Feb. 7, 2020 -- Planimal Planet

Hello hello and welcome to Friday P-Day.

So just to clarify, my new companion is the mission doctor, but he is not, in fact, a middle aged man. He just studied medicine at BYU for a year. He is a normal missionary. So anyways. I have been learning lots of stuff about rabies and medicine and missionaries who make bad health decisions through him and his phone calls. But I am super pumped to be here with Elder Bowman. We get along well and he is very cool. We are just working super hard and are both committed to being super obedient, so this is just way fun. 

These last transfers while we were waiting around for our companions, the only ones in the office that weren't in a meeting for trainers were Elder Gunderson, Elder McMillan, and I. They were my MTC comp and other district member from our legendary district of 4 people 6'2'' and up in the MTC. Speaking of the MTC, I have a theory. They give us these nice leather scriptures in spanish, but I think they are like the factory seconds that just have a tiny defect so they can't sell them! Mine had one page that didn't have the tab cut out in the middle of the indentation and my comp had some other tiny thing wrong. If anyone can confirm, please do.

A lady here gave us some cookies from Canada! That was fun. They were good. This week we did some deep cleaning and I weeded . . . inside the house! First time doing that. This week there was also an air show here, so they were practicing over the city which was super cool. We are talking jets roaring overhead so close that you can see the little parts and details. They were doing loops with smoke trails, falling straight down and pulling up last minute, and all sorts of things. That was fun to see while we walking between appointments. 

This week we were walking up a dark street and hear, "Hermanos, catch that rabbit!" and then the rabbit comes running towards us. My companion shot and missed, but I caught it by the foot. First time catching a rabbit with nothing but my bare hands. Future hunting skill, maybe. But, we were able to put an appointment to go back and visit the lady for whom we caught the rabbit, so that was pretty nice. 

This week we also shared a super cool object lesson we have done with tons of people. Then we went back later and the family told us that it was a trick of the devil like when he told Jesus to turn stones into bread and that they didn't want to go to church. So that was too bad. I don't think I've ever had an object lesson go quite so poorly. Things like that are always discouraging even when it is just crazy people and not really your fault. 

As the doctor, my companion has to be in the mission office two days a week just in the morning, so sometimes I help the secretaries out with stuff. This week I went with one to the center of San Salvador because we had to buy a bus ticket for an elder. I saw the national palace, a big catholic cathedral, and some cool street art. We also drove past a Cannondale store, and I wanted more than anything to stop and go in. I do miss a pretty bike.

Today for P-Day, my comp and the secretaries went to a place called Los Planes. It is sort of like the El Salvador version of Bear Lake Shakes but with pupusas. Anyways, it is super famous and was a lot of fun. We went to a place called Boomwalos, which was a super cool place with three stories of open-air restaurant tables and cool decorations like barrels and wagon wheel chandeliers and stuff. It was super cool and had an incredible view of all of Centro. 

I also completely robbed an idea from Chipper and drew Planimal Planet on our planning board. I find it somewhat humorous.

Here is a spiritual thought from our mission president. He said that a lot of our happiness depends on our attitude about the commandments. We all have commandments from God that we need to live by. He said that if you happily comply, it is like cotton that we're carrying. But if the commandments become a burden, it is like carrying about big rocks. We have to carry the commandments no matter what, but we can decide if it is something easy or hard. If we make the commandments a burden, we're going to get tired and bitter, but if we enjoy them, we feel light and free. Kind of like how for most members of the church, not drinking coffee isn't a problem or a big regret. It's just cotton. I hope that makes sense.

Anyways, see you all on the flip side.

Elder Harris

The pictures are Planimal Planet, me in front of the new house, and the cool view in Los Planes.

Jan. 31, 2020 -- Call the Doctor and Driving Blind

Hello hello everyone.

President told me this week that I will be needing to stay with the mission doctor for a while . . . because he's my new companion!

Let's jump back in time:

This week we had transfers, so on Monday night they called us up and told us to be at the terminal in San Miguel at 8 in the morning on Wednesday. Then on Tuesday night they called us again and told us to be at the terminal at 3:45 in the morning! So on Tuesday we bid farewell to the many wonderful members of the Jucuapa ward. I will really miss them and hope that everything goes well there. We got back to the house, and after planning and verifying the day with the zone leaders, I wanted to write a couple notes to members that I didn't see to tell them thanks. Then I packed up all my belongings which I didn't finish until about midnight. Then I took a shower (Bonus fact, when you shower in the middle of the night, there's water pressure! Maybe because nobody else is using the water.) And slept for like two hours so I could wake up and eat something before we left. One of the members in the ward came and picked us up at three in the morning and we were off. It was exciting, because his headlights didn't work! It was kind of like driving through Logan Canyon without any lights. Very interesting. We debated over the scripture about how a blind man can't lead another blind man and how that applied to us. In San Miguel we took another bus to get to the mission offices in centro at 7 in the morning.

In the mission offices were all the new missionaries that just arrived and those that were going to train. That was when the APs told me I was the doctor's new comp. I am pretty excited. This should be fun. So the mission doctor, the secretaries, and the APs have P-Day on Friday and not Monday, which is why I am writing today. But it is kind of fun to have things mixed up a little bit. Sometimes we have meetings with the secretaries, the APs, and the doctor, so I am there because I am the doctor's companion. Thus it was that I became secretary for their meetings, which makes me the secretaries' secretary. But I like the secretaries and APs and my comp a lot. They are all super cool and I'm excited.

So my new area is in centro, as opposed to oriente. Or city in the middle as opposed to more rural. Most of all this means one thing: no salsa negra for my pupusas. This is a minor tragedy because nobody in centro likes it and everyone in oriente does. I am in a nice place that is called Las Arboledas. It is in Soyapango, which is commonly considered one of the top 3 most dangerous cities in a country that is one of the most dangerous in the world! So that is very cool as well. But it is really not that bad. The gangs helpfully paint their symbols on the walls, so you never have to wonder which territory you're in! How nice. No, but I am really excited to be here. My new companion is Elder Bowman, from Arizona and slightly taller than me. I like him a lot.

It is also interesting here because there is a lot here close by. There is Papa John's, Wendy's McDonald's, and a bajillion other things to eat! It was like "What? We have more options than Don Pollo or Don Pollo?" And, best of all, there is a Walmart in my area! I think there are like 3 in the entire country, and it is within walking distance from my house. So we went there today and I bought Tostito's chips and queso along with some Nutella. Very excited. For P-Day we watched the new Lion King, because copyright laws are different here. It was good. We also cleaned the house a lot because it was pretty bad. We also get to write home on the nice computers in the air conditioned mission office, which is pretty great. We ate some pancakes and everything is going pretty good. I am still a little lost in my area. More urban and no dirt streets or cows. I am also realizing right now that I haven't seen a chicken in a while, which is surreal. Last week every day I would see women with baskets on their heads with their purse and live chickens and food or whatever. Pretty different. We had Burger King for dinner, which has never happened to me before. This is crazy. Not so isolated. But, more on all that next week.

For now, just a small thought that I liked. I heard someone say that you can't run with your companion before you walk with him. Success and miracles all start simple, with walking next to your comp and getting to know him. Another little thought is that there are so many people here that are very poor, but very happy. Happiness really depends on our attitude and our commitment to the gospel, not on our circumstances. Sometimes if we say we'll be happy once we graduate or have a house or get a better job or when the mission is over or something like that, we are really just choosing not to be happy. We have everything to be grateful for, especially because of the hope Christ offers us for free. Even if you live in a sheet metal shack. We are happiest when we are obedient.

Elder Harris

More pictures next week. For now, just a rabbit and a nice view.