Dec 16...new area and companion

I want to start off with one of my favorite quotes I found this week, "in the service of The Lord, it is not where you serve but how"- J. Ruben Clark jr.

We'll I am now in my 4th area with my 10th companion and I love it. I am serving in Spanish Fork with Sister Jones who is from Oregon and is currently waiting for her visa to Brazil. I am now only covering two stakes and I think this area should keep us busy. It was really hard saying goodbye to my friends in Orem. I made some really good friends the past 6 months and saying goodbye felt impossible. But I know I will be able to come back and visit since I am just in Utah. Serving in Spanish Fork is so different than Orem. The crazy thing about this area is we have over 25 non-members that we know and could work with, where in Orem we only had about 5. Right now the area has not reached even close to its potential and so this transfer I am going to try and get us so busy that we never have to go knock people's doors. I don't want any blank slots in our planner, not with how much work this area has. I am really excited to see what is going to happen.

On Sunday were able to make someone's day by bringing them a Christmas tree. She almost started crying and was so grateful for just a simple little tree. We also had a super awesome experience with prayer. We lost our phone on Saturday and we have been looking for it everywhere and we have yet to find it. On Sunday we were trying to figure out where our dinner was going to be and not having a phone made that really hard. So we decided we should pray. As soon as Sister Jones said amen I looked up and our land lady was walking toward our car. So we got out to talk to her and she asked us if we knew who we were having dinner with tonight. As we explained why we had no idea she said so you want to follow me and I will take you there. WOW! That came so fast! I know with all my heart The Lord listens to all our prayers even the silly ones about not knowing where our dinner appointment was.
It is getting really cold here and I know I shouldn't be complaining because I am not in Canada freezing to death. But it makes it really hard to want to wear a skirt! No matter how many tights and leggings I put on I swear the cold goes right through. But I have a car and I am not outside much so I think I will survive.

I am really excited for Christmas coming up so quickly! 9 more days and I get to see my wonderful family via Skype. I hope you all are reaching out to people in your neighborhoods, at work, at school, or even at the store. Show them how amazing it feels to have the spirit of Christ in this wonderful season! Love you all!

 

Dec 9...Normal is a washing machine setting...

So I have decided that normal is only a setting on a washer. I was thinking that this was going to be a "normal" transfer but as I was thinking I have had a very different transfer but it has made me grow. I have also decided this week that no one is too old to accept the gospel message and no one has learned everything there is to learn in this gospel.
We had the opportunity to witness one of the most amazing baptisms. Ozzy is an 86 year old who was more than ready to accept the gospel. He was so willing to let new concepts into his life. I think we all should be doing that everyday, because there is so much our Heavenly Father wants us to know.
This week was anything but "normal", we had very large goals set for this week and a lot of faith to achieve it. One event after another we didn't make our goals but we were able to feel like we are still successful missionaries. There is so much in Preach My Gospel about how a missionary's success is not measured by he number of baptism or lessons they get but if they are diligently working to bring others closer to Jesus Christ.
On Tuesday we woke up to quite a bit of snow. About 4 inches or more. I am so glad that I know how to drive in snow. But adding snow to Utah drivers makes things on the road a little interesting. We constantly kept safety in our prayers that day. Wednesday and Thursday was not to bad as far as snow goes but it was cold. It hit the single digits! Friday we had Zone Training Meeting. It was so GREAT! We were taught about the importance of Christ. We read The Living Christ and I have felt my testimony of my Savior grow so much this past 8 and a half months. My favorite hymns have become I Need Thee Every Hour and Nearer My God To Thee. Because there is absolutely not a second that I don't need Jesus Christ to show me His way. There is a way to do everything our Heavenly Father requires of us. Whether that is missionary work, fulfilling a ward calling, being a parent, or being an example to the people around us. There is a way and HE is the way. We also talked about the importance of teaching with the spirit. I can honestly say that we can tell when it is us trying to teach and when the spirit is teaching. After the meeting my companion went with the sister training leader for what I thought was going to be maybe an hour. After about 3 hours past I grew a bit worried and then 5 hours past and I called them to find out what was going on. I guess she was struggling with some personal concerns. I got to be with the Spanish sisters in my district for the day and we got to go teach in Spanish. Which I have yet to learn after all this time but I love that no matter what language the gospel is taught in the spirit is so strong.
Saturday was a wonderful day! We had a baptism of someone who wanted to be taught by the Elders. Followed by the baptism of Ozzy which was seriously one of the most amazing baptisms I have ever attended. He almost wouldn't go under but he did and then on Sunday we went to his confirmation and priesthood ordination. He got teary eyed and said that he would never forget us and the things that we did for him.
Also on Saturday my companion was craving Subway for lunch and Panda Express for dinner and since she has been struggling the past little while I decided to take her. And holy cow did the blessings come. We got paid for at both restaurants! I felt so blessed. We went knowing that we would be paying for our self and we left with a prayer in our heart for the wonderful people that paid for us. I also got to speak at the adult session of the Vineyard stake conference and it was so nerve racking. I have given over 8 talks on my mission but for some reason I still get super nervous! But it went well and I felt the spirit directing my talk.
On Sunday we got a referral for some one who has some what recently moved here from Nigeria! He was wanting to continue going to church since he grew up Catholic and he got curious why it was easiest to find only LDS churches here in Utah. So he decided to go with his friend to church one Sunday and now he wants to learn more about it. The Lord truly prepares his children.
Well, only 2 1/2 more weeks until Christmas and I am getting super excited! Today is also transfer calls and I honestly don't know what is going to happen. I really hope that me and Sister Funaki get to stay together, but I have been in Orem for 6 months now so there is a big chance I will be getting transferred. I will keep you updated! Love you!

