August 15, 2011

Dear Mom and Dad

That is great to hear that there was a baptism in the ward. I didn't even know that missionaries went to our ward anymore! So Dad, you are working with one of my friends? That is cool! Was it Aaron Boyack or Aaron Filby? Both of them played football with us on the weekends. What a small world. We had a baptism on Sunday. It was a part member family. The dad is a member but the rest of the family wasn’t. We reactivated him and he brought the whole family. His daughters who are 11, 10, and 9, all got baptized. The father and the grandfather did the baptisms and it was a great service. Now we are working with his wife to get her to be baptized also. We also have another baptism coming up on the 28th. The member missionary work in the English ward here is incredible! Usually the Spanish wards are way more legit and fellowship really well, but this ward is amazing. All of our investigators right now are from referrals from members. It is so exciting to see the members get so excited about sharing the gospel. It makes missionary work way more effective. Anyways I hope you have a great week and I love you

Elder Strong

PS say hi to Aaron for me

The Quintanilla's Baptism

August 19, 2011

   Today was weekly planning and we got a lot accomplished. We wrote down the names of all the members in our area, hoping to find some part-members and new investigators. We found a lady named Claudia from looking for a member, so, so far it is working. Sunday is Billy’s interview and he is looking good to be baptized on the 28^th. Ray is getting interviewed to see if he is still on track to receive the Priesthood this Sunday, so hopefully all goes well with that and he can baptize Billy. Our August is looking great in the Zone. We could get 22 baptisms! We just need to look ahead to September, and find some people to baptize. I know if we are diligent the Lord will bless us with more prepared people.

August 28, 2011

   Today was Billy’s baptism. It was a powerful one to see Ray use his Priesthood like a pro and baptize Billy. Billy’s baptismal suit was super small on him and he said he couldn’t breathe with it on, haha! The twins gave prayers, so the whole family was involved. Now we don’t really have anyone else to work with, except Paulette. She is a former who we dropped, because we could never teach her, but after the three-day Valley Conference, we were prompted to go visit her. She has been going through some really hard times. She doesn’t have a job, and has two kids. She was in tears the whole lesson and accepted a BD for the 25^th of September. We are also trying to find a place for her to stay and a job. Aileen is helping us out with the job part and Sis. Bibiana might help us out with a place to stay. She has a lot of potential, and we are excited to get her to Church and help her out.

Elder Strong & Elder Lake at Billy's Baptism Performed by His Father, Ray

September 5, 2011

   Today was very eventful. It was P-Day and we played some intense ball. It was Rene’s last day and Labor Day, so we had more time to play ball. I got pretty beat up, and now my back is killing me. We went to a steakhouse with Rene and the Garza’s. It was really good. We also got pulled over for speeding, but luckily got off with a warning. We then saw Yobely at the gas station. I realized then that I should probably tell Pres. Trayner. It would be for the best, I think. We then taught the Canizalez family and it turns out that they are pretty legit and we are excited because they have a lot of potential. The Lord is blessing us a lot, but I still think we need to better change to receive even more success. The Church is true!

September 6, 2011

Dear Parents

It was good to hear from you. To answer your question, I should be coming on the 23rd of November. I should've received some papers tell me for sure but I haven't yet. You could maybe just call the mission office to double check. This week was a little rough for us but it was good to have a week to kind of humble you a bit haha.

That is good that Willard is still alive

It is good that BYU won. Everyone is talking about the game against the Longhorns so hopefully they win and I can do some bragging.

Everything else is going well here. I might be getting transferred soon but I will let you know if that happens next week. Have a great week

Love Elder Strong

September 10, 2011

   Man, we are working with some pretty legit families right now. First, we have the Lizca family. She was a referral from other missionaries. She is pretty legit and she has a 9 year old who is in love with me. She said she would be coming to Church tomorrow. Next we have the Canizalez family. They are a couple with 5 girls. Two of them are above 8. The husband is pretty closed, and isn’t ready to change right now. The wife is a lot more open and willing to act. Hopefully they will come to Church tomorrow. We had a great lesson with them where we had them all say a prayer asking if they should be baptized. Sister Sanchez was with us and bore a super powerful testimony. The Spirit was pounding in the lesson and Sister Canizalez recognized it as a peaceful feeling. She still has a few doubts, but she is willing to learn more. We also had a lesson today where we had a prayer with Yessy and Yobely. Yessy was having some doubts about some feminist thing, so we had them strengthen their testimony of the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was super strong, and I think we all increased our testimonies a lot more. I’m excited for game day tomorrow and pray that all of these new investigators can attend and have a great experience at Church. I have much more excitement for the work right now and I really don’t want to leave here. The Book of Mormon is true!

