It was real good to talk to you

Hey everybody!

It was real good to talk to you all and I'm glad that you are doing good.

This last week has been kind of up and down. Christmas suprisingly made people very grumpy and not want to talk to us :( Also Lilly Youngblood called and decided to drop us for some unknown reason. We hope that she will be back but who knows.

This week though we were able to set two more baptism dates that are very promising, Austin Peeler is 13 and his dad is a less-active member. Elder Vongsawad and his last companion Elder Cook tried to teach him but his mom called them and told them not to come back. Recently though, his mom got up and left him and his dad. Sad for the family but a blessing in disguise because now he is preparing for baptism on the 23rd.

Billy is 18 and he is living with a member family, the Bonifacios. He's been going to church with them for a few months now and we finally got to sit down with him and teach him the restoration last night! Bro Bonifacio originally started investigating the church because of his ex-wife and it took him two years before he finally gained the personal witness for himself, so he didn't want Billy to feel like he had to join because he was living with them. Billy accepted date for the 23rd and we're excited to keep teaching him.

Julie and Chris are still going good and we're hoping to continue to set more dates and help more people to join the church. The work here is so great.

President Sanders, the stake President, is very missionary minded and we have a stake missionary correlation meeting with all the elders in the stake every Wednesday. This year we tied the record of 67 convert baptisms! That record was set back when Spencer W Kimball was Stake President here in Safford and this coming year we're going to break it!

Hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

Love you guys!

Elder Harris

Christmas

Hey everybody! Sorry we weren't able to e-mail to you yesterday, everything in the Gila Valley was pretty much shut down :(

This last week has been pretty crazy. We're teaching some great people right now and the Green sisters ended up getting baptized this last Wednesday. It was a great service and there were almost 100 people there!

Right now though we have 3 people progressing with dates. Chris Rudd, Lilly Youngblood, and Julie Garret.

Chris is living with some member friends of his and when they agreed to let him move in they told him that one condition is that he would go to church with them every week. The Quinns had kind of a wild past and so they help a lot of their friends to get their feet back under them. Chris is a great guy and is loving the gospel. He'll be baptized on the 30th of January!

Julie Garret is 17 and has been coming to church everyweek with her boyfriend since about August. Her parents aren't interested but she's been getting a lot of resistance from her sister, but she's finally set a date for the 16th of January! She's a great girl and is excited to be baptized

Lilly Youngblood recently moved into our area and she told us that if she were ever to join a church it would probably the mormons. She's a great lady and we're hoping that she'll continue to progress in the gospel and gain a firm witness of the truth.

Thats kind of whats going on.

The temple brings a great spirit to the valley and miracles are going to continue!

Love you all and hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Elder Andrew Harris

Happy Birthday, Andy!

Today is Andy's 20th birthday! It's hard to believe he's already been out almost a year!

A Bittersweet Move‏

What a week... I got that pesky call from Elder Sargent on Monday night telling me that I would be going to Safford Arizona to be a district leader. I was really sad to leave and I'm finding myself homesick for Las Cruces. I was hoping to spend my Birthday and Christmas with those people who had become my family. Oh well, I'll have to find some family here.

My new companion is Elder Vongsawad. His family is from Thailand, and he is crazy, we've had a lot of fun already. Him being my companion was probably the best part of this transfer. He was one of the first missionaries that I met when I started and he took me out contacting that first day. I've wanted to be his companion ever since. He's getting close to going home which is too bad, but he's still got a few more left in him.

I still haven't seen the temple yet, it's not in my area but it's pretty close by. They announced the open house and dedication dates and I would have to be here for 6 months to be apart of it, but who knows? I might be here when it happens.

Safford is pretty condensed as far as members and it's a lot like Utah, everyone is either a member, less-active, jack mormon, or anti-mormon. The work here is different than in Tucson or in Las Cruces. We've got a few good things going on though and there is a lot of potential here in the Gila Valley as far as missionary work. There is actually going to be a baptism on Wednesday!

Well I love you tons and hope you enjoy my party....

Challenging Week

Wow, the Lord really does know how to humble you. We had a big blow this week and we lost a lot of investigators. The VanDorens who were doing amazing inexplicably dropped us, for no real reason. They said we could still be friends but when a member went over to invite them to the Christmas devotional they exploded on him and told us to never contact them again. I feel bad for the member because he is the nicest guy in the world. :( There goes one golden family.

Then Joshua's mom got sick this weekend so they didn't come to church so we had to drop Joshua's baptism date and because she was sick we weren't able to go over there and reset his date. So as of right now we have no one with a date and no one at church :( but that's ok, we're going to have a good week this week and turn it around :)

Transfer calls are tonight and I'll have someone let you know if I'm staying or going...

As for presents... if I'm still here in Las Cruces I'm going to have you send all that stuff to the Taylors. They're the family we're spending Christmas with so I'll just open birthday and Christmas there, all at once. If not I'll let you know where to send stuff.

As for the music, I would really like the CD "Joseph - A Nashville Tribute to the Prophet" but other than that here are the guidelines: Listen only to music that is consistent with the sacred spirit of your calling. Music should invite the spirit, help you focus on the work, and direct your thoughts towards the Savior. Do not listen to music that pulls your thoughts away from your work, merely entertains, has romantic lyrics or overtones, or dulls your spiritual sensitivity by it's tempo, beat, loudness, lyrics, or intensity. so.... Mo-tab, and really anything really that you could buy at like Deseret Book or Seagull Book... if it doesn't work out I'll just pack it way for after my mission.

Well I love you all and we'll see you later!

Wow what a week‏

First of all Israel, Alex and Rosa were all baptized and confirmed! My companion baptized Alex and Rosa and I baptized Israel and the confirmations were done vice versa. It was such a sweet moment to baptize Israel. I've been waiting to do that for so long! The only problem was the water was cold. :( We filled up the font at 12:00 pm and there were three baptisms that day... Israels was the last, so the water ended up being a little chilly. With these three baptisms Elder Manumaleuna and I have reached our transfer goal of 4 baptisms!

Joshua was able to come to Israel's baptism and he said that while Israel was being baptized he felt a warm feeling and he had this urge to go on a mission. The member that gave him a ride to the baptism pulled $10 out of his wallet and told him to open a mission fund account. Joshua came to church the next day and he had a great time. He is praying the days go faster so he can get baptized already! He's a real great kid.

