Open Your Mouth

Cindy was baptized yesterday!  And guess who she asked to baptize her?  THIS GUY!  So I got to baptize her and here's the funny story - She was super nervous to slip and fall into the font.  I kept reassuring her that she wouldn't fall but when the baptism came around and I was walking down into the font - guess who slipped?  ME! 

Yes, I stumbled walking down the stairs.  It was hilarious!  So I had the entire audience laughing before the baptism.  I just laughed it off - otherwise that could have been embarrassing! 

My new companions are Elder Corey and Elder Read.  E. Corey is from Plain City and Elder Read is from Las Vegas.  They're both pretty cool and E. Read is brand new and is so excited to be a missionary.  :)

I'm glad that you guys had a good time on trek!  Some days it feels like I'm on trek . . I just walk around in the hot, muggy weather with a backpack!

I'm sorry to hear about your friend, mom.  That's so hard and I see it all the time here in Anadarko.  Sometimes people don't understand why bad things happen and sometimes I don't really either!  But I guess all we can really do is trust in the Lord's plan.  There are soo many people who loose people they love.  Although you might not understand why she had to return so quickly, the Lord does.  He will take care of us as long as we continually keep His commandments and trust in Him.  John 16:33 - Be of good comfort, He has overcome the world for us.  :)

As for this week, it's been a bit slow:

Monday:  We said some good-byes and had or normal p-day and played some basketball.  I sure miss Elder Tripp and Nelson.  They were awesome and the 3 of us just got along so well.  I wish that all my companions could be like E. Tripp.  He's been my favorite here in Oklahoma.

Tuesday:  We had a few lessons and said some more good-byes.  E. Tripp was just so sad to leave Anadarko.  There is just something about this little town.  I'm going to be super sad to leave this branch too.  They've become like family to me. 

We taught Cody and his wife and sister about the 10 commandments.  They're super solid and progressing towards baptism!  :)  And Charlie told me that he doesn't want to meet with the missionaries anymore.  That made me super sad.  :(  I love him and his little family and I'm going to try my hardest as long as I'm here to help them come into the gospel.  If nothing else, we've helped is wife quit smoking. 

So I guess all I can do is keep moving.  Keep your butt low, and keep on driving.  That night E. Tripp and E. Nelson had to say good-bye to Sister Wright (mom) and that was hard, even for me. 

Wednesday:  We drove up to the city for the exchanges and that's where I picked up the new guys.  :)  We drove back to Anadarko and got situated.  They spent a couple hours unpacking and I took a quick nap and then that night I introduced them to Cindy.

Thursday:  We had weekly planning and since I had to tell them everything about the area it took forever!  When we got done, we went over to Matt's house and he wasn't doing anything so we took him out with us.  We went by Cody's house and he told us to come back in a hour when everyone else would be home.  As we were driving away, we saw one of our investigators was home.  He's been up in the city for about a month.  We stopped in to see him and he was there with his mom.  They were super sad and told us about his sister passing away and they also just found out that their nephew was hit by a car and was in the hospital.  So many bad things were happening to them so we taught them about the Plan of Salvation.  It was one of the most spiritual lessons ever and Matt even told us that he's never felt like that before and that he wished that he could feel like that all the time.  It's so true.  I wish I could feel the spirit all the time too!!

When we went back to Cody's house and his family shared the biggest miracle I've heard while on my mission!  Their daughter was diagnosed with leukemia in April.  The Elders came in and gave her a blessing sometime around April 25th.  When they met with the doctors again on May 13th they couldn't find a single cancer cell in her!  She was in full remission from Leukemia!!!

She was completely healed within 2-3 weeks of that priesthood blessing.  If that's not a miracle, I don't know what is!  She still has to go to the hospital and get chemo for a little while but this has been a testimony builder for this family all because of the RESTORED priesthood!  :)

Friday:  We had district meeting and it was a little awkward to be honest.  We had some solid studies and went out to do some work.  A few weeks ago, we helped a guy pull a post out of the ground and we tried to go back and see him but I couldn't find his house again.  So we kept walking around and we stopped at an intersection and tried to decide which direction to go.  While we were standing there, this guy that we were looking for walked up to us and said what up!!!  I couldn't believe it!  So we're going to go back to his house in a few days and tell him what's up.  Pretty cool miracle!

Later that night we met with Jesus.  I'm very sad for them because they're totally ready to get baptized.  They believe in the restored priesthood and the Book of Mormon.  The only problem is that the Spanish branch is an hour away.  Not many people here speak Spanish.  I wish they could get baptized and have the blessings of the gospel right now, but it will all work out.

We also stopped by Cindy's house and she had a friend Ruby with her.  Ruby has sat in on a few lessons with us and so we asked her if she wanted to get baptized.  She said she would!!!!  :)  I'm super excited that Cindy can help us teach her!  :)

Funny story.  Cindy has a friend who lives in Chickasha.  Her name is Michelle and she wants to meet with us.  When I was on exchanges with E. Lowe up in Chickasha last transfer we met a taught a girl named Michelle.  I've recently realized that this is the SAME MICHELLE!  So who knows what's going to happen now!