 

September 12, 2011

   Today was P-Day. I found out that Simi is getting married to Courtney McAfee! Freakin’ crazy! Also that McKell is seriously dating somebody. I guess love is in the air right now. All of our appointments fell through tonight, but we did get the chance to talk to Luz. She straight up told us that she was going back to her old church. It is always a battle with her back to church. We had told her to honestly tell us why she went back to her old church, and she said it was because the Bishop wasn’t very loving about the situation when Victor and Fernanda were getting married. We told her to go talk to him about it so the Bishop will better understand how to help them. Hopefully the Bishop will straighten everything out and Luz will start coming back to Church.

 

September 17, 2011

   Today we found out about transfers! I am going to simply be a Sr. Comp is Weslaco with Elder Walker. I’m pretty excited to be back to the District for the third time. I am going to try and whip that area into shape and get some more baptisms before I go home. I’m sad to leave, because the work is doing really well here in Alton. Today we had a sweet lesson with Krystal, and she accepted a BD for the 23^rd. My comp just pooped his pants. Yobely and Yessy were sad to hear I was going. Yobely got ties made for us with our names on them. Apparently there are more gifts to come on Monday night. Felicitas, her daughter, Maiwez, Doroteo, and Bladys, and the Canizalez’s should all be at Church tomorrow. Last night we had the Noche Mexicana in the Spanish Ward. And it was pretty cool. Man, I will really miss Alton a lot. I have a ton of great memories here. Tomorrow is Stake Conference, so I should be able to say goodbye to everyone. Luz told us again that she is going back to her old church. She said that the Bishop wasn’t very supportive of Victor and Fernanda getting married. They have a date for Oct. 14, or something. Hopefully Luz and the Bishop can talk about it and she can start coming back to Church. Oh well, Weslaco here I come!

Saying farewell to Elder Strong & Elder Lake

WESLACO-SOUTH

ELDER WALKER

Elder Strong & Elder Walker

 

September 22, 2011

   Transfers have come and gone and here I am in Weslaco. I replaced Elder Holden, so a lot of work is to be done to get the area back in shape. We didn’t have any BDs, but now we already have 3 and are looking to set another one or two today. We are working with a girl named Ariel. She is cool and has desires to be baptized. She has problems with smoking marijuana and doesn’t feel like it is a bad thing. But she is cool and will be going to the Single’s Branch on Sunday. The day I left Alton was crazy! We went to the Banda twins to say goodbye and they had decorated the living room with balloons and a banner saying “We’ll Miss You.” They gave me a bunch of presents. #1: Yobely (reet, reet, reet) #2: A basket full of candy, and T-shirt and a bear. #3: Letters from the twins and Krystal. #4: A movie of them shuffling and saying goodbye. Krystal said in the video that she will get baptized, so that was awesome. It was the most awkward hour of my mission. Yobely even had the date that I go home on her phone, so it is going to be super awkward when I go home. Right now I am focused on rebuilding this area and getting the Ward excited about missionary work. It is weird, but good, not being a leader anymore. I love this work.

September 24, 2011

   So far I am liking this area a lot. There are a lot of cool members and people we are working with. We were also able to find a lady named Jamie. She was walking out the door when we walked up to her house. We started talking to her and she said “Why did I come out here. It is really hot.” We joked around and said “Because you wanted to talk to us.” We had just gotten done with District Meeting and we talked about beginning teaching. So we applied that with Janie, and it worked out very well. Half-way through the lesson she stopped and said “You are such good listeners.” It was cool/District Status. She said normally people came from other religions to her house, but they never listened, so she never listened to them. She had also seen the Missionaries around on their bikes and wondered when they were going to knock on her door. It was an awesome lesson, but we found out she is moving to Donna, but it was a cool experience.

