Miracles are Real!

                                                                                                                   March 14, 2016

Hi family!!!

Last week we celebrated Sis. Cellurale's 8 month mark in the mission field!
We love our missions!! 



There are so many funny things that have happened to me this past week that I want to share.

First, a less-active member named Maria we were teaching won´t stop talking about an elder who taught her in the past that she thinks I should marry. She says that we are practically the same person--the same personality, but he taught her in the far past, so it is very likely that he is married right now. haha, she is absolutely hilarious.



Another funny experience: We are teaching Donna Ester, who is 79 years old, and we also found another elderly man this past week who is 81 years old named Luiz, and has much interest in the gospel. He is the cutest old man who wouldn´t stop smiling while we were teaching the lesson. Anyway, we asked Ester if she would be interested in dating, and she beamed from head to toe, and said YES!! Why NOT?? We are going to see if Luiz would be interested in dating as well, and pair them up haha.. Match making isn´t a part of the mission, but if it brings families together and makes others happy...WHY NOT??
 

GUESS WHAT???? Maria Luisa accepted baptism this past monday!!! She chose the date of April 10th to be baptized (Abby´s birthday), and her grandson, Rafael, who she admires very much as a young man with a strong testimony, is going to baptize her.



At the beginning of the conversation we had with her, she was really sad, and we asked her what she was lacking in her life. She said, Peace, and we testified of the power of baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost to be our constant comforter. We told her that we had talked with her grandson about him being willing to baptize her, and how excited he was to have the opportunity to baptize her. She began to cry, and immediately said, ´´vou´´--in other words, I´m going to be baptized. She chose the date because she wanted her baptism to be near Easter, and right now we are going to help her quit drinking coffee. She has been sick these past few days, so we haven´t been able to teach her.



This past week I served with another sister for a brief split in another area.

I went on splits with Sister Rodrigues, my "aunt" in the mission

 

 

Although I enjoyed teaching with Sis. Rodrigues, I missed seeing Maria Luisa. She has such a sweet spirit, and just wants to do what is right in her life, and we are so relieved that she accepted baptism.

 

Thank you for your prayers!! 




 

Donna Ester went to church yesterday (Stake Conference), and she loved it. She always talks about ´´her baptism´´ but won´t accept a date to be baptized yet. Hopefully we will be able to mark her for baptism this week, and her heart will be open to being baptized soon. 

WE FOUND AN ELECT FAMILY!!!! Miracles are real! One night, a man about 45 years old was walking his dog, and I decided to talk to him, and ask him if he already was familiar with the Church. He basically flipped around the conversation, and asked us how we could mark a visit with him and his family. He really wanted his children to be a part of the lesson, so we scheduled a time when his entire family could be there. He and his wife have two children--Gabriella, who is 12 years old, and has my SAME birthday and Gustavo, who is almost 9 years old in April. The husband´s name is Ricardo, and the wife´s, Eliza. I have never seen a family pay more attention in a lesson than this one. They are truly those prepared by Heavenly Father. Tomorrow night we are going to teach them with another family from the ward. Heavenly Father is really watching over us in this area. 

There are days that we rarely find people in their homes, and we are often rejected on the street because people don´t want to talk to us, but we persevere. What gets me through each day is prayer. I don´t know what I would do without Heavenly Father in the mission. He is at the head of the work, and when we recognize His hand in all things, we see the heavens open, and we find true happiness. Losing Himself in the service of others is the role of our Heavenly Father. We can be happy like our Heavenly Father when we, too, lose ourselves by serving others. 

I want to share a few more pictures:



A sister named Vitoria, (a member who might serve a mission) worked with us one day.
She is planning on studying at BYU or BYU Idaho pretty soon.



Sis. Cellurale and I with the Bishop's wife, Sonya 

Picture of an adorable family in our Ward.
Sis. Isabel and her two children.



Sis. Cellurale and I having fun with her kids

 

Yesterday, after Church, I was reading an article from this past General Conference, and learned that it is essential to repent every day in order to feel the Spirit. When we forget about the Savior´s ability to make it possible for us to talk with our Heavenly Father and ask for forgiveness, it is very difficult to be happy in this life and to feel the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ by way of the Spirit. We need to recognize our faults each day in order to prepare ourselves to partake of the Sacrament each week, and not just wait to change/repent each Sunday during the passing of the Sacrament. 

I know that Christ lives, and loves each and every one of us. I am counting down the days until General Conference, because I am anxious to feast on the words of our Prophet and chosen Servants of the Lord.

