An eye-opening week and an upcoming bacon eating challenge!

Another week down, can't believe it! This week has been an eye-opening week and have learned a lot on how to become a better missionary. My companion and I witnessed two car accidents, one actually happened today which was crazy. Just shows how blessed and lucky we are with being safe. We went to a huge car show here in Chino, and that is were I realized I am scared to death talking to people. There is a really good talk/letter all missionaries read entitled, "Fear no man" which is helping me as I have been trying to talk with everyone everywhere. The #becauseHeLives thing is super awesome, and a helpful tool to use as we talk to people. This week we did a lot of service hours, and worked with less active members which was fine but we are wanting more investigators to teach. Mission is by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, and it is not getting any easier lol. The mission is "98% hard work, disappointment, struggle, difficulty, sorrow, and even pain. 2%.......2% is pure joy." General Conference is next week!! Can't wait! Our bishop in my ward I'm serving in invited us to a bacon eating contest Saturday morning before the session!!! 

I think the training went well, I was complemented by the sisters and zone leaders, so I think that means it went well lol.

S, the investigator, who wanted to quit smoking didn't want it enough and she is still smoking.

We still see her, but people's free agency allows us to do so much.

Well this past week I started Elder Bednar's challenge and put a question in the beginning of The Book of Mormon, read through it, and then answer the question. My question is,"How do I deepen my conversion?" I realize being who I want to become is a lot of hard work, and I realize I am scared to do it, and I don't know how to bear down and just do it. Anyways I miss ya! Love ya!

On a separate note one of the members in the ward who is in charge of all the ward mission leaders in our stake is Brother Gutierez. And he works in the hospital, and works on cases with neurosurgeons. And works with the residents at the hospital he works there, and said when I get home that he would get me an in with one of the top neurosurgeons in the hospital (note: the hospital Brother Gutierez works at has the top state of the art technology in the whole world.) and come down in the summer time to work cases with them! So that is super cool and exciting, but besides that trust me, I am 100% focused on missionary work. Hope the fam is doing well! Didn't hear from Halley this week. Love you!

Elder Harris

I was intrigued by Jorvik's statement about Elder Bednar's challenge.  I am always trying to learn more and develop new ways of studying doctrines. So I did some research and this is what I came up with:

Elder David A. Bednar taught, “The answer to the question is always in the doctrine.” He also told us to ask ourselves this question, “What doctrine or principal if better understood would help us to _____________?" In this case, what doctrine or principal if better understood would help us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our friends, family and neighbors?

President Boyd K. Packer taught, “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.” If we want to change our behavior in relationship to sharing the Gospel then we must understand the doctrine

As we come to understand true doctrine our nature will change. We will become new creatures and we will experience a mighty change of heart. Understanding does not mean book knowledge or worldly knowledge; rather it is the understanding that comes by the power of the Holy Ghost bearing witness to our spirit that the doctrine is true. This kind of understanding does not come by casual study or with mild interest. Understanding that causes a mighty change of heart, is earned by those who have sufficient desire, exercise sufficient faith and labor with all of their heart, might, mind and strength. Only when we engage ourselves to this extent will we achieve understanding capable of changing our behavior. Only then will we experience a change of heart.

*********************************************
The Seven Steps

How to proceed: (Adapted from: The Power of Everyday Missionaries, by Clayton Christensen.)

• Start by kneeling in prayer. Pray out loud. Ask God to help you understand what you are reading. Pray that the Holy Ghost will be with you as you read.
• Read the material (book, chapter, talk, etc.)
• Write down the answers, in draft form, to your question.
• Kneel again in prayer. Pray out loud. Explain to God the answers you have written down. Tell him you’re going to read the material one more time. Ask Him to please help you understand even more deeply the answers that He would have you understand.
• Read the material again.
• Revise your answers, based on your deeper understanding. Write a one page summary of what you learned.
• Kneel again and pray a third time. But the purpose of this prayer will be different. This time you need to ask God if the things that you have written, and the things that you have read, are true.

