Dear Family and Friends,
Wow. So many things have happened since my last email! I don’t really know where to start!
I got what I wanted!!! I’m on a bike, in a smaller, compact, and mostly Spanish speaking area!
My new companion is Elder Erickson. He is a redhead from North Ogden. He’s really sweet. He loves soccer as much as I do. He is really good… he played for Weber State before he came out here. He is on his fourth transfer of the mission so I have been out a while longer than he has. Our area is good old Denver Harbor / Port Houston! This place is insane! All I would hear about from people is to never go into Denver Harbor, and here I am. It’s one of the worse parts of Houston, but I love it!
Goodbyes
Last Monday night I said bye to the Houston 7 ward. We had a family home evening with the Duarte family … it was more like a ward party! We counted, there were over 50 people there before we lost count. Many of them were investigators that came to say bye to Hna. Tueller and I! It was so fun! But sad. I’ll send some pictures. I will miss all those people! They became like my family! Especially the Aguilera family, they were so hard to say bye to. They thanked me for the work we had put in with them, helping them be more united as a family and getting reactivated! I love them so much!
It was awesome because, since Denver Harbor is a bike area (and you know how I am with the flat tire pixies) I had a flat after our first appointment. Right when I was done blowing steam (elder Erickson thought it was pretty funny to see), we got a call from the Aguilera’s who said they were in the neighborhood (like 30 mins away from their house) and they had bought me a new tire, tube, and pump, wondering where I could meet them. It was a miracle! we are so close!
Denver Harbor
Denver Harbor seems sweet. It’s been baptizing like crazy, but it’s ‘cooled down’ a lot. i feel like I’ve been sent to a lot of “building-up’ areas. but this place should be really good, there is lots of potential for more success here.
it didn’t even feel like the fourth of July on Wednesday. I saw more Mexican flags than anything else. I think we saw one US flag all day and it was pretty tattered up. But the Mexicans were partying and barbecuing anyway haha. I didn’t even realize until that evening that it was the fourth! This place is weird – the edge of our area hits downtown so you can always see it nearby, but riding around, I seriously feel like I am in a different country, like Mexico or Brazil. There’s all these tiny run-down houses (including ours) on tiny lots with tons of trees everywhere. And it’s always raining and hot, it feels like a foreign place!
Elder Erickson was telling me about the rival gangs in the area and all their signs and tattoos and wars. Pretty interesting. But this is straight up 5th ward! It’s a pretty rough area. It’s notorious here in Houston!
There are so many funny crazy people we meet. We have so much fun, riding around, talking to everyone – we are always telling stories, we talk to each other a lot as we are biking to our next appointment. Anytime some people are bbquing in the streets and we talk to them, they always tell us to pull up a seat and they run inside and tell their ‘senoras” (ladies) to make us some beans and rice or something. And they give us so much meat! We have a good time, and work hard. It’s a good balance.
Jackie Moved Here
Jackie moved into our area! Crazy huh? I think maybe that’s why president sent me here actually. The AP’s told me that originally I was supposed to go BACK TO BROADWAY!! But after the lesson we had with president and Jackie he sent me here. Isn’t that nuts? She is now praying for a date to be baptized. Our lessons with her are so intense haha we love it.
We haven’t been eating as many dinners with members because there aren’t many in our area. But there was one that we ate with that is just very poor. He literally lives in a chicken coop. He gave us rice to eat with “chicharron” to eat.
Margarito Garcia
We had a great experience last night I want to share with you. We were biking home for the night, having a good conversation and about to get off our bikes and haul them onto the bridge that goes over the freeway, when we saw a bigger man walking towards his house carrying grocery bags. We have been doing a really good job at talking to everyone that we see, so we started biking down the street to go talk to him. We told him that we were missionaries and he said he needed to use the restroom and he will be right out. He didn’t seem that interested, but we waited. Sure enough, he came back out.
We started our typical contact approach when Elder Erickson told him that we are here to help him with the struggles that he is facing in his life. That’s not part of our usual approach, it was inspired. Then, I asked him what worries him in life. He told us that he is going through a rough time and needs a lot of help. He is trying his hardest to break his addiction to alcohol but can’t quite do it and needs help. We told him that we were there to help him and that we would do everything we can to help him come closer to Christ. Tears welled up in his eyes. I just felt a genuine love for this man that I didn’t even know! We set an appointment for Tuesday, and we asked if we could pray with him before we left.
There, underneath the sunset, on the side of a freeway with downtown looming in the distance – while sitting on our bikes, leaning on our handlebars – I offered a prayer for this man. I prayed that he wouldn’t be tempted to drink anymore and that he will be able to find that truth, that the Lord would take him by the hand.
He wiped his eyes and thanked us. His name is Margarito Garcia. I can’t wait to see him on Tuesday. I know he is special.
Happy!
i am so happy to be here! I love it here! I love all of y’all! And I know that this church is true! Please pray for Margarito and Jackie, and remember to pray that we will be able to find someone new to teach, every Thursday at 6 PM (Texas time) no matter where you are! it’s all about collective faith.
The best thing that has happened to me so far on the mission… change.
Love you guys. Reppin’ Denver Harbor!
Elder Viitanen
