August 12, 2013

Pos, wow this week was a much better week than last week. I am glad last week ended and this week got to start because I was gonna lose it. This last week I got to see a lot of amazing things in the work and in my area.

I guess first of all we had a 3 day leadership training and it was amazing. I lost out on 3 days in my area but it meant having the spirit teach me how much I needed to change and that I wasn't really doing all I could to receive miracles from our heavenly Father and so I tried putting those things into practice this last week and man was it awesome. I realize the Lord has put me as a steward over this District and I need to do better of taking care of it. We have a ton of work to do but I feel like the Leader the Lord really needed is finally coming to be. Man I wish I could just share with you all the things I learned it was nuts. I learned how inept of a teacher I am and how much I suck at using the scriptures but more than that I found some ways to really change those things.

Also With a lot of time missed out on the Lord made up for it with all the Miracles he gave us. He showed us to one of the most prepared people I have ever met. Her name is Vanessa and she is the mother of 4, her youngest has something called Dandy Walkers which means he never developed the 3 major parts of his brain and as a result is bed ridden and a lot of other things. He is 5 which is a miracle in itself because the Doctors told her not to expect a month with her child. We were able to share with her the Plan of Salvation and it really touched her I think to know that one day her son will be able to walk and talk and that if she does what God asks, she can be there with him. She also has 3 other kids who are all old enough to join her and we are going to help them prepare and be baptized on the 8th of September.

We got to talk with a former by the name of Daniella and I guess the last missionaries that taught her never got to baptize her because she wasn't married. Well guess what happened the day before we found her? Her boyfriend proposed! Awww yeah the Lord is definitely preparing people even here in good Ol' Raymondville. Daniella is a really cool lady and so we are going to do all we can to really help her understand Baptism and take those steps she needs to. It has been a week of miracles for us and she is definitely one of them.

Now as I have explained one of the hardest things about the area is the distance to church. With 6000 churches here is Raymondville it is hard to tell someone they need to drive 30 minutes to go to church which means that we have to get some really good expectations set. Ultimately we feel as though the work is going so slowly because the Branch building got closed down. We are teaching these two ladies and their families and one of them really only lives like 3 houses away from the old building. We are trying to get the members here moving because so far they have been pretty lazy and we found out what it is going to take to get the branch open again. 12 melchezidek priesthood holders who pay tithing. We are currently at about 3 active priesthood holders which makes it seem pretty daunting but if we can get the less-actives going things will be much better. What we have started is holding a book of Mormon study class and this last week 17 people showed, that is awesome that is more than double the first week which is a good sign. We are just gonna have to do something in the way of translation for the Spanish speakers.

I guess the last good thing that happened this week that I found worth mentioning is our Alfredo Party and the Botana experience. So Elder Lloyd and I decided that we wanted to have an alfredo party or so he called it and really that just means we made some Alfredo sauce and ate Pasta. Elder Lloyd was like ridiculously excited for it so he made me take pictures, I will send them. Also he made me not smile for them so we would look somber just so you know. We also went to get a Botana, or a big plate of meat and it was delicious but ridiculous to get. We all decided as a district that we were going to go meet at this place and get this giant meal and split the cost. So we get to the place and the card machine is down so we need cash. So we call the other Elders that were just leaving and told them to go get cash. Well we ordered and then the rain came....It trapped the other Elders in their apartment parking lot. So Elder Lloyd and I were stuck there with no cash and a $40 botana to try to pay for. Luckily the guy let us go get some cash from a Target and we had to run in the rain but I had to withdraw a big ol' chunk of money and then get the botana to go. Then we were almost late to our own district meeting and I don't think the Zone Leaders would have liked to botana excuse but we made it. We also ate a giant botana so all ended well but it was a crazy day!!

This week I learned about the importance of attitude in your life and how if we want to see miracles we have to be working for them and worthy of them and most importantly we have to be expecting them. We have to believe that they exist and if we truly do all of these things we will receive them. My Challenge this week is to find one. Find a miracle, ask God to give you one and do all you can to live worthy of it. Then be sure to give him thanks. I love you all.

Elder Bassett