THE PROMISE - As your stake president, I promise that as you seek understanding you will be blessed with "great treasures of knowledge." The spirit of the Holy Ghost will rest upon you and will testify the truth of all things to you. I further promise that you will receive a change of heart capable of changing your behavior to do all things that the Lord commands you to do.

Alma 26:22
"...Unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance..."

I am going to apply this and I will return and report!!!  I am excited to hear next week how the bacon eating challenge went! I hope he sends pictures!!!

Please watch this Easter video:

1st Transfer...can't believe 6 weeks are up!

Elder Harris had some great one liners this week. Things like.....

"nothing right now just prayers lol a mission is hard haha"

"When I get home I am jumping in a pile of snow! I miss cold weather, I think that is why Heavenly Father put me in a biking area haha"

and my personal favorite....."Love you too!"

But without further ado... here is his email:

Well can't believe 6 weeks are up. A lot of people from my zone left which sucks because we had an awesome zone. One of my zone leaders just got called to Assistance to President! I'm still with Elder Plymell in the San Antonio ward and still biking. It has been in the 90's most days, and not looking like it is cooling down... Oh boy. Life has been good, not much to report. Just still working on the 2 investigators, and trying to get creative on ways to find people. This week has flown by, and don't see it slowing down for this week we are staying busy. I get to give a 30 minute solo training in district meeting tomorrow so we'll see how that goes lol. The one thing that I have learned so far on the mission is relying on the spirit because I have no idea what to say usually unless I have the spirit with me. We have a potential investigator who we are trying to get her to quit smoking, but she is having a hard time. PATIENCE is really a virtue haha and does not come easy to learn especially when I can't relate, but we are trying! Hope all is well! Love you guys!

I am really proud of him.  I have seen so much growth in him in such a short amount of time. President Uchtdorf gave an excellent general conference talk on patience, entitled, "Continue in Patience."  Here are some gems from that talk:

 Patience is "far more than simply waiting for something to happen--patience require[s] actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results [don't] appear instantly or without effort.

"There is an important concept here: patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can--working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!" (Ensign, May 2010, 56-59).

And a few more of my favorites from this talk:

 "Patience is a purifying process."

"Patience- the ability to put our desires on hold for a time- is a precious and rare virtue."

"Never give up on anyone. And that includes not giving up on yourself."

"Knowledge and understanding come at the price of patience."

"Patience is a process of perfection."

 If you are interested in reading the whole talk - here is the link: https://www.lds.org/ensign/2010/05/continue-in-patience

 

Pictures!

These are some great pictures with great sayings that Elder Harris sent!

Baptism!

March 16th

Hey guys,

This week was slow, but finally had our baptism this past Saturday, and confirmed him yesterday, and gave him the Aaronic Priesthood!

Also lately I have been studying True Faith, and what that is which goes along with prayer and revelation. True Faith is amazing and I definitely want that gift. One of the plus sides to acquiring True Faith allows you to gain more personal revelations through the Holy Ghost, Visions, Dreams, or Visitations.And do I have an awesome spiritual experience that will probable make me tear up just typing it out haha but here it is:

Saturday morning we had a planned appointment to start a 15-step quit smoking program with a potential investigator. So while in studies I was daydreaming that after explaining the 15 steps I would be asked to give her a blessing, and while giving the blessing I felt another set of hands lay on her head. I didn't open my eyes, but knew it was the Savior. So back in real life while we were there and went through the 15 steps Brother N asked us to do a blessing with consecrated oil. Elder Plymell told me after the lesson that he was going to give the blessing but the spirit told him to ask me. SO BOOM! I gave the blessing knowing the Savior was present.

This week has been tough, but we are hanging in there. We are teaching DDS, and her testimony made me cry. She is a golden investigator. Also Elder Plymell left for exchanges, so me and Elder LaFontaine went to teach our other investigator. I had a frustrating experience when I invited someone to pray. Neil Andersen once said," Spiritual questions deserve Spiritual answers" well she isn't going to get any answers if she doesn't pray. But oh well, I still love her. Everything else is going well! Love you guys, and miss you!!
--
Elder Jorvik Ty Harris
Rancho Cucamonga, California

My Goal.... to come home and have true, immovable, steadfast faith!

