Peñaflor 2 Week 4

Hola!

Happy Birthday Sydney!!!!!

Muchas gracias por los correos! I love receiving your letters and appreciate the kind words you all wrote me! I love you all! I had a great week!!!

So the family of four that we are teaching all went to church and loved it! The ward was so excited to see them there!! Then last night, Diego Vidal (the great returned missionary I talked about) organized a "noche de hogar" with the whole ward and went over to their house to invite them. They came and loved it and then the 16 year old daughter stayed after with the Young Women for mutual! They are going to attend church and get baptized soon!!!

On Wednesday I went back to Talagante on divisions and saw Filomena, the 83 year old woman we baptized! She was pretty sick but very excited to see me! It was a very tender experience. I also saw Cony the single mother of three who I taught there. She got baptized just a few weeks after I left!! It was very special.

Then on Thursday we woke up early at 4.45 to go to the Temple with President and our group that goes home. It was an incredible experience. I learned so much and felt so much peace as I gave an accounting of my mission to the Lord. Then in the temple a member of the Temple Presidency came and spoke to us. He said some very powerful things:

-"It doesn`t matter how many time you enter into the temple, but rather how many times the temple enters into you."

-"I had success in life because applied the ordinances in my life, and I learned to value my wife."

-"People who are successful understand the ordinances, and apply them."

After the temple, I took the chance to go say goodbye to Hermano Escobar, the good friend of Grandpa and Grandma Barnes. He was so happy to see me and sent his love and appreciation to grandma! When I got to the security desk, I asked them to call him and say that I was President Barnes grandson. The man look at me and said, "You`re his grandson! He is a legend here!" He explained how loving he was and that he had invited him to a special dinner with he and grandma and it was the best food he had ever eaten. I`m not sure if grandma remebers him, but his name was Luis Ampuero. Following the temple, we had a lunch with President and Hermana in their home and had a small meeting.

I am excited for church tomorrow and can`t wait to see the family of four there again. Please pray for them to have a great experience tomorrow and to have a stronger testimony of the restoration. 

I love being a missionary and I know this is the Lord`s work. I`m not trunky at all. I`m not slowing down, but speeding up! I will use every second I have to wear the Lord`s name on my heart to preach His gospel and testify of His Atonement, Restored Church and glorious plan of Salvation. I know the Lord lives. I know His voice. I know that His gospel is true and brings peace and everlasting joy to our life. 

Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Harries

Peñaflor 2 Week 3

Happy Father´s day Dad!!! I am so grateful for all that you have done for me!!

This week has been very busy and again I am constrained to write small. I promise that I love you all! I did a great exchange this week with some missionaries. They are great Elders and we had an excellent day. We found so many receptive people! I slept on the hard floor with a blanket (for about the tenth time this month) and I think I got sick from it. We had Zone conferences the following day and my nose ran for at least 9 hours straight. I was pretty miserable but managed to give a class with a smile and laugh about it. I am better now:)

We are teaching a family Lopez Contreras. They didn´t come to church for some excuses, but committed to come again tomorrow! I hope that everything works out! We also are teaching a family with a 9-year old son. The parents are both members, and want him to be baptized. They came to church for the first time in almost 6 months, and as a family. Apparently it was a miracle according to the Elders Quorum President---speaking about him he is a stud!!

He is a returned missionary from Brasil of about two years. He is working, studying, but is so interested in the work that it is incredible. When we got there in whitewash, he called us asking if he could come out and do visits with us to a bunch of part member families. He had a map of all the old investigators and members in the ward. I was so impressed and made me want to be the same when I get back. I want to be consecrated to the Lord´s work in all that I do. 

I love the Lord. I know He lives. I know that through His Atonement all challenges in life may be overcome!!!

Take care and Happy Father´s day,

Elder Harries

Peñaflor 2 Week 2

Hola!

Thanks for all the emails and help! It been a fun week and I had the chance to go to the coast and do exchanges with Elder Rivera (The missionary who I traineed), who is now training! It was a neat experience! I love serving the mission and I love helping others develop as missionaries.

We found a great family! They are going to come to church this week! The father was baptized when he was 15, but hasn´t been to church in a long time. His wife and 16 year old daughter and 8 year old son are very excited about getting to know the church. Please pray for the Lopez Contreras family! 

Thanks for all the love and prayers! 

Love,

Elder Harries

Peñaflor 2 Week 1

Hola!!