September 26, 2011

Dear Parents
Well, it is good to be back in Weslaco again. The members all still remember Who I am and it was a pretty warm welcome. We are just trying to get on our feet and find some new investigators to teach. We are both trying to learn the area a bit better and I am trying to get back into shape on the bikes.  We did get a girl to church. She went to the singles ward and said that she had a good time. She has a date to be baptized on the 23rd of Oct. I still have a lot to do in my last couple of weeks and I want to find and baptize as much as I can. Ihope y'all have a great week and I love you mucho.
Elder Strong

September 28, 2011

   Today we found a cool lady named Carla. She has a lot of referrals and hopefully we can start teaching the kids too. Tonight Elder Walker did something hilarious. We were eating at a member’s brother’s house. A foreign exchange student from Korea was living at the house. We were getting to know him and Elder Walker said “I bet you could be a junior in college, you are pretty smart, right?” Then he realized he was stereotyping just because he was Asian. It was really funny. The other day I accidentally thought that Ariel’s sister was her brother, so when I saw her I said “What’s up, Man” and she said “I have nothing to say to you.” I was hurt, offended and hurt! I couldn’t figure out why she would say that. Turns out that He was a She and I called her “Man.” Ooopps! I felt really bad, but it was a funny story.

 

October 1, 2011

   Today was the Saturday session of General Conference. It was super legit. I had a question about if we should do the Purification Challenge or not. The first two weeks we have been struggling in our area. Our numbers have been horrible. During Priesthood Session, Elder Walker and I received the same revelation that we needed to do the Purification Challenge. Priesthood Session is always the best! President Packer pretty much said that the world would end for a long time. That was pretty cool.

October 3, 2011

   Today was P-day. We went and played basketball at La Vista. Elder Walker threw an alley to me and I ooped it really sweet. It has been a long time since I dunked, so it felt good. Yesterday I fell for the first time on my bike. I was trying to cross a busy road quickly and as I was half-way across, my chain jammed and I flew off my bike, right in the middle of the road. It hurt a little bit, but it was funny. We checked my bike after and the back wheel was coming off. Elder Walker fell tonight too, so that is some good old comp. unity. We visited the Longoria’s and Bro. Lyle. Both haven’t been coming to Church because the Ward has been so bad. It is really sad to see, but we are going to try and turn things around. I’ve learned on my mission that Church isn’t a social hangout. It is a place to worship and to take the Sacrament.

 

October 3, 2011

Dear Mom and Dad
 
Wasn't Conference the best? At home I really didn't appreciate it as much as I have as a missionary. My favorite session of course was the Priesthood session. I received a lot of revelation for myself. Our
area has been in a funk the last couple of weeks. At first, I was trying to rely on my own talents and abilities to make the area better but that isn't how it works. I went to conference with the question of
how can I help the work in this area grow? I had brainstormed some ideas the day before conference and decided to see which of those ideas were going to be the one the Lord wanted me to do. In priesthood session I got the answer. At the same time my companion was doing the same thing and he received his answer at the same time. We found out that both of our answers were the same and we knew exactly what we needed to do. The funny thing is that it was the thing both of us didn't really want to do because it was the hardest but the spirit told us to do it so of course we will do it. I gained a testimony that as you go to conference with a question, you will receive the answer as you seek diligently to find it. Everything else is going well. I wrecked on my bike yesterday! I was riding across a busy street my wheel and chain jammed and I fell. It was pretty embarrassing! I just got little scrapes on my hands so it wasn't too bad. Anyway I love you and we will talk to you next week.
Elder Strong

October 9, 2011

   Today we had a pretty successful end to our week. Last week was terrible for us numbers wise, but this week we did way better. The Familia Nunez came to Church, all five of them. I didn’t get to talk to them, but I hope they had a good experience and will keep coming. Maria Valencia also came and we found out she has a friend in the Spanish Ward, so now we can get a solid fellowshipper for her. So far things in the area are doing much better and we’ll continue to work hard to see even more success.

October 10, 2011

Dear Parents

Things are going well in Weslaco. This past week we saw more success than in the last two weeks combined. We found a family of five that came to church on Sunday so we are very excited for them. I have been sick for the last couple of days with a cold. It never helps when you are always riding a bike. It isn't even cold down here at all. It is still in the 90's most days but I still found a way to get a cold. I've been taking a lot of Nyquil and cough drops so it has helped.

