The Time We Had No Time

Marko September 3, 2013 0 Comments

Dear Family and Friends,

The reason I am sending this email in the middle of a Tuesday is because yesterday was Labor Day and all of the libraries were closed… then this morning we had zone leader council or mission leadership council – whatever they call it – and we just got out of lunch at the mission home and this is the first free moment we’ve had.

There are just a few things I wanted to mention this week:

Giving Blessings

We had the chance, Elder Tatom and I, to give “beginning the school yeah blessings” to all of the young women and men in the ward who don’t have dads who have the priesthood. There were a lot. It made me think of my father and how he would give me a blessing to begin school ever year and how grateful I am for him and his priesthood service and worthiness and example that he is to me. Thank you dad.

Also … this happened last week but I forgot to tell y’all about it. We got a call from president Crawford on a Saturday saying that he needed us to drive a couple of elders outside of the mission to attend a baptism so they could meet the convert’s family, who live in our mission. So, we got to go to the Texas Houston Mission and spend a good amount of time there! It was crazy! The most direct route went right through downtown Houston, which is the dream of every Texas Houston East missionary – to drive through downtown – well, we got to do it. and it was approved! It was pretty sweet. We drove right past the Toyota Center, where the Rockets play  – as well as Minute Maid where the Astros play. Pretty cool stuff.

Yanira

We have a new investigator who just got here from El Salvador. She is 18. Her name is Yanira. She walked all the way from Mexico City to El Paso Texas where she was found by immigration and imprisoned. She was let out and now lives with a member family and she is going to get baptized! Before my mission I didn’t think of Hispanic people in a respectful way, especially illegal immigrants. But I have gained such a respect and love for these people. They are truly modern pioneers. Their sacrifices are huge. I think of the words of the Book of Mormon. I can’t remember where, but it says that the Lord doesn’t suffer anyone to come to this land unless He desires it.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else than in Houston. We were taken out to dinner and also Hugo Garcia, one of our investigators, took us out to Denny’s for some shakes. He also bought me a sweet read Arian Foster Texans Jersey. It’s awesome.

Well, I better go but I love y’all!

Love

Elder Viitanen

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