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
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