Week 5 in Curitiba

Family

This week was a hard one. Everyone one is out travling for the hollidays and it has been super hard to find people in house and in the streets but we are working hard and the Lord has been blessing us becuase of our work! we have found a lot of new investigators and all of them are amazing! we found an older man who has been having dreams about us and heard a voice saying he would recieve two messangers of the lord and the next day we showed up and started teaching him! ahahah he is the perfect investigator he has recieved an answer about the book of mormon and our message and we hope to baptize him next week so we are going to have to work alot to get him ready. we found another family who we were trying to talk to for a long time but could never get a hold of them. we stopped at their house and we not going to stop by again if they didnt answer but when we clapped at the gate an old lady oppened to door to the house and let us in. apparently the address we were given was wrong and the people that gave us the address gave us a fake one but the lady we meet is amazing! she lives with her 40 year old son and has to take care of him because he has some mental issues and her husband died a couple of years ago and her other children live far away. she said she has been waiting for the lord to tell here what the meaning of life is and where we go when we die and hadnt recieved an answer and then she felt something telling her to go outside and then she saw us standing at the gate. she let us in and we taught her about the plan of salvation and she started crying and told us about her husband and her questoins. she wants to get baptized and we are going to try and baptise them in two weeks. The Lord has been blessing us so much and if we work hard this next trasfer we could have up to 9 baptisms! i hope i can do my part in the lords work and really be a tool in his hands. I am so greatful for my opportunity to serve the lord and i know his is blessing me every step of the way. i love you all and hope you had an amazing christmas and have a happy new year. i love you all 

Elder Harris

Here are some pictures...FINALLY!

Merry Christmas from Elder Harris!

So happy to see this cute face today!!

2.5 months down...21.5 more to go!

Oi Família

Hello everyone!! Merry Christmas! I hope all is well and everyone is excited for christmas this year. i hope you all have been good and that you get everything you asked santa this year. I know i will. i cant believe it is already christmas! time passes so quickly here it is unreal. i have already been out for 2 1/2 months! it is crazy. i dont have much to say this week because i will talk you in two days and i will tell you all there but i have a vouple of things to ask before then. will you find a creepé  and a cookie recepie for me i had some others but i dont remember... oh well. i hope you are all excited and have a wonderful week i will talk to you soon

Love Elder Harris

Week 3 in Curitiba

Oi! Família!

 

i cant believe another week has passed by it feels like nothing but then again i have sone so much this past week it is crazy! the life of a missionary is not easy but i am loving it. we do the same thing every day but i dont mind vido de gado e? nothing too crazy has happened this week i had my first confimation this sunday which was cool and i was able to do it which was kinda scary but it went well. we met a lot of new investigators this week and had some interesting experiences with them hahah the people down here are crazy i love it. it has been really hot these past couple of days and i am starting to get some nice tan lines they are pretty nice let me tell you. we had another divison this week which was fun. it was nice to go to a different area for a day and be with a different companion and see how they do things. i always learn a lot when we do divisions. Oh we had an amazing traning session with Elder Masagatte (dont know how to spell his name) of the seventy for the area of brazil! it was super good and i learned so much. he talked a lot about how we can become better missionaries and all that stuff and how to become better teachers. he also wanted to stop by a lot of the houses and check them out which was cool and i hope he liked ours because he stopped by while we were out on the streets... other than that nothing too special is going on my portuguese is getting better and i am always learning new words and phrases one day i will be fluent i hope but that wont be for a long time. i am super excited for christmas i cant believe it is so soon! i hoe you all are enjoying the cold cause it is super hot down here. i dont have much to say this time sorry.... all is well lovin every minute here wish you all the best and hope you have a wonderful christmas season and enjoy the little things. I love you all and think about you all the time.

Love Elder Harris

Week 2 in Curitiba

Oi Família

Im sorry to hear about Grandpa i am really going to miss him and i know all of you will as well. He was an amazing husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, teacher, and servant of the Lord. I hope i can become more like him and be the kind of man he wants me to be, i am so greatful for the example he has been in my life and i hope i can make him proud. I send you my prayers durring this sad time and i hope we can all remember the plan the Savior has layed down for us and know that Gandpa is in a better place and watching over us. 

