Hello USA--I'm back!

                                                                               February 18, 2017

As I was walking down the escalator with my parents, I saw cute little Reuben wrapped in a Brazilian flag, holding balloons. I started to cry, and got emotional as I greeted my family.

My mom tricked me into thinking that Hilary wasn't able to come see me at the airport because of her overworked schedule at BYU, Provo. However, it was such a fun surprise to see her waiting for me at the bottom of the escalator!!

ALTHOUGH I WILL MISS MY MISSION, IT FEELS GOOD TO BE HOME WITH MY FAMILY!

Mission Complete/Saying Goodbye

                                                                        February 12, 2017

My mission has been the most incredible journey of my life. I've learned how to be grateful for the little things in life, how to be happy even in the most trying of times, and how to trust completely in our Heavenly Father and in His Son's redeeming love. He is the only one who can mold us into who we are intended to be, and I am so very grateful for what He has taught me this past year and a half. My heart will forever be a part of Brasil.

SAYING GOODBYE TO VARGEM GRANDE, MY FINAL AREA

 My last companion, Sister Galletti, who's from Brasília, Brasil. She is one of the hardest workers I have ever met in my mission. She is super disciplined, kind-hearted, and obedient, and that's what I love about her.

One of the cutest couples I got to meet on my mission. Dayvid works for the Church in Ferreira's chapel, and has helped my companion and I numerous times to get into the chapel or perform small tasks such as making copies of something for our English class. His wife, Amanda, is adorable and super sweet as well.

A Recompensa da Vida--uma missão (The Reward of Life--A Mission)

                                                                                               February 6, 2017

Olá Família!!  

This week Ivan was baptized, and I felt so much peace in my heart while he made a covenant with his Heavenly Father in the baptismal prayer. It was a beautiful moment!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His daughter, who is 8 years old, didn´t know what she was coming for because her dad just told her it was a Church event. He surprised her when she got there, telling her that her dad would be baptized, and she was super happy

 

 

. I attached a picture of her and her dad (and Ivan´s friend in the church, Ademiro--they´ve known each other since they were little in school). Fun fact: Sister Salles came to the baptism as well :)

 

Ademiro gave him a sweet blessing, confirming him a member of the Church, and blessing him that he would be an example for his family.

 

Here is a picture of a family in our Ward who the other Sisters are working with.

 Also, we walked through a neighborhood one day with beautiful homes.
Below is a picture of Sis. Galletti in front of the homes.  


Good news!!! The Bishop met up with Joana this week, and confirmed that she could be baptized this Saturday!!!! She´ll be baptized on saturday night, and she´s super excited. She had stopped drinking coffee, but recently fell a little bit in drinking it, so please pray that she´ll be able to stop completely right now before her baptism. We are going to call her every day so that she knows it´s serious. She committed to stopping completely yesterday when we visited her. 

 

At the end of each lesson we teach, she always prays that she will be able to be baptized that she will be able to stay on this path of righteousness. She is really a new person. When sister salles and I first met her, she was depressed, and always complained about not being able to sleep well because two years ago, her son passed away. Now, she smiles every time she talks about the Book of Mormon, and tells us that she is able to sleep in peace each night, and just has so much light in her eyes. I´m honestly so excited to see her enter the waters of baptism this week.

 

This past week a young couple (who is married legally) accepted baptism for the 25 of this month. They have been changing, and their hearts are prepared.

 

Então esta carta é a minha última. Embora a minha missão está acabando, minha missão real está somente começando--aplicar tudo que aprendi na minha missão de agora adiante. 

I am so grateful for everything that I´ve learned in the mission. I can´t believe I´m nearing the end because it was just yesterday that I got on a plane to brasil feeling lost, worried, and anxious about the future. My mission has been much more than I expected it to be. I came to Brasil thinking that I´d work in "the jungle" the whole time, but I soon realized that Brasil is a lot more established than most people think--São Paulo is a CITY like Chicago or Salt Lake, and the people here are super kind and understanding.

