valley dogs

 qué onda?

This is a great work 

GOOD:

- Finally convinced Elder Ollie that biking is a good idea! (WAHOO LET'S GO) Biking in Weslaco is different than biking the streets of McAllen because you have to deal with the valley dogs. The dogs in the 956 are built different you guys. There were at least 4 moments this week where I was biking with valley dogs chasing me on all angles. I do not know how to accurately describe the feeling of being lost in a sea of valley dogs but I wouldn't say it is my favorite thing. On a different but related note... we got caught in the rain on our bikes which was 10/10 awesome. I have been wanting to get caught in the rain on the bikes for my whole mission so we can now check that off the bucket list. (Check the end of this email for an artistic depiction of Jesus Christ with a valley dog.)

- Due to some crazy situations and a meeting that Elder Ollie had to attend on Tuesday.... the ZL's asked me to go on a little mini exchange for a few hours. Now, this wasn't just a typical exchange. This was me and 2 missionaries who had been in the field for 2 weeks (greenie squared or something). We had a blast and Elder Despain and Elder Kipp are both really good kids who I was super impressed with! That being said, there were definitely some Spanish contacts in which neither of them said a word haha. Definitely was a confidence booster and helped me see how much I have grown in my time out here. South Texas is so awesome.

- MLC! I LOVE MLC. On Friday we got to attend MLC and it was easily the best one that I have been to so far! President Larreal focused a lot on making sure that our mission is improving in our obedience, consecration and worthiness to prepare ourselves for the temple that we are about to receive. NOW is the time for us to prepare and help our friends to prepare to receive a temple here in the beautiful RGV. We have a hashtag running through our mission that says #ATempleIsComing and it is pretty hype. I expect to see you all here for the open house of McAllen's beautiful temple early next year. We also got to create and send out a Facebook training for the whole mission so that we can keep finding God's children through the wonderful tool of social media. MLC just really got me so hype to be a missionary and especially to have the chance to serve here in the TMM with President Larreal and all my friends.

BETTER:

- Church this week was just amazing. After a week of having little contact with our progressing friends due to various complications, they all pulled up to church! We were thrilled that Alma and Erasmo came to church together and invited us to come over for dinner this week! We were also happy to see Danii back in church after an injury, she LOVED our video lessons on the Plan of Salvation and is honestly progressing well in her personal testimony. (After church, I asked her what she thought of the service and through a few tears she said "It was exactly what I needed today" !!!) We also were SUPER EXCITED that our friend Francisco/Frank came to church for the first time. Frank is married to Sister Leal who is a member we recently reactivated, we have been visiting their family for a long time and kept hoping we could get Frank to join us for church and develop a desire to learn the gospel with us. This week we had a lunch appointment with Sister Leal and Frank on Thursday that went super well and then they both came to church on Sunday! An amazing end to a difficult week!

- Though finding has been a bit slow recently, we do have a few miracle finds that we are really excited about. First is our young friend Leslie. Leslie is a senior in high school, we found her looking for a guy we met street contacting who gave us a wrong address for his home, but it is okay because we ended up finding Leslie! She is super cool and has expressed a super deep interest in discovering the purpose of life. We were able to have a second lesson with her this Friday that went super well! I have really enjoyed teaching Leslie because she is searching for something more in her life and I know the gospel of Jesus Christ can help her to find a greater sense of purpose and direction.

- One more person I want to tell you about! Last week we met a guy named Gilbert who immediately invited us to sit down and talk with him. (If you read my last letter, Gilbert is the man who gave me a pair of shoes and when I asked what I could do in return he said "Just come back, I enjoy the way I feel when you guys are here.") He pulled out a Book of Mormon that he had received from previous missionaries and asked us to share a message with him. This man was prepared for us to come knocking on his door. This week we went back and had a fuego lesson with Gilbert. He opened up and shared about his past and desires he has for the future. Gilbert was asking us how he can start over and develop a firmer foundation on his life and we talked with him about Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Gilbert was excited and practically asked us if he could be baptized! Gilbert is going to begin to work towards being baptized and we are so excited for him! 

BEST:

I really enjoyed studying the Proverbs this week in the Old Testament. 

The Proverbs are cool because they are really just short and concise pieces of wisdom and guidance. Some of my favorites from the week are...

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding... In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths... For whom the Lord loveth, he correcteth... When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul... a soft answer turneth away wrath.

The scriptures are full of SO much wisdom that we should be feasting on. I am grateful to have a living prophet who directs us and helps us to know how we can continually draw nearer to Jesus Christ. I have said it once and I will say it again - read your scriptures! Follow the prophet of God and study the Old Testament this year! You will be greatly blessed by heeding the council of His inspired servants.

I love you all. Being a missionary is awesome. I hope you have a fantastic week!!! Also a little birthday shout out to GK the most amazing grandma! She is the queen of fruity pebble rice Krispy treats and truly knows how to party! I love and appreciate her so much! Happy Birthday tomorrow GK!

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

- Elder Stringjamon