Monday, June 3, 2013
So, it was memorial day and for that reason I am writing a day
late. I hope I can be forgiven for that. I am writing so late well,
because I was in McAllen all morning. I got to go to the new District
Leader Training this morning because I got called to serve as a DL.
Terrified. At least that means my 5th transfer in Mercedes will have a
new twist on it. Well 2 new twists, maybe 3. I get a new comp and he may
be my Jr. Comp. That, could be interesting. However scared I am, I am
truly grateful the Lord is giving me this opportunity to lift and serve
my fellow missionaries. I realized more than ever that I get to be a
minister among the servants of the Savior and how wonderful is that? I
am clear of all that responsibility until next week though so I don't
have to freak out quite yet.
This last week we broke our streak of no one at church and it felt
great. 2 investigators that I was the most worried about ended up being
the 2 that came. The Lopez Family is still struggling but they
officially got everything set up for this next Sunday
with work and what not and last night we had an awesome experience. We
had una Noche de Hogar with Maria and Quetzali which were only 2 of the
approximately 15ish people we were expecting but they are truly
prepared. We taught about the Restoration and about the apostasy and we
watched a movie about Joseph Smith. After that we gave them a church
tour and in the prayer, Quetzali, who was extremely skeptical at first
thanked God for leading her to the truth and she asked him to help her
Husband find his way there as well. What a beautiful thing it was for me
to hear. This Gospel really changes people and I can't believe it
sometimes.
Anthony, you remember Anthony? The 17 year old we found back in
January? Well in our off and on teaching he finally made his way to
church this Sunday and liked it. We just now need to be sure that he
gets his punk butt there consistently. He is the most interesting
teenager I have ever met. However, we are working super hard on helping
him get over his laziness. It's a process but we will get there. He
wants to serve a mission and so we aren't too worried about him getting
baptized. Turns out he isn't moving quite as soon as we thought. We have
another month and a half and I can't help but feel the Lord is giving
us a chance to make up for all that lost time and miscommunication in
the past. More on him soon.
Yari as well came to church. She is a former of Elder Marble and I
and going back to visit was kind of awkward, like visiting an ex. She is
ready though and I may have mentioned all this and if I have please
forgive me of this repeated dribble. She seems to have gotten over her
agoraphobia and actually leaves her house now which is awesome because
we can sit down with her and stuff. Her husband though, Danny, doesn't
seemed too thrilled about that but no men here in the valley ever are.
She came to church! We have struggled so hard with Yari and finally she
bucked up and just came to church. It was awesome. Now we just have to
be sure and solidify her as best we can. We have our work cut out for
us.
So this last Monday on the 20th President Trayner came to work with
us in the night and holy crap, he is an amazing teacher. Someday I will
teach half as good as president Trayner and I will be able to die a
happy man. He helped us sit down with and commit to baptism the son of a
less active named Chris. He is a good kid and thanks to president we
were able to set a BD. Now we just have to get back in contact with him.
Thanks to the Valley sickness no one pays their phone bills and so no
one has functioning iPhones. He also came with us to a lesson with Maria
which is one reason why I feel she has progressed so well. He just
bathed us all in the spirit which was super cool. I am kind of bummed
that he is going home in a month but I am excited to meet my new Mission
President. I am sure he will be amazing.
My Family, this past little while there has been this huge emphasis
on member missionary work and helping the members share the Gospel. I
want to invite you all to prayerfully think of someone who you can share
the Gospel with and I want you to give them something tangible, like a
book of mormon, and I want you to extend them an invitation, like to
read it or come to church. Will you do it? Good. I love you all so much
and hope you all have an amazing week. I will do the same.
Elder Bassett
May 20, 2013
So I wanted to start this week off saying that I am so very proud
of you all. I can't believe the amount of good news I received today
upon opening my inbox. Janessa, way to pwn your way to Stansbury
History. First championships are huge and get remembered for all
eternity so that is pretty sweet. Also, Jessica, 2nd Place?! Noice. You
are well on your way to being Stansbury Highs star Volleyball player
that is super awesome. Dad, High priest huh...getting kind of old are
we? Well with age comes experience and I am proud of you as well.
Janelle, I am happy you are enjoying your new job and that you have been
around the family more that makes me happy and that makes all this
blistering heat worth it. Mom keep going strong you are doing so good. I
am so proud and blessed to know that the Lord has his hand in all your
lives.
Things here could be going better. We are getting slaughtered at
church and it may be time to empty out and refill our teaching pool.
That is the hardest part of being a missionary is having to tell those
people you love that you can't help them if they don't act but it
sometimes helps them kick it into high gear. With a group this big if
one person takes the plunge the rest will too which is bad news bears.
Luckily for me I am going to die here in Mercedes so I have time to help
them through all their junk. We did find a woman named yari this week.
