Dec 9th Letter Home

Hey fam!!

 

So, basically nothing this week really worked out, which was really weird because that hasn't really happened before on  my mission! It all started on Monday, when President called me to train again, I enjoyed training Elder Pogue, but I really don't want to be seperated from Elder DeBeikes, so I will pick up my second child on wednesday, but both of us were really bummed for most of monday because of that news.  Later we taught Luke, and found out that he has word of wisdom issues that we had  NO IDEA about, he said that he didn't tell us out of respect, but he smokes and drinks. We were so shocked. However, He only smokes 2-3 cigarettes a day, so we just had to postpone his baptism. It was sad that he wasn't able to be baptized on saturday, but I'm confident that he will when he gets back from Romania. He will be in Romania until january 3. so His new baptismal date is the 11th of January. It's alright though!

 

Tuesday and wednesday Elder Debeikes was way sick so we sat in the flat all day--- so boring!! I was going nuts haha the first time on my mission I actually wished we could watch films or play x-box or something like that haha which reminds me! I spoke with a member this week and we have made arrangements for skyping on Christmas,, which is so soon! how is it possible that it's already Christmas!! which also makes me wonder, what would you guys like from England for me to send you guys for Christmas??? a member in our ward works for fed-ex, and it will be extremely cheap to send whatever to you guys, so just let me know!

 

we got a couple new chinese investigators.  GUYS, I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BLACK OR ASIAN. I love the chinese so much, they are amazing. They never flog (when potential investigators don't show up to appointments that you set up), and they love learnin about god. 

 

Frank and Joan are 2 of my favorite people ever. just 2 extremely old English homies.  They love Church, and haven't missed since we invited them to come a few weeks ago, they keep every commitment we extend to them. However, Joan, being in her 70's, is TERRIFIED of water, so she's not exited about the thought of baptism. I'm confident that we will baptize in the following transfer, unfortunately it won't be with Elder DeBeikes, but He will have bigger and better things to move on to!

 

How are things going with Spence and Kasey? Mike and Josh dating anyone? Meg?? when are we getting some neices and nephews up in here?? love you guys! que tenga un buen semana!!

 

Elder Harris.De

Dec 2, 2013

Once again, not a lot of time this week! I'm sorry!

We had a good week though, and had a really cool miracle!

On Monday our ward mission leader took us to T.G.I. fridays, I totally felt like I was back home, it was the first time I've been to a sit down restaurant with a waiter and everything since I've been on my mission, and it was AMAZING haha our ward mission leader is amazing! a 23-year old return missionary who served in scotland/ireland, and he understands missionary work like no one I've met before. 

Tuesday we spent a lot of times visiting less actives, and had a good lesson with Luke, at this point on Tuesday he was still golden..(keep reading)

Wednesday we taught a guy called Albert for the first time, a massive chinese guy who is amazing. He said the most heartfelt prayer and after he said, "wow I feel so much hope!" it was super cool and he is pretty golden.  Gifty is frustrating to teach, but I love her sooo much! she 100% knows this is exactly what she needs to do, but just won't come to church. She is so close. closer than anyone I've taught on my mission, and we're not sure at the moment what else she needs to come closer to Christ. We would love your prayers for Gifty! the sweetest woman from Ghana. 

Thursday Luke came to Institute with the YSA and loved it. It was an amazing lesson on Mosiah 14-16, Abinadi being awesome and testifying of the atonement. The spirit was really strong. Abinadi might be my new favorite person. He truly understood the plan of salvation, especially that through the atonement, it didn't matter whether they killed him or not, as long as he was declaring god's word, he would be saved.

Friday we picked up 2 new Chinese investigators who also said some sweet prayers. hearing a chinese person pray for the first time has maybe been my favorite part of the mission so far. We're so lucky we've had the knowledge our whole lives that we can talk to god, and that he does answer our prayers because he loves us so much.

