THIS WEEK I had a POWERFUL EXPERIENCE with PRIESTHOOD POWER....

Well family it has been another swell week in Las Brisas,

Oh Congrats Blake on getting married! Sorry I couldn't be there. I gots work to do. Well this week the ward helped us out a lot. Almost every day and almost every lesson we have a member with us which has been helping a lot. Karen is still super amped and now has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and prophets and she still wants  to be baptized but her husband doesn't want her to. He wants to baptize his kids in the Catholic church and wants to be married in the Catholic church. Karen tells us that he doesn't hit her but he's prideful and won't even let her go to church, even though she came this Sunday. Well she said she's willing to be baptized without him knowing but we talked in ward council and came to agreement that the gospel is meant to strengthen families and if her being baptized might cause major family problems, we should wait to put a baptism date until he accepts her decision. So we are going to try to teach him but he really is never in his house. Yesterday I went with the first counselor on splits and when we arrived they were leaving to do some things in town but at least I got to know him a little bit and we made an appointment with him and the first counselor for this week so we shall see how it goes.

But seriously I love teaching with the members here, especially the leaders cuz they are all faithful converts. Yesterday I also had an opportunity to teach a young couple who isn't married with the bishop and his wife. The Bishop and his wife shared their story of how the gospel changed their lives and their home. The Bishop only has 12 years in the church and before he had many personal and family problems. He drank and fought his wife and did other things that aren't so nice but the missionaries arrived to their home and his wife wanted to be baptized right away. He threatened his wife that if she was going to be baptized he would leave her and their child. Well his wife had faith and was baptized. And even though the bishop didn't leave her, he always attacked her verbally when the church was brought up. Well, 6 years after, he asked the missionaries if he could be baptized and a few years after that he became Bishop. It was a powerful testimony and I'm thinking it would help Karen with her situation as well. 

Well this week I also had a powerful experience with the Priesthood power. We received a call that a brother who is a returned missionary was real sick and needed an emergency priesthood blessing. We sprinted to his house and found him curled up in a ball shaking and crying hysterically. We found out that he wasn't sick but that he works in security and he witnessed one of his fellow workers die and he was traumatized. We placed our hands upon his head and I gave a simple blessing but the spirit was strong and when we took our hands off his head he was completely calm. I'm just happy that I was worthy and ready in the moment so the spirit and the priesthood could work through me. We keep visiting him and sometimes when we enter he's sad but during the visits he starts to tell us mission stories and we all leave laughing. He's a great guy. Well this is all I have for you guys this week. Thank you for your emails and support. You definitely are the best! I love you all.

besitos

Elder Harper

I DON'T BELIEVE in COINCIDENCES...

Hola Familia!! 

This week was a straight-up hardworking week. The members keep stepping up as well and have really been supporting us in this work. Almost every lesson we had this week we had a member present with us. Members really play an important role in the conversion of the investigators and the activation of the less actives. Well unfortunately Karen wasn't baptized this week. Her husband is Catholic and tells her that she can't be baptized cuz they are a Catholic family but thankfully Karen is no longer confused and very sure about her decision to be baptized. So we counseled her and she ended up having a talk with her husband. She told him that she wasn't asking him for permission. She was only asking for his love and support. Pretty powerful. So this week we are going to have to set up another date for her baptism. 

Yesterday we were walking down a street in the morning on the way to pick up a priest to do some visits with him. For some reason we decided to take another path and when we were walking down this path a teenager yelled to us and called us over. He asked if we were Elders and told us that he wanted to learn more about God and the Church. He brought us to his house and found that almost everybody there were members except for him and his dad. They moved here from Lima about a year ago and didn't keep in contact with the church. We didn't have time to teach them right there but we made an appointment to go back. It was a simple decision that we made to change paths and we found a great family. I don't believe in coincidences and I know the Lord works in mysterious ways and always through his Holy Spirit. We just have to be prepared, worthy and in tune to hear it. 

We also met a teen named Victor. He's a real special kid. We had our first visit with him this week as well. He told us many times that he wants to change and that often times he changes for a week and then goes back to normal cuz he's weak. It was cool seeing a person his age that really desires to be a better person and become closer to God. We tried to help him understand the atonement of Jesus Christ and explained to him that if we want a real lasting change, we can't do it alone. It can only be done through the atonement and through constant repentance and obedience. 

Well I'm safe and happy in Las Brisas. It's pretty weird that I almost have a year in the mish. It's exciting but it scares me cuz I've gots lot to learn and a lot to change but I know I wont be able to do it all in the mish cuz life is a teacher as well. Well I love you all and I'm praying for you.

besitos,  Elder Harper

THERE are MANY PEOPLE who QUESTION WHY BAD THINGS HAPPEN...

Mommy and Fam and Friends!! 

