tuck yo chain

 Hola amigos,

Eventful week 🙂 the queen of Weslaco (Ruby) had a birthday and the work of the Lord moved forward. I am starting to love Weslaco as much as I love the promised land of McAllen!!!

GOOD:
- RUBY HAD A BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK. For those of you who don't know, Ruby is the amazing ward member who lives here in Weslaco and feeds us 3 times a week! We have asked her what she likes to do in her free time and her answer is always something along the lines of "I really just love to have the missionaries over and cook for them." She is a gem. We got her a funny card and provided the dessert for her birthday dinner. It was so much fun to celebrate someone who has made us all feel at home here in Weslaco.

-  On Tuesday we got to go to McAllen! (I LOVE MCALLEN) Elder Ollie has been having some issues with his knees and had to go meet with the mission doctor and get an x-ray on his knees to see what was going on. The downside of this trip was that we lost a lot of time to work in our area but the bright side is that we got to be in McAllen. I love being on those streets I used to bike on everyday. We also ate lunch at "Las Tortas" which is a little place we used to bike past everyday but my comps in those days never wanted to go... I finally got a comp who wanted to try it out and it did not disappoint!

- The Leal family (who was inactive about 6 weeks ago but we brought 'em back LET'S GO) is one of my favorite families out here. We visit them once a week because we are trying to help Frank, who is the father of the family and hasn't been baptized, follow the example of Jesus Christ. Julissa, who is their daughter in high school, was telling us a funny story about how she keeps accidently breaking people's chains by trying to look at them closely but when she grabs them ... she ends up tugging on them and they break. She goes "TUCK YO CHAIN OR I AM GONNA BREAK IT" as in tuck your chains beneath your shirt or Julissa is going to break it! Then we saw her at church and the only thing she said to us was "Tuck yo chains." Mom, I promise I haven't gone total 956 yet and still do not wear chains but I just thought this was funny. 

- Interviews with President Larreal and MAN I LOVE THAT GUY. He is such a light and I left my interview feeling empowered, important and excited to work. He told me that he trusts me 100% and is sending me more responsibilities soon 🥴 #superawesome.

BETTER:
- Our friend Danii is still pretty amazing! This week she had a little mishap with her dog charging her (aggressive energy I know) and ended up in the hospital so we were unable to have her in church or meet with her in person. But... we did record and send her some video lessons and keep in contact with her through phone calls and text messaging. She is so awesome, she had her accident on Tuesday and immediately said "I am scared I won't be able to make it to church this week!!" She is still progressing well and hopefully this week we can get back in closer contact with her!

- This week we got to go to dinner at the Zavala's home, which means we got to spend our dinner hour with Alma and Erasmo! They are just amazing people and I love being in their home. They are the kindest people and are so nice to us. Their daughter from out of town came to the dinner and told us "my parents usually don't like missionaries but they REALLY like you two." Now all I am saying is that President Larreal had the revelation to leave Elder Ollie and I together in this area for another transfer and the Zavala's connect with us... SOOOO I am thinking we will have some exciting news with them soon. Also, I had a cool experience with prayer during this dinner appointment. We show up and start talking with them before we sit down for dinner and I was struggling to understand what they were saying. (Remember they prefer Spanish but we continuing to teach them and not telling the ZL's because their daughter is a member in the English ward, call us sneaky but... it is better for their progression)  Anyways, I excuse myself to the bathroom before we sit at the dining table and literally start telling Heavenly Father that I need His help to be able to understand and speak Spanish. Our God is one of miracles. I understood and communicated through the whole dinner appointment without feeling the slightest bit like I needed to jump out of a plane, so that is good.

- This week we got to have FHE with the Lopez family in our ward! We taught them a lesson focused on the restoration using Jenja blocks. It was a super fun night! But listen to our fun future plans... Danii has children about the same age as Sister Lopez's children so the plan is to bring Danii and her family into the Lopez family's home for a FHE part 2 and convert them all to Jesus Christ. ETERNAL FAMILIES!!

- We are on the find grind which is leading us to a lot of cool people and a lot of people who are just so strange. This week we taught a man who ended up giving me a pair of black dress shoes in my size that he was trying to get rid of, I said "that is so nice is there anything I can do for you?" and he said "just come back, I like when you guys are here." We also found and taught the sweetest abuela named Vicky and sent her information to the missionaries who cover her area in Spanish. We found SO MANY DOGS, some good and some not so good. But most importantly, we did it all with big smiles on our faces.

BEST:

This week I have found so much joy in the little things. The completed 1000 piece puzzle inside the Ramsey's humble mobile home. Nice people asking "quiere un agua?" when it is hot outside. The ring I wear on my finger. The feeling of getting in bed at 10:30 and knowing you did your best and you can do better tomorrow. Talking with our new neighbor and having her say "Have a good night you sweet boys." Little Mexican coconut candies. Getting some good personal study time in the morning. Doing some Krissie dance moves before bed to help me feel at home. Watching Book of Mormon videos with my comp while we eat lunch. And so many more little things that make my soul happy.

God has given us so much and he has granted us the beautiful gift of life. How cool is it that we are individuals and we are ALL important to and accounted for by a loving Heavenly Father. I am truly learning, as my sister Megan would say, that "Life is BEAUTIFUL." 

Write a journal entry about the things that brought you joy this week. God will bless you for recognizing the bounty of good He has already placed in your life. (For bonus points, send them to me in an email).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRAMHAM 

Everyone who knows her loves her and I am so grateful God blessed me with someone as Christlike as her to be in my life. She has taught me so much and NEVER FAILS to send me an email reminding me that she loves and supports me but also that my Heavenly Father loves and supports me too.

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

- Elder Stringcheese