Saturday:  We had some cool stuff happen.  I met this lady who is 102 years old.  She is this cute little black lady who can barely hear, see or walk.  She is super cool and was actually a referral from the elder in Chickasha.  We then went to see Charlie.  He was home alone so I had the opportunity to just talk to him about how over time our faith grows stronger and stronger.  I shared D & C 50: 24-25.  Then I had the idea to use that flashlight that Ty gave me with the analogy that when we turn on a flashlight that it gets brighter and brighter, it works the same way with our faith.  I just kept turning the flashlight to make it brighter and brighter!  Nothing comes instantly.  We have to have our faith tried a little bit, but over time all is possible through Christ.

That night we went to a branch party to meet everyone.  It was out at Lake Latonka and they went on this little "house boat" thing.  President approved it, so we went!  We got to sit on the porch and watch all the boats pull into the harbor.  We got a ton of funny looks from people, some girls even checked us out, and one guy even said, "hey guys, at least undo the top button or something"!  I thought it was super funny. 

Brother Buckner is a dentist and was telling me all about his job.  I think it sounds pretty awesome, and I think that maybe I want to be a dentist when I grow up.  :)  Good thing I still have hmmmm . . . like almost 2 years to think about it before I go back to school.  Sounds good to me!  :)

Sunday:  We had church as normal and then the baptism.  It was awesome and Cindy was so prepared!  I'm so excited for her and her decision to make this big step in her life.  Afterwards she invited us over for dinner and we cooked some burgers and hotdogs.

I'm a little frustrated and I'm going to vent for just a minute.  The branch president and the branch council didn't come to the baptism because they had a meeting.  It was the first real convert baptism that they've had in over 3 years!  When we met with all the branch missionaries, not one of them knew who Cindy was!  If you have any ideas about what 3 inexperienced boys can do to make this work, let me know. 

So to anyone reading this:  OPEN YOUR MOUTH! Go and talk to someone you don't know when you see them at church!  Who cares if they smell like smoke!  There is nothing better than someone walking in the church because that means they are ready to CHANGE.  So go and help them, don't turn away.  The missionaries work so hard to get these investigators to come to church.  Please help us by helping them.

3 Nephi 27:21  "Do as you have seen me do"
Be as Christ was.
I love you Mom!  :)  I hope you guys are doing great and enjoying the summer.
I know I'm enjoying being a missionary.  :)  It's the best!

Love you!
Elder Harris

Expect Miracles

I'm staying in Anadarko for another transfer or until my visa comes.  I haven't heard anything about the visa, but we're praying.  Yesterday I actually fasted that I could stay in Anadarko until after the baptisms.  I have a feeling that I will be here for another month or so.  Both of my companions are being transferred to different areas.  Elder Tripp is going to OKC 1st and Elder Nelson is going to Altus. 

As for my language barriers with Jesus y Vico, I always have member that can speak Spanish come with us so they can either translate or help me teach!  The closet Spanish branch is up in Norman (about an hour away).  It's honestly a difficult situation and I've been trying to study my Spanish more so I can understand them.

Good News!  Cindy is going to be baptized this week by yours truly!  She asked me to baptize her because she had a dream that I baptized her.  She is very prepared and will be an awesome addition to the branch.

Charlie and his family will also be baptized this month.  We started a Stop Smoking Workshop with his wife who has been smoking every day since she was 9.  She is now 5 days smoke free.  Miracles happen.  We just need to have faith that they will.  No matter how "addicted" to anything we might be, with the help of the Lord you can overcome anything!  We did the math for her and showed her that she has spent over $25,000 on cigs in her lifetime.  Talk about blowing money!

They read and pray every day.  Ever since the incident in their house where we cast out this evil spirits, their minds have really changed.  They love church, and they can tell that church will be a good guide for their kids.  Miracles are happening in their family and the devil is just trying them so hard!

I hope you all have a good time on trek!  I almost wish I could go and walk all day in the heat with you - but then again, that's pretty much what I do here anyways!  :)

This week we will be getting a set of Sisters in Elgin and more Elders in Chickasha - doubling our district size on Wednesday with transfers.

Monday:  We drove up to Chickasha for our p-day and couldn't find an indoor basketball court (it's way to hot to play outside) so we ended up throwing a football around for awhile.  It's hard to do stuff with only 5 elders.  We stopped in and saw Matt and just had an awesome day.  Everyone we have been seeing has been very friendly.

Tuesday: I was reflecting a lot on how much easier it is to just be lazy.  To complain rather than be happy, to find flaw in someone rather than give a compliment, to laugh instead of cry - especially in hard situations.  I've come to the conclusion that it's a lot harder to be happy all the time, but it's always worth it! 

We stopped by and saw Matt and asked him if he wanted to go and teach with us because we've realized a great way to get less active member back to church is to have them feel the spirit!  So we brought Matt to Charlie's to teach the Plan of Salvation and we went into very deep detail about the whole thing.  I personally think that it's the best lesson we've taught all transfer.  Charlie told us that he's been kicked out of a ton of churches for questions that he's asked.  I think that's ridiculous.  If you have questions - just do as it tells us in James.  Ask God!  :)  Because as we learn in Phillipians 2:12 - we have to work out our own salvation.  God isn't going to give us an answer that we don't ask for, although He knows of everything that we stand in need of.  He told us a few stories about how he would ask about the Trinity or other questions about heaven and hell and they would simply tell him to never come back.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's not cool.  I don't like that at all because if I have a question - I want an answer!  I think that's why they love the missionaries - because three 19 year old boys can answer these questions for them! 

At the end of the lesson, they told us that we explained the Plan of Salvation the most clear of all the times they've heard it.  It made us feel good!  It's so nice to just talk instead of teach.  That's been my goal with all of my investigators - to just talk, not teach.

