New companion!‏ - Training Again

Elder Vongsawad unfortunately has left. He went to my old area in Las Cruces.... jerk! and my new companion.... Elder Clark! I'm training again! He's so cool. He's from Draper, lives about 5 min away from the temple and he's a stud. Doesn't really need to be trained, he should be training right now. Future AP I'm sure!

Billy and Julie were baptized yesterday, so that was awesome! It was a great service. Billy also asked me to confirm him. It was way kool. I love seeing the change in people when they accept and live the gospel in their lives. Billy and Julie were both great kids before but they are so much better now and they smile a lot bigger too!

So I'll be here in Safford at least until next transfers, I'm hoping they keep me here for 2 transfers more after that so that I can be here for the dedication. It's coming closer and closer and we're see such great miracles from it. I'm so excited to be serving here in the Gila Valley. It's been a great experience!

I can't believe that Thursday marks One Year
It's going by way too fast.

Well I love you all so much!

~Elder Harris

What a week!‏

Hey everybody! This last week was a great week!

Austin Peeler moved up his baptism date because he has a wrestling tournament that he qualified for and so he'll be in Tempe this weekend. It was a great baptism and his father was able to baptise him and give him the Aaronic priesthood. His father is a priest has been less-active for a long time and about a month ago he was drinking and chewing. The Gospel has really changed his life!

Billy and Julie are on track for this weekend and Chris is doing good staying away from the cigarettes. He just needs to stay smoke free and he's all set for the 30th.

The District is doing amazing and so far we've seen 3 people baptized and we'll have 4 this weekend and 2 more next weekend. One short of our standard of excellence but we're already on track for about 5 in february. We have the dates for 11 but 6 of them are kind of shakey. We're going to get it though.

We are see such amazing miracles here.

Fun Week‏

I'm getting fat. I weigh 200 pounds now and my belly and face have some pudge to them... :( I might pull a Sam and lose it all the week before I go home... speaking of which. Another missionary told me that President Walker told his parents no to picking him up so... you might want to call President Walker and verify.

I was also wondering if General Horrocks (Andrew Horrocks) has a mailing address or e-mail that I could get, c-lamb too.

Anyways... This last week has been a really good one. Billy and Julie both passed their interviews last night and so they're all set for their baptisms on the 23rd. Austin should be getting his interview this Thursday.

This last week we had a powerful few lessons with Chris Rudd. Over the New Year he disappeared for a couple of days and, we don't know, but we're pretty sure he was out drinking. He was with friends that do and we also know that he smoked a lot that weekend too. Since then he has seemed to be very un-natural. We worried about his testimony and the level of his repentance. So we had powerful lessons on Repentance, finding answers through prayer and last night we committed him to throw away all of his cigarettes and never look back. We called him this morning and he's doing good so far. The only problem is he lives down the street from a Circle K and it'll be really easy to buy more. We pray that he doesn't. To be baptized he needs to be completely done by Saturday but I think that he'll be done for good now. Teaching Chris has been awesome! He's looking really good for the 30th.

That about covers it for the week... love you!

Elder Harris

PS - 200 lbs for Andy is a BMI of 24.3, in the normal range. Dad

This last week has been going great!

We still have 4 solid baptismal dates and they are all progressing nicely.

Billy and Julie will be baptized on the 23rd together. Apparently they are friends at school.

Austin is also looking good for baptism on the 23rd as well.

We had kind of a set back with Chris this week. He went partying with his friends over new years and he really is feeling the guilt of it all. He is still good for the 30th but hopefully this will open his eyes and he will be able to move forward. Not much else to report.

We had a non-member wife, Anna Eberhardt, come to us this last week and tell us on the sly that she wants to learn and be baptized. Her kids were all baptized about a year ago and this is a huge step for her.

Sorry this isn't longer but we don't have much time. Elder Vongsawad and I spent a few hours today hiking and goofing around so we're kind of cramped on time :) sorry!

Elder Harris

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!