Blessed.

I don't really know where to begin. This week has been a whirlwind. I don't think I have ever had a busier week in my entire life. It was the most perfect last week that a girl could have ever asked for. We met with every member at least once. We cut out our lunch and dinner breaks because we didn't have time to squeeze it all in. I don't really know how to explain anything right now because it's a little bit hitting me that I am going home. It hasn't been real because there has been so much to do that I just didn't think about it. But sitting here in our cute little branch building in Lipetsk, Russia home to some of the best people in the world, it's hitting me that my time as a missionary is coming to an end. And that's hard. I have loved my mission with my whole heart. It's the best thing I have ever done. I can't imagine not being a missionary, not getting to experience this. I love these people. I love Russia and I love that Russia has become a holy place for me. Here, I learned how to love, I learned how to pray, I learned what it means to put every ounce of effort, heart, and soul into something and see what comes from it. I learned of my Savior Jesus Christ and that his atonement is not just for sinners, it's for everyone. There is a strengthening power of the Atonement and I can say I have truly felt that power on my mission to be able to do all that is needed here. 

My mission has been a series of miracles. Even just this week there have been too many miracles to count. Maybe the time the member called me to tell me that her husband was coming home early from work so that they could do family home evening together, seeing our newly baptized members pass the Sacrament or teach Sunday School, seeing our Relief Society sing together in Sacrament meeting, and seeing one of the less active members that I love the most come to church with her family for my last Sunday when they hadn't been in over six months. I have been the most blessed girl in the whole world to be able to serve in Russia, to be able to serve these people. They are strong people, they know how to weather a storm and they have done so many times. They are kind people, good to the very core, it just takes a little time and effort to get to the core. They are loyal, they are giving, they are wonderful. I have been blessed by the missionaries I have been able to serve with. It's like they gathered the best people in the whole world and put them in one place and that's our mission. I have loved being around them, seeing their light here, seeing how they love the people. These people are my best friends, they are the people I have labored with day in and day out to see the Gospel take hold here. And it's happening. Russia has a wonderful future ahead of itself. The light of the Gospel is spreading, it started as an ember but the flame is growing, and it will continue to grow until it can be seen from across the world. The members here are strong, they are capable, and they have a testimony of Christ. I am honored to have been able to serve here. I cannot adequately express how much love is in my heart for this country, these people, this time in my life, and the opportunity I have had to be an official representative of Jesus Christ. I know that missionary work will be apart of my life, I am not worried about that. I will continue to serve and to work hard. My heart is breaking that it won't be here among these people whom I have grown to love so much. 

This week was everything I could have asked for. I mentioned one of my favorite moments earlier but I wanted to talk about it a little more. The members have made this week perfect. They all invited me over multiple times and fed us way more than any person should be fed. I have been here for about nine months and it's been amazing to see how these people have changed. They are growing in the gospel, they are rising to the occasion. I have every feeling of a proud mom as I watch them take huge steps in their lives that will bless the church here for generations to come. I have met with an inactive member and her little daughter (she's almost two and quite possibly my favorite human) every week since I have been here. She's only been baptized for two years and she's darling. She has a desire to come to church but her husband works all day every day and it's not possible for them to come. She told me she would adopt me if I stayed here in Russia. She invited us over this week and taught us how to cook a traditional Armenian dish. While we were there she told us she was going to try to come to church. I wanted her to come so badly but didn't think it would be possible. Sunday morning rolls around and I was running around like crazy as usual. One of the elders came in to the Sacrament hall and said, "You're going to want to see this." And I walk out in the hall and there they are. The whole family. The husband had brought them so they could see me on my last Sunday. He was even late to work so they could stay for part of Sacrament meeting. I hugged them and cried like a baby. These members are my favorite people. I love them more than I thought was possible to love someone. Because I've been here for so long, I have had the opportunity to know each of them and to become friends with them. My name was mentioned in every prayer yesterday at church, they asked Heavenly Father to bless me on my way home and to bless my family. One member found out my name was Amanda and said if they had another daughter they would name her Amanda. These people live very simply yet many of them gave me gifts. These people have taught me how to love, the importance of family and that family is everyone around us as we are all children of God. I have been changed by these people, by loving them, and being loved by them. I have been changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He invites us all to come unto him, to rest from our burdens, to find joy. 