We also found a new family this week. We received a referral from the spanish elders. We've been getting alot of those lately because Elder Lau is the "king of referrals." We haven't really been able to contact them because we've been spending our evenings nourishing our baptism dates, but since they've all been baptized we were able to go and try and find these people.

We drove up and down one street to find one but no where in sight so we moved onto the next one, George VanDoren. We knocked on his door and introduced ourselves. He said, "I know who you are, please come in." We sat down with his wife Carrol and son Josh, and he said "I understand you have a message for us..." We then gave one of the most powerful first lessons I've been apart of. After we committed them for baptism on 12/26, holding the Book of Mormon he looked up at me and said "I'm really excited, this just might be what I've been looking for all my life." "Yes, George," I said, "It is." He then started to talk about a void in his life, he asked "have you ever done something and then came back feeling empty?" My companion made a joke about fishing, but despite that, the spirit stayed strong and he expressed his hope that this would fill the void he's felt all his life. I again testified that it would. But Satan is a little bugger and has stirred up their neighbor to contention and they are afraid to leave their house for fear of his damaging or stealing their property. They are a great family and I know they will be baptized! They are so excited to learn.

Life is good and the gates of heaven have truly been opened up upon Elder Manumaleuna and I.

Lots of Love.

Elder Andrew Harris

Missing and In Action

Hey everybody! This week has been crazy!

Alex and Rosa passed their interview and they're getting more and more excited for their baptism this Saturday! Israel is also going to be baptized this Saturday! He got off probation on Friday and so he had another interview on Sunday. This is where the story gets funny. Israel a lot of times goes to his sisters house on the other side of town and his sister works on Sundays, so for the last couple of Sundays he's been missing church. Well, he was stuck over there and we really had no way of getting ahold of him, we didn't have the exact address, only a general area, and his interview was in one hour. So me and a member take off and we're able to find him and get him back in time.

The funny part about the story has to do with my companion. While I was out running around trying to find Israel, my companion was back at church sitting with Alex and Rosa and waiting for Johnny to come so we could confirm him. Johnny shows up during the sacrament and so afterwards President Rob who was conducting the Ward Conference announced that Johnny would be confirmed by me (as planned)... the only problem I wasn't there. So he announced "Elder Harris if you're out in the foyer will you please come in for the confirmation." My companion goes up with all that had been invited and tells President Robb where I am so Pres. Robb asks him to do it. My companion didn't know what to say. President Robb explains it to him, and he forgets again, and again, so he had to say it in chunks but then President just told him to start over. His prayer was as follows "Johnny Ray Garcia, by the power and authority of the Mechizedeck Priesthood I confirm you a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and say recieve the Holy Ghost.... Amen" Most of the congregation found it quite humorous and we got a lot of crap for it when I finally got back. But it was a fun sunday.

Not only are those three ready for Saturday, but we also have 5 new investigators all preparing for baptism on the 19th of December! Brianna, Clarissa, Devin, and Mark are Johnny's Grandkids who have never been baptized and so we're working with them to get them baptized. After Johnny's baptism they're really excited to be baptized.

One of the Zone Leaders and I also found another part member family who had been inactive for 8 years and so they're youngest son was never baptized. Joshua is 13 and he is way excited to start coming to church and get baptized. His only complaint is that he doesn't have enough time to read the Book of Mormon! He's way awesome. His parents are also getting back to church which is good to see.

Elder Kikuchi's promises are already coming to pass!

I love you all so much and I love my mission just as much. I can't believe it's already almost been a year. No offense, but I don't want to come home :(

Love you

Elder Harris

Half of a Baptism

Hey Everybody! This last week has been kind of krazy

I told you about how my companion is from LA right? well we've been running into alot of people who speak "gangsta" lately. Thankfully my companion has the GiIft of Tongues in this sense, so we've had some really fun contacts.

No new investigators as of yet but it's still been a blast.

Johnny got baptized this week and it was a good baptism. In the Relief Society room there is a piano that can play itself. For the opening hymn I sat down and pretended to be playing. I had eveyone fooled. Then when Johnny was changing I went to play some intermediate hymns but pushed play and then stood up to go check on everything... my cover was blown :( But it was still funny. Johnny was baptized by Bro Vaughn, a member he knew from before. It only took him 3 dunks to stay all the way under. But then Johnny was feeling sick the next day and so he didn't come to church and so he wasn't confirmed :( But he'll be confirmed next week so all is good

Alex, Rosa, and Israel are all still on track for the 28th and we're looking forward for those.

No new investigators last week but there should be some new this week.

The other awesome thing that happened this last week was our Zone COnference. Elder Kikuchi of the 70 came and trained us on how we can achieve our potential. Right now we are averaging about 80 baptisms a month, but he promised us in the name of Jesus CHrist that if we sanctified ourselves, were 100% obedient to our morning schedule, became master teachers, and were diligent in our work that we could, double, triple and even quadruple those numbers. He promised that in 2010 we would see thousands enter into the waters of baptism if we followed his council. I recieved a powerful confirmation that he was a prophet of God and that we would achieve those goals.

I love you all so much and i hope that you all are doing well.

Elder Harris

What a week!‏

This last week was pretty good. We had all 4 of our investigators with baptism dates there at church. Israel, Johnny Garcia, and then Alex and Rosa Johnson. All are excited about their baptisms coming up! Johnny passed his interview and he is going to be baptized this coming Saturday the 14th!

Israel, Alex and Rosa are all scheduled for the 18th. We received news that
Israel should be off his probation on the 20th! We are way excited!
No new investigators this last week but we should definitly have a few this
coming week.

Elder Manumaleuna and I also moved apartments this last week.

Not a whole lot more to report other than things are going good!
I would send you some pictures but the computer I'm on won't hook up right to my
computer. :(

I love you a ton, see you next week!

My new companion? He's new all right!‏

So monday night I got a call from President Walker and he told me that he was stepping me down from district leader but he was making me a trainer!

My new companion's name is Elder Manumaleuna (manu-ma-leuna), yeah it took me a couple of hours to get it down. In lessons I still refer to him as my companion because I forget how to say his name. Elder M (there is already an Elder Manu in the mission so it's Elder M for short) was born and raised in LA, has lived in Alaska for the last two years, and his family is from Samoa. He's a really cool companion. He's fearless and is getting better at teaching the gospel. I'd send a picture but I don't have my cables.

