HAPPY, BUT HEAVY DAYS

Hello!

These days are happy but heavy days for all of us in the mission. One of my favorite Elders in the mission was sent home last week for disobedience. I could tell that President was truly heartbroken but he knew what he had to do. Today he brought the fire for the first time since I came to ghana and made it very clear that the Lord does not want those who struggle with the things that most of our missionaries struggle with in this mission. New rules have also been added to help us follow the white hand book. This was all needed I feel and will be a good thing for me and everyone else but I mourn for that missionary who only had three weeks left.

Today we had a match against Takoradi and Secondi zones and got handled. They had plenty of subs while we had to play the whole time. We kept up with them for the the first half and got killed in the second. It was a lot of fun since I got to see Elder Peterson and Elder Tracy again. It's going to suck since we will no longer get to travel out of the zone for activities anymore. Now I'm going to rot in Assin Fosu. It's all right except for the fact that all the guys who made the zone fun are now being sent away.

Last week we had our first specialized training with President Sabey. He taught us some princepals of Leadership in the church that every one in the church should know. The first princepal was that we should never aspire for any leadership position in the mission or in the church. Leadership is not required for the Celestial Kingdom and aspiring for leadership implies that we are trying to take the honor unto ourselves. The second princepal is that we should not try to figure out who may become the next leader in the church and we certainly should not talk about it with others. Doing such shows disrespect for the way God chooses His leaders and we should remember that His thoughts are not our thoughts. There are many reasons for both of these principals.

Things are going good here despite our crapy Mondays. I wrote and sent some letters for you guys this week so be excited. Sorry about the speeding ticket Jeremy. I refuse to drive to Six Flags ever. Too much bad stuff has happened, all of which has to do with the car. Six Flags is sweet. I hope you guys had fun. How much was the ticket? I'm glad you were able to have a great B-day mom! Grandma told me about how busy the month of August is and it sounds like your all having a great time! What is Granville? Mexican food sounds really good to me right now.

The Fishy beans showed up again and this time I ate it and liked it. It was a lot better with rice that's for sure. I finally found out how to cook rice. It takes a long time but it's pretty easy. It is a lot cheaper too so I don't have to spend so much money on Indomie. It is also a lot more filling.

The Weather has been pretty sweet lately. Its been really cool and the rain comes almost everyday but not very hard. We can usually still prosylite which is really sweet. We still don't have many people to teach, but we are still working with some progressing investigators and recent converts who will really help this branch. I really do have a good feeling about the future of this area.

So there are going to be some cool things happening soon. First we are starting the new traiing sessions for prospective leaders. I didn't get invited to this weeks session so hurray! Does that mean I won't be a leader? Absolutely not (bummer). I may be invited in the future but we shall see. On the 14th of September (can you believe it's going to be September?) Elder Sitati of the Seventy will be visiting the mission. He's not hard to miss in the Ensign with all the seventies. We then will be visiting the Temple during the First week of October which is by far the best news of all. We then will also be having a Christmas party at some point. We will be busy durning the coming months!

I'm coming up fast on the halfway mark and I can't believe how fast time has gone. If there was anything I would want to happen to me during the next year it would be getting transfered closer to my Mt's. I really love those guys especially Elder Thompson, Jeppesen, and Pinnell. I'm going to work harder at becoming a better missionary. I don't want to end up like Elder So and So who wrote a moving letter to the mission which President read for us today. It told us to be obedient.

I love you all.

Elder Harris

"I'm Happy!"-Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Ps I'm just going to write a letter to Jeremy, lol

Ornery as ever - Good to see nothing has changed ; )

Hello!

Yeah it's been two whole weeks and I promise it's been harder for me
then for you. Last week we went to Praso River and afterwards Elder
Buah wasn't feeling well so we just went home.

This has been one heck of a day. It was both really fun and sucky at
the same time. Today we had a big football tourny at Cape with 4 zones
and Fosu place 2nd. It was really fun and I feel amazingly beat up.
Afterwards though we find out that our zone leaders forgot our
subsistence in fosu so we had to drive all the way there to pick it
up. Well since they already had their sub, the people who were
supposed to meet us and let us into their apartment stayed in cape to,
"print pictures, and shop." What freaking tools. I won't tell all the
details from this freaking day but I will say that I've been more
angry today then on my whole mission. I don't have much time now to
type and your very lucky your getting an email today.

Transfers were big around the mission but Acheise is still the same
(poor elder buah). It's going to be tough but It will work out. I
won't be surprized to be training next transfer If I don't get
transfered to Sunyani which opens up next month or so.

I'm rushing now:(

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!! You're the very best Mom a guy could ask for!
I hope you have a nice day without me (It will be hard;)). My b-day
was lame. I celebrated with light out and failed appointments! Just
know that I love you and miss you very much! Have fun!!

E,W, and Fire!!! I am freaking jealous!

