The Christmas Letter 2014

Merry Christmas! This month has been a series of unexpected plot twists and subsequently the annual Christmas letter didn't get written in time to go out with the cards. So here you go, an electronic Christmas letter that will be available for viewing at your leisure.

The year 2014 started out with promises of new adventures and grand achievements. Jill put the ski industry behind her as she started her new job at Enve Composites, a company that makes high-end, carbon-fiber bicycle rims and components. In February, Alex received an honorable discharge from the military and returned home. She now attends Weber State University (along with Logan) and is pursuing a double-major in journalism and anthropology. Speaking of Logan, he graduated from Northridge High School in June and is busy fulfilling pre-reqs at WSU for the U of U engineering program. As for Tim, he started a new job on Hill Air Force Base and spent the spring and summer on his new mountain bike. In the fall, he went for a 2500 mile motorcycle trip alone. The majority of that trip was spent in various stages of torrential downpour.

This year Santa finally came through and answered Alex's childhood pleas for a sister. On October 11, Travis married his twu wuv, Abby. The wedding went off without a hitch and Alex got the sister she'd always wanted. Of course, we can't have a proper summary of the year without acknowledging the number of injuries Logan has incurred. He has hit a record low this year with only a broken wrist and a torn MCL. We're keeping our fingers crossed for an equally uneventful 2015 as the ski season progresses.

So there you have it, our top moments of 2014. May your holidays be full of chocolatey deliciousness, cheesy Christmas music, and bountiful human compassion!

Much love from our family to yours, 

The Harris Family

Tim, Jill, Travis, Abby, Alex, Logan, and Lacey

We've grown in inches and numbers this year. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure!

Abby and Travis <3 p="">

 Wendy and Jill

 Alex and Kylee

 Lacey

Travis, Logan, and Alex

 Tim

Logan, Abby, Travis, Alex

Tim, Travis, and Jill

Photo cred: Courtney Child (all wedding pics), Alex, and Sara Chandler

New web site for Travis updates

For the latest info on Travis, go to the following web site:

http://www.missionsite.net/eldertimothytravisharris/main

Travis Week 11 - Managua says hello

Buenos Dias y Managua dice ¡hola!

Hey well it has once again been another week, and I am slowly realizing how scarily fast the time is flying by here. I really can´t believe it at all. I´m coming up on five months now...It´s hard to see how time changes here cuz there´s not much to do with seasons, and so all I can do is think about it, but still that is weird. So you probably would like to hear about my week. It sure has been an interesting one so buckle up. 

So Tuesday morning we showed in the chapel of Villa Flor for our district and zone meetings. When we got there though, the Zone Leaders told us that Elder Lopez had a transfer and was headed up to Matagalpa. Anyways, so he headed on up there and honestly, I´m a little jealous cuz up there they say the weather is actually a little cold sometimes. Can you believe that? Cold! That would be amazing. But I stayed back here in good old sweaty Managua so I probably shouldn´t fantasize at not sweating all day long :) Anyways, I worked with my District Leader until my new comp arrived. Now here´s the kicker. My new comp is a Hondereño (from Honduras) named Elder Canaca. Turns out he trained Elder Lopez. In the mission, your trainer is called your Papá which means my new comp is actually my abuelo or grandpa. Funny huh? Well, he´s pretty cool. At first I was really worried though cuz he hardly smiles at all. I have no idea why but he has a hard time opening up. But this past week, we´ve been working really hard and getting to know each other more. Now he jokes and smiles around me but nobody else. It´s all right, we´ll work on that. But anyways we´ve been teaching a ton this week. Honestly, it´s been pretty tough though. 

 

Not a lot of people are accepting us or keeping commitments and fewer are coming to church. But I figure that because it´s been pretty hard lately, it just means that what´s in store these next few weeks is going to be just awesome. We´ve been really pushing hard to find new people and especially families. All and all though things are pretty good in Sábana Grande.

But here is a quick story from what happened this last week. Anyways, we have an investigator named Valeska, and we had taught her a couple times before. She had seemed a little hesitant with everything the first few times, and we weren´t sure what was going to happen. Anyways, we went and taught her again this week and we got talking about the Book of Mormon. She had told us that she read a little and that also she read the introduction and the testimony of the three witnesses in the beginning. So we got talking about testimonies and how we can know if something is true or not through prayer. She was really quiet through the whole time and I wasn´t exactly sure what was going on, but in the end we asked her if she had prayed about the Book of Mormon. Then she looked at us said yes. "I prayed and recieved an answer to my prayers. I know that its true. I feel peace and just wonderful. I know it´s true." Anyways, we were both just absolutely stoked to hear that. We´re hoping that she can get baptized the 7th of August.

