"this is the mission, not the funeral"

 Que Onda?!

John 14:15

GOOD:

- You guys - I love it here. The Hidalgo ward had a little fiesta to celebrate Valentine's Day and naturally we had to stop by for a bit. It was honestly the highlight of the week. I got to talk with all the members and we did a little dancing of our own. 👀 I do not mean this to be offensive but ward parties in Utah are a snooze when you compare them to what Hidalgo ward is doing.

- Found some good street carne this week. One of the benefits of serving in South TX on a bike is that all the time you run into people out grilling carne who happily share with you. This week we met Jaime who was out grilling some very good ribs and chicken, we shared the gospel with him and he shared his meat with us. Everybody wins.

- We biked past a group of kids this week that flagged us down. They told us that their soccer ball had gotten stuck in the tree and asked for our help retrieving it. Within seconds I was up that tree and the ball was back on the ground. Such a fun little opportunity to offer simple service to children in need.

BETTER

- We live with another companionship of Elders who have a car and work in an area about 15 minutes away. Their car broke down this week and they couldn't really get to their area so we got to do splits with them in our area. I got to work with E. Hall on Saturday and Sunday which was literally the best. He is a powerful teacher and a funny guy to be around. We spoke with some very cool friends and taught some great lessons together.

- SUPER BIG MIRACLES. I loved teaching our friends Arrely and Ari this week. God's timing was perfect as He guided us into their lives. It is amazing to see how hearts can be touched when we do things in God's timing. After knocking on their door randomly one night, we found out that we knocked her door the same night that God answered a big prayer in her life, she felt as though us knocking on her door was God reaching out to her in love. We went on to have 2 fantastic lessons with them this week and Arrely invited us over to eat dinner with her and her daughter one night. They love the Book of Mormon and have been studying it as a family! I love teaching families and I love South TX.

- We have been teaching our friend Mario who is super cool and very in tune with God. This week while teaching him the restoration, we began telling him about the Book of Mormon. After I finished testifying about the power that the book has he looked at me and asked if he could have one. We quickly handed over the book in our hands and invited him to read some of our favorite chapters. It was so cool to see the genuine interest that he had within him to study the word of God and learn about Jesus Christ. Read the Book of Mormon!

- We had Zone Conference this week! I always love hearing from Presidente Larreal - he always knows exactly what we need. He also says funny stuff like the quote from the subject line in this email. I included some thoughts below to share a snippet of what he shared with us. I love the TMM!! I am very happy here.

BEST:

"Just enjoy the life"

This week during Zone Conference Presidente Larreal spoke to us about the need to enjoy the time we have RIGHT NOW. He said that way too often we worry about our past and overthink our future. What I thought was profound is that he explained that by worrying about our past - we don't trust in the Atonement of Jesus Christ and by overthinking the future - we don't have faith in God's plan for us. DANG.  This caused me to search for things that made me happy right here, right now. Here is a small list...

- doing the stanky leg

- praying before leaving the apartment 

- riding my bike past the world's largest killer bee

- the hymn "tengo gozo en mi alma hoy"

- chocolate covered pretzels from gramham

- E. Hall spilling rice in the sink

I encourage you all to have faith in God's plan for you and trust in the power of Jesus Christ's Atonement. Look for joy TODAY and "just enjoy the life."

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

- Elder Stringham