August 31, 2015----We Had Our First Baptism!

 Hola Familia y Amigos!

We had a baptism this week!  It was so special.  She invited her family and after many of her friends and family asked us to come teach them.  It is amazing to see how God prepares the hearts of his children- both missionaries and investigators.

The culture here is so different than what I am used to.  Everything is so new, but each day I try to find something new to love.  In ward council yesterday we were discussing how we could serve an older lady in the ward.  She was having problems with her cats eating her guinea pigs.  I don’t know why I thought it was so funny, but I couldn’t help but think how different the ward council probably is at home.  I laughed for like 10 minutes.. oops  Haha

When the Hermana trainers came to do changes this week they gave some great advice.  One thing I love is that they said to memorize a part of my patriarchal blessing.  I have always thought my blessing said nice things, but it has never spoken to me like it did yesterday as I read it and pondered which paragraph I was going to memorize.  So many things are specific to what I am doing right now.  It totally talks about my mission, but I never would have known had I not chosen to serve, because it doesn’t bluntly say, “on your mission…”

We had interviews with Presidente Harbertson this week in Abancay.  It is about a 4 hour ride from here. I got SO sick.  I curled up in a ball and tried not to puke the whole way.  I looked awesome by the time we got there...  President said some really powerful things in my interview.  One thing that stood out is that he rarely puts a Latina trainer with a gringa and when he does he thinks and prays very carefully.  He said, "When I interviewed you for the first time I saw something in you and I knew immediately your assignment.  The Lord knows your potential and needs you to learn spanish quickly.  The Lord has great confidence in you and, Hermana Harris, I have great confidence in you." Eeeps!

This whole mission thing is so hard, but the Lord never ceases to send me tender mercies.  I read in “Jesus the Christ” this week that a disciple of Christ gives everything and doesn’t look back.  I try to think of this every time I get homesick.  The Lord is good.  His gospel is true and I am so grateful to represent my Savior every day for 18 months.

I love you all so much!  Until next week.

Hermana Harris

 The missionaries in our zone are SO weird.  haha I love it!  Elder McKay and I are the only North  Americans in the whole Zone.

Got to see Hermana Hansen my best buddy in the CCM in Abancay.  The mountains are huge here!!

August 24, 2015-----I Ate Guinea Pig.....

Hola Familia y Amigos!

This week flew by!  Days feel like an eternity, but I swear yesterday was P-day.  So much is happening here that I want to share, but I’ll just try to pick a few of the highlights.

About 2/3 of the people here wear normal clothes and the other 1/3 wear killer awesome native outfits.  Like skirts and sweaters with top-hats.  We are “teaching” this OLD lady named Sarafina, who only speaks Quechua.  We have a Book of Mormon in Quechua, but she can’t read.  We try to bring members who can translate for us, but this week we stopped by twice without a translator.  We just go in and say, “Mama, Ora-chon mama?” Then she says “Si Mama.” Then she prays and we sing a hymn then she prays again.  It’s flipping chevre.  The older people here add “mama” to the end of every sentence and “cita” to the end of every word. 

I want to learn Quechua so bad, but I should probably learn Spanish first.  Apparently Quechua is a lot easier for Gringos to learn than for the Latinos.  It is super simple because it doesn’t have any conjugations.  But every word is a mile long.  The Book of Mormon in Quechua only has a few parts of the actual book, because it is so hard to translate.  Crazy.

On Saturday, 8 year old Sol de Jesus was baptized.  About three minutes before it started, my companion and I were asked to speak.  I was SO scared because I don’t really speak Spanish and I don’t know how to write a talk in 3 minutes.  But I am trying to humbly accept the Lord’s will in all things so that he can strengthen and teach me.  My companion spoke about Baptism and I spoke about the Holy Ghost.  I don’t even know what I said, but with the help of the spirit and the gift of tongues I was able to face my fears and share my testimony about the Holy Ghost.  Also, during the meeting they asked me to play the piano for the hymns and for the special musical number.  I am really not very good at the piano, but I am trying to serve in all aspects that I can.  Latinos sing so loud and so off key and I love it!  I hope that they don’t judge too harshly that I stink at playing the piano.

Our investigator Jeidy is getting baptized this Saturday!  She is so great.  Every time we go to teach a lesson, we start by asking what she learned from reading the pamphlet and she literally teaches the whole lesson.  She knows so much and she is really excited to learn more about the gospel.  She is 22 and she is talking about going on a mission.  Her family doesn’t really want to learn about the gospel, but we’re hoping that they will see her example and how happy the gospel makes her.