I love this gospel. I love the Book of Mormon. It´s amazing how the Spirit works. 

I hope everything´s doing just great and I love you all very much. 

Con amor,

Elder Harris

Travis - week 10 - Entonces...

Buen Dia Familia


Well, hey all and I´m glad to hear everyone is great! Well, it has been another week. I honestly can´t believe it has already been another seven days. I don´t think anyone can possibly realize how incredibly fast the time goes here. It feels like seven minutes. Well, this week hasn´t been too exciting. We´ve been pretty beat up to tell you the truth. Elder Lopez hardly has a voice and I got a stomach infection for a couple days, on top of a pretty bad cold. All is well now though so no stress :)

Anyways, I was thus left with a ton of time to read the Book of Mormon. Wow, I just loved it because the time you have to read for yourself is limited. Usually it is spent studying topics, going over lessons, or studying the scriptures for your investigators. I love that too, but it is very rare to read for yourself so I was sick but made the best use I could out of the time. Anyways, I was reading in the end in Ether 12 and it is just an amazing chapter on faith or la fe. I just love how it talks about how we can have miracles and we can see miracles. The only reason we don´t see miracles is that there isn´t sufficient faith. I then got to read in Moroni 7 and wow that is awesome too because it talks about faith and hope and how if we truly have these two things, we´ll have charity which is the pure love of Christ. These are just two beautiful parts of the Book of Mormon.

Well, all in all though, we´ve just been plugging along when we can. This next week though is really going to be good I hope. We´re still trying really hard with a girl named Kellen. She already knows everything is true, she loves the Book of Mormon and reads it all the time, but she´s having a billion things thrown in her way and we´re hoping to help her overcome those things so this Saturday she can be baptized. And that itself gets me thinking about how in the Book of Mormon it talks about baptism and how wonderful it is. How people risked everything just to take upon themselves the name of Christ. I could just go on forever and ever talking about just this. And then forever and ever about the Book of Mormon. I just love it.

Also, this Sunday I walked into our little house where we have Sacrament meeting about five minutes early and Hermano Riveras from the branch looks at me and says, I´m looking forward to your talk... What talk?... I even spoke first which was interesting cuz I had no time to plan. But I absolutely loved it. And I invite you to look up the reason, 2 Nefi 33:1. The Lord is really in this work. I spoke on faith to a little nucleo of 8 members in a house with concrete walls and a tin roof, in a rain storm in the middle of Nicaragua. Honestly, I had no idea what to talk about or what to say but the words came and the Spanish came. The people understood, and even though I had no idea, it was what needed to be heard. I know that the Lord is helping us in so many ways I cannot describe. I love the chance I have to be here in Nicaragua. I love the people here even when they don´t love me and my crazy white shirt and tie. I love the Book of Mormon. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love my Savior. I know He died for us, and I know He lives. I love this mission.

Elder Harris

Week 9 - Update

Just a note to everyone.


Hey all! Sorry but I took this week to write to my family a little more than usual. So you don't get much. Just so you know, things are doing great down here in Nicaragua. Very wet again but what can you do? Good news for the week is that Michael is super stoked and wants to serve a mission. He's got problems walking but he's still ready and willing. It's awesome to hear, "yeah I want to serve a mission. I know the church is true and want everyone to know it too." Sweet huh? Anyways I love you and just want to tell you how important the scriptures are. I've been reading in Third Nephi recently and it is just awesome. We always invite people, read the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and you'll recieve an answer. Well, I'm inviting anyone who isn't sure or doesn't know. Read the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and you'll recieve an answer. I love it. I know it's true. It truly has changed my life.

Con amor,
Elder Harris

...So I'm out of time completely but want to tell you that I can't believe you went to Disneyland without me but when we go in two years Space Mountain will be working - just for me.

To answer your questions, I still havent gotten the package. It is either still coming which is very possible ( one missionary had to wait four months ) or Nica customs got hungry with whatever you sent. I am officially Nicaragua Managua Norte and our president is another Guatemalteco named Presidente Arredondo who is way cool. My new address is below [note from the mom: emails are most likely to reach him, however]

Elder Timothy Travis Harris
Oficinas Discover
Oficina 2D
Apartado Postal 3600
Managua CA Nicaragua
Nicaragua

Like I said, no time but I love you a ton and miss your food a ton. I know the church is true. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I love to tell everyone possible.

Con amor,
Elder Harris

Pics next week if the computer doesn't stink.

Travis - Week 8 - ¿Disneylandia? ¿Really? What is this?

