Birthday Letter from Spencer to ME XXOOXX

well ive read all the messages, and thanks, got the valentines package, thanks mom, still and always will be my valentine mom. haha i dont need any other woman in my life, and happy birthday meg, and mom today!! im glad you guys had such a good week, it was another challenging week here but i was more patient this week so it was not as bad, noone came to church.......... the saddest thing ever as a missionary, and my talk went good, i was the last speaker and the first two spoke for a combination of 6 minutes so i had about a half hour to speak, and i only prepared  for about 15, but the lord filled my mouth because i had prepared and ended up giving a 35 minute talk in spanish haha it was quite awesome, never thought i could do it, but ive changed alot on my mission, im pretty jealous sam chose you over me when he answered that question, mom i love you, but i love sam more then you do, its unfair haha oh well no importa. not alot to talk about, sorry not much happened to be honest just alot of knocking doors and not any real major progress but last night we found two new investigators and i really think they can be baptized, so we ended the week on a good note. one of our less actives is additcted to cock fighting, su amor y pasion son sus gallos haha, who ever would have thought i would help some to stop illegal cock fighting, funny and awesome i love him his name is rafael ventura, hes already changed alot and this is his last step you could say. mom your the best , i hope your having a good day, hows todd? is he gonna serve a mission? tell all my friends i love them and send shane a facebook message and invite all the boys over for dinner or something again. and maybe one for the girls too, lauren, amy, chun and ally, they loved you too mom. mom i look up to you more then you can imagine and thankyou so much for the blog pics. tell michael (harris) to write me atleast a little. i miss him and josh. anyways love your guts have a wonderful day, and just put yourself first today, you can go back to the most giving person natalie tomorrow, todays yours mom. anyways love ya dont worry about me, im more then fine, im great actually.

love elder harris

Letter to Spencer

Love Bug...such a fun week. All of Sam's stuff, Megan's birthday dinner at Carabbas , Josh coming again for bus training, Michael coming to everything...just been a GOOD week for the MOMMA :)
Brandon is here playing Sam in Ping Pong...Johnny P just got here with his haircut in time for Baseball try outs tomorrow. Todd Bean just brought me birthday cake. He is putting his man on...he looked older to me tonight. It's fun to share a birthday with him.
Last night the Clarke's and Beans took me to Prestwich Farms for dinner to celebrate and Jamie took me to Red Lobster on Friday....I'm going to be FAT if this keeps up...and I don't even care!!!! I got my taxes all done Friday and am just ready to tear it up this work week while I'm babysitting at Sheri's. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Going to have to spend some of those alone hours running the roads to work this week off. I hope the weather is good cuz her neighborhood is so gorgeous to run. I will send you pics next week of how cute the kids are.
Still haven't seen Shane Durfey dang it. Still promise the pic when I do.
I'm glad you are so happy. I'm glad you like your companion so much. I'm glad you are in the SOUTH. I am glad you love life. Cuz even though I got into the "50's" for how many weeks left (58) it still feels way to long for a Mom. Praying for you and LOVING on YOU all the way from here!!! Shine on Buddy...Shine on!!!
AND MY FAVORITE BIRTHDAY PRESENT WILL BE YOUR MESSAGE TOMORROW!!! How lucky could I get to have yout PDAY on the VERY day? 
LOVE
Mom
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Preference

Spencer, this is Tanner Marsh's little sister (only kind of as you can see--she's a sophomore). Sam has had a CRAZY busy week. For the day date they went to the High School's Girl's Basketball Championship where they WON STATE!!! She took him to Magelby's for dinner before the dance and they went to the Collin's for hot chocolate and a movie after. He was pretty much fried for church this morning. She's adorable. This is the dance all the sophomore girls asked the Seniors 2 MONTHS ahead and made the Senior girls crazy upset. Smart Sophomores!

Sam the Man in MR."T" Pageant

 Sam took 2nd Attendant (of course WE are MYSTIFIED that those judges didn't name HIM Mr.T!!!) And Brynn took 1st Attendant. I've never seen it done like they did it. They divided all the guys and girls into couples and gave them a theme (the movies) and then assigned them a genre and all their lunch activities, and presentations had to be around that ....Sam and Brynn had HORROR. The second I  get my hands on their THRILLER routine I will post it. Sam is just so dang stinkin ADORABLE. He was born to charm. And who knew he could MOVE like that???? If it was judged by family screaming he would have won for sure.

