesses and that we all choose incorrectly at times, but I know that God's grace uplifts us and strengthens us to overcome. It often doesn't come as we think it would. I always thought that God would help me and make eating difficult foods easy for me, but I still feel the exact same amount of anxiety as I used to when someone puts a plate in front of me. God more often than not strengthens us to be able to overcome the weakness instead of taking it away. So, I'm hoping for greater diligence this week, and praying for even more results.

I love this work though! This is a wonderful place with wonderful people and we're starting to scratch the surface! I hope that everyone can participate in the glory of this work and enjoy it thoroughly.

I love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Harris

P.S. There was a wedding in the Ward, and we got permission to stay out a little later to see it. :)

The first picure is of the ceremony (only ever done by a judge, oddly enough).

The second is of Gustavo Cantero, the coolest Recent Convert ever (alongside Sofía) who worked the night as proffessional bussboy (I think that's how it's spelled.....).

Possibly the Greatest Week of My Mission‏

Good Afternoon Everyone!

Che Avy'a!

Means I'm happy.

Why?

This week was what might very well be the single greatest week in my entire mission. There have been so many incredible blessings that have occurred in this week that I cannot contain my joy when I think about it. I think I'll go in order of greatest in joy and incredibility.

First: 

Temple trip.

With Sofía Ortiz.

To Receive her endowments.

And Elder Brown and his entire family were there!

I couldn't believe that it actually happened! This internet shop here is being weird and not letting me send pictures wel, but I have a wonderful picture. Elder Brown has been off of his mission a whole year now, so I guess at some point I'll have to start referring to him as Caiden, but we'll see about that...... In any case, it was the most spiritual experience I have ever had. The happiest I've ever felt in one single moment up until now in my life. Being with Sofía in the Celestial Room of the temple was so amazing. And then being there with her and with Elder Brown.... It kind of just felt like being in Heaven and bumping into all of these amazing people who've changed my life and whom I've been able to help. I loved that moment.

Second:

I have a new companion! I'm still here in Del Maestro A, but now my companion is Elder Requelme, from Cajamarca, Perú! That's way up in the mountains. I'm really grateful for the opportunity to serve with him, because he's really excited to get out and work and wants to learn so many things. So, we're working hard and trying to do what's right out here in the Ward.

Third:

We have had some small Retention success with one family: The Familia Cantero. They are solid in the Church, but the mom of the family was going through some difficulties with her testimony. She hadn't read in The Book of Mormon since her baptism about seven months ago, and so she was starting to fall away into not really believing in the Book at all. So, we invited her to start reading again and to really seek revelation in General Conference, and she's now halfway through Second Nephi. She just sought out the time to read when there's peace and quiet in the house, and when she reads like that and really understands what she's reading, it fills her with the Spirit and enlightens her mind. She knows the doctrine so much better and feels invigorated with the Gospel every day that she gets a solid chunk of time to read. I loved hearing that so much and I testify to everyone out there, be they missionary or parent or teacher in the Gospel, that the invitations that you extend to help people repent and be firmer in the Gospel are valuable and do a lot to bless the lives of those you teach. It was a beatiful blessing.

Other than that, we're looking for people to teach and trying to do things well. We have a lot of faith and a lot of prayers, and so I know that the Lord will guide us to those people who will be ready to receive this Gospel and come unto the waters of Baptism or the light of activity.

I love this work and testify of its fruits. There is no greater joy than in this Gospel, and that joy is manifest when our love for another helps them come closer to God by making covenants. That is why missionary work is so special and so unique. It is all our work.

I love you all, and wish you a great week also!

Love, 

Elder Harris

By the way, today was a biz Zone Activity. The first picture is of my companion, the the others show what we were up to today. ;)

All Is Well‏

I love the words of that hymn. It really is an indication that if we keep ourselves engaged in the Work, keep ourselves willing and dedicated to accept God's will whatever it may be, and if we seek the good of our brethren here, then all really is well and we've nothing to fear, nor doubt, nor despair.

This week has been a good one. I did two back-to-back divisions on Wednesday, Thursday, and a good half of Friday as well. One was with Elder Fortney in Kokueré (Elder Fortney is my District Leader). It was good, and was a nice experience to grow together. And then the other was with ELDER DAY! a good friend (and my current Zone Leader), in his area, CAPIATÁ B! So, I just got to tour the old area for a day and a half. It was really nice, although it was on Thursday, when every living soul in the cities go and visit their grandmas out in the country, so all the plans were falling through and it was kind of difficult. On Friday, we got up and went out to give service in the old Asentamiento, the poor part. A group called "Techo para mi país" (a roof for my country) came by to build a member's house and another person's house. The houses come build, and so you just kind of have to assemble (think Ikea but on a bigger scale). So, without machines, we had to carry heavy walls across some odd 200 meters of hill, full of obstacles, trench-like dirt gutters, and sand. That was nuts. But, we helped them move and assemble the house for the people we'd never met, and looked at the clock, and realized that we had to go before even being able to help the members out. So, we got the other people up from the break that they'd done, did all the heavy lifting part of the work, and skipped town. It was very nice though.

Another nice thing about this week:

Chipa.

Chipa is a traditional paraguayan food that I don't like from the street, but I love it when it's doen either professionally or home made. I LOVE it in those cases. It's also Paraguay's Holy Week tradition to get together and make it as a family, so I have eaten enough chipa this week to last me the rest of my life!!!! Which is miraculous, because it's also just crazy unhealthy (I'm pretty sure it contains straight pig fat at some point in the creation process).

So, that made it a good week.

What made it a great week was

GENERAL CONFERENCE!

I loved this Gen Con. I felt so strengthened by their words, and the more I study and listen, the more I'm starting to feel the truth of all of this. The testimony I have resonates so powerfully with what they communicate to us, and it serves as a powerful assurance that keeps me firm in what I'm doing. I hope that I can keep strong in the faith and continue growing more humble and more constant in the faith.

Because of these things, I wasn't really able to work much in my area. No investigators or anyone came to Conference, although I did get to see Elder Monzón's parents! They are really great people, and his dad is actually the first or second counselor in our mission presidency, so it was nice to get to chat with him again.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful week and that everyone can review the conference and set those personal goals to be able to live the Gospel so much more fully in the next six months. We have some wonderful opportunities with the talks that were given.

I love you all.

Sincerely,

Elder Harris

P.S. I have some pictures to send! One of myself and my companion on our first day together and another one just of me in the new house. Just to prove that I'm still alive and am actually the person writing you all. ;)