It sounds like you guys had a blast at Lake Powell! I wish I could have joined you all.
Last Monday we had a normal p-day. We played some basketball and then ended up doing some service for some members. We helped them cut down trees in their backyard and then burn them in a pit. Since they live in the country they can do those kinds of things. :)
Tuesday: We had a meeting in the city and then we got to email. The STM was on loving our companions and how when we do, we can have the spirit with us. We went on exchanges that night and saw a family that the North Elders usually talk to and it was awesome!
Wednesday: We helped out at the Food Bank. It ended up taking a lot longer than we thought. It seems like all we did was service at the beginning of the week - but we kinda did! haha! At the Food Bank we helped distribute food to the people who needed some necessities. The lady that runs the place decided to be nice to the Elders and she hooked us up with some food! So we were very grateful for her. :) She gave us some hamburger, so we went home and grilled up some burgers! I got to cook them on a charcoal fire and by the way, I LOVE TO COOK! I don't know why I never did it before, but it's SO FUN!
Thursday: We had an awesome day. We did our weekly planning and afterwards we went and contacted in a neighborhood. The same neighborhood where President Bowman lives! (He's the one in the lds.org video) We had dinner at the ward mission leader's home and then tracted in that neighborhood.
Anyway, we ended up running into this neighborhood party and it reminded me a ton of home. There were probably 7 families there all enjoying their drinks and each others company. So walked up and asked if we could say a prayer with them. We ended up talking to this older guy and his family for about an hour. His daughter and her family lives next door to him. I guess she didn't try very hard to move away from her parents. :) But, I'm still planning on living next door to you, Mom! :)
Friday: We had our district meeting and E Beus came and did exchanges with me. We WORKED in our are and had a really LONG day! We planned to tract this area for about an hour and ended up being there for 3. We biked around the neighborhood forever and met a few people, but they all told us that they weren't interested. So we're okay with that - at least they're not wasting our time . . .
We were about 2 miles from the car when the tire on E Bues' bike popped! So we spent about an hour walking back to the car pushing our bikes. We tried to talk to a few people, but they weren't interested in our message either.
We actually had dinner with someone from the Edmond 3rd Ward (where E. Bues serves) and it was cool. They have a MASSIVE home. Seriously, one of the biggest houses I've ever been in. Their family room alone could house 6 families!
Afterwards, we knocked a few more doors but nobody was home. I remembered that President Bowman's wife had given us a referral. We knocked that door and the woman kindly told us that she was born Baptist, raised Baptist, and plans on dying as a Baptist. (My personal favorite excuse why they won't talk to us.) She did accept a Book of Mormon and we told her that some of her neighbors were Mormons and could answer her questions.
We stopped by the Bowman's and we saw President wearing a t-shirt and shorts watching the BYU football game! It as crazy! It's like seeing President Gottfredson in shorts, or Grandpa Dennie or Grandpa Ray in shorts! Heck, even Kenny in shorts! You just don't see it often! hahaha
But he let us in and we talked to him for awhile about what he was going to share at Stake Conference. He's just an awesome man. He literally just glows and I love being around him.
Saturday: We spend the WHOLE DAY TRACTING. I've never been so exhausted in my entire life. Plus I think it was 104 outside. I think that we knocked on probably 100 doors and walked 12 miles. I think that I completely sweated through my shirt 3 or 4 times.
The other day Bishop Wade asked us to go through the list and see which members on our roster have moved or are just inactive. So we chose and same and went with it. We walked to the first house and found that they had moved. We were so exhausted when we knocked on the door we asked for some water because we were DYING. This lady got some water for us and we just sat on her porch and talked to her for a bit. She ended up telling us her entire life story about how when she was a kid that a preacher told her that "God didn't love her because she was a sinner" and that she hasn't been to church since. We left a Book of Mormon with her and are planning on seeing her again sometime this week. She just has the sweetest heart!
Later we tried another name and when we pulled into the neighborhood we found the address in a trailer park. I was so shocked to find a trailer park in Edmond! We finally found this lady and realized that she was VERY inactive. We didn't know it but found out that she no longer wanted to even be contacted by the church - so fearing that she might shoot us, we left! As we were walking away, we saw this guy about 5 houses down so I yelled out to him and asked if we could pray with him. He didn't understand my English because guess what?!?!?! He speaks SPANISH!!!
We talked with him for a while and found out that his name is Juan and he lays tile for a pool company. His son speaks both languages for he's my little interpreter. We ended up setting up a return appointment with him and we're super excited! :)
As we walked around we realized that we were in an area that was the jackpot of Spanish speakers! I was so excited because I could speak to all of them! We met another guy and had a prayer with him and told him that we would come back again on Sunday night.
We also went by a wedding reception that night for one of the Borgerson's sons. Their other son just got back from his mission in Buenos Aries and he told me all about Argentina! It was fun to talk to so many people - family, neighbors and ward members.
Sunday: We had Stake Conference and it was awesome. Some of the speakers were this couple who had served as the Temple President and then another couple who served a mission in Columbia. There was also this 14 year old boy who did an amazing job. He told everyone how excited he was to serve a mission. He shared all of his beliefs and I wish that I could have spoken like that when I was 14!!!
Afterwards, we had a meeting with the ward mission leader and he has some high hopes for the area. Bishop Wade also came by for a minute and talked with us. He's just such an awesome guy - have I told you that I just LOVE Bishop Wade? I just think it's so cool that he's friends with Paul Gifford.
Anyways, the WML, Brother Dickman drove us around the area and showed us where a lot of the members live. It was really good to figure this out so we know where we're going. We had dinner that night with the Smith's. They are related to Aleia and were really nice to us and have a really nice home. We sang a song and shared a spiritual message with them. In Alma 36:24-26 it talks a little about missionary work and we labor diligently! So we told them to pray for us and that we promised to work our tails off and hopefully we can have a miracle!
Later we went to that appointment with Sylvestre but as we drove up to his house there were 2 huge dogs. I seriously thought that they were going to kill me! I think they had rabies or something. :) But we saw this man outside and of course, he only speaks Spanish. He said that he didn't know where Sylvestre lived - so while hiding from the dogs, we snuck up to one of the trailers and knocked on the wrong door. The people inside told us to come in - I was a little hesitant but walked in anyway. It was these 2 guys and they told us that they had met with and talked with the missionaries when they were kids and lived in Mexico. They agreed to let us sit down and teach them a lesson - which we did in SPANISH!! When we sat down, we talked like we do in English - I've never felt the spirit guide my tongue so much! But I was able to teach the entire first lesson to these 2 in Spanish. They accepted the Book of Mormon and set up a time for us to come back and teach them some more. I LOVE speaking in Spanish! It's just soo fun!!!
This computer is super slow so I won't be sending pictures. I will send some next week when we're back down in Edmond.
That's pretty much it for this week.
Love you! :)
Elder Harris
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