Making The Most

Dearest all of y'all,

This week is great. I'm going to let you know beforehand:

I blame Elder Smith for distracting me. Kidding, of course. This week was full of miracles. We were able to lend ourselves to serving others this week. We had the opportunity to walk around a few neighborhoods and offer service to people. The other Elders call this "Ammon Day." Please ask me how our next Ammon Day goes. As Ammon in the scriptures served before he taught, we can make an impact without the need to sit down and teach.

Sister Smith was unable to make it to church yesterday because the power went out for them. However, we had a few good visits with her to help her begin her family history. I could help but think of my own family, what my parents taught me, and to recognize the Spirit in greater abundance. The work of salvation is our work. We don't simply knock doors. There are many things that we can do to help others.

This coming week we will be having a zone conference. Our leaders have called it the "Press Forward" zone conference. It makes sense. With the change of mission presidents, and all the other change that comes with it, pressing forward is key. Especially when things are going smoothly we need to heed the scriptures, pray to our father in heaven, and serve.

I've noticed a change in my letters since the beginning. At the beginning I was very concerned with how I wrote home. For those of you reading on the blog, I thought of those of you whom I cared about, and I got anxious many times as I wrote. What y'all think of me isn't quite as important as what the Lord thinks of me. Therefore His work will have a far greater lasting effect on us when we choose to engaged in it. No work is more satisfying. No other job would quench spiritual thirst. There never was a better way know the Lord than by serving him.

In Nephi taught me of the lasting affect that records have, especially spiritual records (2 Nephi 33: 1-2). Thank you for all of your prayers on my behalf. Thank you, my family, for allowing me to leave for a time. I truly needed it.

Questions and Answers

How has your week with Elder Anderson and the work been?    

Diligent and satisfying. We've met some new people and had dinner with a different family. This family in particular has proficiency in both Spanish and English. They took us to a restaurant where we ate good Mexican food. Real stuff. Sorry Utah, but Cafe Rio isn't as authentic as this food was. I had a torta al pastor, which is basically a grilled sandwich with marinated pork meet, pineapple, guacamole, and a couple of other things.

How have you searched for good with the help of God this week?  
 
In a number of ways. One eternal truth I've seen this week is a principle of trials. Life is meant to allow us to grow closer to our Heavenly Father and improve. When we are doing what we should, keeping the commandments and growing, the Lord in a sense allows trials to occur. These are not punishments. The Lord knows what ultimately will bring us the most peace.

How is B doing, has she met any sisters to help support her? 

A euphemism is not required.

We saw Á when we went by and he explained that he had a different religion. When we asked when would be a better time, he used the phrase, "ya no." He doesn't want us to return, and so we offered to have missionaries return in a half year or so. If we were to continue to push, it would have worsened the condition. They are in the Lord's hands, and he will take care of them. He can prepare them through their personal circumstances.

 And how are J and E and family?  

We haven't gone by this week. We'll need to follow up.

In what ways have you felt Father's love for you this week?

In many subtle ways that the Lord has reminded me about his love. He is Diligent where we are not, and so his love was consistent. This work is amazing. I'm praying for all of you. Whoever reads should know that God loves them. He never fails.

Pictures

I saw this photo and remembered instantly something that happened. Elder Brough now is in the district!

Greg was baptized!

And so was Esmerelda, someone that Elder Black and I found!

Keep your faith burning bright. The Lord leads the way.

Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

A Familiar Spirit

Greetings y'all,

The southern Texan drawl is quite familiar to me now. I'm not afraid of bringing it with me into the future.

This past week was full of plenty of ups and downs; bitter and sweet. I'm getting better at writing what happens every day in my journal, but it would seem that I still have some improving to do. It'll take some pretty consistent goal setting with incentives placed with it. What I'm trying to relate is my very natural tendency to struggle to write in my journal. I want to change, and that helps. Don't ever get discouraged as you strive to change.

I suppose I'll begin with exchanges with Elder Smith. This past week he told me that I was one of the first people to greet him when the new trainee's arrived in Austin. When he described other struggles since coming into the mission, it helped me feel a little bit of peace for trying to love someone. And the resulting friendship has been great. Elder Smith had mentioned how excited he was to go on an exchange with me. I would feel flattered if I thought he didn't mean it. He truly did.

