Esquina Blanca Week 4

Hola!!

I am doing well! Thanks for the emails! It was great to hear from you and get a sense of what is going on at home. I am very busy here in the mission and I love it! There is so much to do and I feel constantly that I am learning and being stretched. I am grateful for my great companion, Elder Ballard, who constantly supports me and helps me out.

This week started the Zone Conferences. President decided to do something different this time, and is bringing each zone to his home to have the conference. We had three conferences this week, and have six more to go. They are a lot of work, but I feel like I learn so much from the missionaries, and it has been nice to get to meet and familiarize myself with all the missionaries in our mission. We prepared some classes that we present to small groups in the zones. I really enjoy teaching and it amazes me how great some missionaries are! They have taught me much more than I know about the topics of my classes.

Elder Ballard and I get along really well. He is a great missionary and very focused and consistent. He played football growing up, and is a pretty smart guy as well. He will be attending the University of Utah and studying medicine. He is very humble and like to take advice. He depends a lot upon the Lord and tries to be his best in everything he does. I look up to him a lot and am so happy to be his companion. 

I am working hard to finish strong and keep my mind focused on the missionary purpose to invite all to come to Christ. I am excited for tomorrow, as we will have a baptism for a man named Osvaldo. He is a strong convert and has a testimony of the restoration. He wants to serve in the Church, along with his less active friend, Hugo, that has come back really strong. They both had interviews with the bishop and are excited to help in home teaching. 

This week we will have a broadcast from Elder Bednar who is currently in Uruguay. I cannot wait! I love you all and I love the Lord. I know He lives. Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Harries

Esquina Blanca Week 3

This week was a great one! Each day is something new...and a lot of challenges to solve with missionaries who have problems. However, it is very rewarding working so closely with President and Hermana. They have so much love for the missionaries, and even though the mission is doing very well, they are so humble and recognize that it is all a blessing from the Lord. It is so powerful when he prays...one feels the Spirit so strongly.

We had the baptisms of Claudio and Mariela last Sunday. It was a very special service and much of the ward attended! It was great to have the members support. After the baptism, on Tuesday, Mariela told us that Claudio proposed to her to get sealed in the temple! It was a very special experience and i know that they are going to be strong members of the Church.

We have another investigator that is progressing well. We found him contacting. His name is Osvaldo. He lives with a man who has been less active, but when we showed up he decided he wants to come back. He is very excited and so is Osvaldo. Osvaldo will get baptized on the 21st.

We had a meeting with President yesterday in his house. We planned some Zone Conferences that we will be doing in the next few weeks. It will be fun to train a bunch of missionaries and learn from them all. I enjoy meetings and it is fun to plan and prepare. It is such an essential skill to success. I am so excited to continue learning and become a more effective instrument in the Lord´s hands. I love the mission and I know that God lives and is real. I am so happy to be here on the mission. I love you all and happy Valentine´s Day!

Love,

Elder Harries

Esquina Blanca Week 2

Hola!

How great it was to hear from you all! Time seems to fly and it seem like yesterday that I just wrote you all! Elder Ballard and I are doing well and we really enjoy working together. The office is definitely a different environment, and I am trying to constantly share the Gospel in the street or in any way possible. We do many divisions, and the days when we are not on divisions, we leave the office always before 5:00 to go work in our sector. The Lord has blessed us a lot, and we have a married couple that will be baptized tomorrow. They are named Claudio and Mariela.

Elder Ballard found them with his previous companion, and we started teaching them when I arrived. They are very excited for their baptism and have invited many friends and family. We hope to work with them to find more people to teach! Please pray for them!

 I am unsure if last week I talked about the world-wide Missionary Broadcast. If I haven´t mentioned earlier, it was incredible. It was the first time in 10+ years that the Quorum of the twelve have done something like this. They titled the braodcast: "Teach Repentance and baptize converts" For two hours we listened to Elder Anderson, Elder Oaks, Elder Bednar and other general authorities. They focused a lot on the Doctrine of Christ(2 Nephi 31; 3 Nephi 27:13-22) and the importance of making covenants. It was a very refreshing experience to hear them teach so clearly. 

We are to help people to come unto Christ by:

1. Developing faith in Christ and His Atonement

2. Repenting of sins

3. Making a covenant of obedience through baptism 

4. Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost

5. Enduring to the end. (Attending temple and renewing covenants through the Sacrament)

It is so simple. No unclean thing can enter into the presence of God, and the way to be cleansed from sin is through these steps. They are the way to access the power of the Atonement--which heals us and changes us. 

Yesterday we had a lesson with a family from North Carolina! The father lived in Savannah, Georgia. They have been living here in Maipú for the past two years. They are missionaries for a baptist church and have 6 children here. They are very nice and have the southern charm, but it was hard for them accept much of what we taught. They invited us to come back and I think we will give them one more try. It was strange to teach in English; it was a first for me in the mission. 

I love you all and am saddened by the passing of Nancy. Send my love to the family and let them know that they are in my prayers. I have a strong testimony of the Plan of Salvation. I know that the promise of the resurrection is real. I know that God lives and that His Son, Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know that His Church is on the Earth today, and that it is guided by a living prophet. I know that those who have faith in Christ, repent, are baptized, and endure to the end by making covenants in the temple may live with their families forever in the Kingdom of God!

Have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Harries

Esquina Blanca Week 1

       

Hola!

Well its been a very hectic and busy week here in the office. I am definitely not accustomed to sitting around as much. My companion is Elder Ballard, the grandson of the Elder Ballard. He is a great missionary, and my friend from earlier in the mission when we were together in the same zone. He goes home one transfer earlier than I do, so we will be together for three changes. I am excited to learn from him.

