Meetings = Revelatory Experience

August 7, 2017

Alright FAN CLUB! Just another week here in the Bay. The weeks are flying by faster and faster, I can hardly believe it. But the work keeps moving forward and the search for New Investigators never stops! I am excited to see the miracles that will come this next week, but first let me just share a few of the miracles that we had this week!

So this week we got to go to Eugene for our Missionary Leadership Council that we have every first Tuesday of the month. I thought because I had been transferred out of Klamath that it wasn't going to be a very long drive, nope my friends it was still 2 and a half hours. But it was a beautiful drive so I can not complain. But this was probably the coolest MLC that I have ever been to. I LOVE PRESIDENT AND SISTER ORTON! They are so awesome. It has been really cool to see the differences between them and the Russells. I love them all, but I think what the mission needs right now is President and Sister Orton. I forget that he has been working with Young Single Adults for years and so he is giving us the opportunity to learn and grow which has been really great to see! Well this MLC was so great because we did what it is intended, we counseled. We watched a video from a council with some of the general authorities and Elder Bednar made a comment about he wants us to take the word meeting out of our vocabulary and instead use the phrase "Revelatory Experience", so when we go to Sacrament Meeting, we are actually going to take the Sacrament and have a Revelatory Experience. Pretty cool! So all MLC we were able to council about things. About Pondering, companionship study, leadership roles, what we learned last time at MLC. It was a really cool experience. And then at the end, President Orton decided to talk about rules in the mission. Then it all went out the window. The spirit was so strong during the whole MLC the suddenly the last 30 minutes it was gone and there was a lot of contention talking about the rules that had been made. Well, this is how I look at it. When the Prophet dies it doesn't mean that we lose the commandments that he made, so just with President Russell leaving it shouldn't take the rules with him. In the end none of the rules were changes, but I think it is important to realize all the things that I am able to have as a missionary serving here in the OEM. And that those things are GIFTS. And I shouldn't take those for granted.

This week I was able to go on exchanges with the sister down from Brookings, I LOVE BROOKINGS. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. They came up here for interviews so we were able to go out and do work together the day before and such. It was a lot of fun. Sister Schroeder and I went out and did some tracting and met some really great people then we went to contact this man. Well his wife answered the door instead and she really didn't want to talk to us and she was not interested. But Sister Schroeder and I just talked to her for a minute and then it came out that this ladys mom is actually a recent convert in like Missouri! Crazy. She said she has heard a lot of different things about the church since that happened and she just doesn't want to get her family into that quite yet. Well, because she talked about families I felt prompted to talk about my family and to share the Family Proclamation with her. As we did her countenance began to change and she really wanted to read about what we thought about families. She took the pamphlet and we have a lesson with her tomorrow night, I AM SO EXCITED! There is so much potential here in this area, we just have to go out and find them.

We had a really cool annoucement yesterday in Sacrament Meeting!!!! You are all probably aware that the church is making Book of Mormon Story Videos just like they did for the Bible Videos just a few years ago. WELL they are filming the scenes from 1 Nephi, you know the ship scenes, ON THE OREGON COAST RIGHT WHERE I AM SERVING! They are trying to find stand ins and they are paying people to do it! SO COOL. Too bad I am a missionary and that really isn't allowed. But, I am so excited for the Book of Mormon Videos!

President and Sister Orton had the opportunity to come here to the coast this weekend to come and do interviews. I love them so much! President Orton and I had a really good visit and he said that we are doing really well here in this area. I am excited to be able to work with President Orton more and more. We talked a lot about companionship study and I was able to tell him the story with Michelle that I shared last week in my weekly email and he liked it so much that he wants me to type it up and to email it to him! He is a very loving man and in my opinion is doing a great job leading the Oregon Eugene Mission!

The Elder gave us a referral last week for this little girl who is 9 years old, her name is Pippy. Her dad is a returning less active and wanted her to take the lesson from two sane Sister Missionaries. I would like to add right here that Sister Lunt and I are probably not the sanest. But you get what you get I guess! Well we had a lesson this week at the church while he was in his Book of Mormon class. Anyway while we were teaching we talked about Heavenly Father and prayer for the most part and it was a really great lesson. Then at the end we knelt down and guess what, my knee popped out of place, SO EMBARRASSING. Suddenly I am on the floor crying, and her dad walks in. AWKWARD. Definitely did not look sane in that moment. But some how he still let us bring her to church on Sunday. So we found a ride for her and she came with us! We might have thought we lost her like 4 times, but she loved it none the less! Hopefully we will be able to continue teaching Pippy, by being as sane as possible of course.

Alright Fan Club, I guess it is that time of the weekly email to share my spiritual thoughts with all of you. This week Sister Nowell gave me an article to read that she told me changed the course of her mission. It is entitled "Becoming a Consecrated Missionary", I haven't studied the whole document yet but I am very intrigued with definitions of words so I was able to look up what some of the words meant. To be consecrated means to declare or make something sacred, but then I looked up the word sacred and it means to be connected with God. As I have continued to ponder about this I think that this can go much further then just my missionary service. As we begin to consecrate our lives to become more sacred and be more connected with God we are going to find more happiness and more joy then we can ever imagine. But it is also really important to remember that we are going to fall short. None of us are perfect. President Orton made a good comment in my interviews this week saying that we shouldn't live life trying not to make mistakes because mistakes are good learning opportunities. So as we continue to become more consecrated don't be perfect, but try to build your relationship with God to a new level then before!