March 9th

Aww  - FAITH.  It truly is a topic that I hold dear.  I feel and have felt that it is my faith that has sustained me in this life.  I also believe that faith is the essence of testimony.  It was good to get Jorvik's email this week. I loved hearing about his upcoming baptism, his personal study, his learning to rely on the Lord, his struggles, and his desire to have true, immovable, steadfast faith.  His mission will bless others lives but it will more importantly bless his own.

Well this week has been busy, we have a baptism this weekend. And hopefully putting 4 more on date. We are doing a whole mission fast starting today at 7 until 6 tomorrow, So many miracles are going to be brought to pass. I have a great spiritual experience I want to share with you. 

 I was doing personal study, and I started writing a question in my journal. And then I pray asking Heavenly Father to reveal the mysteries so that I may be a better missionary. Well I had the question, and I answered it backwards. I started studying and had impressions that had nothing to do with what I asked, but by the end of my studying I read through my study journal backwards and it made perfect sense. Like how cool is that?!?! God works in mysterious ways.

Being able to rely on the Lord more has not only helped me increase my faith in believing in Christ, and believing Christ. But it has helped our investigators.

It is hard being out here in So. Cal. The mind set is "the fast lane" and it still bugs me getting rejected most days 10 times out of 10. But I know the field is white already to harvest, so we are just trying to find the ones ready. Which sometimes feels like no one.

Went on exchanges twice. One time was with one of the zone leaders, and the other with Elder Tate who has been out for about 16 months now. We had a great companionship study on true faith, and how to have it. So that is my goal for this whole mission, to come home and have true, immovable, steadfast faith.

I love you guys so much, and the example displayed for me through the years. Can't believe I've been out here for 5 weeks now. Have a great week!

Elder Harris

The Miracle of Faith:  President Gordon B Hinckley

A lot of people can question how you know something is true that you have never seen yourself. All of us exercise some level of faith on a daily basis. I know without a doubt that this church is true. My faith, I believe, is steadfast and immovable.  

This is an excellent quote:  Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism.

I feel more focused....and that's a loaded question!

March 2nd, 2015

Yesterday we had the baptismal interview for MM, and got a call from President Hobbs that it is a go for the baptism!!! My first one!!! I'm excited. We stumbled across a family who is interested in the lessons, so we are meeting with them on Tuesday. And started teaching a less active sister with two kids, and a boyfriend, so we are hoping to start teaching the boyfriend too!! It has been a busy week. We did exchanges, and I was companions with Elder Beuss who is going home in 2 months. I thought it was useful to start asking him questions, and it really helped. I feel more focused, and I'm starting to take charge in a lot of things because my original companion and trainer is also the district leader. I actually do and have been using a notebook, and almost have it filled up with notes from talks, devotionals, and personal studies.

The "What have you learned this last week?" question is a loaded question because I could spend the rest of my time typing everything I have learned lol. The one thing I will say is for personal study I have been taking one paragraph in the Lessons and studying that specific topic. So currently today I studied Lesson 2 of Chapter 3 in PMG on Pre- Mortal life. I was struggling with what to study, and Elder Beuss told me if you can study the first 3 lessons until you can bring it up in any conversation then you can start to be an effective missionary, so that's is what I am doing.

This past week most spiritual experience has to be on Wednesday. Earlier that day we were out knocking doors, and came across this lady who was telling us basically she was to busy to worship God. I just thought "what in the world?!?" and it was a little discouraging because it feels like all of California is like that I mean it is called the Fast life here, but that night we were teaching a part member family and we showed them the Restoration video, and I started tearing up because it just reminded me on why I'm here and the importance of this mission.

Another thing I have learned and have been finding myself slowly doing is losing myself in the work. I know that change is inevitable so I might as well give it my all in what I am here to do, and embrace the change. I love my ward, and the people I am serving. I have been making it my goal to get and gain the trust of all the ward members because I realized how important the members are in the work.

Glad to hear your week is going well! Love you, and Miss ya!
Elder Harris

I am going to post below about the topic that Jorvik said he was studying.  If you have more questions, let me know!