Wednesday:  It was all about Charlie - first because I love him to death and because we spent the majority of the day at his house.  Bright and early we went over to help him clean up his backyard. 

Thursday:  I'll never forgot the 4th of July in Anadarko.  So memorable.  We had permission to be up until 11 - so we definitely took advantage of it!  :)  Cindy told me that she's been praying that my visa wouldn't come yet.  I guess she has more faith than me!  But it's fine.  She also asked me to baptize her.  Awesome.  :)

We went to see Jesus y Vico with Natalia and her parents.  They basically taught the whole lesson.  We focused on how important the Book of Mormon is and what it meant to them.  They bore powerful testimonies.  Afterwards, we went and watched a 6 1/2 minute fireworks presentation.  :)  Wow.  Happy 4th!


Friday:  Ohhhh Friday.  We had district meeting and then helped a lady move.  This is how they move people in Anadarko:

E. Tripp and I went to Chickasha with E. Hoopes for the day.  It was SO CRAZY FUN!  We did some work, talked to some less actives, got them stoked to come to church, talked to an investigator, read part of the Book of Mormon with him, and then we got to talk about his guns. 

He showed us this gun that his dad had carved by hand and it was sick!  For real.  I should have taken a picture.  This guy had a dog - a little Chihuahua - and it was a licker!  The dog just kept licking and licking.  So this guy said, "watch out, or she'll lick ya to death" so I said, "Well, maybe she can figure out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop!"  He didn't think that it was too funny, but I did.  haha

We also ran into a less active guy and gave him a blessing.  Crazy circumstances.  We also cooked us some Ramen Noodle Omelets.

Saturday:  We drove to Lawton and met the new Mission President.  His name is President Walkenhorst and he's 7 feet tall.  No joke.   He's a pretty cool guy.  He wants us to focus on miracles - to find miracles that we see each and every day.  Honestly, it's a miracle that people even let us in the door sometimes!  Then to see the change in people is also a miracle!  I love it!  :)

Sunday:  We had an awesome fast and testimony meeting.  Probably one of the most spiritual meetings I've ever been to.  We had 3 investigators come to church:  Cindy, Nola and Cody. 

We saw Jesus y Vico and I got to anoint oil in Spanish.  It was interesting.  :)  Natalia's parents were in town - and they both speak Spanish so I got to hear a TON!  We talked with them for awhile and gave her a blessing. 

I'm loving Oklahoma.  It's amazing.  I've met so many amazing people while being here and I wouldn't trade my time here for anything.  But it's time to get to work, I've got 2 new elders and 2 sisters that need to know what's going on in this area before my visa comes!  :)

I love you all, miss you more.

Work hard, expect miracles.

Keep the Faith!

Elder Harris

The Last of the Mohicans

 

 

I AM THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS!  I found out that I am the last visa waiter here in Oklahoma.  Elder Haselton flew out earlier today.  I really have no idea when I'm leaving, but I do know that it's up to the Lord and where ever I am needed I will be.  While talking to Sister McLaughlin today she told me that E. Haselton has known that he was leaving for about 2 weeks.  So I think that I have to fly with a group of people.  A sister from my MTC district also emailed me and told me that she was finally leaving for Resistencia too.  So, I guess I'm a little torn about that, but when I look at the growth I've seen in Anadarko - it's remarkable. 

I'm doing amazing!  :)  I'm a little tired today, but I can sleep when I'm home.  :)  Sounds like ya'll had a good week even with a few cuts and bruises.  Ty and Brae look BIG in that picture of them with the motorbikes.

As for Cindy's baptism, we've moved it back again,  Since it's the weekend of the 4th and all, nobody is going to be in town and she wants other people to be there - not just the missionaries.  So hopefully her baptism will be on the 14th.  We also have this family that are scheduled for baptism on the 20th and another investigator who is in line for August 3rd.  The Lord really is hastening the work.

As for the week:

Monday:  We played basketball like always.  I really don't think I've missed a shot in the last 2 games we've played!  :)  On Monday night, Sister Wright came with us to Charlie's and we read some scriptures with them.  We had to leave because we got a call from a lady who had fallen so we busted it over to the hospital to give her a blessing. 

Tuesday:  We went down to Fletcher to find some work for the sisters.  We have sisters coming in at the start of the next transfer (7/10).  While we were there, we dropped by the Branch President's house and had some lunch.  Their nephew, Greg, was there and cooked up some squirrel for us.  YES, I SAID SQUIRREL!!!  It pretty much tastes like turkey, only a little more "gamey".

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday:  We drove back to Elgin/Fletcher to do some more work.  Not much success to report because all the members told us that they want to wait for the Sisters.  They think they will click better.  :)

Later that night, we ended up at Cindy's house.  She has invited many of her friends to start taking lessons from us and we were happy to teach the 2 she had there that night.  We watched a talk by President Monson with them.  It was funny because they had a lot of questions about prophets and why we need them.  So when we watched the video it helped a lot!  Later that night, we got a call about some people that had some extra matresses that they were getting rid of so we helped get them to a family that really needed them.  The two little girls were so happy to have a bed to sleep on.  I love that little family so much and I'm going to be sad to leave them.

Thursday:  We got dropped by an investigator and then we were knocking on some doors and I gave my little schpeel.  This guy says "I don't understand" in perfect English, so I asked "Hable Espanol?  (You speak Spanish?)  Then he said, "Si!!" so I told him about it again in Spanish!  hahaha  :)  que bendiction!!

