Week #13

Hello y'all! What a wonderful week. I know that if y'all receive other missionary letters, they'll probably talk about General Conference. I'm jumping on that train and will definitely talk about Conference in my letter this week. Conference was a very spiritual experience for me. I felt the spirit in every session, the talks were amazing, the music beautiful as ever, and the whole atmosphere of Conference was so spiritual. I hope everyone's week went well!

Well to start off, as some of y'all know, I turned 19 last Wednesday!!! Thank you all for the packages and birthday wishes, it really made a difference on Wednesday!! I was expecting a birthday on the mission to be a lot different, like not waking up late and having your family there, then going and doing your thing for your birthday, having the dinner of your choice and just hanging out. But it was super fun! One of the families in our ward had us over for dinner and decorated their kitchen with balloons and streamers, I got to have whatever I wanted for dinner (I chose ribs) and then we had cake and brownies! I also was given some floral ties from a member of our ward who's family I've come to love and grow really close to! So overall it was fun, I got to spend it with other people I love, and I had the pleasure of serving the Lord on my birthday, which I was more than happy to do! I also had the privilege of going to the temple on my birthday to do a temple tour around the outside with one of our investigators, Darrel, who is being baptized on Saturday! Overall, it was a wonderful day! Plus the crazy amount of food I was sent for my birthday made both me AND Elder Webb happy haha. So thank you all!!

We received a referral from investigators that other missionaries in our district are teaching to go teach the mother of the investigators. We went over there and come to find out the father (Derek) is a member and is semi-active, and the mother (Jaye) and youngest daughter (Cuicani, we call her Cui) are not members. They are a wonderful Polynesian family! We went and taught them and they were very receptive and enjoyed our message. We then came back to teach and had the 3 of them there, plus another daughter of Jaye's was there with her boyfriend. That night we set all 4 of them (Jaye, Cui, the other daughter who's name I have no idea how to spell, and her boyfriend Isaac) with a baptismal date on 11/5, and they all accepted and are so excited for it. I am so excited to see this family make the progressing steps and be baptized, and then ultimately be sealed together as a family forever. It will take some work and sacrifice, but this family can do it and they're ready!

We had the opportunity to attend Zone Conference this week. We combined with another zone and had some trainings given by the APs and MSTLs, as well as our Zone Leaders and STLs. President and Sister Snow also gave trainings. These trainings really helped me and opened my eyes as to how I can better enhance my time in studies. They were all wonderful trainings and focused on different aspects of the mission that are very important. I really took a lot away from the trainings given, and it was also great to see other missionaries I know that aren't in my zone! I was also given the wonderful task of leading the music. I didn't realize that something so small could actually impact me. As we sang and I led the music, I was in the front and I was able to hear the voices of all the missionaries singing at me. The power behind music is real, and I felt the spirit as we sang. These missionaries that I am blessed to serve with really have the power of Christ in them, they have that true power and I was able to feel it while singing. It really was a great experience. 

Another spiritual experience I had this week was with an investigator named Michelle. She is the God-sister of a recent convert. She has heard the missionary lessons before, but hasn't been too interested. We had a meeting at the Bishop's house called a Cottage Meeting, which is kind of like Family Home Evening. Anyways, she was there and she really felt the spirit. She was emotional and enjoyed the lesson and the experiences shared. So the next day we went on splits, and Mitchell Butcher and I went and taught her. When we came in and begin talking, we could see she had had a change of heart. She is slowly becoming more receptive to what we have to say. We planned on talking about the importance of prayer and reading the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. After we said our opening prayer, I felt prompted to share a personal experience I had growing up where I turned to the scriptures and found an answer to prayers. I turned to that scripture, which is found in the Book of Mormon, and it is Alma 5:45-46. As I told the experience, I could feel the spirit and saw that she was feeling it too. After reading it, I bore testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon and how it can change her life. I had to fight back the tears as I told her that this sacred book can help us with any problems we need, and that it is the word of God. She started to tear up and the spirit filled the room. It was so powerful. After bearing my testimony, we invited her to read and pray about it, and promised the blessing that the spirit would give her knowledge and let her know of the truthfulness of these divine scriptures, and she accepted. We were overcome with joy and expressed our love and excitement for her. It was a very powerful moment.

General Conference was amazing. I wish I could put into words the feelings I had following the sessions. My spiritual thought comes from David A. Bednar's talk, where he spoke about knowing the Savior. He asked the question: "Do we only know ABOUT the Savior, or are we continually striving to know HIM?" Then he spoke about 4 things we can do to help us know Him. We need to exercise faith in the Lord, we need to follow the Lord, we need to believe the Lord (not just believe IN Him, but believe HIM), and serve the Lord. As we serve others and love others, we serve and love God. He loves each and every one of us and wants us to be the best we can be. Brothers and Sisters, I testify of the truthfulness of what Elder Bednar has said, we need to continually be striving to know our Savior, and as we do these 4 things and continually strive to live the commandments, I can promise He will bless you and you will feel the spirit more abundantly in your life. I pray that we will all look to the Lord for guidance and added strength and deny ourselves of all ungodliness, and in doing so receive the fullness of blessings that our Father in Heaven is waiting and wanting to shower down upon us beyond our capacity. My challenge to each of you is to heed the words of the prophets and apostles, to take these words spoken by Elder Bednar, a true apostle of God, and apply these things to your lives. The happiness that awaits you is beyond anything words can describe. I know my Savior lives, He is risen. I say these things humbly in the name of my beloved Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, amen.

I love all of you. Thank you for the thoughts and prayers that are sent towards me and the missionaries throughout the world. The Lord's work is striving, and the prayers for missionaries throughout the world are helping to carry the work forward. Until next week my friends. God be with you!

Elder Houssian

 This is Taylor, she is the sweetest little girl ever

 This is the ghetto bird (cop helicopter) that was searching for people and spotted us up (put the light on us) haha it was super quick so I was lucky to get the pic!  These things fly around all the time!

 Pano of the Valley at 7am

Our zone combined with North spoons along with APs, MSTLs, and President and his wife