One year mark!

Just like hyrum I had to give a talk as well on Sunday. Mine was on the priesthood and I only had a couple hours to prepare for 10 minutes up at the pulpit. I also received a call from the assistance and they asked if I would say the closing prayer at our big conference tomorrow with President and Sister Polley. Today is there first day here in Texas and President and Sister Slaughter have probably already left home. They weren't going to come for several more days but President Slaughter wanted to go home early so that he went home the same day that Joseph Smith what martyred. Exactly one year from today I will be going home. I will also go home the same day that Joseph Smith was martyred June 27th! Crazy how fast time has gone by and that I'm already a year into my mission.


This week started off with District Leader Council. Last meeting and time with President Slaughter with all the District Leaders. We had a great 3 hour council and was able to receive Presidents vision for the mission and also prepare for President Polleys arrival. It will be exciting to have a meeting with the Polleys tomorrow. I know that they have been called by God and that as we follow their council we will see miracles happen.

No investigators came to church. Marta has still been struggling with the word of wisdom. We are going to need hyrum to come and share his talk with her. We will hopefully be meeting with her tonight and will be discussing sacrament and why it is so important. Last lesson we had we taught about the importance of the Book of Mormon and prayer. We are trying to help her recognize her answer to the Book of Mormon.

We got rained on a little these last couple days. After much convincing and also consistency I was finally able to get my companion to get out and work in the rain. After walking in the rain the lord blessed us. We meet someone that mentioned how he wants to change and wants to help his family draw closer to Christ. We had to send him off to another Ward but hopefully he will get baptized.

"Live neither in the past nor in the future, but let each day's work absorb all your interest, energy and enthusiasm.  The best preparation for tomorrow is to do today's work superbly well."

Texas Heat!

Another hot week here in San Antonio biking, walking, getting sunburned, and a flat tire. There is nothing like missionary work it is so great! It is all worth it seeing others come unto Christ by baptism and repentance.

Brother Garcia came to church again with his family and he has warmed up to us missionaries a lot more. When I first got into the area he wouldn't join in the lessons or come to church but now not only does he sit in and listen to the new member lessons but he also participates and adds his thoughts. He has come to church for several weeks now and has seemed more happy. Besides church he hasn't been reading from the Book of Mormon or keeping other commitments we extend. Our goal this week is to get him to pray and see if this is something he needs to do for himself and also his family. Hopefully he will start to read with the family as well.

Marta didn't come to church again so she doesn't have a baptismal date right now. We haven't been able to meet with her in about a week now but we have a lesson tonight as we go on splits. My companion will be going to the lesson while I teach the Garcia's so hopefully they have a great lesson with her and can help her resolve her needs and concerns. Chelsea Baker and her family came to church for the first time in our Ward this week since they moved in a week ago. They seemed to be welcomed to church by a lot of the member which is great. Her date is still not until the 20th of August because that's when family is coming in town.

Today we wrote our last letters to President Slaughter and I have my last District Leader Council on Wednesday with President Slaughter as well. President Polley will be coming on the first of the month. It will be interesting to see the changes that he makes and to see if the missions culture changes at all. Change is fun but it will also be hard having the Slaughters leave.

Finding by Faith!

I'm staying here in 6th Ward and Alamo Ranch on my bike for at least another month and a half. I will also be staying with my companion Elder Duford. In the middle of this transfer we will be receiving our new Mission President which is exciting but I will also miss President and Sister Slaughter.

This last week we had a couple lessons with our investigator Marta. The second lesson we taught her this week was the Word of Wisdom which was a hard lesson. She was having a difficult time understanding why we can't drink coffee and tea. We have been trying to help her gain a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon.

This last week we ran into a couple vivint workers and they have all been Mormon so far. On Saturday night for the last hour or so this super cool vivint worker took us to several houses of people he sold to and thought would be interested. The last house we stopped by he let us in and we had a great lesson. He seemed pretty interested but said his wife who was out of town would most likely not be but I think that it will change.