That afternoon we spent mostly in the area of Herminio. Elder Smith's energy rubbed off on me and we had three lessons with Spanish people I had never met before. I don't remember teaching an entire lesson by myself before. Without Elder Anderson's help that day, there were times that I missed him. A ton. We met three ladies by the name of Maria, and I was only able to catch the last name of one of them. The last Maria we met was sitting at a rock, waiting for her grandchildren to arrive. We sat there with her. I had a one sided conversation with her. I lost track of time and before I knew it, the bus pulled up. I frantically chased after her to give her a copy of the Book of Mormon with our number. If God wills it so, we're going to find her. After the Spanish events of the afternoon, I understood why God taught that it isn't meet that we should be alone.

We had dinner that night with a familiar family in the Ward. Brother Smith felt at home, and, well, I did too. When we sat down to share a spiritual thought, and towards the end of that, Elder Smith noticed something and wanted to take a picture:

This hand crafted duck is made out of wood. You might not guess.

Not the best lighting. You can fix that with your monitor I'd guess.

We set off for the evening. We found J at home again. Because he had time, we shared the Easter video and talked about the Book of Mormon. J has remarkable English and is very kind to us when we speak Spanish. Elder Smith supported me as we introduced him it. I'm afraid I might have fire hosed him with information, as I was extremely excited. He did seem to recognize something different. And so we've kept a good eye on J. He's not the only new person that we've met. It's kind of hard to tell who I should talk about. Many of these people are great.

Then after that we decided to visit Daniel and Julie. They are great members and Daniel was baptized within a year ago. He came out with us. Though we had some lessons planned with people, none of those planned went through. It was yet another opportunity to practice stress management "one the road." Eddie was not home that evening and we didn't get a welcome from his family, though we learned later that he still had interest. We're waiting for about a week until he becomes available again.

It was a great evening. I learned a fair amount from Elder Smith. He's a committed missionary. Do not believe for a second you need to have the scriptures mastered to qualify for service. Anyone who remembers me from before missionary service might believe that I knew the scriptures well. Let's conclude that the Lord knows his own scriptures better. Haha, I love learning from the scriptures.

Questions and Answers

How is E doing?   

We saw her again this week. We still haven't sat down with the family. To review, E belongs to the same family that J does. They are progressing. I pray every day that I'll know what they need to hear from God, not just what seems will help them.

And how is Ee and H and his family?     

Ee seems to continue with interest. We're sending him and others scripture references that can be searched. Kind of like: Moroni 7:19 - How can I search for good with the help of God?"

It's blessed many people. Diligence really does bring blessings. And so our communication will be limited until we can meet with him after he's available.

H is still working hard. In many ways he is personably responsible for providing for family here and family elsewhere. We had a miracle where we met F, his friend and partner, and taught him about prophets. F has a little family too. He pulled up as we were writing a note to H. We talked to him (F) the entire time through his car window in that front yard. H wants to be baptized, and so the opposition continues.

I forgot to say that we taught H's son Diego for the first time. He is a younger kid old enough to be baptized, and his interest seemed high as we taught him. H helped out as well. Tony, a member of the ward who speaks Spanish, was able to be there that night when we taught H.

And how is the most wonderful, sweet Sister Smith and her family?  

She beamed all throughout church yesterday. She fights allergies but is doing quite well. Ashtyn her granddaughter came to church as well. She is the most socially sunbeam I know. Thank you for your marvelous prayers on her behalf and on ours.

And how are B and A?

This weekend was a slight let down. When we caught B we learned from her that she wasn't feeling support from her family. Her mother wants her to go to a different church, and A doesn't support her. We realized that in all our time visiting her, we had neglected to bring with us Sisters that would relate to her and give her support. We thought at first B didn't want to meet with us anymore, but we've grown to realize we simply needed a call to action. Keep them in your prayers. These wonderful Spanish speakers in many ways remind me of the R family. They need the same patience God grants to us. A probation to change.

