Hello out there!
It is always a good week out here in Las Vegas. So many cool things to tell about. One interesting thing is that in our apartment we don't have a table to eat at. We could sit in our office chairs at our desks, but that seems sort of weird. As a result I have spent the last two months eating every meal standing up behind our little bar that doesn't have any stools. Kind of odd to realize I haven't done any sitting-eating in a long time.
One other thing I really liked was a trainers' meeting we went to with the mission president now that I have my brand new missionary! He is the best. Super hard worker. But President Rodarte told all the trainers, "I hope you know that I didn't assign you your companions for convenience. It was actually very inconvenient. It was many hours and days praying. I hope you know that God put you with your companion for a reason." I just thought that was super cool and makes me want to take my responsibility to love and help my companion--and all future companions and people I am in contact with--more seriously. There are no coincidences.
One interesting thing when teaching is that with almost every family here that has kids, the kids understand english way better than spanish and the parents are the reverse. It is odd because we are never sure if we should speak only spanish or switch back and forth or what. Kind of crazy.
Lately I have been determined not to let opportunities to talk to everyone slip me by. I think quarantine made me a little rusty street contacting, but it is so cool. Here are some stories about how it went:
Story 1: The Ring
Elder Parker and I were about to leave an appointment and bike back home. We were both a little frustrated about how with quarantine rules, it is really hard to find new people to talk to. We determined to bike back home, but keep our eyes peeled for any opportunity to talk to people. We were biking along, and out of the corner of my eye down a side street, I saw a younger woman standing in the road looking at the gutter. It would have been easy to shrug it off and continue straight on our path, but I found myself turning the handlebars and over we went. We asked if she was okay, and she was crying and said she lost her ring. We immediately started helping her and her husband who we also found to look for it. I was looking for it, and Elder Parker had started saying a prayer with the woman. Suddenly I yelled, "found it!" right as he said, "amen." It was super cool and was hidden in some leaves in the gutter. We talked to them and got their phone number. The next day we called and introduced the Book of Mormon over the phone. We asked them if there was a time we could come by and bring them a copy. They said, "What time is your church? Maybe it would be better if we come and you just give it to us there?" We were of course thrilled with the idea. They will be going to church with the english missionaries next week.
Story 2: The Balcony
One day as we biked home I thought about a guy that lives in our apartment complex. He is often on his second floor balcony and we wave a lot as we bike back home. I thought, "Man, how cool would it be to just contact him while he is on his balcony?" Just then, we pulled in to the complex and there he was, up on his balcony, as if God was testing my mental commitment. "Here goes!" I thought and pulled over and yelled, "Hi!" above the noise of the air conditioner generators. He was very nice and we got his phone number and he said we would be welcome to come over! Contacting someone on another floor of a building . . . check.
Story 3: The Moon
It is so crazy how God works. We were at our apartment at night and the zone leaders called about some announcement. At the end, one said, "You should look at the moon tonight; it's beautiful!" It was just before time to be back inside, so we decided to take a lap of the building to see the moon. We went outside . . . and couldn't see it anywhere. The moon trip was a bust. But, then we were walking back and saw someone come out with their dog. I said, "Hey, you're Ceasar, right?" because I thought he was someone we talked to once. He was not Ceasar, oops. But we talked for a minute and let us pet his dog. Then he said, "I think I should let you guys know by this point in the conversation that I'm a member. I just moved down here for school." He was recently married and starting to go to UNLV. He said that they had seen us before and wanted to figure out where and when church was. "I was talking about going to church with my wife," he said, "and I have a been a little less active, but my wife isn't a member--yet." It just made me so happy to meet this new little family and the wife wants to learn about the church and we never would have met them if we hadn't gone out to look at the moon.
Story 4: Dinner
Another day we were waiting outside for someone who was bringing us dinner. As we were waiting, I noticed someone sitting in front of the building messing around on his phone. As we stood there, I kept feeling like I needed to talk to him, even though I didn't have any real excuse to. Suddenly I felt myself drifting over thinking, "I have no idea what I am doing or what I am going to say to this man." I asked him what brought him outside on a hot day like today. He responded that he only spoke spanish, to which I said, "Perfecto! Nosotros tambien!" Everyone always gets a little taken aback when two white guys jump into a spanish conversation. He was interested in what we do and we had a good time talking with him. We got his phone number and are going over tomorrow! With any luck, soon we'll be teaching our entire apartment complex.
Story 5: Solar Energy
Last story is that one day we were sitting outside and a guy came and contacted us to see if we wanted a side hustle selling solar energy door to door. We politely declined, haha. However, later in the week we saw him walking with a co-worker, and he tried to see if we want to sell solar again. His buddy said, "No! They're missionaries!" Then he turned to us and said that he wanted to schedule an appointment because he once knew a member of the church and wanted to learn more. Crazy cool. We were very happy to accept.
So anyway. God is so crazy involved in our lives and in planning our opportunities and seemingly random interactions. It blows me away. He has a plan for each one of us. If we keep our eyes open and listen, it is amazing what He will help us do.
Elder Harris
Pictured is me on exchanges with Elder Webster, the famous Ole Bull statue, and a lighter we were messing with for a Facebook post.
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