We've had a lot of success so far. We've found a couple of new investigators who are preparing for baptism and things are still going well with Johnny and Israel. Adrianna was "uncomfortable" during the Law of Chastity lesson and we haven't seen her since :( we're not sure if she will be baptized this coming week.

The new investigators we've found are as follows: Monique is in her 20's and we found her tracting. She is very open to the gospel and has been prepared by the Lord. She's pregnant, so when we invited her to be baptized on the 28th of November she said, "well that's kind of close to my due date but I really want to be baptized." We told her we could move it around depending on her baby but she is really excited about her baptism.

The other is named Rosa. Rosa ran into some missionaries around town and was referred to us. We went and saw her and she is also prepared. She reminds me of Kathleen, in-active Catholic, driven away because of a divorce. We are going to be teaching her son and two granddaughters tonight. We're way excited for it. They are excited to learn as well. We also have a lot of potential investigators in the work.

Elder M and I will be so busy we won't know what to do. I'm not sure why but the area has just started to explode. When I got here we were lucky to get 5 lessons a week. now we're going to be teaching up in the mid to high 20's of lessons. The Lord is blessing us and I'm excited for all that is going on.

I love you all

Elder Harris

PS. I got all the spanish stuff and I appreciate it all. I'm learning basic conversation, teaching, and how to pray in spanish. My understanding spanish is alot better than my speaking it but it's getting better, I'm now able to contact people in spanish and they understand me.. for the most part. :) love you all thanks for all your support and prayers

PPS. What kind of baby is Vivian having?

The Taylors - Las Cruces

Hi There!

By way of introduction, we are a family here in Las Cruces where your son has been serving. Just want you to know that he is a good missionary.

As you probably know, this week, Elder Harris' companion, Elder Vermillion is going home and your son will be getting a new companion.

On Monday we took them out for dinner at a local restaurant that is said to have been originally the outpost for old Mesilla. Supposedly Billy the kid and many others had been there. I took some pictures that I have attached. The group pictures include our son, Trey, his wife, Yvonne, and their son, Tallin, as they also joined us. I know you will enjoy the pictures.

Love,
Larry and Karen Taylor

Answers

Sorry my letters haven't been super up to date at all but I'm just no good at writing letters. I greatly appreciate all the stuff you guys sent me. Especially the bread. I was going to buy bread that week but I didn't after reading your e-mail. All the candy and cookies spoiled my appetite for a while. Thankfully Elder Lybbert ate a large amount when he went on exchanges in my area so it didn't spoil it as long as it potentially could have.

Thank you so much for sending all the spanish stuff I look forward to getting it. I've been working with a spanish Book of Mormon and Liahona magazine. My reading is back to where it was when I was in Mr. Smith's class, but my understand when someone talks to me is still pretty poor, not to mention my speaking. I'll get better though!

As for the Temple. I miss that place alot. They finished the outside of the Gila Valley Temple not too long ago and should be done with the interior next spring. That will give us a temple in the mission that we can now go to. Mom, Dad when you come to get me, we're hitting as many of the temples along the way as we can. Gila Valley, the three in Pheonix, Snowflake, Saint George, Manti.... as many as we can.

This week has just flown by. Elder Vermillion is going home in a couple of days and I'll find out who my new companion is tonight. Chances of me leaving? Slim to none. I'm excited to get a new companion. I've spent half of my mission so far with Elder Vermillion. I love him to death but I'm getting to the point where death sounds like a good expression of my love. Just kidding, I'm going to miss Elder Vermillion.

Nothing super exciting has happened this week We found a couple of shakey investigators and are working with those ones that we still have. Real quick, Israel is still awesome but is held down by the man. Johnny is doing better at remembering but still slow. Adrianna said she would TRY to keep the Law of Chastity and then we' havn't heard from her since. We hope she wasn't offended but we'll see.

Love you all tons

Elder Harris

Patience

What a week.

We just got done with an appointment with Israel's probation officer and it looks like we're waiting for a while longer, maybe not until December. It's kind of frustrating since we've been working with him since July and he's been ready since August, but oh well, all in the Lord's time.

It's really cool to see that Lord's hand in a lot of little things. For a while we've been teaching a man named Johnny Garcia. His ex-wife and all his kids are members of the church but he never joined because his mother-in-law got mad at him for not dressing up for church. Johnny has had three strokes in the past few years so teaching him hasn't really been effective. We were able to sit down with his kids, who have been less-active since their teenage years, and come to find out that they want their kids to be taught and baptized! We're excited to help them come back to church and help their kids to experience the joy of the gospel.

Adrianna, Tyrel Andreason's (the less-active son of President Andreason) girlfriend is also doing well. Tyrel even came to church this week which is a huge improvment. He moved in with his older brother, Monty who is a big influence on him and I think Adrianna learning is a big help too :)

Not much else to report other than I Love you tons
Elder Harris

PS. transfer calls are next week and I'm 99.9% sure I'll be staying. The only way I'd leave is if President wants me to be a Zone Leader somewhere.

PPS. Here in the southwest we run into alot of spanish people and I hate not being able to communicate with them. I've been trying to remember some of my spanish and I've been reading the Book of Mormon in spanish, and I'm to the point where I can explain who I am, bear my testimony of "El Libro de Mormon" and give them a pass along card but I want to improve. I was wondering if you could send my/a 501 spanish verbs book, and/or anything they gave Sam in the MTC. President told me that I should try and pursue this and I feel it's something the Lord wants me to do also.

New Investigator

This last week was alot of fun. I went on a couple of exchanges and got to go up to Cloudcroft. It was way nice up there and for the first time on my mission I was cold outside.

We found a new investigator this last week. Her name is Adrianna. She is the girlfriend of the Andreason's "Alma-the-younger" son. She is way cool and really wants to know and to learn. She agreed to baptism on the 7th of November but we might be moving that up with how well she is progressing.

Israel is still doing well and we're looking forward to this Saturday, when, if all goes well, he'll be baptized!

Also something cool. Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi of the Seventy is coming to the mission next transfer to do a mission tour.

Well, I love you all.

Elder Harris

Conference?

Hey everybody!

I loved how your e-mail was entitled conference but there really wasn't much from conference in it :D

Well Conference was amazing. Not only was it spiritually uplifting, we also had a baptism on Sunday in between sessions.

