Missionary Matters

June 18, 2018
Dear Friends and Family,
We had a wonderful and interesting week here in southern Texas! Our calling here, of course, is to teach, and teach we did! We also connected on Hangout for the first time for a CES inservice on Wednesday night after a very interesting trip with sister missionaries to Hebbronville. Sisters Zidek and Libberton asked us to take them out to this typical little town about an hour away to give out some free Bibles that were requested on Mormon.org and contact some members who had not had any contact with the Church. There was only a burned out house at one of the addresses. At another, the man did not remember ever being baptized--but in his state, maybe he wouldn't have remembered his own name. We met one very sweet senior couple who just could not travel the distance to attend church, so now attend with the Methodists. It is very sad that people get kind of "lost" in the middle of nowhere and don't have a chance to grow in the gospel. We were very impressed with the Sisters who prayed and then marched like shepherds, trying to gather the sheep. They had a little FaceTime meeting with Cameron and prayed for his friend.

The little trip to Hebbronville was our second encounter of the week with the border patrol. We had to pass through a checkpoint. I really had no idea until then what the "checkpoints" were that were keeping some of our people from the temple. On Monday we went to a missionary apartment down by "the river," and decided to take a little drive to see the Rio. As we turned into the neighborhood and down an unsaved little road, a border-patrol vehicle pulled out and followed us. Here we were in a big SUV with dark windows. . . I guess we looked suspicious. We decided it wasn't worth being searched or questioned, and turned around. It could have been iffy if there were people waiting in the bushes!

We had a fun time buying little puzzles at the dollar store for our object lesson for Institute. Our third border-patrol encounter was at the church on Thursday night. As we set up for class, one of the members who is a border-patrol helicopter pilot came in to tell us that a threat had been called in against churches. He was there to lock all the doors and guard the front foyer. Oooo, that was a little scary. No incidents, thank goodness. We had 28 students, including our newly-baptized friend, an investigator with the sister missionaries, a young man who is being re-activated by sister missionaries, and our fabulous YSAs. It is a joy to teach them, be with them, and learn with them! Several are returned missionaries. They love and support each other.

On Friday we went to THE INCREDIBLES 2 and enjoyed some time walking that beautiful mall. We are loving walking daily at the community fitness center. On Saturday night we had another fiesta to celebrate Bro. Orozco' birthday with a "carne asada" --which is a barbecue with a Mexican flavor. The favorite activity is karaoke! The surprise songbird was Sister Paedke. WOW--she was amazing. Also, Bro. Orozco can really sing! He and his wife are the YSA advisors and comida preparers. They have three grown children and three grandchildren. Sister Orozco now has all her documentation, and as soon as Brother Orozco's comes through, they will go to the temple in San Antonio.We are very excited for them.

I got to teach Relief Society on Sunday following Pres. Nelson's talk on 'Revelation" from April Conference. It was a special experience. I also gave my first missionary piano lesson to 14-yr-old David. The District owns some keyboards the kids can use for practice, and I give the lessons at the church for David. I invited him to come to the house, but his mother uses the Internet at the church during his lesson. I forget how little resources some of these people have. I offered our WiFi and a computer for her use here, but I think they may be more comfortable at the church. The "Los Presidentes" building is tiny, but beautiful. They have relocatable classrooms--which is where we will teach seminary. A renovation and expansion is planned for 2019. three large branches (soon to be wards) meet in this building--which is very near us. The Hillside Chapel is a large, regular-sized building. We like to attend and serve there, too, as one Spanish branch and one English branch meet at Hillside. Two Spanish and one English meet at Los Presidentes.

Love to all of you! We love being here in Laredo and doing the Lord's work!