10/27/14 My second week as senior comp

Last monday I bought monopoly, so now we play monopoly on Pdays. and Today is the birthday of one of the other elders in my district so I think we´re gonna buy him a cake haha. MOM dont worry if like 15 bucks disappear from my account.

So the highlights from this week!

A little boy from a less active family that we just reactivated chose me to baptize him! That was awesome! It was a super spiritual experience, and it felt really good to be able to get my feet a little wet after about 5 months without being in the font! His name is Emilio Gael Rivera Mora. Hes 8 so it wasnt a mission baptism, but it was still awesome!

Later his mom made us a bunch of rice and chicken. Mexican style. Sooo good.

Also Wednesday night we got a surprise call from one of our investigators named Adrian... at 1:30 AM. He told us that he needed to talk and was outside of our neighborhood. So we went out to meet him in our sweatpants and soccer jerseys and talked out there under the street light for a bit. 

He was sooooo wasted. He started rambling about him and his mother in law drinking together and later the were washing dogs together and then a little girl showed up and told them that her dad hit her, but then later it wasnt her dad it was someone else, so like all good people they invited her in to eat cereal with them, and he was jsut really really drunk haha. I guess his wife saw that he was drunk and got ticked and then he got mad because she was mad and he like ran out of the house with his guitar and a bag filled with his most precious items. One of them was his Book of Mormon (booyah)

So we invited him into our house and we all sat and talked for about 3 hours. Finally he calmed down and sobered up a bit an dwent home. The next day we taught him the word of wisdom and he said that he was never going to drink again. He was super embarrased ha. He came to church again this sunday and should be baptized within the next three weeks! As well as another investigator that we have, so we should be having two more baptismz this transfer! Im soooo stoked! Things are finally all falling together here in Juarez!

We also got to meet some really great new investigators, two of which accepted to be baptized and committed to coming to church and everything. Im really stoked for that too.

I really focused on being more confident this week and trying to let the Lord and Spirit guide me. I know its been helping me, and while im definitely not perfect, Im getting better every day.

I love you all so much!

Have a good week!

Elder Harrison

10/27/14 Baptisms and alot of weeds

So this week we were teaching a less active family that we just reactivated, and they told me that their son was to be baptized this past weekend, and when we asked who was going to baptize him, he looked at me and pointed and said ´´you!´´

It was awesome! and made me feel pretty happy that he wanted me to baptize him. So last saturday night, we had the service and I got to baptize him!

Hes eight and was so ready and excited to be baptized. He said that water was really cold and was shivering a ton, but we got the job done.

I didnt know that we could take pictures after the ordinance of baptism while we were still in the font, but the bishop of our ward was there and said we can sooo... Yeah. We took font pictures.

Also we had a ton of weeds behind our house.. So this morning we took out all the weeds here are the results of that
 

speaking of watching grass grow.. My comp and I went to town on the grass we had growing in the back yard of our house.

Now we´re gonna grab some broken blocks from a nearby construction site and build a firepit to cook weenies at night haha.

 

 

10/20/14 Senior Comp at last

Soooo We had transfers! Im finally Senior Companion! My new comp is named Elder Luna. Hes from Puebla and has 7 months in the mission. We were actually friends in my old area. He was in the other ward that shared the chapel we were in. Hes super awesome to work with and really clean! Which is great because my old comp was a slob haha.

So we were able to teach a new investigator named Adrian this week. Hes golden. His wife is a member and Elder Luna was actually the missionary that first met him and gave us the reference. Hes come to the chapel two tiems now and hes progressing super fast. He was telling us about this dream he had about like darkness and light and stuff and I totally tried interpretting it like Joseph and the coat of many colors! But I think Joseph did a better job than I because we all just got kind of confused haha. I should never be a psycologist after the mission.

One of our old investigators, Brandon, moved back into our area and we can teach him again! Super excited for that. Also his girlfriend (future wife) had a baby last night so thats awesome. Theyre totally parents now.

We were knocking a door one day, when this guy on the roof of the house next door starts talking to us. He was totally stoned and when we were leaving he was like ´´I love you´´ and I was like, ´´ok.´´ and then he said it again and asked me what that meant. I said that ´´I love you´´ means ´´Te amo´´ and he looked all startled and told me that he thought it meant ´´adios´´ which is goodbye haha. He got all embarrased and said sorry. Super funny.

We have cats! Haha two cats decided to have their children behind our house, and so we just let them live there behind the house. There are 4 kittens I think from what ive seen. I was taking my clothes off the clothes line when I heard all their meowing ha. So we totally have pets now. We´re also going to try to build a firepit in the back yard and roast weenies once we pull all the weeds out. So stoked haha. I havent had a hot dog in so long. 

Anyways Im really enjoying being senior comp. My teaching has improved drastically since ive had to take control of everything and use my own head for the hard questions instead of just leaving it my senior comp! I love it! I love the challenge!

Our new DL is from Guatemala. Hes way cool, and obedient. I can already feel the difference in the district.

thaaaats about all....

I Love you all so much!

