February 11
Hey
:)
Firstly,
I would like to thank all those who sent Christmas cards and greetings.
Who:
The
Granite South Stake
The
Sego Lily Ward
Reynolds
Family
Henrickson
Family
Addison
Walter
Herd
Family
Rich
Family
Roberts
Family
Roger
and Carol
Tippetts
Family
Lars
y Lori
Sirrine
Family
and Cathy and Jerry
Please pass along my thanks and appreciation for
the thought, cards, and love.
Maria came to church and it seems like she´ll be
good to go for her baptism. We´re helping several recent converts.
There is the cute little old lady Albertina, Olga-the immigrant from the
Dominican Republic who cooks delicious huge quantities of food, and the family
Garcia-Cid with there three kids, Martin(11) Cristobal(9), and Vale(7).
They remind me a lot of us older kids. Martin is more "parenty,"
cristo is creative, and they both tease Vale a lot :) Cristo got baptized
recently and the mom is recently reactivated. We´re working on
befriending the father as well.
Some
impactful spiritual thoughts that I got from listening to the funeral recording
of my Bestafar:
He who can´t sacrifice pleasure at the shrine of duty will never write success upon the closing pages of history
Mor: If there is room in the heart,
there´s room in the home
Paige: 12 Apaulsens
Psalm 127:2-4
Hymn 254- True to the Faith
2 Timothy 4:6-8- I loved this scripture
and cried reflecting on the life of Bestafar.
Thanks for the Spirit that everyone brought to the funeral proceedings.
Our teaching pool is a little weak right now, so no, there is no one else that is particularly progressing. My district is us, a pair from Valle Azapa, a place really flaite(gangsta) and the district leader. We eat lunch with the members and eat once(supper) and breakfast in the house. It´s just the two of us holed up there in our apartment. We were planning to climb the hill last week, but now are going to do it in the coming weeks when we can organize well and involve the ward.
Thanks for the Spirit that everyone brought to the funeral proceedings.
Our teaching pool is a little weak right now, so no, there is no one else that is particularly progressing. My district is us, a pair from Valle Azapa, a place really flaite(gangsta) and the district leader. We eat lunch with the members and eat once(supper) and breakfast in the house. It´s just the two of us holed up there in our apartment. We were planning to climb the hill last week, but now are going to do it in the coming weeks when we can organize well and involve the ward.
I
appreciate the love and support that you have given me throughout my
mission. Your letters of life, and prayers of faith have buoyed my spirit
and given light and perspective to my service. I appreciate the
understanding and positivity towards my work, dedication, and decisions.
It is because of you that I´m here, and I´m looking forward to the day we meet
again...
God
is real. His love is tangible. Life is a journey. We are imperfect.
Our Father cares for us even when we take wrong turns. We are here to
progress to eternal joy. But it come in drops of sunlight and toe-steps
of faith towards the believed halls of salvation. We are young, reckless,
and all at once divine. We must take responsibility for our choices, and
use them to learn our purpose and potential.
I
hope that you see the god inside, and feel the love of Him that watches over
all. And grasp the import of life and it´s challenges and joys.
Tu Misionero
Elder Parry Harrison
February 4
Hey :)
Maria is progressing. We had a wonderful lesson with
her on Saturday. We´re just reviewing what the past Elders taught
them.
This week is short.
I just sent off a
multi-paragraph to a cousin and it took up the bulk of my time. Sufficith
to say that I love you, pray for you, know the church is true, loved my
mission, enjoy my companion, spent today in the center going through the persas
and ferias looking and buying recuerdos.
Until we meet again
Tu misionero
Elder Parry Harrison
January 28
Hey
:)
First
off, responding to a couple of questions:
I
was touched listening to the recording of Bestafar´s funeral. It made me
laugh and cry all at the same time :)
We
had a funny experience this last week. Walking down a street at about
8:00 in the evening we hear a good ole´ racket going on inside a house.
We stop and try to figure what´s going on. Suddenly a pair of women leave
and calmly start walking down the street. The sound pauses then starts
again. The we look around the corner of the house and spot a 20-something
climbing up and out of the house through the corrugated metal roof. He
jumps down the wall and falls on his back. Then jumping up he goes down
the street in front of the women. Then, an elderly man jumps out in front
of the guy and whacks him across the back with a piece of metal. It was
to flexible to do any damage and just looked comical. At this point it
was more than obvious that the guy was high because when he trying to give a
combo (Chilean punch) his just fell down again. By then the whole brood of
women from the house had come out, they pick him up and yelling take him down
the street. It was an interesting slice of Chilean life.
After
talking to a friend about some doubts he was having about the church, its
history, and what God required of us, I was thrown into reflection on
testimony, spiritual light, faith, and bases of life. I think that the
majority of Mormon youth are sheltered from the world, the reality of the
gospel, and the goodness that exists in other beliefs. This frequently
causes a crisis when they come out of the bubble that is our culture and
lifestyle and are whacked upside the head with the intense and off-putting
difference between what they believed and had been taught, and the stark,
logical reality of the world. They struggle though the criticisms of
peers, media, "erudites"(smart people), and the inner weakness.
I
know that there is a crisis in action. There are mass numbers of people,
particularly youth, going inactive in the face of the world´s logical and
tempting lifestyle. We can not let generations become lost in
faithlessness and lose the true happiness that comes from the Gospel (note not
the church).
As
Elder Russell Nelson said once after someone told him after Conference that
they really enjoyed his talk, "Wait, you Enjoyed it? My objective
was not to Entertain you. My purpose was to make you want to
change. To feel a little bad. To hear the Spirit and act"
[Significant literary editing taken to the quote b/c I don´t remember how it
went :)]
Tu
Misionero
Elder
Parry Harrison