...but I'm feeling 22

July 10, 2023

...but I'm feeling 22

Hello everyone!

It has been a happy week.

GOOD:

- Last preparation day was my birthday and I wanted to say thank you to everyone who made me feel special! I loved receiving emails and messages from family and friends. I was lucky enough to spend my birthday on the beach playing spike ball with a bunch of my friends here in the mission. We also built a mega sandcastle - it was such a blast because the whole zone worked together to build the sandcastle! After the beach we ate lunch at the double decker Whataburger in Corpus. My birthday couldn't have been complete without getting mordida-ed. They really caught me by surprise!

- The members also contributed to the birthday festivities. Some of the members I have gotten close to in my past areas sent me many messages and birthday wishes. One of the members from McAllen sent me the most beautiful photo of the temple at sunset. We were invited to eat dinner with some members who went ALL out. It was a "Christmas in July/Birthday dinner." I am grateful for all the love I felt from those around me!

- This Sunday at church I got the chance to speak! Myka - who is a friend we had been teaching a few weeks ago came to church out of the blue and got to hear me speak!

- This is a comical story. We have a wonderful friend named Alicia who is practically a member but hasn't decided to get baptized yet. She has been wanting to attend a baptismal service to see the ordinance so this week we invited her to a service for a new member named Roy. She texted us and said "I'll try to make it" so we weren't really expecting her to be there. Roy got baptized and about 10 seconds after the ordinance I hear keys jingling down the hall. In comes Alicia who with the biggest smile says "am I late?!?!" It was so sad to have to break the news to her, but hopefully she can come next time.

BETTER:

- We had an exchange with the assistants this week! Elder Takahashi came up to Corpus and spent the day with my companion and I. He is a powerful missionary and such a nice person. We enjoyed learning from him and showing him around the great white north. We even got to catch some fireworks over the bay on our way home because it was the 4th of July!

- A highlight of the week was definitely MLC in McAllen! MLC is a meeting where a group of missionaries meets with President and talks about plans we can take to improve the mission. This was the longest MLC meeting I have ever attended but it was so full of revelation. Presidente Larreal and Hermana Larreal are so full of love for the Savior and for all the missionaries they serve with. As a large council we made plans to help others improve their missionary abilities and their consecration to the work. We didn't get back to our area in Corpus until about 8PM so it was a full day in the valley!

- This week we have been continuing to teach Al and he is doing well! We had some good lessons where we were able to bring members and talk with him about Baptism! He wants to be baptized and things are just falling into place in his life for the better. Also Skyla and her daughter Sophia are working towards being baptized this month as well! Skyla will need some extra prayers this week as she found herself in the hospital at the end of last week. She is going through a lot right now and we are hoping she can get feeling better soon to finish studying with us and be able to get baptized!

BEST:

The scriptures teach that "men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will."

This is something I have thought tons about this week. God asks us to be anxiously engaged in good things. I love that we can become agents who choose for ourselves in what way we serve God.

I hope we can all choose to do many good things out of our own free will this week to show God how much we love Him!

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

Be a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

- Elder Stringham