Elder Kyle Houssian: Week #21

Hello everyone! Week 21 is in the books! This week has flown by, I don't know what happened! Just a heads up, I tried a new way of writing my weekly email where I wrote about my day every day. So it is a little long and I apologize! Also, big news! I am getting transferred to Henderson! I will be covering the McCullough Hills and Laurel Hills wards in the McCullough Hills stake out in the Black Mountain area. I was very surprised that I left after being here for only 6 weeks, but I guess the Lord wants me in Henderson!

Monday: We went into Henderson (with permission of course) and a friend of ours got us some clothes at the store cause we missionaries go through clothes kind of fast. Then we ate some food and went to Smiths to get some groceries. After that we went to the church and emailed for a bit and shot some baskets. Then we went to Sister Rice's house for dinner and had some awesome lasagna and talked with her and a few other members of the ward that were over there. It was a good day.

Tuesday: We had District Council today, our last one for this transfer (

). Our district leader challenged us to each get at least 70 street contacts this week, and if so he would bring us Sour Patch Kids. A street contact is talking to someone on the street (obviously) but it's not just a simple "hey how's it going", you actually stop and try to talk to them and get to know them and share some gospel truths with them. So all 4 companionships hit 70+ and Elder Jarvis brought us Sour Patch Kids, and lots of them. 7 lbs of Sour Patch to be exact. So that was fun. Then we took some pics as a district and then went and had Subway. Then I had a doctors appointment, so we had a member drive us into the West mission because that's the office that our mission likes us to go to. After that we had a steak dinner with the Haubrichs, and then went to a lesson with the Esquivel family. We are teaching their son Antonio Jr. primarily, but his father isn't a member either so we teach him as well. It was a great lesson and Antonio is progressing wonderfully. After that we had a lesson with Diane Bynum, who is another "part-member family" and just stopped by to see how she was doing. We weren't able to teach her because we were limited on time since she had just got home from work and was exhausted. But it was good to see her.

Wednesday: Well last night into this morning (Tuesday-Wednesday) we had some Elders from our district stay the night because their apartment smelled a lot like weed. They have neighbors that like to smoke it a lot, and I guess it was too much for them to stay there, so we didn't get very much sleep. So we walked around our complex this morning talking to people and hitting up potential investigators. It was kind of uneventful haha. Then we had lunch and rode our bikes to an appointment which fell through. So we stopped by a part-member family, the Heglmeiers. Then we dropped off a Spanish Book of Mormon to a family we are currently teaching. After that we had dinner with the Sanders family, they're great! Then we had a lesson with our upstairs neighbor that fell through, so we went to our next appointment with Diane and had a nice little discussion. Her husband was there too and he's a member so it was good. Then we came home and planned, then went to bed because we were drained!

Thursday: Ahh turkey day! You know what that means.... Stake-wide turkey bowl. Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that for the first time since July 6th, Elder Houssian has been in his element... Football

There were lots of people there to play so we ended up having 4 teams of 10-12. It was awesome. It felt so nice to run around and play ball again. It really made me miss those Friday Night Lights, because there's nothing like it! But my boys out in Drip are representing as they tear up the playoffs! Then we came back, showered, and then went to the Thornton's house for our first meal of the day. It was so good as expected! They had their grandma and grandpa and their grandparents there from Sister Thornton's side of the family, and Sister Thornton's sister and her husband were there with their kids, so it was a lot of fun! We were there for a bit and then went to the Carey's for our second meal. That was really good too. Sister Carey made some really really good blueberry cheesecake and peach cobbler. They had tons of food and only 9 people there counting us haha so we got lots of servings! Then we ended the day going to the Sanders' house. They had some mac and cheese that was delicious, and the "Great Turkey" (some tradition they have) came and brought everyone socks haha so we got some cool socks to wear! That was my day today, and then when we got home we went to bed early cause we were very tired from our day! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Friday: Today was a good day. We had to plan for the week which took about 3 hours and that wasn't anything near exciting. Then we went on mini exchanges with our district leader, which was a lot of fun. We rode our bikes around and talked to this lady named Breanna who was super friendly and wanted us to come back and teach her again. Then we had dinner given to us by Sister Henderson which was very good! We had mac and cheese, duck, ham, greens, and desert. It was super good. Then we had a few more lessons and then returned home!

Saturday: Oh man today is transfer doc. aannnnnddd *drumroll* I'm getting transferred to Black Mountain! I got transfer trashed (meaning I was in an area for only 1 transfer) out of North which isn't fun, I'm leaving a lot of wonderful people. But the Lord has other plans for me, and He has called me to serve in the McCullough Hills stake. I will be covering two wards which will be interesting, but in those two wards, its only four neighborhoods. So I will be covering four gated communities in the area nicknamed "mini Utah"... This will be interesting. Elder Brady's last companion served there and he said that by the end of his time there he knew the non-member's dog's names. I'm excited for this opportunity though! My new companion is Elder Moen. He is a really hard working missionary and is known around the mission as one of the funniest missionaries in the mission. So this will be a lot of fun! Elder Brady will be going to Dolan Springs Arizona. It's in the middle of nowhere and is about an hour and a half away from the valley. He is from Arizona so he's just going home. His area is nicknamed "Stolen Springs" because things get stolen there all the time haha. After that we had two missed appointments cause the investigators weren't there. Then we had dinner with the Leavitt's, then stopped by the Heglmeier's, the Guzman's, and Diane's house. Then we got in and started packing!

Sunday: Today was a very sad day, as it was the last day I was able to be with my ward. This is the hard part about transfers, because you get to know the members of the ward and grow to love them, and then you have to leave. Church was wonderful as always. After church we went and stopped by a couple ward member's houses and then went to a lesson that fell through. So then we went to Diane's one last time to say goodbye to her and her family, and then came home to finish packing!

My spiritual thought this week comes from the Book of Mormon, its Helaman 5:12. It reads "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." Here, we are taught that if we have a firm faith in Christ, if we build our faith and create our foundation, we cannot fall. I testify that what Helaman teaches here is true. As we grow our faith in Him and in His word, we will be unshakeable. The influences of Satan will have no effect on you, you will withstand him and be a light to those around you. As we build our faith, we grow in our knowledge of the Savior and in turn grow closer to Him. We build our connection between Him and us, which enables Him to shower His blessings upon us and help us through our difficult times. I have seen this on my mission thus far. There are many hard times on a mission, but I have seen that as I stay rooted in the scriptures, I go to church, I fervently pray, and I repent of my mistakes, He has helped me overcome the trials I face and has made me stronger in the end. Without Him, I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing now. I would not be here without Him and the many things He has done for me. This church is true. I know it to be and I testify with all my heart that it is. I love my Savior. I love my wonderful family and thank God each and every day for their love and support for me, and for helping me become the young man I am today. Christ lives and loves each and every one of us. I say these things humbly in the name of my beloved Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

Happy holidays everyone! Enjoy the wonderful weather that is coming or has already started. You are all in my thoughts and prayers. Until next week!

Elder Houssian