January 13, 2014

Hello my dearest Family!

This week was kinda a let down.... It all started on Wednesday. It was Zone Training so we all showed up to be trained by President Killpack. As we were sitting there, I crossed my arms across my chest and then yawned. *RIP* My grey suit coat from Missionary Mall ripped down my right arm from the edge of my shoulder to mid-bicep. I called missionary mall and they said that I just needed to send a picture or 2 to their email support group and they would send me a new coat. So I have a torn suit for now. Then Elder Stock (our district leader) came over to our place after district meeting with his companion. Unfortunately, he wasn't feeling very well. He threw up a few times and decided that he would take a nap for a little while since we had dinner in 2 hours together. So as he laid down, Elder Jones and I decided that we would just go check up on our investigators and potentials.

So we started with Jane. Jane went to Houston for a few about a week and returned on the 4th. We tried texting and calling her when she returned but had no luck. So we decided we would just go over and check up on her seeing as how it had been like 5 days since she'd been home. We knocked on her door and her hostess answered. We asked for Jane and she said, "Jane isn't interested in your church anymore." I was shocked... I just stood there for a second with this dumb look on my face... I asked her if we could talk to her and she said that now wasn't a good time. We gave her our number and asked her to have Jane call us. She agreed and took our number then closed the door. However, we talked to Jane when we first met her and she said that her Host and Hostess were pretty against her taking the lessons. Her host is Jewish and her hostess is some Christian faith. She we don't know if she is really not interested or if she has just been told that she can't take the lessons or talk to the missionaries anymore. We talked to a guy in our ward who explained that anyone from an Asian country is usually pretty respectful and wont go against what they are told. And that is Jane is a round-about way. She is SUPER respectful and wouldn't do anything to upset her host/hostess. So unfortunately we will never know what made her change her mind... But what we decided to do is we would pack up the rest of the pamphlets we have for her and then write our testimonies on a piece of paper for her to have. That way she has it when she returns to China and can study and learn there. And if she isn't interested then we have done everything that we can to invite her to come unto Christ. Just keep her in your prayers. That was the first thing that went wrong...

Next was Elder Holland. Or should I say NOT Elder Holland. We received a text on Thursday Night telling us that Elder Holland’s Schedule has changed suddenly and would no longer be able to speak to the missionaries... We still went up to Phoenix which was fun but we listened to Elder Jim Wright who is our area of the 70. His wife spoke first and told us that she was telling people how bummed the missionaries were going to be that Elder Holland couldn't speak to us anymore. They didn't understand so she put it this way, "Imagine that you buy tickets to go see the Beatles live and on the front row! You are SOOOOO excited to jam out to some great tunes and when you finally show up to the concert, you are told that the Beatles couldn't make it but instead they had the Dixie Chicks...." And it was true! I was so bummed when I found out that we weren't going to hear Elder Holland. President and Sister Killpack also spoke for like 5 minutes before Elder Wright spoke. Sister Killpack explained that it doesn't matter who is speaking cause it is all about the Spirit. It doesn't matter who brings the Spirit in cause it is the same Spirit either way. President Killpack talked about Samuel Smith. He is Joseph Smith's brother who was one of the very first Missionaries for the Church. He went to England and had no success. He didn't have a single baptism in 11 years! (I think it was 11 years...) He handed out very few copies of the Book of Mormon. One of which he gave to a man by the name of Phineas Young. Phineas told him that he was going to prove this book wrong then ran off with it. After 2 weeks, Phineas had read the Book of Mormon twice and knew that it was true. He then shared the book with his brother Brigham Young who then shared it with Heber C. Kimball. However, Samuel Smith had moved on and had no idea that someone believed what he was preaching. It wasn't till he returned home that he found out about the Young's and Heber Kimball. This hit home for me. Jane just dropped us and I was kinda heart broken about it. But who am I to say that she won't accept it someday! I know that she will. She knows what the Spirit feels like and she believes in Jesus Christ.

