"Windows of Heaven"

This week has been great! The Lord has really blessed us and it seems to all be coming at once. It turns out we have been counting out key indicators wrong. Because so many people want to talk to us we made higher qualifications for lessons. However, the Zone Leaders have asked us to count a lesson as teaching 2 principles, a testimony, and a commitment. That changes things quite a bit. We used to count a lesson as opening and closing with a prayer, and teaching a pretty much full lesson. There are Elders teaching around 50 lessons a week or more.
We had a tough week last week with finding. I must say that our patience has definitely been tried, and the Lord has been molding us and giving us experiences where we learn and grow. It's nice when you realized what you have learned, and look back on how much you have changed. It has changed a lot in the optimism in our companionship. We are both really excited and working hard. Our companionship has grown a lot in this past week. Elder Manning and I are really good friends and we are coming closer and closer when we work hard and help each other out. I love this.

We are teaching a 16 year old kid named Eric from Vera Cruz who just goes to school and plays soccer. He has kind of a fo-hawk that goes all the way to the back of his head and he told us he has two girlfriends lol. He is the soccer stud around here I guess, but he is also really humble. I was really impressed for his desire for spiritual things and he has already been to church three times and we have only taught him once. He is always busy. It’s great now that he is good friends with the kids in the ward and everything. He is going to activities and wants to be baptized. The Lord kinda just threw him at us and we just were kinda like...... Thanks!!! He is a great example for us and he is just a way cool kid.

Javier and Ivania are doing swell. They are working on their divorce and we had a powerful lesson about families. They should be baptized right now, but Satan is making it hard for them to get a divorce and getting married. They loved the Word of Wisdom because Ivania's Dad was always drunk on the streets and would come back home dirty and he is a bum right now I think. It was really sad to hear her talk about it and she was crying a lot. We read the The Family Proclamation to the World and they loved it. Their kids are so obedient and nice, and also funny. This makes the atmosphere of lessons perfect. They just sit quietly. They are way less crazy than I was when Adam and I were young hahahaha. They are doing awesome.

We had one day where we were determined to find a family that was ready to receive the ordinances of the gospel and that we could recognize them and bring them unto Christ. We were looking for them all day and we made empty brackets in out planners like "New Family [ ] and prayed that we could fill those "Windows of Heaven" with the name of a family. We looked hard, knocked a lot of doors, talked to everyone. We then received a referral from President and we had just enough time to contact it before we had to be in. We went up and a guy ran out and shook out hands. He and his wife have been married in the temple and one of their daughters has been baptized but the others haven't. They wanted to meet with some Spanish speaking missionaries. We filled in our "Windows of Heaven" with the Gonzales Family, and were gonna' get'em to church and teach them and their children.

The lord really blesses us when we ask for specific blessings at specific times and places. We are planning out where we are going to tract, and at what times, and what we want. We then pray for a specific person to find, or family, that is Latino, and we then go and find them. This is awesome and I am really excited for the next week. God wants us to plan effectively and set good goals. If we pray hard, and do all we can to work hard and have the faith to find them, the Lord will do his part, and that is when his hand is revealed in the work, after you do all you can, and see Him push you the rest of thaw way. It is SOOOO COOL!!!

Anyway, today we are going to go golfing with the Branch Presidency. Oh! The branch is becoming a ward soon, but we are not sure how quick they are going to do it. I’m guessing within the next month or two. It didn't sound like it would happen right away. We are way stoked and the members are too. They are helping us out a lot and they are being blessed for it. That is the key to blessing a ward or branch, especially in these crazy times, is missionary work. The Lord blesses those who work in His behalf.

Okay I got to get going but I love you all! Thanks for the letters and everything! "You guys are awesome!" ~Malcolm Nichols

-Elder Kyle Harris