First few letters/emails from out in the field

Hello All:

Well, we received a letter from Kyle from the mission home. It said:

Well, I got here just fine. I'm sorry I had to end the airport phone call so quickly but we actually had to run down the terminal and they still had to radio and ask them to open the gate again so it's a good thing we hurried. On the plane from Phoenix to Pittsburgh I sat next to a traveling pilot and his daughter. Their names were Dave and Summer. It was a much longer ride than SLC to Phoenix so we lots of time to talk about a lot of things. At first when Dave realized we were Mormons he gave his daughter the "danger" sign, but once we got to talking they were much more comfortable. We got their address and told them we would look them up and I gave Summer a pass-along card.

When we got to Pittsburgh we drove to Mount Washington to look at the views of the city. When we pulled up, there were two guys outside the bridge to the city overlook and the assistants asked who was gonna go talk to them. At first, we were all nervous but then Elder Sowards and I jumped up. I've realized that I'm not very good at contacting, but every time I do bad, it makes me want to do better next time, so that's good.

I love you all!
Elder Harrison

We also received a letter after he'd been out a few days that told us that his trainer is Elder Christensen from SLC and that they get along great and have a lot in common. They are in Waynesboro, PA which is in the south central part of PA near Maryland. He also said,

"Elder Christensen and most everyone in my district are very health conscious. They drink protein shakes all the time. My goal to be more healthy was to drink fewer sodas so...I may be healthier than I planned." He said he'd taught several discussions and it was going really well.

Then today we received the following email with a picture of him and his trainer attached:

Hi Mommy!!

I don't have a stupid timer and Elder Christensen gets lots of email so this shouldn't be hard to write anything and everything at all!! We go to the Family History Center at the church so no one to bug us. No impossible time limit. I feel like I'm cheating some how, this is so good.

I'm glad you got all my letters and I'll definitely start putting dates on them. And I was bummed to hear that it takes so long to get my mail forwarded from the Mission Home. I'm desperate for some mail!

So, I'm in Waynesboro! I'm in the Fairview ward and...I don't know what else to tell you. You can google the chapel and stuff or anything. The roads are windy and up and down over hills. Its ridiculously green and I love it. People thought I would freak out because its nothing like New Mexico, flat and huge skies, but I love it here.

It's interesting because, I'm not really homesick because I'm too busy. I don't sleep very well and I do want to exercise so we get up at 5:55 every morning (not against the rules, we checked) and then we work all day. We have SO MANY PEOPLE TO TEACH. I think we have 6 or 7 repetitive investigators, 4 or 5 really solid potentials (people that we've talked to on the street who seemed really interested) and then two HUGE binders full of people who were former investigators (took some lessons) and promising potentials (just people who lost contact with the missionaries). There is no time to waste because this area has been really well worked over. The seeds have been planted everywhere. We just REALLY need to reap. 

Anytime I think about breaking a rule or whatever, my mind literally presents the thought "where does your heart really stand?" What are my desires? And I know that nothing is worth wasting this opportunity.

We talked to a German Baptist the other day. Kind of like a break off of Mennonites (Amish) but those religions are apparently different. But they all have black hats and beards. It was interesting, the man we talked to said that they didn't place their salvation in their beard any more than we placed our salvation in our ties. It was really interesting for me to think of it that way. We really connected. And he wasn't antagonistic at all, just interested in how we would answer his questions. He asked us things like do we believe in a Heavenly Mother? And do we really think we can become Gods? Polygamy. Etc. And Elder Christensen pointed something out to me. Because, in answering his questions, we went rather in depth with the doctrine we knew and were very honest because he wasn't looking for conversion. He was looking for information. And so Elder Christensen told me that if we had refused to talk about those things, it would seem like were ashamed of our beliefs but instead, now he knows that we have faith in the things we teach and are willing to do whatever it takes to help others come to Christ.

It's ridiculous that I've only been in the field for a week and I only hit my one month mark in two days. It feels like forever! I've lost 5 pounds since getting out in the field. All the walking and eating cheap. Not even eating healthy! I just don't want to spend any money on fattening stuff so I've lost weight. But I don't think I'm starving or dropping below the healthy eating choices. Elder Christensen is keeping a good eye on me. I think if I get really dedicated to exercising and not eating a lot of garbage, I could be in really good shape when I get home. Speaking of which, I tried to send you a picture of me and Elder Christensen, did it work?  I've already told him that I am by no means converted to his Pagan ways of eating and exercising, but I have learned a lesson in this area. When we got here, I was SO tired when I woke up and I'm still not sleeping very well. The first two days, I struggled to stay awake every second of the day. I was so tired, that I would wake up and then lay down to do crunches and fall asleep. But we were reading in the White Handbook and it said we were supposed to exercise and I realized I was being disobedient in not exercising. So I started exercising. And it gets my blood flowing and its so much easier for me to stay awake.

So Elder Christensen is from Salt Lake City, graduated the same year as me and just didn't go to school before. Been out for 8 months.

