I know that the Lord needs me!

Hey

I would love a picture of the family because all of the elders that I know have them and I don’t have a single picture. I can’t wait to see how some of them turned out. (Harris Family just had their portraits done the week before Elder Harris left for the MTC)  Also now that I am think about it please do not send me a picture of myself cause that would be really odd.

Well my companion has left for Peru this week, and I have been given a new companion.  His name is Elder Mayberry. At first I was a little worried about the entire thing but as I have come to know him in the last few days, I have had a change of heart. He is one of the people that on the outside looks and acts silly but when it counts is really in tune with the gospel. We taught out first lesson together yesterday.  It was lesson two and I thought that we were going to do really bad but... we did fantastic. The Lord blessed us with the spirit.

Well in the devotional on Tuesday of this week we had another apostle come and talk to us. Let’s just say M. Russell Ballard, is the man. He gave a very inspirational talk on the power of communication and our dire need to have it. I just am thinking to myself, thank you so much Mom and Dad for putting me into speech and debate classes. From what I hear there may be another apostle this week, and rumor has it that it is Bednar.  That would be super cool cause by far he is my favorite.

Well one really cool opportunity that I get to have because I am staying here in Provo, is that I get to meet the ambassador of Peru. He is coming to the United States, and because he has some interest in the church has told his handlers that he wants to see the MTC. All the Missionaries that are in the MTC right now that are going to the Great Country of Peru get to meet him and talk to him. I am not sure what I am going to say to him... I might ask him if he can get me a visa but that might not be very appropriate. I thought that it would be really cool of I got to teach him the first discussion with my companion. If I can or have the opportunity, if right, I am going to teach him about the gospel. Of course I will be listening to the spirit very intently before I even say anything.

Well I am pretty sick, there is a nasty flu going around and I have a really sore throat. Needless to say it is really making me tired and I fall asleep the second that my head hits the pillow. I have been drinking a ton of orange juice and eating a lot of vitamins so that I can try to kick this thing in the butt. 

Every Thursday night all the elders in my entire building meet on different floors and have a massive tie trade. Most of the time I just look around cause I like the ties that I have. It is really fun because there are elders that really like old fashion ones and ones that only like striped and so on and so forth. It brings in a sense of brotherhood and it is always nice after a day of labor to unwind a little and socialize. So just as a side note please if you can send some of my really nasty old ties maybe from good will or something. :)

The gospel of Jesucristo is on the earth today and I have received of its blessings. I know that the Lord needs me to stay here in the United States a little longer, and that whatever that reason is, it is for my benefit. Yes, I am a little sad that I don’t get to go there yet, don’t get me wrong. As I have slowly been coming to find out the father knows us personally, he knows our weaknesses and our strengths. The key principle is that we must have faith in Christ. "If we do not have faith then how are we to do this great work" M. Russell Ballard.

I love and miss all of you so much and I know that the Lord is blessing you

Elder Harris

P.S. If you get a chance, Sister Hatch has been sending me dear elders and I would like to write her a letter back but I do not have her address.  If you could get that to me I would really appreciate it.

P.S.S. I hope that you got what I sent you in the mail because I thought that it was really cool, and the pictures too.

Me and Elder Johnston

The District in suits.

I will go, I will do.

Hey Family,

Well I don’t know what the Lord wants but I do know that it is for my good.  Unfortunately I will not be leaving for Peru.  I am a little bummed but…I will go, I will do. 

The MTC is pretty fun, I really like learning Spanish and I feel like I can say quite a bit of things now.

Some news...because I am not leaving this week I get a special opportunity.  The U.S. embassy is hosting the Peruvian Ambassador and He want to come to the MTC.  I get to meet him and spend time with him this Thursday.  Maybe I will ask him to get me a Visa, LOL. 

I love getting the packages and letters.  They really brighten my day. 

Tell me what you know about the Visa thing if you know more than me.  This is all I know: The Lady in the travel office told me that my paperwork had been “lost.”  She, after I asked, told me she had no idea of an expected time they might get it.  One of the three things can happen now.  I can get my visa within the next week or so and still go to the Peru MTC.  I can stay here for 6 more weeks, and hopefully get my visa, or if it doesn’t come in by that time I will be reassigned.  Pray hard that my Visa comes quick! J I just keep or I have been keeping my mind off of this and throwing myself more forcefully into my work. 

If you could I would love you forever if you could send me some more ties.  I quickly found that I need (crossed out) want more.

It was nice to hear your voices again.  I thought that it was funny that I said, “Hi, this is your son, Elder Harris.”  Don’t be too mad about this whole Visa thing.  Now that I think about it, the Lord has a plan.

Please tell Grandma Harris that I received her letter and that I will write her back soon.  Tell Grandma, Grandpa Murphy and the Messers that I also love them a ton, and Thank you for the letters!  Here are some pictures.  I will send more I promise.  I just have no time...work, work, work.  I love it.  No other time has felt like this.

Tell me how home is and do it in ‘Dear Elders’.  They are so much easier on all sides. 

I miss you and love you,

-Elder Harris

P.S. It is starting to get cold here.  If you get a chance can you send my black coat, my mobster one, not because of that but because it is warm.

P.S.S. So the ring stands for “Haz Lo Justo” This is a statement in the command form of Spanish.  It translates to “Do the Just”.  We laugh because it is almost like a “Do the Just or Else.”  Thought it would be fun. (Elder Jaren Harris sent a ring that looks like the CTR green rings they give out in primary to each of his sisters, Mom & Dad – fun surprise!)

