January 27, 2014

hello family and friends!

The work is still great! I do not have a lot of time this week so please forgive me for not writing loads.  I missed you guys this week. a lot! every night I had a dream that had Spencer in it, and most of them with the rest of the fam as well! I loved it! We are working with the most incredible people of my whole mission! have I mentioned my love for chinese people? if I haven't let me just re-emphasize how incredible they are. on thursday we taught cathy, zed, louis, and long at the uni and had a great lesson for the word of wisdom, all of them committed to living it, and Louis and long haven't smoked since thursday. On friday we ran into long on the street and he said, "Elders! tonight we all cook for you!!" so we had a sweet feast with them at Louis' and Long's house.
amazing food. It was so fun to watch them eat with chopsticks and enjoy the chinese culture. AMAZING food! better than P.F. changs, and the way you eat it is so fun! you don't have a plate, you just have a little bowl of rice, but you just take the food with chopsticks, and then put it in your mouth, so the rice is basically just for if you eat something too spicy.  We will definitely be adapting some of their culture when I come home. We had a great time on friday, and then after we were done, Cathy and zed invited us over to their house saturday night for another chinese feast, and then we taught them after. They brought 2 of their non-member friends. So... from finding cathy and zed at city center, we are now teaching cathy, zed, tina, frank, louis and long as a result! they are amazing missionaries and their faith is so good! They all came to church and loved  it again. 

Some really bad news.. Coventry's baptismal font is not functional until March 1. we had a baptism on saturdayand 4 on the 8th that all have to get moved back, unless we travel to the nearest chapel which is 30 minutes away. so we will see what we decide to do. we had 8 investigators at church again, and would have had more if it wasn't for the terrible weather. we have 4 investigators that either cycle or walk. and yesterday  morning was a crazy storm so they didn't come which was sad but understandable. I definitely would not have came if I wasn't a missionary because of the storm. but cycling in the rain can sometimes be fun :)

on Friday we are going to the chinese new year party that the university is throwing, and our chinese investigators have agreed to introduce us to all of their friends! so it is going to be an amazing oppurtunity to find even more people to find! I sincerely don't want to leave Coventry my whole mission, but we will see what happens.  In Coventry ward we had 21 investigators at sacrament meeting, and we found out that our ward is now leading the mission! which was really exiting for all of us.  Miracles are happening like crazy!

Is everyone rooting for the seahawks?? I predict this will be one of the best superbowls of all time, so ENJOY IT. enjoy it for me, I will be missing you guys like crazy on sunday morning. probably the same as I did on Christmas! but ti's all good, because we've got every other superbowl of the rest of our lives together! Hows megs and lau and ky doing? So good to hear that you are all happy and progressing. 

Something pretty neat I've been studying in the book of mormon.. it's basically a book that tells us that when we are obedient we receive blessings, prospering, and happiness, and when we are not obedient we don't have the promise, and it's so true! I love this gospel, I love the chinese, I love our savior, I love you guys so much, and I appreciate your prayers. have an incredibile week! nothing is too hard for the lord! 

Elder Samuel Harris. 

Jan 20th 2014

I feel like every week gets better and better!

Everything is going incredibly well with our investigators. We found out Cathy and Zed are living together, which was a really big bummer, and I was talking to zed about how they would have to move out if Zed wanted to baptize cathy, and yesterday at church zed told us that they are moving out on thursday!! How amazing is their faith? We are so blessed to have been able to find them street contacting. Zed's best friend Luis is looking really good for the 1st of February, and was at church again. Luis' invited his best friend Long to hear the lessons, and now he is on a date for the 1st of Ferbruary, and he loved church yesterday as well!!

