I'm Alive

Hello All

This week, in spite of having a lack of changes, was also totally insane. Because of a summary of circumstances, I was working in the office yesterday and doing a lot of other things and therefore had to give up time to write all of you. I got permission to write a quick email to everyone to let them know that I'm okay and that nothing has actually happened to me; I was just robbed of those two hours. I'm so so so grateful for all of your emails and support. It's been so amazing and wonderful to hear from all of you and I hope that your week will be amazing. This mission means sacrifice, but God's promise is sure. I feel exhausted sometimes, but I really have faith in His word that if I keep up diligently, that He will make it all work out in the end. Though sometimes we feel it may not be true, I, in weariness and wear, can say that we should take His yoke upon us, for it is easy, and His burden is light. Though I do not always see the path ahead, I feel the joy of His gospel fill my heart and I know that I am serving God as He would have me.

I love you all, I hope you're well and safe! Happy beginning of the holiday season!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Harris

This Week Was Nuts

Buon Promeriggio!

By the way, my Elder Crandall has a copy of the Book of Mormon in Italian and I'm reading from it. It's impressive how much you can learn when you already know a Latin-based language like Spanish. It's cool.

So! This week was so crazy because of Changes! And a lot has happened and changed because of the changes. Overall, there was great success, but with a lot of failure mixed in with it. But! The bitterness is what makes dark chocolate so much better, right? How rich would life be if we did everything right all of the time?

Here's some of the list of things that I've had to do. Some of them successes, some of them failures.

1. I finalized and sent out a document about fair taxi prices to save the mission a lot of money on the taxis that missionaries take to the Stake Center for the changes (it's also just really useful to just have at hand for when the Assistants call without the van and need to get somewhere in a Taxi).

2: 3 houses had contracts made for them and signed, they were furnished and we were moved in, and missionaries were sent off with the bags that contain their plates and other smaller house items.

3. Take care of 19 new missionaries in their very first day in the field, including setting out mattresses and helping them get to bed. Then wake them up, do exercises, get them fed, and in the office. That was super fun, because they are super awesome and excited and you can just help them to get pumped about the mission and being in Paraguay. 

4. The normal fichero work of the week! Which this week includes a totally new mission reporting system. 

That sounds like a huge bragging list, but in reality, this is really all the things that the Lord has enabled me to do. I couldn't have done any of it. I really most of the time just don't feel like I really know what to do and I sill have to really pray hard for the ability to face the work and challenges of each new day. I'm not good nor strong enough to accomplish all of these things, but God is strong enough to help me to do them. I've seen more miracles than I can count this week and I am almost disbelieving after having experienced them.

Proselyting has been tough, but there are two really big pieces of gold in this week. I was working in E'Valenzuela and E'Monzón's side of the Ward on Monday and we had a random lessons with an active family, an investigator who hasn't been moving really for a while, and we invited a member who recently moved there a little bit ago from super far away, and that lesson was an inspired miracle. We taught, and the investigator cried and told us about how she has felt that the Book of Mormon is God's word and how much she wants to continue and learn more. It was so beautiful. I felt inspired to invite her to be baptized on the 15th of November, and she accepted. She really wants to prepare herself and strive for that date and it was beautiful. She's the girlfriend of the family's current missionary, and something tells me that when he comes home, he's going to find her a lot stronger spiritually than when he left.

That was beautiful, and then last night, for the first time in like three weeks, we found a new investigator!!! It was super cool.

So, that's this week. Oh, and the Financiero, Elder Salazar, is now training his replacement, Elder Bronson (who came in my group!!!) And Elder Crandall, the Cartero, is training his, Elder Ramos (who came in Elder Gallegos' group!!!). It's super fun being with seven in that house now, but it's so crazy! So that's what's going on in Elder Harris's life.

I can bear testimony to all of you of God's incredible love for us. I know that He lives and He speaks today as in ancient days. I have no more doubts about Him, about His Divinity, His Son Jesus Christ, the mission of the Atonement, and the role of the Restoration in that great Redemptive work. We thank God above all for His wonderful plan and all of His support in following it. We thank the Christ for our salvation and redemption from death and hell. And we thank the modern-day prophets, especially Joseph Smith, for that we have the knowledge, the path, and the help to take them on in this day and age. Of course all of the work of the Restoration was God's through Jesus Christ, but we would be blind if we looked at the Carpenter's tools and not feel some of the warmth we feel upon thinking about Him. Never be embarrassed nor afraid to share these things and these feelings. You will find rejection, but God will consecrate your efforts into something greater than you imagine. 