It's been the best 18 months of my life learning those lessons. I will miss these people, this country, this time of my life. I will miss the craziness of two American girls living in a random Russian town. I will miss being a missionary in Russia. I am sad I will not be here to see our mission reach the goal of 130 baptisms. But I know it will happen. I have every trust and confidence in the missionaries here that they will make it happen, because we know that it in all actuality, God's doing the heavy lifting. We live our missions, we work hard, we play hard, and we are obedient. We do everything we can and then God does the rest. We will reach our goal. There's no stopping it. Earlier this week we had someone ask us if we thought that anything could really change the world, really make people better. All the missionaries answered in unison, "Yes, the gospel." And it's true. The world is being changed by the gospel. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland says, " Take heart. Pure Christlike love flowing from true righteousness can change the world." The world is changed one person at a time. We have the opportunity to see that change, in others and in ourselves. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ which will facilitate that change quicker than anything else. Our message is that Christ lives, He loves us, and we will see Him again. Our message is of His love, pure and strong for every person on this earth. A while ago I wrote this: 

"I don't know where to begin to explain the feelings in my heart. Love. What is love? Not momentary or fleeting. But love, charity, brotherly kindness? What is love? Love is service; love is giving up your seat on a crowded bus. Love is a fresh pot of soup left with care. Love is endless flashes from a camera, desperately trying to capture every moment. Love is kindness. Love knows no boundaries, love feels no pain because love has overcome pain. Love is not dependent on returned feelings. Love exists despite all odds, despite fear, despite darkness. Love is warm, encompassing, overwhelming. Love leaves marks greater than any injury ever could. Love is the instruction set to life. It is impossible for us to know every heartache, every tragedy, every injustice. But there is something every human can share and that is love. Let life be a book, let our daily lives be recorded there, let the content matter less than the means by which it was accomplished, let the pen we use be love. Let us record our lives in love, let the pages of this book of life be so full of ink it is nearly impossible to distinguish one word from the other. Let us record in love. Let us live in love."

I don't think I have much more to say. I have been the luckiest girl in the world. I will be forever grateful for this mission and for all I have learned. I have seen change, real change, permanent change for the better. And I know I have more to do. "Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory!" There is much to do. We all have something to contribute. I love you all dearly. Thank you for sharing this mission with me. Thank you for your support, your emails and letters, and your love. I'll be seeing you soon. 

С любовью, Сестра Хэррис

Pumpkins and Blessings.

11/02/14

Well, hi there! This week has been one of the greatest of my whole mission. I loved it with my whole heart. We had our branch Halloween party on Friday and it was a hit. We had games, a photo booth, way too much candy and cakes and donuts, pumpkin carving, and we even had trick or treating from classroom to classroom in our branch building. Everyone worked so hard to put it together and it turned out so well. We ate sugar until it came out our eyes and we even had two of our primary kids put on a break dance show for us. It was quite the adventure finding pumpkins to carve. They don't sell them in the store but we found them at a rinok (outside market). We went with our senior couple and ended up buying 10 pumpkins. Everyone was flabbergasted that we didn't want to eat them but that we wanted to carve them. We took a picture of us will all the pumpkins and caused quite the scene. I love Russia. The best part of the week though was without a doubt Sunday. The day all of our dreams came true! Haha. But really. The Patriarch and his wife came! They are legitimately the coolest people. They have been members for twenty years and three years ago he became the patriarch of the Moscow Stake. They are the loveliest people. They seem like they have been members their whole lives. The Patriarch told us how he met the missionaries outside on the street and they asked him if he believed in God. He didn't really answer one way or another but wasn't against meeting. And now here they are, he's the Patriarch and she's the Stake Young Women's President. The whole day the Spirit was so strong. Our members were so excited to have them here with us and they just brought a special feeling to our meetings. It's really cool too because the wife is half Armenian so our Armenian members were thrilled to death. The patriarch had planned to do five blessings but in the end he had time for eight. How cool is that? Eight of our cute members got their patriarchal blessings in one day. It's honestly the best thing. I was so happy the whole day I couldn't even contain it. It was also so cool because I got to teach temple prep. That was one of the highlights of my mission so far. Getting to teach these people that I love so much about the temple and the blessings of the temple was mind blowing. It was one of those moments where life was just too good to even comprehend. As I talked about the temple with them I was filled with joy, I felt the goodness of the temple in that little room with all of us. I'm so excited for them to get to go and to receive those blessings. In Relief Society we each had the chance to bear our testimony. I listened to each sister bear her testimony of this Gospel, in all it's simplicity and grandeur. These people have testimonies of the Savior and they rely on him, they trust him, and they do their best to follow him. When it was my turn I couldn't really even talk because I just love these people so much and they are such examples to me. I have been the luckiest girl to serve here in the Russia Moscow Mission and in the areas I have served. I am overwhelmed by it. This week we have lots and lots to do. And it's going to be wonderful. I love you! I hope you have a great week. Love, Sister Harris 

18 months.