First Day - 1st picture of mission!

Elder Harris and his 1st companion Elder Johnson

Letters to Mom and Dad

The first paragraph is from a letter to Jeff, Elder Harris’ Dad, in answer to some questions he asked about his schedule.

A typical day is like this: I wake up 6:00, shower, brush teeth, get dressed, and pray.  Ii lead district meeting and try to start the day with the spirit.  I then eat breakfast.  I then go to class for about 4 hours.  I then eat lunch, then I have personal companion and personal language study.  I then have district role play and study that is for 4 hours.  I then eat dinner, then I go back to class for about 3 more hours.  I end the day with a district planning session.  I pray again and then I go to bed and do the whole thing again.  I love it, tell you more later.

This section is from a letter to Rosean, Elder Harris’ Mother, in answer to some of her questions.  She mentioned to Jaren how his sister was asking someone to MORP (A girl asks boy event at school).

That is so cool for Haleigh and I am very excited for her. I think that Dylan is a super cool guy and I think that she is going to have a ton of fun.

As far as my itinerary, we leave at 5:00 in the morning the 3rd we then fly to Atlanta Georgia we land at about 1:00 we have a three hour layover and then we fly straight to Peru. We are expected to get there at about 10:55 in the evening. I am so excited to have the opportunity to go to Peru.  I love the fact that I get to teach to a people that as Dad put it" are living where the book of Mormon is taking place".

On Tuesday of this week we got to hear from another member of the quorum of the twelve. Richard G. Scott came and talked to us about the sacred call of a missionary just like that conference talk that I love so much. It was by far the best talk that I have ever heard. The power of the spirit was so overwhelming that it brought me to tears like three times. The first time was when Elder Scott used his apostolic keys to give all the foreign speaking elders the gift of tongues. I laughed to myself cause I had been needed a spiritual push because learning Spanish is not very easy. I love that I have a lot of experience, but we never learned any spiritual words or how to speak to people in a the formal sense all the time. Some times I get really frustrated by it. I am comforted in the fact that I now have the gift of tongues.

I also had the opportunity to go to the temple today, and I cannot express the love in words that I feel in the temple. I came in with a question and I received an answer.   It really gives me a strong desire to go and spread the truthfulness of this wonderful gospel to the entire world.

I am starting to realize that in order for me to become a extremely successful missionary I need to give more of myself. What is the point of being on a mission of all you are really here for is for your own personal growth. The most growth is had when you care more about others then you do yourself. I know that many times I have thought to myself that I can do that no problem, but I have found that I am an extremely selfish person. However there is a silver lining in every cloud, I have changed so much in the last 2 weeks that I think that if I came home now you wouldn’t think that I am the same person. I then start to look towards the future and I realized that the Lord is preparing me for something special. I can feel it in my soul. I really need to give everything that I have to this mission because I am being prepared for some greater cause. All I can do now is put my faith in the Lord and know that he will not give me a commandment that he doesn’t already know I can accomplish.

The MTC is such a fun place to be, I play basketball every day during our gym time and I am already half way through reading the Book of Mormon. I know, crazy right? I love the Book of Mormon so much, I missed one day this week reading it, and I felt like I had lost the most valuable part of day. To say the least I won’t make that mistake again. I find that when I read the words a great feeling of peace comes over me and I know in my heart that the things that I am reading are true. It really makes me what to continue to share the message of the restoration with the world. I want you guys to read 2 Nephi, chapter 11, as a family and really gain a deeper understanding of the power of the atonement and the love that Christ gives to us so freely. I love the power that that chapter evokes in me. It, along with other things, has greatly excited me, for my future in the gospel

I hope that everyone in the family is doing well and I hope that you get all the letters that I have been sending you. I plan on in my next letter that I will send tomorrow will have pictures in it and something else that is a surprise. I hope you like them.  I got one for the whole family because they were so cheap.

I do miss you guys and I love you so much for all the letter and food. It brightens my day when I see that I have mail from a family that misses me as much as I miss them. Of course know without a shadow of a doubt that I am in the right place and that I know the Lord is protecting me and blessing me. I pray for you daily, at first in English but now in Spanish.  

LOVE

Jaren

NOTE:  We received a phone call from Jaren this morning which was a little shocking to us at first.  The MTC told him to call us. He told us that his Visa had not come.  He was called in yesterday.  Somehow, somewhere the paperwork was lost.  His wasn’t the only paperwork lost.  There is a dozen or more missionaries also.  So they are going to resubmit his paperwork for a visa.  Jaren had an amazing humble attitude.  During our five minute conversation with him he said, “It is okay, the Lord has a reason why I am to stay here for now.”  He went on to say.  He stays at the MTC in Provo waiting for his visa.  If in the typical nine week training his visa does not come in, they will give him an extra two weeks.  If by some strange reason it still doesn’t arrive they will assign him another mission to serve.  Again he said, “It’s okay, if that happens, it just means the Lord knows of someone who I am supposed to teach somewhere else.” Anyone who is reading Jaren blog..Will you please take a moment to pray for him, for support.  Pray for those who work in administration of American-Peru visas, ask for them to be able to straighten this mess out so these young elder will be rewarded for their faith.  Thank you to all family and friends who have continued to write to him!!  He especially needs to feel your love now.     Thank you, Rosean