 

I soon realized that I can´t do anything without Heavenly Father´s help. I realized that I can always "return home" to my Heavenly Father when I pray and study the scriptures daily. These simple things are necessary for our exaltation. I came to understand the POWER of the Book of Mormon to heal broken hearts, and to soften hardened hearts. I learned that when we repent daily of the simple mistakes we´ve made, we are better able to teach about the power of repentance to others. I learned that it is essential to bear testimony of the power of repentance in our lives because that is how others come to know their Savior Jesus Christ. He is the only person who can cure, heal, and strengthen us permanently when we fall in this life.

 

I have a strong testimony of prayer. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers--even if we just ask with a particle of faith--a desire to believe--He ALWAYS answers them. Even when we aren´t worthy of His blessings, He blesses us with miracles. 

 

I am able to see Heavenly Father´s hand in my life each and every day. At the end of my mission, it is so easy for me to tell when I have the Spirit with me, and when it withdraws from me because of a mistake I´ve made. 

 

I know that we will only gain eternal life if we come to know our Savior. How can we come to know Him? By feasting on the word of Christ and serving others as He would serve. When we fulfill our baptismal covenants each week--take upon ourselves the name of Jesus christ, always remember him, and keep His commandments, we come to know our Savior Jesus Christ because the Spirit testifies of Him and His love for us, and we can always have His Spirit to be with us. 

 

We need to preach repentance to as many people as we can because they need to feel the change that only Jesus Christ can make in their hearts and lives when they accept His Gospel and repent. 

When we commit to try again, we are repenting. I know that this is true. We are so imperfect in comparison to our Heavenly Father, but through His Son Jesus Christ we can be made perfect. 

 

I testify of these things. My mission has blessed my life so much, and I am so glad that Heavenly Father called me to His work. Please know that I love each one of you and I think of you daily in my prayers. Your examples have strengthened me, and I want to thank each one of you for always motivating me to do what is right, and continue pressing forward in the middle of trials. You mean so much to me. I hope you know how much Heavenly Father is proud of each one of you for following Christ´s example. 

 

Sincerely, Sister Harris

Progressing toward baptism.../World Wide Mission Training

                                                                                                   January 30, 2017

Hi Family!!!

So, I´m going to be real quick because I don´t have too much time to write, but I´m just going to say that Ivan is going to be baptized this Saturday night, and he´s super excited for his special day!!!

He came to Stake Conference yesterday, and, without needing to, he rose his hand sustain each of the leaders of the church--the prophet and apostles, and other leaders who were receiving callings and being called to the office of Elder. He rose his hand confidently to sustain (apoiar) each one of them. He really enjoyed the Stake Conference, and one of the Seventy from Brasil spoke at the end of the meeting

He also has stopped drinking coffee. The day after we taught him about the word of wisdom, he said that he had stopped, and that he was just drinking milk instead. He is progressing towards baptism, and yesterday, he was a missionary!!


He took one of our investigators and a recent-convert of our Ward to church!! We weren´t able to find a ride for one of our investigators, so we asked him to pick him up, and he did so with joy.
The investigator´s name is Célcio, and he is super elect. I had talked to him about three times on the street (because I always forget who I´ve already talked to), and I had invited him to hear our messages every time. We were walking on the street one day, and it was raining, and he shouted out to us to stop. He told us that he wanted to change, and that he felt that God was trying to tell him what path to follow because we had already talked to him so many times in the past. He said that he hadn´t ever seen anyone on the street so persistent about religion, and was curious to know more about ours. 

We then marked a day to visit him, and this past Saturday we visited him with a young man, a recent-convert of the church, who is preparing to serve a mission. We taught him the restoration, and he accepted baptism, but didn´t accept a specific date yet. He also accepted a Book of Mormon, and understood well the need of a restoration. He has had drinking problems in the past, but has gone through a recovery program, and has been able to stop, and now he is wanting to make things right in his life. 