---Remember who you are and who God EXPECTS you to become---

Love, Your Favorite Sister Missionary,

Sister Harrison

#curlylifeisforme

July31, 2017

 

HELLLLLLLOOOOO FAN CLUB!!

You are receiving this email all the way from North Bend, Oregon! It is about 69 degrees outside, windy and sunny! The best part of North Bend is the nice weather that we get in the summer. Sometimes I forget that it is the last day of July because I wear a cardigan every single day. This week has been me trying to get to know the area a little more and to try and find new investigators. I am definitely not Klamath anymore people. I feel like every Transfer in a new area you have to get to know so many things, the people, the area and even your companion. This week was a slow week but we had a few good laughs along the way so it made it a little easier.

This week we had a lesson with Michelle who I talked about last week, she was the first investigator that Sister Lunt and I found together. Well Michelle was home and ready for us to teach when we got there, which was awesome. She has done a lot of church shopping in her day and by the end she told us that she really wasn't interested in joining our church, that she mostly didn't want to offend us. Which is fine, but we had taught her the whole first lesson and then she told us that. So my hopes were a little high because to me it seemed as though she was accepting our message very well. But Michelle dropped us at the end. But this was the first big teaching opportunity that Sister Lunt and I had, and Michelle gave us a very huge compliment. She told us that we taught as though we had been teaching together for years! She didn't know that we had only been together for like a week. She was amazed when we told her. It was just a big testimony building moment for me to know that really this is our Heavenly Fathers work, he puts us together for a reason, and even though Michelle wasn't interested, I was still able to learn and to grow. God is good!

Well we had a lot of Tracting adventures this week. With every new area I find that I have to change my tracking approaches so I am trying to get in the groove of North Bend finding ways. We talked to a lot of people but I am finding that a lot of people here are Christian and not interested in anything I have to say lol. But it is good experiences for me! Sister Lunt loves to walk everywhere so we have been doing a lot of Street contacting and tracting along the way. Talked to a lot of homeless people and a lot of people who were busy going somewhere. At one point I literally ran away from a dog. First time on the mission I ever had to do that, I thought it was literally going to EAT ME! It was half way out of the fence. No joke. But we did find one new investigator! who then dropped us two days later! But you know after the trial of your faith you will see the miracles, so something good is going to happen this week, I can feel it!

ME NEXT TO THE NARNIA HOLE WE FOUND!

So here in the Coastal Area there is a cool thing that they do. They paint rocks and then hide them. Sounds crazy but it is basically like an adult egg hunt. All around town you can find painted rock and on the back it says keep or hide. So of course we have been keeping them because you know souvenirs! Well I hadn't found one yet and this week we were tracking and I found a rock! I was getting a drink at the lion fountain and i looked down and thought someone just left their hard boiled egg sitting out, NOPE! It was an egg. We may not have found anyone who was interested on that Street but we did find a rock!

This week we had a cool service opportunity! Our ward here in North Bend holds a fundraiser each year for the young woman and young men camps. Well the fundraiser they do is at the county fair and they have a scone booth there! They called us missionaries and asked if we wanted to come help with the scones for awhile then go out and talk to people in the fair. Well we did and it was a lot of fun! It reminded me a lot of Provo Days or American Fork Days! And we talked to some people and handed out a bunch of cards. Well we left our stack of cards there just in case anyone wanted to hand them out that night. Apparently the youth did! They handed out over 100 cards that night and called us and asked for more! SO COOL! Maybe we will start getting more referrals from Mormon.org now!

We got free food at the fair, pretty nice gig!

We got a couple of really cool referrals this week that we are excited to be able to start teaching! One is a daughter of a less active and apparently she is really interested so hopefully we can help her dad come back to church too! Then the other one is someone who the sister had taught in the past so hopefully we can answer some of her concerns and be able to put her on date for baptism. We set a really high goal with our District Leaders last week for us to put 5 people on date for baptism... that didn't happen. We tried but it was hard. So this week we made a reasonable goal of finding and putting 1 on date! Pray for us!

So it's that time of the month when the leadership in the mission has the opportunity to come together in a council to know what we can do to help our mission grow and progress. So this week we were given a couple of reading assignments and I wanted to share one of them with all of you. It is found in Helaman 10:2-4, it is when Nephi is given the power to seal things on both Earth and Heaven, he then goes and teaches the people to repent. So it reads:

2 And it came to pass that Nephi went his way towards his own house, pondering upon the things which the Lord had shown unto him.

3 And it came to pass as he was thus pondering--being much cast down because of the wickedness of the people of the Nephites, their secret works of darkness, and their murderings, and their plunderings, and all manner of iniquities--and it came to pass as he was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a voice came unto him saying:

4 Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.

