That’s so exciting to hear about Jason and Camrie’s mission
calls! They'll be great missionaries! Thank you so much for the package! Claire...I
did eat the cookies RIGHT THEN ....with the help of the other missionaries
nearby! Thanks Mom for the books and Ian for the Rubix cubes and all the other
stuff! I'm excited for Christmas! I'm sending one package this week but
there'll be another that’ll be a little late!
Just a heads up!
Boy...my life has changed so much in the past week! And it’ll
change even more by next Monday. On Friday we received a phone call from the Zone
Leaders....Elder Marble is going to be training another new missionary here in Mercedes
and I will be headed to Las Milpas in Hidalgo!!! McAllen is situated about 7
miles or so north of the Rio Grande...and Hidalgo goes east and west below McAllen.
So pretty much it literally is right on the border (Our appt. right now is 9
miles from the International Bridge...didn’t think I could get any closer!!)
News so far is that It’s LOTS of Spanish (I'm really excited for that!). I'll
still be on a bike and my companion is going to be Elder Rodriguez (he's
fluent...more great news for my Spanish!!!). Elder Marble was pretty to shocked
to hear that he'll be staying in Mercedes for at least a 5th transfer. I'm sad
to leave Mercedes and especially the recent converts we have but I'm really
excited for Las Milpas (the corn fields!). I'm really grateful that I began my
mission here in "The Queen City" of the Valley. It’s been so much fun
and I have learned and grown a lot! It was hard saying goodbye to Brother Soto
(the 72 year-old who was baptized in October) Vanessa Herrera (she was baptized
my first Sunday!) and Alma Arcuate (the lady with cancer who was baptized in
October...Mom you should expect a letter from her...she only speaks Spanish and
I told her to write you! ) last night. It was tough (I felt a lot like Dad
because I got pretty emotional...Elder Marble gave me a good time for that...but
really I'm grateful for charity and especially the kind that makes goodbyes
hurt so much!) . Dad you'll probably get some facebook requests from some of
them this week. Tonight we're saying goodbye to Angelina and then Dalia and her
kids! It's going to be pretty hard!
On Thursday as well we received some huge news. Angelina won
the court case and custody of her two boys. It was a miracle and an answer to
so many prayers! Thank you as well! It really gave me a unique perspective with
the timing of things and me leaving this Tuesday. We found her about the second
or third week here and now I leave the week after she gets her kids back...I
can't even begin to describe the joy and gratitude I've felt. We visited her on
Saturday and it was so good to see Angelina with all of her kids playing around
and being a happy family. She has come so far and changed so much! We promised
her from the first lesson that if she came to church, kept the commandments and
was baptized God would help her get her kids back. Seeing that fulfilled and
seeing the process it took has grown my faith so much! As well it'll be hard to
say bye to the Gonzales family! I love them so much! Dalia, Brianna, Victor,
Jay, Andrew, Eli, and Olivia are always going to have a special place in my
heart! In a week or two I'll send you the pictures and you can put face with
all the names! I've loved my time here in Mercedes and I'm finding that as you
leave an area and go somewhere else...it feels like you’re ending one mission
and starting another one! Throughout the weekend we had 4 or 5 experiences
where we "randomly" ran into some of the former or current
investigators I'd wanted to say goodbye to but hadn't been able to fit into our
schedule. It was a fun confirmation of Heavenly Fathers love and influence in
our lives.
Ok now to end...As we visited with Brother Soto the other
night I shared with him Mosiah 18:30:
And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon,
yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon;
yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how
beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their
Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise
forever.
As I shared that Scripture and talked about how Mercedes has
become truly a beautiful place in my eyes...the meaning of that scripture
changed a lot to me. Initially I'd intended to share it because Bro. Soto had
been able to come to a knowledge of his redeemer over the time that we had
met...but I realized as much as anyone I had taught in these past few months I
have learned so much about my Savior and have felt His love and presence in my
life stronger than ever before. I know He lives and He loves us. I will forever
be grateful to be able to feel my Saviors love. I share that love with you now
and hope and pray that all will go well for you this week!
Con amor,
Elder Cook
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