Week #79

Buenas tardes!

Thanks for all the Birthday wishes! It's a bit crazy to be 20 now, time is flying by!

Really productive week overall! Got to teach a lot and see great progress in the work! Mario is looking solid to be baptized this Saturday! His life has taken a compelte turn around and he and his fmaily have been very blessed! As well his mom came to church with him for the first time and loved it! Our good friend Adela came to church as well with her daughter and loved it! She told us it was a bit different and weird but she felt at home! 

Thursday morning we went to the vineyard and cleared weeds from in between the rows! Loved it but quite sore after! We also got to go to the temple! Great trip, first time doing a session for a while so felt really good!

Got to have a big Mexican food dinner for my birthday with some of the best homade tortillas!

This week my favorite scripture comes from Mosiah 18:21 And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.

The building up of Zion starts with each and everyone of us! As we do the simple this things in our lives to build our testimonies we will then be able to build our families, then our wards, then our stakes, then Zion as a whole! When we do this love and unity will abound in our society!

Take care amigos!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian 

Week #78

Hola!

Excellent week again in Fresno! The work is moving forward strong! Our good friend Mario is set to be baptized on the 2nd! He has been reading a ton in the Book of Mormon and just absorbs everything! We also had a really cool lesson with a family where we taught the plan of Salvation and then invited them to be baptized she seemed a bit hesitant as she explained she was baptized already In the Catholic church when she was young, we then explained Moroni chapter 8 and how little children are saved in Christ and need no baptism! Tears filled her eyes as she pointed upwards to a picture and asks "so you are saying my 7 year old son who died is with God?" We told her yes! They then happily  accepted to be baptized! 

 We had a lot of exchanges and team ups as well! We had a cool experience one night around 8:45, we were tired and had had a slower night but we decide to try to squeeze in one last lesson and we were prompted to knock on this man's door who we'd met a week back outside his house smoking. He let us right in and we taught the restoration of the gospel and gave him a Book of Mormon! He was super grateful for the message and excitingly told us he'd get reading right away! In his prayer at the end he thank the Lord for sending us there and asked the Lord to give us the strength to keep knocking every door and if they didn't hear us to knock louder and never give up because of the special message we carried! It felt as if God was telling me "I'm here Elder, trust I me, I know where you need to go and who you need to see, just give it your all and I will do my work"!

My favorite scripture from the week comes from Words of Mormon 1:18 Wherefore, with the help of these, king Benjamin, by laboring with all the might of his body and the faculty of his whole soul, and also the prophets, did once more establish peace in the land.

The Gospel is the only true source of peace! As we share the gospel with others in reality we are just inviting them to bring more peace in their lives! 

¡Hasta la próxima!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Week #77

Hola hola!

Great week in Ventura! Got a new companion Elder Reyes from Vera Cruz! He's super solid! We've gotten some good work done together in this first week!

We got a lot of new missionaries this transfer and Elder Reyes and I had to give a training to the trainers! We also had a mission leadership council and Presidente Mackay has some great goals and plans for the mission this year!

We saw many miracles throughout the week! Our good friend Mario is progressing very well towards baptism and we starting teaching his whole family! The during the lesson the mother with tears in her eyes thanked us for bringing unity back in her family after all these years! We also found a new man named Adam who grew up around the church all his life but never was baptized! We taught him the first lesson and at the end he said "That was awesome brothers but next time I think we should do 2 lessons so I can get baptized faster!"

This week my favorite scripture is from Jacob 1: 19 And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day.

As well a quote from Hartman Rector Jr. "Failure ceases to exist in the face of persistence"

With both dilligence and persitency we can accomplish all goals that we have! Especially as we rely on the Lord!

Have a great week!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian 

Week #76

Hola amigos!

Great week over here in Fresno! The work continues to press forward! We continue to find many amigos to teach and have seen great progress with those we have been been working with! This has been one of the coldest weeks as well! We are working with a huge family of 14 kids, 50+  grandkids, and 60+ great grandkids! They all live on the same street so when ever we go there there's a new group to teach! Feels like the sermon on the mount!

Transfers happened and Elder Lilly and I both will be getting new companions here! We've been having so much work they are adding another companionship to the ward!

My favorite scripture from the week comes from 2 Nefi 25:17 And the Lord will set his hand again the second time to restore his people from their lost and fallen state. Wherefore, he will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder among the children of men.

What a marvelous work this is! To bring our brothers and sisters back to the light! 

Have a great week!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Week #75

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Great holiday week this week! Christmas was excellent! We ate an abundance of tamales with a bit of tortillas beans and posoli! Although much was happening, the work still has been moving forward here! Our good amiga Sylvia has been progressing a lot and is set to get baptized in January! As well our friend Mario and his whole family have been progressing a lot and all came to church! On Saturday I got to go back to Kerman again to see Marco get baptized! I remember the first day we met him, biking by we almost didn't stop to talk to him but we did and he was very drunk and had well over a thousand beer cans in his truck bed! We had some crazy lessons with him and since that first day we got to church he hasn't missed! He went from wheeling himself over a mile in his wheel to chair to the gas station just to satisfy his beer craving to achol free, healthy and excited for the future! Over 6 months 100% turn around! A good friend named Oscar I baptized back in Kerman got to perform the baptism as well!

New Years eve we went to the famous Doghouse grill at Fresno State! And after had homade tortillas at a returning members house! She as well shared her testimony with us about how after being our of the church for 10 years to complete change she's had in her life as she came back! The power the gospel has to change lives is amazing!

This morning we dropped off Elder Chiniquy at the airport to head to Ecuador! It was great serving with him! Back to a duo! Transfers will be next week so we hope to have a strong week as we come into the new year!

Favorite scripture of the week is 3rd Nefi 13

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

All our goals we have for this new year can be achieved as we put God first in all things!

Cuidense!

Con Amor

Elder Houssian