So a couple things about these verses, first of all I love the word pondering use in these verses. When I looked up what the word ponder meant it said "think about something carefully, especially before reaching a conclusion". I think this is something that I am not the best at during studying, is pondering the things that I read and learn about. So I made it a goal in my studies to try to do that more and to think about how things can apply to me personally, PONDER! Then verse 4 is like my end of mission goal, I said that to Sister Lunt and she hit me because she doesn't like talking about going home. But it is so true! I want to be grateful for the work that I have done here in Oregon, to be unweary in declaring the word, so I will continue to go out and not fear these crazy Oregonians and so at the end of my mission I can say that I was a successful missionary! EPIC

Well I did something crazy today and I got a perm. I never thought that I would love the curly hair life, but I do, like a lot. So know I will probably never do my hair and I am totally okay with it! #thecurlyhairlifeisforme

In the process

LOVE IT

ALRIGHT FAN CLUB! It is that time again to end my weekly email, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read my lovely Oregonian adventures. I am grateful for all of you and hope that you will have a lovely, safe and exciting week wherever that might take you! Just don't forget about me next week (; LOVE YOU!!

---Remember who you are and who God EXPECTS you to become---

Love, Your Favorite Sister Missionary,

Sister Harrison ️

My BEACH experience, #loveme

All of you probably forgot about the holiday

July 24, 2017

Hey Fan Club! Man, this week, it has been an adventure in the Bend! I think the trial that Heavenly Father is giving me right now is that I really like my companion, so much that all we want to do is talk. But this area is really struggling so we have our work cut out for us! I know that I have been sent to North Bend for a reason. In Klamath Falls I was finding like 5-10 investigators a week. Recently here they have been finding 1 maybe 2. There was one person on date for baptism here when I arrived here in North Bend, yeah she dropped us this last week. So you know, lots to work on. In Ward Council they talked to the Elders for 20 minutes, then us, maybe 2. Because we had literally nothing to talk about. But you know, that is going to change. We are going to find many solid investigators this next week and get this area on the map again!

So some of you might be wondering about who my new companion is, well this is her.

She may not look happy, but we spend 90% of our time laughing, so you know it is pretty good. She is from Herriman, Utah! This is her last transfer of the mission, so she goes home at the end of August. So in Missionary terms I will be killing her. She loves Taco Bell. Literally every members house we have had dinner with talks about her obsession with Taco Bell, everyone knows. She jokes about getting a tattoo of the Taco Bell, Bell one day. Lol. She and I are getting along really well. She has 3 sisters at home, is a huge Harry Potter and Star Wars fan... yep. That's Sister Lunt. She is great. And she is ready to work hard which is one thing that I am pretty excited about.

So the first couple of days we tried really hard to get ahold of the lady the sisters put on date a couple of weeks ago, her name is Ashley. We finally saw her. Apparently the sisters met her while they were walking down the street. She just got out of an abusive Marriage so she is very timid around people and suffers from a lot of anxiety. We met with her two times this week and then the third time she dropped us. It was all too much for her. But she told us to come back in a month. Hopefully things will slow down a little bit for her. The gospel blesses so many people lives and I know it can bless hers!

One day this week we got a text from a member, Sister Hemsley (you know the missionary mom for the ward), saying she was making cotton candy and for us to come give it out for free and teach people. So we did! So much fun. We walked around the park handing out cotton candy and just sparking conversations with people. I love it when we can do those kinds of things, also if we have free food in our hands, way more people are willing to talk to us!

Funny Story: so there was a family in Klamath Falls, the Mencls. Great, super nice family. Well they had been planning for months that they were going to move to the coast. So when I found out I was coming the coast I told the wife and we then found out we were going to be in the same ward! So they moved in on Saturday and some member told us what Street they moved to. Sister Lunt and I walked down and contacted and tracted on that street for so long and never found them! I am feeling more and more like a stalker. But if you think about it, that's all missionaries do. Stalk people. Lol. But at least we stalk them to give them the gospel!

This week we had he really cool opportunity to go to the temple! That was a pleasant surprise for me! Apparently the first person that Sister Lunt taught and baptized went to the temple to receive her endowments. What a cool experience, this is literally what it is all about people! We drove 3 hours to get to Medford, a member in the ward, Sister Jones, drove us. It was an all day thing but I just love going to the temple so it was okay. Sister Lunt told me after, "you know, I thought my life was made when I saw her in white on her baptism day. When I saw her in white today in the temple, it brought a whole new meaning!" I can't wait to be able to experience that with people that I have taught on my mission. It was a very happy day and it was much needed. We only have planned temple trips in the mission every 6 months, but in you have concerts going to the temple, you can go! It just gives us more incentives to baptize (; 

So North Bend is in a Bay, so when you look out and see water, you aren't seeing the ocean but you are seeing the bay. It is beautiful, but I am serving on the coast so I wanted to see the ocean. Well Sister Lunt and I decided that we would spend our lunch time at the beach. We cooked a burrito in the microwave and went. When we got there is was beautiful and I loved every second. On our way back to the car we saw a ticket. What the what?!? I was so mad! I looked around and I saw no signs about it costing money to be there! We were there for 20 minutes and guess how much it costs, 5 DOLLARS! So mad. But I paid it because I honor and obey the law. But I did pay attention the rest of the time and looked for signs, still didn't see any. But then we were tracking later and this lady asked where we were from, then asked if we had gone to the beach. Apparently you can go to one of the local stores and buy a beach pass for all the local beaches and it is only $10. So that is happening.

