Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Scripture Chase Winners !!

hi family, how are things there on the America front? things here are awesome, as always. last week we had zone conference. i had to give a surprise talk on the book of Mormon, (thanks a lot, zone leaders, for not telling me the topic before hand) but it was fine. and then at the end i had to bear my testimony too because it was my very last zone conference. so sad. i cried through my whole testimony, and i don't even cry in testimonies, i didn't even cry when i bore it on my last day in Kuching. i have a feeling that i might be an emotional wreck when i have to leave. oh well, worth it. the other fun thing about zone conference was that we played jeopardy with these scriptures that we were supposed to memorize. all i can say is thank goodness for sister Howard, she pulled our companionship through. it was the best when me and sister Howard were quoting together 'believe in God, believe that He is, believe that He created all things,,' and the crowning moment of the jeopardy game was final jeopardy, the put a verse up, and we had to guess what book it came out of: i will quote it for you now and test your scriptural knowledge: and now, my beloved brethren, i would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying and endure to the end, and as the lord liveth ye will be saved. OK the kedai is closing right now, but it is omni 1. 26 and i knew it down to the verse! i have to go, i love missionary work, love you family,

sister Harrison

Friday, March 18, 2011

Threesome and an upcoming Baptism !!

dear family,

number one, i love the family newsletter! i just got it this week, and seriously, sometimes it makes me feel bad, i get this huge envelope out of the mailbox, take it upstairs, take out a huge sheaf of letters and spend the rest of the night devouring it, showing my compies pictures, laughing out loud to my self, yelling, 'you gotta hear this, you gotta hear this!' basically making everyone wish they had a family as awesome as ours! i really wish i could contribute, maybe i will try next month. but then again, you guys get to hear from me every single week, yay!

but this week has been soooooo good. yesterday was the climax. so we are teaching this guy, Lazias. he is really cool, 21, pretty religious, kind of funny. he got mad at sister hite and sent like three texts explaining why she couldn't say oi! haha. sister hite actually contacted his brother on the bus, and the brother gave our card to Lazias. Lazias called us up, and we started teaching him. we actually have only seen him two times and haven't even taught him about the Book of Mormon yet. So, on Saturday night he wasn't sure if he could come to church the next day, but he came, and he had an awesome time, made friends, stayed the whole time. so great. great Sunday. on the way home he was telling us that that very morning his brother came to wake him up to go jalan-jalan, to go out, but his heart was thumping and he knew he should go to church, so he pretended to be asleep! so awesome! then yesterday we got a text saying he couldn't meet with us for a few weeks, then we got another text asking us about the book of Mormon, and we got all worried, that someone had told him bad things about it, or i don't even know. so sister hite called him. turns out, the night before, he had been reading the pamphlet we gave him, and he was praying about Joseph Smith, and he said he'd never prayed like that before. He said words came into his heart. he's been going to another church for a year and a half, but he says these two weeks he's felt full, he felt truly touched. He also was asking about why we don't use the symbol of the cross, sister hite told him it was because we believe that Christ is still alive, and he said when he heard those words, he really felt something in his heart. Lazias is so golden, huh?! i love missionary work! he said that he knows this is the church he should follow. when he said that, sister hite asked him if he would be baptized, and he said yes. he has to go to kampung for a couple of weeks, that's why he said he couldn't meet, but he's getting baptized on April 30, the Saturday before i leave!! i really hope everything works out. he is so great, we were talking about it, just being able to be a part of his story is so worth it, so worth all the door knocking and all the hard weeks. he is really cool. so that is the miracle of the week. and we found all of this out, on just one phone call!

the past couple of days, I've just felt so happy, the happiest I've been in a few weeks, it was kind of a hard transition to come here from kuching, but i really love it here. and i just love my companions (ha ha that last line is funnier if you say it in a high Texan accent, huh, Matt?) but i love our family, i can't wait to do karaoke with everyone, you are going to love Indonesian karaoke! love you guys,

sister Harrison

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

It's a Threesome !!

dear family bizamily,

so i have two new companions, sister hite and sister Howard. seriously family, i have lucked out in the companion department, or maybe Malaysia just attracts really awesome people. but they are great, and it isn't even weird being in a threesome. it is actually kind of nice. sometimes when i have something i feel like i need to announce to the world, i can yell out, you guys!!.. its kind of nice. and talking to them has made me realize what an awesome family we have. i wouldn't change our family for the world. so i love you all, that is all i have to say.

on Sunday, it was fast Sunday, right? and so me and H and H decided to cook. curry to be exact. so the night before we happened up this tiny little market, just selling vegetables and fried food and stuff, so we bought a whole kilogram of raw chicken, and had them chop it up for us right there, we bought some curry, some potatoes, and on Sunday, we tried our curry experiment. I've cooked curry one other time with sister lim. so this time, instead of following the directions on the packet of curry, i decided to make up my own way (i mean, come on the packet didn't even call for coconut milk, what is curry with out it?) so we did it, cooked the chicken, curry, potatoes, added the milk, it was delicious!! it was so good, i can't wait to cook it for you when i get home!