 This is one of the SWEETEST moments OF MY LIFE....so I'm going to post it even though it feels awkward. Each contestant was asked a question they had to answer. Sam was asked who he most admired. With no hesitation, he looked out at me and said "Hands down, there is no question, it is my MOM. She is my best friend and amazing. She taught me to LOVE good and it's a huge gift to me in my life. I love to be with her. So yeah, my mom."  Yep. SWEETEST TEARS EVER!!! And believe me...when I get that on video I will post that as well. I LOVE MY KIDS....I LOVE MY SAM!!!! And really, how incredible IS IT that we get to be best friends?????

 See the huge Poly kid second from the end? See how they paired him up with the tiniest cheerleader? They did this funny dance routine and at the end HE went down in FULL SPLITS and she just did a hand raise....I would have made him Mr. T just for that! The auditorium went wild...and I still hurt between my legs just writing about it.

 Sam and his possee!!!

 It's hard to tell how GREAT this was by just these pics...but I will post the video once I get it Spencer.

Activity Days

Sooooo...here are my GIRLIES...this week they put together a family home evening lesson for them to give to their families that I took from a blog site--- yourlifeuncommon.blogspot.com . I LOVE this calling! Pretty much WHATEVER we do they LOVE it!!!!

Mr. Joseph Hatch!

Dallin and Paul are on Sam's Jr. Jazz team and after the playoff game we ran in to see Joseph and get this pic JUST FOR YOU SPENCER!!! He's finally recovered enough from that Asian funky flu thing that he will be heading back out into the MTC within the next week or so. Dallin is so ripped it looks like it hurts as he maneuvers his hulk body up and down the court. And Joseph sends his HELLO and loves your updates!

Happy BIrthday to ME!!!

 Look closely and you will see the red nubs coming through!!! God LOVES ME!!! Even though it is COLD the sky and sunshine makes me FEEL like Spring and POOL and Flowers are just a little bit away!!!!

 A few in the front that the deer haven't scarfed!  Oh I do LOVE ME SOME SPRING!!!!

Letter from Spencer 21 Feb 2012

hey fam its elder harris,

another slow week here in the mision, fast in time but slow in success, but thats ok, we dropped about half of our investigators and now are looking for somemore, i had to but new shoes yesterday cuz my reboks broke, and please send a pic of austin and shane for me, im jealous about st jeeezy of course but still i love it here in agusta, golf golf golf, theres so much history everywhere, its awesome, but depressing sometimes that i cant do what i love ever. me and elder billings are still tight, we have fun even when times are hard, hes coming along really slow with spanish and sometimes he gets really down but it will come for him, mine still is not amazing but i can say mostly anything i want now, sorry not much to write, not much cool happened this week, i have to give a talk sunday, in spanish (kill me now) pray for me. i think of the nelsons almost everyday here in georgia, tell jamie i love her and her family, tell carry to let mike have his ferret , he needs it, i wish i could serve with him, anyways, seriously im at a loss of what to write so sorry mom but your gonna have to live with a short and late email, but i love you, alot.

well my roommates are kinda rediculous, they get mail from females about three times a week, its pretty rediculous , i wrote a new song on the guitar yesterday, we went to dinner at a less actives , and then taught a recent convert and then knocked until 9, and thats honestly how the whole week has been. haha i love the members here, but we get fed to much and they will not take no for an answer, of course, im getting fat agai....sad, anyways i gotta go, love ya, bye