Joana also came to church yesterday with her grandchild. She is preparing to be baptized this week as well, however, she has to be interviewed by the Bishop this Thursday to see if she can be baptized on Saturday afternoon. Please pray that she will be able to be baptized this week if it is Heavenly Father´s will. She really wants to, and is really excited about her baptism. 

This past week we visited Carlos, and taught him about how the atonement of Jesus Christ allows us to overcome any addiction. We shared with him a video about addictions, and how Satan doesn´t love us, and wants us to think that there is no way we can overcome them, but we can simply overcome them with prayer. 

We visited Carlos yesterday, and he told us that he had stopped drinking coffee for three days straight--since the day we taught him about Heavenly Father´s love, and he felt the Spirit. He has been changing incredibly fast, and has stopped smoking for one day straight as well. Please pray that he will continue to change and have more a desire to be baptized. This week we are going to remark his baptism for next Saturday. Please pray he will accept baptism and overcome his addictions of alcohol as well.

We had a wonderful Mission World Wide Training Meeting where we learned about a lot of new changes in the day-to-day schedule of our mission that also affects missionaries all over the world.

We watched a broadcast from some of the Apostles and General Mission Presidency about how we can be better missionaries and preach repentance and baptize converts.

Here are a few more pictures from our Conference

 

  

We also had a great training meeting for new missionaries

and trainers and I wanted to share a few pictures....

 



Love you all so much!!! Have a wonderful week!!

 

Blessings raining upon us!!!

                                                                                                 January 23, 2017

Hi Family!! 

 

This week we took a lot of pictures in the rain because it has been raining ALL WEEK.. I´m really tired of the rain so I´ve been praying that it will be sunny this whole week.

 

 

 Here are a few pictures of Sis. Galletti and I out searching for His elect. As you can see it can get a little crazy with so much rain! 

 

Guess what??? Ivan is going to be baptized on February 4th!!! It was simply a miracle. The whole day Sister Galletti and I called the day--"the day that Ivan would accept baptism," and we visited him with his friend who is a member, Irmão Ademiro, and he humbly accepted this day to be baptized without any complaint. At the end of the lesson, I felt the Spirit as Sister Galletti testified that she couldn´t help but think how happy Heavenly Father had been that day, seeing his son make a correct decision on the path to eternal life.

He came to church with his daughter, Yasmin, on Sunday, and he told us how excited he was for his baptism. He´s been reading the Book of Mormon more and more, and this next Sunday he´s going to attend Stake Conference in Cotia with us.

Also, Joana came to church yesterday! We are still working with President to know if she can still be baptized (because she lives with her ex-husband) and practically take cares of him because of his old age (and he recently broke his foot).

Also, this past week I had an interview with President, and at the end, he blessed me to be able to endure to the end in the mission, and also blessed me some other specific blessings after the mission, but I cried so much that Sister Thomas had to come and hug me :)

I absolutely love them, and I absolutely love the mission!!!

Here are a few fun pictures of some monkeys we came across one day in Vargem Grande.
 

Also, a picture of Carlos' dog, "Romeu," (English- Romeo) who doesn't like to get his picture taken.

Have a great week!

Sis. Harris




 

 

A week of hard work and miracles

                                                                                                     January 16, 2017

Hi Family!!! So, I´ve had a wonderful week with Sister Galletti! It´s been a week full of hard work and miracles. 

I love the beautiful flowers found in Brasil

This week we had more opportunities to teach with members, and they truly made the difference in our investigators lives. Joana accepted baptism!!!!!! A member visited her with us (named Nalva), and bore her testimony of baptism, and she humbly said that she was going to be baptized on the third of February. We just have to check with President Thomas on her baptism because she is currently living with her ex-husband, (but they sleep in separate rooms) after separating because their son passed away a few years ago, and it was really difficult for the two of them. Anyway, we are going to confirm with President Thomas the details of her baptism this week in an interview with him, and I´ll let you all know next week if it´s clear.

 

Also, Carlos accepted baptism yesterday!!! It was a miracle!!