And how has the Lord blessed you as you've worked with your good companion Elder Anderson this week?

Immensely. It seems forever ago, but last week we had a slight argument as an apartment. I wasn't fully in control, but afterwards Elder Anderson helped me to recognize the Lord's hand in healing me, and then I apologized for the way I communicated things to the others. Since then, we've been able to build up our companionship and work hard. We've been able to teach many people. This area is growing. And best of all, we have a front seat to watch people change. That is greater than any movie (sorry Star Wars fans).

He's one of my best friends. His calmness has taught me, and I've been able to help him too. It feels like a very healthy relationship. No matter how much we disagree, we recognize that God knows his people best. We can then seek the will of the Lord.

Selfishness is a bit exhausting. I'm learning even better to focus on the positive.

Our local tradition in the mornings is to have an abbreviated study together in the apartment. We always do the first two together, and we do the other two at least once a week together.

Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

The Divine Role of Mothers

Happy Mother's day to all mothers,

And I should add to all those who have mothers. That includes ALL Y'ALL.  At any rate, mothers have taken a different role for me in these days of my mission than they have thus far. We are children of heavenly parents, and of parents on earth. We can live with our families we have on earth as we follow Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus Christ, any family that at this time is imperfect (all for them) can be healed and enabled through His Atonement. If I were to forget those truths, it would change me, and not in a way I would like.

Mother's day is a great opportunity to recognize our Mother's for their divine role. If you haven't had the chance recently, you should take some time out of your day and communicate that. The way that you do that will depend on you.

I've thought of my family much this past week, and I've loved serving families that we meet with here. Venita had another family emergency. For her privacy I won't mention what happened except that she herself is not injured. Because she has earned Elder Anderson and my trust so well, we did not even panic one bit at the news. She didn't make it to church, but we knew that it was not of her own accord. Keep her and her family in y'alls prayers. She'll be in ours.

We decide to give some people extra time. Scott has been busy, and may not be ready for us to visit more, so we've moved on with faith in him, and especially in the Savior. Feel free to send questions if you wonder about someone else.

Another great family/individual is H and his family. For reference, he and his wife have two sons, and he is one of the most righteous souls I have met. If the Lord prepares the way for him and others in his family to be baptized, it will be because the timing is right, and we have qualified through our efforts, to a degree of course. He wants to come to church and wants to do many good things. He works like crazy. We have felt in planning for him that he needs to move forward with his family. He wants to be baptized, with his family. He wants to go to church, with his family. Indeed all of his wants are righteous, and we can do our part.

Yesterday we visited him after the church block and the famed Mother's day calls. He was on the phone, but we talked for a little bit. It is clear that the Lord wants him to come closer to Him. The biggest evidence of that was Saturday night.

For the first time in a while, we sat down in his home and talked about the Restoration. I'm not sure if any missionary has sat down with him talking about it in reasonable detail before. That is why we thought it was important. I could not believe the language barrier that existed then. No TV was on. His boys weren't crazy. Even then, for some reason I couldn't focus on his words, and my tongue felt tight. At times I had to say "¿mande?" A number of times. I think the Lord was trying to humble me. It worked. We testified that if he came to church, the Lord could and would provide for what might have been lost. I wanted to be careful that passion did not replace the Spirit. He felt affected and he committed. It was in this same visit he talked about how important his family was to him. His plea was heard.

Questions and Answers

What are some of the most important things that you would like to experience in you last 5 weeks on your mission?      

My-oh-my is that an open ended question!  Lake Travis is an area that like the previous 7+ have touched my heart and will stay there. It's not really the weather, or even the nature that stays there. Those can be bonuses. It is the people, not the things that I remember. I have collected some random trinkets along the way that will help in the remembering process.

That was a tangent. I want to find a family that can learn about the gospel together. We may have already found that family, and we can boldly invite them to learn together. Or it might be someone we found. This is a great motivation for me to keep working hard to the end.

How are B and A and H?   

B reads regularly and A works a fair amount. That being said we want to invite A directly to read and pray about the message. They have a bunch of family.