elder harris

St. George President's Day Tournament

 The team eating in between games...the weather was SO GORGEOUS!!! It got to 60 degrees BOTH days! As always they/we had an amazing time. This tournament isn't about winning. This tournament is about giving EVERYONE a chance to get some decent outside, on the field time playing. We won 2 and lost two...so sadly we did not get to stay Saturday and Sunday and be in the play offs today. We drove home Saturday night. Kincade went down with us and made the stay even more fun. Have you heard about this new JEREMY LIN kid yet who plays for the NY Nicks??? You're going to love him Spencer...came out of NO WHERE (Harvard) and has been rocking the court for about 2 weeks now with unbelievable stats. ANYWAY...the media and fans are having a hey day with him and they use his name--LIN ---like crazy...for instance "LINderella", "LINsanity", Can't LIN them all.....so Kincade decided he wanted to be KINsanity...and now he is. Sam is SAMtastic :) Senior year is SO FUN!!!! Sam is STILL coughing and trying to get over this mess he has. We are on week 6 now. I could cry a bucket of tears...I came home with a nasty cold---I REFUSE to get what he has!!!!

 One of the nights we went to Honolulu Grill and they had Karioke....the boys are NUTS! These two were HORRIBLE and knew it and still kept getting up....Dad took the picture of these girls sitting next to us with their ears covered.

 Sam is such a charmer.....so he gets up there to sing Tim McGraw's "Something Like That" and tells everyone that he is SINGLE-- and then POINTS to this back table of VERY CUTE GIRLS and says, yeah, that's right, and if I cough, don't let it worry you, I'm not contagious, I can still kiss. Then he totally hams it up while he sings (I was surprised at what a good voice he has) and ends by saying "I'm single, don't forget". A few minutes later this kid comes up with a napkin with 2 of the girls names on it from the back table and their numbers. Then the girls come up to sing  that song that says "I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the heat with somebody".....and Sam gets up and starts dancing with them WHILE THEY ARE SINGING to the crowd!!....His team went nuts and so did the crowd and the girls. WHERE DID HE COME FROM????It was a great weekend, just a little too short.

We woke up to an inch or two of snow yesterday morning...alot of it has melted. Still such a strange winter.
Meg has her birthday on Wednesday...but we will probably celebrate it today since Josh is home still from his training. Josh and Michael still haven't heard anything from Survivor. A new season of Survivor started on Wednesday and we are SO HAPPY! Sam is in the MR. T Contest on Friday Night Another jammed pack week ahead.
Shane Durfey is home and he and Austin came by while we were gone this week and left a note on a napkin...I will keep trying for a pic for you. I got to run with Karie while I was in St. George (she came down to her mom's for the holiday) and she says Michael is doing GREAT. He bought a ferret and she is NOT happy about that, but says it makes Michael HAPPY. Cade Wilkes had his farewell yesterday.
Sam didn't get accepted to BYU. His 3.7 and 27 ACT wasn't enough. Who is that NOT enough for? BYU  is who...kind of being a hater at the moment. So...I am NOT SAD that he is not going to BYU...I am SAD that he will now probably go to Utah State and be 2 hours away from me like Josh!!! I am having Mother growing pains. I REALLY HATE IT THAT YOU GROW UP AND LEAVE!!!! He has some big decisions to make this week. We'll keep you posted.
I love you. I love that it is MONDAY morning and that I should hear from you....although I am totally prepared if its not today because of the holiday. Pretty sure libraries are closed on President's Day weekend. I love WHO you are and the HOW you are and mostly that YOU BELONG TO ME!!! Love like crazy. I miss you!
Mom
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Skiing with Uncle Kelly

Such a good pic of da BOYZ :)

Letter from Spencer 13 Feb 2012

sup fam,

this week was a trial, only one showed up to church and even he was sort of a miracle, but were working hard and doing our best to find teach and baptize, elder billings has had what we call the toozies, or the terrible twos, he is just a little upset with his spanish and missionary capabilities which is what everyone here goes through after you get trained, but its ok ive been helping him through it, we are great friends, hes basically elder rockhill mixed with someone as hard on themselves as perkins or este, but its ok he will pick up spanish just like everyone else did, with time, haha. really not alot to say this week, no new importan shocking news or cool things just another week of spiritual exhaustion with tons of blessings and trials but hey, thats whats life is all about, wow im so southern now, ugh..... oh well tell jamie nelson hi for me and everymoment here reminds me of her and there family , especially when i eat mac and cheese, and i mean real mac and cheese haha not as good as jamies but it puts kraft to shame haha. played ball with terrance last monday, that was awesome, i see him about two or three times a week, we will be sleeping in there apartment soon when we go see the investigators in his area, haha last night we were tracting in these projects called fox den where there are a few hispanics when we found out there were 6 missionaries knocking doors in the same complex, we talked with elder cardon and holyoak for a few minutes, besides elder cardon elder holyoak is my best friend in the mission, there so lucky to serve togethor. anyways im jealous of your week , fam you all suck for not going to idaho with mom and dad, seriously especially michael and josh, your returned missionaries you know whats most important, anywas im glad everyone had a good week, and im not sure i will ever play in the masters but it would be something majestic. either way god loves me and knows whats supposed to happen if i dont play in the masters ill still live.