10/27/14

Well, hi there. 

This week was great. We were in Moscow for three days so my companion could get a new visa. I got to go on a split with Sister Southworth and it was a dream come true. We finally got back to our little Lipetsk town and had so much to do and so little time to do it. But it all worked out and was perfect. On my 18 month mark on Friday a few of our members left to Moscow to go to a training that the mission president and his wife put on for the auxiliary leaders. It was quite the ordeal to get our members to go because it was the first time they had ever been on a train and away from their kids. We finally convinced them to go and got them tickets. Then the day came and we got to go to the train station with them. We saw them get on the train and waved goodbye. I just felt so much happiness that somehow I ended up in Lipetsk, Russia where my best friends are these cute little people from Armenia. Watching the train pull away was one of those moments that I just felt so perfectly happy with. These people are learning and growing and magnifying their callings. And I'm the luckiest girl that I get to work with them and serve them. 

On Sunday the Mom of our family taught her first lesson as our new Sunday School teacher. She rocked it. She's the world's classiest, most put together human and she led a fantastic discussion. And the Dad passed the Sacrament for the first time. My proud mother feelings were definitely on overdrive. It's so cool to see them continue to progress and grow. 

A member came up to me this week and told me I was like a fairy from a fairy tale. That I just came here to do good for everyone and that even my clothes had good, kind fairy vibes. Hahaha. She's one of my favorite members because she's just this little tiny Russian babushka. She asked me to give her some of my skirts so she can wear them when she goes to the temple for the first time in the spring. She's the nicest soul for thinking I'm like a fairy when as you all know, I'm definitely not. I think one of the coolest things about being a missionary is getting to come here and live among these people and to truly gain a love and respect for them. They work hard, they love hard, and they do the best they can. I am happy to be here. 

Since the last time I wrote my 18 months mark on a mission has officially come and gone. Crazy. It has been the best 18 months of my life. I don't really have words to explain it, to explain the growth I've seen in others and in myself, to describe the way I feel about my time here so far, or to explain the love I have for these people and for my mission.  It's been more than I could have ever dreamed of. I love you all. Have a great week. 

Love, Sister Harris 

It's snowing. The what.

10/20/14

Yes. Outside, it is snowing. I was hoping that I wouldn't see any snow before I left but alas, Mother Nature had different ideas. It's okay though. I like it and it makes everything look very pretty. Today we are in Moscow. We got on a train early this morning and just got off about an hour ago. We'll be here for a couple of days so that my companion can get a new visa. That means I get to go on a split with cute Sister Southworth. I am the most excited girl in the whole world. 

This week was great. The Mom of our family is officially our newest Sunday School Teacher! And the Dad was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood. I got to sit in the room while he was ordained and it was so cool. They are the greatest people and I feel like the proudest mom in the whole world getting to watch them grow in the gospel. We also met with a new family this week, their grandpa actually got baptized on Saturday. He was the elders' investigator and we had a great baptismal service on Saturday. It's really cool because every single one of the eight baptisms our branch has had this year have been member referals. That is one of my absolute favorite thing about Armenians. They love the gospel and then they tell everyone they know about it. Way too cool. 

We also met with the youth of the branch and with our senior couple who is also the branch president. We have the best youth in the whole world. They will be getting their patriarchal blessings next week when the patriarch comes. We had a really cool lesson with them and got to teach them about patriarchal blessings and how they can be a guide for our lives. During the lesson I was just continually blown away by how much God loves us and how he knows every single one of us. I'm so excited for them to hear even more about his love for them through their patriarchal blessings. They are the future of our little branch here and I know they are destined for great things. 

Also, one of the coolest things ever happened this week. Eight months ago when I got to this area one of the first people I met was an eternal investigator. He came around for all the activities and english group and had met with missionaries but never progressed. We all deemed him an eternal investigator who just would continue in his ways. We even met with him and he told us he liked his life without God. This week, the elders announced that they had been meeting with him and that he had a baptismal date. It will be the last weekend I'm here. THAT IS MIND BLOWING. He came to the baptism on Sunday of the grandpa and to church on Sunday. He's a different person. I honestly cannot describe to you how different he is. And it's been the coolest thing to see. If there's anything I'm convinced of, it's that we live in a world of miracles. 

I love you and hope you have a wonderful week. Love, Sister Harris 

Build Upon the Rock.

