La Navidad en Tejas

Hola mi familia!

Long time no talk right? It was really good to hear each of you and talk last night! It kind of made it real to me that Scott’s actually home now and the Cookie Jar is back up to 6. I'll keep it short today and just share two quick experiences.

The first is from Christmas Eve...we went over to a family in our ward named the Campos family and had a really fun time! We had a mixture of American and Mexican food  (turkey, beans rice, tortillas, brisket, rice and beans) and some really good desserts. But the best part was afterwards when we sang Christmas hymns. The spirit was so strong and it really was a joy to be singing with such a strong family and missionaries. It made me so grateful for the kindness of our members down here. The last song we sang was.....Angels We Have Heard on High and it brought back so many memories of singing on Christmas Eve as a family and with guests over! I love that song and I'm grateful for all the traditions we have that have grown my faith in the Savior throughout my childhood.

Secondly, I can't tell you how grateful I am that we read the scriptures as a family, held family home evening and family prayer. Those simple habits have blessed me beyond measure and given me the testimony I have. Lastly, this morning I went out to work for an hour on a brief exchange with Elder Zavala. He is one of the missionaries who flew out with me but I didn’t know him in the MTC because he's a native speaker. We went and tried by a few former investigators from the area and had a really good experience. He has a pretty strong stutter and overall he's a pretty shy guy. We knocked on a door and a lady opened and I felt prompted to let Elder Zavala speak.  The Spirit taught me a huge lesson! As he slowly but surely began the conversation with the woman the Spirit came so strongly. Even though it took him 2 or 3 minutes to get a few sentences out and ask her a question...she was touched by his efforts. He was such a good example to me of a missionary who is humble but has courage and determination. Each day I've been able to find a new area or place where I need to improve and I'm grateful for the wonderful examples that surround me! God loves each of us so much. I know this is true!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

 

Transfers!

Hola mi familia!

That’s so exciting to hear about Jason and Camrie’s mission calls! They'll be great missionaries! Thank you so much for the package! Claire...I did eat the cookies RIGHT THEN ....with the help of the other missionaries nearby! Thanks Mom for the books and Ian for the Rubix cubes and all the other stuff! I'm excited for Christmas! I'm sending one package this week but there'll be another that’ll be a little late!  Just a heads up!

Boy...my life has changed so much in the past week! And it’ll change even more by next Monday. On Friday we received a phone call from the Zone Leaders....Elder Marble is going to be training another new missionary here in Mercedes and I will be headed to Las Milpas in Hidalgo!!! McAllen is situated about 7 miles or so north of the Rio Grande...and Hidalgo goes east and west below McAllen. So pretty much it literally is right on the border (Our appt. right now is 9 miles from the International Bridge...didn’t think I could get any closer!!) News so far is that It’s LOTS of Spanish (I'm really excited for that!). I'll still be on a bike and my companion is going to be Elder Rodriguez (he's fluent...more great news for my Spanish!!!). Elder Marble was pretty to shocked to hear that he'll be staying in Mercedes for at least a 5th transfer. I'm sad to leave Mercedes and especially the recent converts we have but I'm really excited for Las Milpas (the corn fields!). I'm really grateful that I began my mission here in "The Queen City" of the Valley. It’s been so much fun and I have learned and grown a lot! It was hard saying goodbye to Brother Soto (the 72 year-old who was baptized in October) Vanessa Herrera (she was baptized my first Sunday!) and Alma Arcuate (the lady with cancer who was baptized in October...Mom you should expect a letter from her...she only speaks Spanish and I told her to write you! ) last night. It was tough (I felt a lot like Dad because I got pretty emotional...Elder Marble gave me a good time for that...but really I'm grateful for charity and especially the kind that makes goodbyes hurt so much!) . Dad you'll probably get some facebook requests from some of them this week. Tonight we're saying goodbye to Angelina and then Dalia and her kids! It's going to be pretty hard!

On Thursday as well we received some huge news. Angelina won the court case and custody of her two boys. It was a miracle and an answer to so many prayers! Thank you as well! It really gave me a unique perspective with the timing of things and me leaving this Tuesday. We found her about the second or third week here and now I leave the week after she gets her kids back...I can't even begin to describe the joy and gratitude I've felt. We visited her on Saturday and it was so good to see Angelina with all of her kids playing around and being a happy family. She has come so far and changed so much! We promised her from the first lesson that if she came to church, kept the commandments and was baptized God would help her get her kids back. Seeing that fulfilled and seeing the process it took has grown my faith so much! As well it'll be hard to say bye to the Gonzales family! I love them so much! Dalia, Brianna, Victor, Jay, Andrew, Eli, and Olivia are always going to have a special place in my heart! In a week or two I'll send you the pictures and you can put face with all the names! I've loved my time here in Mercedes and I'm finding that as you leave an area and go somewhere else...it feels like you’re ending one mission and starting another one! Throughout the weekend we had 4 or 5 experiences where we "randomly" ran into some of the former or current investigators I'd wanted to say goodbye to but hadn't been able to fit into our schedule. It was a fun confirmation of Heavenly Fathers love and influence in our lives.

Ok now to end...As we visited with Brother Soto the other night I shared with him 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.

As I shared that Scripture and talked about how Mercedes has become truly a beautiful place in my eyes...the meaning of that scripture changed a lot to me. Initially I'd intended to share it because Bro. Soto had been able to come to a knowledge of his redeemer over the time that we had met...but I realized as much as anyone I had taught in these past few months I have learned so much about my Savior and have felt His love and presence in my life stronger than ever before. I know He lives and He loves us. I will forever be grateful to be able to feel my Saviors love. I share that love with you now and hope and pray that all will go well for you this week!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

Feliz Navidad!

Hola mi familia!

So this week I finally heard that song (Feliz Navidad!) down here and it was strange for two reasons....1) I actually understood the words of the song 2) it was 85 and we were sweating while listening to it! Thursday, Mercedes had a Christmas parade and it was just the odd cherry on top of the odd cake that makes up a Christmas down here in the south. It felt and looked like the fourth of July (some floats even threw candy) but it sounded like Christmas. Elder Marble and I were stuck from crossing to the other side of town so we walked up for part of it and ran into some people we'd contacted during the first month here and saw some members watching as well! It was pretty interesting to see pretty much the whole town out on the sidewalks watching. There's a big high rise (7 stories....big for South Texas) in Mercedes and occasionally we'll run up the stairs in the mornings for the exercise to see the view...seeing so many people at the parade was an experience that kind of made me stop and ponder for a while. It was a lot like seeing the town from the high rise building but seeing the town in terms of faces and people not houses and miles. Heavenly Father sees us in terms of faces and people, and even beyond that; He sees us in terms of hearts and potential!