His neighbor Marcos, whose a member, came with us to visit him, and he bore his testimony on how we don´t have to be perfect before we are baptized, but we have to be willing to keep all of Heavenly Father´s commandments before and after baptism. He talked about the repentance process with Carlos because Carlos smokes a little bit, and drinks coffee, but he said that the gospel of Jesus Christ doesn´t change us from night to day, but gradually. The conversion process is a GRADUAL process and Heavenly Father expects us to be like Him grace by grace--a little bit better each and every day. Carlos, at the beginning of the lesson, didn´t even want to accept baptism, but after the member, Marcos, shared his conversion story, the Spirit touched his heart, and he said, ´´Pronto, vou ser batizado! Vamos ver o que este bixo vai dar´´. He completely surprised us because he didn´t want to be baptized just because he didn´t want to go to church with a dress shirt and tie, but he has been changing.

He went to church yesterday as well, and he said that he stopped drinking alcoholic beverages ever since he started going to church. He accepted the fourth of February as a baptismal date, but this week we are going to help him stop smoking and drinking coffee. 

 

Yesterday, Joana, Carlos, and Ivan came to church. Ivan is so ready to be baptized, and this Tuesday, we are praying that he will accept a date to be baptized. 

LOVE YOU ALL! HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!!!

Obedience brings blessings!

                                                                                                       January 9, 2017
Hi Family!!!! 

 

So, my new companion is Sister Galletti, from Brasilia, the capital of Brasil. She looks American, but she´s not haha. A lot of people have been confusing her being American, and me being Brasilian just because I´m tan haha. 

My new companion, Sis. Galletti

Sis. Galletti and me with a less active member, Ivone

Anyway, Sister Galletti was an answer to my prayers. Before the new year, I decided to fast for the opportunity to receive a new companion who would carry me at the end of my mission (who wouldn´t be afraid to lead lessons) and who would be EXACTLY obedient so I could see so many miracles at the end of my mission.

 

When I am exhausted, and my body is weak, she carries me and tells me, ''we can do it'', or asks me, "what´s next?", or reminds me of the goals we made for the day, and that we can´t give up. When I´m down on myself because we weren´t able to find a new investigator, or I didn´t feel good about a lesson, she reminds me that everything is part of Heavenly Father´s plan, and we always have tomorrow to do better. She is truly a blessing in my life, and I´m so grateful to end my mission with her by my side. She came on the mission to WORK HARD, and I´m trying to give my all each and every day because I know that this time on the mission is extremely short, and it´s coming to an end.

 

Here are a couple of pictures I wanted to share:

 

We found this beautiful butterfly on the street and paused to take a picture. 

I talked with a man on the bus one day whose parents are from Chile, but he was born here in Brasil, and he gave me a present from Chile!! 

 

This Sunday, five investigators came to church--an answer to our prayers and exact obedience.

Eder came to church by himself, and Joana, an elderly woman who is about 60 years old who had broken her toe this past week, also came. Jaqueline, a young woman who is 14 years old and who was almost baptized in the past by other Sisters (her baptism fell through because her mom didn´t think she was prepared enough), also came to church. Carlos came to church, and Ivan, and his daughter, Yasmin also came to church. (Ivan is a member´s friend, and we´re going to have a family night with him and his friend tonight). I´m not sure if I´ve told you all of these investigators that we´ve been teaching, but they each have the potential to be baptized this month.

 

Unfortunately, Franciele had to work A LOT this past week, so we weren´t able to visit her, but we finally found her in her house yesterday, and we taught her the restoration of the gospel. The Spirit was strong in her home, and she accepted the 28th of this month to be baptized. When we saw her, she looked a lot different because she had taken off a lot of her dark make-up, and wasn´t using any eye make-up! She had so much light in her eyes, and we know that she truly is changing to come unto Jesus Christ. 

 

I have a testimony of this scripture, and I wanted to share it with you all.

 

D&C 82:10

 

"I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when you do not what I say, ye have no promise." 

 

The Lord blesses us when we do what he asks and are obedient.

 

 LOVE YOU ALL!!!