I love you ! sorry about this whole mess:( tell jeremy that I will
write back to his email next week.

BYE BYE

Dear Family,

That's sweet that you finally got my pictures. Sorry it took so long but I'm sure you were satisfied. I'm pretty sure the memory card got fried at some point but I can fix it once I format it. I guess those photos are just gone from history. I've been looking at some of them lately and I realized that it all may seem strange to you but everything is completely normal for me. The black dancer was Elder Ekaette.

So they finally put up my plaque huh? Which picture did they use? I wish they sent the canon one earlier, lol.

I got your B-Day package a couple of days ago! Elder Dunford brought it into my room which surprised me since all I saw at first were his white finger tips. My favorite thing was the tiger! I handed out all the wristbands except a few that my companions wanted. It was funny cause I pulled them out for all the kids and Elder Agama was like I'll take this one and now they all have their own. The book is pretty amazing. I've read about 200 pgs since Thursday. I feel like I'm actually starting to understand who Joseph Smith really was. I'm getting to the part just before the Kirtland Temple was dedicated and the things they saw were amazing. Everything else in the package is now gone, lol. OH yeah the capo was really sweet too!

I got a letter from Heather Jolley today that was ripped to shreds. I got most of it but some parts were cut off including the return address. It took like 7 months for the letter I sent to get to her! If you could get her new address from the Jolley's that would much appreciated.

So this week has been pretty typical. I'm anticipating a new companion this week but we won't know until later today. I'm still hoping for no leadership positions. There's no possibility for training because the MTC was closed for July. 3 Zone leaders are leaving and one AP so there might be a lot of changes. I'm thinking Elder Buah will be called to be a Zone Leader. He or Elder Lehr. I'm hoping to stay right where I'm at. I just hope my new companion will be a good guy who is ready to translate everything I say.

We are planning to baptize Brother Amos's wife Hagar and her son Wisdom a week from Saturday. Amos just looks like a future leader in his tie and white shirt. I wouldn't be surprized if they make him the branch president in a couple of years.

I'm in Cape Coast today for a free P-Day. I pulled out 75 cedis today to pay for some football boots and duty. The hardest part is living off subsistence when the prices for everything go up every day. Hopefully they are going to raise the subsistence but it hasn't happened yet. If dad could just keep the card at 200 that would be sweet. I'm getting better at managing my money but I'm still learning what I can buy, lol.

The most exciting thing that happened this last week was in a crazy cool dream. I was BATMAN! There was this underground boxing ring where they were gonna start beating up on this girl. It was held underground in a cave with a pool and the ring. This water fall fell into the pool that was like 200 feet high through this tunnel headed up to the surface. I was up at the top all dressed up and I dived off the water fall into the pool. It took a long time to fall and I remember feeling the drop out and the water as I fell through the waterfall into the pool. I swam and jumped into the ring and beat the heck out of all these thugs in the ring and saved the girl. Yeah it was sweet!

All right I have to run! I'm out of time. I'll let you know about transfers next week! I love you all!

Elder Harris

Dear Mom,

I just spent the day playing with a bunch of crocodiles not too far from Twifo Praso. It was at this nice resort with a big lake full of crocks. The rules aren't the same here so we were up close and personal with them. I've got a good video of me feeding one some chicken and another where it turns on Elder Lehr and Thompson. Elder Lehr didn't know what to do so he just stands there for a few seconds before getting away. We saw one big crock near the path we were walking on and Elder Chime threw this big stick at it. We all got excited as he tried to kill the stick. Crocks are so much fun!

On the way back we couldn't get a car so we had to walk a few miles before this old dude picked us up. I hitch-hiked for the first time in my life! Luckily he was pretty cool and we're not dead or robbed. Anyways today was pretty sweet despite the fact we had to say goodbye to Elder Carton who is leaving for the mission home on Monday. It feels so wierd when people go home.

I still remember the last fair I went to. I think we went with Tom and the Horgans. Maybe there was somebody else too but I don't remember. By far my favorite animal here is Mr. Pig. He's this big hog who hangs out near our recent converts house. Sometimes we round a corner and boom, there's Mr. Pig sniffing around in the bushes. He's just a cool cat!

This has been a pretty exciting week for Achiese. Elder Asiedu and Elder Agama both had malaria and they were down all week long. Elder Agama now has pink eye and looks terrible! We also had interviews with President on Wednesday. He announced that a new policy has been announced from Salt Lake where we will now only have zone conferences and interviews once every quarter. It freaking sucks, but I guess I'll get used to it. Instead of conferences, we will now how missionary training. Oh well everything comes from above so I'll except it no matter how tough it will be for me.

This week itself has been a spiritually uplifting week. Nothing was really different, I just felt happy and optimistic about everything. President told me that the best thing I could do for this branch was help strengthen the future leaders we have just baptized. I felt the spirit whisper to me as we taught Amos and as I prayed at the end of the lesson. I felt that he would be a great leader in the church and that he would really make a diffence in the area. It was a wonderfull feeling that I was greatfull to recieve. I had a similar feeling as we taught an investigator named Robert the same day. The lord is preparing to do something in this branch in the near future. I won't be here to see it, but I know that I can help prepare.

