THIS WEEK was HONESTLY the BEST WEEK I'VE HAD in a LONG TIME....

Familia! 

Well I'm still here in the Brisas and I'm training! My first hijito. My comp is Elder Bailey from Payson, Utah.  He says he knows the Marsh's so that's pretty cool. He's a really funny kid and a really good missionary. He's not afraid to open his mouth and teach and best of all, he's willing to work himself to death how I like it. This week was honestly the best week I've had in a long time. We still don't have too many people yet who are progressing but we are doing are hardest to find new people to teach, and this week we have found a bunch of new investigadores and less actives who haven't been to church for years. It defintley feels good to work hard, and I'm trying to master my skills of talking to everyone. For some reason even the oldest and most experienced missionaries are reluctant to contact and talk with everyone, maybe cuz it's not super effective but I have found when we do all that we can  the Lord does the rest. 

This week we found a less active named Auri. We taught her and her husband, who isn't member. We soon found out that they aren't married and started to teach them about the importance of families and marriage. The husband was really cool.  He was super interested and asked about baptism. Auri was super excited cuz it was the first time she had the missionaries in her house for years. She insisted that we sing a hymn and  as we sang the spirit was super strong. They are a beautiful family who really needs and wants the Lord's blessings in their home. 

Well I just love the scripture in Alma 26: 27-30. The Lord says that if we endure through the hard times with patience we will have success in the end and we will be able to bear the trials with peace and happiness. I know this is true cuz I have definitely suffered a bit but I feel so blessed for what the Lord has given me: a great comp and the ability to find and teach with the power of the spirit. I love this work so much and I just feel myself starting to love the people here even more and that's what motivates me to work hard and find the way to bring them salvation. 

I love you guys and I'm grateful for your support and advice. I know I am weak but I know in Christ I can do all things and in His name my comp and I can do many miracles here. Keep praying for Pamela; she's still sick in Lima and she's gonna to have to go through chemo this week. Love you all.

besitos,    Elder Harper

WE are NOT HERE to BAPTIZE but to CONVERT.....

Famiilly of mine!!! 

I love all of the pics you have sent me but ..did we move? Well I sure hope not. To be honest this week was probably the least productive week of my mission but I just had to accept it knowing that things are going to change from here on out. Saturday I was invited to a leader training, and Sunday night we got the call telling us the transfers. My comp is gonna finish his mish in another area and I'm gonna stay here in Las Brisas, training a newby. I'm pretty stoked even though I know being a trainer is a lot of responsibility. But I feel really good about it and I'm pretty sure we are gonna have lots of success. President Williams told us something cool. He said that I bet you guys think you are here cuz it's your time, but he told us that I had nothing to do with how much time or experience we might have had but that the Lord has called us and that we are the best the mish has. Tomorrow is when I'll receive my new comp. In this leader meeting with President he also hit us hard with the subject of less actives. If I remember correctly he said that there are 1,300,000 members in Peru and there are only 400,000 active members.  He made it clear to us that we are not here to baptize but we are here to convert whether it be new members or less-actives, but they need to be converted. 

Well Sunday the Family Castillo came to church! This is the family that we found a while back but recently they opened their doors to us. The whole family came except the mom and they even brought their cuz who isn't a member. The classes were definitely inspired cuz one the daughters is a 22 year old widow and has a 2 year old child and the class was about the temples and work for the dead. We are gonna keep working hard with this fam so they can become converted once again to the gospel. We are still teaching Pamela as well. She is reading the Book of Mormon and is really starting to open up to us. The problem is that she has to travel to Lima this week to have a check up on her cancer, and if everything is ok, she's gonna come back but if not, she's gonna live there for a while to receive her treatments. So everyone pray for Pamela and her fam and let's hope that everything turns out ok.

Well I have learned so much in the mish and I have loved every second but now it's time to step it up and give everything I got and more to the Lord. I know now that I'm officially in charge and can't give any excuses. I love this work and I'm so grateful for all  the opportunities my Father in Heaven gives me to learn and grow and strengthen my weaknesses that I have. Well this shall be all for now! Love you all.

Besitos,

Elder Harper

THE MISSION is the HARDEST THING i HAVE ever DONE but i think that is WHY i LOVE it SO MUCH...

Well my dearest Family and Friends, 

Life is Great and I love it. The mission is the hardest thing I've ever done but I think that is why I love it so much. This week was a little slow as far as the progress with our investigators. This week we had zero investigators come to church. Oscar hasn't really progressed much either but we really haven't been able to teach him much this week cuz he works all day and in the nights he goes to the church's institute classes. He's loving the young adult scene. He just needs a little push from his friends to take this step of faith to be baptized. 

