Hard Work, Love, and a Fulness of JOY... December 15, 2014

Well everyone, this is it. Today marks my last proselyting day as a missionary. 

There are so many emotions and so many thoughts all swirling around in my head at the moment, but I'm happy.

My mission has been the absolute most wonderful experience of my life and I will forever remember the wonderful times I've had here. I feel bad for anywhere else I might live in my life because California will always have my heart!

This week has been an emotional roller coaster. It has been a week of "lasts". Last District Meeting, last lessons with people I love, last Sunday in the wards I've spent so much time serving and loving. It has been crazy, but I've had a lot of time to reflect on the things I've learned on my mission and the habits I've developed. 

Before my mission, I was lazy. You all know that! On my mission, I've learned the importance of hard work. Not working hard just for the sake of working hard; but true, real work that represents your devotion and love for an important cause. 

I've also learned a lot about love. Not just love but charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ. It's the expression of the deep love you have for your Savior and for others. My mission has given me a sense of this type of love for all people. I have learned to see others as the Lord sees them. I'm still working on treating them the way the Lord would, but that's part of developing charity. My love for the Savior has increased tremendously and has grown so strong that I want to share it with everyone, all the time!

There are sooo many things that I have learned on my mission and believe me, you'll all hear about them soon! But I think the number one thing I can say about my mission is that I've experienced something very close to a fullness of joy. The joy that I've been experiencing comes from obedience to the Lord's commandments. I've learned the value of exact obedience and never want to let up. The commandments are worth keeping because they bring a fullness of joy and countless blessings. They also bring you closer to Heavenly Father. I've learned to obey joyfully. I obey because I want to; because I love to; because I cannot go one day without receiving the blessings that come from obedience. 

Serving the Lord brings so much joy into my life and I will continue to serve to the best of my ability. 

I love you all so much and I am grateful for the support and love I've received over the past 18 months! Thanks for your wonderful examples and testimonies. 

Ofa Atu

Signing out,

Sister Julie Catherine Harris

Merry Merry Christmas!!! December 9, 2014

Good day everyone!

This week has been crazy crazy crazy! But I guess that's every week on the mission. haha.

We have been seeing so many miracles! We have been using He is the Gift to find and teach people and it has been amazing! It has been helping everyone to get into the spirit of Christmas!! If you haven't seen that video, go to lds.org and watch it!! This Christmas season has been a wonderful one. We have been helping people to focus on the true meaning of Christmas which is Jesus Christ. The whole world, whether they know it or not, is focused on the Savior during this season. It's amazing! 

We have been meeting with a family named the Kokas recently. They are a part-member family and they are wonderful!! The wife is not a member and they have two 15 year-old sons that haven't been active in a while. We have built such a wonderful relationship with them! We taught them how to play Speed and we've been having tournaments every time we go over, followed by a lesson of course. Haha! I love how creative we have gotten about the work here. Our mission president wants us to get as creative as possible during this Christmas season and we've been trying our best! 
We've also done a lot of Christmas caroling! We go to downtown Palo Alto at least twice a week and sing Christmas carols while inviting people to come to the Creche exhibit. I just love the feeling that is in the air. Palo Alto at Christmas time is gorgeous. We went to the Creche the other night and it is beautiful! It's a wonderful and cultural way to feel the love of Christ!

On Sunday, we had combined meetings with two other wards in the stake and we had an excellent program. It was a musical testimony meeting! Everyone was welcome to come up and share their testimony followed by their favorite Christmas hymn, and then the whole congregation would sing that song. It was so spiritual and awesome! I really developed a love for the song "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day". I love the peace and hope the Christmas season brings into the lives of all people. 

The best part about Christmas is that we're celebrating the Savior; not only His humble birth, but His whole life, His death and sacrifice for us, and His resurrection. I think that we should pause not only during the Christmas season but every day to think about what the Savior means to us individually. And then we can think about what gift we'll give to Him. There's so much we can do to show our gratitude for the Savior, especially at this time of year. What gift can YOU give to Christ this year?

I'm just filled with love and so much joy. Things are getting crazy now as I am approaching my last week in the mission field. There are so many different emotions that I'm feeling, but I continually find comfort in the scriptures and personal prayer. The Lord is so wonderful and merciful and He loves me and you. 

Ofa Atu

Ote Alofa Ia te Oe

Sister Julie Catherine Harris 

He is the Gift.... December 1, 2014

Happy Monday everyone!!

Today we started setting up for the Christmas Creche exhibit that is held here in Palo Alto and we had a lot of fun! We've been going caroling and inviting EVERYONE to it, so hopefully we'll get a great turnout! 

