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