We've been blessed to find some really wonderful people in the past two weeks. Last night as we were going to visit the Gonzalez family (the mom and two kids who were baptized my 3rd week here) we passed a house with some kids playing outside- we'd seen the kids before and talked to them about a week before- but kept going. Later we came back by the house and we felt prompted to stop! We were able to talk to the Mom (her names Janelle)! She was so friendly and we even had the chance to sit down and teach her. She just recently separated from her husband and has to provide for the 5 kids (all under 9) on her own...she had such an open heart and a willingness to learn and listen! It really strengthened my faith that Heavenly Father puts prepared people in our path and makes sure we don't miss them! I'm also grateful for D&C 1:19-23. I definitely feel weak and simple but I'm grateful that Heavenly Father chooses to do His work this way. I'm so grateful to be born in a home where I was taught the gospel...that I knew I could find answers to prayers...and where I was taught to always give my best! I love Mercedes! Heavenly Father has blessed us and trusted us with so many of His sons and daughters here and it makes me so happy! I'm grateful for the Savior, for His birth, His life, and above all His sacrifice for us! He lives and loves us!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

La confrencia de la mision!

Hola mi familia!

Today its somewhere in the 80's, but the whole town of Mercedes is decked out in Christmas decorations! It’s the craziest thing and I'm still trying to get used to it! It’s been a great opportunity to talk with people, we even ended up hanging up Christmas lights for a blind man (oh boy...talk about hard communication in Spanish!...I learned a lot of good directional words that day!).

The highlight of the past week though was the Mission Conference with Elder Gregory A. Schweitzer! Thursday we went to a fireside he gave for recent converts and investigators. He shared a great lesson on teaching in our families and applied it to the 10 Commandments...he made the interesting point that the reason we are promised long lives for honoring our parents is because if our kids see us taking care of our parents, they'll take care of us when we're old! We brought Angelina our recent convert! She loved it! Keep her in your prayers the next few weeks! She has surgery this week and court to win back custody of her kids (The gospel does miracles for people!!!) the next week!

The mission conference was such a spiritually uplifting experience. It was so wonderful to have all 190 of the Texas McAllen missionaries there! It was like a big family reunion! It was great to see Elder Stott, Elder Sanders, and Elder Hardin especially!!! We had a good time talking and catching up! He speaks great Spanish! Elder Schweitzer taught us a lot about the value of the Book of Mormon and as well how we can better help people to repent before and after baptism. He invited us to study more fully how the characters of the Book of Mormon have their own distinct personalities and how they were real people with real lives and as well how the Book of Mormon is such a miracle and the evidence of God's love for us today!

A few more fun highlights from the week...we taught a family history lesson to our local librarian! Taught a lesson to a local pizza man who wants to be baptized and had a less active sister come back to church (her daughter isn’t a member and wants to start meeting with us as well! Spanish is going great!

This week I had a little bit of time to study in 1 Corinthians 13....which mirrors Moroni 7 talking about charity. It’s such a powerful chapter and helped me understand that of all the things we can become, learn, or do, learning to love one another goes far beyond the others in importance. Faith is the tool we have in this life to help us use the Atonement of Jesus Christ to purify and perfect ourselves for living again with our Heavenly Father. Someday, when we stand before God we will have that perfect knowledge of Him and His Son and that need for faith will be no more. Then (as Elder Eyring mentioned in his talk at conference) how we served the Savior and really how well we have done at developing charity will be the most important issue! I'm also realizing that with the people we teach, Heavenly Father has the power to send angels to teach them the gospel, He could take away their trials, give them the material blessings they need, but he chooses to send us so that we can learn to love our brothers and sisters and so that we know how to love each other as an Eternal Family. The only thing we have to offer others that God can’t give them is the love and charity from our hearts!

Muchisimas gracias por sus oraciones, el amor, y todo!

Con amor y carino,

Elder Cook

No mas guajolote!

Hola familia!

We had another great week down here in the valley! Thanksgiving was a lot of fun! We had two meal appointments, one with a family in Mercedes and one with all the missionaries and a family over in Weslaco! It was strange to walk outside afterward into the near-80 degree weather...it still feels like we're just stuck in September now! We made some visits to our recent converts and it was great to spend some time with them!

Thanks so much mom for the package of sweaters! Hopefully I'll need them here soon! I also received a letter from the Kauffman family this week and it was really good to hear from them! Christmas decorations are up in downtown Mercedes and boy does it look funny to see a wreath on a palm tree. HEB plays Christmas music nonstop now and it’s just overall a really strange experience! Whenever we talk with people they can't believe we like Christmas with snow! 

On Saturday we went to a ward activity that was held in memory of Elder Walker and Elder Strong. We had a memorial bike ride from the church down the road where the accident happened and back to the church. It gave me a lot to think about and certainly a lot to be grateful for. The road they were biking on was narrower than any of the roads we have here in Mercedes and gets pretty busy! We had a police escort and all in all there were about 30 or so on bikes (11 were missionaries). At the crash site there was a bike with some flowers and it all reminded me a lot of the way we mourned when Rico Butler passed away. I've gained a much stronger testimony of the plan our Heavenly Father has for each of us. Knowing where we come from, why we're here on earth, and what will come after, gives such a different perspective. I've found that applying those 3 big questions to the specific instances of my life help me find greater purpose, direction, and motivation, as well gratitude to my heavenly father.

I am so grateful to come from a family that loves me and a family that taught me the gospel and gave me a strong legacy of faith. I am grateful as well to be here in Mercedes to help people come unto Christ, to find peace and happiness in this life and joy in the next, to enter the waters of baptism and to have their sins washed away. I'm grateful to be headed towards the remainder of a wonderful 2 years serving the people in South Texas wherever the Lord decides to send me!

I love you all!!!

Con amor,

 

Elder Cook

Fotos y mas!

!Hola mi familia!

This past week was a good week! We said ‘bye to Elder Sanders (he's the blonde one and the biggest) as he headed up to Corpus Christi...and said hello to Elder Gillette! He's from Pocatello Idaho and was sick on his 3rd day in the field (with the same nasty bug we all had the week or two before...it was rough!).

This week we found some really awesome people! We found two families that really have been prepared for the gospel and then this awesome man named Noe. He had seen one of the church’s old missionary videos from the 80's and talked about how much he loved the music! He's 50 years old with long black hair and gets around on his bike with a radio strapped to it. He also had a few Book of Mormons....one from a long time ago when he met with the missionaries and one he found in the trash! He couldn’t believe someone would throw it away! we're excited to get to know him better! He got really excited when we shared some scriptures with him from 3 Nephi and got up to give us fist bumps because we'd helped answer some of his questions. Moments like that keep life exciting! 

The city of Mercedes has already begun to put up Christmas decorations....palm trees and Christmas wreaths are a pretty interesting sight! (Especially the week before Thanksgiving!) All of last week the temperature stayed below the 80's and it seems like things are going to stay cool for a while (ha...below 80 is sweater weather for Elder Marble!). We had a good time at our ward Thanksgiving party last week! My Spanish is getting better every week and it’s a lot more fun to socialize in the Spanish ward now that I can communicate better and having been around and met people for the past 2 months! All of our recent converts are doing well...we've set Book of Mormon goals with each of them and this week we're going to help them get started on their family history work so we can get them headed to the temple! The more I learn about family history work and as well using it in missionary work the more I grow to love it! Since its Thanksgiving this week I'll list a few of the things I'm grateful for!

1) Serving here in South Texas and being here in Mercedes

2) You guys! (My family & friends!!!)

