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