Elder Kyle Houssian: Week #32

Howdy! What a great week this week. The weather here has been beautiful pretty much the entire week, which was a huge bonus. I hope this was an awesome week for y'all as well! Also, we are already half way through February. This is insane!

So this week I was FINALLY able to get into the lung doctor. We got a call at 11:30 from his office asking if we could come in at 1 that same day, but the thing is, we don't have a car and that office is 40 minutes away from our area. Oh and it was on Thursday so all the male members were working! So we scrambled to find a ride and ended up borrowing another missionary companionship's car haha. So we made it there and I went in and did a breathing test where you suck in air really fast and then blow it out hard, and then keep exhaling even though you feel like there's nothing left. So it makes you feel like you're going to pass out. I had to do that 6 times. So then after this assistant comes in and says "you're going to hate me" and I asked why and she said "because I'm going to be taking your blood" and then I smile and said "well you're going to love me" and she asked why and I turned my arms so she could see the veins in them and I said "because you'll have options on what vein to use" and she then said she wasn't taking blood from my vein, she was taking it from my artery... *gulp* So I indeed got blood drawn from my artery in my wrist which totally hurt. My initial thought was that they were going to like take a needle to my neck or something cause I had no idea there was an artery in my wrist haha. But all is well! So then the doc comes in and says "Well, Kyle.... it's your heart" and whoever knows the details about my health problems right now all say it's my heart as well. So he said my lungs were perfectly fine and that there are a few different things that could be causing these problems, all of which are because of the heart. So I'm taking some medicine to see if it will keep my heart rate down. So there's my health update!

This week we were blessed with opportunities to teach again. Amanda, the investigator who expressed her desire to be baptized, is doing very well. She is remembering all the lessons that have been taught to her in the past, and is progressing very well. The Strimback family that is investigating is doing well also. They had a little bit of a scare with their 17 month old baby, so we took a break for a week so they could get everything figured out with her, but all is well. Nick and Sammy, the young couple, are also doing very well. We had an awesome lesson with them this week in talking about the Book of Mormon. They are very interested in it and continue to read it every day. They are progressing very well.

My spiritual thought this week comes from 1 Nephi 15:24 and it reads:

24 And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.

Brothers and Sisters, we are promised that staying rooted in the word of God will help us resist temptations and in return, strengthen our testimonies and our faith, and give the Spirit more opportunities to touch our hearts and minds. And where is the word of God found? In the scriptures. The Book of Mormon was brought forth for us today. It holds truth and testifies of Jesus Christ. This book is true. It was given to us as a part of the Restoration through the prophet Joseph Smith. Because of him and his faith, his courage, Christ's church is here on the Earth once more, and the fullness of the gospel has been given to us in these latter days. I know with all my heart that this book is true and is the word of God. It goes hand in hand with the Bible, which is also the word of God. I invite you all to find out for yourself if the Book of Mormon is true. Read it, study it, and then ask your loving Father in Heaven if it is true. I promise that if you do so you will receive an answer. I know our Savior lives. He suffered and died for us and our sins so we can be happy, we can be forgiven of our sins and made clean again, and we can one day dwell in the presence of our Father and His son, Jesus Christ, and be with our families forever. What a wonderful blessing that is. I know these things to be true, and I say them in the name of our loving Redeemer, our brother, Jesus Christ, amen.

Have an awesome week everyone! I look forward to talking with you next week. Until then!

Elder Houssian