Nov. 12, 2013

Hello Everyone!! I am so sorry that I didn't get a chance to email yesterday. Because it was Veterans Day yesterday, the Library was closed. And so we were asked by our zone leaders just to email today. This week has been a pretty average week, Full of ups and downs! I loved it though. The mission just brings me to my lowest of lows then shoots me up to the highest of highs! I have definitely learned to rely on the Lord for strength and happiness (especially when we are biking up 1/3 mile long hills...)

I am 5 months old today! It does not seem like 5 months have passed by already!

Elder Flake chipped his tooth somehow and so we are going to the dentist today. The dentist called us and said they would need his insurance information. He didn't have it so they asked him to call home and get that. He was so excited!! Just before he called, I suggested that he call Sister Killpack and make sure that that would be all right. He called and of course she said no! She said she thinks she might have that info in the database somehow and would give it to the dentist. I hope I never have to worry about that. 

Now about the work! Like I said, we have had some up's and down's. Lets start with the downs. The biggest downer was that I wasn't able to email you guys yesterday! ;) We had a less-active that was dating an investigator. They were serious about coming to church and he said he really wanted to baptize her! When Sunday rolled around, they never showed up... We went over to check on them and he said that he didn't know what he wanted to believe right now and so he was just going to stick with the Bible and see how things played out. Kit (the investigator living with him) said that she just went to a Baptist church down the street. She said she really liked it cause it was only 1 hour. We asked if she wanted to come to our church and she asked how long it was. When we said 3 hours her face turned ghost white and she had this look on her face that told me what her answer would be. "3 HOURS?!" We explained that it was divided into 3 different parts but that just made things worse. She told us that she would just start going to Baptist church instead and we didn't need to come back. It reminds me of a story by Glen Beck. It is called "The Unlikely Mormon". Its hilarious! But Glen finds out how long our church is and says to his Mormon friend, "If your God can't get the point across in 1 hour, then He's not as powerful as my God!" He eventually realizes that the church is true and joined. I hope that Kit has that same change of heart someday!

Something really funny happened this week! We got a call from one of our investigators named Linda on Sunday. She is 42 and Hispanic. She stopped us about 2 weeks ago on the street and you could smell the alcohol on her clothes and in her breath as she talked and said she wanted to stop drinking. Anyways, she called and is in tears and says, "If something happens to me, will you call 911?" We ride our bikes over there as fast as we could! We get to her house and her door is open and the couch is in the middle of the room. We can hear her crying. So we called her name and asked if we could come in. Without an answer, we walked in. She saw us and was like, "Thank goodness! I'm so glad you two are here!" Then she started crying even harder, when we asked what was wrong, through her tears she hysterically yelled and pointed to a corner of the room, "RAT!!!!!!!!!!" We got a jar and a mop and got the baby mouse outside and let it go. She calmed down a little bit and we tried to have a discussion with her. But she was, of course, super drunk. So we found her beer and Elder Flake picked it up and asked if he could pour it out. She glared at him, ran over and grabbed the drink out his hand. She was like, "Don't touch my beer or I'll touch your beer!" Then she started chugging. She sat down and started to smoke. Elder Flake asked if he could have her cigarette and if he could put it out. She took 3 big hits from it and handed it to him. As he threw it outside, she said, "It's okay. I have more right here next to me." Obviously she wasn't getting the point. Somehow we got on the topic of what she was doing tonight that made her stop drinking. Out of nowhere, she yells, "I AM A PROSTITUTE!" Elder Flake and I couldn't stop ourselves from giggling! We did really well to hide it and we didn't make any noise. But she kept rambling on about what she does to make money and was concentrated on her beer. As we left, we asked her to call us later that night to make sure she was okay. 15 seconds after we left, we were still on her road about 2 blocks from her house, she called and asked, "Hey Elders, it's Linda. Are you guys coming over tonight to talk to me?" We explained that we had and she swore on her life that we didn't come over. In a matter of seconds, she forgot that we came over! We broke out into laughter when we hung up. I feel so bad for her but she won't keep any commitments to change. If she doesn't come to church on Sunday and doesn't keep her commitments, I am afraid that we may have to drop her.

But on a happier note, Ben and Amanda are going to be married on December 20th and then Ben is going to baptize Amanda on the 21st! I am so excited for those two! They are progressing faster than I could have ever imagined! This week, she told us that she never thought that she would accept our church. She said that her and Ben had talked about it before and she said she would NEVER join. But Luckily she had a change of heart! I wish that I could be here for that! I have been in the same area for 5 months now and I don't think I am going to be here for another transfer... I could be but the odds are definitely not in my favor... We will see here in 4 weeks though!

I love you all so much! I can't wait to talk to you guys in a month or so! I hope that this week is a good one for you! Be safe and know I love you!

Love,

~Elder Harris