Una vez Mas

Hola mi familia!

Pos. One last letter! First off I would like to express my gratitude to all who have supported me on my mission. Most especially mom and dad! Thank you all for your prayers, for the letters, the care packages, and even just thinking about me! I have never once felt alone, unsafe, or unsupported! It means so much to me and I know the reunions will be joyful!

These past few days have caused me to reflect a lot on the past two years of my life. Where they have gone. Who I have met. How I have changed. What I have seen. The lessons I have learned. Overall I've felt so much gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the blessing it has been to serve as a missionary! Today I'll just briefly share a few of the lessons from my mission and my testimony of the Lord’s work.

Alma 26: 37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

First, I love "the Valley" and people of South Texas. The people are a wonderful mixture of the United States and Mexico and it’s a place you've never heard of before, never been, and a hidden treasure on this earth! The members, friends we’ve taught, less active members treat us with so much love and generosity! Everyone here will talk to you! It’s such a unique and wonderful place.

1 Nephi 1:20 But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.

In the past 2 years I’ve seen the hand of the Lord daily! It’s amazing to me how much He loves us and how much He does to show us that He cares! The Lord really is involved in the details of our lives and loves to give us "tender mercies" and small little personal surprises that only mean something to us. Today for example as we went to send off my bike, we felt prompted to invite another companionship to accompany us! At the bus station one of the Elders ran into a man he had taught almost a year ago who had wanted to get baptized but was about to serve time in prison. Today as we met him he had just been released and was on his way back home! There are those "celestial coincidences" that to me are the strongest proof of God’s character as a loving Heavenly Father!

Mosiah 18:30 And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.

I know that as we lose ourselves in the service of others we will be happy. As we turn outward when our natural self would turn inward, we are blessed with experiences where we are made instruments in the Lords hands. As He works through us we are blessed to "come to the knowledge of our Redeemer". I cannot express the gratitude I feel towards my Savior, or the love that I feel for Him.

I know that this is Christ’s true and living church here upon the Earth today. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us as His children. I know that this life is the time for us to repent and prepare to meet God and as we do so we will find peace and joy in our time. I know that God restored His church through the Prophet Joseph Smith and that the Book of Mormon is not merely just an evidence of this, but one of God’s greatest instruments in helping us to feel His love. I know it is true and I love to read its words. It has taught me how to be a disciple of the Savior. I know that Jesus Christ lives. That He suffered for our sins, sicknesses, pains, and heartaches and that He died on the Cross and rose the 3rd day, and because of that.we will all live again someday and stand before Him and He will be our judge. I know that families truly can be together forever and that as we keep the commandments we will be happy.

In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

- Con amor,

Elder Cook

 

Las ovejas regresan! (June 9, 2014)

Hola mi familia!

Wow! This was another wonderful week! I learned so much and feel like there’s still so much to do! A good part of the week we spent in meetings (Tues/Wed) and it was good to see some of my friends in the mission for the final time. I think the biggest thing that I learned this week came down to the Holy Ghost! There were a few times where we felt just the smallest prompting to go do something that required a change in plans, or to go back a certain way or do something differently and each time it yielded great results! I've learned that every time I follow a prompting, I get better at following the next one! But if I choose not to follow it or ignore it then the Holy Ghost will leave me in a painful silence until I repent and promise to be obedient!

Here are a few of these small little tender mercies!

Tuesday night- We were told we needed to prepare a musical number for a conference and we had the distinct impression that a few certain missionaries (who normally don't participate) needed to perform. We ended up doing a mix of the hymns “As I have loved you” with "love at home." It was so powerful! Afterward the missionaries thanked us and told us how much it had strengthened their testimonies!

Wed- we stopped by an investigator’s home after leaving a training meeting and found no one home. As we started to drive away we looked down another street and thought we saw a man we recognized so we decided to go back. It turned out to be Jorge, the father of a family we used to visit whose younger brother (Marvin) we are teaching right now. He has been working a lot lately and it was the first time we had made contact with that family in a few days and because of it we were able to go by the next day and help Marvin come to church!

Sunday- I walked into the Spanish Ward and was asked to play the piano! I’m usually hesitant if one of the Sister missionaries are present but that day there weren't any. As I looked at the program I saw "Para siempre Dios este con vos" and "Todo esta bien" (come come ye saints!) two of my favorite mission songs! This next week I’ll be in the English ward so it was a great tender mercy that the Lord arranged for those songs to be sung on my final Sunday there!

Ah! There are so many to share! But I know that the Lord does bless us in accordance to our faith and trust in Him! This is His church and His work!

Have a great week!

Con amor,

Elder Cook!

Recent Photos!

Mi Valle! (June 2, 2014)

Hola mi familia!