Saturday we met with luke.. more background about Luke, his dad is a Preacher for the Pentacostal Church in Romania, and Luke had called his dad the day before, to let him know that he was converting LDS, and his dad was extremely upset, to the point to where he might be disowned if he joins the church.  We shared Alma Chapters 20, and 22. (King Lamoni and his father) and basically emphasized that through Luke living the gospel, his father will see that he has improved as a young man and a servant of god.. He told us that he could not be baptized on the 7th of December, and I was prompted to ask, "Luke, would Jesus Christ want you to be baptized?" and he said, "That would be the question to ask." and I was prompted to ask him to pray with us, right then and there if he needed to. so Elder Debeikes, Luke and I knelt down and first Elder DeBeikes offered a prayer at Luke's request, and then Luke started praying in Romanian. after the prayer we knelt in silence for about a minute or two, to where Luke said, " If I pass my baptismal interview, I will get baptized on the 7th." I cannot explain how strong the spirit was. Easily stronger than I have ever felt in my life. Throughout the rest of my life I'm sure I will have doubts about some concept of the church, but I will never be ever to deny the feeling of the holy ghost that was with us on Saturday, the 30th of November 2013. and that this gospel is the way for us to be happy. We NEED your guys prayers for Luke to stay strong this week, as he will be getting so much grief from his family for making this decision. I'm so proud of him, and this has been one of the most special experiences of my life teaching him. dare i say it.. more special than the state championship week. Never thought anything could compare haha but this honestly does. I love being a missionary! I love you guys so much! have an awesome week.

As for the Christmas package goes.. just go for it! haha I'm not picky, and I will make sure that I treat myself this Christmas, for you guys!

Elder Harris.

P.S. burrrrrrrrrr

Another superb week!

Another superb week!

 

I am a little bit rushed today, so it might not be as detailed of an update. On Monday we had a really fun P-day at the city center, and when it was time to go back, my bike tire's we're completely ripped, and so we had to walk the bikes all the way to the flat, which made it so we couldn't really do any work all night which was a bummer. We spend most of the week fixing our bikes but we've finally got it sorted and it's running better than ever now!

 

On Tuesday I went on an exchange with Elder Balzen, he is a very shy missionary. One of the most shy people I've met in my whole life, and you have to make him speak! However, I was amazed to see how enthusiastic and outgoing he was as we were street contacting and teaching lessons, he truly put aside the fact that he doesn't like talking, because he knows that to be effective he needs to. So when we are with non-members, he is an excellent teacher and finder, and the second it's just a big group of missionaries he just goes back to his comfortable shell. I really look up to him for conquering his fear of talking to people when he needs to, because I know it  can be a really real fear.

 

On Wednesday we had an excellent lesson with Gifty. She is going to be baptized on the 14th of December. The spirit was so strong in the lesson, especially when Gifty realized for the first time the need to be baptized again. (baptized catholic)

 

On Thursday two of our investigators went and did family history at the Family History Center, and while they did theirs, I decided I might as well look at ours. Everyone in the room was AMAZED when they saw that we can trace family back to the 1100's. I felt the spirit so strong as I saw the names of my ancestors that come from places in England, the country I have been called to serve in. The spirit of Elijah is so real! A lady asked me how my mom was able to go back so far, and I couldn't believe when I remembered that mom had a dream about Francis Moran, who was a rubber manufacturer or something in the brooklyn port, who told her where to find his name. Amazing testimony builder to me of family history work, and we are going to start implementing it a lot with our teaching and finding. Our investigators Frank and Joan loved it!

 

On Friday we met with Luke and Aramaide, who are both committed to baptism, Luke on the 7th now, and Aramaide on the 14th.  Luke is so solid. most real investigator I've had on my mission. He is so intelligent and such an honest seeker of truth. He has promised us that by the 1st of December, he will have made enough time out of his day every day to finish the entire book of mormon. I cannot wait for his baptism. 

