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

Change Week!

Hello All!

It's change week again! Nothing happens to me and E Panaifo because we're in training and that's really important to not interrupt. So, we're chilling out here in Capiatá (because they changed the name from Piro'y to Capiatá. I don't remember if I informed you all.....).

But the one big change that will be happening is this: The District groweth! We were just two companionships, but now we'll be five as we're being combined with the Ward next to us. That'll be fun. I was actually feeling bad just because I kinda slacked my District Leader responsibilities at the close of this change, but I have good plans for this new day and this new District! Excelsior!

Anyways, this week was a difficult one as far as getting people to progress. That's really been my challenge. Find someone and after finding them, get them to stick. So far, we have Hipólito, who is still infirm and still cannot read for lack of glasses, but who is still excited and desirous to share with us, which is wonderful. We realized that he hasn't been asking in his prayers if these things are true. He's just kind of focused on the reading thinking that that's the only way to know, but we're going to help him out with that this week.

Familia Benitez wasn't in church this week. :( But, they had a legitimate reason why. Their son, Moisés, who they want to be baptized soon, cut open his foot SUPER bad and it was a messy, messy thing. So, he cannot walk and they were stuck with him. He actually won't even be going to school for a week straigth. It was a bad cut. But, we were losing hope in Nelson, the father of the family, until he showed that he still really really wants to make a change and meet with us. He's been asking us specifically, "You guys will visit me this week, right ?" I was so happy to hear that. So, we're still in the fight with them.

We had our big activity this Friday, but that kind of flopped. It was sad, but at the same time I was able to learn from it and I know how to do better in the future. But! The Sisters had an awesome baptism this Saturday! His name is Carlos and he had a long journey to getting baptized, but it's so great to see him there. I got to do his baptismal interview and I'm so grateful to have heard his testimony so personally. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera...... :(

Well, other than that, we found a really awesome new family this week and we'll see tonight if they shall be solid investigators! I really believe that they will because they were really good and we really connected in that night. But, I'll write more about that next week.

To write a bit about what we have been doing, we've been working all this time with a lot of recent converts, trying to help them stay active. Sometimes that's such a fight and a lot of them are young men who just kind of like drive and we've finally started to make som progress this week. One recent convert family will be moving very soon and we're so sad to see them go. But I'll tell you more next week. Cliffhangers!

And, we have a really really awesome new Ward Mission Leader who wants to get to work, and so work we shall! I'm excited.

Thank you for your prayers and well wishes. 

I love you all.

Elder Harris

Making Up

Hello All!

This week is to make up for the past two, so let's get started shall we?

I'm going to start with P-day fun.

Two weeks ago was 4th of July, and you guys already heard about that and will finaly get to see pictures! Yay! Elder Gallegos was the guest star!

Last week was the birthday of Hna. Minks who's in our Ward and just turned 21! Yay!!!! It was great because Elder Gallegos came again! Yes! It's so good to see him. I realized that we came to be really good friends and there's really nothing quite like training to bind two people together (I send a shout out to my recently deceased Elder Yauney. Rest In Laziness until school begins my friendly Kaiguei). 

In any case, it was fun and we were able to take lots of good pictures. When in the store looking for fun party articles, we found that Paraguayan supermarkets get super, super random. Including having clown noses. Expect to see those come back for the rest of my mission. The best part of it all is one of the Elders there was Elder Bonzo. I feel like we helped him get in touch with the missionary he was always meant to be.

This P-day we just did business. So, not terribly much.

The work! It's been rough these weeks. A lot of people falling through and a lot of disappointments on all sides, but we push on. I think we need to work this week on talking to everyone all the time and not just when plans fall through and working on having better, set plans, because we just had a lot of empty days where we set plans that aren't actually any appointments, and because of that, more appointments fall, and we just go house to house for lack of something better to do. We're resolving that slowyly but surely and I'd definitely say that each week has shown improvement in one way or another. This week that improvement was definitely in our companionship. We grew much closer together and stronger. Also, on a totally non-mission related note, I improved my cooking skills quite a bit this week. However, if anyone has any additional instructions about how to make a good risotto, I'm all ears, because I'm pretty sure you don't just do what I did (throw rice in a pan, then water, and when the water's gone, milk, add flavors and cheese and all of that). I didn't even get the rice all the way cooked. :(

But, there were plenty of other successes.

I have to tell everyone about Hipólito Oviedo, because a blessing disguised heavily as a serious medical emergency gave him more time to see us this week. Though he lives thirty minutes away from the nearest useful thing to do, I love going out to visit him because he's been so prepared to receive us. He was in the hospital on Thursday and had a rough weekend, but we helped him through and he's starting to do better. He also was able to get his glasses repaired today so he'll finally be able to read the Book of Mormon! Yes! This man is amazing and he's suffered so much. His wife left him and he's had to repent of a lot of things, but now he's made some changes and wants to make so many more. God sent us out one day to a far off place that made little sense to go to find him, but he was there waiting for us, and we've been able to strengthen him since then. You will hear more about him!

Other things:

This week, you will all read of the baptism of the Sister's investigator, Carlos Figueredo, who has won a really difficult battle against a smoking addiction and alcohol to come to this moment. He's getting baptized this Saturday.

We've also been working to prepare a Fireside for all families about Eternal Families this Friday in which we can get some new investigators. That should go wonderfully.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and do wonderful things! Enjoy a flurry of pictures!

The Last Short Week

I promise that this is the last time that I send basically nothing. I'm so so so so sorry that I've done this twice in a row and next week you guys will receive an explosion of events from the weeks. We've been going out and finding so many people who need our help and I'm so grateful to God for the grace He has shown us.

God's promises are so real and He loves us so much. I'm so grateful to be part of His mercy towards the children of men.

I love you all.

Elder Harris