Monday, October 20, 2014

Its starting to cool down, but missionary work is on fire!

Family History & The Spirit of Elijah
This past week we have been up on Sam Houston State University Campus contacting and talking to people about family history and where there ancestors are from. We are having a family history fair at the Institute building in November to register them on familysearch.org and create a fan chart. 

It has been amazing to see the interest and the spirit of Elijah working. Usually when we talk to people they sometimes just walk away or try to come up with some lame excuse really fast. But as we have been doing this we have seen the exact opposite. We talk to people, they walk away and turn to see what we are doing, see that it is non-invasive and then walk back to talk with us! It's so awesome! I think we found the winner!

I was talking to two girls about family history and the welding link between our ancestors and us; how we can learn from them and their experiences. The spirit was so strong. 

We also were able to help 3 people with their family history before the fair and they absolutely loved it! Elizabeth didn't even know where her ancestors were from. We got on family search, and put in some of the information she did know. Within an hour, we had a line for her ancestors all the way back to the 1100's!

Lauren's grandfather had recently passed away and she hadn't been to church since then because she used to go with him. We got her on familysearch.org and after about an hour she said, "WOW! This is sooo much better than ancestry! This is awesome!" We finished family history and then talked to her briefly about Malachi 4:6

"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

We talked about how she felt and told her how much we could feel the spirit as we do family history. We told her that we knew her grandfather was proud of her and the spirit was strong, she started bursting into tears. I know that she had a great relationship with him and so we went outside to the front of the Institute building where the Plan of Salvation is drawn on the front windows. We talked briefly about the wonderful plan Heavenly Father has for us. We know she will see her grandfather again and he is watching over her. It was such a powerful moment and we hope to be able to meet with her again to teach her more about the Plan of Salvation in detail. 

Small Town Blessings
We are starting to experience the beauties of being in a small town. On Saturday mornings, Sister Hoj and I go to soccer games not only to support a less active boy in the ward, but also because that is where all the Hispanics are at! We talk to them about their kids and they end up naturally just asking us about what we are doing because they notice our name tags. And since it is a small town everyone knows eachother and knows about the church!

This last week a lady came up to us and asked us if we are starting to teach English classes! She asked us! It has been a finding gold mine there!

We are also starting to teach English classes! It is a wonderful program that the church has put out and they have seen success with people going and then being interested in learning more about the church. We are excited to get the program started. 

Buddy's Adventure
On Saturday we went and visited Ken (a less active member) and Lori (an investigator). They moved to Galveston for a day but couldn't find a place to stay and had to turn back. They had taken their entire paycheck and savings to move and now are homeless. Last week I shared the picture of Ken wrecking the moving truck and running into the hotel... oh dear! It's always an adventure with these two!

Last week we went over and Lori has the sweetest and strongest testimony. She has quit smoking and told us that she knows that even though they can't afford it, she has decided to pay a full tithe. She knows that it is what Heavenly Father wants her to do and that he will bless her. She has such stong faith. 

Well, this week we went over and visited with them. Funny quote of the day from them... They have a dog named Buddy and they think the people that they are living with have been giving him weed because he has been acting really weird. Lori all happy looks at Ken and says, "You know what we should do?! We need to go to the Dollar Store and get one of those drug tests and have Buddy pee on it!" Oh dear! We couldn't stop laughing! 

But the best part was while we were talking Buddy got away and we couldn't find him. With all the stray dogs they were scared and Ken LOVES that dog. While Ken was out looking for him, Sister Hoj turned to Lori and asked if she would like to say a prayer. Lori said a simple and short prayer... and literally within 5 minutes we had found him! #tendermercy

Standing Strong
On Sunday a girl in the YSA branch confided in us of a struggle she has been having. She is on the Cross Country team for Sam Houston. She has chosen not to run or practice on Sunday and this particular Sunday the team was giving her a lot of flack for it. Amongst other things, she was overly stressed and started crying. 

It was such a tender mercy because Sister Hoj and I have gone through similar things with sports. Her with Soccer and I with Golf. It is just so awesome how Heavenly Father places you in certain situations so that we can all learn and grow from each others experiences and provide the comfort and advice needed at the time. She was able to receive a beautiful priesthood blessing afterwards.

Matt the Missionary 
Matt is such the missionary! First, He brought 4 of his friends to play soccer with us on Friday night and afterwards was talking to us about some ideas of the next natural step he can take with his friend, Hunter to invite him to learn more.

Then, on Saturday night he called us and told us that he had a missionary experience with a guy from work who started asking him questions about the church. Matt called us to tell us that he had an appointment set up with us this Tuesday so that this other friend could meet with us! He is such an awesome missionary!

AND, he also gave his first talk in church yesterday and did an awesome job! After church the LeBaron's and him headed to college station so that he could receive his Patriarchal Blessing! He is learning and growing so much! He is such an inspiration to me!

The church is TRUE! 

Love y'all! 

Sister Loo

I ate Lengua (tongue)!
It was really good until afterwards when I started thinking about it,
and one piece that still had the tastebuds on it... then I didn't feel too good... 
Celebrating Ezra's birthday!
We got him a fish and cake because all of his siblings and mom (Norman the goat) have pets except him! 
Sister Cortes and Kids :) Love them!
Family History on Campus!
Helping Jo Ann clean out her storage closet & finding some great goods.


My curly haired twin, Krystin, and I decided to straighten our hair for church

A huge Cowboy church! 
Best Place Ever! Lake Livingston 

Roadkill 
Sunsets... 
We were on a conference call with President...
and had to pull out the ice cream!
Pumpkin Spice Pecan Blue Bell is Back... and now gone :)

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