Sunny Days and Miracles... February 24, 2014

Hello from sunny California!

The weather here is ridiculously sunny and warm and it's still February! I'll never get over it.

This week has been awesome! Sister Young and I have been working hard and seeing a lot of miracles. Yvonne went through a really rough time this last week with opposition from family and friends. But we finally got ahold of her this week and she wants to get baptized as soon as possible. She's getting her thyroid taken out next week, so she wants to get baptized before then. Her new date is March 2nd!! This week is going to be spent frantically planning a baptism! I'm so excited for her. I know that she has a strong testimony and that she's ready. To make it even better, her son, Nico, heard part of the lesson when the elders went over and told Yvonne that he will start investigating when she gets baptized! Miracles I tell you!

I'm really excited for everything that's happening in this wonderful area! One of our beloved less-actives, Lisa, is attending church and just received a calling! 

So yes...I guess I can say that everything is going well. Sister Young and I are happy. Like really happy because we're in the service of our Lord.

I really love this work and am so excited to share the gospel with everyone! One downer, though, Sister Young is probably getting transferred. It's going to be okay though. She's awesome.

The mission is going so well that I never want it to end. It's crazy how fast it goes by; one day you're a greenie and the next minute, you've been out 9 months! It helps me to realize that my time here really is short and that I need to work as hard as I possibly can to build up the kingdom. I'm coming to the point on my mission where I'm realizing that I won't always be a full-time missionary and it's scary. But being here and working with people has helped me to see what kind of member I want to become. I may not always be a full-time missionary, but I'll always be a missionary. (:

Anyways, that was the cute, cliche moment for the day. Things are going well and California is exploding with the Spirit of the Lord.

I love you all!

Sister Julie Catherine Harris

Heartbreak and Healing, Hardship and Hope... 2-18-14

Greetings family and friends! Happy Belated Birthday Dad!!

This week has been an absolute whirlwind. It has been heart-breaking but fabulous and full of miracles!

On Valentine's Day, we were supposed to have a baptism. We had planned for Yvonne to get baptized on that day. I have never tried so hard in my life to get ahold of someone. The entire week of the baptism, she wouldn't answer her phone or door and she would never call us back. I'll be honest, we probably spent a total of 5 hours throughout the week trying to contact her. So we weren't able to get an interview with her and she wasn't baptized. It makes me really sad that she still hasn't gotten back to us because we know that something's wrong, we just don't know what. 

On February 13, we were running around, trying to find Yvonne, dealing with angry ward leaders asking about the baptism, and trying to work hard at the same time. It was a really rough day for us, but in the midst of it, we saw a miracle. Around 3 or 4, we made the final decision that there would be no baptism the next day. Then we went contacting and we were really dejected and upset. We contacted a man named Donald sitting on a bench and ended up teaching him the first lesson! Not only that, but he told us that he really wanted to come to church with us! Sunday comes and Donald walks in halfway through Sacrament meeting and ends up staying all three hours! He loved it and is looking forward to hearing more of the lessons. It was truly a miracle and I know that the Lord will bless us when we press forward in the midst of hardship. 

Valentine's Day was sorely underestimated. As a missionary, you think it'll just be a regular day; it was as bad as Christmas Eve. NO ONE answered their doors after 6 and contacting was terrible!! So advice to all you future missionaries: prepare yourselves for Valentine's Day.

Other than Yvonne not getting baptized, it was a great week. Sister Young and I have been seeing a lot of success and growth in our area due to faith and obedience! We have been able to teach a lesson on the street every day this week! That's a miracle considering the way things are in this area. So we've been greatly blessed this week and we hope that we will continue to be blessed. Yesterday for p-day, we got to go to Capitola and Pacific Grove with Sister Fitzpatrick. It was absolutely beautiful! For all you beach-goers, winter time is the best time to go to the beach. It was gorgeous and we had a wonderful time. It was much needed considering the way our week went. So now I feel rejuvinated and even more excited for the work! 