love pooty penca

Happy Valentine's Day Spencer!!!!!

 Look who showed up!!! Just in time to SEND YOU SOME LOVE BUDDY!!! When Jason walked in I thought how mammoth he's gotten lifting...but then BRANDON walked in...LOOK at how much TALLER he is too!!! Michael read us Sefa's last email and I got teary...he said how last summer and all the nights at "Pooty's house" were the best of his life! Jason is transferring to BYU tomorrow and might marry Brandi at years end. Este is getting set to head out again the end of March. You are such a force of love Spencer!! Sam is down there happy as happy can be trying to get an all nighter going:) I had to laugh when they came in and said"Where's Sam?" I told them in the MANCAVE....Mike King laughed and said "You mean the little boy cave...we will go down and make it the MAN CAVE!" You have such amazing friends. WE  LOVE YOU SO MUCH SPENCER!!!!!!!!!!!

PS...Shane Durfee got home on Wednesday!!! We haven't seen him yet. Mike says Austin is being a SHANE HOG :) I will seek him out this week and get you a picture:)

Hey LOVEY!!!!
As you will see...ANOTHER CRAZY week at our house...I feel like I wasn't even home between work and Boise. The house is rocking right now...Meg has about 20 plus kids here for her annual Valentine's Dinner. I am holed up in my office eating a plate of leftovers and treats and pretty much perfectly content. The only thing that would make it better would be a FLAT screen to watch the Grammy's while I write :)

Michael still trying to date the oh so beautiful Sara from PF Chang's. Josh got his CDL license. We only saw him for a few minutes tonight before he left and headed back to Logan. Neither one of them are going with us to the Lady Antebellum Concert on Tuesday for family Valentine's. Sam won his J Jazz game on Saturday and made 12 points. He is FINALLY FINALLY getting over his nasty cough...I pray that NEVER comes this way again. It went a full month. We are still waiting to hear from BYU to see where he will go to school in fall. He starts baseball tournaments this coming weekend in St. George. SOOoooo here comes the beginning of our LAST Baseball season. I have such mixed emotions.

Megan's friend Lauren, sitting in our kitchen right now is Billy Casper's GrandDaughter and will be at the Master's. I am sitting here thinking how one day some girl will be in another woman's kitchen and they will say "she is Spencer Harris' granddaughter and she will be at the Master's".....and I will be OLD, but sassy and happy and AT THOSE MASTER's as well to watch MY BOY :)

Tomorrow is the lunch for the missionary Mom's. Marie Cardon is as excited as I am that you and Terrence are near each other. I will give you an update of  da brethren after I get it. Mike Cooper came over and watched a NETFLIX documentary in the man cave this week...I was sad that I didn't get to talk to him more---I was working. He is really putting his man on...he looks lots more mature to me.

I love you Buddy. Your family loves you...so many of the Boise family wanted updates. I hope all is going as you would have it. Jamie Nelson is excited that you are in Georgia too! Agusta use to be in her stake...but now Jessup is in the Jacksonville Florida Stake.
Things are good? No sickness? Have you ordered your glasses? Did you get your package with the contacts? You have plenty of money in your account. Have you gone out for a GOOD dinner somewhere yet? I am trying to remember if I sent you back the camera card? Do you need another? My FAVORITE thing from you is pictures. I could have kissed Marie Cardon for bringing over a picture of you and Terrence together...it's on the frig.

