I met one of the 3 Nephites this week

 Hola!!! 

Time flies. This week was one of literal miracles. God is Good!!!

GOOD:
- This week was crazy busy! We ended up spending 2 days in McAllen!! On Wednesday we drove to McAllen to meet with President Larreal about the changes we will be making with how the TMM does work on Facebook. We had a "business lunch" and made some really good progress. WE ARE SO EXCITED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE TMM'S FACEBOOK PRESENCE! President keeps saying we are "under construction" (but it sounds more like uhhdur cohstuchsion) and we love it. On Friday we went back to McAllen for MLC! Super fun to see my friends again and learn from President, I will share some of the favorite things I learned later in the email.

- Street contacting really do be leading us to some wild children of God. I went over to talk to this family who was VIBING to some music and halfway through the conversation I started doing some little step.. tap... step... tap... action because I could not contain myself. These people were like "look at this kid, he can feel the music" and so Elder Ollie explained that I was a dancer back home and the abuelo said "You were a stripper?" #miscommunication We quickly explained that there is more than one kind of dancer and got on our way. South Texas rocks. 

- I don't know if y'all have ever heard "Hijo de Hombre" by Phil Collins... but that song in Spanish is next level. You gotta love the little things. 

- Raise your hand if you have seen Jumanji 2... now think really hard about the scene where they first enter the game of Jumanji and one of the female avatars says "It is me, I am Spencer" or something like that and Danny DeVito responds by saying "SPENCAH?!" Elder Ollie thinks that is hilarious and anytime I do anything silly or weird he goes "SPENCAH?!" and it is literally so funny. 

BETTER:
- We felt like we should go visit one of our members named Karla Zavala this week. So we drove up there and knocked on the door. When we entered, Karla and her parents were chilling on the couch like they were literally expecting us. We get talking and found out that neither of Karla's parents are members but also that Karla was a missionary?!? Super cool. We proceeded to teach the restoration with Karla's help and her parents (well especially her mom, Alma) were very receptive. After the lesson, Karla told us that usually her parents will not listen to the missionaries or leave halfway through the visit, but this time was different! They stayed, they answered questions and Alma even joined Karla at church on Sunday! ETERNAL FAMILIES LET'S GO!!

- NOW THIS WAS A MIRACLE FIND. We follow this dropped pin we have on the far side of our area looking for a member family. We show up to the point and it is nothing but a grove of trees. Elder Ollie and I were a little bit disappointed that we had come all the way out to find nothing. Just as we were about to leave, we saw a man standing in the yard across the street so we called out to him. This is how we met David Zuniga. HE IS INCREDIBLE. We met David on Friday and he told us he had been studying Biblical history and was looking for a church. We had a mini lesson with him on Saturday and answered a bunch of really good questions he had. Then on Sunday... he pulled up to church, accepted a Book of Mormon and committed to begin reading it! He is one of those people that God has been preparing and luckily, we were able to listen to the spirit and be led to find him this week! 

- Remember Jessie? **Biggest pile of trash ever, fetus rats** YES HIM. We sent his information off to the missionaries in his area and he has since accepted a Baptismal date for the end of August. Miracles left and right.

- Okay one last miracle for you guys. This is a story I will remember for the rest of my life! On Saturday, we went on exchanges and I got to go be with Elder Patillo in the bike area. He is on his first transfer so it was like a little mini practice for training. We had a fantastic day and I love my bike. Now, around 4:00PM, Elder Patillo led me out to the middle of nowhere down a road that seemed to have no end. I would've loved this but... my tire decided to go flat on me! We were literally stranded. I managed to pull off by these apartments and start trying to fix this wheel but it was GONE, like DESTROYED... there was no way I was fixing my tire. Within minutes, this man pulls up (out of nowhere) and parks his car. He starts speaking to me in Spanish and essentially doing anything he can do to help. Once we concluded that I simply needed to buy a new tire. This guy looks at me and says "sígueme" and starts walking to the backside of this apartment complex. This guy's name was Victor and he showed me to his bike, and told me I could borrow it for the day and come back the next morning to exchange bikes. God is really in the details. Surprisingly, I felt at peace as I left my bike with this guy (don't worry mom, we locked it up and Victor pointed out a bunch of security cameras he had). I got to ride this awesome bike complete with a basket in the front that I put my Book of Mormon in during the day. Victor saved the day! But you guys, I really wanted to take a picture with this man and he said "I don't take pictures with anyone." I am not saying anything but, he showed up exactly when I needed help, miraculously had a bike and then wouldn't take a picture with us.... ???

BEST:
At MLC we talked about how Jesus Christ was the perfect leader. As a leader He made wise use of His time, helped people be accountable, and showed others their full potential. 

Something I loved discussing is that Christ always taught we have the potential to become perfect. In the scriptures we learn that we should "be perfect" even as our Father in Heaven is perfect. Jesus Christ who cannot lie, tells us that we CAN become perfect and we CAN become like unto our Father! 

God has given us each unique and individual talents and when we do well with what He has given us, He will continue to bless us with more. The Lord LOVES Effort! As we continually press forward and remember that we, as children of God, have a truly divine potential... we can become something greater. One of my favorite truths of this gospel is that we all can become something more through Christ. With love, diligence, patience and focused faith we WILL reach our full potential and become perfect (not in this life, but we will). Be 1% better each day and you will become what the Father intends you to be.

"Work Hard, Keep the Commandments, Have a Positive Attitude and Show Gratitude."

- Elder Stringqueso