I'll send pictures when I can; I've been meaning to send Dad a birthday letter, but all of my p-days have been busy so it'll be late. Sorry!

I love all of you guys and I hope you are all being blessed as much as I am! I can feel the influence of your love and prayers and I appreciate them so much! 

Love, Sister Julie Catherine Harris

Highs and Lows... February 10, 2014

Hellooo! I cannot even begin to tell you all how amazing/strange/wonderful/blessed/crazy this week has been! 

The week started with Zone Training Meeting on Tuesday and that was really good. Our Zone Leaders and STLs are incredible missionaries! Then on Wednesday, we had apartment inspections/interviews with President and that was really good. It's always fun to see President and Sister Watkins, but we saw a lot of them this week! Then on Friday we went to the temple with Yvonne and Sister Fitzpatrick, a member from our ward.

It was such a great experience! Since we all fasted for rain last week, it hasn't really stopped raining, so Yvonne was scared that the roads would be bad and she tried to talk us out of going. But we really felt like we would be okay and we felt like she really needed to go up there. She wasn't feeling well, so the entire ride up there, Sister Young and I were praying that Yvonne would be able to feel the Spirit and have a great time. The rain never stopped, but it made for a beautiful foggy view over the bay! When we got there, we had the Visitor's Center to ourselves because their mission's conference was that day. So there was just one senior couple there helping us out. We decided to watch the Joseph Smith movie with her because we knew that her testimony of Joseph Smith was a bit shaky. We found out that they had a new Joseph Smith movie and it's awesome!! It's from his mother's perspective, which was perfect for Yvonne. By the end of the film, we were all crying and we had a really powerful lesson with her when it was over. She told us that her testimony of Joseph Smith was strengthened and that she really loved the movie. To make the day better, there was a Black History Month display in the center and it was perfect because she's black! She told us that her family had said that there were no blacks in the church and so she was really impressed by the display. It was just all-around a perfect day! 

Saturday was a crazy and awesome day! We had our mission conference in the morning with Quentin L. Cook! It was so amazing because we all got to shake his hand. The spirit in the room was incredible when we all started singing the opening hymn; I was expecting to see a choir of angels singing with us! The power that comes from 280 missionaries singing is amazing! Then he spoke to us and reminded us of the process in which missionaries are called. It reminded me of how sacred my call is. His wife spoke to us too and she had us all stand and sing Hark All Ye Nations...again, it was so powerful and every sister was crying! It was a really good meeting and when Elder Cook left the room, I felt like the people in the Book of Mormon. Christ told them He had to leave and they all just wanted him to stay. As Elder Cook was walking out, I felt the same way: I just wanted him to stay with us! It was okay though, because he came and spake at our stake conference that night! The rest of the meeting was really good; we heard from President and Sister Watkins and the whole mission presidency. 

That night, we had our adult session of stake conference and it was a really good meeting! It was all about Hastening the Work and we had Elder Cook and Elder Sabin of the Seventy there! The power that comes from those men is incredible. Yvonne came to that meeting and she enjoyed hearing from an Apostle of the Lord. He was at our Sunday morning session too! He gave a really good talk about following the prophet. He said that if you have doubts, put them aside and look to the prophet. If you focus on your doubts, they will never be resolved; but if you put them aside and have faith in the Savior, they will be swept away. It was a really good talk. Then he left with us an Apostolic blessing on the mission and on the stake. So I had a really amazing weekend to say the least. (:

Yesterday was full of miracles! Not only did we have an amazing stake conference, but a lot of other awesome things happened as well. We taught 6 lessons yesterday because we were just so pumped and working hard! 