I think it was a weekend some time ago that we found B, A, and B's father J together for a family gathering. They invited us to grab a plate, and we ate and talked with them. J has lived in many places around the world, and he knows many languages, including English and Spanish, of course. He seems to approve of us meeting with B and A, and he may take interest too. I mean to imply that there is more to their family than B and A. We can share more to the rest of their family.

H is a hard worker. We've began to work closer with him. See story above.

 Who else are you teaching in Espanol? 

We found a young man (about our age I suppose) on Sunday. E is his name, and openness is his game. Unfortunately, we didn't speak to him in Spanish. He might still speak it. He was receptive, and continues to be so. It was a miracle that we were able to meet him:

Saturday was the day of a baptism of someone Elder Smith and Elder Águila had been meeting with. That story was a miracle, and we were glad to hear of the process as it went on. The temptation was to go to the baptism, when we knew there would likely be people to find. We did find some people. We were blessed. But in the same vein, we recognized a need to build courage. This week was stressful, so I wasn't as bold as I could have been with people we met. This stirred us up to action, and Sunday was a powerful result of it.

That Sunday we met E. Remember J? They're related. Longish story. Anyway, looking for him, we saw him pull out of his parking spot. He left us in the dust. Even so, we decided to knock on his door, and met E, his Mom. I take what I said back, it isn't a long story. We testified of prophets being on the earth, and she took interest. We're going by again share the Book of Mormon. Bold preaching power!

Then when we passed by E, we saw him and his friend working on a truck, and struck up a conversation. Turns out his friend is a member, and she has done a great job of teaching him. We're extremely excited for E.

There are others that we have found, and people like C that make take interest in the future. I am filled with energy.

What are some things that the members in your ward are doing that are assisting you and Elder Anderson? 

The members around here are quite flexible. Doug, one of the members here (last name withheld [I'm grinning as I type this]) is a ward missionary. He enjoys coming out with us, and he is as flexible as he can be. I could count on many other members to do the same.

I think a great quality of the ward here is how friendly everyone is to everyone. We never worry about visitors feeling lonely. That releases stress big time.

How hot is it?

Heat is quite subjective sometimes. Because of the time I've spent in the area, it isn't really all that hot to me. When it rains, things get cool. When it doesn't, the air cooks like an oven set to, say, 100 degrees?

Pictures

Spring cleaning. Some pants were retired for honorable service.

Here's another picture of Venita's baptism.

Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

Taste the Bitter, Appreciate the Sweet

Hello y'all,

My witness of hope this week is this: Jesus Christ can heal us all. There is a reason he is call the "Great Physician." His attributes far outstretch our effort alone. Rather than letting y'all wait and see, I'll tell you some of the ways I saw his hand this week. Other trials that brought smiles to my face might bring some trials to yours.

Maybe I'd rather begin with a little bit of bitter. In our efforts to branch out and find new people, we've been walking around a trailer park that missionaries have visited before. In the past, I've had bad experiences with the management yelling at us for being there, though they don't have a right to do that. To cut this shorter, while we were there this past week the management pulled up to us and began to curse us out as we were talking to someone at her door. They threatened some things at us and we made an unconscious decision together to submit and they took us on their golf cart to our car, and watched us drive off.

Elder Anderson and I were frustrated with what happened. Legally, they weren't allowed to do what they did. We voiced our thoughts to each other about the situation, both of us aware that the people in the area need what we have. This isn't a pride issue, it's a matter of being where the Lord wants us to be so that we can bless who he wants us to bless. It is his work.

That event made it more difficult for me to focus for the rest of the night. Contention is of the adversary. He wants us to fight with anyone verbally, knowing that any contention would drive the Spirit away. The management did not win however -- we eventually came away from the situation calm, a little bruised emotionally, but well. At one point while we were on the golf cart I thought to myself, "nothing left to do but enjoy the breeze." I did my best to do that. I pray that if I ever come into contact with them in the future, I don't lose my temper. That won't help me, my companion, or anyone else.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention: I will stay in Lake Travis for my final transfer of my mission. Well, that is anticipated I'm sure. If I stay longer, it isn't because I made that decision. Anyways, I'll enjoy the last transfer here.