Here's a picture of me and Elder Christensen. 

I really like him. We're very similiar and I think we will stay friends for the rest of my mission and I definitely want to look him up when I get back home. I can't think of a lot of examples but all the time, I'll say something about myself or he will or we'll come up with an idea for a lesson and the most common phrase used for us together is "ME TOO." So we get along really well and have a lot to talk about while driving. In case I haven't said before, we have a car but we have limited miles so we try to walk as much as possible. There are only 2 bike missions in Pittsburgh. Also, while were in that area, I will try to find an Elder Nielson, but the Mission spans everything in Pennsylvania except Philidelphia I recently found out. HUGE spans of land and Elder Christensen said that he hasn't seen some of the guys he came out with the whole time, so I'll keep my eyes out.

Someone once told me that going on a mission is the biggest decision IN your life. But we don't think so. I think that GOING on a mission is the biggest decision FOR your life. The things you learn on your mission, the habits you develop, are the biggest decision IN your life. You and Dad helped me get to the point where I could to go on my mission and in so doing, you drastically effected the rest of my life for the better. There is NO WHERE I would rather be right now. I love the people we teach and I feel like I've grown so much just in the last month.

Speaking of my investigators, I never realized how heart breaking it is when one of them breaks their promise. We had an older woman named Trudy who we call Grandma Trudy and shes been taught by like, 6 or 7 sets of missionaries and shes finally making progress! (Sidenote: Thats kind of how it is with all of our investigators. I show up and they're just on the verge of finally progressing through no real effort of my own...I kind of feel like I'm cheating) But anyways, she said she would go to church on Sunday and I was so excited and we waited and waited...and she never showed up! It broke my heart. I wanted so much for her to keep moving and keep growing...and she stopped. I cant wait to get back, talk to her again and make sure shes still fired up...and if I feel this bad, I can't imagine how Christ must feel. We are much more connected in each others lives than we realize.

Lately, we've been having experiences where they feel like coincidences, but theres NO WAY things work out this perfectly. We were tracting and we saw a hispanic guy moving into his apartment (perfect opportunity. They cant leave their stuff so even if they say no to your offer to help you can still talk to them) so we started to talk to him and he kind of nodded his head but didn't say much. Finally, we asked him a question and he nodded his head... We asked it again and he kept nodding his head... "Do you speak english?" And he nodded his head. "Or do you just speak spanish?" And he nodded his head...He knew three words in English. Yes, Ok and Yeah. He was a very agreeable man, but we weren't really making any progress. We brought him a Spanish restoration pamphlet and when we left, we were fired up to either learn spanish within the next week or pray hard for the gift of tounges. We were determined to teach this man, whatever it took. Elder Christensen thought of a Less Active member who had a husband who spoke spanish. So we decided to go see if they could offer help. (Her husband wasn't a member, so we figured we could use him AND teach him). We started talking to her and she told us about how she hadn't been active since she was 18 because she never felt welcome. And then 4 TIMES, the missionaries had come by to talk to her, she had said they could come back and she even got EXCITED to talk to them and the missionaries NEVER SHOWED UP or even called her! It made me so mad! Hers this perfect woman, excited to learn things and they didn't follow through! We promised that she could call us, we would work through anything if we could come back, not even to teach, just to rebuild her trust in the missionaries.

The point we took away from that was that sure, it might be exciting to put together a lesson plan in spanish and we are still going to try and teach Antonio (thats his name) but that whole process was TOO PERFECT to be a coincidence. We are supposed to help Laura (the name of the Less Active member). We promised she could call us so we wont push her, but I wrote her name in the bottom of every day in my planner for the next week to keep her in my mind. I will NOT let her slip through the cracks. She deserves better.

I am so grateful for the guidance of the spirit. I know I could never do this alone. I want to do everything I can to make sure I'm worthy to follow the promptings of the spirit and find those individuals the Lord has prepared for us.

So...thats all I've got.

Ok. WOW! I just reread that. I can kind of see why we had email timers at the MTC. Although, it only took me 24 minutes to write... but I wrote alot! I'm sorry! If no one wants to read all that, I can definitely start planning my emails more so they can be more condensed. I know I ramble. I always try to answer all the questions I have so I think I did that...If theres anything else let me know.

Ya. Make sure you keep me updated on which one of my sibilings has a child first, how Shelby's doing in High School (once she gets there) and in sports. I brag about Shelby all the time. All the sports and instruments and stuff. Elder Christensen has a sister who wants to be a recording artist but I still think my little sister could beat up his little sister anyday...that needs to be a bumper sticker... And let me know about the fires. If I hear Albuquerque is on fire and you guys haven't told me, you will get the strongest worded letter AND email you've ever yet encountered.

Alright, I love you guys! Again...sorry I wrote so much. If theres anything that no ones really interested in, I can cut that stuff out. Or Mom, you can cut out boring stuff before you send it out.  And I love you Mom!!!

Ok, lots o love.

Bye!!!

Sincereiously,

Elder Harrison