So I will be speaking on the 11th? Sounds good to me. What is the High Council report? Do I just tell them how my mission went? Well we have interviews tomorrow and it is my last one before the exit interview so I think it will be kept very short as usual. I sent a package home this week and it just has sweaters and stuff that I won't need so I can make room in my luggage. I will probably send another package next month full of ties and more clothing I won't need. So you don't have to open them. Anyway thanks for the letter and we will talk to you next week.

Love

Elder Strong

October 16, 2011

   Today was Sunday and we had a pretty sorry performance for Gameday. Our only ray of sunshine was Ariel, who came to the Weslaco Ward. The Lyle girl took really good care of her and she seemed like she had a good time. She hasn’t smoked weed since Tuesday and is doing very well. The Nunez family couldn’t make it because Carla is now working on Sunday. Maria was MIA all week, so hopefully all is well with her. We set two new BD’s tonight with the Cruz daughters (P.M. family). We just need to reactivate Sis Cruz and it should be good. Hopefully next week will be a bit better for us and we can get some more people to Church.

October 17, 2011

Dear Family

It was good to hear from you. It is sad to hear that the NBA is still in a lockout. I've decided I will stay on the mission until the lockout is over! Haha. Just kidding. Things are going well here. We are working really hard to find some investigators and get them to church. We should be having a baptism on Sunday. We just helped her stop smoking weed some she can be baptized. She is doing great and we are really excited for her. This week is the week where we set BD's for the last week that I am here so it should be a big one. Right now we are just trying to get the trust of the members again. Some missionaries in this area before me weren't the best examples to the ward so we are trying to fix it. The problem is that we have like 70% of the members in the wards in our area and it is hard to go by all of them. The members seem to be doing better and they are starting to give us referrals. We found a part member family yesterday and set dates to be baptized for them so hopefully the ward helps out with that. We tell everyone hi for me and have a great week! Love you mucho

Elder Strong

October 19, 2011

   Yesterday we had a lot of good opportunities set up but most of them didn’t come to pass. We keep busy and had a lesson with Apulinar. He is doing OK but we will have to see if he comes to Church this Sunday. We also talked with Janette and the Family Nunez. It was awkward because it was just the kids. I don’t think Elder Walker and I were on the same page either. We had them pray about a date and they didn’t receive answers. We just need to work with them a little more and talk to Carla to get her on board. We did meet a couple named Juan and Cindy. They are really busy, but they are a cool family. Things are going OK here, but I feel like things are on the rise.

October 24, 2011

   This week started off rough, but we ended pretty well. We started doing 3 hour goals on Saturday just like in Brownsville Days, and it kind of worked. We were way more connected to our goals and had a busy day. I think it all paid off, because we had a great turn out for Gameday. Ariel came and interviewed. She has to talk to President Trayner for a question 4 problem, but other than that, she is good to go. She also brought her step-sister, Kassandra, to Church. Next, Ashley and Maria came with Sis. Cruz. Sis Cruz was sharing her testimony in Gospel Principles, and it was awesome! I think they really enjoyed Church. In Spanish Ward, the Longorias came, and Danny brought his girlfriend, Grace. Juan Villarreal came after teaching him on Saturday. So we had a very successful week at Church. We just need to keep working with them, and keep them coming.

October 31, 2011

   Happy Halloween! Man, this last week was pretty decent, but it didn’t feel like it. We started teaching the Herrerra Family. It is a part-member family. The Dad and one of the daughters are not members so we set BD’s with them. They didn’t come to Church today, so there was a little discouragement, but we will do a better job getting them to Church. Ashley and Maria couldn’t come because they went to Mexico to do good deeds. Ariel was very late. She had her phone on silent, but we went to her house after Sacrament Meeting, and her and Kassandra made it to the last hour, and stayed for the baptism. Ariel said she was going to cry at her baptism next week. Sweet! So today we are having a Celestial P-Day, and the best part is that Bro. Longoria is taking us to the Outlets and he is going to buy me some new shoes! I’m super stoked for it! He has been coming to Church again, so they are doing really well. There is a Halloween Party today in the English Ward and we might go to the Grindstaff’s after. It is going to be a great day!