Friday, January 10, 2014

Que Dios les bendiga

Hola mi familia!

This has been a great year all ready!!! Already I think it’s been one of the hardest working weeks of my mission and the joy and satisfaction you feel after working hard is priceless! With the changes of transfers things have been pretty busy and exciting! My new companion is Elder Ayers...he stands at a modest 6"6 and I often feel like a dwarf or a little kid just tagging along side of him! He's a spiritual giant as well and has taught me a lot about the importance of listening to others and treating them with love and respect even if they’re not interested in what we have to share or even if they’re not ready to act on the message! He’s really good at cleaning the apartment, speaking Spanish, and bearing testimony! 3 great qualities to have in a companion! He'll be going home in March so I might possibly be his last companion!
We had a really fun week this week getting to know all the new missionaries! For New Years Eve we got to watch a movie! Mulan! It was a lot of fun and I think we'd all forgotten how good the music was! All the missionaries had a fun time! Not staying up to 12 though made it hard to feel like New Years! I’m not connected at all to 2014!

Thursday we had a pretty cool miracle! We'd decided to take the bikes and go to a less visited part of our area! After talking to a few people outside we decided to take a back way over to a different neighborhood...it required an arduous bike ride through the mud but we got there ok! After we stopped by the house we were intending to visit, we found no one home and decided to take a lap around the block! The first man we saw was a man named Kirby! We went and talked to him and he shared with us that he was going through a tough time in his life and had felt a strong desire to do something to come closer to God! We had a great talk with him and the words in the Book of Mormon helped bring him peace and comfort! I'm grateful that God loves us and knows exactly when we are going through trials and what we need! I know that the scriptures hold power and that the Lord is always putting people in our path to bless our lives and help us to grow stronger! The best feeling as a missionary is when you talk to someone who says " I was just praying the other day for God to help me in some way" or "I’ve been going through a rough time" or "I’ve had questions about x" and being able to know with 100% certainty that God has placed you in their path and that the restored gospel has the relief or answers they need!
I love being in South Texas! The sunsets are still super cool! Each day is a fun day and a great day to be a missionary in the Texas McAllen mission! I’m so grateful to my Heavenly Father for the lessons He has taught me and for the people He has put into my life through my mission! For me my mission hasn't been much of a sacrifice in terms of worldly things like time or money, but in the weaknesses and shortcomings in myself that the Lord helps me change and overcome!

Que Dios les bendiga and I hope this week is the best you've had so far this year ;)
Con amor,

Elder Cook

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