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!!!

Last Transfer - Enjoying each day!

                                                                                                  January 2, 2017
Hi Family!!!

So, I´ve got some big news for you all this week!

I only have 6 more weeks left in the mission--one more transfer-- and, I´m going to train AGAIN!!!! I´ll have one more daughter in my mission!!!

Yes, it was the day of the transfer call last night, and I wasn´t thinking that anything was going to happen because I didn´t have any anxiety at all when I woke up (normally, on transfer days I wake up feeling nauseous.)
We had church at five o´clock last night until 8 o´clock--the latest I´ve ever had church, and at about 6:30, the President called us, and my heart stopped. We were in Sunday School, and we had to jump out of the room quickly to answer the phone. President then told me that he wanted me to train a greenie, as he phrased it in English, and that I would stay in Vargem Grande.

He then talked with Sister Salles, and she has been transferred to Jd. Macedônia, and is going to be in a trio with two other sister missionaries. Although I will miss her, this is good because it means her visa is coming soon and she will be able to serve in the Salt Lake City, Temple Square mission.

You'll be happy to know that I got the Christmas package and I absolutely loved it!! I love you so much!! Thanks for always being so thoughtful!

Sis. Salles loved her treats and it was perfect timing before her transfer.

 

I was also spoiled with sweet treats from Sis. Salles's Aunt. 

 

Last night, Ernest and Eder came to church all dressed up and ready to go. They were super happy to go to church, and they got ready an hour before the meeting, and walked to church with a young man who speaks Spanish (Ernest also speaks Spanish)

 

Also, this past week, a miracle happened. Do you all remember Daiane, who we taught at the beginning of our journey here in Vargem Grande?? Well, we hadn´t been able to teach her for the longest time, and we haven´t been able to follow up with their invitation to read the book of mormon. However, we decided to visit her home one day, and we found Laura, her daughter who I think is 14 years old, sitting in front of her house, crying. We talked to her, and asked her if we could help, and she said that she just had a cold. We sensed that she was crying because of something hard that she was going through, and asked her if we could share a message with her. We then asked her to grab her book of mormon. When she grabbed it, she told us that she had read from the beginning, all the way up to Mosiah 24!!!! She said that she liked to read, and that she had been reading the book every night before going to bed, and she would feel happier after reading it. Shocked, sister Salles and I looked at each other with a huge smile on our face, and then asked her if she had prayed to know if it was true. She said that she had, and she told us that she believed it was the word of God.
We shared a quick message with her of the Atonement, and of how Christ knew her really well, and understood what she was going through. Throughout the entire lesson, she was crying. She didn´t accept baptism quite yet because she wants to go to church first, and she´s really shy. She would have come to church yesterday, but she had a guitar lesson at night, and so she´ll be able to come this next sunday. We´re going to integrate her well with another young woman from the ward this week, and we´re excited for her progress.

This past week, we talked to a man named Carlos on the street, who I had apparently talked to on the street one year ago in Cotia. He remembered talking to me one year ago, but I hadn´t remembered him. He´s 62 years old, and he lives with his older sister who is about 70 years old. We got to clean the house for her on new year´s eve as a service project, and Carlos has a desire to change and really wants to come to church. We´re going to work with him this week.

Also, we haven´t been able to visit Francielle, and she wasn´t able to come to church this past Sunday. we think she´s been working a lot lately, but this week we are going to teach her because we´re going to visit her every day to see if she´s home.

LOVE YOU ALL!

Have a great new year!!


                                                                      

He descended below all things so He could lift us up!

                                                                                           December 26, 2016

Hi Family!! It was so fun to see you all on Skype!

You all look so happy and healthy, and thank you for sharing with me words of wisdom and words of kindness this Christmas season.

I´m so proud of you for the missionary work you are doing and for always having the courage to do what is right when no one is watching, and having the courage to open your mouth and express your love for someone by sharing what is a part of you--the gospel

This past weekend we had the chance to sing a lot of Christmas carols, and share a lot of scriptures of the Savior´s birth to people who were in need of peace and the Savior´s love.