3) The opportunity to speak Spanish

4) Example of parents, siblings and grandparents

5) Going to BYU (& being a Buckeye!!!!)

6) My Bike!!! (I love it!)..and being in a bike area

7) A Heavenly Father who loves everyone equally!

8) Good health

9) The Book of Mormon

10) The atonement and example of Jesus Christ

Not to mention all the tender mercies from the Lord we can see on a daily basis! A quote from President Monson that I love goes "gratitude to our Heavenly Father unlocks the doors to heaven and helps us feel His love". Being grateful has helped me become a more humble missionary and helps me feel the spirit and the love from Heavenly Father whenever things are tough. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Thanks for all your love, support and prayers!

Con amor,

Elder Cook!

(P.S. Enjoy the pictures!)

Seis mas semanas con el Elder Canica!

Hola mi familia!

I'm staying in Mercedes!......and so is Elder Marble! We're actually the only companionship in the zone that’s not switching! Our neighbor Elder Sanders is headed to the beach up in Corpus Christi and Elder Curletti will be training a new missionary (ahh! Im old!). We were pretty surprised by the news that Elder Marble will be staying but we're excited as well! We'll be spending Christmas together and it looks like I'll probably be in Mercedes until at least February! It really gives things a new perspective! I love this little town though! It’s a great place! I'm excited as well to have more time without recent converts!

A few interesting experiences....we were talking with a lady in our ward during the week and I finally figured where I had heard of Weslaco, Texas before my mission! The Flag of Our Fathers book (Scott has read it) about Iwo Jima ...spends a considerable part giving the bio's of each of the flag bearers...one of them is from Weslaco! (That’s the town where we go to church and where most our members and the other 6 missionaries in our ward are!) This whole time I knew it sounded familiar but it wasn’t until this week that I found out why!  We also had a good community family night at the small Mercedes church building across from our apartment. There were about 30 people that came and we had great support from members. Wednesda was a crazy day getting the projector, DVD, chairs, and tables and it brought back memories of student council events! Elder Marble, Elder Curletti and one more elder were gone during the day until 5 o clock from Tues-Thurs. because of leadership training. Because of that I taught in a trio with Elder Sanders and Elder Bawden (he came out with me from the MTC). It was really interesting teaching with the 3 of us and we spent most of the time in the surrounding Mercedes area (the country area). Tomorrow will be transfers and today we're having a final hurrah for our zone with a barbeque! A cold front came in this morning and its cloudy and in the 70's with talk of it getting colder this week (woohooo!). Right now we're teaching a few more families (not just individuals) and its been interesting to teach to so many age groups all at once.

With the time change its dark at 6 o clock now and so Sundays and Mondays when we go out to work it seems pretty late! President has asked us to get as many rides as possible from members in light of last year’s accident. The anniversary of Elder Strong and Elder Walkers passing was this past Thursday. At the time of the accident they were serving in the wards we served in now and Elder Walker had served in Mercedes right before. Keep their families in your prayers as well! I'm grateful for the protection I've had so far on my mission! With our recent converts we've really taken a lot of time to focus on family scriptures and prayers and it makes me so grateful for our habits as a family! This past week I read a talk by Elder Schwitzer and at one point he mentioned  how we should "find in each person’s eyes the evidence of the Savior." It’s really helped me to feel a stronger love for the people I've met and I love the attitude of relating every person back to Christ. So much of the joy of missionary work and life comes from loving other people! I know Heavenly Father loves each of us and He gives us what we need to grow because He loves us! I'm grateful for all that Christ has done and continues to do because of His love for us!

Thanks for all of your Love, support and prayers!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

De acuerdo con su fe

Hola mi familia!

Esta semana fue una semana muy interesante! Pero tambien fue una semana buena! So last Monday I got sick about this time and it knocked me out! What we thought was food poisoning turned out to be a really nasty flu bug. I'm grateful for the tender mercies Heavenly Father shows us! I sick all afternoon and was laying on my bed still trying to stay positive when Elder Marble came in with the mail. I'd received a card from Rebekah Kaufman with a card that said "Thinking of you. Hope you’re doing well down in Texas!". It was so simple and I'm grateful Heavenly Father cared about me enough to make sure I had a little pick me up at the exact moment when I needed it.  I stopped throwing up around 5:00 but we had to stay in Monday night and neither of us felt all the way back to 100% until Wed. but it passed and all is well! ...but again..life is great!

This past week was really our final normal week together because Elder Marble has leadership training during the day for the majority of next week. I'll be in a trio with Elder Sanders and Elder Bawden (he came out with me) and we will have a car (woooohooo!)  but we'll split time between our 3 areas between the different days. Training for Elder Marble will be from 10-5 for 3 days. Next Friday we'll hear about transfers on the following Tuesday. Of the 5 companionships in our ward it’s looking like we're going to have a change in every single companionship. I'm sure I'll be staying and it'll definitely be a growing experience! I was grateful for the opportunity to fast this weekend! In our district meeting last week Elder Marble challenged us to get back to studying the basics of missionary work and it has strengthened my testimony in many ways. We've also focused on improving our contacting and I'm excited to see who we find this week!

We also had a lesson with Ephraim Martinez, a returned missionary of 10 days...he's great and it’s been wonderful to hear his insights and advice. As this transfer comes to a close I'm grateful for Elder Marble! He has taught me so much and we're best friends and brothers! Just one more quick thought...I'm grateful for the Atonement of Christ and the example He gives us. In reading Matthew 26 the other day, I was reminded about how the essence of the Atonement was Christ sacrificing his will or letting his will be swallowed up in the will of the Father because He loved Him. Christ didn't start out wanting to perform that great sacrifice. But he yielded out of love and aligned His will with the Father's through prayer. With each of us it’s the same...it does not matter where we begin in terms of our feelings or desires...but everything matters and depends on where they end up...and we only get there through prayer and turning to Christ. I am grateful that it was our Heavenly Father's will that Christ lay down His life for us. I know that both our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us eternally.

I love you all!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

Hola Familia!

Hollllla!

Well things down here in the Valley are a little bit cooler (it got down to 60 this weekend) and things in general are great.

Immediately after I wrote that sentence I had to get up and go to the bathroom (Elder Marble got sick this morning...and I guess as his companion I had to follow suit).  Man, we appreciate member meals but food poisoning is rampant down here. This is only the 2nd time so far. Just kind of par for the course. Haha but no worries..things are still great!

Back to weekly report! We had a confirmation yesterday of Bro. Soto! Again it was such a good experience! I also gave a talk in church on the sacrament and I'll share a few of the things I learned while preparing for it.