Elder Harrison

10/13/14 Birdpoop. baptisms, and goodbyes

So this week a bird pooped on me. Enjoy the joyful moment in my life

My companion had his last baptism last saturday, as he goes home this wednesday, He got to baptize her and it was a suuuuper awesome and spiritual baptismal service

and this my comp saying goodbye to our mission mom family. They gave us dinner to take home with us for like an entire week once. It was awesome

 

So this week was my Companions last week of his two years! This coming wednesday he´ll be boarding a plane and heading back to his home in Tijuana.

Im honestly super bummed to see him go. Its the first time ive been able to be good friends with a companion and work hard and have lots of fun too.  felt like I was living with a best friend for the past three months

So this week, my comp and I were having ind of a crappy day, (I think wednesday) and then it literally got crappy because a bird pooped on me. Pictures to come haha. But after that everything was just funny so the poop was a blessing in a stinky disguise.

Also we watched as this little kid ran down the street, holding a puppy in his arms and looking in all directions to make sure that nobody had seen him. Yup he had totally just stollen a puppy from one of his friends who had a dog that just had puppies. It was really funny to watch him run away with the puppy haha. But then we told a guy standing there looking for the dog, and he went and got the puppy back ha. Classic Mexican Robery.

Last week I told president that a group of elders in my district had Ipod touches and internet in their homes and were using it on the daily to talk to people back home. That very day he called the zone leaders and had them go and get all the ipods and bring them to the offices. The other elders are kinda mad, but they were the ones sinning and I did what was right sooo... They can trip into a pit of quicksand for all I care. 

Tuesday we had splits with the zone leaders, which was a great time. Elder Hood, and elder from Cali came with me to my area and my companion went to Cadereyta, which is another city, to the zone leaders area. After the splits they told us that we were the most obedient elders in our district and were some of the most obedient in the zone. They told us to keep going with the obedience and working hard. My companion was taken aback, because for almost the entirety of his mission he had been super disobedient and had shaped up with me. So he was stoked to hear that and to have that happen on his last week in the mission as well.

We had a baptism on saturday!! It was awesome! Like the most spiritual thing ever! The mom of the girl got up and bore her testimony after the end and started crying and like committed to always help her daughter be worthy of the spirit. It was awesome. Then I gave a talk about the restoration and Joseph Smith, and I kinda changed it up a little bit, and in stead of just telling the story, I told everyone to imagine themselves as a teenager again, and to imagine a story that I told, which was the Joseph Smith story. I thought it was a pretty powerful way to tell the story because I tried to get them to experience it. It was great.

After my companion dunked her (his last dunking of the mission) and we closed the doors, the girl, Renata, turned around and totally dived into the font haha. Then swam underwater and came out, and looked at my companion, because he was telling her that she cant do that, and she asked him if she could do it just one more time.. To which he caved and she jumped into the font again haha. super funny. Best investigator ever.

Yesterday we went and visited all the people that my companion wanted to say goodbye to and we visited a the De Aquino family. The father started showing us all these family history treasures and showed us a blessing certificate, that was signed by Howard W Pratt. I dont know if we´re related, but Im betting that we are in some way. He was the mission president in the Mexico mission like a really long time ago ha. Everytime I learn more mexican history I keep hearing more about the pratt family! Yallshould look them up and do a family history research project and see what the pratt family has done for mexico! since we´re like descendants of them and stuff.

Last night a sister gave us empanadas.. which are delicious.

Anyways, it was a good week! and we´ll see what this next week brings!

Love

Elder Harrison

10/6/14

So this week I wrote president a huge letter because there are a bunch of elders crossing some huge lines with the rules and im not ok with it. So president got the big one this week haha.

The Elders have Ipod Touches and internet in their houses and like dont work.

So this week kinda pooped on us too haha. But thats ok! We ended up teaching 6 new people this week and our one awesome investigator passed her baptism interview! So shes getting baptized this next weekend! and my companion finishes his two years next week so she chose him to baptize her to be his last baptizm in the mission! So hes pretty stoked about that.

General conference was awesome! It always makes me a big home sick to see all the white people there in the confrence center but these two years are passing too fast! Im sure that I´ll be back to gringolandia before I know it.

What were all your favorite talks? I loved the one by elder Bednar and Elder Klepingat... Or I tihnk that was his name.

We watched conference in English as a big group of Americans and that was awesome! We sat around, ate hamburgers and tacos and cookies, made american style jokes and Enjoyed some awesome inspiration from the living prophets! What an awesome blessing it is that we can recieve real time direction from a man who literally talks to God face to face. That is just awesome.

Also, can somebody send me Gordon Comforts email address? That would be awesome. thanks.

Well not much besides that! Next week Ill send the pictures of the baptism!! :D

Anywho I really love you all so much! I hope you all learned something from the conference!

Love

Elder Harrison

9/29/14 Wilderness Adventures and rooftops

So I went on splits this week with Elder Leavitt again. We totally went on a wilderness adventure and found this big concrete box, which we climbed and took pictures on top of haha. Then we were still in a climbing mood when we got back, thus we climbed the roof of his house and took more pictures up there haha.

