Parking lot pross

 Buenas tardes

cómo están?

GOOD:

- This week we had transfers and I am blessed to stay another transfer in Corpus Christi with Elder Rhineer. We still got to go down to McAllen to help everyone in the zone get organized and work their way back to Corpus. I got to see E. Oli, E. Kumar and E. Mayfield who all finished their missions and are now at home. Crazy how time flies. The zone received a lot of new missionaries so it has been a super exciting week having the area full of fresh faces and new energy! It is going to be an amazing transfer! 

- At transfers every missionary received a printed copy of the second edition Preach My Gospel! This has been a huge blessing. I have loved studying it this week. 

- If you have been following along with my emails then you know we have been living with a companionship of Elders in our zone because their apartment was full of mold. So they have been living in our apartment for the past week (and our apartment is not big enough for 4 elders). This week we were finally able to get them a new apartment and help them move in. Move in day was Saturday and it was SO HOT and SO HUMID. One of the longest mornings of my life haha. But we are glad they are all settled into their next apartment! 

- In an effort to find more people to teach and talk with as many people as we could this week... we implemented the parking lot proselyting. We found ourselves outside of Dick's Sporting Goods, DQ, HEB and Stripes and talking with everyone we possibly could! It was a fun new approach to missionary work. 

BETTER:

- One of my favorite people in Corpus Christi is our friend Brian. He is a returning member who was baptized about 10 years ago but fell away from the church. We have been able to reactivate him and help him reach his spiritual goals! He even gave us his pack of cigarettes after a lesson so that we could hold him accountable for stopping. Teaching Brian has helped me see the joy of helping others receive the restored gospel. As he has begun living the principles of the gospel once again he has found a new light and the joy he has is visible in his countenance. What a good guy!

- About a month ago we met a woman named Traci by stopping her car and getting her to roll down the window. At the time she told us she was way too busy to meet with us and that we should come back in a month. We made a note and went back this week because a month had passed. When she opened the door she said "I want a Book of Mormon and I want to come to church." She did indeed get her Book of Mormon and she did indeed come to church! She is a sweet soul and the members of the ward were so good to her. 

- My friend Mike is getting so close to his baptism. He is so prepared, like actually he is MEGA elect. It is hard to explain just how cool he is in this email but I will tell you that he has 100% committed to the gospel. He keeps every commitment he makes and he is serious about improving the quality of his life through the gospel. I can't wait to see him dressed in white. 

BEST:

The McAllen temple open house is in one month! President Nelson said the following in his talk about the temple...

"It is His house. It is filled with His power. Let us never lose sight of what the Lord is doing for us now. He is making His temples more accessible. He is accelerating the pace at which we are building temples. He is increasing our ability to help gather Israel. He is also making it easier for each of us to become spiritually refined. I promise that increased time in the temple will bless your life in ways nothing else can."

The temple blesses lives. Get to the temple this week if you can!

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

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

- Elder Stringham