Dear Family, and all others who sustain me with their
prayers and such,
Elder Vergara started last P-day by buying a matching ties
with a gift card that members of this ward gave to us for Christmas. I'll get a
picture to everyone next week, but the ties look like they are from Tron. That
made me pretty happy. Off the top of my head, I believe that I now have at
least 25 ties in my ownership. I came out with only 8. Shows you how much
Elders become tie-magnets when they serve for long enough. I've heard stories
of missionaries coming home after a mission bearing more tie that other
luggage. That won't be my goal for my mission, however.
Tony and Staniel didn't make it to church this week. They
"overslept." I believe them of course, but I wouldn't want that to be
an excuse ever in my life to miss church. Sister Rios had pink eye, so that's
probably why her husband didn't make it to church. Now that he's working a
night shift, Brother Rios will probably be much harder to get a hold of. We're
hoping for luck when we try to visit, because it looks like their family has
plenty of potential. Ramon made it to church, however, and she and her son and
daughter-in-law came to Gospel Principles. It seems that while we always
receive blessing when we are righteous, we don't get every blessing.
Every so often I get to engage in an exchange. This time,
for the first time ever, I stayed in my area for the exchange and Elder
Reimschussel, which might ring a bell, came to UC. He reminds me a bunch of my
brother, Tracy. He actually shares birthdays with him, too. Elder R and I
paired together to pass out copies of the Book of Mormon my very first day in
the TSAM. So we caught up a bit, taught Rocky (explained later), and helped
another less-active by giving him a blessing. Elder Reimschussel knows how to be
kind, a missionary, and himself all at the same time. He taught me about
initiative.
When he and I went over to give service to Richard and then
a lesson afterwards, he showed his kindness and his testimony as we read about
the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's. Then, as we left his house, he saw someone working in a
loading truck, and before I could even begin, he shot after the man to go say
hello, and share a card with him. His attitude was always positive, and when he
tells you, "[your name], you are basically my favorite person ever.",
you knew that he meant it, and could simultaneously mean it when he told it to
every other missionary he's met. Funny guy, maybe I'll be companions with him
one day.
We've started to text out a daily scripture to some of our
investigators and others we've talked to. We've seen how daily scriptures can
help these people, especially as it has impacted those we weren't sure could be
impacted well. It reminds me even more of how important daily scripture study
is for all of us. It give us strength, alleviate stress and empowers us to
bless one another in the way that God would have us bless them. I assert that a
habit of daily scripture study will benefit you far more than just about any
other health related practice that exists. If you aren't reading daily, give it
a try. Even a verse, pondered carefully for a few minutes will make a great
impact on your life. When we met with Tony and Staniel, we could tell that it
was blessing Staniel as she sought to do it.
Speaking about the lesson we had with Tony and Staniel, it
went well too. We read over the family proclamation to the world, and tied it
into eternal families a tad bit. We also, however found out that they aren't
married. Just a little road block on the path. Ooof. It seems like they have
desires to be married, but if they aren't, they won't be able to be baptized.
Keep them in you prayers if you would, and we'll continue to urge them to make
that decision. Their kids seem to love church last week, and we were sad when
their family didn't make it
We think that the next step to allowing Richard to make it
to church would be a church tour. So we've invited him to tour it this Tuesday,
and we'll bring a member with us as well. Sometimes as members we don't notice
the spirit that the church contains, because we become so accustomed to it. And
while we may be more spiritually sensitive, this very repetitive nature
sometimes makes it harder to notice these things.
We wanted to go over to Julia and Brandon's home, but Julia
hurt her back, and Brandon decided that the weather wouldn't be appropriate for
service. And while we laugh a little about this, since we would better bear the
weather going in and out of their house than walking from how to house to look
for someone to visit, we understood his protectiveness and desire to help us.
Ouch! Sometimes mortality hurts.
With all of these experiences, it'll be hard to come home.
while I'll be excited to return, I have an equally opposing feeling that
doesn't want my mission to end.
Questions and
Answers
So how are your
investigators doing?
All of the families should be doing fairly well. I should
have addressed it in the main bulk of the email.
The Book of Mormon touches people and allows the Spirit to
testify to their hearts. I don't know a single active member of the church who
hasn't receive their own testimony of this book, or are not striving diligently
to obtain one.
One of the people we are beginning to work with is Rocky.
He's a retired Hispanic with a powerful humility stuffed within him. As we read
the Book of Mormon with him, he mentioned to us a few times that he could feel
the spirit as he read, and that it was very similar to the Bible. That's power.
Has there been much
fog and can you ride your bikes in the fog?
Not a bunch of fog. If there is too much fog, there is
usually too much rain, so we won't ride in those situations. I don't know if
fog has every impeded us alone.
So what was nice and
sweet and funny?
Brother Muñoz had his birthday this week, and he was kind
enough to invite use over to eat with his family for dinner. He had a
friend/relative over named Luis, and Luis had plenty of funny stories to tell.
And how is the Spirit
guiding you this week?
The Spirit is extremely important as we read the Book of
Mormon with those we teach. We do our best on our own to point out the insights
that they will need, but the Spirit knows loads better than we do what they
need, and what they don't need. It's easy to overwhelm some people who need the
basics first.
I think the Spirit
will also help us to teach our children as we remain worthy of it's guidance.
--
-Elder Hall
Texas San Antonio Mission
P.S. Thanks for the details about my fellow student back at
my highschool. Any info from any'all will be great.
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