Missionaries just climb stuff sometimes

 

Soooooo this week was a bit of a frustration, but hey, it was pretty fun too so thats ok.

first of all I did not even teach an investigator from my area this week haha. We knocked their doors all week but nooooobody was home! So we took to walking around... finding random wilderness trails and such to get to appointments faster. It was a grand time haha.

Tuesday I got to go on splits with Elder Leavitt again, and this time I went to his area. Elder Leavitt is the Elder from Benton city. That was an awesome time, we climbed on stuff and went looking around in the woods because he didnt have any appointments and well... Wed never been in that part of the woods before haha. WE found this big cement box that was covered in caterpillars! and huge camoflouged spiders! 

We had a really great lesson with one of his investigators who told us that she wanted to be baptized. She told us that she sometimes sees her dead mother in law.. which was weird, but we went off that and told her that the spirit world is here on the earth and so that might be her mother in law talking to her from spirit prison and trying to get her to be baptized so that she could do her temple work for her. The spirit was really strong and it was awesome.

When Elder Leavitt and I got back, we didnt have much to do, so we just like climbed on his roof and took pictures and talked and stuff haha. Climbing on roofs is just what we do here.

The rest of the week was a bit of a drag, but we ended up having 2 investigators at church that sunday, and I learned how to make emapanadas. So Id say it was still a succesful week haha.

Anyways. I love you guys lots! I should be having a baptism in about 2 weeks! so thatll be super awesome!

Love

Elder Harrison

 

9/22/14 Mojaditos

So this week its rained like nutzo! Thus my companion and I went out and ran around in it haha. I am in fact laying in the water haha.

The other pic is just us chillin on top of a house. No big deal. We climb stuff. Also I forgot to wash my socks earlier that week so I was wearing my emergency pair of bright white socks ;) Nailed that look.

Heeeeey! So this week was alright.

We scored ourselves a low of 6 lessons this week haha. im not sure what happened but there it is! we only taught people like 3 days out of the seven this week ha. but whatevs. Its ok. We´ll just work harder this week.

So a fun rainstorm decided to attack our little bit of mexico here and we got sooooaaked! My companion and I were walking and looking off in the distance and realized that we suddenly couldnt see the store signs a little ways away. then we realized that the ones that were closer were getting more obscure. We then realized that It would have been a great day to bring an umbrella, because it was raining really hard and getting closer. So we ran to the appointment, but by the time we got there we were soaked head to toe and the people werent even there haha. so we just walkd around and enjoyed the rain haha.

We met a few good new families that seem really promising this week! and all of them already have friends in the church so thatll make things alot easier for us because the friends have been like inviting them to all the activities that we have in the church. So theyre getting prety interested in the church. Which is awesome.

We had an activity for the Mexico Independance day this week on thursday. We wore plastic mexico ties and ate tacos. Dinner is awesome haha, because its not something I get to enjoy too often.

3 of our investigators came to that, and all had a really good time soo... that was sweet haha.

We got to bring and drop off one of our investigators to an ettiquete dinner for the youth last saturday. It was super funny when she opened the door to her house because she was wearing like a prom dress. It was dunny seeing a 12 year old in a prom dress. She also wore high heals for the first time, and we got a good laugh out of that haha. She should be baptized October 12th, so hopefully everything keeps working out good with that.

Also I did the cheeto challenge on thursday. Totally put 20 cheetos in my mouth at the same time, my companion did 26. He has a surprisingly big mouth haha. i got it on video, so If I could send videos I totally would haha.

Aaaaanywhoooo... Thats about it for this week! We´ll see what next week brings!

Love you all

Elder Harrison

 

9/15/14 Hooooolaaaa

So in the weekend between my last letter and this one some awesome stuff went down.

First on thursday and friday it decided not to be hot anymore! So im now wearing my warm pants, which in the 6 months of unuse have gotten surprisingly large. Like Its time for new clothes because with my recent loss of weight, everything fits large haha. I totally wear medium size shirts now. Which is a miracle because I think ive been a large since like 7th grade,

But yeah its like cold now soo... thats awesome haha.

On thursday we found a part member family that moved to our area about 2 months ago. They are SOOOO Golden!! The mom is the only member. Her daughter, whos 12, totally wants to be baptized. And I guess the missionaries in her old area were teaching her but werent letting her be baptized! They said she needed to have like a rock solid testimony of everything before being baptized. Im like, how can they get a rock solid testimony if they dont have the gift of the holy ghost, She´ll be a thousand times more converted if she gets baptized not knowing anything than if she waits to know all the doctrinal points and to have a testimony of everything. Some missionaries are just tooo afraid to baptize people. There is like never an instance in which baptizm is not a blessing to the people, even if the people do it for the wrong reasons, it allows God to start working on them harder by way of the spirit.

Some missionaries. pfft.

Anywho, so we brought her to church with us last sunday and she loved it! She was already making friends and got invited to a bunch of activities that shes planning on going to this week with the other kids in the ward.

