And I'm okay.

9/22/14

Well. I will probably just start by saying what I always say. This week was so good. I loved it with my whole heart. Being a missionary is just the best thing that's ever happened to me. Here's the news we've all been waiting for: OUR FAMILY IS OFFICIALLY GETTING BAPTIZED. This Saturday. 11:00 am. They passed the interview yesterday with flying colors. We could not be any more excited. These people are so golden. They have been so prepared for this gospel. The Elders have been helping us get the Dad ready too and last week we found out that he quit smoking! So that was taken care of. The only thing left for them to do so they could all be baptized was for the dad to come to church one more time. We have a policy that for a person to be baptized they must have come to church at least three times. The mom and the son had already been four times but the dad had missed one Sunday because of work. We were nervous wrecks the whole week. I don't know if I have ever prayed more or ever wanted something more than for that man to be able to come to church. And he made it! The miracles. They are too good. Their interviews were done with the AP's who were here for our Sacrament meeting. It was great because the AP's are some of my dearest friends and I was so happy they got the chance to meet our cute family. While interviewing the son, the Elder asked how he knew about the first vision. The son said, "Because Sister Harris told me." Hahah. Cute little thing. But really, they are just so full of faith and so ready to be baptized. Here, we do our baptisms in a sauna because we don't have a fount. It'll be a party. A big Armenian one. Also this week I had my last zone conference of my mission. Crazy. I can still remember my first one and how blown away by everything I was. This last one was wonderful. The part that hit me most was a training done by the AP's. One of our AP's is uncannily talented. And he usually includes a song that he has written in his trainings. This one was called the Holy One of Israel. And the line that hit me was, " The Holy One of Israel, drew the water from the well, gave his life away to tell us, We can be okay. And I'm okay." It made me think of a baptism last year in Nizhny. It was a cute little guy from China. He bore his testimony right after he had been baptized and in it he said, "I know that with God, everything will be okay." And that has stayed with me. Sometimes when I mess up, I get really mad at myself. And the thing that I learned this week was that I'm okay. I'm not perfect. And that's okay. God uses broken things. He even asks us to come unto him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Because he knows he can make it okay. I'm okay. The last line of the song from zone conference goes like this, " And I, though little I may be, I'll follow him with every piece of me. I've got his peace in me." It's so cool to me that people all over the world are choosing to follow Christ. And that our family is choosing to follow Christ and that they are going to show that through baptism this week. I love this work. I love these people. We had the craziest day at church yesterday. So many people running around and so many things happening. But the cause of the craziness was because the people were so excited to see us and see each other. There were hugs left and right, kisses, and so much love. That's why I love this work. Because it's a labor of love: love for the Savior, love for our brothers and sisters (Armenian, Russian, or wherever they're from.), and love for whatever life throws our way because we've got His peace in us. I love you! Thank you for all you do! Love, Sister Harris