January 12, 2015

Hello Hello Hello!!! What a great morning! Well for the most part! It is raining pretty hard down here which is kinda a pain but we really need it so I can't complain!

I can't believe that happened to our old house!! How did it happen?? Was it from a broken pipe or did it just rain too much or what? Would that have still happened if we still lived there? Looks like an amazing miracle!! :) It is really unfortunate because of all the memories we have there but we need to look on the bright side and count our blessings! And we definitely have a lot of them!!

Dad, that slideshow was amazing! All except for one thing... You made me cry... All the elders that are emailing too were making sure that I was alright and that everything was alright at home. I didn't know Danny very well but I do know that he was a very good man with a very loving heart! There were a lot of people there to support him and his family! What an amazing man and family.

Uncle Jim is moving in huh? I think that will be good for him! And a good missionary opportunity! If I remember correctly he isn't a member, right? Just start off with small invitations like ward activities and soon invite him to church and so on! I know you guys are doing things like family prayer, family scripture study, and Family Home Evening so invite him to join you for those things and include him! Have him give the opening prayer or lead the music or something! I don't know what kind of experiences he's had with the church or what his beliefs are at all. But I do know that turning to the Lord can help out with EVERY struggle we have and trial we are going through. Whether it's looking for a job or overcoming addictions, turning to the Lord and opening your heart to Him works every time!! Don't forget one thing, always bear your testimony! Especially through your actions. When you have the opportunity to bear your testimony out loud, short and powerful statements seem to act like a Spirit-bazooka and it just blasts him with good feelings! The more spiritual experiences someone has, the more open their hearts usually are and the more likely they are to accept the glorious message that we have!

This week was AMAZING!!! Only a little bit of bad news but it has it's blessings from it too. And it's only temporary bad news so lets go ahead and start with that part. I wasn't going to tell you cause I didn't want you to worry about it but I figure I can't tell you about the blessings that came without telling you the bad part too. So recently when I play any sports, especially when we play in the mornings or if I play harder, my left knee keels like someone is pushing in the back of my kneecap and is trying to take off just the kneecap. So that's not very good... Last Monday it got super bad and I sat on the stage with ice on it and struggled to hold back tears. I figured that that would be a good time to share the news with Sister Passey, my mission president’s wife. So I called her and told her what I was feeling and what hurt and when and where and she told me that it sounded like "Kneecap Bursitis". So a "bursa is a closed, fluid-filled sac that functions as a cushion and provides a gliding surface to reduce friction between tissues of the body around joints. Essentially, a bursa provides a slick surface so that tendons and ligaments can 'slide' across a bondy prominence so it doesn't catch or rub against the bone. Once a bursa becomes inflamed, the condition is known as bursitis. Once a bursa becomes irritated and inflamed, recovery time can be a surprisingly long process requiring a reduction in activity for a long period to allow the bursa to heal. It can be next to impossible at times to keep from re-injuring the bursa because it's just not possible to stop everything and immobilize the joint properly. Everyone has demands on them that keep them going and in the process a bursitis injury can be prevented from healing." (http://www.aidmybursa.com/?REF=MSB_Pa) I guess that Sister Passey's daughter had this same injury and it took between 6-8 weeks to heal. So she told me that she was going to give me some stretches to do to increase the blood flow without irritating it even more. So we show up for our trainer/trainee meeting on Tuesday which is a meeting for missionaries that are training new missionaries. The meeting was about 4 hours long with a short break in the middle. During the break, Sister Passey printed some stretches for me to do onto a sheet of paper and was talking me through them and how they'd help. President Passey came up while she was talking and he said. "We are working on your car situation too." I guess I had a puzzled look on my face because he said "We told you we were going to be getting you a car didn't we?" Nope! They forgot to mention that part! So on Friday after we went to the Temple, we drove down to Tucson and picked up a 2014 Jeep Compass! They say I'm not allowed to ride bikes for a while and that any p-day sports or early morning sports are completely out of the question. I wasn't sure if I was going to follow that one completely but I promised some missionaries that I would. Good thing I have friends that want to make sure that I'm healthy and healed instead of ones that just want to play me in basketball! I think that I got the bursitis from basketball though, dunking in particular. I jump off of just my left leg and land on that one first usually too. I will still be able to dunk and stuff when I get home. I just need to be more careful while I'm out here, you know?

The Temple was AMAZING!!!! It is probably tied with my first time going to the Gila Valley Temple as my favorite session! I received so many answers and felt the Spirit so strong! One of those answers was that I should not go back to BYU-Idaho. That means that I am going to need to figure out where I want to go instead. But I got a strong impression to go to UVU for a little while. It is close enough that I could live at home until I get myself on my feet. I don't play on that happening like super soon so don't worry about that mom. :) I'll still be at home and will get to spend time with everyone! I want to start looking for a job as soon as I get home though at a local pharmacy. A job would be preferable instead of just an internship but I will take anything I can get! Feel free to ask around and talk to some pharmacists there and see if anyone has an opening they would be willing to hold onto or something like that. I know I still have a little while but I want to set with stuff to do when I get home so I'm not just sitting around. :) Im not too worried though! Friday was when we went to the Temple but it was a long day! We drove for almost 2 hours to get there, 2 hours to get back, an hour and a half to get our car in Tucson, and another hour and a half driving back. So it was a long day but I loved it. :)

The best thing that happened this week though was with our investigator Debbie. We met with her and were talking about the Restoration. At the beginning though, we started off by talking about the priesthood and that was perfect cause she already has a strong testimony of that Priesthood. She asked me to find some random scripture in the Bible, so I started looking. While I was looking Elder Deyarmond looks at her and asks "Debbie, I'm sure that other missionaries have talked to you about baptism. But what are your thoughts about it?" She said that she was baptized before but didn't know why she needed to be baptized again. He brought up the Priesthood and how important it is for those saving ordinances. Before I knew it, he was inviting her to be baptized! AND SHE ACCEPTED!!!! WE HAVE A BAPTISM DATE SET FOR FEBRUARY 21ST!!!! :) Keep her in your prayers please! She is going through a lot and will need some help overcoming her Word of Wisdom issues.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! Thank you for your prayers in my behalf and those we are working with!

~Elder Kyle Harris