Oh yeah so we got home from church yesterday and Raul was in the kitchen chopping up a guinea pig.  So yeah… I ate Cuiy.  It really didn’t taste so bad, but it had fingers and nails and eyeballs and hair on it.  Oh geeze.  I am getting pretty good at eating just about anything.  Most of the food here is so good, but there are some pretty nasty things.  Members and investigators always give us missionaries food every time they see us.  It is terrible sometimes, because they dish up the biggest portions and watch us eat every bite.  I exercise every morning and we walk all over the place, but I just can’t compete with the giant portions and the faces of the people who prepared the food for us. 

I still feel like I have no idea what is going on, and I still don’t speak Spanish, but I am getting better.  I can’t roll my R’s which is awkward, because you have to roll the R in Harris.  It is super frustrating that I memorize words then I forget them in 10 minutes.  My companion keeps telling me to “Confiar en el Señor.” (Trust in the Lord).  It’s cool because confiar means trust, but every time she says it I think of the word confide.  I have been really trying to confide in the Lord because I really can’t confide in anyone else here.  God is good.  The church is true.  I love you all. Until next week!

Con amor,

Hermana Harris

August 17, 2015-------First Week in the Field

Holy cow!!!!  I have so much to say, but I am trying to come to terms with the fact that it will be impossible for me to describe everything.

Well, on Wednesday we got up at 3 30 am and headed to the airport to fly out to Cusco.  We encountered a little problem leaving the CCM.  There was a car in the way so our bus couldn’t fit.  The elders just jumped out and picked up the car and moved it.  Haha no problem.

The flight to Cusco was incredible.  I really didn’t like Lima all that much.  It was always smoggy and there was zero vegetation or mountains and we never saw the sun or moon or stars.  Anywho, the flight from Lima to Cusco was literally straight up.  It was only an hour and a half flight and we went from 0 to 11,000 feet in elevation.  The mountains are HUGE!!  It is so cool.  When we first landed in Cusco I was worried that it would be like Lima, but it is so much better.  We got off the plane and President Harbertson and his wife as well as a bunch of Elders were waiting for us.  Hermana Harbertson went to Weber High!! What?  We immediately drove up to the Cristo Blanco and looked out over the whole city.  A native man told us about the history of Cusco as we drove around the city.  I didn’t get altitude sickness very bad.  I just got out of breath a little bit quicker.

We then went to the Mission Home.  It is very very beautiful.  I was super surprised, because everything here is pretty crappy.   Everyone is so poor.  We spent the night in a hotel…not sure why?  Then the next day we met at the chapel and were given our trainers.  I am the only North American with a Latino trainer.  Her name is Hermana Eva Lozano.  She is from Columbia and she has only been out 4 months.  We are serving in Andahuaylas (And-uh-WHY-lus).  It is about nine hours away from Cusco.  The bus ride was incredible.  We wound through the most majestic mountains I have ever seen.  Like I’m sure Machu Picchu will not even compare.  We passed through little villages where people were working in their fields on the hillsides in their traditional clothing.  It was so awesome!

I honestly don’t know much about Andahuaylas.  I have no idea what the Altitude is here or the population.  I pretty much never have any idea what is going on, because, well, my companion doesn’t speak English, and I don’t really speak Spanish.  It is such a blessing to have a Latina companion because all of the North American companionships speak English to each other.  If I don’t understand a word in Spanish, my compi explains it in Spanish.  It is super helpful…  But basically I just feel lost all the time.

I love the people here!  Our pensionista is the owner of a little restaurant.  Her name is Sheyla and her Husband is Raul.  They have one daughter named Hellen.  They are all so adorable!  They are my family away from home.  They make the most amazing food.  Most missionaries hate breakfast here, but I love it!  We eat a lot of avocado sandwiches which I love.

Raul just got called to be the branch president. (I think… it is rama in Spanish and I am just assuming it is branch in English).  Peruvians can NOT sing.  Haha it is awesome!  Also nobody here knows how to play the piano so I am going to have to practice to be able to play for sacrament meetings.

We have some awesome investigators!  My very first lesson here we invited Geidy to be baptized and she accepted.  She is super great!

There is only one other north American missionary in our Zone.  His name is Elder McKay and he is somehow related to the McKays in Huntsville.  He is from Arizona.  I kinda feel bad because every time I see him I talk my guts out in English because he is the only other person in this whole city who speaks English and I am pretty much mute all day everyday. 

We are only given one hour to use the internet and we are required to write our president for 15 minutes so I have even less time to write here than I did in the CCM.  Also, it costs a lot to send letters from here.  I just want to explain every single detail, but it is impossible.  I guess you’ll all just have to come to Peru.

The mission president and his wife are so different than I imagined but I really love them.  His wife went to Weber and both of them know Huntsville pretty well.

