Happy Independence Day, America!

Hey everyone! So this week was really crazy. Really good but really crazy! On Sunday we had lunch with the bishop´s family. They are so much fun, they´ve got all sorts of little kids running around which is really uncommon here but I felt right at home with all the noise. It still didn´t compare to a family activity with the Ebmeyers but it was close ;) Monday we had lunch with the first councilor of our ward named Roosevelt (pronounced whoosvil) and his family. They are seriously one of the greatest families I have ever met. I absolutely love them. Just throwing that in there. So Monday was spent getting ready for the transfers. We left Monday night to work and it was pouring rain and we didn´t have rain jackets or umbrellas or anything. My comp was wanting to go back to the office but I knew we probably wouldn´t be able to leave to work again for the rest of the week because that´s just how transfers go. So we kept going and we got soaked then a little wind picked up and it was legitimately the first time on my mission that I got pretty cold. It was really weird.

Haha so Tuesday came around and all of the new missionaries got here and we did our normal training with them then the highlight of every transfer came, dinner at president´s house. It was great as usual. We had a really spiritual testimony meeting afterwards and the staff (the assistants and the secretaries) were able to share our testimonies with the new missionaries, as well as being able to hear theirs. It was really spiritual.

Then Wednesday came and that´s when things got crazy. A new American´s flight got delayed so instead of showing up on Tuesday he came on Wednesday so we went to pick him up. All the missionaries that were going home came and stayed with us too like normal but this was one of the loudest and most obnoxious groups I have ever met. So we had to put up with them in our house and in the office for three days... three of the longest days of my life.

But we finally got them on the plane. The airline people just decided to change their flights last minute so I was running around like crazy trying to figure everything out and trying to contact the families to tell them what was going on so it was really stressful. but it all worked out.

Thursday I took the new missionary to the police station to get him registered and everything went well. Then I went teaching with him that night. We had some really good lessons the poor new missionary was completely lost and had no idea what anyone was saying. I felt kinda bad for him but he´ll get it eventually. One thing that I realized from working with him is that things here really are so much different from the US. Like it´s all stuff that I´ve gotten used to so I don´t really think too much of it but he was freaking out at like everything. For example a police car drove by with its lights on and he thought something huge must have happened but here it´s just normal. Another thing is that he was afraid to go into a market because there was a guy standing out front in army clothes with a huge machine gun. Like that´s just normal here. I don´t know why, it´s not like you´re gonna shoot someone for stealing an apple, but that´s just what they have here. Anyways, I´ll try to take more pictures of everyday things here that you guys might think is pretty cool.

Yesterday we had to clean the office because of the mess all of the missionaries made and me and my comp were pretty much dead. We weren´t able to go to lunch because of some stuff that came up so the sisters went and got us something to eat. We went to meet them about a block away to get the food and it was a little rainy and as the icing on the cake a semi decides to drive by and nail a puddle that was in the road which sprayed mud and water all over me and Elder Durê. We were not too impressed. But after all is said and done, I still feel like this week was a good one and a successful one. We are still working with R. and with another girl and they should be baptized here in about a week or two so we´re pretty excited. They are progressing really well!

So this morning me and Elder Z. Clark the assistant decided to make a conference call with every single American missionary in the mission for the 4th of July. Because the staff are the only people in the mission that have cell phones with every number in the mission, we had to call them all and it was super complicated but we got it worked out and I turned on the National Anthem for everyone to hear. It was historical. I hope you guys have a great 4th of July and I also hope you realize that you truly do live in the best country in the world. I´ve been blessed incredibly to have been raised in the United States, and I am absolutely proud to be an American. I´m also proud to be a missionary and there is no where else that I would rather be right now than here serving. I love you all, have a great week. A igreja é verdadeira!

Elder Harris

Pics 1-3 -  President´s house
Pic 4 - 246!