5/26/14
Hi! I'm reporting to you live after the craziest week. We had a really good week. We visited with a lot of members which we have kind of neglected to do since we have been traveling so much. It was nice to catch up with them and get to be their friends. I realized this week that I have spent a lot of time on my mission visiting with babushkas. And it has been the best thing of my whole life. I have learned so much from these crazy, tough, amazing women. They are some of my heroes, without a doubt. This week we decided to ask a couple of them from our branch the most important things they have learned in their lives. For the most part they said to love. To love everyone with all that you have and that includes Heavenly Father. One of them said that the hardest thing we will do in life will be to pray. And I had never thought about that before. But it's true. She said if we are not praying with words then we should be praying with our thoughts and our hearts. We should always be communicating with our Heavenly Father. We should become trudniki. Which in Russian means people who do hard things, people who suffer. And I liked that too. Wisdom. This week we also did splits in Moscow. We planned it for this week because we knew Elder Bednar of the 12 apostles would be speaking to the missionaries and at Stake Conference. And it was one of the coolest things of my whole life. I loved hearing Elder Bednar speak but what I loved even more was being able to see so many church members in one place. We were outside the event center before stake conference started and at least two hundred church members were walking down the streets of Moscow to where stake conference would be. I almost cried just at the sight of them. For the last year of my life I haven't seen more than 30 church members gathered in one place. I saw families, worthy Priesthood holders, members who were out of their minds excited to be members all coming to hear an Apostle's voice. It was unreal. As we were walking the members all would call out, "Sisters! Hello!" with big smiles and so much light in their faces. It felt like we were serving in Utah! It was basically the equivalent of General Conference but in Moscow and on a much smaller scale. But it meant a lot to me. I couldn't have asked for a greater gift from Heavenly Father than to see so many people who had been changed by this Gospel. By missionary work. On Sunday there was also a meeting just for the missionaries where Elder Bednar and his wife spoke. It was excellent. As we waited for them to arrive our mission president's wife led us in hymns. We sang "Called to Serve." And the Spirit was so strong. Here were 50 (not all of the missionaries could be in attendance but they were able to broadcast the actual meeting) missionaries, singing, bearing testimony about our purpose as missionaries. I wrote this little thing about it. Weird? I don't know. Here it goes:
As we waited for Elder Bednar to arrive we were asked not to talk. The silence in the hot air was tangible. The strength of the fifty missionaries in attendance was a force all it's own. The ground we stood on became holy as Sister Borders lead in hymns while we waited. "Called to serve Him Heavenly King of Glory." The words took on greater meaning as we sang together, so sure of our calling and our purpose as missionaries here in Moscow, Russia. We were chosen, we are chosen to be witnesses of His name. And in that moment as we all sang together, the world seemed to make perfect sense: the trials, the joys, the laughter, the tears. All of it. Because it is all a part of God's plan for us. And that's why we are here. That's why we are called as missionaries. "To witness in His name."
Life is good. Life is great. Work fuels work. That pretty much sums up my week. I love you all! Love, Sister Harris
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