La Obra De Salvacion!

Hola mi familia!

This was a great week! The highlights were...

- Last Zone Meeting with President & Sister Trayner

We were taught so well and it was bittersweet to have them train us one more time. They have been such good stewards of this mission and they are always full of faith, helping us have a good sense of humor, and teaching us to connect everything to the Savior! We’re excited too for the Maluendas! Pray for them! and the Trayners. (they go home this Friday!!!!). Elder Marble and a few of my other good missionary friends gave their "dying " testimonies as well! It was such an interesting moment to realize that all the things I anticipated happening in the middle of my mission are actually happening now!

- Baptism of Danny Tellez (1 of the 2 Tellez brothers we’ve been teaching!). We had a lot of opposition this week from people outside the family! Acer had been exposed to some anti material and in the end decided he wasn't ready yet. We felt good about everything though because we had done our best! Danny has such a strong testimony and after his baptism stood up and bore it so strongly! He has taught me a lot and is so strong in defending what he believes! Pray for him this week!

- Baptism of Luz Jaen (an 8 year old from the Jaen family we’ve reactivated and we’re also teaching her older sister Kristina 16 and brother Eddie 14. Please keep them in your prayers!). The Jaen family is just an awesome family! Bro. Jaen is from Panama and he's the step dad of the oldest 3 kids (Alejandra & Kristina 16 , and Eddie 14) and the actual dad of Andy (10) and Luz (8). The Mom and 3 oldest kids were living in Laredo when they found the missionaries and then a few months later Bro. Jaen came into the picture! We speak Spanish with him and its great! He even did the baptism in Spanish and all the missionaries were excited to hear "habiendo sido comisionado..." once again!

-The broadcast on the Work of Salvation Sunday

There was a special spirit about it and it really did feel like a big zone meeting! It was great to see the members get excited about the work too! I know the Ohio missionaries are just as excited and there is so much our family can do to be missionaries! (here you go Scott! You’re in charge!).

-Getting to see our district a little more often (had an exchange too!) and getting to know and serve them more!

They are all great and I love them so much! Im so happy with where I am at this point in my mission!

It was a pretty busy week, but it was a lot of fun! We had small miracle moments and those helped grow my faith a lot! I loved the words of Elder Perry from the broadcast when he said that this is the Lords work and when we try our best He will not let us fail! I know that is true!

Con amor,
 
Elder Cook

La tierra de los Jueros!

Hola mi familia!

This was a really good week again! Elder Graff and I have gotten to know each other a lot better and we’re starting to hit our stride in teaching and doing the work. Elder Graff is a great missionary and it’s so much fun to have somebody the same "mission age" as me! We get along great! He and Elder Marble have a lot of fun as well. It’s great.

So last week Elder Graff and I drew up a picture of a family we wanted to find. We listed specific characteristics for a mother, a father and a daughter and prayed and fasted to be able to find them! We shared it with some of the members and invited them to pray for that family, as well. On Tuesday, we were going by a member to visit and stopped to talk to one of her neighbors outside. Her name was Natalie and she was a lady in her 50's. She was very friendly and told us how she had been to see the temple one time in Salt Lake and how much the importance of family in our church had left an effect on her! She wasn't able to sit down right then so we went by the member’s home (who wasn't home) and then came back to ask for some water. We talked for a little more and she told us she was a good friend of the member that lived on the street and so made plans to set up a time to meet with both of them! As we walked away we realized that as she talked about her daughter and her husband they fit the exact description that we had drawn up, fasted and prayed for! She was the first person we had talked to that week! It was an experience that really grew my faith in the power of having a vision, taking it to the Lord, and then praying and asking for His help. It helped the story of the Brother of Jared in Ether 2 and 3 where the Lord asks him to propose the solution to lighting the barges, become more real and definitely applicable!

This week Im as well especially grateful for the Holy Ghost. Each week in the Sacrament, as we partake of it worthily we receive the promise to be able to ALWAYS have the Spirit to be with us. I know this is true, and as I identify all the small and simple ways in which the Holy Ghost guides and communicates to me I better understand this principle. I’m grateful for the peace the "Comforter" provides and for all the little lessons He teaches us throughout the day. I know that as we seek to have the Spirit with us daily, He will show us "all things that we should do." 2Nephi 32:5.

This week we’re really excited for Acer and Danny’s baptism on Saturday and the Broadcast from the MTC to all the members and missionaries on Sunday (I hope our whole family can go!!!). This Wednesday we also have our last zone meeting with the Trayners (it’ll be the last time I see them) and Elder Marble gives his "dying" testimony!

Con amor,

Elder Cook!

Una transferencia mas en el Norte!

Hola mi familia!

So I get another wonderful 6 weeks up here in Corpus and I couldn't be happier! (still miss Spanish badly though!). My new companion will be Elder Graff (he's been out about the same amount of time as me!) and he'll come up here on Tuesday!

So this past week was one of the most fun weeks on my mission. I loved being with Elder Marble and Elder Barrionuevo and they are both such great missionaries who know how to love and serve others! We saw some big miracles as well! We began teaching the Perez family and then two brothers (Acer and Danny) who are friends of a member! They all came to church this week and Acer even got up to share his testimony! June is going to be a great month! We worked this week in both areas in the truck and we received about a gallon of water a day from people (in 16. oz water bottles...!). Thursday they had to go down to McAllen so I was on a bike with Elder Brewer (he’s from the Ralph's stake) and we had a lot of fun! Parts of his area (its more central in Corpus) look like the valley and we even taught a lesson and had a meal appointment in Spanish! Then we biked from his area to mine (about 45min...because Elders Marble and Barrionuevo weren't back yet) to go teach a lesson to James! It was a great day! The stake here has been fasting and praying for rain and Sunday during church there was a big thunderstorm! We've also been teaching a family with 6 kids in Elder Marble's area named the Cisneros family! They are so much fun and my whiteboard has really come in handy!