B and A are doing great. B in particular seems to be changing little bit by little bit. It's as if she has more light in her eyes. That being said, there is opposition in her surroundings. She doesn't have any members as family, and A is learning alongside her. Our plan, cheers to it working well, is an FHE tonight that they are already invited to. If they can make it, things will go smoothly, if they can't, well, life will still go on. B is also getting pulled in different directions by family and neighbors. If nothing else, we can arm her with faith in God necessary to overcome these challenges. This family is wonderful.

Elder Oak's talk of good, better, best always seems to come up sometime each week. That topic also applies to the spiritual nourishment that we get as we meditate and partake of the sacrament. When I was young, sacrament meeting was something you went to. Like all gifts from God, they help us to the extent we use those blessings.

In relation to transfers, the borders of our districts are changing. Because of the recent change in Llano, our district will no longer include Marble Falls or Llano, and now Elder Aguila is the district leader. It's a bit of a tender mercy, actually. Leadership is opportunity to learn love, but it is also an added weight upon our shoulders. I'm glad to proselyte with my companion, Elder Anderson. Elder Smith is also staying where he is. I'm running out of blessings to say.

My heart has burned throughout this past transfer. How can I withstand such a powerful flame? I cannot help but share that flame, that excitement, or perish for holding onto it. I think there is a reference to this allegory in Ezekiel somewhere.

Questions and Answers

How are they (Venita, Dennis, and their granddaughter) doing?

Venita has recovered from her sickness, and she made it to church yesterday. Rather than focusing on the idea of church attendance by itself, she seemed to also enjoy the sacrament meeting, and the classes afterwards. We got nervous when she went out the front doors, but she came back in. I spoke too soon. Dennis comes out more each time we meet, and Venita's desire to bring him to the temple.

And how are B and A this week?  

They are progressing. At times it is hard to bring English speakers to a lesson with Spanish speakers, so we'll see what we can do to help them connect to the ward. We're hoping the stars align and we can bring someone that can teach alongside us.

And how is H doing?

He seems to be doing well. We weren't able to find him at church or at home. He's getting busier. It is evidence that he loves his family, but also evidence that we need to help them out.

What experiences have you had this week being led by the Spirit? 

Speaking of Brenda, we went by them yesterday and they weren't home. Without giving up, we decided to walk around the area to talk to those outside. And whadayah know, they drove by and we talked to them for a couple minutes. That was a tender mercy. I also felt I was lead to hold my tongue as we were abducted by the trailer management.

Picture time:

Elder Trent and I after an exchange for a doctor's visit

Before that, Elder Smith stole my ipad and took a picture.

We went to this house in our area, and found a little more than we had anticipated

The baptism (my face was not prepared for the photo)

.

Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

The Best Kind of "I'm So Tired."

Dear everyone,

I am really tired. This recent week in district meeting together we discussed our vision for our areas. The Zone is doing well, and the work is progressing. But especially in our district there is plenty of good going on. But we are being urged by our leaders to give more, sacrifice more in thanks of all that we have received and then work harder. Elder Anderson is a fantastic missionary. I've recently discovered that he gains and loses energy in a similar fashion to Elder Scroggs, my first companion. I'm glad to work with him.

In connection with this increase of vision, we are doing our best to accelerate the work within what we can do. We've seen plenty of miracles. While I won't be able to list all of them, I hope I can share some of the ones that touched me. One of them indeed relates to talking to everyone.

One of the funny times was leaving a visit with D. There was a man without a shirt that I definitely was not naturally inclined to talk to. But because of the lessons we learned, I gave a shot. We said hello and I introduced myself:

"Hello! Elder Hall here, and this is Elder Anderson"

We shook hands,

"Youth James."

We both stopped confused, and then we congratulated him for coming up with a unique joke. We haven't been successful in finding him again, but God can definitely send us prepared people if he thinks that we aren't going to pass by them. That would be a sad situation.

Together we are making it a point to talk to everyone that we see, and with it we've seen some great blessings come. I love it when the Spirit whispers to us that we've made the right choice. We can't always be successful when we approach someone, but we are simply qualifying for blessings in faith that they will come. Wednesday night was a little bit of a downer.