1) Part of preparing for the sacrament each week is repenting so that during the sacrament we can specifically feel the peace of forgiveness and being spiritually healed during the sacrament

2) We can communicate with heaven, and heaven will communicate with us if we have prepared

3) Bringing specific questions qualifies us to receive inspiration

4) Bringing a shortcoming or weakness to the sacrament table each week will help us more readily use the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

So many times as we talk to people throughout the week we get the "Well, we all worship one God, what’s the difference anyway" and it gets pretty frustrating. I'm grateful for the scriptures and the lessons Christ taught us about His doctrine and that if we love Him we will keep His commandments. We did find a pretty interesting variety of people this week: Mohammed, a humanist from India who was so respectful and courteous and wants to read the Book of Mormon (he treated us like honored guests in his home....after an hour of knocking apartment doors that really isn’t what you expect), Asif from Saudi Arabia, and a Caucasian family as well (here in Mercedes that's very rare). We had the chance to clean out Dalia's Yukon this week (she’s the single mom with 6 kids!) and it was a strange but fun experience to clean out a car so familiar! We went to a ward party celebrating the return of a missionary (He served in San Jose!). This week we're putting an article about local missionaries and his return in the paper as well as advertising our community family night which will be the day after election. I found out Elder Sanders best friend is training Elder Grant Mosley (Small world!). Lastly, we're having a mission conference at the end of November and Elder Gregory Schwitzer of the Seventy will preside over the mission tour! I'm just as excited to see Elder Stott (from Budge hall) and Elder Hardin (we are stopped by a woman he baptized just about every week). Life on the bikes is good. We were going through the Indian Hills area book (Elder Sanders & Elder Curletti..our neighbors..cover outside Mercedes) and it was fun to see Neil's name again!

Hope all is well!  Glad the buckeyes are undefeated!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

semana afuera!

Hola mi familia!

This last week was an odd week for me as well! We had a 2 day exchange with the zone leaders and it was great! I went to Pharr (the suburb closest to McAllen...we're further east along the expressway) and spent 2 days with Elder Harrop. It was a car area so things were definitely a lot different! Elder Harrops a great missionary and we worked a lot on contacting and finding people to teach. It was definitely a different experience and it again reminded me of how much I need to improve my Spanish! We also had mostly member meals and so it was good to have some authentic food! Believe it or not I am a spicy food fan now. We love jalapenos and the members will put it on anything! The last night of the exchange (Thurs.) there was a HUGE thunderstorm with more lightning then I've seen in my entire life!  It was all over the place and you could see all the bolts. It felt really good to be back home in Mercedes though. Friday and Saturday were good days and the time went by quickly.

Sunday we had two confirmations and then the baptism of Bro. Daniel Soto. He's the 72 year old we've been visiting since before I was here. His baptism was a really special experience. While he might not necessarily be an able "kingdom-builder" in this life...he's got a great work ahead of him nonetheless. It really helped me understand that our Heavenly Father loves each of us and is aware of every stage of our life and what we need. Bro. Soto has a great sense of humor and loves all things western!!! Life on a bike is still going well. The temperatures are starting to slope down towards the lower and mid 90's (instead of high 90's and 100's) but the nights do seem a little cooler. I'm really grateful for the 8 other missionaries in our ward and I've become good friends with each.

I had an interview last Tuesday with President and he reminded me that I've been out in the field for 2 months and 4 months on the mission! Crazy! A few of his thoughts that he shared with me were about seeing the Lords hand in our lives and then making the extra effort through prayer and scripture study to prepare ourselves to serve!

Lastly I'll share something I learned this week from personal study. In alma 24:8-20 it tells the account of the king of the Lamanites when he and his people covenant to bury their swords. They show true repentance and their example is so inspiring that later Lamanites are converted and follow in the same manner. In alma 25:14 it talks about this second group and that they buried their swords as a testimony and began to follow the commandments and keep the Lords statutes. From these scriptures I've learned that we need to bury our own "swords" or "weapons of contention" as we deal and interact with other people. In 24:19 it says "And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace." They are such an example of determination and dedication. I love how the motivation is "for peace". "For peace" they bury their weapons! ITs a blessing to have peace and it’s something I hope our family can always strive for!!!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

Faith Precedes the Miracle

Hola mi familia!

I was so glad to hear that Mom, Dad and Scott had a good week in Japan! I hope the welcome home today will be wonderful and I can imagine how excited and happy everyone is going to be! This week was a wonderful week! It was hard and trying but we had some great success! On Sunday, two of the people we taught were baptized! Alma Arcuate (the cancer survivor) and Angelina! It was such a wonderful day on Sunday to see them make those promises and covenants! It was really special and I'm so grateful to Heavenly Father. Both of them had been prepared to be taught and for this point in their life in so many personal and specific ways. We also received news that another of our investigators who needed special permission has been cleared for baptism! Saturday night was one of the happiest nights so far here! Wednesday was a crazy day. I'm learning that while when we pray for miracles we pray for the circumstances that require the miracles as well! The more and more I serve as a missionary the more I understand that missionary work is best carried out when the missionaries aren’t in charge. I know the Lord directs His work and we are the instruments  in accomplishing it. With the two baptisms we had it really taught me the importance of having good members to help the investigators we teach. Both Alma and Angelina now have really close friends who are members and it has made all the difference. It seems like I say this every week, but this week I’ve gained a stronger testimony of prayer. We were in a lesson with Angelina on Wednesday, and a lot of the people around her had discouraged her from being baptized. we had a good lesson with her about baptism and its importance and then knelt down at the end and asked her to pray for a confirmation. We told her to wait once she'd finished the prayer and to listen for the Holy Ghost and the answer to her prayer. After she said amen..we stayed kneeling for a few minutes. After her prayer ended, Elder Marble and I prayed silently for all that we were worth! I don’t think I have prayed so hard in my life! After about 5 minutes or so, she looked up and was crying and smiling and shared with us her feelings and the love that she'd felt. Biking home for lunch I kept thinking about how much Heavenly Father loves us. He answered her prayer. He answered my prayer. I am so grateful for that. I know He is there and I know He is real and I know it’s so crucially important that we remember that.

Alright...Dog moment of the week: we stopped by for an appointment at a house with a ferocious bulldog that always tries its best to get off the chain that ties it up. It was late at night and as we locked up our bikes we noticed the dog out. After a few steps, the dog (and ourselves) realized that the dog was not chained us. It charged straight for us. Elder Marble headed for the nearest car (he apparently wanted to jump on top). I remember taking a step forward (not sure why) and the dog suddenly stopped and just started barking at us! It was pretty exhilarating. We made our exit as peaceably as possible and escaped without any bites!

I love Matthew 9:29 with the story of the 2 blind men and how Christ tells them "It shall be done according to your faith." Prayer, scriptures, pondering, attending church, and service have helped me grow my faith. Often times we have to physically remove the doubt from our hearts and reinsert the faith or the desire for faith that we have. I'm grateful for the peace and comfort that comes from the Holy Ghost.

Thank you for love prayers and support!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

P.S. How about the Buckeyes...phew! 3 pts?...Is Indiana good this year?!?! Go Bucks!

Conference Weekend (Email from 10/8/12)

Hola familia!