If only adults would fellowship investigators like kids do, we would baptize all of Mexico.

She like came up to us and begged us to bring her back on saturday to an ettiquete dinner thing for the youth. We felt like her parents haha. super funny. We said yes ha. There will be food so we shall be taking advantage of that haha.

We also started meeting some other new families and so im excited to see what happens with them! We scored 7 new investigators this week, and really surprised our district leader. He didnt believe me when I said the number and he made me count off all their names haha. I think we are having the most new investigators in the district.  

But yeah that was awesome! My companion has 4 weeks left and we´re working like crazy people to make sure he ends it well! Im thinking we can reach the norms of exellency by his last week here. 

Contact contact contact!! Its funny, in my old area we would talk to about 140 people in the street every week, and we had like no investigators, but here we talked to 8 people... and we have like 20 investigators haha.

Also this friday Elder Pieper from the first seventy came and held zone conferences with all the zones in the mission. He gave us some great insights and we all got to talk to him and shake his hand. He actually served here too! and when he served here they had cars! He was also here with President Pulsipher, our stake president from back home! so thats pretty cool haha.

He taught us how we need to let the investigators answer their own questions and not just give them the answers. and how we can find the secret questions that the people are asking us by little things that they say. In all it was really cool. When he shook my hand he looked like right into my eyes and I felt like my whole soul was being interviewed haha, It was cool. I wanna have awesome eye powers like that too.

Anywho... not really much else happened this weekend! We finally have money again so we can finally go buy food! hahaha. weve been starving for the past week because we used all our money to buy stuff.. I bought an awesome Tigres soccer jersey.. so worth being hungry for a week haha.

Also!! Everyone send me your shirt sizes! including the sizes of Evie, Adalynn and Bryan. aaand maybe even the grandparents too. 

anyways, I love you all! Have a good week!

Elder Harrison

9/11/14 splits, daipers, and a normal gym

This week I got to go on splits with an elder from benton city! that was awesome.

My companion decided to put a diaper on his head too. that was awesome.

and today we found a church with a normal american style basketball court in it! that was awesome

youre all awesome.

Hoooolaaa Family!!

Sooo the highlights from this week!

A sister in the ward told us that in a walmart in Texas they were selling the Iphone 5 for 99 cents! We were super bumemd that she didnt buy us one haha.

I also realized that im toootally losing my hair haha. Im going to start having hair like dad pretty soon with the middle still intact but the sides slowly rising up haha.

Also a bit of a sad note, the old guy that I baptized, Gorgonio, died about a month ago. The Elders there didnt even tell me, even though I see them all the time. I was pretty ticked at them, but I got them back when I told president that they went to the Circus, so thats ok haha.

I was thinking back to when we wereteaching him and I realized that Heavenly Father preserved him for the perfect amount of time. His health stabilized as we were teaching him, and then after he was baptized and confirmed it started dropping again and he passed away. His mind was not in a state in which he could recieve the blessings of the temple, so I think this is actually the fastest way for him to recieve all the blessings of the gospel. In a year I will be able to take his name to the temple and finish the work that I started with him.

Also I know for a fact that he´s totally in paradise right now without all of the pains that he constantly felt, so Im at peace with the whole situation.

So thats that.

One night this passed week my companion and I were contacting and I said that if we contacted 10 more people Id buy campechanas, which are really big tacos, and then we saw that a family was home that wed been trying to visit for a few weeks. My comp gave me the choice between tacos and a lesson. I said that I think we could have both. As we walked into the house, the family asked us if we wanted campechanas and took us out to buy some for us.

I totally prophecied haha.

So I had the opportunity to go on splits with Elder Leavitt yesterday! Hes from Benton city in Washington and we actually are from the same generation in the MTC! So thats awesome to have him in the district. Hes really funny and we had a great time working together and taught some really good lessons!

We went to the temple this morning, because of bus problems we arrived late and werent able to get into the session. thus we did initiatories and I actually really  enjoyed it. I got to do some names from holland! It was funny hearing the mexican temple workers trying to pronounce the names. Also one of the workers there has a grandson serving in Kennewick! that was random haha. but cool. His name is JJ evans, or something like that. The worker is actually from Provo and is serving his mission here in the temple. Way cool.

Anywho it was a good week! I enjoyed it and Ill talk to you all on monday! Also I complete nine months this coming week soo... yeah thats neat haha.

Love you all!

Elder Harrison

 

 

9/1/14 This past weekend

Well.... not much has happened in between now and thursday.

We met a few new investigators... NObody came to church again. Which means that we wont be able to have an baptisms all the month of september. Which is a super bummer. Its getting kinda lonely in the chapel all alone and stuff haha.

Uuuhhh... My district has started not liking me as much haha. Because I started cracking down on them a bit more for their obedience sooo.. yeah thats fun haha. But whatevz.

Anywho thaaaats it... I feel bad because nothing happened buuut.. REally nothign happened haha.

Ooh I finished August! thats awesome haha. Now its gonna start cooling off a bit and were not gonna burn as much!