This week was awesome but rough. Sister Britton and I got sick at exactly the same time and it's been lingering for days. We both came down with sore throats while we were on exchanges this week! But we've been pushing through and eating soup and drinking tea. Gotta love winter time! The winter is beautiful here! It has been wet and rainy and it looks like Palo Alto's in for a very green Christmas!
The Church came out with a new video for Christmas called 'He is the Gift' and it's awesome!! It's the new 'Because of Him'! We have been showing it to everyone and it has been helping people to see the true meaning of Christmas. There truly is a special spirit that surrounds this time of year. Everyone go watch it! christmas.mormon.org

My companions and I were talking the other day with a member about the true meaning of Christmas. We were talking about how everyone just seems to be nicer and more giving for the months of November and December. We realized that it's because people are focusing on Christ. Whether they realize it or not, people are focused on the Savior at this time of year. Just think about how much better the world would be if people focused on the Savior year-round. Everyone would be aware of the needs of those around them and they would have charity towards them. So try to keep the Savior in your hearts always!

Everything is going really well. I am just so in love with this whole area and all of the members and investigators and trees and puddles and everything else!! There's just nothing like the bay area!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Ofa Atu,

Sister Julie Catherine Harris

Turkey Attack Time! November 24, 2014

Sisters Harris, Britton, and Nelson

Hello everyone! Happy Thanksgiving!

This week was awesome! We have been seeing so much success recently and we have a lot of great ideas for the upcoming Christmas season! Thanksgiving is coming up and I've been thinking a lot about gratitude lately. 

I think it's sad that the world seems to only be grateful in November. i know I fall into it as well. The Book of Mormon tells us to live in Thanksgiving daily! I love thinking about what I'm grateful for. There are so many things that I can't even count! The gospel, my Savior, a loving Heavenly Father, eternal family, friends, my mission, the Atonement, repentance, missionary work, rain, trees, California, music, art, the scriptures, prayer, the Church, the sacrament, the priesthood, food, my body, water, and soooo many other things. It's amazing how the more you count your blessings, the more you receive. When you really sit and think about all you're grateful for, you'll discover so many more blessings! The Lord loves us so much and He wants to give us blessings. 

We have been teaching a lot and going on a lot of splits this week. It has been great and we've been working so hard! We come home every night exhausted and wake up in the morning just as exhausted, but we keep working hard because it makes us happy to serve! It's getting cold and rainy (my favorite weather) here and people's hearts are softening due to the holiday season. I love it here!

My companions and I made cute turkey hands, copied them, and are going to be "turkey attacking" people's doors with a plate of cookies this week. Happy Thanksgiving! We currently have three Thanksgiving dinners planned...bring it on! We've been conditioning for it though because we've been having double dinners a lot. So full!

I invite all of you to consider what you're grateful for and give thanks to the Lord or anyone else. Alma 26:8

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ofa Atu, 

Sister Julie Catherine Harris

A strange meeting... Our friend, Sariah, was visiting friends in Palo Alto, and ran into Sister Harris! They were soooo happy to see each other, and Sariah reports that Julie is still Julie, only more grown up and beautiful!

2 Apostles, 2 Days... November 17, 2014

You guys!!
This week has been awesome! So transfers happened and here's the news.
Before transfers, we (the Palo Alto 1st and 2nd sisters) were roommates
with the Stanford 1st and 2nd sisters (YSA and MSA wards). One of the
Stanford sisters got transferred to Pleasanton and Sister Britton was added
to our companionship. So we're in a trio now and covering all 4 wards!!
Somehow I knew I would start and finish my mission in YSA! (:
So things have been really exciting! Combining areas seems to be a pattern
on my mission.. We have been so so busy and loving it! It's really fun to
be companions with my MTC companion again! The work has EXPLODED and we are
working really hard to combine and prioritize everything. Life sure is fun
when you have 4 wards that all want to feed you! haha oh man.
So we've been running around Stanford like chickens with our heads cut off.
This weekend was awesome! Today, November 17th, marks the 50th anniversary
of the Oakland Temple, so there has been a lot of celebration around here.
Between that and the World Series, the bay area is on FIRE! Elder Bednar
was up here for the weekend to address the entire bay area at the Oakland
Temple to celebrate. While he was here, he hosted a dual-mission meeting
with us and the Oakland mission on Saturday just for the missionaries!! It
was so awesome to be in a huge room with over 500 set apart servants of the
Lord and an Apostle. It was a wonderful meeting! He and his wife spoke to
us and we were all spiritually filled. It was also very joyful to see all
of our friends and feel the pure love of Christ!
Then on Sunday (yesterday), we were at the Palo Alto 1st ward. We always
stand by the doors to greet people as they walk in and give them programs.
As we were standing there greeting, Elder Neil L. Anderson and his wife
walked in casually, shook our hands, and took a program! When he first saw
us he said, "It's the Sister Missionaries!!" He was a super nice guy and it
was an awesome surprise to see him there in our church building. He went
and sat up on the stand and he was just a regular part of our sacrament
meeting program. He gave an awesome talk about being a disciple of Jesus
Christ in Palo Alto. I guess his son lives in the ward, and he and his wife
were just visiting for the weekend. Stuff like that doesn't happen every
day!
As you can tell, we are being so blessed! The work is hastening and great
things are happening here on the peninsula!!
I love this work and I love the Lord! He is blessing us soooo much!
Ofa Atu
Go Stanford! (:
Sister Julie Catherine Harris