This week was a pretty great week! Things went very well in Mercedes! General Conference was an amazing experience! I was so excited for it and it still exceeded expectations! We were all so shocked but equally excited about the missionary age announcement. I also loved Elder Nelson's advice to "Ask the missionaries...they can help!". The most powerful talk to me though was from Priesthood session about the missionary who took the view of trying to bring the gospel to and baptize everyone he met. I am so grateful to be in Mercedes now and serving as a missionary. Alright I'm seeing so many ways I need to change and improve. With the age announcement I was so grateful that it had happened AFTER I had left on a mission. Last year at BYU was such a big growing experience for me and Im sure I would’ve left at 18 if they'd have let me! I would’ve missed out on meeting some of my best friends and wouldn’t have gone through the growth I had. Ian and Spencer (and Claire!!!!) start getting ready now! Scott will be the first to tell you how fast it goes! We have Alma and Angelina getting baptized this week! We always like to joke about Alma because their whole family has religious names...the others in her family are Jesus (pronounced Hey-zues)...Salvador and Adam. Angelina has been through a lot of tough times in her life but the gospel has changed her so much! We've felt the spirit as we've taught her and she has come so far!

The culture of the valley is so different. There are a lot of people who need a lot and can't seem to find a way out. I'm so grateful the gospel of Jesus Christ is a universal gospel. Im grateful the atonement covers all sorrows and pain as well as sin. We had exchanges last Thursday and Elder Marble went with Elder Curletti to the other Elder's area. It was a good growing experience for me because that meant I was in charge of our area with Elder Sanders. My Spanish was better than I thought and the day turned out to go really well. Heavenly Father helped me a lot! I'm so grateful that He cares about our individual specific daily needs. Quick story before I end: We were biking to an appointment and had about 10 minutes to spare when we passed a road that led to a less active's residence in a trailer that a member had told us about. We didn’t have an address, name or phone number or anything to go on. As we were about to pass the road we felt prompted to go stop by and try and find it. We turned around and went over to see what we could do. As we locked our bikes up across the street from the area we thought they lived...a bus pulled up and dropped off a couple of kids. One of the kids was a girl of about 10 years. She saw us and waved and then ran towards a white trailer behind a house! She was so excited to see us! We walked over to the trailer and heard " ....para los elderes" and saw her come back out with Kool-Aid! It was  the family we were looking for! The mom told us that they had been waiting for us to come since the missionaries had not been by for a few months! I know we were answer to the whole family's prayers and especially the young girl. Nothing brings more happiness than finding out that the Lord used you to answer the prayers of another.

I'm so grateful for Mom and Dad teaching us to say our prayers. I can remember climbing on dads back and catapulting myself into bed after saying nightly prayers or saying them with Mom and singing primary songs at night. Those experiences built my testimony and I am so grateful for parents who taught me the importance of heavenly communication and then did it with me as well. I'm also grateful for the countless hours of selfless sacrifice from both Mom and Dad. All my life Dad has spent significant hours on a weekly basis with church callings...Mom has done so much and I'll always look up to her amazing organization skills. You’re both the best!

Con Amor,

Elder Cook

P.S. Yesterday and today it was in the 60's! It’s called a cold front and it leaves tomorrow (it’ll be in the 90's again). I LOVE IT!!!! I miss fall and winter..ha-ha...cold weather is a blessing!

Recent Photos from Texas

1st Transfer in the books (still in Mercedes!)

Hola Familia!

So the first transfer is over...right as Scott finishes his last week! Pretty crazy timing! This Tuesday is actually the official day of transfers. Out of our entire zone there was only 1 elder (of about 25) who will be transferred. Pretty interesting! So I will be in Mercedes at least until Nov. (probably until Christmas as well since Elder Marble has been here since July...he'll probably be transferred in November) and our neighbors Elders Curletti and Sanders will be staying as well!

Last week we had a zone conference in McAllen! It was great! There were about 60 or 70 missionaries from 4 zones. It was a great spiritual feast and we learned a lot. I got to see Elder Stott and Elder Jolly (Stott's from my hallway at BYU and Jolly was his companion in the MTC). It was so great to see them! AND...I met a Sister Dudding, from Athens Ohio! She knew all of Valerie’s family and knew Reed as well! The valley gets smaller and smaller every week. It’s really a big mixture of Ohio and Utah. It’s a lot like the Salt lake valley in the fact that you have 1 major highway (83) and all the cities are along the highway and everyone has heard of every town along the way. It has the western heat but the Ohio humidity. Everyone's crazy about football (esp. the Cowboys) and I explain to Elder Marble that it’s a lot like being in Hilliard and Ohio. The rain is quick (usually no longer than 30 min) like it was in Utah but it can be as intense as the storms in Ohio. The other night we rode home and watched the lighting to the south of Mercedes and it was pretty cool! There also was someone visiting here for work at church on Sunday who was from Monroe, Ohio. I literally meet at least 2 new people each week who were born in Ohio. Besides zone conference, it was pretty much a normal week. We sang in church on Sunday as missionaries and the ward liked it a lot. I had a cool surprise when I opened the Ensign (Liahonna) last week...The main article on teaching chastity and virtue was written by Matthew Richardson...my Living Prophets course professor from BYU. It was so great to hear his voice again as I read the article and learn from that familiar teaching style! I hope Scott can take one of his classes in the winter..whoa...I can't believe he'll be back in Provo!

This week I'm especially grateful for family. I'm so grateful for The Family: A Proclamation. With the people we interact with down here the biggest difference is always family. Family is so important. It’s such a strong indicator on how someone's life will turn out and nothing can replace or fill the void left in its absence. I am so grateful for the love I felt and the lessons I learned growing up in a strong family. Mom and Dad I can't thank you enough for making time and making it a habit to have family scripture and prayer as well as family home evening. They seemed like such small things but they make a profound difference. With members and investigators if they could do those 3 things, they would be so much happier, so much more faithful, and have such a stronger relationship between themselves, with Heavenly Father and with Jesus Christ.

I love you all!

(Funny story for the week…almost fell off my bike this week in front of a few cars...and had a nice moment of compelled humility as the cars honked at us. We joke that instead of the missionaries who ride bikes...we're now the missionaries who TRY to ride bikes.)  [Elder Marble says I'll crash at some point and that all missionaries do...I'm determined to prove him wrong!]).

Con amor,

Elder Cook

Elder Cocinero y Canica

Hello!

So that’s how we introduce ourselves whenever we are speaking in Spanish...Cocinero = cook....cannica = marble. People love it!

This week was a pretty good week! Elder Marble did get bit again by a dog but it wasn’t bad. He's just to nice to give them a good kick. This week we did a lot to try and work more with members. We scheduled times where we could have lessons with them and then make another appointment and invite them to bring a friend! Its worked pretty well so far! We're also dedicating two mornings a week to washing the members cars! Its way fun! it brought back memories of student council car washes!

The end of the transfer is next week! hard to believe time has flown! The speed of a transfer is really interesting....the first 2 weeks are slow and then each week gets progressively (exponentially) faster! as far as how much we bike a day, I have no idea how much it is mileage wise..the furthest ride from our appt. is about 15sh minutes (with the wind) so everything really isn’t bad at all.  Friday night we had appointments falling through like crazy and so we decided to stop in by a less active teenager named JJ. He's 13 and we found him outside with a bunch of the neighborhood kids. So we ended up just sharing the story of the army of Helaman with them! It was so much fun! Just imagine two missionaries trying to explain that story to a group of 8 or 9 little kids using a mixture of Spanish and English (we call it Tex-Mex)..it was great...they loved it...it was kind of a rough part of town to so the message was about why we shouldn’t fight! Riding home I couldn’t stop thinking about the Savior's words "suffer the children to come to me". Even though that hour didn’t help us out much with new investigators or baptismal dates, I knew that’s where we were supposed to be and what we were supposed to be doing!

