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

Mission life has never been so good! October 27, 2014

Hello everyone! 

This week was magical! SO many miracles and so much potential just coming out of the woodwork. 

We taught our investigator, Geraldo and he told us that he wants his whole family to learn with us also. Yay! We also taught our investigator, Mark, at the Stake President's house. It was such a great lesson! He has been out of town, so we haven't been able to meet with him in a few weeks. We really wanted to know where he was at and how he was progressing, so we decided to just ask a few of the baptismal interview questions so we could know. The Spirit was so strong! We could tell that the Spirit was leading the discussion because it seemed like everything that was said was something that he needed to hear. He was very thoughtful at the end of the lesson and we were all just feeling the Spirit. Then we started to talk about goals and covenants. Pretty soon we were talking about a baptismal date. The Spirit constrained us from setting a specific date because we felt like it needs to be his idea. So good news, he's praying for a date IN NOVEMBER. We're really excited about him and we have faith that he'll receive an answer!

The Lord is so wonderful and has been blessing us so much! 

This week has been so crazy and we have been so tired! But it's just incredible how the Lord has been carrying us through it all. I can't even fathom all of the miracles and blessings that He is willing to give us if we just obey His commandments with faith. 

Sorry this is all over the place, I've just been having a lot of thoughts recently. I've been having some awesome studies and have been recognizing a lot of blessings. 

Anyways, I'm doing well and I'm still loving it here in Palo Alto. I'm still living the dream and loving every minute of my mission. 

I love all of you!

Ofa Atu!

Sister Julie Catherine Harris

Ukelele magic! October 21, 2014

This week was really great! We have seen so many miracles and this area has so much potential! I'm really excited to be serving here during this exciting time!

We have met a lot of great people this week and have had a lot of great experiences! 

Yesterday we had a mission conference and Elder Pino of the Seventy was there to speak to us! It was a long but great meeting and the whole northern half of the mission was there! So I got to see all of my Livermore friends!! It was a great time! I played I Believe In Christ on the violin accompanied by an elder on the piano. I was a little nervous, but it went really well! I was truly carried by the Lord and everything was perfect.  P-day has been switched to today, so that's a little weird, but nice. 

We were visiting a Tongan member of our ward when his 15 year old daughter, who's not a member, came out to visit. I had my ukulele with me and we offered to play them a song. I pulled it out and we played I am a Child of God. She loved it! She loved the ukulele! She then played us a song and we jammed for a little while! It was awesome and at the end she said, "You sisters are really cool! You should come over again some time!" We were excited. Okay!

There's a lot of good stuff going on. I don't have a lot of time today to write, but just know that I love all of you and I am so grateful for all of your support. 

Have a wonderful week!

Sister Julie Catherine Harris  

Timing, the Temple, Tender mercies, and Tongans! October 13, 2014

Before I forget, here's my new address: 3041 Alma St. Palo Alto, CA 94306

Good day everyone! This week has been full of miracles! We had so much going on this week: temple trip, Meet the Mormons, zone training meeting, ward luau, and other things. Even with all of those things, we exceeded our goals! 

The temple was absolutely phenomenal. It is always such a treat to go to the temple and feel the Spirit. We went with Sister Olive, one of the Tongan members of our ward. It was really stressful because we wanted to try and make the 9am session but because of traffic and getting lost and other things, we made it barely in time for the 11am session. So we went in there and who do I find in the dressing room? Sister Gregerson and the rest of my Livermore peeps! It seemed like a coincidence, but I know it wasn't. It was a tender mercy from the Lord because He loves me. Also, Sister Nelson's whole last zone was there so there were a lot of people we loved there. If we would've made the 9am session, we would not have had that experience. The session was so great and we all felt the incredible peace that comes when we enter the house of the Lord. Then we all ate lunch together in the temple cafeteria and had a great time. On our way out, Sister Olive ran into a long lost nephew of hers who is serving in the Oakland mission and just happened to be having District Meeting at the time we were there. The timing was just so incredible and it strengthened my testimony that the Lord loves us and cares about what we care about. We didn't NEED to have those experiences, but He knew that we would appreciate them and so He allowed them to happen. It was a miracle!

On Thursday, we all got to see Meet the Mormons in stake centers throughout the mission (because they didn't want missionaries in the theaters). It was a wonderful film! I loved the hope that it brought to me and all those who watched it. If any of you haven't seen it yet, do it. And bring a friend or two. If you have questions about Mormons or don't quite understand, watch it.  It will change the way you view members of the church and the culture of the church. So good! After that, we had Zone Training Meeting in Los Altos and it was fun to go back there for a couple of hours. 

On Saturday, the ward had a Luau and it was so fun!! I got to know a lot of the members of the ward (especially the massive Tongan population we have!). They roasted two huge pigs and had them for dinner! It was so fun! It reminded me of our time in Tonga and it made me really happy. I absolutely love working with those wonderful people. (:

Sunday was great. Since we cover two wards, we went to 6 hours of church! It was exhausting, but it was my first time going to church in the wards, so I met a lot of new people. It was a nice surprise when Steve Young got up to say the closing prayer in Sacrament Meeting. He's in our ward; no big deal. 

SO I'm doing really well and this week was excellent!

Palo Alto is a wonderful place and we also serve in East Palo Alto. They are very very different but both awesome! I'm grateful to be serving here and I love the people and place so much. It's insane how you can grow to love a place and group of people so quickly, but it's all because of the Savior. When we can tap into His love for us, we can feel it for those around us. Especially as we serve with all of our hearts. I love the work!

Go see Meet the Mormons!

Ofa Atu

Sister Julie Catherine Harris