10/13/14

Hi! This week has flown by. And it was a really good one. This week we got to get all of our members ready to watch general conference. We met with all of them and did a lesson about the importance of prophets and how cool it is that we have the opportunity to hear a prophet of the Lord speak to us. We were running around like crazy trying to get to each member before we watched conference on Saturday and Sunday together. It was such a cool experience because we got to hear the members' testimonies about the prophets, Joseph Smith and Thomas Monson. They love the prophet. They honor him. And they were so excited to hear him speak. It turned out really well. Last conference I was also here and we only had 3 people come to the Saturday session of conference at the branch building. This time we had over 15, including all of our new members. It was so cool. On Sunday we had over 30 members come and it was a great time. We watched conference and had lunch together and watched more conference. One of my favorite parts of the whole day was sitting there listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing Praise to the Man. I felt so strongly that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that all the people sitting with me, no matter how long they had been members, no matter how much they knew or what age they were, they all knew that he was a prophet too. I like Elder Anderson's talk from conference where he invites to gain a testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith, or maybe just strengthen the one we already have. Do it! It'll be a good thing. Reread the talk here:https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/joseph-smith?lang=eng 

At the beginning of every transfer I like to think of a theme or a focus for the transfer. We had district meeting and decided that this transfer our theme would be Build Upon the Rock. We have such good members, so faithful and so ready to do anything asked of them. We want to use this transfer to strengthen their foundation and to truly build their lives on Jesus Christ. I did some scripture study and found the coolest scriptures about building upon the rock.

 D&C 6:34 Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.

Our members are facing a lot of trials, probably like members everywhere. Probably like people everywhere. And we have this knowledge that we have no need to fear. We can do good, and even if we feel like everything's going wrong, we know that it's really not. That if we are built upon the rock, the gospel of Jesus Christ, everything will be okay. So we came up with an action plan and planned for each member and what we wanted them to be able to accomplish during the next six weeks. During this process we had an idea. We wanted our members to be able to get their patriarchal blessings but there is only one patriarch in our mission and usually people have to make an appointment with him and then go to Moscow which just takes time and money and isn't too feasible. So we had an idea, what if we prepared multiple members to receive their blessings and then the patriarch came here? We got permission to call the patriarch and explained our idea to him. He agreed! I think that will really be something that will strengthen these people and help them to build upon the rock a little more. Because that's what Christ asks of us. Day by day, little by little, we can come unto Him. And he'll make it possible, he'll give us the daily bread we need to be able to do that. I love this work. I love my Savior and I know that I have received that daily bread, that I receive that daily bread to be able to do all I need to do. I love you! Have a great week. Love, Sister Harris 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-08-013-daily-bread-experience?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-08-012-daily-bread-pattern?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-08-014-daily-bread-change?lang=eng

These have been my favorite videos to watch on my mission. I watch them probably three times a week. Check them out! 

Walking blessings.

10/6/14

Hello! We have had a crazy week. I officially have a new companion. She's from Canada. We're working on it. Just kidding. Canadians are cool. We were in Moscow this week for transfer meeting. It was a great meeting mostly because I got to see Sister Southworth. I love that lady so much. And because we got to see Lenin's dead body that they keep in a building on red square. It was a dream come true. Truly. We got back to our little Lipetsk town and went right to work. We seriously have the best members ever. We met with our new converts this week and with a few other members and did a spiritual thought about fast Sundays and why it's so cool that we have the opportunity to bear our testimonies. Then we committed them to bear their testimonies this Sunday. It's so cool to work with members and to see the blessings that come from it. So we get to Sunday and everyone we had met with and committed to bear their testimonies bore their testimonies. Even our cute little 11-year old Son. It was the best testimony meeting I have ever been to. The overriding theme of the testimonies was love. Especially the pure love of Christ. That is something I pray for everyday and have learned a lot about here on my mission. How to love people and how we can strive to see them the way God sees them. The branch where I am is very young and very small. But we are seeing huge miracles. We had more people at church yesterday than ever before. We had all auxiliaries functioning. We had new members fulfilling their callings. Sundays are my favorite days because I feel like all the work that we do throughout the week just comes together and we get to see these people progress. The best thing. Our cute family are getting callings this week. We are so excited for them and to see all the wonderful things they will do as members of the church. Conference was so good. We have only seen the Saturday sessions but we are watching the rest today. We have been waiting and waiting for conference. It's pretty much been on the same level as Christmas. It's really cool to see the audience and to realize there are so many members of this church. 15 million. Crazy. And to hear how many missionaries there are! Over 88,000. I am blown away by that. My favorite talk so far was by Elder Holland. He spoke about love and about all we can do to lift the poor and needy. I love that he focused on what we can do and how that may not be to change the entire world but we can change someone, something. We have so much to give. We had a great meeting with one of our members this week. Their family is going through an extremely difficult time. During the lesson the member talked about how she would have never imagined that she would become friends with two girls from America but that she loved us. And we feel the exact same way. She told a story of how we were walking outside and she looked at us and thought, "There are my blessings out there walking on the street." It's mind blowing because we are just two 21 year old girls. We don't really know anything and I can guarantee that this member is more of a blessing in our lives than we are in hers. But I also can guarantee that God has a purpose for each of us. And it is to lift the hands that hang down. I am grateful to have this opportunity to do that and hope that it is something I will be able to incorporate into my whole life. I love you all and hope you had a wonderful week! Love, Sister Harris 

Three.

