Today I gave my first haircut! Neither Elder Stewart nor I really know anything about cutting hair, but he had some clippers, so we decided we'd give it a shot. We had another missionary staying with us while his companion flew to Utah and back to get his Visa, and let me tell you, nothing makes you more nervous than seeing him standing behind you in the mirror grimacing now and then, along with the occasional comment, of "that doesn't look right..." and "oh, well that part will grow back." But in the end I think it turned out alright.
Whenever we send a message to someone, we have to confirm it with our companion before we can send it. So sometimes it has felt like the scene in the movie "The Martian" when there is the accident, and they have to take off from Mars but lost someone on the surface. One guy is like, "Captain! Should I launch?" The captain doesn't respond, and he says, "Captain, I need verbal confirmation before I launch!" So sometimes it is like, "Elder! Can I send this message? Elder, I need verbal confirmation!" Makes us laugh.
There is a convert in our ward that got baptized about three weeks before I got here. He had a kind of crazy life, but is so converted to the gospel. We always see him wearing shirts with Brigham Young or the church logo, and he told us that a big part of his coming to the church was just hearing its name and seeing it around, so he hopes others will see his shirts and ask him about it. He is so cool.
There is a priest that recently moved into our ward, and he actually called the bishop and asked him how he can come out and do visits with us. We had him come to a lesson with another recent convert and her husband, who is a member who started coming back when she started learning about the church. The priest came looking sharp in a suit, and it was a great first experience for him. We went over to review the plan of salvation, and we saw she already had the pamphlet out on her table! She said she just found it earlier that same day and had studied the whole thing! Throughout the lesson we just saw how so many seeming coincidences were just coming together in their lives. God's timing really is perfect.
We have been working really hard to help members share the gospel. The Church has a new 'share' page on its website that talks about how anything we do to help anyone take a step towards making covenants with God is sharing the gospel. It is so amazing to see how excited people get when they do something simple to love someone, share something with them, or invite them to something. People have been inviting friends to meals and lessons or to watch church online, giving away pass-along cards or the Book of Mormon, and sharing inspirational quotes on social media. When I think about members doing missionary work, I love thinking about the quote, "You don't have to do things perfectly, you just have to do them intentionally."
We had another really cool experience with a lady that saw an ad on Facebook for missionaries offering free service. She asked for helping moving some new furniture into her apartment, and we did and brought a member couple to help finish the move. She was so grateful and said, "you guys are my angels!" We helped a little the first day and she asked us what we were doing after, so we told her how we were going to study the scriptures with people later that day. She told us how she loves reading the Bible and praying, and we invited her to study the scriptures with us and the relief society president who lives just down the street. She was really excited and actually called the relief society president before she could call her! Then when we finished with the member couple they asked about if she had heard about our church and if she had ever visited. She said, "no, I don't know much about Mormons, except that you're really helpful! You're doing just what Jesus would do!" We invited her to come and she said yes! Sunday rolled around and we texted to see if she could still come, but never got an answer. About halfway through the meeting, she came through the door! She loved the meeting and got teary-eyed during the musical number. There was also a member who came that I had never seen before, and it turns out she lives in the apartment right across the hall from the person we were teaching. It was really amazing just how so many little things came together to help her enjoy church.
One last thought to end on. When Elder Christofferson was here, he gave us his blessing that if we found a quiet moment and prayed to know how the Lord feels about us and our labors, we would receive an answer. I prayed for a couple days and didn't really feel much. I was pondering about it one day, and then suddenly realized he had answered my prayer without me even realizing! Let me explain.
After having taken returning missionaries to the airport, and become somewhat more aged myself, I sometimes reflected on how a mission ends. It seems like before, I kind of assumed that you end your mission in a glorious burst of light and triumph and angels trumpeting as hymns play in the background. Almost like there is some very visible finish line or end to the path. But it seems a little more like you are a normal missionary . . . still a normal missionary . . . normal missionary in the airport, and tomorrow you will still be a normal missionary . . . and then you're done! But while sitting in a meeting, I took some notes and had lots of thoughts come together that just seemed like an answer to that prayer, even though I didn't realize it for a few days until I was looking back. Anyway, I wrote and thought about how there is no on or off switch to being a missionary. A servant of God. A missionary tag does not make or unmake a missionary. It is who I am now. Doctrine and Covenants section 4, the famous missionary section, wasn't written to a full-time missionary. Just to someone who wanted to do the work of God. I think, perhaps, it is okay if the work doesn't necessarily feel completely done at the end, because it shouldn't be. I will still be called to the work, just assigned to labor somewhere new.
So. I still have a while left. But God blessed me that day to know that it is okay to not have a finish line. This is God's work, and it will not be complete if there is even one person left to save. It is an honor to be part of His cause.
'Til we meet,
Elder Harris
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