 

Michael, Luke, Frank and Joan came to church and it was the primary program, and they all liked it. Luke scheduled an interview with the bishop to ask him how he can prepare best for his baptism.  After church we gave out food to the homeless, and sang in the ward choir for the christmas concert that is in a week. The mayor of coventry will be there and apparentely it's a really big deal, I guess we'll see! Yesterday after we finished giving out food, Elder Debeikes and I had to cycle through the city center, and the whole city was there because it was the annual turning on of the christmas lights! It made me all of you guys so much, and this holiday season won't be the same without you guys, but it will be amazing for so many other reasons.

 

Gordon B. Hinkley's voice just comforts me so much. If I'm ever discouraged I love to hear his voice, because I can hear the savior speaking through the mouthpeice of a living prophet. It is similar with Thomas S. Monson, but nothing quite compares to Gordon B. Hinkley for me. Perhaps it was because he was the first prophet I can remember, the one that I can remember praying for when I was little (Gordon B HINCKEY) and the one that I would feel the spirit so strongly as I was a child. I loved to watch the way the older children and mom and dad would watch him as he was addressing us when we would watch General Conference before 2008. Here is a great mormon message that he gives.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=911029449001 

 

I love you guys so much. Have an amazing Thanksgiving! and a wonderful week. give every person in our home my love, and I hope you guys will be able to feel my prayers and thoughts for you as you are enjoying your week :)

 

Take Care!

 

Elder Harris.

Testimony of the Book of Mormon

Here is the Video Sam asked us to watch last week:

Coventry is the Shiz

How are you guys doing!!

 This week was incredible. The work has never been so good! On Monday we taught Luke the Plan of Salvation, and when we attempted to commit him to baptism he says, "I know I need to be baptized, to be saved, but I need to be positive that it is by the priesthood, and the correct church." Although he didn't commit to a date, it's amazing to have an investigator with such intense real intent. I'm very confident that as he continues to read and pray he will come to the knowledge that nothing will bring him more happiness. Please pray for him! He came to church yesterday, and shaved, and wore a white shirt and tie! he's the best!

On Tuesday we accidentally got a new investigator, I know that sounds weird. We went to visit a lady named Joyce, who we thought was a less-active, so we committed her to have the lessons again, and to come to church for the 24th of November, and then after we looked at her records and found out she was a former investigator, so that was cool! haha we had the privledge of teaching a few lessons at the University this week which I loved so much!

Wednesday we put our investigator Aramaide on a baptismal date for the 7th of December, and she is amazing as well, one of the only English investigators we have.

On Thursday Elder Timothy J. Dyches of the second quorem of the seventy came to the mission and gave an excellent zone conference on managing time wisely, and goal setting, and the plans we need to make to make the goals happen! I learned a lot and am excited to apply what I've learned.

On Friday I went on exchange with my zone-leader named Elder Hansen. the guy is nuts! He only has a few weeks left of his mission, and he is just a work-horse! I look up to him a lot and hope to be able to have that kind of motivation all the way to the end of these 2 years. We taught this polish girl for the first time named nina! she is soo elect! she says, "my mom told me I need to find the church that feels right for me, so I guess I'm just looking," She totally understands the need for a prophet and a restoration of the church, and it exited about further investigating, shortly after we taught 2 more lessons, where we were able to gain another investigator named Emily. Later that night we visited a less-active part-member family who are going to start doing their family history at the Stake center which is close to their home, and the husband is now investigating as well!

On Saturday we played football with all of the missionaries and it was a blast, followed by a really good lesson with our investigator Gifty, she let us know this week that her baby has died 8 months ago, and we read Moroni 8 with her and the spirit was very strong! Shortly after we taught a first lesson to a boy named Boscol who is now on a date for the 14th of December!

Sunday was awesome! Luke was our only investigator at church which was a bummer, because 4 investigators committed to coming! but with faith and love they will come. Later that night we gained 3 more investigators, including 2 chinese girls that I love so much! It's amazing to see the faces of the chinese light up when the idea of a loving heavenly father finally clicks in their head! I love the chinese!