Friday:  We had district meeting in Chickasha.  E. Lowe taught us about love.  How much to we love the people we serve?  Our companions, members, less actives, and investigators?  Kinda hit home.  It was an awesome meeting.  Then the Zone Leaders went on exchanges with us.  E. George (Megan Smith's friend) came to Anadarko with Nelson and me.

While we were out, we got a phone call from a guy named Matt.  It was wierd because his name came up in the phone and we didn't know who he was.  Turns out that he was baptized about 3 years ago.  We talked to him and read some scriptures with him.  Then his brother came into the room and told us that he wanted to learn about the church, the Book of Mormon and to be baptized.  We couldn't believe that he told us all of this when we met him!  I hope everything works out for both of them.

Later that night, we met up with our Spanish investigators.  I honestly didn't understand hardly anything they were saying.  Over the time I've been here, I've lost so much of my Spanish.  I just know that it's going to be awful when I get to Argentina.  But they were talking to me and crying, so whatever they said was probably a good thing!  :)

Saturday:  We struck out a lot.  We knocked on a ton of doors but nobody was home.  I did get a picture by the prayer teepee and we saw Matt and his brother Isreal again.  We taught them about the Restoration.  We also visited another family and taught them about the Plan of Salvation.  They asked a few questions about the plan and it was cool how the 3 of us came up with answers that somehow made sense.  :)

Sunday:  We went to church and had an awesome day!  We had 5 investigators at church so we were pretty excited about that!  When we got home we sat on the couch for a minute and then we got a call from a panicked member who told us that she had an emergency at her house.  We didn't ask any questions and flew over there as fast as we could.  When we got there, we found out that she had a snake in her house.  Turns out that all 3 of us are terrified of snakes.  So I decided to be the bigger man and figured what the heck!  The Lord's got my back!  I started searching for the snake and guess what?  I found it!  This is where the story gets interesting . . .

I had some tongs to pick up the snake and I wanted to throw it in a bucket so I was asking them to throw me a bucket!  The whole time everyone was yelling at me but I finally got the snake in the bucket.  I decided that I should run around the house and show everyone - bad idea.  I got screamed at for bringing the snake further into the house! haha  So I took it outside and threw it on the ground.  They told me that I needed to kill it, so I just cut it with the tongs.  The mom didn't think that the snake as dead so she threw a brick at it and missed.  :)  So I got the brick and dropped it on the snake's head.  The kids were all looking out the window staring in amazement! 

Long story short - the snake died. 

E. Harris -1, Snakes -0

We had lunch later at the Heer's house.  It was Michael's birthday.  He's 16 and I love him to death.  He's a lot like Braeden so we just have the best time.  It makes me miss you guys sometimes - especially when there are people that kinda temporarilly replace ya'll.  I know that sound kinda bad, but it makes me feel a little bit like my family is out here with me?  They're going to Lake Powell this week, so maybe you guys could go down there too?  I know I'd want to be going down there if I was home.  haha

I LOVE YOU!!  Can't wait to see ya'll again.

Keep the Faith.

-Elder Harris

Nothing Kills the Spirit Like Elvis

My mouth hurts from smiling so much this week!  haha!  I don't know if that's a sign that I find myself smiling even when we're just walking and nobody is around.  :)

I didn't get to listen to the Mission President Meeting on Sunday because we were driving back from Apache so we could get to Elgin on time to visit some members.  I didn't know that all the missionaries are going over to the Marriott Center.  That's a decently long walk.  But hey, that would be so nice to get out of the MTC.  I hear it's like a prison.  Oh wait, I was just there and sometimes I felt like I was in prison!!!  Haha  I LOVED it there and wouldn't trade that experience for anything!

Your story about the "spiritual glasses" is so true.  I've learned that we need to look with an eternal view on life instead of getting bugged about the little things in our lives.  Another thing is that in the war chapters of the Book of Mormon, the Nephites would bring a small portion of their armies to "draw" the Lamanites out of their strongholds.  Then while the whole Lamanite Army would be chasing after this small army the rest of the Nephites would take over the Lamanites strongholds.  Basically - don't chase after the little things.  Don't ever leave your "stronghold" - because that's when the devil will take over!

In church yesterday, Brother Harrison gave a talk about why we need to come to church.  He compared it to a football game.  This had my attention!  While the huddle is sometimes overlooked in football games - it's VERY important.  That's why we need to pause for a second, regroup, and go out and try to execute the next play.  So church is the huddle that we need each week to where we gather, regroup, and slow down for a second before we go back into life (the game).  I thought that was awesome.  Church really does help!  Thank you for forcing me to go to church - I realize how important is it now!  :)

I was excited to hear about Zack's mission call.  He's going to be a solid missionary in Mexico.  It's amazing to me how fast time really does go by - I've been out 4 months aleady.  In no time, I'm going to be sitting by the pool with you drinking a Coke!  I couldn't believe it when I woke up this morning and realized it was MONDAY again!  haha

This has been an amzing week.  We tried our best to work as hard as possible but I have to start out with some bad news.  Cindy is getting knee surgery on Tuesday so her baptism will have to be pushed back a week since her knee can't get wet.  Something cool about her is that she already wants people to hear about the gospel.  We've given her a bunch of Books of Mormon so she can write her testimony in them and give them to people.  It's pretty cool and I'm excited for her.