Pre-Earth Life: God’s Purpose and Plan for Us

Many people wonder, “Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going?” The plan of salvation gives us the answers to these questions.

God is the Father of our spirits. We are literally His children, and He loves us. We lived as spirit children of our Father in Heaven before we were born on this earth. We were not, however, like our Heavenly Father, nor could we ever become like Him and enjoy all the blessings that He enjoys without the experience of living in mortality with a physical body.

God’s whole purpose—His work and His glory—is to enable each of us to enjoy all His blessings. He has provided a perfect plan to accomplish His purpose. We understood and accepted this plan before we came to the earth. In the scriptures God’s plan is called a merciful plan, the plan of happiness, the plan of redemption, and the plan of salvation.

Jesus Christ is central to God’s plan. Through His Atonement, Jesus Christ fulfilled His Father’s purpose and made it possible for each of us to enjoy immortality and eternal life. Satan, or the devil, is an enemy to God’s plan.

Agency, or the ability to choose, is one of God’s greatest gifts to His children. Our eternal progression depends on how we use this gift. We must choose whether to follow Jesus Christ or follow Satan.

We are physically separated from God during life on earth, but He wants every one of His children to find peace in this life and a fulness of joy in His presence after this life. He wants us to become like Him.

Scripture Study

Children of God

D&C 93:29

Acts 17:29

Hebrews 12:9

God’s Purpose

Moses 1:39

John 17:3

Premortal Life

D&C 138:53–56

Moses 3:5

Abraham 3:22–26

Jeremiah 1:5

Courage my son...and personal study

February 23rd

This is from an email I sent Elder Harris this week:

Courage my son…

The Chicago Examiner ran an editorial on courage. The point of the editorial was that you should not give up when temptations arise—that as you display courage, your courage will increase.

In this street of life, walking in the darkness of the shadow, hungry old Satan was out hunting with his dogs, the little imps of human weakness. A man came walking through life’s street. Satan said to his imps, “Go get him for me.”
Quickly the imp crossed the street and silently and lightly hopped to the man’s shoulder. Close in his ear, he whispered: “You are discouraged.”
“No,” said the man. “I am not discouraged.”
“You are discouraged,” said the imp.
The man replied this time, “I do not think I am.”
Louder and more firmly, the imp said again, “You are discouraged.”
The man dropped his head and replied, “Well, I suppose I am.”
The imp reported back to Satan, “I have him. He is discouraged.”
Another man passed. Again Satan said, “Go get him for me.” The proud little demon of discouragement repeated his tactics. The second man walked off with shoulders stooped and a feeling of discouragement within him.
A third man passed. Again the demon was told to “Go get him for me.” The little imp jumped on the man’s shoulder and said, “You are discouraged.”
“No,” said the man. “I am not discouraged.”
“Yes you are,” said the imp. “You are discouraged.”
“I am not discouraged,” said the man.
“You are discouraged,” said the imp firmly and loudly.
“I tell you I am not discouraged,” said the man. “You lie.”
The man walked down the street, his head up, going toward the light. The little imp returned to his master, crestfallen. “I couldn’t get him. Three times I told him he was discouraged. The third time he called me a liar. Now I’m discouraged!”

 And this is the sweet email I received back:

Funny I did my personal study on prayer two days ago because lately I have been feeling my prayers haven't been so good, so thank you for that little insight. We have had a busy week, we have one on date, one going to be committed this week hopefully, and got a new Investigator, and hopefully a potential. Our focus in our zone though is retention so we try visiting prospective Elders as much as we can. Since we are an all biking area my comp crashed hard yesterday lol which was funny but strained his ankle so not funny idk what we are going to do now.

I have a discussion topic for you guys to discuss which Elder Plymell and I thought was interesting. (note we have no idea what the answer is so don't feel bad about not knowing.) In the Bible, Jesus tells Peter "before the crow crows you will deny me three times." In that sentence did Jesus take away Peters agency because Jesus is not a liar? or was he commanded to do it for his safety, and if that's the case why did Peter feel so bad and repented immediately? What was the purpose of Jesus telling Peter? Crazy to think about lol.