We had our last zone meeting this week with President Slaughter. He emphasized on "Finding by Faith". He talked about and broke down these three foundations of finding. 1) Faith-Based 2) Spirit-Lead 3) Family-Focused. He also discussed our purpose which is to "Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts". I know that as my companion and I apply what we learned we will be able to find the elect that God has been preparing.

We had several less active lesson and the Shoemakers came to church again. He was the one investigator that we had at church. We will be meeting with them this week and hopefully they have been reading from the Book of Mormon together. We also have a lesson with the Soruco family and will be inviting them to start working towards entering the temple. Looking forward to another great week.

"The Lord doesn't ask about our inabilities or abilities.  He only asks about our availabilities.  If we show our dependability, He will help us in our capability."

Rainey Week!

It was a rainy week. Luckily both of my areas didn't get flooded unlike some of the other areas in the mission. This week we met with a member referral whose name is Marta. She is a single woman who just moved into our area. The patriarch Brother Stewart who is also a member of our Ward sold her the house. We had two lessons this last week with her and had Brother Stewart come to both who is a great fellowship. She mentioned how she feels as though she is missing something in here life. As we shared the message of the restoration and talked about the Book of Mormon she understood very well and had great questions that she asked. We set her with a baptismal date for 2nd of July. In about three days she read to 1 Nephi 16. She loves the Book of Mormon and enjoyed stake conference that we had on Sunday. She is an example of how God is preparing people for us to teach and baptize.

Sister Shoemaker came to church again on Sunday but her non member husband didn't come. We can't meet with them until next week but hopefully they are reading together from the Book of Mormon and will come again next week. She seems excited to be working towards the temple. Sister Garcia is going to be out of town for 30 days and Brother Garcia didn't come to church with the kids. Hopefully we can get him to come next week.

We had a meeting on Saturday Morning in Alamo Ranch for starting to visit the less actives and invite them to prepare to enter into the temple. We already met the Soruco family Saturday evening and they want to get back to church and we will be meeting with them this upcoming week to invite them to meet with bishop and prepare for the temple. Hopefully things go well there. We have transfers next Tuesday so if your going to send anything either send it soon or wait until next Monday when I will know if I'm staying or going.

"The big Four"

We had a great week. On Tuesday we had our last zone conference "Press On" with the whole slaughter family. We will have one more zone meeting with President Slaughter but Sister Slaughter and the kids won't be there. President Slaughter talked about passing on the mantel to the new Mission President. He also discussed how important it is that we know the big four: Jospeh Smith as a dispensation head, Jesus is the Christ, the Book of Mormon is true, and keys of the kingdom have been restored. It was such a powerful conference and helped me once again understand how true this church is. He spent the most time on the Book of Mormon. If only the investigators we taught would keep the commitment to read the Book of Mormon then we would have so many more converts. At the end one of the assistance played on the Bagpipe Praise to the Man. It reminded me of how Dad when he was a young one use to play the accordion. I think that Dad should get one again and teach Summer how to play since she doesn't like piano.

On Monday night my Trainers Trainer who went to cottonwood for a year slept over at our apartment. It was fun to have someone else over at are apartment. I also said goodbye to one of my zone leaders Elder Savas. Elder Savas just lives up the street from us in Cottonwood heights. He was one of the zone leaders that I lived with for two transfers. We became great friends and I was so blessed to have known and worked close with him. Such a great leader.

On Sunday we had a couple investigators at church. Brother Garcia and his Sister came to church. We also had a part member less active come the Shoemakers. Sister Shoemaker has been less active for a long time and we went over several days ago and invited her to prepare to enter into the temple. She accepted and will be meeting with bishop this week so that she can figure out what she needs to do to receive a temple recommend. The husband who isn't a member and said he won't join but that he will always come to church with her. Hopefully we can change that and baptize him.

"Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, forever"