In other bad news, President Taylor leaves this week.  I'm sad to see him go - but I guess I might have the record since I will probably have 4 different mission presidents . . .

Monday:  We had Zone P-day in Lawton.  One of the Zone Leaders - Elder George knows Megan Smith!  They wen't to college together and he's an awesome guy - I think he's coming to Darko this week.  At the training we talked about miracles and our foundation.  We learned that some missionaries get worn out, comfortable and lazy with missionary work so we talked about what we can do to keep the fire burning. 

Tuesday:  We dug a grave.  A lady in ward's dog died.  His name was Spartacus, 18 years old and 175 pounds.  She was just so sad. 

We had a bunch of appointments drop so we spent a lot of the day walking around waiting for an appointment later that we had.  But when we were on our way over there, they texted and said they couldn't meet.  So we decided to go over and check on Jim and Jens. On the way we came across this group of people - 6 or 7 of them that all had a beer and cigarette in hand.  There was this one guy who was so drunk that he was cross-eyed.  His name is Frank and he wanted us to say like 50 prayers with him.  I got to talking to another guy named Randall about the Book of Mormon and he grabbed my shoulder and told me that I needed to say a prayer for him.  So I stood up, took his arm and walked him over to a chair so he wouldn't fall over.  He began to tell me how he just hadn't felt right since he denied saying a prayer with us (which happened about 2 weeks ago) and wanted to say that prayer with us now.  So we said a prayer with them and then Randall asked me about our beliefs.  I don't know what it is, but everyone that wants to bash us or question our beliefs always wants to talk to me.  No joke, it's happened like 6 times this week! 

As we were leaving, I shook everyone's hand and when I shook Frank's hand, he told me to pray for him and then he pulled me into this like hug thing.  He had my hand in his right hand and his left hand was on my head - so I put my hand on the back of his head and said a little prayer for him.  I gave him a picture so that we would remember that we stopped by.  Just another day in Dodge . . .

Wednesday:  We had Christmas!  The mission came and gave us some new furniture!  E Tripp got a completely new bed so I took his old box springs and mattress and stacked them up with mine so now I havea SUPER BED! haha  I literally have to jump just to get on top of it, but it's alright!

We drove up to Elgin to find some work for the Sisters who are coming at the end of the transfer.  While we were walking this guy rolled up in this super sick black car from the 50's.  He's the husband of a member so we kicked it at their place for a minute and he showed us his cars.

Thursday:  We did our weekly planning, visited a member that just moved in, and visited Cindy.  She is doing amazing and has some friends that she would like to introduce us to!

Friday:  We did exchanges.  So E Hoopes from Chickasha came to Darko with Nelson and me.  We talked to a guy named Allen for about an hour and tried to help him come back to church.  We had a member come with us for about 4 hours and we met a bunch of people.  We even taught a lesson to a lady who was sitting in her truck.

We have another new investigator named Chawntae who has met the missionaries before but says that she is now ready to hear the word.  She's awesome.  We also got dropped by Mona.  But we're not gving up yet - she found out that her mom passed away this week so we're going to go back and teach her the Plan of Salvation.

We ended up at another house where I shared 3 Nephi 20:21 (I think) where it talks about Christ setting an example for us that we need to follow.  I compared it to being a parent and told her and all of her friends very bluntly that if you want your kids to have a better life and not get mixed up in worldly things (drinking/drugs etc) then they need to step it up and set a better example for them.  If your kids see you drinking and doing other things that aren't good then how can you expect your children to think it's not okay!??!?!?!  I walked away a little frustrated.

Saturday:  We had two funerals.  The first one was for a lady who had downs syndrome and aparently loved Elvis.  So tis Elvis impersonator came and sang at her funeral.  Nothing kills the spirit like Elvis.  :)  Brother Sullivan gave this amazing talk and then Elvis sang the closing son and yup . . . no comment.

 

 

We then drove up to Fort Cobb with Sister Wright to get her a new fridge.  We moved it in and then went back to another funeral.  Debra Cocker was there! (Uncle Charles' sister-in-law)

That night we met up with a full family of investigators.  We are helping them see Christ in their lives.  They are truly amazing and I can feel a lot of potential in them!

Sunday: We did a lot of driving and had a lesson with Cindy and 2 of her friends.  We taught them about the Restoration and it was strangely powerful to see how strong Cindy's testimony is of the gospel simply because of how much happiness it's brought her.

We also went to one of our investigator's homes and had to cast out evil spirits.  They have been seeing a lot of cracy things happen so we got that taken care of.  The feeling of the evil spirts leaving was remarkable!

I'm sorry, I've gotta run but don't worry about me.  I'm safe, having fun, and I really love this work!  I'm going to be super sad to leave Darko :(  I've had some amazing experience and built some good relationships here.  But I guess all I can do it enjoy the time I have here until I'm called to go to Argentina.

Have an awesome week.  Keep the Faith and remember that no matter where I am that I love you!

-Elder Harris

P.S. - Thank you always teaching me manners.  It's a lot easier to learn when you're young!  :)

No Visa Yet

 

 

 

Happy?  You KNOW I'm ALWAYS happy!  :) :)  Especially after all the great news that you just told me!  :)  I also got the package that you sent and I LOVE the shirt and the watch!  They're amazing.