Miss you guys so much! Love you!

Elder Harris

I have to say that I LOVE my pesronal study time. I gain so much wisdom and insight into my life and my testimony just grows by leaps and bounds. It is also during that time that I feel the Lord directed me to study certain things - I really really love it. I am so proud of the fine young man that Jorvik is.

On another note - his discussion topic - hahaha.  Interesting.  My response?  The Lord would never take away anyone's agency!!!  But with that- I went and did some study.  Below is a blog post that I found and I really like what it said.

 Peter’s Denial – Prediction or Command?

When discussing the final days of Jesus Christ’s mortal ministry, we often reference the fact that nearly everyone left Him. As Elder Jeffery R. Holland noted, “Thus, of divine necessity, the supporting circle around Jesus gets smaller and smaller and smaller, giving significance to Matthew’s words: “All the disciples [left] him, and fled. (Matthew 26:56)”  “None Were with Him,” (April 5, 2009)

When we consider a prime example of betrayal, we talk first of Judas but a close second has to be Peter. After all, Peter said he would never deny Christ (Matthew 26:31, 33) only to do so, as prophesied, three times. (Matthew 26:69–75) At the very least, we use the scripture to show how spiritually clueless the remaining apostles were.

In the words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast my friend.”

There is another theory to the “why” of Peter’s denial. In order to protect the Chief Apostle, Christ himself commanded Peter to deny knowing Him. When we read the account in Matthew, what we perceive as a prophecy could, in fact, be a command.

One of the first to teach this alternative interpretation was a modern-day president of the Twelve Apostles, Spencer W. Kimball. In a talk given at BYU, President Kimball explained that we shouldn’t be too quick to judge Peter. It was Peter who quickly drew his sword and cut off an ear of the soldier only to be stopped by the Savior. It was Peter more times than not, who over reached in his zeal. President Kimball asserts that the denial was out of character for the Chief Apostle:
“If Peter was cowardly, how brave he became in so short a time. If he was weak and vacillating, how strong and positive he became in weeks and months. If he was unkind, how tender and sympathetic he became almost immediately.” Spencer W. Kimball, Peter, My Brother, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year (July 13, 1971), 5.

Andrew Skinner, a BYU professor and one of my favorite scholars agreed with President Kimball and explains:
“In sum, it is apparent that Jesus knew of Peter’s fearlessness in defending him. He had seen several manifestations of Peter’s unswerving, almost reckless, commitment to prevent any physical harm to the Savior. And this was something Jesus knew could get Peter into trouble if it were not tempered. It would put the chief apostle in grave physical danger. Therefore, it is possible that when Jesus told Peter he would deny him thrice before the cock crowed twice, it was not a prediction—it was a command.”

Bro. Skinner furthered the investigation by showing that this alternative theory can be grammatically supported by the Greek translation. He explains:
“This is, in fact, a possible reading of the Synoptic texts, according to the grammatical rules of Koine Greek, which is the language in which early manuscripts of the New Testament were written. In their accounts of this episode, Matthew (26:34, 75), Mark (14:30, 72), and Luke (22:34, 61) all use the same verb and verb form, aparn¯se, which can be read either as an indicative future tense or as an imperative (command) tense.” Andrew C. Skinner, Golgotha (2004), 47.

If this alternative theory were true, why would Peter weep so bitterly at the last denial?  (Matt 26:75) Could it be that what was asked of him, the command given him, was the hardest, most bitter of all commands the Savior gave to him and that it was finally done? Could it be the enormity of what had just transpired and what was yet to come? A realization that his Savior, his Brother, his Friend would no longer be with him?

We don’t really know which interpretation is accurate and scriptures don’t seem to give too many more clues. What really happened? Why did Peter do what he did? As Elder Holland explained, “We don’t know all that was going on here, nor do we know of protective counsel which the Savior may have given to His Apostles privately, but we do know Jesus was aware that even these precious ones would not stand with Him in the end, and He had warned Peter accordingly.” “None Were with Him,”, (April 5, 2009)

All these questions will have to be answered in another time, in another place.

 

First week in California in the books!

