Christmas is Over-Back to Work

Hey everybody! It was great to be able to talk to you guys a few days ago.

Christmas was great but I'm excited it's over! Now we can get back to work.
Elder Rangel and I had a miracle yesterday. Elder Wallis and I had bee searching for a former investigator and we ended up leaveing a note on the door we thought was hers. Yesterday we got a call from a man named Robert who said that he was a less-active member of the church and that his wife was close to being baptized once but had a bad experience in Safford (I don't believe it) and so she had decided against it. Well they want to try again so we're seeing them today. We're really excited to be able to have the opportunity to teach someone!

Other than that, all our other investigators are kind of in the same boat. The Zarows are coming along really well. Roy is participating more and more in the lessons every time and Kathy is coming around too! We had Christmas Eve dinner with Gary and Janie and in a lesson a little before that Janie told us that she wanted to make sure she was getting baptized for God and not for her husband or us. We have some great investigators but they just want to be sure. Everyone comes at their own pace.

Well I don't have alot of time. We're with a member in a classroom at the university because the library is closed. He's a teacher here and was nice enough to let us come in here for a little bit. Love ya! Bye!

ELder Harris

Merry Christmas‏

Hey Everybody!

So transfers have come and gone and here I am once again with another greenie. His name is Elder Rangel from Idaho Falls, Idaho. He seems like a good guy whose excited to be a missionary. We should have a great time together, allthough I was sad to see Elder Wallis go. My dream of having 3 companions for more than one transfer was dashed but the Lord knows whats best for all of us.

Sunday night was really fun because we got to go to the Messiah presentation at the church. All the missionaries in Tucson were there and it was good to see them all there. The show was great, the music was really well done, especially for how small of an orchestra and choir it was. Also, on Christmas, President has invited everyone over to his house, so we're excited about that. We'll get to see a bunch of missionaries again there at his house. It's wierd that Christmas is allready here again. Time has cruised by this last year.

This year we're helping the ward out with some secret santa stuff for a few people in the ward. It's going to be pretty sweet.

Things are going well for us right now. We' still have the same investigators as before. We found out that Gary is already a member but we're still working with his wife Janie. The Zarows and Kathy are still coming along and Gail is doing great. The work here is good. I'm glad I get to finish my mission here.

Love you all. Talk to you soon.

Elder Harris

Happy Birthday!

Happy 21st Birthday Andy!!

We Love You.


Mom and Dad

The Baptism on Saturday was Awesome

The baptism on Saturday was awesome, but at first we were sweating a little though. Because they are re-tiling the North Stake Center font we had to do it at the Tucson Stake Center. Because of that, our baptismal candidate didn't show up until half and hour late and the person baptizing her, Bro Andrews (who doesn't have a cell phone), didn't show up at all. Even though I know we told both of them to make sure they went to the Tucson Stake center and not our normal ward chapel. Because Bro. Andrews never showed Elder Wallis had to fill in. Thankfully there was an extra towel in the bathroom but he was a little wet going home because he didn't have an extra change of garments. Bishop Stewart was convinced that I made Elder Wallis baptize for that reason. He's been bugging me everytime I see him since then and I don't think he's going to drop it anytime soon. I really just wanted Elder Wallis to have the opportunity to baptize her. My intentions were benign I swear.

One of our investigators, Kathy was able to attend with a mutual friend of both her and Gail's named Joyce. Elder Wallis made an interesting observation last night. Apparently when he and Elder Elton started teaching Kathy, Joyce would constantly tell her not to talk to us because we were from the devil, but over time she's mellowed out and realizes that we're not too bad. Which is good because when she found out that Gail was going to get baptized she tried to convince her not to. But Gail was able to tell her that it was what she really wanted and so Joyce gave her blessing. She seemed really skeptical at the baptism but after Elder Wallis and my talks on Baptism and the Holy Ghost, completely centered on Christ, plus the spirit that was there seemed to soften her. Kathy will be baptized soon and then it's a matter of time before Joyce is also baptized. I know it!

The temple trip this last week was also pretty awesome. I'm excited for you to see the Gila Valley Temple. It really is awesome. Tiny though, not much bigger than a stake center but still gorgeous inside.

Other fun stuff that is coming up here: President Walker invites all the missionaries in Tucson to his house on Christmas for a party so that should be cool. I didn't know that he did that because I was in Safford last Christmas. Also the North Stake is doing a presentation of "The Messiah". I heard them practicing last night and it was awesome. They have a 30 piece choir and 20 piece orchestra. It's a community thing and all the missionaries are going to be ushers and hopefully we'll find some investigators through it!

Other than that, not much else is going on.

