This was a great week! Lots of travel and lots of seeing old
friends! But it was great! So Tues-Thurs. we had 3 days of training in McAllen...we had about 10
missionaries from Brownsville that went ...so we got up and left Brownsville
around 6:30 each morning in time to start at 8:00 a.m. and got back around 6 or
7 each night! It was great! The drive is about an hour and a half at most...it
was fun to pass Mercedes and Las Milpas twice a day! McAllen and the La Vista
chapel there still feel like home each time I visit! The different mission
leaders gave trainings and President Maluenda taught us a lot! He loves to use
the old testament and D&C in addition to the Book of Mormon and he taught
us using the story of Moses from Exodus 4 and Moses 1. There were a lot of
differences from the 3 day trainings with the Trayners but it was all positive
and all good! I also got to take part in an octet for a special musical number!
We sang I Need Thee Every Hour ...Elders Curletti and Sanders (the ones from
Mercedes) as well as Elder Stevens were all in it plus the sister missionaries
I knew up in Corpus! It was great to go back each night and have an hour or two
in our area to apply what we learn!
We're starting to work a lot with the Fernandez family! They’re
a lot of fun and are quickly becoming some of our best friends! We’re helping
them to start to come to church again and even though they aren’t fully active
they always have family and friends over who they invite to listen or eat with
us as well! Saturday we got a phone call from the AP’s telling us that
President wanted the missionaries who sang to come sing in the Maluenda's ward
since they would be giving talks! We drove up Saturday night and stayed the
night in one of the mission homes so that we would have time in the morning! We
stayed in the same house that I stayed in my very first night in the mission
field....It brought back a lot of memories and was a good checkpoint for me! I'm
so excited for these next few months of my mission! One thing President
Maluenda has helped us focus on is how important it is to work towards and
reach our potential as servants of the Lord! Each day is a building block!
Sunday we got to sing and it went great! It was fun to hear the whole Maluenda
family talk...they have 6 kids (one is on a mission to California) and their
names and ages are Natalia (22), Fernando (20), Valeria (16), Catalina (14),
Daniel (10) and Gabriela (8). The three daughters and then President and Sister
Maluenda spoke! It was strange to hear
President in English and all the others except Valeria have pretty strong
accents! Sister Maluendas English is coming along and it’ll be fun to see how
much hers improves over the course of their mission! After singing at their
ward at 9:00 a.m. we also stayed for the 11:00 a.m. ward as well. Then we went
to the mission home for a lunch and we got to spend some time with them! It’s
fun to see them as a family in the mission home! We sang a few more songs and
President even had some of us play guitar and piano (I’m a little rusty on
guitar! ah!). It’s definitely made me realize I want to devote some time to
music after my mission! It makes life so much more enjoyable!
We're coming in on the homestretch of Elder Stevens mission
and he really works harder than any missionary I know! He goes home next
Friday! We have a lot of fun and I love being his companion!
This morning I read and studied a story in John 2! It’s the
story of the Savior’s first miracle of turning water into wine! It made me
grateful for the Joseph Smith translation! In verse the original version reads:
4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee?
mine hour is not yet come.
but the JST says JST John 2:4 … Woman, what wilt thou have
me to do for thee? that will I do; for mine hour is not yet come.
I noticed a huge difference in the first and the second! The
second version (the correct one) shows how much more loving and willing to
serve the Savior actually was! I’m grateful for modern revelation and for the
work the prophet Joseph Smith did and that God loves us enough to make sure we
have the truth! I know when we serve and do things for those we love we are
happy! I know that Christ loves each of us and wants us to be as happy as we
possibly can!
Con amor,
Elder Cook
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