February 17th, 2015

First week in California in the books! I am in Chino and my trainers name is Elder Plymell from Wyoming, and he is district leader and a great great great person. We are in a only biking place, so we literally bike 30 miles a day:/ People are awesome so far. We have a man on date to be baptized next weekend, and hopefully another on date soon. It is sooo hot here, but a lot better than freezing cold. I have also eaten so much so it is probably best I am in a biking area. Zone conference was today, and it being my first one ever and of course I get asked to give a 25 minute lesson to missionaries who have been out a lot longer than I have. Surprisingly I haven't crashed my bike yet hahaha. Miss you guys!!! Hope everything keeps going well!!! Love you!!

Elder Harris

Elder Jorvik Harris with his trainer, Elder Plymell

Another one - California Rancho Cucamonga Mission!

I don't think it would matter how much Elder Harris ate - pretty sure he wouldn't gain a lb.

He said he was literally biking 30 miles a day - but you can see that they still have time for selfies! haha

I think this is a great picture!!  It's beautiful!

Off to California! Can't wait!

Honestly... ever since Jorvik decided to serve a mission, he has been SO excited to go!!!  He just kept telling me how he wanted to get out there and serve and he wanted to tell everyone about the gospel! In each of his emails, I feel his continued excitement and love of the gospel.

February 9th - Email from Elder Harris

Off to California tomorrow morning! Can't wait! I have learned so much this past week, and have grown so closely to everybody in our district. Three sisters are headed to Fresno while the rest of us are going to Rancho. But we are all headed to BYU-I in spring 2017 so DISTRICT PARTY after our missions hahaha. I miss you guys! Everyday though I know this is the place I need to be at to grow to become a better person for myself and for others around me. Going in as you know I sometimes get full of myself, but this week I have been knocked down to where Heavenly Father can talk to me and I am humble enough to listen. I know my Savior lives, and died for us. He paved to path where which we should follow. I love this gospel, so much and the joy it continually brings to me. The one investigator that sticks out in my mind is a BYU student named L. He sounded just like me when I was younger. He questioned if God even loved him. But me being persistent testified, and beforehand memorized the first vision. With memorizing the first vision increased my faith that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God sent here to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hope everything is going well! Love you guys!!!

The first vision is amazing! I am proud of him for memorizing.  Why do I call it amazing?  Well, here you have Joseph Smith, whose parents talk him all about the Bible, and there was a lot of commotion about which church to join at that time.  And what does he do?  He does exactly what the bible tells us to do in James 1:5, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God."  I know that God hears and answers prayers and I know He answered Joseph Smiths.

Very busy and right where I need to be

I feel so incredibly blessed to have two missionaries serving right now... and that I had a missionary serve for two years prior to Jorvik and Michael leaving.  I suppose blessed doesn't even really begin to describe it.

February 3rd- Email from Elder Harris

Hello!!! yes we have been very busy. We are a pilot district so usually coming here you have only one investigator the mtc pays for us to teach, but we have three investigators. We teach morning, afternoon, and evening plus our 6 hours of classroom instruction and personal study and companionship study. I love teaching so much!! Yesterday was the best day of my life. We taught the first guy LB which went alright, then taught B who we got a baptismal date, and then L E who didn't want to read the Book of Mormon or anything, but I was not leaving the room without a commitment of some sort, so I pushed him until he agreed to start praying!! Super cool stuff. One of the 4 elders is going home which is sad, but I'm so excited to get out of here and just start teaching. I have learned so much here and I love this gospel so much. I miss you tremendously, but I know I need to be here!
Love you!
Elder Harris

So as I was saying... having a missionary serving really blesses my life. I have all these opportunities to share the gospel with people who are curious about them serving.  In my own scripture study, I find that I am always searching and being directed by the spirit with things to share with them. A while back at church we were talking about when Christ called the Apostles.When the Apostles cast down their nets and followed Him, I thought about Jorvik's decision to leave everything and follow Him.  I am proud of him.  He made the decision to become a fisher of men. The Apostles did not have any formal training but they were humble, obedient, hard-working and willing to sacrifice everything to follow the Lord.  Jorvik is doing so well!!!

