"give 110%"

Letter to Harris Family before Jaren left for Peru 22 November 2010
Hola Familia!!

Sorry that it has taken me so long to write you a handwritten letter. There is so much to do and so little time to do it all in.
To answer some of your questions, My new companion is a nice guy but he has no heart for this great work. He is a person that believes that the mission rules do not apply to him because he wants to not be a “robot missionary.” We have had many discussions to no avail and found that we just end up being mad at each other. I know that I am not a perfect being, and have no room to judge him. I have a feeling the Lord will greatly humble him someday. He has been involved in less than appropriate things. However he has made the choice to be here and repent of his past. He just needs to realize that the next step is to give 110%.
Well Spanish is coming along nicely. I can now go an entire day without speaking English. Sure there are some things I cannot say but I do my best to look them up.
Side Note: We finally got snow here (Provo, Utah, Nov 21st)
I hope Aubrei is ok with her car accident. I thanked the Lord that she was ok.
We have had a lot of talks this week about “How we are prepared.” I find it interesting that all the prophets there have ever been were chosen before we were born, before they were born. It’s hard to imagine…I see it like we were all standing around Jesus and he was asking for volunteers. If we were pre-destined then does God prepare our lives? I would think, yes, how else would we be found worthy? I read the Book of Mormon daily and I have also read about halfway through “Jesus the Christ”. Jesus the Christ blows my mind!!!! I have learned more about the Master then I’ve ever learned in my short nineteen years of existence. Sometimes I think that the only way Talmage was able to write some of the things he wrote were because he directly interviewed Christ and asked him. It just amazes me how much detail that magnificent book has. I love reading it and I am upset that I chose not to read it before I left.
Well I am sure you are all dying to know..so…I have gained 8 pounds over my entire stay so far (6 weeks). It’s funny cause I have been trying to eat less and less. I play basketball every day, and we play really hard so that we can work off all this food. Think about it though. Wake up, eat, sit in class, eat, sit and study, eat, gym, class, sleep (Eat end of the day snacks too). There is a lot of sitting and eating. So I cannot believe that it is thanksgiving again almost. Just think only one more and before the next I will be home. I seriously feel like I just left you guys in the van, oh I mean truck, like yesterday. The last few weeks are going 100 mph. I barely have time to think let alone eat, sleep, study.
Well a strange thing has happened. I no longer pray in English, like the other day I tried and found I had more to say in Spanish than I could in English. Also another crazy thing I am really starting to understand how the spirit speaks to me. I don’t have still small voice, it’s more like impressions that I get and then I think, and do. It’s amazing! I feel so much more focused now. I feel like the old Jaren has moved out and Elder Harris is starting to move in. Best part of it all is Elder Harris has got his act together and is a lot less messy. I know that this may come as a shocker but the Lord is blessing me with organization. I know crazy right, but the Lord works in mysterious ways.
Something I find is really unfair is that there are some very good looking sister missionaries. I don’t know why I ever had it in my mind that there wouldn’t be…cause there is..But end of that train of thought.
Well…
Yo se que dios y Jesuchristo viven, y nos aman y tambien dios llamo profetas por toclos sus hijos. Dios nos dio las escrituras entonces poclemos tener guia y daz y tambien mas gozo. Es importante que monstremos nuestro gratidud por nuestro ben diciones.
En El nombre De Jesucristo Amen
Con Amor – Elder Harris