I LOVE YOU ....I love you I love you I LOVE YOU!!! Happy Valentine's PERFECT SON!!! I can't wait for tomorrow...it will be MY Valentine's EARLY!
LOVE YOUR MOMMA!!!!
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GrandMom Ground/Harris 80th Birthday Party in Boise

 We stopped first to see Leonard....he has a broken blister on the back of his foot so they have it in a padded boot to keep it from getting scratched  more and to help it heal...when we asked what had happened he told us he did it "parachuting in"...then Grandmom jumped in and helped him to remember how it really happened. His mind is really slipping and he doesn't talk near as much. He's not crazy about the food...Dad asked him what he would like and he said a Strawberry Milkshake so we took him one back later that afternoon. He missed GrandMom's party. We didn't tell him we were having one. 90 years old.

 GrandMom's favorite gift was her little sister, Clarice and her daughter, Amy coming in for the party from South Dakota. Clarice is in the beginning stages of Alzheimers and Amy's coming with her reminded me so much of a few trips to Canada I made. Clarice has 10 children and they were pig farmers for years. She is a delight...and Amy was living goodness.

 We found Dad sleeping and he didn't want to get up. The meds they give him to help him feel HAPPY also make him tired. When we went back on Saturday several family members where there and he was up, but kept saying how tired he was. His lifetime of sweetness is still there, but he is mostly childlike. Alzheimer is such a MEAN disease. All the nursing home visits made it ALOT easier for me to work out and run.

 But didn't help so much in the food choice area....THIS WAS HEAVEN in a cup....caramel hot chocolate at IHOP's!!!!! Oh yeah. SO IF I DO end up in an assisted living facility...these are my instructions: bring me Krispy Kreme's and cheeseburgers and fries and shakes and this hot chocolate until I die. I plan to eat myself out of here :)
Friday night we all gathered at Joe's Crab Shack in Garden City...it was Don Tonkin's birthday...coconut shrimp...YUM!!!Amber and I sealed the deal for her visit in July there :) The weather was so incredible that we went back to Trish and Don's and had a fire and got a private concert from Ronnie...AMAZING as always!!!

 Mom and her kids at the party.

 Mom opening the lap top computer all the kids got her....the idea is she can take it to the nursing home and use it while hanging out with Leonard.

 Amy, Clarice and Mom.

 Pam with GrandBaby ADDISON...she is so dang cute...EVERYONE wants a piece of her!!!

 Stacey...lost 30 lbs...my weight loss inspiration!!!

The PARTY ROOM in Meridian at Smokey Mountain Pizzeria. Jeanette made the cakes....and took lasagna over to mom's so she wouldn't have to cook. She is a sweet daughter.

Uncle Kelly here

 Uncle Kelly came Wednesday and he and Dad have been playing...they took Michael and Sam skiing at Park City today. Tonight PFChang's awaits.

Today my DARLINGIST Activity Day girls came...I gave them each a Valentine Sewing Kit and said "I LOVE YOU SEEEEWWWWW Much"! Then we made the felt heart paperclip book marks off of Pinterest. They turned out so dang cute!!You could NOT get more sweetness in a room if you tried. I love these girlies.

Letter from Spencer 6 Feb 2012

hey fam

well if you want to know where i am you will just have to wait for pictures , just think about golf, elder cardon and the masters, yeah lets just say im pumped, i have the entire agusta georgia stake as my area and yes that includes the agusta national golf course, we actuall have two investigators and some leads that leave really close, we have driven past the gates to get in like 5 times already, but the whole course is so tree covered, especially the borders of the property , its to the point that i cant even see a square inch unless i trespass, and lets just say i might have to break the law on my mission haha, all i can see from the gate magdolena lane, and the yellow flowers in the shape of america with the green flag where agusta is, lets just say the lord knows me, the ,masters is coming up here soon and i will be here! me and elder billings are going to take what we call a faith walk( we will walk magdolena lane on pday and pray a member or some saint sent from god gives us tickets to watch the practice round, it would be a dream come true. elder billings is awesome, im backup training him, hes having a hard time with the language but i dont blame him, learning the language is hard in the states and i was lucky enough to have hispanic friends and experiences before my mission to get a head start. agusta is a branch and its awesome we have about 50 active members and i already know them all, its quite awesome actually the branch is like a tight nit family even though the members are so spread out through all of the steak, me and elder billings just got permission to sleep in the english elders apartments where were working because we can only have so many miles and our work is so spread out because of the lack of hispanics, theres alot les hispanics here then there is in north charleston alone but im still greatful and excited to be here, especially the branch, honestly having church in spanish with just hispanics for all three hours is so legit, real fellowship can happen, between the members and the investigators.

