Matters of Sacrifice & Devotion

Missionary Blog 8.27.18

It is a blessing to me to see God’s hand in small things. We could not bring everything with us, so I left my sewing machine at home. I thought I might buy a fancy new machine if I needed it in Texas. I was back and forth on the decision, as the sewing machine I wanted was thousands of dollars—and I would have to get it home at the end of two years. I settled on an inexpensive little Singer at WalMart that I can use to take in Jim’s pants and maybe put together some quilt blocks. Before I could even thread the hot-pink little wonder, one of our elders asked if I could possibly help him with a pair of pants he had split out. So, that was my first sewing project—though he had tried to sew them up with some kind of heavy (upholstery???) cream-colored thread on navy blue pants. . . It was a blessing that I could mend them for him!

What a blessing to be teaching the Doctrine & Covenants and the new Doctrinal Mastery lessons! This week in both seminary and institute we have had the opportunity of teaching “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” and specific history lessons that prompted the revelations in the D&C. We want our students to receive personal revelation and seek the answers to difficult questions and concerns. It is not easy for students to get to 6 AM seminary, five days a week, from all over spread-out Laredo, but our faithful core of students are amazing and engaged in learning spiritual principles and doctrines. It will be a great experience to read Saints and prepare our institute students for the Face-to-Face with Elder Quentin L. Cook as he answers questions about church history and doctrine on Sept. 9.

This morning some elders called and invited us to help teach Mario the Plan of Salvation. It was a spiritual experience! Mario is 30 and was born in Laredo. He works for his dad’s construction company, building the new 9th-grade campus just south of us. Ten years ago he met the missionaries, and they gave him a Book of Mormon and a New Testament. He never saw them again (you know how missionaries get moved around!). He is very excited to be learning the gospel, reading the Book of Mormon, and seeking truth. His wife lives in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, waiting for legal work to get her here. They have lost two babies, so you can guess that the Plan of Happiness gave him hope. He is willing to go to church Sunday in Nuevo Laredo and hopes his wife will go with him. He goes across the bridge to see her every weekend. We are going again next Monday for another lesson. We love being involved with some of the teaching with the elders and sisters!

Saturday was a beautiful experience at the San Antonio Temple as our dear friend (YSA) Ingrid received her endowment. We loved teaching her the temple-prep lessons and being touched by her testimony and enthusiasm for the Gospel. She is the only member in her family. Her heritage is Mexican and Swedish. She says she would hide when missionaries knocked on her family’s door at home and “shhhh” everybody. Then as a college student she was really ready to hear the missionaries one night when they knocked on doors at her dormitory. Their appointment had fallen through, and her door was the last one, third floor, in the building. She is an amazing missionary herself now, going out with the missionaries, doing family history, and sharing her testimony and support with new members. What a great example she is! She gave the FHE lesson last night to the young adults on the importance of the temple, and led an inspirational discussion (one of the young men investigators had never heard of the temple). It is a beautiful thing to watch them teach each other!

The young people here have to face some unbelievable challenges to accept the gospel and change their lives. Can you even imagine trying to break from a drug cartel who is threatening to kill your family if you try to leave their clutches? Can you imagine leaving all friends and family ties to embrace God’s commandments? Can you imagine withdrawal from drugs, tobacco, and alcohol while standing firm against the peer pressure that is ever-present? And yet, most of our new converts are young people—brave, diligent, brilliant young people who know two languages, do whatever it takes to get an education, overcome temptation, and devote their lives to Jesus Christ!

We are truly grateful for this experience. We know that God has called us here to Laredo. We know that every sacrifice is worth it because Heavenly Father loves His children and wants them to have the truth. He wants us all to come back to Him. This is His church. We are blessed to be instruments in His hands.

Missionary Matters 8.22.18

Mission Matters 8.22.18
We have spent the last week getting used to “early to bed”. . . or at least, “early to rise.” Starting our seminary class has been just like starting school for us—bad dreams included! I lie awake worrying that I am not prepared, that no one comes, that I don’t wake up in time, etc. We really do love teaching the Gospel! We are teaching Doctrine & covenants for seminary AND for institute, and it is a blessing. The hard part of seminary is that we never have time to teach even the most important parts and do it in a way that lets students discover truth—especially at 6:00 in the morning.

We are excited to go to the San Antonio Temple on Saturday. Our beautiful YSA Ingrid is getting her endowment. She leaves next week to finish her degree in biology at Texas A&M, College Station. Several of our other institute students are also leaving for school (BYUI) or other adventures like the service or jobs around the country. A couple are getting married (to each other) in October. I cannot believe that we have been here almost three months! It is really fun to see pictures of our grandkids as they go off to school this week. Our little Dax is in the hospital, and we hope that he will be well enough to start kindergarten next week.

Boy, those piano lessons I took as a child are paying off. I played for a baptism of a 20-yr-old woman on Saturday—Elisa. Her mother joined the Church about 5 years ago and is the Relief-Society president in 1st Branch. It was a joyous occasion! I also played the organ for 5th Branch(Spanish) on Sunday. The branch president’s wife is one of my piano students, and she usually plays from the Hymns coursework for prelude on the piano. Then they play the hymns from their phones. Yesterday I played the organ for my first Spanish funeral. The daughter of the sister whose funeral it was came to talk to us afterwards and expressed thanks for all those who helped her grow up in the Church. She says when they were baptized, a sister from Hebbronville would pick her up every week and bring her to church/primary. She said she has never wavered from it. She is a beautiful young mother, sealed to her family.