If I could come up with an analogy for the progression of my mission, I think I’d have to compare it to a regular summer day in the Valley! You wake up in the mornings and see a beautiful sunrise with palm trees and big fast moving clouds and it’s humid but not too hot. You've made plans and you try to envision just exactly how everything you've planned is going to work out! There are goals, dreams, needs, and wants that all need to be taken care of! By mid’ day its hot hot hot but there are toy story shaped clouds all across the sky. Its lots of work and sweat but if you’re diligent then miracles happen. Problems come up, plans change, but small tender mercies make it all fun and exciting!  As the evening hits it slowly cools down and then you get to see a beautiful Texas sunset and the wind picks up to cool you down! All the work and sweat and stress of the day are erased by a calm still peace as whole world seems to prepare for the night. It’s the most beautiful part of the day! You have time to reflect on the day’s events, the people you knew, and the things the Lord has done to help you be happy!

Here in the sunset phase of my mission I feel the same way! The "morning" of my mission seems miles away, the heat of the day doesn't seem quite as rough as I thought it was when it occurred and I'm blessed to have the help of the Lord as I look back in hindsight of everything that's happened. Each day this week something amazing happened and it’s humbling to see how good the Lord is at loving us personally!

This week:

People:

Paulina was confirmed this past Sunday and their family is fully active again in the church! We use Oreos about as often as the scriptures when we teach her haha (she’s like me!) and we had a cool lesson where we shared the video from Pres. Faust about the voice of the spirit!

Marvin!: He's a 15 year old we taught back in April who’s recently just began coming to church! He reads the Book of Mormon everyday and he came and played soccer at the church with some of the other youth! He's a super cool kid and has a really good heart! He always tries to do what’s right regardless of what his family members do.

Zoraya!: She’s getting reading for her baptism soon and she is being a missionary in her own family! Her older sister wanted to take her down to Brownsville for the zoo but she told her sister that she had to go to church! It’s been fun helping her to make friends with the other girls in Primary.

Priscilla & Valeria: We have a lot of fun visiting them! We teach them at their cousins’ house and it’s always a party! Valeria (who’s 8) helps her mom remember to read and pray and she is so responsive to the spirit! Last night we went over for dinner and Elder Munoz taught the moms how to make Arepas (algo colombiano! Son muy ricos!) and I taught an impromptu primary class using Mormon messages, hang man, and thumb wars to the kids: in total there are 8 kids ranging from 6-14! haha it’s a fun group!

Blanca!: Her friend got baptized last week and she has been coming each week and told us this week that she knows the book of Mormon is true! she has a young little daughter who has the same hair style as my companion! (see the attached picture!) haha.

Fun Experiences:

Wednesday we decided to go on bikes for the day and as we visited Blanca it started to sprinkle. A few minutes later it was a full blown thunderstorm! After trying to wait it out for about an hour under a neighbor’s garage overhang we decided to try and ride to our next appointment (some members) which was about 2 miles away! it was awesome! The streets were flooded and after about 10 sec. we were soaked. At one point we had to get off our bikes and walk on the side walk to avoid some mud. A bus came by at the perfect time and  I got snowplowed by a wall of water! haha. I miss being a bike missionary! Better yet...as we kept riding I missed the turn and so we literally went the "extra' mile that day! But we made it to our destination and things turned out well!

Sat- As we finished  teaching Priscilla and Valeria a nearby drive thru started blasting really loud music...the family told us that that evening there was going to be a Lucha libre...(ha think Nacho libre!). We drove by later and caught a glimpse of the masked Mexican wrestlers ....yes...even dressed up in their "stretchy pants'". It kind of underscored the culture differences between Ohio and South Texas ...the Ohio State fair or corn festival would've been the equivalent for the Lucha Libres in Alamo Texas. I love it all!

Lastly, my testimony really has grown this week about the power of the family! I know that Heavenly Father really is our Father in heaven and that He loves each of us as His children! As we visit and teach families the gospel of Jesus Christ, it all just comes back down to the simple story of a family. A Father who loves His Children sent His oldest Son to show us the example and to help us out so that some day we can all go back home and be happily together forever! I know this is true!

Just as the primary song says:

How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness?
He sent his Son, a newborn babe, with peace and holiness.
How could the Father show the world the pathway we should go?
He sent his Son to walk with men on earth, that we may know.
How could the Father tell the world of sacrifice, of death?
He sent his Son to die for us and rise with living breath.
What does the Father ask of us? What do the scriptures say?
Have faith, have hope, live like his Son, help others on their way.
What does he ask? Live like his Son.

Con amor animo y agredecimiento,

Elder Cook!

Hola mi familia!

Hola mi familia!