I love you all so much!

Love Elder Harrison

The red meaty stuff.

That would be rabbit.

This week, a sister gave us rabbit.

It made us hop all the way to the bathroom haha

And the family is a family that just moved to cuernevaca, so we were saying farewell to them and helped them pack up their car and stuff.

Dis Week 8/28/14

So this week we went to the temple so thats why the email came so late! We got up at 3:30 this morning to catch two buses and a train to get there by 7am haha. It was funny because after the train we couldnt figure out which bus to take so we like wandered around confused for like a half hour. Also I tihnk we were on early morning Monterrey news, because the news truck was down the street filming towards where we were standing.

I got to go to the temple and that was great! I always love the peace that comes from the house of the Lord.

So last friday I went on splits with the ZLs in Cadereyta, which is a city about 30 minutes from my area, and they are in like one of the only bike area! So I got to ride a bike for a day! and I never wanted to go back to walking! Riding is so much more fun haha.

During the splits we had a few lessons and were able to have a lesson with this crazy lady that kept like changing moods and interrupting us. She was nutzo haha. But she totally wants to be baptized sooo... whatevz right? 

Also as my comp and I were walking down the street one night at like 9ish (after a lesson so we were allowed to be out a bit later) I hear someone psst at me, and I look back and theres a guy walking behind us, so I just kinda looked at him and kept walking, and he pssted again so we stopped and talked to him.

He was super gay. 

He told us that hes renting out a room in his house and wanted to know if we wanted it, but the whole time he was looking at me like a fresh slab of fat juicy steak.

We told him no and he said ok and walked away.

I didnt know whether to feel flattered or just wierd haha.

So my comps foot stayed injured and we couldnt work very much last week either sooo... no progress there haha. But this week he feels better so hopefully this weekend we´ll be able to make good things happen.

Anywho, Im just hunkering down in the Book of Mormon and Preach my Gospel and trying to refine my teaching skills! Better every week!

Thats about all for this week, nothing much happened than that.

Love you all!

Elder Harrison

 

 Hammocks and bicis

 

So this week I went on splits with the ZL´s and totally got to ride a bike! I forgot to take a pic of me on the bike so heres one of me standing mostly in front of them! Also we slept in hammocks because its too hot to sleep in the house here, so that was sweet haha.

Lovez

Elder Harrison

 

 

 

 

Catching Up...

8/18/14

Well this week waaas.

Really boring haha.

My companion hurt his foot as he was trying to jump onto another Elders shoulders. We all heard a crack and he barely got off the ground when he came down and layed on the ground. His ankle swelled up all huge and he couldnt walk. We had to walk him to one of the Elders houses that was nearby and I went with another Elder to his house to grab our stuff (because we had splits the night before, thus all my clothes were at his house) and we came back and caught a taxi back to the house.

The Taxi driver was super funny. He driver was a christian, like one of the super christian christians, and theyre freaking nutzos. So he asks us if we believe in the Gift of tongues, to which I asked, ´´like the gift of tongues where you like groan and shout and speak gibberish? Or where God helps you learn another language?´´ He meant the crazy one haha. He told us they speak in tongues when they pray so that the devil cant understand and steal your blessings or something weird like that. He said he just kinda falls into it haha. So we´re getting out and he saw that my comp was hurt, and so he was like, ´´would you like me to say a prayer for you?´´ and my comp was kinda silent, and so the guy grabs onto my comps foot (right where it hurt, which made it worse) and starts praying haha. But during the prayer he recieves... The gift of tongues! haha or at least his deranged version of it. he said ´´Señor Jesushimo Cristumisho mishu mishu ma mishu mishomana tabadamishu ma´´ and a bunch of rubbish like that. Finally he ends the prayer, and like falls back in his seat and shouts ´´woo! santo señor Jesus!´´ like he just recieved the spirit or something haha. That dude was crazy ha. I accidentally jipped him 10 pesos too, but he hurts my comps foot so I think its justified haha.

Freaking cristianos.

We got in the house and just had to laugh about it. Some people really have a weird view of religion.

My comp decided to stay in the rest of the day, (it was almost like 5ish) and see if his foot got better. 

It didnt.

We called the doctor the next morning on thursday and he said that my comp would have to stay in the house for 2 or 3 days depending on how his foot felt.

It was thrusday.

3 days from thursday is saturday.

Which means we didnt work like all week.

So I used this as a great opportunity to do lots of studying!

Im just about done with the Book of Mormon.

I also took lots of naps, and because we didnt work, I stayed up all night reading because I wasnt tired haha.

But really I was so bored.

We also didnt have any food in the house and I couldnt exactly leave my comp to buy some sooo.... We starved too! haha. The members brought us lunch, but it was nooot enough! Im skinnier than I was before now! haha.

Anywho. Im really greatful for the time Heavenly Father gave me to read the Book of Mormon. I feel inspired by all the prophets before that devoted their lives to teaching the Lamanites. Its cool because thats literaly what im doing right now. Bringing the house of Lehi back in from the darkness and teaching them the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers. Its crazy that right now im walking around with the decendants of all of the famous names of the Book of Mormon. Not only that, but im walking and preaching among the people that were set by the Lord to destroy the Nephites because of thier wickedness.

