Another Baptism & A New Companion (posted by mom)

We had a baptism on Saturday!! It was for a 73 year old woman and was one of the best baptisms I have ever attended. Her son is a member. The ward put together a really nice program. But the greatest part was her testimony at the end. She bore testimony of how she came to know the church is true. She reads the Book of Mormon daily. We started reading the Book of Mormon about the same time, but now she is way further than I am. I am always suprised at how much she understands. She was really affected by the baptismal interview process. Through it she truly feels forgiven and renewed. She is such a nice lady--her prayers are so sincere.

Move call just happened and I'm staying here in GangShan. I have a new companion Elder Lin Jia Hao. He is native to Taiwan.

This past week we had a Power Week--this means we leave the door an hour early and eat lunch and dinner on the go. It was a powerful, long week, and a lot was accomplished. There were 92 people at sacrament meeting. That is A LOT for this ward; more than the chapel can hold.

Love you all 300!! Elder Spencer Harris

A Baptism and Seeing an Old Friend (posted by mom)

I feel more blessed with investigators and opportunities than I have at any other time on my mission. I find myself having to decide between two opportunities to share the gospel rather than working all day for just a few chances to sit down to teach someone.

This week we had a baptism. He is so good. He is into science (a chemist) and it was difficult for him to believe in God and the restored gospel: but now he believes! He didn't see any miracles, but his change of heart has truly been a miracle. It was wonderful to see him humbly and diligently feast on the word of God. He told me, "Elder Huang, recently I've been taking a lot more time to study. In the scriptures it says that we need to believe first then only can God confirm our faith (Ether 12:6). So I've decided to believe." Because of this his testimony did come. I am so excited for him.

Another special event was a girl I knew when I was an exchange student in Taiwan came to visit me this past sunday with her fiance. They are planning to get married in the temple. It was fun to see them again and hear about their exciting plans for the future.

Thank you for all your prayers. The church is true.
Missionary work is great!

Love, Elder Spencer Harris

A Surprise Visit (posted by mom)

The President YANG FAMILY visited the Gang Shan ward this Sunday!!!! They are just as amazing as I remember them!! It was so good to see them!! They brought me a bunch of food. Enough breakfast for the next 3-4 weeks! I felt their love and they conveyed the love of my family to me. It was a fun experience. Wow! It was really good to see and talk to them! (Spencer stayed with the Yang Family when he was an exchange student in Taiwan a few years ago.)

My companion is great. I learn so much from him. He studies the language really diligently, he adds new investigators like he has been doing it his whole life. He has taught me some important things to win the hearts of people. He is always really good at getting to know investigators. We work hard, and it feels good.

Today we cleaned the apartment of a member in a neighboring ward. He is crippled and has a hard time cleaning. In two hours we still got a lot done. I love that kind of service project. I learned a lot from him. This man has years of church material and a stack of scriptures that were marked up like crazy. It was inspiring.

Love, Elder Spencer Harris

The Land of Milk & Honey (posted by mom)

We were blessed with a lot of people at church. Probably the most special part was that our recent convert's family all came to church. This week we found a teaching record that had the name of our recent convert's sister on it. We invited her to church. In the process we started visiting our recent convert more often and met his parents. They are super nice. Our first request for the parents to come to church was denied, but we asked again the second time and they agreed. On Sunday the whole family showed up.

One of this ward's strengths is friendshipping and fellowshipping. If we get the investigators to church, they will do the rest.

Yesterday, we were introduced to a family who's father died a little over a year ago. We had a good opportunity to meet them and share the hope of the gospel.

It's nice, right now we have several willing investigators who are progressing.

Missionary work is amazing. Love, Elder Spencer Harris

Greetings from Gang Shan (posted by mom)

It was a good week in GangShan we added many new investigators and met some neat people.

There ward here in GangShan is so good. There are 5-6 returned missionaries. They are really unified and striving to strengthen the ward and it's members so they can eventually build a chapel.

My companion's name is Elder Wheeler. He is from Idaho Falls, he is a convert of three years!! He is the first member in his family and gave up a lot to come out on a mission. We are working hard to build this area.

It's cold, but we have jackets and make sure to stay warm. The apartment here in GangShan is really nice too.

Love, Elder Spencer Harris

Transfer to GangShan (posted by mom)

Today I've spent most of the day moving!! I am now in Gangshan in Gaoxiong. It is kind of like DouLiu--a small town with surrounding areas that we take care of. Although being new I am a district leader with a full district.

The other day I thought about the time I've spent in Douliu. I had one of those tender mercies this week. - - it was a clear recollection of my time in Douliu. I felt God’s love for the people there, and of His love for me – I felt His approval of the work we did there. I am grateful for my time in Douliu. While there I developed a greater understanding of God - - His timing is perfect and He has a plan for each of us. In that moment I also had the realization I still have a lot of work left to do and much is still expected.

Last week my companions and I worked really hard and added 113 investigators. (That includes Huwei's and Douliu's adds--we spent time in both places and strived to build both areas.)

I'm excited for this new place and new people. I'm excited for this new start in this new year. My new companion seems to really want to do the right things and work hard. We've already talked about goals we want to work toward as a companionship.

I hear good things about the ward here. I also see many families on the street. I am excited to serve here in Gangshan.

Love, Elder Spencer Harris

A Baptism & A Bike Crash (posted by mom)

Saturday was Bro. Lin’s baptism. It was a special one! We look forward to see Brother Lin receive the Priesthood, receive callings, and be molded into the person that God wants him to be. He has changed so much over the past few months. He is kinder with his family and with others. The first time I met Bro. Lin, he wasn't even willing to say a word to me. So we prayed. After we were able to meet with him we wouldn’t even let us discuss baptism. So we prayed. The change has been slow. We hoped we would one day see him baptized, and on Saturday we did!! His less active son came--he was a really nice guy. We are so excited for them and for their potential to be an eternal family in a year!! I think only God knows the full extent of this miracle. It was fun to see the end and the beginning--BAPTISM! President Bishop and his family came to see it! It was a special thing.

This week we went on exchanges with the assistants! That's always fun. It's nice to leave an exchange feeling uplifted and strengthened. The only bad thing that happened was the assistant and I wrecked with each other on our bikes...haha. It was actually amazing that no one got hurt. We were going really fast on this road to visit an investigator when we came to a yellow light--I figured that no one else would make it through the light so I slowed down and headed toward the closest person to contact them. The assistant looked behind him to see if my companion was going to go through or not. Therefore He didn't see me slow down and slammed the back of me. I looked behind me to see his face about 2 feet away from mine and hovering in the air. The only casualty was the box on the back of my bike. No one was even scratched... I think it makes a good story.

On Thursday we got to go to ZhangHwa to see an old Buddhist Temple and other sights with the mission. On Sunday our district leader was called to be the new mission recorder. So now our companionship has three people now. I am the Sr. companion and the district leader. I am responsible for the missionary work in the entire county of Yunlin!!!! wow! We are excited for this power filled week.

I was amazed that we were still able to get 30 sit downs this week even since we were gone for one whole day on the 23. It's interesting how the blessings come--they come at the best time and in the best way. We have a goal this week to add 100 investigators. It is a good thing that we have an extra companion and Zone leader exchanges this week!

Right now we are focusing on a Wang family--the father is a Police officer so it's hard for him to make it to church. We are also focusing on a Brother Li --a former atheist who prayed for a really long time and now believes in God. He enjoyed himself at church, and we believe he looks really good for his Week C goal. Others include a Brother Yuan, who is trying to help his parents have a better understanding of the Church, and the Brother Chen who still believes everything, but hesitant to act on it.

Elder Spencer Harris