While the rest of the family celebrated the 4th of July by heading to California, fireworks on Huntington Beach, Disneyland, etc., Travis sang to his companion...read on for a glimpse into Week 8.

Hola familia

 

Well its been another week and I can´t believe it at all. Alex wrote me and said it felt like forever, but I honestly feel like I just got here. But hey guess what? That really isn´t true at all. As of Saturday, I have been in Nicaragua two whole months, been a missionary four whole months, and been alive 19 and a half years. I cannot believe it at all. And to celebrate I ate Captain Crunch that I found in the only store in our zone. It says US Import on it and everything. It really was a sweet day as far as breakfast goes. I felt very American I can assure you. And that was really good seeing as yesterday was the fourth of July. So my Guatemalan comp had to put up with my singing the National Anthem and every American song I could think of. But it´s all good. He hasn´t killed me yet.

 

But speaking of the fourth of July, I really got thinking about how much I love our country. First off I love the weather. I don´t die from heat exhaustion every single day... or at least didn´t. I also love the fact that we have democracy. I´m not exactly sure what Nicaragua is, but it definitely doesn´t benefit from the same democracy we do. Also, we have a ton of opportunity. I know  I´ve said it before but I know kids who have life dreams of working in a call center in Managua. They practice really broken rough English just for the hope of one day having that glorious position. Also, the other day I traded out two bucks for fourty two cordobas. I could probably eat for three days on that if I had to. I could go into our Constitution, Declaration of Independence, National Ideals, etc but I think you get the picture. We are drop dead lucky to live in the states. I don´t care if  you´re living in a trailer park, we are the luckiest people in the world.

 

All right, this week wasn´t about quantity but I do have one really cool quality story that you all get to hear. So Wednesday, we went out of the main part of Sábana Grande again to the Familia Hernandez. The mom had recently had surgery and the dad works so we went up to clear out the garbage out of their yard. (People just throw garbage on the ground wherever here.) Anyways, we cleaned it all up and then it started to rain so we headed inside their little tin house. We were about to leave a short lesson on eternal marriage when the nephew, Sebastian, showed up. Anyways, the family was all excited that we teach him and of course we were too, so we did. Anyways, Sebastian is this pretty cool 21 year old kid. And at first, he wasn´t really paying much attention to us, but we kept going. We were teaching about how families could be eternal. I had the thought to ask him about his family, and so I asked him if he had a family. He said he had a family. Past tense. His family had all died and was living with his Aunt and Uncle while going to school. I didn´t really know what to say, but I asked him how it would be to live with his family again. He just stared at me, stared at the floor, and didn´t say anything for what seemed like five minutes. And then just started to cry. This tough 21 year old kid just started to cry in front of me. I couldn´t hear the words between the tears and Spanish of what he said next, but I understood it perfectly. Marvelous. I told him that he could live with his family again and that families are forever. Elder Lopez then taught about following Jesus Christ and how we can do that. Sebastian ended up saying he wanted to be baptized. It really was wonderful. I heard a lady call us angels this week. Now  I don´t know about being an angel or anything, but I do know that the message we carry is from our Heavenly Father. I know that it is true. And I am eternally grateful for it. I know the Church of Jesus Christ is on the earth again and that a Prophet leads and guides it. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know these things and all of Nicaragua will know I know it if I have anything to say about it.

 

I love you and love hearing from you. I hope everything is just wonderful up there and that you all had a good week and have an even better one coming up.

 

Con amor, su misionero,

Elder Harris

Travis Week 7 - Por Su Luz

Hola mi familia y todos los otros cheles que esten leyendo este

All right. Where to begin. It has been a pretty interesting week so hold on to your shorts and get ready. But first off, things might be a little/really quick. Due to a large number of very strange and coincidental reasons, we are writing late. Ít´s all good. ´We´re with permiso and everything, just have to type like the wind.

First thing notable happened lunes [Monday] right after I wrote you all last time. So all that day and sunday too, our neighbors had been cutting down a ton of trees next to the house. I didn´t think much of it. Boy was I tonto (dumb). So that night I was chillin front of the fan and taking off the shoes when I see something out of the corner of my eye. Around the corner of the wall I saw the shadow of something very big. At first I thought it was a cherrepo or lizard. There are a ton and its very normal to see them. When I stood up though, to my greatest displeasure I saw a big, brown spider as big as my hand. That is in no way an exxageration. As big as my hand. Of course I yelled at my comp, we took a picture, and then killed it as fast as humanly possible. Unfortunately, my comp deleted the picture by accident and no longer have the evidence. Needless to say, I did not sleep well that night. Then the next night as I went hunting for any other giant spiders, I looked in the corner of the room and saw a giant scorpion. Once again as big as my hand and once again not an exxageration. So once again, I yelled to my comp, we put on our shoes, took a picture, and killed it. I´m going to send a picture if the computer lets me. So we´ve checked every single space every night since for these things. Oh boy. Bienvenidos a Nicaragua. [Welcome to Nicaragua].