I bought a little sewing machine so that I can take in Jim’s suits. Everything is way too big for him. We bought some new white shirts, but we do not want to invest in suits until he loses more weight. I think we will shop for some when we come to Utah for the weddings.

We miss you all, but we know we are where the Lord wants us. We are still communicating with Hugo, but have not taught him a lesson yet because he has been back and forth from Guadalajara. He has a house there, too.

Our days are filled with many good things, and we feel the Lord guiding us in all we do. As we have taught the First Vision this week, our hearts are full of gratitude for the Restoration of the Gospel and the work of the Prophet Joseph. It is true! This is God’s work. Pray for us to be well and strong that we can do His will and help Laredo become a stake. Sending our love and prayers!

Service Matters

Matters of Love and Service 8.14.18

Tomorrow morning we start teaching seminary. The course of study is the Doctrine & Covenants, and we can hardly wait! We had a seminary open-house on Sunday. The students and parents are so devoted and thrilled to have this daily learning opportunity at 6:00 AM. One of our YSA students asked if she could come, just until she leaves for college because she joined the church in college and never had the opportunity of seminary. I agree--it is truly a blessing. Tomorrow we are teaching the Plan of Salvation. I think we can take a nap about midday. . . Ha!

I wish you could see and hear the young missionaries here who are gathering Israel. Most are still teenagers, and yet they are on fire with the Spirit. Two of the Elders, Amijo and Krommenhoek, went with us on Saturday for the YSA service project at the Gonzalez' ranch. Along with eight young single adults, they put their hearts into a difficult job. With sweat pouring down their faces and bodies, they took turns with the jackhammer, the shovels and rakes, the machetes, and the pick axes to help an older couple save the driveway from being washed away in every rainstorm. They did it for love of Jesus Christ--to serve His children. It was amazing to watch and to feel.

Today we watched the Elders and Sisters take over, teach, and practice together at District Meeting--and they do it in two languages! With all the meetings we had on Sunday, I was dragging my feet a little about attending the 1:00 sacrament meeting, but we went. Four young missionaries spoke, and we were grateful for their messages. They are exemplary people in every way. One elder from Arizona told of growing up with his single mom, a school teacher. He named his home teacher who hired him as a teen to cut his lawn every week, and then put money in the bank for the elder's mission every month. The home teacher donates $100 a month to his mission. This extraordinary missionary is able to make a difference to the people of the Texas McAllen Mission because of a great home teacher.

We are so thankful to be able to serve as missionaries! We are learning and growing and teaching and serving. We are blessed! We think of you all constantly. Thank you for blessing us with your prayers. Thank you for reaching out to Cameron. We love you!

Language Matters 8.6.18

Matters of Language 8.6.18

I just get thinking that my Spanish is coming along well, when we sit in a couple of Spanish-spoken-here meetings in one day. Oh, it makes my brain tired! Jill says she is listening to The Liahona after reading and studying the written articles, so I tried that today. I think this has potential! Ooooh, boy. That plus the hymns, primary songs, scriptures, all in Spanish, and a few daily lessons in Duolingo and Spanish for Dummies may get us there! I do love testimony meeting in Spanish.

We did not get to teach Hugo this week as he was in Houston and now in Guadalajara. We did go to District Meeting on Tuesday and drove some Elders to Hebbronville to teach a man who had ordered a Book of Mormon online and then requested to meet with the missionaries. Manuel is very prepared. He studies the Bible and Book of Mormon 2 ½ hours a day! We can see the Lord’s hand in strengthening Laredo to become a stake!

Thursday is always the highlight of our week as we teach the amazing young adults in Institute. Although they are almost all bilingual, Spanish is their first language, so they prefer (as any of us would) to speak and learn in español. They are patient with us! Seminary starts on Aug. 15—every school day at 6 AM. We will teach in the chapel closest to us, and we may be glad for that. The other teacher will be in the Hillside building. She is a native Spanish speaker with little teaching experience. She is lovely, though, and will be great. We will be teaching the Doctrine & Covenants.

As I have noted before, we are the only senior couple in Laredo (250,000+ people). The Shaws (in Zapata) told us that there is a real crisis with not enough missionary couples. They said that the Church is short 120 couples right now. Encourage those you know who can afford it to put in their papers! It may be that there are many, many opportunities to serve wherever we live without leaving home and family, BUT it is crucial to have couples in some of these places that are preparing to become wards and stakes and get ready for a temple. We love it here, despite the temperatures, and we know how badly we are needed.

The Sisters texted us yesterday morning to ask if we would feed them. Ha! (Even though they know our eating patterns!) We had a wonderful dinner with them, and said good-bye to Sister Paepke, who is one of our favorites. She is being transferred tomorrow. It is almost unbelievable how devoted, brilliant, talented, and faithful these very young missionaries are! Last week three more elders had to go into clinic because of heat exhaustion; however, they keep going. Y’all need to drink your water!

We did get to see Christopher Robin on Friday. It is nice to have a flexible schedule as a senior couple. We could never keep up with the young missionaries. We found out yesterday that we are not supposed to fast without water. That was a new one for me. I knew that I could not fast for long without my fluids, so next time I will drink my water and still fast.

I have picked up a 4th piano student—darling Sister Ruiz, a young mother and wife of one of our branch presidents (Spanish). She has been teaching herself and playing prelude music from the Simplified Hymns. I love being able to do this! All of my “students” are so determined to learn to play so they can serve and bring music into the church.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the saving grace of this woeful, chaotic world. We are blessed to be called as His emissaries in the Texas McAllen Mission! Pray for us that we will be healthy and protected in doing His work. We love you all.