Kinda neat when you think about it.

Makes me want to work harder.

AAAAAnnywayzzz...

Thats about it.

Not really anything else happened this week. I just sat in the house all day for 4 days.

actually... 5 counting yesterday because my comp didnt work after church because his foot still hurt.

Also because I didnt leave... I couldnt retrieve my charger for my electric razor which I left in my old house... which means I couldnt shave this week either. But it was No big deal because we didnt really leave the house except for like 20 minutes to 2 hour splits with the DL on some days.. I had facial hair... as a missionary haha.

Well I love you all! Stay gewd.

Love

Elder Harrison

 

++

This week I enjoyed some intercambios with a new missionary that just finished his training. He takes more selfies than I do.

He showed me one and said ´´I send these kind of pics to my girlfriend.´´ 

It was a picture of an attempted flynn ryder style face. Mexicans just dont got it haha.

Also my comp hurt his foot and we couldnt leave the house this week. halfway through the week the battery on my electric razor died and I didnt have the charger for it yet because my old comp still had not given it to me.. Thus we have the rare ´´missionary with facial hair´´ pic.

Yeah.

I hope youre all doing well!

Elder Harrison

 

8/11/14

So this week was interesting. about two hours after my last email we went to play soccer and I ended up tripping my comp and almost killing him on the concrete haha.

oooops.

For that we didnt get to work that much this week, only had 5 lessons, and 16 contacts, but we decided were going to work reaaaaally hard this week to get things going here in Juarez!

We had a zone conference on friday in Cadareyta with the mission president. We had a good training on having more unity in our teaching and had to teach with blind folds so that our comps couldnt give us the look or a nudge or anything and we had to go by the spirit. It was actually really cool.

Then our president gave us a training on finding the people that are ready and not wasting our time with people that dont want to be baptized, which is something we need to work on because I dont think that many of our current investigators want to be baptized.. time to reboot the area! 

President also brought a piñata of a big red tomato, and we went out side to break it haha. He likened the people ready for the gospel to red tomatoes, ready to be picked.

So that was cool, then we had a freak rain storm, and I mean freak haha. It rained sooo hard there were rivers in the streets. So we took garbage bags and made ponchos out of them and ran to the bus stop to catch the bus back to Juarez. President got stuck outside in the rain and got soaked.. suuuper funny haha.

My comp gets to take super drugs for his back pain so we spend a bit of extra time in the house as his body reacts to those and puts him to sleep haha.

Hopefully next weekend we´ll have a baptizm which will be awesome! Our investigator is GOOOOLDEN!!

Also we killed a really big bee the other day. Yeah, that was neat.

Sooo yeah. thats about all that happened this week!

I love you all and hope you all have a good week!

Love 

Elder Harrison

 

Enjoy the following photos of my comp and I being the handsome devils we are, some awesome looking notes I took in the how to begin teaching section of PMG, and us missionaries in our ghettos trash bag ponchos during a freak rainstorm in Cadareyta.

yeah.

 

 

 

 

 

8/4/14

Soo this week was a goood week! We found 6 new people to teach, found a GOOOOLDEN investigator that already wants to be sealed in the temple with his girlfriend, contacted a guy walking him sheep, and saved a house from burning down. Also I learned how to play the recorder haha.

Soooo GOlden Investigator! His name is brandon, 20 YO and is awesome. Has already been to church twice and is preparing himself good and nice to be baptized! three more weeks and its dunk time!

We totally contacted a guy walking his herd of sheep like through a neighborhood.. well outside of a neighborhood, but it was stil pretty random! He said he wanted to be baptized, but lives in another area, so thats a bummer. But Im sure great things will happen with him!

We passed by the house of a less active member and there was a ton of smoke inside the house. The member was asleep on his bed, which is in the main room of the house, and he had left the door open so that the breeze could flow through the house. We like woke him up and told him that his beans were burning. Which they were and so we took them off the heat as he explained that he had fallen asleep waiting for the beans to finish cooking haha,

This monday I was playing with a little plastic flute called a recorder in one of the rooms and my comp walks in with one too and we started playing together haha. I was like, where have you been all my mission? In Juarez he said haha.

We also had 6 new investigators this week! Which is awesome! But one of them already broke up with us... So that was sad.

Anywho, those are the highlights from the week! The rest of the week was just alot of walking haha.

Love you all!

Elder Harrison

7/28/14

So my new area is Juarez 2.2

We have 6 missionaries in our ward, and im the only Gringo! Which is kinda fun, because our ward is super cool and we all talk ghetto spanish. In our Zone we also have the publos of Cadereyta and China, which are the farthest areas in our mission. Funny side note, I can actually see my old area from my new one... I didnt go very far away haha, same stake as well, but the area is huge and theres lots of work here, so thats gonna be great!