 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thank you for your prayers, your kind words, YOUR TESTIMONIES, and your love!! 

Sister Harris

The Restoration Brings Great Blessings!

                                                                                                               March 7, 2016

HELLO FAMILY!!!!!                                                                           

 

This past week I had an incredible spiritual experience that I would like to share with you all.

 

Sis. Rabbia, me, and Sis. Caleira 

 

SO, Casa Verde, this area, makes me really trunky because it has just about everything in the United states, and many members talk about the United States often, and many members are leaving Brasil to study in the United States, and so on....Woo, it´s just a bit too much.

 

This transfer I have had some trouble staying focused on my mission, and on the people that I am here serving. With Sister Caleira, I felt the Spirit very strongly in almost every lesson, but here in Casa Verde, for some reason I have been teaching lessons, and I haven´t felt the Spirit very strongly for what I was teaching.


I love my companion! She is a wonderful teacher and we teach in harmony together, so I knew that there had to be something that I needed to improve on. 

Anyway, two days ago during our companion study, we studied about the Atonement. About halfway through our study, my companion turned to me, and asked me if I could teach her the message of the Restoration. Startled and a bit confused, I began to teach her about the Restoration.

I asked her questions about what she thought happened after the 12 apostles were killed, and so on. When it came to the part of the Restoration, I began to describe the life of Joseph Smith--how he really had doubts about who had the authority to baptize him, and which baptism would be valid in the heavens. I described his situation in much detail, and as I said that he knelt down and offered up a prayer to talk with His Father, I couldn´t speak. I began to cry uncontrollably, and I felt such a warm peace come over my heart. I felt so much love inside of me because the Spirit touched my heart in that sacred moment. The room fell silent, and I just sobbed. I began reciting the first vision in the words of Joseph, and I actually believed in his words for the first time in my mission. At the end of this experience, I testified of the Book of Mormon, and continued to cry as I bore testimony of it. How we can come to know our Father--our Heavenly Father from the words of the prophets in this book. At the end of the practice, my companion was in tears. We expressed our gratitude in heartfelt prayer for what happened in that room that day.

 

Later on, my companion told me that she had a spiritual experience in that moment. She had been telling me that she had been feeling discouraged in the mission because she hadn´t really had a ´´spiritual´´ experience in the mission, and this had made her want to return home. She told me that that message of the Restoration really helped her feel of Heavenly Father´s love, and had comforted her heart immensely. I too, needed that experience. I had been feeling trunky and discouraged in this area that is very difficult to work in, and I had thought that I had lost the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. Until that moment, I remembered why I am here on the mission. That I am here because of that young man´s prayer in 1820. Because of that young man´s faith and obedience, and because I am here because I know that the Church of Jesus Christ was restored by Heavenly Father´s faithful servant, Joseph Smith.




As missionaries we teach so often lessons of the Restoration of the Gospel, but it is one thing to teach a rehearsed lesson, and another to actually believe it. I encourage you all this week to study Chapter 3 of Preach my Gospel--the chapter of the Restoration, and you will begin to find that it is a simple message to share with your friends.



We went on splits with two Sisters (returned missionaries) in our Ward



For a short time, I got to work with Sis. Danielle

We have been working with Maria Luisa this past week, but she still is ashamed of her circumstance in her home because of the rain. The rain leaks through her ceiling in her home, causing her home to be full of buckets of water that she needs to empty every hour. She is pretty hold, and the buckets of water are pretty heavy to carry, so one day we helped her carry out the water in her home. We also had the opportunity to give her two sweaters that were passed down to us by our neighbor, Donna ester, another elderly lady who is an investigator. Maria Luisa couldn´t stop wearing the sweaters around in the house and smiling, admiring herself in the mirror, and thanking us. It was like seeing a child receive presents on Christmas day. She doesn´t have many clothes, so this really made the difference in her life.

 

As for Donna Ester, who is 79 years old, she came to church last week, and absolutely loved it. She recently had a dream that she was in a lot of water, with a young man by her side, and that she almost fell in the water....When she told us about this dream, we automatically knew it was about baptism. She also has some fears like Maria Luisa to be baptized because she was already baptized three times in her life. We are going to work with her this week to strengthen her. 

 

Have a wonderful gente!! I love you all so much!!!

 

He Has a Bigger Plan for Us!

                                                                                                          February 29, 2016

Hello family!!!!!! 

