Eternalbro

 Hola!

This was one of the happiest weeks of my entire life.

GOOD:

- So last week, I put in my email that Elder Thom and Elder Preece were officially my last companions... 1 hour after I sent my email we received a phone call from the mission office. We found out that our companion Elder Thom was going to get emergency transferred to another area and that Elder Preece and I would be receiving a new companion in just a few hours. My new companion is named Elder Sherwood! It is his first week in the mission, so we are training him! He comes from Salt Lake City, Utah and he is super super cool! #eternalbro

- My companion, Elder Sherwood, needed to get his welcome interview from Presidente Larreal so we were invited to the Larreal's for dinner. On Tuesday we went over to their home and got to spend some time with them eating dinner and welcoming Elder Sherwood to the mission. The Larreal's were a bit late returning from Corpus Christi and so we ended up being at the Larreal's house until about 10:30 at night! It was super fun to spend some time with them. They are truly incredible people!

- A quick story from this week.. we went to visit a member early on in the week and she told us that she had had a dream the night before. She proceeded to tell us that in her dream she was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that she wanted to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in real life! She asked us when she could come out with us and gratefully we had a perfectly set up lesson just 2 days later. Hermana Avalos was able to come with us to a lesson and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ just like she did in her dreams, I love being a missionary!

- This week we also had MLC. It was a super good meeting! We talked extensively about how we can create better cultures of charity, love and consecration with the missionaries in the Texas McAllen Mission. I love seeing friends from around the mission and I love hearing the Larreal's speak.

BETTER:

- This is such an awesome place to be a missionary! This week we saw miracle after miracle in helping our friends to accept the invitation to be baptized and to come to church with us! There is such a spiritual momentum here in the McAllen area and I never want to leave! I hope everybody knows how much I love helping others learn about Jesus Christ, it is the best work ever! 

- The highlight of the week and to be quite honest one of the highlights of my last 2 years as a missionary was attending the temple to go through the endowment session this week. Over the course of the last few weeks, Presidente Larreal has provided a time for every missionary to enter the temple and go through the endowment session. For me it had been nearly two years since I had been inside a dedicated Temple and there is nothing better than being inside the house of the Lord. I learned so much and gained so many amazing insights and really did not want to leave! The cherry on top is that I got to see many of my friends from around the mission after the session and catch up with them briefly.

- We were SO lucky to visit the temple not only once this week but twice! On Wednesday evening we were able to go back to the McAllen Temple and do baptisms with two of our newly baptized friends - Juan and Camila! They both loved it and they both plan on returning soon. My testimony of the temple has never been stronger because I saw not only the positive effect that it had on me but also the way that it helped my friend's testimonies. I might be biased, but the McAllen Texas temple is the best one in the world! I am considering moving to the valley after my mission...

BEST:

Something I learned this week is that we really all are children of God and we really are all equal in his eyes. 

As I sat in the temple, and watched other people doing Temple work all dressed in white - I felt such an eternal connection to my brothers and sisters. I have come to feel just a small piece of the charity that Heavenly Father has for each one of us.

I testify that God loves us. I testify that God loves you. I know that the temple is the house of the Lord. I can promise you that as you spend more time in the temple, you will find more spiritual power and an increased capacity to feel love, joy, patience and purpose in this life. I truly love being a missionary. I feel so grateful to be doing what I'm doing right now. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season and that you're able to focus on Jesus Christ.

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

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

- Elder Stringham