Absolutely No One Is Expecting What's Happening Right Now

Ahem,

I feel like the title of this email is significantly self-explanatory. I really doubt that any of you were ready for this. This is happening for a very specific, unforeseen change that has gone on.

I'm a filing cabinet.

Literally, the term for what I have been made in the mission is the "fichero," which  means filing cabinet in Spanish. I take care of all kinds of files and reports for the mission and take care of all of the houses. It's what's being called an office elder, where I work from 10:00 to (if we're lucky!) 4:30 Monday through Friday in the Mission Office  Therefore, P-days cannot be Mondays, so they have to be Saturdays! Yay!

That means we get to go to the zoo at some point! Woo hoo!

So, to finish things up about last week, I'm now in the office, I am in a super ridiculously chuchi Ward called Campo Grande, back in Asunción Norte where I began! I'm seriously right close to where I began my mission, which means I'm back close to SOFÍA!!!! That's going to be awesome. She still hasn't come by to pay me a visit, but it is going to be great.

The office is pretty much awesome. At this point in life, there are two poles to me:

1. The ridiculously goofy sarcastic nerd

2. The more serious leadership get stuff done kinda guy.

Here in the office the two are extremely aggrandized into being perfected. The office life with the other Elders is immensely goofy and filled with nerdliness, whereas negotiating house contracts with super mean landlords who try to rip you off is bringing out the leadership guy. And, the time that we get to work is super awesome. Super difficult to have ANY investigators or lessons, but we're managing and trying to find some people. This week we were actually able to get out and work every day after change day (or rather, the last two days), and I'm enjoying it. There's the temptation to be like the Customer Service people I worked with at Sears and Shopko and just hate everyone, but that's not really my thing and we're definitely keeping charity a part of the office. My companion in these adventures is Elder Billings, who is training me on how to be a filing cabinet. The office itself is full of ridiculousness that I enjoy IMMENSELY. For example, the four different office Elders have some competitiveness, but none greater than the Fichero, who is KOTO- King Of The Office, who has a special rolley chair (better than all the rest) called the Throne, and access to things like the pig (it's oinks sound oddly real). I sit next to the Cartero, Elder Crandall, who gets mail and many other things, when Elder Billings leaves, I'll be companion with the Secretario, Elder Valenzuela (who's sister I knew before the mission from Highschool), and then inside of a glass cubicle we have the Financiero, Elder Salazar, who will be finishing his mission from within the confines of his crystal vacuole.

Such is life! Enjoy pictures of the despedida with Capiatá!

Love,

Elder Harris

 The other one is my very own despedida in Capiatá, the youth all got together to say goodbye to me. It was fun. :)

1st one is saying goodbye to Hna. Pelicó of Guatemala, she went home.

 The second is with Pablina Cañete, whose family we began to teach. She's the only member in her family and was inactive, I hope she's well now. :)

No. ! is with Hno. Gil, who is the Ward Mission Leader over there, crazy Argentine!

In the Dark

A picture of Elder Ninja Harris

The subject line this week is entirely dedicated to my annoyance at the fact that they refuse to tell us what our changes are until tomorrow. I want to know what's going to happen! It's possible that I'll be hundreds of kilometers away in two days and I don't even know it! Also, everyone's really anxious to know what's going to happen this change, but, as I said, we will have no word on the matter until tomorrow, so none of you will have word until next week. Feel free to imagine for yourselves that I've been transferred to far off paradises or jungle adventures or that I'm staying and my companion will be Batman. Who knows!

This week we had a pretty good week with helping people out, but not as much fruits as I would've liked. Half of the Familia Ughelli-Ayala came to church, the mother, and one of the highschool age sons, and the little two year-old. That was wonderful. We also had our....... talk with the parents about the Law of Chastity and left them smiling thinking about on what date they would like to be married. The unfortunate thing is that if they don't have a date today, we're actually going to have to set one with them then and there, but I'm happy that they continue happy and willing to listen and progress in the Gospel. If I don't stay, I hope that Elder Panaifo does and gets to see them baptized.

We had a super great lesson with Bro. Benitez this week in which both the Ward Mission Leader (Hermano Gil, yes, those of you who speak Spanish, Gil really is his last name) and his assistant (Hermano Bustos) were present. Hermano Gil is a crazy Argentine and was super addicted to cigarettes, but now is going on 25 years since he gave up smoking and that was a big help to Bro. Benitez. That was so awesome! But...... They didn't come to church I don't know why still, but I will find out.