Marcy Gullett, Israel's Grandma had a converting experience and so we scheduled her baptism... not a moment too soon either, she is going in to have knee replacement surgery tomorrow.

Israel unfortunatly has to wait a little while longer, but he should be baptized within the coming weeks!

Other than that, all is well here in Las Cruces I especially loved Elder Anderson's talk on repentance and it being a representation of God's love. That, I feel was the overwhelming lesson of this last conference is that God loves us!

And I love you guys too!

Elder Harris

Crazy Fun Week

This last week we had dinner with the Andreasons 5 out of the 7 days of the week. A few weeks ago when we were passing around a new dinner calendar, I saw President Andreason (1st counselor in Stake Presidency) up on the stand and took the calendar up to him because I hadn't eaten dinner with him the 3 months I had been here. To our suprise he signed up for a whole week. He informed us that we'd be having grilled cheese and Tomato soup all week. We talked to his wife and she said, "If that's what he said thats what we'll do!" Our first night they spared us with a good Sunday ham and funeral potatoes. I spilled my second helping all over my pants trying to cut my ham while my plate was hanging half way off the table. The next night when we had the tomato soup and grilled cheese, they put a rubber mat under my bowl so it wouldn't slide and outfitted me with an apron just in case. The next night we had tomato soup and grilled cheese again but that was the last night. I loved going over to the Andreasons, it felt just like home.

We just had some changes here in the district. Because they closed Truth or Consequences and put spanish elders in Hatch (Chile captial of the World!) They put Hatch in the spanish district and put Alamagordo in our district. Interestingly enough in Alamagordo is Elder Lybbert, my first District Leader. It's kind of weird being his District Leader now. But I'm way excited to get to go on exchanges with him again. I'm going to Alamagordo tonight so that should be a lot of fun.

As for the work, we're waiting on word if Israel can be baptized this weekend or not. I'm not sure how much I've told you but I'll give a brief summary. Israel is 17 and is awesome. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people and was charged with a felony. As such he has been on probation and as a rule can't be baptized until he is off parole or has 1st Presidency aproval. He originally would be off probation if he paid a fine and waited until the end of September. We found him work and he was able to pay the fine but his probation officer changed and now we're not sure if he will get off in a couple of days. If so, he'll be getting baptized in between sessions of conference on Sunday. If not probably not for another month at least...:( We're praying hard for him and we would appreciate your prayers on his behalf as well.

Love you all and hope all is well back home

Elder Andrew Harris

(8 months already!?!?!?!?!?!)

Busy Day‏

Hey mom and dad, not too much time today.

Not a whole lot to report other than I'm still here in Las Cruces and probably will be until mid December, late January... Elder Vermillion is still my companion.

A member here wants to start a New Mexico division of the Temple Riders and wants info. Dad, his name is Randy Andreason

Also if the next time any package comes this way if you could throw a couple of rolls of magic tape in that would be awesome. Elder Vermillion and I have had a couple of scrapes from bike accidents... don't worry nothing too big :)

Love you guys

Elder Harris

Weekly Update

Hey Everybody!

Any BYU football fans out there? Well yesterday in one of our wards we had a new Elder's Quorom presidency set apart and the President it Jesse Sowards, former kicker for BYU. I don't know who he is but I thought maybe you might.

Anyways, so this week we got a referral for a man who visited Temple Square and asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon. We visited him and he is way kool. He's a Messianic Jew, which means he believes that Jesus Christ is the Messiah but he doesn't believe in Christianity... yeah, he's way kool though. He'll be baptized but when we invited him to set a date he told us that his decision to be baptized into a church is like getting married to God and he didn't think a month was a long enough courtship with God. The biggest downside is that his job has him traveling all over the place and so we really can't sit down and meet with him too often.

Israel is also doing really well, so is his grandmother Marcy. Israel is set to be baptized this coming Saturday and Marcy coming up on the 10th of October. We're really excited for them.

But with the passing of time comes transfers again. Tonight we're going to be getting calls and find out whos going and who's staying. It's hard to say whether I'll go or stay. I've been here for 3 months and my companion 4 1/2, which would say that I'm going, but my companions last transfer is this next one so he could stay, and I go, or we both could stay... who knows. We'll find out soon.


Well I love you all and I'll talk to you next week.

Elder Andrew Harris

Another Transfer Come and Gone‏

Hey everybody-

This last week was definitly an interesting one. I got to spend a couple of days in the tiny town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. It's alot different that working in a big city but the gospel is true no matter where you go.

The transfer is coming to an end and we should be getting transfer calls this coming monday. I'm pretty sure I'll be staying here in Las Cruces, and I hope so, because we have a couple of investigators who should be getting baptized in the first couple of weeks after transfers. But if I go, I go. What ever happens the Lord is in it.

Not a whole lot to report this week. Things are moving forward as usual and there is nothing better than being a missionary.

Love you all, thanks for all the letters, sorry I can't get back to you but the missionaries in Las Cruces love basketball so we usually spend a good 3 hours playing every P-day. Doesn't leave much time to write back but I'll get there. See ya next week!

A cool recipe a member gave us: Cake Balls!Bake a cake, turn it into crumbs. mix in can of frosting. roll into balls. cover with melting chocolate and then chill. They are delicious!

The blazing challenge was rediculous but well worth it. I have my shirt hanging up in my room, so I can see it when I go to sleep. I'm leaning more towards green but I do like red. Chilies are probably the best peppers ever!

Elder Andrew Harris

My Stomach Hurts

So we just came from Buffalo Wild Wings, where Elder Elton and I did the "Blazin Challenge!" 12 wings dipped in their blazin' sauce which is made from jabenaros and chayenne pepper from India. I did it in about 4:45. Elder Elton did it in about 2:30. To win the challenge you have to do it in under 6 min. It was rediculously hot. I was crying the whole time and my mouth is still burning. I'm not going to be feeling well tonight :( I got a shirt though. They were out of anything but smalls so i really can't wear it, but oh well, it was worth it.

Being a District Leader is ok, training other missionaries is kind of wierd considering I'm younger than them all and I am standing up in front of people and teaching them. The Assistants asked me to do a training for Zone Training this coming Wednesday. It's about making sure our investigators pray, and pray correctly. I'm kind of nervious about it because about 22 missionaries are going to be there but it shouldn't be too bad.