P.S. We got a phone call from Jeff Smith, one of our NewZealand study Abroad students. I asked him where he was, and he said, "Well, I saw someone you know today." 
I said, "Who? Where are you?" 
He said, "Well, I saw Sister Harris! I said, 'Julie?' and when she turned around, I was going to grab her, then  I saw the name tag, and I let go!"
Jeff is in the Stanford YSA ward, so now she has a "big brother" there! Nice to know...   Sandy

Cookie Droppin' : -) November 10, 2014

Hello everyone! 

This week was so awesome! It strengthened my testimony of hard work! At the beginning of the week, Sister Nelson was sick, so we weren't able to get a lot of work done. We didn't know if we were going to hit our goals for the week, so we were really worried. Also, we did a lot of exchanges this week, so that added to the stress. But we worked as hard as we possibly could and as we counted up our numbers last night, we found out that we not only met our goals, but we exceeded them! It was such a testimony to me that if we work hard, the Lord will bless us in our righteous efforts and desires. Good things are happening here in Palo Alto! The work is hastening! I know I say that in every letter, but it's so true. 

To all you members of the church: missionaries cannot preach the Gospel to the whole world by themselves. We absolutely need your help. The work is hastening so don't get left behind! Please do all you can to share the gospel with someone because the truth is, everyone needs it! Don't be afraid! The Lord wants you to succeed in preaching the gospel! I love it.

Everything has been going well. Last night was the outgoing fireside (the fireside for all missionaries going home to bear their testimonies.). It was a very emotional evening! I watched my trainer and a few other of my companions bear their final testimonies as missionaries. It was really sad to see them go! ):

Sister Ferrin, Sister Bassett, and Sister Boyd are going home this week!

It's getting really cold here in Palo Alto, but I'm loving all the clouds and rain. 

Last p-day we went to Stanford! We had so much fun walking around campus and seeing everything. It's beautiful! 

I've been thinking today about Christ's example of obedience. Christ was exactly obedient to the will of the Father. Exactly obedient. If Christ was just moderately obedient, would we feel like He loved us? The answer is probably not. He obeyed exactly the commandments and will of the Father because He loves the Father and He loves us. As missionaries, it is so important to be exactly obedient. It's how we show our love for the Lord and for those we serve. Being exactly obedient does not mean being perfect. It means trying your best every day to continually improve your level of obedience and repenting daily of mistakes you make. I have absolutely loved living this principle on my mission. It has helped me to understand better the Savior's atonement and the fulness of joy that comes from faithfully keeping the commandments! He loves us so much!

I love you all!

Ofa Atu!

Sister Julie Catherine Harris 

P.S.  Regarding the subject line of this email, we have started something new in our ward mission!

Our Ward Mission Leader proposed a new plan of action of how we're going to help build up the work in the ward. 

Cookie Droppin'.

Every week, Sister Nelson and I make several batches of cookies and bring them to various less-actives, actives, and nonmembers in the area. I am amazed and blown away by how many doors have been opened to us in this way! 

It's amazing how showing love for someone in such a simple way can make such a difference. It has strengthened my testimony that everyone needs and wants to feel loved. It's wonderful to reach out to those in need and everyone else!

Make someone some cookies this week!

Sister Harris

Winter is Coming! November 3, 2014

Sister Harris and Sister Nelson at the Oakland Temple

You guys, it's getting COLD! I love it though! 

Things are going really well! Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time to write today, but I'll do my best to convey the general feelings of this week.

The work is picking up! The wards are going crazy in preparation of the Creche exhibit (google it!), so I guess Christmas is coming early this year. :/

Dang. 

Everything is great! All is well! I absolutely love the work and especially working here in this area. Our investigators are doing well and the the work is hastening! 

I love my life and I love the Lord!

Sorry it's so short, but that's about all!

Ofa Atu!

Sister Julie Catherine Harris

http://www.christmascreche.org
https://www.facebook.com/ChristmasCrechePaloAlto
...sounds like a pretty big deal!!

I spoke with Julie's ward mission leader, who had her over for dinner and to teach his wife. He said they l ove Julie, and love when she brings her Uke and sings with them. They had her play the Uke at their daughter's baptism. Good to hear she is loved there!!!   -Sandy