Love you guys

Elder Harris

Temple Day

Wow what a day. Elder Wallis and I just got back into Tucson. We left this morning at 6:30 drove 2 hours, to go to the Gila Valley, went through a session, visited a couple of the missionaries there, and then drove the 2 hours back.... ugh I'm tired. The session was awesome. I was able to invite Terrell Taylor and it was good to see him again. He's excited about us visiting in February.

This last week ended up being really awesome. I don't know if I told you about Gary and his wife Jane, but my first or second day we met Gary on a bus stop and he invited us over. This last week we finally got a chance to teach them and Gary is really excited about getting baptized. His wife just got out of neck surgery and she's still confused as to why she needs to be baptized again. We're going over again tomorrow night to hopefully help them to understand. It should be good.

Then there is the Zarrow family: Roy and Erika (dad and mom), Jenny (20), Willie(18), Charles(17), and Uma(14). They'rea are such a great family. I haven't gotten to know them too much because every time we have a lesson set up with them I seem to be on exchanges. The Zarrows have been coming to church for about a year now and for the most part are ready to be baptized but for some unknown reason Bro. Zarrow isn't "ready" and so the family won't move forward without him. Willie is probably the most ready. He's really excited to serve a mission and has already finished the Book of Mormon once and he always speeds through his dinner so he can read to the rest of the family while they finish dinner! On Sunday night we had the great opportunity to teach the family with President and Sister Walker accompanying us. It was so sweet! We talked about eternal families and the restoration to accomplish the fact. The spirit was so strong, probably one of the best on my mission. After we left Sister Walker suggested a special fast for the Zarrows and so the 4 of us have been fasting for them. After we got out of the temple, Sister Zarrow called us and talked to us about how Roy might be ready to accept a baptismal date! We're seeing them tonight and we couldn't be more excited! God is so cool.

Finally, Gail is getting baptized on Saturday and everything is all set for that! Things are going so nice!

Hope everyones Christmas season is as good as mine!

Love you all

Elder Harris

BRRRRRRR. the cold is not very fun - Just Wait Andy

Thanks again for the package that you sent me. I went out and bought the stuff for chip dip and it's been like home munching on it. This year for Thanksgiving it was kind of wierd. We really didn't have any legitimate invites for Thanksgiving, just a bunch of people who said that if we didn't have anywhere to go we could go to their place. Kind of awkward. We ended up eating with the Sinema family. It was pretty nice but mostly we sat around all day and relaxed. It's been freezing lately though. Temps get down in the 40's at night and I've had to break out my sweater again. BRRRRRRR. the cold is not very fun.

Our investigators are doing really well. Gail is all set to be interviewed on Tuesday. When we taught her all the commandments this week she was all fine with everything. When we taught the Word of Wisdom she told us, "well whenever I buy coffee anyway, it takes so long for me to drink it that it turns into a rock anyways. I haven't had coffee in a month or more so that shouldn't be a problem." She really does have a lot of faith and it's great to see her accept the gospel.

Kathy is still dragging her heels. It kind of frustrating... :( it makes me sad.

We found a few new investigators this week too but we really weren't able to teach them much. We'll be seeing them here soon and so hopefully they'll start progressing soon.

Other fun news, Elder Wallis and I are going to the temple on the 7th so next week I won't be writting on the 6th. When we go to the temple, we have to move our P-day to whatever day we're going. So I'll talk to you all next Tuesday!

Love ya

Elder Harris

Thanksgiving Week

So these last few weeks it's started to cool down here in Tucson. It's usually in the 40's in the morning and evening and gets up into the 70's during the day. My companion has been making fun of me because I'm so cold in the morning/evening. I'm going to freeze when I get home.

This last week was kind of a fun, one of our investigators, Gail, accepted a baptismal date for December 11th! She's doing really well, she came to church yesterday and really enjoyed it. Also one of our other investigators, Kathy, who has been investigating for 3 months is starting to make some progress. She likes a lot of the doctrine of the church but still isn't sure if it is the ONLY true church. Mostly I think she just doesn't want to give up her coffee. We had a great lesson with her and her fellowshipper and during the lesson I had a thought. I looked at Kathy and in a serious but loving way I quoted John 7:17 and told her that she could NEVER find out if this is the truth unless she tried living the word of wisdom. I bore testimony and promised her that if she lived it she would get her answer. Her response was "Damn Good Argument." It was so hard not to smile. I was trying to be all epic and she had to make me laugh just like Kathy always does. Anyways, she hasn't smoked for a few days and we think she's giving up the coffee too. I love teaching Kathy. She's so much fun. I know she knows it's true but for what ever reason she wants more. She's getting close though. Elder Wallis is especially excited. He's been teaching her for the past 3 months and she was one of the first investigators that he found on his mission. I hope she gets baptized before he has to leave. Anyways Life is good.

Hope you all have a great thanksgiving!

Love ya!

Elder Harris