So.. with the help of the Lord, Elder DeBeikes and I were able to find 8 new investigators this week, it was absolutely unreal! Please pray especially for Luke, Margaret, Irene, Aramaide, Boscol, Nina, Gifty, and Michael. They are the most solid and have the most real intent. I am honestly loving my mission. I'm so grateful that I served In Eastwood first, because I get to see the best of both worlds when it comes to finding and teaching, I know we would not be as successful in coventry without the things I have learned in Eastwood, and the things Elder DeBeikes has learned from his previous companion. I've said this before, but it's impossible to express how I feel. I just love it! Because it's Thanksgiving/Christmas time, it's bizzare not being home, however, I feel like England is also home now, so I have this extreme desire to be in both places! I know the lord will bless my family as I work hard as a missionary, so if things aren't going good, you'll have to tell me to work a little harder ;) Love you guys so much!

Spiritual thought for this week is Doctrine and Covenants 59:21. We need to have Gratitude in everything we do! Also here is a cool story. When Elder Ballard was asked, "What is the worst sin??" his reply was, "The one you feel like you can get away with," WOW.

Love you!

Elder Samuel Harris

11-11

oy!! Guys... I love it here. As torn apart as I was to leave Eastwood, I think I love it here as much as I loved Eastwood, and I've only been here for a few days! Elder DeBeikes is the man, and we get along really well, and are very similar in so many ways! He is a sick kid! My District leader is Elder Packer, who is one of my best friends in the mission, and the city is still full of foreigners! We were able to get 6 new investigators this week, all through our finding efforts which was a huge blessing! So now, we have 2 investigators from England, and then 1 from India, Romania, China, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Poland. Pretty sweet! They are all Uni-students except for 1 of them is probably about 40. I love finding in Coventry, everyone has such a strong passion for their belief in God, and are so intrigued with our beliefs, and so humble in hearing our message. A night and day difference from my finding experiences in Eastwood. One of our new investigators didn't have time to talk when we tracted into him (Which is a common excuse for they just don't want anything to do with us) but he asked us where our church was. We were amazed when he showed up at church on Sunday and loved it! Another cool miracle was on wednesday when Elder DeBeikes and I were street contacting, we saw from Dominos pizza that said, "personal Pizza only £1, so we decided to take a break from street contacting to get a pizza, while the pizza was cooking, we had 5 minutes before it was finished, so we decided to contact for those 5 minutes, during those 5 minutes we found our investigator named Luke, who is 19, from Romania, and he basically said, "I've heard some weird things about your church, can I find out for myself if they are true or not" He came to church on sunday, and asked us what he can do to become a missionary! We have been blessed. We put our chinese investigator Ernie on a date for the 7th of December, and will be putting more on a date during this week. life is good! I love all of you so much! I love being a missionary and serving in a place that has been prepared for people to hear the message of the restoration of Jesus Christ's church. I'm so grateful for the Priesthood and for the blessings we receive as we forget ourselves and love god. I love the Book of Mormon so much, and I also love Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. When he speaks to us with his boldness and his incredible testimony of the savior and his teachings, I cannot deny that he is a man of god, and that he is a man inspired by god. attatched is his testimony of the Book of mormon with some cool video clips. I love you guys! Have an amazing week. Church is true, book is blue :) http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages, then type in "testimony of the book of mormon" and you'll see it. only takes about 5 minutes! Oh and I'm not sure if I included this in last email, but there are these 2 members in the ward that remind me so much of Preston and Jeremy! I love when we get to spend time with them, and we are probably going to spend our p-day messing around with them doing something nuts! anyways Cheers! Elder Samuel Joseph Harris

I am in Coventry!