Finally we have an investigator named Israel. I think I've talked to you about him before. He's 17 and he is doing awesome. He is all set to be baptized, we are just having to wait for him to be done with his Juvenille Probation deal. He has to pay a fine and wait until October :(. He's a good kid, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong crowd. We're excited for his baptism! (I just hope I don't get transfered before then.)

Well I love you lots and we'll talk to you all next week.

Elder Andrew Harris

PS. I have Blazin' Sauce on my white shirt :(

Mon 8/24/09

Hey Everybody!

We had a pretty good week this last week. We started teaching Christina Davis. She was a former investigator and also Bishop Davis's sister-in-law. Bishop Davis's brother, Bill, had his name removed from the records of the church because he wasn't living the standards. They were taught a while back but Bill "held her back". Bill has started making changes in his life now and things are moving forward. Christina had a great time at church and made a few friends. The biggest problem is that they work crazy hours and so we can only teach them Wed - Sat and then see them at church.

Israel is also progressing well in preparation for his baptism. He's opening up a little more but is still way shy. We're very excited for him.

Nothing else to really report. I'm going on exchanges with another missionary in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico tomorrow so that should be a fun time. The place is as po-dunk as it sounds.

Love you all

Elder Harris


***These are pictures from last weeks trip to White Sands National Monument. The missionaries are from the Las Cruces and Alamogordo areas. (Not sure who took the pic)

Andy's failed attempt at doing a flip over Elder Hubbard. Apparently he still enjoys sand jumping from all of our trips to Moab (he flips like me though)

Hey guys‏

Hey everybody. Sorry for the short letter last week. The guy next to me was looking at some inappropriate stuff and I wanted to get out of there as soon as I could.

Unfortunately this is also going to be a short letter. We went out to White Sands National Monument today for P-day (I'll send you pictures next week) and we're running short on time.

Love you all lots.

Miracles are happening here in Las Cruces

Love you lots

Elder Andrew Harris

Making alot of phone calls-District Leader

So late Monday we got a call from President Walker. Elder Vermillion and I are both staying in Las Cruces but he wants me to be the District Leader here. That means I'm in charge of 5 other missionaries all of them at least 5 months older than I am.

I make calls every night and report to the Zone Leaders on the progress of all the missionaries. Tomorrow will be my first time doing a training so we'll see how that goes, not much to report other than that, I attached some pictures too of the area here in Las Cruces.
Jesus is Lord basketball court

Freaky bilboard

Elder Vermillion

Harris Street

Love you all ~Elder Harris

Another transfer has flown by

Well it's been six weeks already and transfer calls are tonight. I'll let you know next monday if I'm still here in Las Cruces or if I'm off saving the world somewhere else.

Nothing too exciting happened this week.

We had one of our investigators tell us that he didn't want to stand spotless before God. We went tracting with a stray German Shepard, and we went for a return appointment with an investigator and he had moved out the night before.

Other than that a pretty normal week.

See ya next week

Elder Harris

Hey everybody!

Hey guys. another week went by here in Las Cruces. We had our zone training this week. In our mission we've started setting baptism dates on the first lesson. A mission in Ohio or somewhere started doing it and doubled almost tripled their baptisms! It's going to separate the wheat from the tares and help people progress. There have been some great experiences around the mission so far and we're hoping to see some great things happen here as well. Tell Nate to get ready because they'll probably be doing it in his mission as well.

Zone training is also when we hear the departing testimonies of all the missionaries. One of the Assistants and one of our zone leaders is going home this transfer. It's sad to see them leave because they're great missionaries. It's also crazy to think that I've been out here for 6 months already. Time is flying by and i have a feeling that Feb. 2011 is going to come faster than i want.

Things in the area are moving kind of slowly right now. We' haven't really been able to set a date on the first lesson like we've been trained. The only new investigators we've found since zone training said no to setting a date but we're glad that they are still excited to be moving forward.

Israel, one of the new investigators said that he felt like he was on the right path when he prayed. We're excited to find more people to teach and to set more dates to see more people baptized.

Hope you all are enjoying your summer, it's definetly summer here! Talk to you all later.

Elder Andrew Harris

Red or Green?

Thats the big question down here in Las Cruces, and brownie points for whoever knows why.

Well we had pretty fun week. We started teaching a man named Todd Horton. He ordered a Book of Mormon and when the MTC called to confirm that he got it he requested missionaries to come over. When Elder Vermillion and Elder Peebly went over there (I was in a different area on an exchange) he told them that he was friends with some members and that he had read about half of the Book of Mormon already and was watching BYU TV! They set up a time for us to start teaching him.

We started talking to his member friends and apparently he is an assistant pastor at another church. We were kind of nervous to start teaching him but when we started talking to him he mentioned that he was searching for truth. He accepted all the commitments we left him (read, pray...) and the soft commit! We're excited to keep teaching him.

Thats really all thats going on down here. Love ya all

Elder Andrew Harris

PS i can't believe it's almost been 6 months. This is going way to fast.

A Crazy Sunday‏

So yesterday was quite the Sunday. Having three wards back to back to back is insane. The first one started at 8:00 in the morning and we didn't get home until about 3:30 in the afternoon. Plus we didn't really have a PEC's to go to so we'll probably end up getting to church around 7:00 or earlier. I love church but I like to sleep too. The maddness didn't end there either.

We've been teaching a woman named Valie this last week. She committed to baptism and she came to church on yesterday. She's older and in a wheelchair but luckily one of the members has a van that accomodates her wheelchair. The down side was she didn't tell any of her children where she was going so when they came over to visit her and she was gone, they called the cops to help look for her. Everything worked out and the children were more concerned than anything but it was still kind of crazy.

We've been trying to decide how accountable she really is. She seems to understand what we teach her and she comprehends the scriptures but how much she retains and whether or not she really understands is a different question.

We've also been teaching a man named Manny. He was in a car accident and is also in a wheelchair. He also suffered some brain damage. Manny is amazing and has also accepted a date to be baptized. We're kind of in the same boat with him as we are with Valie, not sure how much he is comprehending but we're still pressing forward with him. When we stopped by yesterday to see him we were talking to him about reading the scriptures, he turned to his son JR and asked him, "Hey JR, do you know where you came from?" He answered no and Manny began to teach him about how he lived with Heavenly Father. It was so awesome. Then after that his ex-wife (don't ask) came out and started cussing us out and told us to vacate the premises in more or less words.

