Perhaps I confused one or two of you last week with this unfinished paragraph from my last email:
"I have always been pretty good at journal writing, but as of 2021, I have written a grand"
I intended to finish it by saying, "total of two times." That is pretty ironic that I could not even finish the paragraph talking about how little I have written in my journal. I am cursed.
But! Despite lack of journal writing, the adventure continues! I cut my hair again today, and we have the 1 and 2 blade attachments, followed by 6, 7, and 8. So as long as you don't need any medium-length hair, it works out okay. Usually I cut everything and then have my companion come and just cut the bottom line on the back, and only about 50% of the time have they said, "Oops, sorry, you're bleeding now..."
Last week we were able to attend a baptism of a couple that I taught a long time ago in my first area here. They asked me to come back and perform their confirmation, which was so cool. They first met the church when they would see the missionaries around and thought it was cool that there were young people doing good things instead of being on drugs or in gangs and things like that. They told their son to go talk to the missionaries and hang out with them. He did, and was baptized. Now they are too. I am so excited for their family.
The most fun we have had teaching lately has been with a nice young lady that came to our ward barbeque last week. She became best friends with a super nice grandma there who is a member, and now every time we invite her to something, she comes and brings the grandma with her. She came to our English class, which had 7 nonmembers this last week. We invited her to attend a baptism, and she was kind of on the fence about going. Later, the grandma that is helping befriend her called us to check what time the baptism is, and we asked about the lady we're teaching. She said, "Oh, yeah, she called me and said she prayed to God and got revelation that she needed to go to the baptism today." She actually went out and bought a dress because she didn't have any, but wanted to go appropriately. We were really excited to have her there. Later that day she sent us a big text saying thanks so much for inviting her. She said, "Thank you for your contagious faith. I know you are instruments for God . . . after you left the baptism, several hermanas (members of the church) came up and said that I have a lot of light, and I wonder if I looked that way before, or if it is just because I am closer to God now." She also took some sick leave from work in order to make it to a devotional for recent converts and new members. All the Spanish-speaking missionaries were invited on the condition that you bring a nonmember, recent convert, or returning member. It was an awesome devotional where several converts shared their story about how they knew the church was true. She is really excited to come to church and is doing really well.
We also had a really happy surprise when a couple who has attended our English class came to church for the first time! They stayed for both hours and seemed to really enjoy it. My favorite problem to have is having several people at church and trying to make sure they all have someone to sit by and find their class and feel welcomed. It is kind of stressful, but it is definitely the best kind of problem out there.
We visited a member family this week that got married last year and are expecting their first baby. We talked about sharing the gospel, and they both had experiences about sharing the gospel from earlier that same day! The brother said, "Yeah, I am the maintenance guy in the apartments here, so I know several families. I can set up appointments for you." We were stunned and happily agreed. He said, "and if they don't let us visit, we can just kick them out of the apartment complex!" That man has connections. The next day in church, he brings an entire family to church with him! Two of the daughters had been baptized, but the mom and two sons are not members. It was pretty incredible. Working with the members is really the way to do it.
We also visited a family with about half a dozen dogs in their front yard. We had just met the dad briefly in the street, but we went over and visited, and he had four kids that he called in to join the visit! As we went to leave, they offered us burritos and we ate with them while their little kids chatted with us.
Our elder's quorum president brought us pupusas this week, so it automatically had to be a really good week. We also got some rare Las Vegas rain for a few minutes, so that was fun.
We met a kind of crazy guy on the street, but he was very appreciative of the work we do and was a man of great faith. He said, "you are called elders. The elders are the wisest men in the village. Or their valley. They teach and guide their people." While I certainly am far from one of the wisest people in the church, I liked that imagery of us as the village elders teaching the people about Jesus Christ, the way to happiness.
So, I have one more week to be a full-time missionary. I have loved it so much. Faithful to the end. We will see what stories I have to tell next week.
'Til we meet,
Elder Harris
P.S. - pictured is probably the most powerful picture I have taken. Our mission president and his wife are in the middle, along with a rare gathering of all his current and past assistants outside the temple since three of us went together before returning home next month.
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