I have though a lot about the Plan of Salvation this week durring my lessons and i am so greateful that i know the plan our Heavenly Father has for us. I have thought a lot this week about how lucky i am. i have so much and i dont know why the Lord has blessed me so. i look at the people here and at their houses, clothing, food and their living conditions my heart aches. i have been given so much and i have always had more than what i need. i have been blessed with such an amazing family, you all help me so much and whenever i have a problem or a doubt i know i can look to you and you will help me with anything i need. i have such amazing friends that are always there and we always have good times together, i was born into a family that knows and understands the Gospel of Jesus Christ and i grew up in the church and know so much. i could go on forever but i dont have time. The Lord has been so kind to me it seems unfair when i see some of these people. i hope that during these two years i can give a little of what i have to these people and make their lives a little better in anyway i can. I hope you all can look at your lives and see how truely blessed we are and recognize the things we have been given. 

I dont have too much time so i will tell you a little about my second week here. i cant believe it is p day again it feels like yesturday i was sitting here writing to you all. i was talking to my companion about it and he says your entire mission feels this way. it makes me sad because i am loving it out here and i dont want it to pass too quickly. i hope i can make every second count. I had my fist baptism this week!! it was amazing her name is Simoni and she is super strong. she was so prepared to recieve the gospel i didnt even have to do anything. she did everything we told here as soon as possible and so ready to get baptized. Elder Moura baptized her and i will confirm her next week in sacrament meeting. i am kinda nercous because my potuguese is not too great yet but i will try. we had a really successfull week and everything went super well i went on two different divisoins this week and both of them went super well. one of them was in a different area and that place had so many hills it was crazy! i think all of the hills in brazil are in that place no joke. the other was in my same area and i had to be the senior companion! i was super nervous but it went really well and our lessons went well. nothing else has been happening just the normal missionary grind. i am eating so much it is not even funny the members here give us so much food i think i am going to die. Grandma you would like my companion he is always making me eat more and more. i am not sick any more i just had a little cold nothing to be worried about mom... Yes i have to say my mission is going great and i live every minute of it. i have to go  love you all and wish you the best tchau!

Love Elder Harris

Curitiba, Pictures, New Address

Oi falilia

sorry i dont have any time today i had to write a letter to the president and another to the card company so i only have ten minutes! i will try to send some pictures really fast. i am loving the mission so far my companion is great his name is elder moura he is 23 years old and from brasil he doesnt speak any english which is hard but it makes me use my portuguese. he is super funny and always in a good mood he is a hard worker and knows what he is doing. he has been in this area for 3 months so he knows everyone and i am his fourth person he has trained which is nice. everything is going well i am a little sick but getter better and my legs are kinda sore from walking all day everyday but other than that everything is good. we have a lot of people to teach and this week went pretty well we have 3 baptism dates for next week so i am super excited for that and we are always finding more people to teach and trying to help the less active members. my mission presidednt is super great i love him and his wife they are super young and energetic and i cant wait to get to tknow them more. the member cook us food everyday for luch wich is super nice and i am lovig the food. good thing i like rice and beans cause that is all they eat here. Brasil is beautiful i havent taken many pictures outside but i will try to do better. our area is in the city but more outside and kinda ghetto but i am loving it. i am so gratefull for all i have and i am so gratefull for you all and all that youy do for me i hope i can make you all proud. the only thing i really miss fron the us are the bathrooms... we dont have a toilet seat which is kinda ruff and you cant flush the toilet paper... it is going to take  some time getting used to that but it is not too bad so dont worry. i am out of time and i am sorry for the small letter today i will hand write one and do better next week. i love yoyu all and wish you the best i hope your thanksgiving wasnt too boring without me. with all my love 

Elder Harrs

My new address:

Elder Connor Harris

Missão Brasil Curitiba Sul

Recanto Joseph Smith, 15 – Portão

Curitiba, Paraná 80610-210  (Brasil)

MTC Round 2

Hello Family!

 

I cant balieve my MTC stay has gone by so fast this is my last P Day and then i will be in the field! it is crazy i am so excited but also really nervous. my companions were talking about how in a week we will be having dinner at a members house and not knowing how to say anything! hahah i cant wait it is going to be such an amazing experience. nothing new has been going on here just the same old same old MTC life all i do is sit around, eat, learn, and teach. i am gaining weight because we dont do anything here but i know as soon as i get to the field and start walking everyday it will come off fast. i was able to talk to a missionary this week who has been out for 3 week and he said i better enjoy the food at the MTC because as soon as you get out into the field your meals are not good becaue you have to cook them yourself. i really dont have anything special to say i am loving my stay here and my classes are good and the language is coming fine. we say a really good devotional by Elder Holland and after that i was super excited to get out and start teaching. it is always good to hear from you all and i am glad everyone is doing well. i wish i had more to say but i dont hahah. the next time you hear from me will be from Curitiba so be ready for that! i am so thankful for the oppotunity i have to serve the Lord and i hope i can serve him well. i love you all and wish you the best.

