Well they sent me back to Lima….
I guess that is what the lord wants from me at this time.
They sent me to another Zone in Lima to be the Zone leader there. I think that
my zone is going to be a difficult one. There are some big problems in the zone
with the level of work that the missionaries are putting into every week. I
hope that this will be an opportunity to pump them up.
I have felt like in my mission the Lord has always sent
me to a place that has lots of problems so that I can find the solutions.
Like my last companion Elder Villegas would always say… ¨Elder Harris you
are just a magnet for problems, but I can put my confidence in you that you
will be able to work everything out.”
When I saw the apostles, I was really far away but I was
able to see them because I am basically one of the tallest people there. (lol) They
talked about the great need that all of the members in Iquitos have a current
temple recommend, and that if they are all trying to achieve that then Iquitos
in the next few years has a great big chance of getting a temple. He
basically told them that everything depends on them. That if they can start to
double and triple the number of members that have current temple recommends
then there is a sure chance of a temple coming to Iquitos. COOL BEANS
My new companion is from Chile… his name is Elder Leiva.
He has one month more than I have in the mission so he will be ending his
mission in September and I will be ending in October. He is a little bit odd…
he likes to talk a lot, but has a very good heart and works hard in the field,
so I am excited to work with him. I knew him from before because I had
talked to him many times at zone conferences. He comes from a good LDS family.
He has been a member of the church his entire life and has 3 other sibling. He
has two brothers and one sister. His older brother served his mission in
Columbia so he is the second in the family to leave to go on a mission. His
parents are converts to the church and are still going strong. He loves animals
a lot… but not the normal stuff, he likes snakes and insects and bugs and frogs.
He’s basically a less radical version of Steve Erwin.
My new area is called Magnolias…. I am currently living
in front of the church… which is totally awesome. It is so easy to just run
from the church to the house in like two seconds if I forgot something. I also
am now serving in the Stake building. Just so that I can give you guys an idea
of where is Magnolias it is right next to Wiesse… my old area… so that should
tell you that it is way out in the middle of nowhere. My new area boarders my
old area that I served in that is called Mariscal Caceres. Mariscal
Caceres is the ward that I baptized Noe. So I am excited to see if I can escape
to see him for a little bit and ask him how he is doing.
It is official very cold here in Lima. We are passing
through winter here which is really nice because I was really starting to get
sick of sweating so much. Well that’s not super true. I love the jungle with
all of my heart. So, I can’t complain too much. I am excited however to
have the opportunity to find new people here in Lima to baptize. It looks like
this next week we are going to baptized 4 people. Then we have a few more lined
up for the following Saturday. There is this true joy when everyone gets in
white and the spirit comes at the time of baptism. I am sure that Dad felt that
same feeling on this mission and every time he baptized one of us kids. It is a
great feeling…. I tend to think about what Elder Holland said about the
Celestial Kingdom ¨heaven would not be heaven if my family wasn’t there with
me.¨
I really have been extremely blessed to have a loving
Father. I know that I have been blessed because I can remember countless times
on my mission having the voice of my father run through my head. I can remember
the counsel that I was given and the many expressions of love given. Dad I will
never forget the days of baseball and you being my coach, I will never forget
the many times that you were there supporting me when I was in speech, I will
never forget all of the times we snuck out of the house to have a boys
afternoon. I cherish these memories with all of my heart. I think that one
of the greatest counsels that you have given me is to ¨always live in the
present¨… meaning that I need to live in the now. That I should do the things
that are asked of me in the here and now, not procrastinating, so that my
future just falls into the place I want it to be. Basically living life without
having regrets like ¨what if I would have done this….¨ ¨I wish that I had
listened to….¨ ¨why didn’t I…¨.
I Love you Dad I miss you and I can’t wait to come home
to tell you all of the wild stories of my mission, but don’t worry mom and
girls I will share everything with you guys too.
JUST KNOW SOMETHING SPECIAL….. I picked up something for
all you guys in Iquitos…. But I got something super special for Dad. I know
that he is going to love it. You will all just have to wait until I come home
to receive the presents.
I Love you all ELDER HARRIS
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