My district only has 5 Elders in it and we are part of the Lawton Zone.  We are driving up to Lawton today for Zone P-day!  We also just got news that we will be adding 2 additional Elders in Elgin - a city that goes to our branch!  It will be so awesome to have some help there since it's 20 miles from Anadarko and it's hard for us to get up there very often.  The good news is that we just have SO MUCH WORK in Anadarko that we never have time to leave!  We are planning on going on up to Elgin this week though and knocking all day to find some work for the new missionaries who will be coming in. 

Transfers don't come up again until July 10th - and I have NO idea if I will be here or not.  Our new Mission President (Walkenhorst) is coming sometime around June 29th - the same day as Cindy's baptism and my 4 month mark!  HOLY CRAP!  I feel like I just left!!  But knowing Karma - I'll probably fly out to Argentina on the 29th and miss everything . . . .

So no Visa yet.  E. Beach says that a huge group is coming in 7 weeks - so who knows.  :)

As for this week:

Monday:  We had two FHE's with the Wright Family and the Poolaw Family.  We played the "Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down" choices lesson, re-taught the plan of salvation lesson and then played some wiffle ball.  Solid Monday.  :)

Tuesday:  We went and taught a new investigator.  We met her right after she got off the phone where she found out that her mom has stage 4 cancer.  I think that she's pretty prepared to hear the message of the gospel. 

Later that day we tried a new referral from the city.  We knocked on the door and found an entire family.  We taught them about the restoration and it was phenomenal!  They were so receptive and prepared it was unbeliveable!

Sister Poolaw offered to feed us breakfast that morning and had dropped off some food for us.  Later that afternoon we were trying to think of something nice we could do for her - she called us.  She ran out of gas and needed some help.  So we went over and picked her up and took her home so that she could take care of her kids, then we went and got some gas for her and got her car back to her.  She was so grateful.  We also were able to teach Jesus and Vico - they're awesome and so patient with me while we work our way through teaching them in Spanish.  :)

Our friend Justina got a job!  Miracles happen with the people that are around the missionaries!  :)  So kick it with the missionaries and you'll be alright!

Thursday:  We did our weekly planning and walked around in the heat - it was HOT!  We ran into an investigator that Curry and Butterfield found a couple months back and we're going to be teaching him now.  We saw Joey and played some ball with him and his brothers.

Later that night, we saw Jesus and Vico again.  I taught them the Plan of Salvation in Spanish and yes, it's difficult - even though they thought it was amazing.  I even invited them to be baptized in Spanish.  They want to learn more and be "better people" before they commit to be baptized - so we wait! 

Friday:  I went up to Chickasha on an exchange!  It was cool.  We had district meeting up there and then I kicked it with E. Lowe.  I got to sing Karaoke with some old people, walked 4 miles in the heat, got a sweet pic on Utah Street and we found some potentials.  It was a solid day in Chickasha!

Saturday:  Super slow day.  We drove back from Chickasha, got a hair cut and went to a birthday party.  We met a ton of people at the party and hopefully we run into a couple of them in the next few days.  Funny story - while we were there we saw this guy who we had prayed with in the past to helpe him find a job - and guess who got a job?  HE DID!  :)  Prayer works, right?  :)

Sunday:  We had an awesome day at church.  One of our counselors spoke and did an amazing job!  I loved it.  He talked a lot about being happy and how we need to discipline to HELP our kids.  Nothing more.  SO MOM!  Thank you for always being strict with me.  Thank you for giving me this work ethic I've learned over time and for every time that you've had to hold your ground when I got fired up.  I'm sorry and I love you!  You're the best mom ever!  You and dad have raised an amazing family and I'm happy that I get to be out in the mission field representing OUR FAMILY!  :)

Keep the Faith!

Love you!
-Elder Harris

A Week of Little Miracles

I've had an amazing week.  Full of undeniable miracles, humbling experiences and snakes.  Yes, I said snakes.  :)  (Notice the snake hanging on the fence!)

We didn't get a chance this week to do any tornado clean up.  We're about an hours drive from New Castle so they don't send us up there very often.  We've actually been proselyting ALL WEEK!  Things with Cindy are going really well - she is sooo prepared.  She had to leave church early this Sunday because her kidneys are failing her.  Her mom still doesn't want her to be baptized, and WILL NOT attend her baptismal service.  I think that her mom truly wants her to be unhappy.  I don't really understand it, but hopefully over time her heart will be softened.  Last week we taught her about the Word of Wisdom and she hasn't smoked for 3 weeks now.  So on Tuesday when we went to visit her, her apartment smelled like smoke!  Then on Thursday, we went back to visit her and I straight up asked her why her apartment smelled like smoke.  She told us that the maid who comes in to help her smokes and only speaks Spanish.  So I taught Cindy how to say "don't smoke" in Spanish.  :)  Instead, she make sure that the maid was looking at her when she threw her ashtray away.  Then she started shaking her head like "no no no no".  :)  She's so funny!  Plus, she thinks I'm an absolute riot.  Everything I say she thinks is hilarious!  Am I really that funny?  Or is it just a gift?  :)

She's still planning on being baptized on the 29th.  We've taught her every lesson and now she needs to just keep building her testimony.  I've actually thought a lot about what you said about getting my Visa and leaving just before the baptism - I'm going to be SO sad to leave Darko.  I love so many people here!!

So President Butler huh?  That's awesome.  Looks like he will be releasing me from my mission in 20 months!  I have now had 4 Fast and Testimony meetings on my mission mom!  The time is FLYING by.  I have been thinking about how fast time does go here.  It feels like I just got to Darko a week ago, and it's been 8? 