9/29/14

Well. You could say it was a pretty great week. And then you'd have to reevaluate and say that it was the best week ever. I am still reeling from how many miracles we saw this week. And yes. OUR FAMILY GOT BAPTIZED. Oh, it was so wonderful. So absolutely perfect. I will start from the beginning of the week. This week was just as bit crazy as it was perfect. We ran around the whole week trying to get everything ready for Saturday. It's not everyday that an entire family gets baptized so we wanted to make sure it was perfect. We planned the program, planned the food for the lunch afterwards, and wanted to make sure that our family was ready for this day. And by John, we did it. And by we did it, I mean Heavenly Father did it because there's no way it would have all gone so well if it was just two girls from America trying to do all of this. There were all sorts of little miracles all week long that prepared us for the baptism. For example, one day, all of our plans fell through. So we decided to get more things ready for the baptism. We got on a bus to head to a store and we ran into an inactive that I've been trying to work with since I got here. Total miracle. By the time Friday came around everything had been done except for getting clothes to our family and the people that would be baptizing them. There, we ran into a little bit of a problem. We had clothes for all the family. And for the missionary that was baptizing the Son and the Mom. But for the member baptizing the Dad, we could not find any clothes. It was a panic time. And then, miraculously right before we left the building we found more clothes and more sizes and were able to find something to work for the member. Saturday morning we were as pumped as we could be. Everything just fell into place. Here, we do baptisms in a sauna. They have a pool we use there. We met our cute family at a bus stop and all went together to the sauna. The elders helped us so much to keep everything going. Our family changed into their whites and we had a wonderful program before the baptism. My companion plays the flute and so the missionaries did a musical number to Be Still My Soul. The program itself was a miracle because our ward mission leader was supposed to conduct but then got called into work. So we got the first counselor to conduct. We found out later that the first counselor got a call right after we did to leave town to visit relatives. But he chose to stay because, as he said, "It's not everyday a family joins the church." The baptism was perfect. Even though during the baptism one of the primary kids accidentally switched on the jets in the pool and it started to fill with more water. Haha. Our lives. The Dad was baptized first. Then the Mom. And then they stood together and watched their son be baptized. After, they all stood together and gave each other a hug. I will never forget their smiles or the sight of them all standing there together in white, just glowing with happiness and sopping wet. After the baptism, we had a couple more talks. One from one of the primary kids. He did so well. He even had visual aids. Haha. What a champ. And one from our branch president. Our branch president is a senior missionary from America. He's also a convert and he talked about how as he watched the family be baptized today he remembered his own baptism 40 years ago and was filled with joy seeing them come into the gospel. Afterwards, we had a lunch at the branch. It was beautiful. White tablecloths and lots of Armenian food. The next day was wonderful too. They all came to church and received the Holy Ghost. My favorite part was when the Son received the Holy Ghost. In his blessing he was told that he will have the opportunity to be a missionary. And that's when it really hit me how amazing my life is. How blessed I am to know these people and to have had the opportunity to teach them and see them come into the gospel. The gospel is never ending. This 11-year boy that we taught will some day go on a mission and teach others and more people will come into this gospel. The ripple effect of missionary work is mind blowing. The Mom said the closing prayer and in it she said, "Please let all people on earth find this church." It was perfect. We also found out from the Mom that the night before the baptism they too had received a call from relatives inviting them to go out of town the next morning. They thought about it and then said no because they knew their baptism was more important. So cool. The Mom and the First Counselor both talked about choices. And how everyday we have choices put in front of us and then it's up to us to do what's right. And that's basically what the gospel is. Consistently making the right choices. And we mess up. A lot. And that's okay. Because we get up the next day and try again. The scripture on the baptismal program was Isaiah 41:10 

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

We have no need to fear. Everyday we have the opportunity to realize that God is with us. We have the opportunity to push back darkness. And on September 27, 2014 in Lipetsk, Russia a little darkness was pushed back by a family who made a choice to follow the Savior. And I'm just the happiest girl in all the world that I got to see it. I love you all! Have great week! Love, Sister Harris