To end the night we went to contact a potential investigator to find out she doesn't live there anymore. Jesse, a man that was currently living there, had gotten one of the pass-a-long cards we left and wanted a Book of Mormon. We were way excited and when he came out he preached to us, in a non-confrontational way, for about 40 min and we had to practically walk away from him to leave. We got home just in time to make the second curfew (9:30).

...I love the sabbath!

Hope you all are doing well.

Elder Andrew Harris

P.S. if you were wondering about Curt... so am I. I let you know when I know

Another week gone by

What a week it's been. When I came into this area we had maybe a handful of investigators, but the Lord has really been blessing us and this last week we've found 6 new investigators.

We also just had the two wards that we cover, split into three wards. It's been a lot of fun serving here the past 2 weeks and I'm loving it here in Las Cruces.

Attached is a picture of my bike. I've been trying to think of a name for it so i'm going to let you all decide. If you have any suggestions post them on the blog and then Mom and Dad will send them to me.

Well hope everyone is enjoying your summer. Happy Birthday to Mom, Xavier and Xander!

Love you all.

Elder Andrew Harris

The Land of Enchantment?

Well here I am e-mailing you from the city of Las Cruces.

It's pretty different here than it is in Tucson. It's still hot but the Rio Grande adds a little bit of humidity to the mix.

The area here is struggling a little bit and we're searching for people who are ready to accept the gospel. My new companion's name is Elder Vermillion. He's going home in October, so there is a good chance that he'll finish up his mission with me. Right now we're covering the Las Cruces 3rd and 4th wards but this Sunday they are re-aligning the boundries and creating another ward. They're also going to be giving the wards names.

Have they named our wards yet?

Well I gotta run but hope you all are enjoying you summer.

Elder Andrew Harris

Transfer

Bro Nicodemus sent us an email last night to let us know that Andy is heading for Las Cruces, NM and expressed how much Andy's testimony and love will be missed.

Good Luck Andy!!

The world out there is messed up‏

Elder Bliss and I had a really sad experience this week. Elder Bliss, myself, and our exchange, Brother Evans, went to go an try to contact a part-member family in hopes of inviting them back to church and to hear the missionary lessons. They weren't there but there were some people in the yard next to us. so Elder Bliss called over to them and we began to talk to a girl, in her 20's about the church. She had gone to church when she was younger and said she didn't agree with some of our doctrine. We inquired of her what specific points in hopes of clearing them up. We were talking for a while about various things, trying to explain our beliefs and practices when Elder Bliss began teaching about the apostasy and the restoration. This woman's husband come over while Elder Bliss was teaching about the events leading up to the First Vision and began listening. He then started to tear down our beliefs and testimonies using all sorts of arguments not uncommon in Anti-literature. After he finish he told us that he "didn't appreciate" us trying to lead his wife's soul to hell. He said he would have rather come out and seen us raping his wife, than what he saw us doing.

My heart hurt after that.

I was talking to my district leader Elder Lybbert that night and I asked him why the world was so messed up that he would rather us rape his wife than talk to her about the Church. He told me that the time of the Second Coming was close and that satan is working hard. That is why it's so important that we are doing what we are doing. I felt like Nephi crying to the Lord on top of a tower because of the wickedness of his people.

"Oh. that i could have had my days in the days when my father Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem, that i could have joyed with him in the promised land; then were his people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the commandments of God, and slow to be led to do iniquity; and they were quick to hearken unto the words of the Lord - "Yea, If my days could have been in those days then would my soul have had joy in the righteousness of my brethren."But behold I am consigned that these are my days, and that my soul shall be filled with sorrow because of this the wickedness of my brethren." (Helaman 7:7-9)

The world really is in a mess.

I've grown to love the people here and I ask that you would pray with me for the people here in Tucson, across the mission, and around the world. Pray for their welfare and then go and do what you can to help bring the Atonement of the Savior to your friends and family. This world needs the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the only way the world will ever know peace.

Elder Andrew Harris

Andy with Elder Bliss

Andy with his second companion, Elder Bliss. The picture was taken by Jim & Debbie Nicodemus. Jim is the ward mission leader in Andy's first area.

Tracting Isn't Worthless!‏

This week Elder Bliss and I had a cool experience tracting. We were praying seeking for inspiration on which street to tract and Elder Bliss felt prompted to tract a street called Newton. We were about 6 or 7 houses down when we saw a man working on his car outside his home. We went up to talk to him and he just said "Look guys I really don't want to talk to you." We paused for a second, and he then started to tell us about his son who recently passed away. He was about our age and was a Jehovah's Witness and so he went out knocking on peoples doors just like we did. The image of us was too much for him as the memory of his son was still very tender. We went in with the plan of salvation about death and the resurrection. As we were teaching his wife, Myra, and daughter, Itzal, came out and were listening. We asked if we could come back and teach them more later and the wife wanted us to come back to teach he daughter and answer her questions. The wife, though a christian, couldn't really exlain what happens after we die, and he daughter had alot of questions.

We went back the following evening and taught them both the entire plan of salvation. The husband wasn't willing to join us. Elder Bliss went back a few nights later to teach the Restoration, while I was teaching Kurt. They believe that it's true but we found out the they were going to mexico and wouldn't be back until school started back up again. So Elder Bliss showed them Mormon.org and encouraged them to attend church in Mexico and to continue reading from the Book of Mormon. We cannot wait until they get back!

So tracting isn't completely worthless Other than that nothing really new is happening.

Kurt is still doing awesome, and this transfer is almost over. I'll find out next Monday night after e-mails if I'm going anywhere. I'll have Bro Nicodemus e-mail you if I'm shipping out.

Love you all!

Elder Andrew Harris

Working smart?

Hey everybody! first off, sorry I havn't been writing anyone, I've run out of stamps. I'll get some next week though and start writing you all back. Anyways this past week has been a rough one. Elder Bliss and I have been working really hard but not much has been coming of it. So we're re-thinking and we're going to start working smart.... or at least we think that it's the smart way... we'll see I guess.

This morning Elder Bliss and I went hiking and did our studies in the mountains. The attached pictures are where we went. Those ugly red beetles were hanging out where we decided to stop for our studies and Elder Bliss had one crawling up the back of his neck. It was pretty awesome.

