Esquina Blanca Week 9

Hola!

Thanks for the emails! I love hearing from you all. You sound so happy and radiate God´s love in your emails. Thanks for being such great examples to me of faith and trust in the Lord. This week has been a blast and I have learned so much! 

On Tuesday, we had a "consejo de Misión" with all the leaders in the mission. It required much planning, and work to pull it off successfully, but in the end it was a very powerful meeting. We have some great missionaries who have the spirit of hard work and obedience. It is so powerful to see the difference a leader makes, for good or bad. The mission culture has changed so much from when I arrived in the mission. Thanks to President and the new missionaries, the missionaries a much more obedient and focused on their purpose. 

I did many divisions this week and it is so powerful to see the difference in all the missionaries. I was thinking a lot about what types of missionaries are successful. Each missionary has a different style--the style isn´t what brings success. Those who work hard, don´t make excuses, are obedient and depend on the Lord are successful. I have learned that we don´t have to try to be someone we are not, but rather be our best self and do everything in our ability to reach the expectations our Heavenly Father has for us.

I know that Jesus Christ lives. On this Easter weekend I am reflecting even more on what He means to me and my life. He is our Savior and Redeemer. I know it!

Love,

Elder Harries

Esquina Blanca Week 8

 Hola!!!

What a great week! I love being a missionary and having the opportunity to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ every day! I know that He lives and that He is our Savior. I am so grateful for you all and the love you give me. I feel your prayers on my behalf. 

This week we found some great new investigators, and have seen progression in those from the past few weeks. We are teaching the cousin, Luis, of Osvaldo, who was baptized last month. He is very humble and sensitive to the Spirit. He attended church last week, which was a regional broadcast from Salt Lake City. President Russel M. Nelson spoke in Spanish! (Elder Ballard is in his ward and says that he speaks 13 languages) Luis loved the conference and felt the desire to continue attending church. He´s attend a few times now and will be baptized either this weekend or the next. 

We are also teaching the son of a recent convert named Jessica. He is ten years old, and wasn´t baptized with his mother because he was staying with his grandmother. He is a sweet and obedient kid and also will soon be baptized. We continue to teach and find many other people. I have found a great love for the Chilean people. I feel that they are part of my family. It is powerful to see the changes that take place in the lives of others. I know without a doubt that Christ lives and that the power of His Atonement is real. I know that the Holy Ghost can be our constant companion as we are obedient to the covenants we have made. 

I felt the Spirit very strongly yesterday as I accompanied Mariela, Claudio, Osvaldo and other recent converts to the temple to do baptisms! It was so powerful. Each of them brought names of their ancestors. I love the temple and enjoy spending time there. After the temple, President and Hermana invited us to lunch with them at a very tasty restaurant. I got a steak that was wrapped in bacon and it was probably the best meat I have had in my time here in Chile, if not my life haha. I guess at times there are perks to being assistant...but I have been trying to remember the importance of serving the missionaries and helping the work progress. Honestly, I know that I am no better nor more important than any other missionary. At times I wonder why me? I guess the Lord knew that I just had a lot more to learn than the others. I really depend on Him and my companions to get through every day, because it is impossible to magnify one´s calling while relying on one´s own abilities.

As you see in the photo, I was bitten by a Dog last week! More than 20 months without an occurrence....haha its all good. I was walking by some old cars to go knock a house and saw the dog, and it seemed tranquil. However, as I knocked (or as we do here in Chile, yelled "HALO"), the dog got me on the side of my knee. It was a pretty big dog, but it didn´t hurt too bad. I was a tad disappointed because it ripped my pants and I had to go back home to clean it out nad change, but besides that there weren´t any other complications. I went to the doctor to get the Rabies shot. My knee is pretty bruised and it looks gnarly and I hope it will leave a scar so I can remember the story haha.

Well I am sure you are glad mom, becuase this email include more details than normal:) I love you all and am so content as a missionary, yet I have such a desire to improve and overcome my weaknesses. I love the Lord and His Gospel. It is true!

Love,

Elder Harries

Esquina Blanca Week 6

"The only thing that is truly ours, and that we can truly give to the Lord, is our will"

-Neil A. Maxwell

"Fall in love with the process and the results will come."

-Pte. Barreiros

Hola! 

I had another great week! I enjoy every part of the mission and I am so grateful to be here in Chile. I was getting my hair cut this morning, and while talking with the person who was cutting my hair, I realized what a blessing it is to be here serving a mission. I love these people and how despite of our differences, we are all children of the same loving Heavenly Father. He knows us perfectly and is willing to help those who are willing to be humble and come to Him.

The Zone Conferences just ended, and it was a great experience to get to know all the missionaries and learn from and teach them. We have excellent missionaries here and I am so impressed by how so many of them make great sacrifices to come on the mission. I feel so blessed in my life, and at times wonder why the Lord has given me such an easy life. So many people here are "burdened" by their circumstances, many of which did not make the choices which put them in their circumstances. I can only be grateful for you, Mom and Dad, and the wonderful decisions that you have made in life. Your decisions have blessed me immeasurably! 

This week I have had an increased desire to be better and do better. I do not want to be complacent in who I am or the progress I have made. I want to give all of who I am to serve others. I think that is why I am so happy here in the mission. Despite the challenges that I have faced, I am happy. I was pondering about this today in my personal study, and came to the conclusion that I am happy because all day I am thinking about and trying to help other people come to Christ. I don´t have time for myself. I remember something Mom said before I left about turning outward, and not inward in times of difficulty. It makes a huge difference.

This weekend will be a very busy and fun one! On Sunday evening, we will be accompanying President and Hermana to the MTC to speak to the missionaries as a fireside. Then Monday will be transfers, and Tuesday we will pick up half of the missionaries from the MTC in Chile and the other half from the airport(the attended the Mexico MTC). 

I love you all and hope all is well!!!

Love,

Elder Harries

Esquina Blanca Week 5

"Hay montones de excusas, pero siempre hay una razón para servir"

"There are loads of excuses, but there is always a reason to serve."

-Pte. Barreiros

Hola!

We had a great week! A whole lot of work going to and back from Presidents house. To answer Dad´s question, yes I got an international driver´s lisence and am driving. The mission has two cars, an automatic van and a manual truck. It is fun to learn driving manual and I am glad to have the skill for the future. The Chileans don´t really obey driving laws...at all so we pray a lot when we drive haha its a good excersize of faith.

We had Osvaldo´s baptism last Sunday! It was a great service and President and Hermana came to support. He is a great man and I admire his determination to follow the Savior. We are now in the search to help even more come to Christ.

We had the strangest experience last night. We were sleeping and at 2:00 AM. We heard this weird voice in broken english saying "You left the keys in the door, thats stupid man, you could get robbed." repeated serveral times very loudly. I sleep on the top bunk (there are two bunks and four of us). I looked up and saw a man in our apartment talking to us!!! It turns out it was the security guard of the apartment building, one of the elders in our apartment left the keys in the door??? but the crazy thing was that we just started laughing and went back to sleep and he left the keys on the table in the ktichen. and left. It was soooo weird. I guess the guy felt that he was on security,so he could enter our house. We can´t stop laughing haha.

Well we a great week and I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Harries

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