We found a new investigator named Lucas who is a lot like Joseph Smith. He is 14 years old, and just wants to know which church is true, and which path he should follow in his life. His mom goes to one church, and his dad goes to another, and he is the only one in his family who is worried about his salvation. We taught him the restoration, sitting on the street, and at the end, we invited him to pray. He said the prettiest prayer, asking Heavenly Father to show him what path he should take in his life, and if this was the right path for him. We´re going to visit him with a really active young man in our ward this week. Also, Lucas accepted baptism for the 14th of January. Pray that he´ll be able to come to church this week please!

 Also, I told you all of Francielle and how she´s so anxious to be baptized even though she hasn´t come to church yet. the last time we visited her she looked so much happier and cleaner. She used less make up, and had a huge smile on her face, and this week, we´re going to visit her with another young woman from the ward in order to help her come to church.

Yesterday, in church, I felt the Spirit so strongly when the Bishop spoke about the Savior. He said that it´s very common in our lives to become depressed our unhappy if we aren´t able to reach a goal we´ve made for ourselves, or, if we simply aren´t able to find hope in a difficult trial we go through. He shared three scriptures that I absolutely loved: Doctrine and Covenants 58: 2-4, Luke 4:2, and Mosiah 15:7. Please read them!

He said that Jesus Christ descended below ALL things so that he could lift us up when we were feeling down. After all of the many tribulations we go through, come the blessings. We just have to be patient with the Lord´s timing, and with His plan--which includes suffering.

 Love you all!! HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas or Feliz Natal from Sao Paulo Brasil!!!!

                                                                                December 25, 2016            

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS or FELIZ NATAL from the Sao Paulo, Brasil Mission!!!!! 

  

 

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration as we came together as a Mission to rejoice in the

blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We had a mixture of fun and spiritual activities. Here are a few pictures from our celebration...

All the missionaries in the mission had the opportunity to participate in a fun white elephant gift exchange. Here is Sis. Salles and me with our gifts.

We also had a white elephant gift exchange with just our District. 

Here we are showing off our gifts.   

Sis. Salles and I got chocolate and were very excited about it!! 

 

We also got to decorate gingerbread cookies.

 

Here are our yummy Christmas creations.  

 

We got to eat wonderful food! 

Also we had a fun activity where we changed into sport clothes and played human foosball. It was really fun!!

 

 We had the opportunity to watch another district perform a wonderful Christmas skit.

 

 

One of the biggest highlights was being able to be re-acquainted with so many wonderful missionaries that I have had the opportunity to serve with.

 

 I was able to reconnect with Sister Oldroyd, one of my past companions, who has almost completed her mission and will soon be going home. 

 

 I was also excited to see Sister Caleira, one of my daughters as we call it in the mission. She is a wonderful missionary that I had the opportunity to train and work with early on in my mission.

 

 

It was great to run into Elder Adao, who was in our District in Case Verde.
We had to get a picture of an inside joke of us being goofy.

 

 
 
 
 

I loved seeing and visiting with Sis. Cellurale, who was also one of my dearest friends and companions. She has also nearly completed her mission and is going home soon.

On Christmas Eve we were invited to dinner with Irma Alessandra and her family. 

She is a great cook and we enjoyed a beautiful meal! 

 

Lastly, is a picture of our district missionary group who we eat with each day in Vargem Grande.

On Christmas afternoon we were all invited over for lunch by a wonderful Irma (Sister) and her son, who also served a mission in Brasil. They were so generous and spoiled us by giving us each a gift.

 

 

 

I am so grateful for this Christmas Season and for the wonderful people here in Sao Paulo.

I love being a missionary and have felt so much love from those around us! 

 

 

I want to close by sharing my testimony...

    

I know that Jesus Christ lives! He is our Savior and our best friend. He descended below everything so that we could ascend to the Father and be like Him. As a firstborn lamb submits itself to its shepherd, He submitted himself to the will of His Heavenly Father. He was humble enough to accept all of the suffering, pains, infirmities, temptations, and sins of the world of each one of us--because it was the will of His Father, and He knew that the will of His Father was greater than His.

This Christmas, may we remember that He is the greatest gift!