La última carta

This will be the last email I send. Next week at this time I will be headed to the airport to catch my flight home. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic I won't be able to give a traditional homecoming talk so I would like to share a few thoughts with you here.

I feel as many Book of Mormon prophets did when they wrote about not having enough space to write everything that has occurred in their life time. So many things have happened in the past 22 months and I have become a different, better person because of these experiences. I wish I could share so much more but I lack time, space, and writing ability. 

A very powerful thing that I have learned is agency. We all have agency. Agency is the ability we have to choose for ourselves. Agency is the one thing that we have that is completely ours! Our money, houses, families, cars, etc. are all given and taken away at God's will. But agency will never be taken from us. It is everlasting. Due to agency we can choose for ourselves. We can choose what we want for breakfast, what we want to wear, where we work, what we study, and everything in this world and the eternities is dependent upon agency. Over the past 2 years I have seen so many examples of agency and it's importance. It honestly took me a long time to get the grasp and true understanding of agency. I know that this gospel will change and bless peoples lives! But we can not force it upon them. Early on in the mission I did not understand this. I thought that everyone would want the gospel that can see the value in it. But just like how God cannot take away our agency, we can not take away the agency of others. We can share what we have and offer what we have but it always come down to the person's agency to accept the offer or to reject it. I would like to share a few examples and stories about this. 

One night we were walking down the street and there was an old man sitting on his porch. We approached him and tried to share the message of this gospel with him. No longer than we said hello he had told us to go away. We persisted on trying to share a message with him. As I looked at this man I could see how hard work in life had taken its toll on his body.  In the dim light from his porch light you could clearly see the unhappiness and depression in his eyes that had overcome his body and spirit. As we persisted to try and share the joy of the gospel he continually rejected the message. As we walked away from that man there was a very sober spirit that filled the air. I knew that the gospel could change his life around but at that point in the mission I had learned to respect agency. I felt grief for that man knowing that he was rejecting what will change his life. For a moment I felt a slight feeling of what Christ might have felt that night in Gethsemane. I felt pain and sadness in my soul for that man and the fact that he was rejecting true happiness.

A few months prior to this our district was doing our weekly community service at the Alice food pantry. We were putting food orders together and taking them to people's cars and getting contact information so we could go by their homes later and teach them. We met a man named Leroy. In the next month as we met with him he had a choice. To accept or to not. He read the Book of Mormon, prayed, and came to church. He received a very powerful spiritual witness of the truth. And was shortly baptized thereafter. As he was preparing for baptism the spirit was overwhelmingly powerful. At many moments as we sat in his humble home and shared messages the spirit would bring us all to tears of joy and happiness. Once again I felt another eternal feeling. 

What is the difference between these two people? Agency. One choose to reject and the other choose to accept.

Remember that we cannot choose for others but we must always choose for ourselves. 

See y'all soon! 

Elder Richards and I watching General Conference on our phones in quarantine.

The way zone conferences happen during a pandemic.

Cleaning day preparing for Easter

La Quarentena

I'm sure everyone has questions right now. Yes, I am alive. Yes, we have food. Yes, we can still go shopping. Yes, we are stuck in the apartment. Yes I'm being sent home 6 weeks early. I will go home April 27 (I think). We are on day 5 of quarantine. We can only leave to go shopping and exercise (as long as nobody is around us). We have been doing all of our teaching over the phone. It's been really interesting but also fun to just call someone and all of a sudden start teaching! It has been difficult to find people and teach lessons but the Lord will provide! We have one person who is progressing very quickly and has fellowship and has strong desires to grow in the gospel!! 