On Thursday we taught a really sweet Nigerian kid named Chijoki for the first time, and he is pretty solid! he is now on a baptismal date as well and is loving the gospel.  Elder Unice and I were  teaching 7 chinese people at one time this week at the university. every time people walked by they thought it was so strange to see 7 chinese and 2 americans talking about god, but it was so amazing to see that we were making a difference in bringing the work forward.  I feel like part of the reason we are having so much success with chinese students, is so that after they accept the gospel, they can bring it to china and the china missions can open, and then the nation will absolutely explode with the gospel!! Something really sad happened later on Thursday as we were teaching 2 of our chinese investigators Nora and Sheri, as we asked about how they were feeling for their baptismal dates, they let us know that their parents in china said that they can't be baptized.  We have been fasting and praying that their parents will soften their hearts so that they can enter the waters of baptism, and I would love to invite you to also pray for them. they are probably my favorite current investigators, and they are so elect! they LOVED church yesterday. Nora was smiling the entire time. 

On Saturday we taught 2 new chinese girls named maggy and Amy, who are on a baptismal date now as well for the 15th of February! Maggy is solid as a rock and I am 100% sure that she will be baptized! she understands the atonement perfectly and is so exited to use it! We also received a media referral on saturday from the church head quarters (Hardly ever happens in England) and met a really sweet chinese student named Da Hua who is elect! he came to church as well!

Gifty and Roselyn didn't come to church again this week which was so frustrating, but so many of our other investigators did so it was a very bittersweet day! If it wasn't for the stress of getting investigators to church, missions would literally be stress-free! 

As of right now, Elder  Unice and I currently have 12 on a baptismal date! Which I never in a million years thought would happen on my mission, but when we forget about ourselves and go to work, the lord will assist in performing many miracles! Alma 26:12.. It's amazing how much smoother things run, when we are laboring for, and expecting miracles every day. 

Please keep Gifty, Rosalyn, Michael, Luis, Long, Chijoki, Cathy, Nora, Sheri, Da Hua, Maggy, and Amy in your prayers! (9 of them chinese, 3 african) When I opened my mission call to England, I never expected this.. but I would NEVER ask for anything different. I love Coventry, I love this work. There is honestly nothing like hitting the pavement hard all day and going to bed knowing that we gave it our all that day. I never want to come home! I miss you all like crazy, don't get me wrong, but this work is so addicting, satisfying, and incredible.  I love you all to the moon and back. Randomly throughout the week I will think of random memories I have with each member of our family, and I am truly best to have been born into such an incredbile family, I will forever be grateful the sacrifices and the love that y'all have shown me and continue to show me as you support me serving the lord's mission in England.  take care!

Elder Samuel Joseph Harris.

Pic of Sam at a Baptism

That is the Sam we know and LOVE!!! Check out that Smile!

January 13, 2014

What a week!

Good news! I found Sriracha hot sauce at the supermarket, and honestly, that was one of the best parts of the entire week! Surprise! Luke was baptized and confirmed this weekend! It was an incredible baptism. 4 investigators were baptized in the Coventry ward this weekend which is pretty remarkable for England! On Monday we gave Luke a call and he was finally home from Romania. He invited us to come over, shared with us his home-made romanian treats his mom made him, and we taught him and followed up with him, and straight away he says, "I know I need to be baptized this weekend!" and he was so ready. His testimony is so strong and I am so humbled to have been a part of his conversion, he will be an incredible member, and maybe even a missionary!

We taught a lot of lessons this week which is always incredible.  I've gotten to the point where when I'm street contacting, I only talk to chinese.  They are just so incredible. When the church gets proselyting missions in China it is going to explode with the gospel! they are so humble and they have the softest hearts in the world. 

On Tuesday I went on a great exchange with a guy called Elder Hall, and they have some investigators that love playing basketball, so I got to play proper basketball for the first time on my mission! I was rusty as heck but it was so fun to finally be competing because I suck at football. They play every tuesday, and we found 7 people this week who have all committed to coming to play with us, and then letting us teach them after. It is going to be a great way to find even more people to teach!