I know that these things are true.

And I say them in the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen. 

Trying to Fight The Best Fight‏

Good Afternoon To All!

This week has been something totally different! I have gotten out to work significantly less because of some stresses here in the office, but the work does move along, though the breaks got slammed this week.

So, then I have officially done some things that I never imagined myself having done this week. I think I do that almost every week here..... Maybe twice some...... I dunno what to think though.

This week's?

Number one:

In one Presidential Project, I was asked to change our system for Missionary statistics and reporting that is unique to our mission. It was built by the mission's last President, Presidente Madariaga, who read very thoroughly the instructions and help sections of Microsoft Access and could therefore build the whole system using it. It's a brilliant things that works really well for us. Well, I was asked to make some changes to our reports. The request was made casually, almost just shrugging it off. The thought I had when the request was made was "Oh..... I was planning on going out and proselyting today....." But what slipped from my mouth was an enthusiastic, "No problem!" 

So, we tried at it several times and made some progress, but just failed to see the results that we wanted, and so we did something that's never been done since I've been here. Instead of just trying to change the matrix ourselves, we made a phone call to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and spoke to he who wrote the matrix. The craftsman of the black box which we mostly just refuse to open and when we do open it it mostly just defeats us confused and frustrated. From BA, he was able to look at our system, download all of the necessary components, and hold onto it for a few days to fix it up like we need it. That was awesome, and he is such a kind, wonderful human being.

Number two:

We went to the rescue! I won't go into the details because it's a somewhat sensitive situation, but President was many hours away doing his monthly Zone Conferences with the whole mission (it just so happened to be this week that he had to go to the really far away parts this week), and Hermana McMullin called us at like 11:00 when we should've been asleep (we weren't. We totally broke the rules that night and ordered a whole bunch of pizza. I'm sorry, I feel guilty. It's one difficulty of being with six other Elders in the same house), to tell us that there was a sister missionary about 45 minutes away that we needed to help RIGHT NOW. So, she had the van, came down to our house, I and two other Elders came with her to take care of everything that needed to be done. We drove out to a place called Benjamín Aceval and got there at like 12:20. by the time we had finished all that needed to be done, it was actually 2:00 at night. That was so crazy, however, the crazy part has nothing to do with me nor my companions. We, indeed, did little to push the rescue along. I admire so much the dedication and love that the Hermana McMullin has towards the missionaries here. She was there in every moment with those Sisters and it was such a humbling, beautiful moment to see her strengthen them. 

This was how Hermana McMullin showed me in part what Thomas S. Monson means when he speaks of running to the rescue of our fellow man. She still had to take the kids to school the next day and face a new day of challenges, but that didn't matter. She didn't complain, nor was she stern. It just seemed like the lack of sleep didn't have any effect at all, and that's what's even more impressive. While I was sitting here almost nodding off at times or later talking about how tired I was, there was such a better example right there with me.

So, those are two crazy experiences this week. I don't really have time for any more, but just know that the office shouldn't suck anyone in too much and that we can do more than we think. Also, I testify that it's super beneficial to try and notice the goodness of others and be anonymous in our service. That's something I need to be a lot better about, but the office is a perfect place to start doing it.

I love you all, I want to remind you of the love your Father in Heaven has for you. He is personally your Father. He personally wants to know, to talk with, to be with, and to speak to you. Blessedly, He will not force you to do so, but He will give you so many chances and reminders of how you can have this divine interaction. Just listen to His messages and follow them, and you will feel it. Your life will cease to be guided by your own unsteady hands, but the current of the Gospel will carry your righteous actions higher and farther than you had ever looked to see possible. He is Great. He is Loving. He is Ours, and we are His.

Love,

Elder Harris

Another Week in Paradise‏

Hello All!