Tuesday we had our last district meeting of the transfer and then went and went out to eat afterwards (here’s the picture!). We're only losing one of the Hermanas and the rest are all staying! Sadly Elder Barrionuevo is heading back down to McAllen so Elder Marble will have a different comp. next transfer! Today we're going to the beach on North Padre Island to have a barbecue to say bye to all the transferring missionaries! ( I still can’t believe there’s a beach here in my mission or even the water!). Throughout the week we had to run errands to the Island and then up to Portland (the town across the bay from my area) and it was fun to see the whole city of Corpus! There’s a bridge that spans the bay that lights up at night that was really cool to drive over!

This morning I had a really good study about repentance and how often the Lord wants us to repent so that He can bless us. Im grateful for repentance and I know that being humble is always the first step. I know that the Atonement helps us to be cleansed from sin and enables us to overcome our weaknesses and as we repent in both aspects we feel our Saviors love and feel Hand in our life! A scripture we often share with investigators about repentance is Alma 5:33-34.

33 Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you.

34 Yea, he saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely;

I know His arms are always extended because He loves us!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

 

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Buenas cosas pasan en tres!

Hola mi familia!

Wow! There’s never a normal week up here! Thursday we got a call about Elder Peterson’s visa and Saturday he took a bus down to McAllen and yesterday he left for Mexico! I felt kind of like the characters in the book "And then there were None" (also 10 little Indians) by Agatha Christie! It was so good to have him as a companion! We had a lot of fun and got along great! I’m now officially companions again with Elder Marble! His companion is Elder Barrionuevo and we'll spend the next week in a trio until transfers! It’s a lot of fun teaching with them and riding in a truck is a lot less strenuous than a bike! Especially with the heat now! It’s so humid!

Sunday James Alaniz was baptized! It was a great baptismal service and the Spirit was so strong! James is quiet but asks really good questions! He's 21 but seems a lot older (can’t imagine how old Scott must seem! haha). We taught him about the plan of salvation on Tuesday and it was one of the best lessons on my mission. I’m so grateful for the plan God has for us! Seeing James take the step of baptism really grew my faith in the power and importance of ordinances! In Preach my Gospel its says "that through the ordinances of the gospel we experience the power of God." It’s been such a blessing to be able to partake of the sacrament each week and to be able to witness the baptisms and confirmations of people here in South Texas!

Happy Birthday mom!

Con amor,

Elder Cook

Corpus Christi

Hola mi familia!

After about an month I think I've finally adjusted to Corpus! It’s a great place in our mission and I'm so grateful for the missionaries I've been able to serve with up here! It's a completely different mission up here. I definitely miss Spanish a lot though! Saturday and Sunday we actually had the chance to talk to someone in Spanish and I almost cried for joy afterward! The lady we talked to Saturday asked I where I was from (must of been my skin color) and I explained how I had spent the past few months down in the valley! Neither of them sat down with us but I still want to find someone to teach in Spanish up here!

Things are starting to heat up! We had a meal with the Quiner family (their son lives in Grove City and goes to Ohio St.!- small world!) and they told us that Corpus is the #2 most humid city in the United States! Its intense. We had a tough week with the Coronado family (Larry came home and they've been pretty busy going to see family) but James is doing really well! He'll be baptized this next Sunday and Bro. (Elder) Rodriguez (my companion who just finished his mission) will be coming back to baptize him! This past Thursday Elder Peterson flew up to Dallas to visit the Consulate to sign some papers for his visa. His visa should be here any day now (right dad?) but he'll still probably stay until the end of the transfer (June 4). He's a quiet missionary but really smart and always has good insights! And he has so much patience as well! We get a long great and have a lot of fun!

Friday and Saturday we biked as much in 2 days as I have at any other point in my mission! The winds were pretty strong and it was a good test of determination...as we biked up to the church for a lesson with James on Saturday we were going straight into the wind and hardly moving forward. We looked up and laughed to see that the street signs were all wind themed names like "Windsong St., Soft Wind Dr. , Gentle Wind Pl., Bay Wind Dr., Windrose Pl. "...we couldn't laugh about that until we were at the church and off the bikes....but man...it was tough!

Saturday as we were biking back from an appointment we were able to talk to a lady and help her do a little bit of landscaping. She told us she designed stained glass and installed it at churches. She shared an experience about her last project and how she felt because she had prayed things had gone better! We shared with her a pass along card with the picture of Christ coming from the tomb and it really touched her! She cried and we were able to bear testimony to her of the Saviors love for her. It was a small and simple sweet experience that helped me be grateful for the knowledge we have from the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ! I also had the chance to read the book of Acts this week! Paul is such a great example of a missionary! He taught so boldly and had such a similar experience to that of Joseph Smith. I'm grateful for the Bible and the Book of Mormon and that God still speaks to us today through President Monson as a prophet on the Earth today!

Que tengan una Buena semana!

Con amor,

Elder Cook!

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