It sounds like all of you are having an awesome time at home and on vacations!  But I'm on vacation serving the Lord!  I really do love talking about the gospel with people.  Especially because it's been such an amazing guide for me in my life.  So mom!  Thank you for always forcing me to go to church!  Even when I faked sick.  :)

Have fun by the pool too - and just so you know, I have seen a fat lady sitting in a pool, smoking a cigarette - just like we did in Nauvoo.  BEST MOMENT EVER!  haha

We've had a ton of miracles this week.  I don't even know where to begin . . .

Last Monday we found a new investigator.  Her name is Karren and she is this super sweet black lady who LOVES her Bible.  She is super receptive and I just love her!  She wants us to come back and again to visit her.  She thinks that the whole Restoration was very interesting . . . and logically possible.  :)  We also visited Jim and Jen again.  Man, they just make me so sad but I still love them and we're going to go back and pray with them and help them in any way possible.

Tuesday we had miracle timing.  We walked down across the east side of town to visit one of our investigators but he wasn't home.  So we walked around the loop, talked to a couple of people and as we were heading back up the street, he pulled up at the exact same time!  So we went into his home and shared a short message. :)  I LOVE the miracles of timing!

Wednesday was the BEST!  We went ove to visit our Spanish investigators and since I'm the only one who knows Spanish I do most of the talking.  While we were walking up to their door, I'm praying that I can speak the language.  Then I knocked and this girl came to the door - and she was STUNNING!  I was completely surprised because I expected Vico to answer the door.  I wasn't sure if I should say hi in Spanish or English - so I blurted out this weird Spanish-English-baffling bafoon thing.  One of those moments when you really just don't know what to say, you know?  I seriously felt like I was back in the 7th grade and I'd never talked to a girl before.  Thankfully she finally said hi.  Then Vico came to the door and we talked a bit, said a prayer and left.  But it was just the best.  We laughed all the way home.  :)

After a meeting at the church, we were headed home and E. Tripp decided we should get a soda.  So we stopped by the gas station and ran into Robert.  He's a buddy of ours and he walks around Anadarko all day and just knows everyone.  He told us that he just got kicked out of his house and hadn't eaten in a few days so we bought him a piece of chicken and a slice of bread.  He kept thanking us over and over again.  Miracle?  I'd say yes!

Thursday was awesome but nothing really to report and Friday was my very first "DROP".  Yup, some investigators dropped us.  When they told us, I almost started to cry.  I've been crying a lot this week.  I can't decide if it's allergies or the Spirit (haha), but I just want these people to be happy.  So this is a funny story - We walked around the fence to this apartment complex and saw this girl who was a former investigator.  When she saw us, she freaked out and ran away.  Literally, ran away.  So we decided to walk on the other side of the building so that we wouldn't bug her - turns out she ran the ENTIRE WAY AROUND THE BUILDING to avoid us . . . HAHAHAHAHA.  So when she ran into us again - she turned around and ran the other way.  HAHAHAHAHA

Later that night we decided that we'd go see Lloyd.  On the way over there we ran into some investigators that we hadn't seen in about a month.  We chatted with them for about an hour.  They shared their struggles with us and she was just an emotional wreck.  She kept saying that all she wanted was a sign from God that He loves her.  So I kindly pointed out that 3 representatives of Jesus Christ were sitting right in front of her.   I then cried again while telling her why we were there and that our sole purpose was to help her be happy.  We ended up giving her a blessing and she asked me to give it to her.  What was so weird was that the thought to cast out the adversary kept coming to my mind - so I finally said it and after I said it, the entire atmosphere of the room changed.  The whole house just lifted and became brighter - they both could feel it.

On Saturday, I taught my first full lesson in Spanish.  It was really cook to speak Spanish! 

Sunday!!!  :)  The best day of the week!  We had 3 investigators at church and 17 less actives!! :) :) :)  It was fast and testimony meeting and I was just in the best mood!  Cindy, Edwin and Fawn all came to church!  Yes, we had to pick them all up, but whatever works.  Edwin thought that it was the best day ever and accepted a baptismal date for July 13th.  The whole Poolaw family and Jaime came to church too!  I got up to speak and shared 1 Nephi 2:20

 

"And inasmuch as ye keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands."

Change the word "land" to whatever it is that you desire.  :)  You should try it. 

After church we went by to check on Cindy since she left early and took a video that Natalia had for her and it was perfect.  It was Sister Reeves?  I think from Conference on difficult times.  It was powerful!

Ok, one more funny story from yesterday.  So we visited Lloyd and afterwards we saw these two guys sitting outside drinking like everyone does here on Sunday afternoons.  I walked up to them to give them a picture of Christ you know?  So I offered it to one of the guys and he just stared at me - real angry like - so I just figured that he didn't want the picture so I said, "Have a good day" and as I started walking off he shouted out to me:

Dude:  Hey, are you from Utah?
Me:  Uhhh, ya.
Dude:  You have a gun?
Me:  No.
Dude:  Do you have a car?
Me:  Yes.
Dude:  Why don't you get in your car and go back to Utah!

I just laughed and told him to have a good day.  Alcohol . . . . hahahahahaha

Honestly, it's just been an amzaing week!  I actually got to teach Tracy about the Restoration and why the Book of Mormon is so important last night.  She's been a member for 10 years now and still doesn't know that much about the church.  I'm going to teach her all I can while I'm here.   I'm going to be really sad when I have to leave my Okey-Mom, she really is the sweetest lady and just wants to be happy. 