 

Love Elder Harris

Week 1 at Sao Paulo MTC

Dear Family

 

Mom i am very happy to hear that you surgury went well and that you are coming home. i am so glad to hear that there were no problems and that the drugs havent affected your stuburness. i have been having some of the same problems here with the language as you are having with your knee. whenever i am having a bad day with the language and i am having a hard time understanding everyone and i cant think of the words to say in my lessons i have to take a step back and rememer that the Lord is with me and when i put forth my all and do everything that i can and it is still not enough i can look to the Lord and know that he will make up the difference. One of my favorite scriptures is 2 Nephi 22 2 it says ' Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehova is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation. This scripture brings a lot of comfort to me because when i feel like i dont have the strength to go on the Lord will be there to lift me up and i know that i can do anything with the Lord. 

I have to say my first week in Brasil has been pretty great! I have been loving every minute of it! I love the food here so much it is not even funny i am getting fat! Grandma will be happy to know that i have put on 7 lbs since being in the MTC and i will probably be putting on a lot more hahah. My favorite meal has to be breakfast they make this amazing cream of wheat stuff that i just love i have two bowls a day and they also have stuff for panninis i look forward to it every day it is kinda sad. sometimes they have some funky stuff but i have been trying everything and i like mostly all of it. My Portuguse is coming along a lot faster here in Brasil i can understand people a lot better and i feel like i am getting better. there are still some days where i cant understand anything but i guess that is to be expected. i cant believe that i have already been here for a month! it doesnt feel that long at all but then again it seems like forever ahaha. i am out of time so i just want to leave my testimony that i know this church is true. i know that my Savior Jesus Christ lives and know each and everyone of us and will help us with whatever we need. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God and that he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. I know The Book of Mormon is the word of God and is the cornerstone our religion and it needs to be the cornerstone of our lives. I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. i say these things in the name of Jesus Crist Amen.

 

                            Love Elder Harris

He Made It!!

Famlily

Its my frist week in Brazil!!! it has been crazy the people are nuts and loud and only speak Portuguese which is a big change from provo but i am loving it. i was able to go to the sao paulo temple today which was super cool and fun to hear in portuguese. they gave us headphones so we could listen to it in english and it was super cool. the temple is beautiful and i had a lot of fun. today is my p day and i am super excited to go out into the city and check out the shops and see if there is anything i want to get. the mtc is totally diferent that provo. all of the rules are diferent. they are more relazed about some things but are a lot more stricked about others. the food here is amazing i love it! it is a ton better that provo and i am super happy about that. my new companions are cool and i am in the same district as my two companions who came down from provo which is super cool. my classes are good we just got new teachers because we had to split districts because it was too big. it is not too hot here yet and it has rained everyday. the country is beautiful and the city is really cool. i have an amazing view of the city from my room and it is huge! while on the way to the mtc i was able to drive with this guy who was from sao paulo and he was super nice we talked alot and he is a member and has 2 kids. we talked about the vw buss and how it is the last year they are making him and i told him the story about how your caught fire on the freeway. he said that he had the same thing happen to him a couple of years ago and now he has 2 becuase he loves them so much. while we were flying i didnt really have the chance to talk to anyone because i didnt sit by anyone on the plane rides but it was kinda nice becuase i was able to stretch out a little and sleep. we had a couple of members come up to us and talk to us about their missions and where we were going. i met this man in sao paulo who was from Curitiba and he said i will love it and fit right in becuase everyone there is white ahaha. the interesting thing was that we talked to more members in the sao paulo airport than in slc and atlanta. i dont know what else to say nothing crazy has happened since tuesday everything went fine and we got here safetly. i just want you all to know that i love you and wish you the best. i will be having fun in brazil without you!

                                                                                                                   Love Elder Harirs

Last day in Provo!