sister hite always makes these rice experiments or tofu experiments, they always turn out pretty good. i hope you guys like rice, because that's what I'm going to cook for you. anywho, family, i gotta go, but i love you, stay awesome, okay?

sister Harrison

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

I'm in a Three some !?!

first off family, i apologize for not emailing you more last week, i was very frustrated because my computer kept turning off, and we had no time left, so basically, to heck with it. but a week has past and I'm over it, a lot has happened in one week. the first most important thing is, I'm sick. really, like i didn't know a human body could create that much mucus. (haha just kidding, i mean nosy stuff) and my voice is gone. but i think it is getting better, i had a fever for a few days, but I'm on the mend. Do you want to know something funny about Malaysia? the people here seem to get sick all the time, like every other week they're not at church because they have 'demum' which is a fever. its demum this and demum that. at the beginning i had no pity, what could possibly be making these people get sick, it doesn't even get cold here. they are afraid to get rained on because they are afraid of demum. but now i kind of understand, because they weather changes so fast here, its pounding heat and then rain and then heat again, i think it makes me sick to, i can't ever really remember getting a real fever before my mission, now i get them all the time. weird, I'm turning into an Asian!

in other news, missionary work in KK is awesome, i forgot how much i love it here. it is a really fun place to live, we take buses everywhere, buses to the airport, buses to the hospital, its awesome. the branch here is so cool, its big, and it has tons of young single adults, and it actually has enough people to fill most of the callings, unheard of!

oh yeah, i forgot to tell you, my companion, sister Goodwin, finished her mission yesterday. it was pretty sad to see her go. she would have fit right into our family, sometimes listening to her talk sounded just like Jamie or Tracy. AND, she used to listen to the same yellow tapes when she was little, you know the ones, standin' tall, 'Mr. Robinson Mr. Robinson!' 'what a terrible mess' 'i hit your window with my ball, and i've come to confess'......'i'm proud of you child, for you showed honor,' 'I told the truth!!' and she remembers lots of them too. what more can you ask for in a companionship that to be able to sing about "Captain Dependable" together? but now she is gone, and instead of having four sisters in KK we just have three now. so I'm in my first ever threesome on the mission, and I'm probably going to finish off the mission this way. Sister Hite and Sister Howard are their names. S. howard is from Seattle, and S. Hite is from North Carolina, but she went to elementary school in Utah, so we could reminisce about playing the Oregon Trail and even sing the Utah song together. its not exactly standin' tall, but it'll do.
i have mixed feelings about threesomes, first off, its going to be awesome (before i moved to KK i was kind of sad that i never got to be their companion, but now, here i am..) but its kind of hard to teach in a threesome, kind of overwhelming when you're knocking, and if you take a member its like a Mormon takeover. right now we're trying to get used to teaching together, so far the problem is our lessons are pretty long and intense because we all have been on our missions for awhile now and we all have things to say. and it is kind of dumb to finish your mission in a threesome, i feel like the third wheel, they just stuck me here so i had a place to be until i die. i hate feeling like that. but i know I'm supposed to be here, and if being in a threesome is a necessary evil, it couldn't have happened in a better place, with better companions and a better branch. it is awesome here! so it is worth feeling like Mormon takeover.

I'm going to be so sad when this is over. missionary work is fun and it fills you up, so much stuff to do and people to see, everyone always says they love the people, and you know what? they are right. so so many good people, just every day people. it makes you never want to be mean to anyone ever again. I'm so glad i came on my mission, have i ever said that? it was worth everything. all the riding bikes in a skirt, and the sweatiness and the ugly clothes, all the crazy things Malaysia does to your skin. it was all worth it just to have this little glimpse into people's lives, to come and feel like you are their family. I feel like this week, i had a glimpse into what real charity is like. i think in a lesson i was feeling impatient or annoyed with someone, i can't remember. and then i wondered why i was feeling that way and tried to get over it, really concentrate on the lesson and the people, and then, bam, i love these people so much! who are these people? their house is one room, and they were sharing just a bit about what the gospel meant to them. that's all, but it was so cool. this was sister Roslina, the one that came to church for the first time my last week in KK, a year ago! awesome.
i love you family! sorry if i overuse the word awesome, sometimes that's the only way to describe things!

rindu sama kau,
sister Harrison

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

I'm going Crazy and I'm Transferred

mom and dad,

well first off, my address is the exact same as it was when i was in KK last time, do you still have it? if i remember right
B7-12 Maria Court Condominium
Lorong Api-api
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah 88000
Malaysia

I'll let you know if i get the mail. oh, and if you have any question you can just send it to the mission office, and that will come right to me, too.