Last night, the last lesson was so epic! This week, we found an inactive Sister by way of a super awesome Brother here, Brother César Fernandez (his name is Julio César and we play with that a lot).  She has an awesome testimony, but has been inhibited her entire life by her once abusive husband. She says that he's now calmed down a lot, so we're hoping that things happen. Anways, we had our second lesson with her last night, and her fully grown son was there too, and so we started to talk with him and find out what his history with God and the Church is and he was actually a really good guy. So, we shift gears and decide to share with him the lesson of the Restoration, because that'll help his mom out as well, and it was super awesome. He didn't really get where we were going at first, but accepted it all as truth because we backed it all up with the Bible, and then we got to the Great Apostasy and he, as a Catholic, started to think about things. And then he was a little lost thinking about where the truth was until we hit him hard with the Restoration and he was just overwhelmed. He was so happy. He literally asked us, "What can we do to let the world know about this?" That was my favorite question that I have ever been asked by an investigator. And so, we'll be seeing more of him.... Or maybe not. I hate not knowing if I'm staying or not..... :(

But, that was this week! The work goes on and I keep fighting to find and teach and bring people to the waters of baptism, or the warm re-welcome into the active membership of the Church. Elder Panaifo has become a fully finished and furbished Elder ready for his next challenge and we shall see what becometh of him in the future. My other "son," Elder Gallegos fares well and is working hard, so we keep on. 

Have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Harris

The Second To Last???

So, this last week was possibly the second to last week of my time here in Capiatá. I really don't know because they won't tell me what happens with changes until next week, but I keep thinking about how it's quite possible that I go this next change. If I stay, there will be immense blessings that follow here! If I leave, I'll be happy to go where the Lord asks. But, it fills me with slight anxiety not knowing which it will be, and so that's just been a huge motivation to push hard and work to either leave something behind or help these seeds grow to be here for their harvest.

After writing y'all, we went to the mythological museum of Capiatá, with all of the Guaraní myths (which lots of people believe in ignorantly, seeing as they still call them myths but believe myths to be the name of those supernatural beings that actually do exist). Super awesome! They're pretty much all malevolent and will do bad things to you if you disturb them. I think my favorite is the Mbói Tu'i, the weird snake bird.

Then, the work this week was really great in some ways and then just frustrating in others. We had some wonderful lessons, including having the Bishop present in our Monday night lesson with the Familia Ughelli-Ayala, which was really a powerful lesson and left them all just ready for more. They really committed themselves more than ever to come to church. 

We were able to find a whole bunch of new people to teach this week, which was awesome. We're going to see in these next few days how many of them really stick and really begin to investigate our message, but it really fills me with hope to see that and some of them were really cool. 

We finally had another lesson with the Hermano Benitez, who was alone this week and who's been struggling with his smoking addiction, so I gave him a call Saturday night to make sure that he's alright and strengthen him to not smoke, but when I called he told me to call back in like thirty minutes to talk, and I forgot to call! He wasn't in church Sunday, and that made me really sad. I hope that there's repentance for failing him there.....

We had a really good lesson with Derlis Medina, the inactive man with a fairly troubled life. It was really uplifting and we shared the first five principles and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it really filled him with hope. He feels towards us that we are close friends, and so just really wanted to share with us a little mini cake he'd made (he's a baker by profession) and it was so delicious. I'm definitely going to help him to get reactivated and from now on, whenever I have a baptism near Asunción, we're asking for the cake from him. It was soooooooooooooo delicious.

Then, the two sons of the Familia Ughelli-Ayala came to our Wednesday night Soccer games! IT was awesome. They got to know the chapel and the youth and it was successful.

Well, those are the biggest things that happened this week. Today, My companion and I almost singlehandedly organized a big missionary farewell for a well-known missoinary and friend: Elder Balseca. It meant that I was pretty stressed the whole time trying to cook Peruvian-style chinese friend rice and chicken for like 20 people and then got stuck with cleaning it all up, but it was still really nice to perform that service and to see some old faces. Elder Gallegos is so awesome and I miss him a bunch.

No one came to church in the end and that's really a downer. It makes us missionaries feel like our work was for naught, but I know that the Lord is make some movement happen and I look forward to another strong week here in Capiatá.

I'm doing well for all who wish to know and keep you in my prayers! Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Harris

A Full Week‏

Hello All!

Lots happened this week! Not a whole bunch of super productive stuff, but it wasn't a bad week, that's for sure. We got some things done.

The two pictures here are from service project Wednesday! Yay! I decided to put on my companion's hat and be a thug like him for a second. Pardon the weird angle. The second picture features Elder Orrego, a Colombian whom I am slowly persuading to come to Utah after the mission. He's super awesome and a good friend here in the mission. He's actually training an Elder who was Elder Panaifo's childhood friend (his name is Elder Macahauchi). We just went and cleaned up a building to be able to paint it. However, we had too many people and I did nothing more than sweep away spider webs because I'm giant and have the slightest hope that one day one of these ENORMOUS Paraguayan spiders will magically change my genetic code and I'll become something of a Spider-man missionary style.

I also raked up leaves. 

And carried Elder Orrego around on my shoulders.

