2/26/2024

Baptism!!! Zone Conference!!! Wheels getting stolen?!?!

This is a long week so buckle up and have fun reading!

Monday

We had Zone P-Day. This was awesome because the last time I had Zone P-Day was in October in my first transfer. It was so nice outside so we played sand volleyball, capture the flag, and ultimate frisbee with a football. Our wonderful senior missionaries for the area, the Roberts brought us cake to have. They are amazing! After all of our P-Day activities we went out to try and visit/ clean up our map. It was a fun evening however it smelled like fireworks had gone off even though there were no fireworks. It was weird.

Tuesday

The day was alright. We had a Zone zoom meeting so I just started making pumpkin bread. It turned out really good. For the day we decided to go to Downtown Houston and check it out. It was really cool but I think I still prefer New York City but Houston is great too. On our way back taking the metro there was a lady who looked really stressed. I started to understand that she was trying to get on the green metro but was on the purple instead. I helped he calm down and understand where she was trying to go. She was trying to catch a bus out of the city and wasn’t familiar with Houston transit. I was able to help direct her which station to get off and where she needed to go. Once she was on her way it looked like there were other people to help her. I also prayed in my heart that she could safely make it to her bus. I got the feeling that she was going to be alright. I got to thinking that maybe that was the whole reason we went to downtown and that was just to help her on our way back. Once we got back we had a short zoom lesson with a guy and our ward mission leader. We then had a friend get us dinner and then he decided to get us the WhataBurger Dr Pepper shake and let me tell you, that shake is one of the best shakes I have ever had. Great day.

Wednesday

ZONE CONFERENCE!!! 

Finally after 2 transfers of no zone conference I finally had one. However the wait was worth it. This conference was amazing!!! The trainings were great and interactive and the 3 AP’s gave a super awesome role-play training that was just super fun for everyone to watch. It was like watching a comedy play. During lunch, an Elder who broke his leg a few days before showed up and everyone started cheering. It was so cool. Once the departing testimonies came it got me sad. The 2 Elders who were the AP’s when I came in are going home. Elder Bautista was the first person after the Mission President to welcome me to Houston. I will always remember his warm embrace and loving hug. At the end of all our Zone Conferences we sing Come Thou Fount. This time was super spiritual. An Elder played the organ super well and to make it better, it was a full pipe organ. It got me thinking how sad it will be to leave the mission when it is my time. One thing I will remember though is that This Is Exaclty What I Signed Up For!

Thursday

This morning was not as expected. When we woke up, our cell service was gone. Some tower somewhere went down which caused a good chunk of our day to go without calling people. We had to bike to the church to have wifi and it was super windy. We were just biking against the wind all day. While having dinner, some Sisters from the Temple Square mission called us and gave us a referral. We eventually learned that this person lives in the other Elders area so there's that. I got to give a blessing of comfort to one of the Sisters friends which was cool. Then I got volunteered to perform the Confirmation for our friend Angela on Sunday. Then I wrote down my personal goals for the mission in my Book of Mormon.

Friday

This was a long day. I guarantee that we biked at least 15 miles. We went all the way to the bottom of the area which is about 5 miles from our apartment. While biking along the way I saw a milk crate in a ditch. Naturally I pull over and grab it and attach it to the rack on the back of my bike. So now I have another milk crate. Then a little further into our ride I spotted a license plate and naturally put it into my newfound bike basket. To end the day we had basketball night. I did one game then just played the piano.

Saturday

BAPTISM DAY!!!

To start out the day, the stake put on a breakfast for the missionaries in the stake. When we were there we learned that the Sisters car got put on bricks. Their wheels were stolen!!! But on the bright side, the robbers left the lug nuts on the ground. We were able to get spare tires from other missionaries to help the Sisters have wheels to at least drive their car to Firestone to get new wheels. It was a rough day. The Baptism went great! Angela was SUPER excited. After the Baptism we went to Gerald's house and helped him finish setting up his TV by getting his account signed in. He did Amateur Boxing and he showed us some of his videos. After that we met with another friend who will consistently go off on tangents. It is so funny I almost burst out laughing. But he also agrees with almost everything we say so that is awesome. We gave him 3 Nephi 11 to read. What he got from it was that the family crossed the ocean….. That's in 1 Nephi. Then he started talking about portals. So funny! We continued our day biking and visiting friends to invite them to church. All the days blur together now.

Sunday

Well I just have to say, I love church. I got to do my first Confirmation today for Angela. After church we had a linger longer. It is something I really want to bring back to Utah. At least I’ve never seen them in Utah. Everyone was talking to Angela and it was amazing. She has a great home here in the MacG Ward. We had dinner as a district at the Bishops. Our Bishop is a professor at the University and he is really funny. We are really trying to build good relationships with ward members and the ward council. This first step we have taken was really good. 

That was the week. Sorry for it being so long, there was just so much to tell. Keep on building Faith. Faith is the first and next step for everything. Everything we do needs to be done through Faith.