Surviving the MTC!

This post is from my first email from Elder Harris!  As a missionary mom, I can tell you that there is absolutely nothing greater than hearing from your missionary for the first time after sending them to the MTC!  Here is his email:

Hello!!!!! I'm surviving the MTC!!! Right when Dad and Mike dropped me off I went and got my tags straight to the classroom for study until 9:30. I realize here everything we do here is full of purpose and we are busy! I pass out every night hahaha. I am the district leader for my district here made up of 4 elders (including me) and 4 sisters. I have to prepare two lessons a day to teach to the class. I love it here so much!!! My junior companion is Elder Vance from Idaho. Food is not as good as cracked up to be. But I'll talk to you on my Prep day on Tuesday! Love you all!!!

I am going to share a couple pictures with you of the time he had with Dad and Mike before the drop off.

Last meal...hahaha.  They told me that while they were eating there were tons of missionaries there with their families as well.  He may or may not of mentioned that most of them were on their phones - which he gave up when he was set apart!

Lookin' fly at the Provo Temple

The drop off team!! Mikey, Elder Harris, and Dad in front of the Provo Temple

Dad and Elder....I love this pic! Apparently it was a complete coincidence that they both wore a blue tie (but we know that there are no coincidences - only tender mercies!)

Brothers!!! Love this!  They went to Temple Square.

Brothers - both leaving on their missions within a week of each other. Them and Dad went to a session at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.

Gonna Miss that Smile!

Elder Jorvik Ty Harris reported to the Provo MTC on Januuary 28th, 2015.  He and his dad, Alex, flew out to Utah on the 27th.  Michael, his brother, met them and the three of them spent the day going to the Mt. Timpanogas Temple and visiting Temple Square.  I am so glad that they were able to spend that time together.

Here are some pictures:

                                                Just look at that excited and happy face!

                                                Awww --- siblings!!!  Love it!

                                                  It's hard saying....goodbye.  For now.....

I am going to miss that smile!!!

And so it begins....

It has always been important to me for my children to have their own testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is a well-known fact that you can only go so long on someone else's testimony.

Had you asked me a year ago if Jorvik would be serving a mission, I would have told you that as far as I know, he doesn't want to.  That has always been a decision that we leave up to our children.  Many who are not members of our faith make the assumption that it is a requirement, it is not.  I have seen plenty of missionaries in the field that are there because their parents made them go or promised them something if they went.  I can assure you that that is not the case here.

Jorvik went to school at BYU-Idaho last Fall and before he left, we had been talking and he had said that he wasn't going to serve a mission and wanted to know what I thought.  I told him that he really didn't want to know... but, in fact, he did.  I told him, Jorvik, though I have never met your mother, I love her dearly.  I feel as though her and I have a special relationship and that she has helped me with parenting you.  If you don't serve a mission, I will feel as though I let her down.  I continued, "though there is no way to know if you would feel this way if she were here, I feel that way."  She served a mission and I can only think that she would have encouraged you and wanted you to serve.  Jorvik told me then that that didn't change his mind.  I was okay with that. It was good for both of us for me to be able to tell him how I felt.  Well, I wrote Jorvik a letter before he went to school and I expressed my desire for him to read the Book of Mormon for himself and find out if it was true.  As it turns out, he did just that.

In his farewell talk he mentioned that by the time he got to 2 Nephi, he could not deny the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and he wanted to share it with everyone.  Then he announced to his dad and I that he would be putting in his mission papers.

Well, Jorvik was called to serve as a representative of Jesus Christ in the Rancho Cucamongo California mission and reported to the MTC on January 28th.

Jorvik's brother, Jacob Packham, returned from his two-year mission on January 31st. :(  Between the two years that Jacob was gone and the two that Jorvik will be gone, they will not see each other for four years.  Add to that that Jorvik's other brother, Michael Packham, left to serve a two-year mission on February 4th.

So you ask... what is a missionary?  A missionary is someone who sacrifices so that you can be with your family for eternity!!!

I will be posting off and on with updates on Jorvik's mission. Feel free to follow along!!!