Merry Christmas from North Dakota

WARMEST WISHES to our dear Family and Friends,

Today is December 15, 2009, and this is a picture we took at 7:30 AM, in Ray, North Dakota. We had just completed Early Morning Seminary in Ray, which is a small town in the northwest part of the state. Yes, we know, the temperature shows a -22 degrees and it was dark at that time of the morning, but in all good conscience we were warm inside, having had a wonderful morning with some of our faithful students. We will add, that the class had 100% attendance, as we seem to have many times in our “Kitchen Table Seminary” classes. How could we not love such devoted people? We do love them and we are grateful to be among them. (You will need to download the attachments)

Cold Temperatures: We know that we are not the only ones who are experiencing the frigid temperatures. We are very interested in the weather where our friends and family live, and we know that this winter is much different than the one experienced in 2008-2009. We have not had the snow that North Dakota experienced last year, actually we had a beautiful and mild Fall, but we do not expect that to be the case for long. We are prepared for the worst if it should come. Our car has new Michelin Winter Tires and in the trunk is our survival box which includes hand and feet warmers, candles, blankets, thermal boots and some tasty emergency food. We hope that we never have to use it but it feels good to be prepared. We want to say how thankful we are for our Honda Civic. It now has 151,000 miles and is running well. We did install a “Heater Plug” that helps keep the oil in the car warm during the cold nights and we find that most hotels and apartment complexes have outside electrical outlets to plug into. What a difference it makes in starting a frozen car at 5:30 AM.

Our work over the past month has been very busy. Some weeks we long for a free day just to get a few letters written or appointments made. Yet, even with our busy schedule we find a level of satisfaction in the work we do. Recently we have witnessed and participated in three baptisms, in three different wards or branches. We have been involved with the teaching of these people and have come to love each new convert. Let us share their stories, in as few words as possible.

Curtis: Curtis is about 50 years of age and has searched throughout his life to find the true church. He struggled with some of the policies of his previous church when they ordained an active gay minister in his congregation. He is divorced but provides foster care for two young teenage men. One night a member of the Bismarck ward took the Elders to dinner at a local restaurant. One of the foster sons was working there, and Elder Williams began talking to him and asked if they could come to his home to teach him more. The young man said yes, and when the missionaries knocked on the door, they met Curtis, and he became the investigator. I was invited to help teach a lesson and we got involved in his instruction. Curtis has a habit of writing questions on 3X5 cards and each time the missionaries came to teach he would pull out his cards. He was surprised to have all of his questions answered. He visited the Family History Center, met the Temple President, came to church and became involved. It was a wonderful day when Curtis was baptized. His foster son, who started this whole process by accepting an invitation, is now taking the lessons and we hope to see his baptism soon.

Andrew: Andrew is an Airman at Minot Air Force Base. He met an LDS woman on the internet who invited him to watch General Conference over the internet. He watched the first session and was so touched that he watched the rest. By the time the weekend was over he had watched all four sessions and ended his experience by calling one of the local bishops and saying, “I am in love with your church, how do I join?” We met Andrew shortly after when he came to Institute in Minot. We were surprised to see that he could navigate his way through the Book of Mormon and that many verses were marked. As you know, institute can be a little deep, but Andrew seemed to stay with the class. On November 28th, he was baptized a member of the church. We took him, his girlfriend, who was visiting from Texas, and his missionaries to dinner following the meeting. We were thrilled to be a part of his conversion and humbled by the Spirit that converted him.

Crystal: Crystal is the newest member of the Ft. Yates Branch, on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. She was one of the first investigators we met, back in March, when we started to attend and support the Ft. Yates Branch. She has had many struggles but she has continued to work towards membership. She loved the message of the Restored Church months ago but has struggled with alcoholism, the major challenge of the reservation. We have gone weekly to her home and helped her and her children get to church. (The providing of rides seems to be one of our major functions in the branch.) One of the major factors in her conversions was when she was invited to come to Stake Conference. She walked around the Bismarck Temple and enjoyed the conference messages. Maybe it was the bigger picture that helped her make the decision for membership, but once again, she experienced the feelings of the Spirit and wanted to be a part of what she saw and heard. We feel that she is firmly in the Church and can now help to bring her family in as well.

There are others in Ft. Yates with whom we are working and we feel that we will see more of these baptisms in the near future. We love the Elders who work in the Ft. Yates Branch, who orchestrate the rides on Sundays, and do the vast majority of the teaching. We provide the transportation, the love, and the support for our Branch President and the branch members. There are many disappointments that we experience, but whenever we get discouraged we see that if we were not present that an important piece of the formula would be missing. Therefore, we continue to go back and try some more. We are being blessed constantly. It is humbling to know that the Lord can use us in some insignificant ways to bring about his great and eternal purposes.

How blessed we have been to have had so many experiences in the Highlands Ranch Stake as we have worked with the youth, worked as cooks at Scout Camps and Young Women Girl’s Camp and participated in the many Youth Conferences. There may be times in our past when we asked, “Why are we doing all of this?” The answer seems to be clear; we are doing all of these things to gain experience. For example, we are constantly being asked to provide meals for groups of people: Young Single Adult Conferences, Missionaries gatherings, etc. We find ourselves searching our past and we find that we have a lot of ideas. We would say that we are using every experience of our lives as we fulfill this mission. Another example, just this past week we were asked to provide a dinner for 80 missionaries at a Tri-Zone Conference. We immediately thought of a meal we prepared at Girls Camp and few years back. It was a big success. Once the meal was underway we ran over to the Temple where we served as ordinance workers as the missionaries performed 1,216 ordinances that evening. We are so thankful for the training that we received in the Denver Temple in preparation for our mission. The fact is, we are asked to do many things and we draw upon the many experiences of our lives.

We would like to close our message with the account of the first Christmas, Luke 2:11 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

May you have the spirit of this Christmas, which is the feeling of an inner peace, the gladness of Christmas, which is hope, and the heart of Christmas, which is the love of our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Love,

Elder and Sister Harris