Kurt is doing awesome right now. He is so ready to be baptized and we're excited for him. Now we just have to keep him going and strong until the 27th. It's sad that his date is for the 27th because transfers are on the 22nd so I could be gone by then... keep your fingers crossed. Hope you all are having a wonderful week. Talk to you next week!

Elder Andrew Harris

Sad times‏

So this last week had a lot of sad moments but some good ones as well. Jeff Tysoe, one of investigators with a baptism date for the 20th, officially moved out of the ward. He's still going to be baptized but... still sad to see him go. Jesse Rice, another of our baptism dates for the 20th as well, is living with his girlfriend and since they aren't ready to get married and won't move out, that date had to be cancelled. We're still teaching him but we have to wait for him to be baptized.

And then the saddest moment yet, yesterday a less-active member that I met my 2nd or 3rd day in the field, and have been working with and seeing about once a week since then informed me that she had requested to have her name removed from the records of the church. I almost started to cry. She is a normally emotional woman and she talked about it like she was talking about throwing away some old clothes or something. I tried to convince her other wise but she had made up her mind.

Now that thats out of the way, time for some good news. Kurt came to church and loved it and is still set on the 27th of June for his baptism. Stephen Sumner, another less active that we've been working with for about a month now, came to church and is back on track to full fellowship and soon the preisthood. He's got to give up smoking first but he's working on that as well. And then we set a baptism date with Kate Schell. Kate has been taught by missionaries forever. She wants to be baptized but just never keeps commitments. So if we can get he to keep her commitments, especially coming to church, she will be able to have those blessings.

Other than that, it's hot here and Church is still true.

Love you all and love your letters.

Elder Andrew Harris

5/26/09 Letter

Hey everybody! First off I would like to give a special thanks to all of our friends and family who have served or who are currently serving in the armed forces. I would especially like to thank my friends Andrew Horrocks for his service in the Marine Corps and my friends Jeff Weaver and Spencer Dom for their service in the Army. We truly are blessed to live in this country and be able to worship and live freely and protected. We wouldn't have these freedoms without the brave service of the men and women in the armed forces.

Next on the list - the work. Right now Elder Bliss and I are working with 3 people who are progressing towards baptism and will hopefully be setting a couple more baptism dates in the coming week. The three people we are working with now are Jeff T, Kurt W, and Jesse R. Jeff grew up in Safford, or mini Utah, and when we first met him, called himself a dry (unbaptized) mormon. He has taken the lessons so many times he remembers the flipcharts. He finally decided that he needed to be baptized and so he is progressing towards the 20th of June. Jesse is also working towards the 20th of June. He is a recovered narcotics addict who has a great testimony of Christ. He now helps other addicts overcome their problems. Finally Kurt was introduced to the church by his friend. He has been searching for "Clarity in his life" and is finding it in the church. He plans on being baptized on the 27th of June. It's been great to see the progress of these people as the gospel is changing their lives. Please keep them in their prayers.

Finally I would ask that you keep Elder Bliss in you prayers. He is struggling with the work and sometimes has feelings that he cannot continue in the work. I refuse to let any of my companions go home without doing all I can to keep them here, so all the prayers you can offer on his behafe would be appreciated.

I love you all very much and wish you all the best in what ever you are doing.

Elder Andrew Harris

I'm still here!‏

Hey everybody. So another transfer has come and gone and I'm still here in Tucson Arizona, in the Coronado and Casas Adobes wards.

My new companion's name is Elder Bliss (I've already called him Elder Bl-urt a couple of times) and he came over here from just down the road. We've been in the same district since we got here. Thats right, we both got here at the same time. We weren't in the same MTC district but we were there at the same time. We're both pretty young and still trying to figure things out.

They made me Senior Companion (probably just for the purpose that I know the streets) and it's been crazy. Elder Burt made it look so easy but it's a lot harder than I thought. Right now Elder Bliss and I are teaching a few people that are pretty solid and should be setting some baptism dates here soon.

Funny story... The other day while Elder Bliss and I were out tracting we started walking up to a guy to talk to him. When he saw us, he yelled at us, "Get your cultish religion off my property!" We turned to go and so Elder Bliss called out to him "Have a nice day sir". His response was priceless. He yelled back at us "I'll be having a better day than you! I won't be burning in Hell!" We got a good laugh out of that one and it's now on the quote board in our apartment.

Hope everything is going well with finals and such going on. Love you all! Talk to you soon!

Elder Harris

Yea for baptisms!

So the three baptisms we had scheduled for this last saturday went through as planned. You can see the attached pictures. The first is all of the kids who were baptized, from left to right they are Alex, Mackenzie, and then Curtis. Next is Curtis and Mackenzie and their mom, and then Alex and his parents. The baptism was way awesome. Elder Burt performed all three baptisms and he almost drowned Mackenzie because her dress started to float up so he held her under longer than normal. (It really wasn't that long but it was still kind of funny) The spirit there was really strong though. A friend of Alex came and she is interested in the church and has been asking a lot of questions. Hopefully we can begin teaching her about the gospel.

The last picture is of my little run in with a pole on our apartment parking. Needless to say the mirror lost... the pole was a little more sturdy. Needless to say we should all be like the pole and build ourselves a "firm foundation" so that when things run into us we can stay strong(Helaman 5:12) but when those times come when we are like the shattered mirror, the atonement of Jesus Christ can mend all wounds (Mosiah 14:5) In the case of our mirror, a resurrection was necessary and a newer shiner mirror is now riding on our car (Alma 40:23)

Good luck to all of you and hope you are having a wonderful week.

Elder Andrew Harris

Another Transfer coming to an End?‏

(HOBY is the Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership Program. Andy participated and then was a Jr. Counselor for it - great program for 10th graders)

Well everybody, today marks the first day of the crazy super week. So I won't be writing you until next Wednesday and I'll let you know if I'm still in Tucson or not. This transfer could be pretty crazy because, we have a lot of mission leadership going home. Elder Burt is not happy. He hated being in leadership and doesn't want to be put back into it.

Speaking of leadership, HOBY is going on this weekend and it's a bummer I can't fly home for a couple of days and come. Any and all of my HOBY peeps write me and let me know how it turns out. Pictures would be awesome as well.

The month of May is going to be a great month here in the mission. Across the mission we have about 200 people preparing to be baptized in the month of May and so, as a mission, we fasted for our investigators and any and all of your prayers on their behalf would be greatly appreciated.

