April 16, 2010
 

   Yesterday we had a decent day. At first it started out long and bad. It just seemed like we didn’t do much until about six we got four lessons so we definitely got blessed. I still haven’t received my birthday package. We taught Norma and Belinda with Bro. Arteaga & had a cool Book of Mormon lesson. Tonight we are going to have a lesson with Angie, so we have to break the bad news to her that she cannot be baptized if Steven is living with her. I hope & pray she will take it the right way & still have a great desire to be baptized.

 

April 17, 2010

   Yesterday was a pretty unproductive day. It rained a lot. We had a good lesson with Steven & Angie. I think Angie realized that she needed to kick Steven out & be baptized this week. She has a very strong Spirit & I know the Lord will bless her for this decision. I also saw a Volkswagen Sirocco like from Family Guy.  I didn’t even think those existed.

 

Volkswagen Sirocco 

May 3^rd, 2010

   Well, today we found out if we were getting transferred or not and for the first time I am staying here in Brownsville with E. Martinez. Him & I actually had a pretty decent transfer despite our differences. Things with Angie are looking bad. She ended up not kicking Steven out & now she wants to get married before she gets baptized. And Steven doesn’t want to get married now. Things for Angie are also going bad. She still doesn’t have a job & everything is starting to catch up to her. We haven’t gone over there in a while. She really needs the Spirit in her life right now. Some good news is that Norma is super legit! She has been keeping all her commitments & coming to Church. She is always excited for us to come over and teach her. Frank Pena also accepted a baptismal date. We were thinking about dropping him & just decided to set a BD with him. Ever since then he is keeping more commitments & he even came to Church! He said he enjoyed it a lot and is looking forward to next week. So far things are going well and we are receiving many blessings right now.

 

5/3/10 

Dear Parents.

I understand why I didn't get a letter from you guys last week. I got the weekly mission newsletter so at least I got some mail! Wow that experience with Scott was awesome. He can really go back to Arizona in about two weeks? That is really quick! So will he be there for Mother’s Day? As of right now any time after like 4 is good on Sunday but today is the day we find out if we get transferred or not and for some reason they haven't told us yet but I figure that I will stay here in Brownsville. I haven't really asked how the phone calls work around here but I'll figure it out. Sometimes parents call the elders and other times it’s the opposite so I'll ask. I'm guessing I can just call you guys and that would be easiest.

Things have been really good here. We have been working really hard the last couple of weeks. Now it is starting to get really hot here. Last week it was between 90 and 100 all week and we just get drenched in sweat. And the mosquitos here are ridiculous I have easily over 20 bites right now! It’s because we live next to a river and we go running in the morning by it but I took some pretty pictures of it so I'll have to send you a copy. The work is going really well, no baptisms lately but we are working with some really awesome investigators. I am also learning a lot of Spanish now. Well to understand a lot of Spanish. My comp and the people talk so fast that I am forced to learn but it is really good for me.

For this next transfer, my comp and the other elders in my apartment are making a deal to see who can lose the most weight but in my case it is gain weight so I am going to eat mucho this transfer. A couple weeks ago I got sick with a stomach virus for a couple of days but I feel great now. Sorry my letters are so uneventful but like you said I have a quiet way of doing things. Hope everything is well there. Thank you for all your prayers. Tell that bum Scott to write me! Have a great week and I'll talk to you on Mother’s Day!

I'll keep you in my prayers

Love Elder Strong