June 10, 2011

   Today started out rough. Every one of our set appointments fell through, so we decided to contact and visit a former. The former accepted to come to Church this week. We contacted more and found a lady named Maggie whose son was killed in Iraq a year and a half ago. She has kind of lost her faith in God and is still having a really hard time with the loss. She seemed to be comforted a little during our visit and accepted to prepare for baptism. We then went to the Alanis family. They were less-active, but are now active with super strong testimonies. When we got there, we were talking about basketball with the Dad, who is still less-active. The son came in and asked if he could share a chapter of the Book of Mormon. We were taken back a bit. He read 3 Nephi 27 to us, then bore the most heartfelt testimony about the Church. The Spirit was so strong as he expressed his concern for his father and invited him to come to Church with his whole family. It was one of the coolest moments on my mission, and something I will never forget. I pray the Bro. Alanis will accept that invitation and come to Church with his family and make the changes he needs to in his life.

Missionaries Looking For Ties

Taco Ole

June 16, 2011

   Mayra was the former who accepted to come to Church. She came and stayed the whole 3 hours. She was progressing very well, and we were thinking about moving her date to the 26^th, but she called us today and said she couldn’t pay the light bill. So she doesn’t want to stay in a dark, hot house, so she is going to Mexico to live with her Mom until she gets her light back on. She was getting baptized for sure too, so it was a bummer to hear that news. But some good news is that Hermano Flores is ready for his baptism on Sunday. Obispo Garza is even finding him a job, so I am super happy for him. Also Yessy and Yobely already got interviewed and are good to go for Sunday. We had a sweet, intense lesson with them on Tuesday. We talked about the 10 Commandments, and we brought up piercings. We told them that they should have no more than one set of earrings. Yessy was very hesitant to remove them, but she did and gave all her extra ones to us. Yobely really didn’t want to do it. We went back the next day, and the first thing she did was give me a back with all of her piercings. It was very cool to see them give up something they love so much just because it was a commandment from God. They are super legit and I am excited for their baptism on Sunday.

Elder Low, Alfredo Flores, & Elder Strong

June 17, 2011

   Today was weekly planning. We planned for Yessy and Yobely’s baptisms and also Alfredo’s baptism. All three of them are super solid and I am super excited for their baptisms. Today we ate a ton! Hna. Ana Rosa Torres fed us and we also ate at the Quintanilla’s. We first visited Luz and Fernanda, and it turns out a boy from the Ward already wants to date Fernanda. Luz asked us if it was alright, and we didn’t know what to say to that. But it is good for her to have a good example and date a member. When we were at the Quintanilla’s we had planned to ask them a whole bunch of questions, but they just fed us. Elder Low just bailed on me and played air hockey with the kids while I was one-on-one with Sis. Quintanilla. I asked her a few questions about the Church and found out a few things. They are very closed people, so it is very hard to see where they are at. Hopefully next month we can baptize the daughters.

Elder Low, Yessy, Yobely & Elder Strong

June 27, 2011

Dear Parents

That is awesome you talked to someone from my mission! I think it was Sis. Fifita, she was the one that was in my district when I was in Donna the first time. She knew the Afatasi's from the old Pesenga ward.

How was Mom's birthday? Tell her Happy Birthday for me. Man that is crazy that the Jazz picked up another big European guy. I hope this one is actually legit.

So transfers are this week and my companion is leaving. I will be training a new Zone Leader named Elder Lake. He has only been out for 9 months so he is super young for a ZL. He has been in Corpus Christi for a while so I hope he stills knows Spanish! I am super excited though because our zone should do a lot better next month. This month as a mission we had 113 baptisms! The most ever for the mission in a 4 week month! We didn't even do that well this month so next month we should do even better because it is a 5 week month. We have the weirdest family that I have ever worked with. We have the most spiritual lessons with them but they never come to church! It is the strangest thing but we will probably just have to move on. We are working with some really good families. We are teaching a family where the husband was baptized in Honduras and the wife is not a member. He came to church this week but not with his wife so we are going to get her to come next week.

Anyways I think that is all for me. Have a great week and remember to always do the little things like read, pray, and go to church. Love you mucho!

Elder Strong

 

ELDER LAKE

Elder Strong & Elder Lake

June 28, 2011

   Yessy & Yobely & Alfredo have gotten baptized and confirmed since I wrote in here last. All three of them are legit! Alfredo is going to receive the priesthood next week, so I am really excited for that. On Sunday we had the best PEC Meeting ever. We talked about the Ward Mission Plan and everyone was excited to set goals to increase missionary work in the Ward. Today was transfers. E. Low left to Laredo and E. Lake came in from Corpus. He is really young for being a Zone Leader. He has been out for 9 months. We had a good day yesterday, even though the day wasn’t planned out very well. We taught a cool lady named Adriana and another named Jewel. Jewel is a member referral from the Sanchez family and we are having a lesson at their house on Friday, so I’m super excited for it. I am pretty nervous about being the senior ZL, but it will help me be a better missionary and rely on the Lord more.

 

July 1, 2011

   Yesterday we had ZLC. It was great and we set a goal of 135 baptisms, which would be a record for the TMM. A lot of the pressure falls on the leaders to make sure we get it done. Our area is at the beginning stages, so we could get our three at the end of the month. We have a lot of cool people that we have taught a first lesson to, but there are things that have come up, so we don’t see them again. We need to work on setting BD’s and getting them to Church. Other than that, things are great. The Sanchez family had us over last night and Iliana brought her friend Janet. We had an awesome first lesson with her, and she even cried, which is something she said she never did. The Spirit was super strong, but she was hesitant to accept being baptized. For sure on Sunday we will help her feel the Spirit and accept a baptismal date.