Monday, March 17, 2014

March 17, 2014

Hello Everyone!

I can't believe that is p-day already! This week FLEW by for me! But for some reason, church was unusually slow... It took forever! I mean it was great and all but being in a new ward with people that I don't know and don't know me, it is really hard for me joke around cause I don't know anyone! This was actually my first time in my real ward. 2 weeks ago was the Temple Dedication and last week was our Stake Conference. The only people I really know are the ones that we've had dinner with and that come play basketball in the morning. We have been getting some great numbers out for basketball in the mornings! We had 9 there this morning. But I was exhausted! I'll explain why in a bit.

FAMILY: I am SOOO proud of you for reaching out to that family and inviting them to come be with you all for Sunday Dinner! That makes me so happy to hear that the Spirit is working in their lives now too! Elder Mora has a book that we read from every day for companion study. It is known as "Member Missionary Work". It is just a little green book that we read from. But basically what it talks about in one section is that there are 5 different people everyday that are ready to be baptized. It is just up to us to find them as guided by the Spirit. And that is exactly what you guys did! You followed the Spirit and had a good experience!

Connor: I am sorry that your guitar broke. But just remember it was an accident and that it is just a material thing. Besides, now you can get a new guitar! Don't empty mom and dad's pockets with the price but make sure you get a nice one that you won't leave on the floor. ;)

C.C. is one of our investigators but I think that we are going to drop her this week... She believes that the church is true and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. But for some reason, she doesn't think that we are the only church that has the Priesthood power. She believes that the Orthodox Jews have it as well. She also believes that no religion is as close to God as the indians are and so she will never join. We'll keep in touch with what happens with her.

I met Elder Mora's recent Convert this week! His name is Greg. Greg left Arizona and went to New Mexico to work in the mines for a little while. He was strong in the church and clean from cigarettes and alcohol for 4 months. However, they lost contact when he left and he hadn't seen him for about 2 months. Well we found him randomly! We set up a time to come over and when we did, he was smashed drunk... We picked up 35 cans from the floor. He promised he'd stop and that he'd come to a baptism with us the next day, but the next day he was drunk again. We went over to talk to him and I asked him what time he got up that morning. "7" he said. "When did you open your first beer today?" I asked. "...7" he replied. He won't tell us why he went back to drinking but we know that it has to do with the people that we around him at the mine and he felt lonely and needed to turn to alcohol. I wish that he would try to change but he doesn't even have the desire to. He is so concentrated on staying drunk that he gets mad or sad thinking about not drinking anymore. We are going to get the ward involved big time to fellowship him and help him feel supported and friendshipped so that he will come back to church and give up drinking and smoking again!

So I know that I spent some money from my personal account, but it was TOTALLY worth it! I went to Good Will with Mora and found the nicest, cleanest, brown suit! It is a 3 piece and fit me perfectly! I couldn't have had it tailored to fit me any better! So I had to buy it. It was only $20 so it was super cheep for a really nice suit. I wore it to district meeting and all of the guys were coveting it! One Elder told me he would trade both his suits for the one I was wearing. I declined because I love it already! :)

We have an investigator named Trey. He has a baptismal date for the 29th and we realized that he haven't really brought that up in our recent lessons and that since that is next weekend, it is getting super close and we needed to know if he was still on. He walk inside and he and his wife talk about how they are moving and they found a house and they will get the keys on the 28th so they can move on the 29th. My heart sunk... He grabbed his wife's hand and said, "We are going to need some help moving if that's alright. I was thinking that after my baptism thatSaturday we could ask some of the people there if they would come help out." My face lit up and we both said yes super fast! He says that he is still struggling with the whole Joseph Smith thing but that if all this good came from one man and what he said happened, it can't be false. We showed him the mormon message of Elder Hollands "Testimony about the Book of Mormon" and it is all about how Joseph Smith couldn't have faked it. It is a really good video and short and BOLD. I Loved it! :) So he is on for the 29th!!!!

We found out something in our personal and companions studies this week..... The Terrestrial Kingdom in the next life is for those members who aren't valiant in the Testimony of the Church. Or in other words, Less Actives of the church. HOWEVER (and this is the sad part...) as stated in D&C and the Gospel Principles manual, it is also a place for those people who reject the Gospel in this life but accept it in the next life. How sad is that? This is why missionary work is SO important. I don't know how God decides if someone had a chance to know what we were teaching then rejected it or how all that is going to work. But it is not only my job but also the members of the church's job to make sure that everyone has a chance to hear the message because if they reject it all without knowing what we believe, ignorance isn't bliss and there will be consequences associated with that decision.

I love Elder Mora so much! He is a stud of a missionary and talks to EVERYONE!!! It is a little embarrassing at first because it will start off awkward but most of the time it gets a lot better and something comes out of it! My mission doesn't feel like work anymore. I enjoy every day because we get along and joke around and just have fun! For example (this is why I was exhausted this morning), we got home last night, made our calls and get in our pj's. As we were getting ready for bed, we found a box in the closet in the top corner. Neither of us noticed it before but we pulled it down. IT WAS A PUZZLE!!!! We checked it out for a bit then decided we were going to finish it before we went to bed. It was a 500 piece puzzle and the worst part was, it was the kind where ALL the pieces look exactly the same because they are all the same color! It was a little frustrating after the first hour but then we turned some music on and just started messing around with it. 3 hours from when we started, we FINISHED! I got some pictures and then looked at the clock. 1:30 in the morning.... oops! So we went to bed right away and then got up at 5:30 for basketball. Good thing it's p-day! P stands for... something that has to do with sleep! There are no synonyms for sleep that start with a p.. :p

Well I must be off! Got lots to do today. But I love you SOOO MUCH!!! Thank you for the emails and for the prayers! I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church on the Earth today!!

~Elder Kyle Harris

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