Sept 23, 2013

Hello Family!! How are you all doing?? Things here are going great!

It has been a very busy week for us here in Tucson. I am training. My Comps name is Elder Curtis Flake. He is from Washington. He is 19, plays football and basketball, and loves to work! He is the kind of guy who just walks up to people and talks to them about the Gospel. He has a very strong testimony and is a great companion. I don't even feel like I am training this transfer! The only problem is he has a hard time getting up and going in the mornings.. I wish I knew how to help him get energized and ready so he's not tired throughout the day. Any ideas?

We had some awesome miracles this week! We were told in the Trainer-Trainee meeting that the last 30 minutes of every day is when the Lord will bless you, if you continue to work hard. So the other night, it was 8:30 and we didn't know whether to go home or to street contact in the dark. I rememered what Sister Killpack (the Presidents wife) said about working the last 30 mintues. So I told Elder Flake that we were gonna go street contacting. So we walked to Fry's grocery store. As we walked, we ran into this guy and girl and started to pass them by. I mentioned how great of a night it was and she stopped to talk to us. She had heard of our church and was really nice. The guy however was trying to pull her away. She insisted they stay and talk and he kept saying they had to go. So we said our goodbye's and walked away. When we were about 50 yards away, I looked back and couldn't get this empty feeling out of my stomach. I looked at Elder Flake and asked him if he was ready to run. He didn't understand until I took of running towards the couple yelling, "Excuse me miss!" We jogged up to them and Elder Flake gave her our number and told her we would love to talk to her about the church. As we walked away, she asked if we had an extra copy of the Book of Mormon with us. We gave her one and she was very grateful. When we got to Fry's, we realized Elder Flake told her our number started with 320... Not 370.... So that was a let down... But she has had the seed planted and hopefully we will run into her again!

I heard a story about a couple that wanted to serve a mission. They said they couldn't go anywhere cold but when they got their call, they were called to Mongolia. They declined the call and about a year later decided they'd try again. They put in bold letters, "WE CANNOT SERVE ANYWHERE COLD!!!" They received their call and once again, it was to Mongolia. They took it as a sign and went on to that cold country. When they arrived, they were called to work in the prison. He was asked to teach the inmates and she was asked to serve in the cafeteria. She couldn't pick up the language and didn't understand anything anyone was saying. About 3 weeks into the mission, she got so frustrated that she went into a cell block that was about 15 stories high and yelled, "Does anybody speak english?" There was no reply. She became even more angry and yelled even louder, "DOES ANYBODY SPEAK ENGLISH???" Up towards the top row of cells, she heard someone yell back "I do!" Of course she immediately became curious and so she and her husband went upstairs to find out who it was. The guard opened the door and they heard a familiar voice say, "Mother, I knew you'd come for me!" This was their son who has run away from home and disappeared for 30 years. They have since returned home and their son will return to live with them again in 7 months. This teaches me 2 very important lessons. 1) There is never a mistake when it comes to where someone should serve. I am called to serve in the Tucson, Arizona mission because there are people that are here that need me. Mom, you are called to serve as a RS teacher. Gavin and Connor, you are called as Presidents to your Quorums. This is no mistake. You have been placed there, just as I have here, because there are people you need to teach and help come closer to Christ. 2) They didn't want to go somewhere cold but they went willingly and humbly. There will be disappointments and we may get frustrated. But if we serve with all our heart, might, mind, and strength, the Lord will bless us more than we can imagine!

One last funny story that happened this Saturday. So our chuch building is about 10 miles away from our apartment. It isn't even in our ward boundaries! But the church is starting to do church tours on saturday nights. So this Saturday was Elder Flake's and I's turn to give those tours. We were there from 6-8. However, that night was also a single adults dance. Everyone was at least 35 years old. They all thought we were there to dance too and so we had to turn some older ladies down. Looks like I am just that good looking! ;) So anyways it was 7:45 and we hadn't seen anyone to give a tour to. So we locked up and turned off the lights. We walked outside and realized we didn't have a ride. It was dark and the sky was overcast. We tried calling some people but no one was answering their phones! So we decided we'd street contact and walk home......Bad idea..... About half a mile away from the church it started to sprinkle. Elder Flake was freaking out that it would be a monsoon but I promptly informed him that it would probably just sprinkle for 5 minutes or so then stop. Seconds later, it started to down pour. It wasn't a monsoon but it wasn't just a light sprinkle. We didn't want our stuff to get wet so we ran under a tree. I jumped over a cactus and made it safely under the tree. Elder Flake however didn't see the cactus. He got hit in the leg and could feel the needles stabbing deeper in with each step. He is the kind of guy that laughs at pain though so that made things a little better. The tree wasn't doing anything to keep us dry so we decided we'd just get drenched and have fun with it. It rained for about 20 minutes and we got soaked. Someone finally picked us up in his cab and took us home for free. But it was a good memory that Elder Flake and I can share! He got all the needles out of leg and has learned his lesson. :)

I want to share 2nd Nephi 28:24. "Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" Short but powerful. If we aren't progressing in the church, we are degressing. Please continue to feast upon the words of Christ. It isn't supposed to be easy, but it will be worth it!

I love you all so much! Keep the faith!

~Elder Harris