Thursday, December 27, 2012

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

 

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