Gotta run!  I love and miss you!  Have fun out by the pool every day!  Try not to get wet!  :)

Love you!
-Elder Harris

Another Day, Another Tornado!

Hey Mom.  I'm still breathing.  haha

I have had some really bad allergies here, but they seem to be dying down now.  I'm not sure what I'm allergic to, but it's alright.  :)

This week was a very exciting one.  Yes, you heard right - a tornado did hit about 15 miles from here.  What's funny is that we were out walking around about 20 minutes before it hit.  It was slightly raining so we didn't really mind it - but we started running back to our house when it started DUMPING rain on us.  When we got to the house, a few of the neighbors came over and wanted to use our storm shelter.  We actually have two.  One in the front yard and another one in the back which is underneath the house.  The storm shelter can fit about 8 people in it. We had 6 people and 2 dogs in there comfortably.  It's just a metal door with stairs going down to a little cement room. Not too exciting :)  So we sat on the porch and watched the rain fall for a while - then once the hail came we got down into the shelter.  The tornado warning sirens started going off just as we were getting situated down there so we just stayed for a bit.  Thankfully, Anadarko was untouched.  :)

Am I ever scared of the tornados?!? Mom! I ain't never scrrd! It's just fun being in the action of it. The way I look at it - it just makes for some really good stories for my homecoming talk! :) The Lord has my back - plus kickin' it in the storm shelter is always fun! hahaI spend most of my time just being a normal missionary.  We did go do some clean up service on Saturday but other groups have been working in their service clothes the whole week - especially those in the city since they don't have any power.

Don't let watching the weather on TV drive you insane.  A lot of people here don't know how to do any BUT watch the weather.  If anything does happen, I have a cell phone with me at all times and we stay in constant contact with the mission president.  The Lord's got my back!

There are a lot of really sad things that have been happening lately.  We hear all the stories from the families that have lost their houses.  So so sad.  On Saturday we finally drove up and helped in Moore and Norman.  I have a few pictures and a funny story about the Warren Theatre.  So apparently during the tornado they paused all the movies and told everyone to go in the hallways.  Then they just returned to their movie after the tornado had passed.  So ya, when they walked out of the movie, their car was gone - but hey!  Nobody was hurt!  :)  So I guess the moral of the story is:  If you're in a tornado - go see a movie!  haha

It seems like LP baseball drama is non-stop.  No big surprise.  I just think that life would be so much easier for everyone if we would all just follow the commandments.  :)

E. Tripp is the man!  He's from Bountiful and went to Viewmont.  He's super funny and the 3 of us get along.  He's been out for 5 months today - so we pretty much have 3 super young missionaries taking care of Anadarko.  He's also the DL. 

We've just seen a TON of miracles this week.  It all started last Monday when we said good-bye to everyone with Elder Curry.  We drove up to the city on Tuesday and picked up E Tripp then brought him back and introduced him to some people in town.  We also met about 6 potentials.

We were rained in part of the day on Wednesday.  The storm has been coming in and out for what seems like forever.  The best part about Wednesday was we met a man named Jim.  We were actually walking the streets and just felt like we needed to turn left.  So we did and ran into this guy.  He's about 60 years old and has a huge beard and really long hair.  He was drunk and told us that he was a sinner and that we needed to come over.  So we were talking to him as he was limping back to his house with his cane.  We followed him through this alleyway to his little shack that he actually does live in.  He told us that he'd been out all night looking for some girls but couldn't find any.  Then he told us that he had a couple of girls waiting for him at home.

We weren't too sure about this whole thing since he told us that they were hookers.  But we went in and there was this lady sitting on the couch.  No joke - she was like 50 years old and weighed no more than 70 pounds.  I've never seen a lady so thin in my whole life.  We started talking to her - just small talk about who we were, where we're from, what we're doing here.  I got around to talking to her about the plan of salvation - all the while E Nelson is rebuking Jim - but that's another story.  We originally planned on just going in and saying a prayer with them but this lady and I sat and cried together for about 30 minutes.  She has lost her husband and her mother within 3 years - so I explained to her how she will be able to see them again.  Those two really made an impact on us.  We are all just so grateful that we have parents that love us, a family to turn to when things are hard.  We found out that Jim has 5 daughters - all with different mamas.  Gotta love the side effects of alcohol.  There should be a warning on the bottle that says:  "Caution:  Might bring you into a situation that you will one day regret . . . . "

On Thursday we met this girl named Chawntae.  She had previously been taking the discussions, but didn't belive the Joseph Smith story.  So we had to explain it to her again and help her understand the authority.  She told us to come back and that she wanted to read the Book of Mormon.

We also met with Cindy three times this week!  She even came to church!  We invited her to get baptized on May 23rd and we hope that she will be baptized within this transfer.  She told us that she has already received an answer that the Book of Mormon is true and has already read 15 chapters and can't wait for the day of her baptism!  The craziest thing that she told us is that after our lesson on the restoration she heard something tell her that she needed to quit smoking - that it was poisoning her body.  She even told us that she hasn't smoked since!

If I had to hand out an award for "Golden Investigator" it would definately go to her.  She just loves the gospel so much and has already seen the healing power of Christ.  Her only problem is that her mom who lives a couple doors away HATES US.  :)  It just more of a reason to love her.

Thank you so much for all of your love and support.  I appreciate it!

Love you!!
-Elder Harris