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