Week 87: Jams and Jellys

So this week has been super fun! We've been going on tons of exchanges, so I've been able to get to know a lot of the Elders a lot better. I also went public contacting on Texas Tech for the first time. That was fun, but very different from the way we usually go finding. They were all my age, so that was weird...

We also did some service at the lubbock fair, and we got to be the judges on the best jams and jellys that got sent in. So we spent 3 hours eating jams and jellys at a fair (licking lips emoji) That was super fun

We have mission tour this week, and we have 2 members of the area 70 coming down. Normally I wouldn't stress too much about that, bur they let President and Sister Langeveld know that they want to spend Tuesday evening out in the field with some missionaries... and they picked us. We'll 1 seventy and his wife are going with a companionship, the other and his wife are going with another, and then President and Sister langeveld are going with another. So we'll be having someone with authority with us on Tuesday evening...

Melvin and Johnny are still doing super well progressing toward baptism but still need more prayers. Thank you!!

I love you all!!!

Week 85 & 86: CAPROCK

Hello everybody. I am now in Lubbock Texas in the Caprock ward. It has already been super super fun. We've got Johnny, Melvin and Ray on date for baptism, and I wanna share a little bit about Johhny because he's super cool. When we first met him, I was like wow Ok, we're gonna be dropping this guy so fast. He did not seem interested at all. He was just sitting outside his door clipping his fingernails, and was just giving us nothing to work with. But we gave him a Book of Mormon and set up a time to come back. When we came back, we were like "so Johnny, didja read anything?" And he was like "yeah I like to read" and had marked up the first half of 3 Nephi 11. He was talking about baptism and then said "yeah I've been baptized." Anyways we read the rest of 3 Nephi with him, explaining baptism, authority, and the gift of the holy ghost as we read, and the we were like "so Johnny what do you think is your next step?" And he was like "well I oughta get baptized before I get out of here" (hes super old). Anyways, he came to church yesterday, and we found out that he drove to the church on Saturday just to make sure he knew where it was before Sunday, and he's loving the Book of Mormon. He's super cool. He's also next door neighbors to Melvin, who also wants to get baptized, and so they're both getting baptized together on October 11th! Anyways, my companion is super fun, and a super hard worker. The ward is incredible and super involved in the work here. Please pray for our friends!

Week 84: I'm a week behind, so this is from last week

We got transfer news, but I already knew I was leaving. It's extremely rare for someone to serve in 1 área for more than 6 months, and that's how long I've been here in Odessa. It's been incredible. I've loved it here, and learned a ton. I've seen so many miracles. I was able to see so much fruit for our efforts while here in Odessa. So I'll miss it. I'll miss our friends, and our members, but I'm excited to see how things are in Lubbock! I've heard a lot of good stuff about my new area.

The sisters in our area had a wedding and a baptism on Saturday morning, and then Jose was baptized on Saturday evening. It was a busy day for the ward, but it was great. Here's some pictures!

Week 83: I love Cubans

So we have been on a grind this week and have literally been talking to everyone we possible can. We found a lot of people, but I wanna talk about one guy specifically. So basically, we were walking around this complex, and we knocked this one cuban guys door. He was basically just like 'yeah I'm busy talking to my wife, do yall have a card or something?' We didn't think anything of it and didn't even put in any info on our phone. We did not think he was interested. And then he called us Sunday morning and was like "hey I'm coming to church." We didn't even remember who he was for a min, but he was like "yeah you guys gave me a card? And I wanna come to church." He got an Uber, and then we had an amazing Member Present Lesson, and gave him an Book of Mormon. We got another Member to give him a ride home, and he started reading the Book of Mormon while he waited for the Member. And then we introduced him to Yaline, our incredible recent convert also from Cuba, and turns out they're from the same city in Cuba. They hit it off super well, and Yaline was planning on having all the missionaries over for dinner that night, and so we Invited him to come to dinner and he said yes! And he came, and brought his Book of Mormon, and then we had an even more incredible lesson where we talked about the Book of Mormon, the restoration, and praying to know the truth. It was just so cool. He was a miracle. He and Yaline are super similar too. The biggest being that they both talk a lot. Our lesson after dinner was 2 and 1/2 hours...

It's been a good week. I love my companion Elder Ball. He's super fun and he's a hard worker. We're having a great time here in Odessa. I don't wanna leave this city, so much is happening. We also went public contacting at the lake, which was a lot of fun. There was one guy from Andrews who said he wasn't super interested, but he had his camera with him and so we asked him what he was doing. And he said he was filming stuff about the lake for the county website. And so I was like, "Do you wanna film us?" And he was like "sure ." And so he gave us Mics and recorded us sharing a Book of Mormon scripture and inviting people to come to church with us. He said they might put it on the Odessa county website... so that was pretty fun. I also apologize, because those are the only pictures I got this week

Week 82: Temple Trip!!

Yaline was able to go to the temple for the first time on Saturday!! We got there early enough to do an endowment session, which was very much needed, and then we did baptisms for Yaline's Grandma and Grandpa. She was super emotional, but it was a very sweet experience. It was definitely worth the 2 hour drive. It always is. We also had the baptism for Noelie last week, and Yaniuska and Reimel's baptism yesterday after church! There's tons of Cubans here in Odessa, and it's pretty fun to teach them. I don't have much else to say for this week, but it's been good. Please pray for Tim, Jose Zabaleta, and Rigoberto! We're hoping to help them get baptized soon. Anyways, love Yall!

Week 81: Zone conference, Stake Conference, and Tim

So this week was super cool. We had zone conference. There was a lot of cool takeaways for me, but we applied something that the mission president's wife talked about. She talked about earning referrals through members. While we were on Exchanges, Elder Adam's and I decided to knock a members house and we were like hey we're looking for more friends to teach, and she referred us to her neighbor 2 doors down, and we had a really awesome lesson about the restoration. He basically said yes to baptism. We also went public contacting at the park and met Tim. He is recent life is pretty traumatic and he talked about trying to find God and more healing in his life. He came to both the adult and regular session of stake conference. He loved it and is super open about everything. But God has for real been preparing him so much. About a week and a half ago he happened to be driving through midland and stopped by our church building. He had no idea what church it was, but he just walked inside. Idk why it was unlocked, but he just walked in, went to the chapel and started praying. Anyways, he loved coming to stake conference. It was a powerful meeting. Also there was a baptism this week! Noelie got baptized yesterday, and it was just so cool. And I get to go to the temple again on Saturday!! Yaline will be going to do baptisms for the dead for her first time. She said she wants everything. Step by step, but everything. Paso a paso, pero todo. Please keep praying for Odessa!!

Week 80: Faith brings Miracles

So this last week was so so cool. Odessa Spanish has been very blessed. As a district, we have 4 people that are planning to be baptized in August. Noelie, Yaniuska, Reimel, and Idalmis. Please pray for them! Yesterday was especially awesome thoughm a few days ago the sisters called my comp and I and asked us to give one of their friends a blessing of comfort and council. She was likely going to be separated from her family and not be able to come to church or meet with missioanries anymore and anyways, it was just super sad. We had a super spirit filled lesson with them though, and then we gave her a blessing. Then we all fasted and prayed for her, and they were all able to come to church! She bore her testimony about faith and miracles, and another member of the family bore her testimony on the Book of Mormon, and neither of then are members. The spirit was super strong and definitely the most memorable sacrament meeting I've ever had. Odessa is just so blessed. Please keep praying for the people here!! Love you guys

- Elder Wride

The other Elders in our district thought it would be a funny prank to put raw chicken under our sink and not say anything. It was disgusting