Week #86

Howdy y’all! I hope y’all have had a great week! This week has been an amazing and busy week. The Lord’s hand is definitely active in this work, and I love it.

For starters, we have found a lot of new people to teach this past week, and some of the, are already progressing! There are a lot of families that we are teaching which is great! It’s amazing to see how the gospel changes people.

We received a referral from the Sisters for a kid who is 17 and was taking the lessons at a friend’s house who lives in the Sisters’ area. We started teaching him and he’s so solid! He’s set to be baptized on March 17th and is doing so well.

We had a crazy thing happen last night. We were able to give one of our investigators a blessing of comfort after her husband (who is in his 30s) was diagnosed with Leukemia. It was crazy because she had been at the hospital for a week, and last night was the only night she would be home, because he starts chemo today and so she is there and will be there for at least another week. We were about to leave our house after being dropped off from dinner, and I felt like we should stop by this family’s house on our way over there, so we did. She comes out and says “Why are y’all here so late?” (It wasn’t in a mean way, but it was 8 pm). We just told her we felt like we should stop by and she started bawling and told us what was going on. As we were sitting and listening I felt prompted to offer to give them blessings, so we asked if they would like one. It was so powerful, we felt the Spirit so strongly and she felt it super strongly as well. She sat there after for like 10 seconds with her hands on her chest and said “I can literally feel His presence” a few times. After I gave her the blessing, Elder Hubbell gave their daughter a blessing, and it was amazing as well. It was one of the most powerful moments I’ve had on my mission.

For my spiritual thought this week, I wanted to extend a challenge to each of y’all! I came across a quote that says “A chapter a day will light the way”. It’s referring to the Book of Mormon, and i challenge each of y’all to read it every day this week! I can testify that as we read the Book of Mormon daily, we will have the Spirit of the Lord with us and invite His presence into our lives. I have put this to the test and have experienced it countless times. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and I know there is great power in its pages. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

My favorite scripture is Alma 5:45-46, and I challenge y’all to read it!

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

Elder Houssian

Week #85

Howdy howdy y’all! This week has flown by, and we have seen some big progress in our area this week in terms of finding. We have been out grinding every day looking for new people who are ready for the gospel, and God has helped us out big time (as always)!

We were finally able to talk with Tyler! We received a text about two weeks ago saying it wasn’t in his best interest to be baptized. We were confused but were able to set up a return appointment, which I talked about last week. Well we had that return appointment and he said the reason why was because he felt like he didn’t know enough, and he still had some questions about the gospel. He wants to be baptized still, just wants to feel more ready. So we are working with him and helping him progress and answering his questions to get him ready to be baptized!

We received some scary news that the father of one of our new families we are teaching, Rod, was in a serious motorcycle accident this weekend. Thankfully he is ok, but he had some pretty good injuries. Our ward mission leader is family friends with them and offered to give him a blessing, so we will hopefully go with him to the hospital and give him a blessing this week!

We were blessed with quite a few more people to teach this week. The Lord is hastening his work in our area, and it’s a wonderful sight to see. I love being a missionary and being a part of this great and marvelous work!

My spiritual thought comes from a verse I came across this week that I absolutely love! It is Moroni 8:17, and it reads;

“17 ...wherefore, I love little children with a perfect love; and they are all alike and partakers of salvation.”

I honestly just love this verse because I too love little children. Having 17 younger siblings and one niece is one of the greatest blessings I could ever ask for! Little children are perfect to our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ. (And to me of course!) and I know that they truly are a tremendous blessing to this Earth! I know our Savior lives. He loves us. Jesus truly is the Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon truly is the word of God. It is a holy book of scripture written for our day, and we can grow so much closer to God by living the principles contained within. I know families are forever. I know our Savior suffered and died for us, and because of that we can be forgiven of our sins, we can be resurrected, and we can be with our families forever. This gospel is true, and I know it. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love y’all so much! I hope you have a tremendous week! Until next week! God speed!

Elder Houssian

Week #84

Hey hey y’all! This week has been a trying week, one of the harder weeks I’ve had on my mission. But we were still able to see many miracles in our efforts this week, and it has strengthened my testimony tremendously. I know that our Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers, and He knows us individually, knows what we need, and knows how to help us. 

So this week we received a text from Tyler telling us that baptism wasn’t in his best interest anymore. It was definitely unexpected. We have tried to get in touch with him, but we haven’t been able to get any responses from him since. There was a miracle related to it though, which I’ll share in a minute!

The Redds have been MIA as well. We still have contact with them, they’ve just had the flu for 3 weeks now. We hopefully will be able to visit with them this week, they said that the sickness was starting to clear up. 

So in sit of all of this, we saw many miracles this week, two of which were on Thursday! The first one, we were in our companionship study trying to come up with different street contacting situations and responses to practice. We practiced a few different ones, and then went out. The very first person we walked up and talked to had the exact responses that we had practiced. It was way cool cause we were able to address her concerns and help her see how the gospel can bless her life, and she asked for us to come back! The second one, after not being able to see the Redds and having Tyler drop us, we were out and about and we’re blessed with finding six individuals who were ready and willing to hear the message of the gospel. It was a tender mercy from the Lord, and something that we really needed! The third miracle that I wanted to bring up happened yesterday. We had to go to Walmart because SOMEONE blew a bike tube (it wasn’t me, I swear.... ok it was). We went in and looked all over for a tube, but couldn’t find the right one. We were going to check out (our member needed some groceries) and as he was checking out, Tyler walked into the store! So we went and talked to him, and set up a time to go visit with him some more! It was a cool miracle and definitely attests that God’s hand is active in His work!

