New year... new companion

 Hola! 

Happy new years! I hope y'all have had an opportunity to set some goals and make some plans for this new year we have!

GOOD:

- This week I was blessed to attend a member meal appointment outside of my area. When we got there I was welcomed by the kindest members and they had us sit down so they could serve us. They proceeded to bring us something I can only describe in two words "veggie jelly." That is right folks, to give you a little bit more of an image, this jello was bright green and also was stuffed full of carrots and almonds. This is easily one of the strangest things I have eaten on my mission, not the worst, just the weirdest. (If you are wondering what the worst thing I have eaten on my mission is - the answer is the menudo that I ate last night.)

- We got to celebrate New Year's Eve from 7:30-9:00PM on Saturday night. Amen. Presidente Larreal asked us to stop working a few hours early on Saturday night to stay safe because our South TX friends love a good New Year's Eve party. Because of this, a small group of missionaries were able to gather together at the chapel and play some games while we welcomed in the new year. I am incredibly grateful to have spent the last year as a missionary, and as 2023 comes upon us I am optimistic about the growth that can take place and the experiences that will come to pass. I love the TMM and more importantly I love Jesus Christ. I happily put my head on my pillow by 10:15 and went to bed. 

BETTER:

- You are probably all wondering about the subject line title. Well... this week I participated in the longest exchange ever. For those of you that don't know, an exchange is when you switch companions with someone to learn from different missionaries and they typically last a maximum of 24 hours. On Thursday, after our district council meeting we exchanged with our Zone Leaders. Elder Roylance stayed in Hidalgo with Elder Oli and I headed up to the zone leader's area with Elder Lopez. After a turn of events and a lack of miles available to use in the month of December this exchange turned into 2 days, then 3 and when all was said and done. I spent 4 days with Elder Lopez. But guess what, I am not even mad about it, it was seriously amazing! Elder Lopez and I had so much fun together, I learned A TON from him and enjoyed getting to meet their friends and the members in their area. At this point you can consider Elder Lopez one of my companions. Tonight I will finally go back to Hidalgo and hop back onto my bike!

- Elder Lopez and I had many good opportunities to teach the gospel in our time together. One instance that was really memorable is when we went to share the restoration with a family they had gotten in contact with the week before and set a lesson up with. We went over and this family was amazing! THEY taught US the restoration based on what they read from the pamphlet and had so many good questions. They were open and ready to receive us and said they would love to come to church! This lesson was made even more memorable by the 5 children under the age of 4 that were wild during this lesson. One of the little girls had found her mom's lipstick and had already covered her face and hands with the dark red makeup she found, another little boy was in desperate need of a diaper change but had a strange obsession with throwing our Libro de Mormon's all around the room and to top it off one of the little girls decided mid lesson that she was NOT having it and started screaming. Amen. Missionary work. The cool thing is, despite the chaos of the lesson, this family was prioritizing the message we were there to share and were the definition of humble as they accepted everything that we taught. 

- One story from Hidalgo! On Tuesday, Elder Roylance and I swung by to try and get in contact with one of our newly baptized members who has been very inactive and hard to get in contact with. When we pulled up it was a legit MIRACLE because not only did we get in contact with him but we also met and spent time getting to know his wife and his daughter! His daughter was telling me that she likes to do tiktok dances in her spare time and I was like okay teach me one. She proceeds to show me her most recent tiktok dance and then I tried to do it which definitely made her think that missionaries are cool. Fast forward to Sunday and our recent convert AND his daughter both went to church in Hidalgo! It has been confirmed that dancing IS a tool used to find people to teach the gospel. We are looking forward to continue helping them Come Unto Christ as a family!

BEST:

President Nelson shared a post on social media where he highlighted 3 attributes he encouraged us to have in the upcoming year. 

PATIENCE. PERSISTENCE. PRAYERFULNESS.

I know that President Nelson is a prophet of God. I know that these simple guidelines will help us to use the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our personal lives. I am excited for this new year and I hope you are too!

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

- Elder Stringcheese