We went with a Brother who was recently sealed in the temple to his wife, who is a somewhat recent convert of the ward. They are both fantastic, and I related to him well because he grew up in the beloved ward boundaries of Uvalde. Earlier in the day, I think a few appointments fell through. Right before he met us in the Spicewood area, we talked to a lady who was weeding in the late afternoon with her kids. Taking from the example of Elder Black, I got on my knees without explicit permission from her, and started pulling weeds (thanks Mom for the great training.) It was cool. Elder Anderson commented later that it was the most civilized conversation we had with someone un-interested in a long time. We don't really have barbaric conversations, but he did have a point. S, the mother in that situation, thanked us for our help, and we seemed to have a pretty big impact on two young boys. One of them caught us when we were walking away and gave us some cookies.

This Brother had been with missionaries plenty of times when they went on splits in Uvalde. The rest of the night was hard. We struck out. Clay's father found us when we knocked and got mad at us, telling us to never return, and everyone else we tried by was either not home, or not answering the door. Elder Anderson and I were at least familiar with the scriptures enough to notice God wasn't punishing us, but rather it was preparation for even greater visits with the people that we are visiting with.

From Wednesday on, starting with weekly planning, we put our faith to the test. I've never had such a gratifying weekly planning session on my mission before. We're a good team, Elder Anderson and I, and we set our goals with the idea of doubling our average happenings in the past. We haven't met that yet, but the Lord is blessing us. It's interesting to see how liberating the rules are when we put our obedience and direct it at Him, instead of the rules. Then we begin to understand the application of them better, and they become springboards to higher blessings, rather than weights attached to our ankles. I'm really excited, but also so very tired.

We're walking. And walking. And walking. Our approach to work has changed from trying to be home before 9pm, to instead to getting home between 9pm and 9:30pm. I'm doing what I can to not give up before our time. It's easy to say at 8:30pm what we should go home, especially when most everyone doesn't welcome visits that late. At the same time, there is always work to do. If it isn't visits, there are calls and texts to be made. For those of you past, future and current missionaries out there, be sure to follow the direction of your leaders in specific plans, but work as hard as you can until the day is done. Then work a little more as you plan in the evening and write in you journal. I'm still working on the journal part.

Enough ranting.

B and A are doing great. B has been going through a bunch of experiences that are preparing her to receive the gospel, and I feel like we have been successful in giving Angel respect he deserves as the head of his couple. They have some concerns with the Law of Chastity that we'll address, but they seem to understand it basically. We taught them the Plan of Salvation twice: once when I was on splits with a former bishop. I like him a lot, he seems to be living the gospel. And then the second time when Elder Anderson was with me. The interesting thing is that A does not speak English. Because of that, we are using both languages as best as we can. We've even come to the conclusion that we might be inviting Spanish investigators to church with us. The Spanish building is so far away from them. It makes it difficult to make it.

That brings me to H. He is so fantastic. When we saw him last, he let us know that he would rather come to church with us, even though he doesn't really speak English. With that, I see this area becoming a little like Windcrest. There is a need, so we'll be pushing to get Spanish translation for those who attend. Whether they speak English or Spanish. We talked to our leaders, to the other Sister missionaries, and it looks like we aren't breaking any church policy. Apparently some wards will have split Sunday school and priesthood classes at times when language is a problem, but have combined primary and sacrament meetings. Sounds very similar to me.

Sunday was a spiritual feast. I got some news from home that was sad, but also a blessing for my family. The rest of church I felt energy enough to spare, and I enjoyed talking to tons of people at church as well. I'm learning better and better to have a spiritual feast at church. The evening was a little tough, but the late afternoon had great parts too.

Venita got sick at the beginning of the weekend, and was unable to make it to church. It was interesting when we were talking about her in Ward Council, especially what we could do to help her "hit the ground running" with family history and attending the temple, when we got the text from her explaining her condition. Naturally Elder Anderson and I were concerned, and we sent a couple texts throughout the day and eventually we came over. She had never received a priesthood blessing before. We brought one of her primary fellowships over, and testified of priesthood blessings. She sat patiently as I gave her a blessing. I felt extremely honored to give her the first blessing of healing she had received from a priesthood holder, while simultaneously feeling inadequate. I tried to get Elder Anderson to do it. He let me do it. The more I learn about priesthood blessing is the more I know its purpose. I need to be a clear conduit for the Spirit to say what is needed, and then the will of the Lord can be spoken. I strive to be humble and say only what I feel needs to be said, not what I want to say.