My new house is soooo nice. We have air conditioning in our bedroom and three bathrooms! So my comp and I get our own bathroom. Also it used to be the zone leaders house so we have materials galore! Pamphlets upon pamphlets upon pamphlets! My new comp is named Elder Perez, hes awesome, same generation as my old comp, so he goes home in october. He teaches awesome and his old comp was a drag, so hes excited to be with me because I guess people think that I like to work haha, which is weird because id rather just sleep all day haha. Just kidding, we go out and get work done. Also he has like the same personality as Josh Peterson, and is super funny, so I think hes gonna be one of my best friends from the mission.

This week we also had the opportunity to have mini missionaries for two days! Saturday and Sunday, the guy they stuck us with was awesome, he was 19 and knew the scriptures like a boss, he said hes gonna turn in his papers in December after he finishes the next semester of college. He said that its really annoying when everyone bugs him about his papers, I told him that I know the feeling haha.

We met a family last night that was suuper golden, they have a daughter with down syndrown and they are sooooo prepared!! They live all the commandments already, and just need to fall into a pool or something and be baptized haha.

Side note, somebody in this ciber is smoking weed haha.

I finally got moms packages! The electric photo frame is awesome! and my comp loves the dutch cookies haha. I also got grandmas letter so im gonna see what I can do to write her back this week or the next.

To answer Dads questions:

how many missionaries are in your mission:

like... 200 and something.
how many areas are there that you could be transferred to:

A bunch, there are some wards with 10 missionaries in them. Theres about 100 areas here in the mission and 5 stakes... or 7 stakes... I dont remember, but I think its five. Also the mission is really small so all of those stakes are stacked in the same city.
will you ever get to ride bikes or drive a car?

If I go to the boonies yes, a bike, but im hoping I never go there haha, theyre in our zone right now and they have to take like a 40 minute busride to get back in the city, also the farthest area, china is in the zone, and its almost a 2 hour bus ride... to the nearest pueblo, and another 40 minutes to get to the city haha. costs like 150 pesos for them to get to Juarez. like 200 to get to the offices.
weird things you have eaten

This weird soup with like eggs in it and lentil beans... The eggs were like green.
Most interesting rejection

Uh... I almost got into a fight with this macho grandpa guy going for a walk with his lady. He grabbed my hand and tried to destroy it in a handshake, so I tried to destroy his back, and we just kinda stared at each other for like 20 seconds until his lady told him to leave me alone and they left haha.

Dear John stories... Well just mine of Dad sending me pictures of engaged girls that I dated a bit before the mission haha. 

Shoes?

my brown ones are pretty good still, just worn away in a weird way that destroys my feet when I walk in them, probably gonna buy new shows and pants and shirts soon, because Ive lost about 35 pounds and nothing fits the same anymore.

My black shows are still kicking it nice and comfy, we´ll see how they are at christmas haha.

Historical sites? nope those are all in the Monterrey West mission, and our mission like banned zone activities outside of the Chapels so ill probably never be able to go see them.. Our mission bans all the fun stuff... :(

Anywho im in a new area and rocking it! 5 new investigators this week and a bunch of people lined up for baptism! Woot woot!

Love you all lots!

Elder Harrison

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This week we had mini missionaries! and my new house has clima, woooo! haha

7/21/14
Wooooo im getting transfered!!! FINALLY!!! haha.

But really its a big deal. Im ready to see more mexico haha. 

So this week was good. we had awesome splits with the Zone Leaders and I learned lots of great things from them, including magic tricks haha. Elder Quevedo, whos our ZL, also taught me how to climb on the roof, I just need to have the guts to do it haha. This area was his first area and he was here for 9 months so he knows where all the awesome stuff is haha. We also went to a river in our area and just kinda... Looked at it haha. We also had a couple lessons and put 4 new baptismal dates with some awesome new investigators. Unfortunately one of the parents of 2 of the 4 dates is kind of a bigot and like yelled at us when we knocked the door for our return appointment because we knocked twice. I like saw the dude walk in the house so I knew he was there so I knocked again. He made me so mad I just about cussed him out in English. But I didnt ;) just in my mind haha.

Besides that we walked around alot in the sun this week, had a few lessons and invited a bunch of people to come to church... nobody came again haha. Who keeps commitments anyways?

So were gonna make the rounds to say goodbye to our investigators and freinds in this area today because tomorrow im out of here! What do you all think ill be? trainer? junior comp again? assistent to the president? haha probably not that.. But what do you all think?

I love you all alot! Keep doing good!

Elder Harrison

7/14/14

Helllooooooooo Family!!!!

This weeek was looong haha.

and really boring at times!

Thursday we decided we were going to drop a bunch of our investigators because theyre not ready yet for the Gospel. We had a training on how we`re not here to cultivate people, were here to harvest the fields. If the people arent ripe yet, the Lord wants us to leave them until later when other missionaries will find them and pick them when theyre ripe.

So we dropped like 20 investigators this week.

That was kind of hard, but it has to be done at times to bring to pass the Lords work! But right when we dropped them we found 2 super awesome and ripe investigators soo...

worth it haha.

