Elder Kyle Houssian

Week 3

Hey y'all!

What a week! It's the third and final week! I leave tomorrow morning for the airport to go to Vegas at 3:45 am! It's so early but I'm so excited! This week has been a little more mellow cause we are now in the groove of things. So I will try and put stuff together!

The basketball gym was closed cause they were putting a new floor in, and that opened last Monday. It's nice to go play and mess around. There's a handful of kids that know what they're doing but most don't haha but it's fun, I enjoy it. It's been 3 weeks, and I'm STILL not acclimated. So playing basketball makes me super winded, but it's worth it. We have to go up to the 5th floor for class every day in one of the buildings, and just climbing those stairs makes me tired haha, I feel so out of shape here! It's roughly 4,800 feet at the MTC, versus Austin where it's only 480 feet. So I'm still dying haha.

We as a district have been getting so close and our bond keeps strengthening. I love them so much and I am so excited to see how much they effect (affect?) the mission field. The Sister missionaries are coming to Austin to serve, so keep an eye out for them!

The food here is still terrible, BUT I leave tomorrow so my stomach will finally get a break!

We did companion exchanges Thursday, and I was paired with my District Leader, Elder Stucki. We taught a lesson and it was the best lesson I've ever taught. The spirit was so strong and not only did the investigator's faith (her name is Diana) grow, my faith did as well, as well as Elder Stucki's. God's love is real. I am so blessed to be here and to be doing the Lord's work. I am so excited to go out and see what the Lord has in store for me in Las Vegas.

The Nashville Tribute Band came and played for a devotional this week. If you haven't heard them, go look them up. They sang a lot of songs, and we got to sing with them. It was so powerful and spiritual. I cried haha not going to lie, but it was happy tears for sure. There were 2 songs that stood out to me. One talks about Hyrum and Joseph Smith, and their relationship as brothers. I immediately though of all of my brothers and how much I love them. That was an overwhelming experience. The second song was written by the lead singer, who actually served his mission in the Las Vegas, Nevada mission. It was so cool to relate to him on that. He sang about his feelings leaving, serving, and coming home. The line that really got me was when he talked about coming home after and kissing his momma's cheek. I thought of my mother and the blessing she is in my life, how much she lives me, impacts me, and how much I love her. I got really emotional then and thought about her and how happy I must be making her, being out here in the field. Even though that moment is a while out, I thought about it and about seeing her again, and that made me more motivated to go out and serve the people of Las Vegas. After he finished singing the song, he had the workers at the MTC put the words up on the screens behind him and we sang the song with him. I couldn't sing most of it cause I was choked up and overwhelmed by the spirit, but I was able to sing parts of it. While listening to all 2000+ missionaries sing that song, I couldn't help but smile and feel the Spirit. It was a special experience and I will remember it forever. I love my family so much, and am so blessed by their love, support, and sacrifice for me as I am gone serving the Lord.

Lastly, I would like to thank you all for the thoughts and prayers you send my way. I feel them all the time and feel of your love and support towards me. I pray for you every night and thank Heavenly Father for the lose and support y'all send me. I love you all. Things are about to start getting so real. 17 hours from now and I'll be on my way to the airport to go to Vegas.

Thank you for your emails as well. They go a long way and really give me a boost for the days to come. Till next week!

Elder Houssian