Well I definitely learned the lesson of being persistent this week. Sometimes we have to leave people when they don't progress but I don't know, with some people I just feel prompted to go to their house over and over again even when they don't let us in their house. Like the story I told a few weeks back with the kid who contacted us in the street and lead us to the house of his family that was an inactive family. Well for the past month and a half we have gone to that house almost 3 times a week and every time they have rejected us, in a friendly way. But last Monday I felt that we should try again and even though the mother said she was busy, I persisted and we entered and we ended up becoming best friends with all the family. In like an hour they told us stories of their times in the church and with the missionaries that baptized them and I think it was an experience that really gave them a wake up call. 

Another experience is with a non member named Pamela. She's the lady we visited who has cancer. Well time after time we have knocked her door after the first visit but her mom always told us that she wasn't there and had traveled. Well this week we got a call that she wanted us to visit her and so we went and found out that right now she isn't doing so hot. She has a lot of pain her legs and thinks t the cancer is back. Well she asked for a blessing and we gave her one, and taught her a little as well. She was very grateful and said that during the time we were there she didn't feel pain and only felt peace. Well let's hope that she will get better soon but more importantly that her family can accept this gospel so they can be a forever family no matter what happens to her. Well I love this work so much and it makes me sad how fast the time flies cuz I know there is much more I can do for the Lord. Well I love you all and I pray for you guys every morning and night. Keep fighting the good fight and we shall speak the next pday.

besitos

Elder Harper

WELL I'M definitely LEARNING lots of CHRIST-LIKE ATTRIBUTES...

Well this week was definitely a toughhhh one. Because of the situation with my comp, we hadn't

worked very hard and sometimes I just feel like I'm wasting the Lord's time. The highlight was a talent show we did. There were a lot of cool dances and songs from their Peruvian culture. My comp didn't want me to play my harmonica but we did a couple of cool funny sketches with other missionaries.

Well we have even more rules in the mission. We can no longer teach youth unless their parents are baptized members. President really wants us to focus on families and even though it's gonna be a lot harder to have success, I like it cuz I've always wanted to baptize a complete family. It's my dream and I hope it happens. 

We are still working hard with Oscar. He's progressing cuz he's reading, praying, attending church and he even calls us so we can teach him. His only problem with his baptism is that he feels like he has only received half of his answer but still hasn't received his other half. He says if he doesn't receive it by a certain date, he doesn't know if he will be baptized. He's an interesting character but we are working with him. What we really need to do is leave all the investigators we have that aren't progressing and find new ones. President wants us to have 100 contacts a week and we do less than a fourth of that sometimes. 

This week I strengthened my testimony of the power of fasting and of bearing our testimony in sacrament meeting. It can strengthen our testimony and helps the spirit to be more abundantly with us .. Well I'm definitely learning lots of Christ-like attributes and I'm trying to be strong. I love the mission and I love this Gospel.

Thanks for the support folks,

besitos

Elder Harper

I'M COMING to REALLY KNOW MY LORD & HOW HE WORKS in my LIFE & the LIFE of OTHERS...

Hello there family of mine!!              

ward baptism

Well it sounds like the surf is pretty epic and huge. Just reading Dad's letter made me feel pumped and a little nervous at the same time. Well it looks like tomorrow Abbinaffers will already be back home? That's weird..but she served one heck of a mission, definitely a great example to me and I'll continue to try to be more like my big sis.

Well this week was a good one. We are working hard with our friend Oscar. We put a baptismal date or more like a baptismal goal with him for the 13th of September. He said he has been praying to know the things that we teach him are true and I think on Sunday he received his answer. On Sunday the Bishop taught an epic class about testimonies and how we can gain one. He shared many personal experiences of how his life has changed and how he gained his personal testimony. The spirit was very strong and after the class Oscar found us and told us that he felt the spirit strongly and that he knows what we have taught him his true. Oscar is a great guy and you can see how this gospel is changing his life just by how he looks. I don't know if he has suffered from depression or something but when we found him, he always looked serious and kind of sad and didn't really open up much to us. But since this week he just smiles every time we see him. 

Well we finally found the dad of Angela and when we talked to hime, we found out that he's not married so Angela is not gonna be able to get baptized until her parents get married. So that is pretty sad as well cuz her dad doesn't want to. Well the work is pretty hard here. We don't have too many people that are progressing and there are some other problems that I got to deal with but every day I just try to do my best.  I try to give it my all and at the end of the day I ask for forgiveness cuz I know I always fall short. But I'm getting there slowly and I feel the love of the Savior more and more in my life. I'm coming to really know my Lord and my Heavenly Father and how he works in my life and the life of others. 

Well this week we are planning an epic talent show with the objective of finding people to teach. I hope it's successful and I'll make sure to take lots of pics and videos to show you guys. Well that's all I got for now but nos veremos muy pronto mis amigos!! Les Quiero mucho!!

Besitos,

Elder Harper