The Bible AND the Book of Mormon are true!

Fireside

We had a Mission President's Why I Believe Fireside on Sunday. It was so powerful. We walked in at the very beginning singing Called to Serve and sung the EFY Medley at the end. I also accompanied a girl in the YSA branch on a musical number, Come Unto Him. 

Matt even shared his testimony and he did an amazing job! For only being a member for 2 months he has grown so much and shares his testimony with about everyone he can manage too. Language barrier isn't even an option for him. 

We got a call on Saturday night and he had talked to a man that just moved from El Salvador and only spoke English. He called us so that we could invite him to come to English classes! 

He is the Gift

Okay so look out for a new initiative the church is putting out for Christmas. We got to preview a sneak peak of the Mormon Message and it is SO good! 

The video is He is the Gift and comes out November 28th and is on YouTube and christmas.mormon.org

Watch it and share it with a friend! This is what this holiday season is all about! 

Rain, Drunks, and Trailers

So this week we continued to invite someone to be baptized each day... Well Saturday night comes around and we have about 3 hours left in the day and no baptismal invite. So we looked at our potentials and we had already asked all of them to be baptized... Oh and I should also add that we don't have many miles for the rest of the month, so we couldn't go anywhere far. 

We went in to have dinner hoping that the rain would pass. It didn't. So we put on our rain jackets and decided we were going to find someone to invite to be baptized. And the only thing that came to mind were some boys we had contacted and they told us we could share a message with their family. We went to the address and it was a huge trailer park in the middle of no where. By this time, it is POURING rain! Like a ton! 

We were determined though so we got out and started knocking. Needless to say we had quite a few weird looks and interesting experiences going through puddles and trying to talk loud enough over the rain about the Book of Mormon, oh and also make sure that the pages weren't getting wet. 

We didn't get an invite in, but we did meet a less active members son who has been to church and isn't a member! So he is a really good potential!

We were soaked through. My rain jacket worked, but my skirt was sooo wet! We decided that it might not be where we were supposed to be and decided to go back to the apartment and call people in our area book. 

We finally got ahold of someone after calling like 20 people and talked to a former investigator. As soon as Hermana Hoj invited him to be baptized, he cut out on his end! Ahhh it was so frustrating! 

Randoms

I got to go on exchanges in an only spanish area! It was awesome to be able to practice my Spanish. I was with Hermana Ordonez from Peru! We had an awesome time and got a baptismal invite in at 9:27 that night and then rushed home to get in on time!

We taught Johanna, Juan, and Breanna about Nephi getting the plates. We even acted it out after reading it with them and sang Nephi's Courage. I love teaching kids. They are so innocent and receptive. Johanna has matured so much over the last couple of times we have taught her. To think that we taught them how to pray a couple of weeks ago! Her prayers have improved so much and her and Juan want to be baptized! She even came to the Why I Believe Fireside last night! 

Had a pretty sweet lesson with a Messianic Jew, Obi. I'm pretty proud of Sister Hoj and I's ability to talk about the Bible. We were getting into the stick of Joseph and Judah and the 12 tribes of Israel! It was awesome!

He studies the Hebrew and Greek version of the Bible and is very technical about what words you use. To say that my patience was tested was an understatement. But in the end we commited him to pray and read about the Book of Mormon. Yay!

We had a lesson with Annie and Carmen Aguilar about Family History. Carmen was so excited to do family history and even studied about the plan of salvation this week so that she could show us the diagram and explain it to us. 

We asked her what her favorite part was about her readings this week and she loved in the Bible when Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament. She is so smart and receptive of the gospel at the age of 11!

Oh and Miguel from my last area is getting baptized this weekend!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am so thankful for the opportunity and blessing to be a missionary and daughter of a loving Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for my family and all o their support and love! I love this gospel and I know it's true!

Love y'all! Le Amo Mucho!

Hermana Loo

Texas A&M campus

Pimp my ride...

Country and Cows and of course... = TEXAS!!! 

Exchanges

Sister Aisea 

Chickens on campus 

In the rain...

Fireside with the Sisters and Krystin

A Week of Exchanges

This week we had the opportunity to go and do YSA exchanges and it was awesome! We went to Sam Houston 2nd on Tuesday on the LoneStar Campus and contacted students there with the other missionaries. Then on Wednesday we were able to go to Texas A&M with some other sisters and contact students! It was so awesome to learn from eachother the things that work and get some new contacting ideas for YSA's. 

Flashback

I also was able to go on exchanges with Sister Walker in Bryan. We had a great time together and had some great lessons. A couple experiences to share

Durda Family- The mom and daughter are working on a really cool YW Value project. They set up family history workshops for the ward and set a goal to find 73 names to go to the temple. Why 73? Because it is 73 miles from the church here in Bryan to the temple. And so they are going to do a relay race and run the names to the temple! They have far exceeded their goal and have over 200 names and so they are working to get 500 now!