We went tracking the other day and found a really nice lady named Michelle. We taught her about the Restoration of the gospel and it was really cool to see how receptive she was. Sister Lunt kept having his feeling that we needed to tract this Street and so we went and literally no one was interested to begin with. Then right when we met Michelle, she became our first new investigator together! She works for the coast guard and said that she has met a lot of Mormons through her service with them, but has never really known what they believe. She asked if we could come by Tuesday and we happily agreed! She even gave us water and let us use the restroom, very nice lady! Can't wait to teach her soon!

So as a missionary we don't have very fancy phones. It has a touch screen and a sliding keyboard but that is about it. Well Saturday night we got a text and I went to go look at it, and nothing. Apparently the touch screen broke! Right now I think we have 10 unread texts on our phone and we can't look at them! We figured out voice command so we can call people but that's about it. We have had to call the Elders a million times to get people's numbers. So we called the Assistants to the president yesterday and apparently one of the senior couples was willing to drive us down a new phone today! Awesome! So we come to church early this morning to get it, he opens the box, and it is EMPTY! He drove all the way here for nothing! We felt so bad. So apparently we are not going to have a phone for over a week. At least we will be able to call people #roughingit

Apparently the Zone Leaders and the Sister Training Leaders didn't really get along last transfer... like when I got here Sister Lunt told me she hated the Elders... no good. So I have been really trying to get us to get along lol. We had a really good correlation on Friday and the Elders were like, what do we even need to talk about? I had a list. I ran that correlation and they liked it! We are really trying to work together as Leaders. It was really cool because it all went together with the District Meeting that we had. It was about companionship Study and really centered on unity. And in correlation I talked about how if we as Leadership are not unified that we are not going to see success in our Zone. They understood that so we were really able to start working together, thank goodness! I am excited for this transfer, we have 2 brand new missionaries in our Zone training and they are excited to be here and work hard! I love being able to train new missionaries, their fire is unbeatable!

Well we set a goal with our district leader last night that we are going to find and put 5 people on date for baptism this week! And he said if we do, he will buy us Taco Bell, I am not sure if Sister Lunt is more excited about the baptisms or about Taco Bell (;

Well fan club, today for Pday, I don't know if you know what BIG HOLIDAY is tomorrow, but I am sure you all forgot so I will tell you. IT IS HALF CHRISTMAS TOMORROW!!🏻🤶🏻 So today as a Pday activity we are celebrating by having a white elephant, but it is 1/2 white elephant. So we are only supposed to bring half of something. I broke a picture frame I found in our apartment in half this morning and found this picture in the Ensign of pioneers, I know PERFECT! 

In honor of Half Christmas I found this quote on LDS.org that I would love to share!

In my family we have a tradition on a Christmas, after all the presents are opened we have one last one. We go around the room and ask what our favorite gift was, and ask if we would trade if for the greatest gift of all, well the greatest gift of all is our Savior.

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the greatest gift that we could have ever been given on this Earth. Because of him it is possible for us to return to our Heavenly Father. To be able to repent for the wrongs that we have done. To be able to find more happiness then we could ever imagine. Because of our Savior, I am here on a mission doing what I love and serving the people of Oregon. Never forget the things that we have been given because of our Savior. He loves us. And wants us to come unto Him. So today, tomorrow and ALWAYS, don't forget about our Savior, who truly is the greatest gift of all!

Well Fan Club! It has been a great week and I am grateful to be here on the coast, best place in the world to serve! I am really trying to find an excuse for us to go down to Brookings this transfer, if you have any bright ideas please email them to me, thanks! I hope you all have a fabulous week and that you are able to work hard and have fun! And don't forget to email me next week (;

Because you know, the MormonAd says it all ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Love you lots!!

---Remember who you are and who God EXPECTS you to become---

PS Also, Happy Pioneer Day! I wish I could be celebrating it with Fireworks and BBQs like all of you back in Utah, but you know, in Oregon today is just another normal day. So celebrate for me!

Love, Your Favorite Sister Missionary,

Sister Harrison ️

These flowers are HUGE and they are EVERYWHERE

We went McDonalds and ordered floats, well the guy was new and messed up, so we got another one for free. SCORE

HAVE FAITH SISTER!

July 17m 2017

 

Hey Fan Club! This week has been so fantastic, we have been busy basically every second, which is good but by the end of it I am exhausted! But it is always good to earn your pillow every single night. But first things first, I am getting transferred! I am being sent to the COAST!! I am going to be a Sister Training Leader in Coos Bay with a Sister named Sister Lunt. This will be her last transfer in the mission, so I will be missionary killing her, which should be a lot of fun. And I am going back to the Coast for the end of the summer! Seriously, so blessed. And I was already looking at the area I am going to.... and they need some help. Soooo I am going to take the things that I learned in Klamath Falls and put the coast of FIRE!!!