We have an investigator who is an actual Prince in Nigeria, who has moved to England to merry his sweetheart. He is so sick! his name is Prince haha.  This week he had us over for dinner and teaching appointment, and we ate some interesting stuff! goats, goat stomach, crayfish, boiled starfish, and then chicken. Some people in Nigeria eat the bones of the chicken! so he gives us the chicken wings, and then asked us why we didn't eat the bone, he then preceded to show us  that he can chew bones like they are popcorn because he has been eating them his whole life, so this week, I ate 3 chicken wing bones! it was crazy but they actually tasted pretty good. 

On Saturday we went to the mission home for the follow up trainers meeting which was really good, then had the incredible baptism! The spirit was so strong! and we had a couple of investigators there who are on a date to be baptized, and they really felt the spirit as well.  after the baptism, Elder Unice and I found 17 potential investigators in an hour... best of my mission! I honestly love talking to random strangers on the street.

We fed the homeless again yesterday which is always good! The people that organize the charity and the food shelter are all from a born-again christian church, and probably 5 of them  yesterday were just hammering me and persecuting me for my belief in the Book of Mormon. Of anything that people could hammer with me about what's "wrong with our church" the book of mormon was the wrong thing for them to talk to me about, as that is easily the strongest part of my testimony besides the atonement; I gave them a lot of scriptures in the bible that really shocked them, explained how we came to have it, and why it is important for everyone to read and pray about it, and then testified that I knew that it was true from the power of the holy ghost.. It was incredible! after I was finished not one of them questioned it, and one of the guys from the church named Gaz, Elder Unice and I are sitting down with on wednesday to talk more about the Book of Mormon. It was a great experience!

We have 7 people on a date in the next 3 weeks, so please continue to pray for Gifty, Rosalyn, Louis, Long, Zed, Kathy, Michael, Nora, and Sherri! I love you all so much! I hope you enjoy some pics! Have a fantastic week. I heard it is incredibly cold! I'm sorry. It's actually not so bad anymore in Coventry, only when it's raining it's absolutley miserable. which is like 1/3 of the days. but it's all good! Take Care

Elder Samuel Joseph Harris.

January 6th

From Sam 6 Jan 2014

Another pretty dope  week!

 

Monday we went to that really good buffet in the city center, and then the waiter came up to us to tell us that someone in the restaurant had paid for our meal! so that was really cool.

 

On Thursday we met with Kathy and Zed, the 2 chinese people we found in City center. They brought their other chinese friend Louis to hear the lesson, and we committed kathy and Zed to the 2nd of February! they are so solid it is unreal. While we were teaching Louis' eyes were absolutely full with the light of Christ and he was so amazed at what we were teaching. 

 

On Friday we taught Gifty again. Gifty is the amazing lady from Ghana who is investigating again because of her new born baby girl that died, and she was intrigued to know what's happened to her.  and her daughter Rosalyn has been sitting in during the lessons. in the middle of the lesson Rosalyn just randomly said, "I prayed last night" and we asked her more, she went on to say, "I prayed for Heavenly father to watch after my baby sister, and I felt really good, I know god is taking good care of her." The spirit was really strong, and Gifty was shocked to hear that 9 year old rosalyn had been affected from the lessons we had been giving her. We committed both of them to being baptized on the 25th of January. 

Later on Friday, we taught Michael, another Chinese student who named himself after Michael Jordan. We commited him to baptism on the 2nd of February as well!

 

Sunday was amazing! Kathy, Zed, Louis, Liam, Michael, Gifty, and Rosalyn all came to church! and they all really loved it! they are progressing, loving the book of mormon, and looking really good for baptism. After Church we went and taught 2 more chinese girls at the public library. We taught them how to pray last week, so to follow up with them we asked them how their prayers have been going, and they have both had witnesses that god is there for them! and they were so exited to learn more. We also gave them restoration pamplets in English, and they brought them out, and they had translated the pamplet into Chinese with all of the words they didn't understand! So we went there planning to teach the restoration, and they already knew it very well! the first thing Nora and Sherri said was, "Are there really prophets? Joseph Smith is a really important person!" It was brilliant. We committed them to the 2nd of February as well. This week we got 7 more people on a date! So now we have 8 investigators who have committed to be baptized. I hope more than anything that they all continue to progress, and I have faith tha they will. 