Also, this last Tuesday we said goodbye to Presidente Fraatz. It was a super sweet program with a ton of talks, gifts, music and everything. The works. And then Presidente told us all where we were slacking, how we needed to improve, and then got us super animated all in one go. He has done so much for the work and Nicaragua, its incredible. Mas o menos 13,000 baptisms in three years. Holy cow. I´m super excited for how Nicaragua´s going to be in the next three years.

The other coolest thing in the world was our Baptism this Saturday. You all remember Michael? Well, he got wet this Saturday and is super excited even still. I had the chance to baptize him and he told me afterword that he felt fresh but not just because he was dripping wet but fresh in every sense of the word. Then the next Sunday he even came to church with a white shirt and tie. Out here that means the world. We have been incredibly blessed to see him baptized. It was like the Lord said, here you go and that was it. And that´s basically how it works too. Most of the time, you have to work a little harder but many times the Lord just surprises you. And that´s the best part. This is the Church of Jesus Christ. And of nobody else. I know it´s true with all my heart. I know the Book of Mormon is true and that its the word of God. How can I know? I know because I´ve read it and I´ve prayed about. I love the Gospel and I´m super excited for this next week. There´ll be miracles for sure.

I love you all. I miss you all. I miss hamburgers too. I really miss hamburgers.

Con amor,
Elder Harris

Nicaragua Week 7 - Vamos [we go]

...just kidding. No vamos.


Turns out Elder Lopez and I are staying in Sabana Grande after all. Calls came in on Tuesday that neither of us should pack our things. I´m good with that though. Elder Lopez is a good missionary and Sabana Grande is just getting ready for miracles. So I´m pretty sure it means Mision Nicaragua Managua Norte for this ingrato.

Anyways, what happened this week? Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Am I clear enough. We have been once again soaked all week. But´s its all good. We still keep on keepin on and I´m good with that. It just means very wet and muddy shoes. But it was all worth it in the end.

This Saturday, we baptized this kid named Byron Jose. And I got to do it, but I only did it once this time :) He´s this studly little kid that always comes to church and sits right next to me every time. What´s more exciting is that with a miracle we´ll be able to baptize the rest of the family. They´re a little crazy and that´s why I say miracle but we´re in Nicaragua and miraglos happen all the time. I´ll have pictures next week. Forgot the cord today.

Anyways, we´ve been teaching Fares´ Brother, named Michael. He´s getting baptized this Saturday and it´s really cool. First off he used to be bago. So he´s seen some pretty crazy stuff (that´s about all of Nicaragua so I should say he´s been involved with some pretty crazy stuff.) He was even shot in the foot and barely walks now. But he´s way positive and just wants a complete change. He practically teaches us. Where we usually leave 3 Nefi 11 for people to read and they usually read only a couple verses. Michael reads 1 Nefi, 2 Nefi... on and on to 3 Nefi. I´m super stoked to see him baptized this Saturday.

More about bagos. We´ve been teaching a friend of Fares named Erik. He´s only eighteen but he´s done some really crazy stuff. He´s been hacked at with a machete, shot in the stomach, killed somebody, but wants to change really bad. And so we´ve been teaching him. We´re working incredibly hard with him cuz for him to be baptized which he wants, he has to comletely change, appearance and everything. He is the picture of Fares I sent last week if you want to see him. So we´re working really hard for him, and I know we´ll be seeing Miracles. We already have.

So I don´t have much time today cuz I had to write back to a lot of letters but I love you all and love hearing from you.

Just a few things first: Happy Birthday to Grandma Lois and anybody else. If I forgot you its cuz I don´t know anybody´s birthday. I just found out it was Grandma´s. I´ll work on that I promise. [If you want Travis to remember your birthday-send him a letter and tell him when it is ;) ]

Happy Father´s Day to my Dad. Dads are unbelievably rare down here. And good Dads are one in a million, so all you with good dads be grateful. Also, be jealous. My Dad is awesome. He won a Triathalon just to prove it.

Anyways that's all,

Adio
Elder Harris

Nicaragua Week 6 - Vamo Pue

Hola mi familia y todo,

Wow! So I´m now at the end of my first cambios [transfers]. I honestly can´t believe it at all. It sure has been crazy, but I absolutely loved it. Anyways this week has been pretty much awesome so let me tell you about it.