Alright so on Monday we went and did some Mini Golf with Sister Burton and the 1st Ward Sisters. It was so much fun, and I feel like I talked about it already, but it was like a real gold course but made miniature. Super fun. I have loved all of the adventures that I have been able to go on with Sister Burton, I will miss the Pday fun!

On Tuesday we were able to go up to Eugene for Missionary Leadership a Council. We left at 5:30 in the morning and drove up. We love the road trips that we get to go on! We got there a little early so we were able to go and get some breakfast before the meeting. The actual meeting was a lot of fun. It was President Orton's first Leadership Council. It was different being there without President Russell, so the set up was different. But the spirit was there so that was the same. There was one segment in particular that really stood out to me. The Assistants began talking about all the strong leaders in the Book of Mormon, Bible and in Modern Day. Captain Moroni, Nephi, Brigham Young, Alma, all of these men that had leadership qualities that we are striving for. They talked about the rallying cry that Captain Moroni had, The Title of Liberty. My rallying cry should be my purpose as a missionary. At the end of the presentation the Assistants talked about how they invited a set of Elders who are great leaders to come up and talk about how they have been able to strengthen their zone through their leadership roles, all of a sudden our Zone Leaders, Elder Murphy and Elder Falatea, get up. They read Alma 26:12 "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." In the Klamath Falls Zone we know that without God, we wouldn't have been able to see all the miracles that we had seen in this zone the last 2 transfers. They then talked about all the things they have been able to do, and suddenly they asked Sister Roach and I to stand up. As we stood up they thanked us in front of the whole leadership in the mission. Elder Falatea said "These sisters had the driest area I had ever seen in this entire mission, and because they baptized, our missionaries are baptizing!" In that moment I felt like we had seen so much success in Klamath Falls, after the Elders sat down President Orton came over and thanked them for their comments and told us to keep up the great work. But, without God we are literally nothing. So we can't forget that.

(We had to match for out last MLC together, pink was the color!)

So after MLC we literally drove home... and by the time we got back it was time to go to sleep. So then Wednesday we had the opportunity to go up to Girls Camp! It was at this camp called Ester Applegate, and it was beautiful. Sister Roach and I helped the girls pass off a personal progress experience under Individual Worth. We had 4 rotations for the different years. Sister Roach and I thought the idea was kind of silly but it was a HIT, one leader even wanted to do it for a mutual activity and copied down the entire idea. Weird haha. So we read a couple of scriptures like D&C 18:10 Remember the Worth of souls is great in the sight of God. We talked about how our Heavenly Father wants us to think about ourselves, the girls were really involved in a discussion. Then we read a story about being a bucket filler or a bucket dipper. In the story when you are a Bucket Filler you say positive things about yourself, but when you say positive things about others you fill up yours and theirs. But when you are a bucket dipper, you try to dip into others peoples bucket to fill yours, but that never works. In return you are just dumping out your own, this is like bullies and such. So we then went out side and played a little object lesson. The girls were in two teams and had two buckets each. One of the buckets was filled with water and you were trying to fill your other bucket. But to do that you had a cup and you had to pour it into your other team mates cup by pouring it over your head. But every time they poured they had to say a positive comment about themselves or one of the other girls. It was so great! We always went back in and asked the girls how they felt after saying all those positive feelings. With out a doubt they always felt really happy and excited. We gave them a quote and invited them to think about someone in their life that needed their bucket filled and challenged them to reach out to those people. I loved being up and spending time with those girls! It was a blast!

(A picture that we took of the girls doing the activity, so much fun!)

(Sister Roach and I at Girls Camp, we stayed away from the water while the girls were down there, they had a lot of talk about throwing us in, so we waited until they were done :) )

This week we had a lesson with Vic, our recent convert. We were teaching about the Plan of Salvation and got to the Atonement. When we were talking at first he was telling us about how much he is loving the scriptures. He kept saying"I feel jacked up!!" I still don't think he knows what the word means. But he is loving the gospel and is so grateful for the opportunity he has to be a member. He read a chapter about how easy the gospel is. He decided that he needed an easy button because it was just so easy! We then started teaching and he basically taught the lesson. Then I got to teach about the atonement and I got to testify about why I came on a mission. In Preach My Gospel it says "As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase." And I was able to testify to Vic that as he continues to come to understand the gospel more in his life that he will want to share the gospel with everyone, and he is already starting to see that! Then Vic started asking about transfers and I was a little nervous about it, he looked at me in the eyes and said "Sister, you need FAITH!" So I got called out by my recent convert, so nice of him, hahaha but I probably needed it.

We had a lot of opportunities to go out and contact different people this week. Last night we had a really cool experience. We went to go see a lady named Glenda. I had taught her a couple of times and we felt really prompted to go see her. She has a lot of potential. We talked to her and she told us that she had to put her dog down and she was having a really hard time with it. We talked about prayer and about how her Heavenly Father loves her and knows her personally. I began telling her that I was being transferred, but testified that there is a reason that missionaries stopped by when we did. That God has a plan for her and that she needs to continue down this road. She and I began to cry, the spirit was so strong. I know she is a choice spirit just like all of us are, I can't wait to see the miracles that happen with her.