Isaac- He is 60 something year old black man and investigator. One of the first things he said was, "I don't think I'm ready to get baptized (he has a date for baptism in a couple weeks)... I think I want to wait a couple more months. I don't know why these sisters are rushing me..." 

And so I said to him, "Let me explain to you why they are so excited and want you to be baptized soon." I pulled out a piece of paper and drew him the picture below. We talked about how baptism is the gate and how after we are baptized we receive the Holy Ghost. Right now he is doing all the right things; going to church, reading the Book of Mormon, and praying... so right now all he is doing is banging his head up against the wall!

I then asked him when he felt like he would be ready to be baptized... and he said, "I think I could do it in a month... nah lets do it in a couple weeks!"

Baptismal Invites

This week Hermana Hoj and I decided to invite someone to be baptized everyday! It was amazing to see the miracles. Sometimes we would invite one of our investigators and sometimes we would just invite random people off the street or on campus. We would introduce the Book of Mormon, ask them if they would read it, and then when they received an answer of the truthfulness of the gospel if they would be baptized! And everyone said yes! It was amazing! 

I think sometimes we are scared to invite people to be baptized, but I know that when we do it with the spirit and as we invite them to read the Book of Mormon, the spirit has touched them! Plus, here in the South aint nobody afraid to talk about baptism anyways!

We had a really cool experience with one guy, Jose. We went to visit a potential investigator, Dora because we had only about 30 minutes to find someone and invite them to be baptized on Monday. She seemed to be the fastest way for us to get an invite in. We went to her trailer, but when I got out of the car I saw this YSA standing outside.

So we went up to talk to him, Jose, and talked to him about the Book of Mormon and why he believes in Jesus Christ. How Christ has helped him in his life. We then invited him to be baptized, and he said YES! And afterwards he completely opened up to us about his concerns and problems he is having with his family. It was so great! And an even greater miracle is that 10 minutes afterwards we invited Dora's husband to be baptized too! 

Revelations

Went to Revelations Bible Study again this week... Can I just say how much I am blessed with the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and the priesthood Power! Gosh I just felt so sad that these people were not at all receptive to the messages we had for them.

They were asking a question in Revelation Chapter 3 verse 7 about what the key of david was. Well lucky for us there was a footnote on key... my eyes went to the bottom of the page and it says, Priesthood, Keys. A smile just cracked on my face and Sister Hassell and I just looked at eachother.... They completely didn't understand the full depth of the scriptures. 

Now how can we just help them to do so as well? We were able to comment a bit on what we thought, and of course they loved it. I just wish we could have talked about the restoration of the priesthood with them.

Love this church and love y'all!

Hermana Loo

Studies with Brazos Hermanas 

On Texas A&M Campus

Church for sale???

Sister Walker!

Making the S'mores for the YSA dance

Howdy Y'all...

Lesson with Isaac

2 Week Catch-up!

Daily Dose

The English classes have been a success! We have had about 11-15 people at the classes each week! We are starting to change it and fine tune it so that those who come will be able to learn English as fast as possible. 

I am the teacher for it too and it has been a blast! Although I have to admit that I do get a bit tired of repeating myself and trying to figure out how to pronunciate in the best way. "Hi... My name is... What is your name?" It's pretty funny and we have a good time in the class. 

We are hopeful that by teaching English we will be able to receive some new investigators from the class. We already have 2 new investigators who have come and a hopeful potential of one of the less active members in the ward. 

Survivor Bracelets

A couple of weeks ago we were able to make survivor bracelets on campus with paracord. It was perfect because you need 2 people to make the bracelet. So we would show them how to make the bracelet and then talk to them about the gospel for a good 15 minutes! It was so great and everybody loved it and wanted to make one. 

We had advertised it earlier in the week on campus... And so of course that day the opposing team, Chi Alpha had their group on campus... It's too bad all their members were coming to our tent to make bracelets. 

I had the greatest conversation with one girl, Ebonie, while we were making bracelets. She asked me about how I came to be a missionary and if I knew the gospel was true my entire life. I told her that I didn't know that it was true my entire life, and even though I grew up in the church, I still needed to gain a testimony for myself. 

We ended up having a great conversation about being in the world but not of the world. We also talked about how much Heavenly Father loves us and how he provides us with all the necessary tools needed to return back to live with him again. We talked about the Book of Mormon and I was able to share Mosiah 24:14 with her as we talked about trials and how the Lord would provide a way for us and support to get through them. She confided in me on some really confidential topics and started crying. I felt the spirit so strongly as I carefully was guided by the spirit in what to say. 

