Talagante Week 3

Hola!!!

Quote of the week: "El Señor no hace arreglos; nos hace nuevo"

The Lord doesn´t make changes, He makes us new." Presidente Barreiros

Well thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes!! I love you all and hope that we can catch up more when I get back! 

I had a great week!!! I am so grateful for all the Lord has done for us here! I can´t believe it...we´re going to baptize a 81 year-old! She is so great and humble. Yesterday was very scary, but also a miracle. We felt impressed to take a member with us to go visit her. She was waiting for us, and also her daughters were with her. We have never shared with them. We talked about the baptism and they started freaking out saying that she was already baptized Catholic and was took old and sick etc. We testfied of the importance of authority and then our member shared a scripture in Acts 19 when Paul baptized those who had already been baptized by John the baptist. The Spirit was so intense, and I said to them, "I think it really comes down to what Filomena wants. Filomena, do you want to be baptized?" and she said "I want to be baptized" and then the daughters had such a change of heart! I love the way the Lord works. I am so imporessed by Filomena and will send you all pictures:)

We had a Zone activity today and played soccer. Elder Brophy surprised me with a cake and yes, I had my face smashed into it again! It was a fun time today.

I want to let each and everyone of you know how much I appreciate and am thankful for you. Everyone of you has had a special and profound impact on who I am today and I thank you for that. I will definitely be one grateful boy this thursday!!! Have a great week and eat some pumpkin pie  and turkey for me:)

Love your lita tuh-key,

Elder Harries

Talagante Week 2

Hola!!

¿Cómo están todos? This was another great week. I love the campo. It  is so beautiful and for once I have some fresh air. It has been extremely hot these past few days and I I´m pretty burnt...but I have been applying sunscreen. Elder Brophy and I get along really well and it has been a great time together so far.

It is great to hear that you all are doing well and that are still busy. I doubt you will ever not be:) It is good to be active though. On a general level, the people who are active in the church are usually successful and active people, the opposite is the true with those who are less-active.

We are working hard here in our sector. We didn´t do whitewash, Elder Brophy had one change here before I arrived. The sector is starting to wake up a bit, and we have an investigator that is planning to get baptized on the 28th. She is is 81 years old!!!! Haha she loves church and is a witty old lady that is very kind. Her name is Filomena, and she has 12 children. Please say an extra prayer for her.

I have done a few divisions this week. One was with an Elder that has a few social problems. It was a very difficult time, but I learned to love and tried my best to help him. He is one of 13 children. We were originally going to finish the division after one day, but I decided to stay a bit longer with him, and in the end he thanked me saying that it meant a lot that I wanted to stay with him. I think he has been sort of bullied in the mission which breaks my heart. I learned so much from him, and am glad to have spent some extra time together.

I love you all and hope that this week is even better than the last for all of you! Have a great day!!!

Con amor,

Elder Harries

Talagante Week 1

Hola!

Quote of the week: "La obra es eterna; nunca termina."

"The work is eternal; it never ends." Hermana Barreiros

Well these changes really took me by surprise. I was feeling that I was finally getting a hang of things in Maipú. However, I am sure that is why it was time for me to go. I am glad to be able to learn something new here in Talagante. I finally left the city!!!! It is by far the biggest Zone geographically and as far as number of missionaries. We have 28. It was formerly a district, and with Presidente Barreiros it became a Stake. The stake has great leadership, but the zone has been struggling for a while, so it looks like we got our work cut out for us! I am excited and humbled by the asignment that the Lord has given us.

Speaking of us, I am companions with Elder Brophy. He is from Kaysville, Utah. He is also from my group. This last change was his first as a Zone Leader, and he is a great missionary. He is very humble and obediente. He also knows how to have fun, which is a great balance for me...because occasionally I take things too seriously:) We have been working hard, and with the Lord´s help managed to bring a few investigators to church. The ward has many members, and is excited to work. Our sector is the biggest I have had yet, but we don´t have bikes. It is about 40 minutes walking from side to side. 