One of the families in our English ward was taught and baptized by Elder Hardin! They loved him so much and I can tell he's been a great missionary! I can't wait to see him! November we have a Mission conference and a general authority will be coming for a mission tour! We're excited! Oh, and could someone talk to Neil and find out where he served? It'd be great to hear where all he has served! Also if Dad could get Grant Mosley's address and Daniel Robinson's I'd love to write them! Elder Steele and I write each other just about every week and then I got mail from Kelsey, Anna, Kennedi (from BYU) and then Marissa (from EFY!). I did hear the buckeyes are undefeated from Bro. Grindstaff (the bro. Webster carbon copy!). Woohoo! We helped a family move this morning and we'll shop and  write letters later! The last few weeks have been so much fun with Elder Marble, Elder Sanders and Elder Curletti. They're treu (yup..spelled treu...)friends and great Elders! I've learned a lot from each of them! Elder sanders is really funny, Elder Curletti's way smart, and Elder Marbles way old! (in mission years!)

Thanks again for the package mom! we listen to the Spanish CD's every day before breakfast! I'm grateful for daily tender mercies! The spirit speaks in different ways to us individually and finding out how to use this line of divine communication has blessed my life so much! The Book of Mormon is true! I love it with all my heart and I’m so grateful to be able to share it on a daily basis!

Thank you all for your love and support! You’re the best!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

Life in the Valley (with Dogs)

Hola Familia!

So this week I'll start off by talking about dogs. We see them all day every day and everywhere. Friday we had an interesting experience. Usually the dogs come out and chase us for a couple of houses and then let us go. Most of them are big and ugly and bark a lot. This time however, one kept chasing after Elder Marble and bit him! Luckily it was just on his shoe so it didn’t end up being too serious and things were ok. While that was happening two other dogs were running me down and the only thing you can do is kick them while trying to out pedal them. Im sure it looked pretty funny. It definitely gets your adrenaline going, it’s kind of like a combination between stealing a base in baseball and kickboxing at the same time. When they start nipping at your heels it turns into all out war...foot vs. dog. The worst feeling ever though, is when you see a big angry dog barking behind a fence as you ride by, and then the dog manages to squeeze under the fence and starts chasing after you. there are lots of German Shepherds, American Bulldogs, Boxers, and mutts. The Chihuahuas are funny though because they’re too small to do anything.

But this week really was a good week! We worked a lot with visiting the less-active members of our ward and we found some people that really are ready to come back to church! We only found a few new investigators this week so this week we'll again focus on finding, but the one's we currently have are all still progressing well.

I got letters from Elder Steele, Anna Salaens, Kelsey Sicker, and Kennedi (BYU) and that was really exciting! The weather actually wasn’t too bad this week but we still sweat 24/7. One night we were at a members home teaching a lesson and I started shivering because of the AC. I looked over to see what the temperature said and it was at 80! 50 degrees in the winter really is going to be a lot colder than I thought!

One of the highlights in the week is when all the missionaries in the ward (10 of us) go over to the Grindstaff's house for Sunday dinner. Brother Grindstaff is almost a carbon copy of Bro. Webster and he reminds me so much of him! They’re really a great family and it’s nice to have a big, home cooked meal with the missionaries after 8 hours of being at the church. Friday night there was a ward activity to celebrate Mexico's independence day. It was quite the cultural experience and I felt pretty weird and out of place! This week I gained a greater sense of gratitude for prayer. I'm grateful that we can pray to our Heavenly Father whenever we have needs, questions, doubts, or weaknesses. I'm grateful for the strength we receive through prayer. I'm also grateful that growing up, Mom and Dad, you taught me to keep the Sabbath day holy! We were teaching one of our investigators about that commandment during the week and as I started to share my testimony about it, I realized the great blessings I received because of my obedience. Choosing to not play sports on Sundays was one of the best decisions of my life! I'm grateful for the Sabbath day and the chance we have to remember our covenants and to re-energize and prepare ourselves for the tests and trials of everyday life!

Thanks for all your love and support and prayers! You're all in mine! The Book of Mormon is true and I am so grateful for the lessons it has taught me! Alma 37:24 is how I feel about being a missionary!

Life is great!!!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

September 10, 2012 - Life in the Valley

Familia!

Ok. So in general there are 3 types of people we meet on the street or see in public....the ones not interested ...the people interested in only sharing what they believe but not listening...and the ones who want to do both! But there's actually one more group. Children! They are always friendly and here are a few funny stories. Yesterday we went to contact an investigator who hadn't made it to church. Two of his sons were playing outside and we asked them to go get their dad. One went in and called for their dad that we were here then came back out with an iPhone. They were about 5 and 7 years old and began taking turns posing with us and taking a picture on the iPhone as we stood there with our bikes. We felt like celebrities. It was pretty funny. I can't imagine what the parents will think when they look through the pictures on their phone. We also had a girl this week who asked us if we spoke English...she was about 8 or 9 and when she found out we were missionaries she asked us if we would talk to her parents so that we could help them stop doing bad things! Such faith and innocence! Her parents weren't interested but her uncle who's been looking for help, change and a church in his life wants to meet with us next week! The last thing I love about kids is that they always wave back! Usually the adults 'pretend' not to see us or look the other direction, but any disappointment from that is instantly replaced by the joy that comes from seeing a little hand waving from the back window. Moments like those make my day!

The sunsets and clouds here are still so awesome! We had a thunderstorm Sunday morning with (real!) rain for a few hours and it was great! We had an member of the 70 Elder Gifford Nelson came and spoke in stake conference on Sunday. I was in the building with the Spanish translation via satellite but still got a lot out of it! Last week we also went back to the La Vista (church by the mission home in McAllen) for training! That and a zone meeting at our ward building in Weslaco led to some shorter days. It was good to see the Elders I traveled down here with and compare greenie stories. By the way, only thing on my Christmas list is a gospel art book! They are the best for teaching families! Pictures help so much! Also if someone could look up the temperature for this past Saturday that would be appreciated...we don’t have a thermometer and so there are really only two types of days. Hot and REALLY hot. Saturday was one of those days! In other news...someone tried to steal our bikes but our good neighbors called the cops and things turned out ok!

I'll end by sharing just a few more "miracles" that happened on Thursday: We'd stopped by a less active members house and they weren’t home so we worked for about an hour on old investigators and potentials without any luck. As we were moving to a different part of town Elder Marble needed to use the restroom so we stopped at DQ. There were only 4 or 5 other people there. As we were leaving I figured hey let’s just go out the other door. Hiding around the corner that was obstructed from where the restrooms were sat the less active who we hadn’t found earlier! It was pretty cool! That night we also found a girl that Elder Marble visited a few times in Brownsville staying at her moms house. she had been to primary as a child and remembered the "welcome song" and we visited with her for a bit and sang “I am a Child of God” together! To end the night, we went to stop by a home looking to meet with two investigators but instead found out that they were both less active members!