The other day someone during sacrament meeting said a quote that I have heard a million and one times but it's one that really hit me. "Make it a good day or not the choice is yours!" I think I heard this on the school announcements everyday for years. But it really hit me. In this life we have the opportunity to be happy. We really do! I have see. So many people going through life's hardest trials and they are the happiest people around. Positivity is key. I know that as we apply the gospel in our lives that we will find the happiness that our Heavenly Father wants us to achieve. It all starts with the simple things, reading the scriptures, saying prayers and attending church. This is where we will be able to make it the good day or not! And don't forget, the choice is always yours.

Well fan club, it has been a pleasure to tell you about the last week I had with the Klam Fam. I am so sad to leave, but I will go where the Lord needs me, and right now that is on the Coast in North Bend! I know the Lord knows us personally and is willing to give us miracles if we put in the effort! So I hope you have a great week and do something fun so you have something cool to email me about (; LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

---Remember who you are and who God EXPECTS you to become---

Love, Your Favorite Sister Missionary,

Sister Harrison ️

Sister Nowell and I at MLC, I love my Mission Momma!

Our last road trip selfie that turned into what could be an album cover 🏼

You can take the girl out of Klamath but you can't take Klamath out of the girl

God is Good!!!

7/10/17

HELLO FAN CLUB! This week has been a great week here in the Klamath Basin. We have been able witness many miracles, teach many lessons and find many investigators. The missionary work is going very well, and as President Orton said it "the Klamath Zone is very blessed." We all agree, as Alma 26:12 says: "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." As missionaries here in the OEM we are nothing, but with God we are everything, without him we couldn't do the work!

This week we were able to meet President and Sister Orton, when they walked in the chapel we all stood up and sang Called to Serve, the spirit was so strong and that was the moment when I just felt an overwhelming feeling that they have been called of God. We were able to get to know them quite a bit and have short 3 minute interviews with President Orton, and this week they will be planning transfers for next week. Crazy. There was a moment when he asked for comments and Sister Roach and I were able to bare testimony, Sister Roach said "You might be stuck here in Klamath, but you are supposed to be" and that really hit me hard. I think sometimes I feel like I have been stuck here. But this is where God needs me to be and it has been a fabulous experience. President and Sister Orton left Klamath just as fast as they came. But I am excited to get to know them more and more.

Everyone last week was asking how we celebrate the 4th of July on the mission. Well this is basically what happened. We had interviews in the morning, then we went to work like any other day hahaha. Not a lot changes. We were on exchanges so Sister Fiagle and I went tracting and no one wanted to listen to us, but you know what, we were obedient and that is all that matters. For lunch a member texted us and invited us because they had a lot of food, so you know classic American BBQ. Then we continued working and then went to dinner. Then at 7 pm we had to be in our apartment. From 7-9 we studied in our apartment. Then 9-10 we did a puzzle. Hahaha good 4th of July. We ended up sitting on the grass outside for a few minutes and we got to watch some fireworks. It was really fun. So maybe not the normal 4th of July, but it was so much fun in missionary standards. Also because we were on exchanges we were able to have a sleepover with the Lakeview sisters, so that was pretty fun!

This week we were able to go on exchanges with both of the sets of sisters in our zone. So much freakin fun. It was weird leaving it to the end of the transfer but I love being with my sisters. I went with Sister Fiagle (who has been out a month) then Sister Francis another day (who has been out 6 months). Both sisters are really hard workers and I learned a lot from them. I hope they learned a lot from me as well. But let me just tell you about an experience that Sister Fiagle and I had. We were walking down a street that Sister Roach and I had found a new investigator on a few weeks ago. I wanted to go contact her and as we were walking up to the door we saw a paper on the door. It said... in this English and everything "If you are here to deliver you CULT!!! Literature, we don't want it Don't knock on I will open the door & let my PITBULL EAT YOU *on the side Mormons or JWs*" So we left because we figured they were talking about us. But I of course took a picture of it to show Sister Roach. Well we had to go find the Elders to get something from them, and we showed them the picture and realized IT WAS WRITTEN ON A PAMPHLET. So Sister Fiagle and I went on a secret mission to take it down. Well after much effort it is now down and in my journal so I can show my kids one day that persecution on the mission is real, but it is SO worth it. Hahaha

This week Sister Roach and I have been listening to this song from Nashville Tribute and I feel like it goes along so well with our life the lyrics go "God is good, God is good, we've come so much farther then we thought we could, keep walking now God is good", So I just want you to know, that GOD IS GOOD! And he can help us through whatever path we need him to.

We had a funny experience with this lady named Glenda this week. Sister Roach and I had talked to her a couple of weeks ago so we came by to follow up and we ended up talking to her for like an hour and explained the Book of Mormon to her. At one point she was like "you know what, I used to go our with a Mormon once, he was hardcore! Wore the white shirt and everything!" So funny. But she said that she would read it and she had a few misconceptions so she was excited to see what it was really about. We have a lesson with her tonight.

This next week Sister Roach and I are going to put 6 people on date for baptism. We had a goal at the beginning of the transfer to end with 7 people on date, right now we have 1. So we have our work cut out for us, but you know God is Good.