 

This gospel rocks! Elder Unice and I have dedicated the last week and a half especially to really just finding and teaching as hard as we can and trying our very best, and the fruits of our labors have shown themselves! we are so blessed, but also realize that without the lord, and the power of the holy ghost, none of this would have happened. So family, we need your help!! please continue to pray for Luke, Gifty, Rosalyn, Michael, Liam, Kathy, Luis, Nora and Sherri, that they will continue to read and pray. I'm confident that anyone who sincerely reads and prays every day will be baptized.  I love you guys! have an amazing week.

 

MOM!! CONGRATS ON DIAMOND!! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS! BUT IT SOUNDS SO GOOD SO THAT'S WHY I'M WRITING IN ALL CAPS!! WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!! I pray for your success every day, and I'm sure you do as well, good to see that Heavenly father answers prayers! have an outstanding week my amazing eternal family! I love you all so much!

 

Elder Sam Harris.

Dec 16th

9 days!!

 

I cannot wait to see all of your brilliant faces! I miss you guys loads. This week was really good! Our investigator Albert is doing really well and is coming to church, once again, I love the chinese! We just barely found out that Frank and Joan aren't married, so they will be taking a lot more time then we expected but it's alright. Luke is on his way to Romania and I'm going to miss that kid like crazy! he's so good.

 

Tuesday we had an absolutely incredible Miracle that had nothing to do with Finding, Teaching, or baptising.  We got a call from the assistants that we needed to go give an old man a blessing at the hospital. Elder DeBeikes and I were with our Zone Leader Elder Chardon for the day, because his companion finished his mission, so all 3 of us went to the hospital to see this old man from India, laying in his bed, having an extremely hard time breathing and shaking uncontrolably, his family was surrounding him giving him comfort. He attempted to talk to us, but his shaking and breathing we're interrupting the words, and we had no idea what he was saying. No one in the room was LDS besides us, the son of the old man's best friend is a member, and he sent the message to the mission home saying that we needed to get the man a blessing.  So we preceded with the blessing, during the blessing the man ceased to shake, and his breathing went completely normal. After the blessing he sat up straight with good posture, and looked up towards us as if we were angels, and in a very clear voice said "Thank you." We were all amazed, and didn't really know how to react. The spirit of God was UNBELIEVABLE in that room. As we left the room none of us really talked about what happened. This is a really sacred experience for me, so I would appreciate it if you guys didn't tell anyone! the family and friends who take the time to read my emails would be the ones that I would tell this to anyways, but please don't tell anyone else! I just want to emphasize that this man being healed had nothing to do with Elder DeBeikes, Elder Chardon, or myself. It was absolutely the grace of our savior. 

 

On Wednesday I picked up Elder Unice from the mission home, my new greenie! he is honestly pre-trained. He's super good at talking to people and he's pretty solid in lessons already. We are going to work really hard and I continue to hope that we will have a lot of success. He is 23 years old, graduated with Josh, which is a little bit strange I'll be honest, cause sometimes I feel like because I'm just 19, how can I give advice to a 23 year old kid on how to be a good missionary, but things are going pretty good! I'm just stoked he came out ready to work!

 

A few of our investigators texted us this week and said they don't want to have the lessons anymore, which was heart breaking, so we have been spending a lot of time finding people to teach, but that's always good as well!

 

So for Christmas, I will either be calling you guys between 7-11 A.M. your time! so I will let you know better next monday on exactly what time I'll be calling. and the account is donjharris1 right?? anyways guys, I love you so much, I am so exited to see you guys, as during this holiday season I am missing you all like heck!!

 

What will be the movies you guys see this year? what are the plans for christmas? I love you guys!

 

Elder Harris.