new roommates!

 Hola a todos

Us: "God Bless You!" 

Corpus Christi Resident: "**** ***!!!!!" 

Us: 😀

GOOD:

- This week we had 2 more exchanges! One of these exchanges was with the trio of elders in the Corpus 1st ward. I got to go to their area with Elder Foltz and Elder Teeples and work in their area for the day. We taught the most edifying lesson with their friend Angie and her son Dylan. Dylan reminded me of Fisher so much! Made me realize how much I miss him. But, Angie is so prepared! She is "desperate for the word of God" and is loving studying with the missionaries. When we asked them what they thought of the video we had sent them, little Dylan said "it was quite heartwarming for me." He was awesome. She asked so many good questions and teaching people like her is truly what I love most about being a missionary - helping those who are searching for answers to find the truth. Also, at dinner in this area we were given the best ice cream I have ever eaten in my life. It was Mexican hot chocolate ice cream and it was the best flavor of ice cream ever.

- The other exchange that we had this week was with the Flour Bluff elders. On this exchange I stayed in my area and brought Elder Ingram to the area to work with me. We were together on 7/11 so naturally we had to go get our free slurpee from Stripes. (Stripes is the Texas 7/11 and it is way better) Elder Ingram and I had a great time talking with everyone and working on our missionary abilities! It was a very hot day and we spent a ton of time outside contacting new people!

- One companionship of Elders in our zone had been living in an apartment that was not in good condition. Due to a mold problem that hadn't been fixed they started to feel sick this past week. When we called the mission office to resolve the issues they directed us to let them live with us until the problem is addressed at their apartment. So, we got new roommates this week!!! It has been super fun to live with the other Elders, however... our apartment is not made for 4 people. It has been tight! But we are glad that they have already been feeling better by not living in a mold infested apartment.

BETTER:

- This week we had Zone conference! I was invited to conduct the meeting which was fun, I enjoyed it! Zone Conference was amazing. Presdiente Larreal spoke on the basics of the gospel and how to share them. The gospel is truly so simple and beautiful! Our mission put into place some new plans to stay accountable in our efforts and improve in our missionary abilities. A big highlight of the day was getting to see my old comp Elder Wankier and catch up with him! The mission has helped me make lifelong friends but more importantly to become a lifelong disciple of Christ. 

- Big miracle this week. While on exchanges, Elder Rhineer talked with a guy in a Whataburger and invited him to church. On Sunday, this guy and his 7 year old daughter came to church! He is MEGA prepared and so interested in learning about the gospel. I was a little worried because during sacrament meeting our bishop spoke about the Word of Wisdom and the importance of it. But our new friend LOVED that, he was like "I go to so many churches that say you can do whatever you want if you love Jesus Christ but here you guys live the Commandments and actually put your faith in action!" So he is super cool and already committed to living the word of wisdom before having a real lesson with the missionaries. He does actually live in the sisters area which was sad to find out pero esta bien. He is so lit!

- Our friend Skyla and her family came to church again! Our friend Al has been progressing well in the lessons but wasn't able to make it to church. Also, we started teaching some elect new people this week that I am so excited about! Corpus Christi is full of prepared people!

BEST:

This week we met a guy who kept saying "I am so excited to go to heaven, I hate it here!" The whole contact was this guy talking about how he loves Jesus Christ but he hates living on the Earth because of temptation and sin.

He is missing the whole point!!! We have to overcome the world.

The gospel is literally the path to joy and the only way that we can prepare ourselves to live in heaven! If we truly understand the plan of our Heavenly Father we will know that we can't just look forward to heaven and expect ourselves to be happy after this life if we don't do anything while we are here. The gospel is centered on faith and faith leads to action. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He has given us this time to learn the doctrine of His kingdom and grow spiritually to prepare ourselves for what is to come. 

I love the gospel! I testify of its truthfulness! 

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

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

- Elder Stringham