"The only two things that matter is God, and Texas Football." - September 16, 2013

Howdy from Midland Family and Friends!

It has been quite the week of transfers this week!! Sister Johnson and I dropped off Sister Hoover at the transfer sight outside of Hobbes on Tuesday, drove home and went back to work, and then turned around and drove the 2.5 hours again to Hobbes and dropped me off on Wednesday to get me to the bus to Midland! Fun story though, on one of the "New-Mexico-Empty" roads back to Dexter from Hobbes, we were in this giant field of pumpjacks, like over 50 pumpjacks all around, and there was a sign that said "livestock at large" so I snagged a sweet picture of a cow for you to enjoy! :P

After about 12 hours of traveling in two days, I arrive in the GIGANTIC (compared to Dexter :P) city of Midland, and my MTC companion (Sister Bradford) and I trade places (I'm in the trio she was in before). 15 minutes later we're off to work, and kockin' a few streets worth of doors, and ended the evening going on splits with the Relief Society (we paired up one missionary and one member of the relief society presidency) to visit some of the less-active members in the ward.

I was in awe during the first couple of days, because even though our area is SO SMALL compared to the spread out countryside by Dexter, there are so many streets and LOTS AND LOTS of people. Not to mention there's a few houses here that you could fit about 10 trailers in!

By the end of Friday though I was less awestruck, and I've actually got most of the main roads down now, so I'm pretty proud of myself :P

Then, on Saturday we had a baptism!

Sisters Turner, Tooley and Bradford were teaching a man, Rickey, who lives in our apartment complex, and he was baptized on Saturday! It was so wonderful, and I love how I it is STILL amazing how great of a change can come from people accepting the fullness of Christ's gospel into their lives!

Being a missionary is SO GREAT! The days here have been wonderful (not without flaw, but they have been exceptionally wonderful), everyday I find myself asking my companions: "Do you know why today is so amazing?" pause.... "Because we're missionaries!"

There is no other way we would be able to meet as many people as we do! While we were following up with some people that we set appointments with on Friday (neither of which were there), we were able to talk to a woman, Alice, who lives in their same apartment complex. Alice yelled at us "Are y'all playin' hookey from school!? I'll put you in my truck and drive you over there! You know where you need to be!!" After laughing a little we were able to explain to her that we are missionaries, and we've already graduated high school. She didn't believe it when we all said we were 21! But, as we talked with her more about the gospel we asked her also if we could help her out with the work she was doing (sweeping and shoveling up the dirt and dust that was in the curbs of the parking lot), and we were able to set a time to help her out later in the day. Sadly, she wasn't out working at that time, be we were able to help her clean her home a little, and we helped her outside this morning! She's excited to hear more of the message we have to share, and said we sounded like "that church of the Latter-day somethin's" and "the Helping Hands".

It was SO cool to explain to her that they are all the same! And we love to do service as missionaries along side teaching the gospel! And people down here really do shine, and are being prepared to receive the wonderful message we have to share!

Now, I'm sure you're wondering where the title of this e-mail came from!

Well, there's a couple we are trying to teach (Midland's economy is booming down here and it's difficult to find times when people are home because the oil fields are running 24/7 and everything else is trying to keep up with it!), and well, we were able to find them at home on Saturday right before a big football game started, and David started off our conversation with that. We were happy to hear that God came first! :D

The last person I want to talk about is Parr! She is Burmese! There are SO many people from Burma here in Midland, and it's hard for some of them to understand English, but Parr's is very good. We were reading a chapter in the Book of Mormon (in English, because we don't have it yet in her language) and she expressed interest in having us help her to learn English while we teach her more about the gospel. That was SO exciting, because her faith is so strong. The late prophet, President Hinckley, promised that anyone who can read the Book of Mormon out loud in a certain language, will be able to be fluent in that language. When we told Parr that a Prophet of God promised her that if she read the Book of Mormon out loud in English, that she could be fluent in it, she said "I believe" with so much faith and sincerity I almost had tears in my eyes because I felt the Spirit so strong.

The Lord is truly preparing His children to hear the gospel, and I continue to marvel at His hand in my life and the lives of those around me. It's amazing how much impact one person can have in the lives of many, even if it's just something small (like Rickey, who was just baptized, talked with Mormon Missionaries a few years ago, but wasn't yet interested, or Alice having just recently receiving some service from Helping Hands), to something bigger (like, the Hamm's introducing me to the church, and walking with me every step I've taken since then), God is looking out for us.

Heavenly Father is truly blessing each and every one of His children's lives, and I know without a doubt that He has more blessings in store for us. As we take the time to turn to Him, we're able to see His hand in our lives a little clearer each day, and understand His love just a little bit more. I love Alma 32, which talks about faith, and humility, and I know that we have trials, and sadness in our lives to help us grow. I know also, that there is SO much joy to be found in the scriptures, and in prayer, and as we invite Him into our lives, we WILL see blessings and miracles, and our burdens will be made easier to bear!

All my love,
Sister Lagrosa

 

Pictures:
1- A vast scene of pumpjacks in NM! (more than NEW people we met in the last 6 weeks in Dexter!)
2- COWS!
3- My new companions Sisters Turner and Tooley at Rickey's Baptism!
4- Some time in the country roads, and Midland from the distance.