Learning to Recognize Revelation

Dear Family,

This week Elder Radman and I had a great week. We taught 9 lessons, and met with many less actives. Along the way, we got many referrals and have made great contacts with some great investigators. I am very excited for his coming week!

In our District Meeting this week, we talked about receiving revelation. Sister Harper mentioned a quote by Elder Bednar where he said that you receive revelation after you have acted and decided on a course of action.  Like Nephi entering Jerusalem not knowing before hand what he would do. I feel like this has been the case many times on my mission. I have not always been one during the planning stages to get revelation that is so prompt and precise on what to do and what to teach. However, I have had experiences my whole mission that I remember vividly where I received revelation in a Ger, at the pulpit, or in mid-lesson. I always thought that because I never had these revelations come during nightly planning, I was doing something wrong.  Well, this past week I finally realized that there was nothing wrong with me.  Hearing that quote and talking about it in District Meeting, I was flooded with thoughts and experiences that I have had where we received exactly what we needed to teach in the very moment we needed it.  

We had this exact experience with Brother U_________ this week.  We went to his house at 7:30 p.m.  He  knew we were coming because we had made an appointment.  We knocked and no one came.  We felt he  knew we were there, but just didn't want to meet.  Seeing that he wasn't coming to the gate, we stopped and took a picture of the sunset.  By the time we finished taking the picture, about 3 minutes had past.  We both thought, well maybe no one is home. Despite that feeling, we had the idea, or prompting, to open the gate and go in and check to see if the Ger was padlocked from the outside.  So we just walked in past the dog barking, and we see the door open on his little shed entrance to the Ger.  So as we turned the corner to go in and knock, he comes out, with his head down reaching for the rope to close the door and make it look like no one was home.  We startled him, and he knew he was caught.  He reluctantly let us in and his wife was not too excited to have us over either. Well let me just say that that lesson turned out to be powerful.  We shared a story from the brown Priesthood manual, and he literally was so touched, he was nearly in tears, bearing testimony on ways he should and will honor his Priesthood.  He started asking questions from his soul, and the Spirit helped us answer them.  WE WERE SO PUMPED!  He took his glasses off and looked us dead in the eye and said he will never forget that lesson and the truths we shared.  We got on the bus home and were still in shock.  We know that that was the the Light of Christ telling us what to do. Go in, and check.  If we would have waited 10 more seconds the door would have been shut, and he would have succeeded in tricking us. We got in and he was blessed, we were blessed, and he knew it. Truly amazing. 

I love you all.  Sorry so short but my time is up.

Love,

Elder Harris

One of the many contacts we made this week with a member.

 The members that I told about in my email, with their cat, Papenfuss, named for Elder Papenfuss!

The Ger neighborhood we walk daily.

 Our area….at sunset.

You know I want to taste or at least try everything while here in Mongolia.  You don’t even want to know what this is.  Trust me.

 Elder Huck and I just had to try it!  Pure protein!  

Mission conference with Elder Wong and his wife sitting with President and Sister Benson.  I’m on the right.