Hello!

today is my p day because i leave tomorrow! i don't know when my next p day will be but i will let you know as soon as i can. i am getting everything ready and i am going to send some stuff home today like my boot because my mission president told me not to bring any boots because i can get ones down there. so look for a package from me in the next couple of days. i haven't gotten your package with the phone and stuff yet but i hope i get it later tonight. i will be getting on my email again later tonight to see if you respond back. would you rather have me call you tomorrow at like 8 am or like 5 or 6 pm? let me know what works best for you. I'm so excited to leave but i am very sad to be leaving these missionaries behind i have grown to love them all these past couple of weeks and it is going to be hard to leave them. i cant believe that i have already been here for 3 weeks and i am half way done with my stay at the MTC. it is going to be cool to compare the MTC's and see which one is better. tomorrow is going to be a crazy day for me and the first time i will be out of the country wwwhhhaattt!!! its going to be so fun i cant wait. mom its so good to hear that you are finally doing something about those wretched knees of yours its so exciting! i know everything is going to go well and you will do fine. Yesterday was my first fast Sunday as a missionary and it was awesome! i had 5 Conferences yesterday and i learned so much it was crazy! All of the messages had something in it for me and i loved it. i challenge you all to watch the Characters of Christ by Elder Bednar it is so inspiring i loved it! i have learned so much from the mtc and i am sad to be leaving. but not too sad because i still have 3 more weeks in Brazil! Its crazy to think that in 48 hours i will be in Brazil!!! i know you are all jealous cause it is 80 degrees with 85% humidity. it snowed here yesterday and i was so happy because i might not see snow for two years so that was a big blessing. today my entire zone is doing an English fast so we are only speaking in Portuguese today and it is going pretty well so far the only problem is we can really only talk about gospel stuff and not really have a conversation hahaha! i look forward to your letter later today and i hope i get it soon. i love you all. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                          Love Elder Harris

Provo MTC Zone Picture

VISA!!

Oi! Familia!!

Big News today i got my Visa!! I am heading to Brazil! I report to the travel office Tuesday morning and then go to the salt lake airport my flight leaves at 11:09 am and get to Atlanta Ga around 4:45 pm and then my fight to Brazil leaves at 7:38 pm and i should arrive in Sao Paulo around 8:15 am! I am so excited i cant believe i got my visa so quickly i thought i was going to get reassigned for a while but i guess the Lord has other plans for me. i hope you see this soon so i can write you back

Oi! Familia!

This week has been amazing! It has gone by so fast i can't believe that i am here writing you again. Not too much has happened this week just the normal MTC grind. One of my companions got his visa and left this morning for Brazil and 4 more missionaries in my zone left for the mission field, and we have 4 more leaving next week. Our zone is getting so small I hope we get new missionaries next Wednesday! Portuguese is coming along great there have been a couple of days that it just goes in one ear and out the other. hahah but i have learned so much these past two weeks its truly amazing. I have a strong testimony of the gift of tongues i know the lord is blessing me every time i open my mouth. Just the other day my companion and I came out of our lesson and I could not remember anything that i said i just remember what i wanted to say to him. At the end of the lesson my teacher came back to class and asked me how i knew some of the stuff i said because he hasn't taught us that stuff yet? i was just sitting there like uhh i don't even know what i said i could just feel what the spirit was telling me. Other than that nothing too special has happened. I was able to take a nap today which was amazing because i had to wake up at 3:30 to say goodbye to my companion which was hard because i have really grown to love him and we got along so well and always had a good time together. Oh yeah i almost forgot to tell you my companion and I were called as the Zone Leaders this week! Which is crazy because we had only been here for a week and a half and most zone leaders don't get called until they have been here for 4-5 weeks. When the Branch President called my companion and i into a room for our weekly interview and asked us to be the new zone leaders i was so surprised because there are a lot of missionaries who have been here a lot longer that us. He said that we are some of the youngest Zone Leaders to ever be called and wouldn't have it any other way. He said that his counselors and the old Zone Leaders took a lot of time to pray and think about who should be the next Zone Leaders and that none of the older missionaries felt right and when they said our names the spirit was so strong they were all smiling and knew that we were supposed to be called even though we are so new. i am so humbled that the Lord trusts us enough to be in charge of these missionaries and i hope that i can serve him well. i have a lot more responsibilities now and my Sundays that used to have a lot of time for personal study is now packed with meetings. i hope i will have the strength to preform all of my new duties and i hope i can be a good example to the missionaries in my zone. One thing that really stuck out to me in my training meeting was that as zone leaders we must become missionaries to missionaries and invite those we serve closer to Christ. I know that i will need the Lord with me every step of the way if I am able to help these missionaries be the best they can be so mom you better send me some knee pads because i am going to be praying a lot! One more thing i was also called as a district leader in my zone. I guess the Lord has big things planned for me while i am here and doesn't want me to have any spare time to just sit and relax, but I guess I don't have a choice because i am doing his work not mine. i just wanted to thank you all for the letter you have been writing me they have really helped me out this week and all that has been going on. I love you all and am praying for you.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Love Elder Harris

Thinking of you

Hello Everyone!

