the army of Helaman

 Buenas tardes!

It is hard for me to express how much I love being a missionary in the RGV. 

GOOD:

- My companion is a beast, I feel so blessed to work with him. No complaints at all. He is very talented and this week played the piano for the missionary choir at Stake Conference. He did not have any time to practice and performed it perfectly (it was like my mom on the piano haha). Anyways, he is a hard worker and a very good missionary. 

- One of my favorite parts of this week was Stake Conference! This stake is so focused on missionary work, it is amazing. The Stake President invited my companion and I along with a few other companionships to attend the adult session of Stake Conference and be a part of a missionary work Q&A. It was super cool. I also loved getting to see so many of the amazing members in the Hidalgo ward. They all were asking when I am going to come back and said they would have tacos and horchata ready for me when the day comes. Good people that I miss serving with. Seeing them made me happier than ever. I love the people here.

- This week I did get to go on an exchange with Elder Nelson who serves in Hidalgo. He is just the nicest guy you will ever meet. I don't think that we left a single contact without him testifying to the person of God's love for them, I thought that was really cool. Elder Nelson not only works in the Hidalgo ward but he also lives in my old apartment. It was so crazy to be back but man do I love it there. I am so grateful for the people I have met while I am a missionary!

BETTER:

- The members here are such strong disciples. They are so dedicated to the work of Salvation and Exaltation. I ate some of the best tacos of my life this week and met some members with the most inspiring testimonies. 

- A big miracle of this week was meeting the Sanchez family. They are an amazing family of members that just moved to the valley from Nebraska. While we were making phone calls in a convenience store a man walked up to us and said "son miembros de la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los santos de los últimos días?" How did he know??? He then invited us to his home where we met the rest of his family and learned they are not all members of the church! We were blessed with the opportunity to have them with us as we visited the temple open house this week. They are amazing people and you can see how much they love Jesus Christ by the way they live their lives. 

- We have been continuing to teach the Garcia family. They are incredible people. Such big hearts and such strong desires to do the right things in their life. This week we had the chance to go to the temple open house with them! THEY LOVED IT. Armando asked so many questions about every room and every painting and Dulce showed a huge desire to be sealed to her husband and children. They later joined us for Stake Conference and while I was visiting with them Armando told me that he has been feeling the spirit of God in his life! He then looked at me and said something to the extent of "it's you! I feel the spirit every time that you talk to me." Wow. What a compliment. Armando will be getting baptized this weekend and then he will have the companionship of the Holy Ghost every day! How cool is that?!? His children are also progressing and working towards being baptized!

BEST:

"Según guardéis mis mandamientos, prosperaréis y seréis conducidos a una tierra de promisión, sí, a una tierra que yo he preparado para vosotros, una tierra escogida sobre todas las demás." 

- 1 Nefi 2:20

Here is a verse that impacted me this week. How cool is it that God promises us to lead us to a PROMISED LAND if we can keep the commandments?!? One of my favorite truths of the gospel is that blessings come to those who are obedient. I know that to be true. 

There is joy to be found within the commandments. To me it seems obvious as to why we should obey Heavenly Father... we can choose to travel through life alone or we can choose to be obedient and have the guidance and protection of our Heavenly Father. 

I love Jesus Christ and I know that He lives. I love being obedient. I know it brings blessings.

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

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

- Elder Stringham