Other than that, we also did a super awesome division with Elder Laura! He came here to my area and we just tore it up! He's Bolivian and in spite of being shorter than me, walks like an all terrain army tank. It was awesome.

And then Stake Conference was this week! Saturday night was the local session when Stake Leaders spoke to us and we have some really awesome leaders in this stake. That session was great, and even though we were in our suits, I saw that it was 8:30 when we left and knew we had to keep up the missionary work until nine, so we went out and just started to talk to everyone, and just then there were two youths resting outside their house, and we asked them if we could share and they were really open to receive us. The short, fifteen minute lessons really stress me out because there are a million things to do and juggle around and I always have the pressing thought on my mind that we need to be able to reach the end of the lesson and be able to ask the people "Will you follow the example of Christ by being baptized by someone who has God's authority?" Tough situation, but that night, the Spirit was with us and we had a fluid lesson that just worked out well, and they responded yes. It was super great and made me happy.

Then, yesterday was the general session, and it was presided by none other than Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve! It was a broadcast for all of Paraguay and Uruguay from Salt Lake City and it was awesome. Especially because before the meeting, we went to pick up a less-active member we found just this week and it was an excellent opportunity for them to feel the Spirit and come back to activity.

All in all, it was a good week and I was happy. The work moves forward and I hope I'll be able to tell you all some great things about people getting baptized or reactivating next week. :)

Love,

Elder Harris

Stepping Forward‏

Hello All!

So, last week was a little bit of a downer, whereas this week wasn't a sprint in the other direction, but we did get an about face and poise ourselves to take that first step in the better path. The big difference? We had interviews with the mission president. I was just really refreshed after having been able to talk with him and remember why I am here in the mission field. And so I felt strengthened.

The next day, I studied about Enduring to The End, which was just what I needed because, well, the year mark is ten days away and that means that I almost certainly have less than a year to be a missionary and do this work. I realized that in the scriptures, it talks about enduring to the end less as a way of maintaining what we've got or standing firm in the same place and more of pushing forward firmly in the right path. It's not a fight to maintain, it's a fight to be better. The enduring part connotes consistency and permanence rather than being stationary. And so here I am in the mission! Pressing forward, as Nephi wrote, and continuing to grow and improve as if there were no end. Fighting onward and upward and trying to keep constant in all that I learn.

Cool things that happened this week:

Along with interviews, we had Zone Training, and the President's been making a push about improving our teaching skills, so we just had a ton of practices about how to teach well, and it was awesome! I love teaching! It's probably my favorite part of missionary work and the thing that I personally consider one of my strong points, and so I was super happy to be able to practice it a whole bunch and take away a number of things we can do to improve as teachers. It was fun.

Familia Ughelli-Ayala did very well this week. We visited them a whole bunch actually, and I was worried that they'd be annoyed with us or something, but no they acually love us and I'm pretty sure would like to adopt us at some point. Furthermore, we were able to teach their two sons: Diego(17) and Alan(16), and they were interested as well. So it looks like the whole family will be getting baptized! Yay!!!! Furthermore, our lesson with those sons was just before lunch and ran until 12:30, and so we were leaving when they asked "Could you guys stay for lunch too?" 

That's one of those missionary moments when you just make a brash decision without consulting your planner first. They straight up gave us steaks. I'd call it asado, but it was NOT what asado usually is. It was half of a T-bone steak. And for this reason, we have adopted this as our family in Paraguay. So, parents and siblings, do not worry, for all of your responsibilities are being handled by the familia Ughelli-Ayala. ;)

The only thing is that their youngest was sick and instead of accompanying them to church, the member we sent them accompanied them to the hospital :(

So, they won't be baptized in this change and it's very likely that I'll leave before seeing them baptized, because I think I'm going next change, but I'm still happy to be working with them and helping them grow.

We had a big church attendance, but none of our people came with the exception of one less-active member. One less-active whom we helped reactivate got the priesthood yesterday! Brilliant!

So, not a lot of success this week, but this next one will yield gigantic fruits, and of that I am certain. I know that this is the Lord's work and that if I am humble and submit to His will, He will make great things come of it. I love Him and love performing His labor. I have so much more to write you all but no more time, and so I bid you all farewell!

Love,

Elder Harris

Pictures!

The Second Week

Hello Everyone!

This week has been interesting. I'm not going to lie, the only problems this week were me and a frustrated stutter-stop growth of our investigators, less-actives, and new converts. The only person in church was Mario Alum, who is a young man investigator from the asentamiento (poor part). So, yesterday was a pretty big disappointment. We weren't able to meet as often with Hno. Benitez, and I think that it's because of that that they weren't quite able to get up and come to church, but we'll find out. The Hna. Benitez's mother is living with them and has alzheimers and can't really walk, so I think that's going to be the problem. Pray that they may be able to find a solution or someone to care for her while they go to church this Sunday!