Today is my first Pday and i am super excited because i actually have so time to slow down and relax a little bit. My week has been crazy! we have 3 hours of Portuguese a day and i love every minute of it. The language is coming a long great! i have learned to pray and bear my testimony in Portuguese and i can do it without looking at any material. i have also memorized my purpose in Portuguese and i am now working on the first vision and hope to have it done before Halloween. The second day i tough my first lesson in Portuguese! it was really hard and i had to keep looking at my notes to remember what i wanted to say, and i am sure i said a lot of things that didn't make sense. haha. the third lesson we taught we asked him if he had been reading the book of Mormon and the scriptures we asked. he said that he read them and was reading everyday when my companion heard this he said nos estamos muito triste which means we are real sad ahahah the look on the investigators face was priceless. he was like "what you guys are said i read the book of Mormon?" the investigator and i had a good laugh about it and so did our Portuguese teacher when we told him. I loved reading all of your emails and hearing about how hard your lives have all become since i have been gone! hehe. So my Pdays are on Tuesday and i only have a little time to write so i will try to get everything thing in the short amount of time. my companions are great! and i have grown to love them all in this past week. we started out with 4 elder and 4 sisters but yesterday one of the elders got his visa yesterday and left this morning to Brazil. it was super exciting and really fun for him but also sad because i had really grown to love him and look up to him. now i have a threesome companionship and it is working out great we all get along and have a really good time together. i have seen a lot of people i know here which has been really cool! i saw Ryan Cantera on Sunday and i also say him at the temple this morning. the temple was amazing this morning. we have the morning session so it was kinda hard to stay awake during the video but it was such an amazing experience to go with so many missionaries, the spirit was so strong i didn't want to leave. i saw one of hunters friends that i met in California and we were able to talk for a little and i have also seen a couple people from school which was exciting. 

now for some of the spiritual stuff. the spirit is so strong here it is amazing! everyone that is here is here to serve the lord and you call tell that they are here for the right reason. they all have an amazing spirit about them you can see it in there eyes and all that they do. my first Sunday was an amazing experience. our sacrament was so amazing and the spirit was so strong. one of the presidents wife spoke about the saviors atonement and it was one of my favorite talks i have ever heard i was amazing! that night we went to a devotional and we had brother Steven Allen talk to us and it was really great. after that we watched a talk given by Elder Bednar and it blew my mind! it was so amazing i wanted to change my life and be a better missionary and human being after that. so much more has happened and i wish i could tell you everything but my time on the computer is over. I love you all and hope you are all doing well.

                                                                                                                                                                                       Love Elder Harris

First Letter!

Hello Everyone!

Today is my second day in the MTC and it has been an amazing experience! The first day was a blur, First they showed me to my room and dropped off my stuff, then i went to my class and the teacher only talked in Portuguese! It was crazy and hard to follow but surprisingly i could understand a lot of what he was saying because it is so similar to Spanish. During that first class we were introduced to our companions! My companion is great! and we have a lot in common. His name is Elder Showalter and he is from Miami Florida and loves being in the water and swimming. There are 8 people in my district. 4 Elders and 4 Sisters, they are all from the states and my companion and two of the Sister are all going to Curitiba south which is exciting. After the first class we went to a huge meeting with all the new missionaries and it was great we all sang "Called to Serve" and it was awesome! After that meeting we went to our rooms to unpack and get settled. Once we unpacked everything we went to our first teaching experience. We went to 3 different rooms with an investigator in each room and were able to teach them about the Gospel. It was hard at first and we had a hard time teaching them but after a while it started to get easier. When we were struggling talking to the investigator they gave us some amazing advice. They said we needed to stop trying to teach the same lesson to each person and really listen to each person and tailor your lesson to fit that person. We needed to listen to what they were saying and find the best way to help that person. The second day has gone by pretty fast and i am really enjoying it but I still have a long way to go. I just found out that I am going to be teaching my first lesson tomorrow to an investigator from Brazil and i will have to do it in Portuguese! I am really nervous for this because i have no idea how to speak Portuguese yet and I know it is going to be extremely hard and there is going to be a lot of awkward silences, but I know that the Lord does not expect me to give a perfect lesson on my third day and i know that it is going to take a lot of time and effort before i can speak at all, but I am hopeful and i know the Lord will help me with whatever I need.  

My P day is Tuesday and I'm really excited to have some time to get everything organized and prepare for my next week. I am running out of time and I just want you to know that I love all of you and hope you are all doing well without me. I miss you all and I will keep you in my thought and prayers.

         Love: Elder Harris

p.s. if you could send me some hangers in the next couple of days that would be great!!