Thanks so much for your love and support (esp. Dad for the OSU updates and MOM for the Spanish!). You are the best! And thanks to whoever reads this too! You're all in my prayers! I am having SO much fun but more importantly finding SO much joy in serving the people of Mercedes, TX! Enjoy the cold weather up north (we don’t have fall here...it just stays warm all year and maybe once a week a cold front comes in during December and January so they call it winter...according to Elder Marble). a little bit more about him...he did a lot of FFA in high school, wants to be a farmer when he gets back and teach FFA class, sounds a little bit like Larry from Veggie tales, asks the best questions during lessons, and he HAS heard of Steak and Shake (I'm not alone!).

God loves each of us. This church is true and the Book of Mormon is the word of God written specifically for us and our problems. As we follow the savior we will feel closer to him and help others come closer! Our true joy always and only comes from people...other people!!!

Con amor,

Elder cook

Life in the Valley

Hola familia!!!

Pos....(pues with a valley accent). So things here in "the valley" as everyone calls it..are great! We had the baptism for Dalia Gonzalez and the oldest 2 of her 6 kids on Sunday and it was so great! It was such a happy day! They're family is awesome! next week I’ll send you pictures!

Yesterday we couldn’t use the library since it was Labor Day so today’s the day for email. Sounds like things in Ohio are going well! It’s fun to tell people that I'm from Ohio because most of them expect Utah and most have worked in Ohio as migrant workers. On Saturday we got to do some service by unloading an LDS humanitarian truck (a full size semi) with clothes, shoes, school supplies, and bedding with a work force of about 20. It was work! We were all drenched in sweat after about 10 minutes and this was at 8 o clock in the morning. The heat hasn’t been too awful...the humidity isn’t to different from Ohio and landscaping prepared me really well!

So right now we're teaching the Arcaute family. She has cancer and he has severe knee problems but her cancer is in remission and he's doing better. The husband speaks a lot of Spanglish but Alma...the wife...speaks the fastest Spanish I've heard. I don’t understand how Hispanic women can speak so fast! They have so much to say and they just go on and on. ha-ha...but its great! we usually run into a couple of drunks throughout the week and the most positive part about those experiences are the fact that they make for good Spanish practice.

On P-day yesterday we went to the outlet malls b/c a member's son worked there and was able to get us a pretty good discount..I got a pair of green shorts and the others had a good time with the fact that the greenie missionary got green shorts. It was really weird to hear normal music and even weirder to realize that there was a lot of music I didn’t recognize at all! Time just flies!

So it’s always windy here and the wind blows up from Mexico unless there’s rain...in which case you can feel the cold front hit and the wind shifts to be coming from the north. Thursday I actually went on an exchange with one of the Elders next door who's in the car area surrounding ours. It was strange to be driving everywhere but nice not to have to take 10 minutes to get from pt. A to pt. B. I still think I prefer being on a bike. Saturday we got rained on pretty well but my poncho saved my backpack from getting wet! We had a really cool lesson with a man named Juan who has kind of been investigating but not really progressing. It’s been great to see him gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon but he struggles to understand why any church that teaches of Christ isn’t "the true church". But things are improving and we're going by his place again today. The dogs still continue to chase us and I really don’t think I even notice it anymore. This week we're focusing on finding some more people to teach! You'll all be in my prayers! 

One thing I’m really coming to understand better is how much preparation goes into our lives that we don't see! I’m grateful God is our Heavenly Father and is actively engaged in each and every one of our lives!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

P.S. Yesterday we watched "Mountain of the Lord" and even though I hadn’t seen it for a good 5 years I could still quote pretty much the whole movie!

August 27, 2012 - From Texas

Hola!

So! I am in Texas. The first week is gone but it already feels like I've been here for so much longer. So we landed Monday night in McAllen, stayed with the assistants at their apartment in McAllen, then went over to the mission home in the morning. Had my first interview with President Trayner, he's way nice and just about exactly how you'd picture or imagine him and then we got our assignments.

I am serving in Mercedes, Texas. It’s a small town of about 14,000 and its east of McAllen by about 20 minutes. It’s a really interesting situation. We cover the main town area and are on bikes while two other Elders...Elder Curletti and Elder Sanders have a car to cover the surrounding areas. So every area here in the Mission has an English ward and Spanish ward for the same general area. In our "ward" there are 5 sets of missionaries...and 5 total areas. We also cover a big town called Weslaco (where the church is) and Donna as well. Donna has one companionship, Weslaco has a set of Elder and a set of sisters, and Mercedes has us and our next door neighbors.

On Sundays we go first to the Spanish ward from 9-12...and then to the English ward from 1-4. The Spanish ward is huge and is nothing but families! It’s such a lively place and it’s been booming for a while now. The English ward is maybe about 2/3 the size and is a little older as well. The toughest part for me so far has been working on my Spanish. It’s hard to be constantly switching back from lesson to lesson from English to Spanish. Listening is pretty difficult but saying what I need to say really hasn’t been too difficult. My first day on Tuesday we taught 4 lessons. My companion, Elder Marble is a pretty quiet guy from Northern Utah. He grew up on a farm and went to Utah St. He's our district leader, has been out for 11 months now, and was a big help getting my bike together and stuff. He's a pretty patient person and takes things pretty slow in English but talks a lot faster in Spanish. It’s interesting!

We had our first baptism on Sunday! Vanessa Herrera! Her husband Cory (they’re in their mid-20's) has been a member all his life and she's been coming for 5 or 6 years and finally decided to get baptized. It wasn’t easy though! Her mom was really against it and her grandma was upset as well when she told them this week...to make things crazier she was in the hospital Thursday night....but things worked out and she was baptized Sunday! The people here are incredibly humble and I’m so grateful for where I grew up and how I was raised! I've gained a new love and appreciation for the scriptures! Helaman 3:35 is becoming a new favorite and I love Jacob 4! I know the Spirit will guide us in whatever we do as long as we're willing, patient, and humble! Sorry I don’t have much time this week.....I'll write more again!

I love you all!

Con amor,

Elder Andrew Cook

August 21, 2012 Letter (and Photo) From Mission President in Texas

21 August 2012

Brother and Sister Cook,

   We had the privilege of meeting your son, Elder Cook when he arrived at the McAllen International Airport. He looked great and appears very anxious to go to work.

   We are grateful to have Elder Cook in the Texas McAllen Mission. Already he has impressed us as a well-prepared young man with a great spirit and a desire to serve the Lord. He has had excellent training and orientation at the Missionary Training Center in Provo in preparing for missionary labors here in South Texas. Your support from home will be of great value to him as he serves his mission.

   Elder Cook‘s first assignment area is in the McAllen Zone. His first companion is Elder Marble who is from Utah.  Elder Marble is an outstanding missionary, and your son will receive excellent training under his direction.

   We thank you for sharing your son with us. We are confident that he will bless the lives of many people here in South Texas while serving as a missionary. May the Lord bless you abundantly while he is in the mission field and always.

With warm regards, 

Stephen J. Trayner, President

                                                              Sister Sandy Trayner

Texas McAllen Mission

August 18, 2012

Ay ay ay ayyyyy!