I just want to let you all know that I love each and every one of you!! You are my pride and joy!! 

 

This past week I had an interesting experience with the Spirit. I was feeling a little bit discouraged because I didn´t know why I wasn´t feeling the Spirit as much as I wanted to, and I thought that I was doing something wrong to not have the constant companionship of the Spirit with me.

 

One day this past week, however, I prayed with more intent than ever that I could feel comforted by the Spirit--that I could feel the love of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ from the Spirit in my heart CONSTANTLY throughout the day, and not just once in a while. That same day, Heavenly Father more than heard my prayer. He went above and beyond helping me understand that He loved me, and that I wasn´t alone in the mission. I felt the Spirit frequently throughout the day in the little things--even just walking about the streets, I felt a warm peace in my heart. That same day, I felt the Spirit really strong in front of a less active´s home, and I didn´t know why. the less active woman wasn´t there that day, so we said that we would return again another time.

 

Another day, however, we returned to work near the house of that less active woman, and again, I felt the spirit so strongly in front of her house. It was raining, and there was a neighbor nearby with his door wide open, and I received the impression to talk to him. My companion continued to walk past the neighbor´s house, ascending a flight of stairs, and I rejected the impression, continuing to walk up the stairs in the rain. I felt the impression again, more strong in my heart that I needed to talk to him, and as we almost left his house, I ran back down the stairs and talked to him. His name is Rafael, and the other day we taught him and his wife briefly. They aren´t married legally, but we are going to work with them and teach them and their family this week.

Miracles are real! At times we don´t understand why the Lord tells us to do something through the promptings of the Spirit, but He has a bigger plan for us than we are able to comprehend. 

 

I just wanted to share a few pictures from our leadership training: 

Wonderful Sisters I got to see at our training. Four of which have been my companions.
(from left to right) Sis. Caleira,(2nd) Sis. Rabbia,(3rd) Sis. Bezerra,(1st) and Sis. Cellurale (4th)

Sis. Rabbia and Sis. Caleira 
(My two daughters I had the opportunity to help train)  

Sis. Rabbia, Sis. Caleira, and me

Sis. Rodrigues, my "Aunt," who I have gone on splits with

More wonderful Sisters from our Training







All the Sisters in our Zone gathered for Leadership Training

Sweetness of Missionary Work

                                                                                                             February 22, 2016

 

Oi família!! So, I´m going to start off talking about food because the food here is absolutely amazing!! I recently ate a nutella cake here that was magic in my mouth, and also I had the opportunity to try a new fruit--Caja, that is amazing as a drink/juice!!
 

Also, the pizza here is amazing--there is a pizzaria near our house, and gives us discounts as missionaries, so we ask for chocolate-filled crust, and it basically is a chocolate frosting that they put in the crust of the pizza that is absolutely to die for. And here in this area, I´ve been trying to limit the cookies, and eat a bit healthier haha.

 

 

T 

This past week, Maria Luisa was filled with anger because of some poor choices her children made to ridicule her. her daughter, for example, said that she didn´t want to speak to her again, and this traumatized Maria, and left her feeling almost worthless. This same day, we planned on teaching another lesson about the Restoration of the Gospel, but we decided to teach about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. My companion shared a scripture about how much the Savior was despised and rejected of men, and spit about, but He suffered it because of the love he had in his heart for his brothers and sisters. We testified of the love that the Savior had for her and for her children, and that the Savior already suffered for the unjust things that were affected her.

At the end of the lesson, a member testified of how grateful she was for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and that He suffered in order to know us perfectly, and how to help us overcome our challenges. The member gave Maria Luisa a framed picture of Jesus Christ, and Maria Luisa, was just beaming with gratitude.

I have never seen a person so happy to receive Jesus Christ in their life as Maria Luisa. She really had a change of heart after the lesson. Yesterday, she attended Church, and loved it!! Tonight, we are going to teach her about baptism, and invite her to be baptized!! 

This past week we also received a reference from a member, named Vitor Luis. Vitor is about 24 years old, and is so willing to learn more about the Church. We taught about the Restoration, and towards the end of the lesson, I testified of the book of Mormon. I said that the book of mormon changed my life. Suddenly, he asked me the question, Why?, and I had the opportunity to reflect on how I came to know my Savior through this book.

As an invitation to you all, I would invite you all to think of why the book of mormon is important to you, and to share your testimony of it with others. It truly is the keystone of our religion, and can make the greatest of a difference in the lives of others.