Actually if you read all the way back to my first weeks here you will
read about Yari, we didn't find her recently but we did stop by just
recently to see that she was doing much better and she agreed to sit
with us again and things have actually been going well. Here is hoping
she comes through this time. Because honestly visiting your own former
investigators is like visiting an Ex, it is super awkward to be like,
"Oh hey, remember how we had to drop you? Are you ready to be taught
again and actually progress?" But that is what happens when you are in
an area forever, you start getting to know everyone.
Really it has been quite uneventful this week. I feel foolish
because I don't know what else to say. Ah I know, Juan Lopez. Maria
Lopez' husband is very sick, I may have mentioned this already but the
other day in our lesson Maria had to bail because the old lady she takes
care of fell and no one would come help her so she left us sitting with
Juan. Awkward at first because what do you say to a man who is very
sick and never speaks to you. You teach him the word of wisdom and
commit him to live it, and you find out how much he loves Jesus Christ.
Then you have a solid lesson and realize that he is a lot more engaged
than you ever gave him credit for.
We have also made several women cry this week which is good. They
felt the spirit and when he makes people cry it means you win because he
has taken the lesson over which is the goal to begin with.
Unfortunately one of those women was Beatriz who is currently going
through a rough time. That is hard for us because we care a lot about
her. Luckily we have the Gospel and that is a one size fits all poncho
of comfort and peace. President Trayner is really actually coming our
with us tonight and so next week there should be some awesome stuff to
write to you about. I am really sorry there isn't more.
I want you all to really think about why it is you are all seeing
such great success in your lives. What has changed? What still needs to
change? What are some more blessings you would like from the Lord? What
can you do to show him you need these things? Answer these questions
prayerfully this week and let me know how it goes. Remember CPR (Church,
Prayer Read) As well as FHE. I love you all a great deal. Be good.
Elder Bassett
May 13th, 2013
So it's another P-day and I am here to report on the work. We did
just speak yesterday or at least most of us did and I was so happy to
hear that all is going well at home. The Lord has been blessing us a
great deal since we all embarked on this journey and I want you all to
know that I am so grateful for him and his love. There isn't a whole ton
to report on though you know most of what has happened but I will try
to make this an e-mail worth reading.
So real quick, Danny Longoria, a member of the ward here is very
rich, but that is beside the point. He got his call a few weeks ago and
has been called to serve in the Ventura California mission, he reports June 5th
that is the day that my companion dies so it's going to be that much
harder because we love Danny, he hangs out with us on P-day. Anyway not
sure why I shared that but seriously he is so rich that he has this
thing called a flashtorch and its just a flashlight that is powerful
enough to start fires. He also has a laser that burns holes in pants and
starts KFC buckets of chicken on fire, not that I would know that
because we as missionaries most definitely wouldn't take part in such
childish stuff....He is a good kid and we are excited to see him off.
The coolest part about it is that the missionary that converted him and
his family lives in his mission. That is so cool. That also means that
he gets to leave Mercedes before I do.
Also, best day ever. Wednesday there was a leadership training in
McAllen and so all the leaders in the mission were there. Elder Marble
my papi was there from Corpus. Since the drive up north is too far for
every night of the 3-day training. Those Elders are assigned to work in
the areas around McAllen at night. Well he pulled some strings or
something and was able to work with us in Mercedes. It was weird working
with both my 1st and 2nd companions at the same time. We were able to
visit our Recent converts including Mayra who talked to him about his
"Lady Friend" who looks over his facebook and she was a little
preoccupied about her. It was awkward because Mayra loves Elder Marble
so that was fun. Anyhow I included a picture of that for your enjoyment.
As far as the work we have officially met all the women in the
Lopez family that live here in Mercedes...that's like 7 women. Between
them all they have a primarys worth of children and we are doing the
best we can to coordinate our lessons to have all of them progress
together. Unfortunately some of them have Valley-men for husbands and
they are convinced that we are here to steal wives and run off with them
so they won't let them sit down with us. We know that the Lord works
miracles though and that, "No hay imposibles para el Senor". We are
hoping for a day of Pentecost type deal with them that the spirit will
just visit them all in rushing winds and that we will speak with tongues
of fire and they will be baptized by fire. That'd be pretty cool. P.S
Read Acts 2 if you want to know what I am talking about. But seriously
though, why would I pay to come to south Texas for a used wife? Their
logic is pretty bad.
Anthony is totally going to get baptized, we have had a few really
good lessons with him. We just for the first time taught him the Plan of
Salvation and he kind of got on us for not having taught that first
thing. We told him that when he was on his mission that he could
remember and apply that lesson. After that lesson he committed himself
to church this next Sunday because yesterday was Mothers' Day and he had
to go to his Moms' weird Christian Church. I will let you know what
goes on with him today. It'll be fun to watch him progress, he is the
most interesting kid ever.