Earlier on Wednesday, Elder Jones tried to comfort me by saying, "Hey, at least we are planting seeds." I answered back saying, "Ya. But every farmer needs to harvest something or else he is (or at least feels like) a failure." Back to the Phoenix trip. Elder Wright then spoke. The main thing I got out of his talk related with this too. He said, "It is NEVER about us. It is ALWAYS about Him." Right then the thought popped into my head about what I had said about harvesting. I realized that I am not the farmer. Jacob Chapter 5 came rushing into my mind as well and I realized that I am just the servant planting seeds and grafting branches. The Lord is the Farmer and He knows what is best for each and every different kind of plant (or person). You can't harvest things too early or else they are bitter and will eventually just be thrown away. But the longer you let a piece of fruit ripen on a tree, the sweeter it gets and the better it is! It is the same with people. All I can do is plant seeds. I can nourish people with the word of God and help them become sweeter and more ripe. The Lord is the one who harvests, not me.

We had an investigator in our last area, Bones. He is like 70 and black. He has a long white goatee that is braided and has beads in it that spell "BONES". He carves walking sticks. Something he said was "I don't carve anything into the stick that wasn't already there. I just put my blade to it and take off the extra, unnecessary pieces of wood. It already has its potential beauty inside of it. It is just my job and the whittler to bring it out so everyone else can see its true beauty." President Monson in a Christmas Devotional once said "Put your trust in the carpenter." I then made the connection! We are all pieces of wood just lying on the ground. The Lord has come and picked us up and wants to help us bring out our true beauty. He is the only one who can bring out the best in us and it is only if we allow him to. Just thought that was a cool little thought!

Some updates:

Alexander Christopher Jones is officially engaged!!! He will be married to a miss Mary sometime in March. I wish I could be there for it but I cannot be... So I will need you guys to be there for me and to take LOTS of pictures so it is like I am there. Maybe you could get a cardboard cutout of me and give it to him for his reception! Yes?? :)

Also Elder Jones and I are doing better. He isn't very upset about his aunt cause he didn't know her very well but it still took him some time to heal. I am happy to say that he has healed and is growing. He bore a SUPER powerful testimony about the Book of Mormon in church yesterday and it brought in the Spirit! I was so happy and proud of him! He is growing a lot and is trying his hardest to be a good missionary!

We went back over to Mary (the elderly lady) yesterday. She told us to come back in 2 weeks because she has doctors appointments all this week. She said she has been reading the Book of Mormon and has lots of questions to ask us. We will be going by next week sometime!

Ben and Amanda are married and Amanda is ready to be baptized. Unfortunately, Ben is not worthy to baptize her. But she doesn't want to put it off any longer! So she asked Elder Flake to baptize her! She will be baptized this upcoming Saturday! :) :) :)

I haven't sent the package I was going to send because I don't have a personal card yet. I called the back today and they said that they would send me a new one and it would be here in 3-5 days. So I will send it when I can :)

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!! Thank you for the great emails and the fun stories! It always brightens my week when I get emails from you guys! I LOVE YOU!!!

~Elder Kyle Harris

January 6, 2014

I cannot believe that it is already 2014! And this week flew by too! TIME IS GOING TO FAST!!! I like it sometimes but when it comes time to email and I don't have a whole lot to say I wonder where time went because I feel like I didn't do as much this week as I did in previous weeks, but that isn't true! We have been working our tails off here and I think that it is going to start paying off. We have a list of 7 investigators. Here is their names and what is happening with them...

Shawn - Doesn't want us to contact him till April cause he is working 2 jobs for the government and has no time.

Justine - Pregnant and living with her bf. Wants to have the baby and get married before we come over again (this upcoming fall....)

Jesse - He is 20 and so after being taught all the lessons from the missionaries before me and Jones, we have to pass him off to the Singles Ward Missionaries.

Rudy - Lives out of our area. We have been teaching him at his girl friends house but they broke up so we have to pass him off to missionaries in that area.

