October 7, 2013

Hello Family!!  Oh My goodness, CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING!!! I loved every minute of it! We watched it up at the stake center, all 5 sessions. We even stayed there in-between the sessions on saturday and sunday. I was at the church for a total of 16 hours in 2 days. It was super long but super worth it! I wrote down some of my favorite quotes because I don't have a favorite talk. I loved Elder Hollands, President Uchtdorfs, Elder Ballards, President Eyrings, and President Monsons. But they all were inspiring to me! Here are some of my favorite quotes:

"We gather to hear the words of the Lord, then return home to live them." - Robert D. Hales

"First doubt your doubts, then doubt your faith." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"The greater the sacrifice, the greater the compensation." - Henry B. Eyring

"You must become the rock the river cannot wash away." - Richard J. Maynes

"The Lord see's weaknesses different than rebellion." - Richard D. Scott

"Do we keep our promise every week as we partake of the Sacrament?" - Terence M. Vinson.

"Decisions Determine Destiny." - Russell M. Nelson

"Stelar spirits are often imposed in imperfect bodies." - Russell M. Nelson

"Death is only pre-mature for those that are not prepared to meet God." - Russell M. Nelson

Man I learned so much! Now it is time to put those feelings and impressions and lessons into action in my own life. I showed up to the first session at the church and opened up my notebook to the next page that was blank. Guess what I found. That's right! Another note from Gavin!!! I cried when I saw it because it made me think of you guys and how much I miss you. The entire time I was thinking about you guys and how we were watching it at the exact same time. The hardest part was writing about it in my journal though. I cried like a child! I taped the post-it note into my journal so I will always remember the blessing it is to have a loving famliy waiting for me!

We opted to take this out of a letter on Aug 26th.  Here is what he said way back then-

I got so mad and frustrated on Saturday. We went over to go see a refferal we had received over text. We get refferals from a website so we don't know who sent it in. So we go over and he meets us outside and invites us in quickly! We were stoked as we walked in and saw pictures of Christ on his wall. After moments of sitting down he tells us he is already a member of our Church and was baptized in Pheonix. As we talked about why he was baptized he said he felt good about it until he was told a bunch of anti-mormon stuff. He then started to throw down on the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. He says that reading the Book of Mormon leaves him feeling empty and that Jospeh Smith was a devil worshipper. He then said that everyone that was part of our Church was doomed to Hell because we were bringing satan into our lives. I just looked at the floor and kept my mouth closed. Then randomly he was like, "The Word of Wisdom says you can'r drink soda but yet you guys own Coke-a-Cola!!" We grabbed our scriptes and took him to D&C 89 where it talks about the W.O.W. and said that he was wrong and we could drink soda. We also tried to explain the Church doesn't own Coke. He refused to hear us out. Finally, Elder Hickenlooper yelled saying, "Because Coke is in the stock market, ANYONE can own part of Coke!! THE CHURCH DOESN'T OWN COKE!!!! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!" We were in there for over an hour fighting about doctrine then we said that we needed to go but didn't want to leave with the Spirit of contention. He offered the prayer and asked that we find out way and that we wouldn't been doomed to endless like the rest of the Church. When he said amen, I stood up and let myself out. He signed a paper saying to remove his records and we left. I hate when people don't lean on their testimony for strength. He knew it was true. He felt the Spirit and had let it go out of his life. But I wont judge him. He is just lost is all...

So do you remember me telling you about Edward? He was from the week of August 23rd.... He was a less-active that made Elder Hickenlooper and I get super mad and eventually he signed a paper telling us to remove his records because he felt like Joseph Smith was a devil and he hated the church. Well on Tuesday we went on exchanges. I went to Elder Smith's area in the North part of our ward and Elder Price came down to our area with Elder Flake. As they were tracting, they ran into Edward.... When they told me who they ran into and that he wanted us to stop by sometime, I refused. I told them I would never step foot on his property again and he was only good for bashing and helping people lose their testimonies. (That may have been harsh but I really don't like this guy... He hurt my testimony quite a bit). Anyway we went to visit another investigator in the same complex and we ran into Edward on our way out. He looked at me and asked me if we would come over on Monday night. He says he had a change of heart and wanted to start over. As much as I don't want to do it, I couldn't live with myself knowing that I denied someone the opportunity to hear this great message. So we are going over tonight. I can honestly say that if he really has had a change of heart then this will be the BIGGEST miracle I will ever see on my mission. It really has humbled me and helped me see that people can change, even the vilest of sinners like the sons of Mosiah were can become the strongest of members. I'll let you know how it goes!

We had such an amazing experience this week!!!! WE GOT TO EAT DINNER AT THE FIRE STATION!!!!!!! The driver pulled up to us while we were riding down Roger Road and asked us if we wanted to come over for dinner last Friday. We said yes of course! The driver is a mormon named Troy. He's way cool! When we showed up, they were making burgers. Troy had killed an elk a few weeks back and so they used that meat for the burgers! They were like an inch thick! Before we started eating, the alarm started going off. So everyone jumped up and took off toward the truck. Troy asked if we wanted to come along. We jumped up and were out the door in less than 5 seconds! It was just some drunk lady that fell in a store and hurt herself. But it was so much fun riding in it! Then later on, we got to go on another call with them to put out a small tree fire that they had put out previously that day. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience! So much fun! We were just about to teach them when a head on collision call came through so they had to go and we needed to get to our other appointments. But it was super cool anyways!

I hit 4 months in 5 days! That means I am only 20 months away! Not that i'm already counting down but I miss you all so much! I can't believe it is October already.... Man time is flying! Yes mom, I did stand up and sing "Called To Serve" and honestly I thought of you as I was singing it. I could feel something different when I sang it and I believe that it was you thinking about me that made it different!

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! DON'T FORGET TO PRAY AND DON'T STOP READING YOUR SCRIPTURES!!!

Much love from the greatest son/brother/friend you could ask for,

~Elder Harris