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!)