Juan (Bautista) Zapata and his dog:)
Hola!
Wow does time fly or what?!! We are almost done with my training!! I have had such an incredible experience with Elder Kennedy and have learned so much from him. It will be sad to see him go in Enero. This week was all sort of a blur, it is so hard to determine what has happened within the past 7 days.
Something that has stood out to me this week is the power of The Book of Mormon...as a testament of Jesus Christ and the power to bring us closer to God. There is a menos activo named Juan Zapata that we visit a few times a week. He is pretty old and not "all there", but he is super sweet and dedicated to coming to church when his body allows him. He suffered and accident when working on scaffolding 20 years ago. He fell from about 35 feet. Any way, when we first met with him, he told us he couldn´t pray because of his head injury. However, each time we go we have decided to read a chapter of the Book of Mormon to him(he can´t read). Just recently he has been praying!!! It is so cool to see the change that he has made. He always tells us how much more "tranquilo" he feels when we read to him.
We had a special training conference of Friday with President and Hma Barreiros as a mision. It was so powerful to hear the insights they learned and felt during their time with Elder Nelson and other General Authorities. I don´t know how much I have shared about them, but they are truly incredible people! They radiate with the pure love of Christ and make me want to be better each time I speak with them. President Barreiros came from a poor family in Brazil, but basically made his way to becoming a successful business man by his hard work, and blessings of the Lord. Hermana Barreiros is a Gospel giant, and her ability to explain the scriptures in incredible. She said that when looking for her husband, she said that she wanted someone who was very hard working. She shared that President is the most hardworking man she has ever met. In their entire marriage she has never seen him wake up past 7:00. I am so glad that the Lord sent me to be taught by such incredible people!
We had a Family Home evening with Omar and Coni at the house of one of Omar´s old friends from school who is a menos activo. It turned out great! It is so cool to see the new strength and power of friendship that strengthened both of their testimonies! I hope to be able to do it again sometime! Omar and Coni are progessing extremely rapidly! They made us sign a contract that we would be there for their sealing in the temple next November. It was of their own initiative and so awesome to see! They are having some financial problems and dont have electricity. We have been doing lessons with them by flashlights and they told us that they read the scriptures together with a candle!! haha I love them so much! Please pray for them that they will be able to push through the hard times as new members!!!
It has been pretty sad as we have had to drop some investigators who aren´t progressing. Commitments are very hard for a lot of people here. President emphasized in the training meeting the importance of commitements in helping people repent. We are striving to be obedient in all things and bring souls to Christ! Thanks for the love and support!
Love,
Elder Harries
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