 

UPDATE:

Just got the Call I am being transferred. I don't know where until Wednesday because they are doing transfers a little different this time. So I will let you know next week. I took it pretty hard though I really wanted to stay. But I guess I get to pack my self back into suitcases and learn to adjust one more time. This will be my 10th companion.:)

 

 

Dec 2...food,food,food!

So it was quite the eventful week. I know I probably say something like this every week but I guess this mission is keeping me on my toes. Thanksgiving was this past week and it was so much fun and so painful... I have never been so full in my entire life. We started our Thanksgiving off right by playing some football our zone against another. And even though we didn't keep score I am pretty sure that we won. I got to be quarter back a few times which made me miss throwing the ball around with Jace, Kade and Dad. President and Sister McCune joined us for a little while and it was really weird to see President in shorts and a t-shirt. . For Thanksgiving dinner we had 5 dinner appointments.The first one was a poly dinner and that was all a bit strange to me but still delicious and then the second one was southern soul food. After about the second dinner we were so full and ready to be done. So our third dinner gave us some to go and then our 4th was just dessert and we didn't make it to number 5. But it was a great day and really cool to hear all the different things people are grateful for. 

Friday was not such a great day. I think my kidney's got the best of me after all that food on Thursday. I felt really bad for my companion because she got to sit and home and study and do other missionary stuff. I called the nurse and she told me to take my medicine and so I did and then I got a blessing(THANK YOU PRIESTHOOD) and then I slept for about 8 hours. My companion is totally awesome though. She did our weekly planning and even set goals for us. She is shooting high so I really hope that we don't have any hold backs because if we make this goal then I am sure that our area has a very high chance of being split. I can't believe it is already the last week of the transfer. It has flown by so fast and I am not looking forward to the call next Monday because I honestly don't know what will happen. Hopefully I get to stay with Sister Funaki! This week was also a week of good byes. And they were sad good byes. So on Saturday we went to teach our investigator that is a foreign exchange student and she informed us that she skyped with her parents that morning and they don't want her meeting with us anymore. I made her promise me that we will stay in touch so that when she comes back here for college we can hang out. We also have a less-active family that we found out that they moved to Payson and so we had a final lesson with them.

It is so amazing how quickly you grow to love people and saying goodbye becomes so hard! I really feel like I can see in a lot of these people how Jesus Christ would see them. I really love each and every one of them and I hope that we all stay in contact. 

Surprisingly it is still pretty warm here but I heard that it is finally going to start snowing this week. So I better bundle up!:)

Love you all! Have a wonderful start to December and remember the true meaning of Christmas!

Sis Harrison

                                              Our zone with President and Sister McCune!