5/20/2024

BIG STORM!!!

We are fine here in Houston. Just to get that out of the way.

I know that many have heard of a massive storm we had back on Thursday. I even heard that there was a tornado. Us down here in the THSM are doing fine. All we got was heavy rain and 100 MPH winds for about 45 minutes to an hour. We pray that our friends north of Houston are doing fine. 

The week was not that crazy except for the storm. I was still sick with this cough that I have been dealing with but that is starting to subside. We found 2 different guys from the Congo and then went back to visit again and teach a little then we found their families. Let's just say that we easily reached our find goal for the week. We had a super fire lesson with our Friend Manuel and his family at the church. He speaks Portuguese and we had our amazing members the Melos come to help. They are from Brazil so their Portuguese is really good. They made a really good Connection with Manuel. On Sunday when Manuel CAME to church we also introduced them to Brother Massanga who is also from Angola. Brother Melo also was able to live translate all of Sacrament meeting for Manuel's wife Helena. All of this just made the whole week a million times better! 

Now I shall share my story of going through the storm. We were driving West on Richmond Avenue toward the storm. Just 5 minutes before it was still cloudy but still nice and bright outside. The rain was so light you didn’t even feel it falling on you. This is around 6:00-6:30 pm. We knew the storm was coming. Every moment we drove West on Richmond Avenue it noticeably got darker. All at one moment the rain came down in a strong surge. I instantly had to turn on the wipers to the fastest setting. It all looked like it was now night-time outside. We got to the apartment we were going to contact some people in and just sat there in the car watching in awe at the storm outside the car. We could see the power of the wind and there were strong lightning strikes with loud thunder that shook everything. Elder Stone wanted to experience the storm so he said, “Let's go knock some doors, the Lord will magnify our efforts!” I was very hesitant seeing that I still had a cough and we would easily get our legs soaked. Mind you we did have our rain jackets on. We counted down and then jumped out of the car to run to the shelter of the apartment building. I stepped outside the car into a few inches of water and knew that my only hope now was the apartment building. We started running. As Elder Stone got near the gate I watched him slip in a puddle on the grass and fall on his back. I get to him and he bursts into laughter as he gets up to keep running. The rain continued to pour onto him and soak him even in his rain jacket. We only knocked about 5 doors with one answer to a guy who just asked what we were doing out here. With that we decided to make it back to the car so we could go to the apartment to change into dry clothes. I thought I unlocked the car door with the key-fob so I could just hop in the back on the passenger side without having to go around the car but I got there and it was still locked. I had to go around the car. As I step down the curb the water goes half way up to my knee. This was a super deep puddle. Both my legs were then soaked. We made it back to the apartment and waited out the storm. In all it did only last about 45 minutes to an hour for us. But looking at the radar, our friends north of Houston and in Louisiana had all that constant for hours so I pray that they fared better than us. 

Now this storm did cause a mass power outage. Many parts of the city still don’t have power or water. We are fortunate enough to have power and water in our apartment so we are having the MP1 Elders stay with us because their power is out. I am now in a quad temporarily. It has been really fun. I’ll miss this quad life I have had the opportunity to live in at this time. 

The week has been really good. I hope you all are doing well. I would love to hear from you all. Don’t be afraid to let me know, it really can brighten up my week as I read about how my friends and family are doing! Stay toasty!