The members help so much in the work!

Hey everyone! Man this week flew by! I hope you all had an awesome Easter and that you all were able to keep in mind the real meaning of why we celebrate it. I hope you were all able to ponder a little on the life, death, and resurrection and what it means to all of us.

So this week was really good. We've been working with R. and her family a bunch this week. Her parents are finally starting to warm up to us but they are still really Catholic so they don't agree with the baptism. It makes me so frustrated because there is a Catholic church on their block and they don't even go to church, they just say they're Catholics. Anyways, R. and her brother T. came to church with us this Sunday and loved it. The Bom Jardim ward is one of the best wards I've passed in on my mission. The members help so much in the work with referrals and fellowshipping investigators and all that good stuff. R.'s older sister Re. didn't go to church with us because her daughter was sick so she had to stay home. But it will all work out.

On Thursday we had a zone conference in Caicó which was really good. It was fun to see everyone there. Then on Friday the ward had a big activity out at a little farm house and they invited us to go so we went. They had a pool there and a little grass area where everyone played soccer. Then we had a barbeque after which was bomb. A member gave passed a referral so we went there that night to teach him. His name is F. and we had a really good lesson on the restoration with him. We also taught one of his neighbors, M., with him. After then lesson something interesting happened. She came up to me and said that she had had a dream a few nights before and in that dream a bunch of tall men wearing white shirts and ties were having a conversation with here but she couldn't understand anything that they were saying. She said as soon as she saw me she had the distinct impression that I was there in her dream. This was before she had even met me. To be honest I was a little shocked. I told her that we had for sure been sent to her because she needed what we were teaching and she said she would have her son read the Book of Mormon to her because she doesn't know how to read. We're gonna keep working with both F. and M.

But that's about it for this week. I love you all! Thank you for everything! Happy Easter! A igreja é verdadeira!

Elder Harris

A few pics for you guys...

It's what you gotta do!

Hey everyone! This week's been pretty good. My comp and I are finally healthy again so we've been working a bunch. We've been focusing a lot on one family. Especially the two daughters and the son. Ra., who is 18, Re., who is like 25 or so, and T. who is 15 years old. The dad is also great but the mom is super obnoxious and doesn't like us because she is super catholic. She always is super rude to us but it's actually kinda funny because the whole family likes us so when the mom gets after us, the entire family gets after her haha. It's like we've got back up there haha. But anyways, Ra. and Re. have been reading the Book of Mormon but Ra. always thought that anybody could have written it. So we've been talking about it a bunch and she said she is finally starting to believe for the first time that it's true. So obviously we got super stoked but yesterday she got sick and Re.'s daughter got sick so neither one of them could go to church. So that was a bummer, But we're gonna keep working with them. Another investigator is K., who's 15 years old. We went to his house on Tuesday and he was super excited, saying that he had prayed and read a bunch and wanted to be baptized so we marked it for this Saturday. But the mom didn't agree and wouldn't let him be baptized. We tried talking to her but it didn't help... She was being as they call it here... a goalie. But we'll keep working with her. Also another girl we're teaching is M. who is 17 years old. She has been to church a few times but her grandma is a strong member of the Assembly of God and says that M. was already baptized there so she doesn't need to be baptized again. Especially because the way they baptize there is really similar to the correct way but they just don't have the authority. We tried explaining this to the grandma but she wouldn't have any of it. We talked about the Holy Ghost too because she thought everyone had to talk in tongues when they get the Holy Ghost and she doesn't think that it is given by the laying on of hands. I showed her in Acts 8 where the apostles gave the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands but after reading I asked her what she understood... and she said the following. "Well it looks like Jesus came down, raised up his hand, and baptized everyone with the Holy Ghost! Halleluiah!!" I just kinda sat there with a stupid look on my face like... really lady? How did you get that out of what we just read?? Idk, some people just don't want to understand.  To be honest that's about all that happened this week. On Tuesday we had a pretty good district meeting. In other news, this has been one of the hottest weeks of my mission I think. We played sports for about a half hour or so at 6:00am and afterwards I was wringing out my shirt because of the sweat. Sunday we walked a ton too trying to get investigators to church and taking them all home afterwards. It's really hard here because not a lot of people have cars so we have to leave about 2 hours before church starts to personally stop by all of their houses to bring them to church. It takes forever, and it's exhausting but it's what you gotta do. But I think that's about it for this week. Thanks for everything! I love you all! Have a great week! A igreja é verdadeira!

Elder Harris

Pics - The District

I'll just laugh by myself here!

Hey everyone! So this week was really good. It was actually a little tough but still really good. I'm feeling much better after my chikungunya but now my comp got it and he's been really sick. That's actually what's been so tough about this week. With me being sick last week and Elder S. Cardoso being sick this week we've had really little time to work in our area. I was able to go on splits with Elder Aguiar, one of the missionaries who we live with, and let me tell ya, we worked our tails off. It paid off because we were able to have two baptisms. We baptized V. and L. That's funny if your Brazilian because V. e L. is a really famous band here haha but since most of you won’t get that joke I'll just laugh by myself here haha. We've been teaching their families and it's been going well but it's hard to get them to church. But we're gonna keep working with them and it'll all work out. So this week we had a good zone meeting. It was fun to see the new zone after the transfers. All the new missionaries in my district are all super awesome. Actually the last ones were awesome too haha. But that's about it for this week. I hope you all have a great week! A igreja é verdadeira!