Yavanna - She doesn't make time to meet with us. She is a single mom and so that is tough but it has been 2 months since anyone has seen her. May need to drop.

Crystel - Single mom of 3 working 3 jobs. She is very hard to get in with and wants us to come back in the beginning of Feb. to teach her the lessons.

Jane - She is from main-land China. Will be going back to China at the beginning of Feb. She went to Houston for a trip and will get back this week. SUPER INTERESTED!!!

As you can see, we have a lot of people who probably don't understand our purpose as missionaries. We aren't just service boys you can call up when you decide that your tree could use pruning or your rocks need raking. We are representatives of Jesus Christ and are hear to share a message about His Church restored to the Earth! There are people out here who are prepared to hear this message. But there are people who are not prepared and not ready yet. We can help them become ready but only if they allow us to. The hardest part is separating those who are almost ready and those who aren't ready at all because they are at the same spot sometimes. So you just have to work with them till you find out. And by that time, sometimes you may have put hours and hours and hours to help them and you find out that they don't "want to become Mormon". Ugh it is just so frustrating because the Spirit is there testifying to them and they wont listen to it... But that is how the Lord is going to put us into the Kingdoms in the next life. If we listen to the Holy Ghost and It's promptings, we will have Celestial Glory! If we don't... we cannot have that gift...

I heard a talk this week that was awesome! It is called "Life is a Football Game" by Troy Dunn I believe. It is super funny but gives us a great view of how much time we have left before the Savior comes again. I don't have time to tell you the whole story but I think that you would all like it! Maybe you could listen to it for family home evening or something like that :)

I go to the Temple on the 16th of this month! And I go to Phoenix to listen to Elder Holland on the 11th. So it is going to be a great few weeks here! I did get the birthday package :) THANK YOU!!! I loved it! And it was just what I needed.

  

I heard a quote this week and had to write it down. It is a little longer but I love it! It can be applied to anything: Sports, church, school, ANYTHING!

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. The moment one definitely commits oneself, the Providence moves in. All sorts of things occur to help me [us] that would never otherwise have occurred raising in ones favor all the manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way." I believe that is by Elder Robert D. Hales.

Gavin and Connor, I am very glad to hear that you all had a great vacation and are doing well! School is starting up again so don't keep your mind in that vacation zone! Focus, work hard, and do your best. I wish I would have done better in school... Don't make that same mistake I did. The best tool you can use in your school work is the Holy Ghost. He is the best tool in life! But you need to make sure that you are getting along and doing the things you need to do so you can have the Holy Ghost with you! Keep on Keepin on and make me proud! I love you!!

Thank you for everything you have done for me and for your prayers in my behalf! I love you and miss you all so much!

~Elder Kyle W. Harris

December 31, 2013

Hello Family and Friends!

Man, this week kinda just FLEW by! I don't even have very much to say! It seems like just a few days ago I was talking to you all on Skype! ;) Man that was absolutely amazing! I felt like I was right there on the couch with you all! I wish that I could have been there. But just as I have said over and over again, I love it here and this is where I need to be! The hardest part was having to say goodbye... I admit that I kinda cried that night but it was more tears of joy because I got to see you all. It was the best Christmas and Birthday present I could have ever asked for! Speaking of birthday, mine was AWESOME!! I showed up to church and didn't really tell anyone. (I think I told 2 people but they could tell that something was different.) Bishop somehow found out and asked me to come into Ward Council for a moment. I walked in and everyone sang me happy birthday! Then at dinner that night, our dinner made a cake for me as well and sang happy birthday! THEN we went to pick up the other set of Elders at their dinner. When we showed up, they were having a birthday party for one of the kids. Then Jones piped up and said it was mine as well. So they sang to me too! 