Well I was completely caught off guard by the transfers! President changed my assignment to be a traveling assistant for the last month! And my new companion (also my old companion) Elder Brophy!!!! We were together in Talagante for a transfer. I am quite excited to get out of the office:) I still have to help Elder Peterson and the new assistant with administrative and computer things occasionally, but now I can be out much more on exchanges. We will be working very little in our sector, but in the small amount of time we have worked there, we have found some incredible people. I do however, miss the friendships I made in Esquina Blanca

On Thursday we went to our sector(we are in a whitewash) and were knocking doors. We were knocking one street and then I had the impression that we should knock another small street on the other side of the road. I told Elder Brophy and we decided we would go there after we finished the street we were on. We went there and the first door we knocked, a less active mom with three children (two 10 year old twin boys who aren´t baptized) answered. It just so happened that as we were talking to her in the door, her husband got home 3 hours early from work because it was raining. We went in and committed them to come to church and the two boys want to be baptized.  

Then we went to an old investigator of the former missionaries, and the first thing she said when we asked about her beliefs was, "I believe that God is my Heavenly Father and I want to be baptized in your church!!!" Now we just need to help her get to church!

I love this work. I know that God lives and answers prayers! I know that Jesus is the Christ and that through sincere obedience to the commandments we show our love to Him.

Con amor,

Elder Harries

Esquina Blanca Week 18

Sorry for the shortness of this letter. I am well and very happy I love the mission and I am so blessed to be a part of this wonderful work. I know that Christ lives and that this is his church. I have been humbled this week and have felt a desire to be better and have more love. I will miss Elder Ballard, as he goes home on Monday. It has been great to have him as a companion and I have learned so much from him. I think we will get another companion. I don´t love teaching in a trio, but I also don´t mind it:) The mission is so great!!! I love serving others!!!

Love,

Elder Harries

Esquina Blanca Week 17

Hola!!

This week flew by! I went on exchanges with a bunch of missionaries and learned a lot. One of the missionaries with whom I served is from Concepcion, Chile. He is 23 years old and a convert of one year. He said that he read a Book of Mormon and then searched down the missionaries to baptize him. His family basically disowned him, but he is a very happy and positive missionary. I learned so much from him! 

We had a meeting for all the new missionaries yesterday. It is fun to see all their energy and faith. We prepared a class about companionship inventory and did a funny practice. I have begun to enjoy teaching groups, and feel that I am getting better. I think it will be a useful skill going into the future.

President and Hermana Barreiros are so great! I love hearing them teach and the their testimonies. I feel that they are very sincere whenever we have a conversation. It makes me want to develop more love for others. 

In my studies today I learned something powerful about how hope is maintained by faith (Alma 25:16). It is so true--when we have faith, we obey and act in accordance with Christ´s teachings. Thus, we have a surety of receiving Eternal Life, or in other words, hope in Christ. 

I love you all and appreciate your love and prayers! 

With Love,

Elder Harries

Esquina Blanca Week 16

Hola!!!!

¿Como están? Thanks for the emails and updates! It is always so fun to hear how you are all doing! I have had a great week and can´t believe how fast it has gone by! Thanks for being so supportive and loving over skype! That was so fun to see you all and it felt really natural speaking to you. After the call, I got really excited to get back to work and help those in my area! I love missionary work and know that there is nothing more important than sharing the gospel!

I love seeing the change that comes in others lives through obedience to the principles of the Gospel. Claudio and Mariela, our converts here are doing very well with their family history! Claudio loves it and was called as the family history consultant. He already has back to his great grandparents with pictures and stories. Mariela was called as the secretary to the Young Womens and the ward loves her and her treats! Osvaldo is the Sunday School class president and makes sure everyone get to class each week. If you don´t come...rojo!! haha. Luis loves participating with the High Priests on Thursday night and will soon get a calling/assignment in church. Vicente has lots of fun in the primary and is preparing to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. I know that the gift of the Holy Ghost is real and that when we truly receive it, it changes our life.

This week we had zone conferences! It was a lot of work, and I know that it was well spent. There are many great missionaries here!! The theme of the conferences was centered on improving our teaching, especially through the use of the Book of Mormon. I love hearing President´s testimony of the Book of Mormon. He said he was a young man who had just graduated from the top military school in Brazil, and was working in a successful job. He had an interview with his bishop, and expressed his lack of testimony. He had always participated in church since a young boy, but relied heavily on the testimony of his parents. Now older, and unable to do so, he was unsure of his desire to continue in the church. His bishop challenged him to read the book of mormon with the desire to know if it was true, and if it was to dedicate his whole life to the Gospel. He said that he got to Alma 14, and then knew for a certainty. 

I know that the Book of Mormon is true and changes lives. But we must read with real intent, or a desire to act. I know that we must continue studying to remain in the path toward Eternal Life. The more that I read it, I realize its not a book stories or history...it is a manual on how to receive the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ in our life! I know it is true!

I love you all and wish you a great week and Sunday tomorrow!!!

Love,

Elder Harries