How goes it in Cali? Well I'm super jealous of Izz´s adventure. I've lived in Peru for almost a year but I've never been to Machu Picchu but my two sisters have already been. Hopefully one day I will arrive there. 

Well this week me and my companion had a great experience where we learned the Mission President is called of God and receives inspiration, and when we obey the rules or commandments, we are blessed and receive miracles. This week in our zone meeting our leaders informed us of a new rule that the president is going to enforce in this mission. Well, the rule actually isn't new but President Risso didn't put so much stress on it.  We aren't allowed to teach anyone of the opposite sex without an adult male present, member or nonmember or a holder of the priesthood. I know that in the states this was always a rule that the missionaries lived by. But here it's pretty hard cuz basically we only teach women cuz the men work from 6 in the morning and return at 9 or 10 at night sometimes and there aren't very many priesthood holders in our ward. But we have been obeying this rule and the Lord has been providing the way. We usually never have lessons with the accompaniment of members but the members this week stepped up and have been helping us with our lessons. This week we almost had 20 lessons with members going with us. The members play an important role in missionary work and without them it's hard to have success. This week we had a visit with Karen. We went with 3 sisters from the Relief Society and with a counselor from the bishopric. Everyone was able to bare their testimony about the gospel and Karen, even though she's a little unsure, really felt loved and was grateful for the visit of the members. Her baptism date is for this upcoming Saturday. We are gonna see what happens cuz she didin't come to church this Sunday. 

We have a new investigator named Pamela. She's in her 30s and has been Catholic all her life.  She has had a strong desire to be closer to God because she has been diagnosed with cancer. Her aunt is a member and is a great influence in her life. We have only have had one visit with her but her desires to change and to know Christ have inspired me. When we pass through trials we have 2 decisions. We can come closer to God or fall away from Him. There are many people who question why bad things happen to them but Pamela is a strong women who knows that her Father in Heaven loves her and that her trials are only making her stronger.

Well I'm so happy that finally we are not working alone in this work and that we have the help of the ward, because really the members make all the difference. Well I love you all and hope the best for you.  Keep firm in the Gospel and pray for opportunities to share the Gospel.

besitos

Elder Harper

Our zone with our new mission president, Mark Williams

HAPPINESS isn't DETERMINED by our CIRCUMSTANCES but by the PRINCIPLES WE LIVE...

Fambam, 

Well first of all, I hope you all had a great 4th of July; I know I did. But really, living in South America helps me realize how blessed I am to have been born in America. Even though I don't like it when my comps call me rich or pituco, it's true that we have a more privileged life.  We have a lot more things and are a little more advanced in technology and health and have a little more freedom. But I have also realized where you live and what you have doesn't determine your happiness. I have met so many happy people here who don't have very much, who live in adobe houses and live-day by-day and sometimes don't have money to buy food but are still so happy and loving. But a phrase that I think I've mentioned before that I love is, Happiness isn't determined by our circumstances but the principles we live. If we are obedient and repent daily and humble ourselves, we will be able to overcome all things and have peace more than anything.

I was able to see that this week. This week we were in the house of an investigator and she told us that she had a friend who is a member of the church and that her friend wanted to talk to us. We didn't recognize the directions or the name of the member but we searched out her house. When she opened the door and saw us standing in the doorway, she got really excited and insisted that we come in. We found out that she was baptized at the age of 14 but has been inactive her whole life. She is the only member of her family but her daughter wants to be baptized. She also has a baby that has been really sick so we were able to give her a blessing as well. When we talked to her she started to cry because it had been along time since she had received a visit from someone in the church. She was super grateful and she says she wants the church back in her life and wants us to help convert her husband so they can be an eternal fam. 

That same Sunday the fam came! So that  was an experience that made my week. In this mission we are trying to focus on rescue. A rescue is when someone returns back to church after a long time. They try to teach us that it's equal to a baptism as well, which is very true cuz the goal is the temple and the Celestial Kingdom. So anyone who is not on the right path, whether it's a nonmember or a member, needs to be rescued. This week another sister attended for the 3rd time in 2 years and received an interview with the bishop. She is now fully pumped again in the straight and narrow path and has been rescued. This week we also put a baptismal date with Karen for the 19th of July. She's still a little bit confused and unsure but we promised her that if everyday she reads and prays for answers and if she attends church every week before her date, she will feel sure. We felt pretty good about promising her that and I think that she felt pretty comforted as well. 

Well I started teaching English class again. Only two kids showed up but it was pretty epic. My comp and I are working hard. I can tell that he might not be used to working like this and sometimes he doesn't want to, but he's been a good sport and we have kept a good relationship together. I love the kid. Today we went to Plimentel, a famous beach, but it was pretty blown-out and there were no surfers. The new president I met in a zone meeting. He's super awesome, crazy and funny. He's a great guy and it looks like the mission is gonna be different but in a good way. Well I gots to go but I love you all.

Besitos, los quiero 

Elder Harper