With my new companion, Elder Richards

COVID-19

As many of you know it has been a crazy week with many changes! On Thursday during our dinner appointment we got the email about the church being canceled due to COVID-19. Then on Friday we received further protocol we are to follow. This includes having a two week food storage in our apartments, not shaking hands with people, if we have any symptoms we have to stay inside, and just common self protection like washing hands frequently, and avoiding large groups. For now work is progressing and same as normal. Honestly the hardest one to follow is not shaking hands. I forget half the time about that. And it's awkward to explain to people that we can't shake their hand and to just leave them hanging. Due to no large groups we can no longer have any zone meetings. Everything is district based now. And then on Saturday we received further protocol about the people we are teaching. In order for someone to get baptized they must first come to church twice. So church is now a Sunday devotional. It can be at a member's house or at our investigator's house! It honestly makes it a lot easier for people to come to church! We can still have baptisms as well but with very minimal people there. On Sunday we partook of the sacrament with a family in the ward. We had the sacrament outside in their yard under a tree! It was a really cool experience! It's amazing to see the work of the Lord go forward as the world falls apart. We truly are guided by a prophet of God! Transfers are also today as well. My companion is getting transferred and I'm staying. They are also changing the district so now I will have 4 companionships of sisters.

We are now also told to use reflect vests when we bike

 Last pday we went for some ties and this is the load we had. A whole truck full of ties (200 Lbs).

A lady gave us a watermelon so we carried it around until dinner!

Today's pday activity. Brunch at Dennys!

coolest mailbox I have ever seen! 

Conferencia de Estaca

This week was stake conference. The conference was really powerful and spiritual. We had 2 people that came to the conference.  We also had zone conference this past week. We talked about our missions goals and what we are going to do to achieve them! 

found this street trackting

my new companion, Elder Jenkins

canal that we bike by

Last week someone asked us to help them get their cat out of the tree. The lady kept trying to ask if she could climb up the later and get it even though the ladder was only supported by the fence. We were able to convinced her to just leave the ladder there and wait for the cat to come down. 

A member has two dogs that he has trained to attack people like the cops do. This is the jacket that he uses to train them.

Los Cambios

Apparently the email from last week didn't send so I will include it with this one.

(last week) I'm getting transferred. I'm only moving a few miles but into a different ward and zone. I'm moving into another bike area! Honestly I love being on the bike. Today for pday we found a big area where there are mountain biking trails! The only problem with the trials was there are no mountains in Texas!! It was basically just a trail that wove in and out of the brush with lots of low trees and a couple places with BMX jumps and turns. This past week was also Laredo conference. We got up at 4:30 in the morning to get ready and head to Laredo and then got back at about 9.  The conference was really good. Elder Alliaud talked about how we can keep our selves focused on our purpose and accomplish that purpose.

(this week) It's been good getting used to the new area. This area has a lot of potential. It's way more Spanish than my last area which is a lot of fun. In the past week we have only talked to four people who are only English! The ward I am in is massive! We average 170 in sacrament meeting. Our area is really big as well especially for biking. Our area is out in the country so the only roads that connect to go anywhere are narrow, fast, and busy.. So we bike really fast so we get off them quick. 😂 There is also a lot of dogs. The dogs are the worst because they chase you especially as your biking. So we also bike fast to get away from the dogs. My companion is Elder Jenkins from Cache Valley.

Mountain Biking on p-day

Conference with Elder Alliaud

Hace mucho

Well it's been a while since I have written. Time just keeps flying by. The past few weeks have been pretty normal. We have been struggling to get people to church but we are continuing to find and teach. We have had success in finding and teaching. There was an emergency transfer today so our district leader had to leave to a different area, and a newer missionary is taking his spot. So President asked me to be the district leader. It seems like the whole mission as soon as you start to figure out what your doing something new happens. 😂😂 Everything in this life is a learning and growing experience. If you're not moving forward you're moving backwards.

Companion and I

Not much to say about this but if y'all need a fridge, I got you!

¡Feliz año nuevo!

New years was calm for us not much happened. It was just two regular days.

Medrano family: they feed us every week (and were very kind to help Elder Blackham when he became ill at their house one day)

Park that we work at often. There are always people there so it makes for great opportunities to talk with people.