Esta es nuestro ultimo dia del preparacion en el CCM! No puedo esperar hasta lunes! Voy a estar en Tejas!!!! woohooo!

So yeah we're all pretty excited about Monday! It’s hard to believe I spent a whole summer here! But I learned so much! The Spanish went pretty well this week, we had a couple chances to talk to  native speakers a few times and I can say that my ears have come just as far as my tongue has with the language! I've been so blessed!

So yesterday we had a big day-long workshop to prepare us as an infield orientation! It was great and we learned a lot of cool stuff about working with members and goals and planning and as always a focus on our purpose! Give the missionaries referrals!!! They will love you forever! Don't be scared either...that always the biggest inhibitor! Thank you so much for the package! It made my day! Thanks Spencer for the quarters!!! They were awesome and I proudly showed them off to my roommates! Thanks for the watch as well! Its way cool!

This week for our devotional we had Elder David Evans of the 70 come speak to us. It was awesome! He gave a great message about how reactivation and missionary work are all the same work...it’s all the work of salvation! He give some great examples from the life of President Monson! He talked about to how missionary work was really going to begin to achieve its full purpose (inviting ALL to come unto Christ...not just non-members) and as head of the missionary department this was very interesting! Today we get to go to the temple (might be my last time for 2 years!) and then the rest of the time will be packing and cleaning! We got to host again last Wednesday...and I hosted another one of my friends from the floor at school (he's actually from Ohio as well) and then an Elder Cook. IT was funny. Better yet...this (3rd Elder Cook?) Is headed to Rochester New York so I told him all about the Steele family! It was really nice to be leaving before all the missionaries that came in! It’s been kind of strange to be the oldest group here but we love it!

So this week we also had our last 2 classes so I’ll share a little bit about our teachers. The first is Hermano Johnston, he was our first teacher (taught us all 9 weeks) and served in Guatemala! He's one of the nicest happiest people and I think we only heard him speak English once or twice. He's from Arizona and can recite the 1st vision in Spanish in 11 seconds. It’s pretty crazy! The other is Hno. Larson! He knows Spanish, Mayan, Portuguese, French and he's working on Romanian as well right now. He was our first "investigator for the first week and taught us these last 8 weeks! He served in Mexico (Cancun) and had been to Cozumel and stuff! He's really smart and helped us so much with our Spanish. He lost a grand total of 80 lbs on his mission and then 40 shortly thereafter. We got to see his before/after pictures and it was pretty impressive! They’ve basically been our older brothers the last 9 weeks!

I'm so grateful though for the chance I've had to be here at the MTC! You learn so much! I've figured out I'm so excited to leave not because the MTC is hard to endure, I love it!, but because Texas is going to be so much cooler! I'm sure I’ll have some fun things to share next week! This week I found a few new favorite chapters of Scripture! (John 14 &15). I'm so grateful for the Savior, that we can be His friends and that He has set the perfect example for us! I'm grateful that He loved us enough to lay down His life for us and to go through each individual pain, temptation, and affliction that we face. The amazing thing is that he's still working just as hard to help us come back to our Heavenly Father! Prayer is real and I've learned that answers come when we look, listen, and open our hearts and minds! I love the Book of Mormon and my testimony of it has been strengthened so much! It has such an incredible power to change our lives! Joseph Smith is a prophet. He did truly see God the Father and Christ His Son and to me it is the sweetest example of answered prayer. I'm so grateful that families can be together forever and that someday we will be again with our Father in Heaven.

I love you all!

Tell the missionaries hi for me!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

August 10, 2012

Bueno!!!

Este semana pasado fue una semana diferente!!!! And in the MTC that's a big deal! We had a couple big things happen. First, our district received their travel plans yesterday! We got them during dinner and IT WAS Christmas in august (we even sang Angels We Have Heard on High later for the opening hymn in our class!). Small things bring joy in the MTC! So I will fly out on Monday August 20th at 830 (I have to be at the travel office here in the MTC at 500...woohoo!). I fly first to Dallas/Ft. Worth and then down to McAllen!!! I'll let you know for sure next week, but I should be able to give ya'll a call sometime between 7 and 730!!! (we get to call in the airport!!). So Ohio time that's 9 and 930...Since its the first day of school I guess things will be crazy but maybe I Claire and Ian can find a way to step out of class for a quick minute and I can talk to them real quick! There are 11 in my flight group (So 11 other missionaries in my transfer!) I've met about 5 of them by now...and so far I'm the only one who wasn't in beginner Espanol! The more I've studied Spanish the more i enjoy it and I'll be perfectly content if I go 2 years without speaking English!

TRC is really the best time of the week! This past week Elder Tarr and I taught a girl from BYU who'd lived in Spain for a semester! It was nice, because our Spanish was comparable to hers and it was a good way for us to see the progress we'd made! It was kind of strange teaching someone who was just about our age "as a missionary" and in Espanol! but it was so much fun and it went so well! At this point, I am so excited for Texas! The MTC is great, you really have so much time to study and learn..but the I can already tell that these two years are going to be awesome because of the people, not because of the time to study or learn! Speaking of people, I said adios to Elder Steele and Elder Smith this past week! It was so good to see them here and thanks to Elder Steele I think I now have one of the ugliest ties in the MTC! The second significant thing that occurred this week....was hosting!!!...Dad will remember this from when he dropped me off...but there are missionaries that pick up the new missionaries at the curb....take them to get their information,...show them their dorms...and then take them to their class. We got to do it on Wednesday and it was so much fun! It was strange being on the other side of the curb....and it was strange to realize how long we've been here. that's another thing...we're now the oldest district in our zone (sacrament meeting group) and we're also the next district to leave!!!! I hosted 3 missionaries and one of them was Elder Forbes (An Elder from my floor at BYU). It was kinda of strange though because we were so happy and excited for the missionaries....while they're having a tender final goodbye with the family. You feel a little guilty almost for being so excited. Every single elder was so nervous no matter how hard they tried to be cool about things. It was good though! The whole experience just got us more motivated to kill these next two weeks and be as best prepared for the field as possible! Thanks Mom and  Dad for the "Dear Elder" letters! I received a post card from Sis. Smith a week or so ago from Kirtland and that was so cool! Tell all the cousins aunts and uncles and mis abluos hola para mi!

Le Invitamos a leer Jacob 4!!!! Me gusta mucho! Yo tengo un testimonio que Dios nos ama, cada person y el es una persona perfecta y amorosa! Yo se que Jose Smith fue un profeta y su historia es verdadera. Me encanta la primera vision y es tan poderoso en espanol! En sus propios palabras: Vi una columna de luz, mas brillante que el sol, dirrectament arriba de mi cabeza. Y esta luz gradualmente descendio hasta descansar sobre me. Al reposar sobre mi la luz, vi en el aire arriba de mi a dos personajes, cuyo fulgor y gloria no admiten descripcion. Uno de ellos me hablo, llamandome por me nombre y dijo senalando al otro..."Jose...este es mi hijo amado...!Escuchalo!". Yo se que este ocurido y que Dios sabe el nombre de cada persona y El contestara nuestras oraciones.

Les amo!!!!

Con amor,

Elder Cook