Hey! Well, as you guys already know,I am in Coventry! It has been amazing so far. It is so much different than Eastwood, honestly, it feels like an entirely different part of the world. In Eastw. ood I'd be lucky to see one person a day who wasn't english, and in Coventry, EVERYONE is from different parts of the world. Let me just say that finding people in Coventry is probably going to be 5x easier than it was in Eastwood, basically everyone will stop and chat! and guess what... THE UNIVERSITY IS IN OUR AREA! tons of Uni students everywhere and it's paradise. Monday was my last p-day, we spent it in derby just kickin it and eating kebabs and chillin' with the derby elders and helping out sister wengert because she got hit by a car! but she's ok so don't worry, Some antio-biotics that I was taking were making me really sick, so we didn't have much of a proscelyting post-p-day. We found out that I am obviously in Coventry, and that I will be serving with Elder DeBeikes. He is a really cool kid from California. He is super humble and a hard worker, and we have gotten along great so far! He has a full-ride scholarship to BYU playing american football, so that will be really run to watch him play for the Y when we get back from our missions. HE's been out as long as Elder Pogue, so about 3 months.I know that we will have loads of success together! Tuesday I said goodbye to everyone and it was just way sad and I hated it haha but I think that just shows how much I have loved my mission up to this point, and how much the people I have come to love have served me. I packed a lot and had all you can eat sunday-dinner (basically thanksgiving dinner) with some awesome members and even a non-member who I love sooo much named Nigel. Wednesday was basically transferrs most of the day, It was weird saying goodbye to Elder Pogue, he was one of the best friends I've ever had, and it didn't feel real that all of the sudden we just weren't going to be with each other all of the time, but his new companion is an incredible missionary and I know that he will be perfect for Eastwood. A massive coach took us to Coventry, where I met Elder DeBeikes and we walked to our new flat. On the walk there I was amazed at Coventry. HOnestly all of the different cultures was amazing, and the citycenter is huge! I'm just gonna love it here. The flat is nice, bigger than my flat in Eastwood, and the beds are still unbelievably comfy. The very first guy we talked to on the street in Coventry, we got a return appointment with, and I could not have been more exited. I didn't even want to go to bed because I knew that we could just find people to teach! Thursday, we decided to go by a former investigator, and they weren't in, so we decided to knock 10 doors on the street. most golden street in England! we got some really solid return apointments, and loads of people we're so intrigued of our message, 2 people even invited us in! That never has happened to me on my mission. Not only were the people golden, but the people who weren't were hilarious! There was this one guy who was telling us about his religion, which is basically all about thor, and unfortunately, Elder DeBeikes and I weren't able to refrain ourselves from laughing, and were laughing uncontrolably at his doorstep, we felt absolutely terrible. It was one of those moments when it's definitely NOT OK to laugh, but you can't help it and then you don't even know why you're laughing. anyways hard to exxplain, and you kind of had to be there, but it was a great day. Friday we had weekly planning, talked to a lot of people, and I got hit by a car as I was talking to Elder Pogue asking him how things were going in Eastwood, but It honestly hurt less than if someone were to kick me, so it was fine. and it was maybe going a few miles an hour, much more funny than it was painful or serious so no wories! Saturday we had stake conference, and got to teach one of the people we found on Thursday from that awesome street. His name is Shiv and he's from India. THe lesson was going terribly because Elder DeBeikes and I haven't practiced teaching together yet, but at the end of the lesson, he offered the prayer and it was amazing! the spirit was so powerful and he felt it so strongly. Sunday was also stake conference and it was great, all about member missionary work! that is how the work of salvation is going to come forth, when the missionaries and members have the same purpose! to invite people tocome unto christ by helping them receive the restored gospel! We volunteered giving food out for the homeless in Coventry and it was amazing! The North-point church or something like that is the church that is in charge, and they are just some amazing people who love serving! It was humbling to see how grateful some of them were for the food we were passing out and the things we were helping them out with! We are so blessed to have what we have! We taught Lisa, who was another lady from elect street, and she is a really cool asian girl studying at the university. She said she didn't feel anything as she was reading the book of mormon about King-Lamoni's father's conversion, and then she told us that she couldn't pray because no one in China prays. so we committed her to pray and I'm actually really exited to teach her again because she has real intent. So there are these two members in coventry named James and Griffo and they are so sick! One night James just called us and was like "Let's make taco's" so he picked us up and we made some way good taco's, and he's came out teaching with us twice, and loves serving us! I'm really exited to be in Coventry, and I know that as we work hard we will have success, whether it's people being baptized, or simply just making someones day a little bit better. Spiritual thought is Exodus 18: Moses is just a really great example of someone with humility. He is doing way too much for everyone and it's making him nuts, and someone is giving him critisism and he takes it so constructively, which is something that everyone could improve on! I love y'all so much! Please continue to keep me in your prayers, as I do with you in mine! Have an amazing week, and remember, Nothing is impossible for our savior. yolo swagger hoodrat Jerry nation Elder Harris