Christmas Conference

Christmas Conference

Fiestas Navideñas

Last week the Christmas festivities began! It started out with a lot of cooking on pday last week. My companion, the other elders in our ward, and I decided to make some treats for the people we are teaching and go caroling! On Monday last week I baked cookies and Elder Mahler made popcorn. Tuesday we went to the Hidalgo lights! There is a big park across the street from the church that is decorated for Christmas. Tons of people go and look at the lights. The church was open almost everyday for an open house so people could come inside and warm up! Tuesday was the day our ward was assigned so we went and helped. There were a lot of people that we were able to talk to and get to know! On Thursday we went caroling to a bunch of our people that we are working with and gave them goodie bags! We saw so many blessings from this activity!! The next day (Friday) was the ward Christmas party. There were 11 non members there from our area and 3 or 4 less active families!! The other elders also had a few non members and less active families. It is the best turn out to a ward party I have ever seen! I've never been so confused at who to sit with because there were so many new/unfamiliar faces! 2 of the families that are non members that came we went caroling to the day before! One of the families is the Garza family! Two of the kids are members but the parents and the 3 other siblings are non members. After caroling Thursday they came to the party Friday and loved it! Then we had a super good lesson at their home with a member family that we invited and then the mom came to church with two of her kids the next day!!

caroling

baking! 

Hidalgo lights!

the license plate on this car translates to wash me

Here are some photos from our video chat with Elder Blackham on Christmas morning.  We loved having him be part of our celebration!

La Programa de la Primaria

It's been a while since I've participated in a primary program but that's what we did this Sunday! The primary asked if we could sing with them. We have been working hard this week with the members to try and help them to invite their friends to the Christmas service this upcoming Sunday. The work has been going well. We keep finding people and a member brought their brother in law to church and we are going by tomorrow to visit with them!

Classic tamale dinner

Speed limit for the bikes?

A passionate Catholic

Elder Blackham mentioned in his phone call this week that he heard of a second family he taught in Alice that has been baptized since he was transferred.  It has been incredible to see the growth in that area since he first arrived in that struggling branch earlier this year.  It was also wonderful to hear that Leroy has been a big part in fellowshipping the new members in that area.  The sisters in that went to the MTC with Elder Blackham went home this week as he has reached his 18 month mark.  Time is passing quickly and he's happy to have another 6 months to serve!

Día de Pavo

As you all know this past week was Thanksgiving. We celebrated with two member families and ate Thanksgiving dinner with both of them. The week before the ward had a Thanksgiving party and we were able to bring a family that we are teaching!

Lucas. He is a member of a part member family that we are teaching. He was able to come to church this past week and hopefully the rest of his family will come next week! 

We volunteered at the food pantry the week before Thanksgiving.

Ward party with the Acensio family! 

Exchanges! Now for exchanges both of us go to our leader's area and work in that area. So when your apartment is small and there isn't any room you end up forming a megabed.

Service project! We helped the Chavez family move our of their home Thanksgiving morning. It's sad to see them move they are a great family.

El Frío

Coldest week in south Texas. It got down to 40 this past week and it was raining as well. For y'all up north that really isn't very cold but when your used to it being hot and winter not existing it was bone chilling (especially with the wind and rain). The only thing keep us warm was wearing double or triple layers of everything. We wore three jackets, two pairs of pants and socks as well as hats and gloves.

Elder Blackham's new companion is Elder Smith from Sandy, UT.  It's been great for him to get out more this week and find some new people to teach.  He's back on his bike getting lots of miles in.  Unfortunately Maria is moving out of the area so some other missionaries will have to continue teaching her.

Transferencia

It seems like this transfer has flown past. It feels like I have been here for only a few weeks but it's time for another change. It has been very challenging to work this past transfer because of the health problems of my companion. But this week we were given a car so we were able to get a lot more done. But now he is headed to a different area with a car so he can heal and recover and my new companion is going to be elder Smith!

fire hydrant

Zombie truck! Someone is prepared!

When a member gives you tamales and you're far away from your apartment and it's also rainy outside so you go to a what a burger and enjoy dinner!

Enfermedad

It has been another long week. My companion was sick for the first couple days. When he got better he sprained his ankle which has made it difficult to work a full day as well. But regardless of all the trials we are having with the work we have been doing our best. Last night we were blessed with a miracle. We were visiting a member family and we started talking to them about missionary work. They brought up their neighbor who is 75 years old but has questions about our beliefs. We asked when a good time to visit her would be and the member went and invited the neighbor into her home! We shared a powerful message and she said she will read and pray!