Yesterday we were able to teach her and it was such a good lesson! We went into the lesson with the plan of teaching the Restoration, but the spirit led us in a totally different way as we talked about the power of the scriptures and words of the prophets, especially in the Book of Mormon. We also talked about the love of God and how he knew us before he came to the earth and we all have a purpose in this life. We will be meeting again and I am excited to continue teaching her. 

Power behind a Blue Book

We had a lesson with John who we met on campus. We had a really good Restoration lesson with him the week before and then had a follow up lesson with him. We always have had really good discussions with him as we exchange ideas and concerns.

At this last lesson he brought up some concerns about still believing in Evolution and not fully understanding that we have a latter-day prophet. It is just all so new to him and I think everything is really just blowing his mind... He needs time to think and ponder on all the awesome blessings we keep sharing with him!

But it all just came back to the Book of Mormon. There was no way to convince, argue, or persuade him in his beliefs. When it comes down to it, the Book of Mormon is where knowledge lies. I looked at him, pointing at the Book of Mormon, and said with conviction, "I PROMISE you that if you read this book that your questions will be answered. It may not literally answer your questions in the text, but this book has the power to invite the spirit into your life and teach you. I know it's true." 

He started asking a couple more questions and it just all kept coming back to the Book of Mormon and reading it. And he just looked at us and said, "It really has that much power. I guess I just need to read it, pray, and find out for myself huh?" Yup! Pretty much! It's now up to you!

I Am a Child of God

So we started to teaching 3 kids from a part member family, the Cepeda's. Johanna (12), Juan (11), and Breanna (6). They came to church last week and this week and they absolutely LOVE it. 

We were just checking up on all the Spanish families on the ward roster and we were able to finally get in touch with them. She invited us in for dinner and we were able to teach the kids about God, watch Finding Faith in Christ, and talk briefly about the Book of Mormon. 

This week we were able to teach them how to pray and why we pray. They love to sing as well and we taught them "I Am a Child of God" and "Families Can Be Together Forever". We invited them to sing and have family prayer together. They all loved the songs and Breanna loved them so much that she even took them to school to show her counselor. There is so much power behind those simple primary hymns.

• 1. I am a child of God,
  And he has sent me here,
  Has given me an earthly home
  With parents kind and dear.
• 2. I am a child of God,
  And so my needs are great;
  Help me to understand his words
  Before it grows too late.
• 3. I am a child of God.
  Rich blessings are in store;
  If I but learn to do his will,
  I'll live with him once more.
• 4. I am a child of God.
  His promises are sure;
  Celestial glory shall be mine
  If I can but endure.

A few fun things

We were able to teach Annie and Carmen Aguilar the Restoration and they accepted a baptismal date for December 13th! We are so excited for them! They were able to have family scripture study and loved it! Annnie and Favian's 3 year old son, Eli, even joined them and kept pointing to the picture and saying, "Mom, that's Jesus! Is he coming?" It was so cute!

I went to a revelations Bible Study this week with Sister Hassell on exchanges with some Chi Alpha members. I was a little nervous at first, thinking that they might want to bash with us. But it actually turned out really great and we were able to learn and grow together. It was pretty basic and surface level learning. Just another testimony of how much I love this gospel and the full knowledge we have!

Family History Fair was really good! We were able to help a few people with their family history and the spirit of Elijah was working. One girl was loving it so much that she was there for 2 hours working on it. Also, another, Layne felt so comfortable at the institute building that a couple hours later came back to sit and do his homework! I love it!

The church is true! Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Loo

Making Bracelets on campus

Making Bracelets on campus 

Texas Houston Missionaries

The "Beast"! Momma Lesa's huge dog!

Happy Halloween!

So... this blog may be a blog post of pictures... Still trying to get used to this hour and a half challenge of reading emails, writing people, AND writing the blog - its a new rule we instituted in our mission in council with our mission President in order to keep focused and keep the spirit of our service focused on missionary work.  So, it is going to be interesting since I usually spend like twice that amount of time on email.

So for now, hope you all enjoy the pictures.  Needless to say this week was pretty AWESOME!

Love ya...

Hermana Loo

Family History on Campus

We were the Chili Cook-Off Judges at the Ward Party! 

Hermana Hoj's first time at Sonic

Sister Walker is back in my zone!

I will get to go on exchanges with her next week and be her companion again! :) 

The YSA's did an awesome spook house for the Halloween party!

Miracles were happening as there were so many Spanish families who came-

Policarpo's, Herrerras (and they invited their friends too), Victor Lopez, and Gabby even brought her family!

We were so happy! 

hmm... Mormon Nike?