Week #35 & 36

Hey y'all! I hope the week for y'all has been fun-filled and good!
Happy Spring Break for those who that applies to, I'm so jealous haha.
This past week has been crazy busy and I've loved every minute of it.
We have seen miracles this week as well, all around a great week!

I apologize for the long email, we've had a lot happen this week and I
wanted to catch y'all up because I failed to send an email last week!

Like I said in my last email (which was 2 weeks ago...... sorry!) the
main focus in this area is working with less active members of the
church, as well as building relationships with the members and seeking
referrals from them. Just an FYI, a referral is where someone tells us
the names of individuals who might be interested in our message of the
Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. This past week we were able to get a
referral from an awesome member in one of our wards, to go see a
family. So this past week we went to go see them. Their names are
David and Rachel, and they have a son Sampson. So right from the get
go, we figured they were Christian because they all have bible names
haha. And we were right. A cool fact, their son Sampson is about 7 and
hasn't cut his hair once! Ironic huh? :) They are a wonderful family!
We ended up having an hour long conversation about the gospel. David
was talking about how he feels God gives us trials to make us
stronger, and immediately turned to Job and talked about his story.
David is super knowledgeable in the gospel. After that he brought up
points of the Plan of Salvation, talking about how Paul said there are
"3 Heavens" as well as that he believed he would see his son again.
His son passed away a year ago while on duty in the Navy. So we pulled
out a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and bore testimony on how he would
see his son again, and invited him and his family to read the pamphlet
and then we could come back and talk about it, and they were super
excited! David also asked us to read Genesis 1-3, Proverbs 8, and Job
38, so we have some studying to do as well! Looking forward to our
next appointment with this family.

We have an investigator JD, that I haven't been able to see since I've
been here because he has been having some health issues. He had open
heart surgery, and the machine used during the surgery cause him to
get an infection on his sternum. So we have been giving him space to
get that figured out. He just had a surgery where they went in and
scraped the sternum to get rid of the infection, so we have been put
on hold. He is progressing and is so close to entering the waters of
baptism, he just needs to get recovered health wise. I'd love it if
y'all could keep JD in your prayers, as he is still trying to overcome
this infection.

My spiritual thought this week comes from Alma 8:15, and it reads:

15 Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice,
for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in
keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst
thy first message from him. Behold, I am he that delivered it unto
you.

Alma was commanded to bring the gospel to the city of Ammonihah, where
he was rejected and thrown out. He found no one that would listen his
message. Being discouraged, he started traveling to his next
destination, the city Aaron. As he was traveling, an angel of the Lord
came and told Alma how proud the Lord is of him, and how Alma has
every right to be happy because of his faithful service and obedience
to the Lord's commandments. No effort is wasted! No matter where you
are, on a mission or not, every member a missionary. Whether our
efforts bring us success or failure, the Lord is aware of our
righteous efforts to share His word, and in the end we will be blessed
in our efforts no matter the outcome. Brothers and Sisters it is our
duty, our calling, to spread the gospel, to be every day missionaries
wherever we are. We are so very blessed to have the gospel in our
lives in these latter days. We all have personal experiences and have
seen how the gospel has blessed the lives of our families, us as
individuals, and so many others around us. So why aren't we sharing
it? Why aren't we loving our friends, neighbors, and family enough to
share the gospel with them and give them a little light as to the
amount of happiness and joy the gospel can bring them? What's holding
us back? I challenge all of you to think of someone you know who could
benefit from hearing the gospel, and then act and share it. The Lord
will accompany you and bless you with the Holy Spirit to be with you
and testify to your loved ones of the truthfulness of this great
gospel. I have all the faith in the world that each of you can impact
someone by sharing the gospel with them. You each have so much
potential inside of you, you just have to find it and show it. Each of
you can do it, I believe in you and I know you will impact those
around you as take that step. I know my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
lives. Because of Him, we are all here on this Earth. Because of Him
we can receive forgiveness for our sins and mistakes. Because of Him
we can become clean and pure and one day enter into the presence of
our loving Father in Heaven. And because of Him, we can live with our
families forever. I know this gospel is true. It is the word of God
and was brought to us in these latter days by the prophet Joseph
Smith. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and is the living,
tangible evidence that Jospeh Smith is a prophet, and that Christ is
real and He lives. I say these things in the name of my Brother, my
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

I love you all! Sorry again for the long email! I hope y'all have a
wonderful week! May the Lord implement His hand into all of your
lives, and may you all have a safe and enjoyable week this week doing
all the things you do. Until next week!

Elder Houssian

 Oops!

 Zone Pic!

#artsy