We also had a very spiritually edifying drive to and from a spiritual dinner with a family in the ward. They recently moved, but you probably wouldn't be able to tell. The father is a high councilman, and he loves serving. I could tell that he was a changed person. He allowed his missionary service to change him. It is ok if we consider our service as a way to pay back a debt to God. I'm sure he welcomes our service. But he wants us to be changed, not to simply serve. Then as we use all kinds of revelation as our guide, we can see miracles.

Being tired is a satisfying feeling when we are in the service of others.

Questions and Answers

Did you get any of the flooding type of weather that Houston got?

Well, the rain was bad and the thunder at times was freaky, but the weather got for the most part quite sunny. It was funny, some mornings we would rush to the gym in our complex to exercise, struggling in vain to stay dry, and then when we went out to work the weather would be a predictable Texas blue sky. Of course, it didn't feel to predictable.  

Are transfers this week?  

Not yet. I have not a clue if I'm going to stay or go. I feel like I have more work to do here, but I also feel like I could go. Elder Tews finished his mission in the De Zavala ward. Who knows?

How are Venita and her husband doing this week?  

Venita is such a great example to her husband. He corrects her at times when she reads the Book of Mormon outloud to their granddaughter, but she doesn't even mind. The Bishop challenged her to take family names to the temple for baptism in less than 30 days. We have the ward support and the leadership mandate that we help. She is a wonderful mother and grandmother. She's a great example to me.

How is your patient, kind heart doing this week? 

As I felt the Spirit warn me, with all the blessings there are equal temptations to get anxious, and there was a time or two that I exploded. But the explosions are much more contained, and have a shorter recovery time. I'm actually working on trying to sleep well. More stress is good if it can be managed. I'm getting better at telling my body to settle down, "and go to bed you disobedient vessel!" I am grateful for my body. We are meant to have them. At times I chastise it for not listening to me, though.

How have you and Elder Anderson worked together to follow the Spirit this week?

We had an amazing experience. On Saturday evening we were in a part of Lakeway after dinner in a few visits when I felt, very subtly of course, the need to go and visit a single sister that was on the other side of Lakeway. At first I thought "yah, maybe, we'll see." Eventually the though got more persistent. When I told my companion we should go, he supported me and we rushed there. *knock, knock, knock* We hear some loud dogs as I supposed, but no answer. But I got a further impression that we still had someone we needed to find in the area. "Ok, let's go walking." We tried to talk to some people who quickly evaded us. But the feeling kept going. So eventually, after getting the thought and help from Elder Anderson to make a definitive decision, we went to a part member family that is never home. The mother is always working. Guess what, when we entered the street, there was a big party going on. We found her house, not too far from the gathering, and we caught her. We learned more about her situation. This whole path was a confirmation to me that the Lord will lead us in simple steps. Sometimes it isn't as easy as "go to 342 Oak st and you'll find a man sitting on a curb." He's ready to be baptized." That would be cool. The Lord will lead us in simple ways. At times we can't see a few steps before us.

Last thing. I'm putting in a plug personally to y'all to avoid drinks with artificial sweeteners. Non-suger electrolyte drinks and sodas are so bad for you. Elder Anderson gets sick any time he drinks any of those. I'm learning that natural sugar is in many cases better than the fake stuff we get in plenty of sodas. I also learned some cool things about essential oils.

I leave you my witness that God loves each and every one of us. He knows exactly how to bless us the very most. Trust Him. If you have no more than a desire to trust Him, let that work in you. Alma the younger understands well the relationship between faith and us. I love my time here in Texas.

P.S. We served with Make-a-Wish on Friday. More on that later. Also, I still haven't gotten the pictures that I need from past companions and member and such. But here are some fun ones.

Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission