Week #15

Buenos dias amigos!

Another great week here in Visalia! We started the week working a lot with our investigators and the ward list! We had some great lessons and many are progressing well twards baptism! We found some solid investigators through the ward list. On thursday we had an exchange with the assistants and we went up to a little town called oakherst up by Yosmite! We were up to about 4000 feet in elevation and their was lots of pine trees all around and cool weather! We visited lots of families their and many lived way up in cabins! Luckly the assistants also had a truck cause no car could've gotten to come of the members houses! 

We also got to attend a confrence for all of Northern California on religious freedom and got to hear from Elder Rasband! We also a service day for the stake on Saturday and planted over 400 trees and plants in under an hour! We then laid a ton of mulch along a bike path for a few hours! 

We have been working a lot in a little town right outside of Visalia called Ivanhoe which pretty much looks like it could be part of Mexico with probably 98% from mexico! We found a new investigator who lives in the guest house of some members named Jose! He's inderstands our message very well and was super excited when we gave him the Book of Mormon! He told us that when he was young he tried to cross the border by climbing the wall. When he got to the top a guard caught him but let him go and when he started to run away he fell off the wall 30 feet and broke both of his ankles! They them took him to the hospital in San Diego and let him stay to recover! He's been here ever since and lives alone with all his family back in Mexico! 

That's about all that's new here! My favorite scripture from this week is the famous quote from the title of Liberty!!! Alma 46:12 In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children 

We need to stand for our belifs in all places and cannot let our religous liberty be taken!

Have a great week and enjoy Haloween!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Week #14

Buenos Dias!

Visalia has been solid this week! The weather has been great too! We've been pretty busy this week and our investigators are doing solid! 7 are so close to baptism! President Mackay came with us on Wednesday

 and he is a solid teacher!!! He came with us to teach the Ortiz family and they love the gospel and want to be Baptized in November! We visited Isabel a lot and she's doing great! We taught we the commandments this week and the word of wisdom and she's committed to stop drinking coffee! She told us she's wanted to stop all along but just need the invitation and some help! We gave her a replacement thing called "Pero" which tastes like coffee but has no coffee in it. We also have been teaching her grandkids and they love the Book of Mormon readers we gave them. We haven't been able to meet with Alejandra because her sister was in town from mexico but she came to church still and is still set to be baptized! We also have been teaching a neighbor of a member and this week we showed her how to download and listen to the Book of Mormon on her phone  (She can't read, happens a lot here) and she listened to 14 chapters already! 

The ward is doing great here too! We got fed a TON! After service one morning the member made us the best breakfast tacos! We also had a ward fiesta and a missionary came home so they had a get together after church! It's been great to meet and build relationships with members. We also have been working on updating the ward directory with Hermano Birch and there's a lot to do which keeps us busy! 

We did a lot of street contacting to find new investigators and knocked on this door and a man named "Muhammad Ali" opened the door! He invited us in and gave us some apples and this other fruit thing and we had a great discussion! He moved here from India 2 years ago and is a devout Muslim but was very open! We gave him Book of Mormon and he committed to read it and in return he gave all three of us a Q'ran! We also found 4 other really good investigators! 

Overall a great week here and definitely excited for the next! My favorite scripture from this week is The grand sermon on faith in Alma 32! Definitely check it out https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/32?lang=eng 

41 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing upunto everlasting life.

Love y'all and have a solid week!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Dinner? 

 When you forget your tie but have a strap!

They go crazy for the Day of the Dead

A 1200 year old tree they cut down cause a branch fell and destroyed three houses! MASSIVE!

Week #13

Como les van amigos!

Awesome week here in Visalia! I got a new new companion named Elder
Allen who just got here from Puerto Rico! Him and Elder Del Carmen are
the Zone Leaders. He's a solid Elder and is super good at connecting
with all the people we meet and teach! He said that all the
missionaries had to get taken out of Puerto Rico cause the hurricane
hit super hard! We started the week finding lots of new investigators!
We found a great family of 4 and some others great potentials!

The Ortiz family is progressing really good and have accepted to be
baptized! Our other investigator Isabel is also progressing really
well and came to church again! We also taught some of her Grandkids
and they love it when we come over! Alejandra couldn't make it to
church this week cause her sister came into town who she hadn't seen
for 10 years and had to drive to LA to pick her up so we are going to
have to move her baptism to but it's all good cause she has a super
strong testimony!

We got a bunch of new missionaries so the my companions have been
crazy busy running all around so I've been spending a lot of time with
the others Spanish Elders in our Ward and rode bikes for two days! We
had the BEST tacos the other night a our recent convert Marco's house
and I'd almost compare them to torchy's good! We Also had a big family
history day for the stake we helped out with and I also got to learn a
bunch about it and indexed some names! We went to the big
tramp/Parkour place again today which is so sweet! And that's about
all that's new here!

My favorite scripture this week comes from mormon 9:8: "Behold I say
unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of
Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so, he does not
understand them."
I have drawn a connection between almost all of the non progressing
investigators, non actives, and those with a weak testimony and nearly
all have not read the Book of Mormon or have stopped or become lazy
with it! Oh Necios! The Book of Mormon is key to coming closer to God
and Jesus Christ and will bring you pure joy! Something even stronger
than just the happiness that comes from things like playing sports,
double backfliping, eating doughnuts! the Book of Mormon is key and I
love reading it every day (English o Espanol)!

Have a solid week amigos y buena suerte!!!

Con Amor,
Elder Houssian

Week #12

Hola!

Another week completed down here in Visalia! It was a bit different this week cause we aren't in a trio any more but Elder Del Carmen have been doing solid! Sorry I didn't send that much last week, some members in our stake own a huge trampoline park so we went their for like 3 hours for free!!! They also have a little parkour park inside which is even better! I was a bit rusty at first but after a bit I pretty much got it back! I also taught the Elder I went with (Elder Witt) how to do backflips and frontflips! The very last backflip he did before we left he tried to get extra height and ended up landing on his head! He ended up being all good just a bit of a sore neck! 

This week we find some solid investigators and had a really productive week! Our investigator Isabel came to church for the first time and brought her granddaughter, we set a date with her for the 28th but are going to have to move it cause she's going to have a surgery on that day so we are going to try to move it forward 2 days! Our other investigator Alejandra has a date for the 21st and is super solid! She understands everything we teach and the things she doesn't she just moves forward with faith that it will come! She has a 4 year old and really wants him to grow up in the church! The church truly helps build families on the strong foundation of Jesucristo so when the trials and challenges come, peace and joy will still be found and the foundation will not fall! 

This week we will getting a new companion! All of the missionaries in Puerto Rico had to be moved out so our new companion (and new zone leader) is one of those who had to be moved out! It's definitely going to be sweet having him as one of my trainers! We are also getting another big group of nuevos from the MTC and 4 are coming to our zone!!! That means 7 of the 10 compaionships is our zone will be trainer/trainee companionships! The Viscous Visalia Zone is going to be rolling strong with fresh Elders and Sisters ready to give their all to the best work in the world!

Espanol is coming along great! I think for the first time at church I understood pretty much all of what was said! The ward is awesome at feeding us too and the fijoles are muy rico!!! 

That's about it! We are about to leave to have a Zone BBQ with ultimate Frisbee so thank y'all so much for all your prayers and thoughts! We truly do feel all the prayers sent our way!

My favorite scripture this week comes from Alma 13: 22-24 so look that one up! But here i'd like to share a different thought! It's about the importance of Family Home Evening! In this crazy and changing world family home evening can help strengthen and unify the family and shouldn't be something that is ignored!  Here's a deep quote from Elder Bednar!

“Each family home evening is a brushstroke on the canvas of our souls.”

Elder David A. Bednar  

I invite all of those who have not have a family home evening for a while to start again! Or if you havn't at all to start! you will see the joy and happiness that will come into your home and families!

Also Happy Birthday to my awesome bro Kyle out serving in Las Vegas! He's a big inspiration to me and is going strong out in the the mission field! 

Nos vemos amigos!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

I saw this Bills flag on a biking exchange so I had to take a picture and knock the door! They weren't interested but it was nice talking to a fellow Bills fan!

Week #11

Buenas Tardes Amigos!

Solid week here! Hope everybody enjoyed conference! I think it was the first time I got to watch all the sessions and it great! They seemed to pass by way faster then before the mission! 

I started out the week on Bikes with our district leader in his English speaking area! It was a great day but the work is so different! The Hispanics seem to be more open to talking about religion and love just talking in general! Our investigators here are progressing a ton! It's cool to see how the gospel can bring light to and change people's lives! 

This week we got fed a ton of Mexican food and most of it was stuff I'd never tried before! I don't know how but the frijoles that they make are SOOO good!!! We also ate Tortas, Tamales, all sorts of tortillas (Blue, grande, fried...), and a lot of other stuff!

Elder Morales is moving up to be an assistant to the President today! So he's been packing up all day and leaves tonight! It's going to be a bit crazy for a week cause I'll have to fill in as an unordained zone leader for the week until transfers! 

My favorite scripture this week comes in Alma 5: 27,28! 

27 ¿Habéis caminado, conservándoos irreprensiblesdelante de Dios? Si os tocase morir en este momento,¿podríais decir, dentro de vosotros, que habéis sidosuficientemente humildes? ¿que vuestros vestidos hansido lavados y blanqueados mediante la sangre de Cristo,que vendrá para redimir a su pueblo de sus pecados?

28 He aquí, ¿os halláis despojados del orgullo? Si no, yoos digo que no estáis preparados para comparecer anteDios. He aquí, debéis disponeros prontamente; porque elreino de los cielos pronto se acerca, y el que no estépreparado no tendrá vida eterna.

Well, that's about it for the week! I love the work here and can't wait to have another solid week! I forgot my camera so i'll send other the photos next week!

Week #10

¡Qué paso amigos!

It´s been a great week down here in Visalia! The weather has cooled down here which is so nice! Our Truck had to get an oil change and apparently the tires were messed up to so we had to bike for the day! The next day we went on exchanges and we went in the Gringo area so we rode bikes again! I love riding bikes! It adds energy to the work and we get to meet a lot of people on the streets!

We have been working with Marco and Andy a ton this week and they got Baptized on Sunday!!! It was a very spiritual service and I got to Baptize Andy!!! They both have grown strong testimonies and loved their baptisms! 

We taught a lot of our investigators this week and many are progressing very well! The finding has been a bit slower this week but we have set some high goals and made good plans for the next! We had Zone Conference this week and it was solid! At the end the missionaires that are leaving gave their testimonies and it was powerful!!! 

Overall pretty much just another spiritual and crazy week here!!! Español is getting better gradually and I can hold a conversation pretty good with most people we meet and teach!

This week I studied in Mosiah a lot and my new favorite story is Abinadi! He´s a super powerful prophet and a savage! He came in, chastised the king and all his false priests, shared some of awesome revelation, then cursed them to be put to death by fire!!! One of my favorite parts is here 9 Now Abinadi said unto him: I say unto you, I will notrecall the words which I have spoken unto you concerning this people, for they are true; and that ye may know of their surety I have suffered myself that I have fallen into your hands.

10 Yea, and I will suffer even until death, and I will not recall my words, and they shall stand as a testimonyagainst you. And if ye slay me ye will shed innocent blood, and this shall also stand as a testimony against you at the last day.

Many people here try to tell us we are wrong and that we don´t know what we are talking about but we KNOW they are true and the work of the lord will go forth unto all (¡Necios!)! 

Love you all and have a solid week!!!

Con Amor,

Élder Houssian