I'll tell you one thing, family, it was so so so cool to come back to KK. i went to church, and after the meeting started, a lady walked in with her two kids. my last day in KK last year, was her first day at church. i got to sit next to her in Sunday school, and she was answering all the question, and it was so cool. and now her sister is baptized, whom i had only taught one time, and it was so cool to see people that i had worked with a lot still there at church, gosh, i don't think very many missionaries get to see that, and I'm really grateful. i love the branch here. i felt bad, like i was betraying Kuching, but one week here, and i love the people so much, and there are tons of new people i don't know, and it is so fun. and so crazy to be back in the old area, taking the same buses i took a year ago, seeing the same people that worked at the bus terminal a year ago, I've been living in the twilight zone for the last week! Goodwin is a great companion, and I've already learned a lot from her. its so fun to be with her, she is from San Fransisco, already graduated in history from Berkley, into music and food, i really think that she would fit right into our family. sorry, Matt and lance, she has a boyfriend. but i invited her over when we are going to Matt's house for his graduation. we'll bring some Indonesian karaoke. and she wants to go rollerskating with us too. but enough about that. me and sister Goodwin got name cards made, just enough for the rest of her mission, and we got this brilliant idea that they should have our pictures on them, I'm sending one of these name cards, they are awesome. you will see. so we are having fun and contacting people like crazy. the work is definitely different here, but it is good to be back.

oh and guess what? we just got back from Mt. kinabalu today, the whole time i was here last year i wanted to go, so we just went, we didn't hike all the way up, but it was sweet. the tallest mountain in southeast Asia. anyway, parents, i love you, so much, I'm so excited!

sister harrison

PS. since I've been back here, people have said that I've gotten skinnier, I've gotten fatter, I've gotten taller (which i actually think may be true, if that is even possible, I'm a solid 5'6", maybe a little above, and before i never was, is that possible?!) I've gotten prettier, my hair has gotten longer and my legs have healed. pretty good. i'll take it. and in relief society, when they announced that I'd come back, all the ladies clapped for me, so nice, huh?

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Transfers, baby

hey mom and dad I'm writing you from a new place!

i just flew into KK like two hours ago, it is crazy town. i never guessed that I'd come back here, never in a million trillion years. but here i am, my new companion is sister Goodwin, and she has three weeks left on her mission. haha, I'm killing of another missionary. but she's awesome, when i came into sibu at the beginning of my mission, she was in the same house, four sister in that house. and now, there are four sister in this house in KK, and I'm with Goodwin again! dang, it still doesn't seem real. i had to say goodbye to everyone in kuching, and it was so sad. i didn't know it was possible to feel that way. that is such a good branch. and as always, we have a baptism next week that i am missing, oh yeah. but KK is awesome. i can't believe i got to come back to sabah. it was exactly a year ago that i came here. i came last year on February eighth, and i came this year on February ninth. insane!!

so sad to leave sister lim, too. they are splitting up my old area, and bringing in two elders, so she has to show her new companion and two new elders around our area, and our area is huge! it is kind of a perfect time to split, though, kind of a miracle, we just started having good investigators in the area the elders will be taking, so they will have good people to work with right off the bat. very sad to give up good people though. one of them, Lidia, was so cute, she said to me at church that she was sad because she just barely started learning, (her family has been members for years) seriously, we've only taught her once, and now i have to leave. gosh, i like the people there so much.

but in other news, sulin and simbut made dinner for us before i left, and we ate jellyfish! you don't cook it, just put it in this spicy liquid, and it is delicious. the texture is just like really firm jelly, it was so good, and they said that they would make it again when you guys came, haha. but the interesting things i have eaten just keep racking up, jellyfish, chicken feet, pig's ear, pigs intestine, very good, by the way, if you know how to cook it. the sisters in sibu got feed dog by some of their investigators. oh yeah.

i love you mom and dad, being a missionary is awesome,

love,
sister 'i forgot it was winter in America, suckers' Harrison

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Short and Sweet !

I'm sorry but this email has to be super fast because my time is up and we have to go home to go to this thing for Chinese new year! Chinese new year is absolutely crazy here. gong xi fa cai. I'll write you more in the letter.
today was such an awesome email day, shout out to mom, dad, lance and Kim! sorry lance and Kim, i will write you next week, but i loved you emails. i love my family!

today i will say that missionary work is awesome, we have met some pretty golden people recently. i used to think that golden people were few and far between, but then i came on a mission, and it seems like we are always meeting them! well, relatively always. a member brought his friend to church last week, and he was commenting in class, about how the holy ghost feels, and then we talked to him after church, and he says he really has wondered why there are so many different churches who teach different things, and then he texted us to set up and appointment. he wanted to meet on Sunday, so i said, how about we meet you right after church? all sly, and he said, yep, that's great, I'll see you at church. ! his name is elister. I'll send you a picture when he is baptized. haha. but i love it here, and guess what? already registered for summer semester, look out byu. I'm taking two dance classes. bad idea? we shall see. not very much selection, word up.

loveyou family, so much. maybe next week I'll have a new companion. we know nothing yet, but I'd be willing to bet a lot a ringgit. love you!

sister Harrison