Also my last convert, Gorgonio is in the hospital and I think hes going to pass away soon. I was kinda sad, until I realized that he had just recieved the Gospel and is like suuuuper clean of his sins, and his mental state isnt the best so im not sure if he would be able to keep the covenants of the temple sacred, and his wife is trying to like catholicize him soo.. I think that the fastest way for him to progress would be for him to pass on and leave us to do his work in the temple. Its interesting the way that God works. Because Gorgonios health went straight downhill after the baptism. Im pretty sure the Lord was sustaining him just long enough to be baptized, and now he can move forward in the next life. 

Sooo yeah.

Anywho... not really that much happened this week.. What do yall want to know about Mexico? or the mission? Or me? I dont know what to write anymore haha. The weeks are all the same. Walk. Talk. Meet. invite to come to church. Nobody comes to church. Be sad. Pday. Be animated. repeat.

I love you all alot!! Thanks for your prayers!

Loves

Elder Harrison

7/7/14

Sooo this week was lots of fun.

Lolz sarcasm.

Monday the relief society president decided to let it rip on me and another elder about some complaints that she had recieved about us, telling us that we argued with all the sisters and were irreverent. 

So that bummed me out becuase I cant remember a single time that I argued with the sisters.

So tuesday arrives and I was stressed out of my mind and like could barely get myself to work. My comp took me down to one of the rivers in our area and we sat on a root by the riverbank and he told me to think of all my problems one by one, find the solution, and let it go. So I did. and it helped a ton. We then went and jumped on rocks and took pictures to destress haha.

My comp and our DL continue to argue, and im losing my faith in our DL as well. He complained against one of the sisters, who is like super poor and gives us like everything she has when she gives us lunch, that she doesnt make the food on time, so the relief society president went and told her off in front of like everyone.

So when we got our food, the lady wouldnt let us in and just gave us boxed food to go.

Leave it to the canadian to complain about the most humble woman in the ward.

yeeeaaahh soooo... yeah. 

But I have been studying alot and and really trying to root myself more in the Gospel. I realized that my testimony has been suffering a bit here, which is interesting, because i should be having like the strongest testimony time of my life here. 

I also realized that I comlpain too much.. So im gonna stop that now haha.

anywho, we had tough week with our leaders and with the work in general. But yesterday the RS Pres told us that she actually has only recieved complaints of our DL.. so its not my fault that the sisters are upset :) yaaay haha.

I love you guys. Pray for me haha. I need help out here. Its hoooot!

Love 

Elder Harrison

6/30/14

Well this week was just dandy. had a whopping nine lessons and 0 people at church this Sunday. Its starting to become a bit of a joke ha. It actually has to be a joke, or I think I would just go into a room and cry out of frustration haha. Im about ready to drop all our investigators and hope to find new ones.

My recent Convert Gorgonio (the grandpa) is really sick. I think he´ll be passing away in the near future, but, I know for a fact that hes be in paradise, so its not so bad, we just need to start working with his wife more now too.

I had splits with our DL this week. Hes got 16 months... But doesnt really act like it haha. We were teaching and a guy was telling us about his mom dieing and his divorce, and our DL like didnt even listen, he just went to the next point in the lesson. I was like, dude. are you new? It was ridiculous. Im hoping to be put as senior comp this coming transfer, im sick of terrible leaders haha. I want more resposibility!!

My comp is also in a huge argument with our DL... President got involved aaand soo... this should be a fun week haha.

Theres a surprising amount of Drama in the mish.

Anywho im working harder and trying to find more new people to teach because the old ones just arent cutting it right now.

My comp also rescued a cat for a day and we almost sang kareoke last night. yah... but we were almost late so we needed to go home.. kinda bummed about that. The vocal pipes were all warmed up haha.

Anyways I love you all! Im here pushing onward with a smile! Bring on the refiners fire! Cuz imma be nice and shiny after all this heat!

Luvz

Elder Harrison

6/23/14

Well last weekend was a fun one. Almost all of our lessons for the week happened on friday and saturday. Saturday we had a nice 5 lessons and friday 3. 

The rest of the week we just... walked around in the rain haha.

 Yeah it like rained a ton this week! super random because last week was super hot! Monterrey is super bipolar!

I dont really know what else to write... not much happened haha.

Ooh we had a lesson with the drunk guy named Melchor, and he was explaning to us what prayer is to him, and he said.. Prayer is adoration at the sun, and the moon is love... for woman haha. Funnier in spanish. But I still thought that was funny. We just kinda nodded and said thats interesting brother haha.

This sunday none of our investigators came... again.. even after they said they would and we stopped by to pick them up.. Nobody came to the door.

Freaking Mexicans.

Had a whopping six 0´s in our numbers for this week. thats never fun.

Honestly, ive been pretty grumpy the past week. i feel like im always grumpy though so thats something that I need to work on! We have interviews with President this Wednesday so we´ll see what he says to me!

Anywho, not much went down this weekend so thats all I got!

Have a good week!

Love

Elder Harrison