elder billings is from st george, hurrican actuall, but he loves golf and basketball and sports just like me, and hes alot like perkins actually, anyways were good friends and its going to be a good transfer. the first night we were here we were tracting in a trailer park and talking to some hispanics and right after we got rejected some black kids from down the street started yelling at us and we could not understand a single word they said, and yes it was english, just aweful english haha anyways we ignored it at first cuz this is not uncommon and then we finally understood that he said

 " i bet yall caint pay ball wort notin" to say the least we played them in two on two, three games in a row we won and then they finally gave up haha black boy basketball will never beat fundamentals, anways they then asked us what church were from and what we were doing in georgia, we then explaned we were mormons and they had no clue what that ment so we just told them were the same religion as jimmer freddette, and they then nodded there heads and said , oh so thats why yall can play so good, haha anyways it was fun but we need to teach them with there parents or it wont be worth the baptism they would just go inactive.

anyways im doing good , god loves me, and knows me, i will be here for the masters and my birthday, and elder cardon is here too , and i have permission to sleep in his apartment, and we will probably go on exchanges so, basically a dream come true, we will probably play ball with them today, anyways i love you guys keep it cool in hawaii for me, i hate you, thats not cool

Baseball Banquet and Super Bowl

 Saturday night was that time again....and our LAST time being so involved. That part might actually be NICE. Blendtec donated a blender for my basket...how GREAT is that? And then Dale Murphy signed a baseball for us when we ran into hm in a shoe store earlier this year. A sports store was nearby so Don ran and got a ball and he signed it for us.
Set up was smooth...it was great to have Sam's poster up there :) He thanked the crowd for supporting them with donations...he was adorable. Yea, I'm his Mom.

 The boy under his poster pic :)

 The boys getting their raffle tickets.

 And this...well...Spencer, don't be sad...but this is the Hawaii Vacation I won the bid on at the Live Auction....we will go to Poi Pou on Kaui  (yep...the same part of the island we went last time) in Sept or Oct. We are having to wait and book it around Sam and Josh's fall break. We will stay 6 nights. needless to say...we are pretty excited. The ONLY sad thing is that you will not be with us.

 SOOOO, on to the SUPER BOWL!!!!!!   We had PLENTY of YUMMY FOOD and missed you like crazy. Johnny P was the main one hoping for the Patriots...I sided with him cuz I didn't want him to loose his $300 he had in bets. The rest of the room was so Happy for the Giants.

 Soooooo...we had Winger's wings, sticky fingers, chips, 7 layer dip, potatoe skins, candy candy and more candy and more.....we SO MISSED YOU BUDDY!!! Josh was home for the weekend to start his bus driving training for Alaska. The weather has been so nice that Michael is still riding his motorcycle.

OH YEAH!!! Michael and Josh drove to Vegas on Thursday for the LIVE casting call of Survivor. They will know something by the 28th of Feb. I am not holding my breath...I keep telling them they are TOO NICE and not "different"enough...not even with all that hair Michael has. They seem to find these people who are "medical marijuana dispensers" and "sheep dog trainers"...niether one of them have something that stand out. And can you imagine ME trying to LIVE through both or either one of them out there doing that??? They think its GREAT!!! They want YOU to come home Spencer and have it be ALL THREE of you brothers together.
Chelsea Clegg just got engaged. Sam is going to be in the MR. T pageant. Sam's having fun playing Jr. Jazz. He's had a nasty cough for a few weeks and today we took him to the Insta Care. He woke up with a horrible sore throat-- It's not step...just viral...he swears he is getting amazing abs from all the coughing. His weight lifting really is showing. Tosi is getting married in March to the Frampton kid. That's about it.
YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU.
I am dying to know WHERE you are...can't wait to hear from you in the morning. LOVE YOU BIG SPENCER!!!!