This week I learned some great lessons on attitude! I’ve learned recently that your attitude and excitement for something really has such a powerful effect! Finding joy in the little things, and especially finding fun in the unpleasant things takes a roller coaster day with ups and downs and turns it into a jet ski ride!

This week we had a lot to do! Ill share a little bit though about the people we’re visiting:

Gonzalez family = The family are all members of the church except their youngest daughter Paulina! she's really smart and loves to read the Book of Mormon. It’s fun to watch her and her Dad joke around and she always gives him a hard time. Bro. Gonzalez speaks great Tex-Mex and there’s hardly ever a sentence he says that doesn’t use both languages! We had a great lesson with the bishop’s wife this week and it was fun to see old friends reuniting as this family have come back to church!

Zoraya Escamilla= Her family is less active but her brother goes to a different ward on occasion with friends there. We've taught her the last few weeks and she is the sweetest little girl! Each time as we’re about to leave she tells us "thanks for helping me!" or just "thanks for coming!" She has a little toy starter guitar that she’s trying to figure out how to play! She says really good prayers and it’s great to see how she’s been a great example for the rest of her family! She lives way out in the boonies so it’s always fun to have lessons in the evenings there when it’s cool and under the Texas sunsets! Their family has a helote van (Scott and Dad will soon have the joy of seeing those in action) and the other day when we were there we saw a car crash on their street (it wasn’t serious at all!).

Priscilla & Valeria & the Aleman family= the Aleman family are members that some of my past companions/friends (Elders Welker/Child/Crimm) all visited. They’re a family of 2 sisters with 4 kids each (all under 16). We have a lot of fun with them! Each time after lessons we take a few minutes to play basketball or soccer with the kids. We're teaching their cousins Priscilla and her daughter Valeria! Valeria is 8 and loves reading the Book of Mormon! Priscilla has lots of good questions!

As well yesterday we stopped by Glenda and Jorge and Jorges' brother Marvin - a family we visited and taught in April. It was really good to see them again and Marvin really wants to come to mutual on Wednesdays and church on Sundays so he can be baptized! We found out later after we’d been teaching them that Marvin and Jorges mom is a member so hopefully she'll be coming back to church as well!

The Lopez family! They’re a family that Neil visited a lot and they sometimes can’t make it to church because of ride situations and the husband has work! We've been visiting them and teaching them the lessons again and it’s been a lot of fun!

There’s more! hahaPharr, Donna, and Edinburgh Texas!! Haha it’s crazy but we do cover parts of at least 5 towns! The Pharr ward is for sure one of my favorite wards and even on Wednesday when we stopped in for mutual it just felt like home! Oh! And Friday we saw a live mariachi band at a Mother’s Day activity! super cool! Super good! super music...like street musicians...and super loud!

I want to share my testimony about the Light of Christ! I know that when we can simply share a smile with others and do it with sincere love, it helps to brighten the lives of those who are stuck in the darkness of sin or struggle! I know the Savior's light touches each of us through every good thing we do! I love being a representative of Jesus Christ and I know that His Gospel really is a Gospel of Happiness!

Have a great week!

Con amor y animo!

Elder Cook

Photos

Un buen domingo!

Hola mi familia!

Today I think I’ll just keep things simple and share a cool experience from yesterday. After getting home from church we ate, finished our studies, changed from our suits into our normal missionary clothes and went out to visit people. The first house we visited was a lady who had spoken with missionaries previously, and it had turned out that Elder Munoz had actually taught that family a year before when he was on exchanges. We talked to a few more people on that street (they weren't too keen on accepting) but we felt good about our efforts.

Next we went to visit a family who was supposed to be moving down from Corpus but they weren't home so we decided to take a Sunday walk around the block. One of my favorite things about being a missionary is just the fact that whenever we seem to exercise a particle of great faith (such as a walk around the block, with the trust that God will put someone in our path) a miracle can occur! After we’d made it around the first turn and talked to a few families, we noticed a house behind one of the main houses that was only accessible and visible from the back alley way. We felt impressed to go to that home and we’re pleased to meet a woman named Blanca from Honduras! She received us instantly with so much happiness! She’s been struggling a lot in her life lately and has felt desires to come closer to God. She loved the things we shared with her and at the end prayed to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet and received a strong answer as she felt peace through the Holy Ghost! AS she told us about the situation of her life, the details fit almost perfectly with another woman named Siomara (also from Honduras) who I had taught in Brownsville. It felt so good to know that we had been where the Lord wanted us to be and that we had been instruments in His hands!

I know when we trust in the Lord, He will take care of us and miracles will occur! We're excited to help Blanca as she makes the necessary changes in her life to follow her Savior Jesus Christ. I love the gospel and the hope it offers to each of us! May we each have a greater trust and confidence in the Lord!

Con amor,

Elder Cook!