Thursday, December 21, 2017

Week #76

Hey hey everyone! We have had such a great week this week! The work is starting to move forward and we are continuing to see miracles in the work!

We have been really focusing on what we can do as individuals and as a companionship to have the Spirit with us more in our efforts, and we have noticed a change in ourselves and a difference in the work. It’s amazing to see how influential the Spirit is in missionary work!

One of the miracles we saw this week happened while we were out trying to get in contact with some of our investigators. We were walking up this hill in a neighborhood and this elderly lady, Wanda, had stepped outside of her house right as we were about to walk past it. So we stopped and talked to her, and ended up having a very good conversation with her and got to know her pretty well. She seemed really interested in us coming back and we are looking forward to seeing her this week. 

We actually had a string of miracles that day. Right after talking to Wanda we were walking back down the hill, and another lady walks out into her garage to clean up some stuff, so we went and talked to her. Turns out she is married to a member of the church and they sometimes attend a ward out in Boulder City with the husband’s parents! They read from the Book of Mormon and she invited us to come back and said she wanted to feed us! She has family on her side that are members as well, so it’s a great setup! Then we left and walked a few more houses down and we found a Bluetooth ear piece outside on the sidewalk. We left a card with a note saying we had it and put it in the door of the house. We got a call that night, and the next day went over and gave it to them and had a great conversation with them. They actually had just come back from their nephew being baptized into the Mormon Church up in Boise!

This week I wanted to share a scripture that I have really grown to love throughout my mission. It is in the New Testament, Hebrews 2:18, and it reads:


“18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

I love this verse. Because of the suffering and temptation that the Savior went through, He is able to run to our aid and help us. He knows where our trials lie ahead, and He knows how to help us through them. Christ is our purest source for help, and it is all because He has felt all of the trials, pains, sorrows, and everything else that we would ever go through as individuals and families in this life. He is the perfect source of unconditional love and support. He loves us, He wants to help us, we just need to ask for it. He will not step in to help us if we do not ask Him to, that is a principle of our agency. But, if we humble ourselves before God and recognize that we cannot go through this life alone, the Savior will step in, and the healing power of His Atonement will envelop us. We will feel His endless love in our life and we will know that we have a loving Father in Heaven and a loving Savior who are both ready and willing to help us find the most joy and happiness in this life. I promise that as we turn more to Him, seek His help, and trust in His power and wisdom, we will be carried through our trials and made stronger for the trials ahead, and we will feel more joy and happiness than ever before. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

I love y’all! I hope you have a wonderful week! Until next week! God speed!

Elder Houssian

 Vrrroom! Vrrrom!

 Sweet projected countdown to Christmas

Elder Smith was feeling the 9 hours of church on Sunday!

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Week #75

Howdy y’all! This week has flown by, and another transfer has come and gone! I feel like we were just here haha. Time truly is going by so fast. We’ve had another great week together and we are loving working together!

So for starters, transfer calls came in yesterday and...... I’m staying for a 4th transfer and I’m going to continue training Elder Smith! I am so excited and looking forward to another transfer with him. This is by far the longest I’ve stayed in an area, 1/4 of my mission actually, but I’m glad it’s these wards, because they’re great! 

This week we continued the process of weeding out people who aren’t interested in our records and seeing where our investigators are at in their progress and what their end goal is. It’s been nice to be able to get some of that done so that we can focus on the people who are ready to hear the message of the gospel. 

We had a cool experience this week with one of our members, Rudy Ruettiger (the guy who the movie “Rudy” is about). We help him take care of his pets, and this weekend he called us over to give us a Christmas present. We went over and he pulled out two jerseys with his name and number on it and signed them! It was so cool! He is a great guy and we have built a great relationship with him. I’ll send the picture next week!

Tyler is doing well, he is our most solid investigator right now. He is getting ready for baptism and is progressing very well!

This week I wanted to share a scripture that I came across in my studies. It is
Alma 36:17-19, and it reads;

17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.
18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.
19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

I love this passage. Alma is speaking to his son Helaman and is talking about his conversion experience. He was “racked with torment” because of the sins She he had committed. Then remembering the teachings of his father, he humbled himself and prayed and asked for forgiveness and mercy, and the Lord provided it. As we go through life and make mistakes, striving to be better, we can be forgiven and healed by the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, but we must humble ourselves and ask for it that forgiveness and healing. It isn’t necessary to carry the burden of our sins on our shoulder. Repentance is a joyful process, and I know that to be true. It will benefit us more physically and spiritually to repent and ask for forgiveness rather than weighing ourselves down by keeping them to ourselves. I pray that we may all come to this realization, and allow God to forgive us and the Savior to heal us. I know these things to be true, and I can promise you will feel an overwhelming sense of joy and happiness, because I have experienced it in my own life. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love y’all! Have a tremendous week! Until next week! God speed!

Elder Houssian

 Rudy's Bird, Willie
#curry

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Week #74

Howdy everyone! Another week is in the bag! This week flew by, as did this transfer. It’s already week 6! We’ve had a great week this week, and we definitely saw some miracles! 

This week we had back to back Ward Christmas parties, and had a great turn out! We had 6 of our investigators attend and one of them, Aida, was one of our miracles we saw this week! So we were about to start driving Friday night, and we received a referral for Aida on our phone. She had gone onto the Mormon.org Facebook page and requested us to come by! So we called her and she asked us to stop by the next morning, and of course we went! She is the sweetest lady and is originally from Egypt! She has lived in a lot of different places and has talked to missionaries before, and she has a very strong belief in Christ. So we met with her and invited her to the Christmas party, and she came! She loved it and she was able to meet a ton of ward members! We are continuing to teach her, and things are looking promising for sure!

Another highlight was us doing service for a single lady in the ward. We had 19 tonnes of rock to move, and we showed up with members from the ward and went to work! We have a few members in the ward who own landscaping companies, and they brought their equipment (including a small tractor to load rock into wheelbarrows) to make the job easier. We ended up moving all of the rock and getting it laid out in an hour and 15 minutes. It was so awesome to witness!

My spiritual thought this week comes from a scripture that I came across in my studies. It is found in the Book of Mormon, Alma 37:6, and it reads;

“6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.”

Often times as humans we are always wanting to do the great, miraculous, grueling tasks, but we tend to overlook the small and simple things. These small and simple things can be things like reading the scriptures daily, praying daily, going to church, and so on. These small and simple things are what will help us keep and build our testimony. I testify with everything that I have, that these simple things can have some of the greatest impacts on our lives and our testimony. We can become converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ through the little things. I promise that as you focus on the little things and strive to do them, you will see a change in yourself and you will build and strengthen your testimony in the gospel and the Savior. You will truly become converted. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Safety Stanley making sure to have a safe ride 😂