I love Cusco!  I hope that I will be able to serve there at some point in my mission. I want you guys to come here, because I just can't explain what everything is like. I will be in Andahuaylas for sure for the next two transfers, but probably more.  I don't even know if I have an address.  I think the safest way to send letters is through pouch mail then my zone leaders will give me letters every once in a while.  I'm sorry I am always lost.  I pretty much have no idea what is going on ever, because everyone speaks Spanish.  haha

My companion is super loving and very much like a Latino.  She calls me princessa.  She is super sweet and wants to work hard which is awesome.  She is a really good missionary which is why she is training after only being out for four months.

Our apartment is nicer than I expected.  We have a living room, bedroom, laundry room and a bathroom.  The shower has a nice head on it, but for some reason the water just trickles out of one little hole..  So it's like I am showering under a little sink.  haha But the water is warm so I can't complain.  We can't flush our toilet paper which is so disgusting to me, but whatever.  We can't drink the water, but we have nice filtered water bottles and we are able to buy or boil water too.  Randomly though, the water just shuts off and we can't shower or flush the toilet.  It usually only lasts for a couple hours thought so it's all good. I'll try to take pictures of the apartment for next week. 

I had a cool experience the other day.  We were going to teach a very poor family and my companion handed me some cookies to bring to the kids.  I was starving and, honestly, I really wanted to eat the cookies myself.  When we got to the house though, the kids looked so hungry.  They were so excited when I pulled the cookies out of my pocket.  They just kept hugging my legs and saying “gracias Hermana.”  I think my heart changed a little.  I wanted to dig through my bad and give them all the food I could find, even though I was super hungry.  Serving means so much more when it requires some sacrifice.  I have already seen the Lord changing me.  I have so much to learn!  This is the hardest thing I have ever done, but I am so grateful for this opportunity.  I am learning more about my Savior and how much he loves all of us.  

Love to all!  I hope things are well in the grand US of A.

Con amor, Hermana Harris

August 12, 2015----Safe Arrival in Cusco

Dear Parents,

As you can see in the attached photo, your daughter has arrived safely to the Peru Cusco Mission! We are thrilled to have her here! She looks great, a bit tired from the travel, but ready to go! Thank you for allowing us to watch over her for the next year and a half. She has promised that she will be a missionary we can trust, and we have now given her that trust. As well, you can trust that we will do everything that we can to care for her and to help her to become a successful missionary.

Con Gran Amor,

Presidente y Hermana Harbertson

August 5, 2015----Last Week at the CCM

This is my last week in El Centro de Capacitacion Misional and I'm kinda freaking out. I don't think I'll get to email next week because here my p-day is Wednesday, but in the field it will be Monday and I fly to Cusco on Tuesday so I'll just miss P-day there and not quite make it to P-day here. Anywho, next time you hear from me I will have already spent a week in some part of Peru that is now known only to God.

There is not really such a thing as time here. For me, it goes P-day, Sunday, P-day. The other days blur together. Sunday is my favorite.

I was dissappointed in the lack of festivities for Peru's independence day last week. On the 4th of July, the CCM was decked out with red, white, and blue balloons and streamers and flags and for the 28th here, they just put up like 3 Peruano flags and fed us some rice and chicken.

Oh ps... somebody needs to teach me how to eat meat with bones in them, because they don't debone anything here and I never took ¨Carving a chicken 101.¨ Every meal is like a lab and sometimes we try to make skeletons by putting all of our bones together. haha jk but really...

I don't know if I explained this, but our teachers pose as ¨progressing investigators¨ and we teach them the discussion in these mini houses and prepare them for baptism. We just baptized our investigator Ana and in class the other day our teacher Hna. Altamirano asked if we had any questions about Ana. We were like, ¨what? why? Ana was fake.¨ She then explained that her middle name is Ana and that she was posing as herself when she was investigating the church. The concerns she shared with us were her real concerns before being baptized. And the questions she asked us were real questions she had asked the missionaries when they were teaching her. The coolest part is that she said some of the things we said were the exact same words the missionaries had used when they taught her. That hit me hard because sometimes I forget that I am a real missionary. We teach our teachers who are just pretending to be investigators, but my calling is real and the spirit is real.

Ok nobody tells us anything here. The world could be on fire and we would have no idea. We got to watch a devotional live from Provo and President Nelson spoke. We were all like, ¨Did we get a new Prophet?¨ That devotional was amazing though. He talked about our role as missionaries to gather Israel to the temples and to prepare the world for the second coming of Christ. It made me stoked to be a missionary. 

 

This is so awesome! Love to all.

 

Love, Hermana Harris

 

 

 

We got special permission from the CCM president to go to Papa John's today.  It helps that the Zone leaders are in our district. (Elders Noel and Williams)  

 

 

This is my "I can't even contain my excitement face".