Turkey Week :)

Most exciting news ... the Torres parents got married and baptized by prez! It was so awesome! So in one year from today they are heading to the temple! Maria asked for me to be able to come down so I was given permission:) The other missionaries are the ones who replaced me and continued teaching the Torres parents, Lundberg (in the red tie) is the one who replaced me in Beeville and baptized Cynthia. We make a pretty good team;) 

We had some cool experiences this week, here is just one: We were talking to this man on the street who was clearly not interested, he was telling us about he was part of Islam and Budismo (his words not mine) and I looked over and saw these girls behind this house and was impressed that we needed to go talk to them. So we venture off and we turn around the back of the  house and they are having a birthday party. So we announced we were there for the party and the people laughed and one lady pointed to this young woman and said she didn't speak Spanish. So we turned to her and just about opened our mouths when she lets out a sigh of relief and says, "I'm a member of the church." Boy was she glad to see us! A long story short, she had been adopted at a young age and grew up in Washington as a member of the church. Well after her baptism at the age of 8 her family went inactive and she came back on her own at the age of 15. She had been going to BYU-I and had in a moments notice found out about her biological family in the most southern point of Texas. Feeling that she needed to figure out a few things for herself she took a two day straight bus trip down here and found out indeed it was her family. Well her mother being sick and currently facing her death bed, this young woman had been down here for close to two weeks. Just before we came over she had been texting her mom back in Idaho that she didn't believe there was any church members, chapels, or missionaries down here. Well after that conversation she came outside and saw us and still didn't say anything but the Spirit prompted us to come over and we began to teach her family. While sharing our message her aunt's eyes began to well up and it was amazing! Now we are teaching the whole family and extended family, I know God used us to answer her prayers whether they were spoken or not and that our Heavenly Father has a plan for them to receive the gospel and that she is a part of it and that we were blessed to be there that day! I know God uses his children to bless one another and he has a plan for each and everyone of us. He prepares us line upon line and precept upon precept and he won't stop until we come home! I love this work and I know this is the same church Jesus Christ established when He was on the earth the first time. I know He is our Savior and Redeemer and leader even today. He never quits on us, even if we quit on Him!

Celebrating with the Torres family.

My favorite people in the whole wide world came down to visit!

Elders Browning and Ivey yes both single for all the single ladies out there, 

hit em up, they're in Utah! 

Me, Ivey & my first comp ever, Elder Stewart

Me & Browning

Turkey bowl for the zones.

The district after the turkey bowl.

Confirmation!

Well the week was swell:) We are teaching a ton of less active members right now and we have some pretty cool peeps we are teaching too. We had chilly mornings this week so I took every chance I had to wear a sweater, I love them so much! 

Marco was confirmed and it was so great! We walked in right after the first song and I thought at first he wasn't coming and then out of nowhere he walked up to be confirmed, haha, It was such a great moment and a powerful confirmation! After we removed our hands from his head he looked up and had this amazed look on his face and was filled with joy it was so awesome! I was ready to give a good shout but in the middle of the sacrament meeting probs wasn't the best place to do it haha:) 

Right now the ward here is growing so quickly! People are coming back, and for the first time in forever we are having baptisms here! The attendance used to be 60'-70's and now we fill the chapel with about 100 people. It is such a blessing to see the Lord's hand at work here in La Joya preparing the valley for a temple! I know this Church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ are true and I love it with every fiber of my being. I love you guys and I'll talk to you again soon! 

Lunch with the district.

Abandoned soccer building.

Trying to look suave ... it's not working. :)

This cool paneria has the best churros!

Stayin' Put for the Holidays

First sweater day.

So this morning when we came home from getting our food from Walmart, we came back to a swarm of bees at our door and then they started crawling under the door in a crack, so there is probs about 20 bees in there right now. We turned the temp down to 45 degrees hoping it will put them to sleep so we can kill them.

Some cool up dates I found out about recently: 

I don't know if ya'll remember Cynthia or not but I taught her in Beeville and got bounced out just before she was baptized and she was baptized right after I left. Well when she was there all of her extended family had come down for the funeral and we taught them the first three lessons and got them started on the Book of Mormon. Since then all of her extended family have been baptized and Cynthia's daughter will be turning 8 soon and so she will being baptized soon enough, and in less than a year Cynthia will go to the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity to her husband and family! 

In Mission we baptized the Torres team, well we were working hard with them on teaching their parents when we left. News is that they will be getting married and baptized hopefully this coming weekend! So that was awesome and then they too can go to the temple to be sealed! God is busy at work down here in south Texas! 