I was an obstacle to progress because I just got distracted this week and it wasn't the best. But, I have been able to regain much of my focus and feel a lot better in these last couple of days. As well, the lack of focus didn't kill us. We were still able to get a better number of lessons this week than in any of my previous weeks here in Capiatá, and we were able to help some people progress. The cool thing about a good number of the people with whom we're working right now is that they're reading and praying, which is totally important. We found a sister this week and came back for a return appointment on Friday and she told us she had prayed and asked specifically if Joseph Smith were a Prophet and she just straight up said that she had felt from the Holy Ghost that peace and joy in her heart and that she really felt like God had told her that this was the true church. Wow. That's amazing. But, like a lamewad, I just focused on the fact that her husband is really catholic and can only meet with us on Saturdays (we couldn't come by last Saturday) and she really doesn't think he'll be interested in participating. So, that's a really solid potential baptism, but we're going to REALLY work with her husband because there are TOO MANY families here that have just the mom and the kids, or even just the mom.

Hipólito wasn't home.

And among other things the phone has lost all minutes, and so we've not been able to make any calls to anyone other than missionaries this week! How crazy is that? We should've gotten more minutes for the phone a long while ago, but it just hasn't been coming and they don't know why.... We'll see what happens.

The Ughelli-Ayala family has been doing well and the Hermano Ughelli has been reading a ton in the Book of Mormon. They're really interested. We're hoping to see them more this week and hopefully there won't be any of those frustrating interruptions that have frequented our visits with them.

The bigger district is super interesting during district meetings and I really enjoy the additional participation. It's pretty different from what was going on before, but it's a good district. However, we're struggling to get investigators to stick, and so we're setting goals of baptismal dates, which will help us really be able to baptize some people. On the whole, we're growing and the work continues, and I'm happy for these missionaries. We do our best.

I love you all! Let me know if there is aught I might do for any of you.

Love,

Elder Harris

Pictures!

Oreo Sunday!

Also, for lunch yesterday, we had to cook. I feel like giving a couple of strapping young lads like us money each month and the ability to decide what to cook with what's spent is kinda like giving a child a big wardrobe and letting them decide what to wear. 

The result: Elder Harris' classic pasta with white sauce and home-made fried chicken nuggets.

That's right, be jealous.

De Jehová Es La Batalla‏

Good Morning America!

It's noon for me, but who cares!

This week was much better and I was happy to see some good progress being made. More than anything, we were just finding good people because of members and other things. The biggest news comes in here:

The entire Familia Benitez was in church for sacrament meeting!!! They could only come for sacrament meeting, but we weren't even able to visit them this week, and they came anyways! I was so happy to see them, and that means that the Hno. Benitez is two more away from being an active member and seeing his son be baptized. Looks like we will be having a baptism this change! Yes!

Also, a less active sister who hasn't been able to keep active for like eight years and who has been going through such a difficult, trying time, was in church as well! That was such a special moment to be coming down from blessing the sacrament and see her walk in. Beautiful moments in the mission!

There were three really good new investigators this week:

1. Hermana Baez. She's the wife of the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric who's received missionaries so many times over the past twenty years, but never gets baptized. We had a great lesson and I think she's finally ready. She was the person who wanted us to come too, so I think that it's just the right time this time.

2. Cristian Mendoza. He's a 15 year-old who just really sincerely wants to learn more about Jesus Christ and loves how he feels when he's in the church. We want to get him with his parents, but they're less interested seeing as they were investigators two years back and didn't make it to baptism. He's great and came to church this Sunday!

3. Mario Alum. Another youth who's going through a really difficult time right now. He needs a lot of help, and also doesn't really know anything about Christ or God, so we're having some good opportunities to just teach to some really unassuming, atent students. I love it. We're hoping to be able to help out a lot in these cases and strengthen them.

Hipólito wasn't doing well at all this week. We went to his house yesterday and he was totally bed-ridden. We gave him a blessing of health and he fell asleep soon after, so I hope he's doing better. But, I think I saw some functioning glasses next to his bed. ;)

And that was more or less our week. We had a lot of amazing lessons and I just learned that we need to rely wholly upon the Lord because He will prepare those we teach and prepare us to teach them. I was really nervous coming into a few lessons, but after a bit, I just calmed down. I realized that what David said when he fought Goliath "The battle is the Lord's," applies so directly to us. And so we fought. And the Lord does not lose His battles, so we were given what was needed to fight well. It was a much better week.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week! Enjoy some pictures of our big goodbye during District Meeting! Elder Jenson is a great friend from the mission and is going home. However, the crazy guy has his Dad coming to pick him up, and so they're touring all of Paraguay and on the way back they're stopping in Cuzco, Peru, to visit Macchu Picchu. Some people!

Love,

Elder Harris