Right before dinner, we were contacting and we ran into an angry man. So it takes a lot to make me mad...like really mad. This guy was successful. We contacted him and he proceeded to tell us that we don't know anything and that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were frauds. He raised his voice and yelled at us. Sister Young and I were so blessed to be able to be calm through all of this. I think the Lord blessed us to be as Christlike as we could to him. While he was yelling at us, I felt prompted to bear my testimony, so I did. I bore a simple testimony of the Savior and that I know that He lives. He scoffed at it and got so angry that he had to storm away. I think he was confounded...

It made me really angry for a long time and later that night we had some extra time to do some contacting. Naturally, neither of us wanted to go because we were still shaken up. Regardless, we went anyway. The Lord saw our faith and He blessed us. We were on our way back to the car to go home for the night and we saw a woman sitting at the bus stop. We went up and started talking to her and we ended up teaching the first lesson and having a prayer with her. We got her number and she seemed interested! Her name is Gwen and she is a really awesome woman! As we were walking away, we felt so happy and blessed that the Lord had taken our efforts and blessed us for diligently working even after our hearts had been broken and trampled on. 

The Lord is amazing and he will always bless us when we do our best to keep His commandments. Yesterday was a testimony of that to me. I saw the two extremes of missionary life and was able to end the day feeling the spirit. I feel like we needed to feel low in order for us to see the fruits of our labors later that night. So basically, we can all come to the conclusion that my mission is awesome!

I love this work so much and I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I had to see and meet an Apostle of the Lord. I was edified and strengthened and I feel like I'm truly living the dream!

I love all of you!

Sister Julie Catherine Harris

The windows of heaven... and google glass February 3, 2014

This week was AMAZING. Really. It was!!

Remember last week when I wrote about our new goal of "Ham week?"

Well it worked and we experienced so many blessings and miracles this week!! First of all, we got TWO new investigators! One is Shawn and we contacted into him in downtown. We taught him the first lesson and he wants to come to church. He's from India but is Christian, so he seems pretty solid! Our other new investigator is Lina. She was a referral from the elders and she only wants to meet with us to learn English. She is from Russia originally, but most recently from Israel. She's Jewish but not really practicing. We made a deal with her that we would converse with her in English by "practicing" our lessons. So we'll take what we can get. haha.

Also, big news. Yvonne has a baptismal date!! She wants to get baptized on Valentine's Day!!! The ward isn't happy about that, though, so it might actually be the 15th. But still!! She has been receiving the missionary lessons for 6 months and is finally deciding to be baptized! We're really excited for her, but it's also sad because she missed church yesterday. We called her and found out that she was in the hospital because she had a bad fall. So we're still praying for her and having faith that she'll be better by her baptism date. 

We also were able to contacts several new less-actives that have really good potential and that are excited to come back to church. So many miracles!!

A miracle that happened yesterday:

So on Saturday, we heard that the whole state of California would be fasting for rain on Sunday because the drought is getting really bad. So we decided to go along and fast for rain. Sunday morning, we go out side and it's raining!! For the first time this season! That was a miracle in itself. It was raining the whole time church was going on and then the sun came out afterwards. On the way to ward council in the morning, the rain was falling and behind us the sun was rising and it was so beautiful! As the sun rose, we started to see a beautiful double rainbow in the cloudy sky. It was so perfect and a tender mercy! It was the perfect ending to a perfect week. 

I'm so excited for this weekend! Quentin L. Cook is coming to our Stake Conference and we'll also be having a mission conference with him. SO many miracles are happening every day!

I love you all! 

Oh and happy belated birthday to Danny! I love you!

Love, Sister Julie Catherine Harris

oh and also, I don't know if any of you have ever heard of Google Glass, but I have tried it out! 

Google made these glasses that you can wear and you can see a screen right before your eyes! It's super weird and it kind of gave me a headache, but I guess they're just working out the kinks. There's all sorts of crazy futuristic technology here that I wouldn't even think of! It's actually a bit scary.. They have self-driving cars and other things that make it so people will never have to leave the house anymore...or even move. It's crazy and I'm seeing it all happen here in Mountain View!