Oct. 7, 2019 -- Two Guys on a Scooter

Hello hello family and friends.

Life down here often reminds me of the Studio C, "Two Guys on a Scooter." Definitely would recommend. Often three or four people on a motorcycle or two people and some chickens or something. Another kind of funny thing is that lots of people have english shirts. I don't know where they get them or if they know what they mean, because sometimes members will have shirts with alcohol things on them. Once we saw a kid with an old EFY shirt. Lots of funny things like that. Another different thing is people's daily schedules. Everyone is out and about when we are up at 6:30. But almost everything is closed up by 5 or 6, so that is interesting. Luckily there are a couple pupuserias in town that stay open later, so that is good when we need some dinner. Almost everything closes early, though. I also think that you cannot be a true El Salvadoreño if you don't have at least one hammock hanging in the middle of your house. Everyone has these super colorful hammocks made out of rope. Super cool.

The other day I tried to touch my toes for fun and discovered that I could do it! That's crazy. Never happened before. Another crazy thing is that there are missionaries newer than me out here now! The other day for a couple hours I was in charge of going to some appointments with a brand new missionary of 5 days. A little crazy but kind of fun because we had to speak spanish because neither of us know it well, haha. There are also fireworks all the time here. Not with lights, but just a loud "Boom Boom." Kind of fun. We also have the power go out for a minute or two almost every day. Another different thing is that there are no directions here. We just have to find houses based off the name of a neighborhood, maybe a landmark, and asking around. A little tricky but fun.

We got to watch general conference this week! The new missionary and I watched it in english on a TV cart in the kitchen, and I loaded up with some conference snacks, so that was good. I do admit that I might prefer watching in a t-shirt on a couch. Is there any combination better than General conference, Elder Uchtdorf, and the HOBBIT? I think not. That was amazingly great. I wanted to stand up and cheer when he started that. So good.

Out here on the mission it feels like we are on the front lines of the gospel. We are here in the trenches, crawling through mud with dirt in our teeth. It is a little hard and super crazy. However, up close to the battle, two things are cast into perfect clarity. One is that everyone has problems and challenges. Lots of different kinds. Some are things we never have to worry about in the states. However, Christ and his gospel is the solution for it all. It fixes everything. Like a Rubix cube with millions of possible combinations, but one method that solves it every time. That is the gospel of Christ. Another thing that becomes very clear is that nothing else really matters. We are here on Earth for a very brief time and have this time to work and prepare to meet God. There are good things in life, but it is so easy to see out here that the only thing that really matters for everyone is if they are living the Gospel. It is the way we can be happy in this life and the only way to have happiness in the next.

Anyway. I'll cut it off here. Pictured are a fine meal of pupusas, a giant moth I found, and me getting crafty and making a cardboard scripture case out of a Cheez-its box. Also a fancy home-made barbell with cement filled cans.

See you later!

Elder Harris

(Mom note: A friend in TX had been messaging that her good friend's son was headed down to Abe's mission. I didn't think much of it as there are A LOT of elders there -- spread all over El Salvador. But then she sent me the picture below. Turns out her friend's son [far right] was the "new elder" Abe mentioned going on splits with and watching conference with in his email!)

 (Mom note: more candy bars with Sister Nicholls candy bar money.)