So apparently we are going up to Girls Camp this week to be able to speak to the Young Women in our Stake. We are pretty excited, also a little bit stressed because we only found out yesterday morning. Good thing being a missionary has helped me overcome these stressful situations a little bit better then before. We also get to go up to Eugene tomorrow for a meeting, so many things happening this week and I just cant even wait!

Today for Pday Sister Burton in our ward took us to go Mini Golfing at the Running Y. Which is like the rich part of Klamath Falls, it is literally a Resort. And this mini gold course is like a golf course made mini. It was so much fun, the 1st Ward Sisters were able to come and it was a lot of fun. I love little Pday Adventures with Sister Burton!

This week I had the opportunity to reread the Book of Mormon from the beginning once again. So many different insights come to me as I read the pages, and one particular verse stood out to me at this time.

1 Nephi 1:20

But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.

While reading a talk entitled 'The Tender Mercies of the Lord' by Elder David A. Bednar, I found this quote:

"I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ."

Whenever I study about tender mercies I begin to recognize and understand those little things in my life that show that my Heavenly Father loves me personally. 

Last night we had a dinner with a family in our ward. This mom is a returning less active and her husband is not a member. Some Sundays it can be hard for her to sit in sacrament meeting with her 3 young daughters, one of whom is in the terrible 2s. She talked about how she felt like she was being a disturbance and expressed that she was going to leave right after sacrament with her 3 kids because of "scene" they had made. But after sacrament many people came and expressed to her love and greetings that made her know she was supposed to be there. When she told this story I talked about these tender mercies. Tears came to her eyes as she expressed that she knew God was aware of her and her situation. How grateful am I for a loving Heavenly Father, who is willing to take just a few seconds out of our day to express his love for us! Take the time to recognize your tender mercies this week. They may be big, or small but I know they are there!

Fan Club, I know I say this probably every week but I just want to say it again! I am so grateful to be an instrument in the Lords hands here in the Oregon Eugene Mission. So many miracles are happening here in Klamath Falls, and we all just feel so blessed! Thank you for all your love and support that you give me. Don't forget to email next week! Love you all and have a safe week!

---Remember who you are and who God expects you to become---

PS. Next week is transfers, and who knows I might stay in Klamath for another round, but just in case I don't please email me the night before, LOVE YOU ️️

Love, Your Favorite Sister Missionary,

Sister Harrison ️

Our Zone Picture with the Klamath Falls Zone!!! Welcome to the Best Mission in the World President and Sister Orton!

For the 4th of July we found this flag and HAD to take a picture. Happy Birthday AMERICA

The Lakeview Sisters had to experience my favorite Snow Cones, they are both from Utah so they understand my cravings.

Golfing this morning with Sister Francis & Hawkes, too much fun!

This could be the last week with Sister Roach, I have to live it up! Love her!

Baptisms, Snow Cones and Crater

July 3, 2017

The weeks are just flying by faster and faster. But this week was one for the books. So many miracles and to top it off Vic got baptized! So much spiritual leakage happened this week! I am just forever grateful for the opportunity that I have to be an instrument in the hand of the Lord. And I thought spending 6 months in Klamath would be hard, but honestly I have had so many missionary pay days here in Klamath because of the miracles I have seen! 

I had a funny experience his week, a lot of members are starting to realize that I have been here for a long time, well this week the Young Women had a fundraiser dinner. They served Navajo Tacos and it was cool because two members ended up buying us tickets so we took home leftovers! Anyway, a daughter of our lady in our ward is less active and she was there and she said, "Man Sister Harrison, haven't you been here since Easter?" Me: "Actually I have been here since January 30th" her: "wow, I hope you like it here..." hahah don't worry don't worry I do I do!

This week we were able to have two amazing lessons with Vic. When we teach him lessons it is more like he is teaching us you know? It is so awesome. We talked about Missionary Work and apparently Vic is already posting quotes from prophets and apostles on his Facebook for everyone to read! At one point we all got super emotional, Sister Burton was at our lesson and she asked Vic, what do you think has changed the most since you decided to get baptized. And he talked about his entire like has changed and his is a completely different person. And then he talked about how an Elder missionary not long ago told him that he was going to be an important asset to the church wherever he goes and whenever he gets baptized. And right then I knew it was true. Vic is going to go far in life because he has accepted the gospel. This week Sister Roach and I were thinking about it and we remembered the first time we met Vic about a month and a half ago. It was the week that we didn't have a car. Vic texted us saying we could stop by at 10 in the morning... well he lives 3 ish miles away from our house. So Sister Roach and I walked all the way there and when we finally got to his house and didn't really talk before hand what we would share with him. Suddenly he starts bearing testimony that the church was true and that he knew it (background he had probably met with missionaries for 5 years-- he was an eternigator). Suddenly the spirit took over and I was inviting him to be baptized on July 1st! And he accepted, and now Vic is getting baptized on that day. This has been a long time coming and he is more then ready!

