mi templo favorito

 Hola a todos.

I love being a missionary!!!!!!!!!! 

GOOD:

- This week we only had 1 exchange and I stayed in Corpus for the exchange. I got to work with Elder Garns who started his mission at the same time as me and is from California. He is a great teacher and has such a sound understanding of the gospel doctrine which I thought was inspiring! We had a meal appointment with a couple from the Philippines. The Sister made us some amazing food and then said "you eat, I play music" she then went to her piano and played hymns for us while we ate. It was like dinner and a show. Good day with Elder Garns.

- The past 2 weeks we have been balancing two wards. It has been such a pleasure to serve even more people but it has literally been insanity. Sunday is what I like to call a church marathon. We have gotten to meet some amazing people in our new ward. One particular family that fed us was so excited to have elders come over because they have a few young sons and always have sister missionaries in the ward. We shared a message with their family about missionary work and they LOVED it. I had never gotten a thank you text after a meal appointment until this week. It was awesome to see how we were able to be a blessing to this family by sharing something that touched their hearts.

- I got to visit the temple this week!!!!! IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! My favorite temple forsure. I have been looking forward to the open house for years and it finally is here! More on that later. But I was thrilled to see members from all the wards I had previously served in. It made me smile to remember all the good memories I have here. The people of the RGV are really something special. I love it here.

BETTER:

- We saw God's hand this week! On Sunday morning we received a text from a random number asking us what time we had our worship services. Of course we sent all the information over and then 2 hours later we met our new friend Emily. She is awesome (and she has a good name). Emily just moved to Corpus Christi from College Station and she found our contact information by doing some research on the church's website. Emily has been so prepared - her boyfriend just left on a mission and before he left he gave her a Book of Mormon and brought her to church with him. We were able to introduce her to a bunch of ward members and when we asked how she enjoyed church she said she loved it and that she can't wait to come back! We are looking forward to teaching her this week and helping her internalize and live the restored gospel!

- This week we felt we should do proselyting on the campus of Texas A&M Corpus Christi University. This was the best decision we ever made. We ended up being there on the first day that everyone arrived and so these new freshmen were all away from home for the first time and super open to listening to us and coming to church. Every contact went as follows... us: "Hey! Would you like to come to church?!" them: "Yes!" Then we taught them more and got their contact information. One cool experience from this evening is that we met someone who has a best friend serving in the Layton, Utah mission! I thought that was super cool! She has been reading her friends weekly emails and was super excited to meet with us again and learn more about the Book of Mormon! 

- Our friend Tristian is prepared to be baptized! He was so funny at church telling everyone that he is "the newest member of the ward" ...not quite but almost. This coming weekend he will be making his first covenant with God! What I love about Tristian is his desire to learn and his humility to accept the gospel! Another cool fact about Tristian is that we met him because his best friend invited him to come to church with him and ever since he has been attending and meeting with us!

BEST:

As mentioned earlier - I got the chance to visit the McAllen Temple open house this week. What a blessing. 

I will never tire of being inside the house of the Lord. From the moment I walked underneath the sign stating "Holiness to the Lord, House of the Lord" I felt a different spirit. If you are looking for peace - get to the temple. We should ALWAYS have the temple in our sights. 

My friend Ruben came with us to the temple open house and my friend Alicia is going this Wednesday with some ward members! The temple is bringing people to Christ. 

I love to see the temple!

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

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

- Elder Stringham