So, this week was pretty crazy because of a lot of changes that happened. Or rather, one change that had a lot of ripple effects. The change? Elder Billings is no longer here! He finished training me and has now left for Santaní, which is pretty far away (it's way farther away than anywhere I've gone to on my mission) at a 3-4 hour bus ride away from here. He is a really wonderful missionary and I'm really hoping to see him well in the future. The work moves on without him, but he's going to be missed around here.

Then, because of that, I get all of the fichero work! Which isn't that big of a deal, because he wasn't really doing anything in the last couple of weeks, but at the same time it was nice to have him to ask. I have lots of projects and other things to do and more than anything I'm just trying to get all of our houses ready for changes! That's going to be the most stressful thing, because we have to open up four houses and that means buying all the furniture, appliances and etc. Fortunately, Pres. had personally commissioned Elder Billings with that task up until he left, so it's mostly done. Negotiating with landlords gets interesting when you know what you need to demand and what not to. It's also interesting to take a contract that you think is just fine in to President and have him find a big loophole that just kind of leaves you feeling bad about your work, but we all make mistakes. All in all, the work moves a long.

So! General Conference was last week and it was so awesome! I left the Saturday sessions feeling so incredibly strengthened and built up for the for the coming weeks. I loved the talks. I also absolutely loved that, of all the languages it could've been, the very first Conference talk ever given in a language other than English was done in Cantonese. My money had been all on Spanish or Portuguese, but I was pleasantly surprised. The talks were so powerful, and being a missionary, it's all become so much more real to me. It's as Pres. Uchtdorf said in his talk, when we begin to be firmer disciples of Christ, we start to ask, "Lord, is it I?" and when that discipleship turns into conversion we answer every time "Sí Señor, yo te seguiré," or rather, "Yeah Lord, I will follow thee."

I also just want to get this shout out: Elder Gavarret, the very first person to give a talk in Spanish, is number one from Uruguay, and number two, lived a block from my current house. He moved to Paraguay at some point, was Bishop of the neighboring Ward, and I've passed his old house every single day. A member told us about that and it was super awesome. I love that.

Then, the fact that I'm now without Elder Billings means that I'm now in a trio with Elder Valenzuela and Elder Monzón, which is really, really interesting. it's difficult, but strengthening. You just have to be REALLY polite in lessons and let everyone take their turns to teach. It also makes planning and such more complicated because, well, as a bunch of young guys, we get distracted on every hand. So, needless to say, we have some hurdles. But, these are good Elders, and we're going to strengthen each other to bless the lives of so many here. I have so much faith in these investigators and people with whom we are working. 

NOT ONE lesson with our investigators this week. They've all been busy and have cancelled, which is really, really frightening and depressing. But, the mission has taught me patience if anything, so we will continue waiting for their progress.

I love this work so much. I love the Lord and wish to serve Him more than anything. If there's anything I can ask of any of you, it's that you look up this video: https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng

we watched it during Zone Conference, and I love it so much. It reminds me that I'm here for Him, and because of Him, we all have the hope of newer light. That light has been extinguished by the world's iniquity so many times, but it's here on the earth once more. Don't be confused. Christ was never extinguished, but people's access to that pure sun of the Son was stripped of them. Thanks to modern prophets, it is here, and that is my message to all. 

May we all delight in it with equal strength and pleasure.

I love you all.

Elder Harris

God Works In Totally Random, Unpredictable, And Beautiful Ways‏

I don't know how I feel about the whole saying of "God works in mysterious ways," because that doesn't seem to capture just the odd, quirky, fantastic nature of the bewildered human mind when it's involved in Divine will. I've had a number of experiences this week that just make me so grateful to God and give me strength to think about or reflect upon.

For the first two instances in my office life up until this point, I stayed late in the office to do administrative work instead of going out to proselyte, which is not what any missionary wants ever. The first time was on Monday, because we desperately had to gather together all of the information of all of the apartments and Chapels that we're renting out as a mission, and that just took a long time and was difficult (we have like 110 houses in the mission and I've never done that before). That one has no awesome story, but the other does!