We met with our investigator Valaurie this week and went over the qualifications for baptism. One of them being living the Word of Wisdom. When we talked about it she was all on board! We said so when are you willing to quit smoking? She said well ideally I would love to stop tomorrow, realistically, I will quit Saturday! And sure enough she did! She wasn't feeling good so she couldn't come to church but she is still on track to be baptized, I love these miracles!

Last Sunday the fourth Ward Elders had a non member come to their ward and apparently her son is a member and has taken the missionary discussions before, but lost her Book of Mormon so wanted to meet with us sometime. So guess what, we went over there the next day! We hunk it ended up being more her son who was interested in having his mom take the discussions but we still had a great conversation with all of them either way. Her name is Knell and she sat there and listened to the whole Plan of Salvation and we talked and she said we could come back, so who knows!

This week Sister Roach and I decided that we needed a new way to destress so we went to the Dollar Store last Pday and bought a dollar store puzzle. Well during our 9:30-10:30 hour we were able to finish our puzzle and it is missing 6 edge pieces and has 11 duplicate pieces for the inside. I guess that is what you get when you buy a dollar store puzzle.

Alright so President Russell had a cool inspired way for us to find more qualified new investigators. Apparently on the pacific coast it takes about 40 new investigators to every one person to be baptized. Well in the OEM it is actually a little bit more then that. So what he wants us to do is go tracking or contacting to find people, then 5 minutes after we find them, to call them and confirm your appointment and commitment. At first Sister Roach and I weren't really excited about this change because we knew it would result in fewer new investigators each week. But then we realized that was very prideful thinking, and there should be no pride when it comes to doing the Lords work. So we decided to change our thinking. This week our goal was to find 10 new investigators, but in the end we only found 4. Yet they were 4 solid people with solid return appointments. One of the people we found her name is Nicole, I actually found Nicole when I first got to Klamath and haven't been able to get ahold of her. But this week we did it! And we had a 45 minute lesson with her on families and it felt so good to know that we are helping her truly progress to baptism, which is our purpose. Thank goodness for inspired men of a God who are called to guide and direct our missions!

Speaking of inspired men President Russell left the mission on Saturday, President Orton was supposed to come Friday but his father passed away so it pushed off him coming for a day. But we called him yesterday to ask about some things and he sounds really excited to be here! We have interviews with him tomorrow and we are excited to meet him!

Alright now about the baptism, the day went along with 2 baptisms! The last couple of months we have had the privilege of teaching a girl named Lauren Phillips who is a member in our ward. Her mom asked if we could teach her the lessons and we did, so we know her as our own and we were able to attend her baptism. It was a great experience. Although, there were 4 children getting baptized Saturday morning and apparently the drain (which is totally 1970 and needs fixing bad) started letting the water out too soon. One of the boys had to be baptized 6 times! So we started freaking out a little bit for Vic's baptism later that night. We came to the church and Vic was wearing a BLESSED church and he knew he was feelin it. He had a huge smile on his face the entire time and everything. The spirit was so strong until during the talk on baptism we heard the drain draining.... when Vic got in the water was down to his knees. But some how Brother Teeples was able to pull out a wrestling move and baptize him the first time! Thank goodness!!! The baptism was a success and I was grateful to be a part of it. Then the next day his confirmation went so well. Then Sister Roach and I went to go bear our testimonies and we were walking down and Vic was walking up! I cried the whole time. He just talked about his journey and was grateful for everyone who had been apart of it. He is going to do great things!

Ummm also the other day Sister Roach and I decided we needed an Ice Cream Cone! We went to McDonalds and their ice cream machine was broken, so sad. We started driving to Dairy Queen and suddenly there was a shaved ice stand!! I yelled at Sister Roach and told her to pull over the car! Soooo we got a snow cone! I haven't had a snow cone in forever, and guess what the best part was! It is owned by members and they gave us free ones! I think I am going to keep those guys in business.

So the reason why this weekly email is a little later then normal is because we went to CRATER LAKE this week for Pday! The Burtons were willing to take us that the Zone Leaders to Crater Lake and it was absolutely beautiful! This is a place that everyone should come and see. Basically 7,700 years ago Mount Mazama was there and then it erupted, it used to sit like 12,000 feet, now there is Crater Lake in the middle. No water enters in and no water leaves. It is blue and has been told it is the clearest water. This is a breathe taking place that really shows the beautiful things that our Heavenly Father has created for us. I LOVE OREGON!

For my spiritual thought today I figured I would just let you know that I was able to finish the Book of Mormon this week. And I just wanted to testify that I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, and I know that as we read it with a sincere heart and our Heavenly Father will testify to us through the Holy Ghost that it is true. This next week is Book of Mormon week for the Klamath a Falls Zone and I can't wait to find those who Heavenly Father is preparing to receive a Book of Mormon!

Alright fan club, this week has been fab and I hope yours was too. This week will bring even more miracles I am sure and I am so grateful to be apart of it. I love you all and miss you tons! Have a fantabulous week!!!

---Remember who you are and who God EXPECTS you to become---

Love, Your Favorite Sister Missionary,

Sister Harrison ️

A member took us to Black Bear Diner and he bought us a pie to go #piefordayz

I could go on and on for days with pictures but time is running out. love you all! ️ ️ ️