Last weeks email was me in one of my bad moods. I really felt down but the Lord has really been helping me to jut get over it. This week I have really felt at home here in Ghana. It's a strange feeling to say the least.

I'm starting to have hope for this goal. Our investigators are starting to progress. Especially Brother Robert, Sister Adua, and Daniel. We also were walking by this house we contacted during the World Cup but they were busy then so we couldn't teach them. Elder Buah has been praying they would call us over one day and they finally did. We taught the whole family with is always sweet, and then we came the next day as well. It's too early to tell, but I have a really good feeling about them. Such feelings were hard to come by in Asokwa. Maybe that's why nothing ever happened there, lol. Anyways, I'm not scared for transfers anymore. The Lord will provide if I get a new companion.

You don't have to worry about Elder Buah. Don't judge him either because he is one of the best men I have ever met and by far the coolest Ghanain ever. I have found that if I move he will move also even if he is tired. If I have to move a little bit earlier then normal then so be it. It is HARD to be in his position and I know how it feels. I'm interested for transfers cause I'm pretty sure something new is coming.

Well I'm in a good mood this week. I hope it lasts but I know it won't. That's when the real tests come and in a way that's what I really need. I need that fire to burn the little guy out of me! Kory was right about mission, but the joy far exceeds the pain and I thank the Lord everyday for it.

I love you guys!
Elder Harris

Dear Family,

Wow, it sounds like there is a lot going on back home! I'm here in
Fosu and it has been a really boring day. Yeah, we did nothing. I
think I'm going to crazy out in Achiese. Oh well we have interviews
this week so it should chop the week in half pretty well.

We did watch a little bit of that video with Brother Stevens on the
horse with some of the zone today. When I realized what it was I was
like, "Yeah, I know him." Everyone was impressed:)

There really hasn't been much going on during the past week. We
haven't been doing to much work since we can't find people to teach.
Elder Buah is tired and I really don't know how to motivate him. I'm
not really the type to say BUAH get off your butt and let's work! So
I've been doing a lot of staying in the apartment and staring at the
wall till I feel like killing something. I did teach the guys how to
play Egyptian Rat Screw and it has really revolutionized our card
playing. At first the other guys were really slow and I dominated but
now they are starting to catch up. The only problem is that they slap
SO HARD. My hand usually slips right under theirs and they crush my
fingers every time. I told them its too much!

This week I had a strange experience. I guess its not that strange but
it came out of nowhere on Wednesday or Thursday. I was staring at the
wall, this time on my bed, and I started to think about home. Then a
thought came to me that everything was changing at home and nothing
would ever be the way it was again. All of a sudden I felt sad.
Freaking sad. But then a reassuring thought came to me. THAT'S OK!!!
Who cares? Really? I felt the spirit witness to my soul that
everything is going to be OK even if things are different. I can take
anything if I can make it through what I'm going through now.

We did get to do a couple service projects at the chapel! Our lawn is
huge and it hasn't been mowed since I first got here because the
person in charge got hit by big palm branch. This was the same guy
who's house fell down. I wanted to say that's what happens when your
house is made of mud but that would be mean I guess. Anyways we went
to help our clerk who's shouldering the responsibility. My job was to
trim these bushes that circle the huge parking lot that nobody uses.
All I had were these crappy dull shears that barely worked unless I
closed them with all my strength. It took me about an hour and a half
to get all the way around these hedges. When I was finished I could
barely open my hands and they were bruised for a few days. I can still
feel the pain a little bit today. It took us hours to finish the lawn
too because the mower doesn't have that sweet switch that makes it
pull itself. You just have to go back and forth with the grass
shooting out at your legs. It was a lot more fun then staring at the
wall in the apartment!

We are teaching a few people that seem like they could progress.
Sister Adua has prayed once about our message and she says she thinks
it's true. That's great but we are going to get her a Book of Mormon
so that her faith can begin to grow. Brother Robert is a cool future
leader who likes our message but he travels all the time and it's hard
to get him at home. We also have this guy named Daniel who has the
sweetest little girls. Every time we start to pray they run over and
fold their arm with their eyes closed tight. We are also teaching
Brother Amos along with his wife, Hagar. Amos was sustained to receive
the Aaronic Priesthood last Sunday, so he should be able to baptize
Hagar and her other son Wisdom.

All right don't be mad but I'm mailing the pictures today! YAY!!!
HAPPY DAY!!! PICTURES!!!!

All right I've got to go! I'm going to the post office then I'm going
to buy stuff for my weekly stew. I'm not really doing all that bad in
Achiese. It's just tough sometimes!

I love you all! BYE BYE

ELDER HARRIS