Goodbye Brownsville!

Hola mi familia!

So! Friday we got news of transfers! Once again I’ll be heading off to a new area! I'm so grateful for the time I've had here in Southmost! It’s been a lot of growing and a lot of learning and it’ll always hold a special place in my heart! Tonight we're going to visit Siomara ( she was baptized yesterday! it was great!) and the Quiroz family (Juan and Vivi) and Roberto at his work! Last night I said goodbye to the Garcia and Morales families (Sister Morales got work off on Sundays and was able to come to church yesterday! It was definitely a tender mercy!!!! ) - the newly reactivated families we've worked with here. Elder Paulsen will be here in Southmost for a 5th transfer (since November) but he has a great attitude and will continue to enjoy the car! (I'll be on a bike again!). I’ll definitely miss this branch a lot. It was the perfect place for me at this point of my mission and the miracles have been many! The amount of Spanish down here was a blessing too!

Yesterday was a great day too! I had the chance to give a short talk on temples and give a farewell testimony. Then after church we had a baptismal service and each of the elders in our apartment baptized someone. The other elders had two children of a less active, and then Elder Paulsen baptized Siomara and I baptized the 8 year old from the Garcia family. It was a joyful day and seeing so much white was wonderful! Im going to miss the elders here a lot! Elder Handy is by far one of my best friends and I'm sure I'll cross paths with him later in the mission! Elder Paulsen has grown so much and he'll keep doing great things!

Alright...now for the new area! I will be going up to "The North!" in the great city of Corpus Christi to serve in the University Heights area! I'll have the pleasure of being reacquainted with my bike (just in time for the hot weather ;)....send me a few new shirts for my birthday por favor!). From what I've heard...its right on the beach (I still have yet to see any body of water down here (Rio Grande or Gulf of Mexico!)) and I still haven’t figured out which University it’s close to so we'll see how it all turns out! It’ll be an adventurous week! Time to step up my Spanish study as well...from the sounds of it it’s about all English and I’m definitely NOT going to lose my Spanish! That’ll be an adjustment but Im excited! Everyone has great things to say about Corpus and Im ready for it! ......but.......the best news is that I'll be living in the same apartment as my trainer Elder marble! Woohoo! It’ll be a Mercedes reunion and there’s a pretty good chance we'll be going on exchanges! he goes home in July and I couldn’t be more thrilled to spend the end with him! Heavenly Father has a pretty good sense of humor! It’ll be fun training with Elder Marble right there!  Instead of training a brand new elder I might actually be "finishing" (training is 12 weeks and finishing is when you come in for the 2nd 6).

Transfers are always fun when the surprises are big! I'm glad I've had the chance to move around and see so many different areas and meet so many different people! My time here in Southmost was great and Brownsville was a fun place (McAllen still feels like my home though!). The Trayners are getting closer and closer to leaving and there’s lots of changes in the mission. It’s an exciting time and things are great! Oh, and the nice spring heat in the 90's is prepping us for the 100's in the summer! Hope all is well in Ohio!

Milagros have happened in Southmost and Im excited to see "miracles" in Corpus! Im grateful for the love I feel from my Heavenly Father! I know He is aware of us and He is the perfect listener. This week I had a few strong promptings in certain moments to be quiet and listen instead of saying what I wanted to say. Each time I was rewarded by being able to serve someone else who was trying to share a need or share something that was important to them! It was a good testimony to me that the Spirit teaches us as often as we are willing to be taught! I know this work is God’s work!

Les quiero y espero que todo les vaya bien!

Con amor

Elder Cook