Pics - The zone

Dengue Fever

Hey everyone! So this week was pretty good. Starting off with my birthday last Monday which was awesome. I had like three little parties with cake at each one. I couldn't handle eating any more cake haha. But it was so good. So then this Wednesday I started to get sick and my body started to kill. I went to the hospital on Thursday and they told me I had either dengue or chicungunya or however you spell that. I got dengue a little bit in my first area but this time it was so much worse. It left me bedridden for two whole days hardly being able to move because my body hurt so bad and I was running a pretty high fever. So I stayed home all Thursday and Friday. On Saturday I was still hurting a bit but we needed to follow up with our investigators for church on Sunday so we left to work. It was really cool actually. When we left the soreness eased up a bit and it made it easier to work and at about 6 o´clock we finished following up with our last investigator that we needed to talk to and literally as soon as we left his house I pretty much hit a wall. My body was just about to give in so we went home and I slept. But it was cool to see how Heavenly Father was helping me out the whole day in order to talk to all of our investigators and as soon as we finished I hit my wall. But anyways, I'm feeling way better. Still a little sore but they say it's normal and that in a few days it should go away and I'll be back to normal. But that's just about it for this week haha. This week we've got quite a few investigators who are progressing and who went to church this Sunday so I'm excited.
I love you all. Thanks for everything that you guys do for me! A igreja é verdadeira! (Sorry for no pics, the internet is being super slow today.)

Elder Harris

Happy 5th Birthday to Me!

Hey everyone! First off thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! I can't believe I'm already 5 years old! I'm getting to be a big boy I know hahaha. Anyways, this week was good. To start off, last Monday we received a phone call saying that Elder Webb and I were being emergency transferred. So Elder Webb went to an area here in mossoró and is now companions with Elder Durê, who was with me in the office. And I was transferred to another area here in Mossoró too. It's about a 45 minute walk from my last area in Belo Horizonte. The area I'm in now is called Bom Jardim. I'm excited to start working here it should be really good. My new comp is Elder S. Cardoso. Another new missionary who I will be finishing his training. He is really good so I'm excited. I'm gonna miss Elder Webb though. We spent hardly any time together haha. But anyways, as for teaching things were pretty slow this week. We spent a ton of time in the sisters' area helping them out and now this week we're gonna really focus on getting our own area whipped into shape. So last night we went to a little barbeque at a member's house in Elder Durê and Elder Webb's new area. Then afterwarcs they brought out a little cake and sang happy birthday to me which was really cool. Tonight I'm gonna head back to Belo Horizonte for a bit to visit some recent converts and some investigators. They were planning a surprise birthday party for me but when I said I was gonna be transferred they told me about it so I told them I would go back today to see them haha. I'm excited to see them all. But that's about it for this week. I hope you are all doing well! Have a great week! A igreja é verdadeira!

Elder Harris

This week was awesome!

Hey everyone! So this week was awesome! To be honest I don't remember too well what happened earlier this week. But yesterday was super awesome! So last week a lady named A. came to church for the first time in a while. Her son has already been baptized and served a mission but she never had too much interest in the church. Well anyways, we invited her to come to church last week and she accepted. She went and felt the spirit a ton and decided that that was what she wanted in her life. We worked all this week with her. It wasn't necessarily too hard because so many missionaries have already taught her so she already knew most of the stuff we talked about but this time was different. She starting making and keeping commitments and this Sunday she was baptized by her son. It was such a special day for everyone. Plus we were able to bring Am. to church this week too and we are working towards his baptism as well. I'm excited for this week. It should be really good. But that's about all I have time to share this week. The church is true! I love you all! Thanks for everything! A igreja é verdadeira!

Elder Harris

Pic  - my comps artistic abilities plus random pics of the district

Have the courage to open your mouth!

Hey everyone! So this week was pretty good. Not a whole lot happened. We worked a ton and had a bunch of investigators progressing but on Sunday not a whole lot of them came to church unfortunately. We've been working with a man named A. He's about 60 or so and his wife is super Catholic so she doesn't like to talk to us a lot but we've been teaching him and he's already been to church three times but he doesn't want to be baptized yet which is tough cuz he's so ready and he knows that it will bless him but I think he's a little nervous about what his wife will think. Plus he always talks to his neighbors and people don't always say the best stuff about the Mormon Church. But he's already been and knows how it is so we're gonna work with him this week to finally take the big step. Pray that it goes well! We had interviews with President this week and they went well. It was good to see president again after so long haha. It's kinda weird not seeing him almost every day haha.

So they asked me to give a talk in sacrament meeting this week because here they have a Sunday of missionary work every second Sunday of the month. So I talked and I think it went well. I talked about having the courage to open your mouth. I was the last speaker and they left me a ton of time. I talked for about 20 minutes or so with almost no notes so I was pretty proud of myself and people cried so I think I got through to them. Hopefully they'll be more excited to talk to everyone and then get the referrals to us. I'm excited. But to be honest that's about all that I can remember that happened this week. Sorry I know it was a lame letter, I don't even have any pics for you guys this week. But I love you all! Thanks for everything you do for me! A igreja é verdadeira!

Elder Harris