Marcus was baptized yesterday and it was awesome! I asked him why he wanted to be baptized and he said he wanted to be a disciple of Christ and help other people! He is so converted it is awesome! This coming week we are going to get him a white shirt and tie and he will be confirmed and receive the Aaronic priesthood this coming week and then the following week bless the Santa Cena! He was so happy when he came out of the water he bounced up and had the biggest smile on his face it was amazing to see! So hopefully soon his sister will follow suit and go down into the waters of baptism with her husband (hint: pray for it please)

The district here did not change at all so we'll be here for Thanksgiving and Christmas together haha:) Well I love you all - the work is alive.

Marco and his family on baptism day.

Week 5 with mijo is over!

So this week was dope. Prez called us all up for another MLC and he taught us how to work with members, I don't know how he does it, it's all from Preach My Gospel but I swear what he teaches us is nowhere in there! Prez teaches with so much power and authority it's ridiculous! Hey someone vote for me please, but do a write in: Jose Torres! 

This week has been crazy we have been consistently running all over this place and teaching people. All was good on Saturday night for all of our peeps to come to church the next day, well each one having small children in the families, woke up Sunday morning with sick children and decided to stay home to take care of them. :(

This week was pretty much the same thing as always. We went to seminary this week, all the norms. So I guess I'll share something I've been thinking about this week and I'll leave the rest for you to think about. 

When we are baptized we make a covenant with God, part of that promise is that we will take the name of Christ upon us. So not only do we believe in him but we are literally His disciples and we represent Him. So our purpose should be to become like Him. In Alma when he talks about Adam and Eve it says that in the moment they partook of the fruit they became like gods so that's what God wants for us. So in the scriptures there are two things that we can do to be saviors and so be closest to the savior of the world Himself. 

First is to be a savior on Mt Zion which is to participate in temple work and the other is to be a savior among men which is to do missionary work. So with that being the basis, I want to share this scripture from Helman 5: 

And it came to pass that the [people of South Texas] said unto him: What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us? And [Elder Harker] said unto them: You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you. And it came to pass that they all did begin to cry unto the voice of him who had shaken the earth; yea, they did cry even until the cloud of darkness was dispersed. And behold, the Holy Spirit of God did come down from heaven, and did enter into their hearts, and they were filled as if with fire, and they could speak forth marvelous words. And it came to pass that there came a voice unto them, yea, a pleasant voice, as if it were a whisper, saying: Peace, peace be unto you, because of your faith in my Well Beloved, who was from the foundation of the world. And now, when they heard this they cast up their eyes as if to behold from whence the voice came; and behold, they saw the heavens open; and angels came down out of heaven and ministered unto them. 

So I was thinking about this and the absolute joy that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ receive when we participate as the Savior did and as we promised we would. I know that before this life we made promises to our brothers and sisters that we would come unto them and bring them the light of the Gospel so that whether it is in this life or the next, that they can have that joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives. I love seeing people's lives changes and the light in their eyes change too. I know that Christ lives and that he loves us. That God hears our prayers and answers them. I know that as members of His church that we've made that promise to act and that when we do God can use us to answer His children's prayers and change their lives. I love you all thanks for writing me! 

We did a quick, 5 minute photo session of a typical missionary morning so mamma wouldn't kill me for not sending photos. Enjoy!

We don't have many weights so I bought stretchy bands
to use to increase resistance.

Bueno

So on Sunday I was given the opportunity to talk in Church again and so I had prayed that I would be humble and that I could follow the Spirit on what the Lord wants me to say, well on Sunday morning I woke up sick as a dog I think Satan poisoned the frijoles lol. So my prayer was answered:) The whole experience led me to share this scripture from Alma 26:11-14:

"But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever. Behold, how many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from the pains of hell; and they are brought to sing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great reason to rejoice? Yea, we have reason to praise him forever, for he is the Most High God, and has loosed our brethren from the chains of hell."

It was a wonderful sacrament meeting the sisters also spoke and sang and the Spirit was super strong - it was great:) During church we went out to the car to grab an airborne and the Bishop ran out after us and asked,"Elders! Where are you going?" and we said just to the car and he told us that Sister Cruz said that her son wants to be baptized and maybe his wife too! Well that 'bout made my Sabbath Day. So we are going to meet them this week and share a message. I'm super excited!:) 

This week was full of experiences like that. We knocked on one man's door and he yelled "what?" but when he came to the door and saw us standing there he gathered all his kids and asked us to sit down and teach them. They too expressed their desires to go to church, change their lives, and be baptized, It was super dope! This week we also were referred to a friend of a member. So we went to visit her friend Maria and she cuts hair for a living and right as we walked in she had just finished up with a cut:) Well we walked in grabbed her broom and she was like no no I'll do it but we told her she worked enough that'd we'd sweep it and so we talked to her as we swept and she said she had always had the question what is the true religion or church of God and well she was talking to the right guys we perked up instantly and shared with her the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she was so excited! So we get to see her this week too lol:) 

I love you all and may the Spirit be with you!