Hermana Harris in Ecuador

Hello friends and family! This week has been a wild one.  Long story short, my comp and I almost got in a horrible situation this week because our area is super dangerous at night, so we are moving houses to live in a safer area - que bendicion!  So we had another ¨fake pday¨ today because we had to pack up our apartment, and until we can move in to our new apartment, we are staying with other hnas in a MUCH safer and nicer area. Things I´ve learned about la vida Quiteña- - The safest place to walk at night is, ironically, in the middle of the street... - Liquid jello is a normal thing to drink here - Graffiti is everywhere, and most of it is of cupcakes and words in English spelled incorrectly Highlights- -. Saw the PROPHET!  It was incredible to see him so close in person.  He spoke to the people here in Spanish!  It was such an amazing experience for the people here to hear the prophet speak to them in their native language.  Although I couldn´...

Hello everyone! I made it safely to Ecuador and yes, I am still alive and parasite free, knock on wood. My p day is today because we get to see President Nelson on Monday!!  I´ve only been here for 5 days, but it has been QUITE the adventure.  Not gonna lie, it´s been hard and so different, but I´ve been so blessed since I got here!  My area is called "Mitad del Mundo", which translates to Middle of the World, because the equator runs through here! A few things I´ve learned about la vida Quiteña: - The dogs here are scary, but the men are scarier :´) - Doing laundry by hand is kinda fun - The food here is AMAZING so far! Or as they say here, "muy rica". They serve juice with every meal made from fruit that´s not in the US, and they mix in brown sugar to any beverage haha. - Half the words here in Quito are Quechua... not Spanish... there´s an indigenous group of people here called the Otavalans who speak Kichwa (Quechua) and so lots of the words they use are...

Hello I have made it safely to Quito!  It was crazy yesterday, ill tell you more when I call you on monday but we didn't get to my apartment until 3am. Wild. I've been tired all day and have a little bit of alittude sickness but right now we are at the mission home about to eat dinner. Food has been good so far but I cna't understnad a lot of the language which is crazy. But my comp is a gringa, one of the only 10 in the missio\n! I'll talk to you later. Love you all! Esther took this quick clip of Allie playing the piano in the mission home before dinner.  I loved this and wished we were there for a hot second to listen to her beautiful music.  

Hermana Harris was scheduled to fly to Phoenix from SLC, then from Phoenix to Miami, then Miamo to Quito, Ecuador.  But on the morning of August 19th, the travel office changed their itinerary and Hermana Harris, along with 3 elders, flew from SLC to Los Angeles instead.  Below is a picture of them at the Salt Lake City Airport checking in (courtesy of one of the Elders' dads who happened upon them at the ticket counter).  We got to say a quick goodbye to Allie on the phone! This is Hermana Harris' first photo upon arrival at the Aeropuerto Internacional Mariscal Sucre.  Esther Chacon, the mission president's daughter was so kind to snap a photo with her.  It was 130 Ecuador time, and 1130 pm in Phoenix.

Hello everyone!! First of all, I want to apologize to anyone I didn't have time to respond to - this is about the only email I'll be sending this week because I've been busy packing and going to the temple all day today.  But I am so thankful for the emails and will be sure to respond to them as soon as I can! The Hymn I put as my subject line perfectly describes this week - let's just say this week was an emotional roller coaster!  This week I found out I was reassigned to the WEST VIRGINIA CHARLESTON MISSION while I wait for my visa!  My entire district got their reassignments, which was so fun - it was like opening another mission call!  I was super excited... until I found out my new mission was only English-speaking and that I wouldn't leave the MTC until Wednesday, 2 days after my entire zone leaves.  I was really struggling with that - I had fears I would forget my Spanish, but I could definitely see the Lord's hand in it all.  The next m...

On Wednesday, August 14th, Hermana Harris was notified she would be flying to Phoenix (while Kevin and I were at Disneyland) to appear at the Consulate.  She sent us this photo on August 15th: She got her visa approved!

Hermana Harris did not know whether or not she would leave for Ecuador on August 19th, because she hadn't gotten her visa.  Today she got reassigned to the West Virginia Charleston Mission while she waits for her visa.  Because of the uncertainty about her travel plans, Hermana Harris along with her district, was allowed to communicate with us all week about their reassignments and changes in travel plans.

Hola everyone!! This week was another great week, and I hit my one month mark on the mission today!  Time has flown by.  I leave for the mission field in 9 days, and I couldn't be more excited.  I don't know if I'll be in Ecuador next Monday or if I'll be visa waiting somewhere, so stay tuned to find out where I end up! This week's spanish mess ups: - Told someone "Through Christ's Atonement, we can be forgiven from our fish" (pescado=fish, pecado=sin) - Told another person she couldn't go to the Celestial Kingdom... yeah luckily my comp jumped in and saved that lesson after I said that haha! This week the main lesson I learned is how lucky I am to know the Gospel.  We sang the hymn "I Know that my Redeemer Lives" after a devotional, and I couldn't help but think how powerful that really is - I know that my Savior Jesus Christ knows and loves each one of us, and that He really does live!  I am so excited to share that message ...

Hola everyone! To explain my subject line, let's just say that the Lord works in some REALLY mysterious ways.  This Sunday I ~may or may not~ have had a breakdown for a solid hour because I just wanted to go outside so bad.  I prayed that I would get over myself, and a few hours later my comp started feeling sick... because it was a Sunday, none of the doctors were at the MTC, so we got to leave the MTC and get driven to the InstaCare at the hospital about a mile away!!  I would have never imagined I would actually get to leave, GOD IS SO GOOD! Highlights: - Escaped the MTC a SECOND TIME when we had to walk to the BYU health center to pick up a prescription for Hna Oswald!  It felt so good to walk where I used to walk every day! - Hna O & I got assigned to be the "Technology Specialists" in our branch here, so we got to teach/get to know a new district that came into the MTC this Wednesday, which was super fun! Pics: - Forced our driver to take ...