So this week was a great one!! We are finally seeing progress here and have 2 new investigators! The first one is Jane. Jane Sun is from Mainland China and is 33 (but she looks like she is 19). When we asked her what her belief in God was she said that she didn't really know but she wanted to find Him and come close to Him. When we asked why, she told us this story:

Jane is a teacher. She teaches Chinese here and when she goes back to China, she teaches English there. Well last year she came to California to teach. She lived with a Christian family who attended church every week. Eventually Jane tagged along and she loved it! When it was time for her to go back to China, she didn't really want to leave. She got on the plane and said a prayer that she would be able to come back soon. She also promised that if she was able to come back soon then she would do EVERYTHING that she could to come close to Him. Well here's the thing... Coming to America from Mainland China once in a lifetime is amazing. Coming to America from Mainland China twice in a lifetime is inconceivable. Coming to America from Mainland China twice in 2 years is impossible! COMPLETELY OUT OF THE QUESTION!! But yet, Jane is here, in Arizona and her prayer was answered. She went up to the Salt Lake Temple and got to tour Temple Square. She loved it so much! She met a Chinese missionary who taught her about the church in China and then taught her how to pray. Since then, Jane has been praying every day to come closer to God. So she called temple square and asked to learn more. They gave her the mission number who then gave her our number. That is how all of this came to be. We are now teaching her and she loves it all! She lives next door to a member so that is where we have had our lessons thus far but we are working on getting into other members houses with her as well. We would normally bring a member to her house but her host and hostess family doesn't want Mormons over there teaching. After just our first lesson, she asked us "If I were to join your church, where would I go to church back in China?" A very good question which I don't have an answer to. However, there just so happens to be someone in our ward that served a mission in Hong Kong. What a miracle! Jane is out of town down in Houston, TX till the 5th so we are going to set up a lesson for when she gets back. I am super excited for her!

Our other new investigator is Crystel. She is in her 30's and a single mother of 2 kids. We actually didn't find her. Our Zone leaders and the Assistants to the President actually blitzed our area and found her for us! We are going to call her today and set up an appointment for later this week, or possibly later today! I am super excited that this area is finally picking up. This is truly an answer to my prayers and I know that it is an answer to your prayers as well.

I listened to a talk to other day. It was someone’s conversion story. He was a member for 11 months before he served a mission. While he was in the MTC, he realized that there was something different there but couldn't put his finger on it. Suddenly he realized what it was. He and his companion counted up all of the prayers that they say in one day. It came up to about 14 with all of the classes and everything else they went to. Times that by the 3000 missionaries that were in the MTC. Then you have to add in all of the prayers of family and friends. Plus the prayers of all the people at all of the temples. All in all, there are hundreds of thousands of prayers going towards missionary work. It is no wonder that God's hand is really in the work and it is progressing so much!

I forgot I was going to talk about the hike I went on yesterday. We hiked up Sombrero Peak. It is HUGE!!! It is right behind our apartment basically and ever since I came to the area, I have wanted to hike it. Well, yesterday my dreams came true! It came out to be a 7 hour hike going up and back down. But I got so many pictures and a few videos of it all. You could see 360 degrees around you. It was gorgeous!

We are going to the Temple on the 16th! Try to go as well if you can ;)

Well I can't really think about anything else to talk about! I hope that all is still going well for you and I can't wait to hear from you again soon! I LOVE YOU!!!

~Elder Harris

December 30, 2013

So today has been absolutely crazy...,.

we went hiking for 7 HOURS!!!! But it was legit! (kinda sketchy in some areas but we said a prayer first so we know that angels were there the whole time with us! I will explain later!) I have also forwarded and email from my old mission leader. He asked me not to read it till after I sent it, which I have done but I haven't read it yet! I hope it brings you comfort, whatever it says! I LOVED TALKING TO YOU GUYS ON CHIRSTMAS!!! I felt like I was back at home again. I got so homesick that night... I could see everyone sitting on the couch and oh how I wished I was there. But I love it here so much and I love the work so I need to stay here. There is something more for me out here!

I wish that I had more time... I have only been on for 5 minutes and now I must go. But I have received permission to email tomorrow at our complex. So tomorrow around 9 I will be getting back on to tell you about the rest of my week. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! I will talk to you tomorrow.

~Elder Harris