This week I wanted to share a scripture from the Book of Mormon, Omni 1:26, and it reads;

26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

I love this verse. We come unto Christ through fasting and prayer, studying the scriptures, and attending church. There of course are other things we can do, like serving others, developing Christ-like attributes, etc., but I have really come to know that it is in the simple things that we really come to know our Savior. If we truly offer up our whole souls unto him, we will find true happiness and joy, which happiness and joy is found in Christ. I know these things to be true. Christ lives. He is our Savior. The Book of Mormon testifies of the life, ministry, and love of the Savior. Coupled with the Bible, we have the fullness of the gospel at our disposal. It is up to us to use it. I say these things in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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

Elder Houssian

Week #83

Howdy everyone! This week has been super hectic and interesting! We had a lot of cool experiences and some unplanned things come up, but all in all, it was a stellar week!

We had an awesome Stake Conference this week with Elder Torres of the Seventy presiding at the meetings! We were out proselyting with some members and we received a call from a Stake High Councilor telling us that Elder Torres requested us to attend the Priesthood Leadership meeting that started at 4.... it was 3:55 when we received the call! So we booked it home (7 minute drive) and put on suits then jammed over to the church (another 7 minute drive) to attend the meeting. Afterwards, we talked to Elder Torres and he asked us if we were attending the adult session that night. Before we could answer, he said “Elders, I need missionaries at every one of my meetings”. So basically this General Authority told us to attend the adult session as well! I was glad we did though, I learned so much from Elder Torres. He is a very inspired man and speaks with conviction, and I loved it! 

Yesterday we were just about to eat lunch when we received another call from some Elders asking if we could help some people move. We agreed, and went to help this lady move. Elder Olsen and I lifted 2 washing machines, 2 driers, 1 freezer, 2 stoves,  and 2 refrigerators all by ourselves. It was super crazy, I’m so sore! That took about 2 hours, and then after we went and helped pain some outdoor stairs with our district, which took another 2 hours. So that took up most of our day. BUT our district combined did 16 hours of community service that day, so bonus!

My spiritual thought this week comes from a talk by Elder David A. Bednar titled “Converted Unto Thee”. He shares a passage from the Book of Mormon, and then breaks it down, talking about the relationship between a testimony and personal conversion. The verses read;

“As many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them--yea, … as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away.

“For they became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more. …

“Now, these are they who were converted unto the Lord” - (Alma 23:6–8)

He then goes on to say that there are “two major elements described in these verses: (1) the knowledge of truth, which may be interpreted as a testimony, and (2) converted unto the Lord, which I understand to be conversion to the Savior and His gospel. Thus, the powerful combination of both testimony and conversion unto the Lord produced firmness and steadfastness and provided spiritual protection.” I know that as we build and strengthen our testimony, we become more and more converted unto the Savior and His gospel. We strengthen our testimony by doing the simple things: read and study the scriptures, praying fervently and often, and attending church weekly to partake of the sacrament, and to teach and learn from one another. We will grow spiritually, strengthen our ability to feel and heed the promptings of the Spirit, and truly become converted. Conversion is not a one time thing, it is a life long process, and the more we develop the habits of doing the simple things, the more constant and powerful our conversion process will be. I know that our Savior lives. He loves us and He wants the best for us. He truly suffered and died for us. We cannot sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines. I know families can be together forever, and I’m so grateful for the blessing it is to have my family forever. I know that the gospel is true, and I know the Book of Mormon, coupled with the Bible, can bring us the most joy and happiness in this life and the life to come. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love y’all and I hope y’all have an amazing week! Until next week, God speed!

Elder Houssian

‘63 Corvette we saw today 😍

Week #82

Howdy howdy y’all, I hope you’ve had a great week this week! This week has been lots of fun and there have been some changes in our area!

First off, Elder Hubbell is a lot of fun! He’s been out 5 months and is a great missionary. He reminds me of some of my brothers, so it makes it even more fun!

Not a lot has changed this week in terms of our investigators. We have found some solid new people to teach, and our investigators are doing well. Tyler is preparing for the 10th and is doing well! He is very excited, and his work schedule looks like it’ll free him up to be baptized then!

So the changes to our area is that we don’t have a car anymore. So we are biking and our area is basically uphill both ways and it’s 10 miles left to right and like 7 miles top to bottom. BUT that being said, God has given me strength and stamina to be able to bike our area. It’s crazy to see how tired I am at the end of the night, but the next day I’m up and ready to go. God definitely takes care of his servants!

My thought this week comes from.... Well me. I just wanted to bear my testimony to y’all. I know that the gospel is true. I know it and testify of it’s truthfulness from the bottom of my heart. I have experienced God’s hand in my life countless times, and those experiences have helped me build a foundation and a testimony that I cannot deny. I know this gospel is true, and it is for us. I know that our Savior, Jesus Christ, truly did suffer and die for us and for our sins. I know that because of His sacrifice, Christ can heal us and guide us. He can walk with us, mend our broken hearts, and strengthen us. I know He and our Heavenly Father know us each individually. I know that God’s Plan is perfect. Living the gospel and striving to be like Christ will bring us the most happiness and joy in this life and in the eternities. I testify that repentance is a joyful process. I have experienced it and have been humbled to the very core by the love that my Savior has for me and by His grace and mercy. I know that He is the means whereby we are able to repent and be forgiven, to return to live with God again, be resurrected, and be with our families forever. I know families are eternal, and I am forever grateful to God for the blessing of my family. I love them so much, I love y’all, and I say these things humbly, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I hope y’all have a great week! Until next week, God speed!

Elder Houssian