Excitement Matters in the TMM

TMM Excitement Matters

Elder Flanagan has had some marvelous experiences working with the young missionaries this week. He just returned from meeting with Idalia and her new friend and helper Elsa, so thankful for the strong spirit there as they teach and pray and bless these two women. Both recognize the spirit and are grateful for it. Elsa is temporarily living with Idalia, and they support and help each other. Idalia is on dialysis, waiting to be well enough to be baptized. Elsa is here in Laredo from Nuevo Laredo while her husband is in assisted living and unable to go back to her home because she could not get back across the border. She told Elder Flanagan that she often saw missionaries in Mexico visiting her neighbors and wished they would come to her because she knew they had something she needed. The two women are reading the Book of Mormon to each other.

The missionary sisters had a baptism Saturday and have a couple more on Thursday. They taught and baptized Mia and reactivated her family. It was so sweet to see the family at church together on Sunday. Mia is twelve and deaf. The next two baptisms are teenagers. It is a very exciting time in Laredo!

We didn’t get back from the temple in time for Mia’s baptism. We had a senior-missionary temple trip with our “senior” friends from the Texas McAllen Mission. It was a wonderful day! Five hours in the car with the Shaws helped us get to know them better and hear their faith-promoting stories from experiences in Zapata. We had lunch at the Olive Garden, where we were able to find a couple of delicious keto choices. Check out our picture. Yes, our mission president is very young—just turned 40. He and Sister Torres and their four children are in their third year here in Texas from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where he is a businessman and has been a leader in the Church since he was a teenager. He has learned English since he got here two-and-a-half years ago, and usually teaches and speaks in English even though everyone but us probably speaks Spanish fluently. Sister Torres is beautiful, as you can see, elegant, and brilliant. She also speaks English well. We learn a lot from President Torres!

We are getting better with Spanish! Sitting through Spanish meetings is getting easier. Our Spanish class and the work we do on our own in Duolingo and the books we use, are making us more comfortable with the language every day. We are thankful for this experience.

It is CHILLy this week in Laredo—jacket weather. We are having rain and fog with temperatures that drop into the 50s at night. We do not have to turn on heat yet, but we can see how it was possible for Laredo to get snow last year. We had to go to Target and get some jackets because we were not prepared for cold. Of course, people who live here think that it is freezing if the temperatures dip into the 70s.

We LOVE our teaching assignments! In institute the students teach each other and make every class a spiritual experience. We love our seminary students, too—they are brilliant and impressive young people. What a blessing it is to serve here!

Sunday we will be back in San Antonio to hear the Prophet, Elder Bednar, and Elder Ochoa. We will stay overnight in SA, so we can pick up Cameron at the airport the next day. We are very excited for this experience and then the creation of the Laredo Stake on Dec. 1-2.

Our hearts are so full this Thanksgiving time. We love you all. We miss you, but time goes so quickly, and we are truly blessed in so many ways. We are overwhelmed at the tender mercies of God. We are blessed with the best children and grandchildren, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and cousins—we love you all. We are thankful to the missionaries all over the world who are enlisted in this great work. We are thankful for every member who works to build the kingdom, and for those who have been prepared to accept the gospel. Happy Thanksgiving!