Dear Family and Friends,
I am writing this email to y’all just about 10 pounds lighter than I was last week!! I’ve been having some serious stomach problems but they gave me some stuff that sure took care of that!! haha at least for now.. but I feel good!
Last week we got to have combined zone p-day in the Kingwood Zone. We played soccer and it was way fun! I love playing soccer! I’m getting pretty good! It must be the jerseys I wear haha 😉
Well something crazy about when we played soccer is.. it was 105 degrees outside with over 70% humidity! I don’t know if that means anything to y’all back home but that is HOT!!! I was dying! Good thing we had plenty of water! It kind of feels good in a way though.. just running around getting a good workout and just sweating like crazy. It was cool.
Aguileras
Well, anyway.. you remember the Aguilera family I talked about last week? They told us they’ve been reading and praying together every night as a family! It made me so happy! They are awesome!
Less Active Families Doing Great
We are doing really good with less actives.. Hermana Rivera talked with the bishop last week and she dropped coffee and is taking temple prep classes! She is excited to go receive her endowments! We had a sweet lesson with the Fuentes family also.. we set a goal for them to get sealed in the temple. Hermano Fuentes said he knows it will be rough but he’s gonna give it he best shot. He said he needs to change a lot of things. From what I’ve seen.. he’s a GREAT dad and he will be fine. I love that family!
We’ve been teaching a family (a mom, and her three teenage daughters and their boyfriends) they actually seem really interested and are really attentive and retain alot, especially for a bunch of teenagers. They like the idea of restored authority and each have their own copy of the Book of Mormon that they said they would read.
Not sure if I told y’all about that lady we met on the street that was baptized in Mexico and her husband isn’t a member? we taught them once and they seemed really into it.. then the next day we got a message from them saying that they were content in their own church and dont’ want to be confused.. so we went by anyway and taught the restoration. It was perfect! We taught really well… and I am not often satisfied with a lesson. But that one went really well! They were so attentive and into it.. something just clicked! The husband said he would read and pray.. we are excited for them!
No Luck With Investigators
The second half of this week was a little rough..
Our afternoons (from 12 – 5) just drag by and don’t seem to be very productive. There was one day this week we had over 20 people planned to try between those hours and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM didn’t let us in. Quite a few were set appointments too. It’s frustrating, because you don’t feel like you’re doing work. Especially when you’re in a car. You just drive around, get out, knock on a door, and they don’t let you in. At least that’s what’s been happening. I miss being on a bike in Broadway!!! I have been here in Channelview for a long time… we have had lots of success with less actives, but as far as investigators go.. usually the story goes something like this:
By some miracle, we find someone who is just totally ready and totally prepared to hear the gospel.. we start teaching them, we see them once or twice, and either, they don’t progress (because they just don’t want to) or they start ignoring us. But we aren’t getting discouraged, we keep trying! I’m just worried that I’m not doing a good job. Not teaching well enough maybe? Why are all these people just slipping through our fingers?
Transfers are coming up in a couple weeks. History says that I will be leaving here. Although I want so badly to go to a small, compact, bike area and sweat my butt off in the heat and work crazy hard (seriously!!!), at the same time I don’t want to leave here. I still feel like there is something for me to do here. I haven’t done enough. I can only keep working hard and hope that that something comes along quick! haha
On Friday we had a father’s day party at the church. We weren’t able to get anyone there, but the sisters in our ward have been doing a great job! We talk with their investigators every time they come to church or any activities, we’ve gotten really close to them, it almost feels like they’re our investigators too! One of them, Ruth Morales, is the bishops’ son’s girlfriend. She is getting married this Friday. She is amazing!!! She has such a strong testimony and is so excited about her baptism. The hermanas are doing a really good job here.
We did get a lot of less actives there though, and the Aguileras were dancing together at the party! I think we are really helping them out a lot!!
Saturday wasn’t the best day… I started taking that medicine, and like I said, it works… so we were told to stay at home for a little bit for the effects to kick in.. and I hated it!!! I felt like such a lazy just staying home.. I couldn’t just sit there. So I started cleaning the house. I got everything clean!!! Everything in the house is SPOTLESS!!! Especially our bathroom and study room.. you should see it! haha. but finally we got out and had a good rest of the day.
Growing Pains
Well, that about covers it for this week. I’ve been thinking alot about my time here in Channelview. There are alot of things I could have done better.. but I think there is a reason why it’s been so hard. Because the Lord wants it to be that way. There were lessons for me to learn here and lessons that I have yet to learn here. Knowing that it is hard because the Lord wants it to be that way.. why would I ever get discouraged. Growing is uncomfortable, and it’s difficult. But it’s good. That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve been able to learn so far throughout my whole mission. How slowly, everything I was in my past that I didn’t like is slowly melting away (partly to the heat here in Houston.. have I told you how hot it is here?! But mostly due to the Refiner’s fire). Why then, would I ever get discouraged.
One of my closest friends and greatest.. mentors, I guess you could say for lack of a better word, told me before the mission… there comes a time when you don’t have to chose between right and wrong anymore. But you have to start choosing between comfort, and change. That pretty much sums up what I am shooting for down here.
Love yall.
Elder Viitanen
P.S. has anyone ever paid attention to the word of the hymn “Come Let Us Anew”?[1] dang. I read it every morning now.
- Come Let Us Anew — Hymn 217
1. Come, let us anew our journey pursue,
Roll round with the year,
And never stand still till the Master appear.
His adorable will let us gladly fulfill,
And our talents improve
By the patience of hope and the labor of love,
By the patience of hope and the labor of love.2. Our life as a dream, our time as a stream
Glide swiftly away,
And the fugitive moment refuses to stay;
For the arrow is flown and the moments are gone.
The millennial year
Presses on to our view, and eternity’s here,
Presses on to our view, and eternity’s here.3. Oh, that each in the day of His coming may say,
“I have fought my way thru;
I have finished the work thou didst give me to do.”
Oh, that each from his Lord may receive the glad word:
“Well and faithfully done;
Enter into my joy and sit down on my throne;
Enter into my joy and sit down on my throne.”Text: Charles Wesley, 1707–1788
Music: Attr. to James Lucas, b. 1726