The second time was on Thursday, and it was super cool just because it was my first Presidential Assignment as Fichero. I handle all of our data and reports as a mission and that means that if President needs a report of all of the recent converts in the last year and a summary of those that are active and inactive, he asks me for it. And he did. Is there any manual about how to do such a thing? No. I've come to realize that being an adult and working in an office is just people asking you to do a certain genre of task and you just figure out how to get it done. You are NEVER given how to do it, they just give you an end goal, and you're on your own to bring it into existence, and I really like that, but it also makes me really nervous. So, I did it! With the help of the trusty ex-fichero (I just had to ask him some things about how to use Excel because it's been quite a while), and it turned out really beautifully actually. However, it meant that we were in the office until 7:00, giving us only two hours to work.

BUT MIRACLES EXIST! At like 6:50 when I was finishing up, our Ward Mission Leader, Hno. Palomeque, who has vanished for a long while being a super busy successful businessman, just walked into the building for and impromptu Ward Mission Coordination Meeting! I couldn't believe it. He's a really awesome guy and just knows how to get things done. We set some very important goals and made some very important dates to meet with other Ward leaders to get things moving on the reactivation front (that's something we need help with).

So, I was left with the impression that when President walked out of his office at 4:15, when I'm seriously fifteen minutes away from shutting everything down and leaving, to tell me about that project, I seriously think that it was divinely inspired, because there was no other way that we would've had that meeting. Had we not been there, our tired leader would have turned in for the night, and had I not had that assignment, I'd never have stayed. It was something really special.

PROSELYTING:

This week, there were some difficulties actually getting into lessons, BUT THE LESSONS WERE AMAZING! Elder Billings and I are just learning how to work together really well and we're really just fighting for our investigators and less-active members in our lessons. It's really awesome. So, we couldn't get into a single lesson with our family that has a baptismal date, but there's this really cool rich lawyer we're teaching who all of the sudden got super interested. We'd taught him twice before, but he wasn't taking things super seriously because we had to move REALLY slowly with him due to his questioning nature, but all of the sudden in the third lesson we just threw down the First Vision and The Book of Mormon, and the whole process seems to have changed for him. It was so wonderful and he should be in one of the sessions today. I was so happy.

Basically, I love that God cares for us in such little ways, and I love that He blesses us with His Spirit to guide us in our lives and in blessing the lives of others. I've truly felt His love, and I've felt my love for Him grow. I may have mentioned this before, but a few months back, a pair of questions came into my mind. 1. When is one of the strongest moments in your life when you knew God loves you? We can all think of one time or another if we've searched Him out humbly and truly. We have all been saved by those angels He puts in our path.

2. When is one of the strongest moments that you knew that you love God?

Most of us can't think of specific moments when we just really felt it strongly, at least not in the same way that we can think of the first answer. One thing I've been praying for a lot and striving to attain is a much greater love for God. It is the first and greatest commandment, and I can testify that as we come to obey it, we will feel the difference in our hearts and in our lives.

I love you all, I'm so thankful for the things that many have written me and I want you to know that it's a wonderful strength. Also:

Enjoy the Pictures.

Love,

Elder Harris

Catching Up‏

This week, I have some catching up to do. The office is really just a crazy adventure. An office Elder who is diligent, who strives to be an example to the other missionaries, spends most of his time fighting being the exception to all of the rules, because the work of the office at some time or another will cause you to be an exception to many rules in many instances. For example, I've done three airport runs, that is, taking missionaries who're ending their missions to the airport, which is a small trip, but takes time because you have to wait for them to say goodbye to President and get through customs, and two of them meant that I had to wake up at 3:00 or 2:00 a.m. So, there's a fight about whether you get home at 5:30 and get back up at 6:30 again to follow the schedule or get up at 7:30 to get a little more sleep, and the answer for me was, yes the first time, but when the second time was only like four or five days later............ Difficult. BUT! You fight. It's about the effort and intent in reality. And if you strive, you can achieve a lot.

But, those last two weren't fun, because it's seeing people go home early, and that just doesn't leave you with a good feeling, but you make it fun trying to do a contact when it's four in the morning and a sleepy person of a possibly foreign nation is approached by an overly cheery young man with a black name badge and weird hair to be spoken to about Jesus Christ and what He has to offer them in their lives. In reality, I've found people extremely open in airports. They seem to have seen so many movies where airport encounters change their lives, and they go in search of something to happen. So, we happen. :)

Also, I'm price negotiating like crazy. All of these landlords have this crazy tradition that when we want to renew a contract, they try to raise the rent, and we just don't abide by that tradition. And, we've had a few emergency houses to obtain, and that all just falls on my shoulders. Nevertheless, today, two Elders are moving from a hovel that was obtained last minute because there was nowhere else into a second story beauty for a manageable price. Epic house deal #1 checked off of the list!