The campo is very pretty and I feel at home! It is nice to see open fields and trees. I definitely don´t plan on living in a city when I grow up. The air is much fresher, except for the lingering odor of a nearby pig slaughterhouse. The people are much friendlier here and I am happy to be out of the city, although it makes traveling a bit more difficult.

Yesterday we had a Mision Council with the other Zone leaders in President´s house. It was fun to meet up there and we learned a lot and have great new ideas to put in practice with the zone. I know I have said it a hundred times, but I love President and Hermana Barreiros. They are so loving and humble. President told us that when he got here, our mission had the least baptisms in all of Chile´s 11 misions. Now we are the first. The attendance of the mission was around 4,500, and now it is around 6,750. He explained how he knew none of it was his doing but the Lord´s, and that when we trust in Him and are obedient and work hard, the Lord blesses us. 

Before I go, we had a great miracle yesterday. An appoinment at 6:30 fell through, and we had 30 minutes to do some tracting. We decided to say a prayer, and I prayed that we could find a family of three before our next appointment at 7:00. We had tons of rejections, but at 6:59 we tried one more door. A family of four let us in and the dad is a childhood friend of an active member in the ward. I know the Lord lives and loves us. This is His work! Have a great week!!!

Love,

Elder Harries

Monumento Week 18

Hola!!!

Well, what a surprise to me..I have transfers! I don´t know where I´ll be going, I´ll find out tomorrow. I wasn´t expecting to have changes so it is a bit sad to leave a bunch of these people who I have come to love. I will miss Elder Mertz, we were pretty close and he is a great missionary, a pleasure to work with. I wonder where I will be going.

We had a good week. A lady died in our ward suddenly, la hermana Maria Saavedra. Brother Bertagna knew her well, you might want to let him know. It was sad because she would always sing in the baptisms--she was in her 70´s but wasn´t too sick. 

We had the largest attendance in years in Monumento: 121. When I first got here the attendance was 70ish. The ward is very animated and is progressing very quickly so it will be sad to not see the progress. Rolando and Luisa are still working on their addictions, we have found some other investigators who are progressing as well.

The Familia Rojas (deaf family) is incredible. They come to church early and don´t even understand everything, but they are so humble and one of my favorite families that I have ever taught. They are so united--I think it is because the depend so much upon one another. The parents on the children to be able to comunicate, and the children on the parents to be able to live. I love them so much and cant wait to see them in the temple!

It sounds like Dad has his work cut out for him as a new bishop. I know that he will do great! I think of what the bishops do here and multiply that by 3 or 4 times the members attending...it must be daunting! I am grateful for your sacrifice and dedication. You´ll do great!

I am very happy here in the mission! I can´t believe how time flies. I love you all and pray for you daily!!! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Harries

Monumento Week 17

Hola!!!

During General conference I felt impressed to write a life mission statement. Here is what I have so far...I am sure it will change. I hope it doesnt come accross as prideful or that I actually embody all the characteristics, but rather it is a goal of who I want to be:)

My Decision is Final

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. My life is centered on Him and His teachings. His will is my will, his desires are my desires; His plans are my plans. I will not and cannot falter in the face of fear, sickness, pain, shame or popular opinion. I will boldly teach the truth, reject all unrighteousness, defend the defenseless, preach with patience and love as He loved. My mind will be mine; my faith will be focussed; my work will be worthwhile. I will not pander to people´s perception, dabble in the devil´s dealing or entertain the enemy´s enticings. I will invite all to walk with me, yet walk alone if it need be--my course is set on a Heavenly Home. There is no barrier too big, no distraction too desireable, no temptation to taunting that will keeping me from being who and where and what He wants me to be. I am His and he is mine. My decision is final: I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Sorry for the short email. I love you all and had a great week! The mission is awesome and I love losing myself in the work. I pray for you all!!!

Con amor,

Elder Harries