Diego came to church 2 weeks in a row and it was amazing to see, at
the end of Sacrament before he left he bore to me his testimony and the
desires he has for his future family. It was really a special moment
and I am so proud of the progress he has made in his life. There is
still work to be done but in no time he will be back on his spiritual
feet. The gospel changes even the hardest of Hearts.
Felipe and Beatriz are officially permagating, I am at a loss of what I should be doing there. But we will figure it out.
Mayra and her kids are doing mostly good. Regina helped us teach a
lesson to Anthony because she was just hanging out with someone at his
apartment complex so we invited her to come sit down and teach. For an
11 year old she did a pretty good job in her broken English. Josue told
his mom he believes in science so I may have to drop kick his face.
All in all it has been a pretty good week, I want to invite you all
to get yourselves a study journal. The one I use is just a composition
notebook, it doesn't have to be fancy. In the front I want you to write
your testimony and then I want you to use that journal as you read and
as you recieve personal revelation. I hope you all know how proud of you
I am. Keep going strong and never give an inch, you are children of God
and if you let him he will lay angels to have charge over you. You are
never alone, nor are you ever powerless. You have God on your side and I
would invite you to always remember that. Talk to you soon.
I love you,
Elder "Brown Bear" Bassett
May 6th, 2013 Weekly Challenge
My challenge this week is to become accountable to the God. In your prayers talk to God about your day, the things you did well and the things you need help with making better. Listen to the spirit and what he directs you to pray about.
May 6, 2013
Happy 6th de Mayo my famili (There's a little tex-mex para y'all) I
am gonna have to be brief our P-day, like most, is going to be a bit of
a stressful experience. Partly because we always wash the car for like
an hour in what should be a 20 minute ordeal but oh well I am not here
to complain. Thank you for the package I did in fact get it today and
was stoked to read the article about Cheetah Bassett and I also saw that
Mr. Mortgous wife won 10,000 dolares. Awesome, someone needs to
congratulate him for me as well as get an e-mail address for him that I
can write to. It is seriously the hottest place in the whole world here I
hope you all know that. Also no one even attempted the riddle...why
not? I am also pleased to hear about the progress that has been made in
the ways of my challenge, keep going. And no one told me whether or
not we are related to Stan Bassett, I am curious.
This weekend was pretty great Maria finally got baptized and today
we will find out if her son Miguel will be released from that facility.
We promised her that just like with the people in Mosiah 24, the Lord
will deliver him out of captivity for having made a covenant with him. I
am not worried, the Lord always makes good on his promises if we do our
part. She is a great lady and we are hoping that as she keeps changing
that her children will feel her spirit and join her in the path. More on
that soon.
This week we haven't had a ton of success with our current
investigators and so we tried to find some new ones, we found 7. A woman
named christina and her 2 daughters, one of which is 10 years old
bi-polar and super Christian which is going to be interesting. Another
couple Eslie and Jessica who have the nicest house I have been inside in
Mercedes (I think he might be a hitman or something) and more of Maria
Lopez family members. Everytime we go to that house there are more
people inside it so we always end up teaching them first lessons. We are
excited to work with them and hope that they soon will be making
commitments to follow our Savior.
This Sunday Diego came to church for the first time in a long time.
He told us about Saturday night that he had lost the desire to come to
church and was up till 6a.m. and was going to bail but decided to pray
and ask God for help, and he came. He is a good kid with good desires,
we have a ways to go with him but we will help reactivate him if it
kills me. His poor mother deserves it, she is the best member of the
church I have ever met. She reads the bible to a blind cousin of a
less-active member and succeeded in getting him to church yesterday and
is making steps to get the whole house (which has like 1 member and 9
baptizable people in it) to join her in their studies and church and
stuff. She has taken all the recent converts in our area and has made
them all friends to fellowship eachother and she takes them out visiting
teaching with her. She has done marvelous things for us and I just am
very grateful for her and her efforts. Also, she is the best member
present ever, only problem is that she doesn't have a car so taking her
with us is hard. She makes me realize that I was not the best member of
the church before.
I don't want to keep writing because I get to call this weekend and
I want to have stuff to talk about. Today we are going to go
Tie-digging which means that we are going to big warehouses where they
sell nice ties by the pound. As well President Trayner is going to come
work with Elder Ellsworth and I this week on Wednesday so I get to see
how a master missionary does things. I am super excited for that. Oh and
that picture is of the 10 pounds of Ham a lady gave us, we don't know
what to do with it.
Thank you all again for the package and the planner covers and the
sweet shirt I can't wait to use them and wear it. I hope you all know I
love you and want you all to continue the great work. Family home
evenings, reading etc. My challenge this week is to become accountable
to the God. In your prayers talk to God about your day, the things you
did well and the things you need help with making better. Listen to the
spirit and what he directs you to pray about. It will truly make your
prayers more meaningful as we try to pray for what he wants and not what
we want. I will call you soon, stay classy.
Elder Bassett
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