Novembeard

So.. this will be the first november since freshmen year in high school that I haven't participated in no-shave november! so please pray for me as I have to make that sacrafice. Just kidding haha I'm so used to shaving every day and It's weird to me that I used to have a beard! This week was alright! kind of slow unfortunately. On Tuesday we had a feeling that we should postpone Louise's baptism a week, and so we prayed about it Tuesday night and the feelings was confirmed that we needed to wait another week. It's ok though, because she honestly has no concerns. We're not sure why we needed to postpone it, but we'll find out someday! On Tuesday we also got to teach Amy, and had another solid lesson with her! she is really progressing! she called us this week and was like "Guys, I need your help.. It's totally fine if this is too much work for you, but can you guys assign me something to read in the Book of Mormon every day so I can learn something new every day??" Obviously we have made time for her to read something new every day, and she is loving the book of mormon! see the picture attatched as to where we taught the lesson on Thursday with her! in her back garden is a breathtaking view of a typical English country-side. She is really progressing and I'm so stoked to hear about how everything goes with her. There is a sister in our ward named Sister Rigby, and she conducts this class at the Eastwood Chapel called, motiv8u, it's a self-improvement course for us to bring our investigators/anyone who wants to come to better our lives! The things I have learned have been really great and I'm stoked to see my improvement as a missionary because of it. It's amazing how many of the things we learned that we can relate to the gospel, and how all of it has to do with the atonement, the source of our strength! Sunday was extremely emotional for me! as you know, i'm a bit of cry baby when it comes to goodbye's! it was so hard for me to leave the chapel on Sunday, saying goodbye to the people that have served me so much over the past 7 months, they are all amazing people and I can't wait to be come back and visit them! After Church, we had a feast at the Marinas home, and had a really spiritual testimony meeting. After, Ruby asked me to go s ay s omething that I've learned from everyone in the room, which resulted in a bunch of more tears, and I couldn't even start talking about Elder Pogue because I would have just lost it and wouldn't have been able to talk! To say the least, I have loved my 7 months in Eastwood, and it's looking promising that I will be headed somewhere else on wednesday! Somewhere new to learn and grow as a missionary and a representative of the savior Jesus Christ. Spiritual thought: Genesis 18:14. Is there anything too hard for the lord??...... no! Short and sweet but so true! So sweet to see Spencer bossin' it up with his girlfriend! that's ma boi! good for the cougars, getting the big win against BSU, a team that we have struggled against so much in the past few years. so-for some other news, I've decided that I'm going to go back to USU. for sure. I love it too much and I feel the spirit telling me that's where I need to go! I needed to make a decision because I think it was getting in the way of the missionary work. I love you guys, and in a week I will be emailing you from somewhere else in the U.K! be good. I got the package! the best part about it?? the goldfish! I've been munching on that stuff all the time! thank you for everything and it really is a great package! Love you guys! Elder Sam Harris.