Another great and marvelous week here in the Texas Houston East Mission, on the streets of the Broadway Area in Houston!
Last Monday when we rode our bikes over to our dinner appointment with the Ceron family, we were awestruck. The house was burned badly! All of the glass was broken and the building itself was black. The family was out back with the things they had managed to salvage. It was super humbling and sad. The fire had taken place while no one was home just a few hours ago. They repeatedly said they didn’t need any help and that they were going to stay with family.
On Tuesday, I started feeling really sick, but we still went out and taught five lessons. Wednesday I went on an exchange for the day with Elder Jenkins, our zone leader and a missionary who is leaving next week. I was able to learn SO MUCH from him and made a really good friend. He gave me a lot of advice and I want to serve my mission in a way that I can be like him when I am about to leave. Or even now!! I was super sick still but we taught a ton of lessons and got stuff done!!
Thursday was a hard day. EVERYTHING fell through. No one let us in. It was a day full of people swearing at us out of their cars, dogs chasing us (Elder Bruneel kicked one that was about to bite him) and the like. But we tried our best.
Friday night, I had a very sacred and personal experience. We were at a light waiting for it to say we could cross on our bikes. We ran into a man who was visibly shaken and in his late 30’s maybe. He was on a small bicycle. We asked where he was going and he told us how he was removed from his house by police and his crazy girlfriend even though he swore had done nothing wrong. This rough, and tough man wept and sobbed openly like a baby while the street lights shone down on us as we listened. He said he had no where to stay and he was scared. He was going crazy. We spent some time talking to him and told him about Pastor Simmons, the man who we have grown to love and who gave us Christmas dinner, who would certainly have a place for him to stay. He took our number and thanked us. He said it was a miracle that we ran into him when we did…
He said that he was on his way to the overpass and who knows what would have happened once he got himself there. We were able to give him comfort him, and as we were riding away, I felt the Holy Ghost so powerfully. I was filled with love for the people of Houston. Although they didn’t know me, through my sacred calling from the Lord to take care of and help them, I just felt love. I also felt the Lord tell me to my heart that there was a reason why I was here and that He had entrusted me with this – a little area of His vineyard – and that it was a great responsibility but one that would bring great blessings if I work hard. It was amazing!
Saturday we visited Fransico Santa Cruz. He and his son David are scheduled for baptism on Saturday the 14th in the evening, and expressed to us their great excitement. They have such faith and are so ready to show their faith to the Lord through this sacred ordinence. One more lesson on Tuesday and then their interview on Thursday before the big day!
Also, a woman we found named Laura Monica Sanchez has been taught all the lessons and has been to church but can’t remember if she was ever baptized as a child in Mexico. We haven’t been able to see that she was on the record, so we may be able to baptize her on the 14th as well.
This morning there was a tornado warning in the city of Houston with some crazy rain and lightning. The missionaries were in lockdown in our respective houses but it was liften. However, the weather is still terrible.
EVERYTHING is flooded. Broadway street, the street right next to us that our church is on was
so flooded you couldn’t see the median! the overpasses were shut off from so much water. You couldn’t get through them. We were driving on sidewalks to get to the library! It’s nuts! I have literally never seen so much water in the city. The on ramp to the free way was literally a lake!! You could only see the tops of the trees on the side of the road! There is water everywhere! the Sims Bayou river is super full and it runs right through our area. It’s crazy! And the lightning and thunder is like nothing I have seen or heard before. SO LOUD!
Thank you all so much for your love and for your support. I am doing my best out here. I carry everywhere with me the little hymnbook that my dad gave me before I left. Hymns are like scripture to me, and every time I am discouraged or need help I pull it out and read a litte verse. The hymn of the week:
http://youtu.be/7iOVaPeqwTI
Fear not, I am with thee,
O be not dismayed.
For I am thy God, and will still
give thee aid.
I’ll strenghthen thee, help thee,
and cause thee to stand.
Upheld by my rightous,
omnipotent hand!When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee overflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress,When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
[My] flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine!
Hymn #85 How Firm A Foundation
Love y’all!
Elder Viitanen