Last weekend, while still in Talagante, we baptized Mauricio. He is a great convert of about 21. He loves the church and made many friends. He had to give up a lot of habits and friends to be baptized, but he expressed his love and happiness for having made the decision. I am so happy for him and was very sad to leave. My heart was torn when President called me on Sunday night, because I didn't want to leave all the great people who were progressing toward baptism. But, the Lord's will be done:)

To fill you in a little bit on what I did this week. Monday I got to the mission office and we organized the changes. Then in the evening we took all the missionaries to the airport with President and Hermana Barreiros. We didn't go to bed till late. Then early on Tuesday morning we drove to the MTC and picked up the new missionaries that will be arriving in the mission and took them to President's house for lunch. We then brought them to the mission office and assigned them to their new trainers. Wednesday we did divisions with the Zone Leaders in a nearby zone and Thursday we reviewed the Mission Numbers and prepared for a reunion of the mission which took place yesterday. I haven't gotten as much sleep as normal. but I am doing well and happy. It is really cool to have a much closer and more personal relationship with Presidente and Hermana Barreiros. They are incredible people, and have so much love for the missionaries. I hope to learn much from them.

I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that He is our Savior and Redeemer. I know that there is no other way to gain salvation but in and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary and I love the Lord. I love the Chilean people and I am happier than I have ever been in my life. Have a great week!!!

Love,

Elder Harries

Happy Birthday Shanel!!

Happy Birthday Shanel!! I hope you have a great one! I love you so much. And look up to you so much!!  Hope you have a great year!

I don`t have much time today. Last night President called. He asked me to finish my mission as his asistant. It was pretty crazy and I am both happy to learn from him, but sad because once you enter the office the whole mission changes...its not the same as being a regular missionary...at least thats what the asistants have told me. I`ll write more on Saturday, my new pday.

Love,

Elder Harries

Talagante Week 11

Hola!

So this week flew by! I dont know where to begin. We have done many exchanges and I have gotten to know better the missionaries in the Zone. It is still going great being in a trio, as each companion´s personality and strengths help each other out. Elder Clegg and Elder Peterson are both very good people and we all get along well.

Mauricio is progressing very well! He made it too church and loved it. He is struggling a bit witht he Word of Wisdom, so please pray for him. We gave him a blessing and will be fasting for him. He is a very humble and good guy. Definitely a future missionary!

I am happier than ever here in the mission. Last night before going in for the night, I felt that we should knock one more door, of a man that I saw enter his house earlier that day. We knocked the door and he told us that he wanted to talk to us. He started bawling and shared with us an experience that has weighed on him for years. He wants to be baptized. I know that the Spirit is the most powerful tool in the work and that we must learn how to follow it to have success.

I learned some cool stuff about repentance, that I think could help dad in his calling. The word Repentance int the Old Testament originated from Hebrew, shube, which means to return to God. In the New Testanment written in greek it is metaneoreo, which means change the spirit, heart, thoughts. Only in Latin, where english gets the work it is peontonio(i think thats how it is spelled) which means punishment or pain. When we understand that repentance is not as much for punishment, but for change and to bring us back to God, It makes the process much easier. have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Harries

Talagante Week 10

Hola!

Surprise! We write Mondays now!!

Well we had surprise transfers this week! We recieved a new Zone leader to help us with divisions! He is Elder Clegg from Logan, Utah. He is an incredible missionary, and definitely knows how to have success. He is from my same group, and we were already pretty good friends before the changes. I really enjoy being in a trio--there is so much power in our teaching. I know that this was an inspired change, so that I could learn from another great missionary. Elder Peterson continues being his very diligent and consecrated self.

We had a great week, and found and have taught some great investigators. One is a 21 year old joven named Mauricio. He is a great kid who wants to find his way in life. He told us that when he was younger he read the Bible and a lot of religious books, and went to a bunch of churches. He tried to go share what he had learned with his friends, but they basically didn´t want anything to do with God. He stopped going to churches because he was pretty confused. When we knocked on the door, before we could talk he told us to come in. We explained that how he was similar to Joseph Smith, looking for the truth. He said, yes but more than searching, waiting for God to answer his prayers. He said we were an answer. He and his mom loved church and he really wants to get baptized. He will either this week or next. It is such a great reminder that "there are many yet on the earth among all sects,parties, and denominations...who are only kept from the truth because they know notwhere to find it." (D&C 123:12)

Another great investigator that we found is named Miguel. He is about 60 years old. He is the friend of a counselor in the Stake Presidency. It was powerful teaching him. We invited the counselor to accompany us and he bore such a powerful testimony of the changes that happened in his life when he accepted the gospel 12 years ago. He testified of the power of the Priesthood and Christ´s atonement. I learned so much from him, and it incredible how well he related the message of the Restoration to the specific blessings that Miguel will recieve. He accepted a baptismal date for the 23 and he came to church and was very intrigued.

We also have a few other investigators that are progressing well. A joven of 16 and some others who also came to church. I am constantly amazed at the greatness of my companions and all of God´s children. I know that He knows and loves each and every one of them. I love them too. My goal this year is to develop the pure love of Christ. After all is said and done, this is the very essence of the Gospel. In the presence of so many incredible people, I have come face to face with my weaknesses, however I know that through Christ´s grace He can "make weakthings become strong unto (me)". Have a great week and Happy Birthday dad!!!

Love,

Elder Harries