Our Zone Leaders also told us that President and the Assistants informed them that "something BIG is happening in the month of May." And thats all we were told. So we're all pretty excited, but have no idea whats going on.

This weekend as well we are seeing three kids get baptized. Curtis, Alex, and Mackenzie are all being baptized on the 9th and then confirmed on the 10th. It's getting pretty exciting. The work is really moving forward.

Last of all I cannot believe that 3 months have already gone by. Time is moving way too fast. Time flies when you are having fun and missionary work is awesome.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there and have a great day.

Elder Andrew Harris

No time online 4-24-09

Dear Mom, Dad and everyone-

Right now my district is watching the Joseph Smith movie, so we had to cut emails short so we could get there on time.

Life here in Tucson is awesome. It's getting hotter here. This week it got up to 104*! That just happened to be the day that I was on exchange in my District Leader's area, which is an all bike area. It was pretty awesome, we were biking all over the place and I'm pretty sure that Elder Lybberts area is all up hill. It was a long day but something really cool happened while I was there. We were visiting some people on the less active list and we visited a family where the mom and dad were inactive, the children are unbaptized. Elder Lybbert and Elder Bliss wanted to start teaching them, so we tried to set something up. The mom, as it turns out, was recently diagnosed with MS, about the same time that I was. We started talking about the disease and the various treatments. Despite her husbands initial objections, she agreed to have her family hear the missionary lessons.

Elder Lybbert is convinced that I was the cause, that I had opened the door for those lessons to begin. I knew that the trial of having MS would be for my benefit, but I never realized that it would help me with my missionary work. Out of trials and hardships the Lord has provided miracles.

Thank you all so much for your letters and I'll try to get back to you all soon. Take care everyone.

Andy

Another Baptism!‏

So this last week we had another one of our investigators enter into the waters of baptism. Norm was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. It was a really spiritual baptism, even though there were only like 7 people there.

Also on Saturday, Elder Burt and I got to see one of Elder Burt's old investigators be baptized. We sang Come thou Fount of Every Blessing with the Sister missionaries at the baptism and it was awesome.

Now that the old people are baptized (Norm is 71, and Kathleen 67) we are working with the youngins. Right now we are teaching 3 children, ages 8,9, and 10. Makenzie and Curtis Kuster are 8 and 10 years old and come from a part member family. Their mother is a member and their father isn't. They used to live about 45 min outside of Des Moines Iowa, and because the church building was so far away they never went to church. Now that they have moved to Tucson and are about a mile from the church building there is no excuse and so we are teaching them. They are scheduled to be baptized on the 9th of May. We would love to be teaching the dad as well but he is a truck driver and is gone all the time and isn't exactly too keen on religion. He goes with them when he is in town but only for the sake of their marriage.

Alex Anderson is 9 years old and his mom was just baptized in August, his dad has been a member all his life. Alex used to be an altar boy in an episcopal church and missed carrying the candle. His mom didn't want to push him to be baptized, but when we mentioned that, when they go to the temple in August to be sealed, he needs to be baptized or else he cannot be sealed with them. She decided now was a good time to take the lessons. He is also scheduled to be baptized on the 9th of May.

Any ways we have a few other strong potentials that we are trying to get going towards baptism but they are hard to get a hold of sometimes. I'll keep you posted on them.

Hope you all are enjoying your Spring it's about 93 degrees today. The picture attached is one I took after a rain storm here a week or so ago.

Love you all.

Elder Andrew Harris

No Time to Write Ah!!!!!

Hey guys, don't have a whole bunch of time to write. Everything is going good, Kathleen was confirmed and Norm is being baptized this saturday.

(Jan is speaking next Sunday on our missionary) As for the talk on sunday, tell them everything is going awesome. And tell everyone to get involved. Ward missionary work is the best way to get stuff done.

Sorry I don't know what else to tell you. Love you all.

Bye!

Yea Finally Some Pictures

Allright so I figured that I better finally send you some pictures.
First is a picture of my MTC district in front of the Provo Temple.

Second is a picture of my jammed up thumb (I think I told you about that)

is a picture of my companion, Elder Burt

Then we have a picture of the hairy rat pigs that roam Arizona. (we lured them to us with old spaghetti)

and then finally Kathleen at her baptism on Saturday
Conference this year was amazing. It was a spiritual feast of epic proportions. Elder Hollands talk was by far my favorite, but close behind was Elder Anderson's. Elder Burt and I were talking about the new apostle a couple of days before conference and I called it. I was so excited to hear that Neil L Anderson was called to be an Apostle.

But on top of everything we had the baptism of Kathleen. It was a really powerful experience. Elder Burt Baptized her and I'll be confirming her this coming Sunday.

Not a whole lot else to report this week. Hope everything is going well for you.

Elder Harris

One transfer gone??

Wow that transfer went by really fast. Well we got our transfer calls and both Elder Burt and I are staying here. Which is good because we have a baptism this Saturday!!!!

Her name is Kathleen and she is awesome. Just seeing the change that she has gone through since we started teaching her has been amazing. She is getting baptized in between sessions of conference, which is going to make the day a spiritual smorgasbord. I'll send you pictures next time.

So I'm still here in Tucson until the middle of May at least.

Things are going great, and I'm loving every minute of it. GO ON A MISSION!!!!

Not much else to report, love hearing from you, thanks for all your letters. God bless you all and hope you have a wonderful day!

Elder Harris

First Transfer Gone?

It's hard to believe that this transfer is almost gone but six weeks have come and gone and here we are on the verge of Super Week. I won't be getting another P-day for like a week and a half, on April 1st. I'll let you know if I'm getting transfered. We'll see I guess.

Right now we've hit a major road block with our investigators. Of the two that we still have (if you remember a lot of them dropped us). We had to cancel their baptism dates. Satan has been working hard and one of them fell off the map for a week and a half and the other is struggling to overcome an addiction to cigaretes.

The wards are getting along really well though. We just got a new Ward mission leader in one and he is way awesome ( he has MS too!) and the other ward is hammering out all the kinks in the ward mission plan. All in all the work on the ward level is moving forward.

I got to go on exchanges with both my District Leader and my Zone Leader. I was terrified because they both came into my area and I was supposed to be calling all the shots. Kind of stressful but it all worked out in the end and those days were both pretty good.

Hope everything is going well for you back home and wish you all the best in all your endevors.

Elder Harris