But first let me respond to all my wonderful fan mail this week, which I absolutely loved getting. First off, I once again can´t believe my sister graduated. When I looked at that picture, I hardly recognized you! Holy cow. And speaking of not recognizing... where in the world did my Dad go? Or at least half of him, because that person in that picture definitely isn´t him. But for all of you who don´t know, my Dad kicked some trash in the triathalon (I think it was in Logan?) so that makes me jealous.

Anyways, let me try to keep up with all that good news. (I´ll write you all later if I have time but if not, this is my love to all of you and thankyou for the mail because I really appreciated it. Love you all.)

So this week was absolutely awesome. We worked our tails off all week and por fin Sábana Grande had its first baptisms in a long time. The first was a 18 year-old kid we´ve been working with forever it seems like. It seemed like at first he didn´t want anything to do with the church, but we just kept visiting and being his friend and he gradually opened up. He´s been learning English and so he absolutely loves to talk to me all the time about how to pronounce this or say that. He actually gets mad at me when I speak Spanish. Funny huh? Anyways, his name is Fares Alexander Poveda Valle and he used to be a bago (gangster). You´d be surprised how many people here used to be bagos. I think we´re teaching something like 4 or 5 used to be´s. Anyways, he´s been looking for a way to be clean and change his life forever, so gladly we told him how. A lot of work later and Fares was baptized this Saturday. He was really excited especially because he wanted to be my first baptism and so he became my first three. The first time I said his name wrong, the second time his hand didn´t dunk, but the third time was the charm and down went the bago and out came Fares. I´m looking forward to hear from him in a year because he is super stoked to serve a mission.

The next baptism was this girl named Gloria. She´s this spunky little thing that reminds me a lot of my little cousins (that really aren´t so little anymore.) Anyways, she loves Jesus and the Book of Mormon and the Prophet and everybody. We´ve been teaching her whole family (the Dad is inactive and the Mom is super positive) and we´re hoping everything goes well and we can get the Mom baptized too. They just have to get married first (ten years and nothin - still not even divorced from the first time either) and then they are so ready.

Also, the other coolest thing ever happened yesterday at church. We had the stake president come and so we had 38 people in our little nucleo 18 of which counted for our attendance so I´m pretty stoked about that too. The only problem is that five minutes before the speaker told me he didn´t have anything prepared and so guess what!? So I spoke about the Tree of Life and how we need to hold to the Iron Rod (the word of God). It was only my second talk in Spanish but it was actually pretty good believe it or not.

Anyways I have no time really at all today but here goes all the answers to all your questions,Me and my comp get along really well. Of course, he can drive me a little crazy at times but overall, I´m super lucky to have him training me. He really is an awesome missionary.

Cambios are on Wednesday and I still don´t know what´s gonna happen, but we are getting 30 new missionaries so probably something.

Yes, we found someone to do our laundry. The church is actually at her house. She´s this really sweet old lady that basically treats us like her favorite children in the world so it´s awesome.

And believe it or not, the Spanish is going really good. The miracle isn´t speaking so much as understanding so I´m feeling really blessed.

Well, I love you as always. I know this church is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I´m seeing it change people´s lives, and I know that the Spirit is testifying to others that it´s true too. You just have to take a look and it´s there. We´re just inviting others to look.

Con amor,
Elder Harris

PS funny story
So Saturday in the morning we had a service project at the local park where we cleaned it all up. Across the street is the Catholic church so when the local priest saw 20 mormons cleaning up on his turf, he ran out of the church to yell and swear at us as loud as he could. He actually threatened to call the police. Honestly, I just think the whole thing was hilarious...

ring ring click.
Hello Presidente Fraatz?
Yes Elder, what happened?
I´m in jail for community service. Please come get me.

Tim places in the Tri - Swim/Bike/Run - can you say brrrrrr!?!

On the day we had Travis mission farewell (Feb 21st) my bro-in-law suggested to Tim that they do a Spring Triathalon (half-mile swim in open water followed by a 12-mile bike ride and finishing with a 3-mile run); Tim was game and he convinced a friend from work to do it, too...so they've been training for the past 3-1/2 months. On Saturday all that hard work came to fruition...although it took some coaxing to get Tim into the 59-degree water at Hyrum Reservoir (the outside air temp was only 50). He got his best time ever in the swim and attributes it to the desire to get out of the water as quickly as possible. At the end of the day, he was standing on a podium - in first place! for his age group/class. It was fun and now the bug has bitten. The bunch of them are signed up for another Sprint on July 10th. The weather has got to be warmer, and we hear it is a more competitive race, so the training continues.