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
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