Holy Clout

 Hello everyone,

It has been a while... LONGEST 2 weeks. Last week our preparation day got moved from Monday to Friday so we had 11 days of missionary work without a day to reset! For that reason, this letter covers the last 2 weeks of my life here in Corpus Christi. 

GOOD:

- Elder Avila and his past companion met a family from India in an apartment complex one evening and got to know them a little bit. About a week ago we found ourselves in the same apartment complex going to see one of our friends. As we knocked on the door, this family walked from across the parking lot directly up to us! They invited us in and insisted on feeding us. They kindly prepared a warm ginger milk that I thoroughly enjoyed and brought us the most spicy potatoes I had ever eaten. Such kind people. At one point while I was speaking with the mother of the family she paused and said "you have such beautiful eyes." We learned a bit about their religious beliefs and shared with them about ours. By the end of the contact they knew how to pray in the way Jesus Christ taught us and said they would begin praying in that manner. This experience was definitely a highlight because of their kindness!!

- Another highlight was the baptismal interview I got to conduct for Ibis! She is the friend of the Spanish Elders in Corpus Christi. For background, the zone of Corpus Christi has 10 companionships of missionaries and only 1 of them is Spanish because we are so far north and most of the people here speak English. It was such a treat to interact with her and hear her pure testimony while getting to use Spanish. She was baptized this past weekend! 

- I got the wonderful opportunity to go on an exchange with my good friend Elder Johnson. Love him. He is a funny guy and a very good teacher. We went from lesson to lesson and had some very good teaching experiences together. I am grateful for the chance I had to learn from his wisdom!

- Last preparation day we got to attend the Texas State Aquarium! 10/10. Highlights of the day include the dolphin show, petting the stingrays, watching the sea turtles and the beautiful location of the aquarium right on Corpus Christi Bay. Definitely would recommend a trip to the aquarium here.

BETTER:

- Elijah has been doing a lot of learning recently! During one of our lessons we discussed apostasy and restoration more in depth and he totally understood it. He was restating what he understood and used the term "Holy Clout" to describe the power of God that was restored on the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith. I think that is a great way to describe the Priesthood. He has been texting us each day after he studies in the Book of Mormon and always includes details in Elijah slang such as "Laban just got murked" (to report when Laban was killed in the account of 1 Nephi)

- My wonderful friend Alicia is just wonderful. She says funny things but is progressing and becoming converted to Jesus Christ. At church this week she met so many of the women from the ward and they invited her to a BBQ today for memorial day! One of the things she is searching for is a good group of friends so it made us happy to see the ward accept her with open arms. She is starting to understand covenants more deeply! We were able to study with her and serve her this week! She is just a ray of sunshine. 

- The reason our preparation day got moved back this past week is because we had mission tour! Elder Pieper from the 70 was with us all week long. Each morning we had a few hours of instruction from him on taking our gospel teaching to the next level. I learned so much! He shared so many amazing insights and showed us how we can actually apply each concept he discussed with us! It was a revelatory week.

BEST:

- While in a lesson with my friend Amanda and her children this week I learned a very important principle. 

Small things lead to big things. 

It really does matter that we say our prayers. It really does matter what type of music we listen to. It really does matter that we express gratitude to our family members. Things that may seem insignificant in the moment pile up and become a huge force for good or a huge force for bad. 

I know that as we consistently pay attention to the details within our lives and strive to improve in small and simple ways... we will see big improvements within ourselves. Just like the prophet Alma taught - by small and simple great things come to pass! 

I hope your week is full of light.

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

- Elder Stringham