The work is pretty crazy. The Ward seems to have gotten a similar syndrome to the missionaries that are here for a long time. Because the missionaries are in the office for so long, and aren't normal, they can't work so much and they start to feel a little bit useless, and that kind of spreads over to the Ward. They feel like there's a lot of disappointment and they don't have a real vision of what they can achieve. That was something I loved about Capiatá. They said "We can do great things." And it's not that the people here think that they can't, it's just that they don't consider it. So, my goal is to come and give hope to missionaries, members, and those whom the Lord has prepared. We have some prospective investigators here. One man had never felt anything about God. He believes, because that's just the only way to be here (they really haven't considered atheism as an extant thing), but he told us he never really felt God or felt anything religious. So, we shared with him, and he felt so strongly the Spirit. I am so grateful that I was able to strengthen and bless someone to give them their very first interaction with our Father in Heaven. The man's name is Vidal Garcete, and we have another lesson with him tomorrow (and the second counselor of the Bishopric said he'd be there!!!!! Yes!!!)

So, that's my life. Enjoy epic pictures of the chair museum. :)

Setting Expectations‏

This week's letter is a message of hope.

I want to start off with my testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't have as much time as I would like, but I would like to say some things about what I know to be true. 

I know that Jesus Christ is the only way. Our only path, bridge, connection, to the very source of all that is good. I know so without a doubt within me. Do we want anything good in our lives? Do we desire love to abound in our hearts? Families? Do we seek peace, hope, joy, order, support, establishment, firmness, charity, diligence, belonging, or any other good thing? Do we desire these things for ourselves? Our familes? Friends? Strangers? God is the only Source, and His Son is the only channel to attain it. It is the most beautiful Truth I have found and the only certainty in this world. 

I testify solemnly that Christ lives, and we may in him. Life and death are actually choices, and it just so happens that it's a life and death decision. I testify that that can only be true if they are both available to us. Death is presented by the cunning plan of one who opposes God, whose servants we are and can be in wrongdoing and in the example or works we push forth. Life is presented by Christ, who in order, calls His servants here on the earth, to train us to be His legion of angels upon the earth. I testify that He has called a prophet, and that that line started with Joseph Smith. I know by God Himself because He sent His Spirit to me to show me that He has set His only way here upon the earth by the hands of modern prophets, and, as such, we have access to Living Water. Please, by way of invitation to those that have not accepted these truths, come unto Christ. Be perfected in Him. Start the road by baptism. For those who have accepted this by baptism, but struggle to apply it, by way of commandment, I warn and forewarn you return to Christ, whom you had made your master once. And by way of aid to those who are striving to apply His teachings in their lives, I invite you to come together and apply the prophetic counsel for yourselves and more importantly, for your families. I cannot stress the urgency of this. How can we waste one more moment in unbelief? Happiness, goodness, hope, and all that is good is all around us in a world that is increasingly dark. Not merely that, but this is a timed test, and we do not know when the time is up. Please, search the scriptures. God will testify of the truth of these words and I know that all families that apply this will be blessed.

Thank you all for your letters this week. They were an immense support. I spent way too much time reading them, and for that, I am out of time. But, I'd like to say that the office is wonderful. It's so frustrating and is so full of twists and turns. I know that the Gospel has taken greater root in me now than ever because in spite of the shifting circumstances, I'm so much more steady. I love my companion. He is a strength and an encouragement to me. We support each other in righteous living and welldoing. I love being here in this area: an incredibly old Ward (one of the first in Paraguay) with incredibly wealthy houses, so all door to door approaches in the wealthy neighborhoods are thwarted (we can at least talk to security guards though). I love learning and I love the challenge. It keeps being exciting, and brilliant, and the Gospel is true.

I hope that everyone can enjoy those same truths this week and I hope that my testimony did something to help. Stories and such will have to wait for next week, but thank you for all of your support.

Love,

Elder Harris